Tales From Sechs City
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welcome to Sechs City, a wealthy, middle-class costal area of Western America in the state of California. A gorgeous, quiet largely uneventful place, people move to the city to follow their dreams, to live their day-to-day lives. It's almost too perfect to be true...
Jack's anger at his father had not disappeared the next morning. He grabbed two muffins and a flask of coffee before leaving the house, not bothering to sit down and have breakfast with his parents.
Lianne thought Lewis would be more upset by this snubbing by their son; but instead he just sighed, sipped his coffee and read the morning paper. Now and again he would look up at the large clock on the kitchen wall, and once Lianne was sure she'd heard him say, "Wait until tonight, be patient," to himself.
Wanda walked into the kitchen, dressed in her usual casual attire of large purple cardigan and long black skirt which reached down to her ankles, and carrying a basket of freshly ironed clothes. She had been working since six thirty in the morning, having got up at six as she always did. Even Lianne, whose last job had been some temporary secretarial task at Lewis' office some seven years ago, had no idea how she managed to stay so chirpy despite the early starts. She had been with the family ever since they had moved to West Avenue, and had grown to be one of their most trusted and loved friends. Lianne had often come to Wanda's motherly arms in times of crisis. But not now. Now was different. Wanda's embrace wouldn't make this confusion go away.
"Wanda," Lewis began. "It was too late to tell you last night, but is it possible to have the main guest room prepared for later this evening? We have a guest coming to stay with us for a few days -- no more than that hopefully. I'm sorry, it means more work for you today, but I'm sure Lianne would help if you needed some."
Both Lianne and Wanda looked at him with surprise. Finally Wanda replied, "Of course, Mr Smith. It shouldn't be a hassle. For how long will this guest be with us?"
Lewis picked up his coffee cup. "Hopefully, if all goes well, she'll be gone before the barbeque."
"Very good. I shall take care of it this afternoon."
Wanda left to take the ironing upstairs into various rooms. Lianne sat watching Lewis, an eyebrow raised, waiting for an explanation. Lewis was struggling to find one. She had been asleep when he had got back from the sports bar and so he hadn't had the chance to tell her what he had done. He had hoped it would feel easier in the morning to talk about it all. It was proving more difficult that he had feared.
"I didn't know we had a guest coming," Lianne said, finally breaking the rather icy silence that had settled. "Who is she?"
Lewis finished his coffee. "It was a rather last minute thing, my darling. I'm sorry, I should have told you, but it completely slipped my mind what with everything that's been happening recently."
"Well, I accept that, but you still haven't told me who she is," Lianne said, her arms folded across her chest.
Lewis wanted to tell her -- he needed to tell her -- but the words weren't coming, why weren't the words coming? It had seemed so much simpler in the sports bar, so much easier to talk about something like this. In the end he said, "She...she could be a very useful person..."
"For your work?" Lianne finished for him. Lewis looked at her. Why did he seem so sad, she thought. Now he was the one hiding something; it made her feel even more uncomfortable.
"For all of us," he said finally. He kissed her goodbye on the cheek, took his jacket from the back of his chair and walked out the door.
As soon as she heard the front door close, Lianne felt her heart leap. She put her cup and plate in the basin to be washed later and quickly made her way upstairs towards their master bedroom.
She knew it wasn't good to feel like this, when her husband, a man she truly loved, had left the building. It added to her bewilderment. Yet now as she looked at the digital clock on the sideboard and saw that she had one hour to go before the doorbell would ring again, she couldn't help feeling a little better about herself.
She walked into the en suite bathroom and quickly slipped out of the black silk dressing gown and long red nightie she had been wearing, before turning the taps of the large walk in shower onto her preferred temperature. A splash of cold water hit her arm as she removed it from there; it tingled her bare skin and sent a quick shiver up her spine.
Lianne caught sight of her reflection in the full length mirror that rested on the wall by the open doorway to the bathroom. She stood in front of it properly, looking at herself, at her 37 year old body: her long black hair that she had rarely cut since she was twelve years old; her 42 D breasts that had remained toned and untouched by a surgeon's scalpel due to a strict and vigorous exercise routine she had stuck on ever since Jack was born; her legs, long and slender, though perhaps beginning to show their age a little; the thin streak of hair above her sex that could do with a bit of work this morning. Without thinking she stroked the soft black bristles, remembering the joy there was in Lewis' eyes whenever he saw them.
She stood under the shower, feeling the warm water hit her skin and drop all over and down her body. She drew her hands through her long hair and rubbed her neck, closing her eyes, lost in blissful thoughts of almost nothing. She lathered a shampoo that smelled of coconuts into it, slowly massaging her scalp, feeling the worries and pain of the last few weeks just wash away down the plug hole along with the white remains of the hair wash.
Lianne wished she could have wanted to stay there all day. She wished that she could have wanted to never leave the shower, to just be able to sit down in the middle of it and drift off to sleep. But she didn't want to do any of that; she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, to get herself ready for what she knew she really wanted.
She turned off the shower and dried herself down with a large fluffy white towel. Already her nipples were erect; already she knew that the wetness between her thighs was not simply the water droplets. She sat on the edge of the large bed, the towel wrapped around her, and watched fervently as the red digital numbers slowly changed minute by minute.
At last the doorbell rang, a sound at this moment of time that was the sweetest sound in the world to Lianne's ears. She got up off the bed and tidied up the towel as it started to slip off her gorgeous body. Slipping on a pair of worn looking flip flops, she checked her face in the mirror before heading towards the landing and the grand staircase.
There was nobody in the hallway, but Lianne knew there wouldn't be. This was a standard routine; things were already being prepared elsewhere in the house. She walked quickly towards the back of the house, towards the pool room and the large conservatory behind it.
The sun was already beaming brightly through the glass panes, making the conservatory feel like a sauna warming up. And there was the padded table which Wanda had set up half an hour ago, and there were the three purple scented candles, just lit, and there was Oliver, in his uniform of white shirt and smart blue jeans.
"Morning Mrs Smith," he grinned with a Southern drawl. "How are you this morning?"
"Morning Oliver," she smiled back at him, her eyes twinkling. "I'm all the better for seeing you this morning. Shall we get started?"
"Early bird catches the worm," he laughed. "You know what to do, Mrs Smith."
