For the want of an Apple (closed for CFMB_fan)

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"No, for the thirtieth time, I still do not want mulled wine. Thank you! Oddly wine does not become more appealing heated up with bits of twig in, strangely enough but there you go!" Orla snapped as her mother again offered her 'special' Christmas drink.

As her mother slunk away Orla caught her father's annoyed expression but merely rolled her eyes and picked up another bottle of beer, leaving him to his loud apologies for her moodiness to various friends and neighbours. It was bad enough that she had to endure another 'fun' family event but constantly remembering that every hour passing brought her closer to needing to hand in her dissertation was a little too much.

The end of term class party had been huge, raucous and, to build her popularity, she'd allowed it to be in her flat. One of the boys had not only taken a girl into her room but had managed to trip over a chair and bring her laptop crashing to the floor. All her work, bar piles of notes, had been saved on it and she'd found an IT guy who was sure he could retrieve the info but it would take at least a fortnight, probably three weeks and he could only start after the holidays, when Orla's major dissertation, the one that even just missing the deadline meant failing her entire degree, was due in 10 days after she returned to uni. Not only did she need a new laptop, when she was completely broke, but even if she had one how would she recreate months of work from patchy notes in so short a time?

Hearing her father laugh with a friend Orla's scowl deepened. Then there were the two parents, not only refusing to loan her enough for a new laptop but also reminding her if she failed the course she owed them the entire amount they'd remortgaged to help her pay for it. Wonderful.

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Name: Clark, Tom Clark
Height: 6 foot
Build: broad, stocky, a former rugby player he still exercised on his bike mostly but middle age spread was gaining momentum on im.
Hair: Dark, partially bald
Eyes: Sea blue


Tom looked at is friend's daughter as he told er the story, trying to explain the moodiness of Orla. She was clearly angry, full of a frustration he had hardly seen in her for some time.

He turn back to is old friend from University, some 30 years prior.

"So Peter, let me get this straight. Orla's laptop is broken, beyond economical repair, and you won't help her replace it? With her finals and her dissertation deadline looming?"

"She is 22, in control of her own destiny, her own finances. If she chose not to renew her insurance to save £150, why should we become her insurance policy?"

Tom looked at his friend scornfully. "I do believe you are being a tad harsh on her, Peter, though I do see your logic, appreciate where you are coming from."

"Well, Christmas is upon us, the shops are closed for a few hours, so I cant do anything now till boxing day" He inhaled deeply "If I wanted to. Anyway please excuse me I need to mingle."

Tom watched Peter walk away, as he saw Orla disappear into the kitchen. He watched her, her long strawberry blond swing from side to side, before she disappeared from view. Their friendship had survived deeper clash of opinions, but Tom realised PEter needed a change in topic.

Taking a sip of his Rose, he started to mingle, chatting to the various neighbors and guests. Tom and Peter, had, by a mixture of coincidence and design ended up working in Birmingham a few years ago. Quickly Tom had been able to settle close to Peter's family about a ten minutes walk away in Brum's Southern Suburban area, the large houses built in the 1920s for the Birmingham middle class elite. Since then, the two families had also become good friends, their respective partners also getting on very well with each other. As such, they had, in recent times taken it in turns to host a Christmas Eve party, this year Peter was the unfortunate victim.

With a desire to recharge his glass, Tom headed into the kitchen; and the fridge door. He reached for the bottle of Rioja, and started to pour when he heard Orla's Voice behind him.

"I suppose you've had the full story on what an irresponsible failure I am?" Orla huffed as she saw Tom, a family friend from long before she was born. Everything was fine for him of course, money, wife, even not bad looks, for his age, it wasn't as if he had to put up with uni pressure, deadlines and awkward parents, she predicted just another lecture from someone else who thought they had all the answers.

Orla picked out a glass and set it in front of him as he stood with a bottle of wine - she could use all the liquid help she could get to make it through the evening.

"They seem to forget insurance would have been great, if it didn't cost as much as my food bill or bar tab for a month.... and it wouldn't rewrite all my work for me. But no, they know better, why help me out when they can watch me crash and burn then tell me why it was my fault anyway."

Sliding onto the counter, her short electric blue dress pooling around her thighs, Orla kicked her heels off angrily, still trying to figure out a way out of this mess.

.

"I suppose you've had the full story on what an irresponsible failure I am?"

Tom smiled. "Your father as expressed is opinion on the situation, unfortunately we have agreed to differ."

As he spoke Tom reached for the bottle of wine and refilled his young host's glass.

"They seem to forget insurance would have been great, if it didn't cost as much as my food bill or bar tab for a month.... and it wouldn't rewrite all my work for me. But no, they know better, why help me out when they can watch me crash and burn then tell me why it was my fault anyway."

"I am not here to lecture you, but when I was at uni back in the 80s I had to work, and at times go with out.... " referring to the bar tab comment.

"But it is Christmas, worrying over it wont make any difference apart from create unnecessary hard feelings...."

Tom smiled as he looked down at the petite Orla. "And I do lurve that electric blue dress, the colour is divine, and the cut suits you to the ground...."

As the dress rolled up her tender thighs, Tom made an effort not to have an inappropriate glance..

"So other than a new laptop, what would you like from Father Christmas this evening?"

Tom wanted to cheer Orla up, and try and change the topic.

(OOC: Changing character name?)

Taking large gulps from her wine glass, Orla's sour expression slowly changed to a smile, even Tom's reference to budgeting better and going without to make ends meet sliding off her. Of course he'd say that, he was literally old enough to be her father, he probably couldn't remember the last time he'd been out all night or why it was such a necessity.

She appreciated his attempt to take her mind off the whole issue and why not, it was supposed to be Christmas after all. Shifting her position slightly, leaning back to show off her dress to better advantage she let her expression turn mischievous as she thought about Tom's question.

“Welll, I could definitely do with a big fat cheque or two, a new car would be good, maybe a ticket out of here to some tropical island… but I don't think any of that's on it's way tonight” Orla smiled.

“I'd settle for the new laptop, not another cheap pile of junk though, that one was already crashing at the worst moment. No, Father Christmas could bring me a better one… that new Apple one they just released would do nicely…. And someone who can rewrite my dissertation in under a fortnight with only a pack of scribble to work from would be perfect….”

Orla's face fell again when she thought about the gigantic task ahead but the alcohol was doing its work well and she couldn't feel quite the same anger about it at that moment, pushing the issue to one side as she drained her glass and held it out with a flirty smile.

“I'll settle for a refill and an excuse not to go back out to Santa's hellhole of Christmas parents out there” she grinned.

.

“I'll settle for a refill and an excuse not to go back out to Santa's hellhole of Christmas parents out there”

Tom smiled as she saw her lips move from a frown to glimmer of a smile.

"If you have your old laptop with you, I can certainly see if I can get the data off it, though I can't promise anything, I have rescued a few hard drives in the past."

He sipped his wine as he looked at Orla, smiling.

"Well I tell you what, if I get a trip to a tropical Island for Christmas, I'll take you with me!"

“It's upstairs,” Orla explained about her laptop. “I found someone who said he could probably get the data off but won't be able to do it before my deadline, so I'm stuck for my dissertation otherwise. I could bring it over to you before I go back, see if you can get anything off, that would be amazing! I'll take you up on the trip anyway though, that would solve the problem, I wouldn't care that I'd failed and I'd be too far from anyone to chase me up about it! Think your wife might want to go instead though so I won't pack my bikinis just yet...”

.


"Think your wife might want to go instead though so I won't pack my bikinis just yet...”

"Oh I know she would want to come along!" Adrian joked.

"But sure, I be in touch after tomorrow and I will see what I"can do...."

As he finishes talking, he steps back and offers her his arm "Lets go and celebrate Christmas Mrs Scrooge!"

Sliding back off the worktop, Orla took Tom's arm with a smile. “Oi, I'm normally into any excuse to celebrate with a good party,” she lightly protested. “It just needs to be a GOOD party!”

As they re-entered the living room Orla caught her mother's eye and saw her visibly relax at the change of mood in her daughter but Orla inwardly rolled her eyes, sure she'd still hear more about it later. Thanks to Tom though she might get a decent night and even her work back out of this.

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Tom shivered as he came to a halt on his winter bike. It was a cold frosty Boxing day morning. His wife Angie thought he was insane to go for a ride, but whilst the roads were icy in places, there was very little traffic other than those sad enough to head the NEXT Christmas sale. He had only cycled 20 miles, just over 75 minutes or so. On his summer bike,he could do that in about an hour, but with the ice, he had to take it sensibly. But it was still an hours worth of exercise!

Moments later, the garage door was closed behind him, as he headed to the kitchen, removing his cycling shoes.

"Burrrrrrr"

The warmth of the kitchen soon started to warm him up, but no one else seemed to be awake.

With the kettle boiling, he reached for his tablet, and was soon browsing FaceBook, the various comments...

He sought out Orla's profile, and looked at some of her photos and comments..

"Thanks Tom for cheering me up"

With the tea brewing in the teapot, he returned to his tablet, and started to type.

"Orla, Angie is out this afternoon, if you want to bring your laptop round?"

With that, he closed his tablet, and poured two cups of tea, before heading upstairs still in his cycling attire.

His wife was still snuggled up under the duvet as he undressed and entered the en-suite bathroom....

Ten minutes later, he was back in bed snuggling up to Angie. His plan was now set in motion and was feeling sexual...

.

Hearing her mother call up to see if she wanted breakfast, Orla groaned out a “No” and wrapped herself tighter under the duvet, trying to block out the chilly feel of Boxing Day.

Grabbing her phone she idly checked for messages and then started to browse Facebook, the place she never spent more than about a day away from. It was filled with pictures of her uni friends' presents, huge dinners, parties and one acquaintance showing off a new engagement ring but also, thank god, a message from Tom offering help with her laptop.

“Thanks so much, I'll come over about 2 then?” she quickly typed and sent, before letting herself drift off for another hour's sleep.

Waking just before lunch to find her parents had, thankfully, headed out to the sales, Orla picked at a few leftovers before turning her attention to getting ready. Regardless of where she was going she usually refused to leave the house before at least an hour had gone into her appearance and after showering she picked out a low cut strappy sea green dress, adding a pair of knee high boots and a scarf, in some ironic nod to the idea of 'wrapping up warm' her mother panicked about this time of year. She was only heading down the road, hypothermia was hardly a real concern for a ten minute walk and it never hurt to look appealing when you were relying on a favour.

Heading to Tom's house Orla knocked on the door and shivered slightly as she waited, the cold already seeping into her bones despite the fast walk.

.

As Angie left, Tom headed for a second shower of the day, his cock and balls were covered with their dried up love juices, his trimmed pubes matted together. He had seen Orla's reply, and so was expecting her around two; or rather for her to leave at two, and arrive around 15 minutes later.

Dressed in a simple fleece and a pair of running tights, an attire he often lounged around at home in, the back study, his den was ready. His Desk Top PC was running, and the kit he needed to access the drive was already connected.

He was listening to Pink Floyd through a simple home cinema set up; the quality wasn't as good as the front room, but it was adequate for the purpose. The room was filled with book cases and a couple of desks, the area wa slightly cluttered.

On the wall were a mixture of canvas and photo prints from Tom's other hobby, photography.

He heard the mobile door chimer chime. Moments later he opened the door to see Orla shivering....

"Please come in," closing the door behind her. "Tea or coffee? The Espresso machine is already ready", taking the bag which contained the lap top

As he glanced down, he could make out the feint outlines of her erect nipples pressing into the soft fabric of her attire.

"Coffee please, nice and strong would be great thanks" Orla replied, looking around as she entered the house, having not been in for many months at least.

"Hope you can do something with it" she said, indicating the laptop, "I'm so screwed without it! I can pay you for the time though, was going to have to shell out £90 anyway just to have it looked at."

.

Tom leads the two down into the large kitchen, offering Orla a stool at the breakfast bar.

Soon the sounds of coffee beans being ground, the steaming of milk, the banging of the jug on the work top, but soon both are in procession of a hot coffee.

As Tom starts to strip the hard drive from the ageing Dell laptop, he starts to make small conversation, asking about Orla's Christmas, as she sat in her green strappy dress, her black embroidered bra strap cleanly on view.

He also saw the Duo boots, recognising the style and the detail on the Zip; his cock twitching slightly within the confines of his running tights.

"Well there is the Drive" holding it in the air.

Chatting away as she sipped her coffee and watched Tom carefully take the laptop apart, Orla noticed the odd glance stolen towards her outfit and smiled to herself, sure she could read his mind, waiting for a comment about dressing more sensibly or maturely, wrapping up warmer. She could make equal comments about his clothes, if she was confident enough to be that rude, although it would be exactly fair, she could see in his running outfit he still had a well toned body and even the simple outfit suited him.

As instead he displayed the laptop drive Orla grinned with overenthusiastic pleasure. “Fantastic! If you can get the stuff off it you'll be a lifesaver, it's been such a nightmare! What do you have to do now?”

.

“Fantastic! If you can get the stuff off it you'll be a lifesaver, it's been such a nightmare! What do you have to do now?”

Tom smiled at her delight...

"Well getting the Hard drive is the first stage, next we need to connect it to my desktop and see what is on it... but time to finish my coffee first"

They chatted further about small talk, trivia conversation that no one ever remembers being said, yet the right questions are asked about health and such like are discussed as a matter of politeness and in Tom's case genuine concern.

As Tom finished his coffee, he retrieved the two coffee cups, and rinsed them under the tap...

"I'm sure I'll be making another one in a moment!"

He led Olya into the back study, his. or rather Angie and his, their 'den.

Messy, but with a sofa and a wall mounted flat screen TV, there was a mixture of windows and the large top of the range Apple desktop, with the large screen. On the wall were various canvas prints and other photos, some of landscape and cityscapes, others with pictures of Angie, some with her posing outside in a semi risqué manner, but there was also a couple of small collages including both Tom and Angie posing semi nude in an erotic manner.

He commected the hard drive to a cable, and sat behind the desktop, indicating to Olya to take a seat in the sofa.

The sound of Pink Floyd soon filled the air as Adrian moved the mouse, typed, cursed and swore a few times....

"Sorted....." he stated, turning to see Olya sitting some what teasingly on the sofa, her boot swinging, her bra strap down her arm.

"Your data seems to be okay.... good news indeed."

Settling into a sofa in Tom's den Orla watched his slightly frustrated efforts to get to the contents of her hard drive for a while, silently admiring his expensive pc then, relaxing to the music, started to look around the walls of the room at Tom's collection of photos.

Orla admired the usual fare of landscapes and other scenes, appreciating the skill but not drawn to any in particular, her eyes widening at the more outlandish scenes featuring Tom's wife, she had no idea the couple were anything but as straight laced as her family. A collage to one side of her though left her staring, her mouth forming a silent gasp, until she remembered she wasn't alone and quickly snapped her gaze back to Tom, blushes colouring her cheeks in case he'd seen her examining the picture.

Luckily however he was still concentrating on his computer and she took the moment to stare back at the collage. There were several images in one, all featuring Tom and Angie in various sexy poses and for a second Orla felt she should be embarrassed, she'd known them so long they were almost like relatives, but the couple in the photos looked completely different and she couldn't help an excited shiver running through her. If it wasn't for the risk, the danger they'd be up on Facebook within a day she wished she had someone to take photos with like that.

Cooling her cheeks, Orla continued to wait, curiously wondering what else the couple did in their spare time, until Tom looked up.

"Your data seems to be okay.... good news indeed."

“Brilliant” she smiled. “Does that mean my dissertation is still there?”

.

Tom saw the the apparent relaxation as she heard the good news...

“Does that mean my dissertation is still there?”

"You tell me Olya?" meeting her eyes as he smiled; offering her the mouse.

Jumping up eagerly, Orla leant over Tom, brushing against him as she looked at the screen. As she looked through a mixed clutch of files her excited expression turned to anxious disappointment.

"I can't find my latest essay!" she said plaintively, chewing her lip.

.

"Hummmmmm but is anything else missing?"

Tom took the mouse,and continued searching through Orla's directories, seeing some interestingly named documents, but too busy to look within, especially with Orla over her shoulder.

Listing all files by recent date first, there is a huge list of files stopping about 4 days before Christmas - probably the day the laptop died...

"Is it in that list Orla?"

"Uhhh, I can't see it..." Orla replied, staring intently through the list. "Most stuff seems to be there, I think maybe there's some music I downloaded missing, oh and I can't see the poster I was doing before it got broken but I don't care if I've lost that. The dissertation essay needs to be in soon after I go back to uni though, please tell me there's some other way to get it back?"

.
"Most stuff seems to be there, I think maybe there's some music I downloaded missing, oh and I can't see the poster I was doing before it got broken but I don't care if I've lost that. The dissertation essay needs to be in soon after I go back to uni though, please tell me there's some other way to get it back?"

"I have a plan Olya" Tom offers as he reaches for an external Hard drive unit and connects it to a USB hub. Then a few more keystrokes, and the list of files are being transferred across...

"Time for you to make the worker a coffee?"

With that Tom stood up as he watched the files move across to the external hard drive. Before we start meddling with more complicated stuff, tis a good move to retrieve what we can already....

As he stood close to Olya, he saw her glance at the photos and smiled to himself...

"right coffee! "

Orla trusted Tom completely to do whatever needed doing with her hard drive, she just crossed her fingers that it actually worked when they were done.

"right coffee! "

"Yep, I'll make the drinks, it's the least I can do!" she answered, walking away towards the kitchen with as brief a glance at the softly erotic images surrounding her as she could get away with.

Pouring out more coffee for each of them Orla couldn't help but feel a little more intrigued about what happened behind the closed doors of the house but brushed it off quickly, maybe they were able to loosen up a little but it was still the same old Tom and Angie she knew, she didn't expect they had any wilder surprises.

.

Tom followed Orla back into the kitchen and assisted with her making the coffee. Orla had not used the coffee machine often, so he was there to assist as the beans were ground, and the cow juice steamed.

But finally the two luxurious lattes were prepared.

"Do you want to stay in here or go back into the 'den'?"


He couldn't help recognise how petite she was, is compared to his bulk.

His plan seemed to be going well - as far as rescuing the data of her drive. The fact that he could read most data of the drive with out needing any real disc doctor style software made him quietly confident that he could get the those more elusive files.

Then he thought it would be time for the next stage in his dark plan.

"Do you want to stay in here or go back into the 'den'?"

"Up to you," Orla shrugged, "You've been doing all the work, do you want a break or do you need to keep an eye on the pc?"

"All work and no play though... don't want to keep you stuck to the screen when you could be out at the sales or doing DIY or whatever...." Orla stopped her quickly before she was too tempted to add 'or taking photos'.

Truth be told Orla wanted to get her documents recovered as soon as possible but Tom seemed reasonably confident about that so she didn't feel so stressed about it as she had. She was enjoying a quiet house after the last few days of family Christmas and the company plus the surroundings were a very welcome change.