“Are you going to finish that?” Ritza asked, looking bemused at her son who had eaten the cheese and the inside of the buns and nothing else of his meal.

“I am finished,” Gus perked, his dimpled cheeks resonating with innocence. “Can we have ice cream now?”

“You have to finish your dinner first,” Ritza said firmly. “Then we can have ice cream.”

“But I want ice cream now,” Gus huffed.

“Yeah Mom, we want ice cream,” Brad declared. Gus looked at him strangely then grinned.

“Oh, don’t encourage him,” Ritza groaned.

“I’ll get down on the floor, beat my fists, kick my feet and scream in a wild tantrum if I don’t get ice cream, and Gus will do the same, won’t you?” Brad announced, looking over at Gus.

“Yep,” Gus nodded.

“We’re retaliating against the fascist dinner regime that says we must have five servings of vegetables before we can indulge in dessert,” Brad continued.

Ritza shook her head and chuckled, “I am never going to forgive you for this.”

“C’mon Mum, go tell the lady we want ice cream,” Gus grinned.

Ritza smiled as she got to her feet. “Please don’t teach my son anything else while I’m gone.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, we’re going to have a full Pokemon war once I rescue Pichaku from the flowers,” Brad announced with a wry smile.

“Why I agree to these things…” Ritza sighed as she went in search of a waitress.

Fenny adjusted her pantyhose and reached for her dress. Danny looked coyly at her as he fumbled with his belt.

“Well, so far that’s been the highlight of the party,” he mused.

“You’re not wrong,” she sighed as she slipped her dress back on. “Zip me up?”

“It’d be a pleasure,” he perked and approached Fenny’s bare back. He couldn’t resist running his hand over her bare flesh, making her shiver.

She let out a small gasp. “You’re supposed to do the zip up.”

“I know, I know,” he teased and planted a soft kiss between her shoulder blades. “I’m a bad boy, spank me.”

Fenny giggled as she felt the zip close and Danny’s hands slide around her waist. She turned to face him, her fingers caressing his muscular chest.

“Why are you with him?” Danny breathed, one of his hands reaching to stroke her cheek.

“He makes me feel special,” Fenny shrugged.

“Special? He treats you like shit,” Danny scorned. “You deserve so much better, you’re a beautiful, intelligent woman…”

“Let me guess, you’re better huh?” she countered.

“No, like Andy, you don’t love me either,” he sighed. “Alas.”

“And you know this how?” she asked indignantly.

“I’ve seen the way you look when you talk about him, your eyes twinkle, your lips smile and your heart beats that little bit faster,” Danny replied, and let her go to grab his shirt.

Fenny felt her cheeks redden a little. “So, if Andy is wrong for me and I’m in love with…” She stopped herself then continued. “What are you?”

“A pawn who’s getting some great sex,” Danny smirked. “I care about you Fen, but I think Gina might kill me if I encroached on your life.”

“Oh, so you two gossip about my sex life, huh?”

“God no, I haven’t spoken to Gina in a while.”

“So what is your relationship with her? I mean you talk about her enough. She was adamant you two had never consummated your relationship, which surprised me to no end,” Fenny mused.

“You want to know about me and Gina?” he asked as she tucked his shirt in.

She nodded. “Yeah, she doesn’t talk a lot about…well, anything.”

“Ok.” He smiled as he took a seat on the table as Fenny hunted for her shoes. “Gina and I met as cadets. I was from a private all boys’ school, an expensive university and strict parents. Gina was public and proud, she swore like a truckie and she was the first real person I’d ever met. She wasn’t pretentious, she treated everyone the same and worked hard. Problem was, I got all the advances because I was deemed upper class. She never complained, though, and then a job at The Herald came up and we both applied. She was clearly more suited to it than me, and to be honest, I didn’t want the responsibility. About a week later we were both summoned to the editor’s office and he announced that it’d been hard to split us, we were both well suited to the position. He then declared that, ‘because of Daniel’s university qualifications,’ the job was mine.”

“What a bastard,” Fenny gasped as she took a seat beside him.

“You’re not wrong. Gina was devastated. She’d worked a hell of a lot harder than me. So, I stood up and said, ‘Thank you sir for your obvious belief in me, but I would rather Miss Coleman take the position, as I think she is far better suited to it than me’,” Danny breathed.

“Really?”

“Yep. They gave her the job, and when we left that office she burst into tears and thanked me. To me, the feeling I got from that was a lot better than some shitty job. Mind you, they still gave me a job there and Gina and I became partners in crime.”

“No wonder she thinks so highly of you,” Fenny cooed and pecked Danny’s cheek. “You’re just a big sweetheart, aren’t you?”

“I have my moments,” Danny grinned and caught Fenny in a kiss. “I guess we should go back to the fun before Andy wets himself over your disappearance.”

“I’m sure he hasn’t noticed,” Fenny sighed as she slid off the table. “I’ll go first.”

“Ok,” Danny perked, grabbing his tie. “Fen?”

She stopped and turned around. “What?”

“You look amazing.”

Fenny blushed as she turned and left the room.

“Here, it’s all I have,” Gina declared as she handed Paul the shirt she’d taken from him when they’d swapped shirts.

“Thanks. Smells a lot better,” he mused.

“Well I did soak it two days,” she chided as she adjusted the t-shirt she’d slipped on.

“Now, what are we going to do until my pants are dry?” he sighed and flumped onto Gina’s bed.

“Whatever you want,” she shrugged as she kneeled beside him.

“We could eat the cake?”

“I need to ice it, and don’t even ask if you can do it, you’ll just eat the icing or snort it or end up painting the Formica.”

“Fine, can I watch?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t you always?

“Until they put the goat away,” he sulked.

“And that’s not milk that splashes in your face,” she chided as she got to her feet.

“Well, we speak from experience, don’t we,” he jeered haughtily.

“Yes, but his name was Mark and he wasn’t a goat,” she declared as she left the room.

“Ohh Genie,” he groaned as he leapt off the bed to follow her.

“What?” she said innocently as she hunted out a small bowl and some chocolate icing sugar.

“You’re a dirty, smutty girl.”

“You started it,” she smirked.

“You went on about goat ejaculation.”

“Why do all our conversations lead to goat ejaculation?” she asked as she added some water to the power in the bowl and began to mix the brown, sugary liquid.

“They do?”

“You’d be surprised,” she said matter-of-factly. “Taste,” she added and held out her finger with a dollop of chocolate icing on the end. Paul smiled wryly and grabbed Gina’s hand, licked his lips and stuck her entire finger in his mouth. She started to giggle, and squealed when he started running his tongue over her finger.

“No, ew,” Gina giggled. Paul let her hand go as he started to snigger. “You sick puppy.”

“Ah you enjoyed it,” he teased and stepped forward to scoop some icing onto his finger. “You want some?” he asked and teasingly held his finger out. She raised both her eyebrows then wrapped her lips around his finger, sucked the icing off then pulled back and licked her lips appreciatively.

“This is going to involve another shower if we keep it up,” Paul mused. “And I don’t have any more clothes.”

“I get the feeling clothes aren’t going to be an issue,” Gina cooed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“God I’ve missed you,” Paul breathed. He wrapped his arms around her and they kissed passionately, forgetting about the icing completely.

“I’m surprised with the amount of sugar he’s had that he’s fallen asleep,” Brad whispered as he carried Gus to Ritza’s door.

“I think the three Pokemon wars and the Teletubbie attack squad wore him out,” Ritza mused as she unlocked the door and hurried inside to switch a lamp on.

“Where’s his room?”

“Oh it’s ok, I’ll take him,” Ritza smiled as she hurried over and Brad slid Gus into her arms. “I’ll be right back,” she added and disappeared down the hallway. Brad watched her go into a room and quietly followed. He leaned against the doorframe and watched as Ritza lay Gus on his bed and quickly got him into his pajamas. She pulled the covers over him, made sure his favorite Teletubbie was tucked up beside him, and kissed him gently on the forehead. She nearly died when she saw Brad standing there.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack,” she cussed in a hushed voice as she closed the door a little and then led the way back down the hall and into the living room.

“Sorry, I don’t get to see my little girl at bedtime very often,” he sighed.

“But I thought that’s why you moved to Montana, to be with her?”

“I did, until her Mom married. Now it’s all about getting her to accept her stepdad.”

Ritza squeezed Brad’s arm soothingly. “What are you doing here, Brad?”

“Trying to work us out,” he shrugged.

“Us?” she laughed. “I know we kissed the other day, but the truth is you don’t love me. The woman you love is tattooed above your heart, you’re using me as an excuse.”

“Ritza…”

“I won’t hear another word on it. You’re a sweet guy, but you don’t love me and never really have. Now, go back to Gina’s and work out how you’re going to win back the woman you do love.”

Brad gave Ritza a wonky smile and pulled her into a hug. “This from the woman who shot me.”

“Can we not bring that up?” she cringed. “It’s not something I’m proud of.”

He kissed her softly on the forehead. “Next time we’re having strawberries.”

“Strawberries?” Ritza echoed, bewildered as she followed Brad to the door. “Oh my god, you remembered that?”

Brad chuckled as he headed toward his car, Ritza looking on shocked that he’d remembered their lustful, twilight flirtations, that had happened so long ago.

Andy finished the last of his glass of champagne and turned to his colleagues. “Well, I’d better be hitting the road.”

“You don’t want to leave yet, do you?” demanded one smarmy git in a tux as he looked at Fenny.

“Well I have got a bit of a headache,” Fenny lied.

“Hey, Andy mate, if you want to stay, I can drop Fenny off at the hotel, since I’m leaving and it’s on my way,” Danny offered.

Andy looked at Danny and then at Fenny who was literally dead on her feet. “Fenella, did you want Danny to take you?”

Fenny felt a sudden Gina moment but managed to say, “Only if it’s not too much bother.”

“Thanks Danny,” Andy smiled. “Sweetie, if it gets too late I’ll just spend the night here, okay?” he added and brushed his lips against Fenny’s.

“Okay, darling,” Fenny cooed and then followed Danny out. They walked in silence until they had collected Fenny’s coat and were greeted by the cool breeze outside. Danny swept Fenny into his arms and she was more than grateful.

“Thank you,” she said wearily and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Well, you said your feet were sore,” he perked as he walked to his car, unlocked the door and set her down gently on the front seat. He slid into the drivers seat, started the engine and soon they were heading back toward the city.

“Danny?” Fenny breathed as she kicked her shoes off.

“Yes Fenella,” he chirped.

“I want to stay with you tonight.”

“What about Andy?”

“He won’t be home,” she replied. “I know him well enough.”

“Well you won’t hear any complaints from me,” he smiled.

It took 20 minutes for them to arrive at Danny’s apartment. He carried Fenny inside and put her down in the living room. He slid his jacket off and chucked it on the couch and then did the same to his tie.

“Glad to get the damn thing off,” he scorned.

“You don’t like your suit very much, do you?” Fenny mused as she removed her panty hose and dropped them into a chair.

“I hate it,” Danny declared, kicking off his shoes and socks and then heading for his bedroom.

Fenny followed. “Unzip me?” she asked and turned around. Danny sauntered over and gently slid the zip down. Fenny dumped it in the corner along with her bra and then climbed into bed. She sat up to remove the hairpins and bands from her hair and shake it out. “So much better,” she yawned and lay back onto the pillows. Danny smiled at her obvious contentment as he removed his shirt and pants and then slid into bed beside her.

“Thank you,” she cooed and rolled onto her side to kiss him.

“For what?”

“For being here,” she breathed and then turned over away from him. She felt Danny’s arms wrap around her and she pushed herself back into his chest, wanting to be close to him and wanting to feel loved. He dropped several kisses on her shoulder and then they both fell asleep.

Paul woke and blearily looked at the clock: it was 2am. He gently slid his arms from around Gina and slowly got out of bed. He grabbed his boxers from the floor and pulled them on, looking guiltily back and Gina’s sleeping form. He leaned back across the bed and left a soft kiss on her cheek before he tiptoed out of the room, closing the door behind him. The dryer had stopped not long ago and woken him up. He clicked open the door and pulled out his warm pants as he pulled them on he felt a small bit of metal nick his toe and took a mental note to remember that. He forgot the zipper, however and as he did it up he felt a searing heat in his nether regions.

“Fucking hell,” he breathed and paced the laundry until things seemingly cooled. He then grabbed his shirt and buttoned it up. He headed into the bathroom where he knew his shoes and socks were and was greeted by Lewis who looked at him with malice.

“What?” Paul whispered Lewis let out several low mews, which echoed.

“Shut the fuck up,” Paul hissed and Lewis gave a few more mews. Paul hissed at the cat, which took off in the direction of Gina’s room. Paul hurriedly tied his laces then dashed into the living room, grabbed his wallet, keys and phone and made his way out of the apartment before Lewis returned.

“It’s five past seven and you’re listening to Triple M, still to come this morning…”

Without opening her eyes Gina roughly turned her alarm off. “Mikey might be your buddy but he shits me at this hour,” she declared before opening her eyes and realising Paul wasn’t there. She let out a small sigh; she had a feeling he wouldn’t be there. The only upside was she had gotten to fall asleep in his arms, something she’d not done in a long time. Gina slid out of bed and grabbed her robe — time to prepare for another day of Freya in her face, movie reviews and a few art exhibitions.

“Where are you going?” Fenny asked sleepily as she felt Danny climb out of bed.

“I’ve got a meeting this morning,” Danny replied as he hunted out a clean shirt.

“Shame,” Fenny sighed and reached for her glasses.

“You can stay here if you want, or I can drop you back at the hotel,” he offered.

“Neither. Can you drop me at Gina’s?” Fenny asked as she slid out of bed and grabbed her bra.

“Of course. I thought you might want to change is all.”

“I’ve got spare clothes at Gina’s. I manage to leave stuff wherever I go,” she mused as she watched Danny button his shirt. He didn’t look happy and buttoned it up wrong; he grumbled as he unbuttoned it.

“What’s wrong, Daniel?” Fenny asked as she sauntered over to him and took over the buttoning of the shirt.

“I’m not in the mood to go and play yes man today, I can think of a million things I’d rather be doing.”

“Like?” she prompted.

“Like not wearing a fucking suit. Going surfing. Making love to you.”

“I’ve held a vote and I agree,” she mused and practically tore the shirt from his back. “Making love and hanging out at the beach sounds like just what I need.”

“Are you serious?” he gasped as her lips crept toward his.

“Yeah. Right now Andy can go to hell,” Fenny grinned as they caught each other’s lips in a kiss and fell back onto the bed.

Gina was boiling the kettle when Brad appeared scratching his stomach. “You’re not a sexy man at this hour,” she chided.

“You wouldn’t be sexy if you had a cat that decided to claw your hair for the last hour,” Brad scorned as he took a seat at the table. “Speaking of feral animals, dare I ask why you were washing Paul’s clothes?”

“Cake baking accident,” she shrugged as she made Brad a coffee.

“But you guys, you’re on again, right?” he asked. “Thanks,” he added as the steaming mug of coffee was placed in front of him.

“Were we ever off?” she sighed. “I don’t know. He was gone before I woke up.”

“Well, he loves you enough to leave his shirt on the fridge,” Brad chided and pointed out Paul’s shirt that was dangling from the corner of the fridge.

She gave a watery smile and then pulled herself out of it. “How did your dinner go?”

“Okay. Gus is hysterical, we had a Pokemon war and demanded ice cream,” he perked.

“And Ritza?”

“Yeah, she blows my mind, such a great mom,” he breathed and sipped his coffee. “Told me to fight for Fen.”

“For once I agree with the woman.”

“Yeah, tried that though, it was more fight with than fight for.”

“What happened?”

“Fen turned up yesterday when I was cleaning, one thing led to another and…well, I don’t need to draw you a diagram. Anyway, I did the honest thing and told her about Ritza and she went apeshit on me. I basically told her that was the reason we never work because she always runs from her problems.”

Gina looked sympathetically at Brad as she walked over to him and squeezed his shoulder. “What am I going to do with you? I’ll talk to her if you want me to?”

“Would you?” he asked with a tinge of hope to his voice.

“Better still, I’ll get Paul to have words with her. She listens to him,” Gina mused imagining the scene. “God knows why.”

“I hope I haven’t fucked things up,” Brad breathed.

“Trust me, man, right now the problem is her and her fuckwit of a boyfriend,” Gina scorned as she grabbed her things and headed out the door.

Gina arrived at work and was promptly pounced upon by Freya who was beaming broadly.

“Good morning,” she perked.

“Morning,” Gina said suspiciously. “You’re awfully happy.”

“I’ve had a fantastic morning, I think the Tai Chi is working.”

“In what way?” Gina asked warily, not sure if she really wanted an answer.

“Well,” Freya began in a hushed voice, “I was bit angry Paul got home so late last night, but he was so enthusiastic at Tai Chi, and then when we came home…God, we had the best sex we’ve had in ages. On the living room floor, of all places.”

Gina fought hard not to punch the woman in front of her. She’d woken thinking that she and Paul were together again, and barely two hours later, she felt those hopes totally dashed.

“There’s something else,” Freya smiled.

Please god don’t let it have to do with licking fondue from each others naked bodies, Gina thought.

“Come see,” Freya perked and dragged Gina into her own office. “They were delivered before you got here.”

Gina dropped her bag onto the floor next to her desk and looked at the bright bunch of gerberas, wrapped in some equally bright paper on her desk.

“There’s a card,” Freya enthused.

“Yes, thankyou,” Gina scorned as she pulled a small purple, cardboard card from the flowers and read what was written in it.

“Mad Rectum Plot?” Freya asked, reading over Gina’s shoulder.

“Do you mind?” Gina cussed and closed the card.

“What type of nickname is Mad Rectum Plot?” Freya continued.

“It’s none of your business.”

“Oh, but I tell you all about my Pauly,” Freya cooed.

“Freya, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Freya looked dejected. “Fine, but I’m not giving up. I’m so going to find out about your mystery man. Does Paul know?”

Gina narrowed her eyes as Freya left, grinning giddily. “Stupid bitch,” she cussed and looked back at the flowers. She felt like she’d experienced every emotion possible in the last few hours, but was one thing was for sure. There was no way in hell she could spend the day at work with Freya exuding a post-root glow. Gina grabbed her bag and the flowers and headed out of her office.

“Where are you going?” Freya gasped.

“She’s got an interview,” Amanda hissed at Freya, who quickly retreated as Amanda followed Gina out.

“I have an interview?” Gina mused.

“I know what Mad Rectum Plot is an anagram of,” Amanda chided.

“Congratulations.”

“Gina, a man only sends flowers for one reason.”

“He’s fucking Freya, okay,” Gina scorned. “Is that what you wanted to know?”

“Well, I had an inkling,” Amanda sighed. “And if it’s any consolation, I’ll make sure she’s kept busy for a while.”

“Are you encouraging my non-work ethic?” Gina asked as she stopped at the elevator.

“Darling, there is no way in hell I’m letting that little skank steal the gorgeous Paul off you,” Amanda replied.

“Well, technically she hasn’t,” Gina said with a small smile as she indicated to the flowers.

“So, go and thank him in your usual way. No need to hurry back,” Amanda winked as the doors hissed open.

“Thank you,” Gina smiled. “I am indebted to you, like, forever.”

“Honey, you’ve been indebted since I sent you on that first interview,” Amanda laughed.