It was so good to hear those words. It was so good to hear someone I felt attracted to, say to me that they wanted me, but the insecurities I felt about myself were difficult to hide.
'Why?' I whispered back.
'Because I like you Alice. Because you turn me on.'
'Really?' I whispered, squeezing his thigh tighter., daring myself to slide my hand closer and closer to the package I'd been wanting to touch ever since I clapped eyes on it. It didn't really seem like the done thing in here but I was sure our porn companions at the next table wouldn't have minded.
'Do you want to skip dessert so I can show you?' Devizes whispered, placing his hand on the bare skin of my thigh, exposed through the long slit of my skirt.
'You might think I was easy', I said, nuzzling myself towards him.
I felt hot, and wanted to press myself into his hand. Hell, I wanted to press myself fully into his body and lose myself completely in his world.
'You might think I was', he said, pulling me closer, guarding me with his chair in such a way that kept us hidden from the rest of the customers.
'Are you going to toss me away after you've used me?' I said. 'Like a lobster shell.'
Devizes slid his hand between my legs and I wanted desperately to open them up for him, but I thought it better to squeeze them together tightly, pinning him in place.
'I hope you don't toss me away', Devizes said. 'I've had my heart broken too.'
I relaxed then. I relaxed my legs so Devizes could forage as much as he wanted, but instead of continuing, he moved his hand slowly away and straightened himself back up.
'Perhaps we better wait', he said.
I drew my hand across his thigh, squeezed him again and brought it back to my lap. On the way I brushed it across the thick, solid form of a definite erection.
'Are you sure you want to wait?' I said.
'I don't want to rush things', he said. 'I like you.'
'I like you too', I said. 'And this isn't rushing, we've had dinner already.'
'That's true', Devizes said.
'Let's have dessert at your house', I said, taking his hand and placing it back on my leg. 'We'll be more comfortable talking about the book there. I can show you what it looks like on the inside.'
'You make a very persuasive argument', Devizes said.
'I thought you told me that if you see something you like, you have to have it.'
'I didn't realise you shared the same view,' Devizes said, and got so close to my panties with the tips of his fingers, I had to squeeze my legs shut again for fear of exploding in a fit of excited screams.
'I think people are looking', I said.
'Then lets go', Devizes said. 'You've convinced me already.'
We didn't even have to pay the bill. Devizes had a rolling credit account and the cost of the meal, however many thousands it ended up being, was charged to his membership card to be paid at a later, more convenient date.
We descended in the lifts, hand in hand - ok, hand on bum might be more accurate in my respect, but I just couldn't keep my hands off it - and both Devizes's driver and Jackson were already there waiting for us. Devizes gave Jackson a tip, and thanked him, and we both climbed into the back of the other car, while the driver beamed at us with a smile that went from one of his ears to the other, and creased up his eyes so much I had no idea how he could see out of them.
We didn't say much to each other one the way back to the palatial home that Devizes lived in, but it didn't matter. I was enjoying the ride of being in his arms, a buzz still on from the alcohol, comfortably full from the food, and excited at the prospect of what might await us. To be honest, I couldn't wait to get Devizes into bed, and let myself go completely with him. I didn't want anything else at that moment. I needed him to show me he wanted me in that way, I guess to really believe it. Devizes had money, but he was a gentleman with it. He showed me a good time, and he made sure I'd enjoyed myself. I was the one who'd kissed him, and I was the one who'd invited myself back to his house, but Devizes wanted it too, that was clear, even if he wasn't going to push it. He wasn't going to do a Marth on me, I knew that for a fact.
I was flying, higher than I've ever flown before, on a Devizes piloted, star bound shuttle run. To say it was perfect, would be an understatement, and not give the man, the sex (several positions included), and the orgasms (multiple) the justice they deserved. Devizes made Marth look like a teenage boy, which wasn't very difficult I suppose, but he also made everyone else I'd ever been with pale in comparison to absolute nothingness. If I wasn't charmed by Devizes already, I couldn't fail to be now.
The car drove into the garage, and I don't mean that as a euphemism. Where we parked, which at first I believed was communal because of the other cars around us, was the entire foundation floor of a tower block. The other cars weren't just other cars apparently. They were Ferraris, Bugattis, and other rare examples, each one worth more than my parents house. This place was as big as a hotel, and Devizes owned the lot. We took a lift up to the very top floor, which was where Devizes liked to live, choosing to rent out the other floors below, but not the garage space, to anyone who could afford them. Oh, and this was one of several other properties Devizes hinted at owning, as we rode the lift up to his central London residence.
The views were spectacular: Strong arms, buff chest, muscley, but not over the top. Just the right amount of hair too. A smattering around the nipples, and a thin cord leading from a beautiful belly button to-
I mean I could already see it, turning his boxer shorts into a tent, but I couldn't wait to take it out either.
We fell together on the bed, a trail of clothes left behind us - that's a four poster bed, specially made to be bigger than two doubles put together - and stayed there, wrapped in each others arms, sometimes my back pressed to his chest, other times my legs on his shoulders and my hands gripping fistfuls of sheets (hand sewn Egyptian cotton sheets), but we stayed there all the same, locked together with a series of sticky sordid desires in mind, while the stars, our only witnesses, watched on through a retractable ceiling panel, that Devizes had fitted across the whole of the flat.
'Have you ever experienced anything like this?' Devizes said boastfully.
'Never', I said, and turned to nuzzle into him. He smelt like a forest after the rain, and I couldn't pull myself away.
'I don't usually sleep with people on a first date', Devizes said.
'Does that mean that this is different?' I said, kissing along a prominent vein that ran along his bicep.
'I'm a complicated person, Alice. My life is, difficult', he said, searching for the most appropriate word.
'Complicated in what way?' I asked. 'It seems pretty simple to me.'
'I work hard, and I play hard, and some people can't put up with that', Devizes said.
'Everyone has their obsessions', I said. 'There is worse to have to put up with.'
'I like you, Alice', Devizes said, turning to me.
He ran his hand across my hip, and over the contours of my side. 'That was incredible sex by the way. Just incredible', he said.
'You weren't so bad yourself', I said.
Devizes pulled me into him, where I could feel his body heat. I reached down, found what I was looking for, and then slid down to it, abseiling down his chest with a chain of carefully placed kisses. Devizes leaned back and put his hands behind his head, while I showed him how simple his life could be.
Chapter 7
The bus that took them to school wasn't really a bus at all, not like the ones Alice had seen in London. It was more like a big car with a lot of seats all crammed together. The bus stop was a two minute walk from the house, and there were three other people already waiting there, including Toby. Even though Alice would have easily been able to manage it on her own, her mum insisted on coming with her.
Toby waved when he saw her walking down to the stop, and then smiled sweetly when she arrived. 'Hello', he said.
'Hi Toby', Alice s
aid.
He looked a lot smarter today than he did at the weekend, even though his trousers were frayed at the bottom, and he looked like he'd got dressed in a hurry, because the collar of his shirt was sticking up on one side.
'This is Richard, and that's Katy', he said pointing at them in turn. 'This is Alice, she's new'.
'You've made a friend already?' Alice's mum said, confused. 'I'm Mrs Cartright', she said to Toby. 'Alice's mum.'
'I'll look after her at school, don't worry', Toby said, confidently.
Judging by their red hair and freckles, Richard and Katy were brother and sister. Alice smiled sweetly at them, but they didn't seem interested. Katy seemed to be much more interested in eating the chocolate bar from her packed lunch. Judging by the size of her, it looked like it might have been something she did quite regularly.
When the bus came, it was already full of other kids, all of whom looked at Alice suspiciously. The school was in another village, and the bus went through three of the surrounding villages to pick up the kids, their village being the last one it got to. There were no double seats left, so Alice couldn't sit next to Toby like she'd wanted to, and instead had to sit next to a girl called Stephanie who had dandruff in her hair and smelt of boiled mushrooms.
The journey took about five minutes, and Alice was glad when it was over. She was in the same class as Toby and Katy, and their teacher introduced herself as Mrs Bold. She had glasses that were cut in half hanging around her neck, and her hair looked like a bundle of cobwebs all stuck together. Mrs Bold made Alice stand in front of the class and introduce herself, despite Alice's protests to the contrary. She stood there red faced and told everyone who she was, where she'd come from and where she lived, all the while thinking about how much she hated her new teacher for making her do it.
Classes were pretty easy aside from that, and it got to break time before she knew it. Toby did his best to introduce her around, but he couldn't be by her side always, especially as he had football to play, and other friends to chat to. At least that was what he said he was doing, from where Alice was watching, it looked a lot like fighting, but she thought it was probably just how they played in the country. He also said he might look like a pansy if anyone knew they were friends, so he had to hide it just in case, even though he didn't want to.
Alice was left to make her own way, which she was fine with, and soon enough she had a group of people around her, attracted by her novelty status as a newbie. Some of the things Alice's new group said to her she didn't entirely understand though. They seemed to hate Toby, or at least made it clear that he was the worst in the class, always causing trouble, always fighting, that his family were gypsies and that Alice shouldn't be friends with him because he had aids. They offered their support should Alice need it, and immediately made her a new member of their group. Alice wasn't entirely convinced of their stories, didn't really know what aids was anyway, and made a mental note to ask Toby about it later.
In the afternoon, the classes were just as easy as the morning. They had maths, reading and then P.E, which Alice had to do in her pants and a stained T-shirt from the bin bag full of spares, because nobody had told her to bring her kit with her. She was mortified, but she wasn't the only one in the class, so it made it a little more easy to deal with. There was a girl called Janine, and a fat, red cheeked boy called Roy who'd forgotten their kits too.
School finished at 3pm, by which time Alice had met a whole bunch of new people. She knew who the popular kids were (Casper, Stephanie, Sarah), who the unpopular kids were (Roy, Katy, Toby), who the smart kids were (Michael, Jane) and who the troublemaker was (Toby). She didn't know where she fit into it all yet, but she supposed that if she wanted to be popular, she had to make friends with the popular kids, and avoid the unpopular kids. The problem was, Toby was part of the unpopular group, but she didn't know why. Perhaps she could be friends with him outside of school and not in school, she reasoned, perhaps it could work like that.
On the bus home, Toby sat with Alice, because he made sure he reserved her a seat, and Alice felt like she couldn't refuse.
'Did you have a good day?' Toby asked her.
'I think so', Alice said, and then: 'Who's your best friend at the school?'
'I don't know', Toby said. 'Maybe Mark or Daniel I suppose.'
'Do they have a lot of friends too?' Alice said.
'I think so', Toby said. 'Really my best friend is Miro, but he doesn't go to school.'
***
Over the coming weeks, as Alice settled into her new routine, she worked out a lot more about the different groups in the school, and how people felt about each other in general. Toby became her best friend both in the school and out of it, and she couldn't care less about what people thought of her for it. The girls that had approached her on the first day, decided that she wasn't worthy of their group after all, and when they'd decided to reject her, they began to call her names.
'Bookworm', was their favourite because Alice liked books. Also 'four eyes' was one that they used from time to time, and then they started a rumour that Alice had aids as well, even though she was convinced that none of the girls telling her that really knew what it meant.
Toby wasn't the most popular boy at school by a long stretch. He hung around with a few people, mostly so he could fight with them, and everyone said he smelled funny and didn't even clean himself because he lived in a barn. It was true that Toby smelled a bit, but he definitely didn't live in a barn. Alice had been over to his house for dinner a few times, and to watch cartoons after school until her brother came back to look after her, and it definitely wasn't a barn. He lived in a smaller house than her own, but it was a house just the same. Alice didn't know if they were or not, but even if his parents were Gypsies, it didn't mean they were worse than anyone else. She didn't even really know what being a gypsy meant anyway.
School became difficult because she was bullied by and excluded from the popular group of kids, which meant she was also bullied by everyone else who wasn't popular and didn't want to be unpopular. Her group of friends became Katy, Toby, Roy and another boy called David, who had learning difficulties, wore glasses as thick as milk bottles and broke his arm falling from the climbing frame two days after Alice arrived. He spent the next two months in a cast and sling that everyone wrote their names on, and Daniel and Casper covered in swear words.
Toby could see it was difficult for Alice, so he encouraged her to make friends away from his lame group, so she could avoid being bullied. Alice appreciated the concern, but just couldn't do it. Even though she was unpopular, and had to endure a fair bit of name calling, nobody in the school got bullied worst than Toby and she felt like she had to stick up for him. People would say things behind his back, and then pretend to be friends with him in front of the teachers, so they didn't know what was going on. She'd seen people get bullied in her school in London, herself included, but nothing they'd ever done there was as systematic or as mean as what people would do here to Toby.
Toby wasn't bothered by it though. It had gone on for so long, it wasn't anything that he hadn't got himself used to. She admired that about him, even from such a young age. That Toby didn't get angry, he just accepted it. If people wanted to say horrible things to him, he just let them get on with it, and made a joke out of it instead of getting upset. It worked too, in a way. Sometimes they'd get bored and leave him alone for a week or two, and then they'd suddenly remember, or something would happen to trigger it, and they'd be all over him again.
Toby wasn't the brightest or most academic student, but he knew more about the environment than anyone else, and he could paint and draw like a professional artist. Even the teachers had to admit that. Alice had never ever seen anything like it before, and reckoned some of his work was better than the stuff she'd seen hanging in the museums in London. He regularly gave Alice pictures he'd drawn, and she either hung them on her wall like awards, or kept them in her journal like precious jewels.
; Outside of school, Alice played with Katy because she was a girl and in the same village, her older brother Richard from time to time, and Toby. It was Toby that showed her the church, the short cut through the woods to get to the village on the other side, the apple tree in the orchard that was perfect for climbing, the secret tree house in the blue bell woods, the red well that had water that looked like blood because of a high iron content in the rocks, the lake and how to fish in it, the reed beds where you could feel like you were walking on water, the trails, the bramble bushes and the abandoned house that was all boarded up at the front, but could be accessed via a panel in the back, and most importantly, how to forget about stupid people at school and have a good time outside of it.
Alice wrote in her diary one day, 'Toby is my best friend. When we grow up, I want to marry him. Everyone at school says he smells. Everyone at school is a stupid plonker, especially Daniel and Mark, because they pretend to be his friends and say things behind his back.'
Her parents weren't so convinced of the benefits of their friendship however, and looked upon Toby as suspiciously as everyone at school seemed to. They told her she should be hanging around with girls and not boys, as though it would be unhealthy for her if she didn't, and kept trying to convince her not to waste her time in his company. James was equally as cruel. He laughed at Toby whenever he was allowed to come round, constantly told him he had nits, and teased him that his trousers didn't reach his ankles.
Alice forgot about London soon enough. She hated people at school, but she just did what Toby did and ignored them. Sometimes it was hard, because sometimes what people said to her really hurt, but other times it was easy. She enjoyed being in the country, she liked what she was learning, and even though she hated her for the rest of her life because of making her stand up in front of the class on the first day, she grew quite fond of Mrs Bond and her cobweb hair.
The seasons came and went. School stopped for Christmas, started up for Spring and stopped again for the Summer. The house, new to her only so recently, immediately became her home. Her friends loved visiting, no one more so than Toby of course, because they had a huge house and massive garden to explore, much bigger than anyone else's, and a TV that had so many channels on it, it took five whole minutes to flick through them all.
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