Jake and Gill

***

"Hi honey!" Jake's voice boomed out of her mobile speaker, "Have you left Gran yet?"

"Yes, Jake, we left about ten minutes ago, Jimmy's taking me back to the bank now. How's everything at Winstone's? And, more to the point, how did your meeting with Wayne go?"

"Sweet. He went down like a leaky balloon when he found out we knew everything. I had to work every trick in the book to build him back up again, so he'd toe the line rather than storm off in a huff. He's got one hell of an ego, I'll give him that!"

"He can sell sand to camels, and smile with you while he robs you. He smiled while he robbed me of my dignity.... Jake, you had me worried last week, I really thought I'd lost you."

"Sorry sweetheart, but once Jarvis closed down the print room at Winstone's and locked out Sally and her assistant Chrissie, I lost my eyes and ears on what he was doing outside of his computer input. I didn't see the takeover bid coming and I had limited time to find an effective strategy. With Jarvis moving back in with you and the kids, well, I wasn't exactly sure of his motives."

"So you kept away from us, I can understand that, but why go to stay with Isote at Dartmoor? You must have known -"

"I didn't know Chrissie was going to tell you I was going there. I only drove down there to set up a line of credit with their bank in Okehampton and sign some agreements with the sisters at their lawyers' offices. Jamieson was with me the whole time. I was there for maybe an hour or ninety minutes. The rest of the week I was in Peru and Chile realising assets and negotiating buying back the shares that were held by a branch of the family that moved there a couple of generations ago. While there I turned off the phone's roaming facility, to remove distractions."

"You still had me worried, hon."

"It was thoughtless of me and I will make it up to you, darling, even if it takes me half a century."

"You better!" she laughed, "So, what have you done with the father of the first two of my children?"

"Now he's become quite enthused about spending two years in Istanbul and has a folio of projects that we've designed for him to study before he goes. He'll still be around for a few days, to possibly patch things up with Cheryl and to see the kids.... Wait a minute, what was that about first two children?"

"Well, hotshot tycoon, ex-copy boy, and my all-round heartthrob, how do you feel about becoming a father in the next year or so, maybe a couple of times while I still can?"

"I feel really good about it."

"Good, because I'm telling Uncle Gerry, and that's the first time I can bring myself to calling him Gerry, that he's still doing three days a week for the foreseeable future and I'm going home early tonight and most nights for a while. How about your end?"

"Jamieson's got things buttoned up tight here, my IT guys are double checking they've replaced all the dummy accounts for the Jarvis Sting, and ensuring that all the real accounts are square. I think I can get away just after lunch."

"Good. Before the kids get home would be ideal.... Look, Jake honey, I've got an unrecognised number coming in, I better take it in case it's Gertie or maybe something to do with the kids. I'll see you later then, bye sweetheart! I love you!"

"I love you too. We must talk tonight, there's a lot of things we need to go through, family obligations that you really need to know about at the earliest. Until then, bye, sweetheart, love you!"

***

From her car Belinda hung up on her Aunt Gertie and rang Gill.

She was so excited she could barely contain herself and the damn phone rang and rang and rang before Gill picked up.

"Congratulations, Gill, ... It's Belinda, sweetie.... Yes.... I just heard the wonderful news.... Do you have any wedding dates in mind yet? ... Never mind, I'll be seeing you round Aunt Gertie's London house on Saturday, we'll talk then.... I love organising weddings, but I believe in working from the end backwards.... That's right.... We are going to have soooo much fun with this. Where do you want to have your honeymoon? ... The foothills of the Himalayas? ... A hiking holiday? ... Not my idea of a honeymoon, too far from the beach for me, but for you two it's perfect and the King of Nepal will be delighted.... Why? He loves crosswords and texts Jake all the time.... No, of course the King's not a cousin, really Gill! ... No, Great Aunt Mildred turned the King's grandfather down twice, besides mountaineering was only a passing phase before she took up flying solo biplanes. Now, do you want the wedding reception in Nepal or England? Gertie says we can have the wedding in the pretty little Standhope Parish Church of All Saints and hold the reception in the main ballroom at the Standhope Palace in Derbyshire? ... Gill? ... You still there? ... Gill?"

The End.