Chapter Nine
Iris knew that her sister was worried about something, the moment she strolled into her bedroom.
At first she thought it might have been because of the nights events; that Laurie might have been worried about Iris. But it soon became evident that that was not the cause for the furrow in Laurie's brow, or the shadow in her dark blue eyes.
"What?" she asked softly.
Laurie sighed as she sat down on the edge of Iris's bed.
"I think that there might be something wrong with dad."
Iris fought down the instant queasiness in her stomach and strove for a calm strong tone of voice. "I'm almost certain that if it was that serious, then he would have said something to us by now." Although she was painfully aware of the veiled hints that he had been dropping lately.
She realised that it had worked though, when she saw the sag in her sister's tense shoulders, and Laurie gave a little smile of relief, that Iris did not seem to be panicking.
"You think that maybe I am overreacting," she said hopefully, but then her brow furrowed again. "But, Iris, you didn't see him last night... he looked like a ghost!"
"Well, let's try not to fall to pieces just yet, not until we know for sure, that it's something serious."
Iris remembered how weak she had felt last night, by the time that they had reached home, and she had been curled up in the back of the jeep, whereas their father had had to rush back and drive the jeep out to them, then drive them all home again.
"I can certainly understand why he might have felt so tired last night - I know that I did!"
"Yes, maybe you are right," Laurie still sounded doubtful and worried, and so Iris looped her arm through her sister's arm and gave her a bright encouraging smile.
"Let's go and talk to dad, and find out for sure... I'm confident that it's not too serious though?"
*
Their father was sitting at the kitchen table and slowly eating at another high fat and high protein breakfast.
But Iris could not help but notice how slowly he ate, how wearily he lifted up his fork to his mouth.
He looked up and caught her worried gaze, and his tired eyes narrowed for a moment almost as though it pained him to see that look on her face, before falling away again.
"You girls should eat something," he mumbled. "After last night's events, we all need some nourishment."
*
"It's nothing!" he snapped impatiently. "I'm not a young man anymore - as the doctor was telling me the other day, but other than that I am in good health."
"The doctor?" Iris leapt on the admission with a speed that he should have expected, but which still threw him off balance.
He blinked his eyes as he sipped at the fresh coffee, which Laurie had brewed, while Iris had washed the dishes.
He sighed, and put his mug back down on the table.
"I'd been suffering a few headaches recently, and so I thought that I would go and get a check up..."
"And?"
"Doctor Glenn gave me a thorough going over, and he said that for a man of my age, I am in remarkable health... aside from my blood pressure."
"But it's nothing to be too worried about?"
He hesitated again. "High blood pressure is always something to worry over, especially in our race, since we don't usually suffer these things, but he thinks that with suitable medication and supervision... a little less stress in my life, and I should be fine."
"Stress?" Iris sat forward, and her brow creased with worry. "What stress?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "You know the sort of things that are playing on my mind right now. You know that I worry for you girls - if anything were to happen to me."
"And this is making you ill!" the tears welled up in Laurie's deep blue eyes, and the guilt was written all over her lovely expressive face.
Greg felt a twinge of shame, which he shrugged of determinedly. This would be for their own good - eventually.
"I just want you girls to be safe, I need to know that in the event of my death you will be protected; and we need another male in the family for that!"
**
They were both silent as they rode the train back to London later that day. This should have been an exciting time for them both, with Laurie starting her first job tomorrow, and Iris settling in to what she thought would be a super new job... if she could keep her hands off her boss.
But now concern for their father, was uppermost in their minds, and made them silent and subdued for almost the entire journey.
They were about five minutes away from the station, when Laurie suddenly sighed deeply. "What do you think we should do?" she asked softly.
Iris shrugged her shoulders as she stared out at the slowing landscape. "I'm not sure, Laurie. I don't know what to think at the moment... although I do understand dad's concerns - I just don't know what we can do about it."
"Dad said we need another male..."
The image of James flittered through her mind, and her pulse skipped its beat along with her heart.
"Have you got anyone in mind?" Iris smiled stiffly.
Laurie hesitated for a fraction of a second, but to Iris it felt like an hour, where the responsibility for their future safety, settled heavily onto her shoulders. "No, not really," her little sister sighed again.
*
The taxi from the train station dropped Laurie off first.
"I'll be round tomorrow night for about seven o'clock," Iris grinned through the open window. "And you can tell me all about your first day at work, while we eat dinner... my treat!"
"Okay, see you tomorrow night," Laurie smiled.
"Good luck, but remember to enjoy it - don't let the fear of the unknown spoil it for you."
"I won't, I promise."
Iris waited as Laurie walked through the main door and past the door man, and only when she was safely inside the building, did she tell the taxi driver that he could go.
Her own apartment felt cold and lonely when she first entered it, and she gave a tired little shiver, as she walked around, switching on lamps, and drawing the blinds. She could hear the tick ticking of the heating as it slowly warmed the place up.
Iris kicked of her shoes, and padded through to her kitchen to put the kettle to boil.
She made herself a nice cup of hot chocolate, and carried it through to her bedroom, where she left it on the side whilst she quickly had a shower.
She wrapped her dressing gown around her, and then sipping her chocolate she went back into her living room, where she curled up on her sofa, and reached for the remote control to her television set.
The first image to flicker onto the screen was of a woman looking terrified.
Iris's lip curled as she immediately recognised the old black and white movie.
It was one that she and her family had watched several times with amusement over the years.
The scene cut to the full moon, as the clouds parted dramatically to reveal the glowing orb, and then to the man as he slowly blurred and transformed.
Her mobile phone began to hum and vibrate and she dropped the remote and picked up her phone.
"Hello?" she murmured absently as she kept her gaze fixed on the werewolf as it chased the woman through the forest.
"Iris?" the husky male voice was instantly familiar to her, and for a moment her breath caught in her throat, leaving her speechless.
"Yes," she finally managed to gasp.
"It's James, here," he needlessly identified himself.
"Hello, James - Mr Atherton, "she corrected herself.
"James - please," he grunted a little impatiently.
"What can I do for you... James?"
He gave a little sigh at her stiff formal tone.
"I... I just wanted to make sure that you were okay... I came around to your father's house earlier, but you had already left. Had you hung on I would have offered you a lift back into London," he silently rebuked her as though he thought that she had deliberately run off back to London in order to avoid him.
"Laurie and I had already purchased our rail tickets... but thank you for the thought, though." He sighed again down the phone and Iris frowned. "Is there something wrong, James?"
"No... Yes, I mean I don't know. I really do not want us to be working together if it is going to be this stiffly, formal... bullshit!" he cursed in frustration.
The colour drained from Iris's face. "You're sacking me!" she whispered in devastation.
"What? No! Of course not!" she heard him clicking his tongue impatiently. "That's not the first time that you have accused me of that!" she could hear the cold anger now and a tear formed in the corner of her eye, and slowly trickled down her cheek.
"Look," he snapped suddenly. "I really don't want this awkwardness between us to continue, and so I think that I should call round tonight and we should talk things out."
She gave a little sniff as his tone became warm and reassuring once more.
"Okay," she nodded. "Do you need my address? When will you come?"
He laughed down the phone and she shivered in response.
"I already have your address, and I will be with you in just a moment, since I am already here."
"What?" she lurched to her feet, as the phone went dead, and a second later the buzzer to her apartment rang loud and piercing to her ears.
