Seven
Strolling through Waterlooplein market, Georgie barely heard her phone ting! as a new message came through. She had been up for hours, helping her aunt set up her crappy stall with all the home-made tat she sold. Veltje had shown up a few hours later, after the market had opened to the public, and once Aunt Hill had a cup of tea and a cream cake to keep her company Georgie had headed off with her friend to do some shopping.
Veltje always had money, though Georgie had never heard her talk about having a job. She didn't seem to have any family either, sharing a small studio flat with her boyfriend Rae. She had never mentioned her parents or any siblings, and Georgie had never raised the topic with her: they had only known each other for a few weeks and it wasn't any of her business. If Veltje wanted to tell her, she would have told her by now.
Veltje flicked through a rail of clothes, examining the dresses critically. She sniffed. "Do you think I'd look good in red?" she asked.
Georgie rolled her eyes and took her phone out. "You look good in anything," she replied. "You know you do. Why ask?"
Veltje smiled smugly. "I do, don't I? What about this? Is it too slutty?" She held up a shiny, fake-leather, mini-dress.
Georgie ignored the text and raised an eyebrow at the dress. "Far too slutty," she said.
"Good. I'll buy it, then."
"You should try that on: you're so tall, I don't think that dress will cover your bum!"
"So?" Veltje looked genuinely puzzled.
Georgie stared at her for a second, her face carefully blank. "Nothing. Go ahead." Let her waste her money: she'd get piles from sitting on cold surfaces if she wasn't careful, but it wasn't Georgie's problem. She looked at her phone and smiled. The text was from Jörn, and simply said; "Lunch?"
I'm at a market with my aunt. Sorry. :(
She put her phone away and waited for her friend, but by the time Veltje had paid for her dress Georgie's phone had Ting!ed again.
Which market?
Can't spell it. Waterloo?
"I'm hungry," Veltje declared. "Let's go and get some lunch. What do you fancy?"
"I can't," Georgie said with a sigh. "I promised my aunt I'd help her out here all day. Unless you want to get a burger from one of the vans?"
"And get food poisoning? No thanks!" Veltje said with a grin. Then she pouted. "So I have to go and eat alone? I hate that. Maybe I'll ring Jörn, and see if he wants to have lunch with me." She smiled impishly. "I think he's really crazy about me."
Georgie raised another eyebrow. "Really?" In her hand, her phone Ting!ed again.
I'll come to you. We'll grab a burger or something.
She opened her mouth to tell Veltje, but her friend cut her off.
"Yeah, he's really into girls like me. Women, I mean." She cast a sly glance at Georgie. The English girl wore a pair of green capris and an old t-shirt that had seen better days. In contrast, Veltje was practically dressed for a catwalk, with her clingy hot-pants, sleeveless top and killer heels. "Little girls don't impress him. You know how men are."
Georgie closed her mouth and smiled sweetly. "Yes," she said. "I do." She quickly texted Jörn back; Sounds great! The greasier the better! We only live once, right? ;)
Within thirty seconds she had a reply; That's my girl!
"Are you going to ring him?" she asked Veltje innocently.
Veltje checked her watch. "Not yet," she murmured. "He usually has business all afternoon, until later."
"He doesn't interrupt his work for you, then?"
"No! Of course not! He's a very busy man. Usually, he calls me when he's free."
That's a booty call! Georgie thought to herself, amused. He rings you for sex, you silly girl! "When did you last see him?" she asked, trying to vanish the amused scorn she felt sure was in her voice.
"Two nights ago. You were there." Veltje looked over at another stall, one that was selling brightly coloured shoes. "Ooh! Those are pretty!" She made a bee-line for the stall and picked up a bright red pair of high heels and measured one against the sole of her foot.
"I thought he said he would call you afterwards?" Georgie pressed, hoping she didn't sound like she was interrogating the other girl.
"Nah. Sometimes he doesn't. It depends on how he feels."
"So how do you know he's crazy about you?"
Veltje stared into space thoughtfully. "It's a feeling I get," she said at last. She cocked her head to one side. "You know what I mean? When you get that feeling that a boy really likes you?"
"He's not a boy," Georgie said quickly. "He's a full-grown man."
Veltje shrugged and gestured to the woman that worked the stall. "Age is only a number," she said over her shoulder to Georgie. "All men are boys really. I'll take these," she added to the woman. "Do you have them in a size six?"
"Does Rae know about this? He is your boyfriend, after all."
"The hell with Rae. He's just a boy, not a man."
I thought age was only a number? Georgie had to bite her tongue from saying it out loud. During their date yesterday, Jörn had spoken briefly about Veltje, but nothing he'd said had been complimentary, aside from "Don't get me wrong: she's very beautiful", but that had been followed by "but she's as thick as pig shit."
"Besides," Veltje continued as she paid for her shoes, "Rae doesn't care. He thinks that it's unnatural for people to be monogamous. You don't find it in any other animal, and humans are really just animals."
"Actually, you find it in several other animal species," Georgie said.
Veltje snorted as she rejoined her friend. "Name one," she demanded.
"Black swans."
"What? Really?"
"Yep. They mate for life. Wolves are monogamous too."
"Wolves?" Veltje stopped dead and stared at her. "You're kidding! That has to be a lie!"
"Nope. Wolf packs are made up of a male wolf and his mate, and their children. It's like a wild family. And the male and the female usually stay together for life."
"What about lions?" Veltje asked, interested.
Georgie shook her head. "I don't think so. But there's loads of others: birds, monkeys… Even fish."
"Cool. You're so smart, Georgie." Veltje shifted her shopping into one hand and linked arms with Georgie. They were comically mismatched: one tall and teetering in high heels while the other was now almost a head shorter wearing flat flip-flops. "If brains was beauty, you'd be almost as pretty as me."
Now that Jörn had pointed out that Veltje was fairly stupid, Georgie found she was noticing it more. Again, she bit her tongue to stop herself from pointing out that if brains were beauty, Veltje would be fairly ugly. "It's a good job they're not," she said humbly.
"Not they, 'it'," Veltje corrected her. "Your brain is only one thing, not many."
"Jesus fucking wept." Georgie had heard the expression 'facepalm', but only now, when she had to stop herself from putting her hand to her head in despair, did she fully understand its meaning. "Veltje, the word 'brains' is plural, and that's what we were talking about."
"Oooh! Look at that!" Veltje hadn't heard her. Instead, she pulled away, thrust her shopping at Georgie, and wandered over to another stall. "I love those earrings. They're so cool."
Georgie groaned inwardly, and prayed that Jörn would get there soon.
x
Jörn Müller had parked his car in an underground car park a few blocks away, preferring to pay for a ticket and walk the rest of the way than to leave the expensive vehicle on the street outside of the flee market. He strolled through the stalls and the crowds, keeping a careful eye out for Georgie. It would have been easier to phone her and get her to meet him somewhere, but he wanted to surprise her. He'd already bought a small bouquet of tulips for her.
He was tall, so he had the advantage of seeing over the heads of the crowd, but so was Veltje, which was why he spotted her first.
She hadn't seen him though, so he slowed down and wondered why she was there. She looked relaxed, and he realised she was chatting to someone. When she finally moved out of the way, he realised it was Georgie and an unexpected smile took over his mouth. Georgie, he saw, was holding a lot of shopping bags and looking slightly annoyed. Veltje was practically floating on air in comparison. He waited until Veltje was enthralled with something on one of the stalls, and stealthy moved towards them, positioning himself behind Georgie. He leaned down until his mouth was next to her ear.
"Boo," he said quietly.
"Fuck!" she cried, dropping the bags. She turned, her eyes wide, and grinned when she saw it was him. "You bastard! You frightened the life out of me!"
Veltje started to laugh. "What are you doing here?" she cried in delight.
"I'm here to take my friend to lunch," he replied. "Surprise!" he added to Georgie, whipping the tulips out from behind his back. She laughed and accepted them happily.
"Thank you, they're beautiful."
"What?" Veltje asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Müller put his arm around Georgie's shoulders casually. "We're going for a big, greasy burger," he said. "See you later, Veltje."
"I'll talk to you later," Georgie added, trying not to sound smug. She put her arm around Müller's waist as they walked away.
Veltje watched them go. Her shopping lay forgotten on the ground where Georgie had dropped it. Her heart thudded hollowly in her chest and her arms and legs felt numb with shock. That little bitch! she thought to herself. She's stealing my man! How dare she?
It was time little Georgia Haddock learned a few home truths.
