*****
Cordelia’s house was, in fact, a small and ramshackle cottage covered in white climbing roses. It was a perfect chocolate box cottage from the outside, with a beautifully maintained garden, four pretty little windows and a sweet winding path to the slightly run down looking front door. As usual, Bas and Alistair veered off the path and made their way round the side of the cottage to the back door, which was wide open. They could hear voices inside, so knocked half-heartedly as they walked straight in with an upbeat ‘hello?’
‘Hey,’ came Anita’s happy response as she recognised the voices and came to greet them both with a brief hug. Anita knew Alistair well; he was a longstanding friend of Cordelia’s, which is why she and Bas had met in the first place. He had given her the job at the Observatory and she saw him a lot; he often popped in to see how the research was going and to offer his opinion on any fluctuations.
Cordelia had also heard who it was and shouted, ‘tea?’ from the sitting room. Without waiting for an answer, she put the kettle on top of the wood burning stove that was roaring in the hearth. It was the end of Autumn, still hot outside, yet Cordelia always liked to have the fire burning. She said it made her feel safe and it gave the house a cosy feel. Alistair plonked himself down into a well-worn armchair, and Bas dropped onto a sofa that had seen better days before they accepted steaming cups of tea and a piece of homemade chocolate and beetroot cake from Cordelia.
Anita looked around as she sat down next to Bas, curling her feet up under her, thinking how different Cordelia’s house was to Alistair’s. Cordelia’s was small, dark, cosy, well-worn and a total jumbled mess of stuff, whereas Alistair’s was light and airy like the Observatory. Alistair had filled his house with antique energy meters and devices, everything with its place, and his furniture was old and comfortable, yet smart. It was a curious mix of antique and modern, and Anita, who normally felt poised and in control, always had the feeling that she was on the edge of breaking something priceless when she was there. They seemed quite at home here though, she thought, helping herself and Bas to their second pieces of cake.
As Anita listened to Alistair and Cordelia’s meandering conversation, she suddenly realised she had no idea how they had become such good friends. Cordelia must be about 20 years older than Alistair, and there was no obvious reason for their friendship. In fact, Anita couldn’t think why she hadn’t asked them how they had met before. ‘How did you two meet?’ she blurted out abruptly.
Cordelia and Alistair turned around and looked at her in surprise, Cordelia giving her a sad, wistful look and neither immediately responding. ‘Oh I don’t know,’ Cordelia eventually ventured, her voice delicate and decisive, containing a subdued, yet sharp edge of warning that made people think twice before disagreeing with her, ‘it was so long ago I can’t think exactly how we met now.’ And with that, Alistair changed the conversation to focus on how Anita and Bas had hated each other when they’d first met, when Anita had come to live with Cordelia at the grand age of three. He started recounting embarrassing stories of how, through Bas’ unwavering determination, they had finally become friends.
At last the torture was over and Alistair and Bas headed for home, but Anita couldn’t help thinking about the look that her grandmother had given her and about how Cordelia and Alistair had met. She decided she would do some digging and drop it into conversation again at some point soon.
Cordelia came back from showing them out and as she sat back down, an intriguing smile meandered across her face. ‘So, I hear rumours that somebody wants to take you to the ball.’
What? A look of panic shot across Anita’s face, a rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. How could she possibly know? How did anyone know? She looked questioningly at Thorn before inwardly chastising herself for being totally ridiculous. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Anita said, too quickly, trying to brush the comment aside.
‘Well, the whole of Empire seems to be talking about it.’
‘Talking about what?’ Anita questioned, confused. Had Marcus told everyone?
‘Whether you’ll say yes obviously,’ Cordelia laughed back, shaking her head, bewildered.
‘I haven’t decided yet,’ she blurted back, barely able to form a response.
‘Well, that’s a turn up for the books, Bas must be thrilled.’
‘Huh? What do you mean?’
‘That you didn’t say no outright,’ said Cordelia, looking at Anita like she might have just hit her head.
‘Oh,’ Anita finally twigged what her grandmother was on about. ‘Bas and I are just friends, and will only ever just be friends. I don’t want to give him the wrong impression.’
‘I see,’ Cordelia replied, frowning in puzzlement. ‘In which case, who were you talking about?!’
Cordelia was really interested now, but Anita was furious at herself and got up to leave. ‘I’m going for a swim, see you later,’ she said, throwing the words back over her shoulder as she hurried away, leaving Cordelia staring bemused after her. Now that was interesting, Cordelia thought to herself.