CLEANER: Chapter Four - Part Five

DAHLIA

Thursday lunchtime I met my agent, Tommy, and a lady who had driven up from London to talk about setting up a photo shoot to accompany an article about my return to modelling.

We met in the Ram’s Fall, a truly ancient pub overlooking the river in Bycastle that had been bought and renovated by a big brewery who had managed to eliminate almost every element that gave it charm. They had brought in a fabulous cook though so the bland modern decor didn’t detract too much.

Tommy and the lady had already got the best table, down on the raised decking platform that overlapped the river’s edge. It had a fantastic view of the wide sweep of the water as well as of the castle itself. They were chatting amiably with an open bottle of wine that looked shallow enough for them to be on the second glasses. Tommy laughed loudly but I stood back, watching for a while longer. I had a fluttering compulsion to turn round and walk out again but I approached the table instead, smiling broadly.

The woman, whose name was Leah, was extremely friendly and well-practised at putting people at ease. She shook my hand and I took a seat, Tommy poured me some wine and off we went.

We ordered food and talked about the modelling in general terms and Leah’s magazine in particular. Tommy told some funny stories about clients he had represented. They tended to involve the client making an ass of themselves and Tommy covering it up. By the time we finished the appetiser we were laughing hysterically.

The menus came round again for the main course and we paused to examine them. I looked at the light options, wondering what to have then slid my eyes over to the steaks & grills section. The tip of my tongue slipped into the crack between my lips and I glanced at Tommy, then at Leah.

Would they say something if I had something big? What if I had an ice-cream sundae for dessert. I could murder one of those, I really could.

Tommy looked at me over the top of his menu. I could only see his eyes but I could tell that he was smiling warmly. Then he shot me a wink. I gave Leah a quick look then back to Tommy. He was still smiling with his eyes. I smiled back.

The waiter came and I ordered a salad, feeling oddly guilty that I hadn’t had what I really wanted, even though it was better for me.

While we were waiting for the food to come, the conversation moved onto the actual plans of work. Tommy had managed to set up a shoot at Summertop – that was the main purpose for Leah travelling all the way to Nockton – to scope it out. We talked about the expectations for that, including the likely topics that would come up in conversation. Leah reassured me that they didn’t have any kind of angle to make me look bad. Beautiful model makes a comeback was the story.

I smiled and thanked her and jumped through each conversational hoop as it was presented, just like a prize winner at Crufts. I wondered if I’d get a treat from Tommy later for being such a good little doggy. Though that wasn’t going to happen. I wouldn’t let it. Tommy was gorgeous and I'd known him for years but sleeping with him would ruin everything. We’d managed to keep from jumping each other so far, despite more than a few near misses over the years. We could keep it up now.

When the main course got delivered we settled back onto more general subjects for a while but my mind kept wandering. A waitress was resetting the table next to ours, clearing the pots off and wiping it down. I watched the smooth practised movements, the rhythm of the sweeps of her hand. She was humming; probably didn’t even know she was doing it. I listened, smiling to myself, pretending I was part of the conversation with Leah and Tommy.

I thought about Melissa.

When the waitress returned to clear our dinner things away she asked us if we would like to see the desert menu.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Leah.

“Not for me,” said Tommy.

The waitress looked at me but before I could say anything, Tommy added, “There’s no point asking her. She has a will of iron when it comes to her diet. There’s no way you’ll seduce her into eating anything like that.”

He laughed and so did Leah but I watched the waitress walk away with a tangle of different feelings.