At lunch, Regan was at the kitchen sink, her back to him when he walked into the room.
She turned slightly, saw who it was and frowned. She had hoped to avoid the three of them for as long as possible. Not just for the debacle. "Mr Cardozo." She turned back to face the sink, hoping he'd get what he needed and then leave.
"Caro and I are dating." He told her back and saw her shoulders tense. Clearly Caro was right, Regan was jealous. Not sure that two dates, one with his family, counted as dating.
"Great." She said with no inflection. This was an awful day. First that run in with Gray and Ms Hanley, then this situation.
Gray expected Regan to turn around but she didn't. He banked his frustration, "So I'd appreciate you treating Caro with courtesy." He'd decided that he'd offer Regan an apology for last night, but also make it very clear that she did not have free shots at Caro just because it suits her goals.
"Are you implying I don't?" She kept her back to him, as his words cut through her heart.
She knew she shouldn't get her hopes up, especially after yesterday's dinner and this morning's bizarre event with Caro's parking. Today, clearly from the way he'd reacted to Caro when Caro had arrived earlier, he'd unmistakably found Caro interesting. Of course Caro was a beautiful woman, a well-dressed woman, with admirable manners there was no doubt about that, but still, hearing him make explicit claims about his relationship with Caro, showed Regan that there was no hope for Regan and him. Hope? For what? A relationship with Gray? Her brain mocked her. What happened to her plan to remain reticent, her brain questioned her heart. Her mind had a quiet argument with her heart: there was no hope, remember last night. Remember this morning.
"You haven't this far." Gray declared. Hopefully she'd apologise, then he could apologise and they'd be all square! No chance of that, said his conscience. In any other situation, he would sit down with his opponent, would talk about the situation, and would look for compromise, leaving all happy. But with Regan, that was a non-starter. Every time he thought they moved in tandem, albeit a partnership in someway, only to find that their paths were divergent. Why would she help him with his self-esteem only for her to shoot his social sphere by being rude to his friends?
"I beg to differ." She muttered and kept popping the ice cubes out of the tray: The actions allowed her to vent without yelling.
"You were rude to her!" He stated bluntly, seeing that his grand plan was falling apart. How was he supposed to apologise now, for last night, when she was not making any effort to meet him half way for this morning event. But he offered a token apology, "You know, I am sorry we didn't tell you about the dinner. We should have told. We should have asked for permission to use your crockery and your home. We should have checked if you were available and if you were available we should have asked you to come to dinner." He continued, "You know my reasons, I was worried that you might not enjoy Caro's company. That probably influenced my behaviour. Unfortunately, I made a mistake. I was rude, get I that, by not inviting you to dinner, without even tell you about it, that is plain rude. I am sorry about that. I can't do anything about that now." He paused, expecting her to say something. But she didn't. He poked his tongue in his cheek and took a moment, then said bluntly, "I want you to know, Caro will be around. And despite the fact that you claim you have no issues with Caro because you do not know her, I would like you to show respect. friendly at least!"
His words hurt. Ok, so she clearly felt a lot more for him than he felt for her, but even so, she wasn't expecting it to hurt this much, hearing him talking about another woman.
"Fine." She scooped the ice cubes together and then reached for the second tray in the sink. She ran the second tray under the running tap, then turned the tap off.
He restated, with frustration lacing his statement, as he watched her behaviour. "That means, I expect you to be polite. If possible, gracious and courteous!"
She was tempted to throw the ice cubes at him. "Fine." Automatically she began to press the cubes out of their container.
He ran his fingers through his head, in sheer exasperation. "If it's going to be an issue, we can move out." His voice was curt.
"Move out?" That stopped her from popping the ice cubes. Her heart started to freeze. Well, obviously her plan to place them in the employer-employee circle was actually not working. If they wanted to leave, she would simply accept it. But her heart froze when she heard his statement.
"Sam, Lore and I can find somewhere to live. And work." Came the cool self-assured words. From his tone she could hear that it was no idle threat.
"Is that a threat?" With her back still to him, she picked up a handful of cubes and placed them on the clean tea towel. Everything seemed to be going pear shaped today. She wondered whether she could try for a ground hog day, and hope that a repeat of the day would allow her to change all sorts of things in her day. Including this conversation.
"No. Just telling you I won't put up with you mistreating my guests, in particular Caro." He snapped. Why was he upset by her aloof approach?
Regan snorted.
"You were rude to her." Gray was annoyed with himself. He hated the fact that she made him feel this way. He'd been fairly certain that if he dated Caro, he'd start to forget about his ridiculous feelings for Regan. Just a shame that he hated the fact he'd caused such a change in Regan's demeanour to him.
"Rude? Mistreating?" She continued to bundle the ice cubes into the tea towel and drew the edges together. She kept her actions methodical. It gave her something to focus on, and it allowed her to keep hold of her plan to treat them with utter politeness, the type of behaviour reserved for associates.
"Haven't you?" He accused his voice laced with exasperation. "Caro acknowledged your barbs without any remonstration. You deliberate called her Mrs, when you knew she is single! She's been polite, considerate, and friendly. And you've been confrontational, unpleasant and churlish." He folded his arms, wondered what it would take to get past this barrier she'd put up. Her new standoffish attitude. Clearly dinner yesterday had changed the goal posts in their relationship. She had moved her goalposts away from camaraderie and moved it closer to antipathy.
"I have not." Regan stated flatly, albeit as disconsolation swept through her. Undoubtedly he thought her behaviour was poor, but she was definitely not churlish. Just upset. Well, probably disappointed. She nearly giggled in hysteria, more like really troubled. She pulled herself together and accepted she was wounded by Gray's approach with her and with Caro.
"Not much." Gray declared. "The first time she came here, you demanded she move her car, and ..."
"And I apologised." She interrupted and turned on the tap and began to refill the ice tray with water. The sound of the water reminded her of the tears she wasted last night as she'd sat in her room rehashing the fact that she was not invited, in her own home.
"Not to her."
"Fine. If you want me to apologise to her, I'll apologise when I see her." One tray full she placed it on the drainer and began to fill the other tray.
"The world does not revolve around you and your demands." He snapped with frustration at her composure. She sounded calm, reticent and uncaring. And her approach, her attitudes were irritating him! It was like talking to wall. She just stood thereat the sink, didn't have the courtesy to turn around to face him while theyhave this conversation. Instead, she turned the taps on and her responses were glib, banal, flippant. There was no emotion in her tone, just shallow, cursory pitch. He forgot his intention to apologise to her, instead his tone showed his frustration, "We do not need to bow and curtsy in your presence."
"Is there anything else Mr Cardozo?" She asked with even more reserves.
"Yes. Do something about your attitude!" Gray recognised that he was about to loose his temper, so he turned around and left. Then she heard the door close.
Regan huffed out a breath, then picked up the ice cubes wrapped in the tea towel and gently placed it against her swelling eye and cheekbone. She winced, and had to force herself to keep the ice pack on as she picked up the ice tray and headed for the freezer. She put both trays in, then looked around for her hand bag. She looked at her watch. Half an hour, she had half an hour. So with her bag with one hand she left the kitchen and headed for her bedroom. She'd done her locum shift this morning, which is how she'd ended up with the punch to the face. She'd then spent the rest of the morning in casualty, before the police took her statement. She had half an hour before she was due at the centre to start her locum seven-hour afternoon-late evening shift. She was hoping the ice would reduce some of the swelling, though she knew from her reflection in the mirror that she was going to have a black eye. These were times when she wished there was someone around for just a bit of sympathy. A cuddle, some fussing, a few words of comfort. Any of the above would suffice. Smiling ruefully she headed for her room, hoping she'd be able to phone either Lucy for a chat. Lucy would no doubt fuss and coo. That would be good! She'd get the sympathy she needed. She will make sure that she keeps her account to Lucy, jovial, otherwise she'd be rushing down to make sure she was ok. She was ok, she just needed someone to talk to. Someone to listen to her for a few minutes.