‘Three months.’
‘Are you sure you can’t increase it?’
‘Billie, don’t be such a witch.’
She spoons more jam. ‘Can we talk about your awful sex now?’
‘He left as soon as he found out that I hadn’t been with anyone else. I was pathetic, Bill. I lay there like a lemon.’
‘How do you mean? Didn’t you have sex?’
‘Sort of. As soon as he entered I sort of gasped in shock. It was so sudden and…well, painful, and he pulled out double quick.’
‘What?’
Lana bites her lip. ‘It was so embarrassing. He just stopped and left.’
‘What do you mean left?’
‘He got dressed and left.’
‘And said nothing?’
‘He said, “It’ll be better next time.’
‘Fuck me. He didn’t finish?’
‘No,’ Lana said uncertainly. ‘Is that very bad?’
‘Bad! He sounds totally fucked up. Nobody stops halfway for no good reason.’ She chews her cheek and leans forward eagerly. ‘Tell me what happened before he did the deed.’
Lana squirms. ‘Well, he had me dress up in a white frock with white underwear and white stockings.’
‘Oh. My. God,’ Billie hoots and begins to cackle madly. ‘He wanted a whore that he could pretend was a virgin, but when he found he had the real thing in his bed he freaked out and ran away. That is so funny.’
‘It’s not, actually.’
Billie sobers with impressive speed. ‘Sorry, yeah it’s not.’
‘Bill, will you teach me some techniques?’
‘I don’t know what I can teach you. I don’t do cock, remember?’
Then she looks at Lana’s distraught face and grins. ‘OK, let’s start with foreplay. Foreplay waist up has to be pretty similar, right?’
‘OK,’ Lana says.
‘The ear is wickedly horny. All kinds of things can happen when it is given a bit of attention. Run your finger along the rim like this.’ She runs her finger along the rim of her own ear. ‘Sometimes you can lick your finger first and afterwards gently blow on the wet rim. But the best effect can be achieved if you nibble your way gently all the way down to the lobe and then suddenly stick your tongue into his ear. If done properly that should drive him crazy.’
‘Really?’ Lana says doubtfully.
‘You should practice on someone else. I’d let you practice on me, but I might start to really fancy you and that would be too weird.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘When you brush your teeth in the mirror in the mornings do you ever look at yourself? You’re fucking stunning, Lana. If I met you in a club, yeah, I’d jump your bones. How about Jack?’
‘No, Jack is pissed off with me. He doesn’t say it, but he thinks what I’ve done is no better than what a prostitute does.’
Billie looks sideways at Lana. ‘I admire you for what you have done.’
‘Oh well, he doesn’t.’
‘He’s just mad because he’s always had this older brother, dead protective complex about you. But the truth is we are all prostitutes. Some women will put out for an expensive dinner, another for a ring on her finger, another for a better lifestyle. You did it to save your mother. That’s a whole lot better than the rest of us, I’d say.’
‘Thanks, Bill.’
‘Oh, there is another thing you can do to banker boy. You can tie him up! You’d need a metal bed or a four-poster, of course. This bed here would be useless. I once tied Leticia to her bed and it was real good. I told her to strip naked then I blindfolded her and trussed her to the four corners of the bed. And while she was lying there full of anticipation, I calmly told her I was going out to the shops to get some chocolate and was going to leave her bedroom door open. God, you should have seen the way she begged and then swore at me.’ She chuckles gleefully. ‘Her mother had said she would be back in twenty minutes, you see. I stuffed her knickers in her mouth and went out. Made sure to close the front door with a bang too.’
Lana’s mouth drops open. ‘That was some chance you took. What if her mother had come back and found her tied spread-eagled and naked on her bed?’
‘Nah, I had met her mother going up the lift and she told me to tell Leticia that she was going to the hairdresser after and would be at least an hour.’
‘Was Leticia mad at you?’
‘Mad at me. She was quivering like a school dinner pudding. I stuck the Yorkie bar up her fanny and ate it off her. She said it was the best orgasm she’s ever had.’
Lana laughs. ‘Oh, Billie. Somehow I don’t think he’s going to let me tie him to a bed.’
‘You can still try the blindfold. It increases the sensation when you can’t see. You could suggest a game. Put the egg timer on and he who comes first loses. When it’s his turn, blindfold him and give him the best sucking he’s ever had.’
‘OK, maybe, I’ll try that.’
‘Let me know how it goes, won’t you?’ Billie says with a smile.
Lana looks at her watch. ‘I’ve got to pop into the employment agency so they can tell tear a strip off me for inappropriately offering myself to one of their clients, but before I go; you know the extra money Blake gave me? I’ve decided I want you to have half.’
Billie’s eyes widen. It takes a moment for her to find her voice again. ‘I’ll take the free trip and I’ll take the jam, but I’m not taking the money.’
‘Remember when we were kids and we used to say if we won the lottery we’d share the money. Well… Isn’t this like winning the lottery?’
Billie smiles at Lana. ‘This isn’t the lottery. Besides, what would I do with money?’
‘You could go get your boobs done.’
‘Very tempting, but…‘
‘No buts. Do you want me to turn into one of those people who are generous only when they don’t believe they will ever have the money? Would you give me half if our positions were reversed?’
Billie thinks and grimaces. ‘To be honest I don’t know what I’d do. I think I’m just like everyone else, I want to go out, get wasted out of my mind and have fun, but you’ve always been different. You used to save up to buy violets when you were a child and take the bus to see paintings in the National Gallery. That was probably why I was drawn to you then, even though you wore boring clothes and actually read books instead of waiting for the movie version.’
‘While you painted the toenails of your gerbil bright red…’
‘Hamster,’ Billie corrects, and laughs.
‘Whatever. I know you’re on the dole and can’t show that you have too much in the way of savings so I’ve opened an account in my name at the Abbey and here’s the card. Use it as it is yours.’
Fifteen
She is fastening her hoop earrings when she hears his key in the door. Her stomach in knots, she stands away from the dressing table and looks at herself. She is wearing her Pucci dress. The colors look good with her hair. She knows she has never looked so fine, but her heart is in her mouth. She is so nervous her hands are clammy. She wipes them and rubs lotions into them. Then she slips into her beautiful new Jimmy Choos and leaves the bedroom.
She turns into the paneled corridor and hears him in the sitting room. He is looking down on the lighted view of London and has not heard her footfalls on the soft carpets. It is only when her reflection shows in the glass that he turns.
The crease of his pants leg looks very sharp and his shoes are beautifully polished. Her eyes move upwards. He is wearing a navy suit and an open soft blue shirt. Her gaze travels to his brown, strong throat towards the deliciously straight mouth and up to his eyes; dark and hooded and so full of secrets. They are watching her intently. Her breath catches. The flowers he sent are behind him.