Heartbeats in Moonlight

Chapter 4

"Nice." He muttered beneath his breath and headed for another stand of jackets. He rifled through the range, and tugged one forward. "Cerise." He showed it to Ella, then added with more than a trace of sarcasm, "Does this meet with your approval?" Your ladyship he all but added as he held out the jacket.

"It's not quite cerise." Ella muttered as she studied the jacket he was about to hand to Amelia. The jacket length would be wrong for Amelia. It would make her look short. But there was no point in tell him that, given she had already rubbed him the wrong way.

He heard her statement. Now he was sure she was being difficult. "It says cerise on the tag." David told her with barely restrained antagonism. Not content with scoring points she was now trying to rub his face in it. If she was going to dish it out she had better be prepared to receive some back, he thought as he held the jacket out toward Amelia.

"That doesn't mean that's the colour." It was more red then cerise, but it would suit Amelia. Ella wondered if the length would be too much of an issue. Her eyes took a more detailed look at it. She held it out in front of her and as she considered the jacket she wondered whether she should push David further and ask for the right length. After all, Amelia wanted to be great, not just average!

David didn't say a thing. He just waited. Amelia glanced from David to Ella then back to David. Hesitantly she took the jacket from Ella and began to unzip it, while David and Ella glared at each other.

Amelia tried it on and then turned to look at the two people in front of her. "What about this one? It feels nice. It's one of my favourite colours." Only since Ella had arrived. Before that she'd worn nice normal blues, blacks and browns. With a fair amount of beige thrown in. Ella had called them camouflage clothes.

David admitted silently that Ella was right. The vivid colours suited Amelia more than the jacket he had initially chosen. Ok, he decided, Ella had a good eye for colour. But this wasn't a fashion parade they were going on. They were going on a charity cycle ride in the south island.

"The colour is right, but not the length." Ella said firmly and dared David to deal with her challenge. Her chin came up as the word came forth. "Next?"

David folded his arms, not budging an inch. Shopping was never a high on his to do list, and shopping for or with women probably ranked just above cleaning toilets with a toothbrush. But shopping with the ice queen probably was less pleasant than digging out an outdoor toilet with a dinner fork. "Are you sure you need my bloody advice?" David challenged with a fair amount of mockery. He knew he was never likely to be one of those men he'd seen sitting, waiting patiently inside a shop or shopping mall while their girlfriends shopped. But even he recognised the fact that having Ella here made it a hundred times worse. She irritated him. More than that. "You have concrete opinions about what you want." The exasperation was clear in every single word. This was why he avoided her, he knew that within minutes she would be a complete pain in the ass. And that his self control would desert him. And he didn't have to put up with it or her patronising behaviour.

"If you have one in that colour, that is a touch shorter, maybe three inches, that would be great. Otherwise you are going to make her look like a two-foot-nothing-tulip." Ella made sure he could see that she was being perfectly serious. She tucked her hands into her pockets and waited.

For a second there was a stand off. 

David glared. Ella did not drop eye contact. 

David turned and stalked off, furious and about ready to throttle the annoying woman. Words cannoned through his brain: lots of swear words, intersperses with synonyms for the word, bitch.

"Ella!" Amelia frowned at her friend, then whispered hoping that David couldn't hear her, "Why are you winding him up?" She removed the jacket she had just been trying on and placed it back on the stand. She looked over her shoulder, to see where David was now.

Ella followed Amelia's gaze, saw David had vanished and Ella knew her shoulders sagged in relief. "I'm not. He's being difficult." Ella replied with a calmness she was far from feeling. But her heart was still racing. Her pulse was fluttering. Her stomach felt as if millions of butterflies were trying to escape. Why? Surely, she was over this. Surely over him. 

Amelia shook her head. "No, he's not. He's helping. Or trying to help. And he was nice. Flattering me." Amelia scowled at her friend and then accused with a frown, "You're being difficult."

"If you want to wear what he's choosing, go for it." Ella started to pivot, ready to leave the shop, but Amelia caught her arm.

"I want you both to help me. He knows what we need for this trip. You know what suits me." Amelia frowned and then narrowed her eyes as she considered what had been going on over the last five or so minutes, "Why is this so hard for you?"

"What?"

"This! You and David. Talking. Why is that so hard for you?"

"It isn't." Ella replied with feigned composure, folded her arms, looked at the nearest stack of boots, not that any of the shoes appealed to her.

"I'm told I'm bright for my age." Amelia said dryly and kept her gaze on her friend as she advised softly. "You want to try again." But Ella ignored that statement and just picked up a horrible boot and turned it over, pretending to be interested in the sole of the boot.

"Ladies!" David boomed, when he realised that they hadn't followed him. "Will this do?" He held out a crimson coloured jacket as he headed towards Amelia and Ella. Not that he wanted to return to Ella. But he was not going to let Ella get the upper hand in this situation. 

"Perfect if it fits." Ella muttered and waited for Amelia to walk toward him. Ella stayed where she was, a nice safe distance from him. Of course she knew she was baiting him and that he was irritating her. But she didn't have to lower herself to his level of bickering. She knew the serenity she prided herself for having, had all but vanished.

Amelia took the jacket from David with a smile of thanks and then pulled it on. When she was wearing it she turned to face her friend, looking expectantly for a judgement. Ella nodded with cool poise. They both heard David thank God loudly with a fair amount of sarcasm to lace the words. Amelia pirouetted then grinned. Ella smiled at her. If Jack didn't notice her in that jacket the man needed his eyes testing.

"Perfect." Amelia beamed and shoved her hands into the pockets just to stop herself from giggling in relief. The jacket was lightweight but waterproof and insulated enough to keep her warm. "It is light, and feels lovely. It feels good. I love it. Thank you."

"Ok, so what else?" David huffed, annoyed by the fact that Ella was right, the length made a difference. As did the colour.

"Jack said to get breathable stuff. Whatever that is." Amelia told him, once more full of enthusiasm. "This was a great choice David. Thank you." She shrugged out of the jacket and placed it on the counter. "So, breathable stuff." She raced back to where David and Ella stood waiting in silence for Amelia to rejoin them.

David muttered something. He took them to the other end of the shop to pick up some breathable long sleeved t shirts, and suggested she also buy a fleece. 

Thankfully Ella appeared to have no concerns about the tshirts he'd chosen or the fleece he suggested. But then he made sure he went for colours he thought would suit Amelia, rather than practical colours for a hike. And, Ella decided, give credit where credit was due, the man learnt fast. The colours suited Amelia perfectly.