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"Well, how's this for idea Deb. Trish lays there like a blowup doll. Actually, that's unfair to the blowup doll, at least it has three usable holes whereas Trish thinks it's a special treat to let me use one, the other's for Christmas. The last one's simply closed. The other thing is the blowup dolls got more passion inside than Trish too. But you, you're the ultimate pocket rocket. Whenever you're ready, I'll line you up to do a smash and grab raid on his assets in a divorce. I'll dump Trish with a payoff and Bob's your uncle, you'll get the best of both worlds. My cock and Brian's wealth."

Deb laughed.

"The thing is Reggie, I do love him, from the bottom of my heart, I really do. I learnt a while back that it needs a certain type of man to push my buttons sexually and unfortunately, he no longer measures up. Because I never had sex with anyone other than Brian, I had no clue how mind-blowing sex could be, until the day you stumbled in on me with the window fitter. In every other respect, he's the perfect husband.

She thought about what Reggie had said. If she still had an appetite for sex like now in later life, then at least she would be able to not hide in the shadows to fulfil herself. The seed was planted, she would nurture the thought as a possible option in later life. But not now, or the foreseeable future unless she had too. She was having her cake and eating it, plus she had visions of a wealthy and healthy retirement pot at the end of the rainbow that would be Brian's retirement.

This hardened Brian's resolve. It looked like they were both playing for the long game. There was only going to be one winner and as far as he was concerned, it was going to be him.

As hard as it was, he kept going. The visions of her old, lonely and penniless spurred him on. Yes, he still slept with his wife but he now fucked her, he didn't make love to her like he used to. It was a slow transition, he thought of her as a highly paid escort for when he was in the UK. He kept checking that she still had the regular STD checks and he did the same but used a different clinic as he didn't want to leave a trail open for her. He just prayed that they wouldn't get caught out. One thing that did occur, was that she started to narrow down her playing field to around ten men. He couldn't believe what he was saying to himself. Allowing himself to be rational at the thought of his wife 'only fucking ten men'.

The years rolled on and Brian had travelled out to the port of Montevideo in Uruguay, to troubleshoot an engine management fault that was intermittently causing problems on a freighter. He was booked into the Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco & Spa, and decided to go for a walk to stretch his legs and take in some sights. Whereas he used to wrap things up to hurry back home, he now often took an extra day or two allowing him to sightsee. He often looked at it as field trips, to be able to produce a short list of places he wanted to live when he retired.

The hotel receptionist recommended a walk up to the Café Misterio, as they served a mean steak. Around a hundred yards from the Café, he came across a rather beat up VW Golf with a woman clearly distressed, as she was trying to use a jack to change a punctured wheel for the spare. As he got nearer a small child was crying loudly in the back seat of the car. He could see she was torn between trying to sort the car or deal with her child.

"Do you speak English? Can I help you?"

The woman looked at Brian and let out a sigh of relief, then opened the door to let the child out.

"Thank you, thank you! I have never had to change a tyre before and it is difficult. With Raul crying it had made it a horrible thing to try and do."

Brian had already crouched down and was installing the jack under the car. He guessed the boy was around five years old.

Hey Raul, can you help me! I need to count how many wheel nuts I take off."

The boy looked stopped crying and looked at Brian, having recognised his name. Not speaking English, he didn't understand what Brian had said. His mother spoke to him in Spanish and he clung to her leg as he watched Brian. Once Brian got to the point where he began to remove the wheel nuts, he took the first one off and held it up.

"Uno, one" he counted. Raul looked at the wheel nut, his mum and back at Brian.

"Uno...one" repeated Brian. Raul repeated it back. When Brian gave him a nod, he now understood the game.

Within minutes the last wheel nut was off.

"Cinco...five" again Raul carefully repeated the words back to Brian now smiling at this unusual interaction with this strange man. The wheels were swapped over and this time they counted as the wheel nuts were refitted from five back to one. With the car now ready to go the woman thanked him and asked if he wanted some money.

He looked at her face and decided to go for broke.

"You can repay me by coming to dinner with me."

Panic swept across her face, she suddenly felt threatened, and Brian realised it may not have come across as he meant. He blamed the inner geek within himself.

"Hey I'm sorry, that actually sounds wrong, now I realise what I've said it's even creeping me out! Let me start again. I'm walking up to Café Misterio, a hundred metres away. I'm here on my own, don't know this city and I could do with some friends over dinner. Now, would you and Raul like to join me for some food, I bet they serve ice cream too."

She looked at him, there was something about him that she liked. He spoke confidently but he looked like a man that had learnt to be that way. His early sentence was clumsy, but he realised, and corrected himself. He had helped her, it was only dinner. Raul was hungry and there were plenty of people about, so she wasn't at any risk. It had been a long time since any man had asked her to dinner too.

"OK stranger, it seems an odd payment to buy us dinner for fixing my tyre, let me buy you dinner instead. My name is Gabriella, and you are?"

"My name's Brian, I'm pleased to meet you, and this fine young man, that saved the day with his counting ability."

The restaurant was fairly quiet so they had a relaxed conversation. Given some crayons and a colouring book, Raul was happy to sit with them and let them talk. He could see his mum was smiling, something she didn't do a lot of these days.

Gabriella spoke of her life. Her husband had deserted her when she told him she was pregnant with Raul. Telling her he didn't want to end up with a fat wife after the child was born, he simply walked out of her life the same day. She had no idea where he was and had never heard from him again. She was a teacher, and her parents looked after Raul, whilst she taught at a local school. She rented a small house where she and Raul got by but, to her, the most important thing was they had their health, and each other, and that's all that mattered to Gabriella.

She asked Brian a question.

"Should you not be eating with your wife instead of me?"

She had seen the wedding ring as he had changed the tyre.

"No, in fact I'm glad I'm eating here with you. I can tell you my story, but it isn't pleasant."

"Please, you know about my life, it's only fair that I listen to you. Whatever your story is, I will not judge you, God will do that one day."

Brian reeled of his life story. He didn't make it clear how successful he had been in his life, or boast about his financial status. He told her his job was to fix ships that didn't work correctly. It was a watered-down version he told of how, he had been betrayed by his wife, and he would rather spend time travelling with work rather than going home, especially if he ended up having dinner with an extremely attractive woman and her handsome young minder.

Gabriella blushed crimson. With a small child to care for, men didn't exactly pay her compliments like that, and she actually felt embarrassed about the way she looked, having spent the fifteen minutes before Brian turned up in a major panic and getting herself worked into a stupor. Ever since the day her husband made the derogatory comments before walking out, she had become very self-conscious, as to how men saw her.

"I need to get going now Brian, I must get Raul ready for bed soon."

She asked for the bill and Brian asked to pay for it but she point-blank refused. They sat trying to string the time out, but both knew it had to come to an end. They left the restaurant together and walked back to her car. After putting Raul in his seat, she walked up to Brian and kissed him gently on his cheek.

"Thank you, Brian. At least I know there is one decent man out there."

With that she got in her car and drove away. Brian started to walk back towards the hotel feeling both happy and sad. He had really enjoyed their company, it made him realise the difference that children can make in a relationship. But that thought made him sad, it wasn't mapped out in his destiny. To add to that he liked her, but now she was gone.

Walking along the pavement, he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as a car horn tooted, close to him. A tatty VW Golf slowed to a walking pace alongside him. It stopped next to him and the driver handed him a hand-written scrap of paper.

"Dinner is at 6pm please don't be late!"

The car pulled away up the street. He opened the piece of paper to see an address and underneath it, a X. He walked back to his hotel with a feeling in his heart that had been missing for a few years.

He was due to fly home the next day but, made arrangements to stay for the next three days, which would give him the weekend there. He spent Friday daytime shopping, buying himself some new clothes, followed by a trip to a barber for a haircut and a good old-fashioned hot towel shave. He visited a toy shop and purchased some Lego kits, including an ocean-going tanker. Before returning to the hotel, he picked up a large bouquet of flowers, chocolates and one red and white wine apiece.

At five thirty pm, he stood and looked at himself in the room's full-length mirror. For a man about to turn forty, he didn't think he scrubbed up too badly to go on a date. Date, it seemed like a foreign word but for his plan to succeed at some point he would need to get back on that horse. He hadn't avoided it but equally he hadn't actively pursued anyone. But the clock was ticking. He vowed, when he exacts his revenge, it wouldn't be him alone and single. Picking up his purchases, he went down to the lobby and, in less than five minutes, was on his way to the address he'd been given. The address was a small property in a residential area on the outskirts; it was a neat and tidy place, but in need of some maintenance. He knocked on the door, and took a deep breath.

Unlike the previous day, Gabriella was dressed up in a pretty flowing skirt and cream coloured blouse. Subtle makeup enhanced her facial features and her long jet-black hair was tied into a ponytail. She welcomed him inside, and thanked him for the gifts. At that point Raul came running into the house shouting Brian's name. Being the observant child that he was, he noted Brian had a carrier bag with the logo of the big toy store in the city. He looked up at Brian expectantly.

Gabriella ushered them through to the kitchen and Brian handed Raul the bag. He squealed in delight at the gifts, and opened one of the smaller Lego kits, then sat at the dining table as Brian showed him the instructions. Being pictorial, language wasn't going to be a problem.

Over the next twenty minutes Brian chatted with Gabriella about her day and helped Raul build the Lego model, not that he needed much help. Brian smiled to himself as he could see the determined look on Raul's face, in his quest to build the model.

Just before dinner was served, Raul proudly held up the Lego Fire engine and pointed at the box. Yes, it was identical. Brian helped tidy the remnants of the kit from the table as Gabriella began to serve the food.

After dinner, Raul sat on the sofa next to Brian and they looked at Lego kit number two, which was an ambulance. After Raul went to bed, Brian and Gabriella sat and continued to talk. The conversation seemed to flow naturally and covered a wide spectrum of topics and, before they knew it, it was almost one am. The evening had seemed to evaporate, time wise. Brian said it was time to go, a taxi was called and they waited.

"Gabriella, thank you for tonight, you don't realise how much this has meant to me. I have a confession to make. I have extended my stay here for the weekend. I would like you and Raul to show me the sights of the city over the weekend, if that would be possible. Don't worry about transport, I'll cover that".

She looked at him for several moments, he imagined cogs in her mind processing things.

"Yes, we would like that, Brian. Can you come back at eleven am tomorrow?"

A car horn beep signifying the arrival of the taxi. As Brian walked from the property she pulled on his arm, kissed him quickly on the lips, then closed the door blushing, promising him they would make tomorrow special.

At nine am Brian entered the local VW dealership. He found a three-year-old VW Golf and asked if it could have a check over, to be ready to be taken away by ten thirty. He offered to pay a substantial premium for it to be done, which they gladly accepted. With the help of the dealership all of the formalities such as insurance were sorted so he could drive away by ten thirty.

The three of them had a great day. They visited the natural history museum followed by a McDonalds lunch, she explained it was a rare treat for Raul. Brian laughed, he couldn't remember the last time he had one so effectively, he classed it as a treat for himself too.

After lunch they spent time walking around the city park, Parque Jose Enrique Rodó. As the day moved into the evening Gabrella directed him to stop in a residential street as they were returning to her home. Gabriella got out of the car, then took Raul with her, up to the front door of a property. An older couple came to the door and Brian could see them, straining to look at the car. Raul snuck past them into the house, as Gabriella appeared to have an animated conversation with them, violently shaking her head a couple of times. When she got back into the car, she was slightly flustered.

"I'm so sorry, it's my parents. Even though I'm 35 they still want to interfere in my life!"

"What did they say?"

Het face coloured red.

"It's embarrassing, please just drive!"

"What about Raul, and where am I driving to?"

He's staying the night with them, I'll direct. Go to the end of the street and turn right."

Thirty minutes later they pulled into a small town outside a local restaurant, exited the car and walked up to the restaurant. Brian felt mesmerised as her backside swayed back and forth in front of him. She had elected to wear a tight pair of jeans for the day, and Brian had admired her with some furtive glances. Now, walking up in front of him, he could openly stare where she was a couple of steps in front of him, and he was sure there was a little more wiggle in her steps than was needed.

They were sat in a discreet corner and enjoyed a fine meal. The proprietor was frequently back and forth to the point he wondered if he and Gabriella had something going on between them. He showed no malice, in fact, he seemed to be on a charm offensive.

When the bill arrived, Brian said he would pay this time. The bill total was zero. What the hell? thought Brian. He beckoned the propriety over who looked somewhat amused. He held the bill out to hand him but Gabriella snatched it from him. Seconds later Brian found himself in the middle of a heated exchange in Spanish, that seemed to be centred around the bill. The proprietor said something that made Gabriella blush then turned to smile at Brian.

"Hello, my name is Carlos, I hope you enjoyed the meal, my friend. My parents asked me to either charge you double, or nothing at all. You can see what I have chosen to do."

Brian's logical Brain was perplexed. Why would the parents of the proprietor tell him to do that, when he didn't even know them?

"Stop it Carlos, tell him about us, you're being unkind to my friend."

Brian now started to form the dots in his mind, this guy must be an ex, or possibly they had something casual going on.

"This fool is my brother Brian. After we left, my parents called him to tell him to make a choice. Now you know."

"You are leaving something out, little sister. They said to work out if you looked like a man of honour. They do not want their daughter dating a man with dishonest intentions."

Gabriella dropped her head, but the bright red tips of her ears clearly indicated the colour of her face. She sheepishly looked up at Brian.

"Brian, I'm so sorry, my family has set out to embarrass you this way we should lea..."

"This a date for Gabriella? If it is, it's been a magical way to round off the day. Carlos, it would be an insult not to pay you. It went back and forth until Carlos' wife Maria came over so now there were four debating the bill. Brian now had the answer and put his hand up.

"Other than this fine establishment, where's the second-best place to eat?"

A few seconds later he had an answer. He dialled the restaurant and made a lunchtime booking for the following day for seven people.

"Let's do this properly, Gabriella. Carlos, bring Maria, Gabriella will bring Raul, plus your parents. I'd rather undergo a single grilling."

Carlos and Maria grinned and laughed, they hugged Brian and Gabriella as they left. Carlos whispered to his sister who blushed again, Carlos smiled and winked at Brian as they got into the car.

"Well, that was an entertaining night!"

They laughed heartily as they pulled away from the restaurant.

"I'm sorry if they embarrassed you, Brian. My parents have tried countless times to line me up with a man, but I haven't felt ready. Raul is all I need right now."

"Ah, I see. If me being here had caused this I'm sorry. Let's go collect Raul, and I'll drop you both back home. I've enjoyed th..."

She cut across him.

"My parents are keeping Raul overnight Brian. Please, this is hard for me. I'm not a woman that gives herself freely or easily, but there is something inside you Brian that has, somehow touched me. I told my parents that I like you, and I mean like you. I should have been working for my brother tonight as a waitress, but he said I could have the night off, only if we ate there. I'm sorry if you feel you've been set up."

"Thank you for your honesty. Look, let me drop you home. I've had a great night, I haven't enjoyed myself like that in a long time. Thank you." `

Other than directions, little was said between them. Brian realised or at least thought, to her, he was simply a ship passing through in the night, she had Raul and she'd made a conscious decision to put him first. At least he knew where he stood and he admired her commitment to her son.

When they pulled up outside her house, they looked at each other, the atmosphere was clearly a troubled one. She looked at him with a weak smile, clearly nervous. He got out of the car and left the driver's door open, walked around and opened the passenger door. He held his hand out as she got out. Brian was contemplating kissing her, but the inner geek wasn't sure how to proceed. Gabriella took the lead, stepped towards him and kissed him gently on the lips. Brian noted she was trembling. As they moved back from each other she spoke.

"Why have you left the car door open and the engine running Brian. Do you think I'm that bad that you'll need to be ready for a quick getaway?"

She was surprised by his bemused look. Walking around, she removed the key, closed the door and locked the car.