Chapter 8.
A Good night's sleep was all she needed to cheer her up and put her right. That was what Marta had told herself. But sleep was proving elusive.
The sofa bed was comfortable enough, but quite apart from the non stop traffic noise did no else ever go to bed?. There was no air in her room. Although she'd opened the window at the top, the atmosphere still felt heavier than the quilt she'd kicked off.
The dial on her alarm clock told her it was nearly four in the morning, and so far she hadn't closed her eyes.
I'm just on the edge about seeing Hermes again, she thought. And it's a strange bed, strange room, strange city and strange environment. What else can I expect but insomnia?
She got up and padded down the narrow passage into the kitchen. She poured some milk into a saucepan, set it on the hob , then opened the tin of drinking chocolate she'd included in her groceries.
Of course , if everything had gone according to plan, she wouldn't have been doing much sleeping anyway, she acknowledged,her face warming slightly.
She supposed Hermes would have taken her to a hotel. Because they certainly wouldn't have been allowed to be together at Maryland, as Royal walker had made more than clear.
King if the double standard, she thought, slamming the inoffensive tin of chocolate back in the cupboard. No award for guessing how he was spending the night.
One of the things she'd been trying to figure as she into the darkness was possible damage limitations,but so far, she hadn't come up with a thing..
From Melissa's remark , it was clear that Royal walker sincerely cared about jenny , and had no idea that her marriage was in such serious trouble.
Not until I showed up anyway,she thought, pulling a face. Although,if they are so close, it seems odd that she never told him.
Marta sat at the small, living room table, her hands cupped round the beaker , her mind going wearily over the same ground. She could only hope that Hermes would see she'd acted in their best interests, and not mind that she'd jumped the gun.
And if Royal throws him out it would give him an incentive to find a place where they could be together, she comforted herself. Maybe her intervention would be the catalyst that changed things at last.
If only he could be persuaded to look at it that way. She'd half expected to be awake all night, but almost immediately after she got back into bed she found her thoughts swirling drowsily into nothingness.
Only to discover that she was standing in front of a giant pane of glass, and she could see Hermes on the other sides. She tapped on the glass, and called out to him , but he didn't seem to see or hear her, and she knew she had to get to him , to make him listen. She started banging on the glass with both fists until it suddenly disintegrated, parting in front of her, then flowing round her like thick mist.
She began searching through the mist for Hermes,hands outstretched, crying out his name, and at last felt her wrists taken or rather Gripped tightly.
But when she looked up , peering through the stifling grey miasma, she saw that the man who held her was not Hermes, but Royal walker, his eyes glittering like ice .
Oh, God . Marta sat upright, her heart hammering. For a minute she was totally disoriented, then she saw the sun pouring through a gap in the green curtains and realized it was all a dream.
A glance at her alarm clock confirmed that she'd slept late too.
Her head felt light and her eyes were full of sand, so that it would have been very easy to lie back and just sleep and sleep..
'Just asking for more nightmares, she muttered, pushing back the duvet and swinging her feet to the floor. 'And who needs them?'
Marta set her tea , and poured orange juice into a glass, then went to shower and dress.
By the time she was done with breakfast, she washed her few dishes, then tidied the bed into a sofa again, tucking the bedding away inside as Melissa had shown her.
And now I have the rest of the day in front of me.
She needed to stay around the flat so that Hermes could contact her there. But she could stroll and get the Sunday papers . Fill her time that way, because, a small, sober voice in her head suggested, she could be in for a long wait.
If she'd thought that the street would be quieter on Sunday, she soon discovered her mistake. But there was a different, more relaxed Atmosphere.
Marta found a seat at the park table outside a cafe, and ordered herself a cappuccino while she settled down for a leisurely bout of people watching
It was something she normally enjoyed ,but somehow, today ,it only seemed to deepen her sense of isolation. There were too many couples, strolling hand in hand in the sunshine, gossiping and smiling into each other's eyes.
Tired of the isolation. Eventually, she left her coffee unfinished, and walked quietly back to her basement.
I won't always feel like this, she told herself. I won't always feel an outsider. One day.. soon . I'll be walking with Hermes, and someone will be watching and envying me.. one day .
She tired to visualize it. Fix the image in her mind like a lodestar. But instead, she found herself remembering that restaurant last night, and Royal walker smiling at his companion. And herself outside. Looking in . For a minute Marta felt totally cold , all the muscle in her throat tightening suddenly, as if she was going to weep. Pull yourself together for heaven's sake.
She signed, but soon enough. I will be smiling and looking into Hermes's face.
SOON ENOUGH..
TBC.