At The Edge of: Desire

Chapter 5: Special Story

Shelby and Tommy were out in the park having a picnic. This had been Tommy's idea, an inexpensive get-together that didn't involve too much travel or money. He sold it as a nice romantic Saturday afternoon together, and he wasn't aware of how wise this decision had been.

Shelby had been too tired for much travel after a week full of pressure and work. She never complained; she just did the work as diligently as she could. In her mind, complaining was a waste of precious time that could be spent problem-solving.

Even today, before coming out to the park, she had spent four solid hours dealing with emails and making phone calls. She would only work half a day today; some surprise meetings yesterday had created a backlog of work that she had to catch up on today lest it spill over into Sunday. If my mother knew that I sometimes worked Sundays ... disownment wouldn't be too far behind.

When he had suggested the park, she had agreed without hesitation. She knew where it was, and it wasn't too far from her house either. The only potential problem might be parking, unless she took her bicycle. She had chosen a light-pink floral dress, so she decided to drive rather than struggle with a pushbike; besides, she didn't want to be sweaty by the time she got to Tommy. She just wanted to be alone with him and would even have settled for just sitting in her back garden while he made bacon sandwiches or ordered takeaway. After last week's massive family meal extravaganza, I am still recovering from all that cooking – which was why she had asked Tommy to make some sandwiches for the picnic while she brought the drinks and dessert, all store-bought.

The weather was surprisingly good – no cold breeze to lower the temperature, as was sometimes the case with English weather. This was just the sort of heat that a good section of the population went abroad for. There was the sound of birds chirping and the sun was shining; only the lightest gusts of air threatened to lift her summer dress if she lay there completely careless about how she positioned her legs. She knew Tommy wouldn't mind, but she didn't want anyone else to see what she had underneath her skirt. It was for him and him alone.

They sat down and ate in the sun. The weather was only made better by Tommy's 'big boy' sandwiches and the cold refreshments that Shelby had brought. These so-called sandwiches were heart-stopping affairs wrapped in cling film and still miraculously warm. Toasted slices from a seeded rye loaf held all the ingredients because regular untoasted bread just wasn't strong enough. Within, there was pâté on one slice, butter on the other, pickles, bacon, fried egg and fried ham with melted cheese on top.

Tommy opened his shoulder bag that he had brought with him and handed her one of these heavy and bulging offerings. He didn't say much, just looked at her in amusement as she hefted it in one hand with a smile that spoke volumes. "Tommy, Jesus Christ!"

"What?"

"Is this a sandwich or your solution for world hunger?" Shelby said with a laugh. She smelled the mouth-watering display and she took a bite of it, he read her mind as he offered her a napkin for the sauce which was threatening to drip down her chin.

"I can eat two of those in one sitting," he informed her with a smile before taking a huge bite of his own, he sat back leaning against the tree and chewing. "You can go and get one of those dainty, tasteless, egg-and-cress sandwiches or you can roll with the big dog."

"Roll with the what?" Shelby said in utter confusion. "Is that a reference to something?"

"I promise you, you made the right decision leaving the sandwiches to me," he said with pride. "These might look slapdash, but I promise you, it took thirty minutes to put these babies together. The flavours kick like a mule!"

"Tommy, we need to talk about your eating problem, baby! You are far too big, and now I can see the reason why!"

"Bollocks," Tommy responded, taking another bite of his sandwich. He looked off into the distance. "You can never be too big!" he said with a facetious tone.