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All characters are over 18 years.

***

A few days later Leona was sitting in the coffee lounge of the hotel in Nicholson Street.

Glancing up from the book she was reading, she saw the figure of Gareth Hamilton standing in the doorway, making a careful survey of the room.

She watched him approach her table. He was wearing well-worn denims and a black cotton sweater.

'All alone?' he enquired and, when she nodded, asking suavely, 'mind if I join you?' - sitting down not waiting for an answer.

'Not at all,' -- attempting to sound friendly yet wanting to retain her privacy.

His eyes, she noted, were a deep, unfathomable sea green.

After ordering coffee he said, 'My sister hasn't been here, has she?'

'No. I haven't seen Jules since last Saturday. She's probably out some where with Nathan.'

He shot her a glance, taking in the thin white blouse and blue skirt. She was hardly made up at all.

'You're a strange girl,' -- a totally unexpected comment. His eyes became hard as marble. 'Very strange indeed!'

'Not a girl, Gareth,' -- smiling -- 'I've been in the adult world for quite some time now.'

'You look like Lorelei with escort kartal your hair down your back.'

She laughed and ran her fingers through her hair.

'And who's Lorelei? Some girl in your past?'

'A siren who lured sailors to their deaths in ancient times.'

'Do I appear that strange to you?'

'You appear very self-contained. Confident, yet a little reserved. A full womanly woman.' His voice held deep and resonant tones.

He was giving her that shot-in-the-arm confidence she so badly needed, she thought.

'That's a nice compliment.'

He smiled as though he was almost reading her mind. She flushed, then pulled a laughing face.

After a moment's pause, he spoke again.

'I was wondering something ...'

'Wondering what?'

'Wondering if you'd go out with me on Saturday?'

'Possibly. What did you have in mind?'

'Dinner. And perhaps a concert or a stage show. Do you like the theatre?'

'Yes, but I don't go very often.'

'Well, supposing I call for you at five on Saturday?'

He drained the last of his coffee.

'That would be great, Gareth.'

Her gaze meeting the unflinching maltepe escort directness of his eyes.

'Well, I'll be off. Don't get lost in your book.'

He was the strange one, she thought, leaving after a ten minute conversation.

'See you soon,' she replied as he made his way to the door.

##

'You're looking good, ' Gareth was taking in Leona's new dress and shoes.

It was the following Saturday evening and he had arrived at her apartment a little earlier than he had said.

'Just good?' -- smiling -- perhaps fishing for a compliment.

'You're all ready, I see. Let's head out.'

She was following him down to his car. 'Where we going?"

'You like Italian food?'

'Yes.'

'And you like live theatre, you said?'

'Well, dinner first, then to a revival of Waiting For Godot at a theatre in Carlton.'

'Wonderfil!'

Later that night when they returned to her flat in Errol Street, she invited him in for coffee; but he declined saying, 'Let's leave it for tonight, shall we?' He gave her a light kiss on the lips.

When she pressed herself up against him, he held back.

She could see the conflicting pendik escort bayan emotions in his face. It was as if he was torn between the desire to make love to her, and the more potent one of keeping her at a distance.

When she saw him looking at her, her face tightened.

'I wasn't looking forward to this evening at all,' -- after a pause.

'No?' -- puzzled. 'Yet you asked me out?'

'I was a little nervous we wouldn't get along.'

He took her hand in his. She could sense a hidden stregth in the clasp of his fingers.

'You're a good person, Leona. But I don't want to get too involved. Maybe the occasional date, but nothing too heavy.'

'That's fine with me,' -- agreeably -- 'I've had a rough time with some of the guys I've been with lately.'

'I don't get why anyone would treat you badly.'

'I don't get it either.'

'Well, good night,' he said.

She stood where she was and watched him make his way back to his car. Without a backward glance he drove off.

She climbed the stairs to her apartment and she recalled how his touch had disturbed her. She had aroused his passion, she knew, yet he had held back. And the tenderness and concern he had shown her. He was so different from the other men she had known. At first she had thought he was not really her type at all, yet there was something about him that drew her to him. He had found a way into her head and it was all new and exciting.