awkward, I slowed my pace even more, not wanting to interrupt. And mostly just wanting to find an accommodating hedge to hide behind for a few minutes, but that, apparently, wasn’t to be.
‘Hi Kate,’ Michael called as he finally saw me. I smiled and waved as I approached the doorway. My client turned to his companion. ‘This is the woman I was telling you about.’
Oh?
‘Ah! You are the miracle worker?’ She laughed, her gorgeous French accent topping off her perfection. No wonder Michael was looking so pleased. ‘Michael has told me what a difference you have made to his house. It is all so beautiful. I can hardly imagine it as he describes it before.’
Oh. Right. Of course. So, I guess that meant the house tours were back on now.
‘It’s what I do!’ I sort of half laughed and turned my palms up, as I locked away everything that had begun revealing itself over the weekend spent at Janey’s, realising now that any thoughts in that direction were completely misguided. See? This is what happens when you start opening up to people.
First the Calum disaster and now thinking that there was the distinct possibility I had feelings for Michael and the even more ridiculous notion that he might return them. What was I thinking? I glanced back at the woman, thought of the photos of his wife, and the woman I’d seen him chatting up in the pub that time. They had one thing in common: They were all outstandingly beautiful. I glanced back at Michael as he kissed his visitor on the cheek. As was he.
For God’s sakes, Kate. Get a grip. You were never in with a shot here.
His visitor stepped elegantly down the steps and waved before sliding into a brand new sporty Mercedes. She started the engine, blew Michael a kiss through the window and pulled away.
‘I…err, hope I didn’t interrupt anything. It’s always OK to reschedule if something…comes up.’ That probably wasn’t the ideal turn of phrase but I was already committed.
‘Not at all. Selene was just leaving anyway.’ His smile was open and friendly. I stepped inside and shed my outer layers, saying hello to Pilot and giving him a good ear rub at the same time.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, taking my coat off me to hang it up.
‘Great, thanks. You?’
He smiled. ‘I’m fine. But I wasn’t the one who was sick.’
I waved my hand. ‘I’m all done with that. No more time to dedicate to lounging around.’
Michael gave me a head shake.
‘Your friend seemed to like the house. I’m really happy that you’re feeling more comfortable about having people round now. That’s really great progress Michael. I’m so pleased.’
‘Oh yeah. She was really impressed. Don’t be surprised if you get some commissions from her. Would you consider travelling to Paris for the odd job?’
I laughed, and then realised he was serious.
‘What?’
‘Selene’s family has a construction business that, although based here, does a lot of work in Europe, France especially. When I told her about what you’d done here, she mentioned that she thought some of her friends might benefit from your services.’
‘Oh right. Well. Wow. I guess I’ll just cross that bridge if and when I come to it. Thank you though, for whatever it is that you said.’
‘You’re your own recommendation Katie.’
My mind was turning over his words. ‘So, she’s in construction?’ I asked, attempting to put as much casualness into the conversation as humanly possible.
‘Yeah.’ He gave me a quizzical look. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘No reason. Just being conversational.’ He was still giving me that look. ‘Looking at her you’d think she was in fashion, rather than construction. She’s gorgeous.’
He made a gesture of acceptance with his head. ‘She is. And, of course, ordinarily she wears a hard hat all the time. I don’t know why she didn’t today. It normally finishes off her look beautifully, I think.’
I pulled a face. ‘Funny.’
He gave me an amused look in return. His face looked so much more relaxed these days, and the hard planes of it now just added attraction rather than enhancing a spikiness of character.
‘Anyway,’ I said, ‘I’m glad that we’ve made enough difference for you to feel happy enough to show your…friends around. That’s obviously a big improvement on where we were a month ago.’ I smiled and tried to push away the disappointment I felt, not to mention confusion at that disappointment even existing.
‘I know. Who’d have thought, eh? And, more good news, there’s this huge project I wanted in on and apparently it’s now down to me and one other guy. They’re going to make a decision later this week.’
‘Oh, that’s great! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.’
‘Thanks. I already have you to thank for getting me this far.’
I had a foot on the bottom step, and his words made me turn.
‘Me?’
‘You,’ he said, coming up to me. Even one stair up, he was still taller than me. ‘Without you coming here and doing this, and making the decision to sort out my office first, I never would have got it together enough to get my pitch in on time.’
It wasn’t very cool or professional but I couldn’t stop it: I beamed at him. ‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘I’m so pleased Michael, I can’t tell you how much. I could tell you loved this house and the history you have with it, with your family, but it was pretty obvious you weren’t getting everything out of it that you could. Looking at you now, you just seem so much more relaxed, and well, happy to be here. And the fact that you’re being more productive, it’s just great because that’s clearly making you happier too.’
‘It is. But there’s something else.’
‘Please don’t tell me you’ve found another ten boxes of stuff!’
He shook his head. ‘No. I think it might be worse than that.’
‘Oh no.’ Just as I was convinced we had managed to hit the target Janey and Michael had set. What on earth could it be?
‘Katie – ’
His phone started bouncing on the table as it vibrated, trilling out its ringtone.
Michael’s eyes closed briefly before he turned to grab it. He looked at the screen. ‘I’m sorry. I really need to take this.’
‘It’s OK. I’ll head up and just take a note as to what’s left to do now. Just come up when you’re done. No rush.’
He
