by Wynne May
‘Is there something you want?’ she asked, pleasantly. ‘Anything I can do for you, Mr. Cunningham?’
‘I wondered if you would console the photographers with your company, after all that work, for a pre-lunch drink on the terrace?
Liza will be there.’ His eyes went to the two driers. ‘How busy are you here, Michelle?’
‘I’m just about finished here, before lunch,’
‘You don’t mind, then?’
‘No, not at all.’
‘It’s just to put them at ease. They’ll be going in to lunch soon after that and then finishing off with the photographs afterwards. As you know, they’ve been invited to spend the night here and are to attend the party at Lyle’s house.’
‘Well,’ Michelle lifted one shoulder, ‘I’m practically through now until after lunch, Mr. Cunningham. I’ll be pleased to help out.’
‘Good,’ he smiled. How like Lyle he was, Michelle thought, meeting his eyes, or rather, how like his father Lyle was. ‘That’s fine,’ he was saying. ‘I’ll be along myself for a moment or two, but if I know young fellows at all, they’ll enjoy the company of a couple of attractive young ladies to themselves.’
Liza and Lyle’s father were already on the terrace with the photographers by the time Michelle was able to get away from the salon. ‘I’m sorry,’ she looked at Cunningham Senior, ‘but my customer’s hair took so long to dry. I had to allow another ten minutes.’ She smiled dutifully as the introductions were made.
A little later Lyle’s father left them and there was the usual desultory conversation about the weather, holidaying in the Berg and the possibility of being confronted by a leopard while out climbing or walking.
Guests, lethargic after a morning of walking, climbing or swimming in the sparkling pool, lounged at nearby tables set about the terrace and conversation was punctuated by the clinking of glasses and occasional laughter.
Liza was called to the telephone and Michelle found herself alone with the two photographers. She was laughing at something one of them had said when Lyle Cunningham chose that moment to arrive on the scene. He would, Michelle thought with considerable resentment. She had been instantly aware of his blue-green eyes narrowing slightly directly he spotted her.
It took a lot of nerve on her part to remain there, casually sipping at her drink and trying to listen to the conversation about her with an attentive and interested air when all she longed to do was escape. It was a relief, therefore, to see Liza approaching the table.
‘Well,’ Liza looked directly at Lyle. ‘May I join you?’ The way in which she said this made it sound as if she had only just turned up, especially in view of the fact that her empty glass had already been removed by one of the stewards before Lyle arrived. Something in Liza’s attitude caused Michelle to believe that the other girl had spoken this way on purpose in order to create the feeling that she had only just arrived on the scene.
At this stage Cunningham Senior joined them again and Michelle found herself trapped there until the party broke up for lunch.
‘I’ll be seeing you this evening,’ Lyle looked at Liza. It was apparent that he was sharing a table at lunch with his father and the two photographers.
‘Yes,’ Liza answered, ‘I’m looking forward to it.’
Michelle found herself tensing as Lyle turned to her. ‘And you, of course. I’ll be seeing you this evening, I take it?’ He gave her a level, searching look. ‘I take it you are coming?’
Because there was nothing else for it she murmured, ‘Yes.’
‘Michelle will be there. She adores cameramen, don’t you Michelle?’
said Liza, laughing lightly. Turning to the photographers, she said,
‘By the way, you should have seen Michelle posing in her bikini in the snow recently. The Utah people were doing a short for the van Luit Wine people and they drove out into the thick of the snow -
walked the last bit - carting along cameras, tripods, lunch trestles, food, wine - the lot! I was longing to go out and watch them shooting
- I’d been invited, actually, but I was madly busy at the desk.
However,’ she smiled at Lyle, ‘Lyle drove me out later on in the day, but by then, most of the fun had died down. Apparently there’d been a fabulous lunch and some kind of champagne orgy which was filmed. Anyway, there was Michelle - posing in a bikini, mind you, in. all that snow …’
Michelle felt herself tensing, not knowing how to respond to Liza’s spite, then she decided to play it cool. ‘It would be absurd to say,’ she broke off, laughing a little, ‘that I wasn’t cold.’ She shivered prettily,
‘I was, believe me. But it was worth it.’
‘Yes - but then you had that gorgeous fur coat wrapped about you at the end, didn’t you?’ Liza gushed. ‘What a pity you couldn’t keep it, Michelle. I believe it was on loan from Dermot’s?’
‘I believe it - they, because there were two of them, Liza - I believe they were on loan. In any case, though, I wouldn’t want to keep a fur coat.’ Michelle tried to match Liza’s tone. ‘I happen to feel very strongly about animal fur.’
‘Wouldn’t you?’ Liza shrugged. ‘Well, that’s a surprise.’
Trying to suppress the anger she was feeling, Michelle said, ‘Will you please excuse me?’
‘Knowledge will bring the station-wagon to the front this evening,’
said Lyle, ‘and he’ll collect the lot of you and drive you over to the house.’ His smile was easy, but it was focused on Liza and the photographers. Then he turned to Cunningham Senior. ‘And that goes for you too, Dad.’
From her room, Michelle was able to look down on the terrace. Liza was not there and the men had apparently decided on more drinks, before going through to the dining-room for lunch. Her mind became hostess to a seething mass of thoughts as she looked down on Lyle’s dark head - and then she caught her breath as he looked up suddenly. The fact that he must have seen her at the window was humiliating and did nothing to soothe her feelings.
The afternoon was broken for her by the photographers invading her tiny salon. ‘Where’s your bikini?’ she was teased. ‘What about posing for us in your bikini?’ The remarks were passed jokingly and meant nothing, but Michelle had to cling on to her temper.
‘It doesn’t necessarily mean that because I took part in a film wearing my bikini it must follow I do the same thing now,’ she replied, somewhat snappily. ‘I’ll keep out of the way while you finish here -
for I take it that you do want to photograph the salon?’
By the time she reached the desk she was seething with rage. Liza, who was alone, glanced up. ‘Yes? Is there anything you want?’ she asked.
‘Yes, Liza, there is something. Would you mind dropping the subject about my little effort in the film? I find myself resenting your remarks, for the simple reason that they make me appear quite ridiculous.’
‘What are you moaning for?’ Liza’s voice was hard, to match her eyes. ‘You proved yourself a born performer.’
‘I just don’t happen to like being the victim of these silly little dining-out stories of yours, Liza; I’d rather you dropped the subject.’
‘Certainly I’ll drop the subject, but it still doesn’t alter the basic facts, does it?’ Liza stared coolly into Michelle’s furious eyes.
‘I have no regrets about posing, if that’s what you mean.
I’m not ashamed of what I did, Liza. It was done for the experience and was a lot of harmless fun into the bargain. However, you’re turning it, or are intent on turning it, into something nasty.’
‘What gave you that impression?’ Liza drawled.
‘It was a smart decision on your part, wasn’t it, to get Lyle Cunningham to drive you out to the film set? Just what were you hoping to achieve, Liza?’
‘What I do and who I do it with has nothing whatsoever to do with you, Michelle,’ Liza snapped.
‘And that fits two ways, Liza. Please remember that.’
As she dressed for Lyl
e Cunningham’s party Michelle was tense.
There seemed little sense in throwing up her position here at the hotel just because of what had happened, but on the other hand, the entire set-up had changed. She no longer felt happy and, so far as Lyle Cunningham was concerned, she felt that she had never been subjected to a sharper appraisal.
Acting on an impulse, she decided to wear a beautiful gold silk caftan which she had bought in London just before leaving for South Africa.
She had done this with golden sunlight in mind.
The silky folds, falling to the carpet, emphasized her slimness more than they disguised it Her hair, almost the same colour as the material, cascaded to her shoulders.
Lyle Cunningham showed no evidence of pleasure at seeing her as she was shown, with the rest of the party, into the magnificent lounge. One of the photographers gave a low whistle. ‘Too much,’ he said, “but this house is too much!’
As in the case of the party in Michelle’s honour, there was a fair smattering of people present and the murmur of voices stopped only for a few seconds as new arrivals were being shown in by Usef.
Pete and Laney were already there and Michelle spotted them almost immediately. Before she could join them, however, Lyle was saying,
‘Where’s Dad?’
Surprised that he had asked her, and not Liza or Debbie, she said, ‘He was detained at the last moment He was waiting for a trunk call coming through. He said he would drive himself over - later.’
‘I see.’ His eyes went over her.
Only a short while ago, she thought bitterly, she would have been flattered and pleased that he had referred to his father as ‘Dad’ to her.
Now it meant nothing. So far as Lyle was concerned, just a slip of the tongue.
A buffet supper had been laid out in the dining-room which was divided from the conversation pit by means of an ornate wicker screen. The pink, gold and orange curtaining had been drawn to one side of wide windows to reveal a small but exciting white-walled garden where the exotic shrub leaves glinted in the lighting, which was concealed.
Guests mixed with the ease of the sophisticated.
‘You’re looking fabulous,’ Laney whispered, as she and Michelle helped themselves to food, later on in the evening.
‘Thank you, Laney. Do you like it?’ Michelle inclined her head. ‘I bought it in London just before I left. It seemed perfect for this kind of climate. In my wildest dreams, though, I didn’t anticipate wearing it quite so soon and in such a fantastic house. I feel like a film star in it. It was worth all the money I paid for it, although I felt guilty at the time.’
There was a little silence before Laney said, ‘Michelle, have you and Lyle Cunningham had a tiff?’
‘A tiff?’ Michelle tried her best to sound vague.
‘Yes - you know, have you had words, a difference of opinion, an argument of some sort?’
‘Of course not.’ Michelle went on helping herself.
‘He seems to be avoiding you and yet constantly aware of you, if you know what I mean,’ Laney went on. ‘And the same goes for you. You seem to be avoiding him and yet constantly aware of him.’
‘You seem to forget that Lyle Cunningham is in a sense my boss, Laney.’
As though Laney had anticipated this answer and was ready for it she said, ‘It’s not that. I’ve been watching you both all evening - and into the bargain, Liza Monatti seems to be watching both of you. Now come on, what’s it all in aid of?’
Michelle stopped serving herself so that she could look at Laney. ‘I’ve heard that some women crave for all sorts of things to eat, Laney, when they’re expecting an infant,’ She laughed lightly. ‘I can’t help wondering whether you’re developing an obsession for asking silly questions. Any more questions, Laney?’
‘No, not any more.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because you’ve just answered all my questions, a moment ago,’ Laney replied dryly. ‘With your eyes.’
‘Oh,’ Michelle shook her head slowly and laughed, ‘come off it, Laney! Look, I’ve been very busy at the hotel - busy in the salon and busy helping at the desk. I don’t see all that much of Lyle Cunningham and we certainly haven’t quarrelled.’
In the background, the murmur of voices and clinking of crockery and cutlery and glassware was like something on a soundtrack. ‘It must have been very much like this when they were filming here,’
Michelle tried to change the subject, ‘don’t you think, Laney?’
‘Yes, it must have been, and in that fabulous caftan you’re wearing you could be the main star. I’m going over to join Pete. Come along when you’re finished here, Michelle.’
‘All right. I won’t be a moment,’ Michelle went on helping herself, her face closed now and somehow immune to everything which was going on around her.
When Lyle Cunningham came to stand next to her she felt herself tensing. The crowd milling around the table had thinned. Michelle lifted her eyes, searching the room for Laney and Pete. ‘That curry,’
Lyle was saying, quite pleasantly, ‘happens to be very hot. I hope you don’t regret your choice of food.’
‘I won’t,’ she turned to look at him. ‘Besides, I’m always prepared to take a chance.’ She spoke without thinking and flinched when he said, ‘Yes, so I’ve noticed. That’s something I’ve noticed about you, as a matter of fact.’
Preparing to move away from him, she said, ‘Well, please don’t worry yourself. I’m not.’ She felt fury welling up inside her. Was he never going to give up over the bikini affair?
‘By the way,’ he began to follow her, ‘you’re looking very stunning.
You could have been made for these rooms.’
‘Thank you.’
‘You appear to be looking for someone,’ he went on, ‘but if it happens to be Glen Hayes he hasn’t arrived yet.’
‘I’m not looking for Glen Hayes.’
‘Oh, aren’t you? I understood otherwise.’
Turning her head, she said, ‘Is there any foundation for your belief that I might be looking for him?’
His mouth turned up faintly at one side. ‘I’ll be honest with you, Michelle. I only invited him because you were going to be here.’
Curiosity, rather than retaliation, was her motive now and she asked,
‘Did you make it obvious to him that you were inviting him on these grounds?’
‘Of course not. I never give a reason at the back of an invitation.
However, I do give a lot of thought as to who I should ask - and why.’
‘Well, perhaps, in this case, you’ve started something you can’t finish.
As you say,’ her blue eyes swept the room and then, furious, they came back to his face, ‘Glen Hayes hasn’t turned up.’
‘Don’t settle on that.’
‘And that’s all that matters to you, isn’t it?’ she asked. ‘That he should turn up and give you the satisfaction of watching to see what we get up to next.’
‘That’s where you’re so wrong,’ he told her. ‘It’s not the sort of game I play. I invited Glen Hayes here because you and he happen to be-very friendly at the moment.’ There was impatience in his voice.
‘I see.’ Michelle stared back at him. ‘Well, I don’t know what gave you that idea, but if this is what you choose to believe, well and good. In any case, Mr. Cunningham, we’ll take it from there - the way
you want it!’
She spotted Glen Hayes as she stood talking to several people she had been introduced to at the party which had been in her honour.
Glen had a glass in one hand and a plate with cold cuts and salads in the other. ‘I think I know everybody here,’ he said as he joined them.
‘How’s it, Bob? How’s the farm?
Norma … hello there.’ Eventually his tawny eyes came to rest on Michelle’s face. ‘And hello to you.’ Behind the horn-rimmed glasses he wore his eyes moved over her with a kind of bored speculation.
He went on chew
ing, where he had left off.
‘Hello,’ answered Michelle.
He came over to her. ‘I just couldn’t get here earlier,’ he said, ‘and that’s a fact.’ He looked around for a place to put his glass, then gave up. ‘I can’t help but wonder to what I owe the honour. I haven’t been invited to the Cunningham mansion for some considerable time.’
‘Presumably he has a reason,’ Michelle’s voice was tight. ‘He usually has - or so he says.’
Glen laughed lightly. ‘Well, actually, that fits two ways. I had my own reasons for accepting.’ His eyes went over her. ‘I might tell you, you were one of them. I’m also interested in some land he wants to buy - the more land I can buy up, the better. But,’ he took a sip of his drink, ‘why play around? It happens to be the farm belonging to your brother.’
Michelle felt herself go pale. ‘My brother?’
‘Yes. Didn’t you know? Lyle Cunningham is trying to buy them out!
Actually, there’s been so much dilly-dallying going on that we - my partners and I - have bought another farm. I might go so far as to say a much better farm in that the house is beautiful and the grounds well established.’ He pronounced it beaud-i-ful, drawing the word out.
‘However, we’re always interested in land, for the very simple reason that we have a lot of schemes up our sleeves. The Berg is opening up all the time. But don’t tell me you didn’t know?’ ,
‘I knew they were struggling,’ she answered, ‘and that there was a possible buyer at the back of things, but I didn’t know that Lyle Cunningham was trying to buy them out.’ She thought for a moment.
‘Lyle had mentioned some land - adjacent to the hotel land, of course.’
‘So?’ Glen’s voice was soft. ‘The boundary of the hotel divides them.’
She drew in a long breath and kept it there for a long moment before releasing it. ‘I’m a bit dazed, actually. He’s supposed to be such a good friend of theirs.’ Her voice was bitter. ‘Laney said somebody was interested but that they’d decided not to sell.’
‘Well, it couldn’t have been me, at that stage. They don’t know anything about my interest.’
‘Who keeps you so well informed?’ Michelle asked bluntly.