Trevor
did up the clasp and admired his girlfriend's beautiful white throat
before he asked her, still with her eyes closed, to turn and face
him. The silver necklace sat attractively across her clavicle, the
tear-drop pendant nestling in the dip between her small pushed-up
breasts. Perfect. Exactly the effect he had hoped for. “Open your eyes,” he commanded her.
She did so, fluttering her eyelids flirtatiously, to see her pulsing throat reflected in a hand-held mirror. “Oh babe, it's gorgeous. Your best yet,” she said breathlessly as she lightly caressed her pearly skin and the delicate chain.
Trevor knew Lou was vain and materialistic; she delighted in anything sparkly and wanted all that his money, inherited or made, could give her. His latest gift would certainly sweeten the deal. The marriage deal. His third, her first. Lou had to be bought and wasn't ashamed of it. If anything she played on it, realising early on that he liked raining elaborate and expensive gifts on the very people he wanted to influence. And she wasn't adverse to playing that game or in the end being possessed, not if she could squeeze anything she liked out of it.
So here they were, two and a half years on, with Trevor finally feeling like he'd managed it. She wouldn't refuse him this time. He could tell by the dazzling smile she was wearing. This little piece had certainly trumped the Michelin starred restaurants, classic sports cars and luxury holidays, and confirmed his status as a Sugar Daddy, a rapidly greying-haired and bearded one at that.
“Teddy Bear,” Lou called in her little girl voice from upstairs where she was now admiring herself in a full-length mirror. Trevor took the stairs two at a time and found her in their bedroom holding the pendant out in front of her scrutinising it, “What exactly is it? It looks a bit like a solid tear-drop, but it's not is it? And I can't open it.”
“No dear, it's a big toe for good luck like a rabbit foot. I had it specially designed and what's inside is for me to know.”
Lou's face was a picture, one of distaste for her latest gift mixed with fresh contempt for her much older lover, “A toe! What a novel thing to do! Did you give one to your ex-wives too? I'm sorry babe, it's just unusual that's all – it's still beautiful,” she said trying to mask her ungrateful blunder.
“Yes, if you must know I did design similar lockets – a lung and a kidney – for Joanna and Rachel, both of which are stored in the family's vault. You don't think I'd give you something they'd previously worn? It's a unique one-off piece just for you,” he said planting a kiss on her furrowed brow. “Darling, do hurry up, we have a long drive to the castle.”
Nicely done, he thought going back downstairs to load the car and start the engine. A tiny hiccup, but it was coming off as he planned. A conservative man, his wooing of Lou had been arduous as she failed to so easily yield to convention. She was a modern gold-digger unlike the meek girlfriends and wives that preceded her, but he almost had her. His forever girl.
The drive to Wales was uneventful. Lou slept most of the way, her doll-like head lolling on her shoulder, as he revelled in foul looks from other drivers. It was only natural they should be jealous of his faster car and younger companion.
They arrived at the holiday-let castle in Roch just as the light was dimming. Trevor had made out he'd rented it for a long weekend when really it was his property. Lou tore through, exploring rooms, while Trevor ensured the housekeeper had kept to his exacting requirements: a chilled ice bucket for the champagne and a light candlelit fish supper. He drew out a key, the same size as you used to find on a tin of spam, and a magnifying glass from an inner coat pocket. He couldn't wait to open Lou's big toe locket and share details of his life's ambition: the assembly of his perfect wife.
