Against The Odds (5 page)

The
meeting, however, had been less painful than she thought. Jessica
had met with the two earlier in the week and seemed to have gotten
through to them. She went back to her office to prepare the
evidence she would be giving in a domestic violence case for one of
Jonathan’s former colleagues.

Denise
had gone off on a lunch date with some young man who worked in the
florist shop close by and Rebecca welcomed the silence in her
suite. As much as she liked Denise, she was noisy and bustling when
there were no patients. She seemed to move in and out of Rebecca’s
office to stop herself from being bored. The rest of time she
entertained herself with guessing what was ‘wrong’ with the
patients. She would study them, their clothes, demeanour, and any
other characteristics so that she could conclude that they suffered
from some compulsive or obsessive disorder. She was never close to
the truth, but her guessing kept everyone entertained.

There was a light tap on the door and Tim popped his head
in.
“Your appointment is
here. Your secretary does not seem to know what time your
appointments are. She has gone to lunch. She has written nothing in
the book. Shall I let him in?”

Rebecca
was puzzled because she had no appointment that afternoon. “I am
sure you are mistaken. I have no appointments now. Perhaps Jessica
or Ralph?”

“
No, Princess. It is only you that I seek.”

There he
was, looking dashing in a dark blue suit and smiling with those
blue eyes.

“
Clayton!” She got up and he took this as an invitation to
pass Tim and come in.

“
Thanks Tim. Clayton is a friend of a friend, not a patient.
Please come in.”

Her
heart was beating fast at the sight of the blue eyes, watching her
as she squeezed her hands together and tried to look comfortable.
He seemed to fill the room, which was decorated with toys and teddy
bears and rainbows on the wall. He took his eyes off her and looked
around the room.

“
I decided that since you would not answer my calls, I would
come see you. I was quite willing to be a patient.” He was smiling.
“Perhaps I might need your services soon, according to
Jono.”

“
Yes, I’m sorry about that. I have been very busy.”

“Liar,”
he said and looked right into her eyes.

“
Where is the infamous couch, where I can unburden all my
deep, dark feelings to you?”

“
I work almost always with children and they sit down there.
So if you wish, please feel free.” She pointed to the beanbags on
the floor. He laughed and she simply looked at him.

“What
did you want to talk to me about?” She waved her arm to the
‘parent’ chairs.

“I
wanted to apologize for the inexcusable way I behaved at
Jono’s
house. It was totally
unwarranted. I guess I was feeling tense.”

“
You do seem to make habit of accusing me of things. I find it
rather disturbing.”

“
I know. I really want to make it up to you. What do you
desire?”

His eyes
has become darker, a rich dark blue, but his face was still
smiling.

“
Nothing. Thank you for coming over. Really, it is alright. It
is not as if we are likely to meet again.”

“
Why do you say that?”

“We both
have known Jono and Jackie, or rather Double J, a long time and we
have never met. I can’t see why it would be different now. I don’t
socialize with their legal friends. I find it tedious when they ask
me all sorts of analyses about their clients.”

She was
trying to talk to disguise her nervousness. She did not like the
fact that she did not feel in control right now. He was standing
there, casual and comfortable, while her stomach was doing
somersaults as he looked at her. It was just
unacceptable.

“
I feel really bad about the way I behaved. Can’t I just take
you to dinner or a long lunch? I promise I will accuse you of
nothing.”

He had
tilted his head slightly, pleading, but not quite.

“
Okay, perhaps we can meet for lunch. When are you
free?”

He
smiled in a slow easy way, like a Cheshire cat that got the cream.
He had not expected her to say yes, she realized.
Damn! I should have
been sharper than that
,
she chided herself.

“
Now.”

“
What?”

“
Now, I am free now. So, let’s go for lunch.”

“
Well, but I have to be back...”

“
No, Denise told me that you are free this afternoon. Yes,
don’t look so surprised. I phoned so many times for you, that
Denise and I have become friends. She has been most
helpful.”

“
Oh, I will deal with her later. Alright. Let’s
go.”

“
We are going to Monet’s. Jono says you like it
there.”

“
Have you got the whole world conspiring against
me?”

He
threw back
his head and laughed.

~ ~ ~
~

Rebecca was feeling a little frustrated. How could he be so
calm when she felt out of control? He made her nervous and jumpy,
while he calmly went about his business. She was also surprised how
different he was to what she had expected. For one, he drove a
standard
Dodge Calibre,
a functional car. She had expected something more flashy and large.
At the same time, he wore expensive tailor-made suits, which did
not fit the image. Jonathan had told her that he was a famous
constitutional lawyer and that was constantly offered money and
status in large firms, but he had refused. He had also been sought
for prestigious political appointments. He sounded like a good
lefty, but he looked like a corporate lawyer. He was neat and
precise, both in his appearance and his movements. When they got to
Monet’s he was very charming and friendly, as if he went there
often, but she was sure she would have remembered if she had seen
him there. He chatted amicably with her, about the world and random
things. He spoke a little about his work. Rebecca watched in total
enthralment. He was handsome when he smiled. He was not mocking or
teasing her today and she liked his relaxed
manner.

“
Clayton, what is it about your work that makes you enjoy
it?”

He
looked at her for a long moment, his blue eyes glowing.

“It is
about who I am, I suppose. I enjoy the challenge of beating big
corporate firms when they try to bully ordinary people. I used to
have a firm which only did that kind of work. I really enjoyed it
there, but I eventually found that I had to work for the government
to make real change. I love the fact that I protect the innocent
from the bad. It sounds very simple, but that is exactly what it
is. Also, I guess my ego enjoys the feeling of dependence and power
I get when I help people. I enjoy it most of the time. Other times
I am just too tired. Do you understand?”

“Yes, of
course. It makes perfect sense. You are very lucky to have the
opportunity to do what you love. Most people never do. Most of our
patients’ biggest problem is that they never seem to be able to do
what they love. They simply go through the motions of
living.”

“
Hmm. And you Princess. Why do you do what you do?”

“I like
the children and like you, I like the power to be able to help or
protect them. I used to do general work, until one day I helped a
little boy get away from his abusive father. It gave me a wonderful
sense of pride and achievement. So I started working with
traumatized children. Of course, that meant I also had to give
evidence in court. That’s how I met Jono. I also will never have
children and I act as a surrogate mother to these kids.
I...”

“
Why not?”

“
Why not what?”

“
Why won’t you have children?”

“
Ur.., I can’t explain. I don’t really want to answer that
question. Let’s talk about something else.”

He
was silent for a while, deciding whether to insist, but he realized
that it was a painful subject for her, so he left it alone.
I will get it out
her someday.

“
Jono wants to do something different for their anniversary
this year. Any ideas?”

“I don’t
know. Jackie is complaining that they never go away, so I am sure
she would like to go away somewhere to celebrate. But Jono will
complain that he sees her all the time anyway and all he is doing
is the same thing, but without his home comforts. I’m sure he will
prefer a party with other people. He likes his male bonding
sessions.”

“
Yes, I guess you are right. That’s perfect.”

“
What’s perfect?”

“That
they go away somewhere with all their friends. A nice getaway.
That’s a good idea, Rebecca.”

“
I didn’t say that!”

“Ah, but
that has to be the answer. This way they both get what they
want.”

“
All right, I suppose so.”

“Yes.
Make sure you are available on weekend of the twenty-third. It
gives you two weeks to keep the boyfriends away.”

“No way. I do not socialise with
Jono’s
legal friends. I keep away from the
lawyers outside of work. That is probably why you and I have never
met before.”

“Jono does not socialize with many lawyers. Most of his
friends are in fact from Jackie’s world. He likes the arty type.
Apart from me, I am sure there will be no lawyers there and I
promise I will not ask you to
analyze
anybody.”

“
I don’t know. Speak to Jono about that first.”

“I will
do. But keep the weekend free, especially since Monday is also a
public holiday.”

“
Okay, okay.”

They
chatted about other things and eventually left Monet’s at four that
afternoon. Clayton was not in a hurry to get anywhere and when they
got to her office, he followed her inside the building. Denise was
sitting at the front desk, eyeing him curiously.

“
Denise, this is Clayton. I gather you have spoken on the
phone.”

“
Yes, I am so pleased to meet you at last.”

She was
smiling and gushy to him and was trying to work out why her boss
had refused to take calls from such a dish, who, according to Tim,
called her princess. He was so sexy and charming that she giggled
at everything he said to her.

“
Yes, Denise, I am extremely pleased to meet you. You have
been a kind and sympathetic soul to me. I am most
grateful.”

He
lifted her hand and kissed it. Denise was so thrilled.

“Come
along, Mr Charmer. Let’s go before the gossip starts.” Rebecca
whispered to him.

“
I am afraid I must go. Princess is demanding my
attention.”

He
laughed at Denise’s wide eyes.

She shut
the door as soon as he was inside.

“
Thanks a lot. I can imagine the stories that will be made of
this. Would you like some coffee?”

“
No, I must be going back to my office. I will speak to you
soon, okay?” and he was gone.

~ ~ ~
~

Clayton was disturbed by his desire for this woman and his
strange behaviour when she was around. More importantly he was
concerned by his bizarre need to touch her. He wanted so
desperately to touch her back that it drove him crazy. He was also
disturbed by the strong emotions he experienced when he was around
her. He had almost felt her pain when she spoke about not having
children and he had the urge to protect and comfort her. This was
not his style at all. He had never discussed his passion for his
work with any women except Suzanne and she had never understood.
Here was Rebecca, a stranger, and she had needed no real
explanation. He had been touched by her understanding of him and
who he was.
I am being silly. She is a psychologist. That is what they
do, listen to people.
His attraction to this woman was affecting his brain. He
had gone there just to apologise, but had found himself unable to
leave. The story he had concocted about Jonathan’s anniversary
surprised him. All Jonathan had said as that his anniversary was in
two weeks’ time. He had built an opportunity for himself to see her
again. He had better confess his sins to Jonathan fast. This was
not his style. He had long learnt that his ‘love them and leave
them’ attitude towards woman was perfect. They did not bother him
with lies and manipulations and he did not bother with them at all.
After sex was home time, neat and simple. Jonathan called it his
‘hit and run’ strategy. He was trying to reason with himself about
these things when he passed Jonathan’s office.

“
Hey, lazy bones. Where have you been? Lorraine is going crazy
looking for you. It seems you went out for a few minutes and didn’t
return. So who is your new lover?”

“
Lover? No, I was just distracted.”

“
Loraine is convinced that there is some woman keeping from
work and that I know all about it. She tried your cell phone a
zillion times.”