Chapter 1

As I entered the room my eyes were immediately drawn to the blonde sitting at a chrome and glass coffee table, facing me. She was an absolute stunner, so recognition was almost instantaneous, even in my slightly inebriated state. I'd known Natasha Kopolova since I was twelve and just starting high school. Not only that, I still saw her almost every day, every working day that is, because we both worked for the same company. There the similarities stopped, as I was a lowly IT technician for Kopolova Engineering, whereas Natasha was the owner's daughter, an only child at that.

I liked to think of myself as a reasonably pleasant person and tended to treat people as I would like to be treated. It was something that my parents preached and on the whole I had no trouble living up to. Natasha was different, she treated everyone with disdain and contempt, that is when she deigned to notice them at all, yet still expected everyone to fawn all over her and treat her like some sort of royalty. That expectation was no doubt helped by the majority's willingness to do just that. I didn't. Personally, I tried to avoid her and when I couldn't then I treated her with the minimum of politeness.

She looked up, as people often do when someone enters a small room. Recognition on her part wasn't quite so quick so it was only after a few moments of staring that she responded.

'Just what I fucking need, ' she almost screamed.

I wasn't sure whether that was aimed at me or at the young man sitting across the table from her, the pair separated by the coffee table, on which were a few lines of white powder that was almost certainly cocaine. The rolled banknote in the hands of each, said everything that needed to be said.

I took all this in swiftly, before just turning and leaving the room. I hate drugs and druggies. I struggle to even begin to comprehend why people do that to their own bodies. I headed back to the kitchen, the heart of this and most other parties, besides that's where the alcohol was hence why the majority of men were there.

'Hey!' I heard Natasha shout, even that sounding like a sexy feline purr.

I turned to see her following me. Every other set of male eyes studied her too. Long blonde hair, which I knew was natural, either that or she'd started dyeing it from around twelve, fell across highly tanned bare shoulders and gently touched the top of her breasts, framing her mesmerising cleavage. Long legs, full and firm, rose from perfect feet to disappear under a very short skirt. It was getting close to the end of the twentieth century and Natasha had that ageless beauty which would grace any calender or film of that century. She was a walking wet dream; at least to look at. She knew it and used it. I knew the real Natasha yet I wasn't totally immune to her looks.

'David, isn't it?' She asked seductively when she knew she had my reluctant attention.

That we started school the same day ten years previously and now worked for the same company, did little to erase the shock that she remembered my name, or more to the point, that she admitted as much. Oh, I knew that she knew it, as we'd crossed swords enough times, from none of which did I emerge victorious. I nodded.

She pulled me aside away from the prying ears of everyone else in the room and said smiling, 'Look it isn't what you think.' Her smile was something that made her more beautiful than ever. I was almost certain it was the first time I'd seen her smile, even one so obviously forced, at least at me. When I didn't respond she continued. 'I was just trying it. You won't say anything will you? At work I mean, especially to my father. I'll make it worth your while.'

Until the last sentence, I'd almost forgot who I was listening to. 'No Natasha, I shan't say anything to anybody, after all you're doing nobody any harm except yourself.'

I saw a frown at the perceived censure, quickly hidden as it was. 'How much do you want?'

'I don't want your money.' I answered calmly, not in the least surprised that she would make such an offer.

'I'll let you fuck me if that's what it takes, ' she said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm. That offer did shock me.

'Natasha. I don't play your games. I'll make you a simple promise. I shan't mention that or this conversation to a soul and unlike some I could name, I don't make promises lightly.' I said firmly. I had never had any intention of saying anything anyway, so the promise was easy to make. I couldn't live with myself if I'd been bought off and as for fucking her, then no way. She might be the most beautiful woman with the best body around but I knew what was on the inside and I wanted nothing to do with her. She'd stopped being in even my fantasies a long time ago. I always thought that she had to some goddess' favourite; not only had she been born into money as well as with those looks, she was also highly intelligent. She was easily the brightest pupil in our year and seemed to need little or no work to achieve that. Most people, me included, would have been happy with any one of those assets.