Yours Unfaithfully (33 page)

“I can’t wait to see the lake close up,” Melanie said, so after a quick change into jeans and trainers they set off around the lake.

The dry ski slope was closed now, as was the ‘Cresta run’. There were still plenty of people out enjoying the lake though and tented eating places serving barbecued meats and other delicious looking treats. The smell was divine and Melanie made a resolution to eat here the next night. They agreed to walk right around the lake, a distance of at least six kilometres.

Ratty spoke for both of them; “So, we are alone at last.”

“It would seem so, wouldn’t it? Ratty, what do you intend to do with your life? You’ve got this top job in Nina’s firm, but is that your ultimate aim or do you have a dream to go still higher?”

“Until recently my ambition was to go right to the top, wherever that is, but now I can’t see me leaving Osborne Melrose, because that would inevitably take me away from you. Success without you would have a bitter taste.”

“But you don’t have me. I’ve told you, you never will have me, so why not keep trying for the top and see who you meet on the way?”

“But I do have you, at least a small part of you. You remember that night when we met? You fell asleep on me, you curled yourself into me, and you were completely at ease in my arms. I knew then that I had found the person I want to share my life with and for an hour or so we did just that.”

At the half way point on the walk they sat down on a bench which looked across the lake directly at their hotel. The light was beginning to fade and the lights from the hotel were reflected in the water, creating the most magical effect.

“You were so trusting, so giving, so incredibly lovely, and for that hour you were mine. Now that I’ve tasted Appellation Controllee I can never be satisfied with Vin de Table. If I have to wait, that’s too bad, but much better than to settle for second best.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing, settling for second best?”

“We both know it, but you have good reason to hesitate before leaving him, even I can see that. You are a woman of quality... refinement. He... he is a mechanic. Does he care about fine food the way you do? Does he follow your career with genuine interest? Does he stimulate you in conversation? Melanie laughed, “He likes his steak well done, preferably with ketchup, hates my career and the last time we ate out I was bored senseless”. Does that answer your questions?

“Of course it does. You deserve the very best. Someone with whom you can share everything, his success and yours. It makes me cringe to think of him putting his oily hands on you. I know plenty of guys who are mechanics around Brixton, I meet up with them whenever I go to see my parents. They work with oil and grease and it never comes off. They even smell of oil when they go out for the night after having washed. This isn’t what I want for you.”

“What
do
you want for me?”

“I want you in these arms, in these hands. He put his arm around her waist as if to illustrate his point. She made a token gesture of pushing him away, but he persisted. I want to give you everything I have, I want to give you love, make you know how much I value you, how much you mean to me, how intense my feelings for you are.”

“I think you might stifle me with so much love.”

“No, I would never restrict your freedom, you are like a beautiful butterfly, I want to see you fly, to see the colour of your wings in the sunshine, or... like now in the moonlight.”

He moved his hand under her T-shirt until it covered her breast. Either she hadn’t noticed or she was being kind, he didn’t mind which. Right at this moment there was an emotional current surging between them, one that didn’t need words to help define it. He pushed his hand gently to lift her bra so that he was holding her in his hand, bare of the fabric that had maintained her modesty. She made no attempt to stop him. They stayed like that for a while until the fading light took the hotel from their view. Only the lights indicated its existence across the lake.

“We’d better start walking,” she said. She pushed his hand away and put her bra back where it was meant to be.

“Yes, he said, we should, it’s a long way yet.”

Ratty knew the moment was over, but what a moment it had been. He had held the woman he loved in his arms, in his hands. He’d felt the warmth of her skin and she had allowed him to take a tiny piece of her and make it his, for a few minutes... precious minutes. He kept his arm around her waist as they walked on around the lake. There were fewer people now and as the occasional roller blader sped towards them in the dark she was frightened that they might be mugged. She was glad of his strong arm around her; she said nothing when he slipped his hand inside her waistband so that it was holding her bottom. She was happy to stay as close as possible to him as they synchronised their steps together. It was a comforting feeling to have him there, knowing as she did how much he cared for her. At the hotel foyer she broke away from him.

“Someone might see us,” she said.

He laughed at her. “How many of these Germans do you suppose know us?”

“You know what I mean. It’s one thing out there in the dark, but here it’s different.”

“Let’s go up to the terrace bar and have a drink, before we turn in for the night.”

“OK, but only one. I’m tired and I’m supposed to have typed up my notes of the meeting on my laptop.”

As she sat there sipping her wine and looking out across the lake, with it’s shimmering reflections in constantly changing patterns, she thought how different this was turning out to be against what she had expected. She thought about home and what they would be doing now ... “Shit,” she said out loud, “I forgot to ring Tim. He’ll be worried sick. I wonder if I should ring him now.” She looked at her watch. Eleven thirty. Christ, what could she say? Sorry Tim, I went for a stroll with Ratty around the lake and clean forgot to phone you. Not the best move. Better to leave it for tonight and speak to him tomorrow. I need time anyway, to think up a bloody good excuse, she thought.

“He knows you are going to be doing business over dinner some evenings, I’m sure he won’t be worried.” Ratty tried to placate her.

“Ratty, if your wife went away and didn’t phone you on her first night away would you worry?”

“I would never let her go alone to begin with. The woman I intend to marry... one day… is far too precious for me to risk losing, so if she has to go abroad I shall be at her side.”

“It wouldn’t work, Ratty. I’ve told you before, it would never work.”

“I think it would because I would dedicate my life to making it work, to making you happy.”

She smiled at him; she knew he meant every word of it. He was very much in love with her. She finished her drink. “I’m off to bed... alone.” She’d read the expression on his face. “Good night, Ratty, and thank you for a wonderful evening. I enjoyed it.”

He took her hand in his and kissed her gently on the cheek. He let her go, following her with his eyes and with his thoughts. At the doorway she stopped, turned and smiled. His heart was pounding; he was engulfed by the most wonderful feeling in the world.

During the following week there were several evenings on which no meetings took place and on each of these they walked around the lake together, like before. Melanie made sure she phoned Tim before they set off around the lake, but she found it hard to know what to say. She was missing him, of course; she was missing the children even more, although she couldn’t say that. She remembered to ask him about his new job, but he seemed agitated whenever she rang, not wanting to talk about what he’d done or where he’d been. Oh well, he’d tell her all about it when she got back. It could wait. The days passed quickly in Poland, much more so than she had imagined possible at the start. From the moment they finished breakfast they were off, either to a meeting or on a train journey to see a factory somewhere. She loved the views from the train windows, miles of fields, full of corn and with red poppies and blue cornflowers around the edge. Sometimes she would see a deer running across the open fields. This was a country she could fall in love with, which was why she wasn’t missing home as much as she’d expected. What she didn’t realise was that this feeling of contentment from the beautiful countryside in which she found herself showed in her voice. Tim had been expecting her to say she hated it there, but she didn’t. Her calls home were lackluster, detached, emotionless, giving nothing away.

With two weeks of the project left, Melanie was unusually happy. She woke each day to the sun reflecting off the lake and a busy schedule of meetings. She’d managed to catch up on her notes and she was confident now in her ability to manage the business for the bank successfully. She was tasting success as a Senior Manager, she was tasting success as a woman and nothing would be the same after this, she knew she could never be happy in the confines of the office the way she had been the last ten years. Her life was evolving. She wasn’t the same person who’d left England two weeks ago, angry and frightened by what might lay ahead. She was still confident that her marriage was repaired and that she and Tim would go on parenting their three children, but it was far less intense now, a relationship that worked well in the background, while the best of her life, away from motherhood, was work. She’d made her peace with Ratty. Not yet enough to totally satisfy him – he would always want more, more than she could give – but he seemed content to take what small scraps she gave him and wait for the day when, he was certain, she would turn to him. She actually enjoyed their trips around the lake together. The place was heavenly; watching night fall over the lake was an experience so sensual that it gave her goosebumps just thinking about it... and then there was Ratty; he was an integral part of the walk, so much so that she couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else, not even Tim. Tim belonged in England, where they would spend their lives together as man and wife. He wasn’t part of this experience, he never could be and she forced herself to admit that Ratty had got hold of a small part of her and made it his. It was the Polish bit of her, a bit that in two weeks time would dissolve into her past, just a memory. But for a little while longer it was real and she wasn’t sorry that there were still two weeks left before it would be over, for good!

At dinner that night the three of them discussed the events of the day. It had been a fruitful meeting during which the Poles had put forward, at last, their detailed financial proposals for the take over.

They had each looked at the documents, briefly, with the Poles watching on. They knew at once that the figures were much better than they had dared to hope for, but not one of them gave a clue in their expression. Hugh had thanked them, promising to make a formal response when they met in two days time. This would give Hugh time to work out a counter proposal, while Melanie checked the securities required by the bank and Ratty perused the contract details. All the indications were that they were going to pull off a deal better than expected, and on time. If they did, all three of them could expect a healthy bonus from Stellar Haufman plc, as well as increased respect at the most senior level of their organisations. Hugh put into words what each of them was thinking.

“We are on the brink of the most successful project imaginable, but we must keep our nerve, not let the Poles see for one minute how happy we are with the deal. It’s not time for champagne yet, but at this rate it soon will be. I’m glad to see that you two have worked so well together. I must admit you had me worried at the beginning, but I’m warning you both now, I shall insist on having you in my next project team.” He smiled across the table.

Ratty beamed at Melanie, and then turned to face Hugh. “Is there another project in sight Hugh?”

“There’s always another project with Stellar Haufman. They make billions each year and they have a policy of continuous expansion. I have two junior project managers working flat out developing ideas. They are currently doing some exploration work. Antonio is fact finding in Italy and the other, a talented young woman called Jacqui is in Germany buying land for an industrial site for our land bank.”

“Where do you think you will be heading next, when this one’s wrapped up?” Ratty persisted.

“That is too confidential at the moment even for your ears, Ratty. Only three people in our organisation know the details. It is imperative that the company we are stalking don’t get wind of our plans until we make a formal offer. At that time we’ll launch a project similar to this one and you will be there; you too Mel.”

At that moment Mel’s mobile rang, she looked scared.

“It’s only a phone, Mel, aren’t you going to answer it?” Hugh said kindly.

“I told Tim only to ring me in an emergency,” she blurted, before grabbing the phone and heading out of the restaurant.

“She looked rather worried over a call she hadn’t even answered,” Hugh said.

“Maybe she doesn’t feel like talking to him right now.”

“Why do you think that is? Does she have some news for him, news he isn’t going to want to hear?”

“No, unfortunately she doesn’t have any such news.”

“So it is true? You are in pursuit of her affection.”

“How do you know that?”

“Ratty, my friend, I would have to be stupid to sit here each evening and watch you two at dinner without seeing the chemistry between you. Your desire to get away after the meal for your lakeside walk tells its own story. You are a predator, she is vulnerable. She is also married with children. I hope you know what you are doing?”

“Hugh, I need to be honest with you ...I trust you ...completely.”

“It seems that everyone wishes to bestow their secrets upon me lately. OK, but the whole truth, Ratty, or nothing!”

“Of course… Hugh, I’m in love with Mel.”

“Is that it? Dear boy, I realised that the day we arrived, but does she love you? I got the impression that she was quite upset in the beginning at you having dragged her out here, though I’ve also observed that her mood has softened considerably since then.”

“She says she doesn’t love me, she says we can never be together, properly, yet she doesn’t completely push me away. I cling to those precious moments in the hope that one day she will want me as much as I want her.”