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A week later...
Christian Dalton was already in The Cedars, a hotel towards the outskirts of Persford. At two hundred pounds a night, it could hardly be considered cheap but he’d booked one of the better rooms using a new credit card which he’d applied for recently. He didn’t want Geraldine to see anything suspicious on their joint credit card. He had suggested to Laura that she could book it and he would give her the cash but she claimed it was more romantic if he organised the hotel. It was part of the thrill, being whisked off for a night of passion in romantic surroundings. She made it quite clear that he wouldn’t regret it one little bit. When she whispered what she had in mind for him he felt himself blushing down to the roots of his hair. The anticipation had been killing him and he had scarcely been able to concentrate on any work as the moment grew ever closer.
After checking-in at the hotel, he’d taken a quick shower then changed into a clean shirt. He’d thought about just wearing the bathrobe but somehow being already undressed as he waited for Laura made him feel like he was paying for sex. He wanted to savour every minute of their encounter and prolong the seduction. He’d ordered some champagne which was sitting in an ice bucket and he was trying to watch some television until she arrived.
There was a knock on the door and he started and fumbled with the remote control which fell to the floor. He quickly switched off the TV and went to let Laura in. As she stepped into the room they fell into each other’s arms and began to kiss passionately. As they separated Christian stood back to look at Laura.
‘You look gorgeous,’ he said. ‘I’ve been looking forward to seeing you so much.’
Her hand wandered to his trousers, ‘I can tell you are excited to see me,’ she joked. ‘Is that champagne I can see?’
‘I thought we had something to celebrate. Our first full night together.’ Christian uncorked the bottle which gave a satisfying pop. He slowly poured out two glasses and handed her one. They climbed on to the bed with their glasses and she snuggled up against him.
‘This is the life,’ said Laura. ‘Cheers!’
‘So, how’s your day been?’
‘Boring and agonising waiting for this moment,’ she replied.
‘Me too.’ Christian kissed her neck and she responded with some gentle moans.
‘Where are you supposed to be this evening?’
‘At a hotel in London for a meeting about running Clinical Trials. I told Geraldine I had to go up this evening as we had a networking session before the seminars tomorrow. I’ll do some work here tomorrow before I check out and then I’ll go to the university library. I can’t go into work in case anyone speaks to Geraldine at a later date and lets it slip that I didn’t go to a conference. It’s good to have a bit of a break from work anyway. I’ll probably get more done tomorrow without having to sort out the staff and their endless problems.’
Laura smiled at him. ‘Very inventive, I’m impressed. Now, I think that’s quite enough work talk now, doctor. Instead, I think I’d like you to examine me. I’ve not been feeling too well recently.’
‘Certainly, where would you like me to examine you first?’
Laura took his hand and placed it on her breast. ‘Just here to start with but I think the trouble is a bit lower down.’
‘No problem at all,’ said Christian. ‘Now if you could just lie down on the bed I’ll see what might be the problem.’
**
Nick and Polly had just made love and she was resting her head on his shoulder.
‘Are you OK,’ asked Nick.
‘Yes, of course, why do you ask?’
‘You just seem a bit quiet.’
‘It’s nothing, it’s just well, I’m starting to get a bit worried. I’ve been trying to get pregnant for over six months now and each month it doesn’t happen. I’m just getting a bit depressed, that’s all.’
‘What did the doctor say?’
‘He said to give it a few more months and then if nothing happens I can take some tablets and then if still nothing happens then we can go for tests. Apparently, male sperm count is dropping significantly and as we both have stressful jobs we might need some help. In the meantime, I have to stop worrying.’
‘Well, let’s just enjoy it and hopefully, something will happen soon. You are timing your cycle carefully aren’t you?’
‘Yes, I am, so you’ve got a few busy days ahead,’ she joked.
‘Oh, I’m sure I can cope,’ laughed Nick. ‘I might have to take things easy on Monday though if you’ve got three days of passion lined up for me!’
‘You’ll be going to work for a rest then?’
‘It’s a good thing I’m not doing lab work nowadays or I’d have to pace myself.’
‘Are you saying you’re getting old, Mr Thomas?’
‘Not too old to show you a good time,’ he said embracing Polly and kissing her again.
**
Nimrod was in the garden shed. His trial had been running for a week and tonight he had decided to isolate the product. His nerves were jangling and his heart was threatening to break through his chest. Over the last week, he’d been checking each evening how things were progressing and after a few days, some crystals had started to form. For the next three nights, the amount of crystals had steadily increased, settling down at the bottom of the bowl. Now the rate of formation seemed to have slowed so it looked like this was the most he was going to obtain. Once he had isolated the material, he was going to transport it to Warrior to show him the results and he was going to receive instructions as to how to use it. Then he would need to scale up to a useful amount. Each day he’d been stockpiling materials ready for the repeat run. He hoped that nobody had noticed the depleted stocks. He was running out of space in the shed. Warrior was going to supply him with some of the other reagent tonight and Nimrod had himself been purchasing it from different outlets to avoid falling under suspicion.
Nimrod donned some disposable gloves and took the lid off the bowl. He swirled the liquid gently to dislodge it. He took a plastic spoon and carefully scraped any stubborn areas of solid from the side of the container. He couldn’t risk using a metal rod or spoon as this might cause some friction and that would be too dangerous. He stretched some muslin cloth over a bucket and tied it securely with string. Then he poured the contents of the bowl through and the white crystalline solid collected on the surface of the cloth. It wasn’t possible to dry it completely as he was merely filtering it using gravity to separate it from the liquid. However, he’d been told by Warrior it was safer not to dry it completely. Once all the liquid had drained through he untied the muslin, collected the edges of the material together and twisted it around. He now had a sort of bulb of material containing the solid which he placed into a plastic sandwich box and wrapped it in newspaper before placing it in a carrier bag.
Now he had the filtrate to dispose of. He took the bucket out of the shed and went to the outside tap. He diluted the liquid with water and went to pour the contents down the drain at the front. He then re-filled the bucket several times and poured it down the drain. To any onlookers, it would appear that he was doing some decorating or washing something down and getting rid of dirty water.
As he finished he realised he was soaked in sweat. He left the bag in the shed and clicked the padlock shut. He headed back inside to take a shower and change his clothes before going to meet Warrior. He hoped that he would be pleased with his efforts.
