Hot and sweaty with sand sticking to the most unimaginable of places, Alex felt as if he had never enjoyed a shower more than he did at that moment.

Despite Sarah’s assurances that the shoot wouldn’t take very long, he had sat in that ‘viewing area’ for about three hours before she had come to collect him. It would have been nice to think he had been cool about it, or at least to have handled the situation well, but that would have been a lie and Sarah had only giggled at his shocked expression before dragging him off to a late lunch at her favourite Chinese restaurant. He would never have thought of it, but he had enjoyed listening to her explain the differences between true oriental cooking and the western comparison. It had reminded him of their more peaceful days in school and of the girl he had known, so very long ago.

Upon arrival at her home, a modest two bedroom flat in the Balmain suburbs, Sarah had given him a tour before excusing herself to freshen up and Alex had been glad of the chance to have a much-needed shower. The scolding water pelted his body in a ceaseless torrent, easing the stiffness in his muscles and scouring the sand from his skin. Unfortunately, the water could not cleanse him of all his troubles and as his hands swept his flesh with soapy suds, he brooded over the enigma that was Sarah Snow.

She had changed so much since those days in school, flourishing while everything else in Alex’s life had withered and died. The girl he’d once known had become a woman unlike any he’d known, but despite it all, she was still Sarah Snow, the odd little orphan girl, the dearest of any friend, the first woman he had ever loved...

A stiffening sensation in his loins quickly reminded him of the dangers of such thoughts. Feeling strangely embarrassed, and more than a little dirty for getting an erection in Sarah’s shower, he reluctantly turned the hot water to cold. The sudden icy blast made him almost leap out of the stall and his engorged shaft quickly wilted as the soapy lather ran off his body onto the porcelain before draining away.

Shivering, Alex quickly turned the water off and pushed the fogged glass of the cubicle door aside. The bathroom was thick with a warm cloud of steam and he was forced to reach out blindly for the towel he’d placed close by before towelling himself down and wrapping it around his waist. Stepping from the shower into the cloud of steam, he traced a path from memory to the door leading to the adjoining bedroom.

The room was lit only by the dim glow of the bedside table lamp.  Alex shut the door before any steam could leak into the bedroom.

Though he couldn’t exactly call the room spartan, it would be a long stretch by any imagination to consider it homely. Sarah had, of course, furnished it with all the basics, a double bed, bedside tables, a chest of draws. However, the walls were painted pale, the carpeting basic, and there were no decorations or photos to speak of, nothing to give the room the feel of a home. It was almost as if he were staying in a hotel.

He’d left the room’s one window open and could feel a cool evening breeze blowing in from the not so distant bay. Its touch was like ice against his flesh and he shivered when a cold drop fell from his still damp hair to roll down his spine. Feeling it pool against the towel, he undid the fluffy white cloth and let the damp material fall around his feet to leave him standing naked in the glow of the lamp.

His holdall sat open in the centre of the bed, and as he looked inside, he suddenly realised how little he’d packed. Everything about this trip had been rushed. He’d scarcely given any thought to what he might wear and had simply grabbed anything that looked suitable, or else clean, for the tropical island climate. With only three tops and a pair of black jeans for his selection, he’d have to have Sarah take him shopping sometime in the next few days.

Grabbing a pair of black boxers, he quickly pulled on the undergarment before dressing in his only pair of clean trousers and pulling on a dark red shirt. Doing up all but the top two buttons, he towelled his hair one more time before glancing sideways to the mirror fixed to the back of the room’s door. Satisfied with his appearance, he switched the bedside lamp off and, guided by the warm orange twilight shining in through the window, left via the door opposite the foot of the bed and into the hallway beyond.

The door to Sarah’s bedroom was directly opposite the guest room and it was shut tight. He was about to head towards the living room when he thought he heard a series of muffled gasps from beneath the door. Worried, he paused before the pine barrier, raised a hand to knock, and then suddenly thought better of it. Dismissing the sounds as woman’s stuff, he turned on his heel and followed the carpeted corridor to the flat’s living area.

Sarah seemed to have made greater effort to decorate the living room than she had with the guest room. Though undeniably utilitarian, its design was just what he would have expected of her. There was only one sofa, a two-cushioned piece of supple black leather set against the main inner wall and within easy reach of the two-tiered coffee table in the centre of the room. A corner of the room was dominated by a desk upon which sat a Laptop, printer and Sony CD player, as well as a mass of papers and pens. Three, four-shelf bookcases had been arranged around the desk, all heavily laden with an assortment of books and ornaments, two of which were mostly hard backed reference books while the third was creased and dog-eared paper volumes. Curious, he took one of the more used softbacks off the case’s top shelf, only to feel his cheeks burn scarlet as he read the title.

The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl... Christ, Sarah reads sex books! Embarrassed, He hurriedly put the book back in its place and almost tripped over the cat bed that had been subtly stowed in the corner as he backed away.

Sara’s ginger tomcat was curled up fast asleep, too lost in his own dreams to notice he’d almost been flattened. Alex quietly stepped over the sleeping beast before performing a quick sweep of the rest of the living room, but there was nothing remarkable however except for a virtually brand-new Sony thirtysomething inch LCD TV and DVD player set up on a modern metal and glass stand in the opposite corner. Neither machine looked to have been used recently and had thin coatings of dust, but there was a pile of DVD cases beside the player. Unable to resist investigating, he bent forward for a closer look. Serendipity, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Titani-

“Find anything you like?” A voice whispered in his ear, making Alex jump and wheel around to find Sarah standing there, a sly smile tilting her full rosy lips. Her hair was still damp from the shower and she’d changed into a silky black robe that she’d tied around her waist. Feeling ominous, like a child caught with his hand in the biscuit tin, he could only look down in shame as his face burned a bright red until he heard Sarah giggle and say “Oh, don’t look so guilty Alex. I said to make yourself at home, didn’t I?”

With a surprisingly firm grip, she took his hand and guided him to the sofa before playfully pushing him into the leather cushion. She walked through the archway in the wall that led to her kitchen. “I’ll get us something to drink.”

His eyes followed her until she was gone from sight, his heart beating like a drum in his chest. What was wrong with him, this was Sarah, his Sarah. Why was he so nervous? He knew her as well as he knew himself, and she considerably more so. So, what had changed? Why could he not take his eyes off her? Why was her voice suddenly like music to his ears?

Of course, in his heart, Alex already knew the answer. He’d thought about it a lot over the past few weeks, and he feared it as much as he longed for it. Her rejection would kill him more assuredly than anything else on earth.

His thoughts fell silent when Sarah stepped back into the room, holding two shot glasses in one hand, and a bottle of pale blue alcohol bearing the insignia of a serpent in the other.

“You still like Vodka, right?” she asked, placing both glasses on the table and unscrewing the top.

“Thanks.” Eyeing the pale blue vodka cautiously, he raised the shot glass. “Nostrovia,” Tossing his head back, he swallowed it quickly, the familiar taste of straight Vodka rolling over his taste buds, flooding his senses. No sooner had he placed the shot glass down, he felt the first kickback rising up in his throat, his fingers tingling. It was over quickly, but then the second was upon with startling swiftness, and he could feel a heat burning through his chest, spreading over his lungs, turning his breath smoky. That should have been the end of it, but he could feel the third growing and glanced at Sarah, who was smiling down at him as she held the glass to her lips. He opened his mouth to speak and coughed violently.

“Wow.”

“Na Zdorovie, Alex.” She replied, her perfect lips pronouncing the Russian toast fluently. Alex tried to stop her, his hand rising up as his lips mouthed the words, but Sarah gently tipped the glass back and drained the contents. She swallowed it all without caution, then after a moment pursed her lips and whistled.

Alex’s chest heaved with the effort of breathing, but he could not tear his gaze from the vision of Sarah standing before him, her rosy lips pursed, half-veiled eyes watching him with playful amusement. She was toying with him, but what was her game?

“Mmm...” She moaned as she sat next to him on the sofa. “It takes a bit of getting used to, but it gives one hell of a buzz.”

A buzz, is that what she calls this? Alex wasn’t an innocent. Since his break-up with Janet, he’d learned to indulge himself and enjoy a glass or two in the evenings, dulling the memories that plagued his moments of solitude. He knew the feeling that came with having one too many, but that was a mere shadow of the sensations rushing through him now. Every cell in his body felt energised, a fire was raging in his chest, and a thick canopy of smoke fogged his thoughts. His movements felt foreign, both sluggish and at the same time accelerated. He tried to think of something to say, but as his eyes watched her his mouth opened and words came spilling out before he realised what he had said. “You know, you never did answer my question. What happened after prom? Why’d you wait five years to get back in touch?”

Sarah didn’t answer. Seemingly stunned by his sudden outburst, she went as still as marble and turned her gaze away from him to watch her cat sleeping in his bed. Her eyes were glassy and when she blinked, a tear rolled down her cheek.

Dammit, Rike, you just couldn’t keep your big mouth shut, could you? Inwardly cursing his own stupidity, Alex shifted round and reached out to touch her shoulder, but again thought better of it at the last moment and retracted his hand.

“Oh God, Sarah, I’m sor...”

“I found them, Alex.” Sarah’s voice lacked all emotion. She raised a hand to brush the tear aside. “My parents, I found them. They’re dentists, can you believe it? My folks, dentists with their own surgery on Harley Street. I went to see them that morning, after... I never told you because I knew you wouldn’t approve, but they’re my parents. I wanted to meet them, know who they are, why they didn’t want me.

“Sarah-” Alex’s mouth was dry.

“They didn’t even notice me. I went in and there they were, standing there talking to patients. I knew it was them, I tried to speak, but then my mother told me to take a seat. She looked straight at me and didn’t even see me. I’ve waited all my life to meet them and they’ve no idea I exist. I-I was just a-another pa-pat-patient.”

The tears were coming strong. Alex wanted to say something, but what? He placed a hand on her shoulder. It wasn’t much but it seemed to help as she didn’t push him away and after a moment, he could feel the shaking that wracked her beginning to subside.  Brushing the tears away, she lifted her gaze away from the sleeping feline.

“He tried to kiss me you know.”

“What!” The sound was higher than Alex had intended but suddenly it felt like there was a tennis ball lodged in his throat that he just couldn’t swallow. “... Who?”

“Rodarick.”

“So, what did you do?”

“I hit him.”

“Seriously?” Despite himself, Alex couldn’t help a small chuckle.

“Yep, knocked the crapaud flat on his arse then stormed out. He’s such a pig.” The tension easing, she relaxed back into his embrace. “I’m sorry Alex, I just couldn’t deal with it. I wanted to get away, so I just grabbed the first flight out of London and worked what jobs I could find. That was until Jules discovered me working in a bookshop last year and recommended me to the agency’s talent scout. I’ve been with them ever since.”

Alex knew he should have let sleeping dogs lie, all he had to do was hold his tongue and let the moment pass, but the vodka spoke for him. “You could have called, I was worried.”

Sarah turned to face him, her eyes lowered and a guilty smile turning her lips. “I know, I’m sorry Alex, I just didn’t want to ruin things.”

“You couldn’t ruin anything, Sarah.” He assured her, trying to sound comforting before a notion suddenly struck him. “So, why did you send me that email?”

Sarah began to blush. “I was drunk.”

This time he made no effort to disguise the laughter. “Drunk?”

She looked away, her face burning a bright red. “Jules, she took me out for a girls’ night out. I had a few too many rum and cherry cokes and started telling her all about you. She tracked you down the next day and while I was still a bit tipsy, she got me to send you an email.”

This time they both laughed.

“Then everything happened so fast and when you said you were coming to visit, I was so happy.” She turned back to him, a warm genuine smile lighting up her face. “I really have missed you Alex.”

Alex could only smile as their eyes met, a hot shiver running down his spine “I’ve missed you too.”

All notion of time slipped away, and Alex found himself wishing that that moment would never end as he looked into Sarah’s bright hazel orbs and felt his heart swell. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and crush her against him, to seize her lips in a passionate embrace. With the drink in him, he might actually have done so if Sarah had not suddenly jumped to her feet.

“Ooh come on, let’s dance,” declared Sarah, sauntering over to the desk and fiddling with the CD player until jazz music began echoing from the speaker. Alex’s heart jumped as he recognised Michael Bublé’s Sway and he had a sudden feeling of déjà vu as Sarah began to dance, her hips swaying seductively to the beat as she took his hand and dragged him from the sofa.

It must have been the drink that did it. One moment he was skirting around her like a timid rabbit, the next their bodies were locked together in a rhythmic tempest as he surrendered to the music and her wishes. A hair’s breadth divided them. With every breath, her scent filled him, and he could recall the taste of her lips on his. He could feel breasts pressing against him, her hardened nipples clearly visible against the silken fabric. His hands were on her, running lightly over the sultry curve of her spine down to the swells of her buttocks. He felt his hand moving on its own accord, squeezing the firm orbs, crushing her to him hard enough to make her gasp. The sound stirred his shaft to life, but when she began to pull back, he was afraid he might have gone too far, until she twisted and began to rock her backside against him, massaging his engorged arousal as her arms wound around his neck. Her head tilted back. Their lips were nearing, opening bit by bit in readied acceptance as his arms curled around her front, rising slowly over her ribs to clasp her breasts. He could feel her breath on his cheek, her lips so close, her eyes falling shut, his own darkening-

Meoowwwwww!

The sound startled them, bringing them back to reality and Alex’s head wheeled around, only to see the tomcat stretching out. The commotion, it seemed had awoken the feline who in turned had returned the favour. Turning back, he saw Sarah blink as reality, and the realisation of what they had almost done, surge through her. Unable to meet his gaze she stepped back, turned and ran back through the hallway.

He heard her bedroom door slamming shut.

“Shit...”