Diamonds by Brian Ritchie

  Chapter 13: Friday 15th May.

  I awoke Friday morning fully refreshed and turning towards my alarm I saw the teddy smiling at me in the sunlight from the window and smiled back at him. “Good morning Ted.”

  I got up from the bed and walked naked to the window to look down into the street below. “I wonder what mischief I’ll get up to today?”

  I asked Ted as I looked up to see a young girl in a flat opposite looking at me from an open window.

  She looked a very pretty girl of about twenty with shoulder length dark hair.

  All I could see of her was her head and bare arms as she rested on them on her window ledge.

  Any other day I would have quickly whipped the curtain in front of me but the sight of the smiling stranger excited me as I rested my hands on my ledge and used it to cover my ‘indecent exposure’.

  “It’s the simple things that amuse simple minds, Ted.”

  I made for the bathroom and the living room for breakfast.

  I almost skipped into my office that morning and cheerily cackled “Good morning Girls.” as I passed through the outer office to my door.

  “Good morning one and all,” I smiled, as I passed Margaret, Jean, Maureen, Norma, Julia and Sarah’s desks as each said, “Good morning, boss.”

  No sooner had I sat in my chair than the door opened and Sarah was smiling at me from her usual perch upon the desk.

  I pretended to ignore her as I opened a letter

  “Well?” She enquired.

  “Well what?” I asked evasively.

  “How do you feel this morning?” She asked annoyed by my evasiveness.

  I got up and sat beside her with my arm around her shoulders smiling.

  “I feel two hundred percent this morning, and it’s all thanks to you.”

  I pulled her to me and pecked her on the cheek.

  “Thanks kid - You’re the best guardian angel a man could ask for.”

  Sarah looked slightly shocked at this sudden display of affection and blushed as I returned to my chair and my letter.

  She was silent for a few moments and then asked,

  “Well, what happened last night? Or shouldn’t I ask?”

  I smiled saying, “You shouldn’t ask, a gentlemen should never kiss and tell.”

  Curiosity was getting the better of her by now.

  “Nobody said you were a gentleman.” She smiled,

  “I know I shouldn’t ask, so tell me anyway.”

  I smiled sideways at her. ”There’s nothing much to tell.

  I did everything you told me.”

  “I took Cinderella to the ball and she certainly had a ball alright.

  We left the party before midnight and only stopped on the way home for a burger.

  We sat talking in a play-park for a little while until the police chased us. I drove her home and went to my bed.”

  “Alone?” She asked.

  “Just my teddy and me.”

  Sarah squeaked with delight. “You’ve got a teddy?”

  I looked into her delightful eyes and smiled. “I have now,

  A little 6-inch high white bear with a love heart and MY BEST FRIEND written upon it. Debbie gave it to me when we got home last night.”

  Sarah jumped from the desk putting her hand onto my shoulder.

  “I’m really glad everything worked out okay for you.”

  I squeezed her arm.

  “I’m glad too, Sarah. Thanks kid, You’re beautiful.”

  She winked and smiled at me as she left the room I repeated,

  “Sarah, you are definitely an angel.” as I got down to the business of the day.

  Every time I stopped for any reason I kept remembering the mysterious ‘peeper’ from across the way.

  I had lived there for two months and hadn’t seen her before.

  Did she spy on me every morning or was this the first time?

  Does she regularly peep as me when I make love with Tracey?

  Could she have seen me ‘rape’ Debbie?

  Was she alone or did I have an audience?

  Now she knows I have seen her will she stop?

  On the other hand, will she attempt to contact me?

  What would I say to her if we met in the street?

  This mysterious girl, I called Suzy, haunted my every thought as dozens of questions ran through my mind - especially the question of why I hadn’t covered myself up after I noticed her?

  As I drove home that evening all my thoughts were of Tracey and she, as usual, appeared right on cue, and ‘as usual’ we undressed and immediately made love.

  Afterwards we kissed and in the interval before ‘round two’ she was deep in thought.

  “I believe we shouldn’t have any secrets from one another.”

  “You’re right,” I assured her, “What would you like to know?”

  She let out a long sigh and pulling my hair she removed my lips from her left nipple.

  “Look buster,” she growled, “I’m trying my best to be serious here.

  And you know I can’t concentrate while you’re kissing me there, Okay?”

  I conceded as I pulled myself from her and lay on my side looking into her right ear.

  “I don’t have any secrets.” I lied as she took a deep breath.

  “It’s about Wednesday night.” She sighed.

  I felt my entire body freeze cold as I presumed that someone had told our secret as absolute panic gripped me and I searched for an explanation to my night of passion with Melanie, but none came as Tracey continued.

  “On Wednesday, just after I called you, I got a call from Doreen Greene. You remember my old mate from school?”

  The warmth slowly returned to my body as I realised that she had no knowledge of ‘MY’ Wednesday.

  “Yeah, I remember Doreen. How is she getting on?”

  She continued, “Doreen had just heard the news of our engagement and invited me out for a celebration drink.

  I had no plans for Wednesday so I met her after work.”

  “We went to ‘Charlie Parker’s’ and no sooner had we reached the place than she started getting ‘chatted up’ by this good-looking guy who sat next to her and, as usual, Doreen quite fancied him, so she was soon in deep conversation with him.”

  “Well, I was just about to put my coat on and leave her to it, when guess who should walk through the doors?”

  She teased me to guess who in the entire population of Glasgow would walk into ‘Charlie Parker’s at 5 p.m. on a Wednesday evening.

  “Andy Baird?” “Nope.”

  “Mary Whatsername?” “Nope.”

  “I don’t know then.” I conceded.

  “Rachel.” I stared at her surprised.

  “What the hell was Rachel doing there?”

  Tracey uncoiled from me and giggled. “That’s exactly what I asked her.

  Apparently, she was attending some training thing at Strathclyde University and popped into her old haunt for ‘one for the road’.

  I told her she shouldn’t drink before driving on the M8, but she said it was okay because she had another boring day of it on Thursday and was staying with her family overnight.”

  Tracey described how Wednesday night had gone.