I was in turmoil for the whole fight home; I sat awake and fretting on both legs, the first to Dubai, then to London over a stretched night. It felt longer than any passage I’d ever made by sea. I sat by the window, staring out at nothing in particular, replaying the night in Colombo again and again. Every time I tried to push it aside, it returned – Hyacinth’s persistence, the wine and whisky, the moment I should have st...

The docks were silent for the weekend. That meant I had two days free from work. When the alarm sounded at five yesterday, I leaned over Maggie and murmured my invitation for a day out together. Even though I was half asleep, the pleasure in her smile was unmistakable and uplifting. So, there we were on Saturday mid-morning, standing on the platform waiting for the train to carry us to Liverpool. Her olive-green dress was...

It was a shelter, not my home. After she died, I lived there out of necessity. But I couldn’t bear the thought of spending all day inside on my own, so every morning, I headed out for a walk. My route was always the same: across the recreation ground, then along the main road to the little arcade. I drifted past the shops and cafés, letting my movement fill the silence. Once upon a time, I’d have stepped into the bank to...

Simon. Simon was a 'successful' businessman in his thirties, but not conventional in his style and appearance. It was not affectation, but the belief that he was entitled to look and behave as he wished, just like anyone else; it had led him to great success without compromising his principles. He had earned a great deal of money through sustainable, ethical businesses, but ploughed a lot of his profit back into caring fo...

Simon. Simon was in his mid-twenties and a junior executive in an International tech company. When he wasn't working in the office, he was working online, from home, and even while travelling between the two. There seemed to be no break from the treadmill. He lived alone in a simple (though expensive) apartment in London, and had no spare time to meet anyone or form relationships. His only hope was to meet someone in the...

Preamble. Simon always went to the same coffee shop, every day of the working week, as he passed through the Mall on his way to the office. He liked his coffee in the morning, of course, but he was also quietly attracted to the Barista. She was a young and very attractive blonde girl, who now knew his regular order... a Cappuccino with an extra shot, and no chocolate sprinkles! And in a proper cup, not a take-away carton!...

Prologue. Following 'Symphony Number One', when Simon was asked to take Sara's virginity, she had set off for University, leaving her mother Anna alone in their luxurious home. Anna had divorced from her absent husband some two years before, and had devoted all of her energies to nurturing Sara, ignoring her own needs entirely. Having seen Simon's caring introduction of Sara to the 'adult' world, under the guise of her co...

The evening is full of anticipation for Angelique as she awaits her secret lover in her guest room. The coded email she had received, disguised as a special offer from an online health products store, had the date and time he would arrive appearing as an offer expiration time: tonight at midnight. If she couldn't make the time, she would have replied with a question and a suggested time, and received an email confirming t...

A few years ago, my parents installed a pool in our backyard to keep my little sister and me from running the streets and getting into trouble in our small Southern Missouri town. Since then, my sister and her sixteen-year-old friend, Kim, have had sleepovers so they can hang out by the pool and tan. One afternoon, I overheard Kim and my sister outside my bedroom window, bragging about everything they knew about sex while...

On a Sunday morning, Cindy would typically lie about, taking the ‘day of rest’ seriously by binge-watching some serial she’d been following or reading a book. After breakfast she might go out to do some window shopping, but rarely stopping to buy. In warmer weather, an afternoon by the pool might be called for, followed by a warm bath. The bath often figured into her Sunday fun, luxuriating in the hot water, sometimes wit...

Preamble. Once upon a time, there was a world where there were no mobile phones, no internet, no dating apps, no cable or streaming TV services, and very few broadcast channels. If you wanted to talk to someone, you had to find a telephone (if they also had one!), or write a letter and wait at least a week for a reply; much longer if it was an 'airmail' letter. This all made communicating outside your immediate community...