Good Vibration Read online

  Good Vibration

  by

  S M Mala

  Published by S M Mala

  Copyright © S M Mala 2013

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication is to be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any forms or by any means, including photocopying, recording or any other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher/author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  All characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Visit my website: www.smmala.com or www.smmala.co.uk to see other titles.

  All helpful advice and genuine comments are welcome.

  Books to look out for by S M Mala:

  My Mother in Law’s Lover

  What he did to her

  The problem of getting Rich Quik … part one

  The problem of getting Rich Quik … part two

  Relative Strangers

  The Secret History of Hatty Ha Ha … begins

  The Secret History of Hatty Ha Ha … ends

  Pushing over 40

  Good Vibration

  Dedicated to the ones I love… and people who like to love and laugh.

  One

  Sylvie glanced up at the sky as she sat at her desk. It was still blue as was her heart, knowing that very day only reminded her of what she’d lost.

  Looking around to make sure no one was walking into the office she removed her right foot from her sandal and stared at her toes.

  Her fourth toe was bent but her fifth toe was much smaller, as if it had been shrunk in length and widened slightly. She grimaced for a moment at the ugliness of it as something plummeted in her gut, knowing it had been three years to that day since he died, 27th August, and she masked the pain of her loss so no one could see, the same way she hid her toes.

  ‘Tea?’ Samina asked, making her jump, as she quickly put her foot back into the sandal. ‘Samosa?’

  The sprightly elderly Indian woman walked in with her colour clashing salwar kameez and a bright smile slapped on her face. Sylvie realised she’d dyed her hair an awful red but missed some of the grey roots.

  ‘What you do?’ Samina asked Sylvie, in her broken English, while glancing at her desk. ‘This good one!’

  Samina reached forward and grabbed a bright pink vibrator, switching it on and held the end near Sylvie’s face. The pair watched the knob go around and around for a few moments.

  ‘If you say so,’ grimaced Sylvie, smelling the plastic and scrunching up her nose.

  ‘You use. You need something to bring smile to face.’

  ‘That’s never going to happen,’ she replied as Samina then tried to stuff the end up Sylvie’s nose before laughing out loudly. ‘Will you stop that! Leave me alone and take this with you, crazy woman.’

  ‘You help run place that sell product to give you pleasure down below but your face ugly sad. You in need of product to bring pretty face back. I give you lot of free one and you not use,’ sighed the woman, shaking her head from side to side. ‘I use and get lots of organic from them.’

  ‘Orgasms,’ Sylvie corrected as Samina sniffed at her before she noticed something protruding from the woman’s top and did a double take.

  ‘What’s that?’ she tentatively asked, knowing exactly what Samina was wearing.

  ‘It strap on! I test!’ Samina replied and pulled up her top to reveal a large studded black penis she was wearing over her trousers. ‘I give men downstairs shock when they see the size of mine! Much bigger than their little winky!’

  Then Samina touched the base and the thing started to vibrate at a high speed making her laugh out loud. Sylvie grimaced, not feeling in the mood to join in with Samina’s joviality and mostly scared the woman was allowed to be let loose with a dangerous sexual weapon.

  Then she glanced down at the ground and looked at her right sandal

  ‘What you looking at foot for?’ she said as Sylvie put her feet under her chair. ‘You look at sky one minute then look at foot. You mad? You go through menopause in forties? You lost mind?’

  Sylvie knew, like her half toe, something was missing that could never be replaced.

  Her husband.

  Two

  ‘I see,’ Finlay said, trying to get his head around what his wife had just told him.

  One second, all seemed perfect as they had a session of hot, sweaty sex in the living room.

  Then she followed it with an almighty blow to his brain.

  He wasn’t quite sure if he’d misheard.

  ‘I wanted to tell you the truth,’ she said, standing in front of him as he stared blankly at her. Juliette’s tall thin frame was exactly the same and her face didn’t betray a thing. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Sorry?’ he said and let out a massive laugh. ‘That’s all you can say? We’ve just made love and you tell me this!’

  There were so many emotions bubbling in his chest, he didn’t know what to say. Somehow the beautiful backdrop of their apartment in the Cote d’Azur looked ugly, the sun’s hot rays only making Finlay more agitated.

  He stood up and walked around realising he didn’t know how to handle the situation so stared at his wife for a moment.

  There was no doubt she was still perfectly beautiful and elegant.

  Nothing had changed on that front.

  But everything had.

  ‘It was a stupid mistake,’ she said, tears welling up in her eyes. ‘You know I love you.’

  ‘Obviously not enough if there’s a fifty per cent chance I’m not the father.’

  Finlay turned on his heels and walked into the bedroom getting dressed quickly, flinging anything he could find into a small suitcase before heading back into the corridor.

  She hadn’t moved.

  His perfect wife in their perfect home was stood against a perfect backdrop.

  Finlay’s perfect life was now in tatters.

  Three

  ‘Seriously Toby, you have to stop doing this,’ Sylvie sighed as she noticed the young man smile at her like a love struck puppy, his bright blue eyes gazing in her direction. She couldn’t help but laugh before seeing his father walk into the warehouse. ‘Piers has come in so behave.’

  ‘I don’t care about the age gap,’ he continued. ‘You know I adore you. You’re like a beautiful Asian sort of princess, though I know you’re not properly Asian or Indian and it’s a bit mucked up there. Nevertheless, it’s just your gorgeous, wonderful package and that’s what I love. And you know, deep down, I’m not this milky white thing you see before you. Me is a little black.’

  ‘You is a very white cherub and the colour of your skin doesn’t bother me… it’s the fact I’m old enough to be your mother,’ she laughed as he grinned then sighed.

  ‘We could forget about my age and pretend I’m older.’

  ‘That’s very sweet but you’re a young twenty nine years old and I think I’m more like a big sister to you than a prospective lover.’ She hesitated for a moment. ‘Or a nanny? I’m sure you had loads of those.’

  ‘I’d prefer it if you were my wet nurse,’ he said with a cheeky glint. ‘I know it’s been over three years since your husband died. You need to meet someone to make you happy and I’m the one.’ As he spoke, she glanced away, hating to be reminded of her loss. ‘I’ll heal your pain.’

  ‘That’s impossible!’ she laughed out loudly, if only to mask her deep hurt. ‘Toby Caplin you’re adorable and you’ll find someone, I guarantee, though my eight year old daughter is off limits. But I’m not the one for you.’

  ‘But I want you,’ he groaned.

  ‘Your mother wouldn’t appr
ove,’ she said solemnly, seeing the smile wiped off his face.

  ‘We don’t have to tell her.’

  ‘Alice Caplin not having control of something? That would be a miracle.’

  She examined the incredibly handsome young man and knew he was a catch for anyone else under the age of thirty, plus he was sweet and slightly dippy. If Daisy ever brought someone like him home she would be delighted, and a little concerned, as she watched Toby sit up and frown.

  In the background she could hear the clunking of Piers’s footsteps coming up the stairs and towards the office as Toby let out a sigh.

  ‘You know he hates it when you’re not doing something. Go into the edit and put together the packages for this week,’ she whispered before handing him over the product information. ‘And do it quick.’

  ‘It looks like a round door handle,’ he said, frowning for a moment at the boxed item.

  ‘It’s a butt plug. Sells around the world,’ she smiled, seeing him pull a face. ‘Some new design I believe.’

  ‘You’re such a lovely person, why do you work here? You could work anywhere but a place that sells sex toys on-line? Sylvie? You’re wasting your talent.’

  ‘Don’t you dare let your father hear you say that,’ she said quietly, seeing Piers smile at her through the glass before grimacing when he saw his only child. The man rolled his eyes in dismay. ‘And in answer to your question, I needed a part time job and these hours suit. Your dad was very kind to give me the opportunity. I love the people and yes, the product isn’t something I tell everyone about.’

  ‘What do you say?’

  ‘I say I’m a freelance HR Consultant for a lingerie firm, which is sort of true. I could never say it was a toy distributor as Daisy would want to come here and then my mother… lord only knows what she’d think of it, that’s if she could figure out what the items were for!’

  She smiled, knowing she just refused to discuss her work as she’d heard, second hand, someone had told another mother from school she worked in the adult sex industry. Sylvie laughed when they thought she was an exotic pole dancer but dismissed it all as playground gossip. The only ‘poles’ she knew were Elizbieta, Krystof and Dan who worked for ‘Good Vibration’.

  ‘Mum still thinks dad’s having some sort of reoccurring midlife crisis for setting this up,’ Toby snorted as she pulled the tall man to his feet. ‘Two and a half years he’s had this place and he’s not making lots of money.’

  ‘Give it time,’ she said and looked up at him knowing it was the worst kept secret in the company. ‘I do believe this Christmas will be the turning point especially after the marketing push in December. Already the orders are coming in and I have a strategy that’s working plus-.’

  ‘You know it’s meant to be, between me and you,’ he said quietly, before smiling.

  Sylvie realised her future ambitions for the company were falling on deaf ears.

  ‘Shall I dance for you? That cheers you up,’ Toby said and before she could stop him, he was doing his hip hop special before hitting the floor and breakdancing.

  ‘Toby get up! Your father’s coming in,’ she laughed out, looking at the long limbed man sprawling around the floor.

  ‘Is he sexually harassing you again?’ Piers said, loudly flinging the door open and flashing his son a sympathetic smile. ‘Will you leave the woman alone and let her get on with her work? And stop dancing! Why aren’t you doing anything? I don’t want others to think you’ve got it easy or you’re having an epileptic fit in the office.’

  The older man let out a sigh and walked to his desk before sitting down. His hair looked a little dishevelled, as did his jacket. Sylvie could see he was tired probably from smoking too much pot the night before, which he was prone to do when something was on his mind… or if his wife was away.

  Like his son, Piers Caplin was a good looking man with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, though in the past few years he’d put on twenty two pounds and it seemed to be hanging heavily on his middle.

  She knew his wife, Alice Caplin, was probably humouring him by lending the money to set up the business. It was Sylvie who did most of the work as Piers didn’t have a clue on how to buy a bag of sugar let alone deal with suppliers of sex toys. And Sylvie figured that Alice hadn’t given Piers enough cash to keep it running long term, which meant the woman was hoping it would crumble.

  That was something Sylvie wasn’t prepared to let happen just to spite his wife.

  ‘You want tea, Mr Piers Caplin?’ Samina asked, popping her head round the door wearing a garish coloured green and silver salwar kameez with orange leaf edging before flicking her orange scarf impatiently.

  ‘That would be lovely,’ replied Sylvie as she pulled Toby off the floor and pushed him towards the door. ‘Now go and do some work and I’ll check the edited packages when I come in on Thursday.’

  ‘But Sylvie!’ he moaned as she shoved him out and past Samina.

  ‘He still in love with you?’ laughed Samina as the young man skulked back towards the edit suite. ‘Just take him out and tell him every time you sneeze, you wee.’

  ‘But you’re in your sixties and probably do that anyway,’ she laughed and shook her head. ‘He’s bored you see, doesn’t know what to do with his life. Toby thinks he’s in love with me because I’m nice to him.’

  ‘His mother rich. He know to spend money. I bring samosa to make him smile.’

  ‘They’re very expensive to run, Toby and Piers, and I don’t think a samosa is going to help these two this morning,’ Sylvie replied, glancing at Piers who hadn’t taken his jacket off.

  Samina laughed and walked away as Sylvie closed the door and turned to see Piers’s confused expression. She walked towards her desk and looked at the emails before glancing up at him. He hadn’t moved a muscle. Sylvie caught her reflection on the screen of her computer and frowned at her wavy black hair before frowning when she examined her brown face closely.

  ‘What did he say this morning?’ she heard Piers ask, deflecting her from grimacing at her own face. ‘Still in love?’

  ‘He’s trying out his chat up lines.’

  ‘Why don’t you just humour him and go out for a drink?’

  ‘Because...’ She flashed him a glance and she knew he knew why. ‘And posh boys only break your heart.’

  ‘You’re a snob Sylvie,’ he laughed gently.

  ‘Okay, their families do.’ Looking up she saw him pull a sad face. ‘But some posh boys, like you and Toby, make me incredibly happy as you care, and that’s what’s really important. To have a heart.’

  ‘That bloody boy is going to be thirty next year, can you believe it? And still he won’t move out or get a proper job.’

  ‘He has one here.’

  ‘Thanks to you teaching him how to film and edit,’ Piers mumbled. ‘I mean, he went to the best schools, flunked university and still that child doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life.’

  Piers leaned back in his chair as Sylvie looked out of the window and at the sky, seeing a plane pass by in the distance before smiling.

  ‘You can’t make him leave home. He’d only want to move in with me and Daisy to live in an ex-council maisonette, though he’d still think it was urban in the shit side of Chiswick.’

  Still her eyes were focussed in the air.

  Often she would just stare out of the window at work and at home, wondering if she could just fly straight up there and get lost in the clouds. It was her own way of trying to adjust her pain and think happy thoughts.

  ‘His mother accused me last night of not helping him by letting him work here.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Sylvie came back to earth with a bump.

  ‘She thinks I need someone to look into the business and, unfortunately, the person to do it has been in London for two weeks, snooping around, and just found out about this little set up,’ he said and that’s when she sat up straight realising what that meant. ‘Alice wants her golden son to see how we can
make more money and if the investment is the right thing. You know I believe my stepson wasn’t told about it and he’s… well he likes to know everything. This sort of thing is not to his taste.’

  ‘Fuck!’

  ‘Fuck is the word.’

  ‘I won’t say anything if I’m asked.’

  ‘You might have to.’

  ‘You know as well as me we’re on target,’ she replied, feeling her heart start to beat faster. ‘And I’m certainly not going to say anything about anything.’

  ‘That’s because you won’t speak to her,’ he gently said. ‘She asks about you, you know.’

  ‘The agreement is you keep your wife away from here and then all will be well,’ she replied, trying not to betray how angry she felt when he tried to discuss the falling out they had years back.

  ‘She’s going to find out you run the business and own part of it. Shit!’ Piers groaned biting his lip.

  ‘It was a loan and we made it legal. Alice won’t get mad,’ she said, knowing the opposite. ‘Her shitty friends and your stepson might.’

  ‘And she’s going to realise I’m a failure. That’s where Toby gets it from.’

  ‘You’re being silly because that’s not true. You put the framework together, placed those foundation and the rest of us have built on it. The mistake over the stock happened a long time ago and we sorted it out.’

  ‘Because you helped me Sylvie, that’s why.’

  She could see he was worried. Opening her top drawer she saw the two key cards and pulled one out.

  ‘Why don’t you go to the hotel and have a lie down. I’ll call you if there’s anything urgent. Go on.’ Slowly she got up and placed it in his palm. ‘The room’s going empty.’

  ‘Sylvie, promise me you’ll never leave?’ he said earnestly as she examined the lines on his face, realising he meant it. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

  ‘Who else is going to employ a forty eight year old widow with a child? It looks like I’m stuck here for life… well as long as your wife and stepson will allow.’