Everything to Nothing (28 page)

‘Of course
Sarah. But can I ask you one question; it is your mum who you’re
phoning for, not you?’

‘No, genuinely
my mum.’

‘And has your
mum asked you to call or is this something you are doing without
her knowledge? Because if she does not want to come herself then
her attending a meeting will not be beneficial.’

Sarah
contemplated this question for a moment and then with a touch of
pride in her voice stated, ‘No, it is something she has asked me to
do for her.’

‘That’s good.
We’re actually meeting tonight. Will she be able to come?’

It would mean
cancelling the date but Sarah quickly made the decision that this
was more important. ‘Yes, definitely.’

‘Very good.
What was your surname again and also your mum’s?’

‘Both our
surnames are Jones.’

‘Okay, fine.’
Sarah heard her tapping on a computer. ‘Jones, Jones, Jones. And
your mum’s first name and postcode?’

Sarah told
her.

‘Ah, here we
go. Oh! Oh dear! Erm, let me confirm those details with you.’

Sarah confirmed
the details with her.

‘Well, it looks
like your mother caused a little bit of trouble the last time she
attended a meeting. I’ve never seen anyone given a national ban
before Sarah.’

‘She’s better
now. Last time I made her go, she didn’t want to, now she does. Can
you not give her a chance?’

‘I’ll have to
ask. Can you confirm your telephone number for me?’

Sarah did
so.

‘I’ll call you
back very shortly.’

Sarah paced
around the living room while her mother continued to watch
television. After five minutes the phone rang and Sarah dashed to
answer it.

‘Hello, is that
Sarah?’

‘Yes, it
is.’

‘Hello Sarah.
My name is Jim and I was the leader of the meeting that your mother
attended. I’m sorry to say that what your mother did that night was
the worst I have ever seen in many years of leading meetings. There
is no possible way we could offer her a place. I’m very sorry.’

‘But, but she
is willing to stop! I really believe that with some help and
guidance she could stop drinking.’

‘I’m sorry, but
I can’t be persuaded. We have to consider our other members. Some
of them were deeply shaken with what your mother did. I’m sorry.
Good-bye.’

Sarah started
to speak again but he had already hung up. She turned round to face
her mother. ‘Great mum! Well done! The only meeting for alcoholics
in our area and you’re banned from it for life! Well fucking
done!’

‘Never mind.
I’ll take care of it myself. Could you move out of the way of the
television please deary?’

‘You’ll take
care of it yourself?!’Sarah was again left speechless so she
stormed out of the living room and back upstairs. ‘Sort it out
herself!’ she ranted as she threw on some clothes and a jacket.
‘This I got to see!’

*

Sarah took her
time strolling the couple of miles to the supermarket. She would
have taken the bus but she needed the money to help towards buying
some food and some cosmetics for her date. It was a cold day and
she muttered against the government who were trying to reduce the
number of cars on the roads, yet the price of public transport was
generally more expensive than driving. It made no sense to her.

She strolled
around the supermarket too, taking her time, in no rush to get
home. In front of the lipsticks she thought about which dress to
wear that night and found a lipstick that matched and was not too
expensive. Having naturally good skin and being naturally pretty,
she did not use much makeup, however, she did need some more
foundation so she picked her usual and moved on. When walking
through the lingerie section she noticed a gorgeous set of deep red
lingerie. She first checked the size which was fine and then the
price discovering there was no way she could afford it. She then
checked for a security tag and was pleased to see that there was
not one fitted. Then she quickly glanced around and up along the
walls and the ceilings, looking for people then cameras. She did
not see either so she did what she always did when faced with
something that she could not buy; she slid it very quickly and
discreetly with a practiced hand under her jacket.

She got her
mum’s beer after this simple act of shoplifting, she opted for
eight Carling, nothing too strong, and hoped that it would indeed
be a start for her mum. Sarah thought she was helping her mother’s
addiction by giving her weaker alcohol. She did not realise that
she was still fuelling her addiction and still making it worse.
This thought did not occur to her though so she brazenly approached
the cashier and paid for all the items in her trolley, her jacket
easily hiding the stolen lingerie. She strolled out of the
supermarket, past the security point, and walked at a faster pace
home as the temperature had dropped while she was shopping and
shoplifting. On arriving home her mother was asleep, but Sarah
noticed that the whiskey had been consumed.

Shaking her
head she took the bottle into the kitchen and before throwing it
into the bin she peered into it and noticed three empty bottles of
spirits already in there. She had emptied the bin about twenty-four
hours ago, so presuming that her mother had slept for at least
eight of those twenty-four hours, that left sixteen hours and even
Sarah, maths not being her strong point, could work out that her
mum had consumed at least one bottle of spirits every four hours.
Not for the first time that day, Sarah shook her head in
bewilderment. She unpacked the shopping and placed the beer in the
fridge and then took her new makeup upstairs with her as she
started to slowly get ready for her date.

*

Peter’s day was
spent chilling out and tidying his parent’s house in preparation
for his visitor that night. His parents were still away and he had
no intention of leaving the house with Sarah tonight even though he
knew that she was probably expecting to be taken out and wined and
dined. At around seven o’clock that evening he got up from the sofa
where he had been watching some snooker and started to get ready.
When it got to quarter past eight and she still had not arrived he
was reaching for his mobile when there was a tapping on his door.
He walked down the hallway, checking himself in the mirror before
opening the door. Peter was actually surprised about how good she
looked.

Sarah had
lightly curled her blonde hair into ringlets and applied a little
makeup, highlighting her big, brown eyes which were sparkling. She
wore a rich blue dress that was low cut and her new bra pushed up
her breasts into an inviting cleavage. The dress was also short,
and her legs looked toned and tanned after she had applied a subtle
tanning lotion to them. He almost felt guilty about what he had
planned, the drugs and the sex, but he quickly toughened himself up
mentally and told himself that she was just another person to
exploit, to take pleasure from and then forget.

‘Are you going
to invite me in or keep me standing on the doorway?’

‘Sorry, come
in, come in. I was just considering how beautiful you look
tonight!’

‘Thank you.
Very nice of you to say.’

She pecked him
on his lips, then turned and walked into the house. He followed
her, admiring the back of her legs and her tight bottom. Taking her
arm he led her into the kitchen.

‘Wine?’

‘Yes
please.’

‘Red, white or
rosé?’

‘Rosé
please.’

‘No problem.’
He opened the fridge and took out a bottle of rosé and poured each
of them a glass.

‘What have you
got planned for us tonight?’

‘Whatever you
want to do Sarah. We could go out for a meal, go for drinks or go
for a movie. What do you think?’

‘How about all
of the above, but without the going out part?’

‘Are you
sure?’

‘Yeah, I’m
sure. We can eat here, get a Chinese or something, we can drink
here and we can watch a movie here. Plus, if we go out there are no
beds are there?’ Peter’s surprise must have shown in his face. ‘I’m
not a shy girl Peter. I didn’t go to this effort to sit here and
play chess.’

‘I, I suppose
not. Just not used to my dates being, well, so forward.’

Sarah walked
towards him, swinging her hips, her heels tapping on the tiled
floor. ‘Are you complaining? Would you prefer it if I was a demure,
naïve girl, someone who you’ve got to date for months before you
get into my knickers?’ By the end of this sentence she was pressing
herself against his body, rubbing against him.

‘I like you
just the way you are, and if you want to be forward then that’s
fine with me. It wasn’t a complaint.’

‘Good, I’m glad
to hear that. So, what are you going to do about it?’

*

Sarah’s mind
was racing. She had no idea that she was going to be this open with
him, this forward. It was her full intention to have a proper date
for once, have a meal, watch a movie, some kissing with her
knickers staying firmly on her body. But, she really liked him, and
after seeing him stood in the doorway looking so handsome and
smelling so good, she knew that she wanted him to be her boyfriend,
to date her seriously. Unfortunately, the only way she knew to get
a man to like her was to offer herself to him, quickly and
openly.

*

‘What am I
going to do about it? For now, nothing.’ He kissed her quickly on
the cheek.

Sarah did not
know what to say. She had never been refused before when offering
herself in this manner. ‘What do you mean nothing?’

‘We’ve got all
night.’ It was then that he saw the look in her eyes and realised
that he may have actually offended her by slowing the seduction
down a little.

‘I really like
you. I was just trying to show you how much.’

‘I know you
like me and I like you too as proven the other night. But there are
other ways you can show a guy you like them Sarah, without offering
to shag them at the opening to a date.’

‘Okay, I’m
sorry. I just thought you’d like me more if I gave you sex.’

‘I do like you,
and you look amazing tonight. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just see
how the night unfolds.

*

Peter’s mind
was also racing. He could not believe he was knocking back sex, yet
there was a method to his madness, or that was what he was quickly
trying to convince himself. His thoughts were that he needed to get
the drugs involved somewhere tonight and then his plan of getting
her hooked and her paying for it with sex would start to happen.
There was another question too though that he was thinking about,
should he get the heroin involved? He would just see how the night
developed.

‘Why don’t we
go and relax in the living room, have some more drinks and see what
the night brings? To be perfectly honest, I’ll be gutted and regret
it if I don’t make love to you tonight. Let’s build up to it
though, be romantic.’

‘Okay. That
sounds fine and lovely. Sorry. I don’t want to put you off. I’m not
very good at the whole date thing. Not been on many.’

‘I don’t know
why not. You’re lovely.’

He leaned
forward and pecked her on the lips to which responded by pressing
her body against his again. Peter leaned away though, and then took
her hand and guided her into the lounge. They curled up together on
the settee, cuddled and hugged together and exchanged a few more
kisses, some which lingered and were more exploratory. Eventually,
Peter suggested ordering some food and they both agreed on Chinese
which was delivered from a local restaurant.

After consuming
this they decided together on a film to watch during which they had
more kisses and in fact missed the end of the film as their hands
were now exploring each other’s bodies. Peter had just run the zip
down on the back of her dress and she had just unfastened his belt
with a touch of eagerness, when Peter’s mobile rang. She moaned as
he reached to answer and he was just going to busy the call when he
noticed that for some reason Reg, his supplier, was calling him.
‘Shit! What the hell does he want? Hello Reg. How are you?’

‘I’m fine
thanks Peter. And you?’

‘Top drawer. To
what do I owe this pleasure?’

‘Spot check.
You know the drill. I want to know your inventory and money taken.
Then I’ll compare to how much you show me on Saturday.’

‘Right, okay.
Can I get back to you tomorrow? A bit busy at the moment.’

‘No. You’ve got
an hour.’

‘Okay then.
I’ll call you then.’

‘No, I’ll call
you in exactly an hour. Make sure you’re ready.’

Reg did not
wait for a reply and Peter stood up from the settee throwing his
mobile onto a chair and he fastened his belt.

‘What’s wrong?’
Sarah sat up looking concerned.

‘I’ve got to do
something. Actually, you can help if you want, if you don’t mind,
then we can get back to our date. This isn’t something I can get
out of unfortunately.

‘Okay. I’ll
help. No problem.’

‘Thanks. Follow
me then.’

He led her by
the hand upstairs into his bedroom. The house had been changed
since it was originally built. The entrance to the attic was
originally above the landing, but since his room had been extended
the entrance was in a corner of his bedroom. He stretched up to the
attic hatch and pulled it down which clicked a mechanism that
lowered the ladder. Quickly climbing up, he grabbed two large
suitcases, swung them down and lowered them onto the floor.

Peter climbed
back down the ladder and flung open one of the suitcases. Sarah let
out a gasp as she saw the contents and let out another gasp when
the second suitcase was opened. The first case was full of ecstasy
tablets, bags upon bags of them.