Eyeing Raven

Chapter 1

Toss (Tosland) Cumberland and Willis Kohn were in a Hammersmith pub in London, downing half-pints of ale, celebrating their first meeting since graduating from university 13 years earlier.

Toss, who now lived in Australia, was visiting England on research for his business consultancy.

The guys had a rousing time catching up and reminiscing.

Willis, who'd married the previous year, asked as they prepared to part, "Are you banging anyone at present?"

"Nope, I live alone and virtually exist alone apart from at work. I've never before experienced such a sexual drought."

"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Willis. "At LSE (The London School of Economics and Political Science) you were known in our extensive social group as Stickman Extraordinary."

"Yeah, well after two bouts of clap I voluntarily and gladly pulled back to relinquish that title," Toss chuckled.

Willis thumped him on the shoulder and said Toss had also been the real brain of the group.

"Tell you what old chap, I'll get my sister Raven to call you. She might match you up with a stunner who never thinks of having sex more than twice a day."

"Waste of time mate, I'm returning to Sydney tomorrow evening."

"Still, I'll get her to call you," Willis insisted, without further clarification.

On the second night back in his spacious apartment where he lived alone in Manly, 17 km northeast across the harbour from Sydney's central business district, Toss received a call from someone identifying herself as Raven.

"You have the wrong number," he said, switching off his phone, thinking it was one of those pesky opinion survey callers.

The woman called again immediately, commenting that he appeared to be an impatient jock. She identified herself as Raven Kohn.

"Omigod, Willis' sister."

"Yep, and I live in Sydney. Now will you chat to me?"

"Yeah, of course, you have one of the best brothers on the planet."

"Well, that's rather an exaggeration but I've always found my older brother okay. Due to circumstances, you and I have never met."

"Yeah, and is that about to change? Toss said, using his friendliness voice.

"You are not a slimeball, are you?"

"Fuck off, little sister," he snorted.

"Ah, that's better," she laughed. "Come to dinner tomorrow and I'll introduce you to my flatmates, three of whom might be available for dating depending on your appearance and perceived personality."

"Don't bother Baby Kohn, I choose you."

"You're stiff out of luck as I have a solid boyfriend."

"Regard him as you ex, Raven. Now give me the arrival time and address for tomorrow."

* * *

Toss caught the ferry to cross the harbour early next evening having dressed up, wearing a pale blue Italian-cut suit, white shirt, no tie and shiny black shoes knowing he'd be the under inspection of five critical 30-something females who possibly may have been told his nickname at the London University he graduated from was, for a time, Stickman Extraordinary.

What a load of tripe that was. It wasn't his fault undergraduate females had pestered him non-stop.

Toss entered the apartment at Woolloomooloo overlooking Finger Wharf at 8.29 to the cry of 'enter'.

The young women occupied the group of four apartments in the loft of the former shipping warehouse owned by the parents of one of the loft residents he was about to meet.

The sole male attending the group dinner in the larger apartment, faced a line of five smiling females, not knowing who any of them were.

"Welcome, Toss," they chorused.

He took the chance of making an unexpected entrance and said "Hi ladies," tossing one of the two bottles of highly-regarded and expensive bottles of Shiraz red wine high, and it arced to fall just short of the line of females, as intended. He'd figured the one first to react would be the youngest flatmate Raven, as her brother had said she was a top athlete.

A tall sleek female at one end of the line darted out while her girlfriends were gaping, waiting for the bottle to hit the floor. Eyes riveted on the falling bottle, she sensationally caught it by the neck and allowed her hand to sweep back in an arc to absorb the impact of the bottle's abruptly halted descent.

"Great catch Raven," he said, closely examining her raven hair and thereby concluding it was coloured, as he handed her the second bottle.

She eyed him, surprised.

"How did you know I was Raven?"

"On the phone you spoke deliberately and definitely and your brother had mentioned in London that you were a top athlete. Therefore, who else would be the first likely to rush forward to make a catch they didn't regard as being impossible to make?"

"Bugger me. Willis said you were a smart one, in more ways than one. Clearly, who else on the planet would have thought up that stunt just to pull me from the crowd?"

"That's a smart synopsis from you," he smiled. "Now, where are the kisses of welcome?"

Four of the females crowded around him, kissing Toss and introducing themselves.

"Come on Raven," he pleaded, holding out an arm. "Consider your boyfriend is not under threat of being toppled for the moment."

"Ralph is practically her fiancée," said Irene.

Raven seized his outstretched hand, turned her back to Toss and was in the process of tossing him over her shoulder and on to his back in a classic Judo throw, when she was spun around, with her legs kicked from under her and Toss ended up bent over her, face just above her crotch.

"Please remove yourself," she said, with the small audience watching on agog.

"Sure, and may I say that you were a tad slow with your attempted throw for it to be truly effective. I happened to be a long-time student of martial arts."

"Hail the hero," Raven smiled, as Toss pulled her to her feet. "You performed surprisingly well for someone wearing a restricting suit.

Impulsively, he embraced and kissed her fully on the lips, she showing no sign of participation.

"I wasn't attempting to take your virginity."

The other four females laughed while Raven said, unemotionally, that dinner was ready.

"Sit at the left at the top of the table opposite me with Sharon at the end between us. Drinks please, Riley."

Meg, whose apartment they were in, served a sorbet starter while Riley poured a lingering tasting dry white wine from inland in the southern State of Victoria.

"Meg's parents are wine merchants," Riley said, after pouring Toss's glass first. "Her parents own this property."

"We have replaced the intended red wine choice for the beef with your donated superior wine, now breathing," she added, pressing a hip against Toss.

He'd watched the white wine being poured in Sharon's glass and patted Riley's lower leg covertly, either as a gesture of intended friendship or to perhaps merely to indicate that he wasn't a robot.

Dinner became really underway with the serving of a delicious avocado-cucumber and prawn appetizer.

During the evening, Meg, whose fiancé was away, Sharon, Emma and Riley collectively offered to go out with Toss if he were short of a date.

"Thanks, very kind of you," he said, looking across to Raven who dropped her gaze to study her delicious piece of beef eye fillet.

Later, after farewells from all co-hostesses, the other women left it to Raven to escort their guest to the lift (elevator).

Toss was sufficiently satisfied with the brief touch of lips he'd received from her during the group kissing to not press for further contact.

"Brandon and I are going surfing at Curl Curl in the morning (Saturday). Give me your address and we'll pick you up soon after 6.30 if you wish to join us."

"Oh, that would be great. Thanks, and good night, Raven. It was great getting to know you and your friends."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Toss. I now know what my brother sees in you. It's all good."

As Toss walked to his Mazda CX-9 company vehicle, he sighed and thought why had he bothered to accept that invitation to the beach? The boyfriend would be there, overly-protectively. During table conversation he'd learned from Sharon that she, Irene, the very quiet Emma and Meg were all in their early to mid-thirties while Raven was twenty-nine.

Meg and Raven had met at university through becoming the two top-ranked female squash players and had been their squash club's open pairs champions for several years. When Raven was thrown out of her shared flat when the building was sold to a developer, she stayed with Meg in the loft and leased a loft apartment when the married couple occupying it moved out.

Sharon said quietly, "Although younger than us, Raven fits in with we four perfectly and in fact at times acts as if she were our mother. She is such a capable and accomplished young woman although she can act tough and become ruthless when appropriate."

"Why bother," Toss muttered, in recalling that comment.

Toss' phone awoke him next morning at 6.10.

"It's Raven, Curl Curl is off. Brandon didn't come home last night."

Toss knew he would be expected to reply and lipped it off without thinking.

"Did he flaked out after a boozy night out with the boys and did he sleep with another woman."

"The latter I suspect. It's not the first time."

"Dump him, Raven. You deserve better than that.

She snorted, "Shut your f-mouth. Bye."

"No wait!"

"I'm waiting."

"I'll be home all morning, Raven. Come and collect me and we'll surf at Curl Curl to get the anger and despair out of your system."

"Go to hell."

Yawning, Toss went to the bathroom thinking if Raven didn't arrive by 10.30 it would be a no-show and felt it was probably less than a 20 percent chance of a no-show because she was a competitive sportswoman conditioned to beat off every challenge.

"Yeah, it's at least a 50-50 chance she'll be here before 10.30," Toss thought, smiling as he emptied a near full bladder.

His phone went at 10.11. It was Raven.

"You are right, Mr Smartie. I'm going surfing and in 10 minutes will be at the entrance to your apartment building."

"Nice wheels," Toss said, climbing into the new model Range Rover Sport with two surfboards on the roof rack now that his board had been added.

"It's my company's vehicle that I get as being sales director. I came on a holiday to Aussie with a girlfriend when we completed university and I immigrated a year later and joined the British Fine Tools Company as a junior salesperson and have been with the company ever since. We are a very successful company, despite the strong competition from other foreign competitors."

"So, you successfully holding down a male's job?"

"Are you off the Ark, Toss?"

He laughed and said hi and could he greet her with a kiss.

"No."

His lips tightened and he sat back, looking out the side window.

"An update, yes, just a friendly kiss. You have been nice to me."

"Some other time."

"Okay, please yourself. Have you surfed Curl Curl?"

"Yeah, many times. Today's surf report is a southeast swell with an offshore wind."

"And that means?"

Toss replied, "We should expect choice conditions."

"Agreed. Please keep clear of me in the water, Toss, because I enjoy making pretty sharp manoeuvres."

He said it was good practice to clown about in clear space.

"Toss, I assure you that I don't clown about when I'm working seriously on the board," Raven said stiffly.

"I apologise for my unexpected levity."

"What? Oh, you actually weren't slating my ability. My mistake. What do you do for a crust?

Toss said he held degrees in business management and in financial mathematics and statistics, as did her brother. "I work for a company that specialises in consultancy for individuals or groups working to start up a new company or expand the operations of an existing company."

"God, how boring."

"Yeah, I guess is sounds like selling tools, Raven. But then again it depends on one's personal involvement and perspective in working with tools or business plan forensics. I'm rather laid-back as a person and, aged thirty-four, I continue to get a real kick on receiving the gratitude of people pulled back from the brink of potential disaster from proceeding with the start-up of an under-funded project or ignored adequately researching market potential in-depth for a new entrant into that business sector."

"Also, I get a kick looking at the joy of would-be investors when I finally sign off their project, giving them the green light that finance lenders require in order to put the wheels under the signed-off project."

"Omigod, Toss, you capsulised and simplified that comparison loaded with complexities in a way in which even I could understand."

"It's what I do, Raven."

"There you go again," she giggled, reaching to clutch his arm and squeeze it.

They set up their possie under Raven's beach umbrella at the northern end of the sands where the crowd of surfers not in the water was increasing steadily.

Raven stripped down to her green bikini and fearlessly watched Toss staring at her body.

He removed his t-shirt and baggy shorts and, standing in his tri-colour board shorts, caught her staring at him and asked, "What?"

"Great body, great tan - are you sure you're not an ace beach guy?"

"Interested?"

"Fuck off," she giggled.

He took their clothes to the Range Rover and when he returned to Raven found her chatting to 'Headstand' O'Neil. The former gymnast was known along the northern New South Wales beaches as the babe with the ability to ride on her board coming in to the beach in the final stages of a dying wave riding while performing a headstand.

"Chrissy has told me that you have dated her occasionally."

"Yeah, and obviously she's not fussy."

"And that you are capable of treating a date like a lady."

"Greeting Chrissy," Toss smiled and told her that she needed to throttle back on gossip, particularly on what she said about him.

The women eyed him as they would look at a dollop of dog crap on a pavement.

"See you soon," he said. "I'm going out to be with the guys waiting far out for one of the big ones."

"Bye Mr Multiple Surf Contests Winner," called Raven.

"Headstand O'Neil talks too much," complained Toss, jogging off with his board under his right arm as both women enjoyed giggling with the volume of two galahs claiming victory after a beak and flutter feather stoush (fight) as rivals.

Four hours later, as the couple travelled the 4 km distance to Manly, Raven said, "Your board-riding style is superb."

"I had my grounding in some of the best surfing spots in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and France. And your style Raven is slick and dynamic for a babe. Want to shower with me and eat out before you return to the city?"

"No, I wish to head back and hear that arsehole's excuse for not coming home last night before deciding whether to dump him forthwith."

"Don't even think about it. Just do it, Raven."

"Stay out of my personal business. Thanks for a stunning day. You were great company and were right that I would surf my anger away."

Toss now felt anger building. Why was she continuing to push him away despite his brilliant display at being Mr Nice all day with virtually no blemishes?

No blemishes?

That day he'd learned something about himself while waiting for a big one (big wave). His performance, something he'd suspected was happening to him, was confirmed. He was losing his edge that had made him a gun surfer and had kept him at that level for some years.

"Fuck," he'd sighed, though accepting loss of edge was to be expected as part of ageing.

* * *

Arriving home after spending the day surfing with Toss, Raven ended up learning the truth about Brandon's 'no show'.

She was entering her apartment when best friend Meg Davies rushed up and shouted, "Why have you had your phone switched off?"

"No big deal, Meg. Did you forget I always leave my phone behind when I go surfing to max the feeling of total freedom?"

"Brandon was admitted to hospital in the early hours this morning with collision injuries."

"What, omigod! What happened?"

He was at a sports club with mates and some bastard laced some of the drinks. Brandon was the unluckiest of the excessive drunks. He attempted to walk through a plate-glass sliding door at speed without opening it and flattened his nose and lacerated his right shoulder in two places. He's okay. Come Raven, I'll take you too him. Don't panic, and he could be sent home tomorrow to his family home."

Next morning, recalling arriving at the hospital and initially blubbering over Brandon, Raven had said she was sorry that she hadn't been with him sooner after his accident. She then scolded him for drinking in seedy premises and had Meg telling her to back off.

Two weeks later, with Raven and Brandon's relationship still shaky, she sat back on the toilet seat in shock. This time the pregnancy test kit had returned a positive result. She was pregnant, subject to proper confirmation.

"Damn."

Chapter 2

Seven years trickled by and Toss was now managing partner of the group consultancy he worked in.

On this sunny day, he was relaxing in a café scoffing a ham steak, two poached eggs and a dollop of spinach plus a big glass of tomato juice to revitalize himself after his regular early Saturday morning strenuous run that was treble the distance of his Monday and Thursday jogs.

A small girl came up to his table. She looked vaguely familiar and that surprised Toss because he didn't know any little kids.

"Mister, I'm Mica and I'm six. My mum over there sent me to ask if you are Toss from Manly."

Feeling a surge of interest, Toss looked at where the kid was pointing and saw Raven Kohn, who had a small blond boy on her lap at her table.

Wiping his mouth, Toss rose, gently took the cute kid by the hand and said, "Take me to you mummy, dear. Yes, I'm Toss of Manly Towers (he had upgraded to a premium apartment)."

He looked at Raven and smiled, "Hi, cute kid messenger."

"Definitely, her name is..."

"Mica," said Toss and Mica simultaneously.

Without seeking consent, Toss bent and kissed mummy on the lips and Raven made no effort to turn away.

"Beautiful," Toss murmured, and was amazed to see Raven blush. He wondered if that had been tough-Raven's first blush ever, and decided probably not.

"This is Archie, not yet two."

"Hi Archie."

The youngster said nothing, thus confirming he couldn't talk. Like his sister, he didn't look away shyly, with Toss asking himself what else would one expect from Raven Kohn's kids or whatever her married name was.

"So, you married that Brandon bloke?"

"Dear, please fetch Mr Cumberland's plate and juice here. Yes, Toss. We married not too long after I met you when I found I was pregnant. It was far from a perfect marriage and after Archie arrived last year, I divorced the compulsive womaniser."

Mica returned carrying Toss's breakfast. Placing the plate and glass on the table carefully, she said, "There you go, Toss."

"Sweetie, call him Mr Cumberland, please."

Mica looked up at Toss and he said softly that he'd talk to her mummy about that.

"Raven, I think Cumberland is a bit of a mouthful for one so young."

"Well, I don't know about this," Raven dithered.

"Thanks mummy. It's nice meeting you Toss. You are so handsome."

Raven sighed and said, "She has my looks and intelligence but unlike me, has a soft and charming manner."

Mica sat beside Raven and began showing pictures from a story book to her brother.

Toss asked Raven as she watching him eating, "Have you remarried?"

"No and never again. I remained working and have a live-in elderly nanny who is a dream child-carer."

"Sorry about the failed wedlock."

"It wasn't a total failure. I emerged with two wonderful offspring that remain legally mine and no visiting rights have been taken up."