Part One Hundred And Ninety Five
As Karen drove to the airport to meet George's plane late on the Friday afternoon, she couldn't help feeling a certain level of excitement at the prospect of seeing her again. She was well aware that things would probably have changed a great deal with George, but that didn't mean that Karen wasn't looking forward to seeing her again. Karen had done nothing but sunbathe, swim and sleep for the past two weeks, and she knew it had done her good. She'd barely spoken to anyone, except occasionally to Yvonne when she'd phoned, or to George when they'd arranged when she would come out here. She'd shopped for food in the local market, the beautifully ripened fruit and the freshly caught fish having provided her diet for the last fortnight. She'd gotten used to driving on the right side of the road, moving Yvonne's air-conditioned car through the nearby towns and tiny fishing villages. She'd walked along endless sandy beaches, swum far enough out to sea to make her almost lose her sense of direction, and she'd enjoyed every minute of it. The time to herself did occasionally give her too much time to think, but this had also allowed her to begin trying to make some sense of the last couple of months. She hadn't in any way completed the grieving process she must go through over Ross, but she reflected that she was now perhaps more able to deal with it. She hadn't progressed in any way through many of her feelings of hurt or anger over his death, and she knew that it would all be waiting for her just as soon as she returned to England. But these last two weeks had permitted her to put most of it aside for a time, to regather her strength for the toil ahead.
As she stood beyond the barrier, and watched George walk towards her, carrying a simple holdall as she was only staying for a couple of days, Karen couldn't help but think that she looked happy. Gone was the worry and concern that had lingered in George's eyes, every time she'd looked at her, though there was a slight wariness about her, telling Karen that George was a little unsure of what this meeting might entail. When she finally stood in front of Karen, George gaped. Karen looked rested, healthy, and incredibly tanned. "Good god," She said in amazement. "You're so brown you could almost be reclassified." "You're not looking so bad yourself," Karen told her, giving her a hug and kissing her cheek. As they walked out to the car and drove to the villa, they didn't talk about anything deep and meaningful, both aware that this would happen only too soon. "You look as though you feel at home here," George observed, as they drove up the long coastal road to the villa. "Yes, it's funny, but I suppose I do," Karen replied. "I kept drifting over to the wrong side of the road for the first couple of days, but you get used to it pretty quickly." When they pulled up in the driveway, and Karen led the way inside, George couldn't help but be impressed. "Well, next time I have a client who needs to do some pretty swift money laundering, I'll tell them to take Yvonne's advice," Was her dry observation, as she took in the beautifully decorated interior, the tiled floors that would be cold on the feet, and the terrace and swimming-pool that lay at the back. After Karen had poured them both a glass of chilled white wine, they sat out on the terrace, the late afternoon sun having moved round a bit, so as to afford them some shade. "So, how are you really?" George asked, taking a swig of her wine and then lighting a cigarette. "Oh, I'm all right," Karen said a little evasively. "I've done sod all apart from sleep, so at least I might have some energy when I go back on Sunday." "You're coming back with me?" George asked, not having been aware of this till now. "Yes," Karen told her simply. "That's why I asked you to come this weekend, to make me come back. I might have had the longest rest imaginable, which has definitely done me all the good in the world, but everything will still be there waiting for me when I get back. It would be far too easy just to stay out here for ever, to live in a sort of contented limbo, far enough away so that everything can just go on without me." "Darling, that doesn't sound like you," George said in concern, for the first time wondering if two week's solitude had been the best idea after all. "No, I know it doesn't," Karen replied, lighting her own cigarette. "So, I thought that if I have to go back when you do, I won't be able to find an excuse to stay. I haven't dealt with a single, bloody thing while I've been out here, but perhaps now I'll have the energy to do that when I get back." Laying a hand over the one of Karen's that wasn't holding her cigarette, George gave it a squeeze, understanding everything Karen had said. "Everyone sends their love," She said, trying to lighten the conversation a little. "I talked to Nikki just yesterday, and she said that everything's ticking over just fine." "I had to resist the urge to phone her for the first couple of days," Karen admitted sheepishly. "I'm more than a little intrigued as to what Nikki came up with, as punishment for Sylvia." "Ah," George said with a broad smile. "Then I think you will be highly amused by that particular turn of events. Nikki told me to tell you, that Sylvia has been put on a year's probation, and is being supervised by Gina." Only just managing to swallow her mouthful of wine in time, Karen laughed, a sound that George hadn't heard out of her in far too long. "That is truly inspired," Karen said approvingly. "She'll make a Governing Governor in the next five years with an attitude like that. God, I bet Sylvia's been cursing herself to hell and back in the last fortnight." "She thought that might cheer you up." "George, tell me what's been happening with you?" George had been about to take another sip from her glass, but put it back down on the table in favour of trying to get her brain into some semblance of order. "I'm not sure how much you want to know," She said evasively, not entirely meeting Karen's gaze. Reaching forward, Karen gently tilted George's face up to hers, so that they were looking straight into each other's eyes. "I want to know everything," She said, without an ounce of hurt or anger anywhere in her tone. Gazing back into Karen's soft, hypnotising blue eyes, George found a few tears rising to her own eyes, but tried not to let them fall. "I'm sorry," She said, feeling such a complete cow for doing this to Karen. "George..." Karen tried to say, not wanting her to feel like this. "No, please just let me say it," George interrupted. "I couldn't have done this to you at a worse time, and I wish with all my heart that I hadn't had to do it, I really do. You mean an awful lot to me, and you always will do. I won't ever forget what we've had together, not ever, no matter who else I might be with. If you still want to know everything, then I'll tell you, because it probably wouldn't do me any harm to talk about it, but I don't want to do that if it will hurt you." "George, look at me," Karen said gently, taking George's hands in hers. "That's the last time I want to hear any hint of an apology from you. I've barely spoken to anyone over the last couple of weeks, which has been fantastic, but it's given me time to think. Not about Ross, because I haven't yet summoned up the courage to do that in anything resembling a pointful fashion, but I have thought about you, and about why you ended up feeling the way you did. So please, enough of the sorries, because they're not necessary." "All right," George acquiesced quietly. "We did tell John, or at least I did. God, I swear that was one of the most nerve-racking evenings of my life. He was a little confused, a little hurt that we'd taken so long to tell him, and I think he's still getting used to the idea." "Have you slept with her?" Karen asked with a soft smile, thinking that George's level of neuroticism must have been going through the roof. "You know, that was virtually the first thing John wanted to know." "Hey, I'm simply curious to know whether or not you've passed on my expertise," Karen said with a perfectly straight face. When George realised that Karen was playing with her, she laughed. "That's one way of putting it, I suppose. John couldn't at first get his head round the fact, that how we felt about each other wasn't exactly a recent occurrence, and yet we hadn't got around to sleeping with each other." Karen was incredibly curious to know just how long this had been going on, but she didn't want to plunge them both back into the territory of hurt feelings by asking such a question. "I slept with her last weekend," George told her eventually. "And?" "And, it was fabulous. The first time you slept with me, did you find it utterly mind blowing, to initiate someone like that?" "Yes, I did," Karen told her fondly. "It gave me a sense of achievement that I hadn't felt in a long time." "I felt so special, that she'd trusted me to do that for her." "That's pretty much what I felt like with you," Karen agreed, remembering just how on top of the world she'd felt after making love to George.
Back in London, John had returned from the opening of the new session of judge's seminars, and had driven straight over to Jo's, knowing that she was cooking him a meal. George was in Spain by now, and John was looking forward to a weekend alone with Jo. She'd seemed happier this week whenever he'd spoken to her on the phone, and he had a sneaking suspicion as to why. It wasn't impossible that as their relationship was now out in the open, George and Jo had finally got around to sleeping with each other. Last weekend would have been the perfect time, because he was away and couldn't possibly have disturbed them. When Jo let him in, there was a new light in her eyes, something shining out of her that without a doubt confirmed his suspicion. "You're looking pleased with yourself," He said when she'd kissed him long and hard. "Hmm, I suppose I am," She said, wholly unable to keep the smirk off her face. "Actually, you look like the cat who got the cream," john said, piercing her with his unflinching gaze. "Ah, well," She said with satisfaction. "When the male cat's away, the females will play." John laughed. "Is that right," He said, holding her from him and scrutinizing her. "Well, it seems to have done you good." "I do realise that you've just driven back from Warwick," She said speculatively. "But I've just put dinner in the oven, and it will take over an hour to cook." "Sounds perfect," He said, immediately understanding her meaning. But when they were lying in bed, their hands following their old familiar paths, John could sense something different in her. "Can I make an observation?" He said into her hair, his hands roaming her silky soft skin. "As long as it's complementary," Jo replied, though thinking that it wouldn't be in John's nature to be otherwise at the moment. "You're different tonight, I can't explain it. It's almost as if you're the Jo I used to make love to, before you became pregnant." Stopping in her insistent caresses of his skin, Jo touched his cheek, making him look at her. "I think that's because I am," She said quietly. "John, sleeping with George, it did something to me, something I really didn't expect." As she began explaining the way she'd felt on reaching her second orgasm with George, a whole host of feelings rose up in John. He had often wondered over the years, if Jo's termination had led to her putting a subconscious restraint on her sexual urges, but he'd never discussed his thoughts with her, because he hadn't wanted to bring up what was for both of them, a very difficult subject. He had got used to the more reserved Jo, and would never have loved or fancied her any less because of it. The way Jo had always kept some of herself from him, had possibly made him be more cautious with her, as though he were trying to respect the woman she now was, compared to the one he'd once known. But who would have thought it? Who would have thought that after all these years of Jo not being willing to really let herself go, George had been the one to achieve something he'd been trying for half his life. "I think she's performed a miracle, if she did but know it," John said, the surge of emotions almost swamping him. "I did tell her, when it happened," Jo replied. "I think it made her feel quite overawed." "I'm not surprised," John said ruefully. "But I'm so happy, Jo. I always thought that it might be something like that. I didn't ever consider saying so, because I knew that it was partly my fault that you ended up feeling like that, and I didn't know how to put it right." "John, as unbelievable as it sounds," Jo tried to soothe his scattered wits. "I don't think any man would have been able to do it. I think it needed a woman, because sleeping with a woman is so different." "I do hope that I don't become entirely surplus to requirements," He said with a smile, though Jo could hear the seriousness of his fear in his tone. "Of course you won't," She said, beginning to kiss him again, and getting him back onto familiar ground. Their lovemaking was furious, rapturous, every feeling being laid bare for maximum consumption. No barrier remained between them, and no words were left unsaid. "I do hope George isn't better than me at this," John couldn't help saying, as he swiped his tongue over Jo's clitoris. "Different, not better," Jo told him between gasps, immediately halting John in his tracks. "She really did this to you?" He asked, wishing he'd been there to see it. "You don't need to look quite so surprised," She said with a smirk at his expression. "I'd give anything to see that," He said in awe. "I'm sure you will, one day," She tried to placate him. "Though probably not any time soon. I want to improve my skill a bit on both of you first."
On the Saturday morning, George woke to find that Karen was no longer lying beside her. They'd found it easy enough to share the same bed on the Friday night, knowing that it would have felt unnaturally distant to be separate from each other, even though they were no longer lovers. Pulling herself out of bed, George wrapped a towel round her, and walked outside to see where Karen might be. Finding her in the swimming pool, she stood and watched, as Karen's toned body moved swiftly from one end to the other. She looked as though she'd been doing an awful lot of swimming over the last couple of weeks, and George would bet anything that not all of it had been in the safety of the pool. When Karen turned for her last length, she saw George watching her. When she at last got out, she looked a little breathless but happy. "Try it," Karen invited, picking up a towel and wrapping it round herself. "It's the perfect way to wake up." "Yes, well, even though I knew I was coming over here for two days in the sun, I forgot to bring a bikini," George admitted disgustedly. "That doesn't matter," Karen replied, briefly touching George's bare shoulder. "No one can see you. Well, no one except me, and I've seen it all before." Leaving George in a slightly stunned silence, Karen went inside to take a shower. Thinking that the water looked far too cool and inviting, George took Karen at her word, slipped off the towel and put it on the sun lounger, and approaching the edge of the pool, slid into the beautifully refreshing water with a groan of content. She lost all track of time as she moved through the water, her shoulder length hair streaming out behind her. She often went swimming at home, because other than sex, it was the most pleasurable exercise she had found. But the confines of the far too warm pool at the leisure centre, was nothing in comparison to being outdoors, and having the pleasantly cool water sliding over her entirely naked body.
When Karen emerged from her shower, putting on a clean bikini ready for sunbathing, she went back outside to find George still in the water, looking more beautiful with every moment that Karen stood and watched her. When she swam to the side and looked up at Karen staring down at her, Karen grinned. "You look like a mermaid," She said, pointing to George's hopelessly tangled hair. "Except that I have two legs rather than a tail," George said dryly. "Would you like some breakfast?" Karen asked her. "You know, for the first time in my life, I'm actually hungry at the thought of breakfast." "Swimming always does that," Karen said as George pulled herself out of the pool and reached for her towel, giving Karen a brief but unforgettable display of her naked body. When George sat down at the table on the terrace, Karen brought out some melon and strawberries that needed eating up before she left tomorrow. They'd eaten fresh salmon the night before, that Karen had picked up from the market, along with a succulent salad and followed by the strawberries, of which half were left over this morning. They drank fresh orange juice and iced coffee, and afterwards George went inside for a shower, emerging some time later to find Karen lying on a sun bed and reading a book. Slipping off the towel she was wearing, George perched on the edge of a sun bed and picked up Karen's bottle of sun cream. When she'd plastered some on her fair skinned arms, Karen looked up and said, "Do you want me to oil you?" Thinking that this was probably playing with fire, George agreed, and lay down on her back as Karen approached. Karen also knew that she shouldn't be doing this, but George lying there in all her naked, unselfconscious glory was simply too good an opportunity to miss. After applying a good coating to George's legs, Karen moved onto her thighs, massaging the cream in as she went, instantly making George realise that she never should have said yes to this. Karen's touch was so skilful, so arousing, that George had to bite furiously down on her lip, to prevent herself from gasping at the feel of Karen's hands on her. Glancing up at her, Karen smiled when she saw George's reaction to her ministrations. "You'll have no lip left if you keep doing that," She said silkily, her tone of voice making George almost shiver with the intensity of the rush of remembered feelings. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?" George asked, her voice not completely steady. "Do you want me to stop?" Karen asked her, entirely prepared to if this really wasn't what George wanted, though Karen thought that if it hadn't been, George wouldn't have allowed Karen to touch her in the first place. "I, er, I'd rather you didn't stop," George told her, a little shame facedly, as Karen began working the sun cream into her torso, her fingers sliding languidly over George's prominent ribs. But as they slid silkily over her breasts, George laid her hands over Karen's, just for a moment holding them in place, her eyes begging Karen to continue. Karen was sitting on the edge of the sun lounger by this time, her hands gently smothering the cream into George's soft breasts, using the softness of her fingers to graze the painfully erect nipples. Adjusting her position, Karen was now lying next to George on the thoroughly accommodating sun bed, her left hand continuing to caress George's breasts, while her right arm went round George to hold her close. Keeping her eyes fixed on George's, to make sure that everything she did was wanted as much as George said it was, Karen trailed her oily hand down, until her slickly covered fingers where seeking out George's even slicker centre. George couldn't believe how incredible this felt, to have Karen's sun cream covered hands moving on and inside her like this, and being out in the sunshine into the bargain. They didn't exchange so much as a word as Karen did this, and neither did they exchange a kiss. Kisses were for lovers, whereas touching could occasionally be something between friends, at least this was how George was reconciling what she was doing, with what lay back home waiting for her. She cried out as she came, knowing that nothing she'd ever done had ever felt so wickedly decadent, or so utterly sinful. Karen lay with her for a short time, softly watching George's face, and only when George's eyes drifted closed did she gently disentangle herself. As she slid quietly into the cool, still water, she reflected that this was just as good as a cold shower. Karen was utterly overwhelmed by what she'd just done, as it certainly wasn't something she'd planned to happen this weekend. She just hoped that George wouldn't regret it, because they had more than enough obstacles to encounter some time today, without making the morning's activities one of them.