Georgina resisted the impulse to squeal.
“Yes, darling, of course,” she purred. “Come over this evening.”
She replaced the receiver, blue eyes shining with triumph. Tall and willowy, her long dark hair swayed sensuously as she strolled into the manager’s office. Five minutes later she was sitting on the edge of her colleague’s desk.
“Today’s my last day in this dump. I’ve just told old Higgins what he can do with his job. I bet he didn’t like hearing what I had to say half as much as I enjoyed saying it.”
She knew that Alison didn’t like her, but that only made boasting more enjoyable. Georgina wanted the shrivelled old maid to realise how pathetic her life was when compared to the future she’d just been given.
“What about working your notice period?” Alison asked.
“They can take it out of my holiday pay, I don’t care. It’s not as if I’m going to need it. I’m never going to be short of money again. Didn’t you hear me on the phone just now? I’m getting married. Jonathan has left his wife. He told her about us this morning. Apparently she got upset and threw him out, so he’ll be living at my place until we buy a new house.”
“Don’t you feel sorry for his wife?” Alison asked, fiddling with some paperclips. Georgina wanted to slap her and looked at the older woman as if she was mad.
“Why should I feel sorry for her? She doesn’t need his money.”
“Money isn’t everything you know. Maybe she still cares about him.”
Georgina laughed. “Well isn’t that just too bad. She’ll have to find someone else because he’s mine now. Look, I’ve worked hard for this; I’m not going to waste my time worrying about his wife’s feelings. She should have taken better care of him.”
A look of distaste passed over Alison’s face.
Georgina flushed. “There’s no need for you to look so snooty. He may not be the handsomest man in the world, but older men make generous husbands. Besides, money makes even the plainest man desirable.” She smirked. “Once his divorce is through, and we’re married, I’ll have the kind of life I’ve always wanted; money, position, everything.”
“But do you love him?” Alison asked.
“To quote from a famous song, ‘what’s love got to do with it?’ Don’t be so pathetic, Alison, I’m very fond of Jonathan, but it’s his wealth I’m marrying. Not that he realises that. He thinks I wouldn’t care whether he was loaded or not. If he’s simple enough to believe that, then too bad.”
Georgina made her apartment welcoming; she didn’t want anything to go wrong before the all-important gold band was on her finger. By the time Jonathan parked his Mercedes outside her flat she had subdued lighting and aromatic candles creating the perfect ambience.
“Darling, you look shattered,” she murmured. “It must have been awful for you, how did she take it?”
Jonathan smiled forlornly at her; he’d had a terrible time. “Linda took it much harder than I expected. She turned nasty towards the end,” he began, eager to explain his ordeal.
Georgina was barely aware of his gentle voice telling his tale of woe. Who cared what his wife said or did, when her own dreams were about to become reality? She wondered if she could persuade Jonathan to kick his wife out of their house, it was a wonderful property. She looked across at her lover and realised he was too soft to do it. Oh well, they could always buy somewhere in Mayfair, with a little hideaway in the Bahamas, or a place in the South of France.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt. “What did you just say?” she demanded.
Jonathan smiled at her, his tired eyes showing the strain. “I said that as soon as I get another job we should start looking for a small house to buy.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand, what do you mean get another job? It’s your company; it’s been in your family for generations. The factory gates have your name on them. Why should you look for another job?” Georgina’s voice rose with hysteria.
“The company isn’t mine; it hasn’t been since the economic downturn a few years ago. Linda bought it with her father’s money when the bank was going to foreclose. I stayed on as Managing Director, but today she fired me. I can’t say I blame her. She’s also refused to pay my credit card bills and overdraft, because I’ve spent so much on you.”
He stretched out a hand to Georgina, but she couldn’t move. Icy water was flowing through her veins.
“So now here I am, homeless, unemployed, and broke, but at least we have each other.”
Lorraine Mace 2006
