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And where, too, was Luke?
The flat felt oddly empty. But surely he wouldn’t have left her here alone to make her escape.... Not after what he had said to her yesterday. Not after the threats he had made, the fury he had exhibited.
Cautiously she swung her legs out of the bed, and wrapping the duvet around her to cover her nudity, she padded over to the bedroom door and opened it.
‘Luke...?’
No answer.
She froze as someone suddenly began knocking urgently on the outer door. Whilst she hesitated, wondering whether or not to answer it, she heard Olivia’s voice calling through the door.
‘Bobbie. Quick, let me in.’
When she unlocked the door, Olivia practically fell through it. She looked flushed and slightly on edge, Bobbie noticed, as though she was excited, and she hardly seemed to register Bobbie’s state of undress or the fact that she was on her own.
‘Look, you’ve got to get dressed,’ she commanded quickly, ‘and please hurry. I can’t explain now.’
‘What...?’ Bobbie started to protest, but Olivia was already urging her back towards the bedroom.
‘No, don’t ask me,’ she said. ‘I can’t explain now. But you must hurry. Please...’
Still hesitating, Bobbie asked her uncertainly, ‘Is this...is it Luke?’
‘This has nothing to do with Luke,’ Olivia answered her, adding in some surprise as she finally realised he wasn’t there, ‘Where is he, by the way?’
‘I don’t know,’ Bobbie replied honestly.
‘Oh well, I’m afraid we haven’t time to wait for him,’ Olivia told her determinedly, ‘even though I know you probably want to.’
Want to? Her? If only Olivia knew...
‘No... that’s right,’ she responded shakily, going up to retrieve the clothes still scattered around the bedroom and blushingly glad that Olivia hadn’t come with her to see how they had been flung all over the place.
Whilst Olivia paced the sitting room, Bobbie quickly showered and dressed, then went to join Olivia, saying nervously that she must look dreadful without any makeup.
‘You look wonderful,’ Olivia told her, shaking her head and then urging, ‘Come on, we must hurry....’
‘Hurry where?’ Bobbie wanted to know, but Olivia was already taking hold of her arm and impelling her towards the entrance door. She felt rather like someone in Alice in Wonderland, Bobbie decided dazedly, as Olivia rushed her down the stairs and outside into the bright sunlight.
Where was Luke? What was going on? Why was Olivia both so impatient and so excited at the same time and what...?
Bobbie came to an abrupt halt as she saw Ruth standing in the street not next to her own car but a huge polished Rover.
‘Oh, Bobbie...’ Emotionally Ruth hugged her as soon as Bobbie drew close to her and she could see tears shining in her eyes. Completely bewildered by what was happening, she watched as Ruth and Olivia exchanged emotional and highly charged looks.
‘Quick, get in the car, both of you,’ Olivia instructed, then asked Ruth, ‘Are you sure you should be driving?’
‘I’m sure,’ Ruth assured her, giving her a wide but slightly wobbly smile and then hugging Olivia as she added, ‘but I’m not sure—’
‘Yes, you are,’ Bobbie heard Olivia telling her firmly as she stepped back for her and Ruth opened the car door.
‘Get in, darling,’ Ruth instructed Bobbie.
Darling...? Bobbie’s jaw dropped but Olivia was already opening the passenger door to the car and pushing Bobbie into the seat.
‘Don’t drive too fast,’ she then warned Ruth.
‘Will someone please tell me what is going on?’ Bobbie begged.
‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ Olivia told her mysteriously.
An awful thought suddenly struck Bobbie. What if Luke had enlisted Ruth and Olivia’s aid and they were...? What? What could they do? Besides, one look at both their faces was enough to reassure Bobbie that whatever was going on, it had nothing to do with Luke’s misinterpretation of the phone call he had overheard her having with Samantha
No, whatever mystifying reason they had for their behaviour, it was obviously one that both of them found exciting. Bobbie gnawed on her bottom lip and then winced as she felt the pain in her still-tender. passionately kissed flesh. Olivia was excited, yes, but Ruth...
Ruth was more than simply excited; she had never seen the older woman behaving so emotionally before. And she had called her ‘darling’. A slip of the tongue or...
‘Ruth, will you please tell me what is going on?’ she begged.
‘I don’t think I can,’ Ruth responded. ‘You’ll see....’ She placed her hand on her mouth and Bobbie could see that her eyes were suddenly bright with tears. ‘I’ve promised that I... I can’t...not yet.’
‘Promised? Who?’
Bobbie’s heart started to pound uncomfortably as Ruth negotiated the traffic and turned onto the motorway slip-road. They were heading for Manchester.
She could hardly bear to think now of what had happened the previous night. How could she ever face Luke again, knowing what he would be thinking...? Knowing how he would be gloating...? In fact, she would go to the farthest ends of the earth to prevent herself from having to do so...from having to look into his face, his eyes, and see there the record of his intimate knowledge of her weakness, her vulnerability, her love for him. For surely he must now be aware of it...he must know just what had motivated her passionate...her very passionate response to him.
For men, of course, it was different. Men did not... She tensed as she realised that Ruth was heading for the motorway exit marked Airport.
Airport...? Was Ruth taking her to the airport so that she... so that she could what? Bobbie didn’t even have her passport with her.
What was going on...?
Frowningly Bobbie studied Ruth. She looked younger somehow, softer...and more vulnerable. Bobbie could smell the delicate light fragrance she always wore. Her hair looked as though it had just been styled, she noticed, and her nails gleamed with a soft pale polish. Ruth always looked elegant, but today... Today the soft vanilla-coloured silk casuals she was wearing looked as though they had come from an exclusive designer boutique, the soft shape of the skirt emphasising the fact that Ruth still had an enviably slender and youthful-looking body.
She looked, yes, she looked, Bobbie decided in surprise as the airport terminal buildings loomed ahead of them, like a woman who was dressed for a very special date—with a man!
But Ruth did not date, or at least not according to Olivia, and Bobbie had no reason to doubt her.
‘Only a little while longer. Please, please be patient, dar...Bobbie,’ Ruth implored her.
There it was again. Ruth had been about to call her ‘darling’ again. What on earth was going on?
Bobbie was desperate to know, but Ruth was driving into the car park and asking Bobbie to tell her if she could see a vacant space.
Even once they had parked the car, Ruth still refused to tell Bobbie what was happening, demanding instead as she hurried them along towards the arrivals hall entrance, ‘Come on...we haven’t got much time.’
