The Yellow Cottage

Then came a breakthrough. When Scott requested head of research Kevin Morissette to secure a copy of the theses for him, explaining Scott would be assisting his live-in partner to complete a book, Kevin said he already possessed a thesis written in Australia advocating, 'A Case for Winning Over Our Trans Tasman Neighbour: Australia Integration with New Zealand Would Take a Huge Step Forward Towards the Ultimately Unrealistic Goal of Complete Self-sufficiency.' Kevin handed him that thesis and said he would have the other two couriered to him. Scott gave him the address of the store for courier delivery as Peg Perkins operated also as the postal shop.

Scott arrived at the North Shore complex of Falcon and Salmon Publishing Ltd where he found editorial was spread over three floors. The enquiries desk sent him to the 3rd floor and the editor's PA was waiting at the top of the stairs for him to escort him to Mrs Ewing.

She said in a honeyed voice to the woman with her head down at the desk, "Mr Scott Street, your 4:30 appointment."

Linda Ewing smiled, scarcely missing a beat and held out her hand and said welcome. As the PA closed the door behind her, Linda said, "This is a surprise."

Scott managed to get his mouth working again. "The woman in white whose dog I scared off and then muffed my apology to end a second unfortunate meeting."

Linda waggled her index finger at him. "I thought you were rather lewdly outspoken to me but I guess you had your reason -- coping with a nasty STD perhaps?"

Scott laughed politely and explained he'd reacted badly at hearing the beach warden, who was his mother, being dismissed as an old woman. He'd never heard his mother being described like that as most people thought she was lovely and she treated everyone else with respect.

"Your mother? Oh God, I'm sorry. I was nearing the end of my week at the beach and was bored up to my earrings. You appeared to be interested in my breasts so I made the coffee offer to see where that would lead us, if anywhere. Well, you did promise to think and talk nicely if we met again. Something seems to be throwing us together don't you think?"

"That is an agreeable insight to try to explain the unknown. I like it."

"You are talking to me nicely. Come, I'll explain how we operate. I have overall responsibility for editorial and associated marketing. We publish some fiction usually restricted to higher performing New Zealand writers and we occasionally take a punt on an unknown or relatively unknown writer if the work appears to signalling, 'run with me' but those opportunities are rare. Our two mainstream lines are works based on New Zealand history including school and club 50th jubilees or centennials and memoirs and we are particularly noted for publishing academic authors."

Twenty minutes later they were in the boardroom, a glass in hand, with Linda introducing Scott as "the academic working on the research data the university has gathered for us."

Scott noticed only one other guy was in the room -- the commissioning editor for technical books. The nine other women included three senior editors and three more commissioning editors and a senior production editor. When a senior editor buttonholed Linda he joined the fiction-commissioning editor Nadine Gosani. As the conversation turned to fiction the other two people who'd been conversing with Nadine drifted off. Scott asked Nadine, a South African immigrant, what her attitude was towards fact-fiction?

"You mean a novel based on fact?"

"Yes, loosely based."

"They have the potential to become best-sellers, particularly if controversial. The author clearly must be knowledgeable and in possession of well-researched facts from which he or she then extrapolates a fiction that generally seems believable. Without the inclusion of multiple trigger points with which the reader pictures real life situations to bolster credibility, then the writer is left with an unsalable manuscript."

"I would have thought that was so."

"Are you writing such a book, Mr Street?"

"Nadine, please call me Scott. I have something in mind but a person very close to me is currently developing a storyline that has controversy written all over it. Would you care for another drink?"

"Thank you Scott, the pinot noir."

Scott returned with their drinks and Nadine handed him her card, saying to call her when it was time to submit a proposal. I'll remember you as the guy who's been recruited to speed up production of our research report."

"Tell me Nadine in your own words, what is the purpose of this research?"

The face of the South African became blank. "Why? If you have been engaged to process the results you must be in possession of the commissioning documentation?"

"True, and an excellent response," Scott said, and then looking around lowered his voice. "The needs and strategic objectives as stated by the client appear to be rather vague. What do you think is the purpose of this project?"

Nadine also looked around and lowered her voice. "To get into the minds of our potential consumers to discover what factors contribute to prime choices."

"That's a lot more specific than what I've read."

"I know. The decision was made by the executive chairman and CEO, over Linda's objections, to scope more widely in anticipation of netting a wider feedback useful to our marketing efforts generally."

"The idiots."

"That's what I told Linda and I wasn't the only one. But I must not interfere."

"You have simply narrowed my focus Nadine. I'll now re-read the brief and am bound to find that precise objective expressed somewhere in the weighty preamble. Your confidentiality is assured. I'm biting at the bit to get going now; previously I'd been able to clearly sight the goalposts. It's certainly been worth chatting Nadine. I'll move on to avoid any chance of finger-pointing."

At 6:30 the bar closed and Linda circled back to Scott. "Sorry, so many people wanted a quiet chat."

"That's okay. I've spoken to many of them. You seem to have an impressive team."

Linda stared at Scott when replying, "They are loyal and work hard and generally make good decisions. What's on for your now -- homeward bound?"

Scott's pulse took a lift. "No, I'll phone around for a bed and then have a good meal somewhere."

"May I join you?" Linda said softly. "I'd welcome company. My husband is not due back into the country for another ten days. The company will pick up our tab. We have a VIP apartment which you may use for the night."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. Let's get out of here and smile the night away."

Scott's usually ignored alarm was sounding and this evening was no different. Jess could kick him out if she found he'd been with another woman but he was now being sexually driven and not prepared to reject what lay ahead. Linda saying her husband was away was as good as telling him she was horny, ready to open her legs for him. He wondered how far she could stretch her legs out at her age.

Linda took his arm so naturally as they walked out of the building, either to claim ownership at least for the night or to ensure he didn't decide to bolt -- perhaps both.

"What has attracted you to me Scott? Apart from my breasts?"

Scott drew extra breath. Oh yes, another woman who knew how to talk to a man, prepared to put aside a possible reluctance to address part of her body in that manner.

"Your intelligence?"

"Liar."

"The sway of your hips."

"Ah, not delivered with a question. That's more like it," she said, squeezing his arm hard against her. "I gather you know my desire to dine with you is not without motive?"

Wow, what a classy way of stating her mission, Scott thought, reminding himself to note that line in his writer's log. He could not imagine a male having the wit to state such a line with such sophistication, as least not the males he knew as friends, however remote. He answered her with a question that just popped out, "How old are you Linda?"

"Forty-one, which surprises some people aware of my position."

"It had me flummoxed until I figured you must have been worthy of a rapid series of promotions."

"Without fucking the CEO?"

"Without fucking the CE0."

Linda smiled directly at him, showing teeth and her brown eyes sparkling under the street lighting. "You have a direct, uncomplicated and charming way of presenting yourself to a woman."

"Oooh, I need to have that explained."

"That being so then you're unlikely to get it."

"Relax Linda. I'll fuck you tonight."

Linda quickened her pace. "As I said, you are direct, uncomplicated and charming. You have read me wonderfully well Scott. A determined effort after two earlier inconclusive encounters."

"No reply is forthcoming in fear of incriminating myself."

Linda stopped, drew him to her and kissed him on the near deserted footpath beside an unlit shop window. She drew back a little, breathing a little fast and asked, "Should we skip dinner?"

Scott didn't like missing a good dinner. "No you temptress, stoke me up with food and drink."

Surprisingly, dinner was a leisurely affair, not that Linda ate much and drank only one glass of wine. Although Linda appeared in semi-trace she conversed well, Scott ensuring they kept up a patter that skirted seduction and misbehaviour. They covered the usual such as music, favourite films, favourite foods and recreational interests and the national economy. He didn't ask about her work and she didn't probe into his background except to ask, "What is next for you after presenting our survey report?"

Throughout Linda had sat very close to him on the bench seat, thigh against thigh, occasionally giving him a thigh press to keep his mind on their physicality. After that question she began running her nails down the top of his thigh.

"I plan to write a book."

The hand left Scott's thigh and her thigh was no longer pressing against his.

"So that's why you invited me to dinner?"

Scott realized a simple denial would be useless, that he should respond aggressively. "You invited me, remember? And until I met you late this afternoon I had no idea Linda Ewing was the lady in white from Awarua Beach. I can however accept you were unaware I returned to New Zealand proposing to begin writing the book bottled up inside me."

"Oh Scott, of course. How stupid of me."

Scott said it was a reasonable misunderstanding and smiled, feeling her thigh slap against his and her hand come to rest well over his hipbone but not quite touching Sam the Man.

Linda almost begged to be told the storyline so Scott obliged.

"My God Scott, with your background you could well pull this off. You need to talk to women of all ages -- say twenty-five to seventy-five to try to get a feeling for their attitudes, how they think their environment affects what they think, their musings and what's in their mind never revealed to other people, not even close female friends. Then why they think they panic over little things and yet remain quite brave in the face of real threats and so on. And then and only then begin writing your novel. We are also both aware that no two minds are the same."

"Quite, and I understand the reasons why that is so although like computers, it's the programming that makes all the difference and sets the patterns."

"Please send a proposal and three sample chapters to me when you're ready and I'll inject your package into our system."

"That's very kind Linda but just allow me to make my approach like any other author. It's best it happens that way. My objective is to have my work chosen on merit."

"I admire you for saying that Scott but please consider my offer remains open."

* * *

The company's VIP apartment was small, modern and very adequate for what Linda and Scott had in mind. As he stood behind Linda unbuttoning the five buttons at the top of her black dress, she reaching behind to check the state of his arousal, Scott sighed as he momentarily thought of Jess and his betrayal. But he satisfied himself thinking he had over motives besides sex for doing this although he could not expect Jess to accept that.

Thoughts of Jess was extinguished as he leaned forward and moved around past Linda's ear to gently bite her on the neck in the fleshy pad just under the start of her chin. Linda had already arched back and then expelled the familiar 'Take me' sigh, squeezing Scott's enlarging erection. She assisted in the removal of her dress, displaying a lovely black underwear set with small red and blue luminous flecks woven through the material

Scott was strong. Linda had already kicked off her shoes so grasping her just under her hips he asked her to jump high, which she did without question, uttering a squeal as he lifted and walked her two heavy paces forward to land on top of the breakfast bar. The reason for that became clear because when Scott pulled her bra over her heavy boobs and left it there to give her a little under-support. Her nipples were at the same level of his mouth.

He waited until she commanded, "Lick them, suck them, play with me" and groaned, grabbing two handfuls of hair around his ears.

Scott followed orders although choosing not to consider them as orders. He'd waited for her to name her preferences and they matched exactly what he had in mind. He proceeded slowly, knowing they had a long time ahead of them. Linda carried some extra weight but that didn't bother him. She had what he wanted: a lusty and healthy attitude towards sex and had the build and strength plus the experience to bang away with him towards the dawn and lavish some of her experience on him. Slowly he drew one of her heavy hangers with its incredibly vivid pink nipple to his mouth, watching her as she held her breath, her teeth clenched and lips open to form half of a sexual snarl. His erection extended to maximum size.

Linda went home after lunch on Saturday and Scott left to stay with one of his buddies he'd gone through school and university with. Rex and his wife Val put on a great party that evening for seven mutual friends. The odd girl out was Rex's sister-in-law, there for the taking Scott assumed. She was only twenty and appeared dead keen. They danced and petted and she whispered she had been invited to stay the night but when Scott whispered he had a minor problem she was more than happy to go home. Scott knew that Jess would be all over him when she arrived home the next evening and he wanted to be fully charged to meet her demands. Scott smiled, wondering if Jess was even keener than he was about sex. He wouldn't mind if she were.

CHAPTER 6

Jess came out sleepily to the kitchen-living room to find Scott had been working on his analysis of survey results since just before 5:00. She made coffee when he said he needed the break and sat on his knee.

"Mom wants to meet you -- soon."

"Does she now?"

"She's invited us to dinner on Wednesday night."

"That's cool."

Jess looked a little uneasy. "Is that all you have to say?"

"What's the rush?"

Jess looked about to panic so Scott urged her to spit it out. He was told Rebecca had not been convinced her daughter should be living with a man Jess didn't really know.

He hoped his grin would relax her. "Having heaps of sex is a great way to get to know a person, intimately."

"Don't tease Scott. I'm very nervous about this."

"Why? I've been through the family inspection three times during my career of lusting after wenches that have developed into going steady for a time," he said, knowing the power of distraction.

"Really?"

"Yes, it's quite normal. Ask you mother to invite your sisters but not their husbands."

"Only Monica is in Auckland right now."

"Then just have Monica invited. You mom will feel she has support, as she'll expect your father to be next to useless. I want your mother to make a pragmatic decision about me rather than an emotional decision."

Obviously Jess had no idea what he was on about as she was totally concentrating on winning his agreement. "What about Ralph my brother and why not Monica's husband Neil?"

"Because you have 'a great potential lay' written all over you, being beautiful with great breasts, lean hips and looking so athletic. Neil would be jealous, wishing he were in my place."

A very red faced Jess sought further clarification. "What about my brother?"

The graduate in philosophy had the answer to that at the ready. "Brothers tend to not want anyone they don't know screwing their little sister and they rather not have any guy they do know screwing their sister because they think the guy is not good enough."

"That's amazing. I've not been aware of that."

Scott nodded to show he understood. "You'd been aware had you had the hots for guys and your brother was hovering."

"Hmmm," said Jess, looking across the river to the bush.

"Right then, call your mom later and suggest she invite Monica for a second opinion. Now why don't you get your butt over to your computer and work for an hour on novel preparation. We then have late breakfast and walk over to say hi to mom and for you to meet my stepfather at last and then we take Razor for a walk and discuss development of your novel."

"That sounds like a very full morning master," Jess said, nibbling his ear. "How do you know your dad is home?"

"I heard the truck arrive just before going to sleep last night."

* * *

On they way to the city on Wednesday for dinner, Jess clutched his arm and said, "I'm very nervous Scott. This could go terrible wrong for us if either mom or Monica or both don't think you are right for me."

Scott knew to speak seriously. "Oh Jess, be brave. You know the sky won't fall in. This is just their dodge to feel they still have some control over you. No matter what happens you'll continue to have me in your bed as your plaything until you or I decide otherwise. Your family are nothing more than that -- family. Or do you want Monica standing by to help put it in for you?"

"Scott!" Jess shrieked.

"Calm down darling. Just think how lucky you are and not in a country where an irate father would gallop into the clearing where a young man was humping his daughter. The daughter would have a sack tied over her head, stripped and the word 'Depraved' painted over her belly in readiness to be paraded through the village while a henchman chops off the luckless guy's dick plus lopping off every finger that had the smell of a woman."

"Oh God, what barbarians."

"True, so really you have nothing to worry about, do you darling?"

Jess stared out the side window of the car and sighed, "You are attempting to manipulate me Scott. It won't work."

"I repeat you really have nothing to worry about."

After brief reflection Jess sighed and turned to face him. "True darling. It's such a little thing -- just a courtesy visit as far as we are concerned and hopefully to help ease mummy's mind."

"Good girl and now retain that mind set."

Jess sat quietly, obviously thinking about what he'd just said.

Monica met them at the door and said, "Oh, hi."

Scott smiled and said, "Hi Monica, I'm Scott Street. It's so nice to meet you."

Monica remained unmoved.

Scott stared her up and down. "Great face, great body, just like your kid sister."

"Really," Monica said, accepting the lie, patting her hair straight and opening the door wider. "Hello Jess darling."

"Hi Monee. You can kiss him but no tonguing."

Monica looked startled, perhaps a little less than Scott.

"Hi Scott," Monica said a little flustered, holding out a cheek.

Scott delivered a butterfly kiss and said Jess often spoke to him about her.

"Oh, like what?"

Scott took a punt. "Comment like how caring you were for her and how influential you were on her, especially helping her through her early teens."

"But Jess spared the family of the early teen syndrome?"