A Man For All Seasons (12 page)

“Amazing,” he agreed. He pulled her close and the city below them was forgotten.

It was the pinging of the intercom that finally caused her to surface. With regret and irritation, she knew she'd have to return to her seat.

“I had better go.”

He nodded and released her hand. “I'll see you on the next plane.”

For a moment she didn't know what he was talking about. Then she realised that of course, they wouldn't see each other at the airport.

The lights came on and people began to stir as they tidied away belongings, put up backrests and fastened seat belts. There was a general buzz of expectation in the air. Reluctantly Seraphim returned to her own seat and buckled up.

The six-hour stop-over at the airport stretched out before her like an eternity. As the plane slowly circled and began its descent she peered down the corridor hopefully, but the curtains had been snugly fastened across the entrance of the galley.

Initially she'd been surprised to find that Chad wouldn't be travelling with her. It made her realise that she'd just presumed him to be wealthy. Possibly because everyone she knew all enjoyed a credible standard of living. She wondered what else she'd gotten wrong.

One thing was for sure. Finding out was going to be just fantastic.

They landed with barely a bump. As the weary hostesses herded the passengers out, Seraphim nearly dislocated her neck trying to catch a glimpse of Chad through a window. But she couldn't work out exactly where he'd be.

Despite the late hour it was very warm but the airport itself was pleasant enough. She filled in a bit of time showering and wandering through the shops. But she felt restless. Not at all sleepy. For a few minutes she tried to work out the time in England, but gave up. What did it really matter?

At the wide windowpane she watched the planes as they landed and took off down the floodlit runway. Somewhere, probably not far away she mused, Chad may be doing the very same thing. She sat down and picked up a magazine but her eyes refused to focus. She felt strangely charged and paced around the lounge looking for distraction. The hands of her watch seemed to have become suspended in time. Outside the window a few passengers had gathered on a wide sweep of balcony, all engaged in cigarette consumption. This triggered a sudden memory. As she had hugged her nanny goodbye, the dear lady had pressed a small silver case into her hand. “Just in case you can't sleep dear. Herbal cigarettes.”

Seraphim had never so much as held a cigarette in her life, but had accepted the gift in the spirit in which it had been given. Now she pulled out the pretty silver case and looked at the contents. She lifted them to her nose and sniffed them. They smelt all right. Perhaps she should give one a go. After all, what harm could they do? And she was feeling a little antsy.

She joined the small group in the hot, humid night air. Fishing out the slim cigarette, she realised she didn't have a light, but a young man stepped in and kindly offered.

Tentatively she placed the cigarette to her lips and gave a cautious puff. Smoke caught in the back of her throat, making her cough. Her head felt a little light. After a few seconds she regained her poise and tried again. It was truly disgusting and small shreds of something stuck to her tongue. She wondered if it would be too undignified to spit it out.

“Are you okay?”

It was the young man who had given her a light. She nodded. “Yes, thank you. I'm afraid these herbal cigarettes don't agree with me.” She picked the case out of her handbag and looked at him doubtfully. “I don't suppose you'd care for them?”

His eyes narrowed slightly as he regarded her steadily. Then he grinned broadly. “Sure, why not.”

As she went back inside she was pleased to see the young man sharing around the herbal cigarettes with a number of his friends.

Shortly after they all came in chattering like a group of sparrows. They certainly seemed very relaxed. To her surprise they joined her, spreading around on the plush leather couches and chairs. Conversation flowed and Seraphim enjoyed their easy company, even though they were a little silly at times. It certainly helped to pass the time.

Especially when, with their six-hour stopover almost up, an indecipherable voice on the intercom announced their plane was to be delayed at least another few hours.

Seraphim groaned at the news, wondering if Chad were groaning at that moment too.

She'd already checked out a fair few of the airport's shops, but with more hours to kill, she had time to revisit most of them again, and when that became too boring, she went back to a plush leather lounge and finally managed to succumb to that elusive sleep.

It felt like she'd just drifted off when she was woken by the boarding call for her flight. Looking out the window she was surprised to see the sun high in the morning sky and wondered how many hours she had actually been asleep.

As she left to board her flight she hoped she might find a seat with Chad again. Next time, she decided, they'd both travel together - in economy if Chad was stuffy about her paying.

It pleased her enormously to think in terms of the future. Her imagination went into overdrive and by the time she walked back down the ramp to the plane, she had the next twenty years pretty much in order.

As the jumbo lifted off she was in a froth of impatience. An eternity of time seemed to pass as she watched the city fade from view, to be replaced with the crystal clear blue of sky; its sheer brilliance reminding her of the shining surface of a glacier.

Finally the lights pinged and the seatbelt sign went off. As she squeezed her way between the long rows of seats it occurred to her that she should have organised to meet Chad somewhere.

Ten minutes later, her frustration levels were hitting the roof as she realised that she was back where she had started. Where the hell was he? She was sure she'd covered all the territory. What if he'd missed the flight for some reason? But that was just being silly. Of course he was here. He had to be.

She peered over the seething mass of humanity, scanning backwards and forwards. But it was hopeless; there were just too many people. The only thing for it was to start again, but this time she'd go anti-clockwise to try and get a different perspective.

A small but very rude word escaped her as she returned once again to her point of origin. Although she hated to admit it, Chad simply wasn't there. Dismayed and anxious she returned to her compartment, for want of any better plan.

At her seat she stopped and stared. It was only as he spoke that she twigged.

Chad put down a glass of what looked like orange juice. “Where've you been? I've been waiting ages.”

She was torn between slapping him and kissing him. “I've been looking for you, idiot.”

“Didn't do much of a job then, did you.”

She plopped happily into the seat beside him and stared at him openly. Slowly she ran a hand down the smooth plane of his jaw. There were no scars, no acne, nor any other hideous facial deformities. He looked younger, but also more sophisticated. Handsome didn't even make it halfway. Seraphim thought it was the most beautiful face she'd ever seen.

“You shaved,” she said lamely, feeling shy as if he was a stranger.

He ran a hand down his face. “I felt pretty rough. A shave helps. Besides, I usually take the beard off through the wet season, gets too itchy in the heat.”

Slowly she absorbed the change, unsure and a little anxious. She had the unsettling feeling that the man that she knew had gone and felt a tinge of something akin to sadness.

Perhaps something of her perplexion communicated itself to him. He reached out and took her chin gently in his hands and lifted her face to his. “If you don't like it, I can soon grow it back.”

Relief flooded through her, reassured by the familiar warmth in the golden eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. He tasted the same too.

Suddenly he broke away abruptly.

“What's wrong?” She observed him anxiously. Had she done something wrong?

He blinked and then leaned toward her. “Seraphim, have you been smoking?”

“Well, yes… and no.” The strained tone of his voice unsettled her a little. Maybe he was an ex-smoker. They always were fanatically anti-smoking.

He leant back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. For a moment her concentration lapsed as she admired the high set of his newly exposed cheekbones and the strong, and if she were honest, slightly stubborn set of his chin. She brushed a finger lightly down his nose. “Don't worry; it was just one of Nanny M's herbal cigarettes.”

He sat bolt upright as if he'd been electrocuted. His eyes opened wide in shock. “Please Seraphim, tell me you're kidding.”

She laughed, amused by his concern. “Don't be silly. They're not even real cigarettes. Honestly, I only took them so as not to upset her. Besides, they were truly horrible, I gave them away.”

He sank back into his chair and his eyes closed. “You gave them away?”

“Oh yes. A young man took them and shared them with his friends.” She paused for a moment as she recalled the event. “Funnily enough they seemed to like them.”

Chad's eyes had opened again. He observed her with an expression both of exasperation and amusement.

“What? What is it?” she said, beginning to feel irritated by his odd behavior.

He took in a deep breath and leaned in closer. It was hard to concentrate on his words when she could feel the heat from his skin, and breathe in his own peculiar scent of soap, leather and man. But his whispered message slowly sank in.

It was her turn to rear back in shock. “What?” she finally managed to squeak. “You're trying to tell me that my nanny, my dear, white haired, little old nanny, is a… a drug addict?” It was as ridiculous as it was incomprehensible.

A wide grin slid across his face. “That's one way to put it.”

“I need a drink,” she said.

He laughed. “I'm not surprised.” Then his expression sobered. “I tell you what though, you're bloody lucky you gave them away. The sniffer dogs at Brisbane would have picked them up for sure.”

Seraphim sat in horrified silence as she absorbed this last. In her mind she could imagine herself incarcerated for twenty years in an Australian prison. She felt quite sick. “I'm going to murder Nanny.”

But Chad shook his head. “Don't be cross with her; I don't think she has a clue. Young Shelley sells them to her.”

Well, that made it easier. Strangling Shelley would be a positive pleasure! Her mood was improved as she pondered on the young maid's sins, which seemed to be piling up by the hour.

She glanced at Chad. A flush of heat began to creep up her neck as she vividly recalled the morning she inadvertently found him, practically naked, with the maid. In an agony of embarrassment she screwed up her courage. “I want to ask you something.”

He nodded. “Sure, anything.”

She wiggled uncomfortably in her seat and could barely meet his eyes. “That morning, you know when I came to wake you, and I found you with her… well… I wondered… that is… I want to know...” But she couldn't go on.

“You want to know if I'd had my wicked way with her?”

Her face felt like the rising sun as she forced herself to look at him. To her relief there was no trace of amusement on his tanned face. “Yes,” she said softly. “I want to know.”

“I know how it must have looked, and I'm really sorry, but the truth is she had just arrived. She had it in mind to wake me personally. You arrived just as I was trying to get her out the door as politely as possible.”

“So, nothing happened?”

“No. Nothing.”

He regarded her steadily without any trace of embarrassment and a flood of relief swept through her. Without a doubt he told the truth.

Then he took her in his arms and looked down at her. “I had other things on my mind,” he said.

A verbal response was not necessary.

Fourteen

Chad's eyes devoured the landscape as the jet descended. The airport seemed an oasis of green beneath the brilliant rays of the southern sun. Home.

Although immensely pleased to be back on his home turf, with the end of the flight, the full weight of the responsibilities and burdens that went hand-in-hand with running his business settled upon his shoulders.

Already the overseas trip seemed slightly surreal. The long flight had sped by as he'd listened and watched and tried to learn all he could about the young woman he'd recently met. They'd both been amused by the attitude of the hostesses, obviously caught between their disapproval of his presence in the first-class compartment and their equally obvious reluctance to express as much to Seraphim.

But as they bumped to the ground Chad realised that, jokes aside, it had also served to underline the great social division that lay between them. That Seraphim seemed oblivious to this small detail did nothing to reassure him. He felt certain that someone would enlighten her before too long. And then what?

But of course there were no answers for such questions and he firmly pushed the thoughts aside. He stretched as best he could in the cramped quarters, doing his best not to elbow either of the weary travellers tucked in beside him. Inside the plane, the air had become stale and he longed to fill his lungs with the clean, hot air of his beloved home. He smiled as he visualised the vast tracts of flat red earth that spread away to more tracks of flat red earth. The delay in Dubai had added quite a few hours to the trip, and with a long drive ahead, it would be early evening before they reached his place, Dingo's Rest.