Wags To Riches (4 page)

“Do you come here often then Adam?” I joke nervously.

“Oh yes, I bring all my women here” he replies grinning as my mouth drops open.  I’m quite taken aback.  I don’t know quite what to make of that.

“Oh” I say.

“Only joking Gail” Adam says hastily, “I actually came here with my parents last week”.

“I’ll let you off then” I reply smiling as we make our way across the dining room.  A few heads turn to look at Adam as we walk past and frankly I’m not surprised as he is gorgeous.  They are probably wondering what competition I won to get to have dinner with him and what a shame the prize didn’t include free liposuction.

The maitre d’ stops at a table to the right of an enormous marble fireplace, complete with roaring fire and pulls out the chairs.  “What can I get you to drink?” he asks as we take our seats.

“Champagne alright Gail?” Adam asks.

“Yes, that would be lovely” I reply.

“Bottle of Cristal then please and some sparkling mineral water” Adam says to the maitre d’.

“Very good sir” he replies and walks away as I look round the room. 

“This is lovely Adam!” I say smiling.

“I think it did used to be a hall or a manor house or something” Adam replies.  “I’m glad you like it”.  Like it?  It’s fantastic!  Real linen tablecloths and napkins!  There is also a lovely candle holder in the middle of the table with three little nightlights in.  I’m quite tempted to take it home, but I won’t of course.  I don’t think it will fit in my handbag.

The maitre d’ returns with our champagne and sparkling water and pours us a glass of each.  “Thank you” I say, immediately reaching for the champagne flute.

“Cheers!” Adam says and we chink glasses before taking a sip.

“That is lovely” I say and Adam smiles at me.  God I wish I could stop feeling so nervous.  I’m tempted to knock this back in one for a bit of dutch courage.  Thankfully a waiter brings over the menu which we peruse for a couple of minutes.  Everything sounds completely yummy.  I sneak a look at the wine list just to see how much the champagne is that Adam ordered.  £200!  Good God!  That must be what – fifty pence a bubble?  Must try and drink it slowly.

“What would you like to eat Gail?” Adam asks.

“I don’t know – it all sounds lovely!” I reply, lifting my head and smiling at him. “I think I’ll have a green salad to start and for the main course - I’m trying to choose between the penne with mixed seafood sauce or mushroom risotto”.

“Hmmmm – now that is a tough choice”.

“It is isn’t it?” I say, giving a horrible little nervous laugh.  That sounded
so
good.

“Well, if it’s any help” Adam says, “I can recommend the mixed seafood with penne.  I’ve had that before and it was really nice.”

Choice made then.  “I’ll have that then” I say firmly.  “And what are you going to have?”

“I think I’m going to have a green salad as well to start” Adam replies, running his finger down the menu, “And then I’m going to have steak tonight I think, with potatoes and watercress salad”.

“Oh I want that now!” I say smiling.  “No – I’ll have the seafood pasta thing”.

“Sure?” Adam asks, smiling and raising an eyebrow as the waiter returns to take the order.

“Yes, definitely” I reply.  I hope it’s alright.  Oh well, if it’s not, I’ll just have to eat some and then put some chips in the oven when I get home.  I’m such a chav.  Think I’ve got some onion rings in actually.  I could have them instead.

“So Gail,” Adam says with a dazzling smile after the waiter has taken the order, “Tell me about yourself.  What do you do when you aren’t hanging round Supersavers?”

I’m too busy marvelling at the whiteness of Adam’s teeth to register what he’d asked me for a few seconds.  “Well,” I begin and take a sip of champagne, “I’m 26 and I work in customer services at a company called
Delightful Plastic –
yes really” I add in response to Adam’s grin.  “I’ve been there for about three years now”.

“Oh right – do you enjoy it?” he asks as he picks up his champagne glass, his cufflinks glinting in the candlelight.

“It’s okay – we have some laughs” I reply.  “I didn’t really plan on being there that long and it’s not really what I planned on doing with my life, but it’s okay.  And everybody has got bills to pay.  Did you always want to be a footballer?” I ask him, anxious to switch the focus away from my life as a desperate underachiever.

“Definitely.  Can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else.  And believe me” he adds earnestly, “I know how lucky I am.  What did you want to be when you left school Gail?”

“Thin” I say simply and Adam laughs.  “Apart from that – I always wanted to write about shoes for a magazine”.

“Excellent!” Adam says as the starter arrives.  “Well, you’ve still got time”.  I smile and don’t say anything.  It’s finding the time that’s the hard part.  Sometimes, just cooking dinner after work is hard enough.  “You said earlier – just before I started trying to wreck your living room - that you’d just moved in as well” Adam says as he picks up his knife and fork.

“Yes” I reply, “Moving was a bit of a nightmare”.

“Why?”

“Oh - the removal guy went to the wrong house and in my infinite wisdom, I’d arranged for my new fridge freezer and washing machine to be delivered on the same day and they came to my old flat instead of my new house!” I say, eating a bit of crispy lettuce.

“Oh no!” Adam says.  “What did you do?”

“Played the blonde card and batted my eyelashes at the removal man a bit” I admit, “And he very kindly went to my old flat and fetched them for me”.

  Adam laughs.  “Well, I’ve just moved as well” he says.

“Oh really?” I say, enjoying my salad.  At least I can eat this anyway, even if I can’t eat the next course.

“Yes, just before Christmas.  I’ve been really busy since then getting all the rooms repainted and getting the gardens landscaped as well”. 

“Gosh” I reply, “Sounds like quite a big house then?”  I bet it’s massive.  I bet his house is as well – Ha Ha!  I smile to myself and take another drink of champagne.

Adam smiles.  “Well, I’m having the last of the beds delivered on Monday so then all the bedrooms will be finished at least”.  I wonder how many bedrooms there are.  I wouldn’t mind inspecting everyone with Adam I think, looking at him and taking a large gulp of champagne.  Oh God, please don’t let me mess this up.  I’ve had to kiss a lot of frogs in my life.  I want to kiss a prince for once.

Adam starts telling me about a post match party that took place after the team had a convincing win over Bayern Munich and it’s really funny – he makes me laugh that much the champagne nearly goes right up my nose at one point.

“Anyway, then- Terry - our manager - got really drunk, got on the karaoke and started belting out ‘We are the Champions’ at three in the morning!” Adam explains.  “Me and Tim had to help him upstairs to his hotel room Gail, he was that drunk and then he lost his shoe somewhere along the way – we never bloody found that!” 

“Oh no!” I say laughing as the main course arrives.  It looks delicious.  I take a bite and it is absolutely heavenly.

“So - is that as good as the pasta and sauce from
Supersavers
then?” asks Adam.

“Nearly” I say jokingly, “but not quite!  Is yours nice?”

“Mmmm, really good” Adam replies and we both tuck into our meals.

“Oh I’m sorry I forgot to ask!  How did your match go today?”  I ask after several moments.  “Did you win?”

“Yes thanks, we won 2-1”.

“Did you score?” I ask.

“Of course!” Adam says, grinning at me.

“Oh fantastic!  Did you score both goals?”

“No, just one – I thought I’d let Tim, the other striker score one”.

“That was nice of you!” I say laughing.

“Yes I thought so too” Adam replies.  “Well, that was absolutely delicious” he says, sitting back in his chair.

“Mine was too” I say, putting my knife and fork down.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it” Adam says, reaching across the table to take hold of my hand.  “And I’m enjoying having dinner with the most beautiful woman in the room” he says quietly, looking up at me and giving me a sexy smile.

My breath catches in my throat.  Oh my God.  I have this insane urge to fling myself across the elaborate table decoration and scream ‘Take me now!’ but that won’t do at all.  Instead I squash the horrible nervous laugh that is trying to come out and smile down at my empty plate, blushing furiously.

“Would you like a dessert Gail?” Adam asks softly.

I look up, straight into his eyes.  “No thanks – I’m trying to be good” I croak.

Adam laughs.  How about if we share one?” he suggests.  “It’s not too bad then”.

“Okay!” I say happily.  I would have always regretted not having a dessert if I didn’t.  I’ll still regret having it anyway, so I may as well have it.  I know what I mean.

“Great – I’ll ask one of the waiters to bring us a menu in a second” Adam says, letting go of my hand and reaching for the bottle of champagne.  “Would you like some more?” he asks.

“Yes please” I say holding out my glass.  But then that is definitely it.  I will not make a prat of myself.  I won’t.  I’ve still got to walk to the car in these shoes.

Adam gestures to one of the waiters and a few moments later, the waiter brings over a dessert menu.  “What do you fancy then Gail?” Adam asks.  “Your choice”.

I smile and look at the choices.  I could eat any of them really, but they’re not really what I fancy.  “What I would like” I say, looking up at Adam, “Is some chocolate ice cream”.

Adam grins.  “Okay – we’ll have a big bowl of that and two spoons then!  Sounds good to me!”  He gives the waiter the order who looks a bit surprised, but recovers well.

“Okay sir – no problem” the waiter says and hurries off.

“They’ve probably got to nip to Supersavers to get some” I say laughing.

Fifteen minutes later, Adam and I are tucking into the biggest bowl of Belgian chocolate ice cream I have ever seen.  It is absolutely fantastic.

“Mmmm this is lovely” Adam says, putting a generous spoonful into his mouth.

“Tell me about it” I reply.  I wish I’d put my control pants on now.  Why did I suggest ordering this?  It’s too nice.  Why didn’t I order a fig or something?

“I’ve not had ice cream for years” Adam goes on, “This is great”.  I smile and take another delicious spoonful.  Best not to tell him that I have chocolate ice cream far too often for my own good.  I can feel the zip straining on my dress already.

I spend most of the journey home quietly crunching polo mints just in case Adam may want to kiss me.  I say most of the journey, as at one point a piece of polo goes down the wrong way and I end up trying not to choke to death.

“Are you alright?” Adam asks concerned.

“I’m fine” I say hoarsely, my face a fetching shade of Ribenaberry purple.  God.

We arrive back at my house and Adam pulls up outside and switches off the engine.  “I’ve had a really good time tonight Gail – thank you” he says.

“No – thank
you
” I say earnestly as I unfasten my seat belt.  “Thanks for dinner and everything”.

Adam leans in towards me and brushes a lock of hair away from my face.  “You are lovely Gail – do you know that?” he says quietly, looking deep into my eyes.

“Erk” I mumble, my heart pounding nineteen million to the dozen.  And then he kisses me.  And it’s a good job I’m sat down, because my knees would have completely given way.  His mouth is soft and firm against mine.  God he is a fantastic kisser.  Not like some blokes, who just seem to slobber everywhere or try and eat your head.

“Can I see you again?” he whispers.

“Yes” I say firmly.

“I’ll call you”.

“Okay” I say and Adam kisses me again.

Eventually I get out of the car and watch as Adam’s car purrs away down the street.  Stepping inside my house, I lean against the wall for a moment.  I cannot believe this is happening!  But it is! I think as a wide grin makes its way across my face.  It bloody is!  “Yes!” I shriek loudly to the empty hall way.  “Yes!  Yes!  Yes!”

I bet it’s the shoes that did it.

“Morning!” I sing as I walk over to my desk on Monday morning.

“Morning!” Alex replies as she looks up from a pile of invoices.  “So” she says in a hushed, excited tone, “How was the date on Saturday?”

“It was okay” I say in a deadbeat voice and Alex looks shocked.  “Only joking!” I say, “It was fantastic!”

“Oh that’s brilliant!” Alex says, looking relieved.

“Yes, it went really well!” I say, sitting down and switching my computer on, “We went to a really posh restaurant – and I mean
posh
Alex – it was more like a stately home!  And we had champagne...”

“Of course!”

“And it was...” I pause as Ted from the accounts department walks past, “Get this – a hundred and fifty quid a bottle!”