Chapter 3

Ginny sat quietly for a while. She was obviously thinking about the things I'd just said. She looked at me a little fearfully and then asked,

"If I agree to be your girlfriend does that mean I will have to have sex with you?"

"If you become my girlfriend, then yes I will want to have sex with you, but that does not have to happen right away. Like a lot of people it will take time for us to get to know one another and I hope when you know me better, then you will want to have sex with me as much as I want to have it with you."

She thought about that for a little while and then she said,

"I don't know what to say, I'm scared."

I got up and told her I would get us something to drink and came back with two cold cokes from the fridge. I handed her one with a glass and poured the other for myself.

"Look Ginny if we are going to do this we have to learn to trust one another. Tell me why you are scared and what worries you about something as simple as agreeing to be my girlfriend. It's not the same as getting married. You can pull out anytime you feel it's not right for you"

Ginny replied "I've known for a while that you fancied me, though I don't know why. I wanted to say yes when you asked me out but I don't know if I can be anybody's girlfriend. It is not just that I am fat and boys don't find me attractive. I don't think I will ever like having sex with anyone."

"What makes you think like that," I wanted to know

"My mum got pregnant with me when she was sixteen and her parents threw her out. Now she brings men home when she is drunk and I think they pay her. She says it puts bread on the table and gets her things she couldn't get without it. I don't think she gets any pleasure out of it because she says she only does it because it makes them like her and pay attention to her. They grunt and groan and make noises and it all seems dirty and horrible." She explained

Once she had started her story she didn't seem able to stop. She just paused a minute and shut her eyes before going on.

"Several times some of them have tried to get into my room, but the first time my mum was not too drunk and she stopped him. After that I barricaded my bedroom door and I saved up enough money from my waitressing job to get put a lock on it."

There was a longer pause and then she said,

"She doesn't get anything nice for herself nor does it put food on the table. It all goes on feeding her drinking habit. She is always at me to act in the same way as she does. 'Open your legs for them and take their money, nobody else is going to want a fat slob like you' she says. She has hit me several times because I won't do what she wants. I work hard on my studies and I put money away. She doesn't know that. In two years time I hope I will get a scholarship and go to college."

Having said this she started to cry again and then went on,

"Right now my life stinks and today it nearly got worse. I just don't know what the hell I am going to do. But why the fuck would somebody like you want to get mixed up with a neurotic heap of trash like me?"

Now she started to sob hysterically. My heart went out to her and I moved over to where she sat. I pulled her up out of her chair and put my arms around her.

She looked up into my face with tears running down her cheeks and I made sure my hold was soft and undemanding.

"Thank you for telling me all that Ginny. I had guessed a lot of it. But I am glad you were able to tell me what it's been like for you."

I moved her away to arm's length and said,

"Give me your hand and let's move to the sitting room then we will talk about us and the future we might have. It will be more comfortable there."

I sat on the sofa and pulled her down beside me and held on to her hand.

You think today has made things worse for you; but it was also possible that it had made things better. You now know I want to be your friend and help you. You pointed out that I was rich, well the great thing about being rich is that you are able to do something for someone else just because you want to and I want to help you. You know that don't you?"

"Yes," She sniffed and nodded her head

"If you let me I could do a lot of things to help her because I am rich. Should things get too bad at home," I told her, "you could leave and I would make a small flat for you here, but that is up to you. All you have to do at the moment is agree to let me help you. If you do, then start by letting people see that you are my girlfriend, then they will know they had better not mess with you or I will do something about it. If we settled that then we can take everything else as it comes."

Listening to what I had said she seemed to calm down. And after a while she spoke again,

"I really don't understand why you want to do this but if I don't agree, I don't know what I will do. I thought I could struggle on for two years, but after today I'm not sure I can and I'm frightened and depressed and worried that I might do something stupid."

"Now that would be a waste. A smart girl like you should be able to choose a better option than that when it's open to you. Let's face it; you have said yourself things could not get much worse. Surely I am not such an ogre that death would be preferable."

She gave a little smile for the first time that day and then she said,

"You are just fishing for compliments. You know and I know you are a kind and caring person and I have already said that you are a hunk and a good catch for any girl."

"In that case your decision is a no brainer. You have to go with the option I am offering you. So what do you say we give it a try?" I asked.

She lifted her head and I took out my handkerchief and tenderly wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked at me for a moment and then she said rather tremulously,

"If you still want me to be your girl after all the things I have told you, then

I want to give it a try. I would be stupid not to; wouldn't I?"

"Yes you would," I said. "We'll now talk about where we go from here."

I looked at the clock and discovered we had been talking for some time, so I said to her,

"Let's give it a bit of a rest. What shift is your mother on today?"

"The back shift," Ginny replied

"Ok. You don't have to be home any time soon, so why don't we eat here.

Mags, my housekeeper will have left something in the fridge for me to heat up.

She usually leaves two portions one for today and one for the freezer. I will get them out and you can help me prepare them."

Ginny nodded her assent and we set about preparing our meal. As we worked, she became more relaxed. I usually ate in the kitchen, but decided that tonight we would eat in the dining room and together we set the table. I asked her if she liked wine. She laughed and told me it wasn't part of her staple diet and seeing the state of her mother she never touched alcohol.

I gave her a smile and said that a little would do her no harm and laid out two wine glasses. I took a light German wine from the fridge for her to try as they were usually quite palatable for a beginner. Mags had left steaks potatoes carrots and broccoli. I reheated them in the microwave and we sat opposite each other. The portions were not American sized as I was very weight conscious. I poured two small glasses of wine and we chatted away about our school work and the project for science we were working on together. As we talked she sipped her wine and I could see that she was relaxing still further. I am an ice cream nut and I served up a small portion with fresh fruit.

When we had finished Ginny said, "That must be the best meal I have eaten for ages. My mum usually brings home leftovers from the cafe and sometimes they are greasy and not very palatable as reheats"

"I bet they are also loaded with salt and calories," I said.

She smiled a bit wryly, and said "I think my figure might testify to that."

"Does your weight concern you?" I asked her.

"Of course it does. Between my weight and my very limited selection of clothes, it causes a lot of the hassle I get at school. It gets me down and I don't have a lot of other things going on in my life there is little to take my mind off it," She said.

I rose from the table moved round to where she sat and as she stood up I pulled her chair back and took her hand.

"These are two problems we can solve," I said. "One can be done quite easily, but the other can only be done with a bit of hard work from you. Come with me" I commanded.

I led her to one of the large rooms at the back of the house where I had installed a treadmill, a rowing machine, one cubed multipurpose weight machine on which you could do various lifts on each side to build up different muscles.

There was also a weight bench with hand weights and bar weights a stepper and an exercise bike. I had the back wall completely mirrored; it gave the impression the room was twice as large.

"This is the thing that will require some work from you. If you want to do something about your weight and your lifestyle, I will make up a program for you and teach you to use each machine. We can come here after school two or three times a week and you can start to build up your fitness. Not only will this help to shed weight, it will make you feel much better about yourself. What do you think?"