The next morning, they were again disturbed. His lover did not wake and only turned as the programmer rose from the bed. He invited Suzanne into the room and they had the briefest of conversations as she broke her journey between Russ's bed and the girl's communal dormitory.

Russ had not slept much that night. He had spent most of it, ranting and raving about, how he had been sold down the river, by the lawyers, Greg, Lucinda and all the other fucking limeys. He had even suspected his father might have been behind it all. But Suzanne had added all of her charms to those of the lawyer and she was more or less sure he would stick with his Letter of Intent.

As she left he warned her to be careful. 'He can be very violent!' He thought of what had happened to Lucinda. And she certainly wasn't the only other woman to have incurred such a fate! Even, if she had classed herself as a willing participant! 'Remember, that you are much more important than this deal. He's hurt so many people, I don't want you scarred for life.'

She slipped the dressing-gown from her left shoulder. 'Look!' She indicated a triple set of teeth marks, where the skin had been badly broken. 'The bait's working!'

***

Breakfast was a rather leisurely affair, which started about eight and petered out two or three hours later. As everyone finished, they migrated to the pool to try to swim or sleep off the excesses of last night.

The programmer had given up trying to learn to swim, when at the age of forty, he had decided to cut out everything he wasn't any good at or did him a certain amount of harm. He sometimes felt, it was a pity he hadn't added accountants, lawyers, patent agents and a certain woman to the list.

But still he felt it rather rude not to at least join the others around the pool. He could at least sit in the sun and finish the tea from his breakfast, whilst the more energetically inclined, could proceed up and down the pool in a way, that to him was totally meaningless. At least, if you exercised in a gym, you usually had someone to talk with and there was always a couple of well-shaped or exotic ladies to dream about. But in the water, you could see nothing! Especially, if you couldn't swim!

He sat down next to George, who had similar ideas about water, preferring to use it in showers, baths and as a mixer for decent Scotch Whisky. His exercise would always come on the golf course, something which he felt was the one thing the house lacked to make it truly luxurious.

Chris however had other ideas and was putting in about fifty strenuous lengths, as part of the regime she performed every day to keep the sort of body, that was much more mid-thirties than mid-fifties. Meanwhile, Melanie and the twins were swimming in a much more leisurely way. Even the lawyer had adopted the girls' almost unwritten rule of nakedness in the pool and when she got out, George rose to preserve her modesty with a large towel. She smiled and joked about his Welsh prudishness.

***

He must have fallen asleep, as he suddenly became aware of George giving a kick. Turning towards the Welshman, he now saw he was pointing to the end of the pool, where Lucinda and his lover, had arrived from the main part of the house. The two women, both dressed in the house's white dressing-gowns, were facing each other holding hands with their arms outstretched, as two children might whilst dancing. They were swinging their arms and hands backwards and forwards, performing almost to an unheard rhythm, which Chris and the two men picked up in a slow handclap. Lucinda who like her partner, was very much all smiles, winked across and Chris waved back.

Almost at an unseen signal, the twins leapt from the water and one stood behind each of the dancers. Quickly in two simultaneous and mirrored movements, the twins each removed a dressing gown and pushed the two women together. Lucinda was revealed to be totally naked, whilst her partner was wearing the tightest of swimsuits, that constrained her waist and revealed her breasts, legs and buttocks. After giving just a tantalising glimpse to their audience, holding each other tightly to almost create one person, they jumped together into the deep end of the pool.

Both were very strong swimmers and proceeded to give an erotic display like nothing ever seen before. For perhaps five minutes, they dived, kissed, screamed, cuddled, jumped, turned somersaults, stuck legs in the air, with only hands for modesty and generally splashed and entertained those around the pool. Everyone was now standing alongside, including Pat, Russ and Suzanne, who had been drawn from their breakfasts by all of the screaming and shouting.

Two thoroughly exhausted but extremely happy women finally climbed into the jacuzzi, where George and the programmer presented them with two glasses of orange juice taken from the breakfast table. They motioned for the two men to join them. They both declined, but they were able to capture the Englishman and he toppled in between them, still wearing his cotton trousers and shirt. Within a minute and despite his protests he was naked, with an arm round each of their shoulders.

***

'We've been talking about you!' Lucinda, who was on his right, had switched on the jacuzzi and he felt hands searching between his legs under the foam. He started to move his arms, as if he was going to protect himself. 'Keep your hands still and where they are! We're not going to hurt you!' He accepted his fate and relaxed back. 'You had better keep smiling too!'

'So what have you been talking about?' He perhaps dreaded the answer, as when women, such as Wendy, organised his life, there was usually very little he could do about it. Still, he thought, they usually made a better fist of it, than he ever did!

'Oh! You! Me! Lucinda and her baby! Zyzzx and your three years under contract in Las Vegas!' A hand, probably hers as it felt like a right, had found its real goal and was quietly teasing him to erection. 'If you'd let me do some of your negotiating, I doubt I would have allowed that clause to be inserted.'

'But!' He stopped as a left hand joined the other. 'Surely, now Russ has gone, I don't have to spend all my time there?'

'I'll put my Zyzzx hat on! Greg and some of the others want your experience there! So does Adams, if he is going to get a return on all those billions him and his friends have put behind you and your software! You've run for too long!'

'But!' The women had now obtained their ultimate goal and he was having difficulty holding everything back. 'Can't I do all my work through the Inter ...'

***

'So what have you decided that I am to do?' He was still sitting between them and they had resisted all his attempts to move his arms.

'Well! Lucinda's told me, that she wants you to be godfather to the baby.' If he hadn't realised it before, he was now certain, that their conversation before the show, had been quite personal. 'That's fine by me!' She turned and kissed him. 'I would want you to take all of your responsibilities seriously. Visits, days out, real presents and not just the odd ten or twenty when you felt guilty!'

'I'd like that!' He was secretly hoping and looking forward to the child being a daughter, now that he had found his son. 'I would take it all very seriously!'

'I think you would this time!' Lucinda had now taken up the conversation and she untwined herself from his arm and put his hand on the baby. 'We've also decided that whether you like it or not, you must go to Vegas. With Russ at least going, Greg or possibly somebody else in charge, I want the value of my shareholding to be maximised.' She kissed him very tenderly. 'You'd do that for Cassie, your godchild and me!'

'Of course, I would! Is there anything else you'd like me to do for you?'

'Well! You could house sit for me!' She was now smiling broadly. 'The lawn will need watering and mowing. If I decide to stay here for ever, which is very likely, then you can sell it for me ...'

He broke in. 'Everything else, but you can stuff the gardening.' She showed a mock anger.

'You will of course allow me full visiting rights!' His lover had now taken up the list of instructions. 'I've always wanted to drive across America. Route 66 and all that! So we'll do that in the spring! Perhaps, I might even come over at Christmas!'

'So you're having second thoughts about what I said on Friday on the Devil's Dyke!'

As then, he received no reply.

***

Russ had been very morose all morning and he had hardly said a word to anybody except Suzanne, who seemed to be sticking to him, like either a minder or a lap-dog. Even at lunch, he said nothing and only drunk two or three glasses of fizzy Malvern water with a small salad. It was not like Russ at all.

'Russ!' Lucinda was sitting opposite him and felt she ought to check that everything was alright. 'There's nothing the matter is there? You've been very quiet this morning.'

'Oh! I'm fine, really.' His face didn't give the same message. 'Suzanne, here is being wonderfully supportive. But, I think I have just realised the shit I've been in the past and now all my bad behaviour has lost me one of my most precious possessions.'

'You've not been that bad!' Lucinda could hear the programmer choking to her left. 'A lot of the nasty things you did, were totally for the good of the company.' There was no way, that Lucinda was going to let her personal feelings about the man, change his mind about leaving. 'Perhaps, they might make you honorary Life President of Zyzzx!'

'No! The break must be clean!' A smile broke across his face. 'But that's a nice thought!'

'So you'll come to the party tonight!' She was now prepared to forget most of the awful things he had done. 'You'll really like it!'

'Yes! I'll come!' The smile was now complete. 'Where is it?'

'It's at this club run by a comedian friend of mine.' She had first met him years ago in Las Vegas, when he had been disastrous as a Cockney comic at a lesser known casino. 'It's called the Strictly Essex!'

Copyright 1999 by Ewart Higgins