Paige and Me

The sun was just rising as I nosed into my berth in Cowes Yacht Haven. I'd been motoring for the last few hours as the wind had dropped completely, making coming alongside quite easy, especially as the tide was only just beginning to ebb. It was just 24 hours since I'd left Falmouth with a good fair wind. I'd not got any sleep, though, the English Channel being constantly busy, I'd needed to keep a constant lookout.

I grabbed my trophy and a bag of clothes and walked up the hill to my Victorian semi, let myself in quietly as I thought my niece, Katy, who was staying with me, would still be asleep. I stood my silver replica trophy on the table and put the kettle on. I was hungry so checked the fridge. No bacon, but I knew there was some in the freezer. I put it in the microwave to thaw. Just as I was pouring a nice strong cup of tea, I heard from the direction of the stairs:

"I don't know who you are, but if you leave straight away, I won't call the police!"

I knew by the voice that it wasn't my niece. And she'd have come straight downstairs and put me in an armlock if I had been an intruder. Katy is big, strong and very confident. I walked to the bottom of the stairs. Halfway up stood a young woman, wide-eyed, wearing a short and semi-transparent nightie, holding her phone in one hand and a bedside lamp in the other. The shape of her breasts was just visible through it and her nipples were quite obviously erect. I concentrated hard on not looking at them. Luckily she was wearing quite substantial knickers on her bottom half. I recognised the lamp as coming from my third bedroom.

"D..Don't come any closer!" she gasped, retreating a step.

"Ok," I said realising straight away that she must be a friend of Katy's. I casually took my phone out of my back pocket and pressed Katy's number.

"Do you know what time it is? " she answered sleepily.

"No hun, I don't. I don't even know where you are, but would you do us a favour, phone that lovely friend of yours and tell her I'm not a rapist or burglar?"

"You mean Paige? You're home then? Ok, I get it."

She rang off and a few seconds later I heard the young woman's, whose name I now knew, phone ring. I went back to the kitchen and put a couple of rashers of bacon in a pan.

My phone rang. It was Katy.

"You won! I've just looked it up. You won!"

"Just my class, love. It was a fluke."

"That's not what it says here. Have you got a huge trophy?"

"I had to leave the main trophy in Falmouth for display in the yacht club, but they gave me a nice replica. About this friend of yours...?"

"Paige Grant, yes. She's lovely, you'll like her. I said she could stay for a while with me, then I got this job offer. Foresail, and best of all, asymmetric trimmer on a 50-footer! So obviously I jumped at it."

I smiled to myself. Katy was desperate to make a career in sailing and was getting on pretty well.

"Which boat?" I asked.

"It's called Lily May after the owner's daughters, but it's known by the sponsor, 'Betty's Teacakes'."

"Hmm, I don't know it. It's not a local boat."

She laughed.

"Not exactly, no. I'm in the Caribbean. St Lucia to be exact. We're doing all the big series over here."

"Well, Katy, congratulations. I won't see you for a while, then. Keep in touch."

"I will. And congratulations to you too, SuperUnc!"

I hung up smiling. SuperUnc was her pet name for me. She'd come to stay with me at age fourteen for a break when her parents had died in a car crash which was soon after my wife had died from pancreatic cancer. I hadn't known her very well before that but we'd immediately hit it off. She was never the slightest trouble and I think I was able to help her through her grief. She certainly helped me through mine. She'd seemed keen on sailing so I'd taught her the basics and introduced her to local sailors when she'd shown aptitude and an interest in racing. She very quickly made a name for herself as a good foresail trimmer and was constantly in demand, rising up the ranks to be in one of the top crews locally.

Just as I sat down to my bacon and eggs, Paige appeared more covered up in a dressing gown. My dressing gown as it happened. She looked a lot better in it than I ever did, I thought. Then I hastily dismissed the thought as she didn't look more than about twenty years old, and I'm forty-five.

"You must think I'm a complete idiot. I'm so sorry."

I shrugged. "It's ok, You thought I was an intruder, you weren't to know. Though I might say that a bedside lamp is not the best defensive weapon. You're Paige, right?"

"Yes and you're Mr. Wallis. It was the first thing that came to hand. I'd have really hit you if you'd come any closer, you know." She adopted what I guess was supposed to be a fierce look. It was simply cute.

"Jack, please. I don't doubt it." I had to suppress a smile as her fierce look was about as far from frightening as you can get. "There's tea in the pot."

"Oh. Thank you. I'll move out as soon as I find somewhere else."

I looked at her. "There's no need. Any friend of Katy's is always welcome here. As long as you don't mind me being here, that is."

"Well, no, of course not, It's your house after all. What's that?" she pointed to my trophy.

"Just a trophy."

"Oh, I remember. Katy said you were away in a yacht race. Is that right? Did you win then?"

"I won my class. First of four, so nothing special. It was mostly luck."

"Katy said it was an Ocean race. I know nothing about sailing. What does that mean?"

"As it says, the race involves an ocean crossing, or, in this case an ocean voyage. The race was what's known as the AZAB which initials stand for the AZores And Back."

She screwed up her face adorably as she thought about it.

"The Azores. Aren't they halfway to America or something?"

"About a third of the way. There are actually two races, one from Falmouth to Funchal, where we have a big party, and another one back. Then there's an overall winner for each class which is what I won."

"So does everyone get a replica?"

"No, just the winners."

"No, sorry, I meant everyone on your boat. Your crew."

"No crew, love. Just me."

"Oh." She looked a bit confused. The 'love' had just slipped out. I hadn't meant to be familiar or patronising. I think she chose to ignore it.

"Soooo, you're on your own. So how do you sleep? Do you, like, anchor every night or something?"

I explained as succinctly as I could how you had to keep sailing, the ocean being a mile or more deep so anchoring was not possible. I explained about self-steering mechanisms, about radar and AIS and the various other aids and gadgets used in single-handed sailing. And I explained about catching twenty minutes of sleep every hour.

"That must be exhausting!"

"Yes it is. More exhausting is sailing for twenty-four hours non-stop without sleep, which is what I've just done. So if you'll excuse me I'm going to go upstairs and sleep now."

"Oh, God, I've been keeping you awake with my stupid questions! Sorry!"

"It's Ok. But good night, now."

I unlocked my bedroom door and spread out my sleeping bag, which I'd brought from the boat as the bed wasn't made up, drew the curtains across, climbed into it expecting to fall asleep instantly, but found that the thought of Paige was intruding. She was lovely, firstly in appearance. Not conventionally perhaps, her face wasn't symmetrical, she had a slightly lop-sided smile, but it was a very animated face, her eyebrows particularly doing a lot of her communication. Her eyes were very dark brown, very deep, the left one slightly smaller than the right. Her hair was brown and about shoulder length. Her nose was long and straight, her mouth wide and often smiling, with a dimple on her left side. She also seemed to have a lovely personality. Curious, enthusiastic, positive, joyful. Katy had described her as lovely too.

With the image of her smiling at me I fell asleep.

I woke four hours later, which was the longest sleep I'd had in weeks, since before the race. I got up, remembered my dressing-gown had been commandeered by Paige, so put boxers and a t-shirt on to walk to the bathroom and shower.

When I dressed and went downstairs Paige was reading in the kitchen.

"Oh, Hi..er, Jack. You haven't slept for very long. Are you Ok?"

"Hmm, yes, thanks. A bit groggy. That's actually the longest I've slept for ages. I didn't want to sleep too long, so I'll sleep tonight. Paige, can I ask you how long you're staying?"

"Oh, well, I could move out today if you like, I'm sure there's an AirBnB somewhere..."

"No, Paige, you don't have to leave. It's just that I'm going to rest today, but tomorrow I need to sort out the boat. Since you showed interest, I thought you might like to come with me and I can show you some of the things I talked about."

"Really? That would be so cool! I've never been on a boat!"

She was smiling her lop-sided smile. Her entire face was lit up by it.

"What never?"

"Well, my parents took me on a Thames Cruise once. It was raining and I was sick."

"Hmm," I thought if she was sick on the Thames she's probably prone to it. Still I really wanted to show her around my boat. "Ok, tomorrow morning then. Now, I'm off for a haircut."

"Oh, wait!" Paige jumped up excitedly, "I can do that! I'm a hairdresser! Sit here! I'll get my stuff!"

Her enthusiasm was delightful. I could hear the exclamation marks as she spoke. I sat down as ordered.

She came back with a large towel which she draped around my shoulders and a case with razors scissors, combs etc.. In it.

"So, what does sir require?" she asked with a mock obsequiousness.

"Just make it shorter and neater, please, Miss."

"And the beard too, sir?"

I assented to that and she began, a little hesitantly I thought, but with more confidence as she went on. She was fully occupied so I didn't make conversation. She tried a little, as hairdressers invariably do but they weren't very serious attempts.

While she was trimming with one of the electric razors I noticed that she was frowning in concentration and a tiny piece of her tongue was protruding between her lips. I couldn't help but smile as she looked so cute.

"Keep still please!" she admonished me, her expression of concentration replaced in a flash by one of reproof. It was just as cute.

As she stood back looking over her handiwork and making adjustments here and there I was able to see her properly. She was slender, thin, even, but nicely proportioned. Quite tall, with long legs, which were hidden under baggy yellow corduroys. On top she had a loose shirt of bright green. Her feet were in yellow Caterpillar boots. All in all she looked adorable.

"For God's sake," I thought, "She's young enough to be your daughter! Get a grip!"

My resolve was severely challenged next second when she whooped, took hold of my face and kissed me, full on the lips.

She leapt back immediately.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry!" she said reddening deeply, "I got carried away! I..I, well, the thing is..." She stopped and looked at me, her eyes wide, my heart melting and beating hard at the same time.

"So, I was a little...economical with the truth. I'm not really a hairdresser. Not yet anyway. I'm a trainee. I was at college but the course had to be stopped for major repair works to the building or something. And, like, you're the first customer I've had...that is that I've cut without supervision. And I was like, well, carried away a little. I'm so, so sorry."

"I think I can probably forgive you. If you hand me that mirror so I can see what I look like, that is."

"Oh!" she said handing me the mirror.

'Oh' seemed to be one of her favourite words. She used it frequently and with different ways to express herself. It can be a short, surprised 'oh' as she'd just demonstrated, or a long-drawn-out 'ohhh!' with a rising and then falling inflection to indicate surprise. There's the opposite, a long 'oh' but with a falling inflection signalling sympathy or empathy... and many others. I was unable to prevent the thought appearing in my mind "What 'oh' does she use when she comes?". I felt thoroughly ashamed of that which she must have noticed because she next said:

"I've really offended you now haven't I? I really ought to move out..."

"No!" I interrupted more emphatically than I'd intended. "Really Paige, it's just a kiss, just a moment. It took me by surprise, certainly, but it's ok, really. My hair's great. Thank you. I want you to stay."

"Oh, you do? Really? You're not just saying that? Well, I do want to stay. This is a lovely house. I want to see your boat. I don't know how long I'll need to stay for yet. They're going to email me when the College is usable again. Is that ok?"

"Yes it is."

I spent the rest of the day sorting out clothes and bedding and I walked up to the small supermarket up the road for supplies. I'd do a proper shop later I thought.

Paige was still in the kitchen, reading, when I returned.

"Good book?" I asked

"You should know. You wrote it," she replied with her slightly crooked smile.

"What? Oh, I see. Well, it's the best I could do anyway."

I'd written and self-published the book several years earlier. It was about a little-known nineteenth-century serial killer who made Jack the Ripper look like Bambi. Astonishingly to me, because I'd written it to test my researching skills and to see if I could actually put together a novel-sized book, it sold really well. Even better when it was taken up by a proper publisher. It sold well enough around the world to make me a well-off man who didn't need to work. My wife and I launched ourselves into sailing, moving here to Cowes to facilitate it. Sadly we only had a few years before she was struck down with pancreatic cancer. I had made my living by writing, but it was advertising copy, brochure fluff, that sort of thing that brought in a modest income. The book somehow hit a nerve with the public

"It's very good," said Paige, but ...erm...grim. Gruesome."

"You should see the stuff I left out. But yes, it is grim and gruesome. I had counselling after I'd finished writing it. It was horrible getting inside that guy's head.

I'd never told anyone that before.

"Oh! Well, like, I'm not surprised. Will you be really offended if, like, I don't finish it?"

"No, of course not. Now then, I'm going to cook something. Do you like chicken?"

"Oh! No, you don't have to cook for me. I'll get a take away. I'm not a very good cook, myself."

She said this with wide-eyed embarrassment which once again resulted in her looking adorable.

"I'm cooking for me, Paige. But there will be enough for two. Do you want some?"

"Well, in that case, yes I'd love some. Thank you, you're so kind just like Katy said... Oh, I'm gushing now aren't I?"

I just smiled at her, grilled the chicken, fried some noodles and made up a salad.

We ate companionably, she asking more questions about sailing.

"I'd really like to try it!"

"Ok, hun, tomorrow I'll need to sort the boat out, but any other day, weather permitting we'll go for a sail."

I thought, "Dammit, I called her hun! There I go again, being too personal. She'll run away." I was unhappy at the thought of her leaving.

She looked a little surprised but said nothing, just "Cool!"

The rest of the evening passed easily. I caught up on the sailing world via YouTube and my personal world via facebook and email. Paige read another book. I went to bed early and slept well for eight full hours.

Chapter Two

The next morning I was up early. I finished off the bacon I'd opened the previous day in a couple of sandwiches. I was on my third mug of tea when Paige appeared.

"Hi!" she said brightly.

"Good morning.."I just stopped myself adding 'darling'. "Sleep well?"

"Oh! Yes, thank you. I always do. So, are we going to the boat?"

"Certainly. Don't you want breakfast?"

"Maybe later."

"Umm, Paige, trousers might be better than a skirt. And trainers too, if you have them."

"Oh! Ok, I'll change," she said without any sign of irritation. Clambering over guardrails in a skirt is not a good idea, and loose clothing can easily catch on things. Boats are stuffed with trip hazards. Trainers would stop the deck from being marked.

I drove us down to the marina. It was only a short walk, but I needed the car to bring back quite a lot of stuff I was going to remove. As we walked through the marina, Paige remarked; "It's noisy, isn't it?"

There was quite a wind blowing and there was the usual clatter of halyards on masts. I no longer noticed it until the wind got up to gale force.

"What? Oh, yes. It's the bits of rope that pull the sail up. They bang against the metal masts. You get used to it."

We walked along the pontoon to my berth. I showed Paige how to hold onto a shroud and climb over the guard rails one foot at a time.

"What's this for?" she asked of the shroud.

"It and the other wires hold the mast up. Ok, now for your safety, always hold on to something with at least one hand. You can walk around freely as long as you hold on. You're perfectly safe in the cockpit. Normally, I'd insist you wear a life jacket, but since we're tied up in dock I'll let it go."

"Aye aye, sir," she said with the cutest mock salute you've ever seen. "Do you wear a life jacket?"

"Always when sailing."

I showed her around the boat apologising for the mess down below. It's hard to keep everything neat when you're on your own. I was just explaining the intricacies of the chart plotter when I noticed she'd gone very quiet. When I looked closely she was going a definite shade of green.

"Oh, here, let's get you ashore, Paige!"

She made a few incoherent noises as I almost lifted her off the boat (she was very light). I led her to a bench and sat her down.

After a while, she said; "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry, Paige. I should have noticed sooner. You did warn me. Sit still for a while, you'll be fine."

She shivered, which prompted my arm to go around her shoulders completely of its own accord. She didn't pull away, so I left it there.

"I'm such an idiot. It's so embarrassing!"

"Not at all, dar...Paige. I'm very lucky, I don't suffer from motion sickness, but lots of people do. I know it's absolute misery if you do."

After about twenty minutes the colour came back to her face, she sat upright and I removed my arm. We agreed that I would go back and tend to the boat. I suggested that she go home but she said that she didn't want to yet and she'd stay there and watch the boats.

I gathered all my clothes into a hold all, squashed the bedding into another one to take home and wash and set about cleaning down below. It doesn't take long to clean a boat. When I'd finished I saw that Paige was still sitting on the bench. I took off two of the headsails which would need inspecting and cleaning. Once I'd stashed it all in the car I went back to Paige.

"Are you ok? How about a coffee or something?"

"Oh!, Yes, please. I'm fine now. Really."

Her smile had returned and it widened when she started on the huge mug of hot chocolate she'd ordered.

"It's very disappointing," she said, "I so much wanted to see everything on your lovely boat."

"Maybe next time, it'll be better," I said, but stopped as just at the thought of it her face instantly turned pale.

"Ok, maybe sailing's not for you, then."

I went back to the boat and pottered about checking and adjusting things. Paige went off on her own. That evening I cooked for us again despite her protestations. We watched tv together for a while, but I'm not interested in soap operas, so I went into my study leaving Paige to her Eastenders or whatever.

"I know they're rubbish, but they're very relaxing 'cos they don't require any, like, thinking or stuff like that."