The plot thickens.... oh, I've done that bit before. Oh just read it for yourselves!

Easy As Falling Off A Bike.
by Angharad
part 102.

"How do you know?" I was astonished at this news and the thought I might be reunited with my bike was wonderful.

"I have a friend monitoring it, and who will act as a buyer if we think it's yours, if so then we set up a sting with the local police."

"Wow, you are so clever!" I was full of admiration for this wonderful hunk sat opposite me.

"Nah not really, but I know a man who is." He smirked at me and we giggled like schoolgirls again. I suspect the older couple who had come to sit on the next table were not impressed with our antics from the disdainful looks they were giving us.

Simon noticed as well and shrugged his shoulders. I winked and said in a loud voice, "Well Lord Stanebury, do I get the job as your concubine or not?"

The old man was sipping his beer as I said it and I suspect a bit went down the wrong way, he began coughing and went rather red in the face. As we left his wife was still slapping him on the back and I deliberately minced out, wiggling my bum like a call girl. Simon was trying to stifle a laugh and having some difficulty. Once we got outside, we almost fell about laughing.

"Did you see that old fellow's face, I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel, come here concubine and give me a kiss."

"It'll cost ya."

"I beg your pardon, I just paid for your lunch."

"So, we only ate because you were hungry."

"True, but you ate as well."

"I was always taught that it's not nice to have friends eat and drink on their own."

"What about lovers?"

"Mum didn't tell me about them, so I don't know if it counts, ummph!"

He grabbed me and kissed me again, I was still trying to talk, then gave up and surrendered to his kisses, I'd forgotten what I was going to say anyhow.

"Come on, lets go and find a computer and have a look at this bike." We drove back to my parents house and while I made some tea, Simon sat and fidgeted, waiting impatiently as my lap top booted up.

"Goodness this is slow," he complained.

"It's old, like it's owner," I called back, then thought, if he buys me a new one, I'll bash him on the head with it.

"What's it run on, Windows 3.1?"

"Ha ha, no XP, why?"

"Ah, I think we have lift off. Here we go, ebay coming up. Cathy, come and see if this is your bike?"

I almost ran in, carrying two mugs of tea. "It's the same model, so it could be. What size?"

Simon fiddled about, "It doesn't say."

"Oh. I suppose there are a few of them around, it might be a genuine one."

"Yeah, that's true, but we go for it anyway if it is the right size. If it's your old one we do the sting, if it isn't you have a new one. Either way you win."

"I have to pay for it, Simon."

"We'll sort that out after the wedding."

"What wedding?" I felt my heart flutter again.

"My cousin is getting married, silly bugger. We're invited."

"What? When did you know this?"

" A couple of days ago."

"Why didn't you say so before?"

"We had other things to deal with, it's no big deal."

"What I'm seen on the arm of Viscount Stanebury at a society wedding, and it's no big deal?"

"Okay, so it is a big deal, we're up to the challenge."

"When is it?"

"Next month."

"Where?"

"Erm, Scotland."

"Scotland!"

"What about my dormice?"

"They're not invited."

"You fool," I said slapping his shoulder, "I mean when am I supposed to get back down to Portsmouth to get out and check my nesting sites?"

"Come down one night mid week and I'll try and get a few hours off and help you."

"I don't usually have help."

"Have you been going around your sites as Cathy?"

"Sometimes," I admitted blushing. "But it was after dark, so no one saw me."

"You could have been attacked or sexually assaulted. You don't know who's lurking in the woods."

"I probably do, I have image intensifiers and infra red viewers."

"You do? Gosh, I'm coming then, I've never played with those before."

"They're not toys Simon, it's expensive equipment owned by the university."

"Don't tell me you've never played with them?" he challenged.

"I'm usually too busy to play. I can walk eight or nine miles checking out all my sites."

"What!"

"So if you're coming with me, be prepared for an energetic night." as the words left my lips I knew I had said the wrong thing.

"You are so good to me Cathy," he smirked.

"You know what I mean, you twisted aristocrat!" I sneered at him in mock disgust.

"You have cut me to the core of my blue blood," he simpered, "I am mortally wounded."

"I've a got a bandaid somewhere."

"You heartless hussy."

"That's me." I walked back out to the kitchen swinging my bum like I had a hula-hoop on the go.

"Hey up, we have a frame size, 52."

"Oh my God, that's the same as mine." I rushed back from the kitchen.

Simon dialled on his mobile, "We could have a goer, frame size matches." There was a pause as he listened to his friend, "Okay, let me know what happens, how much? A thousand." He looked at me and I nodded, "Okay, if it's kosher and in good nick, get it. If it's the one we are looking for, set off the sting."

I stood with my heart beating nineteen to the dozen and I felt quite sick. Simon was listening again. "Okay, you'll let me know. Whereabouts do you think they are? Gotcha, the Midlands. Could be our bike, it was taken on the M5, just a hop skip and a jump away."

He finished his call and saw my anxiety. He stood up and hugged me. "It'll be okay, either way you win and you'll soon be cycling again."

"I hope so." I didn't know if I wanted it to be my bike or not. Part of me did and wanted the rats who took it to be punished, another part of me felt scared, even with Simon here. Maybe having him accompany me around my dormouse survey would be a good idea.

"Here, you're shaking." He held me tighter and I dissolved into tears in his arms. "You don't cry at weddings too, do you?"

"Probably," I snorted and sniffed.

"Oh bugger!"

He played on my computer while I made us some dinner, a simple fish and chips with a side salad and a bottle of wine. Then we went to bed. I was still shy about undressing in front of him, and did so in the bathroom once again, slipping under the covers before he could see me. We cuddled and kissed and he let his hand casually slip across my groin. I didn't protest, I knew what he was doing. A few minutes later, it happened again.

He sat up on bed, pulled down the clothes and lifted up my nightdress. I lay there mortified, unable to move.

He didn't touch me, but saw the outline in my pants. "Is that real?" he asked staring at my crotch.

"It's all me, but looks can be deceiving."

"How the hell did you do that? I mean it's not one of those things you see advertised on the internet is it?"

"No, it's all me and you don't want to know how it's done."

"You're probably right there," he shook his head, "It looks quite convincing."

"It will one day." I pulled my nightie back down.

"Yeah, of course, I'm sorry."

"Are you still having problems with me?" I asked almost waiting for the second shoe to drop.

"No, I was just curious that I hadn't been aware of anything untoward except your attitude, which puzzled me a bit. Although if you had been abused, it could figure I suppose."

"I had a good friend at Sussex who was abused by her uncle when she was about ten. She was terrified of men, except me. She thought I was gay and one night we got a bit tipsy together and she told me all about it."

"Was he prosecuted for it?"

"No he died with cancer a year later, she seemed to think it was a Divine intervention."

"Does she know about you?"

"I tried to explain, and she wanted to see what I looked like as a girl, but I didn't have the courage to do it and she didn't offer again."

"Pity, you might have been sorted by now."

"Yeah, in some ways. She was tiny, so her stuff wouldn't fit me anyway and I didn't have the money to buy it."

"What your parents kept you short?"

"We had this problem with their religion, the more I railed against it, the less help they gave me. I worked in a supermarket three nights a week when I did my first degree."

"And still got a first. I'm impressed."

"I was just lucky and had some good tutors."

"Do you always find it difficult to take compliments?"

I blushed and looked away, pulling the bed clothes over me.

"I asked you a question," he insisted and pulled the bedclothes away from my face.

"Yes, I do. As a kid I was told it was conceited to be too proud, so I never was. Pride was a sin."

"I'm proud of you. I think you've come through some awful times and despite them you have triumphed. In your personal life, I see you like cygnet waiting to change into a beautiful swan, not that you aren't beautiful now." He ran his finger up my cheek. "Hey, don't cry."

Of course saying that had the opposite effect and I burst into tears, which meant he then had to cuddle me to calm me down. "I'm going to ask Stella to come up on friday and take you shopping to Bath, to look for an outfit for the wedding and if you see something you like, for meeting my parents, get it as well. I think you deserve a day out, so it's my treat."