A Dangerous Affair

Stephanie had been in bed sobbing for about half an hour before the telephone at the side of her bed rang, startling her. She picked up the receiver, hoping to hear Tom’s voice.

“Steph, guess who?”

Stephanie frowned. It definitely wasn’t Tom.

“Give me a clue?” she replied.

“I should be mortally wounded that you don’t know who this is! Long time no speak Steph, it’s Simon here.”

“Simon!” she looked astounded. “Hi, how are you?”

“Oh I’m fine, better for hearing your voice. I’ve got Pippa here. We thought that if you weren’t busy tonight we’d pop round to see you and bring a bottle...or two,” he laughed.

Stephanie smiled. “Oh Simon I’d love to see you both. Come round.”

“Well to tell you the truth we’re already on our way. Be there in ten minutes,” he said, hanging up.

Stephanie replaced the receiver and flew out of the bed, grabbing her skirt and pulling it on. She went onto the landing and turned the heating on high before returning to her bedroom and checking herself in the mirror. God, she looked awful. Her face was all smudged with mascara and her eyes were red and swollen. She went into the bathroom, washed her face and reapplied her makeup. Then she ran downstairs into the kitchen and took out three wine glasses and a few bowls which she filled with nuts and crisps. She had little else in her cupboards but at least she could offer them some basic snacks. Minutes later the front doorbell rang.

She opened the door to the sight of two smiling faces, made a small whoop of delight and hugged and kissed her friends.

“It’s so good to see you both, come in,” she said, holding the door open for them.

On his way in Simon, a tall blonde haired man, handed her a bag containing three bottles of wine. She looked in the bag as they made their way into the lounge.

“Thanks. I’ll grab a corkscrew and you can open a bottle for us Simon,” she said, disappearing into the kitchen whilst Simon and Pippa took a seat on the sofa. She came back with a corkscrew and the snacks.

“We have so much to catch up on,” she said, passing Simon the corkscrew, placing the snacks on the coffee table and taking a seat opposite them. “I want to hear all your news. I’m so glad you came,” she smiled.

They spent the following couple of hours reminiscing about old school days, laughing and drinking the bottles of wine. They couldn’t have picked a better time to visit her and after several glasses of wine and nostalgic conversation she felt considerably happier. Simon was just opening the third bottle of wine when her front doorbell rang and they all looked up in surprise.

“Are you expecting someone?” Simon asked.

Stephanie shook her head. “No, no one.”

She went to the door and opened it.

“Tom,” she said, amazed to see him there.

“I thought you’d be here. You’re supposed to be at your father’s,” he pointed out.

She looked a little sheepish. “I just needed to be back here. Actually some old school friends of mine turned up. Come and meet them,” she smiled, taking him by the arm and pulling him inside.

He looked slightly bewildered and unsure but he needed to talk to her so for now he’d have to meet her friends.

She led him into the lounge. “Everyone meet Tom. Tom this is Pippa and Simon.”

Pippa looked up at him and grinned. “Hi Tom,” she purred, shaking his hand and giving him a flirtatious look. He smiled and turned to shake hands with Simon. Stephanie had gone to collect another wine glass from the kitchen and returned to poor Tom a glass.

“Here,” she said, handing it to him and gesturing for him to take a seat in the chair to the side of hers.

“How do you know Steph Tom?” Simon asked.

“We work together,” he replied, sipping his wine and observing Simon from across the room. “So you all went to school together then?”

“We certainly did. And those were the good days eh,” Pippa smiled. “We got into so much trouble sneaking out of the dorms at night and partying in each others rooms.”

“Yeah but as I remember you had to drag Steph out. She hated breaking the rules. Still, get a couple of drinks down her and she used to be a bit of a wild one,” Simon said.

Tom looked across at Stephanie and remembered the time after she had taken the pill and they had ended up back there.

“I can believe that,” Tom commented.

“Still you didn’t think twice about breaking the rules for Dan did you Steph?” Stephanie looked slightly awkward and gave a small laugh, looking to the floor. “Dan was my roomie and Steph here had a huge crush on him,” Simon continued. Stephanie cringed and stared at Simon, willing him to shut up. Simon grinned and continued. “I used to catch her outside our dorm window just waiting to get a look at him.”

Stephanie put her hands over her face in embarrassment. “Shut up Simon. I was only sixteen. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

Everyone laughed.

“Oh you knew. You just couldn’t resist him,” Pippa chuckled.

Stephanie remove her hands and risked a quick glance at Tom who was watching her with interest. She turned back to Pippa and Simon.

“Let’s not bore Tom with old school stories,” she said, trying to change the subject.

Simon laughed but took the hint. “So where do you two work anyway?”

Stephanie’s head shot up and she stared at Simon again. This time there was panic written over her face but Simon appeared not to notice it.

“We work for the City Daily. I have only been there for about a year now but I think Steph has worked there for a few years. I take it you haven’t seen each other for a while then,” Tom observed.

“No but we’ll have to put that right,” Simon replied. “Did I hear right?” Simon backtracked in amazement. “Sorry, I think I might have misheard. I thought that you said you worked for the City Daily.”

Tom looked bewildered by Simon’s reaction. “I did and we do.”

Simon leant back in his seat and laughed. “Well, I never thought I’d see the day when Stephanie would work for one of her father’s newspapers. You two must have stopped arguing then.”