Read The Exciting Life for Free Online Page A

in
London and Annie thought they could spend some time together by
having a meal and a catch up. She’d even chosen Alexander’s in
Leicester Square to suit his tastes. It was a rather austere place
that hadn’t seemed to move on from the war. The décor was basic and
the menu consisted of traditional English foods – nothing French or
Italian, which was increasingly the fashionable thing to go for.
Annie found the rabbit stew she’d ordered quite revolting, and it
was made even more unpalatable by looking at Kenneth in a
sulk.
    ‘ Do you realise how many people we could have housed in that
hotel?’ he finally said, pushing his plate away. Although Annie
couldn’t blame him – the haddock pie he’d ordered looked
horrendous. It was shame that Kenneth was always so angry. He was
such a handsome man. He was much fairer than Annie. His hair was
dark blonde, his eyes blue. As children, whenever they’d met
strangers, people would presume Kenneth was Nesta’s son. He had the
same fair hair and high cheekbones. When Annie was a teenager, she
would bring friends home from school for the holidays, and they
would often do all they could to get Kenneth’s attention, or blush
whenever he spoke to them. But it would go totally un-noticed. Now
as a grown man, women would look at him, but as far as Annie knew,
he’d kept his vow of chastity – even though he wasn’t a priest; and
she presumed that at twenty-seven, he was still a virgin. Maybe if
he had some sex, he’d calm down a bit.
    ‘ Aunt Alice gave the place to me,’ she sighed. ‘I can’t rely on
Bruno’s forever. We’re getting visits from Maltese gangsters on a
daily basis, all wanting to take it over. It’s only a matter of
time before someone does us some damage.’
    ‘ If you sold to Tanner Beresford, you’d have enough money to
set yourself up somewhere else.’
    ‘ I don’t want to set myself up somewhere else! You don’t have
to take over the world Kenneth. I know there are lots of people out
there needing homes and it’s very commendable you want to help each
and every one of them. But there are also people out there earning
money, who want nice shoes, and I want to make them for
them.’
    ‘ But what are you going to do if it doesn’t work out? You’ve
had Uncle Michael’s trust fund all in one go. You’ll have no money
left.’
    ‘ Well I’ll just have to go on the game won’t I?’ Annie
snapped.
    She
spotted something out the corner of her eye – a familiar head of
blonde hair. She looked up and found Iris walking towards her.
Annie groaned inwardly. As much as she tried to like Iris, and
indeed she still intended to keep her promise and take her on as a
model when Holland’s opened, she was beginning to get sick of her.
She was always around. Now that she and Patrick were an item, she
was always at Bruno’s, and having to stand back and watch them
smooching, the insane jealousy Annie felt would make her hate
herself for being petty.
    ‘ Hello Iris,’ she smiled, as she came closer to the table.
She’d changed since that first night in the club. That long, tarty,
platinum hair had been cut to chin-length and set in a wave. Her
make-up was more subtle and Patrick had obviously bought her a lot
of smart shift dresses. She actually looked like a lady
now.
    ‘ I was just passing by and I spotted you. I thought I’d come in
and say hello.’
    ‘ Iris, this is my brother Kenneth,’ Annie said. ‘Kenneth, this
is Iris Lindholm. She’s going to be one of my models.’
    ‘ Pleased to meet you Miss Lindholm,’ Kenneth said, briefly
shaking her hand. ‘Won’t you please join us?’
    Without
hesitation, Iris pulled out a chair and sat down. In a way, Annie
was glad of the distraction. At least it would put a stop to
Kenneth’s lecturing.
    ‘ Have you been shopping?’ she asked, noticing Iris had a
carrier bag from Dickens and Jones.
    ‘ Yes. Patrick’s taking me to L’Escargot tomorrow night, so I
thought I’d better buy