03. Michaela

It’s way past 5 o’clock. It took him a bit of time to cut the mattress into pieces small enough to get rid off without raising suspicions.
He also cleaned the wall and shampooed the carpet. He didn’t do it thoroughly enough to fool SOC; or his mother for that matter in case either of them ever came around. It’s should be good enough for just about anyone else though.

“Bet she finds all this ‘oh so funny’, knowing I’d be spending my day on my hands and knees cleaning up her mess.” He knows he’s not one of the tidiest persons and cleaning is not his ‘thing’.

Enough of this, time for a quick break, try and relax before he has to go out. Sitting on the couch he turns on the TV, just in time for the 6 o’clock news. He tries to stop his hand shaking as he watches the news intro. It’s no real surprise that Mrs Garnier is news item of the day. He expected her to be. He is tempted to change the channel, watch the Simpson’s maybe. He can’t! He needs to know as much as possible about her but he’s getting really worried about this. This is not just a random woman and if someone saw them together they might recognise him. He needs to search for the missing night.

First port of call of the search is the Victoria, the pub round the corner from his house. It’s a typical old English pub, a rectangular space with a wooden floor, wooden panels and a bar with brass fittings in the centre of the long wall.
It has two rooms on the first floor, decorated with old armchairs and chairs giving it an air of creativity. He sometimes likes to go there and have a quiet pint sitting in one of the armchairs upstairs. He usually goes in there to be by himself. He can be pretentious, it’s true; and he has a flair for the dramatic.

He never expected to find anything there. The nights he goes there are usually not long. He goes because he doesn’t want to drink alone but he rarely talks to anyone, except to order. The staff know his face and that’s just about it. He ordered a pint of ale but instead of going upstairs this time, he decided to sit at the bar downstairs. See if anyone recognised him.

By the time he finished his pint he was almost sure no one was paying any attention to him. Either he wasn’t there last night or he was too quiet. No clues here and probably nothing to worry about.

Next stop is that nice trendy bar on Dering Street near Oxford Circus, The Loop. He never liked the name but the place was ok. A black baroque-ish décor but it had some quiet corners to hide and have a private discussion. Well, try and have a discussion. Music was a bit too Top of the Popsy.
This place is frequented by, what would be described as the City ‘professionals’. Mainly young people with junior and middle management positions in the various firms around London, whether in the financial, retail or any other sector of industry and commerce.
The main common factor is the relatively young age, the fact that they are usually single and almost always at the start of a ‘promising’ career in their respective chosen field. The idea of work hard, play harder was almost burned onto their psyche.

The above description fits him to the tee, though he is currently 'between' jobs but that is not the reason he came to The Loop. Actually he doesn’t really like the place. The décor is nice but far from original and the people there can be annoying. Play hard is one thing but when you start throwing your toys out of the pram you get irritating.

The main reason he went to this bar were the women. Most were good looking, well dressed, liked to have fun and of course played hard. There was also Michaela, who usually worked at the bar.

He met Michaela one night when he came in for a drink after a particular bad day at work. He needed a drink that night and wanted some mindless noise to keep it company. He went straight downstairs, walked up to the bar, sat down on a stool and ordered a beer. She kept him company all through the night and laughed as more and more women kept coming in to order from his side of the bar. He pretended he was embarrassed. He got slightly drunk and a lot more flirty. As the night was drawing to a close she asked him to wait for her outside. He did and they ended up spending the night at her small apartment near Tottenham Court. In the morning she was a bit self-conscious, she explained that she was a lesbian that sometimes went straight when she was drunk. He promised to behave himself next time.

He got to know her more as he would come by often enough for them to take a light interest in each other but his relationship with Michaela remained, from that night onwards, always that of a bartender and her customer. Besides he knew for a fact that her interest in lovers was similar to his, normally brunettes but an occasional blonde to keep the variety going.
It was nearly eight as he walked in and headed straight for the bar. Propping himself up on a stool he smiled as Michaela moved towards him.
-“Hey D!” she returned his smile.“How you doing? What can I get you?”
-“Hiya, Mik. I’m doing ok I guess, same old, same old. Can I have a Corona?”
-“Sure thing. So where have you been? I haven’t seen you lately.”

He wasn’t here last night then. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried or relieved by these news.
If he wasn’t here then were the hell did he go to last night? London is a big city and the last thing he wanted, was to spend days trying to figure out where he’d been.
On the other hand people knew him in here and Michaela is very, very observant when she wants to.
-“So, do I get to find out where you’ve been? What was so important that kept you away from your favourite barwoman? Is everything ok?”
-“All is well, Mik. I have been a bit busy lately and… no, don’t look at me like that! It wasn’t that kind of busy! Nothing as fun as that; just work and stuff.”
-“Ok… I’ll pretend I believe you!”
-“Thanks! Tell me. Did I miss anything while I was kept away from your charming company?”
-“Not much really, a fight a couple of nights ago but other than that…” she suddenly looked up at him.
-“Oh wait, I remembered something!” She was visibly excited.
-“Hey, you know that woman that’s been on the news? The wife of that TV presenter? I think I saw her last night walking down the road when I went out for a cigarette!”
-“Really, Mik? You’re sure about that? I mean are you sure it was her?” He tried to look as calm as he could but he could feel his voice almost cracking from the adrenaline flowing through his body.
-“D! I’m positive! You know I’m good with faces and she also had a killer body, especially in that short dress.”
-“You remember what she was wearing? What am I saying? Of course you do. You probably know what underwear she had on, honestly Mik sometimes I think you are worse than some guys I know, mentally undressing women!” He tried to joke, more for his benefits that Michaela’s.
-“Haha, can’t resist the temptation. Anyway, yes as a matter of fact I do remember what she was wearing. She had a blue dress with a sort of flowery, 60’s sort of pattern. Cute! She also had a light blue pasmina across her shoulders.” She smiled impishly.
-“And her underwear looked expensive by the way!”