Looks Unimportant...Sense of Humour Essential

by Evie Evans

  There was Mr Brooke’s jacket hanging over a chair. She had. With Mr Brooke. It wasn’t a dream. Vague memories came filtering back. He’d drunk too much to drive home. He’d decided to get a room. She’d decided to join him as if it was a perfectly natural thing she did all the time. All usual inhibitions seemed to have been lost thanks to champagne plus post-Sue exhilaration. Shit.

  Ignoring a pounding headache she jumped out of bed and tried to round up her clothes. It was suddenly urgent she got out of here before he came out of the bathroom. She found her dress and struggled into it. Stuff the underwear, if she could just find her bag with her money and keys in she could get home. There it was on the table. She grabbed it and made for the door, confident she could get home barefoot. On the way she spotted one sandal discarded on the floor. Okay, it would be easier with them. Slipping it on she was frantically searching for the other when the bathroom door opened. No! She’d been caught out by her greed, if only she’d been contented with what she had instead of going for the big money prize.

  “Lucy? Are you going?” Mr Brooke asked.

  He was standing in the doorway, seemingly naked apart from a towel around his hips. Drops of water trickled down the toned muscles of his bare chest. She didn’t know where to look. Well she did but it didn’t seem right.

  “Yeah, I’m just going to get going now,” she told him trying to sound blasé but babbling instead. “See you back in London no doubt.”

  “Is everything okay? You’re rushing off.”

  “My dad’s probably worrying where I am.” Where was that sandal?

  “You rang him last night and told him you were here.”

  She stopped searching. “I did?”

  “Yeah, you were both singing ‘Glad it’s all over’ down the phone to each other. If you could call it singing.”

  “Oh yes, so we did.” She remembered now. Her dad knew she was here.

  He came to sit on the end of the bed. “I guess this was a bit unconventional. Last night.”

  Really? “Yes, you could say that.”

  “Are you sorry? You insisted you knew what you were doing last night.”

  “It’s probably not the smartest thing I’ve done lately.”

  “You’re worried about work again? I forget being my own boss what it’s like having to worry about your job.”

  “It’s not very professional and it could damage your case if people found out.”

  “We won’t tell them. We’ll keep it private, between you and me.”

  “Yes, good idea.”

  He got up and came towards her. Lucy wondered what kind of a mess she must look like.

  “I really enjoyed last night,” he told her pulling her into a hug.

  From what she remembered she’d really enjoyed it too. She was quite enjoying this naked clinch as well.

  “So what about dinner tomorrow night?” he asked.

  She hadn’t catered for the thought he might want to continue this relationship. “Do you think that’s wise?” she asked.

  “Probably not but wisdom is overrated. “Come on, I know this great restaurant in Waldorf Street, very discreet.”

  “Yes I heard you know all the best places,” she commented.

  He leaned back and raised an eyebrow at her.

  “One of your lady friends,” she explained.

  “Of course, you’ve met a few of them.”

  “Very enlightening it was too. I’m not that sort of girl, sorry.”

  “What do you mean? What sort of girl do I date?”

  Lucy squirmed around a little in his embrace. “Contrary to last night, I’m not into casual flings,” she told him.

  “Who said anything about a casual fling?”

  “I met some of your previous dates remember?” Lucy wished this conversation hadn’t started.

  “Why don’t we just see where this goes?”

  “Hmm,” she wasn’t convinced this was a great idea.

  He held her tighter. “I like you Lucy. Not in a casual sort of way.”

  Her heart, and her body, wanted to believe him but her head was telling her not to be so stupid. “I’m not one of those sophisticated women you go out with,” she argued.

  “I think that’s what I like about you. Look, let’s just agree to go to dinner tomorrow and take it from there.”

  “I don’t want to be part of a harem.”

  That made him laugh. “You won’t be. One thing you can say about me, I only date one woman at a time. Meet me outside the front of St Pauls at 8pm tomorrow, you can update me on the case, it’s practically work?”

  “Okay.” How could she say no pressed up against all that warm naked flesh?

  Escaping from the hotel wasn’t going to be quite so easy. Spending an elicit night in the place that had hosted the wedding and probably had half her relatives staying hadn’t been a brilliant idea. If she could just sneak out without any of them spotting her. She used the toilet downstairs whilst two cousins checked out before chancing the reception area and ordering a taxi. Perhaps she should have accepted the lift from Mr Brooke, she must start calling him by his first name, but that really would have drawn attention. Plus she didn’t want to be with him when she remembered any more of last night. And she was remembering. Success with Sue really seemed to have made her throw caution to the wind. Or perhaps she was just living like normal people do?

  The wait for the taxi was a nervous ten minutes loitering near the bushes outside. At one point she’d had to almost climb into them as she heard Sue’s dulcet tones. Apparently bride and groom had spent their first night of married bliss there too. It didn’t sound so blissful though.

  “I saw you with her, don’t try to make out to me you’re all innocent.”

  “Nothing happened. Struth, how many times do I have to keep telling you?”

  “I don’t believe a word of it. You’re always lying.”

  “Oh and you’re Mother Teresa I suppose?”

  Lucy straightened up once they’d gone passed. It didn’t seem like a great start to a marriage. She couldn’t say she was surprised though. Luckily her taxi arrived soon after and she could make her escape.

  Now she just had to face her father.

  She let herself into the house quietly.

  “You’re back then,” he commented as she snuck in.

  “Yes, morning.” Lucy headed straight for the kitchen and ran the tap for a glass of water. She didn’t know why she felt guilty about staying out all night, if she’d been a boy it would be perfectly alright. Well, not with Mr Brooke.

  “Had a few did we?” he asked, following her in and sitting down at the table as she drank her water then put the kettle on.

  “Not as much as some I reckon.” She noticed he also had a glass of water next to his coffee cup.

  “Yes, well. It’s a way of dampening Suzi’s voice. After a few I can’t hear her as well.”

  “About that, I don’t think we should try to keep in touch with them anymore Dad,” Lucy told him as she made herself some coffee.

  He looked up surprised. “Really? I’ve always tried to keep things going with them for your sake, so you’ll know your mum’s people.”

  “I know but I don’t want to know her people any more. They’re all horrible. It’s probably why she moved away from them and met you.”

  “Aye. She didn’t get on with all of them herself, only her dad and her eldest brother and they’re both gone now as well. Mebbe you’re right, we don’t need to bother with them anymore.”

  “Let’s not. Uncle Frank’ll be relieved.”

  “I dunno, he likes winding them up. Course it may not be easy to stop Suzi coming round. You know how she likes to gloat.”

  “Well don’t answer the door.”

  “She won’t like that!”

  “Just pretend you’re going deaf. She’ll soon give up.”

  “Alright.”

  There was silence for a few seconds as each drank their coffee. Lucy was waiting f
or the inevitable.

  “What’s going on with that young man of yours then?”

  There it was, she knew he’d have to ask at some point. “We’re just…I don’t know!”

  “I thought you said he was a client.”

  “Yes, well, we’re a bit more than that,” she told him twisting the mug round in her hands. Talking about it was making her very uncomfortable, she wasn’t clear in her own mind yet what they were.

  Her dad didn’t say anything for a minute. “He was very nice for a rich bloke. You like him then?”

  “Yes.”

  “Isn’t he the one you said had a lot of fancy women up in London?”

  Lucy started filling the sink to wash up the dishes her dad had left from the day before. “He did.” Her father didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to. His silence said it all. “He’s giving all that up.” Even as she said the words they sounded stupid and naïve. Ignoring the look her father was giving her she started washing up.

  “Be careful, that’s all I’ll say.”

  “I know, I will,” she told him. But do I know? she started to ask herself. It all sounded so good but was Leander really going to stop being a playboy overnight?

  It played on her mind all day and later on the train back to London. The carefree feeling her weekends at home gave her started disappearing as usual when they approached the outskirts of the city. This time they were mingled with something more. This time she was returning to the place where Mr Brooke’s other women lived and no doubt lurked in every bar. How easy would it be for him to say no?

  *

  “How was the weekend?” Katherine asked the minute Lucy walked in the door Monday morning. Lucy had been trying to sneak past her office and failed.

  “Good thanks, how about yours?”

  “Wasn’t it the wedding?”

  “Yes, it went off okay, thanks.”

  Katherine looked like she was waiting for details. Lucy knew she was going to have to tell her their client had been there.

  “Something happened actually. Mr Brooke turned up.”

  “At the wedding?”

  “Yes, he was meant to be going to an awards presentation or something and ended up in the next village to my dad’s.”

  “So he just came to the wedding with you?” Katherine didn’t look convinced.

  “Yes. He decided he might as well as he was there.”

  “Right.” Katherine was looking at her searchingly. Did she suspect there was something between them? “You’d better tell me what’s going on,” she told Lucy and led her into her office.

  “It’s like I said, he turned up,” Lucy repeated once they were inside.

  “Just like that?”

  “Well. No. It all started with his brother.” Lucy shut Katherine’s door and sat down before filling her in on her recent dating adventures.

  “So his brother set us up.”

  Katherine burst out laughing. “Sorry, but you have to admit it’s quite funny really. Why didn’t you tell me about this online dating stuff?”

  “I felt a bit ashamed about it.”

  “You shouldn’t. If I weren’t married I’m sure I’d be doing it. A friend of mine says it’s about the only way to meet people nowadays. Actually, Mark has a friend that might suit you.”

  “Now you tell me. A bit late for the wedding. It was something walking in there with Mr Brooke.”

  “I can imagine. What did your family say?”

  “Not a lot, it’s hard to talk with your jaw hitting the floor. Safe to say they were pretty taken aback.”

  “D’you reckon he enjoyed it?”

  “I don’t think anyone would enjoy a wedding with my family. He seemed okay about it though.”

  “But there isn’t actually anything going on between the two of you?”

  “No,” Lucy told her, finding her ability to lie was increasing every day. Perhaps she would make a lawyer after all. “I’d better go get on with some work.”

  “Right, well thanks for letting me know. Do you want me to ask Mark about this friend?”

  “Not right now thanks. I’ve had my quota of blind dates for the moment.”

  Lucy escaped to her office hoping Katherine hadn’t seen through her lie. The internet dating may have failed but it had achieved one thing. It had made her realise she needed to start living a little more. She was no longer happy to spend each night at home in front of the telly or every weekend on her own in the park. She had to start taking more risks in her personal life and going out with Leander Brooke seemed as risky as it got.

  Her phone started ringing almost as soon as she stepped inside.

  “Lucy Davenport.”

  “Hello,” a young male voice replied, “Are you the lawyer representing Robert Lewis in a dispute with his neighbours? I’m his grandson David.”

  “Oh yes, Mr Lewis, the parrot case, that’s me. Is anything wrong?”

  “I’m afraid he died over the weekend.”

  “Oh no. How terrible.” She sat down in her chair. Poor Mr Lewis hadn’t looked that old, she thought. “I only saw him last week and he looked fine.”

  “Yes, it was quite sudden apparently. Everyone thought he was a tough old bird. Anyway I was wondering if you could pop round sometime.”

  “Right,” Lucy replied hesitantly. “Is this for advice over the will or probate?”

  “No, the neighbours are threatening to sue.”

  “Sue? What for?”

  “My grandfather’s complaints before his death.”

  “How strange, I met the Fryers last week and they seemed quite reasonable, well by the end of the meeting at least.”

  “Well they’re not being very reasonable now.”

  “I imagine it’s the last thing you need at the moment. Why don’t I pop round this morning and see if we can head them off?”

  “That would be great, what time do you think you’ll be here?”

  “Around 11?”

  “Fine. See you then.”

  Blimey, Lucy thought as she put the phone down, you could never tell; Mr Lewis had looked tired but not ill. Just when they were making some progress with his neighbours as well, it was such a shame. Lucy finished the paperwork she was in the middle of before leaving, grabbing his file out of the cabinet on the way.

  On route she stopped off to buy a small bunch of flowers as a token of condolence, it didn’t seem quite right turning up empty handed. Arriving at his front door she felt a little sad that he wouldn’t be answering it and hoped his family weren’t going to be too upset. Weeping relatives could be hard to handle sometimes.

  When the front door opened and she saw who was behind it, she nearly fell over.

  20 Pouring men

  “Mr Lewis!” The words ‘I see dead people’ ran through her mind. Mr Lewis was standing in the hall as large as life.

  “Good morning Miss Davenport, thank you for coming so promptly.”

  “But… I thought… you…” He was still looking tired but definitely alive.

  “Yes?”

  “I think there’s been a mistake.”

  “You’d better come in whilst we sort it out.” She followed him into the house in a state of bewilderment.

  “David, this is Miss Davenport. Miss Davenport my grandson David. You spoke to him on the phone this morning.” An attractive, dark blonde haired man a couple of years older than Lucy got off the sofa to shake her hand.

  “So you’ve been helping Gramps out with his bird problem?” he asked as she took a seat across from him.

  “Yes.” She put the flowers down by her briefcase not sure what to do with them now. “It looks like I got the wrong end of the stick this morning. When you said on the phone ‘he’s dead’ I thought you were talking about your grandfather, sorry Mr Lewis,” she added, turning to him. “You were talking about the parrot weren’t you?”

  “Yes, sorry.” David started laughing. “So when I mentioned ‘tough old bird’ you thought I was–”. He dissolve
d into a fit of laughing. “I wondered what you meant when you mentioned probate.”

  Luckily Mr Lewis seemed to see the funny side also. “Oh no, I’m alright. It’s the squawker next door that’s no more. Good job too if you ask me.”

  “Those flowers weren’t for us were they?” David managed to gasp.

  “Yes,” Lucy told him which sent him off further. “Maybe I’ll drop them by next door afterwards. Anyway I’m glad I was wrong and you’re okay.” She took off her jacket. “You’d better tell me what’s been going on.”

  “I’ll just put the kettle on first,” Mr Lewis told her. “It sounds like you need it.”

  “So do they know what he died of?”

  “If they do they haven’t told us.”

  “And have they been in contact with a lawyer?” Lucy asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve seen her out in the back garden a couple of times and she’s had a right go at me saying it’s all my fault that he’s dead. If we hadn’t made her try those exercises he’d still be alive and all that. She went on about getting onto her solicitor and suing me but its probably just talk. I told David it wasn’t worth bothering you with but he insisted.”

  “No, he was right. It’s always better to have advance warning of these things. I can’t see there’s any case to answer, what we asked them to do was fair and reasonable. With your permission I may try to speak to Mrs Fryer and check the situation.”

  “If you want to, go ahead. You may want to wear a flak jacket though.”

  “I think it will be worth a go.”

  “Sorry I gave the wrong impression,” David told her as she put her notepad and pen back in her bag. Mr Lewis collected her coffee mug.

  “That’s okay, I’m just glad your grandfather is alright.”

  “Is this a typical case for you? Neighbours wielding handbags at dawn.”

  “Fairly typical at the moment, yes. Are you staying for long?”

  “A week or so. I don’t get down here as much as I’d like, it’s hard to get away from work”

  “David works in advertising,” Mr Lewis chipped in as he left with the mugs.

  “I don’t know much about advertising,” Lucy confessed.

  “I don’t know much about the law. Perhaps you could fill me in a bit. Come out for a drink or a meal? You’d be doing me a big favour,” he continued, dropping his voice. “Gramps doesn’t like to go out after dark and he goes to bed early. It’s a bit deathly dull here in the evenings.” He gave her a smile. He had a great smile.