The Touch Ch. 31

"I wish there was one here...I would drop you in it..." I laughed.

"Which reminds me," she went on, "were you aware that Kitty is in training for the charity marathon at Bournemouth in June?" I shook my head. "I have told her that De Vere Garden Centres Ltd. will officially sponsor her, she did very well in the London Marathon earlier this month....in the first fifty!"

"I know; it cost me over twenty quid in sponsorship money," I grinned.

"If you agree I think we could give her a bit of extra slack time to train.... Oh, and I have said that she can use the pool before work in the mornings to work out," she chuckled. "So I don't want you cavorting about up there in the buff upsetting the girl...she is in serious training and you know what they used to tell us girls at school -- sex will ruin your hockey."

"Maggie...that was just..... you know that I wouldn't...." I stuttered before I realised that she was teasing me again.

"I know," she grinned hugging my arm tight to her again affectionately. "That doesn't mean that WE can't do it again sometime, it was fun."

I could feel the worm starting to wriggle in my trousers at the thought of swimming naked with Maggie again and knew that I had to move before I said something stupid again. "We had better make a start on this lawn..." I prompted.

We finished our drinks and then made a start on the remaining turf, still laughing and teasing one another. The day had now turned much cooler and the low grey clouds held the promise of imminent rain and so we concentrated on getting the grass laid as quickly as possible and with both of us on the job we had the rest of the lawn completed by about five o'clock, it had not yet started to rain and so we spent another hour cutting in the shaped edges around the flower beds.

Maggie poured us each another cup of coffee and we stood on the raised decking to survey our work. Now that the grass was laid you could see the sweeping curves of the flower beds and even I was pleased with the way that my design had turned out. Garden landscaping is a peculiar art, often what looks good on paper doesn't always translate in practicality.

"I will give you a hand to unload the plants from the pick-up and then I had better get back to help Emma close up," Maggie said. Friday night was usually 'girls night' when Maggie and Gwen got together for the evening and went to the cinema or for a meal, but with Gwen working in Swindon she had arranged to go out somewhere with Emma instead.

"Better still, why don't you take the van back to the yard and I will keep the pick-up and unload the shrubs and maybe get some of them planted in?" I suggested, "I intended working on for another hour or so anyway."

We swapped car keys and I moved my satchel with my flasks, sweatshirt and shoes into the pick-up and then walked out onto the road to wave as she drove off.

I unloaded the decorative bushes which Jack had prepared for me, each with a good root ball in a Hessian sack of moist soil, ready to plant in and propped them up in the approximate places that were indicated on the design drawings. These would be the basis of the perennial back ground features of the flower beds and although quite small at the moment would fill out through the summer months and hopefully be very impressive in a couple of years.

The holly bushes and trees were intended as something more than just decorative although I am personally quite fond of holly, if the green and variegated varieties are mixed they make a very pretty evergreen hedge particularly when the clusters of red berries are in season.

Caroline had shown some concerns about security at the far end of the garden as there was a public foot path the other side of the fence and so I had come up with a green solution to the problem. I intended planting the five holly trees, spaced out along the inside of the fence with the seven lower growing bushes interspersed between. In about a year they would have grown into a fairly dense prickly thicket which was attractive from the garden, easily maintained and a seriously good deterrent to anybody thinking of climbing over the fence. An added bonus was that neighbourhood cats would seldom jump into a holly hedge, not twice at least!

Additionally, Steve had put in electrical cables to the shed, the summer house and patio areas and a security light with movement detector had been fitted to the shed angled to cover the back fence. I made a mental note that if Caroline did not come down that week-end I would use my keys to get into the house and switch on the power, now that the summer house lighting was connected up and the circuit safe.

Once holly plants get bigger than a couple of feet they become a bit difficult to handle and so I changed my polo shirt for the thick sweat-shirt and pulled on a pair of heavy duty work gloves and managed to get the prickly bushes and trees down to the end of the garden without getting too many scratches or pricks. Plants that prick, scratch or sting seem to have a life of their own and can seek out even the smallest exposed area of skin.

The strip had already been broken up with the rotavator and was quite soft and as it was only just after six-thirty and there would be light for another couple of hours at least I decided to start digging the pits and plant in the bushes and trees before leaving.

I completed putting in the bushes, laid the weed suppressant webbing around and was raking the woodchip base over the bed when I picked up the distinctive roar of Caroline's Lotus Elan at the far end of the road and a few seconds later heard gravel crunching and scattering as the car came to a skidding halt in the front drive. I was glad that I had pulled the pickup down close to the garden gate as the truck would probably have been covered in stone chips. The car door slammed and I saw lights come on in the house, firstly the kitchen and then the bedroom and guessed that Caroline had gone straight into the house.

I glanced at my watch, it was now close to eight o'clock and I decided to call it a day and so gathered up my tools and locked them in the little shed and then made my way down to the outside tap to wash my hands and boots. By the look of the sky there was rain imminent and so there was no point in getting out the garden hose to spray the newly laid turf, or water in the holly hedge and so I considered myself done for the day, tossed my wet boots into the rear of the pick-up, changed into my old deck shoes, poured a cup of coffee and sat down on the steps of the wooden decking outside of the French windows and lit a cigarette and took a few minutes genuine pleasure from surveying the fruits of my labours. The project was really starting to come together and was looking good, I hoped that Caroline would be as pleased as I was when she saw it.

The pleasure was short lived. I could hear her talking animatedly and shrilly on the telephone and then the light came on in the room behind me and I heard the key turn in the lock, the doors of the French windows open and soft footsteps on the decking.

"I hope that I am not paying for you to sit on your fucking arse smoking all day!" Caroline snapped at the back of my head.

She sounded really pissed off and snotty and took me by surprise. I turned to face her and for a moment just sat with my mouth hanging open from the shock at her outburst, and felt my cheeks starting to colour, not so much with embarrassment as with anger.

She stood just outside the open doors wearing the same mid-thigh length kimono style robe, of yellow and peacock blue silk that I had seen before, she had obviously stripped off as soon as she got into the house and the robe had been hurriedly pulled on and was open a few inches at the front giving a view of her deep cleavage and the plump V of her Mound of Venus, scantily covered by the small triangle of a cream and white lace G-string. Her long bottle blonde hair was abnormally disarranged although her make-up was perfect as usual and she was bare footed. I remember thinking that for an almost chubby girl she had small pretty feet. I think that her anger had made her oblivious to the sexy picture of undress that she presented to me.

"Well... are you just going to bloody sit there?" Her voice had a brittle quality and her temper had brought the normally veiled hard Essex accent to the surface.

I got to my feet and stood facing her, I was getting angry and didn't want to lose my temper or let rip in earnest but I had to make some response if only to save face.

"Caroline .... That is bang out of order!" I said quietly and as calmly as I could manage. "My people have worked damned hard on your garden, I have personally been here today since five-thirty .... How dare you criticise me when you haven't even looked at the garden yet!"

"Don't argue with me.....!" she hissed. She tossed her head haughtily, her hair flowed our behind her in a sunburst of golden yellow and her robe slipped open just a little further allowing me a brief glimpse of the edge of the dark aureola on each heavy breast. She made a small furious figure which was at the same time both amusing and erotic.

I really did not want to fight or argue with her, partly because she was a relatively important client but mostly because I tried never to fight battles when I did not know what it was that I was fighting over.... Perhaps Caroline knew, but I certainly didn't!

"OK....OK...." I said firmly, throwing up both hands palms outwards in a gesture of surrender and conciliation. "I think I had better go now.... We can talk again when we are both a bit less emotional and can be civil to each other." It had started to rain and so I picked up my cup, turned and started back towards the pick-up truck without saying any more or even looking back.

I started the engine and was already moving down the drive when she appeared at the front door; I noticed that she had pulled her robe tightly around her now.

"Come back here, Riley... don't walk away from me.....!" She shouted. I kept driving and turned into the road but I could still see her and hear her as I drove away, "Jamie! .... Come back, Jamie....!"

Her unexpected and unwarranted ranting had really annoyed me. It wasn't the first time that a customer had got shirty with me, it happens in any job... but this seemed somehow on a different level. I wasn't even sure that her anger was directed at me at all, which seemed to make it worse. I guess I was doubly irritated because Caroline and I had seemed to be connecting, becoming quite friendly, she had even taken Maggie and I to a concert as her guests a couple of weeks back.

"Fuck you, Caroline Bloody Brookes!" I snarled to myself as I hit the accelerator and drove off. I had started to like Caroline, as a person, not just because she was attractive with a great pair of tits and flirted with me outrageously, and so I really was mystified at her attack on me. I wasn't particularly fond of her, I liked her but our relationship was 98% business and so I wasn't hurt or emotionally bruised but she had made me angry and I suppose that I was annoyed with myself for allowing her to do that.

Everybody else had left long ago when I got back to the garden centre; I parked the pick-up and then let myself into the staff room to shower and change. The telephone had been ringing since I had arrived, the outside extension bell loud and strident but I just ignored it and let it ring, it would not be Maggie or Gwen and I figured that it was probably Caroline calling to give me another earful. It stopped just as I was getting into my car to drive home.

By the time I got home I had calmed down and resolved that I would probably call Caroline on Saturday morning but unless it was really necessary would not go over...I would make an early start on the driveway at Craven Manor instead. Gwen would be home and I wanted to spend Sunday with her, we had not had much quality time together in the last couple of weeks. I would pick up at Caroline's early in the next week the job was now well ahead of schedule the really hard work already done.

I hadn't eaten and had planned to make a easy supper, maybe an omelette, and listen to some soothing Bach or Mozart but suddenly I felt that I needed company for the evening and so decided to drive into Salisbury and get something to eat then go for a drink at one of the several pubs where I knew friends and acquaintances hung out on Friday nights.

I quickly ran my pocket shaver over my stubble and changed into a smart red and black striped shirt, a decent pair of grey chinos and fashionable black linen jacket with the cuffs turned back to expose the pale blue silk lining as was the current trend. I picked up my car keys and was making for the door when I heard the sound of a car pulling into the drive. My first thought and hope was that it was Gwen come home earlier than expected.

I opened the door and immediately saw Caroline's bright yellow Lotus Elan M100 in the drive. I was a bit surprised that she had my home address but I guessed that I must have given it to her or that it was written on some document she had from me. The driver door was open and Caroline was just standing by the car in the rain beneath a small ladies umbrella which was twitching furiously in the breeze. What really drew my attention was the huge dent in the driver's side wing of the expensive sports car, the whole area was scraped down to the bare metal and scarred with streaks of red paint. That probably had something to do with her bad mood.

"Get in.... I will buy you dinner somewhere." She called. She sounded a lot calmer than earlier.

"No, I don't think so.." I replied petulantly.

"Don't piss about, Jamie.... I REALLY do not want to fall out with you.... I need a friend tonight. Just get in the car...PLEASE!"

I guessed that this was going to be as close to an apology as I was going to get. I seldom hold grudges and anyway I was hungry. I closed and locked the front door and made for the car. She was still standing in the rain but was holding out the car keys.

"Do you want to drive?" she asked. I was tempted; you do not often get the chance to drive a top of the range sports car, but shook my head and walked around to the passenger door. I felt that she was trying to bribe me into being nice to her by letting me play with her expensive toy.

We were turning onto the main road before we spoke again. "Where to?" she asked, "You know the restaurants around here better than I do.... I'm paying, so pick somewhere expensive with decent food and a good wine cellar." I glanced across at her and there was a half-smile playing across her pouty red lips, but she still sounded a bit tense.

The dashboard clock said that it was close to nine o'clock and so I had to pick somewhere fairly close where we were likely to get a table at short notice. In the end I settled for Squire's Restaurant at The White Hart Hotel in the centre of Salisbury, I had been there before with Gwen and Emma, they offered an excellent carvery and a first class a la carte menu, it was easy to find, easy to park and strangely, although very busy earlier in the evening, tables were often available later.

The short drive into the city was made almost in silence, Caroline chose not to instigate a conversation and I allowed her that privilege until we had pulled into the car park at the White Hart. She stopped and just sat for a moment making no attempt to get out of the car. This angry silence was unlike the Caroline that I had started to know, she had always been a gushing, flamboyant woman full of conversation, not idle chatter, intelligent, knowledgeable conversation.

"So what happened to the car?" I finally asked, probing gently. The brand new Lotus Elan M100 was her pride and joy, it was not just a very expensive toy it was a symbol of her success, a sign to the world that she had made her mark in her profession. I guessed the repair bill would run into four figures.

"Some fucking idiot rammed me at a motorway service area on the way here!"

"Oh, God Caroline," I visualised the damage to the wing; the impact must have been considerable. "Were you in the car....are you hurt?"

"Yes, I was in the car, but no I am not hurt....." She released her safety belt and flung open the door, "Come on I need a bloody drink!"

It was still raining and we ran swiftly into the hotel foyer. She stopped me just inside the door with a hand on my arm, she seemed to have instantly recovered her poise now that she was in the public view.

"Are we friends again now?" She switched on her bright, pouty Marilyn Monroe smile.

"Of course," I replied. I hadn't fully forgiven her yet but I was working on it. I never could hold a grudge where attractive women were concerned. Especially when I was starving hungry and she was offering to buy me dinner.

I guided her through to the restaurant and the Maitre d confirmed that he could seat us in about 15 minutes time and so I ordered drinks, a large vodka and Russian for Caroline and a straight whisky for myself and we sat side by side in comfortable club chairs in the restaurant lounge bar. . It was the first real chance that I had to appraise how Caroline looked that evening. She was wearing a plain black off the shoulder cocktail dress of what appeared to be a very fine lightweight satin, with a fashionable layered bodice held up by a single thin strap around her neck and short mid-thigh length straight pencil skirt hugging her rounded hips and thighs, finished off with delicate black patent evening sandals. Her long blonde hair fell in a well brushed cascade over her bare shoulders and her make-up as usual was immaculate, her full lips painted a vivid red which glowed against the whiteness of her skin and the contrasting black outfit.

She twisted around in her chair so that her legs were tucked up, revealing the whole length of her smooth thighs where her skirt had ridden up almost to her buttocks and exposed the faintest glimpse of black panties when she moved. Her elbows were resting on the arm of the chair and she leaned over towards me the plunging neck of her dress exposing her deep cleavage and emphasising her heavy breasts. Caroline had always been a somewhat flamboyant with her body language and liked to give any watching males a bit of a vicarious thrill with a flash of thigh or bosom.

"Thank you for coming with me, Jamie," she said smiling, running her hand lightly down my sleeve. She took a deep breath and then added, "My garden DOES look fantastic.... I had a walk round whilst deciding if I wanted to chase after you....it looks lovely.... even in the rain." She seemed to be slipping back gradually into her bright, gushing, tactile self.

"I am so glad that you like it.... I really hoped that you would," I was already starting to warm to her again and relented my earlier decision. "I can call in for an hour or so tomorrow morning if you want to look at it together and give me your opinions?" I suggested. "But I need to get to another contract later."

Squires Restaurant boasted a small and traditional a la carte menu but the food was always first class. To my surprise and joy we had been seated at the famous window table with a view to the courtyard flower garden, reputed to have been the favourite table of both Charles Dickens and Mark Twain who stayed at the White Hart regularly in the previous century. The courtyard and garden was always immaculate, they had their own gardener. Basil Day had supplied the seasonal plants for several years and I hoped that the contract would pass to us in September and made mental note to speak to Maggie about it.

Caroline seemed a lot more relaxed and much happier, and ordered the rack of lamb, whilst I chose the fillet steak medallions, and we shared the seasonal vegetables of the day. She insisted on ordering the wine and selected two bottles of the expensive 1985 Chateau Rajas Cote du Rhone Cuvee Syrah Reserve, a highly recommended red which I had not previously tried. The meal and wine were excellent and by the time that we had finished our main course and ordered desserts and Caroline had insisted on a bottle of white dessert wine, there were only ourselves and one other couple left in the dining room.