[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

hung with streamers and Christmas decorations. Holly lined the window and
a couple of pieces of mistletoe hung from the doors. Almost at once people
began to exchange teasing kisses under them. Music blared noisily from a
tape. Mark was running the bar with cheerful efficiency. The firm paid for
half the drinks the rest came from a float contributed by the office staff
themselves. The food was brought by them, too; sandwiches, crisps,
peanuts. Helen looked after that, watching the dancing as people began to
shed their inhibitions as the drink took an effect.
Robby Eliot came over to her and gave her an eager smile. 'Dance with me?'
She had finished laying out the food, so she agreed and they danced and
talked for a while. Robby told her a long and not very funny story and she
laughed obligingly. 'Oh, here's your husband,' Robby said with reluctance,
glancing over her shoulder.
Paul came up to them and Robby relinquished her into his arms. Paul moved
away, holding her very close, his lips on her hair. 'Robby Eliot's got his eye
on you,' he said into it.
'I hadn't noticed.' She had, of course, but she had no intention of admitting
that.
'Good,' Paul said lightly. 'You belong to me, remember.'
How could she forget? she thought. Paul didn't speak for some time and she
wondered what he was thinking, his face still on her hair, his arms holding
her tightly. They whirled round and suddenly she saw him in a small mirror
on the wall. He wasn't aware of her at all. His bright blue eyes were fixed on
a girl from the typing pool who was sitting on a window, her curved body
provocatively posed.
Helen smiled ironically. 'I must see that the food is lasting,' she said, and
Paul released her, giving her a quick smile before he turned away towards
the girl he had been watching.
Helen walked away and met Mark's eyes. His face was grim and harsh in the
gaudy lighting of the room. She flinched away from the blaze of his eyes
and went to fuss over the half-vanished food.
She saw Paul from time to time as the party went on he was dancing with
the same girl every time, his hand fondling her as they moved. Helen looked
at them with a leaden feeling of self-mockery. She saw the patterns of her
life laid out in never-changing shadow. Robby came back to ask her to
dance again and then she danced with several other men, but Mark did not
come near her. Helen saw him dancing with others of the staff and envied
them. All the girls adored him. Mark teased them, smiled at them and never
stepped over the line. Helen began to ache to know what it felt like to dance
with him, to feel his arms round her and his body moving against hers, but
she hid her feelings under a bright smile, playing the game of enjoyment so
that no one should see how miserable she really was underneath.
When Mark did come up to her she looked at him, her heart beating hard, a
pulse throbbing at her throat. 'Dance?' he asked so casually, so brusquely,
that she couldn't even find the words to answer. It hurt to see the contempt
and coldness in his eyes.
They moved away from the group she had been with and Mark's hand
tightened on her back, pressing her closer wordlessly. Being in his arms was
a pleasure she could scarcely bear. She closed her eyes and Mark's cheek
touched her own. Helen breathed irregularly, trembling. His hand clasped
hers tighter. It was safe, she thought. They were in full view of the whole of
the office and Mark had danced with everyone else. She need feel no guilt.
-His thigh was moving sof Mark did not
come near her. Helen saw him dancing with others of the staff and envied
them. All the girls adored him. Mark teased them, smiled at them and never
stepped over the line. Helen began to ache to know what it felt like to dance
with him, to feel his arms round her and his body moving against hers, but
she hid her feelings under a bright smile, playing the game of enjoyment so
that no one should see how miserable she really was underneath.
When Mark did come up to her she looked at him, her heart beating hard, a
pulse throbbing at her throat. 'Dance?' he asked so casually, so brusquely,
that she couldn't even find the words to answer. It hurt to see the contempt
and coldness in his eyes.
They moved away from the group she had been with and Mark's hand
tightened on her back, pressing her closer wordlessly. Being in his arms was
a pleasure she could scarcely bear. She closed her eyes and Mark's cheek
touched her own. Helen breathed irregularly, trembling. His hand clasped
hers tighter. It was safe, she thought. They were in full view of the whole of
the office and Mark had danced with everyone else. She need feel no guilt.
-His thigh was moving softly against hers, his hand sliding, stroking, up and
down her back. There was a restless heat growing inside her. Mark held her
even tighter and she could not avoid the knowledge that his body was hard
with desire. He was making private love to her right out in the middle of the
room with everyone around them. Their bodies were moving urgently
against each other, the surface movements of the dance only just disguising
what was going on between them. Helen's face began to burn. She trembled
more and more. She told herself she had to snap out of it. Forcing her eyes
open, she found herself looking straight into Paul's eyes. He was pale, ashen.
In the instant they looked at each other she knew he had seen the hunger for
Mark burning inside her, and her colour went in a wave of white. Paul
turned on his heel and went out.
Mark heard her stifled exclamation and looked down at her. 'What is it?' he
asked thickly, desire still flaming in his eyes.
She halted and pushed him away, hurrying after Paul. There was no sign of
him. She stood outside in the darkness, staring around her, and heard his car
start with a roar. Helen ran towards it, but before she had reached it the
bright streak of lights flashed away and Paul was gone.
She stood there, shivering, her arms wrapped round her in a childish gesture
of self-comfort.
Mark's steps grated behind her. He looked down at her, his eyes jealous and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]