Everything to Nothing (3 page)

He had had
girlfriends in the past, and due to his good looks, his past
romances were usually with attractive young women. Though none of
these females had made him feel as if a lightning bolt had just
struck his heart. Right at that second, as their eyes locked
together, his heart seemed to miss beats, his chest seemed to be
constricted, breathing was difficult. He looked away briefly,
certain she would be able to read the thought that had just
occurred to him. He threw this thought out of his mind quickly,
almost disgusted with himself, as he remembered her helpless,
scared state.

She was glad
when their gaze met again and she was able to drown a little bit
more in his eyes. She was surprised at the way she was feeling
after all that had taken place in the last hour. She knew she was
in shock and she knew she should be more scared than she actually
was, but she was not. For some reason, this man in front of her,
this handsome man, with his wet T-shirt stuck to his body
highlighting his toned muscles, made her feel safe.

All manner of
thoughts raced through her mind as their eyes were meeting for
those few seconds. One thought entered that surprised her, the one
she never expected to come into her mind. Now it was her turn to
look, in fact turn away, as she tried to force this image out of
her mind. She was surprised with herself for feeling, thinking
erotic thoughts. Of course young men interested her, but only a
little.

She was well
aware from a young age that she was beautiful due to the mirror
showing her so and also due to the number of dates she was invited
on. Some of these dates she accepted and she had left a behind a
long line of broken hearts. She first kissed one of these dates
when she was fifteen, but split up with him the next day. She had
kissed plenty more dates, even let one of these put his hand up her
top, but she split up with him soon after. And then of course there
was the summer in Dubai, but she did not want to think about that
right now. Sally was well aware that most of her friends were about
to or had lost their virginities. Sally mentally wanted to lose
hers; she had just never met anyone who physically made her want to
do it, except for the previous summer but she didn’t want to think
about that. She did not think that lack of physical arousal would
be a problem with David.

As these
thoughts were racing through their minds, there was awkward silence
between them, as they both did not know what to say or what to do.
He was looking at her back, trying hard not to concentrate his gaze
on her buttocks, racking his brain trying to think of something,
anything to say. She was pretending to look at posters on the wall
showing expensive and exotic super cars. She broke the silence with
a question that surprised him because he would never have thought a
young lady would be interested in cars. Sally was not that
interested right then, but the silence between them seemed to her
to be awkward and she just had to say something, anything. ‘What
kind of car is this?’

He walked over
a few of paces and stood next to her. ‘It’s called a Bugatti
Veyron.’

‘It’s
beautiful.’

‘Certainly is.
My dream car. It costs a million pounds though.’

‘Wow! For a
car? It looks fantastic.’

‘Believe me
when I say that it is.’

They
contemplated the picture of the car for a few more moments and then
the whistling of the kettle interrupted their reverie. The fact
that made Sally’s question even more surprising was the fact that
in one of her father’s many garages were two Bugatti Veyrons.

Chapter 5

‘God Michelle,
I’m feeling horny tonight!’

‘Sarah! You
can’t say that!’

‘It is only the
truth Michelle! I might have to find myself a good looking boy and
take him home tonight!’

‘Be careful
Sarah.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, for a
few reasons. First, sexually transmitted diseases…’

‘Yeah, yeah.
Yawn, yawn.’

‘Secondly,
don’t get pregnant. It will ruin your life.’

‘Let me
introduce you to a new word Michelle, abortion!’

‘That’s not
funny Sarah. Abortion is not a form of contraception. Please! Make
sure it is safe.’

‘Okay,
okay.’

‘And, well, you
don’t want to get a reputation.’

‘What do you
mean reputation?’

‘Well,
guess.’

‘You mean
slag?!’

‘Well, kind of,
yes. How many guys have you taken home recently?’

‘I don’t know.
Quite a few!’ Sarah giggled.

‘Exactly. Some
of the girls at college are talking.’

‘What? Calling
me a slag?’

‘Basically,
yes.’

‘They’re just
jealous because they couldn’t get laid if they wanted to.’

‘I’m sure they
could. You said earlier tonight that boys are only interested in
one thing. Therefore, if you think about it, any of those girls who
couldn’t get laid if they wanted to, actually could because the boy
wouldn’t be interested in them, just what they can give the guy. It
is just that they are not, erm, easy.’

‘Oh! Meaning I
am?’

‘No, I didn’t
say that.’

‘No, but you
implied that. You are too prim and proper Michelle for your own
good, with your therefores and wherefores’

‘I didn’t say
where…’

‘Yeah, I know,
but you might as well have. Life isn’t the romantic play that you
seem to think it is. You only get one life Michelle and I’m going
to make sure that I enjoy mine! If that means taking a few boys to
my bed then so be it!’

‘Okay then.
It’s your life.’

‘Lighten up. Go
and find yourself a man tonight, have some fun, receive some oral
sex, have sex! I totally intend to!’

‘Well just be
careful then, okay?’

‘I will be
careful. I’m on the pill and if the guy looks like he may have a
disease I’ve got a box even though I hate using them.’

‘A box of
what?’

‘God, you
really are naïve! Condoms Michelle, condoms. Look, here’s one for
you.’ She reached into her bag, retrieved the box, took out a
condom and gave it to Michelle.

‘I don’t want
this,’ and she tried to give it back.

‘Keep it. You
never know.’

‘You don’t care
about your reputation then?’

‘To tell you
the truth Michelle, if you are as a good friend as I thought are
this conversation would never have happened. You should be happy
for me that I am enjoying life!’

‘I am.’

‘You’ve got a
funny way of showing it.’ Sarah double-checked her hair and make-up
in the mirror then haughtily exited the restroom and walked back
into the bar.

Michelle and
her friends had left the bar where she had spotted Simon and she
had tried to call Sally a few more times but without success. The
conversation she just had with Sarah was typical of their
conversations nowadays. Sarah had always been diligent in school
and college, but ever since her father had left home she had gone
off the rails. Michelle had tried reasoning with her but her words
fell on deaf ears and Sarah was about to go further off the rails
later that night.

While Michelle
was leaving the toilets to return to the bar she threw the condom
Sarah had forced upon her into a bin.

Chapter 6

David had
plugged in a small fan heater and organized a battered chair and a
battered stool, and positioned them in front of the heater. They
were both sat down now, huddled over hot cups of tea taking
occasional sips. Sally at first was in danger of spilling the hot
liquid onto her legs as her hands shook, but as she took more sips
the chance of her doing this reduced as the level of the drink
dropped and her hands slowly stopped shaking.

David had tried
to instigate a conversation, but it was hard to talk when the other
person involved in the conversation kept on giving one word
answers. He had tried open and closed questions and both of these
styles of query received yes and no answers even when it did not
make sense to answer with this kind of response. As he grew older,
David would realise more quickly when someone does not want to
talk. He only realised this now, however, when he had asked many
questions.

So now they sat
in silence, David trying his hardest to think of something,
anything, interesting to say, Sally trying her hardest not to think
of the animal who had tried to attack her and just wishing she was
at home. David then thought of something that did definitely need
Sally’s attention. ‘Sally. Sally?’

She ignored, or
just did not hear her name; she was just staring at the heater. He
did not know why his arm decided to shake her leg. His brain was
firmly set upon the idea of shaking her shoulder to get her
attention, but his arm made a beeline for her leg. Before he could
get his arm under control, its hand was touching the soft, smooth
flesh of her leg, the part just above her knee, her thigh in fact.
The touch made her whole body jump in surprise and if the cup had
been fuller she would have got burnt.

She looked at
him, eyes wide, startled at his touch. He drew his hand away
quickly and tried to say an apology. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to
startle you.’

‘Why did you
touch me?’

‘Sorry. I tried
saying your name. You, erm, didn’t answer. You were in a different
place I think.’ He laughed a small laugh, hesitantly.

‘Yeah, I was, I
think, somewhere else.’

‘I was going to
ask you,’ David quietly asked, desperate to get her mind off him
touching her there, ‘whether you wanted to call the police?’

‘No,’ she
strongly, quickly stated. ‘It is my fault. Look at me; I’m dressed
like a harlot.’

‘Harlot?’

‘Doesn’t
matter. I’m not wearing much. It is my fault.’

‘It’s not!’
David was surprised, shocked at Sally’s thinking. ‘You should be
able to dress and do whatever you want to safely. That is what the
police are there for, to make sure everybody is safe.’

‘No. It is
okay. What can they do? They would just think it is my fault for
dressing like this.’

‘I’m sure they
won’t.’

‘It doesn’t
matter what you think, it matters what I think. Look, I’ll pay you.
Can you please take me to my car and see if you can fix it?’
Sally’s tone had changed. She seemed more scared than she was a few
moments ago, more nervous, and unsure. It was like his touch had
rattled her confidence in him.

‘It’s okay. I
don’t want paying.’

‘No, I insist.’
He noticed how she pouted a little, how a little line appeared
between her eyes, an I-want-line he had read it called before. ‘How
much?’

‘The price,
madam, for a damsel in distress, is nothing! Zero English pounds!’
He tried to make a joke. Tried to ease the atmosphere, the after
touching the thigh atmosphere. She laughed a little at his joke,
which eased the tension, but he could still tell that she was a
little nervous, a little unsure. ‘Okay. Here’s the plan of atta…
action. You stay here in the office; I’ll run outside and get a
truck. When you hear the horn blow come to me. I’ll be at the
bottom of the steps. Lock the door with this key.’ He handed her a
bunch of keys, holding out prominently the correct key. He noticed
how quickly she drew her other hand away as he took the quarter
full cup from her. ‘Sorry, I don’t have an umbrella to offer
you.’

‘That’s
okay.’

David put on a
tough sounding voice. ‘Us macho men don’t need no umbrellas.’ He
thrust out his chest and swaggered and strutted to the door. Sally
lightly laughed at his words and antics, and then he was gone, into
the rain and cold, her modern knight in wet T-shirt and soggy
jeans.

Then she was
alone for a few minutes in the office. First she turned off the
heater and unplugged it. Then she sat down on the stool and took a
mirror out of her bag. She opened it and was startled by her
bedraggled appearance. She thought she looked like she had been
dragged through a bush forwards, backwards and forwards again.

David though,
at that exact moment, was thinking how beautiful she was. He
sprinted across the courtyard, key ready in his hand, and reached
the truck. It was not a tow truck; it was the kind of truck that
carried broken down vehicles on its back. He entered the vehicle,
and of course as you would expect with an engine that is cared for
by a fleet of mechanics, it started straight away. He reversed
quickly out of the space and kept on reversing at a high speed
until it seemed like he was not going to turn or stop, but plow
straight into the shop and office building. At what seemed to be
the last possible moment, he swung the steering wheel to the right,
applied the brakes and lined the passenger door up exactly with the
bottom of the steps. He reached across and opened this door, twice
hit the horn, then leaned back across and peered out of the
passenger window.

He did not see
Sally stand up, switch off the lights and walk seemingly slightly
hesitantly to the door as there were no windows and the door was
solid metal. He did see the door open and watch Sally step through
the doorway. He then witnessed and faintly heard a metallic noise
as the keys slipped out of her hand to land on the metal steps. He
watched her bend down to pick up the keys, saw the flash of a white
thong and naked buttocks as she picked up the keys. It must have
slipped her mind to stoop more decorously in such a short skirt he
thought, and then he watched her peer at the keys trying to work
out what key was for the door. He quickly jumped out of the cab of
the truck, ran round the front and up the stairs. There were around
twenty-five keys in the bunch and he struggled to remember which
one was which. David reached Sally and held out his hand. She
mouthed the word sorry to him and he pointed to the truck. She
nodded and took as much time to descend as she had to ascend the
treacherously slick steps. By the time she had reached and entered
the vehicle, he had too.