The Secret

1992 Continued:

They were sitting at a table tucked behind a pillar in a restaurant just around the corner from the flat.
Ellie had insisted on freshening up and getting changed, she was hot, sweaty and grimy from her traumatic day. She put on a long sleeved chiffon top in a pale shade of cream with copper coloured embroidery, added a gold necklace and some make up and pulled her hair from her face with a gold scrunchie at the nape of her neck. She had put on her black jeans and the whole look accentuated her slim figure. She was taller than most women and quite graceful, although she gave the impression she was still growing into womanhood. Although she was 25 years old, she hadn’t had much life experience.
Alan had been pleasantly surprised to see her like this. It took away the gawky teenager that still surfaced sometimes and he realised she was a beautiful young woman. He had felt obliged to change when she did and was also wearing black jeans with a black shirt, the top buttons slightly undone. He hated feeling closed in by his clothes.

They had ordered their food and Alan had ordered a bottle of wine.

‘Do you drink wine, Ellie?’ Or do you want a gin and tonic?’ He smiled at her.

‘Wine’s good, actually, not that I know much about it!’ She laughed a little and he wondered if she was aware how sexy she was.

She sat looking at him. ‘How did you stay with Rima for 27 years? I have been with Pete since I was 15, can you believe it? It’s 10 years now and I’m still only 25. It feels like forever, especially at the moment.’

‘Are you looking to me for relationship advice?’ He grinned at her ‘ I’m not an expert Ellie and you have just made me feel very old!’

Ellie laughed at him. ‘How old are you, exactly?’

‘Guess!’ He laughed again.

’40...ish?’ She screwed up her face, squinting at him as if she was trying to work it out.

‘Too kind!’ He laughed out loud. ‘Close enough, don’t make me feel worse by making me tell you…’

‘It doesn’t matter to me how old you are, Alan.’ Ellie was looking at him seriously.

She meant it. She leant across the table and without her knowing it, he got a view of her cleavage. He lifted his eyes to her face and found her looking at him closely.

‘What?’ He spoke quietly; he had a lump in his throat suddenly. She was really lovely and he wanted to kiss her.

‘You are a very good looking man for 40-ish, Alan.’ She was breathing a little heavier and he knew she was feeling the way he was.

Alan leaned across so his face was next to her ear. ‘I hope you know what you are doing, Ellie.’ he whispered and kissed her gently on the cheek and leaned back in his chair as the wine arrived, followed closely by the food.

Ellie lifted her wine and winked at him. She knew she was being forward but she was going home tomorrow and that would be the end of it. One night.

She took a mouthful of wine. It was incredible; she had never tasted anything like it. She closed her eyes as she tasted it and then swallowed. Her mouth was full of warm fruit and her taste buds were thanking her.

‘What is this? It’s lovely!’ She looked at him in surprise. He knew his stuff.

He smiled at her and laughed. ‘It’s a Merlot. A nice one…’ he took a mouthful and savoured it.

‘Good choice. We might need another bottle!’ She grinned.

‘How about we get one and take it home?’ He looked at her, his face calm but his eyes speaking volumes.

She looked at him and smiled a slow, very sexy smile. ‘Good idea…’

****************************************************

They wandered slowly back to Alan's flat. Ellie was holding a bottle of wine and making a show of examining the label. She was suddenly nervous and feeling guilty and she hadn't done anything - yet. She hadn't called Pete or said goodnight to Sam, her thoughts had been so wrapped up in what was happening here, between her and Alan.

But what was happening, really? They were just two lonely people who needed company and just happened to find each other. Ellie's mind wandered and she wondered what Rima was like. She imagined her to be beautiful, tall, intelligent - like him.

'Penny for your thoughts...' He smiled at her.

'Oh I don't know...' She sighed. 'Life is complicated, isn't it? Why can't things just be simple? You meet someone, you fall in love, you stay in love, happily ever after.'

'Relationships again?' He raised his eyebrow at her and she laughed.

'Well, it's because of our relationships that we are here together and not with the people we should be with, isn't it? You must have some theory, you were with Rima for so long.' She turned and looked at him, her eyes serious. She really wanted to know.

'I think it comes down to shared goals, I suppose. Two people going in the same direction, on a personal level. You see something in a person that says ' I want what you want, from life, from a relationship'. Like a jigsaw, the bits just click into place.' He mused.

'And when you lose a bit of the jigsaw, or the bits are there but they don't fit?' Ellie asked him.

'Then there is a choice to make. Do you spend time looking for the missing piece...? '

He looked at Ellie and they stopped walking for a moment.

'Or, do you go and get a new jigsaw?' He looked at her and there was only a heartbeat between them.

Ellie smiled at him. 'Ahh, but then how do you know if the new one has all the bits you need?'

He stepped close to her and looked into her deep blue eyes. 'I think you just have to take the chance..'

He bent his head to Ellie's and they kissed, softly, gently. Ellie closed her eyes. It was different to kissing Pete but it was lovely. She had a warm feeling in her stomach and thought to herself how nice his lips felt and how good he tasted. He pulled away and they smiled at each other a little shyly.

'That was nice...' Ellie whispered.

'Yes, it was.' He smiled at her. 'Let's go and open that before you wear the label out.' He looked at the wine. Ellie had been unconsciously running her hand across the label on the front of it as they were kissing. Alan held out his hand and she took it. They walked in silence back to his flat, both conscious of the feel of the others' hand in theirs.

Once they were inside, Alan turned on a small lamp in the sitting room and switched on a small stereo that was on the floor in the corner where normally a TV would sit. It was the radio but it was quiet and Ellie didn't recognise the station. There was a male voice talking then some music playing. Ellie laughed when she realised it was Barry Manilow singing Mandy and thought how cheesy it was. It wasn't long before she was humming along to it, however.

Ellie sat on the sofa and pushed off her boots and Alan went to get glasses for the wine. He opened a few kitchen cupboards until he found them. He had been slowly unpacking boxes but his heart wasn't in it. He had thought he would be doing this with Rima, but since she had decided not to join him he hadn't been motivated. He took the corkscrew from the drawer and wandered back into the lounge.

Ellie was lying on the sofa with her feet up on the arm, swaying them in time to the music as she sang along. He stood and listened to her, amused.
"oh mandy...you came and you gave without taking.... but I sent you away, oh mandy... you kissed me and stopped me from shaking....'

Ellie heard him chuckling behind her and sat up quickly. 'Thats not fair, sneaking up on me!' She was blushing.

'It was good, actually. You have a nice voice.' He grinned and sat down next to her, gave her the glasses to hold and opened the wine.

Ellie watched his face as he poured the wine into the glasses. 'Are you a famous actor, Alan? I'm not being rude!' She responded at he looked up at her, a steely glint in his eye. He thought she was taking the piss.

'I just don't recognise you as being in anything I've seen, you know...'

He smiled at her. 'That means I'm doing my job properly. I was in Die Hard, you might have seen it.'

Ellie frowned. She knew that Pete had that movie on video but she didn't remember ever watching it herself. She would do now, though.

He took a mouthful of wine and looked at her. She had taken her hair out of the scrunchie and it was lying in almost corkscrew-tight curls down the sides of her face and over the front of her chiffon top. Her mouth was wide, her lips a pale peach, the bottom one fuller than the top one. Her eyes were large, blue and showed her emotions to the world whether she wanted them to or not. Her skin had a smattering of freckles and he found himself wondering if she had them anywhere else on her body.

'Ellie, you are beautiful, did you know that?' He lifted the hair from one side of her face, exposing her long neck.

Ellie smiled. 'Thanks. I haven't been told that in a while.'

She leaned in and kissed him, with more pressure than before. He started to stroke her neck with his long, smooth fingers and Ellie gasped with pleasure at his gentle touch. She gently probed at his mouth with her tongue, tasting the wine on his lips. He opened his mouth a little and their tongues met. They both gasped as electricity shot between them and they felt desire starting to build.

Alan put down his wine glass, took Ellie's out of her hand and pulled her to him in a passionate embrace, kissing her deeply, fervently. She tasted sweet, her lips were warm and her mouth was wet and soft. He pushed her down onto the sofa until they were lying next to each other. He looked deeply into her eyes and could see lust mixed with...something else.

'Are you sure we are doing the right thing?' He asked, running his fingers through her red curls and stroking the side of her cheek with his hand.

'Are you?' She asked. They were in this together as far as Ellie was concerned, although she did acknowledge she had more to lose.

'Not really...but I want you Ellie, I really want you....' He voice was deep, husky and Ellie responded by pulling him on top her and kissing him fervently.

DONT PANIC!!! They're back at it, next chapter. Please please let me know what you think....