She took full advantage of the hotel’s spa and beautyfacilities. She had a massage from a very fit, young man, then a full makeoverand a hairdo. By the evening, when she was ready to go out, she looked amazing,as she admired herself in the full-length red dress she had bought earlier. Italso helped that, at this time, she still had all her own teeth.
Kay knew that finding a restaurant to eat at on Valentine’sDay would be difficult, so she had an early dinner at the hotel and then headedout to Covent Garden. It was a place she had loved going to with friends in heryouth, but had not had the chance to visit since getting married.
It was just as vibrant and exciting as she remembered, andshe was free to enjoy it as she pleased. It was quite mild for a Februaryevening, and she did not feel in the slightest bit cold, even with only thelight jacket she was wearing over her dress.
She was surrounded by people enjoying themselves as shewalked through the streets, revelling in the atmosphere. Finding a lively bar,she ordered herself a White Russian and sat down at the bar, feeling confidentand happy. It was amazing what difference a change of scene and a littlepampering could do. She was unrecognisable from the bedraggled hag who would befrequenting The Red Lion just a few months later.
All evening, men came over to chat her up. They were not saddesperadoes like those she had taken home to her flat for joyless sex thesepast months, but well-groomed, intelligent, professional men.
This all showed that she still had it. The attention was amassive ego booster for Kay. It had been one thing revelling in the joy of twodays back in her teenage body, but here she was, in her forties, and she couldstill be a hot prospect if she put her mind to it. All she had to do in thefuture was look after herself properly and she could have a new lease of life.A new set of teeth would also come in handy. With the money that wouldhopefully be coming her way, that would be her first priority.
Late in the evening, she met a man she felt a real affinitywith. He was around her age and when they got chatting, she discovered he waslocal to where she lived. His name was Robert and he worked as a designer for aGrand Prix team based not far from Oxford. He was down in London for theofficial launch of his team’s new car for the forthcoming season.
Kay was a lifelong fan of Formula One, so they had plenty totalk about. She was able to make very encouraging noises about his team’sprospects for the year ahead, knowing already that they were going to win boththe driver’s and constructor’s championships.
She enjoyed his company more than she had any man’s for along time, with the possible exception of Kent. She knew that it could go nofurther, at least in this universe, but that didn’t rule out the possibility ofseeing him again when she made it back to her own.
Having made a solid investment in her financial futuretoday, maybe here was a chance to make an investment of a personal nature. Sheneeded to find out as much as she could about him, so she could look him upagain in the future. He wouldn’t remember this meeting, but she was sure she couldengineer another encounter.
By the end of the evening she knew where he worked, where helived, and where he liked to spend his free time. There was a slight element ofstalking behaviour about what she was doing, but it could be forgiven under thecircumstances.
As far as tonight went, she had an ideal opportunity to takehim for a test-drive. Turning the conversation to personal matters, she madesure she asked him enough questions to ensure that he wasn’t married. Shewasn’t making that mistake again. But when she asked him if he would like tocome back to her hotel, she was in for a surprise.
He politely declined the offer. That hadn’t been somethingshe had been expecting. He explained he would prefer to get to know her betterfirst and asked if they could meet up for a dinner date once they were back inOxford.
He wasn’t just brushing her off; she could see how keen hewas to see her again. Perhaps for once, she had found herself a decent man. Itmade a refreshing change, as there didn’t seem to be many like him around thesedays.
Being a gentleman, he escorted her back to her hotel andkissed her goodnight at the door, with a promise that they would see each otheragain soon. For this Robert, sadly, it would never happen. From Kay’sperspective, all she had to hope now was that the version of him in her ownuniverse would still be available ten months later. He was a pretty decentcatch and it would be no surprise if he got snapped up in the interim.
Content with her day’s work, she drifted off to sleep in theluxurious surroundings of her penthouse suite, looking forward to the next day.If all went as planned, it was going to be a day to savour.
Chapter Fifteen
December 2018
It was Christmas Eve, and Kay was back in front of themirror, discussing her latest trip with the angel.
“I’m impressed,” said the angel. “You’ve made excellent useof your time there in a way very few people doing this ever have. If I were ateacher I’d be giving you an A+. Now I’m looking forward to seeing how you usethe knowledge you’ve gained.”
“Well, keep watching,” replied Kay. “But haven’t you alreadydelved into my thoughts to see what’s on the cards?”
“I don’t read every thought,” replied the angel. “If I didthat, it would be like watching a football match when I already knew theresult. I could just as easily nip into the future to see what you do next, buthaven’t done that either. I
