Out of The Blue (3 page)

I pulled some trainers from my car and slipped them on without undoing the laces. “Absolutely, I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” I said as I made my way to the driver’s side of my car. I stood holding the door open, watching Jamie walk off. I couldn’t help wondering what her intentions really were.          

Showered and dressed, I sat on the edge of the bed not wanting to be unfashionably early. I sat there frowning to myself, wondering why it mattered. If this was a business meeting I’d want to be early. Was this business? Hadn’t we already pulled the chestnuts out of the fire earlier? I recalled her sweet charm as she dabbed at my scratch, how it had unnerved me. She was striking in her casual clothing and her eyes rarely left mine as we spoke. She wasn’t my usual type, despite what James thought about me. I tended to go for light-hearted flings, nothing too involved, nothing too permanent. But I got the feeling that Jamie, with her hair-trigger temper, was anything but effortless and undemanding. Realising how ridiculous I was being, I slipped on my Merrell trainers, which complemented my dark jeans and navy t-shirt. After checking my appearance in the mirror, I grabbed my jacket and headed for the lift.

Jamie was sat in one of the plush armchairs in reception when I stepped out of the lift. A warm smile spread across her face as she met my eyes. Spying the large clock hanging on the wall in her vicinity, I felt immediately guilty for making her wait as I headed towards her. 

“Hi, sorry to keep you waiting; I was on the phone,” I said, too scared to meet her eyes.

“No worries. Ready?”      

“Yep. I’m starving.”

As we set off into town I delved into my small-talk options, which generally consisted of work and sex. I decided to go with a safer option. “So, how long have you lived in York?”

“Ahh, where are we? 2013 … Almost four years. I moved up here for work. I used to work at the museum then nine months ago I got the job at the heritage council.” 

“I noticed you don’t have a local accent. Where are you from originally?” I enquired.     

“Down south near Fakenham in Norfolk. Are you from Manchester?”

“The outskirts. New Mills, just on the borders with the Peak District Park.”

“Is that why you don’t have much of an accent either?”

“It gets beaten out of you at private school,” I said with a laugh. 

“I see. Have you been to York before?”

“Umm no, I haven’t actually. Harrogate, but not York.”      

It went quiet between us as we encountered more passers-by as they milled around the historic streets. I took a sideways look at Jamie as we waited for a car to pass us on Parliament Street. She looked relaxed in her casual outfit from earlier, minus the hat and walking boots, replaced with a pair of red Converse trainers. She still looked good. Her hair had even resisted the dreaded hat head issue. It looked fresh and tousled. I smiled at a saying my mother used on occasion – Red shoes, no knickers – and what it literally implied. Shaking the thought from my head, I continued the small talk. “So where are we going tonight?”

“The Golden Fleece. It’s just near the edge of the Shambles. It’s an old pub, said to be haunted by its original owners from the seventeen hundreds. I think it was on TV’s
Most Haunted
a few years ago.”   

“I suppose with your job you know all about the historical aspects of York?”

“Well, I guess I know a bit. Not going to test me are you?”

I studied our surroundings with their narrow, cobbled streets. “Maybe I should. So this is the Shambles, right?”

“Yep, previously these streets housed lots of butchers’ shops. Some of the shops still have the outside shelving, which would have held the cuts of meat. The narrowness of the streets helped to keep the sun off the produce, preventing it from going off.”

I looked around at the shop fronts. “Really? So they’re mostly hip boutiques now then?”

“Yeah, and here we are, The Golden Fleece,” Jamie announced as she headed inside.      

From the outside, The Golden Fleece looked tall and thin. Dark paintwork surrounded two shallow bay windows and an entrance to the right. Inside the bar was dark except for the natural light from the window. It was pretty busy in the main bar and the smell of food made my stomach groan.          

“There are some tables in the bar through there. I’ll get the drinks if you get us a table.”

“Sure,” I said.

“Beer?” Jamie asked as she perused the options in front of her.

“Uhh!” I scanned the bar to see what was on offer. “I’ll have a Guzzler, please,” I said, guided by the badge design on the pump.

“Good choice. I’ll bring them through.”

I headed into the next room, again lit only by the bay window. Spotting a table in the corner, I grabbed an unused chair for Jamie while I sat on the wooden pew fixed to the wall lining the far side of the room.   

Jamie walked into the lounge, catching my eye immediately. She placed our drinks on the beer mats before dropping the menu on the table between us. “The waitress will be over in a few minutes.”

I smiled broadly, wondering if she heard my stomach groaning earlier. I took a long pull from my drink and bathing in the refreshment, I let out a low groan. When I looked up, Jamie’s eyes were locked on mine. I hadn’t realised how intensely blue her eyes were until now.

“Surveying is thirsty work,” I said in a bid to justify my reaction.

“Especially when you lose a boot?”

I smiled, enjoying the banter between us.

“So, what exactly happened?”

“If I tell you, you have to promise to keep it to yourself.”

“Of course.” Jamie made an attempt at a Brownies salute but she didn’t look certain how many fingers to use. “Brownies honour, I think.”          

I looked at her confused expression as she contemplated a two- or three-finger salute. “You’re not filling me with confidence.”     

“Well, it’s a good job I’m very trustworthy,” Jamie said as she took another drink from her beer. 

“Okay, I was surveying the bottom section of my area and it’s quite boggy there, perfect for certain species, like orchids, but some species can be difficult to tell apart before they flower. Anyway, I thought I had seen a rare variety and as I had my boots on I walked through the bog to get to it, only to find it was a beautiful but common species, not the rare one I was hoping for.”

“And?” Jamie tried to keep a straight face while she waited for the punchline.

I frowned at her for wanting all the gory details. “And I tried to walk out of the boggy patch taking the shortest route, but unfortunately it was the deepest suckiest route that took my boot clean off my foot. I didn’t even notice till I took my next step into cold wet mud.”

Jamie hid her laughter behind her hands as she looked at the embarrassment on my face.

“Happy now?” I replied, a little crabby.

“Very,” Jamie struggled to say through more laughter.

“Now you’ll remember your Brownie pledge right?” I focused on her smiling blue eyes; they were so intense I couldn’t look away.

“Do you know what you want?” Jamie asked, no doubt aware of the double meaning it held.

My fingers fumbled with the menu as I finally tore my gaze away from her. “I umm … let me see,” I replied as I scanned the options, grateful for the relief from her penetrating stare. I was starting to feel like prey in the crosshairs. I wasn’t used to being the chasee; I was usually the chaser. It was a new experience that I wasn’t altogether comfortable with.   

“When I first met you I thought James was your partner-partner not business partner.”

I smiled at her ruse to find out more personal information. “Really? And what makes you think he isn’t now?”

She grinned at me before taking a long drink from her beer. She carefully placed her glass down on the beer mat before looking up at me again. “So you and James have never–?”

“God no! He’s my closest friend, but no. I knew I should have worn my gold star tonight.”

“Gold star?” Jamie repeated, trying to stifle a laugh.

“I lost it somewhere. I’ll have to get the local LGBT to send me another one,” I replied.

“I’m guessing the first initial is the one that applies to you?” she half-questioned.

“Oh. So you can’t see me as a chap one day. That’s very disappointing.” I held my hand to my chest for effect. “Not handsome enough? Or maybe I was a chap not so long ago.”

Jamie continued to laugh and thin laughter lines appeared around her eyes, a look that suited her very much. After regaining control, she continued, “Oh really? Well, you must have been a very handsome chap.”

I was partial to a bit of flirty banter and so was she apparently.

A voice to her left drew her eyes away from mine. “What can I get you?” The appearance of the waitress shocked us both.

“Umm.” I confirmed my choice from the menu. “I’ll have the homemade golden fleece burger with blue cheese please.”

“Umm … can I have the homemade tuna fishcakes with sweet potato wedges?” Jamie reeled off from her memory. 

I smiled at her. She obviously knew the menu well enough to order without the need to look at it. I waited for the waitress to leave before continuing our conversation. “Do you eat here often?”

“Not really, but it’s nice to once in a while.”    

I wondered how many times she had been here and who she had been with. I broke the silence that had fallen between us, returning to the topic of James. “It’s funny actually; I’ve known James since my first semester at university and in all that time I’ve never actually know him to be interested in anyone male or female. I think he’s asexual. Is that the right word?”

Jamie laughed. “I think so. Didn’t that celebrity-guy describe himself like that once? And I suppose you were a little more prolific?”       

I took offence at her words. Why did she have to keep on riling me one minute then being extra nice the next. “Well, prolific is a bit strong but I guess you could say I was never lonely.” 

Our food seemed to turn up in lightning fast time. I guess they wanted to get it all out of the way before the music started and the place got crammed with patrons.  

I applied condiments to my meal before continuing with my train of thought. “I don’t want to talk shop, but I was thinking we might need to do some night surveying.”

“Really? What do you think is out there?”

“Well, we’ve found evidence of deer, fox, rabbit and possibly water voles on the banks of the river.”

“I see. Could I maybe come with you? I’d like to see what’s out there, too.”

I was shocked at her request. “Really? No guarantees. We might be totally wasting our time.”

“I don’t mind.”      

I relented. “Okay, I need to talk to Mike. I think he’s done a few night walks so he’ll have a better idea of when and where to go.”

“Great. I’m looking forward to it.”

I was surprised again by her enthusiasm.

“So, how many people are in your surveying team?” she questioned.  

“Er, seven, not including me. Mike, who you’ve met of course, then there’s Andy and Lucy who work for us permanently on the landscaping side of it, too. The other four are self-employed and we hire them for the surveying part of projects.”  

We were quiet while we finished our food. I racked my brains for something to say. I hadn’t been on a date in quite some time, not that this was a date but I felt very out of practice on the small-talk front. Realising I was overcomplicating the issue, there was one question I had for her. I pushed away my plate and launched my attack. “So, when I first met you all you did was yawn; was I really that boring?”  

Jamie almost choked on her drink as her cheeks coloured with embarrassment. “Uhh, no, not at all. I can explain that. My next door neighbours are students and the night before our meeting in Manchester they decided to have a big party. It must have been an end of year party or something, I don’t know, but it was very loud and very long.”

“I see.” I suppressed a giggle as I remembered the hours of student partying I had made unhappy neighbours endure. 

“Then I had to drive for two hours to the meeting, even though there were three of us there. My boss and his mate travelled together as they had to get back, leaving me to go on my own.”

“Bastards!”

“Exactly, so it wasn’t you at all. I thought you were very good actually, very informative.”

“Umm, I’ll let you off, I guess.”               

The band was just starting to set up in front of the window. Realising Jamie wouldn’t get a good view from her seat, I moved along, making room for her next to me. I looked at her profile as she watched the band playing. Her hair was artistically disarranged; it made me want to run my hands through it, to feel its softness between my fingers. She looked incredibly relaxed, leaning back in the pew as she focused on the musicians in front of us, very different to this morning with her somewhat unexpected but justified rage. The music was good but loud, making conversation impossible. I covered my mouth, trying to restrict a yawn as much as possible, considering our earlier conversation, but I was pretty exhausted. The fresh air and hard work of the last few days had taken its toll. At the next break in the music I planned to broach the subject of leaving. I spoke softly next to her ear.