Chapter Thirteen: Part Two
‘Excellent. The balcony circles the whole apartment and the glass balustrades go the whole way around to preserve the view. The floor plan is essentially a long rectangle. The elevator and a large media room form a small central rectangle, and all the other spaces are set out around that central structure. This is the lounge-living area; it occupies one end of the floor plan, and the master bedroom occupies the other. I am getting ahead of myself. The living space continues around the elevator foyer to the left a bit as well.’
Rick started panning his outstretched arm to his right, intending to give Kate an overview. ‘The dining area is here…’ He started laughing at himself. ‘That’s in case you couldn’t tell by the table and chairs… Moving on…’
Kate loved the bashful look on his face and appreciated how he could so easily make fun of himself.
‘Down this side, past the dining area,’ he winked, ‘we have the kitchen, then a combined bathroom and laundry and the master bedroom on the far end. Coming back along the other side is a guest bedroom with en suite, my study, and then a gym space as an extension of the lounge area. The building has one apartment per floor above fifteen, three per floor below. There are two more floors above us.’
‘For some reason, I had imagined you in the penthouse,’ Kate teased.
‘The floor plans are identical, aside from a small roof garden and double height ceilings. Down here, I have no lift-house noise, nor much chance of water penetration from a roof failure. I also have the same views and amenities, but with much better water pressure.’
Recognising the practicality of his engineer’s response, Kate giggled and grabbed his arm with both hands. It was exactly how she would have described the same decision matrix. Rick accurately interpreted her response and continued, guiding her past a lovely timber dining table with an inlaid strip of dark stone in the middle; it had eight places – two were set. Placing his hand on a door to his right as they passed it, he said, ‘The media room is through there, and in here…’ he ushered her into a well-lit space, ‘is the food.’
Above the sink and bench space of the kitchen, the windows continued to the ceiling. Watching her walk in and look around, he said, ‘The views are all just as amazing.’
‘The views are great, but that smell’s amazing.’ A small joint of meat was in the oven, filling the kitchen with intoxicating aromas.
‘Later, my lady. The meat is resting, and I promised you a tour.’ He chuckled at her overacted pout towards the oven. Guiding her back past the dining table, he led her to the other side of the living room, revealing an area that was set up as a simple gymnasium.
Rick led Kate to the next doorway, offering her entry into a room lined with bookshelves. ‘This is my study,’ he said, inviting her to enter. A large chair and lamp sat at the opposite end of the room. Kate was looking at the darkly opaque glass when it suddenly became clear, offering the same spectacular views as the rest of the apartment. She spun to see Rick turn a dial on the switch panel and the glass became opaque to her waist, but remained clear above. ‘LCD reactive glass,’ he said. ‘It offers the best of privacy and views.’ She smiled at his boyish delight and looked around the room. A work desk and a computer occupied the opposite corner.
Looking around, Kate saw group photos of uniformed men and many other photos of people, places and projects decorating the walls. The book titles on the well-stocked shelves showed that he shared Dominique’s wide variety of reading interests. ‘It’s peaceful,’ Kate said, walking slowly around the room.
Rick smiled broadly at her assessment before leading her out and offering her the next doorway. The guestroom bed had its blankets turned down on one corner, and a covered glass of water was on the bedside table. Kate looked at him and he said, ‘I make no presumptions. Should you choose to stay here this evening, this room is exclusively yours.’
Kate felt slightly rocked. She looked at this man, a contradictory mix of action man, chivalrous knight and modern engineer. A man who demonstrated humility, humour and respect with everything he did.
She looked him in the eye and said, ‘Let me be very clear here. I had no thought of entering into anything even close to a fling before hitting Alegria, much less anything even slightly resembling a potential relationship. Then you happened. Actually, you all did. I do want to stay the night, Rick, with you. I wanted you to stay the night with me on Alegria, and nothing, not one little thing, has changed since then.’
She held her finger to his lips before he had a chance to respond. When she was sure he would remain silent, Kate quickly remade the blankets of the spare bed. She picked up the glass of water and turned to him. ‘Where shall I put this?’
The smile she saw on his face sent deep spasms through her stomach and made her breath stop. Silently, still smiling, he led her to the massive master bedroom, inviting her in with a sweep of his arm.
The view of the city centre, and the distant horizon beyond, was breathtaking. A gas fireplace on one wall was set to a bare simmer and flickered softly. Subtle, indirect light filled the room. Kate took in the furnishings. A large Chesterfield style lounge and a huge bed suite occupied a substantial amount of the floor space. Walking forward, Kate deliberately put her glass of water on a bedside table before the view caught her eye again.
Gazing out at the panorama, she said, ‘Have I said “wow” yet?’
‘You may have,’ he allowed, smiling. ‘The en suite is through that door.’
Kate walked into a huge bathroom with tiled walls. A massive, two-headed shower space dominated one end. Heavy glass partitioning protected the rest of the room from splashes and a long wet-bench was fixed to the wall of the shower. A spa for two snuggled into the far corner, sharing the far wall with the shower. The full-height windows offered a magnificent view to the occupants of the spa.
Kate looked at Rick, computing the apartment’s plan in her mind. ‘This is an amazing place, Rick.’
Rick bowed his head slightly. ‘Thank you Kate.’ He looked at her and said, ‘Aside from the bathroom-laundry, the only room you haven’t seen is the media room.’ The way he said it, and the look on his face, peaked her interest.
Rick led her to the doorway opposite the dining area and opened it for her. The windowless room in the centre of the apartment had a huge flat-screen television on one wall and six very comfortable-looking recliner lounges facing it. Kate looked at the room for a moment before she turned back to Rick, ‘There seems to be a substantial amount of space missing from this room, Rick.’
Smiling, Rick flicked a switch near the door. A concealed concertina wall silently retracted, revealing the missing ‘third’ of the room. The carpet stopped at the tracks of the wall, and the floor of the newly revealed space was beautifully polished timber.
Kate felt a little overwhelmed, but decided to start at the start like the engineer she was. A beautifully crafted and padded X shape nearly seven feet tall stood against the wall at one end. Next to it was what looked like a narrower and smaller version of a gymnastics vaulting horse, fitted with generously padded treads.
Between the popular novels she had read and a little recent research on Google, Kate knew the basic functions of both pieces. More interesting to her were her body’s positive reactions to them. She examined her own thoughts and realised that her comfort hinged on a single truth… she trusted Rick. She walked forward and inspected the newly revealed furniture silently.
A generous single seat Chesterfield chair was the last piece of furniture in the space. There was a shelf at the far end which held a small assortment of leather whips and floggers, plus other toys, still shrink-wrapped; the purpose of some more obvious than others. As feelings of desire and anticipation filled her, she felt a now-familiar squeeze nearly becoming a cramp.
Kate turned to look at Rick, seeing expressions of fear and hope competing on his normally confident face. She walked to him and said, ‘I trust you, Ricky. I have no experience in this stuff, but I trust you. I can tell you that parts of me are very excited by it all. I want you to show me, please?’
His kiss was almost overwhelming, sweeping Kate into a river of feelings. Breaking for breath, he looked at her. ‘Kate, you surprise and delight me at every turn. I must confess, though; I have been so nervous about tonight that I have failed to eat today, and I am famished. Shall we?’
In his arms, Kate felt a sense of ease flow over her like a warm wave. There were no surprises, and they had all the time in the world. She relaxed and reminded herself to savour every moment. ‘Rick, for the same reasons, today I’ve only eaten half a sandwich that Dee nearly pushed down my throat.’
On the way out, he flicked the switch to close the wall again. Kate looked at him questioningly. He responded with an enigmatic and slightly wicked smile that made her stomach clench again.