CHAPTER 28

Mr Shaw and some wine

"... the Serendipity is my favourite so far, Mr Jenkins. I can clearly feel the cranberries flavour in it..." A slightly too happy Monica sighed as she kept on talking with the wine salesman who resembled more and more to Santa Claus as the minutes went by. The old man had kindly allowed her to taste more of his product, but now he was starting to wonder if that had really been a good idea. Nevertheless, the pretty lady standing before him sounded rather funny and he elected to listen to her for a while. "It's a fruit from my beloved Ireland. I'd always recognise it! I'll take this one, please."

"Ireland! Really? I was wondering where you got that accent of yours!"

While he wrapped up the bottle she had chosen, Monica took another sip of the eighth cup of wine and nodded. "But Niagara Falls will also have a special place in my heart, you know."

"Ah! I'm glad to hear it! Have you and your husband been to the park yet?"

"Oh, we have! It's such a lovely place!"

"It is! I suggest fishing at the lake by the morning! There are shops that sell artificial baits not far from here!"

"Artificial baits? Really?"

"Yep!"

"But that is such a very considerate idea! I had a temporary job selling baits, but I was getting attached to them, you know, especially to wee Bob. No wonder the business didn't last too long as I couldn't imagine the poor little ones ending up in such a cruel way."

"Baits? I would never imagine someone would be attached to baits..." he said, a bit confused.

"I was. Sadly I had to give them away as in my old job I couldn't carry them with me because I was always moving from place to place." She explained, and then a smile reappeared on her face. "I was glad to know that the park has existed since 1894! I remember it was such a glorious year..."

The man frowned at her words, but found them funny too. "You remember?"

"I do... You see, I'm a teacher now, but back at the day, I was still working in annunciations..."

"You were?" he said, raising his white eyebrows. "Well, you still look good considering all those years!"

Laughing at his words, she nodded her head understandingly. "I take it you do not believe me, Mr Jenkins!"

"Hum... well, let's just say I'm a cautious person who likes to investigate things first!"

"Well, you are right on it! Do you know who used to be like that too? Mr Shaw!"

"Mr Shaw? I'm afraid I don't know him..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I mean Mr. Bernard Shaw. We went to see his play in the afternoon!"

"Ah, good! Did you enjoy it?"

"It was lovely. And I'm certain that he would be very pleased to see how many people admire his work. Mr Shaw, I mean. You see, he used to prepare his plays and novels very carefully!" she said, "Always with a cup of mocha at his desk!"

"Let me guess... you remember that too?"

"Actually, I met Mr Shaw! I was actually there when Pygmalion was first released!"

Laughing, the man shook his head and placed the bottle of wine inside a pretty bag.

"Erm... I wonder if I could taste just a wee bit more of Serendipity..." she spoke, and quickly covered her mouth with her two hands, as she was interrupted by a hiccup.

"Well, you said you're with your husband, right?"

"Yes... Andrew and I are here on honeymoon!" she happily announced.

"Hum... And where is he?"

Monica's smile faded and she frowned with slight confusion. "This is a very good question, you know..."

"Well, I think you should wait for him so you can go back to the hotel."

"I think you are right... I'm sure he will be here soon..."

"Is he a teacher too?"

"Oh, no. Andrew is a fire-fighter. But we used to work together. I mean, we did not work together in 1894. At that time we worked in different sectors, and I was promoted a while later."

The man was going to say something else, when a familiar voice interrupted their conversation. "Monica!"

The Irish angel's smile grew wider and she turned around to see a worried Andrew walking up to her. "Angel, I was waiting for you at the diner... Did you lose your way?"

"Oh... I... I was talking to Mr Jenkins and... I might have lost track of time, Andrew... He sells wonderful wines and we were actually talking about you!"

It took Andrew just a split second to realise his beloved angel girl's state of consciousness was slightly altered. "Monica... you've been drinking more wine?"

"Well... I have to confess I did... And they are very, very good wine, Andrew. I even bought another bottle for us!" she announced, and her words were followed by another hiccup.

Hearing that, Mr Jenkins was quick to deliver the bag containing Monica's new acquisition. "That's 13 dollars and 95 cents!" he gladly informed.

The blond angel ran his hand through his hair, not believing he had allowed it to happen – again.

"I was also telling Mr. Jenkins how lovely it was to meet Mr. Bernard Shaw and how the two of them have similar personalities!"

Hearing that, Andrew knew he had to do something very fast: he searched for the money to pay for the wine and then placed a gentle hand on the small of her back. "Yes, angel, but now it's time for us to go back to the hotel. You see, it's getting late and Mr. Jenkins has other costumers to give attention to."

Her eyes fell in slight disappointment. "Oh..."

"It's alright, young lady! It was a pleasure to talk to you!"

"It was such a pleasure to talk to you too, and we'll recommend your wine to our friends!" she said, and as Andrew guided her to the nearest taxi, she smiled at him. "I'm so happy that we managed to visit the town, watch the play and buy all the souvenirs we wanted, Andrew! I'm so, so happy!"

Sighing deeply, and slightly worried, he shook his head. "Oh, angel... We need to get back to the hotel as soon as possible!"

He could see the colour rising on her cheeks as he said that. "Andrew... You are always making me blush, you know..."

X

As Andrew opened up the door of their cottage, he immediately turned the light on and guided a slightly dizzy Monica to inside the house. "Here we are, angel..."

"I'm glad to be back... humming of the streets was too much already! And it is quite pleasant to be back to such a peaceful place!" she said, and as he deposited the bags with their items on a nearby chair, he placed one hand on her shoulder and another one on her waist.

"Come with me, angel, you need to lie down."

The couple walked along the corridor that led to the suite and once he opened its door, Monica headed towards a different direction. "No, angel... this is the bathroom, not the bed..."

The look on her face was so confused that it almost made him chuckle. "Oh... They changed it while we were out?"

"No, baby... Come here, you need to rest... I think I should give you some coffee but if you sleep you'll be recovered by tomorrow." He said, guiding her to their bed and making her sit down.

And Monica looked at him surprised and annoyed. "Sleep? No, it's not time for us to sleep yet, Andrew!"

"Yes, angel, but it's time for you to sleep..." he replied, and this time he couldn't help chuckling. "Here, let me help you with your shoes..."

He carefully removed her sandals and as he did so, the Irish angel smiled with tenderness, despite not being fully conscious. "You always take such a good care of me..." she said, and as he bent down to arrange the pillows, she wrapped her arms around his neck and started to cover his handsome face with tiny loving kisses. "I love you so much..."

"I love you too, baby," the angel replied, chuckling with amusement. He kissed her forehead, gently making her lie on her back. Then, he kindly removed her hands from his neck and kissed each of them. "I want you to rest a little, okay, my angel? Can you do it for me?"

Andrew was caressing her hair so tenderly that she leaned on his touch and closed her eyes. "I'd do everything for you, Andrew..."

Watching as the smile on her face never faded, he kissed her cheek. And when he moved to walk away, Monica grabbed his hand with both of hers. "Please, don't go..."

"I was going to arrange our bags and..." his voice trailed off as he noticed two things: she was almost falling asleep and even almost unconscious, her thoughts were of him.

The blond angel removed his shoes and climbed in bed right next to her. Then, he wrapped his arms around her small form, moved with emotion when she abandoned her pillow and inched closer to him, using his chest as a pillow.

"You are very cosy, Andrew..." she said, sighing with contentment, her eyes still closed.

"And you, my angel, are my perfect and sweet valentine, who I will love forever. " He replied, kissing the top of her head repeatedly.