Duke Pt. 04

Duke was seconded to spend a fortnight in Dubbo, working at the head office on the mining company that employed him at Thompson. He was filling in for the executive electrical engineer (planning and infrastructure) while he was on holiday.

The company provided him with one of the ground floor apartments it maintained for visiting VIPs so he took Misty with him. Before he left the three mothers came over with cakes and filled biscuits tins for him to take with him and joined him for a 'farewell' drink, Debra leaving baby Duncan in the care of her husband for the first time. After only one drink and the women helped him clear away, Duke left, not wishing to arrive in Dubbo and run into a driving breath-test road block. Where he lived guys drove after driving provided they could find they keys and find the vehicle's ignition lock... or could find their vehicle, er more or less. The truth was it was common knowledge country cops had a quota of drunk drivers to fill.

Duke welcomed the break because life had become rather too routine and without excitement. When jerking in the shower he often thought about pushing his dick between Gina's big tits but she'd made no effort to have the sexual encounter she'd claimed she was owed the evening she'd found him giving Gretchen an anal ravishing.

He called at head office. Most people had left for the day but the CEO saw him chatting up the receptionist and called him in. By the time Duke pulled his eyeballs from Nancy's cleavage and got her phone number and entered the CEO's office, Neville Copeland had already poured two heft whiskies.

"Sit down and thanks for helping out. It appeared inappropriate to bring in any of the mine managers to fill in for Charlie and when we went through alternatives you were first choice."

"That's bullshit Neville."

"No fair dinkum mate, it was you by a country mile. I thought I ought to be frank with you. Charlie is not on holiday. He's gone to Sydney for a big investigation, scans and all that crap. He has cancer bad. You may have to be here for a couple of months before we find a replacement."

"Why not appoint me?"

"You? But you live like a king in Thompson in that flash house of yours and women, married and unmarried, sneaking in through the backdoor at nights, or so the whisper is?"

"I'm not against relocating."

"We are looking at opening a mine 500 miles out in the desert."

"I'm against relocating."

"Ah a man I feel I can trust. I always know where I am with you, not like some of these wimps who have to have a committee meeting before they can give a decision."

"Well enough of this crap," Duke smile. "How's Jean's leg; is she back show jumping yet?"

"She's into light training thank god. I had weeks of near-hell living while that leg was immobilized. It's obvious to me just how much riding means to her so I've backed off telling her to retire. Anyway thanks for asking. I tell her you enquired. For some reason you continue to impress her."

"She must have been studying the outline of my dick."

They laughed and clinked glasses for the second time and said cheers.

Neville said, "Are you free tonight?"

"Well to go out for a drink but not to take you whoring because you're married."

Neville laughed and politely excused himself and made a call.

"Hi I have Duke with me. He's just arrived."

"Ah good, that was my thinking. Just a minute."

He turned to Duke and said Jean had invited him to dinner. Duke nodded.

"He says yes, thanks for the magnificent offer, that he looks forward to hearing the latest filthy jokes from you. I'll be home in fifteen minutes. He'll arrive at 7:00 after settling into the apartment."

The apartment was airy and opened out on to a communal pool. It was beautifully appointed and Misty explored and returned to stand by the fridge, signally her acceptance and reminding Duke it was her dinnertime. He unpacked a can of food he'd brought with him. She almost turned her nose up at it because it wasn't fish but he growled and she began eating.

He ran and bath and drinking soda water called Gina's cell phone number. She'd slipped the number to him as he was leaving so he guessed this was the reason.

"Gina De Vito speaking."

"Are you free to speak?"

"Yes the others are watching TV."

The apartment is luxurious. I'm wondering if you can sneak away and join me for a night or two?"

She sounded hesitant. "I have a girlfriend in Dubbo. I could get away for one night without raising suspicion. I'd need to spend some time with her and to explain my reason for being in Dubbo."

"That's okay. If anyone in your family felt the need to call you they would call your cell phone that would be with you wherever you were."

"Oh yes, of course. That makes me feel somewhat relieved."

"Have you done this before?"

"Ah yes but not for some years."

"Well at least that's experience and means you will be unlikely to make slip-ups. Gina I've thought of this possibility ever since the first time I saw you."

"You only see my boobs you ram."

"No it's also your bright personality, your smile and your wide mouth and flowing hair."

"Omigod, stop it. You're on the verge of making me adore myself. I better go. I'll think about this. It might be several days before I call."

Duke thought he should call Nancy the receptionist and find what he could arrange for tomorrow night. He'd invite her to meet him at a bar but in all probability she'd say no she'd come to the apartment, they could fuck and then go out to dinner. He checked his watch... oh shit almost time to go. Ten minutes later he arrived at Jane and Neville's apartment. The Copeland's also had an 80-acre farm 35 miles out from Dubbo where Jean had a female resident manager to run the horse-breeding programme and where Jean spent a couple of days most weeks training her horses and maintaining fitness for equestrian events. Duke was unaware this would be one of the most defining nights in his life.

"Oh hi," Jean said, coming to the door using a stick but she appeared to have no limp or sign of weakness.

"This is just an insurance thing," she said, waving the walking stick. "My muscles on my healing leg are weak and in favouring my good leg it's like learning to walk. I could topple without warning unless I keep my mind on the job. Neville drinks please."

They chatted, catching up on what everyone had been doing socially and then when they were seated at the table Jean said, "Tell me about your women Duke."

"What?" he said, jaw dropping.

"I'm worried about you. Do you always wish to be a bachelor?"

He sighed and said it seemed to be inevitable.

"Why?"

Both the Copeland's almost leaned forward waiting for the answer.

"Because I can't keep hold of a woman, that's why."

Neville eased back into his chair, looking a little disappointed, but his wife's eyes flashed behind her spectacle and her chin jutted forward and she said, "Do you care to explain that?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm interested."

Duke looked as if that reply appeared non-threatening. "If you must know we start with a huge bang and then the excitement subsides. Later we both yawn and before long say goodbye to end the relationship, usually some feeble pretext being offered.

"I thought so."

Neville refilled their wine glasses and the two men looked at Jean waiting for her explanation.

Jean asked, "Have you ever proposed to one of your women?"

"No."

"Do you buy them gifts?"

"Well yes, the longer-stay ones. I buy them flowers, perhaps some sexy underwear."

"I mean expensive gifts, like jewellery?"

"Of course not. What for?"

Jean sighed. "For goodness sake Duke, you'll never marry at this rate. All you are saying to these women is I want your body. In buying sexy underwear you are saying you want pussy dressed up."

"Jean," Neville said nervously.

"Shut up. You were almost as bad and if I had failed to assess your money-making potential I would have dump you like Duke's women dump him."

Duke disputed that. "Fair go Jean, women never really dump me, er most women don't."

"Oh no, so where are they now?"

Duke looked at Neville as if appealing for intervention but Neville stood and said he'd get another bottle of wine.

Duke used his table napkin to dab his forehead.

"How many women have you lined up to visit you at the apartment?"

Duke thought the interfering bitch but then decided what the heck and so he spoke truthfully. "One is in the wings waiting for an invitation and the other is making arrangements."

"Is that one married?"

Duke looked at the tabletop and whispered yes.

"Jesus Duke, have you had a lobotomy? How the fuck do you intend to marry a married woman?"

Neville was entering from the kitchen but on hearing that outburst swung around and returned to the kitchen.

"Well it's not like you think. This woman caught me with another woman, one of her friends, and although it wasn't said the price for keeping the first woman's mouth shut was for me to have a night with her."

"Was the other woman married?"

"Er yes."

"Jesus Duke I give up. You might be good at your job and perhaps you perform brilliantly at sex, and that wouldn't surprise me, but your tactics are flawed with holes large enough to drive trucks through them. To you a relationship with a woman is on a single plane, sex. Don't you understand women are multi-dimensional? Tell me do you take a woman out to dinner?"

"Yes of course."

"Before or after sex?"

"Well after and then we rush home for more sex."

"Oh my giddy aunt. Neville, stop skulking in the kitchen and get the fucking wine in here."

Neville marched in and said confidently, "Could you please tone down your language darling, you are not in the company of your horsy cronies."

"Oh yes, sorry guys. I just got so exasperated."

For more than an hour over dinner Jean attempted to bring Duke up to speed about women and that included what she perceived as their general likes and dislikes and dwelt on their expectations.

During this entire confrontation, Duke gave no sign of being irritated at her being so personal or scathing. That would have been partly due to them getting to know each other very well two years ago when her mother was dying and Neville was at an international mining convention in Brazil. An SOS went out to company executives and managers for a driver, Duke had been the volunteer chosen by Jean to drive her 2210 miles to Perth and eight days later drive her back again. Jean had a fear of flying and was almost as bad about trains and that was astonishing for someone almost fifty-five who jumped horses fearlessly.

After dinner Jean was yawning and said she felt exhausted.

"Little wonder, you talking almost non-stop for almost three hours," Neville complained. "Slip off to bed, we won't mind. We could relax.

"No I'm fine. You clear away."

"I'll assist," said Duke. "And Jean, for the record let me say I appreciated the help you attempted to give me tonight. I think you have set my mind in motion and I'll be making some fundamental changes to my personal life and certainly will adjust the ways in which I deal with women... er... romantically. I have been approaching them like a piece of meat, haven't I?"

Jean shrieked in laughter. "Duke you raised that disgusting image and mentioned romance almost in the same breath; how could you?"

Neville and Duke operated efficiently, Neville loading the dishwasher and putting things away while Duke washed pots, pans and the gravy boat. They went into the lounge to find Jean asleep. Neville threw a light rug over her and put out the light and he took Duke to the veranda and then fetched coffee.

"Gosh mate I've never seen Jean go at anyone like a dog at a bone as she did with you tonight. I'll get her to phone you tomorrow to apologize."

"No forget it. She rang my bell a few times tonight. I honestly believe I've been behaving like an idiot, not seeing beyond the end of my dick."

"Well if you are sure..."

"Absolutely so just forget it huh?"

Neville continued this serious tone. "Look Duke you've set my mind going. If Charlie's on his way out I will consider you as a possible replacement. I'll brief my executive team to keep an eye on you while you are here as a temp and tell them why I want you assessed. So good luck and try to deliver well. I'll speak to Terry King tomorrow and tell him you may be required to remain here for up to two months and to ensure your deputy at Thompson is property supervised and supported. I fly to Sydney later tomorrow to check on Charlie and his wife and family."

Duke drove off carefully, having consumed a considerable amount of liquor over the past few hours. He arrived at the apartment and parked in the basement without incident. As he walked around outside with Misty and waited for her to do her business, he thought yes he owed Gina and would proceed with her but he'd not date the receptionist who was just being a slut while waiting for someone who really appealed to her to come along. Well until now he'd been acting exactly like that, but no more.

He was working next morning on finalising specifications to place for selected suppliers to quote on a replacement electrical supply standby generator for the company's Marton-Wells mine when he took a call from Jean.

"Look I wish to apologize for last night. I got on to your case and my tongue then ran amok."

"Thanks for calling but no apology is necessary. If you had made only a few comments then this would have probably have come to nothing. As it is, my mind last night began grinding away, working out new strategies and how I present myself to women."

"Well thanks for letting my off the hook Duke. I'm only trying to help. If you like I could introduce to some young women, although most of my close contacts are horse families but not all of them."

"That's fine. Providing they have great breasts and legs and..."

"Duke!"

"Oh yeah, as I was about to say providing they are fit to go kayaking and motor-cycling trail riding and... er... like opera and ballet and can hold down an intelligent conversation and are morally sound and..."

"Now you are in danger of going right over the top. I'll see what I can do because I really owe you for what you did for me, getting me to Perth while my mother could stil recognized me and could converse coherently even though that lasted only a few hours. Now this is very confidential..."

"Okay it remains between you and me."

"Neville told me over breakfast that Charlie might not last a month, it's that bad. You are to be offered the position. As you know there is no deputy for head office electrical infrastructure as Neville runs a tight ship as instructed by the board. So I suggest you begin thinking about selling your property in Thompson. You have finished all the work you had planned on that house, hadn't you?"

"Yes apart from a small lean-to laundry. Um are you that sure I'll succeed Charlie?"

"Well Neville is and he alone makes the appointment. So do nothing to blot your copybook between now and the time comes to replace Charlie."

Duke worried about having that affair with Gina. Her husband Carlo was a senior manager at the Thompson mine. If Gina and he were found out his copybook, as Jean called, it would be truly blotted. He sighed thinking if he pulled out after raising Gina's expectations, injecting some real excitement into her life, she could turn on him and that could have repercussions anyway.

He called David Bateman, a mate who worked in residential real estate sales in Thompson.

"Hi it's Duke. How's baby Susan going?"

"Oh hi. Well she's putting on weight and Brandy and I are getting much more sleep at regular hours."

"Good, good. Listen I've been seconded to Dubbo for a while and want you to list my house for sale and suggest the market price. Go in, the house is unlocked. I want it advertised for a month on Wednesdays and Saturdays in double column ads in The Central Western Daily that covers Orange and environs and the Daily Liberal here in Dubbo and place a big sign on the property and of course advertise in the Weekly Thompson Gazette. I'll return to Thompson on Saturday and pack my stuff and place it into storage. You take the front door key hanging on the keyboard in the kitchen and I'll lock the house when my stuff is trucked off because I don't want squatters moving in. Got all that?"

"Yes. I know the house well. I'd say market it at $315,000. If that house was in Dubbo you'd probably get another hundred grand, but that's how real estate goes. I can get it professionally appraised if you wish."

"No if I get $310,000 after paying agency commission I'll be happy because it's mortgage free. It was a rundown bummer when you sold it to me for seventy-two grand three years ago."

"Yeah, yeah. Well you spent big money and a hell of a lot of time on half rebuilding it and what you have done taught me more about recognizing potential. I'll take some photos and draw up a marketing plan. You make any amendments and on Saturday you can sign the listing and the agency contracts and hand me the cheque and then I'll help you pack. Now give my your address for courier delivery."

Duke dug deep into Charlie's files and found a heap of non-actioned requisitions dating back several months so discussed them with the director of operations. That meeting lasted two hours and Frank said as Duke was leaving, "Good work for not ignoring this file Duke. As I said the requisitions go back to about the time Charlie got really black news about the Big C."

That comment suggested Neville would get to hear that that discovery and that made Duke feel pleased, knowing it would probably be raised as a team meaning to ensure other executives were alerted. It was, at Friday's team meeting at which Duke attended. His subsequent discovery of numerous emails and a pile of written complaints about non-action over requisitions was also reported and the meeting discussed how to avoid that action being repeated in any department.

Mid afternoon on Tuesday Duke received a call from a female who identified herself as Lisa Fulton. She described herself as the daughter of a friend of Jean Copeland.

"Mrs Copeland said you are new in town and so I'm calling to invite you to late dinner tonight."

"Well that's a wonderful invitation. We could get pizzas and eat at my apartment."

"That won't be necessary," Lisa said a little primly. "I'll meet you at the restaurant and will drive myself home."

Oh crap, Duke thought. He'd delivered a huge sexual innuendo to a lady whose mum was bound to be a close buddy to Jean. Well he'd attempt to bail himself out of the licentious mire at restaurant, making himself out to be a real gentleman.

Lisa turned out to be rather cute with nifty puppies, er breasts, and a great bedside manner. She was a house doctor at Dubbo Base Hospital. She boggled when Duke handed her flowers and appeared not to know what to do with them and neither did the waitress when Duke asked for a vase.

"Please fetch a water jug; that will suffice."

Both women glanced appreciatively at Duke Caine, problem solver.

"I-I never been given flowers on a first date," Lisa said colouring when Duke said without thinking he was glad there would be more dates.

"Unless you're married."

"God no, I'm in the last lap of formal training. I don't really have time for men, I'm only doing this as a favour..."

She stopped, blushing furiously.

"For Jean?"

Lisa nodded.

"Well she believes she owes me. Let me tell you why."

Lisa listened fascinated and at the end she smiled and said, "Why are you drinking water?"

Duke knew but no way would he tell her he was attempting to reform. "Er it's a real health drink isn't it?"

She giggled and said did Duke wish to hear what she thought.