Bless This Love

by S M Mala

  She hated every minute of it.

  It was a terrible reminder of how life was totally unfair.

  ‘You’ll be okay.’

  Joe was kissing her back on Monday morning while they lay in bed. ‘And thank you for yesterday.’

  ‘You’ve said that a hundred times.’

  ‘You’ve been a bit quiet since then.’

  ‘There’s nothing to say.’

  Suri couldn’t lift her miserable mood and hoped she would have done brilliantly, proving to Joe that she was an all-round good egg.

  She was indeed a rather scrambled one, but knew some would call her a rotten egg.

  ‘I shouldn’t have asked you.’

  ‘I donated five pounds, and we got seven pounds fifty-six in total. That’s not good. Half a dozen email addresses and I don’t know if you’ll get any food. The poor people are going to starve.’ He laughed into her skin. ‘But if you were doing it, you’d have raised hundreds of pounds, got all the email addresses in London as well as feeding the starving third world countries. I get it.’

  She felt his breath then lips as he kissed up towards her neck, Joe pressing his body against her. He turned her over, his hands pulling her arms, stretching them out either side.

  ‘Are you getting me ready to be crucified? Because that’s what they’re going to do to you when they find out about us.’ Suri closed her eyes. ‘I’m going to get it this morning, I know it.’

  ‘Tell the truth and say you deceived Ted. You’ve told Edgar Peters, so what more can you do? You know he’s coming in to see Jack tomorrow.’

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Joe grinned, kissing her throat. ‘Did I tell you how pretty you looked yesterday?’

  ‘Several times.’

  Suri wondered why Edgar would want to speak to Jack and ignored her amorous lover trying to distract her.

  ‘And we’ll meet for lunch? I’m not working today,’ he said, his mouth now travelling down to her breasts. ‘I’m feeling very hungry.’

  ‘My treat,’ she replied, hoping the old men weren’t going to discuss her. ‘What time are they meeting?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ he groaned into her skin. ‘You’re so sexy.’

  ‘You’re on heat.’

  She let out a long sigh. Joe looked up at her.

  ‘I’ll make you sigh,’ he whispered. ‘Because, right now, I’m going to make perfect love to you, so when you sigh from now on, it will be about me.’

  And he did as he promised.

  ‘I’m here to see Edgar.’

  Suri let out a massive sigh.

  Joe was right.

  Every time she did it, her thoughts were with the man who gave her such pleasure that morning, she couldn’t concentrate on what she was doing.

  ‘Straight to his office,’ the security guard, Clarence, said and grinned. ‘What have you been up to?’

  ‘What’ve you heard?’

  ‘Rumours are floating all around the building. Kidnapping and sexual harassment.’

  ‘Me or Edgar? He’s a saucy old so and so.’

  He laughed out loudly and led her through the security gate, pressing the lift button as she got in. It was made of glass so she could check out the floors.

  Still not sure what she was going to say, Suri stepped out of the lift and saw Edgar standing in the corridor. He laughed when he saw her then became serious.

  ‘The boardroom,’ he said, walking ahead.

  Suri waved to Anne, who sheepishly grinned.

  Her heart sank when she saw Ted and the head of Human Resources, Marian, sitting in the room. Suri walked in, avoiding looking at Ted and sat down.

  ‘Thank you for coming, Suri,’ Marian said. She glanced at her neat ginger bob and smiley face. It was common knowledge that most of the people who worked in HR were on some sort of medication, which turned them into placid zombies. Marian was no different. ‘You are aware why we’re here?’

  ‘Sexual harassment,’ she replied bluntly, then flicked Ted a glance. He was looking down at the table. ‘What do you want me to admit to?’

  ‘Did you do what he said?’

  ‘Not all of it,’ she replied and glared at Ted. ‘But I’d like to hear his version of events.’ Then to her utter surprise, Ted started to look upset and rubbed his forehead. ‘What I’ve seen so far, from his statement, isn’t exactly how I saw it.’

  ‘I can’t talk about it,’ Ted gulped. ‘It’s too upsetting.’

  Then she figured out how he was going to play it.

  The victim.

  ‘I wrote out my statement,’ she said, shaking her head from side to side at the man. ‘I think this sudden act of shock should be taken with a pinch of salt.’

  ‘You humiliated me,’ Ted said, glancing at her quickly. ‘It was some sadistic revenge.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘My rejection of you when I worked here last.’ He cleared his voice. ‘I told them we had a little fling and when I realised I made a mistake, I ended it.’ Ted turned to Edgar. ‘I love my wife and children.’

  ‘The three and five year olds?’ Suri added and noticed Ted ignored her. ‘Or the small fling that lasted three times a week for nearly eighteen months? That was until I found out you were married and then I kicked you into touch. You’re full of remorse.’

  ‘She’s lying,’ sighed Ted, looking sympathetically at her. ‘I understand it’s been hard to come to terms with my return and how you feel.’

  ‘Nothing,’ Suri added calmly, noting Marian had a fixed grin. ‘My feelings for you no longer exist. I lured you to your room because you thought you could have a leg over, even though I told you I was seeing someone, and he’s a Vicar.’

  ‘Of course he is!’ laughed out Ted. ‘He looks like a scruffy musician. What do you take me for?’

  ‘An arsehole?’

  ‘Suri, can we please keep this professional,’ Marian said, looking sympathetically at Ted. ‘We need to find a way to resolve it.’

  ‘I admit to luring him to his bedroom, blind folding and tying him up. I never gagged him, but on second thought that might have been a good idea. Two women were more than eager to facilitate his needs.’

  ‘Again, another lie. Suri, are you sure you’re okay?’ Ted asked, looking straight at her. ‘Maybe you do need more time away.’

  ‘The thing is, what do you want from this Ted? Why don’t you pursue your claim against me? I’m sure I can dig out a few women who you’ve had flings with. What would your wife say?’

  ‘Suri?’ Edgar said calmly. ‘We stopped him going to the police.’

  She sat there, open mouthed, and realised that Ted had her over a barrel.

  Or wanted to shag her over it to prove a point.

  ‘On what grounds?’ she asked. ‘Sexual assault? Humiliation? Him being a wanker?’

  ‘If she’s going to be rude, then there’s no point. I want to press for disciplinary action,’ Ted said, standing up. ‘I’m trying to get this sorted but she's just obstructive.’

  Taking a moment, she remembered what Joe had told her then sighed again.

  ‘Ted, I’m sorry for any undue stress I caused. I promise whole heartedly that I will never come within five metres of you again. There will be no contact.’ Suri smiled and looked up at him, knowing he wasn’t expecting that. ‘I’ll take the rest of the week off, and maybe a couple more from my holiday entitlement. I’m owed for all the extra work I’ve done this year. Denise can tell you the amount. She’s good at reminding people about things.’ Turning to Edgar, she looked at him, straight in the eye. ‘I’ve been under a lot of stress recently. That explains my actions.’

  She was met with a look of utter disbelief.

  ‘Is it possible to speak to Suri alone?’ Ted gently asked, looking at Marian, who nodded furiously.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Edgar said, frowning at him. ‘Are we sure this is all settled?’

  ‘I’ll have to see how she behaves towards
me,’ Ted quietly replied.

  ‘And Suri, you want this week and two more weeks off.’

  ‘From my holiday entitlement,’ she said, not having the stomach to return to the office. ‘It’s a perfect time to restructure and recruit missing people. I’ve recorded six weeks ahead, so there’s no big deal when it comes to porn. And talking about porn, just tell Denise what I’ve requested.’

  ‘Five minutes,’ Edgar said and pressed the telephone intercom to get his personal assistant. ‘I’m going to pop out for fifteen minutes, Anne. Can you make sure that Suri is escorted out when she leaves?’

  ‘Yes,’ the reply came. ‘Does she need a bodyguard?’ Then Anne laughed. ‘I can get Clarence.’

  ‘That’s debateable,’ Edgar replied and Suri noticed he was looking at Ted.

  Edgar and Marian left the room. Suri stood up to leave, and Ted grabbed her arm.

  ‘Let go of me,’ she said, looking up at him as he released her. ‘I always knew you were slippery but this takes on a whole new ball game.’

  ‘You have to play nice.’

  ‘No I don’t.’

  ‘Suri, this is serious and what you did is sexual assault.’

  ‘You’ll find what Denise and Leila did is sexual assault but you weren’t complaining. Now your butch mate is sticking up for you, saying she saw me lead you on over dinner.’ She noticed Edgar was standing by Anne’s desk. ‘I heard you grunting next door after you were accosted.’

  ‘You owe me.’

  ‘I don’t owe you anything.’

  ‘Fuck me and then I’ll forget about it.’

  The slap she delivered was exceedingly hard.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

  Suri was sat by the church, propped up against the side where Rory had died. Her hands were shaking furiously. Her left palm was sore from where she hit Ted. ‘But put it this way, I’m not needed for another three weeks and this time I’m heading for a disciplinary.’

  ‘Jesus! Sorry!’ said Jack looking down at her. ‘You did apologise, didn’t you?’

  ‘I’m going to lose my job, and I need it more than ever,’ she groaned. ‘I’m in love with a Vicar, who has no money.’

  ‘But you said ‘sorry’?’

  ‘I did and then Ted asked to see me alone and gave me a proposition that made me mad.’

  ‘A proposition?’ he grimaced. ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I slapped him hard. He went ballistic, saying I’m mentally unstable. I then ran out of the building in a complete rage because he thinks he can speak to me like that. Edgar was trying to stop me but I’ve had enough!’ Suri burst into tears. ‘What makes people think they can treat me like shit?’

  She sobbed into her lap and checked her watch. In fifteen minutes, she was to meet Joe at his flat. Then she got the shock of her life, seeing Jack stoop to the ground so he could look at her in the eye.

  ‘What was his proposition?’ the man asked quietly.

  ‘He said if I had sex, that wasn’t the word he used, he’d drop it all. Then I belted him hard.’

  ‘That’s gross misconduct for assaulting a fellow worker but what he asked for isn’t right either.’

  ‘Then I’ll just have to be unemployed.’

  Jack sat next to her as the sun beat down on them.

  ‘You know Janet Peters wasn’t very nice about you on Sunday. She asked if I was getting desperate by letting you come back into the church.’

  ‘I didn’t know I was barred.’

  ‘And she pointed out you weren’t a good image.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘I told her that all my flock were welcome and no-one is to cast judgement,’ he whispered, turning to look at her. ‘She’s upset because I said you were an innocent victim, and she thinks you were the perpetrator regarding the death of her child.’

  ‘I’m being sacked from even helping out the church?’ She laughed through her tears. ‘That’s brilliant!’

  ‘Suri, I wanted to talk to you about something,’ he said quietly and looked away. ‘You know Janet Peters wants a memorial plaque put on the ground where Felicity passed away.’

  ‘And Rory?’

  Jack silently shook his head from side to side.

  ‘He’s to be forgotten about?’ she quietly asked.

  ‘She says he murdered her daughter.’

  ‘That was after Felicity put a fatal stab into his heart. Felicity got to say goodbye to her parents, and he died in my arms. What does that say? It’s okay to execute an act of aggression but if you fight back, you’re the guilty one? I’m sick of Janet Peters painting this whiter than white image of Felicity.’

  ‘It was her child.’

  ‘And he was the man I loved. Mind you, a complete shit for screwing her, but I loved him. You can’t take that away.’

  ‘Edgar is coming to see me tomorrow,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll put in a good word for you.’

  ‘I don’t want to be treated like dirt. I don’t deserve it.’

  ‘Then start finding a way to resolve your problems. That doesn’t mean sleep with Ted because that won’t do anything.’

  ‘I never want to sleep with Ted again, not now I’ve found Joe. I don’t want anyone just him.’ Jack put an arm around her and gave her a gentle hug. ‘Until Janet Peters comes along with her bitch friends and drags him away.’

  ‘Ah, we have an admirer,’ Jack said making Suri look up.

  Joe was standing on the other side of the road, looking at them. He then carefully crossed before jumping over the fence.

  ‘What’s going on?’ he asked, smiling brightly at her. ‘How did it go this morning?’

  ‘Help me up, Joe,’ Jack asked, breaking into a sweat. ‘It’s a suntrap here.’

  He willingly obliged, and she watched Jack struggle to get to his feet.

  ‘It looks like we might have help for longer,’ Jack mumbled. ‘I think I’ll take her under my wing as she’s in need of some strong parental guidance.’

  She buried her head between her legs, not knowing what to say before looking up.

  ‘Suri, tell Joe what happened. Everything. Then he’ll have a better idea that his girlfriend is going to be jobless.’

  ‘Really?’ he said, and half smiled. ‘I don’t mind. Oven chips are just as good as the chippie.’

  ‘I’ve got a meeting but be nice to this one,’ Jack said, tapping Joe’s shoulder. ‘And don’t get angry.’

  ‘So, my gorgeous woman, what happened?’

  And she relayed the story, watching him stare straight ahead as she said it. He was silent for five minutes before looking at her.

  ‘No one heard what he said?’

  ‘He’s clever like that and far too high up in the company for anything to happen. He pulls in money, and all I currently do is write things for blokes to pull themselves off.’ She grimaced and examined his cleanly shaved face. ‘You look beautiful.’

  He also looked very angry.

  ‘I’ll see what happens,’ she continued, wanting desperately to kiss him but knowing she couldn’t. ‘It goes without saying I’d never let him lay a hand on me. I don’t like what he thinks he’s doing. Makes me wonder if he did it to anyone else.’

  Joe moved forward, startling Suri, then placed a kiss on her lips.

  ‘I love you,’ he said, staring into her eyes. ‘He has no right to speak to you like that.’

  Not wasting a moment, she grabbed the back of his head and kissed him passionately back, tasting his mouth.

  ‘I think,’ he said, smiling at her when he pulled a little away. ‘This is the start of the courtship.’

  ‘Now don’t interrupt.’

  Suri marched into Jack’s office a few days later. ‘I have an idea.’

  ‘Good afternoon,’ he replied, sitting behind his desk reading the paper. There was a large mug of tea and an even larger slice of cake beside it. ‘What can I do to help you today?’

  ‘I have to tell you a few things because I’ve been thinking.�
��

  She needed to hide the fact she was petrified about what she was about to do next. Joe had no idea and thought her tossing and turning the previous night was down to her worry over work.

  He was still silently angry about Ted’s illicit proposition, so she decided not to talk about it again.

  But in reality, that was the last thing on her mind. She was on a mission to help the man she loved, and prove the witches of the parish wrong. The image of burning them in a bonfire on the green kept flashing into her head.

  It was small consolation.

  ‘Right,’ Jack replied, still not looking up. ‘Let it all out.’

  ‘Who’s here?’

  ‘No-one. Mrs Rogers just left, but she’ll be back as I’ve got some letters to do.’

  ‘Good!’

  She opened her large bag and pulled out the box. That’s when Jack looked up.

  ‘As people don’t want to speak to me, and you need email addresses as well as mobile numbers, I’m donating this.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘A suggestion box. I bought it yesterday and have spent most of the day printing out cards.’

  ‘I see?’ From the look on his face, he didn’t. ‘And what are you suggesting?’

  ‘We put this at the entrance for when people are coming and going, with a sign asking them to write their details down. I’ve created a poster.’ Suri pulled out the laminated A4 sheet. ‘It reads ‘Reverend Joe would like your details…’ I thought considering everyone fancies him, including my mother, we’ll exploit it.’

  ‘Okay, that’s a good idea.’ Jack sat back. ‘And there’s more?’

  ‘I’ll shake a tin on Sunday to raise money but not from your lot. I’ll go around the church with my charity badge, but you’re going to have to put the music up when Joe sings because that will attract people from around. I’ve seen it, and it might work.’

  Jack narrowed his eyes, suspicious of what she would say next.

  ‘And I’ll get the donations for the food station by leafleting when I get a spare moment and putting some in the supermarkets. I’ve asked the managers of the big ones around here to consider making donations. They’re… considering.’

  ‘That’s it?’ He took a bite of his cake. ‘Nothing else?’