It all began so innocently. Martin Gregson was out one cold winter`s evening looking to buy a cake to share at home with his wife. He then sees Wendy.
His first true love who he hasn`t seen for over twenty years and almost instantly has his heart all fluttering again. Martin soon realises that the feelings that he had for her back then, still haven`t gone away and after Wendy is a victim of a brutal attack, and with no one else to turn to, her and Martin begin seeing each other but purely on a platonic basis to begin with. But Wendy`s original feelings for Martin begin to resurface as well, no matter how hard she fights them knowing that he is now married and trying for a family through the IVF Program. But how long can they both fight their feelings for each other? Or will they succumb to their overwhelming desire to be together regardless of the fallout?
It was a cold winter’s night. Not a stormy or snowy night, but just a cold and clear night where a half moon shone almost as brightly as a full one and with a crispness in the air that you could snap like a twig between your fingers if you so wished. In one particularly quiet, and at first glance, ordinary looking street, there was a solitary woman. Walking up and down with her heels clipping hard into the pavement, minding her own business wearing a long black, but cheaply imitated fur coat to keep her warm as she momentarily paused to stand under a streetlight
Probably in an attempt to help cure her boredom, as there was no sign of anyone. Even The Sailors Arms at the end of the street was hardly making a sound, she first lights up a cigarette before taking out her mobile just to see if there were any messages or missed calls as Martin Gregson now found himself totally, and utterly lost and confused as he drove slowly along trying his best to get his bearings. He knew where he wanted to go and that was to a supposedly nearby Tesco’s Metro which he had heard about, hoping to buy teabags and a Victoria Sponge Cake for himself and his wife whilst they watched a romantic comedy which had been regularly advertised during the week on Film4.
“Bloody useless sat nav,” he moans. “Bet, it’s Chinese crap,” he continues moaning whilst taking another look at the screen. Not making head or tail of it at all. “If I follow this any longer I’ll probably end up in Peking,” he moans again turning away with no real intention of looking at it again as from now on, he’d rather trust his own sense of direction.
So slowly, he takes the next right and ends up in the quiet and ordinary looking street and as he surveyed the area the first thing that comes to his mind was, “Great, no sign of a Tesco’s down here either.” Defeat is immediately conceded and now he realises that there is nothing else for it, but to swallow his male pride and ask for directions.
On seeing the headlights that were clearly coming her way, the woman suddenly perks up and replaces her cigarette with a Tic Tac from her handbag and makes her way to the kerb in eager anticipation and luckily for her, she picked the exact spot where Martin had now pulled up as he winds his window down. “Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but do you know whether or not there’s a Tesco’s Metro around here somewhere?
It wasn’t so much the question itself that took the woman slightly by surprise, it was more the way it was innocently put to her. “A Tesco’s?” she asks in reply.
“Yeah. Promised the wife I’d get some teabags and a Victoria Sponge for the film tonight. Which will be starting soon so I need to get a move on.”
These words from Martin appeared like music to the woman’s ears. As she longed for that special man to be sitting beside her with tea and cake, or coffee and biscuits, anything like that whilst watching their favourite movie together just like any other normal couple. But it was just a pipe dream for now and she had to set her mind back into reality as she throws open her coat as Martin could clearly see that she was ‘A Lady in Red’, but not the Chris De Burgh kind, as her low cut dress displayed a very impressive cleavage that far outshone her face which clearly showed that she’d had a really hard paper-round.
“Well darling,” she began. “I can’t quite offer you a Victoria Sponge and a night in front of the telly. I haven’t paid my licence fee you see. But I can definitely offer you a much better time than that, which normally I’d charge fifty quid for, but, seeing how you such a good looking guy, and plus it’s bloody cold out here, I’ll make it forty, how’s that?” she asks with a wink whilst at the same time deliberately leaning into his open window making sure that he caught a real eyeful of the goods that were now on offer.
Martin just couldn’t help but gawp of what looked like two overinflated balloons which her black lace bra that was edging out of the top part of her dress struggling to keep them under control as she ensured that there was nothing else for him to look at for now, whilst making him feel like a boy who just had his first encounter with the opposite sex. And just like an innocent adolescent would, he began to blush which the woman thought was adorable.
“Aww, bless you sweetheart. There’s no need to blush and be all shy with me. Trust me, I’ll be gentle with ya,” the woman says smiling away whilst continually happy to flaunt the goods.
“Err, I’m sorry, don’t doubt you’re a nice lady and all that but I’d rather not thanks as I’ve definitely turned into the wrong street by accident here,” Martin says obviously now realising that he was certainly in the wrong part of town.
“Are you sure handsome? Promise ya, you’ll won’t regret it,” she says as her greyish/blue eyes were doing their utmost to entice him into her clutches and Martin resisted and resisted as, all of a sudden, they were both to receive an unexpected surprise.
“Right you, hop it, and leave this man alone!” a woman shouts climbing into the passenger seat and slamming the door before she turns to Martin. “And if you don’t want to get done for kerb crawling, then I strongly suggest that you get this car going right now! Just seen some coppers drive past here!” she continues to shout before buckling up her seat belt.
“Oi you, I saw him first,” the woman in red fiercely protested at the other woman who just replied.
“Tough!” before she turns back to Martin. “Well, what are waiting for, to get arrested? Get a move on!”
By now, Martin clearly had the ‘Rabbit in the Headlights’ expression written all over his face as he looked at the two women who were now trading insults without any idea what was going on around him before he looking behind him to see if his now passenger, was actually telling the truth about seeing a police car. There wasn’t any visible right now, but that didn’t mean she was telling lies about what she saw. But he thought it wise not to stay around to find out as he then speeds away leaving the woman in red stamping her heels in anger.
“Right, you’ve got a choice now. You can either go right now and start heading up into the main part of town where there’s more than likely to be plenty of coppers around patrolling seeing how it’s a Saturday night and the pubs will no doubt be busy despite the cold or, you can go left, into the more quiet backstreets,” the passenger suggests. Martin’s only thought for now was not to be seen so on approaching the upcoming junction, he indicated and then turned left. He slows his speed down as his passenger then shuffles to make herself more comfortable before turning to Martin.
“Well hello there. How are ya, alright? Bit chilly out there tonight isn’t it but still, your car is nice and warm, lovely,” she says in a bright and cheerful tone. The headlights were still very much in Martin’s eyes as he remained virtually clueless into how he actually ended up with this strange woman in his car.
“What?” he asks.
“I said hello, and what a cold night it is tonight, and how your car is lovely and warm,” she begins before continuing, “and seeing how you chose correctly and turned left, that makes you a clever boy with good judgement I see. There’s a quiet little spot just over a mile or so further on. We can pull in there and you can tell me what you’re fancying to do tonight.”
The second he heard this, the fear in his eyes was clear for all the world to see and without really knowing what to say for now, he just kept driving whilst, more often than he would normally do, checking his mirrors and for now, thankfully, still no sign of any police car anywhere.
“Are you sure that there was a police car back there?” he eventually manages to ask.
“Yeah, of course,” she begins. “Do I look like the kind of woman who would tell lies about something like that?” She asked that question with a clear twinkle in her deep blue eyes. Was it the high heels, fishnet stockings, tight black leather mini skirt, figure hugging white T-shirt and Denim Jacket that caused Martin to think that maybe she knew exactly what she was talking about, but the combination of deep red lipstick, blue eye shadow, mascara, and the long and permed dark brown hair and an expression on her face which clearly suggested that he’ll never know for certain if she was telling the truth or not, cast a shadow of doubt over his mind. Either way though, he knew that he couldn’t have her in his car for much longer so, he pulls over the first chance he had, which just happened to be behind a Kwik Fit which was situated at the corner of an Industrial Estate.
“How did you know that this was the quiet spot I had I mind? Have you been here before?” She starts to tease. “Oh, I bet you have, and more than once I reckon. You’re a naughty boy, aren’t you eh, lovely,” she couldn’t help but begin to giggle like a naughty schoolgirl whilst playfully stroking his hair with her fingers. Martin on the other hand, clearly was not seeing anything funny about this at all as he reaches across her. “Whoa easy now tiger, we haven’t agreed a price or anything yet,” she says still giggling. But Martin only had opening the passenger door and unclipping her seat belt on his mind, which he did in record time.
“Look, I’m sure you’re nice enough and all that, but I’m not interested, okay. So, would you kindly get out of my car and leave me alone.” He says not even wishing to look at her anymore.
“You just can’t dump me here all by myself,” the woman protested.
“I’m sure that you’re a woman who knows exactly how to take care of herself,” Martin says still refusing to look at her.
“I might get mugged or something even worse,” the woman kept on protesting.
“If anyone is going to do any mugging around here, it’ll probably be you.”
“Oi, bloody cheek!”
“Get out of my car!”
“No!”
“I said get out of my car or I’ll…” they both stopped arguing as they were suddenly hit by a set of headlights on full beam which temporarily blinded them both. It took a few seconds for their vision to return but when it did, they were both taken by surprise by the sight of a police car parked directly in front of them with a male constable behind the steering wheel and his female colleague in the passenger seat and both were looking straight at them with their own suspicions about what was actually happening right now as the male constable winds down his window and leans his head out. “Is
everything alright?”
“I thought you said that the police would be in and around the town by now?” Martin mumbles to the woman.
“Normally they are, but this site is well known to them, as me and a few others sometimes use it. So, they’ve probably just driven around here on the off chance of catching someone at it,” she mumbles in reply.
“Did you hear what I said? Is everything alright” The male constable asks becoming a touch impatient.
“Right, if you don’t want me to start crying rape at the top of my voice. I suggest that you think of a way out of this very quickly,” she mumbles.
“Why me?” Martin asks.
“Just do it,” she says leaving Martin very-little choice in the matter, so he thinks hard for a moment, as he then has a flash of inspiration.
“Yeah, good evening officer. We were just driving around, and my friend here began to feel sick. Told her not to eat too much of that Chicken Madras. So, I pulled over because I’m not having her throwing up over these leather seats, you know what I mean.”
It was abundantly clear that Martin would never make a good liar, and it was a good thing that they weren’t in any interrogation room, because he would soon cave in. But there was nothing else to suggest that there was anything wrong going on so, and a touch disappointedly of not catching them at it, the male constable puts his head back inside, and pulls away as Martin breathes a huge sigh of relief.
“Bloody hell, that was too close for comfort,” he says as the woman began laughing which causes him to give her the death stare. “What was so funny about that? Well, what?”
“Oh, lighten up will ya. They’ve gone now, so you can relax a bit. But it still might be an idea to drive somewhere else. Just in case they do a loop and come around again,” the woman suggests seemingly knowing exactly what she was talking about.
“What do you mean drive somewhere else? Are you out of your mind? There’s no way that I’m driving you anywhere! I have a wife waiting at home for me and the very last thing that I need is someone like you,” Martin tells her meaning every single word.
“Wife at home you say, and you’re driving around this part of town. That’s not good is it? So, what exactly is it then darling? Problems in the bedroom department? She’s not giving you exactly what you need? Has the thrill gone out of your sex-life and you’re down here looking for some extra excitement?
“How dare you!” Martin says looking somewhat disgusted just at the mere thought of doing anything like she was suggesting and betraying his wife. “I’ll have you know that I’m very happily married and devoted to my wife alright, and the only reason that I found myself around here tonight was due to the fact that I had got lost.
“The truth is I was out looking for a Tesco’s Metro which is supposed to be around here somewhere, to pick up some teabags and a Victoria Sponge, so that I can sit down with my wife and watch a film that we’ve planning to do all week, alright! Now, for the last time of asking nicely, will you get out of my car so I can return home to her?”
“No.” The woman calmly says and still with a smile.
“No? What do you mean no?” asks Martin not being able to hide his frustration which just made the woman smile even more, clearly enjoying teasing him as she refuses to budge a single inch. Martin isn’t usually the kind of man that gives in to temper tantrums or general bouts of anger, but the thought now of being able to get back to his beloved wife, with or without what he went out for, was really now beginning to push him over the edge.
“Right, for the last time, I’m telling you now, get out of my car or I’ll…”
“Do what? Huh? What exactly are you going to do, call the police on me? Well go on, away you go then call them. Because if they do decide to turn up, I’ll just cry rape or something like that. What are you going to do then eh? Come on big man, let’s hear it.” The prominent smug grin across her face really riled, Martin to a point of anger that he had never experienced before. And he wasn’t quite sure how to handle it so, all he could do for now was just yell at her again.
“Get out of my car!”
“Don’t you recognise me Martin?”
And like if he had been hit over his head with a baseball bat, Martin just looked utterly dumbstruck as he just stared at the woman without a single clue who she was. Or what she was even talking about.
“What do you mean, do I recognise you?” Why on earth would I know who you are?” he asks still reeling from the question.
The woman leans a touch closer towards as she cordially invites him. “Take another look.”
Martin studied and scrutinised every single inch of her face but still without knowing who she was, which the woman could see quite clearly so, she decided on another tactic.
“Try and picture me about a stone lighter, and with dead straight but short blonde hair.”
Again, Martin scrutinised and studied as carefully as he could, but still without having any knowledge to who she was. Not giving up at all, the woman had one more card to play.
“It must have been about what, maybe even twenty years ago now, that we were sat next to your mum when she was in hospital, sleeping peacefully, after she’d suffered that minor heart attack and we promised each other that if anything like that happened to either one of us, then we’d be there for each other, no matter what.”
His mobile started to ring. The screen said it was Vanessa. They both looked at it, the woman sort of guessed that it was probably his wife calling, probably wondering where he was and had he picked up the teabags and cake as the film was about to start. Martin took just one look at his phone. He just let it go to voicemail. “Wendy, is that really you?”
“I’m guessing that was your wife calling, you should have answered it. She’s probably worried and wondering where you are,” Wendy says.
“It’s okay. I’ll just tell her I was driving or something. Wendy. I mean, what, what’s going on?” Martin asks scarcely believing what he was seeing.
“Yes Martin, it’s me. Small world isn’t it eh? So, what’s a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?” Wendy asks deciding that maintaining a sense of humour right now would be the best course of action to take whereas Martin, still couldn’t believe what was happening.
“Hang on. This can’t be right. Wendy, what the hell are you doing?” he asks.
“Working.”
“Well yeah, I can see that. I mean, why are you doing, well, doing this?” he asks still shaking his head in disbelief.
“What can I say Martin? Because, Virgin already have a Chairman.”
Maybe it was still the shock of it all, but no matter how much Wendy put on a smile, Martin wasn’t finding this funny at all, as he looks once again at the one who was his first true love, and now was, even though it was clear to see, refusing to believe that she had come to this.
“Just can’t believe it. The last I heard about you must have been what, about ten years ago. You had your own business didn’t you? Little florist shop, wasn’t it? What happened to that? And weren’t you married? Or at the least engaged?”
“Right, one question at a time alright,” she begins. “Firstly, yes, I did have my own little florists, nice little shop as well. Okay, it was nowhere near on the same scale as Interflora, but it suited me and at the end of the day, it was mine. Yes, I was married. David his name was. Nice bloke, we we’re happy for the first couple of years, or so I thought. It wasn’t just the fact that he cheated on me which, and I know you’ll think I’m mad, but I think I could have coped with that after a little while, but it was his gambling that really done it. Lost everything because of that. Our home and my business, that’s when I decided that it was better to divorce him than do time for murder, which I did consider believe me. Family disowned me because of him, and I ended up with no one to turn to and rent and other bills had to be paid. So, here I am. Anyway, that’s enough of boring old me, how about you? Married now I see. I’m not surprised about that, you always were the marrying kind. You had that matrimonial look in your eye.”
“Matrimonial look?” he asks puzzled.
“Yeah. The settling down type. Safe. Dependable. A good and decent man,” Wendy says with an honest smile which Martin did kind of appreciated.
“Thanks, that’s nice of you to say so I suppose. But I was rather hoping for a more rugged, tough, manly bad-boy type of an image. Like that gangster programme of the telly what’s it called again? Oh yeah, Peaky Blinders,” Martin says rather more in hope than expectation which Wendy was very quick to confirm.
“No Martin, you’ll never be a gangster or any sort of bad-boy. It won’t suit you at all. You just stay being the strong and reliable man that you are okay.
Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with that.” “Reliable?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“Strong?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh really. What about good-looking or handsome then?” Martin asks albeit, a tad tongue-in-cheek but there was nothing at all funny about Wendy’s answer.
“Of course, you’re good-looking, you always were.” And with that her blue eyes, came into direct contact with his green as they gazed and gazed without a single word being spoken, none were needed as undoubtedly Martin could clearly see that she had kept her looks. No doubt happy and fond memories came flooding back to both of them and the bond that initially brought them together in the past, was clearly still there, and as strong as it ever was. So strong in fact that Martin, whether willingly or not, leaned in for a kiss which brought Wendy suddenly back to life and turned away.
“So, have you been married long then?” she quickly asks while Martin now begins to feel a touch embarrassed by what he just tried to do.
“Seven years now.”
“Oh, seven years is it,” she begins. “Got an itch that needs scratching, have you?” She asks somewhat jokingly but that still couldn’t hide any of Martin’s embarrassment.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, what the hell was I thinking of,” he says as Wendy couldn’t help but giggle.
“It’s okay Martin honestly it is okay. So, calm down. It’s nice to know that I’ve still got it,” she then says.
“Got it? Of course, you’ve still got it. You’ll never lose whatever it is. But honestly, I wasn’t looking for any sort of itch to be scratch. I promise you that I wasn’t and even if I was, I wouldn’t be looking just to use you like that. And that’s the truth.”
“Getting the feeling, that somewhere amongst what you’ve just said, is a compliment tucked away somewhere,” she says to which Martin only had one answer.
“Yes, there is. And it’s a big one,” he says to which Wendy graciously accepts before she says.
“Anyway, you say that you were shocked before, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you park up in that street earlier. And I knew that I had to rescue you from that Tanya.
“Oh Tanya, was that her name was it? Not that I asked or was interested in finding out you understand. She even offered to knock ten pound off for me,” he tells her.
“Yeah, I bet she did, the nasty cow. That’s how she gets them you see. Flashing that fake chest of hers and offering discounts and when she’s done the deed her pimp has a habit of showing up out of nowhere and mugging the poor punter for more money.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“So, it looks like you came to my rescue. Thank you, but I have to say that you’re the strangest looking Sir Galahad I’ve ever seen,” he says with a smile.
“You’re welcome and being honest you’re the weirdest looking Guinevere that I’ve ever come across,” she says sharing this little joke between them.
“Well, we always did say that we’d look out for each other, no matter what,” Wendy then reminded him as Martin just nodded in acknowledgement as he remembered that very moment fondly.
“How could I ever forget,” he begins before asking Wendy a question that, due to the moment they were now sharing, she clearly was not expecting. “Why did you leave me?”
Wendy instantly turned away from him. She had to. As she suddenly recollected how much she knew Martin must have been hurt by what she did. Even when she did find enough courage to answer him, for now, she still couldn’t look at him.
“I know that I should have had the guts to tell you
to your face and not just send you a letter, and yes, I get, that I hurt you badly Martin, but believe me that was the very last thing that I ever wanted or even thought that I would ever do. But it’s just like I said a few moments ago. You’re the reliable, strong, dependable type of man. You were ready to settle down even back then. And I realised one day that quite simply, I wasn’t.
“There were things that I wanted to do places that I needed to see long before I even thought about finally settling down. Things like going skydiving and travelling to places like Paris, Rome, New York, Hollywood amongst many others that I wanted to see at the time. I knew that if I’d stayed with you, then I would have never had done any of these things and in the end, I would have ended up hating you. And trust me Martin, I never wanted to end up doing that. You’re just too good a person.”
It was when she had finished speaking, that she eventually found the courage to look back at him as suddenly he then turns away trying to take in what he had just heard before eventually asking. “And did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Do all the things that you wanted to do and see all the places that you wanted to see?”
“Well, I did do the skydive many years ago for charity. It was amazing, honestly, what a buzz I got from it. Don’t think I’ll ever do it again mind, I think once was clearly enough for me. And I did manage to travel to most places I wanted to go. Apart from Hollywood. But hey ho, maybe one day.”
By now, Martin was able to face her again and no matter how much she smiled, in a reassuring sense at him, he knew that deep down, she was putting on a brave face. And that, was hurting him badly.
“Wendy, look, how did you… I mean, what on earth happened to you? I just can’t believe that you’ve been reduced to this.”
“Hey Martin, it’s okay. Like I said to you, I had no one to turn to, and I needed the money, and I needed it quick. I won’t deny that the first time I did it, not only did I feel but I was physically sick, and the next couple of times after I felt so dirty that I would be in the shower for well over an hour at a time afterwards. But after a while, I just began thinking to myself that it’s just turning a trick. And it means absolutely nothing. I just do it, smile, and take their money. Nothing at all emotional about it. Which means no one gets hurt and that’s the way it should be. Just business. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Maybe she was right, that it was just business and nothing else and somehow, she’d become sort of immune to it. But that still didn’t mean that Martin had to like it. Which he clearly didn’t. “No, this ain’t right,” he says.
“What isn’t right?” she asks.
“That you should be doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“You know what. Selling yourself like this. It just isn’t right,” he says as Wendy, seeing how pained Martin was now in because of how he felt about her plight, attempted once again, to put a brave face on and make light of it.
“Well, I’m certainly not going to give it away. Rent is due next week.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Trust me I’m not laughing. I over two months in arrears,” she says hoping that in some way it would make Martin smile. Even just a little bit.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” he tells her quite firmly and without a single hint of any smile.
“Oh, isn’t it?” she asks.
“No.”
“Well, exactly what do you mean then?” Wendy asks very inquisitively as Martin didn’t hesitate in answering her.
“Look, you know that I’m married and have other commitments now. But I’ll see what I can manage to give you every month if it helps you to stop doing this then that’s got to be a good thing hasn’t it?”
Wendy was flabbergasted by this offer, so much so that to begin with she didn’t know what to say, particularly as she knew that Martin had meant every single word of what he just said. “Oh Martin… I… I don’t quite know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything then, apart from you’ll let me help you,” he says to her with his eyes literally pleading with her to say yes.
“Look Martin, it’s a lovely gesture from you, it really is, but there’s no way I can take any money of you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a married man with a life of your own and with bills to pay. So, thank you, but no,” she adamantly tells him.
“You needn’t worry about that alright. Let me deal with it okay.”
“No Martin.”
“Look, don’t try and deny anything now. When we both looked at each other just a couple of minutes ago, we both knew that the feelings that we had back then are still here now. And we promised each other all those years ago that we’d look out for each other always. I meant that promise back then and I still mean it now. Probably even more. I’ve always had deep feelings for you Wendy ever since we first met, and I always will. Please, let me help you?” His words came exactly where she thought they’d come, and that was straight from the bottom of his heart. She felt herself becoming a little tearful but there was no way she was going to let that show now.
“Do you really want to help me Martin?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then please just take me back to the street where
I jumped into your car.”
“You what!” exclaimed Martin in disbelief.
“Please Martin, just do this one thing for me okay? Please?”
Even though, once again, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him, he knew, that after all these years, she meant what she had just said to him.
“I know that you don’t know this area very well. So, if you go left at the end of the road, then take the first right, that’ll start you on the way back and I’ll direct you as we go along,” she says continuing not to look at him as all Martin could now do was start the engine, and begin driving away.
As instructed, he took the first left, followed by the first right, which took them along a long main road which they both knew, if Martin had just turned around at the Industrial Estate and followed the same road back, they would be back at the same street in less than ten minutes. But this way, and without either one saying anything else for now, they knew that this was going to be a few more extra precious moments together which they may never have again.
“If you turn right here, we’ll be back in Ivydale Street,” she says.
Martin did as he was asked, he thought he recognised the turning and then the street as he deliberately slows right down and takes his time in pulling up in almost the exact same part of the kerb as well.
“Thanks for bringing me back Martin,” Wendy began by saying. “You’re were so close to finding that Tesco’s you know. All you had to do was go right instead of left at the end of this street then second left, just on the edge of the main part of town, it’s right in front of you,” she says firmly looking in his direction. But Martin was too pre-occupied for the moment writing something down on a scrap of paper.
“Take this,” he says somewhat forcing it into the palm of her hand.
“What is it?” she asks.
“It’s my mobile number,” he tells her.
“Martin, we’ve just been through this. You’re married, got a home and a whole other life to think about and for the last time I will not be accepting any money from you okay.”
“Look, even if you don’t want any money from me, just text me to let me know that you got home safely tonight okay. Please. Just for old times, sake.”
They both gaze into each other’s eyes again as Martin this time fought the urge to throw his arms around her and kiss her once again. But not half as much as Wendy fought to do exactly the same thing.
“Take care of yourself Martin. And don’t forget the teabags and Victoria sponge,” she then says getting out of the car and leaving Martin disappointed that there wasn’t at the very least a goodnight kiss on the cheek.
She was soon on the other side of the road and she turns her head around and watches Martin drive away and turn right at the end of the street. She was glad he did, knowing that he was on his way home to the life that she always believed suited him right down to the ground. But she was also happy that she had his mobile number safely tucked away in her jacket pocket. Just in case.