Up T'Smoke Ch. 02

Fiona.

I think we got maybe 6h sleep that night and woke up almost together. There was a new toothbrush waiting for me alongside the sink in the en-suite and afterwards a face-rinse before hopping back into bed.

"Good morning young scottish maiden" I quipped. "How are you feeling this fine day?" I smiled, tongue-in-cheek.

"Bloody sore yeh sassenach" Fiona replied, screwing her face up, one eye open. "I feel like I've taken up rugby!" as she lay back on the pillow.

We kissed and got up slowly after a shower where we managed to keep apart for at least 5 minutes. Breakfast turned into brunch and we set off for a walk around noon, around the park and down to the river. So many interesting buildings and sites to visit all over London. Lots of exploration for the coming months.

Fiona was fun to be with, always joking and an unending source of stories and gossip, family, and Scots versus the invaders (me: the English) and the like. I told her I didn't know that humans could read north of Birmingham and was quickly reminded that the royal family sent their progeny to Scotland for University and general education.

The outing ended with a beer and a pub meal. I think we were both a bit apprehensive about what was to come next. I made some comment indicating I should 'get going', implying my place or work in the near future, but I was very quickly reminded that the weekend was far from over and that she was looking forward to a repeat performance of the previous night.

"Fee," I asked, "do you want to call the flat and see if your sister is back home?"

"No point" she replied. "There's no phone there. Elspeth will have hers in Brighton but I'm sure they won't be back till tomorrow, very late."

"Or even Monday morning."

So the weekend continued. That evening was much more relaxed than the previous one with Fiona taking the lead in most of our love-making. She had an almost inexhaustible font of new variations on the traditional positions and activities.

"I'll have to go shopping during the week," she announced after a pensive moment, "there's a shop on King's Road that sells things we can use."

Thoughts of Lady Margaret, and the canvas bag in the stables at The Manor! I said nothing.

By Sunday afternoon I really did have to leave to do mundane things back at my place and prepare for the upcoming week. I wasn't sure how I had left my place on Friday morning but I was sure it was a bit of a mess. And I needed some quiet time; I was not used to such an active social life. Fiona looked sad momentarily but then she smiled and started to plan for the next weekend: it was assumed that the liaison would continue and I certainly had no problems with that. At least I would know what was expected.

After a light Sunday tea with Fiona I caught a bus to Victoria Station and the suburban train back to Brixton. It really did feel like a long way from work. There were several messages on the phone when I got back, one from Alastair asking if I was going to a talk Monday morning and inviting me for lunch afterwards. One from another postdoc asking for help on Tuesday to set up an experiment, and a third from Esher Rugby asking if I was available for selection next Saturday.

I replied to all three. Alastair was non-commital about lunch "Just a chat," he said. Jeff Mitchell my lab colleague, and I, had talked about his approach to a problem of experimental design. We agree to meet up after morning coffee on Tuesday. Rugby on Saturday was out after agreeing to be with Fiona; I must sort out rugby and social activity - or maybe combine them. Maybe I'll call Fiona and suggest this for the future.

The Monday talk was almost boring , mostly old material I was familiar with and the last ten minutes of new stuff, unfortunately too common in talks these days. I may need to be more selective. But the lunch with Alastair was a bombshell. He told me the royalties on the patent were coming in. Split 50:50 I would see several hundred pounds extra in my bank account each month for the rest of the year and possibly longer. This made the prospect of a move closer to work a possibility.

We went on to discuss some planned experiments I had begun on anti-cancer compounds. These were nucleoside analogs currently made by chemical synthesis, with difficulty, but my preliminary experiments using bacterial mutants showed an easier and cheaper alternative method.

Briefly, Alastair suggested not to publish until potential patents could be checked out and Big Pharma had a chance to be involved. Alastair offered to be my agent for 10% of the payout rather than the 50% of the first patent: we argued but he was insistent he didn't deserve more, saying as supervisor he had some input into the experiments for the first patent.

Life was becoming very interesting on several fronts.

The weekly lab meetings were a ritual where everyone talked informally about their research, ongoing and planned. Now I was settled in I gave mine that week. Nothing detailed, just some ideas and vague results using Power Point. One or two questions from senior staff then the next 15 minute presentation; three presentations and the hour was done. One of the oncology residents came to my lab later to find out more about the nucleoside analogs and bacterial synthesis. Alastair had warned me about talking too much so I was purposefully general and vague. The medic was almost insistent so I told him it was too soon, data was incomplete, and I would 'keep him informed'. I wasn't sure he believed me.

The extra money turned up in my account. Great. I decide to wait a few months before planning a change of flats, in part because I had signed a lease for a year with one month's rent as penalty if I moved before the year.

On Thursday I got a call from Fiona. We chatted and she suggested I bring a few personal items with me on Friday night. I countered with 'How would you like to watch me play rugby?' After some comparisons between her attractiveness versus watching rugby on a winter Saturday, I agreed to go back to her apartment (definitely not a flat), with her on Friday. I had turned down rugby for this Saturday anyway, though I could turn up and hope someone missed the game. That happened a lot in 4th and 5th team games.

Friday night was interesting. I invited Fiona to dinner at a local Italian restaurant which she was fond of. The food was OK, Fiona was charming and entertaining, and the bill was astronomical. Clearly she had never paid for a meal there. I would need the patent money to live that way!

Back at the apartment Elspeth and Duncan were still there.

Fiona's face grew dark.

"What happened to your trip this weekend?" she asked her sister, not too politely.

"Hello darling, won't you introduce me to your friend?" replied Elspeth, smiling at me.

We went through the introductions. Duncan seemed a nice enough guy, played on the wing for his Cambridge college. We knew or knew of some common players at the senior amateur level.

"Don't worry darling" Elspeth continued "we'll be leaving early in the morning, before you and Peter are up. And we will be going to bed very soon."

"And so glad to meet the famous Peter," she smiled, as she pulled Duncan behind her to their bedroom.

"Hell!" exploded Fiona, "she said they would be gone long before we got back here. I only have the weekends for you. Did I tell you I am taking a course in hospital biochemistry Tuesday and Thursdays? When I'm done I'll be able to run a hospital diagnostic lab. More stable than a postdoc and much more money."

"Relax," I said reaching around her from behind, my hands cupping her breasts. She twisted around, put her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss: not a deep one but more than a peck.

"We do have all weekend you know."

"Mmmm, I do like having you around" she said as she pushed her body into mine and felt down between my legs. "And you are ready, too" grinning and grinding against me.

After playing briefly with our clothes on, we migrated to Fiona's bedroom and began the weekend. There was no sound from Elspeth's bedroom and we tried to keep our noise volume at a minimum, though with Fiona it was not a given. She was quite athletic and after complimenting her on her form she said something about 'hours playing hockey and cross-country'.

The evening and night were delightful. The frenetic activity of the previous week was forgotten and we made love in a relaxed and gentle way, several times, chatting constantly. It was as if we could not keep our hands off each other. We talked briefly about science, (though I did not mention the patent and its bounty,) we talked about our families, what was on in the West End, theatres, museums and landmarks. Much of it was new to us both.

The next morning we surfaced late to find Elspeth and Duncan gone.

The weekend went by in a flash. We had fish and chips on Saturday and bought a take-out pizza for Sunday lunch: much closer to my lifestyle and pocketbook. Much of the time was spent in bed exploring each other, in between these activities we walked through the local parks and visited galleries. But as soon as we returned to her apartment the first activity was sex, and often the second, and third.

On the Sunday afternoon I left for my place about 3 pm. I really did have a few jobs to do and make preparations for the upcoming week. Fiona draped herself around my neck with the commenting:

"I'll miss you tonight, but I'll see you at the talk on Wednesday and I'll have a surprise for you on Friday night."

"Sorry my darling, but I've got a game on Saturday so I won't see you until after the game, unless you come to watch" I smiled.

"Huh!" her face darkened. "When were you going to tell me?" she spat.

Our first argument. Fiona liked to make decisions.

"Please don't take offence Fiona! You know I enjoy playing and it's a part of me. I'm sorry if you are offended but it's not negotiable. I'll call you during the week," I stated, not waiting for a reply.

Fiona closed the door but she didn't slam it.

Sunday night and much of Monday I wrote up data and read around my research. I had generated mutant bacteria with high sugar-transfer activity which might be useful for nucleoside production. I sent a synopsis to Alastair by email and we had lunch after squash on Tuesday.

"So is the data good?" he asked. I could tell he was very interested because he wanted to forego the squash discussion to cross-examine me.

"Well, I've repeated the selection, and done three protein assays. Everything seems repeatable so far. I read the enzyme is widespread, even in human tears, sweat and other body fluids. But the activity in the bacterial mutant is a thousand times higher. I need to scale-up production to see if it works at the lab-scale" I mused.

"Fantastic, Peter" Alastair replied. "This could well be another patent and I know Big Pharma will be interested! Please let me know how the scale-up goes."

I worked till 2 in the morning repeating several key experiments. I pricked my finger for a little blood, spat in a test tube and collected some sweat after running up the stairs, all for enzyme assays. I also needed some other controls from other people. Later, on Wednesday, I wrote to Alastair to confirm my earlier results, then I went off to the talk at 3 pm.

I arrived at the lecture room 5 minutes before the talk; Fiona was not there. Part of me was worried, part thought WTF.

After the question session as I was leaving Fiona appeared, a smile on her face.

"Sorry about Sunday" she said. "I had some plans but they can wait till after your game. Where are you playing? What time?"

"Kick off is 2.30. Seconds and fourth teams are at Old Merchant Taylors. I will send you the field address. Yes, I'm sorry too: didn't mean to upset you."

"Gotto go" she said, "some of us have lab work." And off she ran.

I ran too, in fact I had been out pounding the roads three times in the last week, trying to get my wind for what was likely to be a fourth team game on Saturday but could possibly be a second team one. In Old Boys rugby, a team of 15 was selected with no spares. Usually 1st, 3rd (and sometimes 5th) teams played home (or away), the corresponding 2nds, 4ths (and perhaps 6th) teams played away (or home). If a player doesn't turn up, for whatever reason, the corresponding position from the lower team moves up. It had happened to me several times before. On one occasion I played second team, then fourth team straight afterwards. But I was fitter then.

The rest of the week was frenetic. Lab work went well: I had so many ideas and some confirmatory results. I told Alastair after squash on Thursday and sent him a report on Friday morning. An hour later I got a cryptic reply:

"Lock the report away till next week. I'm arranging a meeting: prepare Power Point with guarded details. Come for dinner tonight, 7 pm."

That day after work I caught the District Line to Richmond, near Old Deer park where I had played 7's while at school. I was early but Jane opened the door and welcomed me, took my coat and Alastair poured me a beer. Roast leg of lamb, mint sauce, roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts, followed by rhubarb pie and ice cream: superb!

Alastair had big plans, he extrapolated my data far beyond what I had considered and explained what the data could mean if follow-up experiments worked as we (he) predicted. He asked me if I was interested in his suggestions and plans.

"Of course!" I replied. "I am so grateful you are doing this for me. If this works out are you sure you don't want to come back in as an equal partner?"

"Peter, I am happy to work as your agent and keep an eye open for you. I also have several irons in the fire as we talk, and part of the meeting with the Pharma men will address my future too. I have just been invited to become a member of the Royal Society which I intend to accept and there are several opportunities for me now. I will keep you informed but please keep this under your hat for now."

I left Richmond at 10 pm and was home by 11. My mind was in a turmoil: what did Alastair mean? When was all this to happen? I knew I had no answers nor could I talk to anyone. I finally got to sleep around 3 am.

I kept busy Saturday morning doing routine jobs: washing some clothes, shopping for food, writing a draft of yet another paper. At 11.30 I ate a small lunch, got my kit together and headed off to the game. All the seconds turned up so I played for the fourths on an adjacent pitch. It was not good rugby, just older men reliving their youth, high school lads who didn't have a school game that day and a few inept fumblers. I quickly recognized the players I could rely on but the back row was mainly on defence most of the time. We lost a close game.

Fiona turned up at half time and I walked off the field to her at the whistle. We stopped at the clubhouse and had a drink. Even though the game was mediocre I was tired and glad to go off with her.

Fiona chatted away during the ride to her place. After a while she realised I was a bit down and she was apologetic though I was not sure why. She thought it was because of the last weekend's disagreement but I assured her all was OK there, and it wasn't the game. I still had Alastair's talk on my mind!

By now we were into autumn and we sat by the fire at her apartment eating baked beans and cheese on toast for supper. Then we cuddled up on the sofa and watched a movie until I fell asleep. At 11 Fiona woke me and suggested we go to bed.

"The surprise can wait till later" she said.

Fiona is an extremely attractive woman and on any normal day I would be eager, even anxious, to make love to her. But that evening my normal enthusiasm was lacking. We lay in each other's arms and kissed. I kissed her breasts and went down to her lower lips to start her engine. She responded slowly and then she reciprocated. Finally she reached for a condom, mounted me and we managed to come together.

I slept the sleep of the dead.

The next morning I woke and could hardly get out of bed: I was stiff. Maybe I was getting a little old for rugby, or too interested in Fiona!

I rolled over and found Fiona was not there: already up. As I swung my legs out of the bed Fiona came in wearing a nightgown and carrying a tray of tea. She pushed my legs back into bed and sat beside me while we drank tea. Her eyes sparkled.

"No need to ask how you slept" she said with a giggle, "you were dead to the world, and after just one game!"

"I'll just have to make up for it then" I said, reaching out for her after we put our cups down. She leaned over me and kissed me gently, those soft slightly puffy lips made me begin to stiffen. I reached up to pull the nightgown off her shoulders and my eyes opened wide.

Fiona was wearing a halter made of thin leather straps which outlined her magnificent breasts as triangles, crossed behind her back and returned lower down through a steel ring by her navel, and circled each thigh. She had applied a little eye shadow and a bright orange lipstick. She looked like what I thought a dominatrix would look like.

"You like?" she asked, as she reached down and grasped me with one hand. "It feels like you do," she smirked, as she got up on her knees on either side of my chest.

She moved up my body and sat on me with her knees over my biceps, pinning me to the bed, her pussy just inches from my face.

"Come on, time for some effort" as she sat on my face.

I didn't have to be asked twice, as I used my tongue to outline her lower lips while she rocked to and fro. I gradually moved my tongue into her slit and laved her well.

"I need you Petey, more, come on" as she ground down on me, reaching behind to fondle my cock. I moved my tongue upwards towards her clit, flicking it with the tip of my tongue. She shuddered: one down!

I sucked the clit into my mouth and used my tongue a bit more vigorously. She moved up, away from my face.

"Too much, Petey," she said, her face flushed as she moved down my body. I loved the outline of her breasts, they were wonderful: a smooth curve upwards to the areoles and nipples just on the upper surface.

I reached up to roll the nipples between finger and thumb. She pulled away again and sat further down on my thighs, my cock flopping forward.

"Oh, my, what do we have here" she commented, using both hands to slide up and down my hardening member.

I sat up and captured a nipple in my mouth, flicking my tongue over first one, then the other.

"Now stop that you English bugger. No wonder we Scottish lassies have had so many problems with you invaders" she teased, reaching under a pillow for a foil package.

"Now just you behave while I adjust this thing" she said as she rolled the condom on to my erection. She kissed the tip then took the top inch in her mouth, wetting it. Then she got up on her knees and pried her lower lips open while she rubbed the mushroom top to gain the entry.

Gradually she lowered herself on to me. She was ready; more than ready. It felt as if I was entering a soft warm sleeve which got firmer as I progressed. Fiona exhaled as she reached full depth and sat still, leaning forward to rest her arms on my shoulders. Then without her body moving I could feel her vagina contract slightly, then relax, then contract and then relax. And this was having an effect on me.

She looked at me and smiled.

"I've been practicing Kegel muscle exercises Petey. What do you think?"

"Feels good Fiona! I read it's supposed to increase all sorts of sensations and I can tell you it's having an effect on me" I replied.

Then she lifted almost completely off me, and dropped down on me, hard. And again. And again.

I held her backside about 3-4 inches off me and started to piston in and out of her, reaching bottom each stroke.