the proposal which was carried with one abstention. Samantha Derby was immediately called into the meeting to take her place on the board.
Any Other Business: Pauline Sykes told the meeting that thanks to some detective work by Samantha Derby and Barrie Billingsgate, substantiated by the chance overhearing of a conversation in a local restaurant, the data theft from Dynamic was almost certainly carried out by someone from ProClean, the company responsible for the daily cleaning of the Travel Plan offices. ProClean was recommended to the company by Sir Ken. Sir Ken told the meeting that he had known Lucinda Lovebrace for many years and that she owned a group of very successful companies. He was sure there must be some mistake. Pauline replied that she had positively identified two other companies owned by Lucinda Lovebrace. – Lovebrace Property and Lovebrace Antiques, both Limited Companies with a non executive director by the name of Helen Benningham-Smythe, who is also on the board of several other companies, including a travel company called Top Dynamic Travel Limited, where she is Managing Director.
Sir Ken interjected to say that the Benningham-Smythe name is well regarded in Private Banking and it is not unusual for a member of the family to hold board positions with several different companies. Was Lucinda Lovebrace on the board of Top Dynamic Travel Ltd? Pauline replied that she was not, but Top Dynamic Travel Limited shared an office with Curzen Travel, which is owned by Lucinda Lovebrace. Lady MacDonald asked if they should call in the police to investigate. The MD proposed that to save any adverse publicity, the best course of action would be to contact Lucinda Lovebrace and attempt to recoup their losses privately. Sir Kenneth Allerby volunteered his services. The MD suggested that under the circumstances it might be better to make an informal approach by someone in the company who understood sales and the loss suffered by the Company. He proposed Barrie Billingsgate. The proposal was seconded by Basil Main and passed unanimously.
Douglas Lummox informed the board that a personal relationship had developed between himself and Penny Betts his Personal Assistant. The Chairman suggested that he should leave the meeting whilst they discussed the implications. In his absence it was decided that this new relationship would not be detrimental for the Company and it was unanimously agreed that the services of Penny Betts as PA to the MD should continue. When Douglas Lummox returned to the meeting he thanked the meeting for their decision.
There being no other business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 11.29am.”
Traffic into London moved well, allowing Lucy and Julie to make up for some of the time lost in their unscheduled lovemaking. Lucy played her Billy Holliday CD’s all the way, so when she parked the Mercedes in her reserved space behind Lovebrace Antiques in Chelsea, they were still unaware of the Meltcon fire. Lucy called through the door to tell Sophie, her old school chum, that they would be back later.
The black cab pulled up outside Coutts in Cavendish Square, with two minutes to spare. They were shown into a large oak panelled room; Julie was impressed. Lucy was treated like royalty by the Coutts manager who said he was delighted that Miss Lovebrace had found someone she could trust to help run her business empire. Well managed, significant turnover and extremely profitable were phrases he used throughout his discussion with Lucy, as Julie signed document after document, including one which made her a signatory on all Lovebrace company cheques.
They left the bank at midday to walk the short distance to Lucy’s travel business in Mayfair. In Bond Street she took her into a jeweller and bought her a diamond encrusted watch to mark the occasion. As they left the shop she whispered. ‘If we had walked via Soho it could have been a diamond encrusted dildo.’ Julie giggled. ‘Now, that really would make my eyes water.’ They giggled like naughty schoolgirls as they sauntered arm in arm, pausing occasionally to look in a shop window. Julie felt very happy all her doubts blown away. Having decided that she would never get involved in that other side of Lucy’s life again, the disturbing image of her lover enjoying anal sex with Mervyn Turner no longer played on her mind, she would explain her decision to Lucy later, she was sure to understand. As for Suzy, well, it wouldn’t hurt to have her own gorgeous little bit on the side whilst Lucy was indulging her need for men.
It was Julie who spotted the dramatic headline ‘BLAZE AT MELTCON FACTORY’ on a newspaper stand as they walked past Green Park Underground Station. She bought the midday edition of the London Evening Standard and gasped in astonishment when she saw the picture of her husband running out from the blazing Meltcon factory. The bundle he was carrying, a female colleague wrapped in wet overall. Peter Bunford was hailed as a hero. The caption over the picture read. ‘RUGBY STAR IN DRAMATIC RESCUE.’ Further coverage of the story appeared on page 6, with a picture of Peter scoring a try during his rugby playing days, set alongside a repeat of the front page picture. The woman he rescued was named as Lydia Baxter, both had been admitted to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and Peter Bunford was receiving treatment for burns. The paper did not say how serious they were. Lucy suggested they carry on walking to her travel company, which was only a couple of hundred yards where she would get someone to contact the hospital.
Curzen Travel, on the north side of Curzen Street, had a small but smart shop front; a discreet brass plate on the wall next to the door was the only indication that another travel company shared the premises. A petite young brunette smiled and came out from behind her desk as they entered. ‘Lucy, how nice to see you, Helen is in, shall I let her know you’ve arrived?’
‘That’s okay; I’ll show myself in thanks Alison.’ Lucy kissed her on the cheek. ‘This is my new partner, Julie.’ Julie wanted to tell the girl how pretty her hazel brown eyes were and how soft and kissable her mouth, but had to content herself with a business like handshake. She felt the beginnings of that flickering pulse between her legs. Now the genie had been let out of the bottle, was she always going to think of attractive women as possible sex partners? Could young women like Suzy and Alison tell she was a lesbian? Could Lucy tell what she was thinking from the way she was looking at Alison? She glanced at Lucy, but her attention was on Alison as she showed her the front page of the Evening Standard and asked her to get Hamsworth Hospital on the telephone for Julie and bring her through to the back office when she had finished the call…
Julie eventually spoke to someone in the burns unit. Her husband had second-degree burns to the back of his hands, had received initial treatment and was comfortable, but sedated. He should be able to receive visitors after 6pm, but it would be a good idea to call to confirm.
Alison took her through to the back office which was a babble of activity, an unexpectedly large area after entering through a narrow shop front. They walked through between rows of desks, all occupied by people either talking on the telephone, or working on computers. It was open plan save for a glass box of an office, where Lucy was chatting with a tall, slim, dark haired woman, who she saw them approaching and waved them in. Julie thanked Alison for her help, kissing her on the cheek and as she pulled away, Alison’s pretty eyes held hers for a split second and she smiled. Julie’s sexual orientation had been recognised.
Lucy introduced Julie to Helen. She would have known they were sisters. Helen was older, but the shape of the face and the large brown eyes were almost exactly the same, they could have been taken for twins. It would be rather nice to see them both with no clothes on to make a proper comparison. Lucy had mentioned that Helen was lesbian and the thought of giving pleasure to both of them excited her. Helen looked her up and down before hugging her and kissing both cheeks.
‘How lovely to meet you at last Julie, I’ve heard so much about you.’ Her hands moved to rest lightly on Julie’s shoulders, retaining possession. She smiled at her sister. ‘Absolutely delightful, Lu, and I thought you were only interest in men.’ Lucy smiled back. ‘With Julie I have the best of both worlds, so hands off!’
Although she knew it was all a joke, the prospect of the glorious siblings fighting over her sent the pulse between Julie’s legs racing to the point where she desperately wanted to touch herself. She imagined both of them naked on Lucy’s oversized bed. She was kneeling between them, with busy fingers on each. She wondered if Helen’s clitoris was as big as her younger sisters. It really would be fun to find out.
‘How is he? Do we need to go back?’ Lucy’s question interrupted her train of thought.
‘No big problem. Second degree burns on the back of his hands. He’s sedated at the moment – so no visitors until this evening – if then.’
Her mobile buzzed. A text had arrived. MISSING U! SUZY XXX. She switched off. ‘Sorry about that. It was Becky; I’ll text her back later.’
Lucy looked concerned. ‘We don’t have to meet everyone today, darling. I think we should go back to Hamsworth, then you can take the car to bring Becky home if needs be. Why don’t you text her back and ask her what she wants to do?’
Julie felt a pang of guilt, but it was a great opportunity. She switched the phone on again and replied to Suzy’s text: C U TONIGHT? JULIE XXX’
