The Meeting

The Meeting

Roger Noons

A large gin

‘It was such a surprise, when I met him. He was nothing like I’d expected. Of course that’s often the case. I’d read all his books, articles about him, even heard his voice on the radio. A feature of his publicity was that he always refused to be photographed, so I had no way of knowing anything of his physical nature.’

    ‘It was not that he was the opposite of what I expected, not a case of me imagining tall and him being short or anything like that … for example, I would have put money on the fact that he would be wearing spectacles, and he was not. I hoped he might have a beard, I like a beard on a man, and his writing seemed to call for it. He was not so much clean shaven, as having skin that looked like it had never been introduced to a razor.’

    ‘No, he wasn’t wearing a suit, or a tie. Smart casual, sort of country, that’s how I would describe him. You know, checked shirt, cords, what we used to call Chelsea boots … oh yes, all quality stuff.’

    ‘Smell? No he didn’t smell … Oh, I see what you mean. Yes, there was a scent, a hint of refined musk, a manly aftershave, but not over done. Just nice, tasteful … mature … sophisticated. I’d used my newest perfume, After the Rain, from Aran Aromatics, it cost me twenty-five pounds, but I believed it to be a good investment, after all, it’s not every day that I get to meet …’

    ‘Say? What did he say? Do you know I can hardly remember, it’s all a bit of a haze now. I know one thing … he spoke quietly, I had to lean forward so I could hear. His voice was deeper than I had remembered.’

    ‘Yes, we chatted for quite a while, well I mainly listened. You see there was no-one else waiting, I was staggered, I thought he would be inundated, after all …’

    ‘What? Really? William James next week? So who …’

    ‘James Williams? Who’s he?’

    'Oh my God!'

    ‘Oh my God!’

 Author Bio

Having spent the best part of thirty-five years writing reports on such subjects as ‘Provision of Caravan Sites for Travellers’ and ’Aspects of Pest Control in the Urban Environment’, Roger Noons began even more creative writing in 2006, when he completed a screenplay for a friend who is an amateur film maker. After the film was made, he wrote further scripts and having become addicted, began to pen short stories and poems. He occasionally produces memoirs and other non-fiction. He has begun to perform his poems, and has just published ’An A to Z by RLN’, an anthology of 26 short stories. He intends by the end of the year to have followed that up with a novella.

He is a member of two Writers Groups and tries his hardest to write something every day. As well as CafeLit, he has had credits in West Midlands newspapers, The Daily Telegraph, Paragraph Planet, Raw Edge and a number of Anthologies.

Roger is a regular contributor to the CafeLit site and a couple of his stories have been selected for the Best of CafeLit 2012.