Chapter 17 #2
‘You’re looking good enough to eat tonight, Miss McCarthy, if I may say so.’
Helen didn’t reply.
‘Why so down? I’d have thought after coming top of the class you’d still be on a high. You really should be proud of yourself, Helen. I alone know how hard you’ve worked. Every essay must take you three times as long as everybody else and you still managed to beat ’em all hands down.’
Helen nodded silently. She was on the verge of tears and did not trust herself to speak.
‘Are you going back up there?’ Tony indicated the open door.
Helen shook her head.
‘Right, well, nor am I. Funnily enough I’m not in a party mood either, but I had to show my face. How about finding a pub or a bar somewhere and having a drink to cool down?’
‘I . . .’ Helen looked at him, a little surprised. ‘Okay then.’
‘Good.’ Tony stood up and offered his hand to Helen. She took it. He pulled her upright, then tucked her hand into his elbow and patted it. ‘Let’s go.’
They found a pub a few hundred feet away, up the King’s Road. Tony went to get the drinks while Helen secured a seat.
‘There.’ Tony put down the pint and Babycham on the table.
‘Here’s hoping you get this in your mouth rather than on your shoes.
’ He smiled. ‘I don’t know how long everybody had been drinking in there, but I should think most of the afternoon.
Anyway, cheers, here’s to the summer holidays.
’ Tony’s voice was full of false cheeriness.
‘You look as pleased to see them arrive as I am,’ he smirked, taking a sip of his pint.
‘Don’t you like holidays?’ ventured Helen, still feeling ridiculously tongue-tied.
‘Yes, I do. But it just so happens that the lady of my dreams will be spending a large percentage of them miles away.’
‘I see.’ Helen’s misery accelerated. ‘Can’t you go with her?’
‘Oh, Helen, if only, if only,’ Tony sighed. ‘Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. My life never seems to be.’
‘Nor does mine,’ she agreed, sipping her drink.
‘Well, we are a pair, aren’t we?’ he smiled, before slapping his hands on his thighs. ‘Now, I’ve told you what’s wrong with me. So . . . what’s wrong with you?’
‘Oh, nothing really, just a boy at the party making a hurtful comment, that’s all.’
‘Really? My, my, what are lads looking for these days? I would have thought you’d pretty much be their ideal woman. Beauty and brains all rolled into one.’
Helen blushed. ‘It’s kind of you to say so, Tony, but—’
‘I’m not just saying it, Helen.’ She confirmed that his eyes were earnest and sincere. ‘Learn to take a compliment when it’s given. To be truthful, I’ve always been fascinated by you. It’s not often one gets to meet a person such as yourself.’
‘Don’t I know it.’ Helen raised her eyebrows.
Tony sighed. ‘Honestly, Helen, where did you get your enormous inferiority complex from? You take everything anybody says as a criticism.’
‘Well, you are criticising me, aren’t you?’
Tony laughed. ‘Lord, no. I’m saying you’re unique. I’d venture that was a compliment. Put it this way: if someone told me I was ordinary, I’d be devastated.’
‘As a matter of fact, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be.’ Helen drained her glass.
He stood up. ‘I’ll get another round in and then you can tell Uncle Tony what on earth made you have such a nonsensical ambition. Don’t go away now.’
Helen watched him as he made his way across the pub. Whoever the girl was who had stolen Tony Bryant’s heart, she was the luckiest person in the world.
Six Babychams later, Helen had done an awful lot of talking. Tony now knew more about her than any other human being she had ever encountered.
‘Well, well, well,’ said Tony. ‘You poor old thing you. And here I was feeling sorry for myself.’
‘I don’t want sympathy,’ said Helen abruptly.
‘Nor am I going to give it. Listen, Helen.’ Tony took her hands in his.
‘I want to say something to you now and I want you to think about what I’ve said to you later.
You are nineteen years old. Yes, you’ve had a rotten deal through life, but now things are starting to work in your favour.
You have a large inheritance to make the most of, and you are better placed to do that than many others because you have a gift. ’
Helen gave a small hiccup. ‘What “gift”?’
‘In all my years of teaching, I’ve never come across a better mathematical brain. When it comes to figures, you leave the rest of us standing. Plus, you’ve shown in your business management modules how analytical you can be. Put simply, you’re good at making logical decisions.’
‘In the classroom,’ nodded Helen. ‘I don’t know how I’d cope in the real business world.’
‘Brilliantly, I’d say. Find the idea, Helen, and start your own business. Something small to begin with – don’t gamble with every penny – and trust your instincts. I think you’ll do extremely well.’
‘You seriously think I could run my own business?’
Tony nodded. ‘Absolutely, no question about it. And you have the liquid funds to put into it. If I had your kind of money, I certainly wouldn’t be teaching in a business school, I’d be out there practising what I preach.’ He drained his glass.
‘What kind of business appeals to you?’ Helen asked.
Tony chuckled. ‘Oh, I’ve always had this dream of running a record company and discovering the Next Big Thing. Who hasn’t?’ He shrugged. ‘Or maybe I’d start a travel agency. Overseas holidays are going to become a huge market in the next few years – you wait and see.’
‘Last orders at the bar, folks!’ called the landlord.
‘Want one for the road, Helen?’
‘No thanks. I’ve had too much already.’
‘Righto. Maybe you need something to eat?’
Helen shook her head. She was feeling decidedly sick and the thought of food made her feel worse.
‘Excuse me, I . . .’
Ten minutes later Helen returned from the ladies’, looking pale and withered.
‘Oh dear, Helen, I’m sorry. I’ve encouraged you to drink too much.’
‘It’s okay. Could you . . . could you call me a taxi? I think I’d better go home. I really don’t feel very well.’
‘Of course. I’ll take you home myself.’
‘Sorry, I . . .’ Helen sprinted to the ladies’ again. When she came back she saw Tony waiting for her by the door.
‘There’s a cab for us outside.’
‘Thanks. I only hope I can make it.’
Tony thought for a moment. ‘Look, my place is five minutes from here in a taxi. I’ll take you there and you can go home when you feel better.’
Helen nodded, too weak to argue.
Ten minutes later, she was studying the bowl of Tony’s lavatory. She couldn’t believe there was anything left inside her to throw up. She staggered out into the living room where Tony was pacing the floor anxiously.
‘How are you?’
‘Okay. Maybe if I lay down for a while, I might feel better.’
‘Sure. Here, let me help you.’
Tony led Helen through to a small bedroom.
She lay down on the bed thankfully, and tried to keep her head from spinning. ‘I’m sorry, Tony, I’m really sorry.’ She promptly fell asleep.
Helen woke up feeling disorientated. She looked around the room, the gloomy light of early morning seeping in from behind orange seersucker curtains.
Helen felt her brain playing a tom-tom against the back of her temples.
She stood up from the bed cautiously and then walked slowly into the sitting room.
Tony was lying full-length on the sofa, snoring softly.
In a daze, she tried the broom cupboard and the kitchen before finally locating the bathroom.
She splashed water on her face and used Tony’s toothbrush to freshen her mouth.
Feeling a little better, Helen crept back to the bedroom.
She was just about to drop off when she felt the bed sink down to her right.
‘How are you?’
She opened her eyes and saw Tony staring down at her.
‘Better, I think. Although I’ve got a terrible headache.’
‘Can I get you a Disprin?’
‘No, it’s probably best I rest my tummy for a while.’
‘Okay.’ Tony removed a lock of hair from her face and smoothed it back. ‘I’ve been worried about you.’
Helen’s bottom lip trembled. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t get anything right, can I? I can’t even drink without being ill and ruining a nice evening.’
‘Come on now, Helen. No more of that self-deprecation nonsense.’ He playfully pressed her nose like a button. ‘You’re just not used to it, that’s all. Besides’ – he leant down so his face was no more than an inch or so from hers – ‘I happen to think you’re lovely.’
He kissed her gently on the lips.
‘Sorry. I . . . I just wanted to . . . uh . . .’ He seemed shy all of a sudden, and Helen felt her heart expand.
‘Do you know, that made me feel a little better.’ She gave a half-smile.
‘Did it?’
Helen nodded.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
This time Helen lifted her lips to Tony’s, encircled his neck with her arms and pulled him down towards her.
Later, as she lay entwined in his arms, watching his hand stroke her naked belly, Helen thought she might have died and gone to heaven.
Anything she’d fantasised about during her own furtive attempts at satisfaction had paled into insignificance against the real thing.
She had been able to respond naturally to Tony’s gentle coaxing and relax enough to enjoy the experience.
The fact that her body could provide her with such pleasure was a revelation.
‘You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?’ he said with a smile, as his hand moved from her belly to her thigh.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you’re so uncertain of yourself, but just now, my God, Helen, you were wonderful. I can hardly believe it was your first time.’
‘It was, really.’
‘Then I’m proud it was with me.’ He propped himself up on an elbow and stared down at her. ‘Helen, you don’t regret what just happened, do you?’
‘No, not at all.’
‘Good. I’d hate it if you thought I’d taken advantage of you.’
‘You didn’t, or at least, no more than I did of you.’
They both fell silent and lay looking at the rays of sunshine filtering in through the orange curtains.
‘Helen?’
‘Yes?’
‘You know my situation. My lady is away for a while and . . . look, I’d hate to deceive you into thinking this is something it’s not. I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me again, but . . .’
‘But what?’
‘But I think we could have some fun together for a while, until she comes back, that is. It sounds awful to put it like that, but it’s only fair to place my cards on the table so you’re not under any illusions. I respect you enormously, and I don’t want to hurt your feelings.’
‘I understand what you’re saying, Tony.’
‘If nothing else, I want us to stay friends, though I have to say I’d miss what we just did.’
Helen turned her face away. She was here, and the mystery lady wasn’t. That gave her a distinct advantage. He might fall so madly in love with her that he wouldn’t want his other lady back. It was a risk she would have to take. The pain would come later, and besides, she was good at pain.
‘Tony?’
‘Yep?’
She turned back to him and smiled. ‘Would you do that to me all over again?’