B00CAXBD9C EBOK (17 page)

‘All right, all right.’ He gave her his address.

Controlling her laughter she hung up, admired her reflection in the mirror and buzzed the doorman for a cab.

Conrad lived in an imposing house in Belgravia. The door was opened by a manservant in a white jacket who ushered her into the library. She waited patiently for fifteen minutes until at last Conrad lumbered in. He hadn’t changed. A fat cigar was stuck between his fleshy lips, and he wore the same green silk smoking jacket.

She arose, deliberately posing her body so that the thin silk dress clung even tighter. She knew she had never looked better. ‘Hi.’ She smiled provocatively.

He came to an abrupt standstill. She could see he didn’t recognize her. He plucked the cigar from his mouth. ‘Are you the broad from
Star
?’

‘Do I
look
like a lady journalist?’

His piercing eyes roved over her body. His memory stirred. ‘Hey – you’re the broad from the party I gave.’ His voice changed. ‘Hey – what’s going on here – what is this?’

‘You’re a difficult man to get hold of. I’ve left lots of messages for you.’

‘So?’

‘I thought it was about time we got together again. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all the fun we had last time.’

Interest flickered briefly in his eyes. ‘Listen, I’ve got guests. You stay here, and I’ll see what I can do.’

He left the room and she smiled triumphantly. It was amazing what a fabulous body could do.

He was gone for a long time. The manservant came in with a drink and left her some magazines. She leafed idly through them, waiting, because eventually he would be back, and then tomorrow morning, enter Claudia Star!

From the day he walked out on Claudia, David felt depressed. It wasn’t that he had wanted to stay, the situation was impossible.

Claudia had turned out to be an out-and-out slut. She lolled around reading magazines all day, only bothering with her appearance if they were going out. She stayed in bed until noon, never tidying the apartment. The only thing she seemed capable of was incessant lovemaking, and whereas before he had lived with her, he had always been ready, now he just couldn’t do it. She was insatiable and demanding, never getting enough. David had always prided himself on his sexual appetite, but this was ridiculous.

He was pleased to have an excuse to get out. But depression followed, because instead of dismissing the whole mess from his mind and going home to his wife and children, he was an outcast with nowhere to go except the coldness of a hotel room. No home comforts, just four impersonal walls, an empty bed, and a Do Not Disturb sign.

He returned to work with a vengeance and brooded on the possibilities of getting back together with Linda. He reasoned that she
should
take him back. After all, there were the children to consider.
They
wanted him back. Everything could be like it was before, only this time he wouldn’t be such a fool and get hooked up with a tramp like Claudia. He would be more careful, pick and choose, short casual affairs, nothing that Linda could discover.

He phoned his ex-home and the maid informed him that Linda and the children were in the country with her parents. He was pleased. Give her more time to get over it. She was a sensible woman. She would know it was right for them to be together.

The first Saturday he was free he drove down to see her.

She looked surprisingly fresh and well, although her attitude was cold toward him. It was only to be expected.

He told her about leaving Claudia. Her reaction was strangely negative.

Give her time, he thought, she’ll come around.

He was charming to her parents. He knew they were back on his side.

Later he drove back to London and called an old girlfriend. She was giggly and a bit stupid but had a great body.

They went to a movie and then back to her place. She was lousy in bed. She had none of the franticness of Claudia or the calmness of Linda. He left after an hour.

On Sunday he woke early with nothing to do. An impulse took him to his office. He had a backlog of letters and other work he never found time for during the week.

He really needed his secretary to be around. Poor, plain Miss Field. Maybe she was available. She looked the sort of person who never made any plans. He phoned her.

Her voice was timid. ‘Hello.’

‘Miss Field. Mr. Cooper here.’

‘Oh!’ Her voice became a startled squeak, as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been.

‘Miss Field, how do you feel about working today?’

‘Oh, Mr. Cooper – oh, really?’

‘It’s all right if you can’t manage it.’

‘Oh, no – Oh, Mr. Cooper, of course I can.’

‘Good. Get here as fast as you can.’

She was there within the hour, pale and nervous.

‘You look very nice today, Miss Field,’ he said politely.

She had brushed her thin stringy brown hair down instead of pulling it back, and she wore a harsh scarlet lipstick on her thin, usually colourless mouth. Sunday clothes consisted of a brown dress and blue woollen cardigan. She was a picture of plainness.

They worked efficiently through the day nonstop until the light began to fade, and David suddenly realized it was getting late.

‘I suppose we’d better quit,’ he said, yawning. ‘You must be hungry.’

‘Mr. Cooper…’ Her voice was hesitant, nervous. ‘Perhaps you would care to have a little dinner with me.’ A bright red flush was spreading up into her hairline. ‘I make it my business to always prepare a
cordon-bleu
dinner on Sundays – one of my little hobbies, and I would be only too delighted if you would sample it.’ She added quickly, ‘Boeuf Stroganoff, with fresh green salad, followed by lemon meringue pie.’

It sounded good. Besides, he had nowhere else to go. She kept blushing, and he felt sorry for her. ‘What a good idea, Miss Field. I’d be glad to.’

She lived in a tiny one-room apartment. The couch, neatly festooned with crochet cushions, obviously did double duty as the bed.

She produced a half-bottle of sherry – too sweet – and he sat and watched television while she pottered about in the kitchen.

She prepared a delicious dinner with which they drank cheap Spanish wine. ‘I brought it back from my holiday last year,’ she said proudly.

After dinner she was obviously a little tipsy. ‘I don’t usually drink,’ she said with a giggle.

He was also slightly drunk, having consumed half the bottle of wine and most of the sherry before dinner. His attention was riveted to the television screen. The Beauty Maid commercial was on, and there was Claudia in her bath. Familiar sharp pull in his groin.

‘Oh, Mr. Cooper, our commercial.’ Miss Field sat quickly down beside him on the couch.

He felt the nearness of a leg beside him and rested his hand on her thigh. She shrieked, and before he knew it, her arms were around his neck and she was pulling his mouth toward the thin red line. They kissed, and as Claudia vanished from the screen so his desire vanished with her. But it was too late. Miss Field was already in action. All in the space of seconds, she leaped up, turned the light off, wriggled out of her cardigan, and was back beside him. ‘My dearest, I am yours,’ she said. ‘I have waited for this moment too long.’

He couldn’t believe it. The whole thing was ludicrous.

She lay back expectantly, quivering.

What should he do? She was a good secretary. He didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

She was getting impatient. ‘David, my dearest, come to me. I am not afraid.’

He took a deep breath and ran his hands tentatively across her bosom. There was no bosom!

Coyly she said, ‘I know I am not well endowed, but there is fire in my loins.’

Oh, my God! he thought. What am I getting into?

Tired of waiting, she locked her hands behind his head and pulled his mouth down on hers.

This is a bloody nightmare, he thought. But as her tongue worked on his mouth so his body started to respond, and soon he was ready.

She was angular, bony, and surprisingly strong. She managed to get his pants and shorts off and then her mouth was travelling down his body and she was kissing him, and suddenly it was all over for him in a huge, shaking, furious bout of passion. He screamed, but she didn’t stop, sending him into a frenzy. A shudder enveloped her and at last she was still.

They lay in silence – his body sprawled across her at an angle. He could hardly believe what had just taken place. Placid, timid Miss Field Mouse certainly knew what she was doing.

He went and locked himself in the bathroom. His body was covered in red weals where her fingers had dug into him. She was a hot bitch!

When he returned to the room, her cardigan was back on, and she was primly clearing the dishes. She avoided looking at him as he stepped into his shorts and pants.

‘Would you like coffee before you go, Mr. Cooper?’ she said. Her voice was controlled, only a slight flush across her cheeks indicating what had just taken place.

‘Er, no, thank you, Miss Field.’ He took his cue from her. ‘I really must be on my way.’

‘I do hope we can do this again,’ she said evenly.

‘Yes.’ He hesitated. ‘Well, good-bye, then. See you at the office tomorrow.’

‘Good-bye, Mr. Cooper. See you tomorrow.’

Out in the street he heaved a big sigh. He would have to get rid of her. To have her working with him at the office every day would be a horrible reminder. Next time he would get a pretty secretary – just on the chance he should ever be thrown into an experience like this again.

He thought about Linda with wry longing. He was ready to go home.

* * *

‘Linda, darling! You look positively stunning! So slim, so young! This divorce business certainly agrees with you.’ Monica led Linda into the living room. ‘It’s an interesting crowd tonight. No married couples – Jack and I decided it would be more fun. Now let me introduce you.’

There were perhaps twelve people sitting and standing around. Linda recognized Monica’s brother, a dress designer. He was with a short, squat woman wearing a very unsuitable silk pajama suit.

‘That’s Princess Lorenz Alvaro with Rodney,’ whispered Monica. ‘Exciting, isn’t it?’

Linda had never heard of Princess Alvaro, and she didn’t see what was so exciting about it, as Rodney was gay.

She was soon chatting quietly to a doctor. A tall and pleasant man. Before they had finished one martini he had invited her to dinner the following evening, and she thought, why not? So she accepted. He was fairly attractive and seemed most taken with her. Definitely a nice man, not a David type at all.

More people arrived, and Linda found herself wedged in a corner, while the doctor told her a long involved story about a patient of his with yellow jaundice. It was rather boring. She smiled politely and wished she hadn’t accepted his dinner invitation. Doctor or not, he had a severe case of bad breath.

Idly she glanced around the room. Then she saw Jay and she straightened up, smoothed down her dress, and touched her hair. He hadn’t seen her. He was talking to Rodney and Princess Alvaro, and then he was joined by the blond girl who had been in the lobby of the Dorchester the day they had lunched. The blond looked even prettier now in a crisp white pant suit, her hair tied on top of her head with a white ribbon. Jay put his arm around her, and she smiled up at him.

Linda looked away. The doctor droned on.

Monica announced that a cold buffet was being served in the other room.

‘I
am
hungry,’ Linda said pointedly.

‘Good heavens,’ said the doctor, ‘I must have been boring you stiff. Let’s go and eat.’ He took her possessively by the elbow and steered her into the other room, where she bumped straight into Jay.

He balanced two plates of food which almost fell. ‘Linda!’ He sounded pleased.

‘Jay,’ she said, affecting the same tone.

‘Where have you been?’

‘In the country with the children.’

‘You look terrific.’

Did I look so terrible before? she wondered. ‘Thank you.’ She couldn’t help grinning stupidly.

They stood and smiled at each other, and then the doctor’s grip tightened and he said, ‘We’d better get our food.’

‘Oh, yes.’ Linda’s heart was beating fast.

‘See you in a minute,’ Jay said. He winked and imitated an English accent. ‘We’d better get our food!’

When Jay was out of hearing distance, the doctor said, ‘These American film types are all the same.’

‘Oh?’

‘You know – brash, vulgar, full of themselves.’

‘Do you know Jay Grossman?’ Linda asked crossly.

‘Let’s say we have a mutual friend.’

‘Who?’ she asked rudely.

‘Name no names, hear no pack drill.’

‘What?’ Suddenly she hated the doctor.

He smiled secretly. ‘As a matter of fact, it’s one of his ex-wives.’

‘Oh.’ She tried to sound disinterested.

‘A lovely woman,’ the doctor continued. ‘I believe she had a terrible time with him. She just remarried.’

‘Lori?’ Linda asked coldly.

The doctor looked surprised. ‘Yes. Lori is in London with her husband. He’s extremely wealthy.’

‘How interesting,’ she said sarcastically, and quickly helped herself to food before rushing back into the other room. The doctor followed her closely.

There was nowhere to sit.

Jay was with the blond on a sofa. ‘Linda,’ he called. ‘Sit here.’

‘Excuse me,’ she said to the doctor.

Jay stood up and she sat down. The blond glanced at her, annoyed.

‘Susan,’ Jay said, ‘I want you to meet a very good friend of mine, Linda Cooper.’

‘Hello.’ Susan’s smile was limp.

The doctor squatted on his haunches in front of them, eating from his crowded plate hungrily. Jay drifted away to the other side of the room.

Susan suddenly got up and said to Linda, ‘Perhaps your friend would like to sit down.’ She moved across the room to join Jay, and the doctor quickly sat beside Linda. She was well and truly stuck as he obviously had no intention of leaving her side.

‘Can I drive you home later?’ he asked.