| The next morning the phone was ringing off the hook as I opened my eyes. I was lying across the bed sideways, and I could hear the shower running in the bathroom. I answered the phone and thanked the clerk. I called into the next room where Anna was and asked for her when the guy answered the phone. She sounded sleepy and happy as I told her we were getting ready to go downstairs for breakfast. I hung up and walked into the bathroom. I slid the shower door open and joined Erik. He soaped me up and shampooed my hair. I turned around under the spray as he slid down my body to his knees. I could feel his tongue and lips on my skin as I was being rinsed off. When we finally managed to get out of the shower and dressed, Anna had already left a message saying they were downstairs waiting for us in the restaurant. After a quick breakfast, Erik headed off to work, and the geeky guy was giving Anna his number. He gave her one more kiss before walking off down the street to his car. She turned to me and squealed. I laughed at her. “I told you so,” I said as we walked through the garage back to me car. “The even better thing? It doesn’t seem to wear off too soon either!” I said to her, then explaining that I had given it to Erik over a week before and it was still working. “How many times have you tried it?” she asked me. “Just twice so far,” I answered. I was thinking about making a second batch, to make sure I got the same results. I was going to head over to the herbal stores to collect more supplies, and then I could get another batch ready for Jen and for Kelly. I had set up the meeting with Gene and Marco for later this afternoon. I wanted to go over some of the building plans and the planning for the farm. My idea for the farm was a little more complex than the festival site and I wanted to get their approval before I got started with the construction. I wanted to have different areas set up, we would need a greenhouse and an acre at least for the herb gardens. Then there would be the animal part, I wanted to have sheep and a couple cows at least. I wanted to have chickens for eggs and possibly even a fish hatchery of some kind. My biggest issue was how to get it to be an ecological circle. I had read in a book once, the people had described themselves as experts of unwaste. That’s what I wanted to try to accomplish here as well, to have a complete circle of life where there would be as little waste as possible. I dropped Anna off at the cabin and drove off again. We decided to meet at Ruth’s garden. There were covered swings there set up in a circle and we all sat down and swung gently as we discussed the different plans and options. Gene was researching the cob building and I liked the idea. I had seen several websites about it and I thought it was the best option for the land. Marco was more in tune with the cycle theories, how everything would interconnect. I didn’t care much for the details like they did, I just threw out the ideas and they would make them happen. I would just have to pay the bills. After three hours of discussion, I was finished. I said my goodbyes amid their continuing conversations and left to go back to the cabin where I had left Anna. I was ready for a nap or something, I was tired and needed to lay down for a while. As I slept, Anna had gone through the cabinets and fixed us a meal. I was starving after waking up, I hadn’t eaten since the breakfast at the hotel this morning. We stayed in playing cards all night, which I really appreciated after all the running around I had been doing lately. I just needed to rest for a while. I had the ski trip coming up and the week after that, it would be time to go back to the island. Anna had to get back home after a few days, so I took her back to the airport. She promised that she would be getting her affairs in order, and she would be ready by the time the island was ready. I was going to put her in charge of it, the daily maintaining and managing. We were both excited about the prospect, although I didn’t think she fully understood what my ultimate plan was going to be. My phone rang again as I was leaving the airport. Random needed to meet me to go over some of the equipment purchases. He gave me directions to his office and I told him I could be there in about fifteen minutes. His blue eyes flashed through my mind and I was suddenly looking forward to seeing him again. He was standing outside, smoking a cigarette when I pulled up. He walked around my car and opened the door for me. As I stood up next to the car, he pulled me close to him and locked his mouth onto mine. The possessiveness and aggression nearly brought me to my knees. I threw my arms up around his neck and leaned into him. It was finally time to fly out with the contractors to visit the island. So far I had only seen pictures, but it looked incredible. We would be arriving in Florida and then taking a yacht cruise out to the island itself. Random would be coming along with me, he was turning out to be an excellent companion. The island I had chosen was three miles long and about two miles wide with a natural bay at one end. At the opposite end, there were cliffs rising nearly a hundred yards above the crashing waves. There was a plateau there, and that was where I had decided to put the castle. I wanted thick, rock walls that would withstand a category five hurricane. I had plans made up for the power supplies using solar and human power. After collecting our luggage after the plane landed, we took a limo to the marina where there was a Benetti mega yacht waiting for us. It was named Galaxy and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The interior design as well as the exterior styling was the art of Stefano Natucci, I fell in love with the Italian décor. Our cabins were on the lower decks and the staff took our bags down. Random and I would share the single, and the rest of my entourage would share the double quarters. The sun was high above us and seemed hot, I thought it was just that I was used to winter in Oregon and not winter in Florida. I went down to the room to change into a swimsuit, I didn’t particularly want to wear one, but I needed to maintain my authority over the situation. I headed up to the top deck where the hot tub was. I felt like soaking after spending the last several hours in a cramped airplane. Just because I had money now, didn’t mean I wasn’t frugal as I was before. I was still flying the regular airlines and they were not very comfortable. I made my way to the top deck and after setting my towel down, I slid into the warm water. I closed my eyes as the jets blasted away the tension in my sore back muscles. The boat was just getting ready to leave the marina and it would be a couple hours before we reached my island. The sky was a bright blue above as the yacht cut through the water like a knife through butter. It was a very smooth trip and I was surprised at how quickly we arrived. There was a nice breeze blowing as we took a smaller boat to the beach. There were tall palm trees and thick underbrush that we had to get through, but one of the men had brought a machete and cut a path for us as we walked. On either side of us there were large purple flowers that gave off a rich exotic scent. I plucked one from the plant and tucked it behind my ear. It was an intoxicating scent, and when I got my workspace set up here, I imagined creating perfumes and oils as we went further into the center of the island. I led the group up to the plateau by the cliffs and we plotted out some of the last details. Jeff Corwin was the contractor and he had the final say. He pointed out a few things that we would need to change, and had good reasons for them so I gave him the go ahead. I led Random away from the rest of the group and whispered to him so they wouldn’t hear what I had to say. He put his arm around me as I explained to him what I wanted. He nodded and assured me that he was completely capable of all that I needed. I looked into his eyes and saw the double meaning he intended. I stepped away from him and walked back to the group. We didn’t have time to continue along that train of thought right now. Jeff was talking about where the stone walls would go and the main part of the house. I listened to their discussion for a while, and then headed back down toward the beach. It would take several months before construction would be complete. I would have to go through several more meetings before it was finished and I hated meetings. The final results would be worth all the time and trouble though and I was getting excited about it. The sun was low on the horizon as we returned to the yacht. I looked back at the island from the top deck. The terrain was very rocky toward the cliff end of the island and then thick forests up to the plateau. I turned away to go back down to the lower deck. It would be a short time until dinner was served, so I went down to take a shower and get cleaned up. As the bathroom steamed up I climbed in under the hot spray. I had my eyes closed as I heard the door open and Random stepped into the shower with me. We spent a week on the yacht enjoying each other. The staff on the yacht was very discreet and rarely bothered us. The elixir didn’t seem to be wearing off at all, if anything, it was stronger. He was a wonderful lover, very attentive and considerate. I liked his company as well, he was a very interesting person too. He had traveled all over the world and told me many stories about his escapades in foreign places. When we got back to the marina, I turned my cell phone back on. My voicemail was full, so I pulled out a notepad from my purse and started writing the messages down to sort through them later. Erik had called several times, even though I had told him I would be gone almost a week. Marco had left a few messages too and Anna had called as well. I put my phone away and got ready to pack up. When we got to the airport, it turned out that our plane was going to be delayed, so I wandered around the shops for a while, buying little trinkets that caught my eye. Random followed me around watching my purchases carefully. I was really starting to like him, but I wasn’t sure how he really felt about me. How much of his attraction was the elixir and how much was really his true feeling? I also thought about Erik. I had liked him for so long, and now he was actually within my reach. I sighed and took Random’s hand. I dismissed those thought and tried to focus on what I had to do when I got back. We arrived back in Oregon early in the evening, and I wanted to get back to the cabin. I had just closed on a house in the city and I needed to get moved into it. I needed a stable home base and the cabin just wasn’t home. I needed a home where I would feel completely comfortable, surrounded by my own things. I had left my car in Random’s garage, so we went to his place so I could pick it up. I would start calling people back in the morning. The dim light in my bedroom wasn’t enough to wake me, but my alarm had been going off for almost an hour, with my hitting the snooze button every ten minutes. I finally decided to get up and on with the day. I had to call so many people back and I wanted to get started. I knew I was going to have to meet with Gene and Marco, I had to find out when would be a good time for all of us to get together. It would also be good to find out how much of a commitment I had from them. I didn’t want to get this all started and have no one to see it through to the end. I started a pot of coffee and sat down at the table with my notebook. It was ten o’clock here, so it would be noon in Chicago. Hopefully Anna would be on her lunch break, so I dialed her number. She had decided to stay at her job until my house was ready, and then put in her two weeks notice. The house was ready and I needed her to come out. I called Erik back, but the call went to voice mail. I left him a message letting him know that I was back now and he could call me when he had time. I wanted to see him again, to talk to him and spend time with him. I wanted to see how well the elixir was still working on him. The book had nothing in it about how long the effects would last, and I wondered if they would be permanent. That might be interesting. I dialed the number for my attorney. I wanted to find out how things were going. I had given him several properties that I wanted him to purchase as rental properties, I had to have a steady income and he had also acquired two companies for me that I felt had serious potential to go global. It wouldn’t be for a while yet but I thought that it would be a chance that I should take. It would be a huge sum of money if and when the companies went public. The moving company I had arranged with was ready to move all the stuff from my old apartment into my house. I spent the day packing up the cabin and loading everything into the H3. I would go pick up Random later, so that he could help me get both my cars back up to the house. The meeting for the farm was set up for Saturday, it was the only time everyone could get together. We would be at Ruth’s garden again and we would get the final details finished up so that we could get on with the construction. While I was out putting the last of the boxes in the hummer, I heard my phone ring again. I ran back into the cabin but it had stopped ringing before I got there. I flipped it open, but whoever had called had used a private number and I couldn’t call back. I would talk to Random to see if there was something I could do about that. There had to be some kind of code that I could work into my phone to find out who had been calling. That wasn’t the first call I had gotten with the private number, and I was getting fed up. I didn’t want to change my number but the calls had been getting more and more frequent. When Anna arrived in two weeks, I was scheduled to go on a tour of Ireland. I was sick of meetings and phone calls, even though I had just spent a week on a yacht, I was ready for something completely different. I drove up to my apartment and met with the movers. I let them in and they started carrying boxes out to their truck. The week after I had won, I had gone back to pack everything up and the boxes had all been sitting here since then. I didn’t have much to do but stand around as the men loaded the truck up. I called Random and he said he could pick me up in an hour so that we could go back down and get my S7. I decided to head over to the house and see how things would fit in my new house. Opening up the front door, I walked into the foyer with its polished hardwood floors. I visualized a Persian rug there, the floor was too beautiful to scuff up by walking on it. There were four bedrooms upstairs, I had chosen the one I wanted and then Anna would have a choice of which room she would sleep in. I walked through into the living room. It had a large fireplace with a carved marble mantle. The room had been painted a sunny yellow, but I didn’t like it, so they had covered it with a deep burgundy color, which better suited me. I made my way into the kitchen. It was enormous compared to what I was used to. There was an island in the center where the stove was, and the pots and pans would hang from above. In the last year, I had become fascinated with cooking and now I could prepare whatever I could possibly come up with. The backyard was surrounded by a tall hedge, and there was a tiled patio and a covered hot tub on my right, and a garden to the left. The former landscaper had done an incredible job with the garden, it looked like something from Better Homes and Gardens. I turned back to go inside. I had an office set up in the den. I had ordered a new desk that would be delivered later in the week. I called Random quickly to let him know that I was at the new house and not still at the apartment. I left a message when he didn’t answer his phone. The other two bedrooms upstairs would be a workroom and a crafting room. I had all my tools from the cabin that I needed to bring in. I would have to get my working space set up. I made a mental note to go to Home Depot to get a sturdy bench. I would need to more furniture shopping, what I had in the apartment was not going to work in the new house. I was still wandering around daydreaming when I heard Random pull up in front of the house. I went to the front door to let him in and he wrapped his arms around me. I gave him a quick kiss and disentangled myself from his embrace. I didn’t want to get totally distracted and then be interrupted by the movers when they showed up. I led him back outside and closed the door behind me. I had him take me to several furniture stores to pick out the things that I needed. I had simple tastes so it didn’t take very long. I also had a good idea of what I wanted before I started so that made it easier as well. With the delivery times arranged I was ready to go back and get my c car, and to say goodbye to the cabin that had been my home for the last couple months. We sped quickly down the highway. He kept me entertained with more stories and the time flew. In no time at all we were at the exit we needed to take. I directed him down the road to the cabin and he found it with no problem. My keys were in my jacket pocket, I pulled them out as he got out of the car and walked around to open my door for me. I went back into the cabin to make sure I had everything and that I had left it clean enough. I had to go up to the office to drop off the keys. I decided to walk over, I was tired of sitting in the car and needed to stretch my legs. Random took my hand as we walked. I wondered if I should be concerned about having such a personal relationship with someone I had hired. We hadn’t really discussed anything too personal, and I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. I wasn’t even sure if I should mention it. I was much better at just letting things happen and see where they ended up. I stepped up onto the porch of the office and pushed open the door. Joe and Mary were both behind the counter, Mary was on the computer and Joe held up a newspaper close to his nose. They both looked up as we came inside. “It’s been wonderful having you here, dear,” Mary said as I passed the keys across the counter to her. I smiled and said, ”it’s been great staying here, and you have such a beautiful place here!” “Come back anytime, we’ll make sure you have another good stay with us,” Joe said and went back to his newspaper. I said my goodbyes and we walked out and back down the road to our cars. By the time I got home, the movers would probably be done putting all my things into the house. I hoped I had marked the boxes carefully enough that they made it into the right rooms. Random followed me back out to the highway and then called my cell. I flipped it open and set it to loudspeaker so I could have both hands free. He was explaining some of the requests I had for the island might be a little difficult but that he would make it work. I found it funny that he could only talk business when we were on the phone. I listened a bit longer, but then told him I had to go, I wanted to listen to some music and think my own thoughts for a while. I had too much stuff rolling around in my head and I needed to sort some of it out. The phone rang again, but I didn’t hear it, my music was too loud. I saw the screen flashing and glanced at it, Erik calling again. I would call him when I got home and had a couple minutes before I got started with the unpacking. When I got to the house, my bed was being set up in the wrong bedroom, and the couch that was supposed to be dropped off at Goodwill was sitting in my living room. I was starting to get a headache and looked into one of the bathrooms to see if the toiletries box had made it. It was in there, so I dug through it until I found a bottle if ibuprofen. I opened it and swallowed a few of them. I turned the faucet on and stuck my head under it to get a drink, since there were no cups unpacked yet. The movers took the bed apart and carried the pieces into the right bedroom to reassemble it. They were almost done, so I went into the kitchen to start unpacking my dishes. I was hungry and decided to run and grab some food before I got started. I realized that I was going to need a different car for running around, the S7 was just not a good car to do running around in. It was fun to drive, but I needed something that I could just jump into and run to the store or through a drive thru at a fast food place. I called Erik and he said that he would bring something over, we could have a picnic in the living room. I laughed and told him that would be great. He hung up and I went back to the kitchen to get some work done before he arrived. The movers finally finished up and left, taking the old couch with them to drop off. It was just a minor irritation, and I was over it. I just wanted to relax now. There was a woodpile in the back yard behind the garage, so I went to get a few pieces to start a fire. Erik showed up with Chinese food, I managed to find a couple plates for us to eat on. He was extremely attentive and almost adoring. I was flattered, but I was starting to think about the elixir again. I needed to test it again. When I moved out to the island I wanted everything under control. When I finished eating, I began cleaning up. He followed me into the kitchen and wrapped me in his arms. He was so much taller than me that I felt completely wrapped up. He felt so much different that Random. I liked both of them, but since I had the crush on Erik, it made things a little different for me. I took him upstairs to christen my bed in my new home. Flying over the Atlantic Ocean made me a little queasy to think about, so I flipped open my laptop to watch a movie. I had brought a couple DVDs with me. I took out my headphones and plugged them in and started the movie. Anna had wanted to stay at the house, so I convinced Jen to come with me. She wasn’t working right now, just taking a few classes at the college, so she wasn’t that hard to coax into a free trip. We wouldn’t be arriving for several hours, so I planned to watch the movie and then try to get some sleep. I had picked a late flight so that we could sleep on a somewhat regular schedule, waking up in the morning when we arrived. Jen had already dozed off, she could pick her own movie after I fell asleep if she wanted to. I settled into the seat, getting a soft flannel blanket from the flight attendant. I think I watched almost half of the movie before I fell asleep. It was grey and cloudy when the plane landed. The descent had made me wake up and I slid open the window to look out. I was wide awake now and not tired at all. After we landed, we would be going to a private residence to stay with an Irish family. I didn’t want to stay at a hotel, I wanted to see my roots. My parents had given me some names of people to look up, they had visited Ireland years ago and found some of our distant relatives. Most of our family had gone to the United States in the nineteen twenties. We were scheduled to take several tours while we were here as well, to see the old pagan sites, I especially wanted to see the Hill of Tara. I was already thinking of extending our trip to go over into England to see Glastonbury and Stonehenge. Would have to wait to see if Jen would be game for it. We arrived at the house and were shown to our rooms. I felt bad running out almost immediately, but the tour was going to start soon. I thanked Mrs. O’Connor and we hurried out the door. We got on the bus outside the Royal Dublin Hotel at 9:20 am. We were taken to the graves of Fourknocks, and got out to walk around the prehistoric tombs and underground passages. The tour guide explained how these ruins were older than the pyramids in Egypt. We were taken to different monasteries and the high crosses. On the way back to town, we were taken past the place where Saint Patrick lit the fire to proclaim Christianity over all of Ireland in 433 AD. Damn him anyway. Too bad I couldn’t change the past. The bus dropped us back off at the hotel and we got back to the O’Connor house right at supper time. Mrs. O’Connor had made a meal of corned beef and boiled potatoes. It was one of my favorite meals, but I wasn’t sure if it was the traditional meal or what. I thought it was just for St Paddy’s day in the U.S. I didn’t know. We ate our fill and then were sent off to the pub. We had been told it was a regular thing to do, most people headed there right after supper. Following the directions the lady of the house gave us, the pub was easy to find. We could hear it a block away, loud music rolling out the open door. It was smoky and dark inside, but there were several people playing instruments to the left side of the bar right inside the door. I went up to the bar and ordered a Harp’s. I didn’t like Guinness, but I could handle the lagers. Jen wanted a Guinness so we got one of those too. We found a table along one wall and sat down where we could watch the crowd. Everyone seemed rather cheerful, telling jokes and laughing loudly. Hours later, Jen and I were pretty well buzzed and had met a couple guys who had the most compelling accents. Michael had piercing blue eyes and black hair, and reminded me of Colin Farrell. I was instantly attracted when he and his friend came up to our table and asked to join us. I waited until he went up to the band and made a request to pull out my vial of elixir and pour several drops into it. Jen had hooked up with his friend Sean and we were having the best time. When Michaels request was played, he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to the tiny dance floor. He wrapped his arm around me tightly and spun me around the floor. My feet barely touched the ground. Laughing and breathing hard, I was so dizzy, I could barely stand by the time the song was over. Jen and Sean were still out dancing, but I had to sit down. He sat in the chair and pulled me down into his lap. I stared carefully into his eyes, tracing his jaw line with my finger. He reached up and pulled my head down to his, locking our lips together. After a couple minutes I had to pull my head back and gasp for air. As the night ended we were sent on our way by the bartender. Michael and Sean escorted us back to the house, after extracting promises to go riding with then on the morrow. They spoke to each other in Gaelic and I didn’t understand so I poked Michael and told him to speak so we could understand. We stumbled inside giggling and found our room. Tomorrow sounded like it was going to turn out to be a great adventure. The boys came to get us early in the morning. We would be walking to the bicycle rental place and from there they would show us around town. They took us to the places that the tourists didn’t know about. We went shopping and sightseeing all over. Michael and Sean were very entertaining companions, and the elixir seemed to be working on him too. He was constantly reaching out to touch me and make eye contact with me. I was infatuated with him, and it appeared that Sean felt the same about Jen. They took us back to the pub for dinner, the food there was wonderful. I made sure I didn’t drink as much as I did the night before, I was still feeling some of the effects. Michael was sitting next to me and I felt his hand reach down and rest on my knee. I put my hand on top of his and slowly slid it up. He didn’t even flinch as he kept the conversation going. I knew tonight I would have some good company to help keep my bed warm. The two weeks in Ireland turned out to be more fun than we had ever had before. Michael and Sean kept us in stitches with their hilarious stories and crazy antics. They took us out on a fishing boat and took us out to the cliffs for walks and all kinds of things. We had a hard time leaving them when it was time to go home. I would have stayed, but Jen had only taken two weeks off from work and had to get back to her job. I almost had her convinced, but she decided that it was more important to go back and wrap things up. We would be back, I had already made arrangements to fly back in two months. We never made it to Stonehenge or England at all. We had been having too much fun with the boys. They drove us to the airport on our last day, and we exchanged all our information, emails and addresses and phone numbers. I didn’t think we would be calling, but it felt good to have the numbers anyway. I would definitely email, at any rate. |
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