Chapter 35

Tala strode defiantly and confidently in to the restaurant, with me close behind her. The maître' d, whom I knew as Patrice quickly came over, 'Ahh Mr. Deller, how nice to see you again, madam?' Patrice, ever the smoothy, smiled broadly at Tala. 'How charming you both look this evening, may I show you to a table?' Patrice was being gracious as always, ignoring our rather unkempt appearance.

'Thank you Patrice.'

Tala and I followed Patrice across the busy dining area to a table in a quiet nook.

Patrice had a knowing smile that conveyed much. 'I shall be back for your orders, may I get you something to drink?'

I asked Tala what she wanted and she said she'd have red wine, I ordered a bottle for both of us. I would have expected a wine waiter normally, but Patrice and I went back a long way, he preferred to deal with me personally.

Tala studied the red and gold menu Patrice had placed in our hands.

Her beautiful face had relaxed a little from the sulky pout as her eyes scanned the list of dishes.

'What would you like Tala?' She honoured me with a wry smile.

'You know what I'd like, but we would be thrown out of the restaurant.' her beautiful eyes twinkled impishly.

I smiled back, 'Yes I suppose we would. But what do you fancy from the menu?'

She furrowed her brow in concentration, 'I don't know, what do you recommend?' I pointed to several meals that I had enjoyed in the past and we both decided on the Beef Wellington. Before I could summon him, Patrice was at my shoulder with the wine; he took our order and hurried away.

Tala peered at me. 'So, do you bring all your women here Richard, did you bring Una here?'

I realised, not for the first time, that I would be playing down my relationship with Una most of the time. I sure as hell couldn't tell her that Una and I loved each other. Maybe, Una had somehow given it away just how deep our feelings were for each other, which, perhaps, made me more of a challenge in Tala's eyes. And maybe, the sibling rivalry went back a long way, even to their childhood. It could be that Tala had a deep resentment or jealousy of her big sister. I couldn't see why though, clearly Tala was the more beautiful of the two, but I knew that Una had the magnetic personality that few men, (and not all women) could resist.

I tried to keep the conversation neutral and away from Una. 'I usually come here on my own actually, Patrice is an old friend; he seems to like you.' Tala smiled again, her mood seemed to be improving.

'I have to visit the ladies room, where is it Richard?' I discretely pointed to a partition to one side of the room. 'Over there, in that far corner.' She smiled again, her white teeth contrasting with what was left of her bright red lipstick. She shimmied across the carpeted floor; many male eyes followed her as she wiggled her perfect arse all the way across the room. She knew that she was being watched and not just by me, she was putting on a show. A few minutes later, she put on a repeat performance as she slowly walked back. Tala moved like a model on a catwalk, every step seemed to be calculated, designed to create movement that was both entrancing and exciting. Perhaps she was trying to excite me, to get things stirring in my crotch.

She did, there was definitely a twitch. She slid in beside me; several men at nearby tables eyed me with a mixture of envy and approval.

Tala's hand disappeared under the table causing me to glance down in to my lap. There, in a small bundle, were her panties. She glanced at me, another wry smile. 'I took them off in the ladies.' It didn't really need explanation; I could see that for myself. I looked at her, 'Why?'

She leant in close and whispered. 'Because I want you to fuck me here.'

'I thought you realised that we would be thrown out of the restaurant. But not only that, we'll be arrested.'

'I don't mean over the table, I mean do it so nobody sees us.'

'Tala, I'm known in this restaurant, I know the chef, Henri. I can't do anything like that. We've come out for a meal, let's leave it at that shall we. We have the whole night ahead of us for sex, remember?'

The Tala pout returned, rather predictably. 'You are no fun now Richard. You'd do it with U... '

I stopped her mid sentence; I didn't need to hear the rest, that was predictable too. 'Stop it Tala, please. You must stop comparing yourself to Una. She's not here, you are. I'm only interested in you, just you, and only you.'

Tala adopted a rather sullen demeanour from that point on, barely saying a word and only speaking when spoken to. It was a rather immature way to behave, and frankly, made me wish I was with Una.

Patrice hovered nearby, sensing something was not quite right, fearing that it was the food, which was delicious as always. We finished our meal, and skipped dessert, and I was keen to leave the restaurant. Tala's panties were stuffed in my jacket pocket. I didn't need to pay the bill, I had an account; I just waved to a concerned looking Patrice as we left.

In the cool air of the car park, I was ready to lose my temper, but managed to control my urge to strangle her. Tala stopped half way to the car and turned to me with a look of contrition on her pretty face. 'I'm sorry Richard, that was very bad of me, I'm sorry.' I waited for the explanation. 'I don't mean to be bad; it's just that I want to be like Una. She has so much, she has Sammy and you, and I have nothing. Men want to be with me but they don't want to love me.'

So that was it, the same tired old reason for being promiscuous; the need to feel wanted and loved. But in Tala's case, the non-virgin, she had only encountered meaningless, loveless sex. She had, like so many before her, confused physical contact with emotional love. And here I was about to add to her problem, about to spend the night fucking her senseless without any emotional ties whatsoever. Suddenly, I felt guilty and ashamed.

I had no answer for her, no platitudes that would help her plight. Nothing I could say or do would make any difference. Except of course, to say that I loved her more than anyone else in the whole world and wanted to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her. That would make a difference; that would put everything to rights. I took her in my arms and held her tight; her head was resting on my shoulder, right on the sore bite mark. I half expected her to cry, but she didn't. 'Listen Tala, you are a lovely, lovely young woman. You are beautiful and intelligent. Any man could easily fall in love with you, just don't rush it. You are still young; there is plenty of time to find the right man. He's out there, believe me, he's waiting somewhere you least expect to find him. Stop trying so hard. Trying to make someone love you won't make it happen. It happens on its own... '