The Haystack Algorithm Pt. 01

The beginning of a much longer work. No sex in this part just an introduction. This story has elements of romance and first time. Constructive criticism welcomed!

Chapter 1: Finding the Sun

Natasha sips her cold drink as she watches the shirtless man attempt to pick up one of the many young women strolling in groups along the path, which separates the beach from the road. Natasha watches as he lets a third eye contact and smile slip by. Natasha guesses he is just not confident enough, maybe he has been in a relationship, even married and now just does not know how to say those first words.

He looks good though, in an Anglo-Saxon sort of way and his physic indicated he does some serious exercise. The last smile he invoked even turned to take another look, practically inviting him but he is not up the challenge. Natasha watches as he picks up his beach bag and walks slowly to the stairs then down to the sand and water. The air is still and the heat intense, Natasha gazes out to sea looking for the grey smudge on the horizon that indicates the coming sea breeze. It is clear and blue as far as the eye can see and the easterly breeze hardly ripples the ocean, just odd glints of light indicating slight disturbance to the glassy surface.

Natasha looks at her watch; Louise is 20 min late, which means a no show. She takes a deep breath and swallows the last of her iced drink. She puts her straw hat on, settles her sunglasses onto her face, leaves the cafe table, and walks across the road and to the railing taking up a position a few meters from the stairs. The young man is walking into the water, no run and dive like a teenager, just a cautious walk. When the water is up to his hips, he leans forward into the water and commences a very smooth free style that quickly takes him out and then north along the beach.

'That's where the muscles come from' Natasha muses. He swims north until he is just a spec in the distance. 'Nobody swims that hard and that far unless they like a little pain, a masochist maybe. See you later Swimmer.' Murmurs to herself

Natasha turned back to watch the car park in case Louise does turn up. She watches the cafe and then the groups walking the path, some that had walked past earlier are now returning. The swimmers last smile comes along with a handsome boy, deep in conversation.

'You missed out there swimmer' She watches smile and new boy walk 'nice but, you too pretty boy,' she mutters to herself before she turns her attention back to the sea.

Swimmer is on his way back with the same smooth stroke that took him away. Eventually he turns towards the beach. In the shallows swimmer gets to his feet, his chest is heaving from the effort and even from a distance, Natasha can see his face is flushed red. She knows what he will be feeling as he shakes out his arms to free up tension from the swim. He will be feeling breathless and his heart rate will be up but he will feel so calm, so centred and almost joyful from the exercise. Soon his breathing and heart will settle back to normal and he will feel energised and full of life. His body will feel pumped, his sight will be sharp, his hearing acute and then he will be hungry, possibly horny too. She envies him this moment.

Swimmer walks slowly up the wet sand to his bag then quickly across the hot dry sand to a beach shower where he washes the salt from his body before pulling on a shirt, sandals and cap from his bag. He looks up the stairs before commencing the climb.

Natasha's heart quickens as she contemplates action, she wants some company but not any drongo, she wants more!

Swimmer is now meters away and she decides. She removes her sunnies and looks directly at his face, he is a little older now he is close and that is good she thinks. He notices her at this moment and they make eye contact. Natasha's heart lurches in her chest and his mouth drops open as if to speak, but nothing comes out.

"That was quite a swim," Natasha says as she tries to understand what has just passed between them.

He points at the glassy ocean, "It is beautiful swimming when the ocean is calm like today, I love to swim after a night working," swimmer says.

He turns back and looks at Natasha then smiles, a wide toothy relaxed smile. Natasha smiles back as she thinks, 'You are mine!' She can imagine him quivering under her touch; can almost hear the sounds he will make.

"Yes, pity I didn't bring my stuff. You work nights do you?" Natasha pauses and uses the moment to look at him in more detail. Swimmer is wearing a well-made shirt, which suits him, and his sandals are classy too. 'It is only a matter of time,' she thinks.

He takes a couple of small steps towards her and nods, "Mostly."

"Swimming makes me hungry; does it do the same to you?" Natasha asks.

"You bet," swimmer says with a boyish grin.

He is so open and his smile is so easily produced Natasha grins herself. 'This will be better than a tense lunch with Louise,' Natasha thinks.

"Squid at the Capri in half an hour then," Natasha proposes.

Swimmer frowns and points to the bike rack, "I only have the bike so thirty minutes makes it hard."

Natasha raises her eyebrows, "Do you live far away?"

"No not far, I could ride home and jump in with you," swimmer suggests.

Natasha offers her hand and says, "Deal, I'm Natasha Ferguson."

He shakes her hand, "Andrew Ritson." he grins in pleasure, "I can't believe this is happening."

"Why Andrew?"

"I gave up meeting anybody today, and then a beautiful stranger appears and asks me out to lunch, incredible," Andrew grins in pleasure.

"I believe life is too short to let chances go by Andy, let's go I'm hungry"

Natasha follows Andrew the couple of kilometres to his home. It very hot but it is cool and is very quiet inside. Andrew excuses himself and heads for the shower. Andrew's home is a ground floor unit in a small group, old but in an expensive area. It is spacious and sparsely furnished, almost like some pieces are missing. Natasha can hear the shower running so she explores and finds a room containing a huge desk setup with six monitors and several keyboards, all the monitors are blank though Natasha can hear the hum of fans. The large window opens out onto ferns and azaleas in a shaded garden. Down the hall, the sound of the shower is louder and a peek into the next room shows it is the master bedroom, Natasha can hear the shower in the adjoining ensuite. The water stops abruptly and Natasha withdraws to the living room to wait.

Andrew is quickly dressed and rejoins Natasha in the living room. She is scanning a bookcase full of novels.

"Sorry, hope I didn't take too long?" Andrew says.

Natasha looks him up and down, "You were quick, and you look great but won't you be hot in jeans?"

"No the Capri is air-conditioned and the sea breeze will probably hit later."

"It could be pretty hot till then, why don't you grab a bag with a change, a swim suite and put a tooth brush in too." Natasha looks him calmly in the face as she says this.

Andrew blushes then smiles, but goes to get the items. 'He is so innocent and so cute when he smiles,' she thinks to herself, 'He is going to be so much fun.'

Andrew returns with an overnight bag and serious look on his face, "This is moving very fast!"

"Andrew it's just about comfort and options. We might have lunch and be counting the seconds until we can escape. I don't think so though I have a good feeling about this."

"You've thought about this then Natasha?"

"Only quickly, look if I 'm making you uncomfortable we can just let it go. I'm only looking for fun food and conversation anything else is over the horizon," Natasha smiles at Andrew and moves closer to him so that his aftershave and man scent envelope her.

Andrew's nostrils flare a little as he senses Natasha's body heat and scent. "Fun, food and conversation, safe enough let's go."

Natasha turns towards the door and Andrew brings his hand to her elbow. As his hand contacts her skin, they both stop and draw a sharp breath.

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Natasha has an old black Golf convertible and today the roof is down. Wind and private thoughts dominate the drive to the Capri.

Andrew thinks about the spark that he felt, about the tingle in his groin and the frantic speed Natasha is driving.

Natasha is just frantic with hunger and lust. What has happened to her self-control? She slows down when she realizes how fast she is driving.

Chapter 2 The Lie

The Capri is busy, noisy with laughter and conversation, perfect for the inevitable awkward moment because to be heard you have to talk with force, no chance of coy whispers and evasions

.

"I'm having squid and salad how about you Andrew?" Natasha doesn't even look at the menu.

"Yes me too, I usually have it here, hardly ever had anything else. I used to come here as a kid."

Natasha orders for both of them and pours some water then says, "I feel like some wine, be back in a moment." Natasha is gone before Andrew can offer to get it and is soon back with a bottle of SSB. She opens the wine and pours some for each. She raises her glass and looks at Andrew over the rim.

"You felt it too Andrew?"

Andrew swallows and nods. They both sip the wine.

"Tell me the Andrew Ritson story."

Andrew takes an exaggerated deep breath, which makes Natasha smile, "I am 31 and I grew up in Perth, was precocious and ended up in university at 16. I got an MSC, double maths major and was still very young. There was no money in maths so I started a commerce degree. While doing that I met a girl called Pat who was doing the same course. We got married and were broke so both worked part time and studied. We both qualified and bought the unit you saw. I work as a foreign desk senior analyst and trader for JBW, mostly big clients and mostly from home at night. The night work started with JBW while I was still studying. Pat worked in the city, mainly days. We were hot when we were new but we grew apart until I hardly knew her. Eight months ago, I came home from an interstate trip, some of the furniture was gone and there were papers to divorce etc. We never owned a car because we tried to be green and we never went anywhere. Pat had always done the domestic financial stuff, I expected to be cleaned out but it turns out she was reasonably fair and had kept all our stuff separate, she left me what was mine, turns out we had plenty, not that we enjoyed it much. I have been working nonstop ever since uni, only going out to work, swim and shop since the divorce. Now I am really bored and lonely. I'm over my job and want a break from night work. My boss won't give me any leave, says he has nobody else to look after my clients. For the last few weeks, I have been trying my luck at the beach but I don't have the guts for that first contact. Most of the women are so gorgeous and I don't have any idea about what to say." Andrew takes a sip of wine, "When you spoke to me I felt shocked and relieved at the same time, it was surreal being asked out to lunch so quickly and directly, I really didn't expect anything yet here I am."

"My turn guess, I am 30 and I grew up in Adelaide, went to Uni at ANU to study Business Law. I have never married and I have moved around a fair bit with work. I love Perth and I inherited a house near Fremantle that I have renovated, spent a fortune on it along the way and don't want to leave it so am a bit trapped here in my career. My work has some awful hours to go with it though I am happy enough. It is nice to meet somebody new, to be here with you, I'm glad we met."

"I 'm glad we met too, how did you chose me for the lunch invite?"

"I was across the street waiting for a friend who did not show, while I was waiting I observed you and liked what I saw, simple as that."

"You just saw me take a swim and decided to ask me out to lunch?"

"Yes"

"Wow I could never have done that. I guess that is how different we are. Have you ever had a long term relationship?"

Natasha pauses and answers carefully, "Yes a few, my last lover left to go back to Canberra to study and I have just taken my time since"

"Do you miss him?"

"Yes, I missed her for ages but now I want to have intimate friends again. Do you still miss you wife?" Natasha takes up her glass as the food arrives.

"No I don't miss Patricia at all now. Did you say you lover was a woman?"

Natasha looks Andrew directly in the eye, "Yes, does that bother you?"

"No."

"Cool."

"What do you do, who do you work for Natasha?" Andrew says as he stabs a piece of squid with his fork.

Natasha chews thoughtfully for a moment. She dreads this question as the wrong answer is always the truth. "I'm an investigator in banking," She hasn't told a lie yet and she hopes he will let the subject go. "The squid is great as usual."

"Sure is, they do it well here, which bank?"

"That's the one, I hate talking about my work, don't you?" the lie is only tiny but Natasha looks away not wanting to give it a chance to grow.

"Yep not that many people know what I am talking about half the time. You mean CBA right?"

"MM, please I hate talking work!"

"Why, we probably have some stuff in common?"

"I'd just rather keep that private, you know client confidentiality and some of the stuff I do is not that pleasing so can we talk about politics or art or sex or football anything at all except my work, please?"

"Sorry Natasha, you start," Andrew says.

"Who do you follow in the footy Andrew?"

"Sorry not really my thing but it is West Coast just because they are there, what about you oh and I'm Andy to my friends?"

"I'm still an Adelaide Crows fan; you can take the girl out of Adelaide but not Adelaide out of the girl. I love it when any or the non Victorian teams win though so the Eagles are cool."

"That does football do you really want to talk politics?"

"Art maybe, I like photos, photos of people in edgy situations, erotic situations and have I a few good pieces in my home. I like collecting relics from the earliest days of Australian settlement. I don't have much but I enjoy what I have."

Andrew frowns, "I am afraid I am a dead loss there too, my education is limited to maths and commerce. I can talk all day about futures and derivatives or the Boyer--Moore--Horspool algorithm and string searches but hey I would love to learn, no make that I need to learn."

"What is a Boyer-Moore algorithm?"

"I was only joking about that, it is a technique for finding needles in haystacks with computers but it is not lunch time conversation, sorry I was taking the piss really."

Natasha pouts quickly then grins, "Ok but we could take in the Body exhibition at the Art Gallery this afternoon. I read a write up; I want to see it and it could be a good place to start your education. Later maybe I can show you my etchings."

"Etchings, I recall mother warning my sister about something like that. Will I be safe?"

"Do you want to be safe Andrew?"

"Hey what does safe mean anyway? Natasha please, call me Andy."

"Ok Andy sorry." Natasha smiles apologetically then asks, "You didn't answer the question though, do you really want safe or are you coming with me?"

Chapter 3 Naked Man with Rat

Later when Andy and Natasha leave the art gallery there is a rumble of thunder and dark clouds threatening rain so together they raise the roof on the old Golf.

"What made the biggest impression Andy?"

"I liked the sculptures upstairs, there was one in a cabinet of a naked woman with snakes in her hair and her arms stretched out before her. I really liked the images that developed in my mind, what was she about to do and what had she just done?" Andy enthuses. They finish putting up the roof that is as worn as the rest of the Golf.

"Cool, what else?"

"The Joanna Lamb panels in The Built exhibit spoke to me of how banal suburban existence is, how trapped we are when we buy into the dream. How sterile it all becomes, how sterile I have become. How we purchase something very ordinary because we are convinced that is desirable and fashionable." Andy pauses and frowns, "I found Naked Man with Rat really confronting though."

"Why"

"Why paint a man lying like that at all and what of the rat, what is the rat about?"

"What's wrong with the way the man is posed Andy?"

"His groin seems to be the centre of the image and his legs are spread exposing his genitals and his arse like he is being offered up to the viewer."

"What's wrong with that? If it was woman would you feel the same?"

"No if it was a woman it would not seem so wrong to me I guess. Women are taken like that, spread and offered to a lover."

"So are men. Have you ever had sex with a man?"

"No, no I haven't."

"Ever thought about it?" Natasha pauses, "would you ever try it?"

"It's not on my bucket list and no I cannot say I have even thought about it."

"I've seen men having sex, fucking and making love, it's hot to watch."

"Gay men?"

"What's gay, they were just men having sex, taking and giving pleasure and sharing a connection."

"You have sex with women; do you prefer women or men?"

"I don't ever choose a partner based on gender Andy. Its more about how we feel and how we connect, the most important thing for me is connection and an open mind. Sexy body helps too of course. I like lovers to know what they want and communicate their desire but I need to lead Andy. I like submissive lovers, lovers who let me push their boundaries, who share or learn to share my kinks, lovers who grow with me. They have to be open and open-minded so I can join with them in reaching all the pleasure lovers can give each other and Andy, I have heaps of kinks, capital K kinks some of them. Kinks which I am sure you can learn to love."

"Phew that's very direct, what are your capital K kinks like?" Andy turns to look at Natasha's face

Natasha pulls into a driveway of a very plain looking house in a plain and old suburb street. She remotes the garage door open but stops the Golf outside, the motor still running. She turns her shoulders so that she is facing Andy.

"Andy it's up to you, we can go inside and find out. There are some emotional risks Andy but I still have a good feeling about us. You are very sexy and you have joined me in a robust conversation without freaking out so there is some measure of an open mind. Do you want to come inside or I can take you home?" There is a flash of lightening followed closely by the thunder and suddenly very heavy rain. The noise is deafening and the old Golf immediately starts leaking. Andy grins at Natasha and she drives the golf into the garage. The door closes behind the car and they are in the hot gloomy garage.

"Well Andy do you want to go home, I can take you when the rain eases?"

"Natasha, what kinks am I going to learn to love, what are you going to teach me?"

Natasha turns off the car and turns to look back at Andy, "I don't want to scare you Andy so in general terms I like ropes and restraints, teeth and nails, impact toys and blindfolds and I like my lovers to feel our play for days after. With a willing lover, I like to mark them, for them to carry my mark. I require consent for anything WE do though."

"It's so hot here can we go inside, please, I want to go that far at least?"

Natasha exits the car and slides her index finger over a print reader to unlock the door. It is hot in the house also and Natasha moves quickly from room to room, opening windows and doors to ventilate it. The rain continues and the earthy smell of it invades the house on the cooling breeze. Andy just walks around looking at the contents of the large attractive room they have entered. There are large photos on the walls of people in leather, of people in ropes, of faces filled with wanting and lust, of faces begging for release. Leather chairs and coffee tables occupy some of the space. There is a glass-topped cabinet with items on display, old medical tools, and in the centre of the display a set of chunky old manacles.