Chemistry

With a splash my feet hit the wet ground around the iron leg of the
bridge. Regaining my balance, a little like a sailor after a long
journey, I tread carefully to the shore, then clamber up the bank to
the road. A strange sense of anticipation pumps through my veins,
driving me on in the face of absurdity. I trace the road round its
curve, and arrive on the long, straight road that runs parallel with
the river.

Everything looks totally different here...hard to tell which house I
should be aiming for. I slow down for a moment, getting my bearings. I
glance back up at the bridge, upon which Cairn is now but a speck, and
identify which residence to approach. At a half-run, half-walk, I close
the distance.

Only a little way from the house, I hear a noise as a door is slammed.
A second later and the girl is striding across the lawn. An angry walk
if ever I saw one. She pauses at the road, as if to cross it. I
increase my pace.

An engine roar announces the arrival from the opposite direction of an
open-topped sportscar, which slows rapidly and comes to a stop directly
beside the girl. She glances back at the house, then in my direction.
For a fraction of a second it seems as if she has acknowledged me;
almost as if she is going to greet me. Her eyes, which must be a deep
green, glint in the sunlight and seem to stare straight into mine. Her
hair floats, and then she is in the car, and the car is moving away,
and the car has gone, past me and away.

I stop. I frown. I consider heading straight back to the bridge, to
face Cairn's sneers. Instead, I continue towards the house, crossing
the front lawn and walking confidently up to the main door, not really
knowing what I am intending.

Telling the truth should be possible...it is certainly preferable most
of the time. There should exist a place sure enough of its own identity
for a stranger such as myself to approach and be honest. But my
intentions, of meeting this girl, however harmless in reality, would
seem to be of the utmost danger to any ordinary guardian. Upon gazing
into the chiselled face of the man that answers the door, my
expectations are confirmed. He is the very model of an ex-army officer,
complete with short, measured hair, a perpetually stern look and an eye
that roves everywhere at all times.

"What do you want, son?" He speaks like a growling animal.

I ponder the best response. Confusion on my part should help allay
suspicions on his. "I was supposed to be meeting, but...well, I just
got here, and I...I just saw her drive off. She told me to meet her
here at this time."

The man's lie-detector eyes narrow and scan me up and down. "You a
friend of Lisa's?" A fairly easy start to the interrogation.

"Yeah, yeah I'm a friend of Lisa's. We were supposed to be meeting
here, but, well, yeah - looks like I missed her. Do you have any idea
where she was headed?"

A slight pause. "Who are you, friend?" This man does it by the
book.

"I'm just a friend. Acquaintance, really. We had some work we were
going to discuss." Nicely ambiguous.

"Work? You don't seem to be carrying many books."

"Well, no...no, sir, no books. Lisa's got all the books."

"You're damned straight she has. What work was it?"

"It was...ah...nothing important. It doesn't matter." This isn't
getting me anywhere. "Okay, do you know if she's going to be near a
phone I can contact her on?"

"She's got her mobile with her. Always does."

"Yes, of course," I confirm, smiling wanly, "could you give me the
number? I can never remember what it is!"

"Sorry, son, no can-do. I don't recognise you, I don't know you, and I
sure as hell am not about to give anybody's mobile phone number to
you." A tricky bastard, this one.

"Yeah, sorry, I understand. Listen, if I give you my mobile number,
could you make sure she gets it? Then if she wants to get in contact
with me, she can. But if not, then...no harm done." A long shot. But
about the only one I have left.

He stares at me for just a moment, then takes a step backwards and
reaches down to a table standing against one wall in the hallway,
picking up a pen and paper.