(Part 01)
Alex, at 21 years of age, was the baby of the Kincaid-Smith family, and he lived in the house he was born in, at 4, Windmill Cottages with his parents Dane and Hazel and two older sisters Roxie and Lisa.
He had never lived anywhere else until he went to University and now he had his degree and was back in Mornington he had no desire to leave again, everything he wanted was in Mornington.
He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with his English degree or how he was going to make a living but for the summer at least he was staying put.
And the reason for that very definite mind set was Caz Williamson who lived a couple of doors away at number 2, with her mum Jo.
He’d had a crush on Cassandra since they were at the village school together and he’d been in love with her since college.
She was the year below him at Childean College and they used to sit next to each other on the bus but he’d never managed to pluck up enough courage to ask her out.
He had always been a painfully shy person and when they were at school she was the only one who understood his predicament.
When he first went to University he found it very difficult and had it not been for Caz and her supportive emails he wouldn’t have got through the year.
The second year she was at University herself, though not the same one and emailing each other helped keep them both sane.
But he was finished now and she still had a year to go and he was worried that she wouldn’t need him during her third year and someone else would snap her up.
He had only got back to the village the day before and it was quite late so he hadn’t seen her.
He spent an extraordinary time in the bathroom getting ready and more importantly rehearsing in the bathroom mirror exactly what he wanted to say to her.
Taking a deep breath and in a state of acute anticipation he knocked on the door of number 2 and when the door opened he felt a sense of anti-climax as her mum Jo answered the door.
“Hello Alex, when did you get back?”
“Late last night” he replied
“If you’re looking for Caz she’s not here” she said and smiled at the crestfallen look on his face.
“Oh ok”
“She’s working in the main beer tent at the Beer Festival”
Josephine said
“I might see her there then” he replied “Thanks”
“There’s no might about it” she thought to herself as she watched him walk away.
She could never understand why those two weren’t a couple he was besotted with her and she had carried a torch for him since primary school.
She got why Alex hadn’t asked her out, he was very shy but it was the 21st century and girls don’t have to wait to be asked anymore so why hadn’t she asked him? Caz never had been backwards in coming forwards except apparently where Alex was concerned.
As was the norm The Beer Festival was being held in the grounds of Mornington Manor which was only half a mile from the Windmill cottages so Alex hurried off in that direction to find Cassandra.
(Part 02)
Josephine Williamson was right on the money about her daughter carrying a torch for Alex and she wished she could wave a magic wand and make them a couple but she couldn’t.
Alex had been a rock for Caz after her father left, and was a shoulder to cry on all through the divorce.
Jo and Caz were very close and she was worried that her daughter was holding back for her sake.
It was tough for them both after the divorce and they struggled financially and they both had to work hard doing part time jobs to make ends meet but they had managed and Caz had made it to University as well, which was a bonus.
But at the age of 42, Jo was ready to stand on her own two feet, she had managed to get a full time job with one of the new firms up at Mornington Field, Paige Turners, and she was worried that Caz was holding herself in check regarding Alex because she didn’t want to leave her mum with no one.
So she decided that she would need to have a talk with her.
However that wasn’t what was holding Cassandra back at all, her problem was fear.
The confident bubbly redhead was afraid that if she asked him out and he said no it would ruin what they had and create an awkwardness between them and then she wouldn’t even have the emails that she looked forward to so much.
She would just have to remain patient and wait for him to make his move.
The festival was well under way so Cassandra looked at her watch and wondered why she hadn’t seen him.
Every time she went out collecting glasses she craned her neck and scanned the faces in the crowd but to no avail because no sooner had Alex stepped through the Manor gates than his dad shouted to him.
“Alex!”
He tried to ignore it but it got louder
“Alex!!” his dad called “Over here son”
It was no use he couldn’t ignore him so he turned towards the direction of his father’s call and waved.
But it became apparent that a wave was not sufficient because he repeated his call
“Over here”
By the time he had been introduced to all his Dads workmates and cronies or perhaps reintroduced would be more accurate and he’d had a pint of Mornington Ale with them an hour had slipped by.
He arrived later at the main beer tent than he had intended and after the beer he felt a little light headed as he hadn’t eaten since the night before.
But as he made his way to the bar he was very pleased to see the gorgeous Cassandra was serving.
She was five foot eight with Luscious thick ginger curls tumbling down onto her shoulders and mesmerizing green eyes and ever since he got back he’d been longing to see her again.
Her figure was as lovely as he pictured it in his dreams each night full and curvaceous and perfectly proportioned.
As she was working the bar for the festival she was dressed in a uniform of short black skirt and crisp white blouse and he envied every inch of the fabric she was wearing as it clung to her every undulation.
“Hello stranger” She said smiling broadly
(Part 03)
“Hello stranger” Caz said smiling broadly
“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming”
“Hi Caz” he replied, “I only got back last night”
“I know I saw you” she retorted and he raised an enquiring eyebrow
“I was just closing my bedroom curtains when your dad’s car pulled up” she replied and felt herself blush at the lie.
What she had actually been doing was staring out of her bedroom window waiting for him to arrive.
“Do you want a drink?” she asked trying to cover her embarrassment
“Yes please” he replied “Make it a half as I haven’t eaten anything yet, oh and have one yourself”
“I’d rather have one with you later when I’m on my break, if that’s ok?” she said
“No problem, when’s your break?”
“In an hour” she replied just as a large group of punters arrived at the bar demanding her attention.
“I’ll see you later then” he said and took his beer and went in search of a burger.
Even after the burger a combination of too much beer and an empty stomach still left him a little light headed so he decided to find somewhere to sit while he waited for Caz to take her break and for the burger to reach his stomach.
He had just begun to head for an empty bench when he was hailed by Elsa and Dee Larsen and he turned to see them tottering towards him across the grass, shoes in hand, ever so slightly tipsy.
The girls were twins, quite inseparable, blue eyed blondes and very gorgeous but alas they were only 17 so they shouldn’t have even been drinking.
But they were both lovely girls and he liked them a lot though not in that way.
He’d only met them once before at a BBQ at Caz’s, their parents worked at Paige Turners with her mum.
Elsa was the younger of the two by a few minutes, standing five foot two while Dee was an inch shorter they were both stunningly beautiful though and wearing low cut tops.
They tottered up alongside him each taking an arm and began flirting with him outrageously.
“Can we come back to yours Alex?” Dee said
“They won’t let us have another drink”
“It’s not like we’re drunk or anything” Elsa chipped in
“Can we?” Dee said again
“Please Alex?” Jenny added
“No” he said, “Sit down there and behave”
“If we don’t will you spank us?” asked Dee
“Yes will you spank us?” Elsa repeated and giggled
“You’ll get me arrested,” he said
Being over six foot tall and with the two girls seated on the bench, he was afforded an uninterrupted view down the front of their low cut tops which made him blush to his roots.
Dee noticed his discomfiture and thrust her chest out at him and giggled.
This was not the kind of behaviour that sat well with Alex, being such a shy man so he was extremely embarrassed so much so that he wanted to just walk away and leave them but in their condition someone was likely to take advantage of them.
While he tried to think of his best course of action and much to his annoyance they got up and started dancing around him flirting and flaunting and flashing their skimpy knickers at him, whether knowingly or otherwise was immaterial.
“Just sit yourself down” he said sternly
“But we’re having fun” Dee protested
“We don’t mind a bit of sexy fun” Elsa added and then blushed and both girls giggled
“Just sit” he said sharply
“Oh you’re so masterful” Elsa said
Just at that moment just in the nick of time he caught site of Glen and Shelley, the twin’s parents and they did not look happy, someone had clearly called and alerted them to the girl’s condition.
He gave them a wave and managed to catch Glen’s eye.
“They’re here” he called
“Thank you for watching over them Alex” Shelly said
“You two are in so much trouble” Glen said
“Now straight home”
(Part 04)
As he watched the drunken twins walk away with their parents, heads bowed he heard a voice behind him say
“I’m on my break now so I’m ready for that drink”
“Ok let’s go” he said
He left Cassandra sitting at a table while he went to the bar for the drinks and when he returned and sat down beside her she said a little bitterly
“I saw you with the pretty Larsen twins, I suppose everyone loves the pretty girls”
“Yes” he said thoughtfully “I rather like pretty girls myself”
He was surprised by his boldness but still couldn’t say the next part out loud and continued in his head
“Which is why I asked you to join me for a drink”
“Well it’s a shame you’re stuck with someone who’s not pretty then” She snorted
“Don’t you think you’re pretty?” he asked
“No” she snapped “I’m not pretty”
“Perhaps you’re right” he agreed “I think you’re beautiful”
She turned her head away coyly and thought.
“Oh my God he’s finally going to do it”
He was so close to her that her intoxicating perfume enveloped him as she turned to face him and he was poised, and he had the question framed in his head as he stared into her beautiful hypnotic green eyes, and he opened his mouth to speak but before the words came out the two of them were engulfed by a group of exited and slightly inebriated friends who surrounded them and the moment was gone.
After about ten minutes of hearty hello’s Cassandra excused herself from the melee.
“Sorry but I have to get back to work” she said and without a glance backwards she was gone and the tears immediately began to sting her eyes which was when she bumped into her mum
“What’s the matter love?” Jo asked and she threw herself into her arms and sobbed.
Once Jo had calmed her down sufficiently that she could speak and having determined that no one had died, she tried to get to the bottom of what had upset her daughter.
“I love him mum” she said “I love Alex”
“Well I knew that much” she said
“You did?”
“I’ve known for years” she explained “I just don’t know why you didn’t do something about it”
“Oh”
“I thought you were holding back because of me” Jo admitted
“I see that I was wrong now”
“No that wasn’t it” Caz said
“So why haven’t you done anything about it?” Joe asked
“Because I’m worried I’ll scare him away, if he doesn’t like me that way I’ll lose him as a friend for ever”
“What do you mean if he likes you that way?” Jo asked “He’s soppy about you”
“What should I do mum?”
“Ask him” Jo said “He’s never going to ask, he’s too shy”
“I thought he was going to ask me out just now and then we got interrupted and now I don’t know what he was going to say, I’ll never know” Caz explained
“Then ask him love” her mum repeated
“Really?”
“Yes, just get him on his own and ask him”
(Part 05)
Cassandra’s eyes were red and her cheeks were stained with tears though she was much calmer, it had taken Jo about half an hour of soothing words to get Caz to the point where she could tell her what was wrong without bursting into tears again.
But at the end of the 30 minutes they had a plan.
She was afraid that with all the new influx of people to the village she would lose him to some flighty townie girl like one of the Larsen twins, so the plan had to be actioned sooner rather than later.
Jo spotted Alex with a group of half a dozen lads chatting by the gates.
“Alex!” she called “have you got a minute?”
“Sure”
“Listen, I have to shoot off now but Cassandra has a couple of boxes to bring home with her” she explained
“Would you be a love and help her with them?”
“Of course” he replied
“Great, meet her in the beer tent in an hour”
“Ok”
“Thanks Alex you’re a star” she said and walked towards home smiling broadly and when she got out of sight she said a text to her daughter
“It’s up to you now”
He could see Cassandra as he walked into the beer tent and he thought she’d seen him but she just kept walking, they were quite busy and he was by the bar for 5 minutes or more and still didn’t have a clue where she had gone and the crowd of expectant punters was getting bigger.
Suddenly Caz was stood next to him.
“Hi” he said “Shouldn’t you be serving its awfully busy”
“It’s my break,” she answered curtly
“Your mum said you needed some help” he explained but he didn’t think she looked particularly pleased to see him.
“Come with me” Cassandra said brusquely and strode off
“Ok”
She led him down a kind of corridor between two huge marquees, passed the Manor steps and through a door that said private, down a long dark corridor, finally arriving at another door.
“In here” she said abruptly
“She’s a bit moody” he thought “I hope it wasn’t something I did”
Just in case he did what she said without protest and as the door closed the light went on to reveal it was a storage cupboard, and all at once Cassandra wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately on the mouth.
“Did you want to ask me a question?” she asked after breaking away from his mouth
“Er, yes I did” he replied
“And?”
“And what?”
“What was the question?” Caz asked
“Well er, it was er, kind of um” he burbled so she kissed him hard on the mouth again.
“Try again” she said
“Will you er, I mean would you”
“Oh for god’s sake” she snapped and kissed him languidly and when he escaped her lips he asked
“Will you go out with me?”
“Oh I don’t know this is all so sudden” she replied and stepped towards the door
“Oh no you don’t” he said and pulled her back into his arms.
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