Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
‘What do you remember most from when you were five?’ Evie asked.
They’d paid for their tickets and were walking into the zoo proper.
‘We saw this elephant having an absolute waterfall of a piss. I mean gallons of the stuff, and it went on for ages . My parents could not drag me away.’
‘It’s always the truly educational experiences that stick with us, isn’t it?’ said Evie. ‘My great love was the Reptile House and reading about the Gaboon viper that produces enough venom to kill all of London. Possibly, I’ve misremembered that statistic, but who cares?’
‘Don’t tell Nigel about it,’ said Leo. ‘He’ll steal it and release it in Keith and Kev’s office.’
‘He has a point, though, Nigel does,’ said Evie. ‘When I started, Keith and Kev told me they’d never give up control of Double K. They’d sell it to their employees before any outsider. Weird that they changed their minds when they were so adamant.’
‘Maybe they just got tired?’ suggested Leo. ‘The economy’s been hard going for the last few years, and it’ll be a struggle for a while yet, so maybe they decided they’d earned a break?’
Evie took his arm again. ‘How about we stop talking about work?’ she said. ‘And although the zoo sadly no longer has elephants, I suggest we go see what other large mammal might have recently drunk a whole lot of water.’
It was hard for Evie to reconcile Leo now with the Leo she’d met on his first day. Only five days ago; how could that be ! That Leo had been brittle and aloof, closed-off behind a wall of business jargon and humour-free ambition. Leo now was hilarious. He practically skipped through the zoo, being constantly amazed by what he saw.
‘It’s a gorilla! An actual freaking gorilla! Eating a cucumber !’
‘Check out the buggy orange eyes on that! What is it? Oh, of course. It’s an AYE-AYE!’
‘Hey, lemur! I like to move it, move it!’
‘That tortoise looks like Janice. Only less hard and wrinkled.’
‘Wow, that bird is blue. Like, incredibly blue! That’s not a normal colour, right? Nothing’s naturally that blue.’
Evie was glad she’d bought tissues with her, because she was now crying with laughter.
‘Did you take drugs without me noticing?’ she asked him, dabbing her eyes.
Leo looked surprised. ‘No. Why?’
‘Not important,’ said Evie. ‘And, yes, that pigeon is naturally bright blue.’
‘ Pigeon ? Get out of town! Pigeons are flying bowel movements!’
‘I think it heard you,’ warned Evie. ‘It’s walking this way.’
‘We should go visit the butterflies,’ said Leo. ‘They don’t peck you to death. Do they?’
‘I’ve not heard of a fatal butterfly attack,’ said Evie. ‘But there’s always a first time.’
They emerged from the butterfly house un-pecked, but peckish. Evie checked the zoo map on her phone for food options.
‘There’s a restaurant if we want to be fancy,’ she said. ‘Or we could grab a sandwich from one of the kiosks and find a seat somewhere.’
‘Or–’ Leo was also checking his phone. ‘If you’re not starving, we could take our sandwiches into Regent’s Park.’ He raised his eyebrows at her and grinned. ‘And after lunch we could go boating on the lake!’
‘Boating.’ Evie narrowed her eyes. ‘You mean in one of those pedal things?’
‘Pedalos!’ said Leo. ‘Yes!’
‘Have you been in a pedalo before?’
‘No!’ said Leo.
‘They don’t go fast,’ Evie warned. ‘And you can’t use them like bumper cars.’
‘Oh.’ Leo looked briefly crestfallen but soon bounced back. ‘It’ll still be fun, right?’
‘Last time I went in one, I got soaked,’ said Evie. ‘And then I got cold. And then I got grumpy. And then I went home in a huff.’
That had been near the end of her relationship with Jason. Evie had learned that men weren’t anywhere near as endearing when they were laughing at you, not with you.
‘We’ll pedal carefully, no splashing,’ said Leo. ‘And it’s a beautiful sunny day so you won’t get cold.’
He was like an eager child, thought Evie. Any minute now, he’d clasp his hands together imploringly and say–
‘Pleeeeease?’
‘Okay!’ said Evie, laughing. ‘But thirty minutes max! There is no way I’m sitting surrounded by ducks and pondweed for an entire hour.’
Leo pumped his fist in triumph and leapt forward, landing a smacker on Evie’s cheek. Then he stilled, and with the gentlest touch, ran his thumb over the skin he’d just kissed, and kissed her again on her lips. Evie’s mouth opened instantly under his, and she arched against him, the heat of the day no match for the heat rushing through her. His body felt fit and firm, and below his belt line, even firmer. The tiny part of Evie’s mind that was still rational guessed now-Leo was giving thanks to morning-Leo for his decision not to wear the linen pants. That lightweight fabric would leave nothing to the imagination.
The banshee screech of a small child brought them both back to earth. They separated just enough to allow some cooling air between them, but not so far apart that passing children might ask their parents tricky questions.
‘Is anyone staring at us?’ Leo asked, in low voice.
‘There’s a flamingo giving us the side eye,’ said Evie. ‘But I think that’s their normal resting face.’
Leo touched his forehead to Evie’s for a moment.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I got overexcited by the pedalos.’
‘I forgive you,’ said Evie, with a smile. ‘But let’s go get those sandwiches before we become an educational experience in our own right.’
Get ready, my friends. We need to clear the way for these two to have a moment. But don’t make it too obvious. I think Evie may be starting to suspect that some trickery is afoot …