The Red dress Chapter six

 
     Lisa brushed her hair in front of the mirror and, not satisfied with her reflection, changed her clothes yet again. She must have repacked her case a dozen times since Alan had rung. She knew it shouldn’t matter, but she wanted to look her best when she met him at the hotel.
 
     She had been in a state of total confusion since he'd rung her from Gourock, and she was annoyed with herself for caring about what he thought when he saw her. How could someone you had met only once in your life have such an effect?  He was more or less engaged to someone else, and so was she. The whole thing was madness. Lisa tried to think of Nick getting ready for her arrival in The Isle of Man the next day, and felt guilty yet again.
 
     She knew that she shouldn't be going out at all, especially when she remembered the conversation she’d had earlier on in the day with Nick when he had been so excited about her imminent arrival. She just wished she could feel the same way...
 
 

 
     At last Lisa found some white jeans and a navy round necked tee shirt which showed off her tan and complimented her figure perfectly. She repacked her case and snapped the locks shut.
 
      Lisa knew her mother would be cross because she was going out, especially as she was leaving the next day, but she couldn't get out of it now. She had to at least meet up with Alan, especially as he had come such a long way.
 
     She just hoped he was as she remembered. On the night she’d met him, Lisa had been delighted when he'd said he might take her up on her offer and look her up if he visited Scotland before he went back to Art School in the autumn. She never thought he actually would because she hadn't heard from him since. Now he'd actually arrived, she couldn't believe how much she was looking forward to seeing him.
 
     As predicted, her mother was not at all happy with her going out. She had assumed Lisa would want to stay in with the next day's journey in mind, which Lisa had indeed intended to do before she received Alan’s call. She explained as best she could that it couldn't be avoided because Alan was a friend of Vikki's and he had gone to the trouble of looking her up while he was visiting Scotland. Lisa then told her mother that she just wanted to say hello, and then she would be back. Her mother eventually gave in, but only because she had run out of wine, so she gave Lisa twenty pounds and asked her to bring a bottle back. As usual, she told Lisa not to be late.
 
     It was mid August and the sun, although still in the sky, had lost its strength as she walked along the road to the hotel. So much had happened in the last few weeksthat she couldn't believe she was complicating it further by seeing Alan. It was as though she was caught up in some pre-ordained drama, where she was both author and actress, but dependent on an uncertain cast.      
 
     Nick had come to Dunoon the week after she returned from Chelmsford and had proposed to her again within a couple of days. At first she had said no, still thinking that it was all happening too fast, but she eventually gave in believing that she could learn to love Nick as much as he seemed to love her. Even her friends from boarding school had thought that she was mad to say no when she phoned them to ask their advice. Now she was having second thoughts, and didn't know whether she had made the right decision. The problem she had now was she couldn't see a way out. Everyone expected it of her, especially her mother.
 
     Lisa listened to the water lapping on the shore and she crossed over the road to get closer. The sight and sound of the waves usually made her feel calm, but the closer she was getting to the hotel, where she knew Alan would be waiting, the faster her heart was beating. She couldn’t imagine living in the city now that she knew this place. It nurtured her and offered her peace. The calmness of the place filled by people who wanted to be different from the rest reminded her of the Isle of Man, and she suddenly wondered if that had been the deciding factor when she had said yes to Nick. Again she tried to push his image to the back of her mind as she walked along the beach towards the hotel, but the feeling of guilt mounted with every step…
 
      As though trying to change the subject in her mind, Lisa reminded herself not to forget the bottle of wine for her mother, because if she did, it would cause an argument. She was determined not to fall out with her mother because the next day was too important, and she would be the one driving Lisa to the airport. It was almost as though her mother was in love with Nick herself. His gifts of flowers, his many compliments regarding how he now understood where Lisa had got her looks from, and his obvious wealth... all had turned Fiona Collins into one of Nick’s biggest fans. It felt as though, for the first time ever, Lisa had done something to please her mother, and their relationship had improved as a result. No, Lisa had no choice, she couldn’t back out now.
 
 
 
     Lisa looked up at the hotel as she approached it and wondered if Gerry, the owner, had managed to give Alan the bedroom she'd asked for. She'd only ever seen it on the hotel’s website when she’d been looking for somewhere for her parents to stay before they had bought the house, and she had thought about it often since then. The room had been described as the honeymoon suite, and Lisa thought it looked truly beautiful. When she'd asked Gerry if it was free after Alan phoned, he had said it might be, due to a last minute cancellation. Lisa was delighted. At last she might actually see it for real.
 
     She looked through the window and saw Alan sitting in a corner, his face tanned and his hair lighter than she remembered, as though it had been streaked by the sun. She watched him for a moment as he sat waiting for her, and thought he looked lonely, and a little sad. He had a small frown on his forehead under his jagged fringe, and looked one minute at his watch and then next, back to the door. Lisa took a deep breath and went in.
 
 
      Alan looked up as soon as Lisa walked through the door, and he noticed his weren't the only eyes looking at her as she walked across the room. She had a sensuous way of walking which reminded him of a model strutting her stuff. It was as though her body shouted out 'look at me' and everyone did, you just couldn't help it. The minute he saw her, he was tempted to tell her that he hadn’t stopped thinking about her since the moment they'd met, but he didn't. How could he now he knew she was engaged. It was going to be a frustrating evening looking at her across a table, unable to touch her or tell her how he felt, and he wished, yet again, he had never got onto the boat.
 
     When she got to his table, Alan stood up and they embraced like old friends before Lisa sat down beside him, a cheeky smile on her face.
 
     “You don't give people you're visiting much notice, do you?” she teased, her eyes meeting his for a fleeting moment. Alan gave her an apologetic smile and asked her what she wanted to drink.
 
   “I better have an orange juice. Gerry knows that I'm only seventeen,” she replied.
 
     As Lisa watched Alan walking over to the bar, Gerry, who was serving behind it, gave her a cheeky wink and held up his thumb. Lisa turn red with embarrassment when she realised he probably thought the reason for her asking for the honeymoon suite, was for more than her need to satisfy her idle curiosity.
 
     As she waited for Alan to return with the drinks, she felt mortified, and decided not to go near the room at all because she didn’t want to give Gerry the wrong impression. She would just have a couple of drinks and get back as soon as possible. That had to be the most sensible plan.
 
     “You're looking well, Alan. Have you been on holiday?” she asked when he came back to the table. 
 
She couldn't believe how blue his eyes were, like two languid pools of liquid sky, framed by long sun tipped lashes.
 
     “Yes, I went over to Spain to see my girlfriend. She's out there studying at the moment, and I went out to join her for a couple of weeks. It was pretty hot...”      
 
     “And now you're having a second holiday up here?” she asked..
 
     Alan had rehearsed it in his head. He couldn't admit his real reasons for being there, not now. He had thought about it long and hard while he had been waiting for her, and had decided on the story he was going to tell her to explain his sudden visit. It wasn’t the truth, but at least it left his dignity intact.  
 
     “I wanted to get away for a couple of days before I went back to Art school, and I was supposed to research Greek Thompson architecture during the summer. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone because Glasgow has the best examples of his work.”
 
Lisa looked disappointed.
 
     “Is your girlfriend okay about you coming up here on your own?”       
                                                              
Alan looked at her lips as she spoke, trying to suppress the effect they were having on him. He desperately wanted to kiss them.
 
     “I told Carla that I would only be away for a few days, but I don’t think she believes I'm up in Scotland just for the architecture. Do you think she has anything to worry about?” he asked with a teasing smile on his lips.
 
At last…an indication that he'd really wanted to see her. Only a faint one, but enough. Lisa looked back at him and felt guilty again when she remembering where she was going the following day.
 
     “No…why should she?” she asked hesitantly.
 
It was Lisa’s turn to see the disappointment in his eyes, and she wished she hadn’t said what she had. The fact of the matter was yes, Carla did have plenty to worry about. Lisa had just booked her boyfriend into the honeymoon suite of a romantic hotel in Dunoon…
 
 
 
     Lisa finished her orange juice and declined another, remembering she shouldn't even be there, and that her mother was waiting for her to return. She passed Alan the twenty pound note and asked him if he could buy her a bottle of wine to take home, and felt pleased she had thought of a genuine excuse to escape from the hypnotic effect his eyes were having on her.
 
     Again she watched as he walked towards the bar, wishing that she had more time. While they were talking she had been overcome with the desire to throw caution to the wind and kiss him. It was crazy.
 
     Alan returned with not one bottle of wine but two, and gave Lisa the change for her mother’s. She raised her eyebrow questioningly when she saw the other bottle, and asked him what it was for. He couldn't tell her that it was his last ditch attempt to get her on her own because he wanted to talk to her without an audience.
 
     “My room … It doesn’t seem fair that you can't have a glass of something stronger than an orange juice in here. The last time we met, we must have drunk at least a bottle each!”
 
They had, and she remembered her hangover the next day. When they'd met at Vikki's dinner party, they had sat next to each other and talked animatedly all evening. They had been totally oblivious of the other guests who were already paired off. Alan had filled Lisa's glass several times, and she had become more talkative with every sip. It had been such a wonderful evening, and the chemistry between them was obvious to everyone else in the room. Even Vicky had teased her about it after he left.
 
     Lisa looked over to the bar to see if Gerry was there, not wanting him to get the wrong idea if he saw her leaving the bar with Alan and the bottles of wine. He had his back turned so Lisa thought it might be her chance to go without suffering any humiliation.
 
     “Okay, but I can't stay for long, my mother wants me back as soon as possible with the necessary,” she said, holding the bottle of wine up as she spoke. She caught Gerry's eye as he turned round, and he winked at her again before turning to serve another customer. She was now convinced that she knew what he must be thinking, and needing to stall she turned to Alan and asked him if the room she had booked for him was to his liking.
 
     “It's absolutely beautiful, but I don't know how I ended up being given the honeymoon suite. It's far too romantic for a guy on his own!” he replied.
 
 Gerry had turned his back again, so Lisa grabbed Alan's hand and suddenly stood up.
 
     “You better show me then,” she blurted out, half-pulling, half dragging him out of the bar in her desperate attempt not to be seen.
 
     Gerry deliberately didn't turn round until after they left. What he didn't officially know, he couldn't be asked to comment on should Lisa's mother do her usual and phone looking for her daughter…