Everything to Nothing (38 page)

‘Will do.’

They kissed
again and Simon watched her walk out of the living room. He lay
back on the settee, relaxing and thinking how lucky he had been to
find someone like Michelle. After a short while he heard her call
him to come upstairs to which he sprung up off the settee and made
his way upstairs to Michelle’s bedroom. She was already in bed,
under the duvet and she lifted the blanket up for him inviting him
into her bed. It was an offer that he accepted and for the rest of
that night they made love into the early hours of the morning.

Chapter 29

Sally left her
mansion later than she wanted to because one of the maids had put
the iron on the wrong setting and burnt her top. She had spoken to
Alfred about her and Sally did not expect to see her at the mansion
again. However, the top matched everything, the accessories,
makeup, including nail polish, so her strict regime of preparing
herself when getting ready to attend any kind of function was
thrown out of order.

She ranted and
raved at the maids as they fluttered around her desperately trying
to get their mistress ready on time. It was only when one of them
dropped a bottle of nail polish remover on the floor that Sally
totally lost her temper and, in no uncertain terms, dismissed them
all, throwing shoes and whatever came to hand at them as they
scampered out of her bedroom.

Still cursing,
muttering and mumbling to herself, she decided she did not have
enough time to apply fresh makeup or nail polish so she decided to
go for a natural look with no makeup and no accessories. Before
storming out of her bedroom she told Alfred to bring her Mini
around from the garages, if a member of staff was able to do this
simple task without crashing it. On her way out to the car she
texted David and told him she would be about fifteen minutes late
to which he promptly replied and stated that was fine. As she
reached the car she had not seen any staff. Sally guessed,
correctly, that Alfred had told them all to stay out of her way.
The Mini was parked with the engine running and Sally clambered in
and quickly drove along the long driveway to the distant gates.

After a quick
drive she arrived at David’s house to be greeted with the sight of
David scampering out of his house with his gran stood in the
doorway berating him. Sally saw a shoe leave his gran’s hand and
fly gracefully towards David just missing his head. He did not even
stop to open the garden gate, instead taking the low wall at pace
with a graceful leap. With a few quick paces he was at the
passenger’s door and he quickly climbed in. ‘Drive! Quick!’

‘What’s
up?’

‘I’ll tell you
in a bit. Just drive!’

Sally smiled
and waved to Ethel and she received a smile, a wave and a wink in
return.

‘Don’t bloody
smile and wave at her! Drive!’

Sally waved
again and slowly drove away from David’s house. ‘What was all that
about?!’

‘I forgot. I
didn’t remember. I thought she was going to cut me up!’

Sally laughed.
‘What? What happened?’

‘It’s her
birthday in a couple of weeks and I promised at some point last
month that I’d take her to the theatre to watch, well, to watch Les
Miserables. She saw the tickets I got for tonight.’

‘Whoops!’

‘Yeah, whoops
indeed! She was not happy. She was cutting vegetables when she
noticed them. I forgot I’d said I’d go with her.’

‘So she found
this out when she had a knife in her hand?!’

‘Yeah.’

‘Double
whoops!’

‘I know she’s
only joking, but when she threatens to cut all my clothes up while
brandishing a large kitchen knife it does make you think twice
about whether she’s serious!’

Sally laughed
again. ‘I’m sure she’s not serious. Obviously she was looking
forward to spending some time with you and now she thinks that is
not going to happen.’

‘Maybe. Or
maybe she’s just evil!’

‘David! That’s
your gran. You can’t call her evil!’

‘We’ll have to
agree to disagree. Are you looking forward to the show?’

‘I’m looking
forward to the show and spending time with you.’

‘Oh, right,
erm, me too. It’s a long show you know, near enough three
hours.’

‘Yeah, it’s
meant to be good though.’

‘Yep, looking
forward to it. Did your uncle get off okay?’

‘Huh? Which… Oh
yes, no dramas. The traffic was a bit heavy hence why I’m a bit
late.’

‘No
worries.’

They spent most
of the rest of the drive making small talk until they reached the
theatre which was just a few doors down from the large theatre that
Sally’s father owns. They entered the building, Sally thankfully
not seeing anyone she knew, and she was surprised as they went
upstairs. More used to sitting in the best seats in the house or in
private boxes, she was disappointed to see that they were in the
upper circle, to the side with a slightly restricted view.

‘Here we are!
Best seats in the house!’

Sally smiled
politely. ‘Yes, they are. Thank you.’ She pecked his cheek and
enjoyed watching him blush.

‘Sally, we’re
having a sophisticated night. Control yourself!’

She laughed and
sat down next to him, taking his hand and holding it, leaning her
body against him.

The show
started promptly on time and Sally enjoyed it. She enjoyed sitting
where she would never normally sit as it gave her a view of the
stage that she would not normally have. The scenes and acts rolled
by, and the glances she gave David showed her that he was
enthralled with the show and Hugo’s story of Jean Valjean, Javert,
Fantine and Cosette. She was sure that at the end of the show he
applauded louder than anyone else in the theatre and he even threw
in a few bravos too.

Impressed with
this show of a cultural side to him, she wrapped her arm around him
as they left the theatre. Suggesting a walk along the river to
which she agreed, they walked and talked, stopping occasionally to
exchange kisses which increased in passion the further they walked.
They crossed a bridge and walked back through the streets, through
the business area of the city. Sally was amused to note that this
area would take her past her father’s head office. As they
approached the office she noticed a limousine parked outside.

She was going
to cross the street but David would think this strange as they
would have to cross back again in not more than a hundred yards to
continue their walk in the right direction. She decided that the
chance of the limousine being for her father was remote; there were
always clients coming and going from the office in the company’s
limousines, so they continued to walk past the office.

As they reached
the bottom of the steps up to the doors of the buildings there was
a commotion and two security guards indicated for them to stop
walking so there was a clear path from the bottom of the steps to
the now open door of the limousine. Sally’s heart skipped a beat as
she glanced up towards the doors of the office and saw her father
approach with James, both of them dressed in tuxedos. She had
nowhere to go. She could not go forwards and she could not go
backwards as this would confuse David.

Just as she was
about to turn away and pretend her mobile had rung James noticed
her. With a look of surprise he gently touched her father’s elbow
and discreetly nodded towards her. With a look of bigger surprise
and a big smile, her father started to walk towards her. Panicking
now, Sally took half a step back out of David’s line of sight and
started to vigorously shake her head and mouth the word no. They
carried on walking towards her, her father and James looking
confused at her actions, until at the last moment something clicked
in her father’s head and he quickly veered away from them and
disappeared into the back of the limousine. James gave a quick
confused glance over his shoulder to Sally and then he too got in
the large vehicle. The guards waited until the car had moved away
until they allowed the pedestrians to walk past. Fifty yards past
the building Sally’s heart skipped another beat.

‘What was that
all about? Those two rich guys walking towards us at that building
with big idiotic grins on their faces like they knew one of
us?!’

Sally could not
help laughing as she heard her father, one of the richest, most
successful business men in the country, described as having an
idiotic grin. ‘I don’t know. Mistaken identity. It was quite gloomy
there.’

‘It wasn’t that
gloomy. Their teeth were giving off more light than a power
station! I’d like have their cosmetic dentist I know that much!
They hurt my eyes!’

In between
laughs Sally was able to say, ‘Well, they must have both worked
very hard in order to be able to afford, erm, such nice teeth!’

‘Hey, I’m not
criticizing, just a bit bright at this time of night!’

‘Fair enough!’
Sally laughed again. ‘I love being with you David. You make me
laugh so much!’

‘Well, I try my
best!’

‘Keep on
trying, doing and succeeding and I think me and you may go
far.’

David looked
surprised. ‘Do you mean that? I mean, are we going to start seeing
each other, well, you know, properly?’

‘And tonight
hasn’t been properly?’

‘Well, you know
what I mean.’

‘Definitely.’

‘Boyfriend and
girlfriend?’

‘Definitely.’

‘Woo hoo!’

Again she
laughed as she watched him skip down the exclusive city street,
doing a passable impression of Morecambe and Wise’s end of show
dance, as he skipped down the street putting alternate hands behind
his head. He received plenty of funny looks as he skipped back
towards Sally, took her in his arms and planted a firm, lingering
passionate kiss on her lips. Sally gently moved away from him,
remembering that she was still in view of her father’s office.
‘David, someone might see us.’

‘So what? Let
them see.’

He tried to
kiss her again but she moved gently away from him and she was
disappointed to see a flash of confusion pass across his face.

‘Hey David,’
she said gently, ‘let’s go to my relation’s apartment. It’s just
down the road and we can spend some more time together.’

‘Your relation
has an apartment here? They must be rich!’

‘Yeah, the rich
side of the family, not my side unfortunately.’

‘How come
you’ve got a key?’

‘She works
overseas a lot and I go in and water her plants and stuff, check
her mail. I’ve got the key with me.’

Sally always
had the key with her. It was her apartment. Her father had bought
it for her a year or so ago to give her more independence. She
hardly ever used it, preferring instead to stay near her father and
offer him some company when he was home.

‘Okay, that
sounds good. Do you want to eat somewhere first?’

‘We can order
in.’

‘Sounds even
better.’

‘David,’ she
said his name gently again as she took his hand and led him to the
nearby apartment, ‘you can stay if you want, there are two
bedrooms, well four, but you know what I mean…’ Sally left it
hanging for him to draw his own conclusions.

‘Yeah, of
course Sally. Separate bedrooms. One step at a time hey?’

‘Sorry, I know
what you men are like!’

‘Some men
Sally, some men. I like to think, well I work at being different. A
few more kisses would be nice though!’

‘Not that
different then!’

It was David’s
turn to laugh as Sally led them down a small side street to a block
of modern apartments. Sally opened the door and they entered the
elevator. David could not keep his surprise off his face as Sally
placed her entry card onto a scanner and then pressed the elevator
button marked PH.

The lift took
them up quickly to the thirtieth floor and the duplex penthouse
apartment. The elevator stopped in the apartment and when the doors
opened David was greeted to sight of a large apartment spread out
before him, with stairs leading to the upper floor and floor to
ceiling windows looking onto a huge balcony. From the balcony one
could look down onto the river and over the city.

It was a truly
impressive place to live and David jumped a little when Sally
stepped out of the elevator and said loudly, ‘Lights!’

On her voice
command the lights turned on brightly and Sally said, ‘Three!’ and
instantly the lights dimmed.

David looked
around him looking slightly bewildered. ‘That’s a neat trick.
Lights!’ And the lights turned off. ‘Lights! Ten!’ And all the
lights turned on, dazzling David. ‘Crikey! Like those guys’ teeth!
Three!’ And they dimmed again. ‘I’m very impressed. What does your
relation do?’

‘Banker for a
Swiss bank. She’s good at her job and gets the pay to reflect that.
But, to balance that out she’s never home. In fact, I couldn’t tell
you the last time she was here!’

‘Not much good
having the money if she can’t enjoy it.’

‘Yeah, but
she’ll be retired by forty!’

‘Looking at
this place she could retire now!’

‘Maybe. Come
on. It’s a nice night. Let’s go out on the balcony and chill out
there.’

‘Sounds like a
plan.’

He followed her
across the apartment and could not help admiring her tight bottom
in the tight jeans as she meandered through the furniture to the
glass balcony door. She opened it and they both settled down onto
the comfortable chairs. They made small talk until Sally suggested
ordering some food and by then the temperature outside had dropped
so they made their way into the lounge and cuddled together on the
large settee.

‘Music. Volume
five. Track ten.’ She looked at David and said, ‘This doesn’t
always work.’

‘It’s still
impressive that it could work!’ After a slight pause the music
started. ‘It has worked! This is all very impressive.’