The Apartment

"Caroline, how nice to meet you, and may I say first of all a big thank you for rescuing a Heather after her moment of idiocy..."

His voice was deep and quite seductive. I started to see that he did have charms...

"Not at all, it was really nothing, and we all do silly things from time to time. I would hope you would do the same for me if the boot was on the other foot??"

"Of course I would. You were so sweet and kind and I was such an idiot.." Heather giggled...

"Do you like a Rioja or a Malbec?" Stephen asked. "We have got the house Rioja ordered but we can order you something different if you like?"

"Rioja would be lovely," I replied, and soon enough Cathy, the bar owner, appeared with a tray of glasses and the wine. Stephen poured and we all clinked glasses and wished each other's health.

The evening passed quickly. As it got dark it got cooler, so we moved inside and Stephen ordered a selection of Tapas. The spicy Chorizos and squid were particularly tasty and we all enjoyed each new earthenware dish of delights. Heather ate with the same elegance she did everything else.

We talked about all sorts of things. Stephen was highly educated, but not condescending. He listened intently to all points of view, but in reality led the conversation. We moved from the approaching election, through the state of the economy, to holidays and travel and then to food. At around 9.30, as the second bottle of Rioja was polished off, I decided I would leave the two of them to it. I offered to pay, but Stephen would not accept a penny. I was fullsome with my thanks. As I made to leave Heather rose and put her arms round me in a gentle embrace. Her perfume floated up into my nose, and I felt light headed for a moment. Then she asked me if I would mind looking after their apartment the following weekend. Stephen was about to go away to The Middle East for a few months and he was taking her to Paris for a long weekend.

I agreed to do it. Heather told me she would drop a key down on a Thursday evening as they were leaving from Birmingham early on Friday.

I went back to the apartment and made myself some tea. The evening had put everything back into context. Whilst I was mesmerised by Heather, so was Stephen. They were a couple and I was a middle aged divorcee. I realised that any flight of fancy I had about Heather had just been given a reality check.

When I went to bed the rhythmic creaking of the floorboards above me started almost immediately. It went on for quite a while...

***

I was busy the following week. Some of the designs I submitted on the Monday needed amending and there's was an additional swimsuit required.

I had pushed a "Thank You" note into Heather's letter box on the Sunday but did not see either of them.

On the Thursday at around 2pm there was a gentle knock at the door. It was Heather.

I invited her in.

She was dressed in a thin semi transparent linen blouse and tight denim jeans. Her hair was loose and fell around her shoulders like a deep auburn curtain. The smell of jasmine filled the air.

"I came to drop the keys round. It is still OK to look after our place this weekend isn't it?" she asked.

"Of course it is, it's no problem at all, I'm not going anywhere special apart from to get a hair cut on Saturday."

"That's a coincidence," she said. "That's where I have just been!"

"Yes I thought how lovely your hair looked. I wish I had such thick straight locks."

"Oh thank you," and she smiled broadly." Actually I'm rather fed up with it and fancy a change. If Stephen wasn't so dictatorial I would have a pixie cut I think. Have you ever gone really short?"

"No I've never had the guts..."

"You should, you have the right shaped face and bone structure. I think you would look sexy with a bob."

"Mmm..I don't know. I don't really do sexy..." I replied, and I felt a rush of blood to my cheeks.

"Well you should. You are in great shape, and a good hairdo does wonders for the self esteem."

"I'll think about it, but I am not so sure. I really need to get this project finished as my first priority, I need the money. Now what do you want me to do whilst you are away?"

"Well, the only thing I need you to do is to feed Solomon the cat. He's my sister's cat really. He's old and housebound. I will leave you the food and litter trays in the kitchen. All you have to do is top up his water bowl, feed him and then bag the tray and bin it. That was what I was doing last week when I got caught in the rain..."

"Sounds simple. When will you be back?"

"Monday night late, so I'll pop in and see you on Tuesday to collect the keys if that's OK?

By the way, I've written my mobile on the back of Cindy's beauty salon card in case you need it, and she handed over a small white business card with gold printing.

"Oh thanks. I'll text you my number in a minute. Do you want some tea by the way?"

"Thanks but no, I'd better go, I haven't packed yet so I need to get moving."

"OK. Well have a fabulous time and send me a postcard...!"

"Thanks Caroline, I will - you are an angel..."

And with that she was gone.

***

My first visit to see Solomon was on Friday morning. He was asleep in an armchair in the living room.

It felt strange being in a space that was exactly the same as mine but looked so different. The walls were a pale stone colour and the floor was punctuated by what looked like Iranian silk rugs. There were two leather sofas, apart from the cat's armchair, and a very expensive looking flat screen TV and sound system. The biggest difference was the gabled roof, which made the room feel enormous.

I put fresh food down and cleared the litter tray. As I was heading for the door I hesitated.

I wanted to look around the other rooms, but I was conflicted about betraying Heather's trust. I stood in the hallway with all the closed doors around me..

I knew it was wrong, but my fascination with Heather and my innate sense of nosiness got the better of me.

The bathroom was something of a disappointment. It looked rather old fashioned and clearly had not been refurbished. I moved on.

I opened the master bedroom door. It was dark inside as the curtains were still drawn. The overhead light flooded the room and I cautiously went in.

The layout of the furniture was fairly similar to my own. The colour scheme was cream with touches of sage green. The floor had been stripped back and highly polished. The effect was classy. Their bed was larger than mine, and the dressing table had three mirrors and an antique stool. I detected Heather's perfume again and it lured me in.

I looked around for a while not moving. I deduced that Heather slept on the same side of the bed as I did. There was a heart shaped picture frame with a picture of the two of them smiling, and some night cream and hair clips that gave it away. On the other side of the bed there was a digital alarm and a hardback book about football.

I opened the large closet and a light came on automatically. Heather had a large clothing collection. Suits, dresses, jackets, blouses, cardigans were hung with almost military precision. Stephen's clothing collection was more more modest in size, but of high quality with suits in their covers and a lot of sports kit.

I closed the closet. I went over to a large chest and opened the top left hand drawer. It was Heather's and was full of belts and scarves. The top right hand one was her tights and stockings.

The larger drawer below contained Heather's underwear. She had a huge collection of underwear from satin to cotton, lacy to plain. The styles went from practical to more provocative. Push up bras, thongs, high legs, shorts, French knickers, camisoles, all in a variety of colours but mainly cream and magenta to match her skin tone. I wanted to touch some of it, to caress it and pick it up and smell it...

My sense of propriety kicked in just in time and I closed the drawer carefully.

I left the apartment and went back to my own to do some work...

***

At 7pm I went back upstairs and fed Solomon again. He looked like he had hardly moved, but the food was gone, so I put more down.

As I was leaving I decided to look in the 3rd bedroom. This was the one above my workroom. It was made up as a single bedroom. The quilt was floral and feminine. The dressing table had lots of framed family photos. I picked each up in turn, trying to work out who was who, but there were few clues. Only one had Heather in it, with an older grey haired woman who I guessed was a grandmother. Heather was younger but looked hardly any different save for a fringe and darker eye shadow. On the back of the frame someone had written "Granny Emily, Sevenoaks 2012."

***

On Saturday morning as I was going out I went and fed Solomon early. He was clearly hungry, as he meowed loudly when I appeared, and then rubbed around my legs.

I looked inside bedroom 2 before leaving. This room was clearly a combination of laundry room, store and home gym and was rather disorganised. Before I left I went back to the master bedroom. I sought out Heather's perfume. I dropped a little on my wrists and rubbed them together. Heather seemed to be present immediately and I felt warmed by the simple act.

Most of Saturday was taken up with going into the city and getting my hair done. Jane who cut it and Paula who coloured it were chatty enough, but my mind was elsewhere.. The results of the hairdo were mixed. The colour was good, but I resisted Heather's suggestion of having a radical cut and the trim merely removed the split ends.

When I got home I fed Solomon, who was now used to me and craved affection. I stroked him absentmindedly as I looked around the living room again.

Before leaving I went back into the master bedroom. I sat at Heather's dressing table and studied myself in the three mirrors that formed an arc.

They did not lie. I looked like a 50 something divorcee with average looks. I wanted to be so much more. I wanted to be attractive and sexy, but I wasn't.

My eyes filled up with tears. I left and went back to my work.

***

On Sunday morning I finished the swimsuit and the final amendments. After feeding Solomon, I went for a long walk down by the river. It was a warm day and I bought an ice cream and sat on the river edge. I wondered what Heather & Stephen were doing...perhaps they were by the Seine, soaking up the Parisian atmosphere and drinking Pastis. I felt miserable.

As I was walking home I decided that wallowing in self pity was not helping. I needed to cheer myself up.

I stopped at the Tapas Bar. Cathy poured me a large glass of Rioja and I sat and chatted with her and people watched for an hour. After three glasses I realised I was a little intoxicated and went home.

Solomon was asleep when I entered number 16. I topped up his drinking water and put more food down. As I was leaving I went back into the 2nd bedroom. The wine made me feel mellow and a little mischievous.

Just inside the door I noticed the dirty washing basket, I knew it was very wrong but I opened it and looked inside. It was full...

I picked up a silk blouse and a pair of Heathers cream hi cut panties fell on the floor. I picked them up and brought them to my my nose.

The touch and illicitness of what I was doing stirred my arousal. The aromas were stronger than the ones she had left in my apartment, a piquant mixture of fresh and foul. I adjusted the little scrap so the gusset was close to my nostrils, and breathed in deeply.

The sweet smell of the spendings from her vulva hit first, and behind them the more acrid scent of her pee. Lower down I could detect an earthy note. It was a toxic mixture and I felt my nipples start to engorge...

I knew I should stop immediately. It was all so wrong...I was succumbing to a hitherto unknown fetish...I was breaking their trust. My nerves were jangling...I wanted to resist but I was weak willed and aroused...

I could feel my face was flushed. Need and lust took over. I went to the master bedroom switched on the light. I put the panties down on the bed. With no sense of shame I kicked off my shoes and undid my jeans. I pulled them down over my thighs and wriggled free of them.

Carefully I began looking for what I needed. I knew there would be something, it was merely a question of what it was, and where it was located. I suspected the bedside table or the underwear drawer. I started in the underwear drawer, feeling gently underneath each little piles without disturbing it. Nothing...

The top drawer of the bedside table on Heather's side contained tissues and a motley selection of creams and medications. The bottom drawer contained nighties and pajamas. I felt underneath and reached toward the back. Sure enough my fingers felt something solid. I carefully pulled it out.

My hunch that Heather would own a sex toy was correct. It was a Hitachi, and it looked more like a massager than a vibrator. It even ran on electricity not batteries!

I found a socket, plugged it in and switched it on. A small disc adjusted the intensity. As I spinned it the head started to vibrate. It was hugely powerful, I'd never seen, never mind felt, such a toy. My old vibrator was pathetic compared to this beast...

I decided that if I was going to do it I was going to do it properly. I pulled back the quilt and puffed up the pillows. I pulled down my navy bikinis. A trail of my moisture had already seeped into the gusset.

I was very turned on, this would not take long...

I lay down on the bed, brought the wand on to my vulva with one hand and found Heather's knickers with the other. I switched It on. It hummed...

Initially I found that the raw power of it was too much. My clit was so smarted by the first touch I had to pull it away and move it further down my vulva. From then on the sensations built and my desire climbed. It was so naughty but so nice...

I turned the little disc a bit further, and then it really started...

My first orgasm came so quickly I was completely unprepared and my body went into a spasm and I felt my back arch off the bed.

The floorboards creaked a familiar creak!

I let go of the vibe. I was panting...

I recovered my breath and picked up the Hitachi and caressed my vulva again. I felt a much deeper orgasm coming. I turned the little disc up some more and pushed her panties under my nose. I breathed in those forbidden scents and thought of Heather and those ripe little breasts. The sensations kept on building, nothing would make me stop..

Oh my God...

Everything exploded and an enormous climax started to rip through my body. I felt my vagina start to contract in a series of prolonged lurches and the world went into a spin. It was sooo gooood...

I dropped the Hitachi, and lay there gasping for air, sweat running off my face.

Wow wow wow...!

I reached down to touch myself. My pussy was drenched, and so were my legs. I thought for a moment I had peed myself, but then deduced I had squirted. It was the first time in nearly forty years of trying that it had ever happened. I giggled out loud.

It had been pure wanton lust...and I had loved every second.

I got up to check the damage. The bed sheet was soaked. That was a problem... I reached for some tissues.

I cleared everything up. The Hitachi was wiped and dried and put away and the panties were carefully folded back and put back in the laundry basket inside the blouse. I could not decide what to do about the sheet. I decided to leave it to dry overnight to see if it had stained. I knew I had Monday to make amends if necessary. I checked every room I had been in to make sure there were no obvious signs of my intrusion, switched off all the lights, and left Solomon to it. He was still asleep..

***

I woke around 8am to the sound of my mobile.

"Hullo..." I was half asleep...

"Caroline?"

"Yes?"

"It's Heather."

I set bolt upright, the misdeeds of Sunday night and the state of their bed cleared my head in a second.

"Where are you?" I asked, my heart in my mouth, trying not to appear flustered.

"Oh we're at the Sacre Coeur. I just thought I would call to check everything is OK?"

"Yes, everything's fine." My heart descended back into my chest. "Solomon's fine, we're old friends now."

"Good, good."

"Are you having a lovely time?"

"Yes really great. The sights have been amazing and I found the most amazing Lingerie shop, it made me think of you.."

My heart skipped a beat but I wasn't sure why...

Listen I'll see you tomorrow, gotta go now...Bye!" And with that she was gone.

After breakfast I went and fed Solomon. He meowed and fussed, clearly hungry. Whilst he was eating I checked the sheet to see whether it was still stained. It was.

I quickly stripped it from the bed and took it downstairs to wash. I sat in the lounge and waited. The experience of the previous evening played on my mind. I got my computer out and went looking for a Hitachi. I found one on an adult site that offered free 24 hour delivery. Even though I was hard up for cash I could not resist it and bought it. There was a free gift promised with the purchase too, thought it did not specify what that was.

By 3pm the sheet was dry, ironed and back on the bed. I even lay on the bed on both sides to make sure that it looked as if it had not just been washed.

I fed Solomon and closed the place up.

***

On Tuesday morning I did my paperwork for the work I had completed. Just as I finished printing the invoices, there was a knock at the door.

It was Heather. She was in an exquisite navy trouser suit, her hair in a clasp. She was carrying a small brown cardboard box. A waft of jasmine caught my nostrils.

"Hello Caroline. Hey, guess what, I was downstairs picking up our post and a courier guy delivered this in for you so I signed for it. Anything exciting?"

I felt the colour rush to my cheeks as it dawned on me what she was holding...

"Oh it's part of my next project - nothing exciting at all," I replied and relieved her of the package. I prayed that the name of the web site was not printed on the label.

"Have you got time for a cuppa?" I asked, desperate to change the subject.

"I'm sorry no. Work beckons. Perhaps we can have a drink next weekend? Stephen leaves on Saturday morning so I will be on my own. When are you free?"

"Oh anytime, I haven't much planned."

Actually I had nothing.

"OK good. Why don't we meet at the Tapas bar at 6pm?"

"That sounds lovely," I replied and smiled my fulllest smile.

"I see you didn't get your hair done after all. What went wrong?"

"Oh they took too long on the colour so I have to go back this weekend," I lied, miffed that Jane's work was not even noticeable.

"Oh OK, good. Well see you on Saturday, got to rush," and in a few moments the door was closed and she was gone again. She had forgotten the keys...her perfume lingered in the air.

***

Thankfully the shipper had been discreet and there was no tell tale label on the package. It sat unopened by my work table all week. A monument to my indiscretions... My conscience pricked every time I saw it.

I had to go to London on the Friday. A late request for swimwear from another client. After an hour with the head of womenswear, they placed a firm commitment with me for two seasons of beachwear. I felt light headed with my success as I left the building. At last, the end of financial hardship.

Heading back for the tube station up Regent St. a tall dark haired young woman walked out of a shop ahead of me. She had an angular chin length bob. She paused and looked ar her own reflection in the plate glass window.

She looked so elegant... As I drew closer I realised the shop was in fact a Hair Salon, and she was just leaving.

On the spur of the moment I went in to the salon and spoke to the young Receptionist