She watched time pass … eight minutes ... nine minutes … and was just about to stand up to go upstairs when she saw the same police officer she had been dealing with, enter the lobby. He saw her and came up to her.
"We have a suspect in custody and won't be needing to talk to you again. You are free to return home," he said, abruptly, before simply walking away from her. She had no opportunity to ask if it was Greg that they had apprehended, and suspected that the officer would not have said if it was or wasn't, anyway.
She walked to the elevator and waited for it to return to the lobby. When the doors opened, she thought there was still a chance that Paul might be coming back to see her, but didn't see him so returned to David's room.
"Are you alright?" David asked as she entered his room.
"Yes. Sorry about that - Paul is Greg's best friend so he was upset and worried about him."
He nodded. "Yes, I could see … but where is Greg then?"
They sat on the bed together.
"I don't know. I gave Paul the room number that Greg had given me, and he ran off. I don't know if Greg is still there or not." She sat in silence for a minute, letting her mind think over things. "That officer came back - he said they have someone in custody - a suspect."
David's face changed to a look of deep worry and horror.
"Greg?" he couldn't help but ask.
Tanya shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. The officer didn't say."
She smiled sadly at David. "He did say that I don't have to stay in Vancouver any longer. I can go home as soon as I want to."
He looked at her, a sinking feeling beginning in his heart.
"And when do you want to?" he asked, quietly.
She put her hands up to his face, looked him in the eyes and kissed him.
"I want to spend as much time with you as I can. Are you happy for me to stay here with you until the day that you check out to go home?"
He laughed at her, mostly in relief.
"Yes! God yes," he exclaimed, happily.
She kissed him, laughed with him, and put darker thoughts to one side as she took him into their sensual place again, both of them very happy to not have anything to do with a murder investigation anymore.
* * * *
Much later, Tanya and David lay together, neither of them in any hurry to move, whilst watching the sun start to go down and the room grow darker. It could have created a doom over the room, but instead they could see lights of the city and the harbour, and over to the mountains, creating a feeling of serenity and calm.
"I think I am getting used to sleeping beside you, you know," David said quietly.
Tanya lifted her head and looked at him, seeing his profile in the fading light.
"Me too."
He looked at her, thinking about how they only had another week and a half until they were both due to leave and go in their separate directions. Subconsciously, without thinking, he tightened his hold on her. He was seriously in thought when he heard a huge growl come from Tanya's stomach, and he burst out laughing.
"Hungry?" he asked, and in the dim light he could see her smile sheepishly.
"You keep wearing met out!" she laughed softly. "I might need to re-energise."
He jumped out of bed, pulled the curtain and put on the light, grabbing the room service menu and bringing it back to bed.
"Let's not move - let's pick something from this and stay right here," he said, with a youthful expression that mesmerised Tanya as she agreed.
After ordering, she jumped out of bed to get dressed.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a cheeky smile on his face.
"We can't be naked in bed when they deliver room service!" she laughed at him. "Put some clothes on!"
Chapter 14
For the next three days Tanya and David made the most of their time together, seeing sights around Vancouver whilst avoiding the fact that their time together was coming to an end. During this time neither of them saw Paul again, or Greg, and Tanya assumed her concerns about Greg were correct - that he had been taken into custody, and had something to do with Brigitte's murder. Her thoughts about that possibility centred around concern for him, more than anything else. For David, however, the worry centred around the fact that Tanya may have previously been alone in a confined hotel room with a murderer. The thought horrified him, but also relieved him, knowing that she was here and she was okay - if she hadn't been, he would not have ever met her, let alone have been privileged to have been able to spend this time with her.
They were now down to one week left to spend together, and each had their own thoughts about this too.
For Tanya, there was a sadness in her for knowing she was going to have to fly home and leave behind this amazing adventure she had been able to live through. She had always known that whatever happened on this holiday, would only be for the duration, so while she was sad, she was also happy to have seen so much as she had, and to have met some amazing people. Even Greg, for all that had happened since, had helped her to grow in a small way, to become more confident and more outspoken - more strong as a person.
For David, however, was beginning an overwhelming sense of loss all over again. Not like he had felt when Laney had died of course - two weeks couldn't in any way compare to 20 years - but inside of him was frustration that once again he was going to lose someone he had come to admire and love spending time with. It brought out in him questions - what was he supposed to be doing? Who was he supposed to be with as he moved into the next stage of life?
"What are you thinking about?" Tanya asked him, having seen his attention pull him into himself a good ten minutes ago, at least.
He looked at her - she was so beautiful, he thought to himself. But she could be with anyone, and he was silly to think they could be together for the long term. Now those 17 years might not seem so much but what about when he was 50 and she was only 33, or he was 60 and she was 43 - close to the same age he was now. He tried to imagine him in this moment being with a 60 year old woman, and could not find that sat well with him, even though right now he knew him and Tanya were in a good place.
"I am only in Vancouver for another week," he said and she nodded, waiting for him to explain further why this troubled him.
They were sitting on a bench seat overlooking the harbour and he took her hand in his, holding it tightly.
"I'm not ready to give you up," he said, and Tanya saw tears brim in his eyes. She squeezed his hand back as he continued. "What would you like to happen, if you could have the choice - if you absolutely could have any life that you wanted, what would you want?"
Looking at him, she enjoyed the way his thinking went - always he considered so many different things including the future, which in itself made him quite different from the younger men she had known.
"David, I have known since before I met you that I was going to be flying back home to New Zealand. For me, I have actually stayed longer than I expected to…" she said and he jumped in.
"Yes, but that wasn't allowing for you and I meeting."
"No, it wasn't. And meeting you has certainly livened up my holiday considerably," she said, trying to laugh softly in an effort to lighten things.
David sat still, not joining in her laughter, and not speaking, determined to get her to open up and talk to him. When Tanya saw he wasn't going to talk, she considered his questions.
"The only thing preventing us from being together is distance…"
"And age," he replied, and she shook her head.
"No, David, that is only an obstacle to you. You are who you are, and you are the age you are, and I am the age I am - and we work, regardless. I won't agree with you that age is any consideration."
He looked at her, thoughtful, and she continued.
"Does the distance we live apart have to be a make or break deal?" she asked and he looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I have to go home to New Zealand - I
can't not return as I have to return to my work," she said and he nodded, looking sad. "But do you have to go back to your home?"
He looked at her sharply, as if she had said something brilliant and revolutionary.
"I do need to go home next week … but I don't always have to be home, with my line of work," he said, looking like he was starting to wake up.
"Can we both go to our homes for now, but work towards you coming to New Zealand to see me in a couple of months?"
He looked thoughtful, like he was processing this option as something he had not even considered.
"I am not sure any couples really survive long distance relationships, and this is more than a little bit long distance," he said, still thinking. The he smiled broadly. "Although I have always wanted to see your country."
Then Tanya saw a cloud pass over his face. In his thoughts David considered the possibility that if she returned home and had a few months away from him, she could meet someone else - someone closer to her age. This initially worried him when he thought about it, but he artfully turned the thinking around to see it as a realistic test - they both knew they were currently living in their own little universe, away from reality, and this would be a good way for them to have time apart, get back to normal life, and see if it was likely that they would still want to be together after that. He smiled at her again, softly this time.
"We have to agree to no forced politeness - either of us flying across the world is a big deal. If one of us feels that we no longer want to think about spending time together, we have to be completely honest and tell the other one straight away," he said and she nodded.
"That sounds very wise," she said, smiling at him. Having someone think of her in a longer term capacity was pleasing to her.
They were both silent for a while, looking out over the harbour.
"Do you have children, David?"
The question surprised him, but of course it was a natural one. He shook his head.
"No, Laney could not get pregnant so I gave up on that option many years ago," he said, naturally without any comprehension of there being a further, deeper question behind it. Then a possible other question crossed his thoughts and he turned to her, a bit stunned. "Don't think that if you and I continue, I would want you to have a child!"
The thought of her possibly thinking that he might be using her as a child producing machine, given her youthfulness, shocked him. But that was not what Tanya was thinking at all.
"You would not want me to? Or you would not expect me to?"
"Are they not the same question?" he asked, surprised by this change in conversation.
She shook her head.
"No, of course not. I do not think you are looking for someone to give birth to your children, but if it happened, would you be open to it? Or are children an absolute no for you?" she asked, prompting him to consider that question.
"Tanya, I'm 42. I always liked the thought of being a father, but I long ago accepted that it is unlikely to happen."
"So you can easily live without children?" she asked and he nodded.
"Yes."
"But could you as easily live with a child?" she asked and he took a few minutes to consider that, and then nodded again.
"Yes."
David sat quietly then, feeling that he might be in a mild state of shock. Being a father was something he had not thought about for more than 15 years, when it was confirmed that he and Laney would not get pregnant. Since meeting Tanya he still had not thought about it, but now that she presented that as an option, he found himself wondering at a great possibility. He turned to her.
"You have certainly provoked my thinking today," he said, looking at her intensely. "But one step at a time. Do you really want me to consider coming to New Zealand?"
She nodded. "Of course. Just come for a holiday - a few weeks - and let's see how it goes. The worst case scenario is that you and I don't move forward but you can still have an amazing holiday on the other side of the world."
He held her hand very tightly.
"You are an amazing woman, Tanya. Fate was good to bring you to me," he said lightly.
Tanya pondered that. It was an odd and very crazy series of events that had brought her to be at Capilano that day - perhaps he was right, and it was fate that had brought them together. If that was the case then she had Greg to thank - and Brigitte - for upsetting Tanya and setting in place the course that would make her get on that bus that day instead of going out and doing whatever it was that she and Greg would have gone out to do. Poor Brigitte, she thought again. How short life can be - and how easily it can be cut short. Tanya was 25 - she didn't know how old Brigitte had been but she had seemed about the same age.
Tanya turned and looked at David, continuing to remember and acknowledge that life is sometimes short and should never be taken for granted. She knew this theory well, having lost both of her parents already, but sometimes she lived as though she forgot it. She still had a week with David, at least - she needed to grab that and make the absolute most of it.
David saw the intense look on her face - the way she was looking at him - not aroused as such, so much as seeming like she was taking a photograph in her mind of him. Like it was really dawning on her also that their time was coming to an end.
She kissed him suddenly, forcefully, and he was taken by surprise at the power of it. Once again he was in awe of how much he felt like he had woken up after being asleep for too many years. He kissed her back with fervour and then found himself suddenly self-conscious, sitting out here in public, imagining others to see him as an old man kissing such a young woman. It caused in him a brief moment of questioning his belief in what was happening, as if it might be some kind of joke. But he shook the thought from his head, knowing that was silly - she was still here with him and there was certainly no reason for her to be if she wasn't equally attracted to him as he was to her. For him to even have a fleeting thought and moment of low self-esteem was completely irrational.
He tossed the doubt away and kissed her back equally strong, both of them oblivious to people around them. Finally they broke apart, both with a look of surprise on their faces, as if even now, after all this time spent together, another level of mutual feeling had occurred between them. It was like they were both so hungry, needing to get closer and closer to one another but not being able to get any closer than they were.
Tanya smiled first, determined to break the moment and let things ease off so that the seriousness of the moment didn't hang over them. It took David a moment to come back to reality from the deep trancelike state he had been in. When he regained focus and normality, he smiled back at her.
"Wow," he said and both of them laughed before sitting back quietly and resuming watching out over the harbour.
* * * *
Much later, after sitting for a length of time when neither spoke, they got up to start walking back to the hotel. Walking through the lobby, both had one thing on their mind, and it was that of pleasure - a need that had to be satisfied. Standing at the elevator, they waited for the lift to return to the ground floor, and when the doors opened, were so caught up in each other that Tanya almost missed that before her, about to step out of the elevator, was Greg.
It was only when she turned away from David, to step into the lift, that she saw him standing there, surprised in return to see her in front of him. She unconsciously jumped backward, not in fear but certainly in surprise.
"Tanya," Greg said, looking at her as intently has he had during those first few days and nights on board the Glacial Sun.
He stepped out of the lift, walking toward her while she took another step backward. He chose not to see the man beside her, not wanting to believe that he had meant so little to her that she could move on so quickly.
"Greg," she breathed out forcefully but quietly.
David looked at her closely and saw that Tanya had gone quite white, like she was going to faint, but when she seemed to recover from the i
nitial shock, he took the time to look at Greg - this man who had been with her in the days before David met her. His self-confidence took another dive, despite how well he and Tanya were obviously getting on. He could not deny to himself that before him was a man of Tanya's age who oozed charisma, and that was enough for him to wonder yet again what she was doing with him when she could be with someone her own age.
Greg was watching Tanya intently and seemed speechless for several minutes until he found his voice.
"I thought you would be on your way back to New Zealand now. Why are you still here?" he asked and she found she was drawn into him, with that stare that had initially made her uncomfortable when she had first seen it, almost three weeks before.
It flustered her, surprising David as it seemed to go against how confident she had been with him right from the moment they met. He considered walking away to leave the two to talk, but the issue of this man's role in the murder of someone unnerved him, and it made him not want to leave her alone with Greg. At a logical level, of course, he knew the police must not suspect him at all - if they did he would be the one in custody - but that logical thought did not help to relieve the anxiety he was feeling, looking at the two of them.
Greg continued to look at her, to try and get a response from her, but she seemed to be frozen at the sight of him. Of course he knew there was no chance for them anymore, and being honest with himself he had moved on from her fairly easily, given how intense he had thought he felt about her when they were on the ship and during those first couple of days in Vancouver. A false situation that wasn't in any way real or meant to last longer. At least that was what he was thinking when he had been away from her, but now, standing in front of her, seeing her, he felt longing again. A natural physical attraction to her. But so much had happened, and who was this man standing next to her, he wondered to himself, taking a moment to assess the wider picture before him. Whoever he was, Greg did not like the way he was looking at him - not at all.
Cruising Through to Fulfilment Page 15