AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tarek, Freya discovered, didn’t get English humour. Perhaps it was the fact that English was his second language. Or perhaps he didn’t get irony. Peculiarly, she found it rather endearing. She had discovered that with Tarek, what you saw was what you got.
She had barely been civil to Tarek – in the beginning.He had been no different, acting like a sulky teenager who didn’t want to be there. Although she kept up her frosty exterior most of the time, she’d shown a different side to herself at lunch. So had Tarek.
‘You labelled the miniature statueincorrectly,’ he said in a deadpan voice.
‘What!’ Freya looked at the little stone statue she’d just put in the display case with the wrong label. Her head still wasn’t in the game. ‘Oh, God.’ It wasn’t like her – and Tarek knew it.
Freya sighed. She was meant to be concentrating on work, but instead her attention kept wandering to Jolene. Tarek had caught her, not for the first time that day, staring Jolene’s way. What was consuming Freya’s thoughts was what her friend had said at coffee break. That Freya might have a half-sister. Could that really be true?
Was it possible that her dad had had an affair with a woman years ago, and they’d met regularly – not because they were still having an affair, but because they’d had a child together? Had bumping into this lady called Wendy in the park been a secretive way to meet, to see his other child, without raising suspicions?
She glanced at Tarek. His dark brown eyes were studying her intently. She frowned at him as she took the statue out of the display case. Why did he do that? Why did he make her come over all shy, like a teenager with a crush, every time she looked his way? Freya rewrote the label and replaced the statue in the display case. ‘There – satisfied?’ She didn’t know why she was acting cross with him. She should be thankful that he’d noticed the error. But she knew she wasn’t cross with him. It was what was on her mind.
‘Ladies and gentleman!’
Freya turned her gaze to one of the older ladies, who was standing in the middle of the cavernous museum floor. Her voice echoed off the walls. ‘It’s lunchtime!’
Freya looked at her watch, wondering where the morning had gone.
‘We’ll all meet back here in an hour.’
Freya shut the display case and locked it. The lady who’d told them it was time for lunch had the keys to the museum. She would be the last to leave, locking the museum door behind them. Although there was the university cafeteria to get lunch in, Freya didn’t fancy sitting in a noisy refectory with other students. Besides, Freya didn’t think she could stomach a dinner. With things on her mind, she’d be lucky if she managed a sandwich.
‘So, where shall we go for lunch today?’ Tarek asked, smiling at her, brown eyes wide in anticipation.
‘It’s not a work day,’ Freya reminded him. Meaning she wasn’t obligated to go anywhere with him at lunchtime.
Jolene walked over.
Freya turned to her best friend. ‘Where shall we go for lunch?’
‘Oh, sorry, Freya, I can’t.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m meeting someone.’
Freya looked at her in surprise. ‘You’re meeting someone? You mean you’ve met someone?’
Jolene grinned and nodded. ‘It’s early days, but I’m hoping, you know, it might lead somewhere …’ She trailed off. Her eyes flickered to Tarek, and back to Freya. Freya caught her look. She hoped her best friend didn’t think there was anything going on between her and Tarek.
Freya cast that thought aside. ‘Who is she?’
‘A fellow student. She’s kinda fun.’
Freya’s smile faltered.I’m fun too, she thought. She knew she shouldn’t be jealous and realised she could never be anything more than Jolene’s best friend. But now she knew how it felt – competition for her best friend’s affections. Perhaps she felt it more because she knew it was a woman rather than a man.
‘Sorry, Freya.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly. Go have lunch with your girlfriend.’
‘I’m not sure if she is yet.’
‘Well, go and find out.’ Freya gently pushed her toward the door.
Jolene turned around and said, ‘What about you?’
Tarek, standing behind Freya, stepped in. ‘She has me.’
