Pas de Deux

"So it was my fault?" I laughed.

"Yes, Si. Your fault entirely." She smiled sweetly.

At University I had often gone to Jazz concerts and liked the style, so decided to introduce Antonia to the music, so different to that she knew. There were many Jazz Clubs around London at that time and one evening we visited one where the band was particularly good. As usual with Jazz Clubs the place was warm, smoky, crowded and wonderful. I loved the music and was very pleased when Antonia, her face alight with a broad smile started tapping her feet and moving her hips to the beat. Jazz attracts an eclectic audience so we mingled with all sorts. Unfortunately the club had allowed entrance to a few young men who were rendered more confident by drink and an altercation took place when one thought that he could make free with another man's girlfriend. Punches were thrown and in the melee a surge started in the mostly standing crowd. I was buffeted but being over six feet and of a build suitable to rugby I stood firm. Antonia who was slightly apart from me was knocked over and many feet were treading carelessly near her. Without thought I bent down creating a shield for her with my body and picked her up. Still carrying her in my arms I bullied my way to the exit. She clung to me tightly until we got into the street and I set her down. "Are you hurt?" Was my first concern.

I shouldn't have been as she had a beautiful smile on her face. "No, not at all. Excited? Yes. My Sir Galahad rescued me again. Now he should take the Maiden and allow her to show him how grateful she is." She reached up and kissed me. "And she is very, very grateful."

I knew it had been dangerous in there and Antonia was making a joke of it. I was probably testy when I snapped. "Well I am happy for you, but this Sir Galahad was bloody worried."

The smile vanished and concern etched her face. "I'm sorry, Si. I didn't realise."

"No. It's alright for you. It's fun isn't it? I have seen the injuries caused by trampling and they are not nice. I...I thought for a moment..."

"What? What did you think?"

"I could see you being trampled underfoot. I was ready to lash out at anyone who had done that, who had injured you, although it wouldn't have been their fault."

Antonia enveloped me in her arms. "Oh Si. I am so sorry for treating it as a joke."

"Don't worry. Forget it. It was just the tension."

She looked up and there were tears in her eyes. "I am sorry, darling. It's just this thing I have. You are my protector. Nothing will harm me as long as I am with you."

"Another of your childish dreams." I said angrily.

She looked at me sadly. "I think we need to talk."

We found a cafe just along the street. Once we were sitting down with coffee Antonia talked. "I think I know what you believe. That I am still dwelling on my childish infatuation. Well perhaps when I was eleven it was, and probably remained like that until we met again. Yes, Simon an infatuation. I was in love with a dream and then you came back into my life, the reality, the man. My dream faded as I began to know you, know you properly. Then my feelings changed and I woke up. You weren't the Knight Errant of my dreams, you were flesh and blood. The dream of your carrying me off in your strong arms and ravishing me beautifully had gone. Anyway the ravishing part was always gauzy, indistinct as if something as basic as you taking my virginity was too prosaic to be part of a romantic dream. I got to know you again, a different Simon to the one I had known and over these last few months it didn't take long for me to fall in love with you all over again. Not the childish love but the real love of a woman for a man. It's not the stuff of Mills and Boon novels; it's no longer 'with one bound he was by her side' stuff. It's real. The gauze has been lifted, Simon. I love you as a woman should. I want you to be my first and my only lover, I will welcome the pain and the blood as you take my virginity; I will welcome the pain and the blood as I give birth to your children. I love you Simon and this time I am not dreaming."

What could I say after such a declaration? I still viewed myself as her protector but could I protect her from me? I had been aware for some time how important Antonia had become to me. It wasn't just the physical appeal, there was so much more to her. She had called herself a dunce which wasn't true. We talked of many things, politics, music, books. Conversations that started on one topic then branched off into a myriad of others as some comment sparked another, fresh subject to dissect and analyse. It was amusing that we could talk for hours on end, go round the globe, and as circumventing the globe will do, so we would end up where we started. It was time to admit my feelings.

"I love you too, Antonia." She didn't smile, she didn't grin. All that happened was that her face settled into a calm attitude of pleasure. A serene acceptance of our future.

She gathered her bag and got ready to leave. "Soon, my darling, soon. But not tonight. I want to get used to being 'us' not you and me. Can you understand that?"

"Yes."

"Will you take me back to the nunnery?"

"Of course."

CHAPTER FOUR

Sir Henry caught me a few days later. "Ah! Simon. I have heard back from Miss Berwick and she has agreed to dance for us. I have invited her here tomorrow afternoon so that she can see what we are trying to do. Would you be available to show her round?"

"Well, yes. But I would have thought that you could do that better than me."

He nodded in agreement. "I just thought that as you and she are old friends it would be less formal. Shelley will be with you, it will help Miss Berwick feel more at ease." I smiled inwardly. If only he had been party to Antonia's comment at the reception.

I phoned Antonia that evening. "I understand that I shall see you tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes. Sir Henry was most insistent that I should see what you do."

"If you are not performing tomorrow evening, would you like to go out for dinner afterwards?"

"That would be great. Will I have time to get back here and change? I would like to look my best for you."

"You always look good to me."

"Si! Thank you. That's just turned my insides to jelly."

I got the call to join Henry in his office a little after three that afternoon. Henry and Shelley were there when I entered. Antonia was sitting in one of the leather armchairs that Henry kept for important visitors. She smiled widely at me.

"Ah! Simon. Would you like some tea before you start?" Shelley smiled at me and Antonia positively beamed. As usual Henry talked about the importance of our work and how it could benefit mankind. That was his forte, that and his ability to ease money out of the pockets of the rich into our coffers. He left at three-thirty citing another appointment, and Shelley, Antonia and I set off for the tour. There was very little to see. The technicians were busy working at jobs that to the uninitiated would appear mundane and repetitive. I tried to explain that introducing an extract of a plant to a cell culture once would not be indicative of its effect. It had to be done many times to rule out contamination. If the reaction was the same then perhaps we had found something. We then had to try and isolate the chemical within the plant extract that was the reagent. Antonia followed the explanation with apparent interest.

"It takes months, even years to get a positive result. Even then you can discover something by accident. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin purely by chance. But when you consider how many lives that has saved it all becomes worthwhile."

Shelley became quieter as we continued the tour, but she seemed to be watching Antonia and me very closely. After Antonia had left Shelley tackled me. "Are you two having an affair?"

"We are seeing each other from time to time, but I wouldn't describe it as an affair."

"If it isn't now, it will be soon."

"How do you come to that conclusion?"

"Simon, the way you look at each other. She's totally in love with you, and if Henry would look at me the way you look at Toni I would be over the moon with happiness." She brushed away a little tear. "She's very lucky. She will have a man who will always love, respect and care for her. If I ever get Henry I will have a superficial philanderer."

I knew that Henry was a womaniser. His first divorce after his adultery had cost him over a million pounds. His second for the same reason had hit him for a similar sum. "So why chase after him?"

"He's very wealthy, Simon. And I want the good life that money brings. Now you can call me a gold-digger if you wish. But if you were brought up in poverty as I was you would probably think as I do. My dad tried hard but money was always tight. Mum became quite inventive in making cheap food look and taste different, and second hand clothes patched and darned lose their appeal after a while. Henry could give me everything I want. All the same I envy you and Antonia."

"You're throwing yourself away, Shelley."

"Possibly, but I will get diamonds as compensation."

I had arranged to meet Antonia outside Hampstead Tube station. I brought my car as the restaurant where I had made reservations was some distance away; also later I would take her back to Bloomsbury. I wouldn't be happy about her travelling back on the Tube late at night although I suspected that option may not be on the cards. I parked right outside the entrance and stood by the car keeping a wary eye out for traffic wardens. She arrived just as one of the yellow-coated predators came into view. Antonia saw me immediately and ran to greet me with her face upturned for a kiss. The traffic warden was of little consequence as our lips clung together. I opened the door and she got in. I did the same and was just driving away as the warden reached the car. The look of disappointment on his face convinced me that he and his fellow wardens were on a commission.

Antonia turned to me. "Where are we going?"

"There's a restaurant I found that should suit us well. It has a very good salad bar."

She laughed. "I see. My diet has been committed to memory."

"They also do some excellent steaks. And their fried potato is to die for."

"Oh no!" She cried. "Something else to tempt me this evening."

"What else is tempting you?"

"You, Sir Galahad. You."

"Well you should know Sir Galahad has made his last rescue until the maid rewards him."

"Oh!" Antonia went silent. Then she giggled. As we passed the Heath she sat silently with a beatific smile on her face.

We dined well. I with a butterfly Chicken fillet and Antonia with a selection of salads from the bar. She went for variety rather than quantity, even then didn't eat everything but pushed the servings around the plate to disguise the denial of her appetite. She did accept a glass of dry white wine. Later she sat swirling the wine around the glass watching me finish eating the chicken. "Do you live close?" With my mouth full I couldn't answer so I nodded. "Can we have coffee there? I would like to see where you live."

I finished the food in my mouth. "Yes. It did cross my mind that you would want to see the place. It's just up the road to Golders Green. But it's only a flat."

Antonia smiled. "Indulge me."

I shrugged my shoulders. "No problem."

"It's only a flat!" Cried Antonia in disbelief when we arrived. "It's a bloody mansion." I had bought the place shortly after starting work at the research institute. It had been an Edwardian family house with a large garden. Usually the developer would tear down the house to maximise the grounds where he could build at least six homes. This developer had different ideas, converting each floor into a spacious apartment and using the large garden to build four detached homes. I had bought the first floor apartment before the conversion was finished. The advantage of this was the roof garden built over an extension to the ground floor flat. The owners of that wanted an indoor swimming pool. They had to get my agreement to extend and as part of that agreement I insisted on the roof becoming my private garden. Paved with slabs and decorated with potted plants it was a very pleasant place to be when the weather was clement. Antonia walked around looking at everything, eventually opening the door to my bedroom. This looked out over the roof garden through glazed French doors. I pointed out the view from the windows but she wasn't interested, ignoring the view standing still and taking in the room. She turned to me.

"It's a lovely apartment, and your bedroom colour scheme is so relaxing. I love it. If I could have dreamed of a place where I would lose my virginity this is what I would have dreamed of."

"Do you want to stay?" Her eyes gleamed as she nodded. "I don't mean just one night. Do you want to stay?"

She caught her breath. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes."

"Darling Si. Yes, yes, yes, yes." She blushed prettily. "Undress me, Si. Take me to your bed and make me a woman, your woman." Undressing her was easy. Her dress unzipped down the back and she had not bothered with a brassiere nor panties. She came into my arms and I picked her up, there were just four steps to my bed.

CHAPTER FIVE

It was a few minutes before seven when I woke up. Having another body in my bed was not completely strange, but the body next to me this morning was one I knew I would want there every morning from now on. I turned slightly to see Antonia propped on one arm regarding me with warm loving eyes. "Good morning my darling." She brought her lips to mine. "Thank you."

"Why should you thank me?"

"For loving me, for making my first time so beautiful, for making my dreams come true."

"If I could have dreamed of a beautiful woman in my bed, you are the one I would have dreamed of." I paraphrased her comment of last night. If possible her eyes became warmer and slightly moist.

My phone rang. I was inclined to ignore it but on occasions it had been because something interesting had happened at the laboratory. Still smiling I picked it up. "Hello."

"Si?" It was Becky.

"Hi Becky. How are you?"

"I'm worried. I have been ringing Ant time and again yesterday and early this morning and she isn't answering. I know you and she are meeting from time to time. Do you know where she is?"

I put my hand over the mouthpiece and whispered to Antonia. "It's Becky. Wants to know where you are." She held her hand out for the phone; instead I pressed the button for the speaker.

Antonia leaned over and rested on my chest. "Hello Beck."

"Oh! You're there."

"Yes."

"I was worried. I thought you had an accident or something." Antonia had a mischievous smile as she replied. "You know I can't have an accident when I am with Sir Galahad. Becky! Now you should think about this. It's just after seven in the morning. You phone Si at his home, he is here and I am here. Put your dirty mind in gear."

"You mean...You didn't, did you?"

"Yes"

"And?"

"I am in Si's bed. I am completely naked, so is Si. I have been kissed everywhere, caressed everywhere. My pussy is a little sore but very, very happy, and I am over the moon."

It sounded as if Becky was crying with happiness as she said. "I am so happy, my best friend has got together with the best brother a girl could ever have."

"I am your only brother."

"Splitting hairs Si." She then carried on her conversation with Antonia. I was becoming interested in other things. Antonia's breasts were close to my hands and lips. I used both to explore and titillate. Antonia's breathing became heavy with an occasional gasp. "Are you alright?" Becky asked her.

"Very, very alright." Antonia replied breathlessly. "Your brother is interfering with me."

"Oh do tell." Becky demanded.

"Perhaps some other time, but at the moment Si has started something and I think he needs my co-operation to finish. I'll call you later." When Antonia finished the call it seemed that she was interested in interfering with me as well.

Antonia was astonished that she had no pain when I penetrated her for the first time. I tried to explain that with all the barre work she would have done there was little possibility of her hymen being intact. She seemed disappointed. When we had got up Antonia had thrown the duvet back. I was in the bathroom when I heard her scream. I rushed in, my cheeks and chin covered with shaving cream to see Antonia dancing and laughing happily.

"What is it?" I asked somewhat testily.

"Look Si." She pointed to the bottom sheet. "Blood! I was a virgin."

"I didn't believe for a moment that you weren't. But if you wish we can hang the sheet over the balcony."

"Why would we do that?" Antonia seemed perplexed.

"In days of old when other Sir Galahads took their maiden to bed for the first time, they would, in the morning hang the bottom sheet over the balcony so his friends and attendants could see the blood and know that she was brought to the marriage bed unsullied."

"I don't think I want that."

"No need my darling. Your screams last night told my neighbours all they needed to know." A pillow was flung at me and I had to go and put more shaving cream on.

It was strange having someone live with you. After all those years, first at University and then working at the Institute when I had lived alone, now having someone else to consider was a hurdle to say the least. Antonia made her presence obvious, she took over the bathroom; filling the shelves upon which my few requirements had been neatly stored with a multitude of creams and lotions. My wardrobe was full of her clothes, so many pairs of Jeans and sweat-shirts in all the colours of the rainbow. I could no longer find my underpants or socks without a full scale search. My kitchen however remained as pristine as it had always been. Antonia never seemed to eat anything apart from a lettuce leaf, nor drink anything but water. I quite enjoyed cooking and disappointment set in when having prepared a meal, Antonia would nibble on the smallest of servings, just enough to say that it was good. She would then watch me occasionally picking a morsel from my plate. I worked odd hours at times as did she. When she was performing she would return home late at night, exhausted and discard the clothes she was wearing along the journey from the front door to the bed. She seemed to time the operation perfectly, just having her panties to remove the moment before she fell into bed. If I thought it was time for intimacy I was wrong. The moment her head hit the pillow she was asleep. The morning was a different kettle of fish. I would be eased from sleep by hot breath and kisses all over my chest encouraging me to wake up whilst a hand would play with my morning erection. Antonia had gone from innocent to an experienced seductress in no time at all. Am I complaining? Is the Pope Catholic? The answer to those questions was no and yes.

I had started to call her Ant, which was how Becky had always called her but Antonia put a stop to that. "Everyone calls me Ant. Becky, my mum and dad, all my relations. I'm Toni professionally. The only person who calls me Antonia is you and I like that. It is special. When I hear Antonia I know who is calling me. It is my man, my lover, the husband of my heart. I hear Antonia and my heart thrills. Please don't change that."

Sir Henry had booked the Hippodrome for the Charity Gala, and had lined up a cast from the world of Ballet, Opera, the Theatre and T.V. to do guest appearances. The patrons could expect a very entertaining evening. He had asked Antonia if she would dance the 'Dying Swan'. She was derisive of that choice. "God! Couldn't he have chosen something a little less passé?" It was a Sunday afternoon and we were sitting on the roof garden enjoying some unseasonal sun.