EPISODE THIRTY-FOUR
Andrew Walked up to the bar with
barely a glance at the fruit machine.
‘Bottle of Bud, please.’
While
the barman turned to get the beer from the cold cabinet, Andrew sat on the bar
stool. His bar stool.
The one where the writer had sat less than
two weeks ago.
The
barman turned back with the Budweiser.
‘D’you wanna glass?’
Andrew
shook his head, handed the barman a twenty pound note, and said, ‘Bottle’s
fine.’
As he was handed
his change, he asked, ‘Has anyone left
anything behind the counter for me? My
name’s Andrew Longridge. I just
wondered...on the off-chance...I met this bloke in here, couple of weeks
ago. He was a writer, and he promised me
a copy of his latest book. I wondered if
he might have left me a copy behind the bar.’
The barman gave
the shelf a cursory glance, then made the token gesture of rifling through some
postcards and papers. ‘There’s nothing I
can see. But I’ll ask the landlord if you
like. He’s not here at the moment.’
‘No, don’t
bother. It doesn’t matter.’
The barman
shrugged. ‘Well, it’s up to you.’
‘No, it doesn’t
matter, thanks.’
Andrew took a
long swig of his beer and the barman went to the far end of the bar to continue
a heated discussion about a penalty goal in an important match.
Andrew stared at
the shelf behind the bar and could almost see the brown paper package waiting
for him. It was what was supposed to
happen. If this had been a film, the
writer would have known someone was out to silence him; and he’d have known
Andrew would return to this bar and ask for the book after he was dead.
But this wasn’t a film.
This was the hard disappointment of reality.
Things like that just didn’t happen in real
life.
*
As Mike dressed, Maggie said,
‘You’re not as good looking as Gary,
and he wasn’t overweight, but you’re much more attractive, Mike.’
‘Is
that what they call a bank-handed compliment?’
‘Gary’s
problem was that he loved himself so much.’ She sat up in bed suddenly,
remembering. ‘I’ll never forget one
night, I heard him panting and breathing heavily.
I wondered what he was up to.’
‘And?’
‘He
was doing sit-ups on the floor there.’
She giggled at the memory. ‘He was trying to work off the beer he’d
drunk. I’ve never known anyone as vain
as Gary.’
Mike
sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. ‘Does it help to talk about him?’
‘I
suppose it must do. Does it bother you?’
‘No.
It’s just that this situation feels
unreal. Bit strange, that’s all.’
She
ran her fingers softly along his arm, saying, ‘It seemed real enough to me.’
‘You
know what I mean.’
‘I
refuse to feel guilty,’ she said with sudden defiance.
‘It’s not my fault he’s dead.
I know you’re not supposed to leap into bed
with someone so soon after the funeral, but at least I didn’t go behind his
back when he was alive.’
‘This
is revenge,’ laughed Mike, ‘without the guilt.’
As
soon as he’d said it, he knew it was wrong.
She snatched her hand away, looking hurt.
‘Is
that what you think? That I jumped into
bed with you just to get back at Gary?’
‘Well,
I haven’t had much time to think about
it. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...’
‘The
reason I jumped into bed with you, Mike, is because I feel so free
suddenly. Free to have a bit of fun for
a change. ’She brushed a hand through
his thinning hair. ‘Why do hairdressers go bald, I wonder?’
‘I’ve
got loads of hair left.’
‘Whoops!
Touched a nerve, have I?
Found a weak spot?’
‘Okay.
So you’ve got your own back.
We’re quits.’
‘Well,
it was a horrid thing to say.
Morbid. You can’t get back at the
dead.’
‘Depends
on how religious you are. If you believe
in life after death...’
‘You
mean Gary could have been
watching? ’She suddenly went into peals
of laughter and looked up at the ceiling.
‘You see how silly you looked, Gary,
from that angle. Oh, God!
I think this is hysteria setting in.
It’s not that funny.’
She
stopped laughing as suddenly as she had begun.
Mike leant forward and kissed her gently on the lips.
‘Thanks,’
she whispered seriously, ‘for giving me the fun and pleasure I never had with
Gary.’
Mike
smiled. ‘So your husband wasn’t exactly
Master of the Universe between the sheets.’
‘Put
it this way: he was more of your hundred metre dash than a marathon man.
Whenever I tried to talk to him about it, he just
brushed it aside and said, “I’ve never had complaints in that department
before. ”God!
He could be arrogant.’
‘What
attracted you to him? I mean, why did
you marry?’
‘I
was an immature young girl. I fell for
him for all the wrong reasons. Looks,
flash car, nice clothes. So I got what I
deserved.’
Mike
kissed her again. ‘You’re
fantastic. Out of this world.
I mean it.’
She
laughed, then frowned. ‘When you
suggested I slept with you to get back at Gary...no,
I’m not having a go at you...I just want to know...Is that what you’re
doing? Taking revenge on your wife?’
‘I
hadn’t really thought about it.’
‘In
other words, yes!’
Maggie
swung her legs out of bed, grabbed her T-shirt from where it had been discarded
on the floor, and pulled it on over her head.
She came round to Mike’s side of the bed.
‘Will
you promise me something, Mike?’
‘If
I can.’
‘If
you want to carry on seeing me occasionally, will you patch things up with your
wife? Take her out to dinner.
Buy her a big bunch of flowers.’
Mike
looked bemused. ‘Well, yes.
But...’
‘Because
I don’t want to be like Gary.
I don’t want to break up a family.
I just don’t want any problems.
Is that understood?’
Mike
nodded solemnly. ‘Okay.
I promise.’
IN EPISODE THIRTY-FIVE
Nicky gets help in dealing with the
boss from hell.