Another Brief Encounter

A small crowd had collected at the far end of the platform & this gathering of people seemed to be drawing Hector towards it. He was there to hopefully see a brand new steam engine, the first one to be built in the UK for decades. Childhood passions never leave some men & Hector was no exception. Hector's passions, now he'd reached his late fifties, were more inclined to be female oriented, even though he was happily married, but machines still rated highly in his ordered, cultured mind. And anyway, a bit of train spotting was a good way to kill time between appointments.

He walked along the platform, noticing the effort the railway enthusiasts had put in to make the station a replica of times past. Hector knew the owners of the railway made serious amounts of money by allowing films to be made on their premises. The arrival of the new express locomotive, that had drawn the crowd & Hector that afternoon, would soon have the film makers scurrying for appointments with the management, for permission to film, he thought.

Hector caught up with the people standing close to where the locomotive would come to a halt. He looked round & quickly took in the mixed view before him. His eyes lingered on a woman who seemed to stand out from the rest. Exactly why she held his gaze wasn't immediately obvious, particularly as he could only see her from the back, & only as far down as her waist, because a loaded Post Office barrow blocked his view. As Hector got closer to her, he could see that the clothes she had on, although a retro style, didn't come via an Internet purchase. The fit, the cut of the cloth gave it away. Hector noticed things, he had an eye for good taste, he knew good tailoring when he saw it, it was in his blood. His paternal grandfather had been a master tailor & some of Frank's genes must be in him.

Never knowing whether he was a legs or breast man didn't really bother him, Hector was happy to look at either as long as it met his exacting criteria. Although the collection of people near the platform end was quite dense, he managed to position himself so that at last he got a full length view. What he saw almost took his breath away. Here was this attractive dark haired lady looking as if she was about to go on set & act in a scene from Brief Encounter. Hector began at her waist, following her pencil slim skirt, which hugged her well proportioned hips, to its hem just below her knees. He then found as a guide -- as if he needed one, the prominent seam on her skin-coloured stockings. Women of this period in history had always fascinated him & it looked as if this woman, though neither she nor Hector knew it at the time, was destined to bring the 40's back to life for both of them. Her smart, black, court shoes, with enough of a heel to show off her well-formed ankles and calf muscles, completed the vision in front of him, & he hadn't yet seen her face. This woman interested him...a lot.

Hector's mind began to race, what about her underwear? Was this woman wearing retro everything? He found himself silently saying stop, turn away, walk back along the platform in the direction the train will come from. He was thinking these thoughts, but that did not stop him walking closer to where this 1940's dream figure was standing. If anything could set his pulse racing, it was this. And he wanted to see more.

Gently & politely Hector managed to position himself exactly behind her. It was only then that he became aware that most of the onlookers were dressed in retro styles, some more authentic than others. And when he looked more closely he realized that hardly any of them, men, women or children really looked as if they were interested in trains. What Hector didn't know was that they had all been chosen as extras for a film & that this was their first dress rehearsal, but without the cameras. Hector's assumption that her clothes were expensive was correct. He knew then that her underwear would be of a similar quality. Whether her wardrobe contained 40's style lingerie & corsetry, Hector was still to discover. Was she wearing any of it today...Hector could only hope that the answer was yes. He was tempted to brush a small piece of fluff from her shoulder, just to make contact with her body, but doing so may alarm her, & what excuse could he give for such an intrusion? Anyway, Hector was a thinker, & doing something like that was not his style.

Hector really needed to look at this woman's face. But, how could he? He could hardly barge through the crowd, stand on the edge of the platform, & turn to look directly at her. He consoled himself wonderfully by breathing in the subtlety of her perfume which drifted passed him in waves caught on the breeze. Some perfumes did nothing for his olfactory nervous system. This one was quality. He was pleased she'd chosen well, or, perhaps her lover had. A woman such as this, who exudes a special kind of sensuality that few men would pick up, just has to have a lover he thought. She may well be married but that alone would not prevent her dalliance given the right circumstances. Hector began to think back to his one & only affair, one that really should not have happened...

When Hector was nineteen, he fell in love with a French girl, a year older, who came to England to study English literature with his bi-lingual father who lectured in languages at the college in the city. Staying with Hector's family for a month at a time, for several summers, enabled the chemistry between them to work. It was, for both of them, a love affair that was to end in tears, however, while it lasted they enjoyed it to the full. Frequent visits to Anais in Paris put the finishing touches to Hector's French education, in more ways than one.

Only about ten minutes had passed since Hector arrived at the station. But it seemed to him that the scene before him was being played out in slow motion. Suddenly it all changed with the arrival of the train at the far end of platform two. Slowly, this huge, hissing, clanking, grey monster pulled its heavy load of coaches along the platform & gradually came to a halt alongside the gathering of would-be film stars. Just a split second after it came to rest, a violent, loud plume of brilliant white steam came from beneath the locomotive, enveloping everyone standing near, startling them all, & causing a quick shuffle back from the platform edge. No one was prepared for this except Hector, who stood his ground. He had been a train spotter in his youth & knew full well that footplate men pulled levers in their cabs accidentally on purpose to scare the train spotters. What happened next, nevertheless, took him by surprise. He found himself holding the lady he had been paying attention to by the hips to steady her & prevent her from falling. This reflex action allowed him to be in intimate contact with her body that a few seconds before was beyond his wildest dreams!

She turned her head & gave him the most wonderful thank you that he'd ever heard. The smile that came afterwards was just the icing on the cake. Hector, taken aback by her immediate & warm response still hadn't let go of her hips, but suddenly realized & took his hands away. But not before he'd gently stroked both her thighs in a quest to discover what, if anything, was holding up her stockings. She then turned to face him & proceeded to apologize, in a soft hard to place accent, about nearly crushing his feet with the heels of her shoes. Whilst saying this, she touched his arm with her left hand & pulled slightly back, as if to get a better look at him.

Hector felt as if he'd been transported to another world. What brings a heavenly creature such as this to an enthusiast's railway station in the provinces? He knew a conversation was about to begin, but was not at all confident in his ability to reply in an intelligent way. This was the effect this person was having on him. Hector need not have worried because a quick stream of connected words issued forth from the most delicious, kissable, suckable lips he'd been close to for ages. Her eyes, a green, blue mixture, felt as though they were boring into his subconsciousness. This worried & yet excited him in equal amounts. Soon he was to learn that she lived in London, near Cheyne Walk, that would explain the posh clothes he thought, & that her son-in-law was the engine driver. When she said her name was Eloise, in an accent that Hector thought had a mid-European origin, it was almost his turn to hold on to her again. He did in fact lightly place his hand on her arm, in way, to prove that she was not an apparition. He felt at that moment that he'd connected with this woman & she with him.

Then, suddenly, Eloise turned, mumbled something that Hector did not hear because the locomotive released some more steam just as she spoke. By the time it had cleared, all he could see of this enigmatic woman was a sideways view of her slipping through the assembly of passengers, obviously with a purpose in mind. Crest fallen, Hector nevertheless reflected on his good fortune so far. There was an attraction between them, & he thought they both knew it. Her figure, which Hector had unobtrusively studied, was his sort of figure. Not fat, not thin but obviously, flesh was deposited in all the right places. He knew which thoughts were about to surface & tried his hardest to put them out of his mind.

Legs, adorned with old fashioned stockings, naked thighs above where the stockings finished...he was almost going into a trance when he felt a hand on his. Eloise had returned & standing very close to him indeed, pressed something into the palm of his hand. Then she was gone, as quickly as she'd returned. He watched as Eloise walked towards the ladies' room, a little way along the platform & closed the door behind her.

Quickly, Hector's attention turned to the small paper parcel scrunched up in his hand. His curiosity almost got the better of him there & then, but, he thought better of it & walked along the platform to the empty bench under the clock. He slowly unraveled the paper, his pulse racing, not knowing what he was about to find. He could feel what he thought was a strip of elastic, similar to that made into men's braces, but did not rush his investigation for fear of ripping the now damp paper. When what was obviously a detachable suspender, which had been removed from a corset, Eloise's corset, dropped into his lap, the mystery deepened & his pulse rate went off the dial.

He read what she had hurriedly written. And then read it again. Eloise gave him, in no uncertain terms, an instruction to buy a return ticket on the last train of the day, & mention specifically to the booking clerk that he required a pass to the observation coach, at the rear of the train. Hector could not believe what was happening to him. He took several deep breaths, in an attempt to calm himself. This breathing therapy had always worked in the past, but it didn't take him long to work out why it wasn't working now. The six letter word that first came to him was...Eloise.

There was a queue at the booking office window. Not a long queue, but a queue that Hector wished was not there. He was not worried about missing the train, because it was not due to leave for fifteen minutes. What did worry him was what would happen if he could not get a pass to the observation coach. Hector's turn at the small booking office window came quite quickly. He mumbled his request to the rather youthful looking guy who peered boringly at him. For the first time in a long time, Hector became concerned that this boy, & that's all he was, would guess why he asked for a pass to the last coach. But, how could he? Then he recollected how Eloise had mentioned that her son-in-law was the engine driver. Suddenly the sweaty palms of his hands began to produce even more liquid, if that was at all possible. He knows, all the station staff know, the whole damn railway know, Hector thought to himself. Hector felt slightly nauseous.

The station clock ticked slowly towards the time of departure. Better get on the train, he thought, & find somewhere quiet to sit. He chose an aisle seat so that he could stand up & walk to the rear of the train once it started it's journey without disturbing anyone. Fumbling in his pocket, Hector checked to see if Eloise's note & more importantly, the black elastic suspender, with expensive satin strips made to cover the stud & metal clasp, was still there. He'd had this pocket fumbling habit since childhood, when he struggled to find a bus ticket to show an inspector & it had come back to haunt him now. He eventually found what he was looking for in one of his jacket inside pockets. He always had his tailor provide extras. The small pocket, which normally held a supply of his business cards, was the hiding place for this most secret of notes & little piece of corset.

The paper upon which Eloise had written her instructions was by this time the worse for wear. Hector smoothed it out with his fingers, in the palm of his right hand, and reread what was written. He was to walk through the guards' van, once the guard, going in the other direction, had passed him by. Through the connecting passage between the two coaches, into a small lobby & then through the door into the lounge area of the observation coach, where Eloise was waiting.

It did cross his mind, for a split second, that this was a huge joke. He began to wonder exactly what he'd find when he opened the door in front of him. He had read of pranks being played on unsuspecting people. Would the lounge be filled with his friends & relatives, gathered there to wish him bon voyage for his impending six month business trip to South Africa?

Hector put such negative thoughts out of his mind, stood up, now that the train was picking up speed, & walked along the aisle with his back to the engine. He found out from one of the station staff before boarding, that due to the weight of the huge locomotive, a speed restriction would be in place for the entire return journey. When he asked how long the trip was likely to take & was told about two hours, his heart missed a beat. The thought of spending that long with Eloise, a complete yet very desirable stranger, & knowing that she had orchestrated the whole thing for their mutual pleasure, was heaven in the making. Hector, in circumstances such as this had, in the past, found himself becoming very aroused mentally at the anticipation of events about to unfold. This, he told himself however was about as high as it could go from an anticipatory point of view.

Hector reached his journey's end. A solid polished mahogany door with expensive fittings remained the only obstacle. He gently opened it & walked in, hardly making a sound. Eloise's voice broke the silence. Only the top of her head was visible above the high back of the well-upholstered arm chair in which she was sitting. He was told to turn the key in the lock & then to walk towards her. By this time, the veins on Hector's forehead were standing proud & pulsating visibly. He approached her & she beckoned to him to sit on the chair placed carefully at an angle, so that they both had a perfect view of each other. Eloise then slowly stood up & began to hitch up her skirt. Nothing was said. The only sound he could hear was that of fabric sliding over fabric. Shiny, sensuous silk fabric, sliding over stockings & then naked skin. Hector loosened his tie. She then asked him, quietly, to put the suspender back where it belonged. Hector coloured up & began to fumble in his pocket...