|
Chapter 37
As I drove away, the only sound in the Bentley was the clock ticking and this was more than drowned out by my heavy thoughts. I wondered how many of the operators that day had also been there when Jennifer had visited. Was it a regular crew or were they just hired when needed.
The girl on the stairs would have had a proud mother or adoring husband somewhere. She'd seemed so nervous in her small town 'girl next door' way and had smiled uncertainly as I went past. Perhaps she had thought I was important because of my suit and was hoping to ingratiate herself.
Perhaps she'd hoped I had the power to stop what she was going to do. Perhaps she wanted me to say that it all didn't matter any more and everything would be all right so she wouldn't have to take the long walk upstairs into the bright lights where the cameras and impersonal operators would stare and record the infinitely small plot as it unwound to its inexorably sad conclusion.
Or perhaps I'd got it wrong and she was perfectly happy with what she was doing. Perhaps she was nurturing her career so successfully that it would lead rapidly to international stardom and wealth. My instincts told me not but who was I to judge? What did I know?
Moreover, now that I had been inside the studio and seen where Jennifer had been, was I any the wiser about her? The account that Jennifer had given me of the events that took place when she was there now seemed somewhat unlikely but I still didn't want to believe she'd been deliberately lying.
Did the fact that Bruno had hired me for the work mean that he had something directly to do with these films? Or had he just sold me to someone who he knew needed the service and taken a percentage in the middle?
If he'd known about Jennifer's visit to the video recording studio, how different was her visit to the other performers who were there? Finally, what were the chances that the director would waste time while an amateur got used to the set as she had claimed to me? Not great, I thought.
When I got back to my flat, after I'd parked the car, I didn't go inside. Instead I went up the road to a pub that wasn't Smokey's and got drunk with some regulars who had never heard of Smokey's.
There were two young good time girls full of giggles and fun so I bought them both a drink to celebrate and then some more. It was 11.30 pm before I staggered back alone. The world was not a better place but I no longer cared so much.
I leaned against the door trying to insert my key and then fell into the apartment as it gave way under my weight.
"Must have forgotten to close it ... properly," I mumbled to myself.
Gradually, I worked my way towards the bedroom. First there were my shoes to remove with lots of overbalancing. Then there were the socks that seemed to come off easier as I sat collapsed with my back to the bedroom door. My trousers and briefs fell off and ended in a heap just besides my open suitcase but my shirt gallantly almost made it to the bed. The duvet was in a heap in the middle so I crawled under it with a burp and snuggled down in the warmth with a deep sigh.
As I drifted off into a deep sleep, I felt a hand slip into mine and soft lips that I knew with total certainty could only be Jennifer's kissing me. Then her warm body was on me pressing me down into the bed and her arms were holding me tight.
For an eternity we kissed and held each other as the lights grew brighter and brighter. Then, as the video cameras started to roll, from the depths of my dreams, I whispered her name - and unaccountably began to cry.
I woke up in the early hours in between the morning and the new day and she was still there but when the real morning came she was gone.
|