O' for the love of Shakespeare (9 page)
Read O' for the love of Shakespeare Online
Authors: Brooke St Pier
“Thank you, thank you so much, it is perfect.”
He smiles and seeming satisfied he continues
rowing. We turn and start to row back towards town. I start to worry that
being out in the boat is nearly over but as we approach the spot that we picked
up the boat from we continue up the river. I am so happy that we get to stay
out in the boat for longer. I don’t think I could ever get tired looking out across
the river watching the ducks, the people along the banks, the beautiful
scenery. Being such a lovely day there are lots of people out on boats; from
little rowing boats like ours, to speed boats and long boats.
“So how is your birthday going so far Jane?”
“Not too shabby thank you. Sorry do you want
me to take over rowing for a bit?”
“Probably not a good idea to swap seats, we
don’t want to capsize.” He smiles.
“True probably safer for me to stay put until
we get closer to land.” I wish I was more athletic and well just a little
co-ordinated.
“Yes how quickly this could turn in to that
particularly moving scene from
Titanic
.” We both start laughing.
“Anyway this is your birthday you should lean back, enjoy the ride and take in
the beautiful view. I know I am.” He bites his lip and stares unashamedly at
me.
OK I think he likes me and I feel that
delicious flutter in my stomach. We float lazily along the river soaking up
the sun. Ryan occasionally leans forward to touch my leg to point out a
particular building or boat for me to look at. Every time he touches me I feel
like I light up and I don’t want it to stop.
Ryan checks his watch, “sorry Beautiful, time
to head back.”
“Really? That has gone so quick.” I can hear
the disappointment in my voice.
“Well you have definitely rocked my boat on
this trip.”
“That is so cheesy.” I say laughing, beyond
happy.
“You know I thought that as soon as I said it,”
he laughs, “but it doesn’t stop it being true Jane, in every sense.”
We hit the bank with a bang. Ryan climbs out
first and then leans over to offer his hand to help me out. I am a little
steadier this time and manage to get back onto solid land without looking like
a complete fool.
Ryan pulls me away from the crowd waiting for
boats to a secluded spot. Without saying a word, he pulls me against him so I
can feel all of his hard, solid body. He pulls his hand up next to my face and
tucks my hair back behind my ear. I think he is about to kiss me but instead he
places two gentle kisses along my jawbone before touching his lips to mine.
The kiss starts softly and then slowly builds with fire. He guides me
backwards, never breaking the kiss, pressing me against the trunk of a large
tree. I can feel the rough bark against my back. His hands move from my
shoulders up my neck and in to my hair. My hands are fixed against his chest,
under his shirt I can feel the hardness of his body and I itch to open his
shirt buttons to run my fingers over his skin.
Ryan wraps his arms around my waist and lifts
me from the ground so that my face is at the same height as his. He pulls me
away from the tree and spins me around, we both start to laugh. I lean my head
back as he continues to twirl me and I look up at the stretching tree branches
above, flashes of sunlight hitting my face. I don’t think I could possibly be
any happier than in this moment. My Romeo.
We walk hand in hand through the park.
Children are playing ball games, couples are stretched out on picnic blankets
and those preferring not sit on the ground have hired deck chairs to soak in
the summer sun.
“I’ve booked our table for one o’clock, so do
you fancy just walking around the antique places until our table is ready?”
“Sounds like a plan.” I had thought to have
look around the antique shops tomorrow but I suppose this way Ryan can show me
where they all are in preparation.
Looking around the shops with Ryan I start to
imagine what my life could be. Perhaps I could move to Stratford-upon-Avon or
follow Ryan on the road for his acting jobs. Maybe I could find some kind of
typing job that I could do remotely. I could ask my boss to see if that could
be a possibility. I could go to the theatre every night to watch him perform
as different Shakespearean characters. Maybe I could be married to all the heroes
and villains from Petruchio to Don John. Bit different from my current life,
bored and alone working in a job that I hate. What a lovely dream that would
be.
Ryan has booked a table at a little bistro in
the middle of town. The table is set with a bright white table cloth and a
square open box containing four small pale pink tea light candles in the middle
of the table.
“Is this OK?” Ryan says as we are seated at the
table.
“Yes it looks lovely.” I nod enthusiastically,
not being able to contain my smile as the waiter hands us each a menu and Ryan
an additional wine menu.
Ryan looks sceptically at the menu and then
says, “sorry Jane, I really shouldn’t drink, I’m working later but would you
like a glass?”
“No that’s fine thank you, I’ll probably just
have a glass of water.” I would love a glass of wine but I think it might be a
little awkward drinking on my own on a date. I don’t want to make Ryan feel
uncomfortable.
“I desperately want to kiss you again Jane.”
We haven’t kissed again since we were in the park and now just as the waiter is
on his way over Ryan decides to bring it up. He bites his lip and the look that
he gives me is just pure lust. My breathing hitches. I want to kiss him too.
“Can I take your drinks order please?” My eyes
dart up to a young man in his late teens.
“Yes can I have a lemonade, and Jane what do
you want?” He says the last part so seductively that as I look at Ryan he
gives me a sly wink and my mouth goes completely dry.
“Large white wine please.” I look at the
waiter who is, I think, blushing as much as me and so he quickly rushes away
from the table.
Once the waiter is out of earshot I say “you are
so naughty you knew the waiter was coming over.”
“Oh I can be a lot naughtier than that Jane.”
I bet you can but I can’t talk about that here, this is a nice restaurant, with
table clothes and everything.
“So apart from travelling with work have you
lived in Southampton all your life? That is where you said you came from
right?” I hope that it is not too obvious that I am trying to change the
subject.
“Yes all my family are from Southampton and
apart from a few weeks here and there for work I haven’t really been anywhere
else. Have you always lived in London?”
“Pretty much apart from a few years I spent in
Exeter whilst at University. Do you like Southampton? Do you have brothers,
sisters?”
“Yes and yes one brother and a sister, Jane I slightly
feel like you are firing questions at me like in an interrogation. Do you not
date much? Am I interviewing for something I’m not aware of?”
“I used to date but recently not so much,
sorry.” I hadn’t realised I had become so rusty at this or maybe it is because
it is Ryan that I am so nervous.
“Just relax, today spending time with you has
been the best. I don’t think I have met a woman I have laughed with so much,
at you of course rather than with you.” I immediately get a flash back to the
boat and me like a caught fish floundering on the bottom of the boat. I put my
face in my hands trying to hide my reddening cheeks. “You are so beautiful
when you blush.” Although sweet Ryan’s words just make me blush even more. I
put my hand down on the table and Ryan reaches forward to hold it. “I’ve never
met a woman that I have so quickly felt at ease with. I feel like I have known
you all my life Jane.”
“Sorry, are you ready to order?” The waiter
interrupts. Oh no I haven’t even looked at the menu, Ryan gestures to me to
order first.
“No please you go first I am not quite ready.”
I quickly run my eyes down the menu for something I fancy, other than Ryan.
“OK can I have the house pie please with mash?”
“And I will have the tuna niçoise salad,
thanks.” A salad sounds delicious for lunch and more importantly won’t make me
too bloated for the rest of the day.
Ryan was right the food here is amazing. I
even pinch a bite of Ryan’s house pie which has melt in the mouth bits of steak
in it.
“How about something naughty for afters?” Ryan
leans across the table and strokes his fingers along the back of my hand. So
not the banoffee pie that I had my eye on. Mrs McCree’s words of advice of not
being too easy too soon ring loudly in my ears.
“I don’t know, don’t get me wrong I want to,
really
want to.”
“We can take it slow, I’ve just never met
anyone like you before Jane, I have to be at work in a couple of hours but I
don’t want our day to end here.”
Ryan pays the bill and we step outside of the
restaurant. Once outside he takes my hand and spins me dramatically as if we
are dancing. He slides his hand in to my hair his fingers slowly caressing the
nape of my neck and he kisses me right there in front of everyone on the
street. The kiss is deep, hard and full of fire. I cannot deny it, I want
him, more than I have ever wanted anyone. I take his hand and start to pull
him along the road. He catches up so we are walking side by side, hand in
hand. Occasionally he stops me to kiss me again or to just stroke the side of
my face.
Before I know it we are standing outside The
Verona Bed, Breakfast and Balcony.
“Are you sure you want me to come in?” Now he
seems uncertain.
“Yes.” I squeeze his hand as I open the front
door. Once inside I am pleased that the coast is clear and I put my finger to
my lips signifying for him to be quiet. We walk gingerly up the stairs and we
both let out a big sigh of relief when I close my bedroom door behind us.
As soon as I turn he presses me against the
door, his mouth crashing down on to mine. His hands gently brush my shoulders
down the length of my arms to my hands. I stretch up on to my toes so that I
am closer to his height, pulling my arms up so that I can touch his chest. As
soon as my hands touch him he makes a deep throaty noise that makes me erupt
with longing. I suddenly cannot touch him fast enough, I pull at his buttons
wanting to touch his skin. Ryan grips on to my waist pulling me closer to him
so that I can feel every inch of him.
His fingers skim up from my hips, grabbing the
hem of my top as his hands travel up bringing my top up with them. I lift my
arms up to make the task easier. As soon as the kiss breaks I suck in deep
breaths of air trying to fill my lungs, in the pure excitement I must have
forgotten to breathe. However, upon doing this I get a waft of my breath that
smells like the armpit of a tuna fish.
“Sorry can I have a quick minute to freshen
up.” I desperately need to brush my teeth. He is breathing hard and without
taking his eyes off me he unbuttons the last few buttons that I had missed on
his shirt. Pulling it off from his shoulders he stands before me in nothing
but his jeans. There is something so sexy about a man wearing just jeans. All
I can think about is popping open that top button.
“Are you sure you want a minute?” he asks me
breathlessly.
“I’ll be quick I promise.”
“OK.” He shakes his head smiling and walks over
to the bed closest to the bathroom and starts to empty the pockets of his jeans
out on to the bed.
I dash into the bathroom and pull the door to.
Brushing my teeth, I start to sway my hips in a little happy dance. I feel
like Juliet impatient for her night with her Romeo, but Romeo is here already
waiting on my bed.
“Have you always loved Shakespeare?” I shout
out.
“What?” Ryan sounds completely confused by my
random outburst from the bathroom. Then I remember I am not supposed to know
he is an actor.
“Sorry it’s just I know you are performing in
Othello
.
I just wondered if you have always been passionate about Shakespeare or if it
was when you started acting you fell in love with his plays?” I really hope
that I haven’t scared him, I start to panic when he doesn’t answer straight
away.
“Oh I see.” He eventually answers.
“No no I can’t stand Shakespeare plays, I don’t
understand them at all. It was a fluke really. Cassio’s understudy broke his
leg, my agent called me and well I’m not really in the position to turn down
work. Luckily I have a good memory otherwise I would have no hope with all the
mumbo jumbo. I’ve only had to perform a couple of times otherwise I’m just
there just in case the lead is unable to perform or they need me to do the odd
walk on part.”
“What?” This is all I can manage to say. I’m
in shock.
“Yes I love anything with action in really, my
dream is to go to Hollywood to do martial arts films. If you watch the real
famous martial artists fight, the choreography is incredible, it’s like
dancing. I would love to be able to do that. The work that must go in to
getting the fight scenes so precise. That’s why I spend so much time working
out to keep my body looking good, my muscles will hopefully be my money maker.”
His voice is so excited it is clear that this is his thing.
I drop the toothbrush in the sink and walk back
in to the room still in a state of shock. Ryan is stretched out on my bed,
wearing nothing but a bright yellow thong. The thong really doesn’t do it for
me. I look down at the bed next to me at Ryan’s things that he has taken from
his pockets. His wallet has fallen open showing his driving licence, but the
name is wrong. I pick it up to look closer.
“This says your name is Malcolm?”
“Yes that’s right Ryan is my middle name, my
agent didn’t think Malcolm was sexy enough for a stage name. So when I am in
theatre land I am Ryan.” He winks. Oh dear what have I done.
It is at this moment Angela opens the door to
me standing in just my jeans and a bra with a man stretched basically naked on
my bed wearing nothing but a fluorescent pair of budgie smugglers. I could
just die.
She looks from him to me and then back to Ryan,
I mean Malcolm, again.
“I am so sorry, your door wasn’t locked, I’ll
come back later.” Then I remember in the heat of the moment as we had come
through the door I had forgotten to lock it. Poor Angela she looks mortified.
She quickly walks back out of the room and closes the door.