Free A Thousand Cuts by Simon Lelic Page A

Samuel Szajkowski into Google and tapped the return key. As the voices grew louder, she studied the results, clicked on a link, hit the back button, clicked on another.
    ‘Give me five minutes,’ someone was saying. ‘Just fucking two minutes then. Two minutes is all I need.’
    She had known it would be him. There had been no possibility that it was not going to be him.
    ‘Settle down you lot. It looks like someone’s home.’
    Lucia picked up the phone again, realised they would have heard her talking if she had genuinely been using it and put it down. There was an emergency exit behind her. She considered it. She actually considered it.
    ‘Lulu!’ His tie was loose and his shirt had escaped his straining belt line. His cheeks were the fat-scarred dappled red of uncooked hamburgers and even from twenty paces she knew that his breath would smell like an ashtray overflowing with beer.
    Behind him there was Charlie and there was Rob and there was Harry.
    ‘Walter.’
    ‘Lulu!’ he said again. ‘You’ve been waiting up for me!’
    ‘How was court?’ Lucia said. She spoke to Harry, who trailed his drinking buddies across the office. Harry hesitated and lost his chance to answer.
    ‘Waste of time,’ Walter said. ‘Fucking magistrates.’
    ‘Why? What happened?’
    ‘Two dykes and a faggot, that’s what happened. But what can you do?’ Walter edged closer, rested a buttock on the corner of Lucia’s desk. His wallet strained to escape the well-shined fabric of his seat pocket. ‘Talking of dykes,’ Walter said and he grinned at his tag-along audience. ‘What are you doing here, Lulu? You know the weekend’s started, don’t you? You know Cole isn’t here for you to impress.’
    ‘Your flies are undone, Walter. Did you know your flies are undone?’
    Walter grinned. He did not even look down. ‘Why are you looking at my flies, Lulu?’
    ‘Hey Walter.’ It was Harry. ‘I’m thirsty. Just get your damn paperwork and let’s go, can we?’
    ‘The pub’ll still be there, Harry. Don’t rush me. I’m chatting with Lulu here.’ Walter turned back to Lucia. He slid along the desk, rounded the corner. His thigh was inches from Lucia’s mouse hand. She tried to resist withdrawing it but could not. She leant back in her chair and folded her arms.
    ‘Would you look at that?’ Walter said. ‘My fly is undone. Lulu here’s been undressing me with her eyes.’
    Charlie laughed. Rob laughed.
    ‘You couldn’t do me a favour, could you darling? You couldn’t reach over here and zip the little fella back in?’
    ‘I wouldn’t worry, Walter. If it happened to fall out, I doubt anyone would notice.’
    Charlie laughed. Rob laughed. Harry smiled.
    Walter slid closer. His leg touched Lucia’s, pressed against it. She could feel the sole of his shoe against her shin and the flesh of his calf against her knee. She could smell the beer now. She could smell his curdling sweat.
    ‘You need a shower, Walter. And you need to get your leg away from mine.’
    ‘Two minutes, you said. Let’s go, Walter, come on.’
    ‘You hear that. Now she wants me fully undressed. She wants to see me naked.’ He leered at Lucia. ‘I’ll take a shower, Lulu. Just as long as you bring the soap.’
    ‘Move your leg, Walter.’
    ‘How would you like me to move it? Up?’ He slid his leg up. ‘Or down?’ He slid it down.
    ‘Move your leg. Move your fucking leg.’
    ‘Come on, Walter. Let’s go.’
    ‘Harry’s right, Walter. It’s last orders. It’s virtually last orders.’
    Walter pressed his leg a little harder against Lucia’s. He leant towards her. ‘How about a goodnight kiss?’ He puckered. He shut his eyes, then he opened them again. ‘No tongues, mind,’ he said. ‘Not this time.’ Lucia looked at Harry. Harry was watching over the shoulders of his companions, his hand gripping a chair, his eyes fixed on Walter.
    Lucia stood. ‘I need some coffee,’ she said. She tucked her hair behind her ear and