‘Oh. Oh well. Never mind.’ Her voice sounded far too bright and cheery to be convincing. Still, she had no right to feel like that, she knew that.
‘Emily, I feel bad now. Maybe I should have let you know earlier, but, I didn’t want to cancel.’
‘No. It’s fine.’ She checked her watch. She could do this. ‘It might be better anyway. I don’t know what your tolerance is.’
‘What?’ She was taken aback by the cutting edge of his reply. She frowned, then recovered again.
‘Your ST.’
‘My what?’
‘Your Shopping Tolerance. That’s where the tram is taking us, in case you hadn’t guessed.’
He laughed, seemed relieved.
‘No, I hadn’t figured that out, although I probably should have done.’
‘Lady’s choice. Your idea, remember?’ she felt obliged to point it out.
‘Fair enough. Shopping it is.’ He laughed. ‘Hmmm, maybe I’m glad I have the work thing now.’
Emily opened her mouth to protest and then caught the smile hiding in his eyes.
‘I think you should feel very privileged. I may be about to impart some of the best kept secrets of girlie shopping.’
‘I’d offer to trade you some bloke’s shopping secrets, but I don’t think there are any.’
‘Then you should count yourself extra lucky.’
‘I do. I do.’
The tram dropped off in the heart of the Retail District. Each shopping sector was specialised into different areas, all spiralling out from the tram terminal where they now stood. It was just like the Entertainment District in that respect, Emily reflected. She turned to Lucas.
‘I like the hat,’ she said. He’d removed it on the tram, but was now looking expectantly at her from under its peak.
‘Thanks. I think.’
‘It’s cool. And more than that, it’s cold out here. The Net said we might get more snow.’ Which would be perfect. She glanced up at sky, which was the colour of white chocolate.
‘Where first then?’ Lucas asked. He was still smiling at her. She tore herself away from the darkness of his eyes. Focus, she commanded. This is not a date. She had to remember that.
‘First, we make a plan.’
Lucas looked around him and shrugged.
‘There’s hundreds of places here. How do you even begin to do that?’
‘That’s where the tea and cake come into it. And there’s a great place, just over there.’ She pointed.
Although he had refused cake, Lucas had insisted on paying. Emily chose seats by the window and was delighted to see that the skies had obliged her and snow had indeed started to fall.
‘There you go. Tea and cake.’ Lucas said as he set the tray on the table and turned to remove something from his chair.
‘Lovely. Thanks.’
‘Your paper, I believe,’ he said, putting the latest copy of the ED Times on the table.
‘No, I didn’t bring a …’ she began and then saw it was what had been on his seat.
And there was Simon. Simon’s words, his name, even a thumbnail picture staring up at her. Emily sat back in her chair.
Lucas had been reading the article on the front page. A fairly neutral piece about the increased numbers of Security Forces officers now on patrol in the Entertainment District. But now his pose was mirroring hers. Simon lay between them. A good reminder, she tried to tell herself. She was with Simon. Lucas was just a soon to be friend.
‘Are you sure you don’t want any of this cake?’ Emily asked. Lucas was staring out of the window now.
‘No. No thanks.’
‘Fine. I’m sure I can manage.’ He still hadn’t looked back at her. The cake was cardboard. She swallowed, took a gulp of tea that scolded the roof of her mouth and wondered what had annoyed him so much.
‘Are you okay?’ she tried. He seemed to come back to her then.
‘Yes. Sorry. I was miles away, just watching the snow, and the skaters.’
‘That’s it! That’s what we should do. Why didn’t I think of that before? We should go skating.’
‘You are joking?’ he asked.
‘No. Not at all. Can you skate?’
‘Like a pro. Of course.’ Lucas said. ‘I thought you wanted to shop.’
‘I do. Or did. Maybe I just wanted to see if you were willing or not.’ Was she flirting? She had to stop. ‘So what do you think? Ice skating?’
‘I’m probably better at that than shopping anyway.’
‘I think we should wander around a few of the shops first though. Wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity,’ Emily said.
They emerged from the tea shop and crossed the square, by-passing the ice rink for now. Relieved that Lucas seemed happy again, Emily provided a running commentary on what should and should not be purchased from each shop they passed. She snuck glances at Lucas, trying to gauge his boredom level. He appeared to be doing okay. Seemed brighter even, than when they’d first met at the tram stop. He’d seemed sort of hunched up then and withdrawn. Maybe he was relaxed now. She hoped that was it.
‘I wonder why they didn’t make this district into new high rises?’ she said aloud. ‘Why they just put the shops into the existing buildings? These must have been houses?’ She paused and looked around her.
‘Yes,’ Lucas said. ‘They were. A bit like some parts of the Entertainment District. And where you work in the Business District’
‘Yes. I can’t imagine what they must have been like to live in though.’
Lucas was silent again. He looked lost in his own thoughts. She wanted to touch him, but instead said, ‘I guess you must have studied all this – what with learning architecture. Buildings and such like.’
‘Yes, I guess I did,’ he murmured.
‘Sorry, probably not the best thing to remind you of.’
‘What?’ Again, that shark reaction. She took a step back.
‘Architecture. Work.’
His eyes softened again. Maybe she had imagined it.
‘Too right. Especially when I have to spend my Saturday night there, when I would rather be doing much better things.’
‘Like what?’ Would he fall into giving her the obvious answer, the one she wanted to hear at any rate?
‘Like shopping, obviously.’ Not quite the compliment she’d been hoping for, but it did make her laugh.
‘That’s probably enough retail therapy for now,’ she announced about twenty minutes later.
‘But neither of us has actually bought anything.’
‘Doesn’t matter. Usually, when on a true girlie shopping trip, such a failure would amount to a catastrophe of epic scale – which is where the wine I mentioned earlier comes into it. But today, it doesn’t matter.’
‘No. We can’t have that. Not on my first trip. I’m going to buy something.’
‘You don’t have to,’ Emily protested.
‘But I want to. I don’t want to come shopping with you and not buy anything.’ He looked around him and seemed to find inspiration. ‘In fact, I’m going to buy something for you.’
‘For me?’
‘Yes. But it’s a surprise. I’ll meet you by the skating rink in about five minutes.’
‘You really don’t have to.’
‘But I want too. Don’t get too excited though.’
‘I won’t,’ Emily lied.
‘Don’t look where I’m going either. You can go and get into the queue for the ice rink.’ He nodded in that direction and Emily was surprised to see how many people were already waiting.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you over there.’
As Emily stood in the queue, trying not to wonder what Lucas was buying, she watched the coloured beams that roved across the surface dye the ice in different hues. The lights seemed to pulse in time with the music that was blaring out. She might as well have been in the Entertainment District, she thought.
Even though it was definitely cold enough for the real thing, Emily kn
ew that the rink was artificial. It had been in the Retail District for the last month or so, she realised. Had, in fact, been there when she’d gone shopping after her first date with Simon. And here she was, all this time later, still wondering if she was right to be with him. That thought quelled the excitement building insider her. She berated herself. She’d done nothing to feel guilty about. Nothing. She’d not flirted, not really, not paid him any compliments. Nothing. She really could have been there with Sadie.
It was fun though. She could never have done this with Simon. He’d have delivered some sort of lecture about the retail industry, or how this district was supporting the vampires more than the humans. He’d have found something. No. This had just been fun. And, she realised, she hadn’t thought about events in Moonshine all day, despite her nightmare of the previous evening. She pushed away any images that tried to invade her now. Nothing was going to spoil this.
She looked around. Lucas had been gone longer than he’d said. Where was he? Surely he wouldn’t have abandoned her? Her eyes flicked across the crowds, trying to find him. Maybe shopping had proved too much for him. She whirled round once more. He wouldn’t do that to her, would he?
The snow was still falling, faster now, though not enough to blur her vision as she sought him out. He wouldn’t just have gone. What a fool she’d look then.
‘Emily.’ She turned as if powered by an electric jolt. He was back. ‘Are you all right? You look worried.’
‘I’m fine.’ Of course he hadn’t deserted her.
‘Sorry. It took a bit longer than I thought to find exactly what I wanted.’
‘And?’
‘It’s quite chilly today and although you did well – what with the scarf and gloves, and especially because you admired mine so much …’ She frowned at him. He reached into the bag, and, she was sure, deliberately withdrew its contents drama-slow. ‘So… I bought you a …’ He lifted it out. ‘… a hat!’
She laughed and thanked him.
‘May I?’ Lucas raised the hat, but waited for her nod. ‘There.’
He gently placed the hat on her head. His fingers grazed the side of her face as he tucked a stray strand of hair inside. He let them rest on her cheek for a second. She did not move, did not breathe, just kept her eyes fixed on him.
‘Looks good,’ he said. Did she detect a tremble to his voice? She didn’t trust herself to speak without letting out the tingle that his touch had given her. She nodded and regained control.
‘Thanks. I wish I had a mirror to check.’
‘Trust me. You look great.’
She dropped her eyes. Now maybe she did have something to feel guilty about.
They finally got to the front of the queue and swapped their footwear for skates.
‘Come on then, pro,’ she said as she tottered to the edge of the ice. Wobbling onto the surface, she clung to the barrier to wait for him. Emily could hear the clack of the other skaters’ blades on the ice, even over the noise of the music, could hear lots of laughter too.
‘It’s only plastic you know,’ Lucas called to her from where he sat on the bench. That had been a real Simon comment, she thought. She tried not to rise to it. She noticed Lucas was taking rather a long time lacing his skates.
‘So?’
‘So, I’m just saying. Obviously, I was given my ranking on proper ice. Just thought I’d make you aware of that.’
Emily laughed. A laugh that began deep inside, and erupted with such a force that it threw her head back and she was glad she had the wall for support.
‘You can’t skate, can you?’ she said when she’d recovered enough. He was still sitting on the bench. He shrugged. ‘I’ll help you.’ She held out a gloved hand. Watched his grin spread as he reached for her.
After about five minutes of him holding the wall with one hand and her with the other, Emily realised that Lucas was actually skating quite well. She was about to point that out, but then realised it would give her no reason to hold his hand. She clamped her mouth shut.
‘Shall we go a bit faster?’ he asked, eyes still on the ice.
‘If you like. You might have to let go of the wall though.’
He did so and gingerly pushed himself forward. His feet went from under him and he sprawled onto the ice. Emily fought to keep her own balance, and to keep her laughter in check.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes.’ He looked up at her and she realised that she really wanted to kiss him. She turned away slightly. ‘More a bruise to my pride than anything else.’ She laughed with him now and helped him to the wall once more.
‘I think maybe you should go off for a bit. On your own,’ Lucas said once they had avoided a number of other skaters and gained the solidity of the wall once more.
‘No thanks. I’d rather be right here.’
‘No, Emily, please. I might just need five minutes on my own to get the hang of this, I mean, to brush up on my skills, remember my training. Male ego and all that.’ His look was so imploring that it beat down her reluctance.
‘Five minutes. Then I expect you’ll be back up to medal winning status.’
‘No problems. I’ll be doing tricks in the middle.’
Emily took her laughter and skated away from him. She was not brilliant at this herself, she realised as, twice in her circuit of the rink, she nearly ended up flat on the ice too. She tried to resist looking back at Lucas but the draw was too much. There were plenty of others whose skating skills left them on the ice as often as his did. He was upright and moving now. She slowed her pace and let others overtake her.
His awkward movements were just about keeping him moving. Emily tried to keep her heart from swelling at the look of concentration on his face. Simon would never ever have done anything he wasn’t already good at she thought.
When Lucas had caught up to her, he took her hand once more. He was only doing it for support, Emily told herself. Just for that. No other reason. They moved around the rink at a reasonably steady pace.
‘I think I’m getting better,’ he said, taking his eyes from the ice and smiling at her. Emily shook her head.
‘You really shouldn’t have said that you know.’
‘Why not? Look I’ve nearly made it all the way round.’ Lucas let go of her hand and pointed.
And that was enough to send him back down on the ice again.
‘That’s why,’ Emily said. They were a long way from the wall. Did she dare? She did. She offered both hands to him.
He was up. Briefly standing, then Emily found her face pressed into the woollen roughness of his coat and his arms around her. His feet were doing a sprint for first place beneath him. She felt hers begin to go and fought to right herself. She shut her eyes. It felt good to be wrapped up in him. His feet were still now. He held her a second longer and then released her.
‘Sorry Emily. I didn’t mean to, you know, grab you like that. I just didn’t want to fall. Again.’
And that had been all it was, Emily told herself. She shrugged, as if it didn’t matter.
‘Our time’s nearly up anyway.’
‘We’ve been on this torture track for nearly thirty minutes?’ Then his feet really did go out from under him again and he collapsed on the ice once more.
‘Time to go now I think,’ Emily said. Her laughter felt genuine. She helped him up willingly, gave him her hand again. Just like a friend would.
The snow had settled enough for them to begin to leave footprints. Ghost impressions of themselves that would soon be trampled by others. It was still falling half-heartedly. It wouldn’t last much longer, Emily thought.
‘So, all in all, it would be fair to say that I was better at shopping than skating,’ Lucas said as they made their way back to the tram stop.
‘I think you’re right there. You’re very wet.’
‘I’ll dry on the tram.’
‘I hope your boss won’t mind.’
‘My boss?’ He slapped his forehead in a gesture of stupidity.
‘Do you know, I’d totally forgotten.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’ He stopped. ‘It’s been a great afternoon. I’ve had fun.’
‘Me too.’ They were walking side by side. Emily did not raise her eyes from the floor.
‘Damn. That means I haven’t got time to see you home.’
‘I wouldn’t have expected you to.’
‘Not really the point. I could probably just about do it.’ He looked at his watch. ‘I could be a bit late …’
‘No. No way. It has been a brilliant day – I don’t want to spoil it by getting you in trouble at work. And besides, it’s only half six.’
‘I’m sorry.’
They were at the tram station now.
‘You can get a tram from here straight to the Industrial District. The stop’s over there.’ Emily pointed it out. ‘It would be daft for you not to.’
‘I suppose so. I am sorry though. Damn boss. Damn work.’
There was no tram in sight. The temperature had dropped further and the snow had stopped. Emily stamped her feet to keep them warm.
‘Emily, I kind of, sort of, lied to you last night.’
That halted her. Reluctantly she turned to face him, not sure if she wanted to hear what was coming next.
‘When I suggested ladies first, I thought it was because I didn’t know where to take you. I had an idea, but I wasn’t sure.’
‘And now?’ She framed the words, only too aware that they might throw the conversation, the whole day, out of balance.
‘Look, I’ve had a great day today …’
Emily could almost sense the ‘but’ that was going to be his next word and steeled herself to mask the disappointment that she had no right to feel.
‘But then I knew I would.’ Emily’s eyes widened. ‘So now I do know. If you still want to meet again that is.’
‘Yes, yes I do.’ There. The words were out.
‘I’ll give you a call in the week then. To sort it out.’
She heard the clank of the tram.
‘But first, there’s something I need you to know,’ Emily said.
‘What?’ Lucas asked, suddenly serious, his voice wary.
‘I need to you to know that if you share any of the shopping insights you’ve learned today with any male friend; if you, or your friends use them to gain unfair advantage in your pursuit of women, the Security Forces will be informed, and you will have to be executed.’
Symbiosis: A Vampire Psycho-Thriller Page 19