The Rendezvous by Evelyn Anthony Page A

twenty years ago and it was still there, still inside her as much as it was part of him. Was this love? this indescribable feeling – he didn’t know. It wasn’t what he felt when he was near to Julia.
    â€˜Perhaps we shouldn’t meet.’
    â€˜Why not?’ he asked her. He drew the car into the kerb and switched off the engine. It was nearly five and the lights were springing up like jewels all over the city. She had escaped him once; she had been snatched away from him and he couldn’t save her or keep her for himself. This might be a second chance.
    â€˜There’s no harm in going out with me. Haven’t you enjoyed yourself? Did I bore you?’
    â€˜No, no! You know I loved it. I loved every minute of it. That’s what I mean – that’s why perhaps we shouldn’t …’
    â€˜I will come for you at one o’clock on Thursday,’ Amstat said. ‘We’ll find somewhere different to have lunch.’ He got out of the car and opened the door for her. ‘You’re home, Terese. Thank you for today.’
    â€˜Do you really mean to come on Thursday?’
    â€˜At one o’clock,’ he said.
    â€˜Till Thursday, then,’ Terese said. She turned without letting him touch her to shake hands, and went into the entrance.

4
    â€˜Well,’ Joe Kaplan said, ‘this is a nice surprise.’ He got up from behind his desk and came towards her with both hands outstretched. ‘You’re looking wonderful, Terese. Sit here.’
    She took the chair in front of his desk and began pulling off her gloves. She had never been inside his private consulting room before and it was quite different to what she had imagined. The furniture was English reproduction mahogany; the chairs were leather, the inevitable couch was a day-bed with a tartan rug spread over it. It was completely unclinical, like a study in a private house.
    â€˜This is very nice, Joe,’ Terese said. ‘It’s such a comfortable room.’
    â€˜It has a homey atmosphere,’ he said. ‘That’s what I wanted. I want people to relax when they come here, feel they’re talking to a friend. I guess a lot of white paint and hard angles puts them off; makes them feel they’re sick, like being in a hospital.’
    â€˜What a wonderful man you are,’ she said simply. ‘That’s just how one would feel. Do you mind me coming to see you like this?’
    â€˜Why should I?’ He leant back in his chair and took off his glasses; he began polishing the lenses with a handkerchief.
    â€˜I suppose it’s a professional visit of some kind, so let’s be doctor and patient. What’s the trouble?’
    â€˜Oh, it sounds so ridiculous.’ She paused, waiting for him to put his glasses back on. ‘The whole thing is absolutely crazy, me making an appointment with you and going through all this rigmarole – but, Joe, I couldn’t come and talk to you just as a friend about this!’
    â€˜All right, that’s understandable. I’m your doctor and your friend. Go ahead.’
    â€˜You’ve been very good to me,’ Terese said. She spoke slowly, not looking at him. ‘You gave me a chance to live again after whatever it was that happened. You and Bob were the first faces I can ever remember seeing. It was like being born fully grown.’
    â€˜I know,’ he said gently. ‘I know what it was like.’
    â€˜You and Bob – Bob and you; I don’t know which way round to put it. Am I making any sense?’
    â€˜Sure; just get the perspective fixed right in your mind. Bob first, and then me. Bob loved you, I only doctored you. So?’
    â€˜I’ve come to you,’ she said, ‘because you’re as fond of Bob as I think you are of me. And it’s Bob I’m thinking of, not myself. Joe, you know the difficulties we’ve had – about sex, I mean.’
    â€˜I know the