Jared looked across at the two and concluded that all was not well in that particular partnering. Caitlin looked deliriously happy while Nigel looked utterly petrified. Had she intimidated the man that much? Surely not!
Candy glanced over at Nigel, threw him a broad smile, received nothing in return so simply turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Ok then. Let's pool our stuff!" Candy said happily totally oblivious to the discrepancy between Nigel and Caitlin's response. Candy smiled at Caitlin and led the way to the door.
They walked out to the car park in their pairs. Jared and Candy leading the way. Jared turned around periodically to see if Caitlin and Nigel were still with him. He wasn't convinced they would follow. Something wasn't quite right. But Jared was relieved to see that Caitlin and Nigel were following. Though in reality Caitlin was practically dragging Nigel along. Once again that had Jared wondering about what was going on between Caitlin and Nigel.
Candy smiled at Caitlin, having decided that Nigel was unlikely to speak given how panicked he looked. "Do you want to drive your car to here?" Candy asked as she took in the fact that other groups had driven closer to each other to collect and store the items they'd found.
Caitlin who was already trying to figure out how to break the news to her other team mates that they only had one item, was rather slower to notice the way the other teams were operating. So she blurted out without thinking, "Why?"
"To transfer the stuff." Candy said as if it was patently obvious. Candy's brows furrowed. For now Nigel was not the only one looking anxious. Though Caitlin's anxiety was fleeting.
"Oh, that won't be necessary." Caitlin replied gaily, and sensed Nigel's panic escalate as the moment of truth got nearer. She wondered if he suffered from panic attacks.
That finally clued Jared into why Nigel looked petrified. He stopped, turned and faced Nigel and Caitlin. "How many items did you get?" Jared finally asked and kept his eyes on Caitlin. He wanted to see how she was going to extricate herself from this situation. Nigel was clearly uncomfortable, and getting more so by the second. There was nervous energy coming off in waves from Nigel. Whereas Caitlin seemed care free.
Nigel tried not to squirm as Caitlin said blithely and with assumed confidence, "One."
"One?" Candy shrieked, her eyes widening to almost fill her face. She looked at Jared in utter confusion, then back to Caitlin with a question in her eyes, as she announced in puzzlement. "One?" She asked again, her eyes wide. She straightened her spine and announced as if they had just won a gold medal, "We got 20 of the 25."
Caitlin tried not to wince. Typical, she thought. They couldn't just get a handful. Oh no. Not with Jared on the team. Typical. But that didn't mean she had to feel guilty. This was a social game. That's what the event was about. People socializing. Actually finding the stuff did not really matter. Though from the look on Jared's face it did. So Caitlin thought fast.
"Ah, but you guys had the top of the list, things got more difficult in the bottom 25." Caitlin bluffed without any hesitation. She didn't know what the top twenty five were but that was irrelevant. She just needed a good excuse, and she was delighted with what she'd come up with. There were times in her life when she exceeded her own expectations! Quick thinking under trying circumstances was what she needed and was good at, in her professional life! Good to see those skills were transferable.
"So what exactly did you get?" Jared demanded and banked his exasperation. He was pretty sure he was not going to be happy. He also knew that the list contained a random list of items, there was no hierarchy of difficulty associated with the items. So her quick thinking might have fooled Nigel and Candy but it had not fooled Jared.
Caitlin handed Candy the pair of tights. Nigel diffidently gave Jared the list and tried to avoid making eye contact with the other man. This was nerve wracking. Nigel was tempted to run. But he had never excelled at sprinting in school sport, and in any case Caitlin still had hold of him! Jared looked far from happy. That was not a good sign, Nigel thought, but said nothing.
"They don't have tights on the list." Jared snapped coolly. The woman was annoying him on purpose. He was sure Caitlin was doing this to wind him up. She was probably interested to see if she could push him to his limits. Well he endless patience. Endless. On the outside. On the inside he was spewing tacks!
"They do have hose." Caitlin told him with more frost in her tone as she realized that Jared's confidence intimidated Nigel.
The last thing Nigel needed was Mr Adonis himself throwing his weight around. It was about time that Jared stopped acting like a he-man and started to show a bit more empathy for his fellow man! It was pretty obvious that Jared intimidated Nigel. Given the way the man trembled, Nigel clearly found standing up to Jared rather daunting. Caitlin wanted to scream he's just a man, just an ordinary man, like you Nigel! But she doubted whether Nigel would believe her.
Candy beamed as she processed Caitlin's contribution. "Great!" She added the tights to the stash of stuff in her car boot. "That's clever. I never thought of that!" This was the best fun ever. Her team were doing really well. Even better, they were including her. In the past, the other teams had done their best to off-load her. Not that she had let it affect her. Not much.
"Thanks, Candy." Caitlin smiled in relief. Then she turned to face Jared and quirked a brow at him with clear insolence in her eyes. " Told you the bottom half of the list requires out of the box thinking! So, shall we keep going?" Caitlin asked sweetly her eyes on Jared, as she dared him to comment on Candy's conclusion. Caitlin had no intention of letting the man take what should be a social event and make it ultra competitive.
Jared narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. It was obvious that Caitlin was expecting him to challenge her. "We'll meet back here at 6." He stated with measured coolness.
"Perfect. Given that the bottom half is tougher and you and Candy are so good together, do you want to take it for the next hour? And Nigel and I will try and find the items still on your list?" Caitlin took the list Candy had, and after a quick scan, Caitlin tucked it into her pocket.
Jared trained his eyes on Caitlin. He was astonished by the way she'd managed to off load their half of the list with nearly all the items still to get and sound as if she had done them a favour! Caitlin kept her eyes blank, no evidence of the smile or her sense of victory. Nigel couldn't believe how smoothly Caitlin had managed that switch. Candy was just delighted to have another long list of items to find, for that meant she could spend even more time with Jared.
"We weren't able to find them, but you and Candy might have better luck. And as you couldn't find those items on your list, Nigel and I just might sort it!" Caitlin smiled to cajole Jared, but he could see the smile was fake and not mirrored in her eyes. "So, see you guys in an hour." Caitlin announced as she grabbed Nigel by the elbow and all but dragged Nigel with her. With a shrug and a diffident wave, Nigel walked away. He was he figured in shock! She was amazing! Jared did not stand a chance!
Within a few steps Caitlin could feel Nigel's contained laughter. "Hey, you coward, it's alright to start laughing now." She murmured, and punched him lightly in the ribs, pleased to see that he wasn't completely cowed by Jared. "At least you got him to take our list. That was well done." She leaned closer and gave him a semi hug as they carried on walking. " See! We make a good team!" She kept her arm draped along his waist and carried on leaning into him, as she chuckled in sheer delight. "Good job buddy! That's what I call team work!"
Nigel burst out laughing. He laughed aloud. He couldn't help it. It dawned on him in the last few minutes that Caitlin's strategy was appropriate. Jared was just a man. She simply didn't care that Jared had a legion of female fans. He was just another man to her. And Nigel felt he could at least try to emulate that. And given the bemused state they'd left Jared in, Nigel decided that if Caitlin could do that to Jared, then Nigel had nothing to worry about. He could learn from this woman. She seemed fearless. And her approach seemed to be rubbing off on him. He chuckled happily. This just might be the best decision he had made, coming to this event.
"He didn't stand a chance." Nigel finally mumbled to himself. "The great d'Olivera, also known as God's gift to women, simply didn't stand a chance." He looked at Caitlin as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.
He knew of Jared's reputation, women practically swooned at his feet. But not this woman. Caitlin appeared immune. She seemed to treat Jared with absolutely no reverence at all. And she got away with it. Jared was not pleased, with the lack of contribution from this half of the team. Of course Nigel knew that, but still they had managed to swap lists!
Candy and Jared watched the Nigel and Caitlin walk away. It was then that Candy wondered what Caitlin found so interesting in Nigel. Why would Caitlin prefer to spend time with Nigel? They seemed to be having a good time. With Nigel? What could Caitlin possibly find interesting about Nigel, when there was Jared around, Candy wondered. Candy watched the other two and frowned. Nigel seemed more confident, he hadn't stammered. He was more natural, and more interesting. He was almost a new man.
Jared watched Caitlin and wondered how he had managed not to strangle the woman. She kept the ice in her voice when she spoke to him and that really irritated him. And she seemed to think this whole thing was funny. Which with hindsight it was! Given how she had managed to hoodwink them into swapping lists! The last few minutes she'd played them. The bottom half of the list was unlikely to be any different to the first half of the list. She just hadn't bothered to look for stuff on her part of the list, he knew that. Then he remembered her swift move that had left them with the list and he nearly laughed. She was good, he had to accept. She was bloody good! For she had off-loaded the bulk of the work again, with one smooth move and made it all sound as if she had done them all a favour. He grinned. Ok, he admitted, he was impressed.