A New Beginning Pt. 02

"You keep saying 'we', who is the other part of this first person twosome?"

"A very nice. . . " I mouthed 'very nice' in a questioning manner. He held up his hand to silence me. "young lady who I have taken a fancy to . . " He got the thumbs up gesture from me this time. "Guthrie, say hello to Rachel."

"Hello Rachel. I'm sure that you are a ravishingly beautiful young lady, but because this tight-arse won't lash out and have a video-cam fitted to his phone I have to rely on my imagination."

"Hello Guthrie, I have heard a lot about you, all of it good."

"A lady of great perception Patrick. Now back to the matter at hand. We have been checking up on the police evidence surrounding your car. Two things stand out that were not followed up on. Firstly, it was picked up from the dealership hours before it was delivered to your office. The person picking it up told the dealer's receptionist that you had sent her to pick it up, she even paid for it. The person that delivered it to your office was wearing a jacket that identified her as an employee of the dealership. We showed your receptionist photographs of all of the dealer's female employees, she was not one of them. We then showed her a photo of the woman that we suspected was involved with the dealer uniform jacket photo-shopped onto it. Bingo! We then went back to the dealership with the same photo, this time without the jacket. Bingo again! It was Georgia."

"So she had the opportunity, and I guess her paranoid jealousy would provide the motive, what about means? How can we tie her into that?"

"We are working on that. We have looked at the forensic report on the blood in the boot of your car. The pathologist identified the sample as blood with some brain matter bone fragments and cerebral fluid, a couple of hairs, but, and here is where it gets interesting, the pattern and location, and the fact that there was no evidence of drag marks, was inconsistent with it having come from a body being placed in the boot of your car. It was placed there to look as if the body was transported in your car boot. When the body is found it will confirm that death was caused by blunt force trauma, she was hit over the head with sufficient force to cause a depressed fracture of the skull and fatal brain damage."

"So where do we go from here?"

"We need to convince the police to re-open the case and get a warrant to examine Georgia's car. This could prove difficult."

"You don't think that they'll go for it?"

"No, I think that they'll have no alternative. But she has sold her SUV, and tracking its new owner could prove difficult."

"The police can do that, can't they?"

"Yes. Now, to more immediate matters, when am I going to meet this Rachel person?"

"Soon, I promise. There are a few obstacles that I need to overcome first."

"The kids huh?"

"Yeah, I have some groundwork to do before she meets them."

"It sounds serious, is it?"

"It's getting to be, let's leave it at that."

"Okay. I can't keep chatting to you, I have work to do." He hung up. 'So do I'. Patrick thought out loud.

"I think that we've done about as much as we can here today. Can I drive you home?" He asked me.

"Yes, I'd appreciate that."

We packed up and Patrick and I left. We had only gone a couple of hundred metres when a familiar car pulled onto the road four cars behind us. "My friend has arrived." He said.

"What are you going to do about it?"

He handed me his mobile phone. "Guthrie is on speed-dial 4, call him and get him to arrange for police interception of that vehicle. Tell him that I will drive around in circles for ten minutes or however long it will take for them to set up near Waverley Police Station. I will drive into the car park and when she sees what I have done she will probably leg it. They can stop her and charge her with stalking. She's driving a red Hyundai i30, I can't read the rego number, but they'll know which one it is. Guthrie knows the make and model of my car and the rego number, so when they see it pull into the car park, they'll recognise her."

I relayed the details while he did a couple of figure '8's and returned to the main road. The phone rang, it was Guthrie. "It took some convincing, but they are ready." We headed for the Police Station.

The phone rang again. "Let it ring out and go to voice mail." He told me.

"What the fuck are you playing at, you bastard. If you think that driving around in circles is going to shake me off, you've got another think coming. And you can tell your bitch that I'll rip her tits off when I catch her."

"That will make interesting listening to when I replay it for the police." We pulled into the car park and the fun began.

The policeman that stepped into her path with his hand up suffered severe leg injuries as he tried to jump out of her path. His partner called in 'Officer Down' as he gunned the car and took off after her. The chase was about to be called off because it was getting too dangerous, when she lost control and slammed into a parked car. Airbags and seat belts saved her life but she was pretty badly banged up. She was taken to hospital where she remained under police guard.

Guthrie arrived at the Police Station just as Patrick was replaying the voice message from his phone. He was armed with a thick folder which he placed on the desk. "This is the result of our investigation into the death of Rosie O'Laughlin. There is enough in that to convict Georgia, even without a body."

"We'll look into it. The very least we can charge her with threatening life, and stalking."

Guthrie looked at me. "You must be the fabulous Rachel that I have heard so much about. I'm deeply honoured to know you."

"Down boy, she's spoken for."

"I am, aren't I?" I looked pleased.

"Yes. I do believe that you are." I hugged him.

"You have nothing to worry about, I'm not interested, too sickeningly sweet for me."

"We'd better go, I'll drop you off and pick up the kids. I'll call you tonight. Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"I was, but I like the sound of this, so I'm not any more. What did you have in mind?"

"I think a trip to the Zoo or something like that, with the kids."

"Sounds great, we'll discuss it later." I kissed him, he kissed me, who cares, we kissed each other.

It turned out to be the best day that I have had for a long time, and it started as soon as I was introduced to the kids. "Kids, this is the lovely lady I was telling you about, Rachel, this is Rhianna, and Ryan." Patrick said.

"Rhianna and Ryan," I said, smiling at them, "and now Rachel. Three names beginning with 'R'. I think your father's name should begin with 'R' as well. What shall we call him, Robert? Nah too stuffy, Roger? Oooh no."

"What about Raymond?" Rhianna asked.

"Yuk," Ryan said. "I think, Randall, he looks like a Randall."

"No he doesn't. Rory, that's a good one."

"How can you think that Rory's a good name?"

It went on and on, and I threw the odd name into the mix, only to be howled down. What was happening was that the three of us were having the time of our lives at his expense, and in the process, the kids were getting to open up to me, and like me. Every now and then during the day, one of them would come up with some outrageous name beginning with 'R', most of them we'd never heard of and probably didn't even exist, but it kept us amused.

It was a long day that passed quickly. I took tons of photos on my iPhone, including a bunch of selfies. We had a disgusting lunch of hamburgers and ice creams, something that the kids hardly ever have, but they persuaded me that I should pressure him to get them.

His mother had dinner waiting for us when we got back to her place. She looked at him, the question unspoken. "It's fine, better than fine, the kids love her."

"That's a relief for you."

The kids struggled through dinner, barely able to stay awake. There were two single beds in one of the spare rooms, and they went to bed earlier than usual. "You two will stay the night, won't you?"

"Yes, but I'll have to sleep on the couch, there's only one bed in the second bedroom." Patrick said.

"Have you ever noticed that my son is sometimes slow on the uptake?" His mother asked me. That settled it, this was going to be my first night with Patrick, and his first night in bed with a woman since Rosie.

"What do you do Rachel?" His dad asked me.

"I'm at Uni, doing my PhD in Demographics. I hope to get a job in the Bureau of Stats."

"She's heavily involved in a social media campaign to name and shame preditary Professors, that's how we met. I'm afraid that it was sort of my idea." Patrick said.

"Can we see what you're doing?" His dad asked. He led me to his office and sat me down at his computer. I cranked up the Internet and typed in the name of the site.

"This is the Web-page, it has links to Facebook, Twitter, and several other social media sites. It has gone viral, and the Professor with the most complaints against him is this guy." I was scrolling down the seemingly endless list to find his name, when Rhianna came into the room. "Daddy, I can't get to sleep." I had stopped at the page that I was looking for. "What's Grand-dad doing on your computer?"

"He's just someone that I know from University. Would you like me to tuck you in?" I asked her.

"Yes, would you?" We trotted off and I returned a couple of minutes later.

"What was all that drama about?"

"That Professor, is Rosie's father."

"So what's going to happen?"

"We'll just have to let this run its course, we can't stop it now. While I should have some sympathy for him, what he has done negates any sympathy I feel. Let the cards fall where they may." Patrick said.

We slept together. We didn't make love, that was to come later, on Sunday night, in I guess that I can now say, our own bed, with the full knowledge of Rhianna and Ryan that I was to be their new Mummy.

I spent the day with Patrick and the kids, sort of a really getting to know and bond with session that went better than either Patrick or I expected. All thoughts of my problems were pushed back, out of sight in the back of my mind.

After dinner the kids wanted to stay up late with us, but Patrick insisted that they go to bed at the normal time. "Look, we'd love for you to stay up with us, but it's a school day tomorrow, so off you go. We'll be down in a minute to tuck you in, now off with you." Rhianna hugged him and kissed him good-night.

"Don't I get one?" I asked her as she headed for her room.

She turned and ran to me, throwing her little arms around my neck and kissing me, and trotted off to her room.

"Thank you for today." Patrick said as I went into his arms. "The kids love you, we all love you."

"I love the kids," I kissed him, "And I love you. I never thought that I would ever meet a man who could so thoroughly make me fall for him, and for him to have two of the most gorgeous kids, who also made me fall for them. What more could I ask for?"

"We shall see what we shall see." He said with a wicked smile on his face. "You do realise that I sleep naked, don't you?"

"Oh, and how long have you been doing that?"

"Since tonight."

We went to Rhianna's room, she was almost asleep. "Good night Kitten." Patrick said as he kissed her and tucked her in.

"Good night Daddy, I love you."

"Good night Rhianna. Sleep tight." I bent to kiss her and her arms came out and she hugged my neck.

"Good night Mummy." You could have knocked me over with a feather. Did she really mean this or, was she, in her half asleep state, confusing me with Rosie?

We slept naked. I came into his arms as we slid under the bedclothes. We kissed, I held his face in my hands and my lips against his. I felt a hand cup a breast and fondle it, I felt myself getting moist down there, then a hand covering my mound and a finger entering my pussy. I lost all concept of time and space as we found ourselves in each other. I have had sex with boyfriends in the past, but this surpassed all of those.

This is a new beginning, and it got better the next day.

I got to Uni to find it abuzz with rumours and accusations. Questions were being asked in an effort to locate the instigators of this campaign. Fortunately, because of the set up of the Web page and the fact that we began the Web campaign with the naming of professors other than those that affected Chelsea or me, the questioning never came to us.

Rumours also spread of resignations and threats of suspensions amongst the faculty staff. At one stage it looked as if almost the entire male faculty was involved. It took weeks for the dust to settle on campus. On a personal level it got a little awkward. The kids mentioned to Rosie's parents that their father had a new woman in his life, and we were invited to their place for dinner. We put it off for as long as possible, telling them that we wanted to be really sure of each other before I was presented to them.

"Grandma's very sad." Rhianna said to Patrick after he had picked them up from their place after school.

"Do you know what she is sad about?" Patrick asked.

"Something to do with Grandpa." Ryan said. "I heard her talking to someone, she was saying that she didn't care what people thought, Grandpa would never do anything like that. He had told her that he was innocent."

The kids had gone to bed and Patrick and I were clearing up the kitchen after dinner. "He's not you know." I said.

"Who's not?"

"Your father-in-law. He is most definitely not innocent. He was the man that I told you about on the first morning we met."

"What? He doesn't strike me as the type, and he's always given the impression that he would never step outside the bonds of matrimony."

"He has more than stepped, he has leapt. There must be at least thirty girls who have named him as having wanted sexual favours from them."

"This will kill the mother-in-law. She has always held him up to be the most moral man that she has ever known."

Meanwhile the University Faculty Council had a meeting and have acknowledged that a problem existed within the University. The decision was taken that they would stall any official enquiry, in the hope that it will die down. The alternatives will be very costly indeed. They would be expected to suspend or dismiss all offending academics, This however raises a dilemma, where will the replacements come from. The intelligence that they have gathered is that other Universities had similar problems, and unless these professors can find tenured positions with other Universities, and that there were enough suitably qualified academics to replace them, there would not be enough personnel available to fill the gaps left by the departing academics. The cost of importing academic staff from other countries would be far in excess of their budgetary capabilities. Universities all around Australia would be forced to close and this country would become the laughing stock of the academic world. This country would suddenly find itself classified as a third world country, on a par with the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

Patrick suddenly became very busy with work, so busy that he was unable to accept dinner invitations from Rosie's parents. The situation also put a strain on the relationship between both sets of parents. Patrick's parents were finding it increasingly difficult to relate to them, and I was blamed for coming between Patrick and his parents and Rosie's parents. This needed clarity, but how?

Two months later we were met at the door by Rosie's mother. "Come in, I'm sorry, but Peter can't be here tonight. He has had to fly to the States to investigate an opportunity to take up a six month sabbatical. It couldn't have come at a better time, there have been scurrilous rumours going around the campus about Professors accepting sexual favours in exchange for higher grades. Thank God Peter wasn't one of those. Hopefully, by the time that he gets back it will have blown over."

I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from commenting. I guess that if you're far enough up the food chain, you can wangle something like this.

"What do you do Rachel?" She asked.

"I'm at Uni, studying Demographics."

"That's interesting, that's the faculty that Peter is in, maybe you know him." Shit, what do I do, do I spill my guts and tell her what a sleaze-bag her husband is, or do I, for the sake of family harmony, lie through my teeth.

A little lie won. "I don't mix with the academic staff, I study hard and keep right away from any extra-curricular associations. I find that I am less distracted that way."

"She's doing well, getting good grades. Our company might be able to find a position for her when she graduates, someone well versed in demographics can be very handy for companies such as ours that are always interested in exploring population composition when we are looking for new markets."

Thank you my Darling, I thought to myself, for moving the conversational focus away from my present situation with the University, to my future prospects.

We managed to get through the evening without any further dramas. I even found myself liking her, especially when she told me that she thought that Rosie would have approved of me.

"I was thinking." We were in bed, and a voice whispered in my ear as I stroked his cock. "Will you marry me?"

I just about pulled his cock out by the root in my excitement. "Yes, of course I will." We were lucky that we had the house to ourselves, the kids were staying with Patrick's parents, otherwise they would have been woken by my squeals of joy. That would have taken some explaining, I didn't think that they were quite ready for this just yet.

For some inexplicable reason our love making rose to a whole new level from this night. Actually that's bullshit, we had made a commitment to each other and our new status as a couple meant that any doubts that either of us might have had about the long term viability of us, had disappeared. I now had a future husband, a future family, and a life. The next step was to take him home and parade him like some prize stallion in front of my family. I love my family, but they have this habit of calling a spade a fucking shovel, and it has been known for a boyfriend to disappear, like a chastened cur, following a visit to my family.

"We might have a problem."

He had his cock in me and was just getting into stride. He stopped. "Oh. And what might that be?"

"You have yet to meet my family. If you manage to survive that unscathed, then there will be nothing stopping us having a great life."

"Just how bad can it be?"

"None of my previous boyfriends have ever managed it."

"I'll put that down to your previous lousy choices of boyfriends. Now me, I'm perfect for you, and if they can't see that, then it's their problem, not mine." He resumed where he had left off. We managed to come at the same time, something that was becoming the rule rather than the exception, as opposed to my previous experiences, and life was getting better by the day.

We decided, actually it was Patrick that decided, that it was time for me to bite the bullet and introduce him to my family. We had been engaged now for six weeks, and on my last call to my mother, I mentioned that I had met someone. "He's brilliant Mum, you'll love him."

"We'll see about that. Your last few efforts have been under-whelming to say the least. What does he do for a crust?"

"He's the Human Resource Manager for a very big company."

"So you'll have no problems getting a job when you graduate from that stupid course that you're doing. Why couldn't you have done Law, like your father and brothers?"

"I don't like Law and Lawyers, well there are some good ones, a few, but the rest of them are hardly worth my time. This is something that I'm interested in, and I have an application in to the Bureau of Statistics for a graduate position. I'm confident of getting that. If that fails I have a couple of other irons in the fire."