AS IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER THERE ARE NO SEX SCENES IN THIS CHAPTER, IF THAT'S YOU RBAG, PLEASE TRY ELSEWHERE.
*
Life for Jim had settled down, he was settled in his flat and Jenny spent at least one day of every weekend with him.
He was not dating anyone, he found he did not know how or where to go to meet women who were interested in short term relationships. He was at that age when he was too old for the trendy bars, they were always packed with young adults closer to Jenny's age than his. Anyway, he could not hear himself speak for the loud RAP music when on the odd occasion, he did drop into one.
He was also too young for the for the twin-set and tweeds set that frequented the more up market lounges and he quickly found out that the women in the singles bars he had gone into, were either cock teasers or divorced and on the hunt for another husband. He missed Janice and thought of her every day. He realised he still loved her, even though their divorce was now final and he was a free agent again. So was she, he thought. He found the idea that she may have found someone else too depressing to contemplate and to stop himself dwelling on what he had thrown away, he concentrated on his work.
Jake Pearson had phoned him the week after the review meeting and was very apologetic. He confirmed that the test results they had commissioned had verified his findings and that he had authorised the immediate payment of all outstanding invoices.
Jim asked him if he had any details on their internal investigation on how the substitution had been done and was not surprised that Jake deflected his question and said, "We have not completed our enquiries, but I can tell you, our warehouse manager has resigned. There may be others involved and I cannot name names or give you any further information at this time."
For Janice, life continued, she dated occasionally but had not been sufficiently attracted to any of her dates to warrant a second date and none of them made it into her bed. She was at work one day, almost nine months since she and Jim had parted and three months after the divorce was finalised when she took a call from Jake Pearson. She was surprised and somewhat to reluctant to speak with him given the circumstances, but he asked if he could meet her for dinner that evening as he had some business matters he wanted to discuss and also some personal reasons he would explain later. She agreed and arranged a date for the following evening at his hotel.
She took her time dressing for her date with Jake and Sally, who was standing watching her mother mull over which dress to choose. Finally, Jenny just picked up the little black dress and said, "This is the one."
Janice looked at her and said, "You don't think it's a little too revealing for a business meeting?"
Jenny was getting a little exasperated with her and told her, "Mum, this guy is more than just a business date to you, you have been debating over what to wear for an hour, so he means something to you even now. So if you want to find out if he is still attracted to you, wear the little black number!"
Then as an afterthought she asked: "He's not married is he?"
"No." Janice replied, "He is divorced and has two boys but he only sees them once or twice a year, their mother re-married and lives in Spain now."
Janice completed dressing, putting on the little black dress and arrived at the hotel a little early for her date, but Jake was waiting for her in Reception and taking her hand led her into a private dining room he had reserved.
Janice said with a smile, "Are you trying to impress me or something? You did not need to go to this expense, the main dining room or even a Room Service meal would have been sufficient."
He said reddening slightly with embarrassment, "What I need to talk to you about needs some privacy and I thought suggesting a room service meal would make you think I had an ulterior motive, so this is a compromise that I hope you find acceptable."
