Chapter 2: The Conclusion

“So that was Josh,” Lucy said as we sat in the back of the limousine at the start of our journey to the television studio. “He wasn’t what I was expecting”

“What were you expecting?” I asked.

“I don’t know, someone younger, less weather-beaten; couldn’t he afford anything more than that pokey little room,” she said.

“You realize he’s the same age as I am, he’s been living on a yacht for the last few years, so of course, he looks weather-beaten. You were a bit hard on him earlier,” I added.

“I wasn’t expecting you to strip naked in front of him.”

“Why not, I spent the night in his room.”

“But you hadn’t had sex with him, I know what you look like when you’ve been fucked, and there were none of the tell-tale signs.”

“Not for want of trying. I would have if he’d asked, I’d willingly been his sex slave all night and would have begged for more this morning,” I admitted.

She took my hand, and we slipped into a comfortable silence for a while. Then I said to her, “He’s going back to his boat after the premiere; he’s agreed to let me go with him. I want to spend some time reconnecting with him, so I need you to help clear up my agenda.”

“I’ll get started on your travel details and let Betty know your plans. Where is the boat?”

“Thanks, Loo, it’s moored at Valletta in Malta,” I replied. Then I added, “I expected he’d be upset with me, but I was surprised at how hurt he’d been because I left him.”

“Oh, come on,” snorted Lucy. “You’ve been telling me for a long time, how you were his first love, how you’d been together most of your school years. You didn’t really think he wouldn’t have been hurt when your mother took you away.”

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” I snapped back.

“That’s not the point, did you try to contact him when you could, let him know why you’d had to leave. You didn’t, did you?”

I admitted I hadn’t, and knew I should have tried harder, and that reminded me of Jos’s anger at being ignored by my social media.

“Josh said a couple of years ago he discovered that the movie star was his old girlfriend. He tried to get in touch with me through both the agency and my fan site. He said he sent several messages; he showed me a copy of them and our reply. We totally blanked him, yet his messages contained most of my trigger words. I want to know why we ignored him?”

Lucy gave me a careful look. “Do you think you can get any copies of his messages? If you can, I can try and see if I can work out what happened.”

I nodded; I’d forwarded it to myself when he’d shown me the mail chain. I opened it on my phone and showed it to her. She sent it to herself and opened it up on her phone. She spent a minute or two playing with it.

She looked up at me with a puzzled expression, “I just ran the original mail through the sorting program the agency uses to identify issues. I did it several times, and each time it got flagged for further attention.”

I gave her a questioning look, I knew there was a way to separate the good from the bad, but I hadn’t bothered to understand how.

She continued, “The flagged emails and letters get separated into those containing threats, and the ones you probably will want to see because they contain two or more of your trigger words or phrases. Threats are forwarded to security, and they send the ones that worry them to the police. The others are forwarded to Betty’s assistant, who double-checks them and then once a month forwards the most relevant half a dozen to me.”

“Any idea why her assistant wouldn’t have included the ones from Josh?”

She shook her head. “We are assuming it was forwarded to start with; it might have just slipped through the net. I will be asking Betty a few questions,” she added angrily.

I left the problem in her capable hands. It took her a few weeks to get to the root of the issue, but in the end, it wasn’t all that complicated. It was a case of unrequited love. Betty’s assistant, a young man called Kevin, had a fanboy crush on me. He’d taken a few kind words from me on one of my visits to the office and had blown them up out of proportion. He’d taken umbrage at the casual way Jos had referred to me as his girlfriend next door, and the implication that the pair of us had been very close in the past. He’d seen Jos as a serious competitor for my affection and decided he needed to do something.

His solution was to pretend he’d never received the mails and add Jos to the list of blocked people that the agency maintained. That guaranteed from that point onward, I would never see anything that came from Jos. I wanted Betty to fire the little twat, but she convinced me to let her deal with the problem. I’m not too sure what she did, but he literally fell to his knees and begged my forgiveness the next time I saw him. I think if I’d asked him, he would have licked my shoes clean.

The midday TV chat show followed the usual pattern. Andy and Sally, the hosts, sat on a sofa, their only claim to fame their good looks, and a malleable plastic mentality. They were joined by a musical act and a pair of semi-famous soap stars. I was the lead guest for the show that day, and I had a twenty-minute slot to fill.

When my segment came up, they began by showing a clip from the film, and then I was interviewed. The clip was the one where my character was falling in love with Simon’s. I fielded the scripted bland, generic questions about the story, and the country it was set in. I felt everything was going well and was looking forward to the end of the interview, only to be ambushed with an unexpected question from Sally.

She gave me a sly look and asked with a knowing smile, “There are rumors that your on-screen romance with Simon was a lot more than that. That the pair of you are lovers in real life, and he has asked you to marry him.”

Christ, this was way off the agreed script, and I flashed her a brief angry look, before composing myself. A couple of million viewers saw me admit to her that Simon and I were close friends, but I insisted that was all it was, that the unfortunate rumors of our engagement were just that, rumors.

“But you seem happy with life at the moment, so do you have a new love interest?” Sally continued to probe. “I hear that you’ve been seen with the heir of the Rossi fashion house, Antonio Rossi recently?”

I was glad for the makeup as it hid my sudden loss of blood to my face. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself. Where was this bloody woman getting her information? I vowed I’d never darken this sofa again while she had anything to do with the show.

Was that damn man going to haunt me forever? I controlled my emotions and gave her a short shake of my head. “Antonio Rossi is just a casual acquaintance, and we’re not in a relationship.” I paused for a second to gather my wits. “We met because his father is one of my favorite designers and provided several of the dresses I’ve worn to the Oscar’s.”

It didn’t look like this was going to stop this line of questioning, so I added. “No, the reason I’m happy is that I’m back in England, and I’ve had the opportunity to reconnect with an old friend. We were both very good friends when we were teenagers, but unfortunately, we’d lost touch after I moved to the States. I’m hoping we will get the chance to see more of each other.”

“Who’s the friend?” She asked, hopefully.

I shook my head regretfully, “It’s too soon for me to discuss. We’ve only just reconnected, and I don’t want to jinx our chances. He’s a private person, and I don’t want to put him in the limelight.” Then silently cursed myself as I’d admitted it was a man.

Fortunately, the interviewers appeared to accept my explanation, and we moved on to other subjects until the sequence wrapped up with another clip from the film.

Josh aged 30, second cameo:

Ali left for the television studio, and I tried to gather my thoughts. After twelve years, she’d walked back into my life and seemed surprised I wasn’t willing to fall back into our old roles, nor how upset I was.

I’d offered to take Ali out to dinner this evening, and once I’d discounted London restaurants, I was only left with one acceptable option to consider. I was going to call an old friend and make a reservation at her restaurant. It only took me a moment to ring Lesley, and she answered after the first ring, almost as though she was waiting for my call.

We exchanged pleasantries, and I caught up with what was going on in her life. She knew why I was back in England, so I mentioned I’d gone out to dinner last night and that I’d bumped into an old friend

“Which is one of the reasons I’m calling you,” I said. “I know you’ve just said you’re fully booked, but is there a chance of a table for two tonight?”

“It doesn’t matter, you know we’ll always have a table for you,” Lesley told me. “So, who’s your guest; anybody I know?”

“It’s a surprise; it’s someone you will remember/ that’s the only clue I’m giving you.”

“You bastard; well, we are looking forward to seeing you tonight, anyway. Will you be staying in Brighton?”

“I’m not sure. She might have to go back to London afterward.”

She laughed, “So it’s a woman, and someone I know. Well, if she doesn’t need to, do you want to stay the night? The kids would love to see their uncle, Josh. You know we always have a room ready for you, and your guest would be welcome.”

“Thanks for the offer, but we can’t, love, it would be too complicated.”

“Sounds very mysterious. As we are busy tonight, use the driveway if the car park is full.”

“Thanks love,” I replied.

Lesley laughed, “Try and get here early so you can catch your godchildren before bedtime. Jilly has been asking after her uncle, Josh.”

“Give her a kiss from me and tell the beautiful Sam I’ve missed you all.”

I rang off reluctantly; I’d forgotten how much I missed my times with Lesley, Sam, and their children, and I was looking forward to seeing them.

I was due to meet my agent and publisher at the restaurant in the Gherkin. They were already seated when I arrived, and a waiter led me to their table.

My agent, Katherine, greeted me with a smile and a kiss. “Josh, it’s been too long. Well, for once, Cassie and I have some good news for you.”

I looked around the expensive restaurant, “Given how much this place costs, I’m glad it’s good news then.”

Cassie stood, we kissed cheeks, then we sat down and Katherine ordered drinks for us.

“Let’s get the business sorted out first,” Cassie said. “Then we can relax and enjoy the food.”

I nodded in agreement, and she continued with a big smile. “An American studio wants to take an option on Ransom Reach.”

Ransom Reach was my most successful novel to date. about it wasn’t the New York Times bestseller level of success, but it had done reasonably well for the past couple of years.

“Are we talking about a firm opinion, or a faint possibility?” I asked.

“A £100,000 firm option,” Katherine said with a big grin.

“Is that if they actually make a film?”

“No, that’s just to option the book. If they make it into a film, then you get another £150,000. A quarter of a million in total. That’s not bad for your first adaptation.”

Shit, that would be my biggest payday ever. “What’s the chance that it will get made into a film?” I asked tentatively, not willing to count my chickens before they hatched.

She made that “so-so” gesture with her hand. “I’m not sure. The production company is looking for a scriptwriter to adapt the book, so it does look hopeful.”

I was a bit miffed, “They don’t want me to do it?”

Cassie said, “They did indicate that you would have been acceptable to them, but we told them you’d be too busy working on the sequels.”

“Sequels, what sequels?”

Cassie said, “One reason the studio is interested in making the book into a film, is that the guy who pitched the idea to them apparently knows the perfect actor to play the lead character.”

I had a sickening thought. “Christ, tell me it’s not those idiots who cast Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher. I loved the Lee Child books, and I’d never understood why they’d taken his 6 ft. 4, built like a brick shithouse main character, and turned him into ... I groaned inwardly in disgust.

“No, I’ve seen a photo of the guy,” Katherine said and actually blushed. “He looks a lot like how I’ve always pictured Ransom.”

Cassie said, “So because of this, I’ve been authorized to offer you a new book deal, for two more Ransom books. With an option for more to follow if they are successful.”

“I think the producers may also be interested in optioning one or more of the sequels,” added Katherine.

I already had most of a sequel in draft form, but I wasn’t going to admit that. I said, “Christ, I better get writing.”

We ate and talked until I need to head back to the hotel to meet up with Ali. I left Cassie and Katherine talking about contracts and money and looking very happy with themselves.

Back at the hotel, I decided not to wait for Ali in my room but opted to wait for her in the coffee shop. I ordered a coffee and settled down to check my email. There was one from Cassie that outlined the book deal we just discussed. A buzz from my phone reminded me I’d been ignoring the damn thing since last night. There were a few messages from my friends from last night. The last was from Julia, “Damn it, call me, you bastard, how do you know her?”

Julia answered her phone on the first ring. “Josh, how the hell do you know Ashley Bell?” she demanded.

“I don’t know an Ashley Bell, but I do know a girl called Alison Peters,” I replied.

“Alison?” Julia repeated, sounding confused, then she went, “Oh, that Alison.”

“Yep, They’re the same person, Ashley is Alison,” I said. There was silence from her end, and then she grunted in understanding. She knew my history with Alison, and now she understood why I had walked out on the group last night. At least I hadn’t stuck them with my share of the bill.

Alison:

Josh was in the middle of an argument with the duty manager when we finally got back to the hotel. He glared when he saw us, and his lips compressed into a tight line on his face.

My first thought was that he’d seen the chat show and had been annoyed by my mention of our friendship. Maybe he’d thought I was trying to force his hand. That wasn’t the reason for his anger, it was a lot simpler, but a damn sight bigger. Lucy had decided that if I was going to stay with Jos, then we needed to move to a much better suite in the hotel. She hadn’t asked Jos; she’d just arranged to have his stuff moved to the new room.

I could have told her that wasn’t how you treated Jos. He was pissed off, right royally pissed off at Lucy’s high-handed attitude.

Thankfully, he was able to control his temper. Just! I needed him to calm down, as I didn’t want him to repeat last night’s action and walk away. Having found Jos again, there was no way I’d let him slip through my fingers. The years had fallen away, and the love I’d felt for the youth he’d been was again hammering me between the eyes.

He responded to my suggestion that we could stay at my apartment with a dismissive shake of his head. He cast me a lifeline and suggested that we could stay at his flat in Brighton. It was convenient for the restaurant we were going to, and most importantly, the press wasn’t aware of his place.

The drive down to the south coast was smooth, Brighton is only 50 miles from London. I tried to get Jos to relax, but the presence of the driver and David in the passenger seat of the Range Rover seemed to intimidate him. I raised the central armrest, curled up against him and was pleased that he draped his arm around my shoulders.

The restaurant he’d chosen was set in an idyllic location. It was a converted barn set in a fold in the South Downs, with views over Brighton. We pulled up, and the car park was full. Jos wasn’t worried; he directed the driver to pull into the driveway of the cottage next door. As we stepped out the door to the cottage opened, and a beautiful brunette moved towards us. She was holding a five-year-old girl, and the pair of them greeted Jos with smiles and hugs. I’d never met her, but I knew from what Jos had told me on the drive that she was Samantha, Lesley’s wife, and business partner. She gave me a calculated look before turning her attention back to the man at my side.

“You made good time; we missed you,” she said to him, and the girl wriggled frantically and demanded that he carry her.

Her voice was squeaky but cute as she asked earnestly. “Missed you, Uncle Jos, Mummy said we could stay on your boat; when are we going?”

“Soon, baby girl,” he said. “It depends on your mummy’s, maybe in the summer?” He gave the woman a look, and she gave him a cautious nod.

“I can swim now,” Jilly added, then she looked over his shoulder at me. “Who’s the pretty lady?”

“Jilly, this is Alison, she’s an old friend of your Mama Lesley.” Jos’s voice was soft and warm.

I gave the girl a big smile and stepped closer to them. “Hi Jilly,” I said, and she peered over Jos’s shoulder and gave me a studied examination.

Then with a cute, “Carry me,” she held her arms out to me, and I took her from Jos. The youngster settled on my hip, and she played with my hair. Behind me, I could hear Jos and Sam talking, and I tried to hear what they were saying.

“You’re pretty; are you Uncle Josh’s girlfriend? Jilly’s question focused my thoughts on her.

“I hope so.”

“I love my Uncle, Josh.”

“I love him, too.”

“Good,” she said in that decisive way children enjoy.

I lowered my face and drew comfort from the warm body that clung to me. She smelt of soap and shampoo, and her hair was damp. She wore a My Little Pony onesie, and her arms clung tightly around my neck.

The put-put sound of a scooter pulling into the drive drew our attention, and it parked in front of the garage. The rider, a young woman, pulled her crash helmet off and placed it on the seat. She gave us a curious look.

It turned out she was the au pair, and after being introduced, she offered to take the girl from me, explaining that it was past her bedtime. Jilly wanted a last kiss before she allowed herself to be lowered to the ground. Holding the au pair’s hand, she disappeared into the cottage, followed a few moments later by Sam.

The restaurant had been converted from an old barn and an adjoining stable block. It was full, but we were shown to the chef’s table by the kitchen. The food was truly amazing; so was the dressing down I got from the chef-patron and her partner. Jos had mentioned that we’d gone to school with Lesley, and while I recalled her name, I hadn’t been able to put a face to it. As soon as we were introduced, I remembered her. She’d been more Jos’s friend than mine, but apparently, the pair of them had become close over the years. I might have been worried if Jos hadn’t told me that she was gay.

On the drive down, Jos had mentioned that he’d only discovered that she was gay when a drunken Lesley had confessed to Jos that it was a pity that she was into women, as he was the only man she’d ever considered sleeping with. Later, when she’d sobered up a bit, she made him promise not to tell anyone. It was a promise he’d kept until she’d come out.

It was obvious by her attitude to me that Lesley had assumed the role of Jos’s elder sister. I should have felt resentful, but I wasn’t, as it was easy to see she was only looking out for his best interests. I had a lot of explaining to do, and by the time the last plates were cleared away, I think she had accepted that the reason I’d abandoned Jos had been outside of my control.

I was on good terms with the couple by the time Jos and I left to make the short drive to the Brighton seafront and his flat. Once inside, I wasn’t sure how to proceed, but Jos took the decision out of my hands.

“It’s been a long day, and I need my bed,” he’d said. “You are welcome to join me, but I’ll understand if you don’t. We’ve got a few days before you need to be back in town to see if we still have something. Shall we see what happens?”

I damn well knew what was about to happen; I needed to reel my man back in. I’d been waiting far too long for him to turn back at that point. I gave him a nod, grasped his hand and pulled him into the bedroom.

“What’s going to happen is we are going to share your bed, and we are going to do what we should have done years ago,” I said. And to reinforce my point, I got him in a lip-lock until lack of oxygen forced me to release him.

I had a wicked thought and pointed Jos in the direction of the kitchen. “Bring us some water and snacks,” I said over my shoulder as I dropped my bra on the floor.

He gave me a bemused look.

“We are going to need sustenance,” I explained, “because you are going to fuck me stupid until I’m unconscious and hopefully not able to walk straight for days. I’m not going to let you leave this room until you’ve fulfilled that.” I gave his bemused face a kiss before pointing him in the direction of the kitchen.

I shed the rest of my clothes as I continued walking into the bedroom, leaving only my tiny pair of panties as a final barrier to his piercing gaze.

For a brief moment, Jos looked like a rabbit in the headlights before hurrying to the kitchen. He returned, clutching several bottles of water and a hopeful packet of biscuits. He’d taken a few seconds to remove most of his clothes.

I gave him no time to reconsider; I jumped on him, wrapping myself around his firm body. I twisted, and we fell back onto the bed with me on top of him.

“Christ, Ali,” he gasped.

I gave a contented laugh and found his willing lips, using my hand to tug off the last barrier to his naked flesh. I luxuriated in the feel of his skin on mine, and ran my fingers down the firm muscles on Jos’s abdomen, before settling on his growing cock.

There was something I needed to say, so I moved to watch his face. His fingertips gently caressed my back.

“You should have been my first,” I whispered, “I broke my promise to you.

I want you to claim every inch of me as yours,” I continued, “and I mean every inch, and nothing is off-limits.”

I must have interested Jos, as his cock grew and stiffened even further than I’d imagined it could. His fingers caressed my neck, and I mentally slapped my forehead. How could I have forgotten something so important? I eased away from him, and he watched in confusion as I went over to my bags and found what I’d forgotten.

“I almost forgot,” I said. “This is part of reclaiming me.”

I held my hand out and let him see the old small green velvet jewelry bag that sat in my palm. He hissed, sucking in his breath in.

I upended the bag, and the little gold heart fell into my open hand. He commented that the chain looked different as he picked up the pendant.

“I wore it until the original chain finally broke, and it couldn’t be repaired again,” I admitted. “I found a close replacement, but it didn’t seem right to carry on wearing it. The original one is still in the bag.”

I bent my head down. “I’ve waited a long time for you to put it on me again.”

“I can’t believe you still have it.” Jos sounded pleased and surprised as he fastens it around my neck.

“I never travel without it, and it’s never been out of my possession since you gave it to me.”

Jos lowered his head and used the tip of his nose to caress mine; then he drew me into a long kiss that made my legs go weak. I clung to him, needing his support to stop me collapsing on the floor at his feet. Strong and nimble fingers traveled down my body, reading my need and desire as though it was written in braille on my skin.

I took his face in my hands and raised it so we could look into each other’s eyes. I needed Jos to understand that there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him. I made him stare into my eyes, and I whispered, “I love you.”

“Ali? You look worried,” he said softly.

I was surprised, because I wasn’t; My serious expression was in part because I was drinking in the beauty of his gorgeous firm body, but mostly it was anticipation as I couldn’t stop staring at his beautiful hard cock. Long and fat, it jutted out from the dark curl of pubic hair at its base, with blue and purple veins just underneath the skin, curling around the shaft. Pre-cum was leaking over his foreskin. Sure, I’d played with it in the shower, but the anticipation of that thing was finally going to be inside me after all these years, I couldn’t help myself, I was starting to hyperventilate.

The look in his eyes was one of desperate lust and deep longing, making me feel as though I was melting under his gaze. I watched his gorgeous cock bob up and down when he moved towards me, and I spread my legs right as he slid between them, covering my body with his and slipping his tongue in my mouth. The stiffness of his hard cock pressed into my lace-covered clit, and I angled my hips up to feel it again. Soft lips pressed into my temple, and he kissed his way down my face.

His mouth began its journey down my body. His lips hovered above my skin, and he blew soft puffs of warm air across my breasts, my nipples, a trail of goosebumps followed in his wake, and by the time he reached my belly button, I was whining with need beneath him. He grasped both sides of my final barrier and flexed his muscles, tearing the last scrap of cloth from my body, throwing it across the room. Hands gripped my knees and pushed my legs up and back, his face embarrassingly close to my wet center.

“Christ,” he hissed out while transfixed on my bare sex on display for him.

“Please,” I choked out, chest tight with desire. “Please.”

“Please, what?” He taunted me. He nudged my slick opening with the tip of his perfect tongue, making me dizzy.

He answered his own question, “Please fuck this pretty little pussy that is so swollen and damp for me right now, is that what you want?”

“Oh, God, yes!” Even I could hear how desperate I sounded.

A long, callused finger slid inside me, another joined it, and began this teasing dance of stroking and twisting that had me writhing impatiently. His fingers suddenly disappeared, and I wanted to cry, and when they were replaced by a long swipe of his tongue, my body convulsed in pure pleasure.

He was a sensual tormenter par-excellence, switching between his fingers and tongue and bringing me close, oh so close but refusing to let me fall over the edge of the cliff. Time and time again, he’d hold me on the brink of orgasm, then pause until I caught my breath, then he’d go back to worshiping me with his mouth, his fingers possessing my pussy, sliding deep and finding my secret spot. His tongue was teasing my throbbing button that would practically vibrate every time he connected with it.

I knew I was begging him to let me come, but even to me, it sounded like an incoherent stream of sounds. “Plessss ... god ... oohhhh fuck ... uuhhhhhhhhh ... Josssssssssssss.”

In desperation, I tugged on his hair, forcing him to look up until his eyes focused on mine, the blue spheres so dark and hooded as if he were high on my body alone.

I wanted to come so desperately, but not from his tongue or fingers. I wanted to come as he filled me with his beautiful flesh, as he pounded me into glorious submission

“I want to come with you inside me,” I managed to say.

Jos pulled his fingers from me and stuck them in his mouth with a look of a man tasting the finest wine. I wanted him to share with me; I wanted to taste what he was enjoying.

I had expected him to climb on top of me, but instead, he settled next to me with his back against the pillows. I leaned back on my head and looked at him upside down, making him smile. The sight of his joy made my belly feel warm. “Come on top of me love.”

Shit, he didn’t need me to tell me twice. I scrambled up until I straddled his legs, I had him grinning like a fool when I rubbed my pussy against him like a cat in heat. His fingers pushed into my hair to grab my attention.

I raised up on my knees, and he positioned himself right at my opening, I closed my eyes when I started sinking down on his length as slowly as I could. He settled his hands on my hips to guide me without pushing too hard. He placed his hand in the middle of my shoulder blades, pushed me down and filled me. I opened my eyes and drank in the man the beautiful boy I remembered had become. The way he watched my face with so many emotions etched into his smile made my nipples tingle.

I rested my forehead on his shoulder, and he caressed my lower back, neither of us making any attempt to move so I could stretch around him.

“Oh God, I can’t believe how good you feel,” he whispered.

I panted as I began rising and falling in a rhythm that’s as old as time. Pushing down hard to meet his thrusts, I give a cautious rock of my hips to see how it felt, taking that last inch of his fat cock inside me. I groaned, it felt amazing, and I never wanted it to stop. His hand tangled in my hair and pulled my body back up, making sure I was secure in his lap before he gave me a smack, which sent jolts of pleasure through me.