There were some positives to being Doug's favourite. Sure, she had to flaunt it in front of him, but she was getting a nice meal with no outlay. "Sounds splendid, Dougie. If anyone knows the places to go to in the city, it's you. You obviously have great taste. I can't wait."
"I'm not surprised. The food is to die for. The owner's a hoot too."
Marie smiled and let the silence hang. They had all afternoon. She'd have something out of him by the end of it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The journey lasted for about ten more minutes before the taxi pulled up outside the restaurant. The heat already had Marie in a death grip but when she stepped out onto the street, the sun damn near blinded her too. It sat high in the cloudless sky and shone down on her.
As Doug paid the taxi driver, Marie stretched the aches from her body, shoving her arms above and behind her head. For once, the sticking out of her breasts was unintentional, but when Doug's eyes fell on them… well, she may as well make the most of it.
The fat man actually licked his lips as he strode towards her, his focus solely on her chest. When he was by her side, he dropped a heavy arm across her shoulders. He pointed at the building in front of them. "This is it, my darling. Behold, the great Zampanó's."
The windows at the front of the restaurant were tinted so dark, it was impossible to see in. The door was black, the steps leading up to the door were black, and even the door furniture was black. The only thing that wasn't black was the blue illuminated neon sign that showed the name of the restaurant in flourishing writing—Zampanó's. It looked more like a nightclub than a restaurant.
When Marie crossed the threshold behind Doug, the air conditioning—as was often the case in Nirvana this summer—was turned so low it felt like she'd stepped into a fridge. She made sure Doug heard her when she said, "Oh."
It stopped him in his tracks. "Are you okay, darling?"
She covered her mouth and giggled to hide her disgust at what she was about to say, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting the air to be so cold. I think my nipples could cut glass right now."
There was a dry slapping sound as Doug opened and closed his mouth several times.
The silence hung for a few seconds, Marie letting it go long enough to be awkward before she looked up the dark staircase. "So this is the famous restaurant then, Dougie?"
"Yes it is," Doug said as he moved aside. "Ladies first."
"Why, thank you." When Marie stepped onto the first step, it lit up brilliant white, punching from the darkness like an uppercut and making her jump backwards. It even startled the baby but she refrained from putting a hand to her stomach.
The light had gone out, but Marie was blinded and couldn't see a thing. As she blinked and rubbed her eyes, she listened to the giggling Doug. What a dick!
When her sight returned, Doug put on a show for her, jumping up two steps and then back down again, the bright flashes filling the dark space and then disappearing almost instantly. "Amazing, aren't they? I want stairs like this in my house."
The magnesium glare had left brightly coloured flashes swimming in Marie's vision. Although she could see, she walked over to the wall and grabbed the handrail; there was no way she'd make it to the top without it.
Once she had something to cling onto, she followed Doug's illuminated path up the stairs.
***
Marie was half-blind by the time they got to the top of the stairs. How many accidents happened from people walking up them? It took a moment to adjust to the dark again, and when she did, she saw the old man waiting there. He was an elderly black man and he wore dark glasses.
As Doug strode towards him, Marie looked around. What the fuck? Most of the restaurant was hidden to darkness. Everything was black and the lights were out, save for a slight purple glow from ultra-violet bulbs. It was only possible to read the layout of the room because of the thin white lines that highlighted everything—the tables, the chairs, the bar, the doorways…
Doug's loud voice brought her away from staring at the restaurant. "Zampanó, how the devil are you, you old dog?"
The man looked in Doug's direction, although not directly at him. "Dougie, is that you?"
"This old boy's amazing," Doug said. "Gets me every time."
A huge smile of brilliant white teeth opened up on Zampanó's face. They were so well polished they glowed like the stairs. Marie couldn’t tell if the man was being sincere; it was hard to tell with his eyes hidden.
"How can I not recognise the voice of my favourite customer?"
Doug laughed again. "Oh, you charmer, you; is my table free?"
Marie smiled in spite of herself. It was easy to see why the restaurant owners loved Doug. Other than the money he clearly spent in their establishments, there was a level of charisma to the man. His enjoyment of other people was infectious, regardless of how much of an idiot he was.
Zampanó dipped his head. "Of course; can I take you to it?"
"Don't worry, old boy. I'm nervous you wouldn't find your way back if you left that desk."
The breath left Marie’s lungs. He didn’t really say that to him, did he?
Instead of taking offence, Zampanó smiled. "I'd beat you there, blind or not."
Doug laughed again and clapped the old man on the back.
A broader smile and Zampanó nodded again. "Have a wonderful meal, Dougie."
Marie followed Doug's mazy path through the tables. It was so dark in the restaurant she couldn't see her feet. As she negotiated the furniture, she winced in anticipation of whacking herself on some part of it. How did the waiters spend all day in here and not go flying?
After a few steps, she suddenly got it; the white highlights were enough to navigate by. It was as if she was moving through the restaurant using intuition rather than sight; like her other senses were guiding her. By seriously hampering his clients' vision, it was as though Zampanó was trying to show them what it was to be blind.
When they sat down, Marie continued to look around the restaurant. "What a fascinating layout."
"Stick with me, darling, and you'll be visiting places like this all the time. You can see why I love it, right?"
It was hard not to smile; the restaurant was certainly unique.
When Marie flicked the menu on, the bright glare hit her like the stairs had. It was so dazzling it had probably pinned her shadow to the wall behind her. Several blinks cleared her vision enough to see Doug was staring at her. The light from his menu threw deep shadows across his greasy face and he sighed.
"Are you okay, Doug?"
Doug nodded and sighed again. "I was just thinking about my family."
Marie waited for him to continue.
"I love my kids," he said. "Don't get me wrong, I adore them. But my wife? I can't stand the bitch."
"Oh." Why was he telling her this?
"Yeah, I know, sad isn't it?"
There are sadder things, Marie thought. Like starvation, poor education, living in squalor. And that was just on the estate. They had it good in Nirvana compared to some places on the planet.
"She's a money grabbing whore that sucks all of the joy out of my life, but what can I do? I want to see my kids every day, so I can't divorce her. Imagine the shame. Top city boss ends up with a divorce. Shares in Rixon will fall through the floor."
He actually used his hands to punctuate the headline as if it was written across the sky; he clearly had a warped view of his own importance.
Doug then tapped the menu and the glow faded. "I ordered both the wine and our meals. I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't bring you here and not give you the best they have to offer."
What was she supposed to do with wine? Pregnant meant no booze, Dougie! A quick tap of the menu lit it up and she ordered some water.
"We haven't had sex in three years!"
Marie balked and looked around—not that she could see any of the other patrons. "Oh. That's not good."
Doug didn't respond.
The silence hung h
eavy between them, so Marie glanced around again at the silhouettes of the other diners. It was amazing how the design of the room created the illusion of intimacy even when the restaurant was as packed at it was. Were it not for the low murmur of hushed conversation, they could have been alone.
The same white highlights that ran around the furniture lined the uniform of the waiting staff like icing on gingerbread men. One walked over to them and placed Marie's water, then two wine glasses and a bottle of wine down on the table. He proceeded to pour a taster in Doug's glass.
The rich tang of fermented grape hit Marie and her mouth watered. What she would give for a few glasses right now.
Doug lifted the glass and swilled the small amount of wine around as he stared at the dark liquid—although what he expected to see in this light was a mystery.
He then pouted, shoved it beneath his nose and took a deep sniff. Without even tasting it, he gave the waiter a nod and the man proceeded to fill both glasses. Before he could finish, Doug flicked his hand at him to shoo him away.
Once he'd moved off, Doug said, "Anyway, enough about me; tell me about you."
"What do you want to know?"
"Someone as beautiful as you must have a boyfriend, right?"
The words caught in her throat, so Marie dropped her head and feigned shyness. It was the easiest thing to hide behind. "Um... No."
It was possible to hear the smile in his tone. "Oh really? That's a shame. I must admit, I was surprised when I didn't see a ring on your finger."
That's what you're for, Dougie.
When the waiter returned and placed the starters down on the table, Marie relaxed. Food seemed like the best way to distract Doug; the conversation wasn't going where she wanted it to. It was bad enough that she behaved like a slut in front of him, but to lie about Frankie too…
The plate was hard to see, but the cutlery had the same white glow as the highlights surrounding them. After prodding her fork around on her plate, Marie found something that had the consistency of meat. It took a lot of trust to eat in here; what if they were feeding her testicles or some other strange delicacy? Despite the urge to light up her meal with the menu, she jabbed her fork into it and lifted it to her open mouth.
The rich taste of garlic hit her first. When she bit down, the strong flavour of prawn tingled on her taste buds. It was actually pretty good. "So how do you manage to make the prison a viable business? The shareholders must be super pleased with you."
Doug looked up and spoke with his mouth full. "Wonderful king prawns, don't you think?"
Instead of using her fork, Marie lifted the next one in a pinch between her thumb and forefinger; time to raise it to the next level. She leaned forwards, to be sure he could see her, and licked the end of it. "I like to taste the end first."
Doug's mouth fell open mid-chew.
Marie then sucked the prawn in and leant back into the darkness. The chewing wasn't so alluring, even to someone like Doug. "I want you to teach me, Doug. How do you run a viable business? How do you balance the books?"
Doug shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "You just need to know which corners to cut."
As he dived on the next prawn, Marie cleared her throat; her pulse racing, this was what she was waiting for. "And what corners are they?"
When Doug paused and stared at her, Marie's heart jumped. Had she pushed him too far?
"Do you know, they catch these prawns fresh every day."
Was it sensible to keep going? If she didn't, when would she get another chance? "How do you manage to make all the wards look identical?"
"Huh?" Doug said.
"In the prison; I found it so hard to tell the difference when we went on the tour."
Doug's silence was more complete than before. This was definitely what she came here for; she was getting somewhere with him.
When Doug still hadn't replied, she said, "Seriously, Doug, how do you tell the difference?"
The chink of Doug's cutlery hit the plate and he pointed a finger at her. Before he could speak, the restaurant lit up and she saw Doug was frowning hard in her direction. She'd crossed the line.
A hot flush burned Marie's cheeks and she turned away from Doug to stare at the leering orange face of Hank Manifesto on the massive monitor. The bright glow was a rude intrusion that stung her eyes but saved the reprimanding from Doug.
The maniacal Hank grinned like a demon. "I'm so excited to bring this to you. We have helmet-cam footage of a raid on the South Quarter of the estate today. I have to warn you though; this isn't for the faint of heart."
Marie looked away from the report to see Doug shove another garlic prawn into his fat mouth. He worked the meat like he was chewing rocks and took in the news report. He was pissed; she'd asked too many questions.
The footage on the screen was good quality; the high-definition camera showed the estate in all its wretched detail.
The close proximity of the tower blocks created tight walkways that the officers ran down. Rubbish littered the floors. The label 'Estate Rat' was, without a doubt, appropriate for the environment in which they lived.
Suddenly, there were loud voices, several bangs, and the splintering of wood as a door was kicked in. The helmet-cam followed several officers into a flat to find a group of about six men huddled around a table.
It was only the briefest scan of the flat, but it was enough to see how horrible it was. The wallpaper was coming off the walls, there was no furniture—other than the table in the room—and there was a child screaming in a cot in the corner. Marie’s heart sank. Was this her future existence?
Batons appeared and the sounds of heavy thuds followed. Screams answered the attacks and bodies fell as the room filled with police. For every man, there must have been five officers—a familiar ratio adopted by Nirvana's finest. The men from the estate were easily overpowered.
As the victims were dragged from the flat, the officer with the head-cam waited behind. Once the room was clear, the camera focused on the baby. It lay on its back and chewed its own hand. For a second, the cameraman paused as if he was considering lifting the infant up and then walked away, leaving it all alone.
Marie's heart thumped in her chest as she watched. Again, the baby moved in her womb, obviously reacting to her stress. Were they really going to leave that child on its own? Was life that disposable on the estate?
The next image was Hank Manifesto. "Phew! What an ordeal. I don’t know about you guys, but I'm glad I saw that. I'm sure happy I don't live there. For Nirvana TV, this is Hank Manifesto." He pointed his fingers like a gun and clicked from the side of his mouth. "Stay lucky, viewers."
The screen blinked off, making the dark restaurant even darker.
Doug's voice filled the void. "That was a serious bust. Wow! Those rats really got what was coming to them."
Yeah, that baby was a nasty little fucker, eh? Marie kept the thought to herself. Had Doug forgotten the questions already, or was he simply pretending they’d never been asked?
***
"Thank you, Zampanó," Doug said as they left the restaurant.
The old man dipped his head and saluted. "Anytime, Dougie."
To save herself taking a tumble, Marie let Doug go first. He could trigger the disco stairs.
As they descended, Marie looked down and counted. Twenty-five stairs? There were only thirteen on the way up. What the hell?
When they got outside, the thick heat ran nausea straight to Marie's gut. A deep breath did little to encourage digestion in her full stomach as she watched Doug pace up and down the pavement.
While his back was turned, she tugged on her top again so her cleavage was on full view. Did her gut look as big as it felt? Even with the corset on, the swell of pregnancy felt painfully visible. It was certainly pushing against her tight bonds.
The sharp whistle hurt Marie's ears as Doug hailed a cab. When it pulled up, he turned to her and said, "I need to go somewhere, so take this cab back to work, yeah?"
When he didn't look at her chest, she pushed her breasts forward. "I was, uh, hoping to get a ride back with you."
A cock of his eyebrow and a smug grin and Doug shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint, sweetheart. We'll get another chance to go out soon though, don't worry."
Without another word, Doug turned his back on her and hailed a second cab.
Once she was sitting in the back of the taxi, Marie sighed and pulled her top up. She'd been chewed up and spat out; picked up and dropped like a cheap whore. Did she deserve any better treatment? She watched Doug's taxi head off in the opposite direction. Did she do something wrong? He didn't even look at her like he normally did. Had she pushed too hard? Was it her playing Doug or the other way round?
Chapter Twenty-Three
What was she doing meeting a woman she didn't know in a place she'd never been to? The woman had given her a name— well, her initials—and that was a big deal in the control room. She was putting herself on the line, so surely, she could be trusted. Marie knew what she wanted from this relationship, but didn’t know what GG was after.
Marie walked slowly down the busy street, large dark glasses covering her face. It may have been getting closer to evening, but it was still damn hot and she was still full from her lunch with Doug. The knot of anxiety she'd left the restaurant with didn't help the feeling in her stomach either.
The farther she travelled down Station Road, the fewer shop fronts there were. Where was the cafe that GG had referred to in the note? Did it even exist? At what point would she turn around and walk back? There was no way she was going into the areas reserved only for the people from the estate. They'd take one look at her and know she wasn't one of them. And what would she say to the police if they stopped her?
Marie looked across the road to the side used by the people from the estate. Was the cafe over there? Surely, GG wouldn't expect her to cross to the other side.
When shouting erupted in front of her, Marie stopped in her tracks.
New Reality 2: Justice Page 10
