After the cruise, the limo driver made a trip around the town before they returned to the hotel. As they entered the lobby, Matthew was coming out of the office where he’d gone to drop off the evening receipts for Six. He stopped in the doorway when he saw them. She was beautiful. Her eyes flashed with merriment, and she was laughing at something Andy had just said. She was small; petite and ‘girlie.’ He was anxious to spend time with her the next day.
The next morning, Andy lay in bed reading the news on his iPad. He heard her phone, and knew she was making herself pretty. After a while she pecked on his door.
“
Come on,” he said.
He
’d called earlier for coffee, Carlee entered, grabbed his cup and took it to refill. Returning, she handed him the cup, black and bold, just the way he liked it. She plopped down on the bed with a cup for her.
“
Well, this is a nice surprise.”
“
He’s coming here to pick me up. Do you want to come out and say hello?” she asked, in an excited voice.
“
I’ll give you a minute first. But I will.”
“
Papa, I love you.”
“
I love you too, sweet girl.”
A few minutes later, t
here was the knock on the door. “Here goes,” she giggled. “See you in a minute.” She kissed his cheek and breezed out of the room.
“
Good morning,” he heard her say cheerfully as she opened the door. The two chatted a moment and he listened while he was getting dressed, liking the excitement in her voice.
“
Well,” Matthew said, “where would you like to go? What haven’t you seen?”
“
Doesn’t matter, who knows when I will ever get the opportunity to be here again. I won’t tell you if I’ve already seen it!” she laughed easily in reply, a sound that Matthew liked, a lot. “Oh, I don’t guess I need to go to Harrods again!” she said, just as Andy joined them.
“
Carve that in stone, right here, right now,” he chuckled, as he came out of his room. “Good morning, Matthew.”
“
Mr. Stevens,” he said extending his hand.
“
Andy,” he corrected, as he took Matthew’s hand. “Enjoy the day. Have her back by five, we have a dinner reservation. She’ll need time to primp.”
“
I know,” he laughed. “Six, I’ll be taking care of your table, at least that’s what my schedule says,” he smiled.
“
Have fun,” Andy told them.
Matthew had a small Kia car; he opened the door for her and she got in. She was wearing khaki colored shorts, a pink ruffled shirt, and sandals; there was a darker pink sweater tied around her waist. Her hair was a wild mess of curls, and as she settled in the seat, she pulled it up on top of her head with a clip. She was beautiful to him.
“
Wow,” she said slipping the sweater over her shoulders. “It was much warmer yesterday!” He noticed tanned legs speckled with freckles that went with the red hair.
“
Mmm hmm,” he mumbled, trying not to stare. “Weather here is much different than back home.”
“
This is so backwards to me!” she laughed, referring to the seating in the car, and Matthew found himself loving the sound of it.
“
I know. It took me awhile to get used to it too,” he laughed.
He drove her all over London and pointed out the sights. At times they stopped and walked through lovely gardens. Matthew always with his camera ready, snapping pictures whenever they stopped, sneaking in a few of Carlee when she was unsuspecting. He loved candid photos best.
They capture the real picture,
he thought.
He showed her the University, and they went to a little pub close by for lunch.
It was a place crammed with students. Matthew found a table and they sat down. He ordered, and they shared greasy cheeseburgers, chips, a beer and conversation.
After a while,
Matthew pulled out his camera. “Can I show you?” he asked her.
“
I’d love to see,” she told him and scooted her chair closer. Her shoulder bumped his, she looked up, and their eyes met.
B
lue-grey eyes… piercing, as though he’s looking right through me,
she smiled, and then sighed out loud, thinking about them… Matthew heard her and grinned.
T
here were all kinds of photos from their day of touring. “If you see any that you’d like a copy of just tell me; I’ll send them to you,” he told her as he scanned. As he did Carlee saw one of her, and looked at him.
“
That’s definitely
not
the best one, wait a sec,” he told her.
H
e scanned a few more, and she saw several more of her. Finally Matthew said, “
This
is the best one. May I keep it?”
“
It’s on your camera!” she laughed, and he thought that he’d love to keep her laughing, forever.
“But I would never keep it without showing you…”
“You did,” she giggled.
“Or asking,” he added.
“You did!” she said again, and laughed.
“I wish I would have had it last night.” She looked at him, curiously. “I was coming out of the office and I saw you and Andy as you returned from dinner,” he explained. “You looked so beautiful.”
“
Thank you,” she smiled at him.
“
Carlee,” he said and paused. He rested his elbow on the table and put his chin in his hand and gazed at her; “I’d sure like to see you again. How much longer are you in London?”
“
We leave for Paris on Saturday,” she replied.
“
Sad face,” he said and laughed. “May I call you?”
“
You have the number, if it rings I’ll answer it,” she teased, then added; “I’ll hope it rings…”
He laughed, but he knew she was someone he wanted to see again. He just had to think about, and wonder how.
“It’ll ring,” he said.
“
Good,” she replied drowning in his eyes,
those luscious eyes,
she thought. She wanted to kiss him, taste the smile he wore, but decided to wait.
They enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, talking, sharing, and getting to
know each other. Finally, Matthew walked Carlee to her room and hugged her. She liked the feel of it, a lot, and turned into his arms and pressed her lips to his, surprising him.
“
I think I’ve wanted to do that all day,” she said with a light-laugh that floated from her lips to his ears, like a soft breeze.
“
Dang, Carlee,” he said.
“
I’ll see you at dinner,” she said and closed the door behind her.
He’d stopped downstairs earlier and dropped his uniform off before he went up to meet her. He ran in to change, getting there just in the nick of time.
Andy was reading when she entered the room. He
saw the look on her face and grinned, then slid his glasses down his nose to look over the top of them at her. “Well?”
“
Well, what?” she laughed.
He pushed his glasses back up and continue
d reading. She flopped on the sofa beside him.
“
Papa, I like him,” she said, a dreamy-tone to her voice.
“
I know.”
“
He asked if he could call me.”
“
And you said yes?” She nodded. “I’m shocked,” he laughed.
“
He’s twenty-three,” it came out like a question more than a statement.
“
Old,” Andy laughed.
They went for dinner and Matthew was their waiter. He stopped by often, and if it was a slow point, chatted with them. They shared a light meal, with a plan to make it an early evening. The time difference and their busy days had finally caught up with them.
Matthew came to the table again, before they left.
“What are you seeing tomorrow?” he asked.
“
Tomorrow is museums and galleries, the Royal Wedding Walk and Papa made arrangements for a private visit to Abbey Road Studio.”
“
That will be a busy day,” Matthew replied.
“
Do you have class,” Andy asked.
“
I do, sir, until noon. I work at five.”
“
Would you like to join us for the trip to Abbey Road?”
“
I’d like that a lot,” Matthew replied.
“
Good, we’ll get an early start and meet you back here at one.”
As they
rose from the table to leave the restaurant, Matthew leaned close to whisper in Carlee’s ear, his warm breath sending a shudder through her body. “I’m gonna be thinking about your lips all night.”
He saw her cheeks redden and walked away with a big grin.
Andy saw the exchange and stifled a grin of his own.
Andy and Carlee enjoyed their morning of touring and met Matthew as planned to go to the studio. When they arrived Carlee laughed; there were groups of people lined up to have a photo taken at the crosswalk, the ‘Abbey Road zebra’, from the famous Beatles picture. Matthew had his camera and snapped off several shots of them. They visited Studio 2, and Matthew was in awe of his surroundings. This was the studio where the Beatles actually recorded. Andy had been there before. Carlee realized the significance and history, but the studio aspect was nothing new to her. Andy’s studio wasn’t as big as this, but Carlee had been there plenty and cheerfully explained what she knew to Matthew. Andy smiled watching them.
“
We are having a late dinner tonight at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Supper Club,” Andy said later, as they returned to the hotel. “The last show is at eleven, I’ll leave your name at the door if you’d like to join us.”
“
I would,” he said, knowing he couldn’t miss any opportunity to see Carlee.
Matthew left them for his shift, and Carlee and Andy went back to their suite.
“Rest,” Andy told Carlee. “It’ll be a late night. I know I need a nap,” he laughed. “The reservation is for dinner, the main act is at 8:30, casual dress.”
She kissed his cheek
and said, “Papa, thank you, for all of this.”
“
It is entirely my pleasure.”
Andy reserved a table, front and center, where he and Carlee dined, entertained by a jazz band early in the evening. When Matthew arrived, they shared a bottle of wine during the late show. It was another evening getting to know each other, for all three of them.
“
I know you two are off and on your way tomorrow. I was wondering if I might take you for coffee in the morning before you leave,” Matthew said while they talked. Andy winked at Carlee.
“
We’d love that,” she said.
In the limo back
to White’s, Carlee was quiet.
“
Thoughts?” Andy asked.
“
Just tired,” she said, but she seemed a million miles away.
“
Oh, if you say so,” Andy grinned. “One never knows what tomorrow holds,” he told her. The more Matthew was around, the more Andy liked him.
“
I know, Papa.”
“
He’ll call you,” he replied in a knowing voice.
“
I hope so.” She looked up at him as he slipped an arm around her shoulder.
Saturday morning, they rose early to pack. There was a knock at the door, and Andy opened it to find Matthew standing there with a handful of daisies.
“
Carlee, it’s for you,” he smiled and ushered Matthew in.
She
swept into the room in a flowered sundress and sandals. Matthew thought she was beautiful. She was special, different from any girl he’d ever met. Andy noticed him noticing Carlee, and smiled.
“
Good morning! For me?” She hugged him, and said, “Thank you!”
Andy called earlier for coffee and scones and there was another knock at the door. He went and allowed a young man in the room to set up.
“I decided this would be easier for us,” Andy said.
Matthew looked up, recognized his co-worker, and flashed him a grin.
The waiter set the coffee and cups out and filled them, and then served the scones. Andy tipped him and the young man left them to enjoy their breakfast.
“
Papa, will you take a picture?”
“
I’d be happy to,” he said as Carlee handed him her phone. She and Matthew stood together. He slipped an arm around her waist, lightly pulling her to him, liking the feel of his arm around her. Andy snapped a few shots and handed the phone back to Carlee. She immediately took a peek and proceeded to fiddle with it a moment.