Alice and the Hot Banker Heir

Her family thought she could never do it. Her friends told her she was nuts. Yet here she was going it alone, a girl in a new town starting a new life. It was exhilarating, it felt grown up…and realising she was far away from everything and everyone she knew, it also felt scary. Still, her pillow was soft and warm and so was her blanket and everything was right in the world of Alice Beacham. Transferring to a smaller village meant that no big city traffic could be heard from outside. Indeed, the only sound she could hear when she opened her eyes, was that of rain drops hitting the white pivot window of her bedroom. The warm cherry colour of the walls greeted her hazel eyes as they adjusted to the black clock hanging opposite her king-sized bed.  ‘Figures I’d wake up early.’ She thought with a smile. This was the first day of her new life, away from her old job and her toxic family. Dysfunctional though it was, her previous job at a corporate service provider paid her just enough to mortgage an apartment in Rubyshire a small village in the north of England. At 27 years of age, Alice decided it was high time she stopped spending every penny on travelling and elected to save up for a deposit instead. Being single, having a high-paying job and living with her parents worked out in her favour – financially speaking. So here she was at 29, looking out at the narrow, winding road that led to the small city centre from her own home. Finally. She was lucky indeed to have stumbled upon this place. The buildings, even the apartment blocks, looked like big Victorian houses and Alice was charmed the moment she stepped into the village with her estate agent. The wealthy owner was in a hurry to sell as he was moving away from the country and this was the last property to sell, so negotiating a price was not so difficult. Making her way to her black tiled ensuite bathroom, she ran her hand through her shoulder-length brown locks and switched on the light before picking her electric toothbrush from the mirror unit and putting some toothpaste on it. As she brushed her teeth, the brunette mentally went through the list of errands she had planned for the day. They had to be done as the next day would be the first day at her new job at the bank in York. Yet another milestone she was excited about, but she decided to take one thing at a time and first things, first - she needed to do some shopping. On her way home, she had spotted some shops down the road at the city centre which she knew would have all the basics to get her covered. She had to go down to the local council to get her new address registered, apply for residency parking and to the postal office to redirect her mail to the same. Looking in the mirror, Alice could not help but chuckle. Her fair skin contrasted with her brown eyes, the lack of travel was truly showing. Not that she usually tanned, more like burned during her summer trips to the Mediterranean coasts, but this year she had gained no colour at all! Maybe her friends were right – she was the reincarnation of Snow White. After washing her face, she picked a blue sun dress and black ballerinas before preparing her small, leather backpack with all the paperwork she needed, her keys, MacBook, brolly and phone. She was ready to go but it was still 7 am and not one of the offices would be open, so she decided to go down to the city centre anyway and sit in one of the coffee shops. Getting behind the wheel of her white city car, she turned on the radio and let herself be amused by the radio presenters’ chit-chat between songs, some of which she truly enjoyed but would never sing along, fearing she would break glass by being so tone deaf. Being so early, finding parking was not so problematic and she made a mental note of the nearest building before lasering onto a small café which took over almost the whole ground floor of the arcades. The light drizzle had stopped so she chose to sit outside and order tea and a chocolate croissant. Opening her laptop, she spent some time catching up on her f*******: messages and browsing for furniture and room concept ideas, which was terribly good fun to do as a new homeowner. Bookmarking more sites than she would ever revisit, she had not noticed the time go by until the clock on the tower of the small church dedicated to Saint Anne, struck 9.  Quickly, she got up, paid her bill and tipped the waiter. Luckily, there weren’t many people in the queue and being an early riser gave her the advantage of being among the first inside. Settling the official stuff did not take much time but it was nearing noon, so a pastry and a bottle of water were in order before setting off to the arcades again for some bargain hunting. Alice was having fun picking out dresses for her new job. She’d even picked a couple of ornaments that would complement the rustic yet contemporary style in which she decided to decorate her apartment. Hanging the bags on her wrist, she had her phone in one hand and a water bottle in the other when she turned a sharp corner and spilled water on the unfortunate man she collided with. “Christ - Watch where you’re going!” he exclaimed. He must have had a good head over Alice’s 5ft3 frame. His black, wavy hair was in a posh tapered haircut. Some locks almost reached his dark eyes which glared at her over his high cheekbones. “Oh Gosh, I’m so sorry! I’m such a klutz.” She said, feeling the redness creeping up her neck, almost losing balance from the impact. Clearly exasperated, the handsome man seemed to take some pity on her. “Never mind, it’s only water. It will dry up, did I hurt you?” he asked, reaching for her flailing arm to steady her. Alice looked up at his lips, now curled in a half smile. Clearly, he thought she was funny. She was in between apologising again and pointing out that he too needed a bell round his neck but as her eyes reached his, she found she couldn’t speak. Why did he have to be so good looking anyway? “No…” she mumbled, assessing that she’s only wet his shirt and part of his black jacket which he wore over his matching black trousers. “You seem new around here. Anyway, since I’m wearing half your bottle of water…my name is Richard.” He said, offering to shake her hand. Ah, he wasn’t such a jerk after all. Placing her much smaller, cold hand into his warmer one, she returned his half smile. “I’m Alice.”