overcoat was unbuttoned, flapping around his legs. He’d clearly been running. He clutched several crumpled sheets of paper in his hand.
“Eric, are you all right?” Tony pulled out Thea’s abandoned chair and gestured the man to sit. Eric did so, fanning himself with the papers he still grasped.
“I’ll get him a drink of water.” Thea headed for the dispenser in the corridor and returned a few moments later, a plastic cup of chilled water at the ready. Eric was no less dishevelled and agitated, but by now Tony’s face was ashen too. He held one of the Eric's sheets of paper in his hand, smoothed out somewhat, and was glaring at it.
Thea halted in the doorway, taking in the scene. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
“Tony…?”
He looked at her. She had never seen him so angry.
“Sir..?”
He shook his head, turned away.
“It’s a forgery. Some sort of Photoshop thing. It must be…” Eric sounded bemused.
Tony’s reply was low, his voice little more than a growl. “The picture is genuine.”
“But, I don’t understand. It looks like you and…” Eric turned to face Thea, his expression one of shock, disbelief. But she detected sympathy there too.
“What’s happened? What looks like us?” She came into the room and placed the paper cup on her desk, staring from one man to the other.
“She needs to see it. She’ll see soon enough.” This from Eric, who appeared to be regaining his composure slightly.
“See what? What, Tony? What’s happened?” A solid lump of fear settled in the pit of Thea’s stomach. She stepped forward, approaching Tony. Surely he wasn’t angry with her? What had she done? She reached for him, placed her hand on his elbow.
He didn’t turn around, but neither did he shake off her touch. His tone was clipped as he spoke over his shoulder to his head of IT. “Eric, where did you find this?”
“In the car park. I was just leaving, and I spotted it tucked under my windscreen wiper. All the cars still there had them. I went round and gathered up the ones I could see, and brought them all here. I thought you’d better see it, straight away. But there’ll be others, people who left earlier…”
Tony nodded, and turned to face Thea. He reached for her and enfolded her in a hug. She was nearly faint with relief. He wasn’t angry with her then. But in that case, what?
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I should have seen this coming, prevented it somehow.” His voice was harsh, but she knew his displeasure was not directed at her.
“Seen what? Prevented what? Tony, you’re not making sense.”
“Are you two…? I mean, is this…?” Eric sounded baffled. Thea reflected that he was not the only one.
“A forgery? No.”
“I…see.” From his tone it was apparent that Eric didn’t see at all, but Thea directed her attention to Tony.
“Please, tell me what’s going on. What picture?”
Tony groaned, his arms loosened to release her. “This one, love.” He handed her the sheet of paper.
Thea gazed at it, disbelief washing over her, followed by revulsion. She might be sick. Correction, she was going to throw up. Now.
“Christ! Oh Jesus, how did this…? I mean, who…” She broke off to make a dash for the private loo in the corner of Tony’s office, where she deposited the remains of her lunch in the toilet. She flushed, rinsed her face, and finally emerged to find just Tony waiting for her. He was seated at his desk, the sheet of paper spread out in front of him. She averted her eyes from the image, grainy, photocopied, but unmistakable.
Her body, suspended from the ceiling in The Wicked Club dungeon, blindfolded and as near to naked as made no real difference. Tony was standing beside her in the picture, his whip hand raised, the tawse caught in sharp focus, its motion suspended in the air. Thea’s shoulders and buttocks were clearly visible and displayed the distinct marks of the whipping she had enjoyed, continued to enjoy if her near ecstatic expression was any indication. Which of course it was.
“Where’s Eric?” She started with the inconsequential. It gave her time to think.
“I sent him home.”
“I see.”
“He won't discuss this.”
“What does it matter? I suppose everyone’s seen that picture now.” She stood before Tony’s desk, her body shaking.
“We don't know how many staff returned to their cars before Eric left, but yes, it’s safe to assume it’s out there.”
Thea nodded, grateful at least that he made no attempt to dismiss the enormity of what had happened. At least