This is a work of fiction, and all people named in the story are purely fictional.
CHAPTER 1 THE ENCOUNTER
1
Tom was at a very high point in his life right now, and it was about time, he thought to himself. He hadn't been a particularly clever kid at school, but he had hung on, done his best, and finally managed to pass his A levels and his technical certificate. At the age of 24, after a few temporary jobs, he had just secured himself a permanent contract with a small company based in London. Nothing too glamorous, just after-sales sort of work, really. But still it was a proper full-time job, more than he could say for most of his mates back in Yorkshire. He would be returning to see them on occasion, of course, as well as his family. But not too often probably, perhaps once a month or so. He didn't want to disperse himself too much, because he felt this London life really was a new start for him. The chance to make some new friends, climb up the social ladder via his work, and perhaps even find his future wife, even if that sort of talk sounded a bit old-fashioned these days.
Because, in spite of his young age, Tom truly was an old-fashioned type of bloke. Not the kind who really flirted or messed around with girls that much. Of course he had been in a couple of relationships but had each time finished by putting an end to them when he felt the girl was too silly or not serious enough about the commitment. To the outside world, Tom guest that he probably seemed like a very average Joe. But, to be honest, he didn't really care what people thought of him. Anyway, in his own mindset, a girl was a girl, a boy, a boy, and a relationship a serious matter. He liked to keep things simple and rather straightforward in his life. Having said all this, he obviously had other things to bother about than dating just now.
For, in spite of all the excitement it procured him, moving away from the countryside to a city like London had some drawbacks. And the biggest one was probably the cost of living, even out in the suburbs. A mate of his was leaving a place vacant just at the time he arrived, so he was lucky. But still, there was absolutely no way he could pay the rent on his own, so he had gotten himself organized to quickly finding a flatmate through a small ad he placed on the internet. With the countless number of young (or not so young) people in a similar situation to his own, it was needless to say that candidates just came pouring in. So, he was rapidly meeting with 2 or 3 of them a day.
Why Tom had finally picked Rachel, amongst all the people he interviewed, was not for what would have appeared to be the most obvious reason. Of course she was very pretty, quite stunning even, but what had really attracted Tom was simply her tomboyish, earthy, and straightforward kind of nature. She was the kind of girl you just felt immediately at home with. Well, at least he did. At the age of 24, she was a tall, dark brunette with short hair, an athletic body, large breasts, wide hips, a big butt and an angelic face, accompanied by a great smile and, most of all, what appeared to be a fantastic attitude to life. With her self-assured and outgoing personality, she seemed like the sort of person who knew her way around the world, and almost certainly around London. And that was exactly the kind of friend young Tom felt he needed at this point. A pragmatic, streetwise, and completely down-to-earth girl next door (literally speaking now), he could rely on to help him find his bearings in a big new city.
On top of that, Rachel appeared to have a highly responsible and lucrative job, in the field of marketing or something like that. Anyway, a job that paid much better than his own. So, she would have no problem in settling the rent on time. She could even have easily afforded to rent her own place. But, as she explained to him, despite being a Londoner by birth and at heart, she was the kind of globetrotter who was always on the move in her life. Having just returned from a two-year contract in the U.S, she was now perhaps planning on going to Australia in a year or so. Anyway, that still left plenty of time for them to get to know each other a bit better.
2
After a couple of weeks of sharing the flat, it turned out that Rachel was indeed a very tomboyish and easygoing sort of girl. Tom really felt they got on like house on fire. Not to mention he soon found out they shared quite a few interests, mainly in the fields of sports and computers, and therefore spent many evenings simply chatting to each other in the flat. On a few occasions, they even went out together to see a football match, a car show, or a movie. Rachel seemed to be curious about everything and possessed a wide knowledge of all sorts of stuff. She had definitively been around the world, both in the literal and figurative sense of the word, but was never big- headed about any of it. She was very much just one of the lads: a T-shirt and jeans sort of gal, with a strong, super-confident personality and tons of energy, who always seemed to be in a positive mood.
One of the lads for sure, but always strangely by herself, in Tom's opinion. Even if she appeared to be very social and outgoing, Rachel also seemed to be a loner in some aspects. For their entire first month spent as flatmates, he realized he had never met any of her friends. But it's true that she seemed to work long hours, always leaving the flat early and returning rather late. She was possibly too tired to do much else. Not to mention she was often outside and busy on weekends as well. As for her actual relationship status, she told him she was single for the moment but curiously remained rather vague on the subject.
As the days went by, Tom felt the bonding between them was becoming stronger and realized that he was unusually, but almost naturally, confiding pretty personal stuff to his new mate. Amongst other things, he opened up to her about his insecurities in his new job and even over those he had experienced with girls. He told her he presently had a bit of an inferiority complex regarding his colleague Nick, who was much more comfortable than he was in dealing with the customers. He even expressed his embarrassment in only having had two girlfriends in his entire life. And of course he told Rachel he wished he had her coolness and self- confidence, to which she just laughed. It was all a little strange and happening rather fast, in truth. For he was a man, of course, and, in his opinion, men didn't normally talk about their private and intimate stuff to someone they had more or less just met. But Rachel was so friendly and such a good listener that he had felt completely at ease with her. So it had all sort of taken place, almost without him properly noticing.
Rachel was also just as laid-back and tomboyish in her style of life as she was in her personality and her conversation. Quite to Tom's relief, it almost felt like sharing a flat with another bloke in some ways. She was untidy, not too heavy on modesty (he had bumped into her a few times stark naked in the bathroom, without her seeming the slightest bit bothered), and certainly not in any hurry to do the cleaning or the washing up. She very casually left her fag butts in the ashtrays and her bras and socks lying around the place. It had also been no problem at all for her to coolly accredit Tom's belief that she didn't wear knickers. Which surprised him a little, of course, but she was a modern girl after all and not one who made a big deal over much.