Linda's Late, Isn't She?

Linda worked in a solicitor's office in the city. She enjoyed her job as legal secretary and was well thought of by the firm. She was a good time keeper, smart and helpful, but she had no ambition to rise higher. She was hopeless at telling others what to do and usually ended up doing things herself, which suited her more junior colleagues very well. She knew that they often exploited her good nature and, although they liked her, probably poked gentle fun behind her back. She really lacked any sense of authority to deal with them and was given positive palpitations by the thought of a confrontation, however minor. Linda had been married when she was fairly young, but was now happily divorced and had been for three years. Her ex-husband was a tyrant who bullied, intimidated and humiliated her younger self for seventeen years, until she managed to break away from him. The abuse was at first emotional, then dominating and humiliatingly sexual and finally physical. A particularly nasty episode left her in hospital and him in police custody. They never had children, for which he obviously blamed her, but really it was because he was unable to. Linda had had several offers since, but felt that her experiences had left her too vulnerable and distrustful to attempt another relationship for some time.

She was 45, with a curvy figure, not angular, hard and toned like 21^st century ideals, but in a well-rounded, softer way, more reminiscent of a mature, 1950's movie star. Linda liked clothes and fashion and knew how to dress stylishly in ways which flattered her curves. Although typically self-conscious, she always thought that she was overweight and to that end flitted from one fad diet to another, to little effect. She had a pretty face, large blue eyes, behind her designer glasses, small slightly snub nose and fashionably cut, shoulder length, auburn hair, which she often wore pinned elegantly up like today for the office. Truthfully for sometime now Linda had had to have it tinted to remove the encroaching traces of silver. When speaking Linda had a very soft, girly voice, which was another reason no one took her seriously. She could not change it, although she once sought professional help, but Linda still spoke in a light, whispery way which tended to amuse people, much to her annoyance. At least, she thought, the elocution lessons had given her the diction of a more refined, middle class lady, but unfortunately not the tone or self-assured manner of one.

Today, although she was completely unaware of it, Linda's cosy little life was about to change because of tiny differences to her regular routine. She hadn't driven in to work today, hitching a lift in with her neighbour, because one of the girls in the office was leaving and she had promised to have a quick drink with her and the others after work. Unfortunately new road works that morning had left the rush hour traffic at a crawl. Thinking it would be quicker, Linda agreed to hop out and walk the last few blocks rather than be late, she hated being late. She thought she knew her way around this area pretty well, even though she had only ever driven in to work. However the same road works which had delayed the car also spread across several pavements, workmen in high-visibility jackets and hard hats were seemingly everywhere with their diggers and lorries, in addition to the noise and crowds. It was chaos. When she couldn't get down one main street at all she was becoming exasperated. Not being exactly sure which alternative to take and feeling a little too self-conscious to ask directions, Linda followed a knot of people off at a right angle to where she thought she should be going, with the idea of taking the next road which seemed to lead in the direction she wanted. After a few minutes a smaller street presented itself and she took it gratefully, however this street did not look at all familiar and the crowd was becoming thinner. Linda stopped at a crossroads and looked at her watch, Oh no, now I am running late! Fumbling in her handbag she snatched at her mobile phone to ring in and tell them about her situation. Unfortunately grabbing at it in agitation caused it to catch on the handle of her bag and spin off across the pavement.

"Damn it... oh no!"

She watched helplessly as it bounced off a wall and came to rest. Linda walked over and picked it up, the screen was cracked and there was no sign of life. She looked around for help but people, as they do in a city, walked past her too busy to notice. Exactly as she would have done herself whilst rushing to get to work, she thought ruefully. Sighing Linda slipped the useless lump of technology back into her bag and walked on a little further. Finally she swallowed her pride and asked an elderly lady for directions. At first she seemed confused, apparently English was not her first language, but eventually the old lady, after some thought told Linda to go down this street and indicated vaguely left somewhere towards the end. However vague, she almost certainly knew more than Linda about the local geography and Linda hurried off as fast as her heels would carry her, shouting her thanks behind her. How absolutely stupid to become lost when only a short distance from where you work every day, she would never tell a soul about this foolish escapade. She would have to think of another excuse when she arrived at work late for the first time. Whilst thinking of this Linda realized that she hadn't noticed the left turn that the old lady had indicated, she'd been hurrying, how far had she come, had she rushed by it and not noticed? Damn it! She should have been concentrating, Linda actually felt quite breathless from anxiety and her unexpectedly long walk in her new shoes, a last minute decision for the after work drink. They would have been fine around the office, but they were pinching a bit now. There were only one or two people here and traffic was much less frequent. She slowed down spying a road on her left, it was quite narrow and quiet, mainly run down industrial units and lock up garages, Linda hesitated. But as she looked down it, to her relief she thought she could see a tall building which she recognized as the tall office block near to where she worked. It didn't appear too far away from here and it was something to aim for, the old lady was right after all, thought Linda breathing a sigh of relief, she set off down the side street and went back to thinking of a plausible excuse.

As Linda progressed down the small dingy road she noticed how quiet it seemed, she hadn't passed anyone for some time and no cars had passed her. Also there were no roads off this road, but there was what appeared to be a gated entrance to something at the end of this road. When she got there Linda realized that it was run down piece of inner city park, if you could call it that. It was just a fenced off area of scrubby grass a few broken swings and a concrete skateboarding area covered in graffiti. Linda walked through the rusty wrought iron gateway cautiously, peering in the distance to see if there was another gateway leading out, perhaps in her chosen direction. Following the perimeter around with her gaze, all she could see was overgrown chain-link fencing. Oh god! This was just awful. Now she faced the prospect of retracing her steps all the way...

"Are you lost lady?"

The voice came from almost directly behind her. Startled, Linda let out a little yell and wheeled around sharply; her heart lurched in her already anxious state. She hadn't seen or heard anyone.

"Wha...? Oh...er..."

It was a boy, well an older teenager really, skinny, baseball cap and baggy track suit, he was carrying a mobile phone and seemed to be just finishing a call or text. He was not dirty but a bit scruffy, she thought, straggly hair falling unkempt from under his 'beanie' hat, very pale, with a little stubble. He glanced at her impassively in between, as Linda could now see, texting on his phone. He didn't appear to be aggressive or in any way threatening, he wasn't much more than a boy after all. She scolded herself, just because people came from a certain area and didn't dress in a suit or speak with a plum in their mouth didn't make them "Mad, Bad or dangerous to know". In fact he might turn out to be Linda's saviour, especially if he could get her back to civilization. If he was helpful Linda thought, she would definitely give him a reward for his help. Linda smiled, slightly patronizingly, the way people do with other unfamiliar people, in order to illicit a smile in return.

"Well... Er...yes, but how did you...?"

The strange youth finished texting his unknown friend and pocketed the phone. He did not play the smile game, his young soft stubbled face remained fairly impassive, he shrugged looking at Linda in a very frank way and said, with a local accent,

"You stand out a mile... you ain't from around here... Nobody around here looks posh like you... it don't take much working out"

Although Linda's smile only slipped slightly, the boy's words jarred in her mind and she became aware of how incongruous she must appear in this situation.

Linda's appearance was more 'posh' than usual. Despite her obvious agitation and somewhat flustered air, Linda was impeccably smart. Her navy suit was her best, with shiny silver buttons on the tailored jacket and a white silky blouse which tied in a pussy bow high around her throat. The tight pencil skirt came exactly to her knee and freedom of movement, to a degree was made possible by the back slit vent. Below that her shapely calves gleamed in sheer, glossy, black stockings with seams. This was not standard office attire for Linda, but an added touch of glamour for the anticipated after work night out. As previously mentioned her new black stiletto heels were a good inch higher than normal, Linda liked men to notice her. Truthfully, since her divorce she had become aware of the effect that her attractive figure and stylish good looks had on men, particularly young men, and although she would deny it, Linda was not above a little flirtatious teasing. However, given the circumstances, being lost in such a grim part of the city in her best clothing and highly impractical footwear was both silly and risky. Linda could have cried with frustration, but she banished those thoughts and through sheer willpower, fought to fix the smile back on her pretty face, OK time to use the well tested 'Damsel in distress' tactic. Linda walked up to the youth and treated him to her warmest smile.

"Oh you are observant young man, that's amazing, you are absolutely right, I'm so scatty sometimes.." resting her well manicured hand gently upon his arm, Linda gazed up into his eyes and said,

"...do you think that you could help me?"

He seemed slightly bemused but didn't speak, Perhaps he's a bit slow, poor thing. Linda opened her handbag, delving into her purse she parted a ten pound note from the other mainly twenties, the extra cash was of course to be used later on. Linda held out the note to the young man,

"You're quite right, I'm completely lost. How would you like to be my 'Knight in shining armour' and put me back on track?" she trilled somewhat condescendingly.

Linda noticed the boy's eyes flicked sharply past the proffered note to the purse and then back to meet her eyes, ...not that slow then! He still didn't smile. With hindsight, she realized that she was tempting fate a little, alone in this area, dressed in such an affluent manner and now she had let a stranger see that she had cash on her person.

In truth Linda was beginning to feel a little desperate, but her thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of another youth, around the same age, about 18 or 19 she guessed, and obviously a friend of the first one, walking quickly towards them. This one was taller, black with short dreadlocks. He walked quickly straight towards them, with that bouncing, arrogant gait that young black men seemed to enjoy, acknowledging the first boy with a fist bump, he stared intently at Linda. These were not the type of young men Linda was used to dealing with so easily, office juniors from nice families, who had been to good schools. Alarm bells were ringing around her head and she began to realize that she was getting out of her depth. Linda resolved to get out of there as quickly as possible, before anyone else turned up, re-trace her steps and find a main road. Stepping back she straightened up, hoping to project a slightly more confident air and stuffed the ten pound note quickly into her pocket,

"Well... thanks for your help, but..." Linda tried to sound casual, but her voice was a little too shrill, "... I really must rush, I'm a little late and people are waiting..."

The black youth moved to block her exit from the park, but holding his hands out in a placating manner, grinning,

"Whoa! Whoo! Wassup? Hey, I just got here! Don't you like black people? You ain't racist are ya?... Nice lady like you... you never seen a black face this close before?" He was still grinning good humouredly.

Linda flushed, she still felt frightened and anxious to get away from here, but now she felt embarrassed and foolish, especially as he spoke in a friendly manner, obviously mocking her, but in a gentle way. Linda worked in a highly politically correct, legal office environment, she attended ethnicity and diversity courses, what would her colleagues think if they knew that she had reacted in such a typically white, middle class way towards a young black man who she didn't know? Regarding him as a stereotypical street criminal? Whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'? Linda didn't want anyone to think she was in any way bigoted because she really wasn't, she chided herself and forced her smile to return.

"No, no... please don't misunderstand, I... I just meant..." now her hands were raised in a conciliatory way. The black lad continued to smile at her discomfort.

"She's lost" said the pale teen.

"No shit" replied the grinning black youth, but neither looked at each other, they both studiously regarded the 'posh' lady standing uncomfortably in front of them. Whilst their expressions gave nothing away, each shared secret thoughts. This lady was rich, middle-aged, but good looking and spoke in a nice, posh, kind of horny way. This could be good, this could be really good!

"Yes, ok, I realise that it's a little ridiculous, but I am actually a bit lost..." Linda confessed in resignation "...can you help me get to Fenton & Partners, Solicitors? It's on the Wellbourne Road by the...".

"Wellbourne Road... I know that" said the first boy.

"Yeah sure, it's the one with that posh wine bar on the corner innit?" said the black lad.

"Yes! That's it" exclaimed Linda brightening up.

The black youth came closer, smiling and pointed into the distance, phew this woman smells so nice and clean and her perfume makes me want to... As Linda turned to follow his indication, Lloyd observed how the soft skin of her white neck emerged elegantly from the even whiter silk of her high collared blouse and wisps of her shiny, auburn hair hung down sexily. He felt his cock twitch spasmodically.

"No problem lady, in the far corner of this park, you can't see it from here too good..." he was pointing diagonally across the park, "... there's a footpath takes you out onto Blythe Street that leads right into your Wellbourne Road lady"

"I see. Oh, ok well, thank you, thank you very much, both of you have been brilliant, really, thanks again...!" Linda gushed breathlessly. Linda turned to leave and then almost as an after thought, turned back again pushing the ten pound note into the young man's hand.

"Please... take it and thanks again..."

Hastily she trotted off into the park in the direction indicated. Thank God for that, thought Linda, you stupid woman, this could have been a nasty situation, you could have been robbed or worse! The incongruously well dressed lady continued to mentally chide herself as she tottered, on her high heels, along the gravelly pathway towards what she could now see was indeed a gateway of sorts. As she drew closer though she could see this entire area had been used as a dumping ground, a washing machine, several items of furniture, doors and smaller items were strewn across the path and began to pile up into the opening of the gateway. This stuff must have been dumped from the other side until the point where the gateway no longer existed. Linda stared in confusion, this can't be the gateway the boys meant, this stuff hadn't built up overnight, they must have known...! As Linda turned to re-trace her steps she was startled to find the two youths walking only a few yards behind her. Her mouth started a question that it never formed, because that was when she saw the knife.

The young men walked right up to Linda and stood very close, she became aware for the first time that they were both taller than her and the black teen in particular was quite muscular, both appeared somehow older than she remembered from only moments earlier. She knew that she was in trouble and tried to think quickly of something to say or do but her mouth was suddenly very dry and her heart was hammering. However, in truth, the situation was now completely out of her control, a fact which she had yet to fully understand. Nothing would ever be the same again.

"Give me your fucking bag!" It was the black youth, no trace of the cheeky smile now.

He looked and sounded so fierce and threatening that Linda was reluctant to meet his eyes, with trembling fingers she handed the stylish leather shoulder bag over, to have it snatched aggressively from her hand. He handed it to the other lad, but continued to stare at Linda in an angry way that made her stomach flip when she glanced up and saw him. She couldn't help but recall the exact same tone in her ex-husbands voice during the years of abuse. Linda's mind seemed to short-circuit under confrontational stress, there was no 'fight or flight', only 'freeze'. The white teen pulled out her broken mobile and showed it his colleague, they exchanged knowing looks.

"You're lost and all alone for sure lady!" the white youth grinned. He put the phone in his pocket and continued to rifle her bag. Meanwhile the black youth looked at the fear and alarm in Linda's lovely eyes and felt a great sense of elation and building excitement coursing through him. Lloyd loved this part of mugging, although he could be as violent as anyone around here, he really liked the feeling of power when they just shit themselves and gave it all up. Lloyd's posture noticeably relaxed as he regarded the attractive prize that Robbie had stumbled upon. When he'd called Lloyd he hadn't got the time to tell him what a juicy MILF this target was, but this bitch was quality, exactly what Lloyd wanted... dreamed about. He stepped forward, walking very slowly and confidently around behind Linda, she continued to face forward, but eyes lowered, not challenging.

"£100 in cash, a couple of cards and a broken phone... that's not bad Lloyd..." a voice snapped angrily from somewhere behind Linda's head.

"That's Mr. Black... ain't that right Mr. White?" Lloyd liked 'Pulp Fiction'.

"Oh yeah... yeah, Mr. Black." the white teen grinned as he threw Linda's best handbag onto the pile of rubbish. Linda thought she saw another bag lying open not very far from it, how many other victims?

She sensed the black youth standing so very close behind her, it was intensely uncomfortable, but was reluctant to move, turn, or provoke them in any way, she just desperately wanted to get out of there. Then she jumped slightly as she felt a hand boldly touch, then slowly stroke around the curve of her tight-skirted bottom, No, no way, this has to stop now! Forcing herself to be calm she cleared her throat of the dryness which had robbed her speech,