Rebooked

"Ted, we fucked up and I take full responsibilty. Please apologise to any of your staff who lost work. We can have you up and running again in twenty minutes, but the job will now take till tomorrow lunchtime to complete. Sorry."

"This is one thing I've always admired about you Brian. Your honesty. I'll inform the department now. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Can I use your phone?"

"Sure. Want me to leave the office?"

"No, could you stay?"

"Sure. If you're calling your boss, Will, he's number three on the speed dial."

"Will Hawkins."

He listened to Brian, while the story emerged.

"Deliberate you say? Of course, I can do that, put him on."

He waited while while Danny was summoned.

"Danny, this is Will. Listen carefully. I want you to leave the office the moment I've finished speaking. Give the phone back to Mr Hawkins, and return to the hotel. Then check out, get yourself to the station and catch the next train back, and go home. Report to me first thing tomorrow morning."

Ted took the phone and Danny stormed out, slamming the door.

"Ted I apologise for this;" said Will. "the boy was just not shaping up. Could you possibly spare an assistant for Brian the duration of the job?"

"Consider it done Will. Do you want to speak to Brian again?"

"Yes please."

Ted handed the phone over and went to find some assistance.

"Hi babe, how's it going?" said Hazel.

"Not too good I'm afraid; we've had a few problems. It'll all be finished this afternoon but I'll have to come in and check out the system tomorrow morning."

"OK. You were going to stay tonight anyway."

"Yeah, but Will usually gives me the afternoon off, after a trip, and I get home before you. But tomorrow I have to go straight back to the office for a debrief."

"Big problem was it?"

"Big enough."

"You aren't going to be in trouble are you?"

"I don't think so."

"No problem then. I'll see you the usual time on Thursday. How did things work out with Danny?"

"Not as expected really. We need to talk further about Danny when I get home. There have been certain developments."

"Hmm, sounds intriguing."

Back at the hotel, Brian sat down to dinner with the two girls. He explained that Danny had had to return because of family problems. No need to tell them the whole tale. They sympathised. They'd been out all afternoon and not realised he'd gone. Lena looked particularly upset. Then the waitress noted Brian's key on the table.

"Should I charge all three meals to room twentytwo sir?"

"Yes please."

"Charge the wine to us then." offered Helmi.

"Certainly miss." The waitress turned back to Brian. "Will your colleague be dining with us tonight sir?"

"No, he's already checked out."

"That's what front desk told me, but I wasn't sure." she continued. "Do you have his key? They say he forgot to hand it in; they searched his room."

"No, sorry. I'll get it sent back if I find it, and if it doesn't turn up, I'll let you know."

Brian sighed. Could the lad do nothing right? He chilled out over dinner though. The girls were good fun and he could cope with tomorrow's system checks with a slight hangover.

"Come in Brian, take a seat." said Will. "I spoke at length with Ted yesterday, and he's tracked back through the data. You definitely booted up the system when the reading was thirtyfive."

"Actually, he said three five. I thought he meant three point five, my mistake."

"I had Danny in here this morning, and he says he clearly told you thirtyfive."

"I'm not surprised. I guess you either have to choose whether you believe him, or just look at it logically."

"Logically?"

"Yes. I've been doing this job for over three years. If he had clearly stated thirtyfive, would I have thrown the switch?"

"That's what I thought. I fired him without notice this morning. He's gone."

"Good."

"Ted was also impressed with how quickly you apologised and assumed responsibilty, even though it wasn't your fault. Losing your usual afternoon off, will not seem as bad now. He's bringing forward his plans for an elite team of troubleshooters, and you can head them up on the first of next month if you're still interested."

"Wow! That's next Wednesday. Consider it a yes then!"

"I thought so; I put an application form on your desk. Just a formality. Write up your report this afternoon. Then you can go home and tell the lovely Hazel your good news."

Hazel was already in when Brian arrived and greeted him with a non-commital 'Hi'. He went to give her a kiss and a hug, but she pushed him off.

"Stay away from me." she ordered.

He stepped back a pace and stared. She was serious.

"What on earth is wrong?" he asked.

"Put your bag away and we'll discuss it."

He went up to the bedroom and unpacked. He noticed, on Hazel's dressing table, the top was off her foundation powder. She only ever put that on when they were going out for the evening. Had she been out last night? With Danny? He dumped his clothes in the laundry hamper. Then put his wash things back in the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. He took a deep breath and went back down. She was sitting at the dining table so he pulled up a chair opposite.

"You can start by telling me about Helmi." she said, folding her arms. "Do not lie."

Brian digested this. There was only one explanation. Danny had been round here.

"What did Danny tell you?"

"Oh no you don't. You tell me first."

"OK."

Brian told her the essentials. Helmi's bikini problem; coming to her rescue, and the girls subsequently buying them dinner.

"Girls? Danny said there was only this Helmi tart. Certainly not the same as your version. He said you played around with her in the pool, and ended up taking her to your room."

"Of course he did. We've already established that Danny fancies you, and dislikes me. What do you expect him to say? You know he only wants to get into your knickers."

"I admit there might have been an element of that. But you can see why - you stitched him up and he'll probably lose his job, if Will chooses to believe your side of things."

She went on to say Danny had turned up the previous evening, almost in tears. He had told Hazel that Brian had been having a dig at him all the way to Brighton. And telling him this was his last chance made him increasingly nervous. Then, when he performed well, Brian had got frustrated and lied about the dial reading. He'd told Ted, the Brighton boss, that Danny had screwed up and cost the company thousands. He'd also phoned Will, who was probably going to fire him this morning.

"Did he fire him?" she asked.

"Yes he did. Danny was long gone by the time I got back to the office, and good riddance. So did you respond to his advances? Decide he was handsome enough to fuck?"

"No, I did not! That's disgusting. How could you be so unfair to him?" Hazel wailed. "He was doing his best. You'd already admitted it would look good for you if he got the boot. He told me he wouldn't usually complain about a colleague, but thought I ought to know you've been cheating on me."

Brian frowned.

"It didn't occur to you it might be another ploy to get you into bed. No, you believed him of course. Because he's so cute!"

"Of course I thought he might be exaggerating, But I believed him because he showed me proof!"

"I've never cheated on you Hazel, so somehow I doubt that."

"Not only did you have an affair, but you did it right in front of him. Such arrogance. He said it was embarrassing to watch."

With a flourish, Hazel turned her phone to face Brian.

"Proof in the form of photos." she said. "The first one shows her emerging from the swimming pool, with her shaved bits on display. You'd been playing with her in there, and pulled her bikini bottoms off, as a prank."

She scrolled down.

"The second shows one of your hands snatching the towel away from this Helmi tart, and the other waving her pants in the air. About to throw them back in the pool I imagine. And the third shows shows you hugging her, and groping under her towel."

Another scroll.

"Here you are having an intimate dinner with her. And here's the final photo."

Brian stared. It showed a receipt for a meal for two. One steak dinner and one salmon salad.

"Danny says he hates fish, and I remember from our barbecue that he doesn't like salad, so that must be for her. He says she went to your room Tuesday night. So I guess she joined you for round two last night as well."

"Can you flash those across to me?"

"What for?"

"Because I ought to be entitled to scrutinise the evidence against me."

"I'll send them, but you have no defence. These are not photo-shopped; they're genuine."

"Oh, I don't doubt that for a moment." he replied smugly.

His phone pinged and he opened the photos, and he wondered where the receipt had come from.

"You can sleep in the spare bedroom tonight. And you can stay in there while I look into getting a divorce. Find somewhere else to live as soon as possible."

"Don't I get a chance to explain? It's not as if you have proof I had sex with her. There aren't even photos of us kissing."

"This is good enough for me Brian. I would only need that kind of proof if I divorced you on the grounds of adultery. I'll go for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. You broke it and I'll settle for half of everything. Go and get what you need from our room."

Brian trudged up the stairs. He could already see the flaws in Hazel's so-called evidence. He almost admired Danny for putting in so much effort, but he had a strong suspicion. Danny must have set this up so he could have sex with Hazel. So there were two ways it could go. If she had rejected him, he could put together his case and was confident he'd demonstrate she was wrong. Then they could start afresh. But if she'd let him have his way with her, she could have her divorce and he'd go to Brighton without her. But how could he find out what she'd got up to last night?

As he gathered his items for a night in the spare room, he looked around the bedroom, and his eyes returned to her make-up compact. Think it through. Danny comes round here, knowing he'll get the boot in the morning. Last chance for a crack at the wife of his nemesis. He tells her his tale of woe, then demonstrates how her wicked husband is having an affair. He plants the idea of revenge sex. Then they go out to dinner? Hardly. What then? She excuses herself, slips upstairs, and puts on make-up? Doesn't make sense; he's ready to jump on her bones and slobber all over her face. Brian would have to think about it tonight; alone. He got his bathrobe from behind the door and scanned the bathroom. Toothbrush been used? Stray dark hairs Danny had shed? There was nothing. He dumped his pyjamas in the guest room and hung his bathrobe up. Then noticed the pillow. There was nothing wrong with it, but it wouldn't do.

He took it to the master bedroom and swapped it for his usual one. He was not chronically allergic; not to the extent of taking his own bedding to a hotel or anything. But at home he did sleep better on his own pillow; the stuffing was polyester and bamboo fibre. And there, tucked underneath it was the answer; a key with a bright orange tag. One side bore the number twentythree. The other had a stationery sticker. Brian peered at the tiny writing.

"Hazel's a great fuck! Lovebites on her left tit!"

'Very poetic Danny.' he thought. 'And no Brighton for you, bitch!'

That explained the make-up then. It was covering the stigmata of her infidelity. Not that she'd allow Brian any action tonight. She was just being careful. He wondered how careful she'd been in the marital bed. She'd clearly changed the sheet, but that didn't mean much. Had Danny brought condoms? He photographed the key.

They didn't speak that evening and Brian went up the pub for a pie and a pint. Hazel was in bed when he got back. He slept fitfully in the spare room and was woken at three in the morning by his phone alarm, muffled under his hypoallergenic pillow. He turned on the phone's torch and set it as dim as possible. Then crept into the bathroom and dampened a face flannel under the tap, and entered the main bedroom. He'd pretend to plead for a place beside her if she woke, but she didn't stir.

He carefully undid the top three buttons of her pyjama jacket. It was the first time he'd seen them done up all the way to the top. Once her left breast was exposed, he wiped it gently. Sure emough there were two lovebites above her nipple. He'd have to risk a flash setting for the photo but had worked out a vague Plan B involving any confrontation if she woke up. But she just murmured and turned over. Now he couldn't do her buttons up again. Tough. Leave her like that and let her ponder on it when in the morning. He was on a roll now, and took her powder compact from the dressing table - that would confuse her. Would she ask about it? He tucked it in the back of the bathroom cabinet when he took the flannel back. And slept well the rest of the night.

Friday morning she spoke.

"Did you sneak into my bedroom last night?"

"Oh, your bedroom now is it?"

"You know what I mean. Some of my make-up is missing."

"What the hell would I want with your make-up Hazel?"

"Oh nothing, forget it."

Soon he was in Will's office again.

"Would it be ok if I take a couple of days off next week, and left early? Take it from my leave entitlement. I'd like to find a cheap hotel in Brighton and start looking for a place to live. Hotel and travel out of my own money of course."

"I don't see why not Brian. Bring all your work up to date today and come in on Monday morning. We'll get your bank credited with your bonuses and trip expenses - I'm not paying for those swimming trunks though! But we'll call that a working day and you can get away mid morning."

"Great! Thanks boss!"

"Are you ok for a couple of farewell beers at the Red Lion after work tonight? I'll get the first round in."

"Deal!"

Brian stayed to the end in the pub that evening and didn't roll home till nearly midnight. He hadn't seen any reason to let Hazel know where he was, and she was asleep when he arrived.

Saturday morning she was about to go shopping by the time he surfaced. Brian usually went with her. He was on his third black coffee by the time she got back.

"I'm going out again." Hazel announced, putting the groceries away. "We'll need to talk when I get back."

He made himself a fry-up brunch, and packed his belongings. The house was rented and furnished, so there wasn't much. Then he called the landlord and said Hazel was the only one to be billed next month. They had an informal arrangement anyway, so he could easily rescind that, if things worked out. He'd reconsidered overnight; if she came clean about Danny, he may forgive her.

Later they sat at the table again.

"OK, we'll start with where you were last night. I went to the cinema this afternoon. On my own."

"We'll start the way you want to start Hazel. But we'll continue the way I suggest, ok?"

"OK."

"I went for a beer with Wiil and some of the guys from work. I stayed till closing time, and came home drunk."

"Fair enough. So how do you want to proceed?"

"I want to go back over your photos and offer alternative explanations for what Danny showed you. And I swear on my mother's life, everything I say will be the truth. But before I do that, I want you to tell me about Wednesday night. I won't beat about the bush. I think you had sex with Danny. If you own up, we might get past this, because you were conned. But if you lie, it's over. One-off sex we can put behind us, but lies go on forever."

She leaned forward.

"Brian. I did not have sex with Danny on Wednesday night. Or any other time. And I swear that on my mother's life."

"Right. Now clear your mind and imagine my original story is true. So here's first photo."

He showed her.

"See how I'm holding out the towel for her, having just witnessed her accidental loss of costume. Notice I am not wet. I never went in the pool. Not to swim, and certainly not to remove her bikini."

Hazel frowned.

"Now the second. I am not waving her bikini panties in the air. I'm actually catching them. If you look closely at the left edge of the photo, you can just make out fingers. There were two girls, like I said. The fingers belong to her friend Lena, who has just thrown me the bikini. She found it floating where Helmi dived in."

"I guess that's possible." Hazel conceded.

"Remember when you were looking for the spatula? How people see what they expect to see? Suppose Danny had said nothing when he showed you this third one. Suppose it's simply a shot of me being gallant; holding the towel tight while the poor girl gets her pants back on. There is no groping."

Her frown deepened.

"Now the last two; the intimate dinner. The receipt shows one steak and one salmon salad, and Danny doesn't like fish, right?"

"Correct."

"So, describe the knife I'm holding in this photo."

"It's pointed; a steak knife."

"And hers?"

"Oh."

"Seeing what you expect to see? Let me describe it to you with unbiased eyes. That girl is also holding a steak knife. Therefore, she is also eating steak. The other girl had the salad. You know I had to pay for everything on my own credit card. Why would I give an expensive receipt to cute little Danny? I'd never get my money back. The two, repeat two, girls paid for this meal and Danny purloined the receipt from his and Lena's dinner."

"But..."

"But nothing!" Brian was shouting now. "Look again. What's this shadow in the foreground of the dining table? It's the back of a chair Hazel. And on the far side, between the happy couple brandishing their steak knives? Another plate! That's a table for four, you moron! Danny probably took this on the way back from the Gents' toilet. Where Lena probably gave him a blowjob to wash her salad down!"

"I'm sorry all right? I didn't look properly. You're right, Danny was conning me."

"Of course you didn't look properly. You wanted to believe handsome Danny's lies. His tears didn't only wet his cheeks; they soaked your knickers too! You wanted to see an intimate meal for two. It gave you just the excuse you needed to go and fuck cute boy in our bed!"

"We did not have sex!"

"Well here's the news. Heroic Brian returns from the seaside covered in glory. His boss Will, at Ted's request, promotes him to the Brighton job with immediate effect. He comes home to tell his wife the good news and is relegated to the spare room. As he removes his anti-allergy pillow from the marital bed, he finds this underneath it!"

Brian scrolled his phone and showed her his own three photos.

"You like photographic evidence? These are also genuine, and not photo-shopped. And they don't reqire a whispering campaign to help describe them. One: Danny's hotel key, number 23. He probably slipped it under the pillow while you were having your first orgasm. Two: his description of what a great fuck you are on the other side of the key's tag. Three: the lovebites on your left breast. Your powder compact is in the bathroom cabinet by the way. And your pyjamas and bathrobe are in the spare room."

Hazel burst into tears.

Epilogue.

"Hi Helmi, it's Brian. I'm back in Brighton, for good!"

"Brian! So soon! Are you staying in the spa hotel again? I'll come over and see you."

"No, I'm in the Connaught; it's a bit cheaper."

"Do you want me to come and see you tonight? The taxi driver will find it. We could have dinner."

"They don't do very good dinners here, but we could meet somewhere nearby. Somewhere more expensive perhaps."

"I'm not interested in your money Brian. I'll get a taxi now. Should I bring a change of panties?"

"No. Don't wear any at all. I want to play with your vittu again!"