Gate Deadlock (5 page)

Fortunately, Bill had been able
to reserve a couple of sun beds and umbrellas for us, as the sun
was burning hot. It was not my favorite time of day for a swim, but
I had decided to socialize more, following Kate’s advice. The water
felt soothingly fresh after the burning of the sunrays on my skin.
I’ve never been too much into swimming. I just prefer to relax in
the sea before lying for hours on my sun bed, reading my book and
sipping my cappuccino fredo.
This of
course was something I could not enjoy on that day, as it would be
impossible to
withdraw from the others and follow my
own little beach-routine. I did not want to make the impression
that I disdained their company.

Mick and Bill were racing to the buoy as
Kate and Tony were enjoying diving, with Kate
practising
a rather awkward dive, head into
the water and legs from knees to toes, steady upon it. I, on the
other hand, was already bored and my mind was already on the
cappuccino.

‘Hey, check this out. Dude, I love this car.’
Mick was now next to me looking at the beach. I turned to look too.
My eyes fell on the silver Audi Q7 parking under the trees. My
heart leapt. I was not ready for this. Even more, I was not ready
for what was about to follow.

Christopher got off the car, walked all the way
around and opened the passenger door. A tall, blonde woman in red
kaftans stepped out of the car. She immediately put on a large
straw hat and huge sunglasses. They both looked as if they were
enjoying each other’s company. They were smiling and chattering as
they were walking towards the beach.

‘Who’s she?’ I asked.

‘I have no idea. Probably his girlfriend. Sorry
Em.’ Kate said.

Of course,
I
thought
.
She’s the
kind of woman someone like him would date.
I took a
longer look of him now that I was sure he was not aware of my
presence. He was wearing a white T-shirt and long light blue shorts
with white patterns. His body was gorgeous. In fact, gorgeous was
the only word that came to me every time I saw him. I could not
find anything about him that could make him less attractive or less
appealing to any woman.

Suddenly, I realized that he was looking towards
me. He took off his glasses and waved. I looked around. The others
were back to racing and diving, so could he be waving only at me? I
waved back, bashfully. How could I be blushing in the water?
Thankfully, he was not close enough to notice that. He looked
around and took his time to take off his T-shirt and put on his
glasses again. His waving to me did not escape his friend’s
attention who had lowered her glasses to check me out. She was
wearing the tiniest bikini to reveal her statue-like body. I
decided it was time for the first dive of the day.

Later, I saw Christopher laughing as he
was spreading sun tan oil on her shoulders.
Obviously, his important appointment to Athens was about
her
,
I thought.

‘I have to go. I’m expecting an important e-mail
about the conference.’ I lied to Kate. She gave me a withering look
and just nodded.

‘Can’t you stay for the coffee? Please?’ Mick
pleaded. I knew he had a crush on me.

‘I’m sorry Mick. Rain check?’ I smiled as
charmingly as I could.

‘Sure.’ he compromised, without any effort to
hide his disappointment.

I dressed in a hurry. I had my back turned to
Christopher as I did that, but it was as if I could feel his blue
eyes penetrating my back and I could almost hear his chuckle.

On my way home, I had already regretted leaving
because I was not sure what had made me act in this silly way. Why
did that woman’s presence next to him bother me so much? He was
nothing to me.

Back in my apartment, I took a long shower and
concentrated on my paper. I wanted to be as well prepared as
possible before meeting him the next day. By the time I had
finished, my eyes were too heavy to stay awake. I barely had enough
strength to brush my teeth and take off my clothes before dropping
my self on the bed.

3.

ROMANCE

That’s
interesting!’

A familiar voice I could not exactly
identify woke me up. I opened my eyes unwillingly, to see that
Christopher was standing at my bedroom door, leaning his left
shoulder against the doorframe. He could not be there. I was
certain I was still dreaming.

His beautiful blue eyes were fixed on me, and
his teasing smile sent the sleep instantly away from my swollen
eyes. I drew the sheets up to my chest and sat up with a fast
move.

‘What…How did you get in here?’ I asked,
glowering at him. My initial confusion had started to give way to
fury and exasperation.

He used his hand to shade his eyes, as if he was
trying not to look at me, and walked towards my bed. He reached for
my T-shirt on the chair next to my bed and then came to sit next to
me. His hand was still ridiculously in front of his eyes.

‘Kate let me in. She had to rush and she told me
to knock on your door.’

‘I don’t believe it!’ I whispered to myself.
What was Kate thinking to let him in just like that? His face
turned more serious.

‘Actually, it was my fault. I told her you were
waiting for me. Sorry to let myself in like this, but I’ve been
knocking for more than ten minutes. I was… worried about you.’

‘Well, as you see, I’m fine. Quite embarrassed,
but fine.’ I said in a stiff voice. He took his hand from his eyes
and looked at me with his attractive, disarming smile brightening
his face.

‘Don’t worry. I am almost as embarrassed as you
are.’ he said, but I doubted that.

‘I guess you forgot about our meeting.’ he went
on as he stood up and walked to the door.

‘Damn it’! I cursed. I checked at the clock on
my bedside table. It was eleven thirty. How could I have
overslept?

‘I’ll make coffee.’ he chuckled, making for the
kitchen.

How many times can a woman make
a fool of herself in front of the same man and still hope he
fancies her?
I asked myself as I got up.

‘How can you live on these?’ Christopher
wondered with his head in the almost empty fridge. ‘Do you know
there’s nothing edible in here …besides those oysters?’ He took one
and smelled it before putting it back.

‘You don’t have to do it, you know.’ I said
coldly as I walked into the kitchen. I had put on a T-shirt and a
pair of loose shorts now. He turned, slightly irritated.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You don’t have to baby-sit me.’

I was sure he detected the cruelty in my voice
but he could not explain it. I could not either. Lack of caffeine
in combination with humiliation had turned me into a monster.

‘Is that what I’m doing?’

‘What else?’ I took a long sip of the frappe
coffee he had made for me.

‘Taking care of you is much better, I gather.’
he said.

I looked at him with a frown. ‘And why are you
taking care of me, Dr Auburn?’

He shrugged. ‘As I said, returning your father a
favor. Isn’t that enough?’

‘More than enough. You can tell Daugh next time
you see him, that I’m a big girl now. Big enough to take care of
myself.’

He closed the fridge door and came to sit on the
chair right across. He raised his hand to touch my chin and made me
look at him. Once again, his eyes were so capturing that kept me
breathless.

‘I prefer to think of you as a woman, not as a
girl.’ he said softly, making my heart beat fast.

‘Now drink your coffee. We have a lot to do and
it’s almost noon.’ He stood up and walked towards the cupboard.

‘I can manage on my own. You don’t have to
change your plans.’ I insisted.

‘I didn’t know I had other plans.’ he said
casually, discovering a box of chocolate biscuits in the cupboard.
He seemed to be enjoying my little attack now. He helped himself to
the biscuits.

‘Mmm, these are really good.’

‘I know. They’re my favorite.’ I said. He put
two of them next to my glass.

‘As for my plans, Suzan and I haven’t arranged
to do anything this morning. We’re meeting in the afternoon for a
swim. Too bad you left so early yesterday. I thought you might have
wanted me to introduce you to her.’ He scrutinized my face. I did
not say anything because I was sure the tone of my voice would
betray me. ‘She could be really helpful to you in the future, you
know.’ he added. I shut my eyes, annoyed. Daugh always talked this
way about “my future” and “useful people”.

‘Not another lecture on my future.’ I whispered,
talking to myself. He laughed, dropping his head back. His musical
laughter made him even more attractive.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know I’d hit a nerve.’

I stood up taking the glass of coffee with
me.

‘I’ll be ready in two minutes. Why don’t you
wait for me in the car?’ I said as mellow as I could. I turned my
back at him and walked to my room. Why was he here anyway? I was so
angry! I wanted to hit him, hit him hard until I made him feel as
hurt as I was feeling. Superficially, that is. Because that other
part of me was really enjoying his presence in my house, feeling
obscurely that this is exactly how it should be.

He stood up instantly. ‘Of course.’ he said
willingly and walked outside.

‘Still angry?’ he asked with the most angelic
smile on his face as soon as I got into his car.

‘No, I wasn’t angry. Just…surprised.’

‘Furiously surprised.’ he corrected me.

‘Never mind that. It’s over now. Mostly, it had
to do with me. I’m not used to oversleeping you know. Punctuality
is important to me.’

‘Typical British.’

‘Where do you come from?’

‘I’m half Swiss, half Canadian.’ he said coldly,
the broad smile suddenly leaving his face.

‘Suzan just called.’ he had featly changed the
subject again. ‘ She’s invited us to lunch. What do you say to
that?’

‘Suzan? You mean the gorgeous blonde who was
with you at the beach?’

‘Yeap.’

‘So, how come she’s invited me?’

‘She just wanted to meet you. Is that so
bad?’

I thought the real reason for Suzan’s prompt
invitation would be to set a boundary line between me and
Christopher or to check how dangerous a competitor I might be. She
would soon find out that the balance turned to her side.

‘So, are you coming?’

‘Sure.’ He cast me a surprised look.

‘We can go together after we’ve finished with
your presentation.’

‘She’s a beauty.’ I said, realizing too late
that I was expressing my thoughts loudly.

‘She most certainly is.’ he agreed. He gave me
another quick look.

‘How long have you known her?’ I asked in a
fake-conversational manner, looking out of the window.

‘Just a few years.’ I was sure by his tone he
was not going to be more explicit.

But then he went on. ‘We’re just friends you
know, besides being colleagues of course.’

I smiled, shaking my head in disbelief.

‘What’s this all about?’ he frowned.

‘Come on. How can you be just friends?’ I teased
him bitterly.

‘It’s true Emma.’ His voice had suddenly
changed, becoming softer but his tone was stern, as if stating an
established fact.

‘Look Christopher, I’m really sorry. I don’t
even know why we’re having this conversation. You don’t have to
explain yourself to me.’

‘I know. But…it just feels the right thing to
do.’ he whispered.

He was right. I had only known him for three
days, and here I was, questioning his personal life. It would sound
ridiculously outrageous to anybody else. But with him, it was
different because I felt like I had known this man for a long
time.

It was as if we had been together in some other
life, if I believed in reincarnation, which of course wasn’t the
case. Judging by his last words, this feeling had to be mutual. If
he was feeling the same, he must have identified the strange bond
between us. Physical attraction was a big part of this bond, but I
wondered what else was lying at its root.

We were already outside the University Main
Building. He parked the car at the lot and walked up the marble
stairs, next to me. The reception desk was empty as well as the two
corridors. He walked towards the lift and pushed the button.

I suddenly realized that we would be all alone
inside the small cubicle and panicked. I did not have time to think
of an excuse to avoid this, because the lift door opened
instantly.

Once we were inside, I held my briefcase tightly
in front of my chest, trying to hide its fast movement, as I was
afraid it’d jog due to the fast beating of my heart.

He stood right across, leaning against the
lift wall. I knew he had his eyes on me, but I tried to focus on
the floor number indication on my right. Could this lift be any
slower?
I should have gone for the
stairs
, I thought.

When I was about to gasp for air, the lift door
opened again.

‘I wouldn’t think you’re claustrophobic.’ he
remarked.

‘I’m not. It’s probably the heat.’ I was hoping
I had sounded convincing enough.

He walked into the office and turned on the
air-conditioner immediately.

‘Why don’t you sit down?’ he pulled Harry’s
chair for me.

Then he came to sit right next to me. Were we
going to be sitting so close? I was terrified. I was sure he would
soon discover the reason for my nervousness and I would not be able
to fabricate an excuse this time.

He turned on the computer in front of me and I
took the Cd out of my briefcase, with slow, careful movements. The
damn Cd case would not open. My hands started to shake and I wished
he hadn’t noticed.