Dianthe Rising (9 page)

Wondering how I might be worse than dead, I patiently waited for Hurricane Annie to lose some steam. There was no use trying to speak until she took a breath. Finally, she turned and got a good look at me.

“Oh my God! Your face, are you okay?”

Guilt ate at me when she broke into tears and threw herself into my arms. I should have taken the time to call her today. I was a horrible best friend. I had officially failed the BFF test.

“It’s okay, Annie, I’m fine.” I hugged her as she sobbed. “I just got a little mugged last night heading home.” Unfortunately, this was the worst thing I could have said, as she started wailing—loudly.

“It’s all my fault, I left you, oh my God. You could be raped and laying dead somewhere and it would be all my fault. I am so…so…sorry, Dia. I am the worst friend ever. I will understand if you never want to see me again, or Danny. He’s going to kill me when he finds out I split on you and you were attacked and nearly killed.” She crumpled against me with her arms wrapped around my waist. I barely kept us off the floor.

She should have gone into acting instead of design. “Annie,” I had to raise my voice. “Calm down, okay? I was not nearly killed. Look, more than likely I would have been attacked even if you had been there with me. Remember that freak from the club?”

Her head tilted to the side she pondered it. “Yeah, the hot weirdo with the piercings, why?”

I could see the clogs turning as she processed what I was trying to tell her. “Oh my God, he went after you?”

With a nod, I replied. “Yeah, he jumped me outside the club. I’m pretty sure he was on some really heavy stuff. He was going on about Goth role-play crap. I believe he was into vampire crap and with the drugs he thought he was one.”

Her eyes widened, she took a step back to look me over critically. “Are you really all right? Did you go to the hospital? Did, he umm… Oh God, I don’t know how to ask this.” She wrung her hands helplessly. “Did he, ummm…were you…raped?" she whispered, eyes filling with tears again.

“Oh no, Annie, no I wasn’t.” I took her hands in mine and pulled her over to the sofa. “He grabbed me, but before he had the chance do much another guy came out of the shadows and tackled him. One of them tossed me against the side of a building and I landed face first against the wall. That is where all the bruising and scratches came from. As soon as I got my feet under me, I made a run for the nearest pub and called Sean.

"He brought me home last night and stayed with me. Then this morning he helped me file the police report and cancel all my cards and stuff. Then we spent the day together sorting out the flat, and he took me out to tea.” I finished with a deep breath. “So I’m really, really alright, okay.”

“Oh, Dia, I am so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, honey. But I feel we might have quiet nights in for a while. What do you say?”

“Anything, do you feel like hanging out with me tonight or do you want me to go?”

“No, stay,” I said. “We can watch a movie together.”

She winked at me and perked up. “Well…since you’re not traumatized, you can tell me what you thought of Danny.” That girl was able to flip on a penny her mind jumped so fast from one thing to another. I threw a pillow at her, and threatened her.

“Thanks for reminding me. I am so going to kill you. I cannot believe you have been conspiring with your mum and aunt to set me up with your cousin.” I gave her the evil eye. “He knew about it, you know?”

“Really,” she gasped. “How? We made sure never to talk about the plan while he was about. But we did drop your name in conversation every now and again.”

My eyes rolled and I shook my head. “Yeah,” I said. “I bet the three of you were the Queens of subtlety, not.”

“Pftthh,” Annie blew through her lips. “So dish, what do you think of him? Could he be your Mr. Right? I know your family would approve. So tell me all.”

A blush rose in my cheeks so I sat back down and lifted my now cold tea. “I like him. He is really funny and clever and he’s hot. Giant sized hot but still über hot. He told me about your plot and said he was going to let me down easy but changed his mind once he met me. He asked if he could get my number from you and maybe get together one night.”

By this time, Annie’s mouth had dropped open and for once in her life, she was speechless. I sat there smirking watching her mouth work like a landed fish for a few moments.

“Did you tell him yes?” she squeaked.

Grinning like a fool, I looked at her from beneath my lashes. “Yeah, I did. But you’re going to have to wait till I get my new number to give it to him.” I looked at her nervously when I mentioned my next thought. “You know, I suppose we should keep last night to ourselves though. What do you say?”

“Yeah, I can do that. Danny has a huge conscience and he would never forgive himself if he knew. So yup, our secret”

We preformed the sacred ritual of pinkie swearing, ala year four, may we die horrible gruesome deaths if we break our vows…etc…etc... Then we hugged each other to seal the deal.

“We really should grow up a little,” I told Annie.

“Where’s the fun in that?” she mocked.

With a roll of my eyes at our antics, I changed topics to more important things. “Okay, now that we have that done and dusted, what movie do you want to watch?”

She squealed, “Ohhhh, how about
Legend
? Tom Cruise is so yummy in that.”

I shook my head but went with it. I had always rooted more for Tim Curry than Tom Cruise. However, I did love the movie. After we made ourselves more tea and biscuits, Annie sorted the DVD and we settled in for a night of magic and unicorns.

*****

The next morning, I woke up to the sun streaming in my window again.
Who keeps leaving those freaking curtains open?
I rubbed my eyes and went to stretch the stiffness out of my limbs. With an evil glee, I pushed a sleeping, drooling Annie off my legs. Ewwww, no one seeing her now would recognize the sex kitten she portrayed. Her hair was all over the place. It fell down in knotted tangles and stuck to the side of her face. While drool made its way out of her open mouth and down her chin. Her makeup had dissolved into a mass of color across her face and streaked down my cushion. It looked like she'd been assaulted by a clown.
Thank goodness the covers were removable,
I snorted.
Man, if I still had my phone this picture would be all over Facebook.

I saw her bag on the floor and reached over to dig through it for her phone.
Wahahaha, evil best friend attacks again. Snap, snap, snap and several photos were away in cyberspace to be forever immortalized on the internet
.

Quickly typing out a message on her page extolling the sweetness of a dish best served cold, I tossed her phone back into her bag for her to find later. I gave her one last kick and pushed her onto the floor. There was a thud accompanied by the sound of her grunts. With a grin at my accomplishment, I stood and stretched.

It was amazing how much better I felt after a night with Annie. Watching movies and stuffing our faces with junk was so therapeutic.

“Annie, wake up, girl,” I nudged her again. “Don’t you need to be at work today?”

“Ummm... What…,” she looked at me blankly.

“You, work, today?” I made a little walking movement with my fingers.

"Wha…time is it?” she mumbled.

A glance at the clock on the wall had my eyes widening. “It’s nearly noon, how did we sleep so late?” I mused.

With a jerk, she grabbed onto the couch. “Crap, for real, noon? Crapola on a stick, I have to be at work at twelve. Crap, crap, crap. No time to go home, I’m stealing your shower and clothes.”

Laughing, I just nodded as she ran into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, a frantic Annie threw herself out of the door yelling over her shoulder.

“Love you, will call you later, text me your new number don’t forget.” With a wave and flying blonde hair, she disappeared down the hallway.

I shook my head and began to pick up the remnants of last night’s film fest. Who knew two girls could cause such destruction watching movies? Several empty bags of crisp and juice bottles went into the bin bag. Followed by mountains of dirty dishes in the dishwasher. After a quick hoover, I headed toward the shower myself and then out to face the world once again.

Chapter Eight

After hitting Vodafone for a replacement phone, I decided to wander around the British Museum for an hour or so. After all these years, it was still my favorite place in all of London. Dad used to take me to the museum on a Saturday once a month so I could walk the halls and gaze at the exhibitions. He used to say that I spent more time with the ancient dead than I did with the living.

I couldn’t help it; history fascinated me. Every time something came into the museum that was part of Britain’s past, I ate it up.

While all the other kids wanted to see the mummies and dinosaurs, things like Bronze Age swords and Sheela-na-Gig statues from Ireland engrossed me.

Days like today when the museum was quiet were my favorite. I could stand and absorb the information around me. There was nothing I liked better than to settle down with a pen and pad. I would jot down information on the exhibits so I could research them later.

When dad introduced me professionally to Mr. Davies from the University of London, I thought all my Christmases and birthdays had come at once. I had known David Davies since I was a child. The day he took me on as a research assistant was one of the happiest of my life.

The clock on the wall caught my attention and I noticed it was just past three p.m. I bet Mr. Davies was still at the university and probably done with his meetings. It would be simple to nip in, give him my number, and grab some of the paperwork waiting for me. It would give me something to do this weekend at least.

The walk to the school took less than ten minutes, so I texted Annie and Sean my new number on the way. I needed to text mum, dad, and a few others tonight, but didn’t trust my skills to navigate London and text at the same time. Bruises already covered me from the mugging. I did not need to add “hit by a bus” to my week.

When I reached the school, I ran into the building and up the stairs toward our offices. Classes would be getting out in half an hour and I didn't want to be in the halls when they did. I had reached Mr. Davies’s office and tapped on his door before sticking my head in.

Three sets of eyes zeroed in on me and I winced at interrupting a meeting.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Davies. I thought you would be finished with your meetings by now. I can come back.” A throat cleared and my boss looked uncomfortably from me to his guests.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again and began to close the door. He called out before it could shut.

“Dia, wait a moment if you please.”

I opened the door and stepped into the room before gently closing it behind me.

“Dia, umm…how fortunate that you dropped by.”

It was then that he was able to get a good look at me. My hair had been hanging down in my face all day to hide the bruising.

“My dear child.” He stood and walked over to me. “Your poor face. Is this from your mugging?”

Nodding my head and glancing at the two strangers in embarrassment, I shook my head. “It’s okay, Mr. Davies. I bruise easily. It looks a lot worse than it is. I’m already healing, that’s why it’s so colorful.” There was a subtle clearing of a throat from behind us.

“Oh,” Mr. Davies straightened up. “Forgive me for my distraction. Gentlemen,” Mr. Davies nodded to his guests. “Dia had an accident a few days ago and is slightly worse for wear. Dia dear, I would like to introduce you to my two associates. They will be working with me on several upcoming projects and you will be seeing them around campus. This is Kale Jameson, a businessman based just outside London. My other guest is,” he trailed off and the man in question stepped forward.

“Rob,” his voice caressed me. It was as if melted chocolate had been poured over fresh strawberries, so sexy yet fresh at the same time. “Robin Kingston at your service and you are?” he purred.

“Umm…Dia, that is Dianthe Mclearey. I’m Mr. Davies’s researcher.”

“Dianthe, what a lovely name. It means flower of the gods doesn’t it?”

The other man stepped toward me and I thought I heard a low growl as he pushed against Mr. Kingston. “Mr. Jameson, right?” I said as I reached out my hand.

“Call me Kale please, and may I call you Dia?” He took my hand in his and enfolded it in his larger grasp. A zing of static electricity raced through my fingers and up my arm from where he touched me and I shivered from the contact.

“Sure,” I blinked. “It’s nice to meet you.” My head tilted, as I looked at him closer. “Have we met before? You seem familiar but I can’t place you.”

“I don’t think so, Dia. I would remember meeting you.”

A grunt came from the direction of Mr. Kingston as he broke back into the conversation.

“As Kale has said, please let us drop the formalities. Feel free to call me Rob or Robin, Dianthe.” A smile crossed my face as I gazed back into the silvery eyes of Robin Kingston.

“No one calls me Dianthe. It’s such a mouth full. Everyone shortens it to Dia.”

With a raised eyebrow, Robin looked at me and inquired. “Do you object to being called Dianthe?”

“Well, no, I don’t. It’s just no one has ever called me that.”

“If you have no objection, My Lady, I will call you Dianthe.”

My face blushing, I took a step back. “Of course if you want.”

“Oh, I most definitely want," he murmured.

I looked over their shoulders to my boss. On my tiptoes, I rose up to see over the two larger men. “Umm, Mr. Davies, I was going to give you my new number and grab some paperwork to take home for the weekend.”

Mr. Davies cleared his throat and looked between the two men. “That’s fine, Dia. Leave your number on your desk and I will get it before I leave.”

“Alright, I’ll see you on Monday?”

“Yes, first thing Monday morning. We have several documents to go over and the deciphering of several texts to work on.”