Car Share: For Your Eyes Only
Chapter 2
Forever FM were playing "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo much to John's emphatic joy. "Oh this is a belter this song." John was in a high-spirited and cheerful mood on the drive back to his house. He started lip-syncing along to the song, his face sweet and adorable as ever as he closed his eyes in concentration and began to belt out the lyrics clearly.
"Hey girl, move a little closer
'Cause you're too shy shy
Hush hush, eye to eye
Too shy shy
Hush hush, eye to eye
Too shy shy
Hush hush, eye to eye
Too shy shy
Hush hush
Modern medicine falls short of your complaints
Try a little harder
You're moving in circles
Won't you dilate
Mmm, baby try"
Kayleigh had yet to follow John's lead with this latest singalong. Instead she was persistently making the monumental effort of trying to turn her head away (mostly to her left-hand side) and trying her hardest not to burst out laughing at the sight of him singing along too enthusiastically to this song. Needless to say, luck really wasn't favoring her when it came to keeping a straight face.
"Oh I've got to say it... John. I've gotta ask you...Can I officially get your permission to make you my big gay mute?" Kayleigh requested, cracking a smile, whch was then followed by a little breathless giggle. She then placed a hand on his thigh. She doesn't want to humiliate him or anything but she feels she just be honest as possible with him by asking this.
"Eh?!" John asked in return. He was baffled. What on the heck was she banging on about now?
"You with your singing. I thought you were just having one of your big gay mute moments...that's all. I just thought you were well into singing the chorus line." Kayleigh's giggling became infectious and worst of all it was showing no signs of calming down any minute soon.
"So I'm a big gay mute again am I? Oh charming. So what if I've got like a hundred different music tastes, that doesn't necessarily make me want to don women's clothes and prance around as if I'm some long lost relative of Lily Savage's." John grinned widely at her. He's sending out a message alright, that he's quite the joker of the pack when it matters and knows the perfect delivery line to respond with whenever she questions his cheesy tastes in music.
"Yeah you're funny." Kayleigh tries and fails miserably to conceal her laughter. Truth be told she didn't actually want to picture the thought of John strutting around in high heels whilst wearing a long curly wig. That thought would just have her laughing away for days let alone weeks.
Ten minutes later, things had eventually got back on track between the both of them, as the pair were quietly listening to a camp and outraged caller on Forever FM's nightly phone-in show, who had phoned in to complain about the DJ for talking over his favourite song an hour ago. John and Kayleigh couldn't believe what explicit words were coming out of this bloke's mouth. The DJ couldn't get a word in edge-ways. It was unmissable listening, getting to hear the DJ get his just desserts courtesy of this LGBT listener.
"Well I wouldn't fancy encountering that bloke during a karaoke night or in a lift. That voice would go right through you... " John has heard many shocking and unpredictable callers ringing in to a radio phone-in some nights while he was driving home after dropping Kayleigh but he can't recall hearing anything as bad as this current one.
"Why? Are you thinking he might leave your ears ringing for days after you endured his appalling singing?" Kayleigh assumes John means that Andrew the caller might be a pretty awful karaoke singer.
"Exactly. I know one thing..."
"What?"
"This fruitcake would have Stink Ray running for the hills if the two ever met each other." John laughs, thoughtfully. Kayleigh narrowed her eyes and smiled an approving a smile at him.
They finally got to John's house around 7:40pm. John bolted out from the driver's seat in a little 15 seconds. John's gentlemanly manners had the hallmarks of an ever better picture perfect happiness, which Kayleigh had thought was impossible to find, as she watched him waiting for her to join on the front doorstep.
"Well are you coming then or what?" The deep tones of John's Bolton accent were enough to awaken her from her brief daydream.
"Alright...alright I'm coming Mister spoilsport." Kayleigh says as she shuts the car door behind her and then dashes over towards him. Her court shoes clattering up the pathway. He looked extremely eager to make the perfect of starts as regards to the evening they will be spending together.
She had the pleasure of staying overnight at his house on 8 previous occasions. Everytime he had driven her straight from work to the house. She had made a mental note of whenever she had stepped through into John's front living room the previous time, she would remember to remind herself of it's appearance for the next time she came over to his house. The front living room remained unchanged, none of John's household belongings were ever out of place nor were the photos of his mum, Paul and his nephew and niece.
John had been taking his jacket off in the hallway and hanging it up on the coat rack while he was chatting to her. "Fancy me cooking something for you? or would you rather I grab some popcorn from the kitchen while you stick the Skyfall DVD on for us "
"Oh I fancy a lot more than your cooking and snacking on popcorn Jonathan, let me tell you." Kayleigh winks suggestively.
"Cheeky bitch." John knows her too well by now to know she would give that type of answer. "I'll get the popcorn shall I?" He asked upon popping his head around the door.
"Could I have some crisps please as well Jonathan." Kayleigh requested an extra snack alongside the popcorn. She was starving afterall. She reckons she could eat a footlong Subway in a 90 seconds if she could.
"Any drinks I can do for you while I'm in the kitchen, sorting the crisps and popcorn out? You're unbelievable you are." John chuckled heartily, shaking his head slightly as the sound of his laughter warmed her heart. He had honestly never know someone to have a bigger appetite than him. He did feel that some day he would inevitably meet someone who would surprise him, he just hadn't expected Kayleigh to be that very person.
"A cup of tea...You can make yourself one of course." Kayleigh requests. She doesn't want him to feel left out by her refreshments request. It was his house and he was perfectly entitled to equally share the refreshments with her.
xxx
Kayleigh had snuggled up into John's chest by the time Skyfall's pre-credits started rolling on the widescreen TV in the corner of the room. They were watching the train carriage chase scene between Bond and a villain. John had known what happens next as he's watched the film like 50 times on DVD and whenever it gets shown on TV but he decides to let Kayleigh guess for herself how Bond gets himself out of this tricky situation.
"Oh my god she shot him!" Kayleigh shrieked. She changed her position on the sofa from curled up/feet tucked to a sitting forward/fully engrossed position.
"Only accidentally. That's her getting an almighty telling off from M." John said as M is shown on screen reacting to the shot just fired.
"But he's dead John. The film's already over without Daniel Craig. Can't believe you talked me into watching this film." Unsurprisingly Kayleigh's jumped to the wrong conclusion regarding the twist at the beginning of the film.
"Eh? What you going on about? Adele's singing in a few moments. No Bond film is over until Bond shoots or gets the better of the Bond villain, Kayleigh. I guess I'm gonna be having my hands full aren't I?, you know with teaching you how these Bond films work." These lessons which she would be taught by him will bound to be farcical and memorable, for so many hilarious reasons.
"But he's not going to be there to listen to Adele singing, is he John?" Kayleigh's comments were beginning to make her look . John feels he has to come clean and explain. Thank goodness she hadn't said this in a room full of James Bond fanatics, as she would got them kicked out.
"Um... Kayleigh, I'm sure Adele's not in the film. The only thing she's done to associate herself with this film is the Bond theme, I'm sure with her recording that, that doesn't mean she's also contracted to make a cameo in the film."
"Oh right. I see what you mean now." Kayleigh gets flustered once she realizes how silly she's just made herself look in front of John. Oh she was ashamed. Yet she didn't find herself running into the bedroom or the bathroom to have a cry about this.
"Really?" John asks. Kayleigh may not be the brightest woman he's ever known but he knows this very fact will never ever gatecrash his overwhelming feelings for her. As he stared lovingly into her eyes, he could see from the look on her face, how she was flustered and embarrassed looking after the blunder she had just made.
"Yeahh" Kayleigh seems to be cheering herself up good and proper.
Adele's vocals kick in as Skyfall's opening titles appear on screen and take what feels like forever to finish . "I wish I could sing like Adele." She sighed. Adele had felt like one of those singers she could look up to, when she sung an Adele song to sing while getting ready for work or while she was using the shower.
"Your singing's lovely Kayleigh. You shouldn't feel you have to improve. Anyway you know I love us singing together, it's the... " Kayleigh silenced him by placing her finger over his lips.
"Shush John I'm trying to watch this." Surprisingly enough, she seemed to be one who had been more glued to watching the DVD than he was himself. John didn't dare to say a word once she removed her finger from his lips. He is cherishing every moment of witnessing this delightful side to her. She had never shown this before whilst they had been cuddled up while watching Strictly Come Dancing or Through the Keyhole with that Keith whatshisname.
John's face became engaged in a lovable smile as soon as he heard her humming along to the lyrics. Kayleigh had a beautiful sweet-toned voice. He then heard her sigh softly. John was desperate to speak but his conscious was telling him 'I wouldn't if I were you because she will probably kick your bloody arse if you said something now'.
By the time the film was 15-20 minutes in, Kayleigh had become thoroughly gripped by the film especially after the scene where M's office was blown up by her mysterious blackmailer.
"I wonder who done it?" A curious Kayleigh speculated. She couldn't wait to find out. At one point during the film she was glancing up at John after grabbing a handful of popcorn in her right hand and then rested back on the sofa as he had his arm protectively round her shoulder. She was hoping he might give her a clue as to which character was responsible for blackmailing M. He didn't blink his eyes once and more frustratingly his body language did not give much away either.
"I'm saying nothing." John says convincingly. His lips are remaining sealed. Kayleigh had to be patient and not let her curiosity get the better of her while she was watching the rest of the film.
"I know but I can't help it but you see the thing is, I always want to know what happens in a film before I see it for myself." Kayleigh gasps with sudden realization. "Oh oh wait a minute. Don't tell me it's Javier Bardem.."
"Why do you think it's Javier Bardem?" John tries to throw her off the scent. He think this might be the start of her getting the knack of things when it comes to being an excellent mystery solver here and who knows maybe she may quickly end up transforming herself into a modern day Miss Marple.
"His name came on screen during the opening titles. Plus he hasn't appeared in the film. It's him isn't it? I'm right aren't I, John?" Kayleigh whispers. She sighs blissfully as she feels John's hand giving her left thigh a gentle squeeze. Was this his way of saying yes or his way for him to relax the stress out of her? He knows his thigh massages always worked a treat on her.
"Mm Johnathan... you cheeky fish... my silence will not be bought by your wandering hand or anything else for that matter." Kayleigh warns him she won't be over by his underhand tactics to make her succumb to his charms.
Her question was just about to be answered on screen by the appearance of the blond haired Raoul Silva. "Here we go." John whispered in her ear. She smiled satisfyingly. 'Victory never felt so good' she thought.
Kayleigh had a new question to ask...well about a dozen questions to ask John once after she watched Javier Bardem's first scene. "He's gay isn't he? I mean come on the blond hair is so camp and the fact he got up close with Bond. Don't tell me they're going to make James Bond gay in this film too? Oh I don't think I could watch it if that happened. Talk about spoiling a good film."
"Bloody hell. Kayleigh all the Bond villains do that in every film. They're hardly going to sit behind a table with James Bond and ask him what's he going to do soon as he gets off his arse after he's lost a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, now that would be boring to watch... Patience Miss Kitson... patience." John showed off his best James Bond impression which thrilled Kayleigh.
"Hey you could go on Mastermind and use Bond films as your subject. You know what my subject would be..." Kayleigh smiled. She thinks he would do a full clean sweep during the opening round on Mastermind. She thought John even deserved to have a degree in General Knowledge if one was even ever available.
"What was yours be then Kayleigh?" John doesn't think they should be talking too greatly while watching the film because he didn't want her to miss one of the best scenes in the film.
"Well this begins with a B and ends with an E..." Kayleigh expects John to guess correctly within five seconds.
"No idea." Of course John had known he did not need to be a rocket scientist to work out what the B word stands for. He therefore proceeded to put on a good game of Sorry I Don't Have a Clue.
"You are joking me?" Kayleigh's eyes widened in surprise.
"Me joking you? as if."
"John... I talk about this subject every day. You know who I mean. Don't pretend you don't know."
"I know you sing Single Ladies enough as it is. So much so that I know the entire lyrics to the song by heart now." John had thoroughly become fond of her singing ever since he reminded her to listen to the meaning of every lyric in Beyonce songs.
Kayleigh jokingly threatened to wallop him with a cushion because he had lied to her. Her warning lasted a mere 10 seconds. Well she couldn't stay annoyed with him. She knows she couldn't be responsible for turning that handsome smile of his upside down.
The next scene which left Kayleigh gasping was the chase scene between Bond and Silva which unfolded across London before M was soon caught up in it's crossfire.
"I bet Judi Dench would have been a badass with a gun in this scene."
"You can't say that."
"What?"
"She's a Dame, Kayleigh."
"Yeah so is Helen Mirren and they let her use a gun...well one that looks like one, in that assassin film, Our Mandy let Steve watch the other night on FilmFour."
John laughed. TV viewing in Mandy's front living room must be the most boring nightly event ever for Kayleigh. Not getting to watch what she wants. Missing the latest goings-on in the soaps and all that.
"Oh aye, yeah I've only seen the first film. What dickhead calls a film 'Red' and it's sequel 'Red 2?'" John doesn't get the logical reason behind it.
Kayleigh feels she can't really give an answer to John's brilliantly asked question, as he has summed this question up in one perfect sentence.
Kayleigh finds herself crying at the scene where M dies in Bond's arms. She has genuine tears in her eyes.
"John, you never said she died in this film. Oh it's not like Doctor Who is it? you know where she regenerates into the new M and says something incredibly cheesy. " Kayleigh asks, while John being the honorable gentleman he was, had insisted on her staying still while he used his thumb to wipe her tears away.
" Of course she doesn't. Doctor Who and James Bond are two completely different franchises, Kayleigh. They're not from the same franchise." John explains further.
"Well that's good to know. Eh you know when you say 'franchise'. You make yourself sound like you're a fan of the Avengers films."
"I've never really been into those Avengers films. They're not for me. I've loved the Batman and Superman films since I was a kid."
The couple seem to have given up on the film by the time the last scene airs where Bond meets the new M played by Ralph Fiennes and Eve Moneypenny played by Naomie Harris.
"Our Kieran is a huge Batman fan. I should probably officially introduce you two to each other soon. Once he comes home on leave." Kayleigh thinks this would be a brilliant thing to do. Mandy had mentioned John to Kieran when she skyped him the other week. Her brother was overjoyed to learn that his older sister had obviously met someone special.
"It'll be nice to finally meet your Kieran." John is looking forward to the prospect of meeting her brother in person and putting a face to the name.
"You two will get along well, seeing as you have a few things in common. Like loving Batman films and you both knowing what year certain songs were released and which songs went to No.1 in the music chart." Kayleigh is convinced she won't able to get a word in edge-ways once her brother and her boyfriend start talking about their favourite superheroes movies.
End of Chapter
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