#8 – The picnic

''How many times must I tell you, I was not flirting with her!'' John exhaled in frustration, closing the car door after him.

''Yes, you were!'' Vera hissed, her eyes narrowed, as he made his way around the car to open the door for her.

''How can you call 'Excuse me, can you please tell me where the toilets are?' flirting?''

''It's the way you said it,'' she fumed, slamming the car door behind her.

''Good god, Vera, can we please not do this today?'' Listening to his wife go on and on about things that had never really happened exhausted him. Ever since they had been together, Vera Bates had attempted to control everything in his life - what he did and said, where he went, and even with whom. She had tried to keep him completely under her thumb, and in the beginning he had been too smitten by her to do anything about it. Now it was too late.

''Why? Are you afraid your stupid little friends will finally find out that you're sleeping around?'' Violet, the mother of John's best friend, Robert, was turning 60 today. And since she didn't want a big party, her family had decided to organize a picnic in the gardens of their estate, Downton Abbey.

''Not that again!'' John looked at her. ''I've told you a million times already. There is nothing going on between Mrs. Johnson and me.''

''Mhm, keep telling yourself that,'' she snickered, and continued walking toward the back of the house.

''Vera, please - can we just…'' John said, pulling her by the hand. He just wanted to ask - maybe even beg - her to behave nicely at the picnic, but as always she took it to another level.

''Let go of me!'' she snapped, jerking her hand out of his. ''And don't you dare touch me like that again!''

''I just want-…''

''I don't give a damn what you want.'' She glared at him. ''I don't even know why I'm here.''

''Because Violet was kind enough to…'' John began, but he knew it was hopeless. His wife always said and did what she wanted, and didn't care who got hurt in the process. In the end, he had always taken the blame for her actions, just to get some peace in his life. He was well aware that she didn't like the Crawleys. They had always rubbed her the wrong way, primarily because she knew that the whole family adored him.

''I don't even like the old witch. Why should I care how I behave at her stupid birthday picnic, with all her stupid family and friends?'' Vera grumbled, ignoring John and heading in the direction of the gardens.

''Are you coming or not?'' she demanded, when she noticed he wasn't right behind her.

''Yes, dear.'' John exhaled and started trailing behind his wife, hoping that she wouldn't make another scene in front of the Crawleys.

xXx

''Do you need any help?'' John asked, walking toward Robert, who was in charge of the barbeque.

''No, I'm good, thanks.'' Robert smiled as he flipped a couple of burgers over. ''Are you all right?''

''Sure. Why wouldn't I be?'' he tried to smile.

''I don't know. Maybe because a certain Mrs. Bates just stormed out of the house and drove off, without saying goodbye?''

''Oh, you saw that?'' John sipped his beer. It had only been two hours since they had arrived at the picnic. Vera had begun saying that she wanted to leave almost as soon as they had arrived. She had been bored, and had complained that she was not in the mood to make small talk with "these people." But since it had been weeks since he had spent any time at all with his friends, John had told her that he wasn't ready to go home yet. In the end, she had stormed off and driven away in a rage, leaving him behind.

''Saw...heard...'' Robert chuckled sadly.

''Sorry about…''

''Oh, John - when are you going to stop apologising for her behaviour? She's a bitch! And you and I both know that you should have divorced her years ago.'' Robert turned, waving a spatula in front of John's face for emphasis.

''I know, I know.'' He didn't mind Robert talking about his wife that way. In fact, he agreed with him - she was a nasty piece of work, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to continue to live like this indefinitely.

''So do something, for god's sake! You owe it to yourself. You deserve a better life!''

''Robert, can we please not talk about my marriage today...please.'' John exhaled, well aware that Robert was right, but he really wasn't in the mood to discuss it. He just wanted to spend the rest of the day in his friends' company, trying not to think about what he would have to face when he went home in the evening. Vera would be furious that he hadn't wanted to go home with her, and it wouldn't be pretty.

''But Jo-…'' Robert continued, but his oldest daughter's voice interrupted him.

''Papa! Anna is here!''

''Hi Anna.'' Robert waved in the girls' direction.

''Who is An-…?'' John began, but his voice faded when he turned and saw her. She was wearing a yellow summer dress with white polka dots, black sunglasses resting on top of her long blonde hair, which bounced freely as she walked toward him and Robert, Mary at her side. She was petite, but my god - her legs seemed to go on forever. John knew he was staring, but he couldn't help himself. She was stunning.

''Hello, Mr. Crawley,'' Anna greeted Robert, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

''Anna, how many times must I tell you? Please call me Robert.''

''I'll try.'' She smiled and turned her attention to the man standing next to her best friend's dad.

''Uncle John, this is my friend, Anna Smith,'' Mary said. "Anna, this is my dad's friend, John."

''Hello,'' Anna said sweetly, but it was as if John had forgotten how to speak. Little did he know that she had been surreptitiously checking him out from the moment she had arrived at the party, 10 minutes earlier. Of course, this had not gone unnoticed by Mary, who'd had to practically drag her to meet him.

''John? Is everything all right?'' Mary asked, attempting to stifle a laugh. She had known him since she was a little girl and, well aware that his marriage was a complete disaster, she noticed the way he had been staring at her friend.

''John!'' Robert whispered, nudging him in the ribs. Finally John realized that he needed to say something.

''Wh-, ummm…hi…hi, I'm Jo-, John,'' he stammered, and clumsily offered his hand.

''Hi, I'm Anna. Nice to meet you.'' She shook his hand, and immediately felt butterflies in her stomach. Mary had shown her some photos with John in them years ago, but he looked even more handsome in person.

''Nice to meet you, too,'' John smiled, still shaking her hand. What was happening? he asked himself. Just looking at her, he felt his heart beat quicken.

''Mary, would you please help me get these plates onto the tables? I believe our guests are getting hungry,'' Robert said, handing her a stack of plates. Just as Mary had, he was noticing John's strange behaviour. There was almost a 10-year difference between his best friend and Anna, but if she might be the answer to John's problems, he was all for it.

''Sure.'' Mary took the plates and followed her father toward the picnic tables, deliberately ignoring Anna's look that was silently begging her not to leave her alone with John.

It wasn't that she felt uncomfortable with him; on the contrary, she felt inexplicably drawn to him. But Anna had felt something move inside her the moment their eyes had locked, something that she didn't quite understand but that made her feel as if her life had shifted slightly. She felt off-balance, and the feeling was disconcerting.

Little did they know that this casual, innocent meeting would end up changing both of their lives in ways neither could have imagined. It was the seed of a new future; it was the beginning of them.

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