Megan of Merseyside

by Rosie Harris

  Lynn handed over their coats then led the way up some stairs and through a pair of huge double doors. These opened into a large high-ceilinged room that was packed with people. They were greeted by a blast of noise and cigarette smoke.

  Megan stared round. She’d never been in such a large room in her life before. There seemed to be no windows but a warm light came from three massive chandeliers. The centre one looked like a huge ball and seemed to be a mixture of coloured lights that cast a rainbow of colour over the room. The polished parquet floor shone like glass and the dark red walls were lavishly decorated with painted gilt swags.

  At the far end of the long room was a raised stage and on this, seated on gilt chairs, the band was getting ready to play.

  ‘Like it?’

  Lynn’s voice was tense, but her eyes were shining with excitement,

  ‘I don’t know,’ Megan said hesitantly. ‘I’ve never been anywhere quite like this before.’

  ‘Sensational, isn’t it!’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Megan frowned.

  ‘Brilliant, you know!’ Lynn laughed. ‘It makes you feel all of a doodah!’

  ‘If that’s supposed to mean that it’s rather noisy, then I agree with you,’ Megan told her as the band suddenly let forth at full strength.

  ‘Jazz has to be loud!’ Lynn laughed as her body began to sway in time to the beat. ‘Come on, let’s move onto the floor and dance.’

  The next moment, Lynn had vanished into the crowd already circling the dance floor and Megan found herself desperately trying to see where she’d gone.

  Megan felt uneasy. There was no doubt she would remember this outing, she thought wryly. It was certainly a momentous way of celebrating her first pay!

  She waited a few minutes, expecting Lynn to come back. When she didn’t, Megan decided she’d better try to find her. It would be so easy to lose sight of her altogether in this large throng, she thought worriedly.

  Megan pushed her way through the wildly gyrating dancers on the crowded floor, frantically searching for Lynn. The lights were now dimmed and there were so many people, and such a fug of cigarette smoke, that she couldn’t even see across the room.

  The noise coming from the stage where the jazz band was playing was absolutely deafening.

  There seemed to be hundreds of people in the room. Most of the men wore lounge suits with slicked-down hair and shiny shoes. Women, mainly young girls, were in short slinky dresses, some so short that they were above the knee, while others wore skirts with elaborate handkerchief or scalloped hemlines.

  Megan concentrated anxiously, hoping to be able to spot Lynn. Since her sister was only wearing an ordinary cotton dress, she would stand out from the others in their fashionable floaty fabrics.

  She felt fear gripping her like a cold hand when there was still no sign of her. She dreaded to think what her father’s reaction would be if she returned home without Lynn, or worse still if she came to some harm.

  When he learned that they had gone to a jazz club instead of going to the pictures as she’d promised they would, he’d be terribly angry. He’d condemn the place as a ‘den of iniquity’ and say that she should have known better than to have ever put a foot inside such a place.

  She took a deep breath, trying not to panic, but she felt suffocated in the hot, perfumed atmosphere. The entire place seemed to be under the spell of the saxophonist as he blasted out wild compelling sounds that stirred the blood.

  In her eyes, the gyrating dancers were like zombies as they responded to the wild beat, and Megan wondered if they were intoxicated by drink, or even drugs.

  She gave a shriek of protest as a man grabbed her around the waist and whirled her round. She struggled to free herself but found him clutching her even more tightly as he swayed in time to the music.

  The noise was so deafening that Megan found she was unable to make him hear what she was saying when she asked him to let her go. Instead, she found herself being twirled and twisted out of his arms into those of another man.

  As the blare of music seemed to increase she lost all track of time and she felt so terribly frightened because she still couldn’t see Lynn anywhere.

  On the verge of hysteria, her eyes smarting from the smoke, Megan pushed away the man who was now holding her in a tight clinch and elbowed her way through the melee of dancers back to the cloakroom.

  If Lynn’s coat was still hanging there, she told herself, then at least she would know that Lynn hadn’t left the club. If she was still among the dancers then she’d be able to find her if she took her time and looked carefully enough.

  ‘Yeah, everyone’s coat’s still here, luv,’ the red-headed girl told her. ‘No one would leave yet,’ she laughed, ‘things are just hottin’ up. Who yer looking for?’

  ‘My sister,’ Megan said worriedly. ‘We came together, but now I can’t find her.’

  ‘What’s her name, then?’

  ‘Lynn … Lynn Williams, but I don’t think you’d know her. We haven’t been living in Liverpool very long.’

  ‘Yer mean the Welsh kid. Course I know her, luv. She’s a right little jazz fiend and no maybe. She comes in here nearly every lunchtime with a gang of other kids from school.’

  Megan shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. This is the very first time we’ve ever been here.’

  ‘Look, luv, don’t you worry about her.’ The girl laughed, ignoring her protestations. ‘She’ll be in there with a crowd of her school cronies. They come most days, regular as clockwork. I know them all by name! You’ve not been here yourself before, though, have you?’

  ‘No, it’s my first visit.’

  ‘So you’re not still at school like your sister, then?’

  Megan shook her head. ‘I’m at work.’

  ‘It’s easy to tell you’re not a jazz fan.’ The girl laughed. She shrugged. ‘I know it’s not everyone’s sort of music, but I love it. I could listen to King Oliver and his band for ever. The music simply pours out of them,’ she murmured dreamily.

  By the time Megan managed to track Lynn down she was feeling utterly dazed by the continuous noise. Her throat and chest felt sore from the pungent cigarette smoke and her head was thumping in time to the frenzied beat of the music.

  She’d never seen any dancing like it in her life before. Some of the men were lithely gyrating and their women partners were sinking sensuously to their knees and then rising again, flexing their entire bodies as they did so.

  Nor had she even heard of some of the dances when they were announced, because they had names like The Shimmy and the Grizzly Bear. She’d heard of the Charleston and Boogie-Woogie, but she’d never seen them danced before and the steps seemed to be so intricate that she knew they were completely beyond her.

  When she finally spotted Lynn she was with a crowd of girls all about her own age. They were all dancing and twirling as if demented. As she made her way over to them several young men grabbed her and tried to partner her, but she pushed them all away, intent on reaching Lynn and telling her it was time for them to leave.

  Lynn shook her head. ‘We’ve only just got here,’ she protested. ‘Come and join in, you’ll soon get the hang of things.’

  ‘It’s been a really thrilling outing, Megan,’ Lynn enthused when they eventually left. ‘Thanks for taking me.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me you’d been there before,’ Megan said accusingly as they walked home. ‘I was told that you often go there with a crowd of your school friends,’ Megan persisted when Lynn didn’t answer. ‘Even the red-headed girl who took our coats seemed to know who you were.’

  Lynn shrugged. ‘I’ve been along once or twice. So what, everyone goes there,’ she added defensively. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t seen the girls from the shops and offices queuing up every midday since you’re working quite close by.’

  ‘I don’t have time to walk round the streets during my lunch hour,’ Megan told her. ‘I eat my sandwiches and then get on with my work.’

&nbs
p; She felt herself colouring and wondered what Lynn would say if she knew that the real reason she stayed at her desk all through the lunch hour was in case the young man with blue eyes came into the office. She’d only seen him once since she’d started working there and that had been a fleeting glimpse of him leaving the building.

  ‘Proper Miss Goody-Goody, aren’t you? I sometimes wonder if you ever have any fun at all except going to night school,’ Lynn snapped.

  Megan refused to commit herself. The night’s adventure was still too raw. Now that they were safely away from the Stork Club she didn’t mind admitting to herself that she had been really frightened.

  Even when they reached home the cacophony of trombones, cornets and trumpets all vying with each other still rang in her head. The thought of Lynn going to a club of that sort on her own worried Megan. She knew her dad would be furious and she wondered what she ought to do about it.

  She hated telling tales but she didn’t want Lynn ending up in any trouble. She knew she was dance mad; she even put records on their wind-up gramophone and danced round the room at home when their dad wasn’t there. Sometimes their mam would dance with her and she’d shown them both a lot of dance steps that she’d known when she was a girl. Lynn had mastered them with no trouble at all. Megan preferred to simply listen to the tunes because she always felt as if she had two left feet.

  Chapter Five

  BY THE END of the second week at Walker’s, Megan found she had caught up with the backlog of paper that had mounted up on her desk. Now that she understood what was expected of her, and why it was necessary to process the various documents in a certain way, she was beginning to find the work interesting.

  Another reason for her state of euphoria was that the young man she had almost given up hope of ever meeting again had breezed into the office one morning like a breath of fresh air.

  She wasn’t the only one to appreciate his arrival. Everyone else seemed to suddenly come alive as they chorused, ‘Good morning, Mr Miles!’

  Olive Jervis’s supercilious manner vanished as she greeted him warmly and Mavis Parker, eager to exchange a few words with him, even stopped frantically pounding her typewriter for a few minutes.

  Valerie Pearce was in the general office at the time and Megan noticed how she looked astonished when Miles congratulated her on getting the job. Megan found herself blushing because she was so pleased that he had remembered their meeting.

  ‘Did you realise that was Mr Walker’s son who came and spoke to you, Megan?’ Miss Pearce questioned officiously after Miles had gone.

  ‘No … I had no idea!’

  ‘So how do you know him?’ Miss Pearce frowned.

  ‘I met him at the door the day I came for my interview. He told me that he worked here and showed me where to find your office.’

  ‘I’m surprised you didn’t realise who he was when you heard his name was Walker,’ persisted Valerie Pearce, seeing the bewildered look on Megan’s face.

  ‘I didn’t know that was his name,’ Megan told her. ‘Everyone refers to him as Mr Miles so I thought that was his surname.’

  ‘He’s called “Mr Miles” to avoid confusion with his father. It would be very difficult if we had two Mr Walkers in the office,’ Miss Pearce explained. ‘At the moment Mr Miles is still learning the business. He’s gaining experience by finding out what goes on down at the docks. Some day, he will take over here, a point you shouldn’t forget.’

  In spite of Valerie Pearce’s obvious disapproval, Megan was intrigued by Miles. She eagerly looked forward to his next visit to the office and the opportunity to exchange a few words with him again.

  When she did she asked him why he hadn’t told her that his name was Walker and that he was the boss’s son. He laughed.

  ‘It doesn’t make any difference, does it? I only work here, the same as you do. The only thing is, you have a much cushier job than mine,’ he teased. ‘You aren’t trudging around the docks in all kinds of weather.’

  But it did matter. Miss Pearce made it quite clear that she didn’t approve of him stopping to chat to Megan whenever he came into the office. Since Miss Pearce was so rarely in the general office, either Mavis or Olive must have reported the fact to her.

  ‘Simply ignore them,’ advised Miles when Megan told him.

  ‘I daren’t! I might get the sack and I don’t want that to happen.’

  ‘In that case, if I can’t talk to you in the office then we’ll have to meet after you finish work.’ He grinned.

  For a moment, Megan couldn’t believe she had heard aright. Ever since she had first met Miles, even before she knew he was the boss’s son, she had fantasised about how wonderful it would be to go out with him.

  The new clothes she had bought, the lipstick and eye make-up, had all been chosen with him in mind. She spent hours in front of a mirror experimenting with them. She even listened when Lynn insisted she really needed to do something about her hair.

  ‘That straight style makes you look as if you are still at school,’ Lynn told her. ‘Stop pushing it back behind your ears. Try bringing it forward onto your cheeks at least!’

  ‘It won’t stay like that.’

  ‘It will if you do it properly.’

  ‘It’s all very well for you,’ grumbled Megan. ‘Your hair is different. You can do anything you like with it.’

  ‘Well, try fastening it into place with two or three hair grips before you go to bed,’ Lynn suggested.

  ‘I’ve tried doing that, but they’ve always fallen out before morning.’

  ‘Why don’t you have a marcel wave, then?’ Lynn suggested.

  ‘I can’t afford one! Not yet anyway because there’s so many other things I need to buy.’

  ‘Mam will lend you the money if you ask her.’

  ‘Yes, perhaps I will after Christmas.’

  ‘Please yourself.’ Lynn shrugged. ‘I know I would rather borrow it than go round looking like you do.’

  Now, with Miles standing there beside her desk, waiting for her to answer, Megan wished she had taken Lynn’s advice. It might have helped her to feel more sure of herself if she’d had a smart haircut.

  ‘I’d like to, but I have to go to shorthand and typing classes three nights a week,’ she heard herself telling him apologetically.

  ‘That still leaves four nights free, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Well, yes. I suppose it does!’ As she looked up into his brilliant blue eyes she felt as if she was drowning. Even her legs seemed to go weak. More than anything in the world she wanted to go out with him.

  Megan felt sick with disappointment as Miles turned and walked away. She couldn’t believe what was happening. The chance of a date with Miles Walker, something she’d dreamed about for weeks, and she’d bungled it!

  For a long time after Miles had left the office she sat there staring into space, wondering how she should handle it. She even planned what excuse she could make at home if he ever asked her again.

  Her father had stopped them both from going out in the evenings ever since he had found out that Lynn was still sneaking off to the Stork Club after he’d told them not to go there. Megan being allowed to attend night school was the one exception.

  ‘I want both of you to keep right away from that place,’ he ordered, ‘or you’ll be getting a bad reputation.’

  Lynn protested defiantly. ‘Why must we? It’s only a jazz club …’

  ‘I mean it!’ He cut her short, his eyes dark with anger. ‘You are both to stay away from the Stork Club, now is that understood?’

  Megan had tried to comfort Lynn when she found her huddled on her bed crying.

  ‘You don’t understand,’ Lynn sobbed. ‘It’s all your fault, you’ve spoiled everything for me. I’ve got a date there with this boy, Flash.’

  ‘You’ll just have to tell him that you can’t see him.’

  ‘I especially want to see him because he’s really into jazz. He’s a smashing dancer and he picked me out because he sai
d no one else partners him like I do.’

  ‘You heard what our dad said about going to the Stork,’ Megan reminded her.

  ‘I know, but I could still manage to get out to meet him if you helped me.’ She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes. ‘If I said I was coming to night school with you …’

  ‘No! I’m not scheming like that,’ Megan told her emphatically. ‘I know you too well. You wouldn’t come back on time and I would be the one left to make excuses.’

  Despite Lynn’s pleading, Megan remained adamant. As it was, she suspected that Lynn was still going to the midday sessions at the Stork Club. She was only a kid still and she could so easily be led astray by someone like this Flash, she decided.

  Megan’s glum mood when she arrived home after her gauche mistake with Miles brought a barrage of prying questions from Lynn, but Megan refused to confide in her even though Lynn kept on pestering her until Megan felt she would scream.

  It was three days before she saw Miles again and he didn’t even bother to smile or speak to her. She felt terribly upset; she was positive it was because she hadn’t accepted his invitation to go out with him.

  By Saturday, she could hardly bring herself to go to work she felt so miserable. Much as she longed to see Miles, and knew he usually came into the office on Saturday mornings, she couldn’t bear the thought that he might ignore her again.

  ‘It’s only for a few hours, luv,’ her mother sympathised when she complained of not feeling well. ‘Try taking a couple of aspirins, that should help.’

  When she left the office at midday, and saw Miles waiting at the corner of Old Hall Street, Megan’s heart missed a beat. For a moment she was tempted to turn and walk the other way. Then commonsense prevailed. She would have to face him sooner or later so she might as well get it over with now.

  ‘Hello, Megan. Sorry I had to ignore you the other day. My father has been lecturing me about being too friendly with the office staff, so I decided I’d better be a bit more careful,’ he explained with a grin.

  ‘Oh, I thought it was because I didn’t accept your invitation to go out with you.’