Chapter 2

Paul kissed his mum on her cheek and sat down at the kitchen table for breakfast with his family.

"Good morning everyone!" he said looking around at the others.

"Good morning, darling," his mother said. She smiled at him over the cup of coffee she was drinking.

"Morning, son," his father, Charles Davenport, nodded at his son and then went back to reading his newspapers.

Paul's sisters, Alison and Sarah, smiled at him across the table.

"You're in a good mood this morning, bro. What's up?" This from Alison, two years older than him at 16, and with whom he was very close.

"Yes, Paul, what's up?" asked Sarah. She always liked teasing her youngest sibling lightly, although she loved him very much and always sought to be there for him.

"Nothing much," Paul answered, biting into the toast their housekeeper, Elsa, placed before him. "Thanks, Elsa."

"You're welcome, Paul." The housekeeper's eyes showed much more than that though. She loved the young master and having been in the Davenport's employ for more than 20 years, she had grown close to Mrs Davenport and had helped her immensely in raising Paul.

"Oh come on, you were whistling as you were coming down here, and have not stopped smiling since you came back home last night," Sarah teased him.

"No, there's nothing to tell," Paul answered. He hesitated to speak about Kayla to the others. He did not want to embarrass himself in front of them all, so he kept his mouth shut. "I guess I'm just looking forward to going swimming again."

"Yeah right," Alison quipped. "And perhaps your good mood has nothing to do with that cute blonde we saw you with at the beach yesterday?"

Paul nearly choked on the piece of toast he had just bitten. He looked up sharply at his sister with daggers in his eyes, blushing furiously. What had they seen? He had not realised that had even gone to the beach.

"Oh look at our baby brother, Sarah. He's in looooove!" Alison sang.

Paul's mum looked at her three children, knowing that the teasing was not serious and that the two girls wouldn't take it too far. "Leave Paul alone, girls. It's none of your business."

The girls glanced at their mother while Paul shot her a gratifying look.

Then their mum continued. "Yes, it's none of your business, girls. But it is mine," she added with a small smile. "So, Paul, who is this cute blonde I'm only now starting to hear about?"

Paul could not believe his mum was putting him on the spot like this. "Er... em... she... I..."

Alison jumped in. "Well, mum she has long blonde hair, she's thin, petite, and could hardly fit in the tiny yellow bikini she was wearing," she snickered.

"Really?" asked her mum. "And what is her name, Paul? You do know her name, don't you? Or were you stuttering with her too?"

Paul looked at his mum with a sinking feeling. When she was in such a playful mood as this, there was no stopping her. "I... she... her name..." He still could not get out a coherent sentence. With his mum and his sisters asking about Kayla, his mind had turned to her straight away, and he could picture her clearly in his mind, as she ran playfully into the water, the cool water glistening on her pale skin.

His mother did not give him any ground. "So this mystery girl does actually have a name. Good, now we're getting somewhere. Now, Paul, take a deep breath and repeat after me: The cute girl's name is..."

Paul just stared at his mother, without really hearing what she was saying. All he could think of were Kayla's large, brown eyes, her soft giggle, her cute butt... Damn, he could hardly wait to meet her again.

Then Sarah leaned closer to him and turned to their mother. "Well, our baby brother might not remember the girl's name, but he can sure remember how she looked in the bikini," she said with a huge grin on her face.

Paul looked at her. What did she mean? And why was she grinning like a million pounds? "Uh... I..."

"Why do think that, Sarah?" asked their mother.

"Well, I came to that conclusion based on irrefutable evidence, mum."

"Come on, share it with us!"

"Yes, Sarah, do you know something we don't?" asked Alison.

"Well," Sarah quipped, "judging from the bulge in our baby brother's lap, I would conclude that he can definitely remember how the girl looked in her bikini!"

This time, Paul actually choked on his toast, and spluttered, trying to get some air back into his lungs. His sisters came round to thump him on his back, while his mum handed him a glass of water. "Are you okay, honey?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I'm okay now, mum."

"Well it seems you are still thinking about that girl," Alison giggled, unashamedly looking at her brother's crotch area, where a huge lump was evident.

Their mother looked at her youngest daughter, noting the wistful looking on her face and wide eyes. She could not help it and glanced at her son's crotch area and nearly gasped aloud. There WAS a lump there. And not a small one, either. Wow, her youngest son was growing up, she realised. And he was only fourteen! Double wow!

"Okay, ladies. Leave the boy alone." Charles Davenport had finished his newspapers and now stood up, preparing to leave for his office. "Ladies!" This time, he put more insistence in his tone, making his wife and daughters look at him. "You've had your fun with him. Now leave Paul to finish his breakfast in peace."

Paul was still blushing and he had one hand in his lap trying to cover his raging hard-on, while finishing eating. He looked gratefully at his father, who nodded at his son and strode out of the kitchen. His wife followed him to the door, kissed him on the lips and bade him good day. "Will you be on time for dinner tonight, darling?"

"Of course, I will. Listen, why don't we plan on a barbeque by the pool tonight? You know how the kids love it."

"Yes they do," replied his wife. "That will be fine. Sarah and Alison are having some of their friends over to swim in the pool today, but they should be gone by five. We'll plan on having the barbeque ready at around seven."

"That's fine," Charles said. "See you later, honey." And with that he walked out of the door to where his chauffer was waiting besides the open door of the Rolls.

Elisabeth closed the door behind her husband and as she headed back to the kitchen, she saw Paul hurrying upstairs. She smiled. She knew that he did not mind too much having her or his sisters teasing him. But she had to remember that he was growing up now. And if there was a girl he was interested in, she was glad for him. She and Charles had been protective of all their three children, but more especially Paul. They were always on the lookout for leeches, as her husband called those people who pretended to be their friends, just hoping they could get to share in their wealth. Well, we'll see about this girl, she thought. She might turn out to be good for Paul. Maybe she could convince him to invite her over one of these days.

At ten to minutes to 10, Paul locked his bicycle to the rail and headed towards the ice-cream kiosk where he and Kayla had agreed to meet. He was still slightly embarrassed that he had had a hard-on in front of all his family. His sisters often teased about the girls at school and although his family had always been open and upfront about everything, this morning had been different. Thinking about it, he was surprised at how protective he felt towards Kayla.

As he waited for Kayla to arrive, he promised himself he would not make a fool of himself. After all, she could not really be interested in a boy two years her junior. She was probably bored alone with her parents in Malta, and had latched on to him as a source of distraction, he thought sadly. Well, if that were the case, he would just make his exit gracefully at the first opportunity. After all, he could always find a million other things to do during the summer holidays.

In fact, in order to meet Kayla here this morning, he had already foregone his weekly martial arts lesson with the Sensei who had been visiting his home to instruct Paul for the past seven years. He had phoned his tutor last night and postponed the lesson to tomorrow.

Or he could have hung out with his sisters and her friends at the pool at home. But then, he did not want his sisters teasing him any more today. God, how he would get back at those two, he thought, and smiled, already thinking up schemes to make them squirm.