Chasing Rainbows (13 page)

“
Did she think she was being funny?” George mused, Well she wasn't funny at all.

Once the group boarded the bus, George sat at the back and began to study the people before him.

There was Garth, who was eighteen, he seemed pleasant enough. Rachel, the same age, was sitting next to him and they were giggling.

Kevin was driving the bus and chatting to Peter, they were managers at 'Into the Sun' and were going to take turns at driving around Germany.

George knew them well as they went on many trips together.

These trips were working holidays, they toured around looking for new hotels and making themselves known to tourist offices in Europe.

Tourism was a growing business and 'Into the Sun' was growing quickly alongside it.

It was important that all employees had experienced the countries they were trying to sell to the public.

It made the job easier as advice was first hand and there would be no repercussions as to people being misinformed.

George began to look at the women. None stood out as yet, but he hoped to have at least one conquest in the next week.

He was a very sexual man and needed to have sex regularly.

He did not much care who it was, as long as it was someone pleasing.

He saw Jo sitting next to Linda.

Jo was sitting behind Peter, she was a manager and she scared him with her buck teeth and starring eyes. She was definitely out of bounds and she was twenty years his junior.

George knew that Jo wanted him, as there were one or two embarrassing moments on previous trips when George had to fight her off and they never mentioned the incidents again.

He couldn't 'poke' that fire as it wasn't even lit.

When they were touring France, there was an awkward night when Jo knocked on his bedroom door late at night and he heard her whisper,

“
George are you there? I have brought some champagne”.

George regretted paying her a compliment earlier that night. He began to fake a loud snore hoping she would go away.

Jo knocked a few times more and left his door to return to her room to drink the champagne alone.

Maybe he would pay some attention to Linda this trip. She was a divorcee in her fifties.

George felt that at times she and Jo were in competition for his attention and favours.

Well, he couldn't help being so sexy, could he?

The problem with Linda was that she was rather timid and when she did open up it was always about her failed romances, so boring.

Each trip, Linda became more daring and George knew he would not have much to say to get her into bed with him.

He smiled, “Yes I might just do Linda as she looks the best in such a bad bunch”. George turned to look at the last seat occupied by two new members of staff.

There she was, doing what she did best, (he assumed), the 'twitterer' was twittering to her friend Heather.

They were laughing loudly at something said and as he watched she turned to catch his eye and smiled before going back to her conversation.

George noticed that she smiled a lot. She had a beautiful smile.

George settled down in his seat, looking out of the window, “Oh well let's get this party started,” he whispered to himself as they sped up the autobahn.

He was not going to enjoy this trip, huddled in a minibus with a group of people he had nothing in common with.

This was not his idea of a good time, that is until they arrived in Hamburg.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“
Excuse me sir”, George woke with a start to see a red headed stewardess bent towards him. “Were you having the chicken or the lamb?” she asked.

“
The lamb please, love” George smiled. He settled down to eat his meal and as he did so the dream he had just been in brought to mind the woman.

Oh God! He did know the woman. who winked as she walked down the aisle. Hamburg!! that was it. No surely it couldn't be?

George turned in his seat to see if he could see her. Ten rows down he saw the woman and he knew. He couldn't believe it, the 'twitterer' was sipping champagne and talking to someone he could not see.

How had she changed from a duckling to a beautiful swan. George turned back to his lunch, rang for the stewardess to order a strong drink, he needed it.

For the first three days of the German trip , Jo monopolised him, as though he was her personal property.  He was getting really fed up with her.

All he wanted was to be left alone, get on with his job and return to England. George was not able to escape from her until they arrived in Hamburg.

They were booked into a cheap and cheerful hotel
.
 
The Central, which was next to the main railway station.

Check in went smoothly and people in the group went to their rooms to prepare for dinner.

It was damp and miserable outside but George felt that he needed a walk as they had a long night ahead of them.

A dinner at the Rathaus was booked with the councillors of Hamburg and other important people.

George loved old buildings that were steeped in history. The old city hall was destroyed in 1842 by fire and it took nearly 44 years to rebuild.

It was a shame it was so dark as the group would not see the beauty of such a fine building from the outside.

He knew that there would be no expense spared on the meal and that the wine would flow freely.

George wasn't sure what they would all do after the meal, there was nothing planned. He thought they might all end up in the hotel bar and drink some more.

George headed for the door and just as he was about to go out he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down at the small hand gripping the material and the pink nail varnish covering the short nails.

His eyes rose to meet a pair of big brown eyes looking up at him, they were almost pleading and a tiny voice whispered,

“
Can I
come with you please I feel a bit sick after that long bus ride.”

George was surprised and he heard a voice in his head say, “Oh no! Not her, the twitterer”.

As he looked down at Olivia he realised that he had not heard a complaint from her since they left Munich.

He noticed her at times, when he was watching her friend Heather and trying to decide if he should make Heather his target.

He found it hard to concentrate on anything but getting away from Jo most of the time.

“
Yes come on then”, he said. “We aren't in the best part of the city and I am not sure if these streets are for you, we can just walk down the street and back.”

Olivia giggled as they went through the revolving door and down the steps. The air was crisp and clear.

George smiled to himself as he felt an arm link through his. Perhaps tonight might not be so bad after all, he hope it would be a good one, the best one yet.

Commuters filled the road, they were busy on their way home from work. George and Olivia walked slowly, in silence, stopping to look into shop windows that were dimly lit.

All at once Olivia pulled him back and began to peer through a rather dirty pane of glass.

“
What on earth is that?” she said, pointing at something to the front of the display. George followed the finger and began to focus on the rabbit and chicken.

“
Oh my God!” she said. “No way, is that what I think it is?”

George laughed, “Yes I think it is?”

“
But that is impossible how can a rabbit do a chicken? That is gross.” she began to laugh.

“
Well, this is Hamburg, the city where anything goes,” George replied.

Walking back up the other side of the street towards the hotel she asked George what was in the shops with no windows.

She really couldn't be that naïve, could she? He told her they were sex shops a bit like Anne Summers in England but more for men.

“
Would you like to go in one?” he asked with a devilish grin on his face.

He didn't expect her to say, “Go on then, why not?”

They entered a long corridor with books and sexual implements on one side and curtained booths on the other.

The man behind the counter gave them a strange look as they were not looking like his usual customers. “Bloody tourists,” he thought, “They come to look and never buy.”

Olivia noticed the booths and asked George what they were for. He smiled and decided to have some fun.

“
What do you think they are for?” he knew she would never guess. He was right.

“
To try clothes on or to read a magazine? I really don't know,” she said.

“
They are pumping pits.” Georges statement took her by surprise and she laughed

“
Yes, you know for men to....”

“
No way!” she replied. “Oh my, that is disgusting.” She turned on her heel and left the shop.

George followed and they walked back to the hotel the way they came, in silence.

The Germans did George proud that night. The shnitzels, sauerkraut, pumpernickel and frankfurters went down well with a good beer followed by Riesling.

They were now on their sixth bottle of wine. George was becoming bored, he was tiring of the entertainment.

It was the fat woman in the long silk beige dress and ill fitting wig that finished it off for him, the impersonation of Marlene Dietrich was appalling and her rendition of 'falling in love again' in a broken English accent was beyond belief.

As George looked round the table he noticed the 'Into the Sun' people laughing and enjoying themselves. He began to study each person trying to gauge who was the most inebriated.

The men didn't appear too bad, but the women, the women were looking more than a bit drunk. Were they on the edge of stupor?

George was not a good judge of who might or might not be drunk, so perhaps they were just happy?

His eyes met Olivia's across the table and she smiled at him. He looked away without smiling back.

George watched Olivia throughout the evening, he could see that she stood out in the crowd and seemed to 'hold court'.

George wondered why he was drawn to her, was it the hair, the eyes or was it the loud voice that even a deaf man might hear.

Some of the women set their stall out that evening and George felt he could have taken any one of them.

Heather wore a blue silk dress that stuck to her body in all the right places, he could feel the heat coming from her.

Jo looked amazing in a pair of black trousers and a short sleeved red top , that teased a man as her nipples were clearly defined under the thin fabric.

Linda was looking rather matronly in a black skirt and white blouse.

Then there was Olivia, who wore a short baggy, knitted, black 'V' necked dress with green piping. Black tights with knee high stiletto boots. Olivia's hair was piled high on her head with unruly strands falling about her face. She looked stunning in a schoolgirl type of way.

George turned to speak to Kevin, “Shall we get out of here? Shall we leave the ladies and get the metro down to the Reeperbahn? Kevin looked at Peter whispered.

Peter smiled and nodded.

They all agreed to slip away singly and meet in the foyer.

They would not take Garth with them as he was perhaps too young.

One at a time they left the table to gather in the assigned meeting place. George was the last one out , the ladies were deep in conversation and had not noticed the slow exodus.

Once in the foyer the men retrieved their coats from the cloakroom and made for the door, only to be stopped in their tracks by a loud shout behind them. “Hey, where do you think you are going?”

The men turned together to see Olivia standing in the middle of the floor with her hands on her hips, with the rest of the women standing behind her.

They looked rather comical, as though they were going to burst into a song and dance from 'West Side Story'.

Kevin and Peter looked rather sheepishly at George who was now standing opposite Olivia.

Was this to be a 'face off'?

George coughed, “Well you see it's like this, as we are in Hamburg we thought it might be a good idea to go down the Reeperbahn?”

Olivia studied the men before her, leaving a minute, a theatrical silence, before she sarcastically said, “And at what stage were you going to tell us?”

George replied, “Well, err..... you all looked as though you were enjoying yourselves, having a good time and we didn't want to disturb you.”

Olivia put her head back and laughed as she said, “Oh didn't you, well I think we might have a better time down the Reeperbahn with you.”

Kevin stuttered, “Look Olivia, it might not be the right place for ladies and young people”.