Chapter 8

Next day at work, Aidan’s face must have given his feelings away, for Vicky asked him what was the matter. He told her that Sam’s passport had arrived and that they had booked her flight back to Canada. She was to leave on the following Tuesday.

Since Vicky knew most of their friends as well as the ‘office family’, the news spread like wildfire, and by Friday morning Vicky told Aidan that Sam and he were invited to a farewell party on Saturday evening at Giles’ house.

Giles was a party animal. He was ‘something in the city’ and had earned a great deal of money, which he ploughed into property, especially apartments for the homeless and those on benefits. The exception was his own large house, almost a mansion, in which he and his latest woman lived. Aidan would call her his latest woman, in that he seemed to be with a different one each time Aidan saw him.

For the party on the last Saturday of September, as always, Sam dressed modestly and very stylishly in a so called ‘little black dress’, but she had the sort of figure that made anything short of a hessian sack look sexy and alluring. It was not too décolleté, but there was the hint of the swell of her breasts. The skirt was slightly lower than mid-thigh, but the dress was quite figure hugging without looking tight on her. Her hair was worn up in a chignon, and as always her make-up was understated and perfect. The result was arousing in the extreme for what it tantalisingly hinted at.

Aidan? A white silk shirt and light slacks. Tidy if not original, but Sam liked it.

Vicky picked them up and took them to the party. Aidan for one was amazed by the number of folk who attended. Sam had only been around for a few weeks, but had clearly made a big impression, and it could not have been down to her looks alone; she had made friends easily, being a good listener, and being without the airs and graces which are all too common in very beautiful women.

Of course she was the centre of attention, and everyone wanted to talk to her. She told Aidan later that the gist of the conversations were largely the same. Why did she have to go? Could she not stay a little longer?

As Sam and Aidan made the rounds, Aidan noticed there were a number of people he did not know. Vicky informed him that they were city friends of Giles, who had told them of the strikingly beautiful woman for whom the party was thrown. They were mainly couples but there were a few single men and women. They mixed well and seemed pleasant enough, though Aidan thought there was an air of wealth about them, and that sub-text of superiority over the rest of mankind, bordering on arrogance. However, it was so ephemeral that Aidan thought most of the guests did not notice it, and he admitted to himself that perhaps he imagined it in his own prejudiced mind.

There were notable absences: Kevin, Caroline and Julie were all invited, but declined. Aidan reckoned that Kevin would have attended, especially after meeting Sam, but reckoned he must have been overruled.

For the first few hours, the party comprised ever-changing groups talking to each other, meeting new folk and those they had not seen for a while, catching up on news. Giles had music playing but everyone ignored it.

Giles had also laid on a buffet meal, which was quite lavish, varied and bordering on the exotic, and after it, a few folk moved to the largest room, which Giles laughingly called the ballroom, and dancing began, and with it a trying time for Sam.

After the buffet Aidan went to the bathroom, where he had to wait some time for the incumbent to emerge, or rather the incumbents, since Tina from the office and her boyfriend came out looking dishevelled and faintly embarrassed. Mutual smiles were an agreement that everyone knew what they had been doing in there.

Aidan took less time, but freshened up with a splash on his face. When he returned to the ground floor he looked for Sam but couldn’t immediately find her. Finally in one of the lounges, he saw her talking to Vicky and two of the office folk.

Then he got into a discussion with Giles about the financial situation the country was in, and how it was affecting each of them. Giles seemed to have taken precautions, though he was being hit with his reduced rent income as his tenants suffered in the cut-backs the government had implemented.

Giles was a good man, and was taking some of the punishment to spare the poor folk struggling in his houses and flats. He questioned Aidan intensively about his relationship with Sam, and Aidan was as up front with him as he could be.

He told Giles that their paths were destined to diverge, as Aidan had his company to look after and she had her parents and all her close friends in Vancouver and other parts of Canada, but that he and Sam had become very close in the few weeks they had been together. Giles nodded, and sympathised with Aidan over the situation, and the loss it would entail.

Aidan’s occasional glance into the ‘ballroom’ revealed that Sam was making the rounds of her new friends and acquaintances on her own, and clearly enjoying herself. He wandered into the kitchen to get her a drink and one for himself. Once again, he was waylaid, this time by Frieda Thorsson, who wanted to know his company’s rates for doing her accounts. She was a friend from University, studying art, and had developed her talent for pottery. She owned a workshop and a small craft shop.

He returned some time later with two glasses in his hand to see her in conversation with two of Giles’ city friends. They were clearly hitting on her, laughing and joking, and touching her arm as they chatted. She looked relaxed and was smiling at them. There was no encouragement on her part, but no discouragement either, and Aidan began to think the two sharks were taking that as a positive response to their approach.

They were both dressed to impress. Their suits and shirts were clearly designer clothes, and they had sharp haircuts, again by one of the best hairdressers. Aidan noticed the larger of the two flashed his watch and expensive signet ring, making sure that Sam saw them.

Her glance at them resulted in his lip curling in a satisfied smile. He was out to get her and was an clearly an accomplished seducer. With a touch of jealously, Aidan wondered if she would be taken in, though he dismissed the idea immediately. She was leaving in a few days, and he knew she was not into one night stands. He also knew the predator did not know that.

A slow tune came on the music centre, and the larger of the two men made his move. Aidan reluctantly had to admire his smoothness. Though he was too far from Aidan to hear the words, he could tell the man was inviting Sam to dance. She shook her head with a smile, but he persisted with another argument and she seemed to assent and he put an arm round her as they moved to the floor. She did not pull away, but seemed to lean into him.

Aidan was unprepared for the emotions that overtook him at that moment. He was afraid. Afraid that this Alpha Male had taken her from him; he was jealous; he was annoyed that she had agreed to a dance with this stranger before he and Sam had danced together. He was angry that she was enjoying the man’s attention. So he stood at a shadowy corner with two drinks in his hand and watched.

The city type looked triumphant, self-satisfied and smug. Aidan saw him cast a glance at his friend, which said as clearly as if he had shouted it, ‘I’ve scored. She’s mine!’

Aidan seethed.

The seducer was smooth though. As they went into each other’s arms, he did not attempt to pull her close, but remained a respectful distance. He put both hands on her waist, but she took one and held it, placing her other hand on his shoulder. It was the classic dance position which denoted no emotional attachment, but simply an enjoyable dance between strangers. Aidan felt better.

Then Vicky was by his side.

“The shark’s at work, I see,” she said conversationally. “Want to hear what he’s saying to her?”

Aidan nodded.

“Put the drinks down, and come on,” she ordered, and Aidan put them on a handy table. They went into a clinch and she manoeuvred Aidan across the floor. He remembered that she was an expert dancer. Soon they were near, with Aidan’s back to them, and Sam’s back to Aidan.

The shark was talking, “That’s a shame; we could have gone sailing. Have you visited the city centre?”

She said something.

“I have a penthouse flat in the middle, fifteenth floor. Great view over the city all the way to the hills. Care to come after the party?”

She said something I could not catch.

“You can’t be that involved; you’re leaving next week. Look, I can take you to the most exclusive club in town. We can look over the city at night, and enjoy a nightcap together.”

The song was coming to an end.

“Get the drinks and interrupt them, Aidan,” whispered Vicky. “Good luck.”

Aidan retrieved the drinks as the last note was played and strode up to the couple, who were still in each other’s arms. Sam saw him, and he could have sworn she looked guilty for a second before smiling at him. She moved to break with the man, but he held her.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Aidan said. “Your drink.”

Sam twisted away from the man, and took the drink.

“Drink up, darling, then we can go.” said the man, who had not introduced himself, and was ignoring Aidan. Sam looked puzzled for a moment, and then Aidan saw her set her jaw, as she had when hit on by the Scotsman in the pub in Edinburgh. Then there was a devilish smile, which the man took to be assent. The man looked self-satisfied; he had scored a victory over Aidan, the inferior man.

“This is Tristram,” she said to Aidan, remedying the matter of his rudeness, “Tristram, this is my boyfriend, Aidan.”