Yours Unfaithfully (25 page)

It wasn’t as if she wanted him to betray his wife, she wasn’t after him for sex, she simply wanted him to hold her and be nice to her. She dreaded the moment when he would say he had to leave. Every woman is aware of the power she possesses and this was the moment for her to use it to best effect, even if what she was doing wasn’t strictly fair. Who was making the rules anyway and what were rules for if not to be broken once in a while?

She slid forward, pushing herself closer to Tim and causing her skirt to ride well up her thighs. Tim would notice before long, she would see to that, but first she undid the top two buttons on her blouse, discreetly so he didn’t see her do it, but so that the next time she moved he would be treated to the sight of more than just cleavage.

Tim’s mind was far away, he was thinking about the drive to London tomorrow and wondering how he would get on with Simon once they spent some time together. He felt Nina wriggle in his arms and glanced down to see if she was still crying. He was met by a full on view of Nina’s breasts with no attempt to conceal them. Could Nina really not know that her blouse had come undone? Was she so distraught that she didn’t care that she was showing her legs – rather nice legs as it happened, right up to her knickers? He did the decent thing.

“Neen, sweetheart, your blouse is undone, it must have popped open when you moved, I wouldn’t want you to think that I was looking without you knowing.”

“I don’t mind you looking, Tim, after all no one else is going to look are they? Let’s undo all the buttons, what does it matter? She ripped her blouse open to expose her bra, pulling it off her shoulders and throwing it across the room. Look at me, Tim, am I so ugly that you can’t bear to look, is that why Ben left, because I’m ugly? I always thought I had good legs but maybe they’re not good anymore. I don’t have cellulite though, look.” And with that she undid her skirt and, taking her weight on her feet, she let it slip down past her knees before kicking it off completely.

Tim was acutely aware that Nina was sitting in his arms wearing nothing but her pants and bra, and these were pretty flimsy as underwear goes. He felt himself starting to sweat. His arms were now holding her bare flesh and she was willing him to hold her closer.

“Tim if you reject me then I know that I’m finished, I know that no man is going to want me now or in the future. Help me, Tim, please...”

“Nina, you are beautiful, I told you that before, when... you know ...”

“When you made love to me, Tim, is that when you mean? Why can’t you say it?”

“Nina it was different then. You know how bad things were between me and Mel, but it’s better now, we’ve sorted ourselves out. I couldn’t do anything like that now; it wouldn’t be fair to Mel... or to you.”

“Let me decide what’s fair, Tim, I need you now, I need you to convince me that life is worth living, that I am still a woman, a woman who is attractive. You know how it feels to be rejected, you were feeling it yourself only a few weeks ago, remember?”

“I’m sorry Neen, I can’t do it... but I’ll sit here with you for as long as you want. I’ll cuddle you and help you to shake off this fear of being alone. I’m still your friend, Neen, that won’t ever change; it’s just that I don’t want to be unfaithful to Mel.”

Nina’s womanly senses were as sharp as a razor; she had detected the first signs of weakness in his declaration of faith. He was weakening, once he started he would grow weaker still with her help.

“That’s all I want, Tim, I want you to hold me, cuddle me, don’t let me be alone, protect me, you’re so good at that. Why is it I feel so safe in your arms? You have so much power over me. Do you feel it, the power you have?”

Tim wasn’t sure if what he was feeling was power or not, but he knew for certain he was feeling something. He also knew that he was changing shape. Nina rested her head into him, then lifting her head she undid his shirt to place her head onto his skin. He couldn’t deny he liked what she was doing; he enjoyed being a comfort to her. He was satisfied that he was doing nothing wrong, nothing that counted as being unfaithful. In fact he thought back to what Mel had asked him to do. ‘You must look after her, don’t leave her crying, stay there as long as you have to, but see she’s all right’. Those were her words. Holding an almost naked woman was a test of his resolve, he knew this, but after all, he only wanted to do what she had asked of him. He must take good care of her. He felt his arms explore her body in an effort to comfort her, to comfort them both. She responded at once, moving to make it easier for him to access her. She let her hand wander to where she knew she would find the evidence of his growing excitement. She was pleased to find she hadn’t been wrong. They stayed like that for several minutes, savouring the intensity of the situation, each knowing that soon they would progress still further. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he had already submitted to Nina. He could only observe as she undressed him completely and then rid herself of her remaining clothes. He failed to protest as she slid across him and they slowly experienced everything that each had to offer before making sensuous love.

When Tim finally stood up to replace his clothes it was past midnight. He kissed her again and crept quietly out of the house. Back home, he went upstairs without using the light and silently got into bed alongside his sleeping wife. His mind was in turmoil at the enormity of what he had done, not once but twice now. Once again he tried to imagine having to explain his actions to Ben and Mel at the same time. He fell asleep dreaming of Nina and Beckie and Melanie.

Melanie was glad she’d booked yesterday as an extra day of holiday. She’d learnt years ago that it takes a full day to unpack, do all the washing and get back to normal. Tim was off to London on his first trip with his new boss, and wouldn’t be back till gone seven so she had time to get home from work, have a relaxing bath and be ready to hear all about his day. The first day back at work after two weeks in the sun was sure to test her resolve but she was feeling more confident now, almost her old self again. Mentally she was taking stock of all the changes she had wished for, and achieved in just two weeks. Her husband had gone through his silly phase, it was almost a distant memory now, when he chose to eat at the pub rather than sit down to eat with her, and when she had come close to cracking up. She recalled with a smile the night she offered Tim a sausage sandwich for his evening meal, and the reaction it evoked. The row that had followed had nearly split them up. She had even reached a point where she no longer fancied him and had refused to satisfy his needs.

That chapter was well behind them now that she had reinvented Tim from being a boring lorry mechanic with dirty fingernails into a personal assistant to a millionaire. What a transformation in just two weeks. Yes, she had good reason to be confident, she could still get results and that was why the bank had promoted her more than once. They knew she was a decision maker, a results getter, in fact management material; who knew the next move could be to Senior Account Manager, or SAM as they were known in the bank. That would put her on the next floor up and push her salary up another four grand a year. Very useful with the possibility of university fees looming in the not too distant future.

If she played on her current strengths she was convinced she could be upstairs by Christmas, after all with two SAMs about to retire the bank needed her skills as much as she needed the promotion. It was all but in the bag. She put the large bag of Provencal sweets near the printer for everyone to share, in customary fashion after returning from a holiday. The next task was to work her way through two weeks of e-mails, most of which could be deleted without the need to read them. One that immediately caught her eye was from Jo, the Office Manager:
‘Mel hope you had a great holiday, the Divisional Manager wants you in his office at eleven. Sorry don’t know what it’s about, but I wouldn’t be late if I were you, Jo’.

John Higgs, the DM, was something of a mystical figure in the bank. Although he was on the next floor up, along with the SAMs and Internal Audit, he was a very private man, a man of few words, and despite his three years at this office not much was known about him. His image as a secretive figure was enhanced by his secretary, a spinster nearing retirement age who also played her cards very close to her chest. Despite her earlier confidence, an audience with Higgs was sufficient reason to bring on an attack of the butterflies and as Mel made her way up the stairs to his office she was less convinced of her importance to the bank. All the old doubts came creeping back, so that when she finally sat across the desk from him she was expecting the worst.

“Melanie, you’ve been on holiday, France wasn’t it?”

“Yes, how did you know that?” Her surprise at him even knowing her name was obvious.

“It’s my job to know these things,” he said, with a reassuring smile, “but actually I was involved in the matter of your husband being recommended to Mr Stonewood. Martin Bateman talked it through with me in a private meeting before we asked security to run the usual checks on you and your husband. Forgive the apparent intrusion, but you do hold a responsible position in the bank, Melanie, and these things are part of the price you have to pay for that privilege.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. Honestly I’m fine about it and, if you’re interested, Tim, that’s my husband, got the job. Great news for us, we’re both very excited about it.”

“Good, I’m glad it’s working out well and I’ve got even more good news for you.”

So, she was on her way upstairs, he must’ve read her mind as she drove to work this morning ... ‘I must promote Melanie Fisher today, I’ll call her up at eleven and tell her the good news, “Melanie, I want you to become one of our Senior Account Managers, you’ll be personally responsible for some of the biggest accounts held by the bank” ...’ She was still imagining what lay ahead when she noticed John Higgs was staring at her with a bemused look.

“I was very impressed by the request we had from one of the partners at Osborne Melrose recently for your services at a legal seminar at the Hilton. That shows how well you get on with our top clients and it puts you in a good position on my roadmap for future promotion. Anyway, this client, Mr Naziree has been on to us again. He wants you on secondment for a month, some big project for Stellar Haufman plc, which will involve us in providing substantial finance. If you pull this deal off, you’ll be on this floor from the moment you get back from Poland.”

“Poland? ... what the heck has Poland got to do with it?”

“Poland is where the project is centred. Stellar Haufman want to take over a former state owned company in Poland; an electronics firm who have apparently done some excellent R and D. They have huge production facilities which are now within the EU but which operate at less than half of the cost of a similar facility in the UK.”

“Well, I’m very pleased for them but I can’t go to Poland with Mr Naziree. Did you say for a month?”

“That’s right, that’s how long he expects negotiations to last. You’ll be there to represent the bank in all of the dealings, but the intention is that we’ll get the business for the entire Polish project of Stellar Haufman. We are talking about a figure that will make it one of the three biggest accounts in this division. You pull this off Melanie and your future in the bank is guaranteed, in short you’ll have it made. You will be known throughout the bank and the industry. You’ll be the one giving seminars to business people after this. I’m just glad I’m able to push you into this wonderful opportunity.”

“Mr Higgs, I’m flattered at the offer, of course I am, but I’m a married woman, I’ve got three children, I can’t go off to another country, leave my family for a month.”

“That’s a pity. Can I ask you to go home and discuss it with your husband? I’m sure he’ll be supportive especially if you explain how important it is to your career.”

“Are you saying that I’ll miss out on promotion to Senior Account Manager if I don’t accept this brief?”

“I think it’s more a question of you retaining a position here in the Regional office if you refuse to carry out the instructions of the bank. This is a high profile customer and a high profile project. In other circumstances I would try to hush it up and send someone else, but the client has insisted you take this instruction, and if you refuse he could well take the business elsewhere. If that happens your career in management is over.”

“But that’s unfair... I’m a mother, and a wife, I can’t just leave my family for that length of time.”

“Ironically, Mrs. Fisher, your reason would have been accepted years ago. I would have been obliged to put someone else onto it and the bank couldn’t have done a thing about it. That all changed, however, when your union negotiated equal pay for women employees. Part of the deal the bank agreed was that in return for equal pay, women would be required to carry out equal tasks, regardless of what those tasks might be. I suppose you could say that’s perfectly fair. Look, I’m sympathetic to your situation, but I have to have your answer by tomorrow morning. I’m already coming under pressure to get it organized, but I couldn’t do anything until you returned from holiday. We’ll meet again at ten tomorrow, but be under no illusions about what I can do to help you. If you decide not to go you will almost certainly be out of here by tomorrow night. You know exactly how the bank operates in cases like this.”

“Yes, I remember poor old Jenny crying herself sick after her five o’clock briefing.”

“So do the sensible thing, get child care. The bank will pay all your reasonable expenses and your husband can surely live without you for four weeks, or are you saying you can’t survive without him for such a short time?”

“Yes... well no... I love my husband, we’ve just had a brilliant holiday and got ourselves back on track. We were having a few problems, you know the kind of thing, twenty years of marriage and all that... it’s just that it’s not a very good time for us to be apart.”

“Ten o’clock tomorrow then. I’m sorry, but after that it’s out of my hands.”