He was worried about her. She’d been through one hell of an ordeal. She shouldn’t be on her own, but the driver was right, he wouldn’t get anywhere arguing with her tonight.
‘I hope you’re right, mate. I sincerely hope you’re right.’
It was nearly midnight by the time William climbed out of the cab. He paid the driver and thanked him for his advice but he was too pumped up to sleep. He had half expected Finnegan to turn up flanked by a couple of heavies, tonight, but he came alone and not at all happy that William had brought a policeman with him – one of the perks of working for an escort agency was that you could always lay your hands on a uniform when you needed one.
The fake policeman asked where Kara Kavanagh was.
Finnegan laughed at the idea that Kara was being held prisoner and blamed a faulty lift and then he had snatched the money back from William and told William to get out of town.
William had no intention of being run out of town by a fat bully like Jack Finnegan but he had to admit that he was looking over his shoulders more often, now.
He poured himself a large whisky and paced up and down his kitchen. He got the feeling that Kara had blown him out. She blamed him for this whole thing. William wanted to ring her but in the end he sent a text:
– I’m sorry. If you need anything call me – any time X
Her reply came straight back:
– Fuck off!
William smiled sadly. At least he knew she was getting his messages, now, but it looked as if he was going to have to give up any hope of winning her round.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kara woke up feeling strangely different. She’d slept well and felt rested for the first time in ages.
It looked like being another lovely day. Kara sat up in bed and checked her phone. She was half expecting there to be another message from William but there was nothing. She went through her contacts and messages to check if Jack had deleted him or had somehow managed to bug her phone.
She found messages from William that she’d never received, and replies, supposedly sent by her that she’d never seen before, telling William she was with Jack now and that he should leave her alone. Jack had been determined to put a wedge between them. She was relieved it was all over.
She pulled on a robe and went down to the kitchen to make coffee. She wasn’t going in to work today. She’d planned to but now that the moment was here she couldn’t bear the thought of having to face Jack Finnegan. The fun had gone out of her job and she needed a complete change, but first she needed a friend.
Kara had a gym she barely had time to use, and a swimming pool and a sauna that both looked and smelt brand new. She needed company – someone to mess up the house and make noise with.
‘Hi Luce, fancy coming over for a swim and a meal and maybe a few bottles of wine later?’
‘Why aren’t you at work?’
‘I walked out, Luce.’ Kara held the phone on her shoulder with her chin as she checked the freezer for food.
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘Can you come, Luce. I could really do with a friend right now.’
‘I’ll be there in ten minutes.’ The phone went dead. Kara smiled. She was often guilty of wilful neglect of her friends and could go months without even contacting them but there were some, like Lucy, who she could pick up the phone and call as if they had spoken only yesterday.
Kara put four bottles of wine in the fridge and found a box of bread sticks and a pot of cheese sauce in the cupboard.
Lucy was knocking on the door within fifteen minutes.
‘You’re late,’ Kara teased, pulling her friend into a tight hug.
‘Bloody awful traffic,’ Lucy said.
‘I started without you.’ Kara handed her friend a glass of wine and picked up her own half-drunk one.
‘I brought some stuff out of my fridge and my pyjamas and tooth brush.’ Lucy handed Kara a carrier bag.
‘Wow!’ Kara peered inside. ‘Salmon en croute, new potatoes, salad and chocolate ice cream. Yummy! Your fridge holds a classier kind of produce than mine.’
‘I shopped on my way,’ Lucy admitted. ‘I knew you’d have nothing in your shiny show house.’
‘I hate it, Luce – I hate this house. It taunts me with its opulence and size and reminds me just how lonely I am.’
‘What do you expect when you’re married to your work?’ They settled on loungers in the sun, sipping wine and dipping vaguely stale bread sticks into the pot of cheese sauce.
‘I’ve left, Luce.’
‘Where?
‘Work. I’ve lost whatever it was that drove me. I’m burnt out. I’ve had enough.’
‘Something’s happened. Is it a man, Kara?’
Kara took a deep breath and a large slug of wine and prepared to tell the whole sordid tale to her friend.
‘Jack Finnegan set me up.’ Kara explained what had happened and how she had met and fallen in love with William before she realised that he had been paid to entertain her, and how Jack Finnegan had pretended to come to her rescue when all along it had been part of his sick game of cat and mouse. And about his sick revelation that his wife was a virgin.
‘Go to the police,’ Laura said without a moment’s hesitation.
‘It’s too late – I’ve destroyed the evidence. Besides, I don’t want my name dragged through the mud.’
‘You can’t let them get away with this.’ Laura was adamant but Kara had had enough.
‘I just want to forget about everything – at least for today,’ Kara said and they stripped off and swam in the pool before opening another bottle of wine and drinking it at the poolside with their toes dangling in the water.
‘You’re so lucky to have all this?’ Laura said.
‘What use is any of it without someone to share it with?’ Kara said, reaching out to touch her friend. She was recalling William’s words as they were dining at Greens. She had stupidly thought that was their first date and had gone to bed that night dreaming of many more.
‘That’s what friends are for,’ Laura said.
‘Why don’t you and Tony and the kids move in here? This house needs a family in it.’
‘You’re right, sweetie, but it’s your family it needs – not mine. Mine would break all your lovely ornaments and shit in your pool.’
‘That’s ok. Mary would make it look as if it never happened by the following morning.’
‘Tell me about William, Kara. He intrigues me.’
‘There’s nothing to tell. He’s a low down bum. What else do you need to know?’
‘But you said he rescued you. Without his help you’d still be Rapunzelled up in Jack Finnegan’s ivory tower block. Are you sure he wasn’t telling the truth when he told you he played no part in it?’
‘I don’t know, Luce, but he’s not exactly boyfriend material. It’ll be better all-round if I leave him in the past. Why would I want a man who sells his body for money?’
‘We all have our price,’ Laura added.
Kara and Lucy ate and drank and soaked up the sun all day long, and when the sun went down and it got chilly they took ice cream and more wine upstairs to Kara’s bed and watched movies into the early hours of the morning. It had been an epic day and they slept like babies.
Lucy had to leave early the next morning and Kara had a new life to plan.
‘What will you do, honey?’ Lucy kissed her friend and climbed into a cab.
‘I haven’t decided yet, Luce. I’ll let you know when I’ve figured it out.’
Kara cleared up the mess they’d made and as she was doing it she formulated a plan. When her cleaner arrived at nine Kara sat her down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and put her proposition to her.
‘Mary, I really can’t justify having a cleaner just for me when I’m not even working. Would you mind cleaning my friend Lucy’s house instead? I’ll pay you until the end of the year and if Lucy wants to keep you on you can negotiate with her after that.’
Mary didn’t look all together delighted with the prospect. She would have to work for her money at Lucy and Tony’s house, whereas here she had just put polish on top of polish.
Kara did the same with her gardener and then rang Lucy hoping that she wouldn’t be mad at her.
‘Mad! Of course not. You’ve just given us a cleaner and a gardener for nothing. I’m not mad, I’m delighted.’
‘Good.’ Kara smiled and put the phone down. She had a resignation letter to write. Under the circumstances she had no intention of working out her notice and she sent her resignation letter to Jack via email. She expected him to ring or turn up at the door but she heard nothing. She could only assume that was a good thing.
Kara collected the post when it dropped through the letterbox and tried to pretend that she wasn’t looking for a card or a note or an outrageously expensive painting from William, but there was nothing.
Lucy rang at 4 o’clock.
‘Mary went to fetch the kids from school. She’s got a daughter at the same school and she’s taken them all to the park so that I can work. She’s an angel, Kara – and so are you for giving her to me.’
‘My pleasure, darling.’
‘Are you ok, Kara?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘For Christ’s sake ring him, Lucy said.’
‘I can’t do that.’
‘Why not? I know you want to – and don’t you think you owe him a thank you for springing you from Finnegan’s tower?’
‘I hadn’t thought of that, Luce.’
‘Because you’re hopeless at letting people do things for you. Ring him.’
‘Maybe,’ Kara replied and put down the phone.
She keyed his number in – and then changed her mind and went for a swim – leaving the phone at the poolside just in case it rang.
Two lengths later she dried one hand and keyed his number again. It started ringing. She terminated the call and swam another five lengths reliving the time she had spent with William. On her sixth lap she counted up the hours they’d actually known each other. It amounted to no more than a day. It was nothing. Why was she even contemplating this? He’d probably spent more time fucking Laura Finnegan than he’d spent with her.
The phone rang when she was at the other end of the pool. She swam back in record time.
‘Hello,’ she was breathless.
‘Kara? Are you ok?’ He sounded worried.
‘I’m fine. I just had to swim the length of the pool to reach the phone.’
He appeared to breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Damn! I thought you were in trouble, again.’
‘I don’t make a habit of getting kidnapped,’ she said. ‘The phone was just at the other end of the pool – the end I wasn’t at.’
‘You should hire someone to move it as you swim.’
‘Are you offering your services?’ Kara cringed as the words left her mouth.
‘If I was there you wouldn’t be taking phone calls,’ William replied, undeterred.
Kara’s stomach lurched.
‘You don’t have to sell yourself to me,’ Kara bit back.
‘You couldn’t afford me,’ William replied.
‘I don’t pay for my friends.’ Kara laughed but she was annoyed.
‘You couldn’t afford me because I would demand commitment,’ William said and the tone of his voice sent a shiver down Kara’s back. Suddenly she couldn’t think of a sharp reply.
‘You’re good at committing for the length of a job, aren’t you?’
The line went silent. Kara cringed again. She wanted to say sorry – that her comment had been uncalled for – but he couldn’t deny that he’d taken money to entertain her, and it still hurt.
‘I only rang because I thought you were in trouble – I’ll go, now.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Kara blurted.
‘For insulting me?’ William asked.
‘For worrying you. I didn’t mean to do that.’
‘What did you mean to do, Kara?’ He sounded impatient.
Kara took a deep breath.
‘I meant to ask you if you’d come for dinner – by way of a thank you for rescuing me.’
‘Oh!’
It sounded as if he didn’t want to come.
‘You don’t have to come. I just thought…’
‘I would love to come.’
‘Good.’ Kara smiled. ‘See you at eight.’
Kara climbed out of the pool and got dressed. She needed to shop for real food now that she had someone to cook for. A man who frequented Greens restaurant wasn’t going to be happy with a microwavable frozen lasagne.
She walked to the little supermarket down the road and stopped to talk to a neighbour who was cutting his grass. She’d never done this before. It made her feel more real – as if this was real life and she’d just been skirting around its edges before; never really taking part in any of it.
She didn’t know what to buy. She thought about steak but wasn’t sure how to cook it so she settled on minced beef – she knew how to make shepherd’s pie – and she got some fruit and fresh cream to make a fruit salad.
Once everything was prepared Kara took a bath and tried to decide what to wear. She didn’t want to dress up too much and make him think she wanted him back, but neither did she want to dress down too much and make him think she didn’t care at all.
She settled on a long summer dress and flip-flops and wore her hair tied back in a ponytail.
She put wine in the fridge, laid the table outside on the terrace and put on some music. She was weirdly nervous and when the doorbell rang it made her heart race.
‘Hi. Come on in,’ she said, avoiding looking directly into his eyes. Now that she knew he’d been paid to entertain her she was embarrassed by what they’d done.
He looked amazing. The smell of him wafted in on the warm evening air – a mixture of soap and aftershave that left Kara weak at the knees. His hair was still damp from his shower and he was wearing casual trousers and a multi coloured stripy shirt that was open at the neck.
‘What can I get you to drink?’ Kara asked. She felt strangely nervous around him.
‘Whisky and ice, please.’
Kara put ice in two glasses and topped them both up with whisky. He was standing at the door to the terrace, looking out at the garden when she brought their drinks back into the room.
‘You have a lovely house, Kara.’
‘Thank you.’ She didn’t tell him that she hated it.
‘I hear you left A.I.R. Finance.’
‘Yes.’ She didn’t ask how he knew. He probably heard from Jack Finnegan’s wife when he was fucking her.
‘What are you doing now?’
‘Nothing at the moment – just recharging my batteries and trying to work out what I want.’
‘You do know I had nothing at all to do with…that stuff, don’t you?’
Kara sipped on her whisky and nodded her head. She didn’t want to talk, or even think about it. It reminded her of his ring and how much she missed having it there between her legs.
‘It kinda drove a wedge between us, didn’t it?’ He looked at her and his eyes seemed sad. Kara had to look away.
‘Was there ever really an us?’ Kara asked.
She heard him swallow.
‘I thought so – didn’t you?’
‘But it wasn’t real.’ This hadn’t been a good idea. It was like picking at a scab before it had healed properly. There was still too much pain there. She turned away and went to the kitchen to check on the food. He followed her.
‘I hope you don’t mean that. It was real for me, Kara.’
A tear escaped from the corner of her eye. Kara quickly brushed it away but it was too late, he’d already seen it.
‘Oh, Kara, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’ He tried to pull her into a hug but she pushed him away.
‘This was a mistake,’ she said.
‘Please don’t say that
.’
‘Of course it was real for me.’ Kara threw down the towel she’d used to put the shepherd’s pie in the oven. ‘I wasn’t the one pretending to be something I wasn’t.’
‘Ouch!’ Captivity didn’t do much to tame your vicious tongue, did it?’
Kara couldn’t help but laugh. It was the most inappropriate remark but it broke the awkwardness that had grown between them.
‘Sometimes I wake up and think that it must have been a dream. It was all so surreal.’
‘Something to tell the grandkids,’ William said. It was an off the cuff remark but it stopped Kara in her tracks as she poured more drinks. She had to tell him. If he thought there was more to this date than just a reconciliation she had to put him right.
‘William, I could never have a relationship with someone who does what you do for a living?’ She handed him his drink and walked away. He followed her.
‘Do you have something against builders?’ He joined her on the terrace and stood far too close. She could feel the heat of his body against her bare flesh. It made the hairs on her arm stand up.
‘But you’re not just a builder, are you, William?’
‘I am now, Kara. I gave it up…after you. It was only ever a means to an end. I needed to make some money really quickly or risk losing everything my father had built up.’
Kara wanted to believe him. She could allow herself to fall in love with a builder – but not a gigolo. She went back to the kitchen to dish up their food. She needed something to occupy her racing mind.
‘I forgot to buy vegetables.’ She put his plate down at the table and they sat opposite each other.
‘That’s ok. Do you have tomato ketchup?’
‘You can’t put tomato ketchup on my food without even tasting it!’ Kara complained but she fetched it from the kitchen and handed it to him.
‘You don’t believe me, do you?’
About the ketchup?’ she questioned.
‘No, silly – about me giving up the escort work.’
Every time he mentioned it it made Kara flinch. It just reminded her how foolish she’d been – and that this man knew things about her that no one else did.
‘I do,’ she replied. She had her fingers crossed that it really was true.
The Gigolo Page 11