The alarm sounded again at 6am the sunlight shining through the top window across the room like the hand of god. Tony reached across and muted the alarm the placed his hand back over the top of Michelle's head which was lying on his chest and stroked her hair.
"Mmm. What time is it?"
"Six am." He whispered. "Do you want some coffee?"
"Yes please." Tony kissed her head then slid out from underneath her before finding his pants and heading out towards the kitchen. It was quickly becoming their morning ritual. Tony filled the kettle and lit the stove before placing some bread in the toaster and fetching the block of butter from the fridge. Michelle came out and sat on the stool opposite the kitchen bench, her hands hidden inside the arms of Tony's oversized shirt. "Here." Tony handed her the coffee.
"Thanks." She said reaching and grabbing it before taking a sip. "Perfect."
"Where are we going today?"
"We aren't going anywhere." Tony said, distracted by the bread, he grabbed the knife and began to butter it. "Delton called last night, he wants to take me out there so I can see the land for myself."
"You're going with him?"
"He asked me to."
"And what about me?" She asked, wondering why she was getting left behind, and why he hadn't told her about this before hand.
"I need you to run a little reconsense. Something about this man doesn't sit right."
"I'm not so sure Tony…."
"Please Michelle."
"You don't have to protect me you know. I can look after myself."
"I know, but if I'm right abut this guy then who knows what we're walking into here. I'd feel better knowing you were back here, safe." Michelle was furious, he'd never treated her like this before but she could see how much this meant to him.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Go to the office, ask questions. If there is any dirt to dig up I want to know about it."
"I already checked Delton and his company out before we agreed to take the job, I didn't find anything that raised a red flag."
"I know, but this guy, something just doesn't sit right. Please Michelle."
"All right." She surrendered. "I'll see what I can do."
"I'll make it up to you. I promise." Michelle shot him a glare that warned him she wasn't happy. Tony tried to make it right, placing the plate of toast in front of her then leaning in and kissing her on the lips. "I promise."
"You'd better." She took a bite of her toast, "What time are you suppose to meet him?"
"His picking me up in an hour so you can have the car."
Tony grabbed his gun from the hallway table and tucked it into the back of his shirt.
"Where did you get that from?"
"I brought it from the market yesterday when you went to the bathroom."
"Tony?" Michelle cringed at the thought of him using it. "It'll be okay, I promise."
"I know." She repeated unconvincingly. Tony sensed her unease, reached into his briefcase, and pulled out a small black pouch.
"Here, I want you to take this." He said pulling out a second, tinier gun.
"What is it?"
"Just a little something for protection." He said handing it to her.
"Tony." She said reluctantly,
"Honey, the only reason I agreed to go is because I get to come home to you. You're my world baby. I love you with all my heart. I'm not going anywhere."
"Be careful." Michelle called out from the doorway as she watched him walk towards Delton's jeep.
"Always." He called back.
"No heroics ok." She warned him.
"That goes for you too." He hated leaving her alone but he knew he couldn't smoother her too much, she was too independent and that was what he liked about her. She wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty, to be one of the guys. As he walked through the gate and out of sight, he took one long look back. "I love you," He whispered to her,
"I love you too." She whispered back.
"I've never really thanked you for coming out here and helping me with this. I know I can appear callous at times and loss of personal is loss of money but this is more than that. Out here we rely on each other, we're like family."
"I understand."
"I've gone to the authorities for help but so far all they've done is take my statement and dodged my calls. Around here they don't have the same ethics as back home. Corruption is wide spread."
"Have you ever thought about relocating your business?"
"And give up the most productive mining operation in the region. Not on your life."
"Well. Hopefully we can help make things safer for your men."
"I appreciate that." As they drove into the country side towards the mining operation Tony sensed the tension in Delton's voice increase. Ready at a moments notice to grab his gun and protect himself and Delton, Tony kept a watchful eye on the terrain, making sure his assumptions were correct and that his suggestions were viable.
"I can't help the feeling that there's something you're not telling me."
"I was going to let you know once we go there."
"Where?"
"I received another letter yesterday."
"A letter?"
"They've taken another of my men." Delton pulled out the photo of the man in captivity.
"Who is it?"
"Jameson. His a good man. Wife and two kids." Tony looked at the note carefully, the caption at the bottom grabbing his attention. 'Tell your American dogs that I am in charge here. I want my money…'
"What does he mean my money?" Tony asked carefully.
"We refused to pay the ransom for the last guy and he killed him. I take it as a threat to pay up or they'll do the same again."
"What do you plan to do?"
"I'm not sure. I was hopeful you might know what to do."
"Do you have a deadline?"
"Three days again. These guys don't mess around. The last guy was killed right after we failed to make the payment."
"From personal experience this guys dead wether or not you make the payment."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Tony looked over the letter some more looking for any clues at all. Delton was agitated by the silence,
"So tell me." Delton began, one eye on the road and one on Tony, "How did your plan go?"
"Perfectly. Thanks again for the lend of your house. It was perfect."
"My pleasure. What's mine is yours." He said with a grin, "She is a very beautiful woman. You are very lucky."
"Hmmm." The image of Michelle at their first wedding, dressed in white. Her big brown eyes staring at him like he held all the answers filled his thoughts, then it was replaced by the image of Michelle standing at the front of their house that morning, waving him goodbye. He was taking a big chance and he knew it.
Michelle looked around at the many well dressed and highly beautiful woman who ran Delton's office. The man sure liked to surround himself with beauty. They were all busy working but Michelle spotted one woman, his secretary who they had met yesterday and decided that she was the best one to approach for all the juicy details that she and Tony were after.
"Hi." She said as she approached the woman's desk, "Delton said I could use his office to get some work done."
"I'm not sure about that but I can set you up in the conference room if you'd like."
"That would be fine. Thank you." Michelle played it cool. She set up her laptop and pulled some papers out to make it look like she was working, all the while making notes on who did what and running risk assessments on all the personal in the building. In most cases, blackmailers worked with or were connected to the people they were extorting.
"Are you all right in here ma'am. Can I get you anything?" The secretary interrupted her not twenty minutes after she had been left to work.
"No. Thank you." Michelle bluffed.
"Sorry for bothering you."
"That's ok. It's no bother. Maybe you can help me with something."
"Ma'am."
"I like to look at all angles when I'm working on a profile."
"I don't understand."
"Well I know Delton the businessman but I'd like to know more about Delton the man."
"What do you mean?"
"What's he like? His habits? What makes him tick?"
"Are you interested in him?"
"Me. No. I'm married."
"He's hit on halve the girls here you know,"
"I noticed. He tried to hit on me earlier. Tony wasn't too happy."
"He's bold like that, fearless almost."
"Is he careful? I mean, surely there would be a few other angry boyfriends and the like."
"We've had a few. They never get past reception though. Security is pretty tight."
"What about his mail. Do you get to see it?"
"Yes ma'am. I go through it before putting it on his desk. We get the odd nut job, looking to blackmail him but nothing ever eventuates."
"And the partners. How do they get along."
"I'm not sure I should be telling you all of this."
"We're just chatting, there's no harm in that is there?"
"I guess not." Michelle sensed that she had warn out her welcome.
"Look at the time. Tony will be home soon and I wanted to be there when he gets back."
"If you don't mind me saying, your husband looks like quite the catch."
"I think so."
"He treats you well, I can tell. Not like most of the men around here, you'd think that women never got the vote and all we can do is make coffee."
"Unfortunately it's still a bit like that back home too."
"One more thing…." Michelle packed her briefcase as they chatted and then walked with the young secretary as she headed for the elevator. "…Thank you. It's been nice meeting you."
"Will we be seeing you again?"
"Of course." Michelle responded as the elevator doors closed. She took a deep breath. Delton was turning out to be every bit the sleaze that Tony thought he was. Maybe he was right not to trust him.
"Damn it." Delton interrupted his thoughts as their jeep came to a sudden halt.
"Be careful." Tony warned, grabbing onto the dashboard to steady himself. A tree trunk lay across the path, blocking their advance. Tony looked into the brush but there was no movement.
"Give me a hand." Delton said climbing out of the jeep.
"Wait." Tony had a bad feeling. "Just back it up."
"What? No."
"Trust me. It's a trap." Delton thought about it a moment then closed the door and selected reverse. He placed his foot on the accelerator but the car didn't budge. "What's wrong?" Tony asked.
"I don't know." Delton said trying again.
"Try again." The jeep didn't budge at first, but as it took off Tony and Delton were thrown around the cabin as they impacted with a larger vehicle idling behind them.
"Are you all right?" Tony asked, checking the bump on the back of his head.
"I'm fine, you?" Delton asked trying to take off his seatbelt.
"I'll live." He said, referring to a small lump on the side of his head where he had slammed into the side of the car. His gun knocked to the floor.
"Give me the keys." A strong voice ordered as the glass smashed and a hand reached through the drivers side window, grabbing the wheel.
"Please. Just take it easy." Tony pleaded.
"Keys now!" The man ordered again.
"Give them to him." Tony ordered Delton
"What?"
"Just do it." Tony knew they had to play along if they had any chance of making it out alive.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Delton said handing the keys over.
"Good. Now get out of the vehicle. Slowly." A gun aimed on each of them they slowly opened their doors and stepped out onto the rocky terrain. Forcefully they had there hands placed behind their heads and were searched for weapons.
"You owe us a lot of money Mr Delton."
"I told you I wont be blackmailed."
"Blackmailed. Is that what you told your American friend here? You give our money to him hey."
"He hasn't given me anything."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Delton retorted.
"We'll see. Let's hope your associates don't share your views." The lead man said, marching him towards their truck.
"Do you like your job?"
"What do you need me to do?"
"We need you to investigate someone for us."
"Who?"
"Regular customers of yours. Mr and Mrs Almeida."
"I know them well. They're good people."
"We need to know what they know. We think they may be involved with the illegal black markets in Africa."
"No… I don't believe it."
"I couldn't believe it myself, but they are very cunning. I need you to keep an eye on them for us. Find out everything you can."
"I'm not sure. I don't feel right about this."
"We've already sent the money to your parents account. We had a deal."
"I know and I'm sorry. Are you sure there isn't any other way that I can pay you back?."
"I understand. You're a man of principals, like myself. I'll give you some time to think about it."
"Thank you. But I don't think I'm going to change my mind."
"We'll see." The man said before hanging up. He was starting to regret not asking more questions now. He knew he night have to get his hands dirty, he wasn't a fool, that much money didn't come without a price but getting caught up in the illegal black market wasn't what he'd had in mind.
"Where are you taking us?" Tony asked.
"None of your business American." Tony was marched to the side of the road and kept under guard while Delton remained behind to talk to the lead gunman. Aakash was a tall man, rough appearance, covered in scars. He wore an ammo belt like a sash and a pair of kaki paints with army regulation boots. He and his men all carried semi automatic weapons, no match for his tiny hand gun. Tony used the time to watch the men and survey the area while he tried to think of a way out of this mess.
"You'll never get a cent from me or my company." Delton told him sternly, a little too familiar for Tony's liking.
"We had a deal." Aakash replied angrily.
"You broke that deal when you tried to short change me." Delton bit back, pointing his finger at Aakash
"How dare you disrespect me?"
"There is nothing personal about it. You promised me 200 kilo's of uncut diamond, my man said you only supplied him with 275 and the quality was poor."
"Your man is a liar."
"Where is your proof."
"Proof?" Aakash was not in the mood to be spoken to like this. "This." He said holding up his weapon, "This is all the proof I need."
"We're both business men Aakash. Our situations reversed would you back down?"
"Huh." Aakash scoffed, then looked over to where his man held Tony.
Tony couldn't quite hear what was being said but it didn't look promising. He twisted the ring on his finger. He could get away, he was sure of it. It was Delton they wanted not him, but could he just leave Delton to fend for himself? What would the consequences of that decision be? Did he care? Delton had clearly contributed to this situation and Tony had no desire to get caught up in any illegal activity. He spent his time in jail and he had no aspirations to ever go back. Then he thought of Michelle, going out of her mind as she waited for him to return, the pain she would go through when she learned of his death. He couldn't do that to her. No. He thought to himself, his plan was simple: get free, get Michelle, get out, let Delton clean up his own mess.
"Bring him to me." The Aakash ordered pointing his gun in Tony's direction.
"What's going on?" Tony asked innocently.
"Down." Aakash waved his gun to indicate they should both get down onto their knees.
"Listen." Tony tried to plead for his life as he was positioned beside Delton.
"Enough." He shouted.
"I'm sorry Tony." Delton apologised. "I never meant for this to happen."
"What's going on?" Tony didn't want to let on that he suspected anything, the less he knew the better.
"I refused to pay him the ransom," Delton explained as Aakash chuckled.
"Surely we can compromise." Tony suggested
"I tried." Delton said, his hands held behind his head again.
"You have nothing I want American." Aakash said pushing the gun into Tony's face. "Now get down."
"Leave him out of this." Delton begged, and was pistol whipped before being pushed to the ground by the guard behind him. Tony breathed sharply as he closed his eyes and knelt down.
"If you kill us you'll never get your money." Tony tried to reason with him.
"Enough." Aakash nodded his head and his second in command came to stand beside him, each with a gun to their heads. "Time to pray to your god American." He said squeezing the trigger. 'I'm sorry' Tony apologised to the image of Michelle in his head as the familiar click of the gun echoed in his ears, 'I love you'.
"You bastard." Delton screamed as the men all stood around laughing.
"Why aren't you laughing American. That was funny. No?" Delton spat on him Aakash who retaliated by stepping in closer and punching him. His guards were distracted by their boss's loss of temper. Tony quickly pulled his hands back over his head, grabbed the gun off the guard behind him, knocking him out cold with a blow to the head, and held it to the head of Aakash. Tony then grabbed his gun from where it had landed nearby after he'd been disarmed, keeping one gun on Aakash and letting off a few rounds with the other, taking out several of the gunman as the other men fled for cover then fired several shots into their tyres to make sure they couldn't follow them.
"You'll regret this American." Aakash roared.
"Tell your boss there will be no payday here. Give up now before more lives are lost." Tony yelled back.
"It is your life you should be worried about." Aakash yelled back as they got back in their jeep and took off.
"Are you all right?" Tony asked Delton.
"What were your qualifications again?" Delton asked amazed by their escape as Tony reversed out of the ditch and sped off as fast as he could towards town.
"Need to know." Tony said keeping an eye on the rear-view mirror.
"Anyway. Thank you." Delton said regaining his stone cold composure.
"Can you walk?" Tony asked, looking at the instruments on the dashboard.
"Yeah. Why?" Delton asked confused.
"Because this car ain't going anywhere." Tony said noting the bullet holes in the engine and radiator, it was overheating fast.
"That's over twenty miles." Delton said as the engine gave out, steam pouring out of every crevice as it jolted to a slow stop.
"We best get started." Tony said quickly grabbing his gun and passing the guards gun to Delton. "We want to make it back before dark." Tony went looking for his phone, but he couldn't find it anywhere,
"Damn it." He cursed.
"What's wrong?"
"I wanted to ring Michelle and make sure she's all right. She'll be wondering where we are."
"Sorry. They smashed my phone." Delton said as he watched Tony trying to get the image of Michelle panicking out of his head. She was a worrier and if she couldn't contact him then he knew she would think the worst. He bit his lip, there was no time to waist, and stepped away from the car.
"After you." Delton gestured, taking the gun and falling in beside him. They weren't out of this yet. Tony was furious, this mongrel had almost cost him his life, whatever he was mixed up in Tony didn't want a bar of it.
Leaving Delton office behind her Michelle stepped onto the street, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed. Her car was parked just out front of the building, and in full view of the armed guard at the main entrance so she quickly grabbed her keys, opened it up throwing her briefcase in the passenger seat and once inside locked the door. She grabbed the wheel and took a deep breath then repositioned the rear view mirror. Nothing. She shook her head, telling herself that she was too old to get spooked like that, then grabbing the gun Tony had given her out of her purse she placed it under the drivers seat for easy access and took off down the road. The sense of uneasiness didn't leave her. All she wanted to do was to drive straight home, but she needed to get some supplies for dinner that night and Tony would be suspicious if she didn't get them. Pulling up to the side of the markets Michelle parked in sight of the main stalls. She quickly got out and brought some fresh vegetables and meats for tonight's dinner and some other essential supplies, never taking her eyes off of her vehicle. She wasn't gone for more than ten minutes but it felt like hours. Her heart racing she got back into the car. How she wished Tony was with her. "Tony" Her body shuddered at the thought of his name, something didn't feel right. She tried to ring his mobile, just to hear his voice and when it ran out Michelle felt her chest tighten. Suddenly she felt so alone. Putting the gun on her lap she put the car into gear and headed home.
Waiting for the gates to open she remained on high alert. She couldn't let Tony see her like this, she told herself, trying to ring him again. She quickly grabbed her belongings, made it inside their apartment and took a deep breath. She was so wound up she looked around the house, not sure what she was looking for, she looked at his shoes beside the bed, his shirt draped over the bedpost. His briefcase, still on the kitchen table didn't help. Everywhere she looked she saw Tony. "Stop it." She told herself, "You're getting hysterical over nothing." She put the phone down, where she could see it if it rang, and unpacked the groceries. As she was putting the chicken into the fridge one of the bags fell over and the paper packet inside fell to the floor. Michelle picked it up and turned it over in her hands. "Oh god Tony." She sighed. How did she get herself so worked up like this? Unable to shake the feeling she decided that she needed a little distraction. She grabbed the coconut shower oil and headed for the bathroom.
Tony and Delton were exhausted by the time they made it to the edge of town, only seven miles to go. The afternoon was hot and humid and they didn't have any water on them. Tony was setting a good pace eager to get there as fast as he could but Delton was slowing them down and Tony wondered if he ever took the time to look after himself, he was probably so arrogant he didn't think he'd have to. Five miles from town a farmer drove by with a load full of vegetables. Happy he wasn't a threat Tony put his gun in his belt behind his back, ready just in case, and with Delton jumped into the back of the truck. The farmer took them straight back to Delton's office where Tony saw Delton safely back inside.
"I can't thank you enough for today." Delton said, putting on a clean shirt and pouring himself a drink. "Would you like one?" He offered Tony.
"No, thank you." Tony said, desperate for one, but reminding himself that he had promised Michelle, he'd been sober for three months now ad he wasn't going to start drinking now. "If it all the same to you I'd like to go back and check on my wife. It's late and she'll be wondering where I am."
"Of course, of course." Delton said, pressing the intercom. "Can you organise a cab for Mr Almeida please."
"Right away sir."
"Will you be safe here?"
"Here. Hmm." He laughed, "This is my castle Tony. I applaud anyone who tries to attack me here."
"Very well." Tony said not feeling too responsible for his safety, "I'll be in touch."
"What about you? I can organise some protection."
"That won't be necessary." Tony didn't want them watching their every move, the sooner he was out of here the better.
"Right. Of course." Delton remembered his slick moves in the field earlier, Tony was obviously a man who could look after himself. "My thanks again Tony. And good luck."
"Thank you." Tony wet downstairs to meet the cab waiting outside the building, he tried to tidy himself up, running his fingers through his hair and dusting off some of the jungle from his clothes. He took a whiff of his clothes but there was nothing he could do to hide the stench, it was a hot day and it would be easy enough to blame that on the humidity. He made the decision that Michelle didn't need to know what had happened, not straight away anyway. He hadn't keeping the secret from her but she'd been so worried when he'd left this morning that it would only distress her too much to know something had happened.
The warm water felt so soothing, but thoughts raced through her mind at a hundred miles an hour. She raked her fingers through her wet hair, rinsing and wringing out the water. She tried to enjoy the sensation of the water running down her face but she was too agitated. Two more days, two more days and they would be back home. Not that the last three days had been unpleasant, quite the opposite in fact. She looked at the ring on her finger, and closed her eyes imagining what it would be like when they got back home, Mr and Mrs Normal, preparing meals, taking walks and going about their boring daily lives. Then she thought about what Tony's reaction would be if she told him she was followed. He was so protective of her, of everyone. He took these kinds of threats personally and with his hot temper that was often a case for concern. He was liable to do anything.
"Michelle honey, I'm home." Tony's voice echoed from the front hall.
"I'll be right there." She called out. Her heart in her throat. She took a deep breath, turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her. Time to put on her poker face.
"There you are? Is everything all right?" He asked, wondering why she was taking a shower in the middle of the afternoon.
"Fine. I just needed to freshen up a little after being at the markets. The dust gets into everything."
"I know what you mean." Michelle hadn't his dishevelled appearance at first but it was clear that his shirt was more wrinkled than usual.
"What happened?" She asked, finally noting a small scratch below his right ear.
"We ran into a little trouble." He said shying away, not wanting to worry her, "Nothing we couldn't handle."
"And Delton?"
"Not a scratch would you believe it." It was all a bit much for Michelle to take and a small quiver appeared on her bottom lip. As she stood in front of him, brushing away a strand of his hair as she stared into his eyes trying to imagine why they looked so troubled he saw what she was trying to hide something too. "Michelle, sweetheart. What's wrong?" He asked, diverting the attention away from himself.
"It's nothing."
"Hey." He insisted wiping away her tears and lifting her chin as Michelle started to cry. "Did something happen?"
"I just got this bad feeling today is all, and I couldn't shake it." She turned away from his face, knowing one look in his eyes would break down the weak walls inside her mind. This worried him more.
"Michelle?"
"I don't know. I just got this feeling like something bad was going to happen. I know it's stupid." She said shaking her head.
"Shhh. Don't say that?" He kissed her on the forehead and pulled her in close, his arm around her holding her head tight against his chest. "I promised I'd come back." He said taking her head in his hands and kissing her on the forehead.
"I know." She smiled, feeling a little embarrassed by her outburst.
"Oh Michelle. I'm so sorry." He held her until the tears stopped. She was reacting just as he'd seen in his vision and he hadn't even told her yet, now was not the time to let her know he decided, he'd wait till he had calmed her down. "I see you went shopping." He said, trying to change the subject.
"I was going to cook you dinner." She blushed.
"And just what did you have in mind?" He asked looking over the ingredients.
"I hadn't really thought that far. Roast chicken with potato, pumpkin and carrot?"
"Sounds delicious." He lied,
"Wait till you try it." She scoffed, knowing her meals often ended in disaster.
"I can't wait." He teased, "Come on, I'll help you get started."
"No. I can do this." She insisted, "You go take a shower." He smelled quite ripe and she needed some time alone to compose herself.
"All right. I know better than to argue. You know where I am if you need me." He ran his hand down her arm, holding her hand a moment then releasing it as he made his way to the bathroom. She watched him go, wiped her face dry then went to get started on the dinner.
"We have a problem." Delton told his superior on the other end of the line.
"I don't want to hear it." The man said impatiently.
"Aakash is demanding more weapons. He says he will continue to take our people hostage until appropriate remunerations have been made."
"Then make them. We don't need to bring any more attention to this than we already have."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Delton asked trying not to press his luck, knowing that most of the officials in the area turned their heads for a share of the profits.
"My man tells me that this Almeida is a problem."
"He saved my life."
"He knows too much."
"He can be useful. We can use his resources to take out Aakash then we can deal with what he knows." Delton suggested.
"I want this taken care of Delton. My clients are growing anxious."
"Don't worry. I'm on it."
"You'd better be or your men wont be the only ones who disappear without a trace." The man threatened. Delton hung up the phone and sculled what was left of his whiskey, he was loosing control of the situation and that was a scenario he was familiar with. He loosened his tie and contemplated what his next move would be.
While Tony showered, Michelle started to prepare the chicken. She followed the recipe in the books provided and placed it in the oven. As the chicken roasted in the oven, she washed, peeled and chopped the vegetables.
"Hmmm." Tony grinned as he came back out in only his towel, wrapping his arms around her. "Smells delicious."
"Don't distract me." Michelle said sternly pushing him back.
"Yes ma'am." Tony stood back and just watched, but he quickly grew bored. Moving behind her, he started kissing her behind the ear and along the back of her neck. Distracted Michelle's hand slipped and the peeler grazed the top of her palm by her left thumb.
"Damn it." She cursed.
"Sorry." He said grabbing her hand and placing it under running water to clean the wound. "Here." He said, kissing it and sucking the blood clear.
"Damn you." She cursed, a smile on her lips.
"What?" He asked innocently, planting a kiss on her lips. She kissed him back, dropping the peeler and the carrot on the floor. Tony placed his hands on either side of her hips and walked her backwards into the bench. The adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he couldn't fight the urge any longer that had been with him most of the afternoon to just take her and make her his. Her hands wound around his head, tangling amongst his hair as she kissed him back. Grabbing her hips he lifted her up onto the kitchen bench as she pushed aside the other vegetables. He continued to kiss her neck and shoulders, undoing her buttons and pulling down her top, revealing her bra. She pulled up her skirt and wriggled closer to the edge of the table. His towel removed, Tony lowered her gently back down onto him, supporting her weight as they manoeuvred their way around the kitchen, bracing themselves against the pantry door and cupboards, utensils falling as they were pushed out of the way before he eventually lowered her down onto the kitchen floor. It was more vigorous than normal, like he was working out a few issue, but she had issues of her own and it worked well for her too. He held her so tight, like he never wanted to let her go. Michelle was surprised to find the forty minutes had passed when she finally looked at the clock, by no means a record for them but she had been so enthralled by it all that it had seemed to have taken only five to ten minutes at the most.
"Sorry." He apologised knowing he hadn't been as gentleman like as he should have been.
"Don't be. It was just what I needed." She said, placing a loving hand on his cheek.
"Feeling better then?" He asked her coyly trying to lighten the mood.
"A little" She teased.
"Is something burning?" Tony wondered as he looked around.
"Oh no." Michelle raced to the oven as she pulled her top back on, she had forgotten to turn the temperature down, "It's ruined." She exclaimed.
"Hmm. "Tony scoffed, hiding his grin behind his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm sure we can salvage it." He said, peeling back the layers to find the meat under the charcoal.
"This is all your fault." She scolded him.
"I said I was sorry." Michelle just glared at him. "Look I'll make it up to you. I'll take you to the finest restaurant in town."
"But I wanted tonight to be special."
"Oh it was." Tony smiled, Michelle just blushed. "Come on." He said grabbing her hand to drag her away from the kitchen. It would be a good distraction for them both and first thing in the morning he'd make up some excuse and they'd be on the first plane out of there.
"Don't you think we should get changed first?" She chuckled, noting his naked appearance.
"Yes ma'am." He mocked her again. Michelle threw a bit of charcoaled chicken at him, watching it hit the wall behind him as he ducked to avoid it.