On The Rocks

Despite collecting our coats, it was still fairly cold as we got into the taxi. Wendy cuddled up to me, her head on my shoulder again. She was asleep as we left the hotel forecourt. I could see the cabby in the mirror; he smiled back at me, saying.

"Bad luck."

I just half shrugged so as not to wake Wendy.

"Probably for the best." I said. When we pulled up outside our hotel, I shook Wendy gently awake, not wanting to have to carry her and open the doors. The cabby gave me a hand to walk her to the door, and I thanked him and paid him his fare. Getting into the hotel wasn't that hard. The difficult bit was going to be steering Wendy up the windy stairs to her room. I managed it, and without putting my hands anywhere I shouldn't. I opened her room and put on the light.

Wendy teetered in a little unsteadily, and flopped down on the end of her bed. She slipped out of her coat and then laid back. I eased her off the coat and slipped it onto a likely looking hanger. She looked up and asked if she was really that drunk.

"I think that you probably are." I said.

"I'm not." She declared. "Look, I can still undo my shoes." She sat up and then leant forward, beginning to fiddle with her shoes. "Okay, maybe I can't." She said, giving up. I sighed and knelt in front of her, slipping her shoes off and putting them to one side with her normal footwear. She began to giggle. I shushed her saying that everyone else was asleep. She apologised, a little more quietly, saying that she'd often wanted to be waited on hand and foot. I shook my head, telling her that this was a one off. I asked her if she could manage now. Wendy looked at me, saying. "I think I might need a bit more help yet." I scratched my head, realising this could be tricky. Her dress left little to the imagination. I found her sensible nightie on the pillow with Garfield and a plan formed itself. I helped her pull the nightwear over head, and then unclipped the halter neck of the dress so that when she stood up, increasingly unsteadily, the night dress dropped down and the evening dress dropped to the floor. I helped Wendy under the bedclothes, then picked up her dress and hung that up too. I kissed her softly on the forehead as I turned out the light and left her. She was asleep already. I went next door to my room and sat down. Several thoughts ran through my head. The first was that it was a good job I had been with Wendy to keep her safe; the second was what an idiot I was. She had almost been coming on to me, but I hadn't realised until I sat down here. However the main thing was that I had kept my promise to myself. She wasn't going to have any more problems in the morning than she had the day before, apart from a huge hangover of course.

I awoke in the morning, a little later than usual, but still far too early. There was no sound from next door, but I wasn't really expecting any. After making myself a cup of coffee and having a shower, I felt a lot better. I looked at the time and it was obvious that I was going to have to wake Wendy if we were to get to the exhibition site at a reasonable time. I still had her door key and so let myself into the room. Wendy was sprawled on the bed, the sheets twisted around her. I crouched beside her and looked into her peaceful face, brushing her hair from her face. Then I gently shook her by the shoulder, murmuring her name. Blearily she opened her eyes, a smile creasing her face as she recognised me. She struggled to sit up, but found herself tangled in the bed linen. I told her I'd go and get some coffee, while she had a shower. I returned when I heard her shower stop. I knocked on her door this time, and still looking the worse for wear, she let me in, a towel around her head and a bath robe pulled tight around her. We sat down to drink the coffee, and Wendy looked across at me. She asked.

"Who put me to bed?"

"I did." I told her. "Don't you remember?"

She said the last clear memory she had was of me telling her the taxi had arrived. She was clearly worried about something. Timidly she asked if she had done anything stupid or embarrassing. I thought of teasing her, but the worried look she gave me convinced me to tell her the truth.

"I assure you that you did nothing at all. Nothing stupid, nothing embarrassing, and nothing you couldn't tell your granny about." She smiled and thanked me as I told her about the solution I had come up with to ensure she didn't sleep in her dress. I looked at my watch and said "We ought to be getting down to the site soon." She nodded and started looking through her clothes. I left her to dress and went downstairs to find some more coffee.

We were first to arrive at the exhibition site, the management team not there yet. It was a beautiful day again, the sun not helping those on the stand with a hangover. Practically everyone was wearing dark glasses, including both of us and the management when they arrived. The boss and I went on a last tour of the entire exhibition, leaving the other two nursing their heads for a couple of hours. As we walked I asked her to make the call we had talked about as soon as she could.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I need to know. I'm not going to do anything, however much I want to, until I know." She nodded and said all right. I left it at that. Back on the stand, people were starting to pack up ready to go. I asked if they were sure about Wendy and me staying on the extra night. The boss said that there were still things to be done here, and we were the people to do them.

The main thing was to be a seminar in the afternoon, and then the official closing of the exhibition. After that our time was our own. All we had to do was call in when we got back the following afternoon, and then we could go home. It sounded easy enough and the official business was. But then came the evening. The exhibition site was emptying as all the stands were packed up and driven off. I asked Wendy what she wanted to do, was she hungry? She shook her head, but still not too vigorously. How about a last look at the sea? I asked. All right she said. I led her down to the rocky promontory where we had stood on the first night. She sat on the sea wall as I clambered over the rocks to where the tide surged between them. The sound of the surf was soothing to me. I didn't know what I was going to do now. I could see two courses opening up for me, but I didn't know which one to take. I needed one more piece of information and I wouldn't get that for a while. I turned to look at Wendy, sitting on the wall, the sea breeze ruffling her hair.

She looked unconcerned and gave me a wave. I waved back and began to make my way toward her. I decided that at the moment I would not make a decision. We wended our way through the town, looking in shop windows, pausing outside restaurants to read the menus on display, and getting a little hungrier each time. Finally, Wendy suggested we eat. I was happy to agree. We picked a steakhouse and went in. As we ate I found myself watching her again. She spotted it too. She asked if she was doing something wrong, as she'd seen me watching her at the big do the night before. I said it was nothing she was doing; I just liked looking at her. For the first time in four days I think she suddenly had an inkling of my feelings. Hurriedly I made a joke and tried to misdirect her thoughts, at least for a while longer. As we finished the meal we both yawned. Time to try and catch up on some sleep we agreed. We parted at the door to my room, saying we'd have breakfast properly tomorrow, and wishing each other a goodnights sleep. My mobile was flashing with a text message. It was from the Boss. All it said was 'calling tomorrow'.

I slept well for a change. All my worrying had been done and I was really very tired. When I awoke it was nearly half past eight. I rose quickly and showered. I was nearly dressed when I heard the door being knocked. I went over and opened it. Wendy was there looking as lovely as ever. She asked if I was ready to eat. I grabbed my key, smoothed down my hair and followed her down to the dining room. Although we were paying for Bed and Breakfast, up till now Wendy and I had not been eating much in the way of breakfast. Today we did it justice. The food was tasty, and we both agreed we had been foolish not to have taken advantage of this more often. Now it was time to pack our bags, pay the bills and say our goodbyes. We loaded up the car, and prepared to leave. I asked if Wendy wanted one last look at the sea, she nodded. So instead of starting straight back, we detoured and went along the seafront, until yesterday evening the site of the exhibition. The sky was blue and the sea was out, but it still looked pretty and there were always waves crashing into the headland. I headed for the motorway.

We had been driving for about two hours when Wendy's mobile began to ring. She looked at the number and pressed ignore. It rang again five minutes later, just as we came upon a service station. Sighing, I pulled in and told her to answer it. I left the car and went into the cafeteria. About ten minutes later Wendy came in and sat opposite me. I looked into her happy face and knew which course I was going to take. She thanked me for making her answer the phone. It had been her boyfriend, of course. The whole thing had been a terrible mistake, of course, and he was coming down to pick her up from here. I just said I'd guessed it was something like that, and that I'd wait with her. I'd not looked out for her for nearly a week to just leave her in some motorway café. She thanked me and went to get another couple of drinks. I pulled out my phone and rang the boss. She just said.

"You know then?"

"Yes." I said and thanked her for making the call.

"Do you mean that?" She asked me.

"Yes, I suppose I do." I replied. "At least I know she'll be happy."

Within an hour they were reunited. I helped to move her bags from my car to his. While he went to get a snack I stood face to face with Wendy. I told her what a fun time I'd had, and she agreed it had been good. I smiled wanly, and said.

"My mission has succeeded then; I've managed to keep you from harm."

"You certainly have." She smiled back.

"Even from me." I said.

She looked slightly stunned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the person you were most likely to be hassled by was me, but I kept me under control." I said. It sounded like gibberish, but if she thought about it, it would make sense, but she was too excited at the moment, and would hopefully forget it by tomorrow. I waved them off, then got into my car and prepared for a lonely ride home, only a stuffed Garfield for company.

My mobile buzzed with a message. I waited until I could pull over and then read it. The message was from Wendy. It said 'I know how u feel about me thanx 4 not pushing w xxx'. She knew!