Chapter 13

It was a long journey, even if you discounted the three-hour check in. We left at about two o'clock and arrived at about four after travelling for over nine hours non-stop. We got a taxi to the Waterfront Hotel and checked in.

Here I was in for a surprise. We were booked into a suite on some impossibly high floor, and when we reached the suite it had only one bedroom, with two queen-size beds.

Jenny looked embarrassed. "I hope you don't mind. There are two beds, and this was the only suite they had available."

I smiled. The thought of seeing this beauty in her night attire and possibly her underwear was not doing me any harm at all!

"No, Jenny, that'll be fine, as long as you're comfortable with the idea."

"Oh, yes," she answered, visibly relieved. "Boys and girls always shared when I was at University and we went away. We never thought it was strange."

I wondered how many of these innocent room sharings ended in hot sex in only one of the beds. Well, that wouldn't happen here, I thought. This is too good a relationship to mess up by getting personal.

We were tired. It may have been five pm there but our clocks told us it was after one in the morning. I suggested we nap for a couple of hours and then have dinner. I booked dinner for seven thirty and got a wake-up call as well. Then I lay down, fully dressed. Jenny did the same on the other bed. We hardly looked at the view from the large picture window.

Coming to when the wakeup call came was excruciating. It was like being woken suddenly in the middle of the night. We both struggled to our feet and used the bathroom consecutively. I looked out over the water looking at the lights reflected in the water. I could see why people fall in love with Vancouver.

The food was wonderful. It needed to be, since our body clocks were screaming we should be asleep at four in the morning, and certainly not having a dinner! The bar served beer from local micro-breweries and the bartender offered samples before pulling full measures. We eventually went to our beds feeling better. Jenny had a theory that travelling east to west was less a shock to the system, and as I felt better I began to believe I could agree with her.

Jenny changed in the bathroom, and while she was gone I found a pair of boxers, and put them on, then my dressing gown. I had expected to be alone and I always sleep nude. She emerged after about twenty minutes in a pair of white silk pyjamas. They were quite baggy but she looked stunning, hinting at a great deal, up top and down below!

"Don't look too closely," she said, "I'm not a pretty sight without makeup."

It was a blatant lie and I told her so, and she blushed prettily. I made my way to the bathroom, and when I returned she was asleep. I shed my gown and dropped into my bed and was asleep in my turn. It was only nine o'clock.

I awoke at five, wondering where I was, and immediately knowing. Through the open door into the living area of the suite I could see a light, and wandered in to find Jenny sitting at the writing desk with her computer, going over her presentation. She heard me and turned. Her hand flew to her mouth and there was the familiar expression on her face of disbelief. I realised that apart from my boxer shorts, I was naked. She was in her pyjamas.

"Sorry," I began, "I heard a noise–"

"Allan! Your body! Your legs!"

I realised why she was so appalled. I was used to Trish seeing me naked, and Jenny was the first to see me since Vivienne in the flat.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said flatly. "I forget what I look like. Sorry if you're shocked."

"No!" she said, full of compassion. "I'm used to your face and head, I didn't realise your injuries–"

"Were so extensive?" I said, smiling. "You can see why the medics didn't give me much of a chance of surviving! What are you doing Jenny?"

"I woke up and wanted to be sure of things for today."

"You'll be fine! Just be yourself and follow your PowerPoint."

"I've nearly finished. I'll feel better in my own mind if I go over it now."

I went to the coffee making apparatus and made us a drink, then went back to bed to read my trashy novel. I must have dozed off because she woke me, calling my name. She was dressed and ready for the day. It was seven. I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom, feeling her eyes on my battered body. I felt my friend below beginning to stir.

"Down boy," I whispered.

All was quiet in that department by the time I emerged and she had made herself scarce in the living room to allow me to dress.

After breakfast Jenny showed me to the conference room she had booked for the two days.

"They wanted us to go to the company offices, but I thought neutral ground was better," she said.

"Clever! But not really neutral, we live here at the moment!"

She blushed and smiled: she knew what she was doing. We returned to the suite and she immediately left with the documentation and her laptop. She was nervous, jittery even. There was nothing I could do; she wanted the chance to shine and I was going to give it to her in spades.

The phone call came that the party had arrived and I went down to meet them. There were three of them. A grey-haired man, tall and lean of features and body with a prominent nose, who introduced himself as Victor Belling. I decided to wait before I told him who I was; it would only distract us.

"Allan Jones. Contracts," I said, shaking Victor's hand.

He gave a second look, but was already introducing his resourcing team. Denis Lemay was his chief resource manager. He was tall, taller than me by a few inches, slim with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He was very good looking and I thought I detected a touch of arrogance about his attitude, perhaps a sneer lurked behind his overt politeness. Grant Concliffe, his colleague, was introduced as the technical expert; a short man somewhat older than Lemay, and tending to corpulence. He was certainly out of condition. His florid face was thin, with a button nose and narrow eyes and protruding chin, and his ears were huge. It took an effort of will not to stare at them. Mind you, he stared long enough at me.

Belling was the one to comment. He nodded at me and said the one word, "Accident?"

"No. Mugging."

He grunted and shrugged. We took the lift to the conference room with no further conversation. When we entered the room, Jenny was waiting for us with a broad smile. I could see the double take: a woman?

I made the introductions, telling them she was to organise the negotiations and that I would be dealing with the fine print. She was dressed as she had at the Birmingham meeting, business-like but distractingly pretty, with the same suit, tantalising blouse and mid-thigh length skirt. I could see all three were enthralled. They almost had to shake themselves to get in the frame of mind needed for the meeting.

I suggested to Victor that we stay for the presentation and then absent ourselves once the discussion began. I had told Jenny to wear the radio mike for my gizmo. I wanted her to know I was in earshot in case of problems. I didn't want her to have to come and find me.

Her performance was perfect and Victor and I then withdrew to the next room. It was there that I introduced myself properly.

"Mr Belling, Victor," I began, "We've met. You know me."

He looked perplexed.

"Allan Jonsson," I prompted him.

He started, "You disappeared soon after we had those meetings at your place. I remember sending condolences to your lovely wife."

"You can see I was comprehensively beaten up. It was touch and go for over a year. I've only recently realised who I am and where I live. In the meantime, my wife has divorced me."

"I'm so sorry," he said with obvious sincerity and regret. "You were an ideal couple. I know everyone envied you."

"Well, water under the bridge."

"So why aren't you pitching for this order? Why get the young girl to do it?"

"The young girl is in her thirties, Victor, and she's talented. I believe in giving talent its head."

He nodded and smiled. We listened a while to the discussion and he nodded again.

"Yes," he said, "she'll hold her own all right. My guys will have to look to their laurels."

The negotiations lasted three hours, and at last they came through to where we were.

"I need to talk this over with Victor, and we have meetings this afternoon," said Lemay, "but how about we meet for dinner and drinks this evening?" He was talking to Jenny, not to me.

She cast a quick glance at me and I nodded imperceptibly, whereupon she gracefully accepted his invitation. Victor invited me to his place for dinner and I accepted gratefully. I had not welcomed the prospect of dining alone in the same dining room where Jenny was entertaining our client.

I stayed in the living room while she changed, and when she emerged she was breathtaking. Once again very simply dressed. A little black dress, cut to enhance her cleavage and reaching mid thigh which seemed her preferred length, and a simple necklace and earrings. Very much as she dressed for our first dinner together.

"You'll knock him for six," I said admiringly. "Shall I get another room for tonight?"

She looked horrified.

"No way, Allan!" she asserted. "I don't like the man. This is purely in the interest of business and before you say it, I'm no whore. I don't lie down for trade." She was angry.

"I'm sorry. I certainly didn't mean you were to seduce him for the contract. I just thought you might fancy him; he's a good looking guy."

"Typical man!" she retorted, though more gently. "Couldn't you see his manner? He's totally self-obsessed. OK, he's easy on the eye and I'm sure he'll entertain me! He'll be very charming."

We both laughed at that, and parted to our separate dates.

Dinner was very pleasant. Victor's wife was much younger than he and very pretty. For all that they were clearly well matched, and I briefly wondered again about my reluctance to make my relationship with Trish more permanent. Too late now, I thought.

I must have looked tired, for Victor offered to take me back. He called a taxi. I got in and he followed. I must have looked surprised.

"Allan," he said. "I have another idea I'd like to go over with you. Won't take long, but you could give it some thought."

I thought it strange but he was the customer. So we went back together and on arriving went straight to the conference room. It was booked for both days and we had left a lot of stuff there. His idea was not difficult, but would need a few months of effort to get it to work.

He then suggested a drink, "I need to speak to Denis. Do you know where he'll be?"

"The bar?" I suggested, so we went down to the bar but there was no sign of them. "Perhaps they've gone up to our suite."

"You're sharing?" he raised an eyebrow.

"The only suite left. Purely platonic, Victor. I mean, look at me!" I grinned to save him embarrassment. He grinned back.

"Point taken. Can we gatecrash their party?"

"Not much of a party. I'd be surprised if there were anything going on, Victor. She doesn't like him much."

"I believe he can be persuasive."

We went to the suite. As I pushed the card into the door slot Victor put his finger to his lips, and we slipped in quietly. There was no one in the living room, but we could hear voices. We stood and listened.

"Come on Jenny, you know you want to."

"Denis, get out of my bedroom. You were using the bathroom. You've used it. Now, out!"

"Jenny, you are a beautiful woman; you have needs, you know it. I can give you a wonderful good time."

I switched on my recorder. We needed a record of this.

"No you can't. I'm sorry Denis, but I just don't fancy you."

"You don't know what you're missing. My girl friends say I'm very good. I'll blow your mind. Promise."

"Get out, Denis. Go home. I'm not interested."

"I think you will be. You want this contract. I have to go to Victor tomorrow morning and give my recommendation. Which way do you want it to go? I can't see you being popular if you blow this deal."

"You blackmailing me for sex, Denis? Is that how you get women into bed?"

"I'm only doing it for your own good, petal. You'll thank me when you see my cock and feel it inside you. So what's it to be? Contract signed or turned down?"

"You bastard. You low down piece of shit. You can't do this. You know our stuff is miles better than the opposition."

"But Victor doesn't. It'll be your word against mine. He thinks the sun shines out of my ass, so get your things off and lets get to it. Here, I'll help you."

"Get off me! Get off me!" Now there were sounds of a struggle.

"Shut up. You stuck up little tease. Showing your tits and legs up to your ass. You know you want to, you little slut!"

There were groans and grunts and I moved to the door of the bedroom. They were on my bed. Denis was on top of Jenny, his hand up her skirt, she was writhing with his weight on her.

"I think Ms Tasker wants you to leave her alone," I said.

He froze. Then "Get out!" he shouted. "This whore is mine!"

"I don't think so," I spoke very quietly so that he had to strain to hear me. "This is assault and rape, and if this is the way you conduct business, I'm afraid we don't want to supply you, and I'll be informing Mr. Belling why."

He sneered. Jenny was now still underneath him, but he had withdrawn his hand.

"Your word against mine. I know who he'll believe, certainly not some minor technician and his whore of a sales girl. I'll tell him you set me up so you could get out of the deal because it was too big for you."

"I don't think you will."

The voice was also quiet, but had authority and came from behind me. "Lemay, you will collect your effects from your desk first thing tomorrow. You no longer work for me."

Lemay jumped up and faced us, his erection pushing his underwear through the hole in his unzipped trousers. "You can't do that, Belling. I'll sue you. You've no evidence anything happened here."

While they were talking I had retrieved the recorder, and now stood behind Victor. I played it and he paled.

"Not just a sacking matter as I said. This was attempted rape. Be assured the police will get this."

He lunged for the recorder. I stepped back and Victor stuck his foot out. Lemay went sprawling. We stood each side of him.

"You really are a very stupid man," said Victor. "Apart from what we heard, this is the owner of the company we've been negotiating with, and he's a personal friend. I would have believed him over you any time. Now get out of here."

He scrambled to his feet and stumbled out.

"How's Jenny?" asked Victor.

"I'll see to her. I think it better if you leave her to me."

"You're right, see you tomorrow. I'll do the final contract with you, or Jenny if she's up to it."

He hugged me and I hugged him back. I downloaded the recording onto a memory stick and gave it to him, and he went.

I went back into the bedroom. Jenny was lying on her stomach and trembling, panting for breath.

"Jenny," I whispered, and put a hand on her back.

Her reaction was immediate and violent. She turned, raised herself and threw herself into my arms, sobbing her heart out. I held her as tightly as she held me and I stroked her hair and made soothing noises until she quietened. It took a long time.

Then she began talking, her head on my shoulder as I sat on the bed and held her.

"When I was fourteen an uncle found me with a boy. I was wanking him off and he was fingering me. My parents were out and I thought wee were safe but my uncle had a key to the house. He threatened to tell my father. My father was quite a violent man; I would have had the beating of my life.

"My uncle told me the price of his silence and you'll know what it was. He used condoms and had me over and over again for nearly a year. It hurt at first; he wasn't very good. Later I learned to get myself wet beforehand and it was easier. I never came. He didn't consider me but just used me. He'd text me to go to his house. It was quite clinical – just relief for him.

She sniffed.

"One day I couldn't bear it any more and told my mother. She wouldn't believe me, told me I was a little slut and a liar, but that night I heard my father and my uncle. The row was terrible and then my father came upstairs. He had a face like thunder.

"'Is it true?' he asked.

"I knew what he meant, and nodded.

"'And what you did with the boy?'

"I nodded again, I said, 'We were touching each other, that's all.'

"His face changed and he looked so sad. Then he turned and went back down. Then there was more of a row. My uncle disappeared and we never saw him again.

"My father never referred to the matter again, but he could never talk about his emotions, and I never talked to my mother about anything personal from then on, but I've been hurting ever since.

"I worked hard. That's all I did. Got my exams. My degree. I was known as the 'frigid bitch', or 'dyke' because I never went with any boys.

"Allan, I've not had sex since my uncle. I couldn't give myself. I told you I was turned off by the aggressive boys. I suppose they weren't that aggressive, but it felt like it to me. The gentle boys never came near me.

"Tonight. It all came back. The violence, the forcing. You, Allan, you stopped it all. You weren't all macho and violent. That would have made it worse. You used words. You were gentle. I dismissed you as weak when you first came back to work. Stupid.

"Allan, I want to get into bed now. I'm so tired."

I made to get out of her way but she grabbed my arm.

"Will you do something for me?" She didn't wait for my reply. "Will you undress me and put me to bed?"

Would I? I did. She stood and I undressed her, unzipping her dress and lifting over her head, putting it on a hanger while she waited. Then her tights. She lifted each foot to help me. Then her jewellery. She was in a lacy bra and a scrap of lace covering her bottom. I stopped.

"Everything." she said, her eyes closed.

I unclasped her bra and took it from her. Then slipped her panties down her legs. She stepped out of them and was naked. Her breasts were on the small side and showed no sign of sagging. Her bush was trimmed to a landing strip. Her body was tight and firm. Though she was about thirty, she held out her hands like a little girl to be picked up. I put one arm under her legs at the knees and the other under her arms and lifted her up. She wrapped her arms round my neck as I did so. I carried her from my bed to hers and laid her down. I stroked her cheek and bent down and kissed her forehead, pulling the quilt over her naked body. Then I brought her a brandy and some milk from the fridge (I always get fresh milk in hotels), which she drank and snuggled down into the bed. She smiled seraphically and closed her eyes.