by Primula Bond
‘There you are, you see. Ideas just come pouring out of you,’ she said. She tapped the ticket against my cheek. ‘I was going to talk to you about this at Symes Hall, Suki. Which reminds me . . . your friend Chrissie wants to see you. That was some party.’
I stood up and walked over to the window. Sir Simeon’s flat was extremely tidy. More than that. It was empty.
‘One thing at a time, please, Mimi. Of course I’ll go and see Chrissie before I leave. I owe her a huge apology. But I can’t think about that now. What’s Sir Simeon doing, removing all his stuff? It looks like he’s left his flat.’
‘Yes. He’s moving in to my house. He’ll be looking after it for me while I’m gone.’
‘He’s not going with you?’
‘I’m the cat that walks alone, Summers. Rather like you. And I intend to keep walking. But I haven’t finished what I wanted to say to you. You’ve changed since you came to work here. Or perhaps it’s the real you.’
‘I’ve overstepped the mark, I know. I’ve been carried away. That evening in the club bar, Mikhail’s party, meeting Geoffrey Grey on the London Eye,’ I said. I hung my head, trying to look ashamed. ‘But I can’t apologise for it, Mimi. All that debauchery, all that sex, all that exhibitionism – I’ve loved it.’
‘I don’t want you to apologise for it,’ she replied, those fingers stroking my cheek. ‘That’s not what I’m getting at. All that sex, all that energy, you really have no shame, do you? Even the spying and the secret rendezvous . . . You’ve emerged in the last couple of months as a force to be reckoned with, Summers. Everyone thinks so. You’ve blossomed, further than my wildest dreams, and that’s saying something. I thought you’d be hot, but not this hot. There’s no stopping you, is there? Insatiable doesn’t touch it. And they want more of you.’
‘I don’t understand.’ I frowned, sitting very still so that she wouldn’t move her fingers away. ‘I thought I’d gone way beyond my brief as housekeeper. Then again, I’ve never been entirely clear what a housekeeper is supposed to do. I mean, I’ve been screwing the members. I even screwed my best friend’s fiancé.’
Mimi’s laugh gurgled for a while, increasing so that she laughed out loud when she saw my worried face. ‘Wake up and smell the pot pourri, Summers! Club Crème is absolutely flourishing, mostly thanks to you. And the hilarious thing is you don’t even realise it. We’ve got more members than we can handle. So here’s our proposal, and we need an answer straightaway. We want you and Miss Sugar to take over the management. We want you to keep it small and discreet, but keep those members queuing.’
I looked up at her, a dirty grin spreading across my face, my whole body puffing up with pride and excitement.
‘Does that mean I can choose the cream of the crop?’
Mimi tried to look disapproving, but then her black eyes glittered and she leaned close. I breathed in her sexy scent, half-closed my eyes. She stuck the tip of her tongue out and swiped it across my lips.
‘Why do you think I’ve enjoyed this job so much, Summers? You can lick the cream, that’s why. Whoever and whenever you like.’
18
‘So you’re going to be a tycoon.’
Chrissie was prowling round the penthouse apartment, running her fingers up the chrome banisters of the stairs, pinging the spotlights which dangled down from the ceiling on bendy wires, opening and closing the doors of the enormous walk-in wardrobe.
‘I told you I could put down roots,’ I replied, pouring out some champagne. I could get used to this. I was used to this. Chrissie shot me a look and came over to get her glass.
‘It was a close call, though, wasn’t it? You nearly bailed out and scarpered abroad again without telling me. And I nearly didn’t find out that Jeremy was a member of the same club where you went for that strange interview. Just think. You could have met each other, without knowing you had me in common.’
Now I did go red. This was close to the knuckle. But for a quirk of fate it could have been me bent double over a bar stool with Jeremy rogering me from behind on that very first night at the club, not to mention Mikhail’s party. But that would be too much information even for this new, relaxed Chrissie.
‘I thought you’d hit the roof when you saw me at Symes Hall,’ I said. I spoke quickly to cover my embarrassment. ‘I should have been in touch with you weeks ago, told you about the new job. I’m sorry about that. But it’s not my fault Jeremy was keeping things from you. So how are things between you two?’
‘Never better, as it happens. The Ugly Sister has been dispatched, and we’re as much in love as ever.’
Chrissie tossed her yellow curls and crossed her legs with a satisfied swish. I didn’t quite share her confidence. Avril Grey had the tenacity of a terrier with a rabbit. I doubted very much that she would go quietly.
‘That’s great,’ I said heartily, casting about for a change of subject. ‘And how’s golden boy, the lad from the perfume convention? Has he recovered from your assault on him at the party?’
‘He didn’t know where to look when I next bumped into him,’ Chrissie tittered. ‘But I soon told him where to look. I reminded him that the label “superior” only applies to me when I’m at work. But he’s getting cocky now. He’s started taking liberties even when I’m on the shop floor.’
‘Liberties? You sound as if he’s nicking the custard creams without asking. What liberties does he take on the shop floor?’
‘He’s really turned on by touching me up when I’m wearing that hideous uniform. Puts his hands right up my turquoise skirt. Sometimes when there are still customers to be served.’ Chrissie tweaked her tight jumper down over her hips in imaginary protest.
‘This is all such a relief,’ I said and sighed, pressing my glass against my cheek. ‘I didn’t know how you’d take all the revelations – how some of the members like to use the club, what Jeremy likes to do – and especially some of the things I’ve been required to do. But how come you’re so mellow about it?’
‘That Mimi Breeze.’ Chrissie shook her head and chuckled. ‘She could charm the pants off a monk. She talked to us the day after that wild party and told us how wonderful you are and how many of your clients end up thanking her and her team for what they’ve done. How could I possibly mind my Jeremy belonging to such a smart club? She’s amazing. I could fancy her myself if I was that way inclined. I expect you’ll miss her.’
I nodded. So Mimi hadn’t explained things at all. Chrissie had been given a carefully edited version of what exactly her beloved future husband had been up to at the club. And I wasn’t about to enlighten her.
I glanced round the apartment. I still couldn’t believe my luck. I’d just snapped my fingers, and now this was to be my new home. After our discussion about my future, Mimi had marched into the bed and breakfast with me, settled my bill, asked me which room at the club I would prefer and installed me in here without a quibble.
‘Mimi’s been a kind of mentor to me, and I will miss her, yes. She’s brilliant and captivating. But if I’m going to make a go of this, and not be tempted to rush overseas again, I need to stand on my own feet. And there’s always Miss Sugar.’
‘Who?’
‘My partner.’ I felt my cheeks warm up at the thought of it. ‘My partner in crime.’
Chrissie gave a little cough and put her glass down on the glass-topped coffee table.
‘I’ve been thinking, Suki. Do you think you might be wanting any other partners?’ she asked. I knew what that mewing voice meant.
‘You mean you’d like to come in with us?’
‘Well, to tell you the truth, I’m dead jealous of the way you’ve landed this plum role after such a short time back in London, scruffy urchin that you were! I’m sure it’s because of my borrowed suit that you got the job in the first place.’
‘It took more than a borrowed suit to get and keep my job. Do you really see yourself doing what I do, Chrissie?’ My voice was soft and low, something else I’d learned from Mimi
when she wanted to make herself perfectly understood. ‘You reckon you could really run an establishment like this? Fold the towels, arrange the flowers, invent new cocktails, take the members’ money, even field their personal phone calls? Keep them happy. Understand them. Shed all judgement. Be at their beck and call night and day.’
‘You’re failing dismally to make it sound anything other than great fun. Remember, I spend all day spraying perfume onto people’s necks and listening to their marital woes. If you can do all that . . .’
‘Anything you can do, I can do better? Is that it?’ I asked. I was failing dismally to conceal my irritation. ‘You think it’s just a walk in the park, this job, do you?’
‘I think it must be a breeze. Yes.’
There was a pause, and then we both realised the play on words. Her lips twitched and so did mine, and with a huge sense of ice breaking, we started to laugh. I poured out some more champagne.
‘OK. Let’s go back to your idea,’ I said, thinking fast. ‘I think we could use you in the business, yes, but not in the way you meant.’
‘All ears, darling.’
‘Your perfume department. A hotbed of confidences. Women, wives, mistresses. You can recruit for us. Not that we have problems with publicity, but it’s word of mouth we rely on, and your perfume department would be an ideal starting point. Not to mention all those conferences you go on.’
‘Yes, but this is a club for men, Suki. What use would all my duchesses be to you?’
I opened the door of my apartment and ushered her downstairs. As we passed the smaller of the two drawing rooms I noticed that two of my favourite club members had just arrived. Geoffrey Grey and Merlin Symes were planted on either side of the fireplace. I pulled my stomach in, feeling the kiss of lace underwear on my breasts and the sharp tweak of the matching thong pinching up my crack.
Chrissie was still on the stairs, her head snapping right and left, marvelling at the beautiful decor, her hand extended to open all the doors.
‘Not in there,’ I said, kicking the drawing room door shut. ‘There’s some heavyweight board meeting going on.’
In the office, I sat her down at my desk and showed her the proofs of a slim new brochure.
‘It’s only at the ideas stage, but this is what I want to do. I want to start up a club, just like Club Crème, but for women. If you were involved in our publicity, perhaps we could call it Perfume Place. Women can come here, escape their home lives, husbands, boyfriends, bosses, and be cosseted and flattered, just like our members are here. And you can be our founder member.’
As Chrissie started looking through the brochure, Miss Sugar glided in to the office. She was still dressed in her usual pallid grey, but there was something jaunty in her step and a very faint tinge of pink in her cheeks. She raised her eyebrows at the sight of Chrissie sitting at her desk.
‘I want you to talk Chrissie through our new venture,’ I hissed at her. ‘Avril Grey’s prepared some draft copy, but don’t for heaven’s sake mention Avril’s name to Chrissie. Just sell the idea. Can you spare me? I’ve got some members to attend to.’
‘Would that be flaccid members?’ Miss Sugar retorted in a rare moment of jest. The high notes in her voice suggested that she’d scored last night. ‘Or full-on, filled-up members?’
‘What do you think, Sugar?’ I retorted, nudging her in the ribs.
She stuck her chin in the air and advanced upon Chrissie with a greedy glint in her eye.
I couldn’t wait to get to the red drawing room. I had decided to make this my unofficial, personal domain, and members could only enter if they were personally invited. I kept the decor as it had always been. Old fashioned, welcoming, intimate. Dark red walls, kilim rugs, low-slung sofas and mirrors everywhere. A carved table laden with wine bottles. Dim lighting. A set of French doors led out on to the glassed-in patio shared by all the downstairs rooms. Already the layout of these downstairs rooms had given me an idea for a fabulous party.
‘Gentlemen,’ I said, sweeping in and at last feeling like the mistress of the house. I wondered if I could ever truly emulate Mimi’s style. ‘How lovely to see you both. I was hoping you’d be here again soon.’
‘We wanted a piece of you, lady, before you get too grand with all this new responsibility.’
As always Merlin sounded cool and a little disdainful. He was trying to bring me down to earth as if I still had dung on my boots, but I noticed that he’d scrubbed up for the trip to London. He was wearing black jeans and a pure white shirt. His hair had been cut short so that I was shocked to see the boyish bareness of his neck and ears. He looked unutterably tasty.
‘I’ll never be too grand for you, Merlin. I mean, Mimi was never too grand, was she? Not in the sack, I mean.’
‘Mimi’s gone now,’ he growled. I kept myself from smiling. It was so easy to rouse him to anger, and so easy to quell it again. And he was right. Mimi had gone. And with her had gone the competition. Much as I loved her, I wanted Sir Simeon and Merlin to find a new woman to fight over. And I intended to be that woman.
‘Hey, you two, stop fighting,’ Geoffrey Grey protested, wiping his glasses and putting them on again to silence us. He, too, had scrubbed up. He had shaved, which made him look younger and cleaner, and his tawny hair, which had not been cut, matched the soft tweed suit he was wearing. His brogues were polished so that I could see the reflection of the firelight dancing on the leather toes. ‘It suits you, the new position. You look sensational, Miss Summers. Very regal. What’s your secret?’
‘This place,’ I said, and meant it. I walked over to the drinks table and picked up a cold bottle of Chablis. I even moved differently now, shoulders back, tits out, hips swaying. It was the clothes, the shoes and the new status. ‘It’s not like coming to work. It’s like having a party every day. And now I’m managing the club, well, the sky’s the limit.’
‘If you don’t mind, Miss Summers,’ Geoffrey said, coughing politely as he took a tall glass of wine from me, beaded with cold. ‘We don’t particularly want a party tonight. We came here for some peace and quiet, didn’t we, Merlin?’
‘After the week we’ve had on the Continent buying more horses for Symes Hall, we just need some TLC,’ agreed Merlin. The callous edge to his voice was gone at last. He slumped back in his chair, his blue eyes half closed. I could tell he was tired. The pair of them were at my disposal.
I walked over to the main door and locked it. I didn’t bother with the patio door. Then I put on a CD. A cool, sexy sax pierced the silence. The two men remained seated, one in each big armchair, and looked at me expectantly.
‘Then peace and quiet is what you’ll get,’ I murmured, returning to the fireplace and staring at myself in the huge mirror. I pressed my hot cheeks, then started to undo the pearly buttons which ran down the front of my long black dress. ‘And special treatment, too, if you obey the rules.’
The first few buttons revealed the deep cleft of my cleavage, the rounded shapes of my breasts illuminated by the firelight and a couple of low lamps. Then I unfastened some more until I reached my legs, where the dress fell open anyway. I held the dress closed for a moment, clinging for a few more seconds to my new, domineering image. I held my breath. Then I opened the severe dress and let it slide down. I wriggled my shoulders free and there I was, standing in the firelight in just my black lace bra and stockings. The wisps of material held my breasts up firmly, yet the pattern traced around the dark red nipples, accentuating them with the delicate design.
‘We said peace and quiet, Suki,’ whimpered Geoffrey Grey.
‘Tough,’ I replied.
I flicked open the front hook of the bra and let my breasts drop heavily forwards. Geoffrey Grey groaned. Merlin grinned, stroking his shadowy upper lip. He stretched his long legs out in front of him.
I took my breasts in my hands and started to knead them, gently at first, then more firmly. This was going to be my own floor show. Just having the two men sitting there in my little red roo
m, rigid with expectation, was enough to excite me. They were going to watch, and then they could fight over me if they chose. I knew which one I preferred, had preferred all along, and probably he knew it. I knew which long, hard cock I wanted plunging into me soon, soon.
‘You’ve come a long way, Miss Summers,’ remarked Merlin, shifting in his seat. ‘You only do it in threesomes, now?’
‘A third party always adds spice,’ I responded. I sighed, dancing slowly round. ‘It’s something I’ve learned. It’s something I’m going to enjoy again, and again, and again. Just watch me.’
A great surge of hot lust pounded through me as I made myself that promise. The music wound around us all, and I caressed my breasts more passionately, swaying and letting my hair swing down my back. The touch of it on my skin reminded me of Mimi stroking my hair, sorting me out, transforming the ugly duckling, as she called it. If only she could see me now.
I let myself relax, enjoying those eyes on me. ‘You’re getting hard watching me, aren’t you, boys?’ The heat curled up from my cunt.
‘Geoffrey, would you mind?’ Merlin leaned across to his friend. ‘This one’s for me.’
I curled one arm under my bouncing breasts to keep them raised, my hand fondling and squeezing the yielding flesh and, with the other hand, I tweaked the diamanté-studded thong sideways to show them my waxed pubes. I still wasn’t used to the stimulation of wearing a thong, let alone one with little studs inside as well as out, which constantly rubbed and tickled my tender crevices as I moved about.
‘I make the rules at this club,’ I said. ‘And I say Geoffrey stays.’
I stepped across to Merlin, placing one foot on either side of his long legs and tilting myself towards him so that my crotch was up against his face. His hands stroked up the back of my stockings, tickling the skin behind my knees. He knew my weak spot. I pushed my velvety pussy lips against his face and felt his breath blow across the bare skin. I started to sway my hips again, into him and away, unable to stop myself moving in a way that matched the desire pulsating through me.