Suzanne had fallen asleep virtually as she entered the bed, so after the bags had arrived, he tucked the sheets around her and placed a glass of water at her bedside. Then he turned off most of the lights and went to explore the hotel, for any messages from Pat, a drink and perhaps a little supper. There was no message, but that was to be expected as Pat was not one to often leave any. Still after a beer, a burger and some fries in the Sports Bar, he felt refreshed and ready to get to his own bed.

She was sleeping deeply and snoring ever so quietly as he stole quietly into the room, undressed and then slid between the sheets of his bed. There was no disturbance to her pattern of breathing as he clicked off the last light, put his watch and glasses on the bedside table and turned over to sleep.

***

It was just as it was getting light in the morning, that he was awakened to find her in the aisle between their two beds. Her hands quickly lifted the sheets, as she saw him stir and turn. Then despite his weak protests, she climbed in beside him.

'I thought I was baby-sitting!'

'Well, in a way you are.' She gave him a very innocent kiss on the forehead. 'You have been very kind to me. So I'm going to give you a little kiss and a cuddle. It's sort of a bout de chef, for which of course, all professionals like me never charge!' She slipped her left arm underneath him and with both her arms, she drew them closer together. 'Don't be so tense. All I want to do is say, thank you, for rescuing me at the end of a very bad week.'

'Were you running away?'

'From what? Or whom?'

'From the man, who whipped your back!' He felt her shiver as he said the words.

'Who said it was a man?'

'You mean it was a woman?'

She nodded and turned away from him. 'Kiss it better for me and then let's finish our beauty sleep.'

***

It was nearly nine before they were both fully awake, still entangled comfortably but very chastely in each other's arms.

'Do you want to tell me what happened?' He was old enough to be her father and despite their intimate predicament, he was using the tones that a loving father might use to a dearest daughter. 'Would it help?'

'No! It's just one of the hazards of the job.' She sounded very resigned to what had happened. 'I found out, that a very senior manager of one of the biggest investment banks in California was about to jump ship. Not only was he going to join their biggest competitor, but he was taking with him most of his team of brokers and expert analysts. He was very greedy and was going to add about thirty percent to a very large salary.'

'A fat cat about to steal the cream! How did you find out?'

She turned and now lay facing him, before continuing. 'It sort of started as a simple affair, after he picked me up at a fashionable art gallery on Fisherman's Wharf. I thought he might be fun and I think he liked the idea of a young and dare I say it, beautiful mistress, who could obviously afford to spend thirty thousand bucks of her own money on a modern painting.'

'So when he told you of his plans, you shopped him!'

'That was rather cruel.' She looked only a little hurt. 'But it was probably more than a little true. We were seen by an old client of mine, who also happened to be a friend of his. So he was warned about me and finished the relationship. I'd have left it at that, and put it all down to life and experience, but then he came round to my apartment, threw and smashed a couple of expensive ornaments and then when I chucked him out, continued to threaten me over the phone. I think he felt guilty and thought I was going to shop him.'

'Why didn't you go to the Police?'

'I did and they didn't want to know. In the end, to stop it all, I made an approach through my attorney to the bank and he told the whole story, minus all the sex and most of the non-corporate juicy bits. My ex-boyfriend's job lasted just another twenty minutes and I got a very large cheque as compensation. It was all done discretely and I thought that it was all over.'

'But it wasn't!'

'I don't know how his wife found out that it was me, who had told the story to the bank.'

He remembered and paraphrased the Kipling. 'And there is nothing quite as bad as the fury of a woman scorned.'

'He had probably said it was me to get himself off the hook.' He saw her shiver at the thought of what had happened. 'I didn't have a clue who she was, when she took me to lunch a week ago, under the pretence of a well-paid assignment. Good lunch it was too! Then like a fool, she got me to go back to her hotel room to see a video recording.'

'Doesn't that break all of your rules?'

'What rules?' She pointed at him. 'Who the hell are you for a start? You might be a serial rapist and murderer, who's going to feed me to the polar bears at Sea World! In my job, I do nothing but take risks.'

'I suppose I do to.' He thought about how he had lived on his wits for nearly thirty years, as an independent programmer. Some of the idiots, he'd done favours for and got absolutely nothing!

'She had two of her women friends there and they grabbed me and I was tied face down to the bed, using cuffs and chains. Before the others left, I was hooded and severely gagged, so that I couldn't see anything or cry out. She then cut every stitch of my clothes off. And that included a two-thousand buck suit.' She giggled. 'Would she have done that, if she had known that her husband had bought it?'

'You seem to be careful, with your own money!'

'Of course, why am I sharing a room?' They laughed together. 'Then she said she was going to punish me, for what I had done to her and her husband. Notice the her came first! She was a right bitch. She said that she was not going to leave any marks on my face or where anybody could see, but she was going to ensure that in future, I could not attract men with my body.'

'So she gave you a severe thrashing?'

'She intended to mark me for life. And she thought she did!' A broad smile broke out. 'I've been whipped before. And paid well for it! But she was a real amateur and made several mistakes. She used the wrong whip! She had me on a bed, which absorbed a lot of the force! But above all, she wasn't very good, very accurate or for that matter all that strong! She also more or less stopped, when she drew some blood. Then, it all generated into farce, as I bit her, when she tried to take the gag out! She then shredded what was left of my clothes, money and credit cards with a pair of scissors, before leaving me tied up, gagged and naked. She didn't even have the decency to call the Concierge!'

'I bet that gave the maid a shock, when she came in to turn the bed down!'

'No! They get used to it in hotels.' She laughed. 'Often, it's a man, who's died on the job with a smile on his face and an erection like the Empire State. At least, I was alive and after a bath, I was presentable. Even, if it was only in a hotel maid's uniform!' She laughed again. 'Still, they were very pleased, when I decided to let the matter drop and not think about taking the matter any further. They even paid for my taxi home! And I never know when the uniform will come handy!'

'So you thought it wise to get out of San Francisco for a time?'

'You could say that! But only after a visit to my physician and my bank for check-ups. And a visit to YSL to buy the new suit, you and your chauffeur friend so carefully removed.' The thought brought a smile to her face. 'Shopping can be so therapeutic.'

'I find it rather a chore really!'

'I've seen your clothes. I could teach a man like you how to really spend his money!'

'If I had your tastes and expenses, I wouldn't have any.'

She punched him playfully before continuing. 'So, I then took a few days rest at a friend's in Dallas and then I came here to line up a new assignment. Thank you, by the way, for the company on the plane, last night, the valeting of the suit and all the other nice things you've done!' She kissed him. 'You'd make a very good father for a nasty, little bitch of a girl like me, one day. You listened, so well!'

***

He ordered a decent breakfast for both of them through Room Service and they ate and drunk, juices, eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, tea and coffee, much as he and Lucinda had eaten their picnic in the Desert Inn. But this time, it was not two lovers, as although they were both naked, there was absolutely no sexual contact between them.

'So what are you doing, today?' He was still speaking very much as the father.

'I'm seeing this Developer and Real Estate Agent, who wants me to investigate one of his competitors. Apparently, there's been some more naughty goings-on in Arkansas, and he thinks there might be some property going cheap. Just my type of job. Pays good. The men are handsome, rich and supposedly reasonable lovers!' She smiled at him, then sucked and bit seductively on a piece of toast. 'A girl has to live you know!'

'Be careful!'

'And I know, if I can't! Buy a buggy!'

'Pram, dear! Pram!'

***

'And what are you doing today?' She lengthened the last syllable, as if she almost thought about adding Daddy to it.

'Oh! I'm seeing an old friend, called Pat for lunch, at some place called Hooters.' She giggled as he spoke . 'A message came whilst we were asleep. Apparently, it's at a town called Kissme!' She giggled again and kissed him. 'What's funny?'

'It's Kissimmee for a start.' She emphasised the pronunciation, so he would remember it. 'But I think you'll like the restaurant! The food's not bad. And I believe they serve Newcastle Brown. Whatever that is?'

Copyright 1999 by Ewart Higgins