Patently in Love (8 page)

"Of course, she's a lot older than that now."

The family resemblance was unmistakable. "Are those your parents?"

"Yes," said Marsh. "That was taken in my second year at uni. It was about a year
before the accident."

"Accident?"

"They...they died. In a car accident. When I was twenty-one. Stevie was only
thirteen then, so I became her legal guardian." He was still looking at the photo.

She tried to imagine what it must have been like to simultaneously lose your parents
and suddenly be in charge of a child at the same time. "Wow. That must have been..." She
couldn't think of a word that covered the situation. "That's tough,"

He looked back at his plate. "We managed. Stevie's a great kid. She looked after me
about as much as I looked after her." He turned his attention back to her. "Enough about me,"
he said. "How about you? How are you getting on at Ramsdean and Tooze?"

"Okay, I think," said Jane, and paused. "Is everyone obsessed with rank?"

"Oh yes," Marsh said with a completely straight face. "You have to introduce
yourself stating where you fit in the company hierarchy. I tried not to for a while, but people
kept asking me if I was a trainee." He shrugged. "It's silly, I know. But you're in that
atmosphere for so long every week, that you start to think it's normal."

"You seem to be able to distance yourself, though." Jane sipped her wine.

"I used to be more immersed," he said. "I've had to teach myself to step back every so
often since..." He looked embarrassed. "I...er...had an intra-office relationship that went a bit
wrong. It gave me a crash course in perspective."

"I heard about that."

"I thought you might have done. The gossip network at R and T is pretty
comprehensive," he said, sounding a little apologetic. "Good old Dominique. Gone, but never
quite forgotten."

Jane swirled her wine. She hadn't talked about Ashby to anyone other than her
mother and Polly. She hadn't been ready. Somehow the idea of telling Marshall, who had been
cheated on himself, seemed easier to contemplate. She avoided looking at him. "I know what
it feels like to have your partner cheat on you", she said. "I caught my ex in bed with another
woman." It felt strange saying it out loud. She waited for the pain to hit.

"You actually saw them? Ouch. That must have been nasty."

For a moment, she'd thought the hurt had gone away, but there it was. Gnawing away
at her. Briefly she considered telling Marshall about how much it had hurt to walk in and find
Ashby and the stick insect busy on her nice clean sheets. But then, perhaps he knew? The
stick insect had given a fairly frank interview about the whole thing. So maybe everyone
knew. Did he ever flick through his sister's magazines? If he did, might he connect her with
Triphoppers? As she paused for too long, she could see Marsh starting to look worried.

"Yeah. It was pretty nasty. But I'm over it now." Then, feeling a little honesty was
required, she added, "I think."

Marsh gave her a sympathetic smile. "It takes a while."

"It makes you feel really stupid, doesn't it? You wonder what else was going on that
you didn't see."

"And if the whole world knew and it was only you who didn't see it."

Jane wondered if he knew just how close that was to her own thoughts. "Yes. And
you wonder how you could have been that bad a judge of character."

They both looked down at their drinks.

"Well, I guess that's something we have in common then." The dimple appeared
briefly in his cheek.

Jane felt the sudden urge to touch it.

He raised his glass "To cheating partners. Good riddance."

Jane had to laugh. "Good riddance. We're better off without them."

Marsh laughed too as he lowered his glass.

She wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

Suddenly the phone rang. Jane jumped. Was Polly checking up on her?

Marsh looked at the number and slipped off the stool, mouthing "excuse me". He
retreated to the other side of the kitchen, still within earshot, but giving the illusion of
privacy.

"Yes?" He sounded slightly annoyed. He listened for a moment. "That's okay. Don't
worry about it."

He listened some more. His face softened. "You too. Listen, I've got to go. I've got
someone visiting."

He shot a quick glance at Jane. "Yes."

There was some babble of the other end. He rolled his eyes. "I'll email you tomorrow.
Bye." He hung up, smiling. "My sister," he said, by way of explanation.

Jane glanced at her watch. It was eleven-thirty and she had to be at work tomorrow.
She hesitated, not wanting to bring the evening to an end.

Marsh noticed her checking her watch. "I guess we should think about getting you
home."

"I still have my Oyster card. It was in my pocket."

"Oh no, I can't let you take the tube at this time of night. Especially after all that's
happened to you this evening." He reached for the phone. "I'll call you a taxi."

Jane opened her mouth to protest. Apart from anything else, she had no money on
her.

"I'll pay," he said, as though he'd read her mind. "I insist."

Once Marsh had ordered the taxi, he opened one of the curtains. "Do you mind if I
turn some of the lights out, so that we can see the taxi when it turns up?"

When she shrugged, he turned the dining area lights off and they stood side by side,
watching the road below. They chatted about work and London, but Jane could barely
concentrate on what she was saying. She was hyper aware of him standing next to her.

He felt so big and warm and safe. She wanted nothing more than to close the small
gap between them. His chest was so close she would only have to move a tiny bit to rest her
head against it and hear his heart. Just when the temptation was getting unbearable, a taxi
turned into the road.

"There it is," said Marsh, his voice sounding strained. "We'd best get out there before
he beeps and wakes Mrs. Watkins on the ground floor."

As he helped her into her coat, Jane said, "I never got to say thank you."

"I didn't do much."

"No, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come along. And
dinner...was lovely too." She raised up on her tip toes and, with her heart hammering in her
ears, she kissed him on the cheek, just next to the dimple.

Marsh froze.

For a moment they stood there, their faces millimetres from each other. Jane forgot to
breathe. The world seemed to stop still. Suddenly there was a beep from outside.

Marsh looked into her eyes. He placed a light kiss on her cheek. "No funny business,"
he whispered, his breath warm on her skin. "I promised."

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: Marshall
Winfield
What
happened? What happened? What happened?? I hope I didn't interrupt when I
phoned last night.

##

From: Marshall Winfield

To: Stevie
Winfield
No, you didn't
interrupt anything. We were just talking.
What happened? Well, it's a long
story.
I was leaving the office to run home and I heard a scream. So
naturally, I ran to see if I could help. There was a woman being mugged by
two men. I shouted and ran towards them. They pushed her to the ground and
ran away.
It turned out the woman was Jane. God knows why she decided
to use the shortcut at night. You'd think she'd know better. She's from
Manchester!
Anyhow, she was all shaken up. I offered to take her home,
but she didn't want to go there. So, I took her to the flat, gave her a cup of tea
and some pasta. We were just chatting about stuff and you rang.
That's
all.
Marsh

##

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: Marshall
Winfield
What do you
mean 'that's all'? Didn't you snog her?

##

From: Marshall Winfield

To: Stevie
Winfield
No I didn't snog
her. I wanted to. But I didn't. It didn't seem right to take advantage when she
was all shaken up. That would make me a total shark, wouldn't it?
Besides,
when I invited her back to the flat, I promised no funny business.
M

##

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: Marshall
Winfield
What did you
do that for--you idiot.
God, no wonder none of your relationships last more
than a month -apart from Dominique the bitch. It's this gallant crap you insist
on pulling.

##

From: Marshall Winfield

To: Stevie
Winfield
And there was me
thinking it was because I lived with my little sister. Silly me.

##

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: Marshall
Winfield
Okay, even if
that was the problem, you have no excuse for the last year when I've been
away at uni?

##

From: Marshall Winfield

To: Stevie
Winfield
Apart from the
whole Dominique thing? If we exclude that, I have no excuse. I hang my head
with shame.

##

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: Marshall
Winfield
Wait a minute.
A self deprecating joke??
You like her!! You really REALLY like this
girl!
Which means you are a super big GIANT idiot for not kissing her.
What am I going to do with you?
I hope you're at least going to ask her out
today. So that you can snog her without feeling like you're taking
advantage.

##

From: Marshall Winfield

To: Stevie
Winfield
I'd like to ask her
out, but you know how badly things can go wrong when I date people from
work.
We work in the same team, which means we wouldn't be able to
avoid each other. At least with Dominique, she was at the other end of the
office.
Also, I'm trying to make partner, remember. I've already had one
warning about office relationships once--cue Dominique again. I can't risk
another.
Besides, Jane's just come out of a bad relationship. I think she still
feels a bit fragile about it. It's probably not a great idea for me to land her with
another one.

##

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: Marshall
Winfield
Fine. Fine.
Whatever.
But you DO like her, don't you?

##

From: Marshall Winfield

To: Stevie
Winfield
She's pretty. She's
clever, She's nice. She's interesting. And I feel totally at ease when I'm talking
to her.
So yes, I like her. But she's still a work colleague, so I can't ask her
out.
Sorry to disappoint you.
Marsh--boring old fart.
PS: Of
course, all this makes it very distracting work with her.

##

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: James Edwards

Cc: Louise Edwards

Jim
I think Marsh is in love
with this Jane girl. But he's refusing to ask her out because they work together.
Can you talk some sense into him?
I'm CC 'ing Lou in case she has any
good ideas about it.
Stevie

##

From: Stevie
Winfield
To: James Edwards

One other question Jim.
What's Jane's last name?
Stevie

* * * *

Jane yawned and switched her computer on. It had been a long night and she was still
shattered. It had taken a lot of effort to drag herself into work on time.

Ruth's head appeared above the partition. "Late night?"

"Eventful. I had my purse nicked."

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

Jane decided not to tell the whole story about her and Marsh. "Yes, I'm okay. Just a
bit pissed off. I had to buy a new phone and a new handbag to put it in on the way into work.
It's a real pain."

"If you need to borrow a bit of money to tide you over..." she said.

"That's really kind of you," said Jane. "But I think I'll be okay."

"Well, the offer's there." Ruth sat back down.

"Thanks." Jane opened up her email.

* * * *

From: Polly
To:
Jane Porter
We heard you
sneaking in during the small hours last night. So? What happened? I want
details.
Pol

##

From: Jane Porter
To:
Polly
Nothing much happened. I told
you he rescued me from the muggers. After that, we went to his flat.
He
made me tea and got me to phone the police. Then he cooked me dinner. He
made pasta sauce from scratch, Pol. He just got the ingredients out and cooked.
No fuss. And it was delicious. I didn't know men could cook like that. Ash's
idea of cooking me dinner was to make me a tuna sandwich!
Marsh was a
total gent the whole time. We talked.
He's so NICE. And so grown
up--especially after Ashby and his mates! Apparently, Marsh's parents died when
he was 21 and his sister was 13. So he's had to look after his sister all that time.
She's at uni now. She lives in the flat with him during the holidays.
I found
out he was single, by the way. He's had a disastrous relationship fairly recently
and has been single ever since. (:-)?
Jane

##

From: Polly
To: Jane Porter

So, did you pull? Are you
going to see each other again?

##

From: Jane Porter
To:
Polly
No, didn't pull. I thought for a
moment that he was going to kiss me... but then he didn't--well, he kissed me
on the cheek, but I don't think that really counts. He did promise that he
wouldn't try anything when he first invited me to his flat. I guess he was
keeping his word.
Of course, now all I can think about it what it would
have been like if he DID actually kiss me.
I have a huge pile of work to do,
but I can't concentrate. Aaargh!

##

From: Polly
To: Jane Porter

Hang on, hang on. He's
good looking, he's charming, he can cook, he's single. He lives with his sister.
AND HE DIDN'T MAKE A MOVE ON YOU.
Are you sure he's not
gay?

##

From: Jane Porter
To:
Polly
NO. At least, I'm pretty sure he's
not. His last relationship was with a woman in the office...
And he isn't
camp.

##

From: Polly
To: Jane Porter

Not all gay men are camp,
you know.
There's one sure way to tell. Does he fold his clothes up neatly,
or just throw them on the floor?
Pol

##

From: Jane Porter
To:
Polly
If I knew the answer to that, we
wouldn't be having this conversation.
I have a plan. I'm going to ask him
out for dinner. To say thank you.