by Rikki Dyson
“But you didn’t actually go into the market and help her shop?”
Bewildered by her question, Shane said, “No, I had my hair trimmed.”
“Oh, you have much to learn my darling husband, and I think it’s gonna’ be fun teaching you.”
When they arrived back at the supermarket, Shane grabbed a grocery trolley and was pushing it. At the vegetables bin, Stacey picked out a few vegetables, then asked, “Shane, do you like artichokes?” As she showed him one.
“Of course, I’ve heard of artichokes, but I can’t say I’ve ever eaten one.”
“Good,” Stacey said. “I’ll cook it and you’ll like it. That’s what Mr. Chen told me and he was right.”
Stacey picked out a few more vegetables, then she saw a melon ball. She was looking at it, thinking it would be perfect to remove the core of the artichoke.
“Shane, do you have a melon ball?” Stacey asked.
“No, I don’t think so, they both looked the same the last time I looked,” he replied.
It took a second or two for Stacey to understand his meaning. When she turned and looked at him, he was juggling oranges with a grin on his face. The sudden realization of his remark started her laughing. It was one of those times when she just couldn’t stop. She laughed until she had tears running down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes and tried to finish the shopping. If she looked at Shane her laughter would start all over again.
She told him, “Go away,” but he wouldn’t. She laughed so much she was about to pee her pants. “Take the cart and check out,” Stacey said. “I’ve gotta’ find a restroom.”
Shane took the cart to the check out register, and was laying the purchases on the counter. The young cashier was busy and petulant, “Do you want paper or plastic?”
“Paper or plastic what?” Shane asked.
“Bags for your purchases sir,” she said as she looked at him for the first time.
“Which do you suggest?” Shane asked as he dazzled her with his handsome smile.
“Paper is biodegradable, plastic isn’t,” she informed him with a smile of her own.
“Right, then paper it is. I’m rather new at this,” Shane said.
Stacey had come from the restroom and was looking around. The cashier saw her and asked, “Are you looking for a tall bloke?”
“Yes I am,” Stacey said. “did he leave?”
“Yes he did, just a minute or so ago. You need a leash on that one,” the cashier said smiling. That started Stacey laughing again. When she got outside, Shane was putting the groceries in the car. Stacey thought she was finally over her laughing, until they were home and she was putting away the food. In the bottom of one bag was the melon ball and three oranges. The laughter started all over again. Shane found her sitting on the kitchen floor.
He sat down beside her, “Is this part of the ritual of storing provisions away?” He asked.
Stacey lay back on the floor and said, “If you’re gonna’ make me start laughing again, don’t, my sides are hurting already.”
Shane was leaning on one elbow with his other hand on her waist. He leaned over and said, “How about if I just kiss you then?” After the sensuous kiss, he asked, “Are you still...?”
Stacey nodded her head, “Yes.”
“In that case my lass, I guess we should continue storing provisions away.”
On Friday morning Stacey had a Texas breakfast ready for Shane when he came down from the shower. “What smells so good?” he asked. Stacey had made toasted English muffins with a slice of tomato, a poached egg and jalapeño cheese melted over it. Shane had never before eaten food like this. “This is delicious,” he said as he reached across the table and took Stacey’s hand and said, “I’m a lucky man; not only are you beautiful and sexy, but can cook too. What more could a man want?”
They spent the day holding hands, talking and watching a Rugby game on TV. That evening for supper Stacey made stuffed artichokes. Shane was skeptical, but he tried it and he liked it.
“See, I told you, Mr. Chen is never wrong,” Stacey said.
“I’m greatly anticipating meeting this paragon of culinary delights,” Shane said.
“Oh you will, he’ll need to put his stamp of approval on you.”
“If he doesn’t approve, will you leave me by the wayside?”
Mischievously, Stacey said, “That’s a great possibility. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see about that.”
Shane took Stacey’s hand, kissed it and said with mirth, “You’re a naughty minx, Mrs. McLeod, but I do love you.”
“Well, in that case, I may just keep you with or without his approval,” she said.
Shane was chortling heartily as he sat her on his lap.
Chapter 17
Karaoke Bar
Later in the evening they picked up Hugh to go to the going away party. The karaoke bar was packed. They’d been there about twenty minutes when Annie arrived. “I thought you weren’t gonna’ make it,” Stacey said, and gave her a hug.
“Yes, I’m here for a little while, I didn’t want to miss out on saying goodbye to everyone.” Annie saw Shane and said, “Hello, how are you, Doctor McLeod? Congratulation on your engagement.”
“Very well, thank you professor, please call me Shane,” he said, and then introduced his friend, Hugh Grant to Professor Anne Rutledge.
“Hello, Professor Rutledge,” Hugh said as they shook hands. “I’m a cardiologist, not the actor.”
“Yes, well, I suspected that right away,” Annie said, with an amused smile.
“How long have you been here, Stacey?” Annie asked.
“About twenty minutes. Why?”
“No reason,” she said. “I can’t stay long. I must put in an appearance at a boring dinner party.” Annie was expected at her parents dinner party and she wasn’t looking forward to it. Her mother was a overbearing, domineering woman, so Annie stayed away as much as possible.
Young people had been coming over to say, hello and goodbye, since they had arrived.
Hugh leaned toward Annie and said, “I’m glad you were able to make it. It’s nice to have someone here, I don’t feel I should take on my knee.” Annie gave him a strange look. “Oh, please forgive me,” Hugh said. “That didn’t come out right, did it?”
“I know what you mean, Doctor Grant. Don’t dig your hole any deeper,” Annie advised him, with a smile.
Eric came over and saw Annie dressed to the nines. “Wow! Professor, you do clean up nice. I guess you came to watch Stacey and me screw up again?”
“Exactly Eric, that’s why I live and breathe.”
Eric smiled and said, “Well, in that case you’re just in time.”
Eric took Stacey’s hand and said, “Let’s go baby cakes, we’re next.” Eric grinned at Shane and said, “Sorry Doc, but I need my partner.”
Both Eric and Stacey were wearing levis. Stacey wore red western boots, a thin Indian design belt, red short sleeved ribbed sweater top that just touched the top of her jeans.
“What are those two going to do?” Hugh asked Annie.
“Don’t ask,” Annie said. “they’ve been practicing this routine for over a month and they haven’t got it right yet.”
Stacey and Eric put their thin headphones on and waited for the CD to start. They had made up a dance routine to the ‘Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow’ song, ‘ Pictures.’ Each did a solo two step, while the other one was singing. During the instrumental part they danced together. As Shane watched, he was astonished. He hadn’t seen this side of Stacey and had no idea she could sing. Shane wasn’t a connoisseur of country music, but he did enjoy Stacey’s performance. When they finished Eric and Stacey kissed quickly. Shane didn’t much care for that. The place went wild with applause. Annie was laughing and applauding at the same time.
“I can’t believe they finally got it right,” she said. When they came back to the table, Annie hugged them both and said, “Congratulations you two. That was a great climax to a wonderful s
eason.”
Eric was standing behind Stacey’s chair with his hands on her shoulders and touching her hair. Shane was sure he didn’t like this familiarity between them. He remembered when Stacey was in hospital, that Eric was there quite often, holding her hand and talking to her. Trying to get her to wake up, to regain consciousness. Shane didn’t think much about it then, but now, it was different. He looked at Annie, but she didn’t act like this was anything out of the ordinary.
When he glanced at Hugh, he knew he was wondering, ‘what’s this,’ also. Eric leaned over, kissed the top of Stacey’s head, then put his hand out to shake hands with Shane. “Thanks Doc, for the loan of your girl,” Eric said.
“You’re welcome,” Shane said. “As long as you understand it was just a loan.”
“Gotcha’ Doc,” Eric said, and walked away chortling. What nobody knew, but Stacey and Eric was, he knew they were married. When Stacey told Eric they were engaged and that she was living in doctor McLeod’s flat, he hit the ceiling. He and Stacey had their biggest argument ever. Eric was sure this older, sophisticated man was using Stacey and taking advantage of her innocence. He was so sure, he was gonna’ knock his block off. He made Stacey so mad, she told him, they were married. At first he didn’t believe her. He had known Stacey since she was thirteen. He knew she wasn’t a liar, so when she told him the whole story, he started to settle down and listen. Stacey told him, “One more thing, Eric, don’t mess with Shane. He can give as good as he gets or better.”
Eric remembered, Doctor McLeod from the hospital. He had liked him then and thought the Doc an alright guy. Eric knew how stubborn Stacey could be, and they were married. So he would keep their secret and keep an eye on things. He got a kick out of watching the Doc. He knew he didn’t much like him being so close to Stacey tonight.
“Now that I’ve seen the main attraction, I must leave,” Annie said. Stacey and Eric hugged her, goodbye.
“I’ll call you from home,” Stacey promised.
“Mind yourself,” Annie said.
“Professor Rutledge, would you mind dropping me off at the nearest taxi stand? With you leaving, there’s no reason for me to stay.” Hugh felt ancient among all these young people. Once again, his mind wandered to Stacey and wondered if she was playing games with his friend.
“Certainly, Doctor Grant, if you’re ready to go now,” she said.
Shane slapped Hugh on the shoulder and said, “I’ll call you in a day or two.”
While Hugh and Annie where driving they made small talk. Finally Hugh said, “I understand you and Stacey are good friends.”
“Yes we are, Doctor Grant.”
“Would I be out of line, if I asked you some questions about Stacey?”
“Like what?” Annie was suspicious of Doctor Grant. She had noticed the looks that he had given Stacey tonight.
“I’m a bit concerned about Shane,” Hugh said. “Stacey is young, twenty-one, right? Shane is a bit more mature. I know he’s old enough to look out for himself, but I know better than most people how easy it is to be blind sided by a beautiful woman.”
“What’s your point, Doctor Grant?”
“Hell, I guess I’m asking, is Stacey serious about my friend or is this just a lark? Shane has never been in love before and I don’t fancy seeing him hurt.”
“What you’re saying, Doctor Grant is, you think Stacey is going to hurt him?”
“Yes, I’m afraid I do. America is a long way away. Stacey is a young beautiful college girl away from home, having a lark.”
“Well, Doctor Grant, don’t you think Doctor McLeod is old enough and experienced enough to take care of himself? He doesn’t appear to me to be the gullible type.”
“That may be so, but she and this Eric chap, seemed awfully friendly, to me.”
Annie pulled up to a taxi laughing. “Here’s your taxi Doctor Grant. Goodnight.”
As Hugh got out of Annie’s car he asked, “Could I get your number and call you sometime?”
Annie looked at him thoughtfully, for a few seconds, then said, “I’m in the book.” And drove away. Hugh knew he liked her. He would call her as soon as she was back in town. He hoped he hadn’t hurt his chances by asking to much about Stacey. Hugh had liked Stacey, yesterday when they’d met, but tonight he saw her as an enigma.
Chapter 18
The Parting
Shane had been rather quiet on the way home. “Tonight wasn’t your, cup of tea, was it?” Stacey asked. Although Shane and Hugh both were polite, it was obvious a karaoke bar was not one of their places of entertainment.
“It was interesting and different. I wasn’t aware that you’re an entertainer.”
Stacey heard a hint of disapproval in his voice and said, “That was just for fun. I guess we’ll have to adapt to each others worlds.”
Shane didn’t say anything, and him being so quiet made Stacey wonder, if maybe they had rushed into marriage too soon. They knew so little about each other and she was smart enough, to know compatible sex wasn’t enough to hold a marriage together. She knew he was a little uncomfortable tonight, and Hugh was watching her with suspicion in his eyes. That didn’t really surprise her much, because of his ordeal with his ex-wife.
Shortly after they arrived home, Stacey took a shower. When she came out of the bathroom, Shane was in bed reading a medical journal with one hand behind his head and the other holding the folded magazine. Stacey sat on the bed putting lotion on her legs. Shane looked at her and winked. Stacey leaned up and kissed him. He took her hand, kissed it and held on to it, then went right back to reading his journal. Stacey started kissing his chest and running her other hand down into his knickers. From behind his magazine he said, “Miss minx, you’re about to start something you can’t finish.”
“When have I ever started something I couldn’t finish?”
Shane frowned and said, “You mean...?”
“Yep.” She said. The journal was discarded and Stacey was on her back in an instant. She was laughing and kissing him. Teasingly, she said, “You’re pretty fast for an old man.”
I’ll show you old man,” he said.
“Yes, Stacey said. Please show me.”
“He did and he did again. He gave sensual pleasures to her and himself. They fell asleep in each others arms and slept late on Saturday morning. Stacey was in the kitchen when Shane woke and came downstairs. “Would you like to have breakfast in bed?” Stacey asked.
“Sure,” he said. “if you’re on the menu.”
“I could be,” Stacey said, and kissed him, “but how about some blueberry muffins and coffee first?”
They had less than twenty hours before Stacey would be leaving for the states. They almost got into an argument over money, until Stacey finally gave in and accepted his offer. Shane wanted to put money into Stacey’s bank account each month. He felt, now that they were married and Stacey being his wife, she was his financial responsibility. Then there was Eric, but he just couldn’t bring himself to ask about him. Shane knew Stacey loved him, and he was the first man she had ever been with intimately. He couldn’t imagine her being unfaithful. That was one of the many reasons he loved her. She was so forthright, with her feelings. They spent the next few hours talking, loving and making plans. Shane promised Stacey he would be in New York around the middle of October. That gave them both something to look forward to and help the time pass:
Shane had not checked the messages on his answering machine since their return. Stacey was standing in his study doorway eating an orange. She had just put a slice in Shane’s mouth as another message started.
“Hello, Shane darling, it’s Miranda.
Shane started to stop the message, then thought better of it. He didn’t know what Stacey’s reaction might be, but he felt it would be more diplomatic to be open with her than to act suspect. Stacey knew there had been other women in Shane’s life before they met. ( the message continued. ) I’ve missed you so. I hope you’ve missed me too. I’ll be in London f
or a fortnight. Call me, ‘stud muffin.’ You know where I am. I’ll be waiting, ta, ta.”
“Sorry,” Shane said, totally embarrassed. “I swear she has never before called me that.”
Stacey pitched him the rest of the orange and said as she turned to leave, “I’ll give you some privacy, so you can set that lady straight..., stud muffin.”
Shane called Miranda and tried to explain to her, that he had met the most wonderful woman and they were now engaged. Miranda didn’t believe him. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he was married, but they had mutual friends. Some of them were in Scotland. Finally he made her understand he was serious and truly was engaged.
Miranda was shocked and a bit angry. She had never heard him say, he was the least bit interested in marriage. He had always said he was married to his profession.
A tall handsome man dressed in a silk robe and pajamas, turned from looking out the window of his multi-million pound penthouse, with the view of the Thames River and London Bridge; just as Miranda threw her mobile across the room and said, “If Shane McLeod thinks he’s going to marry some little twit, that he had to put a ring on her finger in order to shag her, well he better think again.”
The man asked, “Why are you acting like a jealous fool, Miranda? It’s not like you had an exclusive relationship with Shane, so get over it. I’ll call Dwight and have him get the jet ready. You need to get to Buenos Aires and take care of business. Then I’m sure Paulo will be more than happy to help you mend your broken heart,” he added with some sarcasm. Miranda grabbed her briefcase and handbag and said, “If you weren’t ill, I would throttle your tight ass.” Then she walked out the door and slammed it behind her. After Miranda’s tirade and departure, the man turned back to the window to continue his lonely vigil of watching the river traffic below.
After calling Miranda, Shane went directly to Stacey to apologize, but Stacey seemed okay with the situation, and said, “I trust you Shane, until you give me reason not too. Our marriage is based on trust. That doesn’t mean I might not get jealous sometime, or you either, but as long as we keep communications open and truthful, we should be okay.”