“Donald, they’re lovely! Thank you!” She laughed. “I’m the one who’s been away. It’s supposed to be me who brings you a present. Speaking of which...” She rummaged in her bag and came out with a tissue-wrapped object. “I’ve brought you a bottle of the local plonk. It’s awful, but you’ve got to bring souvenirs back, haven’t you? And I got you this, as well.”
She handed me a small parcel. “I found them by accident,” she said as I unwrapped it. “We got lost one day, and ended up driving through this tiny little village in the middle of nowhere. An old man was making them.”
The paper came off. Inside was a hand-carved wooden statue of a woman. It was crudely but skilfully done, and while it was not particularly to my taste, I had to admit it was still quite a beautiful little thing.
“They were all different, but she was my favourite,” Anna said. “I hope you like it. It’ll be difficult changing it if you don’t.”
“It’s lovely. Thank you.” Even if it had been the most tasteless piece of junk, I would probably have felt the same way. It was a gift from Anna, and therefore priceless.
“It’s for being so considerate. You know.” She seemed embarrassed. So was I. But touched.
“You didn’t have to bring me anything. But thank you, anyway. I’ll give it pride of place. And thank you for the plonk, as well. I was going to suggest opening it this afternoon, but if it’s as bad as you say, perhaps that wouldn’t be such a good idea.”
“Not if you value your stomach lining.”
“In that case I’ll save it for someone I dislike.” Zeppo, perhaps. I hesitated, awkwardly. “How are you feeling now?” I felt I had to ask.
She nodded, reassuringly. “I’m okay. Mum and dad were right about getting away. It was what I needed. But I’m all right now.” She smiled at me to confirm it, and suddenly her eyes were filling up. She gave a shaky laugh and wiped them. “Well, almost. Sorry.”
“No need to be.”
“I was determined I wasn’t going to do that, too.” She gave them a final wipe.
“You don’t have to apologise.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m going to burst into tears at the drop of a hat, that’s all. I’m over that now.”
“It’s all right, really.”
“I’m just a bit edgy after going back to the flat last night. Everything was just the same, and I thought...” Her eyes filled up again. “Oh, bugger.”
I offered her a handkerchief, but she shook her head. “No, I’m all right now, thanks. It’s just getting used to being back, that’s all. It’s a bit harder than I thought.”
“You shouldn’t expect too much of yourself. You can’t rush these things.”
“No, I know. It wasn’t so bad while I was away, but now I’m back everything’s... everything’s still here, you know? Nothing’s changed.” She took a deep, uneven breath. “It’ll be better when I’ve cleared away the rest of Marty’s things. It was a bit too much like walking into a shrine last night, with everything of his still there. It was as though he was going to walk in any second.” She shrugged. “I know that’s not going to happen, though. I know I’ll probably never even find out what happened to him, but that’s something I’m going to have to learn to live with. And the sooner I do, the better.”
She gave me a rueful smile. “That’s the theory, at least. It seems easier said than done, doesn’t it?”
“I think you’re doing remarkably well.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.” She straightened, sniffing away the last of the tears. “Anyway, now I’ve got that out of my system, how about a cup of coffee?” She smiled, more convincingly now. “I promise not to spill it on you this time.”
That was the last time Anna broke down in front of me. Over the next few days I occasionally had the impression that her cheerfulness was only a facade. But it was in my interests as much as hers for me to let it go undented. I let a week pass to give her time to settle in and get used to being back.
Then I called Zeppo.
I planned to re-introduce him gradually, over a period of weeks. Zeppo, however, had other ideas. Even so, their first meeting went smoothly enough. It was at the same restaurant where we had ‘accidentally’ met him before, and he behaved perfectly. I noticed with satisfaction that Anna seemed genuinely pleased to see him.
“You look great,” Zeppo said to her. “Where was it? Tunisia?”
“That’s right. And you look as if you’ve been away yourself. Don’t tell me you got that colour here.”
Zeppo was indeed looking very tanned and fit. The two of them went well together. I was suddenly conscious of my own flaccid pallor.
“No, I’ve been doing a shoot in the Caribbean,” he said. “Two weeks on Dominica. It was hell.”
“I can imagine.”
I said nothing. Although I had not seen Zeppo since the night I had thrown him out of my house, I had spoken to him several times during Anna’s absence. If he had been to the Caribbean recently, he had taken his telephone with him.
“So. How are you now?” He put a slight inflection of concern into his voice to let Anna know what he meant. Anna acknowledged it with a smile and a nod.
“Okay, thanks.”
I was surprised at his tact. And more than a little relieved. When I had spoken to him the night before, I had warned him that Anna was still not over what had happened. He had been less than understanding.
“Don’t worry. Once she gets my hand in her pants she’ll feel much better,” he had said.
I knew he was only baiting me, but I still did not entirely trust him, I did not want him pushing Anna too quickly, either when I was there or, even worse, when I was not. But that afternoon he gave me no cause to complain. He behaved perfectly, and made no overtures towards her that I was aware of. He stayed for the half-hour we had agreed and then, with a glance at his watch, made his excuses.
“Call into the gallery now you’re back,” I told him.
“I might drop in later this week,” he said, and left.
Later that week turned out to be the next day, as we had arranged. I made a show of pleasant surprise when he stopped by for a coffee, hiding my annoyance that he was an hour late. But when he appeared the following day as well, my surprise was as genuine as Anna’s.
“Is there any particular reason for this ad lib? Or are you just enthusiastic?” I asked, when Anna went to deal with a client.
“A bit of both. The girl I was supposed to be seeing tonight’s gone and broken her arm, the silly bitch. So I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and take Anna out instead.” Zeppo smiled at me, slyly. “With a bit of luck this could be the big night. A quick drink, a nightclub, and then back to my place and fuck her brains out.”
For once his deliberate crudeness slipped by me almost unnoticed. I tried to conceal my sudden panic. “Don’t you think it’s a little premature?”
He smirked. “I think that’s the last thing you’ve got to worry about.”
“But she’s only been back a week. And she’s still not over Marty yet.”
“So this’ll take her mind off it. After the first ten minutes she won’t even be able to remember his name.” He frowned. “Why are you looking like that? Come on, Donald, this is what you’ve wanted, isn’t it?”
“I still think it’s too soon.”
“Is it hell. A bit of tender loving care is exactly what she needs. A sympathetic ear. A shoulder to cry on.” He grinned. “A nice, stiff cock.”
I felt my mouth compress. I shook my head. “No.”
“No? What do you mean, “No”?”
“I mean exactly that. I would have thought it was simple enough for you to understand.”
Zeppo stared at me. “Well, you’ll have to excuse me for being stupid, but I’m afraid it’s not. Ridiculous as it seems, I was under the impression that you wanted me to get her into bed. So why start dragging your heels now?”