‘Sophie this is fine,’ Mike said as he finished the page. ‘In fact there really is no need for me to look at it.’ Mike started to worry if Sophie’s visit had been a ruse all along, on a night when she would know that Victoria would be out. ‘No, don’t be ridiculous, you are paranoid,’ he said to himself. Nevertheless he had a very uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.
‘Actually I thought it would be OK, but I do value your time in looking through it. I shall come clean, it was a bit of an excuse to come across tonight as I knew Victoria would be out at Pilates with Mum.’ Sophie looked too confident for Mike’s liking. He shifted uneasily in his wheelchair.
‘Oh God,’ he thought to himself. ‘I just do not want to be here.’ What Mike was not so certain of was why he did not want to be there. Was it because he did not trust himself? Was Sophie too tempting for this average middle-aged man?
‘There is a new approach at uni that myself and a few other girls are following or should I say trying to follow. It is called the Sugar Daddy System.’ Mike wished he could get up and walk out of the room but he couldn’t!
‘OK, Sophie I have no idea where this is going, but I don’t like the sound of it. I am very happily married.’ Mike did not know what Sophie was going to be saying next and he wondered why he had just said that about his marriage. Was he really happily married, and even if he was not, he was still uncomfortable in the extreme with this situation.
‘How often do you have sex, Mike?’ Sophie said it in a matter of fact tone, not accusing, just enquiring.
‘For God’s sake, Sophie, I was not happy with our conversation in the shop on Valentine’s Day and this is going far beyond the pale! I have no intention of answering that. I suggest you pop your coat on and get going, young lady!’ Mike wanted to sound patronising, he hoped it would put an end to this situation.
Sophie did not move from her chair.
‘I am going back to uni tomorrow, I have a big party to enjoy on Saturday night and then we hand in this land law assignment on Monday. I have only got this evening to speak with you and explain.’ Sophie was now in full flow, Mike realised nothing was going to stop whatever was about to come out of her mouth.
‘It goes like this, we girls are all hard up students and fed up with doing shit jobs in the holidays when we want to be in the sunshine reading a good book. So we thought if we each found a nice older man, just one each, who would be willing to support us with a retainer of, say, a few hundred a month, we could then perform certain tasks for that gentleman in return. By default we are looking for a man who is older as I say, not at uni so we can have our fun without ties, but when we all go home to our parents we could repay the gentlemen’s… umm… generosity.’
‘Jesus, Sophie you are talking about prostitution! For God’s sake, I’m speechless. I have a good mind to ring up your father right now.’ Mike had been worried about Sophie offering sex on a plate, he had not expected her to be asking for money for it!
‘Dad is up at some do in London and staying in the Dorchester, probably with his latest squeeze and Mum, as you know, is at Pilates with your wife.’
‘Wife… that’s right, my wife, Sophie!’ Mike grasped upon her words like a life ring tossed to a drowning man in the ocean.
‘I know this is a bit of a shock to you, perhaps think about it and we could firm up arrangements over Easter if you want. As for telling my parents I don’t think you will as I shall just tell them you can’t stop staring at my tits when I help out in the shop! I shall also say that you have made it all up. I think they’ll believe me. After all what would be more normal than a middle-aged man checking out a girl half his age!’
Mike was lost, actually lost for words. He was usually so articulate in awkward moments, but he did not know what to say, even worse he did not know where to look. At that moment Sophie stood up and in one swift movement peeled her top over her head to reveal her pert smooth breasts held in a black lacy bra.
‘Look, you should see what you get for your money! I was thinking about £500 a month and you get this when I am home.’ She started to reach behind to unclip her bra. Mike could not stop watching, he also felt his groin starting to stir in his trousers and he had to admit to himself he couldn’t remember the last time he had had sex. It was probably not even that year.
‘Oh shit, Sophie!’ He was starting to lose the will to argue and yet he knew this was wrong.
‘As I see it, this is not prostitution, I would rather think of it as exclusive access, like a courtesan in medieval Italy.’ Sophie paused, ‘I reckon you are enjoying this.’ Sophie had unclipped her bra and as she finished her sentence let it fall casually to the floor. Her breasts were full, pert and a matter of three feet from Mike’s face.
She did not touch her jeans, which Mike was relieved to notice, as he had assumed that they were the next item of clothing to be dispensed with. Instead she knelt down in front of his wheelchair and looked up into his eyes.
‘Oh fuck!’ He exclaimed as she started to run her hand over his crotch, which was bulging against his trousers. His head fell back against the back of the chair and he closed his eyes.
‘I always swallow,’ Sophie said in a low voice as her hand continued to rub his erection through his trousers.
‘You’re a better man than this, Mike.’ Andrea’s voice was clear and calm. Mike opened his eyes and pushed his wheelchair back with a lurch.
‘No, this is not going to happen.’ He felt angry, with himself and with Sophie. ‘Get dressed and get out.’
Sophie was still kneeling on the floor but the sudden movement of his chair had made her fall forward and her hands were now palm down on the slate kitchen floor. She was all but on all fours. She looked up at him and started to prowl towards him.
The key in the lock was unmistakable as was the cheery voice from the front door that announced Victoria’s early arrival.
‘Hi guys, still hard at it? Pilates was fun but I was too tired to go out for a drink with the girls afterwards.’ Victoria dropped her bags in the hall and started to walk down the corridor to the kitchen. Sophie stood up and had just pulled her top back on, minus her bra when Mike’s wife came through the kitchen door.
Mike was sat in his wheelchair feeling relieved and so happy to see his wife. Then a wave of guilt crashed over his body. Guilt because he had enjoyed watching Sophie strip in front of him. Guilt because he had needed to listen to his dead friend and not his own moral compass. That had seemed to have been misplaced as Sophie’s bra had fallen to the floor. Nothing had happened he told himself and what is more, I stopped it. Although had Andrea stopped it and saved him, he wondered.
‘We had finished actually, Victoria, Mike was a wonderful help and he has promised I can use him during Easter holidays as much as I like.’ Sophie stood in the kitchen as though nothing in the world was wrong. Mike could not help but marvel at her performance as the studious law undergraduate. Perhaps she should have gone to drama school instead?
‘Well, I am very pleased to hear it. You know you are welcome over here whenever you like Sophie. In fact I may find you some extra work in the shop during the holidays, I am sure you students are always in need of a few more quid,’ Victoria said.
‘Money does make a difference to how much you can enjoy uni.’ Sophie turned and Mike was sure she quickly winked at him just as Victoria had walked across the kitchen towards the kettle and was out of her eye line.
‘I will be going then, Mike thanks again you were… enormous… ly helpful!’ And with that Sophie picked up her rucksack and casually walked out of the kitchen into the hall and towards the front door.
‘Bye Sophie… happy to help.’ Mike just managed to control his voice and then when he thought his evening could not get any worse he spotted her bra laying where it had fallen just under the kitchen table. Because the floor was black slate it did not stand out. Mike felt sick. There was no other word to describe it, he felt sick. He pushed himself around the table and parke
d himself over the discarded underwear just as Victoria turned around with two cups of tea.
‘Bye Sophie! Do you want the tea in here or are you going to watch the telly?’ Victoria asked.
‘Bye guys!’ Came Sophie’s cheery answer, as they heard the front door close behind their guest.
‘I am tempted to take mine to bed and start reading that new book. I really don’t know why but I feel shattered,’ said Victoria as she turned to make towards the kitchen door.
‘Oh God, please leave the room!’ Thought Mike. ‘OK darling whatever you want. I’ll probably just check a couple of things online as I have the laptop set up. I’ll join you in a minute.’
Victoria placed Mike’s tea down on the table in front of him, she bent down and gave him a peck on his cheek. ‘You’re a nice man Mike Stapleford, thanks for helping out Sophie and I am sorry I forgot to warn you.’ Victoria straightened up and started to walk to the door. ‘Try not to be too long, would be nice to have a cuddle.’ She smiled at him and turned and left the kitchen.
Mike reached down from his chair and picked up Sophie’s bra, it was black, lacy and he could not help but look at the size, 32D. God, no wonder they looked so lovely.
Then he remembered Andrea. She had saved him, he needed to thank her. He wished that he would see her soon in his dreams. What was important was that nothing had happened with Sophie. He should have a clear conscience yet however hard he tried to run that argument in his head he knew that if Andrea had not spoken to him he would have lost the moral fight with dealing with his courtesan.
He tucked the bra into his laptop bag together with the laptop itself and pushed himself into the study where he left it in its usual position on the floor by the door.
‘I have finished sweetie,’ he said as he arrived at their bedroom door, he had gone back into the kitchen and collected his tea which he had balanced on a tray in his lap.
Victoria was in bed the book laid open on her lap her head was leaning against the pillows she was propped up but fast asleep. Mike was relieved. He wanted to fall asleep and dream about Andrea, to thank her for being there when he needed her, for rescuing him. The last thing he wanted was to cuddle his wife.
He laid back in bed and closed his eyes, he drifted off to sleep. Andrea was standing in an art gallery of sorts. Other people were there only their faces were indistinguishable. She looked sharp, her eyes flashed from picture to picture across the walls. The ceilings were high and the space felt light and airy. She was wearing a wraparound silk dress which hugged her figure, it was patterned with a base colour of blue, which showed off her eyes.
‘How could I have even been tempted with Sophie when she looks so lovely?’ He thought to himself.
He walked slowly across the room consuming her with his eyes.
‘Thank you so much,’ he said, almost in a whisper in her ear as he reached her. She did not turn to face him, but continued to study the picture in front of her. She slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer to her.
‘You’re welcome, my darling, ‘she said. ‘I knew you were in trouble and can understand your temptation. Was it Oscar Wilde who said, “I can resist everything except temptation”?’
‘I think your right. I feel very guilty for getting myself into that position, you had warned me. I suppose I was feeling rather flattered that such an attractive young lady was showing me any sort of attention. I wish I could just tell Victoria about her but I almost don’t know where to begin.’ Mike was relieved to be able to talk this through with Andrea.
‘I think if you had a solid relationship with Victoria then it would not be a problem. And I shall try and point this out gently, darling, but at the risk of pricking your balloon, I don’t think Sophie was interested in you, rather your wallet!’ Andrea went on. ‘I don’t feel threatened by Sophie, in fact I just feel very protective of you and don’t want you hurt by either Sophie or for that matter by the backlash from Victoria. Perhaps Vicky, sorry Victoria, is not as secure in her relationship with you as she should be.’
‘You know, tonight is the first time I have been able to visit you when I wanted to,’ said Mike. ‘Usually I just dream and you appear and that is lovely. But this evening I went to sleep and wanted to see you, to thank you. I almost asked my subconscious to bring me here. Of course that’s supposing it is my subconscious that has brought me here! Actually you know what, this just gets so confusing when you start to think about it.’ Mike felt as though he was tying himself up in knots.
‘I see what you mean,’ Andrea volunteered helpfully. ‘Usually we connect by more luck than judgement, as far as you’re concerned, but tonight you sort of made it happen as you wanted to say thank you.’
‘That’s it entirely. How do you think that works then? And while we are chatting I should point out that Victoria smelt the wine on me that we shared the other day. I had fallen asleep on the train and we met in the park and shared a glass of red.’
‘I remember Michael, it was a magical day for me, you stroked my hair. It was divine.’ Andrea looked at a painting in front of her of a lovely rural scene, they were still in the gallery. ‘Would you like to visit that place?’ She said, as she nodded towards the picture they were standing in front of. They still stood close together with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists.
‘That would be lovely. It is so great spending time with you.’ With that the gallery seemed to melt away and they were standing in the scenery that a moment ago had been the picture.
‘That’s a bit bloody Harry Potter-esque!’ Said Mike. He liked the idea that they were now alone and in fresh air and warm sunshine.
‘I suppose it is really. I have no idea how Victoria smelt the wine on you the other night. I did tell you right at the start they don’t give you a manual here!’ Andrea laughed a little. ‘Perhaps in future we’ll have to be more careful.’ She stopped and thought for a moment ‘God doesn’t that make it sound like we are trying to cover something up? I suppose I could be considered the other woman!’
‘Well to be honest I don’t know what I feel guiltier about, being propositioned by a 19-year-old with breasts to die for or spending time with you. Either way, I’m being disloyal to Victoria.’
‘You know Mike, sweetie, just because we are not all 19 something does not stop us having nice breasts.’ Andrea was smiling but Mike realised that underlying her comment was a tone that very nicely put him in his place. He also made a mental note to try and not look at her cleavage, at least for the time this encounter lasted.
‘What’s more,’ she continued, ‘it is far nicer to have a balanced relationship where one can talk, and walk, listen and laugh together as well as having a physical dimension. I think you would quickly get bored of whatever sort of relationship you had with Sophie. And I guess you would also end up being quite a lot poorer!’
‘Bloody hell, you really do know everything that goes on. So you knew she wanted to be paid £500 a month?’
‘Well I knew she wanted money but not the amount. I didn’t know in advance what she intended to do, I am not a clairvoyant! When I warned you to be careful, I just knew she was up to something.’
‘That type of relationship you described, about enjoying each other’s company as well as the physical side, well I thought that was what I had with Victoria. Only to be honest the physical side sorted of died out after trying for the family. And now well we sort of have our own lives. That probably sounds rather lame, but I commute, work and spend my life in my chair and she lives for her shop. In fact we have not even been away on holiday together for nearly five years.’
‘Why don’t you go away together?’ Andrea was surprised. ‘I remember you having leave from the office.’
‘Well I took time off. Usually Victoria would take a trip with her friend Jules to some sunshine and spend it by the pool drinking white wine. My old Mum would pop down from Somerset and spend the time with me. I lost my dad years ago and Mum now lives in one of these retiremen
t complexes. She enjoys the change of scenery and it’s easier to stay put at home, as it’s all fitted out for the chair as opposed to me visiting her.’
‘So no sun, sand and sex for Michael!’ Said Andrea with a smile.
‘No, none! I could bore you silly with the tale of woe that was our road trip through France, which was our last attempt at a holiday together. To be honest, I’ve looked forward to those visits by my Mum more and more over recent years. I kind of like my own space at home. That probably tells you something.’
‘Oh, Mike, it tells me that I want to hug you, to hold you, to care for you. To be honest I don’t really know what happens here when I am not with you. It is as though in these times I am alive and sleeping the rest, although I am aware of you and what is happening in your life.’ Andrea moved to be even closer to him. He was aware of her silk dress brushing against his arm, he realised he was in a short sleeved shirt and felt warm in the sunshine.
‘We have never really held each other as closely as this.’ Mike was struggling with his feelings, he wanted to feel her body pressed against his, he wanted to feel her warmth and to wrap his arms around her and snuggle his head into her neck among those long blonde curls.
Andrea turned to face him, she looked into his eyes and he was lost. After they embraced, Mike felt a happiness wash over him, a level of contentment that he could not remember having before. Perhaps it was the lovely feeling of being able to stand and embrace someone he loved without falling over. He certainly did not miss his chair. Love, that was the first time he had got that far, did he love Andrea? Was he falling for her in this life or was he perhaps falling for the life and the chance to walk and stand?
‘Mike, you seem miles away. It was just a hug, and I hope we have not overstepped the mark.’ Andrea looked concerned.
‘For me, that was so much more than a hug. I felt I had come home and that I never wanted to leave.’ Mike looked into those piercing blue eyes. He did not feel guilty where Victoria was concerned, although he knew he should. All he wanted to do now was to hold Andrea close again and to kiss those beautiful lips that he could not stop staring at.
A Dream to Die For Page 5