An Unexpected Gift

by Lily Zante

  “This is Martin,” said Daniel. And turning to Caitlin, “Martin, meet Caitlin, a friend of mine.”

  Daniel looked at Caitlin. He had been thinking of her ever since she had visited him at home. And here she was in the flesh. The sight of her had lifted his spirits more than she would ever know. Kerrie cleared her throat, realizing that they had all but forgotten her. “Sorry,” said Caitlin guiltily, turning to Kerrie who stood there with a frown on her face. “Daniel meet my best friend and flat mate, Kerrie.” A charming wide mouthed smile spread out on Kerrie’s face as she stepped forward to shake hands, a little too enthusiastically, with Daniel.

  “So you’re the Daniel?” she asked, turning to Caitlin for verification. “She didn’t tell me you were so cute,”

  Caitlin looked at her in horror. Please don’t say another word or else I will never forgive you.

  But the mortified look on Caitlin’s face failed to reach Kerrie. Caitlin had omitted to tell her flat mate about the New Year’s Eve visit or the fact that Daniel was married and also, as she had just found out now, was a dad too.

  Daniel smiled quietly. He wondered what Caitlin had been saying about him.

  “Everything alright with you?” he asked, never lifting his eyes off Caitlin.

  She nodded in return and had the distinct impression he didn’t want to say too much in front of the young boy. Not that this stopped Kerrie.

  “Well, apparently the police have found out who it was now and it wasn’t a random attack either.” She chirped away merrily, oblivious to the small eyes and ears that were taking this in and fully loving the effect that this piece of news had on Daniel. His eyes narrowed and he drew his head towards her, eager for the update.

  “What do you mean it wasn’t random?” he asked, his eyes flashing with curiosity.

  Caitlin stood quietly. Her body was starting to tune out again, as it seemed to do each time anything related to Carl came up.

  Daniel looked away from Caitlin, seeing that she wasn’t responding and looked at Kerrie instead, who butted in with the rest of the news. Having the stage all to herself Kerrie launched forth with the news enthusiastically.

  “Her ex boyfriend, the bastard,” she paused just in time and looked at Martin apologetically, “paid someone to rough her up.”

  Caitlin couldn’t bear this much longer. “Please don’t talk about me as if I’m not here,” she glared at Kerrie but nothing seemed to make a dent in her rendition of the events of that night. She had Daniel’s rapt attention and she wasn’t going to slow down now.

  “Didn’t she tell you? Oh, her ex was a total bas- .. brute. Treated her like shi…..she should never have been treated. She dumped him back in - when was it Caitlin? November?”

  But Caitlin stood rigidly with her head down, the bags weighing her arms down more than ever. She didn’t want her painful and private life bared and talked about like this.

  What had gotten into Kerrie?

  Daniel took one of the bags off Caitlin. “So you’ve been shopping,” he said holding it for her. She shook her empty arm in relief and nodded a silent thanks to him.

  He ran his free hand through his blond hair. She looked so forlorn and miserable. If what he had heard from her flat mate was true, and he had no reason to believe otherwise, then this little incident was not going to go away fast. He thought he was the only one dealing with a terrible relationship. But Caitlin had as bad a cross to bear as he did with Marisa. Only, Caitlin’s situation seemed worse, if indeed her ex had paid someone to have her beaten up. The thought of it made his facial muscles tighten. If he could get his hands on the man again………

  Kerrie had stopped talking now and was waiting for a response from Daniel but he said nothing. Caitlin put out her hand and Daniel handed her bag back to her. He looked over at her but she wasn’t meeting his gaze.

  Quietly, she said, “I expect the policeman in charge of the investigation might get in touch with you shortly.” Then she lifted her face and her brown eyes gazed up at his. There was pain in both of their faces.

  It was a sadness that went way beyond the ugliness of the attack that they both now shared.

  Kerrie tapped her foot impatiently but didn’t realize she was doing it. The dark and dull grayness of the wet Saturday morning now bought with it a touch of light drizzle; light enough to get by without an umbrella for a short while.

  “Why don’t you two get together to discuss your stories, you know, in case it goes to court and all that. I know Caitlin can be quite shy but she works at Brandmarks Design Agency in Covent Garden - in case you might want to meet up with her.” Kerrie rambled on, unable to stop the sudden gush of words spouting from her mouth.

  Her face bright red with fury or embarrassment, Caitlin wasn’t sure which it was, she said, “I apologize for my friend in advance. Sometimes its hard to see her face properly because her huge size seven foot is often in the way.” She was so annoyed because Kerrie was plainly making her look a fool. Daniel didn’t want any romantic dalliances. He was a married man. Why did Kerrie think every good looking man was great boyfriend fodder? A relationship was the last thing she was looking for right now.

  Daniel smiled. He could sense that Caitlin was none too happy with her friend.

  He made to leave. “Nice seeing you again Caitlin. Nice meeting you Kerrie.” He nodded his head and placing his hand on Martin’s shoulder, he disappeared back into the stampede on the pavement.

  Kerrie flashed her green eyes at Caitlin accusingly, “You didn’t tell me he was so-”.

  “I’m hungry and I don’t want to talk about it,” said Caitlin abruptly, silencing her friend immediately.

  Kerrie knew better than to push her friend now.

  After a bowl of noodles, would be better.

  Chapter Eight

  Ramen noodles always did the trick. The restaurant was packed full to the brim and the chatter of conversation mixed easily with the clatter of the kitchen, lending a noisy atmosphere all around while the warm and comforting fragrance of chicken, fish and noodles filled the air, making the inside of the restaurant so warm and appealing.

  Kerrie decided now would be the perfect time to carry on the conversation she had started after seeing the gorgeous Daniel earlier.

  “You never did tell me he was so good looking.”

  For goodness sake, stop going on about him.

  Instead Caitlin said, “I also didn’t tell you he was married, has a model for a wife and if I’m not mistaken, that little boy was most likely his son.”

  The shocked expression on Kerrie’s face told Caitlin she had done the trick. When no further words came out of Kerrie’s mouth, Caitlin gave her the complete run down of how she had visited him at home on New Year’s Eve. After a significant pause, “Thornton’s chocolates!” was the only response the indignant Kerrie could come up with.

  “A pen, or cool gadget, or cufflinks or tie or something cool and trendy I get, but Thornton’s chocolates?” she repeated in shock horror.

  “It was a thank you gift for saving my life, Kerrie, not a bloody Christmas present for a boyfriend!” Caitlin scowled at her friend before menacingly adding, “he’s married for goodness sake, Kerrie. Quit going on about him.”

  The words came out much more harshly than Caitlin intended. She was annoyed with her best friend and partly annoyed because, yes, seeing Daniel again today, when she thought she would never see him again, had reminded her of how gorgeous he was. And that he had saved her. And that in itself meant that he was a one in a million person. Not many people would put their lives in danger for someone they didn’t know. People only thought to save themselves these days, and she didn’t blame them. Would she ever step into a fight to save a stranger? She liked to think she would, but in reality, if it ever came down to it, it wouldn’t surprise her if she pretended not to notice.

  “Sorry Caitlin. I shouldn’t keep going on about it. I- It – You always seemed to light up when you spoke about the man who saved you. Af
ter Carl, I suppose any decent man is a good thing. But this one, Daniel – he’s a bit of a looker. I just thought you two might – you know……” Kerrie put down her soup spoon and wiped her mouth. Slurping the soup was a messy experience.

  “I didn’t know he was married. How would I? You didn’t tell me you went to see him. And I want to know why you left that bit of news out – but,” she placed a hand in front of her, “that can wait until later.”

  Caitlin shrugged her shoulders. “He is good looking. He did save my life. You weren’t to know. Let’s forget about it.”

  “What’s she like then?” Curiosity got the better of Kerrie.

  “Who, his wife?” asked Caitlin. “Tall, very thin, very blond. Very tall.”

  “You already said that about her.”

  “And her name is Marisa. When she’s not modeling, she’s a language teacher too.” Caitlin scrunched up her nose at the unfairness of it all. Beauty and brains. But she had seemed quite nasty towards Daniel from what she remembered.

  Thinking back to that day when she visited Daniel at home, Caitlin remembered thinking it wasn’t such a close and loving relationship. His wife had hardly asked who she was, had not even introduced herself and had not shown any interest in Caitlin when she turned up. Come to think of it, Marisa and Daniel had barely exchanged any words. And she had seen herself out of the door. Poor Martin, she thought, feeling sorry for the boy, living in that house.

  “Nasty? To you?” Kerrie moved in closer towards the table.

  “Maybe nasty is too strong a word. She wasn’t very welcoming or overly friendly.”

  Caitlin said nothing more to Kerrie. She didn’t want her friend’s mind going into overdrive. It had had enough excitement for the day as it was.

  Heaving a huge sigh and looking a little sad and lonely, Caitlin raised her head.

  “Anyway, it doesn’t matter how she was towards him. They’re married and that’s that. It’s not as if I’m going to run into him again.”

  She moved the soup spoon towards her mouth and used the fork to haul up the noodles before plunging it into her mouth.

  Chapter Nine

  The following week was uneventful for the most part. Caitlin heard nothing further from the detective and tried to get all thoughts about Carl out of her mind.

  Then on the Thursday, she had a phone call at work.

  “Hi Caitlin. Sorry to call you at work.” Her heart stopped, for that second. It was Daniel. He continued in that quiet yet commanding voice of him, “The police called me today and asked me if I would want to press charges against the man who attacked us.” Caitlin listened attentively. The sound of Daniel’s voice calmed her. She held the phone closer to her ear, as if the very act of doing so would bring him closer to her.

  But news of filing charges against the man who had attacked her, and the inclusion of Carl back into her life which this implied, sent her raised spirits crashing to the ground. Not that she had any reason to be raising her hopes just because Daniel had phoned her. He’s married. She reminded herself yet again.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked, playing with the telephone wire. How did he get my number? Then she remembered that Kerrie had told him where she worked. It didn’t take a genius to get through to someone’s work number if you had their name and place of work.

  Daniel paused before he answered. “I was hoping we could meet up and discuss that.”

  Her face flushed and she was thankful that he couldn’t see her.

  “Okay,” she replied slowly. He could sense the hesitancy in her voice. She reminded herself that there was nothing else intentional in their meeting. They had both been party to a vicious attack and if the police wanted to file charges, it made sense that the two of them, as victims, would want to discuss what their next course of action would be.

  “Tonight’s good for me Caitlin. You?”

  She had no social life at the moment and every night was free in her calendar, lately.

  “Tonight’s good.” She replied.

  “See you at six then. Where do you want to meet?”

  “Holborn station?”

  “Sounds good. See you later Caitlin.”

  Why are you calling me? And why do you want to meet? Why not just discuss this over the phone? But instead she said, “See you at six.”

  Caitlin spent the rest of the afternoon trying to concentrate on her work. It was all so complicated. Carl, the bastard. And now Daniel, her savior. Maybe that was painting things in black and white. But Daniel literally was the exact opposite of everything Carl had been. And try as she might, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

  But the stark reality of his circumstances, that he was married and had a son, quickly put an end to any thoughts she might have started to have about him.

  Was it wrong of them to meet this evening? Surely the police would not encourage two victims to discuss a crime? Part of her didn’t want to meet him because she found him attractive.

  Yet even though she had resolved to have nothing to do with men this year, she still found herself thinking of Daniel. There was something about him, and she was sure it was not all to do with his looks. It was to do with the fact that he had saved her. He had come to her rescue when another man was beating her up. Wasn’t this the stuff that many young girls dreamed of? To be rescued by a handsome stranger? He made her feel safe and their awful ordeal bound them inextricably together.

  The fact that he was so good looking further added to the attraction.

  Daniel hung up having spoken to Caitlin. He was looking forward to seeing her this evening. He was even more relieved that she had agreed for he had sensed some hesitancy from her. As far as he was concerned, it had been fortuitous that they had run into each other at the weekend. He had been thinking about her, even though he had promised himself he would have nothing to do with women for now.

  But the way they had been bought together, in such vicious circumstances, made him feel a special bond with her. It wasn’t anything that he could put a finger on or explain. She wasn’t even his usual type.

  He normally found himself attracted to women much taller, not necessarily blond, but taller and more obviously model looking. And look where that had gotten him. But he couldn’t deny that for the past few weeks he had been thinking about Caitlin. He told himself that it was more as a distraction from the nightmare that was Marisa. And this week she had finally moved out of his house. The next stage would be to file for divorce and then he could begin the process of blotting out that part of his life from memory for good.

  The goal to move on with his life was slowly starting to take form. But his resolve to have nothing more to do with women this year was not quite going to plan; Caitlin was always in his thoughts. He felt protective about her. As nasty as the attack had been, it bound them together.

  In his eyes, it was the one positive thing that had come out of such a traumatic life experience.

  They met as agreed outside Holborn station at six o’clock. Daniel had already arrived and was waiting for her as Caitlin walked towards him.

  About two steps away from him, she tripped and calmly tried to regain her composure. But her cheeks were flushed and her eyes shiny with anticipation. “Darned high heels,” she muttered. He smiled.

  “Hi Caitlin. You alright?”

  “I’m good thanks. You?” He nodded in reply.

  They walked over to a wine bar just off Kingsway called Jude’s. It was more than half full, mainly with couples, getting ready for the weekend and beginning to celebrate a day early.

  Daniel’s eyes were bright and his best feature and she found herself increasingly drawn to them. And yet there was something in them that she could not define. She wasn’t sure if it was a feeling of sadness or emptiness. He watched her avidly.

  Are you flirting with me? Because that’s just not on. She was not quite sure why the two of them, strangers until three weeks ago, were now sitting at a wine bar, sharing a bottle of wine.
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br />   The memory of that night cast a shadow over her face. “So the police want to know whether you’re going to file charges against the attacker?”

  He put down his wine glass. “Of course I’m going to press charges.”

  But you don’t know what Carl is capable of.

  Caitlin looked over at him, a hint of fear darkening her brown eyes. “Are you sure that’s the right thing to do? I mean, what if they come back and get mad at you for doing that?”

  He seemed a little taken aback. “They deserve to be punished, don’t they?” He didn’t want to pry too much into her personal life but she was lovely to look at and each time he saw her he felt the need to protect her because he saw that she was scared too.

  He waited for her to open up and talk about the very thing that he wanted to know more about, but she seemed reluctant to shed any more information on: her violent ex. The animal behind the attack.

  When she didn’t, when she gazed out of the window instead, he said, “Sounds as though your ex boyfriend was a very nasty piece of work.”

  “He was,” answered Caitlin. She slammed down her wine glass harder than she meant to, sending a splash of wine flying out of the glass. “I want that man out of my life for once and for all.”

  Daniel moved in a little closer, “That’s not going to happen if you don’t file charges against him,” he said softly. “I know you’re scared. But, I’ll be there with you.”

  Her lip trembled and she fought to contain the tears that she felt welling up in her eyes. She kept her gaze locked onto the small black vase in the middle of the table. Because if she looked up at him, into those cool, blue eyes, hers tears would fall. Why did being with him have this effect on her?

  If she had stopped to think about it at all, she might have reasoned that having someone be nice to her, say nice things, the right things and treat her well were all things she so badly needed. They had been so badly missing from her life during the past few months. And so she found Daniel’s concern about her to be touching.