Nasty Business

by Gillian Godden

  Tony didn’t reach out to take the money. He just left it there between them. ‘Is that with or without interest?’

  ‘Whatever you say, Mr Lambrianu. I don’t want any trouble, not tonight when everyone’s having a good time for Christmas. If you want the interest, then you know I’ll pay it.’

  ‘As it’s Christmas, just pay the rest, without interest, when you can. Okay?’ Tony picked up the money; he was going to put it in his jacket pocket, but noticed the bottom notes were wet, from the bar top, and so decided to put it in his coat pocket instead.

  The publican beamed a broad grin. ‘Thank you, Mr Lambrianu, you’re a gentleman. Here, have another one.’ Again, he took Tony’s glass and refilled it. The telephone was ringing through the back room. ‘Excuse me, Mr Lambrianu, I’ll have to get that. I’ll be back in a minute.’

  Tony picked up his drink and surveyed the room; obviously, there were more women there than men, after all, it was a strippers’ party. They would have come with their partners or friends, even the odd well-paying punter.

  The room was hazy with cigarette smoke, which was allowed, considering it was a private party, and no one would be offended or tell the authorities they were breaking the law. He looked at all the different shapes and sizes of the women. Some looked as rough as old boots and probably reminded some of the younger punters of their old dinner ladies. Some were overweight, which is one thing he would never allow in his club. On the whole, they weren’t a bad-looking bunch of women. All of them were a bit rough around the edges, but there were some that were okay. Maybe that was the appeal, they were all such oddballs. Maybe his own strippers were too uniform.

  Tony was always mentally doing business, and now he had an idea. He would run it past Sharon first, but he thought they could maybe have a different sort of night at the club, full of this rough lot. After all, the same well-to-do gentlemen that went to his club would almost certainly come in here for a little variety. It could be some sort of novelty night.

  People were dancing and singing along to the music and bumping into each other, laughing and joking, but it was all in the name of fun. Tony took another gulp of his drink and his eyes stopped roving.

  In the far corner was a young woman. She had long, dark wavy hair that cascaded down her back. She was sitting with a Jamaican woman and what appeared to be the woman’s husband. Tony thought the young woman looked totally out of place. She looked awkward and embarrassed.

  It was obvious she wasn’t in the party mood or particularly enjoying herself. Tony could see she was managing a half-hearted smile as she spoke to the people that passed by the table and chatted with the Jamaican woman and her husband. Tony looked around, wondering who she was with. He was curious.

  His eyes searched and scanned across the bar to look at the customers waiting to be served, wondering if maybe one of them might be her husband. His head turned again to the young woman; he watched her take a sip from her glass of wine. She was looking around the room at everyone, again with a smile fixed on her face as though trying to pretend she was having a great time. Still, he saw no one sit beside her that suggested she was with a husband or a partner.

  Her large dark eyes – the very windows to her soul – seemed to take up most of her face, and they held a warmth that in other circumstances would be welcoming and loving. Tonight, though, they were her giveaway. She didn’t want to be there and that was blatantly obvious, so why was she? Maybe she was the plus one of one of the strippers and hadn’t realised how common the party would be.

  Tony was mesmerized by her, but he didn’t want to make it obvious and so he stepped back a bit further behind one of the columns that held the pub up. He took another sip of his drink and continued watching; it made him feel like a peeping tom, but he couldn’t help himself. He was contemplating asking the publican who she was, but didn’t want to look stupid in front of him.

  After all, he was supposed to be a heartless womanizer, with glamorous women throwing themselves at his feet, and here he was watching some woman in her twenties in the most run-down pub in the East End!

  Suddenly, he saw her stand up. Tony was hypnotized by her, he wanted to see where she was going, or rather who she was going to. It seemed strange to him, because the volume of the music seemed to get lower, as if it were background music. People’s shouts and glad tidings seemed to dim and all the noise blended together. All he was aware of was this young, slim, almost petite, woman walking towards the bar.

  Tony didn’t know why, but he moved forward to the spot she was walking towards. He stayed a foot or so behind her, still waiting for someone to come up and claim her, but they didn’t. He waited to see what she ordered from the bar; that would be a big giveaway. If she was getting a round of drinks in there would be four glasses, one each for her Jamaican friend and her husband, one for herself and one for whoever she was with.

  There was one solitary glass of wine put on the bar in front of her. Tony didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to step closer as he watched her pick up the stemmed wine glass. She exchanged a few words with the barmaid and half turned to leave. Just then, someone dancing wildly to Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ crashed into the woman and shoved her aside. She was knocked off-balance and most of the wine from her glass spilt over Tony’s coat sleeve.

  The poor woman looked horrified, but then she looked up directly into Tony’s eyes. For a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, they stared at each other. Not a word was spoken.

  Then, she said, ‘Sorry.’ She looked embarrassed and was blushing. She put her glass on the bar and brushed wine from his sleeve. ‘I’ll get a bar towel.’

  Tony smiled at her. ‘Don’t worry about it, no harm done,’ he said.

  ‘I’m so sorry, I couldn’t help it, I was bumped. Are you sure I can’t get you something to wipe your arm?’ Again, she was blushing, but she was still looking at him intently. She seemed modest and shy, so what the hell was she doing in a place like this?

  ‘Why don’t you have a drink with me? That’ll make up for it.’ Tony didn’t take his eyes off her face.

  The barmaid had seen what happened and went to get another glass of wine for the woman and a fresh whisky for Tony. ‘Here you are,’ she said, as she put them down on the bar top next to them.

  Tony handed the new glass of wine to the woman, who was still gushing her apologies and blushing profusely. She showed no recognition of who he was. That was most unusual, because most people knew him, if not personally, then from the stories in the magazines or newspapers.

  People either watched their tongues in front of him or told him what a pleasure it was to meet him. This woman said nothing of the sort.

  The woman put the wine glass to her lips. Tony noticed they were full and well-shaped, and formed a perfect Cupid’s bow. He felt his stomach churning, and a deep stirring inside. The more he looked at her, the more he wanted her. He didn’t want to break the magic by speaking; he had never felt like this before. No woman, especially one that didn’t know who he was and wasn’t draped over him, particularly took his attention, but this awkward-looking shy, embarrassed woman did.

  He put his hand to the bottom of her wine glass and tipped it towards her lips, so that she took a sip, and smiled at her. He knew he said something but wasn’t sure what. They were just looking at each other. It was a feeling he couldn’t comprehend, and he still waited to see if anyone would come up to the bar and claim her as their wife or partner. Thankfully, no one did.

  She raised her long dark lashes, lifted her head and looked him squarely in the face. When she smiled, her whole face lit up. She was truly beautiful. Tony smiled back, displaying a perfect row of white teeth in his suntanned face. He was mesmerised.

  He saw her put her glass down and she mumbled something to excuse herself from the bar. He smiled again as he saw the blush return to her cheeks. Then she started to walk away, and for the first time in his life Tony didn’t know how to stop a woman from leaving him. Usually
he had the opposite problem – he couldn’t get rid of them!

  He watched her walk away, back towards her friend who still sat at the table with her husband. His mind was in turmoil. In different circumstances, he would have simply given his most charming smile, introduced himself and whisked them off to the club, but he had a strange feeling that approach wouldn’t work.

  Tony ran his hands through his hair and looked around at the drunken crowd to see if anyone was watching him. He felt slightly embarrassed, awkward, even. Suddenly the silence was broken.

  ‘Do you want another one in there, Mr Lambrianu?’ Tony looked towards the bar to see the publican reaching out for his glass.

  He was tempted to ask the publican who his mystery woman was, but didn’t want to look overly eager and start gossip flying around.

  ‘No, thank you, I’m just leaving.’ Although Tony was speaking to the publican he was still glancing across at the woman. He saw she had stopped at the table where her friends were, and the Jamaican woman had beckoned her closer and put her mouth to her ear so that she could be heard above the music.

  Tony’s heart sank; the mystery and the magic were gone, and he knew that now. It was quite obvious to him that the Jamaican woman would be telling her who he was, and possibly encouraging her to come back and have another drink with him.

  ‘Are you okay, Francesca? You look all flushed,’ said Candy. Her husband was shooting off party poppers from their table. She looked at her friend quizzically, she knew she hadn’t been eager to come along tonight, but for the sake of future bookings she had no choice; she had to come to keep the publicans and the agency happy.

  The young woman put her mouth near Candy’s ear. ‘I’m fine, I’m just a bit hot, that’s all. I’m going outside to get some air.’ She gave a weak smile to her friend.

  ‘What’s wrong, honey? Have you had more than two glasses of wine or something?’ Candy turned to her husband and started to laugh. ‘She can’t drink, you know, she’s a real lightweight.’ She turned back to her friend. ‘Do you want me to come with you, Francesca?’ Candy half stood up. She didn’t really want to lose her seat at the table, but felt she should go out of loyalty and friendship.

  ‘No, I’ll be back in a few minutes, it’s just so hot and smoky in here, I need some air.’ With that, Francesca started to walk away towards the back doors leading to the beer garden.

  Tony had continued watching her and was surprised when neither she nor her friend had pointed his way, or even given an indication they were talking about him. He saw that she was walking towards the beer garden, and impulsively, he pushed his way through the crowd and started to follow her.

  When he got outside, he saw her standing with her back to him. He looked up at the sky; on this icy night it was clear. The stars twinkled and the large moon seemed even bigger and brighter than usual. He looked back at the woman. She’d turned to see who was there, and her eyes were fixed on Tony.

  Again, they just gazed at each other in silence, then before either of them knew it, they were in each other’s arms, kissing ardently. Although the crisp night air sent a shudder through him, Tony felt his whole being tremble, wrapped in this woman’s arms, holding on to her tightly, the way she was clinging on to him.

  He was kissing her neck while his hands roamed over her slim body. She had her arms around his neck and her hands in his mane of blonde hair. He felt himself dance her backwards towards the pub wall and in moments, without thought or conscience, they were making love.

  It was very passionate and very heated, he felt the woman’s body tremble and tense up, and then he felt her relax and her breathing slowed down.

  It had been a crazy head-spinning moment, and slowly, he began to loosen his grip on her legs from where he had hoisted her up against the wall and she had wrapped them around him. They were both trying to catch their breath.

  He looked down at her and her eyes opened, but instead of love or passion, he saw she looked horrified! She held her hands up to her face and muttered something, which indicated she was ashamed of what had just happened between them and regretted it instantly.

  She pulled down her dress and pushed past him, then fled, fast as a bolt of lightning.

  ‘Wait!’ Tony shouted. He moved forward, and nearly tripped over his trousers, which were still halfway down his legs. As he was trying to steady himself, he banged his leg on one of the wooden benches. Some people were now opening the back doors to come into the beer garden. He dressed himself quickly and, with his foot, pushed the condom packet near the guttering.

  He went out of the back gates. He saw John, his driver, parked outside, but the street was empty – there was no sign of the woman. He banged on the car window.

  ‘Did you see that woman that just came out? Where did she go?’ Tony was almost shouting at John. While waiting for an answer he was still looking around at the street for any sign of her.

  ‘What woman, boss? I just saw one come out and get into a cab, is that the one you mean?’ John hadn’t really been taking any notice, he had been dozing off in the front seat waiting for Tony to come out.

  ‘Yes, where did she go, do you know?’ Tony knew it was a stupid question, after all, if she had jumped into a taxi, how the hell would John know where she was going? John just shrugged his shoulders and sat upright. He lowered the car window even more.

  ‘Is there something wrong, boss? What’s happened?’ John thought there must have been a fight or something. Tony looked flushed and agitated; he ran his hand through his hair and gave a deep sigh.

  ‘No, John, nothing’s wrong, time to go.’ He opened the car door and got into the back seat, still looking out of the windows for any sign of her. He realised he had to compose himself in front of John and sat back in his seat. ‘Take me to the club, will you? No, wait a minute, take me to the casino.’

  Tony went straight up to his apartment at the casino; he wanted to be alone to gather his thoughts. He couldn’t fathom out what had just happened, it had all been so quick and so surreal.

  ***

  Next morning, Jake went to see him at the casino. ‘Hey, how come you spent the night here? I’ve just been to the club, I thought you’d be there.’ Jake was bright and breezy and was waiting for the report of what had happened when Tony saw the publican last night.

  Jake poured two mugs of coffee, and placed one in front of Tony. The more he asked him about what had happened on the previous evening, the shadier Tony was about it. He knew he shouldn’t have let Tony go. He reckoned he must have threatened the publican and it had all gone wrong.

  ‘Okay, Tony, what did you do and what hospital is he in? For God’s sake, he was only a bit short on his money. So, tell me, what happened?’ Jake sat opposite him, waiting for the worst. He noticed Tony’s serious yet sheepish face; he wasn’t laughing or joking about how he had scared the publican.

  Tony stood up and reached for his overcoat and took the money the publican had given him out of his pocket. ‘Here.’ He threw it on the coffee table between them. ‘I told him to leave the rest and just make sure he paid up properly next month.’

  Jake was now concerned; the solemn tone in Tony’s voice was unusual, not what he had expected at all. ‘Are you okay, Tony? Come on, mate, what’s happened?’

  Jake sat back in his chair and listened intently as Tony first told him about his meeting with the publican, and then he paused and seemed to blush a little. With a shy smile on his face, he told Jake about his encounter with the woman in the beer garden.

  Jake laughed. ‘Oh, well, not a totally wasted evening, then. Sounds better than mine at Sharon’s sister’s place. Maybe I should have gone, after all, maybe I would have had some passion in that shithole of a so-called beer garden.’ He shook his head. ‘Let’s be honest, Tony, it’s the back delivery area, with a few tables in it. So, what’s the problem? You look weird.’

  Tony took a gulp of his coffee. ‘I want you to do me a favour, Jake. I want you to find out who she is, and if
she’s okay. I didn’t get a chance to, I fell over my trousers and banged my knees on one of those wooden benches.’ With that, Tony smiled; it was the first proper smile Jake had seen all morning.

  Jake nodded. ‘Yes, okay, shouldn’t be too hard. A pub full of strippers, they are bound to all know each other. What was her name?’ Jake waited and then saw Tony shrug his shoulders.

  ‘I don’t know, we never introduced ourselves. In fact, we never spoke, not while we were … you know.’ Tony looked down at the floor; he felt embarrassed admitting this to Jake. He saw Jake raise his eyebrows and smile; he obviously thought this was amusing.

  ‘Okay, next question, what was she wearing? Who was she with?’

  Again, he saw Tony shrug his shoulders.’ I can’t remember what she was wearing. No, I do, it was a dress, and she was sitting with a Jamaican woman and her husband.’ Tony seemed pleased that he recollected this information.

  Jake held his hands open wide. ‘Is that it? She had long dark hair, wore a dress and was sat with a Jamaican woman. That is, until she decided to have sex with you in that old back yard. That’s not a lot to go on. I’ll ask around, although it seems pointless.’ Jake suddenly turned serious. ‘You did use protection, didn’t you? After all, she sounds a bit easy to me. How many other people hasn’t she spoken to in the beer garden with her knickers down?’

  ‘Don’t say that about her! It wasn’t like that. I just want to know if she’s okay, she seemed like a frightened rabbit caught in the headlights when she ran off. I just want to make sure she got home okay, that’s all.’ Tony seemed angry at Jake’s suggestion that the woman had been ‘easy’, he put his mug down and started to walk towards the bathroom.

  Jake watched him go; he would try and find out who this mystery woman was, but even he knew it was futile. They would all have been drunk, why would they notice anyone having a bit of hanky-panky, outside? Then it struck him. Oh no, he wouldn’t have to go searching for her, she would come to them. This encounter was going to be another ‘kiss and tell’ story for the newspapers! ‘My night of passion with Tony Lambrianu’; Jake could just see the headlines now.