The Lethal Encounter (23 page)

With that Peter picked up his
glass, tipped it towards her and said simply.

“To us.”

Katie returned the smile and
clinked her glass against his.

“To us,” she replied.

It was a simple exchange but
one that meant everything to her. They had only spent a few snatched moments
after she had got out of hospital, although he had kept in constant touch. He
had got back into his work with a vengeance and seemed to be either in
important meetings or out of the country. She had tentatively suggested a break
after finishing at Shire and, to her delight, Peter had joined her in Thailand a few days ago.

Their time together so far
had been blissful.

“You know, I think we should
go out to that island tomorrow. We can charter a boat, make a day of it. What
do you think?”

“That sounds lovely.” Katie
placed her hand over his and squeezed gently. She was still finding it hard to
believe the way things had turned out and shuddered when she thought that it
had taken a near death (well not death maybe) experience to kick start things
back on course.

“But now some food. Let’s go
to that restaurant on the beach, the one that served the amazing sweet and sour
fish the other night. What do you think?”

“Sounds good to me,” replied
Katie, picking up her glass again and taking another sip. “You'll have to help
me walking on the sand again…..sorry.”

Peter smiled at her and
placed his hand on her leg, rubbing gently through the thin material of her
skirt. His touch inflamed her to the core and she almost suggested returning to
their room before going to the restaurant.

They finished their drinks
and made their way to the edge of the veranda that bordered the hotel, before
dropping down onto the fine white sand. Peter turned and Katie, with a giggle,
jumped up onto his back. She clenched her legs around him and leant forward to
whisper in his ear.

“Giddy up, boy.” She gently
nibbled his ear as he started walking the short way along the beach to the
restaurant.

They reached their
destination and were greeted by a stunning Thai girl in traditional dress who
stared appreciatively at Peter before showing them to a table. Katie sighed.
She supposed she was going to have to get used to this if she and Peter were
going to become a long term item (the very thought that they were not sent
shivers of concern through her body). He never seemed to notice all the
admiring glances, although Katie could not help but feel he must.

They sat looking through the
menus, although this was not really necessary since a sumptuous buffet was laid
out all along the side wall of the restaurant. Katie was first to break the
silence.

“Are you aware that most
women we encounter seem to have the hots for you?” she said.

Peter looked up and smiled.

“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s
just your imagination. Anyway, chance would be a fine thing.” He added - the
smile on his face growing broader.

Despite her happiness and new
well being, Katie felt a tug of jealousy as she looked at the man opposite her.
Here he was, a multi millionaire businessman who, up to a couple of months ago
lived a playboy lifestyle and dated models, heiresses and actresses. Now he was
in Thailand with plain old Katie McGovern, who had no trust fund, had not
graced the cover of Vogue and had definitely not appeared in a Victoria’s Secret ad campaign. Despite the fact that he was here with her and they were
having a great time, Katie kept coming back to this fundamental point. The
thought of going back to London now and having to integrate into his busy
social network with all those old “acquaintances” filled her with dread.

And, to make matters worse,
at that very moment, a female voice boomed out from the other side of the
restaurant.

“Peter…..oh, my god, it’s you
isn’t it? What a coincidence!”

A ravishing blonde woman in a
very tight fitting dress came slinking over to Peter who pushed his chair back
and rose to greet her.

“Why, Penny, how are you? And
fancy seeing you here! Who’s the lucky man?”

Peter and Penny hugged and
started talking animatedly. Katie sighed, her vague worries of a few moments
before becoming more pronounced. She sighed again, a little louder. Peter
picked up the sound and turned towards her.

“Oh, sorry Katie. Penny, this
is Katie, a very good friend of mine,” he said, holding his hand out towards
her.

Penny turned towards Katie
with an appraising look and held out a hand.

“Well, well. Katie, I’m
pleased to meet you. How did you manage to get Peter here all by himself? Loads
of us have been trying for years to do that, haven’t we Peter?”

To Katie, she seemed to
emphasize the word “you” as if to put her down and she immediately had an
irrational dislike for Penny.  

“Good looks and a shed load
of intelligence,” replied Katie with a tight smile, glancing over at Peter. She
knew she was being a bit bitchy but she also knew that comments like that
seemed to pass straight over the heads of girls like Penny. She had guessed
right as the Penny smiled back at her and turned once again to Peter.

“Peter, I’m with Mike Potter,
who know, the chap who runs that racing company. You must come over and speak
to us later. Anyway must go.” She turned again to Katie.

“And lovely to meet you, er,
Katie.” With that she swayed off, but only after giving Peter’s arm a
conspiratorial squeeze.

Peter sat down, seemingly
unaware of Katie’s reaction to the impromptu visit.

“An old girlfriend?” Katie
enquired, her stomach churning slightly at the thought of Peter and Penny
together.

“Oh, I’ve known Pen for ages.
She’s kind of one of the social crowd in London. A real go-getter. Mike’s even
richer than me.”

Katie gritted her teeth. The
way Peter talked about his life sometimes made her wonder if there could ever
be a real future for them together. Whilst her relationship status could be
summed up in a couple of serious long term partners and some fun flings in
between, Peter’s scene seemed to be a group of rich businessmen passing a group
of highly sexed girls around as and when they felt like it. No wonder he was so
fucked up when it came to commitment.

“Have you any idea how that
makes me feel?” she said quietly.

“What?” replied Peter with a
slightly resigned look on his face.

“It makes me feel small,
insecure, ugly and pathetic…..and the pathetic is for even thinking about it.
I’m sorry but I’m just not used to boy friends being the subject of group
female adoration. I don’t know how to handle it.” Katie stopped and looked
apologetically at Peter. She knew these thoughts were irrational and she knew
she would have to get used to them, but she was determined to tell him how she
felt.

“God, Katie. Don’t be like
that. I told you, I’ve known Penny for ages. What do you want me to do…..ignore
her?”

Suddenly the evening had
taken a different course. From feeling amazing a few moments ago to feeling
sick with jealously and insecurity, Katie just want to jump up and leave.

“Anyway, if you really want
to know, we never actually went out - so does that answer your question?” Peter
added as an afterthought.

Katie nodded, although she
knew that he did not really understand what she was feeling. “Never really went
out” could mean anything, and she was pretty sure that, sometime in the past,
Peter had probably slept with Penny.

She tried to imagine meeting
one of her casual encounters again and what that would actually mean. Pretty
much nothing, if truth be told, she reasoned with herself. So why did the
thought of Peter’s past flings make her feel so…..terrible?

“Yes. I’m sorry. Let’s just
eat shall we?” Katie said in a small voice.

However much they tried to
pick up the mood of earlier, something was missing and they made their way back
to the hotel some time later feeling deflated. Katie retired to the rest room
just off the bar and Peter went to order a nightcap.

As she washed her hands at
the ornate sink, Penny made an entrance and moved to stand next to her in front
of the mirror.

“So how long have you known
Peter?” she asked, as she applied her lipstick. “It must be a new thing,
because I had not heard he had a new squeeze.”

Katie pushed her hands
together under the flow of water from the tap and considered her response.

“Not long really. We met at
work.”

“At work eh? Do you run one
of these IT company things as well then?”

“Oh no,” Katie laughed. “I’m
just a lowly employee, but when the boss starts sniffing, well, you just have
to toe the line, don’t you?”

Penny stared back at her.
Katie thought she detected a new look of respect dart across her face, but it
was gone as soon as it had arrived.

“Good for you. Peter is an
adorable man. He’ll be a great catch for someone, that’s for sure.” With that,
Penny turned and disappeared into one of the cubicles that lined the back wall.

Katie smiled to herself.
Despite her inner turmoil, she felt she had won that particular exchange and,
after shaking her hair and straightening her dress, hobbled out of the restroom
to return to the bar.

Peter, she saw, was deep in
conversation with a well dressed man she guessed was in his early forties. As
she approached, they both turned to look at her with, and she noticed on this
occasion, admiration on their faces.

“Katie, this is Mike. He’s
here with Penny. You may have heard her say.”

Katie reached out and clasped
Mike’s proffered hand.

“You devil, Peter.” Mike
said. “You always end up with the most attractive, sexy and gorgeous girls. How
do you do it and where have you been hiding this particular beauty?”

Peter smiled and hooked his
arm around Katie’s waist, an action that pleased her greatly after her earlier
worries.

“Well, she sort of found me
if truth be told. It’s a long story.”

“No matter. Come and sit down
with me Katie darling.” Despite Mike’s comments, Katie could not help but like
this smiling, jovial man and, with a backward glance at Peter, she went to sit
down at one on the many chairs dotted around the bar. Mike sat down beside her
and took her hands in his.

“Katie, Katie. Come away with
me. I will make you happier than you have ever known. Leave Peter. I insist.
Now.”

Katie laughed and felt
better. Peter came over to the table with their drinks and she took hers gratefully.

“Well, Mike, that’s a nice
invitation but I hardly know you and you must realise I’m not that sort of
girl.” She joked back, immediately recalling the night in the hotel in Cannes when she had, very nearly, been exactly that type of girl!

They chatted about the usual
get-to-know-you things and Katie spotted that Penny had returned to the bar and
had caught Peter just as he was about to join them. They were now engrossed in
some deep conversation and she saw Penny’s hand repeatedly come up to touch
Peter as she emphasized points. She wondered, with a certain amount of
returning despair, what they were talking about. A couple of times, she saw
them glance towards her and Mike and she wondered if the girlfriend swapping thing
was, in fact, a reality.

“Peter seems totally
enamoured with you Katie, I’ve never seen him so besotted.” Mike’s comment
dragged her back to reality.

“And how on earth can you
tell that? Sometimes I even wonder myself.” She found herself opening up to
this virtual stranger.