Текст книги "Forty 2 Days"

Автор книги: Georgia Le Carre

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Nineteen

When I go to visit Billie she has a surprise for Sorab.  A beautiful rocking horse from Mamas & Papas.

‘OMG!’ I exclaim.  ‘You shouldn’t have.  That must have cost a fortune,’ I go to it and touch the soft brown material of the horse’s mouth.

‘Nah, I nicked it.’

I whirl around to face her.  Trying to imagine how on earth she walked out of the store with such a big item in her arms.  ‘Why, Billie?’

She shrugs.  ‘It’s not a big deal.  These big corporations make allowances for pilferage.  It’s part of their operating costs.’

‘When we have our business are we going to make allowances for pilferage too?’

‘Hell, no.’

I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms over my chest.

‘All right,’ she says.  ‘But I’m not taking it back.’

I laugh.  Billie is incorrigible.  Sometimes I wish I was like her.  Life is such an abundant adventure.  She takes everything with both hands.

‘Listen, Billie, I know why you did it, but you don’t have to compete with Blake.  You’re Sorab’s aunt.  You’ll always be there,’ and the words stick in my throat, but I spit them out, ‘Blake will not.’

‘I’m sorry, Lana.’

‘You don’t have to apologize to me.’

‘I’m sorry that you can’t have Blake.’

‘Yeah.  It’s a bummer.’

‘I got a bottle of vodka,’ she suggests brightly.

I smile.  ‘No, but I’ll have a cup of tea, though.’

We are sitting at the kitchen table having our tea when the doorbell rings.

‘Expecting someone?’

‘Yeah, Jack said he might come around.’

‘Oh!’

She goes to open the door.  ‘Hey, you.’

‘Hey, yourself,’ Jack says and comes in.

‘Hello, Jack,’ I greet softly.

‘Hello, Lana.’  He is surprised to see me.  His eyes seem sad.  So sad.  I don’t think I have ever seen him like this.  Now that his secret has been unmasked he seems purposeless, empty and defeated.  He looks like a man who has had all his dreams and hopes shattered, and he is simply standing there looking at the shards in disbelief.

I move forward and he looks at me with a tortured expression.

‘I’ll leave you two alone,’ Billie says and walks quickly to her room.

‘We have to talk,’ I say.

‘There is nothing to say,’ he replies.  His eyes are burning in his face, though.  There is something he wants to say.  Badly.

‘Tell me,’ I urge.

‘I am leaving for Africa soon.  I volunteered.  I’ll be working for a medical charity.’

I gasp.  There are already tears prickling the backs of my eyes.  ‘Where in Africa?’

‘Sudan.’

‘For how long?’

He shrugs.  A half smile.  The old Jack poking through.  ‘Until I feel better, I guess.’

I nod.  I’m not going to cry.  I’m going to be strong for him.  Make it easy for him.  I’m going to wish him well.

‘Before I go will you…kiss me, Lana?’

My mouth gapes.  I stare at him. First thought: I love Jack.  I can’t refuse him such a small thing.  Second thought: my mouth belongs to Blake.  I think of Blake saying, ‘I don’t share.’

‘Forget it, forget it,’ he says, and whirling around makes for the door.  For a few seconds I am frozen, and then I am running out of the door calling to him.  He turns in the corridor and looks at me.

‘Yes,’ I whisper.

I owe him this.  This is my Jack.  He would give his life for me. I love him.  I have loved him all my life.  One parting kiss.  What harm can it do?  The kiss is already doomed.

He strides towards me, broad-shouldered, confident, sure.  The old Jack in every line.  He stops in front of me.  I look up into his bright blue eyes, totally different from Blake’s or mine.  ‘Old blue eyes,’ my mum used to call him.  He could have had any girl.  All the girls in school used to call him Mr. Happening and he was in love with me the whole time.

He puts his hands on either side of my cheeks, butterfly light.  There is no fire in his eyes.  There is no lust.  There is only the light of love, such love that the breath catches in my throat.  It pours out of his eyes, drowning me, leaving me speechless, parting my mouth.  He smells of soap and some cheap aftershave.  But clean.  And good.  And wholesome.

Gently, gently his lips descend.

And when they arrive I tremble at the surprise that is Jack.  All my life he has constantly surprised me, by the unfathomable depths of him.  Like that time he was shirtless and turning on himself like a wild animal, growling ‘Who next?’ to his attackers.  He is truly unknowable.

His kiss begins gently and without any hope, but there is such skill and technique that on a purely physical level my body begins to react to him. Where did you learn to kiss like this?  My shocked mind wonders distractedly.  And suddenly I am not standing in a concrete corridor in a council block of flats kissing my brother.  I am making love to a beautiful, surprising man who is in love with me, and who I could have fallen in love with if only he had kissed me like this a year and a half ago.

Shit, what the hell am I doing?

I put my hands on his chest to push him away.  Immediately he moves back.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ I whisper.

‘I didn’t think you were ready,’ he says bitterly, and begins to walk away.

‘Jack.’

He turns slightly.

‘Please take care of yourself.’

He doesn’t answer.  Simply walks away.  I watch him until he disappears down the road.  Then I gently shut Billie’s front door and begin to walk.  Sorab will be safe with her for a few hours.  I don’t have a destination.  I simply walk in the general direction of St. John’s Wood.  I feel ripped apart.  I truly never suspected.  Now he is going to a dangerous war-torn country and he may never come back.  I don’t know how long I walk, but suddenly I am very close to the apartment and mind-numbingly tired.  I cannot face the walk back to collect my son.  I realize my mobile phone and my handbag are in the pram.

I find a phone box and make a collect call to Billie and she agrees to keep Sorab for another hour.  I will go back to the apartment.  Rest for half an hour and then go back to Billie’s.  I wave to Mr. Nair and go into the lift.  In the lift I sag against the wall.  I used to be able to walk for miles and never feel this tired.  Billie is right.  I am only a shell of what I used to be.

I open the front door of the apartment and Blake is standing in the corridor.  I stop and stare at him.  Why is he home?  There is an expression on his face that I have never before seen.

In a flash he crosses the room and closes the door.  He bends his head to kiss me and rears back as if burned.  His eyes blaze into mine.  Then things happen so fast they are blur to my tired mind.  He grabs me by the upper arms and the next moment I have been lifted off the ground and I am lying dazed and flat on my back with him crouching over me like a predator, his eyes so ferocious I do not recognize them.  He pulls my skirt up and tears my knickers open.  Then he grabs my legs by the kneecaps and opens them wide.  He jerks his face between my legs, and to my eternal horror, sniffs me.  Like an animal.

I am so shocked and humiliated, I freeze.

When he raises his head and looks at me I am staring at him, speechless, horrified.  The wild, aggressive expression on his face is gone as quickly as it had come. I look at him almost in disbelief.  I have just seen him lose control.  I find my strength, my fight, and raising myself on my elbows, I place my feet on the carpet and push hard and away from him.  He grabs my foot.  I kick out with the other.  He grabs that one too and pulls me toward him. I slide helplessly along the carpet, like a rag doll towards him.

‘Don’t,’ he growls.  ‘I smelt a man on you.’

I am flat on the ground.  His face is very close to mine.  I close my eyes.  ‘I kissed Jack.’

‘Why?’

‘Because he is leaving for a war-torn country.  Because I may never see him again.  Because he asked me.  Because he has never asked me for anything before,’ I sob.  The tears are running down my temples into my hair.  I feel shocked and bruised.  I am in love with a man who wrestled me to the ground and sniffed my sex organs for the smell of another man.  Another man’s scent on me has brought out dormant territorial and protective instincts in the cool banker.  The instincts are destructive, feral.

He scoops me up in his arms ‘Shhh...  I’m sorry, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to frighten you,’ he croons.

But I cannot stop crying.

‘Please don’t cry.  You didn’t do anything wrong.  I just can’t bear thinking of you with anyone else.  I don’t even want you in the same room with other men,’ he confesses.

‘What is happening to us, Blake?’ I whisper.

‘Nothing is happening to us.  I just lost my head for a moment.  I didn’t think.  It was pure instinct.’

‘What’s going to happen when the 42 days are up, Blake?’

He looks pained.  ‘I don’t know, but will you trust me that everything I do is in your best interests?’

‘And what is in my best interest, Blake?’

He sighs heavily.  ‘In thirty-one days you will know.’

Softly he starts kissing my eyelids, my cheeks.  He ends on my mouth. He kisses it hard, forces my lips open and lets his tongue sweep into my mouth.  Possessively, staking claim on what is his, erasing the mark, even the memory of the other man’s mouth.  His hands are unbuttoning my blouse, cupping my breasts.  I am lifted and the bra clasp flicked open.  The blouse is being pulled out of my skirt.  It slips easily from my shoulders.  The skirt follows.

We have sex on the floor beside the front door.  The shock and the pent-up emotion make the climax explosive, and afterwards, I feel so exhausted I wish I could sleep where I am.  He picks me up and carries me to the bed.

‘I have to go and pick Sorab up from Billie,’ I whisper.

‘Tom is already on his way.  Sleep.’

I sleep for many hours.  When I wake up it is 7:00 pm.  I see the light from beneath the connecting door of Sorab’s room.  I pull on a dressing gown and pad towards the door.  I open it and stand for a moment unnoticed.  Bands of steel around my heart.  Blake is holding Sorab in his arms and rocking him.  I have denied Sorab a father.  I have denied Blake his son.  I had never thought to see Blake so domesticated.  He looks up and smiles.

‘Ah, you are awake?’

I smile.

‘Did you sleep well?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ I say, but I did not.  These days I wake up unrefreshed, tired.  I hope I am not sickening for something.  ‘Here, give him to me.  He probably needs to be changed by now.’

‘No need, all done.’

‘You changed his nappy?’

‘It’s not exactly rocket science.’

I go to Sorab and put a finger into the nappy around his belly.  The nappy is perfectly snug.  He has done a good job.

‘When did you learn to put a nappy on a baby?’

‘I watched you.’

‘Hmnnn... I guess I’d better prepare some formula for him.’

‘No, need, I just fed him.’

‘Quick learner, aren’t you?’

‘Like you wouldn’t believe,’ he says and grins, all boyish and gorgeous.  As if I have not seen him tackle me to the ground and smell my sex for the scent of another man.

He puts Sorab into my surprised hands.  ‘I hope you are hungry.  Dinner will be served in half an hour.’

‘Starving,’ I say to his retreating back.

The wine is an old vintage from the Barrington estate in France, the steaks are perfectly juicy and tender, and the salad is out of a bag, but perfectly dressed and salted.  I gaze wonderingly at him as he sits opposite me in a black shirt, faded blue jeans and bare feet.  Like you wouldn’t believe, indeed.

He learnt to cook while we were apart!

Twenty

Billie calls surprisingly early in the morning.  She has something to tell me.

‘What is it?’ I ask.

‘Tell you when you get here,’ she says, her voice full of something delicious, something she can barely keep suppressed.

I hurry over.  When I arrive with Sorab she is in the bath.

‘In here,’ she calls.  I go and sit on the toilet seat.  There is glittery-green eyeshadow on her eyelids.

‘Gosh, you look like you’ve had a fun night.’

She grins widely.  ‘I went to The Fridge last night.’

‘Who with?’

‘On my own.’

I frown.  ‘Why?’

‘Just wanted to.’

‘Well?’

‘I let a man pick me up.’

‘What?’  I am so surprised my mouth actually hangs.

‘What can I say?  This huge man, I mean really big, with muscles coming out of his ears, came up to me and told me that the tattoos on my neck were the most beautiful things he had ever seen.’

I giggle.

‘All right.  It is possible that he has cornered the market on going up to girls and complimenting the very thing that everyone else has told them is ugly.  But nobody has ever thought my tattoos are beautiful.  Not you.  Not even Leticia.  And it made me curious about him.’

‘But you don’t fancy men.’

‘I know.  “Thanks, but I’m a dyke, mate,” is what I told him too.’

 ‘And?’ I prompt.

‘”That’s only because you haven’t been to bed with me yet,” he said, and I was so high, I was actually impressed with that level of arrogant confidence.  “I’ll fuck you, but I’m not sucking your dick or doing anything else gross like that,” I replied.’

‘Billie!’  I squeal.

‘No point being coy.  I’m not sucking any man’s dick.  Anyway, “I’m not too keen on that practice either,” he said, so we went back to his place.’

‘And?’  I can barely believe what I am hearing.

‘And it was actually very exciting.  You know how I always take control.  He wouldn’t let me.  He was very strict and masterful, and fucking strong too.  I’ve never had anyone so…well…authoritative in bed before.  It was something new, something I’m not used to.’

‘So you enjoyed sex with a man?’

‘I hate to say yes, it messes with my self-identity, but yeah.  In the morning he brought me breakfast, ugh, sausages and eggs.’

I am almost laughing.  ‘What did you do?’

‘I ate it.’

‘What?’

‘Wasn’t bad.’

‘Billie, you haven’t had a proper breakfast since you were two!’

She laughs.

‘Are you going to see him again?’

‘Maybe.  He took my number, but he’s going to be away for a month.  If I see him again, I see him again; if I don’t, I don’t.’

‘But you want to…’

‘Yeah… I guess I do.  There’s something intriguing about him.’

‘Does this mean you are no longer a lesbian?’

‘Don’t get me wrong.  I still fancy you more than him, but maybe I’m not just DC but AC too.’

‘What’s his name?’

‘Rose, Jaron Rose.’

I bite my lip.  ‘Actually, I have something to tell you too.’

‘Get on with it then.’

‘I don’t want you to freak out but...’

‘I won’t freak out.  What is it?’

‘Victoria’s mother came to see me.’

‘Bloody hell.  That was quick.  Let me guess.  She warned you to leave Blake alone?’

‘Yes, she did warn me, but the funny thing is, I think she thought she was warning me for my own good.’

Billie snorts disbelievingly.  ‘You’re soft in the head.’

‘Just hear me out, OK?’

‘I’m all ears.’

‘It was all very vague and mysterious, but basically she told me I was in danger.’

‘Now you are freaking me out.  What kind of danger?’

‘She didn’t say, but something about the way she said it made me realize that she was frightened.  She shouldn’t have come to see me.  She came against her better judgment.’

‘So what exactly did she say?’

‘She said I should beware of Cronus.’

‘Who the hell is that?’

‘I didn’t know either.  But he is the god of time.  Usually depicted as an old man with a grey beard.  According to Greek mythology Cronus deposed his father and, in fear of a prophecy that he would suffer the same fate, he began to swallow each of his children as soon as they were born.’

‘Charming.  What’s that got to do with you?’

‘I don’t know.  I’m trying to work it out.’

‘Why don’t you ask Blake?’

‘Because she said, don’t trust anyone and I’m not sure—‘

‘You don’t trust Blake!’ Billie’s eyes are huge with shock.

‘It’s not that I don’t trust him.  I trust him with my life, but he is definitely hiding something important from me.  Besides, he has already told me that the less I know the safer I will be.’

‘Jesus, Lana, what kind of shit are you messed up in?’

Twenty-one

I wake up exhausted.

In fact, last night I was so dead to the world, I did not even wake up at dawn to take care of Sorab.  Blake did.  Before he left for work he gently shook me awake and said, ‘Shall I ask Gerry to come take care of Sorab today?’

But I had shaken my head.  ‘No, I’m fine.’

‘OK, I’ll call you mid-morning.’

I pull myself out of bed.  I am so tired I feel almost tearful.  I hear Sorab cry and I move instinctively towards the sound.  I pick him up and put him in his playpen.  He looks at me with his great big blue eyes and grizzles softly.  I know what he wants.  He wants me to carry him.  But I can’t.  Not today.

Today I just want to go back to bed and sleep.  I wipe my hand down my face.  I go over to the tin of biscuits.  Flavored with organic grape juice they are his favorite.  I thrust one into his hand.  He starts nibbling on it and I stumble out of the room.  I have a plan.  I will leave him with Billie and I will have a good sleep.  I need it.

By the time I reach Billie I actually feel dizzy.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ Billie says.

‘Tired,’ I say.  ‘Can you just watch him while I go back and sleep for a few hours?’

‘Whoa,’ she says.  Her voice sounds far away.  ‘You’re going nowhere like this.  Come here.’

Obediently I turn towards her voice.  She leads me to her bed.  I fall gratefully into it; it smells of her hairspray and perfume.  Familiar.  I turn my face towards it.

I feel a cool hand on my forehead.  ‘Shit,’ I hear her say.  ‘You’re burning up with fever.’

I go to sleep and when I wake up I hear Blake’s voice, raised, angry.

‘Why didn’t you call me?’

‘It’s not like she’s dying.  She’s got the fucking flu.  Everybody gets it.’

‘I’m calling the doctor.’

‘Who’s stopping you?’

I feel Blake sitting on the bed beside me.  He seems odd, distressed.

‘I’m all right.  It’s just the flu.’

‘The doctor will be here soon.’

The doctor confirms Billie’s diagnosis. ‘Flu, but,’ he cautions, ‘she does seem malnourished.  Perhaps even anemic.  I’d recommend a full check-up.’

Other doctors come and inject me with cocktails of vitamins, C, B complex.  I must admit I feel better after these injections.  I am spoon-fed tomato soup that Laura has sent.  It doesn’t taste anything like the canned Heinz tomato soup that I am used to.  I make a face.

‘It’s just missing the MSG,’ Blake comments dryly.  He makes me finish it all.

I am then moved into my old room.  The sheets have been changed.  They feel cool against my skin.  It is a relief to fall into soft blackness, but I sleep badly.  Tossing and turning through the night.  Sometimes I open my eyes and Blake is always there.  Awake and working.  He has brought a desk into my room.  The fever breaks in the early morning hours.  I sit in bed and eat a cup full of jelly.  The jelly tastes funny.  I complain and grumble.

‘You are such a terrible patient.  Get it all down.  It is all good stuff.  You’re body is crying out for minerals and vitamins,’ Blake scolds.

To my absolute horror I am put into a wheelchair the next day and wheeled down the corridor and into the lift.  It stinks of urine and I see Blake’s mouth settle into a hard line.  He hates dirt, chaos, disorder, ugliness.

For a week I am invalid, but the expensive daily injections and cups of red, green and yellow jelly are useful, and soon I am almost myself. My appetite returns and I feel good again.

But I have lost five days of my 42.

Twenty-two

I meet Blake for lunch in Maide Vale, in a restaurant that reflects the laid-back style of the area.

‘Why are we meeting here?’ I ask.

‘Got something to show you,’ he says.

‘What?’ I ask curiously.  His eyes are twinkling, he laughs at my impatience.

‘Why spoil the surprise?’

‘OK.’

After lunch, Tom drives us to an apartment block in the middle of Little Venice.  We get out and take the lift to the fifth floor.  Blake fishes a key out of his pocket, and with a lopsided smile at my uncomprehending frown puts the key into the door and opens it.  We step into an empty apartment.  I am immediately drawn to the balcony.  It has a wonderful view of all the waterways and canals that make up Little Venice.  Pretty amazing.

‘Do you like it?’

‘Yeah,’ I say carefully, not sure where this is going.  And then suddenly it hits me.  This is my kiss-off present at the end of our 42 days.  I keep a bright smile on my face, hope it doesn’t look too false, and turn around.

He has taken Sorab out of the pram and is coming towards me with him in his arms.  ‘He’ll drool all over your suit,’ I say, trying to appear normal.

‘Come, I’ll show you the rest,’ he says.  He seems almost excited.  That kind of annoys me.  I remember Jack saying, no man wants a woman for just 42 days.  You’ll end up as his mistress.

Silently, I follow him around the two-bedroom flat.  The main bedroom is sunny and spacious, but my heart is breaking inside.  He wants to stash me away here!

‘Do you think Billie will like it?’

‘Billie?’ I ask, confused.

He nods.  ‘You know her taste, do you think she will like it?’

I frown.  ‘Why?’

‘It’s for her.’

‘What?’ I laugh.  A crazy cackle.

‘Well?’

I laugh again with relief.  It is tumbling inside me like an upturned bowl of marbles.  The sound a joy to behold.  ‘She’ll love it.’

‘That’s settled then,’ he says, in a satisfied tone.  ‘It is in your name, of course, since I know that she keeps…er…complicated financial arrangements with the Her Majesty’s government, but whenever she becomes financially independent you can transfer it into her name.’

‘Why are you doing this?’

‘I don’t want you visiting her on that horrible estate.  Every time you tell me you are going there I almost break out in hives.’

I can’t stop smiling.

‘Obviously it needs a new bathroom and kitchen, but you girls can redecorate it in any way you want.  Just liaise with Laura and she will open accounts wherever you want.’

I am so full of joy I am almost in tears.  ‘It is the most wonderful thing that anyone has ever done for Billie.’

He becomes suddenly brusque with embarrassment.  ‘Well, I have to get back to the office.  Tom will drop you off wherever you want to go.  See you at home this evening.’

I throw my arms around his neck.  I feel so much love for him I am almost in tears.  ‘Thank you,’ I whisper.  ‘Thank you so much.’ I pull back and look deeply into his beautiful eyes.  ‘I really, really, really love you, you know.  With all my heart.’

He bends his head and kisses me tenderly.  Why won’t he tell me he loves me?  I know he loves me.  Someone who is not in love could never do something this generous and delicious.

I go with him to the door.  He stops.  ‘Who did you think the apartment was for?’

‘Me.’

‘You?’  He seemed genuinely confused.  ‘Why would you think that?’

‘I thought it was my kiss-off gift.’

He caresses my cheek with the back of his hand.  ‘You have no idea at all, have you?  The papers are on the ledge over the fireplace,’ he says, and then he is gone.

I stand in the balcony and watch him leave the building, cross the road and get into the back of a waiting dark blue Rolls-Royce with a silver hood.  Then I call Billie.

‘Billie, what are you doing right now?’

‘Watching my nails dry.’

‘Can you get a cab and come meet me in Maida Vale.’

‘Why, what’s in Maida Vale?’

‘Do you want to spoil the surprise?’

‘Why would I wanna do that?’

The bell rings in less than half an hour.

I open the door with a stupid grin on my face.  I can’t help it.  I am so happy and excited for Billie.

‘I’ve smeared my nail polish so this better be good,’ she says, waving her ruined nails in front of my face.

‘Sorry,’ I say and she steps over the threshold.  Just like me she goes immediately to the balcony.

‘Wow, this is some view, isn’t it?  Whose place is it?’

‘Yours.’

She turns around slowly.  ‘Sorry?’

‘It’s yours.  Blake bought it for you.’

‘For me?’ She is frowning.

‘Yup.’

Her eyes are narrowed.  ‘Why?’

‘I think he hates Sorab’s godmother to live on a council estate.  He was kind of put off by the syringes and the smell in the stairwells.’

‘What do you mean by for me?  What happens when your 42 days are up?’

‘You still get to keep it.’

She breaks into a mad grin.  ‘A flat right in the middle of classy Little Venice just for little ole me?  Wow.  You know what, if he hasn’t been straight as a die in all his dealings with you from the moment he met you, I’d never believe it.’

‘Well, it’s in my name at the moment, but as soon as our business picks up and you stop being on the dole, I’ll transfer it into your name.’

I hand her the papers.

She looks at them.  ‘Wow, who’d have thought?’  She lifts her face to mine.  There are tears in her eyes.  She blinks them away proudly.

I smile at her.  ‘And you know what is even more exciting?  Blake has agreed to pick up the decorating tab.  You have carte blanche to decorate it in any way you want.’

‘I just don’t know what to say, Lana,’ she says suddenly.

‘Is it worth messing your nails for?’ I tease.

‘Can you put that child down for one moment,’ she asks gruffly.

I put Sorab into his stroller and she envelops me in a bear hug.  ‘Thank you, Lana.  I know you don’t pray, so every day I get down on my knees and I pray that everything will work out for you,’ she whispers in my ear.

I pull back.  ‘You do?’

She nods solemnly.

‘Thank you,’ I say, and smile.  Grateful that she is my friend.