Chapter 38

In February Toby found himself back at the main Bristol office again for a three week stint. Karen Slinger was obviously delighted to see him and instantly made it plain that she was his for the taking. He simply could not resist. Although they couldn’t find much in the way of conversation, together in bed they had no need for words. He took her home on the second Tuesday. They were making love on the rug in the bathroom when unfortunately the girls got home from keep-fit a little earlier than he had expected. Natasha walked in on them.

For some reason that she could not or would not explain to anybody, Natasha was furious. She barely spoke to Toby for almost a week and he missed out on a Wednesday bath-night as a result. The whole thing really made him ponder upon her reaction and to see if it happened again, he took Karen back to the flat the following Tuesday and this time made quite sure that Natasha caught them in action, this time on the couch in the lounge.

‘Is she your girlfriend or something?’ asked Karen as he ran her home in the car afterwards.

‘No, just one of the people I share the flat with. She’s got a boyfriend who goes to Newcastle University as a matter of fact.’

‘Well she got awful mad for somebody you’re just sharing a flat with,’ sniffed Karen.

‘Yes, I’m sorry about that,’ said Toby apologetically, ‘I’ll have to try to get something sorted out. I’ll see you again sometime soon I hope.’

He dropped her off and then went and sat in a pub until closing time. He decided that the time had come for him to force Natasha into making a decision. When he finally got home he found that she had already retired to bed. Andrew and Emma were in the lounge watching television and were obviously waiting up for him.

‘Is this a good idea or am I out of my mind?’ he asked quietly.

‘See, I told you he was up to something,’ hissed Emma.

‘I wish you’d hang around so that I could see the bird,’ complained Andrew, who got in later and missed the excitement, ‘Natasha said that she was a cheap tart.’

‘She isn’t actually,’ chuckled Toby, ‘She works in the statements section at Bristol main office as a matter of fact. I’ve no idea why she dyes her hair like that though, it doesn’t suit her at all I have to admit.’

‘From the way that Tasha was carting on, anybody would think that you’d picked her up on some street corner,’ whispered Andrew.

‘Interesting reaction from somebody who doesn’t care about me that much, don’t you think?’ asked Toby, still most intrigued by the whole thing.

Andrew and Emma both nodded.

‘You know we’re staying down here this weekend,’ said Toby in a low voice, ‘Tell me, how do you fancy taking Natasha out somewhere on Saturday afternoon and coming back dead on six o’clock?’

They both laughed.

‘Will I get to see the bird this time?’ asked Andrew.

‘Oh yes,’ chuckled Toby, ‘You’ll get to see her this time.

‘In that case, it’s a deal.’

When the twins and Emma got back from their shopping expedition that Saturday, Toby and Mary O’Toole were in the middle of a frenzied and noisy bout of shagging in Andrew and Emma’s bed.

‘Hello,’ said Toby, stopping what he was doing for a moment and looking up, ‘You’re back earlier than I’d expected.’

‘Obviously,’ snapped Natasha and flounced angrily along the landing.

‘This is that raving nymphomaniac I was telling you about Andrew,’ said Toby in a loud voice that she could not fail to hear, ‘Mary O’Toole, meet my best friends, Andrew Stevenson and Emma Knight.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ responded Mary politely. Pinned as she was beneath Toby’s body she couldn’t do much else.

‘We’re in their bed,’ explained Toby, ‘I guess we’d better get out.’

‘No hurry,’ laughed Andrew, ‘Why don’t you finish what you’re doing?’

He and Emma retreated, leaving the door wide open and Toby continued to thrust away steadily. Mary gave a moan of pleasure and he cried out loudly, hoping that Natasha could hear the whole performance.

On Tuesday Natasha announced that she was giving up the keep fit classes. Fortunately Toby heard about it second-hand from Emma, because he laughed so hard that he almost strained something.

That evening he and Natasha sat in the lounge pretending to watch the television. On several occasions Toby felt that she was about to say something to him, but each time something obviously stopped her from doing so. At about eight o’clock he went upstairs, dressed himself up to the nines and poured about half a bottle of after-shave all over the place. He went back down to the lounge and opened the door.

‘I’m off out now,’ he said casually.

Natasha looked at him disapprovingly and sniffed the air.

‘You smell like a brothel,’ she observed.

‘Thank you.’

‘Why are you wasting yourself on a series of cheap tarts?’ she asked suddenly.

‘You can hardly call two a series,’ he replied smoothly, ‘And they aren’t cheap any more, not since I’ve found I can’t bring them back here.’

He turned on his heel, closing the door behind him.

‘I hope you catch V.D.,’ she shouted after him.

Toby laughed so much that his sides ached. Pulling himself together he got into the car and drove up to Doctor Green’s Lane to pay a surprise visit on his family. They were delighted to see him so unexpectedly and he did not leave until after midnight. When he got in he found that everybody else had gone to bed. There was a note on his pillow from Emma.

“When we got in we could see that Natasha had been crying. She made a few nasty cracks about your taste in women and went to bed. I hope this works out soon, we’re beginning to worry about her. Love, Em. xx”

Toby grinned to himself and went down to the bathroom to try to shower off the smell of after-shave lotion.

On Friday evening Toby played his trump card, along with a little help from Emma. They had just got into the car for a trip up to the Cotswolds for the weekend when Emma said:

‘Oh, what on earth am I sitting on?’ She fished around underneath her and produced a sheath which to all intents and purposes appeared to have been used. She made a disgusted noise and Toby turned round and looked at what she was holding distastefully between forefinger and thumb.