Anne Billson - Suckers

We went, as usual, to his place, which had soundproof walls and floors. That way I avoided the Krankzeits and got something approaching a good night's sleep, give or take a drunken groping session.

I sensed there was something missing as soon as I walked in. Duncan went to the bathroom while I prowled around, trying to figure out what it was. And then it hit me. Or rather, it didn't hit me like it should have done. 'What have you done with the garlic?' I asked him when he came back.

'Ooh, I chucked it away,' he said innocently. 'It was stinking the whole place out.'

'No, it wasn't. And that was your protection . I put it there specially . You can't just throw it out .'

'There's some in the kitchen.'

I stared at him in disbelief. 'You threw it out because you thought Lulu would be coming back with you tonight, didn't you? And you didn't want her thinking you'd lost your marbles.'

'Maybe.' He shrugged and got out the half-full bottle of VSOP and poured himself a large measure. He didn't ask if I wanted one, so I went over to pour my own.

'You're a fool,' I said. 'I bet you're not even carrying the crucifix I gave you.'

'So?'

'What happens if you run into Violet or one of her chums? What then? You'll be dog meat, for Godsake.'

'Now who's the paranoid one?' he taunted. 'I thought the bloody vampires were supposed to be confined to Multiglom.'

'That's only the headquarters .' The crucifix earrings were heavy; I took them off and massaged my aching lobes. This thing is getting out of hand. It's getting big .'

'What are you talking about?'

'Only that she's building a fucking empire. Bellini's just the beginning. What we're talking about here is a multinational corporation with fingers in hundreds of different pies: publishing, drug companies, breweries, God knows what else. She's running industries .'

He looked at me sceptically. 'She couldn't do that. Not Violet. Not on her own.'

Fragments of all those conversations I'd had with Grauman thirteen years ago reared up on their hind legs to taunt me. 'But that's just it. She's not on her own. We're not talking Bram Stoker any more, we're talking Vampire City .' I was aching with exhaustion, but I didn't want to go to sleep because everything was suddenly falling into place. It was so obvious, I couldn't understand why I hadn't seen it before. The Multiglom floor guide with its list of names: Micromart, Pharmatex, Deforest… Satellite broadcasting, architects, design groups. I wondered whether there were also banks, lawyers, estate agents…

'What would she want with a brewery?' asked Duncan. 'She never drank beer.' He saw I was shivering. 'Are you cold? Want the fire on?'

'I'm OK,' I said, then I decided I wasn't OK after all. I was covered with goose pimples and my teeth were chattering. Duncan put his drink down and took one of my hands between both of his, rubbing it briskly to get the circulation going. 'You're like ice. Do you want to borrow a jumper? No, tell you what, why don't you have a long hot bath? Then afterwards I'll make some cocoa.'

'I'll have a bath if you'll have a bath with me.'

The suggestion amused him. 'And we have to talk about Multiglom in the morning,' I said.

'Yes, yes,' he said, and went into the bathroom to start the hot water. I went into the bedroom to get undressed. I put on Lulu's pink towelling bathrobe and wiped my makeup off with some of her cleansing lotion.

'You look better without make-up,' Duncan said as I went back into the living room. Men always said that; they liked the natural look, though they didn't seem to care if it was achieved by unnatural means. I leaned over to kiss the back of his neck. 'Your lips are chilly,' he said. 'Come round here.' He sat me down on his lap and slipped his hands beneath the bathrobe to massage my skin. I was starting to feel deliriously warm and cosy when the entryphone made a noise like a sick sheep.

'Bugger,' he said.

'Don't answer.'

'Have to,' he said, tipping me off his lap. He went out into the hallway and said something into the intercom.

Lulu's reply came over loud and clear. 'Hi, it's me.'

My spirits plummeted. It was all over. Through the doorway I saw Duncan's face light up, then it was suddenly transformed into a mask of guilt, like a schoolboy caught smoking behind the bike sheds. 'Shit, shit, shit,' he said, racing back to me. 'Quickly, into the bathroom.'

'What? ' I couldn't believe I was hearing this.

'You know what she'll think if she catches you here. She's possessive as hell.'

'This is ridiculous, like a French farce. Can't we sit down and discuss it like civilized people?'

'Please ,' he said, flapping his arms. 'I'll make it up to you, Dora, I promise .'

There was another buzz from the entryphone. Duncan threw himself back at the intercom, pressed the button so we could both hear her saying, 'Oh Lord, I left my keys behind. Duncan, let me in.'

Duncan went wild. He fled into the bedroom and came back with my clothes all in a bunch, and pressed them into my arms.

I said, 'I don't know if…'

He turned very stern and forceful. I wished he was like that more often — I would have done anything he'd wanted. 'Now listen, your hot water heater's bust, someone spilled red wine all over you at Ruth's, and you've come round to take a bath. Now get in there right now .'

I slouched into the bathroom just as he was releasing the lock on the front door. I heard him say, 'Hey Lu, come on up,' and then I shut myself in. I dropped the clothes and kicked them as they fell. The black chiffon scarf somehow floated loose and drifted into the bath. I left it swirling in the water. How dared he treat me like this? I picked up a can of shaving foam and squirted FUCK across the steamed-up mirror.

The bath was a large Victorian one with legs, and barely a quarter full, and the water was scalding hot, so I started to run the cold as well. I paced up and down, tweezed my eyebrows, clipped my nails, cleaned out my ears with cotton buds. The everyday bathroom activities helped me to simmer down. I was half expecting Lulu to knock on the door at any second and demand to know what I was doing, but I couldn't hear anything over the noise of the running water. I wondered if they were arguing about me, so I opened the bathroom door a crack, just so I could hear what they were saying.

They weren't saying anything. I opened the door a bit wider and peeped out. Duncan was sitting in his favourite spot on the sofa. Lulu had her back to me, and she was sitting on his lap, exactly where I'd been before she'd shown up. She had her arms around him, and they were kissing, really getting into it. I couldn't believe it. This was too much. Duncan had swapped one girl for another — as though we were different makes of car or something. He was acting as though nothing had changed, everything was back to normal.

Only it wasn't. Not quite. There was something off-kilter about the scene, only I couldn't work out what it was, not until I felt a draught and started shivering again, more violently this time. I drew Lulu's pink bathrobe more tightly around my chest, and it was then I realized what was wrong. Lulu always wore pink. Pink or red, everybody knew that. But she wasn't wearing pink now. She was wearing black.

I stood there, blinking, trying to absorb this information. It was significant, I knew that much, but I was so tired and drunk I couldn't even begin to work out why. I don't know how long I was standing there. It might have been a few seconds, or it might have been a couple of centuries. Then I must have made a noise. Either that, or it was the cloud of steam leaking out of the bathroom which made her look up. No, look up is wrong; she didn't so much turn her head as whip it round.