Chapter One - Their First Encounter
Alan sat on one of the chairs that were provided for men accompanying their wives or partners as they shopped in the expensive boutique just off High Street Kensington. His wife was trying on heaven knows what and he expected to be there sometime. He had brought The Guardian with him for something to read but was distracted by the attractive young woman opposite. She was trying on a pair of exquisite shoes. She was flexing her foot, looking in a full length mirror as she checked how they looked on her. Alan thought they graced her foot with elegance and sensuality. High heels, a black upper and a red sole, expensive no doubt but they suited her, extending her calf in a quietly understated but emphatic way.
Not wishing to be thought of as staring inappropriately his eyes returned to front page of his newspaper. It was the sense of someone standing over him that made him look up.
"What do you think...do they suit me...should I buy them?"
He felt the colour rise in his cheeks, he was not accustomed to attractive young women initiating conversations with him.
"Well. I asked you a question!"
There was a tone to the way she spoke to him. It was quiet yet it left no room for doubt that she expected, no required, an answer.
Alan took a breath and responded:
"They suit you very well, the colour perfect for your skin tone, if you can afford them then I think you should buy them."
"Good, I intended to anyway. I was more interested in the fact you couldn't stop glancing at me trying them on...you seemed fascinated by them or me or both. I'm not sure but probably both."
"I wasn't staring.."
"Shh! You and I both know you were and I don't mind. I enjoy a man who appreciates how I look in my shoes."
Alan fell silent, there was a certain authority in her "Shh", not something to be challenged or ignored. She looked at him or rather scrutinised and assessed him for what seemed like an age. Then coming to some sort of a decision she took a small card from her handbag and gave it to him.
"That has my email address on it. I expect to hear from you later today, I have a feeling that I might be able to provide you with something you are missing, perhaps something you haven't really admitted, even to yourself. When you email me, and you will, tell me what that is."
She stood but before going she leant down and whispered in his ear:
"That dress your wife is trying on, it doesn't suit her. Find a way of complimenting her so that she decides not to buy it. Tell me later how you did it."
With that she approached the sales assistant and had the shoes gift wrapped.
Alan stole a quick look at the card before slipping it into his jacket pocket. It pictured a pair of stunning high heeled shoes.
It was another twenty minutes after she had left that his wife finally appeared in the dress that the young woman had quite rightly advised did not suit her.