Sunrise for Two (5 page)

Julia let herself in to
Harry's elegant front room the next morning just as she was packing
her swimming bag. “What you doing?” she asked curiously, settling
herself rather proprietally on the sofa.

“
I need some
exercise, I feel a bit pent up.”

“
Are you sure
its exercise that you need?” Julia asked her.

“
Exercise
will have to do.” she said, not meeting her friend's eyes. Julia
was her closest friend, and one of the main reasons for that was
her sensitivity.

“
I'm sorry
honey, I just meant that I think he feels the same way, in fact I'm
pretty sure of it.”

“
Then why
didn't he ask to walk me home and come in for coffee?”

“
Because you
rushed away honey, and you really didn’t look like you wanted
company.”

Harry looked up, her dark
eyes unreadable. Finally she smiled at her friend. “Do you want to
come swimming with me? I'll buy you breakfast
afterwards.”

“
I'd like
that.” Julia said softly, she took a deep breath and added
hesitantly, “I really am sorry, I know the intimate stuff is a bit
of sore point for you.”

Harry smiled at her,
“It's okay, it's just that he's this big gorgeous doctor and I'm
girl from the technical support department who can't walk. I feel
silly even finding him attractive.”

“
You're
beautiful Harry.”

Harry smiled at her, “You
would say that, you're my friend. Now come on, let's go and get
some exercise.”

Julia followed her out
into the street. They lived just off the most desirable road in
Chorlton, which was itself the most desirable suburb in Manchester.
They stopped to talk to a neighbour and then a nurse from the
hospital. The streets were quiet and they navigated past the toy
shop that sold only wooden toys, a competitive jostle of
Mediterranean themed restaurants and of course a vegan
co-operative. The pool was quiet and Harry felt her spirits
lifting. There were a high number of residential centres for stroke
victims nearby and the pool was easily accessible to wheelchair
users. She slid into the water and relished the sudden freedom,
feeling her shoulders loosening as she splashed up and down, and
ducked below the surface into the glorious blue silence. Julia swam
beside her, silently kicking herself for her remark. She wanted to
tell Harry that the people close to her forgot about her chair, but
the thinly veiled curiosity of their fellow swimmers was hard to
ignore.

Harry did feel better
after her swim, she thanked the slightly over-attentive pool staff
and dried her hair. She loved the spontaneity of the water, talking
to her friend at eye level, feeling that she was less conspicuous
than usual. Then she wheeled back out into the busy morning and
tried not to notice the glances and sometimes the stares. They
bought a paper and navigated across the road to the delicatessen
with their favourite coffee and Harry grabbed a table while her
friend went to order their standard Saturday choices.

Julia wondered what
Chris’ intentions towards her lovely friend really were. She
remembered the look on his face when he had spotted Harry under the
makeshift awning and the disappointment in his eyes when she
disappeared into her house. She was pretty sure he cared for Harry,
but she remembered how much he had hurt her at their first meeting.
They ate poached eggs and watched children playing in the little
park. Then they read the weekend news in comfortable silence. Julia
looked at the beautiful gentle woman reading the holiday supplement
and felt a sudden urge to track Chris down and demand to know his
intentions.

Chris was reading the
paper too, feeling particularly virtuous when he perused a section
on the merits of supporting local communities. He felt happier than
he had done for months, and he smiled at Nicola when she came into
the kitchen and poured her out a cup of coffee. “Hey handsome,” she
said affectionately, “you look happier.”

“
I am, I ran
into Harry last night, we finally had the chance to
talk.”

“
Where did
you meet her?” she asked, feeling her own mood dip.

“
Moss Side
weirdly.”

“
Moss
Side?”

“
I know, I
can hardly believe it myself. Her friend was doing this kind of
cooking outreach thing and I helped.”

“
Good for
you. Did she live up to your expectations?”

“
She's even
lovelier than I thought.” he told her softly. “I'm going to plan
out a really nice meal and invite her round.”

“
Excellent.”
Nicola said, as convincingly as she could, fighting another intense
wave of jealousy. “What are you doing tonight?” She continued
lightly, remembering all the times she had taken him out for the
evening, enjoying the way other women reacted.

“
Rugby club.”
he said distractedly, replaying the way Harry smiled and the
throaty chuckle that made him tingle.

“
I'm going to
a psychiatrists party, it should be quite fun.” she added.
Remembering the time when she wouldn't have needed to provide any
details about her night out, the time when he would have cancelled
any plans at the suggestion that they would spend the evening
together. He nodded without looking up. “You can come if you like.”
she added finally.

He looked at her then,
his blue eyes holding hers. “Where's Jeff?”

“
I think he's
working late.” she said awkwardly, feeling the colour in her
cheeks.

Chris nodded and took
another mouthful of coffee. “I think I'll leave it. I'm a bit too
preoccupied to have that lot leaping around in my head.”

She nodded and forced a
smile, “There's some new blood out tonight, this rather interesting
woman who works on your site.”

Chris nodded again and
washed his coffee cup in the sink. Then he smiled at her and picked
up his car keys. “I'm going to catch up on some paper work,” he
explained. Deciding he wanted to read the meticulous document Harry
had produced, He had spent the evening thinking of a way to extend
his tentative courtship, but still had no better idea than to
thought he might meet her at the IT suite and escort her up to the
next meeting.

Nicola watched him go,
his sculpted torso stretched into a faded polo shirt, his long legs
filling a pair of blue jeans to perfection. She felt angry with
herself, she loved Jeff and she was sure she did not regret her
choice. She decided though that she needed to meet Harry as a
matter of priority. She wanted to make sure this woman was good
enough.

Harry was chopping up
vegetables again. She remembered Chris' easy company and his
handsome smile, and wished that he could jog into view and offer to
help. She was sitting in the communal garden, right outside Julia's
house. A long overdue vacuuming session was underway inside and
Harry was planning out the snacks for their Saturday night
gathering. “Are you inviting tall dark and gorgeous?” Olivia
yelled.

“
Not yet.”
she said and returned to her slicing. She wondered what he would
say if she did.

Chris jogged past her
house right around the time she was collecting some music. He stood
on the path and tried to decide whether or not to knock on the
door. In the end he didn't. He ran home and walked round the corner
to the rugby club. It had been a big part of his decision to buy
the house with Jeff, he didn’t really like decorating, and he
wasn’t sure why they needed to buy such a big house, but the club
had kept him safe, and sane, for as long as he could remember. So
he bought himself a beer and spoke to the men that he trained with
so many years and felt uncomfortably empty.

Harry finished her
preparations and stretched her aching shoulders. “Do you fancy a
night off?” Julia asked lightly.

“
What do you
mean?”

“
A night out
of your chair on the sofa.”

Harry was silent for a
moment then she looked up at her friend. “I'd be there for the
evening.” she said softly. “I'm not transferring in front of anyone
but you, not when I've had a couple of drinks." Julia held her
breath, her thoughtless remark before their swimming trip was still
weighing heavily on her. It made her realise how much she valued
Harry's gentle trust. “Actually,” Harry added finally, “I'd like
that very much. Thank you.”

“
Excellent.”
said Julia, her relief obvious. She touched Harry on the shoulder,
mindful of the fact that it was much harder to hug someone in a
wheelchair.

“
Wine?” asked
Olivia, bursting cheerfully in the lounge, and Julia wondered, not
for the first time, if Olivia ignored the interplay of
relationships around her, or simply didn't notice them.

“
Good plan.”
Harry said with a grin and took an appreciative mouthful. She
sorted out the last of the food preparation and issued instructions
to Mike who had as usual, arrived far earlier than
invited.

Mike drank his beer
slowly and savoured the sight of her curves and her arms in the
short sleeves of her loose cotton top. He was slightly surprised
when he returned from yet another errand to the local shop and saw
her settling onto the sofa. Julia was pushing her wheelchair into
the under stair cupboard and he filled up Harry’s glass and smiled
at her. “I bought you a copy of that CD you liked, shall I put it
on?”

“
Please,” she
said, grateful as ever for his sensitivity. Olivia handed him
another beer and he clinked his bottle against hers. Harry watched
their interaction for a moment, and entertained a brief speculation
about their possible relationship. Then the doorbell rang and a
group of rather wildly dressed psychiatrists erupted into the room.
Olivia explained that she was writing a research paper with some of
them, and sharing an office with others and she concentrated on
remembering all their names.

Nicola couldn't believe
it when she was introduced to the beautiful woman on the sofa. She
decided it had to be the right person, she worked in the hospital
IT department, she was called Harry and her dark skin highlighted
loveliness of her face. She kept trying to talk to her, trying to
negotiate the crowded room to sit beside her. But the conversation
buzzed constantly around the small elegant figure, and a tall man
who appeared to be drinking vodka straight out of a bottle tried
very hard to flirt with her before the plump man from the computer
department took him outside for a cigarette. She drank rather more
wine than she intended and watched the woman in frank curiosity.
She had wanted to hate her, but realised that she couldn’t. Harry
was funny and intelligent and obviously kind to her friends, and
she realised that just made her feel worse.

Finally she took
advantage of people getting up for drinks and pushed her way rather
more dramatically than she intended onto the scruffy 3 seater under
the window. She sat down very close to the woman she had been
watching, invading her personal space. “Hello.” said Harry, her
expressive face a mix of surprise and amusement.

“
Hi, I'd just
thought it would be nice to meet you. We haven't been introduced
yet.”

“
Well nice to
meet you then.” Harry said, looking at the way the woman’s wine was
hanging precariously over her favourite boots. “Are you a
psychiatrist?” she asked finally, silently willing the woman to
straighten her glass.

The awkward woman nodded
enthusiastically. “I work in the community.” She launched into an
animated description of her job. “So tell me,” the woman said
suddenly, invading her space and breathing alcohol fumes over her,
“what do you do?”

“
I work with
computers.”

“
Yes I know,
but what does that mean?” Harry tried to focus, but she was tired,
and she realised how much she wanted to get back into her
comfortable conversation with Mike. She smiled gratefully up at him
when he filled up her glass, and took a rather larger mouthful of
her favourite burgundy than she had intended. She had been enjoying
her time on the sofa, people did treat her differently out of her
chair, even her close friends. But now she was trapped with this
intense woman who didn't stop talking until she spilt a
particularly nice merlot, all over Harry’s new cotton
trousers.

“
It's okay,
really it is.” Harry assured her. She took another mouthful and
wondered how she could possibly extricate herself. Then mercifully
the woman's husband arrived and Mike sat down close beside her
until the guests took themselves home.

Finally she transferred
back into her chair under his gaze which felt protective rather
than intrusive. Her head was spinning slightly, and she had to
concentrate hard to keep her balance. “Can I walk you home?” he
asked softly.

“
Thank you.”
She said simply and handed him her keys. She navigated the short
path and manoeuvred into the safety of her front room. Mike
stretched out on the sofa while she brushed her teeth and they
laughed about the people they had met.

Finally she wheeled out
of her bathroom with affectionate trust in her eyes and handed him
a blanket. “Thank you.” He said softly, he kicked off his shoes and
closed his eyes, savouring the fact that she was so close
by.