My thought processes were in a bit of a state. I had just had sex with the woman my next door neighbour had recommended me to meet. Not only had Michelle recommended me highly, she had arranged the meeting and laid all the ground work. I had to admit though, Clare was worth the effort. Yet Clare's questioning about Michelle & I had me flummoxed. Did she know anything for certain or was she simply fishing and why?
I tried to recall Clare's comment as I started the car to head homeward, to Michelle's place to be exact, but it was eluding me. I churned over the final exchanges between us but my mind kept going back to the midpoint of our interview. I could still smell and taste the long legged Clare as I did up my seat belt. Then it came to me.
"Don't worry, I know how to be discreet." Clare's parting words echoed in my head like a tolling bell.
"Was I missing something?" I thought to myself. I negotiated the U-turn and headed for the main road. As I straightened the car up I dialed Michelle's mobile. The blue tooth connection was already synced and the car instantly filled with the excessively loud sound of the call connecting, so I turned the volume down from the earlier music listening levels to more a level more appropriate and waited for Michelle to answer.
"Hi Ray." Came the excited answer as she picked up the call, obviously recognising my number. "How did you find Clare?"
"I went to reception and asked..."
"Ohhh, you're impossible sometimes," Michelle said through what I imagined to be gritted teeth. "I walked straight into that one didn't I."
"Sorry, I couldn't resist. She's a very persuasive woman." I replied, my heart thumping in my chest. It seemed to be getting warmer in the car but I could not open the window while on the phone. "She says I need to meet her again to fill in the appropriate paperwork and she also wants to review the DVD I did last time."
"That's a good sign, isn't it?" Michelle's voice suddenly sounded a little less excited, she had noted the reserved tone in my voice. I guessed she was starting to think I was not as fully committed as she thought.
"It's a very good sign." I said, trying to ease her mind. "We discussed the possibility of me becoming a contracted staff member which would mean the trip would be a paying gig as well."
"Oh my god. That is fantastic." Michelle's excitement level rose immeasurably at that, so much so it sounded like she was about to jump through the car radio. "You're not pulling my leg are you?"
"No. No jokes this time, cross my heart and hope to die. She asked if I was you're partner though, which made me a bit nervous." I had not wanted to make any fuss about Clare's comments regarding Michelle and I over the phone but I could not hold it in. I held my breath waiting for Michelle to comment.
"Oh, she knows you are not my husband through school sport on Saturday mornings. Plus, she could easily look at the school records to see my husband's name is not Ray, so don't worry about it. She must have been mistaken or something."
I was not convinced. I felt like I was definitely missing something.
"What is your opinion of Clare?" I asked.
"Why? Do you find her attractive?" Michelle's voice sounded as if he was back on a playground at school.
"Clare attractive?" I scoffed. "Nah, she's butt ugly."
"Yeah right." Michelle knew I was joking. "Have you lost your glasses or are you on drugs?"
"Well..."
"She is a stunning looking female." Michelle answered. "She seems very organised and the music department seems to function better since her appointment than it had done previously. All in all, I think she is good for the school and good for the students. Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering what she was like. This being the first time I had met her. It seemed a bit odd that she would ask about you and I the way she did."
"I only told her what you told me. You know, about the previous music tours..."
"Michelle," I broke in. "I only told you about my previous experience yesterday, remember? I don't recall ever having told you about them previously."
The only sound I could hear at this time was the sound of the car as it moved along the road.
"I know you told me yesterday... In detail I mean. But I distinctly remember you mentioning that you had been overseas and about the DVD you produced. It would have been shortly after your return, so a few years ago now, as we chatted near my car port. Like we used to do before, um, before we started..." She went quiet.
"Before you let me look down your top."
"I did not let you look down my top. You took advantage of the situation." She was trying to sound indignant, by I could also hear the humour in her voice.
"Both guilty as charged."
"Jury dismissed." Michelle declared, and we both laughed.
"I suppose I could have said something but I don't remember doing so. I would have been excited by it all at the time, so it is possible I guess."
"Are you annoyed with me or something?" Her question stung me a little.
"No." I replied, feeling a little guilty for thinking the way I was. However, I could not ignore my gut feeling telling me to be vigilant, with Clare more than anything. "It's just that she put me in an awkward position with her questions and I did not know how to answer. I had no idea what was said when you two were made the arrangements for the meeting."
"All I said was that you might need some persuading and that was all." It was Michelle's turn to sound a bit annoyed. "Clare's response to that was, and I quote, 'I know how to very persuasive when I have to be.'
"Oh, she was, believe me."
"What did she say?" was Michelle's anxious sounding question which was immediately followed by another, this time full of woman's curiosity? "What did she do?"
