Sail Away by Celia Imrie

Author:Celia Imrie [Celia Imrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781408883211
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2018-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

12

When Amanda joined the queue for tea, outside the ballroom, she was fifteen minutes late. However, she managed to find a table for two quite near the dance floor.

She felt utterly puffed and befuddled, having spent the whole afternoon writing out then typing her letter which was then printed in the office. She signed the authority with one of the ship’s senior officers as a witness, and they had scanned it and emailed it to her son.

In London now it was after five, so Mark may or may not have managed to get the keys to her flat. She had no idea. But she had done everything she could.

The waiters hovered, proffering silver trays laden with sandwiches, and pots of tea. Amanda smiled and indicated that she was waiting for someone.

A small dance band was onstage, playing the usual standard strict-tempo tunes. Amanda recognised the ship’s male escorts with whom she had previously danced. When they approached, she shook her head. How wonderful that she could do this. Today she was waiting for a real-life gentleman to whisk her off her feet.

She waited for a while, trying not to look desperate while leaning out to make sure he didn’t miss her when he came through the door.

She glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes late. And back in England, Mark, she hoped, would have the keys by now, and be on the way to Aardvark with a lorry to salvage her furniture from another extortionate day of storage.

After a while, the sandwich trays thinned out and more platters appeared, bearing scones and cakes. But no sight of the man whose name she had still not yet managed to discover.

Amanda had a sudden fear. What if there was another room where tea was served? She scrabbled around in her handbag and pulled out her Daily Programme. She pored over the small print looking for the words ‘Afternoon Tea’. She felt cross when she realised that she had not only forgotten to attend the class this morning, given by that actress Suzy Marshall, but had also missed the talk this afternoon on Oscar Wilde.

Amanda put the Programme away, and suddenly saw her date. He was sitting at another table, on the other side of the dance floor, next to a group of teenage boys who were laughing loudly.

She waved. He noticed her and threw up his arms in a gesture which said: ‘Oh dear!’

He then signalled that he would come to her and Amanda nodded in the direction of a pair of hovering waiters, one bearing a tray with a scant selection of sandwiches, the other scones with jam and cream pots.

As her date pulled out his seat, apologising, he indicated to one of the waiters to give him a scone, and cream.

‘I knew this would happen,’ he said. It was the first time Amanda had noticed that he had a slightly strange accent. Nothing you could pin a locality upon, but his English was almost too perfect and untouched, rather as though he had learned the language, rather than picking it up as a native child.

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