1975
Bomber grabbed Eunice’s hand and gripped it tightly as Pam recoiled in horror at the rather unusual furniture. It appeared to be made from human bones. She turned to flee but the grumpy Leatherface caught her, and just as he was about to impale the poor girl on a meat hook, Eunice woke up.
They had been to see The Texas Chain Saw Massacre the previous evening and had both been truly horrified. But it wasn’t a nightmare that had broken Eunice’s sleep. It was a dream come true. She climbed out of bed and hurried to the bathroom, where she smiled happily at her slightly rumpled reflection. Bomber had held her hand. Only for a moment, but he had actually held her hand.
Later that morning, on the way to the office, Eunice warned herself to be careful. Yes, Bomber was her friend, but he was also her boss, and she still had a job to do. At the green door on Bloomsbury Street, Eunice paused for a moment and took a deep breath before galloping up the stairs. Douglas rattled over to greet her with his usual enthusiasm, and Bomber called out from the kitchen,
“Tea?”
“Yes, please.”
Eunice sat down at her desk and began sorting studiously through the post.
“Sleep well?”
Bomber thumped a steaming mug down in front of her, and to her horror Eunice felt herself blushing.
“That’s the last time I let you choose the film,” he continued, oblivious to, or perhaps kindly ignoring, her embarrassment.
“I didn’t sleep a wink last night, even though I had Douglas to protect me, and I kept the bedside lamp on!”
Eunice laughed as she felt her red face returning to its usual color. Bomber always managed to make her feel comfortable. The rest of the morning passed as easily as usual, and at lunchtime Eunice went out to fetch sandwiches from Mrs. Doyle’s. As they sat together eating cheese and pickle on granary bread and looking out of the window, Bomber remembered something.
“Didn’t you say that it was your birthday next Sunday?”
Eunice suddenly felt hot again.
“Yes. It is.”
Bomber passed a piece of cheese to Douglas, who was drooling hopefully at his feet.
“Are you doing anything fabulous?”
That had been the original plan. Eunice and Susan, her best friend from school, had always said that to celebrate their twenty-first birthdays, which were only days apart, they would go to Brighton for the day. Eunice had never been fond of parties, and her parents were happy to pay for the trip instead of hiring a hall with a bar and hirsute disco DJ. But Susan had found herself a boyfriend, a David Cassidy doppelg?nger who worked in Woolworths’s, and he had apparently planned a surprise for her birthday. She had been very apologetic, but chose new love over her oldest friendship, nonetheless. Eunice’s parents had offered to come with her instead, but that wasn’t quite what she’d had in mind. Bomber was distraught on her behalf.
“I’ll come!” he volunteered. “That is, if you don’t mind your aged boss tagging along.”
Eunice was thrilled. But tried very hard not to show it.
“Okay. I suppose I could cope with that.” She grinned. “I just hope you’ll be able to keep up with me!”
On Saturday morning Eunice went to the hairdressers for a cut and blow-dry, and a manicure. In the afternoon, having checked Sunday’s weather forecast for the umpteenth time, she tried on virtually every item of clothing in her wardrobe, in every conceivable combination. She eventually decided on a pair of purple high-waisted flared trousers, a flower-printed blouse, and a purple hat with a huge, floppy brim to complement her newly purpled nails.
“How do I look?” she asked her mum and dad as she paraded up and down the living room, intermittently blocking their view of The Two Ronnies on the television.
“You look lovely, dear,” her mum replied.
Her dad nodded in agreement but said nothing. He had learned, over the years, it was wiser for him to leave opinions on fashion to the ladies of the house.
That night Eunice hardly slept at all, but when she did, she dreamed of Bomber. Tomorrow was going to be an extraordinary day!
CHAPTER 9