Everything to Nothing (61 page)

‘She’s going to
be a right one in a few years!’

‘She a right
one now. Okay then, but keep in mind you need to be careful
approaching children and offering them money. Doing stuff like that
can get a man a reputation.’

‘I didn’t
really think of it like that. Right then my little darling,’ he
said, turning his attention back to the girl, ‘here you go. Pass it
to the cashier.’

Eagerly she
snatched the money from the man’s eyes and he thought his heart
would melt as he watched the mother roll her eyes and snatch the
money back from her daughter and gave it back to the man. ‘You know
better than that young lady! Don’t snatch and say thank you!’

‘Sorry mummy.
Thank you sir. This is very kind of you.’

Gently this
time she took the note and offered it to the cashier, stretching up
on her tip-toes. The mother smiled at the man as her daughter took
the savings book back from the cashier, who smiled back at her and
he walked with her out of the bank, the woman calling her son to
her side as they exited.

The two
children scampered off a short distance ahead, the mother keeping a
sharp eye on them as they walked. ‘That was a really nice thing you
did back there. I think you’ve got a friend for life now.’

‘Thank you. I
was hoping you wouldn’t mind.’

‘Well, usually
I would. You have to be careful these days, but you seem harmless
enough.’

‘Thank you
again.’

They approached
his Ferrari and as they did the children ran back to their mother
and took a hand each. ‘Erm, this is me.’ He could not help noticing
the flash across her eyes as she realised that the man she had been
speaking to was clearly rich.

‘It was nice to
meet you,’ said the woman.

‘You too.’

‘What do you
say to the nice man?’

‘Thank
you.’

‘Hey, erm,
would you like to go for a coffee sometime?’ the man asked. ‘I
mean, I know you don’t know me but it would give us chance to get
to know each other if you like?’

‘Erm,
sure.’

‘Well, here’s
my card. Give me a call when you would like to meet.’

‘I will.’

‘What’s your
name so I know it’s you when you call?’

‘My name is
Sally.’

‘Well, nice to
meet you Sally. My name is Peter, Peter Johnson. Please, give me a
call sometime.’

‘I will,
definitely.’

‘Bye then.’

‘Bye.’

He offered his
hand to shake which she accepted, liking the feel of his firm
handshake, he liking the feel of her soft, gentle hand, and then he
got into the Ferrari and with a wave he raced off with a roar down
the high street.

*

Sally lay in
bed alone, rotating the business card through her fingers, studying
the gold embossed writing. Peter Johnson the card said, just that,
with a mobile number written under his name. Nothing else. No
company name, no address, no title.

It was the
morning after she had met him. The twins had already been taken to
school and now she lay alone in bed thinking about how handsome he
was, how nice he had been to her children, how smartly dressed he
was and how he was clearly wealthy with his brand new Ferrari.

Sally ran the
card through her fingers some more, and thought about the man in
the lounge who was no doubt sipping from a can of beer watching
some rubbish on television, resting the beer on his huge belly as
he ate crisps or ordered some takeaway pizza.

All she wanted,
all she truly wanted was her partner back, her true partner though,
not the fat, horrible slob in the living room who showed no love or
affection to her or his children. She knew that hidden inside that
horrible body was the David she had fallen in love with but he
seemed now to be forever lost to her. He had never recovered from
the setback her father created and she knew that he blamed her for
it. Even the children could not bring him round.

For months the
children, especially Sophia, were confused about the swift change
that had overcome their father and for months she tried to coax
them into David’s life. She gave up though one day after David had
pushed Sophia over when she walked in front of the television and
David missed a goal being scored. From that day, as much as
possible she kept the children away from him, enrolling them in as
many free afterschool activities that she could find to keep them
away from home.

Now as she lay
on the bed she longed for a real man to enter her life, someone who
could support her and the children, someone who cared for and loved
them. In her heart she knew that she should have left him ages ago,
but for the sake of the children she forever hoped that eventually
he would get better and out of the self-destructive cycle he was
in.

She had no
friends, no social life and could not get a job so she never met
anyone, but this chance encounter had occurred with the good
looking wealthy man and a strong part of her told her she would be
crazy to pass up on this opportunity.

From the living
room she heard David call her name but she ignored him at first and
only responded to his shouts when he started to swear. Fearing the
neighbours would hear him, she walked quickly into the room where
he sat in the armchair munching last night’s left over chicken.

‘Get me a
beer.’

‘David, it’s
barely past eight in the morning. Do you not think it’s a little
early...’

‘Shut up
nagging me and get me a beer!’

‘Get it
yourself!’

Sally tried to
walk away but he grabbed her wrist and started to squeeze and twist
it. ‘Get me a fucking beer or I’ll snap you arm off, shred it and
feed it to your precious kids!’

‘You’re sick
and they’re your kids too!’

‘No, they’re
not. Get me a beer NOW!’

For some peace
and quiet Sally nodded and David released her wrist. She got him
the requested beer and then returned to her bedroom and cried
silently into her pillow. Slowly she managed to get control of
herself and as she sat up her eyes landed on the business card
which she had thrown onto the bed when she went in to see David.
Quickly she picked it up, grabbed her mobile and dialled the
number.

‘Yes?’

‘Hello? Is that
Peter?’

‘Yes. Who is
this?’

‘Erm, it’s
Sally. I don’t suppose you remember me from…’

‘Ah Sally!’ His
voice noticeably brightened. ‘Of course I remember you. How are
you?’

‘Fine thanks.
Erm, I was wondering if you’d like to meet for that coffee?’

‘Yes, of course
I would. I’m a bit busy this morning. How about this
afternoon?’

‘Sounds
perfect, but it would have to be before three though.’

‘Not a problem.
Shall we say one at Starbucks on Church Street?’

‘I know it.
I’ll be there.’

‘Perfect. See
you then. Bye.’

‘Bye
Peter.’

With a sigh
Sally lay the phone and the card on the bed next to her and
contemplated what she was about to do. The one thing she always
said she would never do she was contemplating doing. She had
decided long ago to support and show her love to David no matter
what, but he had changed, he had changed beyond all recognition and
he was no longer the David she had fallen in love with. And now
this man, this Peter, had entered her life seemingly by chance, and
she had to think of the children. She could not continue to bring
them up with this aggressive drunk in their lives, something had to
change.

For the next
couple of hours she stayed in the bedroom only leaving the room to
fetch David a couple more beers. At eleven thirty she started to
get ready. She searched through her wardrobe of supermarket clothes
looking for anything even remotely sexy. Eventually she found a
short pink skirt that she put on only to find that it barely
covered her knickers and she decided that she looked like a
prostitute, a cheap prostitute at that. As she removed the skirt
she caught a glance of herself in the mirror and she stood to look
at her body.

Considering she
had given birth to two children and was now closer to thirty than
twenty being that she was now twenty-eight, she still looked
astonishingly beautiful. Unable to afford the best moisturisers or
beauty products a few lines were starting to appear on her face and
at the corner of her eyes, yet her eyes still sparkled like
emeralds.

Sally’s eyes
made their way down her body she grabbed hold of one of her breasts
and pushed it up. When she released it barely moved down at all,
still firm and full. Turning she looked at her round tight bottom,
which she thought was starting to droop a little, but Peter was not
the only man to have nearly crashed their car when they saw her
behind wiggling down the street in town wrapped in tight denim.
Over the years her legs had filled out as had her hips and waist,
but she still had a slim and slender figure. With ease she could
have still made it onto the front cover of Vogue, but her father
still put a stop to any attempt she made at obtaining any kind of
work.

Making a
decision she decided to dress like who she now was, a mummy going
for a coffee with an acquaintance. So she opted for a simple white
t-shirt, over which she placed a small cardigan, and a simple pair
of jeans. Quietly she walked into the bathroom and applied a little
makeup, a touch of rouge to the lips and squirt of perfume to her
neck. She knew that she could have dressed better with a thousand
pounds to spend, but she decided that what she was wearing now
would have to do.

When she opened
the bathroom door she jumped because David was directly outside the
door leaning on the wall. ‘Where are you going?’

This surprised
Sally. For as long as she could remember he had not shown any
interest in where she was going or who she was seeing. Why was he
asking today of all days? ‘Out. Why are you bothered?’

‘I’m not. Do
you usually put makeup and perfume on if you’re just going out? Got
a date?’

‘No. Even if
you don’t love me anymore I still love you.’

‘Whatever. Can
I use the bathroom now?’

‘Of course.
I’ll be gone by the time you come out.’

‘Good.’

David brushed
past her and closed the bathroom door behind him. Now happy that he
was just waiting outside the bathroom to use it not to see her, she
left the apartment and started to walk into the town. The old car
she had managed to buy had long since been scrapped so now the only
means of transport she had was the bus or to walk. She wanted to
put a little extra into the children’s savings account this week if
possible and as the weather was nice she was trying to walk as much
as possible.

For the first
time in as long as she could remember, as she walked through the
streets she listened to the birds singing and she breathed in the
early autumn air deeply. Occasionally in quiet moments like this
she reflected on how her life had changed since that fateful day
seven years ago. Although a part of her wanted her old life back,
the money, the riches, the privileges, another part of her was
quite content. The last few years had made her stronger, they had
made her fight for survival and now that she had set herself on a
course of action to rid herself of the one last thing from that old
life there was almost a skip to her step.

It took her
half an hour to walk into the town and she arrived at the coffee
shop fifteen minutes before he was due but she still went in.
Before she sat down she went to the toilet to run a comb through
her black hair and make sure she looked as attractive as possible.
She succeeded, and although she did not notice, as she made her way
to a seat near the window, every man in the shop turned to look at
her, a couple of them being spotted by their partners to which they
received a telling off.

At nearly one
Sally heard before she saw the Ferrari as it roared up the street
and parked quickly in a space a little down the road from where
Sally waited. Nervously she waited and watched the doors looking
for him to enter then she spotted him. He stood in the doorway to
the shop and removed his sunglasses then adjusted the jumper that
been draped casually over his shoulders. The top buttons of his
shirt were undone showing a muscular, firm chest and Sally could
not help herself as she dropped her eyes down his slim body to the
area of his crotch. She ran her hand through her hair, wriggled in
her seat and crossed her legs even tighter as he spotted her,
smiled, and weaved his way through the tables. As he approached her
heart skipped a beat as she realised that he was actually more
handsome than she remembered and he smiled again showing perfect
white teeth as he arrived next to the table.

‘Hi. Nice to
see you again.’ He offered his hand which Sally lightly accepted
and he sat down in the chair opposite her. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m fine
Peter, thank you. And you?’

‘Yep, I’m good.
Damn it’s good to see you again. I didn’t expect you to call at
all, but I was happy, very happy when you did.’

‘Well it’s not
very often I receive a guy’s number nowadays.’

‘Now I find
that very hard to believe. Have you ordered anything?

‘No, I was
waiting for you.’

‘What would you
like then?’

‘A latte
please.’ Sally made to get her purse out of her small handbag but
Peter shook his head.

‘No, honestly,
I insist. My treat.’

Reluctantly
Sally nodded and he wandered over to the counter and as he walked
she could not help watch his tight rear end in the expensive
looking jeans. He was quickly served and for the rest of the
afternoon they made small talk with each other, getting to know one
another. Sally told him her partner had left her about six months
ago and she was now coming to terms with it. ‘I mean, I’m over him
now, but, you know, I don’t want to bring my children up without a
strong male role model in their lives, but I don’t know who is
going to be interested in me now that I’m damaged goods.’