Untouchable Things by Tara Guha Read Free Book Online Page A

day.
    Can you remember what you talked about?
    Oh – food, music, theatre, poetry. That sort of stuff. Mornington Crescent, how I don’t listen to enough Radio 4. And… other recreational activities.
    “So how do you spend your weekends now? Getting high or getting laid?”
    “Neither?” Another small betrayal of Jason. “Sorry – I didn’t mean that. Jason lives in Milton Keynes at the moment so we sort of shuttle back and forth on the train. In a way it should be ideal – someone in your life without being suffocated – but the pressure to have a perfect weekend can make everything fuck up.” Is that what she thought? It wasn’t a conversation she’d had with anyone before.
    “Tell me to butt out, but it sounds like you’re suffocating anyway. Do you love him?”
    She sighed. “I… don’t know. He’s a lovely guy, takes care of me. But…”
    “You want more.”
    Her averted eyes blinked agreement. “Maybe. Sometimes I think there must be more, sometimes I think I’ve watched too many soppy films.” She looked up. “What about you?”
    He took a slow drag on his cigarette “Oh, I know there’s more. For people like us, people who know how to feel, people who wring every last drop from life instead of running away from it.” He chuckled. “I’ll be breaking into To His Coy Mistress in a second.”
    She laughed, wanting to show she got the reference. He watched her. “Recite it to me.”
    “God, I can’t, I’ve forgotten half of it.”
    “I’ll prompt you.”
    Greedy, glittering eyes pinned hers in the fading afternoon light and her outer vision darkened, as though she was going blind. She breathed, trying to focus.
    “ Had we but world enough, and time
    This coyness, lady, were no crime. ”
    He held her eyes, mouthing words when she faltered, as she took the part of the poet attempting to seduce his muse.
    “ But at my back I always hear
    Time’s winged chariot hurrying near …”
    She knew it from here, the shift of gears so that hedonism became something profound, triumphal, death-defying.
    “ Let us roll all our strength, and all
    Our sweetness up into one ball;
    And tear our pleasures with rough strife
    Through the iron gates of life.
    Thus, though we cannot make our sun
    Stand still, yet we will make him run .”
    Her eyes swam: her tears or his? Her breathing stopped and started in shudders as they regarded each other. She had never known such desire. Not just for him, maybe not even for him, but for his words and his gaze and the possibilities that simmered between them.
    And then?
    Then…
    Are you okay, Miss Laurence?
    She went home reeling, metallic, jangling inside. Thank God she had the house to herself. She flung herself on her bed, dropping her keys to the floor, pushing down her jeans, stroking and groaning to a shivery orgasm. Afterwards she lay curled up on her side clutching the pillow, wondering what on earth she had met.
    Scene 8
    I believe Michael Stanley is an old friend of yours, Miss Jarret?
    Michael? Yes, since university.
    And how does he get on with the rest of the group?
    Um – well, on the whole. He’s honest and principled, people respect him.
    Honest and principled. Could you describe his relationship with Mr Gardner?
    Seth? It’s… they’re sparring partners, I suppose. Seth used to tease Michael and Michael would put him in his place… it was all good humoured. Mostly.
    You see, that’s not exactly what I’ve been hearing, Miss Jarret. It would seem that there’s a certain amount of antipathy towards Michael from some quarters. Would that be fair to say?
    Look, Michael’s stressed right now, we all are. Sometimes he goes too far.
    Too far?
    I mean, he says what he thinks. But what you’ve got to remember is, unlike some people, he doesn’t gossip. He’s straight up. I’d trust him completely and he’s a brilliant friend. He drove me up to see my parents last year because he knew I was anxious about it…
    The summons. Her mother was