Semua Bab Mastering Charlotte: Bab 281 - Bab 290

The police station stinks of second-hand booze and disinfectant. A couple of drunks are hauled away in handcuffs while a woman in an overall mops up what they just deposited on the tiled floor. In the waiting area, a man in a three-piece-suit flicks through notes and files, checking his watch impatiently. A girl with cheap clothes and a black-eye tries to control the screaming baby she looks barely old enough to call her own.Thin-faced and with pale flat eyes and nondescript sandy hair, the police officer looks bored and pissed off.Natalie is bored and pissed off."When can I go? I've got a living to earn you know.""Don't we all, Natalie. You know the routine." The police officer picks up a clipboard, riffling through the pages. "You can go when we've settled this, not before." He finds the sheet he is looking for, pins it open with an elastic band, then sits, pencil poised. "He says you stole his wallet."The girl slumps in her seat, pouting. "Did not.""He says you did

Charlotte works her way through the public bathrooms on the third floor.Wheeling her trolley of cloths and wipes and cleaners into the men's washroom, she wipes and polishes the basins, sprays, disinfects and polishes WC's and urinals.The door from the corridor swings open, a man stepping into."Oh, excuse me." Charlotte makes to leave.He waves her off. "Oh, don't worry, Honey. It doesn't bother me." And he proceeds to unzip and use the nearest urinal.Face flaming, Charlotte steps out.It bothers me....And as she waits in the corridor, she sees the woman again, entering the bar. She slips something to the barman....Money?.... then takes her seat again.'Urinal man' exits the washroom and saunters off, and Charlotte resumes her cleaning.When she comes out again, the woman is still there, smoothing back her hair and delivering a skilled eye-fucking to a fat, elderly man wearing a chunky gold chain at his neck and a trendy designer jacket too young, and for t

KlempnerHer face twists...."You still don't want to believe me? She was very good at her job. Good enough that, at first, we didn't realise she was a professional. We thought she was just being.... friendly. And I'll admit, when I set eyes on her, I thought she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen...."..... Mitch's daughter....Blondie's knuckles on her shoulder whiten. ".... So did Frank. We took a room for the night and.... well, you know the script from there. You've had two guys together often enough I'm sure...."Her face sets. "So, what then?""She was fun to be with. Not just a good fuck, but actually good company. We both liked her. And she seemed to like us.... Really like us I mean, rather than just pretend to because that's part of the job description. In the morning, we took her number, and later, we called her back. It went from there. We'd meet up with her a couple of nights a week. It became regular. And then.…"Blondie breaks in, his voice low. "A

James"So how did it go?"Michael prises the cap off a beer bottle on the edge of the table then gulps down from the neck before wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "It was.... surreal."I'm up and about and able to walk now, at the level of using the bathroom without the intervention of a nurse. Nonetheless, Michael's return is an excuse for me to climb back into bed, take the weight from my aching leg and draw a surreptitious sigh, which he pretends not to notice.And I'm happy enough to be here. Back in the beach house, the environment is soothing and convinces me to sleep more than I could have done in the renovation/building site which is our mountain home, even were we able to return there.I prop myself up against the pillows and Michael reaches around, rearranging them for me. When I'm settled comfortably, "Go on. I'm listening.""Cutting a long story short, Klempner admitted to murdering Charlotte's father, seemed to have some kind of crisis over her looking

JamesAs we leave, Richard murmurs, "Keep your face straight.""You might have warned me....""What? That you were my ace-in-a-hole?" Despite his advice, Richard's mouth is twitching. "Not a chance. It worked out so much better that you were surprised when he finally realised who you are."I glance over my shoulder to see that we are safely out of range, then stop and turn to face him. "Richard, who am I? I'm an architect. A good architect granted, but...."He lays a hand on my shoulder. "You, my friend, are the architect who will have changed the face of the City. Not many can make that claim. Your immortality is going to be standing as evidence around us for generations to come."It's an interesting thought."I never expected to be famous."He rocks a hand back and forth. "Perhaps not with the Common Man, but I looked through those Get-Well cards at the hospital. Did you?""Er, no.""You should. I asked Michael to keep them for when you left the hospital; for when