The Exciting Life (22 page)

He
looked at her feet, at the black satin slippers she was wearing
with diamante crowns on them.

‘
Did you design them yourself?’ he asked.

‘
Yes.’

‘
They’re beautiful.’

‘
How is your collection going?’ Eddie asked Ralf, a patronising
smile on his face.

‘
Wonderfully,’ Ralf replied. ‘We’ve got commissions coming out
of our ears.’

‘
That’s what I like to hear.’

‘
I love your dress Miss Bloom,’ Ralf practically shouted out.
Iris wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. Alice
turned around and looked at him, first in puzzlement, then she
smiled.

‘
Thank you dear,’ she said in her gravelled voice that had a
strange mid-Atlantic accent. ‘It’s Chanel.’

‘
It’s gorgeous.’

‘
Alice, this is Ralf Silver, he’s a designer,’ Alice said
grudgingly. ‘And this is Iris Lindholm, one of my
models.’

‘
Nice to meet you both,’ Alice said, and she turned back to the
person she was talking to. Iris had never felt more dismissed in
her life, and that familiar anger rose up in her. Here was her
beautiful, rich and famous aunt, and her beautiful and rich sister,
and there was she, lumped in with the staff; and the only person
who wanted to talk to her was her whore of a mother. Why had she
drawn the short straw? It was so unfair.

‘
We’re going,’ she said to Ralf.

‘
Why? We’ve only just started.’

‘
Because I hate it here.’

‘
Well you can go love. I’m staying here.’

‘
Suit yourself.’

Iris
walked out and managed to find a cab with a driver who was willing
to take her to Streatham. He told her he lived in Mitcham and was
on his way home and as he dropped her off, he also tried to get a
grope of her tits as part payment - but a slap put paid to that.
Iris got in, tore off her dress and stamped all over it, she then
got into bed and lay awake sulking. She made up her mind there and
then that she didn’t want Norma in her life any more and she had to
get rid of her. From her days as a prostitute, she knew plenty of
men who would kill her mother for a price, but she could end up in
prison for that. She decided the easiest thing was to get Norma the
sack from the club. Hopefully if Patrick found out she was a thief,
it would be enough for him to get rid of her.

Luckily
for Iris, Patrick had stayed over one night and his keys to the
club had fallen from his pocket. Because he had several sets of
them, he never took those ones back and asked Iris to keep them
safe. For her they were a Godsend and would make her mission so
much easier. She knew that Norma got into to Bruno’s at around
9.30am, so she got up at seven, dressed in a pair of ski pants and
a shirt, tying her hair back in a pony tail, and went out to get
the bus into town.

Central
London was like a ghost town. A few street sweepers were going
along Wardour Street, whistling as they worked and that was it.
Great for Iris’s plans, as she didn’t want anyone to see her. She
moved swiftly, darting down the steps to the club, letting herself
in and going inside. She knew that last night’s takings were kept
in Annie’s office, but they weren’t put in a safe - just left in a
draw in the desk. She kept the light off - using the light from the
window to illuminate her way. She went into Annie’s office and
opened the bottom drawer of the little desk where the money bags
were kept. She then quickly locked the office and made her way out
of the club. Locking the door behind her.

Reaching
the top step, she came face to face with one of the street sweepers
and he gave her a brief smile, which she returned and then scurried
off. She held the money bag close to her chest, wondering what she
should do with it. There was bound to be around a hundred pounds in
there – more than enough to pay for an abortion. But she still
wasn’t sure if that was what she wanted to do. She could have
ploughed the money into the business, but Ralf would wonder where
she’d got it from. She just wanted rid of it. The money was nothing
more than a way of getting her mother out of her life.

She
still had it clutched to her when she stepped off the bus, and it
felt as though the little Hessian bag was burning a hole in her
chest. There was a Salvation Army hostel on Streatham Hill, and on
a spur of the moment move, Iris darted in there and was met by a
bewildered lady in full Sally Army uniform.

‘
Can I help you dear?’ she asked.

‘
Yes,’ Iris replied. ‘I’d like to give you this.’

She
thrust the bag at the elderly woman and ran out.

Back
home, Iris made herself a cup of tea and waited and waited. She
tried to picture Patrick going to the club later that day and
finding the money gone. Hopefully he would blame Norma and would
sack her on the spot. So many ideas for revenge ran through Iris’s
mind on a daily basis. She’d often thought about trying to seduce
Eddie and making sure Annie found out. She knew he was devoted to
Annie, but all men could be led astray. It was as easy as
breathing. Sometimes she also thought about ruining her brother's
life. Kenneth had been good to her in lending her the money to buy
into Ralf's company, but it wasn't the same as being part of that
inner circle. No doubt during her visit to London, Alice would
visit him. Iris was positive he was homosexual and thought it would
be funny to pay one of the little rent boys she knew, to go to the
papers with an expose on him.

It was
thoughts like this that kept Iris going. Sometimes she wondered if
she should have played it all differently and been honest with them
from the beginning. But she knew what would have happened then. She
would still have been treated like the poor relation, and for the
likes of the apparently pious Kenneth, to have been associated with
an ex-prostitute, would be too much and he’d have distanced himself
from her. It was far easier to act as she had, and wheedle her way
into their lives, creating as much havoc as she could and getting
what she could from Kenneth - who saw her as some sort of ally. She
liked the life that getting involved with these people had given
her. Six months ago she’d never even imagined that one day she’d be
part owner of a fashion company. Ralf’s little factory in Mile End
was churning out dresses by the day. Most of his customers were the
daughters of East End gangsters, and a shop in Dalston Market was
selling a few of his things; but they were making a profit and that
was the most important thing. Those daughters of gangsters normally
had lots of friends and spent loads of money in West End clubs,
making connections for them.

After
lunch, she found herself feeling very tired. This had only happened
since she’d got pregnant and it was uncontrollable. She lay on her
bed and nodded off; wishing she didn’t ache so much and wondered if
this would go on for the whole nine months. In a way she regretted
giving that money to the Salvation Army. It would have paid for an
abortion, and she wouldn’t have to worry about making a decision
about Patrick or Leo.

She was
awoken by the sound of someone banging on the door downstairs and
suddenly she was jolted back to her past - reminded of the times
when she would have some pimp come banging on her door, demanding
his money. It took a moment for her to compose herself and remember
that those days were over. She got out of bed and as she walked
down the stairs, and the banging continued, she realised who it
was.

‘
Are you in there Iris?’ Patrick called. ‘There’s no point in
hiding.’

She felt
nervous. He sounded angry and she wondered why. Had she left some
trace of herself behind at the club today? Had he confronted her
mother about stealing and she’d told him everything? Heaven forbid
that should be the case. Iris was sure she’d throw herself under a
number 109 if Patrick found out the full extent of her sordid
past.

She
opened the door and he was standing there, his face red with
anger.

‘
What is it?’ she asked.

‘
Let me in,’ he hissed, barging past her.

‘
What’s the matter?’ she whined, following him up the stairs.
‘Are you okay Pat?’

He went
into the flat, and as soon as Iris joined him, shutting the door
behind her, he came up close to her and for a moment she was scared
he was going to hit her.

‘
Why didn’t you just ask me for money?’ he said angrily. ‘Why
steal from me?’

‘
I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ she cried, wondering
how the hell he’d found out.

‘
What do you need it for? Kenneth Holland’s loan not enough to
keep you and your little fairy friend going?’

‘
Pat just calm down. I didn’t steal any money off
you.’

‘
Okay. So how come I go into the office today and find that I’m
seventy quid down on exactly the same day that when I was going in,
the street cleaner remarked to me that my little girlfriend was up
and about early that morning? I said to him, ‘
No, Miss Holland’s my business partner’
so he goes ‘
No, not her. The sexy
blonde one. I saw her coming out of the club this
morning.’
’

‘
I thought I’d lost an earring in the club the other night. You
left those keys here so I thought I’d go and have a look for
it.’

‘
And take my money in the process.’

‘
I never touched your money! You can search this flat, there’s
no money here.’

‘
Did you give it to Ralf Silver?’

‘
I haven’t got your money. It was probably Norma.’

‘
Norma didn’t come in today. I gave her the day off because she
was going to Annie’s party last night.’

Iris
felt her legs almost buckle beneath her and she had to sit down in
the nearest chair. She felt light-headed and shaky, and knew this
wasn’t the baby. It was the shame of being found out.

‘
Why did you do it Iris?’ he asked, his voice calmer. ‘Why did
you steal off me?’

‘
I didn’t steal off you. Not really. I gave it to the Salvation
Army. I just wanted you to sack Norma.’

‘
Why? What did she do to you that’s so bad?’

‘
Because she’s my mother!’ Iris cried, immediately regretting
it.

‘
What?’

‘
She’s my mother alright? She’s nothing but trouble and I think
she’s just come back to try and get money, so I wanted rid of
her.’

‘
Fucking hell,’ he gasped, sitting down on the settee. ‘Are you
just saying this to get yourself off the hook?’

‘
No. She’s my mother. I haven’t seen her since I was thirteen
and she walked out on me.’

‘
Thirteen! What happened to
you?’

‘
I got by. I don't want to
talk about it. But I will just say that she's poisonous and I want
you to sack her.’

‘
I can't. She hasn't done
anything to me.’

‘
I'm supposed to be your
girlfriend. Isn't it enough that my mother who abandoned me is
working for you?!’

‘
Norma's a good worker. You
don't have to deal with her, so what does it matter?’

‘
You bastard,’ she hissed.
‘You don't want to sack her because Annie took her on, and you
don’t want to upset Saint Annie.’

‘
Don't be
stupid.’

‘
You don't care about me.
You want her.’

He stood up.

‘
Sometimes I wonder what
I'm doing with you,’ he sighed. ‘You can be so spiteful at times
and you seem to enjoy seeing people suffer.’

‘
Is it any wonder?!’ she cried. ‘I’ve been looking after myself
since I was thirteen. Do you expect me to welcome her back with
open arms?’

‘
Why did she walk out on you?’

‘
Because she was being threatened by her pimp. She was scared,
so she just ran out and left me to it.’

‘
She was a Tom? Who looked after you?’

‘
I looked after myself.’

‘
Well I can tell Annie and see if she’ll sack her.’

‘
I don’t want Annie knowing!’ she gasped.

‘
Why not?’

‘
Because I just don’t.’

‘
Are you lying to me Iris?’

‘
No.’

He shook
his head.

‘
You’re beyond me, you are. I’ll see myself out.’

‘
Where are you going?’

‘
Away from you. You either let me tell Annie and she sacks her,
or we keep her on. But either way, I don’t want you stealing from
my club again, and I want the money back. Every penny of
it.’

He
walked out and Iris sat shaking and shocked. She didn’t even have
the strength to run after him. If he really cared about her, he
would have stuck up for her and understood how upsetting it was for
her to be around Norma once again. It wasn’t as though she stole
the money for herself. She’d given it to the Sally Army.

Iris
knew she had to face the fact that Patrick didn’t love her. She was
nothing more than a trophy on his arm when he went out, and a good
time in bed. She knew she had no choice now but to abort the baby,
and she wished she’d kept that bloody money and used it for that.
She had no spare cash of her own – it’d all been ploughed into the
business. There was only one person she could think of turning to;
and with a sad and heavy heart she went to her phone and called
Leo’s house. She crossed her fingers and hoped that he was in, and
was so grateful when he picked up.