Warhol's Prophecy

14

SHE WAS NERVOUS.

No matter how she looked at it, this fluttering in her stomach was caused by nerves.

Hailey checked her watch: 1.02 p.m.

Perhaps he wasn’t coming.

Been stood up, have you?

She peered through the window into Tivoli’s, wondering if Walker had perhaps arrived, not spotted her, and gone inside to wait.

It was busy inside. It usually was at this time of the day. But there were still plenty of tables. It was only self-service, nothing flash. But the food was good and it was pleasantly unpretentious.

But Walker wasn’t inside.

He’s not coming.

She looked at her watch again.

He couldn’t have missed her if he’d walked past. There were only two doors in and out of the place and they were so close together he couldn’t have slipped by unnoticed.

She felt a little foolish. Like a teenager on her first date who feared she was going to be ignored.

First date? You’re having lunch with the bloke, for Christ’s sake. That’s all – isn’t it?

She turned and checked inside again, glancing at her reflection in the window. Her hair was freshly washed that morning. She was dressed in a black skirt and jacket, and a white blouse. Hailey looked down to check that her black suede shoes weren’t scuffed, muttering to herself when she saw a mark on the toe of one. She knelt quickly to wipe it away with her finger.

As she straightened up, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

‘Jesus,’ she said, startled, and spun round.

Adam Walker stood grinning at her.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said apologetically. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’

It was her turn to smile.

They looked at each other for a moment, then cracked up laughing.

As he stood close to her, Hailey could smell the scent of his leather jacket. He wore it over a denim shirt, with a pair of black jeans.

Very nice.

‘Sorry I’m late, I had trouble parking the car,’ he told her.

‘I didn’t even realize you were late,’ she lied.

They walked together into Tivoli’s, chose their food and drink, and sat down at a table in one corner.

‘You should have let me get this,’ Walker told her.

‘It’s hardly the Ritz, is it? And I did say this was the least I could do,’ she said.

She glanced at him briefly, then began eating.

‘I like the suit,’ he told her. ‘It’s Louis Feraud, isn’t it?’

She smiled. ‘How do you know that?’ Hailey wanted to know.

‘It’s very striking.’ He looked at her and held her gaze. ‘I tend to remember things that catch my eye.’

‘I thought maybe you were in the fashion business or something,’ Hailey said. ‘Most blokes wouldn’t know Louis Feraud from Louis Armstrong.’

‘Come on, do I look like I work in the fashion business? I haven’t got a ponytail for a start.’

They both laughed.

‘So what business are you in?’ she enquired. ‘You said over the phone you were self-employed.’

‘I’m an artist,’ he replied. ‘Graphic design – that kind of thing.’

‘Who are you working for at the moment? If you don’t mind me asking.’

‘A record company, designing album covers. I’ve done a lot of that. Book covers, too.’

‘I’m impressed.’

‘Don’t be – not until you’ve seen them, anyway.’ He smiled again.

Hailey looked at him across the table, running appraising eyes over him. Early thirties she guessed, good-looking. She dropped her gaze as he looked up, as if she felt guilty for staring at him so intently.

Why are you feeling guilty?

‘Did you go to college or university to learn design?’ she wanted to know.

He shook his head.

‘You can’t learn to draw – well, other than the mechanics of it. You either can or you can’t. It’s like anything creative: it’s a gift. That’s my theory anyway.’ He leant forward and whispered this conspiratorially.

‘So how did you find work in the beginning?’ Hailey enquired.

He shrugged. ‘I spent some time in London, and I just walked around publishers and record companies and showed them my portfolio. As simple as that.’

‘You must have had a lot of confidence in your own ability.’

‘I was just an arrogant bastard.’ He smiled. ‘I couldn’t see how they’d be able to turn me away.’

He laughed and the sound was infectious.

‘Have you always lived here?’ Hailey continued. ‘Apparently there used to be some beautiful little villages in this part of Buckinghamshire. Until they all got swallowed up by the New Town.’

Walker sat back in his seat, looking thoughtful.

‘What’s wrong?’ she wanted to know.

‘I’ve done nothing but talk about myself ever since we sat down,’ he said.

‘I’m interested. You did find my daughter, didn’t you? I want to know about you.’

‘All right, let’s get the boring details out of the way, then. What do you want to know? But I’ll warn you now, there’s a lot less to me than meets the eye.’ Again that smile. Again she found herself looking deeply into his eyes.

‘What about family?’ she asked.

‘One brother, one sister.’

‘Do they live around here, too?’

‘No.’

‘You said on the phone that your nephew was killed in a hit-and-run.’

‘My sister’s boy,’ he said, cutting her short. ‘That was why, that morning, when I saw Becky out in the road, I had to do something to help her. That brought back all those memories of what had happened to my nephew.’ He smiled thinly. ‘Go on – next question.’

‘Now you’re making me feel like I’m interrogating you,’ she protested. ‘I’m curious, that’s all.’

‘Go on, then.’

‘Are your parents still alive?’

‘My father is. I don’t know about my mother. She left home when I was eight. Ran off with another man.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘I’m not, and I’m not surprised either. I think my father drove her out. He was a vicar. Ironic, I suppose. He’s up in his pulpit every Sunday preaching about adultery, and then his own wife fucks off with somebody else.’ He looked at her. ‘Excuse my language.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ she told him. ‘Do you still see him now?’

‘When I can. Most of the time it’s a wasted trip. He can’t even remember who I am, usually. Alzheimer’s. He’s in a nursing home just outside the city. We talk about as much now as we did when I was growing up.’ He tapped the table top gently with the flat of his hand. ‘Right, that’s enough about me. I want to know something about you.’

‘Like what?’ She smiled.

‘Whatever you want to tell me.’

‘Well, you know I’m married with a little girl.’

‘Happily married?’

He was smiling.

‘Sometimes,’ she told him, her own smile now a little strained.

‘What does your husband do?’

She told him. Told him about the wedding. About Becky.

Are you going to tell him about Rob’s affair? Tell him how angry you still are?

‘What did you do before you had Becky?’ he asked.

‘I worked for a local company director, as his PA,’ she informed him.

‘Which company?’

‘SuperSounds, it’s just outside the city.’

‘I know it. They make guitars, don’t they?’

She nodded.

‘I was PA to Jim Marsh, the owner.’

‘Did you enjoy it?’

‘I loved it. It was long hours though, and there was quite a bit of travelling involved. Whenever he went to trade shows, I had to go with him.’

‘Anywhere exciting?’

‘Tokyo, New York, LA, Milan. Shall I stop there?’ She grinned.

‘Quite a globetrotter. Did it bother your husband that you were away so much?’

‘A little bit.

(tell him the truth, Rob hated it)

But he was very tied up with his own business, so it wasn’t too bad, and I didn’t travel that often. Jim still stays in touch.’

‘Do you miss it?’

‘I miss the job sometimes, not the travelling so much.’ She looked down at her half-eaten meal. ‘I think Rob was pleased when I gave up.’

‘Would you go back?’

‘I couldn’t – not now we’ve got Becky. Jim’s called a few times and asked me. He even offered to pay for a nanny, but I couldn’t leave Becky.’

‘And your husband wouldn’t like it?’

She shook her head.

‘What was it like working for a famous man?’ Walker persisted.

‘I wouldn’t call Jim Marsh famous,’ Hailey replied with a mock grimace.

‘He’s successful. People know him. They’ve heard his name. He’s made his mark on the world and I admire him for that. I admire anyone who does that. Life’s short. I certainly don’t want to die without anybody knowing I was here in the first place.’

‘Is fame important to you, then?’

He looked directly into her eyes.

‘Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d kill for it?’ he said flatly.