AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Be sensible, she told herself scoldingly. Why should he have wanted to kiss you? Look at yourself, for heaven's sake. He's engaged to Baba. She's ravishing; magazines pay a fortune to have her face on their covers. Why would any sane man who was engaged to her want to flirt with you? A reflex action, maybe, a token pass just because he always makes passes at a woman if he's alone with her . . . but no, she no longer believed that that was what Luke was like. He simply didn't behave like that; at least she had never seen him doing so. Charming and amusing, he certainly was, but he was also very intelligent, very shrewd and a formidable man to work for or with. The two sides of his nature would not add up and therefore one of them must be wrong. His reputation as a womaniser obviously had some basis in fact, though. What about the pretty redhead he had been with at the 21 Club?
Judith's face burned as he remembered the way he had looked her over that day and then walked away when John began to introduce her. Luke hadn't thought she was worth meeting. Did he remember seeing her before? she wondered, and doubted it.
She went into work next day with a splitting headache and had to go through the very tedious board meeting in a state of permanent nausea. She staggered into her own office later and sat down, her head on the desk, pressing her cupped hands into her eyes, to relieve the ache behind them.
'What's wrong?' a voice said close at hand, and she lifted her head, eyes half shut, to look at Luke.
'Migraine,' she said, and it hurt to speak, there were flashing lights in front of her eyes; the zigzag semicircles which always came with migraine.
'You'd better go home. I get them myself; I've got some pills which help.' Luke put a hand under her elbow and lifted her. She was almost unaware of going down in the lift, getting into his car. The chauffeur was running towards them across the concrete; his feet seemed to crash inside her head and she winced, but in the underground car park it was very dark and soothing. She leaned her head back against the upholstery and let her lids droop. The car began to move smoothly up the ramp.
Luke came into her flat with her and made her lie down on the couch. He vanished and returned with a glass of water and two pink torpedo-shaped pills.
'Take these.'
Judith took them, drank the water, murmured drily: 'Thanks.' and lay back again. Luke put a quilt over her and drew the curtains. She sighed with relief in the darkness.
'I'm going back to the office. Don't worry about work, just try to sleep. If you aren't well tomorrow, don't come in…' he murmured.
She whispered: 'Thank you.' It was hard to speak; impossible to think.
Luke sat down on the edge of the couch and brushed her tumbled hair back from her hot face with a gentle hand. Judith kept her eyes shut. 'Sorry about this,' she managed to get out, and Luke bent over her, his mouth lightly brushed against hers and then was gone again. A moment later so was he; she heard the door close quietly and tears squeezed out from under her lids. Her face was still wet as she went to sleep.
She woke up in the dark and couldn't remember where she was for a minute, then she swung off the couch and pot on the light. It was nine o'clock at night and she bad slept for hours; it must have been nearly two by the time Lake left her. Seven solid hours of sleep, she thought, disgusted with her own weakness. She went into the bathroom, feeling dishevelled and hot, and had a refreshing shower, then slipped into a long while towelling robe and went into the kitchen. She was panted and dry: she needed some tea.
She was sitting in front of the television, drinking the tea, when the phone went. She tripped over the hem of her robe as she rushed to answer it.
'Judith? Is that you? '
'Baba? Yes, of coarse it's me—where are you?'
'In my flat, I’m back in London.'
'How was the audition?' Judith couldn't make out whether Baba was over the moon or depressed; her voice wasn't giving any clues and Judith didn't like to ask bluntly: did you get the part?
'Nerve-racking, and I still don't know if I've got a chance or not. They're very cagey; they said they'll be in touch.'
'At least they didn't say you hadn't got it; there's still a chance.'
'My agent says they'll probably have me back to do some more tests if they like the first one. I had to come
home to do a job in London tomorrow, but I'll be going back after that. My agent says it's important for me to be available if they ask for me.' Baba laughed and Judith heard the optimism in her voice then; she was half relieved that Baba had reappeared and half regretful because she wasn't staying. It would be much easier to fight her own feeling of attraction towards Luke if Baba was there to remind her that he belonged to someone else.
As coolly as she could, Judith asked: 'Have you seen Luke yet?'
'He was busy when I rang. I only got here two hours ago; I feel half dead after that flight from Los Angeles. It seems like a hundred years ago since I set out. Luke's secretary said she'd try to get a message to him, but he's dining with some politician and he won't be able to get away before midnight, she thinks. Judith, can I come and have a drink? I'm bored, I feel so restless. I didn't want to come back; I'm afraid that I'll miss my chance if I'm not there on the spot, but my agent said I couldn't get out of the job tomorrow. I can't sit around here alone, I've got to talk to someone.'
'Be my guest,' said Judith with wry amusement. She did not want to see Baba, but she could hardly say so. Baba had a sort of cheerful disregard for what anyone else wanted; why hadn't that struck her before? Looking back, that was how it had always been. Baba always went for what she wanted and if you were in her way she very sweetly walked right over you, apologizing as she did so. In anybody else it would be a horrible trait, but Baba was so nice; she made you feel she was doing you a favour by running your life to suit herself, How could you be so niggardly as to resent it?
She rang off, tidied the sitting-room, made some fresh coffee and brushed her drying hair into some semblance of order by the time Baba arrived.
'Hallo, darling; you're so sweet to put up with me. I brought you something from California,' Baba said when she opened the door to her, putting a parcel into her hands.
'Oh. thank you,' Judith said, following her into the sitting-room and opening the gaily wrapped box. It was a bracelet of small green stones, polished and unevenly shaped: the sort of souvenir tourists find everywhere. 'How lovely,' said Judith, smoothing the stones with one fingertip. 'How nice of you to think of me.'
'I'm dying for some coffee,' said Baba, sitting down and pouring herself a cup. 'I got several of those bracelets for people; I wasn't sure what to bring back, but that sort of thing does for anyone.'
'Yes,' Judith said, dropping the bracelet back into its box. '.
