Half Plus Seven (32 page)

All I wanted to do from the moment her red hair smacked me square in the face across the office floor was make her happy. I hoped this would achieve that. We stood closer as the lift moved through the floors, the rise and fall of her breath the only sound. We needed no words.

The doors opened and we walked the corridor to room 545. Our steps synchronised now. We reached the door and I slipped the key into the slot. A green light flashed. I pushed the door open and looked back at Christy. This was for her. And me. Here goes.

The light was already on. The room was everything you'd expect from a budget hotel: an inoffensive colour scheme, a 10-year-old TV; clean enough, tidy enough. Just right. Christy sat on the bed. I walked to the mini-bar.

‘Drink?'

‘Sure.'

I opened a single serving of gin and a small can of tonic. I took a glass out of plastic and mixed. She'd need this drink.

I'd had a hundred girls in a hundred hotel rooms before this moment but this, this would be different.

Christy kicked her heels off and lay sitting up on the bed. She sipped her drink.

It was time.

The bathroom door opened.

Christy screamed.

‘Hi, Michael.'

‘Hi, Bill.'

It was the one with the sad, smiling eyes. He looked smarter now. His hair had been cut away from his face. He'd shaved and moisturised. He wore one of my old Italian suits. But the eyes were the same.

Christy's eyes.

‘Dad?'

‘Hi, darling. I've missed you.'

They broke down in each other's arms. The tears turned to laughter and back to tears again.

I'd leave them to it. I left the room unnoticed, got into the lift and pressed for the ground floor.

The light wakes me up. I'm in the passenger side of the pool car, the seat tipped back and a suit jacket over my legs. The digital clock says it's 06. 03. I turn the radio on. The vehicles surrounding me shine in the early morning sun; hire cars mainly, red-faced men behind their wheels with conference hangovers and two-day stubble.

‘…And finally, a French sheepdog will today attempt to break his own world record for riding a scooter over a distance of 40 metres in under 40 seconds. 4-year-old Ralph, from Bismarck, North Dakota, was unavailable for comment but his owner Roseanne Highvine said she was confident her pooch would remain the fastest thing on four wheels.'

‘Well, ain't that something?'

I turned the radio off.

The engine revved. I followed the maze of the car park around clockwise, exited onto the motorway and drove away from the city.

Acknowledgements

Lyrics from ‘Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again' by Bob Dylan used with kind permission from Columbia.

Lyrics from ‘We Found Love' by Rihanna Feat. Calvin Harris used with kind permission from Def Jam.

Although every effort has been made to secure permissions prior to printing this has not always been possible. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions but if contacted will rectify these at the earliest opportunity.

Further acknowledgements

Thanks, in no particular order to Susie, Richard and all at Parthian// Jack Hudson// Lynne Barrett-Lee// Kirsten McTernan// Marc Thomas// my blood relations// Jess and Fishy (RIP)// Ninian Park// University of Liverpool's flexible arts timetabling// Kruger Magazine// Clwb Ifor Bach// Merlin// Working Word// Malky Mackay// rock and roll.

Parthian

The Old Surgery

Napier Street

Cardigan

SA43 1ED

www.parthianbooks.com

First published in 2014

© Dan Tyte 2014

All Rights Reserved

Epub ISBN 978-1-909844-50-6

Mobi ISBN 978-1-909844-51-3

Editor: Susie Wild

Cover design by Jack Hudson www.jack-hudson.com

Photography by Kirsten McTernan www.kirstenmcternan.co.uk

Published with the financial support of the Welsh Books Council

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.