An Ordinary Day Read Free

others brought in and made it look good to the client.
    Stephanie seemed unfazed by all of this, even amused. Durant marvelled at the resilience of the woman. She was a master diplomat, and he was falling for her.
    From that moment, she lived in him like a dream, like a sweet and arousing fragrance from which he couldn’t, wouldn’t escape. From that moment, she had him. All that remained for Durant was to devise a strategy, an infallible plan of action which would make the dream real and make Stephanie go out with him. He wouldn’t have to kill King, because King was already dead, or may as well have been; he’d disqualified himself from any type of romantic encounter with her. Durant went into scenario-planning mode: he visualised various scenarios from best case to worst case, including the whole spectrum in between. The worst-case scenario was inaction: if he was too afraid to say anything to her she’d leave and he’d never see her again. The best scenario he could imagine was Stephanie dismissing him with a coy smile and a wave which would have had him tied up in knots.
    But while Durant was sitting quietly by himself at a table, contemplating these outcomes, Stephanie approached him.
    ‘Hi,’ she said, and before Durant could say anything, he realised he couldn’t. His mouth was so dry that even getting a ‘hi’ out was a physiological impossibility.
    ‘I’ve heard some interesting stories this morning from your colleagues; really impressive stuff. Especially from Mr King over there – he seems to be quite the specialist.’
    Durant nodded. It was as much as he could do. He mentally rearranged his scenarios and adjusted the risk factors – it could go either way.
    ‘You didn’t mention any of your successes. You have some, being a professional and all.’
    ‘How do you know that?’ Durant asked, shocked at the calmness of his voice.
    ‘While everyone else was giving me their best stories, and probably trying to impress me, you just sat there reading my notes. That’s what a true professional would do. Study the material in his hand and find loopholes, seek out new information, look for useful bits.’
    Durant managed a smile, but he avoided looking her in the eye. That was still beyond his functional ability. ‘Or I was pretending to read so I didn’t have to look up at you and be distracted like every other guy in the room.’
    ‘That’s a bit forward, isn’t it?’
    Embarrassed, Durant looked up and saw Shezi lurking behind her. Shezi’s laugh bellowed across the room. ‘He’s not very good with the ladies,’ he said, landing a stinging slap on Durant’s shoulder. Stephanie giggled and blushed and the ice was broken.
    The lunch encounter led to a dinner, followed by a short period of dating in which a deep friendship formed. Durant’s colleagues were amazed when he announced his wedding plans a few months later. They believed he was already married – to his work. Shezi later commented that Stephanie was the perfect match for him – someone whom he could speak to about his work and who would understand. Someone who shared his passion for discovery and adventure, who was driven, goal-motivated and determined.
    And for Durant, the six years had brought its ups and downs. They had both focused on their careers and done well; they still spoke affectionately to each other and were generally happy in each other’s company. Their lives were relatively uncomplicated because they both chose it to be so. Their biggest difficulty had been trying to conceive children.
    Then, four months before, Stephanie had announced she was finally pregnant. Durant often wondered how a child would fit into their busy schedules. Stephanie had left the bank and started her own business and he had been promoted to head of organised crime investigations at the National Intelligence Agency’s provincial office. But he was willing to make sacrifices, and he knew Stephanie was too.
    Durant raised his glass. ‘To my