The Look of Love (10 page)

Chrissy laughed
and Adam smiled broadly.

“Ah! The sun
has risen at last!” he exclaimed. “I knew you were beautiful, but
your expression has been dismal for so long, that I thought the
accident had permanently set your features in a frown!”

“There you go
again!” Chrissy said.

“I cannot help
myself. I have always been–” he paused, thinking of the right
words, “–a bit long winded. The result of a public school
education. But please, don’t let this put you off.” He paused
again, looking closely at Chrissy. “You were right, of course. I
was, as you said, trying to ‘chat you up’. I am only human after
all, and I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without making some
effort. I hope I did not offend you.”

Chrissy smiled.
“No. As chat ups go, yours was pretty unusual. Do you often knock
girls down just so that you can pick them up?”

“No. But I see
the idea has its merits.”

“Have you no
shame?” she said, mockingly.

“Needs must.
Now, to business. Dine with me tomorrow night. If you are well,
that is.”

Chrissy was
unsure. She shook her head. “I don’t know. I feel so embarrassed. I
made such a fool of myself before, shouting and swearing at those
lads.”

“This matters
nothing. You were in shock. All of it is wiped from my mind. We
will meet tomorrow night as if we had first met. We will be on
level terms. There is no need to answer me now. I will wait here
with you until you have seen the doctor and have returned. Then I
will take you home.” He raised his hand at the first sign of
Chrissy’s protests. “Please! No arguments! This is for my benefit,
I assure you. I would not be able to sleep a wink tonight without
being sure that you were safe and sound. And when I have taken you
safely to your door, then you can tell me your answer.”

Louise was
surprised to find that it was already after one thirty in the
morning. She hadn’t noticed the time go by so quickly. She flagged
down a black cab on Deansgate. When the taxi driver saw the state
of Victoria, he was reluctant to let her and Louise into his
cab.

“I don’t want
her throwing up inside,” he said rather sternly. “I’ve had enough
of you girls. You’re worse than the lads. You have a belly full,
jig around all night, and then you throw it up everywhere.”

Louise told him
that Victoria had already done just that, and that his cab interior
was now quite safe. He let them in, more because of Louise’s
obvious state of sobriety than because of her argument.

“Where to?” he
asked when they were inside.

Louise gave her
address in Sale. The words just came out of her mouth on their own.
But what else could she do? She couldn’t just dump Victoria at her
flat in the student’s residences and leave. And Victoria had said
to take her home. If she had meant her own flat she would have said
so when she heard Louise talking to the driver, wouldn’t she?
Louise convinced herself that she was doing the right thing.
Victoria didn’t look at all well and at least this way she could
keep an eye on her and see that she was alright.

All the way
back to Sale, Victoria sat in Louise’s arms, leaning into her. She
breathed loudly and held on to her stomach with both hands. One of
her legs was drawn up across Louise’s lap and her head was resting
on Louise’s shoulder. In response, Louise hugged her and stroked
her head.

Victoria was
still wrapped in Louise’s jacket, which covered her from neck to
hip. But all of her legs were still in view. Louise caught sight of
the taxi driver’s eyes in the mirror. He kept glancing back at
them. He was probably only checking what state Victoria was in, but
Louise couldn’t help thinking of Victoria’s exposed legs. She
reached down and placed her hand on Victoria’s thigh, drawing it
towards her a little more, and covering as much of Victoria’s leg
as she could with her arm. She didn’t know whether it had any
effect or not, but the driver didn’t look again.

When they got
to Sale, Louise couldn’t get Victoria out of the cab. She seemed to
be unconscious, and Louise struggled trying to lift her. Victoria
had turned into an immense dead weight. At first the taxi driver
just watched Louise struggle, but then he relented.

“Here, I’ll do
it,” he said pulling Louise out of the way. He reached inside the
cab, grabbed Victoria and put her over his shoulder, fireman
fashion. Then he backed out of the cab, straightened up and closed
the door. “Alright, lead the way.”

Louise opened
the front door and led him upstairs to her flat. She was
embarrassed but thankful. There would have been no way that she
would have been able to get Victoria up the stairs on her own. Not
without waking the whole house, anyway.

The driver
dumped Victoria down on the sofa. Louise’s jacket opened to reveal
what Victoria wasn’t wearing underneath, and Louise quickly covered
her again. She paid the driver and tipped him heavily. He
grunted.

“My daughter’s
your age,” he muttered. “You all frighten the life out of me.” Then
he turned and left.

Louise stood at
the top of the stairs and waited until she heard him close the
front door, then she hurried back inside her flat, closed the door
and leaned on it.

She sighed with
a great whoosh, relaxing at last. She put her bag down on the side
table and stared at Victoria, sprawled on the sofa in front of her.
She was snoring.

Louise went
over to her, snatched away her jacket and stared at Victoria. She
had meant to feast her eyes on Victoria’s exposed body, but instead
she saw the purple and yellow bruising that had already come up on
her stomach and around her navel, and she was instantly overcome
with guilt and worry. They weren’t the only damage either.

Now that they
were in proper light, Louise could see several more bruises and
many cuts and scratches. The scratches were all over her body. Some
of them might have been caused when she was on the floor in the
toilets of the disco, but most of them were definitely caused by
finger nails. Her attackers had clawed at her as well as punched
her, and Victoria was covered in a thin pink film where the blood
had mixed with the sweat and water. Along with the split lip,
bloody nose and black eye, Victoria was a complete mess. There was
only one thing to do, and Victoria was probably used to it by
now.

Tearfully,
Louise quickly undressed and then dragged Victoria unceremoniously
to the bathroom and into the shower. She got in with her, hoisted
her up, and turned on the water.

Victoria
started to wake up when the water hit her. She seemed to revive
slightly, opening her eyes and looking around. She saw Louise in
the shower with her, but didn’t say anything. She just closed her
eyes again, and tilted her head back, letting the water wash over
her face and her hair. Louise let go of her, and Victoria managed
to stay on her feet, her hands braced against the sides of the
shower cubicle.

Louise quickly
undressed her, tossing the soggy clothes out of the shower behind
her. There was an unsteady moment when Louise had to lift each foot
to get the skirt from under her, but all was done without disaster.
With the both of them well and truly soaked, Louise turned the
shower head to one side, grabbed the shower-gel, and began to
gently soap Victoria’s body.

Victoria didn’t
resist or protest as Louise washed her. She just stood in the
shower with her hands pressed against the sides and her eyes
shut.

Louise soaped
her all over, and then quickly did the same to herself. When she
was all finished, she reached up and redirected the shower head
downwards again and began to rinse off. Then she pulled Victoria
gently forward and rinsed her off too. As the hot water washed all
the soap away, Victoria finally took her hands off the sides of the
shower cubicle and rested them on Louise’s shoulders, leaning
against her. Louise slipped her arms around her and pulled her
closer, and Victoria slowly lowered her head onto Louise’s
shoulder. They stood together under the water like that for a
little while, letting it wash over them and warm them.

It should have
been a fantasy come true for Louise. But instead it was all very
confusing. Here she was, actually standing in the shower with the
woman she loved. Or, at least the woman she thought she loved. She
could feel Victoria’s body pressed close to hers. And yet her
emotions were all confused. Soaping Victoria’s body should have
been highly arousing, but every cut and bruise she found made her
sad, and in the end she felt like crying. She remembered how
Victoria looked when she had first seen her in Edward’s Bar. She
had such beautiful skin, and now it was all battered and
bruised.

And even worse,
she hadn’t had the chance to tell Victoria her true feelings. Yes,
she had blurted it out in the street, but Victoria had thought it
was just a ploy to get rid of John. She didn’t really believe it,
and she certainly didn’t know how Louise felt about her. And
Victoria herself was so confusing.

Why was she so
jealous of Scott? She had deliberately tried to split him and
Chrissy up. And what did Chrissy mean about Victoria having to be
drunk before she would let Zach sleep with her? And why did
Victoria behave the way she did at the club? It was so
destructive.

Louise didn’t
know what to do. Part of her wanted Victoria now. She wanted to
kiss her, and caress her, and love her all night. But another part
of her wanted to mother Victoria, to look after her and make what
ever was wrong with her all better. And still another part of her
was frightened of the consequences if she did make her feelings
known and Victoria should reject her.

In the end,
Louise turned off the water and helped Victoria out of the shower.
She quickly wrapped her in a big towel and got another one to wrap
her wet hair. She let Victoria lean against her shoulder while she
grabbed her bathrobe, slipped it on, and got another towel for her
own hair.

Louise then
walked Victoria all the way to the bedroom, where she sat her down
on the bed. Not once had Victoria opened her eyes since that brief
moment in the shower, and when Louise let go of her, she waited a
moment to see if she would fall over. Victoria swayed, but stayed
upright.

Louise backed
slowly away, tying up her bathrobe as she went. As soon as she was
out the bedroom door, she ran back to the bathroom, tying her hair
up in the towel on the way. There she picked up Victoria’s clothes,
before running into the lounge to retrieve her own clothes. She
spotted her slippers on the way and quickly put them on. After that
she ran into the kitchen, opened the washing machine, and stuffed
everything inside. Finally, she ran back to the bathroom for her
first aid kit. She hoped there was enough plasters and antiseptic
ointment inside. She opened it to check as she returned to the
bedroom.

When she got
there it was to find Victoria lying on her side on the bed. She was
still wrapped in the towels and her legs were drawn up against her
stomach. She was breathing deeply.

Louise put the
first aid kit down on the bed and slowly rolled Victoria onto her
back. She pulled her legs straight, examining each one carefully,
and then checking her feet. There were a few scratches on
Victoria’s legs, but they weren’t deep. Louise put some antiseptic
on them anyway. It was best to be safe; she had been lying on the
floor in the toilets after all.

Louise worked
her way higher, slowly unwrapping the towel as she went. There was
a deeper cut near the top of Victoria’s thigh, and another on her
hip. Louise put plasters and antiseptic on both of them. She had
completely unravelled the towel, exposing all of Victoria’s body,
when she finally lost control.

There was a
scratch across Victoria’s stomach, it crossed her navel, and as
Louise traced it with her finger she could stand it no longer. She
dropped the tube of antiseptic, lowered her head and kissed
Victoria’s bruised and scratched stomach. She kissed her again and
again, slowly working her way downwards, her lips moving softly
over the damaged skin.

When Louise
finally reached her goal, Victoria slowly began to respond. Her
breath came more quickly and she began to tug at the sheets,
twisting them around in her hands. Then she drew her legs up
slightly, arching her back. And turning her head to one side, she
murmured softly, “Don’t hurt me, daddy…”

By the time
Chrissy heard her name being called, and got up to follow the nurse
down a corridor and into a cubicle, she and Adam had spent several
hours sitting and talking together. Adam had got her several cups
of coffee from the machine, and Chrissy was beginning to feel
very
sober.

They had talked
about many things, not always agreeing, and Chrissy had enjoyed the
debates. At no time did Adam ever treat her in a patronising way,
despite the obvious age difference. He was thirty-nine and
unmarried. They were the first things she had found out.

When Chrissy
came back to the waiting room she looked a lot better. She was
cleaner and brighter, and the only sign of treatment was a bandage
wrapped tightly around her midriff.

Adam was still
waiting for her as promised. He got up to greet her and looked very
concerned when he saw the bandage.

“What did they
say? Are you alright? No bones broken? No concussion?”

“I’m fine! A
few bruised ribs, that’s all. They said I won’t feel anything until
tomorrow because of all the vodka I’ve drank, but then I’ll have a
whopping headache and a bruise on my bum the size of Japan.”

“Ah! A small
price to pay for such a violent encounter!” He draped his coat
around her shoulders again, took her hand, and said, “Come, your
four wheeled assailant awaits you!”