Page 28 of A Night with Damien Spur

‘Oh… maybe you could read my cards? See if I should marry my Mary.’

Claudia slammed her back against the door and raised her eyes to heaven.

She’d wait before she locked the garden gate, just to make sure he’d gone.

***

Anna was on the bus when Damien rang.

‘I like your story, but you need to make the read less complex and the narrative more fluid,’ he said. ‘Would you like me to tweak it? We could meet this weekend. Sunday?’

Tweak it! Damien Spur tweaking it. Anna blushed. Just the thought of it made her nipples stiffen. Yes, he could tweak her any time.

‘Sunday’s fine. Come to me – I’ll make you lunch,’ she said.

‘How about dinner? We can do the work first in the afternoon.’

The woman sitting next to Anna nudged her. ‘Turn the volume down, please. What’s it to me what you’re doing at the weekend?’

Anna nudged the woman back. ‘Well, I am certainly not invitingyouto lunch,’ she retorted. Then, ‘Yes, Damien, that will be fine,’ she said, lowering her voice.

‘Anna,’ he said, ‘I can’t hear you.’

‘I said that’s fine. Two o’clock?’ She raised her voice again. ‘You’ve got my address on the manuscript. See you then. Byeee.’

The woman beside her got up and pushed past her. ‘You’re so bloody rude. If you want to shout on the phone, why don’t you take a taxi?’

Anna ignored her.

At last her life was flowing. It was such a joy not to be locked in her imagination. To have things actually happen. She had been numb from the waist down for years. A closed shop. Told herself that she didn’t miss it. But now she felt that tingle again, that rush of pleasure. She was absolutely ready to give this man anything he wanted.

That night, happy Anna dreamt of flying.

***

In the morning, Anna drew the curtains with a flourish and smiled at herself in the pretty heart-shaped mirror that David had given her as a Valentine gift, with a card that said:

Darling, Anna,

You’ll always be beautiful. Look at your reflectionand see the greatest love of my life.

When he took her to the edge with his incessant moaning, the mirror reminded her of the romantic man he once was.

And today Anna wanted to please him. After she’d washed and dressed, she went into the kitchen and took out the loose-leaf Earl Grey from the larder instead of the usual builder’s teabag. She swilled the teapot with the boiled water and let the tea brew for three minutes, straining it into a porcelain cup resting on a saucer.

Just how he liked it. Then she made him some toast with lots of butter and raspberry jam, his favourite, and brought it up to him on a silver-plated tray.

‘Well, this is a surprise,’ David said. ‘And it isn’t even my birthday.’

‘Just thought, as I took the time off work today, I’d make breakfast.’

‘Thank you, Anna,’ he said. ‘You look very pretty.’

‘I feel it,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you later.’ And off she went to Claudia for her tarot reading. Even if this wasn’t going to be an easy ride, her friend always gave her good advice.

When Anna arrived, she pressed the buzzer. No answer. She buzzed again.

After a few minutes, Claudia opened the door.

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