5 comments/ 25224 views/ 10 favorites You Don't Mess with Them By: Cromagnonman I had to admit that it had been a good couple of days with her, days and nights actually, but was it really worth going through, what with what had just been explained to me was the rest of my life? I had only been in London three days when I met her, most of which were spent at the National Archives in Kew pouring over records in an attempt to trace my family tree, and put to rest some of the family rumours. Yes, there were convicts in my family, despite what my Grandmother had insisted. Back in her time it was a stain on their family reputation to have to admit to a convict ancestry, thankfully that is no longer the case, and in fact it is almost a badge of honour to trace one's roots to an ancestor who was an involuntary immigrant. A couple of mine were quite famous in that they did some things that today would have seen them spend some time as a guest of Her Majesty. I had arranged to travel to Wales to spend time going through County Records because my search at Kew had come to a grinding halt at 1837. What was to have been my last night in London for some time, became my third last night after I met her. It had been at the pub just around the corner from my hotel, I didn't own it, I was just staying there, and I had been sitting at a table sipping on a red wine and watching her having a lousy time with some stupid bloke. I didn't know he was stupid at the time, that came later when he left her on her own while he went somewhere with some tart who obviously offered him more than she was prepared to give. She looked lost and humiliated by his actions, and I thought that she was about to burst into tears, so I went over to her. "I have a spare seat at my table, why don't you come over and take the weight off?" She said nothing but came and sat. "I noticed you having a rough time of it with that moron who left you for the tart, so I thought that I should rescue you." "Christ, an Australian, what would you know about any of this?" "I at least know how to treat a beautiful woman, we colonial oafs don't take a Sheila to a shindig and then dump her for some tart." I was laying on the Ocker image a little thick in keeping with her comment. "Touché, I asked for that didn't I?" She smiled, her first for quite a while. "I'm up for a refill, what are you drinking?" I stood and picked up my glass. "I'll have what you're having." "Are you sure that you're ready for an Aussie wine, this'll put hairs on your chest." "I'll take that chance." I was back in a flash with our wine, she took a sip and didn't flinch. "This's nice." "What, did you think I'd buy you any old piss, this is top shelf stuff this is?" It wasn't really, but then it wasn't the bulk crap that we'd been selling over here for ages, 'quaffing plonk' we call it back home, and only drink it if we're desperate. She took another sip and sat back to get a better look at me. "Where's the hat with the corks, did you leave that back at your hotel?" "Gees, you don't think that we all walk around with one of those stupid things on our heads do you? They're strictly for the tourists, we never wear them, why would we give the flies somewhere to perch while they're working out their attack strategy? I do come to an Akubra from time to time, but your sun over here, doesn't have the power to turn milk, let alone give you a tan. You have a lot to learn about us, just as I have a lot to learn about you, not you specifically, although that would be an area of research that I could get into. I'm trying to figure you out, you're a decent looking bird, you scrub up pretty well, yet you let some bloke treat you like shit without so much as a whimper, what gives?" She sat there in silence for some time before she made up her mind to tell me all about it. "That moron, as you so colourfully described him, was someone that I'd been going with for six months. I thought that he was one of the good guys, but then things began to change between us. At first I thought that it was me that was the problem, but then I came to realise that I hadn't changed, he had. He seemed not to want to see me as often as we had been, and he was spending more time with his so-called friends, friends who saw him and his money as a chance of a free ride. That was what we were arguing about before he left, she had offered him some new party drug and a good time, while that was not my scene at all. As you saw, he made his decision and left me all alone." "You deserve better, you know that don't you?" I held up a hand to stop her from interjecting. "I know, I hardly know you, so who am I to judge you? You can tell me to crawl back under that antipodean rock that I've crawled out from under, but I would never treat a woman like the way that he treated you, and if you should get the impression that I'm flirting with you, you'd be right. But I'm not doing that to get into your pants, although that prospect does have some merit, I'm doing it to try to take your mind off your problems for a while. Should you, at a later part of the evening, decide that I should be allowed into your pants, then I'd be quite happy to oblige." She laughed, she had a great laugh, there was nothing forced about it, she saw the absurdity of my suggestion and realised what I was doing and just laughed. That was when she got into my mood. "You never know your luck, I just might let you." "No pressure, but if you don't I might just have to end my life at the end of the evening, I leave the decision entirely in your hands." I picked up a hand (one of hers) and held it. "And such beautiful, soft hands. They look great without my blood on them." "Are you ever sensible?" Her smile told me that she was happy being with the stupid me right now. "Oh I can be dull and boring when I need to be, but, hey this is Friday night, back home the happy hour would be in full swing, and the cares of the world but a distant memory. There is a time and place for dull and boring, and this is neither the time nor the place, so let's just enjoy the moment." "What is this wine, it's my turn to buy." "If you're shouting, it's a Grange, and it's around a hundred pounds a glass. No, it's a Church Block, just tell the barman that it's on Mark's tab and he'll know what to pour. I'm Mark by the way." "And I'm Jane, I'll be back in a second." She walked off with our glasses. I saw Pete, the barman, look over at me and smile before getting the bottle and topping up our glasses. "I should have known, he's an Aussie too." "Pete and I go way back, we were at Uni together last year. I see that he's put his Engineering degree to good use." "And what have you done with yours, if you don't mind me asking?" "Not as much as he has, as it turns out. I have a job to go to when the mining industry picks up. I was hired by one of the big miners for the expansion of the Olympic Dam mine, (Roxby Downs in South Australia) but the Chinese economy has pulled back and the demand just isn't there to warrant any expansion at this time, so, for the time being I don't have a job as such. The family has decided that I should make use of my free time and do some family research, so they had a whip-around and raised enough funds to keep me here for a while, and here I am, trying to make some sense out of our genealogy, without much luck." "Have you made much headway?" "As far as I can go at Kew, now it's off to Wales, to a place called Llanfrwog, don't ask me how they pronounce that, to see what I can find there." "Good luck with that. So when were you planning to leave London?" "Tomorrow as it turns out." "Oh." "You seem sad at that." "That's my luck all over again, I meet someone who is halfway decent and he disappears before I really get to know him." "Would you like to get to know me better?" "What's the point, you're out of here tomorrow and I won't see you again." "I could change my plans, nothing is set in concrete." "Would you do that for me?" "Whoa there, hold your horses, I need to get to know you better before I commit myself." "I don't believe this, a man using the 'c' word, will wonders never cease?" "Were you born a cynic or did you have to work at it?" "What you see here is pure cynic stock, through and through." "This could prove very interesting. What exactly do you do when you're not rubbishing us males in general, and Australian males in particular?" "I work for a brokerage house." "Do you do the actual buying and selling of commodities or currency, or do you just work there?" "I work on the currency desk, and yes I buy and sell currency, not that I see any of it, apart from my miserable salary, we as employees are forbidden to trade in our own right, the potential for conflicts of interest and insider trading are ever present, so it's best to avoid it." "And your former friend, does he work there as well?" "Yes, but he works with Bonds, that's where the high flyers end up." "I've often wondered what goes on in those places, you control the fate of countries, doesn't the power scare you?" "Sometimes, when you see the way that some of the major powers can bear down on a smaller country's currency to put financial pressure on them is disgusting, and at times I think that my talents could be better used elsewhere." "Like being a tour guide for my trip to Wales, he asks hopefully?" "You never know your luck, I just might take you up on the offer." "I was about to suggest that we find somewhere more comfortable to continue this conversation, but I haven't been able to gather the courage to invite you back to my hotel." "Your hotel sounds like the best option, at least you don't have a flat-mate who is likely to rock up at some weird hour with her latest victim in tow, or do you?" "Nah, nothing like that, just me on my Todd Malone (alone). "Then it looks like your hotel then." I said good-bye to Pete who gave me the thumbs up signal to tell me that he was jealous of my success, why I don't know, he and one of the girls that worked there were, you know. . . As hotel rooms go this was comfortable in a bland, neutral kind of way, no country mansion decorations here. "What would you like to drink? I can offer any of the standard mini-bar drinks, I haven't touched them, but I did find a bottle shop that stocked some good mid-range Australian wines, are you tempted?" "If it's anything like what we had at the pub, then yes, I'm interested." I selected a bottle of Serafino Shiraz because it was fairly typical of the McLaren Vale Shiraz. Jane agreed and we polished it off in quick time, time that was well spent. By the time we had finished we had become very well acquainted. "I'd offer to drive you home but I can't." I whispered to her. "Why can't you?" "Because I don't want to, and because I don't have a car, and because I have to admit to being a little tired and emotional, not to put too fine a point on it. I'm too pissed to drive." "I hope that you're not too pissed for anything else." "And what might that be?" I asked, hoping for the right answer. "I feel in desperate need of love and affection . . ." (She was getting warm.) "That I can give you." ". . . and maybe a little of something else." (Warmer.) "And what might that be?" In answer she reached across and located my cock nestled behind my pants. He woke up and took a strong interest in proceedings. (Bingo!) I got the message, and taking her in my arms I proceeded to give her a lot of love and affection with a view to the something else to follow. "I hope that you don't think that of this as a revenge fuck, or even a rebound fuck because it isn't." She was snuggled against me, her head on my shoulder and hand on my now soft cock. "I had long given up on getting anything other than him going through the motions of loving me. It did my ego no good at all to realise that he didn't care enough for me to make the effort to give me love and affection. I noticed you when we first arrived at the pub and thought that you looked interesting, and then I noticed that you looked interested in me. If you hadn't come over when you did I don't know what I would have done." "Does this mean that I can have the pleasure of your company for a while longer, maybe for the whole weekend?" "It could, why?" "If it does then I'll have to change my travel plans, and let them know downstairs that I won't be checking out in the morning." "I think it safe for you to make the call." "What call would that be?" "Downstairs silly, to let them know that you won't be moving out in the morning, and to order breakfast so that I don't have to leave this bed until at least Sunday night, or Monday morning." I kissed her before reaching for the phone to speak to reception. "This is Mark Wallace in room 506, I was supposed to be checking out in the morning, well, my plans have changed and I won't be leaving until Monday morning." "Very good Sir, am I to assume that the young lady met with your expectations?" "Yes, the young lady, my cousin, will be staying with me." "You must have a very close and loving family. Good night Sir, enjoy the rest of your evening." I smiled as I hung up the phone. "What?" Jane was puzzled. "That guy in reception has a dirty mind, he as good as suggested that I was having a close encounter with my own cousin, very close." "I wondered about the 'cousin' comment. Come here cuzz, I want more of you." She rolled on top of me and fed him into her pussy. Apart from toilet breaks, we didn't move from the bed until our room service breakfast had arrived and was consumed. Jane looked better now than when I first saw her, her dishevelled look suited her, her makeup was a smudge on the pillow and her lipstick had been kissed off hours ago, but it was her body that attracted my attention, there was something sexy about the way that her pubes were matted with the product of our loving. She caught me looking at her. "What?" "Come here you sexy person you." She came, I came, we both came, so many times that we lost count. Sometime during the afternoon we both collapsed from exhaustion and slept. It was dark when we woke up. "I think that we should get cleaned up and find a restaurant, we need to replenish our depleted energy stocks." "That seems like a good idea, let's see if the shower is big enough for both of us." It was, just, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly, making sure that every square millimetre of her body was scrupulously clean. She complained half-heartedly when I stopped her from sucking my cock clean. "Spoilsport, why won't you let me clean him?" "I don't mind you soaping him and washing him clean but the other method will have to wait, otherwise we'll never get any food into us." The meal was okay I guess, I wasn't really paying much attention to what I was eating, I was enjoying the easy manner in which we were able to talk to each other, no awkward silences, just a continuous stream of light banter that kept us laughing. We called by her flat on the way back to the hotel so that she could pick up a change of clothes and underwear and let her flat-mate know not to expect her home before Monday morning. Whether the message sank in was debatable because Tiffany, the flat-mate, had obviously had a hard night the night before and was still feeling decidedly second-hand. The guy on reception raised his eyebrow as we walked past and smirked at me, just to let me know that he wasn't convinced about the cousin explanation. I smiled back just to let him know that I couldn't care less about what he thought. Somewhere between Saturday night and Monday morning, in between our very close encounters of the sexual kind, I learnt quite a bit about Jane. She was from a family that could legitimately claim a distant royal connection, 'there would have to be an outbreak of the bubonic plague of monumental proportions amongst the royals for me to have any chance of succession', and her family had a large manor house in the country that had a Grade 2 Heritage listing so they couldn't change the exterior of it without Planning Permission, and this was extremely unlikely to happen. The moron also came from a wealthy family, but their wealth was very recent and, if rumours were to be believed, from dubious sources. With his 'nuveau riche" status came an arrogance that was borderline psychotic, and he was prone to violence if he didn't get his way, although Jane had no personal experience of it, she had seen him lose it with others. Money market volatility led to a tearful farewell for both of us on Monday morning. If it weren't for the pressure of work, Jane would have had no hesitation in joining me on my quest for answers to the Owen family. The last information that I had was that my Great-great-great grandfather was born around 1800 in Llanfrwog, and even that was problematic because he was illiterate and his application for immigration was filled in by someone else. It seemed that every second Owen born at that time was called John, while many others had Owen as their Christian name in keeping with that Welsh tradition of having the same name for both Christian and surname. What made it worse was that I couldn't be certain of his father's Christian name, in one record it was listed as William, while another it was Owen. I found a William Owen, with a date of birth in the right time frame, living in a village on Anglesey with a similar name to Llanfrwog, and I was getting even more confused. It became a process of tracing the descendants of these men in the hope that they died in Wales thus ruling them out, or some definitive evidence linking them with a death record elsewhere in the UK. What made it even worse was the migration of out of work Welsh farm labourers to Liverpool seeking employment in the building industry brought about by the huge need to house factory workers as part of the Industrial Revolution. My great whatever grandfather was one of those, although his trade as listed on his Marriage Certificate was 'Butcher' while on his Immigration application it was listed as 'Farm Labourer'. When I spoke to Jane on Thursday evening I told her that I would be back in London the next day and as I hadn't checked out I had the same room as before, and that I hoped to see her after she finished work for dinner. I gave her my ETA in London and, factoring in the need to change to a different train line to reach my hotel I gave her a rough idea when I would reach it. I had spoken to her every evening and if I had used my own mobile phone the cost would have been approaching the Australian national debt. On advice before I'd left home, I'd bought a pre-paid phone with international connectivity so that I could ring home and speak to my family without it costing the earth. We spoke for as long as a £10 card would last, so it was within my budget, and I got to speak with her and text her whenever I needed to. It was just after 3:00pm and I had unpacked my bags and put my laundry into a bag, and was stretched out on the bed full of anticipation for the night ahead, when there was a knock on my door. I got off the bed thinking that it was Housekeeping coming to collect my laundry, but instead it was an excited Jane, rushing into my arms and forcing me back across the room to my bed, our bed. "My Darling, it's great to see you again, you don't know how much I've missed you." "I've a pretty good idea, probably about as much as I've missed you." "Do we have to go out to dinner, can't we stay here?" "We could always eat downstairs in the restaurant." I was hoping that she'd say no to that suggestion because I'd eaten there once before and wasn't impressed. It could have been the jetlag that jaded my tastebuds but I wasn't about to try again. "There is a little Indian around the corner that's okay if you like spicy food." You Don't Mess with Them "I like spicy, but I'll only go with you on one condition." "And that is?" "That you make love to me right here, right now." "Yes Ma'am, anything you say, Ma'am." I took her in my arms and held her for a few minutes while I kissed her before starting work on undressing her. "How come you're here this early, didn't you have to work until 5:00 or something?" "I gave myself an early mark just to be with you." "I for one, am not complaining." I told her just before putting my tongue to work elsewhere on her body. We were one of the first customers in the restaurant so were served quickly, and finished in record time and found ourselves back in our room before 8:00 and we had just reached our first simultaneous climax not long after that. Sometime later, after orgasm number eleventy-seven, "Darling." "Hmm, yes?" "How would you like a trip into the country tomorrow, or is that today?" "I've just come back from the country." I was half asleep and not firing on all cylinders. "I would like you to come with me and meet my family." I was instantly awake. Meet the family could only mean one thing, she was wanting to get their approval of me, and this could only lead to the dreaded 'c' word. Was I ready for that? Did I know her well enough to make a commitment after what was it, a week. My now alert brain told me that, yes, I was. "I'd like that, now could we get some sleep, I want to be at my best when I meet them, I have a habit of stuffing my foot in it if I'm not ready for the situation. You'll need to fill me in, but not now, because I won't remember any of what you tell me while I'm asleep." I kissed her goodnight, she kissed me and sleep was forgotten for some time. I had seen Ye Olde English manor houses on those restoration documentaries on TV and this one looked like the before part before millions were lavished on it. "When was the last time this had a coat of paint?" I asked her as we rounded the bend in the drive and the vista opened up before us. "Would you believe that we're not allowed to paint it, the best we can do is to have it steam cleaned occasionally, but that costs more money than Dad can afford right now." "I noticed on the gate post that visiting hours were between 10:00 and 3:00 on Saturday and Sunday and by appointment during the week, your parents wouldn't make a fortune on the gate takings, would they?" "Every little bit helps and we need every little bit right now, Dad is a member of Lloyds and had to cough up most of his inheritance to cover their losses." "How come? I would have thought that they would have a contingency plan to cover any shortfall in funds." "They do, but hidden away in the fine print is a clause that states that members have to cover any losses, it's just that the recent run of disasters is one of the few times that members have been called on to bail them out, and everyone had forgotten about the existence of that clause. A lot of members lost everything, we were lucky in that Dad had investments that covered most of his share of the burden." "Is this the reason that you're working where you do?" "Yes, plus the fact that I enjoy the cut and thrust of the market, it's almost a drug of dependence, I have to have it." "Oh." "Don't get your knickers in a twist, like all drugs, there is always a better one available, and I think that I've found the perfect new one." She reached across and grabbed my cock and held it until we had stopped in front of the ancestral pile, releasing her hold in time for him to relax from his half erect status before we got out of her Jag. We climbed the front steps to be greeted by her parents. "Hi Mummy, Dad, this is the man that I've been raving about for the past week. Mark Wallace, this is my father Roger Heywood and my mother Nerida." We shook hands while a servant collected our bags from the boot of the car. "Pleased to meet you." I had decided to play down my Ocker image, I didn't think that they would be ready for a 'g'day' just yet, break it to them slow, let them get to know me before I hit them with it. "Come in, we're pleased to meet any friend of Jane's." She led us to the dining room where tea and scones were set out on the polished mahogany table, very posh I must say. "Tell me, Mark is it, where did you two meet?" "Our eyes met across a crowded room and it was love at first sight, all I had to do was to fight my way through the crowd that she was with and rescue her from a night of boredom. From then it was just a matter of charming her with my magnetic personality. The rest, as they say, is history." "There is little truth in that, I was with Brendan and he left me for some tart, Mark saw this, and how upset I was, and took pity on me and here we are." "Your accent, you're not . . ." "And here I was thinking that I could fool you. Yes I'm Australian, I live in Sydney and am over here researching my family history. Before you ask, I'm a Mining Engineer and have very good future prospects. These scones are delicious by the way, did you make them yourself?" I asked Nerida. "Yes I did, and thank you, it's not often my cooking gets complimented." She glared at her husband. After tea Jane took me on a guided tour of the house. The family living quarters were on the second floor at one end, while the rest was open to the public and these were magnificent with a hall that sported walls covered with portraits of the ancestors and hunting trophies, while the library would was big enough to do a large country town proud. The banquet hall seated about thirty people around a large table, it was set for a dinner with polished glasses and gleaming cutlery. "This gets used for wedding receptions and, along with guest accommodation, is quite a good money spinner." Jane said. She looked at me, "When I get married it will be here." Before I could respond she kissed me. "That would be nice." I hoped that I sounded suitably sincere. "Come, I'll show you the bridal suite." She grabbed my hand and led me up the magnificent staircase to the second floor. "Wow, would you look at that bed." It was the biggest bed that I'd ever seen, its four carved posts holding a canopy. She jumped on it and bounced up and down on it. "Come on, try it!" She squealed like a little girl getting her first doll for Christmas. I jumped on and bounced to the centre of the bed and into her arms. "Doesn't this feel great?" "Very comfy." I couldn't help myself, I just had to kiss her. The bed felt just right, she felt just right. "If we don't get off this bed I'll not be held responsible for my actions." I told her. She was just about to say something when there was a knock on the door "Jane, I know you're in there" "Shit, talk about timing." Jane whispered to me. "What is it?" She replied. "The first tour group of the day has just arrived and you should straighten the bed and come downstairs. By the way, there's a phone call for you, it's Brendan and he doesn't sound pleased." "Shit again, I was supposed to be going with him this weekend, and what with seeing you again I completely forgot about it." We tidied the bed and went downstairs. She picked up the phone. "Hello?" Even from where I stood, I could hear his angry voice telling her that he had called around to her flat to find that not only wasn't she there, but that she hadn't come home all night, and then only calling it to grab some clothes before heading home. That was when he dropped the cruncher. "Who was that bastard that was with you? You are supposed to be my girlfriend." "Don't get angry with me, you come and go as you please and with whoever you please, you have given up the right to think of me as your girlfriend, not that I ever was, I was a fashion accessory for you to squire around when you wanted to make an impression. You had your tarts for any real relationship, so fuck off, I don't want to see you again!" "That was a bit strong, don't you think?" I asked. "Yeah, but it had to be said, but I know that I'm going to regret this outburst." "He'd better not try anything, or he'll have me to answer to." It sounded tougher than I felt, I didn't know what I was letting myself in for, and if I did I, would be feeling even less tough. "I'll be fine, don't worry, let's just enjoy the weekend. I'll give her this, she tried hard to lighten the mood and probably would have succeeded if not for Brendan turning up late in the afternoon with a couple of heavies. It could have been nastier than it was if not for Roger coming and standing beside Jane. "Brendan, the police are on their way and I think that you should leave before they got here." "You haven't heard the end of this be any means, just wait until I see you at work on Monday, then you will get a taste of what happens when you embarrass me like you've done today." "I think that you should maybe rethink that threat." I looked at him as I spoke. "And just who do you think you are, Smartarse?" "I have the potential to become your worst enemy if you try anything against Jane or her family." It was pure bluff of course, I just hoped that he didn't realise that. Brendan and his mates stormed off, spraying gravel all over the place just to let us know that they weren't happy. "What did you mean by that?" Roger asked me. "It was a bluff, I don't know what I'll do if he calls it, run probably." "I don't want you getting yourself beaten up just for me." Jane said softly. "If I do get beaten up, you will come and see me in hospital, won't you?" "How can you put yourself in this position, you hardly know me?" "That's not the point. If I saw a girl, it doesn't matter who it was, getting threatened like you have just been threatened, I would step in and try to help her in any way that I could. That it's you that's been threatened has just made me even more determined." "I won't let you get hurt, there has to be some way to prevent this." "You two are staying here tonight, aren't you? You weren't thinking of driving back to town tonight were you?" Nerida asked. "No Mother, we were going to stay the night. It will give us time to plan a strategy to avoid bumping into him before Monday." Dinner was a subdued affair, there were several attempts to start a conversation but these all died as quickly as they had begun. We sat in the library and Roger wheeled out a couple of single malts for me to try. I'm not a fan of whisky but I knew class when I tasted it, it didn't tear the lining from my mouth and throat on the way down like some whiskies that I'd tasted. I would have quite happily stuck with wine, but he insisted and I didn't want him to think that I didn't appreciate the gesture. In his own way he was telling me that he approved of me. It was quite late when we went to bed in Jane's old room with its familiar things scattered around, like her riding ribbons and trophies, and several photos of her and a rather fine looking black horse. She saw me looking at the photos. "That's Warlock, his full name was Basingstoke Champion Warlock, he and I won a heap of trophies in local horse shows, but that was before I had to have him put down." "What happened?" "He fell on the cross country course during a three day event and broke a leg. I had him put down straight away, I didn't want him to suffer. It didn't hit me until the next day that I wouldn't have him around anymore." "That's so sad, I must say the picture of you in the dressage is pretty spectacular, a symphony in black and white." I wanted to take her mind from her loss and reinforce the successful partnership she had with him. "Yes, he was a great dressage horse, I just had to sit there and let him do the hard work. Once he learned the procedure he could do it blindfolded. But his real strength was the cross country, he trusted me not to put him to a jump that he couldn't take easily. Unfortunately his landing on a wet day caused him to slip and all his weight was on one leg and it snapped. I knew as soon as I heard it break that I had no option but to have him put down. Even if he'd recovered from the break, his career in eventing was over, he'd never have the confidence to take a jump again." "You're fully into this sport aren't you?" "Yes, but it costs a lot of money and I can only afford it if I keep working in my current job or something like it. Do you play any sports?" "I played the usual, cricket in the summer and rugby in the winter, I was moderately successful at both at Uni, I made the A grade team in both." "I just bet you were, you have that look about you that tells me that you'd be good at any sport you turned your hand to, and as for your athleticism, I can vouch for that, but I will need reminding." The look on her face told me that I'd be busy for some time. She took my hand and held it between her legs. "I want you in me now." It wasn't immediate, my pushing my cock into her moist pussy, I teased her unmercifully with my foreplay, until she was begging for me to fill her with my cock and, eventually, my sperm. The next morning Roger took me on a guided tour of the estate that had two purposes, the first was so that he could sound me out and see just how serious I was about Jane, to see whether my interest was more about her wealth than her as a person. The second reason was so that Jane and Nerida could have a heart to heart, Nerida wanting to know how serious Jane was about me, and Jane wanting to know if her mother approved of me. When Jane and I compared notes later we concluded that the results were very satisfactory. We made no secret of the fact that we had slept together the night before and had made love, and that we would continue to enjoy each other's company to the full. The rest of the day was spent as a group, the four of us doing family things, like taking tour groups through the house, exercising the horses, a new experience for me, never having climbed on one before, but Jane selected a quiet mare that forgave my inexperience as we cantered across the paddocks, I think they call them fields here. After half an hour I was confident enough to attempt my first fence and the mare carried me safely to the other side, much to Jane's surprise and pleasure. "We'll make an eventer of you yet." She shouted to me as I rode triumphantly to her. After a pleasant dinner, we all sat sipping coffee in the Drawing room. "Mark, I know that you and Jane have only known each other for a short time, but Nerida and I have had a long discussion and have decided that, should you wish to continue seeing Jane, we have no objection." "What my husband is trying to say is that we like you and welcome you into our family." "We haven't got to that stage yet, you'll scare him off if you're not careful." Jane smilingly told them. "I don't think that that's likely." I smiled at all of them. "Once I make up my mind about something, I tend not to change it without a very good reason." Both Roger and Nerida gave us their blessing, and I couldn't have been happier with their acceptance of me, even to the point of them getting out of bed at some ungodly hour to prepare breakfast for us and see us on our way back into London, so that Jane wouldn't be late for work. "I like your parents." I said as we turned out of the drive onto the B road that would take us back to the Motorway and back to London. "And they like you, Dad told me that he thought that you would be a good catch, but reserved judgement on me going to Australia to live. I told him that he was jumping the gun and that we hadn't reached that stage in our relationship. I want to take my time with you, I know that I love you, and that any relationship involves some compromise on both sides, so I'm not going to force any decision on you about where we're going to live, or if you even want to marry me." "That bit I'm sure of, yes I want to marry you, as for the rest, we will have to look at all of our options before making any decisions." We had almost reached the Motorway and she pulled to the side of the road. "Mark Wallace, you're a pretty amazing guy for an Australian, I love you so much." She leaned over and gave me a kiss full of passion that left me both breathless and speechless, who would have thought that when I arrived here, not that long ago, that I'd meet the woman of my dreams. I kissed her back with equal passion, and it was some time before we re-joined the rest of the world. Jane dropped me off outside my hotel before heading to work, and I walked up to my room to find trouble waiting for me in the form of Brendan and a couple of mates. "Here he is, did you have a good time fucking my girlfriend?" "I don't know your girlfriend, do I?" I said as forcefully as I could. "Don't be a smart arse with me, you know my girlfriend very well, too well it seems. I think that I should explain to you the facts of life." "My parents already told me about the birds and the bees." "Shut the fuck up!" He was getting rattled by my lack of fear (if only he knew, I was shitting myself) "You need to be taught a lesson. You just don't mess with me, get it?" "What I get is that you have managed to somehow get into my room, I can only assume that you used some form of leverage over the staff here, and you are threatening me with some form of violence if I do not stop seeing Jane. Now forgive me if I'm wrong here, but you abandoned her for some whore who had promised not only to fuck you, but provide you with some chemical stimulation. From that point you gave up any claim on Jane's affections, it was your decision to leave her alone, as it was her decision to walk away from what appeared to be a disastrous relationship. It has dented your ego somewhat that she should walk away from you, because you think that your shit doesn't stink, and that you're some sort of big shot in this town. Let me tell you, you jumped up little shit, if you mess with me you'll live to regret it." "You don't know who you're dealing with here, my father is a very powerful man, and if you mess with me, you mess with him." "Oooh, I'm so scared, excuse me while I go and change my jocks, I've just shit myself." "Don't just stand there," He yelled at his mates, "Grab him!" They tried with little success, as they approached me I kicked the nearest in the balls and when his mate hesitated for a nanosecond I managed to get one onto his chin that rattled his teeth and sent him staggering back against the wall. "Do you want to try, now that your support has deserted you?" I walked towards him kneeing the first guy in the face while he was still bent over holding onto his aching balls. He took no further part in proceedings, as did his mate who put his hands up in surrender. "Get your mates and get the fuck out of here before I call the cops!" "You haven't heard the end of this." He managed to say before he grabbed his mates and headed for the door. "I hope for your sake that you don't want to start something." Actually, I hoped that he did because I had an ace up my sleeve. I rang Jane at her work. "I've just had a pleasant discussion with your boyfriend." "Did you? We were wondering where he was, word is that he has missed an important meeting and the boss isn't happy. What happened?" "He had a couple of mates with him and he tried to tell me to keep well away from you." "And?" "Let's put it this way, he's gone off to round up more troops, three of them weren't enough." "Darling, I hope that you haven't started something that will get you hurt." "I haven't started anything, I don't start fights, just finish them, and he can get all the troops that he can muster and the result will be the same, I'll finish it, I have friends in this town I'll have you know." "There's got to be another way of getting back at him." You Don't Mess with Them "There is, but I want to rattle him a bit first. I'll talk to you about it later, I am seeing you later, aren't I?" "How can you be so casual? Of course I'll see you later, where?" "At the pub where we met, I'll see you at six, okay?" "Yes Darling, at six." "Great, and don't worry about a thing, it's all under control. By the way, I love you." "I love you too," There was some hesitation in her voice, she was worried at the turn of events. When I said that I had everything under control I wasn't telling the whole truth, I needed to talk to Pete first, so lunch at the pub was in order. He just poured me a red and slid it across the bar to me. "What happened to you on Saturday night, the boys were in here looking for you?" "I was otherwise occupied." "Shagging that Sheila were you, not that I blame you. If I had the choice between a good looking bird and a boozy night with my rugby mates, I'd probably choose the bird." "Speaking of rugby mates, can you get hold of them?" "Yeah, they'll be in tonight, they fly out in the morning and are having one last night on the town before heading home to Sydney. What's going on?" "Do you remember that girl I met here a week or so ago? Well it seems that the guy that left her here in the lurch has got his knickers in a twist about her and me hitting it off. We had a heated discussion this morning, me and him and a couple of his mates, and he's not a happy little Vegemite. I expect that he will be looking for revenge and I'll need help, and here tonight would be a good time and place. I'm meeting Jane here at six, so any time after that would be good." "I'll give Gavin a ring and see what I can organise. A good stoush would be a fitting end to the tour, they've won every game they've played on this trip, so they'll want to leave on a high." I hadn't been keeping tabs on the scores on the Uni team this trip, having not been a part of the inter-varsity tour, where they played Oxford and Cambridge and a couple of other Universities. I went back to my room and gave some thought to a follow-up strategy for getting back at Brendan. I cranked up my laptop and tapped into the hotel's Internet access and Googled Brendan's name. He'd been a busy boy, following his graduation he'd managed to get a job in the Brokerage Company where he met Jane. He gave the impression of being a boy wonder, pulling off deals that made the company a great deal of money. His Midas touch was raising eyebrows in certain circles, like the Fraud Squad, where his connection with his father's dodgy business dealings had a piscatorial aroma about them. This interested me and I mean to discuss this with Jane when I see her next. Brendan's father had a reputation as a hard-nosed who took no prisoners in his dealings and wasn't averse to using stand-over tactics to get his own way. I turned my attention to the father and here I found something that could prove useful. There had been an investigation of sorts into a money laundering operation that he was heavily involved in. For some reason this had never resulted in a prosecution, even though there was a strong body of evidence to support this. There were unsubstantiated rumours that palms had been greased and pressure brought to bear to ensure that no charges were laid. The evidence was still there on public record, and I thought that something should be done. I contacted a mate back home and sent him details of the shonky dealings. "Can you do me a favour and set up a web-site, similar to WikiLeaks, one that we could use to expose the available evidence to the world, and hope that the powers that be are left with no option but to charge him?" "I can go one better, I'll set up your site and get my geek friends to flood the social media sites with posts demanding something be done about it, all anonymous of course, and untraceable." "Good one Mate, I owe you." "Think nothing of it, I've skimmed the info you sent me, he's a shifty bastard isn't he?" "You'd better believe it, and he has a son that he's been using to make a lot of money, and I get the impression that this side of the business is a laundering operation for his drug empire, he does a lot of cash business with the Cayman Island banks and uses money from those accounts to buy legitimate shares in companies that then over-perform for a short time until their shares go through the roof, and then he sells them off just before they crash and burn. How no-one has ever linked these operations I don't know, but I think that we should somehow stop them." "You can leave that to me as well, I have friends in the Economics Department that would love to sink their teeth into something like this." I now had a good feeling and the face that smiled back at me as I shaved was looking better than it had looked for some time, I had a purpose in life and was going to enjoy every minute of it, providing the boys perform well tonight. I arrived at the pub at 5:30 to be met by good news, great slabs of good news. The boys were all there and ready for a stoush, and Pete had spoken to our mate in Sydney. It would appear that Brendan's father, one Malcolm MacDonald was a very naughty boy indeed, his business enterprises included drugs and prostitution, money laundering, fraud, bribery and extortion. I was surprised just how quickly they had managed to hack into MacDonald's system and extract the files. A website called NaughtyBoys.com had been set up that had managed to upload page after page of interesting financial and phone records that outlined the extent of his businesses. This information had been brought to the attention of the Met. (London Metropolitan Police) with the comment that MacDonald's enterprises could only have survived with the collusion and protection of a member of the force. The name of the website attracted a lot of attention and some of the hits were from men with a certain sexual bent looking for something to satisfy their prurient interests. That some of these were also members of the business community ensured that rumours of the content of the site spread rapidly around that community. Affected members were taking steps to rapidly divest themselves of any connection between themselves and Malcom MacDonald. Someone was not going to be a happy man for long. His son was going to be unhappy much sooner than he was. Jane arrived at the pub just before 6:00 and was locked in my arms and tender embrace when Brendan walked in with his support team of six burly young men. "I thought as much." He said to us. "I turn my back for five minutes and you rush into the arms of this, this Aussie yokel. I think that we should teach this man a lesson that he can take back to his proper place, to remind him which of us is the most important. Shall we commence lads." The 'lads' prepared to teach me my lesson but what they didn't notice in their enthusiasm for that lesson, was the entire Sydney University 1st XV forward pack move into position behind them. If you have ever been underneath a rolling maul you will understand the carnage that followed. While they weren't wearing rugby boots with studs, with their combined weight approaching a tonne, and wearing heavy duty hiking boots that served a similar purpose, they locked together in scrum formation and rushed into the back of the 'lads', flattening them, and rolling over them with a well-practiced and joyous application of boot to whatever part of the anatomy was available, before spitting them out the back of the maul. They then rolled on to flatten Brendan, taking extra care to modify his face on the way past. When they turned in preparation for a second maul the front row looked quite disappointed at the lack of resistance shown by the 'lads' to a continuation of the experience. In their stunned minds they had learned that when it comes to a stoush with a pack of rugby forwards, you don't mess with them. Brendan was just staggering to his feet when two men, who could only be plain clothed policemen, walked up to him. "Brendan MacDonald, you are under arrest on the charge of fraud, you will come with us." Turning to the groaning mass of six 'lads', he spoke in a voice that brooked no resistance. "As for you miserable specimens, we will be chatting to you later in regards to certain matters under investigation, but for now you'd better make yourself scarce if you don't want to be charged with affray." He then turned his attention to my support team. "You gentlemen will enjoy your last night in London won't you?" "You bet sir, and thank you." Gavin, the team captain answered, "We fully intend to." "In moderation of course, we wouldn't want to see QANTAS refuse to allow you to board because you're inebriated, would we?" "Point taken sir, point taken." He smiled as the police left. "Now, Mark, Pete has told us some of what this is about, tell us all, including an introduction to this divine creature you have here, and does she have any friends who would like a good time tonight?" "Gavin, this is Jane, the future Mrs Mark Wallace, Jane this is Gavin, as for the other reprobates, you don't want to know them, but they are members of the Sydney Uni rugby team." The party kicked on in earnest, and a phone call from Pete resulted in the arrival of a group of girls all looking for a good time. By 8:00 the party was getting a little exuberant so Pete suggested to Gavin that they and the girls should adjourn to their hotel. This suggestion was taken up, and soon the pub was relatively quiet. Jane and I decided that pub fare was good enough for tonight so we ordered a meal and sat back to enjoy it in peace. We would have enjoyed it even more if we'd known what was happening in various places around the city. At Police Headquarters Brendan was not happy, his obligatory phone call was to his father who promised that his lawyer would attend and bail him out. That he didn't come himself was disappointing enough, that the lawyer had taken a long time to get there, was even worse, and when he basically told him that, on balance, he should plead guilty to the charges of fraud, because the evidence that the police had was compelling enough to ensure that he would spend some time in gaol. "What bullshit is this? You are paid good money to take care of my father's interests, and that includes mine. Now earn your fee and get me out of here!" What Brendan didn't know was that the lawyer was working under instructions to stall as long as possible to give Malcolm time to get the hell out of the country. "The evidence that I have seen is that you are guilty of Insider Trading and fraudulently using monies other than that you have been authorised to use, and carrying out transactions that you have not been authorised to carry out. The documentary evidence will stand up and you will be convicted." His next statement reflected his doubt that he would receive any further payments from Malcom MacDonald. "My suggestion to you is to make a deal with the police to provide them with evidence that they can use to convict your father, because, believe me, you have been hung out to dry." "What do you mean?" "Your father is, as we speak, attempting to flee the country." "What? He would never leave me in the lurch like this, after all that I've done for him." "He can and he has, or at least he is trying to." His mind went back to the conversation that he had with the police before coming in to interview Brendan, conversation that suggested that they should proceed at speed to the airport and prevent Malcolm's private jet from taking off. Malcolm, meanwhile, was beginning to relax, the Gulfstream 5 was taxiing towards the runway and the pilot was talking to the tower. "Gatwick tower this is Gulf 5 requesting clearance for take-off outbound for Barbados." "Gulf 5, this is Gatwick tower, clearance is denied, you are to remain on the apron to await the arrival of police and emergency vehicles." "Gatwick tower, this is Gulf 5, would you repeat that?" "Gulf 5, this is Gatwick tower, clearance is denied, you are to remain on the apron to await the arrival of police and emergency vehicles." "Gatwick tower, this is Gulf 5, message received and understood." Malcolm was beginning to get uneasy, the plane had not moved, even though the traffic was light and there had been several opportunities to proceed onto the tarmac and take-off. "What's going on?" he asked the cabin crew. "I don't know sir." The cabin attendant had been chosen more for her looks than her brains. "Then find out?" "Yes sir." She went to the front of the plane and tapped on the door. "Mr MacDonald wants to know what the hold-up is." "Tell Mr MacDonald that we have been denied clearance to take-off for some reason." She went back to Malcolm. "The Captain has told me that take-off clearance has been denied." "We'll see about that." Malcolm stormed forward and banged on the cockpit door. "I don't give a shit if the tower won't clear you for take-off, you get this thing moving, now!" "I'm afraid sir, but that is impossible." "Why the fuck not?" "Because of that thing." He pointed to the fire tender that had just pulled in front of the plane. "Fuck! Don't just stand there, do something!" "What would you suggest? We can't move back because there is a police car just pulling in behind us. We cannot move, and I am going to comply with any direction given to me by the police, I don't care who you are or who you know, it's my livelihood that's at stake here and I love flying too much to give that away for you." He instructed the cabin attendant to unlock the door and lower the steps to let the police on board. Malcolm came to the realisation that life as he knew it was over. The news got even worse for Malcolm as the night wore on. A search of his plane revealed a hidden compartment containing a large quantity of money on its way to banks in the Cayman Islands. A sniffer dog picked up minute traces of drug residue in the same compartment indicating that it had been used to ship drugs into the country. The Fraud Squad had looked closely at the financial details provided by the 'NaughtyBoys.com' website and it revealed payments to a Council Officer who had signed off on the construction of Malcolm's new office building. Under questioning that officer had revealed that the concrete used did not comply with minimum specifications, neither did the glass used on the face wall at the front of the building. He told them that duress had been used to force him to sign off on the construction, and that the money he had supposedly been paid had in fact been used to repay gambling debts. Testing of the concrete and glass later resulted in the building having to be demolished. "I wish I didn't have to go to work this morning." Jane whispered to me as she stroked life back into my limp cock. "Then why don't you call in sick, you could tell them that you have industrial dysentery." "What's that?" "Work gives you the shits. I would love for you to stay with me today, I'm going to the airport to make sure that the boys catch their flight home and for the rest of the day I'm as free as a bird." Jane reluctantly, sadly, after one more session of lovemaking left for work, only to return half an hour later. "You won't believe this, but the place was crawling with Fraud Squad detectives going over our records. My boss told me that, while they weren't interested in the Currency Desk, I should make myself scarce until further notice. That was all I needed, I came straight back. How long do we have before we have to be at the airport?" She said as she kissed me and fondled him. "Long enough." I told her as I began to undress her. We only just made it to the airport. The boys had been accompanied by the girls from the previous night, all of them looking a little worse for wear. Pete was there with Fiona, another Australian, from the bar at the pub, who had that look that told the world that he was her property and girls should approach him at their peril. Pete was pleased with that look. There was a lot of hand shaking and back slapping from Pete and I and a bunch of players from teams that they had played against, and hugs and tears from the girls, sad to see this rowdy bunch of good guys leaving them behind. We all stayed until the plane was but a speck on the horizon. "We'd better get back to work." Pete told Fiona. "Are you two coming back for lunch, it's on the house." "Sure thing." Jane answered for both of us. "We have a lot to talk about. I don't suppose that you've heard the news about Brendan and his father, have you?" "I heard something on the radio as I was shaving this morning, why, what's happened." "I'll tell you all about it over lunch." Lunch went on for a long time, Pete and Fiona had to leave us for short periods to serve other customers, but came back as quickly as possible. "Doesn't your boss have some rules about fraternising with customers?" I asked Pete. "He doesn't dare complain, he knows damn well that he will not find better workers than us, and if we leave the rest of the staff will leave as well. It is in his best interests to ensure that we are happy in our work." "By the way, I meant to ask you, how was it that the police were close at hand, it was almost as if they were outside waiting for the trouble to start?" "You can thank me for that," Fiona said, "My Great-great whatever uncle owns this pub and he has a Brother-in-Law who's in the Met, and when Pete mentioned that there might be trouble last night and who was involved, I told my uncle, and he told his Brother-in-Law, and he told the Met, and they jumped at the chance to grab Brendan so that they could leverage information out of him. Apparently he wasn't going to give Malcolm up until they told him that they had arrested his father fleeing the country. His canary impression was very well received." We went back to my hotel and Jane called her parents to wangle an invite to stay with them until she could go back to work, whenever that was. "Never liked him." Roger's first comment when told of what had happened to Brendan. "His whole attitude towards you was wrong, he had no interest in you other than as a fashion accessory. He was using you and I'm surprised that you hadn't recognised that much earlier. I would never have consented to you marrying him, and probably have never spoken to you again if you'd gone behind my back and married him." "Why didn't you say something to me sooner?" Jane said. "It would have saved me a lot of heartache." "But it did help you to realise what a great catch Mark is." "I knew that the second that I saw him." "So what are you two going to do while you're here? We can't have you hanging around like a bad smell now, can we?" "What would you like us to do?" I asked. "Can you ride one of those tractor mowers?" "Sure." (I had never done it, but how hard could it be?) "Well there's a lot of grass in need of cutting, if you'd like to make a start on that for me." "Dad, you don't expect Mark to do all the work for you, do you? You have Gardeners for that." "That's all right, I need something to do to occupy my mind, we can't be doing you know what all the time, can we?" "You don't have to be ashamed of the fact that you are a normal couple with normal urges, we're aware that the two of you have been making love." "Lead me to the mower." I expected Roger to lead the way but it was Jane that took me to the equipment shed and showed me the workings of the mower. There was quite a lot of lawn surrounding the house and this task kept me occupied for three hours. After an hour and a half Jane came over with a cool drink (non-alcoholic) and a kiss and cuddle to keep me going until after dinner. The TV news that night was full of Malcolm and Brendan MacDonald's arrest and the increasing number of charges being laid against them. There was a brief mention of the Brokerage, but no charges had been laid against them, although investigations were continuing. "Couldn't happen to nicer people." Roger commented. You Don't Mess with Them "In a way I feel sorry for Brendan." I said, bringing shocked looks from Roger and Jane. "He didn't really have a chance, did he? Malcolm would have made it abundantly clear when he started work that he would be expected to use his position for his father's personal gain, regardless of the fact that he would be breaking the law in the process. He didn't have the guts to stand up to his father, just as he didn't have the guts to face me without his thugs behind him. This was the only life that he knew." "You're being too easy on him. I doubt if you would have gone down that path, you look strong enough to stand up to your father if you thought that he was asking you to do something wrong." "You're right about that, but my mother, now that's another story entirely, now there's a strong woman who always gets what she wants. Having said that, her demands are entirely reasonable, I've never heard her demand anything that wasn't within our power to achieve." I regaled them with stories of my family, (don't worry, I won't bore you with them) and the things that we did, of my father and his work as an Agronomist, my sister, now a successful Lawyer, and my mother who gave up a successful career on the stage to stage manage our family. "Darling," Jane was snuggled against me in her comfortable bed, "You know that I love you very much?" "Yes." I was wondering where this was heading. "And that I would live anywhere with you?" "You would?" "Yes. Well . . . I was wondering . . . ." "What were you wondering?" "I know little about Australia other than what we see on TV. What's it really like?" "It's a great place, full of variety. We have lots of beaches but they come with a downside. They can be dangerous to swim in with strong rips that can carry you way out to sea if you're not careful, currents that collapse sand-bars without warning, and swimming in the sea are some pretty deadly creatures, and I don't just mean Great White sharks. There's box jellyfish that are extremely deadly, and salt water crocodiles that are in plague proportions up north." "Remind me never to go swimming then." "You're okay as long as you take precautions. The countryside is one of extremes, we have everything from deserts to tropical rainforests, mountain ranges to seemingly endless plains, and we have cute and cuddly creatures like koalas as well as creepy crawlies that will kill you. We have the most venomous land based snakes in the world, the deadliest spider in the world in the male Sydney Funnel Web, although there haven't been any fatalities since an antivenin was discovered. We have the only monotremes in the world, and a couple of the largest flightless birds. We don't have any active volcanos and very few earthquakes. The climate ranges from monsoonal in the north to cool temperate in the south, we have areas that have a Mediterranean climate where some of the world's best wines come from, to maritime climates with hot humid summers. It is a country of extremes, and it takes some getting used to." "Do you think that I'll get used to it?" I was beginning to think that she might be having second thoughts about living anywhere as long as it was with me. "Who says that you'll have to? I was going to ask you the same thing, will I ever get used to the cold weather, even in your supposed summer, why, you have people dropping dead in the streets from heat stroke on what's nothing more than a pleasant warm day back home. I don't enjoy the cold, but then I can always snuggle up to you to keep warm." To prove the point I took her in my arms and kissed her, my body pressed against hers, my cock making its presence felt against her. She grabbed him and fed him into her moist pussy, rolling on top of me and pushing down on him. After we'd both reached our climax she went to roll off me, but I held her to me. "Now isn't this better than dodging all of those nasties in Australia? Don't you feel safe here?" "I'm not afraid of any nasties as you put it, because I have my hero to protect me." She kissed me with renewed passion. "I'll never stop loving you, you realise that don't you?" "I should hope not. Now, what are we going to do, discuss where we're going to live, or cuddle each other until we go to sleep?" "Cuddle each other sounds good to me." She rolled off me and turned away from me so that I could spoon her. "But we're going to have to discuss this sometime soon, you do know that, don't you?" "Shut-up and let me cuddle you." "Hmm, that feels nice . . ." She was asleep. A new day and a new mixed bag of news. We had just finished breakfast when we got a phone call from the police requesting that we come down to London and make formal statements. We arranged to be there just after lunch, planning to spend the night in town so that I could check out of the hotel and drag my gear back to Jane's parents' place. She rang her work and arranged to call in to speak with her boss after we'd finished with the police. Then came the big news. "Mark, a word if you will." "This sounds ominous." "This includes you Jane. Nerida and I have been having a long talk about our future. We would like to experience things before we shuffle off, things like going on cruises to the tropics, visiting South America and even Australia. The world is out there for us to explore and enjoy before our dotage sets in. What we are proposing is that you, both of you, should take over the management of this property while we do those things so that when the time comes for Jane to inherit, you'll have the experience to be able to properly manage it. Well, what do you think?" "Sir, I think that it's a wonderful idea, but I do have one stipulation." I could see Jane's quizzical expression. "I like the idea of you and Nerida going off to see the world, but I think that there will be times when you tire of being tourists. When that happens you should come back and run the place while Jane and I take time to visit my family." Jane stopped looking quizzical and hugged me and kissed me. "That sounds fair and reasonable. What do you think my Dear?" He asked Nerida. "I think that's a very good idea, I'm sure that I will tire of living in hotels after a while. Now, when are we going to have the wedding?" "I'll need to speak with my parents and arrange for them to come over for it, I know Jane will want it here so that we can use the Bridal Suite." Jane and Nerida both smiled at that, Roger started out with a shocked expression on his face but it soon disappeared. "I've already spoken to your mother, she wouldn't miss it for the world." Nerida said. It was my turn for a shocked expression. "You don't waste any time do you?" I asked them, "And you're very sure of yourself aren't you?" "Never been surer." Jane said as she came into my arms. "Never been surer." "Well, we'd better get our finger out if we're going to organise a wedding, hadn't we?" "What's your rush? I thought that we'd wait for your mother to get her so that she can help out. When I spoke to her she told me that she wanted to help. By the way, your parents will be here next week." Nerida said. Have you ever had the feeling that you've been railroaded into something? Not that I'm complaining mind you, it's just that I'm only just getting used to having a woman in my life, a woman that I actually want to spend the rest of my life with, and here she is, conniving, colluding even, with my own mother in organising my future for me. On second thoughts, why shouldn't these women in my life have the fun of organising the wedding, I'm not sexist, but I wouldn't know where to begin. "I don't know about you Roger, but I think that we should just sit back and let them arrange this, don't you?" Jane beat him to a reply. "Don't think that either of you are going to just sit there while we do all of the hard work, there'll be plenty to keep you occupied." That was when I came to realise it; when it comes to women and their plans for your life, you just don't mess with them.