“Thank you… anything inside?” he interrupted.
Before I could answer, James had clicked it open, without even trying.
“What? No message?” he asked cheekily.
“No, not yet. Any ideas?”
“Actually yes, but I will wait to see what you come up with,” he replied.
“Mr Barclay, Cathy, I hate to interrupt all this that, but we do have to set some rules. What happened to you today cannot be repeated. What would have happened if we were not here to intervene?” Mr Kemp said as he closed the door that he had successfully fixed, an impressive effort.
“Happen again? Do you think that’s possible?” I directed my question to James.
“Happen again my dear girl? Yes, yes it is quite possible,” Mr Kemp butted in again.
“Mr Kemp, please, not now. Scaring her like this will not help,” James insisted.
“Mr Barclay, if she has no idea and doesn’t remember anything before her next encounter, being frightened is the least of her concerns.”
“Remember what?”
No one answered.
“What am I suppose to remember?” I turned to James for a reply.
“Nothing. You will stay in my room and between the two of us,” he looked at Mr Kemp “you will not be left alone.”
“Is that your plan?” Mr Kemp grunted.
“Yes, yes it is.”
“I think that’s a wonderful plan,” I agreed, excited about the prospect of staying in James’s room every night.
Mr Kemp walked over to where James and I were.
He looked furious and frustrated. He pulled up a chair and sat close by; he took a few deep breaths to compose himself and then looked me straight in the eyes, paused for a moment then spoke.
“I want it to be known that I believe this is a dreadful plan. This is not a joke; I don’t envision you staying in James’s room will help the situation. However, I don’t think we have any other avenue to take, you can’t stay in mine and no-one else must know of what has happened today or even that you and Mr Barclay have feelings for each other, no-one,” he repeated. “Do you understand that?”
He paused for an answer.
I nodded and looked away. Mr Kemp’s eyes were too intense.
“Mr Kemp, thank you. I know you mean well. If Catherine spends more time with me, maybe things will become clearer to her?” James suggested.
“You two must never… um… you know… just complicate things,” Mr Kemp was so embarrassed by the thought of his insinuation that he struggled to get his words out.
James waited and let him suffer a bit before responding. “I understand that, and I can restrain myself but…” James then looked at me, indicating that I was the one who needed to show restraint. I playfully hit James on the chest, which got him laughing and Mr Kemp shaking his head, once again in frustration.
“Oh, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you then…” he whispered to himself as he left the room.
James held me close and looked directly into my eyes.
“I need you to take this very seriously Catherine. You must never be alone. Mr Kemp is right. This cannot happen again.”
“I can’t believe it happened at all. I know you and Mr Kemp are holding back something from me. But I trust you. I just hope I don’t let you down.”
“Everything will be fine. Just try and resist kissing anyone else but me. I can get very jealous.”
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months and there were no more ‘strange encounters’. I couldn’t have been happier. Despite the supervised walks, day trips to the village and Mr Kemp’s constant daily check in, everything seemed to be normal. My students were responding positively to my teaching. I had gained the respect of all the teachers. It took weeks for Jules to stop being suspicious about Mr Kemp’s sudden acceptance of me and this was only helped by the fact that she and Dr Simons had become a little more than friends. They were now spending most of their spare time together, which I thought was wonderful, but Jules and I still had our Sunday morning runs together. I ensured we would meet every Sunday morning at the fountain on the front lawns at 7 o’clock, so she would not see me leave James’s room. In the evenings, our self-control was put to the test, stretched repeatedly and almost shattered. James would spend most nights reading and trying to resist me, and I would spend most nights frustrated.
On a Saturday night, when all the students had left for spring break and more than half the teachers had also cleared out, I decided I would wear something for bed that would be too hard to resist. Most of my clothes were in James’s room now, but not what I had planned to wear to bed this evening. I’d had enough. My will power was not as good as his. I pulled out a black negligee that I had bought from the village while Jules was busy in another shop. I waited for 15 minutes, then left for James’s room. No one was in the corridor, so I opened James’s door. James had just walked out of the shower and had only a towel around him. My face felt flushed and my heart started to thump. I smiled innocently.
“Hi, sorry should I come back later?”
“No, of course not, it’s absolutely fine.” He came close to me and we kissed. Our bodies touched and it was perfect. He had a second towel around his neck drying his hair while he opened his drawer to take out some clothes to change into.
“I might have my shower now; I can’t wait to relax this evening.”
“I will get you a towel,” James responded, obligingly leaving his clothes drawer and opening another. He pulled out two fresh towels and handed them to me. I smiled. I went into the bathroom with my paper bag, and closed the door behind me. I couldn’t contain my laughter. Normally I would have my shower in my room and then come into his room already changed. But tonight was going to be different.
Nothing out of the ordinary had happened for over two months now and I fear that any day soon Mr Kemp would give the ‘all clear’ and I would have to go back to my room. My shower was quick. I didn’t need to wash my hair and I slipped on my lingerie.
Great purchase, Catherine!
I shook my hair around and went over my plan of action in my head. I nodded to myself and then opened the door. James was sitting on his bed, legs stretched out and reading as per usual. I walked right past him, made no eye contact, and went straight to his desk. I slowly took off my watch and earrings, the entire time hoping he was watching me. I turned around, and there he was, stunned and speechless.
Mission accomplished!
“Catherine,” he choked out my name.
“Yes,” I replied seductively.
“You look… Please don’t do this to me!”
“Do what?” I said naively as I turned on the side lamp and turned off the main lights.
“Catherine…” he said again, with a smirk on his face and laughter in his voice.
“What are you reading tonight?” I asked.
“You…” He didn’t finish his sentence. He just looked at me, shaking his head slowly from side to side. I got into bed and sat close beside him.
“James, nothing has happened in a long while now. Can’t we just put it all behind us? I don’t want you to resist me anymore.” I pulled my hair to the side, kissed him on his cheek and whispered into his ear that I needed him to love me. Slowly I placed my hands on his shoulders and chest and kissed him. James then placed his hands on my back, pulled my body close to his and took total control. I felt intoxicated as he started kissing my neck. He then pulled away.
“Catherine, we should stop.”
“No!”
“Catherine!”
“Why?”
“We need to stop, this is far from over. You’re killing me,” he said, as he looked me up and down, got off the bed and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?