Hit and Run

There I paused and looked down on the landing below. It was in darkness, and the pang of disappointment that stabbed me hurt. Then I realized that it was only ten minutes after nine o'clock. It wasn't likely she would be in her bedroom at this hour.

I turned back and took the elevator down to the ground floor.

Watkins was waiting for me in the hall.

'I don't think Mr. Aitken looks so well tonight,' I said as I walked with him to the front door.

'He is a little feverish, sir. I imagine it is to be expected.'

'Yes. I'll be in again tomorrow night.'

'I'm sure Mr. Aitken looks forward to your visits,' he said as he opened the front door.

I said good night to him and stepped out into the hot moonlit night. The big door closed behind me.

I walked slowly down the steps to where I had left the Cadillac. When I reached the bottom step, I turned and looked up at the house. Except for Aitken's room, which showed a light, the rest of the many windows were shiny, black eyes that stared down at me. I wondered where she was. Was she out or was she somewhere at the back of the house?

All day I had been waiting for this chance to see her again. I had to make a considerable effort not to remain there, staring up at the house in the hope a light would come up in one of the windows and I would see her.

For all I knew Mrs. Hepple or even Watkins was watching me from behind the darkness of one of the windows. This was no time to stand staring, so I went over to the car, opened the door, pitched by brief-case on to the back seat and slid under the driving wheel.

She was there, sitting beside me, her hands folded in her lap. Although it was dark in the car, I could just make out the shape of her head which she held a little on one side as she looked at me. I knew it was her. It had to be her. It couldn't have been anyone else or I wouldn't have felt the way I was feeling. My heart wouldn't be pounding like this.

For perhaps five seconds I stared at her, aware of the faint smell of the perfume she was wearing and hearing her quick, gentle breathing, and in those five seconds everything around me went out of focus.

It was a moment in my life I will never forget.

II

'HelIo,' she said. 'Did I startle you? I didn't think you would be out so soon.'

'Well, perhaps you did.' My voice sounded husky. 'I didn't expect ...'

She laughed.

'Is this your car?'

'Yes.'

'It's a lovely car. I'm crazy about cars. When I saw it, I just had to get in. I like it better than Roger's Bentley. I bet it's fast.'

'Yes: it's pretty fast.'

She leaned back against the cushion of the seat and stared up at the roof. The moonlight coming in through the open window lit up her profile. She looked breathtakingly beautiful.

'Roger was telling me about you,' she said. 'He says you're going to be his new partner.'

'It's not absolutely fixed.'

I was sitting bolt upright, my clenched fists resting on my knees, my mind still stupid with the surprise of finding her here, talking to me as if she had known me all her life.

'He told me it was. Will you like living in New York?'

'Very much.'

'I wish I could live there.' She lifted her arms and clasped her hands behind her head. I could see her breasts lift and strain against the thin wool of the sweater she was wearing. 'Palm City is dreadfully dull, don't you think?'

'I suppose it must be for someone your age.'

She turned her head and stared at me.

'You sound as if you're old, but you're not. You're not thirty yet, are you?'

'I'm thirty-one.'

'You must be awfully clever. Roger says you are putting twenty thousand dollars into the business. How did you get all that money when you're only thirty-one?'

'My father left me most of it. The rest I've saved.'

'Do you want to put all that money into Roger's business?'

I was bewildered by her calm, direct questions.

'You sound very interested,' I said.

'I am.' She turned her head and smiled at me. 'I've always been interested in the way men make money. The only certain way a girl can become rich is to get married. Men can go out and make money. I think it's a much more satisfactory way. Of course you were lucky to have a father to leave you something, weren't you?'

'I guess I was.'

She sat up and, reaching out, she rested her hand on the dashboard.

'I love this car. Will you teach me to drive?'

'There's nothing to teach.' My voice was unsteady. 'It's an automatic drive. You press the starter and it drives itself.'

She looked at me.

'Believe it or not, I've never driven a car. Roger won't let me touch any of his, and he has four.'

'Why is that?'

'He's terribly possessive. If I want to go anywhere, I go on a bicycle. It's fantastic, isn't it? His excuse is I can't drive. If I learned, then he would have to lend me a car. Will you teach me?'

I didn't hesitate.

'Why, yes. If that's what you want.'

She clasped her hands around her knees and pulled her knees up to her chin. I could see now she was wearing light-coloured slacks. 'I want that more than anything else in the world. Will you teach me now or have you something else to do?'