Swan (5 page)

‘No, trust me, this guy’s a right weirdo. He wears
these crazy jackets.’

Beth was already in the hallway.

‘No, don’t!’ I hissed.

Too late.

‘Hello, is Madeline at home?’

‘Why yes. Who shall I say is calling?’

‘David Powell from next door.’

I gritted my teeth.

Beth’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she showed him
into the living room.

‘Mads, David’s here to see you.’

I moulded my face into the appropriate smile. ‘What
a surprise. What brings you here?’

‘I just thought I’d say hi. I also wanted to thank
you for having me round the other day.’ He brought out a cheap bottle of wine
and handed it to me.

‘Aww, isn’t that nice of him, Maddy? Isn’t he a
sweetheart?’

‘Yes it’s lovely. Thank you, David. But really, you
shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.’

‘No trouble at all,’ he murmured. My cheeks burned
under the intensity of his gaze. I could have killed Beth.

There was an awkward pause. David’s attire was even
more ghastly than the last time we had met. He wore a monstrous purple jacket,
wide on the shoulders, narrow at the waist, and a pair of brown corduroy
trousers that tapered at the ends. Shocking.

He rubbed his hands together. ‘So, I take it the two
of you are ...?’

‘Sisters,’ we said in unison.

‘Ah, I should have guessed. You do look alike.’

‘That’s what everyone says,’ Beth laughed. ‘Which of
us do you think is older?’

David scratched his chin thoughtfully. I noticed
that there was a little hole in his jacket sleeve. ‘Let me see, let me see ...
it’s impossible to tell. You both look so young and fragrant.’

She smiled indulgently at him. Way too friendly for
my liking.

‘So, what are you ladies up to now?’ he asked.

Beth looked at me. ‘Nothing. Why?’

‘I was thinking of going for a drink at the George.
Could I have the pleasure of your company?’

‘Well, I - ’

‘Sounds lovely!’ Beth cut in. ‘Just give us a sec to
freshen up.’

‘Splendid! I’ll see you soon.’

‘What the hell were you thinking?’ I shouted after
he’d gone.

‘I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss, Mads. I
think he’s really sweet. And anyway, there’s something kind of enticing about
those funny crocodile shoes of his.’

‘Don’t remind me,’ I said darkly. ‘Do you realise
what you’ve done? I’ll probably never hear the end of this. He’ll be dropping
in all the time now.’

‘And what’s wrong with that? I think he really
fancies you.’

‘No he does not!’

‘Why’s it so hard for you to accept that someone
might find you attractive, Maddy? It’s pretty obvious that he fancies the pants
off you. I saw the way he was looking at you.’

I shook my head dismissively. ‘Don’t make my skin
crawl.’

Beth cackled wickedly. ‘Look darling, it’s only a
drink. At the end of the night, if it really gets that bad, I’ll tell him to
back off, okay? I’ll tell him you’re spoken for. But I don’t know why on earth
you’d want that. You should never judge a book by its cover. Underneath all
that hair and teeth could be a sex God just waiting to rip your clothes off.’

‘Not likely! You’re terrible, do you know that?’

‘Yeah, but you love me.’

* * *

The air was filled with drunken laughter as we
approached the entrance to the George on Poplar High Street. David held open
the door for us. Beth gave me a knowing wink. I rolled my eyes theatrically.

The pub was extremely crowded for a Sunday night. I
wondered if there was a match on or something. At first we struggled to find a
table, but eventually managed to wrangle one by the toilets. I hated sitting
near the loos. It meant that people would keep coming back and forth, which I
found really irritating.

‘I’ll get the drinks,’ David smiled, pulling out his
wallet. ‘What do you both want?’

‘A glass of white wine, please,’ Beth said.

‘Any type in particular?’

‘No, house white is fine.’

‘Madeline?’

‘The same, please.’ I found it quite endearing that
he always referred to me as ‘Madeline’ and not Maddy, almost like he was too
polite to drop the formalities.

We watched him make his way towards the bar.

‘You were really hard on him, Mads. I think he’s
absolutely lovely. He’s not as strange as you made out. Okay, so maybe he could
do with a haircut, but apart from that he’s all right.’

‘If you say so,’ I sighed. I still wasn’t convinced.

When he got back with the drinks, Beth proceeded to
grill him about his life: Where did he work? What did he do in his free time?

David filled her in on everything I already knew
– that he was a freelance photographer who enjoyed taking pictures of
buildings and people. The only new information I learned was that he had grown
up in Oxbridge.       ‘Oxbridge?’ Beth frowned.
For a second, her face was marred with confusion. ‘Oh, right. Excellent! Which
one did you go to?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Oxford or Cambridge? I mean, Oxbridge isn’t exactly
a place is it?’

David shifted uncomfortably. Scratched his nose.
‘Cambridge,’ he muttered.

‘If you don’t mind me asking,’ Beth continued
cheerily, ‘how old are you?’

‘Forty.’

I was surprised. He looked much older.

‘So, are you married then? I don’t see any ring.’

I kicked her leg under the table.

David wasn’t fazed. ‘No, never.’

‘Not even engaged?’

‘Yes, once. But never married.’

‘I’m surprised. I would have thought someone would
have snapped you up long ago.’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I guess I’m still
waiting for the right woman.’

Beth winked at me. I was
so
not impressed with her putting me on the spot like this.

‘I think it’s my round,’ I said quickly, getting up.
‘Same again guys?’

My sister nodded. I looked at David. ‘Actually, I
think I’ll have a martini this time.’

‘Okay. I’ll be back in a minute.’

Tentatively, I made my way through the maze of hot,
sweaty bodies towards the bar. Suddenly, someone elbowed me, and I accidently
stepped on a young man’s toe.

‘Ooh, easy there, love,’ he laughed, holding me
upright. I could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I mumbled. Turning away from him, I
searched in vain for the barmaid, who was busy serving another group of people
further up the counter. My palms felt all clammy. I gripped my credit card
tightly in my hand. I needed to get this over with as soon as possible.

A couple of the young man’s friends appeared, and I
overheard part of their conversation: ‘I don’t fancy yours much, John. She’s
got a face like a haunted clock!’

Their cruel laughter was like a dagger to my heart.

By the time I got back to our table I was struggling
to control my emotions.

‘What on earth’s the matter, Mads? Has someone upset
you?’

‘I’m fine, really I am. Please don’t make a fuss.
It’s nothing.’

Beth put her hand on my shoulder. ‘Tell me what’s wrong,
darling.’

I hated how she always had to make such a fuss, hated
that she wouldn’t let the matter drop. Had she just left me alone, I probably
would have been able to keep it together. But the more she probed, the more
emotional I became, until finally, I could bear it no longer.

‘It’s just something silly!’ I wailed.

David reached across the table and slipped his hand
in mine. His skin felt warm and soft. Surprisingly so, like he’d never done a
day of hard work in his life. I studied his fingers. They were long, graceful
and manicured to perfection - completely at odds with the rest of his
appearance. I was shocked. The last thing I would expect a man who walked
around in a torn jacket and holey socks to be fastidious about was his nails.

Instinctively, I looked up at him. His face showed
genuine concern. And, for the first time, I noticed how lovely they were. Dark
eyes. Eyes that were like two exquisite coals. They almost had a mesmerising
quality to them. And something else. But what? I couldn’t quite put my finger
on it.

‘What happened, Madeline?’ he asked softly.

‘It was just some guy. He called me a name. Kiddie
stuff, really. Let’s forget it, please.’

He surveyed the room. ‘Which guy?’

‘Oh please, let’s just leave it, okay?’

‘Which guy?’

‘Leave it!’

‘No. If someone has insulted you, then he should be
made to apologise.’

One of the guys from the yobbish group started
making faces at us.

Oh God, what
have
I got us into? I thought.

My heart was in my mouth as I watched David approach
them.

‘What’s he going to do?’ Beth squealed. ‘Has he lost
the plot or what?’

‘I don’t know, but I don’t get a good feeling about
this.’

With haughty confidence, David walked towards the
guy who had insulted me and squared up to him. ‘Excuse me, but my friend has
just told me that you called her a bad name.’

‘So what if I did? What are you gonna do about it?’

‘I don’t want any trouble, gentlemen. I just want
you to apologise. You’ve really upset her.’

The younger man burst out laughing. ‘We’ve got a
right one here, lads. This granddad thinks he’s, well, hard.’ He poked David
roughly in his chest.

David stood firm, his face cool and placid.

‘Come on then, hit me!’ the man goaded. ‘Have a go
if you think you’re hard enough.’

David shook his head grimly.

‘Oh my gosh!’ Beth shrieked, covering her mouth, ‘I
don’t like the look of this.’

Words had deserted me. I was completely spellbound.

The man aimed a punch, but David was too quick for
him. In one lightening move, he jammed both fingers into his attackers’ eyes
and slammed his knee into his groin.

‘Ooh, that must have hurt!’ Beth breathed.

Then, David gripped the man’s shoulders and hurled
him to the ground in what I can only describe as a magnificent Judo throw.

The whole pub fell silent.

David nervously adjusted his specs. ‘Now say you’re
sorry to the lady.’

From his cowering position on the floor, the man
looked up at me. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry!’

The hush that followed seemed to last for eternity.
All eyes were on us, and some of the expressions weren’t that friendly.

David slunk back to our table. ‘I think that’s our
cue ladies.’

Beth nodded excitedly.

As we walked down the dark street, a blast of cold
air helped to sober me up. I still couldn’t talk, couldn’t speak. I was too
shaken by what I had seen.

‘Oh my God, David, that was amazing!’ Beth trilled.
‘What was that – some sort of karate?’

‘Krav Maga.’

‘Krav what?’

‘It’s a form of martial arts used by the Israeli
military.’

‘Oh my gosh, that’s fantastic! Isn’t that fantastic,
Maddy?’

‘Yes it is,’ I said.

That was the understatement of the century.

Chapter Five

That night, I obsessed about David’s act of heroism.
It was the most courageous, most gallant thing anyone had ever done for me, and
I was profoundly touched by it. I couldn’t sleep - my head was full of him. I kept
replaying the event over and over again, analysing every look, every detail,
wondering if they betrayed hidden meanings. I decided that David had to be
incredibly fit and strong to have taken on a guy half his age. And yet, to look
at him, you wouldn’t think him capable of swatting a fly.

The man was a fascinating paradox.

When Beth called me at work the next day she was
hysterical. ‘Darling, he’s a-m-azing! You’ve simply got to see him again. Got
to, got to, got to! I’ll never forgive you if you let this one slip through
your fingers.’

‘We’ll see what happens,’ I replied evenly.

‘What do you mean “we’ll see what happens”? Darling,
if a man ever did something like that for me, I’d be on my back in a
heartbeat.’

I laughed. ‘Okay, maybe - ’

‘Not maybe - you will! I’ll never forgive you if you
don’t. Listen, why don’t you invite him round to ours for dinner? Him and Phil
will get on like a house on fire.’

‘Aren’t we moving a bit fast here? I mean, David
hasn’t even made his feelings clear. We can’t even be sure he’s interested in
me in that way.’