Trouble by Jonathan Dodds

Author:Jonathan Dodds
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2017-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty

It must have been that same Saturday when Richard saw Mina unexpectedly; the evening when she appeared out of the blue, all dressed up to go out, and something between them – or perhaps it was only something in him – seemed to change. So here we are, back where we started; and here’s Richard again, in the West Hampstead flat: the muffled noise of traffic on the nearby Finchley Road, Mina arriving looking ravishing, Mina on her knees before him, and then leaving for her dinner party, disappearing back into her own life…

It was still quite early in the evening. Richard was sampling his absent host’s extensive jazz collection and making himself a meal. He had no plans for later on. He wasn’t used to being single in the city, he’d lost the knack. Suddenly, his phone rang.

“Hi!” she said. “I just have a tiny, tiny window. Can I pop round? I mean, not if you’re doing anything… I suppose you’re going out?”

“No, nothing… Oh well, yes, later I will,” he lied.

“So could I come round now – just for half an hour?”

“Sure. Yes.”

“I’m in a cab. I’ll be with you in five minutes.”

She was wearing a black dress, of a kind he hadn’t seen her in before. He was used to either sensible work clothes or the skinny jeans she wore, and sometimes the little skirts and jackets she put on for social occasions. But her look that evening was much more sophisticated, in a body-hugging dress and high heels. Diamante earrings glittered against her dark hair. Richard was completely overwhelmed.

“Bloody hell!” he said, as they released one another from their first embrace, and she went ahead of him into the lounge, in that slow, hip-swaying way heels made her walk.

“What?”

She knew what.

“You look so… just so gorgeous, dressed up.”

“Hmmm, well, glad you think so,” she said, facing the mirror, turning this way and that; to enjoy his point of view, to be sure.

“I do. You look fabulous!” he confirmed.

Richard was happily infatuated with her, and annoyed with her, at one and the same time. Of course she’d dress up to go out with her husband. She’d always want to look her best. How on earth could he have failed to understand this? The stab of jealousy was sharp and immediate, nevertheless. It cut him to the quick.

“Do I really look good?” Richard nodded. “I’m meeting up with David, later. Not that it’s for him,” she added, quickly; as though she sensed his pain. “We’re just going to a little get-together in a restaurant, that’s all. It’s my party outfit…” She returned to the full-length mirror in the flat’s hallway and regarded her own image. “Actually, I was worried this dress was just a bit… loose,” she mused, now looking down. “I don’t want to look as though I might be trying to hide something.”

She turned sideways and tried to smooth the material, flattening it to her own stomach. It was so close-fitting that she wasn’t making any discernable difference.

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