Heart Stopper by R J Samuel Read Free Book Online Page B

as she walked under the light fall from the chandelier. Gerry’s business suits were dark, but he always wore ties that he seemed to pick for their unusual patterns. Today, his tie was probably the most somber one he could find in his collection, but it had swirls of red and gold shimmering from its black base.
    Priya did not feel that familiar rush of adrenaline as she looked up to meet Valerie’s eyes. The usual challenge was there in those shaded brown eyes, the flecks of gold that had fascinated Priya as they had lain together guilty and sweat-ridden, were now just objects of beauty that could be admired as she would the dance of light in a rolling colored marble. She felt a sense of relief that the rush was gone, the hold loosened, maybe lost.
    “Hello all.” Valerie looked around the room and spotted James and Sean still in their deep conversation. “Did they fly the whole clinic out here?” she asked. Damn , her voice still had that throaty quality that seemed to rasp ever so lightly at Priya’s chest, a gentle note that made her wish again, for just one second, Valerie was not the woman Priya knew she was.
    “Only the ones that were there with Daniel from the beginning,” Sheila said, her hackles raised.
    “Yes, I guess that one year you knew him must make it very hard for you.” Valerie glanced down at the hand Gerry placed on her forearm and then back at the women. “It’s a tough time for us all. Daniel said a lot of good things about his staff, he was very proud of all of you. Gerry, why don’t you stay here with the girls and I’ll just go in to give my condolences to Daniel’s grandfather. The poor man must be in a state.” Valerie nodded to them as she left and headed towards the door Priya had seen Reyna and her grandfather disappear through earlier.
    “So, ladies, you’re all looking very well, I must say.” Gerry Lynch offered a tight smile at the group. He was good looking in an average way, no distinguishing features, an overall pleasant effect. Slightly thicker than slim, fleshy over firm physique of a man who used to frequent the gym regularly in his thirties, but finds his attendance slipping as life over forty gets in the way. The gray showed through, sharp and precise, lined around the edges of his short styled black hair and the red on the tips of his ears and the back of his neck were always patchy on his pale complexion. Today, there was a matching red rim around his eyes.
    “Hello Dr. Lynch, isn’t it awful?” Sheila placed her hand on Gerry’s arm smiling up into his eyes. “Would you like something to drink; they seem to have everything here. No alcohol, I know. Don’t you sometimes wish you drank, at times like these? You must be devastated; you’ve known Daniel for so long.”
    “They were all in NUIG together for their Cardiology Fellowship. That’s how all of this started, isn’t it? The research company, the Mark I pacemaker, the controllers. You were pioneers, Gerry,” Priya said in a rush. She had always admired Gerry’s research work; he had been her mentor and friend when she had done her PhD research through the company. This had made her guilt all the harder to deal with.
    “I was adding up the years and we’ve known…Daniel and I knew each other since 1999. That’s 12 years. Twelve amazing years.” Gerry shook his head and looked around the room, “Aidan didn’t make it?”
    Clodagh piped up “I was just saying how he would have loved it here, well not loved it you know, being a funeral and all that, but…”
    “You’re right Clodagh, he would have loved it here. Now, how about we all go and refresh your glasses and I’ll grab a coffee.”
    ∞
     
    Priya didn’t see Reyna for the rest of the evening. She seemed to have disappeared with Daniel’s grandfather. After about a half hour, Valerie had come back on her own, and she and Gerry had left the reception a few minutes later. Priya stayed and left with the rest of the staff from the