The Secret Love-Child

The grey-haired man she'd been canoodling with in the water climbed out via the ladder and walked over to where he'd left his towel. Whilst Liz looked in her late twenties, her companion was sixty if he was a day.

'Let's go, honey,' Isabel heard the man say with a salacious wink as he walked by. Time you earned your keep.'

'Coming, darls,' the blonde trilled back, though her face behind his back was less than enthusiastic.

'Is that the man she threw you over for?' Isabel asked, unable to keep the distaste out of her voice.

'No. I have no idea who that is, although I presume he's rich. No, the man Liz left me for was a fellow photographer. A more successful one at the time, though I'd heard rumours he had associations with some less than savoury video productions. I wondered what had become of Liz when I didn't see any more of her in the fashion world. I think the answer lies in those double D cups. A lot of models, especially ones who want fame and money too quickly, get sucked into doing things they shouldn't do. Pity. She could have been really someone. Instead, she's turned into that.' And he nodded towards the sight of her hurrying after her sugar-daddy, her gigantic breasts jiggling obscenely. 'You seem slightly sorry for her,' Isabel said, rather surprised.

'Oddly enough, I am.' He sounded surprised, too. 'Seeing her again, in the flesh so to speak, has given me a different perspective. And it's laid quite a few ghosts to rest.'

'You loved her a lot once, didn't you?'

'Yes. Yes, I did. Stupid, really. In hindsight, I can see she wasn't worth it, but love is blind, as they say.'

'I know exactly what you mean. I couldn't count the number of creeps and losers I've fallen for over the years. But, dear heaven, the last fellow I was involved with before Luke made the others look like saints. Still, I didn't know that when I first met him.'

'And where was that?'

'I was working my way around Australia and had taken this job as a salesgirl in a trendy little boutique on the Gold Coast which sold Italian shoes. One day, this sophisticated guy came in and I served him. He bought six pairs of shoes, just so he could spend more time with me, he said. Naturally, I was impressed.'

'Mmm. A bit naive of you, Isabel, falling for a line like that.'

"That's me when I fall for a man. Naive.'

'You weren't with me.'

'I was attracted to you, Rafe. I didn't fall for you.'

Terrific. Well, he'd asked for that one, hadn't he?

'So what happened next?'

'What do you think? He took me out to dinner that night, then straight home to bed afterwards.'

Rafe decided not to pursue that conversation further. He felt decidedly jealous of this Hal and his instant sexual success. Isabel had given him icicles the first day they'd met. Still, she had been a bride-to-be at that stage, and possibly still suffering from the once-bitten twice-shy syndrome after this fellow.

'So how did it end? Did he dump you?'

'No. Actually, he didn't. In a weird way I believe Hal did love me. As much as a man like that is capable of love. No, something happened and I could no longer pretend he was Mr Right.'

'Oh-oh; sounds like you found out he was already married.'

She laughed. 'If only it were as simple as that.'

'Now I'm seriously intrigued. What happened?'

'He was arrested. For drug importation and dealing. He got fifteen years.'

'Wow. And you never suspected?'

'Not for a moment. He didn't use drugs himself, and he never did any dealing in my presence. Even when he made numerous trips to Bangkok I didn't suspect. He said he was an importer. Of jewellery. I should have known by past experience that he was too good to be true, but as you said... love will make a fool of you every time. I thought all my dreams had come true. Hal was handsome, successful, exciting, masterful. Materially, he had it all as well. The mansion on the water. The car. The yacht. He swept me right off my feet, I can tell you. Told me he adored me. It was just a matter of time, I thought, till he proposed. I was on cloud nine till I picked up the paper one day and saw his photograph on the front page.'

'Must have been one bad day.'

"That's an understatement, I can assure you. I was devastated.'

'Did you have to testify at his trial?'

'No. Which was fortunate. Also fortunate that this all happened in another state. I hadn't told my parents about Hal, you see. But I was going to, once we were engaged. I thought he'd be a pleasant surprise after all the going-nowhere men I'd been with in the past. Some surprise he'd have turned out to be!'

'Just as well he was arrested when he was, then.'

'I didn't quite see it that way at the time,' Isabel muttered.

'No. Just as I didn't see I was better off without Liz. But we're both better off without both of them, Isabel. Much better off. And you're better off without Luke, no matter what you think now. He didn't love you.'

'Love I can do without from now on.'