A Wild Affair

Joe swung the car down towards the river and she caught a glimpse of the moonlit water glimmering between high buildings. London was asleep around them, scraps of torn white paper blowing along the pavements, the traffic lights ahead turning red as they approached and looking to her like dangerous, glowing eyes in the dark. She shivered and Joe shot a sideways look at her.

'Cold? The heater's on, the car should warm up pretty soon.'

'I'm okay,' she said in a stiff voice. She wanted to get away from him, be alone, where she could nurse this pain out of his sight. She wasn't even sure how deep it ran or where it had its source—whether what was making her want to cry was simply the shame she felt at having been seen by a stranger in Joe's arms, or whether the shame came from a realisation that in so short a time she had come so close to giving herself to a man who, tomorrow, was going to fly out of her life for ever.

The car drew up outside Lilli's flat a few moments later. Joe turned towards her, his arm resting on the wheel.

'There's so much I haven't had a chance to say to you,' he began huskily, but Quincy interrupted, forcing a smile.

'I really must go in, Mr Aldonez—it's getting so late.'

'Quincy...' he began angrily, and she turned and fumbled with the door, ignoring the note in his voice.

'We can't leave it like this!' muttered Joe, catching her shoulder, trying to turn her to face him again.

'We've got nothing to say to each other,' said Quincy. 'I just don't want any part of your sort of life, I'm not your sort of girl. I couldn't live in a goldfish bowl. I've hated every minute of the publicity—I wish I'd never said I'd do it. I wish I'd never come to London at all!' Without waiting for him to answer she wrenched at the door, it opened and she almost fell out on to the pavement and scrambled away, flinging a smothered 'Goodbye' at him as she ran.

She half expected to hear him following her, but the click of her high heels was the only sound disturbing the silence of the sleeping street. As she reached the door she heard the limousine throb into life behind her, then the wheels swished on the road surface as it moved off, and she turned her head, briefly, to see the tail lights disappearing before she went into the building.

She was far too disturbed to sleep. She quietly made herself some coffee and sat curled up in a chair, brooding, her body shivering in a convulsive way from time to time, as though she had an intimation of some fatal disease. The room gradually lightened around her, a pale cold light filtering through the drawn curtains. Towards seven o'clock she heard Lilli getting up and uncoiled to stand u

p just as her sister drifted through the door in a dressing-gown, yawning.

Lilli halted, falling without thinking into one of her elegant dancer's poses, her slender body slack from sleep but innately graceful. Opening her eyes very wide, she asked drily: 'How long have you been back? I went to bed at one and you weren't back then—what have you been up to, Quincy?'

'I haven't been up to anything!' Quincy flared at once, knowing she had gone pink.

'What an interesting colour!' Lilli drawled, and her smile was amused. 'Joe Aldonez made a night of it, did he?'

'We went on to a night club,' Quincy admitted. 'But I've been back for hours. I wasn't sleepy.'

'You haven't done anything silly, have you?' asked Lilli in a different voice, a frown pleating her forehead.

'Of course I haven't—what do you mean?'

Her sister stared, visibly hesitating. 'He's so different from the men you usually meet,' she said. 'I wouldn't want you to get hurt.'

'I'm not stupid,' said Quincy, wishing it was true— she was stupid, that was the trouble, she had to be to have allowed herself to get involved with Joe in the first place.

Lilli ran a hand over the ruffled feathers of her vivid red hair, smoothing them down. 'A pity I've been so busy with rehearsals, I meant to keep a closer eye on you, I promised Dad I would.'

'Did he ask you to?' Quincy bristled, very offended. 'Anyone would think I was ten years old! I'm twenty-two, remember! I don't need to have anyone keeping an eye on me.'

'Quincy, I'm used to men like that—you're not, you don't realise what rats they can be…'

Oh, don't I? Quincy thought, but she said nothing, merely looked mutinously at her sister and shrugged.

Guiltily, Lilli said: 'Sure nothing's wrong? You can talk to me, I won't repeat it—if something's bothering you…'

'It isn't,' Quincy said succinctly. 'If you're trying to find out if Joe Aldonez seduced me the answer's no, he didn't.'

Lilli made a wry face. 'That's it, be blunt!'

'Well, that was what you were hinting at, wasn't it? Why wrap it up?'

'I didn't want to put ideas into your head,' said Lilli with amusement. 'I wasn't sure you already had them.'

'As I've said, I'm twenty-two, not ten—I do know the facts of life, I don't still think babies are found under gooseberry bushes.'