Youâre so earnest. It isnât going to happen, not in a million years. All Angels is Grade Two listed, and English Heritage have vetoed any attempt to alter the interior, unless itâs a complete restoration. Nobody can afford that, so I expect itâll stay as it is.â
âSo why all the bollocks? Votes?â
âYes, mainly. Prestige within the party as well, but yes, mainly votes. Thatâs why the project is designed principally for pensioners. Do you know what the percentage of voters over sixty is in my constituency?â
âNo.â
âThirty-one, and they are more likely to vote than any other age group. Thatâs just the start. There are a lot of new people moving into the area, and I need to keep my profile up. The longer I can keep the All Angels business going, the better, just so long as I can be seen to be supporting local residents. I donât want it to actually happen â that way I lose out on months of good publicity.â
âOh.â
I was cross, suddenly, not with his answer, but at the realisation that he was telling the truth, and that Iâd worked myself up over what was to him a tiny move in a big game. He smiled, with more than a touch of condescension.
âSo donât worry about your precious church.â
âRight. Thanks, I suppose. Isnât that a bit cynical?â
He shrugged. I decided to press the point.
âWhat about your ideals?â
âIdeals? Ha! I used to have ideals, yes.â
He paused to dab his mouth with a serviette, then went on.
âI was going to change the world, or at least the country, make it a better place for everybody, get rid of the old class system once and for all, make for a genuine meritocracy. Before the end of my first year at uni I was toeing the party line with the rest of the hacks. Idealists donât get on. But never mind all that. Who wants to talk politics? Tell me a bit more about yourself.â
I didnât really want to, and I was feeling small and not a little stupid, so I just smiled and shrugged. By good fortune the waiter chose that moment to arrive with our main courses, and I buried myself in steak with peppercorn sauce to avoid conversation. He did the same, and my feelings slowly came around as we ate, from chagrin to a really urgent need to somehow get the upper hand on him.
My chance came sooner than I had expected. He was trying to get me drunk, surprise, surprise, and had ordered some fancy gin cocktails when we came in. I hate gin and had hardly touched mine, but heâd drunk his and ordered a bottle of strong red wine with our food. He kept wanting to top my glass up but I was just sipping, and he didnât have the patience to leave his. By the time weâd finished he had drunk almost the entire bottle and was starting to go pink in the face. He also had his hand well up my skirt, tickling my thigh just an inch from my pussy. One knuckle brushedthe crotch of my panties and I gave a little involuntary shiver. I pulled back, but heâd seen, and he knew. Once more I got the little condescending smile, then his open move.
âPudding? Coffee? Or perhaps back to London for a nightcap at my flat?â
I had to take charge.
âNot pudding, no, I couldnât eat another thing. You could eat something though, only not at your place, but at mine.â
I winked. It took a moment for what Iâd said to sink in, and then he went pink, which was well satisfying. Recovering himself he turned to signal a waiter for the bill even as he pulled his car keys from his pocket, then tried to give as good as heâd got.
âGreat, but youâre to eat too. Fairâs fair. Where do you live?â
âDonât worry, Iâll drive.â
âYou? Drive? Thatâs not really . . .â
âYes it is. Youâre drunk, and MPs canât do that sort of thing. Iâm driving.â
âBut . . .â
âIâve