The details of this story were told to me over several months by the man concerned who, though young in the story, is now a Grandfather several times over.
He and his wife are still together. The events in this story have never been mentioned; she is either unaware of them or, now they are well in the past, has chosen to ignore them.
You might think it an unlikely tale but, having myself been a student at a top University during the eighties, and having been in all-girl shared houses for two years, I know with absolute certainty that encounters of this kind really did take place.
They took place surprisingly often too, with surprising girls and for surprising reasons. And it wasn't just the men who initiated them by any means.
All the girls that I personally know took part, are now married and have adult children. One is a very senior figure in her chosen career; if you are in Britain and watch TV, you will definitely have seen her.
I do not condone or condemn the actions or attitudes of any of the characters. They are symptomatic of their time and, as my own sexual history is not beyond reproach, I will refrain from passing either judgement or comment.
I simply offer the story and leave that to you.
***
"That much?" the short, slightly overweight blonde girl asked, a horrified look on her pretty face.
"I'm afraid so," I replied, calmly but firmly, shining my torch into a large, hole in the room's cheap plasterboard wall, just above the skirting, behind the sofa. "Look at the amount of damage. It looks like someone put their foot through the wall, cracked the pipes then tried to cover it up with furniture. The water has run into the floor and the ceiling of the room below. It'll need a new wall here, new plumbing and maybe a new ceiling below."
From the worried look on her face, I could tell that not only had she had known that the hole in the wall behind the lounge sofa was there, she knew who had done it and knew it was not her.
What she did now know, was that I too had known the hole was there. I had known for two weeks, but had kept it to myself, waiting for the most opportune moment to 'discover' it.
And the final end-of-lease checkout inspection, alone in the house with its last female tenant, was the most opportune time of all, so I had made sure this house was the last on my list for the day.
"There's minor damage everywhere too. It must have been quite a party!" I added, unimpressed.
From the look on her face, I had hit the spot with that comment.
"But that's a huge amount of money..." she protested.
"The deposit will cover some of it," I interrupted her. "But there will still be a big surcharge."
"But I haven't got that much..." she began, then ground to a halt.
"Your friends really should pay their share too," I added.
The look on her face turned from worried to anger; anger that her so-called friends had left her to deal with the final checkout inspection on her own.
I could picture them as they left, confidently assuring her that the damage would not be spotted, that all would be okay, and their substantial deposit would be returned in full.
Now, not only would the girl have to tell her friends that their expected windfall would not be forthcoming, she would also have to get them to stump up a lot more cash. They would not be happy; some would blame her; others would fail to pay up at all.
I had seen it many times before and could guess how the poor girl was feeling.
"Do you have your cheque book handy?" I asked, rubbing her pretty nose in it mercilessly.
"I haven't got enough in my account!"
"Well how much do you have. Perhaps if you made a down payment, they will let me sign you out."
Her face a picture of anger, she turned towards the doorway as if going to fetch her chequebook, but then suddenly stopped in her tracks as if something had just occurred to her.
After a moment's thought, she turned back towards me. I raised my eyebrows in silent question.
The girl was very anxious and seemed to be steeling herself to say or do something she found very difficult. Taking a deep breath, she raised her face, but her eyes couldn't quite meet mine.
There was a rumbling in my tummy as I looked at her troubled expression, hoping to hear those magic words.
"I... Um... I heard..." she began, unsure how to proceed.
"What did you hear?" I replied, my voice friendly, trying to make her difficult task as easy as possible.
"Um..." she continued nervously. "Someone told me that you... that you sometimes... um... sometimes come to a special arrangement... over things like this!"
Don't agree too quickly, Pete. Make her work for it. Make her believe it's all her idea.
"What sort of special arrangement?" I asked as blandly as I could manage.
The girl blushed deeply and fidgeted awkwardly from one shapely leg to the other.
"Um... sort of... sort of... if I did something for you... you would deal with the damage... unofficially?"
I paused. It wasn't enough yet. She had to make the first move; the idea had to come from her.
"What sort of thing do you mean?" I asked.
The blush became even deeper.
"Um... um... something to help you... down there..."
There was no mistaking the way her eyes fell to my groin.
It was working! The first, important step had been taken, but had she committed herself enough yet? In her mind, had she done enough to imprint on her memory that the suggestion had come from her, not from me?
Better play safe and feign ignorance a little longer.
"Who told you that?" I asked, my words not suggesting either admission or denial.
"My friend Susie," she replied. "She lived here last year."
I paused for a moment as if trying to remember, but it was all for show. I remembered Susie very well indeed.
"What did she tell you?"
The girl was still fidgeting but having posed the question, seemed a little more confident and in control of herself.
"She said you had let them off all the damage they caused."
"Why would I have done that?" I asked, disingenuously. "It took hours to fix and cost hundreds of pounds."
I could see the girl desperately trying to avoid using the words that would commit her absolutely. Having got this far, I knew she would probably go through with it, but nevertheless, she still wanted it to be my idea.
This was something I had to hold firm about. I must not suggest it; the girl had to offer herself.
"Susie said she had..." I could see the agony on her pretty face as she forced out the words. "That she had given you... um... had sex... with her mouth and in return..."
Her words faded but having used the words sex and mouth, she had said enough.
"And in return, I had turned a blind eye and signed off the lease?" I finished her sentence for her. "She told you that had happened?"
The girl nodded.
"And you thought I might ignore all this damage here if you did the same?"
She blushed pink and nodded again.
"Well that's a turn-up," I exclaimed as if astonished to have been asked. "I'm amazed. I'm genuinely flattered, don't get me wrong."
The look of embarrassed horror on the girl's face was a picture, and exactly what I had hoped to see.
"Do you often offer to do that kind of thing?" I asked.
"No!" she exclaimed, a look of shock and horror on her face.
"No, of course, you don't," I apologised. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Ye...es," she replied, surprised.
"And do you give him blowjobs?"
I used the coarse word deliberately, partly to see how she reacted. She blushed, looked away and nodded.
"Sometimes."
"Are you good at them?"
"He says I am."