by Mike Price
He arrived home, showered and changed, and was deciding whether to go to his club for a few drinks before eating, or go straight to his favourite Italian restaurant just round the corner, when the phone rang.
“Hello,” he said rather breathlessly.
“Martin? This is Toby. Just rang to ask how things went with the unveiling?”
There was a half-concealed laugh in his voice.
“Oh, it’s you.” There was disappointment in his voice, he hoped it was Maddy. “Yes, everything went well. As you said, she is a bit of a handful.”
“In more ways than one,” he teased. “Are you seeing her again?”
“Definitely, I think I will be seeing a lot more of her.” Quite why he said what he did, he was not sure.
“I bet you have already seen quite a lot of her.” Toby did not even bother to suppress the school boy giggling this time.
“Go away,” Martin said, but good-naturedly.
The line went dead.
He went back into the bedroom and finished getting dressed. The phone rang again and this time, it was her.
“Hi, sorry I had to dash off early this morning, but I had to open up shop, you can’t rely on the staff. Thanks again for a wonderful evening. I meant what I said in the note.”
“When can I see you again?” The words were blurted out. He had not meant it to be like that but she had that effect on him.
“So I did make an impression.”
Again, he felt that she was toying with him, playing him like an angler would a salmon. He could almost see the smile on her face and her tongue licking her lips.
“Can we meet for a drink or a bite to eat?” he said.
“I’m all yours! Do you like Italian? I know a little place that serves the most divine pasta, my treat.”
“What now?”
“Of course, I live in Kensington, over the shop actually. Pick me up in half an hour.”
She dictated her address and phone number just in case he got lost.
He put the phone down and sat for moment thinking. Was he doing the right thing? She was in control again as though she was manipulating his every move and yet, did it matter? What he needed for his move into politics was a wife, and she was definitely attractive and would fit the bill. Christ, he thought, I’ve only met her once and I’m contemplating marriage. Perhaps I should slow down and see what happens. But the more he thought, the more he knew she would be just what the old ladies in the shires would like!
He found the Boutique easily and a parking space in the side road next to the shop. He walked back around the corner and spent a minute looking into the shop window. It was definitely up market and although he knew very little about women’s fashion, he could tell that the clothes were expensive.
A door next to the shop was the entrance to the flat and he rang the bell. He waited but nothing happened so he rang again. Suddenly, the door swung open and Maddy appeared. As always, she looked stunning. She wore a knee length dress and alarmingly high heels. It was cold and for warmth, she had ‘round her shoulders a pashmina. She was not dressed for walking; this was strictly a ’car to bar’ outfit.
He kissed her on either cheek and she smiled up at him.
“Hi,” she said
“Hi,” he replied, and for a few seconds, they just stood there as if frozen in time.
“Can we go to the car? It’s not that warm,” she said, stating the obvious.
“Sorry, of course. I was just admiring your beauty.”
“Corny, but very flattering.” She laughed, but not in a critical way.
He smiled back, as they walked the few steps to the car. The familiar roar of the engine drowned out the hustle and bustle of the London evening as the car pulled away. In no time, they had reached the restaurant, Maddy expertly directing him. He dropped her at the door and drove a few yards to a vacant bay to park the car. She was waiting just inside the entrance when he returned.
“Now, young lady, I want to know all about you,” he said with every ounce of authority he could muster.
The waiter guided them to a table and took their order for drinks before handing them a menu each.
“You’re the regular here so I’m in your hands, I’ll let you choose and don’t worry, I have no fads about food.” He laid his menu down and sipped the Campari the waiter had brought them both. He suddenly realised that, without thinking, he had put her in charge again.
She ordered spaghetti carbonara and bottle of Frascati, and once the waiter had left them, looked straight into his eyes.
“Well, what do you want to know?” It was not a challenge, more like opening a picture book and asking what page should we read first.
He smiled at her.
“I would like a potted history of your life and what you do, at the moment, you’re a complete enigma.”
She laughed and her face seemed to light up. It was not a guffaw more a delicate chortle. She sat back in her chair and for the next half an hour, he sat hardly saying a word while she relayed her life thus far.
She was the daughter of a Baronet, who was the third generation to hold the title, had a younger brother who was an officer in the household cavalry and had fought in Iraq. Sadly, her mother had died from Leukaemia when she was only thirteen and the loss had affected her deeply. She became difficult to handle at school, and at the age of fifteen, was expelled for drinking and smoking in the dormitory. She had been expected to eventually go to university and her father was bitterly disappointed in her. However, she was his favourite and she managed to get back into his good books quite quickly.
Yes, I bet you did, Martin thought to himself, but said nothing.
Her father employed a private tutor for her, but although she was bright, she did not take to authority and after a difficult twelve months, when she reached sixteen, he admitted defeat. The tutor’s services were dispensed with and as she put it, she was free. Although rebellious, she was not lazy and had a succession of jobs, ever searching for something she could take to. Her father indulged her and gave her a generous allowance, most of which she had the foresight to save in a deposit account. Her wages she lived on, or rather squandered on partying, smoking, flirting with social drugs like cannabis, but never getting into the drugs scene, she was too smart for that. Eventually, she took a job in a local dress shop and found that she actually enjoyed working there. The owner was a middle-aged lady who had run the shop for years and was happy to make a living out of it with no pretentions to expand or diversify. Maddy learnt all she could from this woman who was only too pleased to have a keen attractive assistant. The owner let herself be persuaded by Maddy to expand her range to include dresses for younger women and not just her normal ‘thirty to forty somethings’. After a couple of years, Maddy was virtually running the shop, including buying the clothes. She found she had a gift for spotting the latest trends and soon, the shop was making a name for itself, as well as, good profits. Her father was pleased that she seemed to have settled down, though he still did not approve of her social life as she seemed to come home at all hours. However, no matter what time she rolled in, she was always on time for work.
Her life changed dramatically when the owner of the shop, after she had been there about four and half years, told her that her husband was seriously ill and she would have to sell the shop to nurse him full time. Maddy was at first devastated by the news but once it had sunk in, she quickly decided what she would do, buy it herself! It did not take much for her to persuade her father what a good investment it would be and, as it was coming up to her twenty-first birthday, the deal was done. Since then, she had sold that shop at a handsome profit, offered to pay her father back his investment, though she knew he would not accept and bought the lease on her present shop. The clientele was more up market and as she put it, ‘paid through the nose for her garments’.
Martin had sat there listening to her story, fascinated. She was just like him. She set herself a goal, and went out and achieved it.
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br /> He had finished his pasta and noticed hers was only half eaten. Very difficult to talk and eat at the same time, he thought to himself, but it had not stopped her drinking! He caught the waiter’s eye and asked for another bottle of Frascati. She had consumed most of the first bottle and he had made sure that he drank plenty of water with his couple of glasses of wine. The last thing he wanted was to get breathalysed; the Ferrari was certainly an attraction for young coppers out to make their mark.
“Fascinating, and what about your love life? After the other night, I can’t believe you’ve been celibate up to now,” he said it without rancour; it was more to confirm the obvious.
“No, I’ve not been a nun.” She grinned at him. “But I’m not relating my past exploits to you, let’s just leave it that I like sex and what I like I have.”
He grinned back at her. Touché!
They finished their meal and as promised, despite his objections, she paid the bill. There was still half a bottle of Frascati on the table, and to his surprise, she called the waiter over and asked him to put a cork in it so that she could take it home. Once the bottle had been returned, they left. The cold night air hit them like a knife cutting through the flimsy dress. The restaurant had been warm and the difference outside was a shock. He quickly ushered her back into the entrance and told her to wait while he brought the car around. In only a couple of minutes, he was back, the Ferrari’s engines throbbing, a warm invitation to escape the cold.
He pulled up at the door of the flat, waiting for her to get out.
“You’re coming in.”
It was not an invitation; it was an order.
“Of course.”
He reversed the car around the corner, his parking spot still empty from earlier. He locked the door and walked quickly back to the flat. The door had been left open but there was no sign of her. He walked in and found the door to the living room. It was empty.
“I’m in here,” she called out and he traced his way along the hall to where the voice had come from. He opened the door to what was her bedroom. She was lying half-propped up by the pillows on the bed, two champagne glasses in her hand and the bottle, unopened, on the table at the side. She was completely naked!
“I told you I like sex,” she said.
He smiled at her, but inwardly gave a groan. This is too much, he thought, she’s insatiable. His mind flashed back to the last time he had made love, that is, before he met Maddy, and realised that it was five years ago. He recalled that it had not been very successful neither he, nor the girl in question had been very experienced. He had not bothered since then, that is until Maddy came on the scene. On reflection, she had been the one who had taken charge on their first encounter, and he had basically followed her lead. Now he was expected to perform again. It was not that he found her unattractive, on the contrary she was gorgeous, but physical sex had never held that much of an attraction for him.
She looked up at him.
“What’s the matter? Don’t you fancy me?”
“Sorry. I was daydreaming. Of course, I do, I just hope I can perform after all that drink,” he lied.
Fortunately, she had not noticed she was the one who had drunk most of the wine. He undressed and lay beside her.
“Open the champers then, you’re the man.”
He sat up, opened the bottle and pored them both a glass. She took a sip, and then poured some of the liquid onto her stomach and it ran down between her legs.
“Oops, I’ve spilt it, I’m afraid you’re going to have to lick it all up.” She grinned like a child who is playing a game and obviously winning!
He lowered his head to her belly and gently, softly began to lick following the path that the liquid had taken.
“That’s it… oh yes… oh yes… oh I love it”
This is going to be a long night, he thought.
Chapter Ten
Over the next few weeks, he saw a lot of Maddy, but as he knew that she expected sex whenever he met her, he contrived numerous different reasons for either having to come home, or rise extremely early in the mornings. By these subterfuges, he escaped having to perform! Each time he excused himself, she sulked like a child who cannot get her own way but she soon came ’round with each expensive present that he bought her. He did not, however, extricate himself from her advances on every occasion and had more sex in six weeks than he had all his previous life! He realised his sex drive was well below hers, which would have blown the Richter scale through the roof, but other than her insatiable desires, he did like her company. She was well educated and knowledgeable about the arts, and shared his love of the opera and ballet. All in all, he thought, as long as I can control her bedroom activities then we are a good team.
It was with this thought in his mind that he rang up Giles.
“Giles, hi, it’s Martin.”
“Hello, old man, how are you?”
“Fine, thanks, just wondering how things are going with trying to find me a constituency.” He had never been one for talking around a subject, far better to get straight to the point.
“Oh yes. Well, I have been sounding out one or two of the members of the selection panel and they have come up with only one possible seat.”
“Go on, tell me then,” Martin’s voice betrayed his eagerness.
“It’s a new seat, one of those where the boundary commission have redefined the area so we don’t know if it will be a safe one or not. It’s Kenilworth and Southam.” He paused, waiting for Martin to take in the information.
“Excuse my ignorance, Giles, but where the bloody hell is that?”
There was a chuckle at the other end of the line.
“I thought that might be your reaction,” Giles said, a trace of laughter still in his voice. “It’s just outside Coventry on the way to Leamington Spa. You’ve surely heard of Coventry.”
“Yes, yes.” Martin was annoyed as much with his own ignorance as that of Giles condescending tone. “So what’s the next step?”
“The next step, old man, is to get you in front of the local committee and onto a short list.”
“Oh I see.” There was disappointment in his voice, he had expected that it would be a straightforward case of being introduced to the locals as their new candidate, he had not expected a beauty parade!
“I’ll fix things up and let you know when they want to see you. I should be able to get back to you within the next two weeks. By the way, how’s the love-life going? I hear on the grape vine that you’ve been seeing quite a lot of Madeleine Verity. Are wedding bells on the horizon? Her old man is a party stalwart so she would definitely fit the bill.”
Martin could imagine Giles winking at this comment if they had been face to face.
“Oh yes, we’re announcing our engagement soon.”
“Good show, Congratulations. Look, sorry, I’ve got to dash. My secretary’s waving furiously at me from the next office. Bye.”
The phone went dead before Martin had even had chance to say goodbye. Bloody liar, he thought, I bet he doesn’t even have his own secretary, just wanted to get rid of me. He sat back in his chair to think over what the selection panel might want to ask him and realised that he was a little out of his depth. He would need some helpful advice from somewhere. He went over the conversation in his mind, Kenilworth and Southam, not very inspiring but it was a start anyway.
It was another five minutes before it hit him, what he had said at the end of the call, ‘we’re announcing our engagement soon’. Fuck! Why on earth had he said that? He would look a bloody fool if he asked her to marry him and she said no, he’d be sunk before he even set sail on the good ship Kenilworth!
Martin never deliberated over anything for too long. All his business life had been characterised by making firm decisions fast, not foolhardily but, nevertheless, swiftly. He picked up the phone and dialled her boutique’s number.
“Maddy. It’s Martin.”
“Hello, darling, what’s up? You don’t normally ring th
e shop, is there something wrong?”
“No, not at all. I just wondered if you fancied going to the Ivy tonight. I’ve spoken to Giles and he thinks he has something for me. I thought we could celebrate over dinner.”
“You know I love the Ivy, of course, that would be great.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven thirty, then we’ll go back to my place for drinks, is that okay?”
“I’m looking forward to it… and darling, make sure you haven’t got a headache!” She laughed, and he laughed with her.
He called his secretary into his office and told her to hold all calls for the next two hours, if anything really urgent came up to ring his mobile, but other than that, he would be unavailable. She was a little surprised as work usually came before everything, but she had noticed since the day of the Chinese meal, he had not been his old self, though the new Martin was a distinct improvement.
He left the office and hailed a passing Taxi.
“Where to, Guv’nor?” the cabbie asked.
“Asperys, the jewellers,” he replied.
It was only a short trip and Martin doubled the fare by way of a tip.
“Thanks and good luck.” The driver left him at the kerb and sped away. He crossed the road and entered the jewellers. The shop was not busy, and a smartly dressed young man approached him and asked if he could be of service. Martin suddenly panicked, he had decided to buy an engagement ring and propose to Maddy on the spur of the moment, now here he was, at the Queen’s jewellers, not knowing what to get.
The shop assistant repeated the question.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes, yes, sorry I was miles away for a second. I want to buy an engagement ring please.”
“Have you anything in mind?”
“No not really, it’s a surprise.” To me as well, he thought to himself!
“Well, sir, a lot will depend on how much you want to pay. Shall I show you a range of rings and a range of prices?”