
Penalties Part 1.

His fingers trembled when he picked up the telephone and 
began to dial the number. Her number!
It had been three weeks, three weeks of trying to regain 
control, of attempting to withdraw from her illicit web of fantasy. 
Oh, he had tried to be strong, to resist it but the lure of his 
forbidden fantasy nagged at him and his resolve crumbled like stale 
cake.
He wanted to say no but now he was dialling the number. 
Again! Even though he had said he would outlast her, to go the 
distance, his fingers were still pressing the buttons as if they had a 
mind of their own. The fact was, he wanted so much not to call but 
couldn't resist, he just couldn't!
Barry looked nervously around the office to see if anyone was 
noticing what he was doing but all seemed oblivious to his actions, 
going about the usual pandemonium that constantly inhabited the 
offices of Brown, Brown and Burrows. 
As usual, his co-workers ignored him. They only approached 
him when they wanted something, some financial analysis but 
excluded him from any social gatherings. He didn't mind, he was a 
little anti-social these days.
Twice he put the telephone down before completing the 
number, wiping his sweaty palms of his trouser legs while he 
gathered his resolve but it was no use.
The stale cake crumbled and Barry surrendered to his desires, 
surrendered to his fantasies.
And dialled.
It rang and rang until a loud click and her breathy, husky 
voice slid down the wire and nestled in his ear,
'Hello?'
He cleared his throat and whispered, 'it's Barry…'
'I knew you'd call.'
'Yes…'
'I thought you'd last longer but you're not as strong as I 
thought.' Her voice was casual, almost warm and yet with a hint of 
arrogance and steel. It was one of the things about her that he 
fantasised about.
'No,' he whispered, glancing around the office. 'Can I see yo…'
'Not very strong at all,' she continued as if he had said 
nothing. 'Are you?'
Barry swallowed. 'No, I'm not,' he admitted softly, hands 
sweaty around the telephone and a slippery sheen on his forehead. 
'Not what?'  It was asked in a teasing tone but Barry knew 
better than to reply in kind. That was not what she wanted and if he 
didn't give her exactly what she sought, the call would be abruptly 
terminated and wouldn't answer her telephone for another week.
'I'm not very strong,' Barry answered desperately, watching 
the Managing Director's personal assistant walking across the open 
plan office towards his work-station.
'No,' she said with finality, 'you're not. In fact, you're weak.'
'Please…'
'What are you?'
'I'm weak!' Barry replied in a hushed but anguished tone. 'I'm 
weak! Bronwyn,' he pleaded, 'can I see you?'
'I'm available tomorrow night at eight. Can you wait that 
long?' she teased. 'There is a penalty,' she reminded him but Barry 
didn't care.
Barry's heart sank, he had hoped that Bronwyn would be 
available that night, no matter what the penalty was, but he knew 
better than to argue. 'Yes,' he murmured, 'I'll wait.'
'Poor darling. I'll be at the Ritz under the name of Mrs Michele 
Mouse.'
Click!
Barry stared at the telephone before slowly replacing the now 
dead receiver. She had hung up on him!
Desperately he wrote down the name of the hotel and the 
idiotic name she would be staying under in case he forgot.
'Are you all right, Barry?'
His head jerked up and he looked into the cool green eyes of  
Judith, the Managing Director's personal assistant.
'Yes,' he said quickly with a feeble grin, 'I'm fine.'
'You look pale, almost green,' Judith said with faint concern as 
her eyes danced over him. 'You're not going to be sick, are you?'
'No, no. Really, I'm fine. Something just disagreed with me.'
'How awful,' Judith said with a complete lack of interest, 
placing a file on his desk. 'Mister Brown requires a summary of the 
financial position of  Hendon industries for tomorrow morning's 
board meeting.'
'Yes, of course,' Barry said, picking the file up with trembling 
fingers.
'Just email it to me when you've finished and I'll print copies 
for the board. I'm leaving at six so I would appreciate the report by 
five.'
'Yes,' he said hurriedly, 'of course.'
Judith vaguely smiled at him and walked away, leaving Barry 
with furtive thoughts of the next evening at the Ritz Hotel. 

End Part 1 of 3 Parts.
www.cafeboudoir.com/carmenicadiaz.htm

Carmenica Diaz 4
Penalties  1
