on New Year’s Eve. After a significant
pause, “Thornton’s chocolates!” was the only response the indignant Kerrie
could come up with.
“A
pen, or cool gadget, or cufflinks or tie or something cool and trendy I get,
but Thornton ’s chocolates ?” she repeated in shock horror.
“It
was a thank you gift for saving my life, Kerrie, not a bloody Christmas present
for a boyfriend!” Caitlin scowled at her friend before menacingly adding, “he’s
married for goodness sake, Kerrie. Quit going on about him.”
The
words came out much more harshly than Caitlin intended. She was annoyed with
her best friend and partly annoyed because, yes, seeing Daniel again today,
when she thought she would never see him again, had reminded her of how
gorgeous he was. And that he had saved her. And that in itself meant that he
was a one in a million person. Not many people would put their lives in danger
for someone they didn’t know. People only thought to save themselves these
days, and she didn’t blame them. Would she ever step into a fight to save a
stranger? She liked to think she would, but in reality, if it ever came down to
it, it wouldn’t surprise her if she pretended not to notice.
“Sorry
Caitlin. I shouldn’t keep going on about it. I- It – You always seemed to light
up when you spoke about the man who saved you. After Carl, I suppose any decent
man is a good thing. But this one, Daniel – he’s a bit of a looker. I just
thought you two might – you know……” Kerrie put down her soup spoon and wiped
her mouth. Slurping the soup was a messy experience.
“I
didn’t know he was married. How would I? You didn’t tell me you went to see
him. And I want to know why you left that bit of news out – but,” she placed a
hand in front of her, “that can wait until later.”
Caitlin
shrugged her shoulders. “He is good looking. He did save my life. You weren’t
to know. Let’s forget about it.”
“What’s
she like then?” Curiosity got the better of Kerrie.
“Who,
his wife?” asked Caitlin. “Tall, very thin, very blond. Very tall.”
“You
already said that about her.”
“And
her name is Marisa. When she’s not modeling, she’s a language teacher too.”
Caitlin scrunched up her nose at the unfairness of it all. Beauty and brains.
But she had seemed quite nasty towards Daniel from what she remembered.
Thinking
back to that day when she visited Daniel at home, Caitlin remembered thinking
it wasn’t such a close and loving relationship. His wife had hardly asked who
she was, had not even introduced herself and had not shown any interest in
Caitlin when she turned up. Come to think of it, Marisa and Daniel had barely
exchanged any words. And she had seen herself out of the door. Poor Martin, she
thought, feeling sorry for the boy, living in that house.
“Nasty?
To you?” Kerrie moved in closer towards the table.
“Maybe
nasty is too strong a word. She wasn’t very welcoming or overly friendly.”
Caitlin
said nothing more to Kerrie. She didn’t want her friend’s mind going into
overdrive. It had had enough excitement for the day as it was.
Heaving
a huge sigh and looking a little sad and lonely, Caitlin raised her head.
“Anyway,
it doesn’t matter how she was towards him. They’re married and that’s that. It’s
not as if I’m going to run into him again.”
She
moved the soup spoon towards her mouth and used the fork to haul up the noodles
before plunging it into her mouth.
Chapter Nine
The
following week was uneventful for the most part. Caitlin heard nothing further
from the detective and tried to get all thoughts about Carl out of her mind.
Then
on the Thursday, she had a phone call at work.
“Hi
Caitlin. Sorry to call you at work.” Her heart stopped, for that second. It was
Daniel. He continued in that quiet yet commanding voice of him, “The police
called me today and asked me if I would want to press charges against the man
who attacked
pause, “Thornton’s chocolates!” was the only response the indignant Kerrie
could come up with.
“A
pen, or cool gadget, or cufflinks or tie or something cool and trendy I get,
but Thornton ’s chocolates ?” she repeated in shock horror.
“It
was a thank you gift for saving my life, Kerrie, not a bloody Christmas present
for a boyfriend!” Caitlin scowled at her friend before menacingly adding, “he’s
married for goodness sake, Kerrie. Quit going on about him.”
The
words came out much more harshly than Caitlin intended. She was annoyed with
her best friend and partly annoyed because, yes, seeing Daniel again today,
when she thought she would never see him again, had reminded her of how
gorgeous he was. And that he had saved her. And that in itself meant that he
was a one in a million person. Not many people would put their lives in danger
for someone they didn’t know. People only thought to save themselves these
days, and she didn’t blame them. Would she ever step into a fight to save a
stranger? She liked to think she would, but in reality, if it ever came down to
it, it wouldn’t surprise her if she pretended not to notice.
“Sorry
Caitlin. I shouldn’t keep going on about it. I- It – You always seemed to light
up when you spoke about the man who saved you. After Carl, I suppose any decent
man is a good thing. But this one, Daniel – he’s a bit of a looker. I just
thought you two might – you know……” Kerrie put down her soup spoon and wiped
her mouth. Slurping the soup was a messy experience.
“I
didn’t know he was married. How would I? You didn’t tell me you went to see
him. And I want to know why you left that bit of news out – but,” she placed a
hand in front of her, “that can wait until later.”
Caitlin
shrugged her shoulders. “He is good looking. He did save my life. You weren’t
to know. Let’s forget about it.”
“What’s
she like then?” Curiosity got the better of Kerrie.
“Who,
his wife?” asked Caitlin. “Tall, very thin, very blond. Very tall.”
“You
already said that about her.”
“And
her name is Marisa. When she’s not modeling, she’s a language teacher too.”
Caitlin scrunched up her nose at the unfairness of it all. Beauty and brains.
But she had seemed quite nasty towards Daniel from what she remembered.
Thinking
back to that day when she visited Daniel at home, Caitlin remembered thinking
it wasn’t such a close and loving relationship. His wife had hardly asked who
she was, had not even introduced herself and had not shown any interest in
Caitlin when she turned up. Come to think of it, Marisa and Daniel had barely
exchanged any words. And she had seen herself out of the door. Poor Martin, she
thought, feeling sorry for the boy, living in that house.
“Nasty?
To you?” Kerrie moved in closer towards the table.
“Maybe
nasty is too strong a word. She wasn’t very welcoming or overly friendly.”
Caitlin
said nothing more to Kerrie. She didn’t want her friend’s mind going into
overdrive. It had had enough excitement for the day as it was.
Heaving
a huge sigh and looking a little sad and lonely, Caitlin raised her head.
“Anyway,
it doesn’t matter how she was towards him. They’re married and that’s that. It’s
not as if I’m going to run into him again.”
She
moved the soup spoon towards her mouth and used the fork to haul up the noodles
before plunging it into her mouth.
Chapter Nine
The
following week was uneventful for the most part. Caitlin heard nothing further
from the detective and tried to get all thoughts about Carl out of her mind.
Then
on the Thursday, she had a phone call at work.
“Hi
Caitlin. Sorry to call you at work.” Her heart stopped, for that second. It was
Daniel. He continued in that quiet yet commanding voice of him, “The police
called me today and asked me if I would want to press charges against the man
who attacked
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