‘More wine, Jason?’ Melissa asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Jason eyed his wife suspiciously. She’d been bouncing off the walls ever since he’d arrived home earlier and he knew something must have happened. ‘Spill the beans then,’ he urged. ‘Won the lottery, have we?’
‘No. I don’t know what you mean,’ Melissa chuckled. She had never been good at keeping good news to herself, especially if the wine was flowing.
‘Did I tell you, we think we’ve found the perfect wedding venue?’ Tracey asked.
‘Yes, you did. Is it the stately home in Hertfordshire?’ Melissa replied.
‘No. We viewed that and wasn’t exactly keen. Looked much nicer in the photos than it did in the flesh.’ Tracey squeezed Kieron’s hand. ‘Shall you tell them, or shall I?’
‘You tell ’em, babe.’
Producing photographs from an envelope, Tracey proudly laid them on the table. ‘The Seychelles! Isn’t it stunning? We’re having a beach wedding and reception. But don’t worry if you can’t afford it. As you are going to be my only bridesmaid, Kieron has kindly offered to foot the bill for you and Jason. All expenses paid, that is.’
‘And why wouldn’t we be able to afford it?’ Jason snapped. He could not think of anything worse than having to travel thousands of miles to watch a woman he did not like get hitched.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. But Kieron insists on paying for you anyway.’ Tracey held Mel’s hand across the table. ‘Please say you’ll come. With everything that’s going on with my mum, you’re the only one I can truly rely on.’
‘Of course we will! I was only saying to Jason the other day, we’re long overdue a holiday. We’ll have to bring the kids with us, but we’ll pay for them.’
‘We’ll pay for the lot, Mel. We’re not a fucking charity case,’ Jason barked. He didn’t dislike Kieron. But he was a proud man and no way would he let another bloke pay for his holiday. He was no pauper.
Melissa had planned to tell Jason tomorrow about her chance meeting with Eleanor at the hairdresser’s, but judgement clouded by the three glasses of wine she’d drunk, she now decided she could not wait until then. She produced Eleanor and Dr Kazim’s cards from her purse and slid them across the table.
Jason picked the cards up. ‘Who’re Eleanor Collins-Hythe and Dr Kazim when they’re at home?’
‘Look, don’t be angry with me, but Tracey knows all about our fertility problems, Jase. I had to confide in someone. Anyway, today I walk into the hairdresser’s and there’s this glamorous, posh lady sat in the next chair to me. We got talking and it turns out her husband is a doctor. She and her husband tried for years to conceive and she went to see one of her husband’s friends in Harley Street. Dr Kazim is a fertility expert – the best in the country, by all accounts. I rang his secretary when I got home and I’ve booked us an appointment for Thursday week. I’m so excited. I really cannot wait to be pregnant again.’
‘Good luck the pair of you,’ Kieron said awkwardly. Jason wasn’t amused, he could tell.
Seeing Tracey Thompson smirk was the final straw for Jason. He snatched hold of the cards, screwed them up and chucked them in the bin. ‘Fuck you and your baby obsession, Mel. I’m done with it.’
When Jason stomped out of the room and grabbed his leather jacket, Mel chased after him. ‘Where you going? You can’t go out. We’ve got guests.’
‘Yeah, your guests,’ Jason hissed. ‘How dare you discuss our private business with them or randoms in the hairdresser’s? Do you know how that makes me look? There was sod-all wrong with my sperm count when you dragged me to our quack, so best you tell ’em that.’
As Jason went to open the front door, Melissa grabbed his arm. ‘I’m sorry, OK. I’ll tell ’em. Please don’t go out.’
‘Go fuck yourself. Oh, and by the way, my brothers and sister are coming to us on Christmas Day. Sick of you wearing the trousers in this house. I pay all the bills. Laters, sweetheart. And don’t be waiting up ’cause I won’t be coming home.’
Tracey Thompson had never quite got over the fact that Jason had chosen Melissa ahead of her. It had grated on her for years, though since meeting Kieron her anger had diminished. However, when handed a golden opportunity for a bit of shit-stirring, she wasn’t about to pass it up. ‘I don’t know how you suffer his behaviour, Mel, I really don’t. I mean, you were understandably excited about your news, so why wasn’t he? Are you sure he really wants another child?’
‘Are you OK, Mum?’ Donte asked, poking his head around the kitchen door.
‘Where’s my dad?’ Shay enquired. Both she and Donte had been woken by what sounded like an argument and the front door slamming, so had come downstairs to be nosy.
‘Go back to bed. I’m fine. Your father had to pop out on business,’ Melissa lied, wiping her eyes. Perhaps Tracey was right? Jason had never seemed as keen on them having a child as she was.
Draping her arms around Kieron’s neck, Tracey kissed him on the lips and thought how lucky she was. For years she’d been jealous of Jason and Mel’s relationship, but not any more. It had taken a long time to find a better man than Jason Rampling, but finally she had and she was determined never to let him go.
‘Another bottle of your finest champagne, sweet cheeks. And get whatever you want for yourself,’ Craig Thurston grinned, shoving a handful of notes down the scantily dressed waitress’s top.
‘Rein it in a bit, Craig. We don’t exactly look like bankers,’ Jason warned.
‘Money is for spending and life is for living, mate. You worry too much,’ Craig laughed. ‘I booked me holiday today. Flying out on the sixth of Jan for a month. Be getting fresh jiggy-jiggy every day over there. But in the meantime, I shall have some fun with these lap-dancers. She’s hot, that bird there, look.’
Unlike a lot of lap-dancing clubs, the girls in Stringfellows oozed class and Jason couldn’t take his eyes off one in particular. She turned around, looked at him and that’s when the recognition hit home. ‘Jesus Christ! That’s Charlotte!’ He nudged Craig. ‘My ex.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘Fucking hell, babe. Jesus wept!’ Jason panted, his rhythm quickening.
‘Harder! Faster!’ Charlotte Rivers ordered lustfully.
Jason duly obliged and felt the wetness of her pussy as she finally orgasmed. ‘You’re so beautiful, you are. I never forgot you,’ he said in earnest as he shot his load shortly afterwards.
Charlotte propped herself on her elbow and grinned. She’d known the second they had locked eyes earlier that they’d end up in bed together and she’d been right. The sexual attraction between them was electrifying. She’d had goosebumps on the way home in the taxi at the thought of it. No man she had met since had matched up to him in the sack and she doubted they ever would. Jason Rampling was a very special man indeed. ‘Want a cigarette?’ Charlotte asked, lighting one for herself.
‘Nah, thanks. Given ’em up. So tell me about yourself. I meant what I said, you know. I never forgot about you. You’re even more beautiful now than I remember,’ Jason said, stroking her cheek. ‘How long is it since we last saw one another? Over five years, ain’t it?’
‘How long is it since you dumped me for no apparent reason in the car park of the Plough pub, you mean?’ Charlotte chuckled. ‘Broke my bloody heart, you did. But time’s a healer, eh? I never forgot about you either, though. You’re a tough act to follow.’
‘I’m sorry about the way I treated you. You didn’t deserve it, but I was on me uppers at the time and couldn’t have offered you much. You were always destined for greater things.’
‘Bullshit!’ Charlotte laughed. ‘If I remember rightly, you dumped me because you were looking for a mother for your daughter and you thought I was too young. How is Shay? She must be a big girl now.’
‘She’s ten going on twenty. Proper little character, she is. A chip off the old block.’
‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ Charlotte grinned. Jason was even m
ore handsome than she remembered and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. He’d been a boy when she’d first met him and now he was a man. A fine specimen of one too. ‘So did you find her a mum?’
‘Yeah. Case of having to. I had to get Shay away from the Mardyke.’
Charlotte touched Jason’s wedding ring. ‘How long you been married?’
‘A few years,’ Jason lied. He couldn’t tell Charlotte the truth as she would know he’d dumped her for Mel. ‘What about you? You with anyone?’
‘Not any more. I got engaged a couple of years ago, but that never worked out.’
‘Nice gaff you got, by the way.’ The flat was a new-build and was beautifully furnished. It was trendy-looking and homely at the same time.
‘I started work at Stringfellows eighteen months ago and moved into this place shortly afterwards. I used to flat-share with another dancer, but Kim now lives with her boyfriend. I only rent at present, but I’m saving up to buy a place. The tips are very good at Stringfellows. I make a lot of money there.’
‘Good for you, girl. Better to be independent than have to rely on others.’
‘Does your wife work?’ Charlotte enquired.
‘You’ve gotta be kidding! Work’s a dirty word to my old woman. Spends all day wasting my hard-earned dosh.’
‘What do you do now? Still a Del Boy?’ Charlotte laughed.
‘Yeah. Leopards like me don’t change their spots. I still duck and dive but I got a legitimate business too. I buy and sell cars – keeps the missus happy.’
Charlotte grinned. ‘You don’t sound too happy.’
Ready for round two, Jason inserted his middle finger inside Charlotte’s tight pussy. He felt no guilt towards Melissa whatsoever, and why should he? She sucked him dry financially, like a leech. ‘If I was happy, I wouldn’t be ’ere with you, would I?’
When Charlotte took Jason’s penis in her mouth and began expertly sucking him off, he groaned with ultimate pleasure. He’d had the odd fling since getting married, but never a full-blown affair. That was all about to change though, and Jason knew it.
‘Why you crying? Has my dad left you?’ Shay Rampling asked hopefully. She had always resented Melissa acting like her mother and often thought how much more fun life would be if she and her dad lived alone.
‘No. Your dad’s working,’ Melissa snapped. She had been crying ever since she’d woken up alone in bed this morning. Jason never stayed out all night, not unless he was on a bit of work, and the thought of him being with another woman was too much for Mel to bear. For all his faults, she loved her husband and would be totally lost without him.
‘Why you crying then?’ Donte pried.
‘Because I’ve got bellyache. Now go in the other room and watch your film,’ Melissa ordered.
When the doorbell rang minutes later, Melissa dashed into the hallway hoping Jason had forgotten his key. ‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said dismally.
Tracey Thompson fell into her best friend’s arms.
‘Whatever’s wrong?’ Melissa asked, wondering when the drama in her house would ever end.
‘My mum’s moving to Turkey to live with her toyboy. How can she leave me, her only daughter? I hate her, Mel, and him.’
‘So, will we be seeing one another again?’ Charlotte Rivers enquired.
Jason put his hand inside Charlotte’s bathrobe and squeezed her buttocks. Watching her gyrating in that club last night had done wonders for his libido. Her hair was messy, brunette, and she’d reminded him of a young Darlene from a distance. ‘What do you think?’
‘I don’t know. You tell me.’
‘Well, put it this way. I am gonna take up golf and invest in a set of clubs. It’s about time I had a hobby where I can get away at weekends, don’t you think?’
‘I think that’s an excellent idea, Mr Rampling. You look like a golfer with that slicked-back hair. Not sure your curtains would’ve suited the course though.’
Jason laughed. ‘You leave my curtains alone. That haircut was the bollocks. What you doing on Thursday?’
‘I have nothing planned.’
‘Good. Be ready by noon. I’ll pick you up here.’
‘Where you taking me?’
Jason tapped the side of his nose. ‘That’s for me to know and you to find out.’
To say Charlotte Rivers was over the moon was an understatement. She had her first and only true love back in her clutches and no way was she letting him go again. She loved Jason, always had done and always would.
‘Hello, stranger. You hungry?’ Melissa casually asked when Jason finally arrived home. Her heart was beating rapidly, had been all day, and she kept having visions of him with another woman, but she was determined to act normal, would hate him to think she was bothered.
Shay ran into the kitchen and hugged her father’s legs. ‘Where you been? Mel’s been crying all day.’
‘Don’t lie, Shay. Tracey was the one who couldn’t stop crying in the kitchen earlier, not me.’
‘Stayed round a mate’s,’ Jason told his daughter.
‘What’s in that big bag, Dad?’ Donte enquired, wondering if it was a present for him.
‘Golf clubs. I had a game this morning with Craig and I’ve been bitten by the bug. About time I found meself a hobby,’ Jason lied, surreptitiously looking at Mel for a reaction.
‘Go in the lounge you two. I need to talk to your dad a minute,’ Mel ordered.
‘She been round again then, Tracey? What’s up with her now? Kieron seen the light and binned her, has he?’ Jason asked. He was determined to act as casual as he possibly could.
Melissa shut the kitchen door. ‘So is that where you stayed, at Craig’s?’
‘Yeah. I was determined not to come home after you showed me up spectacularly in public.’
Melissa draped her arms around her husband’s neck. ‘I’m sorry. I just got over-excited. I should never have said anything in front of Tracey. I know how much you dislike her.’
‘Too right you shouldn’t. So why’s she been round ’ere bawling today?’
‘Her mum is moving to Turkey to live with the twenty-five-year-old toyboy she met in Marmaris. Tracey’s distraught, as you can well imagine. She reckons he’s only after a visa.’
‘There’s no fool like an old fool, eh?’
‘Am I forgiven?’ Melissa asked.
Jason pecked his wife on the lips. ‘I suppose so.’
‘Please can we go to that appointment with Dr Kazim though, Jase? There must be a reason why I’m not getting pregnant.’
Knowing if he agreed to Melissa’s demands it would make it easier for him to get out and see Charlotte, Jason reluctantly nodded. ‘Just the once, though. I got better things to do than be trotting up Harley Street every five minutes.’
Melissa smiled. ‘Thank you.’
Later that evening, Melissa’s suspicions were aroused again. Jason had been acting weird all day and she could tell his mind was elsewhere. The more she thought about it, the stranger she found it that he’d arrived home with a set of golf clubs. He had never shown any interest in golf before. He wasn’t a sporty person, only ever watched the boxing on TV. ‘So where did you buy your clubs from?’ Melissa enquired.
‘Bought ’em off Craig. He’s got a new set. No point me investing in brand-new ones just yet,’ Jason lied. Craig knew he’d gone home with Charlotte last night and had told him golfing was the best excuse to cover up an affair. ‘Pop round and pick up my clubs. That’ll cover your back,’ he’d said before they’d left Stringfellows.
‘I never even knew you liked golf.’
‘I didn’t. Never played it properly until this morning. Very therapeutic, it is. I got the same chilled buzz from it as you probably get with all those spa trips and massages I shell out for.’ Jason had fully expected an inquisition and had his answers well prepared. He couldn’t stop thinking about Charlotte and the fantastic sex they’d had. Thursday could not come quick enough.
Knowing when to shu
t up, Melissa tried a different tactic. ‘Shall we watch a film?’
‘Yeah, if you want,’ Jason muttered. He was sprawled out on the sofa. Last night had worn him out, but was worth sapping his energy for.
Melissa was surreptitiously watching her husband in case he showed signs of guilt once he realized she’d put on Fatal Attraction, but he was distracted by his phone ringing.
‘Slow down, Babs. I can’t understand what you’re saying, love,’ Jason urged.
‘What’s up? Where you going?’ Melissa asked as Jason ended the call, then leapt off the sofa.
‘My mum’s fallen down the stairs. She’s in a bad way, not moving. Babs has had to call an ambulance.’
Melissa spent the next couple of hours knocking back the red wine and wondering if it had really been Babs on the phone. Call it feminine intuition, but she was positive Jason had spent last night with another woman.
‘Mum – Dad’s home. Elton and Kyle are with him,’ Donte yelled excitedly as he ran to answer the door.
Melissa was almost as relieved as she was horrified to see Jason’s three siblings walk inside her beautiful home. But at least she now knew he’d been telling the truth.
‘Go upstairs, kids. Shay, Donte, let ’em play with your toys,’ Jason urged.
Wanting to get back in her husband’s good books, Melissa feigned concern. ‘Is your mum OK? What’s happened?’
Ashen-faced, Jason puffed his cheeks out and shook his head. ‘It ain’t looking good, Mel. Mum’s in a bad way. They think she might’ve broken her back.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‘All right, boy? Take your shoes off. Just had me new shagpile carpet laid out of that two grand you gave me and I don’t want it bleedin’ ruined,’ yelled Peggy Rampling.
Life of Crime Page 13