What Happens at the Beach... (31 page)

‘Of course, Natalie. Here, let's drink to our next meeting hopefully being on the other side of the Atlantic. I'll be waiting eagerly for your reply on Thursday.' He held out his bottle of beer and clinked it against hers. ‘Here's hoping you say yes.'

When Natalie met up with Mark again, he had released Barney from the car and the dog was lying in the shade underneath the table. When he saw her, he leapt to his feet to greet her, tail wagging happily. She looked down at him, suddenly saddened, after the euphoria of being offered the job, at the thought of losing him from her life if she were to move to Canada. Mark looked up and saw the expression on her face. Misinterpreting it, he reached out his hand and touched her arm sympathetically. ‘Let me guess. It was an internal stitch-up. They were obliged to advertise the job, but they'd already got their own candidate lined up for the position? But, never mind, you've already got the Carcassonne job in the bag and there's still Cambridge tomorrow.'

Natalie's eyes strayed to his fingers on her arm, his touch gentle and caring and, for a moment, her eyes filled as emotion threatened to swamp her at the thought of losing the two of them. Angrily repressing this sign of weakness, she took a deep breath and looked up at him, mustering as broad a smile as she could manage. ‘No, very much the opposite, Mark. They've offered me the job.' His expression changed and she thought she even saw regret in his eyes, but it was only for a split second before he smiled back at her and waved to the waiter.

‘Fantastic, Natalie. This calls for a celebration.' The waiter appeared at Mark's shoulder. ‘Do you have a half bottle of champagne, please?' He shot a questioning glance across the table to Natalie. She smiled and nodded. He looked back at the waiter. ‘Champagne for two then, please.'

They spent the rest of the afternoon walking round the modern centre of Toulouse, seeking out the handful of medieval gems that still remained tucked away between the modern blocks. As evening approached, he took her for dinner to a pavement restaurant in a little square where they were sheltered from the wind. They shared a massive platter of cold meats, including local specialities like the wonderful ham produced from the famous black pigs. Along with this was a mixed salad sprinkled with violet flowers that tasted as good as it looked. They drank mineral water because he was driving and she wanted to keep a clear head before the Cambridge interview, knowing that she would have to get up very early to catch her flight. As they ate, they chatted, principally about Mark's book and the Cathar sites they still had to investigate. Neither of them brought the conversation round to anything personal and Natalie felt relieved. Her confrontation to come with David the following day was playing on her mind and she didn't want to run the risk of stirring up her already fragile emotions in advance of it.

They returned to the car just before nine o'clock and he drove her to the airport. He had booked her into a big, modern hotel that offered a shuttle service to the terminal building. She was very pleased to see that it looked comfortable, but not flashy. He really did know her well by now. He parked outside and took her bag out of the boot. She leant in and gave the dog a hug, leaving him standing on all fours, tail wagging uncertainly, as he watched them go into the hotel. Mark came in to check that the reservation was in order. Once she had got her key card, he insisted on carrying her bag up to her room, telling her he wanted to see that everything was as it should be. When they got to number 317, she opened the door and turned on the light. Mark walked in after her and set her bag down on the bench provided. He glanced round approvingly and then turned as they both heard the door click shut under the effect of the self-closer.

Natalie found herself standing face to face with him in the middle of a hotel bedroom, very conscious of the big double bed beside them. Suddenly, she felt a shiver of excitement at what might happen next. There was a brief hiatus until, suddenly decisive, he stepped away and headed for the door. As he reached it, he turned back towards her.

‘Very good luck with the big interview tomorrow, Natalie. But I'm sure it'll be fine. They'd be crazy not to take you.' He stopped and smiled at her. ‘I would.'

It took Natalie a lot of strength to give him a little smile in return. Then, before she could say anything in response, he pulled the door open and left.

Natalie sat down on the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths. Then she reached for the remote control and switched on the television. There was a documentary on the undersea life of the Pacific Ocean. She concentrated hard on the coral reefs, sponges and parrot fish, determined not to let her mind go off at a tangent once again. Nevertheless, in spite of her best efforts, the one thing that remained obstinately uppermost in her mind was the fact that, for those few seconds after the door had clicked shut behind them and they had stood face to face by the bed, all her instincts had been screaming at her to reach out her arms and kiss him.

Chapter 18

The Cambridge interview went very well indeed. Kathryn, her PhD supervisor, had already spoken to the professor conducting the interview and whatever she had said, it must have been very flattering, as Natalie received a very warm welcome. The interview lasted well over an hour and they went into Natalie's research in considerable depth. At the same time, she learnt a lot more about the department and the courses they were running. Finally, the professor of medieval history sorted her papers together on the desk in front of her and, after scribbling a few words, closed the folder and looked across at Natalie.

‘Well, Doctor Dryden, you are our final interviewee for this position and I can tell you that you are definitely the strongest. The fact that you've got a teaching certificate and experience in the classroom as well as a doctorate is very much in your favour. You come very highly recommended as well. Consequently, I'm very happy to be able to offer you the post. As you know, this is to replace a member of staff who left rather suddenly, so we would like you to start as soon as possible, preferably the middle of September, if you decide to accept the offer.' She smiled across the desk.

Natalie did a quick calculation in her head. The first of September was in less than ten days' time, so this was a job that would start in under a month. She had no illusions as to the significance of being offered a lecturing position at a prestigious Cambridge college and she was secretly amazed she had been offered the job. Clearly, Kathryn's reference had helped immensely and she resolved to phone her to say thank you as soon as she could. She was now faced with the dilemma of choosing one of three possible alternative jobs. She felt her head spin and knew she needed some serious thinking time. She cleared her throat.

‘Thank you very much indeed. I'm honoured you think I'd be suitable for the job and I'm naturally very keen indeed. In fact, I'm really, really interested. Could I possibly just ask you for twenty-four hours to think things through?' She had already explained that she been to two other interviews already. ‘Would it be all right for me to just sleep on it?'

‘Yes, of course, that's fine. Let's say I'll expect to hear from you one way or another by five o'clock tomorrow. That way, if you should decline the offer, I can still offer it to another candidate and get a reply before the weekend.'

Natalie thanked her most warmly and left the office, scarcely able to believe her luck. She closed the door behind her and stood for a moment in the long corridor, flanked by magnificent arched windows set in stone mullions that had been there since the college was built over five hundred years before. She reflected, as she made her way back out into the quadrangle, that a job teaching at Cambridge had been her dream for over ten years. And now she had achieved her goal. Why, then, hadn't she said yes right there and then? The answer, of course, was Mark. She knew she wanted to speak to him before making the final decision. She was still thinking about him when she came out into the late afternoon sunlight and spotted a familiar figure. He was standing by the fountain in the middle of the perfectly mown patch of lawn, where four stone-flagged paths converged. Her heart fell.

‘Bugger.'

David was the last person she wanted to see now. If she had had any doubts as to whether to get back together with him, they were instantly washed away. She finally knew that he and she were history. She did her best to control her breathing as she walked towards him, stopping when she was still a couple of steps away.

‘Hi, Nat.'

‘Hello, David.'

There was a brief pause while he tentatively held out his arms towards her and then dropped them again as she made no move to approach any closer. She stood by the fountain and studied him. There were dark rings under his eyes and she felt sure he had been overworking. He was smiling at her, but it was a forced smile, attempting, but failing, to mask his apprehension.

‘How did the interview go, Nat?'

‘It went very well, thanks. They've offered me the job.' She saw his eyes light up and there was relief in his voice when he replied.

‘That's terrific. So you're coming back to Cambridge. That's great.'

‘I haven't said yes yet.' The smile was wiped from his face. ‘I've got twenty-four hours to decide which job to take.'

‘Which job…? You mean, you got one of the others, too?' His disbelief reminded her of his comments the last time she had seen him. What was it he had said?
You're never going to make a living out of medieval history
. That was it. A month or two ago, she would have got angry. Now, she didn't even change her tone.

‘For your information, David, I've been offered all three jobs, and that includes the one in Canada.' As she spoke, she reflected on her grandmother's words. What mattered most to her at the moment was her career.

His eyes bulged. ‘Canada? You can't be serious. How can you, how can we…?' Natalie had rarely seen him speechless before. Somehow, rather than annoyance, she felt a twinge of sadness for the way their relationship had changed and a feeling of pity for him. Once upon a time they had made each other very happy, but that was then and now was now. Remembering Amy's account of his visit to her and his obvious distress, she did her best to let him down easily.

‘I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past two months, you know, about me and about us. We used to be so very good together, but we've been growing apart. I loved you, David, and I truly believe that you loved me. I loved you very dearly and you helped me at a terrible time in my life. I'll never forget that and I'll always be grateful to you. But people change with time and our priorities change. I see it in you and I see it in me. The conclusion I've come to is that my career's the most important thing for me now.'

‘But, surely there's room for me, too, Nat? I can change. I'll do anything.'

Natalie looked across at him and felt a wave of sympathy. ‘The thing is, David, I don't think that's possible any more. Let's face it, we can't turn the clock back. And it's not all your fault. I don't want you to think that. I'm probably just as much to blame. Who knows? Maybe more so. I've been so involved with my research that I haven't been pulling my weight in the relationship either. In fact, I've probably been as selfish in my way as I've accused you of being.' She shook her head. ‘So it's not just you. It's both of us.'

‘But then surely we can both change?' He gave her a hopeful look.

‘I think we've just got to accept that it's too late for that now. We just aren't made for each other. You have your life, your job, your goals for the future and your family. You know where you're going in your life and I quite understand that you intend to follow in your father's footsteps. I could have lived with the realisation that your mother and sister dislike me, but that's only a part of it. Okay, that was the last straw, if you like, but the thing is, quite simply, I don't see it working between us. No, David, it's much better to accept at this stage that it's not going to be, and that means we can both move on.'

He was silent for a few moments. Finally, he nodded his head. ‘I suppose you're right.' He raised his eyes towards her. ‘So, does that mean you've found somebody else?'

Natalie shrugged her shoulders helplessly. She dearly wished she knew the answer to that one herself. ‘I don't know, David.' She hesitated. ‘I really don't know.'

‘But the flat, your stuff…' She watched him flailing around helplessly and found herself feeling really sorry for him. Nevertheless, her mind was made up and she did her best to adopt a business-like tone.

‘I've spoken to Amy and she'll let me stash it at her place for now until I know where I'm going to be living.' She glanced at the clock set into the stone façade of the college gatehouse. It was almost half past four. ‘In fact, why don't we go and do that now? Have you brought your car? If not, I can get a taxi.'

She led him out of the gates and into the road. He pointed to where his car was parked and they walked across to it and got in. He started the engine then turned towards her. ‘Please, Nat, don't do this. I still love you and I'm so very sorry for what I said and my mother said. We can get over this, I promise.'

He looked and sounded quite pathetic and she felt tears forming in the corners of her own eyes. ‘No, David, it's no good, and we both know it, deep down. You're a bright, good-looking man with a good job. I'm sure you'll find another girl without any bother; probably a much more suitable one as far as your parents are concerned as well. I've got my life to live and you've got yours. You'll be fine.' She leant across towards him and kissed him gently on the cheek. ‘We had some very good times together, didn't we? You know I'll always hold a special place in my heart for you, for what you did for me when I needed it so badly. But it's over now.' She waited until she saw him give a little nod of agreement. ‘Now, let's go back to the flat and I'll collect my stuff.'