This is the thirty-third episode of my unreliable memoirs recounting sexual encounters in the nineteen eighties. Each episode is self-contained, so you can read them without having read the previous ones.
There has always been a lot of romance in these stories, as well as sex. If anything, the balance is tipped towards the romance at the moment and so rather than post in 'Erotic Couplings' this time, I thought I would post in 'Romance'.
There is, of course, still plenty of sex in this episode and I hope you enjoy it.
M4bloke
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On Monday I called Mr. Macgregor of Blackfinch Security.
"I've some disappointing news I'm afraid," he began. "The Swiss police say there's insufficient evidence to justify a warrant to search the premises where we believe Michael Taylor's Bentley is located."
"Oh," was all I could say. "What happens now?"
"There are a couple of options. You could wait and hope new information comes to light, or you could take more direct action."
"You mean try to recover it ourselves."
"Blackfinch can't be involved in this directly I'm afraid. Blackfinch aren't allowed to operate in Switzerland but I know somebody who might be able to help you."
"Ok."
"You already know him. It's Stefan Voigt. He's expecting your call."
It was a surprise but, for some reason, not a shock to hear Stefan's name.
"Ok, I'll speak to him. I need your help on another matter, though."
"Of course."
"I'm thinking of hiring someone and I need you to run a background check for me."
"No problem, what's his name and address?"
"His name's Sam and he owns a comic book store just off Denmark Street. He says he went to Cambridge."
"That's it?"
"I'm afraid so and I need what you can find this morning."
"It's a good job I like a challenge," Macgregor replied.
At lunchtime I took a taxi to Denmark Street and searched for Sam's comic store. If you didn't know what you were looking for you'd have missed it and when I went inside I found Sam reading the Financial Times. He looked surprised to see me.
"I wasn't expecting to see you," he said, greeting me. "Is everything ok?"
"Everything's fine." I replied. "I wondered if I could buy you lunch."
"I'm not sure I can leave the shop when it's this busy," Sam joked as he looked around the empty store. Then shouting in the direction of the back room he asked, "Are you ok to look after the shop Grebo?"
A skeletal figure appeared from the back room and said "No problem." I felt like I should be taking him out to lunch, he looked like he needed it more than the rest of us.
"Grebo, this is Steven, Steven this is Grebo."
We acknowledged each other as Sam folded the newspaper and grabbed his coat.
The pub we found was full of office workers having a lunchtime pint and we ordered from the limited menu. Mr Macgregor hadn't been able to find much out about Sam in the time I'd given him but he had been able to confirm that he'd studied at Cambridge and didn't have a criminal record.
"Did you get back ok yesterday?" I asked.
"No problems. Carly wouldn't let go of the book you bought her. She almost slept with it. Thanks for that, it made her very happy."
"I'll not deny, it gave me a lot of pleasure being able to do it," I told him.
"Well, it was appreciated."
"Look, to cut to the chase Sam. I'd like to offer you a job."
"That's very generous, but I already have the comic book store."
"Hear me out," I said. "How about if you worked fifty percent of your time for me and spent fifty percent in the store. I need someone with your brains, Sam on the Obermann consultancy. Just think. If you did this then Carly wouldn't have to work in the coffee shop she could work in the store when you're not there."
I could see that Sam saw logic in my proposal.
"What would you want me to do?"
I told Sam more about the Obermann consulting contract and how I needed his help with it.
"So when Uwe was talking to me in German about robotics yesterday, it was a test?" he asked.
"If I'm honest I was testing you both. I'm thinking about offering him a job too,"
"He knows his stuff," Sam confirmed.
I got out a pen and wrote down a figure on a beer mat then passed it to him.
"This is what I'm offering per day. You'd be a contractor and I could employ you through the store if you liked. I think it would be better from a tax point of view, but it's up to you."
Sam looked at the beer mat.
"That's more than I was expecting."
"You're not an average guy Sam. I know you love the store but you've so much more to offer. With your skills, there'd be companies falling over themselves to offer you a full time job. They'd pay well too and I can compete with them if you want. But this way you get to keep the store, Carly gets a job that she's passionate about and you both get some financial stability."
"I need to talk this over with Carly?" Sam said.
"I understand. Let me know when you make a decision."
"We could do it now if you like. She works about ten minutes away."
Carly worked in a coffee shop in Soho run by a genial looking guy who was probably Greek or Turkish. Her eyes lit up when she saw us. We took a seat and she came over.
"Hi there you two. I didn't expect to see you. What a lovely surprise."
"Can we talk to you for a bit? Steven's got a proposition," Sam asked.
Carly went to check with her boss then came back and sat with us.
"I've got fifteen minutes," she said impishly.
Sam explained my proposition to Carly and when he told her it meant that she could work at the comic book store I could see that Carly was sold on the idea. But she was mindful of the fact that Sam was having to compromise on his dream.
"It's up to you darling," she said. "I know how much the store means to you."
"But you wouldn't mind if I worked for Steven's company a few days a week."
"Of course not."
"Then you have a deal, Steven."
"That's great," I said, shaking Sam's hand. "When can you start?"
"As soon as you like."
Before we left, Sam went to the bathroom, leaving Carly and I alone. She had a broad grin on her face and she reached out and held my hand.
"Thank you, Steven. You're doing us a real favour. Sam doesn't like to admit it but we're so poor at the moment."
"Sam's doing me the favour," I told her. "I really need someone like him."
"I'm glad. And thank you for my book. It's beautiful, I'll treasure it forever."
"You're welcome. As I told Sam, it gave me a lot of pleasure being able to buy it for you."
"I wish I could show you how grateful I was," she said coyly.
"Believe me Carly, so do I. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to wait for a couple of weeks."
"It'll be worth it, I promise..."
With Sam on-board, my next task was to talk to Suzy about Uwe. That evening, Lesley and I went to our French class as usual. Afterwards, we got home to find Michael and Claire's Range Rover in the driveway. Lesley was excited to see them and it turned out that they'd just decided to pay us and Carole a visit on the spur of the moment. I hadn't had time to tell Lesley about Mr Macgregor's news which was probably a good thing.
It was easy to forget that Michael and Claire were Carole's best friends, especially when Lesley was around. Lesley monopolised Michael leaving Carole and Claire to catch up. So I took the opportunity to speak with Suzy.
"How was the week-end?" I asked her.
Suzy smiled. "It was very nice."
"Are you going to see him again?"
"I really want to."
"You know when you told me what you were looking for in a boyfriend. How does he match up?"
"Pretty close, except he lives in another country. Oh and he's not rich," she joked.
"What if he didn't live in another country?"
"Why?"
"I'm thinking about offering him a job."
"What, because of me?"
"No. I want to hire him. But I can determine if he's based here or in Germany."
"I'm not ready to move out and live with him Steven. And it's a lot to ask of Uwe to move over here, on the off chance it works out with a girl he hardly knows."
"How about if he spent half his time here and half in Germany and we see how it goes from there?"
Suzy put her arms around me and gave me a hug, which everyone noticed.
"Why are you hugging my husband?" Lesley joked.
"I'm using Suzy as bait to lure Uwe into coming to work for me," I told everyone, which earned me a thump from Suzy. "I already got Sam on board today."
"You saw Sam today?"
"Yes, and Carly," I went over to talk to him.
"Sam is a genius," Lesley explained to everyone. "Double first from Cambridge in Maths and Physics."
"And soon to be a part time employee of Durolitum," I added.
"Good for you," said Carole. "It's not easy finding the right people."
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Kate left for Geneva on the Tuesday. The operation to remove the scar on Poppy's face was going to be on the Wednesday, after which Poppy would need to stay in the hospital for a few days before going home to Annecy.
As agreed with Kate, Suzy moved in with Daniel while Kate was gone. Daniel didn't need looking after. It was just an opportunity for him and Suzy to have a bit of fun.
Lynne, my assistant and I flew out to Munich on the Wednesday afternoon, ready for our meeting with the Obermann people on Thursday. I'd wanted to meet Stefan Voigt for dinner on Wednesday to talk to him about Michael's Bentley but he wasn't available until later in the evening and so I arranged to meet Uwe instead. I couldn't leave Lynne on her own so I suggested she join us. Lynne didn't want to be a burden but I assured her she wouldn't be and explained to her about my plan to offer Uwe a job.
Lynne and I met Uwe in the hotel bar that evening and we exchanged pleasantries before going into the restaurant for a meal.
"How's Suzy," Uwe tried to ask casually when the opportunity allowed.