Her Name Was Lola

20 Girl Talk

February 1997. While Lola and Basil are at The Cheshire Cheese Lula Mae is at The Garibaldi in High Holborn with Irma Lustig of Everest Technology Accounts. Like Lula Mae, Irma, originally from Stuttgart, is a head-turner of noble proportions. Herbert Wise, Personnel Manager at Everest, is known in the organisation as Herbie the Eye. He denies discrimination and claims that he rarely receives job applications from plain women.

‘Who was that man I saw you with?’ says Irma. ‘Shorter than you.’

‘The shorter ones try harder,’ says Lula Mae.

‘He looked tired.’

‘He doesn’t spare himself.’

‘Will you be seeing him again?’

‘Probably. I’ve never had a man who didn’t come back for more and it might be fun to be his muse for a while. He’s a writer.’

‘What’s his name?’

‘Max Lesser.’

‘Never heard of him.’

‘Neither had I but I don’t think he’s the kind of writer too many people hear of. There’s a sadness about him that appeals to me. When I met him he was with this upper-class girl who seemed a little too sure of herself.’

‘So you’re going to make her less sure?’

‘Maybe.’

‘Any future in this for you?’

‘I’m not thinking futures at the moment. He’s interesting and I’m interested. He’s more appreciative than the kind of men I’m used to and I like that.’

‘You should invest your time more wisely,’ says Irma. ‘One day men will stop sighing when you pass.’

‘That won’t be for a while yet,’ says Lula Mae.

Irma lowers her eyes to her empty glass for a fraction of a second and a red-shirted waiter instantly appears with two more grappas. ‘Prosit,’ she says.

‘Likewise,’ says Lula Mae. ‘So how are things with you?’

‘I’m building a careful portfolio, very conservative,’ says Irma, ‘and I’m acquiring the odd property. I expect to be financially independent by the time I’m thirty-five.’

‘What about affairs of the heart?’

‘I get one or two offers every week to be somebody’s trophy wife and there are always plenty of men who want to get into my knickers but that isn’t where my heart is. The kind of men I might like to meet are usually afraid to approach me. I envy you your interesting Max, even if it comes to nothing.’

‘It’s a funny thing,’ says Lula Mae. ‘He’s not really my type but for years he’s been craving recognition from my kind of woman.’

‘What happens if you stop giving it to him?’

‘Who knows what the future holds?’

‘Just be careful, Lula Mae.’

‘Sometimes I get tired of being careful,’ says Lula Mae.