Simon Beckett - Fine Lines

“Wow.” He blinked several times, still inhaling. “That’s hit the spot. Want some?”

“No thank you.”

“Suit yourself He repacked the box and closed it. He wiped his eyes. “You were saying. Drugs are out.”

“I take it that little display was supposed to upset me?”

“Now why would I want to do that? I just felt like a little snort, that’s all. Helps me put my thinking head on. If you ever want a little something yourself, by the way, let me know. I’m competitively priced.”

Despite myself, I was shocked. “You mean you sell the stuff? You’re a dealer?”

He smiled, enjoying himself. “We’re both dealers, Donald. Supply and demand. Don’t worry, though. I only dabble. I’ve not got around to selling it to schoolkids yet. Just one or two friends.”

I wondered how much more there was about him I did not know. I tried not to let him see how shaken I was, but he must have guessed from my expression. He laughed.

“Come on, Donald. You know me. I’ll do anything. It all helps to keep the wolves from the door, doesn’t it? Pay for those little luxuries.” He held up the lacquered box and waggled it. “And this little luxury isn’t cheap, believe me.”

I made no effort to compose myself. “Whatever you do with the rest of your time doesn’t concern me. We were talking about Anna.”

“Yes, that’s right, we were, weren’t we? You want to watch me fuck her, but you disapprove of using drugs on moral grounds. That’s about right, isn’t it?” He had the same bright-eyed look about him I had seen before. Now I knew why. I said nothing. “So, since drugs are out, how do you suggest we do it?”

I shut my mind to everything else and applied myself to the problem at hand. I had had weeks to think about it. “Can I see the rest of your flat?” I asked.

After he had shown me around and I had explained my idea, we sat down again to discuss the finer details. For the moment, our differences were forgotten. Finally, Zeppo nodded.

“Fair enough. I’ll pass that. But it’ll take a day or two to sort it out.”

“That doesn’t matter. We should have plenty of time before the weekend. Provided Anna proves as amenable as you think.” The thought brought with it a cold jolt.

“Don’t worry. She is.” His confidence was complete.

“Can you think of anything we haven’t considered?”

Zeppo pursed his lips. “No,” he said after a second. “So what happens now?”

I felt the first heady touch of euphoria. The last doubts and fears had gone.

“You can ask us both to dinner,” I said.

The shadows were lengthening and the day had lost much of its earlier heat when I turned on to the street where Zeppo lived. I pulled into the first available parking space, edging in between a Citroen and a motorcycle.

“I think his flat is a bit further up,” Anna said.

“Is it? What number are we at?”

“Twenty-two. He lives at fifty-eight, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking.” But by that time I had turned the engine off. “Ah well. At least we’ve found a space.”

We left the car and walked the rest of the way to Zeppo’s flat. It was only a short distance, but enough to make my car difficult to pick out, I saw as we climbed the steps. I rang the doorbell. After a moment Zeppo opened the door, smiling.

“Come in.” He smelt crisply of cologne. I stood back and let Anna enter first. She wore a sleeveless white blouse that just hung to the waistband of her loose white skirt. When she moved, a thin brown strip of flesh was sometimes visible. Her tan had faded a little since she had returned from holiday, but the past week had been cloudless and hot, and she had clearly been in the sun that afternoon. Her skin was golden and glowing, and her hair gleamed with copper highlights.

I followed her inside. A warm aroma of cooking greeted us. Anna sniffed. “Something smells good.”

“That’s the furniture polish. We’re having sandwiches.”

I laughed, obligingly, and hoped Zeppo would hurry up and offer us a drink. I needed something to help me relax. Both Anna and Zeppo appeared perfectly at ease, but that was hardly surprising. Seduction was no novelty for Zeppo, and Anna was as yet unaware that this evening would be different from any other. I, on the other hand, was a bag of nerves.

With the end actually in sight, it had been harder than ever to patiently wait for the last few days to pass. Zeppo had called into the gallery the morning after our meeting and invited us both to dinner on Saturday. I had held my breath until Anna accepted, but the shock came from Zeppo, not her.

“It’s a bit of a farewell celebration, actually,” he had said. “I’m going to Brazil on Monday.”

That was news to me. “You lucky devil!” Anna said. “How long for?”

“Only two or three weeks. I’m modelling beachwear again. I wanted to do it in Blackpool, but they insisted on shooting in Rio, so what can you do?”

I had not known what to make of this at all. I confronted him later. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going away?” I demanded.

“Because I didn’t decide to until this morning.”

“You mean there is no modelling job?”

“Donald, you can be amazingly dense sometimes. That’s right, there is no modelling job. I was telling porkies.”

“Why? Why complicate things?”

“Why does it complicate things? If anything, it’ll make it easier. Give Saturday evening the poignancy of leaving. Parting is such sweet sorrow, and all that crap. Besides which, it’ll get me out of the way afterwards. Stop her from pestering me.”

“And what if something goes wrong? What if you don’t manage to... to...”

“To fuck her?” He grinned. “Don’t worry, I will. Don’t be such an old woman, Donald.”

“I’m not being anything, except prudent. I don’t want to have to wait another three weeks, that’s all. Not now.”

“You won’t, I’ve told you.”

A sudden thought struck me. It had never occurred to me before, and I was horrified to think I had overlooked something so simple. “What if Anna can’t, though?”

“What do you mean, “can’t”?”

I had the feeling he knew perfectly well what I meant. I struggled for a delicate way of phrasing it. “I mean what if it’s... if it’s her time of the month?”

Zeppo cocked his head, smirking. “If you’re talking about her having a period, don’t worry. She won’t be.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because it’s Saturday.”

He said it as though that explained everything. I hesitated, unwilling to show my ignorance. But I had to ask. “What has that to do with it?”

“Come on, Donald. Even you must know that girls don’t have periods at weekends.”

He said it so seriously that for a moment I was unsure. It was not a subject I had ever had cause to acquaint myself with. Zeppo laughed delightedly.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Donald, I knew you were naive, but I didn’t think even you were that gullible!”

I stood there, stiffly embarrassed, until he had finished laughing at me. “I repeat, how can you be sure?”

Zeppo wiped his eyes, still grinning. “Because I saw she had a packet of tampons in her handbag ages ago, and made a note of the date. Unless she’s in the habit of carrying them around with her all the time, we’re well in the clear. And even if we weren’t, it wouldn’t necessarily matter. I tell you what, I’ll get you a sex-education pamphlet. You can read it before this Saturday, so you know what’s going on.”

His ridicule had stung, but been quickly forgotten in the face of my growing excitement. The scene I had imagined ever since I had seen Anna naked in the mirror would soon be a reality. All I had to do was wait a few more days.