A Different Reflection

by Jane L Gibson

  “Hey Kat, you made it!” he announced very loudly. I noticed John remove his hand and sidestep Nadine toward me.

  “Yeah I made it, seems like I was interrupting something though!” I replied angrily, as I turned and walked toward the bar.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” John was quick to ask as he followed me.

  “John, I am not blind. You standing with your hand delicately on her back like you’re keeping her close, and the fact that you have mentioned her numerous times recently, does not go well together!” I answered as I ordered myself a vodka tonic.

  “That’s ridiculous; she is just a friend and work colleague!” he then snapped as he paid for my drink.

  “Well, it looked very cosy!” I pointed out as I took a long sip of my drink.

  “Come on babe, it’s a good day. The company has just made a packet on this deal. Don’t spoil it!” he then stated.

  I quickly bit my lip; I seriously could have taken his head off for that comment. Me, spoil it? I didn’t even want to come in the first place, and now wish that I hadn’t. Just as I considered leaving, Charles came over to the bar.

  “Great to see you Kat, you look great!” he happily said as he kissed me on the cheek.

  “Thanks, Charles!” I replied. John took my heavy bag and placed it with all of their briefcases, then came and stood beside me in the growing crowd of people. As he stood there, whisky in hand and arm around my shoulders, Nadine leant over to me.

  “Hello Kat, it’s nice to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you!” she then said, which made me even madder; I wondered what the hell John had been saying.

  “I bet you have!” My mumble could barely be heard in the noise around us.

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?” she queried.

  “Nice to meet you too!” I said with conviction as I took another swig of my drink and nodded to her. She simply smiled and turned to a guy at the side of her and continued chatting. If there was ever a moment where you wanted to be able to teleport like the Star ship Enterprise – this was it! I would happily rather be sat at home right now!

  The drinks were coming faster than I could drink them, and after the fifth I had really had enough. I turned to John and asked if he was likely to be much longer – I was hungry and it was gone nine o’clock. I wanted to prep for tomorrow and I was fast losing enthusiasm. He made the point that they were nowhere near finished yet, so I very quietly excused myself and told John that I would see him at home.

  “Don’t wait up!” Charles shouted sarcastically. So I replied in the same tone:

  “I have no intention of doing so!” I grabbed my bag and John walked with me to the door of the bar.

  “You don’t mind do you babe? I shouldn’t be that late!” he insisted.

  “I’m really not bothered John – you enjoy. I have work to prepare for tomorrow and I am hungry. Just don’t wake me up when you get back!” I asked.

  “You got it!” he slurred slightly. I could tell it was going to be a long night.

  As I shut the apartment door and walked to the island with Chinese takeaway, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had already gone past eating, but knew I needed something. The noodles were a delight and I ate more than expected. I poured a glass of water and sat and looked at my notes for tomorrow, but my brain had gone into an after-food meltdown! I decided to take a quick shower, get into my pyjamas and watch mindless television for twenty minutes. The decision to go to bed early was very appealing and I knew I had time in the morning at work to finish any pre-interview prep. I sunk into bed as the rain started to fall again, but it was soothing and made me think back to that night at Northfield, when the rain fell heavily and I met James for the first time. I smiled contentedly; I would be seeing him tomorrow and the thought made me very happy!

  I had briefly woken at 2am when John had landed back, but drifted back into a deep sleep. Morning had arrived and I had showered, washed and dried my hair and got dressed, but John was still in an alcoholic slumber. I decided to have coffee and breakfast before I woke him, and picked up all of the clothes he had strewn across the floor first to put in the wash. I walked to the kitchen and put the coffee machine on and placed a bagel in the toaster, then picked up the washing I had heaped on the floor to put into the machine, after taking a pile of coins out of his pockets. Then I had that sinking feeling again. His navy shirt had beer stains down the front of it, and the collar had a dark smudge that I was going to have to spray with stain remover. I wasn’t sure what it was, so I rubbed my thumb across it and my heart sank when dark-coloured waxy lipstick appeared on it. I marched back to the bedroom, woke John up, threw the shirt at him and then happily told him to wash his own shirt as I wasn’t prepared to wash lipstick off his collar. Then I marched back out, grabbed my bag and left.

  He was halfway through waking and taking in what I had said, but by then I had already left and had no intention of listening to anything that he had to say. I knew it was her, Nadine – the girl that obviously had puppy eyes for him. The way I felt right now, she could have him. I slowly made my way to work, collecting a bagel and a coffee from Starbucks. I didn’t really feel like eating, but knew that I should as I may not get lunch. I slumped down into my chair at my desk and as I was early I ate the bagel whilst organising what I needed for later today. My phone had already bleeped four times and John had tried ringing me and left a voicemail, but I didn’t have the patience to listen to it at the moment. Each text just said: ‘Please call me, it’s not what you think!’ He had re-sent it due to the fact that I had not replied numerous times, but quite honestly I thought I deserved more from him.

  When Claire arrived, I shuffled along to her desk and perched on the end of it.

  “Oh no! I know that face! What happened?” she asked. Being a good friend, she was always observant of my emotions.

  “John and that colleague of his called Nadine!” I replied despondently. She quickly sat down.

  “What did he do?” she then asked, with concern.

  “I met him last night, he had his hand on Nadine’s back – just placed there delicately, you know!” I started to tell her.

  “Ooh that’s not good, where on her back?” she asked curiously.

  “Small of her back!” I replied, as I placed my hand on my back to show her. She scowled as I continued: “That’s not all. I left him out with all of his colleagues, as they were on a mission, and I went home. I woke up this morning, was about to put his shirt in the wash and found lipstick all over his collar!” I finished as I looked at her face for some reaction.

  “What?! Jesus, what was his answer for that?” she quickly asked.

  “I didn’t wait to find out!” I replied. “He’s been trying to call and text me, but I don’t want to deal with it right now!”

  “Well that speaks volumes!” she remarked as I looked at her and shrugged my shoulders. “Well, let’s face it; if you were over concerned that you had lost him to someone else, you would have wanted to know exactly what happened and would have definitely had contact with him in some shape or form by now. The fact that it is not really phasing you kind of indicates that you are not that bothered about it – or you have something or someone else on your mind!” she then finished.

  My mind instantly went to James and George and the fact that I was presently slightly side tracked by the whole situation. Maybe I was not paying enough attention to John as I should be? But I still didn’t think that not giving him one hundred percent of my attention would mean that he had to go looking elsewhere for someone else to give him that attention. I looked at Claire and sighed.

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “I think that you should meet him, maybe for lunch, and get to the bottom of it?” she then replied as she took a bite of her breakfast muffin.

  “Maybe you are right. I will listen to his voicemail and reply to his text. I need an answer or explanation, one way or the other. Thanks, Claire!” I replied.

  I strolled ba
ck to my desk, took a deep breath and then picked up my phone. I reluctantly listened to the voicemail in which John told me they had all gone to Barney’s for a late-night pizza and where the very drunk Nadine had fallen asleep on his shoulder, hence the lipstick. I had a very low sinking feeling; I wasn’t sure if it was because I believed it was the truth, or the fact that I wish he had kissed Nadine. Why did I feel like this? Regardless, I texted him back and suggested lunch at the deli in Covent Garden, to which he happily agreed.

  The tube ride there gave me time to think about what I wanted to say to him. I had to give him the chance to explain, but in all honesty I was not looking forward to it. As I walked toward the deli, he had already arrived and was sat at a table outside. He had a look of worry about him and my stomach was in knots.

  “Hey, hi!” he was quick to say as he stood and pulled back my chair. He kissed me on the cheek.

  “Hi!” I replied rather nervously as he returned to his chair.

  “So, that was a little hot-headed this morning!” he remarked at my outburst. I gritted my teeth.

  “Well, what was I supposed to think, John? You were quite cosy with her when I arrived, and then the lipstick… well, you can imagine my disappointment!” I replied. He reached across and took hold of my hand.

  “Honestly, nothing happened babe! She fell asleep on my shoulder in the restaurant that was all!” he replied. As I was angry anyway, I decided to confront the ‘babe’ nickname I had been given.

  “Well, it’s very convenient that your shoulder was the nearest, but why is she always so close to you? Does she not get on with anyone else at your firm? Oh, and whilst we are having an adult conversation, can you please stop calling me babe? I hate it!” I replied with conviction. John sat back in his chair.

  “You don’t trust me, do you? I can understand how it must have looked, but I don’t know what else to say – I have explained the situation!” he said. “With regard to the ‘babe’ name I have given you – Jesus, Kat, I have been calling you that for ages; I can’t believe you haven’t said anything before now, it’s only my pet name for you!” he finished.

  “Well, I don’t like it. It makes me feel cheap! The other thing – well, what can I say? I have to take your word that nothing has happened, but I do not like her being so close to you all the time. She definitely has puppy eyes for you!” I remarked. He burst out laughing.

  “Seriously, you are jealous? I can’t help being so charming that other women like me!” he then commented as he squeezed my hand. “What’s happened to us lately? We seem so distant,” he then asked.

  “Work – that’s what has happened, for both of us!” I replied.

  “Hey, why don’t we have a pizza and television night when we get home? I should be back by nine, how about you?” he suggested. I suddenly thought about James and George; I had to see them, and George was cooking – I did not want to miss that.

  “I can’t tonight – I won’t be back until nine or thereabouts myself, and you know me, I will have to grab something to eat whilst on the go. I have a big interview lined up with a photographer. Maybe just chill on the sofa in front of the television later and do the pizza thing tomorrow?” I suggested in return. I was just as bad – I was lying about my whereabouts now, but I just could not tell him about this! He nodded.

  “Alright, I will see you back at the apartment tonight and we will just chill. Tomorrow, we have that works dinner thing. You promised you would come!” he reminded me.

  “Oh yes, sorry I had forgotten about that. It’s fine though, I will still come – just keep her away from me!” I retorted as the waiter came to take our orders.

  We sat and had lunch and in all fairness it was enjoyable. I felt slightly bad that I had told a white lie about eating later, but it wasn’t like I was meeting anyone for anything other than being helpful. I put it to the back of my mind and decided that when the time was right I would tell him about them, but now certainly was not that time. We said goodbye and I headed back to work. I felt better that we had talked, but I still had a slight nagging feeling about Nadine. I knew she definitely liked him and I had the distinct feeling that this would not be the end of it!

  As I left work to meet the photographer at Mrs Holt’s residence, I felt happier that I had my work to focus on. She was ready for us when we arrived, and luckily as I pulled up the photographer was unloading his car. We entered her property to find that six new soldiers had joined her, and all of them were happy to discuss their thoughts on what she was trying to achieve. It really was inspiring to listen to how they were learning to readjust after returning from a tour of duty. Some of these soldiers were only in their twenties, and it was intriguing to see how mature they were and how dedicated they were to their country. They all agreed that trying to return to normal life was very difficult and that the opportunity Mrs Holt was offering them was life-changing to them in helping them to readjust. Even Phillip, the photographer, was engrossed in what they had to say. By the time we left at five o’clock, I had more than enough for an amazing story and looked forward to collating all the information that I had achieved. Phillip promised to have the photographs on my desk by Monday afternoon, which was fantastic, and I hoped that within the next week I would have my first story finished and ready for publishing in the next issue.

  I travelled over to Northfield and smiled all the way there, knowing that I had achieved one small success today, and as I pulled up outside the front steps, the main door opened and George appeared with a larger-than-life smile.

  “Good evening Katharina, how does today find you?” he politely asked.

  “Good evening George. Very well indeed… you?” I returned the question.

  “Yes, one cannot complain, but the day is brighter now that you have arrived!” he then remarked, I smiled at him.

  “Oh George, you’ve not lost your charm over these many years!” I remarked as we entered the main hallway.

  “Good evening Katharina,” the familiar voice then said as I turned to the mirror.

  “James, how are you today?” I asked him.

  “Very well thank you. I trust that you are too?”

  “I am very well thank you. I feel that I have achieved my story this afternoon and everything is going to plan at the moment!” I happily announced.

  “Good!” he remarked as he smiled at me.

  “Shall we?” George then asked as he gestured for me to go through to his apartment.

  “Yes please, because whatever you have cooked yet again smells delicious!” I replied.

  We moved into the kitchen and happily sat and ate the most delicious cottage pie. It was becoming slightly addictive, letting George cook, and it was so enjoyable. James told me what they had achieved over the last couple of days; it wasn’t a lot, as he could not do very much in his situation, but George had been shopping and done the usual household chores. It made me a little sad to think that this was what their life had been like since they had found themselves this way. I told them about Rachel, and the fact that she could manage Tuesday evening, so I would join them with her and see what happened there. James seemed happy that people even wanted to come, so I felt he was getting more interested in breaking the spell.

  I offered to help George wash up and turned on his radio that sat neatly on the counter; Radio Two was playing classics from the sixties onwards and as we washed and dried the pots, I was delighted when my all-time favourite song started to play; ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ by The Beach Boys.

  “Oh my God I love this song!” I stated as I started to sway. “Some of these words are quite appropriate for you, James!” I then joked as the words began.

  I started to sing along.

  By now I was swaying around the kitchen, with George laughing and joining in the song and James just watching us, but the next part of the song had me stood in front of the mirror, pointing at him as I sang the main title of the song.

  George had now come over to me and was spinning me around the kit
chen as we sang and laughed and enjoyed the song in its entirety.

  “Yes, alright, I get the message! Some words are very apt, and I trust your enthusiasm in helping me out of this situation!” James remarked as both George and I laughed and thanked each other for the dance.

  “Well I thoroughly enjoyed that!” George then stated as he filled the kettle with water. “Coffee?” he asked. I nodded in reply as I sat at the island. “So how is that fiancé of yours, Katharina?” he then asked out of the blue. I sighed.

  “Oh don’t ask, he isn’t quite my favourite person at the moment!” I replied.

  “How so?” James asked of me.

  “A misunderstanding, apparently on my part. There is a girl that works with him called Nadine, and she is a little too close to him if you know what I mean!” I replied, slightly agitated.

  “He has not dishonoured you in any way?” James then asked with concern.

  “No – well, I don’t think so. Lipstick on his collar is not the nicest thing to find though!” I remarked and then looked up at them. George was looking at James.

  “He is a fool; does he not know a good thing when he has it?” James remarked as he stood and excused himself for a minute.

  I looked at George, grimaced and then raised my shoulders.

  “Shouldn’t I be the one that is upset?” I asked.

  “Too close to home!” George replied. When he realised I wasn’t quite sure what he meant, he continued: “He had the opportunity to take any woman he chose, regardless of their husbands’ or partners’ feelings. He knows the error of his ways, but it infuriates him to see others making the same mistake!” he finished.