This is the fifth section of a six-part story, so you are advised to start at part 1. Because it was written as one story, rather than written in episodes or chapters, I have made no attempt at recapping previous parts or reintroducing characters at the beginning of later sections.
I am a fan of introducing genuine randomness whenever I write a game of chance, so I rolled an actual die as I was writing this chapter. As you will see, though, this doesn't mean that the characters are obliged to stick to the rules.
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The day was already very hot, and when I came back out of my room wearing shorts and a t-shirt, Annie and Ted were in the kitchen making a pitcher of fresh lemonade, looking like they were deep in conversation. I walked past them and joined Helen and Kat who were still sitting by the pool.
"Are Annie and Ted okay?" I asked.
"I think they were just surprised by Hilda," said Helen.
After a while Hilda and John appeared, both dressed in clothing suitable for going out in the conservative island society. Hilda was wearing the dress and jacket outfit she got for her birthday. Annie and Ted brought out the lemonade and we drank it beside the pool. I watched as Hilda pulled Annie a short distance away from the rest of us and had a whispered conversation with her. I saw Annie's eyes go wide at times.
John was also watching his third wife talking to his first wife, and he was frowning. He turned to me and said "Finn, can I have a quick chat with you?" I followed him around the side of the house to where their cars were parked. "Finn, I wanted to let you know that I expressed some concerns to Hilda about her game this morning. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't too interested in listening to what I had to say. Her opinion was that it was up to the women to say if they didn't like it. I suspect this is a continuation of her desire to work out her place with Annie and Ted, and my instinct is to just let it play out as long as nobody gets hurt. However, I wasn't happy with the idea that it was only up to the women to protest, especially since it was you and I that got the worst of things this morning. If you have any problems with any of Hilda's ideas today, please say something and I will back you up one hundred percent. Our 'Queen for a day' tradition is one thing, but it is still more important that we look after guests in our home. Okay?"
"Okay," I said.
Hilda appeared at that moment. "Are you ready love?" she said as she jumped into the driver's seat of the MR2. John climbed into the passenger seat, and they drove away.
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When I returned to the pool, I only found Kat and Ted sitting by the pool. "Where are Helen and Annie?" I asked.
"They've gone for a walk along the beach," said Kat.
"That sounds nice," I said. "Maybe I can catch up with them?"
"No, don't," said Ted hurriedly. She then explained "We have a tradition of first wives meeting and talking through issues that may come up between different households, in addition to anything that the men may say to each other. Annie and Helen are going to talk about Hilda's game this morning and how we approach tonight. Personally, I'm having a lot of fun seeing Hilda like this, but maybe it would have been better if we had delayed her birthday like we originally intended. We will see what happens."
I turned to Kat. "Are you okay with this idea of Helen deciding stuff with Annie without you? It may be their custom, but it's not really how we do things back home." I hadn't lost sight of the truth about Kat, that she was an independent single woman caught up in all this through her work.
"I'm happy for Helen to decide," replied Kat. She winked at me from the eye Ted couldn't see. This had too many possible connotations for me to get my head around."
Ted and Kat were both sitting on sunlounges. Ted obviously felt that the issue had been decided as she put her sunglasses on and put her head back. I sat down on the lounger beside Kat. She, however, surprised me by standing up. She motioned for me to lift my feet up before sitting down and pulling my feet down onto her lap. She then started casually giving me a foot massage as though it was something that happened all the time. In reality, it was the first foot massage I had ever received in my life, and it was wonderful. I was reminded of the conversation between Jules and Vincent in Pulp Fiction about whether it was a sexual act. With my heel pretty much in Kat's crotch and my toes close to the cups of her bikini top, I was finding my massage very sexual indeed. It was a relief that I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts instead of my swimsuit.
I could tell that Ted was watching us, and she soon took off her sunglasses again to speak with us. "That looks so good," she said. "Maybe I should ask for one?"
"Have you ever asked John for one?" asked Kat. "Or one the others might give you one. I've given Helen a foot massage." I had no idea of this was the truth or not. They had done a lot of strenuous fieldwork trips together in the past.
Ted looked thoughtful. "You don't have to answer this if it's too personal, but have you ever kissed Helen before like you kissed her this morning in Hilda's game?"