Give A Man A Bad Name. Roberta Leigh

you finished your teaching job in Singapore?’

      ‘Yes. Well, to be honest, I resigned. I had to get away.’

      ‘What went wrong?’

      ‘I can’t talk on the phone. Is there any chance of you coming to the airport to see me?’

      ‘Of course,’ Marly said instantly. ‘How long do you have?’

      ‘A couple of hours. Get here soon, will you? I’ll wait for you in the main cafeteria.’

      Marly hurried to her room to dress. She, Nan and Andrea had been inseparable at school, and had remained in touch through lengthy letters and the occasional telephone call. It was almost six months since she and Andrea had met, and it would be wonderful to see her again, though her tone of voice did not augur a happy meeting. Still, that was when one needed one’s friends.

      Nan’s driving was as nothing to the forty-five-minute taxi ride Marly had to endure along the Expressway to Don Muang Airport, and as she entered the air-conditioned concourse she felt more in need of a stiff brandy than mid-morning coffee!

      Her first sight of Andrea gave her a shock, for the radiant blonde she had last seen was now a picture of abject misery: hair without lustre, eyes puffy with unshed tears, and a once curvaceous figure angular.

      ‘Darling!’ Marly exclaimed, clasping her close. ‘What’s happened to you?’

      Tears spilling over, Andrea told her.

      It was a man, of course. The most fabulous man in Singapore—an Adonis, naturally!—with wit, charm, and money in abundance. A whirlwind courtship had been followed by a proposal of marriage, after which she had moved in with him. Then six weeks ago he had announced that he had changed his mind about marriage, packed his bags and departed for Italy.

      ‘Try a Dutchman next time,’ Marly advised, trying to lighten her friend’s mood. ‘Italians are known for their roving eye.’

      ‘He’s English,’ Andrea corrected. ‘He was going to Italy to take charge of a hotel his family owns there, and I’m pretty certain he’s got another woman in Rome.’

      ‘Odd that he’s in the hotel business,’ Marly put in ironically. ‘So is my temporary boss, and he’s also a walking Adonis.’

      ‘Steer clear of him, then,’ Andrea muttered. ‘At least ugly men are grateful if you fancy them! Alex simply took it for granted. Not surprising, considering the way the girls chased him.’

      ‘Alex?’ Marly echoed, her pulse jumping erratically. ‘What’s his last name?’

      ‘Hamilton.’

      Unbelievable! It was her boss. So much for meeting the man of her dreams. After the story she had just heard, he could best be described as every girl’s nightmare.

      Marly wondered whether to tell her friend that her ex-fiancé had lied about going to Rome, and was actually in charge of the family hotel in Bangkok where, far from being with one woman, he would happily be taking his pick of a line-up! But Andrea was unhappy enough as it was, and it would serve little purpose to inform her that the man she still loved wasn’t merely a philanderer but a liar into the bargain!

      ‘He sounds a real swine,’ she said instead. ‘Forget him.’

      ‘I wish I could,’ Andrea answered miserably. ‘But I still love him. Perhaps I shouldn’t have moved in with him. I feel as if I’ve let myself down.’

      ‘That’s crazy talk, Andrea. It’s Alex who’s let you down, not yourself.’

      Yet though Marly said this she found it easy to empathise with her friend, who was echoing Nan’s feelings as well as hers. At sixteen they had all made the same vow, and maturity had not changed their minds. Sex without love was something they abhorred, and no matter how much their other friends teased them for their old-fashioned views, they had held firm to them.

      ‘Perhaps if I hadn’t gone to bed with him, he might have married me,’ Andrea said into the silence.

      ‘You can’t believe a marriage licence would tie down a man of his type?’

      ‘I suppose not.’ Tears fell fast and Andrea fumbled for her handkerchief. ‘He was so wonderful, Marly. Unbelievably handsome and charming.’

      ‘Unbelievable being the operative word,’ Marly retorted. ‘Forget him. He’s not worth a moment’s thought. You’re young and beautiful, and you’ll soon be rhapsodising over someone more worthwhile.’

      Having almost convinced Andrea of this by the time her plane was ready to continue its flight, Marly returned to the city a little easier in her mind. What a nasty trick of fate that Alex Hamilton should turn out to be the biggest pig this side of Eden! Who cared if he was Adonis in looks and charismatic in character? Much better if he had been honest and loyal. But why was she getting so hot under the collar over a man she had merely glimpsed in the entrance lobby of a hotel? It was quite on the cards that if she waited by the magazine stall again she would see a dozen equally handsome and magnetic men!

      ‘Enjoy your day?’ Nan enquired, coming into Marly’s bedroom later that afternoon, where she sat brushing up her Thai from a television film.

      ‘Not especially. I saw Andrea.’

      ‘She’s here?’

      ‘Not any longer.’ Briefly Marly recounted Andrea’s story, and had the dubious pleasure of seeing Nan become as furious as herself.

      ‘I know Mr Hamilton plays the field, but I never imagined he’d ask a girl to marry him and then walk out on her. Are you sure she wasn’t exaggerating?’

      ‘Oh, come on, Nan, you know Andrea better than that. She may look like a dumb blonde, but she certainly isn’t one. Believe me, I’ve never seen her so devastated.’

      ‘I wish you’d persuaded her to stay with us for a week or so.’

      ‘I was going to suggest it, but I was worried she might bump into him here. I didn’t tell her he hadn’t gone to Rome.’

      ‘I’d forgotten that.’ Nan sank cross-legged to the floor. ‘A good thing you discovered the sort of man he is. From the way you reacted when you saw him, you might have become the next discard!’

      Marly was honest enough not to deny it.

      ‘Think you can take another shock?’ Nan ventured.

      ‘Depends.’

      ‘We need someone to replace Siri, the other Thai girl in the cabaret. She’s gone down with bronchitis.’

      ‘So why tell me?’ Marly asked.

      ‘Because the part calls for a Thai, and you can pass for one.’

      ‘But I’ve never acted in my life!’

      ‘All females know how to act!’

      ‘Maybe, but not on stage.’

      ‘What’s the difference? Be a sport, Marly. Siri was only in one sketch, and with your photographic memory you’ll waltz through it.’

      Marly sighed, swayed by Nan’s downcast expression. ‘Very well, but don’t blame me if I flop.’

      ‘You won’t. You’ll be wonderful!’

      ‘What if Mr Hamilton won’t give me time off to rehearse? Now he’s back he may expect me to get cracking on the software.’

      ‘Find out and let me know.’

      Next morning Marly hung around restlessly in her office waiting to be summoned to meet Alex Hamilton, and when lunchtime came and went without a call, she bearded his English secretary, Miss Granger.

      ‘Sorry I didn’t contact you before now,’ the girl apologised. ‘I meant to, but it’s been hectic here. Mr Hamilton