Topsy Turvy Ch. 03

Hello, so sorry for the delay in posting -- It's been a very busy few weeks! Please see chapter 3 of Topsy Turvy, this story is taking time to build so please be patient. And please do comment and vote.

Thanks very much

Elle x

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Ok, so she had to admit that throwing a decanter at his head wasn't the most ladylike of behaviour but honestly it was tacky to have caught him looking up the skirt of the housekeeper. The curtains were new, why in the name of God would she have to be wearing such a short skirt with no underwear to clean them? And even worse, Mrs Bartlett was older than her and not quite as glamorous as her -- why would he do this?

Veronica was feeling a little dumbfounded. Luke was everything she had ever wanted in a man. He ticked even more boxes than Mike, her soon to be ex, which said a lot. She alone had to be honest that she had been pretty lucky in finding Mike in the first place and for him to take everything she had given him over the years. Whereas Luke on the other hand, well he was a whole other story -- she had thought they were made for one another. But after this morning's incident with the curtains which Luke had shrugged off as playful teasing, Veronica worried that he may be tiring of her. It seemed that living with someone didn't come very easily to him. He hadn't been very happy when her daughter had broken his surround sound system during one of the kid's weekend visits. In fact, he had thrown a strop and disappeared on Saturday afternoon claiming to go and buy a paper and hadn't returned until Monday. It had given her a bit of a shock. The kids were a handful, of course they were, but Luke had talked so lovingly of them when he had convinced her to leave Mike. He had talked of them starting this new life together in this lavish house with such enthusiasm, and yet here they were bickering like an old married couple. She had even found a grey hair and three new wrinkles in her bid to keep an eye on him to ensure he didn't wander. Her constant worry at the thought of what he might be up to when he wasn't with her was very unsettling. For the first time, she found herself wondering what Mike was doing and whether he missed her.

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As Mike walked through his office on Monday morning, he was certain someone was watching him. He passed his colleague Greg's office door and peeked through the frosted glass window to see if he was in. The room was empty save for Greg's Personal Assistant Tamara who was laying some papers on his desk. Praying that she hadn't seen him, he ducked his head and tip toed away from the door to his office hoping to arrive unscathed. He managed two steps before he heard,

"Mike, I was sure I saw you. Come to my desk for a moment would you?"

It was well known that although Tamara, all five feet of her of brunette strength, was a member of the administrative team, in another life she could have been the leader of the Free World. Knowing that she would not accept no for an answer, Mike meekly followed, catching his colleague Greg's eye and silently pleading for help. Greg, who was finely versed in Tamara's methods ignored him and entered his office, shutting his door with a definite bang. When Mike looked back to Tamara, she was sat at her desk her toes barely touching the carpet. Mike smiled at her charmingly,

"So what can I do for you Tamara?"

Tamara tilted her head to one side studying him,

"Well two things actually; Firstly, I have to tell you off for the debacle that occurred at Alanna's -- you should be ashamed of yourself. You almost wrecked their chances of getting back together"

"I-"

Tamara held up her hand to prevent any further interruptions,

"I haven't finished. She had to work doubly hard to convince him she wasn't fucking you, and you being the gentleman you are didn't even stay to back her up."

"Now hold on -- I had to run through the High Street half naked."

"Oh boo hoo, cry me a river. Yes, you had to show your crown jewels to most of the town, but if you had taken the time to get dressed and explained the situation to Simon; everything would have been ok there and then and no streaking would have been required."

"Ok," he conceded, "Fair point."

"Anyway, not that it's any of your business but everything's fine with them now."

Mike was surprised to find that this piece of news irked him somewhat. He put it down to feeling jealous that someone had managed to salvage their relationship when he had failed so dismally,

"Well I'm glad for Alanna that all went well and that my little indiscretion."

He noted Tamara laughing at his word choice and corrected himself,

"I'm glad that my nothing to be ashamed of and actually a little bigger than average indiscretion didn't cause any trouble. Can I go now?"

She looked at him steadily and said slowly emphasising each word,

"I have not finished yet."

Mike sighed heavily and shifted on his feet waiting for her to speak,

"So anyway, I'm having dinner at my house on Saturday; I need to apologise to Alanna for getting stuck with you. Greg and Tori need to associate with the public as they are spending far too much time in bed with one another and I'm worried they're going to start chafing. My friend Helena is convinced she's going to be single forever after her divorce and thereby eating way too much Haagen Dasz, and Isabella is working so hard that I'm worried she's going to start shagging her Blackberry. It seems that everyone in my life is in need of some kind of sustenance, and Brad and I are going to provide it. So we'll see you for 8.00pm"

"Oh, I don't think-"

She ignored him and continued,

"My mum is looking after my little boy so you can bring your two if you like -- she loves kids so would be happy to keep an eye."

"Thanks very much but I wouldn't want to impose-"

"No imposition. Bring two bottles of something and I'll send you my address via email." She turned away from him and after a few taps on the keyboard turned back to him,

"There, you should have it now."

Feeling his phone buzz to herald the arrival of his summons, Michael paused, waiting for Tamara to continue bustling her way into his life but she turned away from him, summarily dismissing him. He turned to make his way back to his office when he heard,

"Oh! Mike?"

And upon turning back was hit in the face by what turned out to be the other half of his missing World's Greatest Dad socks. Pulling it away from his face, he looked up at Tamara wondering where she had found it. He didn't have to wait long for his answer,

"Alanna said you dropped this in your haste to leave and asked if I could give it to you!"

Raising the sock in acknowledgment, gratitude and some embarrassment, Mike turned to leave and headed straight for Greg's office. He found his friend laughing heartily and knew he was the source of amusement.

"Streaking down the High Street I hear! What brought that on?"

"Shut up."

"Went home with a stranger and caught in a cupboard?"

"Shut up."

"It couldn't get any better -- what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I needed to get out of my house because I'm lonely and I miss my wife. I was thinking that I wanted to get as drunk as possible because I can't bear going to sleep by myself anymore and knowing that every time I close my eyes, I'm envisioning my wife sleeping with her sister's ex boyfriend and I'm at home in that massive house with two kids who are wondering what they've done wrong."

He slumped down on Greg's sofa.

"To be honest mate, I'm not sure that I was thinking at all. I think that I just wanted to stop thinking for a little while at least and just pretend that life was fine again, but instead of that happening, I ended up passing out and being kidnapped by this very rude woman whose house smelt like a bakery and the rest you already know."

Greg shrugged. "Yes, you met one fourth of the La Las as they are affectionately known."

Mike rolled his eyes and Greg chided him,

"Seriously! They've been friends since school -- Tamara, Isabella, Alanna and Helena. Alanna's dad apparently used to call her La La, and she brought home these girls on her first day of school, and suddenly they were all La La, kind of like the Pink Ladies."

Mike shrugged and asked grudgingly, "How do you know so much about them?"

Greg laughed, "Are you kidding? Tamara has worked for me for about five years now, and every Monday she has arrived into the office with a story about one or all of them. I know more about these women than I care to mention and I've never met any of them in person. I kind of feel like a bit of a pervert!"

That seemed to rally Mike out of his stupor, "Well pervert or not, I can't see myself going for dinner with your crazy PA, nor with my damsel in shining armour and her pretty big and pretty angry boyfriend who didn't get the opportunity to deck me last time so might be better prepared for round two."

Greg leaned back in his comfortable leather chair and regarded his friend thoughtfully, "I am willing to lay money that you will be at Tamara's on Saturday evening and you will be loving it."

Mike laughed at this, "I am happy to take your money fool!"

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Greg watched his girlfriend gnawing at her lip in nervousness. It was unusual for her to sit quietly and their forty minute drive had been peppered by him asking her if she was ok, and her nodding and staring out of the window. He knew the source of her nervousness. They had been to pick Michael up to go to Tamara's for dinner, and no answer. Greg had been irritated as it meant he had lost his bet, but Tori was more worried that he hadn't left a message for them as to his whereabouts. Tori was always eager to see him to make sure he was ok. Her embarrassment at her sister's behavior in taking up with her ex boyfriend was paramount in her thinking with only Greg acting as her distraction. She voiced her worries aloud,

"Why wouldn't he have said that he wasn't coming?"

Greg leaned over and took her hand, "I told you, he did say so. We had or rather have a bet on it - but I'm surprised that he welched on it so easily."

Tori looked over at him, "Well exactly, it's not really typical behavior of Mike really."

Greg raised his eyebrows, "Nothing about this situation has been typical though has it darling?"

Tori shrugged, "I know, but I'd have thought he would have been at home in the lounge in his underwear toasting us with a bottle of beer in his hand to make the point that he was definitely not going. To just not be there-" She shrugged again, "I just hope he hasn't done anything silly."

Greg raised her hand to his lip and kissed it gently, keeping his eye on the road,

"Don't worry. He's probably just taken off for a couple of days. He doesn't have the kids this weekend so maybe he's just having quiet time for himself. We have been pestering him quite a bit recently."

Victoria huffed in agreement, "I suppose, but not half as much as I would have liked. Frankly, if you weren't so damned horny all the time, we would be able to offer some more support."

Tori said this with a smile on her face and held her hand up to stroke Greg's cheek. He caught her finger in his mouth and bit the fingertip gently,

"You love it you little minx, don't lie. And anyway, a workout is good for the soul."

"Oh, it's the soul today is it? Strikes me that your favourite pastime is good for lots of other things if you're to be believed. Wasn't it a good way for you to get over your aches from the gym last week?"

He cleared his throat, "Yep, but that was last week."

She laughed and looked back out of the window her thoughts quickly returning to Mike and where he could possibly be.

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Victoria was still worrying about Mike when she and Greg rang Tamara's doorbell. She could hear the noise already emanating from the lounge signaling that the party had started. The door was wrenched open by Isabella who neither Greg nor Tori had met before but who greeted them both with a big hug and a kiss for each,

"I feel like I know you both already, please come in -- Tamara is swearing at a suckling pig in the kitchen so I've started on the booze."

Tori looked over her shoulder at Greg who was looking as shell shocked as she felt, but Bella hadn't noticed and continued talking,

"We thought you two would pike out. Tamara says you can't keep your hands off each other so maybe you'd prefer to stay in bed rather than mix with people with clothes on."

Tori laughed embarrassedly at this, but Greg piped up, "Has Tamara explained that I am her boss?"

Bella stopped and frowned, looking at him puzzled, "Yes -- why do you ask?"

Greg laughed, "Nothing, I just thought there would be a smidgen of respect somewhere -- but apparently not."

Bella laughed back with him, "To be honest, I reckon Tamara's probably your boss -- but that's a whole other story. Come on through."

The house was small but very cosy. It was filled with photos of Tamara and Brad and now their little one. None of the furniture matched and the rugs were threadbare but both Greg and Tori heaved a sigh of comfort at the sight of the open fire and the battered leather sofas that surrounded them.

As they shrugged off their coats, Tamara bustled her way from the kitchen,

"Oh good, you've arrived, did you bring anything?" Tori held out the carrier bags with the wine and a cheesecake she'd made. Tamara made her way to her to thank them both and give them both a kiss on the cheek. "Make yourselves comfortable and help yourselves to drinks. Bella, come and help Brad please -- he's swearing over the new corkscrew and it's becoming embarrassing." She turned back to Tori and Greg, "Sit down, sit down."

Tori made her way around the room to sit on the sofa and was stunned to find Michael already there on the sofa fast asleep.

"Greg!" She beckoned for him to come with her finger against her lips and laughed as Greg's eyes widened. He couldn't help himself and kicked Mike awake.

"For fuck's sake!"

Mike blearily looked up at a grinning Greg and a worried Tori. They watched each other in silence. It was broken by Tori's, "Mike what are you doing here -- we were going to come and get you."

Mike rubbed his eyes and gestured back to the kitchen where Tamara could be heard cheerfully berating her friend and husband for something,

"That woman's a lunatic -- I was kidnapped."

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