Chapter 14
The wind blew and Buffy grabbed the hand offered to her as she walked up the wharf steps on Barney’s Bit. The crossing to the Island had been like glass, smooth and relaxing.
She felt wonderful, she’d had a fantastic nights sleep, a great breakfast, William was right, the air did do wonders for her appetite, she managed to eat a bowl of cornflakes, two rashers, two sausages, a grilled tomato and an egg and a slice of toast – plus extra toast and marmalade! A tall orange juice and a cup of tea rounded it off, and she hoped to do some walking today to help keep the pounds she was going to put on at bay!!
“You sure you didn’t mind me bringing this?” William asked indicating his sketch book
They were sitting in the grounds of the ruined castle, Buffy was lying down in the hot sun, William was sketching.
“Of course not!” She propped herself up on her elbows and nodded her head so her sunglasses fell into place.
William was sketching the castle, but he’d also done a view of the lighthouse too.
He put the sketch pad down, and lay on his side, head propped up looking at her.
“There are some lovely views around here!” Buffy said.
“I know, I’m looking at the best one!” William said boldly, and Buffy blushed, she leant forward and kissed him softly.
“You say the sweetest things!”
William was very aware of what the kiss did to him, but he was also aware that there were a lot of people around, children too.
“It’s true” he said quietly, and then added,
“I’ve drawn you, you know!”
“Have you – let me look!”
“Oh, not here…at the gallery. When you eat your lunch – it was where I first noticed you. When I’m there, I, well, I used to live for your lunch time. I used to clock watch, couldn’t wait until ten past twelve.” Buffy turned on her side, mirroring his position, smiling at him.
“Go on!”
“I used to pray nobody would sit by you, or be with you…one day this big continental coach blocked the way, I went out…made a right idiot of myself – but you were gone when it left, it was only a few minutes, but I felt cheated!”
“Cheated?” Buffy asked still smiling, she looked into his face, he had THE most amazing blue eyes, long dark lashes, soft lips…
“Yeah – it robbed me of the last few minutes of seeing you…”
“Oh William!” She cupped his cheek. He really did say the sweetest things, and she could feel herself falling for him. It was amazing, but she felt like she’d known him ages, not just a brief meeting a few weeks back anyway!
William lay down properly, and let the sun hit his face.
“Golly, it’s as hot as LA here!”
“Hotter I think………can we go to the monkey house after lunch?”
“Sure we can – you hungry, what time is it?”
“It’s only 11.35, let’s stay here a while, do some more sketching, we can lunch in an hour, okay?” Buffy said
“Fine by me love!”
ooOOoo
“Hello Cordy, what can I do for you?” Angel answered his mobile
“Hi, look, my dad’s friend has got a plane, he said he’s going to New York on the 16th of this month, he’ll take us if you want, I know it’s a day or two early, but I thought it would save having to buy flight tickets, all it will cost is insurance, that’s $40 a piece, what do you say?”
“Really – Well that’s great Cordy, thanks babe”
“Okay, I’ll tell him”
“Thanks Cordy, I do appreciate it”
She ended the call. Smiling that he hadn’t got to fork out hundreds of dollars for flights back to New York, one word suddenly hit Angel………’Insurance’…………………………
ooOOoo
Buffy was giggling uncontrollably at the monkey’s antics.
“Look at that one, there, he’s hysterical, keeps showing me his butt!”
“See that one over there” William pointed one out sitting at a table pouring ‘tea’ from a teapot
“The one at the table yeah!”
“Don’t you think he looks like Xander when he’s concentrating?” William said laughing
“Oh my God he does – he does!” Buffy leant against the wall she was weak from laughing.
William was reading how the sanctuary came to have the monkeys, they were used in adverts on TV for tea, they originally came from a zoo that had since closed. Splitting the monkeys up to go to different places had them pining and misbehaving, so as not to split the troupe up, they came here in 1990.
As they were watching them, a monk entered the cage with a bowl full of prepared fruit, and the one that had made Buffy laugh immediately bounded over to him for a cuddle.
“Aww look, isn’t that sweet!”
The monk bent down and picked up the washing-up bowl of prepared fruit and offered it to him. The monkey took a banana and some pineapple and quickly climbed along the cage roof and off. Soon all the others came around the table where the monk tipped the contents of the bowl. They shrieked and ‘chattered’ like children, squabbling over the choicest pieces and the monk smiled as he left the cage.
William continued to read the info on the monkeys and showed it to Buffy.
“See this, it says here that the supermarkets on the mainland send them all the unsold fruit, cakes, sandwiches and bread to help keep the costs down, but the eight monkeys get through roughly 20lb of fruit and veg, four loaves of toast and treats such as cake every day!”
“Wow – but that’s good of the supermarkets! I shall leave them a donation before I go, they’ve given me a great laugh and they’re so cute!” Buffy said as they left.
“Right, butterfly house next, it’s………yes, this way” They checked at the fingerpost and made their way down to what looked like a huge glass green house. It was very humid inside; that was because most of the butterflies, insects and moths were tropical and needed tropical plants to survive, hence the temperature to recreate the jungle. They saw the most beautiful of butterflies, the colours were amazing, huge as dinner plates some of them, and stick insects that you had to look really hard to see, and praying mantis that looked like the succulent leaves of a cactus!
As they walked around, Buffy’s hand kept bumping against William’s, and the third time it happened, Buffy felt warm fingers close around hers
“Is that alright?” William asked tentatively
“It’s fine!” Buffy said, giving his fingers a little squeeze.
They walked around and then decided to go for lunch.
“Inside or out?” William asked
“Let’s sit outside, but under one of those big umbrellas, give us a little shade”
“I seem to have done little but eat and drink since I got here!” Buffy said, eyeing the huge filled baguette that the waitress put in front of her.
“Hmm, but yum, that looks good!”
Buffy had chosen chicken tikka and salad for her filling, William had chosen poached salmon with lime mayo.
ooOOoo
“Cordy, it’s me sorry to trouble you, have you got the gallery agreement for the exhibition, I need to check something”
“Er yes, it’s filed you want the original copy?”
“No, just a photocopy will do, when your ready, please” Angel said
Cordy was quite surprised at Angel being ‘nice’…’sorry to trouble you’, ‘please’ – when did Angel last say please to anybody?
“Er okay two minutes” She said
Two minutes later she appeared with the copy of the agreement.
“Here you go!” She turned to go and Angel said,
“Um Cord, Cordy, would you do me a favour?”
She quirked a brow and Angel continued,
“Can I borrow your car – please?”
“My car – why, what’s wrong with yours?”
“Nothing! It just, well it’s a bit of a gas-guzzler…and um, I want to go out of town, to see a friend…you know, tightening belts and that!” he gave her a weak smile
“Sure, okay…but how do *I* get home then?”
“You can take the viper of course, fair’s fair – although DO be careful with it, don’t wrap it around a tree or anything. When I get back from, um my trip, I’ll drop it at your place and pick my car up, deal?!”
Cordelia’s eyes were round from Angel saying she could drive his car. He was definitely up to something, but as to what, she hadn’t a clue.
“Cordy…well can I?”
“Huh – oh yes, um, sure, I’ll just get you the keys – there’s about half a tank of gas in it”
“Great, I’ll make sure you have half a tank when I bring it back”
Cordy went back upstairs to her office to get the keys, wondering just what Angel was up to.
Angel smiled and then a thought hit him, he needed a good cover story to tell Cordy…
“Here you go” She handed Angel the keys to her red Chrysler Cirrus LXI.
“Thanks love. I thought I’d better take a trip to see my accountant, see what assets I can sell if I need to raise some cash”
Cordelia nodded.
“Your keys?” She asked
“Oh, sorry, here you go!” he dipped into his pocket and handed her the keys. He also picked up the Spa pass intended for Buffy.
“Know somebody who’d use this – they don’t do refunds apparently”
Cordelia would have it for herself, despite telling him she didn’t want Buffy’s cast offs.
“You may as well take the rest of the day off”
Cordelia mouth fell open, but she quickly recovered – was she suddenly in Bizzarro World? Had aliens come down and taken the grumpy Angel and replaced him?
“You might as well” Angel continued
“But I thought you wanted me to find another venue for when the exhibition finished here in LA?”
“Well…nothing is going anywhere before tomorrow is it…you go and enjoy yourself”
Cordelia smiled a real genuine smile, she said ‘thanks’ and went,
It was only when Cordelia was lying on a massage bed, wrapped in a thermal cover having a Dead Sea Mineral Mud treatment, that she remembered Angel’s accountant was on holiday in Antigua, and wouldn’t be back until the end of the month…so just what was he REALLY up to?
ooOOoo
“You know what I’d really like to do tonight?” Buffy said
“What’s that?”
“Oh, first did you have plans?”
“No, go on!” William said smiling
“Well, I want to try fish and chips, outside – am I crazy? – I remember mom telling me this, coz she and my dad came to England for their honeymoon, they went to London, Oxford and a place called Breighton – have you heard of it, it’s by the sea somewhere?” William smiled, nodded and said yes, he’d heard of it, Buffy continued
“And she told me that they’d spent their money allowance for the day, well nearly all, and just had enough for fish and chips and they sat on the prom and ate them and she said it was the best meal she had, so could we do that, if you haven’t anything else to do?!”
William was grinning now, and he said,
“Of course we can, if that’s what you want. Are you…um, are you staying the extra two days?”
“Heck yes! Try keeping me away – besides which, there’s still SO much more I want to see down here – and you promised to show me the bay from your cottage don’t forget!”
“I haven’t forgotten!” William had butterflies in his stomach!! He reckoned he felt so excited they must have been the size of the ones he’d just seen in the butterfly house!
“Good…boy that was yummy…(she dabbed her mouth with her serviette). Oh and I want to go to that cider place you said, and have a Devon cream tea somewhere too…and listen to me, nothing will fit me when I get home – huh I don’t know about when I get home, nothing will fit me here the way I’m going, and I bought a lovely bikini in London too!”
The thought of seeing Buffy in a bikini had William suddenly crossing his legs and sitting forward…
“Tell you what…as you’re staying at least another two days, if it’s nice tomorrow, how about we have a day at the beach, not the resort one, the one at Thurlescoombe, renown for its surfing and soft golden sands, miles of it”
William suggested.
“Great. Got a Frisbee? I can get one, do some exercise!”
William laughed and said he was sure he’d seen one in a box at the cottage.
“Great! Right, lets go for a sunbathe and you can do some more sketching…what time have we got to be back on the boat?”
“Um…’bout two and half hours”
“Oh good, plenty of time to look at the Abbey too, shall we go?” William was up out of his chair in a trice. He picked up his sketch pad and Buffy reached for his hand. They left the tea-room and took a leisurely walk down to the Abbey hand in hand.
ooOOoo
Angel frowned as he tried to get past all the gobbledegook in the small print of the agreement he’d signed with the gallery to put on the exhibition.
From what he could make out from all the ‘herefor to’s and why where after’s, he could make out that his exhibits were covered up to 100 million dollars. That would do nicely Angel thought, and went onto read, the insurance would be paid out on theft (as long as burglar alarms had been set and there was adequate security) Fire, (as long as the latest fire certificates issued by the fire department were up to date, and there were no fire doors blocked, locked or in any way de-commissioned) flood or other ‘act of god’ such a s a tree falling on the place etc.
“Right then, that’ll do for me” Angel said to himself and stood, picking up Cordelia’s car keys. He needed to drive out to where nobody would know him.
oOo
“Two dozen?” The assistant said
“Um, uh huh” Angel said, his baseball cap pulled well down.
The assistant came back with the two dozen halogen lamps requested, and started to ring them up on the cash register.
“You DO know not to use them by anything flammable, don’t you?”
“Er yeah”
“They give off a lot of heat you know”
“Hmm, yeah I know” Angel mumbled
“There you go, 24 x $2.50 is $60”
Angel handed over the cash and took the carrier sack of lamp bulbs. All he had to do now, was swap them for the low-energy lamps that were used in the gallery and he was laughing. The resultant fire would not only destroy his work, but the lamps too as regards evidence, the insurance would pay out and he’d be back in clover………
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