put her glass down on the table. Studied it hard. ‘Why have you brought me here, Casper ?’ she asked.
‘Why, I told you, to repay – ‘
‘You could have come here with any woman you liked. Someone like her,’ she said, indicating the pretty one that came in. ‘Instead you brought me.’
His eyes grew sober. ‘Yes, I am here with you, aren’t I? Do you think me so shallow that I can be turned simply by a flash of red lipstick?’ he appeared faintly hurt. ‘Not all men are the same, Laura. Do you really want to know why I invited you out to dinner? The real reason?’ She nodded dumbly. ‘Because I like you. It’s nothing more complicated than that. Do you know how much parking money I shelled out waiting for you to come along in that blasted car park? It’s not a fun spot, you know.’ He smiled warmly. ‘The man that checked the parking tickets gave me more than one suspicious glance, I can tell you!’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I’m spoiling your evening.’
‘Not at all! Far from it. And we both really need to stop saying sorry all the time. I shall demand a forfeit every time one of us says it from here on in! Agreed?’
‘Agreed.’
‘All settled, then.’
Afterwards he drove her back home, walked her to the front door. She looked at him nervously but he made no attempt to kiss her like she feared, not even a friendly peck on the cheek.
‘Well, Laura, it has been a wonderful evening, but remind me to steer clear of the trout next time.’ He put his hands behind his back, studied his shoes for a second or two. ‘I don’t suppose…’
‘You don’t suppose what?’
He gave a shrug. ‘Would you mind if I see you again?’
‘I think the damage to my car is more than paid for, Casper ,’ she said. ‘That was very expensive and you should have let me pay my half.’
‘Perhaps if I crash into your car again that would give me another excuse…’
‘An excuse?’
‘It would be nice to see you again.’
‘I don’t know…’
‘You’re right. That was too forward of me. You have my number if you decide…Well you have my number.’
He went back to his car. She said something to him but he couldn’t catch it and wound the window down. ‘What’s that you say?’
‘I had a lovely time,’ she said hurriedly and went inside and closed the door.
* * * *
8
Quiet at the Back
The summer months wore on, the heat relentless, as if there were some kind of heavenly furnace being stoked up to bursting point. The atmosphere inside the Empire became decidedly oppressive, but it wasn’t only the heat that affected Vince Moody.
When he was called to Martin Caldwell’s office he was surprised to see that another desk had somehow been squeezed into the cramped space and Monica the cleaner was sat at it like she owned the place. An Adler typewriter sat unused in front of her. She had a cigarette perched between her pursed lips and she exhaled a large blue cloud of smoke towards him, her mouth twisting into a barely disguised contemptuous leer.
‘Monica is my new secretary,’ Caldwell felt he had to explain. ‘Someone to answer my phone, do things for me.’
‘Mrs Kimble…’ Vince began.
‘She’s no longer with us,’ said Caldwell . ‘She’d worked beyond retirement age anyway.’
Vince thought he looked troubled, like the last thing he needed was another body cluttering up his office, but he guessed Monica had other ideas. She sat like a smug cuckoo waiting to be fed.
‘I can make sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing now,’ she said. ‘Keep a close eye on things for Mr Caldwell.’
Vince met young Edith as he left Caldwell ’s office; or rather she met him.
‘There you are, Vince,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Have you been avoiding me?’
‘Yes,’ he said abruptly.
‘Why?’
‘Because of your big mouth, that’s why,’ he said, but of course he immediately felt he had been too harsh and began to beat himself up
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