Beauty and the Geek Ch. 01

Our initial idea was that most of the group would stay in a large house. I found one with seven bedrooms in an idyllic location and booked it for two weeks. That was my contribution. The group would bear the cost of travel and we would divide the profits at the end. I thought it was unlikely that we would cover our costs, but not only was it too good an opportunity to miss, but it's also not a good idea to refuse work when starting out.

Plans change. Most of the group decided pretty near the last minute that they couldn't afford to spend two weeks up there with the loss of other income, and would come up just for the concerts. Understandable, but annoying, as we were left with a seven bedroom holiday house with just the two of us in it. We phoned Angela and James. They thought it was a wonderful idea, and said they'd get back to us.

A few days later, Angela rang. "It's all fixed. I've got to work Saturday morning, so we'll follow you up. But I've managed to get the other two to cover the shop for the whole two weeks. We're really looking forward to it."

We'd rattle around a bit, but it would be fun. Julie and I set off early on the appointed Saturday so we could find the house, unload and go to a supermarket to stock up.

As we drove into the supermarket car park, we glimpsed a stunning brunette being manhandled out of a side door and into the back of a white van by a couple of burly blokes. She was tall, slim, elegant, and in trouble. She was struggling, and by the state of one of them had inflicted some useful damage.

"Stop them!" Julie shouted at me.

101 things ran through my brain. "I won't be able to – they're too big." I drove fast down the car park and stopped across the front of the van. "I've broken down – electrical fault – I'm useless practically. Get them under the hood and distract them as much as you can. I'll see if I can get the girl." I said urgently.

We both jumped out of the car.