Page 48 of Read Between The Lines

‘That’s a load of tosh,’ said Moira. ‘You could have any man you wanted, if you’d only believe in yourself. But we’ve had that discussion on many occasions, and I refuse to let you distract me from the main point. So, you and the luscious Leo were both on the floor, you pulled him closer and then… you kissed him, right?’

My pulse quickened as I remembered the moment. I’d reached up and touched the curve of his jaw, then tentatively traced my finger along his skin and towards his lips. His breathing had seemed to be unusually fast, although I’d told myself that it was most likely because of the exertion of picking me up and throwing me to the crash mat. I’d closed my eyes, daring myself to close the small gap between us, to be bold for once in my life, and make that first move. For a few endless seconds, I’d experienced a sense of joyous anticipation that the moment my ever-hopeful heart had been longing for was about to happen. And then…

‘No, I didn’t kiss him. Absolutely nothing happened.’

‘You what?’ said Moira, the outrage obvious in her voice.

‘Nothing happened. You see, the gym has this chime which sounds whenever the door opens, and of course somebody chose that exact moment to come in, and Leo made good his escape. You could say that he was quite literally saved by the bell from having to let me down gently.’

‘But did he want to be saved by it?’ asked Rami. ‘And how about you? How did you feel when you were interrupted?’

I took another mouthful of food to buy myself some time. I didn’t need to think about my answer, but I wasn’t sure whether I was ready to admit it to myself, let alone out loud, even if it was to two of my closest friends.

‘I bet I know exactly how she felt,’ said Moira sympathetically. ‘But there’s always the next time. You wait until I tell Doris; she’ll be gutted that I’ve won the sweepstake.’

‘The what now?’ I asked.

Moira at least had the grace to look shamefaced. ‘The sweepstake on how long it would take for you and the lovely Leo to get it on. The signs were there from the moment you first clapped eyes on him. She plumped for a month, but I said it would happen quicker than that. And I was spot on.’

‘No, you weren’t,’ I said, mortified by the idea of being the subject of such a bet. ‘Didn’t you hear me right? Absolutely nothing happened. I was about to make a complete fool of myself, then the door chimed, Leo leapt away like he’d burnt himself or something, and I disappeared as fast as I could.’

‘Hmm, leaving Leo longing for you to return and pick up where you left off, I have no doubt. Curses be upon that ruddy door chime,’ said Moira. ‘Never mind, the first move has been made. You’ll be dragging him into the library stacks for surreptitious snogs before we know it.’

‘I highly doubt it. Didn’t you hear the bit where I said he couldn’t wait to get away from me? The door chime gave him the excuse he was looking for to break free before he had to do the whole “I’m sorry, I’m just not that into you” thing. It was incredibly awkward. And it gets worse.’ It was clear I needed to tell the whole story to stop Moira getting any more carried away. ‘I should also mention that the person who came in was Leo’s fellow rowing coach, who’s clearly some kind of model in her spare time. I could never hope to get a look in when someone like her with legs up to the ceiling is around. Anyway, he went straight over to hug her and made this big deal about how delighted he was to see her, almost as if she’d rescued him from my evil clutches. Further evidence, not that I needed it, that he couldn’t escape from me fast enough.’

‘That seems highly unlikely to me. She’s probably just a good friend. It reminds me of when I was first dating Moira and I thought she only had eyes for that chap from the Chemistry department,’ said Rami. ‘He was a perfectly nice guy, but I thought he was the devil incarnate until I found out the truth.’

‘Actually, he was only my mate, and I was using him to try to make Rami jealous so he’d hurry up and see what was staring him in the face,’ Moira finished the story.

Rami laughed. ‘And I guess it worked. Because here I am decades later enjoying the thrill of being your lifelong companion, not to mention your chief chef.’

He reached out and interlocked his fingers with hers.

‘But I put the bins out, so it’s all fair. We’re an equal opportunities household.’

‘That’s only once a fortnight, dear heart,’ said Rami, his grin growing wider.

‘Which makes them all the heavier, my darling,’ said Moira, blowing him a kiss. ‘It’s taken years of resistance training for me to get to the skill level I’m at now.’

I relaxed back in my chair, enjoying their banter, and happy that their attention was diverted away from me.

But my respite was brief.

‘Why don’t you ask him who his friend is?’ said Rami. ‘That’s what I did with Moira and, before we knew it, we were getting thrown out of the lecture hall for kissing on the back row. When it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.’

‘Because I’m not sure that it is meant to be,’ I said. ‘Besides, our relationship is purely professional, and that is definitely an unprofessional thing to ask. I have no need to know who he associates with when he’s not working on the investigation with me. He’s helping me catch Scammer Brian, and I’m going to help him write his business plan, that is all there is to it.’

‘Oh, writing a business plan: is that what the young people call it nowadays?’

I swear Moira was actually sniggering. I ignored her and carried on. ‘Once we’ve achieved our goals, we’ll go our separate ways and he’ll probably never even think about me again.’

I tried to ignore the pang of loss which I experienced at the thought. Was that really what I wanted? But the alternative was to put myself at risk of hurt and that seemed like an even more terrifying prospect. What if I told him how I was starting to feel, and he didn’t feel the same way about me? Or worse, he did return my feelings, but only for a short time, like previous partners. I couldn’t bear the idea of the pain which would follow. There were only so many times I could put myself through the emotional wringer. No, it was much better to protect myself by remaining focused and sticking to the plan.

‘We’ll see,’ said Moira in a voice which warned she was already plotting how to bring about her version of a happily ever after for me.

‘Shall I clear the table?’ I suggested, needing a break.

‘Good idea. I think the poor girl’s had enough of the two of us grilling her for now. How about that dessert?’ said Rami.

---