by Bridy McAvoy
I tried not to respond to him but that was hard.
“Do you want me to continue this? Do you want me to strip you naked, sweetie?”
I guess I nodded because suddenly both his hands were there, in between my breasts. He tugged the bow apart and I felt the fabric over my breasts slacken. He wasn’t nasty or brutal, but he wasn’t gentle either. His hands rose between my breasts again and grasped the two inside edges of the now virtually useless baby-doll. He swept his hands out to the sides, baring my breasts. Although they weren’t bare really, he moved in such a way that his hands replaced the thin lace. I was standing there in a ruined baby-doll, transparent panties and nothing else, while a forty-something man groped my breasts. I should have been angry. I should have screamed. Instead, I stood there and let him do it. Actually, I wasn’t just standing there, I was trying hard to retard the orgasm I could feel building inside me.
After about a minute of his obscene groping, his hands dropped away. The next thing I felt was a feathery touch of his fingers on my hips, then his hands slid higher, snagged the ties on my panties, and they came undone as he jerked on them.
“Your legs are trembling, Penny. Are you about to cum?”
“Urgh…”
I didn’t want to say anything but I knew he could read the signs as well as I could. I was just about naked now, and if I wasn’t careful this man was going to fuck me. What had happened up to now could, hopefully, be forgiven as a series of voyeuristic mistakes—something I could partially blame Gareth for. Letting him fuck me—well, that was something else, something far worse.
He let my panties fall to the floor and I guess he straightened up. One of his hands grasped mine, while his other hand moved quickly to cup my mound.
“Frank! Stop that.”
He just laughed, then took his hand away. “Open your mouth, Penny.”
“Why?”
Speaking was of course my mistake. Before I could say another word, or even close it, he’d pushed his fingers past my teeth. I could taste myself on his digits. My legs went weak and I tried not to moan.
“You are such a fucking slut, sweetie. I’m looking forward to fucking you.”
“Hmmph!”
His other hand now dragged my hand down and forward. I felt something hot brush against the back of my hand. All that rustling noise I’d heard hadn’t just been him moving around, he’d been undressing as well. I wasn’t the only one naked in the room! Things had progressed further than I thought they had. Frank had the presence of mind to remove his fingers from my mouth and return them to my pussy as I started to shake. He wrapped my fingers around his erection and started to force me to make a stroking motion, even as he used the fingers on his other hand to penetrate my sex.
I came hard, so hard my legs threatened to collapse. Certainly, I thought I was going to fall. The orgasm crashed through and over me, and I was left breathless and panting for air.
It took me a minute to realize I wasn’t touching him anymore, nor was he touching me. I thought I heard a low groan from floor level, but nothing more.
“Frank?”
“Frank!”
Nothing. Quickly I grabbed the blindfold and pushed it off over my head. Frank was still in the room with me, his face a strange color, one hand clutching at his chest.
Witnessing and feeling my orgasm had given the old pervert a fucking heart attack.
He was on his back on the floor, barely conscious, his face twisted into a grimace of pain, his color fading more and more. I wanted to panic, wanted to run away, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave him there like that. The cordless phone was on the coffee table only feet from me. I grabbed it, and dialed nine-nine-nine.
“Please state the nature of your emergency.”
“It’s my neighbor, he’s having a heart attack!”
“Can you tell me your location?”
I reeled off the address and a moment later a man’s voice took over.
“There’s a paramedic on the way. Can you tell me the name of the casualty?”
“Frank… Frank Brown. He’s forty-two or thereabouts. Had a heart attack about three years ago. Now I’m sure he’s having another one.”
“Have you ever given CPR?”
“No… I have seen that Vinnie Jones commercial, the Staying Alive one.”
“Good, I want you to stay on the line and try doing that.”
“I need to get dressed first…”
“Listen, young lady, what state of dress or undress you’re in is irrelevant. You need to start the heart massage straight away.”
I put my hands on his chest, one on top of the other and started to press in time with the rhythm in my head. About five minutes later I heard the sound of sirens rapidly approaching.
Chapter 11
The sound of the text message signal roused me from the light doze I’d settled into. I didn’t want to admit to Penny that she’d worn me out, but I needed some sleep to face the week.
I’m at home. I need you now!
I was moving, reaching for my jeans before my eyes had reached the end of the message. I tried to pull my jeans on with one hand as I tried to send a reply with the other. It didn’t work. Forcing myself to calm down, I pulled my jeans on, then sent a quick reply.
What’s wrong, babe?
There was no reply in the sixty seconds it took me to put my shoes on, grab a coat, my wallet and my keys, and exit the flat. There was still no reply when I reached the street. I tried ringing her as I turned toward the bottom of the hill and started to jog. It went to answerphone.
Five minutes later I was sprinting as I passed the supermarket where she worked then hit the base of the long upward drag that led to her road. I’d heard a set of sirens a few minutes before, but didn’t think anything of it as I drifted back to sleep. Now, as I started up the hill itself, an ambulance raced past me, sirens blaring to get other drivers out of its way. My heart was already in my mouth by then. As I saw it turn into Penny’s road at the top of the hill, my heart had a full set of teeth marks on it.
There was little point in me collapsing on arrival. I needed to be in decent shape when I got there, for her sake. So I slowed to a walk for twenty paces, then ran the next twenty, then walked. And so on. I turned the corner into her road—took the situation in at a glance. There was a paramedic car, and two ambulances there, a police car too. I could see Penny sitting on the tail-gate of one of the ambulances, wrapped in one of those hospital style blue blankets. My heart lurched with relief as I noticed everything was centered on the house next door.
Relief surged through my veins and I could see several onlookers, the cops keeping them back. One of them approached me, stopped me moving forward.
“Penny!”
She looked up and saw me. The ambulance woman standing next to her asked her something, Penny nodded, and the woman in green waved me through. The cop let go of my arm, and I raced to the back of the ambulance.
“Penny! Are you okay?”
She tried to smile, but I could see her heart wasn’t in it.
“You the boyfriend?”
“Yes. What’s happened?”
She looked somewhat embarrassed, which I thought was a bit odd. Penny shifted in her seat, but didn’t look at me again. The blanket shifted lightly, and her bare shoulder popped into view. Bare? What the hell?
“The neighbor has had a coronary. Big one.”
“Oh.”
“Your girlfriend tried to save him, she’s the one who called us. But he died before we got here.”
“Oh, I see. But what happened to Penny’s clothes?”
“I think you need to talk that through for yourselves. I think we should get her inside. Maybe give her a sedative. She’s in shock.”
“I see.”
Between us, we got Penny on her feet and then led her the few steps to her own home. In that time it was easy to notice she was naked underneath the blanket. Sudden understanding flared through my system. Just like had hap
pened before, she’d been naked in front of Frank again, only this time Frank had paid for it with his life.
We got Penny seated on the couch, but she still hadn’t said a word. The ambulance woman moved through to the kitchen and quickly brewed some tea. I went through to help.
“What the hell was going on?”
“Not for me to say.”
“You have to tell me something.”
She bit her lip then nodded and lowered her voice. “The paramedic arrived, found your girlfriend performing CPR on Mr. Brown, but he was already gone. They tried to revive him but they couldn’t. There’s something else you should know.”
“What?”
“They were both naked… And I guess it’s none of my damned business. Just don’t judge until you hear the whole story.”
I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t make a sound. Nothing would come out.
My Penny, my beautiful innocent Penny, my love, had been found naked with an older man—a dead older man. Also naked. Nobody had to draw me a roadmap as my own internal one disintegrated around me.
“As I said, don’t judge.”
She took Penny the cup of tea and gave her a couple of pills. After a few minutes Penny’s eyes started to close and between the two of us we made her comfortable on the couch, out for the count. She still hadn’t spoken a word to me. The panicked text was the only thing I’d got from her.
The ambulance woman disappeared outside for a couple of minutes then reappeared with a bundle. I recognized Penny’s work uniform. It was still only just gone three. She was supposed to be at work for another two hours.
“I’ve spoken to the police, advised them she’s been sedated. They’ll want to interview her, probably tomorrow, but it’s just procedure. Mr. Brown had a poor medical history. Doctor will sign off on fatal heart attack, probably won’t even be an inquest. Shouldn’t be any consequences for your girlfriend.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s okay. Somebody needs to be with her. Can you stay? She shouldn’t be left alone.”
“I’ll stay for a while, get hold of her parents, and get them to come home.”
“Where are they?”
“Leeds. Penny’s uncle had an accident on Thursday.”
“Oh, dear. Not too bad I hope?”
“Could have been a lot worse, apparently. I’ll ring them in a minute. Then I’ll stay until they get home.”
She squeezed my hand. “I meant what I said in the kitchen. Don’t judge until you’ve heard the whole story.”
She left, and a few minutes later the ambulances departed. The police car stayed a few minutes longer and then left too.
I made sure Penny was safe on the couch then slipped upstairs and fetched her duvet and pillow, and made her as comfortable as I could. I carried her uniform upstairs and dumped that on her bedroom floor, out of the way.
Once I’d tidied everything, I picked up her mobile phone and ran through the contacts to find her mum’s mobile.
Penny was still fast asleep, but I couldn’t make the call from within the same room. It just didn’t seem right.
Walking into the kitchen, I pressed dial.
It was answered on the third ring.
“Penny? Sweetheart, I was going to ring you shortly.”
“It’s not Penny. It’s me, Gareth.”
“Oh, my God! What’s happened?”
“Listen, I know you’re needed there, but you’re needed here too.”
“What’s happened to Penny?”
“She’s okay. She’s going to be okay, but she’s asleep on the couch right now. The ambulance crew gave her a sedative.”
“Ambulance?” Her voice went up both in volume and pitch.
I heard Penny’s father in the background. “Give me that. Gareth, tell me what’s happened.”
“Sure, Mr. Lane. As well as I can. I’m sorry to tell you, your neighbor, Frank, has had a massive heart attack. Penny was the one who dialed nine-nine-nine.”
“Is he okay?”
“No, I gather he’s dead.”
“Oh, my God! Poor sod. Poor Penny.”
“She was trying to give him CPR when the paramedic arrived. I’ve been told she’s gone into shock. She hasn’t said a word to me since I got here. All I know is what the ambulance crew said, and the text I got from her, which simply said to get here, she needed me.”
“So she’s unharmed?”
“I guess so, physically at least. As I said, she’s sedated and asleep. She shouldn’t be alone.”
“Okay. Wait a moment.” I could hear a whispered conversation going on in the background—it sounded like two women and a man as well as Jack. “Can you stay with her for now?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Alison is going to drive us back to hers, then lend us her car. We’ll be there in about two hours.”
“Good.”
“Will you stay after that?”
“I… I can’t.”
“Gareth, talk to me, lad. There’s more to this story than you’re telling me.”
I tried hard not to sob, but I guess the noise carried.
“Talk to me, son.”
“He was naked when they found him… So was Penny.”
There was silence at the other end of the line as I sobbed for a few seconds.
“Okay, Gareth, don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Difficult.”
“I know. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” There was a depth of compassion to his voice that triggered even more tears. I could tell they were almost as worried about me as they were about their daughter.
* * * *
I guess it was just over two hours later when a car pulled up outside, and a moment later a very worried looking Caroline Lane rushed through the front door, closely followed by her husband.
She went straight to the couch and dropped to her knees, reaching out to touch Penny’s face. Penny hadn’t moved since they’d given her the sedative. Her breathing was nice and deep and even. Mrs. Lane was doing what I’d done three or four times during the last two hours. Jack looked at the two of them, then jerked his head toward the kitchen before leading me through the kitchen and out into the back garden.
“Tell me what you know, son.”
“Not a lot more than I told you. I got a text at three-oh-seven.”
“When she was supposed to be at work?”
“Yeah.”
“Listen, son, I need to ask, had you and she arranged anything for this afternoon?”
I shook my head.
“Sorry, had to ask. Tell me what you found when you got here.”
“An ambulance, a cop car, and a paramedic’s car. They had Penny sitting at the back of the ambulance, wrapped in that blanket. I guess the others were all next door. The ambulance woman looking after Penny told me what she knew. Asked me not to judge.”
“And are you? Judging?”
“I don’t bloody know what to think!”
He grabbed my hand and held it, shook it, then squeezed it. “Thanks for staying, lad. Don’t leave yet.”
We went back inside and I sat with Penny while Jack unloaded their stuff from the car and Caroline made a pot of tea. I didn’t want one, but I guess my innate politeness made me take it.
All the time I couldn’t take my eyes off Penny. Only she wasn’t my Penny anymore, she was a stranger. Sleeping peacefully, but my dreams were gone. Dead. Straight to the morgue with that bastard from next door!
I couldn’t stay any longer.
“I have to go. I’m sorry… so, so, sorry. I hope she’s going to be okay, but I have to go.”
Caroline looked at me with tears in her eyes. She’d put two and two together and knew what I was saying.
Jack accompanied me to the door. “As I said, lad, thanks for staying as long as you did. Most men, lesser men, would have cut and run. I appreciate what you’ve done. Just remember, the door here is always open to you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Lane.”
&
nbsp; He noticed the formality, and took it for the message it was. He shook my hand, and then I was outside on the street and the door closed behind me.
Chapter 12
On the walk home, I switched my mobile off, and I left it off all week. I went to work, went home, tried to eat, failed to, and then tried to sleep. Failed at that too.
By Friday I was a walking wreck. As I walked home from the bus stop I saw someone standing outside the block of flats. For a moment I was ready to turn around and run in the opposite direction, but I couldn’t do that.
“Mrs. Lane.”
“Gareth. I was going to ask you how you’re doing but I can see the answer for myself. Not well.”
“I’m okay.”
“Don’t kid a kidder, Gareth. May I come in?”
“Sure, but…”
“I think we need to talk.”
“It’s a bit of a mess…”
“So? You think I’m here to inspect?”
I forced a chuckle, then led her inside, up two flights, and then unlocked my door. The living room wasn’t too bad, but I quickly shut the bedroom door. She didn’t need to see that.
Penny’s mum looked around with interest, and I realized she’d never seen the inside of the place.
“It’s not as small as I thought, from the way Penny described it.”
“How is Penny?” Just saying her name hurt like hell. I’d been avoiding it all week.
“Hurting. Missing you.”
“Oh.” I remembered my manners. “Would you like a cuppa?”
“That would be nice, thank you.”
“I think the milk’s still fresh enough.”
“Don’t worry, I remember what it was like. I married a bachelor who had his own place too.”
“Ah.”
Out of her sight in the kitchen for a minute, I could concentrate on thinking about what was going on. Why was she here? I couldn’t process it—too strung out, I guess.
When I returned to the room she was perched on the couch, leaving room for me at the other end.
