thoroughly enjoying her time with the kids. Onya girl!
True to her word, Corinne took the children to the Aquarium. By the time they arrived there they were in a high state of excitement. The artificial light reflecting from the glass panel walls, the movement of different types of fishes and water created a mysterious and exciting atmosphere that was further enhanced by the music and the people around.
They learnt that ichthyology is the science of fish and they liked the sea dragon and seahorses. They were impressed by the many types of sharks they saw: white, carpet, mackerel. They could not believe that one of the sharks was actually named ‘Angel’. Everyone present seemed to be fueled by high adrenaline and at times they bumped into each other. Just before leaving the place a middle aged man who was using a walking stick as an aid accidentally knocked open Corinne’s purse and the content spilled all over the floor under the people’s footsteps.
However he acted like a gentleman; after apologizing deeply he helped Corinne to retrieve her various belongings now generously coated in dust. Someone should vacuum here more often, was the thought passing Corinne’s mind while sorting their place back in her purse.
Then everyone was shocked into silence by a nearby pitched voice that was shouting. ‘Don’t let him go, don’t let him get away. He stole from this woman. ’
Everyone turned towards the voice and in the silence that fell over the room a nearby closing door closed softly. The stranger was gone and Corinne let out a small sigh of relief that nobody noticed. The older, vigilant women approached Corinne encouraging her to call the police to chase the thief and very reluctantly, after much discussion, accepted Corinne’s explanations that nothing was actually stolen. She knew that she saw something happening and nobody could convince her otherwise. And when she left Corinne her suspicion was on the rise. Corinne was obviously embarrassed about the incident and after a brief visual scanning of her purse content as nothing seemed to be missing she decided not to pursue the matter. The silent witness’ questioning look was too much to bear and Corinne left in a hurry.
Corinne would have been even more worried if she knew that someone else had been following her around all day and watching her every movement. She did not miss the purse incident either. But Corinne’s preoccupation with her young children was a form of cognitive tunneling that prevented her from accessing the full reality surrounding her. In a wait was also responsible for the pleasant time Corinne had today.
‘Having a bad hair day? ’ Corinne heard a voice by her left side. They were now gathered just outside the Aquarium queuing for a cab and the kids were having a lot of fun playing hide and seek with the others. The noise must have been definitely above the 85 decibels recommended as safe for the human hearing.
‘Glad to see you, Jo, ’ Corinne greeted her nanny with a big smile. ‘Alone? ’ she added with a wink then she became serious as she noticed Jo’s red eyes. She looked knackered. A sure thing she has been crying, thought Corinne, or, who knows. Maybe she had started using the Afghani dark. OMG, I can’t believe I haven’t thought about that one before, said Corinne to herself.
Jo nodded briefly without smiling and then offered to help adding flatly ‘I’m free today anyway. ’ Corinne translated that as 'I don’t have anything better to do' and decided to take Jo up on her offer.
They had a lively time at the botanic garden; after hiring MP 3s at the Garden shop they spent some time walking around the garden and listening to the story of lucky seed, the potato story and the disobedient little bird. Then Jo initiated them into the ways of bird watching and how to use the binoculars. They seemed thoroughly amused by the parrots’ and the finches’ behavior. Danielle was particularly fascinated by the spectacularly colored finches and on their way home she asked her mother if she could have a bird pet. Back home they all enjoyed a bit of tucker before going to bed. What a muck-up day!
While removing her makeup in front of the mirror that night Corinne thought briefly about her financial situation. She considered herself an independent soul and liked to have her own money for ‘the small stuff’, as she called it, of everyday life. That included clothes, makeup, food and the nanny. Although her man would have paid without any objection for the nanny Corinne had been doing that all by herself for a while now. And that seemed easy when she had the means, however in the last couple of months, with the slowdown in economy the price of shares went down and her business was going through a rough patch. A contract out of 10 inquiries had become the rule compared with 1:5 in the past.
She’d have to find another way to get to some money.
A Bangaroo
James returned exactly at 08:30 and had a to-die-for look that created some problems for Rose as she was struggling not to stare at him. And he smelled heavenly. That rattled her cages a bit. Was she a silly woman playing with fire? She asked herself. She didn’t have an answer to that yet. They went to his car, a Maserati, and drove away. As soon as they were on the road he started to give her some information about the venue for tonight.
‘Do you know how to lose graciously? ’ Rose asked him.
‘I always win, ’ he replied deadly serious.
‘Wow, ’ Rose just said. Was he delusional or just had a good dose of self-esteem?
‘And I am a very generous man. We’ll split the money we make tonight. And on top of that I promise you a bangaroo, ’ he said suddenly touching her leg. One minute he had his hand on the wheel and looking into her eyes and the next moment Rose almost had his hand between her legs. The grip on her leg was strong but quick and left before she even realized what was happening. My God, Rose thought I’m vulnerable to this man.
There were 6 other players around when they arrived and James was told immediately that he was late.
‘But we excuse you tonight because you brought a beautiful lady with you, ’ Mike, the host, said.
‘Chris was not available and Rose needed convincing, ’ James gave an explanation.
‘Is she good? ’ Mike said looking at Rose.
‘She will be peaches, ’ James reassured everyone. Rose was not sure what was going on and she tried to keep a low profile. She expected to see some confusion around given the fact that they did not expect a female player tonight. She was wondering what other things James had conveniently forgotten to disclose to her. The night was still young. Rose was offered a scotch that she skillfully declined and they started to regroup. They played for about 3 hours and James won quite a bit.
Back in the car, James informed Rose officially that she had passed the unspoken test that new comers had to face. If the majority of players don’t like you then you lose the chance to return for other games. It’s not so much related to how much you know about the game but more to getting their approval.
Rose had seen people going off head to head into political debates while playing poker and everyone around was affected. They were never invited back. And she had seen people struggling to learn the rules being tolerated kindly by everyone. It was not pity but the communication style that was in their advantage there
When they got back to Rose’s house it was 03:00 am she was feeling very tired. Sex was not on her mind. James probably was tired too although he did not look like it. They kissed and he asked her if he could stay.
‘I’m tired James but you can visit tomorrow, ’ Rose said.
‘Promise, ’ he said smiling. He waited for her to get into the house then left and Rose wondered if she was letting herself fall under his spell. Should I wait to see the bad and the ugly first? She asked herself aloud. Luckily no one was listening. Maybe it is the loneliness, Rose continued to reflect on her emotions. I need to socialize more. When I wake up, she told herself, I will contact my club friends and try to organize some meetings.
Rose barely got into her bed and instantly fell asleep. She was definitely not used with such small hours.
….
Rose woke up 3 minutes before 06:00am and silenced the alarm. It had no
t been of use to her for a few months now; since she moved here to be more precise. Another sunny day, not that she was complaining. She could never get bored with such weather. Maybe it was the local weather or the excitement of something new or just the suspense of not knowing what will happen in the nearby future.
The limited amount of money did not appear to create problems, so a regular job was not yet a must but maybe it was a good idea. It would give her a status, more money to spend, more people to meet, more to learn. ‘Opportunities, they say. The more challenging is the life, the more fun you have’, Alex, one of her friends and teachers once said to her. Rose wasn’t yet convinced as she could still remember her old job. She recalled the fixed hours, the difficulty of getting leave, the inevitable stress that some teams seem to consider necessary to expose you to and the constant bickering and back stabbing. Not to mention the long hours spent in traffic, not being able to do what you want, being away from family (this one did not apply to her yet) and having to go to interviews and meetings. Arrrrr!
Well, when she put it like that it sounded really awful, so Rose could understand why so many people didn’t want to work. Now her grandma might have a different opinion on this one. Is there something that she was missing, she wondered?