Susie Learns the Hard Way (14 page)

He paused for only a moment, and then he began to move briskly up and down in a series of businesslike press-ups that sent his gnarled shaft sliding in and out. He began to move more urgently until his hairy bum was pumping up and down, and his varicose erection was spreading her wide, filling her deeper, stroking the inside of her body with its smoothly rounded end, making her cry out in regular sobs that matched the solid slap of flesh on flesh.

The crude yells of encouragement from around the ring faded to a distant background roar in Susie's ears, her body and mind completely taken over by the growing sensations. Her ankles locked around his legs and her hips lifted as she tried to drag him deeper, and she whimpered desperately as his entire body locked, completely still... and then he jerked and erupted burst after burst of molten fluid into her.

Then he flopped forward, almost crushing her with his weight.

A minute passed and he rolled over, flopping onto his back beside her, letting her suck air into her lungs in deep draughts. She realised she was still being stared at by a crowd of teenagers she'd never met before in her life. In the aftermath of her climax she was no longer aroused by their attention, but embarrassed and shy; a ridiculous way to feel after what she'd just been doing. She sat up, bringing knees and ankles together, and reached for her skirt, crumpled on the floor beside her.

There were boos and yells of disappointment from all around. ‘Ding-ding!' shouted one joker, ‘round two!' But the bodyguard was clearly worn out by his efforts and was shuffling out of the ring, pulling his jockstrap and shorts up over his buttocks. Great big hairy ugly buttocks, thought Susie with a shudder, glad it was over and not wanting to remember too much about it. Clearly some of the lads still gathered eagerly at the ropes thought they could take his place. But thankfully Nobby was there, calming them, pushing them away, though they clustered back again, still staring greedily at her nakedness.

As she wriggled into her skirt she heard brief snatches of their excited chatter, indistinct and isolated phrases that filled her with embarrassment. ‘Lovely little minge...' she heard one voice say. ‘And she knew how to use it...' said another. ‘Didn't she love it... tell she wanted it bad... went for it like a wild thing...' It went on and on and she tried to close her ears, but she couldn't shut the voices out completely. ‘Like she hadn't had it for years... couldn't get it in quick enough... would probably shag the lot of us... should have let Malcolm do her... stuff he's on he could have fucked her for hours... looks like she would have enjoyed that...'

There was more, but she didn't hear it as she scanned the crowd of faces, looking to see if she could identify any of the voices who'd been talking about this Malcolm character. But now she was dressed they were losing interest and were gradually moving away in small groups.

Smiling appreciatively, Nobby was holding the ropes part for her to make the small climb down to floor level. ‘Nice one, luv,' he said, patting her on the shoulder as if she was a successful fighter. ‘Harry was right. He said you'd be good.' And he turned away, hurrying after his young protégés.

She straightened her clothes and made herself look as neat as possible, glad that her blonde bob took little more than a shake and a pat to fall more or less into place. She looked round for her knickers, but they were gone, taken as a trophy by one of the group. Apart from Nobby tidying up skipping-ropes and head-guards into a corner cupboard, the hall was empty and depressing. She was alone, and she wanted to go. Time for a taxi, she thought, and headed for the door.

 

 

 

Outside in the street a dark shape hummed by the kerb. Harry's car!

She paused and took a deep breath as a figure inside leaned across and opened the passenger door, flooding the interior with light.

Right, she thought, you just wait. She wouldn't let him know she was upset and angry, she'd never let him see she was frightened in there. She'd be cool, calm and collected.

She got in and slammed the door so hard she thought the window would burst out into the street.

Wordlessly, Harry slipped the car into gear, and the BMW slid away from the kerb.

It wasn't until they had eased into the flow of traffic at the main road and travelled a mile or two that either of them spoke, and it was Susie who couldn't contain herself any longer.

‘Get everything you wanted, Harry?' she enquired icily.

‘Not really, girl. Bit of a waste of time really.' She knew he couldn't resist the next bit. ‘Did
you
get everything you wanted?'

‘Oh yes, Harry, thank you. I got what I wanted all right.' She was trying to be calm but she could hear her voice rising as she fought the urge to yell, scream, scratch and bite.

‘Yes, I imagine you did.'

‘Most amusing, Harry, most amusing.' She was almost snarling at him now. ‘But at least I managed to keep my mind on the job.'

‘So I saw.'

So he'd been there all the time, watching her, and laughing up his sleeve.

‘Playing with yourself in the shadows, were you Harry? At the very least you could have come out and stood in the light, like the rest of the
men
.'

That struck home; there was silence from the driver's seat.

‘And anyway, I got what you wanted, which is more than you managed.'

‘What's that?' he snapped.

‘Mummy was right,' she said sarcastically, ‘it does make you go deaf. I said I got what you wanted as well. Information. Not much, but something.'

‘What?' He was anxious now, darting glances away from the road, straining to see her face in the shadows.

‘To be honest, I don't think I'll bother telling you.' She saw him start upright in his seat. ‘I think I'll just write it up. On my terminal at work.'

‘No, don't do that!' It was a shout – and a plea. ‘I've told you what'll happen if you do that. Everyone will see it. Never put anything on the network.'

‘Well, it's my information. I discovered it as a result of my special talents.' She let it hang there between them for a moment, and just as he was about to say something, she continued. ‘Well you don't deserve to hear it from me and keep it to yourself.'

She sat back triumphantly. Pick the bones out of that, Harry Anderson, she thought.

There was silence in the car for a minute or more. Harry broke it. ‘You said your job meant everything to you.' He paused, letting her recall the conversation. ‘And mine does to me. This paper is my life, and this story is the most important thing in it so far.'

It was quite a speech for him, and delivered with more passion than she'd heard from him so far. Against her will, it touched a nerve, reached out to a part of her that was still full of the idealism of youth. She was still young enough to march for good causes and to be moved by such a plea. But though she had never intended to let anyone else know what she'd found out, she was clever enough and angry enough to make him wait and suffer.

‘I'll sleep on it, Harry, and let you know in the morning.' That made her feel good, and a little powerful. The next bit made her feel even stronger.

‘I'll pick you up from your hotel,' he offered, a major concession for an old chauvinist like Harry.

‘I won't be there, I'm afraid. I'm going home tonight. I need clean clothes.

‘I'll take you shopping in the morning,' he countered. ‘Company credit card.'

‘No, Harry, I need to go home tonight.'

There was nothing he could say about that and they both knew it. He drove in silence across the river, and dropped her at the station.

‘Bye then.' She gave him a thin smile. ‘See you in the morning. By which time,' she added carefully, ‘I'll have made up my mind whether to tell you, and you'll have made up your mind to stop calling me “girl”. I don't like it.' Pleased with that, she walked briskly away, head high.

She dozed as the train sped northwards, reflecting on how much had happened since she made the journey south.

A taxi dropped her home, and she looked up at the house that should have been a familiar and comforting refuge. Perhaps it was just the total darkness, with not a light showing, that made it seem strange and unwelcoming. Maybe it was the sheer emptiness of the building; so empty that even the silence from upstairs sounded empty; a hollow echo coming from above. But deep inside she knew it was more than that; it was not the house that had changed – it was her.

Having showered she settled in bed, prepared for an uneasy night. With so many different thoughts and feelings whirling through her mind she expected to be awake all night. Eventually the roller-coaster slowed and she found herself dwelling mostly on Harry and his behaviour. Her anger had subsided considerably over the last few hours, and she decided he was just a sad old bloke who really didn't want to work with females, and had simply tried to put her off so he could go on with his solo career. ‘He's just an old dinosaur,' she concluded. ‘With a dirty mind.' She wondered how long he'd been watching her, and that led to wondering what she'd looked like flat on her back with her legs wrapped around the ugly boxer who still reminded her of the Prince's bodyguard she'd fantasised about since she was sixteen.

Feeling very horny, she drifted off to sleep.

 

Susie woke with a start in the morning, thinking they were back.

Her sleep had been broken by a regular thudding noise from upstairs, and at first she thought it was the bed clumping on the floor. But as she struggled awake she realised it was someone knocking on the door at the top of the stairs. Knocking very loudly. When they finally gave up and began to stomp downstairs, Susie clambered out of bed and ran to the window, peering through the curtains as they left. Arabs? They looked dark-skinned, but it was hard to tell in the early morning light. They got into a big black car, but she couldn't see the registration number as it drove away.

‘Doesn't matter anyway,' she told herself, making coffee. ‘Story's no good to anyone.' But the tinge of sadness was replaced by a warm glow as she thought of the story she was working on, and for whom. The last time she'd stood in her kitchen getting ready to catch a train she'd been a nervous young student on her way to an interview. A mere twenty-four hours later she was a journalist, on her way to work, and she hugged herself, until she recalled what that work could lead to, and became a nervous young student again.

 

‘Well?'

‘Okay, Harry. This is what I've decided: I'll tell you everything I know, and from now on you tell me everything I need to know. Deal?'

‘Deal,' he said at once, without a flicker of hesitation. Too quickly? Maybe he'd thought it all through overnight, like she had.

‘And no more tricks. You've had your fun, and I'm not the new girl any more. Okay?'

‘Okay.' Without hesitation again. And was that triumph or relief that gleamed momentarily in his eyes? It was only a flicker, too brief for her to be sure.

‘And you won't call me “girl” any more?'

Harry shrugged. ‘I call everyone girl. Unless they're a bloke. Then I call them chap. It's just a habit.'

‘Well it's a habit I don't like. Okay?'

‘Okay.'

Taking a deep breath and trying to remember the words she'd heard without conjuring up a mental image of the scene, she told Harry about Malcolm, and the stuff he was on that meant he could shag for hours.

‘That makes sense,' said Harry. ‘It was Malcolm I went looking for, but he never showed up.' Somehow he read the expression on her face and knew she'd failed to shut out the previous evening, and that she was back there in the hall with the rough floor scraping her bum as the bodyguard pounded into her. ‘I know I pulled a bit of a fast one last night,' he admitted, ‘but really, it was in a good cause.'

She looked at him, almost believing.

‘While you were, well, keeping them busy, you know, occupying their attention, I went through all the clothes in the changing rooms. All the pockets, bags, lockers, cupboards, you name it. Nothing.' He shrugged.

‘Didn't Alf ask what you were doing?'

‘No. He, um, had his back turned.'

‘Unconscious?'

‘No. Watching you.' Susie remained silent at the news, and Harry continued. ‘Lucky he didn't win, really.' She must have looked at him with a query in her eyes, because he went on, ‘Well, he's a big boy, isn't he? I mean, I couldn't help noticing how much he was enjoying your, um, well. It's big, believe me. Huge.' He shrugged. ‘It would never have... I mean you're so small, and... well, you know.'

With a major effort of willpower Susie ignored the sensations stirring in her knickers. ‘What now?' she asked, gripping the edge of the desk harder and harder, hoping the pain in her fingertips would keep her attention from straying into her underwear.