Warhol's Prophecy

15

FOR A SECOND she looked at him blankly, studying those features set in a determined expression.

Then that familiar grin spread across his face once again, and Hailey too found herself smiling.

‘Yes, I admit it, I’d love to be famous,’ he said, chuckling. ‘The adoration, the money, people following me around telling me I was great. Others running up and asking for my autograph. I reckon I could cope with that.’

She laughed.

‘You conceited sod,’ she said.

‘What’s conceited about it?’ he wanted to know. ‘When they put me in a bloody box and bury me, I want someone to know I’ve been here. And it’ll happen. I know it will. After all, Andy Warhol once said that everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes, didn’t he? I just hope to Christ he was right.’

‘So, you’re looking forward to your fifteen minutes, are you, Adam?’

He nodded.

‘I’m not joking, Hailey,’ he insisted.

As she looked at him she didn’t doubt his sincerity. In some ways he reminded her of Rob: that same single-mindedness and drive.

Rob? Why think about him now? Guilt pricking you, is it?

She pushed the thought aside.

‘What does your girlfriend think about it?’ she wanted to know.

‘No girlfriend,’ he said.

‘I find that hard to believe.’

‘There’s a compliment in there somewhere, isn’t there?’

‘Isn’t there anyone, then?’

‘Not at the moment,’ he told her. ‘Work comes first. You should know that, Hailey. You’ve been around men like Jim Marsh. They don’t let relationships get in the way of their careers. He’s been married a couple of times, hasn’t he?’

‘Twice.’

‘Has he ever tried it on with you?’

She looked at him for a moment, taken aback slightly by the question.

‘He knew I was married,’ she said.

‘What difference does that make?’

‘Perhaps I wasn’t his type.’

‘Did it bother your husband that you went away abroad with Marsh?’

She shrugged.

Are you going to tell him the truth? Tell him how Rob practically accused you of having an affair after a trip to Madrid?

‘He understood it was part of the job,’ she lied.

Lying comes quite easy, doesn’t it?

‘I’d have been jealous,’ said Walker.

She smiled sheepishly, feeling her cheeks colour slightly.

‘Does your husband know you’re having lunch with me?’ Walker persisted.

Again they locked stares.

‘It’s only lunch, Adam,’ she told him.

‘A thank you.’

Was that a hint of sarcasm in his tone?

‘I meant what I said,’ she insisted. ‘I appreciate what you did that day, finding Becky. And what you’ve done for her since.’

‘So he doesn’t know?’

She shook her head. ‘He’s away for a couple of days on business.’

Walker nodded sagely. ‘Does it bother you when he goes away?’ he enquired.

‘Sometimes,’ she confessed.

‘Is he ambitious?’

‘I suppose he is.’

‘Is that why you married him?’

‘There was a little more to it than that.’ She smiled.

‘But did his ambition make him attractive to you?’

‘Yes, it did. He used to say that if he wanted something he’d get it, and most of the time he did.’

‘I admire him for that.’

‘It’s a haulage firm he runs, not British Rail.’

‘He still made something of himself,’ Walker insisted. ‘And so did you. Working for a man like Jim Marsh must have been quite prestigious.’

‘I suppose you’re right.’

‘Why did you give up that kind of life, Hailey?’

‘I told you, I gave it up when I had Becky.’

‘But why would you want to give it up just to have a child?’

‘We both wanted a child. My biological clock was ticking, I suppose.’ She smiled.

‘At twenty-four? You could have carried on working for another ten years, and then had a baby. But you gave it all up for your child. I respect that kind of devotion; I just don’t understand it.’

She looked at him blankly.

‘It might happen to you one day,’ she said finally. ‘If you fall in love, you might find that even your career isn’t so important, and—’

‘Never,’ he said, cutting her short. ‘If you could turn back the clock, would you have a child later in life?’

‘I don’t know, Adam. I wouldn’t give up Becky for anything now.’

‘No, but then. Were you happy when you found out you were pregnant, when you realized you were going to have to give up work?’

‘I didn’t mind,’ she said defensively.

What the hell was he driving at? Had he touched a nerve in her?

‘You were prepared to give up everything you had to play happy families?’

Tell him the truth.

The knot of muscles at the side of her jaw pulsed.

She was aware of his eyes boring into her. But, when she looked at him, she saw compassion in his gaze.

‘I didn’t want a child then,’ she said flatly.

Why are you telling him this? You’ve known this man for less than two hours.

She looked back deeply into his eyes, as if seeking reassurance for her confession, wondering why she wanted to tell him. Surprised at how easy it had been.

‘Rob wanted a child,’ she continued, her tone subdued. ‘He had his heart set on it. I wanted to carry on working. I loved that job, and it paid well too. I thought that I could be a help to Rob if I was independent, not relying on him for money all the time.’ She exhaled wearily. ‘We even spoke about an abortion. Well, I mentioned it. Rob didn’t want that.’

Walker didn’t speak, merely sat gazing at Hailey as she continued.

‘As the pregnancy became more advanced, it got to the stage where it was too late for an abortion. By that time I’d come to terms with it.’

‘But you weren’t happy?’

‘I would have waited until I was ready. I suppose some people would say that I gave in to Rob. He always wanted me to give up my job working for Jim, and the pregnancy gave him an excuse.’

She shrugged. ‘But I wouldn’t change things now,’ she said, none too convincingly. ‘I love Becky more than anything in the world.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I suppose you think I’m stupid.’

He reached out across the table and, very slowly, drew one index finger across the back of her right hand.

She caught the digit and squeezed gently, holding it for a second, looking again into his eyes.

‘You’re not stupid,’ he told her.

‘If I’d been as determined as you, I wouldn’t have given up my job, would I?’ She smiled.

‘It takes a lot of strength to be so single-minded, to want something so badly that everything else becomes secondary. Not everyone has that strength. Not everyone should have that strength. It took just as much courage for you to give up your job.’

‘Like I said, I love Becky more than anything else in the world.’

‘Anything?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Do you love her more than your husband?’

Hailey shook her head and smiled.

‘Adam, what kind of question is that?’ she said.

‘I was curious, that’s all.’

‘It’s a different kind of love. It’s unconditional: both ways. Perhaps it’s easier to love a child than another adult, because the child doesn’t expect anything of you. All they want is for you to be there when they need you.’

‘And what does Rob want from you?’

She looked down at the table, her eyes focused on a small puddle of spilled milk.

‘Sometimes I’m not sure what he wants,’ she said finally.

‘You know he loves you, though?’

She nodded.

‘What about you?’ she wanted to know. ‘You must have loved someone at sometime.’ Hailey wanted him to talk for a change. She was beginning to feel she had already said too much to him, and yet it was so easy to talk in front of this man – this stranger. She felt as if she’d known him all her life. No detail of her life seemed too intimate to share with him.

Even Rob’s affair?

‘There’ve been women,’ he told her.

‘Lots?’ she said, smiling.

‘I don’t keep score.’

‘And you’re telling me you never loved one of them?’

‘Career first,’ he reminded her.

She grinned.

‘I’ll make it, Hailey,’ Walker continued.

‘I don’t doubt that, Adam. Not for a minute.’

Only when she looked down did she realize she was still holding his hand.

And it felt right.

Despite everything she knew.

It felt right.