Shafted by Mandasue Heller

into her hands, telling her to go home and forget that any of this had ever happened.
    ‘I can’t forget it,’ Tania wailed, clutching at his hand. ‘You’re everything to me.’
    Wrenching himself free, Larry said, ‘Christ, you’ve already lost me my job . Don’t you get it? Your silly little crush and stupid lies have destroyed me. I don’t want you, and I never will. I just want you to disappear like you never existed!’
    ‘Stop it!’ Tania cried, throwing her hands over her ears. ‘Stop it, stop it, stop it!’
    Afraid that the neighbours would hear her and think that he was beating her up, Larry rushed towards her and gave her a gentle shake, hissing, ‘Pack it in, for God’s sake.’
    Sobbing loudly, Tania fell against him and buried her face in his shirt. Everything had been going so well before he’d found out about her age, but she genuinely didn’t think she’d done anything wrong. And she’d have told him the truth eventually – when she was sure that he was as deeply in love with her as she was with him.
    Pushing her away gently when the sobs began to subside at last, Larry looked down into her swollen eyes and sighed. She was just a child, and he couldn’t put her out of his apartment in this state. But he couldn’t let her stay, either. Now he’d seen the pictures and knew that Georgie had been telling the truth about the drugs, he was terrified that the police would come crashing in at any minute, and the last thing he needed was for her to still be here. Knowing his luck, he’d get done for drugging and date-raping her, or something ridiculous like that.
    Tempering his tone now, because Tania seemed to be calming down and he didn’t want to set her off again, he said, ‘Look, I’m sorry for shouting, but you’ve got to go before anybody realises you’re here and makes something out of it. I’m going to call you a cab, but we’ll have to sneak you out through the underground car park in case any photographers are hanging about. And I need you to promise that you’ll keep your head down. Okay?’
    Nodding, glad that he was being nice again, Tania said, ‘I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.’
    ‘Yeah, well, let’s try and avoid any more scandal, eh?’ Larry took another step back. ‘And can we agree to say that nothing happened if anyone does catch up with you?’
    ‘Nothing did happen,’ she admitted, with more than a tinge of regret in her voice.
    Peering down at her with a confused frown, Larry said, ‘Sorry?’
    ‘Nothing happened,’ she repeated, taking a tissue out of her bag and wiping her nose. ‘You were too drunk to do anything by the time we left the club, so I got your keys out of your pocket. It was just lucky the taxi driver knew you, so he already had your address, ’cos I don’t think my dad would have been too happy if I’d had to take you back to mine.’
    Heart racing as the clouds of gloom began to disperse, Larry said, ‘Is this for real? You’re not lying again?’
    ‘It’s the truth,’ Tania insisted, adding, ‘I would have if you’d wanted to, but you were practically unconscious. So, I . . .’Trailing off, she dipped her gaze as flames of embarrassment seared her cheeks. ‘I got you undressed. But I didn’t look at – you know. I just wanted you to be comfortable.’
    Exhaling loudly as the last of the tension floated away, Larry gazed at the ceiling and murmured, ‘Thank you, God!’ Then, moving towards Tania – but not too close – he inclined his head and kissed her on the cheek. ‘And thank you for telling me the truth. Now, let’s get you out of here before anyone realises you stayed the night.’
    ‘What should I tell my mum and dad?’ Tania asked, the fear in her eyes displaying exactly how young she really was. Her parents would have seen the papers by now, and they’d never believe that nothing had happened if they found out she’d slept in his bed with him. It wouldn’t have been such a problem if he’d