Free Love: A Messy Business by Abbie Walton

sound disappointed.”
    “No, not really.  I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.  But that’s fine.  If you’ve got everything planned already, then that’s perfectly OK.
    “OK, great!  The plus side is that I do have a couple of exceptional bottles of wine - one of which I will open as soon as we get in.”
    “Sounds lovely.”
    Colin opened the door and motioned to Kate to go in ahead.  Kate had been expecting there to be a smell of dinner cooking coming from the kitchen but she couldn’t detect anything.  Perhaps it was some kind of salad, which would be slightly disappointing.  As she moved further into the house, she noticed that the dining room table was not set either, which was also a bit puzzling.  Her rumination was interrupted by a sudden pop, which she realized was simply Colin opening the bottle of wine as he had promised.  In he came, proffering a large glass of red wine.
    Kate took it and took a sip.  It was, as Colin had said, very nice indeed.  She took a large sip to help fortify her in readiness for asking what was an awkward question.
    “Colin, I hope you don’t mind me asking you this…but nothing seems to be cooking and the dining room table isn’t set for a meal either…”  Kate paused, hoping that Colin would be able to see the point she was trying to make and avoid her having to end the sentence with something like “so what the hell is going on.”
    Colin, himself, took a large swig of wine in preparation for his reply.  He paused for no more than two seconds, which seemed far longer to Kate, took a deep breath and then launched into it.  “Yes, well, I suppose I should explain that.  You see, the truth of the matter, Kate, is that I asked you to come here because I actually need your help.  I really need a big favour from you.”
    Kate took another swig of wine, nervously.  Help?  What kind of help?
    “It’s work-related as a matter of fact.  You remember that Japanese client that I was speaking to last night?
    “Yes…”
    “Well, we had arranged a session for tonight, but unfortunately my…err…colleague rang me earlier to let me know that her car had broken down on the motorway and there was absolutely no way that she could get here in time.  That’s really left me in the lurch as you can imagine – as I said yesterday, he is a very important customer and pays very, very well for my services – the last thing I want to do is let him down.  There’s absolutely nobody else who I could call to come and fill in at this stage of the game.  So…I was hoping that you might be able to step into her shoes, just this once.  I’d pay you of course and make it worth your while. And then we really could go out later, I really meant that.”
    “Hang on a second, though - why didn’t you just tell me all of that in the first place instead of dropping all of this on me at the last minute?  I was under the impression that we were going out on our original date, but just a day earlier.”  Colin hung his head for a second or two, and then lifted it to look at Kate.
    “Yes, I know.  I should have been more upfront about it, but I was afraid you would turn me down.  I really am sorry about that.”
    “Why on earth would you be worried that I would turn you down?  I’m happy to help out a friend you know, especially if there’s some money involved.”
    “Well, you don’t know what I need you to do yet! It’s a little…off-piste, to say the least.”
    “Well, out with it, then!  Does it require being well-dressed?  Is that why you asked me to put my best togs on?”
    “Oh, absolutely – that was a very firm stipulation that was made by Mr Fukui – that’s the name of the client – that the model must be wearing fashionable and attractive clothing.” 
    “Model?  You want me to do some modelling? What type of modelling?  This isn’t porn, is it?  Because if it is…”  Worried that Kate was going to walk out there and then, Colin