Two Thousand and Ten Ch. 04

"Guilty." The foreman said.

Suddenly Stevie erupted into a loud sob as she buried her face in her hands. At the other end of the public gallery Stevie's mother also burst into tears, and was comforted by her husband.

"Will the defendant please rise." Judge Richards intoned after a minute or two of commotion in the courtroom.

Stevie rose to her feet on clearly unsteady legs - dabbing her tears away with a piece of tissue that the female police constable that had been sitting next to her had obviously supplied.

"Ms Williams, you have been found guilty of the charge of perverting the course of justice in relation to your alleged rape at the hands of Mr Swanmore." Judge Richards began, "And it is now my duty to pass sentence upon you. Your actions of last April were of a most callous and heartless nature. Your initial refusal to admit your false accusation and to retract it when you had the opportunity to do so resulted in considerable waste in valuable police time and resources. Separate to this, but in my own opinion, equally as relevant, is the untold trauma, stress and damage to his reputation you caused to Mr Swanmore. Were it not for the beliefs of Ms Vernham to track you down and extract your admission that you had lied about having been raped, an innocent man would have been convicted of a truly hateful crime. And you would have been only too happy to have allowed such a thing to happen to him merely for the sake of preserving your own reputation.

"Such instances of false allegations of rape not only destroy the lives of those who stand accused of them, they also cast doubt upon the veracity and authenticity of people who genuinely have been raped. With this in mind, I am inclined to make an example of you and to pass the most severe penalty that the law permits me to.

"However, since the 'victim' of your false allegation, Mr Swanmore eloquently argued that he wishes you to be shown leniency in order to reduce the impact on your life of this whole sorry incident, I hereby sentence you to a term of six months imprisonment to be suspended for two years. Had Mr Swanmore not shown a desire for leniency, as he has every right to expect justice for what happened to him because of your actions, I would not hesitate to immediately deliver you into custody. Consider yourself a very lucky young lady that you can go home today."

Judge Richards banged his gavel to indicate that the case was closed and then rose to his feet.

"All rise!" The clerk of the court announced as the judge left the room.

Monday, July 5th 2010 - 6:02pm

"Am I glad that's over!" Peter said in utter relief as they left courtroom no. 3 and returned to the foyer of Nottingham Crown Court.

"You and me both!" Lindi said as she and Clive followed Peter.

"Well I think you did brilliantly." Clive said to the two friends, "Especially you, Peter. It couldn't have been easy having to tell an entire court full of virtual strangers about what happened in that room. Especially having to go into so much graphic detail."

"It wasn't." Peter confirmed, "I'm just pleased that it's all in the past now."

"Do you feel like you have closure now?" Lindi asked.

"Yes." Peter nodded, "Yes, I think I do. Assuming none of any of this ever reaches the ears of 'certain people' that is."

"What, you mean that woman in your office?" Lindi speculated.

"As far as she's concerned all men are potential rapists and even though I've been completely exonerated and the girl who falsely accused me has been convicted, she'll still regard me with the old 'there's no smoke without fire' attitude and she'd find a way to make my life a misery."

"Well, if she does we'll make her life a misery!" Lind replied, "We'll just sue her ass!!"

Just then Peter heard someone behind him clearing their throat. He turned to see a man in his late 40's with a young woman by his side. The girl was a very tearful looking Stevie, the man beside her - clearly her father.

"Mr Swanmore." The man said levelly, "Alan Williams, I'm Stevie's father. I know we're probably the last people you want to see right now, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am that my daughter put you through such a horrible ordeal. But I also want to say thank you. If it weren't for your statement the judge would've certainly sent her down. It would've put paid to her finishing university, and would've virtually ended her career hopes."

"Well, despite everything she did to me and everything that happened, I simply couldn't have been able to live with myself if that happened." Peter replied, "It wasn't my decision to prosecute your daughter; all I wanted to do was to get on with my life and draw a line under the whole thing."

"But she could've ruined you - I might be her father and she might be the most precious thing in my life, but she deserved to be punished for what she did to you." Mr Williams said.

"Well, a suspended sentence is a punishment." Peter said, "As far as I'm concerned justice has been done today. The only thing I ask is for Stevie to have learnt from this not to be so ashamed of what other people think of her. The only reason she went along with her allegation was so that her friends would think of her as a victim rather than as a slut. And you weren't a slut Stevie - you were just an inexperienced young woman who had a one night stand with an older man. And it should never have mattered to you what your friends think of you for what you did with me that night - real friends don't do that."

To make his point he put his arm around Lindi's shoulder.

"Real friends stick by you through thick and thin." He continued, "They believe in you and are there for you when you need them. Your 'friends' were never real friends at all - if they were real friends they would never have judged you for having sex with an older man."

"I have learned my lesson." Stevie said tearfully and shaking a little as she dabbed her eye with the tattered remains of her tissue, "I was monumentally stupid to have allowed it to go as far as it went. But my friends and the police practically forced me into it. By the time I had the opportunity to end it before it got out of hand, I was too scared of what might happen to me. I didn't want to go to prison!"

"Well, you definitely deserve to go to prison young lady!" Lindi interjected, "You should thank your lucky stars that Peter here didn't want your life ruined because of all this. After all, you could so nearly have ruined his!"

"I am thankful!" Stevie sobbed, "I truly don't deserve to be stood here now. If there's anything I can do to make up for what happened I'll do it in a heartbeat!"

"All I ask is that you go and make the most of the chance I have given you." Peter said sincerely, "And go and make a success of your life, have a family and a good career and do all the other things that you want to do. But above all, get yourself some proper friends."

"I will." Stevie sniffled, "I promise I will. Thank you."

"No hard feelings?" Stevie's father said as he held out his hand.

"As far as I'm concerned this whole sorry incident is in the past." Peter replied.

He reached out and shook Mr Williams' hand firmly.

"Phew, well that was pretty intense!" Clive said as Stevie and her father went over to return to her mother and leave the court.

"I meant every word of it though." Peter said sincerely.

"I still can't understand why you don't want the stupid little bitch to be sent to prison for what she did to you, but I have to admit I must admire you for what you did." Lindi said as they too headed for the exit.

"It takes a man of great principles to be able to turn the other cheek and forgive her like that." Clive added.

"She was just a naive young woman who was too ashamed of what her so-called friends thought of her." Peter said as they stepped outside into the early evening sunshine, "She made a mistake, simple as. It was a stupid mistake, no doubt about it, and we all make mistakes in life. No, the real villains in this whole ridiculous series of events are her friends for persuading her to report me for raping her, but most especially the police and the CPS for not only believing her story but also for having me banged up just so they could say that they got a result. If it weren't for you guys and all that you did to get me out I'd still be in there now."

"Well, I say if the police made a monumental fuck-up on their part, you have every right to take them to court - or at least report Inspector Barlow to the Independent Police Complaints Commission." Lindi said as they descended the stone steps at the front of the building.

"Maybe." Peter replied, "I'll certainly give it some thought."

He stopped and turned to face Lindi and Clive.

"Now I don't know about you two, but I'm in the mood to celebrate." Peter said warmly, "What say we find a nice place for a bite to eat - my treat!"

Lindi smiled. "Now that's the Peter I know and love!" She said with a chuckle.

Did she really mean that? Lindi suddenly thought to herself once she realised what she had just said. Did she love Peter - as more than just a friend?

Monday, July 5th 2010 - 11:52pm

Clive helped a near paralytic Lindi through the door and she tumbled into their hotel room a giggling mess of a woman - they were both a little the worse for wear after they had spent the evening at the Wasabi Go! Japanese restaurant enjoying its range of sushi and sashimi and partaking of quite a lot of sake throughout the evening, but Lindi was far and away the most inebriated of the three of them. Lindi had never tried the traditional Japanese rice wine before, but Peter - who had tried it before whist on a business trip to Japan some years earlier - encouraged her to try it. And to her surprise, she discovered she liked sake - she liked it a lot! Of course, she also felt compelled to try the Japanese horseradish after which the restaurant was named, scoffing that it couldn't possibly be as hot as people said it was. And naturally, as soon as the innocuous-looking green paste touched her tongue, she was quite unprepared for it! It was a good job Peter wisely had a glass of water on standby for her.

"Told you so!" He had said with a smug grin at the time whilst she extinguished the fire on her tongue.

The sake had really gone to her head and she simply couldn't make it to their room under her own steam. It had been a peculiar evening really - a celebration that wasn't really a celebration. In one way they were celebrating the fact that the whole incident that had blighted Peter's life for months was now firmly closed and he could get on with his life, but at the same time it felt as though it wasn't really something that should be celebrated either. But all three of them had nonetheless enjoyed their evening.

"I'm all right, I'm all right!" Lindi giggled drunkenly as she tried to get herself to her feet and failing utterly.

"No you're not." Clive replied, shaking his head in amusement, "You're absolutely hammered! Come on, let me help you into bed."

"I love you Clive." Lindi said as he helped her up, "I... ugh, I feel dizzy."

Clive set her down on the bed and she almost immediately collapsed onto her back on the soft mattress.

"Look at the state of you!" Clive remarked, more to himself than to anyone else.

It was clear to Clive that Lindi was only semi-conscious at that point. He reached down and slipped off her shoes and placed them carefully on the floor.

"I think you'll be needing a little help here." He said as he reached over to unbutton her blouse.

"It was so bloody hot!" Lindi slurred.

"What was hot?" Clive asked as he fumbled at her buttons.

"That wasabi stuff - it looked just like mushy peas!" She answered.

Her eyes were closed as though she was asleep but she continued to mumble nonsensically whilst Clive undressed her. Eventually, after having removed her blouse and her skirt to leave her in just her bra and panties, he went to go and brush his teeth. But something inside him suddenly stirred to life. He should have simply rolled her over under the sheets and let her sleep it off - but he didn't.

Instead, he reached behind her back and unhooked her bra and slipped it off over her shoulders. She had gone completely floppy, indicating that she had fallen into a deep sleep. He then carefully took down her panties, slipping her delicate lace knickers off to leave her naked and vulnerable. He stood there for a moment, the sight of his woman laid so naked and exposed before him and totally at his mercy. He wanted her - he wanted her badly. And she was simply there for the taking, such was the state she was currently in. With a fire of ardour coursing through his brain Clive put all thoughts of brushing his teeth on hold and he began tearing his own clothes off. He was going to fuck her! He was going to take her right there and then!! He felt like he had suddenly been taken over by some kind of primal animalistic urge to procreate - a sort of instinctual autopilot. He had lost himself to temptation.

As he yanked down his briefs he stood before her naked, his penis already firmly erect and drooling like some mythical medieval beast. He mounted the bed on his knees and reached down and parted the deeply asleep woman's legs to reveal her gaping vulva before his eyes. He positioned himself above her, ready to penetrate her - ready to use her. The drooling tip of his neatly circumcised erection hovered a mere inch from Lindi's soft labia - just one short push and he would be inside her.

But then he looked at her face - so serene and peaceful as she slept without any knowledge of what he was about to do to her - and suddenly he realised what he was doing.

"Fuckkk!!" He snarled to himself as he rolled over to lie on his back beside the sleeping Lindi. The fire in his loins had been extinguished just in time before it had completely consumed him.

He realised what he was doing - what he was about to do to her - was not simply a little bit of fun whilst she was asleep. This was rape. He would be guilty himself of raping this woman that he loved, for she was in no fit condition to consent to what he was doing. He cursed at himself for so very nearly falling for temptation's trap. He felt disgusted with himself, to the point of actually feeling nauseated for a brief moment.

He got up and put his underpants back on and slipped on a t-shirt. He manhandled the unconscious Lindi and managed slip her panties back onto her. He abandoned his attempt to put her bra back on and simply tried to cover her with the bed sheets. She groaned a little as he rolled her over and pulled the sheets across and then she sighed once he had finally put her to bed as he should have done in the first place. He stepped over to the cupboard opposite the bathroom door and took out a couple of fleece blankets and then took a pillow from the bed. He curled up onto the sofa that sat just under the window and pulled the blanket over him. As he stared across at the bed to where Lindi was sleeping peacefully and totally unaware of what had so nearly happened, he drew in a heavy sigh, both of relief and of disappointment in himself.

Thursday, July 8th 2010 - 7:07 am

Another bouquet of flowers from Clive had arrived the previous night - that had been the third since they'd returned from Nottingham on Tuesday morning. What was going on? Why the sudden desire to keep sending her flowers?? Lindi pondered this as she stepped out of her shower - was he simply being romantic or was there more to it? Oh my God, she suddenly thought to herself, was he thinking of proposing to her or something?

She shook that thought from her mind as she tossed her damp towel into her laundry basket, she wasn't ready for that sort of commitment yet - and she felt sure that he wasn't ready either. After all, they'd only been dating for a couple of months. So why on earth was he so enamoured with buying her flowers all of a sudden?

Naked, save for a towel wrapped around her head, Lindi stepped into her kitchen to put her rather ancient but still perfectly functioning coffee percolator on and put two slices of wholemeal bread into the toaster. Automatic coffee machines were all the rage but Lindi was an old fashioned girl at heart - when it came to coffee, simple was best. She flicked on the radio and the kitchen was filled with the dulcet tones of Marvin Gaye singing his song about what was happening in the world. She returned to her bedroom and hunted in her drawers for a fresh bra and a matching pair of panties. Slipping them on, she then turned her attention to her hair and the rest of her outfit. She was always conscious of dressing in a professional manner - not too casual or too revealing, but not too austere or severe either. It was always a fine line between the two. After all, she wanted to feel feminine but not to attract the unwanted attention of some of her male students; that would be very awkward. Flattering as it may be, being the subject of a schoolboy crush was something she most definitely did not want to be.

Over the years, Lindi had struck what she felt was a reasonable balance. She picked out a pair of simple black trousers and a light floral silk blouse. It was a warm day outside - with temperatures predicted to be the equal of southern Spain - so she decided to dress in a manner that wouldn't make her feel too hot. It was one of those days when one longs to forgo the obligations of work and simply hit the beach instead. For the residents of Westborough-on-sea, blessed as it was with what many considered was among the finest beaches on this stretch of the south coast, it was a near daily dilemma at this time of year.

She returned to the kitchen and took her toast out of the toaster and poured herself a mug of freshly brewed coffee. Adding a splash of milk and a spoonful of brown sugar, she buttered her toast and spread on a little lime marmalade.

Since it was a nice day outside, she went out to her small balcony overlooking the rooftops of the town. The sea could just be seen in the distance shimmering in the morning sun. She took a seat at her small cafe table and opened her laptop to check out the morning's news while she sat and ate, savouring the zesty sweetness of the marmalade. The lead story of the day was a series of bombings that had happened in Iraq during a pilgrimage to some site that held particular holy significance for Shia Muslims. She hated to read such stories about people being killed in the name of religion, or merely for being of the wrong faith in the wrong place at the wrong time. She hated that there was so much intolerance and fear and hatred in this world. It was reading stories like this that had, over the years, reinforced her beliefs. It was all too easy for people to make the assumption that she was an atheist, but she never considered herself as such. She believed in God, she always told others when asked about her beliefs, but she didn't believe in religion. God, she always believed, was whatever force it was that governed the universe - the almighty to her was most certainly not a man with a long white beard and flowing white robes that lived in the clouds. Religion, meanwhile, was to her a human construct, and therefore utterly flawed - competing philosophies and ideologies could only ever end in bloodshed, she figured. Even though she knew that religion brought comfort and solace to literally billions of people, there would always be extremists who would happily destroy those that didn't conform to their own twisted beliefs and ideologies. At the end of the day, she simply didn't want to be part of it all. Her philosophies were simple: treat others with respect and dignity, and do unto others as unto yourself; in short, just be a good person.