Free The Room on the Second Floor by T A Williams Page B

he found all these legal complications distasteful. The words of his very own St Bernard, in a letter from Italy to those left behind at his beloved Abbey of Clairvaux, came to mind.
…I suffer also from being obliged to move in affairs that trouble the peace of my soul…
    Roger definitely felt that Mr Kevin Jennings was troubling his own inner peace but still, Heslop seemed up to the task. Mercifully, the rents from the properties in London were generating far more money than he could possibly spend. Let battle commence, he would tell the solicitor. As long as it did not affect him, or the peace of his soul. The thought of soul mates prompted him to raise his eyes towards Linda, who was looking serene and happy. His own mood immediately improved.
    ‘So what are you offering me this evening?’
    She wanted so badly to reply, ‘Anything you desire.’ But she settled for, ‘Something a bit more straightforward than lobster.’

Chapter 11
    Duggie and Tina were also dining together that evening. Both were enjoying the occasion. In fact, to Duggie’s surprise, he and Tina seemed to enjoy most things together. Twice married and twice divorced, he had vowed several years earlier to avoid any further serious relationships. He could barely afford his first divorce, let alone the second. A third would spell total financial disaster. Of course, after Roger’s slice of good fortune, and his own subsequent rise in economic status, things on the financial front were now greatly improved. He leaned across the remains of the Gambas au Cognac and addressed her face, rather than her cleavage. This was a trick he was gradually mastering as the weeks went by.
    ‘So what do you think?’ She gave him an encouraging smile, so he carried on. ‘In many ways it would make good sense, as long as you are happy with the idea. After all, we are spending so much time together these days, it would seem like a logical step.’ He waited for her reply, while she sipped the Pinot Grigio in her glass.
    She looked across the table at him. She knew him so very well by now. Under the self-assured façade, she knew that he was very insecure in so many ways. He had told her enough about the circumstances of his two divorces for her to realise what they had cost him. And not just in financial terms. His proposal that they move in together was a really big deal for him. And for her.
    ‘Are you sure you could face me morning, afternoon, evening and night?’ She was still smiling as she asked the question.
    He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he could most certainly face her every evening and night. At least as long as his strength held up. The rest of the time would create a bit of a change to his routine, but he really wanted it to work out.
    She read the answer in his face. He wanted her. And she knew that she wanted him. She was almost thirty-five now. She had never been married, but she had been in two long-term relationships. Like him, she still bore the scars of the break-ups. She made up her mind.
    ‘I’m ready to give it a try.’ Her bare foot slid up his leg and buried itself tantalisingly between his thighs. Her hand found his across the table. ‘More than ready.’
    The arrival of the teenage waitress, who seemed embarrassed at the sight of this flirting by people twice her age, prevented him from replying. The thought of flirting made him wonder how things were going with Linda’s big dinner party.
    ‘Wonder how the big seduction is going…’ he was thinking aloud, but Tina knew full well to whom he was referring.
    ‘I hope she’s been swotting up on her medieval history. Boy, it must be hard to compete with a saint and a whole monastery full of Cistercians for a man’s affections!’
    He was impressed. ‘What did you call those monks? I thought your subject was geography. Fancy you knowing about monks and monasteries!’
    ‘Cistercians, Duggie. They are still going to this day, too. I might work in the Geography Department,