Overlooked Bride Ch. 05

Fourteen letters were in the mail answering the advert Bianca had placed last Friday and Saturday for a business associate tinged with the hint of possible romance. Quite an irregular advert actually so she was surprised at receiving fourteen replies. Gwen was asked to mail a reply to each respondent acknowledging receipt of their application and to state that respondents selected for final interview would be advised at the end of the month and unsuccessful candidates would receive their letter at the same time.

As Gwen finished other work before drafting the letter to the latest applicants, Bianca read the responses and was surprised at the over-all quality of applicant – at least as promising as Gloria she thought bitterly but then smiled; Gloria probably would rate as the one maverick in every 200 responses, so with only fourteen responses plus a few more late ones over the next couple of days, chances of landing another Gloria were less than slim.

Cheered, Bianca said, "Gwen you finish up with me at noon. How would you like me to buy you lunch?"

Gwen looked at Bianca with brimming eyes. "I'd love that – I really need to talk to a woman who's not family. Although I'm forty-two years of age withy my youngest child aged ten, I learned late Friday I'm pregnant."

"I sensed something was troubling you deeply. We'll have a lovely chat. Although I don't know much about late arrivals I'm aware they can happen and I definitely know how you must adjust you attitude right now to better cope. A new baby, what fun."

"Fun?" queried the mother of three, bottom lip quavering.

Marty called just to say hello so she invited him to dinner at 6:00 and said she'd have to leave at 7:30 and told him about the Crucible School meeting. "We could do this tomorrow evening when I don't have to rush off."

"No, tonight is fine. You are rather intense so becoming used to you in short burst is fine. You're taking on a lot – our bunch of conservatives at lunchtime and now the blue rinse brigade and cloned daughters."

"Thank you for your sympathy. Bye."

She resisted making kissing sounds on the phone. Perhaps after dinner this evening she might.

Marty arrived to be greeted by a lovely vision who handed him a beer and simultaneously held up her face to be kissed. Possibly it was luck or possibly he recognized it as a test, but he kissed first and then accepted the beer.

"Please don't mind my robe – I have underwear on. It's just that I don't wish to mark my light gray dress."

Marty accepted that explanation with a "That's fine" and if he noticed later when they left the apartment together Bianca was wearing a black dress he refrained from becoming a smart-ass whistle-blower.

Dinner, he was told, was ordinary fare. She'd made a casserole before leaving home that morning and it had been slow-cooking all day. Dessert would be a simple apply turnover. She would only have the one glass of wine because she would be addressing "the blue rinse brigade and cloned daughters."

"You have a good memory."

"And you can express yourself very well. How are the horses?"

"Fine, but I also have dogs and cattle."

"How are the three dogs and the Herefords?"

"Impressive – you have a memory for detail though you've yet to step foot on Young's Meadows."

"Oh, that's a sweet name for a lifestyle block. Did your grandparents name it?"

"No, their property was called Tiresome Hills Farms as it was mostly foothills. I was left the hay paddocks, pick of the land. Grandma always called that acreage the meadows so I chose to commemorate the name."

"That's lovely."

"You're lovely," he said with burning eyes.

She managed to look coy when taking the opportunity she'd been hoping for: "We've time to fool around a bit; sit beside me."

Marty was out of his chair in a flash, leaving his beer behind. She held her arms open. Snuggling up against her Marty turned and holding both sides of face kissed gently feeling her lips fuse against his as they opened slightly – just like petals, he thought. She had an arm around him and tenderly pulled a hank of his long hair at the back of his neck, released, re-gripped and repeated this affectionate attention – it couldn't be anything else - to his mane of multiple browns.

"This is lovely," he whispered.

"Hmmmmm."

She attempted to pull him back closer but he widened the gap, pulled her down behind him and swung her legs on to the sofa, meeting no resistance.

Marty turned and said meeting her deep gaze, "May I look at your underwear?"

"Yes."

"You're very direct and economical."

"True."

"Don't you want to know why I wish to look?"

"I'll either find out or I won't."

"Aren't you worried I may have an underwear fetish?"

"If it were confined to me I'd probably freak out with delirium."

"Steady on, Bianca, I don't wish to over-excite you."

She smiled at that and watched intently as he undid the tie of her silk robe. The eyes became unfathomable as he looked back to check as he deliberately opened the gown to maximum width, unhurriedly.

The cheerful red, yellow and green overlapping pattern of the bra struggling to cope was inspected first. Although the breasts remained untouched he trailed a finger down from the little pink bow between the cups down her lower chest to circle her unadorned navel. Her breathing was increasing while his seemed to be choking back. The finger continued on down to the top of her panty, then stopped. Her breathing stopped, momentarily.

"God, you wear thigh-highs. I love stockings."

Her breathing resumed, a little faster.

"This is the part I really like," he surprised, touching the slight swell of flesh at the top of the black lace band of a stocking.

"Why?"

"It's sweet, succulent flesh – perhaps the best. May I kiss there?"

She didn't answer so was kissed there, his nose leading the way to the softest flesh of the inner thigh. But the legs didn't open.

Marty's sensually charged finger continued down the shapely silkily-encased legs. Leaning across her knees he picked up a foot and kissed an inside ankle.

Bianca sighed.

Marty rose and turning at the end of the sofa picked up her outer leg and sucked her toes, oblivious to the fact they were encased in stocking.

Bianca sighed deeply this time and effectively replicating the lowering of a drawbridge slowly opened her legs.

But although no longer toe sucking, Marty didn't move; he just stared at her, feeling slightly triumphant but a little nervous at leaving her this aroused, outcome suspended.

Bianca moaned once – a wrenching frustrated moan, then smiled thinly and offered her hand to be pulled up. Marty obliged, ensuring he was in position for that to end in a kiss, and was rewarded with an outgoing exist of passion.

"Wow," he said as he felt her hand brush against him, obviously checking on what she had been denied.

"I'm sorry," he kissed as a murmur into her ear. "You did indicate there was time to 'fool around a bit."

She sighed. "That was an intelligent thing for me to say to you but unfortunately intelligence and emotions sometimes disagree. Intelligence and your restraint won through – on my part it's the price I pay for trying to always do the right thing. We'll fuck sometime soon, won't we?"

"Oh yes, Marty said, pulling her into a bear hug.

* * *

A overly smiling Ruby Williams, wearing a necklace that probably cost the price of a medium size family car, kissed Bianca's cheek and said, "Don't expect an easy ride tonight, dear. Emotions are running high; two of the husbands have openly declared they regard a brothel as an essential community service."

"Have their wives gone home to their mothers?"

Ruby looked aghast. "My dear, we are intelligent and very capable women around here. We don't deal with our husbands by running away. Spare me."

"Of course, with a name like Crucible I should have known; some of you are former pupils?"

"All of us on the committee are bar Edwin Rice, an American Harvard-trained gynecologist, a prized asset to have in our midst."

"Is the committee's legal adviser male or female?"

"Male, but we're very comfortable about that as is Edwin; as well as being a highly regarded barrister and solicitor our legal-beaver is a recognized unbiased humanist and the only male on our governing committee; male parents are represented on our finance, sports, staffing, standards/discipline and building/maintenance sub-committes."

"Good gracious – how large is this school?" Bianca asked, having heard of it of course but as it was not in 'the top three' in rated excellence and awards of university scholarships, she'd never taken much notice of it.

"We have just over 1100 students; we've grown enormously since Morag MacFie because head mistress."

"The poet and very talented actress at the former Mercury Theatre?"

"That's our Morag, PhD."

"As a kid I used to be taken to the Mercury Christmas pantomime. She was always the wicked witch or some other scary person. I loved her."

"So do we and our girls. She's devastated about this proposed brothel; it's eating at her."

"Christ, then I better deliver."

Looking slightly shocked by the language, Ruby nevertheless took Bianca's arm and said, "That's the spirit." She took Bianca in and introduced her to the gathering who included three former chairman of the committee, one of whom was the deputy mayor. Everyone else included Ruby looked please to find that their consultant not only knew Brenda Coddingham but Brenda gave Bianca a top-shelf greeting.

Bianca told the meeting she'd mention what they already knew, or should know: that since brothels had been declared legitimate activities through a change in leglislation that's what they were, legitimate businesses providing they met certain criteria.

"My enquiries show that this proposed small brothel would be housed in upstairs commercial accommodation in the village, a location that is 144 meters, as measured by a land surveyor, from the gates of this school. That, I am reliably informed, complies with the spirit of the legislation which makes it very difficult to oppose. Courts do not take kindly to pressure groups who oppose the legitimate rights of others. We must keep this in mind – this is an issue about concerns of parents who don't appear to have the law on their side; the plain fact is it cannot be a moral challenge because the legislation was enacted completely leaving aside any issues of morality. Please remember that.

"Shame on them!"

"Hear, hear."

Bianca shook her head, choosing to do that noticeably. She did not smile. "Right, here's what I think we need to do. It's a simple solution but to be effective it needs to be a coordinated and well staged fight-back. We need to shame the landlord. This must be done indirectly; if we resort to mud-slinging physically or verbally we'll be shooting ourselves in the foot, some of us even being arrested. For the next five minutes I will outline my proposed strategy, leaving out one crucial element of surprise that I shall reveal only in confidence to Dr MacFie and your chairman in utmost secrecy because if it's leaked it won't be a surprise tactic. As committee members you will be advised at the same time as the media are advised, not a moment before. Please understand, this is essential for success."

That created a buzz, eventually silenced by the chairman.

Bianca outlined her proposal. Questions followed and it seemed she had won general support.

The chairman asked Edwin Rice what he thought.

"Incisive, even-handed though I suspect the undisclosed element could be something pushing boundaries. I admire Bianca for emphasizing we must play this clean otherwise we may be the architects of any failure."

"Felicity."

"I don't really wish to sound picky but wouldn't we be better served by a consultant who was a parent with children?"

Ruby said she'd approached Bianca on the strong urging of Brenda Coddingham. "I met Bianca and thought I'd attempt a hard-nosed approach myself, and oh girl, was I bounced on to my backside ever so charmingly but with sheer verbal force."

That produced some laughter, but it didn't convince Wendy who said she supported Felicity – a parent from the school with children should have been engaged.

Ruby sighed and called, "Bianca."

Bianca said softly, "What's the deal about having a consultant aligned with the school? Does that automatically suggest that privileged makes them a better person for the job? If not, then you're shot off one barrel before you've even started. Usually I don't mind some opposition but perhaps not in this instance: we are teetering on this once and nothing will improve that situation without an incisive campaign. Now hear this: dissenters in the camp could interfere with momentum so I'd not be comfortable with that. Apologies for pulling out this example, but it's my impression that Jesus was without children and went into bat for his people – and look at what he achieved? That's just making the point one does not have to have children to be sympathetic and determined to bring about change."

There was a gasp and silence, broken by a belly laugh from forties-something Edwin. "I guess that's knocked you Felicity and you Wendy back on the place where you sit?"

Nervous laughter greeted that and people looked confused. Bianca fixed that.

"I'm leaving the room. Would you kindly take a vote on me leading this bid to repel the brothel operators Ruby? I'll wait outside for as long as it takes to discuss and vote on me. Unless I'm supported 100 percent I'm walking."

Committee members and the three ex officio former chairmen watched in silence as Bianca left.

Within two minutes Ruby came out to Bianca. "I decided to have just a straight vote – everyone knew the issue. I simply asked for loyalty and got it – a vote totally in support of you. Come join us for supper."