‘Turn the alarm off, babe.’
Alf’s sleepy voice caused Kate’s eyes to fly open of their own accord – her mind taking a few moments longer to process the situation. She felt his heavy arm draped across her body and, turning her head ever so slightly to the left, his face so close to her she could feel his heaving, rhythmic breathing against her neck.
She disentangled herself from the duvet, only half covering her body, and pressed the silence button on the clock. The beeping tune immediately ceased and Alf’s heavy breathing became more insistent. Not wanting to wake him again, Kate tiptoed toward the bedroom door, reaching for her dressing gown on the hook as she passed. Wrapping it tightly around her, she carefully closed the door behind her and made her way downstairs.
Despite being early spring, dawn had yet to break and darkness loomed in at her from the kitchen windows. She turned on the under-cabinet lights and filled the kettle.
Placing herself at the dining table, she heard the excited whimper of a sleepy Sam as he padded out of his dog bed with a vigorous wagging of his tail. Picking him up, she noted that he’d managed to wee on the special absorbent pad that Alf must have left out for him the previous evening. She smiled, pleased that the effort had paid off.
‘Good morning, sweetie. What a good boy you are for peeing on the pad.’ She allowed him to lick her chin with his over-enthusiastic tongue. The kettle began to boil and Kate yawned, wishing that she could forgo her usual morning routine and instead, with a click of her fingers, be ready for work.
‘Wishful thinking, huh, Sam?’
The puppy tilted his head from left to right, as if pondering her question. She smiled tiredly, placing him gently on the floor.
A soft tapping sound, coming from the hallway, made her jump. Unsure if she’d imagined it, she stood rooted to the spot, senses on high alert. A second tap, this time slightly louder, emanated once again into the kitchen. Sam’s tiny body tensed, his attention fixed beyond the kitchen door, into the darkened hallway. Kate noticed him quivering with fear. ‘Shhh, it’s okay. It’s just a noise.’ She bent down, picked the puppy up and walked into the hallway.
Through the slim, coloured, leaded-glass panels in their heavy, dark-wood street door, Kate could just about make out the silhouette of a person. She watched as the silhouette leaned in closer and tapped once again at the glass. Sam began to yap wildly; a piercing, high-pitched sound.
‘Hello?’ she called out, stepping closer to the door and putting the safety catch on.
A strong, husky voice came back at her. ‘Alf? It’s Marcus, mate.’
‘Hang on.’
Trying to calm a noisy, wriggling Sam, Kate one-handedly removed the safety catch and unlocked the top bolt, opening the door.
As the door flew open with the force of the wind, she flicked on the hallway light, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the stark brightness.
She stared at the man on her doorstep, all at once feeling self-conscious of her flannelette ensemble and tired appearance. His messy, dark hair, with its hint of a curl crawling down onto his forehead, framed an olive-toned face with the most perfectly symmetrical features she’d ever seen.
He stuck out his hand toward her – long, thin fingers and tanned, soft skin. ‘You must be Kate. I’m so sorry for arriving at this ungodly hour. I was going to wait in the car, but I saw the kitchen light come on and assumed Alf was up.’
Unable to remove her eyes from his startling face, she limply shook his hand, aware of a sudden rush of heat travelling up her neck and towards her face. She struggled to find the right words as a cloud fogged her mind.
A loud creak on the stairs broke her gaze and she automatically spun her head to the right, seeing Alf standing on the landing above.
‘Marcus, you’re early, mate. Come on in.’
Kate watched quietly as Alf speedily descended the stairs and reached out to pat his friend on the back with a smile and friendly welcome, ushering him into the hallway.
‘And I see you’ve met my Kate,’ he said, placing a morning kiss on her cheek as she met his eyes with an apologetic glance for her behaviour the previous night. He rubbed her shoulder in quiet acknowledgement before leading the way to the kitchen. ‘Let’s go through to here and we’ll do you some coffee.’
Marcus followed, but not before glancing at Kate with his piercing green eyes, like a bottomless pool of bright-emerald liquid contained by the thickest and most luscious dark eyelashes she’d come across on a man. Something about the way he looked at her, as if he could see into her very soul, unnerved her.
Trying to shake off her unease, she followed behind them, taking in the athletic, toned frame of her guest and the smooth, sun-kissed skin at the base of his neck, peeking out from his shirt collar. She silently hoped Marcus’s arrival wouldn’t complicate matters further.
It was the last thing she needed, on top of everything else.
‘Physically he sounds like my ideal man.’ Megan joked, hardly believing her ears. She carried on walking through the city toward St Mary’s Axe, adjusting the volume on her mobile hands-free unit to drown out the nearby cabbie tooting his horn. ‘Interesting that he has Spanish heritage. I thought you said he was Alf’s friend from school?’
Kate was sitting in the Oak Park staff canteen, mobile glued to her ear, excitedly trying to relay her news about Marcus to Meg in hushed tones. Tasha was eyeing her suspiciously from the far corner, hidden behind a magazine she’d already read the previous day.
‘Yes, he’s Alf’s friend from school. What’s that got to do with him being half Spanish?’ Kate asked confused. She dismissed the comment. ‘So, there’s me rushing around this morning trying to get the dog sorted, the washing up done and ready for work – all whilst Alf and him are having a catch-up – when he looks at me with genuine concern and tells me he’s got the day spare, so looking after Sam and doing the dishes is the least he can do to help. Honestly, Megan, he seems too good to be true. Even Alf looked surprised.’
Megan was stopped in her tracks as a heavy-set gentlemen in a well-cut charcoal suit barged straight into her, dismantling her hands-free ear piece. Without so much as a backward glance he continued on his way, leaving her seething in the middle of the busy side street. ‘So rude!’ she exclaimed loudly, catching the attention of three nearby city workers. She fumbled with her earpiece. ‘Sorry Kate, an ignorant bastard just bumped into me without so much as an apology.’
Grinning into her mobile and sensing her friend’s anger, Kate waited for the rustling sound to die down before she continued speaking. ‘Yes, so it might not be so bad having him around the house for a few days after all. I could get used to this.’
Megan raised her eyebrows as she took a sip of the frappuccino she was holding in her other hand. The last person she’d expected to receive a lunchtime call from was a giddy and excitable Kate; especially since it was about a man that wasn’t Alf. Marcus had certainly made an impression.
At first she’d been shocked to hear that Kate still hadn’t broached the subject of marriage with Alf. She’d seen the look on Kate’s face at the party when he’d presented the puppy – she’d felt her friend’s disappointment and wanted to run to the stage to hug her. Instead she’d had to make do with giving her a pep talk in the ladies’ loo straight after.
Furthermore, she’d heard the office gossip – everyone present at the party had also thought that Alf was about to ask for Kate’s hand in marriage. It had incensed