IN THE SHADOW OF STRANGERS: A wealthy man is about to change her destiny …but it’s a secret.

by Wendy Reakes

  Alfred couldn’t possibly know how she really felt. She’d been out with a couple of men over the past few years but it had been purely recreational, someone to dine with occasionally and someone to make love to when she needed a man’s arms around her. She didn’t know why all the men she met never made her feel good. Somehow, when she was with them, she felt empty inside.

  Suddenly she felt exhausted. She gave her managers some last minute instructions and then she left, taking a cab back to the flat.

  Her mobile phone rang. It was her secretary, Bridget. “Hi Katherine, it’s me. I’ve just had a call from Toby. He said to remind you that you’re all meeting in the bar at nine o’clock tonight.”

  “Damn. I forgot. Ring him back, Bridget and tell him I can’t make it.”

  “Are you sure? You told me last time not to let you cancel any more social engagements.”

  “Oh god, I did, didn’t I?” She hadn’t forgotten about the arrangements for tonight, she’d simply preferred not to go. All she wanted was to soak in a hot bath before an early night. Instead, all the line managers in her division were coming to Bristol to attend the hospitality opening at the new site. “Sorry, Bridget, I just feel tired that’s all. Of course I’ll meet them. Tell Toby I’ll see him and the others in the bar at nine, as arranged.”

  Jack’s mobile rings. He’s back in his flat, pouring himself a large whiskey. “Yeah?”

  “What sort of way is that to answer the phone?” Gordon Bentley says.

  “I’m having a bit of a bad day.”

  “Ah, what’s up?” Gordon jibes.

  “Have you phoned to wind me up?”

  “No, course not!” he says. “Moi? What time are you meeting the lads tonight?”

  “Oh, I’d forgotten about that. I don’t think I’ll go.” He just wants to down a quarter bottle of scotch and spend the evening rocking in his chair watching the sun go down over the gorge.

  “What? You can’t let the boys down, Jack. You know Keith’s not going either. It’ll look like a managerial snub. Besides, they’ve been trying to get you out for years. And it is Billy’s stag night.”

  “What about you? Are you going?”

  “Nope, can’t make it, but I’m glad you’re going to represent management.”

  “Management? Since when are you, management? Anyway, you’re retired now. So it’s got nothing to do with you.”

  “I’m always there, Jack. You know that. You think this old man’s going anywhere. I’ll be around to annoy the hell out of the lot of you for many more years to come.” Gordon laughs. “So where are you guys heading tonight?”

  Jack is less then enthused. “Some pub at the top of Whiteladies road and then we’re supposed to be working our way down.” He thinks about his crew from the Gloucester depot. “That lot will never make it to the bottom. There must be thirty bars on that road alone.”

  “Well, do your best.” Gordon laughs again. “So, what’s put you in such a bad mood?”

  “Penny for one! And I bumped into your mate Frank Warner today.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope, I was with Brian. It totally blew our cover.”

  “Cover?” Gordon says. “What are you? An undercover cop now?” he guffaws.

  “You’d be surprised. And I wouldn’t take the piss too much. The Killa girl could be in danger while Warner’s sniffing around.”

  “Shit!”

  “You said it.”

  “Well, don’t worry about Katherine. I’ve got somebody watching her.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Jack looks at the mouthpiece and frowns. “I thought you gave all that up years ago.”

  “I did, until Frank Warner made you lot look like idiots in ’94,” Gordon said, sombrely.

  “So who have you got watching her these days?” Jack asks, not really surprised at anything Gordon says anymore.

  “Bridget, my secretary. She was looking for a job when I retired, so I pulled some strings. Got her a flat in London and she applied for the job as Katherine Killa’s secretary. It’s perfect. Bridget tells me everything.

  “I doubt that,” Jack says, as he hangs up the phone. Smug git!

  She climbedthe stairs to her flat above the Kings Arms on Whiteladies road. The modern, one-bedroom apartment was provided by the company for her personal use since she spent a lot of time in the southwest region. It wasn’t as big, nor elaborate as the house they provided her in London, but what she loved most about it, she was closer to Rose and she could go over to see her most weekends.

  She discarded her suit and jumped into the shower. It was already eight-thirty, so she didn’t have a lot of time. Perhaps she could show her face and leave early. She pulled on her jeans. The bar downstairs had become a place where she could go to unwind after a hard day’s work. She was good friends with the manager and as the pub wasn’t under her jurisdiction, she felt comfortable letting her hair down there when she was on her own.

  She walked down the back stairs and made her way into the bar. It was crowded and she wished she’d worn heels so that she could see who was there. She finally found her group at the bar. They had come from all over the country so that her team could show them around the new Bristol site.

  “Katherine.” Toby called me over to where he was standing next to the bar. Toby Charles was a management apprentice who worked in the Bristol office. He was young, very confident and very ambitious. She knew that confidence extended to landing her as a potential bed partner, but he was way off track. The attention he gave her amused her at times but she simply wasn’t interested. Besides, she would never even consider having a relationship with an employee. It would be unprofessional.

  She greeted him with a smile and a friendly pat on the arm. He moved towards her, over-enthused, kissing me on the cheek as one of his hands lingered on her shoulder longer than necessary. “What are you having?” he asked, leaning an elbow on the bar, trying to get the barman’s attention with a finger pointed skywards.

  “White wine and soda, no ice,” she answered.

  He leaned towards her again as he handed me the drink. “So, how about having dinner with me tomorrow night?” he said, his eyes scanning her face for a sign of encouragement.

  “You know what I’m going to say to that.”

  “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  She was feeling bored, weary of all the socialising that went along with the job. Normally she endured it, but tonight there was something different about her. She could feel it.

  As she detached herself from Toby’s constant chattering and as some of the crowd dispersed, she turned to gaze casually about the room. It was then, at that precise moment, her life changed forever when she saw him walk in.

  “Come on Jack, were going in here,” one of the boys shouted as Jack trailed behind them. They’d only visited three bars and already they were all well gone. Jack was tired of their wisecracks, the jokes and the flirting. He knew he should stop being a killjoy and join in, but his heart wasn’t in it. Life wasn’t too great at the moment and a night out with a load of pissed up men wasn’t going to help.

  The bar was heaving with groups of drinkers out on a Saturday night bender. The service area was in the middle of the room and his group of lads headed for the back. Jack found a pot shelf and leaned on it. He wanted to sit down but it would probably finish him off. Someone thrusted a bottle of Budweiser into his hand. He could do with a large whiskey but he’d drink the beer and then get the hell out of there.

  Then he saw her.

  Chapter 71

  She held herbreath as she took-in the very sight of him. Suddenly her thoughts had gone from one dimension to another, like a hot knife had severed the two. In a single instant she was filled with desire for a man she didn’t know. Everything around her is a blur. The music and the people, all carrying on as her own life stood still. As far as she was concerned, the only thing that lived and breathed was her own heart beating and the man who walked into tha
t room that night.

  She’d heard stories of people falling in love at first sight, but she’d never believed them. Who would? Who could, until it happened to them? Love at first sight; a cliché, a unique event, a once in a lifetime occurrence that can never be staged, never explained and never re-enacted. It was like an untimed cosmic force, altering everything that was familiar and normal. And now, there she was, Katherine Killa, going through it, right there, right then.

  From afar she regarded him as one would a painting, scrutinizing him with her eyes, devouring every part of him. He was tall, very tall. She guessed six-foot-five. He was dressed in casual jeans with an open neck black polo-shirt under a worn black leather jacket. He was rugged as ‘rugged’ was, with broad shoulders, dark hair, a short trimmed beard and stunning blue eyes.

  Her eyes feasted on the stranger as Toby’s voice droned on far away in the distance. He seemed different from the other people crowding around him. He had a purpose about him, an assurance without arrogance and perhaps he was a little withdrawn and aloof from everyone else. She watched the crowd of boisterous lads he’d arrived with, all congregated at the bar, flashing their notes, begging to be served. He, her stranger, stood alone to one side leaning on a narrow pot shelf. She watched his face and his reaction to someone thrusting a bottle of beer into his hand. He casually swigged from the bottle, gazing at the antics of his friends, casting amused glances their way with a twinkle in his adorable blue eyes.

  As she stood without moving, without speaking, gazing at him, she had the oddest feeling she already knew him. They couldn’t have met. She would have remembered him. But it was crazy! She was surely romanticising, being drawn into a fantasy world, somewhere unreal without reason or logic. Yes, it was crazy! But she didn’t want to get out. Suddenly, as if her thoughts were connected with his, not knowing why, he turned his gaze towards her as if she was the only woman in the room.

  The connection was exquisite.

  Her heart pounded and her body trembled as their eyes locked. Time stood still while the both of them connected inside a sea of bodies, now on the very outskirts of their world. As they searched each other’s eyes, both thinking their own compatible thoughts, she knew, as she hoped he also knew, that soon they would be together.

  Then, as if a stage curtain had crashed down abruptly on their most intimate gaze, the scene was forcefully cut as the crowd moved in. Using the moment to compose herself, away from his staring eyes, she shook herself out of the stupor she was in. Alone, she felt joyous, rapturous, knowing he was still there and that his eyes would be searching for hers through the crowd. Now, it was just a matter of time. Their fate was sealed, there was no doubt in my mind. As far as she was concerned, all they had to do was connect physically and the rest would follow.

  Gulping back the last of her drink, she placed her empty glass on the bar and with a spring in her step and a smile on her face, she tactically made her way through the crowds to the ladies' room at the far side of the bar. Her master plan unfolded as she reached the door. She planned to return via his side of the room, to bump into him, to initiate a connection. If she could just pull it off without looking too obvious.

  Inside, she leaned over the sink and took a deep breath. Emotions were running through her body like waves, unchartered and strange. A crowd of giggling girls crashed through the door, sparkling, with pretty made-up faces and their hair braided and fashioned. As she tucked herself in for them to squeeze past, her reflection in the mirror made her hesitate. Her gaze swept her body. The pink linen shirt was slightly creased and she was wearing the minimum of make-up. She was hardly dressed for seduction. She ran her hands down the front of her shirt, and rolled her eyes upwards, as she took a deep breath and pulled the door open.

  He couldn’t believe it. Katherine Killa, there, in the same bar, that very night! He saw her looking at him but he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He watched a man next to her, talking to her, clearly admiring her. Perhaps they were together. That could be her boyfriend. Damn it, Jack pondered, could the day get any worse?

  He looked away, pretending to be interested in the antics of his boys. Why was she looking at him? Maybe she recognised him from the time they’d first met…but that was over fifteen-years ago…when he was younger…before the accident…before he grew the beard. Then why…?

  When he looked back, she was gone.

  “Come on Jack! Get it down your neck!” one of the boys shouted above the noise of the music. He watched them all taking the ‘boy’s night out’ concept to its extreme. They were singing and rocking while they hugged each other and downed their drinks in one. Jack didn’t belong there. He shouldn’t have come.

  The bar ran down the centre of the room. Coming out of the powder room she saw Toby, far away on the right. Katherine veered to the left, the side where the stranger stood. As she approached him, startling as it was, the crowd seemed to part as if angels had cast a spell over them, making a void like a funnel, with him at its narrow end. He turned and saw her walk towards him, and then as she got closer, the crowd moved in, flooding the space around her. A heaven-sent nudge made her falter, and as she almost propelled forward, he caught her and saved her from falling. Connection made!

  She couldn’t have planned it better herself. She looked up and smiled, intending to dazzle him. He, like a gentleman seemed concerned she’d been knocked off her feet.

  His eyes didn’t leave hers. They had joined physically now but neither of them spoke. She was there, with him, but in the absence of any words and not knowing what else to do, she walked on past, leaving him behind her. As she strolled away, smoothing her shirt over her hips, she felt his eyes boring into her back. It was just a matter of time before he came over and introduced himself. Surely!

  Suddenly the crowd parted. It was the oddest thing. It was like the parting of the Red Sea and there at the end was Katherine. She was walking towards him. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and as she got closer, the crowd pulled in again and she was practically knocked off her feet. He caught her from falling. The feel of her, just for a fleeting moment, was like an electric current running through his veins. She looked up at him, and dazzled him with her smile. The woman he had loved from afar, for years, was standing in front of him and they were touching. She was beautiful. His throat was dry as he watched her walk away from him and back to the man at the other side of the bar. The guy had been waiting for her. She was smiling, happy and content and clearly in love.

  Jack felt lost. To see her now, like that, after the day he’d had, was too much to bear. “We’re moving on,” Billy announced. “We need to leave now, if we want to get into a club.” They put their drinks down on the bar and Jack was jostled along with them. Within seconds he found himself outside, in the dark and the cold, away from her. It was the loneliest he had ever felt. He was getting as bad as Gordon Bentley. If she knew about him she’d be horrified. She’d think they’d been spying on her for her whole life. They had!

  She secured her place next to Toby. If anyone spoke to her she didn’t hear them. Her colleagues were merrily socializing, unaware of her recent brush with fate and her subtle flirting. Toby resumed his chattering, and she turned back to look at the man who had made her feel happy and reckless and light on her feet for the first time in her life. Then her heart stopped once again, as she watched him walk out of the bar without glancing back.

  He was gone!

  She couldn’t take it in. It wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Subtle flirting! What a joke! And now it was too late. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. She could only feel devastated that he was gone. He was lost to her forever and she felt like crying.

  Feeling empty and dejected and irritable, she made her excuses to Toby and the group, and not caring if it seemed rude, she left. She walked up the stairs to her flat and closed the door, her tears of loneliness threatening to spill over as she mourned the loss of her stranger. She flopped into a chair and tossed her keys on the table
in front of here.

  After just a moment, and with the knot in her stomach unable to release its hold, she just knew she couldn’t live without him. With renewed determination she jumped up from her chair and without thinking about any repercussions, she grabbed her keys and darted out the door.

  The night was just beginning down Whiteladies Road. Crowds of people covered the pavements, walking from bar to bar, some with full glasses of drink in their hands. Girls and boys were singing and dancing, kissing and flirting as they walked.

  She drove slowly along the road, her eyes darting frantically from side to side as she steered her car. Then, just as she was beginning to think all was lost, she saw him. He was walking alone, his giant frame swaggering as the rest of his buddies lagged behind, hugging each other in jovial stupors.

  She pulled in next to the pavement near where he was walking and she wound down the window. Someone else -one of his friends- leaned in and asked. “Alright, love?”

  “No, you’ve got the wrong idea.” She was so embarrassed. “It’s him I want to speak to.” She pointed to the tall man walking on ahead.

  It was the moment of truth. She was trembling as her heart jumped with nervous excitement. The lad shouted at the top of his voice. “Oy, Jack! There’s a bird ‘ere who fancies you!”

  Katherine was mortified as his words resound in her ears. Without thinking about anything else, she revved up the engine, made a rapid three point turn and drove with careless abandon back towards the safety of her flat.

  Jack walked down Whiteladies Road with his hands in his pockets thinking about Katherine and the one blissful moment she’d fallen into his arms. He heard one of the lads shout to him from behind “Oy. Jack!” but he didn’t look around, he just kept on walking,