Reader Meet Author

One foot in the grave - cont.

This takes up directly from where the first part ends. It's heavy on the dialogue, so please tell me if it doesn't work or if it's still ok. Luv, Hen.

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“So, are you going to call him?” Matilda put Carla on the spot.
“No, I gave him my number.”
“Oh, girl! It’s the twenty first century! Men expect you to call them these days. It’s easier for them.”
“Easier or easy? No offence, Matilda, but if the man is interested, he will call. And I am not interested in a man who is not interested enough to make that call.” Matilda raised her pencil thin eyebrows at Carla’s seemingly old-fashioned ideal.
“You haven’t been reading that book have you? The Rules? You know those women are divorced now.”
“Matilda, don’t start on me” Carla made the move toward her desk “Oliver’s staring at us again. God he looks stern. I’m off.”
“You will tell me more.” Matilda ordered “Lunch!”

The foot in the shoe was all over the media. Thankfully the police hadn’t released her name and Carla was managing to maintain some semblance of normality within her life. At lunch with Matilda in the buildings sidewalk café they dissected Carla's lunch date with Marcus. Despite Matilda insisting otherwise, Carla had not called the police officer. He’d given her his card, but so had Detective Davenport and she wasn’t about to call her, so why should she call Marcus?
“Because you like him, ninny!” Matilda scolded.
“Mat, I hardly know him to know if I like him. Like is such an objective word. I am attracted to him, but I am also attracted to the manager of my gym and I’m not about to ask him out.”
“Why not?” Matilda shot back.
“Really, Mati, you’re impossible!”
“No, why not ask him out?” Matilda insisted.
“Because you don’t ask every single person out that you’re attracted to. Life would get too…complicated.”
“Is that what you think my life is?” Matilda feigned hurt.
“Frankly, Mati, yes!” The two women laughed.
“And anyway, he’s gay.” Carla added, sipping on her ice water.
“Who’s gay? Marcus?” Matilda was confused.
“No, the manager of my gym.”
“Oh. That’s a shame.”
“His boyfriend doesn’t think so.” Carla smiled. Matilda nibbled on a carrot stick.
“So, what happens now?”
“What happens with what?” Carla asked.
“What happens with the shoe thing?”
“Well, nothing I guess. I suppose they investigate, find the rest of the man who the foot belongs to and work it out from there. Frankly I don’t care.”
“But you’ve got to admit it’s interesting.”
“For you maybe Mati, but for me, not so.”
“But what if it is the Mafia?” Matilda persisted. Carla shot her a look of despair.
“It’s not the Mafia. And besides, even if it was the Mafia, as you so insist on calling them, I don’t see how it affects me.” Carla took a bite out of her sandwich. Matilda looked worried.
“It would affect you because they will think you know more than you do. They will come and find you and then they will send you the way of the foot. I can’t believe you’re not worried.”
“And I can’t believe you are. Look Matilda, let’s just pretend it didn’t happen and talk about something else.” Carla was about to take another bite from her sandwich when her mobile phone rang. It was a local number she didn’t recognise. She let it go to message bank.
“I don’t know how you can do that.” Matilda looked almost hungry to take Carla’s call.
“It’s easy. You just ignore it.”
“But someone wants to talk to you! Don’t you like talking to people?”
“Well, quite frankly, no.” Carla laughed. She really didn’t care for the phone, or for needless talking. She made exception for Matilda. For all that Matilda drove her insane, she was a good friend and had Carla’s best interest at heart. Carla’s phone beeped, notifying her that the caller had left a voice message.
“Are you going to listen to that?” Matilda was insistent.
“Will it make you happy if I do?”
“Yes.” Matilda said as Carla dialled her voice mailbox. She leant back in the metal café chair and kept a poker face as the voice of investigating Officer Marcus Levy asked her voice mail if she was free that night. At the end of the message, after Levy had left two numbers for Carla to call him back on, Carla flipped her phone shut. Matilda waited expectantly.
“Well?”
“It was officer Levy. He’s like to see me tonight.” Carla couldn’t help but to smile. Matilda shrieked.
“Calm down!” Carla insisted, but was laughing all the same at her friends’ enthusiasm.
“Ohhh! Are you going to call him back?!”
“Not straight away, no.”
“Ohhh! Call him! Call him! I thought you said this wasn’t a game. Call him!”
“Matilda, I will call him. But not straight away. And if I was playing a game I would not make myself available tonight.”
“Does that mean you will?” Matilda asked. Carla thought about that for a moment. It was all happening a little too fast and was more than unexpected. She wasn’t really sure that she was ready for a man like Levy. She wasn’t sure if she was ever going to be ready.
“I really don’t know.” Carla conceded. The disappointment in Matilda’s face was obvious and she was about to protest, but Carla got in first.
“You know why. Don’t give me a hard time about this.”
“But he’s not Byron. And that was six months ago at least now, Carla.” Matilda argued for the absent beau. A pained expression clouded Carla’s eyes.
“Six months not long enough. It…” Carla paused “it hurt, Mati. You of all people should know that.” Matilda put a hand over her friends on the café table. Carla smiled.
“You know I only want you to have some fun, be happy, right?” Matilda asked.
“I am happy. And I have fun every day. With you. That’s enough fun for me.” Carla teased.
“Ha ha. No, really, you need to move on from that jerk.”
“I will. Just give me some time. And I might see Officer Levy tonight yet” Carla offered.

posted by Di Gallagher @ 3:53 AM