ran a combing finger through her dark, glossy hair. She hankered after slightly bigger breasts, if she had to be honest, but that was perhaps being a bit too picky. She smiled at her reflection. As Mary Poppins said, practically perfect in every way…
Katherine had always been aware of her looks, ever since she was a kid at school, and she found she had an early talent for playing the opposite sex like they were toys laid on for her amusement. Precocious, a teacher had once said. Forward, said another, older than her years. Better watch her with the boys, one had joked, perhaps a disguised warning to her parents.
She soon learned she could hide behind her prettiness – how could such a sweet thing do something like pour a full pot of paint over a fellow pupil’s head? She hasn’t got a cruel bone in her body. Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Saint Katherine.
She smoothed down her dress, hands sliding into the hollows of her waist, out across the mound of her ample hips, down to her thighs.
Practically perfect.
But in spite of her aching beauty, the army of men willing to fall at her feet at her merest command, love had been hard to find. It worried her for a time that love was a game in which she got enjoyment only in breaking other people’s hearts, treating them as something disposable like plastic bags, which once they were emptied of their contents, could be trashed like so much rubbish. And she’d worked her way through a lot of plastic bags, wondering why, at the end of the day, she felt desperately lonely and unfulfilled.
Lonely till she met him. Till she met Felix – the most beautiful man she had ever seen. For the first time she knew what it felt like to experience love, not to use and abuse it. They were soul mates, if such a thing exists; shared so many things it could only have been Fate that threw her into his path. Because, for one so beautiful, he too had that same cruel streak running through him. Not with her. Never with her. But when she saw how he used his looks, his unresistingly believable charm as emotional weapons to get what he wanted she knew she had found her Mr Right. Together they laughed at the pitiable vulnerability of others, at their weaknesses, at how gloriously easy it was to eat and spit them out. He jokingly called her the Bonnie to his Clyde . United in their robbing others of their love and the murdering of their delicate emotions.
Felix would be home soon, she thought excitedly. He could still do that to her, get her excited, even after four years together; get her all worked up, like a schoolgirl. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
Yes, she thought, cocking her head at the mirror; together they were practically perfect in every way
It was an anxious time for Laura. She found she could not sit still, kept gliding to the window to stare out even though she knew he wouldn’t be back from the hospital yet with the results of his tests. Casper had phoned once that morning to say his appointment had been delayed by an hour or so but he’d come though to Devereux Towers just as soon as he could. He told her again not to worry, everything would be alright. But that was like telling the rain to stop falling; worrying came naturally to Laura Leach.
She attempted to fix herself something to eat but couldn’t manage the sandwich she made. It sat on the plate with scarce a bite taken from it. Finally she heard the sound of his car crunching to a halt on the gravel out front, and with her nerves ripped almost to shreds Laura all but ran to the door, swinging it open as Casper turned from locking the car door. He looked at her, his face pale, serious, troubled.
‘ Casper , what’s wrong? What did the consultant have to say?’ she said, going to his side and linking her arm through his. She led him inside. He felt disconcertingly heavy against her, like he needed to be physically supported.
‘How about a cup of tea, eh, Laura?’ he said, managing a thin smile
Katherine had always been aware of her looks, ever since she was a kid at school, and she found she had an early talent for playing the opposite sex like they were toys laid on for her amusement. Precocious, a teacher had once said. Forward, said another, older than her years. Better watch her with the boys, one had joked, perhaps a disguised warning to her parents.
She soon learned she could hide behind her prettiness – how could such a sweet thing do something like pour a full pot of paint over a fellow pupil’s head? She hasn’t got a cruel bone in her body. Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Saint Katherine.
She smoothed down her dress, hands sliding into the hollows of her waist, out across the mound of her ample hips, down to her thighs.
Practically perfect.
But in spite of her aching beauty, the army of men willing to fall at her feet at her merest command, love had been hard to find. It worried her for a time that love was a game in which she got enjoyment only in breaking other people’s hearts, treating them as something disposable like plastic bags, which once they were emptied of their contents, could be trashed like so much rubbish. And she’d worked her way through a lot of plastic bags, wondering why, at the end of the day, she felt desperately lonely and unfulfilled.
Lonely till she met him. Till she met Felix – the most beautiful man she had ever seen. For the first time she knew what it felt like to experience love, not to use and abuse it. They were soul mates, if such a thing exists; shared so many things it could only have been Fate that threw her into his path. Because, for one so beautiful, he too had that same cruel streak running through him. Not with her. Never with her. But when she saw how he used his looks, his unresistingly believable charm as emotional weapons to get what he wanted she knew she had found her Mr Right. Together they laughed at the pitiable vulnerability of others, at their weaknesses, at how gloriously easy it was to eat and spit them out. He jokingly called her the Bonnie to his Clyde . United in their robbing others of their love and the murdering of their delicate emotions.
Felix would be home soon, she thought excitedly. He could still do that to her, get her excited, even after four years together; get her all worked up, like a schoolgirl. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
Yes, she thought, cocking her head at the mirror; together they were practically perfect in every way
It was an anxious time for Laura. She found she could not sit still, kept gliding to the window to stare out even though she knew he wouldn’t be back from the hospital yet with the results of his tests. Casper had phoned once that morning to say his appointment had been delayed by an hour or so but he’d come though to Devereux Towers just as soon as he could. He told her again not to worry, everything would be alright. But that was like telling the rain to stop falling; worrying came naturally to Laura Leach.
She attempted to fix herself something to eat but couldn’t manage the sandwich she made. It sat on the plate with scarce a bite taken from it. Finally she heard the sound of his car crunching to a halt on the gravel out front, and with her nerves ripped almost to shreds Laura all but ran to the door, swinging it open as Casper turned from locking the car door. He looked at her, his face pale, serious, troubled.
‘ Casper , what’s wrong? What did the consultant have to say?’ she said, going to his side and linking her arm through his. She led him inside. He felt disconcertingly heavy against her, like he needed to be physically supported.
‘How about a cup of tea, eh, Laura?’ he said, managing a thin smile
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