by Nanette Fox
Tim looked down at her at smiled, “Like the trouser suit Paddle Pop, very professional.”
“Tim, I need help, Stefan has been admitted to hospital, the doctors think it’s a heart-attack. His parents are at the hospital. I need someone to look after Zot for a couple of hours.”
“I wouldn’t normally come to you these days, you know that, but I’m desperate, none of my friends can take him. I can’t find childcare, please Tim.”
He started rubbing her arm, “Hey Lainey, calm down, it is okay, there is no one here, I have got some clients coming and being grandparents themselves they won’t mind. He just has to be very quiet. He can’t run around in the gallery.”
“Tim you know how good he is, he has got an activity bag and all his toy cars.”
Tim followed the lady out to her Range Rover and opening the back door, was greeted with, “Daddy, Mummy said this is where you work, and I can stay with you.”
“That’s right little man but just like when you go to your mum’s work you have to be very good.”
“I have got my cars.” Tim turned to Paddle Pop and said you’d better take my bike in case I need to bring him to you. Isabella, Julia, Rebecca, they’re all out and one of them has got the SUV. Paddle Pop pointed to the Mercedes.
“No, I definitely can’t use that, too much explaining I am not ready for.” Tim gave her the keys to the bike, helped her on with a helmet and jacket, and she was gone.
Tim was holding the little boy in his arms as his clients arrived, also in a Range Rover. Phil and Jean looked at the little boy, “He’s a cutie,” said Jean.
Tim said, “The joys of school holiday time for working mums; a friend needed him looked after for a couple of hours.” Rebecca was first to return, and she didn’t query anything as she saw the Range Rovers and walked in to find clients sitting with Tim and a small boy playing nearby on the floor with a pile of building blocks and toy cars. She smiled when the little boy starting driving the cars toward her desk and Tim came, crouched down, ruffling his hair, said, “Remember what I said about the pretend fence on the floor.”
“Sorry,” the child said and turned himself around pushing the car back into Tim’s area.
Julia was in about an hour later and noticed the Range Rovers, the clients and the small boy. She assumed he belonged to the clients who were sitting with Tim pouring over designs and plans. She was surprised that Tim was in the office and his bike wasn’t parked outside. Rebecca said to her, “That little boy has been really good, he must be their grandchild,” referring to the clients that were meeting with Tim. “He has lovely brown eyes and dark hair.” When I came back, he ran up to me and said, “Oh you’re not my mum and ran back over there again.”
“So cute,” said Rebecca.
Julia looked at her, “Squish over I am going to share your desk for a bit until those people leave.” Rebecca looked at her strangely. Julia said, “Just extra help in case he decides to run into the gallery.”
Rebecca said, “Oh he won’t, Tim told him he mustn’t pass the pretend fence and drew an imaginary line on the floor, it was so cute, like a dad would do.”
Julia’s intuition was telling her something she didn’t believe could be true. The clients, Phil and Jean, got up to leave, Jean bent down again to help the little boy pick up his things. Tim swung the little boy up into his arms, and they all strolled out of the gallery together. As they started to walk out, Julia had ducked out of sight into Isabella’s office, just enough that she could still watch. She watched the clients get into one of the Range Rovers and drive off, then Tim pop the boy into a child seat in the other and walk back into the entrance, holding the door open tell Rebecca he’d be out probably for the rest of the day.
Julia stood leaning against the doorway of Isabella’s office and giving Rebecca a very funny look, said, “I have never seen him before, Tim is so very careful that we don’t have any contact.”
Rebecca’s curiosity peaked, “What are you talking about?”
Julia said, “I think that was my nephew.”
Rebecca queried with a very surprised, “What?”
Julia said, “Not my story to tell.” Julia picked up her phone and started making some calls, she went and sat herself on the couch in Isabella’s office and made herself busy. Rebecca was intrigued but recognized she’d been shut down.
*
Isabella and Tim had been seeing each other very privately and quietly. The beauty of messaging was that there was no one to overhear phone conversations. They did speak on the phone, but it was usually just to wish each other a good night. Tim had made it quite clear to Isabella that Vicky was no longer a factor in his life. Isabella hadn’t heard from or seen David since his silly late-night phone call to report on Tim and Rebecca. She had told him he was talking absolute rubbish and not to call her again, but she hadn’t thought he’d taken her that literally. She guessed he had yet another girlfriend that was taking up his ‘after business hours’ time. Such a creature of habit she didn’t think David would ever go on dates any more exciting than a dinner or the movies. Something that fitted into a few hours in the evening after the work day.
Tim and Isabella’s first date had been a push bike ride and picnic. They had gone fishing off the pier at Cowes with Simon and Ursula, who as Tim’s closest long-term friends, could be trusted for total discretion. A sailing trip that was mostly motoring, as there wasn’t enough wind but supplied a little sunburn as a souvenir, was followed the next night by a gallery opening. They hadn’t had time yet for Izzy’s motorbike ride on quiet country roads. However, one riotous late afternoon was spent in an empty carpark teaching Izzy to ride the bike. When they went out for drinks or a meal, which was often, they frequented pubs and cafes around Williamstown that Tim knew well but where they’d be unlikely to be spotted. They’d gone to see a band at a pub, a messy night ending up in hangovers for both the following Saturday morning. An innocent enough activity to an observer was if they were both in the gallery in the mornings, there was a ritual of going out for coffee and bringing takeaways back for the others.
If anyone had thought to pick up their phones and check through the photos, there was a tale of romance that was making Isabella feel very happy and much more secure than she had in quite a number of years. Tim was feeling settled and much more at ease too. Surprisingly, Isabella had found the knack of not over-sharing with Julia and Rebecca and whilst not disappearing totally, always seemed too busy with this, that or the other, a vague smokescreen that gave no hint of her developing relationship with Tim.
There was one person who suspected there was quite a romance happening, and it was gathering momentum. Ruth was noticing Tim’s spirits had lifted, and for the past two weeks, he was often smiling and even whistling to himself. Ruth came home early one evening and found Tim and Isabella sitting on the back patio in separate chairs, feet up on other chairs. Tim was drinking a beer, Isabella sipping on a glass of wine. They were holding hands and they were in hysterical laughter about something and looked somewhat sheepish when they saw her but passed it off that they were talking about the gallery and waiting for the Sunset. Ruth was a little alarmed, but they’d looked very connected.
Three days later, Ruth returned in the late evening to just lamplight and was shocked when she switched the lights on to find a semi-naked Tim with his back to her stretched out on the sofa obviously doing some serious canoodling with a woman, she couldn’t quite see but whose top, bra, and shoes were in a heap with Tim’s shirt, shoes and socks. She quickly switched off the lights and made her way through to the kitchen, calling out if anyone wanted tea or coffee.
She was grinning a little at the flurry of activity in the family room and was smiling when Tim and the female who was Isabella appeared in the kitchen, both somewhat tousled and flustered. Tim looked very nervous. His shirt was buttoned up, he was still barefoot. Isabella, blushing, had wrongly buttoned a navy cardigan and seemed to have some other light fabric oozing from a small sho
ulder bag. They looked like teenagers who had been caught out. Isabella said, “Ruth we are sorry you saw us. No sorry isn’t the correct word, I think embarrassed might be better.”
Tim was holding Isabella’s hands, “Mum can you keep it to yourself please?”
Isabella said, “Tim I’d better go.”
“I’ll see you out.”
Then almost in unison, they both said, “We really like each other so don’t be cross.” Ruth had to smile as they turned away and thought she’d need to soften her stance about Isabella. They were obviously very much involved with each other.
Then Julia’s birthday, it was a small gathering Lucy and Michael with Rebecca, Ruth herself and her three adult children David, Julia and Tim. Julia’s fiancé, Antonio, had returned to Italy briefly so Ruth wanted to make Julia’s birthday a little special. Rebecca phoned and asked if it would be alright if Isabella came as she was really like family and Julia’s close friend. After everyone arrived, Ruth found she was short on chilled white wine, and Tim offered to go to the bottle-shop. “Izzy would you come with me you’ll know which wine to get?” Innocent enough, thought Ruth, but the pure pleasure on Isabella’s face and the way Tim held her for a minute or two around her hips quite intimately as he checked if there was anything else needed, was a little giveaway. Rebecca noticed too and gave a knowing look to Ruth.
Glancing out through the window as they got into Isabella’s car, Ruth noted the subtle lean across to kiss each other which at a quick look seemed simply adjusting Isabella’s seatbelt. The absolute giveaway which again seemed innocent but piled together with all the other evidence and a good indicator was the sharing of a cup of chocolate mousse. There were lots of giggles and discussion about who liked chocolate mousse the most including a dash of mousse and cream that ended up on Isabella’s nose. Julia was watching and wondering but laughing with them. David just simply frowned and said, “It’s like we are all back to years ago, Isabella stop teasing the kid.”
Lucy said, “Isabella you seem really happy.”
To which Isabella replied, “I am,” and held Tim’s gaze for a few brief moments. He’d run his hand so briefly across Isabella’s shoulder if you blinked, you would have missed it. Rebecca just had a knowing look. She’d guessed. Ruth thought, ‘I think a goodbye has been said to Victoria and this is becoming serious’.
Julia too had her suspicions it wasn’t really anything she could put her finger on. She’d noticed Isabella smiling down at her phone on countless occasions. She’d been surprised at Isabella changing into jeans and sturdy ankle boots before leaving early one afternoon. Isabella said she had to go and do something that required more practical clothing but really didn’t elaborate. It could have been something at her house, Julia didn’t give it too much thought although Isabella’s eyes were shining, and she looked very happy.
Then there was the Saturday she called into her mother’s and found her very tall younger brother sitting on the kitchen floor leaning against the cabinets, legs outstretched, a grilled ham and cheese half eaten as he spoke laughingly into the phone, “Yeah it was too many shots of tequila. No, we didn’t because you fell asleep you goose. I have got such a headache, I can barely stand-up and I’ve got to concentrate on some plans.” Tim looked up at his sister and said, "Julia’s just come in I’d better go. Cuddles, adore you ‘bye." He hung up and had such a goofy look on his face as he looked down at his phone while putting it in his pocket. Julia deduced correctly he had a new girlfriend and it was someone who knew she was ’Julia’ not ‘my sister’.
“It was such a bad, bad night, too much to drink and we’re both suffering,” didn’t really enlighten Julia as he got up and took his sandwich with him to the study. Julia spoke to Isabella a couple of hours later who was also complaining of a very boozy night with some friends. “Oh who, do I know them?” she’d said curiously.
Isabella had replied, “Oh just a guy I know and Sophie and her boyfriend, you might remember from the ad agency. It was fun but such a bad, bad night, too much to drink.” Julia was left mulling over the similar sentiment and whether Tim and Isabella could be seeing each other. She didn’t think so though because she was sure Isabella would have told her or Rebecca.
*
The troubles started from the day Ruth and Victoria came in to take Tim out for lunch. Tim received a very angry text message from Isabella questioning why he hadn’t stood up to either Victoria or Ruth and refused to go full-stop. He’d replied Vicky was a good friend now, and he didn’t see the harm in it. Isabella didn’t see it like that. She was panicked because of Ruth’s obvious support for a Tim and Vicky match.
Then their squabbling escalated with discussions about her birthday on the coming Friday night. Isabella had always celebrated with Julia, David and Rebecca in the past, and she didn’t know how she was going to explain not doing so this year. Tim couldn’t understand why she couldn’t or wouldn’t come up with some polite excuse and go out with him. This, of course, led to a massive flurry of texts as to why did they need to keep their relationship under wraps anyway.
So, by late Thursday, it was war. Tim was unreachable and without logical explanation. Rebecca said she’d seen him driving off with clients in a Range Rover convoy on the Wednesday. His bike was nowhere to be seen. Julia checked externally at the family home after Isabella’s seemingly innocent inquiry, “Have you seen Tim, his bike doesn’t seem to be around?” Isabella tried David, again seeming innocent, “Have you seen your brother, we don’t seem to have seen him for several days?” and wasn’t any more enlightened but Isabella was pinned down to the Friday night celebration. Friday arrived, and Isabella hadn’t heard from Tim. It was her birthday and she was distraught but angry that there hadn’t been a phone call, or message, or any sign that he was going to mark her special day.
Chapter 14
A Birthday Celebration of Sorts
Julia and Rebecca noticed she was distracted and upset because in all the years that they had known her, she had taken special care to dress in her favourite clothes and take care with her hair and makeup to feel ‘special’ on her birthday. Today, she looked like she’d picked something out of the bottom of the closet where it had lain from falling off a hanger, her hair was just scraped back into a pony-tail, and her makeup was sparing. Rebecca had been taken aback when Isabella seemed to burst into tears on hearing Tim wasn’t going to be in the office and if any of his clients wanted to reach him, he could be contacted via his mobile. Isabella passed it off as thoughts about her parents on her birthday.
*
Friday night arrived, and a very despondent and unhappy Isabella went home and dressed to meet David, Julia and Rebecca for the planned birthday dinner. She dressed in her new figure-hugging leather trousers, black stiletto shoes and the very sheer but layers of silky chiffon, floaty blouse that suggested skin and not much else was hiding underneath. It was what she had always planned to wear that night, but she had fashioned her look to make quite a sexy impact not dress for a bunch of long-time friends.
David was agog when she arrived at the restaurant because he was used to a demure Isabella. Julia and Rebecca were stunned that their soft gentle friend who was normally so professional and polished in business clothes, had vamped herself to the extent she was set for a night of clubbing. She’d obviously had a few glasses of wine before she arrived as she was quite smiley and flirty and had most of the women in the restaurant looking anxiously as their partners followed her entrance.
They were only four, but the restaurant was insistent that they sit at a table for six. Isabella was flirting up a storm with the drinks waiter and discussing the cocktail menu when her phone pinged with a birthday message from one of her English friends. She read it and plonking her phone down less than carefully, it skidded to Julia’s side of the table. Julia was taken aback at the screensaver that popped up and flicked to Isabella’s photos that revealed a gallery of photos of her younger brother engaged in all sorts of activities and in va
rious stages of dress and undress. Julia interrupted the flirt-fest on the other side of the table to order tequila sunrises for Isabella and Rebecca, a red wine for herself and a scotch and soda for her older brother.
Isabella was a bit indignant, “I might have wanted something different like an expresso martini as I quite like those.”
Julia said, “I wanted to get rid of that waiter, he was falling all over you, and I also want to ask about these,” and waved Isabella’s phone with the photo gallery open. Isabella grabbed her phone and looking down with embarrassment, shoved it into her tiny handbag. Julia wasn’t going to let her get away with brushing it off, “So what is it exactly you have been doing with my younger brother?”
Addressing her older brother, Julia said, “She has been all sorts of busy with our younger brother and has it all documented on her photo gallery.”
All Rebecca could do was look at Isabella in amazement and mutter, “He’s standing right there as she gazed up at her Paul in shock.” David looked at the two men standing at the end of the table and acknowledging Paul with “Hello mate”, verbally attacked his younger brother with “You bastard”. Isabella gave David the evil eye and then turning to Tim glared up at him and said, “So where did you crawl from.”
“Obviously you are not big on surprises then Isabella,” said Tim.
Isabella thought it might be best if she stood up and then they could rearrange the seating to include Tim and Paul. Standing up, she provided Tim the opportunity to embrace her with one hand on her leather clad bottom. He held her chin with his other hand and kissed her quickly wishing her a Happy Birthday. They rearranged themselves so that David and Julia were sitting on the table ends, Rebecca and Paul were together on one side and Tim and Isabella on the other. Tim whispered to Izzy that if she was trying to drive every man in the room sexy crazy, she was dressed for it. She blushed, he thought, but she was more made up than normal.