Chasing Rainbows (4 page)

CHAPTER TWO

“Excuse me, Sir?” Doug stirred from his memories, he opened his eyes and saw the hostess peering down at him.

“
Would you like another drink?” she asked politely. He couldn't remember having the first one. It was going to be along night, so why not?

“
Yes please, love, can you make that a double”.

The gin loosened his mind and he was quite surprised, how much of those past years he could bring to mind.

Doug never took Mary on his jobs, he felt that wives got in the way and held a man back. A wife did not bode well in the image he created for himself.

Mary was overweight and too fussy, at time she reminded him of an 'umpa lumpa'. She was not good for his credibility.

It was also an opportunity to take Gerry out socially. She would sit in the background and seemed to understand his behaviours.

It was all part of his act.

Doug had been a fool to make promises to Gerry he had no intention of keeping and she was a fool for believing him. Gerry thought she was the one. She thought Doug would one day leave Mary and come to her.

Gerry lived in flat land, in a seedy part of town. She lived there, alone, for eight years, just waiting for Doug to leave his wife and in the meantime she had to fit in with his busy life of family, football, boats and work.

People delude themselves into believing lies in order to make their lives better. Illusions are illusions and usually disappear with the mists of time, sometimes to create another illusion.

At times Doug felt that Gerry used him to get away from the man she was married to.

They worked in the same office and Doug picked her up every morning, dropping her off at night after a peck on the cheek.

On Tuesdays he stayed for tea and bed games.  These were now becoming boring and unsatisfying.

There was no spontaneity to their lives, as his life seemed to be ruled by the clock. The love making was becoming shorter and shorter and Doug no longer kept his promises and at times was unable to perform in bed.

He barely touched Gerry and she would take his limp penis into her hand and her mouth, at times to no avail.

Doug was beginning to hate Gerry as much as he hated Mary. They had both become a tolerance in his life.

When Gerry cried Doug would leave, as he really could not do with women's tears, they too had to take responsibility for what happened to them, it was not all down to him.

Choices are available to everyone, aren't they? The ultimate responsibility for what happens to the individual is down to that individual.

Doug would never leave his wife for Gerry, nor for anyone else.

He sometimes felt trapped by his own sexuality and his needs for the peaceful life. He tried to keep everybody happy, whilst sacrificing himself and fooling himself into believing he was living the life he wanted.

He was tiring of it and sacrificing the self, on a treadmill of superficial relationships with women he hardly knew and he wanted to get off. Not realizing what he had done, he put Gerry off coming to the fashion show that night.  He could not remember the excuse he gave.

He could not even remember if he had asked her.

Doug spent longer than usual in the shower, humming to himself in anticipation of what might be.

As he slapped on the 'Jazz', it stung, making him feel young and alive.  The teenager in him emerged and he felt an excitement that had been lost to him for a very long time.

He looked superb and immaculate in his very expensive dinner suit, with a snowy white shirt and black silk bow tie; younger than his years.

There was no doubt that Doug was a professional and believed that good dressing was the key to success. Image was everything.

People judged a person on how they presented themselves and as women loved romance, there was nothing more romantic than a man in a dinner suit.

A feverish shiver ran down his spine as he began to imagine what the evening would bring. His thoughts wandered to Olivia.

Would she be wearing the pink sweater and jeans? He was beginning to think they were the only clothes she had.

Thoughts of Olivia began to fade as Doug began to run through his lists of models and routines. The music selected was the best yet. Work them up, then slow them down, leaving the love songs till last.

The fashion was only part of the evening as Olivia hired a woman singer and a George Michael look and sound alike.

There was also a raffle and when the show was over a disco at which Doug was going to enjoy himself. Two hours of hard work and then a night time of play.

Doug left his car at home and walked the two streets to Chris's house. Chris was the man with all the equipment in the back of his van. They had worked together a long time and there wasn't much that Chris didn't know about Doug.

As they pulled out off his drive, Chris asked,

“
What's the talent like then?”

Doug hated it when Chris spoke about women like that.

He replied in a flippant way, “Depends what you are after tonight Chris”.

He turned away and looked out of the window trying to keep his mind off 'brown eyes and pink sweater'.

As they neared town Chris said, “ I am dying to meet this Olivia, you have not stopped talking about her for weeks”.

Doug was surprised , he did not realise that he had spoken so often about someone that he struggled to chase out of his mind. Someone who never stopped talking, was rather bossy and he wasn't interested in.

Doug replied, “Yes you might be right but she's not my usual type, she's a bit of a mystery and I can't read her at all”.

Doug did think that Olivia was remarkable, had a bit of a hippy philosophy, was rather laid back and perhaps a bit too loud for him.

He enjoyed a challenge but he didn't fancy her. Why should he?

There were some gorgeous leggy blondes on the team and they were much more to his liking, his usual type for a dalliance. Perhaps he might ask one of them to have a drink with him later?

They arrived at the club at six and after unloading Chris and Doug had a few drinks before beginning to set the stage.

Most of the girls were coming straight from work. Warren and Bob were providing a meal for them all, accompanied by wine.

Doug could hear the girls laughing upstairs in the restaurant. Yes, he felt this was definitely going to be a good night.

The dance floor shone, the girls were getting excited and he just knew this was going to be another success.

He took his drink and walked up the stairs to the restaurant that had a gigantic glass wall so diners were able to watch the dancing below.

Next to the restaurant was a private sitting area, for those intimate moments after the love songs. A man could take his woman up there and in the dimness, passion would begin.

Doug entered the room, there was a hush as the girls all turned to look at him. He knew he made an impact by the momentary silence that fell and by the widening of certain eyes.

He knew all about body language, he was a master at it, hence the fact, that he had few disappointments when it came to women.

Doug settled himself into a corner for a few quiet moments and was surprised to find himself scanning the place for Olivia.

She was nowhere to be seen. As he took a long sip of his gin and tonic, he decided that she must be somewhere else in the building, doing what she did best, organising and bossing people about in her loud 'hear me now' voice.

The girls began to leave the room and make their way to the dressing rooms. Some of them appeared tipsy and a frown crossed Doug's face as he allowed himself a moment of worry.

He rose and went to the glass wall, looking down on the empty silence below.

Left alone with his thoughts he wondered where on earth Olivia was , it was nearly time for the doors to open and people were already queuing round the block.

Anne entered and walked over to a table awash with empty wine bottles, she picked up two that were still unopened and as she turned to leave, Doug asked about Olivia.

Anne replied, “ She was here earlier but left to go get changed. I think she was going to the hairdressers too”.

So, Olivia would not be sporting the scraped back ponytail look this evening. He wondered what she might look like without the pink sweater.

A screech woke him as Carol walked into the room saying, “So there you are, I have been looking all over for you, don't you think you should be down stairs on stage? The doors will be opening soon.”

Doug turned to face Carol, his eyes slowly travelled up her body, they started at her feet and scanned quickly as they rose to meet her eyes.

She stood very close to him and he could smell her 'fag ash' breath.

“
Couldn't she at least chew gum or suck mints?” he thought.

Old veins on her feet were adorned by gold sandals, the straps wrapped around anorexic ankles.

Legs that would have made a chicken feel beautiful. Poor chick, Carol!

The dress was black with silver straps that crossed across orange coloured bony shoulders; it was far too small for her.

The mask of her makeup would have graced any clowns face.

Carol said she had spent the afternoon having her hair done. Doug smiled, she shouldn't have bothered, the style did not suit her; as usual too young for her years. It was obvious by the way she was presenting that Carol thought that she looked really good tonight. Perhaps she that thought tonight was the night to try one again with Doug.

Doug's annoyed tone hit Carol in the face.

“
Carol”, he said, “I was taking five, it is going to be a long night and I just like to meditate a while before I go on stage”.

“
Don't you mean, you just want to run through who might be your next seedy affair?” she squawked back at him.

Doug laughed, “Come on now, you know that I don't do that, is it my fault that women are naturally attracted to me? I would much rather just do my job and go home” he lied.

He looked at Carol with appealing eyes, she was not finished yet.

“
Sure, well I heard all about you and Susan,” she bitched.

Doug moved away from her, “OK, so if she wanted to take things further who am I to stop her, Susan is a very nice young lady”.

Carol turned, tossed her head and stormed out. Doug laughed.

He loved the movements of a jealous woman, especially one who hungered after him, the way Carol did.

Half an hour later the club began to fill up, people finding seats, greeting each other.

It appeared that there were lots of people here who were good friends and related.

One of the bar staff took Doug a message that they would not be starting as planned as there were still people waiting round the block, it was unbelievable the amount of people turning up for the show.

Where they were coming from? Doug mused, “how did she do it?”.

How did Olivia get all these people? How did Olivia always get exactly what she wanted? She obviously had the golden touch.

His eyes caught the door as it began to open, through it stepped an amazing sight. A blond entered the room, hair piled high on her head.

A tight, red, figure hugging dress that was leaving little to the imagination, moved slowly through the crowd.

He could not see the face but the breasts must have been the most beautifully shaped pair that he had, ever, seen.

Whoever she was, she looked interesting.

Doug could not see her face as she was facing away from him and her head was slightly bent forward listening to someone talking to her.

His eyes fell to her hips. They were hips to hold, to pull close and hold tight.

There was no doubt in his mind, who ever she was, he had to have her.

Doug felt the stirring deep inside and his penis began to slowly tickle, speaking to him that it would be ready when he was.

He would definitely seek her out before the night was through.

The dress moved as the woman moved. It was not a dress but more of a second skin. The low neck and back revealed a glowing tan of beige brown.

Bringing himself back to the moment Doug was beginning to get annoyed, where was Olivia? She should be here. This was her show.

Chris began to play the opening score and Doug's attention soon returned to the record decks.

A tap on Doug's shoulder startled him, he turned in the small box that was the DJ's stand.

The voice whispered, “ Hi, sorry I am late, but I needed some space and had to get away for a while. I have been here all day”.

Never had he been lost for words and this was the first time, Doug couldn't speak. His eyes met a face that was engraved on his memory. It looked so different.

Olivia stood before him in her red second skin. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard.