A Dangerous Affair

Leah was right, Tom was bound to make some kind of comment when he saw her and so as she emerged from the ladies room she decided to adopt the confident ‘I always dress like this in my spare time’ kind of attitude. Leah had said to Stephanie that she would see her in the pub and she rushed off, leaving Stephanie standing outside the office door with butterflies in her stomach. She took in a deep breath and opened the door.

Tom was leaning against Stephanie’s desk, waiting impatiently for the girls to stop fussing so that they could get to the pub. When the door opened however he did a double take and jumped clumsily away from the desk whilst for a split second his brain struggled to work out who was striding towards him. He blinked his eyes a few times as if they were deceiving him and then continued to simply stare at her open mouthed as she approached. Suddenly his hormones were running riot at the sight of her but the strange thing was that he’d probably seen more of her that afternoon through that flimsy blouse of hers. And yet this outfit was somehow a million times more sexy because what he’d not seen before was every curve of her body so seductively outlined.

“Come on then, we had better go if we’re going to get a gift for Bob on the way,” Stephanie said casually, leaning past Tom to grab her handbag from off the desk. Tom took a few moments to react as the scent of her perfume hit him and he caught sight of the smooth skin of her shoulders and neck in the off the shoulder top as she bent forward.

“Wait a minute, gift?” he frowned. “Ah come on Steph, what do we want to get him a gift for? Let’s just go straight to the pub.”

She hung her handbag on her shoulder and placed her hands on her hips in a domineering gesture. “It’s his birthday Tom, and we’re not turning up empty handed so that’s an end to it.”

Tom’s eyes travelled up and down Stephanie’s body as she stood there and suddenly he grinned.

“Okay you win…”

She nodded, apparently satisfied, and turned on her heel to leave.

“…anything you say… Stephie…my little sex kitten,” he called out, drooling after her.

Tom made a quick detour from the pub, which was actually within walking distance from the office, to find the gadget type shop on the High Street that he’d seen in passing before. He pulled up outside the shop and they ran inside. Scanning the shelves, he picked up the first thing that he could get his hands on, eager to get out of there and get to the pub.

“Okay, this looks good. Now let’s go,” he said, heading for the till.

Stephanie halted him with a hand on his chest. “Hold on a minute,” she reached out her hand. “Let me see that.” He held up the object and she looked at him in disbelief.

“A filofax! You can’t buy him that!”

He looked at it and shrugged. “Why not?”

She rolled her eyes. “Because he’s not a filofax kind of person and because it’s the most boring present you could have chosen!”

He groaned. “What then?”

“Look for something that you would like to receive. You have to admit that you wouldn’t be too impressed with a bloody filofax!”

She had a point. He placed the filofax back and they both looked more carefully for a gift. Tom actually began to enjoy testing out the gadgets and considering if Bob would even be able to use them or not!

“Stephie,” Tom called her over to him, “I’ve got it,” he grinned. “It’s perfect.” He held up some kind of drinking hat which had a beer bottle holder on the top and a tube which ran to reach the wearer’s mouth, dispensing the beer.

She eyes the hat. “Well…I guess it’s a lot more Bob’s type of thing.”

Bloody men!

“Let’s get it,” she concluded.

They purchased the gift and exited the shop in high spirits.

****************

When they entered the pub the party was in full swing and everybody cheered as they approached the bar. Bob was sitting surrounded by the other reporters who were encouraging him do drink a whole pint of beer in one go. Stephanie was surprised to see Brick standing nearby, watching the proceedings. As far as she knew he rarely, if ever, socialised with his staff.

“Hi boss, no fishing tonight?” Tom asked.

“No Tom, someone’s got to keep an eye on this lot!”

“Hey, you want a beer?” he offered Brick.

Brick shook his head. “Was thinking of something more along the lines of a whiskey but they don’t have my usual brand.”

Tom didn’t seem bothered and ordered him a whiskey anyway. He also ordered a drink for Stephanie, himself, and of course for the birthday boy.

“Here, this is for you,” Tom said, handing Bob the beer, “but you’re going to want to look at what we’ve got you first.”

Stephanie handed him the bag and he pulled out the beer contraption to the delight of the surrounding reporters and himself.

“Happy birthday Bob,” Stephanie laughed. Bob grinned and turned his cheek to her for a kiss. She tutted but kissed him on the cheek and everyone cheered and applauded. Bob looked around the group with a grin like a Cheshire cat and jumped off his stool, putting his arms out towards Tom. Tom looked horrified.

“You come any nearer and you’re not going to make it to your next birthday!” he warned. Everyone laughed.

Bob tried the hat on to the sound of more hilarity and a beer bottle was placed on top of his head.

Tom and Stephanie stayed immersed in the group, enjoying their drinks whilst the reporters recounted earlier events and described how Bob had tried in vain to charm the bar woman. Barker appeared a little later and pulled Stephanie slightly back from the group to speak to her.

“There were some people in here earlier looking for you Stephanie. Some friends of yours.”

Stephanie looked puzzled.

“Have they left?” she asked.

Barker shrugged. “Haven’t seen them for a while,” he said moving away to the bar.

By this time Tom had noticed the conversation and he bent to speak to Stephanie.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing really, Barker just said that some friends of mine were looking for me.”

“Oh.” He looked a little surprised but seemed satisfied with the situation and finished his drink, returning to the bar to order more for himself and Stephanie.

Stephanie scanned the crowded room for anyone she knew but her heart missed a beat when she caught a quick glimpse of someone disappearing behind a group of people at the other side of the bar.

“You want wine again Stephie?” Tom asked, turning back to look at her. He frowned in puzzlement when he saw the look on her face. Her mouth fell open in shock and she immediately coloured up, quickly averting her eyes, turning away and running a hand through her hair.

“What is it?” he asked, leaning over to talk to her. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Oh nothing,” she said with a smile that didn’t really seem genuine.

He went back to ordering the drinks but kept his eye on her as she tentatively glanced back to the other side of the bar. She saw nothing and shook her head abruptly, thinking that she had been imagining things.

Tom eventually handed her a new glass of wine but before she could take it she swung around when someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

“Pippa!” she exclaimed in shocked surprise. One glance at Pippa there confirmed that she hadn’t been imagining what she saw. If she was there then it had to have been him.

“Hi darling,” Phillipa said, kissing her on both cheeks, “I heard some dreadful news that you’d been shot and I phoned your office straight away when I couldn’t get hold of you. You can’t imagine how relieved I was when the chap explained that you were out of hospital and were well enough to return to work. He said that I’d missed you but he told me about the birthday bash and that you’d be in here tonight so here I am.”

“It’s great to see you,” she said, looking over her shoulder to see if there was anybody apparently with her.

“So I want to hear it from you darling, are you okay?” Phillipa asked.

“Yes, really I’m fine now,” Stephanie assured her. “Who are you here with Pippa?”

“Well, that’s another story. You’re never going to guess,” she said with excitement.

Stephanie thought she could guess. “Who?” she asked.

“Simon of course and…Dan.”

So it was him! Stephanie’s heart began to race nervously.

“He got in touch a few weeks ago and then afterwards when he heard about the shooting he was desperate to come along tonight to see you,” she explained.

“Ah,” Stephanie looked lost for words and there followed a short tense silence.

“I didn’t do the wrong thing did I? I thought you’d like to see him again.”

“Err, well…” she thought of how to reply. “…does he know I’m here yet?” she asked in a quick whisper.

“No, I don’t think so,” Phillipa answered, looking perplexed.

“So…you could say that you couldn’t find me and…” She was grasping at straws. “You can’t really do that can you?” Stephanie realised.

“Not really, why what’s wrong?” Phillipa asked.

Stephanie sighed. “It’s just that I haven’t seen him for years and years and god Pippa what would I say to him? I can’t possibly face him.”

Phillipa laughed. “Calm down Stephie, he’s not going to bite your head off!”

Stephanie groaned. “Okay, it’s fine. I’m just not myself tonight.”

“I’ll go and bring them over,” Phillipa said, turning to move away.

Stephanie grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Wait!” she thought for a moment. “Would you like a drink? I know I could do with another drink.”

Phillipa looked at her as if she’d gone momentarily mad. “I’ve got one over there.”

“Yes, and you’ve got one here,” Tom said handing her the glass she hadn’t yet taken off him.

She jumped at the sound of his voice. “Oh yes, I’d forgotten.”

By the time she had turned back, Phillipa had gone.

Tom watched Stephanie’s flustered face and wondered why she was so reluctant to see this Dan person that Phillipa had talked about. He had a vague recollection of a conversation with Pippa before at Stephanie’s house about this Dan guy and the whole thing made him nervous.

Stephanie drank the whole glass of wine in two goes and looked out anxiously into the crowds, waiting for Phillipa to return. When she spotted Dan for the first time in twelve years she was surprised at how much she felt like an eighteen year old girl again. She had imagined scenarios of seeing him after all that time and wondered what it would be like, but she hadn’t imagined feeling exactly the same, nervous and tongue tied. She smiled at him as he approached.

“Hello stranger,” she said.

He grinned at her. “Stephanie,” he said, kissing her on the cheek, “look at you!” He held her hands out to her sides and looked her up and down. “You look a bit different to the last time I saw you!”

She laughed nervously. “Well, it has been a few years Dan.”

“Hello Simon,” she said with more affection, kissing him when he emerged from behind Dan.

“Stephie,” he smiled, holding her face with one hand and kissing her cheek. “How are you sweetheart? We heard that you’d been shot!”

“I know, but as I said to Phillipa I’m fine now,” she replied. Simon didn’t look entirely happy but smiled again and said that he was glad. Then Stephanie heard Tom clear his throat loudly behind her and she turned suddenly.

“Oh, everyone, this is my colleague Tom. You know Phillipa and Simon don’t you?” she said to Tom.

“Sure,” he smiled at them.

“And I’m Dan,” Dan said, reaching across to shake Tom’s hand. Tom smiled but the smile didn’t touch his eyes as they shook hands.

“So, are you still travelling around Dan?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah, still doing the photography and I never seem to have time to stay in one place for long but I still get such a kick out of it. I can’t complain,” he replied.

“Dan is a photographer Tom, he spent quite some time in Ireland actually….” As soon as she said it she regretted it. Perhaps Ireland wasn’t the best topic of conversation but she was trying to find some way of including Tom into the conversation and she panicked under the stress. “…Tom is from Ireland Dan,” she faded off.

Dan looked politely interested but Tom put an end to that conversation by saying,

“Yeah well I’ve been living in London for a long time now.”

Tom retreated back to the bar to join Brick then, he wasn’t in the mood for old school reminiscences and he’d leave them to carry on in the hope that the friends would leave soon. He finished his drink with Brick, feeling suddenly less in the mood for the energy and banter of Bob’s group.

Tom could feel himself becoming more and more angry as the time passed and Stephanie was still talking to Phillipa, Simon and Dan. The final straw for him was when Dan reached across the bar next to Tom to ask the bar woman for a piece of paper and a pen to write down stephanie’s phone number on it. He glared at Dan and then turned back to the bar, threw some bank notes down and strode away towards the exit. Brick shook his head and caught Stephanie by the arm, gesturing with his eyes to Tom who was on his way out of the bar. Stephanie looked mortified and raced after him. She caught up with him in the porch and blocked his way.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh you had noticed then,” he said angrily.

“What? You’re annoyed because I’m talking to my old school friends?” she asked.

“No Stephanie. You go ahead, I’m going home,” he said, trying to move past her.

“No you’re bloody well not!” she came back. “Firstly because you are the one who dragged me here in the first place and secondly because you can’t drive now, you’ve had too much to drink.” The second reason wasn’t entirely a good one as he would have to get home at some point but she was using every reason she could think of.

He had already fished the car keys out of his pocket and was holding onto them so she grabbed them out of his hands. Tom suddenly had to get away from her, if he didn’t he feared that he would say something that he would really regret. He pushed past her and charged down the street. She followed, shouting after him.

“Where are you going now? Tom! If you’ve got a problem with me then don’t you think that we should talk it through? Tom!”

She stormed after him but had trouble keeping up at the pace he was walking until he reached the office again and strode inside. He headed straight for Brick’s office, found Brick’s secret bottle of Whiskey and poured himself a drink. She appeared at the door, panting for breath and watching him with a frown.

“You know if he finds out you’re drinking that he’ll…” she didn’t get to finish.

“To hell with it!” He was leaning against the desk in front of her with fury in his face. “That’s just like you isn’t it Stephanie. Always follow the rules. Well I don’t give a damn!” He pointed at her with the whiskey glass in his hand. “You want some advice? Cut the bullshit and break a few rules now and then. Maybe then you’ll make a decent reporter!”

Of all the things to say, that angered her most. After all they had been through he was throwing doubts on her reporting skills! She moved forward and shot out a hand then to slap him but it caught the whiskey glass on the way, spilling some of the contents. When she saw this she had a better idea, she snatched the glass out of his hand and threw the rest of the whiskey into his face.

Suddenly he saw red, jumping up, grabbing her by the arms and thrusting her aside in a change of heart as he went for the door again to get away from her. She had other ideas though and blocked him again. There ensued a fierce struggle during which somehow Stephanie ended up backed against the wall and away from the door long enough for Tom to leave. By that time however Tom’s mind was far from leaving her, he wanted her there, against that wall and before she knew what was happening his mouth was crushing hers.

“You’re so damn frustrating!” he growled against her lips.

“You’re such a bloody arrogant bastard!” she growled back.

“Why don’t you just shut up!” he said, cutting off the words that sprung to her lips by replacing his mouth. “You drive me to distraction you know Stephanie, why can’t I get you out of my damn head?!”

“Why can’t I get you out of mine?” she came back. Feeling his hands roaming, she grated out angrily, “You’ve got to bloody well stop this! Especially in here!”

“You bloody well stop it!” he shouted back.

“I can’t!” she said in frustration.

“Well then how the hell do you expect me to?"