Doing More for Daddy

Lionel: 'And aren't I always right?'

Amy: 'No.'

Lionel: 'I generally am right, and Joan's an open book. I'll get us back in, no problem.'

A brief pause, then . . .

Amy: 'So what do we do between now and Monday?'

Lionel: 'I got paid today; I'm quids in. I'll book us into the best hotel I can find in this shit-tip of a town.'

Amy: 'Separate rooms, naturally.'

Lionel: 'Like hell. How can we share breakfast in bed in separate rooms?'

Amy (laughing): 'Don't expect the leg-over. Little Natalie's already fucked the arse off me.'

Lionel: 'So you were right; she does play the girly card.'

Amy: 'Trust me; she's always holding the ace of spades. You've never fucked me anywhere near as well as she did.'

Lionel: 'Hey, I thought I was the best.'

Amy (still laughing): 'So did I, but I was wrong.'

Lionel (suddenly pensive): 'I can make something out of her being girly.'

Amy: 'What?'

'Lionel: 'I dunno, but you know me. Where there's a will there's a beneficiary.'

*****

Abandoning my trip upstairs I hurried back into the kitchen to pour myself another large G&T, and not before time. One sip and Lionel came striding in, his usual suave appearance momentarily disrupted by seeing me.

'Oh,' he said, 'I thought you'd gone with Joan.' Then, turning on the mega-watt charm: 'I hope you can talk her around. We're both innocent parties in this. She needs to appreciate that.'

By then I tended to believe that, as a boss, Lionel was no more than a gullible fool. But if nothing else, he was a crafty gullible fool, and very possibly a proficient conman. He also had his knives out for me. Playing him at his own game I fluttered lashes and stuck out my tits.

'Give her a few days,' I said, 'like you told her, let the dust settle.'

He nodded, gave me the full brown-eyed treatment and left, packed case in hand.

'You still owe me kisses and a taste,' said Amy, appearing out of nowhere.

I looked at her, wondering how I had ever mistaken her for a teenager. She was an actress, I realized, able to appear in dozens of guises. The overheard exchange with Lionel had proved that. Of course he seemed too old to be her father; he was her partner in crime, not her father.

And the cut-price Bonnie and Clyde had targeted my mother!

'You still owe me,' she repeated.

'Nice having you, Ames,' I replied, 'but don't hold your breath waiting for an encore.'

She frowned at my use of "Ames" but pressed on valiantly, keeping up the act. 'Now who's got cold feet?'

'Not me,' I said. 'I was only after one thing and I've had it. Today was a one-off special offer. You don't get a second chance.'

'But you owe me.'

'Sorry pet, but you've been had.'

Amy's eyes flashed before she reverted to teenager. 'Your loss,' she sneered.

Then she was gone.