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he’d see Johnny later.
    ‘Where’d you find him, Johnny? He’s a good-lookin’ kid.’
    Johnny was checking the accounts. As usual, Alex had done them in meticulous detail and he wasn’t ripping Johnny off, which made a change. ‘Never mind the kid, get yerself dolled up, Dora, and sharpish, I got a party of Yanks comin’ in ternight.’
    He splashed cologne on his face and straightened his tie, and she threw off her gown and walked into the bathroom. She could see there was no point talking to him any more now, it was back to business. She ran water into the cracked washbasin and sighed; she wished Johnny didn’t make her work every night.
    ‘I’m off, sweetheart, clean yerself up, ta-ra!’
    Dora stared at her lovely face in the fly-specked mirror, then rinsed out the face cloth and washed herself.
    She was dressed up to the nines when she went to the basement club in Hackney. The place had been really smartened up, not like most of Johnny’s dives. This one had had real money spent on it, and there were quite a few punters already coming into the small bar. She saw Alex again, and smiled, asked if he’d like to join her for a drink before business started. He said he couldn’t, he had to go and collect from one of the other places.
    ‘Another time then, okay?’ Somewhere in the recesses of her mind she had a vague idea that she knew him from somewhere, but she forgot about it as the air-raid sirens sounded and the lights dimmed. They all waited to see if they would have to go to the shelter, but the all clear sounded quickly and the partying began.
    Alex made the rounds. Everything Johnny was involved in was makeshift, all his properties were derelict, even the small office was a temporary affair. He lived in a small bedsitter next to the office. After his daily collections, Alex would go to Johnny’s office and work on the accounts. He had his own key and came and went as he chose. One afternoon he had just closed the door when he heard a voice from the bedroom. ‘That you, Johnny?’
    Alex flushed as Dora appeared, wearing only a bra and panties. She was smoking as usual, and her hair was hanging loose like Veronica Lake’s. She looked around for an ashtray and Alex dived across the room to hand her one.
    ‘Well, ain’t you the gent, thanks. Why don’t you come an’ sit with me, it’s hours before I gotta work. Come on, you ain’t shy, are you?’ She smiled at him, puzzled. ‘I know you from somewhere, an’ I just can’t put me finger on it. You ever met me before?’
    Alex knew exactly who she was, but he shook his head. She got up from the bed and came over to him, standing there in her brief underwear with her hands on her hips. She had the palest skin, unblemished, pink, and he wanted to touch it. But he kept his eyes lowered, staring at the tips of his polished, two-tone shoes. She started to laugh, but he wouldn’t look up, and suddenly she sat on his knee, simply sat down astride him, and held his face. ‘I’ve been wanting to do this since the first time I saw you.’
    She cupped his face in both hands and kissed him, lightly and swiftly, and it took his breath away. He could smell her perfume and face powder. ‘Why don’t we move three paces across the room to the bed?’ she said.
    Alex could hardly form the words, he coughed and said something about Johnny – what if he was to walk in? Dora hopped off his knee and locked the door. She strolled over to the bed and unhooked her bra. Standing with her back to him, she tossed it aside and lay on the bed, lifting her arms to him invitingly.
    ‘I can’t, I can’t.’ He went to the door and reached for the lock, but instead he flipped off the light and stood in the dark waiting until he could make out her shape clearly.
    ‘I’ve never been with a woman, Dora, I don’t know what to do.’
    Dora took his hand and began to undress him. He moaned, but he didn’t know what to do with his hands, they hung at his sides. She