Chapter 1

A Sequel to "Regrets For a Miss" To fully understand this story it should be read first

My name is Robbie Mclean and I am the head of The British Sales department for a large European Pharmaceutical Company. I earn a six figure sum per annum for the job carries a huge burden of responsibility. I have been in sales all my life and was very good at doing the job on the ground. Fortunately as I have worked my way up the corporate ladder I have also proved myself to be a good motivator and administrator so I don't get too stressed out by the job which has its perks. I live in a big house in Wimbledon Village which has access to its famous common and you can walk from their through a green area right into Richmond park and its vast acreage. So despite being in the middle of London it is a very pleasant place to stay, combining as it does the sense of living in a village and at the same time being a stone's throw from Central London where I work.

That being the case, you might wonder why I am standing here with my ten year old daughter in a bus shelter waiting on a bus that is currently being displayed on the sign as being delayed twenty minutes. The answer is twofold. The first is that there is a blizzard raging and the bus service is in chaos because of it. The second is that my young daughter was invited to the party of a friend from her private school and as she loves travelling in buses, she asked if we could do so on this occasion. When we left this morning it was a bright Sunny day though there was some snow on the ground but nothing to alarm us. So I agreed. You see at the moment I tend to give into my daughters requests as her mother died just over a year ago after a long struggle with cancer and she is still missing her terribly. By the time we left the party late that afternoon the conditions had changed drastically but I made my way to the bus stop.

As I was standing there in the gathering gloom another two people entered the bus shelter but I did not pay much attention. I was wondering if I should phone for a taxi and whether or not it would be able to get to us before the bus. Meantime, my daughter had started talking to the young boy who was standing there with his mother and appeared to be just a little older than her. As my daughter is a right chatterbox when she gets going the young man was not having to do much talking but was being regaled by all the things that went on at the party. I gazed over at the woman whom I assumed was his mother. She was a bit shabbily dressed and had the hood of her coat up so that I could not make out her features. I nodded to her and pointed to the sign above our head and said

"We may have a long wait. It is now saying a twenty five minute delay and it was only saying twenty minutes when I arrived."

She looked at me and said with a resigned, sigh and said.

"Well there is nothing we can do but wait."

I made up my mind and decided there was something I could do. I phoned a local cab company I used from time to time, told them who I was and where I was and asked if they could get a taxi to me within the next ten minutes. They responded with an offer of fifteen minutes and I accepted. With that I turned to the woman and asked her where she was heading and she had replied, "Tooting." Now this happened to be on our way to Wimbledon so I said to her,

"Look, I have just ordered a taxi and they have said they will have one here in fifteen minutes. Tooting is on our way and I will have him drop you off there and it won't cost you a thing."

She seemed hesitant about the offer but her son said,

"Come on mum, we don't know how long we will have to wait and I am freezing."

I jumped in and said, "Your son is right, you will be perfectly safe in a taxi and you will be getting out a good bit before me and my daughter."

She turned and looked me full in the face and nodded her acceptance of the ride and said, "Thank you."

As soon as she did that I was sure I recognised her. She was older, much less well dressed and her face looked a bit careworn, but her features were still classically beautiful. I hesitated a moment wanting to be sure, and then I said

"Carol Anne?"

She looked at me in bewilderment and asked,

"How do you know me?"

I smiled at her.

"I don't think I could ever forget you," I told her gently, "Though you seem to have forgotten me, or is it that you just don't recognise me?"

Now she looked at me more closely. My hair was a bit thinner and turning grey and I was bit fuller in the face, but I could see recognition dawning in her eyes.

"Robbie" she said questioningly, "Robbie McLean?"

"In the flesh," I said he to her. "This is an amazing coincidence, but I am so pleased to see you again."

She smiled a sort of strained smile and said, "As you can see things have not gone so well with me as they seem to have done for you."

I knew she was referring to her shabby appearance and contrasting it with my obviously expensively tailored suit and highly polished shoes. So I said to her, "That may well be true, but from what I see, you seem to be as beautiful as ever whereas I am probably fairing a bit worse in the looks department."

My daughter turned her attention away from the son and looked at the mother and like the precocious child she is, she studied her for a moment and then said,

"I think you are pretty too," she told her and then added, "but my daddy is very handsome as well."

I laughed at this and said,

"Carole Anne you will have to forgive my daughter, I keep telling her that she is ten going on forty."

She smiled but spoke to my daughter Miriam rather than me.

"Thank you for saying I am pretty," she said, "It is quite a long time since someone told me that, and you are quite right about your dad too, he is a handsome man, and he will probably tell you later why he knows me. He was once my boyfriend when I was younger."

Now she had the attention of both children, and her son who had been quiet till this point seemed just as precocious as my daughter for he blurted out,

"Then you would have been better off marrying him,"

His mother looked at him with a sad expression and said,

"As usual, John, you are probably right, but if I had you would not be here."

It was obvious that John had not thought through this point so he was silent for a moment and then said,

"But you might have been happy mum."

I was gathering from this, that whoever Carol Anne had married it had not been a happy affair.

She looked at me and said,

"You will have gathered from what John has just said that my marriage was not a happy one and towards the end he tried to be my comforter."

I felt that there was a lot more to going on in that relationship than what was being said here. I wanted to know more and to see if I could help, because obviously her present situation was not that good. Just at that point however our taxi arrived and the driver knew me as he had driven me on business several times.

"Good evening, Mr Mclean," he said.

"I am pleased to see you Joseph," I was wondering if I would be able to get a taxi at all tonight the weather is so bad."

"You were lucky sir," he said. "I was just coming back on shift when you phoned and since you are a good customer the boss moved you to the head of the queue and told me to come and get you."

I smiled and said, "I am glad that it pays to have some influence in the right places."

Joseph said, "Well I am glad I was the one to get you, you never know what you are going to pick up at this time of a Saturday evening."

I laughed and then said to him,

"Then you won't mind if we take up a bit more of your time and drop this lady of in Tooting before proceeding to Wimbledon."

"Not at all Sir, the longer I am with you the better I will like it. It will keep me away from possible drunks."

He opened the door for us and Miriam, John and Carol Anne all got into the back seat. I put down one of the jump seats and sat facing them.

Carol Anne looked at John and said,

"Give Mr. Mclean your seat and you take his."

As I was sitting across from her and looking at her, I said

"No John, you stay where you are and talk to Miriam. I want to talk to your mum."

I looked over at Carol Anne and said,

"I take it your marriage was not a happy one."

She shook her head and said, "No, I am divorced and the decree was just made absolute a few months ago."

"I am sorry to hear that," I said, "If I can help in any way please let me know,"

She smiled at me and said, "Thanks Robbie, but I don't think your wife would take too kindly to you helping out old girl friends."

"My wife died from cancer just over a year ago," I told her, "Miriam and I are still recovering from that loss."

Carol Anne put her hand to her mouth and said, "God John I am so sorry, I would not have said that if I had known."

"You could not possibly know that," I told her. "And I think I am coming to terms with it at last so I am ok talking about it."

"I am Glad, I would have been so sad to cause you fresh pain," She said.

"You did not do that," I said. "I am the stage where I want to talk about her and what she meant to Miriam and me. I am also in a very highly paid Job, have a beautiful house and a lovely daughter so I have much to be thankful for. I am also in the happy position of being able to help and old friend if she needs it" I told her.

"Robbie, after the way I treated you, I could not impose on you now."

"That is water under the bridge Carol Anne. Look, are you free tomorrow?" I asked.

"I take a Sunday School class at my local church." she told me, "but I am free after that."

"Good," I said. "Then I will pick you up straight from church and you and John can come and have lunch at my place, so which Church and what time?" I asked.

She hesitated and then said, "St. Johns URC,"

Then she told me where it was and that the service usually ended about half past twelve.

"Then I will pick you up outside the church, the roads should not be too busy at that time on a Sunday morning.

The taxi arrived at the address that she had given Joseph and it looked to be an area that was a bit run down but I did not make any comment. When Joseph opened the door, I got out and as she alighted I walked her and John to the door, and then said, "I will see you tomorrow."

I got back into the taxi and as John drove off, Miriam said,

"She is a very pretty lady dad and John and I got on really well while you were talking to his mum."

"That is good," I said, "because they are both coming to lunch tomorrow."

Miriam giggled and said, "I know that silly, John and I stopped talking when we heard you ask her that and we waited with bated breath to see what she would say."

"I take it then you are both glad she said yes?" I asked.

Miriam giggled and said, "Yes! It is so romantic meeting your old girl friend at a bus stop."

"You just hold your horses young lady; there is nothing romantic about me wanting to help an old friend who probably needs it." I told her.

The next morning we drove to the church and got there in good time. And I managed to find a parking space just opposite. When the service came out we easily spotted Carol Anne and John. She was more smartly dressed today and obviously kept some clothes to be her Sunday best and despite what I had said to my daughter the previous evening, my heart skipped a beat. Pregnancy had done nothing to mar her figure, though her hips may have been just a little bit fuller. All this did, however was to emphasise her small waist beneath her still magnificent breasts. When I reached her I stretched out my hand and took hers in mine and pulled her toward me. I smiled and said quietly in her ear, "Now that I see you in daylight, you are still breathtakingly beautiful."