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 £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.
For two days I've been sat here watching the news unfold. A simple statement was released saying it was a sex game to spice things up. Other things have been written about my "fetish," as the adult newspaper "Real Life," calls my liking for younger men. The paper's favourite stories are sexual, they have a few pages full of adverts for adult chat lines, and every page has the word sex on it at least once. The centre spread usually contains a woman in cheap lingerie, and countless sexual confessions scattered throughout the rest of the pages.
Harold brings in the latest edition of the paper, which on the front has an older photograph of me in a navy business suit, going up the town hall steps looking back over my shoulder, with a grin on my face. They have digitally altered the length of the skirt to something ridiculously short. White flesh can be seen above black stocking tops, and a small red star with "OOPS!" In the middle of it covers the part where my panties would be. The headline reads, "Knickerless Knickers Queen Town Hall Flash!"
"That's a fucking lie; it's an old photo they doctored. I want his bloody head for this."
"Rachel calm down. I've had Tom look at it, and on page 22 it says, in very small print, the cover photograph has been altered, and the headline is written to suit the image. That's all they need to do, they don't have to specify, why or by how much."
I skip to page 22. It takes me several moments to find the small disclaimer.
"People won't read that tucked down there, in between the picture of the vicar who wears lipstick, and the woman who can't stop having orgasms!"
"Rachel, that's the idea, as long as they put a correction somewhere that really is all that matters."
"Well I want a written apology from that asshole. I want it published on the front fucking page!"
"It'll do no good that little line covers what they have done. Not that anyone would read it."
"So people think I've gone to the town hall, in a skirt which doesn't cover my ass, and I wasn't wearing bloody underwear?"
"Look, agree to the interview with him, his exact words to me were, he wants to show you in a good light, and hear your side of the events. He's even agreed to a model wearing four of your lingerie outfits for the centre pages. Sales are down, by 33% since the story broke. This is a big chance to tell your side, and hopefully reverse the downward trend."
"Okay, but get Tom to look at anything we can do to stop this asshole twisting my words around."
"Okay, where is Ryan?"
For the first time in a few days I smile.
"He is up in bed, like all teenagers at 9.30 in the morning."
"I thought Debbie said no sex?"
"She did, but she's been paid; besides Ryan has a way of getting round me."
"When are you coming back to work?"
"Soon, when the boy upstairs lets me get up. Tell Billing we'll do the interview tomorrow, I'll come back to work the day after that."
"Rachel, maybe vodka for breakfast isn't the best idea at the moment?"
I swallow the last out of the glass, and then screw the top back on the bottle.
Harold has gone and I'm back in bed with Ryan. I kiss his chest and move down his torso. He stirs and then wakes, as I slide my mouth over his cock. I look up and he's smiling with his eyes shut. I move back up and straddle him.
"Do you like that?"
He smiles and opens his eyes. I feel his hands on my hips and I grin down at him. I shake a little as he thrust up. It is bliss him fucking me, and ironically takes my mind off the shit I've gone through. He sits up and we shuffle back so he is resting back on the headboard of the bed. I feed him my right breast.
"I love your nipples Rachel......god they are huge."
He sucks and I groan with pleasure. I slow up a little, feeling his tongue circle my nipple and I just concentrate on that for a while.
"Wait........we need to."
I reach over for the condom pack; it's light, too light. I go to get off him but he holds me down.
"Ryan, you'll have to stop."
His strength and energy surprises me, as he pushes up and we fall back. His cock is still in me, and now he's fucking me hard. I'm on my back protesting, but he pins my arms over my head and kisses me full on. I give in, as the fuck gets faster, knowing I've got a morning after pill.
He comes in deep thrusts, grunting with each push, he lies in me for a few moments.