Dirty Minds (19 page)

With time marching on and a blank page still staring back at him, all Tom could do was to get the original story back onto the screen. He reread it and then set about making it a bit less obviously the result of his obsession with Ros.

He started with the clothes. The grey check shirt changed to a pink V-neck, only to be changed yet again, as he remembered Ros’s outfit that evening. He went with a blue dress with a plunging neckline. Gradually he worked his way through. Her hair changed from auburn to blonde, and then to black. He left her underwear as originally described. Nobody would know what she was wearing. Not even him, yet, he thought with a shiver of expectation.

Enough was enough. He pressed Save and then closed the laptop. The staff had all disappeared by this time. He switched off the lights in the study and made his way back through the lounge to the dining room. The two-seater table was empty, as was the champagne bottle. For a moment he found himself wondering where Jimmy and Melissa had gone. Then he looked at his watch and remembered Ros.
Oh God
, he thought to himself,
it’s one o’clock. She’s probably gone to sleep.

He jogged up the stairs and turned into the corridor. As he reached the first door, number 24, it swung open. To his amazement, a totally naked Suzy came charging out, the door swinging shut behind her. She ran right into him. Instinctively he reached out and caught her. She looked up towards him. Her mouth was gagged with what looked like a ping-pong ball. There was an expression of terror on her face. Then the door of room 24 opened briefly, just long enough for him to see a furious Maggie, dressed in some sort of full-length black outfit. Seeing Tom, she stepped back out of sight and slammed the door.

Tom looked down at Suzy. Her hands were behind her back, her body buried against his. He could feel her trembling, whether from cold or fear, he did not know. Conscious of her bare body, here in the middle of the landing for anybody to see, he half-carried her to his room. With his free hand, he opened the door and switched on the lights. He led her to the bed. He left her briefly, in order to fetch one of the bathrobes. When he returned, she was already looking round wildly, close to hysteria. Seeing him, she gave a little whimper of relief and then turned away from him. As she did so, he saw that her hands were tied behind her back with a red ribbon. With some difficulty he started to undo the knots, which had been pulled tight, presumably in her efforts to escape. As he did so, he couldn’t help seeing the vicious pattern of red welts across her bottom and back.

At last he managed to untie her hands. She turned back towards him. He saw that the tracery of scars continued across her belly and breasts. He reached up to the gag and managed to loosen it enough to slip it off her face. She gasped at him, her tongue desperately trying to rehydrate her puffy lips. He held up the bathrobe and she pulled it on, wrapping it tightly around herself. She was weeping openly now. He went to the bathroom for a glass of water. She took it from him and swallowed the lot. She handed the glass back to him and then rolled herself into a ball on the bed. He tugged the duvet across her and took stock.

He had never experienced anything like this before. If this was sadomasochism, then he knew he wanted no part in any book that glorified such vicious cruelty. He looked down at the poor little creature, her whole body racked with sobs.

Trying his best to smother the rising wave of anger that threatened to overwhelm him, he tried to think what was the best thing to do. From what he had been able to see, she did not necessarily need medical help. Probably the thing she needed most was rest. He eyed the four-poster bed. She could hardly stay here. Then he remembered the two king size beds next door.

He leant down until his mouth was close to her ear.

‘Suzy, listen to me. It’s Tom. Can you hear me?’

Gradually, the sobbing stopped. The quilt stirred and a little face appeared.

‘Thank you, Tom. Thank you for everything.’ She even managed a ghost of a smile.

‘Listen. I’m just going to talk to Ros. You’re OK here. The door is locked. Just tell me something first. Do you want me to call the police or the ambulance? Are you all right?’

‘No police, no ambulance. Just keep me away from that awful woman and I’ll be fine.’

‘Right. So just wait here. I’ll only be a moment. You sure you’re OK?’

She nodded. He left her on the bed, and went over to the secret door. It was still unbolted. He tapped gently and pushed it open. The bedside light was on. He climbed through the door. Laid back on the bed, Ros was fast asleep.

He went over to her. He stopped as he reached her, loath to wake her. She smelt wonderful and looked wonderful. Regretfully, he took her shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. Her eyes opened at once. He watched them blink and then register who it was. The expression of delight that flooded across her face cut him to the heart. He leant down and kissed her with a passion he had not felt for years. She reached her arms out to him and pulled, but he straightened up.

He kept his voice low. ‘I’m most awfully sorry, Ros, but something horrible has happened. I’ve just had to rescue Suzy from that crazy sadist.’ Ros sat up in astonishment. ‘She’s been beaten up, whipped, I don’t know. She’s in my room, crying her heart out. Can you come and help? Maybe let her stay here with you for tonight?’

‘Of course. Oh, Tom, the poor, poor girl. Does she need a doctor or something?’

‘No, she says she’s OK. But she’s terrified.’

‘I bet she is. Come on. We must go to her. She mustn’t be left alone.’ She jumped to her feet and headed for the secret door. As she climbed through, hampered by the tight black skirt she was wearing, he suddenly realised the significance of her clothes.

He wasn’t normally a man for bad language, but these were far from normal circumstances.

‘Oh, bloody hell!’

Mr Jeffers, the maître d’hôtel, Tom and Alfonso knocked on the door of room 24 at 7.30 sharp. After a delay, the door was opened by a puffy-faced Maggie.

Tom opted to do the talking. ‘A taxi has been called. It will be here at eight o’clock. You will pack your bags and take the taxi to the nearest station. What happens to you after that is of no concern to me.’ She looked as if she was going to argue, so Tom let her have it. ‘The little girl you so callously beat last night is recovering. She has probably been scarred for life, mentally as well as physically. In spite of my best efforts, she has told me not to call the police. But remember this, you pervert; I witnessed everything. Stay away from Suzy. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to stand up in court and give evidence against you. Now pack up and get the fuck out of my sight.’

Mr Jeffers left a porter on guard outside her door, with orders to drag her down by her hair at eight o’clock if she did not surface.

As they walked back down the stairs, Alfonso looked at Tom with new respect. ‘I thought you were going to hit her for a moment, Tom.’

‘I bloody nearly did.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I just feel so responsible. We didn’t feel right about her from the start. God only knows why Suzy came with that woman in the first place. I should have done something last night. If I had spoken up, poor Suzy might not have been beaten up.’

‘Don’t blame yourself, Tom. If you had tried to intervene, the sadist would maybe have run to the police herself, crying rape.’ He stopped on the last step. ‘People can do terrible things.’

At that moment, the waitress appeared bearing a breakfast tray.

‘Excuse me,’ Tom had an idea, ‘which room is that for?’

‘Room 16, sir.’

‘Excellent. I’ll take it up if I may, Alfonso.’

‘Of course.’

Tom took the surprisingly heavy tray from the girl and walked up to Ros’s room. He knocked on the door and called in a low voice, ‘Room Service.’

The door was opened by Ros, dressed in one of the bathrobes. ‘I see this place is not so classy after all. Untrained waiters now.’ She gave him a beaming smile and beckoned him in.

He set the tray down on the table. There was no sign of Suzy in the bedroom, but the shower was running in the bathroom. He returned to Ros and held out his arms. She crushed herself against him.

‘I had everything planned as well.’ She was talking into his shoulder, her voice heavy with emotion.

‘You are a wonder. The ridiculously short black skirt and all the trimmings. But there’s no need to dress up for me, you know. I’m hooked. You could paint yourself in woad or trade clothes with a tramp. You would still be my wonderful Rosalind.’

She raised her head towards him, took his face in her hands, and kissed him. The feel of her body against him, her scent in his nostrils, answered all his doubts and reservations. He ran his hands down her back. She sighed with pleasure.

‘I knew you two were an item. I could tell.’

Tom jumped back, like a guilty schoolboy.

Suzy emerged from the bathroom, still swathed in the bathrobe. She looked much better and much happier. Her eyes were still on them both. ‘I messed up your plans, didn’t I? I’m really sorry.’

Tom found he was blushing. Ros gave the girl a big smile.

He collected himself. ‘You have nothing to apologise for. Listen,’ he looked at his watch, ‘in fifteen minutes time the Wicked Witch of the West will leave here in a taxi bound for who the hell cares. She will never come back here again and never bother you again. I have told her quite firmly that I will be only too happy to testify against her. She would be put away for years.’

‘He really did, too.’ Ros had obviously heard the exchange outside the door of number 24. ‘He told her to fuck off. I’ve never heard you use language like that before, Tom.’ She sounded impressed.

‘So, Suzy, you can forget her. Now, tell me, how are those scratches and bruises looking today?’

Quite unselfconsciously, the girl pulled the robe open and displayed her breasts. The marks were still clearly visible, but pink now, rather than red.

‘That’s OK, Suzy, put them away.’ Tom did his best to sound businesslike.

Ros stifled a giggle. ‘Don’t show me up, Suzy. I’ve got years on you.’

The girl laughed and covered up. Both of them were pleased for her. It looked like she was going to get through the experience.

Tom had been thinking. ‘Did I hear that you’ve just done a degree in English?’

She nodded.

‘A good degree?’

‘2.2. If I’d worked harder they said I would have been on a 2.1. But I had lots of other interests.’

Ros caught Tom’s eye. You didn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to work that one out.

Tom carried on. ‘Listen, now that Maggie is out of the way, why don’t you take her place this weekend? It’ll give you something to do. And, if your work is up to par, you can join us as a co-author. What do you say? You never know, we might even make some money. And we can stay in touch afterwards. That way you know you’ll have our support if you ever hear from Maggie again. You could do with a bit of pampering after your experience.’

‘Oh, Tom, that would be wonderful.’ She threw herself at him, her robe flying open again in the process. He took two steps back and bumped into Ros, who was in stitches.

‘Right, that’s settled. Now I really think it would be a good idea if you both put some clothes on. And don’t let your breakfast get cold.’ He gave Ros a wink and let himself out.

Suzy gave Ros a big smile. ‘I can see why you’ve gone for him. If he wasn’t already taken, I would really fancy him myself.’

‘Pick on someone your own age, Suzy.’ Ros liked the thought that he was already taken. ‘Be a darling and tie your bathrobe up. As soon as Maggie has moved out, you can get dressed. Now, there’s breakfast on the tray. How about something to eat?’

Breakfast was scheduled for 8.30. The guests all managed to make it on time. Tiffany and Luca were very cheerful. To make up for the previous evening, they were the first to arrive; not flushed and sweating this time. Penny was happy and bubbly, while Scott was clearly in a different universe. His face bore an expression of overwhelming awe. He did not speak to anybody over breakfast. His eyes either gazed off mistily into the distance or, when they focused, they focused on Penny. Ros caught Tiffany’s eye and they both stifled giggles.

Janet and Melissa arrived together. Tom found himself wondering where either or both of them had spent the night, but felt it better not to ask. Jimmy was the last to appear. Once they were all assembled, Tom felt it incumbent upon him to give them a censored version of the night’s events, culminating in the departure of Maggie.

Jimmy was outraged, even though Tom did not go into any detail as to the full extent of the mistreatment Suzy had received.

‘I could see she was a bad lot, that woman.’ He cast a protective eye across to Suzy, who was happily tucking into her second breakfast. ‘If I’d known what she was going to do, I’d have hammered her.’

She looked up with a bright smile. ‘It’s all right Jimmy. Tom rescued me and Ros looked after me.’ She reached out for Jimmy’s hand and gave it a squeeze. ‘But if I need any more protection, I’ll know who to come to.’

Janet put into words what most of them were thinking. ‘To be honest, I’m really glad she’s gone. I read her piece this morning. It made my skin crawl.’

‘Hear, hear.’ Tiffany echoed her. ‘Good riddance.’

Tom nodded appreciatively. ‘Well, the good news is that Suzy has agreed to step in and replace Maggie. So we are still five female writers plus Jimmy and me. And, while on the subject of me, I have here the promised copies of my piece.’ He gave them all a smile. ‘I have deliberately written it poorly, so you will feel good about yourselves.’

He glanced at Ros, as he handed the sheets around the table. She was giving nothing away.

‘So, now that that is all over, enjoy your breakfast. We meet in conference room A, which is down the corridor, at ten o’clock. That should give you all time to do your homework. OK?’

He left them to it and headed down the corridor to set things up in Room A. A few moments later he heard the door open behind him. It was Alfonso, and he clearly had something, or someone, on his mind.

Tom looked across at him as he shuffled in and dropped onto a chair. He did not look like Europe’s most eligible bachelor this morning. He was slumped forward, shoulders curved, chin on hands. There was a puzzled look on his face.

‘So, how are things?’ Tom didn’t have a lot of experience of confessionals.

‘Can you keep a secret?’ Alfonso looked unusually serious.

‘From most people. I have a feeling Ros might be able to get anything she wants out of me, though.’

Alfonso shrugged. ‘Ros is different. Tell her anything. By the way,’ he looked up with something more like his usual expression, ‘my condolences.’

Tom raised his eyebrows.

‘For last night. Your intervention to save the lady in distress rather screwed up your love life, I fear. Ros specifically asked me to see that you got the rooms with the secret door as well.’

‘Some things take precedence.’ He took a deep breath. ‘So, tell me about you.’

Alfonso launched into his saga. ‘Last night, after dinner, I suggested that the Signorina Jeanette might like to accompany me for a walk in the moonlight. We strolled around the gardens and then I took her down to the boathouse.’

Tom looked up. His study of erotic storie son the internet told him what usually happened in boathouses . A related thought crossed his mind. ‘Have you got an orangery here, Alfonso? Or dungeons?’

He shook his head. ‘Sorry, Tom, only a wine cellar. I will show it to you, if you are interested.’

‘Thanks, Alfonso. Sorry for the interruption. Please go on. You reached the boathouse.’

‘It was cold but we had our coats. We sat on a chaise longue overlooking the lake. The moonlight reflected on the water. The only sounds were lapping waves and an owl in a nearby tree.’

Tom was mentally committing the scene, and its lyric description, to memory. It would sit well in their book.

‘I put my arm around her, partly for the cold, but mainly for the sensation. It was exquisite.’ He turned his face towards Tom and looked him in the eye. ‘You know that wonderful feeling at the start of a seduction, don’t you? First you touch them through the clothes. Sometimes, you can even feel the heartbeat. You hear it begin to race. You pull her tighter to you, your hand descends … ’

‘Alfonso.’ Tom was almost pleading. ‘Please spare me the action replay. It’s bad enough knowing what could have been last night.’ Alfonso reached out a comforting hand. He took Tom’s arm. ‘I’m sorry, my friend. Please excuse me if I was insensitive. But, you see, the thing is, also in my case …’ He hesitated, searching for words to describe a new experience, ‘Nothing happened.’

‘Nothing happened?’

‘No, we talked and we talked, and then I took her back to the house to show her my private apartment.’

‘Naturally.’

‘We sat in my private lounge and talked some more. I found myself telling her things I have never told to a soul. I spoke about my life, my family, even my health, my indigestion, my insomnia.’

‘Insomnia? Do your worries keep you awake?’

‘I don’t know what it is, Tom, but I haven’t slept well for years.’ He cast a quick look around the room. ‘The doctors tell me it may be a side effect of a certain medication I have been known to take from time to time.’ He tapped the side of his nose and winked. ‘But that is between you and me,
capisci
?’

‘
Capisco
.’

‘It was maybe midnight by then. My arm was around her shoulders, her thigh was resting against mine.’ He looked up, noting the expression of pain on Tom’s face. ‘Sorry, Tom, I digress, forgive me. So, I turned towards her to kiss her. I had been waiting to do it all night.’

‘I know the feeling.’

‘And you know what she did?’ His voice was perplexed. ‘She made me a cup of tea.’

‘A cup of tea?’

‘She produced some herbal tea from her bag. She told me she is never without it. She disappeared into my little kitchen and reappeared with two cups of camomile tea. Can you imagine that?’

It took a bit of doing. The man whose sexual exploits made Casanova look like Mother Teresa, reduced to drinking herbal tea in the midst of a seduction? He was beginning to see why Alfonso was looking shell-shocked.

‘And then, after we finished our tea, she told me to go to bed. She told
me
to go to bed.’ He still couldn’t believe it. ‘And I did. Alone.’

‘No goodnight kiss?’

At last the Italian’s features softened.

‘Ah, Tommaso, there was a kiss. Such a kiss as I never experienced in all my life. And then she left me standing at the door of my bedroom, like a rabbit trapped in the headlights. And you want to know something, Tom? I slept like a log. I slept better than I have for many, many years.’

‘Wow.’ Tom didn’t know what else to say.