watching the froth build up on her coffee pot she heard footsteps behind her and before she was able to turn around James was near her.
He was a strong presence in the room, she noticed: body, smell and attitude. Rose could see her space shrinking to uncomfortable limits and felt her irritation returning. Was this what a good guy looked like? She doubted.
‘Wonderful smell, ’ he said looking at the coffee. ‘May I have some, ma’am? ’ he said.
‘Not if I hear another “ma’am”, ’ Rose wrinkled her forehead at him.
‘You don’t want those nasty wrinkles to develop there, do you? ’ he said grinning at her. ‘Rose? ’
‘James, have you been in this house before? ’ she asked him directly and in a confrontational way.
‘If I was I would have known about the camera, ’ he pointed out to her.
‘Yes, I see, ’ she agreed but wasn’t totally convinced. There was something about this man that she could not identify. Nothing to prove. Just gut feeling. ‘Why are you here? ’ Rose insisted.
‘What do you want me to say? ’He tried to joke his way out of it but he had the feeling that this woman was not going to fall for it. Some days he had to work harder than others. This was one of those days. Luckily no guns involved. ‘Never underestimate a women with a gun’, was one of the sayings in his line of duty.
‘The truth would do for me, ’ Rose said with sadness.
‘You certainly don’t ask for much, ’ he said mockingly.
Rose felt again a bit insecure and tired so she thought about asking him to leave as she wanted to enjoy her coffee. But James must have sensed what she was about to say as he stopped her with a ‘Please, let me talk. You did very well with the officer, although I could hear only bits and pieces, ’ he added.
Well, Rose thought, I’m zonked but I’m the only one knowing that and the day is not a write-off. I’m definitely not a wuss but this is a whopper situation that we have here.
‘Ok, ’ Rose said loudly to him. ‘Humor me with your side of the story. So far the Police think that I am a paranoid person or prone to dramatics and now they added to that the possibility of me being a victim of domestic violence. What next? ’ she said to him.
‘Fair dinkum, ’ he said looking surprised.
‘Do you use that expression for everything’? Rose said with disbelief.
‘Mate!’ he said.
‘I’m a woman, ’ she replied flatly.
‘Ace, ’ he smiled showing his perfect teeth. ‘Like a hornet in a bottle, huh? ’ he said.
‘I don’t think I can take it any longer, ’ Rose mumbled to herself and tried to rise from her chair. At that very moment she realized that James was holding the coffee pot with some obvious dexterity and was dispensing the coffee into the cups. He finished doing a great job with the distribution of the froth and Rose had to admire his perfect skills. He might be a jerk but he knew Turkish coffee, she thought and that score a point from her. He found out about that much later.
‘No, no, no, ’ he said, grabbing her hands and pushing her back into the chair she was trying to leave. ‘You are not a cot case. You have no excuses for saying ‘no’ to a good cuppa. I only take it at night with sugar and it helps me sleep, ’ he said. Rose stared at him in disbelief. That was too much of a coincidence even for a gypsy.
‘Okay, that was a fib. Our mutual friend Madeline told me about your habit. But I want you to give me the chance to talk to you, ’ James admitted quickly deciding to embrace the truth at last.
‘Ok, but no more slang please or I’ll kick you out immediately, ’ Rose gave him a fair warning.
‘Ha, and I thought that you wanted to learn about this country, ’ he retorted ironically. Rose said nothing, just sat there looking at him. He was not going to get any clues from her. ‘Well, we could do better with a scotch but I could not find any in your house, ’ he continued. Rose just shook her head in disbelief and raised her eyebrows. Probably rolled back her eyes too but remained quiet. Unbelievable, Rose thought. He could not complain that she did not give him time to talk, could he now?
A long pause followed as they were staring at each deciding how much to trust then James said: 'I came by tonight to take you to a poker game. It was a short notice one and I did not have your number so I took my chances and drove by, ’ he said.
‘Poker? ’ Rose asked incredulously.
‘Want to join me? That’s if you are in shape, ’ he said with a big grin. ‘I need a partner tonight, ’ he added.
‘I don’t play for money, ’ Rose cautioned him.
‘I’ll not ask you to put the money, ’ he said.
‘Where? ’
‘That’s the spirit’ he said with enthusiasm. ‘She’ll be apples, ’ he added.
‘Huh? ’ was Rose’s reply.
‘It’ll be fine, ’ he explained.
‘Were you worried that I’ll say ‘no’? ’ Rose guessed. He laughed heartedly and his eyes twinkled.
‘I’ll pick you up at 08:30. Tonight the style is relaxed so don’t worry too much, ’ he replied ignoring her last question.
‘I never worry, ’ Rose lied. Rose didn’t think that he believed her and that probably suggests that he knows women. Something to think about, she thought.
After he left she had a shower and then chose her outfit for the night. As she was going to meet some strangers she was planning to dress up with simple but stylish, elegant pieces of clothing. Just because she was not rich does not mean that she had to dress up like an idiot. This was another favorite motto of her family.
Diddly-Squat
Corrine was awakened suddenly by a strange noise coming from the kitchen. Something’s wrong with my beautiful fridge, was the first thought that crossed her mind while leaving the bedroom in a hurry. Her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders and the short satin boxers PJs revealing the long and perfectly shaped legs. She did not know what time was but the morning light was flooding the house through the white sheer curtains that were floating in the air. Corinne estimated to be very close to the time to wake up.
‘What’s going on in here? ’ She asked surprised to see her two ankle biters peering into the open fridge. Each held a bowl in their hands and William was showing his precocious dexterity by holding the fridge door open with his foot. It must have been held like that for a few minutes as the fridge was protesting with noisy beeps.
Taken by surprise the two kids started to giggle nervously and while waiting for them to settle Corinne glanced at the clock: it was half past five. They’re probably after an icy-pole, she thought recalling that last night they were too tired to finish their meals. As they turned their back to the fridge the door closed behind them with a click and the unpleasant beeping noise finally stopped allowing the peace and quiet take over the house once more. They were both wearing their pajamas; pink top and white bottom with printed flowers for the five years old Danielle who had her long blonde hair held with a purple ribbon and dark simple navy blue for the seven years old boy William. He was about five inches taller and appeared somehow protective of his sister. Corinne realized that they were not tall enough to get to the ice cream and got it out for them before they were able to voice their wishes. They were surprised and delighted that she was able to guess what they wanted and Corinne cherished the time spent with them.
Then the debate about what they wanted started: should that be chocolate or strawberry today? Or perhaps caramel? Corinne settled the issue by giving them a bit of each, hopping secretly that no one will get sick. The ear bash continued on a different theme. Then she realized that it was actually Saturday and they all could sleep in so she decided to go back to bed. Lots of things to do later today, Corinne thought, better be prepared. Time for diddly-squat. And she let herself fall back into a deep sleep with a clear conscience. Her better half was not yet back and the cleaning lady was arriving around 10. 00 am on Saturdays.
A few hours later, and a bushman’s breakfas
t for Corinne who skipped food and did nothing but sleep that morning. It was midday and they were finishing eating their lunch at the nearby Mc Donald. The place was becoming noisier by the minute with lots of families picking up the opportunity of forging some bonding with their kids. It was Daniella’s turn today to choose the eating place and she did that with a hidden agenda. She was interested in some toys that the shop has been advertising.
Eating was one of the regular activities dedicated to spending quality time with the children. Unfortunately their father was missing quite a bit of that, to everyone’s annoyance. Sometime it was due to business, other times, like now due to hobbies. Greg’s interest in his goat boat was getting on Corinne’s nerves. They had both signed up for an open marriage but since then she had started to question her initial choice. However with statistics showing that about 30% of men in monogamous relationships cheat she had decided that their friendship was more important to her than sex.
As they were chatting away a radio at a nearby table was announcing high levels of UVA radiation today and Corinne was pleased with her already made arrangements for the trip to the Aquarium. Later they could finish the day with some running around at the botanic garden. By then, with a bit of luck, thought Corinne, the heat might have subsided and they could avoid the prolonged exposure to the harmful effects of the sun. Can it get better than this, she asked herself