Before and After Read Online Free PDF

she deemed to be an adult gift. Hal was fondling his key fob, and Sylvia held her chamois bag and skirt feebly on her lap. (I’d reserved the giving of the tiara for another occasion). Archie held his leather folder far away from him, as if it might detonate at any minute.
    “Now then,” I said, sitting as upright as I could in the sofa, whilst balancing a cup and saucer on my lap, “Isn’t this pleasant. A family tea, how very charming. I was sure Archie that you wouldn’t want to miss this.”
    Archie Amble was subsiding gradually into his chair and I was relieved to see that he was willing to be sweet talked. Most men generally are. I studied his face as I continued my chatter. He was trying to measure me up, as for a coffin, perhaps? Or was it to see if I would fit into his bed? I couldn’t tell yet. His first layer of thoughts were easier to read - disgruntlement of being called away from work for no obvious reason - and yet lurking behind this stratum was a dawning of humour and willingness to be carried along for the ride, which boded well for me.
    There was a tap at the door and Maria entered, bringing more hot toast and some milk. The family had noted her entrance, but didn’t talk to her, so I thanked her and she smiled uncertainly at me. I noted an unwarranted degree of fear in her eyes as she looked at me but put it down to the well-known paranoia of the Eastern Bloc. Then it dawned on Sylvia Amble that Maria was lurking at the door, and that she was wearing a woollen overcoat, complete with a square headscarf tied around her neck.
    “Oh, Maria, is it your night off?” Sylvia asked tentatively.
    Maria nodded and edged towards the door.
    Archie frowned, no doubt already sampling in his mind some of the slimy pasta, or even worse, chewy casserole that Sylvia was about to concoct.
    “In that case,” I said grandly jumping to the rescue, “Hal and Bella will be my sous chefs for the night and I will prepare for you my infamous fish soup.”
    I had of course no intention of doing any such thing and had taken the precaution of booking a table for five at a local restaurant - but - it helps to show willing.
    There was as I had predicted a wail of muted alarm from Bella and Hal, and a murmur of disquiet from Sylvia.
    “Well, if you insist not, then I suggest that we all go out tonight. We’ll meet in the hall at seven.” I gave a deferential smile to Sylvia, implying that we women knew what we were doing when it came to the feeding of a family.
    I settled back on the sofa and idled half an hour away by pretending to look at the make-up that I’d bought for Bella. It gave me a good opportunity to study the family at close range. I could tell that having tea together was a novelty for them. Of course, with me sitting in their midst they were at their most polite but they were all wrapped in their cocoons of foggy unawareness and didn’t talk to each other at all.
    Sylvia sat by the empty fire stroking the buttery soft green skin of the bag. Her head hung low to her chest and she listened, as I did, to the banter of her eldest son and her daughter. She was an attractive woman, although the lost orphan look that she had cultivated was not suitable in anyone over the age of sixteen and over nine stone. Her once fair hair was a faded oatmeal colour and cut in a shoulder length bob. Her clothes had been bought somewhere like Jaeger more than a few years ago, the jumper was snagged and the skirt was baggy, but they still held some style. Her mouth turned down at the corners in a permanently disappointed droop. Her eyes were the clear pale blue of the non reader and non drinker, and were accentuated by the hideous, and dated, blue eye shadow that she had applied this morning with an indifferent hand. An air of gentle defeat sat over her like a cloud. This cloud seemed so real to me that for a moment I could have sworn that I saw small drops of moisture cling to the woollen nape of her jumper and bead her hair like