"How long is it gonna be? I feel like I've been sitting here forever. I'm still hungry, you know." Molly looked out of the window, taking a deep breath, looking at the undulating fields and trees whizzing past. The feeling of the leather seats making her body slightly sticky and the dress she wore, cling to the back of her legs.
"Good things come to those who wait, Molly." Charles looked across at her with a twinkle in his eye and a wide smile. "It'll be worth it, I promise." He reached over the centre console, took Molly's hand, brought it to his lips and gently kissed the back of it. His warm breath causing goose bumps to rise up her arms and cause her face to flush slightly.
Molly loved it when Charles was open with his feelings. She always felt so comfortable and could be herself around him. She'd never been one for showing a huge outpouring of emotion but with Charles, it was like he'd tapped into her soul with the love he had for her and just like Molly used to think to herself hoping, she finally had the heart-thumping, blood pumping, breath taking, adrenalin rush of being with someone who made you complete.
"How's your Mum and Dad?" Molly asked Charles. She hadn't met them yet but Charles never went home to Bath that often but promised she would see them soon. He was looking forward to when the time came when they could be introduced as he was sure they would love her as much as he did.
"They're good. Mum has hired a gardener at long last. It's quite a huge garden they've got and it's a big job. Even just cutting the grass is a bit much sometimes. So he starts this week. Dad's thinking about taking early retirement. He's been at the bank for nearly 30 years now so I think he fancies being a gentleman of leisure." Charles laughed looking between Molly and the road ahead.
"My Dad loves being a gentleman of leisure. I think he's perfected the whole routine by now. The only thing he's ever done over 30 years is order my Mum about." Molly sniffed out under her breath. Charles looked over to her at the mention of her parents. From various things she'd said to him, he could tell that they had a strained relationship. He wished there was something he could do as he enjoyed such a great one with his own parents but didn't want to interfere.
"Well Miss Dawes, sorry to interrupt your musings but we are here." Charles indicated left off the busy main road and turned into a narrow tree lined lane.
"You're not bringing me here to kill me, are you?" Molly laughed. "It's really narrow, ain't it? Are you sure the car will fit through?
"Course it will. If not I'll just say that my gorgeous girlfriend forced me to give her a test drive and drove into some bushes so just blame her."
"Hey, you can't say that." They both laughed with Molly hitting Charles playfully on the arm.
The lane opened out to a huge lake surrounded by beautiful grassland with a couple of oak trees and bushes dotted around. There were a few lily pads on the water's surface with dragonfly darting between them. The sun was setting slowly casting a orangey hue to the area.
Charles pulled up in the car and ran round and opened Molly's door for her. As she stepped out, he took her hand. "This is absolutely gorgeous. It's so quiet and peaceful here. How did you know about this place?"
"Well it took a bit of searching but I wanted to find somewhere that was like the pictures you create." He let go of Molly's hand and gazed softly at her as she walked slowly towards the lake, picking a leaf from the nearest tree and spinning it round in her fingers. He loved how she took so much pleasure from the simple things in life, such as trees, the countryside, the different colours that the sun creates when shining through things. Her passion radiated through the paintings she created at home.
Charles opened the car boot and lifted out a picnic basket, blanket and a cool box.
"Well Madam, I thought we could do a bit of outdoor dining today. It's a lovely warm evening."
He laid out the picnic blanket and proceeded to unpack the basket and cool box.
Molly turned and walked back towards Charles and sat down on the blanket. Smoothing out her skirt as she sat. She looked at him and stroked his arm as he continued working.
"You always know how to surprise me, don't you? Careful though, I could get used to this sort of thing."
"Well, there's worse things to get used to. Anyway what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't try to impress you? Champagne?" Charles pulled a bottle out of the cool box with 2 glasses.
"I don't think I've had champagne before. Yes, please. Just look at this spread too. I won't be able to eat for a week after this."
Charles had indeed gone above and beyond with his outdoor dining. There was a selection of cold meats, salads, some cheese, fresh bread, mini sausage rolls and prawn cocktail flavoured crisps as he knew Molly loved them, a couple of desserts, with some bottled water in case they were thirsty if they took a short walk.
"Cheers. Here's to a lovely evening." Charles said as they both clinked their glasses together. As they began to eat, he briefly thought to himself he could never imagine doing something like this with Rebecca. She couldn't stand doing something so simple and intimate. No doubt her mobile phone would ring every few minutes with a "dahling" friend telling her the latest gossip about something inane but to her would be so very important.
No, the happiness he had experienced in his life since knowing Molly had been significant. As he would admit, in previous years, he had enjoyed the parties and social lifestyle he had with Rebecca but in reality it was an empty false world. Yes, he still loved his design job but he needed personal happiness to make his being complete.
And that began and ended with Molly Dawes.
2 Hours Later
Molly was lying on the blanket with her head resting on Charles legs while he was sitting up and stroking her hair. They were listening to the sound of the birds singing in the tops of the trees. The light was dying for the day and the sky was a mixture of deep purple and red fluffy lines in the sky. Molly was watching the deep shards of light peeping through the holes of the leaves on the trees. A shadow was beginning to creep over the couples faces as they lay together.
"Have you seen that bird over there?" Molly pointed over in the direction of a lone bird that flew over and landed on the grass near to a huge green bush with purple flower heads all over it. "It's called a blackcap. If you look on his head he's got what looks like a black cap on but the female has more of a chestnut coloured cap. It's called a "northern nightingale" because of its singing voice. I bet you didn't know that". Molly looked up at him and winked. She loved to tease him with her beginners knowledge of wildlife.
Since moving to Harpenden and having her own garden, she had definitely a little more knowledge than she used to have, mostly garnered from a handbook, from seeing birds flying into her garden and various other wildlife that would frequent her little piece of solitude.
"No. I did not know that." Charles chuckled quietly looking proudly Molly's eyes, her green irises so vivid in the dying light. "You're like my little encyclopaedia, aren't you?
"Yeah, I suppose I am but don't get me to spell that word though." Molly laughed at herself while looking up at Charles face.
"Well I know a word that I do like to spell." Charles had a mischievous glint in his eye as he raised his knees which meant Molly's face was lifted up. She put her hand under her head, looking up and being mesmerised by his beautiful brown eyes, drinking all of Molly in. Her long hair splayed on his legs and down to the luscious grass underneath.
"Which word is that then?"
"B. E. A. U" with each letter he said quietly, he lowered his face closed to Molly's mouth until she could feel his breath upon her lips and face. "T. I. F. U. L" As soon as his chosen word was spelt, he softly kissed Molly's lips with his thumb stroking her jaw and his long fingers stretching behind her neck. His lips felt warm and inviting. She lifted her right arm and plunged her fingers into the curls on his head, the feel of it like velvet running through her hands.
As Molly's lips opened further to invite him in, he softly pushed his tongue into her mouth, seeking companionship of hers. Charles groaned, making a low rumble in his throat. Molly thought he tasted wonderful. A mixture of half a glass of champagne that he had drank mixed with the warm sensation of his being. After kissing gently but seductively for what felt like a lifetime, they slowly pulled apart, foreheads touching.
"Would you like to dance?" Charles got up, gently moving Molly and walking backwards with a smirk on his face.
"What, here? It's gotten pretty dark now and we have no music." Molly looked around but saw that the light from the rising moon was dancing on the water's surface.
"Not so dark now." Charles came back holding a dozen tea lights in his arm and a lighter. She watched him place the lights haphazardly on the ground around where they were sat and lit each one in turn.
"Mr James, what happens if I stand on one of those doing my Strictly routine?" She laughed, feeling her heart skip a beat as she realised she had never danced outside before especially somewhere so open.
"We're going to dance the old fashioned way. Trust me and hold onto me. I've got you." Charles took a small remote out of his pocket and pressed a button which made an in-car stereo system come to life.
Charles took Molly's right hand in his and placed her left hand on his shoulder while his right hand wound its way round her waist. As soon as the song started to play, she instantly remembered it. It was Billie Holiday and The Very Thought Of You.
"I remember this. How did you think of it?" Molly thought back to when she first heard this song and longed to move slowly on a dancefloor in Charles arms to it, looking into his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. Her wish had come true but instead of a dancefloor, they were surrounded by Mother Nature in the most beautiful of surroundings.
"I remember everything about our first date." Charles said, biting his bottom lip. "Especially that photo booth that took ages to work." He smirked briefly before they moved slowly in a loving silence just drinking in the moment that Molly wished would never end. The tea candles giving off a soft cream glow on the young couple.
They had danced together through quite a few Billie Holiday songs but they hadn't noticed. Molly loved how the old fashioned songs sounded and imagined a wartime couple dancing like this to the recent song of the times. She was remembering things from their first date too that she was sure would be etched in her memory for a long time.
An hour later
The music stopped and Charles kissed Molly's hand. Even though it was getting late, the evening was still humid with moonlight illuminating their faces.
"Thank you for dancing with me. I hope you enjoyed it."
"Do you even need to ask Charles? It was perfect. All of it. Just perfect." She could feel tears prick the back of her eyes at how magical the evening had been. It felt out of this world and knew that when she would tell Joanna about it, who was an incurable romantic, she would be extremely envious.
"Come on, we'd better head back. It's getting late and don't want you getting a chill. Get in the car and I'll pack up."
"Okay". Molly leant forward and kissed his lips briefly and headed over to the shining new vehicle.
She pressed the button on the car door to rise up and she settled herself into the cool leather of the car's sports seat and took a deep breath.
Just as she had settled and closed the door and looked outside at Charles blowing out the tea lights and packing up the blanket, he received an incoming call on his mobile which was ringing through the car stereo system.
Molly didn't know which buttons to press on the complicated looking controls but she instantly saw a name appear: Rebecca Mobile.
A quiet voice came though the speakers which made Molly's heart sink and her breathing start to quicken. Her eyes couldn't stop looking at the name in front of her.
"Hi Charles, sorry to call you so late but (sigh) I need to talk to you. I want to explain a few things. But I love you. I'll never stop loving you. I want you to know that. Please call me when you can. Bye."
A/N: Poor Molly! Hope you like this chapter. This story is kind of growing arms and legs a bit with the plot. There may be a couple of minor bumps in the road but that's life. I won't let anything too bad happen to our favourite couple. I don't own anything regarding songs but I do love Billie Holiday. I should point out I have no knowledge of wildlife or plants I'm afraid. Any description is simple courtesy of good old Google.
Very disappointed about no Molly in Series 2 of OG. Hopefully TG will give us a couple of cameo scenes of CJ/BA together for the ones who are still too obsessed with this couple ie: me.
Last point:I thought I'd share a song I love for CJ & Molly but especially imagining CJ driving his sports car looking all masculine is Muse: Mercy. Thank you for the lovely comments for previous chapter.