This is a fictional story, but with some elements of truth. 7,800 words, so quite short.
It started with a game of chess. I was one of a group of players, quite good, but not exceptional, who used to play every Saturday morning at a local cafe. The owner, Phil, was himself a chess nut and he would join in if there was a spare board and an extra player. So long as everyone bought a coffee and a slice of cake, he was happy. Although we played casual chess with no time limits, the rivalry was intense, and there was a lot of banter between us.
After my wife died during the first lockdown, I had gone through a period of depression and loneliness. I thought I had got over that and was forcing myself to go out and about again, swimming, going to the gym, walking, playing chess and volunteering, but I still suffered from some anxiety in social situations. Although that was getting better, I certainly wasn't ready to start dating.
I arrived late that morning and noticed a slim young woman with her medium length brown hair in a pony tail, wearing joggers and a sweat shirt. She must have been in her mid-twenties, about 5' 4" and was on her own, watching one of the games. Even after the whole Queen's Gambit thing on Netflix, it was still unusual to see female players. The rest of us were all males, at least 30 years older than her, but that didn't seem to bother her. No-one was doing anything to make her welcome, so I felt I had to bring her into the group.
Following lockdown and all that, I am still nervous in social situations, so I took a deep breath, went up to her, smiled, and said, "Hi, I'm Rob, would you like a game?"
She started, looked at me for a moment, then said quietly, "Yes, I would, thank you."
It was a tough game that lasted an hour and a half. By the end, several other players were watching, and when we got down to just a bishop and a pawn each, we agreed a draw. There was a round of applause from the audience. "Well played," I said, and meant it. I was lucky to get away with a draw, to be honest. "I thought I'd lost when you skewered my knight!"
"I see you did your Houdini thing again today, Rob, escaping from a lost position!" said Phil, laughing. I don't know how you do it."
"Nor do I," I replied, shaking my head.
"I have to go," the girl said abruptly. She picked up her things and left.
"Who is she?" I asked the others. Nobody knew. She had arrived out of the blue that morning, like a lot of people did. The chess group was advertised on Facebook and elsewhere, and people passing through would drop by for a couple of games and then disappear.
There was something about her that was familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I was old enough to be her father, for goodness' sake. Just another holidaymaker -- we might not even see her again. I thought no more about her.
But she was there again the following week, although we didn't get the chance to play. I watched one of her games and was struck by the way she would move her pieces around the board. She was a good player. After she left, someone said her name was Sharon and she had recently come back to the area after living elsewhere in the country for years.
I was away the next week, so didn't see her again for a fortnight. This time we played again, and she beat me easily after I made an early blunder. Before she left, she slipped a piece of paper into my hand. When I was alone, I looked at it. "Rob, something to tell you. Meet @ the Lamb & Flag at 9 tonight? Txt me, Sharon x" She gave her number.
I texted. "What's this about? Rob"
She texted back. "Tell u this evg"
"But I don't know who you are..."
"Just trust me, OK?"
A mystery. I didn't need mysteries. I didn't like them. So what was this about? Was it a scam? Was she going to get me mugged? The pub was respectable and I'd been in a couple of times before, but it wasn't one of my usual haunts. I was intrigued. Perhaps she was going to blackmail me? But I hadn't got a past worth blackmailing! Had I? I hadn't led a blameless life, but I hadn't done anything really bad. Was she a long lost daughter I didn't know about? That was crazy. I had a vasectomy 25 years ago, so she could be. No of course not, I had been faithful to my wife for many years, at the start. Perhaps she was a lawyer and was tracking down me down because I was an heir to a mad billionaire's fortune. Unlikely. Somebody I'd crossed in business wanting revenge and sending her to reel me in? Again, unlikely. Unlikely, but possible. I'd find out soon enough if I went. Should I even go? She seemed OK, even if she didn't talk much. Right up until the last minute, I wasn't sure I'd go. I decided not to.
So I arrived ten minutes early, got myself a pint and sat at a table with a view of the entrance. Sharon came in just after nine, looked around, saw me and smiled. A beautiful smile. Everybody in the bar looked at her then at me. She had changed into jeans and a sort of grey green tunic top with the top few buttons undone. It set off her light tan and looked demure yet sexy at the same time. Out of her joggers and sweatshirt, with her hair down and framing her face, she looked gorgeous. How could I have missed that? I stood up and she came over and kissed me on the cheek. That was a surprise, as we had never even touched before, apart from shaking hands after each chess game.
"I'll get you a drink, what would you like?"
"A pint, the same as you. But I'm buying the next round."
The next round? How long was this meeting going to be? It felt like a date already. It didn't matter that everybody thought she was my daughter, I was going to enjoy the next half hour or so in the company of a beautiful woman. I noticed all the men were taking surreptitious glances at her.
I brought her drink and sat down opposite her.
"You don't remember me, do you?"
"Er, no. Sorry." I looked at her closely. There was something familiar about her, but I had no idea. I shook my head.
"You taught me to play chess."
It hit me like a hammer blow. "Sharon! Of course! Oh my God! You've changed. It must have been 15 years ago."
"18, actually."
My mouth opened but no words came out. I remembered her story. I used to teach chess as a volunteer in an after school club. Most kids learn the rules of chess from their parents or even their grandparents, but not her. She was very shy and hardly spoke a word in the club, but she had an aptitude for the game.
"You're wrong, I didn't teach you the rules. You told me your grandmother gave you a set and a book so you taught yourself."
"You remember," she squealed, "I never thought you would." Everybody in the pub turned round, we were both laughing so loudly.
"I learnt the rules, but you taught me how to really play. I remember the day you taught us what a skewer was and I used it against Shaun Harris in the next game and he was furious! He had always beaten me before, so he thought I was easy meat, you should have seen his face!"
I had forgotten that bit, but I remembered Shaun, who was a little shit in school. Chess is great for kids, it develops character traits such as sportsmanship and respect for others, as well as the more obvious skills such as memory, logical thinking, concentration and planning ahead, amongst others. Shaun, like many kids, dropped out of the chess club early, but Sharon stayed on for the whole year.
I remembered something else as well. Sharon had been a very pale, skinny little kid with a torn dress that was always filthy, low self-esteem and no confidence, and her hair was never washed. She came from a sink estate at the wrong end of town. As she improved at chess and came out of her shell over the course of the year, her confidence improved, especially after she defeated her opponent in a match we held against the neighbouring school. I remember her being so proud about that, as I was.
And another memory came back suddenly. She told me one day her parents didn't want to pick her up so late after school, so she had to stop coming to the club. I said, "what a shame, because you are getting so good at chess..." Her reply? "My parents say I'm not good at anything and I'm not worth anything..." I remembered being outraged, so angry, about how any parent could say that to their children. "You are worth a lot, don't let anyone tell you anything different," I almost shouted, "you are intelligent and talented, you can do anything you want. You can achieve anything you want." I think that was the last time we spoke.
Remembering that, I looked at her across the table. She had changed so much, had reinvented herself completely. I was lost for words. She leaned across and put her hand on mine, holding it fiercely.
"You changed my life, Mr Pearce, Rob I mean. You made me believe in myself. You were the first man, no, the only man, who treated me with respect. You're the only man I've ever met who didn't want something from me. You told me I could do anything. You told me I had talent. I've lived with that thought ever since. My own dad walked out after beating up my mother, and I cried myself to sleep, wishing you could be my dad instead. I wanted to make you proud of me. I wanted you to know what I've achieved. You stood up when I came in tonight. No man's ever done that before."
I didn't know what to say. "It must have been tough..."
"It was fucking tough. But I worked hard and I'm a qualified accountant now." She smiled at me, tears in her eyes, "and you don't know it, but I have you to thank. I am so glad you are here for me to thank you."
"That's fantastic. That's brilliant. I am so pleased. Wow!" There were tears in my eyes now.
"In all the tough times I thought of you and what you said. I always asked myself what would Mr Pearce say? What would Mr Pearce do? So you were there with me all the way through school and the accountancy course, and as I started my career. You were my guardian angel, without knowing it."
