Chapter 4

I had been attracted to Diane at the site meeting but my attention had been diverted by the accident. As far as I was concerned my actions at the hospital were simply good manners. When Diane asked me to dinner, my acceptance was in the same vein. I found her very attractive, but I certainly hadn't been hit by love at first sight.

Since Diane had asked me to dinner, I adopted the "new man" approach and deferred to Diane. She had chosen a stylish Italian restaurant. When the waiter offered the wine list to me, I indicated that this was the lady's evening and asked him to address her. When it came to conversation, I had a technique to make it flow easily, that I had learned in the Navy. I called it my "cocktail party" technique.

Every time the ship docked somewhere there would be a cocktail party for the local dignitaries. It was the duty of all officers to entertain these people, usually with the assistance of the local consulate or embassy. My first Captain explained the skill of asking questions until you found a subject that the guest was interested in, and then using follow-up questions to keep the conversation going. I had mastered the skill and learned enough to ask sensible questions and look interested. People always left feeling that I was as well informed as they were, about the things that interested them. It also proved an effective device to entice some of the more attractive guests to my berth.

Diane responded easily to my questions, and I was able to keep conversation flowing. There were none of the dry silences where each of us strained, searching for something to talk about. Since this was ostensibly a thank-you to me for my assistance after the accident, there was no expectation and we each went our own way after dinner. Diane was a sociable and attractive companion. I would certainly be interested in getting to know her a bit better. Certainly I wouldn't object if she got me into bed. But that was a far as it went. I sure as hell hadn't heard wedding bells. Nevertheless, I made polite noises about inviting her to dinner at an unspecified time.

Diane had other ideas. She had decided that Jack was not going to slip through her hands. As she drove home that evening she thought about him. She had enjoyed his company. Whilst she had done most of the talking, she had done a little research beforehand and had used that to extract more information from him. He was interesting, good looking, and had displayed his masculinity in his original career choice. Equally he had demonstrated his intellect and ambition in his degree choice and his fleet-footed career change. He was more than ordinarily solvent and it wasn't just because of his pay-off. He was a rising star in a sector that was developing rapidly. But more importantly she had seen the glint in his eyes. The one that told of that one thing every woman wants in a man, even just once. Once she saw that dangerous, piratical, glint, nature told her that she wanted her children to have Jack's genes.

Now, Jack may well have had a girl in every port, and he might think that he was impervious to women's wiles, but he hadn't met anyone like Diane before. She ran her life, and she had decided that Jack was going to be a major part of it, and naturally he would think it was all his own idea.

Diane's full court went into operation the following Wednesday, at the site meeting. As they moved around the site she ensured she was close to Jack. This was easy to accomplish because they were still discussing the thermal link. Crispin and Jack were in deep conversation about the technicalities, and she, of course, was taking notes, from beside Jack, not Crispin.

When she got a pebble in her boot she reached for Jack to steady herself. Then she held his arm for balance as she removed the boot and shook out the pebble.

Diane was pleased at last to get rid of the stone she had placed in her boot as she put them on. Well she couldn't leave it to chance and something had to fall out of her boot, didn't it? Strangely, she had no tissues with her, to clean the mud from her hand. She had sensibly left her handbag in the car and omitted to bring any with her. Both Crispin and Jack proffered handkerchiefs, and she accepted the nearest ... Jack's of course.

This set the tone for the site visit. Diane always kept Jack close at hand, but not obviously so. She often, but not too often, found it necessary to ask for clarification on a technical matter. This was partly because Jack was turned away from her to speak to Crispin, partly because of the noise of the site and partly because of the wind. The real reason was to repeatedly draw Jack's attention to her. Her actions produced the required result. Ever the gentleman, Jack took the opportunity to reciprocate Diane's dinner invitation. Unfortunately he chose Friday night of the following week, the night she was going out with friends. So calendars were consulted and the best night for Diane was Saturday, two days hence. Jack arranged to pick her up and Diane headed back to the office to confirm her provisional hairdressing appointment for that Saturday morning.