Buying Thyme (11 page)

“
Okay Okay
young lady. Don’t get you knickers in a knot. It’s just a figure of speech.”

“No but seriously, what does a hooker look like nowadays? I hate that whole ‘
Oh you’re not what I was expecting’
bullshit.”

“Well she doesn’t look like you… Which is a good thing! I was just saying! Now tell me about your fucking weekend before I implode with curiosity!”

“Where do I start…” My mind tries its best to control the urge not to tell him about having more feelings than I’d care for, not just one, but two of my clients, “Well I spent a couple of days with that Joe Tench again!” Charlie’s eyes shoot straight to mine and his left eyebrow lifts towards the café’s ornately decorated ceiling.

“
Ah
… that guy is so fucking hot! Why are all the hot ones straight?”

I laugh at Charlie’s twisted humour.

“Well, this is the thing, it wasn’t like his usual bookings. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I actually don’t think I’ll be seeing him again though. I think it was his final goodbye for me.”

“That’s a shame really. Probably a good thing though. He doesn’t have the best reputation around town does he? So what did you do? Apart from the obvious!”

“The sex was
amazing
Charlie! Not like the usual either. Softer. Less I’m-going-to-fuck-you-like-a-whore and more I-want-you kind of…
love making
… If you could call it that.” 

The words
love making
sound just as ridiculous out aloud as they do in my head,

“He set up the most amazing dinner on his terrace at his house, and he took me out on his boat to an island in the middle of the harbour that we had to ourselves for the day…     and he gave me this ridiculously stunning black diamond necklace.”

Charlie stares at me with eyes the size of golf balls, his gaping mouth wide open with astonishment. The bubbly waitress places our glasses of wine down. Before the glass even taps the table, Charlie snatches it, gulps its contents down, and puts the empty glass back on the waitress’s tray before she has even left our booth.

“Another thanks…” He says without taking his eyes off of me, “Are you telling me he gave
you
his black
Shadow of Love
diamond?”

“What’s that? The necklace? Yeah?”

“Errrr… The
Shadow of Love
diamond, is only one of the rarest black diamonds in the world!”

“What?” I can’t believe what Charlie is telling me, “How do you know this and I don’t?”

“It is well known that Joe Tench is the owner of the necklace. He was in the press with it a few months ago.”

“But he told me he won it in a poker comp in Vegas.”

“Well he lied doll! Where did you put it?”

“I… I just have it at home… on my dresser.” My mind is fragmenting from anger, to disbelief, to anger, and utter confusion over the news, “I have been so angry about it! What do you think it means?”

“Well… I think he was definitely telling you something, and I don’t think it was goodbye! You had better get that hundred and fifteen carat diamond in a safe ASAP!”

“
A hundred and fifteen carats!
” I yell.

“Shhhh… Don’t let people hear you for fucks sake! Just take it back to him if you don
’t want it.”

“I have
thought about that don’t worry. I can’t take it back until I see him again at work. Agency rules.” 

I replay over in my mind whether I should just pay Tench a visit. If I didn’t know the necklace was so valuable, then I would just drop it off to his henchmen at the front of his gates… that way I’m not ex
actly breaking the Agency rules. I still don’t get why he wanted me to have it. I couldn’t even wear it
anywhere
if it is so well known. Is that what he wants? For people to know I’m associated with
him
? Like he’s staking his claim on me?
Hmph
… The whole thing just makes my head spin!

“Anyway, forget your fucking necklace for a moment… You never guess what happened to me the other day! The worst thing ever… That’s why I was trying to call you…” Charlie abruptly changes the subject, and thankfully interrupts my rampant mind, “So… I was having dinner with this guy the other night, and afterwards we went for a drive and parked down a dodgy alley for a quick gobby…”
 

Oh god, where is Charlie going with this? His stories are always shocking,
 

“You know, the
usual
after dinner mint for me… anyway… the guy started forcing my head down on his cock.” I frown in anticipation for what I’m about to be told, “and before I could even tell him to go easy, because I’d just eaten a big steak… I threw up all over his lap!
Aaaargh
… can you imagine the embarrassment I was going through at the time? It was fucking awful! So I just looked at the guy and said ‘
Well would you like me to clean that up for you?
’ The guy just shook his head and did his button fly back up and ordered me out of the car! Can you fucking believe it?” 

I cannot control the rumble of giggles that exit me. Partly laughing out of shock and partly laughing because only someone like Charlie has this happen to him! I wonder if my outrageous friend is prone to every sexual disaster known to man. Most of his stories are equally as shocking, and surely not something us ‘hetros’ ever go through!

“Charlie my darling… I believe with
you
… the impossible
is
possible.”

“Except sex with a woman!
That my love… is never possible.” 

Charlie joins in the hilarity of the moment and we laugh together at his crazy situation until our dinner arrives. Thankfully, my self-absorbed little friend takes my mind off anything currently causing havoc in my life for the duration of our meal.

As soon as
I’m through the doors of my home, I rush to my computer to google Tench and this
Shadow of Love
black diamond. I type
Shadow of Love
into the query bar. Instantaneously images of my necklace pop up. A string of news stories about it are listed, and there amongst the stories, is Tench. I click on a story in the listing titled ‘
Joe Tench snaps up rare black diamond in hope of love
’ a piece covered in the Daily Telegraph at the start of this year. What the fuck is this all about? I read the content of the story:

Sydney nightlife identity Joe Tench has spoken publically about being the lucky bidder of a rare black heart shaped diamond necklace known as The Shadow of Love Diamond. Won in a recent bidding war at a charity auction during an A list event in Brussels, Belgium. Tench, the owner of Sydney’s largest casino, stated that he bought the diamond because one day he will find the right person to give it to. “When I find a woman as rare as this diamond, it will be hers. You can quote me on that.”…   

My heart races as I read back over the last quote taken directly from Tench again and again. I decide that’s enough reading and click the icon to close the page down. My head is in disbelief about what Tench’s intentions are. Why didn’t I know this? Why did he tell me he won it in a poker game in Las Vegas? I don’t understand what he wants from me. Could I really be with a man like Tench? Do I have much choice in life anymore given my chosen profession? Who else would want a relationship with someone who gets paid by various men to have sex with them? My head feels light and I need to lie down. The remnant of my hangover draws me back to the memory of Tom Smythe. I make my way slowly to my bedroom, registering the black box containing the necklace in the corner of my eye as I enter. I choose to ignore it, stripping down to my underwear, I get straight into bed and into the comfortable space between the sheets. My eyes feel heavy and the throbbing at the front of my head beats a slow rhythm until it sends me into a sleep, forgetting my troubles of the waking world.

I feel a
pressure on my chest and my breathing struggles to force the air in and out of my lungs. I hear a sound that sounds like a loud humming bird… or a motorbike. My unconscious mind struggles to locate what the sound is. My chest makes a writhing attempt to expand as wide as possible, but fails. I’m ripped from my dream. Panic awash over me. I gasp as I wake and see the bright green eyes of Flossy in front of me, lying on my chest and purring intensely into my face.

“Oh Flossy! I love you too. What time is it?”
 

I roll over. Flossy casually slides off of me. She leisurely stretches out and lies back down again next to me. I grab my iPhone from the bedside table… it’s only Twelve minutes past seven in the morning. It’s earlier than I would’ve cared to be awake on a day off, but I decide to make use of my early morning wake up. I get up out of bed and put on a pair of shorts, sports bra and faded pink sweatshirt, deciding to go for a run. My Nespresso machine buzzes and hums as it squeezes the contents of the coffee pod inside it, delivering a strong smelling brew into my mug below. I decide to forgo the addition of milk in my coffee, so that I can just get my caffeine hit. I head for the front door, sunglasses on and caffeine kicking in. Pulling my hair back, I slide my baseball cap over my head as I walk out the front door. Flossy scuttles past me as I close the door behind. Putting my headphones in and hitting ‘shuffle’ on my iPhone, I pound the pavement with my bright pink and purple Pumas carrying me in the direction of the coast. The band Kasabian sings about being on
Fire
in my ears. My legs stride to the beat of the music. All I feel is the open air, my music… and my lactic acid building up in my quadriceps… perfect! It takes me quicker than anticipated to get down to Bondi beach. I continue running straight towards the outdoor gym at the northern end of the beachfront. A regular route I take for almost all of my runs. The gym is swarming with strong athletic bodies as usual. I pull my hat down and turn my music up to block out the numerous bodies around me. I start my regular circuit on the equipment with the dips section. Children Colide are now singing
Jellylegs
in my ears. I chuckle as my own legs struggle to keep me balanced as I dip up and down across two bars with my legs stretched out in front, still shaking slightly from the six kilometre run. Once I’ve completed that exercise, I head over to a low bar and start my pulls-ups. I think I recognise the back of a man standing in front of me when I stand up. He turns around and we instantly lock eyes, his piercing blue stare stuns me in my position. Tom Smythe flashes his amazing smile at me. I feel my legs weaken further. I have never seen a client outside of work. Thankfully, I have avoided that situation all together until now! Why do I have to bump into Tom Smythe… of all clients? The music now becomes distant as I pull my headphones out of my ears by the cord around my neck.

“Ha… hi.” I manage to stutter the one syllable word. I still try and register that he’s actually here in front of me… and I’m unwashed and in my gym gear! Could this be any worse for me right now?

“Hi Miranda! I didn’t recognise you.”

Great! What’s that supposed to mean? That I look like shit? I can’t manage to find any words, my heart races at an accelerated pace. I lose all sensation from the waist down.
 

“I mean your hat and sunglasses make a good cover for you. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re the only female down here, I probably wouldn’t have paid you any particular attention at all.”

He starts laughing at a joke that seems like it’s at my expense. I feel so humiliated just by the sight of him in ‘the real world’. Luckily, I feel like I can pass off my rampant flushing cheeks as a sign of exertion from running. Why did I have to come down here? It has only just been over twenty-fours hours since I last laid eyes on him. But seeing Tom now, outside of work, just feels so different.
Where are you voice?
Say something quick!
I manage a weak smile, but my capacity to speak still evades me. I look around at who else is here. Scanning further beyond the equipment, I see if there is anyone else looming in the background that I may also recognise. Don’t be stupid! I try my best to convince myself that I am just being hyper sensitive. I blow out a burst of breath like a trumpeter. The seconds of silence that pass while we stand facing each other feel like hours ticking by. Tom looks so amazing! Even in his casual blue hooded long sleeve top and dark grey sports shorts. Okay… now I really am feeling dizzy.

“I really need a drink of water.” I turn away from Tom and head towards the freestanding water bubbler near the toilet block.

“Would you like to grab a coffee? If you’re not busy?” 

I hear Tom’s voice right behind me still as I walk away. The cool water from the bubbler sends a shooting chill down my chest from the inside. I continue to gulp desperately at the liquid. Slowly, my head begins to return to normal. No longer feeling like it’s about to burst from the throbbing. I stand up straight to face Tom, who is only three metres away from me.

“Tom. You know I can’t see you outside of work. I have signed contracts this big…” I hold my thumb and index finger up in a sign to suggest a five-centimetre thickness, “…that states I cannot see clients outside of the Agency.”