She moves through the fair

You know I was never sure if Sis planned it all; I asked her few times but she’d never give me a straight answer.

Okay, so you’re wondering what I’m babbling on about?

Well it was about three months after my girlfriend of two years had suddenly decided that I wasn’t karmically suited to her and that we should re-evaluate our relationship. I wasn’t sure exactly what the hell she was talking about, well not until her I saw her fawning over the guy in the Porsche Boxster about a week after she’d told me.

I think I could be forgiven for being in a shitty mood but apparently my sister didn’t agree though, she came round to the flat on the Saturday morning; let herself in with the spare key and sticking her head around the door of my bedroom told me to get my arse out of bed and stop feeling sorry for myself.
I told her to piss off but as usual she ignored me, banging around in the kitchen until I gave up trying to hide my head under the pillow, got showered and dressed.

Sitting staring at the breakfast she’d cooked me she told me that we’re going out and we’re going to have fun. I told her what she could do with her fun but half an hour later I’m sitting in the passenger seat of her clapped out mini listening to her telling me that I was too good for Angela anyway. I pointed out that according to Angela I wasn’t good enough. But she ignored me. I gave up sat back and tried to nick a few minutes of sleep while she droned on.

She wouldn’t tell me where we were going but I was sincerely hoping there would be a pub there – beer is good. She nudged me about half an hour later and I opened my eyes. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but a village fair wasn’t on the short-list.

I had a few choice words to say to her on the subject and told her I was staying in the car until she either drove me home or to the nearest pub. She gave me that look; you know the one, the one only big sister’s can give you. After about a minute I gave up and let her drag he to the fair.

I was, to put it politely, unimpressed I didn’t want to watch a Punch and Judy show or throw some balls at an unoffending coconut nor did I want my palm read and I certainly wasn’t inflicting the forlorn looking donkey, who had never done me any harm, with my bulk on his back. And the very idea of sitting down to a ‘nice pot of tea’ and a home-bake actually made me cringe. Oh yes, I was having sooo much fun.

Then I saw her. She passed across the gap between two of the stalls; I only caught a fleeting glimpse and she was gone so quickly that I wasn’t even sure that I hadn’t imagined her. Sis’ was gabbling on about something or other but I moved around the stalls and left her talking to herself.
I hadn’t imagined her; she was walking along the stalls in an almost dreamy way, her plain white summer dress swishing slightly, her red hair falling between her shoulders seemed to glow in the sunlight. Mesmerised I started to follow her – okay I know that sounds a little creepy but I was in a fragile state and I wasn’t going up to a complete stranger to declare my interest but then I wasn’t about to let her disappear on me either.

She would stop now and again at the different sales stalls and look over their wares but she never bought anything; just looked then moved onto the next stall. I edged a bit closer hoping to catch her voice. But when she suddenly turned around and came back to the home-made jewellery stall I just about walked right into her. I stammered an inane apology but she seemed totally unconcerned and gave me a smile…

I wanted to speak to her but she had already turned back to the stall and my courage fled so I made some pretence of looking over the items on display. I heard her ask the stall-holder about a silver pendant; it was a beautifully crafted piece; a Celtic knot of intricately wound filigree. The stallholder told her it was a very special piece and that he wouldn’t let it go for less than a hundred pounds. She looked at it for a time then shaking her head moved on to the next stall. I gave the stallholder her hundred pounds for the pendant. Don’t ask me what made me do it ‘cause I couldn’t tell you. So there I was standing with this boxed pendant in my hand watching her walk away from me. She walked over to the tea tent and disappeared inside. I looked at the box with the pendant nestled inside then back at the tent. I couldn’t just walk up to her and give her a hundred pound pendant; she’d think I was looney. But even as I was thinking that my feet were carrying me toward the tent. I stopped at the entrance searching the tables… She was there, over in the far corner sitting with her pot of tea and her plate of homebakes. My feet, still deciding not to wait for conformation from my brain wove me through the other tables to her one then decided that they’d done enough. She looked up at me and gave me another smile. To my very great surprise I asked if I could join her and to my even greater surprise she said yes. We introduced ourselves; her name was Annabel, and then we talked.

I can’t remember how long we sat there talking but at some point we started getting funny looks from the W.I. ladies who were ‘marshalling the tent’ so I asked her if she wanted to walk around the fair with me. She told me she thought I’d never ask. We stood up to leave and were almost out of the tent when one of the ‘marshalls’ came running up to me with the box. I told her it wasn’t mine but Annabel’s. She looked at me with a suspicious smile but took the box opening it carefully. The look on her face when she saw the pendant – well I can’t really put it into words; there was surprise, happiness… like I said.
She asked if I’d really bought it for her and I told her truthfully that I had. She kissed me on the cheek and told me I was the strangest man she’d ever met then asked me to put it on for her. It felt like… when she lifted her red hair to let me clasp it – it felt almost like putting a ring on her finger…

It only made her look all the more beautiful. I told her so and she laughed, telling me that she was going to have to seriously watch me. We spent the day arm in arm walking around and around the fair and when the dance started that evening we danced until the band leader told me no so politely to sod off because they wanted a few beers before the pub closed. I walked her back to her car but didn’t want to let her hand go; it felt as if doing so would break the spell she’d cast over me. I think she felt the same because she didn’t let go of my hand either. We stood staring at each other in silence. Over her shoulder, two rows back I saw Sis standing next to her mini and even in the dark I knew she was grinning. I told Annabel that I wanted to see her again, that I needed to see her again. She stepped into me and pressed her lips against mine and then whispered in my ear that I wasn’t ever going to get rid of her. We agreed to meet the next day and after some more very pleasurable kissing we parted.

Sis didn’t say anything as she drove me home; but her silence said more than most people’s whole conversations.

I guess you’re wondering if I did see Annabel again. Of course I did! No-one ever accused me of being the sharpest tool in the box but I’m not a bloody idiot!

Oh, so you want to know what happened?
Well lots more kissing, laughing and dancing of course. I never put a ring on her finger but every day for the last twenty five years I have clasped her pendant around her neck and I fully intend to go on doing so for the next twenty five oh and there’s going to be a lot more kissing laughing and dancing!