Chapter 1
Toss (Tosland) Cumberland and Willis Kohn were in a Hammersmith pub in London, downing half-pints of ale, celebrating their first meeting since graduating from university 13 years earlier.
Toss, who now lived in Australia, was visiting England on research for his business consultancy.
The guys had a rousing time catching up and reminiscing.
Willis, who'd married the previous year, asked as they prepared to part, "Are you banging anyone at present?"
"Nope, I live alone and virtually exist alone apart from at work. I've never before experienced such a sexual drought."
"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Willis. "At LSE (The London School of Economics and Political Science) you were known in our extensive social group as Stickman Extraordinary."
"Yeah, well after two bouts of clap I voluntarily and gladly pulled back to relinquish that title," Toss chuckled.
Willis thumped him on the shoulder and said Toss had also been the real brain of the group.
"Tell you what old chap, I'll get my sister Raven to call you. She might match you up with a stunner who never thinks of having sex more than twice a day."
"Waste of time mate, I'm returning to Sydney tomorrow evening."
"Still, I'll get her to call you," Willis insisted, without further clarification.
On the second night back in his spacious apartment where he lived alone in Manly, 17 km northeast across the harbour from Sydney's central business district, Toss received a call from someone identifying herself as Raven.
"You have the wrong number," he said, switching off his phone, thinking it was one of those pesky opinion survey callers.
The woman called again immediately, commenting that he appeared to be an impatient jock. She identified herself as Raven Kohn.
"Omigod, Willis' sister."
"Yep, and I live in Sydney. Now will you chat to me?"
"Yeah, of course, you have one of the best brothers on the planet."
"Well, that's rather an exaggeration but I've always found my older brother okay. Due to circumstances, you and I have never met."
"Yeah, and is that about to change? Toss said, using his friendliness voice.
"You are not a slimeball, are you?"
"Fuck off, little sister," he snorted.
"Ah, that's better," she laughed. "Come to dinner tomorrow and I'll introduce you to my flatmates, three of whom might be available for dating depending on your appearance and perceived personality."
"Don't bother Baby Kohn, I choose you."
"You're stiff out of luck as I have a solid boyfriend."
"Regard him as you ex, Raven. Now give me the arrival time and address for tomorrow."
* * *
Toss caught the ferry to cross the harbour early next evening having dressed up, wearing a pale blue Italian-cut suit, white shirt, no tie and shiny black shoes knowing he'd be the under inspection of five critical 30-something females who possibly may have been told his nickname at the London University he graduated from was, for a time, Stickman Extraordinary.
What a load of tripe that was. It wasn't his fault undergraduate females had pestered him non-stop.
Toss entered the apartment at Woolloomooloo overlooking Finger Wharf at 8.29 to the cry of 'enter'.
The young women occupied the group of four apartments in the loft of the former shipping warehouse owned by the parents of one of the loft residents he was about to meet.
The sole male attending the group dinner in the larger apartment, faced a line of five smiling females, not knowing who any of them were.
"Welcome, Toss," they chorused.
He took the chance of making an unexpected entrance and said "Hi ladies," tossing one of the two bottles of highly-regarded and expensive bottles of Shiraz red wine high, and it arced to fall just short of the line of females, as intended. He'd figured the one first to react would be the youngest flatmate Raven, as her brother had said she was a top athlete.
A tall sleek female at one end of the line darted out while her girlfriends were gaping, waiting for the bottle to hit the floor. Eyes riveted on the falling bottle, she sensationally caught it by the neck and allowed her hand to sweep back in an arc to absorb the impact of the bottle's abruptly halted descent.
"Great catch Raven," he said, closely examining her raven hair and thereby concluding it was coloured, as he handed her the second bottle.
She eyed him, surprised.
"How did you know I was Raven?"
"On the phone you spoke deliberately and definitely and your brother had mentioned in London that you were a top athlete. Therefore, who else would be the first likely to rush forward to make a catch they didn't regard as being impossible to make?"
"Bugger me. Willis said you were a smart one, in more ways than one. Clearly, who else on the planet would have thought up that stunt just to pull me from the crowd?"
"That's a smart synopsis from you," he smiled. "Now, where are the kisses of welcome?"
Four of the females crowded around him, kissing Toss and introducing themselves.
"Come on Raven," he pleaded, holding out an arm. "Consider your boyfriend is not under threat of being toppled for the moment."
"Ralph is practically her fiancée," said Irene.
Raven seized his outstretched hand, turned her back to Toss and was in the process of tossing him over her shoulder and on to his back in a classic Judo throw, when she was spun around, with her legs kicked from under her and Toss ended up bent over her, face just above her crotch.
"Please remove yourself," she said, with the small audience watching on agog.
"Sure, and may I say that you were a tad slow with your attempted throw for it to be truly effective. I happened to be a long-time student of martial arts."
"Hail the hero," Raven smiled, as Toss pulled her to her feet. "You performed surprisingly well for someone wearing a restricting suit.
Impulsively, he embraced and kissed her fully on the lips, she showing no sign of participation.
"I wasn't attempting to take your virginity."
The other four females laughed while Raven said, unemotionally, that dinner was ready.
"Sit at the left at the top of the table opposite me with Sharon at the end between us. Drinks please, Riley."
Meg, whose apartment they were in, served a sorbet starter while Riley poured a lingering tasting dry white wine from inland in the southern State of Victoria.
"Meg's parents are wine merchants," Riley said, after pouring Toss's glass first. "Her parents own this property."
"We have replaced the intended red wine choice for the beef with your donated superior wine, now breathing," she added, pressing a hip against Toss.
He'd watched the white wine being poured in Sharon's glass and patted Riley's lower leg covertly, either as a gesture of intended friendship or to perhaps merely to indicate that he wasn't a robot.
Dinner became really underway with the serving of a delicious avocado-cucumber and prawn appetizer.
During the evening, Meg, whose fiancé was away, Sharon, Emma and Riley collectively offered to go out with Toss if he were short of a date.
"Thanks, very kind of you," he said, looking across to Raven who dropped her gaze to study her delicious piece of beef eye fillet.
Later, after farewells from all co-hostesses, the other women left it to Raven to escort their guest to the lift (elevator).
Toss was sufficiently satisfied with the brief touch of lips he'd received from her during the group kissing to not press for further contact.
"Brandon and I are going surfing at Curl Curl in the morning (Saturday). Give me your address and we'll pick you up soon after 6.30 if you wish to join us."
"Oh, that would be great. Thanks, and good night, Raven. It was great getting to know you and your friends."
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Toss. I now know what my brother sees in you. It's all good."
As Toss walked to his Mazda CX-9 company vehicle, he sighed and thought why had he bothered to accept that invitation to the beach? The boyfriend would be there, overly-protectively. During table conversation he'd learned from Sharon that she, Irene, the very quiet Emma and Meg were all in their early to mid-thirties while Raven was twenty-nine.
Meg and Raven had met at university through becoming the two top-ranked female squash players and had been their squash club's open pairs champions for several years. When Raven was thrown out of her shared flat when the building was sold to a developer, she stayed with Meg in the loft and leased a loft apartment when the married couple occupying it moved out.
Sharon said quietly, "Although younger than us, Raven fits in with we four perfectly and in fact at times acts as if she were our mother. She is such a capable and accomplished young woman although she can act tough and become ruthless when appropriate."
"Why bother," Toss muttered, in recalling that comment.
Toss' phone awoke him next morning at 6.10.
"It's Raven, Curl Curl is off. Brandon didn't come home last night."
Toss knew he would be expected to reply and lipped it off without thinking.
"Did he flaked out after a boozy night out with the boys and did he sleep with another woman."
"The latter I suspect. It's not the first time."
"Dump him, Raven. You deserve better than that.
She snorted, "Shut your f-mouth. Bye."
"No wait!"
"I'm waiting."
"I'll be home all morning, Raven. Come and collect me and we'll surf at Curl Curl to get the anger and despair out of your system."
"Go to hell."
Yawning, Toss went to the bathroom thinking if Raven didn't arrive by 10.30 it would be a no-show and felt it was probably less than a 20 percent chance of a no-show because she was a competitive sportswoman conditioned to beat off every challenge.
"Yeah, it's at least a 50-50 chance she'll be here before 10.30," Toss thought, smiling as he emptied a near full bladder.
His phone went at 10.11. It was Raven.
"You are right, Mr Smartie. I'm going surfing and in 10 minutes will be at the entrance to your apartment building."
"Nice wheels," Toss said, climbing into the new model Range Rover Sport with two surfboards on the roof rack now that his board had been added.
"It's my company's vehicle that I get as being sales director. I came on a holiday to Aussie with a girlfriend when we completed university and I immigrated a year later and joined the British Fine Tools Company as a junior salesperson and have been with the company ever since. We are a very successful company, despite the strong competition from other foreign competitors."
