Chapter 41

By the sound of his name, The Rat, Bern knew she was not coming to meet someone with a models looks. Even so, the figure that was now standing in front of her, sporting a pair of off white, stained y-fronts, was even worse than she could imagine.

"What are you screaming about woman?" asked The Rat

Not wanting to show any fear or disgust, Bern quickly replied with the first excuse that came to mind.

"Sorry, I didn't expect the door to be opened so fiercely, it made me jump"

"I gather you are the woman that I was told to expect. The note that was shoved under my door said you have some lucrative business for me"

"Yes I am and yes I guess you can call it that"

"You had better come in then. I don't want anyone hearing my business. This place is full of dirty thieving bastards"

On entering the room, Bern, keeping herself between the door and The Rat, was on edge. She couldn't see a woman, or anything resembling a woman for that matter, anywhere. Looking around for something with some weight to it, she spots a huge overflowing glass ashtray on a sideboard. That will do the job if he gets a little hands on she thinks as she moves to within easy reach.

"So what is this business that I so desperately need?"

Turning to reply, Bern notices that his gaze is not on her face. His eyes were everywhere over her body, except her face. His head lowering and his eyes staring directly at the triangular crotch of the jeans, she could almost physically feel her clothes being peeled off by his intense stare. Like a slobbering dog drooling over lunch, a dribbling yellow and black tongue emerged, and The Rat licked his lips. Bern could feel the bile raise to her chest as her stomach turned. She needed to get this over and done with and get out.

"I want to borrow your girlfriend for a week or so," she plainly said without wavering

"Sounds like a worthwhile trade. She goes and you stay, yes?"

"Erm no, as appealing as that may sound, we both go"

"So what's in it for me then?" enquiring,
"I leave here with her now and you get two hundred pound of crisp notes to do with what you want"

"You want my Bridget for a couple of weeks?"

"Yes, she will be back before you know it"

"For two hundred quid you can keep her"

Walking over to a heaped pile of rags on the floor, he gives it a kick, which produces a moan from underneath. Bern, taken aback by the moan, could not believe there was a person under the pile of filth. As the rags began to move, looking like a snake shedding its skin, the woman rolls on the floor.

I don't know if she is stoned or drunk Bern thinks but she is not going anywhere without help.

"You want her, you take her. That will be two hundred please," sneers The Rat

Placing one arm around the woman's waist, Bern grabs a greasy arm and places it around her shoulders. With a heave, she moves slowly to the door, kicking each leg of the dead weight in turn. Throwing the money on the sideboard, she shuts the door with her foot. Half-dragging and half-carrying, Bern hobbles down the flight of stairs to the fresh air. Releasing her grip on the semi-conscious body, the woman slumps into the passenger seat like a slab of meat. As she struggles to put on the seatbelt, Bern notices the silhouette of a man, half in and half out of a doorway staring at her.

"Sod the seatbelt we are out of here" she tells the snoring corpse like creature beside her. With a screech of rubber, she turns the car and heads home.

Spinning the thermostat down to as cold as possible and pushing the start button, the power shower roars into life. Like a nurse talking aloud to an unconscious patient, Bern tells Bridget everything she is doing. With the hope that she would be heard, she guides the swaying body to the shower.

"Right my little princess, first things first, let's get you sobered up".

Peeling off her clothes and throwing them into the corner of the room, Bern folds the body into the bath and directs the showerhead. She leaves to let her soak and awaits the screams as her brain computes the messages to her nerve endings that the cold has hit her body.

Switching on the kettle, she could not help but text Dan. You don't need me, or a thousand pound to make her look good, you need a bloody mortuary beautician she types.

Pouring the water into two cups of strong black coffee, she hears the scream and a thud, as the now conscious body scrambles out of the freezing water.

Staggering, with the balance and grace of an infant, disorientated, Bridget enters the lounge. The water from her soaked hair and dripping body was making a pool on the laminated floor around her feet.

"Where the heck am I and who are you?" she screams, searching for an exit.

"It's okay Bridget, I'm Bern, and you are in my flat and safe"

"I gather it was you that put me under that ice cold waterfall"

"Yes it was and I am not sorry about it. You were out of it and I needed you sober"

"Well you certainly achieved that. What am I here for?" Bridget probes nervously

"I will explain that shortly. We need to get you dry first, get a hot drink inside you, and get you into a warm bath"

Standing in the lounge doorway naked, Bern sees Bridget's body for the first time. Covered in bruises and small circular burn marks, presumably from beatings, she realises that Bridget's life was not a nice one and it might have actually done her a favour by pulling her out.

Wrapping a full-length bath towel around Bridget. Bern guides her to the table and pushes the coffee to her. After leaving the room to run a hot bath, Bern returns to the table.

"Once you have finished your coffee you can jump into the bath and have a good soak," Bern says insistently.

Bridget, gulping down the last mouthful of coffee from the mug, walks straight to the bathroom, turns off the taps of the steaming bath and slips in with a pleasurable sigh.

From behind the closed door, Bern could hear the muffled moans of pain, as the hot water washed over every burn and slice on Bridget's worn body.

To pull this off it was obvious that she would need a few days of rest, at least, to let the bruising go down and the welts to heal.

It was over an hour before the smiling Bridget, smelling better and looking more human, emerged from the cloud of steam that filled bathroom.

"Sorry I took so long but it was heaven in there" she sighs

"That's not a problem hun. A few more of those and you will feel alive again."

Rifling through her wardrobe and taking out some stretchy leggings and a top, Bern offers them to Bridget.

"These should fit you okay. Put them on and just relax for tonight"

Settling down on the sofa, Bern pours out a large glass of red Shiraz wine and passes it to Bridget. Like an expert wine taster, Bridget takes a sip and swirls it around her taste buds, savouring the varied flavours.

"Wow, I cannot remember the last time I tasted a real wine," she says with passion

"I could tell that just by the expression on your face" Bern replies laughing "There is plenty more where that came from too"