Next to him, Julie lay in silent passion that she never knew could exist.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Roy Henderson slammed the doctor's office door behind him and hissed a list of obscenities. Shit! VD! Now who in hell would have given him that? Samantha, probably… or was it Susan? Hell, how could he keep them straight. VD and he hadn't even got off on sex with those bitches. Just a couple of sleazy bisexuals who were looking for a quick lay.
But what did that make him? Damn, he wasn't any better, was he? He pressed the elevator button and waited for the red light to flash. Life was getting to be too complicated.
A wave of loneliness swept over him. What he wouldn't give to go home and find his sweet little Julie in bed waiting for him. Now that was love; that was real love, something those cheap sluts Samantha and Susan knew nothing about. Sex… that's all they could think about. Whew!
And that Ertha was no better, either. Who on earth Julie could call that witch a friend, he couldn't understand. Man, she'd built up a barricade twelve feet thick around Julie. No matter how many times he called Ertha's apartment, the response was always the same: "Sorry, Julie's not here."
But there had to be some way of getting hold of Julie, even if it meant breaking into that apartment and abducting her. Just to hold her in his arms, kiss her rosy cheeks and whisper sweet things in her ears…
The elevator door opened and he stepped in, his infected groin aching with every cursed step.
"You what?" Ertha sat straight up in bed. "Horny for, or even attracted to, but in love?"
Julie was sitting at the foot of her bed, and she'd just come back from another afternoon with Joshua. This thing of Julie's about Joshua was getting to be too much. Joshua was seeing her almost every day. But Ertha was worried. Julie had been running around with her head up in the clouds for two weeks now and she was obviously so intrigued with Joshua that nothing else interested her. Roy had phoned almost every day and somehow she'd managed to keep those heated conversations free of Julie's ears. All Ertha heard around the place with was Joshua this and Joshua that. She knew Joshua was one good lay, but she hadn't thought he was that good, for heaven's sake! Ertha wondered what would happen when Joshua showed his true colors to Julie, let her see what a fly-by-night lover he was… and what his true interest in her was. She knew Joshua couldn't keep his secret forever.
She wished that Julie would take her advice and not restrict herself to just one male… but it was impossible to talk to her about anything these days. Ertha decided, after this conversation now with Julie, to let the whole thing run its course without interfering. It would all come out in the wash soon enough, she thought, taking another sip of heir drink while she turned on the hair dryer again.
When Julie dismissed herself and the sound of the shower spray emanated through the adjoining wall, Ertha picked up her pink telephone and dialed Joshua's number. "Damnit, Joshua, quit fucking around and start setting up some tricks for Julie, would you? Man, don't play with her head that way, she's a sweet chick and she doesn't deserve this charade you've been playing with her."
Joshua listened, knowing Ertha was right. He hadn't been fair with Julie, misleading her as he had. "Okay, okay. Just give me one more night and I'll set the kid straight. Then we'll all be in business, again."
Julie sat waiting for Joshua's call. He usually called between five and six o'clock and since it was seven o'clock, she was sure he'd call any minute.
As the hours passed and still he had not called, she began to grow more and more nervous. He had not seemed terribly enthusiastic the last time they met and when she asked him if he loved her, he seemed surprised and answered very vaguely. Although she had accustomed herself to his secrecy, there was a mysterious occurrence that happened every time he set eyes on Ertha – almost as if they were exchanging thoughts whose subject was she, Julie.
"Love? Why I really hadn't thought about it! Have you?" had been Joshua's answer.
They had been in Ertha's "office", as they most often were during their progressively wilder sex scene and Julie had lain back on the silken pillow, turning her face so that he would not see her hurt. But afterward, he had taken her so passionately with such obvious relish and appetite, that she had been sure he was communicating his love in that manner, rather than saying it with words. For, like Ertha, Joshua was the type of person whose actions counted, not his words. It never occurred to her that Joshua was interested in her for any other reason than to adore her. Business and massage for money was the last thing she had in mind; though, had she paid more heed to those secret glances exchanged between her two best friends, she would have seen the true reason for his affection.
Ertha came out of her bedroom, dressed to the teeth in her new calf-length skirt and tight jersey. Now that Joshua and Julie were taking up the evening hours in her romper room, she had been forced to use a less appealing "office" set up in the back of one of the Broadway topless bars that Joshua managed on the side.
Ertha was beginning to feel sorry for Julie, since she knew that Joshua would make his last call tonight. Joshua wanted no involvement, she knew. Ertha felt a twinge of remorse about the situation she had gotten Julie into. She had picked her out thinking Julie was just the type of girl Joshua could use in his business, but it wasn't turning out that way at all… not at all! She watched as Julie downed another glass of wine which she had put in a water glass so she wouldn't have to refill it so many times.
The wine had helped ease the pain Julie felt to some extent, but there was a dull thudding in her head, replacing the mounting hysteria inside her. The prospect of the end of another love before it had begun was too cruel to contemplate. She began to think of Roy and how she'd love to be with him now… how good it would be to have a true friend who knew her well and would listen to her.
For a second she thought of phoning him, but the fear of hearing a feminine giggle in the back ground kept her from doing so. Time would bury the love for Roy…
She had about given up hope when Joshua called, but his request left her startled and confused. The wine hadn't helped keep her head clear, either.
"Julie, honey. I won't be able to make it tonight. But, listen. How about making some extra cash? I've got a couple of buddies who don't dig those massage parlor trips but who really get off on a good backrub. How's about doin' it for 'em, huh, baby?"
When Joshua used that tone of voice, he could ask her to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge and she'd comply. "Well… I…"
"Ah, come on, baby. You can do it. Shit, Ertha's been making her bucks that way for a long time, and she certainly hasn't suffered from it. Come on, do it for Josh, huh?"
"Oh, all right," she heard herself say. "I guess…"
Corby Lewis paid Joshua fifty dollars in cold, heartless cash and jumped in the taxi. Man, tonight he was going to get himself a fine piece of ass… clean hunk, too… none of this cheapo, kinky Broadway meat. If Josh wasn't lying – and he seldom did to his clients – the woman had to be tops. He only hoped she wouldn't fight too much when he socked it to her. That was one of the advantages of dealing with the small-time pimps; they were more selective with their clientele, and thusly, they weren't standing outside the door listening to every grunt and groan. Then, too, their clients kept coming back, once they got to know the girls.