Starr Fated

by G E Griffin

  I reached down to kiss her on both cheeks as I held her lovely face in my hands.

  “We can make this work. We can be good for each other in so many ways,” I murmured.

  “I hope so, Liam. Because I'm scared. This is all happening so fast.”

  “Don’t be, please.”

  We started kissing again, and I loved the feel of her fingers raking through my hair, as I let my hands wander over her enchantingly soft body.

  “I hate to be the one to break things up, but we have a table booked and Greg will be waiting to take us,” I said as I managed to tear myself away.

  “Oh, okay. So where are we going that needs Greg to drive us?”

  “You’ll see, but it’s not far. Greg lives close by, and it’s easier this way because I can have a drink.” I plan on us having some champagne tonight to celebrate the start of our relationship, and I never drink and drive.

  As we sat together in the back of the car, I took her hand and threaded my fingers in hers.

  “You know, after the way you ripped into me in your email about how you didn't need anything from me, I kind of expected you to reject the present I brought you back from New York,” I admitted as I raised her hand to kiss it.

  “Well, part of me very nearly did throw it back in your face, because I’ve no doubt they were obscenely expensive,” she admitted. “But I’m trying to be more gracious about accepting your gifts when I know you’re trying hard to be kind and thoughtful. I just have to get used to the scale of things that you find normal.”

  “Actually, I was being very selfish, because I wanted the pleasure of seeing how incredibly sexy those shoes would look on you,” I whispered in her ear.

  “Liam!” Seraphina glanced over at the back of Greg’s head.

  “Don’t worry, he has selective deafness. That’s one of the essential skills of being a good chauffer,” I teased. Then I pressed the button to raise the privacy screen. “Better?”

  “I don't know. That seems rather rude to Greg.”

  “He’s used to it - business men don't want their deals overheard. I'm sure he doesn’t take it personally.”

  “I hope not, because I like Greg. Anyway, I bet it was Abbey, wasn’t it? She told you what shoe size I was,” Seraphina figured it out.

  “Yes, it was, and she also told me to buy a half size larger. Apparently Jimmy Choos come up small, so she informed me. She was a veritable font of knowledge and seemed to know all about these things.”

  “Well of course she did. It would be like asking you about stocks and shares, or any of that financial stuff you deal with in your business. Don’t forget Abbey is a very talented fashion design student. Her goal is to set up her own label, and I truly think she could be a top designer one day.”

  “That’s your prediction is it?” Somehow, I could also see that happening with Abbey – there was definitely something about the girl that made her stand out from the crowd.

  “Yes, it is. I confess I'm surprised that you’ve been in cahoots with her. I mean, another lowly and very whacky arts student for you to have to deal with,” Seraphina said dryly.

  “Well, maybe I'm looking at things slightly differently since you’ve shown me how essential artistic skills are in the business world, having seen for myself the impact of your new designs in my recent meetings.”

  “You should never underestimate the power of a strong visual image,” Seraphina lectured me with a smug smile.

  “Indeed. And I’ve done some research and discovered that it’s very hard to get onto the course you’re studying at Central St. Martins, and it’s very highly regarded. So if you come out with a first, as I’ve little doubt that you will, the world will be your oyster. That’s one of the reasons I'm delighted that I’ve managed to snap you up for my Creative Team. Speaking of which, have you signed the contract yet?”

  “No, I haven’t got around to it. And there’s no guarantee that I'm going to get a first, although that is what I've been aiming for of course. Art is very subjective, there’s no right or wrong,” she sighed. “Now I'm wondering if I did enough. That’s another problem with a subject like Graphics – you can always do more, there’s no definite finishing point.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have done just fine,” I reassured her. “When do you get your results? And when is your Graduation Ceremony?”

  “Results will be posted on 17th June, and then Graduation is 17th July, a month later.”

  “And have you withdrawn your application for the Exchange program as we agreed?”

  “No, I haven’t got round to it yet, but I wouldn’t worry. The chances of me getting a place were always slim to zero in any case.”

  “So, do you have any of your own original art work to hang in your apartment?” I asked.

  “Not as such – I wouldn’t feel happy with any of my paintings on the walls as they aren’t up to standard in my opinion. But I might hang some of my photographic work, if that’s okay with you? I have to admit I hate the bland generic type of pictures that are hanging in there at the moment.”

  “I told you – you can make any changes you want. So you like photography?”

  “Oh yes, I love it, that’s why I chose to do a photography module as part of my degree, and actually it’s come in really useful for several aspects of my course work. I always have a camera in my bag, just in case something catches my eye. Not my big camera, of course, I only take that with me if I’m planning to take some specialist shots.”

  “I’d like to have some nice photos of you. All I had when I was away in the States were those couple on my phone that I took of you at the last minute in Ireland.”

  “That’s more than I’ve got of you. I’ll have to take some tonight with my new iPhone, which I love, by the way, so thanks for that,” she smiled, as she squeezed my hand. “But I’d really like to do a whole series of you. I think you have a photogenic face.”

  “I don’t think so,” I scoffed. “That’s much more Jamie’s domain.”

  At the mention of his name, the atmosphere in the car plummeted.

  “Seraphina, there’s something you should know about Jamie…” I started to explain.

  “It’s okay; I know he’s already moved on.” Seraphina stared resolutely out of the window.

  “Have you seen him then? You haven’t been round to the student house have you?” I didn't like the idea of them meeting up behind my back.

  “No, Abbey told me. She thought it best I heard it from her. She’d heard gossip, and then she saw Jamie with this other girl for herself when she collected my things from the house in her car for me.”

  “I’m sorry if that upset you.” I appreciated Abbey’s thoughtfulness, and agreed it was best to tell her outright as I’d been about to.

  “I’m not upset so much as angry with myself for being so gullible and believing that he actually cared for me. That was why I came so close…” she closed her eyes and sighed. “What a mess I’ve made of things.”

  “So, how close did you two actually get to…?” All I knew was that Seraphina had fought my brother off, none of the gory details, and it kept niggling at me. He’d insisted that he’d hardly done anything, but then why had she been screaming at him to stop?

  “You really want to hear this?”

  I nodded, as I studied her face and gripped her hand.

  “We kissed a lot. I practically ripped his shirt off, and helped him take his trousers off, so he was down to just his boxers. I took off my dress and let him look at me in my underwear. But the second he tried to touch me…intimately, I freaked out. I just couldn’t let him go any further.”

  “So Jamie never got as far as actually attempting to…?”

  “Fuck me? You might as well just come out and say it Liam. No, thanks to the security guard coming along and interrupting things when he did, I managed to break away from him. Look, I know it sounds bad, but I don’t think Jamie is such a terrible person, because I really did give him all the wrong signals.”


  “But that still doesn't excuse his behaviour towards you…”

  “Please Liam, can we let this drop now, and just put it all behind us? No great harm was done, and we’ve both managed to come out of it unscathed. So please, just go back to how things were with him before all this. Are you seeing him for lunch on Sunday as usual?”

  “I don’t know, I haven’t arranged anything yet. I'm not sure I want to see him.” I was still angry and disappointed in my brother.

  “I really think you should. As I told you in my letter, the last thing I would ever want is to come between you, not when you’re the only family he has. For my sake, Liam, ask Jamie over to lunch. And I've been thinking, perhaps it would be best to tell him that you’ve offered me a job at your company, because I don’t see that you need to keep that part of things secret from him do you? And then maybe it won’t be such a shock to him when he eventually learns about us.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I sighed. “But you’re right. For now let’s put it behind us and not let it spoil our first date, especially as we’re here now.”

  Greg was pulling up in front of The Shard. London’s newest high rise building had just opened their new glass atrium Oblix restaurant on the thirty second floor, and I’d managed to pull a few strings to get us a prime table right by the full length glass windows, even though the place was supposed to be fully booked for the first couple of months. The views should be spectacular, and would hopefully help to create a memorable first date for us.

  “Are we going in here?” Seraphina asked, as she looked up at the stunning modern building, shaped like a shard of glass – hence the name.

  “That’s right, ” I grinned, as Greg opened the door to let us out. I offered Seraphina my arm, and headed into the reception area of the building.

  “Oh, it’s on the thirty second floor is it?” she asked as she saw which button I pressed in the lift, seeming rather nervous. Of course I had to remember that she was more used to dining as a hard up student rather than enjoying the more top end restaurants of London.

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” I leant down and whispered, to try and put her at her ease.

  She just nodded and nervously licked her lips as the express lift effortlessly took us up in seconds. The doors opened and we exited along a dark corridor, which led into the restaurant. It was floor to ceiling glass everywhere, just as I expected.

  Once the head waiter had checked his reservation list, he started leading us over to our table right next to the window.

  I felt Seraphina gripping my arm and holding back, so I turned to look at her.

  “I…I…can’t…” she stuttered, as she shook her head.

  “Whatever’s the matter? What on earth…?”

  “Get me out of here, please, Liam,” she whispered. She’d gone as white as a sheet, and I noticed there were little beads of perspiration on her brow.

  Fuck. I realised Seraphina appeared to be having some sort of a panic attack, as the waiter turned back to us to see what the problem was.

  “The lady is unwell. She needs some fresh air,” I explained as I put my arm around her waist to guide her back to the lift as quickly as I could. Sera just clung to me and hid her face in my chest, and I could feel her shaking and trembling. We stepped in the lift once all the other people had exited, ignoring the way they were gawping at us.

  “Whatever is it? What’s brought this on?” I asked anxiously.

  “Heights. I can't stand heights,” she confessed.

  “Shit. And I bring you here of all places. Don’t worry, we’ll soon be back down.”

  As soon as we reached ground level, I headed towards some sofas in the large glass entrance foyer.

  “No, outside, please Liam.” I guessed the glass around us made her feel as though we were still on the thirty second floor.

  “Could you fetch us a glass of water?” I called out to the female receptionist, as I headed for the door with Seraphina.

  “Oh, yes, right. Is the young lady ill?” she asked.

  “No, no, I’ll be fine in just a minute.” Sera still looked decidedly pale, as the receptionist hurried over to hold the door open for me.

  I pushed through the doors and headed for a bench just outside where she could sit down.

  “Just take a few deep breaths.” I gently stroked her hand as I sat by her side.

  “I’ll be fine in a minute,” she smiled weakly at me.

  And sure enough, her breathing started to calm, as the receptionist brought out a cup of water for her.

  “Felt a bit faint up there, did you, dear? Don’t worry, you're not the first and you won’t be the last. Let me know if you need anything else,” the woman smiled at her before heading back in.

  Finally the colour started returning to Sera’s cheeks.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “No need to apologise. I take it this has happened before?” I asked.

  “Not for a very long time, not as badly as that. It was just all that glass everywhere made it feel so exposed when we were so high up,” she shivered again, and took a sip of the water.

  “You should’ve said something when we got in the lift. I would’ve understood. I'm so sorry…”

  “It’s not your fault, Liam, you weren’t to know. And I didn't say anything on the way up because I thought it might be alright. I try to push myself not to give in to this stupid phobia, and most of the time I'm fine,” she explained.

  “I’ll call Greg and get him to pick us up and take you home.” I reached for my mobile from my pocket.

  “No! I don’t need to go home, I'm feeling fine now. There’s really nothing wrong with me now.”

  “What do you want to do then? I probably wouldn’t suggest we go back in there…” I joked, as I nodded my head back at The Shard. Seraphina did look much better, more or less back to her normal colour, and I was satisfied that now the cause of her panic attack had been dealt with, she should be fine, although I’d keep a very close eye on her. And we still needed to eat.

  “We can still have dinner together. Why don’t you use your phone to search for a restaurant nearby?” Sera suggested.

  “Somewhere on ground level, or do you think you could maybe manage a first floor without fainting this time?” I joked, relieved to see her recovered so well after such a disastrous turn of events.

  “Oi!” she prodded me. “You’re never going to let me hear the last of this are you?”

  “Not a chance. I’d even planned on taking you up to the viewing gallery on the sixty ninth floor. I guess that’s off now?”

  “We were only half way up?” she shuddered. “Seriously though, thanks for looking after me, for being so calm and getting me out of there. It made all the difference to how quickly I got over my stupid panic attack,” she smiled and took my hand to squeeze it.

  “That’s what I'm here for, Seraphina. To take care of you,” I squeezed her hand back.

  We ended up eating at a restaurant around the corner called Quarter. It was fine, even if it wasn’t exactly the type of place I’d planned for our first date, but in the end it didn't really matter. We spent the whole evening talking, and focussing on each other. It made me realise that the simple pleasure of being in Seraphina’s company was far more important than any impressive venue. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as we laughed and joked together, her eyes sparkling with her wit and humour as she teased me about the total lack of any kind of art work hanging in my office.

  “Liam, there are so many different types of art out there waiting for you to discover. There’ll be something that you like, you just haven’t found it yet.”

  “Works of art are not an area I've ever had any interest in exploring I guess, and I would never invest large sums of money in something I know absolutely nothing about.”

  “You don't have to spend large sums of money to enjoy art. That’s not what it should be about. It should be about having pieces that give you pleasure every time you look a
t them, rather than considering them purely a financial investment. What’s the point of having a masterpiece locked up in a safe where you never see it?”

  “That’s a fair point. I’ll have to set you the challenge of educating me about art, Seraphina. I freely admit to being a total novice on the subject.”

  “That’s a challenge I'm happy to accept, and I think it’ll be fun. Liam, one way or another, I’m determined to get some artwork on the walls of your office,” she laughed. I loved hearing her carefree laugh, and much to my surprise the idea of wandering round art galleries with her did sound like fun.

  “So are there any other phobias or allergies that I should be aware of, to prevent me from organising a disastrous second date?” I queried as I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “You think you’re still in with a chance of a second date, do you? I’ll have to see about that. But phobias – nothing else really, you’ve seen the worst. Allergy wise, I have sensitive skin, so I have to be quite careful what I use – no heavy perfumes, only very light hypoallergenic makeup, that kind of thing. Otherwise, the only other thing I’m not very keen on is great big dogs; you know, the type who jump up at you and try to lick your face.”

  “Ah, right, I bet you’re more a cat person. Everyone knows witches prefer little black cats with green eyes,” I chuckled. “And clearly you come from a long line of witches who cast powerful bewitching spells over hapless men like me.”

  “We did used to have a little black cat as it happens. We called her Marmite. As for being a witch – well, you’ve met my Grandmother,” she joked back.

  “You certainly have the same colour eyes as her. You know, you have the most unusual eyes I think I've ever seen,” I informed her matter of factly.

  “You mean I'm a freak? Thanks for that.”

  “You’re the most beautiful freak I've ever come across,” I found myself saying. This was not like me. I don’t do slushy compliments. But this was the effect Seraphina had on me.