LONDON CALLING

Since Angus had the portkey to the tailor's he ported them right to the sidewalk in front of the shop's door.

"I haven't been here in years," Edward laughed. "I forgot about this place."

"Well, let's see if the ladies can fill the holes in the wardrobe from here," Angus said. He opened the door and led the way inside. He introduced Edward and Simone to Giles and Diane, and Diane took over quickly to help Simone fill the holes in her wardrobe, while Giles got measurements from Edward to update his file and then proceeded to show him some summer shirts and some simple, loose fitting drawstring cotton trousers so that his holiday was no muss, no fuss.

Diane helped Simone pick out a couple gorgeous sundresses that would go easily from day to night, a couple sarongs, a few pairs of shorts, some lovely tops and sandals and a beautiful bathing suit with a coverup that she could also use as a robe if she needed it. She picked out accessories for her and packed it all nicely for her, and, at almost the last minute, Diane included a gorgeous embroidered lace nightgown and robe set for Simone and gave it to her at no extra charge.

Simone was ready to pay for it, and Edward stepped up and paid for his purchases and hers. She tried to tell him he didn't need to do that, and he turned to her, kissed her lovingly.

"I want to," he told her simply. He picked up the new duffel that held all their new things and then turned to Angus and Ruby.

"I believe it's my turn to do the navigating," Edward said. "Take hold." He ported them out.

The next thing Angus knew, he found they were standing on a deserted beach.

"There's no one here," Angus frowned.

"Private beach," Edward told him. "Welcome to Cassis, France."

"Nice," Angus said. He looked at Ruby. "Did you know he was taking us to the Riviera?"

Ruby felt her self port then stop she smiled seeing the tailors shop again " Hello again Giles, Diane" she greeted them with a smile " oh Im fine thank you, I have everything. " Ruby said smiling but she still looked at the dresses, she actually found a nice cool cotton dress with white lace over it and a sun hat. buying them she took the bag in her hand and waited for Simone and Edward.

This time being ported to a beach she looked at Angus with a 'guilty' look " he might have mentioned it" she said then looked at Edward " you said there's a private dock around here right." she looked up and down the beach hoping the sailing yacht was ready. She did see a bautiful yacht moored at a peir just down from them it was a Hull PN 43, 42.3m (138.5ft) long and could hold up to 10 Guests with 4 Cabins. She looked at Angus.

"I didn't know if you wanted to stay here for the three days or..." she pointed to the yacht " we could spend a day or two on her. Shes called the purity." she smiled as she waited for Angus "Theres a full crew as well, Edward helped set it up." Ruby looked at Edward " I owe him a lot."

"That would be really nice," Angus said, looking at the yacht.

"Let's go check into the resort first," Edward said, "And then, I'm afraid you two are on your own for the next three days."

"Oh darn," Angus said sarcastically.

"Do keep your clothes on until you get to your bungalow, would you?" Edward teased.

"Us? Speak for yourself," Angus said, knowing Edward had the same thing on his mind. Edward laughed and led the way up the path from the beach to a tall iron fence with a latched gate. Edward opened the gate and led them in and up a short, flowered walk to a large, traditional French house. Edward did not bother knocking, he just opened the door and walked in. Angus and Simone followed, and Angus found himself in the lobby of a small, boutique hotel.

Edward spoke in Italian to the man behind the desk, and he registered for the four of them. Then the clerk called two young men to the desk and introduced them in Italian.

"The one with the brown hair is Pascal. That's the concierge that has been assigned to Edward and Simone. The other one, with the darker hair, is Francois. He's been assigned to us. Edward has said he doesn't anticipate any of us will want concierge after about 9 or 10 pm, so that means you and I should only be dealing with Francois," Angus told Ruby.

The concierges picked up the bags and escorted them to two different bungalows. Edward and Simone's bungalow was just behind the hotel. Francois took Angus and Ruby around the large pool to a bungalow straight across from Edward and Simone, but separated by the length of the pool.

The bungalow had a small kitchen, a comfortable sized living room, a bathroom with a beautiful, large old tub that, Angus figured, could probably hold two. There was a romantic bedroom with french doors that opened up to a very private courtyard that was cut off from the rest of the world by a stone wall and cascades of flowers of every color and type. In the courtyard was a hot tub, a teak wood daybed double chaise lounge, that was draped with curtains and had candle lanterns. By the double chaise there was a champagne bucket with a bottle of champagne on ice. Not far off there was a table and chairs for two under a beautiful pergola and a few other amenities.

It was clear to Angus that if they locked the front door of the bungalow, no one was going to see them or hear them unless they chose to let someone in that front door. They had abundant privacy.

The concierge offered to open the champagne, and Angus accepted. The concierge transfigured a pocket knife to a sword and opened the champagne using a saber to do it. It looked very elegant, and he poured the champagne into two delicate crystal flutes. Angus wanted to tip the concierge, and Francois refused, saying Edward had taken care of everything. All they had to do was enjoy and let them know when they wanted supper to be brought. Then he excused himself to unpack their things, and in short order, he left them alone.

"He usually takes men camping in a tent out in the middle of nowhere," Angus told her. "He certainly knows how to do things in first class, though, doesn't he?"

Ruby smiled and followed then to a tradishonal french style house. she chuckled at the banter between Edward and Angus and looked at Simone as they walked "such a same we'll be all alone, right Simone" she said teasingly hoping Simone had the same thoughts she did. Entering the hotel she was taken away by its beautiy. She looked at the to men and nodded as Angus translated what was being said between the two men.

Entering the pool area she smiled " wow, that looks so inviting" she said but they moved around it to a bungalow that had its own private pool completly emclosed. As Angus delt with the concerge Ruby moved to the french doors and opened them feeling the warm breeze enter the room. " its like a dream." she said smiling back at him. It was now her watch dinged and she took out the kit " okay I know you don't like it but he said every four hours." poring some into a small glass she walked over, " take it now and I promise you can see my new bikini." she said softly to him with a seductive smile.

Simone laughed when Ruby joked about being alone. Simone had looked forward to some alone time to get to know Edward better. The sudden romance had been wonderful, and so far, she had loved every moment of it, but now she wanted to know him completely, to be able to connect with him in all kinds of ways, to try to see if they could carve out a deeply bonded love that would perhaps make them true soulmates. And, she believed that was what Edward was ultimately looking for too.

Angus was frustrated immediately by the interruption of the alarm for the nerve tonic. He didn't believe he needed it, and every four hours was going to be a rue nuisance. He deliberately carried the potion cup outside and sat down on the double daybed in the garden.

"If you want to make sure I take this, you'll have to come out here with me," he said, kicking off his shoes and stretching out on the daybed. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her bikini. He was far more interested just in her.

Ruby watched him take the cup and walk out to the day bed she followed him " I doin't like it just as much as you, but sometimes the busy body nigel can be right." she said softly as she walked and lay down next to him on the day bed enjoying the peace and quiet hearing nothing but the birds and the sound of the ocean off in the distance.

Ruby slipped off her shirt leaving just her tank and jeans before pushing off her boots finding them now rather too hot to wear. She slipped her arm around his waist and sighed happy to be there just the two of them. " you know he could have just had us in a tent and I'd still enjoy it just as much." she told him moving to look at him. It was now a brightly coloured bird landed not too far from them and she marveled at the colours " is that a Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise?" she asked not moving for fear she would scare it away. " must be here becuse of the flowers, its beautiful. " she slightly turned to him and smiled leaning down she kissed him gently.

"I know he means well," Angus sighed. "I just don't like it, but knowing him, he probably has the bottle marked somehow so he'll know when I've taken it or not." He reluctantly took the potion and set the cup aside.

"I am quite sure that we will eventually find out just how much you can and cannot do in a tent," he laughed, lying down on the bed and drawing her close to him. She mentioned the bird, and he looked at it. "Yes, that's exactly what that is. They have a distinctive call that starts out at one pitch and slides downward to a second one. So you what you hear is more of a two toned tweet."

He laid back and simply looked around for a moment, trying to take it all in. He could see the beautiful flowers everywhere he looked, and he could hear and smell the ocean. He handed her a glass of champagne.

"To two or three days of no interruptions," he told her. "You don't happen to remember where we left off back on the island in Tuscany, do you? As I recall, I didn't have near this many clothes on and neither did you. He flicked his fingers at her clothes and transfigured them to nothing else but a sundress made entirely of lace. He wasn't sure where he got the idea from, but as he saw her in it, he did rather like it. He cast his shirt onto the ground and transfigured his jeans to just a pair of denim cutoffs.

"This might be a little closer to where we left off," he said

Ruby smiled and listened to him talk " I wouldn't put it past him" she said chukaling. She listened to him explaine the birds call and smiled as just as he finished the bird sang as if in agreement to his discription " its beautiful." she moved so she could take the glass and not spill it on herself. She hummed her agreement as she sipped the champage then gasped as he tranphigured her clothes to a lace sun dress and his own to a pair of cut off denim shorts.

"I would say thats just right" she said leaning over and gently kissing him before deepening it her hand caressing his cheek. she laid down feling the warm sun on her now cool skin. " I got the impreshion simone and I will get along great." she said softly " I think shes perfect for Edward, she thinks about him and you like your her family already."

Ruby drank more of the champage then set it to one side. She felt it was okay but not to her taste, she much prefered beer or soda. lifting her hand she accioed some sun screen and placed some in her palm " if your going to lay in the sun you should protect your skin" she said moving her hand over his chest and gently up his shoulder then back down making sure to cover him. Pausing she held the bottle in her hand " so..you going to do me?" she asked a cheeky grin on her face as she smiled down at him.

"I think you and Simone will do just fine. She and Edward do seem suited to each other, and if I had to judge by what I've seen so far, she seems tough as nails. She has been thrown into some difficult things, and she's coped with it remarkably well, I think. To the best of my knowledge, he's had a couple dates since my grandmother died, but it really wasn't something that he seemed to enjoy. And there was one woman that he seemed to hook up with maybe once or twice a year. They'd go to the theater, and he'd come home in the morning, but I think she's passed on now. This seems different to me. This seems like it might be more serious right from the outset. Maybe, when you're in your 70's, you just don't see the point of all the game playing that younger people do. Anyway, they seem to make each other happy."

He sipped on the champagne and finished his glass and set the glass aside. When she was done putting lotion on him, he returned the favor and put lotion on her.

"I bet," he told her, "that this daybed has an amazing view of the stars and the milky way after dark. And I bet it would be a wonderful place to spend the night. So far, the sky looks clear, so unless the weather changes, it should be a nice night to think about doing that."

Ruby listened to him and nodded as he put the lotion on her shoulders and lower back. "Yeah shes tough alright, and your right they just don't see the need to waste time." she said softly and nodded " he's certaily smiling a lot more since meeting her." she glanced at the blue sky and smiled "That should be a wonderful show." she said " I wonder if we'll see any shooting stars, if you see one your suposed to make a wish" she smiled to her self and continued "but theres nothing for me to wish for, I have everything right here." she said holding him close to her.

They just lay on the day bed enjoying the feeling of each other and the cool air. Once in a while Ruby would get up to fetch a beer from the kitchen but always returned " you know they should put a cooler out here save me going back and forth to the kitchen." she said sitting back down with an open bottle for him and herself. Taking a big mouth ful she saw the sky change from blue to orange as the sun set. " even the sun set is perfect." she smiled snuggling against him.