Jake and Gill

"On the 'inviting me to other places' theme, Jake, are you doing anything next weekend?" she asked, looking out of the corner of her eyes at the man keeping pace with her, shortening the stride of his long legs to match her shorter ones. She could see him smile at her question, he really was quite cute when he smiled, she thought.

"You've been talking to my grandmother, I assume?" he replied, looking at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"Possibly," she answered, smiling, knowing that Jake probably knew the truth anyway.

"OK, then, in for a penny, in for a pound. How would you like to go hiking and camping with me next weekend, Gill?" his tongue firmly in his cheek as he squeezed her hand slightly. "A bit of hill climbing, but nothing you couldn't cope with."

"I would love to, Jake," she said, squeezing his warm hand back, "I thought you'd never ask!"

Gill laughed, she couldn't keep the gushing joy out of her voice. She hadn't been as giddy about any man as this since she was at college.

'Gosh, what's got into me?' she thought. 'Him, hopefully,' she added to her thoughts naughtily. 'Just one more thing I need to get out of the way. I don't want to rule out friendship, but I really want something a little more than a friend eventually and I need to get just one niggling little doubt out of my mind,' she continued her reasoning. 'I've only got a few seconds before we'll be up with the stragglers, so it has to be now or never.'

"I've never heard of you going out with anyone at work before, er ... do you er ... already have a significant other?"

'Well, that has left the field pretty well open,' she thought and, looking at Jake he was still smiling easily, relaxed and happy looking. 'Jake, Jake Nicholls,' she thought, 'how quickly I have become accustomed to thinking of him by that name instead of John'; it was as if she was learning to know a different person entirely. OK, she already knew he was a nice guy, he always had been, all the time she had known him but he was also very bright and sociable; shy, perhaps, but familiar and comfortable around people he knew well. She wanted to know him better and wanted him to know her well too, isn't that what relationships were all about? No secrets, if he had feelings about someone else, or for a different sexual orientation, she would want to know about it, even if it was only as a friend. Gill certainly didn't want another man like Wayne in her life; one lying, cheating son-of-a-bitch was more than enough for one lifetime.

"There's no significant other," Jake responded with his gentle slow smile, "Or even insignificant other either, for that matter. Anyway, how long have you been talking to my grandmother?" he grinned.

"Long enough," she smiled.

They were just a few feet now from the last dawdlers, Emma and the twins, with Jenny pushing the double buggy and Emma taking the opportunity to have a crafty cigarette while they were walking along.

'This is my last chance to get in the 64 thousand dollar question,' Gill thought, 'it's now or never. Deep breath.'

"Talk among some of the younger girls at work, one or two seem to have been shot down in flames by you after approaching you for a date, and there was a suggestion that you ... er ... didn't like girls. Well, these girls thinking that they were irresistible to men, they wondered if you were, well, ... gay?"

'Damn,' she thought, 'I'm sure if I thought about it longer I could have been a bit more subtle. Will he shoot me down in flames like those silly girls, thinking I'm a heartless bitch without feelings? Shit! I should have waited, I could have still have had a great time with him next weekend even if he does bat for the other side. Just a few strides more and we'll be out of time, and perhaps out of any possible future relationship for us.'

Jake stopped and spun her around by her hand so they were facing one another again. This time Jake kissed Gill, pulling her head gently, inexorably towards him and their lips met, mashed together with a passion which quite took her breath away.

Damn it! That kiss was so much better than nice, it was fantastic! No, even better than that, words just didn't cover it, judging by how fast her heart was racing. She didn't even think about counting, she let go of his hand and reached both arms around his neck and melted into his firm, lean hot body. She was sure his kiss had already lasted longer than her first effort, twenty-something seconds wasn't it? She was up on her tip-toes even though Jake was leaning down into her with bended knees. She was sure her toes were curling and her knees desperately close to giving out entirely. If he was gay, well, okay, she could live with that so long as he kissed her like this and she didn't have to share him with anyone.

"Thirty!" he said as he broke off his kiss with a broad grin on his very warm lips. Gill laughed at his exclamation and Jake joined her with a cheerful chuckle of his own.

"I wasn't actually counting," said the formerly anal banker.

"Neither was I, Gill. I just thought adding a high number would be funny."

"It was funny. A very nice way of answering an awkward question, though."

Jake bent and quickly kissed her again to a count of one-and-a-half, not that he was counting at all.

"Perhaps they are partly right, maybe I really don't like girls," a teasing smile played on those same lips, "What would they say if they knew I would actually prefer a woman to a girl ... and that preference would apply to one woman in particular?"

"They would probably gossip about who that woman was. You know what they are all like at the bank, more often than not the rumour mill gets more attention than the FTSE 100."

"We can always say nothing at all to anyone at the bank about our trip to Derbyshire next weekend and keep everyone guessing for longer," he mused, "I wonder how long we could keep it quiet?"

A wicked thought crossed her mind. Well, she wanted to get out of the predictable groove and so far being adventurous had brought its rewards, two snogs and a gentle kiss in the space of five minutes for the first time in about twenty weeks; and those kisses were among the most enjoyable kisses she had had for more than twelve months, and possibly ever.

"We might find it difficult keeping anything quiet after we have our first baby shower ..." she almost stammered as the thought came out in words.

"Does that mean I need to get some precautions in as soon as possible, then, Gill?" he enquired, still smiling but with an eyebrow raised.

She gave him her version of the one-and-a-half second kiss by way of answer and they started walking again, realising they had fallen some way behind the rest of the group during their exchange, and were back holding hands again.

"I knew you were bright, Jake. You're wasted in that print room; you could work for me in my department, you know."

Jake smiled cherubically, reminiscent of that slim Buddha that Gill recognised from back in the print room. "If I worked for you, how would holding hands like this be interpreted, by your workmates or," he hesitated and smiled even more broadly, "your children?"

They were fast closing in on Jenny, who was fortunately occupied in conversation with Emma, who had finished her cigarette and was presently chewing gum enthusiastically between sentences.

"Point taken." She looked at Jake's smiling face, they both squeezed hands and slowly released their grip, their fingers lingering to their very fingertips until they were walking separately, immediately behind Jenny.

Chapter 3

Gill spent the week at home wearing a haversack full of cans of soup and beans weighing about 24lbs, to get her body used to carrying weights again. She had never been up and down the stairs as often during that week since she'd bought the narrow three storey town house three months ago. She took it easy on the Friday, though, to conserve her energy.

Thus Gill was very relaxed, her face smothered in smiles, when Wayne came over to collect Jenny and Clay on Friday evening. It was the only time she had managed to face her ex- in that cheerful state since the full extent of his infidelity had first come to light. Yes, she felt good. She felt even better when Wayne seemed rather subdued instead of breezing in larger than life as he usually did. Added to that, Jenny and Clay were full of news about Gill's Derbyshire camping with a person they both described as this 'really cool dude', which appeared to piss off Wayne tremendously. This was a really good day for Gill.

Next morning, at just before the crack of dawn, Jake was full of matching smiles as he called to collect her, exactly as he said he would, and quickly stowed Gill's haversack and other gear in the boot of his car alongside his luggage. There was rain in the air in the South of England and the forecast for the Dales was mixed rain, wintery showers and sunshine, but they had all the equipment they needed for a perfect weekend, whatever the weather had in store for them.

They chatted on the journey north in much the same fashion as they had on the phone every evening, usually for about eighty or ninety minutes each time. They seemed to speak about everything and nothing, but each completion of their conversations always left her with a warm glow to go to bed with.

Gill had only risked visiting Jake in the print room once during the week. She popped in an hour early on Tuesday morning and even at that early hour they had soon been disturbed by several early droppers-by. They were all asking advice on a wide range of topics from sport and investments. She was surprised that even the head of foreign market trends had prattled on to Jake about eastern European currency exchange rates, before realising that Gill was also in the room.

"You were right about the extra-marital affair between Sampson and Sheila that I didn't have a clue about," Gill said when they were sitting in the car, the sky still dark around them as they motored northwards. "I called them into the office individually and told them to keep it out of the office, or else. Sampson has been coasting a bit work-wise recently, and he promises that he's going to pull his finger out. As for Sheila, she was mortified that she had been found out and swears she wants to put it behind her and concentrate on fixing her marriage. Apparently, she thinks her husband is having an affair and wanted to get back at him. She and Sampson was only a fling and she wanted to bring it to a close anyway."

"Thinking that two wrongs made a right, was she?"

"Something like that, I think. She's had it out with her husband since and tells me they are going to start counselling in a couple of weeks' time. Are you going to tell me how you knew and no-one else noticed, Mr Nicholls?"

"Trade secret, Ms Moorhouse, Chinese Walls and all that," replied Jake, "Any luck with RadAlloy Industries and Autobit Engineering?"

"Yes, much more interesting, that is," Gill looked at the driver to try to see his response but it was hard to see his reaction clearly in the feint green glow from the instrument panel and the lightening sky behind him in the east.

"I had Tom Stevenson contact RadAlloy, who admitted they were looking for more metal bending capacity in the UK preferably or Western Europe at a pinch. They were delighted to hear we had a potential source in the Midlands. Then Tom called Autobit, who have a lot of experience working with us in the past. Tom fired some loaded questions at his contact there and got him to admit they were preparing to close their Birmingham factory, due to lack of work, within twelve months. They were delighted to allow us to broker a deal for them which is going through now. It could mean a lot more business in the future with RadAlloy."

"Great news, Gill."

"OK, spill the beans. Where did that little tip come from?" Gill asked, laughing, seeing Jake's impassive face, only his lips parting to crack a slight smile, "and I won't take 'trade secrets' as an answer!"

"Tom's quarterly report in January last year stated that Autobit were increasing the number of pressed steel and die-stamped units from the Far East and, with the downturn in trade since, I thought it likely they would have to cut production in the UK rather than cut back on the contracts that they have only just negotiated, bearing in mind the penalty clauses. Then in the press on the Monday before last, RadAlloy announced a huge contract to supply parts for the aero industry and put out a few subtle feelers for any spare capacity, which Tom mentioned in passing in his weekly report I printed a week ago."

"Does that mean you read and remember all the reports you print?"

"Of course, don't you?" he grinned.

"I do, but putting those things together, takes a special talent. You really should be on the bank's management scheme."

"You forget, Gill, I don't actually work for the bank."

"I know, you're a contractor."

"Also, I am perfectly happy where I am," Jake said with his usual smile.

"What about if we start you on a 35k package, rising to 38k once you've covered the basic three-month training?" she offered, "you'd be on 45k within a twelve-month."

"No thanks, couldn't afford the drop in salary, I'd have to make some serious budgetary decisions!"

"You are joking! Aren't you?" she spluttered.

"I don't joke about money," Jake grinned, "Actually, I am not really sure how much I earn at the bank. I know it more than covers my outgoings and that is all that matters."

"If you change your mind, Jake, the offer's on the table," Gill smiled "But I don't want to get into an argument about it and spoil the weekend. So, where exactly are we going?"

"Thought we'd camp in the Peak District and try the foothills of Kinder Scout and see how far we get. The visibility is likely to be poor today with all this low cloud, so it's not worth climbing to the top, but the forecast tomorrow is better and we can try to get to the top of one of the smaller peaks then."

"Sounds like I'll be holding you back."

"Nonsense," he said, "We are going to have fun, it doesn't have to be a slog, we can relax, get comfortably tired and leave all our cares behind us."

"Thank you," Gill said, reaching out with her right hand and finding his left. "I have been looking forward to this all week," she continued, enjoying the comfortable gentle grip of his warm dry hand.

"Me too. Jen and Clay looked like they enjoyed last Sunday, do they want to come out again, perhaps camp out as well at some stage?"

"They did enjoy it, I think, and Clay is definitely up to come out again and soon. Jenny was, well Jenny is going through a phase where she doesn't want to do anything, and was non-committal about camping out. I think she would very much like to stroll out with the toddlers again next month, though."

"We could do that, certainly, in the meantime we could always try the New Forest for a weekend, would she be interested in pony trekking, I wonder?"

"She used to have horse riding lessons when she was younger, but gave it up when she became a terrible teenager about three years early. Clay never showed any interest before, but yes, I think they would both enjoy it."

"What about you?" Jake asked, "Is it something you'd like to try?"

'Gosh!' she thought, a man in her life considering what she wanted to do. This was practically a first. All those years with Wayne, all the time doing what he wanted. She was the one who had to give up enjoyable active weekends like the last one and this one that she had looked forward to all week. Just thinking of all those wasted years made her both sad and angry.

"I have been horse riding before," Gill said, reminiscing, "I enjoyed it when I was a girl. It was only schoolwork that got in the way, after a while, so I stopped. That's one reason why I introduced Jenny and then Clay to it when they were younger, knowing they'd get so much out of it. Clay refused to do it when he was old enough to have a say, thought it was 'cissy', he said. He would change his mind if you were also riding though. So, yes, pony trekking would be quite high on my check list of things to do with the kids."

"I'll look into it on Monday."

"I am surprised you haven't already got the information at your fingertips," Gill teased.

"It is all on my laptop, actually, available dates, costs, contacts, but I didn't bring it with me," Jake grinned.

"We'll sort it out on Monday, then."

Gill smiled and settled back even more comfortably in her seat, closing her eyes, still holding Jake's hand as they bombed up the quiet motorway. Mmmm, barely into the weekend and they were settling on where to go for their third date, she thought. Could this weekend get any better?

***

Gill had to admit defeat soon, she was pretty well pooped. For the last twenty minutes she had simply placed one foot in front of the other like an automaton. She was thirsty but her water bottle was emptied a long time ago and she was sucking a small pebble to keep her saliva going, which made her mouth taste somewhat metallic. Their breakfast, taken three-quarters of the way through their car journey, seemed hours ago. No, it actually was hours ago.

Jake had taken her haversack from her without receiving too much protest. He added it to his load of two tents plus most of the other necessary gear for an overnight camp in what to her looked pretty wild terrain. He was just ahead of her in a relentless march that seemed incongruous to her. How could someone so skinny have the muscles, lung capacity and stamina to carry all that gear and keep going without seeming to break into a sweat?

Although he was ahead of her for this little stretch of path, a narrow steep incline between weather- and water-smoothed rocks, most of the time they had walked companionably side by side. He had been extremely solicitous of the effects of the strenuous climb thus far and had a ready hand when she stumbled. He had noticed when she began to struggle under the weight of her pack and had insisted on taking it from her, saying they were within half an hour of their first stop and lunch. Five minutes ago they were only five minutes away but she had visibly slowed and there was no way they could stop here, there was simply no room. Gill gritted her teeth and gathered the rest of her strength. She could have been home hoovering and ironing but she had done all that Thursday and Friday evening. She would still much rather be here than not, really, honestly, she insisted to herself.

Lungs bursting, they emerged from the narrow passageway between the rocks to a broad expanse of grass, heather and patches of gorse. The sun had been out for twenty minutes since the most recent of several heavy wintery showers and they seemed to have climbed out of the clouds as they appeared to be above the thick layer, while overhead rather more fluffy, less threatening puffballs of cottonwood scudded across the azure sky.

"Oh, Jake," Gill always called him Jake now, even at work, "this is lovely, no, it's absolutely glorious!"

"Worth the climb?" Jake grinned at her.

"Oh, yes, worth every second."

"I'm sorry, Gill, it's my fault I put you through that. I had forgotten quite how challenging a climb this hill was."

"Well, we got here."

"We did."

OK, she thought, he has at last broken into a sweat, it was that warm, but he still had his long-sleeved sweatshirt covering his no-doubt glistening torso.

'Listen to me, woman,' Gill scolded herself. 'Get a grip, Jake is just a friend. One friend kind enough to ask another friend to accompany him for a weekend adventure with no strings attached. No, he wasn't a proper boyfriend ... yet.' They did hold hands earlier but they hadn't kissed today other than a little cheek peck just before dawn when he collected her.