The Life and Loves of Gringo Greene (39 page)

   ‘So they would know we were sharing a bed?’

   ‘We share a bed here!’

   ‘That’s different, Gringo, and you know it.’

   ‘No it isn’t!’

   ‘Course it is, they would be bound to think we were an item if we were sharing a bloody big bed, get real, Gringo. Sometimes you are such an oaf.’

   ‘And is that so terrible? That someone, my parents in this case, might actually think for one moment that we were an item, even if we are so obviously not! Am I so repulsive?’

   ‘Don’t be so stupid, Gringo, of course not, but this isn’t going to happen, we are just friends, I keep telling you, I am not going to Shropshire with you and that’s final. I’ll stay here by myself.’

   ‘You will not stay by yourself!’

   ‘You can’t make me come!’

   ‘We’ll see about that!’

   ‘When are you going?’

   ‘
We
are going on Friday night, and
we
are coming back on Sunday night. You said yourself you felt uncomfortable when you were out, well here’s your chance to get away, miles and miles away, where we can go out for dinner and relax; where we know no one; and no one knows us. It makes a load of sense.’

   ‘Not to me, it doesn’t.’

   ‘We’re going, and that’s final!’

   She gave him that stubborn rebellious look of hers and he knew he had a big fight on his hands.

   Wisely, he stayed quiet after that and then he said: ‘Let’s change the subject.’

  ‘Fine by me!’ she said, emptying her glass. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

   ‘Tomorrow afternoon I’m going on a blood donor programme.’

   That surprised her as she stared at him through widened eyes.

   ‘You are kidding me.’

   ‘Nope, four o’clock at Princess Alexandra’s, never done it before.’

   ‘I would never have put you down as the type.’

   ‘It’s a case of needs must,’ he said, parroting Nurse Drayton’s pious words. ‘
Unfortunately not enough citizens are aware of their responsibilities, it’s like putting money in the bank, you never know when you might need to draw some out, anyone can be in an accident, Glen.’

   ‘Jeez,’ she said, under her breath while shaking her head. ‘Will you be late home?’

   ‘Don’t think so, maybe a touch.’

   ‘I’ll do a salad, that way it won’t spoil.’

   Gringo bobbed his head and smiled at her as she took another drink before returning his smile over the rim of the glass. She wanted to ask him about Sarah, but didn’t for obvious reasons, and after that they chatted about the latest office gossip, cleared away the dinner things, watched TV for an hour, and went to bed, returning to their tried and tested ritual, separate beds, Glen coming to him an hour or so later to snuggle into his arm and chest, a peck on the cheek, followed soon afterwards by deep sleep, and a missing girl in the morning.

   Just before he fell asleep Gringo wondered why he didn’t force the issue further, pondered on why he didn’t throw her on her back and show her how he really felt, something he probably would have done with anyone else. Yet all along he knew the answer. She wasn’t ready, there was no point in forcing the issue, and when and if it happened, he wanted it to be the most memorable night of his entire life, and hers too, if that were possible, not a hurried, bungled affair for the sake of casual sex, a terrible mistake that might haunt him forever. He’d waited long enough. He could wait a little longer.

   She wondered too why he hadn’t made a move on her, every other man she had ever known would have done, but she was glad he hadn’t, for she didn’t want to spoil what they had. She’d be bound to refuse him, and after that, separate beds would have become the norm, and probably separate houses too. She liked sleeping with men; the smell of their bodies and the tone of their muscles, the feel of their skin next to hers, their arms around her, she always had, she couldn’t get enough of it, and Gringo was no different in that respect. Fact was, she felt safe in his house, in his bed, in his arms, and she would sleep with him every night, so long as he wanted her too, and for so long as he left her alone.      

He arrived at Princess Alexandra’s Hospital at ten minutes to four but was forced to faff around looking for a parking space. When he eventually found one he was disgusted to find he had to pay handsomely for the privilege.
I’m giving my own blood!
he wanted to scream through the hustling corridors.
Surely you could have offered me free parking!

   It was a fair walk through that distinct hospital aroma to the correct department where a slim young man in a tight fitting uniform greeted him with a bored: ‘Blood?’

   Gringo nodded and the guy waved him to a row of seats, half occupied by nervous looking first timers. A couple of minutes later a bulldog of a nurse appeared, short and broad, wearing black trousers and a long blue jacket and a jowled face that belonged in Crufts.

   ‘Kevin Greene!’ she barked, glancing down at her clipboard.

   Gringo stood up and approached and tried a smile and said: ‘I have an appointment with Linda Drayton.’

   ‘You have an appointment to give blood,’ she corrected him snootily, ‘follow me,’ and with that she turned and marched away, Gringo struggling to keep up.

   She took him to a small room off the corridor where there were two couches, one on either side, both vacant.

   ‘Take off your jacket and lie on the bed.’

   ‘Is Linda about?’

   ‘Staff Nurse Drayton is on duty today.’

   ‘May I see her?’

   ‘No, you may not. Now, please lie on the bed and roll up your sleeve.’

   Gringo slipped off his shoes and jumped onto the bed, but was not yet finished.

   ‘Look, unless I see Nurse Drayton, I shall be leaving.’

   The health service creature looked down her nose at the dark wimp and snorted, ‘I see.’

   He wondered whether he should speak again, but before he could, she had turned about and retreated, leaving him alone to study the
Give Blood
posters that adorned the walls. Ten minutes passed as a non stop stream of people bustled to and fro along the corridor outside. Then Linda appeared, hurrying into the room with the body language of someone with a hundred things to do, a stony expression fixed on her neat face.

   ‘What’s all this about?’ she said, as if she had no idea who the heck Kevin Greene was. He tried his best smile and imagined it melted her heart, maybe a smidgeon.

   ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said, ‘I might have guessed.’

   ‘You said you were going to look after me.’

   ‘And do you need looking after?’

   ‘Yes, I think I do.’

   ‘Nurse Caldicott could have fixed you up just as well as I.’

   ‘I doubt that.’

   ‘Are you ready to proceed?’

   Gringo nodded, not really caring about the blood doning business, for he was checking out her charms. She seemed even more attractive in her natural surroundings than she had in his office.

   ‘Are you married?’ he asked.

   ‘Do I wear a ring?’

   ‘No, you don’t, but that might just be a hospital thing.’

   ‘Why do you want to know? Are you going to propose to me?’ she said, smirking, as she inspected and wiped his arm.

   ‘No, I’m not.’

   ‘Men do, you know.’

   He could imagine that, especially here where they felt most vulnerable.

   ‘I’ll bet they do.’

   ‘Now just relax, Mister Greene.’

   ‘I suppose the doctors are always asking you out.’

   She paused for a second as if thinking carefully of her reply.

   ‘Sometimes,’ she said. ‘I try and avoid them.’

   ‘Are they so bad?’

   ‘Shits!’ she said, and in the way she said that he guessed one of them must have hurt her.

   ‘Will you have dinner with me?’

   ‘You will feel a slight sting.’

   ‘Come on, say yes. Have dinner with me.’

   He didn’t say anything else; and she didn’t answer, and when he next glanced into her light blue eyes, he could see she was grinning as she saw the shock on his face as the needle went in.     

  
You will feel a slight sting.

  
Yeah, right.

   He’d been stunned to silence. Serve him right.

   ‘Just relax Mister Greene, it won’t take long. I’ll be back soon.’

  
Don’t leave me
, he wanted to cry out, yet even Gringo realised that sounded too wimpish.

   ‘Fine,’ he said, closing his eyes, acting the brave heart and pondering on what the hell he was doing there.

   When it was all done she returned, still with that cat-got-the-cream look on her face, as she unplugged him.

   ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I think the least I deserve after going through that torture is a dinner date.’

   She glanced down at him, still prone on the bed. He was vaguely handsome in an angular kind of way, dark and brooding. Some women might find him attractive, she mused, and after her bitter break up with Steven some weeks before, that hard bastard in Casualty, she had been on the look out for someone new. This guy was presentable enough, a little on the dark side for her taste, but she could live with that, and her parents would adore him for sure, so maybe, just maybe, there might be some mileage in the man.

   ‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Mister Greene.’

   ‘Please, call me Gringo.’

   ‘All right,
Gringo
, this is the deal. You come back next month, and I might look more kindly on your proposal.’

   ‘You might be married and with child by then.’

   She laughed aloud, though whether at the unlikelihood of it, or because it might actually happen that way, he wasn’t sure.

   ‘That’s a chance you will have to take. Now be a good boy and put on your shoes.’

  
Be a good boy
, he’d give her
Be a good a boy
if the chance ever arose, and no mistake. She ought to be more careful.

   ‘Well?’ she said. ‘Do we book you in again, or not?’

   He nodded grumpily. The things one does for a dinner date.

   ‘Sorry, I didn’t quite hear that.’

   ‘Yes! Staff… Nurse… Drayton.’

   Her face softened a tad, as did her voice. ‘Good man, Mister Greene, good man,’ and at that moment she spotted the Rottweiler hurtling past the door.

   ‘Nurse Caldicott! Another season ticket holder signed up. Give him an appointment for next month.’

   The health service creature moseyed into the room and looked down her nose at the troublesome man.

   ‘Goodbye,’ said Linda, and with that she left the room.

The following morning Gringo had a stiff arm, but it would all be worth it if and when he landed a dinner date with the nurse. He’d been thinking a fair bit about her, and that must mean something.

   He began humming to himself as he drove to work for he was in a particularly good mood. Today he would be seeing the delectable Ms J Cairncross again, and ever the optimist, he imagined she would not be able to resist his charm, which oddly, was always close to its best on a Friday.

   That afternoon he pulled into the VAT palace car park, hustled through security, and was shown upstairs.

   Everything was as before. The blonde honey came and greeted him with a warm smile. ‘Hello Mister Greene, nice to see you again.’

   ‘Hello Diane, how are you? How’s that boyfriend of yours?’

   She was impressed he’d remembered her name, but for some reason fellas often did that. ‘I’m really well, and you’ll never guess what, we are getting married, honeymoon in Barbados and everyfink.’

   ‘Which one is he, your husband to be?’

   ‘The black fella, you must know him, he’s always in the papers and on the telly.’

   ‘Ah yes,’ said Gringo, ‘always in the papers, sure I do,’ when in truth he didn’t have a clue. If he remembered he might ask Paul. ‘So you’re going to be a WAG, eh? And are you looking forward to it?’

   ‘Oh yeah,’ she grinned. ‘I can’t wait. I won’t have to work anymore. Be in the papers and everyfink. He wants me to be a lady of leisure.’

   I’ll bet he does, thought Gringo.

   ‘Good for you, Diane,’ he said, and he thought of asking her how old the foo-buller was, as she called him, but didn’t have the time because by then they were outside Ms Cairncross’s office. Diane tapped on the door and opened it and beckoned him inside, before leaving with a smile and a gentle, ‘By-eee, Mister Greene.’