by Rosie Harris
He knew that both Lucy and Sam had been bitterly hurt and angry; Lucy because he had jilted her and Sam because he’d lost Patsy.
Looking back, Robert could see how selfish he’d been. Still, he told himself, there was no point in dwelling on that now. In his estimation, simply because of what happened then was certainly no excuse for Lucy to accept a date with Percy.
If she thought going on a date with Percy would make any difference as to whether or not Sam was given a job at Carter’s Cars, he could have told her that she was wasting her time. Percy had no real say in matters of that sort; those decisions were made by old man Carter himself and he brooked no interference from anybody.
* * *
Lucy cleared away the breakfast dishes and washed up after Robert went to work but she left the five-pound note lying on the table where he had put it. Each time she walked through the room it seemed to draw her eyes towards it and stir up the argument that was trying to battle itself out in her mind.
She had to admit that she was tempted. She knew exactly the sort of dress she would like to have. It would skim her knees, have a dropped waist and the skirt would be box-pleated. As she danced the pleats would flare out prettily as she twirled around. She wasn’t sure about the colour but she thought perhaps a dramatic red or else a pretty pastel colour, so that she could enjoy wearing the dress to go out in all through the summer.
When she’d finished dressing Anna and done all the housework the money was still lying there, tempting her to go on a spending spree. As she strapped Anna into her pushchair ready to go shopping she picked it up and slipped it into her purse. It would be safe there, she told herself. Perhaps she’d use it to buy something special for their meal tonight.
It was a crisp, sunny morning and as she set out for the shops she decided that for a change she would go as far as St John’s Market. It was quite a long walk but because it was such a nice day they would enjoy it and she might pick up a bargain.
She hadn’t meant to walk through the town centre and look in all the shop windows again but when she did so she couldn’t help thinking of the money tucked away in her purse. Before she knew what was happening she was inside Frisby Dyke’s and was making her way to the ladies’ dress department.
She had already seen the sort of dress she wanted in their window but it wasn’t in a colour she liked. Inside the store there was a whole rail of similar styles.
As she looked through them one in a gorgeous shade of turquoise seemed to jump out at her. She studied the label: it was her size and it would fit her perfectly.
‘Would madam like to try it on?’ a posh young voice asked.
Lucy backed away from the slim, elegant young woman who stood at her side. ‘Thank you, I was only looking.’
‘It’s a colour that would suit you,’ the well-modulated voice told her. ‘Do try it on. I am sure you will look perfectly lovely in it,’ the girl added persuasively.
‘I … I’ll think about it; I want to have a look around and see what else there is first,’ Lucy told her.
Quickly she moved away, accidentally bumping the pushchair into the nearby counter which made her feel all the more gauche and uncomfortable.
Determined not to be rushed into buying, she walked around the entire dress department. There was nothing at all that seemed more suitable and, instinctively, she made her way back to where the turquoise dress was hanging. She needed to see the price tag before she committed herself.
The moment her fingers touched the soft, silky fabric she knew she must have it; the price was four pounds, nineteen shillings and eleven pence. She could afford it but it would mean she had spent the entire five pounds; she had never paid that much for a dress in her life.
She stood there trying to convince herself that it was the right thing to do because it was to help Sam.
‘Perhaps madam would like to try it on now?’ the salesgirl suggested hopefully.
‘No, I haven’t time to do that,’ Lucy said hesitantly. ‘It is my correct size, so I am quite sure that it will fit me perfectly,’ she added quickly, the colour rushing to her face.
She would have liked to try the dress on very much and to study her reflection in one of the full-length triple mirrors in the well-appointed changing room. It was impossible to do so, though, because it would be far too embarrassing to let this immaculate-looking young assistant see her shabby underwear.
‘My little girl is tired and she might prove rather fractious,’ she said lamely.
The salesgirl smiled superciliously. ‘Very well, madam, I quite understand. ‘If you’ll accompany me over to the counter I’ll pack it up for you.’
As she handed the five-pound note over Lucy wondered what Robert would think of it. It seemed to be such a lot of money to spend on one dress, even such a lovely one. Nevertheless, as the girl folded it meticulously in white tissue paper before carefully putting it into a carrier bag with the shop’s name printed on it, she couldn’t wait to get home and try it on so that she could see what she looked like in it.
On the way home Lucy kept thinking about her new dress and hoping Robert wouldn’t feel that she had been extravagant in spending so much money on it. She also hoped he would be in a better mood when he came home from work because he’d certainly seemed to be so very put out about her going out with Percy that, for a moment, she’d wondered if he was jealous.
Anna was asleep when they arrived home so Lucy left her in the pushchair while she unpacked her new dress. As she took it out of the smart carrier bag and removed the layers of tissue paper, she drew in her breath in delight. It looked even better than it had when it was hanging in the shop.
Quickly, right there in the living room, she took off her blouse, stepped out of her skirt and slipped the new dress over her head. It fitted perfectly.
Excitedly she dashed upstairs to her bedroom to see if she could get a full-length view in the mirror in her room. As she twirled, the pleats at the bottom of the skirt swirled out attractively exactly as she had thought they would.
She couldn’t help thinking how wonderful it would have been if she was going to wear it for a night out with Robert.
A plaintive cry from downstairs signalling that Anna was awake brought her back to reality. Why was she indulging in such foolish fantasies? she asked herself. Robert had moved on and they’d lost their chance of having a future together long ago. Taking the dress off she laid it carefully on her bed before going back downstairs and putting on her everyday skirt and blouse again.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lucy was ready well before seven o’clock but she stayed in her bedroom until the very last minute. She hoped that she wouldn’t bump into Robert as she was going out because she was afraid that he would say something critical about her going out with Percy and that would spoil the occasion for her.
At five minutes to seven, though, she decided that perhaps she had better go downstairs because if there was a knock on the front door Robert might go and answer it and she didn’t want that to happen. If she waited on the stairs then she could make sure she was the first to reach the front door.
Although she went down as quietly as she possibly could Robert heard her and came out into the hallway. For a moment they simply stared at each other in silence.
‘Ready, are you?’ he said at length. ‘Well, have a good time. Your new dress, or what I can see of it under your coat, looks nice,’ he added rather awkwardly.
‘Thank you.’
She felt embarrassed by their encounter and wondered if he expected her to take off her coat so that he could see her dress properly. To her relief, at that moment there was a knock on the door signalling Percy’s arrival.
‘Come on, then, you’d better not keep him waiting,’ Robert commented as he opened the door. ‘He’s taking you in one of Carter’s smartest cars, I see.’
It wasn’t very far to the Paradise Club which was near Lime Street Station. Lucy felt nervous because she’d never been there before. As
they drew up outside they were greeted so effusively by the doorman who dashed forward to open the car door for her that she realised Percy must be quite well-known there.
After they’d handed in their coats she noticed that Percy looked extremely smart. Like many of the men there he was wearing evening dress but because he was so overweight there was an air of pompousness about him that was out of keeping with a man so young. Lucy couldn’t help thinking how extremely handsome Robert would look if he was dressed like that.
Percy straightened his bow tie before he escorted her into the dining room. As they were shown to their table she was again aware that he was given a very cordial greeting not only by the waiters but also by some of the other diners.
Lucy felt butterflies inside her as she sat down and saw the vast array of glasses and silver cutlery on the table in front of her. When she was handed the enormous glossy menu card she had no idea at all about what to order. Uneasily she scanned the long list of dishes, desperately trying to work out what some of them were, but the names were all in French.
Percy saved her from embarrassment by selecting what they would have and merely asking her if she liked prawns and lamb. She smiled and nodded and then tried to locate the dishes on the menu but found it impossible to do so.
Percy also chose the wine and Lucy breathed a silent sigh of relief when their waiter came and collected up the menu cards and took them away.
While they waited for their first course Lucy felt overawed by the magnificence of the room with its glittering chandeliers, highly polished dark woodwork and the floor-length dark red velvet curtains. The round tables with their gleaming white napery and sparkling glass and silver were of varying sizes. There were three very large tables seating six or more people.
Percy put her at ease by chattering away about trivial everyday matters until their food arrived. She was anxious to ask him what had been decided about Sam but felt that she would have to wait for him to bring the subject up.
She found that the dishes he had ordered were delicious and so was the wine. Normally she never drank wine, except the occasional small glass of sweet sherry or a port and lemonade at Christmas time or on her birthday. She was too afraid to do more than take tiny sips in case she started talking silly. Percy, she noticed, let the waiter fill up his glass over and over again.
At the end of their meal Percy suggested they should have their coffee and a liqueur at one of the little tables in the ballroom where a live band called The Five Aces was playing and then, when they were ready to do so, they could dance.
Lucy found the rest of the evening was rather stressful. When she’d been younger she’d always enjoyed dancing but it had always been with Robert as her partner and their steps had always seemed to match perfectly.
Dancing with Percy was quite another matter. His hands were hot and clammy and he held her far too tightly; his movements were clumsy and half the time he was out of step with the music. He trod on her toes so often that they felt bruised and sore. Added to which his breath was unpleasant and he insisted on dancing with his face pressed up against hers.
Lucy found it quite exhausting and knew she had made a mistake in accepting his invitation even though she’d done it for Sam’s benefit. After two dances she rather timidly suggested they sat the next one out. To her relief, Percy agreed and after they had returned to one of the tables at the edge of the dance floor he called a waiter over.
‘I would much sooner have a glass of lemonade,’ Lucy told him when he asked for two cognacs.
‘Nonsense. You need a few drinks down you to help you relax before we take to the floor again,’ Percy told her with a laugh as the waiter hovered ready to take their order.
When she insisted that she didn’t want any more strong drink because she was already feeling woozy the waiter gave an imperceptible lift of his eyebrows and suggested, ‘Perhaps an orange cooler?’
‘A good idea,’ Percy agreed. ‘Make it a special one,’ he emphasised with a broad smile.
Lucy found her drink extremely refreshing. She didn’t know what else had been added apart from the cubes of ice that clinked enticingly, but she had certainly never had orange juice that tasted anything like this one did, she thought, as she took another long drink.
She would have been content to sit listening to The Five Aces and enjoying her drink for the rest of the evening but Percy was soon restless. After about ten minutes he ordered another cognac and the moment it arrived he drained his glass and stood up saying he was ready to go back on to the dance floor.
‘I haven’t finished my drink yet,’ Lucy demurred, ignoring the hand he was holding out to pull her up from her chair.
‘Never mind, leave it there on the table and we’ll come back again later and you can finish it then, or have a fresh one,’ Percy told her impatiently.
Once again she found herself being pressed firmly against his bulky body and held far too tightly but she didn’t know how to make this known to him. When he began nibbling at her ear as they circled the room she felt that was going too far and pulled away from him quite sharply and shook her head firmly.
Far from it making him stop, he began nuzzling her neck with hot kisses and she felt his hands wandering up and down her back in such an intimate way that she wanted to scream.
Lucy felt that it was almost like being caught up in a bad dream from which there was no escape. She felt tired and exhausted and her feet were sore and Percy’s behaviour was becoming more and more obnoxious.
He insisted on dancing until the very end of the evening. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief when the band finally played ‘God Save the King’ and brought the evening to a close.
As he helped her into her coat, Lucy tried to ignore what was happening as she felt his hands fondling her breasts. As he turned her round and made a pretence of fastening her coat she felt him slip one of his hands inside the neck of her dress so that she had to step back to be free of his touch.
In the car on the way home she thanked him politely for a pleasant evening and then summoned up the courage to ask what was happening about Sam.
‘We don’t have to talk about that now, do we?’ Percy muttered. ‘Tell him to come to my office tomorrow around ten o’clock and I’ll discuss it with him then.’
‘So you are going to give him a job?’ Lucy breathed thankfully. ‘I’m so glad, because it means so much to him. He seemed to lose all confidence in himself for a long time after that driving accident and he was just managing to get his life together again when there was this other incident on Orangeman’s Day and, more recently, the blow to his head has ruined everything for him again …’
Percy didn’t answer; instead he took his left hand off the steering wheel and placed it on her knee and began to slide it up and down, getting higher and higher up her thigh each time. Lucy pushed his hand away and moved as far away from him as it was possible to do in the confines of the car.
He pulled up in Priory Terrace a short distance from her front door and switched off the car engine. Quickly she thanked him again for a nice evening and fumbled with the door to open it.
When he leaned across her, she thought it was to help her to open the car door but, instead, he caught her by the arm, pinioning her to the seat and preventing her from moving.
‘Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?’ he asked, breathing heavily as he tried to pull her into his arms.
She pulled back and smiled dismissively. Again she tried to open the car door. This time he grabbed her quite roughly and forced her back into her seat. His abruptness left her completely breathless and his mouth covered hers before she could say anything. When he thrust his tongue inside her mouth Lucy felt like gagging. Desperately she tried to fight him off but he was so much bigger and stronger than she was that her efforts were in vain.
He pinned her against the seat, his mouth covered hers again and at the same time he began running one of his hands up her leg. As it moved up to her thigh she managed to twist her face free
and let out a scream. She didn’t want him touching her at all and certainly not in the manner in which he was trying to do so now.
The more she struggled and protested the more it seemed to excite Percy. Lucy began to feel utterly degraded and humiliated by his behaviour.
‘So you like a fight, do you?’ he muttered in an exultant tone. ‘Well, so do I. I’ll master you so you may as well give in. I intend to have you and nothing you can do will stop me.’
Finally she managed to jab him hard in the stomach with one of her elbows and as he doubled up in agony she succeeded in pushing him away. As she forced open the car door he managed to grab hold of her again and tried to stop her. Somehow the hem of her dress got caught on the gear stick and there was a sickening tearing sound as some of the stitches gave way.
In a blind panic she scrambled out of the car and ran along the pavement, tears spilling down her cheeks, praying that he wouldn’t try to follow her. She heard the car engine start up and was aware that he had drawn level with her and had slowed down so that he was keeping pace with her as she hurried to her front door.
He kept the car moving so close to the pavement that she thought that at any minute it would mount the kerb and run her over. She heard him shout something and hoped none of the neighbours had heard. All she wanted to do was to get inside the house and bolt the front door; to be somewhere where she knew he wouldn’t be able to follow her. Then and only then would she feel she was safe.
Her hand was trembling so much that when she pushed open the letterbox to reach for the door key that they kept there on the end of a piece of string, she had difficulty in grasping it. When she did manage to withdraw it she was so blinded by tears that she could hardly see to fit it in the lock.
Once she was safely inside and the door was securely bolted she leaned against it and stood there in the dark for a minute trying to get her breath back.
Knowing what a near escape she’d just had, a feeling of relief flooded over her and before she could stop herself she was sobbing out loud.
