Free Fine Lines - SA by Simon Beckett Page B

I stil want to know." I heard him snort, exasperated. "Are you frightened I'l make it up, or something? What do you want to do, examine the sheets afterwards?"
    "I simply don't want to find out after the event, that's al ." It was not al , but it was al he needed to know just then. "If anything happens without my knowledge then the entire arrangement is off. I won't give you a penny. Is that clear?"

    "Jesus! Yes, al right, Donald, I get the message. Thy wil be done.
    I promise not to shaft her without asking your permission first.
    Okay?"
    "Thank you."
    "Am I permitted to come into the gal ery tomorrow and speak to her? Or is that asking too much?"
    "There's no need to be childish. What do you have in mind?"
    "I thought I'd take her out to lunch. If that's al right with you, of course. You'l have to be too busy to come with us. Don't worry though, we'l go to a no-shagging restaurant." I ignored the comment.
    I was nervous al next morning. Apart from anything else, I was stil worried how Anna would feel about Zeppo after what Miriam had said. But when he arrived she seemed to act normal y towards him. When he offered to buy lunch, however, I noticed that she glanced at me to see what my answer would be. I declined. "The two of you wil just have to make do without me," I added, hoping to force her hand. Anna hesitated briefly, then accepted.
    I watched them as they left the gal ery. They looked right together.
    Anna was laughing as they walked past the window. If she had been disturbed by Miriam's story, she was not showing it now. I continued looking out through the window after they had gone, and then turned and faced the empty gal ery. I had an hour to pass before they returned.
    I telephoned for a sandwich to be delivered. While I waited I wondered what Zeppo would say to her, and tried to imagine how she would respond. I pictured various scenarios, but the only ones I could visualise clearly al ended in failure. When I imagined Anna throwing wine in Zeppo's face and walking out, I stopped myself. I looked at my watch. Only ten minutes had passed. They would only just have reached the restaurant.
    My sandwich arrived, but I had no appetite. I listlessly picked the prawns from it, and dithered about the gal ery, straightening frames, adjusting magazines. Anything to pass the time. I looked at my watch again, re-straightened the same picture frames. There were people I could telephone, but my lack of interest outweighed the time it would occupy. I could concentrate on nothing except the increasingly slow progress of the hands of my watch.
    Then, suddenly, there were only fifteen minutes left. The minutes that had crawled by now seemed to run away, and I grew more nervous as each one disappeared. My stomach began to complain. I went to the office where I kept a packet of indigestion tablets, and as I chewed one I heard the door open downstairs.
    I looked at my watch. She was early. I tried not to think what that could mean, and forced myself to take the stairs at a reasonable pace.
    I was so convinced that it would be Anna that when I emerged into the gal ery and saw someone else standing there I was dumbfounded.
    The newcomer turned towards me. "Hel o," she said. It was the woman who had wrecked my car with her Range Rover.
    "I'm sorry, have I disturbed you?" she asked, looking anxious. I made an effort and smiled.
    "No, not at al . I'm sorry, I was just ..." Nothing offered itself, and I let the sentence trail off. Luckily, she was not one to al ow time for an awkward silence.
    "I was in the area, so I thought I'd drop in and see how you were. I hope you don't mind?"
    "Not at al ," I said, final y recovering. "I was just a little surprised, that's al . Pleasantly," I added, smiling more natural y this time.
    "Sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting a customer. Although I suppose I might even be one, if I see anything. Anything I can afford, that is," she laughed.
    "Yes, wel ' I began but she was already going on,