By My Side. Wendy Jones Lou
in front of her, but Kate found she could barely stomach a thing.
“No wonder you stay so lovely and slim, Kate,” one of the women on the table called across to her. “You eat like a sparrow. I wish I ate less, but I just love my food.”
“Oh, don’t you believe it,” Sophie told them. “She eats like a horse when we’re at home.”
“Don’t you like the food?” Carl Penn asked.
“No, it’s fine. I’m just not very hungry,” Kate said. “I might pop to the bar and get another drink, though. Anyone else want one?”
Kate had to take the chance to catch her breath. She walked back to the bar in the drawing room, breathing deeply. The stuffiness in the dining hall had become quite suffocating. She ordered some drinks and returned to the table carrying a tray only to find Jenny now sitting in her seat.
She handed out the drinks and stood beside the table. Sophie looked up. “We thought Jenny could sit in your seat while we’re having pudding and you could go and natter to Flis. You’ve ordered the same thing. You don’t mind do you, Kate?”
Kate thought it a little odd, until she remembered Jenny’s penchant for Dr Penn and then she agreed happily. “Where’s Flis, then?” she asked looking around.
Jenny stood up and pointed to the near side of table six, where a place was now sitting empty. Kate could see the back of Flis sitting next to it but suddenly realised sitting there would put her directly behind Mr Elliott. Only inches away in fact. She looked back at her friend in panic. But Sophie just turned to her with that all knowing smile of hers and nodded. “Go on, then,” she said. “See you after.”
“But…”
Sophie turned back to talk to Jenny and Kate was left to walk through the dining hall to her new position, right behind Mr Elliott.
She took a deep breath and tidied her hair and then picking up her drink, she walked over and sat down at table six.
Sitting so close to Adam Elliott, Kate found it difficult enough to breathe, let alone hold down a decent conversation. His presence flowed around her, enveloping her in a haze of sexual tension. Flis was gushing on about the beautiful decorations and gorgeous dresses and Kate had to just sit there and let it all wash over her. Breathe in; breathe out, she thought, her pulse surging faster and faster. Kate’s ears strained for any words at the next table Adam Elliott might utter, but he was distinctly quiet throughout and she could do little else but play with the edges of her dessert.
When all the crockery was cleared away and the coffee was served, the guest speaker, an American lawyer, stood up and began a very amusing tale about medico-legal claims in the USA. Everyone turned their chairs to face the front, leaving Kate almost side by side with Mr Elliott. She was convinced she could feel the heat from his body warming her own. Her palms were sweating as her eyes found their focus on his right knee. It was a firm-looking knee, not too bony and not too big. His dinner jacket was black and his shoes were smart. God, how she wanted to touch that knee.
The noise of laughter around her became distant and muffled, allowing only the pressing thud of her heart in her ears.
At last the speech came to an end and the audience clapped and cheered enthusiastically, except in the small space between table six and table thirteen, where only the sound of a poor heart beating wildly could be heard.
Music struck up on the dance floor and people started to talk again, sipping their coffee and laughing at each other’s jokes.
Kate excused herself and walked away through the cool corridors to the sanctuary of the ladies’ room. Only one girl was in there when she arrived and she left soon after. Kate looked in the mirror and spoke to herself. “You’re a mess. He’s just a man and he has no interest in you anyway. Hell, you don’t even like him; it’s just a stupid obsession. For heaven’s sake, get a grip.”
A group of nurses walked in and she quickly clawed back control and checked her make-up in the mirror. It was fine. She dabbed her cheeks with a little cold water and then walked back outside to find Sophie. Sophie would know how to handle her stupidity. She would understand how to put Kate at ease. Her mother hen abilities were the stuff of legend.
Walking back down the corridor, Kate suddenly saw Mr Elliott walking towards her. One of his hands lay casually in his pocket and the other swung loosely by his side. His cummerbund and bow tie were both midnight blue and his shirt was crisp and white. Dark, blue-grey eyes pierced her as he moved slowly closer. Kate couldn’t think. Where should she look? What should she do? Mr Cobham walked out of the drawing room as Mr Elliott passed by. They exchanged a look and Mr Cobham disappeared again and Mr Elliott’s eyes moved back to her.
Kate felt sure her face must have been scarlet under such scrutiny, or else deathly white from fear. She tried to smile as he approached, though it took all her courage to do so. And then he stopped.
“Kate. You look… stunning. I’m only used to seeing you in your uniform. Your hair, it’s so long. It’s beautiful.”
Kate suddenly lost the power of speech, her higher functions having long since left her. She stuttered. “Y-You’re looking very handsome too, sir.”
“Adam. Please, Kate; call me Adam. We’re not in work now.”
“Adam.” A world of expectation hung between them, raising the tension to breaking point, and then Kate snapped. “Look I’m really sorry about that day on Aintree. I was completely out of order. I’d just had a very bad day and I-”
He stepped closer and placed a warm finger on her lips. “No need,” he said. “You were right. I had lost my composure. It got out of hand. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” His finger moved slowly away from her lips and brushed a stray lock of hair from the side of her face. He stepped a fraction closer. Their gazes mingling. Kate’s breath quivered, as she realised the moment she had been subconsciously hoping for was rapidly approaching.
“Kate, there you are,” Jenny called out from the doorway of the drawing room. I’ve been looking for you.”
Jolted, Kate turned abruptly, like a child caught stealing from the cookie jar, and when she turned back, Mr Elliott was walking away, back down the corridor and into the hall.
“That was close,” Jenny said. “I’m not going to let him have a go at you tonight. We’re here to party. Come on. We were all starting to wonder where you’d got to.”
With her pulse still pounding through her body, Kate followed Jenny back into the drawing room and soon found her friends again.
“You found her, then. Where were you?” Flis asked.
“I just went to the toilet,” Kate said.
“I caught her in the nick of time,” Jenny announced. “Elliott was about to get his claws into her again. Close one that, wasn’t it, Kate?”
Kate pulled a strained face, making a non-committal grunt that in no way fooled Sophie, who looked at her, seeming to assess the situation. A few of the A&E nurses pushed past her, grabbing her arm. “Come on, Kate. It’s time to dance.”
Kate looked at her friends as she was dragged up onto the dance floor, none of whom seemed keen to follow her. “You dance,” said Sophie. “We’ll see you in a bit.”
Kate moved through the crowd onto the dance floor and started to dance, but it wasn’t long before she spotted Adam Elliott with some of the surgeons just to the right of the room. He was looking at her, making her feel… naked. She looked back a moment or two later and he was still there, looking at her intensely. Bravely she managed a small smile and felt sure his eyes gleamed a little brighter than before. What could she do? She could hardly walk up to him and ask him to dance. Well, she could, but she wasn’t nearly brave enough or drunk enough to do that yet. That was the answer, she thought, she needed more to drink.
Kate excused herself and headed to the bar in the drawing room and bought herself a long