Chapter 5

We walked to where my car was parked on South Street and this being Scotland I had the soft top up, but now the sun had actually come out and the wind had dropped so when I reached the car I manhandled it down. Kathleen gave a wow! as the soft top was folded away revealing the mahogany dash, the sporty gear shift, and very little room for even a third person. She laughed and said.

"Double wow! I can see what the girls meant when they said they had seen your car. It is a mean machine."

"Except that in its petrol consumption and because of the way I drive, its three point five litre engine it only gives about twenty miles to the gallon on a good day but I take it you like what you see."

"In that car, you can drive me anywhere you like," she said with a giggle, "So take me home my man."

"Certainly my lady," I said, falling into the role and obeying her imperious command.

She gave me directions to her flat and when we arrived, she asked if I wanted to come up and see her place. I was only too happy to do so. When we entered and she asked if I would like a coffee and I accepted. She made two cups and brought out milk and sugar and some biscuits on a tray. I thanked her and said that it looked like quite a spacious apartment for a single girl.

"It is not too big, it has this sitting room, a good sized kitchen, two good sized bedrooms and a smaller one which I am using as a study. I could put someone up if I needed to though it is not likely that any of my family will visit me here. I will show you around when you finish your coffee if you want to see the rest of it."

"I would like that. I tell you what, when we have finished with our snack and you have shown me around, why don't you just get ready for our evening out and I will show you where I live. I haven't long bought it and I am dying to show it off to someone."

She seemed to hesitate and think about it and then she said,

"I would like that also."

It was then I had the first indication that I was actually picking up a particular feeling rather than a general sense of unease. In her hesitation she had wondered if she could trust me after her experience with her brother and fortunately she came down on my side. Sh decided she could. I made sure that I would be on my best behaviour and do nothing to alarm her.

Once I had seen her flat I was impressed by the tasteful way she had furnished the place. It was stylish and pleasant to the eye yet it also gave one a feeling that this was a place to relax and be comfortable in. The master bedroom also had an en suite I saw and thought if we ever get to intimate stage that will be handy. As I made myself comfortable to wait for her, she turned to me with a question.

"I will go and get myself ready, how stylish do I need to dress?"

"Just the normal clothes you would wear if you were going out to eat with a friend, nothing too fancy," I said with a smile."

Having said that she went through to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She was as good as her word and in less than ten minutes she re-emerged in a simple figure hugging dress and with a touch of light make up on her face. She was carrying a jumper and looked like a million dollars.

I stood up and took her hand and kissed her lightly on the cheek,

"I think you will turn every head at the restaurant when I walk in with you on my arm, you are a truly beautiful young woman."

She blushed slightly but then she smiled.

"If you keep saying things like that I might well start believing you and become more confident about myself. I think you are going to be good for me."

"I am not just flattering you Kathleen; I am telling you what most other people see. It is me who is being flattered by that fact that you have agreed to become my girlfriend. I intend to keep on reminding you of that and I hope is does make you feel more confident about yourself."

"Then let's go and look at your home before it gets too dark."

Having said that she took my arm picked up a coat and led me to the door. Once outside she turned and locked it then took my arm again and we walked the short distance to where I had parked the car.

Once there I opened the door for her and she gracefully seated herself in the bucket seat and swung her delightfully long legs into the well of the car.

The light was just beginning to fade when we arrived at my place so I suggested I show her around the policies first. She was impressed by the pool that I had put in what was formerly the dressage ring. She was even more delighted when she saw the stables and the horses I had kept when I bought the place.

"I love riding she told me. I think my mother had me on a Horse before I could walk. This is a big place, how much ground do you own?"

"I can't remember off hand but I think it is something between fifteen and twenty acres if you count the ground around the house and stables."

That is quite a plot for a student dwelling," she said to me with a smile.

"Well I could say it goes with the five bed roomed house I bought. That too could also seem to be over the top, if it wasn't for the fact that I bought it because I fell in love with the place. I can also justify it because I see it as an investment. Property over the long term is one of the best places to put your money if you look after it."

"With all this expenditure it does confirm what the girls suspected today. You are not short of a penny or two."

"I did tell you that, but come, I will show you the house it is beginning to get a bit chilly."

She was also impressed with the house and especially with the kitchen which was the one area I had people renovate. It now had every mod con and a large oak table at which I ate at all the time and worked for some of the time.

"I love your kitchen," she told me. "It looks like a chef's paradise. Do you cook?"

"Yes, it is something I have needed to learn to do since my parents died. I surprised myself because I actually like doing it."

I had enjoyed it in my previous life as well and I had been pretty good at it then also.

"I will go and get changed," I told her, "And then we will go somewhere and eat."

She looked at me a bit hesitantly, so I asked, "What?"

"I quite like cooking too. It seems to me that it's likely you will have all the ingredients we would need to make a meal. So why don't we just make use of this splendid kitchen and eat in?"

"I don't mind if that is what you want. We have done quite a bit of galloping around the town today, so having a meal and then putting our feet up afterwards has a certain attraction."

"Then I think that is what we should do. I think it will be a lot of fun."

"Yes it will," I said, "But it is still a bit early for eating, so why don't we have a swim before we start."

"I would love to, but I don't have any swim things with me."

That isn't a problem," I told her, "I envisaged situations like this when I had the pool built. So I ordered several male and female sizes of swimwear and I will probably have something in your size. I took her to a dresser in the hall and opened one of the drawers which held and an assortment of ladies' swimwear.

She looked at the sizes and then chose a one piece suit in black and asked,"

"Is there somewhere can I change."

"I would suggest the downstairs bedroom, but that is where I sleep and I will need to get ready myself. I will take you upstairs to change."

I led her to the bedroom with two single beds and a full length mirror.

"This should do," I said, "And with large mirror here you will be able to see that you are properly dressed when you are finished."

When she came back down I had changed and also wore a warm dressing gown and I handed a similar one to her along with a pair of flip flops and a large white bath towel.

"We have a short walk to the pool house, "I told her, "But it is paved all the way there."

We swam for about half an hour and she, like me, was a very proficient swimmer.

I had started the Jacuzzi when we went in and once we had finished our swim we spent twenty minutes there just chatting. We then showered and dried ourselves, dropped the towels in a basket I kept for that purpose, and then made our way back to the house.

We worked together to prepare the meal. We made up a prawn Marie rose for a starter. Then I decided to go with a Scottish flavour for the main course so we had haggis wrapped in chicken breast with vegetables cooked in a whisky and cream sauce followed by toffee sticky pudding with Ice cream. I confess the sticky pudding was bought and came from the fridge. But she was right it was fun working together.

As we set the table a thought struck me. I would have liked to open a bottle of nice wine to have with the meal and decided that even though I would have to drive her home, I could have one glass and that would be an excuse to keep her around for a couple of hours afterwards. I would then think about having a light romantic session with her.

During the meal we talked about our courses and I found out that we were following parallel routes, She wanted to do languages along with psychology in her first two years and then to go on and take honours in psychology. I was taking two language courses in the first two years and then hoping to go on to a double honors degree in French and Spanish.

I asked her why she was interested in psychology, and she said it was due to the trauma she had suffered because of her brother's attempted rape. Later when we were back in the sitting room with her coffee, I enlarged on that subject.

"Often events like the one you experienced can create difficulties for women's future sexual relationships. How do you think it has affected you in that respect?"

"I am not really sure," she replied. "He did not penetrate me so I presume my hymen is still intact as far as I know, though my horse riding and gymnastics may have affected that. If it has, I haven't realised it. When I think about getting married I think about having sex with my husband and it doesn't disturb me. But I have never been out with a boy so I have never had a chance to see how I would react to someone's advances."