Holding my shoes and small clutch bag, I was virtually frogmarched towards the hotel lifts by Ted and Colin, with the others trailing behind. We entered the lift along with a respectable looking elderly couple who looked at me with disdain as I was wedged tightly between the two men. I followed their astonished stares downwards and saw that the arms of my two male companions encircling my waist had caused my tiny dress to rise up, exposing even more of my unadorned thighs. Their disapproving attitude had the effect only to give me a bout of the giggles.
The lift doors opened on the 6th floor, and just at that moment my mobile phone began to ring. I quickly retrieved it from my bag and my heart jumped a beat as I saw that the caller was my husband, Michael.
'It's probably your mum wondering where you are,' said Ted mischievously as we stepped out of the lift. This produced further disgusted looks and tutting noises from the old couple and I quickly attempted to retrieve the situation hoping that they didn't get the wrong idea.
'Look, I'm 23 and it's my husband not my mum.'
I managed to disentangle myself from Ted and Colin and made a dash down the corridor for some privacy but not before I heard the old lady mutter: 'Then you should be ashamed of yourself dear,' and at that moment 'ashamed' was exactly how I was feeling.
'Don't be long blondie, we've got plans for you. We're in room 612.' I heard Ted shout as I hurried away.
At the end of the corridor a door led to the stairwell, which I entered before answering the call. After the warm carpeting of the hotel, the stone floor was cold and hard on my bare feet. I nervously hoped that my voice would appear as normal as possible, even though I was out of breath in my haste to get away from Ted and the others.
'Darling...it's nearly midnight. Is everything OK?'
'Sorry. Yes Luce...it's just that I'm missing you so much and I just wanted to hear your voice. To tell the truth I'm a bit upset that you seemed a bit angry with me earlier and I just wanted to make sure...you know...that we're OK.'
I felt a surge of guilt at these words from my ever-reasonable husband. You hypocritical bitch Lucy, I thought to myself. You have been behaving like the world's worst slut yet you had the gall to cover that up by accusing him of lusting after his boss. I felt my eyes fill with self-indulgent tears of guilt and shame.
'Of course we're OK darling. Don't take any notice of me, I was just being a bitch. To be honest, I wouldn't blame you if you fancied Susannah. She's tall, beautiful and sophisticated and obviously very clever. Next to her I feel like a silly little girl.'
'Don't put yourself down like that Luce. You're the sexiest girl in the whole world and I'm very lucky to have you. You know that I love only you don't you?'
These words just broke me up inside and I was overcome with remorse. I started to sob uncontrollably and I stumbled over my reply. 'I know you do. I'm so sorry...I'm a bitch...can't help myself...need to talk...,' I rambled on incoherently between racking sobs.
'Luce, darling, there's really no need to apologise for being jealous. It's all my fault for putting my job first and being away from you for so long.'
'No, you don't understand. I'm ashamed of myself...I...I've done things..' I was on the verge of confessing everything to my husband, but I couldn't control my sobs and I had to stop in mid-sentence. I quickly covered the phone with my hand to prevent Michael from hearing my distress.
I could hear Michael's worried voice down the phone asking me if I was all right. Not for the first time, my mind was in a total state of turmoil but I only had myself to blame. My only thought was to end my conversation with Michael and to give myself space to think. I quickly put the phone to my ear again and tried as best as I could to assure him that I was fine, but that I was very tired and over-emotional. I promised to phone him the following day so we could have a proper conversation. After seeking further assurances that I was all right, Michael reluctantly agreed and hung up.
Wiping the tears away with the back of my hand I glanced at my phone and noticed that I had two outstanding text messages. The first was from Uncle Ron: 'Are you missing me Juicy?' it simply said, although there was a picture attachment which I opened. As was typical of the old perv It was a close-up of his very erect penis with its ugly corded veins disgustingly visible down its shaft.
The second text was more intriguing and rather pleading. It was from Tracey, the young receptionist from the hotel in Manchester I recently visited. It said: 'Please please PLEASE call me as soon as you can. It's about my friend Christine. I'm sure you remember her!! Anyway, it's her birthday soon and I want to surprise her. I would love it if you could help me with this and I think I you would love it too!! PLEASE CALL and I will explain everything!!'
My mind drifted back to the truly wonderful massage I had received at the experienced hands of the mature woman, Christine, at the hotel and the promise I had made to her to return the favour in some way. I was intrigued and more than a little interested in resuming my acquaintance with the lovely Christine, so I made a mental note to call Tracey the following day after making my peace with Michael.
Still feeling overcome with guilt after my fraught phone conversation with my husband, I was in two minds as to what to do next - whether to join my new friends in Ted's room or do the sensible thing and return to my own room before I got myself into any more scrapes. While I stood there dithering I heard the sound of laughter and raised voices coming from below and realised there were people coming up the stairs.
In my present state I didn't want to be seen by anyone, so I turned to leave the stairwell but, in my haste, I stumbled and dropped my shoes and bag that I was still clutching. Cursing to myself, I bent down to retrieve them but soon realised that this was perhaps not a smart move given the diminutive nature of my dress and my lack of underwear.
'Fuck! Would you look at that sweet little fanny exposed for all the world to see,' uttered a deep voice from behind me. I stood quickly and turned to see three men, all I would guess in their forties or fifties, standing at the top of the stairs, sporting wide grins and with eyes nearly popping out of their skulls.
'Hey boys, it's the little blonde who was with old Ted's group,' said the oldest, a short, rotund man in a crumpled suit with thinning sandy hair. 'Fancy a nightcap up in my room sweetheart?' He added, pointing to a wine bottle he was holding.