We were running late. Again. It was Friday, the night of the traditional end-of-contract office party that my boss always threw to celebrate the team's hard work, and we were late for my own party. Again. We arrived at the hotel in London in good time on Friday afternoon after work. Lucy had cancelled all her clients so she could get to the hotel early and begin getting ready while I finished at the office to meet her the...

My phone buzzed against my desk, and I frantically scrambled for it so as not to disturb the monastic quiet of the open-plan office. I flipped it over, and Lucy’s face and number flashed on the screen. I swore under my breath. The last thing I needed right now was a call from my wife minutes before I had a key presentation to the executive team. I thumbed across the screen to answer and raised it to my ear. “Hi John,” cam...

The phone buzzed irritatingly against my thigh, disturbing what was going to be an immaculate golf swing from the beginning of the 8th tee and resulting in an ungainly slice that sent the ball flying into the rough. I swore long and loudly as my work colleagues laughed at my misfortune. I dug in my pocket for the offending item and saw that the culprit was none other than Lucy, my wife. Sighing, I opened the screen and fl...

Two things woke him from his slumber, the sunlight pouring in through the open curtains and the sound of the shower running in the en suite bathroom. He got up and padded across the thick fur rug that covered the cold marble floor and cracked the door to the bathroom. Steam leaked out, obscuring his view, so he pushed the door open and stepped inside. The bathroom was huge, bigger than his kitchen at home. A long deep bat...

The London streets were packed with the usual Saturday night traffic, and in the back of a black cab, the man glanced anxiously at his watch. He had been stuck in this bloody traffic for ten minutes now, and he was worried that he may have missed his opportunity with the mystery woman who so intrigued him. He breathed deeply and consoled himself that she had only left five minutes before him and was probably held up in th...

The grand ballroom of the Ritz Hotel was packed to capacity for the charity event of the year, a masque ball for the great and good of society with a chance to see and be seen by those who mattered, a chance to show one’s generosity for a good cause and at the same time be photographed for the back pages of Tatler. The event was a riot of colour, light, opulence and sensation. Beautifully attired men and women mingled, da...