The Maestro (26 page)

She looked
over at Sebastian who smiled back. He stood surrounded by a crowd
of girls who recognised him from his films. She recognised his
smile and recognised that there was a lot of pain behind it.

Over the last
couple of months they had talked frequently over the telephone and
gradually it had dawned on him that Linda was leaving him. He had
loved her, he told her, he always would, but eventually he had come
to accept that she had moved away from him, and that she was really
a different woman to the one he had married.

His film had
ended ahead of schedule and he wanted to come to the exhibition.
Linda wasn't sure whether she wanted him there, wondering if yet
again he would steal her thunder, and she would end up playing the
lesser role of superstar wife than that of talented artist.
However, she relented, thinking that it would be too selfish to
think like that, and also after so long she really did want to see
him, and she wanted him to see her new world and new life. There
was part of her that sought his approval for what she had done and
for the new life she had chosen to lead.

She'd met him
at the airport. He wasn't expecting her. She saw him coming out of
the sliding doors with Simone Jaeger. She was fantastically
beautiful, much more beautiful in reality than on screen. The black
waves of her hair resting enticingly on the shoulders of her
olive-green two piece, the breast pushing out the lapels, the long
slim legs, the startling limpidity of her eyes. No wonder Sebastian
had been attracted to her.

His face
dropped though when he saw Linda, knowing he'd been caught out. He
had intended as Linda later found out to hide Simone away in a
hotel, assuming he would be staying with his wife. He mumbled
something into the black-haired beauty's ear. Linda really didn't
care any more. It made her laugh to see Sebastian looking so
sheepish when he saw her. She strode over to him and embraced him,
hugging him tightly. If he still loved her, she still loved him.
That hadn't changed. He pulled away from her and turned to
Simone.

'Linda, this
is Simone, she's staying here for a couple of days.'

'Hi,' she
said, her pouty lips parting into an ambivalent smile edging closer
to displeasure than greeting.

'Pleased to
meet you. You must be exhausted. I have a car outside. I can take
you both to the hotel.' Sebastian looked at her, mystified. 'I've
put you both up at the Europa,' she lied, she hadn't at all. 'I
hope you don't mind. It's a beautiful hotel. I stayed in it when I
first came here. I booked a double.'

Simone looked
at her cautiously, wondering what kind of game Linda was playing.
Sebastian looked baffled.

'Is that okay,
Seb?' She never normally called him Seb. She knew he hated it.

He started
laughing at his wife. 'That's fine, Lindy.'

As she drove
into the city, Linda insisted that Simone sit beside her in the
front and Sebastian in the back. Linda told them all about her
exhibition and how she hoped they would both come, Simone speedily
saying that she had an appointment with a director in Madrid and
that she could only stay for a couple of days.

Sebastian told
her all about the film, what a load of twaddle it was and what a
prima donna the director had been. Simone adding quite caustically
that it was the worst film she had ever been in.

Reaching the
centre of the city, Linda's heart leapt. It still gave her a buzz
to live here and as long as it did she would stay. Place was
important to her.

'It's a great
city. I came here once,' Simone said. She had relaxed a little
more, having adapted to the strange situation she now found herself
in, and never once forgetting that she was in some competition with
Linda, and preparing for the possibility that things could turn
nasty at some stage.

The days were
shorter now and there was a sense of autumn encroaching but the
summer had not relented in its heat. And it was the heat as much as
her desire to have Sebastian again that excited her. She knew she
was going to have Sebastian whatever happened. She knew she still
had that power over him, and she could tell by the way he had been
looking at her that he was desperate to have her too. If Simone was
going to be part of their menage, all the better. She had cast
intermittent glances at the tanned stockinged legs, the olive skirt
riding up above the knee. Yes, Linda wouldn't mind Simone staying
at all.

She left them
momentarily in the car, while she raced into the foyer, making sure
that they had a double available, and then she went back to fetch
them, Simone looking disgruntled, Sebastian smiling at the new
temerity of his wife. He loved strange situations, incongruities,
chaos. It was one aspect of his character that Linda had always
found appealing.

She led them
up to the most expensive room of the hotel, a huge room letting out
onto the dusk light and cheery buzz of the thronged street below.
The room had a big brass bed in one corner, and dark, heavy-wooded
furniture added a sombre tone. Above a crystal chandelier hung.

'My, oh my,'
Simone exclaimed, 'this is quite something!'

'I'm glad you
like it,' Linda said with mock politeness.

'I didn't say
I liked it,' Simone replied, casting an asperse glance at what she
assumed was her enemy.

'Well I
suppose you two want to freshen up,' Linda said, ignoring Simone's
caustic, quizzical stare. 'I'll leave you to it. I'll wait for you
downstairs. There is a little bar across the road, has very good
tapas, if you're interested.'

'Give me
twenty minutes,' Sebastian said.

'Is that long
enough?' Linda said cheekily.

Sebastian
laughed, Simone looked shocked.

Linda sat in
the bar downstairs nursing a martini. Sebastian appeared ten
minutes later.

'You're
certainly quicker than you used to be,' Linda said as he kissed her
on the cheek and sat down beside her.

'Is this the
same woman that I married three years ago?'

'I think that
is the point. I am not. That's why I can't go back to live in
England. That's why I can't be the same person I was for you
before.'

Sebastian
looked at her. He didn't realise up until that moment that their
relationship, at least how it had been, was irreconcilable to his
wife's new life.

'Simone?'

'Yes.'

'Where is
she?'

'She said she
was bushed.'

'Really?'

'It was a bit
of a shock to her when you turned up at the airport.'

'She wasn't
the only one who was shocked.'

'No, she
wasn't.'

'Is she a good
fuck?'

'As a matter
of fact she is.'

'She's not
really your type though. What is the attraction?'

'I don't
know?'

'Do you spank
her?'

'Sometimes.'

'Come on
Sebastian, don't be so reticent. So she likes spanking?'

'As a matter
of fact she does.'

'Do you go
further? I mean do you punish her?'

'Yes,
sometimes. She likes it. She likes being taken by surprise.'

'So do I.'

'Look, Linda,
never mind Simone, what about us. Are you telling me that we're
finished, that its time for the lawyers and all that.'

'I don't know
about that, but what has passed has passed. I told you, I'm staying
here. I don't want you out of my life Sebastian, but I think that
if you still want to see me, and I want you to, you have to be more
honest, and more understanding and we have to do things on my
terms. I don't want to spoil your career. Go off to Hollywood; make
your money and your actresses. It's okay, it's really okay with me.
See me when you want, and when you want to see me, let me know. I
won't stop loving you.'

'Nor me
you.'

'It's a new
kind of pact.'

'That's okay
then, Linda. It would really kill me if you were leaving me
forever.'

'No, I think
I'll always want you in my life.'

'I hope so.'
Sebastian took hold of her hand and they kissed, his lips brushing
against hers. Then he lit a small cigar and Linda took a long sip
on her martini.

'Now back to
Simone, you didn't tell me. I know there are sides to you, from
what Alfonso said.'

'Alfonso says
a lot.'

'But its true
isn't it. All that time when you used to spank me I would be dying
for you to tie me up or to hit me harder, to take a whip to me for
godsake, but there was always some restraint with you. Why could
you never share all that with me?'

'Because I was
frightened I'd lose you, by showing a side to me that you wouldn't
like, you wouldn't approve of. Maybe it's an old-fashioned
aristocratic thing, you know, that you can beat your mistress but
not your wife. I got it all wrong, didn't I?'

'You silly
boy.'

'Yes, I think
you could say that.'

'You still
haven't told me about Simone. So you beat her with your belt?'

'I do
actually. Simone likes surprises. She likes to be taken quickly and
suddenly.'

'Are you
making a suggestion?'

'My god no,
Linda. I thought we might go back to your flat.'

'You mean you
want to cheat on your mistress by sleeping with your wife?'

'It is a mad
world in which we live. But I think Simone half expects it.'

'Well she
sounds like a girl who doesn't like to do things that are expected.
I know, Sebastian, that you're not making any suggestions, I
am.'

He raised his
eyebrow theatrically in such a hammy way that he would not have
done if he had been on the stage.

They held
hands as they walked up the stairs. Sebastian knocked on the door.
Simone opened it. She was wearing a beautiful vermilion slip.

'I thought you
would be longer,' Simone said brusquely, seemingly annoyed at
having being disturbed from her sleep.

She had a
deep, husky voice. The combination of the voice, her slip - her
nipples protruding through the smooth fabric - and the beautiful
black locks of hair, as well as the look of astonishment as she saw
that Linda was standing behind the tall figure of Sebastian, made
Linda tingle with anticipation.

Simone looked
at her as if to ask what she was doing there.

'Come on,
Simone, let us in,' Sebastian said, a measured tone of weariness in
his voice.

Simone left
him to the door, tutted and then retreated back inside the room.
She flopped onto the sheets of the bed, the white of the fabric
contrasting so beautifully with the red satin of her slip.

They sat
either side of her and stared at her, gripping her arms.

'What's going
on?' she screeched, the brittle nasality of her accent present in
her protestation.

'Linda thinks
you are a naughty girl to steal me like that so she wants to punish
you. I've told her all about your dirty little habits,' Sebastian
said, turning her over while Linda sat on her so that she could not
move.

'This is
ridiculous!'

'Oh shut up,
Simone, you know you're going to enjoy it,' Linda said, pushing the
beautiful jet-black head into the pillow, while Sebastian began
tethering her arms with her own stocking to the brass bedstead.
There was resistance, but it was token. If she had really wanted to
escape she could have done. Her other arm dangled free. Sebastian
passed Linda the other white silk stocking so that Linda could
fasten her other arm.

'Now her
legs,' Linda said urgently.

'Don't you
dare!' Simone protested.

'Oh Simone,
please shut up! You sound like such a ham.'

Sebastian
added, 'Listen Simone, we all know what a rubbish actor you are.
Maybe you could be good if you weren't such a spoilt bitch. So we
are going to help you explore your emotional field a little bit.
You know that is the problem with her,' Sebastian turned and spoke
to Linda, 'she's such a spoilt bitch and she knows it. That's why
she enjoys correction. She knows she needs it.'

'You're
talking garbage,' Simone responded stridently.

'Oh listen to
her. If you don't shut up I'll hurt you more,' Linda said.

'Don't say that or we'll have to listen to her all night,'
Sebastian added. They enjoyed mocking her; it added a
frisson
to the pleasure
they were just about to enjoy.

Simone was
quiet now, staring steely at them.

'Shall I tie
her with the scarves?' Sebastian asked.

'Good
idea.'

Sebastian
picked out a selection of Simone's scarves that lay at the top of
her opened suitcase, passed one to Linda and tied Simone's left
ankle, while Linda tied the other, her legs splaying on the bed,
her arms now stretched tight. She lay prone below them.

'Rip the slip,
Sebastian, tear it off her body.'

'Do you know
how much that cost?'

'I'm really
tired of listening to you,' Linda said, crouching over her and
gagging her mouth with one of Simone's own expensive silk
scarves.

Sebastian
grabbed her slip and pulled it from her body. The rip sent a shiver
of delight through Linda's body. She watched as Simone's pert
buttocks appeared before her. She wasn't wearing panties.

As Sebastian
rent her slip and then pulled it from under her body like a waiter
removing a table cloth without altering the crockery on the table,
Linda took one of the remaining scarves and delicately moved it
across the cheeks of her bottom.

'Spread her,'
Linda commanded. Sebastian knelt on the bed and spread her bum
cheeks, opening up her taut, tiny bottom hole. Linda took the scarf
and dangled it between her spread bum cleft, touching as lightly as
she could the little aperture.

The light
tickling must have been an agony as she twisted and turned, her
bottom shaking trying to bring relief from the terrible tickling.
She could hear her moaning through the gag. Linda wouldn't stop. It
was a delicious form of torture to inflict, and she could see what
torment it was bringing to the girl. In a way although she enjoyed
inflicting such pain, she partly wished to be a victim of it.