Devil Mail (18 page)

             
Upon her return to the office, the sight of a dozen red roses on her desk brought such radiance to her face. The attached card merely read, “sorry,” followed by a small, imperfectly shaped heart. She wondered why Kieran was so repentant about something that really wasn’t his fault, or at least was as much her fault as it was his. She agreed to go to Starbucks, and she was a willing party as they schmoozed the evening away. Regardless of fault, the flowers were a wonderful addition to her trite office.

She worked on into the evening. The office was quiet from about four thirty onwards, with most of the staff leaving early to get a jump start on the long weekend. Monday was a public holiday, and Angela was glad about it. This meant that it would be Tuesday before Sharon would probably ask her about Aiden’s
transcript again. Still, she would try to get it done and out of the way, so that she could enjoy her long weekend.

She wontedly
ignored her cellphone at work, but when she saw that it was Kieran calling, she made an exception. “Do you have plans for tonight?” he inquired.

“Yes, I do.”

“Do they involve me?”

Angela grinned, “No they don’t
.”

“Well,
them there are some lousy plans then,” he stated with a very convincing southern accent. Angela quelled her guffaw when she remembered that she was at work and Sharon was still in the office.

“I have to work late. I’m playing catch up.”

“How about I come to you then?”

“That’s not a good idea, I won’t get any work done with you here.”

“What if I promise to be good, not disturb you, just sit quietly with you?”

“And why would you want to spend your Friday evening like that?”

“What’s wrong with me wanting to be wherever you are?” Bullseye! He struck the target with precision. Angela’s heart began to melt.

“
Okaay, but you have to wait until much later. Thanks for the flowers, by the way; they’re beautiful!”

“What flowers?”

“Oh, you act too! A man of many talents! You need to stop spending all your money on me.” Her latter sentence seemed to fit the occasion, but was at odds with what she felt in her heart. She loved being the favored recipient of his affection.

“You are definitely worth that and more. I’ll see you tonight.” He did a good job of ending their conversations on a high note, leaving Angela pining for more.

By seven o’clock, Sharon was ready to leave and again urged Angela to go home so as not to be left alone in the office after hours. Angela pleaded with her to let her stay and finish up Aiden’s transcripts. “I promise I’ll keep the door locked and I’ll have a friend escort me when I’m ready to leave.”

“Okay,
well make sure you turn on the alarm before you leave.” Sharon was reluctant to leave her, but since she had been pressing Angela for the transcript, it seemed unreasonable to hamper her progress.

She watched Sharon drive away
before calling Kieran to tell him that the coast was clear. He arrived some ten minutes later. True to his word, he sat in her office flicking through magazines and reading articles without interrupting her. Every now and then, she would throw an admiring glance at him, unable to fathom why he would want to be there on a Friday night, when there are so many other interesting and entertaining places he could be.

Angela shook her head in disgust as she typed Aiden’s transcript.
Kieran sensed a change in her mood and questioned it. “I’m working on Aiden’s transcript,” she replied, “and I can’t go into all the details, but he’s such a liar!”

“Can I read it?”

“No, you shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because….it just wouldn’t be right.”

“What if I read it over your shoulder without your permission?” Kieran had an answer and a solution for everything, and Angela was learning that he made it very difficult to
refuse him. With the raising of her eyebrow and a sigh, she neither agreed nor disagreed. Taking her silence to mean consent, he strolled around to the back of her desk and began reading the transcript over her shoulder. Her level of concentration dropped instantly as his movement fanned his irresistible scent to woo her where she sat. His warm breath beat upon her neck as he leaned over her from behind. He was too close for her to control her impulses. There was nothing to stop her from turning her face towards him – neither virtue, nor decorum, neither upbringing nor sound instruction about ladylike behavior – nothing. She stopped typing, and turned to look at him as he continued reading. Impulsively, he turned quickly, pecked her on the lips and walked away. “I’m disturbing you aren’t I? And I promised I wouldn’t,” he said resuming his seat and perusal of the magazines.

Who was this guy? He was strangely familiar, yet unlike anyone she had ever met. She had said that about Aiden, but Kieran wa
s a special case. And that kiss; was it at all sentimental for him? Did it mean anything romantically, or was it one of those that he would give to his mother? Julia had often commented on how jealous she was of Angela’s luscious lips, and Angela had always been a proud owner of them, yet this was the second man, lately, who was passing up an opportunity to take full advantage of them. She wasn’t making herself available for anything more physical than a kiss, but couldn’t understand why she had been unable to generate any real interest in her lips.

At eight forty
, she completed the transcript and stated that she’d take it home to proofread it over the weekend. “Do you still have feelings for this guy?” Kieran had seemingly been thinking about it as he sat there.

Angela paused before answering. “
Uhh....not really, it was over before it began.”

“Huh
, interesting.” Kieran continued to stare at the magazine, his head lowered.

“I don’t want to waste our time together talking about him.
I wouldn’t mind my own private time with you at Lake Eola.” Angela didn’t like the hot-seat feeling that his question had placed her in.

“You sure you’re not too tired? I don’t mind seeing you home. Don’t want your
girlfriend on my back for keeping you out too late.”

“Oh, Judith? She means well. She’s a good friend to me, it just takes time to get to know her. Besides, how will she ever know?”

“You don’t tell each other everything?”

“Most things, probably, but I’m sure she has a few secrets that she hasn’t shared with me.”

“And what about your sister; do you tell each other everything?”

“More than I share with Judith, but I don’t know if anyone tells anybody everything
, do they?”

“Depends on their level of trust, I guess.”

“Do you keep secrets from your brother?”

“
Oh, absolutely. He couldn’t handle the truth.” They laughed in unison as Angela set the alarm and they left the office.

Lake Eola
was inviting. They strolled around for a bit before Angela accepted Kieran’s offer to take her out on the lake in a swan boat.  As they neared the fountain, in the center of the lake, the view of the vibrant fountain lights became clearer, while the live music seemed to pale into the background. Angela threw her head back and breathed deeply, and when a gust of refreshing wind blew over her, she moaned pleasurably.

“You just relax, S
weetheart, leave all the peddling to me. I’ll do all the hard work. I’ll make sure we’re not stranded on the lake.”

“That’s the on
ly reason I brought you along, Sugar Plum,” Angela returned his sarcasm. She liked his sense of humor, his patience and apparent strength in character. His physical strength that enabled him to go solo on powering the swan boat wasn’t wasted on her either, but whether or not he had strong religious convictions remained to be seen.

Only one other swan boat was ou
t on the tranquil lake, and the occupants appeared to be making their way back in. “Did you all ride in the boats last week?” Angela was curious as to whether or not Sasha had also enjoyed the present serenity with Kieran.

“No, we just walked and hung out. This little treat is reserved for you.”
That was the type of answer that she had been fishing for, but it amounted only to a sprat.

She fished some more. “
The director would have loved this.”

“Who’s
the director?”

“
The director of the singles ministry at church.”

“Why do you call her that
?”

“Because she rarely uses her name. When she introduced herself to you, how did she refer to herself?”

Kieran thought back to his first visit to REACH Christian Center. He laughed, “I think she did say she was the director of the singles ministry. I learned her name on the bowling trip when I heard other people speaking to her. Sasha isn’t it?”

“Yep
, sure is.” Angela’s words were deliberately few, in hopes of Kieran elaborating about what he thought of her.

“She’s clingy
,” he said.

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah, she likes to link arms and she’s very…..”

“Tactile?”

“Yeah, that’s the word. Look at you, finishing my sentences for me. That’s a good sign.”

Not satisfied with having caught a trout, Angela fish
ed for a barracuda. “She’s quite attractive isn’t she?”

“She’s okay. A little brazen for my liking though. I prefer more reserved women myself.” Her date did not disappoint
! Angela worked hard to prevent a satisfying smile from invading her face as she basked in the knowledge that Sasha’s advances towards Kieran were fruitless. “Next time we’ll come earlier so that we can stay on the water longer. It looks like they want the boat back in now,” Kieran pointed out.

“Yes, it’s almost ten o’clock,” Angela observed from a glance at her watch. She loved the prospect of there being a ‘next time’ on the lake with Kieran.

“D’you want to grab something to eat?”

“Sure,” she replied, famished.

“Let’s see if we can find you some good Italian food.”

“How did you know I like
Italian?” Angela was shocked.

“I dunno,
you must have mentioned it before.”

“Maybe. I don’t remember though.”

“Well, just shows how in sync we are.” Kieran seemed to have the natural ability to say the right thing at the right time to satisfy Angela’s search for flattery.

Angela followed him in her car to a small, downtown
, family-run Italian restaurant, some five minutes away from the lake. The couple hoped to grab a light entrée before they closed for the evening.

“Oh,” Angela sai
d glumly upon seeing the ‘closed’ sign on the door.

“There are people in there,” Kieran noted.

“Yeah, but they look like they’re leaving.”

“Let’s
wait,” he said quietly. Angela was unable to comprehend Kieran’s logic in having them stand and wait outside a closed restaurant.

“They obviously close at ten. Let’s just go.” Angela held his arm and began pulling him away just as the door opened to let the patrons out.   

“Excuse me,” Kieran addressed the owner at the door, “I hear you have the best Italian food in town. I know it’s late, but I need a table for two.”

“Kieran…” Angela
tugged at his arm, totally embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, we’re closed,” the owner said regretfully.

“You really gonna leave me hanging? Show me up in front of the lady because I take her out and can’t feed her?”

“Sorry man, you have t
o come earlier; we close at ten. It’s just me and my son here now.” The owner motioned to step back and close the door.

“I thought Italians were romantic,” Kieran continued at Angela’s displeasure.

“Yes, you can come and be as romantic as you like before ten o’clock,” the owner said, leading Angela to conclude that Kieran had met his match.

“Listen…
” Kieran drew close to the man and spoke to him in a muffled voice so that Angela could not decipher his words. She felt uncomfortable being a part of this grave imposition, and could only imagine how threatened the owner felt with two persistent people attempting to gain entry into his restaurant after hours.

“Okay,” the owner conceded, I’ll cook it, but you have it eat it somewhere else.”

“Deal!” Kieran stated like a victor. To Angela’s amazement, the owner granted them entry to look at the menu and place an order.

“What did you say to him
?” Angela whispered as they sat at a table while their meal was being prepared.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it; if you want Italian, you get Italian, if I have anything to do with it.”

They left some thirty minutes later with their meals in take-out containers. Angela was in awe of this man who had walked into her life and was surprising her at every turn.

“We can eat at my place,” Angela suggested. She figured no harm could be done since he already knew where she lived
, and he obviously wasn’t a man of impulse, since he had passed up a couple of opportunities to make advances towards her when they were alone.