I was being conned. The weird thing about it was that I knew that this was happening and did nothing about it. She even confirmed that she was conning me, and I did nothing about that. I didn’t go to the police and have her arrested because, quite frankly it was the best thing that had happened to me for a long time.
To give this story some sort of context, I will need to go back several years to the end of my life as I knew it.
I was at that time what could be described as a ‘self-made man’. A man who was very successful in his business and, as a result, very successful in his personal life. I was a builder, but not just any builder. I specialised in high-end luxury homes, the sort of home that those people with the money, bought to impress. I gave them good value for money, and my reputation grew as a result. My advertising budget was nil.
I was happily married to Robyn, the girl that I met in high school, and we had two gorgeous kids, Mike who was twelve, and Jess, ten at that time when it all fell apart.
We had planned a family holiday on an island on the Barrier Reef, but I had to stay in Adelaide because of some business problem that was to take up a day of my time. I don’t even remember what it was. Robyn and the kids left on the scheduled flight and I had rebooked to follow the next day.
The helicopter taking them from Cairns to the island resort crashed into the sea, killing Robyn, the kids, and the pilot. It killed my life in the process. I tried to hold it together by plunging into my business. That didn’t work. I ended up selling the company to an eastern states home building company that was looking for a toe-hold in this state. I withdrew from the world as I had known it, politely declining invitations from family and friends. I even grew a beard.
I learned to cook, so my forays out into the world consisted entirely of trips to the supermarket for the ingredients for my culinary masterpieces. If it wasn’t for the demands from the Tax office I would have maintained a neutral cash-flow situation, my only expenses being food, utilities, rates, and keeping my car serviced and on the road. These costs were covered by the interest on my bank account.
For the past five years I had received an invitation to the Building Industry Awards dinner, I had declined them in the past, but this year I decided that I would go. It was time that I returned to the world. I shaved off my beard, bought a new tuxedo to replace the one that I had thrown out with the garbage. A quick look in the mirror before I walked out the door to the hire car, and I was as ready as I would ever be.
“When do you want me to pick you up?” Alan, my driver, asked as we pulled up outside the Convention Centre, the venue for this evening’s soiree.
“I can’t see me staying until stumps (the end of the show, a cricketing term) but you never know with these things. I think that eleven is a respectable hour, let’s make it then unless you hear otherwise. Have you got a card?”
He handed me his business card as I got out.
Although it had been five years since I had been to one of these shows, there were several people that I recognised from back then, and they even recognised me. I was flattered.
The company that I had built from nothing to its pre-eminent award winning status, did not feature in any of the award categories. That saddened me. My feelings of sadness were lessened by the fact that I was not seated at their table. I had been seated at what could be called the official table, one with many of my old business friends who made me feel welcome. They did everything that they could to avoid any mention of my old company, probably because such a mention would have saddened me even further than I was.
I had just come back into the hall from a visit to the toilets when a woman detached herself from a group. “Bryce Harrington,” she had obviously read the name tag that I wore, “I thought it was you, it’s been some time hasn’t it?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t recognise you.”
“I didn’t expect you to. I was not high enough up the food chain to have mixed with you back then. It has been five years after all. You did a very good job of cutting yourself off from the world. I’m Sacha Miller by the way, that’s if you’re interested.”
“You’re a very forward young lady Sacha Miller, but I’m afraid that I’m not interesting enough to be interested in you, or anyone else for that matter.”
“That’s where you are so very wrong. You were successful in tough times when other builders were struggling, because you refused to compromise your standards. You always gave the buyer good, no, make that great, value for their money. There were never any complaints about the standards that you set and maintained. That, to me, makes you interesting.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a business analyst. I investigate businesses to see what makes them tick and, more often than not, what makes them die. Your old company for instance, is on life support. I’m afraid that it has not long to live.”
“I’m disappointed but, to be perfectly frank, not surprised.”
“So, you have been keeping in touch with the world.”
“That small part of it yes.”
“And the reason that you are here tonight is to see if there is anything to be salvaged from the wreckage?”
“You could say that. But I have no intention of wasting any money if there is no hope.”
“There could be hope if you are brave enough.”
“I’m not that brave. I like to research everything before I take the first step, in case there are any little surprises. I have a pathological fear of surprises. I’m afraid that the time taken to repair the damage to my company’s reputation would be more than I am prepared to expend.””
“So, you have never acted on impulse?”
“No. Like I said, I research before I make the move.”
“I don’t think that I can wait that long.”
“And just what do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, just me thinking out loud.”
“Now you really have me worried.”
“Don’t be, the last thing that I would do is to hurt you.”
“That makes me feel better. You don’t hold back on your opinions when you write about something that you think is wrong.”
“So you do read my stuff.”
“Yes, and in the main I find that you at least get your facts straight, not like some of your colleagues.” I looked at my watch.
“In a hurry to be somewhere?” She asked.
“No . . . ”
“Good.”
“But I have a car booked to take me home, and I need to decide whether to change the time of the booking or not.”
“What time is the pick-up?”
“Eleven.”
“Change it. Better still, cancel it all together, you are going to walk me home.”
“I hope it’s not too far, my legs might not be able to cope.” I never intended to walk her home, although, if I were to be perfectly honest, the thought had passed through my mind.
“Your legs will cope just fine.”
I took my phone out and dialled a number. It was answered on the third ring. “Alan, Bryce, how would you like an early night?”
“Is she that good?” I hoped that Sacha couldn’t hear the question.
“You could say that. Put the paperwork through as if you took me home, and go home.”
“Thanks for that and good luck, but be careful.”
“It sounds as if he’s your regular driver, I didn’t think you went out that much.”
“I only met him tonight, but I find that it doesn’t pay to define someone by what they do, but by who they are.”
“And that philosophy is probably why you were so successful. It confirms what I have heard, and read, about you.”
“Don’t believe everything that you read.”
“Not unless it confirms what you already know. What say we get out of here, and you can walk me home?” She grabbed my hand and almost dragged me down the stairs to North Terrace.
It was a short walk, no more than a kilometre, to her apartment building just off Hindmarsh Square, but it took much longer than if I had been on my own.
We paused outside a boutique in Rundle Mall and I pointed to a dress in the window. “You would look great in that little black number.”
“Anyone would look great in that.”
“Almost true, but not if she’s three axe-handles across the arse, and you are definitely not that.”
“You think?”
“I’ll have you know that I’m not blind.”
“And you have good taste in women’s clothes.”
“Something that I picked up from Robyn, she had impeccable taste in clothes.”
“And men.” She saw that I was drifting into memories of my past and hugged me to her. “I can never compete with your memories, and I don’t even want to try. Look Bryce, I like you a lot, you are a great man, and I say that we take tonight as it comes, and if that is all that it is, so be it, no come-backs, no recriminations. What do you say?”
“I say yes to that, but on one condition.”
“And that is?”
“That we don’t start anything that has the potential to hurt either or both of us.”
“You’re on.” We crossed over Pulteney Street into Rundle Street East with its dozens of cafes. Two coffees, and an hour later, we left and walked along Pulteney Street to her apartment building.
Her apartment was decorated in what I would describe as ‘modern chic’, neither feminine nor masculine, sort of asexual. “I don’t know about you, but after all that coffee I need to pee, but I can hold off long enough to let you have first use of the loo. It’s down there, second on the right.” The first door on the right was her bedroom, and when I emerged from my bladder easing sojourn in the loo, I noticed that she had turned down the bed. “Make yourself comfortable.” She patted the bed. “I won’t be long.”
I stood as she came into the room. She put her arms around my waist and pulled herself into me, pressing herself into me, and looked into my eyes. I don’t know whether it was her closeness, my lack of recent female contact, or the alcohol, but there was a stirring in my loins, a stirring that she had obviously felt.
“He’s interested I sense.”
“Whether he can respond to that interest remains to be seen.”
Respond he did, with a little help from her hands caressing him, and her lips on mine. I won’t say that I had a rampaging erect dick, but he was at least making his presence felt.
“Mmm, what have we here?”
“I assume that you know very well what we have, and don’t try to convince me otherwise. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that I am experiencing what is known as an erection.”
“So, what are we going to do about it?” She had already decided on a course of action. Her fingers had entered through the opening created by her sliding the zipper down and was caressing him. If my memory served me correctly, she would feel a similar response if I were to caress her breasts. My memory did not fail me. Another memory came to light after her dress had hit the floor. My finger entered her vagina. “Oh god that feels good.” Her hips pushed forward, forcing my finger deeper inside her. She dragged my trousers and jocks down and her mouth engulfed me. It was my turn to call for god. She pushed me back onto the bed and straddled me, her hips working him deeper inside her until, how can I describe the feeling, years of pent up emotions poured from me, causing her to slump forward onto me. “Oh my god, this is the best, you are so good for me.”
Her body relaxed, and for a moment I thought that she had gone to sleep on me. I cleared my throat. “Don’t move, not yet.” Her voice had taken on a deep husky tone to it. We lay there for several minutes. “I hope that you don’t intend going home anytime soon.”
“It would be very bad mannered for me to get up and go home now. Do you mind if I stay until morning?”
“If you even think of leaving, believe me I would be most insulted and seek revenge. Castration springs to mind.”
“In that case I’ll have to stay.”
“Mmm, good.” She said in that husky whisper.
“I won’t move.”
“Mmm, better.” Even huskier.
“Not even to clean up this mess.”
“What mess?”
“This mess that’s oozing out of your pussy onto me.”
“Not my problem. It can wait, there could even be more before we’re finished.”
There was more, quite a lot more, after all it has been some time since I have been in this situation with a woman. Five years in fact.
I was enjoying a pleasant dream, my hand holding onto a promising erection, when I heard a noise. An apparition appeared at the door, a beautiful apparition, of a young woman, her breasts jiggling slightly, as she came into the room carrying a tray. “Don’t move.” She placed the tray on the bedside cabinet and climbed into bed, grabbing him as she slid under the sheets. More mess ensued. “That was a waste of time.” She said as she took a sip of tepid coffee. “Now I’ll have to make more.”
“Forget it, I’m not in any rush to leave.” I had my finger in her pussy, helping my cum out and causing her to moan. “I think I’ll stay here for a while longer.”
“How do you know that I want you to stay?”
This came as a shock. “Didn’t I perform well enough?”
“You performed very well.”
“What is it then, your husband due to arrive home at any moment?”
“No husband.” She kissed me.
“Then why do you want me gone?”
“Who said that I wanted you gone? Did I give you that impression?” She had a mischievous expression on her face.
“But you asked me how I knew that you wanted me to stay.”
“But I never said that I didn’t want you to stay.”
“Do you want me to leave, and if so when?”
“No, I don’t want you to leave, at least not any time soon. There is one thing . . .”
“And what might that be?”
“If you are here tomorrow morning, you have to come to church with me.”
“I haven’t been inside a church since the funeral.”
“Then it’s about time.”
I had no great desire to go to church, if anything I was ambivalent about the whole thing, but if it meant being with her a while longer, what harm could it do?
“You surprise me.”
“Why, just because I jumped your bones within hours of meeting you? You need to know that this behaviour is not me, it’s not who I am. I didn’t set out to do this, it happened because I thought that you needed a friend. The guys at your table were uncomfortable having you there with them, but they obviously thought that, as they knew you from old, that it was their duty to have you with them. I just had to rescue you from that.”
“For which I thank you. I wasn’t judging you with this church thing. I wasn’t suggesting that there was hypocrisy involved, I haven’t been in a church for ages, but if you are happy there so be it.”
“I’m happy. Don’t get me wrong, I am not religious, I don’t believe that I have to go to church and obey the rules of that church to find some sort of spiritual solace, but it does help.”
“I’ll reserve my judgement until tomorrow. What are we going to do today?”
“First thing is another attempt at breakfast, and then we are going to your place so that you can change, you can hardly stroll around town in your tux now, can you?”
“How do you know that I don’t do that all the time?”
“Because that is a brand new tux. It still has its new smell to it. And you hardly ever leave home except to buy groceries, so don’t try to tell me that you prance around town dressed as a penguin.”
“You’ve got me there. Okay, after breakfast it’s off to mine, but how will we get there?”
“I have a car, and I even know where you live.”
“This is getting creepy. Have you been stalking me?”
“No. I had to investigate you for an article that I wrote about six months ago. That’s when I decided that I wanted to get to know you, and when I saw your name on the acceptances for last night’s show I just had to be there.”
Our second attempt at breakfast was a little more successful, and I soon found myself in her car and heading for my house. She didn’t have to ask for directions and parked in my driveway.
“Nice.” Sacha said as we reached the front door. I opened it and ushered her inside. She did a pirouette in the middle of the Living room. “Wow, you certainly know how to build a house.”
“Thank you. Would you like the ten dollar tour, for you it’s free.’
“Lead on MacDuff.” I led. She was reluctant to venture beyond the Master bedroom with its walk-in robe that was almost empty, and the en-suite that was cluttered with my toiletries. “I bet that this bed could tell a story or several.” She said as she bounced up and down on it.
“I have sworn it to secrecy.”
She held out her arms to me and, after a very brief thought gathering pause, I went to her. Suffice it to say that we missed out on lunch and ordered in pizza for dinner. We had this with a red wine from my dust covered wine rack. I blew the dust from a bottle and rummaged in the junk drawer for a cork screw. Yes it was that old. Fortunately for us it was better than good, and it disappeared quickly. A second, equally old but different, wine followed.
“You wouldn’t be trying to get me drunk so that you can have your wicked way with me, would you?”
“To say that the way would be wicked offends me. I would do nothing to, or with, you that you did not agree to.” I said as I pulled her to me and kissed her with a new-found passion that took her breath away.
“Bed room?” She panted.
“Bed room.” I said, as we headed in that direction.
“Darling . . .” She nudged me awake. “We have to get up.”
“Why?” A reasonable enough question I would have thought.
“If you can remember back to yesterday morning, you did promise to take me to church.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Yes you did. Now we had better get out of this bed, grab a shower, get dressed and head to church.”
“This church of yours, do I have to get tarted up, or is casual good enough?”
“Clean casual is fine. I’m wearing what I wore yesterday, and do you know what?”
“What?”
“I don’t have any clean knickers, and I don’t care, I won’t wear any.”
“I suppose that you want me to go commando as well?”
“You don’t have to, not if you don’t want to that is.” She had her wicked grin on again. “I’d hate to think what the others would say if only they knew.”
“I hope that it’s not too windy, your dress doesn’t have to blow up very far to reveal all.”
“Just think of how many hear attacks there’d be.”
“Are you sure that you want to risk it? It’s okay for me with trousers.”
“We’ll just have to take that chance, won’t we?”
As we drove into the city, Sacha reached for my hand and placed it between her legs. “You’re going the right way about not getting to church, you do realise that don’t you?”
She removed my hand in time for my erection to subside before we got to church. “A couple of things. This is a Uniting Church, so there’s no genuflecting, not signs of the cross, and when the collection plate comes around you put what you can, and not what you have to, it is not a tithe, but a free will offering. If you don’t want to give, that’s fine.”
Thus armed, I sat through the service, and I have to admit it, but I quite enjoyed it. It was certainly more laid-back than those Christian broadcasts that you see on TV with their slick showmanship hiding the fact that the message that is preached has little to do with the teachings of Jesus.
Morning tea was provided after the service and there were people there that recognised Sacha and came over to us. She introduced me as her ‘man friend’, and almost gushed when she told them how wonderful I was. I was made feel welcome in this environment.
After we left the church we went back to Sacha’s apartment. “Well, what do you think?”
“About what?”
“My church. They’re a friendly lot, I’m not all that regular, but when I do go there the people don’t mind that I’ve missed a few weeks. It is a guilt free place, and I like it, it has also help me get my shit together from time to time.”
“When you say ‘get your shit together’, what exactly do you mean?”
“There have been times when I have been really down, there’s usually a bloke involved, they talk to me and gently make me see that it isn’t the end of the world, and that if I needed help, I had just to ask. Did you know that the Lifeline telephone counselling service is run by the Uniting church, in fact they are the biggest non-government social welfare organisation in Australia?”
“Bigger than the Salvos?”
“Bigger than the Salvos.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Not many people do, you see they don’t go around begging for money, and they certainly don’t brag about their achievements, just get on with it.”
“That’s enough of church for one day. Do you feel hungry?”
“Not for food I don’t.” There was that mischievous look on her face again. What began on her sofa ended in her bed by way of the floor. I have never had this much sex at one time before. I began to think that this could be more than just animal passion, and that it could lead to a long term relationship. Dare I hope?
“A penny for them.” We lay side by side in her bed, having both experienced an orgasm.
“I was thinking, wishfully, that I might be falling in love with you. I know that I am older than you, a lot older, but you have made me feel much younger than my chronological age. As for my physical age, we’ll just have to see how I pull up after this weekend. Dare I dream, or are you going to shoot my dreams down in flames?”
She rolled on top of me and kissed me. “If there is anyone who is going to suffer from exhaustion it will be me. I have never been made love to so perfectly and so often in my entire life. Yes you can dream, we can dream of what is to come, and yes you can take that both ways, but there are some things that I have to do before I can commit myself entirely to you. I am going to have to fly to Sydney tomorrow, but I should be back on Friday. I’ll call you when I get in.”
In one way I was sort of relieved because I don’t know how much of this I could manage. On the other hand I’m sure that I am going to miss her something fierce, and I don’t know if I can manage that. “Do you want to drive me home, or should I call for a cab?”
“I’ll drive you, and you can drive me to the airport in the morning. Will it be okay if I leave my car at your place until Friday, or if I’m lucky, Saturday, or if I’m really lucky, Sunday or forever?”
“Be still my beating heart, and get down you rampaging cock.”
“No, leave him rampant, he’ll go down soon enough once we get home.” Was this a slip of the tongue, or was she really thinking of moving in with me?
By the time I had kissed her good-bye at the boarding gate, watched her disappear down the air-bridge to the plane, and waved like an idiot as the plane roared down the runway and into the air, I was certain that she was the one that I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. That is what made what I was about to do so much harder. I was about to investigate her, her background, her marital status, her work, everything. I am by nature a careful man, and, over the past three days I had been subjected to pressures that may, or may not, have been designed to alter that and encourage me to make a decision that would have a negative effect on my future.
I talked to her on nightly basis, and all seemed fine. But the information that I was accumulating made it more difficult for me to maintain my side of the conversation. What saved it from total disaster was when the conversation turned to our love. Yes, I could quite honestly say that I loved her, despite what I now knew about her. I was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt. When our conversation reached that point her spirits seemed to lift, and she became so animated, declaring her love for me in the most XXX rated terms, telling me that she could not wait to see me again.
She called on Friday afternoon to tell me her flight arrival time. “Don’t bother finding a park. Wait outside the airport and I will call as soon as I have collected my bags and I’ll be waiting for you outside the arrivals hall. I’ll be the one waving like an idiot, and yes I did see you as the plane taxied out to the runway.”
“No, I’ll find a park and meet you inside. That way I get to see you minutes sooner. I love you.”
“I love you too. Good-bye my lover, I’ll be with you soon.”
I was waiting at the arrivals gate as she walked up the ramp from the plane. She saw me and her eyes lit up. Un-encumbered by baggage, she launched herself at me, and kissed me as I swept her off her feet in a passionate embrace, that was when I noticed her flinch. “What’s the matter darling, did I hurt you?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s get my bags and get home.” She seemed a little subdued as we waited at the carousel for her bags. I got the feeling that her visit to Sydney had not been a pleasant one. How unpleasant it was became obvious as soon as we got home. She flinched again as I hugged her once we were inside. “All right, something is wrong. I want to know what has happened to you.”
She removed her jacket and blouse to reveal a body whose beauty was marred by some pretty significant bruising.
“Spare no detail, tell me everything that has happened to you.”
“I’m so ashamed for what I have done to you, what I was being paid to do to you. Before you say anything, let me tell you that these bruises are because I have failed miserably in my job, and that is because I fell in love with you. That first night in my apartment, actually it wasn’t mine, but one used by the company, while you were in the toilet, I switched off the CCTV cameras and the microphones. I knew something of your past life, they had a complete dossier on you, but that wasn’t the real you, just some clinical information about how you had lost the plot following the death of your family. As I talked to you I got to see the man inside, the real you, and I just couldn’t go ahead with what they had planned for you. I was to seduce you and under the influence of that seduction, keep you in a state of emotional turmoil, so that when I suggested to you that it would be a good time to buy back your old company, you would agree to the sale. They were desperate for you to take it back because they were in deep financial shit, their suppliers had refused to provide materials and the contractors had refused to carry out any further work until they had been paid for the previous work.”
“I know.”
“You know, you knew?”
“What that dossier wouldn’t have told you is that I never made a business decision unless I had all of the facts at my disposal. Over the past week I have been digging, looking at all that I could find out about you and the financial status of that company. Finding out about you was a little difficult because you are not Sacha Miller. The real Sacha Miller is on assignment in London. “Before you say anything, I don’t care what you call yourself, I have not fallen in love with a name, or a reputation, I have fallen deeply in love with a person.” She tried hard, but still flinched as she hugged me. “I did a search on your apartment and found that it was owned by a building company that shall remain nameless, and it was used at various times as a love nest by one or both of the company’s directors while they were in Adelaide. I don’t know whether you were involved in any of this, and I don’t want to know. What is your real name by the way?”
“Promise not to laugh. My real name is Jane Smith.”
“Well Jane Smith, how would you like to be Jane Harrington?”
“Are you, after what I have told you, actually proposing to me?”
“Yes. You don’t have to answer straight away, I’ll give you all the time you want, I’m not rushing you into anything here . . . That’s long enough, what’s your answer?”
“Please . . . “She looked sadly into my eyes. “Please don’t hug me, but it’s yes.”
“Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, I think that we should have you wounds looked at.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You are not fine. I have only to touch your ribcage and you flinch. I suspect that you have a cracked rib.”
“No, if we go to a hospital they will insist on getting the police involved.”
“I think that the police should be involved. This man should not be allowed to get away with this.”
“Darling man, listen to me and when I’ve finished, if you still want me, I’ll think about it. Shortly after I started working for them, James, one of the Directors and I had an affair.”
“This affair, was it about love and respect, or was it just sex?”
She thought for a moment. “I thought I was in love, but for him it was just sex.”
“So, he used his position to force you to have sex with him?”
“He didn’t actually force me.”
“What would have happened if you hadn’t allowed him to have sex with you?”
“I don’t know, but speaking to other girls in the office, I probably would have been fired.”
“So, by inference he coerced you into having sex with him?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“And if push came to shove, he could claim that sex was consensual?”
“Yes.”
“And this resulted in a daughter.”
She looked at me in shock, how did I know that? “It didn’t last long because he was not about to leave his wife, mainly because she was the money behind the company. And yes, as a result I have a daughter. I was told by both Directors that they would pay for me to have an abortion but I refused. Both made it clear to me that, if I decided to keep her, after she was born I would lose my job if I do not do as they ask. I was not to reveal the affair to anyone, I was not to tell anyone in the office who the father of my child was, just that the un-named father would not accept responsibility for his child, and the affair was terminated. They will continue to pay me as long as I do anything and everything that they ask of me.”
“And that is why you were sent to entice me to agree to buy them out?”
“Yes, they thought that, if it were to be a private arrangement, one not reported to the Stock Exchange, they are a publicly listed company and any buyout would have to be reported, that they could get away with it. They did not want the authorities looking into their financial situation.”
“Because they have been trading while insolvent for the past year.”
“You knew about this?”
“Yes, I have known about their financial problems for some time now. Depressing as it was, the contractors that worked for me kept in contact, and they told me all. Let me tell you that, beautiful, and gorgeous, and sexy,” I kissed her to emphasise each point, “and loving, and did I mention beautiful? Person that you are, none of those things would ever have enticed me to buy back my company. That company is in my past, and I am committed to the future, with, I hope, you.”
It was her turn to kiss me, she held her face against mine, and I could feel a tear coursing its way down her cheek “I can take any beating that I get from them,” she whispered, “Just as long as they leave Stephany alone.”
“Where is she now?”
“With my mother and father.”
“Is she safe with them?”
“Yes. They have left on a trip up the Queensland coast, and have taken her with them, why?”
“I don’t mean to frighten you, but knowing them I wouldn’t be so sure. The way that I look at it, we should play them at their own game.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were supposed to attach yourself to me and keep me in a state of confusion so that I would be susceptible to the suggestion that it would be in my best interest to buy them out, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, we confuse them. We go to the police and make a statement to the effect that you had been assaulted by your boss James, not only that but he raped you. I know that it is difficult to prove that, but coercive sex is the same as non-consensual sex, and that is rape in the eyes of the law. We also let it slip that they have been trading while insolvent, in the eyes of the law that is fraud. The police will want to interview him and then hopefully, charge him with multiple offences. In your statement you mention the fact that he is the father of your child. If he challenges that, you demand a DNA test to establish paternity. Now his wife is going to hear about this and will, in all probability, over-react. More confusion for him. Meanwhile I make enquiries through the Stock Exchange as to the profitability or otherwise of the company. This will reveal the fact what we already know, that they have been trading insolvent. As part of their company strategy, they offered shares to contractors on the premise that, as shareholders they would make a greater effort.
“There are four major shareholders, actually only three, because to support his lifestyle, James has sold most of his shares to his wife. When the news gets out that there are problems with the company, the ASX will announce that trading has been suspended, not that there has been any trading, and the shares will take a huge nose-dive on the strength of the announcement, panicking the other shareholders, who, in turn will demand payment for work done and threaten to have the company wound up. The values of the shares will disappear down the gurgler. James’ wife will probably divorce him and take him to the cleaners in the process. The Fraud Squad will move in and the directors will be charged, and life as they know it will come to a screeching halt. The best part is, that the contractors are prepared to form a company to take over the building company, but not the debt. As there are very few assets, they should get it for a song.”
“Remind me to never get on your wrong side. What I have been thinking over the past few days has nothing on what you have planned.”
“But you haven’t had the person that you love most in the whole wide world beaten to a pulp, have you?”
Her reaction was not what I had planned. With her arms around me and her head next to mine she said in something just north of a whisper. “You are such an amazing man, and I don’t deserve you, so I want you to step back and think about this, about us. Can you say with certainty that you want me, given that I will bring you nothing but grief caused by my life decisions? I have seen these guys and the way that they operate. They use threats and intimidation to get their way, and if that doesn’t work they have been known to hire heavies to persuade others to comply. I do not want to see you have to face that because of me. Ask yourself, do you know me well enough to commit to me for the long haul? I want you to be really sure before we go any further. I do not want to hurt you, I do not want to see you hurt. I should go now and let you think about this.” She turned from me and headed for the door.
She had only taken one step before I caught her. “You are going nowhere. Now you listen to me, I have done nothing other than think about us since I discovered that you weren’t Sacha Miller. I have analysed my feelings for you so many times that I know exactly how I want this, want us to play out. I know that we’ve only known each other for a few days, and many well-meaning people will try to tell us that we are rushing into something that we simply cannot be prepared for, but,” I held her at arm’s length so I could look into her eyes, into her soul, “I know something that they could never comprehend. I fell in love with you the first night that we spent together. Don’t get me wrong, at first I was sceptical, after all why would a gorgeous young woman want to latch onto me, of all men? I figured an ulterior motive, not that you found me attractive.”
“That wasn’t . . .”
“Maybe it was because I hadn’t had a relationship since Robyn died, maybe it was my curiosity, but I decided to see where it went, fully intending to pull out if it got too weird. Something happened between us that night, and I think that you felt it as well, because there was a subtle change in our love making, it had become less mechanical and more personal, spiritual even.”
“So you felt it too?”
“Yes. It was a real, honest to god love. It wasn’t lust, although I have to admit that you are the sexiest woman that I have ever met, and I include my wife in that assessment. But what I think that we have, is something that is meant to be, and the speed that we have become as one with each other has nothing whatever to do with anyone else. Now that I have got that off my chest, I will hold my breath until either you tell me that you feel the same way, or I die. It’s up to you, my life as I know it is entirely in your hands.”
I didn’t breathe for some time, not because she didn’t answer me straight away, on the contrary, her answer was instantaneous, her lips clashed with mine with such force that my teeth hurt. Her arms around my neck held me to her with such force that she must be hurting something fierce, but she didn’t hold back. Forever later she released my lips and I gasped for breath. “Does that answer you?”
“You . . . could . . . not . . . have . . . said . . . it . . . any . . . better.” I managed to pant out as I regained my breath. I took her hand and led her to our bed. I lay down and pulled her down beside me. Actually I didn’t pull her down, she fell down beside me. “I don’t think that sex is necessary for this occasion, I just want to lay here and have you beside me so that I can feel you, touch you, hear you breathing. We do not need to speak, our contact will speak loudly enough for the time being.”
“If you say so.” She whispered to my neck, her lips merely brushing me and her breath sending tingles down my spine. I didn’t know how long I could stand this before capitulating and making love to her.
My resolve lasted around five minutes, give or take, but it collapsed as soon as her hand had found its way into my pants and her fingers wrapped themselves around my rapidly hardening cock. She pulled her jeans down, but not her panties, because she wasn’t wearing any, and straddled me, feeding him into her pussy. “Don’t move a muscle.” She began rocking back and forth on him, sending sensation after sensation coursing through my body. She seemed to know when I was about to come, because she stopped moving. That wicked smile of hers told me that this was going to go on forever. Forever was about thirty minutes, she pushed hard down on me, forcing him as far as possible into her. After he had ceased unloading into her she collapsed on top of me.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Oh yes, and what would that be?”
“I was so sure of us that I have stopped taking the pill. I want your baby.”
“Wow! And I want you to have him or her. One of the things that I missed most of all in my after-life was kids, and I just could not see me ever having that opportunity ever again. Over the past few days I have been living in hope that you would feel the same way about me as I did about you, and that we could think about this step. I’m scared to say this, because it’s the most banal statement that I have ever heard, but Jane Smith, soon to be Harrington, you complete me.”
“Please, don’t ever say that to me again. Don’t get me wrong, the sentiment is great, just find another way of expressing it.”
“How about this. Without you I’m nothing.”
“That’s so much better. Can you believe that some screen writer was paid good money to write that crap?”
“I never thought I would hear myself say this, not with my beautiful love laying here next to me, but come on, out of bed and get your gear on, we have places to go to and people to see.”
“Spoilsport, can’t we leave it until morning?”
“No, if we wait, you will be asked why you waited and didn’t report it immediately. It will be bad enough that you waited until you got here.”
“Because I was scared to report it while I was in Sydney, and before Mum and Dad had left on their holiday with Stephany. That’s why I didn’t report it straight away.”
“Let me get this straight, you say that you, even though you were being paid to do this, that you were forced under duress by your employer, to come to Adelaide to seduce this man, Bryce Harrington, and entice him to buy back the company that he sold to your employer?” The police constable was finding the story hard to follow.
“That’s pretty much it.”
“And that when you failed to achieve the result for which you were being paid, your employer beat you, inflicting severe bruising and fracturing a rib, yet you waited until you returned to Adelaide before you reported this matter. Have I got that right?”
“Yes.”
“But you live in Sydney don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I feel that I need some sort of explanation for this delay.”
I stepped in. “Jane was afraid, not only for her own safety, but for that of her young daughter.” I told him.
“Where do you fit into this picture?”
“Jane and I are in love, we plan to marry.”
“Let me put another scenario to you. When you found out that Jane here was working for the company that bought you out five years ago, you decided that you had the perfect opportunity to get the company back without having to pay for it. All that you have to do is to come up with some cock and bull story about her being sent to seduce you, which by the way lacks any credibility, then accuse her boss of assaulting her, get him gaoled, and the prize is yours.”
“You have a vivid imagination. Your scenario presupposes that I want the company back, which I do not, and that I would use dishonest means to achieve this. If you were to interview any of my old business associates, my former contractors, you will find that I am not only scrupulously honest, but that I am not interested in acquiring my old company when it has not one iota of goodwill left in it. It has been stripped of the reputation that I spent years building up, and which I do not have the will, or the strength to re-build. The prize as you put it, is not worth expending any time or effort to achieve.”
“I find that about as possible to believe as you and her falling in love and making plans to marry in less than a week. Pull the other one mate, it has bells on.”
“So that’s it then? You are not prepared to investigate this complaint?”
“I didn’t say that. I will investigate this, but it will take more than the word of a couple of friends for me to change my mind.” Again he inspired no great faith in his desire to investigate fully.
“I suggest that you begin with the contractors that build the houses for them, and the suppliers of the building materials, neither of whom have been paid for at least six months. As well as that, the advertising agencies and media outlets that have prepared and run ads, ads that were un-necessary when I owned the company. They have not been paid either. Even if I could get the company for nothing, I could not carry the debt burden associated with it, and I am not prepared to spend the money necessary to re-establish the goodwill that I once had. I am too old for this, and have no great desire to place that sort of pressure on my relationship with Jane. That would be dooming it to failure. If you have no further questions, we are finished here.” I stood and held out my hand for Jane. She tried to smile, but failed beyond a slight twitching of the corners of her mouth.
“I knew I was going to be trouble for you.” She said as we drove from the police station.
“You aren’t the problem. That cop has already decided that he is only going to make a token effort before dropping it into the ‘low on the priority scale’ file and forgetting it. We have work to do. The first thing is to contact your parents and get them and Stephany here where we can keep an eye on them.”
“You don’t expect James to harm them in any way, do you?”
“Whenever I began a new construction, I would plan it out in minute detail, scheduling each stage while always having in mind the worst case scenario, sort of ‘plan for the best, expect the worst’. We both have a fair idea what he is capable of, I want to be ready for anything.”
When we got home I asked her to contact her parents to see if they were safe.
“Hi Dad, how are you doing, is Steph giving you any problems.” She had him on speaker, so I heard his reply.
“Steph is fine, as gorgeous as you were at her age. We had a strange phone call from Bill Roberts next door. He told us that James was knocking on our door, and when he told him that we were away, James asked if he knew where we were going. Bill told him that we were working our way up the coast, and then he asked them if they had a little girl with them. Bill told him that he didn’t know. He doesn’t think that James was convinced.”
“Mister Smith, Bryce Harrington here.”
“Are you the man that Jane has been talking about?”
“The very same, I hope.” I looked at her for confirmation. Her kiss confirmed it. “Where are you now?”
“Murwillumbah, why?”
“Good. I understand that you are driving a motorhome. That being the case, what I would like you to do is to drive to Coolangatta tomorrow, check into a caravan park, tell them that you are staying for two weeks, and then go to the airport. There you will find stand-by tickets to Adelaide. Catch the first available flight and lets us know your ETA. We will meet you at the airport.”
“I don’t like the sound of this.”
“Neither do I, but this is the worst case scenario, hopefully it will not come to anything. We just don’t want anything to happen to you or Steph.”
“Take care Dad,” Jane said. “We’ll explain everything when you get here, love you.”
“We love you too, all of us. We should see you tomorrow afternoon.”
I rang Jetstar and made the necessary arrangements. I paid for the tickets using my contingency account, not my personal account. This, because it was a corporate account in a business name that was not linked in any way to me or my previous business, and that used a postal, and not residential address, it meant that it would be a little harder for anyone to trace the source of the money.
Jane and I were standing in the arrivals hall when we saw her father carrying a young girl, and her mother, as they reached the top of the escalators. Jane grabbed my hand and literally dragged me over to the bottom of the escalator. When Bill arrived she took Stephany from him and hugged and kissed her before introducing me to her parents, “Mum, Dad, this wonderful man is my Bryce.” Bill’s hand shot out and I shook it. June leant over and gave me a peck on the cheek.
“We’re pleased to meet you.” June said. “You can call me June, and this is Bill, and this is Stephany, then you have probably worked that out for yourself.”
“Yes, I’ve heard all about her, and how pretty she is, although she could be nothing but pretty, given her genetic inheritance.”
“I’d watch him if I were you Jane, he’s a little too smooth.”
“Don’t I know it, I’ve known him not much more than a week and I’m already having to fight the women off.” She saw the change in her parents’ expression. “Only joking, I’ll never have to worry about that with him.”
She handed Stephany over to me. “Hello, aren’t you a little cutie?” I kissed her forehead. She didn’t try to pull away from me, which was a bonus. It appeared as if I would be accepted by her.
“I almost expected a problem here, because the last man she saw me with was her father, and that wouldn’t have been a pleasant experience for her. I was afraid that she would associate all men with James and his treatment of me.”
It wasn’t far from the terminal to the carpark. In anticipation of this meeting, I had fitted a suitable child seat into my car. Bill sat in front with me, while Jane and June sat in the back, one on either side of the centrally mounted car seat.
Stephany was tired, so Jane put her to bed, we had also bought a cot for her to sleep in and this was in the corner of our bedroom. (I’m surprised how easily that slipped off my tongue, I must really be comfortable with this situation), while I set about arranging dinner. This consisted of me ringing Domino’s and ordering a family sized pizza along with dessert. I drew the line at their drink menu, choosing instead to open a bottle of red wine.
Having tossed the pizza box in the rubbish, stacked the plates in the dishwasher and opened another red, we sat down to watch the evening news. The caravan park manager must have contacted the media, because no sooner had the police arrived, than a contingent of the local media descended on the scene. James did not look a happy person when he was being placed in the police car to be taken to the station. I wondered if his wife had seen it, and if she had, what she thought of it. I would not have liked to be in James’ shoes when he got home.
When it hit the fan James went absolutely ballistic. He somehow managed to get the make and registration number of Bill’s motorhome and began ringing caravan parks, starting with those which he figured they would have reached. He hit pay dirt at Murwillumbah, when the manager of the caravan park, who wasn’t aware of the need for non-disclosure, on being told that there was a family emergency and he was trying to find his father-in-law, told James that they were heading for Coolangatta. Taking a chance on it being the one actually in Coolangatta, he caught the first available flight north.
He arrived the day after Bill, June and Stephany had flown out. Entering the caravan park he walked around until he located the motorhome. That was when it got really weird. He began banging on the door and, the longer he banged and got no answer, the more frustrated he got, and the angrier he got as a result. He was spiralling out of control.
On hearing the commotion, the park manager called the police before walking over to James. “Excuse me, who are you looking for?”
“My father-in-law, the owner of this motorhome, I must find him because there is a family emergency back in Sydney. Do you know where he is?”
“No, he and his wife went out early this morning, I assume that they are doing the tourist bit and going sightseeing, we have a lot to offer around here, you should see it for yourself. Would you like me to give them a message when they return?”
“I’m not interested in your fucking scenery, I need to find them immediately. Tell me, did they have a young girl with them? She would be about a year old, blond hair, blue eyes.”
“I can’t say that I did. Mister Smith was the only person I saw when they checked in, his wife stayed in the van.”
“Fuck! I have to fucking find them now!”
“You won’t find them any faster by swearing, sir.”
“Shut the fuck up and let me think.”
It was around then that the police sirens could be heard rapidly approaching. James rightly assumed that they were coming to the caravan park in response to a call from the manager, and ran towards the entrance and his rental car.
He couldn’t get it started quickly enough and found himself surrounded by police. “Step out of the car sir!”
“What’s the problem officer?” James asked politely.
“Just get out of the car, and leave your hands where we can see them.”
“I’m unarmed.”
“Do as you are told, sir.”
James did as he was told. “Is your name James McRobbie?”
“Yes, why?”
“We have a warrant for your arrest.”
“What for, I’ve only just arrived here, not an hour ago.”
“It was issued in Sydney.”
“What am I supposed to have done?”
“You have been charged with assault causing bodily harm.”
“Who was I supposed to have assaulted?”
“Do you know a lady by the name of Jane Smith?”
“Should I?”
“She was working for you.”
“Oh. I don’t know why she would want to make that accusation against me, I haven’t seen her for some time.”
“So you didn’t see her on Monday last week, at your office?”
“Well yes, but I never hit her.”
“Not there or then maybe, but later at her house, in front of her daughter, your daughter. I’m asking you to come with us to the police station for further questioning. If necessary I will handcuff you, so I suggest that you come quietly.”
What appeared to be a CCTV image flashed around social media. It began on Facebook and spread to YouTube, then to be picked up by the TV News broadcasts. It would be a miracle if James’ wife did not see it. It was not a day for miracles, and within days his world had crashed and burned, along with what had remained of my once proud company. No amount of damage control could save the train wreck.
First cab off the rank was his wife. She refused to bail him out, so he had to wait until his lawyer could arrange that, and this pissed him off. Next she filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. That pissed him off even more. This was after she made sure that he could not get his hands on any of her money. What she couldn’t insulate from his business losses she had hidden so that he couldn’t claim an interest as part of their combined assets. After the creditors had picked through the ashes there was nothing left. James and his partner both filed for bankruptcy, and both their houses, along with the apartments, yes there was more, they each had a ‘love nest’ in Adelaide, disappeared down with the sinking ship because they were all in the business name for taxation purposes. The Tax Office and the bank sold them for little more than the amount owed.
We watched all this on TV. Early on in the piece, the news crews showed an interest in us. The point that Jane, an employee of the now defunct company, was co-habiting with the former owner, did not escape scrutiny. A continuous stream of ‘no comments’ and references to my Solicitor resulted in them eventually losing interest. Bill had become and effective firewall, screening us from media interests, politely refusing the obscene amounts being offered for the ‘real story’ that would be edited beyond recognition before publication.
The real story slowly unfolded through a series of trials. The first was the assault, and unlawful sexual intercourse charges against James. The prosecution had located several other women who had given in to sexual demands on the basis of his ‘sex or your job’ pressure, and the physical evidence of his assault against Jane. We found out that his wife had provided the names of these women to the police. He got five years for that.
The fraud trial followed and he and his partner did not fare well. The charges were proven, and both directors got gaol time, James’ sentence being tacked on to his other sentence.
Bill and June had resumed their holiday trip up the Queensland coast, while Jane and I settled in to our new lives as a happily married couple, complete with our daughter, yes I adopted Stephany at the same time as we got married.
Bill and June came down for the wedding, and were introduced to my parents, Edward (call me Ted please) and Alice. Four more loving grand-parents I have yet to meet.
Stephany, who had begun to walk, was Jane’s flower girl at our small wedding service. Dare I say it, but she couldn’t have been cuter, everyone said so, it wasn’t just me. She had begun to call me ‘Daddy’ and I couldn’t have been happier. After the intimate reception we all went back to our house. Mum and Dad left around midnight. Stephany tried to stay awake but fell asleep around eight despite the noise.
Breakfast wasn’t as late as we had liked. Stephany was awake at her normal time and we had no option but to get up and feed her. June was the next to arrive in the kitchen. “Good morning all. How was your first night as a married couple?”
“Great.” Jane replied, hugging me as I put coffee on. “My wonderful husband and I had a good night’s sleep, eventually.”
“Too much information.”
Bill came in looking a little second hand. “Ted’s and interesting bloke, some of the things that he told me . . . ”
“I wouldn’t believe all that he tells you, especially not about me.”
“But he told me that you’re a great bloke and that he’s really proud of you.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, you can’t believe him.”
“I believe him.” Jane had wrapped her arms around me, “you are the greatest.”
“Your bias is showing.” I kissed her. “Are we having breakfast, or are we just going to sit around crapping on with this rubbish about me?” I was pouring coffee. Breakfast it was.
After breakfast we adjourned to the local shopping centre. We had to buy food, so the supermarket was the first port of call. What followed was a process of me trying to curb June’s spending frenzy. “Stephany would look lovely in this.” She said, holding up a dress that I thought was too ‘girly’, but what do I know.
The afternoon was spent, firstly in discussions about when we would come over to Sydney to visit them, and would we consider a joint holiday in their motorhome, now that they had retrieved it from Coolangatta. It was soon time for them to leave.
Steph was asleep, Jane’s olds had been dropped at the airport, not in that order, and we were in bed. “Have I ever told you what an amazingly wonderful man you are?”
“Once or several times, but don’t let that stop you.”
“This thing,” she said kissing him, “is the icing on the cake.”
“What are you going to do when I’m old and decrepit and can’t get it up any more?”
“If that happens, I’ll just have to live on cake, much as I like the icing, of the two, the cake definitely the most important part.”
She took my hand and placed it on her belly. “Watch this space, my period is two weeks late.”
In the beginning I said that I was being conned and did nothing about it. That has changed, I had been conned and, because I did nothing about it, my life has made a drastic change, a change for the better.