The Blind Date Surprise

by Barbara Hannay

  Annie shrugged. ‘A little exercise won’t hurt me.’ She turned to leave the bathroom. ‘Goodnight.’

  ‘Hang on,’ Mel called, making a hurried effort to rinse her mouth.

  With some reluctance, Annie paused in the hallway. She’d been hoping to avoid an inquisition about this.

  Mel came through the doorway, still wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. ‘Okay, confession time! You didn’t come to the city for a health kick, so who are you going to meet on the bridge?’

  Annie sighed extravagantly. ‘A dog. A Dalmatian dog called Basil.’

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ Mel let her eyes roll towards the ceiling. ‘And will Basil be waiting for you all by himself? He doesn’t, by any chance, come attached to some yummy guy you’ve met today, does he?’

  ‘Theo will be there,’ Annie mumbled.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Theo.’

  ‘Theo?’ Mel’s voice rose an octave. ‘Theo as in Dr Theo Grainger?’

  ‘Yes.’ In defence Annie added, ‘I told you I spoke to him this morning. And he’s invited me to meet his dog.’

  Mel collapsed against the wall in helpless laughter.

  ‘What’s the big joke? You know I’m nuts about dogs.’

  ‘Oh, yeah, sure, Annie. You’re fascinated by Theo Grainger’s dog. But hello—half the UQ philosophy undergraduates are nuts about Dr Theo.’

  Annie couldn’t hide her surprise.

  ‘The female half, that is,’ Mel amended. ‘Not that it gets them anywhere. Apparently, he has a policy of never dating students.’

  ‘Good for him.’

  ‘But that’s why I’m so gobsmacked. How did you wangle this date with him?’

  ‘For crying out loud, Mel. Walking a dog is not a date.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Smiling, Mel shook her head. ‘That’s like saying a foot massage has nothing to do with sex.’

  To her dismay, Annie found it difficult to meet her friend’s gaze.

  There was an awkward silence while she stared at the floor and then Mel said more gently, ‘Well, don’t worry. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed that jerkishness doesn’t run in Damien’s family.’

  Impulsive decisions often had unpleasant repercussions, Theo reminded himself the next morning as he waited at the northern end of the Goodwill Bridge and watched the blue and white City Cats ferrying passengers up and down the Brisbane River.

  He suspected that the impulse to invite Annie McKinnon to join him on a walk with his dog had been foolish. But she’d been badly misled by his nephew and he consoled himself that his sense of obligation to her was a worthy motivation.

  After spending almost a decade as a university lecturer, he was well aware of the pitfalls of offering even the most casual friendship to an attractive young woman. But in Annie’s case it should be quite a simple matter to guard against repercussions.

  He’d kept the invitation very low-key. He’d even been ungallant enough to let her find her own way to the bridge, but now he wondered if she might get lost.

  He switched his attention from the river to the traffic speeding to join the network of concrete ribbons that formed the freeway system and in his peripheral vision he caught sight of a hand waving.

  Annie.

  She was waiting at the pedestrian crossing on the other side of the road. The lights changed and within less than a minute she came hurrying up to him.

  ‘I hope I’m not too late,’ she said, panting slightly, as if she’d been running.

  ‘Not at all.’

  She dropped to her knees, and focused her attention entirely on the dog. ‘Oh, Basil, you’re beautiful. I could recognise your gorgeous black and white spots when I was still a block away.’

  She ruffled Basil’s ears and made a great fuss of him and Theo tried not to notice the way her hair shone in the sun, or how slim and lithe she looked in her black shorts and sleeveless pale blue top. He turned quickly to study the clusters of apartment block towers built close to the river.

  ‘So which way are we going?’ she asked, jumping to her feet.

  ‘Over the bridge. Ready?’

  ‘Sure.’

  The Goodwill Bridge was restricted to pedestrians and cyclists and as they set off across its gentle arc the city buzzed around them. At this early hour the air was still and cool, the sky clear, and the parks and gardens green. Brisbane looked clean and at its best.

  ‘Hey, Theo, is that Italian writing on your T-shirt?’

  Annie had the most disturbing way of asking unexpected questions. ‘Yes,’ he admitted, looking down at the slogan on his chest. ‘It’s an ad for coffee.’

  ‘Can you read Italian? Do you know what it says?’

  ‘It’s something like…For people who really care about the coffee they drink.’

  She looked excessively impressed. ‘Have you ever been to Italy?’

  ‘Yes, many times.’

  ‘Wow, I’d give anything to see Rome or Venice or Florence. I’ve read all I can about them and I drool over the pictures.’

  ‘Italy’s beautiful. I think it’s my favourite European country.’

  ‘Really?’

  To his surprise she looked puzzled.

  ‘You have a problem with that?’

  ‘No, it’s just that it’s Damien’s favourite country too.’

  ‘But he’s never been to Italy.’

  She came to a sudden halt and Theo tugged on Basil’s lead. ‘Hang on, boy.’

  ‘This is weird,’ she said. ‘Do you think Damien has been pretending to be someone like you?’

  ‘I can’t think why. What makes you think so? Because of the dog and Italy?’

  ‘Not only that.’ She turned to look out at the river where an old wooden ferry was chugging from one side to the other. ‘He used to tell me things about philosophy, too.’

  Theo laughed. ‘Philosophy? Damien doesn’t know the first thing about philosophy.’

  ‘Well, he sounded knowledgeable to me.’ She turned back and offered him a sheepish smile. ‘But then I wouldn’t have a clue. I’m more of an old movie fan. As far as I know, Scarlett O’Hara’s “Tomorrow is another day” could be philosophy.’

  ‘And you wouldn’t be too far off the mark.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’m beginning to feel so stupid about this. I can’t believe all the things I lov—liked about Damien were all make-believe.’

  Not make-believe, Theo thought. They were me.

  Annie’s china-blue eyes were round with worry and when their gazes met she chewed her lip and colour stained her neck and cheeks. Had the same idea occurred to her?

  When Damien came back he would strangle him.

  She let out a long sigh, then shrugged. ‘I’ve got to stop talking about Damien. I’m over him. Let’s keep walking. I didn’t mean to hold you up.’

  They walked on and Annie’s gaze darted everywhere, her hungry eyes taking in the towering buildings, the busy traffic on the freeway and the boats on the river. She looked as if she’d never seen anything quite so exciting.

  He’d noticed the same sense of delighted engagement with her surroundings at the university yesterday, and now he tried unsuccessfully to suppress the thought that the clever, academic women he’d dated in recent years were a bunch of jaded cynics.

  They reached the other side of the bridge and he looked below to the dry dock where volunteers were restoring an ancient tugboat. He’d been taking a keen interest in their progress.

  ‘Oh, look at that.’ Annie was pointing ahead to a forest of very modern unit buildings surrounded by landscaped gardens and restaurants.

  ‘What are you looking at?’

  ‘That dear little clock tower peeping over the fig trees.’

  ‘Oh, yes. It’s part of the old South Brisbane Town Hall. It’s very Victorian, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, it’s all red-bricked and old-fashioned and out of place, but it’s gorgeous,’ she said. ‘I’m sure it disapproves of all these modern aluminium and glass
buildings.’

  ‘Just like the old Queen would have.’

  ‘Exactly!’ Annie laughed and her hair glinted pale gold in the sunlight and, without warning, she flung her arms skywards and executed a three hundred and sixty degree spin. ‘Oh, I lo-o-o-ve this city!’

  And bang went Theo’s resolve to remain aloof.

  ‘Would you like to stop for breakfast?’ he asked.

  Breakfast? Annie bit back a cry of surprise. Come to think of it, Theo was looking surprised too. Perhaps he’d realised that adding breakfast to a walk along the river turned the occasion into something that was almost a date. Maybe he was having second thoughts.

  She wondered if she should let him off the hook.

  But she didn’t want to. Something happened to her whenever she was with him. Something deep. Elusive. Nagging.

  And it had nothing to do with his dog, and only a little to do with how great he looked in athletic shorts.

  ‘What about our casual clothes?’

  ‘Don’t worry. Most of the eateries along here cater to walkers and joggers.’

  ‘What about Basil, then? He won’t be allowed in a restaurant, will he?’

  ‘A friend of mine owns one of the cafés on the riverfront and on special occasions he’s happy to keep him out the back for me, away from the kitchen and the diners.’

  ‘Does this count as a special occasion?’

  He smiled slowly. ‘If I say so.

  His smile made her chest grow tight. She bent down and scratched Basil’s spotty head. ‘Do you mind being tied up, beautiful boy?’

  Basil’s tail wagged madly and Theo said, ‘Giovanni spoils him so much he never minds.’

  ‘Looks like we’re having breakfast, then.’

  Annie wondered if her heart had burst into song as they walked through a colonnade of purple bougainvillea. Time to calm down. This is not a date. This is not a date.

  They turned on to the wide walkway close to the river, where cafés and restaurants were already doing a busy breakfast trade.

  A rotund, balding Italian turned from adjusting a red and white striped umbrella over a table. When he saw them his face split into an enormous grin and he called in a booming voice, ‘Ciao, Theo.’

  ‘Giovanni! Ciao.’

  The men exchanged backslaps as they chatted in Italian. Annie watched, enchanted. Giovanni grinned at her too.

  ‘Buon giorno, signora.’

  Oh, wow. I’m melting. No one had ever called her signora and it sounded sensational in Giovanni’s Italian baritone. Warming. Like brandy slipping through her veins.

  ‘Buon giorno, Giovanni,’ she said back to him. Her pronunciation didn’t sound quite right, but nevertheless he looked delighted.

  Theo looked pleased with her too.

  Almost immediately, Giovanni took hold of Basil’s lead. ‘Èun cane bello,’ he said, giving the dog a pat with his massive hand. Then he waved to them both as he disappeared with Basil around the back of the café.

  ‘That’s Basil settled,’ said Theo. ‘Now, let’s find a table.’

  Annie could hardly contain her excitement as they sat at a table for two overlooking the water. Breakfast by the Brisbane River with a view of skyscrapers and the busy freeway—she felt so urban and classy.

  Okay, this wasn’t a date, but La Piastra was Dullsville by comparison.

  ‘What are you going to have?’ she asked Theo as they studied their menus.

  ‘I think I’ll settle for something light. Probably a sourdough bagel and coffee.’

  She wondered what her brothers would think of a man who ate a bagel for breakfast. At home, Reid and Kane expected steak and eggs and a mountain of toast. But they headed off to a day of hard physical work, of course. Most likely Theo would be sitting at a desk.

  ‘I can’t decide between a croissant or fruit toast,’ she said.

  ‘The fruit toast is very good. Especially if you like dried figs.’

  ‘Oh, yum. No contest then. Fruit toast it is.’

  ‘And coffee?’

  ‘Yes, please.’ At Southern Cross she always had tea, but here in the city her taste buds were primed for coffee. Just the smell of it was sophisticated.

  Once their orders were placed, Theo leaned back in his chair and looked up at the sky. He seemed relaxed. In a good mood.

  Prepared to talk?

  Annie took a deep breath. ‘Do you mind if I ask you a nosy question?’

  Behind his glasses his eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn’t look annoyed. His mouth tilted into a slow smile. ‘That’s difficult to answer without knowing the question.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll ask it and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.’

  Theo nodded. ‘Fair enough.’

  ‘It’s just that I feel so ignorant. I’ve been wondering what philosophers actually do.’

  ‘Ah…I should have seen that coming.’

  ‘Sorry,’ she said quickly. ‘Do a lot of people ask you that?’

  ‘Just about everyone.’

  ‘Ouch. It’s just that I can’t imagine you just sit and think clever thoughts all day long. You must—’ She broke off, suddenly out of her depth.

  ‘You think we must find something useful to do?’ he suggested.

  ‘I didn’t mean to be insulting. I suppose I’m asking this because your life is so different from mine. Where I live, people have to be practical. They have no choice. If a bore breaks down they can’t sit around waiting for someone to travel hundreds of kilometres to fix it.’

  ‘And philosophers don’t build things or grow things or fix things.’

  ‘I don’t know. Do you?’

  Theo crossed his arms over his chest. And Annie felt a stab of alarm. Hadn’t the girls warned her that this was a very negative sign in body language?

  ‘Obviously philosophers don’t bake bagels or build skyscrapers or fix bores,’ he said.

  The waiter arrived with their breakfast and she was relieved to be diverted by delicious thick slices of toast, heavy with fruit. She was happy to drop the subject of Theo’s job, especially if he was touchy about it.

  He held up a sachet of sugar and smiled at her.

  ‘Want to share?’ he asked.

  Oh, crumbs, he had such a nice smile. ‘Sure.’ She grinned back at him and hoped that their awkward moment was behind them.

  But as he spread cream cheese on his bagel Theo said, ‘Philosophers build things.’

  She nodded and popped a piece of toast into her mouth, trying to look casually interested, but not wanting him to feel pressured into further explanation.

  ‘They work out structures for thinking,’ he went on. ‘And, once you’ve got those structures in place, you can think through all sorts of problems more easily. But it’s not just a matter of mental gymnastics. Philosophers make connections to real life. These days philosophy is being used more and more as therapy.’

  ‘Like in counselling?’

  ‘Yes. Some people find a thoughtful dose of Aristotle or Plato can be more useful than medication.’

  ‘Wow, that sounds really interesting. I could probably do with a dose of philosophy. People are always telling me I’m too impulsive and don’t think things through before I act.’ She traced the handle of her coffee cup with her finger. ‘There’s so much I don’t know.’

  ‘Nobody can know what they haven’t yet experienced.’

  ‘I guess not.’ Her eyes met his. ‘But I’d like to be wise, especially about things that really matter.’

  Theo didn’t answer immediately. He cut a piece of bagel, but before he ate it he looked at her and said gently, ‘You might be wiser than you think, Annie. Plato decided that his own wisdom lay in realizing how little he knew about the things that matter most.’

  A breeze danced across the river and picked up strands of Annie’s hair and tossed them on to her face. As she fingered them back into place Theo stared at her arm, frowning.

  Bending her elbow to examine it, she saw the purpl
e smudge of bruises. ‘I got these from sleeping on Mel’s couch,’ she explained. ‘It’s so narrow and lumpy I keep rolling off and I banged my elbow on the coffee table. I suppose I’ll have more bruises by the end of the week.’

  ‘Sounds uncomfortable.’

  ‘Yeah. If I’d known how bad it was I would have brought my camp swag and slept on the floor. Mind you, I didn’t give Mel much warning that I was coming and she’s been very accommodating.’

  He looked thoughtful as he drank his coffee.

  Annie checked her watch. ‘How much time do you have? Don’t you need to go to work?’

  ‘Yes, I do, but now lectures have finished I can be a little more flexible with my schedule.’ He set down his coffee cup. ‘Just the same, I’d better get going.’

  ‘Basil will be restless.’

  ‘Either that or he will have gone to sleep, with a tummy full of the best off-cuts of Giovanni’s fillet steak.’

  Breakfast over, Theo attended to the bill, and they collected Basil and set off again along the South Bank walkway.

  ‘What do you plan to do with the rest of your week in the city?’

  Darn. Annie wished he hadn’t asked that.

  ‘You’re what?’ Mel dropped the knife she’d been using to slice mushrooms. Her hands flew to her hips as she almost shouted her question at Annie.

  Victoria, who was perched on a kitchen stool and chopping carrots, looked equally stunned.

  Annie hastened to appease them. ‘It’s not that I don’t appreciate how generous you’ve both been, letting me use your couch, and you’ve been wonderful helping me with the clothes shopping and the date with Damien and everything. I’m very grateful.’

  ‘But I can’t believe you’re moving in with Dr Grainger,’ said Mel.

  Victoria shook her head. ‘Why would you want to move in with some stuffy old philosopher who’s related to the jerk?’

  ‘It’s because Theo is Damien’s uncle that he’s offered me Damien’s room for the rest of my time here,’ Annie explained. ‘He feels a sense of obligation.’

  Mel hooted. ‘Obligation? Is that what he calls it? I reckon he’s feeling something much more physical that ends with “tion”.’

  ‘Perhaps you’re being a tad naïve,’ suggested Victoria.

  Annie groaned. How could she explain Theo’s invitation without making reference to the girls’ narrow couch and the bruises?