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Naughty But Not So Nice
By
Angela Hope
Chapter 1
The Betrayal
Phil couldn’t wait for Charley to back out of the driveway. He grabbed the phone and dialled a number. A female voice answered.
"Hello."
"Bertie, she’s just left. We’re in the clear. Get over here, quick."
Phil kept pulling the curtain aside and peering out at each passing car. ‘Come on Bertie, time is running away.’
While Phil was waiting for Bertie, he recalled how he had become attracted to her. On the days while he worked on the books in Charley’s boutique, he had noticed Bertie’s vibrant personality, and in particular the way she dressed. She was quite the opposite of Charley. Bertie would smile and shake her hips to each side as she walked past Phil. The perfume too, would linger in the air. So much so that it would slowly penetrate to his inner senses. On the other hand Charley was too busy with her business. When she would get home in the evening, she would either be too tired or be busy going off to meetings with the manufacturers. He was lonely and a little bored.
An engine turned off, a car door closed, a sound of hurried steps crunched on the driveway. Soft taps on the lead-light glass of the front door. Outside the door there stood Bertie, wearing an impish smile. A loose gathered skirt and a red halter-top exposed her tantalising back and shoulders.
"Quick, in here, before old Mrs Wilson sees you. That old biddy across the street wants to know everyone’s business. Can’t risk her blurting her big mouth off to Charley."
"Come here, you hunk. Let me have your body. Two whole weeks of not being able to hold you is enough penance. Is Charley coming home for lunch today?"
"You should know, you work with the woman. She doesn’t tell me a thing."
Charley employed Bertie to assist her at a lingerie boutique called Nauti ‘n’ Nice at Double Bay. Every couple of weeks they each had a day off during the week, when business was quiet.
"You wanna get straight to it?"
"No, not really, let’s open a bottle of bubbly first."
"Won’t Charley know you’ve been drinking?"
"When she gets home I’ll be out in the yard digging around in the garden. She won’t come near me when I’m all dirty and sweaty."
"You think of everything, you cunning devil."
Phil retrieved the hidden bottle of bubbly out of his bar fridge and popped the cork. Bertie gave a seductive squeal as the released cork thudded into the exposed beam of the cathedral ceiling. Poor Charley, the formal lounge room was her pride and joy. Phil, in delectable anticipation, filled the two glasses in Bertie’s hands.
"Be sure you don’t spill any; Charley is always nagging at me not to mark the carpet."
Phil and Bertie nestled together on the lounge, sipping their wine, looking eagerly into each other’s eyes. Phil stroked Bertie’s bare shoulders and ran his fingers up her back to the tie of the halter at the base of her neck. Phil’s lust was obvious.
"Quickly Bertie, have another, you know I have to empty the bottle, I can’t leave half a bottle in the fridge."
"Don’t forget I have to drive home. It’s all right for you. I don’t know why you can’t come to my unit sometimes."
Phil slid closer to her, planted a kiss on her moist lips. His arms securely around her waist he drew her upright, embraced her and shivered as his maleness pressed into her thighs. Bertie hungrily returned his kiss and with eyes closed raised her hands to mold the shape of his face.
"Oh Bertie, you’re the best medicine for me. I just can’t get enough of you. Charley would never dream of doing anything like this, during daylight."
Bertie took his hand and walked him behind the lounge; she undid his belt, unzipped his pants and allowed them to drop around his ankles. She then lifted her leg and with her toes pushed on the elastic of his underpants, guiding them all the way down his legs.
"Come here, you hot stuff. Do you know what I’m going to do with you now?"
"Oh I hope so, I didn’t come over here just for a glass of wine."
Phil lifted Bertie up and sat her on the back of the lounge. As he lifted her skirt he found her to be without knickers.
"I know I’ve told you before, Phil, I like foreplay, but today you seem to have taken me too seriously."
"Stop your nattering, I’m just taking it easy today."
Suddenly, Bertie noticed that Phil looked a little serious. "What’s up?"
"Shit. What was that noise?"
"I didn’t hear a thing."
At Nauti ‘n’ Nice, Charley was busy sorting through some papers when the shop door opened and in walked a regular customer.
"Do you have any new season stock yet?" she asked Charley.
"No, I’m sorry, it hasn’t come in yet, and I’ve only just realised that I left the brochures at home."
As it had been quiet in the shop that day, Charley knew she was unlikely to be missed if she closed up for 40 minutes and retrieved the brochures. She scribbled a note for the front door, grabbed her handbag and headed for the parking lot.
As Charley drove into the entrance of her street, she noticed something familiar about the car parked opposite her house.
‘That’s strange, I’ m sure I’ve seen that car before. Now that I think of it, Bertie has a car of that colour and make. It can’t be hers surely! She said she was visiting a sick friend in Newcastle.’
There was a service van parked in front of her own house so she stopped in front of her next door neighbours and stepped out. As she walked a few steps towards the house the number plate of the car across the street became visible. She read it aloud. "S E X Y 1 .
"Why, that’s Bertie’s car. What reason would Bertie have to be around here?"
‘I think I’ll walk around to the back of the house, the back door should be unlocked.'
Charley approached the house with some uneasiness, slowing her pace as she went. She undid the bolt on the side gate and slipped through quietly. As she approached the back door, Chaffy, her golden cocker spaniel jumped up from a sound sleep, his stumpy tail wagging vigorously. Without a word she patted his head and moved silently towards the lounge room window. With eyes blazing in anger she stood firm as she peered through the window and sighted Bertie in Phil’s arms, balancing on the back of her new lounge. The sight of Phil’s pants bunched around his feet made her already tense body tremble.
"Who does he think he is? Michael Douglas?"
She couldn’t believe what she saw; she was in a state of shock. Why wasn’t she aware that this was happening?
‘So what do I do now, rush in and make a scene or hold my composure to give me time to consider the repercussions of handling it that way. If I take this action, it will give me time to evaluate how to answer their likely excuses and decide what steps I should take.’
Quietly, she retreated to the car empty handed, the brochures the last thing on her mind.
Chapter 2
Confrontation and Regret
It had been a long day since Charley discovered Bertie and Phil in their compromising position. It was five o’clock, time to lock up, go home and tackle Phil’s indiscretions head on.
She drove slowly down the street and turned the car into the driveway. As she alighted, Bertie’s car was nowhere to be seen.
Throwing back her hair, she thought. ‘Was it just a terrible dream?’
Charley walked around the back of the house in what to her seemed a repetition of her earlier visit and noticed that Phil was again digging in the yard.
"What are ya doing Phil? You’re always at that vegetable patch!"
"Hi Charley, what’s up with you, bad day at the shop?"
"No, the shop’s fine. When are ya coming in?"
"I’m just digging some mulch through. I will be there in a minute."
She realised there was a pattern here. She hadn’t placed much importance previously, however at this point her perception was heightened. Charley recalled the previous week when Bertie had a day off. Phil was digging that very same patch and now he is at it today. Was Bertie here that day too? How long had they been making whoopee? What a fool I have been.
Charley’s mind drifted back to some of the subtle changes that had occurred with Phil in recent times. She now recollected odd glances passing between Bertie and Phil while he was working on the books, a duty he now performed for Charley since taking redundancy.
Charley also recalled another time when they had just left the house for a dinner engagement when Phil made an excuse to go back to the house for some trivial matter. Perhaps, there was a sudden urge to contact Bertie or maybe just to hear her voice or something that silly.
‘This is strange. Am I missing something here?’ She frowned.
Phil finally come in through the laundry and keeping his distance from her failed to kiss her.
"What have you been up to today, Phil? Any visitors?"
"Oh nothing much, no visitors. I read the paper and then decided to do a bit in the yard. Why all the questions, Charley?"
"Oh, I was just wondering. What do you normally do all day when I’m at the Boutique?"
"Why the fifty questions? Charley if you’ve something on your mind, spit it out."
"Oh, an idea came to mind today, that’s all. I had to run an errand in the car. Bertie wasn’t in, and as it was quiet I decided to close up shop and leave a note on the door for any customers. As I was driving along I had the idea of surprising you one day by sneaking home for a quickie. Now that I think about it, you do have sexy buttocks, particularly, when your pants are around your ankles."
At this point Phil’s hand suddenly dropped the stubby of beer, which shattered on the kitchen slate floor. It was so obvious to Charley, that from Phil’s reaction, he was stunned. Phil attempted to rescue the situation as he picked up the pieces of glass by saying, "Charley, closing the shop in the middle of the day certainly doesn’t appear to be good business."
"Just for an hour or so doesn’t hurt. You know, what your problem is Phil, you lack adventure."
"You’ve never said anything like that before. Who’ve you been talking to, Charley?"
"No one, why?"
"It doesn’t matter, I’d better go and have a shower then."
Charley knew that she had given Phil something to think about.
‘I’ll follow up this little drama tomorrow, when I tackle Bertie at the shop,’ mouthed Charley.
As Charley arrived at the Boutique she knew she had to maintain her composure. The questions she had for Bertie, were firm in her mind, but she was unprepared for any startling responses.
When she entered, to her surprise, she found Bertie already unpacking stock that had arrived late the previous day.
"You must have been up early this morning, Bertie. It’s unusual for you to be here before me."
"I just wanted to get an early start. Isn’t it a lovely day, Charley?"
Bertie’s reply really put Charley off; normally the last thing you expected from her first thing in the morning was a cheery manner.
Charley contemplated Bertie’s mood and comments and thought it was time to burst her bubble.
"How was your drive to Newcastle yesterday, Bertie?"
Bertie turned around and quizzically looked at Charley. "Drive to Newcastle?"
"You did visit your sick friend in Newcastle yesterday you mentioned, didn’t you?"
"Oh yeah, that’s right. Phyl, ah Phyllis, is recovering well. She was very happy to see me, she really didn’t want me to leave."
"I bet she didn’t."
"Ah, what was that? Did you say something Charley?"
As Charley fought to maintain control she screamed, "I think you’re a lying bitch, Bertie. What the hell do you think you’re doing sneaking around my home, seducing my husband and then expecting to get away with it? Well, you’re dead wrong you tramp. I want you out of here right now, don’t ever set foot on these premises again. As to your escapades in my home and on the back of my lounge with my husband, they’re finished, you little trollop. Now, get out of my face."
"Oh Charley what do you mean? I thought we were friends."
"You’re telling me that the woman I saw perched on the back of my lounge with Phil only yesterday was not you. Well if not, it was your double and how come she was driving your car."
Bertie stammered, knowing the game was over, "Well I, ah, gosh I’m sorry Bertie. I didn’t want the one to hurt you but I guess someone had to be. I suppose this is good-bye."
"Yes. Go."
Bertie, knowing it was useless to argue any further, quickly grabbed her bag and disappeared through the door. Charley’s thoughts turned to Phil, and how she would handle him.
‘He is just as guilty as that little bitch,’ she thought as she watched Bertie drive off in S E X Y 1. Many revengeful ideas surfaced including taking a Loraina Bobbitt action, to just simply throwing Phil and his clothes out on the footpath. Thinking how easy it would be, recalling the Yellow Page advertisement on the TV. Charley rushed home to have it out with Phil. She pulled into the driveway, her mind a whirl. As she opened the front door there was a disconcerting quietness. She realised she was unable to hear a sound from any part of the house.
‘Where is that jerk hiding?’ She thought as she continued through the house.
On entering the family room she came to an abrupt halt, as she noticed Phil lying on the floor with the hand piece of the phone beside him.
Charley ran to his prone body, screaming, quickly checking for any sign of life.
Charley instinctively knew it was too late for her and Phil.
All her revengeful thoughts disappeared as she realised that Phil would never have the opportunity to justify his affair with Bertie and she would never be able to forgive him. Charley picked up the hand piece to dial Emergency 000 and as she held it to her ear, she could hear a faint sobbing in the background.
On realising that the sobbing was from a female, she wondered who rang as she disconnected the line and instinctively dialled 000.
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