‘What d’ya want?’
‘Got a little present for you, Harry.’ Micky grinned. ‘Something you might enjoy.’
Harry turned with a puzzled look and saw Sharon standing behind Micky. The blonde hair, the over-made-up face, the seductive smile. He turned back to the mirror.
‘Get her out of here.’
‘Hey, come on, Harry! She only wants to be nice to you! You wanna be nice to him, don’t you, Sharon?’
‘Get her out, Micky, just get her out!’
Micky hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do next. Sharon gave him a wink, and then went over and put her hands on Harry’s shoulders.
‘It’s up to you, darlin’.’ She slid her fingers gently down his back. ‘You want me to go, I’ll go.’
Harry heard the door close. He turned toward her and she took a step back, let him look at her.
‘Take your coat off.’
Sharon obliged. She had a good figure, nice legs. Maybe she’d do, after all. Besides, he was a bit tense. It’d been quite a while.
‘You want me to stay then, do you?’
Harry smiled. ‘Yeah... Yeah, I guess you can stay.’
Sharon turned her back to him and wriggled her shoulders as an invitation for him to unzip her dress. He touched her hair and ran his finger down her neck.
‘What’s your name again, darlin’?’
‘Sharon.’ She reached round and began to unzip her dress herself. ‘What’s your name, then?’
He didn’t answer, just pulled her roughly toward the bed.
Trudie was occupying quite a luxurious suite at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. It had taken her a while to get over the jet lag, and the baby had been fretful on the lengthy flight. The experience of first class travel and the flow of free champagne had made her very unsteady when the plane had landed. She still blamed the jet lag for her being so tired, and not the minibar, which was kept replenished by the attentive hotel staff. She was constantly drinking and ordering room service. She had, by now, become agitated that after numerous calls to hotel reception asking if a Mr. Rawlins had left a message, there was still no contact. She was even concerned about leaving the hotel in case he tried to reach her. She was disappointed when she went out for some cigarettes and formula for the baby and returned to the hotel hoping to see the blinking light on her telephone alerting her to a new message. There never was.
Shirley was beginning to think that she’d been stood up. She felt a fool, dressed to kill, sitting with the wine chilling in the ice bucket, two glasses, candles lit — and no date. She took a gulp of wine and looked at the clock again. Micky was three-quarters of an hour late. She was just pouring herself another when the doorbell rang. She’d been ready for nearly an hour, but now he was here she ran round the room in a panic, straightening the cushions, checking her face in the mirror.
When she opened the door, Micky’s arms were full of roses.
‘Wow, you look beautiful!’ he said.
She didn’t know what to say. Part of her was angry with him; part of her thrilled he was finally here.
She began stuttering like a stupid schoolgirl. ‘You’d... You’d better come in, then...’
‘Sorry I’m late, darlin’.’ He handed her the roses.
‘D’you want to come through into the lounge? I’ve got some wine. D’you drink wine?’
Micky followed her in. His eyes flitted round the room. It was quite nice, quite tasteful. There was more to this girl than he’d thought.
‘No, thanks, darlin’, I don’t drink. Nice place you’ve got here, Shirley.’
She smiled. ‘Thank you.’ She was holding the roses awkwardly in front of her.
‘Look, sorry about this, about bein’ late, but I had a bit of bother. Couple of property deals fallen through at the last minute. I don’t know how to say this, Shirley, but I’m not going to be able to stay. I wondered if... maybe we could do it another time?’
Shirley thought about all the trouble she’d gone to: the dress, make-up, hair, the wine. She bit her lip and said nothing.
Micky sat on the edge of the sofa. ‘So, you gonna tell me how it all went with Marion Gordon? The photographic session? Come on, come on, I wanna hear more!’
‘Well, you know, it went really well,’ she said in a quiet voice. She couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to stay.
‘And what about this job? I hear she’s got a big job lined up for you.’
She moved closer to him. ‘I was going to talk to you about that, Micky,’ she began nervously. ‘You see, it’s quite an important job she thinks I could do. It’s this big charity show at Amanda’s nightclub. Well, all the other girls are professional and, well, I’m gonna take some classes, but I wondered whether I wasn’t moving too fast.’
Micky took her hand. ‘What? How d’you mean?’
‘Well, I don’t want to blow it, you know what I mean? I think maybe I should take things slower. It wouldn’t be good if I blew it on my first job.’
Micky pulled her toward him. ‘Darlin’, you’re not gonna blow it. Marion’s a real pro — if she thinks you can do it, you can do it. What you gettin’ all jumpy for?’
‘Well, I just... I just don’t want to run before I can walk.’
‘Come on, Shirley...’ He tilted her head and kissed her neck. ‘You’re gonna be a star!’
‘Well, if you think I can do it...’
‘I don’t think, darlin’, I know it.’ He pulled her closer and kissed her mouth, very softly. He could feel her softening, moving toward him. He took the roses out of her hand and chucked them onto the sofa, then put his arms round her. He looked into her eyes. ‘You can do anything you want, Shirley. It’s been a long time since I’ve turned up at a girl’s door, arms full of roses like a big kid. It’s you, Shirley...’
Shirley could feel herself melting. He made her feel like a real woman, the way he touched her; he seemed to know exactly what to do. There was no fumbling, no schoolboyishness with Micky. She felt him slowly unzip her dress, felt it slip down to her waist. He kissed her shoulder very softly, and again she smelt that lovely cologne on him. Shirley bent and kissed his neck. She wanted him badly. She hadn’t felt like this for years, not even with Terry. She wanted him there and then, on the carpet. It excited her, almost frightened her.
What she didn’t see was Micky taking a swift look at his watch, wondering if he had the time to give her a quick one before he went and rounded up all those fellers that Harry wanted. The truth was, she was getting him excited, too.
Turns out she’s a right little goer. Just shows you, he thought, you never know what girls are like. He pulled away from her and smiled.
‘Who’s a naughty girl, then?’
Shirley laughed, then took Micky’s hand and led him up the stairs to her bedroom. She could hardly believe that she was doing this.
Micky quickly glanced at his wristwatch again. Yeah, he could still do it, if it was quick.
Dolly and Bella made sure they returned the plans to the drawer exactly as they had found them, and then double-checked that everything in the lock-up was exactly as it had been. Dolly’s heart was thudding inside her chest as she turned off the lights, terrified that Harry was about to walk in and find them. She was first out, running toward the car.
Dolly waited while Bella finished locking up, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. Then suddenly Bella veered off toward the Mercury depot.
‘Bella, come on!’ Dolly called out, but Bella just shook her head and gave her a wave. Dolly watched her knock on the small door within the big double doors and go inside. Dolly gave the steering wheel a bang with her fist, then got out of the car and followed her.
Unlike the lock-up, the depot was almost too bright, with strip lights hanging low on chains. Shelves lining the white walls were stacked with cartons of paper. Two printing machines hummed, while somewhere in the background they could hear the sound of Annie Lennox. Two young guys — one wearing a vivid sweater with a sheep bounding across the back, and the other in a torn T-shirt and jeans — were bent over a table, deep in conversation...