Chapter 3

Andrew was at peace the following morning and after a long swim headed back to the College for brunch, a meal he had missed since early in term one. As always he was hungry and so was there as Hall opened but it filled up quickly, Matt the first to come over and sit with him.

“You are never normally here, what’s up?”

After the fifth person asked Andrew that he had to accept he was very much a creature of habit.

“After swimming this morning I was hungry so here I am. I will go to the library once I am done.”

The morning was full of exploits from the night before. Given that Andrew had spent a quiet evening in his room after the afternoon out at the crematorium he had little to contribute to the conversation. In fact he was barely paying attention when Navya caught his eye and nodded towards the door. They walked over towards Burrell’s Field and he waited for her to start.

“How are you doing Andrew?”

“I am fine, how is Rupashi?”

This was not going to be about him.

“Confused and upset.”

Navya sighed.

“I think she feels trapped. Mum and Dad have sacrificed a lot for us and are incredibly proud of what we both have achieved, getting here. They are not overly traditional themselves but the community pressures are real.”

Navya stopped and looked at Andrew.

“You are making it more difficult and easier at the same time you know that?”

He waited, this was her show.

“You are being honest. Friends with some fucking.”

Ouch!

“It is easier to resist that and just stay as friends than if you lied to her. Of course, because you are being honest and nice about all this that just makes it all the harder.”

Navya stopped talking and they walked in silence for a while.

“I don’t think you will be able to stay with us at Easter, I am sorry. I feel bad but I hadn’t realised how much shit it would cause Mum and Dad if you came and stayed.”

That Andrew had realised already on Friday night.

“I had guessed already after talking with Rupashi on Friday night. It is tough for you both, stuck between two worlds. What about you? How are you doing?”

“I am fine, at least right now. I will face some of the same issues in a couple of years but I have time. Ru has to blaze the trail first. Plus I also don’t have the hots for someone three years younger.”

She smirked.

“Be nice to your sister. You know how hard it is to resist me.”

Andrew was already moving out of hitting range.

“I don’t want to make life more difficult for her. I am going to back off and not make it worse.”

He shrugged. Familial expectations, Ara sprang to mind and Andrew smiled ruefully. Different backgrounds, different circumstance but there was no difference between Arabella and Rupashi. There was nothing more to say. Navya was sweeping it under the carpet at the moment but the same issues were staring her in the face. Trinity was overwhelmingly white, there were maybe 10 Indians across all the undergrad classes and only two other people in their year. It was tough for her.

Andrew filled his backpack and headed over to the main Library, already busier than term one. He found a seat and then went down to the bank of phones and called his Grandma. She was delighted to hear from him every week and this call was the reaction to the photograph. Andrew didn’t think she left the flat without it in her handbag, ready to be whipped out at a moment’s notice. She was also a conniving old fox and had set up one or two of the ladies at church. She talked about how her grandson had met the Duke of Roxburghe and several of her ‘friends’ were skeptical. Of course she baited the hook well and waited to strike, letting them dismiss the story as fanciful before producing the photo with a flourish. Andrew listened as she waxed on about it, exactly the reaction he expected when he gave her the photo.

Rather than study at first that afternoon he wrote some letters. Most were not long but Andrew was trying to maintain relationships. The one to his parents still felt odd but he was writing fortnightly just letting them know how he was doing. Suzanne, Leslie, Nikki and Fran, and Maggie and Tony, all got variations of the same letter, although he wrote about what he had done the previous day to Leslie. Andrew also sent a note, as they had asked, to Lord Barnes, now Baron Barnes, and Freya Moray. He was not sure he would see them at Easter, although he may see Freya if she was still in Edinburgh. He hadn’t really thought about the impact on their relationship of Lord Barnes moving to London. Andrew and Pedro had been discussing the trip to Ferrol and thought it would be a chance to see Paris, so Andrew wrote to Manon explaining he would be passing through Paris in late March and would see how she responded. He had been a good host back in the summer and she had claimed he should contact her if he was ever in Paris, so he thought why not? Andrew had no idea whether that was all talk and would be met with silence or whether it was real. Finally he decided to write to Ara. It seemed weak but he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t know whether it would be welcomed or whether he would even get a response but he tried.

Andrew studied late and barely made it back in time for dinner. Helena and Nigel were waiting for him and they dashed across the Great Court and made it just in time. The three of them went to dinner most Sundays now. It was at these dinners that they would talk about the Union or Footlights, a chance to discuss what was happening with more introspection and also to moderately brag. The simple act of getting Helena out of bed in the morning was helping her with her studies and she was enjoying university and doing well in class. She still had no idea what she wanted to do but 1^st year English was going well. She was loving the Union, Andrew could tell by the way that she waxed on about it. The pair of them would sit and wait for her enthusiasm to abate before Nigel would talk about his week. Nigel, after a rough first fortnight, had settled down over the rest of term one and was working hard. He was bitten with the show biz bug and spent a lot of time at Footlights. He was keeping up with his course but his interest and energy were very much focused on the Footlights Club. His enthusiasm for that was deep but unlike Helena he was much more diffident. The contrast between the two of them was stark. After dinner, Nigel headed for the bar whereas Helena indicated she wanted to talk and so they went back to their rooms, changed into warmer, casual clothes and strolled together through town.

“I hear that you won’t be staying with Navya at Easter anymore.”

Wow, the female grapevine was working fast that day.

“It is too complicated for them, and even if they still wanted me to be there, I am not sure their parents would have agreed. Even with me in a separate nanny suite out the back.”

Helena smiled.

“Was this your attempt at widening your options?”

Interestingly phrased.

“I have a lot of friends Helena, Rupashi is still my friend.”

Andrew looked at Helena quizzically.

“I tried and it was awful.”

The sigh was dramatic.

“It was back to being awkward and tentative. And it was over quickly.”

Three for three, good work Helena. Andrew kept his own counsel.

“Say something Andrew. Don’t just stand there all tall and silent.”

“What can I say Helena, kiss a couple more frogs and see what happens. There will be a lot of guys who would love to spend some time with you. What do you need me to tell you? Funny? Yes. Relaxed and commanding in a group setting? Yes. Clever? Definitely. Pretty? Completely. And if they get to lower the zipper on that little black dress then they will know that you are hot and sexy and wicked and wanton.”

“You make it sound so easy. Thank you for all that. I will accept your exaggerations but it doesn’t change the fact that this is hard.”

Andrew smirked and was whacked for his trouble. He really did like abuse.

“Of course it is.”

Helena wanted someone to listen, just as Andrew had done for Rupashi on Friday night. There were frustrations, insecurities and a lot of wishful thinking. They had both fallen into the comfortable place of having ready sex with each other as a fall back. They walked back through Cambridge to the College and saw student life all around them. Restaurants were busy, pubs were busy and a couple of the clubs were just opening their doors. Andrew’s guess was they were both being a bit lazy. When they got to the corridor they said hi to Emma and David as they went his room but closed and locked the door. Andrew then spent a long time reminding Helena that she was a hot and sexy woman. He never bothered trying to do the classic ‘69’ position due to his height, it was either one or the other but not both of them at the same time. So as a consequence he normally was between the thighs of the woman lying on her back. For a change that night Andrew lay back on the bed and positioned Helena above him. With his arm across the small of her back, he could apply more consistent and constant pressure on Helena, pressing her down against his tongue and fingers. It was just a different way to approach oral sex and the first time he had tried it this way with Helena. It was also the best way to start exploring arse play, her rosebud was more accessible, but they had not had any conversation about playing with her arsehole so he refrained from spooking her out. Andrew took what was given, he didn’t just go ahead and grab.

Helena’s first orgasm had been quick but the build-up to the second was longer until she finally screamed into the mattress; Andrew could tell it was Sunday. Helena came hard and was dopey for 15 seconds or so afterwards but she recovered quickly. He was always amazed how she went from wrung out to mischievous in the less than 30 seconds. Blow jobs from Helena were always done so that they could make eye contact. It became a game for her to see how dirty she could make her expression. They both knew the power of imagination and she teased him with looks as well as with her mouth and tongue. Andrew never lasted very long, especially with her go-to look, the look of shocked innocence, ‘I can’t believe you would think that of me that way’, all the while stuffing his dick in her mouth. The smirk of satisfaction, the idea of making him dance to her tune, was present every time. If they planned things better it should be him first then Helena so that they could go straight to fucking but they normally used the refractory period to talk dirty to each other, tease each other and generally act like a couple of goofy teenagers. Tonight Helena was practicing her ESP.

“I thought you might have played with my arse Andrew. The way you had me pulled down on your tongue my cheeks were spread wide.”

She looked at him with an air of studied innocence.

“What? You are becoming a mind reader as well? I thought about it but I didn’t want to presume until we had this talk. For some people it is a sexy taboo waiting to be broken, for others it is unclean and not to be mentioned, never mind touched.”

“A good way of putting it Andrew, a sexy taboo. But also typical you of waiting to talk as opposed to just jumping in. No pun intended. Permission granted to defile me, to ravish and plunder my booty.”

Not only did it make them both laugh it also sparked a resurgence down below.

“Hello, someone likes the idea.”

Helena’s smirk of triumph turned to a shriek as Andrew swatted her arse, playful not sore. He slid out from under her leaving her face down on the bed, a position she was suddenly aware of as he grabbed a condom. Her smirk vanished as Andrew took his two pillows and bodily lifted Helena up and pushed the pillows under her hips. Helena was now face down, arse up lying on his bed. Andrew knelt behind her in the classic doggy position before lowering myself so that he covered her, not squashing her but looming over her.

“It’s all got very real hasn’t it?”

Helena’s face was a frozen mask. Andrew was hard and ready to go and he slipped into Helena’s tight but slick pussy. Just for a second relief and disappointment were on her face at the same time.

“Disappointment? Helena Innes I do believe you were looking forward to being buggered.”

Helena glared at him.

“Instead you are just going to have to settle for being fucked senseless.”

Andrew bounced up, grabbed her slender hips, because of the pillows at a more convenient height than normal, and fucked her hard. Helena was wound up and ready to go. She was too far away to brace against the wall but that didn’t stop her pushing back as much as possible. Her orgasm was a muted, low shaking kind of thing so Andrew slobbered over the end of his middle finger and just as she was cresting he tickled her rosebud. No penetration but her starfish was caressed. She squeaked, squealed and her orgasm re-crested, quite the reaction. Surprise and taboo rather than physical pleasure. Andrew focused on his own pleasure, the sensation of Helena’s pussy and the visual of her lean, tight body all before him. Rather than fight the approaching climax he embraced it and came with a roar, holding her hips tight against him as he felt the pulses of seed fill the bulb. Once again, after a quick clean-up and disposal, Helena was lying on top of him, looking at him intently.

“That is the thing that other people don’t have Andrew, the mental fucking. You are good in bed but it is more than that. I went from smug, to apprehensive, to disappointed, to finally just going off like Vesuvius. All because you called me on my cheekiness and smugness while at the same time just taking baby steps. That is what you do so well.”

She shook her head.

“Can you come over and sleep with me tonight? It is nice to have a warm snuggly bedmate.”

At lunch in the department the next day Andrew was delayed a few minutes and when he sat down the other three were looking far too suspicious.

“You three need to work on your stone-faced look. You all look smug and guilty at the same time. What?”

Andrew focused on Matt, he knew him the best and between the course and OTC he was the person Andrew spent the most time with. But he and Keith looked at Olivia, who unconsciously was biting her bottom lip reminding Andrew of Suzanne. Hmmm. Focus Andrew, focus.

“I wondered what you were doing this weekend Andrew? I have news from Newnham.”

She giggled at her own word play. Andrew looked at Matt.

“You didn’t tell her?”

He shook his head.

“I am going to be running around a cold hard part of Norfolk with 70 of my closest friends.”

Olivia looked confused.

“I am away this weekend with the Army.”

“Blast.”

Just the right length of pause.

“Oh well, your loss. Did you guys figure out the answer to the third problem on the electrical Supervision?”

The three of them took a second to keep up with her jump to classwork.

“Hang on, what news? Don’t just say ‘your loss’ and then change the subject.”

Olivia looked innocent and almost managed to keep the look for two seconds before bursting out laughing.

“I am, how do you say it, fucking with you?”

She looked happy for getting the idiom right.

“You two had told me you would be away and I forgot. A couple of the girls on the team have been talking about you and I was just having fun.”

Matt piped up.

“Cindies, 10.30 on a Tuesday he is always there. There will be four of us so tell them to bring some friends.”

Olivia just laughed and shook her head, although notably she did not reject the idea out of hand. As Andrew sat in lectures that afternoon it once again occurred to him that he was doing nothing and still getting dates. Yes, the very definition of a first world problem. When he got to the hospital it was in complete chaos. There had been a fire, completely minor and quickly extinguished but there had been a partial evacuation and as a result everything was out of whack. The fire had been at 10.50 in the morning and yet at 5.30 they were still behind in getting everything sorted out. Andrew never stopped from the moment he got there, getting things straightened out, collecting laundry since some of the patients had been outside and gowns and pyjamas were dirty. Most of the children thought it was an adventure, something that broke up the monotony of their day. It took until 9.10 before everything was finally settled. Andrew was just getting ready to leave when one of the nurses asked if he would go and talk to one of the older patients, the younger children being asleep for the most part. His name was Robert, although everyone called him Bobbie.