The Finest Line

by Catherine Taylor

  “I did driving and security for... an organisation and I worked in a nightclub.”

  Mairead was surprised, “As a security guard or something?”

  “Something,” James shrugged.

  Mairead wanted him to elaborate but was interrupted by the vibrating buzz of James’ cell phone. Setting his utensils down, James answered the call.

  “Yes?” He listened silently for a long time and then added, “I will inform Miss Kavanagh.” He set his phone down. “Mr. Sanders will be at the hotel in an hour. The police wish to ask you some more questions.”

  Reality had made its unwelcome return. This time it was her turn to fall silent as she picked away at her food.

  She kept her head bowed as she asked, “Are they going to arrest me?”

  “I believe it is just routine questions.”

  “I don’t want to talk to them. Can we just go home?” Her voice had become small and frightened.

  James took off his glasses and looked at her. “Mairead, you will not be arrested. You will answer their questions to the best of your ability and the matter will be put to rest and then I can take you home.”

  Hearing him call her by her first name, she looked up at him, “Will you be there with me?”

  “James smiled, “Try stopping me.” The smile was quickly replaced with a frown, “Eat your breakfast Miss Kavanagh.”

  She complied happily.

  When her meal was finished, Mairead sat back to ease her well fed stomach. She gasped when she saw James’ empty plate. “You ate it all, every last mouthful.”

  “You bought me breakfast Miss Kavanagh. It would have been terribly impolite not to have eaten it.” He stood up, putting his glasses in place and smiled at her. “It was most enjoyable. Thank you.”

  Mairead couldn’t be happier if she had cooked the meal herself.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  On returning to the hotel, Mairead’s mood had dampened considerably. She sat on her bed clutching her knees, going over the events of that terrible day. What had happened to Josh? How had he gone over that balcony?

  She could still see him grinning at her and tears welled up in her eyes. She squeezed them shut and whispered, “Please forgive me Josh. Somehow I just know you are dead because of me and I’m so sorry. If you were here right now I would gladly be your girlfriend if you’d have me, but I know that I don’t deserve anyone like you.”

  Now was not the time to cry. Her visitors were due in half an hour and Mairead had to be prepared the only way she knew how. Jumping from the bed, she rifled through the many suitcases that had been sent from her home apartment.

  “Yes!” Mairead drew out a halter neck dress and held it up for inspection. It was perfect. Throwing it on the bed, she quickly undressed and changed into her new outfit. Turning to the mirror she knew she had chosen well.

  The swirls of white and lilac, lime and aqua were brought together with a thin black silk belt that accentuated her tiny waist. The hem was shorter in front allowing a good view of her shapely legs and the black silk lining of the dress. The bodice held her breasts firmly, cupping them to define some cleavage.

  She selected open toe satin high heels with a diamante strap, which gave her a good two inches on her five foot five height and made her legs look even longer.

  Plugging in her straighteners, Mairead removed the band which held back her long brunette hair before beginning on her makeup. Although she would have liked to start from scratch, there was only time for a touch-up.

  When everything was complete, she studied herself in the mirror. She knew that she was beautiful. It was at least one self esteem issue that she didn’t suffer from. For some reason the gods had chosen to endow her with wonderful features. Her dark brown eyes were large with long thick lashes. The high cheekbones were emphasised whenever she smiled with lips that were full and perfectly shaped. Her neck and jaw line were well defined.

  Men were nervous around her and girls her own age often took an instant dislike to her. Nobody took time to get to know her and growing up had often proved lonely. Her only friend, Kylie, lived in Wellington and it had been a long time since they had seen one another. Too long, and once she was back in New Zealand, she vowed to change that.

  Thinking of home reminded her that she was missing something important. Mairead looked about. She had not seen her charm bracelet in the last few days. Her father had presented it to her just before her departure from New Zealand, a silver chain with its tiny Kiwi icons to remind her of home.

  Panic rose and Mairead began to toss things from her suitcases before she remembered where she had last worn it, the night of the party.

  In the corner of the room sat a large brown paper bag. It contained her clothing and belongings that she had come to the hospital with her.

  “Please be in there.” Mairead ripped the bag open and squealed when she heard a tiny jingle amongst her belongings. Tossing her clothes aside, she beamed as she saw the bracelet. There was something else lying next to it.

  A deathly chill crept up her spine as she looked at Josh’s android lying on the floor. Her hand trembled as she picked it up. A memory of her holding it up and talking into it flooded her mind. Slowly she pressed the power button but the screen remained blank.

  There was a knock and James called out. “Miss Kavanagh, Ray Sanders is here.”

  “I’ll be right out.” Mairead continued to stare at the device. She didn’t want to hand it over. The phone contained the last moment she had shared with Josh and it was theirs and nobody else’s. Decidedly, she placed it in the bottom of her suitcase.

  Ray Sanders was wearing the same crumpled suit. His face lit up when Mairead emerged from the bedroom.

  “My dear,” He marvelled openly. “You look the absolute vision of loveliness.” He turned to James who was also struggling to hide his awe. “Surely this goddess is not the same girl in the hospital.”

  James simply raised an eyebrow but Mairead giggled. She liked Sanders immediately. With her heels she was taller than him and she suspected her flamboyant barrister was gay. She felt comfortable as he took her hand and led her to the couch.

  “Now Mairead,” He took her hands in his as he sat down and squeezed them gently. “Your stately friend there is quite concerned about you.”

  Mairead looked up at James who seemed very annoyed that his conversation with Sanders had been revealed. The barrister continued. “I’ve assured him as I am going to assure you now. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. The police are going to ask you some questions, and at every one of them you are to look at me before you answer. In fact I’ll be doing a lot of the talking.”

  Mairead nodded. “What about the drugs I did?”

  “That’s the terrible thing about these parties Mairead. You just never know what they are slipping in to your drinks and cigarettes. Before you know it, you’re hammered and you’re thinking ‘How on earth did I get like this?’”

  Mairead trembled and tears brimmed. This old crumpled barrister with his thatch of grey hair and wide brimmed glasses had become her knight in shining armour.

  Sanders turned to James. “A little brandy would be quite the order right now.”

  “There is no alcohol on the premises.” James informed him.

  Mairead pouted. “He took it all out.”

  “Well then,” Sanders continued as he looked back at James, “I hope you make a good cup of tea.”

  Mairead had to bite her lip against a giggle, when she saw the annoyance on James’ face. She watched him stride to the kettle.

  Sanders leaned forward. “No chance he’s got a gay twin brother whose looking for an older love interest?”

  Mairead burst out laughing. “I don’t think so.”

  “Oh well,” Sanders sighed and then squeezed her hands once again. “Now Mairead, tell me everything you remember about that party and in particular about Joshua Mason.”

  For the next fifteen minutes Mairead related how she had visited several
parties over a few days. Joshua had lived in the same building and one day had found her sitting by the swimming pool crying. She had just tossed her phone into the pool after her father’s call. Like her, Joshua had been more interested in good times than in his studies at the university.

  Mairead had smoked a joint in his apartment and found her new friend to be a little shy but obviously popular with his friends, who dragged them away to their first party. From there, Mairead recalled the drinking games, the sleepless nights and the cruising from one place to another, until they eventually arrived at the fateful apartment. Here Mairead grew quiet.

  “Can you remember how you came to be on that balcony?”

  With startling clarity the face of Mark Lewis invaded her thoughts. She remembered everything, even when she had first laid eyes on him.

  He had entered the apartment and was immediately the centre of attention. Mairead had stood back while everyone flocked about him vying for his attention. At one stage he had looked in her direction and a wisp of a smile had excited her.

  His cool, quiet command of an audience was stimulating, as was the way he wore a casual suit and a thin line of blonde hair on his upper lip and chin. Only his blue eyes were intense.

  After his initial glance, Mark took no further interest in her which was something unexpected. Mairead found herself wanting him to seek her out but when he didn’t she grew frustrated.

  She watched as he lined up some powdery substance on a coffee table and one by one a select few were allowed to participate.

  Mairead strode up to him. “And where is mine?”

  Mark sat back and smiled as he studied her. “If you have a few hundred dollars that you’re willing to part with you may be my guest.”

  “Do you take a credit card?”

  He smirked, “Sure, I’ll just swipe it in the crack of my arse.”

  His indifference to her charms was becoming as annoying as it was exciting. “I don’t have any cash on me.”

  He looked a little sad. “Then you don’t get to play.”

  Her eyes bored into his and when she saw him take a small swallow she knew that he was interested. It had become a game and one that she knew that she could win.

  She smiled thinly, “I’ll get you the money!”

  Taking hold of a chair and with a little wobbling effort, Mairead managed to stand on it. “I have an announcement. My virginity is up for auction. Who wants to make the first bid?”

  Every eye in the room turned to her. Joshua fell over himself to get to her and tried to get her down.

  “Mairead stop it! Get down.”

  Someone called out a bid of a hundred dollars and was promptly attacked by his girlfriend. Another raised the bid to two hundred dollars.

  Josh seized her hand but she wrestled it from his grip. “Leave me alone.”

  “Mairead,” Josh pleaded with her. “These are not the type of people you do this shit with. We’re getting out of here now.”

  He attempted to grab her but she slapped his hands away. “Fuck off Josh. You’re not my fucking boyfriend so don’t even try to tell me what to do.”

  Josh backed off, obviously wounded and embarrassed. The little guilt she felt was quickly forgotten when she noticed that Mark had taken a keen interest in her.

  The bidding had become serious when it reached four figures. The excitement was tangible and Mairead was in her element. Her eyes locked upon Mark as she watched him rise from his seat and walk towards her.

  He looked up at her and smiled, “Five thousand dollars.”

  Everyone gasped including Mairead but she quickly recovered her cool.

  She smiled, “I don’t take credit cards either.”

  “Of course you don’t” Mark opened his jacket and pulled out a thick wad of notes. “There’s two thousand dollars as a down payment.” He gently took hold of the front of her low cut top and pulled it open, tucking the money into her bra. “Give me a couple of hours and I’ll be back with the rest.”

  As Mairead celebrated her victory, Mark was soon forgotten in a haze of drugs and alcohol. There was nothing more she remembered about that night.

  The memory went untold as she felt the bile rise in her throat. Mairead pulled her hands from Sanders grasp and ran to the bathroom where she expelled her breakfast into the toilet. Sinking down to her knees she moaned as revulsion washed over her. If she could flush her existence away with her vomit it would have been far more merciful than the hatred she felt for herself.

  This was the material that the media dreamed about, the sex scandal of the century. She had auctioned her virginity and had nearly paid a terrible price. The only decent man she had met, during her three months in Australia, had died after saving her. Her name would be splashed across every tabloid and talk show, and her father would despise her.

  No one must ever know what happened that night. She could only pray that none of the guests had told the police. The fact that it was not in the papers already gave her some hope that her crime would remain untold.

  Getting to her feet, Mairead flushed the toilet and watched the contents disappear. She breathed deeply as she washed her hands at the basin. Reluctantly she looked at herself in the mirror and calmly smoothed down her hair. Licking her finger she wiped away a speck of stray mascara and separated a few clumped eyelashes.

  James and Sanders were hovering nearby when Mairead came out of the bathroom.

  “Are you alright dear?” Sanders’ face was filled with concern.

  Mairead smiled. “Nerves and a little too much breakfast.”

  She glanced at James who was frowning at her, and quickly turned back to Sanders. “Now the balcony, you were asking about. I do recall being extremely tired and finding a sun bed on the balcony. I must have lay on it and passed out. Everything after that is a total blank.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The ordeal with the police had gone so much better than she’d hoped. No mention was made of her activities during the night. The questioning was confined to her relationship with Josh and when she had last seen him.

  Brown had been much more civil to her and even offered her his sympathy for losing her friend. He told her that his investigations were concluding that Josh’s demise was death by misadventure.

  Sanders had kept total control over the proceedings and when the subject of drugs came up, it was quickly dismissed. No charges were being laid and she was granted permission to go home.

  James saw everyone out while Mairead curled up on a recliner. She had never felt so much shame and a heavy cloud of depression was blanketing her. The auction kept playing itself over and over in her thoughts, until she wanted to scream.

  James approached her. “Would you like something to drink Miss Kavanagh?”

  She shook her head and curled up tighter. Tears were flowing down her face but she was turned away from him. He left her to brood.

  Time only served to make the weight of her shame crush her. She no longer cared about silencing the intervals of crying.

  James returned. “Get up.”

  She didn’t look at him and replied through gritted teeth. “Leave me alone.”

  James placed his hands on the armrests so that he could look into her face. “I will not leave you alone. You are going to get up and wash your face. You are going to fix your make-up and brush your hair.” His tone was more assertive than she had ever heard. “There is a market not far from here and the fresh air will be good for you.”

  Mairead shook her head. “I don’t want to go out.”

  “I’m not giving you a choice,” He told her firmly, “If you want to talk, I will listen. If you don’t, I will not question you. What you will not do is sit here feeling sorry for yourself. What’s done is done. The only way you’ll recover from this is to keep living and doing whatever function that reminds you that you are still alive and well.”

  “What would you know?” Mairead began to cry.

  “I know plenty. I know what it feels like to lo
se someone you care about. I know what its like to be in a place so dark, that you believe you’ll never be able to enjoy life again.”

  “I’m no good James. I’m no good to myself or anyone else. I’m just vermin.”

  “Mairead,” He spoke her name angrily. “You are stronger than this and if I ever hear you call yourself vermin again...” James expelled a breath. “I remember a naughty little girl who had just been severely reprimanded, face a man twice her size and call him a ‘Motherfucker.’