Dark Tidings

Chapter 27 - Champagne and Stories

Whistling 'If You're Happy and You Know It' fitted Michael's mood perfectly. He was the happiest man alive. His relationship with Faith had flourished and was bringing him a joy he hadn't experienced for years. He spent every waking moment thinking about her, and he dreamt about her as well. She was constantly in his head. Of late, they'd seen an awful lot of each other and he was beginning to think he was falling in love for the very first time.

What more could he want in a girl? Faith was beautiful, clever and really interested in him, continually asking questions about his life, his likes and dislikes, his feelings and his aspirations. He'd opened his heart to her, with one exception, he hadn't shared his real plans for IIBE but he would let her into that secret quite soon. He was falling in love with her so she deserved to know the truth.

Today was the day that Michael was pushing the boat out and treating Faith to a fabulous lunch somewhere. Not in one of their usual haunts, today it would be somewhere really special. He mentally went through the various posh places he'd heard about when, out of the blue, it came to him. Today, they would lunch at the Ritz.

They arrived shortly after one o'clock and were shown to a table near the large windows which ran along one side of the dining area.

"What a wonderful table," said Faith. "You must have booked this ages ago, you sneaky devil."

Michael just smiled. He hadn't actually made a reservation but he was happy to take full credit for the romantically-perfect table. And perfect it was, as they settled in with a glass of wine, held hands and perused the mouth-watering menu. The prices were mouth-watering too, so it was surprising, in the current economic climate, that the place was still so incredibly busy.

He looked around the plush restaurant and congratulated himself on his choice. The dining room was magnificently ornate; gold and silver decorated the walls, the ceilings and many of the diners. The place was alive with affluent-looking couples, ladies doing lunch and businessmen oiling the wheels of multimillion pound deals. Everyone looked as though they were rich enough to dine in the Ritz every day, everyone apart from the odd-looking pair at the next table.

What on earth was their story? They looked distinctly out of place. What was this old, bearded man doing here with the black-haired youngster? They didn't look comfortable in these surroundings, in fact, they didn't look as if they could afford this sort of thing at all. The truth of the matter was that Madrick and Tung were totally at ease because they'd had breakfast, lunch and dinner here every day for nearly a week.

As he often did, Michael drifted into a world of his own and started to construct little stories in his head about the pair. He was thinking about Fagin and Oliver Twist when the old man caught him staring. As if he was used to quizzical looks, he just smiled a warm smile and got on with his food. Michael looked away guiltily and returned his attention to Faith.

He gave himself an imaginary slap, concentrate on what you're here for, he told himself. This was supposed to be a very special day for his relationship with Faith so he should be giving her all his attention.

"Champagne, please," he said to the sommelier, "and would it be possible for me to pop the cork myself?"

"It's a little unusual, sir, but we always like to please our customers, so why not?"

When the bottle arrived in its ice bucket, the waiter left it discreetly by the table and backed away smiling. Michael lifted out the bottle and made a show of removing the gold foil and the wire cage.

"You look as though you were born to this," said Faith.

Twist the bottle not the cork, he reminded himself.