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Authors: Rachel Lindsay
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meant to get the boiler going for you the night you arrived, but, you
were so determined to show me you could manage on your own that I was scared to
offer my services again. Now I can see you were just being obstinate.'
He marched into the kitchen, stared
at the empty coal scuttle and went out to the backyard. There was a sound of
scraping and a moment later he returned with a bucket of coke.
‘I’ll have the boiler going in no
time,' he promised, and was as good as his word, finding paper and wood,
stacking it competently and setting it alight with amazing ease. In next to no
time the coke was glowing. The radiators should be hot in an hour,' he said as
he washed his hands at the sink. The water is already tepid. Now go and put some
lipstick or whatever it is you have to do, and we'll go out shopping.'
'I don't think——-'
‘You certainly don't think!' he
interrupted. 'So you'd better let me do it for you. Go on,
Kate.'
Docilely she obeyed, enjoying the
sensation of being told what to do even though she knew it would not last. One
day she might be able to take orders from a man but it would have to be someone
of stronger character than Dermot. Putting on the lipstick he had decreed, she
found it strange that she should be so certain that he could never be the man.
‘Very nice too,' he commented as
she came down to the hall where he was waiting for her. 'Have I told you that
you're the prettiest girl in Llanduff ?'
‘Not yet,' she smiled.
‘Well, you are.' He tucked her arm
through his hand led her out to the shooting brake. 'Do you have a list of
things you want to buy?'
‘It
wasn't necessary. In the food line I need most of the
staple things—butter, eggs, soup, sardines——-'
'Don't you like to cook?'
'No,’ she said sharply. 'I don't.'
He gave her a swift look and then
chatted of other things. As on Thursday evening she found him an entertaining
companion, and a surprisingly helpful one too as the morning progressed. The
shopping tired her more than she had anticipated and the crowds in the
supermarket where they went to buy her provisions made her feel claustrophobic,
the way she had felt when she had tried to fight her way out of the blazing
apartment block. Surrounded by a sea of metal baskets and jostling people all
intent on their own affairs, she found reality slipping away from her and tried
to push her way into the street. The
exit
seemed an interminable
distance and her path was blocked by counters stacked with brightly coloured boxes that grew larger as she looked at them; terrifyingly
large
so
that they towered above her like yellow and red sentinels.
‘What's the matter with you, Kate?
You're shaking like a leaf.' Dermot's hand on her forearm brought her back to
sanity and she shook her head.
‘Nothing,’ she mumbled. 'I—it's the
heat in here.’
He caught hold of the trolley she
was pushing and wheeled it to a check-out, looking so much at ease that she
asked him if he was used to doing this sort of thing.
'I often take Mrs
Hughes shopping,’ he explained, 'I find it relaxing to concern myself with
ordinary things like this. It makes a change from all the high-powered
executive mumbo-jumbo I deal with for most of my time,’
'You're certainly a man of many
parts,’ she smiled. 1 suppose you'll confound me next by saying you can cook,’
'That's one thing I can't do. But I
love to eat—which reminds me that it's lunchtime. I know an excellent place,
but we must get there early or we shall never get a table. I suggest we go now
and finish the rest of your shopping this afternoon,’
'I have nothing more to get,’ She hesitated. 'A cushion, perhaps.
Dr Morris seems to have had a penchant for hard backed chairs.’
'Buy yourself a nice relaxing one,’
She shook her head and was glad
when he did not argue with her but instead put the food she had bought in the
back of the shooting brake and then guided her down a side turning to an
unpretentious-looking restaurant.
'Do
were so determined to show me you could manage on your own that I was scared to
offer my services again. Now I can see you were just being obstinate.'
He marched into the kitchen, stared
at the empty coal scuttle and went out to the backyard. There was a sound of
scraping and a moment later he returned with a bucket of coke.
‘I’ll have the boiler going in no
time,' he promised, and was as good as his word, finding paper and wood,
stacking it competently and setting it alight with amazing ease. In next to no
time the coke was glowing. The radiators should be hot in an hour,' he said as
he washed his hands at the sink. The water is already tepid. Now go and put some
lipstick or whatever it is you have to do, and we'll go out shopping.'
'I don't think——-'
‘You certainly don't think!' he
interrupted. 'So you'd better let me do it for you. Go on,
Kate.'
Docilely she obeyed, enjoying the
sensation of being told what to do even though she knew it would not last. One
day she might be able to take orders from a man but it would have to be someone
of stronger character than Dermot. Putting on the lipstick he had decreed, she
found it strange that she should be so certain that he could never be the man.
‘Very nice too,' he commented as
she came down to the hall where he was waiting for her. 'Have I told you that
you're the prettiest girl in Llanduff ?'
‘Not yet,' she smiled.
‘Well, you are.' He tucked her arm
through his hand led her out to the shooting brake. 'Do you have a list of
things you want to buy?'
‘It
wasn't necessary. In the food line I need most of the
staple things—butter, eggs, soup, sardines——-'
'Don't you like to cook?'
'No,’ she said sharply. 'I don't.'
He gave her a swift look and then
chatted of other things. As on Thursday evening she found him an entertaining
companion, and a surprisingly helpful one too as the morning progressed. The
shopping tired her more than she had anticipated and the crowds in the
supermarket where they went to buy her provisions made her feel claustrophobic,
the way she had felt when she had tried to fight her way out of the blazing
apartment block. Surrounded by a sea of metal baskets and jostling people all
intent on their own affairs, she found reality slipping away from her and tried
to push her way into the street. The
exit
seemed an interminable
distance and her path was blocked by counters stacked with brightly coloured boxes that grew larger as she looked at them; terrifyingly
large
so
that they towered above her like yellow and red sentinels.
‘What's the matter with you, Kate?
You're shaking like a leaf.' Dermot's hand on her forearm brought her back to
sanity and she shook her head.
‘Nothing,’ she mumbled. 'I—it's the
heat in here.’
He caught hold of the trolley she
was pushing and wheeled it to a check-out, looking so much at ease that she
asked him if he was used to doing this sort of thing.
'I often take Mrs
Hughes shopping,’ he explained, 'I find it relaxing to concern myself with
ordinary things like this. It makes a change from all the high-powered
executive mumbo-jumbo I deal with for most of my time,’
'You're certainly a man of many
parts,’ she smiled. 1 suppose you'll confound me next by saying you can cook,’
'That's one thing I can't do. But I
love to eat—which reminds me that it's lunchtime. I know an excellent place,
but we must get there early or we shall never get a table. I suggest we go now
and finish the rest of your shopping this afternoon,’
'I have nothing more to get,’ She hesitated. 'A cushion, perhaps.
Dr Morris seems to have had a penchant for hard backed chairs.’
'Buy yourself a nice relaxing one,’
She shook her head and was glad
when he did not argue with her but instead put the food she had bought in the
back of the shooting brake and then guided her down a side turning to an
unpretentious-looking restaurant.
'Do
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