Hi everyone,

So, Sunday night. I hope you've had a good weekend. I'm not going to lie, I've been looking forward to hiding away to edit this chapter all day. We're moving into my favourite part of the story now, and the weekend that I firmly visualise myself in when I'm having a wishful thinking moment! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I'll make sure the next chapter is posted asap and won't let it get to Friday again before I let you read what happens next. If you're reading for the first time, its about to become clear why this story was nicknamed 'The one with the boat'.

See you again soon,

Bananagirl x

Chapter 10: Blue Flecks

Molly looked herself up and down as she prepared to walk home. The holiday club was fun, but boy was it messy! This was the fourth day running she had left the building adorned with various shades of glitter covering her clothing. The long Easter weekend would be a welcome rest and chance to de-sparkle. Grateful for it only being a short walk home, Molly visualised the wine she was going to pour, the bath she was going to run and the music she was going to listen to and could almost feel her body starting to relax.

However on entering the house it soon became clear that her night was not going to go according to plan as Fingers, who over the last week seemed to have become a permanent feature, had taken over the kitchen and was in the middle of creating a feast. "Alright Fingers, what's cooking? And what have you done with Jackie?"

Fingers mock bowed to Molly as she entered the kitchen and gave her a tour of his efforts. Evidently he and Jackie had decided to make their relationship official (which seemed a very bizarre thing to Molly as they had been shagging each other since the start of uni) and were celebrating with a romantic meal for two. "I've sent Jackie to relax in the bath as the Beef Wellingtons take a while; look I've even made my own pastry!" He was clearly very pleased with himself. "What are you up to tonight?" he asked.

Molly was happy for her friends, but couldn't ignore the elephant in the room that she either needed to go out, stay in her room or play gooseberry for the evening. She didn't particularly fancy any of the options but decided to lie and say that she had plans to meet a friend at the pub. "In fact, I better get a move on or I'll be late. Say hi to Jackie for me."

She grabbed her bag and made her way back through the door she had not five minutes ago come through, heading for her favourite bench on the sea wall. Taking a seat and a few calming breaths instantly refreshed Molly, it was a beautiful evening, the sky still a clear bright blue. The boats that had come out the water for the winter had started to make their way back to their moorings giving the harbour back it's picture perfect quality. Molly closed her eyes, and inhaled the scents of the sea combined with the spring time bulbs blooming in the flower beds dotted along the coastal path. She listened to the sounds of the harbour; seagulls flapping and squawking intermingled with flags and rigging banging against each other. The water lapped against the sea wall in a repetitive pattern that quietened her over active mind and lulled her into a peaceful state of bliss.

-OG-

Charles' week had not been exactly relaxing but it had certainly been a change from the norm. His little boat had been out of the water all winter, berthed in the town marina. He had spent the start of the holiday diligently reapplying the anti-fouling paint to her underside and varnishing the woodwork. She was older than he was; but still very seaworthy and he enjoyed maintaining her almost as much as he did sailing her. Earlier today she had been craned into the water and he had spent the rest of the day happily pottering on board, not noticing how much of the day had passed until his tummy had let out a long growl indicating that it needed to eat.

After securing the hatches and climbing into the smaller boat tied up astern, he had rowed himself back to shore, each stroke driven by the heady smell of fish and chips wafting towards him from the shore. However his focus had been totally distracted by the sight of Molly Dawes sitting with her eyes closed on his favourite bench, seemingly lost in her thoughts and totally unaware of the world around her. He stood just watching her for a moment, her long hair cascaded down her shoulders and fluttered slightly in the breeze and he was curious to notice she seemed to be sparkling slightly in the sunlight.

"The view's much better when you open your eyes you know Dawsey!"

She knew it was him the moment he started taking, her body reacting to the gentle tones of his voice sending the butterflies flying out of their temporary cocoon. Opening her eyes she allowed herself to look directly at him and couldn't stop the smile forming widely on her face. "Did you just call me Dawsey?"

He didn't answer, just pushed hands in to his pockets and smiled that slightly cocky smile with ever so slightly raised eyebrows that she was starting to see when she closed her eyes. He took a seat on the bench next to her, both turning away from the sea to face each other. "What brings you here?"

"My flat mate and her boyfriend have decided to have a cosy night in, so I made a bid for freedom! That's our place over there, the one with the turquoise door." She pointed to the pretty row of coastguard cottages that lined the edge of the Mill Pond. "What about you? Are you having a nice holiday?" Her attention was caught by flecks on blue paint in his hair, she leant forward and tried to remove it with her finger tips, "Do you have blue paint in your hair?"

Charles ran his hands through his hair, revelling in the feel of their finger tips briefly touching. "It's been good, thank you. A total change from school, I've spent most the week painting the underside of my boat, hence the blue paint. Put her back in the water today in fact, you can see her from here, white hull, and blue boom cover." He pointed to the row of boats lined up on the moorings buoys.

"I hate to break it to you Boss, but that describes most the boats out there. What's a boom cover?"

He laughed and decided to make the most of the opportunity Lady Luck had graciously granted him. "Have you got plans this evening? I was about to wonder up and get some fish and chips, we could get enough for both of us then take them out to the boat to eat. If you like the view sitting here, you'll love it from the water, and if you're good I'll show you what a boom cover is."

"Will I have to call you Captain?" She knew she was going to say yes, but she didn't want to make it too obvious that he only had to give the nod and she'd apparently happily sail off into the sunset with him.

"Only when you're asking permission to come aboard" he looked straight into her eyes, smiling widely, almost daring her to come with him. Molly found herself mesmerised by him. His now slightly crooked smile showed his perfect teeth and highlighted the sparkle in the flecks of his eyes. Standing up he held out his hand towards her which she gladly took allowing him to help her up.

"Might as well", Molly answered, trying to appear nonchalant although fearing she was failing desperately, "I've got nothing else to do."

-OG-

Not half an hour later Molly found herself sitting in what she had now been told was the stern of the rowing boat. In her arms she held a bag of steaming fish and chips, several bars of chocolate and at her feet were a box of beers. She had been surprised to discover her first impressions of him had been widely inaccurate and that they in fact seemed to share a similar affection for banter and generally taking the piss out of the other, the fact that he was technically her boss conveniently forgotten despite the nickname she had given him.

"You better row a bit a faster captain, or I might gonna make a start on the chips; the smell is driving me mad!"

"Remind me why I volunteered to spend an evening with you again?"

"Must be my magnetic charm and personality rubbing off on you."

"Must be." He rolled his eyes at her while she tried not to make it too obvious that she was in fact checking out his breath-taking arms. "Try and wait out a little longer if you can Dawsey, we're almost there." Having manoeuvred them alongside Charles pulled the oars into the dinghy, reached for the painter and secured them to the small yacht. She was very pretty; a classic sailing boat maybe 25 feet long, the hull white above the water line and blue below. The freshly varnished woodwork glistened in the evening sun while the burgee at the top of the mast fluttered slightly in the breeze. Charles took the food from her and placed on one of the benches around the edge of the cockpit then came back to help Molly aboard. "Welcome aboard Silver Dawn, give me a second to grab some cushions then we can eat."

Molly looked around her, Chichester Harbour was even more beautiful from the water. To the west the sun was just beginning to set casting a pink tint to form above the Portsmouth skyline, she was amazed at how far she could see; from Portsdown Hill in the west to the rolling South Downs and Chichester Cathedral spire to the east. Emsworth itself looked the quintessential fishing village all traditional buildings and slipways leading to the water. She could see couples walking along the seawall which prompted her to realise she could also make out their turquoise front door standing out from the others. Having placed the bench cushions down Charles opened two beers and passed one to Molly. "Its breath taking isn't it? I never tire of this view." He pointed to a white structure on the hills to the east. "That's Goodwood race course over there, on a clear day if you climb to the top of The Trundle you can see all of this harbour and Langstone harbour too. Some days you can even see as far as The Isle of Wight."

They sat opposite each other and started their chips, "I love it, thank you for bringing me out here." They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, enjoying how relaxed they felt with each other before Molly's curiosity about her companion got the better of her "So did you grew up around here then?"

Charles shook his head, "No, I've only been here since last summer, I used to live in Bath, but I've always liked this part of the world. My grandparents had a house on the harbour in Bosham and I used to stay with them for weeks at a time. This is where I learnt to sail. When the job came up at Quayside, it couldn't have been better timing." He took a long pull on his beer and looked thoughtfully out to sea. Not wanting to break his thoughts Molly did the same, willing him to continue but instead he shook his head as though shaking the memories away and changed the topic of conversation completely. "Tell me about Ghana."

-OG-

Chips long finished and the beers all drained Molly lay her head back and looked up to the stars. It had been one the most relaxed and enjoyable evenings she could remember. He seemed genuinely interested in her; when he asked what had inspired her into teaching she had found herself telling him all about her parents and Mr Quaseem. She could tell from his body language that he was shocked; but he never made any judgement just remarking that she was clearly already a long way towards following in Mr Quaseem's footsteps.

They inevitably talked a little about Bashira and Farooq at that point. Charles was touched by how much Molly cared about the children's wellbeing. He divulged to Molly that Children's Services were planning to visit over the holidays and he was anticipating an update from them anytime. At this he had instinctively reached for his phone and checked to see if there were any emails pending.

"Do you ever switch off?" She joked. He apologised and put the phone away, the light of the phone disappearing making it suddenly obvious how dark it had become. "I wasn't complaining, I was kind of impressed really. You do seem very dedicated, the kids all love you and you're the first head teacher I haven't heard anyone slagging off. How do you juggle it all?"

"I'm not sure I do, it never seems to matter how long I stay or how many weekends I work, there is always more to be done. I've got a great leadership team but with me being new we're all learning the ropes together and there's only so much I can delegate. I might preach a good line about the importance of work life balance, but I certainly don't practise it!"

"No girlfriend?" She couldn't believe she had asked him that, and was grateful for the dark as she waited for him to answer.

"No girlfriend. I used to have one in Bath, I took her to Rome and proposed, but she pointed out that I was already married to my job and she didn't fancy being a third wheel. Evidently she had decided enough was enough some weeks before but didn't want to miss out on the chance to see Rome." His frank honestly, all be it disguised in his self-deprecating humour spoke to her heart. She reached her hand into his and squeezed.

"I'm sorry, that sounds shit." She said.

He squeezed her hand in reply, enjoying the feel of her soft, tiny hands in his. "It was. But I've made my peace with it, a smooth sea never made a skilful sailor hey Dawes?"

"I wouldn't know Boss" she replied, cheeky grin firmly back in place, "this is the first time these land loving legs of mine have left dry land!"

"Now that Dawes, is something we will have to rectify." Sitting up he suddenly seemed to register how late it was. "I should probably get you back; do you trust me to row you home in the dark?"

She felt a pang of disappointment that their evening was coming to an end but picked up on the hint that she might be invited back again. There was definitely chemistry between them, and although they were firmly in the getting to know each other stage, she couldn't help but wonder what might happen if the evening didn't have to end. She stood up and pointed the torch on her phone back towards the shore. "Um Boss, I know I'm merely the cabin girl in this situation, but I think I can see a flaw in your rowing plan."

"What's that Dawsey?" he called up from where he had gone below deck to put the cushions away.

"We've been talking so long that the tides gone out. We're high and dry!"