Past, Present and Passion

The Pub

Kelsey left her a little cottage and made her way downtown, admiring the homes along the way. When she arrived at the Red Lion she laughed a little bit to herself as it seemed there was a Red Lion pub in every town she had ever been to in England. She pulled open the door and went inside. She looked around the dimly lit room, her eyes taking a second to get adjusted. There wasn’t many people inside. It was a bit early for dinner but she didn’t care, she just had to get some food.

There were a couple people sitting at the bar so she thought that might be the best bet. She made her way over to a stool, one that was comfortably far enough away from the next person which was about three stools away. The stool was filled by a gentleman who had his head bet over, very engrossed in his phone. She sat down and looked around and caught the eye of the bartender at the end of the bar. He smiled and walked over, his brown eyes twinkling. Kelsey couldn’t help but smile back.

He was young, probably close to her own age. He had sandy brown hair that sat atop his head like a cloud. Kelsey could tell he was good natured right away.

“Alright? What can I get for you?” His voice actually sounded like a laugh.

“Hello.” Kelsey replied returning his smile and enthusiasm. “I am starving! Do you have any recommendations?”

“Well, you’re a newcomer here I believe, as I’ve never seen you before. So you definitely want to have the fish and chips. Best in town!”

Kelsey nodded. “That sounds excellent and I’ll have a pint of Guinness please.”

“Coming right up!” He turned and made his way to the kitchen.

Kelsey let her eyes wander around the room. The pub was definitely old and a bit worn down but it was quite quaint in it’s own way. The room was dimly lit, with heavy wood furniture and dark colors. Of course, pictures of the Queen and the royal family hung on the walls. It was a very traditional English pub. Her eyes eventually landed again on the man a few seats down from her.

His face was mostly hidden by his beautiful hair. It was black as hair could be, darker than hers even and she thought hers was very dark. It fell around his face long enough to cover his eyes from her sight and softly curled around his ears. She thought that his skin was slightly darker than most of the Englishman she had met.

“Here you are!” She realized she been staring as the bartender plopped her drink down in front of her, giving her quite the startle. She smiled up at him. “Thanks so much.” It had been along time since she had a proper beer from an English pub.

“So where are you from?” the bartender asked. “I’m Nick, by the way.”

“I’m Kelsey. I’m from New York, well that’s where I’m currently living, originally Indiana, in the U.S.”

“Are you here on holiday?”

“No, actually I’m here to work. I work for an antique company. I’m going to be helping someone here sell their estate.”

Nick glanced around and made a strange face. “Interesting.”

Kelsey smiled, “yes it is very interesting, I love my job.”

“Well I gotta run back and grab your food. It should be done. I told him to hurry up since you were starving,” he said with a wink and grin.

“Much appreciated” then she looked down at her beer and smiled. As she looked down, she could feel someone’s eyes on her. She turned and looked up. She was immediately looking into the most strikingly beautiful green eyes she had ever seen. It was literally as if two emeralds were placed in a persons face. As her eyes moved over his perfectly positioned nose, high cheekbones and light scruff she realize she was holding her breath and her face was flushed. She tried to pull her brain together and said “hello”, in barely more than a whisper. She couldn’t even get anything else out. The beautiful man nodded hello.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an hour before she was once again startled by the clanging of some thing landing on the bar in front of her. This time it was her fish and chips. She nearly jumped off the chair but was able to steady herself on the bar.

She thanked him and tried to eat her food but she could feel his eyes on him on her. She wanted to look at him again but she wasn’t sure if she could get herself together enough to do it. Why was she reacting like this?

“How do you like the food?” His voice had a gentle, commanding tone that seemed to sound almost like music. Kelsey turned back towards him, trying to swallow the food she had just put in her mouth. Their eyes met his again and she felt completely off kilter but she managed to say, “it’s quite delicious thank you. I’m Kelsey,” she added.

The man said “yes, I heard you say that to Nick. You’re in town for a job?”

Weird he didn’t offer his name, Kelsey thought. So she simply nodded, “yes, yes I am.”

“Well welcome to town.” He gave her a small half smile and she noticed just how full his lips were.

Nick once again broke her out of her stupor when he slammed his hand down on the bar and said “so I see you’ve met Mr…” “Charles” the man interrupted before Nick could say anything else.

Kelsey glanced at Nick who was looking at Charles questionably.

“Yes, Charles”, Nick said very slowly, still looking strangely at him.

Kelsey said “well I guess now we have formally met, nice to meet you Mr. Charles.”

“Just Charles, just call me Charles.”

“OK Just Charles” she said with a sly smile. She forced herself to take her eyes from his and turn it back to her food. Her heart was racing in a strange way. Something about this gorgeous man was making her uncomfortable in all the best ways.

“When did you arrive?” Charles asked.

Kelsey pushed her long dark hair out of her face. “Literally just an hour ago. My flight landed just a few hours ago. I was so hungry I had to come here first and eat something. I’m staying in the little cottage down the road with the yellow door. I think it’s called Brooklyn house.”

“Yes, I know that one well.”

Kelsey was regretting the fact that she didn’t fix her hair or put make up on. She ran her fingers under her eyes, hoping she didn’t have mascara everywhere. How could she have known she would run into the most beautiful man she had ever seen?

“Do you live here in town?” She asked.

“Yes, my family has a home here. I travel quite a bit for work but I come here when I have down time. Do you know how long you are going to be in town?”

“I think that the initial timeframe is about a month but this type of thing actually depends on how much stuff we have to go through and how long it takes us to find what we’re looking for. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Well I’m sure you will like it here, it’s quite lovely.”

“Oh yes, I already do love it. It’s beautiful here! I’ve been to a lot of villages in the Cotswolds but haven’t been to this one just yet so I’m excited.” Kelsey caught his gaze again before he quickly looked away.

He was quiet for a few moments but seemed as if he was trying to think of something to say. Eventually he said, “So do you work seven days a week or do you get your weekend off? Do you have plans to go and see some other parts of the country? It’s very easy to get around here.”

Somehow Kelsey felt some cheekiness rising up and she looked at him with a flirty smile and said, “Is that you offering to take me somewhere over the weekend?” Oh my God, did she actually just say that to this Greek god of a man? Part of her wanted to die but she held his eyes with a flirty smile because she there was no turning back now!

He looked at her hesitantly but then gave a real smile for the first time and good lord that smile. Kelsey had thought his eyes were amazing before, but watching them twinkle as his smile lit up his face was a different level. His full lips opened up to beautifully perfect white teeth.

Charles gave her a little wink and said “well I guess we’ll have to see about that.”

He turned back to his beer and Kelsey was thankful. She knew she was crazy for being too forward but also I mean can anyone blame me she thought??? Like how do you not flirt with this person?

Kelsey suddenly was very tired and full and pulled some money out of her purse. Her emotions were all over the place. She needed to get home. She waved to Eric who was standing across the bar watching them with a grin. “Thank you so much for dinner, it was delicious. I’ll definitely be back!”

She slipped off the barstool, knowing she had to say something to Charles but as she turned towards him, she saw that he was getting up also. He laid some cash on the bar and said, “thanks Eric, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He turned to her and said, “I thought that maybe I could walk you down to your house. if that’s OK with you.”

Kelsey knew it probably wasn’t OK. She did not know this person. Her brain told her that it was a bad idea but she just couldn’t say no. So she simply nodded and turned towards the door.

Charles pointed out landmarks and interesting parts of the town. Though she could barely hear him over the thumping of her heart. They were standing much closer now than they had been when they were three stools away. She was sure he could hear her heart beating. She did her best to keep conversing. But when his hand brushed hers, electricity shot through her body. She looked at her hand then at him. She knew he felt it too as he was looking at his hand and then met her eyes.

She stammered, trying to say something, anything, but then realized they were at her house. She knew she had to get inside quickly, she did not trust herself with this man.

“Thank you so much for walking me home. It was very nice to meet you. This is me. I should be going., I’m quite tired.”

“Yes, yes of course, just wanted to be sure you got home safely. I’m sure we will see each other again. It’s a small town.” He nodded his head and smiled. Kelsey loved that smile.

She went through the gate and to the door. She opened it and turned to wave one last goodbye before slipping inside. Shutting the door behind her, she leaned against it and took a deep breath. What. Just. Happened?!