A Night at the Orchid II

He walked slowly over to the revolving bar and eased himself onto one of the chrome and red leather seats, he swivelled in to face the bar and caught the eye of a bartender who moved quickly towards him, ‘Usual Sir?’ The man nodded and took out a slim gold cigarette case which he opened, glancing around at the other occupants of the bar as he did so. The usual Saturday night crowd he thought as he reached into his pocket to replace the case, taking out a gold Dunhill lighter from its custom made pocket in the jacket of the suit. He lit his cigarette and blew the smoke upwards as the barman returned with his  tonic water, the ice clinking in the tall glass as he placed it on the bar in front of him andtaking the ten shilling note offered. ‘That’s ok’ said the man, ‘keep it,’ the barman was not surprised by the man’s generosity, he always tipped well and as a consequence was never,  kept waiting when when the bar became busier later on. The man swung around on his seat and surveyed the dance hall confirming his earlier thought that it was the usual crowd. It was amazing how many people were creatures of habit when it came to the ritual mating ground of a Mecca ballroom, same place, same time, same faces. Two girls walked past him and one flashed him a wide smile, he recognised her as being typical of the female hunting packs that normally came in two’s, the one who smiled having a pretty face framed by dark hair that was swept into large flick ups out of which peeped large black Panda eyes. He acknowledged the smile and watched the two of them suanter past in that free and easy loose limbed way that long legged girls have, when most of the legs are on show.

The girl who smiled looked back and a small frown crossed her  face, the man was not looking at her and she was more than well aware that she looked just as good from the back as the front, he was not going to be a push over she thought as she started to size up the competition of other girls on the same quest as she was. It was not that the man was disinterested in the girl who had smiled at him, but he had a feeling about tonight, that tickle of excitement that came with the realisation that he was a player and it was all out there. He finished his drink and started to make a slow circuit of the dance hall, many of the faces he saw were familier to him as he had moved around the dance floor with more than a few of the girls that looked up at him as he strolled past. One of these jumped up as he passed by and slipped her arm in his, he looked down and gave her a little peck on the cheek as they continued together for a few moments more before he politely disengaged himself to leave her to walk back to her seat and her chattering friends.

As the man continued walking around, the pace of the atmosphere picked as the Resident band, ‘Ray McVay and his Band of the Day’ swung into view and the dance floor got busier as patrons responded to the music. The bars continued to serve pints of Red Barrel and Double Diamond while the more complicated drinks such as Snowballs and Pimms were served with less grace and cheer by the overworked bar staff. The hunt continued as both sexes trod Mecca’s  well worn path to a lifetimes bliss or a sort, sharp sentence of married warfare, others were just looking for a quick knee trembler after the dance or a session of passion up on Blacksmiths Common as the windows misted up and the bench seat really came into it’s own. The ever present bouncers in their uniform of Black tie, cauliflower ears, scars and conceled knuckle dusters, patrolled around but were rarely disturbed at the Orchid it seemed to attract a better class of thug and layabouts than say, Hammersmith Palais which was the First Division in the Bouncers league and where it was rumored that the Parachute Regiment sent their trooper’s after training to toughen them up before active service.

As the man walked past the bottom of the staircase leading into the dance hall he turned into the direction of the bar and almost collided with a woman who was crossing to his left. He looked down into a pair of blue eyes and judged the woman to be in her early forties, high cheekbones complimented her mature looks and she carried more make up than the younger women that populated the ballroom  but on her it was done to advantage. She wore a black dress accentuating her full figure that was nipped at the waist and the man suspected an interesting undergarment in place which also held up her sheer nylon stockings which drew his eyes down to high heeled black patent court shoes. All of this flashed through his mind in about three seconds as he reached the decision that he wanted to get to know her….better.

He apologised for nearly bumping into her and asked her if she was heading in the direction he was going, pointing towards the bar, she laughed and nodded her head as they walked over together. All the time he was scanning the place seeing if anyone was taking a more than keen interest in the pair of them, he had run across women before who got off on the idea of two men scrapping over them and who had someone waiting in the wings to make a challange. He helped her onto her high seat at the bar and asked what she was drinking, the barman was already standing in place having seen the man approach the bar. She asked for a Gin and tonic and the man indicated with two fingers that it should be a large one and he offered her a cigarette which see took. As his lighter snapped shut she took the cigarette from her lips and let the smoke curl lazily up her face, raising her head slightly to look at him through half closed  eyes, her long black mascarad lashes laying heavy under her lids. They swopped small talk for a while and then she asked him, ‘Do you?’ raising a quizzical eyebrow, ‘Do I what’ he replied, ‘Dance of course’ she said and then  laughed again, it was a nice laugh, open and honest and the man felt suddenly uplifted as if he could see how the evening could end and even if it ended in a different way she was very good to be with. They walked out onto the dance floor halway through a lively rendition of a popular song and stood apart while swaying to and fro in time to the music, the man leaning foreward occasionally to say something to her and to hear her reply. As the dance finished the lights on the dance floor dimmed and the band moved into a slow number. She looked  at him and the eyebrow went up again as a little smile played on her lips. The man opened his arms and she moved forward into him as a hand moves into a familier glove, taking up the classic slow dance position. They were quite content to move slowly around the floor without any formal footwork, they were just enjoying being close to each other. As the slow dance progressed she pressed closer into him, he did not yield but reciprocated just a touch but the touch was in exactly the right place. Almost as one they both moved their arms, she lifted hers so that her hands were clasped around his neck and he circled her waist with his, she nestled even closer and he buried his face in her hair as the dance hall, the music and the people melted away until all he was aware of was her perfume, her warmth and the blood coursing through him.

The night at the Orchid drew to a close and saw them sitting on one of the overstuffed sofas in a quite corner of the dance hall, She was leaning back into his shoulder and they sat, not talking, just holding hands as thoughts raced through their minds. She stirred and turned to look at him, tears were forming in her eyes  but not a sound passed her lips, It was if she was crying in slow motion. He straightened up and took her face in his hands and,kissing her gently on the lips, handed her a crisp, white folded handkerchief. She took it and said, ‘Thanks, I’ll be careful not to get eye make up or lipstick on it, you know, your wife,’ ‘No such person’ he said, ‘dab away, it’ll be between you, me and the laundry.’ She laughed again and then stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. ‘Yes’ she said in a small voice, ‘there is a husband at home’.

‘OK’ he said briskly, standing up, ‘would you like me to run you close to home, don’t want the neighbours getting the wrong idea’.

As they got into the Zodiac, she slid along the white leather bench seat and sat slose to him, their legs touching, he engaged the automatic transmission and switched the radio on so that Luxembourg was playing softly in the background. As they drove towards Banstead the full story came out. The man was in no way upset by the revelation that she was married, nor was he surprised, women like her were made for a man’s arm but he was no marriage wrecker, he had seen to much of the hurt and devestation that can be caused when someone strays and bends vows to breaking point. As she spoke the man kept stealing small glances at her, it was almost as if she was on autopilot, her voice sounded like an automaton as she unburdened hersellf to the man who gently lowered the speed of the car to give her as much time as she wanted and needed. She told him of the her husband who was an airline pilot for BOAC, they had tried for children but with no success, lavishing their money on  a big house in Banstead with a paddock and stables. They had a large circle of friends which melted away after her husband suffered a fall from a horse six months ago which crippled him and had left him with a life of pain and the confines of a wheelchair. Her women ‘friends’ had then seen her as a threat to their relationships with their own hausbands and had joined ranks to snub her.

Her husband had relatives in South Africa who had offered to buy them a place with the proceeds of the house in Banstead and help to look after him, she agreed as there was nothing to keep her in England. But before she went, there was something she needed to prove to herself, she was in no doubt of her looks and prescence but could she still attract a man? It may sound vain she said but I really needed to know, this said as she directed the man to turn down a dark lane. ‘He will be in bed, he goes to bed early every night, I administer the drugs and pain killers and bed him down each night, don’t think bad of me because I left him alone, he knows I’ve gone out and why, he understands, we still love each other but I just had to’…..her voice faltered and her eyes glistened. The man drove through two open gates and stopped under an open garage at the side of a large house which was more sensed than seen as no lights were visible inside. He switched of the engine and doused the lights of the car. He turned towards the woman and embraced her, their mouths searching for each other, their breaths coming in ragged gasps as she slipped the fur coat away from the front of her dress. ‘I don’t want it to end like this,’ she said, ‘not here, not in the car, If I could have written a script for tonight it could not have been better but there is still one mere scene to be played out’ she said as she opened the car  door and raised her eyebrow again as a little smile played about her lips.

Author: oldmovieguy

Another Boomer who wishes he had the stamina of youth to go with the cash of age. Fond of pricking the hot air balloons of pomposity and cutting little dictaors down to size. View all posts by oldmovieguy