Out of The Blue (8 page)

The breeze from the open window was refreshing, cooling my overheated skin. Spotting the small scar on the inside of her left wrist, I ran my fingers over the smooth, raised surface before meeting her eyes and asking, “What’s the scar from?”

“Well …” She smiled, her tone making me feel I should get comfortable for a long story. “That is from my rather legendary tree-climbing phase I went through as a child. Whenever my mum couldn’t find me she would look in the nearest tree in the hope of finding me, but as with most legends you can’t reach that status without having a few mishaps.”

I giggled along with her at her story. “This is one of the mishaps?”

“Umm, the result of a fall from a ginormous oak tree.”

“You broke it?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“Yep, had to have pins. My parents didn’t let me climb trees for almost a year. I’d lost interest by then.”

I shivered inside at her words as my fingers rubbed along the scar. “I’ve never broken a bone. I have a slightly irrational fear of it,” I admitted.

“That’s not irrational; that’s sensible, isn’t it?” 

I smiled at her plain speaking. “Any other incidents to report?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“If you ever meet my parents.”

I tried to hide the fear from my face. Parents already! “Why?” I asked with a frown.

“My dad had to rescue me from a tree with a ladder on three occasions. My mum knows nothing about it.”            

I laughed heartily at her story. I could just imagine her sitting in a tree, waiting patiently to be freed. She was obviously close to her parents and it made me feel envious of something I had never had.      

A door opened in the distance and a mixture of voices filled the air with raucous laughter. Jamie tutted softly before burying her face into my shoulder. I stroked her back; her skin was now cool to the touch. Using my foot, I gripped the blue sheet bunched up at the bottom of the bed. Pulling it up the bed, I covered us both again.      

“You should have been here the other night. I had to listen to them taking turns at saying ‘bollocks’ when they burped.”

“Classic!” I sniggered, possibly a little too impressed.

“That’s the kind of thing you did when you were a student, is it?”

Her brashness surprised me and not for the first time. I pulled back the sheet covering us both.

“What are you doing?” Jamie enquired.

“I’m just checking you’re a natural blonde and not one of those fiery red heads.” I continued my shuffle down the bed, resting on one elbow above my quarry. My free hand caressed her smooth, shaved lips. I blew a puff of air across the small patch of hair on her mound beyond her clit. She writhed under my touch, bringing a smile on my face as I climbed back up her body, settling my hips directly on top of hers.

“Satisfied?”

“Yep.” 

“You think I’m fiery?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. 

I locked my eyes on hers. “Maybe a little. I like it.” I watched a lazy smile appear on her lips.

“You do, do you? Glutton for punishment!”

“You may be a lot of things, but punishment is definitely not one of them.”

After a late breakfast of scrambled egg on toast, I decided I should break the news of my imminent departure. We were sat in the same positions in the dining room as the other night. I finished the last of my tea as Jamie glanced at a folded-up newspaper. 

“I have to go back to Manchester later today. I need to pick up some more stuff from home then pop into work tomorrow to catch up with James, sort out a few things.” My mind listed all the things I had to do when I got back to Manchester. 

“When are you coming back?”

I saw the slight look of disappointment on her face. “I’ll drive back here ready for the afternoon on Monday.”   

“I’ll miss you.”

I was more than a little surprised by her words. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d heard those words from a lover, if ever. It just didn’t happen when you stuck to casual, less intimate relations. “I’ll miss you, too,” I said without thinking, although it only took me a moment to realise it was true.

I rested my hand on her lower arm, feeling the softness of her skin again. Stretching my arm, I could just grip the top of her shoulder. I slipped my fingers inside her vest top, caressing the side of her breast. “I don’t have to leave just yet.”   

“What are we doing down here then? We’ve got breakfast to work off.” She stood up, taking my hand in hers, leading me back towards the stairs.

***

I picked up my keys from the shelf near the front door, feeling it move under my hand. I had to use both hands to steady it, preventing it from falling to the floor.    

“Ohh! You touched it last, you broke it!”

I turned at her words, not realising she was right behind me. “Is that right? Well, I guess I’ll just have to fix it next time.” I grinned at her, safe in the knowledge that there would be another visit.     

Monday morning, I arrived bright and early at our offices, ready to tackle the anticipated piles of mail and messages on my desk. To my surprise, James must have been dealing with it as it appeared, so I sat at my empty desk mulling over the events of the last few days while I waited for him to arrive. I had already planned to talk to him about Lucy and my current issue with her. That drew me back to recent activities with a certain blonde.

What was going on here? I was the hunter, they were the hunted or didn’t they get that memo? The more time I spent with Jamie the more I was drawn to her, but she had done all the leg work. First the evening out to bury the hatchet, the night walk she invited herself on, then the meal as a thankyou – I had been a willing participant but it was all Jamie-led. Not that I was complaining; she was the whole package: beautiful, intelligent, great sense of humour and probably the most interesting choice of conversation topics of anyone I had ever met before. I had of course been attracted to my previous conquests but it had generally been an unspoken understanding that it was what it was – no ties; we could both walk away without looking back. I knew from the start Jamie was different; she would want more than a quick fling. I could see now she had slowly reeled me in with her charm like a deep sea fisherman, not wanting to spook me in case I slipped the line.         

I must have had a smile on my face as I sat there as the next thing I heard was James asking me if I’d had a stroke. I looked up to see him standing in my doorway, two takeaway cups in hand. 

“Hey … Morning. Thanks for keeping my desk clear. I was expecting to have to sift through a pile of crap for half the morning.”       

“My pleasure.”

I moved around the front of my desk as he came in, handing me a cup before taking one of the comfy seats for clients.

“So how’s it going back here?” I asked.

“Good. Quiet obviously. Surveying nearly done?”

“Yeah. Maybe a day or two left. I’m back on-site this afternoon. I’ll know exactly how long after today.”

“Okay. I’ve nearly finished the tenders for those two projects we looked at. The one in London looks pretty interesting.”

“The allotment one?” I said, recalling the discussion we’d had a few weeks before I left for York.           

“Yeah, the one in Whitby is also coming along. That’ll be the next survey job I think.”

“Have you spoke to Lucy since we’ve been away?”

“Uh, no. Just the usual emails.” He took a cautious sip of his tea. “Why?”   

Now, approach this with caution, I told myself several times before answering. “I’m not sure. She seems a little off. I think she’s coming on to me, but–”

He cut me off before I could go any further.

“Yes!” He threw a fist in the air. “The Carson charm is alive and kicking.”   

“No, seriously, it’s just that she … I don’t know. It’s weird.” It was no good I was going to have to spill about my happenings with Jamie. “It started when she saw me out with Jamie having a drink. She’s been acting really weird, almost jealous, ever since, like I should have been out with her but I’ve never acted improper with her and I’ve certainly never given her the impression I was interested in her like that.”

“Hang on. You went out with the Jamie … Buxton? The yawner? But you said she wasn’t your type. I knew it when I walked in here. You had that laid look on your face.”

“That laid look?” I repeated, frowning at him.

“You know exactly what I mean. Now start from the beginning. Last I heard you were pissed off with her after she had dumped an ecologist on you.”                 

“Yes, well, I’m holding you partly responsible for that. She overheard our conversation where I said several slightly unprofessional things about her. After which she stormed off before I could apologise.”

“Shit! So?” He gestured with his free hand. “How did you get her to agree to go out with you?”

“I didn’t. She came back, apologised and asked me out for a drink.”

“Jesus! How the fuck do you do it? How do you even manage to get to work every day? Do you have to beat them off with a stick from the moment you leave your flat or is it some kind of pheromone that only affects women?”

I was a little taken aback by his comical outburst. Thankfully, he was smiling at the end of it. The last thing I needed was some kind of moral lecture from an asexual, even if he was my best friend.     

“I didn’t do anything, that’s just it. I hadn’t planned for any of this to happen.”

“There’s more?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well, Mike’s staying at the site, as you know, and he’s done a few night walks just to check out the area, so I said to Jamie I was going to do one and she asked if she could come along. Then she invited me over for dinner to thank me. That’s it.” I held my hands up in resignation.

“Really?” More eyebrows.

“Okay, I might have slept with her after that.”

“Might have? You don’t know?”

“Stop being mean to me. I’m the one working away from home while you’re sat at your cosy desk, sleeping in your own bed at night.”  

“Should we be talking about who’s sleeping in what bed right now?”

I gave him the look, staring at him long enough to let him know he was close to the bone. “Anyway, we’re not talking about Jamie; we’re talking about Lucy. We’ve kind of fallen out. I actually sent her off-site the first time to try and nip it in the bud, but a few days later she had another go. She keeps calling and texting me. It’s starting to freak me out. I don’t want to fall out with her, but …”

“Maybe you’ll need that stick after all.”

“Not funny.” I took a long drink from my tea. “Come on, you’re my best friend and business partner. What can we do?”

“Okay, okay! As the surveying is nearly finished, I’ll contact her and tell her I need her back here to work on some plans for the tenders. Maybe a bit of time away from your pheromones will make her come to her senses.”   

“Thank you. Maybe it’ll be better coming from you,” I said, hopefully.

“Okay, I’ll call her. So … Jamie?” he asked with a wide smile. 

I wasn’t about to spill all the beans just yet. “I know, I know, it’s a bit unprofessional. Believe me, I didn’t plan it, but I like her. She’s actually very funny when you get to know her,” I replied, recalling the numerous conversations we’d had.

“That’s what it takes, is it? Humour?” he asked.

I couldn’t tell if he was actually seeking dating advice from me. “You’d be surprised where a good sense of humour can get you.” Trouble mainly, I thought to myself. “I think Lucy’s jealous of her. I didn’t even know she was gay, did you?” I asked.

“No, she never really talks about her personal life.”

I decided to keep quiet about Mike’s forays in his campervan. In my experience, one revelation at a time worked better with James. If I told him everything that went on when we were away surveying we’d sound like a team of delinquents, which to be fair, on this occasion, wasn’t far from the truth.                       

***

On return to York, I stopped off at the hotel to drop off my stuff and change ready for going back on-site. Luckily, the hotel wasn’t busy and I was able to remain in the same room, which had been fully cleaned in my absence, my bags still packed on the bed in case they had to move me out while I was away.

Arriving on-site, I could see Mike had started inputting some of this week’s data. After catching up with him on the day’s progress, I took the time to call Jamie to let her know I was back. I had only been away a day but I had missed her and talking to James only confirmed my fears; she already had a firm hold on me. She picked up after only two rings.

“Hi.” Her tone was warm.

“Hey, I just thought I’d let you know I’m back in your fair city.”

“That’s good to know.”

“How’s work?” I asked, as I kept an eye out for Lucy.

“Terrible. I’ve been asked to put together a report on a series of projects the council completed last year but no one knows where all the statistics are.”

“Shit!”

“They want the report by the end of tomorrow, so I’m a bit screwed really. There’s three of us trawling through all the records at the moment, so we can try and piece something together.” I could hear the frustration in her voice.

“I see. Well, I hope your luck changes,” I said, trying to be positive.

“Thanks. Would you like to meet up for dinner this week?” 

“I would.” I felt every bit the lovesick teenager offered a glimmer of hope.

“Great, can I get back to you? The next couple of days are going to be very long but after that I’m free.”

“Sure, no problem,” I said, hiding my disappointment that I would have to wait several days before I could see her again. “I thought I’d fix that shelf for you at the weekend, if that’s okay.”  

“You don’t have to. You didn’t really break it, you know.”

“I know. I brought some tools back with me to fix it.”

“Thank you.”

I could hear muffled voices in the background.

“Looks like we might have caught a break. I’d better go.”

“Okay, let me know when you’re free for dinner.”

“I will. You know, if you stayed at my place we could have dinner together every night.”

“We could,” I said, panicking. As much as I liked Jamie, I wasn’t quite ready to share all my decidedly unappealing habits with her just yet.

“I’ll leave you with that thought. Bye!”

I was still in shock at her words when Mike appeared, bringing me to my senses.

“What’s going on with Lucy? She’s just stormed off in her car.”

“Umm!” I tried to hide my relief. “I think James needs her back in Manchester to work on another project.”