All Because of You (Lakeview #2) (31 page)

Still
judging  by the banter going on just now between Tara and Luke, she thought wryly, Tara – unlike herself – didn’t seem to be at all worried about what Glenn might think.

“I don’t know how you sleep at night,” Tara was saying now, and Liz tried to tune into their conversation once more.

“Are the mice that bad?” she asked Luke. “You really should invest in one of those plug-in things – then they wouldn’t keep you awake at night.”

Tara and Luke looked at one another and grinned –
again
. OK, Liz thought, it was starting to get a bit annoying now.

“We stopped talking about the mice ages ago, Liz,” Tara said. “I was just asking Luke how he can justify what he does for a living.”

“Why should I have to justify it?” Luke gave a nonchalant shrug. “It’s what I do.”

“Are you joking? Drilling for all that oil? You’re raping the earth’s resources.”

Liz groaned and reached for her drink. “Oh dear,
please
don’t get her started on the environment.” 

“Ah, so Tara’s a Green, is she?”

“Of course I’m a Green. Why wouldn’t I be? Why wouldn’t
anyone
be?”

“So, you reuse and recycle and you’ve got your own compost heap, and all that stuff?”

“Of course.” Tara nodded proudly. “We all have to take responsibility for the environment, an environment that the likes of you and your oil companies are destroying.”

“I see. So you regularly use recycling centres then?”

“Yep. I take my bottles and cans there every week.”

“Every week?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “Well done, you.”

“It’s not that much of an effort. It’s only a few minutes away in the car.”

As soon as Tara had said the words, Liz realised that she was blindly falling into the trap Luke was so obviously setting for her. But she said nothing.

“Oh. So you
drive
to the recycling centre, do you?”

Tara hesitated slightly. “Well, I have to – it’s a mile away from our house.”

“I see. So, it’s OK to drive your car and send all that carbon monoxide into the atmosphere because you’re going to the recycling centre, is it?”

“Well, no, but …”

“Take any holidays recently?” Luke asked then.

Liz smiled. An almighty battle was about to commence and by the sounds of things, she’d be much better off staying out of it. Tara had finally met her match.

“Yes,” Tara replied hesitantly.

“Oh, where did you go?”

Her mouth set in a hard line. “Egypt.”

“I see. And did you happen to get on your bike and cycle all the way to Egypt, and then sleep under the stars with the Bedouins, before cycling all the way back home again?”

Tara was silent.

“Well?” he prompted.

She rolled her eyes. “No, I flew.”

“What? You flew?” Luke pretended to be aghast. “A conscientious environmentalist like you got into one of those nasty machines that uses jet fuel, and pumps out gallons of pollution into the atmosphere? That same atmosphere you’re so obsessed with saving?”

Liz wanted to laugh, but one look at Tara’s expression made her think better of it. 

Luke shook his head. “And you have the nerve to cri
ticise me?”

“Look, I never said anything about going overboard!” Tara cried, totally wrong-footed now. “I just think that all of us should do our bit to help the environment.  I mean, what about global warming and the melting icecaps and all that?”

“A myth,” Luke said, reaching for his pint. “The atmosphere’s been heating up and recooling for centuries. It’s nothing new.”

“But it is!” Tara retorted. “The icecaps are melting, there are floods and weird weather and droughts and it’s all because of – ”

“So, you think you can solve all that by bringing a few bottles to the bottle bin? Get real. The earth’s been around for millions – billions of years. Why is it that the likes of us – who have only been around for half a second in the scheme of things – are so bloody egotistical as to think that
we
get to control the environment? The earth survived without human intervention for billions of years, and I’m sure it will do just fine without us.”

Liz looked at Tara for a reaction to this, but none was forthcoming. For the first time as long as she’d known her, Liz saw her best friend rendered utterly speechless.

Yep she thought, shaking her head at the realisation, they really were perfect
for one another.

“He sounds so sweet,” Tara sighed on the other end of the telephone line when Natalie told her all about Jay’s London Eye surprise.

“He is,” she agreed. “It’s weird, Tara – I’ve never had anyone do something like that for me – ever.”

“Neither have most of us – but this guy certainly seems to know how to push all the right buttons. You’re certain he’s not married?”

Natalie could understand why she’d asked the question. She’d wondered the same thing herself, feeling that a man with money, good looks and a personality had to be too good to be true. But no, she and Jay had discussed their respective love lives at length that Saturday, when after their highly enjoyable trip on the Eye, they’d gone for drink in Momo, a cosy Moroccan-themed wine bar in Mayfair.

She’d discovered that Jay was thirty-six, lived near Finchley and had worked in events and promotions for twelve years. 

“I’m at Labyrinth for almost six years now,” he told her. “I love it and we’ve got an amazing team, but I think I’d like to go out on my own someday.”

“I sometimes feel like that,” Natalie admitted, and with a start realised that she’d never verbalised this largely latent ambition. “But I just don’t know if a one-man or
woman
outfit would attract the calibre of client that Blue Moon does.”

“You’ve got an amazing reputation though – I’m sure that would count for something.”

“Do I really?” Natalie teased. “I see someone’s been checking up on me.”

Jay gave her sheepish look. “Well, I mentioned your name to couple of people – all of whom had nothing but good things to say.” He smiled. “They were especially complimentary about your bum.”

“Sexist bastards!” But Natalie smiled too. She’d never had an issue about using her sexuality in this line of work (within limits of course) and she was pleased to learn that the lipo-removal sessions were paying off. Although, if she continued scoffing burgers at
TGI Friday’s
, that wouldn’t be the case for too much longer!

But it was telling that Jay had asked around about her. It meant that he was interested enough to do so – although after what he’d arranged for their date that day, Natalie was no longer concerned about that. Even Tara would have to admit that any man who went to the trouble of arranging a private trip on the London Eye was interested!

“So you’re heading close to the big four-oh then,” Natalie stated, taking a sip from her wine glass.

“Yes, and with very little to show for it unfortunately.”

Her eyes widened. “A house in Finchley, a career in the legendary Labyrinth – how’s that nothing?”

“It’s just material stuff though, isn’t it? And money, success and all that doesn’t count for a whole lot when you get down to it.”

“So you never married, then?” Natalie asked, seeing as he’d steered the conversation towards the personal stuff.

He gave a faraway smile. “Never really found the right woman, to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of long-term relationships and ‘nearly’ women.”

“Nearly women?”

“Ones that might have made the cut, but didn’t.”

“‘Made the cut’?” Natalie repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“
Wow, that sounds really pompous,” Jay jumped in quickly. “What I meant was that I could have married certain women back then – simply for the sake of getting married. But somehow, I knew deep down it wouldn’t last and so I thought what’s the bloody point?”

That’s the difference between you and me then, Natalie thought suddenly. Because she’d been with lots of men she knew weren’t quite right, but wanted to marry them anyway, because she just wanted to be married. Jay was right. It was crazy to mess around with something like that, simply for the sake of it. 

Tara had of course told her the same thing, but it hadn’t really hit her how stupid she’d been about it all until now. At this stage, she could barely remember the faces, let alone the names of some of the men she’d seriously considered as husband material. She’d been so desperate to settle down, she’d felt that any man at all would do. She’d been that pathetic. 

Still, now that she’d come to that realisation, it made her all the more determined not to get it wrong this time. So, she wasn’t going to get carried away into thinking that Jay might just be the one, but at the same time, she didn’t want to let him slip through her fingers either.

“What do I do next?” she asked Tara now. “Do I phone his office and thank him for a lovely day, or do text in the hope of organising another one.”

“Don’t you even think about texting him!” Tara warned her. “I know what you’re like with a mobile phone!”

“OK.” Recalling her behaviour with Steve, Natalie was duly convinced.

“He didn’t say anything about going out again when he dropped you home?” Tara asked her.

“He didn’t drop me home as such – he just came as far as my place with me in the cab and then went home to his own. Tara, I was dying to ask him in! Especially after the cocktails at Momo.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to drink too much?” Tara scolded although her tone was light. “Still, I’m proud that you resisted the temptation all the same.”

“Well, I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it from you if I didn’t,” Natalie grunted. “Still, it leaves me in a bit of a pickle as to what to do next. Maybe he didn’t say anything because he was miffed that I didn’t ask him in.”

“From what you’ve told me about him already, that doesn’t seem his style.”

“Yes, but he organised this amazing thing with the London Eye with champagne and all that, and gets nothing at the end of it?”

“Natalie, I’ve told you before – it’s not about rewarding someone. Just because a man does something nice for you doesn’t mean that you have to automatically sleep with him. You have to get out of that mindset.”

“Yes, yes, I know. But that still leaves me at a loss as to what to do now.”

“You do nothing, my dear,” Tara assured her confidently. “You just continue to play it cool, sit tight and let him come to you.”

And yet again, Tara called it right. To Natalie’s delight, Jay phoned her midweek at work to arrange another date for the following weekend. Natalie was amazed at how much the other girl knew about handling the opposite sex.

“I’ve got Glenn, haven’t I?” Tara laughed, when Natalie told her this. “And through him, I’ve learned all there is to know about handling men.”

“But you’re so good at this anyway! And I honestly don’t think that the fact Jay is Irish has much to do it. You’re just a natural, Tara! I can’t understand why you don’t become a
dating
coach, instead of just a Life Coach!”

“Maybe I will after this,” Tara quipped, “and while I’m at it, I might become a marriage counsellor, a pregnancy counsellor and, if all else fails, I suppose I could always fall back on a career in pest control.”

“Sorry?”

“Oh, never mind,” Tara said with a little laugh. “It’s just this guy I met recently that lives next door to Liz. He’s afraid of mice and, as they don’t bother me, he asked me to help chase them out of his house.”

Natalie grinned. “Does anything
at all
bother you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you just seem so calm and in control of everything. I thought the same when I met you in Egypt. Nothing seems to faze you.”

“Things faze me,” Tara replied simply, “but I’ve learnt over the years not to let anything
really
get to me. What’s the point?”

Natalie shook her head. “I really admire you, Tara. You’ve really got it all under control – you and Glenn, your career, family, friends.”

“Under control? I wish!” Tara laughed easily. “Natalie, my youngest sister is pregnant by a mystery man, which of course means the whole family is up in arms, my best friend is going through a marriage crisis and these days Glenn and I are so busy with work that we barely see one another. It’s not
half
as calm and controlled as you make it sound!”

“And then you’ve got me whining on about my relationship problems too,” Natalie said, feeling guilty. “
Oh, I’m frightfully sorry, Tara – I really didn’t mean to take up so much of your time.”

“Oh Natalie, no, don’t be silly, that’s not at all what I meant!  To be honest, I’m enjoying this – and I think we’re making very good progress.”

“We certainly are!” Natalie laughed, relieved that at least Tara seemed to be getting some enjoyment out of all of this. “But are you sure you’ve got time to deal with me and my stupid problems too? It sounds as though you’ve got a lot going on at the moment.”