That Friday (2 page)

"Anything for you,
miss?"

Tess shook her head, blushing.
"No thanks, just the drink for me."

"In that case it will be
eleven twenty five," the barman said, ringing up their bill.

Charlie knew Tess wanted to pay,
he could see her reaching for her purse out the corner of his eye, but he beat
her to it. He had his wallet out before she could get to her purse and handed
over a twenty pound note.

"Take a table; I'll bring the
food over when it is ready."

"Thanks." Charlie
accepted his change and stuffed it into his wallet before returning it to his
pocket. That done he reached down for his case. "Where would you like to
sit?" he asked of Tess as he picked up his glass from the bar.

A shrug was his answer. "I
don't mind," she said, her eyes moving around the almost empty pub.
"How about that table?"
She indicated one just a
short distance from them.

"Sure, suits me." He set
his case down at the side of the table and shrugged his rucksack from his
shoulder, letting it slide down his arm and drop to the floor, he then settled
himself into a chair,
his
drink in front of him, as
Tess took the seat on the side of the table closest to him.

That sat in silence for a couple
of minutes as they sipped at their drinks, neither sure what to say to the
other. It was not an uncomfortable silence however; they were both content
simply to sit and look at one another, to be together.

"How bad was the snow?"
Tess asked eventually. "On the phone this morning it sounded as though it
was really bad."

Charlie nodded. "I've never
seen snow like it in my life. The most I've seen before this morning is the
occasional light flurry that has settled for a short while before disappearing.
It was practically a blizzard when I looked out the window first thing, you
could barely see the cars in the street for the snow covering them. I reckon
there must have been at least three inches on the ground when I left the house;
it was deeper than my feet.

"If I hadn't been so keen to
get here and see you I would have loved it. It was so beautiful on the train
coming here, seeing the countryside covered in pristine layers of white."

"If you're lucky you might
get to see some of that beautiful snow-covered countryside while you're
here," Tess told him, a smile of anticipation parting her lips. "I
can think of a few places we could go that are outside of the city that I'm
sure you will like. You've seen the pictures
Kirkstall
Abbey on my Facebook page, haven't you?"

"That's the place you took
Victoria isn't it?
The ruin where she was playing in the
grounds."

"Yes, that's it. We can go
there if you want to. With all the snow we've had recently I imagine it will
look absolutely beautiful."

"Sounds good," Charlie
remarked. "Ruins, especially castles and churches, are my favourite places
to visit, they have the best architecture. Every time I visit somewhere with
lots of history I find myself wishing I was back there to live it, either that or
I get ideas for new books that incorporate the buildings or the history."

The barman approached then, as
Tess opened her mouth to speak, and discreetly set the plate he was carrying on
the table. "Would you like fresh drinks?" he inquired, seeing that
their glasses were almost empty.

Tess looked to Charlie, who
nodded. "Please," she said, getting to her feet and grabbing her
purse from her handbag so she could collect the drinks and pay for them.

"If you spend so much time
thinking about history and historical locations, why is it you haven't written
a book with such a location yet?" Tess asked when she returned with their
drinks and was seated again.

Before he could answer, Charlie
had to swallow the mouthful of burger he had just bitten off. "I have
ideas, the beginnings of them at least, but at the moment I have so many ideas
to work on I have to go with the ones that are uppermost in my mind," he
told her once he could speak; reaching for the glass that had just been set
before him he sipped at the cold drink to help his burger down. "Not only
that, but so much of my time is taken up with promoting the titles I have out
there, and working on my co-written stuff, that it's hard to look at ideas I
know will require a huge amount of research to make them work.

"One day, and soon, I hope to
be able to work on some of the historical ideas I have, but for right now I
need to finish rewriting the novels I did years ago, complete sequels to the
solo titles I've already released and work on my co-written stuff."

"But I thought you told me
you didn't enjoy the novels you've written with Paula."

Charlie nodded. "Yes, part of
me isn't thrilled to be writing erotica, especially the sort of erotica we have
been doing, but I can't deny that the books earn me far more money than my thrillers
and sci-fi. Much as I would like to focus completely on my solo stuff and get
done at least some of the many projects I have filling my head, I can't ignore
the money the erotica books are earning me."

"Are they really earning you
that much?" Tess couldn't help asking. She had tried to read the first of
the novels he had written with Paula and found it derivative, and far too
similar to other books that were far more successful. Because of that she could
understand his distaste for writing in the genre.

"I only get twenty-five
percent
of what the books make because of the deal I've got
with Paula, but it's enough that my next payment will clear my credit card bill
and the one after that will clear my overdraft," Charlie said, reluctant
to actually name figures. "If sales keep up the way they have been I'll be
earning more from my co-written books than I was at my job before I got the
sack." That thought put a smile on his face. He still found it ironic that
he had spent so long hating the job he was stuck in and hoping he could write a
hit book so he could quit, and the moment he was sacked
he
co-wrote a book that was paying him enough to hopefully never need a full-time
job again.

Tess could understand his
quandary; she knew what level of debt he had found himself in after being
sacked from his job early the previous year and could appreciate his desire to
get out of it. "I guess if you're earning that much from the books it
makes sense to stick with them, even if you aren't that keen on writing them."

Conversation between the two of
them drifted among a variety of subjects after that as Charlie finished his
meal and they both sipped at their drinks. Neither was in a hurry to leave and
check into the hotel they had booked, they had plenty of time for that and were
both enjoying the opportunity to get used to being in each other's company.

After Charlie finished his food
and they both finished their drinks, they sat for a short while longer,
chatting and enjoying one another's company, and then got to their feet,
gathering up their bags. Once outside the pub they took one another's hand,
each reaching for the other without thinking about it, and set off down the
road.

Though Tess assured him she knew where
the hotel was she managed to get them lost several times before they reached
the Premier Inn they had booked a room at. Neither of them cared about getting
lost however, not even when it began snowing, the snowfall becoming heavier
with every minute that passed. They were too busy stealing glances at one
another, looking away quickly, their cheeks stained red with their blushes,
when they were caught, to worry about how long it took them to reach the hotel.