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‘Yes’

His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her ‘You’re very pale Are you all right?’

‘Yes’ She tugged her wrist out of his hold ‘Excuse me I’ll be back in a minute’

The lapel-fingering wo at Cara as she spoke No doubt she too was asking if Cara was his latest lover The latest in a long, long line

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Cara slipped out of the door This ti and laughing loudly A small queue had formed by the bathroom

She didn’t want the bathrooet as far away from Pepe and all the women who had shared his bed as she could

As she stood there, feeling helpless, not knohat to do, the opportunity for escape presented itself

A door in the far corner flew open and a latecone, burst into the room This was clearly so the outside entrance

Screareeted the newcoe and skirted her way past the crowd to the door

Bingo

The staircase was dimly lit and narrow, but she easily hts until she reached the first floor There, she shrank back to avoid a couple of bustling waitresses exiting large swing doors to the left, expertly carrying plates of stea food

Making sure no otherdoors, she carried on to the ground floor and found herself in the centre of the café, right next to the bar

A young lass spotted her ‘Je vous aider?’ he said, openly appraising her

Not having a clue what he’d just said, she grappled for the right words in a language she hadn’t spoken in over a decade ‘Un téléphone, s’il vous plaît?’

‘Un téléphone?’

‘Oui Je voudrais un taxi’ She couldn’t hide the desperation from her voice ‘S’il vous plaît’

He appraised her a little longer than was necessary before nodding ‘Une minute,’ he said, then left the bar and walked to a table where fourcoffee They all turned to look at her

‘Hey, English,’ one of them called to her