Chapter Two: Part Three
Kate jerked awake to Dee’s knocking on her bedroom door and mumbled a response. Dee knocked once more and called out, ‘Katie? Everything’s fine, but you need to wake up.’
The fortieth birthday party they’d catered the night before had gone long past midnight and today was a designated sleep-in day. Kate sighed, swung her feet to the floor and called out groggily, ‘I’m up.’ She rubbed her eyes, found her robe and stumbled out to find out why she needed to wake up.
Dee never slept in. In her whole life, she’d only ever needed a few hours of rest. Kate found her on her phone and heard her saying, ‘She will love it… Midday is brilliant… I will make sure she is ready… You’re welcome and thank you… You too, bye.’ Ending the call with obvious glee, she looked at Kate. ‘Get showered, love. You have a lunch date!’
‘What? With who? Wait! What?’
‘Mr Bright-Eyes. He said you did something special for him at the party and he is taking you to lunch to say thank you. We both know you would have found some limp, half-arsed excuse to say no, so I told him yes. Your bathroom is that way. I know what he has planned. Trust me Katie, it’s good.’ Dee pointed Kate back down the hallway, pushing between her shoulder blades with a firm hand to start her moving.
‘Katie-J! What did you do for that man that was so special?’ Carrie teased from the door of the opposite hallway, her eyes sparkling mischievously, despite having recently woken up herself.
‘Nothing. I didn’t do anything. Stop looking at me like that!’
Dee said, ‘Get into that shower and call out before you get dressed. We need you in something practical. It’ll be breezy where you are going, so you’ll need a few layers.’ She wiggled her eyebrows with innuendo.
‘Damn, girl, don’t wear anything too hard to get out of either!’ Carrie said, teasing Kate into an even deeper blush. The laughter of her friends was a comforting and happy sound and she smiled as she closed the bathroom door.
Kate was looking through her still meagre wardrobe when Dee came in and immediately selected for her a new pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a long-sleeved cotton blouse. She darted back out, re-appearing moments later with a heavily lined jacket, a gift that had never fitted her well. It looked perfect on Kate in a slightly oversized, cute kind of way.
‘This isn’t dressy enough,’ Kate said.
‘It is perfect, Cath-er-ine. You will just have to believe me.’
‘Dee, I don’t know about this.’
‘This is really something you don’t want to miss out on. Trust me Katie?’ Kate nodded, knowing that she did trust Dee.
Carrie helped with Kate’s makeup and hair, quickly achieving her typical perfection. Together, they bundled Kate out of the elevator as Edison pulled up. Meeting her at the door, he said, ‘Ms Catherine, a pleasure to see you again.’ He greeted Dee and Carrie warmly before ushering Kate to the car. She noticed his eyes methodically scanning the buildings and streets around them. Another piece of the puzzle to add to the collection, she mused.
He helped her into the back seat of the car and waited until she had secured her seatbelt before merging smoothly into the city traffic. ‘Where are you taking me …’ She paused, realising she did not know how to address him.
‘Edison is fine, Ms Catherine.’
‘Is Edison your first or last name?’
‘Edison is simply my name, Ms Catherine.’
‘Okay, where are we headed, Mister Edison?’ she asked with a playful challenge.
Grinning, he said, ‘Fair play to you… Catherine?’ Kate nodded to his eyes in the rear-view mirror. ‘Thank you, Catherine. I am taking you to the riverside quay. Mr Savagewood wants to express his gratitude. You did a good thing that helped a lot of people.’
Realising she had no idea what the rules were in this situation, she recalled her father’s favourite advice for times like these, ‘When in doubt, say little, ask questions and listen carefully. Let information come to you.’ Kate asked, ‘What in particular are you talking about, Edison?’
‘You warned Dominique about a conversation you overheard. Your comprehensive and accurate recall offered us a highly elegant option to disarm their plan without revealing our hand.’
After taking a moment to analyse Edison’s carefully worded statement, Kate said, ‘The proxies!’
Edison smiled, nodding. ‘Your timely warning saved a project that will result in a lot of people getting access to the same vaccinations and basic medical services that we take for granted. This is something very important to us all and you have our thanks, Catherine.’
Kate looked at the man in the rear-view mirror. ‘You don’t mean only you and Mr Savagewood, do you?’
‘No, not only Dominique, my wife as well. That was a very astute pick-up Catherine. I don’t mean that patronisingly in any way.’
Kate blinked several times, replaying his words. There is a whole encyclopaedia of sub-text happening here, she thought. He is much more than a driver. They’ve obviously discussed this in detail. ‘Are you testing me, Edison?’
Edison smiled and said, ‘All of life is a test, Catherine.’
‘What is it that you think is being tested so rigorously?’
‘Our personal integrity. Our self-determination. Our real worth and value to ourselves and our world.’ Seeing the look on Kate’s face, he added, ‘Dominique is far better with words, sorry.’
Kate took a moment to think about their exchange before beaming a huge smile at him.
‘Thank you, Edison. You gave me a genuine answer instead of a throwaway sound bite. Would you please call me Kate.’
‘When we are not in unfamiliar company, it will be my pleasure. Thank you, Kate.’
Edison was an exemplary driver, gliding through the city traffic as if he had some magical powers. Kate found herself feeling secure in his care. ‘Edison?’ Kate asked with a cheeky sparkle in her eyes, ‘I know almost nothing about Mr Savagewood. Everything I hear conflicts and contradicts everything else. Who is he? Can you tell me anything without breaking some bodyguard code?’
Edison smiled at her in his mirror and said, ‘He is an honourable man and it is without reservation that I trust him completely. More I will leave up to your remarkable powers of observation. I will offer you one insight, if I may?’
Kate nodded to him in his rear-view mirror. ‘Please.’
‘Don’t overthink things with Dominique. He is, by nature, an intimate and caring man. I have often seen him create unintentional confusion with his kindness. He doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. It’s his blind spot. What you see is what you get with him. He will not offer you secret meanings or hidden messages, and his generosity is always without strings of any kind. Ask him a question and he will reluctantly tell you a hurtful truth before a comforting lie. Remember, if you want to know something, just ask him straight out.’
Motoring slowly along a marina full of private luxury vessels, Kate felt a little disappointed at the possibility of a mega-yacht cliché. He was standing at the far end of the public dock, his phone to his ear. Edison accelerated a little just before Dominique ended his call, and she recognised that their sedate pace along the marina had been to give him time to complete his call.
Opening her door, Dominique offered her his hand and said, ‘Ms Catherine, I am delighted that you consented to come on such short notice. I believe Ms Danielle was instrumental in your attendance as well?’
‘I was railroaded and had no say in the matter,’ Kate said, faking hurt pride as sincerely as an actor in a children’s pantomime.
‘Ah, the contract of love,’ he said.
‘Oh no, it’s Dee and Carrie who are … You’re laughing at me.’
‘Not at all,’ he said, holding his hands up. ‘Only at your defence of that which needs no defence. It’s plain to see that those two share as much affection for you as you do for them. If you did not love and trust her, you wouldn’t be here.’
There it was, wrapped up all nice and neat with a little bow on top. Kate found the grin on Edison’s face of little support. Damn it. It’s the woman who is supposed to be the mystery, she thought, feeling her cheeks flushing.
‘It will be a little breezy where we’re headed, did you bring a jacket?’
Turning towards the car, she said, ‘Yes. It’s …’
Edison was standing behind her, holding her jacket out to her with a cheeky grin on his face. Accepting from him both her jacket and his grin, she thanked him. She had left it in the car on purpose.
Edison passed Dominique a large brown paper bag and warmly wished them a wonderful lunch before heading back to the car. Indicating a water taxi at the base of the jetty with his outstretched arm, Dominique said, ‘Shall we, my lady?’
Kate smiled. ‘Let’s.’
For the first time in what felt like a long while, Kate was genuinely intrigued.
~~~~~