table with the drinks, Leo was smoking thoughtfully. ‘So tell me,’ he said, ‘what do you intend to do with your young life? Your pupillage ends in summer. What then?’
‘I don’t know. I’m afraid my heart really isn’t in the commercial bar. Too much like hard work. In fact, anything which involves getting up at half past seven in the morning is a very unattractive prospect. The past six months have been bad enough.’
‘If you don’t like law, why did you choose it as a career?’
‘Oh, I don’t mind
law.
As an intellectual discipline, it’s all right. It’s just the idea of getting a job that I don’t like.’
‘You’ve got a job. God knows we pay you a small fortune for the privilege of being a pupil. It wasn’t that way in my day, I can assure you. Pupils paid their pupil-masters.’
‘Leo, you sound positively Dickensian this evening. You’re not
that
old, you know.’
‘I suppose not.’ Leo smoked in silence for a few moments, then said, ‘That was the chief problem with Joshua, though. Maybe that’s why I harp on it.’
‘What – your age?’
‘The generation gap. I thought it didn’t matter. Of course, it was the reason the whole thing was a non-starter. His interests weren’t mine. Music, films – you name it. As for his friends …’
‘The truth is, no man is ever likely to provide you with the kind of relationship you want. Not of that age, anyway. They’re all on the take. If it’s stability you’re after, stick to women.’
Leo chuckled. ‘Like you, you mean?’
‘Why not? The generation gap, as you put it, never seems to have troubled us.’
‘Hmm.’ Leo narrowed his eyes. ‘That’s very true. But then, our association has been largely physical and occasional.’
‘Not always. Take this evening, for example.’
It was hard to deny. He liked her company. She knew so much about him; he never had to be on his guard. One way or another, Sarah had become a part of his life. An irritating one, on occasions, but admittedly a distractingly pretty one. He felt a familiar stirring in his blood, a sexual quickening, as their eyes held one another’s.
‘Are you trying to tell me something?’ Leo blew out a haze of cigar smoke and smiled quizzically at her.
‘Not at all. Now, are you going to buy me another drink?’ Sarah had a very shrewd idea of the right point at which to turn things and move away.
‘Very well,’ sighed Leo. ‘It’ll have to be the last. I ration my intake quite carefully these days.’
When he returned with the drinks, Leo picked up where they had left off. ‘Anyway, you didn’t finish telling me what you intend to do with your future. If you don’t want to stay at the Bar, what else had you in mind?’
‘I don’t know. Make some suggestions.’
‘You could join one of the P&I clubs, I suppose. They like bright young barristers.’
Sarah sighed. ‘Nine to five in the City.’
‘Can’t think of anything else, short of switching over and becoming a solicitor.’
‘No, thanks.’ Sarah drank her wine. ‘There must be alternatives to work.’
‘Such as?’
She smiled. ‘Maybe I’ll find a rich man and marry him.’
‘Good luck.’ Leo knocked back the rest of his Scotch and glanced at his watch. ‘Come on, I have to make tracks. I’ve got some papers at home that I must read before Friday, and I won’t get much of a chance tomorrow.’
They walked back up the alleyway in silence, and stopped on the corner. ‘Don’t you have anything to pick up from chambers?’ asked Leo.
Sarah shook her head. ‘I took my things over to court. I’ll just go straight home from here.’
‘Right.’ Leo nodded. Sarah thought she knew what was coming next. ‘Listen,’ added Leo, ‘I have to do some work on those papers, but why don’t you come back with me, make us both some supper while I read them, and then …’
She smiled and lifted a finger to stroke the side of his face, once. ‘It’s a lovely idea, Leo, but
‘I don’t know. I’m afraid my heart really isn’t in the commercial bar. Too much like hard work. In fact, anything which involves getting up at half past seven in the morning is a very unattractive prospect. The past six months have been bad enough.’
‘If you don’t like law, why did you choose it as a career?’
‘Oh, I don’t mind
law.
As an intellectual discipline, it’s all right. It’s just the idea of getting a job that I don’t like.’
‘You’ve got a job. God knows we pay you a small fortune for the privilege of being a pupil. It wasn’t that way in my day, I can assure you. Pupils paid their pupil-masters.’
‘Leo, you sound positively Dickensian this evening. You’re not
that
old, you know.’
‘I suppose not.’ Leo smoked in silence for a few moments, then said, ‘That was the chief problem with Joshua, though. Maybe that’s why I harp on it.’
‘What – your age?’
‘The generation gap. I thought it didn’t matter. Of course, it was the reason the whole thing was a non-starter. His interests weren’t mine. Music, films – you name it. As for his friends …’
‘The truth is, no man is ever likely to provide you with the kind of relationship you want. Not of that age, anyway. They’re all on the take. If it’s stability you’re after, stick to women.’
Leo chuckled. ‘Like you, you mean?’
‘Why not? The generation gap, as you put it, never seems to have troubled us.’
‘Hmm.’ Leo narrowed his eyes. ‘That’s very true. But then, our association has been largely physical and occasional.’
‘Not always. Take this evening, for example.’
It was hard to deny. He liked her company. She knew so much about him; he never had to be on his guard. One way or another, Sarah had become a part of his life. An irritating one, on occasions, but admittedly a distractingly pretty one. He felt a familiar stirring in his blood, a sexual quickening, as their eyes held one another’s.
‘Are you trying to tell me something?’ Leo blew out a haze of cigar smoke and smiled quizzically at her.
‘Not at all. Now, are you going to buy me another drink?’ Sarah had a very shrewd idea of the right point at which to turn things and move away.
‘Very well,’ sighed Leo. ‘It’ll have to be the last. I ration my intake quite carefully these days.’
When he returned with the drinks, Leo picked up where they had left off. ‘Anyway, you didn’t finish telling me what you intend to do with your future. If you don’t want to stay at the Bar, what else had you in mind?’
‘I don’t know. Make some suggestions.’
‘You could join one of the P&I clubs, I suppose. They like bright young barristers.’
Sarah sighed. ‘Nine to five in the City.’
‘Can’t think of anything else, short of switching over and becoming a solicitor.’
‘No, thanks.’ Sarah drank her wine. ‘There must be alternatives to work.’
‘Such as?’
She smiled. ‘Maybe I’ll find a rich man and marry him.’
‘Good luck.’ Leo knocked back the rest of his Scotch and glanced at his watch. ‘Come on, I have to make tracks. I’ve got some papers at home that I must read before Friday, and I won’t get much of a chance tomorrow.’
They walked back up the alleyway in silence, and stopped on the corner. ‘Don’t you have anything to pick up from chambers?’ asked Leo.
Sarah shook her head. ‘I took my things over to court. I’ll just go straight home from here.’
‘Right.’ Leo nodded. Sarah thought she knew what was coming next. ‘Listen,’ added Leo, ‘I have to do some work on those papers, but why don’t you come back with me, make us both some supper while I read them, and then …’
She smiled and lifted a finger to stroke the side of his face, once. ‘It’s a lovely idea, Leo, but
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