I'm sat nursing a black eye from Debbie's closed fist. My ears are ringing from a volley of obscenities that have come my way for the last few minutes. Debbie sits in the chair opposite me glaring, waiting for an explanation.
The door burst open and in rushes Ryan. He looks at me, and then to his glaring mother.
"How the hell could you with....her?" Debbie spits angrily.
"Mum, I'm sorry........I've always liked Rachel."
I watch Debbie's face turn to puzzlement.
"I just took advantage of her."
She rises to her feet.
"I don't believe that. It's her," she says banging her hand on the table, "she got her claws in you like she does every bloody young man that comes along, she is like a fucking Venus fly trap."
"Mum, I like her. I phoned her to meet me by the canal. It's my fault, I told her what to wear. The money she gave me was for the work in garden. I know what it looks like, but it isn't true."
"You like her?" Debbie asks in disbelief, and seemingly ignoring the rest of what he said.
I watch Ryan swallow, and he nods.
"Mum it first happened on Sunday. I got out of the pool and dropped my shorts. I felt this urge. Rachel and me well, it is just fun, you know?"
"Fun, with her, she'd cast you aside when she'd had her fun, or when she got bored or found someone else."
"I know, I'm not stupid, but as long as I keep that in my mind I don't care."
"You mean after all of this, you still like her?"
"Yes. I can remember you talking to Rachel about one of my friends a few months ago, and you said you had to stop yourself from flirting with him."
"What you heard that? Anyway that's different, just chatter, and I did stop myself. She's the one who hasn't got any bloody control!" she yells.
"No mum, Ethan told me you kissed him."
I'm watching Debbie as she sits back in the chair.
"Rachel isn't cheating, but you would cheat on dad, wouldn't you mum?"
Debbie starts to sob. I gesture for everyone to leave the room. We go to the kitchen leaving Debbie and her son alone.
Tom is whispering to Harold and the others while I look for something to fight the headache. A rustle of plastic grabs my attention. I look at the girl peeling the wrapping off a sandwich.
"Hungry?" I snarl.
She gulps, and lowers the sandwich from her face.
"Rachel, don't say anything just listen to me. That boy in there has a crush on you, and we should use it."
I hold up my hand and shake my head.
"Listen to Tom, darling," Harold whispers.
For the next 10 minutes I can't believe what I'm hearing. Even the chubby Janice has something to say after the men have finished.
"Miss Lynn, sales will drop by an estimated 35% for a few weeks. But if you come out as being Ryan's, I think they call it cougar, I'm sure a few women will be sympathetic."
"Cougar, I'm not that old," I spit.
"Rachel, you're 40. You've gone past the MILF stage, not that you have kids to qualify for that."
"Harold, if you or anyone else calls me a cougar again today," I cast a threatening eye at Janice, and she looks quickly back to her laptop, trying to hide the fact she is chewing, "I'll slap you so hard you'll end up in another county."
"Miss Lynn?"
"What," I hiss at Janice.
"Sales might not drop so much, and the fact that you were wearing your own lingerie range, well, a subtle statement where we drop that in, if handled right, could boost sales."
"Or at least stop a major slide, sweetheart," Harold adds.
"Haven't we all forgotten something?" I ask pointing the closed living room door.
"The boy has told his mum he still fancies you. She isn't exactly snow fucking white. I can turn all this to our advantage, your advantage," Tom enthuses.
"Look if all goes well you can tell your story on daytime telly. They love things like that, all those bored women watching one woman tell them what they would jump at."
"Thank you Janice, I'm a business woman not a sex maniac," I say dismissing the idea.
Harold rolls his eyes, "Listen to the girl."
"That's not what people think," she replies, and then recoils at my icy stare.
"Janice is right. I think an interview with that sex rag, Gavin calls an adult newspaper could be arranged."
I'm shaking my head at Harold.
An hour later Tom comes in the kitchen and tells me Debbie wants to talk to me, while he talks to Ryan about their plans.
Debbie's red eyes stare at me, as the room clears. I open my mouth and she tells me to shut up and listen.
"I don't like this at all. I hate your fucking guts. That Tom, and his mate has told me that the kiss I had with Ethan could come back to haunt me one day. Was that your idea?"
"God no."
"Shut the fuck up!"
She looks round the kitchen.
"All this, you've got all of this and you're not happy. I've agreed to his plan, two months and then you leave my son alone."
I sigh, "Debbie, I'm really sorry about it all."
"Well, I know what Ryan is like; he's always had eyes for you. I never thought he would be as stupid as to........you can date him for two months."
"Okay only if you're sure? And then I'll break it off."
"I'm not fucking sure, and you won't break it off, he will, and you'll show real tears to the public when that happens. One last thing, you write a cheque now for Β£100,000, because while I've agreed to it I can't imagine my husband will without softening the blow."
"Debbie this won't happen unless Ian says so."
"Don't be fucking stupid. Ian will stop it unless I get the money to ease things. If the press call I'll say I'm not happy with the situation, little else. Has Ian ever fucked you?"
"No, I wouldn't do that to you."
"No, you just fuck my son," she snarls.
She stands over me as I write the cheque. Debbie's hand snatches it out of mine.
"You buy everything don't you, even your friends."
She leaves me sat there with a few retorts going through my head, which I dare not use.