So, I went a couple of weeks between chapters, in part because my creative energy was low but also because I found myself working on chapter 27 and the first side story, which I've also just put in the queue for publishing. So, two Pool Girl pieces in one day.
While chapter 27 has a healthy amount of sex there is none in the side story entitled Under the Pear Tree. It is a reference that regular readers will get from Robert and Melissa's discussions about her summer reading list. I began thinking of Melissa and Lavi outside Robert's perspective, what was their conversation like when Melissa began confronting her feelings for Lavi? The answer took me back to chapter one well before Lavi was added to the story and the result is here. For those of you who like me are both perverts and hopeless romantics this story will appeal purely to the romantic as there is nothing salacious but it warmed my heart to see Laiv and Melissa together as friends before they were lovers.