B00CAXBD9C EBOK (2 page)

Her laughter lit up the restaurant, and David laughed with her. She was such a beautiful, vital girl. He had had affairs outside marriage before, but this was different; this time, for the first time, he wished he was free.

‘I met this man once,’ said Claudia. ‘He promised me a yacht in the south of France, a villa in Cuba, lots of jewels and all that jazz, and then he just disappeared. I heard later he was a spy and got shot. Isn’t life funny?’

After lunch they drove through the West End looking for a film they would like to see.

‘Look at all those nuts,’ exclaimed Claudia, watching a large procession heading toward Trafalgar Square. ‘Can you imagine spending all your spare time rushing around tying yourself to embassies, and sitting down all over the place? And all the fellas have beards. I wonder why.’ She snuggled up closer to David. ‘Let’s forget about the movie. Let’s go back to my place and screw. I feel like getting laid again, don’t you?’

Who was he to argue?

BAN THE BOMB, the banner attached to the stout lady’s back announced quite clearly.

PEACE EVERYWHERE, declared a large notice held aloft by a bearded young man.

END NUCLEAR WARFARE, stated a ragged piece of cardboard clutched gamely by a harassed woman, also clutching two scruffy-looking children by the hand.

This group, along with several hundred others, marched slowly into Trafalgar Square. Many had arrived before them, and there was a milling crowd around Nelson’s Column and the fountains.

Linda Cooper was already there. She was squashed between an earnest-looking group of young girls with long, untidy hair and grubby-looking outfits, and a bespectacled gentleman who kept up a constant muttering to himself.

Linda was an attractive woman in her early thirties, with short auburn hair partly concealed beneath a chiffon scarf. She wore a cream Chanel suit which looked out of place in the company she was with. One would imagine that ten years earlier she had been very pretty indeed, but the prettiness had been replaced with an expression of resignation. There were little lines, a certain amount of tiredness, and slightly too much makeup, but the overall effect was attractive.

She glanced around. It seemed funny to be standing there, part of the crowd, without David. It was so seldom that she did anything or went anywhere without him, but more and more lately there had been long business trips and late meetings, and he seemed to have become so completely involved in his work, almost to the exclusion of all else. She sighed. It was only by chance really that she was at the meeting today. David was away, and suddenly she felt she must get out of the house and do something different for a change. The children were in the country with her parents for the weekend. She had declined to go, thinking that David would be home, but at the last moment he had had to rush off as usual. She had found herself alone, and eventually decided she couldn’t bear to sit around the house all day, so she had phoned Monica and Jack and they had asked her over to lunch. But it was a mistake; they were really David’s friends from his bachelor days, and she always sensed a certain forced gaiety about them, a sort of ‘so David finally married you’ attitude, ‘well, he could have done worse.’ After an hour and a half she excused herself on the pretext that she had to get home, there was so much to be done before the children arrived. What, she could not imagine, but Monica and Jack didn’t argue, so she left.

It was while she was driving home that she noticed the marchers and the banners and the crowds, and on impulse she parked her Mini in a side street and made her way into Trafalgar Square, which appeared to be the general gathering point.

It was a subject she had often thought about and secretly wished that she could be part of. To protest seemed the very least one could do, if not for oneself, for one’s children.

The end of an era was taking place. Nineteen sixty-nine and people were speaking out. She wanted to be one of them.

The bespectacled man standing beside her suddenly looked at his watch. ‘It’s three o’clock,’ he announced excitedly.

There was a sudden surge forward of the crowd, and a general shouting and yelling. Small groups of people seemed to disintegrate from the mass and rush toward the road, where they promptly sat down in front of the traffic. Linda was carried forward with the crush and found herself near the edge of the pavement. There were a lot of policemen pushing and dragging and lifting the squatters from the road. As soon as one person was removed, another immediately took his place. The mob was delighted. They chanted various slogans and cheered and booed the police. The large blue police vans gradually began to fill up, but undaunted, new squatters appeared.

Linda felt marvellous. ‘Ban the Bomb,’ she shouted.
She
was protesting about the bomb.
She
was actually involved in a meeting of worldwide interest.
She
was, in a minute way, helping to protect the future of her children. It was an exciting experience.

‘Ban the Bomb,’ joined in the people near her.

‘Come on, darlin’.’ A dark-haired young man grabbed her by the arm, and together they rushed onto the road. They sat in the face of an oncoming taxi, and the irate taxi driver growled, ‘Bloody barmy, the lot of ’em.’

Linda had a feeling of complete exhilaration, and then a pink-faced constable was grabbing her under the arms and pulling her to the side of the road. She started to struggle and another policeman joined them and took hold of her legs. There was a moment of immodesty as she felt her skirt hike up above her knees and then they unceremoniously dumped her back on the pavement.

Helping hands got her to her feet, where she discovered she had lost her shoes and somehow or other cut her arm. Her scarf had vanished and her hair fell around her face.

‘You look a right mess, don’t you?’ It was the dark-haired young man again. ‘Want to give it another try?’

A girl grabbed him by the arm. ‘Oh, come on, Paul,’ she said. ‘Let’s go. We don’t want to get lumbered down to Bow Street again.’ She was small, with long, pale-yellow hair, and she was very young.

Paul ignored her. ‘Look,’ he said to Linda, ‘you had better come with us. I’ve got a mate lives near here and we can maybe get you some shoes.’

‘Well…’ started Linda.

‘Let’s not hang about, Paul,’ said the girl crossly.

‘All right,’ decided Linda, and the three of them started to push their way to the edge of the crowd.

Paul took hold of her arm and guided her through the mass of people. His lank-haired girlfriend trailed miserably behind.

‘My name’s Paul Bedford. What’s yours?’

Linda glanced at him. He was tall, with slate-grey eyes. She guessed he must be about twenty-two. She found him uncomfortably attractive.

‘Mrs. Cooper,’ she said firmly.

He gave her an odd look, half-amused, half-puzzled. ‘Mrs. Cooper, huh?’

The pavement was cold and hard on her stockinged feet, and she found herself wishing she was safely home and not rushing around Trafalgar Square with some strange young man whom she had only met ten minutes before.

‘I have a car parked close by,’ she said. ‘I think it would be better if I got back to it. I’m sure I have some old shoes in the trunk.’

But Paul was already leading her across the road into Newport Street. ‘We’re here,’ he said, banging on a battered yellow door. ‘At least come up. We’ll bandage your arm, and then I’ll take you back to your car.’

The girlfriend looked sulky.

‘All right,’ said Linda.

A makeupless, white-faced, black-haired girl finally came to the door. She wore a tattered blue-and-gold brocade Chinese housecoat and once-white fur slippers. ‘Hi, baby,’ she greeted Paul brightly. ‘And how’s little Mel?’ She nodded at the girlfriend. ‘Come on up.’

They followed her up a narrow staircase into an enormous room painted completely black. There was a large bed in one corner, a lot of books and cushions scattered around, and a record player with Miles Davis turned up full volume. This appeared to be the full extent of furnishings.

‘Where’s your old man?’ asked Paul.

‘He went down to join the crowd,’ said the girl.

‘We need a drink,’ said Paul. ‘Got hung up in the middle of it. This is Mrs. Cooper. She cut her arm and lost her shoes. Had a right punch-up.’

The girl smiled. ‘You always manage to involve people. Sit down and I’ll get you a beer. It’s all we’ve got.’

‘Come on,’ said Paul to Linda, ‘we’ll fix your arm up.’ He took her into the bathroom, which was surprisingly white and antiseptic-looking. ‘So where’s Mr. Cooper then?’ he asked.

She looked at him coolly. ‘He’s away on business.’

‘What’s your name when it’s not Mrs. Cooper?’

She hesitated, then said, ‘Linda. Why?’

‘I just wanted to know.’

They looked at each other for a long moment before she glanced nervously at the floor. This is ridiculous, she thought. What am I doing here with this boy? What would David think? I must get out.

They discovered a box of Band-aids and Paul put one over the cut on her arm. ‘Was this your first meeting?’

‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘Look, I simply must get back to my car now. It’s really awfully nice of you to have taken all this trouble, but I have people expecting me at home, and they will be worried if I’m late.’

‘Fine,’ he said, ‘I’ll take you. Can’t have you wandering about London with no shoes on.’

They went back into the large black room. Lank-haired Melanie was sitting clutching a can of beer. She jumped up when Paul came in and rushed over to him. Linda decided she wasn’t very pretty, much too thin, and that awful hair!

‘Have some beer,’ Melanie offered. She had a whiny voice.

‘No, we’re splitting,’ said Paul. ‘I’ll be back soon. You wait here.’

The girl obviously wanted to argue but didn’t quite dare.

Paul kissed the owner of the room. ‘I’ll be back,’ he said.

Linda said good-bye, and they left.

In the street he took her arm again, but she shook it free saying, ‘I don’t like my arm held.’

‘What
do
you like?’

She didn’t reply.

They walked in silence to where her car was parked. She felt embarrassed and inelegant in her stockinged feet. Besides, the pavement was cold and hard and she wished she was safely home.

When they reached her car he helped her in. ‘Where do you live?’ he inquired politely.

‘Finchley. We have a house there.’

‘Hey, we’re neighbours. I live in Hampstead.’ He stood on the pavement leaning against the car door. ‘You can drop me there. Do you mind?’

‘I thought you had to go back for your girlfriend,’ she said nervously. She just wanted to drive off and leave him standing there. She knew how attracted she was to him, and somehow she felt very vulnerable.

‘That’s all right. Mel will find her own way home. She usually does anyway.’ He walked around to the passenger seat and got in.

It’s now or never, she thought. Either I tell him to get out or I’m accepting the fact that he’s interested and letting him know that I’m interested too. She felt him staring. She started the car.

Linda drove expertly through the traffic. Paul sat silently beside her, his silence making her even more aware of his presence. Eventually she spoke. ‘Your girlfriend isn’t going to be too pleased with you, saying you would be back and then just disappearing.’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

They lapsed into silence again. She decided that when they reached Hampstead she would stop the car, wait for him to get out, and then wave good-bye and drive quickly away. She would give him no chance to talk about seeing her again. Instinctively she knew he would want to.

‘I noticed you immediately,’ he said.

‘What?’ she replied, startled.

‘I said I noticed you immediately,’ he repeated, ‘in the crowd. You looked out of it, sort of lost. You wanted to be part of it and yet couldn’t quite make it. So I grabbed your arm and pulled you into the road and then you were all right, you forgot yourself, y’know?’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said defensively.

‘Oh, come off it, you know exactly what I mean.’ He yawned rudely. ‘Where’s your old man then? Where’s your kids? You
have
got kids, haven’t you?’

‘Yes. How do you know?’ she said defensively.

‘Easy. I can sum you up in a minute. Married maybe ten years, nice little house, husband away a lot, kids growing up and leaving you behind. It’s true, isn’t it?’

Her first reaction was one of anger, stop the car and tell this rude little boy to get out. But wait a moment, what he was saying was very near the truth. Wait, hear him out, what harm could it do? She was curious too. How did he know? Did she look the part so completely?

She forced a smile. ‘You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, I am. I can see it in your face. The way you look. Everything about you.’

‘We’ve reached Hampstead,’ she said quickly, and swerved the little car abruptly into the kerb. ‘Thanks for the summing up. It was great fun for you, I’m sure. David would have been amused. Good-bye.’ She stared straight ahead and waited for him to get out.

He didn’t move, just said quietly, ‘Can I see you again?’

She turned to look at him. His eyes penetrated deep into her own.

‘I don’t understand you. First you dissect my life, pull me to pieces, and then you ask to see me again. No, you can’t. I’m in love with my husband. I have two wonderful children and I live a very nice life, thank you. I think you are pushy and rude. Please get out of my car and go away.’

‘I would like to see you again. I think you need someone like me.’ He opened the door and got out. ‘Anyway, if you change your mind, I’m in the phone book.’ He turned and walked away.

She watched him go. He’s a creep, she thought angrily. He’s very thin, probably never eats. So young, but so knowing.
I would like to sleep with him.

She halted her train of thought abruptly. I would like to
what?
she asked herself incredulously. Sex had always been synonymous with David. She had never had an affair, she had gone to her marriage bed a virgin, and now this thought was in her head. Oh, there had been many boys she had dated, necked with, before getting married, but never anything more serious than that. David is a wonderful husband, she thought, a wonderful lover. But when did he ever make love to her these days? Maybe once a fortnight, and then it was a quick ten-minute affair out of which she derived no particular pleasure, and afterward he would turn over, go straight to sleep and snore, and she would lie awake for a long time thinking how it used to be before the children, when they were first married.