BUILDED ATTRACTION 12

‘Thanks, Miriam,’ Gary said, as they squeezed into the banquette. ‘Is himself about?’

‘He’ll be in later,’ she replied. She looked at Gary with a smile, and Clare caught, for the briefest of moments, an expression of lust on her face. Then her more professional demeanour returned and she walk back across the bar, her long legs attracting admiring glances from most of the men she passed.

Clare looked round. Beyond the bar was a large restaurant, bustling waiters. It was decorated in shades of blue, with dark blue walls, a pale blue carpet and a huge display of corn flowers placed on a table in the centre of the room dramatically lit by an overhead spotlight. The rest of the restaurant was dimly lit, with candles flickering on every table, their light reflecting off the sparkling polished glasses and silver cutlery that was set on crisp, starched, white linen tablecloths.

'You like it?’ he said.

‘Beautifully done. So tell me about your friend?’

A girl in the club uniform of gold le