He leant forward again and smiled, ‘But let’s not talk about work. I want to talk about you.’
The starter arrived and Kathy waited until she saw which knife, fork or spoon he picked up before she started to eat. And then she suddenly found she wasn’t hungry. Butterflies in her stomach made eating impossible, and though she managed a few mouthfuls, her plate was removed with half the food left on it. She felt embarrassed. What would her father have said if he had seen such waste?
The main course arrived and Kathy’s heart sank as she saw what seemed to her like a mountain of food placed before her.
‘Are you looking for a place of your own?’ Tony asked.
‘Well, yes, but only looking. I really need to save some money first . . .’ She stopped, unsure whether she should be saying such things to him. She really would have to curb her tongue. She was far too outspoken for her own good sometimes.
‘I might be able to help you there. I know one or two people who might have a bed-sitting room, or even a flat. It’d be tiny though, but at least you’d be able to come and go as you pleased and not be subjected to the third degree every time you wanted to go out. Leave it with me. I’ll ask around and—’
The head waiter approached the table. ‘Excuse me, Mr Kendall.’
So, Kathy thought at once, Tony was well known. The thought crossed her mind – I wonder how many other young women he’s brought here? But the waiter was continuing, ‘There is a telephone message for you, sir. Would you like to follow me?’
Tony sighed, threw his napkin on to the table and, without a word, rose and followed the man.
Kathy wasn’t sure what she should do and besides, she was still having difficulty forcing the food down her throat. So, thankful for the respite, she laid her knife and fork down and waited until he came back.
After a few moments, Tony hurried towards her, a worried frown on his face. He did not sit down again but stood by the table. ‘Kathy – I’m dreadfully sorry but I’ve had bad news. My mother has been taken ill. I’ll have to go home at once.’
Kathy half-rose from her chair. ‘I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?’
His answer was swift. ‘No – no, but I must go. Look, you stay and finish your meal. I’ll pay as I leave. Can you get home all right?’
‘Of course, but I—’
He held out his hand, palm outwards as if to prevent her from making any more offers of help. Again he said, ‘I’m really sorry. This is not how I wanted it to be.’
Kathy sank back down into her chair as she saw him approach the head waiter, speak to him briefly and slip something into his hand. The man looked across at her and nodded. As Tony hurried from the restaurant, the waiter approached her table.
‘Mr Kendall has asked me to look after you, madam. I’m sorry your evening has been spoilt, but please enjoy the rest of your meal and let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.’ He bowed obsequiously.
‘Thank you,’ Kathy murmured and picked up her knife and fork, pretending to eat. As he moved away, his sharp glance roaming round the rest of the room to check that no one needed him, Kathy glanced down at the food on her plate. She had scarcely touched it, but now, curiously, she found she was ravenously hungry. She tucked into the food as if she hadn’t eaten for a week!
When she’d eaten pudding and the waiter had poured her a cup of coffee, she sat back and let her glance roam around the huge room. Elegant ladies and gentleman sat at the other tables. Her envious gaze lingered on the luxurious fabric of the ladies’ gowns, their sparkling jewellery and their beautifully coiffured hairstyles. Kathy felt suddenly very much the little country mouse in her dark suit and sensible shoes.
She became aware that a woman at one of the tables on the far side of the room was staring at her and Kathy dropped her gaze in embarrassment. Nervously, she raised her coffee cup to her lips to finish the drink and leave.
A shadow fell across the table and Kathy looked up to see the woman who had been watching her standing above her. Without being invited, she sat down in the chair opposite. At once the head waiter was at her side.
‘Madam—?’ he began, but she waved him away.
‘I just need a word with my – friend here.’
‘Very good, madam.’ He bowed his head and then moved away.
Now it was Kathy who was staring. She didn’t know her from Adam – or rather, Eve. She bit her lip. Oh dear, was it some customer that she should remember? Had she served her and—?
‘My dear, please forgive this intrusion. Perhaps you won’t thank me when you hear what I have to say, but I mean it with the very best of intentions.’
Kathy didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent.
The woman leaned her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together. ‘Tony Kendall. Have you known him long?’
Kathy shook her head saying with careful deliberation, ‘No, not long.’ Then she could not stop herself asking, ‘Why?’ She would liked to have added, ‘What business is it of yours?’ But she still couldn’t place the woman, couldn’t think if she should recognize her. But for once she held her tongue and let the woman continue.
‘You look a nice girl, but – forgive me – rather an innocent one.’
Kathy felt the woman’s glance take in her plain serviceable suit, her home-styled hair, and her face, devoid of any cosmetic enhancement. In stark contrast, the woman sitting opposite her was beautifully made-up, her black hair smooth and shining like a raven’s wing. She wore a blue and silver dinner gown and diamonds clustered at her throat. On the fourth finger of her left hand was the biggest sapphire ring that Kathy had ever seen. Not that she had seen many, she thought wryly. But the stranger’s beauty and poise left Kathy feeling frumpish and plain.
‘What do you know about Tony Kendall?’
Kathy stared at her. She couldn’t believe this was happening. All sorts of ridiculous thoughts flitted through Kathy’s mind, but nothing made any sense. She glanced across at the table where the woman had been sitting. A man sat alone there now, watching them with an amused smile. Was he the woman’s fiancé?
Kathy took a deep breath. Be hanged if she was going to sit here and take this, even if it cost her her new job. A job she really was beginning to enjoy. Her natural feistiness reasserted itself and fleetingly she wondered how she’d become the meek, subservient being she’d been during the last few weeks. Of course, she’d been trying to please Aunt Jemima, trying to hold down a new job and adjust to the strange environment. She’d been trying to please everyone else. Well, it was high time she pleased herself. High time she stopped feeling guilty for keeping her meeting with Tony a secret, as if it were something to be ashamed of. Because it wasn’t. She was attracted to Tony Kendall – yes, she had to admit it, she found him irresistible. Contrary to what she knew would be Jemima’s advice, indeed everyone’s advice at the department store – even against her own better instincts – she’d agreed to come out with him.
And now here was a complete stranger asking questions she’d no right to ask. Kathy had been in danger of cowering before the stranger, subsiding under the woman’s scrutiny.
Suddenly, the old Kathy – the Kathy who’d walked out of her home, had come to the big city, determined to start a new life and to stand on her own two feet – was back. She quelled the sudden tremor of apprehension, and now, instead of shrinking, she met the woman’s gaze squarely. Slowly she let out the breath she’d been holding and said quietly, keeping her tone respectful, ‘What gives you the right to ask me?’
For a moment the woman blinked and then smiled. ‘Nothing, my dear, except that I don’t want to see a nice young girl taken in by him and hurt like so many others before you.’
Kathy gasped. ‘So many others . . . ?’ she began.
The woman’s wry smile had a tinge of sadness too. ‘I’m afraid so. And I should know, because I was one of them.’
Kathy glanced swiftly at the man across the room. He was still watching them.
‘But I’ve been lucky,’ the woman went on. ‘I’ve met a wonderful man – a lovely man – who adores me and whom I love very much. But I have to tell you, my dear, that three years ago Tony Kendall broke my heart – and I wasn’t the only one. I saw you come in with him and – forgive me – I’ve been watching you.’ She smiled sadly, knowingly. ‘The moment I saw the head waiter approach your table, I knew.’
‘Knew?’ Kathy snapped. ‘Knew what?’
‘That it was the same old routine.’
‘Routine?’ Kathy repeated stupidly. ‘What d’you mean?’
The woman sighed. ‘I think he must have some arrangement with the head waiter. He must give him some sort of signal that he wants to escape. It’s his way of ending an affair—’
‘Affair? This isn’t an affair,’ Kathy said impulsively. ‘It’s only the first time he’s asked me out. How can he want to end it now? So soon?’
The stranger’s smile was sympathetic. ‘My dear, you have a lot to learn about men, I can see. And about Tony Kendall’s sort in particular.’
‘His – sort?’
‘He’s a philanderer. A heartbreaker. He’ll pick you up and drop you just as quickly if he decides you don’t – ’ she paused and added pointedly – ‘suit.’
‘You’re wrong,’ Kathy was stung to retort. ‘I know you’re wrong. His mother was taken ill. He had to go . . .’Her voice trailed away as the woman’s knowing expression didn’t change. She sighed as she rose and, looking down at Kathy with what seemed like genuine concern, said softly, ‘Like I say – the same old routine.’
Nine
Kathy walked home through the cold, dark streets, her head in a whirl, though not now with the euphoria of falling in love.
But it’s too late, she thought. I like him – I really do – and he likes me. I know he does. She’s just jealous. That’s what it is. She lost him and she can’t bear to see him with someone else. And as for all that rubbish about there being countless others – well, Kathy just didn’t believe it. And the nonsense about the ‘routine’ to rid himself of an unwanted girlfriend? She didn’t believe that either.
But a niggling thought burrowed its way into her mind. For some unaccountable reason, Miss Curtis’s distressed face was before her and the whispered words with Emily Foster were replayed in her mind.
Kathy reached the tiled passageway leading between the two terraced houses and then the gate into the back yard. Before entering the house she visited the privy across the yard. As she came out, she saw Taffy sitting in the centre of the yard, his green eyes catching the pale moonlight and shining through the darkness.
‘Hello, boy.’ Glad to have a distraction, Kathy bent and stroked the cat’s fine head. She knew he slept in the washhouse, where another hole cut in the door allowed him entry and exit whenever he wanted. How wonderful, she thought to have such freedom, and her heart quailed at the questioning she was about to face.
She braced herself mentally as she let herself into the house to find Jemima sitting in her chair by the range, a book in her lap, the wireless on the small table at one side of her playing softly.
Jemima looked up and smiled. ‘Hello. Enjoy your evening?’
Evenly, Kathy replied, ‘Yes, thank you.’ She waited, expecting more questions, but Jemima’s eyes went back to her book.
Kathy glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was half past ten. Now she understood Jemima’s lack of questions. If she’d indeed gone to the cinema with Stella, this was about the time she would have arrived home.
Jemima believed her. She’d no reason to doubt Kathy’s word, but instead of being relieved, she felt even guiltier for having lied to the woman who’d been so kind to her.
‘Can I get you anything, Aunt Jemima?’ she asked, trying to make amends, even though the woman was ignorant of the need for it.
‘No, thank you, my dear,’ Jemima murmured without raising her head.
‘Then – then I’ll say goodnight.’ As she reached the door leading to the foot of the stairs, Jemima said, ‘Oh – I almost forgot. I spoke to my neighbour, Mr Spencer.’
Kathy blinked and racked her brain. Then she remembered. ‘Oh, yes. The man who belongs to the choral society.’
‘That’s right. He said if you sing as prettily as you look, they’d be glad to welcome you to their group. You’re to go along to their meeting on Thursday evening in the school on Monks Road, just beyond the Arboretum.’
‘Yes, yes, I know it.’ Kathy’s was thinking quickly. ‘Do they meet every week?’
‘No, once a fortnight.’
Kathy smiled and nodded. She hoped that Tony Kendall would ask her out again and if he did, maybe she could suggest a Thursday evening.
Now all she said was, ‘Thank you, Aunt Jemima. I’ll certainly go along.’
As she climbed the stairs, Kathy hummed softly to herself. Not only would she be able to sing again – something she really enjoyed – but she would also have a cover story when she wanted to meet Tony in secret.
Now all she had to do, she realized, was to get Stella to back up her story about their supposed visit to the cinema together.
‘You’re a dark horse and no mistake,’ Stella teased, her hazel eyes alight with pleasure at the intrigue. ‘Hasn’t taken you long to find yourself a beau.’ She eyed Kathy speculatively. ‘Or was it someone you knew before? Is he the reason you came to the city?’
Kathy shook her head. ‘No – no. I – I’ve only met him since I’ve been here.’
Stella giggled. ‘You’re a fast worker and no mistake. Is it someone I might know?’ She gripped Kathy’s arm. ‘I bet it’s that spotty-faced lad in hardware.’
‘No, no. It’s no one you know.’ More lies. Kathy sighed. But they were necessary ones.
She didn’t see Tony Kendall at all until the Wednesday, and by this time she was feeling hurt and humiliated and almost ready to believe what the woman in the restaurant had said about him. He’d not bothered to give her one word of explanation for his hurried departure from the restaurant, leaving her feeling foolish. She so desperately wanted to ask him about the woman who’d spoken to her. Who was she? And were the things she’d said about him true?
Yet how could she ask him such personal questions on the strength of one date? And only half a one at that. Common sense told her to bide her time and wait until he made the first move.
But what had common sense ever had to do with falling in love?
For three days she worried. She tried hard to concentrate on her job and not incur Miss Curtis’s wrath. She was very afraid that, at any moment, the well-dressed woman from the restaurant would walk into the department. Whatever would she say to her if she did?
And then there was Aunt Jemima. Every evening she was on tenterhooks in case the woman asked her about the film she’d supposedly seen. But at least Stella had agreed to cover for her. The young girl, who had little social life herself, had been only too pleased to help.
‘Tell you what, though,’ she’d said. ‘We really should go to the pictures now and again. Then it won’t be a real lie, will it?’
Kathy had smiled. ‘You’re on.’
‘What about Saturday?’
‘Well . . .’ Kathy had hesitated.
‘Oh, I get it. Lover boy might ask you out again.’ Kathy’s heart had melted at the sight of Stella’s obvious disappointment.
‘No, we’ll go. Really,’ she’d said impulsively, even though she was regretting it immediately. But the pleasure on the young girl’s face was her reward. Like Kathy’s own home life had been, Stella still lived under the strict rule of her parents and only the assurance that she was out with a girlfriend from work would make them relent and allow her to visit the cinema.
On the Wednesday afternoon, just as they were laying the covers over the counters and the displays, Miss Foster came into the millinery department. ‘Excuse me, Miss Curtis. Mr Kendall has asked to see you in his office.’
Kathy
glanced up and then looked away quickly, feeling the colour suffuse her face as she saw Miss Curtis follow the manager’s secretary. The minutes passed and the time for closing came and went.
‘We can’t leave till she comes back and says we can go. I hope she’s not going to be long. I’ll miss my bus.’ Stella groaned. ‘Oh, I do hope that’s not all starting up again.’
‘What? What do you mean?’
‘Her – and him.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Miss Curtis and him. Mr Kendall. They used to go out together. I told you before, didn’t I?’
Kathy felt as if the breath had been knocked from her body. ‘Used to – go – out together?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Stella said airily, not realizing how her gossip was a devastating blow to her new-found friend.
Kathy swallowed uncomfortably. Perhaps what the woman in the restaurant had said had been the truth. Perhaps, after all, it was not just jealousy that had made her approach Kathy. Perhaps her concern had been genuine. Kathy opened her mouth to probe further, but at that moment Stella’s face brightened and Kathy glanced over her shoulder to see Miss Curtis returning. As she walked towards them she glanced around her, checking the counters and the displays. ‘Is everything done?’
‘Yes, Miss Curtis,’ Stella said.
‘Then you may go, Miss Matthews, but as for you, Miss Burton . . . Mr Kendall wishes to see you.’
Kathy’s heart skipped a beat, but she managed to say calmly, ‘Thank you, Miss Curtis. Goodnight.’
‘I shan’t be leaving until you come back.’ The woman’s face was expressionless as Kathy turned away and made her way to the manager’s office. As she entered the outer office, Miss Foster was covering her black typewriter.
‘Go straight in, dear. He’s waiting for you.’
Kathy tapped lightly on the door leading into the inner office and went in.
Sing As We Go Page 7