The young man accompanying Tommy as his Best Man was the same one she had seen on the train, that first time she had visited her mother while dressed as a young woman. He glanced around the sparse congregation, and immediately caught Jamie's eye and smiled. Jamie couldn't help but smile back, although she was painfully aware that her face was glowing like a beacon. Fortunately, the rest of the people present were all looking forward and didn't see her.

The organist cranked up the volume and launched into Wagner's 'Bridal Chorus', and everyone turned to watch the bride come up the aisle. She was preceded by a bridesmaid, a pretty young woman in a yellow dress who bore a striking resemblance to Eve. Jamie remembered that she had a younger sister. Eve was wearing a white dress and veil which Jamie thought was rather a strange decision but presumably was aimed at sparing embarrassment all round before the 'premature' baby arrived. Eve was holding the arm of an elderly man and Jamie wondered who it was, having been told that Eve's parents being Roman Catholic, would not attend a Protestant church service. That's how things were in those days.

Eve gave Jamie a half-smile as she passed, arrived at the chancel steps and stood beside Tommy. The minister started off the service, but Jamie was hardly aware of what was going on, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from the back of the young man from the train. This surprised even herself, and she could hardly wait for him to turn so that she could see his profile, which happened when he handed over the wedding ring.

Jamie later found out that there was supposed to be two rings, but Tommy, being under some pressure from his 'turf accountant' after a series of ill-judged bets, had been forced to pawn it in order to pay off some of the credit he owed. From time to time Eve brought up the subject of when the ring would finally appear, but having mentioned it once too often and received a black eye for her pains, she finally decided to let sleeping dogs lie, and Tommy never did wear a ring. Fortunately she could not see into the future; after all, every bride deserves to be happy on her wedding day.

Finally, it was time for the 'Wedding March' and the happy couple to walk down the aisle, greeting family and friends. Jamie walked out after them, along with the other guests. It was while she was watching the wedding photographs being taken that she heard a voice in her ear saying: “Of all the carriages in all the trains in all the world, she walks into mine.”

Jamie loved the film 'Casablanca' and recognised the adapted quote immediately. She turned to the handsome young man standing beside her and said “Are you going to play it again, Sam?”

He laughed: “'Bogie' never actually said that you know, and anyway, how do you know my name?”

Jamie laughed too. “Well, it seems I do now, Sam.”

He gave a slight bow, “Samuel Johnson at your service ma'am; my friends, whom I hope will include you, call me Sam. Now you have me at a disadvantage.”

Jamie laughed and told him her name, and then, glancing around; “I don't see Miss Boswell,” she said.

Sam appeared impressed: “And have you ever read the 'Life'?” he said. Jamie confessed it was on her 'to do' list. Just then, Sam was called to participate in a wedding party photo.

“Don't run away,” Sam said as he walked over to where the photographer was posing the groups.

'As if I would, thought Jamie, although a voice in her head said 'What are you thinking? There can be no future in it, you know?', but immediately Jamie answered the voice 'I don't care if it's a day, a week or a month, I'm going to enjoy it as long as it lasts.'

A few minutes later, Sam was released from posing, but as he walked back toward her, flashing her that devastating smile, she felt her heart thumping and a funny quivering feeling in her stomach. Jamie had been as intimate as it was possible to be with so many men and had never felt this way before. What was it about this man whom she had only just met and never even kissed? Was this what falling in love felt like?

Before she could think more about this conundrum, there was a call for all the guests to gather around the bride and groom for a group photo. Somehow Jamie and Sam found themselves standing together. As they did so, Jamie felt Sam's hand brush against hers. She was willing him to hold it but he didn't; perhaps it was too soon or too public a place.

Once all the photos outside the church had been taken, the whole group walked down the road to the 'Dog and Duck', the pub where the reception would be held in an upstairs room. The atmosphere became more relaxed than at the church, especially when the beer and spirits began to flow. Jamie had a small glass of champagne and was delighted when Sam came up to talk to her again, although she knew she had to be careful what she said, another good reason for watching how much she drank.

“So tell me, Jamie, what you do for a living; a top model perhaps?”

Jamie laughed. She was enjoying flirting with Sam: “Nothing so glamorous, I work as a singer in a night club.” The moment she said it, she regretted being so open. What if he asked her what club and wanted to come and see her perform? She hurriedly carried on speaking: “And what do you do, Sam?”

“Nothing so exciting, I work as a barman in a pub, six days a week.”

“So like me you had to ask for Saturday off?”

“Yes, my normal day off is Sunday, just like you I suspect?” said Sam. “So tell me, how did you get an invitation to the wedding?”

Jamie was more cautious now: “Eve is a friend, but we lost touch and then bumped into each other by chance. She told me that one of the guests had dropped out and as she'd already paid for a set number of guests, would I like to come along? I've always liked Eve so I said 'yes'. Now it's your turn. How did you get to be Best Man?”

Sam laughed: “I wasn't really supposed to be here either. Eve told me in confidence that the original Best Man had to pull out, and Tommy was ringing every person he had in his address book to find a replacement. Somehow he had my details, probably because we went to school together, although I never thought of him as a friend. Anyway, it seems I was the first person to pick up the phone, and so, here I am. You could say that the fates conspired to bring us together.”

Jamie smiled, there certainly seemed to be something in that. Just then a man in a dinner suit picked up a microphone and announced himself as Paul, the M.C. He invited everyone to take their seats prior to the arrival of the wedding party. Sam excused himself as he had to escort Chrissie the bridesmaid, Eve's young sister into the room. A couple of minutes later, a recording of the 'Bridal Chorus' began to play and following introductions, Chrissie and Sam, followed by Eve and Tommy walked into the room as the guests stood and applauded. They took their seats at the Bridal Table. The M.C. also announced that Eve and Tommy's parents were seated at the table nearby. Jamie realised that it was Tommy's father who had escorted Eve down the aisle at the church since her parents had not been present. At least they were present now, and Jamie tried not to be too judgmental about that.

Jamie had taken her allocated place at a table amongst some of Eve's younger friends. She was grateful for that as she had been wondering how she would make conversation with the older relatives that were present. This time she was more cautious when asked what she did for a living. It had seemed important to tell Sam the truth, but this time she said she was a receptionist at a legal firm. Looking at how elegantly she presented herself, the other people at the table accepted what she said as true. She was hoping that they didn't want to know what firm it was and had decided to say that they did not like their name being used in public, but no-one asked her.

She was doing her best not to keep looking at Sam as he sat at the Bridal Table, but every so often her eyes strayed in his direction, and usually, it was to find that he was looking at her. Soon the entrée was served which at least provided a distraction. This was followed by the main course. It wasn't fancy food, just good honest 'pub grub' and very well cooked. The others seated at the table seemed to be taking advantage of the free alcoholic drinks, but Jamie had switched to mineral water.

Now it was time for the speeches and toasts, and when it came to the turn of the Best Man, Jamie didn't need an excuse to concentrate her gaze on him. Sam was surprisingly skilled at public speaking. Jamie had wondered what he would find to say about Tommy and Eve since he didn't really know them, but he managed to say nice things and avoided the usual Best Man's embarrassing stories about the groom. The embarrassment came with the usual messages and telegrams which Sam as Best Man was obliged to read since they were provided by many of the guests present. One in particular which those in the know would have said was far too late was: 'If you don't want the stork to come, shoot in the air.' That was mild compared to some of them and Sam looked so embarrassed as he read them that Jamie felt sorry for him. Eventually, his ordeal was over, and the cutting of the wedding cake and the bridal waltz was announced.

As tradition demanded, the waltz started with the bride and groom, followed by the Best Man and bridesmaid, then the parents of the groom and bride and finally the guests joining in. Having no partner, Jamie sat there, until one of Eve's uncles came up and asked her to dance. This she accepted, knowing that it was also the tradition that people changed partners during the dance and of course she was hoping that Sam would be able to dance with her soon. The uncle wasn't exactly light on his feet, but Jamie managed to keep her own feet away from getting crushed by him.

Much to Jamie's disappointment, the person who changed with Eve's uncle was Tommy the groom. She already had a low opinion of him after hearing Eve mention his gambling problem and his actions now only reinforced that opinion. For a start, for someone who had never met her before he danced much too closely, and after enquiring her name, he followed by complimenting her on her appearance.

“I didn't know Eve had such a glamorous friend,” Tommy said, pressing his groin against her. One thing that Jamie had learned from working at the night club was how to handle men. She increased the distance between them as much as she could.

“All women love an opportunity to dress up, and a wedding is certainly such an occasion. I hope you don't think that I dress like this every day,” she responded with a smile she didn't feel. “Your wife looks amazing today,” she continued, with just the slightest emphasis on the word 'wife'.

“Yes she does,” Tommy replied in a rather careless manner. “But since she got a bun in the oven, which everyone seems to know about, she hasn't been great company if you know what I mean. You know, you and I should have a drink someday.”

Jamie was shocked. Tommy has only been married for a few hours and here he was propositioning another woman in a very unsubtle way. Jamie didn't want to cause a scene, so she just said: “Yes, someday.”

Fortunately, at that moment she saw Sam dancing nearby with one of the guests, and threw him a glance which said: “Please rescue me!”

He received the message and it was a great relief when a familiar voice said: ”May I?” and she found herself in Sam's arms.

“Thank you, 'my knight in shining armour',” she said.

“What was wrong?” said Sam.

“I'll tell you later,” said Jamie, afraid that if she told him, he might confront Tommy and an ugly scene would develop. “You're a very good dancer, you know?”

He laughed: “I learned ballroom dancing at school. Like all the other boys, I realised that it was the only way to get close to those fascinating and mysterious creatures called girls, without getting into trouble.”

Jamie laughed: “Did it ever occur to you that the girls wanted to get close to boys too? The only difference was that we were more subtle about it.”

“Girls have a certain advantage over boys. We found it very difficult to control the obvious signs of excitement at being so close to a girl, whereas you know that a girl does not have that same problem.”

Little did he know that Jamie would have had great trouble if she hadn't had the foresight to wear a gaff! Just the closeness of this fascinating man was having the inevitable effect that she certainly didn't want him to know about.

It was fortunate that no-one else seemed to want to swap partners and they were able to continue dancing and conversing. Whether it was the remembrance of things past when he was a teenager or the nearness of Jamie, and she certainly had no reservations about their bodies touching, but it soon became evident that Sam was becoming aroused.

“Sorry,” he murmured and moved slightly away, but Jamie immediately closed the distance between them.

“Don't be; that answers a couple of questions for me,” she said and smiled as Sam gave her a quizzical look. “It tells me that you're not gay, and you find me attractive.”

Sam laughed: “Why would you think I was gay?”

“
Well you didn't bring along a girlfriend or wife, and excuse me if this sounds like flattery, but it seemed unlikely that a man as handsome as you wouldn't have one or the other.”

“I'll tell you the truth, with all my studying, I just don't have time for a girlfriend,” he said and the look on his face showed that he had said more than he intended.

“What does a barman study, how to make cocktails?” asked Jamie teasingly.

“Alright, the truth is that I am studying at university,” admitted Sam.

“I always thought the 'barman story' seemed a bit dodgy,” said Jamie.

“Oh no, it's quite true. I work as a barman to earn money to live on, and working at night it doesn't interfere with lectures.”

“So what are you studying, or is it a secret?” asked Jamie.

“Well it's medicine actually,” replied Sam and he seemed a bit embarrassed.

“Well that's wonderful!” exclaimed Jamie. “If I was studying medicine I'd want everyone to know about it.”

Sam smiled: “I come from a working-class family and I suppose I always thought that it wasn't something that my class of people did.”

“Isn't that sort of 'reverse snobbery'? You know, 'me dad's a bus conductor so I shouldn't 'ave ideas above me station'?” she said.

Sam smiled at Jamie's attempt at a Cockney accent, but then he looked serious: “You know I've never thought of it like that before, but I think you're right. I was so glad I'd met you Miss Brown, but now I'm even gladder, or whatever it is,” They both burst out laughing, oblivious to the stares of people around them.

All too soon the music stopped and Sam escorted Jamie to her table where unfortunately all the seats were full as she was hoping he would sit beside her. A few of the guests glanced at her but said nothing. However, when Eve stopped by their table it was obvious that she had noticed Sam and Jamie dancing.

“I think you've snared an admirer with Sam,” said Eve with a smile. “I've never seen him with a girl before but maybe he was saving himself until the right one came along?” She laughed as Jamie blushed.

“He's a very nice young man,” said Jamie. “But I think he's far to busy with his work and study to get involved with a girl.”

Later, as Jamie and Sam were dancing again with the lights now dimmed and their bodies pressed close together, Sam murmured in her ear: “I notice you're not wearing an engagement or wedding ring but surely you must have a steady boyfriend. If you didn't, I'd love to ask you out.”

This was another moment where Jamie could have cooled the situation by saying that she had a boyfriend but he couldn't come because there was only room for one person at the wedding, but she didn't.

“No, there's no-one special. It's probably because of the hours I work.”

Sam smiled. “In that case, would you like to come out with me? You mentioned that, like me, you only have Sundays free. I suppose tomorrow is too soon?”

“No it isn't,” said Jamie. “But I'll only go out with you on condition that if there's expenses involved, we go 'Dutch'. That's only fair.”

Sam grinned at her. “I'm sure I could afford a ticket if we went to the movies. As it happens, the University Film Society is showing 'Casablanca' tomorrow evening. Would you like to see it again?”

“I'd love to,” she said.

“It starts at eight o'clock. Can I pick you up somewhere?” Sam asked.

“Can I meet you at the college?” Jamie replied. She didn't want Sam to know where she lived.

“Well it's shown in one of the lecture theatres and it's a bit of a rabbit warren. Maybe if you wait by the gatehouses at the Gower Street entrance at seven-thirty?” suggested Sam. “They're all students, so maybe dress down a bit?”

Jamie laughed. “I don't usually dress like this. Perhaps if I wear jeans and a top?”

“Perfect! We don't want all the students unable to tear their eyes off you instead of watching the film,” laughed Sam. “Although they might do that no matter what you wear.”

“I'll take that as a compliment,” laughed Jamie.

The rest of the evening passed too quickly, and when Jamie finally rang for a taxi to take her back to the flat, she and Sam shared a long 'good-night' kiss.

That night Jamie dreamed that she and Sam were in bed together. She was now a 'real' woman and they made passionate love. When she woke up she realised that she'd had an orgasm.

To be continued.

Next time: Living two lives