This is the eighteenth episode of my unreliable memoirs. Each episode can be read individually but it helps a bit with names to have read the previous ones.
I hope you have enjoyed it so far.
M4bloke
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The autumn term ended on a Thursday in mid-December. It had flown past and now I only had two more terms to complete before graduation. Unfortunately they were going to be the two worst terms of the whole three years but it was the same for every final year student. For this reason I was keen to make the most of the Christmas vacation.
Before I could really begin the vacation however, I had to make good on a commitment I'd made to Heike, to escort her to an up market swingers' weekend. Heike was the wife of Markus, a German banker who had invested in Durolitum and who my bonus was in no small part dependent on.
Lesley and I had swung with Heike and Markus three times now but taking someone away for a long weekend was a slightly different proposition. Markus would have taken Heike himself but the event had a strict age limit of thirty five. Instead, Lesley had invited him to spend the weekend with her, Kate and Daniel and he had, of course, accepted.
Heike, as we had found out, could be quite feisty and a bit of a party animal. When I'd last seen Markus in London at the end of November I'd asked him what the ground rules were. Markus basically told me to let her do what she wanted but to look after her.
"She wants to experience as much as possible while she is there," he'd said and by 'experience', I think he meant 'fuck'.
On the Tuesday of the last week of term Lesley called me and told me that Heike had contacted her asking if she'd like to come on the swingers' weekend too. Apparently, a friend of Heike's was looking for a partner as his girlfriend had just broken her collar bone falling off a horse. Since the tickets had cost a fortune he didn't want to waste them but he couldn't get in without a partner. Heike told Lesley that she'd be happy to partner with the guy and that way both Lesley and I could join her. Lesley and Heike got on well so it made sense.
An hour later I got a call from a clearly frustrated Markus. He said that Aldo, the guy that Heike would now be staying with, was a male model. He was a nice guy, great looking, but totally vain and unreliable. Markus wasn't happy with Heike for changing her plans without consulting him and they'd had a big argument about it.
I told Markus that we would be happy to go back to the old arrangement, but apparently Heike was digging her heels in now. I suggested that, if it helped, Lesley and I could stand down and let Thomas and Katja go but Markus said that wouldn't help and then, in his frustration, implied that Thomas was almost as unreliable as Aldo.
"Please, just look after her," he asked.
So it was that Lesley and I came to be on a plane to Stuttgart on Friday morning, with Heike meeting us at the airport.
The two girls hugged when we met at the arrivals gate then, when they were finished, Heike gave me an extra-large hug afterwards.
"I'm so glad both of you could come," Heike told us.
"So are we, but are you and Markus ok?" Lesley asked.
"We will be. The trouble is we got into an argument and I couldn't back down. Markus is right unfortunately. Aldo is a bit of an idiot. He trusts you Steven but he would never have agreed to me staying with Aldo."
"We want you to stay with us," Lesley told her. "Tell Aldo that you'll get him into the party and he can have the room but after that he's on his own."
"Would you mind?" she asked.
"We won't take 'no' for an answer. Now go and phone Markus before he leaves for London. Tell him that I'm refusing to go to the party unless you stay with us and so that's what you've agreed to do. Then tell him that you love him more than anything else in the world."
"Thank you. You're the best."
Heike went off to find a phone and we found a kiosk selling coffees while we waited.
"You're pretty amazing, aren't you?" I said to Lesley.
"I am, aren't I," she replied.
We drove about a hundred miles south of the airport to a hotel in the very bottom left hand corner of Germany, near to the amusingly named lake Titisee. The hotel was what the Germans called a 'Wellness' hotel. It was a large modern building, well away from civilisation, offering spa treatments and relaxation in nature. In the summer it was ideal for long walks in the countryside and in the winter it was possible to go cross country skiing. Rich Germans would go there to feel rejuvenated. In December the hotel would usually have been closed until Christmas but Stefan, an enterprising German socialite had hired the whole place for his "Winter Solstice Ball".
We met Aldo at the hotel. He'd arrived before us and was waiting in the bar. He was, to be perfectly frank, devastatingly handsome. Probably twenty six or twenty seven, tall, slim and with a thick dark head of hair. His skin was perfect and clothes loved him. He was also quite a nice person. Not at all what I'd been expecting, although I'm sure that Markus had his reasons for calling him unreliable. Heike explained to Aldo the sleeping arrangements and Aldo was fine with it. He was just grateful to be allowed in.
When we went to sign in we were met by Stefan the organiser and his very attractive welcoming team.
"Heike, how lovely to see you." Stefan greeted Heike like an old friend.
"Stefan, these are my friends, Steven, Lesley and Aldo. Aldo's girlfriend fell off her horse and so Lesley is joining us instead."
Stefan looked at Lesley.
"That won't be a problem. I have you in a suite and Aldo in a standard room. I can put you next to each other if you like. The rooms have an adjoining door that you can lock or unlock as you like."
"That would be perfect, thank you."
"We have the whole hotel to ourselves and there is an itinerary in your welcome pack but what you do is up to you. We do ask that you read the rules that are in the pack. I hope you have a lovely stay, let's catch up later."
"Thank you Stefan and thank you for organising this."
"It's my pleasure."
There was something about Stefan that was unnerving. He was pleasant but I got the feeling you wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley. I wondered if Heike had ever fucked him.
Stefan's helpers checked us in. For security purposes a photocopy of our passports/I.D.s were taken and we were tagged with a gold plastic wristband that you couldn't remove without cutting it off. Each had its own serial number.
Once we'd been issued with our welcome packs one of Stefan's helpers showed us to our rooms. There was a bit of confusion as to whose luggage was going where but we sorted it out. Heike, or rather her husband Markus, had paid extra for the two room suite and it was impressive. Aldo's room was more standard but it was fine too. It connected to the suite with a combination of double doors that required both parties to unlock their side. Aldo knocked from his and we opened ours up to him.
"Is there any champagne in the fridge?" Heike asked. "We need a toast."
"I looked in the fridge and found a bottle. It opened with a pop and I poured everyone a glass."
"To a great week-end!" toasted Heike and we all joined in.
