‘Hey! That’s the stuff I did yesterday. What’s the point of my finishing chapter six if I have to start all over again?’
‘I changed my mind about one or two things.’
Julia sat back again, wrapping her arms around her drawn-up knees, bunching her skirt modestly around her thighs as she looked at him in affectionate exasperation. ‘You’re such a perfectionist,’ she complained. ‘I don’t think that anyone can meet your demands, not even yourself. At this rate you could go on revising forever.’
‘The pursuit of perfection is what the law is all about.’
‘If laws were perfect we wouldn’t need lawyers to interpret the gobbledygook for the rest of us,’ said Julia provokingly. She loved to tease him when he was so intense and serious, to draw him out. She knew his face well enough by now to judge the imperceptible signs of strain as they appeared after a long day absorbed in his work. Left to himself he would work all night, and be up again at dawn the next day. ‘That would be you out of work for a start,’ she added, after getting no response.
‘I said the pursuit of,’ replied Hugh, calmly crossing a T. He looked up and found her dancing eyes upon him. After a moment’s hesitation he put down his pen, knowing full well what she was doing but ready to go along with it … for her sake, he told himself.
Julia rested her chin on one raised knee as he elaborated. When all else failed, casting slurs on his beloved law would always get him talking. He was a marvellously fluent speaker in his chosen subject and his soft, sonorous voice sounded a lovely counterpoint to Bach. Such a beautiful voice, thought Julia, closing her eyes and letting his words wash over her, how I love to hear him speak.
‘You must be a very impressive lecturer,’ she opened her eyes and smiled lazily at him when he finally flowed to a halt. ‘I’m not surprised that Connie calls you the heart-throb of the Law Faculty.’
The broad, intelligent forehead creased with disapproval. ‘Do you ever use that mind of yours to its full potential?’ he asked with a hint of weariness. ‘Don’t you take anything seriously?’
Julia sat up straight. ‘And don’t you recognise a compliment when you hear one, even if it is an oblique one?’ She would hate to slide back again in his estimation, to that of a frothy-minded idiot. ‘I listened, I understood—most of it anyway. But I don’t have the depth of knowledge to comment with any authority on the points you made. I have opinions, sure, but they’re uninformed, as yet.’ She didn’t want to tell him that she had actually borrowed one of his books—A Layman’s Approach to New Zealand Law—in an attempt to discover something of the fascination that his profession held for him. ‘Anyway—I’m serious about lots of things.’
‘For example?’ Dry scepticism.
‘My job. I’m very good at it and I want to be better. Cooking is a science as well as an art, it requires discipline and knowledge as well as flair. I admit that sometimes I have problems—after all, I’m not a naturally controlled personality …’ she ignored his half laugh, ‘but in the kitchen I have to subordinate myself to the job. That’s partly why I like to let myself go outside it. I love cooking, but it can be tough—long hours and hard physical labour, especially restaurant work. I’ve studied and worked for years to get where I am today, I reckon I’m entitled to enjoy myself. Can’t you accept that I like to laugh when I can because there are too many reasons in this cruel and unfair world to cry!’
‘Oh, I can accept that,’ said Hugh quietly, with an emphasis that told her he was about to say something that was very important to their relationship. ‘What I have difficulty in coming to terms with is that often your humour seems directed at me … at what I take seriously.’
Julia was aghast that he should think she had so little respect for him, and secretly amazed that he should reveal such an insecurity. Did it really matter to him what she thought? Oh, please let it be so.
‘That doesn’t mean I don’t care!’ she cried, twisting to reach up and lay a small, reassuring hand on the hard knee beside her. ‘Quite the reverse. I admire you tremendously for what you do, for the scope of your intelligence and your dedication—more than I can say. That’s why I can tease you so freely. I only tease people I like … and you’re such an irresistibly large target. You like it too; deep down, inside, you smile.’
‘You know me so well?’ he murmured quellingly.
‘No, but I’m beginning to! Shall I come after lunch tomorrow and catch up on chapter six? I’d rather be up here working than slinking around down there trying to avoid the Inquisition.’
‘I thought the situation was much improved.’ Hugh leant back in the big chair and Julia felt the strong flex of muscle under her hand as he straightened his legs out in front of him. She was tempted to leave her hand where it was, but suddenly she was aware of the flesh under the cloth, of how much she wanted to run her fingers up that warm, hard thigh. Seated at his feet she had a foreshortened view of his powerful body. His head was tilted back, face half-masked by the shadow thrown by the flickering firelight against the wing of the chair, the spotlight reflecting off the white sheets on his lap.
‘Richard and Steve aren’t at each other’s throats so much anymore, if that’s what you mean,’ said Julia, removing her hand reluctantly. ‘They’re on my back instead! It’s all right for you, tucked away up here. I’m the one who has to face all that avid curiosity. I’m such a terrible liar, I always forget what I’m supposed to have admitted to.’
‘You’ll cope,’ came the callous reply. ‘But certainly, you can come up and work if you wish, as long as I know in advance.’
‘Poor Hugh, how you hate company,’ Julia mocked, thinking how lovely it would be to be able to drop in on him anytime, without an appointment, just to talk, or to watch him work.
‘But yours is very necessary,’ he said, unflatteringly honest, and they looked for a moment at his hand, the deep purple bruising on the fingers now beginning to edge into yellow. ‘I’m sorry if you find it a bore.’
‘A bore!’ If only he knew! ‘Hugh, don’t be silly. Even if I find the text a bit heavy going, kn
owing you wrote it makes it interesting. You love it, don’t you?’
‘I find it rewarding and stimulating, yes.’ How carefully he avoided the implications of that little word.
‘Oh poof,’ scoffed Julia. ‘Don’t be so wretchedly cautious! It’s like me and cooking, a love affair. You know, Richard once told me that you chose your career because you didn’t want to get involved in the untidy humanness of criminal law, but I don’t think that’s true. I think you followed your vocation. When you talk about books, your work, you come alive. If that’s not love I don’t know what is.’
‘I must remember to be more careful. I didn’t realise I was so transparent.’
‘What’s so terrible about that?’
‘A good lawyer is like a good poker player. He never reveals his hand in his face.’
‘If you were less poker-faced life might be a bit easier for me downstairs.’ Julia gave a mock-sigh.