It was a wonderful experience to wake up on Friday morning energized and excited about what the day would bring. For the first time in years, Rose felt a lightness, and it took her by surprise. She didn’t recognise the feeling at first, a sense of eagerness. The piercing sadness, her constant companion, was dulled.
She bounded out of bed, hugged the startled cat and sang her way through the shower as she planned her morning. She would go to the gym, have coffee, pop in to see Juliana and buy the vegetables Alex needed for tonight. Alex. It was Alex who had her singing in the shower, Alex who made her realise she was a woman ready for love.
She gave herself a mental shake. For God’s sake, Rose, she told herself. Act your age. But as she slipped into a new pair of jeans and top, that seemed like a silly idea.
* The judge was an excellent sleeper. He’d been gifted the sleep of the untroubled. But he had woken at three in the morning and been drawn to the sheer glass window with its panoramic view of the sea and the sky—to the constellation of Orion back in the southern sky. The millions of neurons in his body stood to attention, like soldiers. Orion. His constellation. The greatest hunter of them all. Tonight the sky was so black and the stars so sharp, he felt he could reach up and pluck Orion’s sword, take for himself the magic and might it possessed. Energy coursed through his body. He bowed towards Orion and paid homage, one hunter to another. With the constellation dominating the southern sky, watching over him, the time must be close.
His day started as usual. A run with the dog, followed by a shower and breakfast. He listened to the news on the drive to work as he reviewed the day ahead, an annoying continuation of a particularly frustrating trial. A rich man’s son, accused of murdering his girlfriend in a drugged rage, who was benefiting from the legal acumen of the city’s top barristers and QCs. The young man was a thug, should be locked away for life as far as the judge was concerned, but his gaggle of lawyers was beginning to muddy the waters.
It came as a surprise when fifteen minutes into the morning session, the defence team requested an adjournment. One of the witnesses was unable to be located. There were no other witnesses ready to take the stand. The judge called the lawyers into his chambers, like a group of naughty schoolchildren. Normally he would have let them feel the full force of his wrath, but today was different. Today the judge recognised bigger wheels were in motion. The endgame was about to begin. He kept his face set and his questions and answers brief. He granted the defence a stay until Monday with barely a quibble.
The lawyers couldn’t believe their luck. They left as fast as they could. As one of them said, ‘let’s get the hell out of Dodge City, before the real Judge Nyss returns.’
The courtroom cleared in a matter of minutes and the judge retired to his chambers to change out of his robes. The tingling started as he checked himself in the mirror. A tall man, neat hair, nothing out of the ordinary except the eyes. The pale-blue eyes which reflected the light, glowing with an unnatural intensity. He put on his glasses. By the time he reached the car, the tingling in his hands and feet had become a vibration. His body was pulsing with anticipation. He hummed to himself as he hopped into the Jaguar and drove home to change into his beach wear and collect the dog. He would have to return to pick up the Honda, but that would only add a few minutes to his journey.
* Juliana pounced on Rose as she walked into the shop. ‘Look at you. Highlights, gorgeous, eyelashes perfecto. Oolala! So beautiful and happy.’ She hugged Rose and kissed her on both cheeks.
Rose smiled. It grew wider, reached her eyes and spread into a huge grin.
Juliana squealed. ‘Don’t tell me. The delectable Alex Cameron?’
Rose tried to sound casual. ‘We have dinner most Friday nights. It’s nothing. We’re just friends.’
Juliana’s laughter boomed off the walls. ‘Maybe up till now, but my darling, your face gives you away.’ She bent down to Rose and whispered, ‘come for coffee tomorrow, tell me everything.’
Rose shrugged. ‘Maybe. We’ll see. But now, I have to buy these things for dinner tonight. He’s going to cook one of his mother’s favourites.’
Juliana grabbed her by the shoulders. ‘Oh, my dear Rose. Do you know what you are saying? A man who cooks Italian? A man who cooks. Snaffle him while you can.’
Rose was inclined to agree. She hoped she hadn’t left it too
late.
* Alex knew better than to ring Rose on a Friday morning when she wasn’t working. He knew her routine. Gym, coffee afterwards, a bit of grocery shopping then home. What did it say about him, he wondered, that at 11.00 am he checked his watch and thought, Rose will be having coffee now with her gym class? Or at 12.30 pm when he stopped for a bite of lunch, Rose will be at Juliana’s now. I’ll call at the end of lunchtime. Despite the anxiety he felt about the judge, he was excited about the night ahead. Dinner at her place with both her children away. It should have been business, but it wasn’t. He, Alex Cameron, was done with ducking and weaving. He wanted to cook for her, drink wine with her, hold her, kiss her, make love to her.
Whisper that he
