All of me (2 page)

‘That’s quite standard though isn’t it?’
I worry, pouring a cup of tea for the two of us.

‘Yes, I just don’t know if I will ever
have a baby Emily, that’s all I have ever wanted, my own family,’ the tears
appear again.

‘We will sort this out Lucy, don’t we
always?’ I test.  My insides ache for her.

She nods through the tears, pacifying me
with a small smile.

It isn’t until I am walking Lucy out, an
hour later, that I notice the shiny car, sitting in my parking space, ‘wow a
brand new car.’ I gaze longingly at the silver, Audi A5 ‘if only,’ I murmur.

‘Tom offered to buy you a new car,’ Lucy
reminds me.

‘Why should Tom buy me a car Lucy?’ I
raise an eyebrow, irritated at how easy he can offer such a huge purchase.

‘Because you are his favorite sister in
law,’ she grins aware of my feelings towards charity.

********

Driving into work the next day was
heaven. All the controls actually work as expected and the radio isn’t jammed
on Radio Two. I have the latest sounds blasting from my car, with the window
down and the sun shining, as I purposely arrive early for my second day in the
job.

My phone rings as I am about to enter the
building, so I stop outside to answer it.

‘Miss Taylor?’ a sexy voice enquires.

‘Mr Ritchie,’ I greet the familiar voice
smoothly.

‘I am touched, you recognize my voice,’
he flirts, his deep, seductive voice purring through the receiver.

‘Don’t be, it is a very recognizable
voice,’ I add, insinuating he has a strange voice.  He chuckles.

‘Miss Taylor, I have just been contacted
by the garage repairing your vehicle. I have bad news I am afraid.’ He
continues.

‘Oh?’ I enquire.

‘It seems that the accident has indeed
caused more damage than we first expected, the underneath carriage has in fact
shunted all the mechanics forward’ he expresses the words as if I actually
comprehend mechanics.

‘Oh dear, so is it going to take longer?’
I probe, secretly excited at the prospect of driving the Audi.

‘Erm….no not exactly,’ he has the respect
to stutter slightly, ‘I am afraid they have had to write the car off.’

‘Oh, you have got to be kidding me!’ I
fume.

‘The age of the car makes it impossible
to source all the parts,’ he expresses as explanation.

‘Great! Just great!’ I mutter.

‘Relax, I will replace the car,’ he
attempts to soothe me.

‘Well, your insurance company should pay
up, but how long will that take?’ I sigh, ‘I require a car Mr Ritchie,’ I
inform him impatiently.

‘It’s fine. I will sort it out, don’t you
have a vehicle at the moment?’ he reminds me.

‘Yes.’ I reluctantly agree.

‘Then leave it with me,’ he disconnects
the call.

I enter into work with a heavy heart, I prefer
to be in control of my own destiny rather than leave anything with anyone, but
he did smash into my car.

The week passes by and I enjoy my time
with the brand new car, waiting for the moment that it is whipped away from
me.  By Friday, I am curious as to one, when Matthew Ritchie is going to sort
out the car and two, how exactly did he locate my mobile number.  It then
occurs to me that I gave my number to the tow mechanic, who I presume passed
the number along.

Friday evening, I am in the main house
with Lucy enjoying a well-deserved glass of wine to celebrate the end of the
week, when the doorbell rings.  I am relaxing in my denim shorts and vest top,
my hair cascading down my back in waves, having just released it from the high
bun it has been entrapped in all day.  My legs are swinging from the breakfast
bar stool, where Lucy and I are spending our evening whilst Tom is working
late.

‘Come through, she doesn’t live here but
she is present at the moment,’ I hear Lucy inform the visitor.  I turn, curious
to who would be calling for me, only to come face to face with none other than
Matthew Ritchie.

‘You have a visitor,’ Lucy grins, her
eyebrows wiggling in delight.

‘Mr Ritchie,’ I jump down from the stool
moving to greet him.

‘Sorry to disturb your evening,’ he
charms, ‘I just wanted to go through some details regarding the accident,’ he
looks delicious, did he look this appealing on Monday?  He is standing in jeans
and a polo shirt, his keys dangling from his fingers, his hazel eyes regarding
me carefully.

‘Oh ok,’ I mumble, flushing as I remember
my attire.  I pull consciously at the bottoms of my shorts to cover the fact
they leave very little to the imagination.

‘Would you like a drink, Mr Ritchie?’
Lucy, ever the manners offers.

‘Sorry,’ I recover, ‘this is my sister,
Lucy.’ I introduce.

Lucy shakes hands with Mr Ritchie, ‘a
pleasure to meet you Mr Ritchie,’ she smiles, she is definitely the charmer out
of the two of us.

‘Good to meet you, Lucy. Please, call me
Matt.’ he smiles.

‘Matt,’ she smiles, before turning and
reaching for another wine glass and half filling it, ‘please join us. We are
bitching about our week,’ she hands him a glass which he accepts.

‘Thank you Lucy, had an interesting week
myself,’ his eyes find mine.  I am standing, observing this interaction feeling
like a social outcast.

‘What do you do, Matt?’ Lucy enquires.

‘I am in the Leisure industry,’ he
informs her politely, ‘you?’

‘Teacher, primary,’ she retorts, ‘I have
had a class of eight year olds running rings around me all week,’ she smiles.

‘What about you Miss Taylor?’ his eyebrow
arches in question.  I have no option but to volunteer the information.

‘Emily,’ I insist, ‘I temp for various agencies,’
I inform him.

He nods, ‘Emily and I had a bit of a
vehicle crunch earlier in the week,’ he explains to Lucy.

‘Oh right, I did wonder,’ she is
regarding me strangely, ‘well, I will leave you to your discussion. I am off to
collect our takeout, my husband is working late.’

‘Ok, well it was good to meet you Lucy,’
he smiles genuinely.

‘You too Matt. Maybe we will see you
again,’ she calls, as she exits the room.

I had sat back on the stool whilst Matt
and Lucy chatted, observing their communication. Matt turns to me sipping his
wine, ‘friendly girl’ he sits on the chair adjacent to me.

‘Yes, she is the charmer.’ I smile,
gulping my wine.

‘Are you suggesting you are not
charming?’ he teases gently his hazel eyes twinkling slightly.

‘No.’ I shake my head, a small smile on
my lips, ‘that word has never been used to describe me, I assure you.’ I feel
anxious in Matt’s company, which is alien for me as I am, generally, totally
immune to men and their charms.

‘So, the car,’ I state.  Attempting to encourage
the conversation, avoiding his gaze.

‘Do I make you nervous, Emily?  You had
plenty to say on Monday?’ he produces a smile, softening his words, as his eyes
burn into mine.

‘Not at all, Mr Ritchie.’ I snap, aware
that he has hit a nerve.

He smiles slightly before continuing, ‘I
have located a vehicle of the same make. albeit a couple of years newer, for
you.  I wondered whether you had some spare time, over the weekend, to take a
look.’

‘Have your insurance company agreed to
it?’ I enquire, relaxing now we are on familiar territory.

‘No. I have chosen to avoid the insurance
company, my premiums would accelerate at a huge rate for a claim, due to the
fact I own a number of vehicles.’ He elaborates.

‘Ok.’ I cannot compute whether that has
cost him more money or not, so at this precise moment, choose to disregard this
information.

‘So, are you available in the morning?’
his brow lifts in question.

‘Erm, yes ok.’ I agree, the sooner this
is sorted the better, in my mind.

‘Great!’ he sips his wine, ‘so, where do
you live exactly?  The mechanic had this as your address?’

‘I have a flat over the garage,’ I
divulge, ‘isn’t that illegal, him supplying you with my personal details?’ I
enquire mildly.

‘Probably, but he is also a good friend
of mine,’ he adds, totally unfazed by my comment. ‘I will leave you to your
girlie evening, Emily.  I will see you in the morning, ten o clock?’

I follow him out feeling small and
underdressed! ‘Ten is fine, thank you.’

He turns at the door and glances down to
me, his eyes penetrating mine, ‘good to see you again Emily.’

‘You too,’ I flush as my insides squirm,
what is the matter with me?

********

Matt Ritchie bends to enter his BMW and
exhales a breath, well that was a pleasant surprise! Monday, he thought she was
sexy, but today, he whistles in to the silence, she looks adorable.  What was
he doing?  He didn’t need to get involved in all this, he had staff that could
organize all this, what was his motive here? Somehow he didn’t imagine Emily
Taylor would be up for a quick roll in the hay, was she worth the effort?

He starts the engine and moves onto the
road, who is he kidding? She has a body made for sex. Her shorts exposed her
long legs, her perfectly rounded rear end complimented by the denim material
surrounding it.  He feels a stirring in his groin area, those doe-like eyes
peeking through that chestnut hair, it has been a while since he has lusted
over a woman it was novel.

Emily wakes early, showering and dressing
in skinny jeans and a sleeveless, cream top she applies her makeup carefully,
pulling her hair into a high pony tail.  She feels anxious and doesn’t recognize
the feeling at all, what is it about Matt Ritchie that bothers her so much? Yes
he is good looking, but she has met tons of attractive men and has had no
problem in dismissing them and their charms in the past.

Her mind rewinds to the night before, to find
him standing before her in Lucy’s kitchen was surreal.  He was an extremely attractive
man, his hazel eyes penetrating through the armor she has erected around her. 
His eyes surveyed her in such a manner that she felt exposed before him, as
though he could see into her inner most thoughts.

Emily was not a sexual person, she had never
had a boyfriend in all her twenty four years.  She has never experienced any
sexual urges, and could not envisage a time where she lusted over a man she
found this all too distracting.

Lucy pulled her aside a few years ago to
enquire as to whether she was gay as she had never shown any interest in the
opposite sex.  She wasn’t gay, she just couldn’t bring herself to give herself
up to any man, she appreciated the male physique from afar but has never been
tempted….until now.  Emily takes a deep breath, is this what sexual attraction
feels like?

  My doorbell rings and I trot down the
stairs to open it.

‘Hi,’ I murmur quietly taking in the
heavenly sight before me.

‘Hi,’ Matt’s eyes drift over me before
finding my gaze, ‘are you ready?’

‘Sure, I just need to retrieve my bag, do
you want to come in a moment?’ my manners kick in as I turn to retrace my steps,
up to my home aware that Matt’s eyes are probably on my rear end right now.  I
move into the living area, attempting to calm my burning face, before locating
my belongings.  As I turn, I note Matt is perusing the area.

‘This is enchanting,’ he states genuinely,
moving around the area taking in the various photos of Lucy and I at different
stages of our childhood.  I glance around taking in the flat, from a stranger’s
perspective, Tom and Lucy had made it beautiful for me.  The living area was
small, but cozy leading in to an open plan, equally tiny kitchen area separated
by a breakfast bar, which had two bar stools leaning against it.  A two-seater
sofa was facing a flat screen television set into a shelving unit which also
carried all the framed photos and DVD’s.

‘Thank you, small, but enough for just me,’
I mumble.  My eyes move over him, taking in his appearance, he is once again
dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, which is stretched across his broad
shoulders and chest, offering a hint of his fine physique beneath.  I become
flustered and take a deep breath in, releasing it slowly.

‘Can I look at the rest?’ he probes, wandering,
without waiting for an answer, to the bedroom area. I follow him, hesitating at
the doorway, as his eyes move around the room, ‘very stylish,’ he hums, as he
pops his head into the en suite, ‘a wet room, very economical with the space,’
he turns back and eyes the bed, ‘small bed,’ he mumbles eyeing me in a dark way.

‘Ready?’ I call a bit too
enthusiastically.

His eyes penetrate mine and he smiles a
knowing grin, aware of my agitated state, ‘ready when you are Emily,’ he flirts,
his eyes flickering over me from top to toe.  I frown over at him and he grins,
‘after you,’ he gestures towards the door.