Chapter 3

Making it out of the hotel I looked around me, as I expected from the letter it was my small town, I knew my old house was just a half a mile from here.

I walked down the high street and went into a Costa coffee shop. I hadn’t been in a decent coffee shop for years since my doctor told me that I had to give the stuff up.

Two minutes later I was sitting in a comfortable chair and sipping my first cup of real black coffee in years. It was heaven, things tasted and smelled better than they had for years. It wasn’t until I went to put my cup down that I realised my hands were shaking.

It suddenly hit me I had walked down the street dressed as a woman and no one had taken any notice. I felt a strange mixture of emotions, part of me wanted to hide in a corner and not be noticed but another part of me was screaming “Look at me I’m beautiful” and still another part of me was thinking “I’m a man, I shouldn’t be out dressed as a woman.” It was a most unsettling feeling.

I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up. I felt my heart pound as I looked at the most gorgeous creature I have ever seen.

The woman that had entered the coffee shop was a little taller than me, I would guess just under six foot tall. She had the most amazing copper coloured hair I have ever seen, a sweet almost triangular face with a sharp chin but the face was dominated by large striking green eyes.

I flushed and looked down at the table. God I wish my heart would stop pounding.

I gulped down the rest of my coffee and quickly gathered my stuff. I really had to get out of there before I made a fool of myself. As I made my way to the exit I could see her sitting with some friends at a table near the door.

I tried hard to keep my eyes down on the floor as I made my way to the front of the shop. I couldn’t cope with looking into those eyes even from a distance. I was trying so hard not to look at her I bumped into a guy walking into the cafe.

I went flying and landed on my rump with my handbag falling onto the floor.

The next thing I knew a cool hand was offered to me to help me up of the floor. I took the hand sputtering my apologies to the man’s back as he made his way to the counter.

I felt a touch on my shoulder, turning I was face to face with this breathtaking beauty. I could feel my face burning as she looked at me.

“Here’s your bag, are you ok?” her musical voice asked.

“Um yes, yes thank you.”

“Good, you want to be a bit more careful you know.” She laughed and I could almost feel my heart stop for a second.

“Thank you. I’m so sorry to bother you.” I gasped, I must of looked such a fool but I couldn’t keep my eyes from her face.

“Well I’m glad your ok. Bye.” she said cheerfully as she turned and rejoined her friends.

Face burning I stumbled out onto the street. Once I had moved away from the cafe I took a quick look at my watch, twenty to eleven, I had better get moving.

Walking to the solicitors I could still see her face floating before my eyes, very distracting. I knew the way to the solicitor easily enough, after all they had been my solicitor for years and years.

I entered the offices and had to sit and wait for about ten minutes to see the senior partner Eric Bain. To my shock as I was shown into his office he came around the desk and took my hand. Eric had dealt with my affairs for years and had never done this before.