THE POLITICS OF PLEASURE

by Mark Russell

  He turned back to her and saw his distorted reflection in her sunglasses. Words tumbled from his mouth, 'Michelle, I don't want to hurt you ... not after everything we've been through. I only want to look after you and care for you. I'll never raise my hand to you, you know that. I'm not that kind of man ...'

  Again he was hard-pressed to see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but her rigidity didn't speak favorably of his impromptu proposal. Very likely she'd heard similar words from men before. Very likely his alcohol-tinged declaration was little more than an unflattering portrait of a man struggling to express his feelings. But what to do? It wasn't a perfect world. He wasn't a perfect person. He couldn't help but open his heart to her, half-drunk or no. Of course he didn't know if she would risk another chance with a man who'd nearly got her killed, with a man who was still a fugitive; however elaborately disguised. He watched her fidget and chew her lip, and her thoughts were all her own as she fired up another cigarette and sucked its curling smoke deep into her lungs.

  'But my flight leaves in two hours.' She stood out front of Lahaina Galleries on the second floor of the Hyatt Waikiki, fingering the key to her fourth-floor room.

  'Look, I'll pay for a new ticket to the mainland.' A tinge of desperation crept into his voice. 'Just stay a while longer, please.'

  Michelle looked down at the floor and shuffled her feet.

  'You said there's nothing urgent to go back to.' He stared at her bowed head. 'And it sounds like you don't want to be with Robert anymore. He'll probably only phone you and hound you once you get back.'

  'Or not contact me at all ...' Michelle stared at a large Pegge Hopper print in the front window of the gallery. Pleasing pastel colours were framed in Koa wood, but she was oblivious to the enticing qualities of the popular print. She was being pulled in opposing directions, and Goldman sensed a born-again attraction for him was making it difficult for her to resume her former life.

  So, would she catch her flight? He could only imagine what was going through her mind. It's just the alcohol, you're just holidaying in Hawaii. You've got to go back and face the real world. Reality's a bitch, sweetheart, she bites hard ... you of all people should know that.

  Goldman thought back to Fast Eddies, to Michelle's drunken exuberance at the table, to her declared love for all things Oahu. She'd gone on about the island’s cloud-tipped peaks, its North Shore surf and abundant flora, the full moon rising over Kahala Beach, her sitting on the sand with a bottle of wine and a half-smoked joint, the wind whispering about an ancient people in dugout canoes, their brown feet marking virgin sand. Yes, Goldman sensed she'd been touched deeply by Oahu's magic. He imagined the island's fresh air and rolling shorelines would be hard to exchange for the uncertainty of her Robert-scarred life in Los Angeles. Well, he certainly hoped so.

  They drove along the Pali Highway in his Buick Skylark convertible, his arm out the window, her long hair streaming wildly in the wind. The twilit sky was lavishly painted with soul-stirring hues. Navy and aquamarine, interspersed with dying splashes of pink and gold. They'd just visited the Tendai Mission of Hawaii. The Mission's impressive twelve-metre statue of Senju Kannon, the Thousand Armed Goddess of Mercy, had made a lasting impression. Michelle ran her fingers through Goldman's hair as they headed for his Kailua home, the couple's rekindled attraction a palpable force in the car.

  "... Joe Moore, Hawaii's choice. Weeknights at 6 and 10 pm, on 2N KHON"

  Goldman glanced at the winking lights of a descending DC-9 jet and turned up the radio as a popular Top Ten song played through the car speakers. He felt the wind against his face, felt Michelle's fingers on his neck, and the sparkled showing of early stars seemed like celebratory lights, filling him with the sweet certainty he and Michelle would never again part.

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  Table of Contents

  DEDICATION

  PROLOGUE

  PART ONE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  PART TWO

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  PART THREE

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  EPILOGUE

  NEWS AND UPDATES

  Table of Contents

  DEDICATION

  PROLOGUE

  PART ONE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  PART TWO

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  PART THREE

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  EPILOGUE

  NEWS AND UPDATES