Chelsea Bird by Virginia Ironside

Author:Virginia Ironside [Ironside, Virginia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Secker & Warburg
Published: 1964-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

THE NEXT few weeks passed drearily. Tom and I, Ann and Nick all spent several evenings together, Tom and Nick talking Men’s Talk while Ann whispered to me or listened dumbly. When I say Men’s Talk, I don’t mean that they talked about cars and the stock market. They talked, in fact, about quite ordinary things, except for photography, where I got lost. It was just that they talked to each other and not to us. When they did talk to us, and hell, I didn’t like being ‘us’ with Ann, it was a dreadful sort of ‘banter’ conversation, Nick holding Ann’s hand and making dirty suggestions to her, while Tom, in an effort to keep up with Nick, would heave his arm round me and say: ‘Still, me bird’s superer than yours.’

Poor Tom. After a few evenings like this, he said to me as we were driving home, ‘If I see that girl one more time, I shall go mad. Can’t think what Nick sees in her. I’m sorry. I know she’s a friend of yours, but I really can’t see why. I’ve tried, really, but apart from a certain childish sexiness she leaves me cold. She’s not even pretty, let alone remotely intelligent. Why doesn’t Nick take you out? That would have some sense. He’s intelligent. He wants a bright girl like you, someone he can talk to.’

‘Thanks.’ I gave a girlish smile. Bitterly I asked myself the same question.

‘Maybe I haven’t got that childish sexiness,’ I said.

‘You’ll do. Fancy you meself sometimes …’ Tom was obviously in a generous mood.

‘Really,’ he added seriously. I felt embarrassed, and was relieved to find we were nearing home. As I got out of the car, Tom pulled me back. Here goes, I thought, preparing myself for some sort of Good Friends speech, but instead he said: ‘I’ll ring you. But I’m not going to keep up this foursome. I’m sorry, but there it is.’

‘That’s all right. I absolutely agree. I’ve hated this foursome set up all the time and Ann gets on my nerves far more than yours. You can at least talk to Nick.’

From then on it was Tom and I against Ann and Nick. Whenever we met accidentally in a pub, Tom nudged me at every remark that Ann made, Ann whispered to me loudly and Nick raised his eyebrows at both Tom and me saying, ‘Come and have supper with us,’ rather desperately.

We neither of us knew what was going on until Tom told me that he’d seen Nick and he had said that he was only going out with Ann because he wanted to sleep with her and he’d never slept with a virgin in his life.

‘Ah,’ I replied, not really caring one way or the other.

*

It was quite soon after the last time we had seen them together that Ann rang me up. I could hear that she was red in the face, and she asked me to come round at once.

I went round dutifully, because Ann alone was simple.

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