‘I understand that, I really do. I’m just not sure if you are handling this well. You are making it worse and more complicated with every day that passes. And if you think that Beth doesn’t realise something is up by now… well, I wouldn’t be so sure. Call it women’s intuition, but we sense this sort of thing. Weknow.’
Danny wanted to argue with that, wanted to deny it, but he knew that it was probably true. If anything, Beth’s behaviour of late suggested that she did sense something.
But then again, if he was different or acting off, then she was too. That recent dancing around the kitchen thing like she was starring in a Nora Ephron movie attested to that. And he knew that that wasn’t necessarily caused by him. He had done nothing to invite that kind of behaviour, and he had to admit that bothered him. That she could be so happy when he was feeling like this. They had always been so in tune with one another, he thought sadly. How had things ended up like this?
‘Yeah, well, if she senses something, then let’s just say I am realizing a few things too,’ he replied darkly, feeling glum.
Adele’s eyebrows raised on her smooth forehead. ‘What does that mean?’ she asked, her chocolate eyes narrowing.
‘Well, despite what you think, Beth seems in particularly good spirits at the moment. And it’s not because of anything I did. So much for women’s intuition. What do you suppose that means?’
Adele shrugged her shoulders. ‘I have no idea – how could I? I don’t know Beth, after all. All I know about her and what she’s like is based on what little you have told me. Yes, she’s happy-go-lucky but a delicate soul, and you don’t want to turn her life upside down and all that,’ she intoned, and he looked at her, annoyed.
Was she trying to suggest that Beth was weak? Because that certainly wasn’t the case. Yes, she might prefer always to look on the sunnier side of life, but there was nothing wrong with that. It was actually one of the things that had made Danny fall in love with her.
Adele was shaking her head again. ‘Anyway, I’m not the one you should be talking to about all this, Danny. I’ve told you before, I think you should come right out and just tell her. No tiptoeing around it, trying not to hurt her. At this point, that’s impossible anyway.’
He waved a dismissive hand, feeling irritated by her today. ‘Like I said, just let me do it in my own time, OK? You don’t know her like I do…’
Adele reached out and tried to put a comforting hand on his arm, but he moved away. ‘Come on, you know I’m just trying to help. I care about you. I know that none of this is easy on you. Because it happened so quickly, and it’s so close to the holidays now… I get it. But I think that despite what’s gone on you’re still reluctant to admit itishappening, Danny. All this…’ she waved towards the bed and around the room. ‘You have to make a decision. And soon.’
Danny placed his head in his hands, frustrated. ‘And at the end of the day what would that solve? If I tell her now, do you think she’d ever be able to forgive me?’ He stood up and straightened his shirt collar, readying himself to leave. He couldn’t handle this conversation any more at this point. He thought again about what she had said, and wondered if he truly was just sheltering Beth from the truth like you would a fragile doll.
Sensing that the conversation was definitely closed, Adele followed as Danny made his way to the door.
‘Well, you might think you know what you’re doing,’ she warned in parting, her words echoing in Danny’s mind as he took his leave, ‘but keep this up for much longer, and you might just be making Beth’s decision easier when she does find out.’
***
After work, Beth returned home to Gold Street to discover that once again she’d reached the apartment before Danny, but today she was too distracted to worry or be concerned about it.
After disposing of her work clothes in lieu of a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, she shovelled down a cook-from-frozen lasagne for dinner, then headed into the living room, Brinkley skittering at her feet.
Sitting down on the sofa, she turned on the TV.
Smiling, she patted the space next to her and the little dog jumped up, taking a seat on top of a nearby cushion. Powering up her laptop, she waited for the machine to go through its startup and then eagerly opened up her browser and prepared to enter a search query. Immediately, she saw what she was looking for: a YouTube clip from a movie scene; one that she recognised all too well. Clicking on the clip, Beth’s eyes widened happily as she realised that she was right.
‘We could have this engraved, couldn’t we?’ said a male voice. The instantly recognisable Paul Varjak played by George Peppard, was speaking to a salesman at Tiffany’s. Beth watched raptly as the salesman took the ring that Paul had just offered and examined it.
‘This, I take it, was not purchased at Tiffany’s?’ the salesman was asking.
To which Paul replied, ‘No, actually it was purchased concurrent with… uh… well, actually… came inside of… well, a box of Cracker Jack.’
Beth smiled delightedly. THAT was why today’s set-up all seemed so familiar, the coffee cup, Cracker Jack and more importantly the curious line, ‘We could have this engraved.’ It was from a movie.
And not just any movie…
‘I knew it.’ Beth tossed her computer onto the sofa and jubilantly threw her arms in the air in celebration of her discovery. Brinkley jumped up from the cushion and barked suspiciously, apparently miffed by the disruption. ‘Coffee – like the coffee that Audrey Hepburn drinks as she stands outside the windows of Tiffany’s in the opening scene of the movie. And Cracker Jack – Paul got the ring out of the Cracker Jack box so he would have something to engrave at Tiffany’s,’ she cried, exalted by her discovery. The clues all pointed to the movieBreakfast at Tiffany’s. ‘You know what this means, Brinks?’
The little dog tilted his head at the question, as if he was waiting for her to tell him.
She thought again about the hidden message inside the coffee cup, and what it represented. Clearly the senderdidwant her to do something, and theBreakfast at Tiffany’s-related inscription on the cup was not just a message, but an invitation.Meet me there. Beth was unaccountably thrilled and delighted, not only at the prospect of such an adventure, but where it might take her.
‘Seems somebody wants me to go to Tiffany’s.’
Chapter 9
The next day at lunchtime, as she approached the famous Tiffany’s store on Fifth Avenue, Beth’s excitement reached a peak. That morning she’d barely been able to concentrate on work at all.
