Close Observation

It was another beautiful day.

The chaps were all up and ready. They were suited and booted, but every one of them looked absolutely shattered. Ron didn't want to know what they'd got up to the night before, but it looked like they'd got stuck in. Ibrahim seemed very hungover. He had a route printed out for Ron to take them to the races, and passes for them to get in. The passes said that they had booked 'the platinum experience.'

The racecourse was in the countryside, just to the south of London. It was a big race meeting and thousands of people would attend. They made reasonable time. The racegoers who were entering the main building with them looked well-heeled. There were some very glamourous women in dresses and hats. A female employee greeted them. She spoke to Ron at first, unsure if the chaps were able to speak English.

'Hello there, is it the Malouf party?' she said. She was very young, and attractive. She had dyed blonde hair.

'Yes,' said Ibrahim.

'Ah. Mr Yousef Malouf?' she asked.

Ibrahim pointed at Yousef. 'This is Yousef Malouf,' said Ibrahim. Yousef shook hands with her.

'Ok. My name is Alex. I'll be your hostess for today. We have your box ready. Would you like to come up with me?' she said.

Ibrahim and Mo translated for the non-English speakers, and Alex led them through the lobby, which was teeming with racegoers and staff members, and up four flights of stairs. Yousef and some of the other older or heavier chaps were out of breath by the time they got to the fourth floor. Alex let them rest for a second. She took them through a couple of sets of double doors, and then into their box.

The box had a balcony from which people could watch the races. Glass doors lined the front and gave access to the balcony. Their box was on the highest floor of the course's main building. The view of the track was incredible. The box was sumptuously furnished, it looked to Ron like the officers' mess of his regiment, when he had served in there as a waiter when he was a young soldier. There were tables with chairs around them in the middle of the room. Large paintings hung on the walls depicting racing and hunting scenes, and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. Alex showed them the suite's large en suite bathroom. A whole table by the side of the room was covered in bottles of champagne, vodka, gin, and even more blue label whiskey.

'We have friends coming,' said Yousef.

'Ok. We can let them up if they tell reception they are with your party. Were you here last year?' asked Alex. Yousef didn't understand the question, so Ibrahim answered.

'Yes, we were here last year,' Ibrahim said.

'Did you have friends with you last year?' asked Alex.

'Yes,' said Ibrahim.

'I think I remember. We'll bring them up here when they come to reception,' said Alex. Ron thought she seemed like a nice girl.

Three of the chaps had gone into the toilet together. Ron hoped Alex didn't notice. He wondered if he'd have to have a word with them and tell them to be more discreet. They could at least take it in turns.

People started to claim chairs. Mo and Faisal were pouring themselves glasses of champagne even though they both looked dreadfully hungover. Ibrahim 2 came out of the toilet. He looked much fresher and more energised.

Alex told them that dinner would be at one, and that the first race would take place at half past two. There were menus on the tables. A waiter came in to take their orders. Ibrahim and Yousef insisted that Ron join them all for the meal.

***

The chaps had been in and out of the toilets frequently. The cocaine certainly seemed to be waking them up. Ron was sure Alex knew what was going on, but she seemed happy to turn a blind eye. A lot of champagne was being consumed. The chaps would often go out onto the balcony to look at the crowd gathering below. Alex sat and chatted. Ibrahim 2 seemed to be trying to charm her. Alex was telling Ibrahim 2 that she had just got her A-Levels and that she was going to university in Wales in the autumn. Ibrahim 2 didn't know what A-Levels were, and she had to explain, then she tried to tell him what Wales was. She told him she worked at this event every year as her dad worked as a cleaner in the course' stables, he had been able to get her different jobs there, and now she had worked her way up to this one. She really did seem nice. Ron hoped they wouldn't try to pay her to have sex with them when they were drunk.

'You like to watch horse racing, Ronaldinho?' Mo had come and sat next to him. The previous afternoon, they had seen a young boy in a Barcelona football shirt in Knightsbridge, and the chaps had remembered the Barcelona player Ronaldinho. Now it seemed to have been decided that Ron would be exclusively referred to as Ronaldinho by all of them for the rest of the trip. Because of their accents, they pronounced the name curiously, it always sounded like Ronaldeeeenio. Ron didn't mind.

'Not really. My dad loved the horses, but I never got into it. Do you have horse racing in Saudi?' said Ron.

'Oh yes,' said Mo. 'We have horses. We cannot drink at racing in Saudi Arabia. No whiskey, no champagne. We have fun here,' said Mo.

Lunch came. Everyone took seats at the tables. Waiters brought in course after course. Ron thought the food was delicious and felt very grateful for yet another presumably very expensive meal. Ibrahim sat next to him on his left, Faisal was on his right. Faisal seemed to have been significantly revived by cocaine and alcohol and was in good spirits. He told Ron how fast and strong horses were in the middle east. He said that Arabic horses had always been much sought after by European owners and riders.

On Ron's other side, he heard Ibrahim's phone ring. Ibrahim got up and walked to the very back of the box to answer it. After a few seconds he walked over to Alex.

'My friends are here. Please, what gate they have to come in? he asked her.

'Ok, if they come into the entrance pavilion, they need to tell reception they are guests of the Yousef Malouf party in Private Box 27, on the fourth floor,' said Alex.

'Entrance pavilion?' said Ibrahim.

'Yes,' said Alex.

Ron was the only one who had asked for coffee at the end of the meal, as all the Arabs were busily drinking either whiskey or champagne. Just as the waiter was putting his coffee on the table in front of him, there was a knock at the door. Alex answered. Katie was there. She came in and greeted the chaps. Emma and Helena came in after her. Katie saw Ibrahim 2 and remembered him, she touched his arm and said hello.

All three of the women wore dresses, they looked very stylish. Katie's dress was pale yellow. It was cut low at the front. The colour of the dress seemed to perfectly match her cherry red hair. Ron was very attracted to Katie. He noticed for the first time how good her legs looked, she had a great figure, even if she was a bit older than the other girls. Helena's dress was grey, with small, navy blue polka dots. Her dress was also cut low in the front, but her hem was lower than Katie's. Ron thought she looked stunning.

Emma wore an orange dress which managed to expose a good deal of her legs and breasts while still looking stylish. Ron thought she was the sexiest, most beautiful woman he had ever seen in the flesh.

The chaps had all stood up as the women had entered. They gathered around them and made a fuss. Katie soon had a glass of champagne in her hand, whilst Emma and Helena opted for gin and tonics. Katie saw Ron and waved.

Ron hadn't known they were coming, and now that they were here, he wasn't sure how things were going to work. Would the chaps take them into the bathroom? And how would Alex react if they did? Yousef had sat back down, at the table where they had just eaten. Emma was talking to Ibrahim 2. She was asking him for a tip for the coming first race. She sat on Yousef's lap without looking at Yousef, and whilst still carrying on her conversation with Ibrahim 2. Yousef put his arm around her waist. Everybody sat down now. Helena sat on Faisal's lap. Ron remembered seeing them together at the party, Faisal had appeared to be very taken with her. She kissed Faisal briefly on the mouth. Ron looked over at Alex and saw that she was looking at the two of them. She looked away. Yousef was gently fondling Emma's left breast, as she continued talking to Ibrahim 2. Ibrahim 2 was telling her who he thought would win the first race.

Katie came and sat next to Ron. He liked her perfume.

'Last night went off ok then?' said Katie.

'Yup, no problems. I like your perfume,' said Ron.

'Thank you! Laurence behaved—'

'—shit,' Ron interrupted her. Emma had got off of Yousef's lap. She got down on the floor in front of his chair, pulled the tablecloth over her, and was proceeding to unzip Yousef's trousers. Yousef was stretching himself forward on the chair. Ron looked urgently at Katie and went to stand up. Katie laughed. She touched his arm, reassuringly, gestured for him to stay seated.

'It's alright. Really, don't worry. All kinds of stuff goes on in these boxes. You'd be amazed. The staff have seen it all before, trust me,' said Katie. She seemed touched by his naivety.

'No one's going to call the police? Said Ron.

'No,' said Katie, laughing.

Emma had Yousef unzipped. She took his penis into her mouth and commenced to suck on it. Ron looked at Alex. A lot of people seemed to be looking at Alex. She'd seen what was going on, but she looked away and carried on her conversation with Mo. Ron could feel a collective sigh of relief. The atmosphere changed in the room. One of the non-English speakers, a big, bearded guy who Ron thought he'd heard Yousef refer to as Ahmed, took a plastic bag out of the inside pocket of his jacket. He poured cocaine out of the bag, onto the table and self-consciously started to chop it into a couple of lines with a credit card. Ron looked at Alex. Again, a lot of other people seemed to be looking at Alex, who pointedly carried on her conversation with Mo. She was telling Mo what her father had said about the ground on the racetrack, and on how he expected the ground to influence the racing that day. Mo wanted to pick a horse to back in the first race, which was coming up. Within a couple of minutes, a lot of plastic bags came out of pockets, and the general hubbub of conversation started to be regularly punctuated by the sound of people sniffing cocaine.

Ibrahim offered Katie a line, which she gratefully accepted, before coming back to sit by Ron. In the corner of his eye, Ron saw Emma take her head away from Yousef's crotch. She seemed to hold his semen in her mouth as she got up, reached for the nearest glass of champagne, and washed it down her throat with a swig. Yousef zipped his trousers back up as Emma found another lap to sit on, one of the non-English speakers, Ron still didn't know his name. He looked around and saw that Helena and Faisal were kissing, deeply. She was still sat on his lap.

Emma was soon under the table again, her head bobbing up and down on the non-English speaker's penis. The man stiffened, leaning back against his chair as he ejaculated into her mouth. She swallowed his semen. She got up and went over to Mo, stood by him. Ron looked at her as she stood there in her short, bright orange dress. She had a very deep, dark tan. Her shaggy, curly blonde hair fell over shoulders. Her face was almost frighteningly beautiful. She had great legs, and her breasts were in perfect proportion to her lithe body. Ron was almost amazed by her. Mo pulled his chair out and Emma sat on his lap. She put her hand down between them and stroked his groin. Mo was sat right next to Alex, the hostess. Emma was talking to Alex as she stroked Mo. Her accent was exactly like Victoria's. Ron thought maybe they'd been to the same boarding school. He wondered what Alex was thinking. She looked slightly uncomfortable, but she didn't get up and move away from them. Over by the glass doors, Helena and Faisal got up from their chair. He took her by the hand and led her across the room and into the bathroom.

Ron felt Katie's hand on his arm. He liked the feel of her touching him, her fingers felt soft. She'd got another glass of champagne from somewhere.

'Ron, can you keep an eye on Helena for me? They'll try and fuck her arse, I know they will,' said Katie.

Ron had been watching Emma performing oral sex on two different men. He didn't really want to get up in case his erection was obviously visible, but he reluctantly went over to the toilet door. He opened the door slightly and looked in. Faisal and Arabella had not bothered to go into a cubicle. They were having sex in front of the large mirror, with Helena bent over, her hands resting on one of the sinks beneath the mirror. She was totally naked, her dress and underwear on the floor around her feet. Faisal still had his suit on. It was hard to tell if Faisal had penetrated Helena anally or not, but he could see Helena's face in the mirror. She seemed to be enjoying herself, so Ron assumed things were ok. He walked back out.

'All good,' he said to Katie as he sat back down. Over Katie's shoulder he could see Emma sat on Mo's lap. She suddenly took her hand away from his groin. She smiled up at him, then got off his lap. She got down on the floor, on her knees, unzipped Mo, took his penis out and began to suck it. Alex was sat right beside them. She watched Emma for a second, then looked away. She took her phone out and looked at it. She looked uncomfortable.

Ron went over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder, which startled her.

'Can I have a quick word,' he said.

'Ok,' she said. The only remotely quiet place he could identify was by the door at the front, so he steered her over there.

'Are you ok?' he said.

She blushed.

'I'm ok. They told me stuff like this might happen,' said Alex.

'You're going to be ok?' said Ron.

'Yes. Thanks,' said Alex.

'Alex, my friends (he gestured around the room at the chaps) are from a very different culture. They seem to pretty much think that any woman who isn't wearing an all over hijab is basically a prostitute, and honestly, some of the company they've been keeping has reinforced that. At least one of them will probably offer you money to have sex with them. Would you like to come and sit next to me and my friend Katie, and I'll keep them off you?' said Ron.

'Thank you,' she said. She touched his forearm. 'I'll be alright though.'

'You sure?' said Ron.

'Yes. Thank you, though.'

Yousef was sat in Ron's chair by Katie when he went back. He was still trying to get Katie to come out of retirement.

'Please,' said Yousef.

'No,' said Katie. 'I'm very flattered, but I don't work anymore. I don't need to.'

'We pay,' said Yousef. He beckoned for Ibrahim to come over. Ibrahim drained his glass of whiskey and walked over. He crouched by Yousef so he could hear him. Yousef spoke to him in Arabic.

'We pay fourteen thousand pounds,' said Ibrahim.

'Fourteen thousand, we fuck your ass,' said Yousef, in his heavily accented English.

'No! I love you guys, honestly, you're great, but it's not going to happen,' said Katie. Ron thought that fourteen thousand pounds was a great deal of money.

Faisal came out of the toilet and sat down. It was a warm day, and a couple of the doors on to the balcony had been propped open. The noise from around the course was growing, and Ron could hear tannoy announcements. The first race was about to start. There were tablets and laptops in the box, for customers to make bets on. Ron had seen Alex helping the chaps to use them. People were filtering out on to the balcony. Mo stayed where he was, sat by a table as Emma performed oral sex on him. Faisal was on the balcony, but Ron could not see Helena. He went over to the bathroom and opened the door a touch.

Ibrahim 2 was with her. They were having sex standing up. Helena was next to the door of a cubicle. She steadied herself with her left hand over the top of the cubicle door. Her left foot was on the floor, her right leg was up and around Ibrahim 2's body. Ibrahim 2 was not the tallest man in the world, so they were nicely matched. He was pumping away energetically, and Helena was grinding against him. Helena smiled guiltily at Ron over Ibrahim 2's shoulder.

***

To the left and right, the occupants of other boxes were out on their balconies to watch the action. Thousands of racegoers were in the stands and enclosures around the course. The horses started out of the blocks on the far side. There was a lot of noise and excitement. Ron wasn't interested in racing and had not backed a horse. Mo belatedly joined the others on the balcony after the race had started. Ron saw Emma go into the bathroom.

Ibrahim and Ibrahim 2 both backed the winner of the first race. Ibrahim 2 actually missed the race, coming out on the balcony with his ticket just after it finished to excitedly find out that his horse had won. The Ibrahims had won several thousand pounds each. Ron noticed that one of the non-English speakers, Ahmed, was missing. He went to check the bathroom.

Emma and Helena were together. Emma had taken her dress off. She was on her knees in front of Helena, licking her vagina. Helena was stood in front of the mirror above the sinks. She had raised her left leg up and her foot was resting on the sink beside her. She was moaning softly; she was enjoying what Emma was doing to her. Emma's hands were on Helena's buttocks. Emma's dress was hanging over one of the cubicle doors. Ron could hear Emma breathing through her nose as she licked Helena. Ahmed was stood about two feet behind Emma. He was masturbating, watching them. He suddenly ejaculated onto Emma's back and onto the floor behind her. She didn't appear to notice and carried on with her task. Helena didn't see Ron this time. She didn't appear to be taking in much of anything. He shut the bathroom door and went back to the balcony. Yousef and Ibrahim were talking to Alex on the balcony.

Everybody came back in after the first race. Helena came out of the bathroom. She'd put her dress back on, but her feet were now bare. She came up to a table which a few of the chaps were sat at. Yousef was closest to her. He reached for her and put his hand up her dress and groped her. She started to move her body so that her crotch moved against his hand. He rubbed her rhythmically. Helena looked aroused by what he was doing. She got down on to her knees and moved around in front of Yousef's chair. She unzipped him and began to suck on his large penis. She closed her eyes as she did. With her left hand she held Yousef's penis as she sucked on it, her other hand went between her own legs. Ron assumed the Viagra had been going around if Yousef was able to achieve another erection so quickly. Katie was sat by Ron again. Ron saw that she watched Helena and Yousef intently. She looked flushed. He couldn't tell if she was aroused or jealous, or both.

In the bathroom, Ibrahim 2 was sodomising Emma. Ron was now sure the viagra had been going around. Emma wasn't quite bent over, she was in almost a squat position in front of Ibrahim 2, her torso leaning forward. He was holding her breasts in the palms of his hands as he thrust himself into her rectum. His face was against the back of her head and he kissed her neck as he took her. They were both breathing heavily, Ron could hear them. He could see her face in the mirror, she was smiling. She was whispering to Ibrahim 2. She was saying, breathlessly, 'yeah, fuck my arse... fuck my arse, that's right... fuck me... come on...'

Ron came back from the bathroom door. Helena had moved on to someone else. She was on her knees in front of one of the non-English speakers. Ron could see her head bobbing up and down in his lap. He saw that Katie watched her.