Kiss On The Bridge by Mark Stewart

fish?”
    Anneli deduced he looked a little nervous.
Maybe after the trouble he’d gone through to find her he
unexpectedly thought she mightn’t eat seafood.
    “Salmon is palatable,” she whispered on a
sigh.
    Wade walked to the table carrying a plate of
biscuits and two glasses of wine.
    “Do you live permanently onboard?”
    “No, this place is only temporary,” admitted
Wade sitting opposite Anneli.
    “Where in Melbourne do you live? Do you have
a house or do you share it?”
    “I live on the coast, over-looking the
water.”
    Wade felt a little uncomfortable at the
personal questions. To hide the fact he gulped half a glass of
wine.
    “You don’t answer my questions too easily do
you?” mentioned Anneli.
    “I’m a private person. I take a while to warm
up.”
    ‘It’s not a good trait,’ thought Anneli,
looking at the floor. “I thought we were trying to get to know one
another.”
    “I apologize. I’ve worked so hard trying to
find you I don’t want to lose you by coming on too strong.”
    “Honesty doesn’t seem to be your weakest
point. I like it. You say you’re a lawyer.”
    “Was a lawyer,” replied Wade. “I’ve recently
changed directions.”
    “Is this yacht one of the perks of the
job?”
    Wade shook his head, giving her a blank
stare.
    “I don’t mean to sound rude. You certainly
don’t look old enough to have earned enough money to buy the small
boat attached to the stern of this yacht.”
    “I’d prefer it if we changed the
subject.”
    “I think our date, if you could label it a
date, is over.” Anneli walked towards the stairs. Before climbing
she faced Wade. “I believed we discovered something special on the
bridge. A stranger, walking alone at midnight insisting on giving
me a kiss sounded and felt exciting.”
    “I assumed we discovered something special
too.”
    “We were both wrong.”
    Anneli climbed the stairs, marched across the
deck and started walking along the pier back to the beach.
    Wade sat alone at the table contemplating
should he run after Anneli. He’d worked so hard to find her only to
have her slip through his fingers. Staring at the bottle of wine on
the bench, determination slowly wrinkled his brow. She wasn’t going
to slip away uncontested. If he only managed to convince Anneli she
shouldn’t be enslaved in a loveless marriage, then so be it.
     
     
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
     
    WADE SPRINTED up the stairs holding the empty
wine bottle in his hand. He stood on the deck searching the entire
area. Beyond two young boys fishing he found the silhouette of a
woman leaning on the second pylon in from the start of the wharf.
He stopped running when he closed to talking distance.
    For a long time both stared at each other.
The only sound came from the water lapping under the wooden
boards.
    “Before you go out of my life I have
something to show you.”
    Anneli felt surprised at Wade’s determination
to keep after her. “I’m not really interested.”
    “I’m going way out on a limb here. I have to
insist you look at what I’m holding in my hand.”
    “Why take the chance? It won’t get you
anywhere.”
    “I hope you’re wrong.”
    “Okay, show me what you have so we can call
it a night.”
    Wade squared himself to Anneli and produced
the wine bottle.
    “I’ve seen a wine bottle before,” she jeered
looking totally uninterested.
    “I believe what is inside the bottle will
tantalize your thoughts.”
    Wade up ended the bottle. The handwritten
note fell into the palm of his hand. He watched Anneli’s expression
alter dramatically from a non caring attitude to eye popping
interest in a micro second.
    “Where did you find it?” she managed to
whisper.
    “I’d been trying to familiarize myself
sailing Charlotte. We were ten nautical miles from the entrance to
Port Phillip Bay when I spied the bottle in the sea. Do you know
anything about it? The note has been signed by a person going by
the name of Anneli. At a guess I’m thinking