Baby Blues and Wedding Shoes (3 page)

She knelt down on the floor by
the sofa and wafted the coffee near Daniel’s nose, letting the
powerful scent of Columbia’s finest freshly ground brew do the work
of bringing him to consciousness. After a few moments he stirred,
turning his head groggily, creases on his face from the stitching
on the sofa.

Helen found herself fighting
the urge to giggle. With effort she managed to school her features
into a look of sympathy as she offered him the cup. “Coffee? We
fell asleep on the sofa!”

Daniel’s brows drew close and
his eyes darkened.

“You’re dressed.” His voice
echoed in the quiet room.

“I woke a short while ago so I
decided to brew the coffee before I roused you.” His eyes were
still dark so she hastily added, “I thought I’d pop to the gym,
give you a chance to go back to bed by yourself.”

She knew he would also be
frisky and would want a re-run of the previous night. Thinking
quickly she added, “It’s the Award Dinner tonight; you won’t want
to be tired in case you need to make a speech.”

With an inward gust of relief
she saw his brain computing this information and coming to a
decision.

“You’re right; I should get a
few more hours’ sleep. Thank you, you think of everything.” He
pushed himself up into a sitting position, not bothering to cover
his nakedness, and reached out to stroke her cheek.

Helen’s innards melted at the
unexpected gesture and the temptation to stay grew, alongside a
sudden surge of desire. Just in time a voice in the back of her
mind said loudly,
Er, the Shoot, Helen?

She settled for returning the
gesture, stroking his slightly stubbled cheek before running her
hand down his chest. She leaned over and gave his semi-erect cock a
quick suck before grinning up at him and saying, “Rest well, my
love, I’ll be back after lunch.”

He reached out a hand as if to
detain her so she added, “We can run through your speech, make sure
you haven’t forgotten anything, you know, just in case?”

Daniel looked torn and for a
tense moment Helen thought he would give in to the urgings of his
eager cock. Then her words seeped through his hangover and he
nodded once. Not wanting to miss her moment Helen pecked him on the
cheek and headed for the door.

Once outside the apartment Helen
paused to collect herself, relieved to have escaped without a dozen
questions from Daniel. A quick glance at her watch told her she had
less than an hour to cross London and get to the rendezvous on
time. She started walking briskly towards Fleet Street, smiling at
the silence of Maughan library. Even as a student she had loved the
stillness of the campus on a Saturday morning.

Helen thought about how much
Daniel hated having his expensive apartment so close to her old
student stomping ground.

It’s as if it devalues his
achievements somehow. Like any student, even a Kings College one,
could afford to live in his pad! He is a funny one.

Inhaling the fresh morning air
Helen felt her heart lift and her head clear, easing the knot in
her stomach. She loved the walk to the nearest tube stop at
Victoria Embankment, although today she hurried along barely aware
of the beautiful buildings that on a normal day filled her with
delight. Growing up surrounded by the farmlands of Devon she still
found the towering edifices of even the most mundane London street
inspiring.

Her apartment near Earl’s Court
was in a Victorian terrace on a long crescent with attractive
portico entrances for every pair of houses. She thought about her
flat; a tiny one-bed on the second floor, with a large kitchen
window that caught the sun. She missed her tree-lined streets and,
despite Daniel’s luxurious seventh-floor apartment with views to
die for, it had cost her some heartache to move.

The main bonus for her was that
the streets around Daniel’s apartment near Fleet Street were simply
amazing. Along Fleet Street, The Strand, even the Temple tube
station itself; the buildings were all so beautiful and so
old.
Of course, the hills around her parents’ farm were old,
but not in any way that could be measured.

As she turned into Fleet
Street, Helen saw the clocks on the Romanian Orthodox Church
telling her how late she was. Even if a train was waiting when she
arrived at Temple she was going to be lucky to get there in time.
Up ahead she saw a bus waiting and adrenalin flooded through her.
She didn’t want to arrive hot and sweaty, but it was better that
than being late, which she guessed would be deemed an unforgivable
act particularly on her first shoot. She sprinted for the bus,
praying it was the 76. It was and she hopped on just as the doors
were closing and the bus began moving back into the traffic.
Flashing her pass, Helen sank into a vacant seat and tried to catch
her breath.

It was hard sitting still when
she was in a hurry, but she knew it was the quickest way to the
tube at this time of day. Bouncing her leg up and down, Helen
looked out the window at the familiar shops and bars. She tried not
to think too much about what lay at the end of her journey. Instead
she turned her mind to the Award Ceremony she would be attending
with Daniel that evening. Mentally reviewing her wardrobe, she had
selected the right dress and shoes and was just thinking through
what bag Daniel would most approve of when the bus arrived at
Somerset House.

Helen jumped down and trotted
along to the tube station, glad she had thought to get a rucksack
for her gear so that it left her free to move quickly. She ran down
the stairs two at a time and sprinted for the platform, thanking
her stars it wasn’t a week day when the place would be packed with
people even at this time of the morning.

Goodness me, the gods of
travel are smiling on me today,
Helen thought, as she arrived
at the platform to see a train about to depart. Offering a quick
prayer to her guiding deity, she stepped on and sank into a seat,
glancing up briefly at the map to make sure it was the right one
going in the right direction. Even after years living in London she
still had a country-girl’s fear of getting on the wrong train and
ending up in some remote destination. It hadn’t happened yet, but
today was not the day to be complacent.

The doors closed with a hiss
and Helen felt her breath expel in a similar sigh of relief. She
would need to change trains at South Kensington, but the trains on
the Piccadilly line ran every few minutes so she should arrive in
plenty of time.

Helen removed her rucksack and
hugged it to her chest, looking around at her fellow passengers.
The tube was a different beast at the weekend; the vacant-gazed
disinterested suits were replaced by visitors and tourists, all
agog. Each stop was a cause for comment. Westminster, St James’s
Park, Victoria, Sloane Square. She remembered how the names had
resonated with her when she had arrived in London as a nervous
undergraduate. She had dreamed of coming to live in London,
impatient to leave the rural idyll of her childhood, to savour the
exhilarating life she imagined she would live in the Big Smoke. Her
parents had been surprisingly supportive, given their natural
desire for her to go to university at Plymouth or Exeter or even
Bristol.

Bless Mum
, Helen thought
with a fond smile.
With Simon already travelling the world, she
and Dad must have been so desperate for their remaining child not
to fly too far from the nest, and I did just that. I suppose I
could have ended up in Edinburgh or something, but with flights so
cheap that probably would have been as easy for them to get to as
here.

She thought about how her
mother had come to London with her to find student digs and again
when she had got her first job after graduation, to help her find
the right flat.

I must give her a call this
evening
. Helen realised guiltily that she hadn’t spoken to her
mother in a while. Her evenings were often taken up with Daniel’s
business dinners and social occasions. She would call tonight and
tell her mother all about her day, assuming it wasn’t a complete
disaster.

At the thought of what lay
ahead, Helen’s stomach churned uncomfortably. She hadn’t been this
nervous since her finals. Not even her first date with Daniel had
caused her heart to pound quite so loudly, although that definitely
came a close second. His method of asking her out – leaning across
her desk and whispering
I want you
into her ear - hadn’t
helped the first date nerves.

She wondered if Daniel had gone
back to sleep or if he was working.
Probably working
. Daniel
was always working.

The train arrived at South
Kensington and Helen hurried to the Piccadilly line to catch the
train to Hyde Park Corner. It was only two stops so she kept her
rucksack on and clung to a strap, trying hard not to give in to the
panic welling in her stomach.

Exiting at Hyde Park Corner,
Helen blinked in the morning sun. It wasn’t exactly built up around
Clifford’s Inn and Daniel’s apartment had great views over the
rooftops and the Guild Church, but the windows were south and west
facing so the apartment didn’t flood with sun until later in the
day, even in the summer. Here in the open spaces of the park Helen
was suddenly bathed in warm rays of early summer sunshine.

“Hey up, Hells!”

Helen turned at the voice
hailing her from the tube station exit. She smiled as she saw a
young girl heading towards her, her long black hair escaping from
under a vibrant dupatta scarf. As the girl reached her they hugged
and laughed as their heavy bags nearly caused them to topple
over.

“Sharni, I’m so glad to see
you. I’m so late! I need a partner in crime.” Helen linked arms
with her friend and they headed swiftly into the park.

“We’re not late, we’re
perfectly punctual
,” Sharni put on a prim voice as she said
it, making Helen laugh again, this time at the difference from her
usual accent.

“Don’t let Dawn hear you
mimicking her like that or she’ll give you one of her looks.”

“Ooh don’t!” Sharni shivered
theatrically. They both loved Dawn, but that didn’t stop them
laughing a little at her sharp southern accent, which was such a
contrast to Helen’s Devonian burr and Sharni’s flat Yorkshire
vowels.

“Nervous?” Helen looked at
Sharni’s perfect face and wondered if she ever felt nervous.

“Bricking it!” Sharni
confessed.

“Me too,” Helen agreed, glad
not to be alone.

“Me hands’re shaking so much
I’ve got me tripod. Do you think Derek will have a go? He doesn’t
much go for them, does he?”

“Damn, I didn’t even think to
put mine in.” Helen frowned, thinking of it tucked inside the
hallway cupboard. She hoped Daniel wouldn’t find it.

“You won’t need it, little miss
steady-hands.” The girls giggled, Derek was always commenting on
Helen’s
steady hands,
as if that were the most amazing trait
to possess.

“Pure luck,” Helen said, as she
always did. She had no idea why her hands were so steady and
wondered if the compliment would hold true today; she felt as if
her whole body was quivering.

They arrived at the rendezvous
just as Derek was gathering the rest of the group together. Helen
looked anxiously at Derek, wary of his ire.

He really does look
incongruous in the park, especially this early in the day
,
Helen thought. With his wiry frame, tanned skin and coiffured grey
hair, he looked like an ageing rock star who only saw 9am on the
other side of a good night out.

Derek broke off mid-sentence
and turned to give the girls a penetrating look so reminiscent of
one of Helen’s stern university lecturers it was all Helen could do
not to say, “Sorry, sir!” Instead she smiled apologetically and
tried to convey the notion that her tardiness was due to events
outside her control.

Looking to her right she could
see Sharni beaming, entirely unconcerned about the unspoken
reprimand.

“Right, now we are all here,”
another meaningful look at the girls, “let me just give you a brief
reminder of our purpose before Rosa and her entourage arrive.”

He paused to collect his
thoughts and Helen took the opportunity to glance quickly at the
rest of her group. There were only five of them, the perfect number
as far as she was concerned. She could see Dawn on the other side
of Sharni. Her lined face was tense as she focused unwaveringly on
Derek. Helen wondered why she looked so worried; she was by far the
most talented of the five.

Turning to her left, Helen
caught Ben watching her and smiled warmly. He gave her a cheeky
wink and turned back to face Derek. Helen’s heart skipped and she
quickly looked past Ben to where Stuart was lounging nonchalantly
against a tree as if he were merely an interested bystander. Helen
envied Stuart’s serenity and wondered, not for the first time, why
he had joined the group in the first place. They were all there for
some reason other than to learn how to take great pictures. She
hadn’t worked out what Stuart’s motivation was, which surprised
her. She was usually pretty good at fathoming out what made people
tick.

Talking of which, it’s not
hard to see where Sharni’s motivation is right now.
Helen
surreptitiously surveyed her friend. Sharni’s attention was fully
on Derek and, consciously or otherwise, she had caught her lip
between her teeth in a ridiculously sexy way. Poor Sharni, her
parents were unlikely to let her marry anyone not of their
choosing, never mind a forty-something divorcee. Even if he were
interested. Helen got the impression that Derek had fallen for a
pretty face before and was unlikely to make the same mistake
twice.

Helen returned her attention to
Derek and realised he had been talking for several minutes without
her hearing a word.