chair.
‘Don’t bother to find me a taxi,’ she said, her voice icy. ‘I can do it myself.’ And she left, a gust of cold air blowing in through the swing doors. Anthony sighed and slipped his credit card into his wallet, then put on his coat, musing on her extraordinary volatility. It hadn’t been evident when they first met, but now they were getting to know one another a little better, certain raw truths were beginning to surface. He stood thoughtfully for a moment or two, then left the restaurant, turning up his collar against the cold air. He glanced up and down the pavement. She was nowhere in sight, and he realised with guilt that he felt faintly relieved.
The following morning at half past seven, Anthony locked his car and made his way across the cobblestones to Caper Court. The Temple was still deserted, the stately buildings silent, not yet filled with the industrious bustle of clerks and barristers going about their day. From a distance came the hum of early traffic in Fleet Street, and somewhere a City church clock chimed as the sun’s first watery rays parted the faint mist which lay over the lawns of Inner Temple Gardens and hung in the bare branches of the trees lining King’s Bench Walk. Anthonysurveyed his tranquil surroundings, aware that his spirits were lower than they should be. The business of Sarah had been preying on his mind. He had thought about her as he drove into work, having changed his mind about ringing her first thing to apologise. He had nothing to apologise for. He had been seeing her for three weeks now – not long, certainly, but long enough in his books to know that he would never love her. That depressed him. Anthony had a natural propensity for falling in love, and an insatiable liking for the tenderness and intimacy which it brought. Last night had made him realise that there would be none of that with Sarah. She was not tender. She was not, he thought, particularly kind. She was wonderful in bed, and he often wondered where she had acquired certain of her more inventive techniques, but he did not think of her company as restful or easy. What had started off as a purely physical attraction had failed to turn into love, or even affection, and Anthony knew that once he began to tire of sleeping with her the whole thing would become worthless. It had happened to him so often before, and it disheartened him to know that the pattern was repeating itself yet again.
He passed through the archway and under the two small cherry trees which grew in the courtyard, and let himself into chambers. From thinking about Sarah in this way, he found his thoughts straying to Rachel. She had possessed a gentleness and openness of heart which Sarah so singularly lacked. Perhaps that was what had attracted Leo to her. Although Anthony had reconciled himself to the business of Leo being married to someone with whom he himself had once been in love – whom Leo had effectively taken from him, in fact – he still could not think of her without a faint sense of pain. It was just as well he hadn’t seen her for months, although for some reason the fact of having Sarah in his life made him think of her more often than before. Possibly he could not help makingcomparisons. Then again, at least Sarah had never shrunk from him physically, the way Rachel had. As he mounted the stairs to his room, he recalled the embarrassment and clumsiness of those encounters. They were a far cry from Sarah’s expert and ardent caresses.
He knew that Leo was already in chambers, having seen his car in the car park, and decided to make them both a cup of coffee before they got on with the day’s work. He went through to the little kitchen and found the sink was half-filled with scummy water and stacked with unwashed mugs, not a clean one in sight. Cursing Felicity, Anthony drained the sink and ran fresh hot water, into which he squirted a little detergent. Glancing around at the small, grubby space, he decided that
‘Don’t bother to find me a taxi,’ she said, her voice icy. ‘I can do it myself.’ And she left, a gust of cold air blowing in through the swing doors. Anthony sighed and slipped his credit card into his wallet, then put on his coat, musing on her extraordinary volatility. It hadn’t been evident when they first met, but now they were getting to know one another a little better, certain raw truths were beginning to surface. He stood thoughtfully for a moment or two, then left the restaurant, turning up his collar against the cold air. He glanced up and down the pavement. She was nowhere in sight, and he realised with guilt that he felt faintly relieved.
The following morning at half past seven, Anthony locked his car and made his way across the cobblestones to Caper Court. The Temple was still deserted, the stately buildings silent, not yet filled with the industrious bustle of clerks and barristers going about their day. From a distance came the hum of early traffic in Fleet Street, and somewhere a City church clock chimed as the sun’s first watery rays parted the faint mist which lay over the lawns of Inner Temple Gardens and hung in the bare branches of the trees lining King’s Bench Walk. Anthonysurveyed his tranquil surroundings, aware that his spirits were lower than they should be. The business of Sarah had been preying on his mind. He had thought about her as he drove into work, having changed his mind about ringing her first thing to apologise. He had nothing to apologise for. He had been seeing her for three weeks now – not long, certainly, but long enough in his books to know that he would never love her. That depressed him. Anthony had a natural propensity for falling in love, and an insatiable liking for the tenderness and intimacy which it brought. Last night had made him realise that there would be none of that with Sarah. She was not tender. She was not, he thought, particularly kind. She was wonderful in bed, and he often wondered where she had acquired certain of her more inventive techniques, but he did not think of her company as restful or easy. What had started off as a purely physical attraction had failed to turn into love, or even affection, and Anthony knew that once he began to tire of sleeping with her the whole thing would become worthless. It had happened to him so often before, and it disheartened him to know that the pattern was repeating itself yet again.
He passed through the archway and under the two small cherry trees which grew in the courtyard, and let himself into chambers. From thinking about Sarah in this way, he found his thoughts straying to Rachel. She had possessed a gentleness and openness of heart which Sarah so singularly lacked. Perhaps that was what had attracted Leo to her. Although Anthony had reconciled himself to the business of Leo being married to someone with whom he himself had once been in love – whom Leo had effectively taken from him, in fact – he still could not think of her without a faint sense of pain. It was just as well he hadn’t seen her for months, although for some reason the fact of having Sarah in his life made him think of her more often than before. Possibly he could not help makingcomparisons. Then again, at least Sarah had never shrunk from him physically, the way Rachel had. As he mounted the stairs to his room, he recalled the embarrassment and clumsiness of those encounters. They were a far cry from Sarah’s expert and ardent caresses.
He knew that Leo was already in chambers, having seen his car in the car park, and decided to make them both a cup of coffee before they got on with the day’s work. He went through to the little kitchen and found the sink was half-filled with scummy water and stacked with unwashed mugs, not a clean one in sight. Cursing Felicity, Anthony drained the sink and ran fresh hot water, into which he squirted a little detergent. Glancing around at the small, grubby space, he decided that
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