by JD Nixon
“No,” I said in a small voice, deluged by his passionate onslaught.
“We won.” He smiled at the memory and his smile was every bit as unpleasant as Heller’s could be when he was relentlessly focussed on bringing down a rival. “We beat them. There was such an international public outcry over that company’s practices that the government couldn’t take any more bribes to look the other way without suffering electoral and diplomatic repercussions.” He smiled that frightening smile again. “That company doesn’t do business in India anymore. That company doesn’t exist anymore. And I consequently found myself with a new career.”
“Oh,” was all I found to say, rather alarmed by his overwhelming intensity. I think Heller was spot on when he’d described Meili as a fanatic and it would be in my best interests to remember that. I distracted him with a fragrant capsicum dish that fortuitously arrived at our table at that moment. My choice. “Try this. It has a wonderful smoky flavour.”
It proved a successful ploy to dissipate the tension and we enjoyed the rest of our meal together. After dinner, we sauntered back to the hotel, not hurrying, taking time to enjoy the evening sights. He answered another phone call and stepped away momentarily, walking some distance from me while he spoke animatedly. I waited patiently by myself near a brick wall for him to finish.
While he was occupied, a drunken man spilling out from a nearby beer garden lurched towards me, drawn to my boobs like a moth towards light. He nudged up against me, trying to chat me up, but his repulsive breath and boorish behaviour annoyed me right away.
“Piss off,” I said to him bluntly, elbowing him out of my personal space. And was it possible to give a man a more direct and clear message than that?
Apparently it was, because he didn’t take the hint. He stood in front of me and stared up at me in disbelief, as if I’d just given up the chance to shag Robert Pattinson (which I wouldn’t, by the way).
“Who you talking to?” he slurred.
“You. Who else? Piss off.” He wasn’t worth a second thought – one of those small, energetic dudes who appear to be the salt of the earth until they have something to drink. Then they turn into loud-mouthed, aggressive jerks, cruising for a bruising. You know the type.
“Nobody talks to me like that,” he added.
“I bet everyone does, dickhead,” I said condescendingly, staring down at him. If he’d had one functioning brain cell left at that moment, he would have cut his losses, tossing a very insulting and hurtful comment at me behind him while storming off. But he’d obviously drunk even that last remaining cell to death because he didn’t move, staring up at me belligerently.
“Are you a lezzo or something? Not interested in a dose of good hard cock? Because I’ve got a pantsful of it!” And he thrust his crotch towards me in a very inappropriate and unappealing gesture.
I rolled my eyes and was about to say something extremely patronising about the size of his manhood that would have certainly escalated the situation, when a restraining hand snaked around my waist and a hard, masculine, Nordic body sidled up to me.
“Are you bothering my girlfriend?” Meili asked smoothly, his bulk overshadowing the little creep in front of us.
The man assessed Meili’s height, his weight and his muscularity, before staggering away, muttering under his breath. When he was at a safe distance, he spun around to yell, “She’s all yours, mate. And good luck with the bitch!”
When he had finally disappeared, I turned to Meili. “I could have handled him.”
“I know, but why ruin your beautiful nails?” We smiled at each other and continued strolling towards the hotel.
“Heller was right.”
“About what?”
He laughed. “You’re a trouble magnet.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could he had another phone call.
Chapter 20
I brushed my teeth, changed into my pyjamas and was hoping to read for a while before sleeping, so I rang Heller as I’d promised, to get it over and done with. When he answered, I didn’t even bother saying hello before accusing him of being Norwegian. He laughed, but refused to confirm or deny the claim. I told him that Meili had said he was definitely Scandinavian in origin.
“I will find out,” I threatened. “And then you’ll be sorry.”
“Why will I be sorry?”
“Because I’ll know more about you. And you’ll have to admit that I’m pretty good at finding out things.”
He smothered a shout of laughter. “Matilda, I’m so glad I hired you. My life was very dull without you.”
“Stop making fun of me! Anyway, knowing that you’re Scandinavian has now narrowed it down to only three countries.”
He laughed at me again, unconcerned. “Four countries, my sweet. There are four countries in Scandinavia.”
“Oh. Okay. Four countries.” I pondered for a moment. “What’s the fourth one?”
Yet another laugh at my expense. “That depends on which three countries you’re already including.”
“Oh, forget it,” I said, embarrassed by my ignorance. “I’ll Google it myself later.” I told him about our dinner and my altercation with the drunken man.
He sighed. “Matilda, what is it with you and men? Please thank Dr Eriksen for me for stepping in.”
“What it is with me and men, Heller, is that I have a pair of boobs, which I’m sure you’ve noticed. And that’s apparently enough for me to be hassled by men for the rest of my life. I could have managed him myself. I had my capsicum spray with me and you know I’m not afraid to use it.” He’d been forced to rebuke me once already for using it a little too often and a little too indiscriminately. “Not to mention that I made it pretty clear to the jerk when he approached me that I wasn’t interested and he should leave me alone.”
“Did you say it politely?”
“Um . . . not particularly.”
He sighed again. “Matilda, you are a constant worry for me.”
“It’s always good to have a hobby, Heller.” He laughed. “I’ll talk to you in the morning. Good night.” I placed my phone on the bedside table and opened my book to where I had left off earlier.
Meili looked over with a suppressed smile. He wouldn’t have been able to avoid listening into my conversation, as we were only three metres apart.
“Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark,” he told me. “Four countries.”
I grinned at him. “Thank you. I forgot Denmark.”
He indicated the book I’d borrowed from Heller’s large personal library. “I’ve read that book. It’s good.”
He was dressed in cotton boxers and a blue Greenpeace t-shirt, and had turned on the TV, quickly flipping through the channels in that irritating way that men have. He was propped up on his bed with the pillows behind his back, his long legs extended in front of him, crossed at the ankle.
“I’m enjoying it so far.”
“There’s a sequel and it’s equally exciting.” Flip, flip, flip through the channels. I wanted to snatch the remote off him.
“Heller told me to thank you for stepping in and keeping me out of trouble tonight.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Poor Heller,” was all he said, before switching off the TV and yawning. “I’m going to sleep, I hope you don’t mind.” He yawned again. “The jetlag is catching up with me.” He climbed under the covers.
“Of course not. Do you mind if I read for a bit longer? Will my light bother you?”
“Not at all. I can sleep anywhere in any circumstances. Night Tilly.”
“Night Meili.” And he rolled over and promptly fell asleep, judging by his relaxed posture and steady breathing.
I read for a while, and used the bathroom, before turning off the light and getting into bed myself. The evening hadn’t been as awkward or embarrassing as I had dreaded, which was a relief. Perhaps the whole time with him wouldn’t be as bad as I’d been expecting. I thought about Will for a while before I drifted off to sleep.<
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Meili was already awake when I woke up the next morning. He was wearing a white WWF singlet top, the cute panda logo in black, and sports shorts, and was pulling on his runners. He looked up from lacing his shoes to smile at me. “I’m going for a jog. Do you want to join me?”
I sure did, so I scrambled out of bed and was ready in record time. We jogged around the harbour together, a nice change for me as I normally ran by myself on the treadmill while I watched TV or listened to music on my iPod. The beautiful scenery and the wonderful company made it the best exercise session I’d had for an eon.
We jogged for an hour and I was positive that he kept the pace reasonably slow and steady on purpose for my benefit, which I appreciated. I wasn’t yet fit for intensive workouts and by the end was feeling sharp twinges from my pelvis that I bit down on my lip to hide. We returned to the hotel room sweaty and red-faced. He let me have a shower first while he did some crunches and push-ups. He took a quick shower after me and we went down to the buffet restaurant to have breakfast.
“I have a lecture at one o’clock today at the university,” he told me, munching on a piece of toast. He was dressed in jeans and a green Doctors without Borders t-shirt.
I sipped my coffee. “Okay. What are you speaking about?”
“Me,” he smiled. “For some reason, people want to hear about my life and my adventures.” He shrugged modestly, as if he couldn’t understand the interest in himself.
“Well Meili, of course people want to hear about you! You’re a fascinating man.” I may have been flattering him, but I wasn’t lying.
“Tilly, you charmer!” he joked.
“That’s me – Tilly Chalmers. From a long line of natural charmers,” I joked back at him. He laughed. “What do you want to do this morning?”
Although his girlfriend had been murdered in cold blood and his life had frequently been threatened, he wasn’t the type to hide in his room. He was so vital and alive that he couldn’t help but keep living a vibrant life. The contrast between this job and the one I’d had with Clarrie was chasmic.
“Let me think. I don’t have any engagements except for the lecture at lunchtime. I have to go to court tomorrow and probably the day after that as well. So let’s do something fun this morning. Let’s go rollerblading.” I shot him an uncertain look. His face fell with disappointment. “You don’t rollerblade?”
I couldn’t bear to disappoint him. “Not since I was a kid, Meili, and I wasn’t very good then either. But I’m willing to give it a go again. If you promise to help me.”
“My pleasure.”
I was used to doing a range of activities with my clients, but this was the first time one of them had wanted to rollerblade. They usually wanted to shop, but that was probably because they were mostly women. We consulted the front desk of the hotel and received directions, easily finding the little combined bike/rollerblade booth in the botanical gardens. We hired the necessary gear, strapped it on and set off. I was very hesitant at first, clinging to Meili’s hand like a barnacle. I fell over inelegantly and frequently when I ventured off alone, arms and legs sprawled everywhere, laughing my head off. He was patient, helping me up and getting me moving again each time.
“You’re a good sport, Tilly, but you must be in a lot of pain by now,” he said eventually, concerned after my tenth fall.
“Don’t you think I’m improving?” I asked hopefully.
He hesitated, but decided to be honest. “Not really.” Ouch!
“Okay, I can see you’re dying to move faster, so I’ll just sit here on this bench while you go and have some real fun.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! Go.”
And somehow I made my way to the park bench, where I gratefully eased my body down and rested my bruised muscles, almost wishing I was back with Clarrie again. I pulled off the blades, stretching out my feet in their socks, then removed my protective gear and stacked it neatly on the bench next to me. I watched with amusement while Meili showed off in front of me, jumping, twisting and spinning on his blades with grace and flair. I gave him an ironic slow clap and he bowed in thanks before taking off, racing away down one of the brick paths full of confidence, swerving around a group of power-walking mums, gossiping while they pushed their all-terrain prams. He waved with cheeky aplomb at the women as he passed, and almost as one, they all turned to watch his retreating back. Or butt. I’m not sure which. It was a rewarding choice either option.
I took the opportunity to call Heller. I didn’t want a gang of men in black with guns to descend on the tranquil park and scare the little kiddies and their mothers just because I hadn’t checked in with my boss. I told him what I was doing.
“I can’t believe I pay you to do things like that, Matilda,” he commented dryly.
“Heller, we all know it’s nowhere near as much as Meili is paying you for me to do things like this, and he doesn’t seem to mind,” I retorted rudely.
“Point taken, my sweet.”
We hung up and I enjoyed lazing in the sun for a while, glancing around idly at the beautiful scenery. I smiled at the naughty antics of seven little children running wild, screaming with red cordial fuelled joy, three frazzled mothers chasing them endlessly, catching one only to lose control of another. Suddenly I was glad that I couldn’t have kids.
A small disturbance in a large clump of Murraya bushes directly across the path from me caught my eye. Probably a bird, I thought. I kept watching. The bushes moved again and I caught a flash of something. I frowned slightly because it looked like an arm, not an animal. Why would someone be standing in the middle of the bushes?
I stood up and walked across the path in my socks towards the bush. The small movements suddenly became a frenzied crashing as I approached and whoever it was beat a hasty retreat in the opposite direction. I sped up then, shoving my way through the bushes, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever it was. The bushes were well grown and dense, difficult to push through, and my progress was slow. I struggled through to the end of the thicket and glanced left and right, trying to spot the voyeur. There were people around, couples strolling, families playing, a couple of joggers, but nobody who looked as though they had just been doing something dodgy.
Frustrated, I returned to the bench to find Meili sitting on it, legs sprawled, sweating and puffing.
“Hey!” he said. “I thought you’d ditched me for a better offer.” I smiled and sat next to him. “What have you been doing, Tilly? Your arms are all scratched.”
I told him about the lurker and my unsuccessful search. He didn’t seem concerned.
“Don’t you think that’s strange?” I insisted. “Why would someone be standing in a clump of bushes right in front of where I was sitting? Do you think it has something to do with you?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? Don’t worry about it, Tilly. We’d better return this gear to the kiosk and hunt down some lunch before we head off to the university.”
He stood up and performed a tricky manoeuvre on the blades that was nothing but sheer posing, earning him several admiring glances from passing women. I refused to pay any attention to such blatant bragging and busied myself taking off my socks and gathering my blades and safety gear. I looked up from the bench to find him smiling down at me. Then he executed an even fancier move, turning around with a flourish to face me, palms up, eyebrows raised, smirk on his face. A real ta-da moment.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Finished showing off yet, or do you need some more time?”
“No, I think I’m done now. This audience is too hard to please,” he pouted and held out his hand to help me up. I took it and he pulled me up gently, taking my blades from me. “You don’t want to skate back?”
“My butt hurts too much from falling over, so I guess not,” I rued and we headed back to the booth, me limping along carefully, barefooted. We exchanged the blades for our own footwear and I bought us sandwiches and Diet Cokes at a small cafe. We spent so much time chatting that when I look
ed at my watch I saw that we were really cutting it fine to get to the lecture on time. We hurried back to the hotel room and took turns to jump into the shower and change. Meili grabbed his notes and memory stick and we legged it quickly the few blocks to the inner-city university campus.
After losing ourselves for ten minutes in the maze of buildings, we finally made our way to the lecture theatre. The organiser of the free public lecture, Professor Maria Kavinsky, head of the university’s ecology department, greeted us anxiously. Meili had told me about her on the walk over.
“Meili!” she cried in equal amounts of relief and delight. They shared an affectionate hug and he apologised for being late, laughingly admitting that he’d been rollerblading all morning. She rolled her eyes. “Typical!”
Her eyes turned to me, curious but not at all unfriendly. He introduced me as his friend, but didn’t explain further. She looked me up and down and made her own judgement about what role I was filling in his life. I think she made the wrong judgement entirely, but there was no time to correct her, as we had come disturbingly close to the starting time of the lecture. Maria commandeered Meili, instructed me to find a seat in the lecture theatre, and they both beetled away.
I managed to find possibly the last remaining seat in the theatre. It was awkwardly situated in the middle of a row, right at the back. I had to push past a lot of people to reach it, saying sorry all the way along as I trod on toes and crushed against people’s knees. Once seated, I glanced around. The theatre was tiered, the seats arranged in a semi-circle around a centre stage area that contained a couple of white boards, a projector screen and a lectern. It wasn’t a small room and could easily hold a couple of hundred people. It was jam-packed. Even after me, as late as I was, loads of extra people trooped in, having to make do with standing at the back or perching on the stairs.
