The Finest Line (20 page)

Mairead felt ill. Her thoughts
were heavy and dark and if she didn’t do something soon she feared
that she would just start to scream and not be able to stop.

“I am really sorry about this,”
Mairead sniffed and accepted tissues from Amiri. She smiled weakly
and looked into his large brown eyes. “This is going to sound
really weird but... could I please use your poles?”

Amiri’s face lit up as if she
had just told him that he had just won a million dollars.

The underground car park housed
several cars under a low concrete roof, supported by concrete
pillars. The parking area ended at a cyclone fence beyond which was
a brick area with a higher roof, lit up by a single naked bulb. The
space was empty, except for some broken furniture, paint tins and
rubbish, and four chromed poles bolted into the roof and the
floor.

Mairead was dressed in a black
aerobic shorts and bra top which Miranda had eagerly lent her. She
gazed at the poles with Amiri who was still naked above the waist
and holding a portable disc player. Miranda and Diana sat down on
the floor in a corner and lit up cigarettes.

“Would you please show me,”
Mairead looked up at Amiri, who smiled and nodded.

Setting the disc player on to
the floor, he pushed some buttons until the pretty sounds of an
Elvis Presley ballad filtered through the space. On bare feet he
approached one pole, taking hold of it and squatting down and
stretching his legs.

Rising, he leant back against
the chrome. His eyes closed and his face was the picture of content
as his spine stretched up the length. Lifting his arms, he brought
them back over his head and took hold. In a slow precise movement
his legs were brought up and his arms lengthened until he was
perpendicular to the pole and further on still until he was
vertically upside down.

From there came a set of
stunning twists, spins and poses which defined his muscular
physique and very masculine grace. In awe, Mairead studied every
foot and hand movement employed and was aware of which muscle group
gave power to his performance.

The ballad was just entering its
second refrain when Amiri, high on the pole, stretched out
horizontally and held out his hand to her. Drawn to him, Mairead
came forward and took hold and recreated his introduction
perfectly. Amiri stayed up high while she did her own series of
movements, before twisting down to join her in a spin.

When Amiri began another slow
upside down vertical, Mairead did the same until they were facing
each other and together they slid down the pole. Anchored by their
feet they let go with their hands which caught their gentle slide
to the floor, where they finished their dance in a handstand and a
slow backward cartwheel.

Amiri screamed and picked up
Mairead, holding her high at arm’s length by her hips before
tossing her and catching her in his arms. Cradling her, he looked
deep into her eyes. “If you don’t marry me this very moment, I will
go crazy!”

Mairead laughed and hugged his
neck, planting a kiss on his cheek.

“Fuck sake Amiri,” Diana’s voice
boomed. “Put her down and try to remember that even if you weren’t
fucking fag, she’s still way too classy for you.”

Amiri put Mairead down gently
and spun to Diana. “Well at least I have some class bitch.”
Ignoring Diana’s upturned finger, he turned back to Mairead.
“Totally amazing but there’s some serious flaws going on there
Sweetie.”

Mairead grinned. “I am new at
this.”

“I know and that in itself blows
my mind. You got some serious talent going on there and with the
right training... oh my god...”

Mairead shrugged and gave him
one of her innocent smiles. “I am here for two days.”

Amiri gaped and then became very
serious, placing his hand on his hip and walking a circle around
her, studying her. “I must warn you Mairead, that this totally
gorgeous and sexy exterior hides a driven and dedicated fanatic for
his art. I can be brutal.”

His last remark made her grin.
“I’m actually really good at doing brutal.”

“Maybe so,” Amiri gave her an
amused smile. “But the pole can be a much meaner bitch than the
bed.”

Mairead blushed furiously,
astonished that he had picked up on her private pun. “I meant that
I’ve had some really mean trainers in gymnastics before.”

“Yeah right,” Amiri grinned and
turned to Miranda and Diana. “What do you think bitches?” He tried
hard to stay casual. “Can I really be bothered?”

His flatmates nodded excitedly
and he could no longer hide his enthusiasm, and took a flying leap,
swivelling powerfully around the pole before tossing his body
upwards and backwards and landing perfectly on his feet.

“Sweetie, you have yourself a
new trainer.”

The afternoon dissolved into
early evening. Mairead was able to set her troubles aside enough to
listen eagerly to Amiri’s instruction. She endured his impatient
sighs whenever she did not perform to his standard. He was very
hands on and even swatted her backside when she hesitated about
retrying an ominous move.

“Ouch!” Mairead rubbed her bum
and glared at Amiri who showed no interest in her temper.

“Then get up the fucking pole
and try it again.” Amiri crossed his arms and waited.

Mairead reluctantly obeyed,
slightly amused that he could get far more co-operation from her
than any of her gymnastics trainers ever had. In her content, she
thought how James would probably approve of Amiri’s firm hand
tactics. As quickly as his face filled her thoughts, she pushed
them aside and used the emotion elicited to attack the pole.

Only when Miranda and Diana
brought pizza to them, did she allow herself to relax. Sitting on
the floor, sweating and stuffing her mouth, Mairead enjoyed the
company of her new friends.

Their humour was infectious and
she learnt that behind the snide remarks to one another was a deep
and trusting friendship. Amiri was a barman at one of the
nightclubs and Diana did piercing at a tattoo parlour.

None of them questioned her
about her situation and simply accepted her presence among them, to
which she felt very humbled.

By eight o’clock the trio were
preparing for work and Mairead felt her gloom descend. Amiri told
her that under no circumstances was she to train alone in the car
park at that time of night and Mairead had to agree. She’d already
encountered one nasty creep that day and was in no mood to meet any
more.

Miranda provided her with some
pyjamas and suggested that she enjoy a long soak in the bath which
sounded wonderful to her. Amiri completely ignored her protests as
he changed his bedding and put a pillow and blanket on the couch
for himself.

“Don’t be on the couch when I
get home Mairead,” He warned. “Or I will just pick you up and throw
you into my bed anyway. So save us both a hassle.”

After they were gone, Mairead
was alone again in an unfamiliar room with just the demons in her
head to keep her company. There wasn’t even any housework to do as
Amiri was a compulsive cleaner as Miranda had explained to her.

“He never leaves the building by
day and only leaves the apartment to go down to the car park, and
so he cleans and cleans and then cleans some more.”

Mairead was beginning to think
he had the right idea. She would have loved to shut herself up in
some room and never have to face the world again. It was far too
cruel and she didn’t know how to play the game like everyone
else.

She had no career direction, or
any real desire to work in some normal job. She had never been
financially independent or ever had to make her own way. She had
been cared for and pampered and loved and would have been very
content to continue that lifestyle.

Now she didn’t even have James
who made her feel safe and loved and gave her the only semblance of
power she possessed. In a way, maybe it was better ended. After all
the sex and love and punishment had run their course what else did
she have to offer him?

She could never be an equally
independent partner in a relationship, contributing to their
income. She could probably give him a bunch of kids if he wanted
them but she would probably make a lousy mother and she had no
desire to find out any time soon. It reminded her that she
seriously had to get to the family planning clinic tomorrow and get
some contraception.

That distraction only lasted a
moment and her thoughts were back to James. She wondered what he
was doing, if he was going out of his mind with worry. How she
hated to hurt him but the more she thought about their lives
together, the more she realised she was doing him a kindness.

That still didn’t stop it from
hurting and the pain was becoming unbearable. In her despair she
cried out for him but no answer came. She shouted to the gods to
give her another chance, to give her one more attempt to get it
right if they would only let them be together. Even if he was just
still in her life as he had always been but how could he stay after
this?

He would be gone and life would
hold nothing for her. The scream that had simmered all day found
release and continued long and loud until it was lost in her
hysterical grief.

An hour later Mairead still lay
on the floor but her crying had become a series of quick inward
breaths and long exhales. Her thoughts were dark but she was
exhausted from despair. Her life was over. She could probably end
it on the pavement four storeys below but the last thing she wanted
was to cause anyone else any further pain.

She had her visit to Mark Lewis
to endure yet and maybe that would bring resolution. She had no
fear of whatever he had planned for her and no doubt that he meant
to get what he had paid for. Maybe he would kill her when he found
out that she was no longer a virgin. The thought didn’t bother her.
When she tried to feel reviled by whatever he might do to her, she
could not feel it. She just didn’t care.

For the past several minutes she
had been aware that her pyjama bottoms were wet and she eventually
managed to sit up and investigate. Seeing the dark stain blooming
out from the crutch, and the blood on the floor, made Mairead laugh
and said, “Hope you’re not squeamish Mark.”

Reluctantly she got to her feet
and went to the bathroom. A quick search unearthed some tampons, a
towel and face cloth. She had no enthusiasm to run a bath and was
content to stand under the shower and wash away her tears and
blood.

After soaking her underwear and
pyjama bottoms in the laundry, she rifled through Amiri’s chest of
drawers and found a pair of old tracksuit pants. They looked like
they had been folded for a long time and she hoped that weren’t
favourites.

She needed some noise and the
television got her full attention though she wasn’t sure what she
was watching. She turned the volume up louder when the knocking
came at the door, knowing there was no one she wanted to see on the
other side. Yet at its insistence Mairead got up and readied
herself for whoever might be standing there.

Kylie had been ready to launch a
tirade of anger, but one look at the shell of her friend caused her
to change tactics quickly. She followed Mairead into the lounge
room and watched as she sank back into her chair.

“How did you find me... let me
guess, Miranda?” Mairead yawned and curled up.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Kylie
sighed and sat down. “You leave a note on my door. Miranda cancels
our coffee date. James turns up, looking like an irate zombie.”

Mairead looked up. “James came
round?”

“What did you expect?” A little
anger had entered Kylie’s voice. “You disappear from the city. He
goes out of his head. Fuck you Mairead, his eyes were red. He’d
been crying and I had to show him that fucking piece of shit that
you wrote.”

Mairead hung her head but there
were just no tears left. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want your fucking
apology,” Kylie could no longer contain herself. “I just need to
know what fucking happened.”

Mairead shrugged. “I don’t love
him. He’s a control freak. Took me a while but when I got back to
his place I realised that I just wasn’t in to him.”

“So you had to do the fucking
dramatic disappearing act,” Kylie was livid. “You couldn’t just
tell him and put the poor bastard out of his misery.”

Kylie’s words were stinging but
somehow they didn’t have the impact that they would have had a day
ago. She remained stony faced and asked casually, “So what did he
say?”

“He’d been trying to ring me but
my phone was switched off, until I found that note. I couldn’t tell
him that shit over the phone and told him to come over.” Kylie
seemed that she was on the verge of tears herself. “He had this
look on his face, relief I think it was, until I gave him the note.
He just nodded then and told me he would send your things over in a
few days.”

Mairead listened, her face
unchanged. “Better this way.”

Kylie stared at her
incredulously. “Mairead, I don’t know what is going on in your head
but I’m sure going to fucking find out. Get your stuff and let’s
go.”

“No,” Mairead shook her head
slowly. “I’m poison Kylie. Whatever I touch turns to misery. I’m
leaving here on Thursday and going to try hard not to fuck up
Miranda and her friends somehow. Just put my shit outside your door
and I’ll pick it up but I’m not going to take a chance of doing
anything more hurtful to you.”

Kylie got up and knelt down in
front of Mairead, grasping her hands. “I love you and you are not
going to push me away and don’t even think about trying to insult
me or any shit like that to get rid of me, because I’m not buying
it.”

Mairead smiled. “If you love me
then let me just stay here until Thursday and I’ll come see you
then after work. Amiri is teaching me pole dancing and I don’t have
to be alone during the day.”