The Woman Who Loved Cats

Ryan

The wet weather had cleared mid-week. It was Saturday morning and Ryan began to get ready for an afternoon playing tennis. He placed his raquet, cap and sunglasses on the dining room table. He also took a flask of water out of the fridge. He was ready to go. Before he could leave his two bedroom flat, the phone buzzed.

'Hello,' he said, hoping it was nothing urgent.

'Hi Ryan, it's Lily, you know the damsel in distress you drove home last week'

'Of course. How are you?'

'Not bad. You said I should call if I wanted company tonight.'

'You left it pretty late. Do you do this with all your boyfriends?'

Lily hesitated. 'No. I understand if you're busy.'

'Well, you're in luck. I had an appointment but it was cancelled.'Ryan said which was true. He was meant to be at a party in Frenchs Forest but the host advised he had COVID19 and needed to isolate for a number of days. Ryan was surprised and pleased that Lily had called. He recalled her smooth milky white skin and her delicious figure. "Let me collect you at seven.'

'Okay,' she said.

He ended the call and headed off to his tennis club in Belrose. When he arrived at half past one, there were two competition games running. The other two courts were used by social players. Two other people were seated in the clubhouse. He nodded hello to John and Stephanie, then placed his name on the board to let the court captain know he was available for a match. As he was waiting, he thought about the last assignment in Sudan.

Finally, he was invited to have a match. Thoughts of business flew out of his mind and he focussed on the game.

'This has a lovely view in summer,' Ryan said, watching Lily take a sip of Pino Gris.

'I know. I've been past here...walking.'

'But you've not eaten here?'

'No. Too expensive.'

'I'm sure someone as elegant and beautiful as you would be courted by many fellows who would take you to wherever you wanted to go.'

'That's very flattering of you,but I'm shy and I'm actually not that keen on the luxurious lifestyle.' Lily took another sip of wine.

A waiter interrupted and took their food order.

Ryan smiled. 'How was your week?'

'Nothing special. And you? I see your business card states that you are a consultant. What does that mean?'

'You've not heard of consultants?' Ryan finished his bottle of Peroni beer.

'Yes. But what kind of consultant are you? For which organisation?'

'I'm a finance consultant.'

'That's still pretty vague. No company name?'

'I freelance. I provide financial advice to groups or individuals. Okay?'

'Sure. So you'll go with the highest bidder.'

Ryan didn't answer.

Entrees arrived.'For one so curious, you didn't tell me who you worked for.'

'Suncorp. In the insurance side.'

'I see.'

'Exciting, isn't it? I'm in claims.'

'That could be fun. You must see all sorts of stories.' Ryan forked an oyster into his mouth. He sensed that Lily didn't enjoy working.

'Is your work exciting, Mr Hunt?' she asked after surveying her plate.

'At times it can be. But with that there is a lot of stress.'

Lily asked for a second glass of wine as a smiling waitress passed their corner table. 'I guess we all have stress from work.'

Ryan noted that the restaurant was three quarters full. Most of the diners had dressed up in gear better than jeans and T-shirt. He found Lily challenging, not instantly likeable. Perhaps she might grow on him. She reminded him of Lilith in the Frazier sitcom series on television. Her skin was as smooth and white as Lilith's. Maybe she might turn out to be just as cold as the TV character. He hadn't had much success with women recently, so this one might be consigned to that group too. He finished his oysters and wondered how Lily was liking her Zucchini Flowers. But he wasn't going to ask. To change the topic, Ryan asked, ‘How long have you lived in Dee Why?’

‘Five years. Since my divorce from David, my husband of two years. What a nightmare he turned out to be.’

‘How so. Did he beat you?’

‘No. Worse. He was a know-it-all and he also had to know where I was every minute of the day. He’d set up a monitoring device which he could access from his phone.’

‘God. Sounds like a psycho.’

‘Yes. And you? What kind of man are you?’

‘I’m worse.’

‘Oh.’

Ryan rubbed his chin, and drank some beer. ’I hunt people then kill them.’

‘Really? I don’t believe you. Are you married?’

‘Like you I used to be, but I’m fancy free these days.’

‘Divorced?’

‘Yeah. Nine years ago, Tania and I parted ways.’

‘Why?’

‘Who knows? She claimed she needed time for herself. She probably had someone else but I didn’t argue.’

‘You didn’t love her?’

Ryan waved to the waiter for another beer. ‘In the beginning I did. She was caring and exciting. Loved to go out. Interested in art and sport. As time wore on, she developed a passion for feminist politics. She was a teacher of English to high school students and became more and more radical in her views.’

One waiter came to clean up the entrée dishes. Another came to set down the mains. Ryan and Lily waited and watched.

Ryan tasted his pasta and prawns. ‘This is nice,’ he said.

Lily simply looked at her dish then back at Ryan. ‘Go on. You divorced because her views were radical?’

‘No. As I said she wanted space. I think she had a lover. Because we fought a lot when she expressed her dumb ideas.’

‘Dumb to you maybe?’ Lily started to pick at the fish.’

‘Yes. I told her she was nuts which she didn’t like. I got to the point where I couldn’t bear her to be in the same room as I was. That may have made her mad.’

‘I should think so.’

‘Let’s talk about something else.’

Bur the pair remained silent while they ate their food.

They ordered coffee. Lily said, ’I hope you’re not thinking you’ll get lucky just because you’ve taken me out to dinner.’

'I hadn't thought of that,' Ryan said. He gazed at a passing couple.

'Liar,' Lily said, watching Ryan's eyes.

'Look, I'm a normal guy. While I thought it would be fun to bed you, I didn't seriously believe it would happen tonight.'

'So you have a long game?'

Coffees arrived. Ryan shook his head. 'I don't have any game. I'm getting a better picture of why you're pissing people off.'

'Is that so?'

'Let's just enjoy our coffee.' Ryan signaled to a waiter and requested the bill.

A moment later, a leather holder containing the bill arrived. Ryan placed his credit card inside.

Lily said, 'Let me pay half. You've used your car for me a few times now.'

'Okay.' Ryan was not going to argue. She had been difficult and he was happy not to pay for the entire meal.

On the drive to Lily's apartment, they were both silent, intent on their personal thoughts. Ryan parked in front of Lily's building but did not get out of the vehicle.

Lily looked at Ryan. 'Thanks for the ride. I'd invite you in but I'm tired. I also have to feed my cat, Marlon, who will be looking for his night-time snack.'

'Sure. Goodnight.' Ryan waited until Lily had walked into the building's entrance, then drove off. He was not in a happy mood. Lily might be beautiful, but she was a handful. She'd need getting used to, if he got involved with her, he felt. But he was not in the market for a difficult woman.

His last relationship ended after a torrid few months when Susan accused him of cheating. Ryan had explained he needed to travel for business but Sue didn't believe him. This led to many heated arguments until Ryan had had enough and told her in no uncertain terms that she should accept his word or go find somebody more suitable to her volatile temperament. Disclosing what he did for work was out of the question.