The Knapthorne Conspiracy by Malcolm Ballard (best english novels for beginners txt) 📕

Bella was left looking at the portable in her hand, trying to come to terms with Ben’s news. He obviously didn’t want to see her to discuss the weather, that much was clear. Maybe it would have been a good idea to have seen him last weekend, she thought. How typical! Just when everything had seemed to be going along so nicely.

Ben had ended the call on his mobile after talking to Bella from his office and rested his head in his hands, massaging his face. All of a sudden he felt dog-tired and very old. Previously he had considered himself to be in the prime of his life, proud of his physical condition and the general level of his fitness but now he felt used up, wrung out like an old dishcloth. With his life coming unstitched at the seams it had begun to show in his work and, if he wasn’t careful, he’d have neither a wife nor a mistress (which he saw as a blessing) but far worse than that he’d be out of a job. If he didn’t do something soon about Barbara Richmond the likelihood was that he would be unemployable too. The call to Bella had been nothing less than a cry for help but she wouldn’t have known that. How could she? From the depths of his misery he recalled the journey back from Dorset after his last visit and the decision he had come to then. Why, oh why hadn’t he acted on it straight away? Thinking to himself that if he had have done he might not have found himself in the situation that he faced now, after the unforgettable night at Barbara's friend’s flat. Unforgettable in just about every way, he thought despairingly. But he knew the answer well enough to why he had done nothing. Because he was weak that was why. Not only weak but trapped in the web of her sexual favours, ensnared by his own inability to master his lust for her. A knock on the office door interrupted his thoughts as though it were fate itself calling for him. Barbara walked in smiling confidently without waiting for him to answer. In her arms were a number of files. A word came to his mind, making him smile in the midst of his misery. Cocksure, that’s how she came across now and it suited her perfectly.

“Good morning, Mr. Hollingsworth. You’re not looking your usual bright, cheerful self today. Anything I can do for you?” She never called him Ben, at the office, if there was the likelihood of anyone else overhearing. And from the look on her face he could tell that her offer of assistance was definitely not work-related.

“No thank you, Barbara. I can manage perfectly well without your help!” The reply was a little too terse, sharper than would have been necessary under ordinary circumstances and she raised an eyebrow, in concern.

“You think so, do you? That’s interesting.” He cursed himself, immediately, for playing into her hands and it was obvious she was enjoying herself. Putting the files down, she leaned forward, hands on his desk, arms splayed out, so that she could talk quietly to him. Ben’s eyed were riveted on the collar of her blouse as it fell forward, displaying her cleavage, and the familiar scent of her talc wafted over him.

“What are you doing on Sunday? Wouldn’t it be nice if we went out somewhere, don’t you think? Maybe have a picnic. You know, in the open air?” She walked a couple of fingers across the desk, over the back of his hand, and her touch struck him like an electric shock. The inference in her suggestion was all too obvious and the prospect excited him but then, horrified at himself, he realised it had to stop. He had to get out from under her spell. Put an end to it all.

“No, not Sunday. I can’t.” He searched desperately for an excuse.

“Why’s that? Tina won’t let you out?” As she spoke, her fingers were stroking the back of his hand. “I don’t think she’ll mind, do you?” A sharp rap on the door interrupted them and she picked up the files, whispering to him, softly.

“See you Sunday, then.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Three

 

Friday morning had dawned with a calm serenity. As Bella looked out on the day through her bedroom window it seemed as though the world was holding its breath. Not a sound could be heard. Not a single, solitary thrush or blackbird to herald the start of a new day. Most unusually there wasn’t even the merest whisper of a breeze, the leaves and branches outside her window remaining strangely unstirred. She had risen early, before six, gone downstairs and made a cup of tea and brought it back up with her. Before going back to bed she had opened the curtains then plumped up her pillows so she could sit up and watch the day come awake. It had been a productive week therefore she had given herself the day off although it would have been difficult keeping her mind on her work with the thought of Kyle arriving. The peaceful scene outside was not reflected in the way she felt. Already there was a nervous tingle in her stomach that had its roots in the faint degree of excitement that she was already experiencing. It ran through her like a low voltage electric current as she surveyed the room, her eyes coming to rest on the empty space next to her in the king-sized bed. The space that would be filled, in the matter of a few hours, by Kyle Lucas. Bella took a deep breath then let it out slowly, her head filled with all the implications of what was about to happen. Relationships were never simple. Especially when the border-line that separated friends from lovers was crossed. Nobody knew better than she that appearances could be deceiving and what looked like friendly territory on the other