A Dark Beginning: A China Dark Novel (9 page)

21:30: HornEnvy : Fuck

21:30: Tarb4u : Not quite, but close

21:31: HornEnvy : I can’t believe it

21:33: Tarb4u : You still glad we did this ?

21:33: Tarb4u : Not that you have any choice now mate

21:33: Tarb4u : Next wife claimed

21:35: HornEnvy : She looks amazing

21:35: Tarb4u : You should know, you chose her

21:35: HornEnvy : I’ve never seen her look like that

21:36: Tarb4u : You’ve either got it or you haven’t

21:36: Tarb4u : And I have

21:37: HornEnvy : Was there any more?

21:37: Tarb4u : That’s for me to know

21:37: Tarb4u : Be patient

Mark didn’t pass by the café for several days after that highly charged photography session. At first China was relieved that this foolishness was going to end, that she could move on with her life, with their lives, her and Philip back on track. But as the days drifted by in an achingly slow succession of boredom, her feelings of frustration increased. The heat of passion and visceral need that Mark’s photography session had awoken in China would not go away. That fire and ice, heavy stone that sat in her lower belly was a constant reminder of unfinished business. Even sex with Philip couldn’t make that desire go away, the persistent ache, beyond the all-too familiar comforting ebb and flow of love in her marriage.

She remembered the look of hunger in Mark’s eyes when she had stopped posing, and wondered if she had presented that same look to him. Devak was colder than ever with her, despite the lack of Mark’s presence. Was the change in her so obvious? If it was this obvious to Devak, what would her husband be seeing, or was Devak just a lot more sensitive than Philip to such things? That was quite possible. Very likely in fact, she desperately tried to convince herself.

She also remembered Mark’s sulkiness as she left. Maybe his absence was extended stroppiness from not getting exactly what he wanted. She tried to be annoyed with him over this, but then remembered how young he was. She would guess at mid twenties but it was difficult to tell. His behaviour certainly supported her guess. And then she thought of his magnificent, youthful body. And his voice, that delicious Celtic lyrical spicing of Australian thunder. He could be forgiven a little immaturity. After all, she wasn’t seeking a long term partner, just some temporary entertainment.

As she sat there, her coffee forgotten beside her, China debated with herself what she should do next. She was absolutely sure of her love for Philip, and that she did not love Mark. She did, however, miss Mark enormously, miss their conversations and the excitement of flirting on the edge of danger. And she did lust after Mark, of that there was no doubt whatsoever. Put simply, she wanted to have sex with Mark. Even the thought of that sent shivers through her body and made her muscles twitch. She could feel her neck and chest flushing with heat and quickly looked around to make sure that no one had noticed. There were only a couple of other patrons in the café, and they were all far too self absorbed to notice anything.

China realized that this need for Mark was not going to just go away and that she needed to do something drastic. Either she needed to wipe Mark from her mind somehow, maybe her and Philip could go away for a few days but she seriously doubted that would work, or she needed to get it over and done with. That seemed so simple, cold almost, when put like that. Over and done with. A part of her wanted it to be that simple, like scratching an itch. But what if that itch was like a mosquito bite, and scratching it just made her itch all the more intense?

The decision was easier than she would have liked it to be. With a firm resolve she stood and started to walk towards the pub where Mark worked. Her stride was purposeful and she didn’t notice the people she nearly barged out of the way as she made a direct line for the Dog and Duck. As she walked she felt a wave of relief. Now she had decided she was going to fuck Mark, (in her opinion that was exactly the right word), she felt as if a great weight had been lifted. This would sort out her silly schoolgirl crush, she thought. Once she had fucked Mark she would probably forget about him, resign this episode to the back of her mind, a pleasurable secret memory just for her to revisit occasionally to bring a smile to her face when it was needed. She also began to feel the cold pebble in her stomach expand the closer she got to the pub as her nervous anticipation grew. Her body was already humming with the frightening possibility of an imminent sexual encounter.

“He might not even be working today,” she told herself, ignoring the strange looks she got from people as she spoke the words out loud.

When she got to the Dog and Duck she hesitated outside. A moment of self-doubt was swiftly discarded and she pushed through the big double doors and walked in. The stark contrast of the rich, dark interior to the hazy sunlight outside meant that her eyes took a few moments to adjust before she realized that Mark wasn’t behind the bar. A large man stood there instead, his meaty, tattooed arms resting on the stained mahogany bar. He was the most intimidating man China had ever seen in real life. He looked like one of those gangster bosses in the movies, with eyes that were dark and seemed to penetrate right through you. He was also huge, with muscles straining visibly against the shirt he was wearing, a thick neck that held his balding, and closely shaved head strongly above his bowling ball shoulders.

He smiled at China and his face lit up, miraculously transforming the serious gangster mien into a kindly uncle look. “Hi China.”

He knew her name, which threw her. She opened her mouth to ask him how he knew but stayed silent.

“Would you like a drink? It’s what we’re here for.” His gentle laughter was reassuring, so China walked up to the bar, “A vodka and slimline please.”

“Why would you need a slimline?” he asked, eyes flicking up and down her body. Somehow it didn’t feel inappropriate, which surprised China. Some people could get away with comments like that, whereas others saying exactly the same thing just couldn’t. It was all in the tone of voice she suspected, and his tone was teasing but non-threatening.

“I prefer the taste,” she lied. “Would you like a drink?” China had always seen Philip asking every barman the same question. It always got him served quicker the next time, he confided to her on their first date.

“No thank you darling. I don’t drink.”

China’s eyes widened at the thought of a teetotal landlord.

“I used to be an alcoholic,” he announced proudly. China could only imagine the strength of will it took for an alcoholic to run a pub, to be constantly near to so much alcohol.

“This can’t be easy,” she said nodding toward the optics and beer pumps.

“Maybe not, but running a pub is the best way to deal with it. When you see as many pathetic drunks as I do almost every day, it makes it so much easier to avoid this,” he said as he placed her drink on the bar in front of her, his eyes twinkling with the implied scold.

China smiled back at him. She liked him. He was the stereotypical gentle giant.

“Mark’s just downstairs changing a barrel. He’ll be pleased to see you. He’s been moping around like a lost puppy for the last few days. I’m Jim by the way.” He smiled kindly at China and the walked over to serve another customer who had just entered the pub. She told herself that she would have to talk to Mark about how the pub landlord knew her name, but maybe that should wait until after what she had came here for. She didn’t want to spoil the moment by nagging him over his indiscretion. And she was secretly rather pleased that he had been ‘moping around’ in her absence. She liked her absence having that effect on men.

Looking around China could see half a dozen people were scattered through the room at this early hour. A few sat in pairs, but some were alone, nursing drinks which, from the look of their slack faces, didn’t look like their first.

She sipped her vodka and tonic, pleased with how it tasted. She wasn’t used to drinking at lunchtime and the sensation added to the sense of the occasion. She became aware of a presence beside her, more from the sweaty aroma of body odour than any sixth sense.

“Nice to see you again,” he said. She turned to face Mark’s landlord. He also looked like he had been drinking already, but he had only just entered the pub otherwise she would have noticed him before. His speech was slightly slurred and she noticed spittle on his chin. He was breathing heavily and whilst it wouldn’t have surprised China if this was a pervert’s panting she suspected it was more to do with heaving his fat body around. He was about the same height as China and although he was in an advanced stage of baldness he had dragged his long greasy halo of hair back into a ponytail that was held in place with a bright green rubber band.

“I’m waiting for Mark,” she said, emphasising her reason for being here. A reason that did not include being chatted up by him. She didn’t like the way his eyes roved her body. In complete contrast to the brief involuntary and complimentary glance that Jim had just made, Tony’s eyes lingered just too long on parts of her that she didn’t want him looking at.

“Yeah, Mark,” he said, leering. “He’s a good guy. I like having him as a tenant. No trouble at all. And with added benefits.” The knowing look he gave China left her in little doubt what those benefits were. She suspected that Tony rather enjoyed the succession of attractive young ladies that would obviously accompany the handsome Australian photographer. She managed to suppress a shudder at the thought of Tony vicariously deriving pleasure from Mark’s life, and even more so that she was now a part of that unwanted attention.

Jim came back over and China could easily see the distaste in his eyes as he placed a pint of beer in front of Tony.

“Thanks matey,” Tony said, looking at Jim as if he was one of his best friends. Jim smiled back but the smile never reached his eyes. China would not want to be on the receiving end of that look, but Tony seemed completely oblivious as he placed his money in Jim’s huge, calloused hand. Beside that giant paw Tony’s hand looked tiny, like a child’s, pink and a noticeably damp. Even his hands sweat, she thought. She turned back to face the bar, hoping Tony would go and sit somewhere else, but to her dismay he perched his ample frame on a stool next to her and tried to engage in conversation.

“Not seen you in here before,” he said. “Where’s Mark?”

“Downstairs apparently.”

“Tut, tut,” he said, a little spit flying with each hard consonant. “He shouldn’t be leaving a beautiful bird alone without a cage. She might fly. Or a cat might get her.”

What a strange thing to say, she thought, and she couldn’t help the puzzlement appearing in her face.

“What do you mean?” she asked. It wasn’t in her nature to be hostile, but her nature was being sorely tested by this grease ball of a man.

“Nothing,” he said laughing. “Ignore me. I don’t get out much.”

Just then Mark emerged from a door behind the bar. He first noticed Tony and looked distinctly unhappy to see him sitting there, but when his gaze landed upon China his smile came alive and his eyes danced.

He walked quickly over to her and placed his hand on hers. She sparked at his touch. “It’s great to see you.”

“I was wondering where you’d been. I haven’t seen you for days.”

“You looked like you might want some time to yourself the last time we were together,” he said. He almost stalled on that last word, as if trying to work out whether or not it was the right word.

“It was all just a bit weird,” she said. “I thought I might have done something wrong.”

“Oh no. Not at all. You were…. perfect.”

“Good,” she said, relieved. She had been worried that having not got exactly what he wanted, Mark might have decided to move onto new challenges. Instead this was all going rather well.

“So,” a slurry voice intruded. “What are you two lovebirds up to today? Some more photography maybe?”

China froze. Had Mark told Tony about his conquest, about him managing to get her clothes off? Mark obviously noticed her distress and patted her hand reassuringly, giving her a look that spoke of confidence and secrets kept. He looked over at his boss, who nodded slightly.

“We’re just off out,” Mark said. China took the hint and quickly finished her drink, the fire of vodka tracing a pleasantly burning path down her throat.

Tony looked disappointed but nodded knowingly. “Enjoy yourselves. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” China suspected there was very little that Tony would not do and shuddered, this time visibly.

When they stood outside the pub they both burst into laughter.

“He is creeeepy,” China said through the tears.

“He is a bit. He’s sort of ok as a landlord, but he’s no George Clooney.”

This made China laugh even harder until she could barely breathe. “Stop it, “ she said. “I actually thought he might be flirting with me before you came up.”

“He probably was. He seems to be totally unaware that he is not particularly attractive to the opposite sex, either physically or intellectually. He never stops trying though.”

“Oh dear. Poor man.” She was almost starting to feel sorry for him. The laughter started to abate.

“Seriously, I think he’s lonely. But let’s not dwell on him. Where do you want to go?” He was still holding her hand, which felt nice. Really nice.

“To your flat,” she said boldly, enjoying the look of shock in his eyes. “We have some unfinished business. Wouldn’t you agree?”

His answer was to start pulling her fast in the direction of his flat unable to hide a huge, boyish grin.

When they arrived at the flat they ran up the stairs and she looked frantically around. “Where’s the bedroom?” she asked. He wasn’t going to have to drag her into the bedroom. In fact, if she had known which door led to the bedroom she would have led the way herself. They stood breathless in the doorway for a few seconds before China grabbed Mark by the back of the neck and pulled him into the first hard kiss. Their mouths mashed together, lips squashed and tongues battling in a messy but electrifying kiss. That first blissful kiss seemed over in a flash. China wanted it to go on forever, always the first kiss, always the magic. She looked into his dancing eyes again and saw a viridian intensity that exceeded possibility.