Chapter Three
To their horror a double-decker bus was speeding straight towards them. Peter acted purely on instinct.
He grabbed her by the upper arms and just flung himself backwards. She luckily grabbed the lapels of his coat so she had a good hold of him. They both smashed onto the cold wet sidewalk to the shock of pedestrians who hadn't been paying much attention to anything. The bus flashed by, horn honking angrily. Peter looked up slightly. He couldn't help but notice the girl had her head buried in his chest. Unfortunately for him, he also saw as the bus was driving by it moved towards the curb slightly, splashing into a puddle of water that had accumulated at the side of the road due to a stopped up drain. Despite his best efforts to shield them both, the wave-like plume of water managed to drench them both.
Peter watched as the bus hurtled down the road. He looked over the girls body to his right hand which was holding not only the girl's arm but what it could of the handle of his suitcase. Expecting to see it open from the jostling and impact of hitting the ground, he was shocked to see it was still latched, his clothes not strewn all over the sidewalk.
"Excuse me," The voice was quiet, gentle. Peter looked down and found the hazel eyes looking up at him. She smiled, her hair wet but not soaked; beads of water rested on the bright curls, "Um, do you mind if we get up now?"
Peter realised to his chagrin that he was still holding her rather tightly and not only that but instead of jumping up instantly and helping her too her feet they were still, in fact, lying on the filthy ground. "Goodness, I am sorry." He got up and as he did so he helped her to her feet. He noticed the belt of her jacket had come undone and revealed a form-fitting ivy green dress underneath. It was knee-length opposed to her coat that went mid calf, with a thick belt around her waist and buttons up the front to a v-neck.
Her smile was so bright, Peter couldn't imagine any other girl smiling like that after being nearly hit by a bus and then getting drenched with street water. "Oh I don't mind at all, you did save my life!" She said brightly. As she spoke she looked down at her self. As the water set into her hair she did look something like a drowned kitten. "My, my, " She said appraisingly. One of her perfect shoes had a nasty cuff that probably wouldn't polish out, there was a ruddy great hole in the left side of her stockings where she had landed and one of the heels had snapped and was dangling off her shoe.
"Oh I am truly sorry, not much of a hero am I?" Peter said running his hand through his wet hair. There was a tear in the side of his trousers as well but he didn't care nearly so much as he imagined she did.
"Oh pish tosh," She said looking back up at him. It seemed to Peter that for the first time she really looked at him, her eyes took him in slowly, yet seemed to take no time at all. He wouldn't mind at all if she looked at him like Muriel did. "You are a perfect gentle man." She said looking back in his eyes. It was impossible to say what she actually thought of him. "Oh my goodness look at the two of us, if you didn't mind, my flat is just around the corner, we could dry off and have a cup of tea...if you weren't in a rush anywhere."
For a very fleeting moment the thought of his school work washed over Peters mind but ultimately it didn't really make much of an impression. "Oh yes that would be lovely." Her smile broadened and he simply delighted in her reaction.