As it transpired I could get no more from Olivia so I quickly decided to leave her be in her own inner world. I thought I saw Ana give a sigh of relief as I gestured that I was giving up and we headed up.
I didn't actually see Jane again that evening so I suspected that I had failed her, it was understandable and I would have my work cut out to make things right. When I'd checked around the living rooms she had gone so I went back to giving time to the others. Having spent some wonderful time with Bree, Ana and Jo, they realised that they had to work the next day. I recognised the sense of what they said but I just wanted to visit with Lauren who had been elusive and the only one that I hadn't spent some quality time with.
"Hey, you, are you avoiding me?" I asked her.
"I am" she said bluntly as she often was and I knew it to be her defence mechanism.
I didn't give her a chance to push me away, I just turned her and kissed her thoroughly. I was amazed because she didn't push me away, at first she wouldn't touch me, but I persisted and eventually I got a response. I took what success I could and broke the embrace, "Ok so what have I done or not done?" I asked, using that age old thinking of a good husband, 'allow for all possibilities.'
"Well you hadn't kissed me for one."
I looked at her more closely, there was hurt there, she was doing the best to hide it but it was there.
"Ohh Lauren, Lauren" I always think you're the strongest but it's not always so, is it?". She turned her head away to hide. I took her hand and led her away to an unused bedroom where I pulled her onto the bed and just held her, trying really hard to ignore those wonderful breasts pressed against me. We laid like that for a while then I turned us over so that I sat astride her and began to rain kisses down on her face and neck until she couldn't stop herself from giggling. Eventually I squeezed a smile from her, she wasn't the most beautiful woman but there was something about her that always drew me to her. When she smiled her face lit up and I had to kiss her lips. I didn't touch because that was a whole different level but I kissed her all I could. When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard, but she controlled herself enough to say, "Well Mr. Promises, are you going to waste this opportunity or what?" I definitely wasn't going with the 'or what' and I fell forward to worship those wonderful breasts. It was all she needed that night and her nipples alone gave her the release she wanted, then with promises of more when sleep wasn't quite so important I left her to snuggle in with her girls.
I wasn't disappointed, there was someone I needed to find but where? I went in search peaking into each of the bedrooms but no, she was determined to evade me. I narrowed it down to where one could sleep and I thought I had looked everywhere, and then it struck me. I slipped silently into the basement then tiptoed across to the webcam room. I found her screwed up in a ball, I could tell she had been crying but had cried herself to sleep. I stepped back outside and dropped my clothes over the sofa then slipped in behind her, encircling her with my arms and legs and just holding her. I let her get used to my presence then kissed her on the neck, then whispered 'I love you.' I didn't think she would believe me, who could in this environment and the way I behaved. But then I thought, it works both ways. I knew what the problem was.
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In the morning, Jane testily told me that Olivia had yet another appointment with Angela and that she was going with her.
I took the opportunity to see if I could get to talk with Bree but apologising she said she had a lot on. "Perhaps you will message me if you get 15 minutes free sometime" I suggested, she opened her hands in the way of someone who wished she had control of every 15 minutes. It was interesting to see the other side of the coin, it was usually me zipping around doing this and that but with all the projects coming together it was non-stop right now. The day passed like all the others that week, too busy.
On Friday evening, Zoe's visit and Ver's were both interesting and very different. During her previous visits Ver had become intrigued by the sexual atmosphere and it was fairly obvious soon after she arrived that she wanted the full experience. 'My shirts are becoming popular,' I thought and decided right then to order in a new range just for us and with lengths that were just right too - shorter. We teased Ver for a while and eventually relented, Jo and Louise took her upstairs for her shirt fitting. There was a lot of giggling and then it went quiet, I was intrigued and set off to investigate. Several eyebrows raised amongst the ladies and one or two came with me.
Of course Zoe had her shirt on but totally unbuttoned and now Jo was licking her nipples as she leaned against a wall while Louise was treating her with that wonderful tongue. They heard us arrive and we received welcoming smiles from Louise and Jo that couldn't be refused, but Ver looked like she was frightened as if it was too much. She had a lot to learn if she was to keep her shirt!
Zoe by contrast sat ramrod stiff with us at the table as if any minute one of us was going to start ripping her clothes off, so we disappointed her completely with a very staid homely performance. Ana could see her state and decided to take her somewhere else to talk. Ana came back and surprised us saying "Zoe thinks she would be more comfortable if you didn't act so normal." That made us laugh because normal for us is pretty much the same as for everyone else. Most of the time, people read, watched TV, worked on various projects, played video games or just hung out together. It was mainly weekends and particularly Sundays that we had fun and that was only for us or special visitors like Abby and Ver.
I went back with Ana to speak to her and tried to explain that most of the time we worked hard and did the same things as everyone else, but on special occasions and Sundays we had our meeting and generally had fun. "Come with us," I said, "and let Ana and I take you on a tour, and as it's Friday why don't you stay over with Ana and then we'll take a trip out to show you our new place in the morning." We set off and her eyes bugged out when she saw our big bed. "How many people sleep here?" she asked in a shy voice. On Sunday night, pretty much everyone, the rest of the week maybe 3,4, 5 or 6, sometimes more if we have been chatting about something and people fall asleep. I didn't pull punches saying, "Ana will sleep here when she's not with you but if she has an early start the next day she will sleep in one of the other rooms. It's a very loose arrangement, we all get along so well it really doesn't matter who is where even when people are indulging so to speak."
"You mean they just walk in? while people are making love?"
I laughed, "Noo, if the door is closed you don't go in, if you don't mind others coming in you leave the door open." I took a breath "Everyone starts out closing the doors and then they realise they are missing out on all the fun so they never close their door, and by fun I don't just mean sex, I mean just being together enjoying each other's company, nobody is ever lonely here unless they want to be. Come back down and watch how people get along together when they clear up, it's a sight to see and I'll tell them not to be on their best behaviour, they were trying hard to make you welcome but it seems to have backfired."
It was as I explained, I gave them a signal and the noise level went up, as did the teasing and most of all, the way everyone just mucked in like a well-oiled machine. I was very proud of them and didn't mind one bit being teased as part of the fun, even the references to sloping off to get out of the washing up. I noted with interest that Zoe began to unwind, I suggested to Ana that she herself should relax a little and she gave me a little smile that said, 'thank you for understanding'. By late evening, Zoe seemed to have loosened up and was into various conversations with Jo. Amber and others as we all did our own thing, as I had explained earlier. Ana took Zoe up first and about half an hour later, Ana came to see me. "Zoe wants to experience what it's like being in the bed I usually sleep in."
"But don't you guys want to get intimate?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, I think she is trying to experience all that there is normally here."
"And if we all make love, has she thought about you being involved?"
"I'll ask her but I have a feeling she wants to know what the competition is like."
I turned to the other ladies, "what do you think, should we try to pull her into some of our special lovemaking?" They all agreed it was entirely up to Ana but I could see some tired faces who weren't going to be very energetic tonight. So I suggested to Ana that Zoe stay for the weekend and enjoy the whole experience. Ana seemed pleased enough with that and I left them to decide on their sleeping arrangements.
"Listen," I said to all the others. "I've suggested Zoe stay for the weekend and we play it by ear. So I think we should sleep where you will be most comfortable. Jane, Bree, Jo, do you intend to stay with me as usual? Or shall we all bunk down in the big room. They were ambivalent, happy to stay with me wherever I was. As my eyes swept around everyone, I could see again that the spark wasn't there for shenanigans. Even Olivia gave me a weak smile, although that may have been because i wasnt inviting her into my bed. I didn't usually invite her but I didn't stop her joining in either and the others never seemed to mind one way or the other, she had lost her 'star' status. However, since Jane and Olivia had gone to see Angela together they seemed to be getting along more like they used to.
Abby had told me she was having a facetime privately with her husband in the webcam room. At my request she promised that she would try to have a heart to heart with him about being with us sometimes. I made sure everyone knew the basement was out of bounds for a while.
So time flew by, I heard nothing more about Olivia's condition, they were deliberately keeping it quiet. I teased Jane one night endlessly but she wouldn't crack, it didn't matter, we had great fun from my trying, I hoped that our unhappy interlude was over but nothing had been said. Bree finally found a few minutes to talk and clear the air and afterwards I spoke to Louise. My business partners had confirmed that they thought she would be a good addition to our working group, although they reinforced my authority to make such decisions. I had just been concerned that I wouldn't be seen as biased by virtue of our relationship but they had laughed kindly at that notion. Louise quickly became very excited about the idea as I described what the job might entail and decided to give in her notice without delay.
Ruth resolved all the issues about inviting relatives to our hotel so that when the big day came, everybody would have invited their parents first then their grandparents. Ruth had one of her staff organise a system so that everyone had someone there, even Ana who invited her grandfather. The rest of her staff were rushing around making sure everything would be perfect for the day.
The Hotel was readied first, then the conference centre, the golf club lagged a little behind because of adverse weather. The Retreat was ready but the moving day had been delayed until the following weekend when we could get accommodation at a Hotel not far away. Some of the Retreats rooms were ready where nothing was required to be brought from the house, hence the pool table room was ready and a number of the bedrooms.
For the Hotel open house, Abby announced that her husband was flying in for a few days and she said he seemed keen. I was both pleased and nervous that it wouldn't cause problems for her. She told me that she would be staying with him during the stay and I was strangely and unjustly jealous.
Ruth's husband was coming, she said he was very keen to see the golf course, her main concern was that she would be too busy to spend much time with him. I suggested she introduce him to mine and Jane's dad's, they would probably talk business and golf to keep him more than happy. Her smiling face as she left, told me that was a very good idea indeed.
Ver was going to help out (she was gradually worming her way in) and all our other close friends would visit or come for the following weekend when we moved into the Retreat; supposedly to help out.
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