A Working Holiday

This is my second story. We have all had unrequired love, the question is what would happen if it got a chance to get out there. Two people who are actually very shy get thrown together and face what they have tried to hide. This could be the result. Of course the opposite would probably have happened. They would have spoken a few times, and that would have been a very short story.

I hope it shows people with story ideas that they are afraid to write that you just need go for it.

Once again I would like to than Kenjisato for all the editing.

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My name is Mike Anderson, I’m fifty-four years of age, short, a bit overweight, and certainly no Rembrandt work of art. I had been married for seventeen years, with three children, Alice who is fourteen, Tim who is eleven and Sam who is seven. We live outside a village in the Lake District, where my wife has a small farm, inherited from her father. When I was younger, I had difficulty with woman, dating women, that is. I knew plenty of women, who thought I was cute and wanted to be my friend, just not my girlfriend. I met my wife, Beverly, in my thirties; she is nine years younger than me, and we just clicked. I remember driving home after a friend introduced us thinking, “I have just met my wife.” Seventeen years after we married, we still are in love..

One strange thing happened after we married. The young girls working in our local shop, all started flirting with me. Even years later, it still happened, and it make me feel very good. It was nothing more than a twirl of the hair in the shop, or seeing me in a coffee shop and coming to sit with me, etc. I had always thought it was because I was nice to them, while many of the other customers treated them badly.

There was one very shy girl, who worked in the shop several years ago, Jane. She worked there for nearly six years, from she turned sixteen until she finished university and got a full-time job. I started saying hallo, asking her about school, etc. Every time I spoke to her she blushed, starting at her neck. It always made me feel good. I would often see her in the village, and even after she stopped working in the shop, she always waved hi. That was until I had a bit of a run-in with her sister, over some damage her son caused to one of our outbuildings on the farm during lockdown.

I made a good living working for myself. I had a contract to manage the construction of medical centres on the Spanish holiday islands. I loved the work, but it did require quite a bit of travel. My wife could not travel with me because of the farm and the children were still in school.

I had just started a new section of the contract to build five new centres across three islands in the Canary Island chain. I had to go for six weeks to cover the planning stage. My building contractor was an international company, who had a presence on the islands already, and we employed a local architect, so I was the only one staying in a hotel. The centre of operations was in Los Cristianos. I had to be there through May and June (not really a hardship) and I booked a five-star hotel, near the beach, for my stay.

I had been on the island a week, and things were going well. It was the Saturday night, and I sat in the bar as a busload of new arrivals trouped through the door. I noticed a rather tall, striking girl in the middle of the group, with a much shorter, but trim friend. From the back the friend looked familiar, but I gave up on the thought, returning to my beer and my book.

About forty-five minutes later, I was engrossed in my book, when I heard a familiar voice ask, “Mike?”

I looked up to see the striking girl, and standing beside her, was Jane. I was stunned for a moment, but I quickly recovered and said, “Hi Jane, lovely to see you here. Did you just arrive?”

I could see her blush, but she just said in a deadpan voice, “Yes.”. She stared at me, as if she did not know what to say or do next, then turned on her heels and walked away.

Her friend said, “Hi, I’m Jess. She’s very shy. I know a remarkable amount about you from her, but she doesn’t know what to say or do over the situation with her sister.”

At that, Jane came back and said, “Please don’t talk to him,” and pulled her friend away.

I continued to sit at the bar and pretended to read my book, but I could see the two of them in the mirror. I watched with a lot of curiosity, as Jess clearly berated Jane and pointed at me a couple of times. After an hour, they both got up and left, with Jane studiously ignoring me, while Jess gave me a big smile and a wave.

I waved back, and she mouthed, “See you later.”

I sat at the bar and ordered some tapas for dinner and enjoyed my beer. It was a lovely night, so I moved to the balcony and watched the sun go down. Not long after I heard two whispered voices in a heated debate, then Jess flopped into the seat opposite me. I looked at her but didn’t turn round to see if Jane was still in the doorway behind me.

Jess then spoke to someone, who was obviously behind me, and said, “You have dreamed of this for years, I will never forgive you if you don’t take this opportunity.”

The words were strange, but I chose to wait, and take my lead from Jess. She looked at me, and I turned to see Jane standing behind me, her face racked with different emotions. I looked at her with a bit of a frown, and said, “Jane, I hope you don’t think I have an issue with you over your nephew’s actions. If you have an issue with me, come and tell me. You owe me that, even just as the casual friends that we are.”

She blushed, she smiled, she frowned, she bubbled, and then she virtually danced to the table. It was strange, exciting, and, to be honest, a massive ego boost, as she was clearly so pleased to see me.

Her first action shocked me. She sat beside me, slapped me hard on the face, and said, “That is for shouting at my sister.” She then leaned in and kissed me on the same cheek and said, “That is to say sorry for my nephew’s actions and to make your cheek better.”

I just smiled and said, “You know you will pay for that later.” To which Jess laughed and said “That is what she is hoping for but is too shy to tell you!.” I turned around and called the waiter over and said, “What would you two lovely ladies like to drink?”

Jess replied, “Glass of rosé for me, and Jane, regardless of what she says, wants the same.”

I turned to the waiter and said, “Bottle of rosé and three glasses.”

Jess sat very quietly, and I started talking to Jane about their holiday plans, how long they would be there. She asked me about what I was doing here, etc. Just general conversation that just kept the night flowing.

Eventually, it was getting late and the waiter wanted to close the bar. I guessed Jane did not want to leave and Jess made no effort to move, so I ordered another bottle and said, “My room is a suite, why not come up and we can sit on the balcony and drink this?”

Jess was pleased, but you would have thought Jane had won the lottery, with a big smile and a deep blush.

Jess told Jane to go and get some fresh glasses, when Jess leaned in.

“You don’t know this, but she really does love you for how nice you are to her. She was bullied at university and had no boyfriends, and she longed to go home to see you. She knows you are married, and she will be single because of it. Keep treating her like a princess, but please, also treat her like a little slut occasionally; she is a virgin, but she wants you to act like she is a sexy woman, not that little, timid girl you have known for years.”

I smiled, and said, “I will find treating her like a slut difficult. I love her to death, but she is young enough to be my daughter. I will play some games with her, to push her, and make her realise she is actually a very attractive and sexy young lady.”

Jess smiled, just as Jane came back and said, “The look on her face says I should be worried.” Jess looked at Jane and laughed. “I think you would really like to be in that much trouble, wouldn’t you, girlfriend

Jane bit her lip, but smiled.

We walked up to my room with the new bottle and sat down. Everyone was silent, until Jane leaned into me. I put my arm around her and kissed her on the top of the head. Her body just melted into mine, and I heard a small sigh escape her lips.

Jess looked over and said, “Jane, I’m sorry I have broken one of our most secret trusts, but I told him. I told him that you love him”

Jane bounced up and looked at me with panic in her eyes.

Jess continued, “Don’t worry, Jane. I can see he loves you; he thinks he’s too old to do anything about it, and you are too shy to say. Someone needed to kick start this, and I am the only one here. Please forgive me, but I had to do it!”

Jane sat stock still looking at me. She was too scared to move. She spoke so quietly, I struggled to hear, but she said, “Did you tell him everything?”

Jess laughed, and said, “No, I just oiled the wheel, everything is turning now. It’s up to you how far you take it.”

I put my arm out, and Jane lay into me, but was a bit stiff. I kissed her on the top of her head again, and she relaxed a little, but not as much as before.

She then spoke, “You don’t remember the first time we met. Your wife had just had your first child and I had just turned fourteen. You were in the shopping centre and your wife stopped to talk to my mum. You didn’t even see me, but I watched how you touched your wife’s arm, made sure she was okay, then checked the baby. And I just knew you were a kind person, and I knew I wanted someone as kind and caring as you.

“Then I started working in the shop, and you always were kind, when so many others were rude, or just ignored me. I spent my whole time at university telling Jess the love of my life was at home. She finally got it out of me, and when we walked in here today, and I saw you at the bar, she said to me, ‘That’s him, isn’t it’. I have never had a boyfriend because no one was like you. I know I can’t have you, but be good to me this week, and I will be happy for the rest of my life having one week with you.”