Anna and I let the married couple go before us, and once they had been sorted out with a room, and were heading to one of the lifts, we then stood in front of the receptionist. We handed over our passports and she asked if we were together, I looked at Anna. "Are we together". I asked, then looking at the girl behind the desk said."We are, but only as friends". she smiled. "I understand". she said. "I will give you rooms 301 and 302 on the third floor". she then looked at her watch. "Sir, madam, dinner has already started, so if you could take your cases to your rooms and head up to the top floor to the dining area where dinner is now being served". She then slid two sets of keys across the desk and we thanked her, then headed for one of the two lifts side by side, luckily we decided to take the right hand lift, and when the lift doors opened, we found ourselves opposite room 302. "You take that room, Anna". I said. "I will take 301". As I watched her put the key into the lock and opened the door, I said: "meet you at the lift in ten minutes".
In my own room, I put my case on the bed, had a wash then putting on a bit of deodorant and running a comb through my hair, I was ready for dinner. Looking at my watch, I still had five minutes to go, so went out onto my own little balcony. The hotel front faced the creek, and as I looked down, I could see the old boathouse. My brain was going into overdrive, and I was remembering my youth. It was at that moment I felt a tap on my shoulder, turning round I was looking into the smiling face and sparkling green eyes of Anna. "Where did you spring from". I asked. "We have a connecting door". she said, holding up a key. "The problem we have, is who should have the key. "You keep it". I said. "And if we do have a situation whereby I have to come to your room, I will knock the door". "And what if I need to come to your room". Anna said, "Well you have the key, so all you have to do is unlock the door and come in". We looked at each other and finally agreed, that we would leave the connecting door unlocked whilst we were in our rooms, and lock the door when we were out. I then asked Anna if she was ready for dinner and as she nodded her head, we then headed for the top floor.
The dining room was beautiful, we found a table near the window overlooking the creek and sat down, there were very few residents, in fact, I didn't count more than a couple of dozen people in the room eating. I asked Anna if she fancied a bottle of wine with her dinner, saying "Red, white or rosa". "I'm not a wine buff, so I'll let you choose". she said. I ordered a bottle of the rosa, then went through the usual routine, smell, look and taste, and to be honest, it wasn't too bad, I gave the wine waiter the nod, he filled Anna's glass then mine leaving the bottle on the table.
The meal was very good, clear chicken soup to start, as I looked down at my soup bowl, I picked up my wine glass and to Anna said. "Heres to 14 days of bliss, with, I might add, the prettiest girl on the Island". Anna picked up her glass and we clinked glasses and drank. "Not bad". I said looking at Anna. "I agree, I could happily get used to this". she said. The food was good, the main course was a meat pie with mixed veg and potatoes, followed by ice cream and coffee.
During the meal, I told Anna my own life story, a wife who hated my naval career, was so lazy, every time I came home on leave, her mother was there making sure my home was fit to come home to, and when I told Anna about coming home and finding the wife in bed with two sailors, both making love to her at the same time, and two more sailors sat in my lounge awaiting there turn, the tears were rolling down her cheeks. I then told her about the wicked witch of the north, who married me so that she had a regular meal ticket, who demanded that when we made love, I had to wear protection, even on our wedding night, she had her quota of kids and had no wish to have my muck sloshing about inside her.
Anna and I had been talking for ages, and at this stage, she was clasping my hand in hers across the table. and I felt it was so nice to be talking to someone who seemed to know what I was talking about, and knew what I had been through, having had problems herself.
As we left the dining room and made our way back to our own rooms, we were still holding hands, as we made to part company, I realised that Anna was like a little girl lost at this precise moment in time, and I had no idea of what to do, except take her in my arms and give her a big hug. As I did so, she came into my arms willingly and we held each other for some time, as we separated I did something I have never done in my life before, I kissed her on the forehead. We went to our own rooms, I put my clothes away, had a nice shower and climbed into bed.
Chapter Two Wednesday
I woke with a start, someone was shaking me, I opened my eyes just enough to see Anna at the side of the bed, but I was still in the process of waking up from a fantastic dream I had been having. What happened next, was way out of character for me, I said. "Hello my darling". and pulled her towards me, she came into my arms, the kiss was warm and tender and I am happy to say was returned. As Anna lay alongside me she said. "What was that for, but don't stop, I love it". As she snuggled in on the bed to get more comfortable, she said. "I just love this bed, its a lot more comfortable than mine, and it's bigger". I moved over to give her room to settle in closer, as she pressed her mouth to mine she said. "Mmm this is nice, I haven't been kissed or held like this in a long time, as we lay with our arms around each other, Anna again closed the gap between our mouths, and again we kissed. "Yes". she said. "I was right, you kissed me like a woman wants to be kissed by a man, I had to be sure, the first time you kissed me, you were half asleep, now that you are fully awake, The kiss had not changed in any way, I love it". "Are you ready for breakfast". I asked. "I have been ready for ages". Anna said. I climbed out of bed and headed for the small bathroom, after a wash and shave and the cleaning of teeth I was ready to get dressed. Anna was still sat on the bed, I looked at her and said. "Right go to your room, grab a jacket and your handbag, and I will meet you at the lift". Anna went back to her room via the connecting door, as she closed it I heard the key turn in the lock. 10 minutes later I was stood locking the door to my room and Anna was stood by the lift waiting for me, she looked fantastic, she was wearing a button down dress in green and white a pair of low heeled shoes, and over her left arm she was carrying a white woollen jacket with a zip at the front and a hood, and in her hand, she was carrying a light brown handbag, that could also go over the shoulder if needed. I pressed the lift button and withing a few minutes we were walking into the dining room. We sat at the same table as before, and had a breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, followed by toast and marmalade and coffee. As we ate, Anna had this silly grin on her face every time she looked in my direction. "What's going on". I asked. "Your grinning like a Chesher cat". "Sorry Mike". she said. "But you sort of took my breath away when I came into your room to wake you up". "Did I step out of line". I asked. "if I did, then I am most terribly sorry, it's just, well I was having a great dream about you, that, well when you woke me, I was half awake, but still enjoying the dream". "Tell me Michael". Anna asked. "What was you dream about". I looked at Anna across the table. "I don't know if I should tell you, it's a little embarrassing". "Go on Mike tell me your dream, your fantasy". "Ok". I said. "But promise not to laugh". "I won't". she said, and as she said it she crossed her heart in a gesture of her sincerity. "Well". I said. "you know last night when we said good night". "I do". she said. "You held me in your arms and kissed me on the forehead". "I did, didn't I, well in my dream, I did all of that, but then I picked you up in my arms and took you to my room. We didn't do anything, I just wanted to protect you, to keep you safe. So this morning when I woke up, I was still in the middle of my dream and when I saw you, I again wanted to protect you and keep you safe". Anna held my hand across the table. "Michael that is so romantic, trouble is I had a dream about you last night, but in my dream, we did make love, and you were wonderful".
We were still holding hands as we left our room keys at the reception desk, as we walked out of the hotel into a clear blue sky and warm sunshine, Anna asked me where we were heading. "Have you ever been to Malta". I asked. "No". Anna replied. "The last time I went abroad, was on my honeymoon, but I had no idea where we went to, he did all the planning for that, and to be honest, when we went out, he did all the talking. The honeymoon only lasted a couple of days, then it was back to being a skivvy". "Right". I said. "Well today, we will be using public transport, but tomorrow we will have the use of a hire car so that we can explore to our heart's content". Anna squeezed my hand as we stood at the bus stop. "That sounds wonderful". she said.
The bus arrived, it was a real bone shaker, but we found two seats and sat down. The ride into Valletta took about 15 minutes, and once there, I took Anna to my favourite open air cafe, if it was still there. As we made our way along the main street of Malta's capital, we were being pushed this way and that, but with Anna still clasping my hand, we finally made it into Victoria Square with minor bruising. As we walked into the square everything was as I remembered it, nothing had changed, from the 50s and my naval visits, life was still as I remembered it. We sat at an empty table and I asked Anna if she liked cheese. "I love cheese". she replied, so as soon as the waiter came up to our table, in black jacket and trousers and black dicky bow with the white napkin over his arm, I ordered two cheesecakes and two white coffee's. When our order came, I sat and watched Anna's face as she bit into her very first cheesecake, and as the puff pastry melted in her mouth, she looked at me. "These are wonderful, what cheese is this". "I don't really know". I said. "but they really do have a taste of there own". We sat at the table making small talk for a long time, our hands touching across the table, then I felt Anna's soft fingers stroking my own, her fingers were taking each of my own and stroking each one as if she was trying to say something, I looked into her face, her eyes, she seemed to be crying out for something, I sensed she wanted more than friendship, her eyes were saying, I like you a lot, your kind and gentle and I want to take this friendship, to the next level, whatever that might be.
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