Chapter 1

It was a wonderful, crisp autumn day. The temperature was around 10°C, a light breeze was blowing, the sky was clear and blue as I walked home along the long, winding country lane.

The lane was just wide enough for cars to pass carefully, with a small lay-by every 100 yards or so for cars to dive into when faced with an oncoming farm vehicle. The tall hedges on either side of the winding road made it difficult to check for oncoming cars, adding extra spice to my morning commute to the office, especially on dark winter days.

This wasn’t a problem today, as I was on foot, returning from lunch in the canal side pub on the other side of the village. I wanted to be fresh this afternoon as I had some work to do around the house, so I’d only had a couple of pints, and the two mile walk home cleared my head completely.

The only sounds as I walked were the many birds in the trees and hedgerows, the baaa-ing of the sheep in the fields on one side and the soft lowing of the cows in the fields on the opposite side of the road, in the far distance a dog was barking.

In other words, it was an extremely peaceful afternoon.

I was about 100 yards from home, I could see the roof of my cottage behind the hedge at the foot of a steep section of the road.

Looking to my right as I prepared to cross the lane, I caught sight of a cyclist coming far too quickly, especially considering they were approaching a blind bend.

I waited until they passed me, then, shaking my head at the sight of yet another reckless cyclist, I started to cross the road when I heard a squeak as they braked far too hard and far too late, then I watched helplessly as they struck a large stone at the side of the road and wobbled out of control, landing headfirst in the hedgerow.

I ran down the hill after the stricken cyclist, the bike was lying across the road, so I picked it up and leaned it against the hedge so it wouldn’t be further damaged by a passing car.

The cyclist moaned softly as they tried to extract themselves from the hedge. They looked to be moving freely, if not terribly well coordinated, so I don’t think they came to much harm.

As they finally pulled themselves free and sat heavily on the grass verge, I saw the cyclist was female. The tight lycra outfit showed they were shapely, and once she’d shaken her hair free from her face, attractive to boot.

“Ahh, I didn’t take that bend very well,” she chuckled as she removed her helmet and examined the dents and scrapes, “at least I wore the helmet.”

“You’d be in a bigger mess if you’d not worn one,” I replied, “hitting that rock was bad luck.”

“I only saw the rock at the last second, I guess I was going a bit too quickly.”

“Just a tad.”

“How’s my bike?”

“It’s still roughly bike shaped,” I told her as I reached down to help the cyclist to her feet.

I held her elbow lightly as she got up slowly, and kept hold as she took a few tentative steps, wincing each time she placed her left foot on the grass.

“I don’t think anything’s broken, but I might have twisted my ankle. What a brilliant end to my first bike ride. Ahh well, I guess I’ll just have to stick to the exercise bike in my gym.”

“Mmm, I live a little way down the lane, not more than a hundred yards, do you think you could walk that far?”

“I think so, I might need help.”

“I’ll hold your arm the whole way.”

“Thank you, err, I’m Stacey, by the way.”

“Hi Stacey, I’m Karl, pleased to meet you.”

“Not as pleased as I am, I could have been lying there for hours if you hadn’t been passing.”

“Ahh, I don’t think so, the farmer will be coming along soon to check on his sheep.”

So, with Stacey’s arm in one hand, and her bike in the other, we made our way slowly down the hill to my cottage.

Stacey leant on the fence as I opened the gate and wheeled her bike through, the front wheel was badly buckled, but the rest seemed OK. With the bike resting against the wall, I went back to the gate and helped Stacey through and into the house.

“Oh, I’ve driven past a few times and wondered who lived here. It’s such a cute cottage.”

“I’ve lived here my whole life, well, apart from the four years at Uni.”

“Oh really,” Stacey replied, wincing slightly as I helped her into the chair by the stove in the kitchen, “it’s great in here. I bet it’s toasty in winter.”

“It really is. So, do you think you’ll be OK if I take your shoe off so I can look at your ankle?”

“Yes, I’ll be brave,” Stacey replied with a little laugh.

Carefully, I unlaced Stacey’s cycle shoe and, with one hand on her tender ankle, I slowly removed the shoe.

“It feels a little swollen,” I told her, “but I can’t really see anything, your leggings are too tight to roll up.”

“I can take them off, I’m not shy.”

As nice as it would be to get a good look at Stacey’s legs, I was more concerned about her ankle.

“How about you leave them on for a bit. Do you think you’ll be able to make it upstairs?”

“I should be OK, I saw you’ve got handrails on both sides, so I can hop up on my good leg.”

“Great, I’ll make you a cup of tea, then run you a hot bath while you drink it.”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

Twenty minutes later I walked behind Stacey as she hopped upstairs, gripping both handrails tightly as she slowly ascended.

“Are you enjoying the view,” Stacey laughed as she rested on the half-landing, keeping her bare left foot off the cold stone step.

“It’s very nice, but I suspect the view from the front would be even better.”

“You’ll get an even nicer view in a few minutes, because I’m going to need your help getting out of this lycra outfit.”

My heart skipped a beat, I hadn’t considered this when I offered to run a bath, but she will need help undressing, and she doesn’t seem to be upset at the thought of me seeing her naked.

“Ahh, I’d not thought of that. Mmm, is there a Mr Stacey who you’d rather help you bathe.”

“Mr Stacey is my dad, and he’s not seen me naked since I was a toddler nearly 30 years ago.”

This news cheered me as we made our way up the last few steps and Stacey hopped into the bathroom.

“Oh, it’s a bit of a squeeze for two grown-ups in your bathroom.”

“It is, but at least the bath is full size, so you can properly stretch your legs out,” I replied as I dropped the seat on the toilet and helped Stacey move around and sit down.

With one hand on the bath and one on the wash basin, Stacey lifted her bottom off the seat so I could roll her pants down.

I tried not to look at her neatly trimmed pubes and fleshy pussy lips, but I’m human, and my eyes kept moving back as if the view were magnetic.

“What do you do, Karl?” Stacey asked and I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding.

I dragged my eyes away from Stacey’s wonderful pussy and looked into her eyes as I answered, “I work at a school.”

“What do you teach?”

“Ahh, I’m not a teacher, I manage their IT.”

“Which school?”

I told her and she laughed, “ahh, fuck me, what a small world. Do you know Martin Pride?”

“Yeah, he’s on the site team, he repaired my office door last week.”

“He’s my ex, nice guy and everything, but not very adventurous, you know. Much preferred playing on his PlayStation than playing in the bedroom.”

“I don’t have a PlayStation,” I told her, then regretted it, was I being forward? Nahhh, she brought the subject up, she didn’t have to tell me that he was no good in bed.

I took my eyes off Stacey’s beautiful, expressive face and dropped them to her equally beautiful and strong legs as I rolled her cycling pants down her calves. I pulled her good, right foot out, then concentrated on her left. Her ankle had swelled further, so I was extra careful as I pulled the pants leg a little lower.

Stacey gasped as her foot moved when I tried to pull the pants past her ankle, it was so swollen now I couldn’t move the pants anymore without causing her pain.

“I’m a bit stuck, if I pull the pants off it will really hurt.”

“Ahh shit, well I don’t think I’ll be wearing them again, they’re ripped on the knees, do you have scissors?”

“Yes, I’ve got some in the kitchen.”

“Go get them and cut my pants off.”

I pulled the bin round and rested her foot on it before I dashed downstairs to find my scissors, while I was digging through the kitchen cupboard, I grabbed my first aid kit.

Stacey had removed her lycra jersey when I got back, and she was sitting on the toilet completely naked, I gasped involuntarily at the sight. Oh my god, she was beautiful, and so carefree.

Stacey smiled when she saw me in the doorway, “so, is the view from the front better than the view from the back?”

“Err, yes ... yes, it is. You’re amazing.”

“Why, thank you, Karl,” she replied brightly.

I stepped into the bathroom and knelt by Stacey’s foot. I paused for a moment, pondering just where to cut the pants so I wouldn’t touch her swollen ankle with the scissors. In the end I decided to run the scissors lightly along the inside of her leg and sliced through the fabric.

Stacey let out a long sigh as her ankle was freed from the tight fabric. I balled up her clothes and tossed them out of the bathroom as I let her relax for a moment before she moved to the bath.

“I think I’m OK to move now,” she told me after a minute or two.

I kicked the bin away then wrapped my arm around her body. I tried to avoid cupping her boob, but my hand fell on it naturally.

“Cheeky!” Stacey giggled, but she didn’t move my hand away.

I slipped my left arm under Stacey’s knees and lifted her off the toilet and carefully lowered her into the hot bath.

“Ahhh,” Stacey sighed as the hot water soothed her sore ankle.

“I’ll leave you to it,” I told her as I dried my arms.

“Don’t go,” she told me, “what if I faint, you know, I could have a concussion or something.”

I thought this was unlikely, but I was more than happy to stay and watch Stacey bathe.

“You know how my clothes are ruined?” Stacey asked as she carefully massaged her ankle.

“Yes, I tried hard not to damage your pants further.”

“I appreciate that, thank you, but they’d been ripped by the bushes, the top as well. So, it means I now have no clothes.”

“Ahh, yes, I see what you mean.”

“I get the feeling there’s no Mrs Karl.”

“No, I live here alone.”

“Do you do much crossdressing Karl?”

“Mmm, no, I don’t.”

“So, would I be right in thinking there’s no ladies’ clothes here, Karl.”

“Ahh, I see what you’re getting at. No, I’m afraid it’s just my clothes. I’m sure there’s some t-shirts you could wear, but my trousers probably won’t fit.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

“We could wait until it’s dark, then I could drive you home.”

“Or I could order some clothes online and then I could wait here until they arrive.”

“How long would that take?” I asked.

“A couple of days.”

“Don’t you need to go home?”

“Are you trying to get rid of me, Karl?”

“Oh no, not at all, it’s just, don’t you need to go to work tomorrow?”

“I work from home, I could work here if you’ve got a laptop I could borrow.”

“Ahh, OK. I’ve a couple of spare laptops, you can certainly borrow one. I’ve got a really fast internet connection, so you’ll be fine connecting to work.”

“And it doesn’t look like you have any neighbours who’ll see me walking around naked.”

“Well, there’s cows in the field behind, they’ll see you.”

“I’m fine with that if they are.”

“You’re a very unusual woman,” I told Stacey later as she dried herself.

“What do you mean?” she asked as she flexed her ankle tentatively.

“Well, we only met an hour ago, and you’re standing naked in my bathroom without a care in the world.”

“I’ve never felt there’s anything to be ashamed about showing my body, everything here’s got a purpose, so why hide it?”

“I guess so.”

“Do you wear any more clothes than you have to when you’re at home alone, Karl?”

“Not really, when it’s too hot to wear much in the summer I might just wear my underpants and a t-shirt.”

“That’s still two more items of clothing than strictly necessary on a hot day,” she laughed. I enjoyed listening to her laugh, it was throaty and genuine.

“Maybe so, but not everyone is as comfortable in their own body as you seem to be.”

“Perhaps I’ll make you feel better before I leave.”

I think I actually said gulp.

“Anyway, how’s your ankle?” I asked to change the subject.

“It’s loads better, thank you.”

“Do you want me to bandage it? I just did my first aid refresher last week.”

“Thank you, Karl, that would be good,” Stacey replied as she dropped her towel and sat back on the toilet.

I took a deep breath and tried very, very hard to concentrate on wrapping Stacey’s ankle tightly while I was eye level with her wonderful pussy.

While Stacey tested her ankle, walking to and fro on the upstairs landing, I dug through my drawers for a long t-shirt that would at least partially cover Stacey in case a miracle happened and I had a visitor this afternoon.

“How many bedrooms have you got, Karl?”

“Err, two bedrooms,” I replied.

“How many have an actual bed in the room? Because this one is full of old computers and Funko Pops.”

“Ahh, just this one has a bed.”

“Just so we’re clear, do you want to share the bed with me, or are you sleeping downstairs, Karl.”

“I’d ... err ... not thought that far ahead.”

“I’ll warn you now Karl, it’s a long time since I dumped Martin, so I’ve been sleeping alone for a while, and I’ve got into the habit of starfishing in bed.”

“Erm, I’m confused, wouldn’t it be normal for a woman to steer well clear of sharing the bed with a strange man?”

“Well, for a start, you’ve never met anyone like me before, I’m definitely no-one’s idea of normal, secondly, you seem to be a perfect gentleman, Karl, I saw how hard you tried to not stare at my pussy when you were bandaging my ankle. I think you should be more scared of me than I am of you.”

I tried to come up with a witty response, but once again my brain failed me, so I just held out a t-shirt, “err, this should cover you up.”

“I’m not a house elf,” Stacey laughed, “you don’t need to give me clothes, I won’t be wearing anything until my new clothes arrive, and that won’t be for a couple of days after I’ve ordered them.”

“Ahh, I wasn’t sure if you were serious about that. I’m still OK to drive you home...”

“We’ve just been discussing sleeping arrangements, I’m going nowhere, Karl.”

“OK, I guess we’ll be sharing my bed,” even saying the words I couldn’t quite believe them.

Stacey made it downstairs unaided; I showed her into the lounge while I made another pot of tea.

“The TV remote is there, I’ve got Netflix and Prime, help yourself.”

“Thanks Karl, could you be a honey and bring the bag off the back of my bike, I’m hoping I didn’t kill my phone.”

A few minutes later I gave Stacey a brew, her phone and a packet of chocolate biscuits.

“Woo, I didn’t smash my phone, well that’s two good things that came out of my crash.”

“What’s the first good thing that happened?”

“You silly man, Karl, meeting you, obviously. If I hadn’t crashed I wouldn’t have met you, would I.”

I blushed furiously as I backed out of the room to collect my mug of tea.

“Do I frighten you?” Stacey asked a little later.

“No,” I replied without thinking.

“If you’re not frightened, why are you sitting so far away from me?”

“Err, personal space?”

“I’m not really bothered about personal space, Karl. I like to snuggle.”

I do like personal space, which is why I live alone. But here is a beautiful woman practically demanding that I join her on the sofa, and I honestly couldn’t find a good reason to refuse.

“You said it’s a while since you dumped Martin,” I asked a little later, after I’d spent an entire episode of Succession working up the courage to speak.

“Yeah, it’s probably a couple of years. Does he ever mention me?”

“I wouldn’t know, I keep well away from office gossip.”

“That’s wise. I hated all the gossip and bitchiness when I worked in an office.”

“So, err, if you like snuggles, why don’t you have a boyfriend anymore.”

“Ahh, when you look like I do, you tend to attract a certain type of man, well two types. There’s the Alpha Male type who think they’re god’s gift and feel it’s their duty to fuck every woman, especially attractive women with a curvy figure.”

“Like you...”

“Yes, like me, although now I’m on the wrong side of 30 I’m not as attractive as I once was.”

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, well at least the most attractive that’s let me get this close.”

“That’s very kind of you, Karl. When I’m working tomorrow, I’ll save some photos of early 20’s Stacey into your pictures folder, and if you’re very lucky, I might save some late teen Stacey photos as well. She was very hot.”

“Thank you, I’ll enjoy looking at them.”

“I bet you will,” Stacey chuckled, her throaty chuckle that made me tingle all over. “So yeah, I get the jocks after me, and the pervy older men who want to treat me nice and set me up in an apartment somewhere well away from their wife and family. It’s a definite no thank you to both those guys.”

“What do you do? For a living?” I asked later as Stacey scrolled through Prime to find a film.

“I work online,” she replied absentmindedly as she continued to scroll, “social media, you know, and I make content,” she added vaguely, “ahh this is what I wanted, you’ll enjoy this, Sydney Sweeney, she’s very pretty, and is a very similar shape to me,” Stacey added with a smile as she snuggled closer to me.

Sydney Sweeney seemed similar to Stacey in more ways than one, she spent a lot of the film wearing few, if any clothes. I felt awkward watching a sexy film with a sexy woman snuggled beside me, I didn’t know where to look, and eventually Stacey noticed my discomfort.

“Are you OK, Karl? You seem uncomfortable.”

“Ahh, I think this is the sort of film I’d rather watch without a beautiful woman by my side.”

“If you want to play with yourself, go right ahead, I don’t mind. I think Martin preferred masturbation to sex, perhaps my sexuality intimidated him.”

“Err, I’d find that extremely awkward...” I replied.

“Would it make you feel better if I did it?”

“Did what?”

“Masturbated, obviously.”

Once again my brain froze, and obviously Stacey took my silence for assent, as she was soon fumbling for my belt, I put my hand down to stop her, “I kind of thought you meant to masturbate yourself.”

Stacey shook my hand away and continued unfastening my trousers, “I’m going to do us both, it’s a while since I’ve done this, so forgive me if it doesn’t work for you.”

I may have said gulp out loud again as I settled back to let whatever was about to happen, happen.

Once my increasingly engorged cock was freed from my jeans, Stacey licked her right palm and started up a steady rhythm. At the same time, after licking the fingers on her left hand, she used them to slowly work her clit.

“You can watch the film again now,” she told me languidly, “I’ll take care of our needs.”

Despite the bizarreness of the situation, I was soon as hard as a rock. Stacey responded by increasing her strokes and it wasn’t long before I was gasping for her to finish me off.

“Not until I’m ready myself,” she panted, as she slowed down her strokes on my cock and sped up the movements on her clit.

My eyes glazed, the 65” TV screen was a blur in the distance as my mind was focused on holding back my orgasm until Stacey was ready. I’ve no idea why it was important to me, but I didn’t want to disappoint Stacey by cumming early.

Eventually Stacey let out a low moan, she kicked her legs and gripped my cock tightly as her orgasm hit; with Stacey finished I relaxed a little and let her frantic movements finish me off.

My orgasm, when it came, was far stronger than I expected, several thick jets landed across my stomach and chest coating my t-shirt in hot, sticky spunk.

“Oh shit, it looks like you needed that,” Stacey laughed as she licked her fingers clean.

“I think I did, thank you,” I panted, still coming down.

“No need to thank me, I’m merely returning your kindness.”

Once my mind cleared, I pondered what to do about my messy t-shirt, in the end decided to join Stacey and pulled my shirt off and tossed it on the floor.

“Do you feel better now,” Stacey soothed.

“Much better,” I smiled in return.

The film, once I started watching it properly, was merely OK. Plenty of nudity, and a few sexy scenes, but little sign of anything resembling a coherent plot. I decided to give it 2 stars on Letterboxd if I even remember to log it tomorrow.

“My ankle is throbbing a little, I think I’ll go to bed,” Stacey announced once the film was finished.

“Do you want a night cap, I’ve some nice whisky, or a brandy if you prefer.”

“Oooh, a whisky would be lovely, thank you. I’m really sorry, but I’m tired, so we won’t get up to much beyond a cuddle.”

“I didn’t expect anything, to be honest I’m probably spent after that hand-job.”

“On any other day I’d take that as a challenge, but not tonight my love, I’m really tired.”

We sat in the bed for a while, my mind blown by the very fact I had a fantastically beautiful woman beside me. A fantastically beautiful, naked woman in my bed. The first person I’d shared it with since Paula left 3 years ago.

“How far had you cycled today, before your little accident.”

“That was not a little accident, Karl! I flew headfirst into a hedge, I could see the sheep in the field on the other side.”

“Ahh yes, how far had you cycled before your accident.”

“That’s better,” she laughed, “sadly not far at all. I only live a little way past the railway bridge.”

“Oh really, I must drive past your house on the way to town.”

“Well, that would be the sensible way to get from here to town, going the other way is much further. See if you can guess my house.”

I thought for a moment, I’d not knowingly seen Stacey before, did she live in one of the collection of new build houses just beyond the railway? No, she said a little way past the railway bridge, ahh ... there’s a really nice bungalow that was refurbished last year, maybe that one.

“Do you live in the bungalow on the left.”

“Ahh, no, although I did look at that place when it came on the market, it’s got a big back garden, and the new owner has put in a great gym in basement. It needed far too much work doing though, and I’d only just finished getting my house just how I wanted it.”

So, a house that’s had a lot of work done recently, shit, no, she can’t live there, it’s huge.

“Your eyes just went wide, Karl, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking you can’t possibly live where I just thought about.”

“Where’s that?”

“The manor house, opposite the stables.”

“Why do you think I can’t live there?”

“Well. It’s huge for a start, like 6 bedrooms. It was on the market for well over a million.”

“I’m not poor, Karl. And yes, that’s my house.”

“Oh shit, what do you do with it all?”

“Ahh, I’ll let you see all that when you take me home in a few days.”

“I thought you worked in an office.”

“I used to work in an office, then I jacked all that in when I went ... err ... freelance. I’ll tell you all about it later, for now I’m tired, this whisky has finished me off.”

I turned off the lamps and Stacey rolled over and snuggled up close, her full breasts pressed against my body.

This is what I’d missed these last few years, skin to skin contact with another human, but I couldn’t get used to it as she’ll be going home in a couple of days.

Would she stay in touch though?

She seemed to genuinely like me, and all her talk of showing me her house, and she called me ‘my love’ earlier. Nah, that was just her being flirty.

“What time do you get up in the morning?” Stacey asked as I drifted off to sleep.

“6:30 normally, I start at 8 o’clock.”

“Super, I’ll make your breakfast while you get ready,” she replied before kissing my neck tenderly.

Hmmm, maybe she did like me.

I hope this isn’t a sign of concussion I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

The radio woke us both the next morning, I felt completely refreshed after an early night and the best sleep I can remember.

“How’s your leg?” I asked as I slipped out of bed.

“It feels fine, I’ll take the bandage off in little while.”

I had a quick shower and shave before dressing. We have to wear a shirt and tie at work, but there’s no rules about anything else, so I picked some smart black jeans and a pair of shiny Doc Marten shoes.

I could smell coffee as I walked downstairs, how long since somebody had made me coffee first thing, a long, long time, because Paula never rose before me in the mornings.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d want for breakfast, so I made you toast and cereals, is that OK?’

“It’s more than OK,” I replied, “I normally don’t have time for anything other than a slice of toast.”

“Well, today you’re having a proper breakfast, sit down and I’ll pour you coffee. I found a flask under the sink, so I’ve made you a pot of coffee to take to work.”

“Oh wow, thank you. The coffee in the staff room is nasty.”

“From now on Karl, you’re having a proper breakfast.”

Did that mean what I think it means?

“From now on?”

“Oh yes, I’m yours now Karl. I’ll explain later, but for now just know I’m not stringing you along.”

With that she kissed me tenderly, our first kiss, and disappeared upstairs.

What the fuck!

Anyway, no point wondering what’s happening tomorrow when I’ve got a lot of work on today, so I put the radio on and listened to 6 Music while I ate my toast and cereals and enjoyed my coffee.

Stacey appeared as I was finishing my coffee, she’d showered and was wearing one of my shirts, she looked unbelievably sexy, and I cursed the calendar for being a Monday.

“I’ve taken the bandage off, my ankle feels fine today.”

“That’s great news, I was worried you’d done some serious damage when you said it was hurting last night,”

“It still aches a little this morning, but not like yesterday. Your bed is very comfortable and snuggling up to someone for the first time in ages has done me a power of good.”

“I slept better than I have in a long time as well.”

“I think we work well together, don’t you?”

“The evidence of the last 18 hours suggests we do, but, I’ve been hurt before Stacey...”

“Ahh, well, I don’t want to hurt you, Karl. It’s just I feel something here, and I think you do as well. Anyway, I’ve made you some sandwiches for lunch, and your flask...”

“Thank you, Stacey, I hope I don’t seem ungrateful, it’s just, you know, I’ve been alone for a while, and so I’m not used to seeing someone before I leave the house.”

“I’m the same Karl, it’s a while since I’ve shared my life with anyone. I’m a morning person though, so if I’m too, err, noisy in the morning, please tell me, I won’t be upset.”

“Be yourself Stacey, I’ll work round you.”

“Super, but please, tell me if I’m too, err, awake.”

“I will, I promise.”

“So, I guess you need to get to work...”

I checked my watch, “yeah, if I don’t leave soon I’ll be late.”

“Do we have time for a kiss?”

“I think so.”

We kissed, it was special, it was so special in fact, that leaving Stacey to go to work was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

I tried to rationalise the last 18 hours as I drove to work.

Beautiful woman crashes into bushes near my house.

I help beautiful woman, because, well it’s the right thing to do. When a human hurts themselves, you help the human. Any other course of action is, by definition, inhumane.

Somehow, the beautiful human falls for plain old me.

Surely this is a sign of a serious head injury.

I’ll see how she is tonight.

Ahh shit, she’s fucking gorgeous, I’m, well, I’m not.

The fantasy of Nadia in American Pie is just that, a fantasy, beautiful girls just don’t pine for geeks, surely.

Anyway, I can’t be dwelling on this, I’ve got a lot of work to do today.

I was deep in a budget spreadsheet, working out if we can afford to keep our Photoshop licence next year when someone knocked on the door. I have all the server racks in my room, so I keep the door locked.

I got up from my chair and opened the door, to meet Martin Pride, Stacey’s ex. Had he heard something?

Nah, not possible, I’m just being paranoid.

“I’ve got your new chair,” Martin told me as he stepped through the door dragging a big box.