Twisted Love and Money (33 page)

Janet went to
the kitchen area and made some tea and put it on the tray with some
canapé’s she had prepared earlier. Then she went to her medicine
chest and took out a bottle of sleeping tablets. Some of these she
crumbled into the teapot.

“Leo, can we
toast to our success?” Janet asked when Crawford returned, looking
fresher in a dressing gown.

“And to your
engagement?” he said disappointedly, making a face.

“My engagement,
we will mark that occasion when Peter deigns to formally announce
same.”

“So it’s not
official?” Crawford asked, sat and tried a canapé.

“No but I hope
he won’t back out.”

“I don’t think
he will, not unless he’s completely nuts,” Crawford said and began
to pour his tea.

“To success,”
he said, raising his cup.

“To us,” Janet
said

“To us?”
Crawford asked.

“Yes, I always
honour a commitment Leo.”

“You do?”

“Shouldn’t
I?”

“Your word
should be your bond,” Crawford said and drank a sip.

“Camomile with
spiced apple flavouring and a spoon of honey,” Janet said as he
looked at his cup.

“Nice,”
Crawford said doubtfully and took another mouthful.

“We need a
proper arrangement,” Janet added.

Crawford smiled
and then moved the tray on the table so Janet could sit beside him
again.

“An
arrangement?”

“Yes Leo, you
are I believe, a happily married man?”

“Yes,” he
replied suspiciously.

“We need to
recognize the parameters. Your family is one, Peter is
another.”

“Yes?” he
replied, puzzled.

“My plans for
Peter and our future in London is another.”

“O.K.” Crawford
said doubtfully.

Janet paused,
blushed a little, despite her composure she found it difficult to
continue.

Crawford
understood her discomfort.

“Janet, you are
right. A man in my position, he can buy or have any number of
beautiful women.”

Janet went to
respond but he put a finger to her lips.

“Let me finish
please,” he said warmly, with sincerity.

Janet touched
his finger with the tip of her tongue and then smiled and sat back
in the couch to let him continue.

“But I have
desired you Janet for at least a year now. I urgently want to have
you as my lover and I am afraid a one-night stand will not be
enough. I want you as my mistress, Peter or no Peter.”

“Thank you Leo,
I hoped you would say that. Peter is a reality. For reasons I can’t
fathom I love him. But Leo, there is also a corner of my heart
reserved for you.”

“Is there
Janet?”

“I am prepared
to see you three times a year for the next five years.” Janet
proposed.

“Three times,
but Janet…”

“Three times as
a lover Leo, other times will be in business of as a friend.”

“Janet, we are
in a position here I think, of agreement in principle, so forgive
me if I haggle over detail.”

“I expected you
to haggle Leo.”

“I will take
care of Peter as you wish, career wise, but only if you come back
on to my takeover team, initially you can work out of Ireland,
after all it’s only an hour from London, but I need you longer
term. I think you and I could make a lot of money together for both
AF and us. You have a talent Janet; don’t bury it in provincial
Ireland. Look outside the box.”

“All right,
salary and details to be agreed and I still stay on the new
O’Byrne’s Board after the takeover.”

“Agreed, you
need that role in order to acquire your share options.”

“And protect
Peter’s wealth.”

“But not his
father’s wealth?”

“No, the father
is the fall guy.”

“He is the one
who gets fucked,” Leo said with a laugh beginning to fully
understand Janet’s plans.

“And two
others?” Janet said with a smile.

“Who?”

“Maybe me and
you together” Janet said with a laugh.

Crawford was
uneasy. Lighten up, he told himself; this lady has an interesting
sense of humour. He took another sip of his tea and sat back
holding the cup and saucer in his lap.

“Let’s haggle,”
he said happy with their rapport. “Three times a year is
ridiculous. It must be at least once a month.”

“You are a very
busy man Leo and you have a wife. And I have Peter, I must give him
exclusive rights from the time our engagement is announced for at
least six months.”

“Three times is
not even a discussion area, come off it Janet”. Crawford pressed.
As he spoke he could feel his senses rise to her and he knew he was
about to grab her soon.

Janet
considered. “Really Leo, consider your age, your work schedule,
your travel. How often can you come to Dublin in the next few
years?”

“They are bound
to have a monthly formal board meeting.”

“More likely
quarterly.”

“That means you
have moved to four times. I’ll come down to once every two months,
that’s six times a year.”

Janet laughed,
“I find this conversation really sexy Leo, I hope you don’t still
think I am cold.”

“No Janet love
I don’t. And you can forget about a six month exclusive for Peter.
I want to be first.”

Janet could
sense he was about to jump on her and stood up and topped up his
cup from the teapot.

“Drink your
tea,” she instructed, “I am going to do a table dance for you while
we continue the discussion.”

Crawford took
another sip, down boy he thought, a bit of patience and she is
coming to you. She’ll agree to once a month just give it time, she
really wants you to win the negotiation Leo. What a woman.

Janet began to
move slowly, sensually, and started removing clothing, starting
with her skirt. Crawford had a deep intake of breath, as the shock
of seeing her long legs in stocking and garters hit him.

“Leo, what I’ll
do is this. We will be lovers,” Janet said as she moved near him,
but far enough away so that he could not grab her.

“I will give
you rights to five times a year. Once a quarter plus a
discretionary once more, a time and place to be agreed. We both
protect each other’s need to keep our affair a secret. That is my
last word. If you argue I’ll get cross and go to bed on my
own.”

“No argument
Janet. I would walk through hell’s fire to get to you once, let
alone have an arrangement, but do we have to be so organized?”

“Yes Leo,”
Janet emphasized, leaning over and removing his tie. Crawford put
his hands on her mobile upper thighs, and thought he had died and
gone to heaven. Then she backed away.

“But you make a
good point Leo,” she added. “As part of our arrangements I will
allow you rights as it were, to five times a year, but I won’t be
inflexible. If you can persuade me to further intercourse, I may be
amenable. It’s up to you to be interesting enough to make me
agreeable. However don’t ever treat me in any sordid or offhand
manner. If you do it’s over.”

“Sounds
wonderful to me,” Leo agreed. “But I’m not waiting six months. We
start tonight.”

Janet began to
take off her bra and Crawford, thought to himself, ‘Leo, you lion
you.’

He shook
himself, feeling drowsy.

‘Leo get up and
running and energized. This has to be heaven on earth,’ he chided
himself.

Maybe more tea
would refresh him?

He poured
himself another cup of tea.

Janet was
rolling down one of her long stockings…

Janet watched
him sleep. Honouring a commitment was one thing, but the deal was
not done yet. Crawford would be apologetic in the morning when the
sleeping tablets wore off, and no doubt he’d blame fatigue and the
flight. By then she’d be up and dressed.

Poor dear, a
good nights sleep was what he really needed, so as to be sharp in
the morning. Everything in its time and place, she thought as she
cleared up, we have an early start in the morning. It was working
out to be one of those good days.

Janet began to
clear up and then went to get a duvet to cover Crawford where he
lay asleep on the couch.

Chapter
Thirty-seven

Dorothy had had
a little too much champagne. She could see her mother was as high
as a kite in one corner, still standing but becoming more vacuous
in expression by the minute. Dorothy prayed silently, she had heard
the story of the parish bazaar and hoped her mother would do
nothing outrageous. Dorothy pursed her lips thinking her mother
really was becoming impossible.

Jeremy fussed
over all the guests. It seemed to Dorothy as if Jeremy was working
from one end of the room and David was covering the same route in
reverse. Dorothy was standing near a flowerpot; drink in hand,
taking everything in. True to her nature she was frowning like a
disapproving school prefect. She found herself frowning at the
noisy enjoyment of a group of young people in one corner.

She shook
herself. Young? No younger than she was. Dorothy forced herself to
join them. This she achieved by standing at the edge of the group
and smiling at their inanities.

From the corner
of her eye she watched the rest of the party. She had to hand it to
Jeremy and David. They were true performers, handling their guests
with calm and ease. Dorothy began to wish Jeremy would come and pay
attention to her. She was amazed at his personality. Alone with her
he would be submissive and would appear weak. In this situation it
was as if someone had thrown a switch and he was in business mode,
all competence, charm and humour. It frightened her and she
wondered if she would ever truly control him.

Her heart sank
as she saw David was circulating in the direction of her group.
David frightened her even more. He was so handsome and charming.
Tall and thin with sensitive but strong features he carried himself
with poise and confidence. His eyes embraced everyone and he had a
wonderful rounded voice that dominated any conversation
effortlessly. Charm personified, she thought, what a waste he’s
gay.

Dorothy and
David had only had a few minutes perfunctory conversation earlier,
before others joined them and he seemed somehow to be spirited away
to greet new arrivals.

David joined
the group. “Having a good time, Ladies and Gentlemen,” he asked in
a mocking laughing voice.

Everyone smiled
or laughed and soon he had the group engaged in a light-hearted
banter. He was very camp, talking about ‘his frocks’ with Oohs and
Aahs and foppish gestures. But his wit was sharp, intelligent and
keen and he soon had them all in stitches.

Then, expertly,
effortlessly, David took Dorothy by the elbow and led her away from
the group, leaving them smiling in his wake. He took her back aside
to the large flowerpot where she had previously been standing. A
waiter came in response to a raised eyebrow with two glasses of
Champagne.

“So you are
Dorothy,” he said, his eyes, which had seemed pleasant and amused
had taken on a hard glint and bored into her.

“Yes, I’m
Dorothy, nice to meet you David,” she said as pleasantly as she
could muster.

“You wish to
take my Jeremy away, I believe,” he smiled a tight smile. Dorothy
could feel his physical presence and he seemed somehow to look down
into her. He had a light mannish perfume, an expensive aftershave?
A perfume, she decided.

“
Jeremy and I have fallen in love” she said simply.

“Then why do
you beat him?” he asked in his polite clipped English accent.

Dorothy flushed
and looked around, embarrassed. No one appeared to have
overheard.

“I’ll thank you
to keep your nose out of Jeremy and my personal affairs,” she said
tartly.

“I am a part of
Jeremy’s personal affairs,” he corrected.

“I believe you
are talking history” Dorothy said and walked away from him.

David watched
her go, his composure unruffled. Reasonable childbearing hips, he
thought. Then he shrugged but his eyes narrowed, a formidable
opponent, this Dorothy, he concluded. Then he smiled and joined the
next group.

His thoughts
were buzzing thinking; of course she does not really know Jeremy.
It is much too early. Too early for Dorothy to know how smoothly
Jeremy could manipulate people. It needed intelligence and a sense
of humour to stay above Jeremy. She would never have what they had,
he hoped.

Then Jeremy did
it. David stared, he guessed something was coming but he could not
believe it was happening. He gripped his glass and set his face
outwardly pleasant.

Jeremy was
standing on a chair. Too much fucking Champagne, David thought.

“Ladies and
Gentlemen!” Jeremy said, in a loud pleasant voice.

Slowly silence
descended as he waited for their attention.

“Dorothy,”
Jeremy called.

Pink with
embarrassment, Dorothy went to Jeremy’s side.

“Ladies and
Gentlemen,” Jeremy announced. “Dorothy O’Byrne and myself wish to
announce our engagement.”

Immediately
there was uproar. Glasses were recharged for toasts. Ann O’Byrne
dropped her glass in stunned amazement. Her daughter Dorothy, the
bitch had finally got herself a man and a nice one at that! Ann’s
mouth hung open in surprise.

Michael O’Byrne
recovered first and grabbing Ann by the arm he steered her to
Jeremy and Dorothy’s side.

“To the happy
couple,” he announced and everyone drank a toast.

Michael and Ann
enthusiastically congratulated them both and then they were swept
aside as the remainder of the gathering pressed up to shake
Jeremy’s hand and kiss Dorothy in congratulation. Most of the
people at the party were strangers to both Jeremy and Dorothy but
in high excitement they accepted congratulations and kisses from
all concerned.