Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan

Author:Melissa Nathan [Nathan, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance
ISBN: 9781409036401
Google: TKJBGqMsZ2AC
Amazon: B0031RS6IC
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2008-12-16T00:00:00+00:00

15

‘COFFEE, ANYONE?’ ASKED Marlon, interrupting his own humming.

Joy and Annie nodded.

‘Cups or mugs?’

‘Needle,’ said Joy, holding out her upturned arm. ‘All the veins are good.’

Marlon stopped undoing his coat. ‘Better than good, they’re heaven. Can I smell them?’

Joy looked up from her magazine. ‘When are you going to leave me alone, Marlon?’

‘When are you going to leave your cat and move in with me?’

Joy sighed loudly. ‘I don’t have a cat, Marlon. Not all single women have cats, you know.’

‘Excellent! Then no one will get hurt when you move in with me.’

‘Except your wife, of course.’

‘Oh, she’s very understanding.’

Joy, still reading her magazine and chewing her gum, held up her middle finger at Marlon, as he strode across the threadbare carpet to the kettle. He saw the finger, looked over at Annie and smiled.

‘You see Annie, if anyone ever asks you, it’s the subtlety I’ve fallen for. The sheer unmistakable sign of a lady.’

Joy slowly looked up at Marlon. ‘When exactly did you decide to make my life hell?’ she asked him quietly.

Her roots were showing, her black bra showed through her polyester blouse, her stomach bulged becomingly over her lap, her thin ankles shone through her sheer black tights. He stared at her, enraptured.

‘When I started dreaming of you instead of Sunderland football club.’

She turned away from him in mock disgust, before he could see that she’d smiled too.

‘Anyway, I’m not here for my shift,’ he said, when it was obvious they weren’t going to ask him any more questions. ‘Just came to pick up my latest parcel.’

He went to the large brown-papered object by the kettle. ‘Just what I’ve been waiting for!’

Annie and Joy sat back and watched as he opened his parcel.

‘Look at that!’ he said, proudly showing them a four-inch mirror. ‘Bloody ingenious.’

‘It’s a mirror, Marlon,’ said Joy.

‘Yes, but how much of yourself can you see in it?’ asked Marlon smugly.

‘Too much,’ answered Joy, before turning back to her magazine.

‘Full length!’ cried Marlon. ‘Full length! Only four inches high. Bloody ingenious! How do they do it? It’s bloody magic.’

Joy sighed loudly. ‘And you say Cynthia doesn’t appreciate you? The woman must be crazed.’

Marlon didn’t hear her. He was too busy looking at himself full length, in his four-inch mirror.

The phone went and Annie picked it up.

‘Hello, Samaritans?’

‘Hello, Avon calling. Have you ever thought of having your face buffed?’

Annie was losing patience with these time-wasters. She went straight to the point.

‘Are you feeling suicidal today?’ she asked in a soft, caring voice.

The line went dead.

Marlon brought two instant coffees over and placed them in front of Joy and Annie. He perched, as usual, on the edge of Joy’s desk and sat smiling at her.

He didn’t smile for long.

‘How’s Cynthia, Marlon?’ asked Joy.

‘Hmm? Oh, fine.’

Joy sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

‘What does she look like, Marlon? Tell us.’

‘Oh, all right I suppose. In a sort of “married-to-the-wrong-man” sort of way.’

‘How many sons has she borne you?’

Marlon paused.

‘Three.’

‘And how many hot dinners has she cooked you?’

‘You’re beginning to spoil my fun, you know.

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