What Love Sees

Four

At the end of dinner, Elizabeth was livid, she paced around the sitting room, Natalie looked at her sister, amused

“Can you believe his nerve; he sends his parents over instead, that guy’s pride and arrogance is unbelievable! How rude can he be?” she burst out, but Natalie reminded her that his parents said he got called out of town for business,

“Oh don’t be naïve Natalie, if Richard wanted to be here tonight, he would have”, she frowned “I wonder what game he is playing, I haven’t seen him in a few years, if he could blow off dinner, then he is definitely playing at something”,

“At least, he could have called to make his excuses, after all, what could be more important than having dinner with us?” Maybelline agreed with her daughter

“Will you two just calm down? Richard is a man of respect and integrity; I believe if this business were not of utmost importance, he would be here tonight” said Natalie, she was surprised at her mother, they had known the Waters for years, of course, they hadn’t seen them in a few years but Natalie knew the kind of people they were. They were one of the nice ones amongst her father’s friends.

Elizabeth however was beyond reasoning now, she glared at Natalie and asked her how she would know what kind of man Richard was

“Remember we haven’t seen him in 5 years, things happen, and people change in five years”

“Well, I don’t think casting aspersions on his character is the best way to start a relationship with him now is it? And besides, you only need to know Garry to know the kind of son he’s raised” replied Natalie but Elizabeth only rolled her eyes,

“Oh please”

“Come on Elizabeth, cheer up, you two are going to be seeing an awful lot of each, this shouldn’t make a difference” replied Natalie

“There’s no doubt Emily will send him over as soon as he returns honey” Maybelline placated Elizabeth

Natalie stood up and smiled, she recalled her arrangement with Garry, he wanted her to play her music for him and Natalie couldn’t be more pleased

“I’m off to bed, cheer up Elizabeth, it’s too beautiful a night to put on such an awful face. Good night mother”

Natalie tapped her foot to the music playing on the television as she sang along, she had a performance in a few days and she was writing a new song, she went to get a sandwich from the kitchen and was going to her room when the music came up on the television, and before long, Natalie was singing out loud and dancing, this was just the break and inspiration she needed. It was a few minutes before Natalie sensed that she was no longer alone in the sitting room, she switched off the television and turned towards the door

“Who’s there?” she asked

Richard smiled, he was lounging by the door and watching Natalie. Richard Waters was someone who commanded attention when he walked into a room, he was over six feet and very well built and his appearance was always impeccable, he had an air of authority around him and a look in his eyes that made people relax around him.

With his shoulder against the wall and arms folded, Richard smiled warmly as he watched Natalie dance to the music and sing, this was not the sight he expected to see when he walked in, but he was liking this much better.

The first time Richard had come to say hello to the Stirlings, Natalie had not been home, and now he was pleased to see her. He cleared his throat

“Hello Natalie, it’s been ages”

Natalie laughed, “Hello Richard, my God, you sound so much like your father, ah, no, I believe your voice is deeper than Garry’s, but I would recognise it anyway”, she said, and Richard laughed

“No one’s told me that in a really long time, how are you doing Natalie? You look great”

Natalie stretched out her hands and Richard took them and kissed her cheeks “And you look good” replied Natalie and Richard laughed.

Richard led her to the couch as they chatted and caught up, Richard mentioned he was in charge of his father’s production company in Paris and that explained his absence all these years.

“That’s wonderful, did Elizabeth know you were coming? She went out with some friends”

“I was in the area; thought I’d drop by, I could stay a while, it’s so good to see you”, Richard said. Natalie smiled and said she would fix him a drink, she stood up and Richard started to rise with her

“It’s all right. I don’t need a drink”, he said but Natalie laughed

“I’m not going to bump into the wall or fall down the stairs Richard; I’m just going to get you a drink”

Richard laughed self-consciously,

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to be that obvious”, Natalie lay a hand on his arm and smiled,

“It’s okay, some others do go ahead to tell me not to hurt myself, I know they mean well, but it’s hard to convince them that I will be okay, I’ll be right back”

Richard laughed and sat down, his eyes never leaving Natalie till she was out of his sight. He noticed some music CDs by the couch and picked them up. Natalie soon returned with a drink and some cakes, Richard stood up to assist but Natalie asked him to sit and relax, she was his hostess today.

“Producing a magazine, though fun, it’s also very tasking and challenging, you have a lot of decisions to make, what to include, what to edit and hundred others”

Natalie smiled excitedly

“But that is the beautiful part of it all, every decision you make will influence a person’s life, as an editor, you have the power to influence and alter people’s opinions and I think that is a great privilege, especially if you decide to have the right influence”

Richard frowned and looked at Natalie intently

“You know, I have never really thought about it that way before, to me, it was just business”

“I believe it is also a way of expressing yourself, every article, every story, every image you put into the magazine, says something about the company and the people in there. It is also a wonderful opportunity to express yourself; just one paragraph read in your magazine can influence a person’s next decision or make their day. It could be a task, but it is also exciting right?” explained Natalie, Richard looked at her for a long time and Natalie frowned

“I feel you staring at me”

“You know, you are one of the most perceptive and insightful person I have ever met, I was just thinking, I might have to bring you in for our next board meeting, the guys at work sure need to hear these, it will give them a new perspective”, said Richard warmly but Natalie laughed,

“I believe you already know this otherwise; you wouldn’t have been able to make the magazine the success it is today, I hear it is really a popular one”

Maybelline’s entrance interrupted what Richard was going to say, she was surprised to see Richard and said so, Richard kissed her cheeks and said he just dropped by to say hello

“Where’s Elizabeth?” Maybelline asked him

“Oh she’s not home, I guess I missed her, good thing Natalie was home”

“What a shame, you haven’t been waiting long I hope”

Richard looked at his watch and laughed, “Oh not long, about two hours” he said and Maybelline gasped

“I am so sorry, Elizabeth wasn’t expecting you but you should have called or dropped a note”

“It’s all right, Natalie kept me company and I had a great time. But I guess I have to be on my way now, it is late” said Richard and he turned to Natalie and said he had a great time and hoped they could catch up again soon

“I’d like that”

“And don’t forget what I said about the board meeting” said Richard and they both laughed

Natalie tried some keys on the piano, Karen accompanied her with her saxophone but Elizabeth storming into the room interrupted them

“Hello Elizabeth, you could try knocking once in a while you know” said Karen sweetly and Elizabeth looked like she was going to throw something at her.

Natalie and Karen had been friends since college, where Natalie was calm and cool headed, Karen was feisty and rash but the two were the closest of friends and Karen was largely protective of Natalie and their love for music was unmatched and even brought them closer.

“I don’t believe Richard was here yesterday and you didn’t tell me, how could you Natalie?”

“Hey calm down okay, I forgot to mention it and besides, didn’t mum tell you?”

“Well no one mentioned anything, I called Richard today and he just casually threw it into the conversation that he dropped by and mum said he was here for over two hours! Two hours! what the hell were you two talking about? He can hardly talk to me for thirty minutes without bringing up business and I seriously doubt you were talking business” snapped Elizabeth, Natalie laughed but this only infuriated Elizabeth more

“Come on Elizabeth, we were just catching up”

“This is unbelievable and damn right irritating and it’s not funny!” she stormed out of the room.

“Seriously, Your sister never grows up does she? I wonder how you put up with her”

Natalie laughed, “She’s my sister, Elizabeth is really a good person, she is just…Elizabeth”

Karen rolled her eyes

“Come on, we all have our shortcomings, we just have to learn to tolerate everyone else’s, once you can look beyond Elizabeth’s, you will really love her”

Karen scoffed,

“You know Natalie Stirling; I believe you are a saint with a soul for music”

Natalie laughed and began to play, “all right, let’s take it from the refrain”,