chapter 24

24 I rang the bell to her apartment, twice. Then I called her but her phone kept ringing. I began to wonder if I had got it wrong, but no, I clearly remembered her saying that she wanted us to spend the day together before we went to Nat’s. And there was no way I was going to go to Nat’s alone, especially after what had happened. Cara had to go with me. The fact that my head went into a tailspin when Cara and Nat were in the same room now was a problem I would deal with later. My phone rang just then.‘Hey!’‘Hey, I’m outside your door.’‘Oh. I am in the basement, in the pool.’ ‘Here?’‘Yes. Why don’t you come down? Just walk past the lobby, take the second door on the right after the lifts and come down the stairs. The pool’s right there.’‘Okay. See you in a bit.’The pool area was beautiful, with large ventilatorsallowing for natural light. The water was a sharp blue and the whole room smelt lightly of fresh chlorine. Unlike the contemporary interior design in the rest of the building, the pool area was designed like a Turkish bath house. Cara was in the pool. She was wearing an orange bikini which was modest by her standards. When I walked in she was swimming away from me, towards the opposite end where she hoisted herself out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool, wet and inviting.‘Hey! Come on in.’The last time something like this had happened was on the beach in Goa and despite aching for it to happen again, I wanted to be careful not to give in. I didn’t know if I was protecting Nat or Cara, or if indeed it was I who needed protecting.‘Not today, I am not carrying my shorts.’ I walked over to her, rolled up my trousers and sat down beside her, my feet in the water.‘That’s fine. I can shut the door and there’ll be just us.You can skinny-dip,’ she said, winking.‘No. We have to get to Nat’s party and I do want to get some work done before that.’‘Boring!’‘Why don’t you finish your swim, then we’ll go for lunch, come back, change and go to Nat’s? Is that okay?’‘Yes, but even though you are not in the mood to skinny- dip, I am . . .’ she said as she stood up and walked to the door to shut it.‘Cara!’ I yelled after her, ‘C’mon!’ ‘No way, baby!’She walked back to the edge of the water and, with her eyes locked on mine, untied her bikini top and dove into the pool. I watched her lithe body glide through the water towards me. She moved like a dolphin, the water running off her pale back, her orange bottom bobbing up and down with every stroke. She reached me in under a minute and broke through the water between my legs.‘Hiya!’‘Don’t do this, Cara,’ I protested, and then broke into a grin. I couldn’t help it.‘Stop being a wuss!’ she said, and then moved her hands under the water, took off her bikini bottom and gave it to me. ‘Here, you can have this.’ She hauled herself out of the water and stood next to me, shaking the water out of her hair. Drops of water rolled down her naked body, bringing back memories of the first time we had made love. My throat felt parched all of a sudden. I willed myself not to touch her, but the temptation was too much; I stood up and kissed her hungrily.‘Can you not distract me so much?’ I pleaded, pulling back after a while.‘You are already distracted,’ she retorted. ‘I am not.’‘You are! Ever since you came back from Goa, you have been distant,’ she complained, and I began to feel very guilty.‘It’s nothing, babe, I have been a little pre-occupied.’‘With?’Trying to have a conversation with a beautiful naked woman was a losing proposition, ‘Please, can you wear something first?’ I asked.‘Ugh!’ She scowled, and pulled on a jumper and shorts. ‘That’s better. It’s the GM pitch. The JWT guys likedthe idea, but I am not sure they are going to go for it.’ ‘That’s fine, silly, I didn’t expect them to.’‘But I did think we’d land a nice deal,’ I continued, surprised that one lie could so easily lead to another.‘It’s no problem, babe. Forget it. You were worrying about this?’‘Sort of . . .’‘Oh baby, forget it. Come on, I’m hungry, let’s order in a pizza. I have to finish Nat’s cake and then I am going to watch The Killing, sit with me.’ She held out her hand and together we walked out of the pool room.As we rode the lift to her apartment, quietly, I felt terrible about stringing her along.As soon as we entered the apartment she dragged me to the bedroom.‘Cara!’‘Shush. Please lie down with me.’I could sense that her tone was more sensitive than normal. Asking me over to spend the day with her was unusual in itself – especially since I had felt a certain sense of possessiveness that had begun to creep into her manner towards me.Still, we lay down on the bed, our arms around each other. ‘Hold me tight.’‘Don’t you have a cake to bake?’‘I do. But it can wait. I need this now. I need you now,’ she replied, tightening her arms around me and snuggling into me.Staring at the ceiling, lying in bed with her, fully clothed, guilt began to smother me.