Roast Beef
"Right. I think we'll call it a day," Richard announced to the rest of his colleagues at Honoré police station. "Good work, team. I'm very impressed."
After locking away a double murderer and two thieves in the space of six hours, Richard was feeling rather jolly. They'd had an extremely successful day.
"Cheers, Chief. You're not doing too badly yourself." Dwayne chirped from his desk, giving Richard a wink.
Richard gave him an unimpressed glare in return, but couldn't help but smile to himself as soon as he looked away.
Walking past the doorway, he took a quick glance at Camille. She was on the veranda talking to one of the victims of the thieves they had arrested.
Richard lingered by the doorway for a moment or two, wondering how long she would be, and then turned to the remaining two members of his team; Dwayne and Fidel.
"So, who's up for a drink?" He asked. "First round's on me."
"Me!" Dwayne was always fast to reply to that particular question – it was almost as though his life depended on it.
"Actually, Sir, I thought you'd already made plans for tonight? With Camille?" Fidel half questioned, half stated as he packed away a few of his belongings.
Richard frowned. "I have?"
And at that moment, Camille appeared at Richard's side, looking at him expectantly.
"Mmhm." She tilted her head to one side. "You've forgotten?"
"Certainly not!" Richard replied quickly, even though he certainly had. He smiled politely. "I've been looking forward to it all week."
Camille moved in front of him. "Really?"
"Mm. Definitely." Richard nodded, peering over her shoulder toward Dwayne and Fidel. They usually saved him from these situations.
Fidel and Dwayne looked at one another for a moment, and then Fidel began to do some kind of arm action that looked rather a lot like skiing, while Dwayne began to wobble from left to right; like he was standing on a train.
"And what part have you been looking forward to?"
"Erm…" Richard squinted, trying to work out what the two men were doing.
And then Dwayne covered one eye with his palm and held his other hand up in a hook shape – like a pirate.
"Ah, boat!" Richard chuckled, and Fidel gave him the thumbs up.
Feeling rather proud for working it out, Richard smiled. "Roast Beef. I promised we'd take Roast Beef out tonight. And we will."
Camille smiled, stepping behind her desk. "I've been looking forward to it."
"Sounds like you two have got a date." Fidel said.
Richard chose to ignore this comment. "Dwayne? Fidel? Are you two going to come along and watch what I guarantee will be top entertainment?"
"Come along to your date?" Dwayne grinned. "Now that would just be weird, Chief."
"It's not a date!" Richard said, looking towards Camille for backup. "I don't want to be the centre of office gossip, DS Bordey."
"There's hardly enough people in this office for office gossip to exist." Camille giggled.
"And hardly enough room!" Dwayne laughed. "It's practically impossible to talk about someone when they're sitting less than two metres away. Believe me, I've tried."
Richard shook his head. "No. I've seen your sign-language-mouthy-eye-contact thing that you three do to communicate behind my back," He tapped his head. "I've got it all worked out, you see."
Dwayne gave Camille a look, and Camille giggled.
"See! You're doing it now."
Camille arrived at Richard's shack just after six o'clock. He offered to pick her up, but she had insisted that he didn't for reasons she promised to tell him later. It was something to do with her mother seeing her.
After grabbing a couple of drinks for the evening, they made their way to the beach where the boat, Roast Beef, lay.
With slight difficulty, they eventually managed to get the boat into the water and out far enough for it to float properly.
Once comfortable on the bench of the boat, Richard opened his beer and took a sip, before opening another for Camille and holding it out to her.
"There you go."
"Thank you." Camille said, taking the beer and sitting down beside him.
"So why wasn't I allowed to pick you up?" Richard asked. He knew he sounded rather brash, but he couldn't help it. It was on his mind and until he knew the answer, he couldn't concentrate on anything else.
"Oh, I'm supposed to be on a blind date." Camille laughed slightly. "I had to sneak out without my mother noticing. I felt like I was undercover again."
Richard looked at her for a moment, and then shook his head. He was secretly overjoyed that she'd rather spend the evening with him than a date, but he couldn't possibly let her know that.
"You're unbelievable."
"Come on, you'd do the same. You escaped your own Birthday Party, remember?"
"True."
Camille smiled, looking down at her beer. "I just can't stand spending another night with a completely random man whose only aim is to get me into his bed."
Richard glanced at her, and then at his beer. "Well, that's understandable."
"Mm. Do you know what worst thing is? They don't even try to hide it."
"That's terrible. You shouldn't have to do that – you're worth so much more," He paused, glancing towards her again, "I suppose you don't really believe in these blind dates?"
Camille shook her head. "Not at all. They don't work for me," She whispered. "I believe if you're meant to meet someone, you'll meet them in your own time without any forced arrangements from your mother. I believe the right man comes along when you least expect it. Do you know what I mean?"
Richard wasn't the best at talking about the subject of love – it made him incredibly nervous. All he could think to reply was, "Certainly."
"And I don't believe in love at first sight, either. You may hate someone at first - think he's the strangest, most arrogant and annoying man on earth - but then, once you get to know him, you realise you got it all completely wrong. Although he's still very strange, he's also kind and loving, loyal and intelligent, and just a little bit shy." She paused for a moment, thinking, then continued. "And then, as time goes by and you get to know him more, you fall in love."
Richard listened carefully to what she was saying, and nodded. Although it wouldn't make sense with the last sentence, he couldn't help but think this strange man she was talking about was, in fact, him. Perhaps the last sentence was a mistake – or maybe he was wrong. Maybe she was talking about someone else.
"Absolutely."
"I think it's better to get to know someone without the intentions of a romantic relationship – and blind dates simply don't do that. I'd much rather have a special friend to spend my time with."
"I agree."
"What's your opinion on it all? Blind dates?"
Now the attention was turned to him, Richard struggled to speak.
"Oh. Well, erm… I- I can't really have one," He stuttered. "I've never been on a blind date. I mean, I've never even been on a date... so, you know." He mumbled, nervously rubbing his knees with the palms of his hands.
He half expected Camille to laugh at him - anyone else would - but she didn't. She didn't say anything for moment, a moment which felt like an eternity of awkward silence to Richard, but then gently placed her hand on his knee.
"Have you ever been in love, Richard?" She asked.
Richard frowned slightly at the question, swallowing hard. "I... Err... No. I suppose not." He whispered, and then forced a smile, "Although you did once tell me I should try it."
Camille laughed. "So he does listen!"
"Mm. Occasionally."
Camille looked at him and smiled, and they shared a silent gaze for a moment or two.
"Maybe Dwayne and Fidel were right," She said, rubbing his knee. "Perhaps we should make this a date?"
"Oh." Richard swallowed hard once again, taken aback by the offer and the knee rubbing. His heart wanted him to say yes, and jump around with joy that she was actually willing to call his company, and their evening, a 'date'. However, his mind was telling him to decline; simply because Camille deserved a proper date.
He looked around at the rusty old boat they were sitting in. "I think I'd rather my first date was slightly more classy." He said, without considering his wording.
And then Camille immediately removed her hand from his knee, and Richard knew he'd said something wrong.
"Oh, I see." She mumbled. "So I'm not classy enough for you now."
"What? I didn't say that!" Richard frowned to himself. In his mind, he quickly went over what he said – trying to work out where he had gone wrong – and soon realised how it sounded.
"No. No. I didn't mean that! Sorry." He apologised.
Camille didn't reply. Instead, she turned away from him and took a long swig of her beer.
Watching her, Richard tried to save the situation. He didn't want to put her off – and he certainly didn't want her to withdraw her offer.
"I was talking about the boat, Camille. You, on the other hand, are very classy." He said with his most polite smile.
However, Camille still didn't reply.
Richard sighed dramatically. "Why do you have to take everything the wrong way?"
As expected, that comment frustrated her enough for her to turn back to him.
"Why don't you ever think before you speak?" She asked rhetorically. Her French accent seemed thicker when she was angry.
Richard crossed his arms. "You're awfully quick to get offended by petty mistakes. That's very French." He muttered.
"Actually, Richard, it's called feelings." She retorted. "Although I suppose you're too English to know what they are!"
"It's very difficult being stuck in a confined space with you."
There was a pause, and then Camille put her beer down and stood up. Richard watched as she began to undress.
"What are you doing?"
"Going for a swim – so you're not stuck in this confined space with me."
"Don't be ridiculous. You can't do tha-" He stopped as she unbuttoned her blouse, revealing her underwear.
Richard covered his face and looked away. "Good lord."
He gave her a few minutes, and then peeped through his fingers in her direction. She was in her underwear, standing at the edge of the boat.
He decided against removing his hands from his face. "What about sharks?"
"Shark bites are about as common here as earthquakes!" She said, and then she was gone. Her dive was very graceful – like a dolphin, Richard imagined.
"Camille?"
Richard stood up and watched as Camille came back up to the surface, running her hands through her hair. She was truly beautiful.
"I… I order you to come back! Right now!"
Richard could have predicted what she was going to say next.
Camille giggled playfully. "Come and get me!"