Almost Perfect (37 page)

Liam gazed blankly down at the letters swimming before his eyes. He had not made sense of them yet. Not only because they were in code, but because he was still coming to terms with the realisation that the message had come from Georgie. He hadn't heard from her or seen her in almost four months, but still not a day went by that he didn't think about her. He'd nearly dropped the phone when he saw her name in the inbox. He sat at his desk, oblivious for once to the hubbub going on around him in the open-plan office. He was still getting used to his new work environment. Everything was so different, the atmosphere, the noise, the staff, the clientele. A woman had burst into tears at his desk the other day. He'd had clients who were about to lose multi-million dollar deals but he'd never had anyone cry before.

Worst of all, there was no Stella. She would never have allowed the printer to run out of ink or the photocopier to run out of toner, as they seemed to do around here every other day. Stella would have recorded his messages coherently, scheduled his appointments judiciously and organised his files according to established convention, alphabetically for example. And Stella would have known what to do with the crying woman.

‘Bad news?'

Liam stirred, he was still sitting there, gaping at his phone. He looked up. It was James, or maybe Tom
. . . or Tim? Anyhow, it was one of the young student volunteers. Liam still hadn't quite wrapped his brain around all the names and faces. Stella would have helped him with that as well.

‘No, ah, at least I don't think it's bad news. I don't know, I'm not sure what it says. It's in SMS code.'

‘You're in luck, I'm an expert,' said Tim/Tom/James, coming around beside Liam to read off the tiny screen. ‘I have to see you, please call as soon as possible.' He straightened up again. ‘Stalker?' he suggested.

Liam shook his head. ‘She's . . . she's an old friend.'

‘Well, she's hanging out to see you,' he said. ‘Is she hot?'

Liam glanced up and Tim/Tom/James got the hint that his input was no longer required. He left Liam staring at the phone, debating his next move. ‘Please call.' His heart was beating faster just at the thought of hearing Georgie's voice again. But what could she want after all this time? He hoped nothing was wrong. Why she would call him if there was, he had no idea, he wasn't exactly part of her life any more. Maybe she had a legal problem. Georgie didn't seem the type to call in old favours. No, she wanted to see him for some reason and there was only one way to find out what it was. He brought up her number on the screen, pausing to take a breath before he pressed
Call
.

Georgie heard the familiar ringtone of her mobile phone, but she couldn't remember where she'd put it
after she'd messaged Liam. She had slipped into the storeroom to type in the message; she thought if she was alone she might be able to think more clearly. Not that that had helped last night. She had gone to do it a dozen times but kept hesitating, unsure of exactly what to include in the message. Should she give at least some information seeing as she was contacting him out of the blue like this? But what?
Hi there. Boy, have I got some news for you!
Hardly. How about:
I think you left something behind last time . . .
Georgie's absurdist tendencies always took over when she was anxious. In the end she decided it was best to keep it low-key and brief, nothing that could be misconstrued or misinterpreted.

‘Hey Tub!'

She turned around. Adam was coming from the back of the shop, holding up her phone. He'd lately initiated the hilarious practice of calling her ‘Tub'. Georgie had insisted that she didn't deserve that nickname on account of the tiny pot belly she'd recently developed, but he assured her she'd grow into it.

‘You left your phone in the storeroom,' he said as he came closer, handing it to her.

‘Thanks.' She looked at the screen. ‘Shit!'

‘Who is it?'

‘Shit . . . shit!'

Adam looked at the screen. ‘Yeah, it's shit all right. What's he doing calling you?'

‘I sent him a message asking him to.'

‘Then why are you surprised?'

‘I didn't think he'd do it straight away.'

Adam shook his head. ‘Do you want me to deal with him?'

‘No, no. I have to talk to him.'

‘So answer the phone. It's going to stop ringing any second.'

Georgie winced, closed her eyes and pressed
Answer
. She gingerly brought the phone to her ear. ‘Hello,' she croaked.

‘Hi, Georgie?'

‘Yes,' she breathed, swallowing. ‘It's Georgie speaking.' She remembered he always used to say, ‘I thought it was Georgie Reading', which was pretty lame, thinking about it. But it always made her smile.

‘It's Liam MacMullen, Georgie. I just got your message.'

Obviously. She'd only sent it five minutes ago. He sounded calmer than she felt. Why did he give her his surname? Did he think she knew so many Liams that she had to sort them alphabetically? No, clearly he was trying to keep it formal because he was back with his wife and everything's fine thanks and I think it's best for all concerned if you stay out of my life.
Shit!

‘How are you, Georgie?'

Well, the morning sickness seems to have passed.
Keep your wits about you, woman!
‘Fine, thanks Liam. How are you?'

‘I'm okay.' She heard him take a breath, waiting. ‘Georgie, if I'm reading your message right, you want to see me about something?'

‘Yes, that's right. Um, not for long, maybe half an hour if you can spare it?'

‘No problem. Should I come to the shop?'

‘No!' she blurted. ‘Um, no, I thought we could meet at the Manly Wharf Hotel. Do you know it?'

‘Yes, of course.'

‘Out on the Jetty Bar.' It was probably not the time of the year to be sitting outside, but she wanted to meet somewhere noisy and busy, and the smell of cigarette smoke made her nauseous, so it had to be outside.

‘All right. What time?'

‘Sorry?'

‘What time do you want to meet there? You are talking about tonight, aren't you?'

‘No!' she blurted again. She'd had this all planned out. He was supposed to ring later on, maybe this evening. She was going to suggest tomorrow night at six, giving her plenty of time to prepare herself. She swallowed again, her mouth kept going dry. ‘Is tomorrow okay? I have something on tonight.' Good. That sounded cool. Her life was full, busy, rich. He didn't have to know the only thing she had on tonight was
ER
.

‘Okay. What time tomorrow?'

‘I was thinking six.'

‘Then six it is, on the jetty at the Wharf Hotel, tomorrow night. I'll look forward to it, Georgie.'

You may not feel that way after tomorrow.
‘Okay, see you then.'

Georgie hung up and walked over to the counter, holding the phone to her forehead, grimacing. ‘Shit, shit. Bum! Bugger, oh
shit
!'

‘What's wrong with her?' Louise asked Adam.

‘Well, either the phone is stuck to her forehead and she can't get it off, or she's developed Tourette's syndrome. Is that ever a side effect of pregnancy?'

Georgie lowered the phone and looked squarely at them. ‘Shit, shit . . .
shit!
'

‘No, it's Tourette's, definitely.'

‘What's the matter, Georgie?' Louise persisted.

‘That was Liam,' she explained, waving the phone.

‘Oh,' Louise frowned. ‘Did you tell him?'

‘No!' Georgie exclaimed. ‘As if I'd tell him over the phone!'

‘I thought it was a little strange. So what's wrong?'

‘He just sounded so calm, so . . . reserved, I guess. And he called himself “Liam MacMullen”.'

‘Freaky,' Adam muttered.

‘He was being overly formal, impersonal, you know?' Georgie tried to explain.

‘He probably felt awkward,' Louise suggested. ‘You haven't spoken in a while.'

Georgie shook her head. ‘It's not that. I could tell. He's obviously worked out things with his wife, his life is back in order and the last thing he wanted was to hear from me.'

Louise thought about it. ‘Well, how did he react when you said it was you?'

‘He knew it was me.'

‘What?'

‘He rang me.'

‘I don't get it,' said Louise. ‘Why did he ring you and then become all awkward as if he didn't want to speak to you?'

‘I messaged him and asked him to call me.'

‘When was that?'

‘About five minutes before he rang.'

Louise sighed. ‘That doesn't sound like someone who's trying to avoid you.'

Georgie looked at her plaintively. ‘I really got the impression he was being polite, but keeping his distance.'

‘Well what's wrong with that? It's not as if you want to get back with him.'

‘Of course not, but if his marriage is on track again I can't tell him about the baby. I just can't. Can you imagine the fallout?'

‘Baby comes first,' Adam reminded her. ‘The suit's going to have to deal with it.'

‘But what about his wife?'

‘Well, she married the philandering prick.'

‘Adam! That's not fair, it's not her fault!' Georgie protested. ‘God, maybe I should call the whole thing off.'

‘What thing?' asked Louise.

‘I'm supposed to meet him tomorrow, to break it to him. I don't think I can do it.'

Louise sat on one of the stools and leaned her elbow on the counter, thinking. ‘Well why don't you suss out the situation before you tell him?'

‘How do you propose I do that?'

‘Tell him . . .' Louise paused, ‘ . . . that you wanted to be sure everything was okay with him. You wanted “closure”.'

Georgie pulled a face. ‘God, I'm beginning to hate that word.'

‘What do you think, Adam? You're a bloke, do you think that'd sound okay? Would you suspect anything?'

‘Well, I wouldn't immediately think, oh, she must be pregnant and this is all a ruse.'

‘I don't know . . .' Georgie felt uneasy. ‘I don't want to lie.'

‘It's not a lie, Georgie,' Louise insisted. ‘You do want to know how things have turned out for him, he just doesn't know why you want to know.'

‘So, if he says he's fine and his marriage is fine, then what?'

Louise looked blankly at her.

‘That's when you move to Plan B,' said Adam.

‘What's Plan B?'

‘In the movies it usually involves climbing out the bathroom window.'

Louise started to laugh.

‘Oh, you two are a great help. This is serious.'

They both looked contrite. Georgie groaned, plonking down on a stool. ‘One way or another I've got to come up with something by tomorrow night. How the hell am I going to get through another–' she checked her watch ‘– twenty-eight hours?'

Louise considered her. ‘Easy.' She took the phone out of Georgie's hand and scrolled through the directory till she came to Liam's name. ‘Call him back and change it to tonight.'

‘No! Why? I can't! I'm not ready.'

‘Georgie, you've been procrastinating for two months. It's driving you crazy, and frankly, you're
taking us all along for the ride.' She thrust the phone at her. ‘Get it over with.'

Georgie looked at Louise. And then Adam. They were both staring back at her, unblinking, their arms folded. Louise was right. She had to do it. Nothing was going to change magically overnight, she'd only lose more sleep. She pressed
Call
and waited for Liam to answer.

‘Hello?'

He sounded tentative. Maybe he still had her number in his phone, which would mean he knew it was her. So of course she couldn't hang up now. And not only that, it was customary, even expected, to actually speak when you were the one who'd made the call.

‘Hi Liam, it's me, Georgie, sorry to bother you again,' she said breezily. This was good, she was coming across very natural, very casual.

‘It's no bother, Georgie.'

‘Look, my plans have changed, and . . .' Don't make it sound desperate. ‘ . . . I can't make it tomorrow night now. But tonight works after all, if that's still okay with you?'

She heard him clear his throat. ‘Sure, same arrangement?'

‘Uhuh. The Jetty Bar at six.'

‘I'll see you later then.'

Liam hung up. He'd barely got over the first call when his phone had rung again and Georgie's name had appeared on the screen, sending his heart
plummeting to somewhere around his ankles. She was calling it off. She'd decided not to go through with it after all. Probably because of the way he'd spoken to her, as if she was nothing more than a business associate, and he was . . . well, a block of wood had more warmth. God, he even said his whole name, ‘Liam MacMullen', as though they barely knew each other. He'd wanted to tell her how good it was to hear her voice, how much he missed her. There were so many things he wanted to say to her but as he had no idea what this was all about, he didn't want to push it. He was relieved once he realised she was only calling the second time to change it to tonight. He wouldn't have got any sleep if he'd had to wait till tomorrow. It was going to be hard enough getting through the next few hours.

Liam was still mystified as to why she wanted to see him. In a wild flight of fancy he momentarily seized upon the vague hope that somehow she'd heard he and Anna had split. But that was impossible. They didn't have any mutual friends, there was no way she was likely to cross paths with anyone they knew. Though Anna had gone to the shop that time. Could she possibly have returned, told Georgie they'd separated? Now he was really getting ridiculous. Of course his estranged wife would go to the trouble of visiting his former mistress to let her know he was free now. And on her way she would see a pig flying across the sky.