Starr Fated (28 page)

So I decided
to stop fighting the attraction, and just go with it. I even sent
Liam a text that for me was almost slushy, which he would get just
before his flight was due to leave.

Missing you
already. Have a good trip. Let me know when you reach NY safely.
S.x

I was thrilled
to get a reply back from him virtually straight away, and found
myself grinning like a soppy teenager, as I sat and used the wifi
at Aoife’s. Luckily she was busy in the shop downstairs, so I had
some peace and quiet for once.

Missing you
too, more than you can imagine. Will be in touch. L.x

Oh and get in
touch he most certainly did. The next day when I went over to
Aoife's to use the wifi again, I discovered a very long and very
detailed email that had arrived not long after he must have touched
down in New York. I imagine he’d possibly drafted it during his
flight, ready to send as soon as he landed.

From:
[email protected]

To:
[email protected]

Date: 10 May
2012

Subject: Some
thoughts….

Seraphina,

I want you to
know that your decision to return to London has made me very happy
and very keen to return as soon as possible. I think the earliest I
can get back is probably going to be next Friday, but I’ll keep in
touch so we can arrange our first date. And yes, I'm aware that
sounds very adolescent of me, talking about dating, but I suggest
that’s how we start off, just getting to know each other a little
better.

Some
additional points for your information.

I hope you
remembered to change your Gmail and Skype passwords as I
instructed? I presume there are places where you can access the
internet even if it’s not possible at your grandmother’s house.
Another reason I can't wait for you to be back in the UK – easier
communication. Are you using your new phone now instead of that
ancient old one of yours?

I’ve
transferred sufficient funds directly into your bank account to
cover the cost of your flight back to London. Let me know your
flight details as soon as you have them, and I’ll arrange for Greg
to collect you from the airport and take you straight to the
apartment. He’s the chauffeur who took you back when you were
working at the restaurant, so you already know him.

I've told you
I’ll wait however long it takes for you feel ready for a sexual
relationship, and please trust that I mean this most sincerely.
However, I think it would be prudent to make some preparations - I
assume you’re not already on the pill? If not, The Parkside Clinic
in Harley Street has an excellent reputation. It’s where I have my
regular checkups, and I suggest you make an appointment there for a
consultation regarding the most suitable form of contraception.
I’ll inform them that you are authorised to charge my account.

I’ll forward a
copy of the results of my latest STD tests, completed after my last
partner, which prove that I’m clear. In any case, let me reassure
you that I’ve always practised safe sex and had regular screening.
I would prefer for us not to have to use condoms if at all
possible, but of course I’ll respect your wishes if that is your
preference.

As you’re so
delightfully sexually inexperienced, I can suggest some informative
sites for you to read if you like. And I'm not talking about porn,
I’m talking about helpful basics here.

Shopping -
I’ll authorise you to charge items to my accounts at Harvey Nichols
and Selfridges. Please go ahead and buy yourself some nice
underwear, and book yourself any beauty treatments or waxing you
require.

That’s all
that comes to mind for the time being. I look forward to receiving
your reply with any questions or queries you may have for me –
please feel free to ask anything at all, and I promise to answer as
honestly as I can.

I really want
this to work between us, Seraphina.

Liam.

I sat there
gob smacked once I’d read his missive through a couple of times.
What had I got myself into? But I decided I was going to give as
good as I got.

From:
[email protected]

To:
[email protected]

Date: 10 May
2012

Subject: Re:
Some thoughts….

Liam,

First off, how
come you chose such a boring email address for yourself, while I
get to be a fiery angel, which I rather like, by the way. I’ve
opened a new account for you with a far more appropriate name:
[email protected]
. The
password is controlfreak1 – only change it if you feel my knowing
it poses a security risk in some way.

I really like
the idea of us dating and getting to know each other, because I
feel I hardly know anything about you at all. From the way you
wolfed down your breakfast, I take it you’re not a fussy eater, but
what is your favourite type of food? What don’t you like to eat?
Music – what do you like to listen to? There are so many things I
don’t know about you.

Now about your
other points ‘for my information’

Yes, I changed
my passwords. No, I haven’t started using my new phone yet, because
I haven’t figured it out, no one has the number apart from you, and
most of the time here I don’t even have a signal.

There was no
need to transfer money for my airline ticket. I still have
sufficient funds left from my SCV wages. Neither do I require Greg
to collect me from Heathrow when there is a perfectly acceptable
tube link I can use.

I'm very happy
that you’re prepared to wait for us to progress our relationship.
I’m not on the pill, so although it wasn’t exactly the most
romantic suggestion, I accept it’s sensible to sort out some
reliable contraception in advance. But I’m more than happy to make
an appointment with my usual GP at the university campus health
centre rather than take up your offer to attend some snooty and no
doubt hideously expensive private clinic.

Your sexual
health status - I’m glad you brought this up, because I have some
questions for you. Do you have any idea how many previous partners
you’ve had? Do you keep a tally of all of them? Have you been
seeing someone lately that you need to break things off with? I may
be inexperienced, but I won’t be messed around, Liam, so let me
spell it out and make it crystal clear to you. If I get even the
slightest hint that you’re back to your old man-whoring ways, it’s
over between us, understand? Whatever you may have got up to in the
past and deemed acceptable, I'm only interested in a totally
monogamous relationship. So if this isn’t what you have in mind for
us, or if you aren’t sure that you’ll be able to contain your
sexual needs until I feel confident to go ahead, let’s call it
quits right now and save us both a lot of grief.

Your Sex Ed
suggestion - I’m not totally ignorant, even if I haven’t actually
done the deed. You make me sound like a little school girl - I hope
that kind of role play isn’t one of your strange kinks?

Harvey Nichols
and Selfridges? Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll choose where I go
shopping, thank you all the same, and if you were suggesting that I
buy myself some tarty underwear then I'm sorry to disappoint you
but that is not my scene, and frankly it’s such a terrible dirty
old man type of cliché that I'm rather disappointed in you.

I too hope we
can make this work, but I think we need to make sure we have the
same vision before we get too far down the line.

Sera.

I hit the send
button before I could change my mind, and then slammed my laptop
shut. I tried my hardest to stop all sorts of pictures flashing
through my head of Liam with all the countless other women he’d
slept with before. Except sleeping wasn’t what he’d been doing with
them, was it? All kinds of kinky sex more like. Jamie and the other
boys used to joke about how there wasn’t anything The Big Guy
hadn't tried. How could I possibly keep up with him? Obviously I
knew all the basics, but after that I was pretty ignorant I
supposed. And Jamie had started off by promising to be patient and
wait until I was ready, and look how that had turned out because
he’d been so frustrated.

I reopened my
lap top, and Googled kinky sex, but quickly deleted what came up as
being far too pornographic. Then it suddenly occurred to me who I
could turn to for some advice. Abbey. I needed to speak to her
anyway, seeing as Liam had said she was the one who’d told him
where to find me. What had she been playing at? So I sent her a
quick email telling her I was coming back, and that we really
needed to meet up to catch up. And then finally I shut down my
laptop and headed back to Nana’s cottage where I knew I would be
incommunicado for a while, and where I could try and get my head
around everything that had happened in the last few days.

My
first raft
of meetings in
New York went very well, and the new company logo and image
Seraphina had created certainly played a large part in promoting
the impression of a vibrant and modern company. So I was feeling in
a pretty buoyant mood as I returned to my suite at The Waldorf
Astoria. I spoke to the concierge on my way in to organise a light
meal to be sent up via room service so that I could continue
working, having already eaten a pretty substantial meal at my lunch
meeting – one thing you could never accuse the Yanks of was stingy
portions.

I was happy to
see I'd received a long email from Seraphina, but I decided to wait
until I could give it my full attention to read it through properly
and reply. So now as I sat at the desk in my suite, I carefully
read it. I smiled at the new Gmail account name she suggested,
happy to use it if that was her wish. But as I read further, I
started to get frustrated with Seraphina. Why did she have such a
problem accepting help from me? She stubbornly informed me she
didn't need the money I'd transferred to cover her plane ticket,
she didn't want to be met at the airport, that apparently she’d
rather wait three weeks to see her NHS doctor for contraceptive
advice than go privately, and seemed offended by the idea of
shopping in the places I'd suggested. And my suggestion that she
treat herself to some new underwear seemed to have given her the
impression that I was some kind of a pervert. Maybe she hadn't
realised I'd seen her rather basic undies drying on the airer in
her room in the student house, and I freely admit I enjoy seeing a
woman in nice sexy lingerie – what man doesn't?

But when I got
to the part of her email where she started asking about how many
previous partners I’d had, and calling me a man-whore, the alarm
bells really began to ring. Rather than answer her in an email, I
decided it would be far better to speak to her, so I tried calling
her. This was exactly why I’d given her a new, all expenses paid
mobile – so that I could contact her whenever I needed without her
having to worry about the phone bill.

‘The person
you are calling is temporarily unavailable’

Shit. Either
she still hadn't even switched the mobile on, or there was no
signal where she was. It was the same with her old number as well,
and my back up plan to talk to her via Skype was also useless if
she had no internet access. I had the landline number, but working
out what time it was in Ireland, I realised I couldn’t ring and
risk disturbing her Grandmother. So I had no option but to send her
an email and wait until she had a chance to read it.

From:
[email protected]

To:
[email protected]

Date: 11 May
2013

Subject: Don’t
bite my head off…

Seraphina,

I tried to
call to speak to you in person to answer all your questions, but I
couldn’t get through. Please tell me you’ve already booked your
flight back to London and will soon be back where it’ll be so much
easier to communicate effectively with you? As it is, I have no
option but to reply by email.

So, first of
all, thank you for your comprehensive reply, and I look forward to
comparing our tastes in things like food and music.

But can I just
ask why you seem to take offence whenever I try to make your life a
little easier or offer to assist you in any way? Isn’t that what
you do for someone that you care about, especially as you know I’m
trying to be a much nicer man? Frankly I’m offended that you seem
set on keeping me at a distance and shutting me out, when I thought
we’d agreed we’re going to try really hard to make things work
between us.

As for using a
‘snooty’ private clinic for contraceptive advice– go ahead and use
the NHS if you prefer to wait about a month for a non urgent
appointment. I only want the very best for you, so I thought it
would be far nicer for you to be examined by a very sympathetic and
highly qualified doctor in pleasant surroundings. But the choice is
yours.

On the subject
of being unromantic, I personally don’t think fumbling about with
condoms is very romantic, when with some foresight and planning
hopefully we won’t need to. And trust me, I’m planning on giving
you the most romantic experience I can when we finally make love
for the first time.

With regard to
my ‘man-whoring ways’, I’m more than happy to fully answer any
questions you have, but I’d far rather discuss this with you in
person, face to face, or least via Skype so that I can gauge your
reaction and prevent any possible misunderstandings.

However, let
me just spell out one thing. I too am only interested in a totally
monogamous relationship, and I will certainly not be ‘messing you
about’ in any way whatsoever. It may surprise you to learn that
ever since I clapped eyes on you, I haven’t had the slightest
interest in anybody else. It’s only you, Seraphina, so I’ll be
patient and wait as long as it takes for you to be ready.