X
Weird that his email should make her feel instantly better. She’d come to look forward to his missives, even though she still felt a little uncomfortable about his comments on her blog. It frustrated the hell out of her that she couldn’t work out who he was. She accepted that he was an acquaintance of hers, someone she did actually know, but beyond that it was a mystery. She knew it was wrong to have flirted with him while she was dating Nate but there was something refreshingly honest about an email conversation that you just didn’t get face to face.
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
I’m ok. A little freaked out by everything that’s going on but I’m just keeping my head down and trying to get on with life. What about you? Must be weird to have everyone wondering about your identity.
Elise
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
Yeah, it is a little weird isn’t it? Mostly I’m ignoring it. I can’t really complain since it was me that started it in the first place by leaving you love letters. I have been watching the rumours hashtag on twitter though. Some of the suggestions have been very amusing. I never expected it to get so...big. Makes it worse in a way because there’ll be so much interest if I reveal myself.
Ever yours,
X
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
I wish you would reveal yourself. I look forward to your emails. It would be nice to know who I’m corresponding with.
Elise
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
You’re corresponding with someone that cares for you very deeply. I’ve thought a lot recently about telling you who I am but I’m aware that you’re dating someone. That being the case, I’m going to keep my silence. I don’t want to put you in the position of having to choose unless you’re unhappy and looking for a way out.
Ever yours,
X
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
I’m not unhappy. He’s a great guy. I appreciate the sentiment though.
Elise
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
And yet you still email and flirt with me?
Ever yours,
X
To: Mr X ([email protected])
From: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
X,
Are we flirting? I told you I wasn’t perfect.
Elise
To: Elise Waterford ([email protected])
From: Mr X ([email protected])
Elise,
Yes we are. And think about it. If you were 100% happy with him you wouldn’t have emailed me back in the first place. Curiosity is the first step on the path to insecurity.
Ever yours,
X
Elise stared at the screen, unsure whether to feel angry, affronted or freaked out. True, Nate could be a little smothering and over-protective. He might be jealous and a little insecure when it came to other men. He might constantly turn up unannounced to spend time with her but they loved each other and were still in the first flushes of their relationship. Surely that intensity was normal, right? Damn Mr X for putting doubts in her mind. Who was he to question when he couldn’t even be bothered to tell her who he was? Angry, she slammed the lid of the laptop down and went to bake a cake.
On Tuesday morning Elise followed her usual pattern of meeting her project at a cafe. Simon turned out to be an average guy. Average height, average build, average looks... His attitude was pretty average too. She had been spot on about his total inability to decide what he wanted in a woman. He was so cut up about a multitude of previous failed relationships that, instead of looking forward, he was maintaining a list of the least desirable traits of his ex-girlfriends in his mind and judging everyone against it. Elise didn’t know where to start. She didn’t think counselling would help in this case. What she needed to do was find out what he liked and she had no idea how to go about that.
She spent the afternoon pacing around the flat feeling like a caged animal at the zoo. She wanted to go do stuff but Taylor’s warnings about keeping her head down were making her feel like she couldn’t even step outside the front door. She was still too angry with X to turn on her computer and check her emails. When Nathan arrived to take her to dance class she was so relieved she thought she might cry.
She threw everything she had into dancing and by the time they made it home and ate takeaway she was so exhausted she didn’t know what to do with herself.
“Why don’t I run you a bath?” Nathan suggested, stroking her back soothingly as she leaned up against him in the kitchen. “You look beat.”
“That sounds great.” She told him dully.
“Don’t get too enthusiastic...” He joked but it fell flat and concern clouded his face. “Is it the rumours or is it the feature?” He asked and she sighed.
“A little of both.” She admitted. “I have no idea where I’m going with project 4. I can’t tell someone what to love. How do you find out what type you like in less than a week? Isn’t it trial and error?”
“I guess.” He thought about it. “I didn’t know really what my type was until I met you. I thought I was into geek chic but you’re kinda normal.”
“Gee, thanks!” She chuckled, her mood lightening slightly. “Perhaps that’s it. He must have fallen for his ex girlfriends for some reason. I need to find out what he saw in them from before they broke his heart.”
“That’s going to be a fun conversation.” He remarked drily, resting his cheek against her head. “I don’t envy you at all.
“Well, it certainly can’t be as hard as last week.” Elise said quietly, sadness clouding her tone. “That was painful.”
“You know, if you want to quit this project I’m behind you all the way.” He told her quietly, stroking her hair.
“If I quit I have to go back to Scotland.” She pointed out and he sighed.
“No. You wouldn’t. You’ll come and live with me.”
“I need to work Nathan.” She grumbled. “I have bills to pay.”
“I know. But as long as you know it’s an option...” Leaving her to think about it he went to run the bath.
I’ve never really had a type. In fairness, when it comes to men I don’t really ask for much. They have to be employed, not have a criminal record and be a non-smoker. I couldn’t date a smoker.
It’s like licking a dirty ashtray. Obviously that’s not the total list. I have to find them attractive on some level. I’ve never really had a physical type although I guess I tend to go for guys that are taller than me. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve never really looked objectively at potential partners in terms of what they look like. I’ve also never specifically gone out looking for a certain kind of guy. I guess you could say I’m an equal opportunities prospector.
The point is, I don’t suppose many of us have actually thought about what we want as opposed to what we don’t want. I don’t suppose many of us have even really thought about what we don’t want full stop. I suspect it’s an issue fairly unique to Simon and it’s a habit I need to break him of. The problem is that I need to force him to think about what he wants because trying to get him to back off from his negativity on the basis of a nebulous attempt to not judge at all will be too difficult.
This is going to be an awkward conversation to have. When you leave someone it’s easy to remember the bad things about them but painful to remember the good things about them...why you fell
for them in the first place. I think it must also hurt to look for people based on things you found attractive in other women. It’s a fine line to walk to ensure you don’t get reminded of your ex-partners whenever you look at your new girlfriend.
The other potential pitfall here is what happens if what he looks for in woman is either grossly chauvinistic or totally unattainable. Perhaps all his previous girlfriends have been six-foot tall leggy blondes with pneumatic chests, MENSA quality IQ and a physique based on Barbie. And how on earth do you put that on a profile? “Dudes, I’m looking for Dr Barbie...” I can’t see he’d get many takers.
I suppose only time will tell – we’ll have this conversation tomorrow and then attempt to rewrite his profile.
On Thursday morning Elise was woken up at 8am by Fern on the phone again.
“S’up?” She mumbled and Fern whooped excitedly.
“You’re trending again!” She squeaked. “You lucky thing you! This Nathan sounds like a real catch! Have you seen the news? Fuck, I woke you up again didn’t I?”
“What are you talking about?”
Fern instantly sobered. “Go watch the news.” She said. “It’s all over the breakfast shows.” Without saying anything else she hung up and Elise sighed, resigned to yet another early morning.
“Who was that?” Nathan asked coming back from the bathroom.
“Fern. Apparently I’m trending again and I’m on the news.”
“You going to get up?” He asked cautiously and she sighed again.
“I guess I probably should.” Wearily she dragged herself out of bed and slouched through to the living room, flicking through the channels as Nathan went to put the coffee on. Stopping when she caught a glimpse of her name she stopped and watched.
“This week we’ve been reporting on the love story of Elise Waterford, star blogger for Monochrome Magazine.” Declared the presenter. “It has become something of a cult phenomenon in the city and since yesterday a Spartacus-type campaign has hit the city streets in a rash of T-shirts with the moniker ‘#IamMrX’.”
The screen cut to pictures of men on the tube and in the streets wearing the T-shirts. That was bearable. In a way Elise could even see the humour of it, but her grin faded when the screen cut back to the presenter.
“In an interesting twist to the Mr X story, Elise Waterford has now been linked to Nathan Redwood, favourite grandson of billionaire business tycoon Elias Redwood. Nathan and his brother Harry are set to inherit trust funds of up to 48 million pounds each when they reach their 30th birthdays.” The presenter grinned. “She sure can choose these guys.”
The blood drained from her face and she heard Nathan swearing quietly behind her.
“Is this true?” She whispered, turning panicked eyes towards him. “I don’t understand. I thought you were a librarian. Are you really a millionaire?”
“It’s not that simple.” He looked anguished. “Elise I can’t stay, I’ve got to go to work. Can we talk about this tonight?”
“Answer me one thing?” She looked so pale that he didn’t have the heart to say no.
“What is it?”
“Why did you tell me that Taylor had so much more? Do you love me?”
“Of course I love you!” He rushed across and hugged her fiercely. “I love you so much it hurts. As for Taylor...I’ll have to explain that later. It’s tied into the money. I promise you we’ll talk about it. I’ll come straight here from work.”
“Okay.” He kissed her cheek and rushed out the door so he wouldn’t be late. Still in shock and feeling slightly dazed, Elise showered and dressed and went to meet Simon.
A painful and long four hours later she had a workable list and set off home to start writing her profile and Friday’s blog post. She saw a few of the T-shirts on her journey to his house and back but after the bomb shell of that morning they didn’t seem so amusing. She sat in front of the computer for almost an hour, just staring at the screen, but she couldn’t seem to focus. The words just wouldn’t come. Finally she gave up and logged into the blog. She hadn’t looked at Mr X’s posts since the previous week and had blogged twice since then.
Monday – Elise, if there is darkness in your soul I consider it to be the velvet glory of the night sky, a shimmering and glorious backdrop for the fiery brilliance of the stars. Ever yours...in darkness and in joy.
Wednesday – Elise, one of the things I love most about you is that you never seem judge people. You’re not just equal opportunities when it comes to prospective partners – you give everyone you come into contact with a free pass to walk right into your heart. It’s a generous, selfless and utterly endearing way to live. It makes me wonder...if you knew who I was would you judge me? Ever yours...
Well...he certainly had a way with words. Night sky indeed. Elise sighed and closed the browser window just as the phone rang.
Fern didn’t even wait for her to reply. “OH MY GOD!” She shrieked, beside herself with excitement. “YOU’RE TRENDING GLOBALLY!!”
“Why now?” She knew why. It was to do with Nathan. She just wanted to hear it from someone else.
“Apparently this Nate you’ve been dating is a billionsquillionaire.” Fern paused. “Pretty dishy too from the pictures that have been posted. There’s also some sort of movement to set you up on a blind date with Mr X. You should go check it out.”
“I will.” Elise facepalmed. The only way this could go was down Embarrassment Terrace which led onto Mortification Avenue which ended in the cul-de-sac of Ground Please Open and Swallow Me Whole. “Do you spend your whole day on Twitter? How come you know all this stuff?”
“Well I check it every now and then but I always look at your page first because it’s far more interesting than mine. I still have your password from when I set it up for you.”
“Oh. I see.” Shaking her head, Elise had to smile. She was glad someone was delighted with the turn of events. “I’ll check it out and text you later, I promise. I’ve got to work now.”
“Okay. I just thought you should know.”
“Love you.” Elise hung up and stared at the computer. It was going to be a long afternoon.
She was just contemplating the merits of coffee when her phone rang again. This time it was Mark.
“Are you busy this afternoon?” He asked once they’d been through the small talk. “I have something I’d like to show you.”
Elise thought about the blog and the profile. “No.” She lied. “I’ve got an appointment at four but other than that I’m not busy. You want me to come over?”
“I’m at the gallery hanging pictures. Can you come here instead?”
“Sure.” Elise grabbed a piece of paper to write down the address, took her tube map and headed out into the sunshine. It was a swelteringly hot day and by the time she arrived at the gallery her hair was a frazzled mess and her T-shirt was sticking to her damp skin. Mark hugged her warmly anyway as he met her at the door and led her through into a huge, airy and bright space.
“So you got a gallery exhibition?” She queried. It was kind of obvious given that his photos were hanging up everywhere but she wanted to hear it from the beginning.
“Yeah the studio has been negotiating for a while but it was your photographs that clinched the deal.”
“My photographs?” Elise’s heart sank.
“Come with me.” He took her hand and led her through to another brightly lit room where the only photos were a series of pictures all along the far wall. They were so beautiful that it took a moment for Elise to realise she was looking at herself.
“Oh my God!” She stared at them. “That’s me!”
“Yes.” He seemed amused. “We called it Kaleidoscope.” He gestured to the tiny plaques beneath each picture, each with an emotion printed on it – happiness, sorrow, worry... “Your face is so expressive. In half an hour I managed to capture a whole cycle of these from joy through everything else and back to joy again. The gallery loved it.”
She felt a bit self-
conscious about the whole thing but the pictures really were beautiful. “You’ll let me know if anyone buys one?” She asked and he nodded.
“Of course.”
She wandered around looking at the rest of the photographs and spent a few moments catching up on the gossip with Mark. One of his dates had been really successful and it was looking like she might be the one. He was elated and she left the gallery with a bounce in her step. It was hard not to be utterly delighted for him.
She didn’t have enough time to go home before her appointment at the office so she just headed straight there. She didn’t know what Mr Stone wanted to see her for but if he wasn’t happy with her wearing jeans he could go whistle. He might own the magazine but Taylor had employed her and he was her manager. If Nathan was right and the magazine knew exactly what they were doing floating the rumours about Taylor after the ball, then she owed them nothing for making her life awkward.
As expected he made her wait almost half an hour before she was called through to the office. When she finally went through she had to hide a smile. George Stone was almost exactly what she had imagined – an older, more rugged version of Taylor. The beautiful bone structure and blond hair were there, just slightly more weathered by time.
“Miss Waterford.” He greeted. “Take a seat.”
“Thanks.” Refusing to be intimidated by the expanse of desk between them she settled herself comfortably in a chair and focused on him. “What can I do for you?”
He didn’t waste any time on small talk. “Miss Waterford, I want to know what your intentions are towards my son.”
“Taylor?” Elise shrugged. “We’re just friends. We’ve only ever been and will only ever be friends. I have a partner.”
“Have you made that clear to my son?”
Summer Loving Page 17