Heller's Girlfriend (15 page)

“Badly, very badly. Sick all day
yesterday. I swear I’m never drinking again. You?”

“Same, though probably not as
bad as you. You were really getting stuck into the grog.”

“Were you impressed?”

“Oh, for sure,” he said
sarcastically. “The ability to drink massive quantities of alcohol
is very high on my list of desirable qualities in a woman.”

“I knew it!” I joked.

“Were you trying to impress
me?”

“Nah, I’m just naturally
impressive.”

He laughed. “I seem to have lost
the scrap of paper that I wrote the email address on that you gave
me. Could you tell me it again so I can send Heller my CV?”

I tutted. “How careless of you.
I think you might have been slightly inebriated the other night, Mr
Barnes.”

“I believe that may be a fair
statement, Ms Chalmers. I’m lucky I didn’t lose my wallet too. It
was hanging out of my pocket when I took off my pants that
night.”

“Ooh, tell me more.”

“Naughty girl!”

“That’s what all the men tell
me.” I gave him the
Heller’s
general email address again.
“Have you written it down on something more permanent this
time?”

“Yes, mum.”

“We still have to go to the
police station. Do you want to go together?”

“Need someone to hold your
hand?”

“No! I just thought . . .”

“You just want to see me
again.”

“Mind reader!”

“I’ll meet you out the front of
the station at about four this afternoon. Does that suit?”

“Thanks, Bick.”

“I gotta go, Tilly. My boss is
right on my arse lately, especially as my last client was
inconveniently murdered before he was able to pay the bill. As if
that’s my fault! He’s such a bastard. I can’t wait to leave.”

“Okay Bick, see you this
afternoon. Bye.”

I hung up to find Heller
standing next to my desk. How long had he been there and how much
had he heard of my conversation? I didn’t know. I didn’t care.

“Yes?” I asked curtly, still
annoyed about yesterday.

“Do you want to talk about what
happened with Mrs Warburton?”

“No. You can read about it in my
report. I let her down. End of story.”

“It’s not your fault, Matilda.
She made her own decision. She’s an adult.”

I shrugged. “I should have
stopped her from going with him. We all knew he was violent.”

“And she knew it more than
anyone. It’s not your fault.”

“I don’t want to talk about it
any more. I’m going to the police station this afternoon to give my
statement.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“No, I’ll get someone else to.”
Then I remembered about the weekend. “And I want to spend Saturday
night with Dixie. I need a girly weekend, especially after all this
crap. I’m going to take her to the Royale.”

“Okay, I think you need to let
off some steam,” he agreed. I looked up at him suspiciously. He
never agreed to let me do anything without a fight. His face was
blank. I busied myself at my desk giving him a huge hint to go
away, but he didn’t. He stood there, a poignant expression on his
face. “We don’t talk much any more, Matilda.”

“You’re never here any
more.”

“Oh, we’re back to Vanessa, are
we?”

I rolled my eyes and gave an
overly dramatic sigh. “
You’re
back to Vanessa.
I’m
merely stating a fact.”

“Maybe you should meet her. Then
you mightn’t feel so insecure.”

“I’m not insecure!” I shouted,
standing up so quickly and pushing back my chair so violently that
it fell over, clattering to the floor. Daniel and Niq looked over
with alarm on their faces. It was a peaceful office and there was
rarely any commotion. So I didn’t tell Heller to piss off like I
wanted to, but forced a smile on my face, unclenched my fists, and
bent over to pick up my chair.

“Oops! Clumsy me,” I joked, in
the fakest voice I’d ever heard me produce since I played a Chinese
gold miner in a play about the Eureka Stockade at primary school. I
sat down again. “Sure, I’d love to meet Vanessa,” I told Heller in
a bright voice, a dazzling smile plastered on my face. “Why don’t
you invite her over for dinner one night? Maybe we could swap
custard recipes. That would be just peachy.”

He stared at me in confusion,
obviously receiving very mixed messages from my voice and body
language, and walked back to his office without saying another
word. I worked hard writing my report on the Warburton assignment.
It was quite an emotional experience and I tried to be hard-nosed
about it, but I felt deeply depressed writing it and it took me all
day. When I looked up at the clock, I suddenly realised that it was
three-fifteen and I was going to be late to meet Bick if I didn’t
move my butt soon.

I shut down my computer, ignored
Heller’s stare from his office, ran upstairs to grab my handbag. I
bravely decided to drive myself, even though I knew parking was
going to be a bitch at this time on a Friday afternoon. I ran down
the stairs, snatched up the keys to my favourite little car, black
of course, which Heller’s insurance had recently replaced for me
after my first car was totalled in that accident.

I’d barely driven it since
Heller had taken me to pick it up at the car dealer. As I sat in
the driver’s seat, gripping the steering wheel, all those familiar
feelings of fear rushed at me again. I’d thought for a long time
that I’d been fully responsible for the accident, losing control at
high speed, nearly killing Niq and myself, and it was those
emotions that always swamped me when I tried to drive again.

Harden up, Tilly
, I told
myself sternly, looking at myself in the rear view mirror and
wiping away the light sheen of sweat that had appeared on my upper
lip.
You weren’t responsible and you can’t go through life
afraid to drive. Otherwise Kirnin has won.
That helped because
I hated the thought of that man winning.

Taking a deep breath, I started
the car and levered it into gear, slowly reversing it out of the
parking spot. By myself, I drove slowly and cautiously, checking my
mirrors with a frequency that bordered on obsessive, annoying other
motorists with my refusal to drive anywhere near the speed limit.
There’s no one following you
, I chided myself as my eyes
flicked to the mirror again. But my heart still pounded
unreasonably the entire trip every time another car tailgated me,
which in this city was constantly.

I failed to find a street park,
so made my way to one of the exorbitantly expensive parking
stations, as close to the police station as possible. Walking
quickly, I made it just on the dot of four. Bick waited for me,
leaning against a wall near the entrance looking ridiculously cute,
dressed in blue jeans and a tight-fitting dark blue t-shirt that
accentuated his muscular chest and arms. Yum!

I have a boyfriend, I have a
boyfriend, I have a boyfriend
, I chanted to myself in a chaste
mantra as I approached him. I wished that I’d worn something more
glamorous than the runners, jeans, t-shirt and ponytail that I’d
donned that morning in anticipation of a casual day at work. Damn!
He noticed me approaching and his whole face lit up.

“Hi there, Tilly.”

“Hey Bick. You ready?”

“Sure. Let’s get this over and
done with.”

We entered the station and asked
for Brian, taking a seat and waiting patiently until he was able to
see us. He interviewed us separately, recording our statements and
we waited again until they were transcribed and we signed them.
Then we were free to go. I gave Brian a peck on the cheek goodbye
to his embarrassment and told him I missed my two little nieces who
I hadn’t seen for a while. He promised to invite me over for dinner
soon.
Sure
, I thought to myself,
when hell freezes
over
. His wife and I weren’t exactly best buddies.

Bick and I found ourselves out
on the street.

“So, it’s Friday night. You want
to do something?” he asked shyly.

“I’d love to Bick, but I have
other plans for the evening.” And I really wished that I could
invite him home to share dinner with Daniel, Niq and me.
Damn
Heller and his paranoia about strangers. Maybe it was time to think
about moving out of the Warehouse so I could have a normal life
again?
Bick seemed so disappointed that my heart cracked a
little, but in a competition between him and Daniel and Niq, I was
afraid that he didn’t stand a chance.

“Of course you have. Hope you
have a great evening and don’t forget about me, okay?”

“I won’t, I promise. Hopefully
we might be workmates soon anyway.” He grinned. “Do you have a lift
home? I have a car tonight.”

“Thanks, Tilly. That would save
me a long walk.”

We strolled together to the
parking station and I dropped him at his apartment block, before
heading back home. On the way I realised that we’d been so busy
chatting and laughing that I hadn’t even felt slightly nervous
driving him around.
Progress!
I silently cheered myself. I
rang Heller to tell him, but my call was diverted. Again. My
spirits drooping a little, I left a message about my milestone on
his voicemail, thinking sadly as I hung up that he always used to
answer the phone when I called before
she
came into his
life.

That evening, I rounded up the
guys and coerced them into hard labour in my kitchen to produce a
simple feast for us. I made them wash up as well while I lounged
around with a glass of wine, watching TV. The final indignation for
them for the night was when I inserted the latest chick flick into
my DVD player, flatly refusing to view their suggested horror
movie. They complained loudly, but I noticed that they both watched
the movie avidly, Niq clutching a cushion to his chest, his big
pale blue eyes even wider than normal. We then watched the latest
dumb Hollywood comedy, Daniel and I giggling uncontrollably,
holding each other, having consumed two bottles of wine between us.
Niq was left unimpressed, both with the movie and Daniel’s and my
silly banter. When that finished I chased them from my flat and
collapsed on my bed, falling asleep instantly.

Chapter 11

When I woke up, I realised that
it was Saturday! I was excited beyond belief at the thought of
spending some quality time with Dixie. We always had loads of fun
together and that was something that seemed to have been in short
supply in my life lately. I virtuously spent the morning tidying my
flat and restocking my small pantry with the lovely fresh food that
Heller so generously supplied. As I picked over the produce in the
sixth floor pantry, deciding what I needed, I thought about Heller.
He hadn’t rung me back after I’d left that voicemail for him.
Suddenly my excitement about the weekend with Dixie waned and it
was only sheer determination that pushed it back up to an
acceptable level.

Finally it was time to leave the
Warehouse, and for once I was glad to go. I said goodbye to the
guys, but Heller was nowhere to be found. I doggedly drove all
thoughts of him from my mind and grabbed my little overnight bag,
jogging down the stairs to my car. Feeling even more confident than
I had yesterday, I jumped in and drove to Dixie’s place. This time
I almost reached the speed limit as I drove, the recipient of only
four flip-offs instead of the fourteen I’d received yesterday.

Dixie was waiting on the curb
for me and hopped into the car enthusiastically, full of high
spirits, singing along loudly to the stereo all the way to the
hotel. Her good mood instantly lifted mine and I determined once
more not to think about Heller at all during our fun weekend
together.

“I couldn’t wait to get away
from Jon and Don,” she admitted. “It’s getting too weird even for
me.
Ugh!
”

“Dix,” I remonstrated. “You
gotta find somewhere new to crash. Let them live happily ever after
together and move on.”

“But they pay so much of the
rent. I can’t afford anywhere else,” she complained. I thought
briefly about Bick struggling with his huge mortgage and Dixie
struggling with her huge rent, but didn’t know if I should
introduce them to each other. Dixie was so worldly and Bick seemed
so sweet. Could I do that to him? Could I do that to her? Would
they like each other? Would they like each other too much? I just
didn’t know.
I’ll think about it later
, I decided.

We pulled up at the hotel and a
cute valet rushed forward to service us. It was a nice feeling to
be waited on like that. I gave him an extra special smile,
thrusting a twenty into his hands, moving Dixie on when she started
to chat him up. I didn’t care how much I spent this weekend. It
still wouldn’t make me feel better about Patricia.
Or
Heller
, whispered an annoying little part of my brain.
Get
lost!
I whispered back to it.

I strode to reception and booked
us in. I took the swipe card and Dixie and I smiled at each other.
It had been a long time since we’d let our hair down together and I
certainly intended to make the most of every second. We decorously
raced each other to the lift. Once inside, she tried to grab the
swipe card off me, but my dexterity and strength had improved
manifold since I’d joined the
Heller’s
team and she had no
chance – that and the fact that I was much taller than her.
Maintaining control of the card meant that I entered the room
first, the coveted position, and according to our own rules that
meant I chose which bed I wanted before her.

We spent the next half hour
oohing
and
aahing
over every luxury – bouncing on the
beds, testing out the bidet, smelling the bath products, liberally
tasting the free champagne and chocolates, wearing the bath robes
over our clothes and checking out every channel on the TV, even the
adult ones. Dixie flung herself back on her bed. I did the
same.