Yours Unfaithfully (48 page)

She laced his coffee with a generous helping of brandy and then stretched herself out seductively on the floor at his feet. As she eased her body to the floor, her silk dress slid up to her waist, revealing her legs. He was enchanted by her. He knew from past experience how irresistible she was and his thoughts were already out of control.

His pulse raced at the sight of her body, the excitement mounted inside him until it had erased any thought of him going back to his room to spend the night alone. Instead, he slid down onto the floor alongside her and searched her body with his hands until he was holding her tight. She moved only to unzip her dress and slide out of it, before undressing him.

A knock on the door was followed by the retreating cry of ‘breakfast is served,’ suggesting to Nina that they were fast approaching the time when breakfast would end. That meant it had to be nearly ten o’clock. Tim would need a full English breakfast before she got him out in those hills, ostensibly searching for campsites.

“Tim, we have to get up or we are going to miss our breakfast.” She slid herself out from his grip and took to the bathroom. Ten minutes later she emerged in her underwear as Tim was just getting out of bed. He looked at her in her white bra and pants and felt all the pangs of lust return.

Reading his mind she put her finger to her lips and whispered, “No, get showered and then downstairs. You can look at this later, but right now I’m going for breakfast.”

They sat at a small table overlooking the lake. Tim tucked into a cooked breakfast while Nina sipped coffee and pulled a croissant apart.

“Did you sleep well, Tim?”

“I don’t know, Neen. I suppose I did judging by the time we woke up.”

“We didn’t get to sleep until gone two, and you know why.”

“Sorry, Neen, I never intended to do that, but you did look lovely and I lost control, not for the first time. You must be fed up with me using you like this, knowing each time that I always have to go back to Mel.”

“Do you, Tim, do you have to go back to Mel? What if I kept you ... forever. Would it be so bad?”

“It would probably be fantastic, probably better than it will ever be with Mel ... but that’s not the point is it?”

“What is the point Tim?”

“It’s simple. I’m married to her. We have three children and that’s it.”

“So even if you’re not happy with her, you can’t make love properly to her and you know you would be happier with me, you still have to go back to her, is that it?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t just walk out on her, it’s not me, you know that.”

“It doesn’t make any sense, Tim.”

“Neen, you’re lovely. I’m happy when I’m with you ... and yes it’s true, we are fantastic together in bed, and Mel and I can’t get it together at all, but ... she’s my wife, she doesn’t deserve to be dumped the way Ben dumped you. She is the innocent party in all of this.”

“She’s not as innocent as you think, Tim!’ Nina knew she shouldn’t have said that.

“What do you mean, Neen, she’s not so innocent? Do you know something? Has she told you something that I ought to know?”

“No, of course not. I’m sorry I didn’t mean it to sound like that, but you put her on a pedestal, as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. No one is that good, that pure. Wake up Tim, before you get hurt.”

“I don’t want to listen to this, Neen. I’m going up to pack. I want to be out of here and finding the kids before this day is out.”

“Stop, Tim, listen, I’m really sorry. I was just letting my jealousy run away with me. You know how I feel about you. Look, we might as well base ourselves here. That way if we don’t find them today we’ve got a room booked for tonight.”

“No, Nina, I am not spending another night in this hotel, I’m sorry. We have to find them and then head for home. Do you have some sort of a plan, where we should look first?”

“Tim, maybe I was a bit hasty in accusing Ben. It’s nice here, we could have a look around, get lunch somewhere, go to the tourist office and get a list of all the campsites so that tomorrow it won’t take us long to locate them. When are we going to get another chance to be on our own, doing what we want to do, without having to sneak away for an hour in the daytime, afraid Melanie will find out? Think about what we’ve got here Tim ... paradise, that’s what this is. What difference is one day going to make, tell me?”

“Nina, back home you were frantic, out of your mind with worry, now suddenly you want to take a holiday? I’m asking myself if you didn’t set this whole thing up just so we could be together, honestly.”

“What if I did, Tim? Would it be a problem?”

“Are you serious, Neen? Are you telling me that this was all a hoax? A scheme, dreamed up so that we could get away together?”

“Please don’t be angry with me, Tim, can’t you see how much it proves my love for you?”

“So what do we tell Mel when we get back empty handed and happy as Larry?”

“We tell her we couldn’t find them, and then at the end of next week Ben will come back and everyone will forget all about it. We haven’t done anything wrong, Tim. I want you, I want you to leave Mel and make a life with me. I can give you all the things she is incapable of giving you. I wouldn’t go off for a month and leave you, for one thing.”

“Nina, you’ve lost touch with reality. You’ve slipped a cog. You’re mad. I can’t believe you’ve dragged me all this way for nothing. Did you seriously think you could shag me into submission?”

“That’s horrible! You wanted me badly enough when Mel was away. Now she’s back you can’t wait to dump me. Well I’m a person, Tim, not a rubber doll. You wanted me, now you’ve got me, and unless you want me to ring Mel up and tell her everything, you had better start treating me like a human being. Do you understand?’

“I’d have to be pretty bloody stupid not to, wouldn’t I? Look, I’m sorry, I never meant to use you and you know that. We got carried away, you have that effect on me, for God’s sake, but you always knew I was married. We both knew this passion was satisfying our basic needs. It was never going to be forever. I can’t leave Mel, I love her.”

“And what about me? I seem to remember you whispering those exact words in my ear last night just as your fire extinguisher went off. You say those words but they don’t mean a bloody thing to you. Sod you, let’s ring Mel and explain to her how you came to tell me you loved me, why I mistakenly thought that your relationship with her was over, why I thought you wanted me more than her ...shall we?”

“Neen, don’t do that ... please. If you do you will destroy everything, even us. Let’s talk this thing through. We can find a way of keeping our relationship, but without me leaving Mel... please?”

“If I go along with this can we stay here today? Go home tomorrow? After all it will look strange if we go home so soon without finding them.”

“If I go along with this, Neen, you must promise me that you’ll never, ever tell Mel what has gone on between us.”

“Like you promised that we would always be friends? Like you promised you would take care of me? No Tim, if you’re going to dump me the minute we get back, you might as well do it now. Let’s get the painful bit over with. I’m not looking forward to telling Mel anymore than you are, but what else can I do? I’m in love with you, Tim, you’ve had me every way you wanted, now you think it’s time to say thank you but no thank you? I’m telling you this will hurt me as much as it hurts you but, make no mistake I will do it if you leave me.”

“That works both ways, Neen. If you tell Mel, I lose her, OK, but you lose me too because if you deliberately set out to destroy my marriage I won’t be able to forgive you. The only way that this can work is the middle road ... you can have me when you want me, yes; you get my body, but not my heart, that stays right there with Mel.”

“We don’t have much option but to trust each other then, do we?”

“We have one other option ... we can destroy each other! Is that what you really want?”

“Of course not. I told you, I love you. I never want to hurt you, but I can’t live without at least a part of you. If all I can have is you now and again I’ll live with that. Just don’t ever tell me again that it’s over, that I’m not going to have you ever again. I couldn’t handle that, Tim. I don’t mean it to sound like a threat. I’m trying to be honest with you.”

“I know ... I may be pretty stupid but I can see that you wouldn’t have gone to these lengths, to drag us both up here if you weren’t serious. Try to understand, Neen, I do love you in a way, and I meant it when I said we’d always be friends ... but in front of all that is my marriage, that’s just the way it is.”

“So are we agreed Tim?”

“Yes, like you said, I have no choice if I don’t want to start a war I can’t win.”

“And we stay here tonight?”

“We’ll have dinner in the restaurant then you can come round to my place – you know, the room next to yours – and we’ll make last night look like we were just practicing, OK?”

She saw from his smile that he meant it. It wasn’t as much as she would have liked but there was always another day. For now at least she had a promise that he would make love to her whenever she asked, and more than that she knew it was a promise he would have to keep.

Melanie’s office was a depressing place on Tuesday morning. Rachel, her secretary brought two cups of coffee in at ten and, after closing the door, sat down in front of her.

“Are you going to tell me what it’s all about?”

“What what’s all about?”

“Mel, I’ve only worked with you for a short while but I know you well enough to know that you’ve got a lot on your mind, and I’d say it was outside of work ... right?”

“You’re right Rachel.”

“My job is to support you at every level and I can’t do that unless you tell me what’s going on.”

“And supposing you don’t believe me when I tell you?”

“Try me, Mel. It’s got to better than sitting there looking like a duck in a desert.”

“Do I really look that bad?”

“You should see your lips, you could pout for England.”

“Rachel, my husband is spending a few days in the Lake District with Nina, looking for her husband and kids, oh and her husband’s lover. I told you it would be hard to believe, didn’t I? It was me who insisted he went with her, after all she’s my best friend. And Ben, that’s Nina’s husband is Tim’s best mate, and they are our next door neighbours, well were, until Ben buggered off with this girl he met in a disco.”

Rachel burst out laughing, “Mel, can I come over to your place one Weekend for some laughs? Where I live people just cut their grass and wash their cars.”

“It’s bloody well not funny.”

“OK but you have to admit it’s a touch on the weird side.”

“Oh, don’t worry, there’s more, quite a bit more, but I’ll save that until you write my biography.”

“Come on, out with the rest of it. Tell me the full story and then I’ll give you the benefit of my advice.”

“I’m not sure I want your advice Rachel, all I want is for things to get back to normal.”

At that moment Mel’s mobile rang and when she answered it she became coy. It was obvious this was a private call and one she didn’t want to share, but she hadn’t called him Tim. Who, then, Rachel wondered, was Ratty?

Mel, took the phone from her ear just long enough to signal for her to leave. Once alone she couldn’t wait to find out why Ratty had chosen this moment to call her.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you, I was beginning to think you had forgotten me.”

“That’s funny, I’m sure you told me in Poland that I was not to phone you.”

“Did I? Well you didn’t, so that’s OK, and now you did, and that’s OK too.”

“Good, you’re making perfect sense as always Mel, so let me tell you why I risked calling you. If you must know I’m missing you terribly and I thought it would be nice if we could meet up for lunch, take a walk along the quay and talk about ... you know, about Poland and us and things.”

“OK, what time?”

“Did I hear you right?’ I expected you to say no, to tell me I wasn’t to speak to you. You never fail to surprise me, Mel. Can we meet at the Fiesta bar, on the quay at twelve?”

“I’ll see you there, oh ... and thanks for ringing, you don’t know how fed up I was before you rang.”

“And now...?”

‘Never mind, you can find out at twelve.’ She clicked the red button and put the phone down as Rachel walked back in.

“You were listening, weren’t you?”

“Not on purpose, Mel. You look a lot happier now than you did five minutes ago, so whoever it was he certainly pressed all the right buttons.”

“Yes, he’s very good at doing that!”

“Don’t knock it, Mel, some women spend their whole lives with a man who can’t do that.”

“I know. That’s what I was about to tell you when my phone rang.” She laughed so that Rachel wasn’t sure if she meant it or not.

Somehow, Rachel thought, I detect smoke, and they say there’s no smoke without fire. I wonder who’s providing the heat?

At a quarter to twelve Melanie left the office and made her way down to the quayside. It was so warm still that she didn’t bother with a coat, her black trousers and pink short sleeved top providing all the cover she needed for a glorious day like today. The Fiesta bar was a fairly new addition to the quayside. Part of a chain of bistro style wine bars, it was a trendy meeting place for people who were happy to pay way over the odds for food and drink in return for the kudos it offered. Melanie made her way through the throng of drinkers, who stood mostly in groups talking loudly against the background music. She spotted Ratty at the bar just as he saw her.

“Dry white, Mel?”

“Thanks ... just what I need”

“Shall I order us a couple of prawn sandwiches?”

“Sounds good to me.”

He carried the drinks to a table in a corner away from the crowd. “It’s been weeks, Mel, since Poland. How are things at home?”

“Good, yes absolutely fine, and with you?”

“Same. Amazing in fact. I suppose Nina has told you all about her move into Stellar Haufman’s office?”

“Yes, did you arrange that with Hugh while we were working out there?”