Belinda's Tale

Julia had invited her around a couple of hours before the party ostensibly to help set a few things up. Arriving at the spacious Camberwell house she was greeted by a well tanned, smiling man who introduced himself as Troy. Troy had a gleam in his eye and tousled blonde hair that made Belinda realise that Julia had another side to her that was far distanced from her work image.

'Aha, you must be Belinda, the friend Julia wants me to meet.' He offered his hand as he spoke, and Belinda accepted it with a blush. 'Don't worry, Julia hasn't tried to set me up with all her friends, just the very attractive ones.' Belinda felt her blush deepen as she followed him into the house, which appeared to have been recently renovated and demonstrated superb character.

'Down the end,' Troy spoke from behind as she hesitated at each doorway, and for a moment Belinda wondered if he was watching her bum through her tight jeans. She had only just recovered her composure and decided against turning to see where he was looking. The rear of the house was a huge modern kitchen and dining area, backed by a ceiling to roof window that ran the full width of the house. Outside was a magnificently landscaped garden that gave privacy to the house and probably to the yard, from what Belinda could see. Julia was unpacking one of several shopping bags, and looked flustered, her hair was falling all over the place and her tee shirt was untucked on one side.

'Oh Belle, thanks for coming, I'm running late and haven't got any grog yet. Troy be a darling and take this list to the bottle-o and get everything for me?' She thrust a scrap of paper towards Troy with a weak smile.

'For a damsel in distress, anything,' he said and disappeared down the hallway. Belinda put her bag down onto one of the kitchen chairs and waited until she heard the front door shut.

'Are you trying to set me up with him?' Julia's grin answered the question. Belinda contemplated telling her friend about Tony, but decided that until she had discussed her situation with Tony that it would be best left until later.

'He's cute isn't he. Could you give me a hand here?" Julia was stacking packets of biscuits on the end of the servery and Belinda began to pull things out of the cold bag and place them in the fridge.

'Well why don't you want him then?'

'Nah, we're good friends and sex would change it all.' Julia beamed at her. 'This way I get to meet all his single male friends, its a sort of supply and demand thing where we can meet each other's mutual needs. And quite a few will be here tonight,' she added wickedly.

'Looks like its going to be a fun party,' Belinda laughed.

By ten o'clock the kitchen and dining area was packed with people talking loudly to be heard over the loud music. The floor in the kitchen was sticky from spilt alcohol but nobody seemed to mind. Belinda had discovered that Julia's life outside Robson was full of interesting and different people. The sweet smell of cannabis smoke wafted from Troy's direction as a long thin joint was passed between several friends. It was thrust towards her but she shook her head and allowed it to be passed to a young, thin blonde who looked like the last thing she needed was another foreign substance in her system. Tony had arrived at half past eight, and apart from a courteous hello and quick shoptalk between them and Julia, he had mingled with others so far this evening. She could see him now, near the back door, talking earnestly about something to a young couple that looked like they may have tired of the subject already. It was a good excuse for her to get some attention from him, she decided as she threaded past the blonde who was now in a tight embrace with one of Troy's friends, and made her way towards the trio.

The couple looked almost grateful as she neared them, and she could hear that Tony was waffling in great detail about leveraged securities. His voice had the slight rasp to it that she recognised as his first stage of inebriation.

'Hi Tony,' she said and his head snapped around with a smile of pleasure.

'Hey, Belinda, I was just telling Susan and, and,' he grasped for Susan's husband's name.'

'Brian,' Brian volunteered with a wan smile.

'Yeah, sorry, Brian, about....'

'And I'm sure it was very interesting, I'm Belinda and I work with Julia,' she looked at the couple first then back at Tony, 'and with Tony too.'

'Nice to meet you,' Susan offered her hand and Belinda took it. Brian nodded at her but was looking around the room for a possible escape route, Belinda thought with amusement.

'We might just go and top up our drinks,' he said and led his wife by the elbow towards the kitchen area.

'Well I think I bored the pants off them,' Tony watched them go. Belinda giggled and smiled at him, feeling a stab of lust as their eyes met. She quickly glanced around the room to make sure that no one was watching them.

'Meet me at the front door.' She turned away and headed across the room to the corridor that led down to the front door without looking to see if he was following. She paused to look back at Julia's bedroom, and seeing only Tony she ducked in and through the room into the en suite. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she turned and watched him quickly cross the room, sliding the door behind him and slipping the catch home to lock them in. He carefully placed his drink onto the sink and walked towards her their bodies entwining as their lips met in a hot, passionate kiss. She forced her tongue into his mouth, one hand snaking between their bodies to rub him through his jeans. Tony dropped both his hands and massaged her buttocks through the sheer material of her skirt, his hands pulling it upwards until it was bunched around her waist.

Belinda released the hard bulge and thrust her hips forward to rub herself against him. Without waiting for him to act she pulled her own panties off, pushing them down as far as she could. Then she pushed him away and turned to back to him, leaning over the toilet with her legs stiff and parted, exposing herself to him.

'Fuck me,' she whispered throatily, looking back at him over one shoulder. Tony's eyes were alive with lust as he quickly unbuttoned his jeans and freed himself. Belinda's eyes involuntarily dropped to look at his erection as he walked to her, his hand guiding it between her legs. She turned away to face the wall as she felt him penetrate her roughly with one full thrust into her. She gasped with pleasure and pushed back against him, but Tony had placed his hands on her waist and pushed her forward over the toilet so that she was almost toppling onto the wall. Belinda put her hands on the wall to prevent herself from over balancing and found herself at his mercy, her legs shaking as he rapidly thrust into her. She tried to twist and grab his shirt in an attempt to regain some of the initiative she had lost, but he casually pushed her hand away then delivered a stinging slap to her bottom. Belinda bit her lip to stop from crying out, the slap sending hot ripples through her. She looked up at him and knew that her eyes betrayed the helpless lust she felt and clearly saw the way he was enjoying controlling the situation. She surrendered to him and turned away, bending her knees slightly to grip the porcelain bowl as her climax swept through her. Again she bit her lip to remain silent, a soft groan emitting from her throat and she screwed her eyes shut to keep herself under control. Tony grunted once then pulled out of her, and she looked back to see his hand furiously pumping himself as he came onto her bare behind. Some of his semen ran down her skin and dropped onto the toilet mat. Quickly she snatched some toilet paper from the roll and cleaned herself, before gently wiping the sticky mess from Tony's hand. Tony leaned against the wall, his breathing ragged, as she bent down and tried to clean the mat. She smiled up at him and then leant forward and placed a small kiss on the end of his spent member, watching it twitch, then carefully placed it back into his pants and zipped him up.

'Thank you,' she murmured, standing to kiss him on the lips. His arms circled her and hugged her tightly.

'Are you free next weekend?' he whispered. 'Good,' he said as she nodded, 'I've booked a cabin up near Healesville and we leave Friday night.' He looked her straight in the eyes, 'as long as that's okay with you?'

'Absolutely.' She hesitated for a moment before asking, 'can we, I mean I, no we, tell anyone about us?'

Tony shook his head vehemently. "Honey, Derek is very much against work relationships. I think it would be best for now, to keep it under wraps.' Belinda didn't like the answer but nodded her acceptance. At least he had said for now, which meant maybe a bit later it would be okay.

She waited a couple of minutes after Tony slipped out of the bathroom before she went to the door. She froze, hearing Julia's laugh from the adjacent bedroom, answered by Tony's muffled speech. She was unsure as to whether she should go out, wondering if Julia had seen Tony come out of the bathroom, and if so what would she think if she would appear. Belinda made a quick decision and stepped into the shower, pulling the dark green curtain across just far enough to conceal her.

She was barely in place when the door opened and she heard Julia enter, locking the door behind her. Belinda had a sudden recollection of the day at school when she had been caught hiding in the teacher's coffee room after she had tried to steal a copy of the year nine mathematics exam. Mister Fasilides, her biology teacher, had caught her after she gave her hiding place away in a fit of giggles. She stuck the back of her hand against her mouth to stop another attack, hearing the rustle of clothes followed by the sound of plastic as Julia sat on the toilet. Julia was humming in tune with the music that sounded faintly from the end of the house, pausing as the sound of her urine splashed into the bowl. Belinda regained control of her laughter as she saw a small tear in the curtain. Bending slightly, being careful not to touch the curtain and make it move, she peered through it and was able to just see Julia as she stood up and flushed the toilet. Julia moved towards Belinda, stopping at the vanity basin to wash and dry her hands. Then she played with her hair, flicking the fringe until it was straight. She stopped humming again and stood back to examine her appearance.

'Well Troy, me boy,' she whispered, 'it seems that little Belinda isn't interested in you, nor you in her.' She puckered up and re-applied her lipstick, a bright red that was set off by her dark hair to give her a wanton appearance. Belinda smiled as she watched another woman prepare to stalk her prey. 'So Troy, it is time you and me danced the dance of the eight limbs in my bed.' Julia smiled at her reflection then glanced down at her blouse. She pulled her shoulders back, thrusting her breasts forward, then pushed them together in an effort to improve her cleavage. She wrinkled her nose, unhappy with the effect. 'Well, if I can't do it that way..,' she unbuttoned the blouse and carefully hung it on the hook on the back of the door. Then in one movement she unhooked her bra and dropped it to the floor, turning back to the vanity and giving Belinda a good view of her full breasts. Belinda blinked but didn't pull back, finding her voyeurism somewhat exciting. 'Not bad for thirty something,' Julia remarked to herself and gently cupped her breasts. Then she firmly tweaked each nipple and Belinda was surprised to feel a small tingle as they became erect. Julia sprayed some perfume across the top of her breasts, then picked up a makeup brush, applying some dark blusher to each nipple until they appeared dark brown. The blouse went back on, and Julia smiled as she tucked it firmly into the waistband of her skirt, her nipples visible as dark points through the sheer white material. Belinda smiled to herself at the effect and knew that Julia was going to be hard to refuse. Then she was alone in the bathroom, the door to the bedroom ajar. After waiting a couple of minutes she silently stepped out of the shower and peered into the other room, relaxing as she saw it was empty. Carefully straightening her own clothes she walked through the bedroom where she had no doubt Troy would be bedded by Julia, and rejoined the party.

***

All week Belinda was distracted by the prospect of spending a whole weekend away with Tony. She knew that she was falling for him and although the basis was lust, she was aware that some stronger emotions hovered just under the surface. On Friday morning, she received a call from Derek asking him to come to his office. As she made her way to the meeting, she had a dread feeling that he was going to ask her to work over the weekend on some special project. It would be hard to refuse Derek, but she mentally prepared herself to do just that. She needed to escape Melbourne and the pressures of the job, and more importantly she wanted the time with Tony to try and gauge his feelings for her.

'Sit down Belinda.' Derek waved expansively at the several comfortable chairs that were arranged around his office. Port Philip Bay sparkled under an azure sky on the other side of the wide window that completely lined his office wall.

'Look Derek, if you are about to ask me to work this weekend, I really have to say no.' She had decided that offence was the best form of defence and struck first.

Derek looked puzzled for a moment. 'No, no, not at all. I wanted to know if you were aware that I was looking for an executive vice president of operations for the company?' Belinda had heard about the job and the office rumour mill had it that the job would go to one of Tiller's executives.

'I was wondering whether you had considered applying for it?' The question was a bombshell and for several seconds Belinda stared stupidly at Derek.

'Well, no. I mean, I heard that...' she broke off, trying to collect her wits. 'Derek, I just felt that I haven't got either the experience or the knowledge of the company to apply for it.'

'What did you hear Belinda, that one of Tiller's people was going to be setting up an office next to mine?' Derek asked with a wry smile, 'I'm somewhat aware of the office rumours and I was determined to ensure that the right people here know that my intention is to retain control of my company.' He became serious. 'I would very much like you to apply, its not a guarantee that you'll get the job, but I believe that you should be considering your future. If you get this job I know I'll have the benefit of your presence here at Robson's for some time.'

Belinda sat back, a feeling of elation sweeping through her. Derek was telling her that he considered her to be top executive level material and that he was worried she would start looking somewhere else. The compliment he was paying her made her feel wonderful about herself and she fought to stop herself grinning like a small child with a new toy.

'Thank you Derek, I'll consider it over the weekend.' Derek smiled indulgently.

'Good, if you decide to apply just send your latest cv to personnel. We start interviewing at the end of next week.' Derek stood, his simple code to indicate that the discussion was over. Belinda stood and followed him to the office door.

She paused in the doorway and looked at him. 'Thanks for the opportunity Derek.' She already knew that she would apply; her own sense of ambition wouldn't allow her to pass up the chance that had been presented to her.

Back at her own office Pam looked quizzically at her wide smile but remained silent. Belinda made a mental note that Pam would be going with her - if she got the job, she reminded herself. It was a great start to what was going to be a great weekend.

***

The small path had followed the lake's edge for some distance, then arched over a small spur and turned inland. Tony had led her back towards the water's edge, holding aside the low branches of the trees until they could pick their way along the foreshore. Finally they had come to the base of the spur where it met the water in a sharp cliff and they had been unable to go further. He had pulled her close and kissed her with a gentle passion that set her heart racing. They had stood amongst the trees on a bed of pine needles holding and kissing each other for several minutes.

Now she sat on his lap, facing him. His loose cotton pants had been loosened and she had lifted her dress far enough to give him access. He was inside her and she slowly rocked back and forth, her hands holding the sides of his face as their tongues entwined lazily. His hands gently ran along her back, their lovemaking slow and measured. It was quite unlike the night before when they arrived, barely pausing to light a fire in the cottage's stone hearth before they had torn the clothes from each other in a frenzy of sexual excitement.

Belinda was keenly aware of the sounds of birds chirping above them, a boat somewhere further around on the lake, and from the far shore the excited calls of children playing in the playground near the boat ramp and picnic area. They were too far away to see what was going on in this dense cop of pine trees, but the whole lazy feeling of the Saturday afternoon was translated into their passionate union. During the week she had bought herself an IUD, no longer wanting to have him pull out, nor wanting to risk pregnancy. She could hear his breathing becoming ragged, the telltale sign that he was reaching the point of no return. Still he kept his tongue moving against hers slowly, the languid pace matching her rocking motion. Then she felt his body tense, his hands clawing ever so slightly against her back, his tongue ceasing its movement as he came, feeling him ejaculate hotly inside her. She hadn't come this time, but somehow felt fulfilled by the passion of the encounter.

She remained on his lap, feeling him shrink inside her but unwilling to pull their bodies apart. She smiled down at him and brushed his thick hair with her fingers.

'That was good,' she murmured. He stretched up to kiss her on the lips, smiling his agreement. Their lips lingered against each other for a moment.

'You are one nice woman,' he declared with a sparkle in his eyes.

'Oh, sometimes I can be bad,' she smiled back, giving his hair a playful tug. He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

'I find that very hard to believe, perhaps you could convince me a bit later.'

'Oh I intend to sir,' she promised as their lips met passionately again.

***

He cooked her a scrumptious meal of chicken breast strips marinated in red wine then grilled and tossed with a green salad. They ate and drank in a companionable silence.

'Thank you again,' Belinda said as he cleared away the dishes.

'My pleasure, I rarely have the time or inclination to cook after a day in the office, but I do enjoy it.' He scraped the plates into the small bin. 'So tell me, have you applied for the new VP position?' Belinda stiffened a little at the unexpected question, but then relaxed when she realised that she had been curious if he and for that matter Julia had.

'I'm still considering,' she replied not altogether truthfully. 'What about you?'

'Absolutely.' His frank reply made her feel a little ashamed of her own evasive answer. 'I don't believe the office rumours for a second, I think Derek wants someone he knows and trusts for the job.' He should have added that as the longest serving employee in the office that would put Tony in the front running.

'Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll probably put in my application on Monday.' Belinda felt better at telling him what was the truth.

'That's good, though I personally doubt you've been here long enough for what Derek wants.'