pouted.
‘Just try to be more lively, okay,’ Malcolm pleaded. ‘Think of all the old people who’ll be watching. We’re teenagers. They expect us to shock them.’
Malcolm returned to his viewfinder and waited to see what effect his words would have. Brows furrowed in concentration, mouths opened and closed with indecision, and the pressure rose to the point where there was danger of nosebleeds. Surprisingly, it was Kevin who finally took the plunge.
‘So, ah, Charlotte,’ he said, reddening at the sound of his own voice and the pregnant silence that followed. ‘Would you like to have sex with me?’
Jaws dropped, carefully held expressions slipped right away. On the other side of the room the sounds of chewing were suspended.
‘Go Kev,’ Brian muttered. Malcolm closed in on Charlotte’s reply, torn between the film-maker’s instinct for action, and his own heartsick desire that she decline.
‘Well actually Kevin, I’m saving myself for someone rather special.’ And with that Charlotte turned again directly to the camera and gave an unmistakable smile. Malcolm felt his throat turn dry and he gulped down a pained lungful of unspeakable excitement. Juliet, whose eye was still firmly on the television prize, took the opportunity to crank the tension up a notch.
‘Actually Charlotte, I wouldn’t bother with Malcolm if I was you. Our attempts at sex haven’t been all that successful.’
How could she say that, there, to everyone? Setting loose his most horrible secret, to mutate and spread with the speed of a virus.
‘You and him?’ Brian’s disbelief was plain. ‘Well fuck me.’
‘Actually Kevin,’ Charlotte paused, while the offering of a tear formed in her eye. Again the table fell silent. For all his devastation, Malcolm had to admit this had the makings of great television. ‘Actually, I think I have changed my mind. Yes, I would be delighted to have sex with you. Right now in fact. Where shall we go?’
‘Here Kev boy,’ Brian offered, digging his hand into his pocket and producing a key. ‘It’s for the caravan. I don’t suppose I’m going to be needing it.’
Charlotte stood and Kevin followed suit, and the two of them walked slowly, nervously, towards the door.
‘How could you do that?’ Malcolm demanded of Juliet. ‘How could you tell everybody?’
‘Think about it Malcolm,’ she replied. ‘Come on, you know what you have to do now?’
‘What?’
‘Take the camera and follow them.’
‘What?’
‘Just do it.’
And perhaps because he was too numb to think it through, or perhaps because instinctively he knew Juliet was right, Malcolm unscrewed the camera from the tripod, checked the battery and prepared for the chase.
‘Looks like it’s just you and me now,’ he heard Brian tell Juliet, as he slung the camera bag over his shoulder.
‘Yes,’ came her reply. ‘But that isn’t a reason.’
Bystanding
It wasn’t reason that compelled Malcolm and his camera to pursue the unlikely couple. Malcolm was a great believer in reason, of course, but he also understood that reason only takes you so far. It may have been reason that designed the first flying machines, but it took something beyond reason to test them: the same something that now coursed through Malcolm’s veins as he struggled to keep his prey in sight.
In part it was the urge of the wildlife documentary maker, intent on capturing the vital moment on film. In part it was curiosity too, a chance to look and learn. And then there was that inexplicable human addiction to pain. If this really was going to happen, that worst thing imaginable, if Charlotte really was going to allow herself to be swept along by another’s wave, then Malcolm would watch it. Watch it, record it, play it again, a thousand times over, until the pain quit the body through pure exhaustion.
Luckily for Malcolm he had a fair idea where the two of them were headed. Once again his research was proving invaluable. Things hadn’t
‘Just try to be more lively, okay,’ Malcolm pleaded. ‘Think of all the old people who’ll be watching. We’re teenagers. They expect us to shock them.’
Malcolm returned to his viewfinder and waited to see what effect his words would have. Brows furrowed in concentration, mouths opened and closed with indecision, and the pressure rose to the point where there was danger of nosebleeds. Surprisingly, it was Kevin who finally took the plunge.
‘So, ah, Charlotte,’ he said, reddening at the sound of his own voice and the pregnant silence that followed. ‘Would you like to have sex with me?’
Jaws dropped, carefully held expressions slipped right away. On the other side of the room the sounds of chewing were suspended.
‘Go Kev,’ Brian muttered. Malcolm closed in on Charlotte’s reply, torn between the film-maker’s instinct for action, and his own heartsick desire that she decline.
‘Well actually Kevin, I’m saving myself for someone rather special.’ And with that Charlotte turned again directly to the camera and gave an unmistakable smile. Malcolm felt his throat turn dry and he gulped down a pained lungful of unspeakable excitement. Juliet, whose eye was still firmly on the television prize, took the opportunity to crank the tension up a notch.
‘Actually Charlotte, I wouldn’t bother with Malcolm if I was you. Our attempts at sex haven’t been all that successful.’
How could she say that, there, to everyone? Setting loose his most horrible secret, to mutate and spread with the speed of a virus.
‘You and him?’ Brian’s disbelief was plain. ‘Well fuck me.’
‘Actually Kevin,’ Charlotte paused, while the offering of a tear formed in her eye. Again the table fell silent. For all his devastation, Malcolm had to admit this had the makings of great television. ‘Actually, I think I have changed my mind. Yes, I would be delighted to have sex with you. Right now in fact. Where shall we go?’
‘Here Kev boy,’ Brian offered, digging his hand into his pocket and producing a key. ‘It’s for the caravan. I don’t suppose I’m going to be needing it.’
Charlotte stood and Kevin followed suit, and the two of them walked slowly, nervously, towards the door.
‘How could you do that?’ Malcolm demanded of Juliet. ‘How could you tell everybody?’
‘Think about it Malcolm,’ she replied. ‘Come on, you know what you have to do now?’
‘What?’
‘Take the camera and follow them.’
‘What?’
‘Just do it.’
And perhaps because he was too numb to think it through, or perhaps because instinctively he knew Juliet was right, Malcolm unscrewed the camera from the tripod, checked the battery and prepared for the chase.
‘Looks like it’s just you and me now,’ he heard Brian tell Juliet, as he slung the camera bag over his shoulder.
‘Yes,’ came her reply. ‘But that isn’t a reason.’
Bystanding
It wasn’t reason that compelled Malcolm and his camera to pursue the unlikely couple. Malcolm was a great believer in reason, of course, but he also understood that reason only takes you so far. It may have been reason that designed the first flying machines, but it took something beyond reason to test them: the same something that now coursed through Malcolm’s veins as he struggled to keep his prey in sight.
In part it was the urge of the wildlife documentary maker, intent on capturing the vital moment on film. In part it was curiosity too, a chance to look and learn. And then there was that inexplicable human addiction to pain. If this really was going to happen, that worst thing imaginable, if Charlotte really was going to allow herself to be swept along by another’s wave, then Malcolm would watch it. Watch it, record it, play it again, a thousand times over, until the pain quit the body through pure exhaustion.
Luckily for Malcolm he had a fair idea where the two of them were headed. Once again his research was proving invaluable. Things hadn’t
Similar Books
