Read Online THE POLITICS OF PLEASURE by Mark Russell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mark Russell
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came vividly to him as did the sound of her throaty laughter as they frollicked afterwards.
He liked her.
He found her effervescent personality a welcome change from the underlying conservatism of many east coast girls he'd met. Belize was the first woman he'd been involved with since the death of his wife Rachel. Of course Belize would never replace Rachel, nor would she dampen the memories of Rachel which sometimes overcame Goldman during times of solitude. No, he couldn't see another woman replacing Rachel anytime soon.
He reshuffled the printouts and looked up at his inched-open window as wind blanketed outside eaves. An eerie sound that always put him on edge. Shafts of light crept across his bedroom wall as a car pulled up outside. Its engine stopped. A car door slammed. Then another. Conscious of the illegal papers in his hands, he treaded across the carpeted floor to the window. He peered between the rattling slats of the Venetian blind as it curled inward from the night's gathering wind. A man and a woman huddled together as they ran across the rain-lashed street. He recognized them as neighbours. The woman's hair flapped against her squinting face as the couple unlocked their front door. Hardly a night to be out.
Goldman slid the window shut and dropped back on to his bed. He re-propped the pillows and continued reading the MK-ULTRA synopsis.
EIGHT
Michelle Eastman kicked back in her friend's Rosedale apartment. She was relieved to be off the road with its unending byways and strangers and to be around a familiar face. A face that had figured prominently in her life. Yes, she and Carmen went way back.
'Honestly Michelle, you would've loved it down there. It was fabulous.'
Fabulous, Michelle thought. The word was so Carmen.
Carmen Michaels-Costa tossed back a luxuriant mane of black hair and grabbed a delicate spoon from a carved wood box on the coffee table in front of her. The American-Salvadorian model was tall, tan and slim, and more often than not turned the heads of male and female alike, whether she was parading on the catwalk or strolling along the sidewalk. She'd learned long ago that her disarming beauty could make serious money and fast-track her into the good life, all the while bolstering her young woman cunning and ambition.
Michelle met her glamorous friend when both were sixteen and starry-eyed entrants in a Miss Boston beauty contest. Though only Carmen placed, an Alexis Models scout at the contest scheduled the two girls for a portfolio shoot. Michelle and Carmen struck up a friendship that grew alongside their burgeoning careers.
Working out of Alexis' New York and Paris offices, the rising young models became sought after; though Carmen more so. Michelle, less worldly than her Salvadorian friend, had more or less anchored herself to fashion photographer Terence Cruise; whereas Carmen, after a string of colourful liaisons, some of them picked up by celebrity tabloids, was presently engaged to Paulo Palmas, an up-and-coming Brazilian actor based in Rio.
'So you flew down to Mustique with Paulo Jr to see one of his friends?'
'Uh-huh, this cute guy named Dominique. They were old reservist buddies or something. Well after a day or two of lying round and generally soaking up the sun, this guy Dominique got the hots for me.'
'Of course,' Michelle said coolly.
'Anyhow, to impress me, I'm sure, he took us to – '
'Ah, Carmen, he probably didn't know what to do with you guys, and felt he had to, you know ... entertain you.'
Carmen gave her friend a “you really don't know anything, do you?” look. 'Well he certainly tried to entertain me behind Paulo's back.'
The two young women stared at each other. 'Men,' they said at near the same time, the air between them laced with scorn.
'So' – and Carmen looked well pleased to have got the upper hand – 'Dominique took us on a tour of the grounds of this mansion next door. Princess Margaret's vacation home.'
'Who's that?'
'I don't know,
He liked her.
He found her effervescent personality a welcome change from the underlying conservatism of many east coast girls he'd met. Belize was the first woman he'd been involved with since the death of his wife Rachel. Of course Belize would never replace Rachel, nor would she dampen the memories of Rachel which sometimes overcame Goldman during times of solitude. No, he couldn't see another woman replacing Rachel anytime soon.
He reshuffled the printouts and looked up at his inched-open window as wind blanketed outside eaves. An eerie sound that always put him on edge. Shafts of light crept across his bedroom wall as a car pulled up outside. Its engine stopped. A car door slammed. Then another. Conscious of the illegal papers in his hands, he treaded across the carpeted floor to the window. He peered between the rattling slats of the Venetian blind as it curled inward from the night's gathering wind. A man and a woman huddled together as they ran across the rain-lashed street. He recognized them as neighbours. The woman's hair flapped against her squinting face as the couple unlocked their front door. Hardly a night to be out.
Goldman slid the window shut and dropped back on to his bed. He re-propped the pillows and continued reading the MK-ULTRA synopsis.
EIGHT
Michelle Eastman kicked back in her friend's Rosedale apartment. She was relieved to be off the road with its unending byways and strangers and to be around a familiar face. A face that had figured prominently in her life. Yes, she and Carmen went way back.
'Honestly Michelle, you would've loved it down there. It was fabulous.'
Fabulous, Michelle thought. The word was so Carmen.
Carmen Michaels-Costa tossed back a luxuriant mane of black hair and grabbed a delicate spoon from a carved wood box on the coffee table in front of her. The American-Salvadorian model was tall, tan and slim, and more often than not turned the heads of male and female alike, whether she was parading on the catwalk or strolling along the sidewalk. She'd learned long ago that her disarming beauty could make serious money and fast-track her into the good life, all the while bolstering her young woman cunning and ambition.
Michelle met her glamorous friend when both were sixteen and starry-eyed entrants in a Miss Boston beauty contest. Though only Carmen placed, an Alexis Models scout at the contest scheduled the two girls for a portfolio shoot. Michelle and Carmen struck up a friendship that grew alongside their burgeoning careers.
Working out of Alexis' New York and Paris offices, the rising young models became sought after; though Carmen more so. Michelle, less worldly than her Salvadorian friend, had more or less anchored herself to fashion photographer Terence Cruise; whereas Carmen, after a string of colourful liaisons, some of them picked up by celebrity tabloids, was presently engaged to Paulo Palmas, an up-and-coming Brazilian actor based in Rio.
'So you flew down to Mustique with Paulo Jr to see one of his friends?'
'Uh-huh, this cute guy named Dominique. They were old reservist buddies or something. Well after a day or two of lying round and generally soaking up the sun, this guy Dominique got the hots for me.'
'Of course,' Michelle said coolly.
'Anyhow, to impress me, I'm sure, he took us to – '
'Ah, Carmen, he probably didn't know what to do with you guys, and felt he had to, you know ... entertain you.'
Carmen gave her friend a “you really don't know anything, do you?” look. 'Well he certainly tried to entertain me behind Paulo's back.'
The two young women stared at each other. 'Men,' they said at near the same time, the air between them laced with scorn.
'So' – and Carmen looked well pleased to have got the upper hand – 'Dominique took us on a tour of the grounds of this mansion next door. Princess Margaret's vacation home.'
'Who's that?'
'I don't know,
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