That Friday
Authors: Karl Jones
THAT FRIDAY
Karl
Jones &
Ayla
Page
Copyright
© United Kingdom 2013
All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are
the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales
is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over
and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or
their content.
©2013
KSJ Publishing
All
rights reserved.
THAT
FRIDAY
*****
Excited, Charlie woke the instant
the alarm on his phone sounded and he bounded out of bed so he could get
dressed. Out of habit he pulled back the curtain to look outside at the weather.
What he saw out the window was not what he had expected, and it certainly
wasn't a view he liked.
Wind, rain, even frost, would not
have been unusual and would not have bothered him too much, though they would
have been annoying. That was not what he saw however, what he saw was snow,
snow on a level he had never seen before. Before he moved to, Bristol, where he
lived currently he hadn't really seen snow, not in any great quantity, but just
then he found himself confronted by a blizzard. Not a real blizzard,
thankfully, but the snowfall he could see out of his window resembled a
blizzard, by comparison with what he was used to anyway.
Not only was snow falling heavily
but several inches had settled on the ground already.
The sight of the ground, and the
cars parked in the street outside, covered in snow left him worried. He had a
coach to catch in less than two hours. The white coating the city had acquired
overnight left him with a horrible feeling the coach was not going to be
running.
In a panic, Charlie finished
dressing and hurried downstairs. The moment he got downstairs he dug out the
number for the coach company. To his immense relief the automated message he
got in response to his call reassured him that his coach was still running.
That relief was short-lived however as he discovered the quieter roads were
considered too dangerous for taxis and the larger roads blocked by stationary
traffic so he couldn't get to the coach station. He couldn't get a bus for the
same reason; there were few running and those that were couldn't be relied upon
to get him there in time.
After a rushed breakfast, and some
dark thoughts, Charlie came to the conclusion that there was only one way he
might be able to make it his destination. With his bags in hand, and as wrapped
up as he could be, he left the house. When he reached the end of his road he
turned onto the main road, where he discovered the taxi company had not been
kidding when they said traffic was at a standstill. Traffic was queued for as
far as he could see in both directions.
With careful footsteps he started
down the hill, reaching into his pocket for his phone as he went. "Hi,
honey," he said in a heavy voice when his call was answered.
"Good morning, darling,"
Tess answered the phone sleepily. "What's the matter?" she asked;
seeing the time she realised something must be up as it was far earlier than he
had called her before and she couldn't imagine why he would be calling her at
that time if there wasn't a problem.
Charlie hesitated for a moment, his
heart heavy with his
reluctantance
to speak the
words. "I'm afraid I might not be able to make it today," he told her
finally, his distress evident in his voice for anyone close enough to hear.
"What do you mean?" Tess
wanted to know, sitting up quickly in bed; disappointment and dread filling
her. She was disappointed by the thought that he couldn't make it, after all
their planning, and filled with dread at the thought of what could be
preventing him getting to her.
"It's snowing," Charlie
told her, "and I can't get to my coach. It's still running, apparently,
but I can't get to it; the cabs aren't operating and neither are the buses. The
roads are absolutely packed and nothing is moving."
"Oh
no!"
Distress filled Tess' voice.
"But we've been planning this for so long. Isn't there anything we can
do?"
Charlie shivered a little as he
trudged through the snow; his hand felt especially cold since he had been
forced to take off his glove to use the phone. "I'm already doing it, my
darling," he said, doing his best to stop his teeth chattering. "I'm
on my way to the train station. I'm hoping the trains are still running and I
don't have to wait too long for one to come and see you."
"How much is that going to
cost if you are able to get the train?" Knowing her boyfriend's financial
situation, Tess couldn't help worrying that a train ticket would be too much
and he wouldn't be able to afford it.
"No idea," Charlie lied
through his gritted teeth. "I'll find out when I get there." He did
know, having looked the price up online before leaving the house, but he didn't
want to say anything just then, sure what her response would be if she heard
how much the ticket was likely to be. "Listen, honey, I need to go for
now,
it's
bloody freezing, I'll call you when I know if
I'm going to be able to make it."
"Okay. I love you, I hope
you're able to get here, I really want to see you."
His girlfriend's words made
Charlie smile, a little, the cold and his annoyance with his messed up travel
arrangements made it difficult for him to smile properly. "I love you too,
honey, and want to see you; I've been looking forward to this."
Reluctantly he ended the call and put his phone away, grateful only for the
opportunity to glove his right hand and reduce the chill spreading slowly up
his arm.
The train station was a little
over a mile from his house, a distance he could normally have covered in just
over fifteen minutes, even burdened as he was with a rucksack and case. Having
to move carefully because of the snow meant it took him almost twice as long to
reach the station, he didn't care just then though, all that mattered to him
was that he had made it and he had seen trains arriving and leaving as he
approached.
Careful not to bang anyone with
his case, Charlie made his way through the station to the ticket counter, where
he set both the case and his rucksack down, glad of the opportunity to relieve
himself of the weight, even if only for a few moments while he spoke to the
cashier.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'd like a ticket to
Leeds, please," Charlie said, taking out his wallet.
"Certainly, single or
return?" the lady at the computer queried, bringing up the appropriate
screen.
"Single," Charlie
answered; he had already paid for a return coach ticket and didn't see the
point in paying for a return train ticket as well, if he was lucky the weather
would be okay on the other side of the weekend and he would be able to get the
coach home, as planned.
The cashier looked at his suitcase
and bag. "For today I take it."
"Yes please. Can you tell me
when the next train leaves?" He hoped he wouldn't have to wait around too
long. As pleased as he was that he could still get to see Tess, even if his
journey was not going to be quite as planned, he didn't fancy spending ages on
a freezing cold platform waiting for a train, he was cold enough already.
It took a few moments for the lady
to look up the information since she was doing two jobs at once. "The
ticket will be one hundred and four pounds forty, and the next train is at
nine-thirty,
approx
twenty minutes."
The cost of the ticket wasn't a
surprise since he had seen it on the train company's website before he left the
house, but it still left him dismayed. One hundred and four pounds was half
again as much as he had paid for the return coach fare, but given that his
choices were to pay the money or go without seeing Tess, whom he hadn't seen in
person for three years, having only recently reconnected with her over the
internet, he made no comment as he took out his debit card.
"Thanks." Charlie
accepted the ticket he was given and the receipt and shoved them into his
wallet along with his debit card, in turn he stuffed the wallet back into his
pocket and bent to pick up his bags.
He stopped only briefly to look at
the departure boards, to find out what platform he needed, before making for
the stairs. The station was big, and crowded, but it didn't take him long to
reach the platform he was after, and after checking the time he saw he still
had just over a quarter of an hour to go before his train was due to arrive.
Relieved that he was still going
to be able to make it, and in good time if the board showing 'on time' was
anything to go by, Charlie put his bags down and took out his phone,
after tugging off his glove. He knew he was going to get a cold hand again but
that didn't matter just then.
"Is everything alright? Are
you able to get the train?" Tess asked; worry and eagerness fought for
control over her voice as she answered the phone without even saying 'hello'.
Charlie couldn't help but smile.
"Yes, honey, everything is alright," he said, pleased that he had
good news for her. "The trains are running and I've got a ticket."
"Yay!"
Tess squealed eagerly. "What time are you getting
here?" she wanted to know, throwing back the covers so she could get out
of bed, where she had remained since Charlie's first call with its accompanying
bad news. Now she knew he was going to be able to make it she felt as though it
was worth her time to get up, not that she needed to right then; she was sure she
still had plenty of time before she needed to get the bus into Leeds to meet
him.
"I'll be there about one
o'clock," he answered. "My train leaves in about fifteen minutes and
it's a quicker journey, which is a relief, saves me about two hours overall."
There was silence from the other end of the phone for a few moments and Charlie
was left to wonder what was wrong, he didn't want to ask though, he simply
waited for Tess to speak.
"I can make that," Tess
said finally. "It could be a bit tight, and I might be a little late, I've
got to drop Victoria off at school at twelve and then get to the bus stop, but
with a bit of luck I should be able to make it before your train gets in."
"Don't worry, honey, if
you're not there when I arrive I'll just wait, I'm sure there will be somewhere
comfortable, or warm at the very least, for me to wait for you," Charlie
reassured her, not caring in the slightest if he had to wait for a short while
when he made it to Leeds, that was a small concern for him now he was in a position
to get there. "I'd better go now, honey, the train will be here
shortly."
"Okay." There was
disappointment in Tess' voice. "Text me to let me know how the journey is
going and whether you're on time, and I'll let you know if I'm going to be able
to make it in time to meet your train."
Charlie only had to wait a few
minutes for the train to arrive after ending his call to Tess and grabbing up
his case and rucksack he joined the queue of people waiting to board. He made
it on eventually and slid his case into the luggage rack at the end of the
carriage before going to find himself a seat; he got one not far from the
luggage rack and settled into it, not really caring where he was sitting, it
was enough that he had a seat.
*****
After a little more than four
hours the train arrived at Leeds, where Charlie saw the weather was better than
what he had left behind. It was still not brilliant, but it wasn't snowing and
it wasn't as cold, for which he was glad, he had been concerned about how much
colder it would be since he was two hundred miles further north.
He gathered his things up and
followed everyone else off the train; he then went looking for the exit, which,
thankfully, was signposted so he had no problem finding it. As he approached
the ticket barrier he looked all around for Tess, eager for his first glimpse
of her; they had seen each other many times on Skype since reconnecting on
Facebook but it wasn't the same as seeing one another in person.
Once through the barrier he looked
around even more eagerly, wondering if she would look as she had on the webcam
or if she would look different. Despite his searching gaze he saw no sign of
Tess, or even anyone who vaguely resembled her, and he began to worry as he
approached the exit to the train station.
He was almost at the exit when he
felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Immediately, he stopped in his tracks and
thrust a hand into his pocket for the phone, hoping the text was from Tess and
would tell him where she was. He was right.
'I'm in Boots'
The moment he read the text
Charlie spun round, looking toward the shop in question. She was at the till
and he spotted her instantly, she looked just as she had when he saw her on
Skype a day and a half before, beautiful.
For a few seconds he stood there,
admiring her, taking in her new, and much shorter, haircut, which suited her
ginger colour perfectly, and her slim figure. He knew she had worked hard on
losing some weight and getting into shape and could see the results of all that
work, she looked incredible.
With his case in hand he
approached her, his eyes continuing to drink her in; his eyes ran from the
black ankle boots that encased her feet, up her bare legs, mottled with
goosebumps
but still gorgeous, and on to her red coat. He
could see nothing of what she was wearing beneath the coat, despite the coat
reaching only to mid-thigh, leaving him to wonder if she had anything on under
it. He was sure she did, he couldn't imagine she had come to meet him wearing
just a coat, not least because of the temperature, which was hovering somewhere
around freezing.
Though he was sure she wasn't
naked under her coat, Charlie couldn't help imagining that she was; the moment
the possibility occurred to him he found himself wishing that she was, and that
she would pull him into some secluded location, somewhere nearby, where she
would open her coat to reveal her body to him.
His trousers became almost
uncomfortably tight as his fantasy expanded; in his mind they were in an alley
just round the corner from the train station, Tess having pulled him down there
after her so she could reveal to him her surprise. Her nipples were hard as he
kissed her, though from the cold or the passion she felt for him he didn't
know; it didn't matter just then however, that they were hard beneath his
fingers was enough and he rolled them between his fingertips, first one and
then the other.
Their tongues met, tentatively at
first but with growing passion and he felt
himself
grow hard, harder than he had been in a long time. In moments he felt as though
he was going to burst through the fabric of his trousers in a desperate urge to
be free; when Tess reached down to grasp him through the material he thought he
was going to embarrass himself by exploding there and then.
"Is this for me?" Her
voice was low and husky, as filled with desire as her eyes.
"Yes." Charlie felt his
voice catch in his throat and for a moment he wasn't sure he was going to be
able to get the single word out. "God, you're even sexier in person,"
he moaned as she lightly stroked his length; she was teasing him, he knew, but
it felt so good, better than his own hand could possibly feel.
"And what is it you want to
do with it?" Tess whispered the question in his ear, her fingers pausing in
their caressing.
"I want," Charlie
groaned. "I want to…"
"Oh, Charlie, you're
here," Tess' voice, filled with delight, broke through his fantasy and
brought him back to reality with a thump. "I'll be with you in a moment,
honey," she said as she counted money out from her purse.
"Okay, honey." Charlie
recovered from his disappointment quickly.
Tess finished paying and stuffed
her purchases into her bag out of the way; she then grabbed the handle of her
case and led the way out of the shop. Charlie caught up with her in just a few
steps and the moment he did she stopped in her tracks and turned to him,
letting go of her case.
Before Charlie could wonder why
she had stopped, let alone ask, her arms went around him, pulling him into an
embrace. Automatically his arms slipped around her, hugging her to him. They
fit together perfectly and remained like that for almost a minute, enjoying the
comfort of holding one another, something they hadn't done in more than three
years. It felt so right, so natural, despite their initial nervousness, that
time lost meaning for them; though it was only a minute it felt like a
lifetime.
Charlie pulled back slightly to
look into Tess' face, he loved her, he had never been more sure of his feelings
than he was right then. Not wanting to let go of her after being apart from her
for so long he enclosed her in his arms again, his lips seeking hers for their
first kiss.
Just as in his fantasy the kiss
began tentatively, their lack of familiarity with one another evident for anyone
to see, but that passed soon enough and they became lost in their kiss. It was
only when the need for breath became almost overwhelming, that Charlie broke
off the kiss, doing so reluctantly.
"Wow!" Tess couldn't
help exclaiming. "Where did that come from?" she asked a little
breathlessly. "I thought you said you might be a little shy when you saw
me."
"I have no idea,"
Charlie admitted, as surprised as she was by his forwardness. "I guess you
inspired me. The moment I saw you I wanted to kiss you," he told her, not
quite prepared to admit exactly what it was he had wanted to do the moment he
saw her.
Tess smiled. "I'm so glad you
did, I wanted the same. I think we should get out of here now though," she
said, her eyes darting around her at the people surrounding them as a touch of
embarrassment set in, colouring her cheeks.
Charlie could understand her
embarrassment, he felt it as well. He had never really been a demonstrative
person, and certainly not in public. "Where do you want to go?" he
asked. "It's a little early for us to go to the hotel, we can't check in
until two." Though he had lost track of the time while in her embrace he
was sure two o'clock was still a fair way off since his train had arrived at
midday.
A shake of the head was his
answer. "I don't mind, we can go wherever you like, though I would prefer
it if we could go somewhere warm; I'm a bit cold at the moment." As she
said that Tess looked down at her bare legs and the
goosebumps
that covered them.
He couldn't help it; his eyes
followed hers so he could admire her legs. "Yes, you do look a little
cold," he remarked with a smile. "Tell me, are you actually wearing
anything under that coat?" he asked, curious and a little hopeful.
Tess gave a sly smile. "I
might be, then again, I might not be; you'll just have to wait and see, won't
you." With a wink she took hold of her case again and strode off, leaving
him to catch up with her once more.
For a moment all Charlie could do
was stare after her, wondering. With a shake of his head he nudged aside
thoughts of her being naked beneath her coat, and what that might mean, though
it wasn't easy, and started after her.
When he caught up with her he
reached for her hand; he wasn't certain she was okay with such a public
display, despite their greeting, but he wanted desperately to be close to her,
in whatever he could. "Can we go somewhere to get something to eat?"
he asked, a shy smile spreading across his face when she accepted his hand,
entwining her fingers with his.
"Of course we can." Tess
was amused by the nervousness in his voice, as if he had expected her to say
no. "What are you hungry for?"
Charlie shrugged. "I don't
really know, where's close by to get food? I'm starving right now, it's been
hours since I ate; just about anything will do."
Hand in hand they made their way
down the street, their footsteps mingling with the innumerable others that had
flattened the snow coating the pavement. "We could go to MacDonald's if
you'd like, there's one a couple of streets away, other than that there's a
Yates', that's down that street over there." She pointed off to their
right. "It will cost a little more but the food will be better."
He didn't really have to think
about the choice, the decision was obvious as far as he was concerned.
"Yates, honey; we can have a drink or two while we're eating. It might
help us to relax a bit and will pass the time until we can check in at the
hotel."
"Sounds good, I'm not really
hungry myself, but I'll join you in a drink," Tess said, thinking that
something to help her relax would be good; her outward show of confidence was
just that, a show, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so nervous
and wondered if he was as big a bag of nerves as she was.
It took little more than five
minutes for them to reach the pub and the walk passed in silence; they were
both too shy and nervous to think of conversation just then. The silence didn't
matter though, it was enough that they were together.
After so many years of being out
of contact, for a variety of reasons, and months of phone calls and Skype video
calls, to actually be together was amazing. Neither had wanted to admit it but
each had secretly suspected that something would happen to prevent them getting
together; the snow that had fallen overnight seemed to have proven their fears
correct so for them to be walking down the street, hand in hand, was amazing.
It was a habit so ingrained into
him that he gave no thought to it but as the approached the pub Charlie moved
ahead of Tess to open the door. He held it for her, noticing her blush and bow
her head as she stepped through, and then followed her inside and over to the
bar, where he set his case down with a sigh of relief. The case wasn't that
heavy, but carrying it for any distance was a strain on his arm.
"Are you sure you don't want
anything to eat?" Charlie asked as he picked up a menu from the counter
and began looking through it. It didn't take him long to pick out what he
was going to have, burger and curly fries; it was nice and simple and wouldn't
take long to arrive.
Tess nodded. "I'm sure. You
know I haven't been eating much recently."
"That's stress, honey, your
ex is stressing you out constantly and it's wrecking your appetite. I hope this
weekend you're able to relax and chill out, and I can make you smile,"
Charlie told her. "I love it when you smile, especially when it's because
of me."
"I always smile because of
you." A smile accompanied Tess' words, as if to prove her words true, and
she laid her head on his shoulder, one hand wrapped around his arm. "And
I'm sure I'll relax this weekend."
"Good, I want you to."
"What can I get for
you?" the young barman who approached asked, stopping in front of them.
"Tess?" Charlie asked,
turning to her. "What do you fancy to drink?"
Tess ran her eyes over the
selection of alcohol in front of her. "What are you having?" she
wanted to know, not able to make up her mind.
It didn't take long for Charlie to
pick out what he was going to have. "Smirnoff Ice, please," he
requested, spotting a bottle of the frosty lemon drink in the fridge behind the
bar; it was his preferred drink of the moment, with enough of an alcoholic
content to relax him without being too much.
"I'll have the same,"
Tess said, it hadn't been her usual drink in a long while but just then it
didn't matter, all she wanted was some alcohol inside her to relax her.
With a nod the barman turned away
to get two bottles of Smirnoff Ice from the fridge. "Would you like them
in glasses?" he inquired as he deftly flipped the tops off the bottles.
"Please," Charlie said,
as Tess rolled her eyes.
Two glasses immediately appeared
on the bar.
"Ice?"
Was the next question
from the
barman.
"No thanks." Charlie shook
his head; given the temperature outside he couldn't imagine why anyone would
want ice with their drinks, especially since it watered them down.
"Can I get you anything
else?" the barman wanted to know as he placed the two glasses, now filled with
their drinks, in front of them.
"Yes, I would like a six
ounce burger with curly fries, please." Charlie felt a little
uncomfortable ordering food when he knew Tess wouldn't be eating; a rumble from
his stomach gave him little choice however, it had been a number of hours since
he last ate and he knew he couldn't go much longer without having something to
eat.