Chapter 1

Authors note: This is the beginning of a much longer story. This chapter is purely scene setting and there is absolutely no sex. If you're looking for a quick stroke story then have a look at one of my "fantasies" instead. If you're looking for something a bit meatier and you have the patience to wait a day or two, maybe a week or two between chapters, then please read on. As always, suggestions and criticism are both most welcome. I hope you enjoy. Lexi x

It shouldn't have come as such as surprise to open the door to another bailiff. After all, for the past year Jemma had been working three jobs in order to clear their debts, the debts that Kyle had run up without telling her.

But that was all behind them now, the last of the debts paid off two months ago, and the weight off her shoulders had felt like heaven. She hadn't realised how much the responsibility of paying back so much had pressed down on her until it was removed. And best of all, Kyle had left yesterday to start training for a new job, one that would pay twice what she was earning now and enable them to finally save up and put a deposit down on a house of their own instead of the poky one bedroom flat they rented at the moment.

OK, so the thought of him being away for three months was hard, but they'd withstood more than this and it had made them stronger and more determined as a couple to make sure all their hard work paid off now. This was why the appearance of yet another debt collector was a bit of a shock, but she didn't let it faze her, she knew they owed nothing now, it was probably someone looking for a neighbour, it was that kind of area.

"Hi there," she said pleasantly, "can I help you?"

The man at the door had that intimidating look that debt collectors seem to be born with and so she smiled a friendly smile, thinking it couldn't be an easy job, having to come into peoples homes and take their possessions, the least she could do was brighten up his day a little.

He stared back at her, face impassive as he asked,

"Jemma Bolton?"

"Yes," she replied confidently, "that's me, but I think you must have made a mistake."

"Really Miss?" he asked wearily. OK, well she could see that was probably a standard line but in this case it was true and so she forced the smile to stay on her face as she took a deep breath.

"I'm afraid so," she replied apologetically. "I'm so sorry for wasting your time but my fiancé and I paid off all our debts a few months ago, I even have the court papers to prove it.

I guess it takes a while to update the records or something," she said with a wry grin. "Typical bureaucracy, it takes forever for the left hand to find out about the right."

The man stared at her for a long while before speaking and she found herself growing nervous even though she knew there was nothing to worry about.

"I don't think that's the case Miss, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you could just show me the paperwork?"

"Sure, of course I can," she stammered. "I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to leave you out here while I go and get it for you, I'm sure you're legitimate and everything but..."

"It's OK Miss, I'm used to it," he interrupted with a glimmer of a smile. Perhaps he wasn't so inhuman after all.

"OK then, well I'll just shut the door now and..."

"Run along and get the paperwork Miss, don't worry about me, I'll be right here waiting." With that he took a step back and stood patiently as promised.

Feeling horribly rude, Jemma pushed the door closed, seeing him disappear behind the solid wood. When the latch clicked she leant back against the door and took a deep breath. Even though she knew this was a mistake, his appearance had brought back all those old feelings, shame, guilt, terror, and she needed a moment to calm down before she walked briskly into the bedroom she shared with Kyle and pulled open the wardrobe door.

Even though she knew it was only temporary, her heart still skipped a beat when she looked at Kyles side of the closet and saw most of his clothes gone. They'd decided that as he was going for three months and because they were trying to save money, it would make sense for him to take everything just in case, I mean what if there'd been an important meeting and he'd forgotten his good suit, a new one of those would eat drastically into their budget, and that was only one occasion! In the end he'd taken everything except a few old things that didn't fit him or were too tatty to wear in public, and, while she was enjoying having the space to spread her clothes out a bit, it still felt a bit odd. They'd lived together for five years now and dated for two before that and this would be the longest they'd been apart.

Pulling her thoughts back to the task in hand she delved into the back of the wardrobe, feeling around for the battered old suitcase they used to store all their paperwork, letters, bank statements and the like. Moving a couple of shoe boxes out of the way she touched hard wood and realised that when they were packing Kyles clothes they must have moved it along a bit to be able to get his shoes from the back.

Pushing her clothes to the other side she reached back, expecting to feel the soft leather under her fingers, instead her hand went straight to the back of the closet again with no obstruction, well this was ridiculous, it had definitely been here the day before yesterday because she remembered dragging it out to get to one of his ties that had wedged itself at the back.

Grabbing handfuls of coat-hangers she began to pile the clothes on the end of the bed, moving faster now, conscious that the poor man was probably freezing out there in the cold, the weather had been awful recently and although his coat had looked like wool the wind could be cutting across the entrance porch to the flats.

Breathing heavily from the exertion Jemma laid the final bunch of clothes on the bed and surveyed the mess at the bottom of the wardrobe. A few dresses had fallen off the hangers and there were shoes piled every which way, she really needed to organise this while Kyle was away, that would give her something to do with the long nights.

Stacking the shoes on the floor to the side of the bed Jemma felt a sense of satisfaction as the large wardrobe began to clear out, it had really gotten too messy in there, finally everything was out and she was forced to acknowledge what she'd been avoiding, the suitcase just wasn't in there.

Well it had definitely been there when they were packing, Kyle must have put it somewhere and forgotten to put it back. Climbing up onto the bed, carefully avoiding the coat-hangers, she scrutinised the top of the wardrobe, she wasn't tall and it was difficult to see all the way to the back from the floor, if Kyle had put it up there she was going to have to get the man to give her a hand getting it down. Typical, having to invite a stranger into their bedroom just when it was as untidy as possible. She let out a huff of annoyance as she scanned the space between closet and ceiling, well where on earth had that bloody man put it, it clearly wasn't up there.

The bed was a divan and there wasn't the space to squeeze anything underneath it, that had been the whole point when they'd bought it, having see his method of cleaning at home she had dreaded having to drag out the debris from underneath the bed, mould encrusted bowls and socks so yellow and crusty they could probably walk out on their own, and so they (well she) had decided a divan would be so much more practical. There would be drawers for their clothes so it would save on space and it was also cheaper which was a deciding factor. She supposed he may have put it in the drawers but it was heavy and the base of each drawer was only thin MDF, if he'd thrown it in there to "tidy" and broken one of her drawers she'd kill him!

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the drawers pulled out easily, revealing only clothes, but now she was baffled. Where on earth had it gone?

Taking a quick look round the room Jemma decided she'd left the poor man waiting long enough, she'd just have to explain to him that she had temporarily misplaced the paperwork, but surely the court would have a copy anyway. She hadn't gone down for the final sign off, work had refused her the time off and so Kyle had collected and signed the paperwork for her, but that shouldn't be an issue, she'd just give him a call once she'd explained it to the bailiff and then Kyle could verify everything she'd said. She really ought to invite the poor man in though, it wasn't fair for him to have to wait outside all afternoon for nothing.

Putting the kettle to boil, Jemma opened the door. The debt collector stood impassively where she'd left him, he must be made of stone to be able to stand in the bitter wind without moving or shivering. Apologising for leaving him so long she invited him in for a cup of coffee or tea but he politely declined.

"Just the papers will be fine Miss, I have other visits to do today..."

Feeling unbelievably guilty for keeping him from his work she apologised again, explaining that there was a slight hitch.

"We keep all of our paperwork in a suitcase and I seem to have mislaid it," she stammered, "but it's OK, I'm just going to ring my fiancé and he'll be able to tell me where it is, I'm sure he's just put it somewhere when he was packing and forgot to put it back."

"Packing?" He drawled sarcastically.

"Oh, sorry, yes of course you don't know," she stuttered nervously, "he started a new job yesterday and he's had to go up north to do a training course for a few weeks, but I'm sure he must be on his lunch break now so I'll just give him a quick call on his mobile and he'll tell me where he's put it and then we'll be all sorted..."

"Your fiancé?" he queried, looking down at his folder, "that would be a Mr Kyle Peters, is that correct?"

"That's right," Jemma agreed, relieved. "I'll just call him now and then we can get you off to your next job."

Reaching over he gripped her hand as she picked up the phone and slowly lowered it back into the cradle.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," he said slowly.

"What do you mean?" she protested shrilly, "let go of my hand and let me call my fiancé!"

"Your fiancé, Miss, was arrested this morning on several charges of fraud, embezzlement and theft. I doubt he'll be able to answer his mobile even if he wanted to."

"Let go of my hand," she demanded and he did. Picking up the phone she dialled the familiar number, hearing it ring out before going to voice mail Again she tried, and again it went to voice mail, trying to stay calm she left a garbled message before hanging up, still defiant but less confident.

"He must still be in lectures," she said stubbornly, seeing his pitying look, "it doesn't matter anyway, I can show you the payments going out of our bank account and then you can call the court and they'll confirm it all to you.