Chapter 4

Jamie Conner was fishing in Lake Muskoka from his dock for a lazy afternoon. In the background, his radio played soft classical music from Canada’s national radio station. He had only a few nibbles and hoped to catch something for his supper. He was not a real fan of classical music. However, he had been told by a friend that the fish liked it. Although Jamie was not entirely sure he had a practical joke. Meanwhile, far away across the water was the low drone of motorboats crisscrossing the lake.

A slight tug on his fishing line attracted his full attention as he was sure he had a fish on his hook. Jamie began to reel in his first catch of the day. Slowly, slowly he wound the line. Now he could see a flash in the water as the fish twisted and turned on the line. Jamie reeled the fish in faster, got it onto the surface of the water, and trailed it towards his catch net.

Then, the drone of a motorboat became louder and louder until it was beginning to drown out the sound of the classical radio station. Jamie looked up and saw a speedboat heading straight for his dock. “What the...?” Jamie thought to himself as the motorboat was almost right at him. The driver was waving wildly at him.

The motorboat came alongside, and the wake splashed a large enough wave to go over the edge of the dock, and the fish on the fishing line managed to escape. Both things annoyed Jamie. He dropped the fishing rod and shook his fist at the woman in the motorboat “Damn you! I just lost my supper!” Jamie shouted at her.

The woman in the boat looked at Jamie. What she saw was a tall, broad-shouldered man with curly red hair. He looked annoyed, but he also looked kind of handsome at the same time. “I am so sorry, but could you help me, please? I’m lost!” she said in a cultivated American accent. “Well, you’re in Canada, if that helps!” Jamie shouted sarcastically back at her. “I know that...!” she shouted back with equal sarcasm. “Cut the engine and throw me a line!” Jamie called to her. The woman stopped the motorboat and then struggled to find a line long enough to reach Jamie standing on the dock.

Eventually, after much tossing of lines and curses from both Jamie and the woman. The motorboat was tied to the dock, and the woman stood beside Jamie. “Sorry about your fish,” she said. “That’s all right, and I’ll catch another later on. What’s your name, lady?” Jamie asked her. “Annette, Annette Schwartz,” she told him. “Well, Miss Schwartz, what are you doing in this cove? In fact, what are you doing on this lake?” Jamie asked her. “I told you I am lost, and now my boat is running out of gas, and I have no way of getting out of this mess!” she said and began to cry. “My boss is going to kill me. Please help me, sir?” she begged him, and tears began to run down her cheeks.

Jamie stood and took a good look at her. She was boyish-looking, with brown hair down to her shoulders and that annoying American accent ‘Twanged’ as she spoke. He also gave the motorboat a second look and realised he recognised it and knew who the owner was. “Why are you driving the McPherson boat?” Jamies asked her. “She’s my boss, and now I think I am in real trouble,” she said. “You stay here, use the boat house for whatever ... I am going to the cottage to get my phone,” Jamie explained how he would help her. “Thank you, sir,” she said as Jamie walked away.

Ten minutes later, Jamie was on the phone calling Janet McPherson. He explained why he was screaming and wanted to know what he should do. “I have a mermaid called Annette Schwartz crying her eyes out on my dock with your boat Janet. What would you like me to do?” “I wondered where that stupid little bitch had gone!” Janet said. “Tell her to get her skinny little ass back here now!” Janet added. “Yes, ma’am, the boat is almost out of gas, so how do I get her back to your place?” Janet’s voice down the phone exploded with violent curses and threats of severe bodily harm. She took a moment and, with a calmer tone, asked if Jamie could drive her back in his truck. “I could do that. First, I have to close the boathouse, change my fishing clothes, get the truck out of the garage, and then...” Jamie went on and on about everything he would have to do to get Annette Schwartz back to Janet’s place. “ ... And that would make it about just about 5 pm...” Jamie went on some more. “Keep her there. I’ll come over and pick her up,” Janet interrupted. “Drive safe,” Jamie said as the phone connection died.

Jamie relayed the gist of the phone call to Annette, who was still in the boathouse waiting. She burst into tears when she heard that her boss would come over and collect her. Jamie was glad he had not told her about the threats of bodily harm Janet had threatened, nor the curses and swearing that Janet had used. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure Janet will not do anything more than tell you off,” Jamie tried to calm Annette. “She’ll fire me!” Annette cried out. “She’ll wipe the floor with me!” she added and burst into tears again. Jamie decided to get her a strong drink and let her calm down. It would take Janet around forty-five minutes to drive to Jamie’s place. Plenty of time to sort Annette out.

Forty-five minutes later, Janet was standing over Annette in the boat house. She had hold of Annette’s hair, pulled her off the chair, and made her kneel on the floor. Janet was screaming at her, cursing and swearing, and causing severe threats of harm to Annette. “You stupid fucking little bitch!” Janet repeated the phrase several times over.

Jamie stood in the doorway watching this scene as a detached and concerned observer. He knew that Janet would be mad at having to collect Annette and get her motorboat re-fulled and driven back to her part of the lake. However, the anger and threatening violence against Annette was a little worrying to him. “Hey Janet, steady on!” he interrupted Janet in mid-curse. “Nobody died, nobody got hurt. Just a couple of gallons of gas and a wasted afternoon,” Jamie said in a reasonable calm tone of voice. Janet let go of Annette’s hair and came over to Jamie. “You right, absolutely right,” Janet said in almost a tone of apology.

Janet then explained why she was so angry with Annette. It turns out that Annette was Janet’s, not just a new employee. She was also her new sexual pet. Janet was bisexual and liked to have younger women as sex pets. Annette was her latest one. She had brought her up from New York a few weeks before and was training her to be a personal assistant in the business and her sexual plaything. The verbal berating of Annette and the hair pulling were just Janet’s way of teaching Annette that what she had done was not an acceptable way to behave.