A Dangerous Affair

A Dangerous Affair Chapter 13

Tom grabbed Stephanie’s hand and ran down the field on the other side of the fence. When they reached the road, he stopped and took hold of both of her arms.

“Stay here you hear me,” he said firmly. “I’m going to get the car. Give me your keys.”

“But, what if it’s not safe.” She ran a hand through her hair.

“It’ll be okay...as long as you stay put.” He gestured for the keys and she reluctantly handed them to him. He noted the way her hand was shaking.

Sprinting away, he turned briefly to shout, “Stay!” before disappearing around the corner.

Although only moments later, it seemed a lot longer to Stephanie until the car came to a screeching halt on the road in front of her. She jumped into the passenger seat and they sped away from the house.

***********************

They spent the majority of the drive back in a tense silence. Stephanie was still stunned by what had happened and, although she made an attempt to talk to Tom, one look at his face told her to keep quiet for the time being. He drove towards the city but took the turning for Clapham instead of heading further into London for Kensington, where the office was located.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I’ve had enough of today; I’ll phone Brick when I get home. My place isn’t far,” he replied brusquely.

They pulled up outside a large, Georgian style house which had presumably been converted into apartments. He took a parking spot in the driveway, turned off the ignition and got out of the car, taking the keys with him.

She shouted to him out of the car door. “Hold on, I need the keys.”

He bent down to speak to her. “You’re not driving in that state; you’ve had a bad shock. And besides, we need to talk.” He strolled towards the front door and she swiftly got out of the car to follow him.

“I’d like my keys back please,” she said with annoyance at his highhandedness.

He ignored her, unlocked the security door and entered the building, striding up the carpeted steps without a backward glance. She had no choice but to follow. His apartment was on the second floor and he let them both in, making straight for the kitchen which was situated at the end of a small corridor.

“Do you think we could get this over with as soon as possible so that I can go home?” she said, watching as he reached for a bottle of vodka in one of the kitchen cupboards and took out two glasses to fill.

He handed her one. “Drink this, you need it.”

She looked at the glass but didn’t take it. “I’m fine thank you; I’d just like to get home.”

He glared at her. “Look, I’m not in the mood for this Stephanie, just take the damn drink will you?”

She thought for a moment and then took the glass from him. He picked up the bottle and walked past her, entering the lounge which was a few doors down the corridor. Placing the bottle loudly on the glass coffee table, he fell onto the sofa, kicked off his shoes and took a gulp of his drink. She stood over him, and he eventually looked up at her, ready to talk.

“One, don’t ever do that again. You take it upon yourself to go walking into a situation like that without consulting me and I’m out of this story…and you will be too if I have anything to do with it.”

She simply stared at him, feeling anger and frustration, but unable to argue with him. She had probably done the wrong thing after all.

“Two, you can’t just go strolling onto someone else’s property like that. You didn’t even try to conceal the fact that you were there.”