Chapter 17

Matthew sat around the coffee table at his Aunt's house who looked down at him. Lynn Styles, the divorced sister of his mother was celebrating her sixtieth birthday and her entire house was being occupied by her entire family who had all travelled the small Worcestershire village to see her.

Robert Styles, Matthew's younger brother, had just finished his PhD, was engaged to be married, and was about to start work at a pharmaceutical company in London. Amelia Fetherstonhaugh-Hamilton, their baby sister, had recently celebrated her second wedding anniversary to a city financier, by announcing she was pregnant. Matthew felt, and was made to feel the failure.

"So when do you think you are getting married?" Lynn asked for the third time that day. "'Cos you'll be too old before too long." Matthew sighed again and Amelia giggled.

"Perhaps he is gay. Are you gay Matty?"

"No, I am not gay."

"You sure," his sister teased. "It's OK. It's just when I rang a few days ago another guy answered. Said you were in the bedroom." Matthew went bright red and Lynn chuckled.

"Answers so many things," Lynn answered, her eyes sparkling. "I mean you hear about it all the time. If you want to do dirty things just make sure you don't get that AIDS thing."

"I am not gay," Matthew said loudly and a few heads turned in the dining room to look into the lounge. Matthew lowered his voice. "I mean it, I have dated, I just haven't found the right woman. And the man who answered the phone is Gareth, he is staying with me because his wife threw him out because he has a porn collection so big, it can be seen from space."

Amelia sniffed. "Still weird, two men living together, in sin. I mean, what happened to that Victoria. I liked her."

Matthew scowled, Amelia only liked Victoria because they both shared a desire to spend more money than they could earn. "She was a vacuous, self-obsessed, self-important, selfish witch," Matthew muttered and looked at his sister. "Who I really am no longer fond of. Ever since we took out a joint tenancy and she fucked off paying nothing. But I'm suing her for that."

Amelia grunted. "Did you split because she wanted you to do something with your life?"

Matthew took a deep breath; he had always struggled to get on with his sister and her living in London and only coming to the Midlands every few months had scarcely improved their relations. "No, because she had no morals, or any redeeming features."

"You mean she dumped you," Robert teased and Matthew broke into a grin.

"Yeah, we, er, decided to split up. For the best really. I've seen a side to her I don't like."

Lynn rubbed her nose and looked at him. "But you need to settle down with someone, you'll never have kids and a family."

Matthew licked his lips. He closed his eyes and his mind wandered. He wanted to take a deep breath and look at his Aunt and his sister with a smirk and say. "Yes, I do have a child, you have a niece and a great-niece. She was born a few days ago to an eighteen year old, but she doesn't know who the father is, and I am too scared to admit that it is me because she thinks that she got pregnant while drunk and was raped, but it wasn't. I am secretly paying money to the said eighteen year old though."

There was silence as they waited for Matthew to consider what the reaction would be if he had said that but when he glanced up from his fantasy shrugged. "When I meet the right person," he muttered. "There's no rush."

Lewis pushed open the door to the dining room tentatively. He had been summoned to the "big house" and Maria had taken him to one side when he got there and told to wear his smartest suit, and be at their house for 8pm the following day. He had arrived, nervously, and squirrelled to a side room where he was given a solitary red rose and told to go into the dining room.

Anna had been given a similar treatment, told to dress up in her sexiest, smartest clothes and was awaiting the arrival of "someone special" in her host family's exquisite room. The table had had the middle folded inwards, and laid with a tablecloth and candles.

Anna gasped as Lewis entered the room, holding his red rose and grinned. "Is this your doing?" Anna said with a smile and Lewis shook his head.

"I thought it was yours."

"It's mine," came a voice and they turned to see Maria in the doorway. "Well you two are hopeless," she told them and lit the candles with her lighter. She sniggered at the accusatory and confused expressions and rubbed her hands. "You weren't going to get it on without my help, Josh and Adam are at his Nannas so you have peace and quiet. And I have prepared the perfect dish for you two."

Lewis and Anna looked at each other and Maria passed Lewis the bottle of chilling champagne. "Off you go," she muttered and slid effortlessly out of the room.

"She. She crazy Lewis. Just like you."

Lewis giggled as he tore of the foil to the bottle and looked at his friend. "I am not crazy," he told her and popped the champagne cork into his fist, pouring some to Anna and then some to himself. He held out his glass and clinked it with the smiling Anna's.

Maria returned a few moments later with an asparagus starter, followed by a spicy salad – containing lettuce, chilli, ginger and avocado. Lewis smiled when she brought it out, even he knew that there were some aphrodisiacs in the meal but Anna thanked her profusely and they chatted warmly.

There was a sexual tension between them but Anna was a touch reticent, she had only chose to come to Britain as her best friend became her lesbian lover and they had split – it had left her isolated and alone. While Anna mixed with other mothers and au pairs at the "baby groups" she attended, Lewis was the only person she really called her friend.

There was good reason for this, he was interested in, liked spending time with her and was good fun, but most of all he was non-threatening and genteel. She wasn't too sure if she wanted to change the dynamics of their relationship to something else when she already had it so good, but she did like him and she wanted to be wanted.

It was different for Lewis, for months he had lusted over the Russian beauty, she was perfection to him in every way and while she was out of his league, he still yearned to date her. She was sexy and playful, good fun and vivacious, and most of all she was mature. He hated the giggly, self-obsessed culture of the girls at his school, he wanted a woman, he wanted Anna.

Maria finished the meal with coffees, a chocolate and cherry dessert and a promise to leave them alone with the living room. Anna and Lewis both thanked her and Anna watched as the dirty plates disappeared. "Is this something we should help with?" Lewis asked and Anna shook her head.

"I'll do it tomorrow," she whispered and passed a spoonful of the chocolate into her mouth. "But this is delicious." Lewis agreed, and after finishing their meal, Anna blew out the candles and they retired to the lounge. Maria had selected a film, Lost In Translation, and this lay on the table. Anna giggled at it and they resumed their usual pose on the couch, adjusting themselves with Anna lying on the lap of Lewis.

She wrapped his arm around her and as she fidgeted her dress rode up to display the lacy underwear she had proudly shown him earlier in the year; Lewis's eyes were drawn towards them and Anna looked up to see him glancing at her legs. She smiled and briefly kissed him on the lips, she wanted to give him a massage later and see where things led, but she had been awake since six o' clock with demanding child and as the film moved on felt her eyes sag.

She was too tired to be romantic, and as much as she liked Lewis, he clearly didn't feel the same way about her, he wanted to be with her purely in a soulless business transaction and as much as she liked him, she didn't know if she wanted a relationship with him. She had her visa decision in a week and that was still playing on her mind; she needed Lewis as a friend more than she wanted him as a partner.

Instead, she felt her eyelids drag and closed them, savouring the warmth of her friend, and dozed off. Lewis waited, he watched the breathing girl and gently stroked her hair and then her smooth flanks. He wanted to peek at her knickers and kiss her, but looked down with a smile, he had not been as close to Anna before, and happily caressed her smooth cheeks before holding her tight.

When the film finished he slipped away from her and called out to Maria, she seemed almost disappointed to him to see him leave, but he explained that Anna was tired and that they had both very much enjoyed the evening.

"Good night," she said as she peeked into the lounge, to see the sleeping au-pair flashing her underwear at the door. "She looks so pretty, don't you think?"

"Yes," Lewis said, blushing in the half-light of the lounge. "Yes, she does."

Joseph looked forlornly at the office, almost half of his staff had been "let go" and the business was skating on the edge. Although the co-signatory on the loan was himself, he had not signed it and had reported the problem with Paul to the Police.

In all, as far as Joseph was concerned, Paul had committed fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, tax evasion and theft, and after arguing with a number of Policeman had got an appointment with an appropriate officer.