On the Flipside.

Chapter eight

In the seven years since he'd left home, Kane had never known his mother to write him a letter.  Never before had she taken the time to sit down and put pen to paper; her usual preferred method of communication being over the phone. Yet when he arrived at the office the following Monday morning, that's exactly what he found. Her penmanship style stood out in black ink on the white envelope as he plucked it from the doormat along with a bundle of others - probably bills. 

Confused with this sudden change, he stumbled into his office and slammed the door closed before ripping the envelope apart to see what was of paramount importance that she couldn't have spoken to him over the phone. 

Inside was a picture of his parents standing outside their house, full of life and in pristine condition, the way it had always been. There had never been a time he could remember where there was a single hair out of place in her house and even now, as he stared at the photo, he could tell, that everything had its place. Even as children, the rooms had been clean and spotless, not a speck of dust to be found. Underneath the picture in huge capital letters were the words Just in case you forgot what we looked like. 

It was his mother's idea of a joke; her way of telling him he'd been away for too long. Chuckling, he picked up the phone. 

"FINALLY!" she screeched down the phone when she answered. "I hope you've got a damned good excuse as to why you've been ignoring my calls, young man. I've been trying to get hold of you for the past week." 

"I've been-"

"Your brother called from France. He's on holiday, remember. With Brooke. They're back at the end of the week and we're throwing a welcome home party. They've been gone for six months now, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Kane pondered, uninterested. His pen tapped against the desk impatiently. "That's gone quickly."

"It has. Well, I've been trying to get in touch with you because, well, none of us have seen you in months and you just have to come."

"Mum, stop. I'm busy this weekend. I've got plans."

"With whom?" She asked. Then suddenly as if realisation dawed on her, she lowered her voice. "Oh, you have plans?" 

He stopped and the pen fell onto the table. "Why did you say it like that?"

"What?" She asked, innocently. 

"Plans. Why did you say it as some seedy reference to . . . Something seedy? Mum, no! I'm not seeing anyone like that. It's not the way you think."

She chuckled. "Of course not, dear. Well, if you decide you want to let the family meet her, bring her down. Sunday afternoon, one o'clock."

"Mum, I'm not-"

"Don't try and deny it, Kane. I can hear it in your voice. You've found someone, haven't you?"

He sighed and groaned. As usual, his mother had taken two and two and made six. Her quick assumptions nearly always got the better of her, totally giving her the wrong end of the stick. And this, once again, was one of those times. What she heard in his voice wasn't what she thought it was. It was . . . Well, Kane didn't know what it was. But it certainly wasn't love. And now, on Sunday she'd be expecting a loved up woman on his arm and, more than likely, a marriage proposal on the way. The woman didn't do anything by halves. 

An hour later, Kane was unburdening his troubles concerning his mother to Layton whom, knowing her wholeheartedly, could do nothing but laugh. "She's certainly a firecracker, that woman." He gasped through spurts of laughter. "So, what are you going to do?"

Kane gave him a pointed look and shook his head. "I really don't know. I mean, there's no girl. She's expecting me to turn up with someone, but as there isn't one, I really haven't the foggiest what I'm going to do."

"Isn't there anyone you can think of?"

"Nope." He confirmed. He bit on the end of his pen and scrunched his face up in frustration."The only girl in my life is Immy through there and . . . " He trailed off as Layton's smile grew into a broadened grin. His head turned towards the brunette just outside her office, concentrating on her work and nodded.

Kane cringed. "No. No way, man. She's . . . She's Immy. She's just Immy. We work together, that's all. She's a good friend and nothing more."

Layton shrugged. "You know that, Imogen knows that, and I know that. But your parents? Well they don't. If they're expecting a beautiful girl on your arm, wow them. Don't go into it half heartedly. I mean, look at her, Kidman. She's gorgeous."

"She's also my employee. And my friend. I couldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"Well," He stuttered. "Well, I don't know. I just . . ."

His gaze drifted towards her sitting at her desk and wondered if he could, just for one afternoon to appease his mothers' fantasies, pretend that he was in love.

  

***

The rest of the week followed quickly and Kane had yet to ask Imogen to the party at the weekend. Now Friday was here and he was pacing his office. How would he tell her of his mother's assumptions? Would she agree to the ludicrous plan of his? After all, it was only one afternoon. Once it was over, they could go back to their working relationship. He could even pay her for her troubles. No, best not, he thought. Don't quite fancy a slap across the face and a lawsuit. His phone rang and he jumped, his hand coming up instinctively to his chest and fumbled around on the desk before resting his hand on the receiver.  The number on the screen was one he recognised. "Damn, Lay, you scared the life out of me."

"I know." Laughter erupted from the other end. "I saw." 

Looking around, he saw a dark figure peeping in through his office window. "What do you want?"

The laughter subsided, but he gasped, trying to control his breathing. "To tell you that she's not doing anything, so you can go tell her now. She's practically twiddling her thumbs."

"Is that it?" Layton nodded. "Get off the line."

He slammed the receiver down and took a deep breath. In two long strides, he reached the door and opened it with a thud. Imogen's head snapped up and she smiled at him. She seemed agitated slightly. "I was, uh, just . . . I've got a spare few minutes."

Kane chuckled. "Don't worry, we all need a break sometimes." He leant against the desk and lifted one leg off the floor. "I actually wanted to ask you something." When she didn't reply, he continued. "My parents, they're having this thing. My brother's been in France with his wife for six months and they're back, well," He looked at his watch, "right about now actually. They're throwing a party for them and I wondered if you'd like to go? With me? I mean, I work you to the bone and you deserve a bit of fun. I'm not always the hard taskmaster, you know."

"Not always." She chuckled. "But, um, are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude. It's a family thing, surely?"

He nodded. "I'm sure."