Lucy smoothed the skirt over the hips and turned in the mirror to check the rear view.  Fine.  She tweaked a stray hair in her otherwise perfect blonde bun and tried to smile. 

“It’ll be fine.  It will be fine.  But no one’s told my face yet.”

She tried the smile again, this time a little harder, but it looked worse so she gave up.

In the basket on her dressing table she ran her fingers over the collection of perfumes.  Which one today?  Ah yes, “Believe”.

“Because I need to believe I can do this.”  She looked down at her luggage as she squirted the scent onto her neck and wrists and then as she puffed it into the air and stepped into the mist.

There, done.  Collecting her keys from the kitchen, she stepped out into the new working day.

“You’ve got Mrs Lowery at 9.30 and the Mr Stwartz at 11.  There are few phone messages already; I’ve put them on these notes here, and Jason called about the weekend.”  Lucy’s assistant Mary was efficient and punctual.

Jason had called.  Her heart leapt and sank at the same time.  All those years ago at school Lucy and her friends would have referred to her situation with Jason as a Big Love Job.

They had met only 2 months before and already she felt he was what her grown up city friends would call The Real Deal.  Without a little discipline she found herself thinking about him all the time, with her mind shooting forward to their life together, children, wedding anniversaries and retirement to the country.  It was alien territory to career-minded Lucy but it felt like coming home.

However there was one thing she found difficult and she was about to have to face it.

The phone rang and broke into her thoughts.

“Jason on line one Lucy.”

“Thanks…Hello Jason.”

“Hello darling.  How are you?  Looking forward to the weekend?  You haven’t bottled out on me have you?”

“Of course not.  Why would you think that?  I can’t wait.”  That pained smile, the one she’d seen in the mirror, spread over her face again and she hoped that he couldn’t hear it in her voice.

“I’ve been checking the weather forecast and it looks ideal – warm, sunny and dry for the whole 2 days.”

“That’s great.” She said, trying to sound up beat.

“Well, I’ll let you get on.  I just wanted to tell you about the weather and hear your voice.  See you at 6.”  And he was gone.

“Everything OK?”  Mary bustled in.

“Fine.”

“You away for the weekend?” She eyed Lucy’s smart luggage in the corner of the office.

“Mmm, camping.”

“Oooh lovely.  My Pete and I love the sleep under the stars, cook breakfast on a little stove and play silly games.  Dead romantic.  And the weather’s s’posed to be lovely this weekend too.”

“Yes, so I gather.”  Lucy put her head down and pretended to be concentrating so Mary left the room.

For the umpteenth time since Jason had suggested the trip, Lucy wondered how she was going to manage without a power-shower, her comfortable bed and her hairdryer. 

She had packed a suitcase and vanity bag for the weekend and pictured Jason with an old battered rucksack and 2 smelly sleeping bags that he’d zip together to make one smelly sleeping bag and call it romantic.  He’d make beans on toast for them both and they’d huddle round the stove trying to keep warm.  Then she’d toss and turn on hard, lumpy ground and be puffy-eyed the next morning as she tried to summon the enthusiasm for a 10 mile tromp in the country.  To cap it all, she knew her new hiking boots would give her blisters.

At the end of Mrs Lowery’s consultation she too spied the luggage in the corner. 

“Away for the weekend dear?”

“Yes, camping.”

Mrs Lowery, the wife of a city banker who had recently died, smiled sympathetically and said,

“You must be very fond of him.  My advice is to enjoy every moment, even if you don’t think you will.  Make the most of it.  Life is very short.”

Her words were heavy but she smiled kindly and left Lucy’s office.

At 11am sharp Mary showed Mr Stwartz in and he took his opposite Lucy.  They discussed their business and at 12 he got up to leave.

“Going somewhere?  Not running off and leaving me are you?”  He snorted heartily at his own joke while pointing to Lucy’s luggage.

“No, No.  I’m going camping.” She replied, making a mental note to ask Mary to move the bags.

“Really?”  Mr Stwartz eyed Lucy as if she had just told him she was flying to the moon.  “Really?  Well, I’ll be.  Top tip old girl: Vaseline on your feet.  Stop the blisters from your new walking boots.  Anyway, good luck.  Hope he’s worth it.”

The door closed behind him and Lucy wondered if her life was really such an open book.  She need only look in the mirror to see why people might think that she wasn’t the camping type.  But Jason didn’t seem to see it.

At 5.30 Lucy switched her computer off and pulled down the office blinds.  She changed into jeans and a tee shirt knowing that most of the workforce had gone home.  Then she puffed another shot of “Believe” behind each ear and muttered her “I believe I can do this” mantra over again as she loosened her hair and let it fall past her shoulders. 

In the lobby Jason was waiting and suddenly everything was alright.  She smiled her bravest smile and they went hand in hand to his car.

There in the boot, just as Lucy had imagined was the tent and 2 sleeping bags.  Any lingering hope she’d had that the camping idea was a practical joke were fading fast.

“How much stuff do you need?”  He said, laughing.  “It’s only a weekend.”

“I’ve never been camping before and I didn’t know what I’d need.” She bleated in her defence.

“I know,” Jason folded her into his arms, “but I’ll look after you.” He kissed the end of her nose and they got into the car.

*

The camp site was pretty and Lucy was relieved to inspect the shower block and loos, finding them to be even a little better than she had pictured in her mind.  Not a hotel or home, but ok.

“Those 2 toilets at the end are blocked I’m afraid.”  Said the site owner as she breezed through re-stoking the soap dispensers.  “Won’t be fixed ‘til Monday.”

“Not to worry.” Jason said and they made their way to the car.

The tent was old but serviceable and Jason guided Lucy in putting it up.

“Knock the pegs in a bit more firmly darling, or we’ll blow away in a draught.”

“What if it rains?”

“It won’t, and in any case it’s shower proof so don’t worry.”

Lucy smiled and relaxed a bit as she began unpacking her case, setting her belongings about her as if she were in a hotel.

Jason and Lucy watched the sun set into the valley from the pub next to the campsite and toasted a romantic weekend.  Pudding arrived and they tucked in.

Later under the canvas, under the stars, Lucy settled to sleep.  Or tried to.  Jason snored gently beside her but Lucy tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable.  There was a lump here and a bump there, no feather pillow, no crisp cotton sheets and she missed the hum of the city traffic outside her flat.  The church clock struck the hour every hour and Lucy heard each one.

“Good morning.”  Jason stretched and yawned sometime after half past eight in the morning.  “How lovely to wake up with the sunshine instead of the alarm clock.  Did you sleep well?”

Lucy didn’t want to spoil the day so she smiled blearily and kissed his cheek before grabbing her sponge bag.

She felt a bit better after her shower and more awake because it was cold.  The mirror here told a sorry tale too, but there wasn’t time for full work-day make up to hide the ravages of a sleepless night.  In the spongebag her hand fell on a bottle of “Believe”.  She looked at it, had a quick spritz, and her spirits lifted a little more.

“I can do this.  I’ll be a better person.” Her mantra bounced around in her head as she headed back to the tent.

“Breakfast’s up.”  Jason beamed as she approached.

“Mmm, croissants and jam, coffee and fruit?”

“Well, I’ve got the coffee.” He looked apologetic.  “And there’s eggy bread, baked beans and sausages.”

“That sounds great.” And it did.  Lucy realised she was quite hungry.

“We’ll go for a walk, stop at the pub for lunch and there’s a beautiful waterfall here -.”  He pointed to a spot on the map he was holding.

“That sounds great.”  She said again, although this time it didn’t – the thought of blisters and her tiredness weighed her down heavily. 

But the day was stunning and the walk – putting one foot in front of the other, rhythmic and calming – was the best way to spend it.

“Are you really enjoying this Lucy?”  Jason asked as they stopped to admire the view.

“I am.” She said determinedly through the stabbing of her blisters and the stickiness of the Vaseline.  “Thank you for bringing me.  It’s beautiful country, fresh air and all that.  I’m learning a lot too – how to put up a tent and what-have-you.”

“It’s good to be out of the city isn’t it?”  He stroked Lucy’s hair affectionately and kissed her.  “You’re very special to me.  You make me feel that we can do anything together – conquer the world!”

“You think so?”  Lucy was touched and she felt a rush of emotion that made her eyes sting with tears.

“Yes I do.  I really do.”

Lucy wasn’t feeling much like lunch when they arrived at the pub and spent some time in the ladies’ toilet. 

“I wonder if the sausages could’ve had a bit more cooking at breakfast.”  She offered when she finally got back to her seat.  Jason was clearly guilt-ridden and they walked slowly to the waterfall.

Lucy took her boots off and dipped her feet into the cold pool at the foot of the cascading water.  It revived her feet and her stomach had settled.  Jason cradled her feet in his hands and gently rubbed more Vaseline into the skin.

“I’m sorry Babe.  We’ll go home and I’ll carry you as far as I can.”  Lucy had to laugh at his chivalry.

That night they couldn’t watch the sun set as a thick blanket of cloud had hidden it.  A combination of an extra ground mat and complete exhaustion meant that Lucy was asleep seconds after Jason had zipped the tent shut.

And she stayed asleep until she was woken by a cold, damp sensation under her cheek.  As she came to, Jason sat up and she heard him splutter

“What the - ?!”

At the same time Lucy realised the cold damp sensation was underneath all of her body and the sound of heavy rain was pelting the tent.

Within moments they and the tent were floating and water and mud were running into their bedroom.

“No!” Shouted Jason, “Ah, yuck!”

Over the sound of the rain the church clock struck four. They quickly gathered all they could and emerged into the muddy field.

The scene was chaotic with some of the other campers running for the cover of their cars.  Jason and Lucy joined them but their car was at the far end of the car park.  Wet and muddy they threw themselves into the front seats and slammed the doors shut on the rain.

“I’m so sorry; you’ve had no sleep, huge blisters, I’ve poisoned you with my cooking and now we’ve nearly got washed away.  This wasn’t what I had planned for our romantic get away.”  Jason hair was plastered to his face and Lucy thought he reminded her of a lost dog.

“So what is it that you like so much about camping?” She asked.

“Me?  I’ve never been further than my own garden in a tent.” He laughed sheepishly.  “And last time I did that I was ten.  My mum bought me fish fingers and chips for tea. I just wanted to have you all to myself.  There are always so many people around when we go out and it was all I could think of.”

There was a pause before Lucy threw her wet head back and roared with laughter.

Mrs Lowery and Mr Stwartz were right - he was worth it, she decided.