hotel and off its environs before she boiled up again, 'I don't think I've got room for coffee, after such an enormous meal.'
'Same here.' Alex's napkin joined hers on the table-top. 'I often skip coffee at this time of day.' He was looking about for the waiter who, seeing his signal, brought their bill on a plate. 'I don't think we need to stop off and speak to Julia and your friend—unless you particularly want to, that is?'
'No.' Anna shook her head. 'I know how I'd feel if someone barged in just to say hello when I was out on a date, especially if I was eating. It would put me off my food.'
Alex laughed. 'There'll be other opportunities for you to meet Julia,' he said as the waiter eased their table away and they left the restaurant. Walking slightly ahead of him, Anna wondered what he meant. Surely he wasn't going to suggest a foursome... What a gruesome thought!
A taxi bore them to Romsey Road, waiting at the kerb whilst Alex saw her up the path and into the shadow of the porch. His goodnight kiss was the light, swift kind but his arms about her back held her in the way she liked, making her feel happy and good about herself and taking the painful edge off the recurring image of Simon with Julia in the Albermarle Restaurant.
Over the following three weeks Anna and Alex began meeting on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, owing to Charding lacking the anonymity of London, they were seen around by colleagues and friends who coupled their names and who gossiped, and wondered, and whispered, and assumed—in the way that people do.
This was brought home to Anna one morning on the ward when Rose came down from Maternity to borrow some paper sheets. Rose and Dick Painter from Rheumatology had seen Anna and Alex at the theatre the evening before.
'We noticed you were in the best seats,' Rose grinned. 'Nice to have a rich fella!'
'I go out with Alex because I like him, not because he's rich. I'm no gold-digger,' Anna called down from the top of the ladder in Clean Utility, where she was reaching for the sheets.
'Still, I bet he takes you to some fabulous plates. How did you come to meet him...? You haven't been here that long.'
'Actually,' said Anna, descending the ladder with a good deal of care. 'I knew Alex before I came here; I've known him quite some time.' This was stretching the truth and she knew it, for she had only met him once— just before she'd taken up her job—when she'd bought Prue's jug. Still, it would give Rose something to think about, and to spread about as well.
'Oh, I see, I didn't realise .' Rose looked intrigued but, on getting nothing farther from Anna, thanked her for the sheets and made for the doorway, only to find it blocked by Simon, who stood there, a hand on the jamb, looking in at them.
'You'll find Bill in Maternity, Sister Webb, waiting to do the round,' he said with a little edge to his voice, and Rose went off at a trot.
The utility room was just inside the doors leading out to the lifts, so he must have heard what we were saying, Anna realised, and this was confirmed when he said with little embarrassment and even less subtlety, 'I hear that your friend, Alex, would like to get married again.'
Anna got her breath back with difficulty, 'Yes, so he tells me,' she said. Julia Trafford would have let that slip, she was sure; she might even have hinted, for good measure, that she, Anna, might be in the running.
'He has a son, I believe?' Simon's face was inscrutable.
'A super little boy,' Anna said, with her tongue in her cheek and a smile on her face to cover the false description, for Tom was a child from hell. 'Perhaps we should get on,' she added, holding onto her smile with difficulty and aching muscles. 'Have you come to do a full round?'
'No, only the latest post-ops, the two hysterectomies due for discharge and the perinotomy,' he said without smiling at all. 'I'll only need Mrs Cole's notes and perhaps the Pearson girl's, and I'm running late so if you wouldn't
'Same here.' Alex's napkin joined hers on the table-top. 'I often skip coffee at this time of day.' He was looking about for the waiter who, seeing his signal, brought their bill on a plate. 'I don't think we need to stop off and speak to Julia and your friend—unless you particularly want to, that is?'
'No.' Anna shook her head. 'I know how I'd feel if someone barged in just to say hello when I was out on a date, especially if I was eating. It would put me off my food.'
Alex laughed. 'There'll be other opportunities for you to meet Julia,' he said as the waiter eased their table away and they left the restaurant. Walking slightly ahead of him, Anna wondered what he meant. Surely he wasn't going to suggest a foursome... What a gruesome thought!
A taxi bore them to Romsey Road, waiting at the kerb whilst Alex saw her up the path and into the shadow of the porch. His goodnight kiss was the light, swift kind but his arms about her back held her in the way she liked, making her feel happy and good about herself and taking the painful edge off the recurring image of Simon with Julia in the Albermarle Restaurant.
Over the following three weeks Anna and Alex began meeting on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, owing to Charding lacking the anonymity of London, they were seen around by colleagues and friends who coupled their names and who gossiped, and wondered, and whispered, and assumed—in the way that people do.
This was brought home to Anna one morning on the ward when Rose came down from Maternity to borrow some paper sheets. Rose and Dick Painter from Rheumatology had seen Anna and Alex at the theatre the evening before.
'We noticed you were in the best seats,' Rose grinned. 'Nice to have a rich fella!'
'I go out with Alex because I like him, not because he's rich. I'm no gold-digger,' Anna called down from the top of the ladder in Clean Utility, where she was reaching for the sheets.
'Still, I bet he takes you to some fabulous plates. How did you come to meet him...? You haven't been here that long.'
'Actually,' said Anna, descending the ladder with a good deal of care. 'I knew Alex before I came here; I've known him quite some time.' This was stretching the truth and she knew it, for she had only met him once— just before she'd taken up her job—when she'd bought Prue's jug. Still, it would give Rose something to think about, and to spread about as well.
'Oh, I see, I didn't realise .' Rose looked intrigued but, on getting nothing farther from Anna, thanked her for the sheets and made for the doorway, only to find it blocked by Simon, who stood there, a hand on the jamb, looking in at them.
'You'll find Bill in Maternity, Sister Webb, waiting to do the round,' he said with a little edge to his voice, and Rose went off at a trot.
The utility room was just inside the doors leading out to the lifts, so he must have heard what we were saying, Anna realised, and this was confirmed when he said with little embarrassment and even less subtlety, 'I hear that your friend, Alex, would like to get married again.'
Anna got her breath back with difficulty, 'Yes, so he tells me,' she said. Julia Trafford would have let that slip, she was sure; she might even have hinted, for good measure, that she, Anna, might be in the running.
'He has a son, I believe?' Simon's face was inscrutable.
'A super little boy,' Anna said, with her tongue in her cheek and a smile on her face to cover the false description, for Tom was a child from hell. 'Perhaps we should get on,' she added, holding onto her smile with difficulty and aching muscles. 'Have you come to do a full round?'
'No, only the latest post-ops, the two hysterectomies due for discharge and the perinotomy,' he said without smiling at all. 'I'll only need Mrs Cole's notes and perhaps the Pearson girl's, and I'm running late so if you wouldn't
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