Sweet Oblivion

by Rhiana Ramsey

  ‘My sister’s place, she’s away so we’ll have it to ourselves.’

  This woman was amazingly hot, he couldn’t believe he had got so lucky. Her body and outfit were the stuff of wet dreams, he imagined what her beautiful mouth would look like sucking on his cock, imagined her looking up at him with those big brown eyes. He felt his penis swell at the thought.

  ‘Good. And you’re sure we’ll be undisturbed there? I have plans for you, things I want to do to you, things no other woman will have ever done to you, things that you’ll never experience again.’

  ‘Totally… undisturbed… yes,’ he panted as she continued to arouse him.

  She smiled at him before kissing him hard on the mouth, her tongue stabbing at his, her hands all over his body, his arms wrapped around her.

  ‘We could go over to the seating area,’ he breathed, ‘just play for a bit?’

  ‘You do as I say, don’t forget that,’ she warned.

  ‘Of course.’

  The female copper was looking at someone beyond the dance floor and Mina followed her gaze to the other copper talking to a man with green hair. Mina could sense that something was wrong, it was how she had survived so long, being able to read people and their intentions.

  ‘I think it’s time to go slave. I just need you to collect my bag from the vestibule area as we leave.’

  She handed him her cloakroom ticket and together they progressed through the throng of bodies towards the exit.

  Mina pulled Daniel’s arm around her and used his body as a partial shield from the female copper. As they passed the male copper talking to the man with the green Mohican she turned her face into Daniel’s chest, looking for all intents and purposes like a woman who’d had too much to drink and was being escorted from the venue by her caring man. At the door as Mina turned to face forward again, she almost walked straight into the copper that had been over by the seating area.

  ‘Excuse me,’ he mumbled as they went to walk past him. ‘Have you seen either of these two men before?’ Robert thrust the photos into their faces, forcing them to stop and have a look.

  ‘No mate, never seen them,’ Daniel replied.

  ‘What about you?’ Robert turned his focus on Mina; she returned his gaze and for one panic-stricken moment she thought he knew, thought he could see into her soul and recognised it for what it was, a dark place full of murderous thoughts and depraved ideas.

  ‘No, don‘t know them,’ she replied, pleased to hear that her voice was not betraying her fear, her tone remaining stable and clear.

  ‘You sure?’ Robert asked her again, looking at her intently. She was beautiful and he couldn’t stop himself from staring at her.

  ‘I told you no. Now if you don’t mind, we‘ve got somewhere we need to be.’

  Mina stared at him, her face devoid of expression as she purposefully controlled her features. This was another of the skills she had developed over the years, a perfect poker face that revealed nothing about her thoughts and feelings.

  ‘Certainly,’ Robert stepped aside and the couple walked past him into the vestibule. Mina could feel his eyes on her back so she forced herself to keep walking, to not turn back.

  ‘I’ll meet you outside slave,’ she whispered to Daniel.

  Robert watched as the woman left, not sure why he was being drawn to her, whilst also trying not to notice the contours of her body and tight arse as she sashayed away from him.

  The man she was with removed something from the cloakroom and then left the club, Robert saw him reconvene with the woman outside on the pavement, glimpsing her through the front door as it swung shut.

  ‘Alright guv,’ JB’s voice came from behind him at the top of the stairs and Robert turned round, just as Tony and Elizabeth caught up with him.

  ‘That is quite a place, eh?’ he continued, ‘I had no idea people could do some of the things I saw in there! What did you think Elizabeth?’

  ‘Yes, quite a place,’ she looked at Tony.

  He was quiet and she wondered what was going through his mind. Robert spoke to the bouncer and showed him the photographs, he shook his head so Robert thanked him for his help.

  They walked out of the club into the cool night air and Robert scanned the area to see if the beautiful blonde and her friend were still in the vicinity; they were nowhere to be seen. He turned to his team, and asked them one by one what they had found out, if they had any leads or potential witnesses. They each told him what he already knew, the trip had in essence been a waste of time. They all looked deflated and exhausted. He decided to call off the witness trawl; it had been a stab in the dark after all and he wasn’t really surprised by the lack of results.

  ‘Let’s call it a night, we’re all tired and I don’t think there’s much point us continuing this. I would have thought the staff and the bouncer would have been the best people to help us, more so than the patrons really, and as they all drew a blank, I think we can knock it on the fucking head.’

  ‘Good idea guv, I’m shattered and starting to forget what my wife looks like. If I dash off now, I may be able to catch her before she goes to bed, or at least before she goes to sleep,’ JB said.

  The detectives mumbled their goodbyes and set off in different directions. Elizabeth quickly strode off towards the tube but Tony caught up with her, quickening his pace to match her stride.

  ‘Where you going so fast? Not even a goodbye? I was hoping you’d come back to mine,’ he said earnestly, reaching out to take hold of her hand.

  ‘I don’t think so Tony. I don’t know who the fuck you are. Leave me alone ok?’ Elizabeth snapped at him, pulling her arm away roughly. Tony recoiled, momentarily shocked by her outburst.

  ‘Whao… what have I done?’ Tony asked, suspecting he already knew.

  ‘I’m not entirely sure,’ Elizabeth began, ‘What have you done? Anything you want to tell me about that place? Anything you think maybe you should share with this investigation?’ She was angry now and quickened her pace even more.

  ‘I see. Let me explain would you? Elizabeth!’

  ‘Fuck off Tony, I don’t want to hear it!’ she shouted back at him,

  She felt hurt and betrayed, although she didn’t really know why. They’d only slept together once, Tony didn’t owe her anything or have to explain his sexual past to her, but still she felt he had abused her trust by not telling her of his familiarity with the club, that he had intentionally stultified the investigation by not revealing what he knew about the bondage scene.

  ‘Elizabeth, come on, don’t be like that!’ Tony stopped walking and watched as she skipped down the steps to the London Underground, annoyed with himself for volunteering to come to the club tonight. He had worried something like this might happen, but on balance he had decided that it had all happened long enough ago to not really matter anymore. Clearly he had been wrong and now he had some serious explaining to do.

  Chapter XXVII

  It was late morning and Tony had just arrived at the police station. He was dreading seeing Elizabeth, unsure as to how she would react to his presence, but hoping she would at least allow him an opportunity to explain.

  He really enjoyed Elizabeth’s company, she was a good laugh and they had great sex, he had hoped they could forge some sort of real romantic relationship; now he just hoped that he hadn’t fucked it up for good.

  As he entered the office he could hear Elizabeth laughing, her good-natured cackle resonating around the room. He should’ve guessed she would make it into the office before him, sometimes he wondered if the woman ever slept. From the office threshold he observed her in conversation with Greg, still wearing her running gear, hair scraped off her face into a long ponytail, her face ruddy from exercise. She looked amazing, especially for a woman who had just run to work.

  As if sensing his gaze, she turned and looked at him, her friendly expression changing to one of disappointment as her brain registered who he was. This didn’t look good. She resumed her conversation with
Greg without so much as acknowledging his existence.

  Tony sighed and walked over to his desk, simultaneously switching on his computer and scooping up the post that had been left on his work station. He opened the envelopes distractedly as the computer booted up, his eyes still on Elizabeth, waiting for an opportune moment to talk to her in private.

  A few moments later, Tony saw that Elizabeth was leaving the office. He quickly jumped up and pursued her down the corridor, hoping to catch up with her before she went into the ladies locker room to shower.

  ‘Elizabeth!’ he called after her. She turned briefly then continued walking along the corridor to the changing rooms.

  ‘Elizabeth, please wait.’

  This time she stopped and turned to face him. She leant against the locker room door, folding her arms across her chest as she waited to hear what he had to say.

  ‘Elizabeth, let me explain. It’s not as bad as you’re probably thinking,’ he began.

  Two uniformed officers were walking towards them, their police radios crackling. Tony lowered his voice, ‘can we go somewhere quiet so I can tell you about it in private?’ he asked as the officers walked past him.

  ‘No. You can tell me here, or you can fuck off,’ Elizabeth said, matter-of-factly.

  ‘I don’t really want to discuss this in the corridor.’

  ‘Well then we won’t discuss it at all,’ Elizabeth, shoved open the locker room door and went inside. She was surprised when she heard Tony’s voice behind her, not expecting him to have followed her in.

  ‘You can’t be in here!’ Elizabeth said firmly, quickly scouting round the room to check there was no one else in the vicinity. The locker room was empty. ‘Get out Tony!’ Elizabeth put her hands on his chest and began pushing him back towards the door.

  He took hold of her hands and said: ‘No, you need to hear what I have to say. Stop treating me like I have done something terrible! All I have done is held back some information and I didn’t do that for nefarious reasons, just because it’s no one’s business.’

  Elizabeth dropped her arms to her sides and looked at him. His eyes were wide, his expression sincere, she decided she should at least hear him out and she was curious despite herself to find out how Tony was involved with the club and the barmaid, Charlie.

  ‘I just don’t understand why you never mentioned anything about this. How come you were known by one of the barmaids in that place? How can you have been to a bondage club and then not share any of that knowledge with this enquiry Tony? It could have saved time, it could’ve helped,’ Elizabeth was full of questions.

  ‘How would it have helped? We wouldn’t have been any further forward if I had said to everyone, “Oh hey, I know what it’s like in a club, I’ve been to one,”’ Tony countered.

  ‘But you must have known about the invitation thing? That would have made us look at the computers much earlier.’

  ‘Look, I never obtained an invitation, I didn’t know one was needed. When I went to the club I went with a girl I was seeing, she was into bondage, she wanted to take me to a club and she sorted it all out. I only went out with her a few of times, this was about a year ago, and I only went to the club once.’

  ‘Ok, then explain how the barmaid knew you. There’s no way she would have remembered you if you only went in there once. You’re not so bloody amazing that you leave an indelible mark on the memory!’ Elizabeth challenged.

  Tony tried not to be offended.

  ‘The night I went to the club, the girl who took me there turned into a compete psycho bitch, we argued and she tried to hit me, so I ended it there and then. She was a strange woman, which is probably what attracted me to her in the first place, I thought she’d be fun, you know be a challenge. I like unusual women,’ Elizabeth rolled her eyes and then stared at him, one eyebrow raised, willing him to get to the point.

  ‘I’m not saying you’re strange and that’s the reason why I like you. I’m just saying that this woman, she did not react in a normal, rational way,’

  ‘Get on with it Tony.’ Elizabeth sighed.

  ‘Sorry.’ Tony realised he was digressing. ‘After the argument and I told her it was over, she left the club. I was relieved she left so readily as, like I mentioned, she was a complete psycho. I decided to stay for a bit, to make sure I gave her enough time to put a bit of distance between us…’

  ‘Yeah, I’m sure that was the reason you stayed,’ Elizabeth interjected cynically. Tony ignored her insinuation.

  ‘…so I went to the bar, ordered a drink and just started chatting to Charlie because she happened to serve me. I spent about three hours in the club, talking to her when she wasn’t serving other customers. We had a bit of a spark and so when she finished her shift, we went back to her place and well, you can imagine the rest. I didn’t see her again after that, I didn’t go back to the club and I really thought that as this happened a year ago she wouldn’t remember me, or recognise me or whatever. I certainly did not expect her to start chatting to you and for it all to come out like this.’

  Elizabeth considered what he had said, biting her lip thoughtfully.

  ‘What about this psycho woman? She psycho enough to kill?’

  Tony laughed emptily: ‘Oh don’t worry, she moved to America not long after we broke up. She’s long gone. Besides, she was nuts, but I can’t imagine she could kill. She fainted once at the sight of blood when I cut my thumb.’

  ‘So, you only went once and that was with this psycho woman who arranged everything, you then ended up falling into bed with the barmaid, and after that one-night stand you never saw her again or went to the club again? That makes you sound like such a chauvinist. And you didn’t reveal your knowledge of bondage to the investigation because…?’ Elizabeth asked, not yet ready to let Tony off the hook.

  ‘What knowledge? I don’t really know anything about it, do I? I could maybe have mentioned I’d been to a club but I still don’t see how that would have helped and it’s not exactly the sort of thing you brag about is it? Can you imagine if the rest of the team knew? I’d never hear the end of it. I honestly did not think that I could offer any insight or ideas that could’ve helped this investigation. If I had thought otherwise I would have said something because believe it or not I would like us to solve this case. You’re not the only one who gives a shit about the job,’ Tony concluded.

  ‘Ok, you’ve said your piece. I still wish you had at least confided in me so I didn’t have to find out that way.’

  ‘I’m sorry Elizabeth. In my defence though, we have only just started sleeping together, it’s not like I know everything about you either.’

  ‘Sleeping together? You think it’s going to happen again?’

  ‘I hope it does,’ Tony replied.

  For a moment Elizabeth didn’t say anything as she digested what he had said to her, she just looked at him, her eyes impenetrable; Tony couldn’t discern her sentiments from them.

  Finally she said: ‘I need to shower Tony. You’d better leave.’

  Tony sighed, ‘So that’s it? Just because I have a past?’

  Elizabeth remained mute as she turned her back on him and padded over to the showers. Deciding there was nothing more to be achieved Tony left the locker room angry with himself, with Elizabeth and with the world in general.

  ************************************************

  Denise Taylor was humming to herself as she put the key in her front door and opened it, generally pleased with life and the world in general. Her boyfriend of five years, Ryan Murphy, had just proposed to her and she had accepted, thrilled that he had finally popped the question. Mrs Denise Murphy, she liked the way it sounded.

  The previous evening Ryan had come to the restaurant where she worked as head chef and ordered a plate of risotto. He had then hidden the ring within the dish and sent it back to the kitchen, demanding that the staff inform the chef of how dissatisfied he was and that he expected a personal apology from her; he did not expect to find t
he chef’s jewellery on his plate. His waiter, Adam, was in on the gag, as were the rest of the staff; they all knew Ryan and what he was planning.

  ‘A ring in his fucking risotto? What the…?’ Denise had said when the offending platter had been returned to her kitchen. She’d plucked the ring off the plate, remarking how much she liked the design.

  When Adam had told her about the request for a personal apology, Denise had snorted and refused, stating she was far too busy and that the ring certainly hadn’t come from her fingers so she had nothing to apologise for.

  ‘I really think you should speak to this guy Den, he’s not happy and I understand he works as a food critic,’ Adam lied. ‘Just explain to him so that we can get rid of him, eh?’

  Denise had bad-temperedly smacked a few pans about and spouted a few expletives before shouting at the sous-chef to cover for a few minutes. She had followed Adam out of the kitchen, the ring in her hand, ready to fight her corner.

  Adam led her to where the man was seated; he had his back to them as they approached and Denise didn’t recognised him straight away.

  ‘Good evening sir, I understand there’s been a problem with…’ she began politely, stopping as the man turned to face her and she realised it was Ryan.

  ‘Ryan, what the bloody hell are you doing here?’ she had asked perplexed.

  ‘Did you find your ring?’ he asked, smiling.

  ‘My ring?’

  ‘The one you carelessly left in my risotto. You’ll have to take better care of it in future.’

  Then he had dropped to one knee in front of all the customers and staff and asked her to marry him. She’d been so shocked that words had failed her, the ’yes’ she desperately wanted to say lodging in her throat.

  ‘Den, will you be my wife?’ Ryan repeated, starting to worry that this might not have been such a good idea.

  ‘Of course I will!’ she had eventually exclaimed, so happy she thought her heart would burst.