by S M Mala
‘Why don’t you say ‘sorry’?’ Alex frowned and looked down at her. ‘Why sad?’
‘Because how can I be sorry if I didn’t know the person? And even if I did, I can’t apologise for the inevitable, can I? I barely remember losing my mother and a few things I recall about my dad. I was a child and people kept saying ‘I’m sorry’, which made me wonder if they did something to make him die.’ Mabel noticed the familiar, soul-searching stare. ‘So, I say I’m sad for their loss as I know how upsetting it is.’
‘Interesting.’ Then he looked around the house and up into the sky before back at her. ‘What’s really troubling you right now? I know I’ve asked before but you’re keeping something secret. I see it in your face.’
Not wanting to answer but beginning to see that Alex Chambers was far too sharp for her liking, she looked straight up at him and took a deep breath.
‘I’m protecting my children,’ she whispered. ‘That’s all you need to know.’
He broke out into a smile and kissed her cheek, before walking back to his car and driving off.
Mabel couldn’t figure him out.
The only one thing she did know, she liked him far too much.
‘Oh dear!’
The following day Mabel logged into her emails, and there was one in her in-box from ‘Love to Love’.
Now she knew this was probably the agency advising that her business wasn’t good for their image, and Alex would have seen it, much to his amusement.
Then she thought about Paolo gossiping to all and sundry about Mabel getting rejected by an agency who promised to get anyone a date.
Mabel was certainly the challenge.
Jess had gone to see a friend while Lottie was watching a television drama based on one of the books she was studying at school.
She opened the email.
Mabel was shocked.
Someone replied.
‘Hi, I noticed you on the site and thought you sounded interesting. I’ve seen a picture and I’m impressed. I haven’t put one up of myself, but I wondered if we could meet for coffee? Usually we’re supposed to email and do some chat but I am too a divorcee with a couple of kids. I want to meet someone who understands how I feel. Anyway, I expect you’re inundated with emails so hopefully you’ll find this one. I look forward to hearing from you. Lee’
Pondering, she decided to reply.
‘Hi Lee, thank you for your email. I’m not sure what the protocol is. Am I supposed to email you about a dozen times before we meet up? I’ve never done this before. As for coffee? I’m not sure if that’s permitted at this stage. I’ll have to look at the guidelines. I’m deeply flattered that you contacted me. Kind regards Mabel.’
Mabel thought she sounded like a stick in the mud. That was enough to put her one response off. He could be hideously unattractive and thought he was in with a chance.
Then she received another email.
‘Do you want me to send a picture of myself if you’re unsure?’
Mabel smiled and thought it was funny he said what she was thinking, then emailed him.
‘No, that’s fine. If we meet, I’ll be the one with the claw hammer, just in case. None of your silly carnations for me.’ Then she took a deep breath before writing, ‘Tell me about yourself.’
And he did.
She didn’t realise they’d been chatting on line for two hours until Jess walked back in.
‘Mum, when are we having sandwiches?’ she shouted out, walking up to her. Mabel stopped in mid-type before closing the page. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Work bits and bobs,’ she casually replied.
And that was the truth.
She had been doing her work assignment but now she wanted to meet Lee. He came across as quite funny and sweet.
All the things she had told her kids about the internet and chatting to people on-line had gone out the window.
But in her defence, work would be able to monitor it all and if he were an axe murderer, at least she would get the chance to meet for coffee beforehand.
‘Where are you going?’
Calum asked, stopping her down the corridor in the office. ‘You’re dressed up.’
Not knowing if her brother knew about the coffee date, she shrugged and smiled before grimacing.
‘So many emotions in one fail swoop,’ he sighed, before folding his arms. ‘Are you okay? Why’s mum babysitting the girls this afternoon?’
‘I’ve got something to do.’ Then she moved closer. ‘Jess said she thought Baba was really funny, so mum’s taken it upon herself to show the girls she’s funnier.’
He laughed before turning serious, then asked,
‘Have you spoken to Wes?’
‘Why?’
‘I heard on the grapevine he has split with Tafari. Did you know this? Is this why the girls went to see him at Baba’s house?’
‘Listen to me,’ she said, pulling him to the side. ‘Don’t say anything. The girls will tell mum today and Wes doesn’t really want to speak about it. I’m at a loss on what to do because I find out, after all this time, the kids’ hated going to his other home.’
‘That woman.’
‘Half woman, half man,’ she said, pulling a face.
They watched a few colleagues walk by before looking at each other.
‘And he’s not asked for your forgiveness and to give it another go?’ Callum frowned. ‘Maybe he made a genuine mistake?’
‘After what he did. I’m not going to take him back. I need to move on.’
‘Yeah, and you’re the only person in history who hasn’t had someone respond to on-line dating!’ he snorted back a laugh. ‘Only my little sis.’
‘Stuff it!’ she replied, smiling smugly at him. ‘I might have.’
‘I saw the information this morning, and no, you haven’t.’
A little confused, she wondered if it hadn’t filtered through from three days ago, then thought it was best Calum didn’t know.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Mabel walked away and heard Calum wolf whistle.
She knew he was taking the piss.
Strolling towards her office she went to her desk and looked at some spreadsheets but Mabel couldn’t concentrate.
In an hour, she was going to meet a man she had only been emailing since Sunday. Three days of dialogue didn’t seem to warrant a meeting so early on. Logging into ‘Love to Love’ she looked at her bio and the picture. There were no records of emails from Lee.
That was odd.
Sitting back in her chair, she didn’t know what was going on so considered speaking to Alex about it, and then held back.
He hadn’t been around much that week. Mabel looked up and noticed he was frowning at his screen then glanced over at her before his eyes darted back to his computer.
Then she watched him get up and walk through the creative department, and straight towards her office.
Alex seemed to be a man on a mission.
Mabel closed the site and pretended to look at something else.
‘Mabel,’ he said quite loudly, getting to her door. ‘You look nice.’
Once again, he said as if it was a surprise.
‘Thanks.’
‘Off to anywhere special?’
‘Meeting a friend for coffee.’
‘Male or female?’
‘Alex, how can I help you?’ She watched how he tilted his head before grimacing. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘You look nice,’ he said slowly, then shook his head.
‘You said that already and…’ Mabel took a deep breath. ‘Don’t spoil the first compliment you have ever given me, please? I need a bit of a confidence booster here.’
Then he shut the door and walked closer towards her, grabbing a chair and placing it beside her.
‘I think you might be right about people fiddling money regarding the costings,’ he whispered, staring into her eyes. ‘Someone mentioned today about Keith knowing this film crew really
well. We use them for lots of things. Thing is…’ Alex moved closer. ‘Keith is one of the owners so the money’s going to him.’
‘You are joking, aren’t you? In the contract it strictly states you can’t use your own company to do any of the work, especially when you’re an employee.’
‘You need to get past costings and-.’
‘I know what I need to do. Do you know the name of the company?’ Mabel watched Alex examine her face before half smiling. ‘It’ll make it easier to search.’
‘You’re very pretty, Mabel.’
She pursed her lips; her heart was thundering and she put that down to nerves.
‘Please play your games on someone else,’ she replied, swallowing hard.
‘Why do you need a confidence boost?’
‘Because.’ Mabel pushed her chair back so she wasn’t close. ‘Email me the name if you prefer.’
‘Ignite Pictures.’
‘Oh.’ She frowned. ‘We use them for lots of things! Bloody hell! Calum’s going to go mad.’
‘And that’s not all, but I’ll let you press on as I can see you’re about to leave.’ He stood up and moved the chair. ‘Have fun, whoever you’re seeing.’
‘You don’t know?’
‘Know what?’ He turned to look at her.
She wondered if he was teasing then thought not to say, just in case he was waiting to make a big song and dance about it.
‘Nothing,’ she shrugged, moving closer to her desk.
‘And you need to keep this under your hat, okay?’
‘Sure.’
As Mabel got ready to walk out, she had gone through twenty-four months of transactions and was trying not to spit blood. Keith’s company had raked in hundreds and thousands of pounds from the various projects.
What made it worse, where she oversaw the production costs for internal and third parties, Mabel didn’t have the final sign off on the invoices. If the figures had been changed, it was approved by the account director of that project.
And that’s when she realised something odd was going on, because costs were then changed later, when her work was done, to balance out the figures. The increased costing being Ignite Pictures and another company called Fire Films. But the figures were similar so she couldn’t say Ignite Pictures were trying to rip them off when the other company charged the same price.
Grabbing her jacket, she walked past the account handling team and caught Keith’s eye.
She couldn’t stop herself.
Mabel pointed to her eye then pointed to him before snarling. Some others had caught her doing it as Keith went bright red. Just then she realised Alex was watching as he solemnly shook his head from side to side.
He wasn’t to know Keith was pocketing money from Mabel’s company.
But she did.
‘Mabel?’
She looked up, waiting in the small coffee shop and was stunned to see an attractive tall man, with grey-blue eyes and a bright smile.
Lee was handsome and laughed when he saw her.
‘That bad, Lee?’
‘That good.’
Mabel got to her feet and put out her hand, which he shook. She was pleased it was a firm hand grip, not one like a wet squib.
‘I’m a bit nervous,’ she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. ‘I’ve not done this before and-.’
‘Don’t worry. I’m not a serial killer, axe murderer or a psychopath though my ex-wife would probably disagree.’ He laughed and seemed relaxed. ‘Can I get you a coffee or would you prefer a something a bit stronger? There’s a bar around the corner.’ Knowing she should stay sober but needing to get some courage, she nervously grinned. ‘The bar it is.’
Lee’s children were a little older than Lottie and Jess. One was at university while the younger one was doing A’ levels. He didn’t look old enough to have kids of that age and the more she examined him, Mabel thought he was far too good looking to use a website.
Now she was sitting talking to a hot man who seemed to tick most of her boxes, if there were boxes to tick.
Then she wondered if Alex had done that on her behalf.
She would have to say thank you when she saw him next – all depending what happened in the next hour.
And it was quite odd, what she felt when thinking about Alex.
There was a cross between a tingle of excitement and dismay.
Mabel couldn’t figure out what it meant.
Two glasses of wine later, Mabel felt less anxious. Lee seemed to be an accomplished business man, focussing on the internet and e-commerce enterprises. Just glancing at his watch, she knew he didn’t lack cash, but that wasn’t the appeal.
It was the sparkling eyes that seemed to be smiling when he looked at her.
‘I better go,’ she said, realising the time. ‘They’re expecting me in half an hour.’
‘Would you like to meet for dinner? I think we got on well.’
‘I think we got on very well.’ Mabel grinned.
‘I bet you had a lot of interest.’ That’s when she laughed out, putting her hand over her mouth. ‘Did I say something funny?’
‘You’re the first one who emailed me,’ she sighed, taking her hand away from her face. ‘I was starting to give up hope.’
‘I’m sure that’s a mistake,’ he said, looking confused. ‘Are you sure you haven’t been rejecting people?’ Mabel shook her head from side to side. ‘Really?’
‘Yes, really. How did you find me?’
‘I saw your profile,’ he said, his eyes darting away. ‘You’re gorgeous. When are you free to meet again?’
‘Friday,’ she said unable to stop her stupid grin.
And by looking at him, she had something to grin about.
‘You seem happy.’
Alex was standing behind her at the bus stop the following morning. ‘You’re never this happy.’
‘And you never speak in the mornings,’ she shot back, seeing he was looking handsome. ‘Why are you talking to me?’
‘Bored.’
Mabel laughed at his rude comment and grinned.
‘One day, Alex Chambers, you will say something nice to me and it will take us both by surprise.’ And she laughed again, seeing he was starting to smile. ‘Sit next to me on the bus and I’ll tell you why I’m cheerful.’
‘I’d rather not. You’ll think we’re friends, and that might confuse matters.’
‘Confuse what? You think I’m needy, so you come to Sunday lunch occasionally, and I went to your dad’s funeral. Barely do you speak to me on a day to day basis. The only reason I know you’re in is because I can see you from my desk.’
‘Ah, you watch me, do you?’ Alex smiled, and she realised his was sexier and mischievous. Lee’s grin was friendly and kind. ‘Figured.’
‘Fine. Go sit upstairs and do your thing.’
The doors to the waiting bus opened and she got on, going to her usual seat. Alex glanced at her and went upstairs.
Taking out her tablet, she played her usual game and thought about work.
But she couldn’t think straight. Her head was spinning about Wes and Lee.
One who was going through a traumatic time.
The other who was new and interesting.
She smiled thinking one was light and the other dark, not their skin colouring, but how they made her feel. Placing her head against the glass, she wondered what would happen over the coming weeks.
Towards the end of the journey, there was a sharp nudge in her side.
Alex was sitting next to her.
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, elbowing him back.
‘Talk to me about why you’re smiling and now gazing into space. It’s obviously about a man, isn’t it?’
‘Alex, you seriously don’t know?’ Mabel looked into the dark brown eyes that seemed puzzled. ‘Haven’t you checked the website?’
‘Website?’
‘Love to Love,’ she whispered, moving closer. ‘I met someone for c
offee.’
‘No, you didn’t!’ he said loudly, scoffing at her comment. ‘I’ve not seen any emails.’
‘I got one.’ She smiled at his disbelieving expression. ‘On Sunday. Anyway, he emailed me, and I met him yesterday.’
‘That’s impossible,’ he seriously replied and shook his head. ‘You’re making this up, aren’t you?’
‘Why would I do that?’ Mabel shuffled away from him and looked out the window. ‘If you didn’t see the email then there’s something wrong with the software.’
‘I know you’ve been under some pressure, but don’t go telling fibs,’ he whispered. ‘People will think you’re unbalanced.’ Then he shoved his phone under her nose. ‘See, no-one emailed you.’
He had her account, and there was nothing.
‘But he did!’ Mabel then looked through her tablet and showed him what she had received in her personal email, making Alex double blink. ‘I’m not making it up.’ His eyes narrowed suspiciously, as he took it out of her hand and started reading the e-mail conversation. ‘I’m not losing my mind.’
‘I need to keep this,’ he said, putting it into his pocket. ‘Something’s not right. He could be someone that broke into the website to get personal details. And how come it’s through the ‘Love to Love’ site, and there’s no record of his email address?’ Alex then pondered. ‘He made contact on Sunday and you meet him a few days later? Isn’t that a little bit fast?’
‘You want the research information, don’t you?’ she scowled. ‘And I wanted to go out on a date.’ Then Mabel smiled. ‘He’s very nice.’
‘Nice is not a good word to describe someone.’
‘Friendly.’
‘So is a dog.’
‘There’s no point talking to you,’ she said, folding her arms across her chest. ‘And give me back my tablet.’
‘If there’s a fault in the software, then we need to tell them. I’m not going to pitch for a business where the customers are at risk of getting their details hacked by some pervert.’
‘He’s not a pervert!’ Mabel said defensively. ‘He is a lovely man and I like him.’
‘You’ve only just met him.’