Stumbling into Mischief

Three

They were just aimlessly walking.

Richard could have been at home, relaxing, with his feet up and a cup of tea in hand. But instead he was wasting valuable time strolling through a completely random forest in the local park - one which he had no interest in whatsoever.

According to Clare, it was supposed to be relaxing. But Richard wasn't seeing the relaxing side of it at all. He was tired, sweating, and practically dying. It couldn't have been any worse, so he thought.

It was all Clare's idea, obviously.

There were trees and bushes everywhere - it was a forest, after all. Somehow, Richard was managing to walk into every little branch and twig that they came across. They were absolutely everywhere; sticking out in the most random places.

No matter how hard he tried, Richard couldn't seem to avoid them.

Branches were the one thing in life that he hadn't yet learnt to avoid.

Richard looked over at Clare as they walked, trying to work out whether she was experiencing the same difficulties as he was.

She wasn't. Clare was busy admiring the wildlife around them - humming to herself - completely lost in her own little world. She looked very peaceful.

Richard was still observing Clare when he suddenly walked into a particularly prickly branch.

"Ouch!"

Clare jumped and made a little startled noise as she spun around.

"Richard? What happened? Are you okay?" She asked, sounding very concerned.

"No!"

Richard rubbed at his brow. He took a moment to frown towards the branch that had just attacked him, in case branches could see, and then turned to Clare. She looked awfully confused, and still rather concerned. No one had ever been that concerned for Richard.

Clare took a step closer. "What happened?"

"That bloody thing nearly took my eye out." Richard grunted, gesturing towards the branch with his free hand.

Clare looked at the branch, and her expression quickly changed from concern to amusement. She giggled.

"Oh! You walked into the tree!"

Richard frowned. "Well I wouldn't call it a tree... I think I would have seen it if it was a bloody tree, Clare."

"Mmm. Well you definitely would have seen it if you were watching where you were going rather than staring at me!"

It was suddenly clear to Richard that women did, in fact, have eyes everywhere. He stopped rubbing his head, and moved his hand slightly, so that he could see Clare properly but still hide behind it if he needed to.

Clare was smiling - her usual cheeky smile. It was a joke. She was just teasing him.

Nevertheless, Richard still felt the need to explain himself. After all, he wasn't staring at her. Not in that way, anyway. And he certainly didn't want her to think he was. He wasn't that kind of man.

"I wasn't staring-"

"Oh!" Clare interrupted, suddenly looking concerned again. "That's a nasty cut!"

"Really? Where?"

Richard was just as surprised as Clare. The branch attack had hurt, but not that much.

"Stop touching it. Come here." Clare commanded as she began to rummage through her bag. She seemed to have something for every occasion in that bag.