Ghost Writer

A little sleuthing was required before I finally got a clue as to where I might catch up with 1 of our favorite ladies, traveling to Europe was an opportunity not to be missed and I couldn�t wait to throw a few items in a bag & jump on the plane for my current interview.

Rumor had it that Flower was soaking up the rays in Cala D�or, Majorca off the east coast of Spain and where else would a flower be but blossoming in the sun. My 1st sight of her was lounging on the beach, glass in hand, under a large red striped umbrella in a beautiful cove of white sugar sand with the warm blue green currents of the Mediterranean Sea providing a tranquil background tempo.

She greeted me with a tinkling laugh & a huge smile then waved me over indicating the chair next to her and I didn�t need to be told twice, flopping down in the shade I gratefully accepted the ice cold white wine she offered
and settled in for a good chinwag.

Flower was born in Reading, (Royal) Berkshire in the UK & still resides there when she�s not swanning about overseas. Reading is in the Thames Valley about halfway between London and Oxford and is famous for being the site of The Abbey Ruins - burial place of King Henry I.

The family traveled a lot while she was growing up & 1 of her best early memories was from her 9th year where she recalls spending all her time with many other children, playing & climbing �every tree in the place� in the army camp where
she & her parents were living.

She admits to being something of a rebel in her teens hangin� out on the streets with 2 girlfriends, cruisin� on their bikes & smoking �crafty fags�, we didn�t go into gr8 detail but there was a strong hint of hellraising done by these young ladies which I have no doubt has carried over as they are still close and
�hit the town & party� together as the mood takes them.

Flower also let drop that she has a pact with 1 of them to race each other in electric wheelchairs in their elderly years, this is a lady who loves speed, she enjoys driving and owns a very cool platinum Renault convertible,
�the faster the better� is her motto but always with care.

Eyeing my hired Lotus she asked if I�d like to see something of the island and gave a little yip when I nodded & tossed her the keys, the destination she had in mind was Portocristo up the southeast coast of Majorca, famed as 1 of the oldest ports in history, having already been active during Roman times & another highlight is its nearby caves, Cuevas del Drach which features 1 of the worlds largest underground lakes.

We eased ourselves into the low slung leather seats & buckled up then Flower fired the engine & proceeded to demonstrate to me just why she�d been offered a new job as a service driver for a car dealership, it felt like I�d spent 2 hours in a wind tunnel by the time we arrived but
it was 1 of the most exhilarating rides of my life.

Just by coincidence I�m sure, we�d parked quite near a tavern and a drink was definitely in order to replace some moisture to my strangely dry mouth, Flower looked at me with a glint in her eyes and said �How bout a cocktail challenge then..?� Naively I replied �You�re on, lets do it!�

We rocked up to the bar, perched ourselves on stools & decided to begin on the top shelf with classic cocktails, 1st in line was Between The Sheets and it went down very well despite the barmaid having used a very liberal hand with the Cointreau.

Brandy Alexander was almost a memory by the time sport came into the convo and I discovered that Flower has been involved in netball for many years, she usually plays goal shooter or goal attack though she�s a handy all rounder
& doesn�t mind playing any position on the court.

Appropriately Hurricanes were being absorbed as she revealed a passion for hot countries & traveling abroad, Cyprus, Greece, Tenerife, Egypt, the US and Switzerland are among the places Flower has visited, when I asked about her preferred method of travel she gave a cheeky grin & said �I row my little dinghy� but after making my mind boil for a while she let me off the hook, saying that flying was the only way to go �give me turbulence any day!�

Her laid back & happy-go-lucky nature is an admirable trait which stands her in good stead with mates & coworkers alike, she has spent much of the last 12 years doing office work and in fact at her last office job they used to rev her up saying
�if she was any more laid back she�d b laying on the floor�.

Speaking of the floor, my barstool seems to have sunk a couple of feet closer to that fixture *shrugs* �Let me at those Rusty Nails!�

Unfortunately the firm ran into financial difficulties & Flower�s job was in an area that was worst affected so she spent most of her last 4 months there playing cards, the staff were talking about giving her a gamblers anon session as a going away present.. wonder how many of us can relate to that. *grins*

�I�ll take another Slingapore Sing, ahh I mean Singapore Sling, what the heck, make it a double!� as I was sliding down in my seat to reach my wallet an amusing yarn slipped out from a time that Flower was still in class, the teacher tried to cure her of looking at the keyboard while typing and placed a cover over it which didn�t deter our girl 1 bit, she peeked under but the extra practice worked out for the best in the end as she passed the exam with an A.

I couldn�t quite reach my Whisky Sour from a prone position and luckily for me I had a good friend in Flower who was still capable enough to get me to the taxi & that my trusty tape recorder did it�s job before running out of spool.

Flower�s been playing at flipside for about a year and enjoys meeting new people & sharing a joke among friends, her sparkling personality ensures that there are plenty of those.

We�ve barely scratched the surface here but all good things come to an end, spending any amount of time with Flower is like a breath of fresh air & I think we�ll close with a quote from her that about sums it up,
�I just love being happy, smile and the world smiles back�.

GhostWriter