Page 64 of The Cocktail Bar
“River?” Alice continued, “Don’t just stand there, take up the opposite pew until the kettle’s boiled and then get pouring. I’m going to put some clothes on now. No, if you must know,” she looked to Georgina now, “your instinct doesn’t serve you right; we haven’t just had full blown sex, when I’m feeling hot, I always sleep naked.”
“With a body like yours, I know I would too.” River raised his eyebrows.
“River!” Alice reprimanded him, unable to completely hide the secret pleasure that was all hers.
Oh, how those words swirled in her stomach though. It was all she could do not to lead him to his bed, her bed, any bed behind a very closed door.
Instead she walked with the kind of authority one has when they know not only erotica, but love too, is reciprocated, the deal sealed; back to the bedroom, re-dressing herself in the very clothes he’d wanted to strip her naked from, the clothes from the meal Georgina’s father had footed the bill for, and re-emerged to a very awkward atmosphere. River had fixed everybody with their mugs of tea, and Georgina was staring angrily into hers, her silver teaspoon stirring and then poised, stirring and then poised until Alice could take no more.
“For God’s sake will you stop making that irritating noise and just fish the tea bag out; here.” She pushed forward a saucer inviting its deposit.
Unbelievably, once more, Georgina did as she was told. And then she removed her coat, as if it were her trump card and she’d been waiting for the optimum moment to reveal a pair of breasts nestled in a ridiculously low-cut, skin-clinging top, breasts that had evidently grown an entire cup-size in recent weeks. How had Alice not noticed them at work, at the pub that very afternoon? What exactly was this statement trying to imply? That she’d lied about the miscarriage… something Alice refused to mention. It was obvious Georgina had rehearsed this move a hundred times before coming here in the middle of the night. Sadly for her though, the episode was wasted on River.
And Alice had yo-yoed back and forth for long enough now herself. If this so-called loss had been a lie and this child really was a ‘thing’ – immediately she felt rather dreadful for silently referring to anybody’s unborn baby in that way, but in this case, needs must – the fact remained that not even the poor soul’s presence could dim the light that was them: River and Alice. The love ofherlifeshoehorning himself back into Georgina’s, should a baby indeed turn out to be the course of events, would be cruel, unfair to the infant. And it would never last, not now, anyway. It was too late to rewind, to step back over that fine line.
“Now then, what have you left behind? Because it’s not, as River has already made it very clear, him.” She turned to Georgina again, her voice awash with sudden pity for this girl who had obviously had the shoddiest of childhoods to turn out quite as precipitated as this.
“Just some toiletries… as well as… uh… the pill… well actually… a whole pack of pills.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” said River.
“That she’s left some deodorant behind, some shower gel, some medication too,” Alice’s hands flailed about wildly. “Could it be any clearer? Okay, Georgina, then drink your tea, get whatever else it is you’ve got on your chest, well and truly off it, pick up your things and please leave us be. We’ll see you in the bar.”
Alice more than sensed that all of this was red rag to a bull, a bull who was evidently playing some kind of game, but as she’d realised mere moments ago, she really had now passed the point of caring. Frankly, she’d dealt with bigger things in the band, and in L.A. What threat could a lost twenty-something seriously pose? Sure, she could tip off the media as to their whereabouts, but months had passed now since Avalonia had split, they were yesterday’s news and tomorrow’s fish and chip papers. And who really cared enough about C-list-now-off-the-list people and their pastimes anyway? Not when there was an endlesspot pourriof Pippa Middletons and Taylor Swifts to delight the camera’s lens and the media’s thirst for an exclusive story. And grassing Alice or River up to the paparazzi would hardly score her any of her beloved brownie points.
Speaking of which, it did seem more than a little strange that Georgina wouldn’t indulge in one yesterday afternoon in the pub. And then there was the avoidance of the wine. Before she knew it, Alice had let her thoughts come full circle on her once again. That was it. She couldn’t bear to look at Georgina for a minute longer.
“Call Hayley to take her home, River, I’ll cover the fare. Georgina, you come with me… and take this…” She went to the drawer and pulled out a plastic bag. “Fill it with your things, make sure you take themallthis time… and I’ll say it one final time: consider this your very last chance… to say whatever it is you have also come here to say.”
But it couldn’t be that she was pregnant, after all. It was ludicrous, impossible, and besides, River had assured her that even if she ever had been, prior to this new twist in the story that she’d ‘miscarried’, there was absolutely no way on Earth it was his. She desperately wanted to believe him, and despite the odds which were increasingly stacking against her, Alice decided that was exactly what she was going tomakeherself do.
Eighteen minutes and thirty-one seconds later, she breathed a sigh of relief as Hayley buzzed her message through to River’s mobile:
“I’m here at the entrance to the park, like,” River announced, reading the nondescript text aloud.
Georgina walked slowly, carrier bag in hand, playing her moment out, evidently enjoying her final chance to string them both along, and then she stepped out into the cool evening air from whence she had come, so that Alice could release the breath she’d been holding, once again. But then Georgina turned unexpectedly, opened her mouth like a ventriloquist’s doll and stood there for several seconds, almost causing Alice to hyperventilate at the suspense. And yet at the same time she could sense the workings of her mind, the movie screen flashing and projecting the combinations of the possible future outcomes of her potential actions while her eyes glazed over, insulted to the core at the very sight of the couple who were yet to officially come out.
Finally, her head drooped in defeat and she started to walk the long dark path to Hayley and her ride home.
“I’ll message the driver to let you know you’re on your way. We’ll see you at work tomorrow,” said River loudly, voice awash with a badly disguised relief.
But she didn’t turn back. Still they stood there awhile, watching her form as it became smaller, ever more insignificant; maleficence morphing to mischief, morphing to meaningless. River shut the door and locked it. Twice.
Alice, overcome with a neediness she had never known, turned behind her to bury her head in the warmth of his chest, lifted her head to meet his and then smiled knowingly, possessively, one finger tracing the outline of River’s shoulder, running slowly, seductively down to his elbow, before making its way to his hand, which she took in hers, leading him back into his bedroom.
