Jenny cursed under her breath.
"Who the heck is that at this time in the morning?" she muttered, wrapping her towelling dressing gown around her slender body, her blond hair all over the place. It was Saturday morning and she was having a lie in. Is nothing sacred anymore?
Jenny opened the door, ensuring the security chain was still on, peering through the gap.
"Oh, hello Jenny. I wondered if I might come in for a minute if that's OK?" a voice said. Jenny groaned inside, it was Charlie, the old creep who lived across the landing from her. He was a real creep, early sixties and reeked 24/7 of alcohol, this morning was no different. He was also a bit of a pervert, Jenny had decided, as he was always watching her from his window or coming out of his door as she was leaving, making lewd comments about what clothes she wore. She'd also heard the unmistakeable sounds of porno films on his TV when she got home late at night and the thought of his masturbating over images of her made her flesh crawl,
"I'm not up for guests, Charlie" Jenny protested. "Call back later" she said, intending to shut the door. "Much, much later after I've gone out" she thought to herself.
Charlie persisted.
"No, you don't understand, I've got something that I think is yours and you might want it back" he suggested.
"Like what?" Jenny retorted. She'd not lost anything recently, not that she could remember. Maybe she'd lost her dignity, but he'd not know about that. In fairness, it was something Jenny would rather have not remembered, either.
"Let me in and I'll tell you" he persevered.
"Look, I'm not dressed and I've only just woken up" Jenny replied, running her hand through her untidy hair. It may only have been Charlie but she was not going to be intimidated by him. She'd had enough of Chris, the creep from Uni and Omar and Richie intimidating her into unsavoury acts and she sure as hell was not happy to be intimidated by her neighbour.
"Why don't you drop by my flat in, say, fifteen minutes" Charlie replied, checking his wrist watch. "I know you'll want this item back" he smiled, his grin revealing his grotesque array of uneven teeth, mostly grey in colour with a couple of teeth missing, making his appearance quite unpleasant.
"Yeah, OK!" Jenny replied, having absolutely no intention of complying with his request to join him in his grotty apartment.
"If not, I'll advertise it on my new website" he said. Jenny groaned to herself again. Charlie may be a retired old wanker but he was an I.T. whiz-kid, there was very little he didn't know about computers and I.T. He'd even ridded her computer of some dodgy virus a couple of months earlier and he'd make excuses to update Jenny's computer with an array of new software (she hadn't known it, but he'd also captured some of her personal files for his own perverse use, too), so whatever he'd found, she'd better repossess it. Jenny guessed maybe a pair of her underwear had found it's way into his possession, maybe she'd dropped something when she'd got back from the launderette a few nights ago.
"Yeah, OK. Let me get dressed and have a coffee or something" Jenny protested, closing the door and leaning her back against it. The door was a big, heavy wooden frame yet she felt she could almost feel Charlie's pungent breath against the nape of her neck. She shuddered involuntarily.
Half an hour, two mugs of steaming hot coffee, a piece of toast and a shower later, Jenny had donned a pair of comfy, albeit hip-hugging jeans and a top before stepping out on to the shared landing, her keys in her hand. She sensed, rather than heard, Charlie's front door open.
"I thought you'd wanted me to keep it" he said, grinning evilly and beckoning Jenny into his apartment. She brushed past him, Charlie purposely standing in her way as she made her way into his flat. Inside, the dΓ©cor looked dated and grubby, the curtains were dusty and smelt of old people. The windows had no net curtains but his privacy would remain intact, the windows so dirty Jenny thought the weather was overcast instead of sunny intervals. The recent showers had blown over but the autumnal weather concealed the brisk breeze that shook the trees outside the window, the orange and gold autumn leaves loosing their grip on the branches they had held on to so firmly over the spring and summer months, now falling to the ground like giant colourful snow flakes, leaving patterns on the pavement below.
Yet despite the glorious beauty that autumn beholds, Jenny felt gloomy, the entire room, if not the entire flat felt dank, a hint of moth balls mixed with the aroma of an un-flushed toilet whilst the carpet beneath her Nike's felt as though they were sticking rather than gliding over the surface. The lounge was littered with newpapers and magazines, mostly male orientated mags around cars, computers and girlie mags. Jenny tried to conceal another involuntary shudder.
"So tell me. What do you have of mine, then?" she asked, her voice perky as though trying to cheer herself up. Charlie smiled and moved a pile of grubby towels from a chair so she could sit down.
"I've got something I think you dropped" he said, reaching into a wooden cabinet behind him. He rummaged around for a few moments and Jenny started to get frustrated at his incompetent behaviour. He cursed a little under his breath then he snapped his fingers.
"I'll show you" he said, almost running over to his Desktop PC which was on in the background, the screen saver of a well known tabloid newspaper page 3 model suddenly disappearing as he hit the keyboard. His fingers tapped away deftly and Jenny mused how much exercise his fingers got whilst he was watching the various TV channels somewhere towards the 900 numbers on the digibox.
Jenny expected a photo image of the lost property to display on the screen or, at least the web page for Ebay displaying the lost item for auction.
Instead, she saw media player boot up.
"Quality is really good, this is. Digital is always better in my experience" he said, his eyes wide like saucers as he watched Jenny with perverse interest. Jenny raised her eyebrows to the ceiling, refocusing on the screen. Then she visibly paled, her jaw dropped and her face began to sweat.
The screen showed her in sexual activity with Omar, the footage having been shot by Richie. But how?
"Shit!" she said out loud. Charlie laughed out loud.
"Yes" he said, his grin as wide as any Cheshire cat, his laughing becoming almost maniacal. "You left it in the cab and you know what they say? Finders keepers!"
"I want it back" she said, her stony face trying to look menacing and serious. Charlie laughed out loud even more.
"I bet you do" he said. "Well, what's it worth?" he jested.
"You give it to me back and I won't go to the police" she said, crossing her arms and legs defensively.
"Go to the police?" he laughed, "And tell them what? That you're a would-be porn star?"
"I'll tell them that you filmed me secretly or you stole it from me" she said, trying to retain her composure. The computer monitor had shown a close up of the big black penis entering her gorgeous pussy, the lubricant defying her mind and making her want to be fucked.
"I bet your boy friend would like to see this" Charlie suggested, knowing the reaction he'd get.
"No!" Jenny shouted, making herself jump in the process. "No" she said again, calmly this time. "Mark must never know."
"Why not?" the old man asked. Jenny blushed.
"Just because" Jenny replied, hoping the answer would be sufficient.
"So, tell me what it's worth to you, then?" he asked, approaching Jenny as she sat in the chair. She felt trapped, the only way out was the door behind Charlie. He may be retired but he was a well built man, stocky but not all of it was fat. She'd never get out of the chair and past him before he got her.
"I'll give you Β£200" she said. If Charlie was surprised, he didn't show it.
"What would I do with Β£200, sweetie?" he asked, squatting beside her chair, his hand patting her knee. Jenny gulped and looked at the ceiling.
"I dunno. Get some imported DVD's, the type you like" she said, hopefully.
Charlie moved his hands up to her thigh.
"That's not much, them things are expensive if you get them from Europe" he said. Jenny remembered that Omar had stuffed in excess of Β£1000 in her bag. She'd spent some and lost some but she still had about Β£600 or so left, Β£200 of which she'd committed to Charlie.
"How much do you want?" Jenny asked, trying to use her limited negotiation skills.
"Oh, what I want you couldn't afford, sweetie" he said, his hand working it's way up to the pocket area of her jeans.