Chapter 5

I put the rest of my stuff in the small bag that Julia had brought in and was taken down to reception to be signed out. I really did not know what my future held now.

I sat, waiting, just inside the main entrance for a few minutes before a very handsome man in a good suit walked in and came straight over to me saying “Beth, darling, it is so good to see you again. Julia has told me that you have some trouble remembering so I am Ritchie Frazer. I live in the flat across from the two of you and we are all great friends. I hope that you will come to regard me as one in the future, even if you do not remember all the good times we have had. There are a couple of other girls that we all get together with, Tess and Toni Smythe, who also live in the flats, and I hope that we can all go out for a meal together when you feel up to it. Now, come, I will take you home.”

He picked up my bag and led me out to a taxi that was waiting outside. We did not have to drive far before we came to the Tower Hamlets and pulled up outside a building with a number of letter boxes in the wall. Ritchie had chattered away on the trip, saying how sorry he was to have got me into the modelling agency and I had to tell him not to worry as it was not his fault. I leaned over in the seat and gave him a kiss on the cheek and then he turned to me and gave me a gentle kiss on my lips. When he pulled back he said “Beth, darling, we have had some really nice times together and I can’t wait until you feel strong enough to sleep with me again.”

When we arrived at the flat he opened it with a key on his ring and when I looked at him he told me that he had the keys to our flat, as well as the Smythe sisters, as he was our ‘to do’ man when we needed help. Inside he showed me the general layout and took me into my room which was really nice and had a good view along the street. He put the bag on the bed and pointed out that my handbag was on the side table and that no-one had disturbed anything in it. When I looked I saw my purse with some money inside, my driving licence and some loyalty cards. There were also my keys and a bank transaction card and a credit card. There was also an ID from the place I had worked at and he took it, saying he would get Julia to return it to them.

I said that I would need to find a job and he said that the Smythe sisters had told him that there would be a position coming vacant in the office where they worked and he thought that the interviews would be in a week or two. “Until then, Beth, you need to settle back into normal life and get strong enough to take on the world the way you used to.” At that he took me in his arms and kissed me long and hard. I automatically put my arms around his neck and, when his hands roamed to my buttocks, I felt a need that I knew must be fulfilled. We undressed and we made love on my bed and I was in heaven, crying out as we both came.

After we lay there for a while, cuddling and kissing, he said “Welcome back darling, I have waited a long time for that.” He then got up and went into the bathroom, coming out to dress. Before he left he said that there was food in the kitchen and that he would love to stay some more but he had an appointment elsewhere. Left to myself I pondered on what had just happened. So I was a previous secretary, a sometime model and had a boyfriend with benefits and I could get very horny at the drop of a panty.

I went into the bathroom and had a good, long shower and when I came out I inspected my wardrobe and drawers, finding a lovely array of lacy underwear and a good assortment of clothes, mainly short hemlines. I could see that Julia must have picked the long dress especially for me to not feel too exposed. I was now ready to expose myself to the world so dressed myself in a black bra and panty set that gave me a somewhat full breast line. To that I added a short denim skirt and a silky blouse. Heeding the warning about heels I went with a lowish pair of pumps. I made sure I had my keys in my bag and let myself out of the flat, going down to the street. I decided that I would just do a block for my walk and I strolled along, taking in the sights and sounds of the real world after my time in hospital. It was wonderful and I felt very refreshed and alive when I got back to the flat again.

I made myself a light lunch and then looked in my room for traces of my life. All I found was a school leaving certificate from Cardiff in my name and another certificate from a secretarial college in London. Well, the Cardiff bit felt right and explained why I had a slight Welsh lilt to my speaking. There were a few photos of Julia, Ritchie and a couple of other girls but none from my own childhood. When I asked Julia about this she told me that I had said that I had an abusive father and that I had burned all of my previous life in a ritual bonfire so that I could put it behind me. It was certainly behind me now as I could not remember a thing. She told me that it may have been the best thing to come out of my accident.

Over the next week I explored my immediate area and found the supermarkets, picking the Sainsbury’s on Ratcliffe Cross Street as my choice. We were close to the Limehouse DLR station so that was handy if I got myself a job in Canary Wharf.

The day after I had returned I met the Smythe sisters, Tess and Toni, and they were great fun to be with. The four of us would go out in the evening for a meal as it looked like none of the others liked cooking. We went to the White Horse and the Queens Head but the Crown on Brinton Place was our favourite. I was, by far, the oldest in the group, and, as such, made sure that the others did not get into trouble. They all liked a drink and we staggered home a couple of times singing silly pop songs. We had our share of flirting and we all had been kissed and cuddled by some lads at times but made sure nothing came of it.

In my second week back Tess told me that I needed to fill in an application for an interview. She helped me with my resume as I could not remember where I had worked and I was surprised when I got the reply to go in and see them. It was an office down near the Cross Harbour DLR Station in Turnberry Quay. When I fronted up in my office wear, a good skirt suit, I met a very nice man who asked me a few things. I explained that I had been laid off because of my accident and had problems remembering my past and he sent me to another office to have a test on my secretarial skills.

I was amazed that I could touch type at a reasonable speed and could even master the steno duties. Filing was no problem and I was able to take notes on the run. When I went back in to see him he told me that he was very impressed with me and that I could start on the Monday morning. I was to report to his PA and would be taking her place when she went off to get married as she had said she would be emigrating after that.

I went to the HR office and filled in the forms. I had the data from my previous employer and it was all easy to complete. I asked the girl in that office where all the important places were in the local area and was given directions to the OkiDoki Nail and Beauty Salon and a couple of reasonable places to eat lunch if I did not bring my own. When I walked out of there I had a bit of a walk around the area and made sure of my bearings. Back at the flat I announced that I had the job and that I was taking everyone out for a meal. Ritchie came with us this time and we left early, leaving the other three in the company of three stock-brokers. Back at the flat he made sure that I was well and truly satisfied before he left.

Over the weekend he took Julia and me into the city and she helped me get a few more items of clothing that would be suitable for a PA of a Finance Manager. I had a great time trying on a large number of dresses and skirts before making my choices. I paid for everything from my bank account rather than putting it on credit and was very happy when I put it all away. The three of us went out for a meal that evening and, when we got back to the flat, we had a threesome in Julias’ bedroom, with Ritchie performing magnificently and then Julia and I having lesbian sex while he looked on. We had a group hug before I went to bed and I was sure that I heard Julia calling out “Yes yes yes” before he left in the early hours.

Monday morning I made sure I looked right and got to the office nice and early. I met Sandra, the departing PA and we spent the rest of the day going through my future duties. My boss, Adrian Miller, was a very busy man and there were a lot of people that I needed to get introduced to and everyone was very nice. Over the next two weeks I fitted into the system and was able to give Sandra a thank-you gift when she had her leaving party. Once I was one on one with Adrian we hit it off and I found that I was almost able to be in his head, making sure that his working life went along seamlessly.

He was a married man with a couple of children and I got to speak to his wife a few times when she rang in with questions for him. She seemed like a nice lady and I felt rather bad when Adrian took me out to lunch one day, telling me over our meal, that he wanted to take me to Scotland for a business weekend at a Scottish Estate. That weekend he made a pass at me and I let him. We did finish the business with a good result for the company but came back as lovers.

Over the next few months I worked hard and made sure that there were no troubles with my work ethic. I saw a lot of Tess and Toni as they were in the general secretarial pool and often brought us tea and biscuits while we worked. With Adrian it was a case of the odd meeting in the country that needed an overnight stop. I always made sure we had separate rooms, and that I never stayed the night with him in case the staff questioned an unused bed.

One day he told me that he was starting to feel as everything was getting on top of him and that he needed to have some time off away from the office, his family and me. I offered to have a look to see if I could come up with a retreat or something where he could be alone for a few days. I mentioned it to Tess and, that evening, Ritchie dropped in with a brochure from a wellness clinic in Essex that he said did a good job. I rang them the next day and got the rates. When I spoke to Adrian he agreed to go so I made a booking for him from the Saturday for a week. I then had to rearrange his appointments so he could have the time off. I don’t know what he told his wife but she did call me and ask me if I was going with him. I told her that I was definitely not and she seemed mollified.

I was able to handle all of the problems and queries during the week he was away and expected to see him back on the Monday, bright and cheerful. What I didn’t expect was the dour face that greeted me and the feeling of anger that emanated from him. This was not the man who had left only a week ago and he carried on in the same vein for some weeks until, one day, he declared that he was divorcing his wife as he had found out she was two-timing him with her tennis coach. He said that it was because he had not been a good husband for a few months and she had told him to go back to his floozy in the office. Well, I had not been his floozy since he had his wellness session and it was unlikely to restart any time now!

A couple of weeks later he asked me to book him into the wellness centre again and when he left the office that Friday evening he was carrying two large briefcases. I went in on Monday morning and was quietly sorting out problems when I was called up to the Managers Office. When I got there he had a couple of burly guys with him who I immediately picked as detectives. I was sat down and asked about Adrian, his whereabouts and his behaviour lately. I answered that he had been fine but seemed to get very depressed. I told them that he had a week in the wellness centre and it wasn’t long after he got back that he divorced his wife. They asked me if I was the other woman and told them that the wife had another man. When they asked me about our business trips I could show them my diary with all of the bookings for separate rooms and they took notes to the times and places. They then asked me if he had been carrying anything when he left on Friday and I told them he had two briefcases. I also told them that he was booked into the wellness centre again and they told me that they had checked the diary and he had not shown up. He was now on the run with five million pounds worth of bearer bonds.

As I walked back to my office I wondered what Gwen would think of this and then wondered who the hell Gwen was and why was she on my mind.

Marianne G 2020