Just Friends (A Short Story)

Part 2

She woke up bright and early; a habit she'd developed a long time ago. She had been getting up at 6am every day, even during holidays; this gave her the whole day to do interesting things.

After she had declined the offer to stay on his yacht last night, Amir had ordered her a cab. The ride had been a long one, but at least she could sleep in the comfort of her own bed and avoid a post-party debauchery.

While having some fruit for breakfast, she had a cursory flick through the news channels, but quickly turned the TV off; as always, only death and destruction, which only depressed her. She curled herself on her favourite chair and read for a few hours and then, in a spur of the moment, decided to go out for lunch; in the hindsight, fruit wasn't probably a sufficient meal.

The phone rang as she was getting dressed.

'Hello, gorgeous.' Amir's tone was bright, although he must have only slept for few hours, if that. 'Well?...' He suspended his voice expectantly.

'Well, what?' She smiled crookedly, knowing well what, or who he was asking about.

'You and John, of course.'

'We had a nice chat. The end.'

'Really? Nothing else?' He seemed to be disappointed.

'What else do you want?' This time she scowled, thinking about his previous attempts at matchmaking.

'It's been a long time since you dumped that American producer,' he persuaded. 'You need to have some fun...'

'Listen,' she cut him off. 'I am heading out for lunch. We'll talk later.'

'Oh, that's actually why I'm calling,' he exclaimed, as if just remembering the reason for his phone call. 'Lunch á moi?'

'I'm not going to the East End again.'

'Oh, no!' She could almost picture him shaking his head. 'We're docked at Windsor, darling. George should be there in a couple of minutes to pick you up.'

'Amir!' She tried to be angry, but it wasn't working and they both knew that.

'Please, it's all arranged.'

'What's arranged?' She suddenly got suspicious.

'Lunch, of course. See you in half an hour.' He hung up, not giving her any time to protest and a moment later, there was a gentle knock on her door.

'Morning, George.' She smiled at the chauffeur who was standing on the porch. 'Give me a minute.'

'Good afternoon, Miss Fairfax,' he corrected. 'I will wait in the car.'

Half an hour later, she was sitting on the top deck of Amir's yacht, having a Caesar salad and a glass of Chardonnay; not very posh, but she didn't give a damn.

'Are you not eating?' She noticed her host looked a little pale.

'Tired, that's all.'

'So, tell me about John,' she demanded. 'It's all about him, right?'

'Listen, he is a really nice guy.' Amir could be persuasive, when necessary. 'Better than anybody else I tried to set you up with, in fact... Since he came back from Japan and saw you at one of my parties, he couldn't stop talking about you. At work he's...' he hesitated. 'Well, he's you: clever, confident and damn efficient. But socially, he gets shy around women.'

'Anything wrong with him?' She was nothing if not direct.

'Goodness, no! Just give him a chance...' His eyes drifted suddenly. 'I am very sorry, but I feel a little dizzy and need to lay down for a moment. But I wouldn't want to leave you alone... Oh, rescue is on the way.'