Author's note: The story of Laura's and Tommy's relationship thus far is covered in
"Laura's Fire", published in the Romance category
"Being Free Together", published in Lesbian Sex category
"Love Thy Neighbor", published in Exhibitionist and Voyeurism category
"Breaking Up And Making Up", published in the Romance category
This is an independent sequel but reading at least "Laura's Fire" and "Breaking Up And Making Up" first might be a good idea.
All comments and ratings are greatly appreciated.
-#-#-#-#-#-
This was their biggest house yet. Or Tommy's. He was shining with pride when he walked her through it, and she could understand why.
It was an old wooden house, three storeys high, and held three apartments. He led her from one spacey sunlight filled room to the next and explained that this had belonged to an old man, who had rented it out but let it gradually go to ruin when he was too old to do the repairs himself and too cheap to pay anyone for it. Now he had finally decided to sell and Tommy had gotten it at a reasonable price.
Laura could see his head brimming with ideas. She smiled, he was so cute when he was enthusing about something like this. She could almost see into his mind, see his plans realized, and she knew this was going to be fabulous.
She could also see they would be here for a while.
She didn't mind. She was a writer and could work from anywhere, and this hillside lot facing the Pacific was certainly doable. They had ventured southwards to escape winter, and this far south it felt distant to even think about snow and sleet. The house had a sizable lot, and due to its age surrounding trees had grown quite big. It was a shame there weren't two that were close enough for a hammock, she thought as she looked out of a second storey window. Then again the fence around the lot wasn't high enough for any hanky panky in the garden.
"Can we make this our room?" she asked and turned to face Tommy.
"I thought of one on the first floor," said Tommy. He came to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her. "But this works, as well. So yeah, if you wish."
It turned out the one she had picked had morning sun shining into their eyes so they relocated to the one he had picked. They went around buying cheap second hand furniture to meet their immediate needs and settled down. Tommy spent some time planning as this was the biggest renovation project he'd had yet and he needed to think about the correct order of proceeding. Laura had her hands full trying to finish a script. She was a former librarian turned writer, and her niche was erotic literature. She'd been proposed to do a filmatisation of her stories and instead of selling any one of them out she wanted to see if she could write one just for cinema in mind.
The neighborhood was nice, a little rough around the edges but not by any means a slum. Laura liked the view of the ocean and spent hours lounging in the garden and looking at it. She thought Tommy must be pretty well off by now for him to afford this, no matter how shabby the house was. Then again it made some sort of sense. They'd been doing this for years now, moving from place to place when Tommy bought a house for renovating and then sold it at a higher price. In the beginning Laura had participated in the purchases if Tommy couldn't afford the whole sum, but it had been years since their last joint venture.
He handled the houses and she wrote. That was the division of their roles, and it worked out just splendidly. She helped with jobs that required more than one person to do and they discussed her work, but it was clear who was the deciding member in each.
—#—#—#—#—#—
Three weeks later they woke up in the middle of the night with the bed shaking under them. They both jolted up, alarmed, and reached for each other in the darkness. The ground settled shortly, but the house groaned and moaned around them, and there was a distant and alarming crackling sound from somewhere above.
"Come on, Laura, we have to get out," said Tommy and pulled her to her feet. "I don't think it's safe here."
They grabbed some clothes and blankets and retreated outside. The house was beautiful in the moonlight. They stood looking at it and waiting for something, maybe for it to theatrically collapse in a pile of dust and rubble. Nothing happened. Tommy made them sleep outside that night regardless, he had strung up a hammock between one of the trees and the shed just days earlier and they curled into it with a blanket. It was a tight fit but they held each other close and it was cozy.
"I'll have a look at it tomorrow," Tommy said. "Maybe it's nothing. But I have to make sure."
"Do you have insurance on the house?" asked Laura.
"Luckily I do," Tommy said. "Cost me an arm and a leg but now I'm happy I didn't stall taking care of it. Didn't remember about the quakes, though, but I think they're covered in it. I'll have to check that tomorrow as well."
"And I can go around looking for accommodation for us," said Laura. "Just in case."
"So you don't want to move out here with me?" he asked and rubbed his cheek against her forehead.
"Maybe I do," she said and tilted her head to kiss him. "We need a place for making love, though."
Tommy laughed. "Just sleep now, love," he said.
-#-#-#-#-#-
The house did have some structural damage. Tommy found a company to help him make it safe again, but they were overbooked after the earthquake, others had beat him to it and he had to wait for two months before they could start on his house. He considered looking elsewhere but suspected other companies were just as busy. It had been a substantial quake.
Laura found them quarters on the same street. There was a house that was similar in style to theirs but smaller, and there was a hand written sign stating "rooms to let". The landlady turned out to be a small and mousey hispanic looking lady in her fifties but looking like she was in her seventies. Her name was Maria. By some stroke of luck her house was intact after the earthquake, and she showed Laura around. She seemed timid, she was short and slim and didn't talk much. She had a room available on the second floor, above the kitchen, and Laura remarked it faced away from the morning sun so it was probably just right for them.
"I think we'll take it," she said and smiled.
"You and...?" Maria said, clearly reserved.
"Me and my man Tommy. Didn't I mention it before?"
Maria hesitated but nodded her head. Laura wondered if she would've even let her in if she'd told her upright that she wasn't looking for room only for herself.
They moved in and started to wait for Tommy's building to be fixed.
-#-#-#-#-#-
One day Laura found Tommy sitting in the garden, looking at his house. He was sitting on a small wooden box and had his arms around his knees. There was something resigned in his posture and Laura stopped beside him.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"I got a call from the insurance company," he said and averted his eyes from the house to look at her. "They're not going to pay as much as I thought. And the building company called and it's gonna cost more than I thought."
"Ah-ha," said Laura and kneeled down on the ground. Tommy looked at the house again and there was a look of despair on his face.
"I was wondering whether it would be better to just tear it down," he said. "I could probably get a permit to build a bigger house. It might even pay off handsomely in the end. But I really love this house. They don't make them like this anymore."
