by Ray Gordon
‘It’s not so much me,’ he sighed. ‘It’s Rod. I must admit that I was annoyed when I discovered that you’d been screwing both of us, but Rod’s the one who wants you out.’
‘So, are you happy about me and Raymond? I mean Raymond and . . .’
‘You look after me, and I’ll look after you. If you get my meaning?’
‘I know what you mean. So, you won’t try to put Raymond off me?’
‘To be honest, I don’t give a toss. I run the family business, and as long as I’m left alone to get on with it I really don’t care.’
‘I thought your dad was the boss?’
‘He is, but I’m beginning to take the reins. He’s old-fashioned, doesn’t keep up with the times. I can take the business into the future and we’ll all profit. The business is important to me, Sheena. Not silly family squabbles or who’s marrying whom.’
‘I thought you wanted me out of the way as much as Rod does.’
‘It’s Raymond’s life and, if he wants to marry a – a girl like you, that’s fine by me. Was Rod with you last night?’
‘Yes, yes, he was.’
‘I thought as much.’
‘Charles, I know that you think I’m a gold-digger. I know that I’m common and a slut and . . .’
‘It doesn’t matter what I think, Sheena. My father is the one you’ll have to worry about. Caroline, Deborah, Julia – they all suck up to him. Actually, Deborah is his favourite. But the way they all lick his arse is pathetic. You’re streetwise, aren’t you?’
‘I like to think so.’
‘If you get in with my father, you’ll be home and dry. I’m going to give you a tip. He can’t abide sycophants.’
‘What are they?’
‘People who try to please him and lick his arse. And I don’t mean literally.’
‘I know what you mean but . . . How do I get in with him, then?’
‘I was about to say, be yourself. On second thoughts . . . He likes a strong character. He likes someone with guts. I don’t mean be rude to him but stand your ground and, whatever you do, don’t try to please him. You’ll get nowhere by coming across as a weak sycophant.’
‘OK, thanks. Charles, why are you helping me?’
‘Why? Because I’m very much like my father. I like you, Sheena. You set your sights on something and you don’t give up. You don’t crumble under pressure. You have guts, and the most beautiful little pussy I’ve ever seen.’
‘I thought that might come into it.’
‘We’d better get back before my wife sends out a search party.’
‘Thanks, Charles. You’ve made me feel . . . Well, you’ve made me feel welcome.’
‘I’m a businessman and I like to have a finger in all the pies,’ he said, chuckling as they walked back to the house. ‘Especially a hot and juicy pie like yours.’
‘You can eat my pie whenever you’re hungry.’
‘Good girl, that’s what I like to hear.’
Sheena felt immensely relieved after her talk with Charles. She still had Rod to deal with, she mused as she followed Charles through the house to the lounge. But with photographic evidence of his infidelity, she didn’t think he’d cause any trouble. Recalling Rod’s solid cock shafting Nat’s hairless pussy, she wondered when he’d next call round to the bedsit for sex. He’d be back for more crude fucking, that was certain. Watching Rod as he left his armchair and walked towards her, she smiled.
‘I love the summerhouse,’ she said as he took her to one side.
‘Sheena, I thought you’d agreed to leave Raymond alone?’
‘I don’t remember agreeing to anything.’
‘I gave you two grand, for God’s sake. All right, if that’s the way you want it, I’ll tell Raymond all about you, your seedy bedsit, your lesbian girlfriend, the way you . . .’
‘Look,’ she said, taking her mobile phone from her handbag. ‘I took some pictures.’
‘What the hell . . .’ he gasped, staring in horror at a photo of himself screwing Nat. ‘Give me that bloody phone.’
Slipping the phone back into her bag, she looked around the room. ‘Ah, there’s Deborah,’ she said. ‘I’ll go and show her . . .’
‘I knew you’d be trouble,’ he whispered through gritted teeth.
‘Rod, the last thing I want is trouble. Why the hell can’t you just leave me alone?’
‘You win this round, Sheena, but you’re not going to win the next one. What were you doing in the garden with Charles? Giving him a deep-throat job?’
‘Sheena, the dinner is ready,’ Raymond said as he approached. ‘My father likes us to be seated when he comes down.’
Following the family into the dining room, Sheena gazed at a maid hovering by the huge table. This was amazing, she thought as Raymond pulled a chair out for her. There was a large chair at the head of the table where she reckoned the Boss would sit. Once the family were seated, silence fell over the room as they all waited. The Boss finally walked in wearing a black velvet jacket, white shirt and bow tie. The maid waited until he’d sat down before serving the soup.
‘It’s nice to see you here, Sheena,’ the Boss said, smiling at her.
‘The family is expanding,’ Rod sighed.
‘The expansion I want to see is grandchildren,’ his father returned. ‘Let’s hope that Raymond and Sheena can produce some.’
‘We are trying, George,’ Julia said.
‘Very trying,’ Charles quipped.
‘Do you want children, Sheena?’ George asked her.
‘Well, yes, I do.’ She smiled at Raymond. ‘Once we’re married . . .’
‘You don’t agree with sex before marriage?’ Rod cut in with a snigger.
‘I think it’s best to wait . . .’
‘You don’t agree to sex outside our marriage, do you, Charles?’ Caroline asked. ‘Not very often, anyway.’
Sheena tried to keep out of it as the maid placed a bowl of vegetable soup before her. She watched the others, following suit by covering her dress with her napkin and noting which spoon they used. She was aware of Rod keeping an eye on her, waiting for her to make a mistake, and she wondered again why he wouldn’t accept that she was to become part of the family.
It was jealousy, she concluded. She was young, attractive, fun to be with, a whore in the bedroom . . . Why was Deborah so cold in bed with Rod? she wondered, gazing at the woman’s full red lips and imagining the photographer fucking her mouth. Listening to the bickering, she noticed that George wasn’t at all amused. He frowned at each comment and shook his head despairingly as the women slagged off their men. Sheena took mental notes. He wanted grandchildren, he didn’t like people sucking up to him . . . Why hadn’t he taken her aside for a chat? she wondered. Maybe he would after the meal.
Sheena enjoyed the roast duck and was careful not to drink too much wine. She didn’t join in with the conversation for fear of letting herself down, and she ignored Rod’s various quips. After the meal, the women filed into the lounge and the men began talking business. Sheena was about to follow the women when George invited her to walk in the garden with him. This was it, she thought apprehensively, leaving her chair. She grinned at Rod as he mumbled something about me and him. Following George to the patio, she knew that she didn’t dare let herself down.
‘Sit down, Sheena,’ he said, waving at a patio chair. He walked up and down, rubbing his chin pensively. ‘What do you think of my family?’ he finally asked her.
‘They’re nice,’ she replied, recalling the advice Charles had given her. ‘But I don’t like the continual bickering.’
‘Neither do I. Do you know why Rod keeps digging at you?’
‘No, I – I don’t,’ she breathed softly. ‘Maybe he don’t like me.’
‘I know why,’ he said, locking his dark eyes to hers.
‘Do you?’ Her stomach churning, she waited fearfully as he continued to pace up and down.
‘He’s jealous,’ he eventually said, much to her reli
ef. ‘Deborah is a lovely girl, but . . . She doesn’t give a man the things he needs, if you see what I mean?’
‘Yes, I understand. Me and Raymond . . .’ Her words tailing off, she felt her face flush.
‘You were saying?’
‘Raymond and me . . . We . . .’
‘Charles wants me out of the way so that he can take over the running of the business. David is a wimp. Rod doesn’t want to marry Deborah, but he’s trying to keep me happy. Raymond has one goal in life, and that is to get married. As for the ladies . . . Caroline doesn’t care what Charles gets up to, as long as he gives her money. Julia treats David like a child, and Deborah – Deborah has her own plans for the future, and they don’t include Rod.’
‘How do you know that?’ Sheena asked him.
‘I know more or less everything that goes on.’
‘You missed one person out.’
‘I was coming to you next.’
‘No, I mean – what about you?’
‘Me?’ He chuckled and then frowned. ‘What do you think of me?’
‘I don’t know, I haven’t known you long enough to decide.’
‘I’m the one with the money and the power, Sheena. Charles wants the power, and the rest of them want the money. What do you want?’
‘I want money,’ she replied honestly. ‘And I want to drag myself out of . . . I want to better myself.’
‘And you think you’ll do that by marrying Raymond?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You’re young, Sheena. Why get married at your age? You have your whole life ahead of you.’
‘I like Raymond. When we was at the club the other night and he asked me to marry him, I knew that we’d be happy. I would of thought that he’d want someone older but . . .’
‘Do you love him?’
‘Yes, I do. I’ve never known no one like him. He’s kind and I like being with him and I think we’ll be happy.’
‘Where did you meet each other?’
‘We was at . . . We met in a bar.’
‘I have some papers to go through, so . . . We’ll talk again.’
Biting her lip as he went back into the house, Sheena knew she’d let herself down. It was the wine, she reflected as Raymond joined her on the patio and passed her a vodka and tonic. What with letting herself down in front of George and Rod going on at her, she was feeling despondent. Raymond sat opposite her and frowned, and she reckoned that Rod had been talking to him.
‘Sheena,’ he began. ‘Rod said that . . .’
‘I’m not interested in Rod,’ she cut in. ‘We’ve hardly had any time together, apart from when we was at the hotel.’
‘We were together last night.’
‘We were here, with everyone else. Now we’re here with them all again.’
‘We’ve only just met, Sheena.’
‘What about going away, like you said? We could go to Paris or wherever.’
‘I don’t know anything about you. I don’t even know where you live and I’ve not met your parents.’
‘They live miles away and I never see them.’
‘So, where do you live?’
‘In a flat not far from here. What’s all this about, Raymond? You sound like you’ve changed your mind about me.’
‘I don’t know. Maybe I was rather hasty with my proposal. I haven’t changed my mind but I think we should get to know each other before we start arranging the wedding.’
‘You have changed your mind.’ She hung her head.
‘All I’m saying is that we don’t need to rush into anything. We will get married, but let’s not rush.’
‘Something’s changed your mind, hasn’t it? What’s Rod been saying?’
‘He said that . . . This isn’t easy for me. He said that everyone’s been laughing about the way you speak.’
‘So, you don’t want me because I don’t talk posh?’
‘No, it’s not that. My family are difficult at the best of times. If we’re going to live here together . . . Sheena, did you sleep with Charles when we were at the hotel?’
‘No, I didn’t. What made you think that?’
‘It was something Rod said. Look, we’ll be fine together. I’ll get you another drink, OK?’
‘OK.’
That was the end of her plans, she was sure as she gazed at the swimming pool, the evening sun sparkling on the rippling water. Rod was behind this, she mused angrily. Digging at Raymond, dropping hints, putting her down . . . As he joined her on the patio and passed her another drink, she knew that he’d been getting at Raymond again. What had he said this time? she wondered. Raymond had gone to get her a drink, so where was he?
‘Sheena, we need to talk,’ Rod said.
‘No, we don’t,’ she returned angrily, downing her drink. ‘I have nothing to say to you, Rod. And I don’t want to hear what you . . .’
‘I’ll give you more money, another three thousand.’
‘I don’t want your money.’
‘If you show those photographs to Deborah . . .’
‘You’ll be in the shit.’
‘All right, you win,’ he said, much to her surprise. ‘You go ahead and marry Raymond, and I’ll keep out of it.’
‘That was a sudden change of mind.’
‘Come down to the garden with me, Sheena. Let’s go back to how we were.’
‘You want sex?’
‘Yes, why not? If you’re joining us, we might as well keep it in the family.’
Following him past the swimming pool and across the lawn to the summerhouse, Sheena wondered what he was up to. Why change his mind? Was he after her mobile phone? After slipping her phone into a bush, she joined him in the summerhouse. Sure that he was up to something as he pulled her dress up and gazed longingly at her hairless vaginal lips and tightly closed sex crack, she dropped her handbag on to the bench.
‘Take your dress off,’ he said, smiling at her.
‘Rod, someone might come looking for us.’
‘No, we’ll be all right. Come on, Sheena, it’ll be like old times.’
‘You take your trousers off, then,’ she returned.
‘No, I . . . Look, just slip your dress over your head. It won’t take a minute to put it back on if we hear someone coming.’
Sheena lifted her dress and then hesitated as she had a thought. Had he told Raymond to wait a few minutes and then go to the summerhouse? she wondered. Was Rod trying to prove to his brother that she was a slut? Lowering her dress, she again asked him to take his trousers off. He hesitated, but then unbuckled his belt and dropped his trousers to his knees as she knelt before him. Gazing at his flaccid penis, his heavy balls, she retracted his fleshy foreskin and licked his purple knob.
‘I will take my dress off,’ she said, rising to her feet and grabbing her handbag. ‘I’ll go round the back and do it. You wait there.’
‘Sheena, why not stay here?’
‘If someone comes, I can slip round the back and dress. Wait there.’
Slipping into the bushes, she grinned as she noticed Raymond crossing the lawn. She’d only just made it, she thought as he passed the bushes where she was hiding. That was a dirty trick, she thought angrily as he went into the summerhouse. She could hear Raymond shouting as she grabbed her phone from the bushes then dashed back to the house. He must be wondering what the hell Rod was up to, she thought happily. She made her way through the house to the dining room, where she poured herself a large vodka and tonic and breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Are you all right?’ Deborah asked her as she sipped at her drink. ‘You look quite flushed.’
‘I’m hot, that’s all,’ Sheena replied, wondering whether to show the woman the photographs.
‘Sheena, now that we’re alone, I want to ask you something.’
‘Oh?’
‘Has Rod been chasing after you?’
‘No, he hasn’t.’
‘I’ll find out if he has, so tell me the truth.’
&n
bsp; ‘I wasn’t going to say anything, but . . .’
‘If you’ve been having sex with him, I’ll make sure that you never set foot in this house again,’ Deborah hissed.
‘Are you accusing me of . . .’
‘I’m not accusing you of anything. I know your type and . . .’
‘You know my type?’ Sheena echoed. ‘What the hell do you mean by that?’
‘You’re not exactly a refined young lady, Sheena.’
‘Deborah, now that we’re alone together, I want to show you something.’ She took her phone from her handbag, and showed the other woman a photograph of Rod screwing Nat. ‘That’s your future husband, and it’s not me he’s screwing.’
‘But . . . Where did you get that from?’
‘It was sent to me, but I don’t know who it’s from.’
Deborah gazed open-mouthed at the photographs for several seconds, Sheena flicking through them one by one, before running out of the room in a flood of tears. Rod deserved to be dropped in the shit, Sheena reflected as she heard the woman wailing in the hall. She hadn’t wanted to cause trouble and arguments. But Rod had arranged for Raymond to catch her with her knickers down, and he had to pay for his crime. She heard the front door slam shut, and grinned at Rod as he stopped in the doorway.
‘Was that Deborah?’ he asked her. ‘Where’s she gone?’
‘I don’t know,’ Sheena replied. ‘Did Raymond catch you with your trousers down?’
‘It was lucky you’d gone round the back of the summerhouse,’ he whispered. ‘Raymond walked in and . . .’
‘It was lucky, wasn’t it?’ Sheena interrupted him. ‘It was very lucky that I realised what you were up to.’
He frowned at her. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked her. ‘Hang on, hang on. Do you think that I planned it?’
‘You tell me, Rod.’
Charles appeared in the doorway. ‘What’s the matter with Deborah?’ he asked Rod. ‘She’s stormed out in a flood of tears.’
‘It’s all right,’ Rod said, glaring at Sheena. ‘I think I know what it’s about.’
‘What the hell is going on?’ Raymond asked as he joined his brothers.
Sheena took her drink out to the patio, sat down and gazed at the swimming pool as shouting came from the house. This was a right mess, she thought. She hadn’t wanted all this but, hopefully, her trouble-making might finally put an end to Rod and Deborah’s relationship. Then what? she wondered. Although Rod was the one she’d wanted all along, she knew that he wasn’t interested in her any more. Raymond was her only way into the family, she reflected for the umpteenth time, and she was going to have to settle for second best.
