The Birth Of Eve (5 page)

Nathan spent the rest of the day listening as Eve poured out
her fears and theories about her mother. She also wanted his opinion on her
gymnasium idea. The police had removed the tape from her garage now so she was
free to do whatever she wanted with it. Tara was due home any minute so when
someone knocked at the door she assumed her friend had forgotten her keys.
Standing on the step was Michael;

“Come in Michael, I am sorry I left so abruptly. I guess the
police have been so you know about Leila now?” Michael stepped inside, he
looked visibly shaken, and he followed her into the front room stopping
abruptly when he noticed Nathan.

“Michael this is Nathan Matheson, he is an actor and very
good friend of mine.” The two men appraised each other and Eve noticed tension wafting
from both of them. Michael sat on the opposite sofa to the couple and there was
an awkward silence.

“Michael I am sorry you had to hear about my mum from the
police, I told them you had visited Ian around the time she was killed” He
nodded sadly

“I kept wondering after they left, whether she was dead
already or my turning up is what caused him to lose it.” Eve shook her head

“We can’t possibly know exactly when she died, don’t torment
yourself.” Nathan was really on edge; and Eve was worried Michael would feel
unwelcome. If this man could possibly be her dad she wanted a chance to get to
know him. Freud wandered in from the kitchen; Michael bent down to stroke him.
Freud hissed and arched his back wandering straight to Nathan to jump on his
lap for a cuddle. Nathan raised his eyebrows at Michael; Eve knew he was
scoring a point.

“I am so sorry to have upset you this afternoon Eve; I do think
there is a large chance that you are my daughter, would you object to a DNA
test? They are straightforward now a hair sample would do it” Eve nodded; she
didn’t dare hope it could be true so a test would at least diminish any doubts.
Tara walked in at that moment looking totally shocked by our visitors. Nathan
stood to greet her still holding the kitten which made Tara warm to him
immediately.

“Nathan hello I am so pleased to finally meet you,” she
turned round to the other sofa “So who is our other visitor?” Tara’s obsession
with theology drew her attention to Michaels attire instantly, Eve noticed her
blush slightly.

“Tara this is Father Michael, he is currently posted at our
local church, after spending most of the past twenty years doing missionary
work in Africa.” Tara was suitably impressed, the two of them began discussing
his work in Africa and Eve took the opportunity to drag Nathan to the kitchen
to put the kettle on.

“Nathan I know you are protective of me but stop being so
hostile to him. He could end up being my father so behave” Nathan drew her into
him; she relaxed against him as he stared down into her eyes. Lost for a moment
she forgot she was meant to be admonishing him, and then he kissed her and her
mind went blank.

“Nathan behave” she gasped as she pulled away “You can’t
distract me you know, what is your issue with him?” his face became serious all
of a sudden

“I saw how upset he made you, naturally I’m wary, and also
there is something about him that feels off. Listen before you go off at me, I
am concerned for you that is all, once you have the test done it will be a
different story. He looks at you strangely, not the way I would expect, I can’t
explain sorry. Maybe it is the fact he interrupted my alone time with you that
annoyed me” Eve smiled touched by his words, she allowed him to kiss her until
the kettle boiled.

When they carried the drinks through; Tara and Michael were
deep in conversation, they had a lot in common despite the twentyish year age
gap. Michael drank his tea then excused himself and stood ready to leave. Eve
walked him to the gate; he turned to clasp her by the shoulders.

“I will be back with a test kit Eve; we will get an answer
and then see where we can go from there. I will pray for the right answer the
fact she called you Eve should be a sign. The lords first creation, a message
from her don’t you think?” Eve wasn’t sure what he was meaning but nodded
anyway. She watched him walk away accepting she too had misgivings about him,
maybe his religious lifestyle was the thing that unsettled her. Eve had never
known a man of the cloth or anyone with a strong faith, so she put it down to
that.

Nathan left an hour later; promising to phone every day from
London. She was sad to see him go, he was certainly surprising her more and
more. The next time he would see her would be the premier, which was a couple
of weeks away. Time was going to drag so she made it her goal to get Tony back
to finish the garage.

A week later they had sent away the DNA test kits, now all
they could do was wait. Michael became a regular visitor; Tara had really taken
to him; she had been visiting him after work to discuss Dante’ as her class
were currently on that module of their course. Tara came home every night full
of it; she had finally found a like-minded person to pour out her love of
theology and philosophy to.

Michael spent most of that following weekend with the girls,
Eve was still a little tentative with him, and part of her didn’t want to let
him too close. Rejection was something she couldn’t risk again, and he still
raved about his work in Africa. It would only be a matter of time before he
deserted her especially if the test was negative. Michael was smitten with the
two girls and was keen on spending as much time with them as possible. They had
arranged a small funeral for Leila which would be next week. There was no one
to invite, Eve had written to the Australian address she had found of her
grandparents but had no response. Michael had offered to give her a hand in the
garage the next day, clearing out the tools before Tony started working in there
on Monday.

Saturday morning the girls put their scruffs on and Michael
arrived at eleven. He looked very different in normal clothes, he was tall
well-built and quite handsome. There were boxes of tools; Eve recalled that her
father was always fixing, hammering or building things. He had some very
expensive items which Eve decided she would keep for her own DIY. Perhaps she
could do a course or something to make her handier. Covered in cobwebs and dust
Eve picked up a large claw hammer, before she knew what was happening Michael had
grabbed it from her;

“Eve, don’t touch that! Look at the claw” Eve stared stunned
at the sharp metal edges and noticed some hairs crusted on the end. Her throat
constricted, this could be the murder weapon

“Oh no we have both put our finger prints on it, they won’t
be able to lift any now” Michael seemed far too cool about the whole thing.

“Ian’s fingerprints would have worn off by now anyway, if they
can match the hairs with Leila’s at least will confirm whether it is the murder
weapon or not.” Eve sort of agreed but was still cross he had snatched it from
her and contaminated the handle. She rang Detective Newton and fetched a
carrier bag to put it in. An hour later it had been taken away, the forensics
officer was also unimpressed they had been sloppy with the handling. He took
their prints anyway to eliminate them in case any others were found. The rest
of the day passed by uneventfully, Michael stayed until quite late, Eve loved
having him around and by the looks of it so did Tara.

“I am just going back to Michael’s with him to borrow a
book, I won’t be long” Eve was unhappy at the bond growing between them, she
knew Tara too well. It was obvious Michael would not entertain a relationship
with her, but Eve could already see an attachment forming on her friend’s side.
This may be something she should talk to Michael about if it started to get too
intense.

The morning of the funeral arrived, as did a letter from the
hospital. Eve stared down at it knowing Michael was probably doing the same
thing. Slipping into her all-purpose black dress, hair tied back she grabbed
the envelope and headed to the church. Father Michael was waiting to greet her
at the steps of the enormous arched doors. He was also holding his letter,

“Did you get your letter? I decided to wait for you so we
could find out the results together.” Eve got hers out from her bag and she
slid her finger along the edge and slid out the letter. Michael closed his eyes
and waited; Eve read the words over and over allowing them to sink in. Michael
grabbed her wrist unable to wait any longer

“Tell me please I can’t bear it” Eve looked up at him tears
in her eyes, he could see the answer written on her face; smiling he pulled her
into an awkward embrace.

“Welcome home daughter” they stayed like that for a while
until the funeral directors arrived with her mother’s coffin. Drying her face
they held hands and walked behind the coffin containing the remains of Leila,
up the aisle to the pulpit.

 Only Eve and Michael were present, Eve had arranged for her
mother’s rosary and a family photo to be buried with her. Paying for the
funeral had wiped had some out of Ian’s remaining savings but after killing her
it was the least he could do. Eve sat whilst Michael spoke a little on her
behalf he paused mid-sentence and a look of resentment came over his face. Eve
turned and saw Nathan walking down the aisle towards her, he had come to
support her. Her heart soared but she looked anxiously at the two men; hoping
they would not spoil what was supposed to be a memorable goodbye for her
mother.

Nathan nodded to Michael and sat beside Eve taking her hand
she beamed gratefully at him. They sat through the rest of the prayers, Michael
seemed put out he was there. Eve felt he was becoming a little possessive of
her it would only get worse now their relationship had been confirmed. But in a
way that made her feel more cherished. She felt emotional today, but not about
Leila’s murder but about the fact she had never been told her who her father
was. She had spent sixteen years feeling abandoned; she could have been with her
father who would have loved her. Pushing her resentments away she followed the
casket to the graveside. The three of them threw rose petals onto her as she
was lowered into the ground.

“Rest in peace now mum” Eve thought and felt good that she
was finally at peace. They wandered up to the pub for a drink, Tara arrived
thankfully so distracted Michael from giving Nathan evil glances. Eve took Nathan
to one side to tell him about the test results.

“Thank you for coming Nathan I really appreciate it. I have
something to tell you, we had our DNA results today Michael is my father. Can
you deal with that? I know you are wary of him” He shook his head

“I am happy for you Eve and what makes you happy is good for
me. I promise to be on my best behaviour, I have a night off the stage tonight,
and if you want me to stay over in the spare room I can” She smiled leaning
upwards to kiss him

“Yes please” he stared down at her longing to hold her and
worship her but he knew the time had to be right and it wasn’t now. Tara came
over to warn them she had seen someone snap a picture of them together. Eve
panicked she wasn’t ready to be plastered all over the papers just yet.

“Let me go and stop them” offered Michael and before she
could answer he took off with Tara to catch the photographer. After twenty
minutes they returned Tara looked pale, Michael defiant.

“You didn’t need to scare the poor woman she was just a fan”
he looked at her to hush her up and she fell silent. Eve looked from one to the
other waiting for an explanation, Tara kept silent. Her father spoke up to defend
himself.

“I only pointed out the error of her ways, we watched her
delete the snap and I personally checked her phone so you can rest easy your
picture will not make tomorrows paper” Eve smiled uncertainly, whatever method
he had used had not been approved of by her friend.

“Tara, is that what happened?” she looked up to speak but
caught Michaels glare and then her face looked resigned

“Yes he just stressed to her it may not be the wisest thing
to do, so she deleted it end of story now can I get a drink in peace please”
Tara marched off with Michael frowning after her. Nathan was studying the
exchange too and after Michael followed Tara to the bar, he faced her;

“Eve don’t try and tell me that wasn’t weird, he was
definitely scaring her into being quiet then. She was white as a sheet when
they walked through the door” Eve brushed it off, she had just found her father
and she wasn’t about to think badly of him without evidence. Instead of arguing
with him however she said her goodbyes to Michael and Tara; took Nathan’s hand
and led him back home. Nathan looked at her curiously as she dragged him
straight upstairs

“Don’t get any ideas Romeo; I just want you to hold me for a
while. Just you and me, no father no Tara, just us, oh and by the looks of it
the cat as well” She giggled as Nathan carefully lifted Freud off her pillow
and placed him gently on the floor. She removed her shoes and crawled onto the
bed into Nathan’s waiting arms.

 They spent a long time lying on her bed talking; kissing
and holding each other. Eve knew she was pushing the boundaries here, he was
struggling to maintain a control and frankly so was she. As his hand slid
gently under her dress they heard the door bang downstairs. Sitting up abruptly
Nathan grinned at her.

“Thank God a libido killer, woman you will be my undoing,
this is so not how I normally behave with a beautiful woman. Do you know since
meeting you I have not been affected by any other female?” Eve grinned
sheepishly at him, she really wanted to offer herself on a plate but after Rory
she was still holding herself back. Next weekend was the premier in London;
perhaps it would all fall into place then.