Captain John’s Playmate

When his gaze came over in my direction he seems to pause slightly but then continued to scan round as if not to draw attention to it. Clutching a large balloon glass of some spirit over ice, he made a beeline for my table and politely asked if he could share my table as the rest were filling up now lunch was imminent. Of course I was more than willing. He introduced himself as John, and I returned with Alessia, just as the petite waitress returned with my glass of wine, for which my new acquaintance insisted on paying. The waitress looked at me and winked mischievously, as if sharing some sisterly secret. My interest was piqued.
We chatted together pleasantly for a while about this and that, and he told me he was on a short trip out in his yacht, which had just been refurbished and serviced, so he was giving it a ‘sea’ trial on the river. When I enquired which one was his he pointed out a glorious looking yacht, named ‘Great Escape’ - all dark wood, brass and yacht varnish. I guess it was from the 1950s or 60s but in showroom condition and as classy as you can imagine, with a flag fluttering on the stern and a large seating area. To be honest, I was not all that surprised when he asked if I’d care to join him for the next leg and promised to drop me back off on his way back down in two or three hours. Naturally I jumped at the offer.
Finishing our drinks, rather more hastily than seemed decent, we stood and he led me over to the yacht. He gentlemanly took my hand and helped me over the transom. Looking around I could see it had a large seating area at the stern with an ‘L’-shaped settee and a couple of matching armchairs. Forward of this there were two sets of steps, one on the port side leading down steeply into the interior and another on the starboard leading up to the flybridge, where he proposed we went, as that gave the best view of the river and the country and with the awning drawn back we could continue to enjoy the sun as we wafted upriver.
I perched myself on a large lounger that was next to the wheel and control panel, while John disappeared down below, to re-appear a moment later with a large ice bucket with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.