Chapter 27
It was nearing time to go home and Vidya was nowhere near finished. All the work she had been doing on the Waterloo Bay case meant that all her other projects had backed up. She stifled a yawn and took another sip of coffee.
On her phone, she opened her messaging app and wrote to Angie: Definitely going to have to work late tonight. Udeni knows. You’ll be home as normal, right? She’s had a big day.
Angie replied: Yes. Don’t worry about Udeni, she’ll be fine. She’s more with it than you give her credit for.
Vidya craned her neck to see Angie’s desk, which was at the other side of the open-plan office. She gave her friend a thumbs-up, which was rewarded with a grin.
Vidya put her phone facedown and looked at her work again, but she still couldn’t concentrate.
Angie was right about Udeni. She had been so well composed today, not at all like the devil-may-care girl she normally was.
If she carried on in this vein, this whole thing wouldn’t be a disaster.
Her parents would still try and blame her for Udeni’s ‘trouble’ though.
That was just something she’d have to deal with when the time came.
With a sigh, she scrolled to the bottom of the spreadsheet that she was pulling data from.
Her phone buzzed. She turned it over to see a message from Angie. The preview said, Heads up! Incoming!
Vidya’s head shot up to look at the door, half expecting to see her parents. It was Leo, striding towards her with his expression set. Uh-oh. She glanced at the document open on her screen. As he neared, she said, ‘I’m working on it. I’ll get it to you tonight, I promise.’
A frown flickered across his brow, then cleared. ‘That’s good,’ he said. He placed a hand on her desk and leaned down. ‘Can I talk to you for a moment?’
She looked up at him, surprised. He was very close. Nothing inappropriate for an office discussion, but for Leo … close. She could smell his aftershave and a lingering hint of coffee. What was this about? Work? Or Udeni and Caleb? ‘Er … sure,’ she said.
He glanced about the office. A few people were watching them. Past his shoulder, she could see Angie craning her neck from her seat, trying to get a better look.
Vidya pushed her chair back. ‘We can use the meeting room.’
The meeting room had a small table and four chairs. It was really just a partitioned-off area with glass walls. If you spoke in a normal tone of voice, anyone sitting outside could hear everything, but it gave the illusion of privacy.
She led the way. Tension radiated from Leo. She could feel her own nerves prickling between her shoulder blades. Once inside the little room, she said, ‘Is this about work?’
He shut the door and shook his head.
So, Udeni and Caleb then. She put her hands on the back of one of the chairs and braced herself for whatever surprise was to come.
Leo straightened his suit jacket. ‘It’s … er … I think we should talk. About … about us.’
‘Here?’ she said. ‘Now?’ Because that was the stupidest idea she had ever heard.
‘No. Obviously not now.’ He glanced at the activity outside the glass partition. ‘I was thinking after work. Maybe over dinner.’
Oh. She relaxed a little. Oh. Oh. She searched his face. His eyes were worried and pleading. She understood what he was trying to say. He was asking her out, in a very Leo sort of way. ‘That would be nice,’ she said. ‘I think that’s a good idea.’
Some of the tension left his shoulders and face. ‘Great. Is … tonight too soon?’
‘I have to work late tonight,’ she said.
She saw the disappointment before his neutral expression set in. ‘I’ll be done by about seven though, I think.’ Maybe they could meet for a drink.
Leo brightened. ‘How about I cook dinner? That way, you can turn up when you’ve finished.’ He pulled out his phone. ‘Here. Let me send you my address.’ His thumbs tapped furiously and then her phone buzzed in her hand.
‘That’s great.’ She had intended to play it cool but she couldn’t stop the grin that spread on her face. Leo’s eyes lit up.
‘I’ll see you later then.’ He turned and put his hand on the door handle. She made to follow him.
He turned around, hand still on the door handle. ‘Vidya, just to be clear. This is a date.’
‘I know,’ she said. ‘And I’m pleased to accept.’
He gave her a proper smile. For a moment, nothing else existed, just this handsome man and his rare, bright smile. Then his face resumed its normal guarded expression and he said, ‘I’ll see you later then.’
Her brain scrambled to adjust to the haze of happiness. She followed him out, not entirely sure how to act now. Leo merely gave her a polite nod and left the office. He seemed entirely nonchalant, as though he hadn’t just reopened a door that she’d thought was closed forever.
As Vidya reached her desk and sat back down, her phone buzzed in her hand. It was Angie: What did he want? What’s going on??
Vidya bit her lip to stop grinning and typed back: Don’t wait up for me tonight. I have a date.
She heard the squeal from across the office. She didn’t look up. Her phone buzzed again. Angie had sent her a string of emojis that were entirely inappropriate for work. She wrote back: Got to get my head down and get this done. I can’t leave until I’ve finished it.
Angie: Won’t Leo cut you some slack if you’re late with reports? After all, he knows what you’re going to do instead.
It only took a moment’s consideration to know that he wouldn’t be impressed at all.
Vidya: No. He won’t. I wouldn’t be either. I’ve spent enough time out of the office today. Now shut up so I can focus.
Angie sent her more suggestive emojis.
***
It was past seven when Vidya finished her work. She emailed off the documents, then messaged Leo to say she was leaving the office. She also sent a message to Udeni, out of habit.
Udeni’s response was predictable. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. And remember that condoms aren’t always 100%!
Which was a little optimistic, Vidya thought.
Leo’s reply was more understated: I will have dinner ready for you. See you in about 30 minutes.
It took slightly longer than thirty minutes because she wasn’t exactly sure where she was going, and she had to stop on the way to buy a bottle of wine. Leo lived in a block of flats. She buzzed up and Leo’s voice said, ‘Hi. Come up. I’m on floor six.’
Soon, Vidya was standing outside a nondescript door. She knocked and he let her in. He had changed out of his suit into jeans and a Henley shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. It hugged his shoulders in interesting ways. She tried not to stare at his forearms.
Leo took her coat and hung it up on the rack.
The apartment was small and tidy. They were in a hallway that had coat hooks, a bicycle leaning against a wall and a small table with keys on it.
Three doors led off the hallway. Two were open, and she could see they led to a bedroom and a living room.
The other must be the bathroom, and she asked if she could use it.
Once she’d washed her hands, Vidya patted her face with her damp hands and wondered if there was anything at all she could do to look less tired. Short of getting some sleep, she had no other answers. She gave herself a reassuring smile and went out.
In the living room, Leo was setting two places at a table with two chairs on either side.
There was barely enough space for the table, chairs and a sofa.
One side of the room was taken up by a kitchen.
The opposite wall was a huge glass window through which she could see the lights of the city.
There was something missing, but she couldn’t put her finger on what.
Leo straightened up and looked tense. He had a tea towel slung over his shoulder. She breathed in and something smelled delicious. Her stomach growled.
Mortified, she said, ‘I’m sorry.’ She suddenly realised that she was starving.
This seemed to spur Leo into action. ‘Sit down,’ he said. ‘Let’s eat.’
While Vidya sat, he dished up two plates and brought them over. ‘It’s tuna pasta bake.’
‘That sounds lovely,’ she said. ‘I’m so hungry.’
‘Tuck in.’ He picked up an open wine bottle and poured her a glass, which she gladly accepted.
The pasta bake was delicious. ‘Mmm,’ she said after a few minutes. ‘This is good. You can cook.’
A brief smile. ‘My grandmother didn’t raise slackers,’ he said. ‘We all had to take turns cooking.’
‘I am very grateful,’ she said. ‘I was too tense to eat much of my soup at the café, and this tastes like the best meal I’ve ever had.’
‘Well, it has been a busy and, frankly, a roller coaster of a day,’ he said.
‘Worked out okay in the end though. Thankfully.’
Leo swirled the wine in his glass. ‘Yes. Caleb seems very happy. Which I wasn’t expecting, if I’m honest.’
‘No, me neither. Udeni has gone from being completely against his involvement to okay with it. I was expecting things to be more tense than they were.’ Vidya paused, fork suspended over her meal.
‘I think … I think they might actually like each other. For real. Not just in a drunken fumble kind of way.’
‘I agree,’ Leo said, quietly.
Vidya resumed eating. As she finished her meal, she noticed that Leo was mostly pushing his food around the plate.
When she was done, he took the plates away and tidied up.
‘Can I help?’ she asked.