‘You’re in luck, I have no plans, so I’ll meet you. Where do you want to take me?’ she asked.
‘That’s a surprise. But I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Meet me at Waterloo Station at seven. Take exit two when you get there. I can’t wait to see you. I have to go now,’ he said.
Sometime after his phone call, Vera proceeded to the bathroom upstairs to take a shower. It didn’t take her a long time to get ready. She was going to wear her hair naturally, without a blow dry today, and wear very light make-up to match the natural look. She put on her high-waisted skinny jeans, a cashmere round neck, and her Burberry trench coat. And to give the outfit a little more glam, she wore a pair of high heels from Prada. Yet even with such minimum effort, she managed to look sophisticated and sexy. When she emerged at Waterloo, she saw Anthony standing on the other side of the busy road, waiting for her with a single red rose - an effort she considered very romantic. Vera also noticed, with a bit of pleasure, that he was nervous. When he saw her, his faced brightened up with a beautiful smile, and then he crossed the road to greet her. On approach, he kissed her on the cheek.
‘Well, hello there,’ he said, presenting her with the rose. ‘That’s for you. Do I get a proper kiss?’ He leaned in cheekily, but Vera put her hands on his chest stopping him from coming closer.
‘Play your cards right, and we will see,’ she said, smiling.
‘Is one flower not enough to get into the books of a famous writer?’ he laughed.
He reached into his pocket and presented her with a folded front page of the paper from the other day. Vera laughed then.
‘No, it’s not that easy at all. So where are we going?’
‘I thought I’d take you somewhere you can learn more about me. Come on, let’s go. Are you ready?’
‘Are you taking me to your studio?’ she asked.
‘No, not today.’ he said. ‘Maybe one day - if you play your cards right.’
Vera hit him with her Chanel bag; he jumped to the side, laughing.
‘Okay, no more jokes,’ he said, when she calmed down. ‘Will you at least let me hold your hand?’
‘Suppose I can.’
He looked at her like a sick puppy - and unbeknownst to him she melted under his look. Within the next ten minutes they found themselves outside the Tate Modern - the mecca of paintings, sculptures and other creations of various origins. When they walked inside they headed for the exhibition called: Journey through the world of Japanese joinery by Peters & Kraft.
‘Is this your exhibition?’ she asked, realizing that she didn’t even know his surname.
‘Yep,’ he confirmed, nodding as they walked into the wing. After they entered, Anthony noticed a woman standing by one of his sculptures and suddenly looked visibly nervous. A few moments later, he turned to Vera and said, ‘Actually, Vera, there’s someone I need to speak to. Will you excuse me for a couple of minutes?’
‘Go ahead,’ she said. ‘I’ll just wait here and read this until you come back.
At the entrance, Vera had picked up a leaflet explaining what the exhibition was about and now started reading it. Anthony departed and approached a woman, who quite obviously knew him well, and as Vera was reading the pamphlet, he started a deep conversation with her. Soon after that, Anthony and the mystery woman walked towards Vera.
‘Vera, please meet Lucy, my studio manager,’ he said, indicating the ridiculously slim, tall woman with strawberry blonde hair.
Vera smiled and offered her hand, but Lucy ignored her.
‘Well, nice to meet you,’ Vera said, taking back her hand.
Lucy mumbled, ‘Likewise,’ but her facial expression remained cold and distant.
Vera sensed that Anthony felt embarrassed and uncomfortable, and to diffuse the situation she tried to strike a conversation with Lucy.
‘So, you work with Anthony?’ she asked, with a nervous smile. ‘That must be fun.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Lucy replied. ‘This is not fun. The curator of this gallery is doing my head in. I feel like quitting this fucking exhibition and getting back to the studio.’
‘Where’s the studio? asked Vera.
‘In Greenwich.’ Anthony answered for Lucy.
‘I would have thought you’d know this by now.’ Lucy looked at Vera, and folded her arms as if she was cross-examining her.
‘I haven’t had a chance to tell Vera where I work yet,’ said Anthony. ‘But I’ll take her there soon.’ He smiled at Vera.
‘That should be interesting –’ Lucy said, with a sarcastic undertone.
Vera didn’t say anything. She couldn’t quite figure out what this woman’s problem was, yet understood quite clearly that Lucy didn’t like her.
‘Anyway.’ Anthony interrupted the uncomfortable silence. ‘We should go. Let’s head this way. See ya, Luce.’
He steered Vera to the side and they walked away in the opposite direction.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked her quietly as they were leaving.
‘Yes,’ answered Vera. ‘Are you?’
‘Yes. I’m sorry about Lucy, she can be really grumpy sometimes.’
‘I wouldn’t call it that,’ said Vera, under her breath.
But Anthony didn’t hear her. They found themselves in a separate area full of wooden sculptures made by Anthony and John, Vera didn’t quite know what to look at, so she approached the middle, where an enormous wooden table was holding a selection of wooden works.
Vera took a closer look at the sculptures. They were truly spectacular. Especially the wooden plants he’d mentioned the other night. Every branch of the sculpture and every leaf looked as real as an authentic live plant or a tree. It was actually amazing how detailed they were, presenting every shadow, every crease, shade and shape of real trees or leaves. Vera touched the sculpture carefully all over and then, still astounded by the standard of his work, turned to Anthony and said, ‘It’s incredible, really amazing. I can’t even begin to think how much time and effort goes into creating something like this.’
He looked at her with emotion written all over his face. It was clear how much her praise meant to him.
‘Quite a lot actually. It leaves hardly any time for anything else. But when you finish making something like this, you feel great, you look at it and think - Wow, I’ve created that.’
‘Are all these sculptures made out of one particular material?’ she asked, touching the table. ‘They look so polished and glossy. What are they made off?’ She turned around to look at his face.
‘No.’ He shook his head ‘Believe it or not I’m not actually that interested in a particular material. And this table is made out of reclaimed pieces of different woods, chopped and pressed into one, like most of the things here,’ he said, turning around. ‘Any sculpture can be made from any number of materials actually. It just depends on how much money you have to begin with, and what you currently have to work with. I never have that much money to invest, so I use what I can, often picking up abandoned wood pallets from the streets or even old furniture that someone has decided to chuck out. You see, the key is resourcefulness. I may use a cheap and limited repertoire of materials, but in a wide variety of ways, just look around ...’
For the whole time he spoke, Vera stared at him in amazement. He was kind, funny, handsome, compassionate … and now she discovered that he was also amazingly talented. He really was the perfect guy. Seeing her stare, he stopped talking and approached her. He touched the side of her face with the back of his right hand again, stroked it and leaned in for a kiss. She didn’t move away, and seconds later his tongue gently separated her lips and found its way into her mouth.
‘I can’t believe how fond of you I am already,’ he whispered, moving his lips from her mouth to her ear. ‘And …’ He kept whispering in her ear with his eyes closed. ‘How incredible it is that we’ve met.’
He was right, it was kind of incredible.
After freeing herself Vera said, ‘I want to see some
more of your work’
‘Sure,’ he answered, with a small smile. He took her hand and said, ‘Let’s go over there,’ and pointed to the other side of the room.
‘But before we do that, take a picture of me and the wooden plants,’ asked Vera, handing him her phone.
Anthony took the handset, found the camera and took a few pictures. Then he took his own phone out of the pocket of his jeans and took a couple more.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked.
‘Those are for me’’ he answered with an insolent smile. Vera stood posing shyly, and then walked towards him.
‘Enough!’ The color on her face now matched the color of her lipstick. He was holding his phone and looking at the pictures he’d just taken. ‘Let me see,’ she said, and she moved closer. He started flicking through the pictures. Alongside the photos he’d taken of Vera, there were more pictures of his sculptures, some taken in his workshop, and some in galleries. There was a picture of an older man, who Vera thought was his granddad, and there were many pictures of him with friends at the seaside.
‘Have you been on holiday?’ she asked him. He took the phone from her hand and put it in his jeans pocket.
‘Yes,’ he said quickly. ‘I went to France for a few days. I was feeling quite under the weather, and my mates took me away.’
‘What made you feel under the weather? she asked him, without thinking too much about it.
‘Well, I’d been dumped,’ he said, staring blankly into space.
‘I’m sorry to her that,’ Vera replied, regretting that she’d asked.
‘It was a horrible time, but I’m all better now,’ he expressed with a light smile.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ she asked him.
‘I don’t mind,’ he answered, not looking at her directly.
Vera plucked up the courage and asked, ‘So, why did you split up?’
‘We didn’t actually. She just ended it.’
‘For someone else?’ Vera asked. In her mind he was perfect, and she thought that someone would have had to have been mad to want to part ways with him. It just didn’t sound right.
‘No. She left me because I didn’t spend enough time with her … well, that was one of the reasons anyway.’
‘Oh,’ Vera sighed, not quite knowing what to say. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘I’m all better now, thanks to you.’ He stroked her arm. ’And I know that I won’t make the same mistake again. Vera,’ He turned to her. ‘This job I’m currently working on is going to take a few more days. After that I’m all yours. I hope you’ll want to spend more time with me then.’
‘I’d love that,’ she answered. It was the first time she’d wholeheartedly acknowledged that she liked him.
‘How about lunch tomorrow?’ he asked. ‘I could sneak out of the workshop for an hour if you could travel to Greenwich?’
‘I’m afraid, I can’t. I’m going to see my parents. They live in Reading and I’ll be back in the evening.’
‘Do they know about me? That you’ve met me?’
‘No, not yet,’ answered Vera. ‘Do you want me to tell them?’
‘If you like,’ he answered, and suddenly seemed muted and distant.
Ignoring the sudden change of mood Vera asked him, ‘Should we go and eat?’
‘Yes, let’s go,’ he answered quickly.
And hand in hand, they walked out and headed to the restaurant upstairs.
CHAPTER 26
Rain was lashing against the windows of the train from London to Reading. Vera, dressed in a black wooly dress and high boots, had asked her dad to pick her up from the station on arrival. When she was a teenager, every time she travelled to London, her dad would pick her up from the station. This time it was no different, except that it was the first time she’d returned to her home town since the accident and glimpsing at the streets, she was surprised how much it had changed. When they got to the street where her parents lived, she saw her mum standing in the doorway waiting for them, and she jumped out of the car to hug her. And when they walked indoors, the house was already filled with the familiar smell of Patricia’s trademark dish – cottage pie.
After lunch when they were having a cup of tea in the conservatory, Vera admired the plants and trees her mother had planted over the years, and her dad showed her the new shed he’d bought from the local builder’s yard – and put together with the help of a friendly neighbor. Earlier in the week, her father had paid off their mortgage, and they didn’t owe the bank anything anymore. The fact that she was able to give them the money to make that happen, filled Vera with a sense of pride and achievement - even more so than buying her own apartment. Now, she was just so pleased that her parents looked happy, and could enjoy their retirement without worrying about money. When her phone rang, Vera walked back to the kitchen, and when she saw it was Anthony, her face filled with excitement and joy. At that moment, her mum walked into the kitchen for some more water for her plants, and noticed the expression on Vera’s face and decided to listen into the conversation.
‘Hello!’ Vera answered the call with a dreamy smile, and tried to turn away from her mother’s eager eye.
‘Good morning, or afternoon actually, how are you?’
As Patricia turned the tap to run the water, Vera left the room, and looking for privacy she headed upstairs.
‘Great, and you?’
‘I’m knackered actually, but I feel way better now that I’ve heard your voice,’ he answered. Vera smiled to herself, opened the door to her old bedroom and lay down on the bed. She didn’t know whether it was down to being in her old bedroom, or the fact that he was so obviously smitten, but she giggled like a teenager.
‘Glad to hear it. How’s everything going? Are you any closer to finishing?’
‘Sadly, no,’ he answered. ‘The people from the department store have been on the phone and asked to change a few details. So now we have even more work. Are you in Reading yet?’ He suddenly changed the subject.
‘Yes, I arrived two hours ago. So good to see my parents again.’
‘And how do you find the town?’ he asked.
‘Different.’ She laughed. ‘A lot has changed around here since I last remember it … the shops, the streets and even this house. The only thing that has stayed the same is my room.’ She laughed again.
‘So when are you heading back to London?’ he asked, as Vera heard a male voice in the background rushing him off the phone.
‘I think I might stay the night and return tomorrow.’
‘Oh, that’s too bad for me.’ He sounded disappointed.
‘Why?’ she asked, intrigued.
‘Because I was going to pick you up from Paddington.’
‘I thought you were working late,’ she teased him.
‘Yes, I am, but I was hoping to see you anyway.’ He lowered his voice so no one around him could hear. ‘Vera Smith, I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re constantly on my mind. Please come back from Reading and let me come over to yours tonight.’
Amused by his directness, she burst out laughing - but partially to cover the fact that she didn’t know what to say. If he was going to come over, it was no doubt to spend the night, and she didn’t know if she was ready for that yet.
‘I’ll let you know. I’ve got to go.’ She lowered her voice, and like a teenager doing something she shouldn’t be doing, she said, ‘My mother can hear me.’ And then hung up.
‘Who was that?’ asked Patricia suspiciously when Vera walked back downstairs.
‘A friend,’ Vera replied, avoiding eye contact. But she knew that her mother was capable of detecting even the smallest of her lies.
‘A boy-friend?’ asked Patricia, as Stanley walked back into the kitchen from the conservatory. He instantly looked at his wife in a way that indicated she should stop. But as always, Patricia was dying to find out more.
‘Yes, he’s a boy, but not a boyfri
end.’ Vera rolled her eyes like a stroppy little girl.
‘You don’t need to continue.’ Stanley had her back. ‘Its private, we understand. Don’t mind your mother,’ he carried on. ‘She thinks you’re still a child.’ He winked at Vera and she smiled back.
‘Well, forgive me for caring about my daughter - who doesn’t remember half her life – and …’ she said with a wry expression on her face, ‘has just become very rich. I don’t think that I’m being overprotective when I see she could be in danger of being exploited by someone with bad intentions.’ Patricia looked at her husband, clearly upset.
‘I’m here, you know.’ Vera spoke up for herself. ‘And mum, it’s just … someone.’ She hesitated. ‘Someone I … met through Suzy.’ She didn’t like lying to her parents, but she knew that mentioning how she really met Anthony could raise their concerns. After all, there was no need to tell them about him yet – not before it got serious.
‘Let’s change the subject,’ her dad said. ‘Vera … your mum and I would like to tell you something.’ Stanley sat down at the kitchen table.
Vera stood against the wall examining his face and pondered what he was going to share.
‘Go ahead,’ she said slowly. ‘Has anything happened?’
‘Oh, yes …’ started Stanley, ‘but not in a bad way … quite the opposite.’ He smiled.
‘I’m all ears.’
‘Because of your amazing generosity, we’ve paid off the mortgage, but we also had some money left. You did an amazing thing for your parents, I hope you know that, darling,’ he said emotionally.
Vera smiled at them.
‘You don’t know how happy I am that I could do that for you,’ she said. ‘And it’s nothing that you don’t deserve. I know that over the years you’ve spent much more on me, so don’t you worry about the money and enjoy the freedom it brings.’
Patricia and Stanley looked at each other.
Before We Met: What Happens When You Fall For The Same Man Twice But Don't Even Know It Page 13
