Tasha grinned as she realised just how like her father Lizzie was; so sure of herself, so open, maybe too open.
She went home via the supermarket and arrived home to find Lucy already there.
“Hi,” called Lucy as Tasha appeared in the open plan lounge/kitchen.
“Good day?”
“Yes, great. The store were so pleased with the photos from yesterday they want a Tasha Winters range for next season and Susie has suggested me as lead designer on it.”
“Wow.” She was beyond happy for her friend, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to be involved in a Tasha Winters collection as it would undoubtedly enforce another separation from Jim and she was struggling with this one. That was without considering how Jim might feel about a whole collection of clothes for her to model.
“You don’t sound too thrilled about it. You could make some decent money and it could be fitted in around any acting work,” said Lucy cautiously as she took in her friend’s less than enthusiastic expression.
“Yeah, I suppose. They can put the details together and send them through to Angie and I will look at it, but I don’t think Jim is too thrilled about me being on show, full stop,” she admitted, knowing he was totally appalled at the idea of her being on show at all.
“How was your evening?” asked Lucy changing the subject, mainly to avoid a ‘you haven’t known him long and how dare he dictate what you do or don’t do’ conversation.
“Interesting. I sent Jim some of the photos Jake took and we had our first video date,” she revealed with a beaming grin and a wiggle of her eyebrows.
“No way. You mean a date as in sex, right?” Lucy’s eyes widened.
“Yes,” giggled Tasha, blushing.
“Oh my God, Tash. How was it?”
Tasha laughed with a flush to her face. “Seriously hot. It was beyond anything I’d imagined.”
Lucy shook her head but wore a smile and gestured to the shopping bag from the sex shop Tasha kept telling herself wasn’t really a sex shop as such. “Repeat performance on, is it?”
Tasha blushed again. “Oh yes. But have you ever been in one of those shops?”
Lucy nodded at her friend’s shocked expression and tone. “It’s not a den of depravity, Tash. It’s a High Street store. No blacked out windows or dirty old men in raincoats. I buy underwear from there, amongst other things.”
Lucy poured two large glasses of wine. Tasha accepted hers, a couple wouldn’t hurt, she wasn’t number six and she wasn’t an alcoholic.
“What did you buy?”
Tasha cringed as Lucy reached for the bag and revealed her purchases.
“Crotchless panties, peephole bra, handcuffs, oils, a baby doll, a paddle.” Lucy listed the items as she took them from the bag. “Oh my, Natasha Winters, you are one kinky bitch. But no vibrator so I assume you already have one of those. I have several, for different occasions.” Her revelation caused obvious shock and embarrassment to Tasha.
“Several? Really? I don’t have one, never had one, but it would seem Jim thinks I need one so has bought me one and it will be delivered before Friday.”
“Oh my God. He has chosen one for you. Kinky. I like it,” she said with a snort of laughter. “I wonder if Ryan would like to choose one for me. The more I hear about Jim the more I like him, even if he has dickmatized you.”
Tasha howled with laughter at her friend’s choice of word. “Dickmatized, really?” She laughed again while Lucy snorted, causing wine to come down her nose which in turn made Tasha spit hers out.
“You have been dickmatized, one hundred percent.”
“Maybe,” Tasha agreed with another laugh.
“I really can’t wait to meet him, The Dickmatizer.” She wiggled her brows before humming a weird tune that seemed to suggest he had a theme tune. “What’s that film called?”
Tasha frowned.
Lucy cackled as she remembered, “The Equalizer!”
“Stop!” cried Tasha, thinking she might wet herself or choke, maybe both if her friend didn’t stop.
“What does he look like?”
“He is gorgeous; tall, dark and broad and a bit of a control freak,” she said thinking he was more than a bit of a control freak.
“Yeah Tash, only a control freak would select a vibrator for his girlfriend to use while he’s away.”
“Except he doesn’t want me to use it without him. Apparently, we can use it together on our dates.” Tasha was surprised how easy she found it to tell Lucy this without attempting to crawl up her own behind.
“Google him.” Lucy reached for her own laptop.
“What?”
“Google him. He may even have his own Wikipedia entry.”
Tasha laughed at her friend’s eagerness and stared at the screen as she entered Jim Maybury into Google images. Dozens of images appeared on the screen; Jim at premières, with his children, his many wives, endless female companions and various celebrities.
“He is hot, Tash. He looks well fit. How old is he?”
“I told you he was gorgeous. He’s thirty-nine. Do you think it’s an issue?”
Lucy shook her head. “If he looks like he does, buys shoes like yours and sends you a vibrator through the post then his age is the last thing you should have on your mind.” They both laughed before Lucy turned more serious. “Are you going to move to The States?”
Tasha shrugged. “I need to make sure Dan and Pippa are okay and free of my dad’s crap. Jim reckons he’ll help me sort things out, but I know he’ll insist we are in the same country and I don’t see him relocating here.”
“I’m not sure what to say. I’ll miss you if you go, but you would be crazy to lose him if you love him and want to be with him.”
“Has the postman been?” asked Tasha, not really wanting to discuss her and Jim and their possible future further and any associated complications. “My credit card statement is due,” she added with a grimace.
Lucy passed her the letters addressed to her. Tasha opened the first couple and threw them onto the coffee table then opened her bank statement and stared at it in disbelief. She then ripped open the credit card statement and shook her head.
“Tash, are you alright? Are things bad?” Lucy’s voice was laced with genuine concern.
“No. The opposite—Mr Control Freak strikes again.”
Lucy frowned.
“James Maybury has got my bank account and credit card details and paid off my credit card and has put £50,000 into my bank account.”
“Fuck,” cried Lucy.
Tasha nodded and in spite of her annoyance at his interference smiled when her phone rang to the sound of Viva Las Vegas.
“What is that about?” Lucy asked with a smirk when she watched Tasha answering her phone.
“Good afternoon, Mr Maybury.”
“Hey, baby. I believe you’ve heard from Lizzie.”
“Yeah, she text earlier. She liked my photos.”
“So much so she’s put them on Facebook in the album, ‘look at my beautiful step-mommy’ and so far it has one hundred and forty three likes and lots of comments from horny, adolescent boys.”
“Oh dear.” She laughed, mainly at Jim’s lack of amusement.
“It’s not funny. I have told her she needs to remove them, and you will send her some clothed ones if she needs to put some on Facebook,” he said seriously.
“S
he was asking about modelling and whether I would help her with it.” There was a delay of a few seconds, making Tasha even more nervous of Jim’s response.
“And what did you say?”
“I said I would speak to you first.”
“Thank you. What sort of help does she want?” he asked, adding, “remembering she is only fifteen.”
“I don’t know. Maybe just some advice about how to get into it, but she thinks Lenny will disapprove.”
“He will, but she is not his daughter so he doesn’t really have the authority to call the shots.”
“You sound angry.”
“No, not really. I got mad at Lizzie for putting your pictures on Facebook and I keep thinking about last night, then I miss you, but I’m not angry even if I have been a little shouty this morning.”
She resisted the temptation to ask if he’d made anyone cry, but did ask, “When do you want to check out my possibly inappropriate clothes?”
“I could text you when I get in from work and do it then, although it will be almost bedtime for you.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Maybe you could show me some of the ones you’ve already decided are inappropriate.”
“Why?”
“So, I can get a little pissed at the idea of you ever being seen out in them and then if you kept a couple I could take you to task over them when I see you,” he suggested.
“Oh, James.”
“You know what you have to do with that James, don’t you?” He laughed, knowing they both knew exactly where her deliberate James would get her.
“It’s on the list.” She laughed with him. “But maybe you should start your own list of crazy ass control freakishness,” she said with a little annoyance as she remembered what she’d been doing when he called.
“What are you talking about?” he asked equally annoyed with her, presumably for her tone.
“The fact you have paid off my credit card and put £50,000 into my bank account. Why would you do that?”
“Because I can, and I want to take care of you and if there is an emergency I need to know you have money and credit available.”
“I have money and I have credit. I will send you a cheque—”
“Are trying to piss me off, Natasha? Because you are. I will not accept the cash back, and I may as well tell you I have arranged for a payment to be transferred into your account every month and you should be receiving an AMEX card from my account in the next couple of days so one way or another I will be picking up the tab, baby.”
“You are fucking crazy,” she shouted. “I don’t need or want your money.”
“Baby, I will change my flight if you insist on shouting at me. The deal is done and you will have to accept it, but if it makes you feel better we can talk about it later, but it won’t change,” he said in his ‘I am the boss of you, I control everything about you’ way. “Oh, whilst you may not want my money, I think you’re going to need it.”
“How did you get my bank details?”
“You left them on my computer so I simply retained them for future use.” He spoke nonchalantly.
“You are fucking crazy.” She had no clue what else to say beyond those repeated four words
“And I am going to put your smart mouth to use when I see you and spank your ass like you wouldn’t believe, but my next appointment is here so I have to go. Feel free to sext me later,” he said as if they’d just had the most mundane of conversations.
“Okay.” Her single word signified she was either resigned to his interfering ways or she was beginning to understand she might need to pick her battles.
Tasha and Lucy were watching Pretty Woman as they ate their Chinese takeaway with another glass of wine when Lucy suddenly pointed at Julia Roberts on screen. “That’s you and Richard Gere is Jim.”
Tasha laughed. “I think Richard Gere is older than Jim, but gorgeous all the same. Oh, and I am not a prostitute. Although, Jim seems intent on buying me.”
“First world problems right there.” Lucy smirked. “Is his house big?”
“Who? Richard Gere?” asked Tasha seriously. “I don’t know him or where he lives but Jim probably does so I can ask if you want me to.”
“No, you dopey cow. Jim, Jim’s house, is it big?” Laughed Lucy.
“Oh, it’s huge, on an estate no less. His housekeeper and his driver live in one cottage and his son lives in another and then there’s the main house and a pool and tennis courts and stables and gardens. It’s like a scene from Hello magazine.”
“Sounds lush. You would be mad not to take a chance on him. Not for the money, but you know, the whole package. He is obviously crazy about you and you him.”
Tasha nodded. “He’s certainly crazy, but I can’t leave Dan and Pippa and Dan won’t leave until Pippa can and she has at least another year at school.”
Before Lucy could offer any comment or counter argument, Tasha’s phone began to ring.
“Hello.”
Lucy looked at her with concern as her expression darkened.
“Dan, calm down. Where are you? I’m on my way now. Don’t worry, please.”
“I have to go, Luce. Dad has flipped out big style and beat the crap out of my mum and Dan thinks he will turn on him and Pippa next.”
“I’ll come with you. Give me your keys. I’ll drive.”
Chapter 28
They couldn’t miss the sound of screaming and shouting as they turned into the road. Tasha ran up the path followed by Lucy who waved at the Solomon’s who were in their garden looking at a loss as to what to do to help them. Tasha found her family in the lounge. Her dad was standing over her mother who was bruised, battered and bleeding, still cowering under him. Dan was huddled up with Pippa, and as she looked at them she knew she’d never be able to leave them with him. They looked like little children, scared and lost, meaning if it came to a choice between being with Jim permanently or staying and keeping them safe, they would win. Her own happiness would have to wait and if Jim wouldn’t, so be it.
“Stop it!” screamed Tasha, needing to gain her father’s attention and hopefully stop what was happening.
He turned and faced her with a snarl. “What do you want? This is nothing to do with you. It’s between me and your slut of a mother.”
“Mum, are you okay? Should I phone for an ambulance?” she asked, ignoring her father.
“Sluts don’t need ambulances.”
He turned his attention back to his wife and screamed at her, “You are a disgrace, you have embarrassed me you dirty, fucking whore!” And with the final word, he hit her again, not quite a punch, but more than a slap.
“What the fuck is going on?” cried Tasha and as he turned to face her again, she knew he was about to redirect his hatred and anger towards her. She recognised the look, the contortion of the face. She swallowed hard and tried to brace herself for the impact she knew was imminent. As his hand came down hard across her face, she screamed to her siblings to get out and also told Lucy to call the police. She watched them leave, her siblings knowing the drill, leading a reluctant Lucy from the house.
Grabbing Tasha’s hair, her father pulled her down to sit next to her mother.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it? Whore of a mother, and whore of a daughter. At least you didn’t give Liam the clap,” he screeched.
Tasha laughed. Her mother had been used in payment to Liam and she’d given him something. The back of his hand came fast and hard to stop the laughter, which it did and was replaced with tears.
He turned to her mother again. “At least your whore daughter was a virgin for Liam. It’s only since him she decided to fuck anything with a pulse.”
Tasha laughed again, although there was nothing funny about this situation. Maybe it was the shock of her mistimed amusement that caused him to stare at her disbelievingly.
“You think this is fucking funny?”
She stopped immediately. Getting to her feet and feeli
ng brave, or at least proud of the fact Liam had not been her first, she stood in front of her father and looked him straight in the eyes. “You really think I gave that slimy, dirty, paedophile my virginity?” She laughed again, a deeper, darker laugh. “I slept with Gerry when I was almost fifteen so your great pal Liam would never be of significance. You pimped me to him and you were both stupid enough to think I would let him have any part of me?”
She was almost hysterical now until he squeezed her face tightly and dug his nails into her skin.
“You fucking bitch! Let’s see if you’re laughing after I’ve finished with you. My debt has gone up because of your disease ridden bitch of a mother. So, you have a choice; give me £20,000 or you give yourself to Liam.”
She stared at him and for the first time could see him for what he was, a sad, scared, pathetic, little man and she was done here. Jim was right, there had to be a solution for Dan and Pippa and she knew he’d find it. Then there were her grandparents, who were also right. If her mother allowed herself to live this way, then nobody else could change that.
“Maybe you should screw him yourself.”
Another blow came to her face making her scream out in pain, but she cried more as he issued his ultimate threat. “Then Pippa will pay.”
“No. I will go to the police and tell them everything and you won’t be allowed anywhere near her.” She realised her threat was made out of fear, but she meant every word. No matter what happened afterwards, the publicity and attention, the embarrassment and shame, they would all be necessary and a small price to pay if it meant Pippa was safe from enduring what she had. The thought of her grandparents discovering exactly what she had experienced at her parent’s hands was the hardest part of everything because she knew they would blame themselves, but Pippa and Dan were her priorities, they had to be.
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