Julia Williams - The Perfect Escape - Romantic short stories to relax with

‘Let me take you away from all of this.’ Barry appeared at her desk, straight from ‘some damned boring accountant’s meeting, during which you were all I could think of’ at lunchtime, looking at once apologetic, and damnably gorgeous. It was very hard to stay cross with him for long. Claire sometimes wondered about Barry’s job – he was in financial advice, so he said, but he seemed to get an awful lot of money for doing not a great deal, as far as she could tell. He often took her out for lunch, usually when she didn’t have time. But Barry was very hard to resist.

‘I don’t know that you deserve me,’ said Claire, determined to keep up a little bit of pressure.

‘Probably not,’ said Barry. ‘But I do love you.’

‘If you say so,’ said Claire, picking up her bag. It really was impossible to deny him. ‘Where do you want to take me, then?’

‘Where?’ said Barry, taking her arm and steering her towards the door. ‘More like how.’

‘Don’t start all that again,’ said Claire, as they entered the lift. ‘Look how much trouble it got you into last time.’

The lift was empty, apart from the two of them, and they looked at each other and laughed.

‘There’s something about an enclosed space …’ said Barry, and pulled her close towards him.

‘Isn’t there just?’ said Claire and responded to his kiss with passion.

Lifts and

Barry would forever be associated in her mind with sex, or at least foreplay. By the time they got to the ground floor she was quite giddy with desire.

‘Are we going to bother with lunch or what?’ she asked.

‘What do you think?’ said Barry with a grin. ‘I take it your parents have already gone?’

‘Yes, they got the first train back this morning,’ said Claire. ‘They could only cope with one night in the great metropolis.’

‘Then what are we waiting for?’ Barry pulled her out of the door, and nearly fell into the road, waving his arms like a maniac, ‘Taxi!’

‘I think,’ he said, ‘it’s time to carry on where we left off last night.’

‘Good idea,’ said Claire, sinking into his arms.

*

A week later, Claire came humming into work. Her sex life had been great for the past week. She had been getting a little worried recently that Barry hadn’t been quite as attentive to her needs as when they first met. But this past week had put paid to that notion. Which was just as well, as he had to go off on a course for a couple of days. She felt slightly better about it, knowing that Mel was going too, and had promised to look after him.

‘Any messages for me, Kerry?’ Claire asked their lank and morose receptionist, who was possibly the least welcoming person in the universe.

‘Yeah, there was one. He rang last night, after you’d gone.’

‘Who rang?’ It was always rather difficult extracting information out of Kerry.

‘Said his name was Steve. He said you’d know who he meant.’

Steve. Steve. Claire couldn’t help the traitorous little leap her heart gave at the mention of his name.

‘Did he say what he wanted?’ Claire tried to keep her voice casual.

‘Nah. Just said he’d catch up with you tomorrow.’

‘Did he leave a number?’ Claire had deliberately deleted his mobile number from her phone when she had started to see Barry. And now she had a new phone, so Steve couldn’t ring that. For all she knew he might still be at the same address, but knowing Steve, he was likely to have moved on again.

‘Nah. Just said he’d be here by lunchtime.’

‘Wha-a-at????’ Claire’s knees went weak and trembly. She had to hold onto the pillar beside Kerry’s desk. ‘He’s coming here? When? How?’ she croaked.

‘That’s what the man said,’ said Kerry looking up for a moment from the all-important task of filing her nails. ‘And lunchtime, is lunchtime. So I dunno, I expect he’ll be here after 12.’

Claire went upstairs to her office, and sank down at her desk, in a total state of shock. Steve coming here? What on earth was she going to say to him?

Claire spent a nervous morning twitching every time the phone rang in case it was Kerry to say that Steve was there. She should refuse to see him. That was the most sensible course of action. Except … it would be good to see him again. And she was curious as to why he had come.

She waited till 1pm, but he still hadn’t turned up, so in the end she went out to get herself a sandwich. He probably wasn’t coming. It must be a wind-up. She was just turning back down the street where her office was, when she heard the sound of a revving engine, and a blur of silver and black roared past her, heading for her office entrance. She swallowed hard. Typical of Steve to want to make a grand entrance.

He mounted the pavement in the square in front of her office, and sat legs astride his bike, the engine still throbbing, a vision of masculine beauty in his black leathers. He took off his helmet as she arrived, and shook out his tousled mane of black curls. He gave her his wonky grin, and his green eyes sparkled with delight as she approached him. Claire was having difficulty breathing. She had forgotten he could have that effect on her. After Barry’s rather pretty boy looks it was quite a shock to reencounter the rugged sensuality that was Steve.

‘Hi,’ she squeaked, her mouth dry, and her heart hammering so loud she felt sure the whole world could hear it. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I came to see you of course,’ said Steve, switching off the engine, and climbing off the bike.

‘You do know I’m getting married in three weeks, don’t you?’ Claire felt like a child in a sweet shop, so wanting to touch, and knowing she shouldn’t.

‘Yes, I know. I ran into your mum in town.We went for a coffee in Costa. She told me.’

‘Really?’ Claire was amazed. All the time she’d been going out with Steve, she’d got the impression they thought she could do better. How come her mum was suddenly having coffee with him?

‘She’s worried about you, Claire,’ he said. ‘Both your parents are. They don’t think this Barry is right for you.’

Claire was speechless. How dare her parents interfere in her life?

‘It’s none of their damned business,’ said Claire. ‘Or yours for that matter.’

‘Isn’t it?’ he looked at her. Such a look, it made her feel he was staring into her soul.

‘Don’t marry Barry,’ he said. ‘Marry me.’

Claire swallowed hard. Here he was asking her the one question she had always wanted him to. Now. When it was too late.

‘Steve, I can’t. It’s over. I love Barry, and I’m marrying him. I’m sorry,’ she said.

‘Not even if I proved to you that Barry is wrong for you, and that we should be together?’

‘How are you going to prove that?’ said Claire. ‘Besides. He isn’t wrong for me. You are. You’ve never committed yourself to anyone or anything in your life. Why should I believe you?’

‘Because I’ve changed,’ said Steve. ‘You were right. I was going nowhere in my life. But I’ve just enrolled on a college course in ICT. But before I do that, I still want to travel. My offer still stands.’

‘It’s too late,’ said Claire. ‘I am going to marry Barry. Now if you’ll excuse

me, I have work to do.’

Still shaking, she brushed past Steve to go into the building. He caught her arm, and pulled her to him, and suddenly she was drowning in his arms, and they were kissing as if they had never kissed before.

‘No,’ Claire pushed him back. ‘Sorry, Steve, this is just wrong. I have to go.’

‘Now tell me we’re wrong for each other.’ She couldn’t bear to see the pleading in his eyes.

‘We’re wrong for each other,’ Claire said, and stumbled inside.