Weekend Trip: Jack's Story Ch. 01

The London train was almost packed to capacity as it pulled out of Folkestone station. I had just managed to catch it having arrived just a few minutes earlier by hovercraft from Boulogne in northern France. At that time I was working in Paris having been seconded to my company's office there as an accounting supervisor and was about to enjoy my first weekend off since my arrival just over three months earlier. My timing was not the best, as the French air traffic controllers had gone on strike just two days before, but I was going to my favorite cousin's wedding that Saturday, so I was determined to make it there somehow. I had discovered that the Channel crossing took only thirty-five minutes by hovercraft and with the right train connections the total journey from Paris to London, city centre to city centre, would only take a few minutes longer than flying. I had already decided that I would overnight in London before taking a morning train to Southampton, arriving well in time for the wedding which was scheduled for two o'clock the following afternoon. My overnight stay was facilitated by the use of the company's apartment which was luckily vacant that weekend and to which I had the key in my hot little hand, figuratively speaking.

My plans had been somewhat derailed, so to speak, by the fact that the train from Paris to Boulogne had been delayed because of track maintenance and I had just missed my scheduled departure by hovercraft. I had to wait almost an hour for the next one, so I had arrived in Folkestone just seven minutes before the 7.59 to Charing Cross would leave. I would have hated to have missed it as that would have meant a further hour's wait, so I hurried through the green channel at Customs, praying I wouldn't be challenged, and indeed I managed to escape without further scrutiny, perhaps because I was traveling with only an overnight bag. I scooted on to the train and started looking for a place to sit. It took me ten minutes of wandering through the corridors before I found a compartment with a vacant seat. I threw my bag on the luggage rack and plopped down into the seat, somewhat breathlessly.

It was then that I noticed her. She was sitting in the seat opposite to me and I was so anxious to find a seat that I had only seen the men in suits occupying the other seats in the compartment. Now, while I am no ladies man, I definitely have a healthy interest in the fairer sex, and know a pretty girl when I see one, and I knew I was looking at one right in front of my eyes. Actually that's an understatement, akin to calling the Atlantic Ocean a pond, for this one was stunningly beautiful!

She was absorbed in a paperback, which I recognized as being written by one of my favorite authors, and I waited for an opportunity to strike up a conversation with her, even though conversation was not one of my strong points, which goes a long way towards explaining why, at thirty-five I was still unmarried and unattached. There were two things holding me back from talking to her, the first being that there was no conversation going on at all in the compartment with all the other occupants apparently reading their newspapers or in a couple of cases nodding off to sleep. The second reason was that the lady concerned did seem to be fully occupied reading her book.

I decided to read the paper I had picked up to pass the time while waiting for the hovercraft. Normally when traveling over land, whether by rail or by bus, I like to look at the passing scenery, but by now it was nearly dark and I wasn't able to see much out of the carriage windows. I should have said I decided to pretend to read the paper, for by that means I was able to surreptitiously study the lady passenger more closely without appearing to be ogling her, which of course was exactly what I was doing. At one stage, the train shuddered and she looked up from her book to see me looking at her. We made brief eye contact, which if I had been more experienced at picking up women would have been a sufficient opening to take. I blushed a little with the embarrassment of being discovered peeking at her and I thought I detected a brief smile pass over her lips before she quickly resumed reading her book.

The light in the carriage wasn't the best but it did enable me to see that my first impression of her was correct. I guessed that she was about thirty, maybe a little less and her face was beautiful, flawless from my vantage point, with just a hint of eye shadow and rouge and bright red lipstick applied sparingly. Her auburn hair framed her face beautifully, falling just short of shoulder length. She wore a navy blue dress, with a high neckline and the hem just past her knees. She had crossed her legs, which were slender and shapely and I saw that the matching shoes had stiletto heels. I wasn't able to see much of her upper body, but as far as I could see she seemed to have nicely shaped breasts.

We were on the evening express, traveling non-stop to London and it seemed the ninety minute journey was really much shorter than that. The time passed so quickly and the train pulled into Charing Cross station at exactly 9.30 without any opportunity to engage the mysterious beauty in any conversation whatsoever. She was traveling even lighter than I was and she rose to leave carrying what seemed to be just a vanity case. I opened the sliding door for her and she shot a brief smile at me, murmuring her thanks as she stepped out of the compartment into the corridor. She slipped out of sight before I was able to retrieve my bag from the rack and I chalked it up as a lost opportunity, for I felt sure I would never see her again.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I felt a tug on my sleeve as I walked towards the exit and heard a feminine voice saying, "Excuse me, can I ask you something?"

I turned and saw her standing there. For a moment I was dumbstruck, but managed to gather my thoughts enough to answer, "Of course. What is it?"

"Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I need a drink, and I hate to drink alone. Would you be kind enough to have a drink with me?"

What could I say? This was the best opportunity I would ever get, and I was in no hurry to get to an empty apartment. "Of course," I said, "I'd be delighted. I think I could use a drink myself."

I offered her my free arm and we walked together the short distance to the station bar, which fortunately was still open and even more fortunately was sparsely populated. We found a table close to the door and almost immediately a waiter was hovering to take our order.

"So what would you like?" I asked.

"Oh, a large gin and tonic, please, with lemon."

"OK, and I'll have a calvados, please," I said, ordering my current favorite, which I had acquired a taste for since my arrival in Paris. The waiter hurried away and I turned back to look at my lovely companion. "So, if I may ask, what brings you to London and why were you in such desperate need of a drink? Oh, by the way, I'm Jack," I said, holding out my hand.

She took my hand in a surprisingly firm grip, and held it for a few moments longer than seemed necessary, "I'm Janis," she replied, "and to answer your question, I'm in deep trouble!"

"Oh? What kind of trouble?" I asked, my stomach sinking at her words.

"I'm engaged to be married in six weeks, and I'm in love!"

"That doesn't sound like trouble to me, unless you have an aversion to marriage."

"Oh, it's trouble all right," she said, pausing while the waiter brought our drinks with the bill. She lifted her glass to me and I returned the gesture, while she took a long swallow from her glass.

"Cheers!" I said. "You were saying?"

"Quite simply put, it's real trouble because the man I'm in love with is not the same man I'm supposed to marry!"

"Ah, now I understand," I said sympathetically. "So how did that happen?" I asked.

"Well, I've been working for a pharmaceutical company in Paris for the last six weeks, and about three weeks ago I met this guy at a reception. We got to talking and it was obvious that he was as attracted to me as I was to him. We started dating and last weekend we realized that we were in love."

"So have you......" I started to ask.

"No, no, we haven't made love yet, but it's been tough I can tell you. I told Jacques, that's his name, that I was engaged and wanted to break it off before he and I went any further, and he respected that. So that's why I'm here - I'm on my way to see my fiancée to tell him I really cannot marry him."

"So you don't love him, then?"

"That's another problem," she said, wrinkling her nose. "I thought I did once but before I left we had been having some terrible rows and that's really why I took this job, which was only supposed to be temporary. Now, I'm seriously considering whether to apply for a permanent position so I can be with Jacques."

As we were chatting I was really scoping her out and although her dress was very conservative it couldn't hide the fact that she had a really nice perky pair of boobs inside it. I was really attracted to her, but judging from the conversation we were having it didn't seem as if I had much of a chance with her. I decided that if I was going to have any chance at all I needed to try to stay with her as long as I could.

I tested the waters by asking, "So what do you plan to do next? When are you going to see your fiancée?"

She finished off her drink and said, "Well, I was going there tonight, but since I couldn't fly into Heathrow, and then missed my connection, I'll spend the night at a hotel and go on to Reading tomorrow."

I thought I saw a slight opening for me, so I took my courage in both hands and ventured, "There's a spare bedroom in the apartment where I'm staying tonight. If you want to you'd be more than welcome to stay there."

She brightened considerably at my suggestion. "That's very kind of you, Jack. If you're sure it's no trouble....."

"No trouble at all, Janis. At least I can save you the bother of checking in and checking out of the hotel."

"OK, then. Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome. Look, I don't know about you but I haven't had anything to eat since lunchtime and I'm famished!" I omitted the fact that I had also become quite horny since we'd started talking, accelerated by the thought of having her spend the night in the same apartment! My cock was twitching with excitement, but I tried to calm it down by telling myself that it was a long shot.

"Actually I'm starving. I'd like to repay your kindness by treating you to dinner, OK?"

"We'll talk about that later. Do you like Indian food?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Not very far from the apartment there's a little place where the Tandoori Chicken is to die for. Want to try it?"

"OK, that sounds good. Want to go now?"

"Sure, let's get a cab."

I paid the bill and after saying our goodnights left the bar to go to the taxi rank. There were two or three cabs waiting there so we got in the first one and I gave the address of the restaurant. We didn't talk too much during the ten minute drive over there, but Janis did take my hand and say, "Jack, thank you for being here for me and my neurotic self. I really appreciate your company tonight." Perhaps I was crazy but somehow as she said that I felt that her eyes were telling me that I might expect sweeter things later. I was so glad of the opportunity to spend more time with her, even though her current entanglements might mean that any dalliance between us was unlikely. Well, stranger things have happened!

When we arrived at the restaurant, it was crammed full of people. I had forgotten it was Friday when Londoners tend to stay out on the town later and there were no tables available right away. However, that meant that we had to remain in the waiting area and because that area was also pretty full Janis and I were sitting much closer together than before. She was looking me straight in the eye as we talked and I began to think that I had a better chance with her than I had originally thought. Her perfume, although understated, began to have its effect on me and I was becoming quite enamored with her and the way she was opening up to me.

Eventually our turn came and we were escorted to a small table at the far side of the room. This row of tables were arranged so that the seating on the side nearest to the wall was actually an upholstered bench running the entire length of the wall, with regular chairs on the opposite side. At first Janis sat on the bench and I took the chair on the opposite side, but since it was actually a table for four and we were having difficulty hearing what the other was saying I decided to move over to sit next to her instead.

As I took my seat Janis smiled at me and said, "That's better! Now we can talk without shouting at each other." She put emphasis on her statement by patting me on my leg, and her touch felt like a jolt of electricity going through me. I don't know if it was her touch or simply because I hadn't had real contact with a woman for several months, but the effect was immediate as my cock became instantly hard.

I was about to respond to her comment when the waiter appeared to take our order and the distraction of talking to him provided some relaxation for my engorged tool. We decided to order two entrees and then share them and I chose a bottle of French Sancerre which went well with our choice. We didn't have to wait very long before the waiter returned with the wine and after she tasted it Janis complimented my on my choice.

Our dinner was very enjoyable but we had soon consumed all of the wine so I ordered another bottle. As dinner progressed I became increasingly aware of Janis' thigh close up to mine and all through dinner I had a raging erection throbbing in my pants. The one moment I vividly remember during dinner was when my napkin slipped from my lap on to the floor and as I bent down to retrieve it I felt Janis' hand brush across the front of my pants coming into direct contact with my throbbing cock. It happened so casually that it may have been accidental, but I couldn't be certain.

We finished our meal and decided to skip dessert, content to have a final glass of wine each as we polished off the second bottle. The waiter brought the bill to me, but as I was pulling out my wallet to extract my credit card, Janis said, "No, please, dinner's on me!"

I told her I wouldn't hear of it, going on to say, "I've never had a woman pay for me, so I'm certainly not going to start now!"

She murmured, "You're very kind. How can I ever repay you?"

Jokingly I replied, "Well, I guess we'll think of something!" Much to my surprise, she blushed and cast her eyes down. I thought I might have embarrassed her, so I hurriedly said, "No, no, don't be embarrassed, I was only joking. There's no need to repay me. To have the pleasure of your company is reward enough."

She looked me in the eye and said with a faint smile on her lips, "Now you're really embarrassing me!"

"Well, it's the truth. When I first set eyes on you, I'd have never dreamed that we'd be having dinner together!"

"Well, we have and I've enjoyed every minute of it!"

"Perhaps we should do it again sometime. Perhaps when we return to Paris? Oh, but I forgot you have a boy friend there, so there's not much chance of that, is there?"

"Maybe, we'll see, eh?"

"Well, I hope so!" I said, as my heart sang, thinking, 'I think she really likes me!' At that point the waiter brought the credit card slip back for me to sign, so after that was done, I said, "Well, it looks like they're getting ready to close. I can't believe it's already after twelve. Let's see if we can get a cab back to my place, OK?"

"OK, I'm feeling quite sleepy after the wine."

I asked the cashier, a gloomy looking elderly Indian lady, probably the owner's mother, to call for a cab. She tried a couple of times but she said that there was no answer as they usually closed around this time of night. She suggested that we'd probably be able to hail a passing cab with no problem, so we went outside. It was a warm evening so I suggested we start walking in the direction of the apartment until we could get a cab. We set off and a couple of cabs passed us but they were occupied. With Janis' high heels we had to walk slowly and she put her arm around my waist and I reciprocated by putting my right arm around her while I carried my bag in my left hand. It felt really good as she held me quite tightly and I was tempted to stop and kiss her, but something held me back.

We got to the end of the block and then crossed the street when the traffic light was in our favor, still looking for a cab but to no avail and I told her it was only two more blocks down to the street where the apartment was located. We continued walking and were about halfway down the street when suddenly Janis stumbled, breaking the heel of her right shoe. Fortunately, because we had our arms around each other, she didn't fall or even twist her ankle, but when I looked at her shoe it was obvious we had a problem: she was not going to be able to walk with one shoe missing a heel while the other was still intact. I looked around still hoping a cab would come by, but still no luck there.

I was just considering what to do, when she grinned at me and said, "Well, I'll just have to take the other one off and walk barefoot."

"Really, are you serious?"

"Yes, of course. It's not too far, is it?"

"No, it's not too much further. But what about your stockings? They're going to be ruined."

"I'll just take them off, too. I hate pantyhose anyway."

"Here?"

"Of course." She indicated a nearby shop doorway. "If you'll stand guard, I'll just duck in here and they'll be off in a jiffy."

"OK, then, if you're sure." For some reason I started to get aroused again as she slipped into the doorway and hiked up her dress. While looking up and down the street for any passers-by I managed to sneak a peek while she still had her skirt up and was rewarded with a good view of her lovely legs and even a glimpse of the swell of her ass cheeks. She looked so sexy as she quickly stripped her hose down past her knees then came over to me so she could lean on me to steady herself while she completed the removal of her hosiery. By this time my cock was fully erect and was hoping that it wasn't too obvious in the dim light from the street lights. That may have been the case, but as luck would have it, Janis again accidentally, or seemingly so, brushed the front of my pants and felt the bulge lurking inside them.

She looked up quickly with a smirk, asking, "Oh, dear, did I cause that?" I was a little embarrassed that she had found out, so I simply nodded with a sheepish grin. While I was embarrassed I was also relieved that she now knew the effect she was having on me. She tucked her hose into her vanity case, where she had already put her shoes, then tucked her arm back around my waist. She looked up at me since now barefoot, she seemed four inches shorter, and said, "Shall we go?"

Without her high heels we were able to walk faster than before, even though we had to be careful where we were treading because she was barefoot, and within ten minutes we had walked the remaining distance to the apartment block. We had continued to walk with our arms around each others' waists and I was feeling more and more confident that there was a good chance we would end up in bed together. My erection subsided only a little and I could feel dampness in my under shorts where the pre-cum had started to leak from the tip of my cock.

We took the elevator to the fourth floor and I quickly found that the company apartment no 4A was at the end of the corridor, occupying the north-western corner of the building. I deduced from the number and position of the doors that each apartment was located on a corner and when we entered I immediately saw that the roomy lounge, doubling as a dining room, had a window on each wall. The kitchen acted as a barrier between the bedrooms and the lounge and the bedrooms were side by side, each having its own bathroom. I showed Janis into the first bedroom, keeping my word that she could have her own room, while still hoping that we would only need to use one bedroom.