Straight to You Page 0,22

presents might give Samantha the wrong impression of me. Although I wanted to get much closer to her, I thought that our relationship was far too fresh and new for me to start buying sentimental gifts. Instead, I settled on the bottle of wine - a neutral gift which I could palm off as just an accompaniment to our lunch rather than a romantic gesture. The wine was chilled and the bottle cold in my hands. I wondered how cold it would be by the time I reached Samantha's.

The drive to the shop took only a little while. As I stopped the car and got out, I admired what I saw. Although it was only half-finished, the building's frontage already looked professional and very inviting with an ornate sign being painted above the whitewashed windows. I could see movement through the partially obscured glass and I could not help but feel somewhat disappointed that I would not be on my own with Sam. Perhaps that was a good thing, I thought. I didn't know if I would be able to control myself if we were left alone - she was so beautiful.

I took the wine and my briefcase out of the back of the car and, as I locked and closed the boot, the front door of the shop burst open and Samantha came running out to meet me. She looked wonderful in a long summer dress which clung lovingly to every curve of her perfect figure and the sunlight made her free, flowing hair glow with life and colour. As she approached, I felt an unexpected nervousness in my stomach, and my legs weakened. I prayed that I would be able to keep myself and my emotions in order despite the fact that I wanted desperately to pick her up in my arms, to take her somewhere quiet and romantic and make slow, passionate love to her. I tried to cool myself down by remembering that I was there on official company business.

'Hi, Steve! How are you?' Sam asked as she approached.

'I'm fine,' I replied. 'You look fantastic.'

She took my arm and led me towards the shop.

'This is for you,' I said, holding out the bottle of wine. 'I thought we could celebrate.'

Sam stopped. For one terrible and irrational moment I thought that my worst fears had been realised and that she had taken offence at my gift. I knew that it was a foolish and unfounded thing to imagine but, in the heat of the moment, I was fighting to keep control of a brain, a heart and a body that did not want to be restrained. My fears were washed away in a second as Sam stood up on tiptoes and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

'You shouldn't have,' she said, looking straight at me with her gorgeous, almost hypnotic eyes. 'You're so sweet.'

I followed Samantha into the shop where, away from the relentless sunlight, it was slightly cooler and where I was able to think and to act sensibly once more. The main area of the shop was a hive of activity with workmen toiling in the heat to fix counters and shelves while others followed behind, decorating in their work mates' footsteps.

'You've done really well in here,' I commented, looking around. 'How long do you think it'll be before you can open?'

'Just a few weeks,' she replied. 'Now that you've come through with my finance I'll be able to sort out the stock and the rest of the fittings that I need.' She paused to think for a moment and looked around at her shop 'The only trouble is,' she continued, 'I don't know whether to buy more microwave ovens for the hot, winter food or extra fridges for the ice cream!'

Samantha took my hand and pulled me through a door behind the main serving area. The door opened out onto a little corridor and, from there, various storerooms and kitchens could be accessed. To our left was an empty, spare room and she reached inside to switch on the light. The dull yellow glow of one, unprotected sixty-watt bulb illuminated a little table in the middle of the room which was covered with an appetising spread of sandwiches, salads and cakes. I felt guilty of the fact that I had little appetite but I resolved to try and eat something. Two seats were sat close to each other next to the table and Sam gestured for me to go inside and to sit down.

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