Chapter 2

We arrived a little early for the meal, not daring to rely on the taxi turning up on time. My dining partner, even though she had left home less than ten minutes earlier, immediately needed to powder her nose, or whatever it is they do locked away from us mere males. I headed to the bar to get a couple of glasses of chilled water; the trip to the bar was more of a habit than an actual need for a drink but I knew I would feel more comfortable with a glass in my hand. Still I didn’t want to spoil any of the forthcoming wine, hence the water.

I approached the bar where an attractive young woman was already standing. Probably in her late twenties and dressed up to the hilt, she oozed class. Even someone with as little fashion sense as I had could recognise the expense of her attire. It might only be the little black dress, but my guess was it was from some well known designer and worked well with her shortish, very light blonde hair. Just as I arrived, she picked up two glasses and turned to look at me.

“Darling! Could you just pay the barman, I have my hands full.” Her mouth smiled at me with all the sincerity of a senior politician.

I hadn’t a clue as to who she was, but I’d be damned before I did as she asked, if such comments could be deemed a request.

“Sorry miss!” I replied, with a genuine smile, “but I am very particular for whom I buy drinks, and I’m afraid you failed the audition.”

The look of, first shock, then sheer hatred, spread rapidly across her, admittedly beautiful, face. It was pretty certain that she was not used to being turned down, for anything. I was also sure that had she not been holding the glasses I would have been on the receiving end of a slap. I didn’t care; I had little time for such Prima Donnas and was about to add to my initial comment when I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a slight smile from the barman, her rudeness no doubt reaching him before I’d arrived. I nodded to him, purposely ignoring the now very irate young woman.

She virtually hissed at me. “Well I see they are letting anyone into this place nowadays!”

“So it seems,” I said to the barman before slowly turning to face her. “What is your name miss? I’d like to ensure that you’re removed from the next list.” I said as politely as I could. I’d had verbal duels with experts, both my daughters for example, and it appeared that this haughty young brat had never needed to acquire that skill.

She spun away from me to face the barman. “I’ll send someone over to pay for these drinks in a few minutes.”

“I’m sorry madam, they must be paid for before you take them.” He replied equally as polite as I had been. She then turned her venom to him. “Are you calling me a thief? I will see you get the sack for this. Where’s the manager of this place?” Any beauty that I’d first seen was now washed away with her vitriol.

The barman indicated a door next to the end of the bar. “If you cannot pay for the drinks could you leave them on the bar before you go to see Mr. Symmonds?”

The woman banged the glasses down, spilling most of the contents, and set off towards the indicated door.

“Sorry about that.” I said to the now smiling barman.

Before he could reply I heard a smatter of applause. I turned round to see Penny and another woman standing just a few feet away. It was the other woman who was clapping. Before I stepped toward the two women I told the barman that I would happily back him up if his manager should require it. He nodded his thanks.

For the first time I looked at Penny and her friend. Unsurprisingly Penny looked fabulous, her short red dress showing her figure off perfectly. I guessed it was either satin or maybe even silk because the fabric had a sheen to it that looked made for Penny’s dark hair. If there are other materials out there that shine that way, don’t blame me for not knowing them, after all I’m just a man. She had a lovely warm smile for me, one that lit up her entire face. A quick look at the other woman and I corrected myself, this was no mere friend, here was Penny in twenty years time, and that assumed Penny aged as well as I expected her to. Dressed in another simple, knee length, black dress with a string of pearls to adorn her neck, diving under equally dark and gorgeous hair, Penny’s mother, for it could be no one else, looked impeccable. I didn’t need a clincher but if I had, then her eyes would have been proof on their own.

“You never mentioned a sister.” I said to Penny.

They both laughed, but it was her mother that answered. “A silver and an acerbic tongue. A most unusual combination.”

“At you command my Lady.” I said with a slight bow.

“David! This is my mum.” Penny managed between laughs. “Mum, this David from work. You know the one that says you are too young.”

“Hello Mum!” I responded, whilst trying to think what Penny’s ‘too young’ comment was about. Finally I recalled one of our earliest conversations. “Actually, it was more like ‘I am probably too old for your mother’ not that she was too young for me, although now that I’ve met you, both are probably accurate.”

“Don’t they both mean the same?” Penny asked.

“No!” Her mother answered for me, but didn’t expand her answer. “And it is Marion, not Mum.” This said to me.

“Didn’t you buy two tickets, David?” Marion asked.

“Yes, who did you bring as your date?” Pushed her daughter.

Talk about perfect timing, Vicki chose that moment to walk up to me and put her arm around me. Vicki also has long dark hair, is just twenty-six and is as beautiful as any woman around. She was my ‘date’ for the evening. A quick glance at Penny and Marion brought a major surprise. Penny’s face was a combination of anger and something I couldn’t place.

Vicki looked at the other two women and smiled at them and me before asking. “Aren’t you going to introduce us then Dad?”

A whole gamut of emotions seemed to fly across Penny’s face, whilst her mother’s held just the one, amusement.

After the obligatory introductions Penny and Vicki found they had a couple of mutual friends and a similar lack of musical taste. The latter I counted as one of my parental failings.

Just then, a smartly dressed man introduced himself as Mr. Symmonds, the Hall’s manager and asked if he could have a word. Marion took the interruption as a reminder that she and Penny had dates of their own and really should return. I waved goodbye, saying we would talk later if the chance arose. As expected Mr. Symmonds asked for and received confirmation that his barman had done nothing wrong, had in fact maintained his polite manner throughout. After explaining the events the manager seemed happy enough and left us with an offer of a free drink. Typical I thought, a free drink and all I ordered was water.

We sat down at a table with three other couples, two my age and one couple in their forties. They all provided interesting conversation and even Vicki, easily the youngest at the table joined in. we both had a really enjoyable evening with excellent cuisine and two wines that I thought were outstanding, unusual for me too, as they were both white. The first was a Puligny-Montrachet, for me the best Chardonnay there is, this one was Premier Cru Perrieres from Louis Carillon. The second great white was a superb Pouilly-Fumé De Ladoucette from France’s Loire region.

The table’s other occupants were friendly and interesting conversationalists, but only on a perfunctory level. We would not be exchanging contact details.

I’d spotted Penny and her mother a few tables away with two young men, one in his early twenties the other a couple of years older. Both the women saw me looking and raised their glasses in acknowledgement. Vicki spent the first half an hour or more quizzing me about Penny, even more so when Penny whispered into my ear as she passed our table. When she finally accepted that we really were just good friends she seemed to relax somewhat. When pushed, she admitted that she didn’t fancy the idea of her dad having a girlfriend younger than she was, which I could totally understand. She did admit though that it would provide her with some laughs if I turned up with Penny to some of the ‘family’ dos.