Straight to You Page 0,12

setting up the usual deckchair and refreshments outside. I had been booked to attend a dinner on behalf of the company but, thankfully, I had received a letter that morning telling me that the meal had been cancelled. I should have gone over to Mom and Dad's house but I didn't have either the energy or the inclination to move. It was my time now, and I was determined to relax.

Preparations for a lazy evening were going well until I discovered that there was hardly anything left in the fridge - no food and, much more importantly, no beer. Begrudgingly, I decided to go out straight away and get in enough provisions to see me through the rest of the weekend.

Fortunately, I lived close to a little street-corner supermarket which was hidden away in a quiet side-road from the rest of the sprawling city's hungry population. I found everything that I needed there and loaded it in carrier bags and boxes into the back of my car. I drove home quickly and it was only when I was half way down a certain road that I realised I was in the street in which Samantha Hill lived.

Since our meeting I had thought about her a lot. Had I been any younger, people might have thought that I had developed an adolescent crush on her but now, in my supposedly mature state, I managed to convince myself that I just admired Samantha for what she was doing and for the determined, persistent way in which she was going about it. In reality, however, I knew that I had found her incredibly attractive and I couldn't wait to get her financial arrangements completed and agreed so that I had an honest excuse to see her again.

As I drove along the street, I slowed the car down to a speed which allowed me to make out the numbers on the fronts of the dark buildings. I passed her home - number forty-seven - and carried on towards my house. As I turned into another street, I spotted an unmistakable figure walking along the pavement in the opposite direction to the way that I drove. Despite being piled high with bags of shopping, I could tell immediately that it was Samantha who struggled to reach her home. In the fading light, I stopped the car and hoped that she would recognise me.

'Hello,' I said chirpily as I wound down the window. 'Can I give you a lift?'

She looked puzzled and unsure for a moment. She walked a little closer to the car and then recognised me. Her expression changed and she smiled broadly.

'Hello again,' she said. She put down the heavy bags that she carried and I got out of the car to give her a hand. 'Would you mind dropping me back? I didn't intend to be carrying all of this, my dad was supposed to be picking me up an hour ago.'

'Have you had far to come?' I asked as I started to load the bags onto the back seat.

'Only as far as the bus stop,' she replied as I took the last bundle from her.

'You took all of this on the bus?' I said surprised.

'I didn't have much choice!' she laughed as I walked around and opened the passenger door for her. I turned the car around in a nearby cul-de-sac and we drove back in the direction of her house. I asked how she'd been keeping and she told me that she was well.

'Would you like to come in for a drink?' she asked as we pulled up outside the house. I glanced at my watch.

'I'd love to,' I said and we got out of the car. Piled high with bags, we struggled towards the front door where Samantha's mother appeared and helped us inside.

'Mom, this is Steven Johnson,' Samantha said, introducing me.

'Nice to meet you,' I said as I struggled to find a spare hand to stretch out from among the carrier bags.

'Sam's told me all about you. Honestly, she's been working all the hours God sends on this shop.'

'I know. I'm really impressed '

Samantha disappeared into the kitchen to put away the bags of shopping before quickly reappearing again.

'Mom where was Dad?' she asked. 'He was supposed to pick me up.'

'You know what your father's like. He tends to forget things now and then.'

'You mean he forgets things when he wants to. He's getting to be a real pain.'

Mrs Hill walked into the kitchen and left me alone