Christ.’ He held his hand over his pounding heart.
‘No. It’s just me,’ Gabe said, blue eyes searing into Lou’s.
‘Have you ever heard of knocking? Where’s Alison?’ Lou leaned sideways to check her station and saw that it was empty. ‘How long have you been there?’
‘Long enough.’ Gabe’s voice was soft, and it was that which unnerved Lou most. ‘Trying to get me in trouble, Lou?’
‘What?’ Lou’s heart pounded wildly, still unrecovered from the surprise, and also alarmingly discomfited by Alison’s absence and Gabe’s proximity. The man’s very presence disconcerted him.
‘No,’ he swallowed, and he hated himself for his sudden weakness. ‘I just called Harry to see if he was happy with you. That’s all.’ He was aware of the fact he sounded like a schoolboy defending himself.
‘And is he?’
‘As it turns out, yes. But you must understand how I feel a responsibility to him for finding you.’
‘Finding me,’ Gabe smiled, and said the words as though he’d never heard them or pronounced them before.
‘What’s so funny about that?’
‘Nothing,’ Gabe continued the smile, and began looking around Lou’s office, hands in his pockets, with that same patronising look that was neither jealousy nor admiration.
‘It’s five twenty-two p.m. and thirty-three seconds now,’ Gabe said, not even looking at his watch. ‘Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six …’ He turned and smiled at Lou. ‘You get the idea.’
‘So?’ Lou put his suit jacket on and secretly tried to get a glimpse at his watch to make sure. It was spot-on five twenty-two.
‘You have to leave now, don’t you?’
‘What does it look like I’m doing?’
Gabe wandered over to the meeting table and picked up three pieces of fruit from the bowl – two oranges and an apple – which he inspected closely, one by one. ‘Decisions, decisions,’ he said. He held the three pieces of fruit in his hand.
‘Hungry?’ Lou asked, agitated.
‘No,’ Gabe laughed again. ‘You any good at juggling?’
That same feeling struck Lou’s heart, and he remembered exactly what it was that he didn’t like about Gabe. It was questions like that, statements and comments that pierced Lou somewhere other than where they should.
‘You’d better get that,’ Gabe added.
‘Get what?’
Before Gabe could respond, the phone rang and, despite preferring having Alison screen his calls, he dove for it.
It was Ruth.
‘Hi honey.’ He motioned to Gabe for privacy, but Gabe began juggling the fruit in response. Lou turned his back, and then, feeling uncomfortable with Gabe behind him, he faced front to keep an eye on Gabe. He lowered his voice.
‘Em, yeah, about tonight, something’s come up and –’
‘Lou, don’t do this to me,’ Ruth said. ‘Lucy’s heart will be broken.’
‘It’s just the play I won’t make, sweetheart, and Lucy won’t even notice I’m not there, the place will be so dark. You can tell her I was there. The rest of the night is fine. Mr Patterson asked me to meet with a client of ours. It’s a big deal, and it could help me with getting Cliff ’s job, you know?’
‘I know, I know. And then if you do get a promotion, you’ll be away from us even more.’
‘No, no, I won’t be. I just have to really slog for these months to prove myself.’
‘Who are you trying to prove yourself to? Laurence already knows your capabilities, you’ve been with the company five years. Anyway, I don’t want to get into this conversation now. Will you make the play or not?’
‘The play?’ Lou bit his lip and looked at his watch. ‘No, no, I won’t make it.’
Gabe dropped the apple, which rolled across the carpet towards Lou’s desk, and continued juggling with the oranges. Lou felt a childish sense of satisfaction that Gabe had failed.
‘So you’ll make it home for dinner? With your parents and Alexandra and Quentin? Your mum has just been on the phone saying how much she’s looking forward to it. You know, it’s a month since you’ve called to see them.’
‘It’s not been a month since I’ve seen them. I saw Dad just,’ he went quiet while calculating the time in his head, ‘well, you know, maybe it’s almost a month.’ A month? How the time had flown.
For Lou, visiting his parents was a chore, like making the bed. After not doing it for some time, the sight of the untidy blankets would play on his mind until he’d do it to get it over and done with. He’d instantly feel a satisfaction that it had been completed, and just when he thought it was over with and out of the way, he’d wake up and know he had to go and do it all over again. The thought of his father complaining to him about how it had been so long since he’d seen him made Lou want to run in the other direction. It was the same one whinging sentence that drove him insane. Though partly it made him feel guilty, it mostly made him want to stay away longer to avoid hearing those words. He needed to be in the mood to hear it, to detach the sentiments from his head so that he wouldn’t bark back and rattle off the hours he’d been working and the deals he’d negotiated, just to shut his father up. He was most certainly not in the mood today. Maybe if he got home when they’d all had a few drinks it would be easier.
‘I might not make dinner but I’ll be there for dessert. You have my word on that.’
Gabe dropped an orange and Lou felt like punching the ceiling with celebration. Instead he pursed his lips and continued to make excuses to Ruth for everything, refusing to apologise for something that was totally out of his control. Lou finally hung up the phone and folded his arms across his chest.
‘What’s so funny?’ Gabe asked, throwing the one remaining orange up and down in his hand, the other hand in his pocket.
‘Not such a good juggler, are you?’ he smirked.
‘Touché,’ Gabe smiled. ‘You’re very observant. Indeed, I’m not a good juggler, but it’s not really juggling if I’d already chosen to drop those two and keep this one in my hand, is it?’
Lou frowned at the peculiar response and busied himself at his desk, putting on his overcoat and preparing to leave.
‘No, Gabe, it’s certainly not juggling if you choose …’ He stopped suddenly, realising what he was saying and hearing Ruth’s voice in his head. His head snapped up, feeling that cold chill again, but Gabe was gone and the orange was before him on his desk.
‘Alison,’ Lou marched out of his office with the orange in his hand, ‘did Gabe just walk
