Give her one for me mate
Saturday midday
Dan allowed the Skoda’s speed to climb into the mid 90’s. The M74 was very quiet and he could see for mile ahead. If he had been on his own he would have risked going even faster but, for the last week, had got used to his new speaking speed regulator. That, however, now didn’t seem to be working properly.
He risked glancing over at her. Tess was resting her head against the passenger window and was staring at the passing scenery.
‘You ok?’ he asked eventually, concern winning over his need for speed.
‘What? Sorry?’ she said with a start. She had clearly been deep in her own thoughts.
‘You’re very quiet, that’s all.’ He said.
‘Is that against the rules? I thought you liked quiet?’ she said irritably.
Dan fell silent, raising his eyebrows in surprise. She had actually snapped at him! That was a first. He decided that saying nothing was the safest plan – perhaps not the bravest admittedly, but definitely the safest, at least for now.
He concentrated on driving for a while.
A few minutes later he felt the chill of her hand on his left, the one that rested on his thigh as he drove.
‘Sorry,’ she said, ‘that wasn’t fair.’
‘Hey we all have our moments,’ he said, ‘Is it something I’ve done or said?’
‘No love, it’s not.’
The miles ticked past.
‘Are you worried about doing that stuff about finding out what happened to you?’ he asked.
‘No. I’m not interested in doing it now, to be honest,’ she said. ‘Unless you want to, of course,’ she added.
‘I don’t want to. I don’t want to risk losing you,’ he said.
He risked another glance. She had rested her head against the window again. She still looked deep in thought but seemed much more relaxed, her face softer.
‘Eyes on the road,’ she said, ‘and you’re going far too fast.’
Smiling, Dan eased off slightly on the throttle.
Saturday evening
They got back to Dan’s flat at about 6 pm. He let Tess inside and then began to unload the car.
‘Sorry, I’m no help am I?’ said Tess from the settee as he staggered in with the second load from the car.
‘It’s Ok, you have a good excuse!’ he said dropping his load on the floor, ‘Mind you, you could try using your special powers to make me a coffee.’
‘Well I could,’ she said, ‘but it does take a lot out of me and I was trying to save some of my energies for tonight.’ She gave him a particularly dirty wink.
‘I’ll make myself an instant,’ said Dan quickly.
‘Thought you might!’
Ten minutes later, the car was empty and locked and the kettle was on. Dan unpacked the tent.
‘I’ll have to dry and air this I’m afraid,’ he said, ‘otherwise it will stink. Mind you. I’ve never done this in a flat before.’
He looked around, wondering where would be best to drape it.
‘The outer is quite light isn’t it?’ she said.
‘Yes.’
‘Would the shower rail hold it?’
‘Great idea!’ he said.
‘And the inner could go over the dining table if it’s not too muddy.’
‘It isn’t too bad. You’re brilliant, you know that?’ Dan said as he carried the outer to the bathroom.
‘I’d always suspected it,’ she said.
‘Is there much on the table?’ he called through.
Tess turned to look.
‘Not much. A few papers and a business card.’
‘Ok, thanks!’
She got up and walked over to look more closely at what they were.
‘It’s those job ads,’ she called over her shoulder, ‘you should keep these in case they come back to you.’
‘Yes, good point,’ said Dan coming back through into the lounge. ‘in fact I should check the post in case I’ve had a reply. I forgot to look. Won’t be a moment.’ The post boxes for each flat were outside, retrieved by a key.
Tess was about to sit back down when her eye was caught by the business card.
‘Dan!’ she said, clearly surprised, ‘Where did you get this card from?’
He came back through from the hall.
‘What card?’
‘This one!’ she pointed.
Dan picked it up.
‘Oh, yes. This is the guy that Jenny and I met in Bar 37, the one that worked out in the middle east. I was going to give him a call to get some contacts off of him. Why?’
‘I know him,’ she said, in an odd, slightly hollow voice. She walked to the window.
Dan looked at the card again. Alex Curry LLB, a commercial law specialist at one of Manchester’s leading legal firms.
‘Is that the firm you worked for?’ he said, walking over to join her.
‘No,’ she