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."
