Everything to Nothing (63 page)

So Sally made
up some story about having to look after children and she did not
mention anything about her father, how she had always relied on her
partner to work and how she did not have many skills to offer
companies. That was how the rest of the night went, both of them
making small talk, getting to know each other.

By the time the
coffees arrived Sally was feeling quite tipsy. She had drunk a full
bottle of wine, alcohol that she was not used to, and Peter could
tell this.

‘This coffee is
abysmal. Tastes like wet cardboard…’

‘Whatever wet
cardboard tastes like!’

‘Indeed! Come
back to my place and I’ll make you a proper cup.’

‘I don’t know
Peter, I hardly know you...’

‘Come on! Live
life! It’s only a five minute drive from here and afterwards I’ll
take you home.’

Sally pretended
to think about it for a few moments, but she had already decided
what her answer would be if a situation like this developed before
she had even entered the restaurant. ‘Okay then. One coffee is not
going to hurt and then I’ll go home.’

‘Perfect.
Garcon! The bill!’

Their waitress
walked over with the bill in her hand, threw it on the table and
muttered, ‘Garcon means boy.’

With a slight
look of surprise on his face at the cheek of the waitress, Peter
shook his head, pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket, placed the
appropriate amount on top of the bill along with the smallest of
small tips. Quickly he stood and took Sally’s hand, leading her out
of the restaurant to his Ferrari.

Sally sunk into
the luxurious leather seats of his supercar and let out a sigh of
contentment as Peter fired up the engine and then left the car
park. ‘I love the feel of leather seats. Can’t remember the last
time I sat in such a lovely car.’

‘So you’ve been
in a Ferrari before?’

‘Yeah, but that
was another life, another time.’

‘Comfy?’

‘Very.’

Peter looked
across at her and she had her eyes closed. She looked totally
relaxed, breathing deeply.

‘I love the
smell of the leather too,’ Sally mumbled, ‘and I think this car is
quite new.’

‘It is. Hey, my
apartment is just down the road but you seem to be enjoying
yourself where you are. Want to go for a little drive?’

‘Definitely.’

Peter drove
them out of the city into the surrounding countryside and for the
first time in as long as she could remember Sally felt relaxed. She
was being chauffeured in a luxury car with a handsome man next to
her and she felt quite contented. While they drove, Sally thought
that if she could not get her exact life back she could at least
find a man who can look after her and the children too. She had
devoted enough of her life to David and now he had gone beyond
depressed. Now he was bitter and evil, unable to forgive her for
what her father had done to them. It was time to change.

Slowly she
partly opened her eyes to see where his hand was and it was resting
on the centre console. Casually she lifted her own hand and placed
it gently on his. Sally felt the car jerk slightly as this simple
gesture caught him off guard, and inwardly she smiled, remembering
how easy it was to manipulate men.

All too soon
for her the drive in the supercar that reminded her so much of her
previous life was over and Peter pulled into his space under the
apartment block. It was only when they entered the lobby did she
realise where they were. He led them over to the elevator and
pressed his card against the scanner and then pressed the button
labelled PH which made Sally cringe as she realised she was about
to be taken into the apartment that she used to own.

When they
entered the apartment it was dark and Peter said, ‘You’ll like
this! Lights! Four!’

For a moment
Sally could not believe she was back in her apartment but she had
to feign surprise and with obvious excitement she voice controlled
the lights, smiling at Peter as she did so. ‘Nice place.’

‘Yeah, this
apartment came on the market a couple of years ago. As soon as I
saw it I had to have it. Never did meet the owner. It was all done
very quickly and quite mysteriously through an agent.’

‘Wow! It is an
amazing place!’ Sally wandered over to the balcony doors and looked
out at the river and over the city.

‘Thank you.’ He
walked over to where she was stood and hovered behind her. ‘Would
you like that coffee?’

‘No, not
really.’

A look of
surprise flashed across his face and one of even bigger surprise as
she took a step towards him, placed her arms around his neck and
kissed him, passionately. Sally longed for some affection and the
wine had made her bold. It was not just the sex she longed for,
although after not making love for a long time her body was raging
for sex. She also longed for the feel of a man in her arms, to be
kissed and cuddled, to have a firm man between her legs as he made
love to her all night.

As these
thoughts crashed through her mind she increased the passion of her
kiss and instantly she felt his body respond, pressing himself hard
against her, rubbing his body against her. Slowly he moved his lips
away, finishing the kiss, and then took her hand and led her up the
stairs to his bedroom.

Before he had
even closed the door Sally had unzipped and lowered her dress,
standing in front of him in her sexy black lingerie. Peter flung
the door closed and approached her to continue the kiss while
leading her to his bed.

Chapter 46

They continued
to date for the next couple of months, mostly meeting during the
day when her children were at school, but when she could offload
them to her friend sometimes they met at night. For Peter his
initial intentions were to have a one night stand with Sally, but
once he had seen her naked, laid between her legs, placed her body
into all the positions he could think of and made love to her over
and over again, he wanted more of her luscious body, he wanted more
of watching her beautiful face orgasm again and again.

During these
months Sally was in a daze of fresh love. From being unloved and
having no affection shown to her to having such a wonderful man
loving and caring for her after all she been through in the last
seven years was amazing for her. He was eager to get to know her
children some more, even agreeing with her to meet them after
school or during school holidays. Those wonderful days spent in the
park or having trips out to the zoo with her wonderful new man
meant the world to her, but for Peter it was all an act, an act to
ensure that he could continue to enjoy her body. He did not care
about her and certainly did not care about another man’s
children.

All this time
Sally managed to keep her new relationship hidden from David and he
did not question why all of a sudden she was spending so much time
out of the apartment, including sometimes spending nights away. If
he had been sober he may have realised the truth sooner, but it was
only when he came to bed very late one drunken night and lay down
in the bed next to her did he it finally sink in that something was
not quite right. The trigger for this thought was the fact that
Sally smelled of aftershave, and not a cheap aftershave either, an
expensive smelling brand.

Sally had
gotten careless and complacent. Usually after spending time with
Peter she would shower and shampoo ensuring that no traces of him
could be found on her body. Although it was her plan to leave David
she wanted to do it on her terms, with her in control of it so she
could ensure the safety of Sophia and Jacob.

That night she
had been exhausted after a day of frantic sex with Peter and she
had collapsed onto the bed after returning home meaning to have a
little rest before showering. Unfortunately she fell asleep. Now,
as David lay sniffing her sleeping body the thought that she was
cheating on him entered his alcohol addled mind. Far too drunk to
do anything about it at that moment, he collapsed into a dreamless
sleep, but in the morning the thought occurred to him again when he
woke and he sniffed her pillow. The scent still lingered and it was
unmistakable.

David stormed
around the apartment looking for her but she was out, so he stormed
into the kitchen and cracked open a can of beer, swigging a big
mouthful and then let go a large burp. He looked at his watch and
noted it had just gone noon so he settled down in front of the
television with the intention of heading out to his children’s
school later that afternoon.

At three he
stood up and threw some scruffy clothes on and stepped out of the
apartment for the first time in six months. He was surprised as he
walked along that he was out of breath after only a few hundred
meters, but he looked down at his beer belly and realised it was no
wonder. He had to slow down his pace but he did not have to rush as
he had plenty of time before the school finished.

When he reached
the road where the school was he approached it carefully, not
wanting Sally to see him. At first he could not see her and he was
surprised when the children started to come out of the school and
he was even more surprised when he saw Sophia and Jacob holding
hands, with Jacob holding the hand of another woman who was also
holding hands with another child.

For a moment
David was going to intervene thinking his children were being
abducted, but when they passed where he was standing David turned
his back and he heard Jacob speak to the woman and it was quite
clear when he asked her what was for dinner that he knew her. Now
puzzled David followed the woman and the children as they walked
slowly through the streets until they arrived at a small terraced
house. The woman opened the door and David watched as his children
disappeared into the house.

He waited
outside that house for hours, not moving from the darkness of an
alley opposite until he heard a powerful sounding car pull up at
the end of the street. Quickly he looked around the corner of the
alley, up the street where he saw a brand new Porsche had pulled up
and in the passenger seat of the car was his partner of so many
years, his Sally.

The shock and
hurt that flowed through is body when he saw her lean across and
kiss this man passionately was astounding in his power. He did not
think he had any feelings left in him for Sally, but when he saw
her openly kissing another man he thought his heart would
break.

With a wave she
started to walk down the street towards him and he was about to
confront her when he decided he desperately wanted to know who this
man was so instead he quickly ran down the alley, away from the
house and Sally, picking up a small wire as he ran.

Frantically he
searched the street at the other end of the alley for an old car
and when he found one it only took him a moment to pick the lock of
the car and using his mechanical skills he quickly hotwired the car
and sped away in search of the man in the Porsche. Guessing
correctly, David headed out of the suburb towards the city centre.
It did not take him long to find the Porsche driving sedately along
one of the main routes into the city. David maintained a gap of a
few hundred yards and followed the car as it turned off the main
road and entered a side street that led to a large industrial park.
As he entered the park, David maintained the distance and he also
turned off his headlights and followed the Porsche until it stopped
outside a warehouse that had no indications on the outside of what
went on inside.

For a few hours
David watched the outside of the warehouse and it was late in the
evening when at last a door to the building opened and he watched
the man and other men leave it. One of the men locked the door and
while David watched the men mingled for a few minutes talking
amongst themselves before they all got into their cars and went
their separate ways.

At first it was
David’s intention to follow the man who had clearly been sleeping
with Sally, find out where he lived and beat the living daylights
out of him. But on second thoughts David decided that the warehouse
probably belonged to him and he could do more damage by having a
little fun in the building.

He waited half
an hour before he approached the warehouse to ensure no-one
returned and then David left the car taking the wire from his
pocket. Again, with his knowledge of locks that he learned while he
was a mechanic, it did not take him long to pick the lock and open
the door. Carefully he closed it behind him, locking it behind him,
and then he flicked on a light switch. He was expecting one light
to come on after he flicked this switch but the whole place lit up
like a floodlit football pitch which made David jump. Without
hesitating he flicked the switch off deciding that there was enough
ambient light coming through the windows high up in the walls for
him to see what he was doing.

Slowly he
walked around the large room, looking at the piles of chemicals
laid all around the walls, curiously looking at the barrels of
substances stacked in the room. On benches towards the middle of
the room looked like some kind of production line. Here the
chemicals had been placed into smaller containers and there were
bottles of distilled water. Next to these were labelled glass
beakers and David peered at them and read the labels. On one was
written acetone, on another acid and he noticed that the labels
were different colours that matched the colour of the containers.
In a pot that he peered into was a powdery substance, red in colour
and for the life of him David could not think what these
ingredients could be used for.

Whatever it was
used for it was clearly making the man with Sally very wealthy
given his brand new Porsche and he was not dressed too shabbily
either. As his thoughts returned to the man his stomach flopped
over. She had been cheating on him and David in his drunken
depressed state had not realised or noticed anything. Then his
thoughts turned upon himself.