Chapter 2: Communication
It was late on Thursday evening, with the banquet looming the next day, that he finally called. I was browsing through some papers in my study, thinking about calling it a night, but I was wide awake again with the noise of the telephone. I hurried to answer it, then had to struggle to regain my composure. It might not even be him calling, I told myself. But luckily it was.
"Hello?"
"Lara?" I grinned despite myself.
"Kurtis. It's good to hear your voice." That was an understatement. I could hear a lot of muffled noise from his end of the line, and thought with a thrill that he was calling to say he was at Heathrow.
"You too, how are you? I hope it's not too late to call, I forget what the time difference is." Damn. He obviously hadn't made it as far as England, then.
"Not at all, it's still early," I lied. "And I'm fine, thankyou. Where are you?"
He sighed. "Well, that's the problem. I'm still in New York, I should have been on the plane by now but there's all kinds of delays here. They still haven't announced when it'll finally be leaving, but I thought I should let you know. Hopefully I should be there by tomorrow afternoon, but God, who knows?"
"Hmm. Well, the banquet starts at eight, so that shouldn't be a problem. But you'll be exhausted by then. Are you sure you'll be able to make it?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine, I'll sleep on the plane. I doubt I'll be able to do anything else by then." He already sounded tired. "Anyway, I don't want to miss the chance to catch up on all the gossip from the archaeological world." Despite the weariness, there was humour in his voice too.
"Oh, absolutely," I replied. "But seriously, there will be some very useful people there. And food," I added tantalisingly.
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. 'Banquet' sounds very, I don't know, whole-pig-roasted-over-a-spit."
I laughed. "Well, they've never done that before, but who knows? There'll be a sit-down meal, a few speeches, and then everyone just mingles. They usually have some kind of a band playing."
"I'm guessing you don't mean the sort that uses electric instruments."
"No. Sorry."
"Hey, that's fine with me." He paused. "There won't be dancing, will there?" He sounded truly terrified at the prospect. I laughed again.
"Well, that all depends on how much you have to drink."
"That's very reassuring. Anyway, I'd better go, I need some coffee if I'm going to survive til the plane leaves."
"Okay. Well, I hope to see you soon, then."
"You too. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Yes. And thanks for calling."
"No problem."
* * *
Friday wore on with no word from Kurtis. I called the airport to try and find out if his plane had arrived yet, but I didn't get very far because I didn't know the flight number. I dialed the mobile phone number Kurtis had given me, but I just got a mechanical sounding voice telling me the phone was switched off. That probably meant he was still in the air. As the afternoon passed, I realised I would have to start getting ready. I still had a fairly long drive to London ahead of me.
I'm not often seen in a dress, but I do own a few for occasions such as this. I tried each of them on in an uncharacteristically indecisive episode, trying to convince myself that I wasn't trying to look good for anyone, and that he probably wouldn't make it to the banquet anyway. In the end I settled for a black strapless number with a long skirt and a bodice intricately embroidered with black silk and beads. I took an annoyingly long time putting my hair up, making sure it looked right, and leaving a couple of tendrils loose around my face. I don't go in for jewelry much, but my neck felt awfully bare so I put on a simple necklace. When I was satisfied with my reflection, I pulled a black pashmina around my shoulders and went down to the car.
I was well on the way to London when my mobile phone started ringing. I fished it out of my bag and answered it.
"Hey, I'm finally here," said Kurtis from the other end of the line. He sounded tired but relieved. I asked him whereabouts he was.
"I've just checked into a hotel. I still need to get cleaned up and change, so I'm gonna be running a little late. Sorry." I smiled. Late was a lot better than not at all.
"That's fine, I can leave your name with the doorman if you're not there when I arrive. But wait, you didn't need to check into a hotel. You're quite welcome to stay with me. Plus all my research is there."
He paused. "Are you sure? I mean, do you have the space?"
I grinned. "If there's one thing I've definitely got, it's space."
* * *
:o Sorry it's all phone conversations so far, and not much plot yet, hope it's not too much of a slow start. I promise they'll be reunited next chapter! Let me know what you think.