He's Talking Secrets - Taylor Rose Page 0,12
so ladylike right at the moment too. I think we are quite even in the smelly stakes, don’t you?” was her reply as she made her way to the door. She shouldn‘t have mentioned her smell, it made his nose acutely aware of her scent, underneath the horse and she actually smelt…..really good. “Kitchen is down the stairs, the last door on the right” she threw over her shoulder as she headed up the stairs. He was glad that she gave directions. He would not have looked very cool opening and closing random doors, of which there were sixteen that he could see from where he was standing in order to find his way to the kitchen.
“Oh, do come in, Brandon” Agnes said formally and indicated that he sit down on a solid wooden chair that like its other eleven matching companions, all had that ancient medieval look about it. As he glanced around the kitchen he acknowledged that the kitchen was beautiful, as far as kitchen goes, from the point of view of a man who doesn’t do much cooking. It was very homely with a huge solid timber table as the focal point. It was easy to see that for centuries people had sat around it and solved all the world’s problems. In fact he thought he could see knights riding up the driveway and feasting on pheasant around this table. Brandon noticed that the old wood stove was from an age long past yet it was still in great order. Agnes noticed him looking around the kitchen and thought he looked somewhat impressed. He also looked at home, a bit like a knight from the round table; he certainly had that look of power that suggested he could have been a man of importance.
Agnes turned to look at him “Brandon I watch a bit of day time television from time to time…….I know who you are. I only have one question, what are you doing here?”
“When did you recognize me?” Brandon was looking at his hands placed on the table. He really hadn’t wanted to be “seen”.
“The moment I saw you, at morning tea yesterday. You have a very recognizable face Brandon.”
“Sophia doesn’t seem to know my face, does she?” Brandon suddenly realized that he really wished that the answer would be a no. He really wanted someone to just like him for himself not his public persona.
“No,” Agnes chuckled “she doesn’t have a clue. Not a lot of time to watch daytime Television, I’m afraid. So I think you’re safe there. But my question, what are you doing here?’
“I’m trying to find something……something I feel I’ve lost. I am so busy organizing, implementing and discussing everything that I have lost my original vision. This is a chance to get my hands dirty, get back to where I started and have some fun. And now I sound like a complete SNAG. Harold recognized me this afternoon, didn’t’ he?”
“The moment he laid eyes on you I’m afraid. But don’t worry, I’ll explain why you are here, perhaps I’ll put a more masculine spin to it though.” She said with a hearty laugh as she laid her hands on the stove.
Agnes caught sight of Sophia coming through the door and changed subjects instantaneously “The old stove is still used throughout winter. I have prepared some fairly flash dinners from this stove” giving it an affectionate pat. Brandon noticed Sophia watching them from the doorway and guessed that Agnes was trying to cover their conversation so he picked up on her talk of the old wood hob. He appreciated her effort to keep his secret.
That was how Sophia found them when she entered the kitchen, engaged in light hearted banter as though they were old friends. Agnes looked up with a smile, again not something Agnes did often. It gave Sophia a jolt, Brandon was the cause. He turned and smiled at her as she entered the room. She was embarrassed to look at him. All he did was smile but it made her recognize that she was alone on so many levels. It was a gesture that would have meant nothing to him. He noted that she hadn’t changed and it stuck him that she was obviously not out to impress him. He found most women were trying so hard to impress him with their wit, looks or some such thing that he found woman kind of blended into each other, they were all the same. He had to