Consequences

Consequences 14 B

Words: 12700 approx.

Adventures on an exotic island

Tags: Coupling, Relationships, Sapphic, Lesbian, Multiple partners; Polyamory.

For the list of Characters please fast forward to the end.

Author's note: All location information used has been obtained from online and map research or is just imaginary, no opinion of real places is intended. The names and background of characters used are entirely fictitious and any similarity to a real person is entirely coincidental. This is a work of fiction and wholly the author's creation for the purposes of a story. The language, terminology or sayings used are intended to be International, this being the World Wide Web, but if any word or saying is new to someone I would refer them to Google.

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Intro from 14 A:

All is not well in Baltimore as some of the key occupiers of the Retreat wrestle with relationships and their consciences. Others are spreading their wings as the business expands. On the Caribbean Island of St Lukes, David's relationship with Lauren has hit problems, is it a misunderstanding or has she been manipulating him.....

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Previously somewhere near Baltimore.

Bree was surprised when the two guys she was enjoying in a hotel room weren't comfortable and they parted ways afterwards thinking about what they really wanted. It hadn't stopped them of course from enjoying her body but they couldn't bring themselves to give her all that she took for granted from two men. They were shy about sex with her as a pair and she found it strange after the experiences she had enjoyed in the past, it was a surprise for her that left her reconsidering. But it didn't stop her enjoying the sex even though that probably helped decide against seeing them again. She was used to unfettered fun and she didn't want to take a step backwards. It was going to be spoiled anyway when the message came in from David.

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Ron had every intention of seducing Jane even in the park, had the others not arrived at exactly the right time as he was shepherding her to a secluded spot. Jane couldn't have been more grateful to Jo and Ana as they prevented him from pressing his need further. It gave her the chance to end the relationship in front of witnesses but the breakup didn't make her feel better and the others had to console her. They went somewhere to talk.

The big question overwhelming Jane was whether she should live somewhere else for a while.

"What good will that do?" they asked. "You just have to see it through, whatever way your relationship with David goes. Did you want to break-up with Ron or was it because you thought you ought to or owed it to David?"

"It's a bit of both, is that how it is for you two?"

Both Jo and Ana suppressed their shame as they said. "Perhaps it's David who has had to see it through the most, because we have had the best of both worlds. To be honest, maybe you could have kept seeing Ron for a while if you had told David in the beginning."

"I was never sure I wanted to keep Ron, I know that I should have told David but once he gave us the go ahead at a party it felt like it was always permitted, at least that was what I convinced myself, what with the way he himself behaves. We do have a duty to ourselves but it's so difficult to find a balance, especially with someone like Ron who wants a relationship commitment."

The others were not feeling generous towards her indecision. "We have been given many freedoms, but I'm not sure David is going to continue to feel that open, you have told him so yourself."

"Maybe I was pushing him towards forcing me to stop," Jane admitted. "But you two are different, I'm not sure he would be so flexible if you had relationships with men."

"He has been very flexible with Bree," said Jo.

"And he is very flexible on our adventures as long as he is not there," added Ana.

"Bree is a bad example, she should never have committed to our bond and as to your adventures, well that's just him trying to avoid being hypocritical," said Jane.

"I think we have to decide what we want, it seemed easy when we made our commitments to each other but I for one never want to leave David, I'm lucky that I love everything I have," said Jo, making the others feel even more guilty.

"I'm not sure how he would feel if you went to live with someone else," cautioned Ana.

"So, what do we need the future to be?" said Jane.

Three faces expressed what they wanted but wouldn't say, they couldn't turn the clock back and change the inevitable.

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Forward to St Lukes.

When the plane arrives, a surprise comes with it, because Tania has invited herself too. Mei rushes into Laurens arms but the mood is different for the others. Ana and Tania are escaping and want to find a place to be alone; Honor is coming on later after she has parked up the plane.

David finds for the first time in memory that his attention isn't required, yet he doesn't feel lonely, it is a chance to be alone and think and decide how he feels. He takes them to the Hotel and leaves them to unpack and become acquainted with their accommodation, he guessed that Lauren and Mei were going to be missing for hours, so he heads out into the local town to explore. He wanders around the bars dropping the name Dalian August, the owner of the deforested land, wherever he can without upsetting the locals.

At one place, he finds himself entranced by a barmaid who is energetic and happy, full of life and character, so unlike many others, is open to talk. Being white, he doesn't expect to be welcomed in this local bar but it's different, finding himself entranced by her pretty face and curves. When he mentions the name her face turns angry, and he worries that he has spoken out of order. She doesn't want to speak about him, so David concludes that she doesn't like the man. David decides that the only way forward is to be fully open about why he is asking. "Can I ask your name?" he tries.

"Don't start coming on to me, I know what you'll be after," she responds. "I'm not easy."

"How about I explain why I'm here and buy you a large drink while we talk." Her eyes twinkle at the opportunity to make some money and decides to listen. So, he explains about the land and what the man Dalian is up to.

"What do you want from me?" she asks.

"Some very valuable information maybe." He hedges.

"How valuable?"

"It depends how much I save and perhaps there will be some excellent business to be done in the future."

"Anyone could say that."

"There are times when you have to take a chance, you can check me out, but I don't do business with people who try to rip me off." David decides to see what she is worth so gets up adding, "if you want to talk some more you will find me at the Hotel, my name is David Thurlow," and he leaves in his own time, dropping a card on the bar.

David continues his wander around the small town, picking up small pieces of information that Dalian is a man of few principles and suspicions that he has a few debts.

Back at the Hotel, the ladies are in deep discussion, seated around a small table near the pool. Lauren has drawn Honor into the holiday group and settled her in the hotel. Nobody acknowledges his arrival and Tania is dominating the group. Given that she invited herself and that they are all there at his behest it is something about their behavior that begins to annoy him, and he is in the mood to be angry. Their conversation continues about their personal issues and moves on to what they plan to do over the coming days.

Annoyed now, he decides to make his presence known, and to press his position he says to Honor, "I may have made progress this afternoon, so be available to leave at short notice. I'll try to give you at least twenty fours notice at any time." He was being unfair to Honor as it wasn't her that was irritating, and she looks up rattled from her laid back situation and her eyes seek out the others as if asking support. They all look at David, wondering what has disturbed him and has now unsettled them from their assumed long holiday. He turns to Ana, "we'll make a start tomorrow probably, at least have a walk around the site."

Lauren looks very thoughtful at what is going on, she wonders if she has taken one step too far in her assumptions; she hadn't given any thought about including him in vacation plans, he looks unyielding at her then turns towards the reception to investigate hiring a car.

Arranging a car through the Hotel isn't difficult and a car is brought straight from wherever they are stored, his position ensures that the car is quality and properly prepared. He drives along the coast with no particular destination in mind, then through the small towns, one of which is where he passes the girl from the bar earlier. He pulls to the side, and she recognizes him and raises her hand. She is in a sassy mood saying, "You couldn't wait for me to come to the Hotel!"

"I can if you want," he responds and turns his head to drive on.

"No need to take offense," she says.

"How about a chat then?" In the mood he is in, he feels like keeping his words short but makes an attempt to be friendly.

She directs him along the road to a roadside café and he agrees.

In the meantime, she has spent some time researching on her phone, there is internet even in St Lukes. "You seem to be important in the USA," she says, and he smiles with pride, perhaps the wrong response because she continues, "but that doesn't mean you are honest."

"I guess so, and I understand why one can't always trust women."

That stung but she was determined not to react. "It would help if you don't start by talking about someone like Dalian."

"I didn't know that I only met him for the first time a short time ago."

She looked at him intently, trying to decide just how much she could trust him. Then she decided to gamble, she wouldn't know that it could be the best risk she would ever take.

He asked her name and she replied, "my friends call me Isi, but you can call me Isadore." Still trying to give him a hard time.

"Very nice too, it sounds like a famous person."

"So, what do you want Mr David?"

"I need you to tell me how to deal with that Dalian."

"And what's in it for me?"

"I can give you money or you can become part of a great life."

"Huh! How can you promise a great life?"

"Well, there are five women at the Hotel who can tell you just how good life can be, not about lots of money but about having a purpose and love and a good time."

She looked very skeptical at that.

"What have you to lose?"

He watched her playing the possibilities through her mind. She obviously didn't believe in wealthy men suddenly arriving and offering a better life, she'd probably heard similar lines from many a silky tongue over the years.

Then having decided not to be gulled by this slick American she suddenly changed her mind and said, "I suppose I ought to meet them."

"Ok that's easy, but first let's discuss how I can get an honest deal with Dalian August." It was the wrong thing to say of course, and it took a good long while to stop her changing her mind again. But he hadn't anything better to do so he was prepared to be as patient as it took. He didn't push, he offered to include anyone she nominated to go with her and eventually he won her over. After sending a photo of his passport to a trusted friend she even got in his car and they headed to the hotel, where he introduced her to Ana who took her aside to tell her what they were all about.

It was the beginning of creating a great development at St Lukes whilst increasing the amount of wildland, a first for the Island that politicians happily took the praise for. In time Isadora was to be the person in charge of the site but she had a lot to learn. There were times when she wondered about the great life he promised but he watched her progress from a distance giving little nudges here and there to keep her on track.

At the Hotel, initially she is uncomfortable with the high profile compared to the life she knows. The women treat her cordially without reservation, perhaps because they feel guilty towards David from earlier. Notwithstanding, the women give her the impression that he was hoping for. Tania is the next to take her under her wing; he had mixed feelings about that, but it did make things easier for him. Taking Tania aside, he fixed her with an uncompromising stare and said, "I want her to eventually take control of our new site here, do you understand?" She tried to out-stare him, but it was pointless as he was in no mood to be messed with. He stood strong and tall, uncompromising as he repeated, "Do you understand?" In a way that trucked no argument.

She knew what he meant, 'taking her under her wing did not mean physically.' So, for the first time since she was much younger she turned her eyes down. The feeling of being dominated sent a frisson of pleasure through her that hadn't occurred since her husband took her as a young woman, it was invigorating and changed her mood completely.

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Honor felt like an outsider who wasn't invited by him and decided that she ought to go back to the plane and be ready as he said. Even Tania, who usually threw her opinions around without a second thought, couldn't say anything that made her feel more wanted.

Eventually Honor managed to speak to Lauren and what she told her changed her mood significantly. She confirmed that he had wanted her there, but that in her opinion Tania had spoiled the mood. She explained that Tania had stepped over the line arriving without invitation but worst of all the reception he received when he came back to the Hotel did not make him welcome. Then to express how David must be feeling, she surprised Honor by telling her the news about Jane, which was otherwise common knowledge. Honor was almost as shocked as David had been, after all it had only been days since they'd been unable to get them off the phone to each other. She resolved to keep her head down until she felt more certain about the situation with him.

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When Ana had arrived on St Lukes she was still hurting after her relationship with Zoe broke up suddenly and unpleasantly, so understandably she wasn't looking for anything but to hide away. The fact that Tania and Honor were also there didn't make it easier, but she did her best to be amicable. When David came to see them all she was pleased not to have been pulled into any conversation, she was keeping a low profile and that's all she wanted. But then he had asked her to explain to this new girl what they were about. She had done it several times before but this time, well it was the limit, and as soon as she had done her duty she headed out on her own, passing the girl on to Tania.

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Tania had spent her life acknowledged as spoiled and entitled, therefore everyone did just as she wanted. Now, for the first time in a long, long while she felt unimportant and didn't think that David would care one way or another about what she wanted, she had overstepped the mark and it made her uncomfortable. Did he matter that much to her, it was something she needed to think seriously about if she was going to stay there. Her problem was that all she could think about was Christina.

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Lauren probably knew exactly what the situation was, she had worked hard to appease his mood and in a flash she herself had stepped over the mark and her work had been completely undermined, and now she asked herself 'why?' What hurt the most was that he didn't make any effort to find out why she had turned away and try to reconcile, of course Mei was there now, and he was probably allowing them space but she couldn't let go of the feeling that that her timing had been very, very, wrong and he didn't want her anymore.

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Things moved quickly with the new benefit of local knowledge. Within a few days, Isi had given him the magic route to resolving the purchase, money changed hands and then David took Ana to see the site, after which she tried to let her imagination loose to come up with proposals. Unfortunately, her depressed and distracted mood was not good for the imagination and David soon cottoned on to a lack of progress. The problem was that he in turn was not in a mood for allowing leeway, so with great lack of consideration he suggested that perhaps Olivia came to give her a hand. That somewhat nasty suggestion did have the effect of pushing her depression to one side and she began to make progress with a plan, and he left her alone to get on with it, with an unpleasant feeling.

It took him a few days to come out of his fog and approach Honor with any sense of pleasantness, "How far can we go in any one flight?" He asked. It was something she had researched and knew that with the spare tanks full they could probably cross the Atlantic. It was exactly the answer he wanted so impressed upon her the need for complete secrecy as he was thinking of joining his parents who were visiting family in England. Something about the secrecy made her feel a little better about their relationship.

Then he tried talking to the ladies who were grouped together all the time but received little warmth from that direction. Honor seemed to want to be but was held back by the general attitude of the others. David was in a dilemma, he was so depressed and disappointed with the people around him that he wanted to escape, but he wasn't naturally irresponsible, so he needed someone to take the reins in his absence. A few days ago, he would have had no hesitation of leaving everything in the hands of Jane with Laurens support and all the other great people she had to rely on but that had all changed. Jane had destroyed his trust in her, and he now firmly believed that Lauren had manipulated him, any feelings she expressed now felt like a tool in her manipulation. He didn't think she did it for nefarious reasons, in fact he thought she did it for what she saw as the benefit of the Retreat. He really had thought she cared for him then her repulsion had made him realize he was just fooling himself.

As to Tania, his blinkers had been wiped away, it wasn't that he lied to himself but her involvement in the project let him believe what he needed. The reality that she was a spoiled brat had been clearly shown since she arrived, and he would be very careful in future dealings with her. In fact, he decided that it would be sensible to pull back from any joint activity in future, if it were possible. David felt very guilty about the way he was treating Ana but no matter how hard he tried he could not shake his mood and since she had a similar mood there didn't seem to be any way to reconcile, he would have to think about it.

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On this particular day he went to try and talk with the ladies, sat, and tried to engage them about what they would like to do while they are here. From Ana and Tania, he felt a kind apathy that seemed to wash over Honor as well. Lauren just tried to avoid his eyes and engage Mei in some subject or other. In the end he announced, "I am going to walk around and see what there is on offer here, we need to know if we really are going to be setting up a getaway haven, anyone want to join me?" No one stirred so he went on his way thinking about what he would rather be doing with someone else, and he thought of his family.