The rest of the face was strikingly beautiful too. Her lips, big and full, her nose perfectly formed and her long black hair. All this was attached to a body which was, in his eyes, perfect. Full, large breasts, flat stomach, slim hips and long, tanned legs. These features he noticed in the couple of seconds it took for him to think of something to say. He placed the wrench by his side and said, ‘Who are you? You scared me half to death!’
‘Sorry.’
‘You okay? What are you doing in this area at this time of the night? Why are you in my garage more to the point?’
‘Sorry, I, I, I’ve broken down up the road there towards the railway bridge. A man just tried to attack me.’
‘Let me guess, the flood right? I’m not complaining; it’s good business for the garage.’ Then what she just said then registered on his tired mind. ‘Did you just say that you got attacked?’
‘Yes.’
‘Shit! Where is he? Did he follow you?’
‘I don’t know where he is now. I kneed him and ran off.’
‘Where did you knee him?’
‘Here.’ She pointed coyly to her groin area.
‘Good girl! That should have put him down good and proper! Don’t worry. You’re safe now. I’ve got my wrench! First, let’s get you into the office. There is a heater up there and a kettle. Nice cup of tea will fix you up.’
‘Yes, that would be nice.’
‘Sorry, I don’t really know what to say. A cup of tea is probably a stupid thing to offer you.’
‘No, it’s good. Thank you. Heat is good too right now.’
‘Well, let me get my T-shirt on and then we can go to the office. I always work with my T-shirt off when the boss is not around. Gets really stuffy under the cars.’
She managed to get her sobbing under control again as she felt safer in the presence of this mechanic. She watched him stand up and she could get her first proper look at him. He stood about six feet tall, slim and muscular with broad shoulders and the trunk of his body petered down to a slim waist. His stomach was smooth, well not smooth but bumpy with muscle. She guessed his age to be around her own, maybe a little older, but it was hard to tell as his face had little patches of grease and oil on it. He had dark, almost olive skin that covered the most handsome of faces.
He smiled at her as he reached for his T-shirt that was on top of the car and this smile lit up his face and his light blue eyes. His hair was ruffled and unkempt and became even more so after he had pulled his T-shirt onto his body. ‘You’re lucky I’m here. Usually gone by sevenish, especially on a Friday. Got a lot of work on though and the boss pays good overtime especially on a Friday. Got to work hard to get the car I want. The office is across the courtyard unfortunately. There’s a phone there too. Might be an idea to give the police a call in case this idiot is still out there. Anyway, back out into the rain for you unfortunately.’
‘That’s okay. I’m soaked anyway.’
‘Yeah, good point.’ He smiled again, lighting up his blue eyes, and then he led her out into the courtyard and as he was locking the door he said, ‘My name is David. Nice to meet you.’ He offered his hand, which she accepted.
They shook hands and she said, ‘My name is Sally.’
*
They scampered across the courtyard and reached the back wall of the shop. There was flight of steps that led to a door on the first floor of the store. David ran quickly up the slippery metal steps whereas Sally took her time, her heels making the steps ring every time she took a step.
By the time she had reached the top David had the door unlocked, opened and was holding it open for Sally. He closed it behind him, locked it and slid a bolt across that was at the top of the door. Then he switched on the light and they both blinked like startled rabbits caught in a car’s headlights as the bright lights affected their vision.
The office was small. It contained a battered desk with a chair and a filing cabinet behind it, a refrigerator and also a small camping stove with a gas bottle attached to it. There were posters on the wall but the first thing that caught Sally’s eyes after they had adjusted to the light was a calendar with a picture of a blonde woman. This woman had un-naturally large breasts and was lying on a beach with her legs wide apart. Both the top half and the bottom half of her body were completely naked.
David glanced at Sally and noticed what her eyes were focusing on. She glanced at him and saw him blush, obviously embarrassed. He awkwardly tried to say an apology as he strode across to the wall and tried to take the calendar down. ‘Sorry. Erm, we are not used to having, erm, females in the office.’
‘It’s okay. Nothing I haven’t seen before.’
David was fumbling, trying to get the pin out of the wall. He managed to, eventually, and all the time he was fumbling and struggling he was turning redder and redder. She could not help thinking that his embarrassment was quite cute. After all, she was a woman and it was not as if she had never seen those parts of the female anatomy before.
He took down the calendar and hid it in front of his body with his back turned towards her, as he flipped the pages over to the start of the calendar. He looked noticeably more at ease and less red as he turned back towards her, the calendar now successfully turned to the front cover. David walked towards the desk, but in his anxiety he tripped on a rip in the carpet and dropped the calendar at Sally’s feet.
As it fell, the pages flipped over to the delightful picture of Miss February bent over a hammock with both the top and bottom of her body exposed, and in her hand was a bizarre looking tropical fruit. Sally shuddered to think what she was going to do, or had been doing, with this fruit. Then she glanced at poor David. She smiled as she saw him go such bright red that it looked as if his head may explode.
He bent down at her feet, picked up the calendar, quickly turned away and stepped over to the desk flinging the calendar onto the floor behind this piece of furniture. He turned around and sheepishly looked at her. ‘Sorry.’
She was trying her hardest not to laugh out loud and make the situation any worse. ‘That’s okay. Like I said, half the population of the planet looks like that without any clothes on. Nothing new or exciting to me. How about that cup of tea?’
She could almost see him thanking her for the change of subject and for understanding his male dominated work environment. ‘No probs. Fingers crossed the kettle has got water in it so I don’t have to go out into the rain to the tap.’ He picked up the kettle, and took the lid off. ‘Superb! Half full.’
He placed the kettle on the little stove, which he lit and then turned and looked at Sally. Their eyes met and she tried to, he did, smile. He could not help admiring in the faint office light, her beauty, admiring how sexy she looked, not only because she was dressed incredibly sexily, but also the fact she was soaking wet stirred an emotion within him. As the microseconds passed while their gaze met, his initial urges as a young, virile male passed and he noticed how scared, how vulnerable she looked. Then his mind would flick back to how perfect her face was, how her perfect young body attracted him.
He had had girlfriends in the past, and due to his good looks, his past romances were usually with attractive young women. Though none of these females had made him feel as if a lightning bolt had just struck his heart. Right at that second, as their eyes locked together, his heart seemed to miss beats, his chest seemed to be constricted, breathing was difficult. He looked away briefly, certain she would be able to read the thought that had just occurred to him. He threw this thought out of his mind quickly, almost disgusted with himself, as he remembered her helpless, scared state.
She was glad when their gaze met again and she was able to drown a little bit more in his eyes. She was surprised at the way she was feeling after all that had taken place in the last hour. She knew she was in shock and she knew she should be more scared than she actually was, but she was not. For some reason, this man in front of her, this handsome man, with his wet T-shirt stuck to his body highlighting his tone
d muscles, made her feel safe.
All manner of thoughts raced through her mind as their eyes were meeting for those few seconds. One thought entered that surprised her, the one she never expected to come into her mind. Now it was her turn to look, in fact turn away, as she tried to force this image out of her mind. She was surprised with herself for feeling, thinking erotic thoughts. Of course young men interested her, but only a little.
She was well aware from a young age that she was beautiful due to the mirror showing her so and also due to the number of dates she was invited on. Some of these dates she accepted and she had left a behind a long line of broken hearts. She first kissed one of these dates when she was fifteen, but split up with him the next day. She had kissed plenty more dates, even let one of these put his hand up her top, but she split up with him soon after. And then of course there was the summer in Dubai, but she did not want to think about that right now. Sally was well aware that most of her friends were about to or had lost their virginities. Sally mentally wanted to lose hers; she had just never met anyone who physically made her want to do it, except for the previous summer but she didn’t want to think about that. She did not think that lack of physical arousal would be a problem with David.
As these thoughts were racing through their minds, there was awkward silence between them, as they both did not know what to say or what to do. He was looking at her back, trying hard not to concentrate his gaze on her buttocks, racking his brain trying to think of something, anything to say. She was pretending to look at posters on the wall showing expensive and exotic super cars. She broke the silence with a question that surprised him because he would never have thought a young lady would be interested in cars. Sally was not that interested right then, but the silence between them seemed to her to be awkward and she just had to say something, anything. ‘What kind of car is this?’
He walked over a few of paces and stood next to her. ‘It’s called a Bugatti Veyron.’
‘It’s beautiful.’
‘Certainly is. My dream car. It costs a million pounds though.’
‘Wow! For a car? It looks fantastic.’
‘Believe me when I say that it is.’
They contemplated the picture of the car for a few more moments and then the whistling of the kettle interrupted their reverie. The fact that made Sally’s question even more surprising was the fact that in one of her father’s many garages were two Bugatti Veyrons.
Chapter 5
‘God Michelle, I’m feeling horny tonight!’
‘Sarah! You can’t say that!’
‘It is only the truth Michelle! I might have to find myself a good looking boy and take him home tonight!’
‘Be careful Sarah.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, for a few reasons. First, sexually transmitted diseases…’
‘Yeah, yeah. Yawn, yawn.’
‘Secondly, don’t get pregnant. It will ruin your life.’
‘Let me introduce you to a new word Michelle, abortion!’
‘That’s not funny Sarah. Abortion is not a form of contraception. Please! Make sure it is safe.’
‘Okay, okay.’
‘And, well, you don’t want to get a reputation.’
‘What do you mean reputation?’
‘Well, guess.’
‘You mean slag?!’
‘Well, kind of, yes. How many guys have you taken home recently?’
‘I don’t know. Quite a few!’ Sarah giggled.
‘Exactly. Some of the girls at college are talking.’
‘What? Calling me a slag?’
‘Basically, yes.’
‘They’re just jealous because they couldn’t get laid if they wanted to.’
‘I’m sure they could. You said earlier tonight that boys are only interested in one thing. Therefore, if you think about it, any of those girls who couldn’t get laid if they wanted to, actually could because the boy wouldn’t be interested in them, just what they can give the guy. It is just that they are not, erm, easy.’
‘Oh! Meaning I am?’
‘No, I didn’t say that.’
‘No, but you implied that. You are too prim and proper Michelle for your own good, with your therefores and wherefores’
‘I didn’t say where…’
‘Yeah, I know, but you might as well have. Life isn’t the romantic play that you seem to think it is. You only get one life Michelle and I’m going to make sure that I enjoy mine! If that means taking a few boys to my bed then so be it!’
‘Okay then. It’s your life.’
‘Lighten up. Go and find yourself a man tonight, have some fun, receive some oral sex, have sex! I totally intend to!’
‘Well just be careful then, okay?’
‘I will be careful. I’m on the pill and if the guy looks like he may have a disease I’ve got a box even though I hate using them.’
‘A box of what?’
‘God, you really are naïve! Condoms Michelle, condoms. Look, here’s one for you.’ She reached into her bag, retrieved the box, took out a condom and gave it to Michelle.
‘I don’t want this,’ and she tried to give it back.
‘Keep it. You never know.’
‘You don’t care about your reputation then?’
‘To tell you the truth Michelle, if you are as a good friend as I thought are this conversation would never have happened. You should be happy for me that I am enjoying life!’
‘I am.’
‘You’ve got a funny way of showing it.’ Sarah double-checked her hair and make-up in the mirror then haughtily exited the restroom and walked back into the bar.
Michelle and her friends had left the bar where she had spotted Simon and she had tried to call Sally a few more times but without success. The conversation she just had with Sarah was typical of their conversations nowadays. Sarah had always been diligent in school and college, but ever since her father had left home she had gone off the rails. Michelle had tried reasoning with her but her words fell on deaf ears and Sarah was about to go further off the rails later that night.
While Michelle was leaving the toilets to return to the bar she threw the condom Sarah had forced upon her into a bin.
Chapter 6
David had plugged in a small fan heater and organized a battered chair and a battered stool, and positioned them in front of the heater. They were both sat down now, huddled over hot cups of tea taking occasional sips. Sally at first was in danger of spilling the hot liquid onto her legs as her hands shook, but as she took more sips the chance of her doing this reduced as the level of the drink dropped and her hands slowly stopped shaking.
David had tried to instigate a conversation, but it was hard to talk when the other person involved in the conversation kept on giving one word answers. He had tried open and closed questions and both of these styles of query received yes and no answers even when it did not make sense to answer with this kind of response. As he grew older, David would realise more quickly when someone does not want to talk. He only realised this now, however, when he had asked many questions.
So now they sat in silence, David trying his hardest to think of something, anything, interesting to say, Sally trying her hardest not to think of the animal who had tried to attack her and just wishing she was at home. David then thought of something that did definitely need Sally’s attention. ‘Sally. Sally?’
She ignored, or just did not hear her name; she was just staring at the heater. He did not know why his arm decided to shake her leg. His brain was firmly set upon the idea of shaking her shoulder to get her attention, but his arm made a beeline for her leg. Before he could get his arm under control, its hand was touching the soft, smooth flesh of her leg, the part just above her knee, her thigh in fact. The touch made her whole body jump in surprise and if the cup had been fuller she would have got burnt.
She looked at him, eyes wide, startled at his touch. He drew his hand away quickly and tried to say an apology. ‘Sorry. I didn’
t mean to startle you.’
‘Why did you touch me?’
‘Sorry. I tried saying your name. You, erm, didn’t answer. You were in a different place I think.’ He laughed a small laugh, hesitantly.
‘Yeah, I was, I think, somewhere else.’
‘I was going to ask you,’ David quietly asked, desperate to get her mind off him touching her there, ‘whether you wanted to call the police?’
‘No,’ she strongly, quickly stated. ‘It is my fault. Look at me; I’m dressed like a harlot.’
‘Harlot?’
‘Doesn’t matter. I’m not wearing much. It is my fault.’
‘It’s not!’ David was surprised, shocked at Sally’s thinking. ‘You should be able to dress and do whatever you want to safely. That is what the police are there for, to make sure everybody is safe.’
‘No. It is okay. What can they do? They would just think it is my fault for dressing like this.’
‘I’m sure they won’t.’
‘It doesn’t matter what you think, it matters what I think. Look, I’ll pay you. Can you please take me to my car and see if you can fix it?’ Sally’s tone had changed. She seemed more scared than she was a few moments ago, more nervous, and unsure. It was like his touch had rattled her confidence in him.
‘It’s okay. I don’t want paying.’
‘No, I insist.’ He noticed how she pouted a little, how a little line appeared between her eyes, an I-want-line he had read it called before. ‘How much?’
‘The price, madam, for a damsel in distress, is nothing! Zero English pounds!’ He tried to make a joke. Tried to ease the atmosphere, the after touching the thigh atmosphere. She laughed a little at his joke, which eased the tension, but he could still tell that she was a little nervous, a little unsure. ‘Okay. Here’s the plan of atta… action. You stay here in the office; I’ll run outside and get a truck. When you hear the horn blow come to me. I’ll be at the bottom of the steps. Lock the door with this key.’ He handed her a bunch of keys, holding out prominently the correct key. He noticed how quickly she drew her other hand away as he took the quarter full cup from her. ‘Sorry, I don’t have an umbrella to offer you.’
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