Gate Deadlock (8 page)

‘Colin will be at the reception.’ I replied
coldly.

‘Colin?’

‘Colin is my ex. We had been together for
two years until I found out … he was cheating on me.’
These two sentences summarize our little romance
perfectly
, I thought. There was nothing else to say.
Colin belonged to the past.

Christopher looked worried and tried to read my
face.

‘So you’d rather we skipped the reception?’ he
asked.

‘No, of course not. I can handle this.’ I was
determined not to let anything or anyone spoil that night.

‘Sure you can. I’ll be next to you the whole
time.’ he smiled reassuringly.

I wondered if he knew that all I cared about was
looking into his eyes and being near him. For the last two weeks, I
had become so used to his presence that I was counting the minutes
until our next meeting. It is true that helping me with my
presentation was for the most part an excuse to meet him everyday,
at least as far as it concerned me. I knew he must have had a
secret agenda about me, but I could live with this, at least for
now. He was probably waiting for the project works to commence to
reveal his true intentions about it, or I should say Brantel’s
intentions, but he had not talked about the project not even once.
I had chosen not to mention the project either, but wait for his
move instead. I liked to think of it as a kind of game, not much
different from a game of chess, only I had offered him the
advantage of the first move. Besides, I had always been obsessed
with mysteries, as they had always been sort of vicarious pleasure
for me. Christopher was my personal mystery.

There were certainly many gaps in Dr Auburn’s
story, I was aware of that, as I was also certain by now that it
had to be a very challenging story, having naively underestimated
any possible danger, of course.

Half an hour later
,
we were walking into the large garden of
“Xenios Hotel”. A dark haired woman welcomed us and guided us to
the large round table where Tina had arranged for Christopher and
me to be seated, next to Rose, her Greek friend, Harry and his
girlfriend Bessie.

The night was pretty cool and the crystal water
of the large swimming pool on the eastern side of the garden was
sending off a feeling of freshness. The place was filled up with
round tables, covered with white linen tablecloths. I noticed a big
rectangular table, decorated with flowers on the other side of the
garden, which was probably the one for the newly weds and their
families. When the happy couple arrived, fireworks lit up the dark
sky, scaring the birds off the nearby trees and making them fly
frantically among the blazes of color.

Tina was absolutely astounding, the epitome of
happiness. She stood proudly next to Niko, right in front of the
large table where both of them gave a little show for their guests,
a part of the traditional ritual of the Greek wedding. A waiter,
standing beside them opened up a bottle of champagne, with
impressive skill, and filled their glasses. They each took a sip,
crossing their elbows without spilling a drop, which I found quite
amazing. Another waiter had rolled a small table next to them with
the wedding cake on it. According to the marital ritual, the groom
and the bride, holding a teaspoon each, took it in turns to feed
each other with a small bite of the cake. A tingling sound of glass
suddenly filled the place. It was coming from the guests’ spoons,
which they enthusiastically clinked against their crystal
glasses.

‘This is meant to make the couple kiss in
public.’ I whispered to Christopher, who was watching, quite
amazed. The couple kissed and the guests applauded
enthusiastically. Then it was time for the new weds’ first dance.
They took a few steps to the pebbled center of the garden, which
served as a dance floor, and danced to the rhythm of a slow, Greek
song that made me shiver, although I could not make out all the
lyrics. Tina and Nikos seemed to be enjoying every minute of it.
Then they sat behind the big table and the wedding banquet
started.

‘Is that all?’ Christopher asked.

‘Yes, as if that wasn’t
enough
.
’ I joked. I was
never in favor of swanky celebrations. I had imagined my wedding,
as every girl has, but much different to what I had just
witnessed.

For the rest of the evening, Christopher had his
arm around my shoulders, playing with the curls of my hair at the
back of my neck as he talked. Harry was probably surprised to see
us together but he was very discreet about it. As for me, I’d been
chatting mostly with Bessie, enjoying the angry looks Rose and her
friend gave me, probably because Christopher was not paying
attention to them anymore.

It was more than an hour later that I caught a
glimpse of Colin, escorted by a pretty brunet. He was scanning the
tables, looking for someone. At the same time, Christopher asked me
to dance. The timing was excellent because Colin had just spotted
me and was heading to our table, leaving his girlfriend behind.

‘Dance with me!’ Christopher had demanded
with his most irresistible smile. We walked to the dance floor and
he put his arms around my waist sending goose bumps all over my
body.
I had my arms around his neck,
always keeping a little distance between us. I could see Colin
behind him, standing just a few metres away, frowning and
staring at us. I was very proud of myself, because now I was
sure I had become totally immune to Colin. All that mattered was
that I was in Christopher’s arms and he was looking right into my
eyes.

‘Are you cold?’ he asked
.

‘No, I’m fine.’ I said, dazzled once again by
his beautiful face. He smiled and stroked my naked back with his
hand, as if trying to warm it up, oblivious to the fact that this
only made things worse for me. Behind him, I could still see Colin
shaking hands with Harry, Bessie and Rose and going back to his
girlfriend, who was now seated in the same table with Don.

When we got back to our table, I asked
Christopher to excuse me and headed to the restroom. I checked my
blushed cheeks and my make- up, put on a thin layer of lip-gloss
and walked out.

Colin was waiting for me at the restroom door,
taking me by surprise. I recognized the anger in his eyes and his
frowned face. He grabbed my arm viciously and pushed me in the
shadows.

‘What do you think you’re doing, Emma?’ he
asked.

‘You shouldn’t be here Colin. And I shouldn’t be
talking to you.’ I replied coldly, trying to free my arm. I was
certain it was going to be bruised the next day.

‘Who’s he? Are you dating professors now? I’ve
come here for you to find you…’ his anger was growing to fury
now.

‘You’re really pathetic. Please, don’t keep your
girlfriend waiting for my sake.’ I smiled coldly. I had managed to
keep my voice low and calm, but I knew my eyes had started to fill
with tears of tension and anger. I pulled my arm with all the
strength I could find and managed to free myself.

‘We have to talk.’ he demanded. As I tried to
walk past him, he took a step forward trying to take hold of my
shoulder. He missed it, but his fingers were caught in the strap of
my dress. Next minute, the strap was torn, and I heard the shiny
Swarofski beads make a tinkling sound as they hit the pebbled
floor. My eyes were full of tears ready to burst out, and I could
only see a haze in front of me.

All of a sudden, I caught a glimpse of a hand
grabbing Colin’s wrist and, through the curtain of my misted eyes,
I was able to see Colin staring at Christopher, his eyes wide with
surprise.

‘Are you all right Emma?’ Christopher asked me,
without taking his eyes off Colin.

‘Yes.’ I muttered.

‘I think you owe the lady an apology.’ he said
to Colin, and the threat was unconcealed in his voice.

What I saw in Christopher’s eyes, I had never
seen before. I was sure that he could, that he wanted, to hurt
Colin. His eyes were sparkling with such rage I had never imagined
he was capable of, as his face seemed as stiff as his voice. I was
scared he might get into serious trouble if he hurt Colin, who was
now speechless at the sight of Christopher, probably realizing the
danger he was in.

‘This is between Emma and me.’ Colin said
eventually.

‘Hardly.’ Christopher replied, and I knew he had
already started to lose his patience.

‘Please Christopher, let go of him. I want
to leave,
now.
I don’t want to
listen to anything he has to say!’

Christopher hesitated for a moment. Then,
abruptly, he released Colin’s wrist and turned to me. The sparkle
that had scared me before, had now left his eyes. He put his arm
around my waist and walked me out, but not before casting a warning
look at Colin over his shoulder. I felt Colin’s eyes glowering on
us as we walked away and I knew he would not let this go so
easily.

Back in Christopher’s car, I could not hold back
the tears anymore. I had turned my head to the window because I did
not want Christopher to see me crying. Not that he did not
know.

‘Do you want me to take you home?’ he asked,
making an effort to keep his voice soft and calm.

‘No. I can’t go home like this. Kate and Tony
will have so many questions and…’

‘Okay then.’ he said decisively.

For a few minutes he was silent but I knew he
was still trying to calm himself down.

‘He’s not worth it, you know.’ he remarked in a
cold voice.

He was right. But I was not crying for Colin. I
was crying out of humiliation and shock. Never before had I been
treated this way and Colin’s violent burst had shocked me. Part of
me still refused to acknowledge that Colin was capable of such
ungracious and violent behavior towards me.

Christopher had already parked outside his
apartment.

‘Why are we here?’ I asked him.

‘Harry is staying over at Bessie’s tonight. So
we’ll fix your dress, and then I’ll take you home.’

A few moments later, I was sitting on the
swinging loveseat at Christopher’s porch. The musical sound of the
wind chimes hanging above me was soothingly relaxing as it swayed
rhythmically to the soft breeze.

I was not crying now. I had overcome the shock
and started to experience anger about my weakness for not being
able to defend myself better when Colin had grabbed me. I should
have slapped him with all my strength. I even regretted I did not
let Christopher hit him. I would like to see this now. It would
most certainly make my day.

Christopher sat next to me with two glasses of
wine in his hands.

‘Here, take this. It’ll make you feel better.’
We both emptied our glasses at one gulp. It turned out that I
wasn’t the only one who needed the drink.

‘I’m sorry you had to see this.’ I said
apologetically. ‘I don’t know what got into him.’

‘I think it’s pretty obvious.’ he said in the
most natural manner. ‘He is jealous. And for good reason if you ask
me.’ He seemed very calm and rather amused by the situation
now.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked with my most
innocent smile, but sensing something in his voice that made my
heart beat fast.

‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but we kissed last
night. Or do I have to refresh your memory?’ If he was trying to
distract me, he did a good job.

‘Well, if I’ve forgotten about it, then…you’ve
got a problem!’ I challenged him, unable to believe it had been me
the one who had said those words.

He thought about it for a moment. ‘I guess
this means I have to refresh your memory anyway.’ he grinned and
took the glass of my hand to put it on the small table,
next to his. He turned to me and held my face in his warm
hands.

He leaned forward and kissed me. I was more than
eager to kiss him back, of course. His sweet, cinnamon scented
breath felt hot in my mouth, making me shiver. I tried to hide a
faint chuckle. He stopped without drawing back.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘I’d just like to see Colin’s face now.’ I said,
looking into his eyes.

He sighed. ‘Still thinking about Colin, are you?
I guess I should try harder then.’

He kissed me again; only his kiss was now more
demanding, wilder, as his hands left my face to caress tenderly my
arms and my back. There was nothing else on earth at that moment,
the world around us had stopped turning. I knew my body was
responding to his touch more than I intended to, but I was
determined to let myself free, tired of holding down for so long. I
was simply offering myself to him, unconditionally and without
shame.

He stopped suddenly and drew back a little. ‘I
should take you home now.’ he spoke in the same gruff, sexy voice I
had heard him speak the previous night.

‘I don’t want to go home.’ I protested. ‘I… want
to… stay.’

He looked at me, astonished. ‘You’re crazy. You
know nothing about me.’

‘I know all I need to.’

He shook his head impatiently with his eyes
closed as he sighed deeply.

‘Believe me, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
You’re going to hate me one of these days.’

‘I’m never going to hate you. I’m …’ He put his
finger on my lips to stop me. He knew what I was going to say.

‘Have you ever thought I may be bad?
Bad for you?’ That was the second time he was warning me but I did
not want to think about it then. I could never think of him as the
bad guy and I was determined to take the risk anyway. Right there,
I had the chance to open my heart to him, so I took a deep breath
and told him the most candid words that came to me.

‘Christopher, you’re the best thing that has
ever happened to me. Don’t make me go. I need you.’ My last words
must have touched him deeply, because his expression changed,
making him look like he was suffering. He kissed me again.