B00CAXBD9C EBOK (3 page)

She sighed and started the car. It was impossible to turn the clock back.

* * *

The house was empty; even the dogs were away with the children, and their live-in Spanish maid, Ana, was out for the day. It was depressing. Linda switched the television on in the bedroom and noticed that it was nearly six. David had said he would be home around nine, so there were three hours to kill. She had no intention of watching television, but it was nice to have human voices around her. She decided to phone her mother and see how Jane and Stephen were behaving themselves.

Her mother’s voice was placid and comfortable. ‘Hello, Linda, dear.’

‘Hello, Mother. How’s everything?’

‘Oh, fine, dear, fine. Jane’s having her bath now and Stephen’s right here. Wait a minute, hang on, he wants to speak to you.’

There was a pause, and then Stephen’s thin excitable voice came on the line. He was eight. ‘Hello, Mummy. We’re having a smashing time. Grandma made lots of gooey cakes for tea, and that pig Jane tried to eat them all, so I pushed her off the chair and she started to cry and…’ He carried on at great length about the cakes, and then her mother’s voice came back on the line.

‘Daddy will be driving the children back after lunch tomorrow, so you should expect them around four. How is David? Did you have a nice peaceful weekend together?’

‘Yes, Mother, very peaceful,’ replied Linda ruefully. ‘All right, then. I’ll speak to you later in the week. Thanks for having the children. Kiss Janey for me. Bye.’

What now? Feeling slightly hungry, she went to the kitchen, but she hated cooking just for herself, so she finally settled for a cheese sandwich. There seemed nothing else left to do except to go to bed and wait for David.

Bed, David, the two thoughts connected in her head, and an idea formed. She rushed to her closet and hunted around until she found what she was looking for. A slinky black negligee she had bought in Paris several years ago and never really got around to wearing. It had always seemed too frivolous. She held it up against her and then returned to the kitchen to iron it. Well, this is what they say in all the women’s magazines, she thought, smiling. Shock your husband into realizing how utterly sexy and devastating you really are!

After the negligee was ironed, she ran a long, hot bath and borrowed some of Janey’s Baby Bubbles to throw in. For good measure she added some Chanel No. 5 cologne, until it all looked very luxurious and inviting. Next she creamed her face, set her hair, and then climbed into the bath and relaxed.

The phone rang. Wrapped in a bath towel, trailing bubbles, she hurried into the bedroom to answer it.

‘Hello.’

‘Hello, Linda?’

‘Yes.’

‘This is Paul Bedford.’ A long silence, and then his voice again. ‘You mentioned David and Finchley, so it was easy to trace you in the phone book. Look, I’m sorry, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t mean to upset you. Will you forgive me?’

‘There’s nothing to forgive,’ she said coolly. ‘It certainly didn’t bother me one way or the other.’ She was tempted to say good-bye and hang up, but she waited to see what he would say next.

‘That’s all right then.’ He sounded relieved. ‘You know, when I like people, I mean really like them, I always seem to come on too strong. I don’t intend to, but it just happens. Sort of reverse action.’ He paused, then continued. ‘A friend of mine is having a party tonight; he lives near you, and I thought you might like to come.’

‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ she answered quickly.

‘No harm in trying. Maybe some other time.’

‘You’ll have to excuse me, I’m in the middle of taking a bath.’ Then she added, ‘Thanks for the thought, anyway. Good-bye, Paul.’

‘Good-bye, Linda. Sorry about dragging you out of the bath. The party doesn’t start until ten, so if you should decide you want to go, my number is Hampstead 09911. Bye.’ He hung up.

0-double-nine-double-one. So easy to remember. She shivered and made her way quickly back to the bathroom. The bubbles in the bath had gone flat, and the water, when she got back in, was lukewarm. She was secretly pleased that Paul had phoned; it made her feel desirable and wanted, a feeling she couldn’t remember having had for a long time. Tonight things would be different. She would make David realize that everything could and should be as romantic as it was when they first knew each other. After all, just because two people were married didn’t mean that romance had to go by the board. I’m only thirty-three, she thought; that’s still very young. Well, certainly not old. She climbed out of the bath and studied her body in the bathroom mirror. I could do with going on a diet, she mused. Her legs were shapely but a little heavy around the thighs, her waist was quite slim, and her breasts, although large and full, were still firm.

She slipped into the negligee. It clung flatteringly, and she was pleased with the effect. She applied a light makeup and combed out her hair. Then she turned off the television and put on the stereo. Sinatra was much more acceptable than some stupid sit-com.

The stage was set, the player was ready, it was nearly nine. A glass of wine would be nice, she thought. There was a bottle of rosé in the fridge, so she went and got it.

* * *

An hour passed. The wine was drunk, Sinatra was silent. The black negligee had been replaced with something a little warmer. The television was back on and Linda huddled morosely in front of it, watching an old movie.

She was a little loaded. The emptiness of the house seemed to press around her. Where was David? He had said nine o’clock. If he was going to be late, he could at least phone. Perhaps he had had a car accident. Perhaps he was lying badly injured or even…

The phone rang. First, the operator’s cool efficient voice, and then David, obviously in a hurry. ‘Look, I’m held up with these people here. I had to drive over from Leeds to Manchester, and I’m bushed. Not going to risk driving back tonight; it’s a filthy night. I’ll leave early in the morning and be home at eight.’

‘But David, I’m expecting you.’ She tried to keep her voice pleasant. ‘Why couldn’t you have let me know earlier? It’s nearly ten, and you promised you’d be home by nine.’

‘I can’t talk now. I’ll explain tomorrow.’

Her temper suddenly snapped. ‘I don’t care about tomorrow. What about
me?
I’ve had a bloody miserable weekend, and tonight I’ve just sat around waiting for you, and
you
couldn’t even bother to phone. At least if I’d known I could have gone to the films or something. You’re just selfish, and I can’t—’

His voice was cold and unemotional. ‘I’m with people now. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good-bye.’

The line went dead. For a moment she sat very still trying to control a choking feeling of complete frustration. He had hung up on her, he hadn’t even bothered to wait for her to say good-bye.

At last she replaced the receiver, only to pick it up again and dial. The ringing tone seemed very loud in her ear. I’ve had too much to drink, she thought vaguely. Then a voice was saying hello and she found herself replying with, ‘Hello, Paul, this is Linda Cooper. About that party…’

It was four o’clock when David and Claudia arrived back at her apartment. She lived in a converted house at the back of Knightsbridge, all very new and modern. She occupied the top apartment which had the advantage of a small roof garden.

David had often found himself wondering how she could afford it. All her furniture was new and obviously expensive, and she had an enormous wardrobe of clothes. She was an actress and model, and from what he knew of both professions, unless you were extremely successful you didn’t earn a lot of money. Certainly not enough to keep Claudia in the style she obviously liked. He had mulled this problem over and come to no satisfactory conclusion. Eventually he had decided that she must have a rich father, although this didn’t really tie in with the bits and pieces he knew of her background.

According to Claudia she had left home at fifteen, and arrived in London five years ago all set to be a movie star. Now she was twenty, very beautiful and sparkled like champagne. But no movie star.

He had known her only three weeks and in that time seen her as much as twelve times. She was always available, there didn’t appear to be any other man in the picture. She accepted the fact that he was married, and didn’t nag about it as a lot of women might. She never mentioned money to him. He had seen that she did the Beauty Maid commercial, but apart from that she hadn’t worked at all.

He decided that he had to find out more about her. Maybe she needed money and was embarrassed to mention it. He resolved to bring the subject up.

When they entered, Claudia rushed about making a great show of fixing the bed and generally tidying up. She was most undomesticated. A cleaning woman came in every day except for weekends. She made a disgusted ‘ugh’ when she came to the dirty dishes in the kitchen.

David followed her in. ‘I’ll buy you a dishwashing machine,’ he said, slipping his arms around her waist.

She turned, laughing. ‘You’re joking, of course. A dishwasher! What a
terrible
present. I’ll have something more romantic than that, thank you!’

‘What do you want? We’ll go shopping tomorrow.’

‘I want, let me see now. I want a Ferrari, two mink coats, lots of diamonds, a beautiful penthouse in New York, and a villa on the Riviera!’ She started to laugh. ‘Can you afford me?’

‘I’m serious. Will you settle for a mink jacket? Go and order it tomorrow!’

She stared at him and licked her lips. ‘I’d adore that. But if you want me to have it, surprise me. None of this ordering jazz. I like surprises.’

He grinned. ‘A surprise it will be.’ He wondered if now was the time to bring up her financial situation, and decided against it. Later, when they were in bed.

‘When do you turn into Cinderella tonight?’ she asked suddenly.

‘I should leave about eight-thirty.’ He stroked her hair. ‘But I can always stretch a point, depending on what the main attraction is.’

She giggled and pulled off her sweater. ‘The second feature is starting now. The main attraction should prove to be very interesting indeed!’

* * *

Sometime later, when David looked at his watch, he was surprised to find it was well after nine. Claudia lay asleep beside him, her long hair in disarray around her face, her makeup smudged and faded. She looked very young. Her clothes were scattered around the bedroom, leading in a trail from the kitchen. As if she sensed him looking at her, she opened her eyes, yawned, stretched, and made contented noises.

‘You’re like a cat,’ he said, ‘sometimes an innocent little kitten and sometimes the wildest, dirtiest alley cat around.’

‘I like that. I can see myself telling it to someone in the years to come. There was this guy, and he said to me, you’re like a cat, sometimes—’

He put his hand over her mouth. ‘Don’t say that. There will be no other guys, only me. I love you and I want to marry you.’ He surprised himself with the words, but there they were, spoken aloud for all to hear.

‘You know, it’s amazing,’ she said, ‘how very simple it is for married men to propose. I guess it’s an easy thing for them to say, because really they are all safe and secure, and they know they can lay out this tasty bit of bait without a hope in hell of getting trapped themselves. Marry me, my darling, only don’t let my wife find out!’

He was furious. So, all right, he hadn’t really meant it. Correction, he
had
meant it, but, as she had said, he was secure in the knowledge that it was not possible. However, the fact that she realized this infuriated him. Why did women always seem to have so much insight into the things men said?

‘I could get a divorce,’ he offered.

‘Are you going to?’ she replied coolly.

‘I don’t know.’ He pulled her to him. ‘It’s not just me and Linda; there’s the children to consider. But I do love you, and one day, when my kids are a little bit older, well then, everything will be okay. In the meantime I can look after you. I don’t want you to work. No more interviews. I’ll give you money.’

She stared up at him with her large, slanty green eyes. ‘I’m glad you have it all figured out.’ She caressed his back and he felt desire rise up in him again. She had only to touch him and he wanted her. ‘There’s only one little problem. I don’t want to marry you. Not even if you were free, and we could rush off and do it now.’ She wriggled away from him and got off the bed. She stood looking at him, completely naked, and continued, ‘I want to do what I want to do, whenever I want. No ties, no strings. I don’t want marriage, it means nothing to me. So don’t offer it like it’s a golden hoop, because I’m just not going to jump. So I love you now, today. But tomorrow, who knows? That’s me. I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not, so why don’t you do the same?’

He couldn’t control the choking excitement he felt. Her words didn’t matter. He dragged her back on the bed and let loose his fury and frustrations. She tried to struggle but he crushed her beneath him until her struggling stopped and became part of him.

For David it was devastating; when he was with Claudia it always was. Each time it was more, emotionally
and
physically.

‘You’d better get up. It’s past the witching hour, and wifey will be waiting.’ She stretched languidly.

‘Don’t be a bitch. Anyway, I think I’ll stay.’

She kissed him. They phoned Linda, and Claudia pretended to be the operator so that the call appeared to be long distance.

Afterward she said, ‘No bastard would talk to me that way and get away with it. I feel sorry for your wife.’

‘Do you?’ he said shortly. It annoyed him when she discussed Linda.

‘Yes, I do, although it’s her own fault.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘What made me more exciting to you than her? Because I’m newer and younger and prettier. Am I prettier?’

‘Yes, you’re prettier.’

‘But you shouldn’t
have
to look around. She should make bloody sure that she’s always new to you. Most women seem to get married and then stop trying. We’ve caught the fish, now we can put away the bait and only bring it out on special occasions. I’m not saying that you wouldn’t screw around once in a while. All men do, even the happiest of married men. But that’s all it would be. There would be no affairs like me; you wouldn’t need them.’