Candy Read Online Free PDF Page B

middle-class innocence as had even been in Halfway House; the maître d’hôtel came forward with a flourish and secured them a choice table.
    “What about a bite to eat, as well, girls?” asked Uncle Jack, genially looking over the menu while the waiter hovered at hand.
    “Yes, a bit of giant Male Organ—piping hot!” quipped Liv, scrutinizing the menu with a frown.
    “Now, Liv,” said Uncle Jack, laying down his menu gently, “you will go too far.”
    “Who’s talking about ‘go’?” demanded Liv. “The girls want to come! Am I right, Can?”
    Candy blushed crimson, and Uncle Jack sighed and shrugged a look of bemused patience at the waiter, who, though fidgeting about, managed to smile uneasily.
    “Oh bother,” said Liv, flinging down her menu, “I’ll just have a drink. Drink now, organ later!”
    “Right,” said Jack, “three martinis, please. Rather dry.”
    “Well,” he continued when the waiter had left, looking casually about the crowded room, “nice gathering today at Halfway House. Have you been here before, Candy? Rather cleverly appointed, I think, for this sort of thing, eh? Do you like it at all?”
    “Oh yes,” the girl began, “I think it’s—”
    “Sometimes I think I can almost come by just looking at something!” exclaimed Liv in sudden good spirits. “That knife and spoon, for instance. Why, I’ve only to give my clit a tiny flick right now and I’d be sopping!”
    “I wish you wouldn’t, Liv,” said Uncle Jack, speaking plainly.
    “Well, it isn’t too likely, is it?” asked his wife, looking at him in wonder. “I mean how on earth could I? Oh, I suppose I could pretend to drop something in my lap, and then—”
    “I mean to say,” said Uncle Jack deliberately, “that I wish you wouldn’t talk in that way—”
    “I’m going to keep a little clothespin on my clit and then I can pinch it if I want!” said Liv, and she burst out laughing. “Did you ever think of doing that, Can?”
    “N-O,” said Candy, “spells no!” It annoyed and confused her for Aunt Livia to talk this way, and she sympathized greatly with her Uncle Jack’s having to endure it. Fortunately the awkward tension was broken at that moment by the appearance of a well-dressed elderly couple entering the door.
    “I say,” said Uncle Jack, brightening suddenly, “isn’t that Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kingsley who’ve just come in—yes, of course it is! I wonder if they wouldn’t join us for a drink,” and so saying he rose and caught the matronly lady’s eye, and they exchanged hearty salutations.
    “Jack Christian!” said Mrs. Kingsley, coming over to him. “How delicious to see you!” and she allowed herself to be seated. “And Livia, too! How are you, my dear!”
    Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley were extremely proper, if one may judge by appearances and deportment, and while Mr. Christian and Mr. Kingsley remained standing for the moment, waiting for additional chairs to be brought, they were introduced to Candy, and Mr. Christian was able to caution his wife in a whisper: “Best behavior, dear. You know what this account means to us!” But it would seem, for the moment at least, that Uncle Jack’s apprehensions on this point were unfounded, because Liv’s mood had changed quite abruptly; and after the two gentlemen were seated, and all had fresh drinks, conversation became pleasant and general, finally turning to art, and at last to the drama of stage and cinema.
    “How very interesting!” Liv was saying after Mr. Kingsley had expressed his serious regret that so little of “real worth” was being done in the new medium of television. “For, as a matter of fact,” she continued, “a friend of mine is toying just now with a thing which could develop into something really top-drawer—if he can find the capital to back it. Perhaps you’d be interested in hearing a little about it, Mr. Kingsley.” She paused then to delve in her purse and extract a couple of folded