Lola's Lurching Life

"What's normal?"

"That's something for you to think about, Cooper."

"Well, you are correct about one thing. I've rarely been away from the house since returning to it and have never been away overnight. I do admire the way you think, particularly in your choice of caring words and phrases and talking to me philosophically as wounded guy. Have you noticed my limp has almost gone?"

"Yes."

"But you've never mentioned that."

"I purposely take care to mention everything, particularly the obvious, to make myself not sound like an over-anxious nanny, and not to antagonise you in any way."

"Yet I let you win the fourth out of our first four paddling races."

"Did that antagonise you?"

"No, because the experience gave me the opportunity to give everything I've got to access my physical and mental abilities and therefore gave me a benchmark to use against future performances."

"There you go, Cooper. I didn't think finishing second in that final race would annoy you and that first race gave me my benchmark for racing against you. The speed of your finish in that first race I admit caught me by surprise. With me, racing is racing. With pleasure kayaking we can paddle sharing the lead or you may lead all day as far as I'm concerned."

He gloated, "Men are born to lead."

"That's bullshit," Lola said. "In earlier times, men became accustomed to leading through gaining the aggression, stealth and cunningness necessary to be successful hunters and nowadays females are driving the catchup or even surpass in the continuing evolution of the sexes."

"Fair comment. Are you definitely expecting sex tonight?"

"It could be a bad time of the month for me?"

"Is it?"

"Are you really wishing to know?"

"Can't say I do."

"Whatever, Cooper. I'm sufficiently happy to have you in my cottage overnight. Should you wish to have sex, try your luck," Lola said, finishing her brandy and feeling ready to yawn as it had been a draining evening for her.

"Thanks for inviting me to stay, Lola. It must get lonely for you living here alone. I get lonely especially at night too. Perhaps we could take turns sharing accommodation?"

"Great idea. Let's see what developments. Sleep with me."

"Yeah, great idea."

Chapter 5

Cooper, partly dressed, walked into the kitchen next morning to the smell of food and the sight of Lola at the table reading a news site on her laptop. She pushed the computer aside as he asked, "What time do you arise?"

"Usually at 6.00."

"The bacon looks precisely ready."

"I dropped a stainless-steel bowl on the slate floor 10 minutes ago as a wake-up-sleepy code. It never fails as sound travels well in a cottage. I then timed the bacon and eggs for 7:10 and it's now 7:10 and the first slices of wholemeal crusty toast are... there they've just popped up in the toaster."

"I have to say, organized females take some beating."

"Oh, please Master, don't beat me."

Cooper laughed, and Lola thought he looked the most-relaxed she'd seen him.

"God, I think of myself as complex," he said. "What you just said and acted with such a cute voice, I thought for a moment I was witnessing something straight from theatre. It was so funny and to admit the truth, I haven't laughed like that for such a long time. You are so right for me, Lola."

"Meaning?" she said softly, feeling alarm in the pit of her stomach.

"Something that I've been thinking about recently but wish to keep to myself until my thinking is clear about it."

"I'm okay about that but just remember, I'm not currently thinking of anything permanent."

"Thanks for that, I'll go on to something less ethereal. I couldn't believe you got me off before dawn this morning. I awoke to find you at work only seconds before I erupted."

"Well, you were asleep, pressed against me. I found you were hard and thought why not, believing that you like me being incisive, being a little different and even becoming a little reckless at times."

"Slowly, I moved myself into position and worked you on to your back to awakening you. Your dick was poking through that that gap-thingy in your underpants and I spat on it, my free hand jumped at the opportunity at being daring, and away I wanked it. Your timing in waking up to sleepily comprehend at what was going on was perfect, as were your first words as we both were splattered, "Holy fuck?"

Lola rose to serve breakfast, asking, "The truth now, what did you think?"

"I've had girlfriends do that the morning after of having had sex, but you and I hadn't had sex because last night when I said to you "Nice tits" and began nibbling at one, you sighed, yawned and instantly fell asleep."

"Omigod, sorry. How rude of me."

"It was fine. I guessed you were tuckered out after all that preparation and anxiously wondering how would you go on the night at the dinner when entertaining, and then being gripped by huge emotion as the audience acclaimed you as a star performer."

"Well Lola, watching your pretty face last night as you were sleeping, I thought I was pleased that I hadn't rushed back into sex. Then this morning after I squirted like a fountain by your hand, I thought omigod, she's also talented and a perfectionist at jerking off a guy. How lucky can I be?"

At that, Lola almost dropped one of the two plates she was carrying to the table, and gasped when realizing that that it was her favoured hand for masturbating that had caught and steadied the plate as it began to fall.

"Woops, a great save," Cooper said. Then noticing the high colour of the chef's face, added, "There's no need to feel embarrassed."

Lola thumped both plates on to the kitchen table, feeling almost ready to burst into hysterical laughter and was pleased that Cooper appeared to think she was just acting normally.

"Every woman should become adept of delivering a good tug to please a chap," she said, saying aloud what she had thought and got Cooper laughing again and looking at her slightly embarrassed.

Touché, she thought.

Later, as Cooper was about to drive off the short distance to his home, he asked what Lola intended doing that day.

"I'll go on to the lake in my new kayak and work on time trials over several distances marked by permanent buoys to produce the averages of times to record as useful markers to assess my improvement in paddling over the next four weeks or so."

"Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"What about taking me to a nice relaxing restaurant free of loud noise and drunks?"

"I know just the place," Cooper laughed. "I best check though that ownership remains unchanged."

Cooper drove up to the Gatehouse Cottage that evening in a low-mileage shiny black BMW SUV, beaming.

"Omigod, a fancy new posh vehicle. I best go in and change into a gown and tiara."

"No, it's last-year new with almost 8000 km on the clock. I chose a drive-away model instead of waiting for the fancy preparations involved in a new purchase. You are okay in the stuff you are wearing (jeans, colourful cape over while shirt, red boots and a cute red round hat with an upturned brim).

Lola sighed as she went around the vehicle and climbed in. One would have thought after received the jerk-off of his life apparently, that Cooper would have run around and opened the door for her. Men!

Oh yeah? She probably would have told him to stop being a clown.

They went over the harbour bridge to a gem of a Korean restaurant on the fringe of the central Auckland business district that specialized in doing most of the cooking on a mobile trolley at customers' tables.

The meal was served slowly. Everything was stylishly done with plenty of time for chatting between courses and their chef gave the impression of being basically mute.

When waiting for her crayfish (lobster) main, Lola said, "This morning's paddle was the first real workout I've had on my new craft and everything went well, pleasing me. When resting, I began thinking about our relationship."

Cooper's head lifted and he said, intently, "And?"

"One day, not until sometime from now, I could be inclined to say yes if you were inclined to propose some level of longer-term relationship."

"And what happens in the meantime?"

"You begin fucking me regularly, acting like a suitor rather than doing it as if it's your pre-destined right."

Their 'mute' chef dropped the cooking utensil he was wielding on to the hot plate and cried in pain when he picked up the heated scraper in the Korean, probably is translated would have been something like: 'You stupid and clumsy meathead'.

He scurried off for burn cream or whatever and the hostess, in an exquisite costume, hurried over and said in great English, "Your chef has burnt his fingers and will revisit here again soon. Meanwhile, may I fetch two complimentary Champagne cocktails, Korean-style?"

Cooper said yes please while Lola licked her lips.

He continued their interrupted conversation, "Where would this ongoing invitation for regular sex take place?"

"In my bed or your bed or an hotel suite if you wish to be staid, or should excitement catapult you into displaying flair, whenever you catch me on the toilet peeing, when pushing me into any dark alleyway, amid the overgrown grass of your estate, uncomfortably in your new vehicle or why not get them to clear this table now and treat me as a wench and sate your gluttony like the knights in the days of yore when knowing they might not get fresh meat to eat for another forty days and forty nights."

"O-m-i-g-o-d," he drawled, almost shaking in lust or perhaps just excitement. "Little wonder I welcome so fully your intrusion into my life of being an unintentional recluse. You now have me thinking of sex with the similar passion of a kid set loose into a confectionary factory."

"But hopefully you'll exercise due restraint?"

"Indeed," he smiled, a little wolfishly Lola thought. She cautioned herself that she should not over-excite him. She couldn't understand why she was talking to him in such a horny manner. Perhaps special herbs were in their first courses?

Lola had consumed two glasses of wine before her cocktail, half of what Cooper had consumed that included a second cocktail.

"May I invite you to drive home?" he asked.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. I've had three drinks over almost three hours and that should just give me a pass from any breath-test by the cops."

"Thanks for being so considerate," he said. "I'm obviously over the limit. I should get into the habit of going by taxi anywhere I'm likely to be imbibing liquor."

"Great idea. May people who get caught when driving over the maximum alcohol limit probably recall having made that pledge in respect of driving after drinking."

"And you?"

"Aye, that includes me too. This is not only a great looking vehicle, especially inside, but it's incredibly smooth to drive as well."

"Would you like me to buy you one?"

"No thanks Cooper. And that's definitely no thanks."

"Okay, I hear you. You are probably the first woman I've ever dated to give me the brush off when I spoke about offering her an expensive gift."

"Which you often did, and recklessly?"

"Christ girl, you appear to know me better than I know myself."

"That's unlikely. Omigod, I'm driving into a breath-test trap. Omigod, perhaps I am over the limit?"

"Don't panic. I notice the cops are only pulling over one in every third or fourth vehicle randomly. Check that your cute hat is on straight and then cross fingers and adopt a convincing appearance of innocence."

Omigod, Lola thought. He's so calm and collected whereas I'm panicking. He's probably almost fully recovered mentally, apart being still in need of rebuilding confidence that this little crisis is helping him do right now. Omigod.

"Steady, keep in this lane and keep calm. She's looking at you, probably at your hat and attempting to assess your age. She's going to wave you through."

Lola just had time to think bullshit when her narrator said, "There, she's about to react. There's the smile... and here comes the wave."

Lola caught the sight of wave, didn't accelerate and nodded briefly at the tired-looking 40-year-something policewoman.

"There we go, piece of cake," Lola chortled.

"Huh?" sounded the earlier narrator with inflicted disbelief in his voice.

"My panties and palms are dry," she said.

"Let me check," said he, slapping a hand on her thigh.

After a few seconds, in relief Lola realized the hand was not moving.

"Thanks for your confidence-building support, Cooper."

"Well it's what you have been doing for me, babe. You know what?"

She replied no and expected he'd say something about having sex.

"I'm becoming increasingly more confident, I believe. From now on you could switch more to becoming my personal adviser on the reconstruction of my life."

"This thought first came to me a few days ago and returned strongly when you made the suggestion that I could eventually become owner of a vineyard or two on Waiheke Island. And then your true talents shone forth on the stage last night, followed by your daring at jerking me off when I was asleep this morning and you treating me at that restaurant tonight as if I'd never been mentally crippled. All in all, that has underpinned my expanding appreciation of just what a talented person you are."

"It's possible I could be of further use to you."

Cooper snorted and said the likelihood of her success in performing well in that adjusted role very probable.

"I propose that I declare you as my personal adviser on a salary."

"I-I don't know what to say, Cooper. This is so unexpected, and was never my intent."

"That's good to hear, babe, but that doesn't surprise me. You interest in me has been clear to me, always. You were my nearest neighbour; you understood my predicament a little from personal experience and you sincerely believed you can benefit me more in my rehabilitation."

"H-how could you know that s-so accurately?"

"I was still in severe mental trauma recovery mode when we first met, Lola but I was not brain dead. I wish to offer you that business role now and I would appreciate receiving your response within the next couple of days."

"I accept now, but on one condition."

"Great, and what is the condition?"

"That you don't pay me one cent more than what you perceive my worth to you is in pragmatic business terms."

"Done. Your hours are flexible but you must remain in telephone contact with me 24/7. I would like you to start working with me at 8.00 am tomorrow, starting with breakfast and then assisting on the draft of my first business plan, beginning by setting out my business goals for the next 36 months."

"Great, that's really something to get our teeth into. You must protect your health, so you lead and I'll do the work on the draft plan under your supervision."

"Please don't baby me."

"Cooper, don't over-react. When have I ever molly-coddled you?"

"Never, I admit. Sorry."

"That's the spirit. Be a team leader. Your present staff of one from tomorrow will expand in due course should we be advised that simply putting everything out to selling agents is not the way to go, which is likely."

"Then you have good advisory contacts from your formal study days?"

"I believe so."

Lola arrived at the front door of the mansion on the dot of 8.00 next morning.

Cooper kissed her as he would a long-time female friend.

"I saw you out on the lake earlier this morning.

"Yes, from just after 6.00 till almost 7.30."

"Your style looks great and you really powered into short-distance lengths."

"Yes, I'm working on everything and will soon hire Kit for one-on-one coaching sessions."

"Do that and you'll soon leave me for dead on the water."

"Yes, unless you commit to regular working out and hire Kit."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Not at all. You decide what you wish to do on the water. Think about it and you'll probably come to the same conclusion that is motivating me. Because of my dedication to training, longer kayaking experience and being strong for my size and lighter than you, gives me an advantage over you in racing. However, in pleasure kayaking, dominance has no place."

"I can't argue against such clear analytical thinking. I'll gain advantage of that through employing you on my team, at present numbering just we two."

"Sweetie, what's this mess in the pan?"

"Two omelettes and appear to have gone wrong and tomatoes are soggy and mushrooms that have failed to cook."

"Would you mind...?"

"No, please toss the mess and start anew."

After breakfast, they went to the dining room that Cooper had set up as their office.

"That's the latest Microsoft Surface laptop. Do you think you can use it?"

"Yes, it's practically the same model as mine."

"Right, here is your employment contact to sign if you are ready to do that or would prefer to refer it to your lawyer. It's pretty much a standard contract. I've added no additional clauses and it states your starting rate is $8800 a month, paid weekly, with six-monthly reviews of that rate, up or down or no change."

"That's too much," Lola protested.

"Let me be the judge of that. You will be worth well over 100 grand a year in the initial setting up phrase of my new business group and for coordinating everything for some time after that."

"Right, I'll read my contract during my lunch break and probably will then sign it."

"Great, Lola. When that is done, I'll have my accountant in Takapuna send an associate over to sign as a witness."

"I have copies of the latest set of accounts for you to read when we are not working together. You will see that that the total book value of my group of business enterprises plus the value of the mansion and its land selling 'as is' totals $883.78 million after repayment of all loans plus approximately $17 million estimated of the value of all saleable manufacturing stock and assets in the pipelines."

"Omigod, Cooper, you don't need me. Instead, you need a team of accountants, business advisers and property brokers on your team to cover the disposal of your saleable assets."

"Indeed, in due course we'll have such people engaged in the disposal of real property and handling acquisitions. But initially, there is only you and me, and now can you imagine what your business worth will be to me initially?"

"Err yes, um absolutely."

"But there's no need to panic. Just imagine it is you and me about to play a game of winner takes all Monopoly again the team of two who were last year's champion players. You and I have to devise our strategy on how to play against the reigning champions."

"Does that make it any easier for you to grasp the real concept facing us, Lola? Be aware that if we mess up and I lose of handful of millions, what does it really matter to me, as long as I ended up with just two million or so, to allow me to re-start as a minnow and plot how to amass a new business fortune?"

Lola said doubtfully, "And you wouldn't worry?"

"Only a little if it were shown where I had stuffed up. However, I believe my mistakes of that magnitude are unlikely to happen, and you will probably come to a similar conclusion as we proceed. Would you like to be given the title of CEO of my new holding company that I propose naming as Gatehouse Enterprises Ltd?"

"I don't think so. My current title of personal adviser to Mr Roper sounds sufficiently adequate for me in my position now and as we proceed. My job will be done when everything we plan and do for the setting up of your new enterprises come to conclusion nicely, right?"

"Yes, at least for now. But I would suggest you begin reading up on the wine industry in New Zealand, particularly on its structure, on wine production generally and the marketing of wine locally and abroad."