On The Rocks

Something a little different. A few real events intertwined to make up the fictional romance.

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I don't know how it was me who was selected to be the fourth member of the office staff who was to go to the exhibition. All I do know was that with the management going to deal with the joint unveiling of the new concept vehicle they needed someone else to go and make the rounds of all the contacts. I suppose I already knew a fair number of these, and so I was elected as one of them. With Wendy being selected as the other member of the team ahead of me, I expect the fact that I was more or less her self-elected bodyguard on these sorts of things practically guaranteed me the fourth spot. The management got to stay at the posh hotel, as guests of the manufacturers. Wendy and I got the rooms at the little out of the way place we had been using for the previous few years. It suited me, I'd been there before and like I said it was a little off the beaten track whilst still being almost right on top of the exhibition. The other bonus about the launch of the new vehicle was that we got to go for an extra night, four instead of three. Wendy and I travelled separately from the management, arriving mid-afternoon at the hotel.

It had been a pleasant journey down. We had talked about the one or two other times we had been sent on business trips together, and the times we had spent in the same office, teaching one another things we knew about, filling in the blanks in each others knowledge. Basically we got to know one another again. We booked in and I got the room I had had before, a double with two single beds. Wendy got one of the rooms with a double bed. We were however right next to each other, which was handy. After I had unpacked I went to see if Wendy wanted to go and see how the exhibition set up was going. I knocked on the door and went in when she called. She was drying her hair in the bathroom and asked me to make us a drink. I was making us a cup of coffee each when her mobile rang.

"Answer it for me." She said. I did so; it was her boyfriend. I could tell he wasn't happy about something and handed her the phone as she came out of the en-suite bathroom, indicating I would leave if she wanted some privacy. She shook her head, so I continued to make the coffee. I heard her gasp, and turned around. Wendy had gone white, and was looking at her phone in a state of shock. I asked her what was the matter, and was stunned myself when she said. "He's says he's leaving."

"Are you sure?" It was all I could think of to say, as if anyone is going to misunderstand that sort of statement. Continuing on automatic I finished making coffee and handed her the cup with no sugar. She had dropped into a chair and numbly accepted the drink. I really didn't know what to do or say to her to be of any comfort. The only thing I could think of was to keep her mind occupied, and the only way to do that was to carry on and go down to the exhibition site and see how things were going.

Although it was only a short walk down to the site on the seafront, it seemed to take an eternity as I couldn't think of anything to say. Normally between the two of us we would have been swapping jokes or innuendoes, but suddenly this seemed inappropriate, and I was at a loss. I just hoped that the boss was on site and she could give me some ideas about how to keep Wendy on track.

Down on the exhibition site I got lucky. The boss seemed to see that something was wrong with Wendy straightaway, and took her too one side. I filled in the other half of the management team and then got some words of advice from the boss. Then I took Wendy off down along the seafront with orders to be myself. Have you ever tried to be yourself? It's a very hard thing to do consciously. I managed to chat away about absolutely nothing at all, revealing more about my past than I ever intended until we reached the curve of the bay, where the waves were beginning to wash over the rocks. I stopped and started to climb over the rocks until I was close to where the sea was running in. Wendy called me to come back; I motioned her to follow me. A little hesitantly she took off her shoes and clambered over to where I was stood, watching the waves break over the shoreline around me. She put her hand into mine as if she needed reassurance that it was safe. The sight of the sea breaking over a rocky shoreline has always enraptured me, and I've always felt perfectly safe as long as I've kept my eyes on the rise of the tide. Wendy seemed a bit anxious. I looked around at her and told her not to worry; as long as she stood next to me she would be fine. "What did I mean?" She asked. I related a story of when my sister and I had both been sat on a rock, me on front, her behind, watching the waves crash in, when a bigger wave had broken over the rock, completely missing me, but soaking my sister. She laughed, and calmed down a little. Shortly I realised the tide was starting to rise and led her back to the promenade. We sat and watched the waves crashing in onto the rocky outcrop where we had been standing. Wendy cuddled up to me and sighed. Not for the first time I thought about how pretty she was, but quickly pushed the thought aside, now was not the time.

"Come on." I said. "We're supposed to be meeting the management for dinner in an hour; we'd better go and get ready." I was about to start the walk back along the front when Wendy spotted the taxi rank and led me over to it.

"Much quicker and a lot less tiring." She said.

The meal was almost like a rest for me, the management team keeping Wendy occupied, mainly with what we were supposed to be doing the following day. Wendy made notes, I just nodded a lot. Having attended the exhibition before I knew, or had an idea of what we could and couldn't accomplish and was at a loss to understand why we were being asked to see so many people. The boss looked across at me and winked, and I realised the whole program was entirely to give Wendy something to plan, both later tonight and in the morning. I relaxed and started to enjoy myself once more. Again, the thought struck me that Wendy was a very pretty girl, but I pushed the notion aside with a self-admonitory NO! Now is not the time.

As we finished the meal, I asked Wendy if she wanted me to win her a cuddly toy from one of the many smash-and-grab machines dotted around the arcades. An hour and a half and nearly twenty quid later, I was ruing my rash promise that it would be easy. When I finally did hook a Garfield and drop it into the collection tray Wendy was even more excited than I was relieved. She hugged it tightly as we wandered our way back to the hotel, slipping her other arm through mine. She told me I should have given up after five pounds. I just shrugged, saying I always keep my promises. Getting back to the hotel, we had a couple of drinks before retiring to our separate rooms to get some rest before what was going to be a long day tomorrow, with the vehicle launch during the day. For the next few hours I wasn't going to be able to talk to Wendy, to keep her from thinking negative thoughts. I just hoped she would be able to get some sleep. I knew I needed some, but wasn't really expecting to get any, as I've always had trouble sleeping away from home the first night. Tomorrow would be another day.

I did manage a few hours sleep, but woke up at some ridiculous hour again. This time it was about half past six. I lay awake for a good hour running through the day's possible problems. I don't know why I do this sort of thing, nothing ever pans out as I imagine. I got up and had a shower and a shave, then turned on the TV and had a look at the news. I had the sound turned right down as I was listening for some sign of movement from the room next door. Around eight I heard the shower running. When it stopped I picked up a couple of sachets of coffee and sugar. I went to her door and knocked. Wendy's voice seemed bright and cheery as she let me in. I made coffee as she dried her hair. I told her we had time for breakfast before we had to be down on the exhibition site. Neither of was hungry so we decided to make our way to the stand slightly earlier than required. There was a lot going on with people rushing about, making last minute adjustments, people checking on things that had to be done, people checking on people etc. I just stood and let things go on around me. Wendy, still believing in the instructions she had been given, began making notes, and was soon getting in the way. I pulled her to one side and got her to sit down out from under everybody's feet. We let the last minute preparations go on around us, until it was time for the grand unveiling. The boss stood up and introduced all the relevant people and then, taa-daa, the new vehicle was unleashed on the world. Forgive me if I sell it short, it truly is a remarkable vehicle, but I had seen it grow from a sketch on the back of a piece of scrap paper, and by now it was a case of same-old same-old. Still, she was well received and straightaway other concerns were interested.

Wendy and I spent most of the morning helping answer questions, pointing out appropriate people to answer more detailed questions, and even fetching refreshments when we had to. By lunchtime the initial rush had subsided and we were able to go about our planned trawl through the exhibition to see what we could find. Of course Wendy had been checking the list of exhibitors against our list of things we 'must' find out about. I took the list from her hands, telling her lunch came first. We adjourned to a tavern on the seafront that was recommended as doing a good pub lunch. I just ordered a sandwich and a pint; Wendy had something like chicken in a basket. We settled down on a small outside table. I sat back and looked around, sipping at my drink. Wendy nibbled nervously at her meal. I asked her what the matter was. She looked up sharply. I realised what a dumb question that was. I decided it was time to tell her the truth. I explained we didn't have to go through the whole list of people to see, especially in one day. All we needed to do was wander around today, make contact with a few people, and just see if there was anything new we hadn't heard about that we could use. Quite a lot of our new initiatives had started like that over the past few years. I picked at her chicken as I talked.

"I see." She said. "All this is to keep me from thinking."

I shrugged.

"I suppose that was the general idea, but we all know how hard it is not to think about, well you know, the break up of a long relationship." Just for a moment I thought she was going to slap me, and then she looked like she was going to burst into tears. I was completely at a loss as to what to do next. I couldn't bear to see her cry, so I shuffled around to her side and leant her head against my chest. "Cry on me if it will help." I murmured.

She shook her head.

"No; he said he's going, so I'm not going to think of him and I'm not going to phone him either." I asked what she was going to do when she got back. She just shrugged. "I'll worry about that when we get home." I promised myself I would take her home personally, and not leave until she was sorted. She sat up and shook herself. "Come on, we've things to look at, and people to meet." I was about to say we didn't have to, when she smiled and said. "The sooner it's done, the sooner we get time to ourselves." I nodded in agreement, stood up and followed her back to the exhibition site.

We moved through the exhibitions for a good couple of hours, meeting with one or two people one or other of us had met before, exchanging ideas, talking and so on. We also had a look at a few new products, made a few notes so the boss could come and check them out. It was late afternoon when we found ourselves wandering along the short pier. Wendy motioned me towards a bench and we sat down and looked out over the bay. There were suddenly some things I needed to say to Wendy, but I was going to have to be careful about how I said them. I turned and started to speak, telling her how she had, however inadvertently, changed me. How I had been becoming more and more disinterested in my job, and how her arrival, with all her enthusiasm, had got me interested again, and, while I was never going to be as passionate as her, at least I was positive once again, and I thanked her for that. She smiled and gave me a hug and a kiss, telling me I was sweet. I didn't say anything, but my heart sank a little. 'Sweet' was not what a guy wanted to hear. It had overtones of 'nice', but I accepted it as it was meant, as a compliment, and said nothing but thanks. She got up and started to walk back to the exhibition, with me following. We made our way back to the stand and found the boss, who was by now looking a little harried. I let Wendy report on what we had found, and then, while she was finding the other half of the management team, I made my own report. The boss thanked me and said she was going to ask Wendy out for dinner that evening, so I was let off the hook for the night. I sighed thankfully, and then said I'd finish here if the others wanted to get away a little early.

That meant I was one of the last to the leave the exhibition site that evening, and that Wendy had already left the hotel when I got back. I didn't mind that at all as I could feel myself falling for her and was finding it harder and harder to disguise this from her. I'd always felt mildly attracted to her, but this had been tempered by the knowledge that she was already seeing someone else, that she was unobtainable. Suddenly, this wasn't so anymore, and we were having to live and work in close proximity to each other, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted to help her as a friend, but there was this other feeling growing, this need for her, that I didn't know if I could control. I showered and had a quick meal in the hotel then slipped out for a drink or two. I meet a couple of acquaintances and talked to them for a while, promising to look them up in the morning, but I had no enthusiasm when they said they knew of a nightclub and bade them goodnight. I wandered down to the end of the bay again and sat and looked out over the waves crashing over the rocks and wondered what I was going to do. Tomorrow was Wendy's and my turn to man the stand for most of the day, and in the evening was the official launch party. I swore to myself that I would not have too much to drink and do something ridiculous, or embarrassing. As the sun sank and the sky turned darker, I heard a car stop behind me and someone got out. Suddenly Wendy was sitting beside me.

"The sunset looks lovely." She said.

I had to agree, it was a beautiful sunset.

"Almost as pretty as you." I said. She smiled and said thank you, kissing me on the cheek again. I asked her if she wanted to hit the arcades again. She shook her head, saying she just wanted a good night's sleep. I told her I couldn't guarantee that, but I could walk her back to the hotel. It was more of an amble than a walk, with Wendy holding tightly to my arm, her head on my shoulder. It took us nearly an hour to walk back to the hotel, and I couldn't help enjoying the feeling of Wendy by my side. By the time she left me to go to her own room I knew that it was too late, I was hooked. I sat on the bed and worried.

The following morning was dull and wet. There were not as many people prepared to wander around the outdoor part of the exhibition so Wendy and I were not kept very busy. The management came up and asked us about who was here, where they were, that sort of thing. By lunchtime it was obvious that it didn't need both of us on the stand with all the people from the other half of the joint venture as well. I told Wendy that she may as well go back to the hotel, or call the boss and join up with her for the afternoon. She said that she thought she might go back to the hotel as there were a couple of things she wanted to do before the party tonight. I saw her fingering her phone and wondered whether she was thinking of calling him, despite her averring that she would not. Having had time to think myself I was beginning to speculate that my answering Wendy's phone, or always being nearby when he called might have given him cause for suspicion. If it was my fault then I was going to feel even guiltier than I did at the moment. Wendy left for the hotel, hunched against the wind and the rain. I sat back and let my thoughts take me to places I wasn't sure I wanted to go. Was I just keeping Wendy occupied? Or was I hindering her? Was my presence stopping her ringing her boyfriend and finding out what was wrong? I was starting to get paranoid when the management came back. I asked the boss if I could have a word, and then I poured out my worries. She just asked if I had said anything at all to Wendy, about my feelings or my worries.

"No." I said.

"Then let it ride." I was a little reassured by this, but was still worried about the evening's party.

"What if I do something dumb?"

Now she laughed.

"We're all likely to do something dumb tonight." She said. "And on past form, you and I will be the only ones who remember anything tomorrow."

I had just finished getting ready when Wendy knocked on my door. She said that the taxi would be about another ten minutes. I let her in, and had to take a step back. Very rarely had I seen Wendy dressed 'out of work'. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a tight fitting black dress that clung to her body. I told her she looked wonderful. She smiled and said that I didn't look to shabby either. As she sat down, she took out her phone again. I had to ask her whether she'd phoned home. She was almost vehement in her quick reply of no, stuffing the phone into her evening bag. She said that tonight she was going to forget all her troubles and enjoy herself. Almost immediately I decided that put me on 'dad' duties again. When tomorrow came Wendy wasn't going to have any more troubles than she had now.

The taxi dropped us off a little early for the party. This was planned as we wanted to discuss a few things as a team, all four of us. I checked he was coming back to pick us up around one in the morning. We called up to let the others know we were there, and then went upstairs. I knocked on the bosses' door, toying with the bow-tie I was having to wear. Wendy slapped my hand down and was stood in front of me straightening it when the door was opened. The boss raised an eyebrow and I went red, remembering our earlier conversation. Wendy missed most of this as she turned around, but I could see the senior supervisor sniggering in the background. The four of us held a brief discussion about what was going on at the exhibition and what the boss had heard from home. It seemed that the management duo were going to have to leave tomorrow lunchtime, but Wendy and I were to stay on and help close up the exhibition and follow home the day after. This decided, we left for the party downstairs. I hung back slightly and asked the boss if she would ring someone for me when they got back, and that she would know what to say when she realised who it was I wanted her to call. She looked at the number I handed her, spotted whose number it was and looked at me quizzically.

"Are you sure?" She asked. I nodded. She shrugged and put her arm through mine saying that as the only gentlemanly type around it was my job to escort her to the party. I laughed and said all right.

The party went through three stages. Everybody had a meal, and then came the presentations, and then the dancing. Wendy and I were on the same table. Throughout the meal I hardly took my eyes off her. I was talking to other people around me, but my attention hardly wavered from her. Some of them must have thought I was rude, but at least one of the other women I was sat near whispered in my ear that Wendy was quite pretty, and that I was very lucky. If only, I thought. The presentations were amusing and serious at the same time. They were serious presentations but done in a wonderfully deliberate amateur way. Finally we came to the dancing. I have two left feet, and dislike dancing, but I made the effort because I wanted to be close to Wendy. It quickly became obvious that she had a much better sense of rhythm than me and I had to cry off. I sat down and continued to watch her. I kept up my half listening conversations as people moved around me. Everyone wanted to talk to someone about the new vehicle, and as someone connected with its inception, a few of them wanted to talk to me. I did the best I could, but my heart wasn't really in it tonight. Whenever Wendy sat down for a rest, she came over to me and we talked a little. Finally she began to unburden herself a little, telling me about her childhood, and crucially her aversion to being told what to do in her own life. A light dawned, and a small piece of information that I would need to pass on was filed away. Most of us had been drinking since the bar had opened, but as the boss had prophesised, I wasn't really getting drunk, nor was she. I looked across the room and she raised her eyebrow. I went over and had a word. 'It looks like we're going to have one each to look after' she said. I nodded and came to a decision that showed I had been drinking; the next slow dance which came up, I was dancing with Wendy. As if on cue, the DJ put on a smoochy song. I hurried onto the dance floor, almost elbowing someone out of the way. Suddenly, I realised how stupid a thing I was about to attempt was. I needed to look at my feet to stop from treading on hers, and if I was holding her close I couldn't see down. Wendy didn't seem to care, she just pulled me close and we shuffled around, barely dancing at all. I relaxed and dropped my hands around her waist. I tried to ignore the feeling of her bare back beneath my touch, concentrating on not letting my hands go any lower. She nestled her head into my shoulder. As the song ended I heard my name being called in connection with the taxi. I whispered to her that it was time to go. She looked up almost sleepily and nodded.