suggesting we get a distasteful task over and done with, but I suddenly realised she was as excited about this as I was. It wasn’t in her tone, but it was sure as hell in her eyes, the shared sense of relief that we’d found each other. ‘How about you pick the restaurant this time, and I’ll try to wear shoes.’
‘Deal,’ I said, once the celebrations in my brain had eased off and I could speak again. ‘And who exactly am I having dinner with?’
‘Lilah,’ she said firmly. ‘Lilah who will meet you at the five p.m. ferry tonight.’
‘What if I break my ankle and can’t make it? How will I contact you?’
‘Send one of your evil advertising minions to give me a message.’ She was glancing again to the revolving door, and I knew I’d pushed my luck already. No, finding out her real name would have to wait. But that was okay. I could be patient, as long as there was a chance. ‘I’m sorry, Callum, I really have to go—we’re on a break from court and I need to get back to my team and prepare for the afternoon session. I’ll see you at five?’
‘You will,’ I said, and she nodded curtly and disappeared through the revolving doors. I watched her go then turned back towards my office, the grin on my face so broad that I felt the stretch in my cheeks.
----
T he day was now a certified write-off. I sat in my office with the door closed, interspersing brief sprints of essential work tasks between long stretches of daydreaming.
When the time finally clicked over to four, I gave up on work for the day and left the office. I’d meant what I’d said to Lilah about Sydney energising me and there was something particularly inspiring about Friday afternoons. So many suits, all rushing—towards home, towards a bar, towards the park. I disappeared into the crowd and emerged when I spotted some flowers in a window. Maybe the gesture was quaint, maybe it was antiquated, but I needed to somehow express that I was enthralled.
And at five p.m., I was waiting at the turnstiles when she appeared. It was a long way off dark yet but the shadows were beginning to grow long, and a cool breeze was coming off the harbour. She’d let her hair out and the wind was stirring it. I had to remind myself to breathe. Belatedly, it occurred to me that environmental types might not appreciate cut flowers. I looked from her rapidly approaching figure to the bouquet in my hand and contemplated tossing them into the nearest bin.
Too late. She was right before me.
‘You bought me flowers,’ Lilah said. She was surprisingly, blessedly , pleased. ‘How sweet. Thanks, Callum.’
I had to clear my throat to speak.
‘You said you’d wear your shoes. It seemed the least I could do.’
She grinned at me and to my delight reached up to plant an innocent kiss on my cheek. I caught a hint of her shampoo as she brushed passed me. Lemon? Some hippy nature stuff for sure. The sand and the brine from the night before had been well and truly washed away.
‘So where’s dinner? Somewhere more impressive than that last crappy place, I hope.’ She was teasing me and I loved it.
‘You haven’t abandoned the vegan lifestyle today, by any chance?’
‘Sorry, can’t say I have.’
‘I guess that means the steakhouse is out.’ I gestured back the way she’d come, away from the ferries. She seemed surprised.
‘We’re eating in the city then?’
‘Prepare to be amazed.’
----
I ’d found a vegetarian restaurant in Surry Hills that had some rave reviews online, and as we sat side by side in the back of a taxi travelling there, Lilah chatted freely about her day. The tough girl I’d bumped into on George Street was gone, replaced again by the free spirit I’d been so captivated by the night before.
‘Law is kind of like playing a board game with a lot of really detailed rules. It’s the kind of game where you have to spend years studying just to make a single move, and then you play for months at a time before anything
‘Deal,’ I said, once the celebrations in my brain had eased off and I could speak again. ‘And who exactly am I having dinner with?’
‘Lilah,’ she said firmly. ‘Lilah who will meet you at the five p.m. ferry tonight.’
‘What if I break my ankle and can’t make it? How will I contact you?’
‘Send one of your evil advertising minions to give me a message.’ She was glancing again to the revolving door, and I knew I’d pushed my luck already. No, finding out her real name would have to wait. But that was okay. I could be patient, as long as there was a chance. ‘I’m sorry, Callum, I really have to go—we’re on a break from court and I need to get back to my team and prepare for the afternoon session. I’ll see you at five?’
‘You will,’ I said, and she nodded curtly and disappeared through the revolving doors. I watched her go then turned back towards my office, the grin on my face so broad that I felt the stretch in my cheeks.
----
T he day was now a certified write-off. I sat in my office with the door closed, interspersing brief sprints of essential work tasks between long stretches of daydreaming.
When the time finally clicked over to four, I gave up on work for the day and left the office. I’d meant what I’d said to Lilah about Sydney energising me and there was something particularly inspiring about Friday afternoons. So many suits, all rushing—towards home, towards a bar, towards the park. I disappeared into the crowd and emerged when I spotted some flowers in a window. Maybe the gesture was quaint, maybe it was antiquated, but I needed to somehow express that I was enthralled.
And at five p.m., I was waiting at the turnstiles when she appeared. It was a long way off dark yet but the shadows were beginning to grow long, and a cool breeze was coming off the harbour. She’d let her hair out and the wind was stirring it. I had to remind myself to breathe. Belatedly, it occurred to me that environmental types might not appreciate cut flowers. I looked from her rapidly approaching figure to the bouquet in my hand and contemplated tossing them into the nearest bin.
Too late. She was right before me.
‘You bought me flowers,’ Lilah said. She was surprisingly, blessedly , pleased. ‘How sweet. Thanks, Callum.’
I had to clear my throat to speak.
‘You said you’d wear your shoes. It seemed the least I could do.’
She grinned at me and to my delight reached up to plant an innocent kiss on my cheek. I caught a hint of her shampoo as she brushed passed me. Lemon? Some hippy nature stuff for sure. The sand and the brine from the night before had been well and truly washed away.
‘So where’s dinner? Somewhere more impressive than that last crappy place, I hope.’ She was teasing me and I loved it.
‘You haven’t abandoned the vegan lifestyle today, by any chance?’
‘Sorry, can’t say I have.’
‘I guess that means the steakhouse is out.’ I gestured back the way she’d come, away from the ferries. She seemed surprised.
‘We’re eating in the city then?’
‘Prepare to be amazed.’
----
I ’d found a vegetarian restaurant in Surry Hills that had some rave reviews online, and as we sat side by side in the back of a taxi travelling there, Lilah chatted freely about her day. The tough girl I’d bumped into on George Street was gone, replaced again by the free spirit I’d been so captivated by the night before.
‘Law is kind of like playing a board game with a lot of really detailed rules. It’s the kind of game where you have to spend years studying just to make a single move, and then you play for months at a time before anything
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