Bittersweet Summer

Chapter 16

And so began the affair that Michelle had been dreaming of. It started with Charlie parking just around the corner and waiting for Tommy to leave. Almost immediately afterwards her phone pinged and she looked to see the whatsapp message, "are you alone?" She replied "Yes, but it's not safe here" to which he said "I am outside, do you fancy a drive?" She knew that Tommy was away for the whole day, he was going to London for some important business deal but equally, as Valerie had reminded her it was a small place, and she had to be careful. She could hardly contain her excitement. She replied "give me 10 minutes' ' and made a call to Valerie. "I need to not be found for the day, '' she said excitedly. Valerie smiled "I assume you have a date with your mechanic" Michelle laughed "I'm not sure it's a date, in fact I'm not sure what is, all I know is I want to go and I don't want anything in the way to stop me" Valerie replied "don't worry, your secret's safe with me, I will make sure that if the boys appear I will drop you a text to let you know. Even though she had only known this man for a short amount of time Michelle knew she wanted to know him better. She quickly threw on some clothes and as it was still warm make sure that her legs were on display. She had already shaved the night before. With a smile as she looked in the mirror the denim skirt and trainers along with the off the shoulder top would do just fine today. She bounced down the stairs, and set the alarm. As she closed the front door dropped a text back "where are you?" and as he did so the Z4 came into view. She frantically beckoned him to go past. "NOT here" she sent another text. Charlie carried on driving past the house. She went to the Mercedes and sent the final text "I will follow you, we need to hide my car somewhere" he grinned and waited just around the corner for her to pull out of the driveway. With a few short twists and turns they found the car park where her car would be safe enough, and she climbed into the BMW. He grinned. "hello, my sexy French seat cover" she looked back at him. "What did you just call me?" "my sexy French seat cover" and he laughed out loud. "Where to madame?" she looks back at him, "I don't care let's just get the hell out here"

"So where are we going?" she asked. He replied "do you fancy fish-and-chips?'' She looked a little disappointed. "Not exactly romantic, '' she laughed. He smiled again, "do you fancy fish-and-chips at the beach?" She smiled. "Are you always this crazy?" "Only if I have someone to be crazy with," he replied. It took around 20 minutes to get to the motorway. As they drove they talked. He asked why she had no kids, she answered.Just never got round to it. She asked questions about his son and their relationship. He confessed to having another son who now lived in America and they had a difficult relationship for a time. Although they were on a voyage of discovery already it felt like they had known each other for years and Michelle was in a very happy place as the car hit the motorway. She put her shades on, turned the music up and Charlie put his foot down and let the powerful BMW Z4 have it's head. It took around an hour and a 1/2 to get to Brighton, and, by the time they found somewhere to park it was probably 2 hours into the day. She had never felt so free and it was wonderful to talk to another human being on the same level. To laugh, to share some passions, to be infuriated by his love for country music something which she sincerely hoped would change but already she liked this man very much as they walked along the pier arm in arm. It felt natural, not forced, and certainly wasn't about sex, like all of the men she had met in her recent past. As they walked into the amusements, Michelle looked at the grab machines everywhere, looked at Charlie, and said, "can I have a souvenir?" He had always been competitive, and this was no different, so he immediately took up the challenge, and soon began to wish he hadn't. Despite grabbing a few of the furry toys, none of them had fallen into the winners bay. It was probably 15 pounds into feeding the machine he suddenly managed to capture a small furry cat. Michelle squealed with excitement and Charlie laughed as the small furry animal dropped into the winner's enclosure and he collected it and handed it to her. "Just for you" he looked into her eyes and couldn't help kissing her. Whatever this woman had done to him he was enjoying the feelings too and was certain that despite the fact it was going to be very difficult, he wanted to see more of her. They went to the beach and searched out a small fish-and-chips stall. Taking them to the beach, wrapped in paper and covered in salt and vinegar, it brought back memories of her childhood in France. She looked at him and said "maybe this is romantic, I haven't felt like this in a long time" he looked back. "I have no idea where this came from Michelle, and I should never be happy with somebody hitting my car, but the truth is I'm very glad you drove into me that day. He looked her up and down, said, "you look fantastic" Michelle smiled "Why thank you" she said "are you trying to charm me a little perhaps?" he replied "I might be" and kissed her again. Her mouth tasting of salty chips he softly licked her lips and put his hands on her arse, squeezing gently. "you're a very attractive lady Michelle" she blushed and didn't quite know how to return the compliment, so simply said "I need to lose a few pounds" he replied "you look just perfect to me, I would be quite happy for you to stay as you are" They sat on the stones, and ate the food in near silence. "Can I have a coke? Zero please"! she asked. "No problem," he said, anything else?" She shook her head, and her curls caught the breeze. He finished his chips, and stood up and went back to the stall. When he returned, Michelle had finished her food too, and as he screwed up his paper she said "don't you dare just chuck that!" "I wasn't going to" he smiled, but I guarantee I can get it in the bin from here." There was a glint in his eye. Michelle took up the challenge. Screwed her paper up and aimed. She failed miserably, and he laughed and fell back onto the stones before she whacked him and said, "come on then Mr know it all". ...He knelt up. Screwed his paper up, and very carefully took aim and threw. It fell into the open mouth of the bin, and he raised both his arms smiling and saying "oh yes"! She jumped on him, and like two teenagers would tease each other for not being able to throw the wrapping in first time, fell onto the stones in an embrace.

As the sun beat down Michelle sat up and simply sat on the stones, knees raised. "I just want to listen to the sea," she said. "My early childhood was near the sea and I love it more than anything else" she shook her curls, lifted her glasses and looked out to see just to absorb the waves and the sight and sounds. As she did so Charlie lay next to her, he couldn't look at the sea he was too wrapped up in looking at Michelle. She turned to kiss him, and as she did so he put his arms around her. He felt strong, safe and she enjoyed his touch. Very quickly she realised that if this man wanted her she had no need for websites anymore. Because she wanted him and the feelings he was giving her.

As the day wore on she began to understand that they had a great deal in common, certainly from their childhood and their upbringing. His mother had never been around, always enjoying the next man and he had left home at a young age, and fought hard to make his business successful. He liked living under the radar and apart from his ex- wife, he had not really had any serious relationships. His ex had given him his best friend, his son Callum and he was extremely proud of the way they had grown what they have as a business and as a father and son relationship. And he had made sure no one was going to come between that, but. He couldn't get enough of this sexy French woman. She was utterly charming, very attractive and he was sure he wanted more and more of her. They were lost in each other despite the hustle and bustle of the sea resort, when her phone pinged. She looked at him and said "I'm sorry I have to check this." She opened the message from Valerie and already knew what it would say. She looked at Charlie "I need to get back. I'm so sorry I didn't plan this at all well, and I need to be back before he gets home". She kissed him gently and said, "With better planning can we do it again?" "I would like that very much" he said and returned the kiss. "I guess we better get back to the car" As they walked along arm-in-arm it was as if they had been a couple for years, and thought nothing of pointing out strange people. The odd haircuts, the huge beer bellies. They laughed and she gave him a hard time about his country music. He told her "wait until you hear my rock and roll!" as she raised her eyes to the heavens there were definitely some things she didn't like about this man, but if she had to suffer rock and roll and country in order to feel so alive she figured she could do that. They drove back with the music on his hand resting on her knee and hers returning the compliment. She suddenly realised that there was nothing sexual about today, it was an experience of learning about a man who in a very short space of time had become very important to her. And what she was learning she was liking very much indeed. Her phone pinged again and she looked down the message. It read "you probably have an hour." "Charlie" she enquired, "will we be back in an hour"? he put his foot down and she felt the car leap forward. He looked at her and smiled "anything for you princess"

As he dropped her at her car, they kissed. A deep and passionate embrace, one which she felt deep inside her. "one thing" she said abruptly "You can only contact me via dial chat, do you have it?" he looked puzzled she smiles "Oh my God I forgot you're a mechanic! She laughed, "download dial chat D-I-A-L C-H-A-T She spelt it out slowly for him. Have a look in your app store, download it, and find me!" She quickly went into her bag and scribbled down her dial chat address. "I have to go!" and she kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for the most wonderful day". She started her car and sped out of the car park. Charlie was left standing smiling, his head confused. He hadn't felt this way in a very long time, and he wanted this woman to stick around.