1. "Clare" - Chapter 8:- Dating Karen - “A Tent with a View"


    Date: 4/9/2024, Categories: Novels, Author: wxt55uk 

    Donna, our chauffeur, opened the limo's twin doors.

The sight before Karen and I, made us gasp, then grin and giggle.

Our stares had taken in a restaurant table; it had been laid for two. Nothing had been skimped, with its red tablecloth, white china plates, silver cutlery, and, for a centrepiece, a single lit candle.

But there was more.

The table was set in a white, Arabian-style tent, which had been fully closed on its two sides, the rear open, with its curtain door draped on each side. The tent's front was completely open; it had a glass window panel to keep any gentle breeze away.

Inside, it had been decorated, with exotic pot plants, a Bedouin sofa and cushions; there werelots of cushions. In each of the tent corners burnt four electric lanterns, their fake flames flickering away. There was a string of dull yellow lights connecting each corner to the centre, giving the ceiling a creamy glow.

And then there was the view.

We may have been located in a rooftop car park, but we were four floors up and back from the seafront road; a spiralling ramp taking us up to this floor. To our left was a tower, two floors high, with a large lit analogue clock on each side. It read, seven-thirty.

The tower, like the rest of the building, was cream-coloured, but what caught my eye was the tower's lift. It was huge and built to take a car. It was clear, that the building we were on top of had just been refurbished as everything looked freshly painted. Its style was ...
    ... old-fashioned, yet defined.

Then there was the Southern view, nothing but sea, the English Channel. To our right, the sun was now low in the sky. It would soon set in the West, over the distant city where Karen and I lived.

It was only then that our attention was caught by Donna. She indicated for us to step into the tent, and she closed the curtain door behind us. As she did so a younger lady, maybe thirty, appeared and stood next to our chauffeur. She had blonde hair and was dressed in a white blouse and a black skirt. She also had a silver nameplate pinned to her top. In clear black letters, it read Krystal.

The two ladies were grinning at us as we took it all in. The limo had felt unreal, but inside this tent, it was another world.

“I leave you in the capable hands of Krystal,” Donna stated. “I will be back a nine-thirty.” With that, she left the same way she had come in, and our attention turned to the younger woman.

“Welcome to theSea View (Art Deco) Hotel,” she announced. In doing so, she drew out her R, making me realise she was American, though her accent was only slight. As we were shown to our seats, I noticed a silver plate with its domed lid and a hotel business card had been placed in front of both of us. Maybe it was for the first course, I thought.

“Did you know about this?” Karen quietly asked as we both looked around the tent.

I explained that I didn’t.

Krystal opened another bottle of champagne, which was in its silver ice bucket by ...
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