"Guess."
She smiles at him as he quickly looks up and down her body.
"The fashion show?"
She nods and feels how the grip on her elbow loosens and then disappears.
"Get in."
She laughs. So does the photographer. A laugh so real that it quickly moves up into his eyes that look a little like two crescents under his dark eyebrows. A moment later he"s sitting in the leather seat with his camera ready to take pictures when she gets in. Evy turns to face the driver.
"To the fashion show."
She winks at the driver before leaning closer to him.
"Tell whoever ordered the limo that I"m still here and intend to stay."
The driver"s face turns into a tight mask as he helps her into the car.
"What a surprise. Just wait till the others..."
Evy doesn"t listen to what the photographer says, but just enjoys that he displays none of the aggressive desire to be the perfect partner that she has seen in so many men over the last year. The strange thing is that even some of her former customers treat her as a potential wife. As soon as she possibly could, she had asked all her customers to stay away. To Evy"s big surprise her old friends have started calling her again, inviting her to parties, but she has said no every time. She sits up more straight when she feels the driver looking at her. Cold shivers move over her skin like a cold hand on her warm, slightly moist skin. She is getting nervous. It"s quiet and suddenly there"s a flash from the camera. She"s blinded and quickly blinks before she feels the photographer"s shoulder against hers. He smiles and hands her the camera. She sees the picture on the screen. She recognizes her own face but not her eyes that are staring vacantly into s.p.a.ce. He looks at her.
"It"s a good picture."
He speaks in a low voice.
"You think?"
He nods.
"That"s how you look when you"re not suspicious of everything around you, like you usually are."
She gives him back the camera.
"Do you want me to delete it?"
The limo slows down and pulls over to the curb. The faces in the crowd become clear and Evy recognizes several of the photographers she has seen many times outside her door. She still doesn"t quite understand why they sometimes wait for hours outside a shop to get a picture of her. Her smile reveals the fine lines in her sun tanned skin. They seem quite a lot deeper than just last year when she had inherited the money from Stuart and Nathan. Some reporter had found out, and suddenly it became a major story in some of the papers and then the internet took over. Before she knew what happened, the photographers had started turning up in front of her building.
The limo stops and just outside the tinted windows the faces are all over the place and very close to the window. She looks at him and shakes her head.
"Do you mind getting out on the other side once I get out?"
"Sure."
The front door slams. She leans against the door before she looks at the photographer again and puts her hand on his knee.
"Please take a picture of the driver and keep it somewhere safe."
He"s a little confused and looks at her.
"Please."
Evy"s door is opened and the light from the spotlights is pouring in. She gathers herself for a moment and then flashes a large smile. The driver leans forward a little when he helps her out and whispers to her.
"It"s not over yet. Smart move with the photographer, but you"ve only gotten him in trouble, and you... have a long night ahead of you."
He raises his eyebrows and they stare at each other. The door on the other side of the limo slams and there"s a flash. The driver turns toward the flash and then there"s another one, and then another. Then the photographer starts walking down the street. The driver jolts when he realizes that he won"t be able to catch up to him because of all the people.
"b.i.t.c.h."
He lets go of her hand and walks quickly around the car. Evy looks around and tries to find the photographer, but he has disappeared. The driver smiles at her and forms the words.
"See you later."
She smiles back and forms the word.
"No."
Evy has the same oppressive feeling as when she found the driver"s card in Linda"s box. To this day she doesn"t know what made her check the web site of the limo company, where she found a picture of him. She was sitting with her computer in her lap and she couldn"t move, and then she was filled with a violent anger that made her throw the computer on the floor with a loud crash.
"Evy!"
The voice sounds warm and familiar and she turns quickly. There, in the middle of the crowd of pushing photographers, she sees the tan suede jacket and the blonde hair. "Marc." She smiles and remembers how attractive she had found him at the hospital. And there he is, just as attractive, in spite of the age difference between them. He had called her up to let her know that he didn"t want the job of tailing James after all. She had been too surprised to argue and had accepted it and done nothing further in the matter. When she had hired Marc to follow James, it was to get something to blackmail him with so she could get rid of her customers and most of all of him. But when her anger had subsided a little, she realized that blackmailing him would make her vulnerable. She knew how many contacts James had and realized that he could turn it against her. For several days she had argued with herself about doing it anyway, only with a different investigator. Then came the inheritance from Nathan, and with it the realization that revenge was not something she could ever serve cold enough.
"Evy!"
Evy can hear the admiration in the young girl"s voice and turns around and smiles.
"Hi, and who are you?"
A couple of photographers notice her answer and look at each other.
"Give her a hug, Evy!"
Evy smiles and walks over to the girl. Somewhere in the fuss of the next couple getting out of a limo, she hears the voice.
"Come on, Evy."
She continues crossing the red carpet. A flash lights up the carpet and reveals stains of wear. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the couple getting out of the limo behind hers, and realizes that this is probably the last picture they will take of her.
"Hi!"
Evy shouts at the girl and sends her a smile. "She actually seems rather sweet. Maybe a little too mature looking for her age which is showing through her heavy make- up." Evy puts her arm around her and gives her a big hug, trying her best to make it look real. She turns to face the photographers with the girl still in her arms, and soon the flashes go off all around her. The young girl smiles a happy smile and her red cheeks are burning hot against Evy"s. The joy of being in the spotlight surges through Evy, and she gives the girl a big kiss on her cheek while the lights from the flashes rain down on them. Then she laughs and winks at the girl before she continues down the red carpet. The couple behind her makes the crowd cheer and the flashing lights are turning night into day.
She looks down at the red carpet before walking the last steps up to the tall doors. Two men in red jackets send her friendly smiles as she pa.s.ses them. She turns around and looks into Marc"s eyes. For a moment she stops, deep in thought, and then she smiles and walks on. The soft light from a sea of candles surrounds her as the flash lights fall on yet another couple getting out of yet another limo. Someone gently takes her by the elbow and she pulls it back with a jerk. A smiling young man is standing next to her.
"The show is about to start. Please take your seat."
The young man gently takes hold of her elbow again, almost not touching her skin at all. She looks at him and wonders how he can hold her elbow so gently when his muscles are so clearly showing under his tuxedo jacket. When she finally looks into his eyes, he smiles and winks at her. She"s embarra.s.sed that he has caught her admiring his body.
"We"re finished here around two if you stay for the entire show."
His voice is casual and very gentle.
"We actually don"t get paid much to be here."
She"s glad he has turned his back to her.
"Let me show you to your seat."
The catwalk is lit from below and its dark red color gives her goose b.u.mps. She suddenly feels a pressure on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s when she b.u.mps into his chest. There"s a sweet, spicy scent in the air and his mouth is very close to her ear.
"Two o"clock."
The pressure is gone but the scent still surrounds her. She catches herself breathing it in. She can"t see him but has a clear feeling that he"s standing behind her when the scent is suddenly stronger. She feels the warm air from his mouth against her ear.
"Number 45. The chair straight ahead."
He puts his arm around her as he points to the chair. Suddenly the scent is almost gone. She turns quickly but he"s gone. She looks around the room and suddenly stops. "Oh no, that can"t be true. How did he get in?" She squints and tries to see better, but the figure has disappeared. A strong feeling of fear when he appears again. "How does a driver get access to an event like this?" She never finds an answer before his eyes meet hers. She turns around fast, but b.u.mps into a big man whose forehead is sweaty, and whose much too skinny wife is talking a little too loud to him. Evy gives up apologizing and struggles to regain her balance in her very high patent leather shoes. They"re a little too small and are chafing her heels. She looks back and tries to get a general view of the crowd. The driver is still on the other side of the catwalk. She smiles nervously and turns her back to the catwalk. She looks at the man standing next to her.
"Ladies" room?"
She smiles at him, and then walks past him carefully avoiding contact. She smiles again and nods at the chair before she disappears into the crowd. When she looks back, the driver is already at her seat. She quickly bends down and takes off her shoes. She ducks and weaves her way through the crowd, all the while feeling the sharp pain from the blisters on her heels. Someone gently touches her elbow and she turns around. She feels an intense relief when she recognizes the smell.
"What"s wrong?"
"I have to get out of here. Unseen."
He looks at her for a moment.
"Unseen?"
"Unseen."
She looks at him with desperation and he takes her hand and leads her through the crowd. She turns around several times but now that she has taken off her shoes she can no longer see anything. The waiter stops and looks at her.
"I think I"ve seen you before."
He examines her face. Evy shakes her head.
"I work at New Kid, the cafe. Do you go there?"
She shakes her head. He opens the fire door and the cool night air hits her face with an unexpected freshness.
"Hurry."
Evy slips out the door and turns to face him one last time. A short glimpse and then the door closes. She sniffs the air, but his scent is already gone. She suddenly feels lonely. Like faint echoes, she hears someone running behind her. She"s scared and turns around so fast she almost falls over. She recognizes the girl she had hugged earlier.
"Hi. Did you get to see everybody?"
The girl smiles and nods eagerly.
"Yes, everyone. But I like you the most."
Evy gives her another hug.
"I have to go now. My mom is probably mad at me for not coming home.
The girl runs off as she waves to Evy.
Evy looks after her until she disappears around the corner.
A metallic sound catches Evy"s attention, and she spins around only to look into the eyes of the driver at the same time as she feels him grabbing her upper arm. She screams but he just holds on tighter.
"No need to scream. I"m just here to take you home."
Evy shakes her head.
"You"re not taking me home."
"Yes, I am. Otherwise I wouldn"t be doing my job."
He lets go of her and then puts his hand on her shoulder and squeezes. She screams again when she feels the pain flowing through her, and collapses in front of him as he follows her all the way down maintaining his pressure on her shoulder. Her arm is going numb and the pain makes her vision blurry. She stares at him and slams the heels of her shoes into his hand as hard as she can. He gasps, his eyes go wide, and he swallows. She hits him again with her heels and this time he lets go. She jumps up and runs toward the street at the end of the alley with her dress pulled up almost to her waist.
"Stop!"
She hears him yelling, but she only runs faster.
"It doesn"t end here, Evy and you know it!"
She can feel her arm again, and, when she has almost reached the corner, she stops and gives him the finger. She laughs when she sees how mad he is.
"Are you laughing at me?"
He runs but stops again. Then she feels a hand on her shoulder.
"You almost knocked the camera out of my hand. You don"t know how hard I"ve had to work to get that. By the way, I have some amazing pictures of you. Let me show you."
Marc stands next to Evy and holds up the camera so she can see. Evy looks back over her shoulder and hears someone running toward them.
"Are you in a hurry?"
"I. I"m... I..."
Evy shakes her head and takes a step back. Suddenly she feels Marc pulling her arm and she falls over. He catches her and holds her close as he presses his back against the wall. With her back to the sound, she hears breaks screeching. Then it"s quiet for a moment and Evy lifts her head over Marc"s arm and looks into the eyes of the driver. Evy tries to swallow but she can"t because of Marc"s arm. Then she loses eye contact with the driver when he looks at the car in front of him. He takes a few steps back. Then he runs back into the alley. She hears how the car speeds up and drives away. Marc lets go of her so quickly that she loses her balance and finds herself sitting on the sidewalk. He runs over to the corner and sees the car disappear before turning back to face her.
"Oh, sorry."