‘Sitting pretty? Stop worrying,’ he said roughly. ‘Life’s full of these ups and downs. You just go with the flow.’ He poured them some water, darting a quick glance at her. She was a strange mixture, he thought to himself. Very mature in many ways, but in others unconfident and naïve. He was going to enjoy showing her around town, giving her a day off from family responsibilities.
They enjoyed a delicious pasta meal, and a bottle of Chardonnay, then took a cab to Trafalgar Square, which was crowded with sightseers, and hundreds of pigeons scattering everywhere to pick food up from the ground, before flying off in vast numbers at head height. Cryssie ducked anxiously a few times, and Jed looked down at her quizzically.
‘These things don’t bother you, do they?’
‘A bit,’ Cryssie admitted. ‘I’ve always been afraid of anything that comes too close to my face.’
‘Hmm…I must try and remember that,’ he said enigmatically, and Cryssie coloured at the remark.
‘Don’t you have any hang-ups?’ she asked. ‘Most people do.’
‘Nah…not really,’ he said easily. ‘Though I wouldn’t volunteer to spend the night, alone in a room with a couple of poisonous snakes.’ He grinned down at her. ‘Do you want to do some window-shopping? Or some real shopping? There are bound to be most places open.’
‘I’d love to walk down Oxford Street,’ Cryssie said. ‘But window shopping will do me fine.’
Strolling along the wide pavements together, in an afternoon which had become unusually mild, Jed kept wondering why he was feeling so—contented. So complete. The day was meant to have been about finalising an important business deal, not whiling away the time in a totally non-productive way. But he was enjoying himself! There were no pressures, no clients to convince, and he was getting a curious satisfaction out of Cryssie’s delight in being here. Watching her as she stared at everything in the huge window displays made him wonder where she’d been all her life…she was like a child on Christmas morning!
Suddenly, he turned to see a tour bus bearing down on them and, grabbing Cryssie’s hand, he made her trot behind him towards a nearby stop. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘You’ll see more if we ride.’
Together they got on, and Cryssie went upstairs, followed by Jed, who pushed her along to the vacant seats right at the front. He could hardly believe he was doing this! How long was it since he’d been on a bus? Cryssie’s excitement was infectious as they passed all the famous sights.
‘I’m ashamed that at my age I’ve never seen all this before,’ she said eagerly. She glanced out of the window. ‘You obviously know it so well, it must be boring for you to spend time doing this, Jed.’
‘I’m not bored at all,’ he replied at once, knowing that he could sit in the corner of a corporation car park with this woman and not be bored! And for the life of him he couldn’t explain it. He was conscious of the warmth of her against his shoulder and thigh as they sat there close, and he forced himself to edge away, giving them both some distance.
Presently the route was completed, and they got off the bus and began to stroll across one of the nearby parks, mingling with other couples and families who were enjoying the relaxation of Sunday.
‘Uh-oh, I can feel spots of rain,’ Jed said suddenly, glancing upwards, and within a few minutes they found themselves caught in a heavy downpour. ‘Quick,’ he said, shrugging off his casual jacket and covering Cryssie’s shoulders with it.
‘Jed—there’s no need—’ she began, but he silenced her.
‘My shirt’ll soon dry off—what you’ve got on will take longer. Come on—let’s run for it.’ And together they made their way as quickly as they could towards the main road.
Laughing and gasping, they hailed a taxi and, sitting alongside her, Jed said, ‘You won’t want to be late getting back, will you? Back home to Milo…?’
With a start, Cryssie realised that she hadn’t even thought of Milo, or Polly, or anything much else, for the last few hours. The thought came as quite a shock!
‘Um, well, not too late, I suppose, Jed. Though I did say I didn’t know when we’d be back,’ she said.
He smiled to himself. ‘Good, then we’ll go back to the flat and maybe get Renaldo to send us up a meal later—unless you’d rather go out somewhere? There are plenty of smart restaurants I could show you.’
Cryssie looked up at him quickly. ‘No—I’m happy to stay in,’ she said. ‘I’m feeling quite tired.’