But, unhurried, they settled back on the sofa. Nicolas went on to ask about what she did for a living. She explained that she hadn't really done her best at school. After leaving she had spent a year or so as a post delivery girl before deciding she needed to get herself a proper career. She had decided on nursing, which she had seen as an ideal job for a woman like her, keen to help other people, and she'd now been training for six months at nursing college.
“OK, that's me” she said. “What about you, Nicolas?”
Nicolas decided there was no point in pretending things had been going well for him. She had probably seen that there were no cars in the garage (she hadn't, in fact). He told Cherry the whole sorry story.
He'd sold the Maserati to keep his business going. There had been an off-roader too - but his wife had taken that when she ran off a year ago with a salesman at Nicolas's company.
He'd eventually had to put the house up for sale at his ex-wife's insistence. Not that Nicolas would get much money from the sale - most of the equity was tied up as security for loans and mortgages made to his failing company. He rounded off this doleful account by summarising just about all the business decisions taken by his company in the last two years as disastrous in one way or another.
Cherry grew more saddened and shocked as Nicolas went on. Her kind and trusting nature found it difficult to understand how people like her new friend's ex-wife and the banks could be so horrible. Nicolas had such a lovely house, the sort Cherry wanted to live in one day, and he was such a nice, funny man. It was just so unfair.
She slid across the sofa and flung her arms around a slightly surprised Nicolas. “You poor man!” she exclaimed. “Is there anything I can do to help?
Nicolas looked her in the eyes. “The best thing you can do is swallow me.”
Cherry glanced at him, then dropped her head. “This is all so sad, I'm not sure I can eat you.”
“Cherry, I want you to do that more than anything.”
“I'm really sorry, Nicolas. “But I need us both to be happy and content when I swallow you. I need you to be relaxed when you go down and not thrashing about. It wouldn't be nice for you if you gave me indigestion. But maybe more importantly, I really like you. It's been lovely just talking to you and I want to spend more time with you. Maybe we could do stuff together. Please, Nicolas.”
“Cherry, I have wanted this all my life. It's really important to me. I like you too, and if you eat me I'll be with you forever.”
“This is all my fault. I should not have spent so much time talking to you and establishing a bond.” Cherry dabbed her eyes.
Nicolas thought. “Look, maybe we need a good laugh to cheer us up and maybe you'll feel different. You love the house, don't you, so why I don't I show you round properly?”
Cherry agreed. So they spent the next half hour wandering all over the house. Starting upstairs, Nicolas showed her all of the guest rooms and she decided which one she wanted. He showed her how all the fittings worked including the whirlpool bath in her en-suite. Cherry slowly began to cheer up and return to her normal self.
Then they returned downstairs so Nicolas could show her the home cinema, the indoor pool and the games and gym room. He had just about everything you could want, Cherry thought. Then she caught sight of the ping pong table.
She'd been good at table tennis, winning medals at school, but hadn't played for a few years. Why not see if she was still any good? So she suggested they play, and Nicolas readily agreed.
But the mischievous side in her came to the fore. She wanted to raise the stakes.
Cherry kicked off her boots. She picked up a bat and walked barefoot round to the other end of the table. Gripping the side, she leaned forward. “Here's the deal, then. You win, I'll eat you. I win, we see each other again.”
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