Dirty Minds by T A Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

was the luckiest man alive.
    ‘Good evening. Here’s the menu. Tonight’s specials are on the blackboard. Can I get you a drink?’ The waitress looked about fifteen. He glanced across the table and raised an eyebrow. She shook her head.
    ‘I’ll just have some wine with my meal, I think.’
    ‘Same for me. Can we see the wine list?’
    After ordering food and drink they started to chat. At first, things were a little stilted, but as they settled down in each other’s company the atmosphere became more relaxed. He asked about her work.
    ‘I’m freelance. I do a regular two-page spread for one magazine, called
From the Catwalk
. The magazine provides the photos and I do a review of what’s new. Then I also do a few other articles here and there. Just about enough to keep me in chocolate Hobnobs and Sophie in dog biscuits.’
    ‘
Buona sera
, Tom.’ They both looked up. The chef had bought them out their starters himself. Tom leant back as a plate of whitebait was laid in front of him. Ros had opted for goat’s cheese salad. Both looked very appetising.
    ‘
Buona sera, Nino? Come va?
’ Tom gave him a broad smile.
    ‘
Non c’e male. E tu?
’ Ros watched and listened as the two men chatted in Italian together. She had always loved the sound of the language. After a few moments, the chef returned to more serious matters. ‘
Su, su, mangiate. Qui verra freddo
.’ He looked across at Ros. ‘Please do start. I mustn’t hold you up. The food needs to be eaten while it’s still hot.’ He bowed to Ros, patted Tom on the shoulder, and returned to the kitchen.
    ‘That didn’t sound like GCSE Italian.’ She gave him a smile.
    ‘Not really. I lived there for eight years. You can’t help picking it up if you’re there for that long.’
    They started eating. His fish was excellent. He told her some of his experiences of life in Italy. ‘But you must have spent lots of your time in Italy as well, surely? Isn’t that the home of fashion?’
    She looked up from a piece of toast. ‘There are a few French fashion houses that might debate that one. But, yes, I have spent quite a bit of time over there, but only working. I’ve always wanted a proper holiday in Italy. Maybe now that I’ve got a bit more time on my hands.’
    The conversation became more animated. The food was delicious and he couldn’t have wanted for a better companion. He began to relax. Even when she asked about his current writing project he was able to sidestep it with ease.
    ‘So much of writing is research, as you well know. I am researching all sorts of things at the moment. I am trying to settle on the historical setting for my next book.’
    ‘Middle Ages once more?’
    ‘No, I don’t think so. I think I’ll go for something more recent. I was wondering about the 1920s.’
    ‘Ah, the flappers and the Beautiful Young Things. The clothes from those years keep coming back into fashion over and over again.’
    ‘So what sort of clothes did they wear then? Say, in the period between the wars?’
    ‘You realise,’ she fixed him with serious eyes, ‘you are courting disaster here.’
    He grunted, unsure where this was leading.
    She smiled broadly as she explained. ‘Asking me about fashion is like asking you about the Cathars or the Knights Templar. Promise me you’ll give me a smack if I go on for more than a couple of hours.’
    ‘The night is young.’ He sat back and listened.
    ‘Well, the 1920s were the time when things changed drastically in the battle of the sexes. I’m not talking about Votes for Women or the Wall Street Crash: I don’t mean politically. It was during the 1920s that women started dressing to show off again. In the century before it was the men who wore frilly shirts, velvet breeches, gaudy waistcoats and so on. Victorian women were imprisoned in corsets and pretty universally dressed in dark colours. During the World War I lots of women wore trousers and more utilitarian clothing. In the 1920s it all