Chapter 2
Two
S teph was just accepting a second glass of wine from Lindsay when her friend asked,
“So where do you fancy going on holiday then?”
“I dunno, anywhere hot, although Jon has said he would see if his holiday company can do us a cheaper deal,” said Steph.
“Yeah he is good like that. Charlie booked our honeymoon to The Maldives through Jon and it was magnificent, all VIP, top of the range everything.” Lindsay smiled at the memory.
“Well, as much as I love you, Linds, I don’t fancy a romantic hideaway with you,” laughed Steph and was joined in her laughter.
“What about Greece or Spain then?” suggested Lindsay.
“We’ve done Greece a few times. Depends where in Spain, or Italy, but Italy could be a bit cool. Let’s look what Spain has to offer. Get your laptop out,” ordered Steph. “Don’t forget we need to print off the details for Jon.”
“You two are very friendly all of a sudden. I can’t help wondering if my mum was right about you two.” Topping up their glasses, Lindsay laughed.
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Steph becoming rather flustered.
“Oh my God! You like him. Don’t even bother to deny it. I have known you too long. It is written all over your face,” laughed Lindsay and suddenly began singing, “Stephanie fancies Jon, Stephanie fancies Jon.”
Steph laughed too and threw a cushion across at her friend. “Are we finding a holiday or not?” she asked as she flushed.
“Yes, and then you are going to tell me why you are as red as a beetroot.”
They found three holidays that they liked the look of and as Steph put the printouts into her bag, Lindsay suddenly said, “What about this one? It says that it is one of the most liberating resorts in Europe.”
Steph looked across at the screen and laughed loudly. “Really? Your mum would have a fit! It’s a naturist holiday.” Steph laughed still and then said, “Go on, print it off and let’s see if Mr Brooker can compete with that one.”
Lindsay laughed loudly as she hit the print button and observed, “I think you are playing with fire, Steph, but if that’s what you want.”
As they drained the second bottle of dry white wine, Lindsay suggested opening another, but Steph shook her head. “No, really, I have to get up for work in the morning.” Steph looked up at the clock. “I should be going. I will call for a cab.”
“Very wise not to have driven,” slurred Lindsay as Charlie appeared in the doorway and looked across at the empty wine bottles, crisps and nut packets on the coffee table.
“Good night?” He grinned at them both.
“Yes,” they said in stereo and then began to giggle.
“Oh dear, it was that good a night.” Charlie continued to laugh as Jon appeared behind him in the doorway.
“Jon!” cried Lindsay and staggered across to hug him. “You are so warm and cuddly,” she observed making Steph laugh out loud. “Really, he is Steph, come and feel for yourself,” she giggled uncontrollably making Steph laugh louder along with her friend.
“Oh dear,” repeated Charlie. “I think coffee may be a good idea.”
“No, not for me.” Steph had gotten to her feet and continued, “I am calling a cab.” She looked down confused and muttered, “Bloody phones.”
“Definitely coffee for you, Stephanie,” Charlie told her, sitting her back down next to his wife and removing the remote control from her hand. “No cabs available on there.”
She and Lindsay rested their heads against each other and giggled some more.
Steph looked across at Jon and smiled, but then began giggling for no reason.
“I’m glad I amuse you, Miss Pryor,” he said with a slight curve to his lips, genuinely amused by her.
“You do,” she told him.
“I hope you’re still laughing tomorrow at work with a hangover.” His smile becoming a full grin now. Even drunk, he was in awe of her . . . her beauty, intellect, sense of humour. There was nothing about her he didn’t like.
“No problem,” she slurred overconfidently.
“Did Dave mention that I have arranged for you to meet with representatives from a couple of companies I am looking at investing in?” he asked seriously which had a slightly sobering effect on her momentarily.
“No. When?”
“Tomorrow,” he replied still serious.
“Oh bollocks,” she said before beginning to giggle again with Lindsay as Charlie returned with coffee. Steph took one sip of the coffee. “I think I should just go home to bed. Charlie could you remote me a cab, please.”
Lindsay laughed loudly as she repeated, “Remote me a cab. I love you, Steph. You are my best friend ever.” Lindsay began to cry real tears. “What would I ever do without you?”
“Oh God!” Charlie’s sigh was followed by a grimace. “How much have you two had?”
“Just a bottle, each,” revealed Steph, attempting to get to her feet, but fell back making her cackle.
“Right,” said Jon taking charge. “Lindsay, goodnight, Charlie thanks for letting me thrash you on the golf course and dinner. Miss Pryor, let me take you home,” he said pulling her to her feet.
They all hugged and kissed before Jon eventually got Steph down the path and into his car. He looked across at her slightly disapprovingly and as she reached across and rested a hand on his knee he softened and smiled. “You are drunk, Miss Pryor.”
“And you are still a very lovely man, Mr Brooker,” she replied settling back in her seat as he drove them both back to his.
“Steph, Steph,” she heard him say and then felt a gentle shake to her shoulder. “Steph, darling, come on,” she heard and then suddenly she was being lifted up.
She opened her eyes and realised that they were waiting for the lift and that not only had he picked her up to get her out of the car, but he was now carrying her. She was currently hanging upside down over his shoulder.
She began to giggle again prompting him to ask, “What?” as the lift arrived.
“I was thinking earlier that since I’ve met you you’ve turned my life upside-down and now you literally have,” she said with her hair swishing below her now.
“Well for what it’s worth, my life is pretty topsy-turvy since you became part of it.” Having exited the lift, Jon placed Steph on her feet before him and led her towards the door and as she fell off her heels, he picked her up once more. “You are very drunk, darling.”
Steph laughed but stopped when she realised that Jon wasn’t.
“You really need to be more careful where your safety is concerned,” he said seriously and smacked her bottom firmly before putting her back on her feet inside the flat.
“Oh,” she said, rummaging through her bag then presented him with several sheets of paper. “Our holiday list.” She grinned up at him as he took the papers from her.
“Go and get into bed, you have a very busy day tomorrow,” he told her firmly.
“What about a busy night first?” she asked and attempted to look seductive, but courtesy of the alcohol she failed when she almost fell over again.
“No,” he chided. “Bed!”
“Come with me,” she pleaded.
“As you wish,” he agreed thinking she might never make it there alone. He helped her to walk into the bedroom and proceeded to undress her and put her into bed before undressing himself and sliding between the sheets where he wrapped himself around her.
“Can I tell you something?” she asked sleepily.
“Of course you can,” he said smiling in the dark as he gently stroked her hair. “Anything.”
“I really wish you weren’t married. I would like nothing more than to be your girlfriend, your proper girlfriend. Not a dirty secret sharing you, with a wif . . . with anything or anyone else,” she mused.
“Oh, darling, why don’t you talk to me like this when you’re sober?” he asked himself as much as he was asking her. “Or better still let me talk while you listen.”
She made a soft moan in response to his words and his touch as he brushed his lips across her cheek.
“I really, really like you,” she said slurring slightly.
“And I really, really like you, too,” he replied in a whisper.
She giggled again and said, “That’s because you are a very lovely man.”
He smiled and suddenly had a thought that prompted him to say, “Maybe not as lovely as you might think if you remember this in the morning.”
“Mmm,” she replied with no obvious meaning.
“Tell me what you were going to say on Monday morning about me spanking you?” asked Jon holding her tighter now.
She giggled and rolled over to face him.
“Why, have I annoyed you?” she asked stifling another giggle.
“No, not really, although we will be discussing your alcohol consumption and your safety tomorrow. Now tell me,” he ordered.
“Well, when you suggested it again I was tempted, but it would have been like the other night,” she said rambling slightly.
“So, you didn’t like it?” He was confused because she had obviously enjoyed it at the time and had said that she had.
“Oh I liked it, a lot. Like a very lot.” She nodded her head overzealously as words spilled from her mouth and although she wasn’t at her most articulate they conveyed her meaning perfectly.
“Then how didn’t you want it to be the same as the other night?” He spoke with a mixture of confusion and amusement at her drunken revelations.
She sat up on her elbow and immediately fell off it, bouncing her head off the headboard making Jon laugh as she rubbed her head, messing up her hair.
“You really are a strange drunk, mildly amusing, but bloody confusing,” he mused as he brushed her hair smooth again. “How didn’t you want it to be the same as the other night?” he asked again.
“I was already nakey, nakey, naked.” She giggled. “But you said that on that first night you would have put me on all fours then pulled my knickers down so that you could have spanked my arse, but unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing any.” She yawned loudly.
“You wanted me to pull your knickers down?” He needed to clarify her point.
“God yes,” she groaned.
“Why?”
“Because I want you to, to make it more naughty.” She giggled again, this time at the word naughty. “Because I want you to make me feel naughty and humility, humidity . . .” Her giggling continued. “I mean hu-mil-i-ate me,” she corrected by breaking the word down.
“Go to sleep, Steph,” Jon told her, kissing her nose and pulling the covers up over her shoulders as she closed her eyes, drifting off into a sound, alcohol induced sleep.
The sound of Jon’s alarm was blaring around her and as the pain registered she pulled the pillow over her head and attempted to go back to sleep.
“Oh no! Not this morning, darling. This is all self-inflicted, now get your very beautiful arse out of bed and into the shower.” Jon laughed as he pulled the duvet and pillow off her.
“I am not well,” she protested and genuinely felt ill.
“You are hung over, completely hanging out of your arse if we want to be precise, not unwell. Now, come on. You shower and I will make you a drink and get some headache tablets lined up,” he told her gently.
“Thank you, I really shouldn’t drink. I don’t do it all that often and I am not very good at it,” she murmured as she climbed out of bed and obediently got into the shower.
She had showered, washed her hair and brushed her teeth. She felt slightly more human, smiling weakly at her reflection in the bathroom mirror wrapped in a dark blue, fluffy towel with a matching one wrapped around her head. As she exited the bedroom Jon looked up from the kitchen and smiled at her.
“You are still very sexy, but you look like shit.” He smirked as he extended two tablets and a glass of water towards her.
She accepted the headache treatment offered and smiled back at him.
“You look as gorgeous as ever though,” she said seriously.
“Don’t you go flirting with me Miss Pryor or you will be late for work again.” He grinned wickedly, far happier than he probably should be at the notion of her attraction towards him, because God knows, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on. “And if your boss gets wind of your shoddy timekeeping he may just have to put you over his desk,” he said arching a brow at her.
“Do you reckon Dave’s into the kinky stuff then?” She faked a very serious expression.
“You are very funny, Stephanie, but not funny enough to stop that coming back to sting you, most probably on your sexy arse,” he replied darkly.
“I do hope so.” She struggled to keep an even tone, her arousal getting the better of her, with or without a hangover.
He watched her closely for a few seconds and considered making them both very late, revisiting the spanking, but then he recalled last night’s revelations and decided that she was a little underdressed again, so it would have to wait, again.
“Go and get dressed and then I will take you for breakfast before work.”
“I can’t face food,” she protested, a small heave confirming her doubts about eating.
“Tough because I am buying breakfast and before you complain about getting fat, don’t,” he said and turned back to the dishwasher signalling the end of that particular conversation.
“You’re the boss,” she conceded as she walked back towards the bedroom.
“Yes I am,” he agreed making her smile as she glanced over her shoulder.
Steph was sitting opposite Jon in the same cafe he had brought her to a few weeks previously before the concert picnic. Today he wore a dark blue suit with a pale blue shirt and a dark blue tie. Steph had opted for a grey pinstripe, knee length pencil skirt with pale, skin tone stay-up stockings in black court stilettos, a pale pink, button through blouse and the matching suit jacket to her skirt and was hoping to keep it grease free. The large, greasy breakfast was placed before her and she swallowed hard hoping not to be sick.
“Is this my penance?” she asked pointing down at the plate.
“For what?”
“Last night, for getting a little tipsy.”
“Not that I am aware of, although you were not a little tipsy, you were rat faced.” He smiled.
“I wasn’t that bad,” she protested, but even she didn’t sound completely convinced by her claim.
“Steph, you tried to call for a cab on the remote control to Charlie’s TV.”
She giggled at the notion and vaguely recalled it.
Jon stared at her seriously and added, “And that was pretty much your reaction to it last night.”
“Sorry, I know you don’t like me when I am drunk,” she said sincerely. “I think Linds and I may have got a little carried away,” she admitted.
“Mmm, you got carried all the way home.” He grinned, but then turned serious to say, “But if you had got a cab, anything could have happened to you in the state you were in and then I dread to think of how you would have made it up to the flat in one piece,” he mused.
“Are you angry with me?”
“Yes, no, maybe a little, but only because I want you to be safe and you seem to put yourself in danger when you drink. Promise that you will start to be more aware of how much you drink and the consequences to it?”
She nodded. “I will, I promise. I don’t really remember anything about last night,” she realised.
Jon frowned slightly, “Try to eat something, please.”