by T A Williams
It certainly was. Clearly this was a gastro pub that prided itself on its cuisine, and on Toby’s advice she chose the Fusion menu. By the time she finally set down her spoon after the best summer pudding she had ever tasted, she had eaten an amazing mix of foods and flavours from Chinese to Mexican, French to native English. She sat back and seriously questioned whether she would have the strength to get up from the table.
‘Coffee? More wine?’ He was smiling across the table at her.
She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t eat or drink another thing, but that was exceptional. Thanks again for bringing me here.’
‘You’re very welcome. Can I make a confession? It was my mother who set this evening up. She’s been badgering me for ages to start going out more – no doubt in the hope of finding myself a wife and producing grandchildren for her to spoil – and she’s been going on about you so much I finally relented and said yes. I just wanted you to know I’m really glad I did. This has been great.’ Anna couldn’t help the giggle that burst out of her at his confession, and an insecure expression flooded his face. ‘Why are you laughing?’
‘I’m laughing because that’s almost exactly why I’m here. That, and the chance to get away from my mum’s constant harping about me finding myself a man. What is it about mothers? But, much as it pains me to admit it, Mum was right this time. I’m really pleased I came out and met up with you again. It’s been a lovely evening.’
‘Well, if you like, maybe we could do this again next time you’re in Bristol or, seeing as I often come up to London we could meet there. Promise me you’ll give me a call when you’re planning to come back again.’
‘I promise.’ As she said it, Anna realised she was definitely looking forward to seeing him again. With her lifestyle, however, the question was just when that might be. ‘The trouble is that I’m going off on another prospecting trip in a week’s time.’
He looked up with interest. ‘So you’ll still be in the UK next week? Where? Here in Bristol?’
‘No, back in London, I’m afraid. I have a week of catching up with work after being away.’ He looked disappointed so she reached across and gave his hand a little squeeze. ‘But I really would like to see you again.’
He waved to the waiter and asked for the bill. As he did so, she took another appraising look at him. Apart from his appearance and his generosity, the thing she really liked about him was that she felt comfortable with him. Good looks and a successful career would make him a real catch for some woman. For the first time tonight she started seriously considering whether she might be that woman. It had been a very pleasant evening and he had turned out to be a fun dinner companion with whom she had instantly found herself at ease, and this was a real rarity for her. Of course, the big question was how he felt about her. In so many ways he appeared to be the ideal man but she knew from painful experience that her feelings for potential boyfriends weren’t always the same as theirs for her. Was it possible he really did like her? Could there be the nucleus of a relationship there? Mind you, she reminded herself, it was going to be a while before she was back in Bristol again.
The trouble was – by the time she was free to see him again, he might well have been snatched up by some other lucky woman. The more she thought about it, the realisation began to dawn on her that this could so easily have been the start of something good – except for her bloody job.
Chapter 3
Over breakfast next morning, Anna faced a barrage of questions from her mother and ended up telling her how much she had enjoyed being with Toby and how she could even imagine things getting serious with him, had it not been for her job. Her mother couldn’t miss the frustration in her voice.
‘You’ve said it yourself, Anna, maybe it’s time to think about a change. Isn’t there something you could do in the company that doesn’t keep sending you off all over the place? Or what about finding something down here? You’re not getting any younger, you know, and you need to start thinking seriously about the future.’
‘Don’t think I haven’t.’ Anna stared down into her mug of tea pensively. ‘The thing is that I love my job. I’m a geologist through and through and, like it or lump it, I get a real kick out of prospecting. Being relegated to an office job would be suffocating.’
‘But if it meant you could be with the man you love…’
‘Don’t let’s put the cart before the horses here, Mum. I like Toby, but I’ve only seen him once in twenty years. I hardly know him and I have no idea how he feels about me. He was friendly last night, he was considerate, but it might just have been politeness. After all, he knows you and his mum are friends. I have no idea whether he’ll even contact me again.’
She discovered the answer to that conundrum only twenty-four hours later. She was back in London, sitting at her desk, ploughing through correspondence that had accumulated in her absence, when her phone bleeped and she saw that it was a message from the man himself.
Hi Anna. Are you free on Wednesday by any chance? I have a morning meeting in London and I wondered if I could take you out for lunch. PS I enjoyed Saturday night a lot.
That answered one question – he had decided to contact her. She read and reread the message carefully and had to conclude that it sounded as though he really had enjoyed her company. After all, he had added a lot, hadn’t he? One thing was for sure – she knew she wanted to see him again so the first thing she did was to go and see Douglas to ask if he minded if she worked flexible hours on Wednesday. To her relief he had no objections, so she was able to text Toby back, saying she would love to meet up with him again. To reinforce the message, she added a little x at the end.
They arranged to meet on Wednesday in front of the Tate Modern gallery. She made sure she was wearing her nicest dress and had even located a pair of earrings, determined to be prepared for anything in case he was planning on going somewhere posh. She had been thinking about him a lot. Apart from being good company, he had been refreshingly modest, not least when she had checked out his company on the internet and discovered that it was a lot bigger than she had imagined and clearly doing very well indeed. But his financial status was far less important to her than the fact that she had just felt so unusually relaxed with him and, for her, that meant an awful lot. It was, therefore, with real anticipation that she walked along the bank of the Thames, past Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, to meet him. She found him already standing outside the gallery, looking very smart in an immaculate suit, collar and tie. As he spotted her, a broad smile spread across his face.
‘Hi, Anna, it’s so good to see you again.’
She went up to him and held out both hands, wondering whether to shake his hand or kiss him. Clearly he was similarly unsure so she took the initiative and reached forward to kiss him on the cheek. At that exact moment he bent towards her, hand outstretched, and her kiss ended up on his lips by mistake. As she stepped back in embarrassment, she could feel her own cheeks burning but took heart from the sight of his face glowing like a traffic light.
‘Hi, Toby.’ She swallowed hard, the feel of his lips still on hers, and did her best to sound unflustered. ‘This is a lovely surprise. I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again for ages. This is a real bonus. How did your meeting go?’
By this time he had recovered from the kiss and was able to reply in a normal tone. ‘It was fine, thanks. Now, how about lunch?’ He pointed into the gallery. ‘Have you ever eaten in the restaurant up on the top floor?’
Anna shook her head. ‘I didn’t even know there was a restaurant here.’
The restaurant turned out to be very good and, in particular, it had spectacular views over London. He had booked a table right by the window, and central London stretched out before them with the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral unmistakable in the centre. As they ate, they chatted and Anna was delighted to find it just as easy to talk to him as it had been at the weekend. There was no doubt about it – being here with him just felt right somehow and the conversation flowed.
He told her about his meeting – something to do with a big contract to supply computer software to a multinational company – and she told him about her next assignment, searching for rare metals on the island of Elba, and he immediately sounded intrigued.
‘That’s amazing. Who knows, maybe I’ll see you there. I’ve promised myself a real holiday this summer and I’ve chartered a yacht for a cruise around the Med in two weeks’ time. I’ve always loved sailing and I’ve booked the boat for a full four weeks. I want it to be a proper break.’
‘That sounds wonderful. I used to do a lot of dinghy sailing when I was younger and I’ve always fancied the idea of a cruise.’
‘I don’t suppose you’d like to come with me, would you? It’s a big boat so there’s lots of room.’ He sounded tentative and, realising what he had said, was quick to explain. ‘I mean there are three or four cabins. I wasn’t proposing anything dodgy.’
Anna grinned into her lemon sole and dauphinoise potatoes as she formulated a response. One thing was clear – it was sounding as though he liked her. He would hardly be inviting her to holiday with him if he didn’t. Setting down her fork, she looked across at him and gave him a warm smile.
‘I can’t imagine you suggesting anything dodgy, I promise. It’s a lovely offer but I just can’t, I’m afraid. I’m going to be working on Elba for at least two weeks and my line manager was just saying today that they might want me to go straight off somewhere else immediately afterwards. Add to that the fact that my partner might have to rush off on paternity leave and it’s out of the question, much as I’d have loved to.’ As she spoke, she found herself wondering what she would have said if she had been able to take the time off work. Setting off on holiday with a man she barely knew was hardly the sort of thing she would normally have contemplated, but Toby was somehow different. Although she was only just beginning to get to know him again, she instinctively knew she could trust him.
He looked disappointed but not surprised. ‘I’m just sorry it’s such short notice. It would have been great if you could have managed it. Anyway, if I find myself anywhere near Elba, I’ll give you a call. Maybe if you have the time, you might like to meet up again?’ That same note of insecurity was back in his voice and she was quick to reassure him.
‘I would like that, Toby, a lot.’
It was an excellent meal and by the time they emerged into the August sunshine once more they knew a lot more about one another. They had shared reminiscences of their childhood living close by in Bristol and their subsequent studies and careers. She had filled him in on just what her job entailed and how frustrating she found it to be in the position of doing something she loved but which effectively screwed up her chances of a normal private life. He had told her more about his business and the sacrifices he had had to make in order to grow it to its current size. The main sacrifice – and the one that interested Anna the most – appeared to be that his single-minded dedication to his job had prevented him from forming any lasting relationships. Not only was he desirable, he was available.
She enjoyed being with him a lot and was genuinely sorry to have to leave him and return to work. It felt like the most natural thing in the world for her to kiss him on the cheeks as they said goodbye and she had to resist the naughty impulse to plant a whacking great kiss on his lips. As she gripped him by the arms she could feel strong biceps beneath his jacket. This wasn’t just a computer nerd and she felt real attraction to him. She gave his arms a little squeeze before stepping back.
‘I’ve really enjoyed today. Thank you for thinking of me and taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down and talk. And thanks ever so much for a super lunch, but it’s not fair that you keep paying.’
‘I would happily buy you lunch every day.’ From the smile on his face she felt pretty sure he had enjoyed these few hours together as much as she had. ‘I’m the one who should thank you. I’m going to do my very best to see if it might be possible to swing by Elba in a couple of weeks’ time. I can’t wait to see you again.’ He caught hold of her hands and pulled her close enough to just let his lips brush against hers for a brief second or two.
It felt really good and, deep down, she sensed that this could be the start of something really special – or so she hoped.
Chapter 4
Anna flew across to Tuscany the following Monday and Charlie picked her up from Pisa airport. He had driven down from England with all their work kit, taking two days over the journey, but she had preferred to use some of her airmiles on a short flight instead. Following Sir Graham’s orders, Charlie had abandoned the usual Land Rover emblazoned with the company’s logos, in favour of an anonymous rented vehicle with four-wheel drive. As far as the inhabitants of the island of Elba were concerned, they would just be tourists.
It was a warm but windy day and the sea was unexpectedly rough when they reached the port of Piombino on Italy’s west coast from where they would take the short ferry ride across to the island. On the way down from Pisa they had been chatting and Anna wasn’t surprised to hear from Charlie that his wife had taken an understandably dim view of his heading off and leaving her again barely ten days before her due date. Anna felt pretty sure she was going to find herself left alone here before long as he headed back to start his paternity leave. As Sir Graham had said, no doubt head office would send her a replacement partner but, even if they didn’t, being on her own wouldn’t be the end of the world. She didn’t much like it, but she was used to it by now. Besides, finding herself alone on a holiday island like Elba would be a lot nicer than being marooned in an isolated guest house in the Andes or somewhere in the wilds of Equatorial Africa. Apart from anything else, the food here in Tuscany promised to be good and it was a lot less likely she’d be mauled by a lion.
As they drove down the coast with the rolling hills of Tuscany off to their left and the sandy beaches of the Mediterranean to their right, she told Charlie about the latest developments in her personal life. Since their lunch together, she and Toby had exchanged text messages and he had called her the previous day from Berlin, where he was attending a trade fair, to wish her bon voyage. Charlie listened closely before making an observation.
‘You like this guy, don’t you?’
‘I do. He’s very attractive but it’s more than that. I just feel comfortable and happy with him and I know I can trust him. I find I can talk to him as easily as I’m talking to you – and you know how I so often flounder about when I’m talking to strangers, particularly strange men – but it’s not like that at all with him.’
‘So when do you think you’ll see him again?’
‘Hopefully as early as next week or the week after.’ She went on to tell him what Toby had said about his holiday on board the yacht. ‘I’m really looking forward to it.’
The crossing to Elba’s main town of Portoferraio on the white and red Toremar car ferry took barely an hour. From a distance – and it was only ten kilometres from the mainland – the island looked very green and very hilly, particularly off to the west where it was decidedly mountainous. As they approached the port on the north side of the island, she looked out over the choppy waters and liked what she saw. The little town sprawled up and across the flank of one of the lower hills and was composed of buildings of all shapes, sizes and styles. The jumble of red-roofed houses had been built alongside a series of massive old fortress walls that her phone told her had been built in the sixteenth century on the orders of Cosimo de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Right on the quayside was an imposing ancient stone tower and it was clear that over the centuries this little island had been fiercely fought over – no doubt because of its mineral deposits. The harbour itself was still packed with boats, even though they were now into September and schools would presumably be going back before long, and she could see crowds of tourists on the quayside. It looked like Elba was going to be busy even though the main holiday month of August had just passed.
Their hotel was situate
d roughly in the middle of the south coast of the island, barely half an hour by car from Portoferraio along the narrow, twisty and quite busy roads. The reservations for their first week had been made for them by the redoubtable Mrs Osborne on Sir Graham’s explicit instructions and, for once, she appeared to have got it right – unlike the doss house in the red-light district of La Paz where they had ended up last spring. Arrangements made by Mrs O had been getting increasingly hit-and-miss over the past couple of years and they both heaved a sigh of relief when they saw this place. Although the access was along a tortuous road that deteriorated into a potholed gravel track as it dropped down towards the sea, the hotel itself was delightful. Hotel Panorama was all on its own and situated less than a hundred yards from a little curved beach of greyish sand, ringed by a forest of umbrella pines, the gentle waves in the bay vastly different from the big rollers they had encountered on the ferry crossing to the north coast. Even better, Anna and Charlie had been given rooms looking out over the sea. Each had a balcony and the first thing she did was to go out and survey the view.
Although it was late afternoon by now, the sky was cloudless and the sun strong. As a result it was still very warm in spite of the stiff breeze and there were people sitting on the sand or splashing around in the water down below. Further out there were half a dozen kitesurfers and windsurfers that added extra splashes of colour to the scene. On either side of the bay there were headlands finishing in low cliffs, and the water close to shore was a transparent light aquamarine colour with darker patches of rock or weed clearly visible on the seabed. It was charming.
‘Beats the crap out of Cornwall, doesn’t it?’
Anna looked over to see Charlie standing on his own balcony, barely a few feet away, also admiring the view. She wagged her finger at him. ‘Don’t say that, Charlie. Cornwall’s lovely when the sun shines.’