Best of Bosses 2008(113)

Good old common sense told him that, without those necessary absences during which batteries could be recharged and tedium kept at bay, he was almost certain to tire of her company.

To his surprise, he didn’t. She teased him mercilessly and he discovered he enjoyed it.

It was relaxing and invigorating being in her company. They scuba-dived and she proved herself pretty fearless, a side effect of having nomadic guardians, she explained, while sniggering that he seemed a little wary of the big blue sea.

They went to the local open market, which sold fruit and vegetables of every shape, size and description, many of them unrecognisable. They ate miniature figs that were sweet as sugar and drank ice-cold coconut water straight from the split coconuts that were sold in the stalls.

They dared each other to cross a bedraggled suspension bridge and then congratulated themselves afterwards by making love in a secluded part of the dense foliage and bush that fanned the river.

Without the rigid dimensions imposed by everyday life, it was easy to take that step out of sync, to explore each other without guilt and, as Rose admitted to herself, to make no attempts at holding back her headlong fall into love.

But it didn’t matter because she was seeing a new side to Nick. He laughed a lot and was utterly relaxed. He had even stopped working. He took only essential calls on his mobile. Most of the time, he would glance at the number and ignore it.

Rose took that as a very good sign indeed. He wanted to spend time in her company, he enjoyed being with her to such an extent that he was willing to forgo work, and that said a great deal because, having worked alongside him, she knew that work was something Nick never, ever sidelined.

And the sex…The sex was remarkable. He was forceful, considerate, inventive and utterly irresistible.

When he looked at her, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and one touch was enough to reduce her to instant meltdown.

After a life of carefully made choices, Rose was not equipped to defend herself against the overwhelming force of what she felt.

Anyway, she didn’t want to. She wanted to be reckless.

She wanted to have his arms around her as they sat on the beach and watched the sun set. She wanted him to close that bedroom door and move towards her, every muscle in his body alert with the same hunger she felt for him. She wanted to cling to her dreams that her perfect love would be returned.

Which, on the last night of their stay, brought her to the very delicate matter of how, exactly, she might find out what his intentions towards her were.

‘Tonight’s meal was fantastic,’ she said, which was the most roundabout route she could think to discuss the fact that their holiday was now at an end. ‘In fact, the food over here has been exquisite. Such flavours. I love the multi-ethnic cuisine.’ Thinking that she was beginning to sound a little like a restaurant critic, she bit back the temptation to carry the theme through.

‘You’re gabbling, Rose. Lie back and enjoy the stars and the sound of the sea.’

Rose obediently lay down next to him on the wide beach towel provided courtesy of the hotel, which seemed to know that sun loungers were not to everyone’s taste. Especially, she thought, late at night when you wanted to be physically close to someone. Like now.

She tried to submerge herself in the ambience but her thoughts were whirring around in her head and she finally said, casually, ‘Bit of a change, all this, isn’t it? From London, I mean…’

‘Huge change.’

‘Be strange to go back tomorrow.’

‘Very strange.’ He sounded faintly surprised at that admission. ‘But reality’s never further than a stone’s throw away.’

‘I thought that was rats.’

‘In my line of work, the two are often interlinked.’

Rose could feel him grinning in the dark but she didn’t want to relax and enjoy his sense of humour, as she had done for the past few days. She wanted to pry beneath the surface and find out what happened next in their chapter, because she was sure that there would be a next.

‘Will you miss…being here?’ With me?

‘All good things come to an end.’ Nick shrugged, his hand, under her neck, hanging, almost touching her breast. ‘That’s just the way it is.’

‘Which…’ Rose decided to take the bull by the horns because they could sit around talking in metaphors all night and get nowhere ‘…leaves us where?’

Well, Nick thought with disappointment, it had to happen eventually. The bubble had to burst. He had idiotically thought that Rose, who was in a league of her own, would be the exception to the rule, the one woman who didn’t start questioning the future and trying, thereby, to pin him down to promises of ever afters he had no intention of making.