Chapter 15 - Love is in the air

(In the mean time in Portwenn)

The morning Doc and Louisa started their holiday, Morwenna woke up very early. Although it was well before her usual wake-up time, she couldn't find any sleep anymore, so she slid out of bed and opened the curtains.

To be honest to herself, she had to admit that she was quite nervous. Not only because she hadn't ever taken an airplane, but also because of the idea that she'd had to look after the son of her boss..

Exactly at the moment she peered through the curtains, she saw the Lexus of the Ellinghams pass her window.

'So they're off then', she thought.

The evening before, just before closing the surgery, Dr. Ellingham had given her an envelope.

'Don't open it before I'm out of town', Doc had said.

It was a very thick brown coloured bubble envelope.

'Well, they're gone now!', Morwenna thought. She picked up the envelope and turned it several times. She imagined that it would contain the tickets, but she felt that something else was in it as well. She tried to figure out what it could be, but she didn't succeed.

Her curiousity won from her patience, so she nestled herself in the warmth of her bed under her duvet and tore open the envelope.

In it, she found the tickets, the address and a brochure of the hotel, 100 pounds and 200 euro cash, a smartphone of the latest model with charger and earphones, as well as a letter addressed to her in the doc's rather old fashioned but readable doctor's handwriting. Morwenna unfolded the letter and started to read.

Morwenna,

You must have found the documents you need for travelling to Amsterdam by now.

I have arranged with aunt Ruth that Al Large will bring you to the airport. Call him to pick you up at ten (on your departure date). Invite him for lunch (money enclosed). He has made a tour around the world some years ago, so he has a lot of travel experience. You can ask him anything about travelling by airplane.

No reason to get stressed, but if you do anyway, go to the pharmacist. You'll find a prescription in your own file at the surgery. Take one pill on the morning of departure, it's harmless, but it will calm you down.

From now on, you can use this phone when you're on duty. Consider the journey as work, I'll pay you your normal wages and the phone bill.

The number of the surgery, my number and Louisa's can be accessed via the progammed hotkeys. To unlock the telephone tap the year I arrived in Portwenn. Don't hesitate to contact us if needed. Take a cab from the airport to the hotel (euros enclosed).

Louisa, James and I are looking forward to your arrival in Amsterdam,

Kind regards, Dr. Martin Ellingham.

Morwenna's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, when she read the letter. 'What was happening to the doc.. It was to her like Scrooge waking up at Christmas morning, after his predictive dreams... And how on earth could he have diagnosed her fear for flying and traveling alone?'

She dropped the letter and picked up the phone to have a good look at it. She unlocked it without any difficulty. She scrolled through the contacts list. It was filled with the numbers mentioned in the letter, but also the number of the farm, Ruth's and Al's.

Then she checked the apps and discovered that most of her favourite music was registered on the smartphone. And on top of that, she found the flight information and the hotel site as favourite links on the browser.

'Nope, can't be the doc who configured this...', she said to herself.

Her alarm clock showed 6:45, too early to make a call, but she sent a text message: 'Thx doc!'

A bit comforted by the letter and the other information from the envelope, Morwenna relaxed and soon dozed of again.

It seemed like two minutes later, when her alarm clock sent out the beeps Morwenna hated so much.

'Oh no, shut up you stupid thing'!

Nevertheless, she had to get out. She had to work one last day and give Poppy some instructions. The girl had already replaced the former receptionist once and she had accepted to look after the reception for a few days.

Since Pauline left, the administration had been reorganized completely. Morwenna didn't like the idea of the whole system being destroyed while she was away. So she'd go to the surgery this morning and then go back home and pack.

'Morning Doc, how was you night at the Crab and lobster?'

'Is that any of your business?', dr. Brown replied friendly but firmly.

'Gee, no wonder he gets well along with our doc', Morwenna thought.

'Coffee, tea?'

'Oh, a coffee please. I have no clue of how to use Martin's espresso machine!'

'Well no one is allowed to use that one, but I'll show you how the one we can use works.'

Poppy entered the surgery. Morwenna presented her to dr. Brown and soon they were absorbed by the work. The morning advanced rapidly and after a while Poppy did well on her own. Morwenna went to the kitchen and pressed one of the hotkeys of her new smartphone.

'So you've found it hey', Al said without even saying hello.

'Good morning to you too, Al! And yes, I've found the envelope. Knew it was you who helped the doc'.

'Oh?'

'I don't imagine Doc Martin putting this kind of music on a smartphone...'

Al laughed out loud.

'You're right, if it were for him to do it, you'd be stuck with Händel and Purcell...'.

'Al, I'd like you to pick me up at 10:00 tomorrow, I prefer being at the airport early...'.

'Yes mam!'

'No seriously Al, I'd like to be there early - and we can take a bite together...Doc's paying.'

The next morning Morwenna was very nervous, she checked over and over if she had everything, passport, money, address of the hotel, phone, a raincoat, an umbrella..

Instead of wearing one of her folkloric skirts and loos tops, she now wore a decent pair of jeans and a pullover.

Al arrived spot on time, Doc had warned him about her being nervous and adviced him to be well on time.

When he saw Morwenna coming out of the door, he got a lump in his throat, God what was she beautiful..

The day they had worked together to save Caroline Bosman's life, he suddenly understood why the silly dating site matching the two of them together, wasn't so silly at all: he then realized what a wonderful and smart girl she was. But he was also Al Large, very shy and not very good at flirting. To be honest, the relations he had before were both initiated by the girls...not that he didn't want them to do that, at the time.. What he felt for Morwenner was different, he wasn't able to describe it.

Every time he saw a glimpse of her in the village, he felt it in his stomach. And he couldn't get her out of his mind.

The work at the farm had absorbed his time, so he hadn't had much occasion to ask her out. And now she'd be gone for four days. Lucky him, Doc asked him to bring her to the airport.

'Mornin' Morwenner', he said and picked up her suitcase to put it in the trunk of Ruth's Mercedes.

'Morning Al', Morwenna replied and she stepped in the car.

Al manoeuvered the car smoothly through the narrow streets of Portwenn. When they were well out of town, Morwenna asked 'How did you know what's my favourite music?'

Al blushed a bit and said 'I looked it up via the dating site - I saved the mails I received at the time...'

'It saved me a lot of time, because I didn't need to copy them myself - thanks'.

For quite some time, neither of them spoke. Once in a while, Al gave her a quick glance. She didn't even seem to notice it and kept nervously fumbling the hem of her pullover.

'Gee, she IS nervous', Al thought. He waited for the right place, but at the first occasion he pulled over the car and parked it. It was a beautiful spot, a walking track started from there that led to a marvelous view over the bay.

'Come on Morwenner, let's get some fresh air and go for a small walk, you need that, otherwise you'll get sick on the plane'.

Much to his surprise, Morwenna stepped out of the car immediately.

Walking side by side, Al started to talk calmly about his travelling around the world, focussing on what he felt the first time he took a plane - a feeling of excitement that slowly turned into something like taking a bus, after four or five times. He also explained in a very natural way the procedures at the check-in and at customs. Seeing that she still was very tense, he comfortingly put his arm around her shoulder.

'Nothing to worry about, really! You'll see when you're coming back, you'll say that it was a piece of cake.'

Al continued speaking softly and telling her anecdotes of what he had seen during his journey around the world, skipping the part where he had to work in a mine to pay the ticket to go back home, of course. It seemed to work, her shoulders slowly relaxed a bit and she even smiled at some of his funny stories.

They arrived at the viewing point. The sun was shining and together they marvelled the beauty of the view.

'You know that you're going to the Netherlands exactly at the right moment? The flowerfields must be wonderful at this time of the year. When you fly over it it looks like a colourful blanket, what do you call it again?'

'A quilt?

'Yeah, that's it. Your telephone has a marvelous camera, try to make some pictures. I'll show you how it works'!

Al stood behind her now and helped her with the camera. They took some pictures of the panorama view. 'Now one of us, a selfie', Al said. Morwenna was now laughing out loud, the perfect moment to register her beautiful face. The result was - for Al at least - breathtaking.'I Have to find a way to get a copy', flashed through his mind.

Morwenna was now completely relaxed. She liked being in the embrace of Al, so she allowed herself to lean in a bit, just a bit. 'Maybe Al wouldn't even notice it', she thought.

Pointing at the expensive smartphone, she said 'I allways took him for a penny-pincher'. She tried to keep the conversation neutral.

Al did notice her coming closer to him and instinctively made the embrace a tiny bit firmer. He had to collect his thoughts before answering her. Would she return his feelings, or was it just a gesture to stay balanced? What did she say again?

'Uhm, well, I don't think the Doc is a miser. He invented the need for a monthly check-up for the computers at the surgery once. I bet he even mucked up the computer on purpose sometimes, just to make me come to the surgery and repair it and just to have an excuse to make him pay for it. With the money I earned that way, I financed my IT study...', Al replied.

Morwenna was really surprised to hear that. 'A silly, but caring man he is, our Doc', she said with a smile.

'We'll have to get back to the car now, you wouldn't want to miss the flight, do you?

Not far from the airport, they stopped at a small restaurant for lunch. There was plenty of time left before Morwenna had to check in. They sat down in a quiet corner and placed their order.

Waiting for the food to arrive, Al did his utmost best to keep the conversation running and started to talk about the plans for the farm and about how nice it was to work with Ruth.

'What a clever woman she is', he said. 'Just as smart as our doc, must be all in the family'. Morwenna showed serious interest in his plans, but was still quieter than she normally was.

When the food was served, they quietly enjoyed the delicious meal and ordered a coffee afterwards.

'Let's pay and get out of here', Al suggested.

At the airport, Al helped her with the check in, then the time came to say goodbye to each other.

'I am sorry Al, I haven't been a very pleasant company today. Thank you for your nice explanations. Doc was right, you are good at it, explain these things, I mean'.

'You're welcome. I wish I could come with you', Al answered, gently putting his hand on her arm.

Morwenna blushed and then replied 'I wish that too'.

'What was that?'

'That you could come as well, I wish that too'.

Al took both her hands in his and swallowed hard. Was she just saying it, or...?

He suddenly couldn't refrain himself from kissing her, so he cupped her face in his hands and softly kissed her lips. Much to his surprise, she put her hand in his neck to pull him closer and kissed him back. Soon the gentle kiss got more and more passionate. They were now completely oblivious of what happened arround them. Only when some other traveler accidently hit Al's behind, they broke apart. Later, Morwenna thought that it was only thanks to that bump, that she'd caught the plane.

'We'll talk about this later, right? But now you have to pass customs. I'll miss you!', 'I'll miss you too!'

Al gave her a last kiss, Morwenna gave him a very last kiss back and then she took the direction of the passport control. With a happy smile on her face, she wove goodbye to him.

Al looked at her and woved back, he felt a bit odd, but he was glad to see her smile.

Seated near a window, she had to switch her phone to flight modus, but just before, she sent to Al the selfie made that morning, with as comment: I LOVE YOU AL!

She had so much to think about, now, so suddenly, all her fears were gone. She said to herself: 'Amsterdam, here I come!'

To be continued..

author's note: sorry, not much information of my country this time, but I simply had to bring Al and Morwenna together...

Reviews are welcome!