Chapter 35: Variations on a Theme of Love - Vivace piú mosso

I had taken the day off and on Thursday morning we were at the airport, waiting for them. I was very pleased to see them come out early - first class passengers have certain privileges! Ellen looked tired, but she seemed to be much better off than when she had left, and she was looking for us. Allan was holding onto her, supporting her slow walking. Then Jenny appeared, dressed in a light top and comfortable baggy trousers; she had a light blue cashmere sweater that I recognized draped around her shoulder I turned to Maureen, but she laughed. “I’ll explain later.”

I took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Ellen, we’re so happy that you are back. We’ll make certain that you have everything you want, and whatever you need, just call us.”

I bent down and kissed her lightly and she smiled faintly. “I saw your face when we arrived. Have I really aged so much?”

I looked at her once more and her face showed the strain of the last weeks, but her eyes had still the same shine and amusement. I did not know what to say and she took my hand.

“Don’t lie, James, I know how I look like.”

Shaking my head, I said that it did not matter how much the body aged, but it was more important to see into the eyes and soul of a person, and she was the same Ellen we had started to love and admire. She told me to stop this nonsense; she did not have the force anymore to cry, but pulling me down to her, she whispered, “I always wished I had a son, but now I’m happy since I have you. Now come here and give me a hug!”

I obeyed and she embraced me warmly; it was difficult to explain, but I felt her affection and love, like coming from a mother. I had never had that feeling since my mother had died when I was very young. It was strange, but it was wonderful.

“Maureen and I talked a lot about you, and when Jenny came, this continued. James, you must be a good man to have two women who love you so much!”

I nodded and before I could compliment Allan, had to wipe my eyes. Germans do not cry and there must have been some pollen in the air. He was looking at me - even at this moment dressed in a dark suit, light blue shirt, and a striped tie (military connection?) He was standing straight as if he had not flown for many hours and he had lost some weight, but still he was trim as the athlete he was - almost scratch golfer and runner up in the Sydney Senior tennis championship.

“Welcome back, Sir Allan!”

“James, did you not hear what Ellen said? You’re family now, as Maureen and Jenny, so behave like family.”

“Welcome back, Allan!”

“That’s better, James. Now we’ll head home, but I expect you - all of you - to be tomorrow at our house at five o’ clock for tea and a serious discussion what we’ll do. Do you agree?”

My only reply was, “Yes, sir!” and I smiled. He smiled back and gave me a hug, too.

“James, you don’t realize what you’ve done for us - agreeing that Maureen and Jenny could stay with us, looking after my job so that we could relax - and that improved Ellen’s health. Thank you, son, for everything you and your girls have done for us. We’ll never forget this.”

I did not know where this comment had come from but was proud to hear it.

Finally, I could look at Jenny; she was waiting behind Allan and when she saw me turning to her, a huge smile appeared on her face; she jumped forward, embraced Maureen, and then turned to me.

“Hello, Count de Winter, how are you? Did you miss me? A little bit? A lot?” and she flew into my arms. We did not care what people might think - we just wanted to hold each other and never let go. I believe that Maureen greeted Ellen and Allan, but I did not watch; all I wanted was to feel her in my arms. After a moment Maureen called us back to real life.

“James, people are watching us. Stop it - at home you can kiss her all the time you want.”

Jenny stepped back reluctantly, but with her eyes sparkling, she hugged me back.

“Wait until we are back home, and I can kiss you properly, my love!”

Reluctantly I let her go, but she stayed glued to me; Ellen looked at us, amused by the open love between us. Her face showed more animation now and perhaps with a few nights good sleep in her home she might recover more. She repeated for us to come and see them the next afternoon, but she also wanted us to come on Saturday afternoon and have tea; Maureen agreed immediately. Allan had his driver take their luggage to his Bentley and I took Jenny’s cases to the car we had rented. She had left with one case and came back with three, and a new handbag, too! Maureen had warned me that there might be more luggage than when she went to Cleveland! Then the Bentley left at a stately pace.

I handed my ladies into the limo and when Maureen sat beside me, Jenny pushed her aside.

“Maureen, may I sit with James? Please?” Maureen nodded and when the car started to move, she threw herself into my arms. “My love, I missed you so much! I’ll never be away from you again for such a long so find a way to make this happen!”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Maureen grinning and she winked at me; it was the same complaint she had made a few days ago. Then there was no more time for talk and her lips were glued to mine. She squeezed me with all her force and her tongue invaded my mouth, which I admit quite willingly accepted the invasion. After a while she relaxed and leaned back to look at me.

“James, I didn’t know how much I love you! It was horrible to stay in Cleveland, knowing that you were on the other side of the globe. Please don’t do this to me again! Please? Promise?”

I had the same problem that I had had with Maureen - how could I promise something that was not certain that I could fulfil?

“I’ll try my best, my love, but once in a while I’ll have to travel.”

She nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. “I know, but when you travel, I’ve got Maureen and we’ll support each other, but this time I travelled on my own and I don’t want to do again!” She kissed me once more and looked at Maureen. “We have to keep better control. He has not learned yet what is good for him, and we’ll have to make certain that these things don’t happen again!”

Maureen nodded and blew her a kiss. “Together he doesn’t have a chance, darling” and I started to believe that I really did not have any against these two!

Maureen wondered what Jenny wanted to do now, and with a mischievous smile asked her, “Jenny, I assume that you want to go home at once, or do you want to stop and have dinner?”

Jenny just stared at her, obviously insulted by that question.

“I assume that this means you want to go home. Yes, ma’am, at once, ma’am!”

She told the driver to accelerate, and he obeyed immediately - the car accelerated violently. When we arrived at home, I carried Jenny’s luggage up to the flat; I moaned about the weight, but she shrugged.

“Women do this, James, when they are on their own and the man they love is far away. Shopping is an excellent therapy!”

Finally, we could close the door and Jenny turned to Maureen. “Darling, can I have five minutes with James? I missed him so much!”

Maureen nodded and Jenny came into my arms, hugging me like she would never let me go. She lifted her face to be kissed and somehow the five minutes passed in a second. When I discovered that I needed to breathe to survive and to be able to kiss again, I stepped back and looked at her. I was surprised about the strength of her emotion since she was normally a rather controlled person. It seemed, however, that this time her control had snapped, and she needed the confirmation that I was really at her side. Maureen smiled and nodded.

“James, do what she wants, and I’ll take care of the luggage.”

Jenny was tired; even in first class the comfort is relative, and she was still suffering from the stress in Cleveland. One thing had not changed - the love in her eyes. I embraced her once more and then told her to relax; she was home now. I sat down on the couch, and she planted herself on my lap.

Maureen had already prepared a light breakfast, but Jenny declined; the food on Qantas was excellent. All she wanted was to shower, change, and get back into my arms again. She looked at me. “James, come along!”

She got up and pulled me to the bathroom and stopped.

“I don’t want to work - undress me, James?” I always loved to see her showing her body to me, but this time it was my turn. I pulled off the top and got reaccustomed with her pert breasts; then I slowly drew down her pants and my lips followed my hands. She had redone her little heart over her labia, and I kissed it reverently. Her arousal was visible; small drops glistened already when I pulled her pussy apart a bit and a strong smell of a woman’s excitement filled my nose. She stepped back.

“My love, all I want at this moment is you touching me, but preferably with some soap and water since I haven’t had a shower in almost twenty-four hours. Then you can do whatever you want.”

I turned on the hot water and took off my clothes also, and we stepped into the steaming water. She closed her eyes and murmured, “Do your duty, my love. Wash me, but don’t forget anything!”

I hugged her and set to work - first her beautiful long black hair, then her smiling face, and I must admit that I spent a disproportionate time on her breasts checking every spot to make certain that nothing was forgotten. Her nipples were stiff and when I sucked them into my mouth, she started to tremble and almost fell; a small orgasm had hit her. When she recovered, she pushed my head down.

“There´s one spot that has been waiting for you for a long time, darling. Say hello!”

I followed her lead and when I arrived at her crinkled lips, she moaned. I touched them gently and washed them first with the dutiful attention, but she became impatient.

“Kiss me there, James, I dreamed about this for days; now make the dream come true.”

She opened her legs a bit and I dove in, pulling her outer lips into my mouth and pushing my tongue into her. She yelled, surprised with my move, but then opened her legs even wider to give me better access to her. It did not last long; she shuddered, and I had to hold her close to keep her from falling. Slowly she opened her eyes and smiled. “There’s only one thing missing...” and she stepped back and knelt in front of me. “Hello, George, I missed you. Did you miss me?”

I was stiff already and she stroked my shaft and then took it into her mouth. Licking and sucking got me close to my release and when she finally pushed it down her throat, it was too much for me - I exploded in her mouth and she swallowed several times to keep my juices in her. She looked up to me.

“Now, my love, I can relax. I needed this!”

We stepped away from the water and I dried her off, obviously not without helping myself to some gentle touches on her silky skin that I remembered so well. She was smiling widely and happily and pulled me back to the sitting room. Maureen was waiting for us; she had changed also to a more comfortable little gown, transparent enough to raise hopes of future actions.

“Jenny, you are not dressed yet!”

“Well, neither are you. Any problem?”

Maureen looked up surprised with our attire, or lack thereof. Jenny grinned.

“Maureen, my most dearest friend, I don’t want to bother with fabrics between James and myself. Do you mind? Just for a few minutes, please, then I’ll behave modestly!”

Maureen laughed. “You, modestly? My dear, modesty is certainly not one of your strong points within this family! Outside you are the very picture of proper behavior, but here? Here, thank God, you are yourself, and we adore this!”

Jenny pushed me down and planted herself back on my lap, placing my hand on her breast and leaning her head against my shoulder. Then she started to tell us what she had done in Cleveland, looking after Ellen and Allan, but it was funny (at least to her, but not to me) when a guy wanted to pick her up at the hotel. She had gone shopping and would show us later what she had bought. She talked and talked, and we listened fascinated.

Suddenly she stopped. “James, my love, you don’t have to sit there like a mummy! Maureen told me that she gave you a license to hunt for freckles on her; as far as I’m concerned, I give you one with no limits either on time or on my body.”

She took my hand and folded it around her breast. “Do you see this big freckle? If you want to exercise your fingers a bit, this is the right spot! Or you can try going south? Let your finger do the walking!”

She grinned and continued her stories; how her first-class flight was, how she was cared for by the stewards, that the car was waiting for her at the airport in Cleveland, that the hotel was fine and the restaurant excellent, but that what really had mattered for her was that she had been able to encourage and lighten Ellen’s life a bit.

“You did a wonderful job, Maureen, and I just continued it the next week. I really liked that they treated me like a daughter - it was so wonderful!”

She cuddled back into me, and her voice became a bit strained as I let my fingers do their walking. She stopped for a moment.

“James, this is so nice, but how can I tell you what happened, when you get your fingers into me?”

“That is your problem, darling. Did you not ask me to be more active than a mummy? Did you not tell me to let my fingers do the walking? I obeyed you and now you are complaining? What do you want? What happened to your well-flaunted ability of parallel processing that you’re so proud of?”

She looked at Maureen asking for help, but she only laughed and shook her head.

“You asked for it; now bear it.”

Jenny looked back at me, but I did not show any mercy and continued to tease her clit.

“Well, if you want this, I’ll bear it!” and she closed her eyes, leaned back, and pushed my fingers even deeper. She moved her hips up to encounter my hand and putting her hand on mine, forced it into her. A few fast wriggles and she came on my hand, closing her inner walls around my two fingers and rubbing my thumb on her clit. She went rigid and moaned desperately, but then she relaxed and fell back, pulling my hand off her pussy and placing it back on her breast. Opening her eyes, she smiled.

“That was nice, James. That was very nice. We should do this more often! But where was I?” and she continued her tales. Maureen and I looked at each other and wondered what monster we had created? She was our monster, however, and we loved her dearly.

After a while she came back to Mr. Cunningham’s visit and told me to be careful. Something had happened that had made Allan very upset, but we would have to wait for the next day to hear his story.

I was still curious, however.

“Maureen, you owe me an explanation about the pullover!”

She smiled and said that when she was in Cleveland, she always put the pullover on her pillow before sleeping so that she had something of me close to her; when she had told Jenny about this, she asked to borrow the pullover for the time she was alone. Jenny nodded. “It didn’t console me, but it helped, James.”

Maureen had put a bottle of Dom Perignon into the cooler, and I opened it.

“Maureen, please give me a glass of that champagne. We’ve drunk it here occasionally, but now I got accustomed to it. It’s better than water; a bit more expensive, though.”

I snorted ‘a bit more expensive’? Jenny shrugged. “When I was alone at night in that hotel, I discovered that it calmed me down. I’ll get a case for my flat, so when you come, it’ll be there for you.”

She was quite proud of herself! Maureen laughed. “Jenny dear, you’ll have to make a lot of overtime, but I agree, it is quite agreeable.”

She came back to Ellen.

“James, I wanted to help and stay with Ellen and Allan, but the sacrifice was great! You don’t know how much it cost me! At least I could talk to Ellen about you and what I felt. Your ears must have been ringing all the time! James, Ellen was like a mother to me; she listened, she gave advice, and she was very patient with me, even when I could not stop talking about you. She’s a very warm person and I like her a lot; not like I love you, obviously, but I really do like her a lot. She seemed to be the mother I never had, James, and I’ll do everything I can to help her in this horrible position. May I, please?”

I kissed her. “Jenny, my love, you don’t have to ask my permission to help other people - I expect this from you. And funnily enough I felt something similar when she embraced me this morning; it seems that we have expanded our family.”

I could only agree, as they were dear to me also.

She leaned against me and closing her eyes, said, “Now I’m whole again, darling. I needed this.”

She cuddled herself into a comfortable position and looking at Maureen, asked, “Maureen, my dear, I will not do anything today. I shall relax sitting on James’ lap and do nothing. I promise that the following days I’ll do anything you want, but today I just want to be close to him. Please?”

While we were finishing the bottle, she told us about Honolulu and even in the short time she was there, she had already worked on the organization of our sales meeting trip to Hawaii, and how nervous she became the closer she was coming home.

“My love, it was wonderful to see you there, waiting for me, but I understand that you had to welcome Ellen first. If it ever happens again that I’m travelling without you, I expect you to wait for me with flowers in your hands and no other people will be there - just I and you! Not that this will ever happen, but remember this, James!”

I promised this and she leaned back into my arms, happy and satisfied.

Lunch was coming up and we decided to go out - obviously she wanted to go to Luigi’s. I was getting tired of his publicity-seeking stunts with us, the menu that seldom changed and the endless discussions on wines. I had told Maureen about this, but it was Jenny who suggested it and Maureen looked at me and nodded her head, so off we went. It was as I had expected and feared and at the end of the lunch, I took Luigi aside and told him for the last time that if he wanted to see us again, he had to stop this exaggerated treatment. He was upset, but I told him once more - not again. He knew me and finally, accepted my decision.

The next afternoon we visited Allan and Ellen; everyone changed into proper clothes; the ladies with nice blouses and tight short skirts, I with my blazer, a light blue polo shirt and grey slacks. I must say we looked very nice, and my ladies were gorgeous as always. They wanted the Porsche and I saw more of Jenny’s thighs than she intended (but I wondered why she took such a long time to get into the car).

Allan’s house was in West Sydney, an affluent suburb. It was not huge, but it was well maintained. Two lions guarded the entrance to the garden with a small plot of well-cut grass and some bushes and shrubbery; these seemed to lack water and pruning. I rang the bell and soon Allan opened the door, wearing his proper dark suit with a dark tie.

“Welcome back to our home, and please consider it as your home also. I want to repeat - you are family and there are no formalities.”

Maureen stepped up and gave him a kiss and Jenny was immediately behind her. I looked at him.

“No kisses from me, Sir - oops ... Allan. Your wife however...?”

We stepped in and I remembered the very comfortable English home - deep leather chairs, a coffee table with picture books, a sideboard with photographs of the two and a young lady who must have been their deceased daughter, a cupboard with fine bone china and exquisite glasses, a deep dark carpet that looked like an antiquity, windows that looked over the Bay and flowery curtains. It welcomed us and when I looked at Ellen’s smiling face, I was at home. She was dressed in a white, embroidered blouse with a cameo brooch at her neck, and a long, dark skirt. She was sitting in a chair, and it must have been difficult for her to stay up, but she received family - noblesse oblige.

“James, come here and give me a hug!” I did so, embracing her gently and brushing her cheek with my lips. “Come on, James, you can do better than this!” I looked at Maureen who nodded smilingly and leaned forward, this time kissing her cheeks. “Now, this is better. An old woman needs to feel the affection of a handsome young man!”

“Ellen, you are not an old woman; you are a wonderful, beautiful lady who I would be honored to escort anyplace as long as if your husband allowed it, naturally.”

She laughed and grinned at Allan. “You see, husband, I still have my admirers. You better stand up and be present to protect me from them!”

Allan laughed and replied that he would allow me to escort Ellen to any event she wanted to go to, but only over his dead body. “I like you, James, but I love her!”

There was a moment of silence and then we started again, and Ellen took the initiative.

¨Maureen, please go and get the china from the kitchen, and you, Jenny, please help her getting the finger food. Allan, you can pour the tea and James will sit beside me and flirt with me. Can you do this, dear?”

It was like a family Sunday afternoon tea where mother distributed the obligations. I sat on the couch beside her chair and complimented her on her home.

“Ellen, I have rarely seen a house that welcomes you so warmly and makes you comfortable; this must be your influence. Comfortable is not enough to describe it, but you, Ellen, you radiate affection and love when we see you.”

She touched my cheeks and Allan coughed. “James, you have not seen Ellen when she is angry. Beware!”

I looked at her and somehow was touched in my heart. “Allan, I will take that chance every time!”

They both looked at me and then at each other; he nodded and smiled. “James, go on this way and you’ll go a long way in this house!”

We sat at the table that my two ladies had set and for a while the conversation was about Australia, the economy and mutual friends. Then Allan received a glance from Ellen, got up and asked me to accompany him. We sat at a side table, and I saw Ellen taking Maureen and Jenny under her wings.

“James, I want to discuss what is going to happen. As you probably imagined, I’ll resign from the company to take care of Ellen. I’ve spoken with Bill and recommended that the position should be offered to you. You’ve done an outstanding job and I’m completely confident that you’ll lead this company forward. He agreed with me, but then something happened. The success we had this year threw light on the potential we have and suddenly the Chairman put his nephew into the discussion. He’s one of these Texans who believe that they are better than anybody else and treats his staff that way. He’s not completely bad, but his people don’t like him, and ... but he’s the nephew...”

He was visibly upset and even a bit angry.

¨It seems that a decision has been reached to appoint that guy against my strong recommendations. They will offer you a good HQ position as compensation or you can stay as Director of Marketing in Australia. I don’t know what to say; they created a good HQ position for you, and it will be a promotion, but it’s an internal job - Planning and Strategies, and you lose your contacts with people outside the company. I also know that you don’t want to leave Australia and your family, and we’d also like to keep you close. This guy, however, has a very mixed reputation - he has been successful in other companies around the world, but there was always a bad smell when he left - and his successors needed years to clean up the mess he created. But again, he’s the nephew of the Chairman, and that counts at this moment.”

He shook his head, showing disappointment and a bit of sadness in his eyes.

“I know that you have options; I have heard enough rumors that you have good job offers and that Mrs. Monahan wants you to come to Brisbane and run NT. So, it’ll be your decision, and we, Ellen, and I, will behind you whatever you decide. You don’t have to decide now, as they will announce the appointment at the Regional Sales Meeting, where you’ll give the keynote speech. You’ll want to discuss this with Maureen and probably with Jenny also; the way the three of you are connected is something quite extraordinary.”

He looked at me with affection.

¨Ellen and I discussed this in Cleveland - you are amazing people. Jenny is frighteningly intelligent and organizes everything; Maureen is the emotional backbone of your group; and you, son, think out of the box, heal, motivate, lead, and decide strategies and direction. If as people you are different, as a group you are something else, each complementing the other. As long as you trust each other and stay together, you’ll always be successful.”

He got up and I looked at him as he walked away; this was the second time he had called me ‘son’. I liked it, but what had happened? We returned to the table, where Ellen was trying to teach Maureen to knit a pullover. All were laughing and looking at the way the needles and the yarn had crisscrossed each other, I could assume that she needed a lot of practice. Allan and his wife exchanged a glance that said everything. I wondered when Maureen and I would have the same capacity to say everything without saying a word.

Ellen put her needles down and told Maureen to stop; it would take her time to unravel the mess and perhaps she would be more useful getting more tea? Maureen was upset; when I glanced at her, she snapped. “This is not so easy as you think!”

I smiled and she handed the needles to me. “If you believe that you can do, why don’t you show me?” and turned away to the kitchen.

I looked at the needles in my hands and smiled. “Superior intellect, my dear. German superiority!”

Maureen stopped and challenged me. “Show me, my dear German husband. Show me your superiority!”

Everyone looked at her, because we were not used seeing her in a bad mood, but when Ellen said that men could not do everything, I accepted the challenge. I unraveled the yearn, placed the needles in the right position and to make it a bit more suspenseful, asked Ellen, “Any particular way to hold these or could I just copy your moves?”

She told me to go ahead, and I started to knit the first row, turned it around and got the second one, and so on until there was a square of perhaps twenty centimeters wide. Asking Ellen whether she wanted me to introduce a pattern with different colors she smiled and said it was enough; I didn’t need to show off.

Maureen looked at me with suspicious eyes. “Where did you learn this?”

I teased her, “I was looking at Ellen and at you and I learned from her proficiency and from your mistakes.”

She looked at Ellen and with a very quiet voice asked whether she was forgiven if she hit me; Ellen nodded, but recommended that she do this at her home, as it might be more fun there to kiss it good again? She blushed and when Ellen added that perhaps Jenny might join the fray, she blushed, too.

It was good fun and when I saw that Ellen was getting tired, I looked at Maureen; she nodded, and we said goodbye. Both repeated that we were family and that we were expected to come back the next day and stay with them whenever there was an opportunity. I received another little kiss from Ellen and a handshake from Allan and off we went.

Maureen was quiet - she was still upset and when we closed the door to the flat, she turned on me.

“German superiority - bullshit! Where did you learn this?”

I was surprised to hear her cursing; she had never done this before. She really must have been upset.

“Maureen, my love, I grew up in a lonely house and one of my aunts tried to interest me in handicraft. It did not work out, but I still remember the moves.”

She turned to Jenny who was amused, observing us, “What should I do with him?”

Jenny replied that one option was to hit me and then kiss it well and if she was going that way, she would join enthusiastically. Maureen went through her decision process - analyze, decide, execute, and then hit me solidly on my chest.

“This is for teasing me - German superiority, hah!”

Then she came forward and hugged me, “If you promise me not to tease me again, I will not hit you again! OK?”

I shook my head. “I can promise you that I will tease you again many times, but in the future, I will run away faster!”

She decided that it was still early and that we should sit down and discuss our future, but first we had to change. She took Jenny by her hand and pulled her into the bedroom; looking at me, asked me to put on a robe, put a bottle of good chardonnay on the table and play one of my classical CD’s. I did all this and sat down waiting for them.

It was the wonderful sight that I always enjoyed when they re-appeared; dressed or undressed, they were always beautiful and this time they selected those little pieces that tried to hide, but never succeeded. Jenny was in her standard pullover with the always increasing big holes in front and Maureen in her little baby doll that started at her nipples and stopped before her pussy. They joined me, lying down in their favorite positions with their heads on my lap and my hands on their breasts. Jenny asked me to tell them what Allan had said, and I repeated the message.