Accountant Ch. 01

"No, spoils the flavour of that as well."

She nodded and turned back to pouring.

"Here," she said, nodding at the end mug as she set the teapot down.

I took it and walked through.

"Hi," I greeted Heather as she looked up from playing with the baby on the couch next to her.

She smiled almost shyly at me; that died quickly as her eyes flicked to her mother coming in behind me.

Sam sat and pushed Heather's mug up towards her. I sat in the armchair opposite her, sipping my tea before setting it down.

"Pass me the remote," Sam asked looking over at Heather.

She slid it down the table to her and retrieved her tea as well before slipping back up on the couch. Sam switched onto one of the E! channels and I tuned out, I hadn't the slightest interest in who did what or wore what; most of them were just walking egos or social parasites.

I turned my attention to Heather and baby George, named after her father. Much like me she didn't handle her crisis well, turning like me to drink.

It caused a lot of fuss in local circles when it turned out Steven was the father; he was married with children, one of which was her classmate. Steven, of course said she seduced him and as an upstanding local councillor he got away with it.

It cost her mother as well, as her social circle shrank, people who were sympathetic because of the suicide unfriended her. She still saw a few of the wives but gone were the parties and barbeques.

The bell of the timer sounded over the TV and Sam sprung up to serve out dinner. We ate in the dining room, Heather holding George on her lap as she ate one handed.

Sam claimed the sofa as she and Heather came back in, brushing the toys to the end, bringing me to sit next to her as usual. Heather gathered up the few toys as she passed and sat in one of the armchairs with the baby in her lap.

Sam flicked around a few channels before settling on an old Friends episode. I sank back into the corner as she snuggled up and swung her legs up under her.

I thought about her husband and the enigmatic note he left "It's all in the paper trail." It explained everything and nothing, but it was no confession of guilt as was claimed.

His overdose was funny as well. His wife's sleeping pills which she'd only just started taking, not swallowing them all down but emptying them into a hot chocolate and drinking that after everyone else had gone to bed.

Heather was first down to find him; she spent the morning half screaming 'No', and half in denial. Sam had to drag her out, taking her to the lounge and phoning the police before pouring them both a stiff drink.

Sam had coped magnificently, her husband's accounts were frozen in an enquiry that's still going on today but in her adoption of the idea to start a riding school and offer holidays with riding lessons thrown in.

Heather turning in her seat attracted my attention, her bare legs stretching out as she slipped into the corner and shifted the baby around.

Restored to its glory her hair hung in natural ringlets over her shoulder, providing a tease to the baby as he lay against the arm. She looked like she was getting involved in the film now on.

Looking at her brought up the stepfather-daughter formula, there was a multitude of stock plots, I thought through a few seeing if any sparked any ideas.

"Mum, can you pause it two minutes," Heather asked leaning forward. "I want to put George to bed."

"Yes," I said. "Give me chance to make a cup of coffee. Anyone else want one?"

"No thanks," Heather said as she shifted the baby into her arms.

Sam straightened up shaking her head and grabbed the remote. I got up and went to the kitchen taking enough time for Heather to get eight more added on. She was two minutes or so behind me getting back.

Sam was already cuddled up again, her finger circling on the remote. She hit the button as Heather entered, leaving her to watch as she resumed her seat.

I sipped my coffee as the film continued; half an eye on Heather as she stretched her legs out onto the coffee table. I watched until a romantic scene sparked a scenario in my mind.

I had an intro worked out when Sam paused the film with ten minutes to go. She stood quickly. "Toilet," she said as she rushed off.

I stretched out, taking the opportunity to put my mug on the table. I lay back again to see Heather, chin balanced on her hands, looking at me over the arm of the chair.

She looked at me grinned. "I know your secret."

I looked back mystified. "What secret?"

"Something you won't want mummy to know," she said in hushed tones.

My thoughts sprang back to my ex-wife and some of the secrets of our sex life that I wouldn't like brought out. I let the time stretch out in the hope of eliciting more.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said quietly, eventually surrendering as my patience thinned.

She was about to speak when Samantha came back.

She lay across me, head on the arm and her back pressed to me. I rested my hand on her head, idly stroking her hair, my other arm down her thigh and we settled to watch the end.

I soon forgot about my secret as we started undressing, going from fingering her to her first orgasm through to my orgasm that left her fingering her clit to achieve her third.

Sunday was a busy day for her and she left me in bed while she went to check on the horses. By the time she was back I was up and dressed and enjoying a breakfast of poached eggs on toast with fruit juice.

She walked on through to join Heather in the lounge room asking me to bring a juice with me when I came. Heather had said nothing more about the secret when she'd come in earlier with the baby to make a bottle for him despite the questioning look I gave her as our eyes met.

Samantha was relaxing, feet up on the coffee table; Heather glanced over at me as I set the glass down, the smile on her face oddly disturbing. I gave her a quizzical look before settling next to Sam.

Sam had a little moan about keeping everything running, subtly hinting again about me moving in. I nodded and 'Mm'd' at the appropriate points.

I kiss her goodbye and return home, thinking again of Heather's cryptic 'secret' and wondering if she meant my smoking but dismissing the idea after a little logical thinking.

I put the matter aside as I fired up the computer and logged in. On the way to the kitchen I turned the TV on and inched the volume up to listen to the news as I set the percolator up.

I went back and caught the headlines before turning it off and getting my coffee to start writing again. I worked in fits and starts till I grew hungry and stopped to make myself a snack.

As I ate I reflected on the pros and cons once again of moving in with Samantha; she was easy to get on with and I felt some attraction for her and I was sure she was equally enamoured with me.

While it was perhaps selfish I valued time alone to write and be myself. I remembered back before my break up, the first years were wonderful but the slow drag of our habits and my workload had killed the feeling we had way back then.

I poured a fresh cup and returned to my desk. I waggled the mouse to wake the computer and reread the last few words and remembered the next line I'd planned before the break.

I wrote on for a while and then brought my browser up to check on a word Word hadn't recognised. My home page had an active search already so I brought up an extra tab.

I nearly fell out of my seat, the screen was tiled with my favourite sites, prominent at the top was Lit. I clicked on it and nodded in confirmation when my submissions page came up.

I had a sickening feeling as I realised that this was the secret she knew. I needed a talk with Samantha in private and preferably in bed as we started the foreplay with kissing and cuddling.

Today was a busy day with the changeover of guests and the tidy up of the three chalets with clean sheets and towels. Then this evening she'd join them for dinner and talk to them afterwards about the program.

We'd kind of an unspoken agreement about Sundays and if I broke it now her curiosity would be stirred, it was better between the sheets. That also meant I wouldn't see Heather till then either.

It would be easy, of course, for her to get my number, it was on my web site if she cared to look. If she was going to tell she'd had since Thursday already so it was reasonable to think she wanted something or other.

I'd have to play by her rules for the moment I decided, and wait for her to make the next move. I left the story hanging and got up, going to retrieve my vaporizer and breaking my 'not to smoke during the day' rule.

I sat in the arm chair, fingers on the remote as I brought up my favourite music channel. My thoughts drifted back to associations as I listened.

My dry mouth drove me to the kitchen and a glass of juice, I drank half with the first gulp, swirling the last around. I refilled it and picked up a banana to nibble on. I walked back on autopilot to find myself sitting in front of a blank screen.

I sighed and woke it again, my Lit page still filling the screen to my now amusement at how a simple backdoor defeated my security. I would have told her in my own time, now was to my mind, six months too early.

As I switched to the doc I started to play out the scenario of how I would tell her, looking at the decision paths I would give her character. She would, I thought want to see them.

I mentally sorted them, the more innocuous short stories first. My dry mouth stirred me back to reality and I reached for the glass and drank.

I looked at the words on the screen, changing the sentence to substitute for the flagged word and picked up on the story again. I worked on into late afternoon and was starting to think of something to eat.

As I got to the kitchen door the bell rang, I turned automatically and went to look out of the fisheye spyhole. Heather was standing there.

"Have you seen an earring like this?" she asked as I opened the door.

Even as I looked at her outstretched hand she stepped in. I moved back as she passed me then shut the door and turned to follow her. She turned into the front room and walked over to sit on the settee.

As I got near she patted the seat beside her. I steered to the armchair and sat in that.

"I know about your writing," she said quietly.

"I know, I didn't know it had changed."

"What's it worth not to tell?"

"Nothing, I'll tell her myself."

"I can say something worse as well, you wanted me to pose nude ...," she retorted

"What do you want?" I asked, knowing I'd lost the first round.

"You to make love to me like in your stories," she said, her voice dropping to almost a whisper.

"What!" I said stunned by her incredulous request.

"I want you to be my secret lover, I want sex again but not the quick fuck from one of the boys in town. I want orgasms and ecstasy like the girls in your stories," she said looking earnestly at me.

"Oh Heather, I'm sorry, the books are fantasies," I said standing and feeling sympathy for her. "Loving sex is the best there is but three orgasms and all that licking and sucking...."

"This is not going right," she said shaking her head. "I thought you'd be eager once I asked," her voice carrying her upset at the end.

I sat next to her. "I'm flattered but I can only manage half of what I describe three times a week with your mother."

"Please, I'm tired of masturbation. I want a real man to satisfy me, someone who's tender and caring."

"I don't want to go behind your mother's back," I said trying a new tack. "I don't want to mess up my relationship with her. If she were to find out I'm sleeping with you what do you think would happen?"

"She won't find out," she said plaintively.

"No. I'm not prepared to risk that. You get her permission and we'll talk about it again."

I hoped that would be the end of it. Though I took care not to show it, the thought of her in my bed had stirred my cock, I could almost feel her smooth skin and firm breasts. It was a nice dream but that was all.

She turned to me and leant forward, wrapping her arms over and around my shoulders.

"I'm so alone up there all day long," she said with a sob.

I patted her awkwardly on the back. "If you want you can bring George down for an hour or two, we could have lunch together. Would that help?"

"Can I be your secretary?" she asked leaning back. "I can type and you could teach me about accounts."

"Whoa, not so fast, I don't need a secretary, I can't afford a secretary."

"You don't have to pay me. Getting out of the house is enough."

"Aren't there any mothers and baby clubs?"

"Only the church ones with their tea and biscuits."

"Well that's something we can ask your mum, though I'm often out visiting clients."

"Yes, that doesn't matter, anything to be away from the farm for a while."

"Okay. Now hadn't you better take your lost earring home?"

She smiled at me. "You're as nice as your heroes, mum's lucky."

"Do you want to freshen up first?"

"No, I'll be alright," she said with another little smile.

As I saw her to the door I wondered if I was doing the right thing, and hoping she'd not be too disruptive to my routine. I waved her off and leant back on the front door after I closed it glad my secret was still safe.

I'd still have to tell Samantha, it looked like sooner rather than later was the better option but there was no panic anymore, I could tell her in my own time.

Getting back to the front room I looked at the vaporizer sitting innocuously on the coffee table and wondered if I'd given another secret away.

I reached down for my stash bag and broke my rule a second time. Within ten minutes I was mentally writing out the plot of my surrender to her demands and feeling my cock stiffening.

My tummy rumbled and reminded me of my hunger and my daydreams were forgotten as I was driven to the kitchen to sate it. When I finished I strolled back to the front room with my coffee.

After I stopped to tidy up the table in case anyone else called I headed back to the computer. The fantasy of Heather and her young body was begging to be written.

I could change my part to be a three day eventer with a platonic relationship with the mother, he could be one of the few friends left and a neighbour, maybe he was thinking of investing in the place, adding more stables and a riding school.

I called up a new Doc and began to get my thoughts down, fleshing out the characters first and then working out the mechanics of how she gets to know, how she uses his laptop, in the car while waiting?

He could be more afraid because he would have children at the riding school. With a workable plot I thought about her motives and gave her a daddy complex and changed the circumstances around so that she'd had an older man's child.

His wife had died at a foxhunting meet, impaled on a fence perhaps to add a bit more pathos to the tragedy. Her husband had divorced her for a younger bride and the estate was part of the settlement.

By the time I got the outline down the evening had slipped by and felt satisfied enough with what I had down 'on paper' to call it a day and have my goodnight draft of the vaporizer.

Monday I had two calls to make and thought them through on my morning jog and was surprised to find Heather waiting on my doorstep.

"It's only seven thirty," I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Well the baby was up at six for a feed," she said looking down at the pushchair. "He's asleep now and I was bored so here I am."

I gave a slight shake of my head.

"I walked down, I was hoping you could give me a lift home after," she said.

"Well you'd better come in," I said fishing out my key.

She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Her thick ponytail making her look feminine and girlish. Besides the pushchair she had a bag and a tray full of baby things.

I stepped aside and took the bag from her as she passed me. I followed her into the front room and put the bag down on the settee.

"I need a shower then I'll have to get the papers together for my morning call, maybe an hour or so up at Marshal's Garage," I said as she released the carrier. "You'll have to make yourself comfortable for a while."

I watched her put it at her feet as she sat.

"Let me get my shower first then we can sort things out over breakfast," I said turning.

"Shall I make it for you?" she asked.

"No, it's only muesli. You could start the percolator if you want," I answered over my shoulder.

I rushed up and hurriedly showered and dressed. She was in the front room when I got back down and poked my head in.

"Coffee ready?" I asked.

"I don't know," she answered looking up.

"I'll see to it now," I said ducking back out.

I was pouring the milk in the bowl when she followed me in.

"Have you got a spare key?" she asked. "I could go for a wander along the quay while you're out."

"I'll have to get one cut, I'll only be an hour at the outside. I wish I could put it off...."

"No it's okay," she interrupted. "I can make myself at home till then."

She smiled at me as she shifted the weight of the carrier from one arm to another.

"Finish your breakfast," she said with a nod to the bowl I was holding. "And I'll take the coffee through."

"No, you go and I'll bring this through on a tray," I said putting the bowl down.

She watched while I brought the tray and shifted the cups and bowl onto it, falling in behind me as I walked back through to the front room.

She put the baby back down as I set the tray down and picked up my breakfast and took my first mouthful. She sat opposite me and picked up her coffee.

"It must be nice to live in town, there are people around even if it's only looking out the window," she said looking over to the big picture window.

I nodded agreement, still chewing.

"Have you lived here long?" she asked.

"I grew up here," I said swallowing. "This was once my grandfather's shop. I moved back from London after my divorce a couple of years ago."

"What did you do in London?"

"The same as now, accountancy," I said taking another spoonful.

She watched me as I chewed making me feel a little self conscious.

"What was your wife like?" she asked as I swallowed.

"Do you want to hear me start swearing?" I said jovially.

She laughed, her breasts jiggling under her t-shirt.

I gave her a half smile and took another spoonful. She sat in silence as I finished and put the bowl down.

"What's the code for your modem? I'd like to link my phone up if it's okay."

"Yes, sure," I said getting up. "It's on the side of the router."

I walked over to my desk and stooped to read out the Code to her.

"Thanks," she said looking up. "Keep up with my tweets."

I nodded back and returned to my coffee. Picking it up and sitting on the arm of the chair as I looked up to the clock, time to put the TV on for the eight 'o' clock news headlines.

I sat and watched while I drank my coffee. With the garage just five minutes away I had plenty of time, if it had been any other day I'd be repeating the checks I'd done on Friday.

As it was I had time for another coffee and talked with Heather about the weather report. After a trip upstairs to brush my teeth I picked up my laptop and told her to help herself to anything she wanted before leaving.

I was fifteen minutes over my promised hour; I'd taken time to get a key cut. I tested it to let myself in and could hear her talking to the baby as I walked down to the door.

She was sat on the floor playing with the baby, as she looked up I gave her a smile.

"Won't be a moment," I said dropping the laptop bag to the floor. "I need to use the loo."

She was sat in the armchair, baby on her lap, when I returned.

"Here's your key," I said holding it out as I crossed to her.