voice. It was all too tempting to resist and Rose had another glance in the neighbor's direction. What a scene, was her first thought then she recognized the male and her annoyance increased.
Angela was flirting openly with James who was getting out of the passenger seat. Was Rose looking at two work colleagues she asked herself? Angela was wearing a typical but elegant police uniform that suited her well and showed off her curvy lines to her best advantage but James was in plain clothes. Was Rose becoming jealous? Ok, maybe a tiny bit, she admitted to herself and saw that as foolish. Rose definitely couldn’t see herself in a steady relationship with James and had no expectations from him, she reminded herself. After this stern talk to herself she gathered her handbag and keys and headed for the door.
A few minutes later when Rose was walking down her driveway a sudden thought crossed her mind and she became a little bit worried. It appeared that in her eagerness to implement her new plan regarding the regular, daily, physical activity she forgot to check with the mirror before leaving the house. What if she had something on her face, she thought for a moment? No time to go back now, she concluded. Before having the time to move away she noticed that Adele was opening her front door to Angela and James was heading towards her house. What now? Do I need to wait for him or what? As if reading her thoughts James raised his hand to wave at Rose. It was a ‘wait for me’ kind of gesture. She replied with a gracious hand wave and prepared herself to face up the situation.
When he reached her he was still smiling so Rose plunged ahead: 'Having a good time? ’ He appeared startled for a second then he recovered and smiled broadly with a wink at her. ‘I’m kind of busy’ Rose said interrupting his start. ‘I was going out, ’ she added more softly noticing his startle and nodding towards her bag and keys. She was not angry with him, she reminded herself.
James said nothing for a long moment just staring at her then he asked: ‘Going for a walk? ’ then pointing towards her shoes ‘I’ve never seen you going out like this. And you have some coffee on your lips. May I…’ he added offering to help.
Rose rubbed at her lips with a paper tissue and headed towards the street and that put James into a terrible dilemma that he solved by following her closely but quietly. At the end of the street Rose checked behind her and noticed that James was still following. Must be something important, she thought, otherwise he would have given up. So Rose turned around and braced herself for some confrontation. She was not sure why.
‘More walking? ’ he asked with a neutral voice. ‘What about the park? I really need to talk to you today, ’ James added with a serious tone.
Rose looked at him and wondered what matter could be so urgent and then she realized with surprise that he had no car today. Was he relying on beautiful Angela for transportation now? But that would imply that they were working together or they were a couple. The idea caught her off guard. James must have noticed her dilemma as he grabbed her hand and guided her silently to a nearby bench. Sitting down helped her to gather her thoughts and compose herself.
‘I’m glad to see that you’re back, ’ James started and then posed possibly expecting some reply. He did not ask about her travel and Rose did not offer information so he resumed his speech. ‘I was worried, you know, ’ he added with a serious voice.
Rose wondered how he knew that she was away. It was only for three days and he did not call her. Rose had her home phone diverted to her mobile. Perhaps he just turned up at the door, as usual. Interesting that Adele didn’t mention it to her.
‘What’s so urgent? ’ Rose asked trying to cut to Hecuba and avoid having to give some explanations. It wasn’t that they had any special obligations to each other. Yes, they had some good times but from what she could remember there were no promises laid and no expectations. They were not in a relationship, period! But more or less she knew that she was out of line. Was he the special one for her? Would he stick to her through good and bad times? Was she walking away from something special? She fell silent realizing that she wasn’t at ease with herself today. Too much coffee perhaps?
‘Cut to the chase, huh? ’ He said smiling to her. ‘Good to see that you are well, ’ he added searching her face and a fleeting thought passed his mind. Were they meant for a life together? Was he on his way to falling in love with her? He suddenly realized that he thought the world of her.
‘I know that you were concerned at some point about your safety and now with the death of Mrs. Capeletti I was wondering how you feel about living in this place alone? ’
‘Are you coming with a proposition? ’ Rose said with some disbelief. He could not possible be asking for a relationship. Could he?
‘Oh, life can be very complicated but it doesn’t need to be like that, ’ he said with a sigh looking at her. Rose started to smile at his philosophical remark as she imagined it was the outback man in him surfacing not the carefree James that she knew.
‘What’s up James? ’ Rose asked as it was becoming clear to her that today he had difficulties in focusing on the main issue.
‘Just wanted to let you know I’ll be away for a couple of days and my phone might be out of range, ’ he said. ‘It’s not that I’m trying to avoid you or run away, ’ he continued. ‘Just wanted to clarify that, ’ he added.
That took Rose by surprise. No commitment between them but the man wanted to give her some reassurance. Why? Was she trying to read too much into it? Was this a woman’s issue or related to her gypsy roots?
‘So no advice on safety? ’ Rose said choosing to reflect on the topic later. James appeared also relieved about the way she managed the information. He was now definitely more relaxed.
‘Have you considered renting the rooms? ’ he asked with a mischievous smile. ‘Angela is looking to rent, ’ he added and now his grin was large. Huh, not you? Rose thought.
‘Are you talking about the young female officer? ’ she asked incredulously wondering at the same time why wasn’t she moving in with her aunt Adele.
Different cultural perspective in Brisvegas? Rose asked herself. James just nodded and she barely refrained herself from asking him how he knew her. He was looking at Rose probably waiting for her reaction. As her brain computed the information Rose let the subject drop and moved on.
‘No car today? ’ she asked and she realized that her communication skills were overpowered again by the interviewing-like skills that any detective would have identified with jealousy. Time to chill out girl, Rose thought biting her lips. Fortunately James was in a taking care mood and not easily touched by the small stuff.
‘Angela could be good company for you, ’ he turned back to the previous topic. Apparently the one he liked. Was he doing that to get a reaction from her or with a different agenda in mind?
‘She can camp up with her aunt Adele, ’ Rose said dismissively and tried again to change the topic. ‘By the way, tomorrow I’ll be helping Adele clean up Mrs. Capeletti’s house. Who knows what other adventures is that going to lead to, huh? ’ Rose said with trepidation.
What she meant was that she really was looking forward to explore through the past. Someone else’s not hers, as the state of her house was evidence to that. To her surprise, she noticed a quick change in James’s demeanor but as that was brief she immediately forgot about it.
His reply was flat: ‘You seem to know how to throw someone for a loop. I did not realize that you’re into sleuthing. ’
‘I like to follow a trail but I wouldn’t dare to reclaim the position of a meddling sleuth!’ Rose said laughing. ‘No sir, not for me. First I don’t like guns and secondly I think I’ll just faint seeing someone’s blood. I think I’d rather prefer to stick to enjoying the mystery novels, ’ Rose finished exposing her beliefs.
‘So, are you are fan of the boys in blue then? ’ James asked with some trepidation that Rose could not explain.
‘They can be useful, ’ she said with some reticence and trying to disregard the beautiful Angela’s image flir
ting with James, that popped up for a second in her head. Right then a Police car that stopped by the curbside caught her eyes. James saw that too and excused himself stating that ‘a friend was here to pick him up’. He left in the Police car. Probably Angela, Rose thought as she could not see her through the tinted windows. Now that she was intrigued she definitely had to clarify about this one with him, Rose thought leaving herself a mental note and suddenly an urge for a cupcake came over her. Strange, she said to herself, as she had not felt like that since her high school days. So, old habits dying hard, or what?
Rose stopped herself from ordering a chocolate muffin in the last minute as the image of herself reading about the calories and exercise was fleeting before her eyes. She requested instead some mineral water and the way the young girl at the counter looked at her said it all. Someone who understood her battle!
‘No calories in that one, ’ the girl said as she saw Rose trying to read the small print on the label at the back of the plastic bottle. ‘And you can take it with you in the shops. We are the only shop selling that product in this mall, ’ she added with a smile.
The nonalcoholic beverage tasted good but of course not like a chocolate muffin so Rose moved rapidly far away from the temptation as the shop