Rafi hadn’t touched it yet. He moved back to his cold side of the bed, took a couple of mouthfuls and returned to her warmth. He lay there thinking – what a long time it had been since he’d had a girlfriend… And he had known Kate scarcely a week! What were things coming to? Rafi felt happier than he could remember.
‘Tell me about the hotel we’re staying at,’ asked Kate.
‘It’s just outside Newquay. It’s got four stars and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.’
‘Did you say the bedrooms were nice?’ enquired Kate.
‘Yep.’
‘And?’
‘They have big, comfy beds!’
‘Just what the doctor ordered,’ replied Kate, who snuggled closer to him.
The proximity of her body, which was now nestling partly on top of him, made it difficult to concentrate. He wondered what she was going to do next. She leant forward, gave him a lingering kiss on the lips and wriggled her body. The effect was electric. She kissed his cheek and, to his disappointment, rolled off him and slipped out of bed.
‘Why don’t I rustle up some supper?’
He watched her slim figure disappear out of the room and lay there enjoying the warmth of the bed and the anticipation of things to come. This was the first time for a long while that he had felt relaxed, comfortable and truly happy.
Kate reappeared a few minutes later, clutching another cup of hot coffee. ‘I guessed you wanted to stay warm.’ She left again leaving him to his drink and thoughts. Rafi sipped at it, savouring its warmth. After several minutes he got up, and went to see what Kate was doing. The temperature in the flat had returned to a comfortable level now. He looked around him as he walked down the corridor to the kitchen and sitting room. The place was small, but homely. It was very different to his flat in Hampstead. On reflection, he came to the surprising conclusion that he preferred it. This place had the essence of Kate and that made it special.
He walked into the kitchen.
‘The pizza will be ready in about twenty minutes; sorry, the oven takes ages to get hot. In the meantime, I’m going to have a bath. I’d invite you to share it with me, but we would get stuck – it’s rather small. The sitting room is nice and warm now though. Perhaps the news might be worth listening to?’
Rafi turned and went into the sitting room. He picked up the remote controls and switched on the television. He eventually found the 24-hour news channels and flicked through them. On the first one he saw a photo of himself and heard the reporter saying: ‘Mr Rafi Khan has been instrumental in enabling the police to catch the terrorists…’
Rafi flicked to another channel. CNN was running a bulletin on the money markets and the American commentator was interviewing a foreign exchange trader who was describing the day’s trading.
‘Been quite a day! That British Finance Chancellor caught us on the hop. We thought Sterling was going to be a one-way bet down through the floor, but when we found out that our Fed, the ECB and the Central Banks of China and Japan – to name but a few – were piling in to support Sterling, we knew that the speculators were beaten. And as if that wasn’t enough, the British Finance Minister then found a couple of hundred billion pounds without tapping the bond markets. And then he set out how the?1,100 billion unfunded public sector pension deficit will be tackled… The currency markets have given up the fight. The steam has literally gone out of trying to short Sterling. It’s been quite a day; one I’ll remember for a long time!’
The TV interviewer switched across to a stockbroker. ‘Tell us, Irvine, about these new UK Government REITs.’ Rafi listened to Irvine tell his American audience how it was the US who had created the Real Estate Investment Trust structure some decades ago. His view was that the UK Government had done something that some saw as brave, while many others looked at it thinking, ‘Gee, why on earth haven’t we done that?’
Before being cut off by the interviewer, the broker gave a throwaway remark that made Rafi first smile, then chuckle, ‘What has captivated us is this new UK not-for-profit corporation: like a public company but controlled by custodianholders -the people – and not shareholders. The change in accounting methods alone will bring huge efficiency gains. It’s a great idea and will knock the stuffing out of our game theory junkies; hats off to the UK Chancellor!’
‘What are the prospects for tomorrow?’ asked the interviewer.
‘It should be business as usual,’ came the reply.
The cameras panned back to the interviewer in the CNN studio.
‘Well, there it is! An extraordinary day on the money markets; the UK currency and its economy seem set to fight another day. Who would have thought it? It’s a big surprise. Tomorrow the world’s eyes will be on the reopening of the UK financial markets. The omens look good, but who knows? Will the London Stock Market hold its nerve or will it be a bloodbath?’
The timer in the kitchen started bleeping. Rafi switched off the TV. Kate was still in the bathroom.
‘The bleeper’s gone, what should I do?’ Rafi called out.
‘Could you see if the pizza is cooked? If it is, could you put it in the top oven to keep it warm?’
‘Will do,’ Rafi replied as he went back into the kitchen. Its size suddenly struck him; it was a fifth of the size of his. Small it might be, but nevertheless it worked well – like Kate, he thought to himself.
The pizza was cooked. He opened the tin of baked beans which he found on the side and poured them into a saucepan. How long had it been since he’d had baked beans? Ages. Probably university, he thought. With his larger than average salary his diet had gone somewhat upmarket. He gave the beans a stir.
Rafi’s mind wandered and he found himself wondering what a young detective inspector might earn. Probably little more than a university research fellow, he guessed. It then dawned on him that, following the events of the last few days, he was effectively unemployed.
At that same moment his thoughts took another turn. He smelt a sweet fragrance. This was followed by a sexy hug from behind.
‘A penny for your thoughts?’
‘Oh, it’s just dawned on me that I’m out of work.’
‘That’s good news! Now you can do something worthwhile, and not just because it pays handsomely. You know, when I saw your bank statements I could hardly believe what a fund manager was paid. On average, you were earning more in a month than I earned in a year. Though, I suppose that those of us protecting Queen and Country do it for the job satisfaction, and to eat baked beans rather than caviar! How’s supper coming along?’
‘Pizza is cooked and the beans are hot.’
‘Why are we standing around?’ Kate had two trays quickly laid. ‘Water or orange juice? No good offering you wine or a G amp;T, is it?’
‘Orange juice would be great.’
‘Do you mind if I have a glass of wine?’
‘Not at all.’
In the sitting room, Kate put her tray on the floor in front of the gas fire and pulled across a small coffee table from alongside the sofa; she then lifted her tray on to the table and sat down cross-legged. Rafi looked down at her; she was wrapped in an old, fluffy pink dressing gown, with a nondescript towel wrapped tightly around her head – but she looked gorgeous.
Rafi sat on the sofa and felt the warmth of the fire. He tucked into the food – it tasted good. He watched Kate open a bottle of wine, fill her glass and sip at its contents.
She caught him watching her. ‘Have you ever drunk alcohol?’
‘Not really. My parents, well my mother in particular, were strict Muslims and I grew up in a teetotal household. I suppose it was at university that I decided not to drink. I saw too many people getting smashed for no good reason, which really put me off.’
The conversation switched to their journey to Cornwall. Kate was amused to find that he didn’t have a car. ‘How about I drive and you pay for the petrol…? Deal?’ asked Kate.