As Years Fly By
She tried so hard to bring back the feelings of that day…
It was a hot, sunny afternoon in mid-August – just as it had been all those years ago.
Christine sat on the grass in exactly the same place as she had on that day so long past.
She didn’t have the red dress she’d worn then any more, but had tried to mimic it as best she could with a red blouse and skirt. She didn’t have the black platform shoes she’d worn then, either, but she did have chunky heeled black sandals that sufficed.
She couldn’t explain why, but somehow, to make it real, she’d felt she had to recreate it as totally as possible.
Then, there had been an ice cream van parked up near the old walled garden. Now, there was a proper café with tables and chairs outside.
The park had changed – everything had changed – but not her memories.
A lovestruck teenager, she’d come to the park that afternoon because Russell Johnson always came for a game of tennis.
She was on her own, but that didn’t matter – there was nothing suspicious about someone being on their own in a park.
Better to be on her own, really, because Mandy and Ginny, her two friends, might ruin everything.
That afternoon, she had sprayed herself with Elizabeth Arden, a Christmas present from a kind auntie who respected that Christine was nearly a woman now, and cared about such things.
Perfume had been a luxury back then.
Christine had used it very sparingly – only for special occasions. Of which this had been one.
She didn’t have the scent now, not the original bottle, but you could still get it, and she’d been delighted coming through Arrivals on her return from Denmark to see it there in the Duty-Free shop.
She smelled it now on her skin – that light, fresh fragrance – and the years zipped away as memories reinstated her in a past life.
There were four people on the tennis courts. It looked like a professional game now, with all of them in white shorts and polo shirts.
Back then, people hadn’t been so fussy about if they looked professional.
They were just there to play.
Russell had been wearing jeans – how he must have sweltered! – and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Blue stripes, Christine recalled.
She remembered how aware she’d been of the golden hair on his tanned arm when he sat down on the grass beside her.
They’d talked… started falling in love… discussed whether Christine looked old enough to get served in the Red Lion or not.
They’d decided against it and went for a walk around the maze instead.
When they got to the middle, he’d leaned her against the fountain and kissed her so tenderly, sweetly and lovingly. Time had stood still at that moment…
Christine smiled and felt a bit weepy. Where had those distant days and intense feelings gone? So long ago. So short-lived, because real life kicked in and everything changed.
How could you stop it?
How could you hang on to those precious first feelings forever? Maybe you couldn’t.
Russell, that day, was just a distant memory, and whatever she did, she couldn’t really turn back time…
Thinking she’d actually been a bit of a fool, she decided to rejoin the harsh realm of reality.
She began to get up but then stopped when she saw a tall, fair figure in jeans and a striped shirt striding towards her.
She immediately recognised it as one of his old work shirts.
“I knew you’d be here,” Russell said, sitting on the sun-warmed grass beside her. Christine wondered if this was truly happening.
“How?” she murmured.
Suddenly he didn’t look like the businessman in a smart suit who rushed about everywhere with a phone to his ear and an attaché case under his arm. He looked like that carefree teenager again.
“They don’t go away, you know,” he said, stroking her hair out of her eyes.
“What don’t?” she whispered.
“Those memories,” Russell murmured. “And feelings. They just get pushed aside, somehow, buried under the hassle of real, adult life – work to do, mortgages to pay, kids to look after 24-7…”
Christine was too stunned and overwhelmed to speak. He’d remembered their landmark occasion, and the exact date too.
“Shall we go for a walk round the maze?” he suggested gently.
Christine nodded, joy cascading through her veins. She hadn’t lost Russell at all.
Sometimes, in the chaos at home, it just felt like it. But now she knew. He’d been there for her all the time – and always would be.
“And then, maybe a drink in the Red Lion?” she smiled.
