The Grey Man

CHAPTER SIX

The rain bounced off the windows of Kevin and Linda's house. It was a two-up, two-down Victorian terrace, nicely decorated in B&Q paints and nicely furnished by Ikea. They liked their home. It was warm and safe.

Kevin knew more about celebrity diets, liposuction and Oscar-night outfits than the average man should. Linda read gossip magazines. She always felt the need to share what she learned, so Kevin always knew what was hot and what was not. They finished off their microwave chicken dinner for two and cuddled up on the settee. Linda flicked through her latest magazine and Kevin picked up a holiday brochure. How could he tell her he still hadn't asked for the day off?

'What do you think of this, Kev?' Linda flapped the page under his nose.

'It's a woman in a long green dress.'

'It's Halle Berry. I'd love to look like her. Isn't her dress beautiful?'

'It's fine.'

'It's a bit better than that, Kev.'

'It's lovely, then.'

'You'll never make a fashion reporter.'

'And you'll never make a TV holiday presenter if you don't pick one out.' He bopped her on the head gently with the brochure. 'I'm wondering if we should look at your mum's caravan again. I know we really want Greece, but Southwold would be much cheaper. What do you think?'

Linda turned a few pages of blue skies and sea. 'Greece looks fantastic. Do you really fancy the caravan?'

'Not really. But there's the mortgage to pay, and that new car we keep talking about. Maybe we're pushing it this year.'

'OK. I'll ask her on Friday.' She put down the brochure. 'Hey, you know what, Kev? Maybe you should rob a bank instead of working in one.'

Kevin gave her a look that said, 'We never do bank-robbery jokes.'

'I know, I know! Only joking. But I was thinking about old George Rowland and all that cash he's got tucked away.'

'Don't you dare tell anyone I told you!' Kevin cut in. 'I'd lose my job!'

'But if your bank got robbed and all those safe-deposit boxes were opened, he wouldn't be able to tell anyone he'd had all that cash stolen, would he? Serve him right.'

She giggled.

'Just think if we had his money, Kev. We could pay off the mortgage, buy the car and a place in the sun, pay for my mum's treatment. I could even buy Halle Berry's green dress.'

'Yeah, yeah. Green dresses and tropical islands all round, eh?'

'Can't really see you in a green dress, Kev, but, yep, you get the idea.'

Kevin made a grab for her and started to tickle. She shrieked and tried to wriggle away. It turned into a hug.

'Hey, Kev, you get Friday off?'

'Not yet.'

Linda sat up and looked disappointed.

'I just didn't get the chance to ask him. I'll do it on Monday, first thing. Promise.'

Linda sighed. She'd been through this one before. 'Kev, please talk to him. It would be great to have a long weekend. It is our anniversary, darling. You've got to stand up for yourself a bit. You're practically running that bank. The least Symington can do is give you a day off. Besides, you're entitled to it. You haven't had any holiday yet.'

'I'll do it on Monday. I'm just not good at this sort of thing. He always reacts badly when people take single days off.'

'I know. But that's his problem, not yours. Please, Kevin.'

A silence followed and Kevin picked up the TV remote control. 'Come on,' he said. 'Give us a cuddle.'

Linda curled up beside him and rested her head on his shoulder as Look East, the BBC local news sparked up on the screen. A perky TV presenter announced that the actress Jessica Drake had arrived in Ipswich today. She was in town for a week to play a cameo role in Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan.

Kevin and Linda watched Jessica step out of her car as two men held umbrellas over her. The theatre was just down the road from the bank. He must have missed all the fuss this afternoon, he thought. She was very tall, very blonde, and very beautiful. She towered above the theatre director as they posed for photographers. Her necklace glittered in the camera's flash.

Kevin had never heard of Jessica Drake, but Linda had. 'Look! Isn't she stunning? And her necklace is amazing. You know all about the Augusta necklace, right?'

Clearly, he had missed a few pages of gossip. He shook his head, and waited to be filled in.

As Linda spoke her eyes never left the screen. 'The Augusta necklace is that string of pearls, with a sapphire and diamond clasp. See?' She pointed at the TV. 'You wear the clasp at the front. It's worth two million. I'd love to look like her.'

'You wanted to look like Halle Berry a minute ago. Make your mind up.' But Kevin could see that Jessica was indeed stunning. Shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, bee-stung lips.

'She's always so elegant. Imagine being able to wear a necklace like that. It was a present from her husband, Greg Drake, the film director.'

Kevin had never heard of Greg Drake either, but Linda was now in full flow. 'They only found out the necklace was worth a fortune when they were getting divorced.' She paused for breath, and the TV report took over the story.

Greg Drake had paid a thousand dollars for the necklace when he bought it from a jeweller in India. But during the messy divorce, it was valued at over two million pounds. Greg had wanted it back. He said it was an old family piece. But Jessica proved that he had given it to her when she turned thirty, and won.

Linda couldn't take her eyes off the TV. 'You'd feel like a princess in it.'

Kevin could see that the blue of the sapphire matched Jessica's eyes. Now, that's the kind of woman I should star with in my action movies, he thought. Pulp Fiction starring Jessica Drake and Kevin Dodds. He repeated it a couple of times in his head, but it didn't seem right. His name only worked with Linda's. Pulp Fiction starring Linda and Kevin Dodds. That was better.

Anyway, he'd rather be with Linda than Jessica. You could have a laugh with Linda, and Jessica didn't look like she'd let her hair down in a hurry. Besides, he wasn't cut out to be a movie star. He was the kind of man nobody noticed much. He didn't know why Linda wanted him. He was a grey man.

Kevin held Linda tighter as they lay on the settee and watched Jessica tell Look East how thrilled she was to be in Ipswich. 'Thought I'd finally put up those shelves for you tomorrow,' he said. 'Then I'll go into town and pick up a DVD.'

Linda's eyes were still on Jessica. 'I've got Legs, Bums and Turns at eleven. Then I've got to pick up Mum's dry-cleaning, and drop it round hers. See you about one?'

'You don't need to do that Bums and Turns thing.'

'I do if I'm going to look like Halle Berry for our holiday.'

'I like you looking like you do now.' He pulled her closer.

'You're such a smoothie. I love you.'

'Me too.'

'You can say it, you know, it doesn't bite.'

He smiled, but he didn't say it. He had no idea why he found it so hard to say those three words out loud. To him it sounded corny in the movies, and just as corny in real life. Anyway, Linda knew he loved her. He was just no good at love talk. He was better at showing it through his actions. Like putting up shelves.