‘Maybe,’ Kathryn said as though it didn’t matter. She surveyed the wine list, rueing her decision to drive.
They selected drinks and their courses, and as the waiter departed Kathryn looked at Stephen over the glowing candles and sparkling wine. For a moment, just the briefest instant, she could see them both as they had once been. New lovers, charged with excitement and the joy of each other’s company, each the centre of the other’s world.
‘So, what shall we talk about?’
Stephen shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
‘How about us?’
‘Us?’
‘Us.’
‘What about us?’
‘Where are we going, Stephen?’
‘Ah,’ Stephen said, and took a sip of his wine. ‘So that’s what this is all about.’
‘Shouldn’t it be?’ Kathryn replied. ‘We’ve been together for three years. I’ve got a job now, you’re employed at the very least. My studies are over. Maybe it’s time we started thinking about the future?’
Stephen eyed her from behind the candle flames. ‘In what way?’
Kathryn shrugged, enjoying herself. ‘Where do we want to be in another three years’ time? Where do you see our relationship going?’
Stephen swallowed. She could see it from the way the candlelight hit his throat. She couldn’t be sure if it was fear of being recognised by somebody or a genuine fear of the magnitude of her question. His discomfort entertained her immensely.
‘I’m not sure,’ Stephen replied. ‘I haven’t had much chance to think about it lately.’
‘Oh come on,’ Kathryn chided with a gentle smile. ‘All that driving, all those business trips? You must have had enough time to figure out the origin of the universe by now. Surely you must think about us sometimes?’
‘Well of course, but…’
‘And then there’s where we’re going to live,’ Kathryn interrupted smoothly. ‘I mean, I don’t suppose we’ll be living in that teeny little apartment for much longer now that we’re both earning.’
‘No, I don’t suppose we will, but…’
‘I was thinking of moving here.’ Kathryn gestured to the city outside the restaurant windows with an airy wave of her hand. She saw the tiniest flare of panic in Stephen’s eyes. ‘So much more lively, don’t you think?’
‘So much more expensive,’ Stephen replied, ‘and then there’s the commuting and…’
‘Children.’
Stephen’s eyes flew wide with alarm as though somebody had fired a live current between his buttocks. He stifled a cough. ‘Children?’
‘They’re like us,’ Kathryn said, ‘but smaller.’
A waiter carrying their starters appeared and bought Stephen some time. Kathryn leaned back in her seat as her hors d’oeuvre was placed before her. She didn’t really know what the term meant and didn’t care.
‘I hadn’t thought about that,’ Stephen managed to utter as the waiter left.
‘Is it too soon?’ Kathryn asked, affecting a concerned expression. ‘I mean, we’ve been together three years Stephen, it’s certainly crossed my mind that at some point we may like to start a family together.’
‘Well, of course, but…’
‘Which would mean we’d need a larger house,’ Kathryn went on, ‘depending on how many children we’re going to have. Some people say that two is perfect, you know, one of each, but I say throw caution to the wind and try for three. Which would mean we’d need at least four rooms, a decent back yard and…’
Stephen sat back and held up a hand. ‘Okay, slow down there just a minute.’
‘What?’
‘You’ll be discussing our retirement plans next. We’ve only been in the restaurant for ten minutes and you’re already planning an empire. Where’s all this coming from? And where’s the money for all this coming from, while we’re on the subject? You know that a child costs about a hundred thousand bucks to raise to the age of eighteen, right? So you’re already committing us to three hundred thousand, plus the new house. I’m guessing that’s a house in this city, right?’
‘Of course,’ Kathryn replied with a bright smile. ‘We need the best for our kids.’
Stephen chuckled and shook his head, glancing at the spectacular water display nearby. ‘So we’re in for eight hundred thousand before we’ve even finished the starter. Has it escaped your notice that we can’t even afford to replace your car?’
‘That’s now,’ Kathryn said as she popped a morsel of something that tasted a bit like pork into her mouth. ‘I’m talking about later, when we’re married.’
‘Oh,’ Stephen said, ‘forgive me. I’d forgotten about our white wedding and honeymoon in the Bahamas.’
‘You’re taking me to the Bahamas?!’ Kathryn almost leaped out of her chair and her voice carried right across the entire restaurant as she radiated delight. ‘Oh my god that would be fantastic! You see? You have been thinking about us!’
Stephen glanced left and right as panic fluttered across his features. The smiling faces of perhaps thirty or so other diners glowed back at him.
‘Well, I hadn’t actually…’
‘The Bahamas,’ Kathryn whispered, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Stephen and retook her seat, her smile as broad as the day was long. ‘And this white wedding you mentioned, how would you feel about it being in the Bahamas too and with a…?’
‘Look, Kathryn,’ Stephen said, forestalling her question with a raised hand. ‘I don’t know if we can afford to do anything like that right now, okay? I was just being sarc...’
‘Being what?’
Kathryn dropped the smile as though it was poisonous and glared at Stephen, daring him to speak another word. She let her eyes dance across the plates in front of them as though picking a suitable missile.
‘Romantic,’ Stephen replied. ‘I was being romantic, dreaming of what could be if we just had the money to do it.’
Kathryn kept her gaze on Stephen, revelling only in the warm buzz of excitement swirling in her belly. Her disappointment at Stephen’s retraction was not entirely faked. Truth be told, the idea of a lengthy vacation in the Bahamas was entirely agreeable with her. Minus the wedding. And minus Stephen.
‘And the will,’ she suggested tartly as she stabbed another piece of meat with her knife.
She could feel Stephen watching her across the table. She could tell that he was uncertain. Off balance. She realised, quite suddenly, that she had never really seen Stephen lose his nerve before. Nor had she felt so in control of her life.
He took another long sip of his wine before he replied. ‘You’re asking me if I intend to marry you?’
Kathryn smiled at him with her lips only. ‘You don’t get a big house and kids without marriage, darling.’
‘You don’t get any of them without money.’
‘Money isn’t everything.’
‘No, but it’s a fair proportion and we don’t have any.’ He seemed to sadden slightly. ‘I couldn’t even afford a ring right now, to be honest.’
Kathryn raised an eyebrow in response but said nothing as she pecked at the last of her starter. She noticed that Stephen had barely touched his despite having claimed to be starving when they had left. His wine glass, on the other hand, was almost empty.
‘It’s not like I don’t want to get married,’ Stephen added.
‘Could’ve fooled me.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘We never see each other,’ Kathryn said as she set her fork down on her empty plate. ‘You live out of hotel rooms and I virtually live alone. What I’m saying to you, Stephen Hollister, is that if we’re going to stay in a relationship then we need to start building a proper life together.’
Stephen blinked, thrown off balance once again.
‘Jesus, now you’re threatening to leave me? You only just asked me about marriage!’
‘It’s called an ultimatum,’ she replied with another smile.
The waiter appeared
as Stephen stared at her as though she had just revealed that she was in fact a man. The fact that she could not photograph his expression in that one moment was one she guessed she would probably regret for her entire life. The waiter cleared their plates and vanished, probably sensing the aura enveloping the table. Kathryn sat quietly, waiting to see what Stephen might dredge up to escape his predicament.
His jaw gaped a few times before any cohesive noises broke free from his lips.
‘You’re telling me to propose, or leave?’
Kathryn shrugged but said nothing, sipping her glass of sparkling water instead. Stephen gulped down the rest of his wine and exhaled the fumes, then looked at her as though seeing her for the very first time.
‘That job has changed you,’ he said finally.
‘Yes it has,’ she agreed. ‘It is my future. It is what I want my life to be. You’re either a part of it or you’re history, Stephen. Decide.’
Stephen gaped at her in astonishment. Kathryn remained motionless, but inside her guts were swirling like warm chocolate and she was bursting with the need to laugh herself into a cardiac arrest.
‘I’ll give you ‘til the main course arrives,’ she finally blurted. Then she stood up, grabbed her handbag and strode confidently away from the table.
On an impulse she swayed her hips a little more than she usually would as she strode between the tables to the rest–room and was both surprised and delighted to catch the eyes of several male diners.
She barely made it into the rest–room before she threw a hand over her mouth to catch her own delighted giggles. She hurled her handbag onto the counter in front of the mirrors and rested one hand beside it as she bent over and laughed.
‘Somebody’s having a good night.’
Kathryn looked up to see a young girl emerge from one of the stalls, her pupils dilated and a dreamy look on her face. Expensive clothes, designer label handbag, expertly dyed hair. She had “rich–kid” written all over her and cocaine smeared across her left cheek, but her smile was genuine and filled with playful curiosity.
Kathryn spilled the beans before she could even think about it. ‘I just gave my boyfriend five minutes to either propose or leave.’
The girl’s eyes widened and she chuckled. ‘Ain’t you the woman, honey!?’
Kathryn managed to gain control of her mirth, and then she looked at the girl. ‘You look like you enjoy a laugh. Would you mind doing me a favour?’
‘You got it, girl.’
***
16
Kathryn strode out of the rest–room as though she was being announced at the Oscars and a big band was playing. More heads turned as she swayed her way between the tables, focused only on Stephen and his furtive features as she closed in on him like a falcon hunting a hare.
Stephen shifted in his seat, his second glass of wine already drained. An awkward smile slapped itself across his face as Kathryn set her handbag back down on the table and slid silkily into her chair.
‘Well, Mister Hollister?’ she asked. ‘What will it be?’
Stephen, one hand pinching the stem of his wine glass, swallowed thickly before replying.
‘I think that…’
‘You have to think about it?’
Her voice was just loud enough to raise attention to them again. Stephen’s eyes swivelled left and right and he raised his spare hand to placate her, still unwilling to release his pride anchor.
‘Would you rather I rushed in and made a fool of myself?’
‘You mean you’re not making a fool of yourself now?’
‘I…,’.
‘Save it,’ Kathryn cut him off before he could say anything more. ‘I suspected that you would be like this, so I’ve saved you the trouble.’
‘Wait,’ Stephen said as Kathryn shot to her feet. ‘Don’t leave, I want to…’
Kathryn raised her hand to silence him.
The girl from the rest–room appeared right on cue, a microphone in her hand. She passed it to Kathryn, who spoke without hesitation into the microphone as the tinkling of the background music in the restaurant suddenly faded out.
‘Ladies and gentlemen.’
The sound of her own voice amplified across the restaurant startled Kathryn, and she hesitated before she gained control again, asserting her confidence over Stephen, who was sitting in terror on his chair and holding onto the table edge as though for his very life.
A hundred people were now all watching her attentively as she spoke. Cocaine Girl giggled as she hurried out of the way.
‘I hope that you don’t mind me interrupting your meals,’ Kathryn said, her heart fluttering in her chest as she tried to keep her voice calm. ‘I wanted you all to know that my partner Stephen, who’s sitting here, and I have been together for three years and that we’re at such an important point in our lives. I’ve just started a new job that I really love, and Stephen’s working as hard as he can to help support us. So, I want this to be a very special night.’
Kathryn turned to Stephen, looked down at him and dropped her voice an octave as she spoke.
‘Stephen, you said that my new job has changed me. You’re right. I’ve decided to take control of my life and do the things that I want to do. I guess we don’t really know who people are until they’re forced to reveal themselves, and I don’t want to hide any more. I want this to be the very first night of my new life. I’m not much for tradition, so…’
Kathryn reached down to her handbag and retrieved from within a small, elaborate box. A ripple of whispers fluttered through the assembled diners as Kathryn popped the box open and revealed a sparkling silver ring with a small, cleanly–cut diamond.
Stephen’s eyes widened and she saw the colour drain from his face as she moved around the table and offered the box out to him.
‘Stephen,’ she said softly into the microphone, ‘make this the first day of our new life.’
Stephen stared at the ring as though it were a thermo–nuclear device. One hand reached up furtively from the table and plucked the ring from the box as Stephen almost fell from his chair onto one knee. Kathryn saw conflicting emotions race across his features like raging seas as he mastered whatever he was really feeling and forced a smile onto his face.
His words, when he spoke, were thin and reedy compared to Kathryn’s mighty microphone–amplified oratory and barely audible even in the silence that surrounded them.
‘Kathryn Stone,’ he gasped, ‘will you marry me?’
Kathryn looked around her at the rapt diners watching them, and then gave a small shrug as she glanced at Stephen. ‘Maybe.’ A ripple of laughter tinkled through the restaurant as Kathryn smiled brightly and thrust her outstretched hand straight into Stephen’s face. ‘Of course I will!’
A blast of thunderous applause flooded the restaurant as Stephen slid the ring onto her finger and got unsteadily to his feet to put his arms around her.
‘Can we just eat dinner now?’ she heard him say in her ear above the tumultuous applause surrounding them.
Kathryn stood back from him, her face flushed with excitement. ‘Just one last thing,’ she said, and nodded over his shoulder.
Stephen turned, and Kathryn hugged him tightly to her as Cocaine Girl’s camera flashed brightly. Kathryn felt Stephen’s entire body stiffen as the photograph was taken.
‘They’re going to put it up in the restaurant bar for everyone to see,’ Kathryn smiled as she held Stephen tightly beside her. ‘Right up until we get married. Isn’t that great?’
Kathryn could not hear Stephen’s response above the clapping.
***
17
‘Wow,’ Maietta said as she climbed from the vehicle.
‘Yeah,’ Griffin replied. ‘That about covers it.’
They stood in front of the broad Colonial–style house, fronted by perfectly–manicured lawns that glistened with frost in the pale glow of the sunrise. The threatening rain clouds of the previous day had vanished, the sky a pearlescent dome a
s cold as ice above them.
The pool car they were driving was marked with Ventura Air’s logo on the doors and Griffin looked resplendent in his pilot’s uniform, the darkness and the cap’s low peak helping to disguise his identity.
‘We’re in the wrong job,’ Maietta said as she adjusted her cap, apparently uncomfortable in the uniform.
‘What do you think?’ Griffin asked. ‘Me captain, you my co–pilot?’
‘Bullshit,’ Maietta snapped. ‘I’ll take the left hand seat.’
Griffin smiled, but he pinched the corners of his eyes as he shut the car door and rubbed his face with his hands.
‘You okay?’
‘Long night.’
Another night had passed painfully slowly in the wake of Angela’s departure. Jesus, at the one point in his life when he had believed that things just couldn’t get any worse… He dragged a hand down his face, felt his stubble thick on his chin. He needed to get himself sorted out, he knew. It wasn’t like he couldn’t see what was happening to him or was oblivious to his decline, and yet somehow whenever he decided it was time to do something about it all then something else more important got in the way.
‘Want to talk about it?’ Maietta asked.
Griffin saw in the windows of some of the other houses the occasional movement, people watching from within. Easy way to change the subject.
‘Pity we can’t question the natives.’
Maietta nodded as she glimpsed a woman watching from a window in a house on the opposite side of the street move out of sight again. ‘They might have seen something.’
‘Maybe,’ Griffin replied. ‘But we can’t take the chance right now that one of them isn’t involved somehow.’
‘Well, the security company confirmed that nobody on its staff had any access to the alarm codes,’ Maietta said. ‘The occupants are always required to enter new, personal codes once the system has been fitted in order to activate the system. All of their fitters and maintenance staff have cast–iron alibis.’
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