Read Capital Sins for Free Online Page A

was.
    'Nearly seventeen.'
    'You look
older, and act older. too . I'd've taken you for twenty easily.' Tilly stuck the end of
her cigarette to her bottom lip and let it hang there impressively. 'Do you
like working in a stuffy old office then?'
    'So far. Why?'
    Tilly shrugged. 'I dunno ... you look like you could be a
model. or something glamorous like that instead.
You're nice looking. you know.'
    Connie
inclined her head modestly. 'I think you're pretty, too.' she returned
generously.
    'I'm OK
with me make-up on.' Tilly tossed her head and her
short, curly black hair, cut Afro-style. bobbed around
as she did so. She craned forward and looked into the mirror, tossing her head
again. She paused to admire the effect.
    'I'm so-so
without me war paint,' she went on. 'But I gotta take
care of my figure. I adore bread. cakes . sweats an' snuds . butt can so easily go from a size ten to a twelve. You're
about a size twelve. ain't you? Yeah, thought so, but you’re taller'n me with
it. You know,' she kneeled on the bed and looked at Connie excitedly, 'what
with your long blonde hair and fair skin, and me being so dark, we wouldn't arf look good together when we go out. Sorta set each other off, like.'
    Connie's
lips twitched. 'Where did you have in mind?'
    'Well. you weren't gonna stay in this
hole every naight . you ?
Wasn't you thinking of goin out to find some fun?'
She sat back on her haunches. face earnest. 'Listen. most evenings I'm at the Topaz, but I could get you in fer nothing if you wanted. On my nights off we could go
out, to the flicks, a dance, anywhere. How about it. Connie?'
    They
arranged that Connie would go to the Topaz the following Saturday night, Tilly assuring her that she would introduce her to some
'real, nice gents' if that's what she wanted.

 
    As warned,
Connie found working at Jessop's very demanding but, thanks to Sheila, who had
taken her under a protective wing, she coped without getting into a muddle.
Samuel Jessop seemed to drift in and out of the office at unusual times, but
his presence didn't bother her, although occasionally she'd look up to find his
eyes on her. Connie worked directly for Sheila and had little to do with him,
except making the occasional cup of coffee for him. She marvelled that such a
forbidding-looking man could even smile, yet she often heard him laughing with
Sheila in the sanctuary of his own rooms.
    Connie
found the Topaz Club a real eye-opener. Tilly hadn't
been able to be with her for long, but that didn't stop Connie's enjoyment.
    With her
first week's pay, she bought the dress that she'd worn to the club. She'd piled
her hair on top of her head, and felt extremely elegant with the results. Heads
had turned to watch the cool, blonde beauty go by in the streets and more than
one man sighed for a smile from her curved lips. Connie took her beauty for
granted almost and would have been surprised to learn just how many pulses
quickened at the sight of her slender body and long legs.
    A dozen or
more men had asked her to dance during the evening at the Topaz, and one or two
she had really liked the look of, youngish, well-dressed and loaded with money.
    The money
and drink had flowed freely that night and, to her last partner of the evening,
one Philip Dual, Connie had given her telephone number. He had seemed just the
sort of young man of whom a mother would approve. She wasn't like Tilly , merely out for a good time, contented with the
present, oblivious of the future – not Connie. She wanted to love and be loved,
and didn't care a hoot if Tilly called it idealistic
nonsense. Marriage to her meant security and stability and, while not against
having a good time, she knew what she wanted from life. She wanted permanency
and a home, and on meeting Philip Dual, impulsive Connie was already making
plans for the future. There was no reason why she shouldn't be optimistic –
life was rosy. She'd made two good friends who'd filled a need in her
emptiness: Tilly was the mate