Page 22 of In Control

“It’s what all the young kids are listening to, Grandpa.”

“Then the young kids have fucking miserable taste.”

She flicks through the channels some more, landing on a station playing rock’n’roll hits from the fifties. “More to your taste?” she asks.

“Hey now,” I warn her, “I’m not that old.”

I jab my finger at the radio controls until I hit upon a station I like.

“Oasis,” she moans. “You’re really old.”

“I was sixteen when this song came out.”

“I don’t think I was even born,” she mutters.

“I think you require some re-education when it comes to music. This was the best era.”

“Debatable,” she says.

“No, certain,” I correct.

The lively streets of the city start to thin as we head through suburbia, passing houses lit up from within.

“Where are we going?” she asks, practically pressing her nose to her window.

“Here.” I swing the car into the turning signposted for the park.

“The park? You told me last time it was dangerous hanging around with strange men in parks.”

“I think you’re misquoting me there, Sophia. But look.” Above the dark trees, their leaves wet with rain from the afternoon, lights from carriages rise and fall. The big dipper.

She swings her gaze to me, her eyes surprisingly full of excitement.

Thank fuck.

“A fairground?”

“You ever been to one before?”

“I mean, I’ve been to the big theme parks, but, no, not one like this. It’s not somewhere my mum would ever want to come.”

“And how about you, Lady Sophia? Happy to grace this fairground with your presence?”

She frowns at me. “Are you making fun of me?”

“No,” I say seriously, “I just suspect our upbringings were slightly different.”

She rests her head back on the seat. “What makes you say that?”

I unbuckle my belt and turn in the seat towards her, lifting a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“I know you probably assume being a surgeon simply involves slicing and dicing people open,” she screws up her nose, “but it’s not. Being a doctor involves understanding people. Deducing what’s wrong with them, concluding what is in their best interests. I’m good at my work, Sophia, and I’m good at understanding people. You come from money. I knew that the moment I saw you.”

“Is it a good or bad thing?” she asks me, her mouth slightly parted.

“Neither. But I suspect it means you’ve missed out on certain things. And I would enjoy introducing you to them.”

She smiles wickedly at me, her palms coming to stroke down my chest and setting my skin tingling. I can’t help myself. I lean across the gear stick and, cupping my hand around the back of her neck, I kiss her. I kiss those warm, wet lips of hers, loving the way her body melts towards me and her mouth moves to meet mine.

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