After Finchby and Yakovlevski leave, Bech still wears that ‘just sucked a lemon’ expression.
“Something to say, Bech?”
He scowls and looks down. “No, sir.”
“Good. Remember who's in charge here. And who's already made you a rich man.”
“Yes, sir.”
I turn to the girl where she cowers at my feet. “Tell her she can write a letter. Make sure her family know it’s her.” Luuk translates.
“Thank you, sir.” She launches herself at me, wrapping her arms around my ankles, weeping incessantly. “Thank you.”
Bech lashes out with a foot. “Get back, you little bitch!”
Disentangling myself from her grasp, I stoop, looking her in the face. “Remember, they have to pay for you. And they have to outbid the others. I’m a businessman, not a charity.”
“They will, sir. They will,” says Luuk.
*****
James
Sleep escapes me. My green-eyed Love lying next to me, my friend beyond her, I toss and turn in the dark, my mind churning.
Georgie…
Family matters…
Michael was right to pull me away that day. He enjoys a drink as much as anyone but doesn’t normally overdo it.
When did I last see him drunk?
?
When he believed he was losing Charlotte…
… to me…
He’s right, partially at least. It helps blot out the worst for a few hours. And he went there with me. Stayed with me.
it’s only sticking-plaster over the
a chasm
panes, I give up on sleep and moving as quietly as I can, pull on some clothes and head for the kitchen. Then, coffee in hand, I go
this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and
The long slide of grassy slopes down
Soul food…
I am
has not risen, the world bathed in the grey light of the predawn, but Venus,
steam, warming my fingers on the mug, I wait and I watch as the rim of
Pull yourself together man…
across the low
not seen her
never
the clouds, a gash in
You have everything…
Everything else…
“Master?”
my
and a robe.
So I’m just watching
“Would you like company?”
Come and join me. But put some
*****
catches my eye. And of course, I know
Anyone else around?
a few moments of what passes for privacy in a spot like
“Yes, Kirstie?”
“James, about….”
back office with
I was just chatting with Kirstie
There’s a couple more confirmations to come in, but that’s most of
them in the
“Mr Alexanders.” Then she waddles off back to
the door closes behind her then, “She’s um…
God save me…
please. Tell
“Not a joke. She’s
hate to break this
serious
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