Dirty Minds, page 25
‘Old can be attracted to young.’ Penny felt she had to chime in.
Tiffany grinned at her. ‘A fifty year differential is a bit different from seven, Penny.’
There were hoots of laughter round the table. Penny blushed. Tom thought it best to move on. One by one, they threw out ideas. By the time it came round to him, a lot of different scenarios had been put forward, none very convincing.
‘Come on, Tom. Your turn now.’
He picked up his notes. ‘Right, here goes. I actually wrote it in the hospital last night, so apologies in advance. What I’ve done is to edit the list of characters down a bit. I don’t think we need to have so many different individuals involved. I have opted for fewer participants, but more mixing and matching, as was suggested yesterday.’ He was gratified to see a few nods of approval. ‘Right.’
Before he could start, there was a knock at the door.
Mr Jeffers came in, holding a telephone. ‘I apologise for the intrusion, but I do believe Miss Janet will want to take this call.’ He allowed himself just the hint of a smile as he held the receiver out to her.
‘Yes, hello. Hello, Alfonso! You’re awake … yes, and alive. You worried us all to death … No, don’t say any more now. You rest and I’ll come in this afternoon. Oh I’m so pleased, so very, very pleased … What’s that? Of course I will. I’ll do it now. Love from everybody here … And you. Bye.’ She put the phone down, tears of joy sparkling in the corners of her eyes. Then she stood up and marched around the table until she came to Jimmy. She reached out with both hands, grabbed his face, leant forward and kissed him first on the left cheek and then on the right. ‘The first was from Alfonso. He says he owes you his life and he thanks you. The other one was from me. Thank you, Jimmy. You saved the life of the man I love.’ She dissolved into tears. Jimmy joined her.
It was a while before everyone settled down. When they did, they hadn’t forgotten Tom was still to read them his piece.
‘Right, here we go. It is the Saturday night gala dinner. A five-piece band is playing blues numbers. One of the Forbes-Henderson twins receives a note saying “Meet me in the Balmoral suite after midnight. I love you.” She is delighted. She screws the note up and discards it. It is found by Madeleine, the American oil tycoon’s wife, who thinks it is for her. She reads it and drops it on the floor. Silas Parry drops his napkin. He takes advantage of a spell under the table to separate the other Forbes-Henderson twin from her underwear. He also finds the note. For a bit of a laugh, he slips it under his brother’s glass. As he leaves the table, he gives a few quid to Molly and Iris, the maids. He suggests that they turn up at room 24 after midnight ready for some fun. He races up to room 24 and unscrews the light bulb. The only light comes from a dim table lamp. Midnight comes. They all turn up and get naked. People do all kinds of stuff to each other. End of story.’
He looked round the room. Their faces said it all.
‘It’s not great, is it? To be honest, none of our plots appeal to me. Anybody think differently?’
No response. He looked at his watch. It was well past eleven o’clock.
‘Look, let’s stop for a quick cup of coffee. We meet back here in fifteen minutes. I think we are barking up the wrong tree. We need different, more credible characters, and a reason for them to be here. And we need them in a hurry. We are fast running out of time. Put your thinking hats on while you have coffee.’
After all the other authors had left the conference room, Ros went to Tom, put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
‘Good morning, did you sleep well?’
He nodded. ‘I don’t need to ask if you slept well. You went out like a light.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m afraid I wasn’t at my most receptive last night.’
He hugged her.
‘Sorry? For God’s sake, Ros, there’s nothing to be sorry for. I was exhausted myself. You did look sweet, though.’
‘And I thank you for ensuring I didn’t catch cold. I looked in on you this morning, but you were still fast asleep. I came down and told the girls I had exhausted you sexually.’
‘Did they believe you?’
‘Strangely, no. I still can’t think of that Greek word, you know.’
‘We’ll beat that malignant deity yet!’
He took her arm and they walked through to the morning room. They poured themselves cups of tea and went over to the others.
‘So, how was the gala dinner?’ Ros enquired.
‘Brilliant.’ Luca had joined them, but there was still no sign of Scottie. ‘I would have put on a couple of kilos this weekend, if my wife’s sexual appetite wasn’t even greater.’
‘Luca, behave yourself.’
‘That’s not what you were saying last night.’ She had the decency to blush. ‘What about you guys at the hospital? A plastic sandwich and a cup of lukewarm tea?’
‘Anything but. We had a feast.’ Ros spotted Mr Jeffers hovering in the background. ‘Mr Jeffers! Thank you so much for the picnic last night. It was most welcome and really, really good. And please thank the chef. He is magnificent.’
‘Thank you, Miss Rosalind. I am delighted you liked it. I will pass on your message to the chef.’
Tom sat down beside Janet. Melissa had gone upstairs for another little rest.
‘So, you feeling good? How did Alfonso sound?’
‘He sounded remarkably well for somebody who died last night. Tom, lean over so I can kiss you, will you? I’m too tired to get up.’ He did as requested. ‘Good. That’s from Alfonso and from me. You and Jimmy were magnificent. If I was ten years younger, I’d promise to call my first child James and my second one Thomas.’ She was smiling.
‘And if it was a girl?’ He knew the answer before she said it.
‘Ariadne, of course, Jimmy’s alter ego.’
Across the room Ros sat down between Tiffany and Penny. Opposite them, Suzy and Jimmy were canoodling.
Penny caught Ros’s eye. ‘You heard it from me first.’
‘You know, it’s uncanny, isn’t it? I fully expect to see Mr Jeffers and the pretty little dark-haired waitress start groping each other any minute. This book has had remarkable repercussions. It really has.’
‘Like Tiff said last night, it’s the power of the written word.’
‘The written word…’ Ros suddenly realised the solution to their problem was staring them in the face. She whipped round, her tone cutting through the other conversations. ‘I’ve got it. The plot, it’s been right under our noses all the time.’
They crowded round. Even Suzy and Jimmy stopped doing what they were doing.
‘The plot. There’s no need for any of the complicated stuff we’ve been discussing this morning. The answer’s so obvious, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier.’
She allowed herself a dramatic pause, during which the others racked their brains.
‘It’s us, don’t you see. What we need is a party of folk who come together in this house in the 1920s to write an erotic novel. The story is the way this affects their lives. What we need is a bunch of characters like us, but with different identities. We then go off and write our ten, twenty thousand words, or whatever, about us. We have all got erotic stories to tell. Nothing could be easier to relate to, and to write.’
There was a general murmur of agreement.
‘There’s another great attraction to your idea, Ros.’ Tom was thinking it through, liking it more and more. ‘The sort of erotic novel they would have written in those days, would be much less hard-core than today’s version. I don’t know about you, but I think I will find that a lot easier to write.’
‘What do you think, darling?’ Tiffany put the question to her husband.
‘We’ve had a lot of fun so far, Tiff. Writing about it might mean even more fun ahead.’
The others all agreed enthusiastically.
Tom led them back into the conference room. In the space of fifteen minutes they managed to sketch it all out. Alfonso became a newspaper baron, Tom, a former army officer trying to rebuild his life after the horrors of trench warfare. Jimmy was an American aviator, Suzy, a music hall girl. Janet was pretty much what she was in reality: a successful businesswoman. Penny was a scientist accompanied by a young doctor. Ros was a film star from the silent screen. Tiffany was married to a Russian Count, and they had three kids.
The plot revolved around the effects of the writing project on the various individuals and couples. True love blossomed for them all. The Count and Countess revitalised their marriage. The aviator and the music hall girl paired up, and the newspaper baron fell deeply in love with the businesswoman. The lonely scientist found an ideal partner in the young doctor and the former army officer managed to banish his nightmares with the love of a good woman, Ros the film star.
By lunchtime they had everything except the title of the book. They pondered this through the meal. At the end, Tom stood up.
‘My dear friends and colleagues. If we have achieved nothing more over this weekend, we can consider ourselves privileged to have made friends with so many other interesting people.’
There were shouts of ‘hear, hear’. Tiffany blasted out a few more of her shrill whistles.
‘We leave here this afternoon with a clear idea of what we need to do, and the will to do it. The title will come clear as the book progresses, I am sure. Love has blossomed here.’ He looked around the room. Jimmy and Suzy were holding hands, as were Penny and Scott. Luca had his arm around Tiffany. Janet and Melissa were smiling. His eyes came to rest on Ros and his heart leapt. ‘All we have to do now is to write about it. Thank you for making this a memorable weekend. Let us hope our project turns out to be a great success. Thank you all for your enthusiasm.’
He sat down to a wave of applause.
Chapter Forty-Nine
They drove home via the hospital. Alfonso was still very tired but Mr Khan’s prognosis was looking good. Janet was sat at his bedside, so they didn’t stay long. Just long enough for Ros to give him a kiss, and for him to thank Tom for all he had done.
As they were about to leave, a wave from Alfonso stopped them. The Italian glanced at Janet, then across to Ros and Tom.
‘I thought you should be the first to know. Janet and I are getting married. You can expect an invitation.’
‘Fonsie, what wonderful, wonderful news. I thought it would never happen for you.’ Ros rushed back to his bedside and hugged them both. ‘Janet, I’m so very happy for both of you.’
Janet looked so happy she would burst. She took Tom’s hand and pulled him towards her. ‘And it’s all because of you, Tom. You and your book.’
‘Our book, Janet, remember, it’s our book.’ He turned to Ros. ‘What was it we were saying about the power of the written word?’
They left the happy couple and returned to the car.
The drive home only took two hours. In spite of her good intentions, Ros fell asleep somewhere around Bridport and only awoke when they had passed Exeter.
She yawned and stretched. ‘I was dreaming about a handsome army officer. I hope I can remember it. It was quite naughty enough to make it into the book.’
‘It’s going to be a very different book from the one I first envisaged.’
‘And a better book as a result.’
‘Let’s hope the publishers agree.’
He dropped her off at home as the sun was setting. She was going straight off to pick up Sophie the spaniel. He was on his way to collect Noah.
‘Let me cook you dinner. Bring Noah round when you are ready.’
Noah was boisterously pleased to see his master and to get home to his dinner bowl. Tom had been told that Noah had already eaten, but he fed him some food anyway.
He went upstairs and showered and changed. As he was in the shower, his mind went back over the events of the last two days, the last two months and the last two years. He had serious doubts as to their chances of success with the book. Getting published these days was no mean feat. But, even if that project came to naught, he knew that it had had its effect already. It was no exaggeration to say that it had changed lives, his own included. He could be well pleased.
As he dressed, he reflected upon his own circumstances and how radically they had changed in such a short time. He had not been to a counselling session for a couple of weeks now and he felt fine. In fact, he thought to himself, he felt more than fine. His life, which had seemed so bleak, had brightened once more. As he came back into the kitchen he dug out a piece of scrap paper. On it he scribbled: Cancel Cynthia. Contact Head of Department. He laid it on top of the computer. It was time to pick up his life again.
He dug out a bottle of wine, and put on his coat. Noah ran off to collect his lead. It was dark outside now but there were stars in the sky. Once he had released the dog in the field, he stopped and looked up. It was a stunning sight. As ever, the sense of insignificance, compared to the vastness of the cosmos, moved him deeply. Tonight, more than ever. Tonight he was turning a page, changing to a different chapter. Diane had left. Ros had arrived. Life went on, as it always had. His eyes ranged across the night sky, as he did his best to bring his emotions under control. It took him some time.
Noah was already sitting at Ros’s door by the time he got there. She opened the door as soon as he rang the bell. As he stepped into the light of the porch, she saw that he had been crying.
‘Is everything all right?’
He looked into her eyes and smiled. ‘Everything’s fine now, Ros, just fine.’ And it was.
He walked though into the kitchen. He hung his coat on the back of the door and put the bottle on the table. The two dogs flopped down onto the floor in front of the stove.
He turned to Ros. She was standing just inside the door, a nervous smile on her face. He thought she looked gorgeous. ‘You’re gorgeous.’
She held out her arms towards him. He took two steps forward and caught her face in his hands. She hugged him to her and they kissed.
Some time later, he managed to find his voice. ‘Have you got a bedroom up there? With a bed?’
She nodded.
‘Would you like to come to bed with me? Please?’
‘I thought you’d never ask.’
CARINA™
ISBN: 978 1 472 01818 2
Dirty Minds
Copyright © T. A. Williams 2013
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1SR.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.
This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l.
CARINA™ is a trademark of Harlequin Enterprises Limited, used under licence.
www.CarinaUK.com
T A Williams, Dirty Minds
