My Freedom Millions

I visited the house the day that the papers went through and I was delighted. It was the Wednesday and my Hotel booking finished on Friday. There was nothing to do except some shopping, towels, bed linen and food. So again I enrolled Gary as my chauffeur, well not exactly chauffeur because we always took taxis - which he paid for. He was good at carrying though. A major Department Store sorted out the towels and linen and we dropped them home before I dragged him to nearby supermarket for food. While walking back lugging plastic food bags, we walked past a second-hand book shop at the end of my road.

'Look, I haven't read a book for a month. I won't be a tick, stay there and hold this.'

I started with the trashy novels, the romances, I had read that one, read that, but eventually found a couple. I walked up to the proprietor, an attractive man in his early fifties I guessed. We smiled at each other and I proffered the two novels. I suddenly realised that I had no money. I laughed. So did the man behind the counter.

'I am sorry, I have no money,' I said.

'Well,' he said. 'I am not sure that I can just let you walk off with them for free. I guess I could lower the price to maybe one pound for the pair rather than each, or I could, I suppose, allow you to take them away now and repay me the money over dinner on Saturday night?'

It took me a while to realise that that he was flirting, nay inviting me for dinner. I had automatically stretched an arm towards the door and shouted 'Gary, I need some money.'

'Oh, I am so sorry,' the man said, 'I should have realised that such an attractive young lady would already be spoken for.'

By now the portly, red-faced and unattractive Gary had entered the shop struggling with the food bags holding a ten-pound note.

I decided that as the shop was literally at the end of the road it would be better to give explanations next time and laughed as I handed him the tenner.

'Thank you so much for the offer, I'll take a rain-check if I may. Angela, that's me.'

'Thank you,' he said sorting some change. 'I am Paul, I must apologise Sir.'

As Gary had no idea what had just occurred, he just looked blank.

'Thank you for the change, oh, and the discount on the books Paul. I am sure we will meet again.'

I may never have been confident enough to meet men, but I had read enough books to know that you always had to leave them wanting more.

I moved in next day. I had arranged to meet Veronica on Saturday night and promised to buy her dinner at a little Bistro in Sloane Square she knew. I could walk there from my house. Lovely.

After living in the Hotel for a month it was nice to both stretch my legs and my brain. It would be too easy to sit, read and do nothing else, so I made a mental note to join a Gym. I would ask Ronnie if she knew anywhere.

On my own at last in the house I organised the kitchen and then my new clothes in the bedroom wardrobe. I already had more clothes now than I had ever had altogether in my past life. And the wardrobe was not even half full. I got my clothes ready to go out and meet Ronnie, and then had a bath.

I dressed and decided to leave a little early and have glass of champagne en route. I had decided I liked champagne, it was not particularly fattening, I told myself, it looked lovely and it was oh so decadent. It matched my day dreams perfectly. As I walked towards Sloane Square I laughed to myself about the conversation with Paul. And then stopped in fright. I had no money. By now I was in the Square near the theatre. Would a winebar accept the credit card the Bank had given me? I saw a cash machine and hurried over, in case it was a mirage in this current dream?

Wow, I had a hundred pounds in my hand. I had never held more than ten before and it was normally five, or even one. There was a trendy wine bar a couple of doors along from the cash machine. What do I do when I get in there? Stand at the bar like we did on the rare occasions I had gone to a pub at Uni?

I was brought out of my reverie by a waiter, looking around me.

'A table for one Madame, or are you meeting someone here.'

'One would be fine, thank you, a glass of Champagne please.'

'Certainly Madame. The House? or a Lanson Reserve? '

'Oh. The Lanson I think.'

'Certainly Madam, a few smoked salmon nibbles to accompany it?'

'Of course. Sounds delightful.' Just like one of my novels.

I sat and people watched for half an hour, paid the bill in cash and worried then that I had left enough of a tip. And then worried that I had given him too much. The tip was more than I normally spent on a meal from the Supermarket.

Ronnie and I arrived at the same time. I saw her walking down the street from the station and we embraced and grabbed a table for two. We had a lovely meal and finished a bottle of house bubbly. I really do not want to appear to be flash in front of friends so stuck to the house wine. Not sure if I could have told the difference to be honest.

It turns out I had been overthinking my perceived problem with Veronica. It seems she has a live-in girlfriend. This was the first time it had been mentioned and while I was relieved in one way, I couldn't help but think that I still hadn't got anyone of my own. She also told me that she had looked up a couple of gyms in the area, and even given them a phone call, to see what facilities they had and particularly whether they had a personal trainer they could recommend for me. It was so nice of Ronnie that I got quite teary. I guess it was her way of saying that she wasn't going to be able to stay as my personal trainer as she was going to continue working at the Spa. She recommended 'Jim's Gym' just the other side of the Square at the bottom of King's Road. She gave me a piece of paper with the address and phone number on it and just the name Jim.

'I have made an appointment for you Wednesday morning at ten. If you cannot make it give him a ring and rearrange.'

By now it was getting late for Ronnie to travel back to South London so we had a tearful hug and promised to stay in touch. I am going to miss her, --- and the orgasms.

Sunday I found myself slipping back into old comfortable ways. I didn't have a big comfortable dirty old dressing gown I could slop around in to watch tele. But that's how I felt. By early afternoon and after a light lunch I decided I needed to go for a walk. I did half an hour at what I thought was a reasonable pace and was crossing the road back to my cul-de sac again when I saw that the bookshop was open again - on a Sunday afternoon?

I popped in and realised I was looking forward to a chat with Paul. But there was no-one there. I mooched around in the back room and realised that there was really a big selection of old books there. Some really old, turn of the century stuff. My years at Uni came right back to me and for a while I was lost, not my daydreams this time, but other peoples daydreams.

'If you are going to spend this long in here, I am going to have to get another coffee mug.'

I hadn't realised Paul had come in with a coffee in his hand, presumably from a kitchen somewhere.

I laughed and chatted comfortably with him explaining that I had studied a bit of Emily Bronte at Uni and realised that this was, while not a first edition, a fairly early print. I then went on to say I had just moved into the street next door.

He whistled. 'Pricy.'

'Yes, I came into a little money. My Mum died a couple of years ago.' He didn't need to know everything about me.

I put the book back and my eyes wandered over a shelf tucked at the back half covered with an old curtain. Idly I looked at the titles, A Madame Bovary By Gustave Flaubert, Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan, Ulysses -- James Joyce, Portnoy's Complaint and Sabbath's Theatre by Philip Roth, and a few others. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Paul. 'Well, this is an interesting shelf. Mainly erotic, in fact maybe all. I don't know this last one, or some of the others. Ohhh Emanuelle, I am beginning to see the connection.'

'Caught,' he admitted. 'I have a weakness for erotica, particularly old books, and authors Like DH Lawrence and Henry Fielding. I fact I saw the other day a first edition of Nabokov's Lolita. So expensive, too much money for me I am afraid.'

I couldn't resist buying a couple of course, ending up with the Francoise Sagan and Emanuelle. I had heard of the film but never seen it and the Sagan was in English not French so I was set. I had cash this time and even offered the extra pound that Paul had discounted on my first purchase. He refused naturally but I was disappointed that he didn't ask me to dinner again. I guess I hadn't actually explained that I was unattached. Next time maybe. He seemed disappointed to be losing these particular books, lovingly placing them in a clean paper bag.

'Obviously, you can do what you like with these when you have read them, but I would be happy to buy them back at say half price. I enjoy having a shelf-full. They looked good there. And add a touch of erotic class?'

We laughed. 'Certainly. I will bring them back in a couple of weeks. Consider yourself to be a Library for them.'

I got them home and started straight into them. I went first for Bonjour Tristesse and was fascinated by the heroine Cecile's amoral attitudes in such a gentle and amusing book. Emanuelle however was the one that I would read when I went to bed. Why did I continue to think of Ronnie and the fun that we had. I was always careful to keep my sticky fingers off Paul's book. I did wonder whether they would pick up the aroma of my arousal. Now I have all this money perhaps I could arrange a trip to Bangkok. Does that sort of fun still happen there I wondered? It was funny how Paul began to arrive in my day-dreams. And they were certainly getting a bit more graphic. Once upon a time the Mountie would just ride me off into the sunset, now Paul was munching on my pussy as he fingered my clitoris. Aaaahhh.

Wednesday morning came and I went to Jim's Gym for my appointment. It was a really smart place on the third floor of an office block, just off the Kings Road Chelsea. A pretty receptionist knew of my appointment and asked me to wait a few seconds while she paged Jim. I could wait in the small café there in reception. He was only a few minutes. Mmm, he just became my new daydream inspiration. Perhaps 30, fit of course, how could you own a Gym and not be? He told me that he himself had qualified to be a physiotherapist at Uni, and then become a personal trainer to work his way through Uni with as little debt as possible. He preferred the training side to being a physio and quickly became the manager of a Gym in Liverpool. He had only been here in London for about a year. I later found out that he had got himself a very good reputation as a trainer with a crowd of professional footballers in Liverpool and persuaded one of them to become a partner in a new Gym there. The footballer moved to a London Club before they had found suitable premises and then been recommended this site in London for a brand new Gym. They both jumped at the opportunity, and the extra costs of opening in London were covered by another couple of the London Football club players. Jim therefore only owned a quarter of it but they were all delighted with the way it was going. It also had a bunch of cool footballers able to recommend the place. Maybe that's why there were so many girls in the exercise class.

Jim showed me the various rooms, the cardio room, weights room, two mirrored studios, one of which had a glass wall fronting reception. where the music was pumping and a girl, almost dressed in a tightly stretched leotard, was leading a full class. A spinning room led on to changing rooms, a small jacuzzi, sauna and steam room and finally the cafe again. There were four or five fit employees training or assisting the customers. I was a little intimidated.

'Wow. This is all very lovely. All these people I have seen here look so fit already that they should not need to come here.'

Jim laughed, 'I can see now what I have to work with. The difference between you and all these people is that they enjoy coming here. You obviously don't.'

'That's true,' I said. 'I had never been in a gym at all until maybe six weeks ago. I really need to lose a lot of weight, so gave myself a month with a personal trainer. I still cannot tell you that I actually enjoy it, but it is beginning to work. You didn't know me before, you cannot imagine how much I have lost already.'

'That's good. Yes, if I may be honest you could benefit from losing a few pounds but I hear that you have lost quite a bit already. I can see that you have been committed. Veronica said that your main reason for attending was weight loss. I would like to think that you would eventually enjoy being fit as well. Thats the sort of person who benefits most. As you spotted, most of these people are just enjoying themselves. You will give me much more satisfaction when I see you running around enjoying yourself, fitter and slimmer than all of these posers. Whoops sorry, these are my customers. My bread and butter, but it is true. You will give me real job satisfaction.'

'Did you speak to Veronica, my trainer, yourself? I believe she explained to someone here what we had been doing.'

'Yes, I did. She tells me you have worked really hard considering your lack of experience. She was delighted with your progress. She described the work that she had been doing and I have come up with a plan, building on that, but also incorporating, fun exercise classes, like circuits, yoga, step and salsa. We do a variety of those. We also have a much better selection of cardio machines than you are used to. The only thing we do not have here is a regular masseur. We do however have an arrangement with a masseur on the floor above. A small independent two-person operation. A girl and a guy, brother and sister, whichever you prefer. Both highly qualified. I have had both of them massage me and, as an ex-physio, I can tell you they were excellent. We have a special deal with them and a twenty percent discount if we book it for you. We can even arrange to put it on your account so you can pay your total bill monthly t us. If you like what you see, why don't you come into the office and I will show you the suggested plan, and discuss how many hours a week you want to put in.'

It was soon arranged, I would come in four days a week and Jim himself would supervise my work for at least a month. He would make sure that his colleagues knew where I was if he couldn't do it for any reason. For example, he said he always took Mondays off. We would start for that first month on circuits and cardio for two hours under Jim, adding one yoga session a week under Sue, his assistant manager who was in charge of the studios. He would arrange a massage for me after every session if that was what I would like. He warned me that it would take me many months and that I needed to be committed. The fitter I became, the more I would enjoy the studio sessions he told me. I could eventually enjoy a class every day if I wanted. He explained the payment system, what was included in the membership charge and what would cost me extra and waited for my decision. I suspected that I was going to be a good customer as of course his personal supervision was an extra.

I pretended to think it over. 'Mmm, wow I have never been a gym member before. I didn't realise how much it would cost.'

He was quick to come back that he believed that the Hotel Spa and Veronica must have cost a lot more.

'Yes of course. It does sound absolutely perfect. We will start with Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, two hours each time and a massage. I will do the yoga with Sue on Thursdays. And you say I can come in here every day if I want to? Just to use the equipment?'

'Sure, that's what the membership covers, and myself, or any of the trainers who are here will always help you if you are not sure of something. If you want extra classes talk to Sue.'

'Perfect. When do we start? I would like to pay monthly, how about I give you a year's membership money and put three months potential extras in advance on my account, as you will be organising the Masseur for me? I don't want you to be in arrears. And the more I give you in advance the more I am likely to want to come to get my money's worth.'

That seemed to make him very happy. I nearly asked him to introduce me to a footballer. I held that daydream over until I left and popped into my favourite Square Wine Bar to celebrate the next stage of my emergence from my cocoon. I recognised that I had a new life beckoning.

I had difficulty actually getting into my day-dream in the wine bar. I kept confusing Jim and the footballers, first I was with one and then another when they looked up as they lay between my legs. Oh no.

I spoke to Sue who was delighted to welcome a newcomer into her yoga class. She suggested a fairly early class on Thursday mornings. All beginners, it had been running for about four weeks now. It was not particularly busy so a good place to learn.

I was very embarrassed on my first visit with Sue. I was in a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. I had not noticed on my earlier sessions with Jim that all the girls were in smart, and often revealing, leotards and specialist Gym gear. I took her to one side after the lesson and she recommended a suitable shop and gave me the name of the manager.

I went along the very next day and this girl Francesca showed me a range of workout costumes for the 'bigger' framed girls. I was very conscious of how much more weight I still had to lose. But I still looked better than I did a month ago and the other girls were not laughing at me. Indeed four of us were now sipping a chai latte after the class. Something else they had introduced me to.

Sue and her classes had been a revelation to me. I became a regular weekly attendee at Yoga and I had tried the salsa, and step. I was doing them once a fortnight each, standing at the back and trying not to put any of the other girls off their beat.

By the end of that month, I was actually beginning to enjoy both the workouts with Jim and more and more the classes with Sue or Mona. True to his word Jim had missed very few of my sessions but on the few occasions I had been well looked after by Chris, Amon and Jerzy. Boy, now I had plenty of fodder for my dreams. They were all as fit as f... Whoops I noticed my vocabulary was getting worse. The guys around the gym would drop the f word occasionally and I was beginning to not even notice. I was getting a regular massage with Freda upstairs, but had cut it down to twice a week, partly because they were quite busy and I sometimes had to wait for my appointment, and also because working-out so regularly meant that I was not getting into the state of needing the relaxation that I had when I was with Ronnie.

Ahhh, I almost forgot. Gary. I had been so busy with the gym and everything that I really hadn't seen that much of him. He phoned me one day to remind me that I had booked his help for a month and that was coming up at the end of the week. 'Shall we just roll it over for another month?'

'Sorry Gary you just caught me on the way out, give me a ring tomorrow.'

Not entirely true - in fact a downright lie. It just occurred to me that I hadn't seen him in over a week and I was still paying him. What was he doing for me?

Perhaps I should just check in at the bank, and the Financial Adviser. After all he was the one who had done all the arranging.

I hopped a taxi and was greeted by the doorman at Andover Letham &White, 'Miss Prendergast, isn't it. Can I help. Do you have an appointment. It's William ma'am.'

I was recognised, how wonderful, what a memory. Was I important to him? Food for thought.