Holiday Affair (8 page)

With trembling hands, she pinned her hair back and applied fresh lipstick as the memory of their night together filled her thoughts. Lissy swallowed back the tears as she rummaged in her handbag for a rarely used compact, and then patted a little bit of natural beige powder onto her flushed cheeks. She drank a big glass of water from the cooler in the corner of her office and she felt a semblance of control return. She picked up her laptop and headed upstairs to the faculty administration offices.

Nancy, Professor Andrews’ secretary, ushered her in, with a huge smile.

“Lovely tan, Melissa. Did you have a nice break?” After a brief conversation, she entered the large office and joined Professor Andrews and Nick at a casual low table in the corner.

“Professor Richards has carried out extensive research in the Pacific over the past two years, and we are proud to be associated with his final research paper.

Dr. McIntyre, I want you to put your work aside for the rest of the semester and assist the professor with the final research and writing of the report. Your previous research will lead into his perfectly. I anticipate that the paper will acknowledge you as a co-author and that will look magnificent on your curriculum vitae. As you know, there is another associate professorship coming up later this year and you would be well placed to apply, as co-author of a report of this importance.”

Nick sat quietly as Professor Andrews outlined the project to Lissy. He was polite and considerate and showed a keen interest in her previous research, asking several pertinent questions. Lissy stood to leave.

“Thank you, Professor Andrews, that is a wonderful offer and I will give it serious thought,” she said. It was a golden opportunity to advance her academic career. To be an associate professor by thirty would be amazing.

“Dr. McIntyre, you have misunderstood. It is a fait accompli,” replied Professor Andrews. “One of our new research assistants took over your project while you were on holiday. I have placed Professor Richards in the office next to yours and I expect you to start work together immediately. I am sorry if that inconveniences you.” He looked over his glasses at her, not looking the least bit sorry, more confused at her reluctance to take this opportunity.

“I have also cancelled all leave for the rest of the semester as we are under funding pressure to get all of our research papers finalized by then.” Lissy looked at Nick, who was sitting there quietly and turned to Professor Andrews.

“I would be delighted to work with Professor Richards, sir. I am sure we will forge a productive partnership.” Professor Andrews indicated he had another meeting to attend and as they left his office, Nick turned to Lissy.

“Can I see you in your office, Dr. McIntyre?”

“Certainly, give me ten minutes,” she said, her face expressionless, as they entered the corridor together.

…

A short time later, Nick tapped lightly on Lissy’s office door, unsure of the welcome he would receive. The damn woman confused him no end. Seeing her at his family home, obviously cozy with Tom, had given him a tight knot in his stomach.

He had felt her sadness so strongly when they had dinner on the Island, and had no regrets about spending the night with her.
He’d felt like an utter louse leaving her all rosy and sweetly asleep, but the strong attraction he felt to her had frightened him and he decided he was not going to risk his heart again
.
If he’d known he was going to see her again…

He ran his hand through his hair, still not used to the short haircut his mother had given him last night. He had gone to the farm on his motorcycle after Lissy had closed the door on him, hoping the ride would clear his head.

“Dominic, you look like a bum.” Tessa tapped his head with the clippers. “You need to look like a professor.” He enjoyed sitting in front of the fire as his mother cut his hair and caught him up on all the family news.

“What about Tomas, Mama? Is this a serious romance?” he asked casually. Tessa laughed.

“No, I don’t think so. Remember Tomas’s life plan says marriage at thirty-five and we have a couple of years to go before that. Although, I wouldn’t mind. She seems like a very lovely girl.”They both laughed as they recalled Tom’s list-making and structured planning that he had started when he was a child.

“Remember the list on his bedroom wall when he was ten,” said Tessa laughing.

“Seven o’clock, wake up, seven fifteen eat breakfast, seven thirty, brush my teeth,” they chanted together. Tessa paused, holding the clippers aloft, looking thoughtful.

“I watched Melissa and she looked quite sad. She was far away in her thoughts a lot of the time during dinner.” Nick bit his tongue; he didn’t want any inkling of his relationship with Lissy to get to his brother. Tom had gone out with Olivia before she moved on to Nick, eventually dumping him after all and marrying a rich grazier.

Obviously neither of the Richards brothers had measured up financially in those days.

He came back to the present as Lissy called him to come in. He opened the door to the office and walked in.

She sat straight-backed behind her desk and he took a moment to look around her office, noticing a couple of photos on the wall. Beach scenes with two elderly men in the foreground, in front of old fishing boats.

“Take a seat,” she said primly. Before he sat, he wandered over and looked closely at the photos.

“Your grandfather and his boat?” he asked gently. He looked at her and was surprised to see the traces of tears on her cheeks. Her lipstick was gone and she had a tight expression on her face. She nodded and pointed to the chair.

“Where shall we start, Professor? I am not at all familiar with your research.”

So that’s the way it was going to be. Straight to business.

Her hands were clasped tightly on the desk and he saw the effort she was making to keep her emotions hidden.

He sat in the chair opposite her and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he dropped his head in his hands. Shaking his head he asked, “How are we going to do this, Lissy? What a mess.”

“What do you mean? A mess?”

“Well, to be honest, you don’t like me…and I don’t trust you, so how are we going to work together?” Lissy stood up so suddenly her chair tipped over behind her and hit the ground with a loud crash. She strode around her desk.

“You don’t trust me,” she said with a strange look on her face. He looked up at her.

“Did you say, you don’t trust me?” she repeated, her voice getting louder. She pushed his shoulders and he had to balance to stop the chair from tipping back.

“Let me tell you something, Mr. High and Mighty Professor, Mr. Spoiled and Idolized Big Brother, Mr. Just Drifting around the Pacific Liar! You’re the one who can’t be trusted. I am sick of your ‘holier than thou’ attitude.

You want to lay all the ground rules? Well, now I’ll tell you how we’ll work together. You will show me some respect, you will develop some integrity, and you will not tell me what to do with my life. Is that clear?” He looked up at her, eyes flashing and that wonderful hair, falling from that ridiculous clip. He reached up and pulled the clip from her hair, and studied her as her eyes widened. She backed away from him until she was against the door. He stood up and walked over to her, watching the wary expression on her face. The anger died. Aggression slid into desire. The tenor of his stance changed, and he broke eye contact to lean forward and slide his lips down her bare neck. His lips paused just below her ear and he felt her shiver.

She turned her head and he found her lips. He was not touching her with any other part of his body; his palms were braced against the door above her head. In her heels, she was almost as tall as he was, and he only had to dip his head slightly to taste her sweet lips.

Soft and willing lips opened beneath his; she closed her eyes as she gave in to him. His tongue danced with hers, and then he moved his lips to feather soft kisses across her cheeks and slide down her neck once more.

He felt her trembling. He paused and placed his forehead against hers.

“Oh, Lissy. What are we going to do? I’m like a fourteen-year old boy around you.”

“How about we go somewhere public and lay down some ground rules for work and home?”

“One more kiss,” he said pulling her into him. He could not believe the effect this woman had on him. He had never felt so attracted to a woman in his life. The hard part was he knew that he couldn’t trust her. He was sure she was playing head games with both he and Tom.

He pulled out of the kiss with a groan, ran his hand through his cropped hair and looked at her, feeling disgusted with his behavior.

“Cafeteria, five minutes.” He walked out and pulled the door shut firmly behind him.

It took fifteen minutes before Lissy was composed enough to go to the food court. She stood at the door of the cafeteria and saw Nick sitting reading the paper, with a mug of coffee in front of him. The cafeteria was crowded and noisy and that was just how she liked it for this meeting. She went to the counter, ordered her coffee and moved across to join him at the table.

“Thank you for meeting with me, Dr. McIntyre.” His voice was calm, without a trace of emotion, and she nodded in return.

“What I would like to do is discuss our research and how we are going to work together. We are both mature adults and professionals, and know that we have some personal issues. However, you’ll agree that we have to work around this to get the research report completed.

You’re aiming for your associate professorial promotion and I want to finish my thesis. This research is critical for both of us. Do you agree?”

She nodded.

“What I propose is that once we’re finished at the end of semester, I’ll return to the Pacific and continue my studies in the field, and we will not have to spend anymore time together.”

She looked at him, trying to imagine not seeing him.

“Well?” he asked. “Do you have an opinion on that?” She certainly did. The thought of not seeing him again tore at her heartstrings, but there was no way she was going to share that with him.

“That sounds like a good plan, Professor. I also think that a lot of our collaboration can be done by email, and we shouldn’t need to meet more than once a week to discuss our progress in person. Do you agree with that?” He nodded. She drained her coffee cup, stood up, and left him to his paper and coffee.

Lissy returned to her office and decided to leave early and work from home. After she cleared her mail, emailed some files to herself and set her laptop to auto reply, she walked past Jenny’s office and put her hand in the door.

“Hey, Jen. I have decided to take a half day of time in lieu, to get myself organized. I’m going to be snowed under with the new project and I need some personal time.” Jen looked at her with concern.

“Are you feeling okay? You’re very flushed.”

“Just a head cold coming on, back in the air conditioning. I’ll see you in the morning.” Lissy took the long route home and pulled up at the lookout on the edge of town. She stood at the brass compass plate that pointed in all directions to many locations, and traced her finger over the arrow that pointed east and said Coffs Harbour, 118 miles. Looking east, she saw paddocks of brown grass burned by the early frosts of winter, dotted with sheep, very different to the verdant green of the coast and even further from the sapphire vista of the Islands that were embedded in her heart.

Not only did the pictures of the boat and islands flash through her head, but a tanned sailor with a bandanna around his head, singing a silly song to her filled her thoughts. The same sailor who had taken her to places she had never been before, in an unforgettable night of passion. She stood looking toward the east for a long time. If only Gramps was still alive. She had some big life decisions to make. Tears spilled down her face and she angrily brushed them away. Looking around, she saw that she was alone.

Okay, Lissy, let it all out, and then apply some analytical
methods to this problem
. She put her hand down on her arms and let the tears come.

She blew her nose, climbed back into her car, and turned the car toward home, putting in her favorite mix CD, sang along, and felt much better when she turned into the driveway. Mrs. Mac was in her garden as usual, and she looked up with a worried expression on her face. She took one look at Lissy’s red eyes and stood with her hands on her ample hips. She wagged her finger at Lissy as she opened the car door.

“I knew something was wrong when that man turned up on Saturday. Then you were bunkered down in your cottage all weekend. Come on, we’re going to have some lunch and a nice cup of tea, and you can tell me all about it.”

Taking Lissy’s hand, she led her into across the driveway, through her wild cottage garden and up the steps into a warm welcoming kitchen. Soup bubbled on the old combustion stove and the smell of baking bread made Lissy’s mouth water.

“Mrs. Mac, you’re a sweetheart,” said Lissy, pulling out a kitchen chair and sitting at the old table in the middle of the kitchen. Her elderly landlady bustled around and made a pot of tea, covering it with a knitted tea cosy with pink tassels hanging down the sides.

She poured Lissy a cup, and handed her a piece of warm bread, dripping with butter. “Soup’s nearly ready.”

“I’ll have to go for an extra long walk now!” said Lissy laughing.

“Now,” said Mrs. Mac, “what are all these tears about?” Lissy took a sip of her tea and thought about how much to tell Mrs. Mac. She had to be careful. Armidale was a small city and the Richards family were well known.

She also had to think of Nick’s reputation, as well as her own. On the other hand, she knew she could trust Mrs.

Mac. She was a kind friend who had supported Lissy since she had moved into town two years ago, not knowing a soul. Mrs. Mac sat down at the table and reached across for Lissy’s hands, and rubbed her fingers.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me. I know it has to do with that man. Never trust a man on a motorbike. They were always my undoing when I was young!” Mrs. Mac winked at Lissy and giggled.