Living Two Lives - Book 3

Chapter 1

Andrew sat in his room the next day and jokingly wrote out the following on a piece of paper.

I, Andrew McLeod, do solemnly swear that at approximately 1.57am on the morning of January 1^st 1980 I did lose my virginity, never to see such item again for the rest of my life.

The Hogmanay party of 1979 was good, very good!

While Andrew would have preferred to have had a quiet night and to go to bed before midnight, the prospect of a party was alright. There was also nothing he could do about it. His parents weren’t going to leave him overnight on his own. He also remembered about balance. What was it with him and his school holidays? Going out to a party would be fun, he had the next two days off and was going to rest, relax and catch up on some much needed sleep. So Andrew got changed and grabbed a slightly bigger pack. He put in his ‘farming’ clothes as well as a normal pair of jeans and a sweater. He grabbed his Wellie boots on the way out. His mum looked at him, askance.

“Harry isn’t going to make you work you know.”

“I know Mum but I wake pretty early every day, my body is too used to it. I’ll wander over and help with the milking. There is a nice routine to it.”

His mum shook her head.

“Take a day off. You make us all seem so lazy.”

Once again, these odd moments of pride made Andrew happy. You could never accuse his parents of spoiling their son with praise. But their son also got uncomfortable with praise so it worked out.

Any journey with Rowan was a trial. Andrew had been spared most of these over the past year. As they drove out to the farm, he was immensely grateful for this fact. His little sister, who had turned 12 in the autumn, was turning, and maybe had already turned, into an awful person. That is an unkind thing to say but it was true, at least as far as Andrew was concerned. Rowan’s view of the world was that of a pre-Copernican outlook. The world revolved round her. Any challenge to this was met with drama, shouting, huffing and general brattiness. Andrew idly wondered whether Scott’s arrival on the scene had upset his sister. He tried to have no interactions with her on a week to week basis, occasionally at dinner was about the extent of it. But she seemed to be worse than he remembered.

He and his sister were not close. The journey although only 30 minutes seemed infinite as they endured it. Andrew didn’t know the phrase ‘been driven to drink’, mainly because he had never had a drink of alcohol, but it was the kind of journey where you needed a drink at the end of it. Rowan’s view of the world was also very simple. Zero sum. Anyone else getting attention, that meant she wasn’t. Anyone getting praise, she wasn’t. The Rowanian view of the world was everybody needed to pay attention to her all the time.

Andrew thought he was perhaps being more than a little harsh on his sister. Honestly, it could have been worse. Part of her princessishness, if there is such a word, was due to the fact that he disappeared to his room and studied, or was out. She got his parents attention, or at least she had up until the last two months. There used to be fights between her and Andrew but after he was released from hospital he never shouted at her, he would just walk away. Andrew would occasionally have moments of doubt and wonder if he could have made a difference. He didn’t know. Their temperaments were almost polar opposites. It was what it was, nothing Andrew could do about it. They got to the Strachan’s farm and Andrew practically bolted from the car. Josephine was waiting at the farmhouse door for them and Andrew got a hug from her.

“My you have grown Andrew. If you keep this up you will be taller than Harry.”

Harry was 6’ 3” and Andrew figured he wouldn’t get to be that tall. His father was 6’ and Andrew assumed he would end up about there. If anything slightly shorter since his puberty growth was interrupted with the chemo treatment.

“Don’t know Josephine, probably a bit shorter, closer to Dad I would think. How are you?”

“Good, the house is finally ready. Can you go over to the milking shed and see if Harry is finished? He needs to shower and change.”

“Sure thing. My wellies are in the boot of the car.”

Andrew grabbed the key off his dad and sat on the bumper as he changed into his boots. Then he headed over to the milking shed and put his head round the door.

“Harry, you in here? Josephine says you need to shower.”

Andrew shouted into the apparently empty building.

“That you Andrew? Back here, beside the pasteuriser.”

Andrew heard the muffled reply. When he weaved his way through the collection system there was Harry lying on his back with the end of a hose in his hand.

“Perfect, I need someone to hold this in place while I tighten the collar. Keeps popping off on me.”

By way of a greeting it wasn’t much. Andrew smiled and grabbed the hose. Harry showed him which nipple to attach it to and Andrew could see that it was a real bastard. The hose was a key link between the pasteuriser and the holding tank, connected to the cooling system. It needed to be as straight as possible. If there was a bend then liquid would potentially pool and contaminate the milk. The hose was stretched too tight though and kept wanting to detach from the outlet on the pasteuriser.

“Do you have any spare hoses?”

“Why? This one needs to be reattached. You know that this needs to be as straight as possible.”

“Yes but I think we need a hose an inch longer. The length between the two nozzles would be the same but there would be more over this upper nozzle here and more for the clamp to grab hold of.”

“Okay, I see. The clamp keeps slipping so give it more to purchase on. Let’s go and look.”

They found a couple that might be suitable and ten minutes later they were done.

“Good to see you Andrew.”

Harry crushed Andrew’s hand in his big meaty paw.

“I had been cursing and trying to attach the old hose for at least half an hour. You turn up and ten minutes later we are done. What’s the phrase everyone uses? Oh yeah, ‘you and that big old brain’. Come on, let’s head up to the house.”

The party turned out to be okay but not great. Andrew was stuck in no man’s land. Oldest child there but not old enough to party with the adults, i.e. have a drink. And he was way too old to deal with the seven under tens that were also there together with Rowan. Around 10.30 Mac showed up. Andrew knew that his wife was slowly dying of MS and was house bound. Mac cared for her in the evenings and Josephine had mentioned he would come over for a couple of hours once she was settled. The mention of Mac by Josephine got Andrew thinking about Kenzie. This party would improve tremendously if Kenzie Baird showed up.

It was only Mac that arrived and although it was good to see him, he was not the Baird that Andrew wanted to spend some time with. The younger kids had either left or settled down. Andrew sat at the edge of a group of four or five men talking about their jobs. His mum had fed Scott and Andrew was rocking him slowly trying to get him back to sleep, easier said than done with all the noise and distractions around him. His dad was there, Harry, Mac, Mr. Fielding and one other man who Andrew didn’t remember being introduced to. Three farmers and two non-farmers. The chat was interesting and he sat quietly listening. Andrew watched the group dynamics, who talked, who interrupted, who pontificated like the head at school, who had a more open mind. The conversation was all over the place but it was interesting watching everyone. Especially his dad, when he was not being dad but Gavin McLeod instead. A different man to the one Andrew had to deal with every day. His observations went mostly unnoticed and unregarded. Andrew got the sense that a couple of stories were edited or cleaned up but for the most part he was part of the group although he contributed nothing. Finally Scott settled and Andrew placed him in the carrycot in the room assigned to his parents. His duty was done, or so he thought.

As midnight fast approached Harry gave Andrew a bottle of whisky and a tray of glasses and asked him to go round and make sure everyone had a dram ready for the bells. A couple of the older men needed refilling before Andrew had finished going round the house but at two minutes to midnight all was set. Andrew had been given a glass of ginger ale. When midnight came there was the usual singing, whisky was drunk and several of the guests settled in like they were planning to sit and drink all night, an accurate prophecy he figured. At ten after midnight Andrew said goodnight to his mum and dad. He met Mac at the back door putting on his boots as well.

“Off so soon Mac?”

“Milking duty tomorrow morning, well this morning now. Still got a 20 minute walk to get to the cottage. See you.”

Still a man of many words.

Andrew wandered over to the barn and up into the loft. There at the back was a small room. It had a bed and a dresser in it but nothing else. There was tiny bathroom beside it, just a bowl, basin and a miniscule shower. It was warm and cozy and Andrew was happy to be over there and away from the chaos of the farmhouse. He climbed into bed and was out like a light.

The dream started so slowly. Andrew luxuriated in it. It felt so. His mind was blank. It felt so. Come on. Real. More senses. Sensual. Aaah, there we are. The dream felt so sensual. It was like this dream was a colour print when all he had ever dreamt before were in black and white. There was a clean smell in the air. Some kind of herbal smell. Andrew could feel the touch against his. Touch?

He sat bolt upright and there was a squeal from beside him.

“Who is there? What are you doing?”

From fast asleep to ready to fight in a second.

“Andrew, shush. It’s me, Kenzie. Stop making so much noise.”

Kenzie? Was he dreaming about waking up from a dream?

“Kenzie, am I dreaming? Where did you come from?”

Andrew heard a giggle.

“Calm down Andrew, sorry to startle you. Dad and I got home about the same time. He mentioned you were staying at the Strachans but thought nothing of it and went off to bed. So I waited for him to fall asleep and then snuck up here. I wanted to see you. If I had known that you were here I never would have gone to the stupid party that I did. Bunch of fools all blind drunk at 10pm. I got the milking duty for the Fieldings in the morning so I had a bunch of beers but have been on cokes since 11.00.

“How are you Andrew?”

How was he? Confused. Struggling to catch up to the situation. Acutely aware that there was a teenage woman in his bedroom. Alone. With no parents nearby.

“I am great Kenzie. I have been working over the holidays and it was good to get out. If I get up in time I will help your dad with the milking. As we pulled into the farmyard the memories came back. I had a good time here last summer. How about you? Obviously still at the Fieldings. They are up at the farmhouse and there has been a lot of whisky drunk. Everyone arrived with a bottle and there are a flock of empties already.”

“Yes, still at the Fieldings. But things have changed thanks to you.”

Andrew looked at her.

“Thanks to me? I don’t think I met the Fieldings until tonight.”

The confusion showed on his face.

“When you went back to school I sat down with Violet and asked about the paperwork. I told her how you had helped the Strachans all summer and I asked if she could start to teach me about it too. Now I don’t want to be stuck inside all day working on books, I left school to avoid all that, but if I am going to be a farmer, and a farmer’s wife, then I need to know about it. So Violet called Mrs. Strachan and they had a long chat. Since then every week she gets me to help with some of the paperwork. Not as much as you did but I am doing more each week. In fact, Violet was amazed how much paperwork you did for the Strachans.

“So yes, thanks to you I am learning more. If I hadn’t seen you working on the Strachans books for them those evenings I would never have known, well not known until much later at least.”

Her tone changed noticeably.

“I have very fond memories of that week Andrew. You are such a hard worker, even Dad mentioned it and he is normally an old grump. And so smart.”

Her smile was lupine, hungry lupine.

“And the way you look. So broad but lean. I remember that a lot Andrew.”

She sat up and pulled off her boots, followed by her socks. She started to unbutton her shirt.

“What are you doing Kenzie?”

“Getting into bed with you Andrew.”

So matter of fact, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Eh, Kenzie.”

Andrew thought he was going to choke on his own heart. What was happening? She turned and looked down on him. Andrew looked back at her face. Weathered, brown, but vibrant. He stared at her eyes, green with a trace of mischief in them. Her nose, Andrew could see a small scar down one side, he lay there wondering how she had cut herself there. But most of all he stared at her lips. Her face might be brown from working outside all day but her lips looked moist and pink and Andrew found himself wondering what they would taste like. He watched as the tip of her tongue ran over the top lip. Andrew’s eyes followed it as it completed its wonderful journey. By now she had taken her shirt off and reached to unbutton her jeans. Andrew grabbed her arm.

“Kenzie, I have never, I mean, I”

He was pretty sure those seven words got the point across that he was trying make. She looked at him for a full five seconds and then very deliberately lifted her bum off the bed and slipped the jeans down her legs. Still looking at him the lupine grin returned.

“I know, so young, so powerful, so fresh. Why don’t you take off that tee-shirt and scoot over and let me in beside you?”

Andrew just sat there staring at her, transfixed by the situation. Kenzie reached out and gently grabbed the tee-shirt and started pulling. He instinctively lifted his arms and it was pulled over his head. Kenzie threw it over her shoulder and ran her hands across his chest. Backwards and forwards just running her fingers and palms across it. She stopped and teased his nipples. She was going to make him shoot his load already.

“Kenzie, I am on a hair trigger here.”

Andrew’s shame-faced admission produced a giggle. She stood up and grabbed his hand.

“Come with me.”

Pulling him out of bed she led him to the bathroom. Andrew followed her panty clad behind as it swayed seductively over to the little bathroom.

“I understand how excited guys get and the consequences.” She giggled again. “Too many clothes have had to be washed because of over excited guys. Stand here.”

She had Andrew positioned at the entrance to the shower. Without a moment’s hesitation she yanked his briefs down around his ankles. He tried to grab his dick and hide it from her gaze.

“Stop that. Now step out of the undies.”

Andrew obeyed blindly and then he felt her body slide up behind him. Something soft and squishy pressed against his back. Kenzie lifted his arm and her head popped round the side of his chest. Her breath was hot on his body. She slowly and deliberately ran her hands over his chest tracing circles with her fingers. Then her right hand started to head lower, running over his stomach heading even lower.

Andrew was lost. Just the mere thought of her holding his dick had him shooting. Now he had come hard before. Suzanne in that grey woollen dress had featured extensively in his nighttime shower stall recollections and every night when he returned home from an evening with her or with her and Paula, Andrew had painted the tiles. But there was nothing in his sexual experience to compare to this. He understood why she had him step out of his underwear. He would have stumbled and fallen otherwise. To feel her body against his, her hand on his stomach, her breath on his chest.

“There you go Andrew that should take the edge off.”

She went to the sink rinsed out a washcloth and casually wiped his dick, cleaning the head carefully. Then she grabbed a towel, took him by the hand and led him to the bed. Andrew climbed back into bed naked and Kenzie pulled her top over her head and stood there in her bra and panties. Andrew looked at her body.

HIs eyes were drawn to her breasts. They sat high on her chest and he could see a pink flush blossom above her bra and she stood there letting him admire her body. Andrew dragged his eyes away from her chest and looked at the rest of her body. It was strong. When you describe someone there is normally one word that instantly springs to mind. Voluptuous, curvy, delicate, thin, boyish, thick, scrawny, athletic, chunky, whatever the word is. For Kenzie the word was strong. There was strength in this body. She was solid. Not big or fat or anything like that, she had a body that was used to work. Andrew compared it to his own. He was toned, for lack of a better word. It was swimming and exercise. Kenzie was strong with a body used to hard work. She had got her physique from using her body every day. Muscles in her legs. Flat stomach. Arms that were flexed with power. She turned round and lordy lord. Her arse was to die for. High and tight where her hips flared out. The perfect bottom of an hourglass.

She turned back to him and pushed him over as she climbed into bed.

“The way that you looked at me Andrew. The lust, the desire that I saw in your eyes. Oh my. Are we going to have some fun.”

She pinned Andrew back against the back wall and started kissing him. Strong kisses, hungry kisses, kisses that needed to be returned. Andrew picked up his game and started to actively kiss her. It was a game of where she would do something and two seconds later he would try to duplicate it. A nibble her and return nibble there. The tip of her tongue across his bottom lip, the tip of his own across her top lip. Then Andrew broke contact and started kissing her collar bone. Feather light touches. Kenzie shivered in his arms. He carried on up her neck, nibbles, touches, kisses that lasted seconds, kisses that lasted but a moment.

“Oh yes, right there.”

The way Andrew was positioned meant that was as far as he could reach. He pushed her gently away onto her stomach and he lay beside her his right leg draped over her left one. Andrew now had more body to explore. He had thought of Leslie’s lesson so many times that they came to him unbidden. He lifted her hair and kissed her neck and Kenzie practically purred. Andrew repeated what had worked earlier and travelled from below her ear, up behind it, which made her squirm like it was ticklish so he backed off that, across her neck on her hairline. Andrew started to kiss down onto her shoulders between the bra straps. He surreptitiously checked out the bra looking at the clasp with worry. He kissed his way back up to her neck and gently placed his hand on the small of her back. Andrew started to caress her back down to the rise of her glorious arse. His hand touched fabric and his fingers danced a pattern across her back. The kisses picked up intensity on her neck and Kenzie started squirmed under him. Andrew slipped his hand under the band of her panties and squeezed. He could feel the power and the muscles under the skin. Yet it was soft and yielding and bewitching. Andrew had no idea how long they lay like that with him kissing her neck while caressing this beautiful arse. Kenzie turned her head towards him and panted.

“Take off my bra Andrew. Now.”

Andrew had looked at the clasp several times as he had kissed across and down over Kenzie’s shoulders. He peered at the eyelet and hook arrangement. With no experience to guide him he took a side in each hand and brought them together. One hook popped open but it took a second or two for him to arrange his hands to get the second one free. The bra popped apart and Kenzie shucked it down her shoulders and then rolled over and pulled it free. His first topless female. All woman. Lying in his bed waiting for him to pounce. Andrew leaned over to Kenzie and kissed her lips. He moved back round to the side of her neck and kissed her right below her ear. “You are so beautiful” He breathed into her ear. All the while he was constantly thinking about Leslie’s words that day on the ward. Caressing not grabbing, taking his time, gentle, these phrases and many others echoed through his head. With one hand caressing her left breast gently Andrew lowered his mouth to the right nipple and kissed it delicately. He flicked it with his tongue and watched her reaction. Her back arched and she moaned softly.

“Again”.

He was happy to oblige. Andrew kissed and licked and nibbled exactly as he had on her neck and throat. He leaned across her body and attacked her left nipple with similar determination. Suddenly the roles were reversed. She pushed him onto his back and reached down onto the floor. She rummaged around for a couple of seconds and then she threw a towel across his stomach. Smiling she looked him in the eye.

“You have got me completely worked up Andrew McLeod. Time for some more pressure relief, don’t you think?”

The feeling of the hand of another human on his dick was indescribable. The reality of the moment, the visual of a topless woman jacking him off. He didn’t stand a chance. She knew it was about to happen. His hips started jerking beneath her and once again Andrew spewed cum everywhere. Most landed on the towel and she used the folded towel to clean up the rest and wipe his dick again. She threw the towel on the floor and then lay on her back, lifted her bum and slipped her panties down. Reaching down onto the floor again she came back with a foil packet. Andrew had seen pictures in textbooks of condoms, the human sexuality course was taught in term three of 2^nd year so he had been back at school for that. What he didn’t know was that they came wrapped up in one of these packets. Kenzie threw the packet on the pillow beside Andrew’s head and grabbed his dick again. She started stroking and then wanking it slowly but steadily. Ah, the power of youth. His dick rapidly hardened again. Reaching over, Kenzie took the packet and ripped it open with her teeth. Carefully taking the condom from within she reached down and placed it over the head of his dick. She pushed it down and around the glans and then all the way down into his pubes.

“Wide head there Andrew. This is going to be fun.”

Ah, okay. Andrew would deal with and decipher comments like that later.

Kenzie had a fire burning within her. She threw her leg over his body, banging her leg against the wall. She grabbed Andrew’s hips and dragged him out from the wall so there was room and then repeated the move. He looked down and could see the tangle of curls of her pussy resting against his stomach. Not for long. Kenzie lifted herself up on her knees and slid back. At the same time her right hand stood his dick up straight. She slid backwards and forwards for a second and then the head seemed to catch and she let go. She pushed against him and the head popped into her. Grunting she lowered herself in stages and then their bodies touched. He was no longer a virgin. Still fully seated in him Kenzie lowered herself to his chest and lay across him. With her chin on Andrew’s chest she looked up at him. Her eyes were dark and passionate. She smiled at him and then stretched out and kissed him. Pushing up on her arms her breasts hung down and Andrew reached up and squeezed them gently. It was probably more than gently but they just kept on kissing and caressing while joined. Then Kenzie started moving. Up and down and side to side. For the first time he was fucking. The sensations were all new, nothing like masturbation. Even wearing the condom it was heavenly. The movement, the grip of her body, the fight between them. She pushed down onto him and her body resisted and yielded unwillingly. She raised herself up and her body clung on to him equally unwilling to let go. Tight flesh grasping him leading him rapidly to his third orgasm of the evening. Andrew was close to coming when suddenly Kenzie’s orgasm hit her. Andrew thought she had been tight before but her pussy clamped down on him and seemed to milk the spunk right out him. He exploded holding her hips and they both shuddered under the onslaught of their spontaneous combustion. Kenzie collapsed against his chest. Andrew held her and waited for his heart to settle. His dick slowly deflated and eventually slipped out. This seemed to stir Kenzie.

“Hold the base Andrew, we don’t want leakage. Carefully take it off and dump it in the trash can.”

They untangled and he disposed of his first condom. Andrew stopped at the bathroom, re-wet the washcloth from earlier and cleaned his groin. Finally he climbed back into bed. Andrew lay on his back and Kenzie draped herself over him. She was now against the wall and her right hand brushed his chest as they lay there.

They lay in silence for a while and then she started to speak.

“How are you doing Andrew?”

Her voice had an undercurrent of concern.

“I am lying here with a beautiful naked woman in my arms. How do you thing I am doing? That was brilliant.”

Andrew could feel her relax across his body. They lay there for a while and then she started softly talking to him, almost mumbling into his chest.

“You became this fantasy to me Andrew. This hot guy who has no idea how hot he is, smart, kind, funny. I never saw you after August and so like I said you became this fantasy figure. Even though you are still a kid. I wasn’t sure I would ever see you again. I had fought off a bunch of pawing drunks all night and when I got home Dad casually mentioned that you were staying here. It was an impulse, I wanted the fantasy. As I was walking up here I remembered my first time. The fumbles in the dark, the risk because we didn’t use a condom, the blood and the pain, it being over way too fast. Nothing about my first time was good so if you were going to be my fantasy then I was going to make your first time as fantastic as possible. But then you started on me, those kisses on my neck, the kisses on my nipples, fuck you were driving me wild. Once I had drained you a couple of times I knew that you would last and that we could both get off and I was right. You blew my mind and made my fantasy come to life. I will lie in bed for months after this reliving tonight.”

It was then that Andrew got it. Leslie’s comment. Girls get horny too.

“Just so you know, I am going to come so much thinking about you, your body, about fucking you, that I could whitewash this barn.”

They both laughed. Just imagining that revived him and he looked down at Kenzie.

“Do you have any more condoms?”

His voice did nothing to mask his hopeful tone. Kenzie bit her bottom lip and whispered.

“Two more on the floor by my jeans.”

“Can we do it again?”

Pleading in his eyes. He was not sure there was any need to plead.

“Of course. I am not leaving any unused condoms here tonight.”

Andrew’s dick twitched at the thought. He grabbed another foil packet and examined it.

“I never realised this is how they were packaged. In the pictures it is already out and often already on the dick. Just watching you open it and roll it on was cool. Do I just tear this open?”

Kenzie showed him how to rip the packet.

“You have to make sure that you have it the right way up so that it will roll out as you push it down the dick. It won’t work the other way.”

Soon she had him sheathed up.

“Would you like to try another position?”

Andrew nodded eagerly so she bumped him over with her hips until she was lying on her back with her legs open. Andrew climbed between them and tried unsuccessfully to get close.

“On your knees and edge forward Andrew. All the way up and then lower yourself onto me. Support your weight with your arms. That’s it. Great.”

At this point she grabbed his rock-hard dick again and slid it up and down until it caught.

“Take your time getting settled at the beginning Andrew. Don’t just wildly push, most of the time you will miss. One or other of you should get it ready at the entrance of the pussy. Then you can start pushing, but gently.”

With their bodies poised to join Andrew pushed forward slightly and he could feel her lips stretch around the condom covered head. He did not penetrate however, so pushed with more vigour. Suddenly the head popped in.

“Oh. You will always need to make sure a girl is ready Andrew. You have a wide head and when it pops in it takes a second or two to get used to it. Alright. Ease in and give me the rest.”

The second time Andrew was much more aware of the sensations. He could feel the head pushing through the flesh of her pussy, shoving it aside. Once he was all the way in he ground his hips and Kenzie moaned.

“That is good Andrew. Right on my clit. I can feel that big cockhead stretching me open and then you graze my clit. Keep that pattern, come on start fucking me.”

Andrew started to withdraw feeling Kenzie’s pussy grabbing his cock as it pulled out. He started a gentle rhythm of stroking in and out with a hip grind in the middle. Kenzie became a vocal and active partner to me.

“That’s it. Right there, faster now, that’s the speed keep that up.”

Her hips lifted and she locked her ankles together behind his back.

“Come on fuck me harder. Come on.”

Andrew started to speed up and the dam suddenly burst open again. Her pussy clamped down, she hauled him into her body with her heels while at the same time she let out a squeal. She arched her body and held it rigid for at least 10 seconds as her orgasm washed over her. Then like a marionette with the strings cut she collapsed panting on the bed. Her pussy had grabbed him so tight that he had been unable to move so he waited held in place. When Kenzie collapsed on the bed her pussy relaxed and Andrew could move again. The first couple of strokes were instinctive but her reaction was immediate.

“Yes, keep going. Take me again, right there.”

Her energy was astounding. No sooner had she come down from one mountain than she started climbing another. Andrew started to fuck her more vigorously. He knew that he could not last much longer. This time it was him that came first. As he slammed himself into her and held himself there Kenzie ground her clit against the root of his cock and pubes and this got her off. Andrew was struggling to hold his weight off her and so as she started to come down from her second climax he pulled out and flopped down beside her.

Again Andrew pulled the condom off, disposed of it in the trashcan and washed his dick. When he was back in bed they lay as before, him on his back with Kenzie draped over him. Neither one of them said anything as sleep claimed them.

Andrew woke with a start, looked at his watch and saw that it was 5.45. They had slept for about three hours. Thank goodness he had woken up. Being caught like this was not on his list of New Year resolutions. Andrew gently shook Kenzie where she lay across him. He whispered to her.

“It’s 5.45 we have slept for three hours.”

“What!”

She sat bolt upright.

“Thank goodness you woke up.”

She lay back down and snuggled against him.

“How are you feeling Andrew? You still okay?”

“Oh I am sure I am going to over think this for the next month but yeah, I’m fine. I realised it last night when you were talking. Girls get horny too” she giggled at this “It was absolutely perfect Kenzie. I dreamt of someone touching me and I woke up to someone touching me. We played around and then we made love twice.”

Kenzie grabbed his face.

“No Andrew, don’t call it that. We didn’t make love we fucked. You fulfilled my fantasy and I popped your cherry. We haven’t seen each other in more than four months. We may never see each other again. This is not love Andrew, this is physical. This is passion yes, lust definitely. Don’t confuse the two.”

There was fire in her eyes and Andrew was shocked. The fire faded and a wicked smile split her face.

“We still have one condom left Andrew. You are not going to let me leave with an unused condom now, are you?”

There was a taunting tone to her voice. His body reacted like any 14 year old boy’s would with the chance for another fuck. Not another chance to make love. To fuck. This hot, sexy, strong young woman. HIs dick was about to set off a magnetometer it was so hard. She saw the look in his eyes and laughed.

“That’s right Andrew. We are going to fuck. Hard. You are going to fuck me, make me come and send me home tired and satisfied. I loved how you caressed my arse last night. How about we try doggy and you can watch and rub my arse the whole time?”

She didn’t wait for a reply but leaned all the way over him and grabbed the last condom. After she had Andrew wrapped and ready to go she got down on her hands and knees and looked over her shoulder. The smoldering look should have singed his eyebrows. Instead he grabbed her hips and then placed the head of his cock right at the entrance to her glistening pussy. Andrew pushed forward and when he was in pushed forward all the way. She groaned and squeezed her pussy.

“Rub my arse Andrew. I saw how much you loved it when I was posing for you and again when you were caressing it. Rub it and look at it as you fuck me. Come on Andrew. I want to come and I want to come hard. Fuck me. Let me feel your eyes on my body as you take me.”

This was never going to last. Kenzie had got both of them wound up and he was pistoning in and out. There was no technique, no subtlety, nothing but raw passion. Andrew stared down at her gorgeous arse. He was sure that it was at that very moment that he became a lifelong arse man. It was perfect. Two prefect globes. Her arsehole peeking out every now and again and his cock descending into the tight fleshy fist of her pussy. Andrew felt Kenzie’s hand underneath her rubbing against something, later learning that it was her clit. She wailed in orgasm and he followed right behind her. Once their rutting had stopped he gently pulled out, holding the condom at the base as she had advised. The trashcan echoed for a third time as he got rid of the evidence. Andrew walked back to the bed looking at his watch.

“It is 5.55, when will your Dad get up? Does he wake you or leave you to get up yourself?

“The alarm is set for 6.30 and whoever is up first makes sure the other is awake. Shit, I have to get going.”

She jumped out of bed and started dressing. Andrew was going to shower and so he sat there naked getting more and more conscious of it as Kenzie got dressed.

“Listen Andrew, I don’t have much time. I hate that we are rushed but I have to get back. You are a great fuck and an even nicer guy. You made this woman’s fantasy come true and every night for months to come I am going to relive what we did and then I am going to come.”

She giggled at the play on words.

“I will say this. I hope that you decide to work for the Strachans next summer!”

And with a kiss on the cheek she slipped out the door and was gone.

 

Chapter 2

Andrew was exhausted but needed to clean up the little bedroom of the evidence of the previous night, and that morning. He started the shower, if for no other reason than to wash away the first of last night’s pops. Once the water was warm, it was never hot over there, he quickly washed focusing on his armpits and groin. He used plenty of soap to scrub himself clean. The water was borderline cold by the time he was done. Then dressed in the clothes he had packed for working at the farm, Andrew stripped the bed and balled the sheets up at the door to the little apartment. He took the trashcan to the door and then did a sweep of the room, nearly missing a condom wrapper but he spotted it under the bed and checked that the other two were in the trashcan. He then carried everything over to the farmhouse, left his bag in the hallway and took the sheets through to the laundry. Andrew could hear movement around the house and he knew that people were going to be up and about shortly. He decided to start the laundry even although it was only 6.15, the need to hide the evidence was more important than worrying about starting a wash too early in the morning. Finally Andrew emptied the trashcan in the dumpster outside. There was no trash service out there so the farm had a dumpster that was collected once a month. The debris of a drunken Hogmanay would be dumped on top before lunchtime and everything would be hidden. He took the trashcan back to the room and after one more final check left, the door propped open to air out any smells.

Back over at the farm Andrew started the coffee maker and then took a look around the ground floor. There were at least 10 men asleep in chairs, on the couches and, in a couple of cases, the floor. Everywhere he looked there were empty or mostly empty whisky bottles. The air was rancid and as he stood watching one of the men in a chair let rip with a thunderous fart. With that echoing in his ears Andrew retreated back to the kitchen. These men and several others who had dragged themselves to bed, including Hugh and his father, had spent the evening drinking. Andrew had drunk several cokes but nothing alcoholic and then spent several hours fucking the pretty 17 year old daughter of Harry’s head farmhand. He was tired and his dick ached a little. But he wouldn’t have changed places with these men for anything. They appeared to drink to forget. Andrew wanted to remember everything.

The coffee was ready so he grabbed a quick cup but kept a watch out the window and when he saw Mac come round the corner of the barn heading for the milking shed got up, grabbed his coat and went out to join him. Mac looked up but didn’t seem surprised.

“You always were an early riser. Nothing has changed, do you want to do the beef or dairy?”

“Dairy.”

They parted without another word and Andrew went over to the gate of the dairy field. The cows knew that it was time for milking and were all placidly waiting at the gate to be lead up to the shed. He slipped back into the routine of the summer. It was like muscle memory. Once all the suction cups were attached to the teats on the udders he walked back to check that the hose between the pasteuriser and the holding tank wasn’t leaking. Everything seemed fine. Once the cows were finished being milked Andrew got them back out to the field. He checked the water troughs and refilled the hay for them. Mac had finished the feeding and checking of the beef cattle and so the two of them cleaned and sterilised the milking equipment and made sure the shed was ready for the evening milking. It was 7.40 and the morning chores were done. Mac looked around but said nothing. Andrew assumed that everything met with his approval.

“Thanks for the help. I am off back to get breakfast for the missus. I am not needed until later.”

The wee ATV that Andrew had ridden all summer was parked in one of the bays of the machine shed.

“Get on. Harry won’t mind for five minutes.”

He had Mac back at his cottage in less than five minutes and was back parking the ATV in the Strachan’s farmyard when Harry wandered out looking very rough round the edges.

“Andrew?”

Clearly conversation was going to be limited.

“I ran Mac back to the cottage, I hope that was okay. Took less than 10 minutes.”

Hugh looked at his watch.

“Already? Cows?”

Monosyllabic was the conversation du jour.

“All finished. Milked, fed, and cleaned up. Quicker with the two of us.”

He only nodded and headed back into the house with Andrew trailing along behind him. What followed was a comical couple of hours as Harry kicked and cajoled various people awake. There was much moaning and more than a bit of cursing. Gradually people started to get themselves together. Andrew brought through mugs of coffee which helped a bit. Not as much as is commonly presumed because most of these jokers were still pretty drunk. They hadn’t got to the hangover stage yet. Coffee just made them more awake drunks not sober. The ATV got quite the workout. Andrew drove most of the men home to their farms, cutting round the edges of fields and managing to stay off the public roads. Conversation was very much at a minimum.

Around 11.20 the house was empty. Only the guests who had been invited to stay and who were in bedrooms were left. Andrew’s family and two others. All three families were two adults and two older kids. Only the McLeods had a baby. Josephine finally made an appearance and started to get things ready for a big communal breakfast. Andrew gave her a hand. He wasn’t an adult but he appeared to be the oldest sober person in the whole house. They finally left just after noon. His mum drove them home and when Andrew got to his room he stripped and climbed into bed, set the alarm for 4.00 and was out like a light.

When Andrew woke up he lay in bed thinking about his night. Kenzie. Wow. Did he feel different? Not really. Should he have said no? Aaah, now that was an interesting question. Andrew thought about the reversed roles, coming into the room of a 14 year old girl, calling her his fantasy. Hmmm. Suddenly he was not feeling very comfortable. But importantly Andrew realised he could have said stop, if he wasn’t ready. It was too late now to say whether he was ready or not. He had been ready the previous evening. He didn’t masturbate every night but it was three or four times a week. He was going through puberty but there was still a long way to go. Fuck, lots to think about. Come back to that.

Andrew thought he had performed well. Kenzie knew he would be on a hair trigger and got him off, twice, to ensure that they both enjoyed the actual fucking. The whole caressing of her body, taking his time, kissing the neck, teasing not twisting, all of that had worked. Andrew had thought about what Leslie had said so much that at least he didn’t just go crazy. They had been safe, Andrew needed to make sure he always had condoms now. That would be an interesting trip to the chemists! And then there was the conversation at the end, they didn’t make love, they fucked. Don’t romanticise it, be real and honest. A horny 17 year old woman had come to his room, seduced him and they had fucked repeatedly. He had known Kenzie and was friendly with her but she wasn’t his friend. She came to his room wanting a fuck and assuming that a 14 year old virgin would screw her if given the opportunity. Andrew fulfilled the assumption perfectly.

His mind was bouncing around. Other than fucking her he had never touched her pussy, never fingered her or went down on her. She was so worked up and ready that there had been no need to. They didn’t need to stop at letters B &C they were going straight to D. ‘You have a big head’. That comment came back to him. Andrew looked down at his flaccid dick. A big head. The glans at the top? The ridge round it near the top (he later found out this is called the corona)? Both? He had never really thought the shape of his dick. Like all guys he worried about length. But Kenzie had never mentioned it and Andrew had made her come four times over three separate occasions so a little of his anxiety lessened. But the shape? Who was he going to ask? Double hmmm. Leslie?

What was he going to tell Leslie? Was he going to tell her anything? She was the one who repeatedly told him to keep quiet, never brag, be discreet. Was she the exception to the rule? If the situation was reversed did he want to hear about her getting banged hard in doggy position? Well if nothing else, Sunday dinner at the Campbells should be interesting, not that they would be talking about this at dinner.

Finally Andrew thought about sex. As in, would he do it again? Well yes. But could he imagine seducing someone into bed? He could play the willing victim but could he take the lead? That was a different matter, more to think about. When Andrew went through to the kitchen it looked like his parents had just awoken from an afternoon nap as well.

“You tired as well Andrew? Not like you to nap in the afternoon?”

His dad stifled a yawn as he said that.

“Getting too old to drink that much whisky Dad?”

Andrew teased him. His father nodded back at him.

“Too right son. Why were you so tired?”

It seemed an innocent enough question and his mother was looking curiously at him as well. Well Dad I got three hours sleep because I lost my virginity in a torrid bout of sex. Truthful but probably too much info. Andrew imagined the reaction and suppressed a smile.

“I was up at 6.00 as usual and helped Mac with the milking and then spent three hours helping Harry get 14 drunk farmers out of the house. I drove a lot of them home on the little ATV. I would take it over the fields and didn’t go out on the roads. Plus I worked pretty hard for four days straight right up until I got home yesterday. Other than that no excuse.”

Andrew smirked at them. It was his mother that responded.

“We shouldn’t have asked. You make me tired just listening to you. I am surprised you only napped for a couple of hours. You are a good man Andrew. Sounds like you just pitched in and helped Harry. People remember things like that. I know it is only January 1^st but have you given any thought as to what you want to do next summer?”

It was a genuine family moment. Again notable by its rarity.

“I think it is too soon to know, never mind decide. I have to see how I get on with the combination of the school and the Open University course. I may use the summer to study full time for a month. Then there is the computer business. It may have withered to nothing or it could be really busy. Julian is keen to do customer work a couple of weekends a month. If his dad’s firm is happy on Friday that could go a long way to getting our name out there. I could go and work for Harry again. One of the things I will think about is the money. I am not going to be totally money obsessed but when I get paid to use my brain I get a lot of money. When I get paid to use my muscles I get paid a lot less money. Plus I would like balance. Whatever that means for me and my crazy life. CCF camp. Sunday volunteering. There is a lot going on.”

Andrew finished and looked over at them.

“All I can say is you won’t be spending 10 hours a day lounging around in front of the TV. You have worked hard these last few years. You have made quite the life for yourself.”

His mother came over and kissed him on the forehead. Andrew retired back to his room, pleased that he and his parents had managed to connect even if it was an irregular occurrence. Later that night Leslie called and Andrew wished her a Happy New Year.

“The reason for the call Andrew is that we would like you to come to dinner with us on Thursday. It would have been Faith’s 17^th birthday.”

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose on family time.”

“That is what Mum thought you would say. She told me to tell you to ‘not be so silly’. I am not sure they will ever say it but they really have semi-adopted you Andrew. Like I said I am not sure they will call you family but they treat you that way.”

He was silent.

“You still there? Andrew? Andrew?”

“I am here. Just touched and a bit emotional. Tell your parents thank you and I will be there just after 6pm on Thursday. I am at Strong’s firm until the end of the business day.”

The next day Andrew went back to his exercises, having skipped them on New Year’s Day. He pushed himself up to 180 sit ups and 80 push ups and was feeling it at the end. Later he went for a 90 minute run, set an easy pace in the 45 minutes out and picked it up on the way back. He was done in 86 minutes so he really must have gone easy on the way out. He walked round the block three times before his breathing was back under control. January 2^nd is a national holiday in Scotland so Andrew knew all the pools would be closed. After showering and eating thirds of breakfast he went through to his room and planned for 1980. It was the perfect day. Nothing to do. No one to see. Time to think about the life plan and the goals.

The plan had six parts. School and then University, Career, Balance, Karma, Money & Make a Difference, Fitness.

Normally school was the easiest one of his goals since this was the one that was most straightforward. At the end of last term Andrew had felt disillusioned and angry. That anger had grown over the holidays with him taking it out on Stuart McBride. He made a note to make an appointment to see Helen Graham. As he sat there two weeks removed from all the unnecessary drama at school he resolved to pull back a little. He would still support his friends where possible but it would be less obvious. Suzanne and Paula had dropped tutoring, he would need to check to see if the tutoring sign was still there. Take a term off from tutoring? Perhaps focus on the Open University and the computer business. The first could use the time and the second would provide the money. That would allow him time for his homework and stay ahead on the schoolwork after school and let him work on the computer course in the evening.

Career was the one that just was a placeholder at present. The plan for university hadn’t changed. This one would not need to be addressed until a couple of years’ time.

Balance was all over the place. Andrew had friends, real actual friends. Leslie, Nikki, Julian, Pete, Don, Suzanne, Paula, Hannah, Kate and Allie. What was good was that a lot of them had met each other. He had interests and had friends who shared that interest. He did wonder if Suzanne and Paula had been de facto girlfriends even if they never actually said out loud. The reality was it was actually just good friends with a bit of kissing thrown in every couple of weeks. And now that was all on hold due to the interfering mothers. Andrew was not going to abandon them but at the same time he wasn’t going to sit at home pining for them. The biggest issue was them standing up to their parents and he was not getting in the middle of that. He and Leslie would talk on Sunday but their relationship continued to evolve. The business was adding an interesting wrinkle into their lives. Andrew felt this was rock solid. He would be sad to see Nikki leave if she did get a transfer out to Glasgow. She should know soon and it could be she would be gone before the end of the upcoming term. He would keep in touch with her but again life had to continue on. Andrew tended to use balance as short hand for this whole goal. But the goal had family, relationships and sex as well. Family was okay, he was sort of resigned to okay being the best that was possible. More and more it seemed that his parents were letting him live his own life. But between Scott who was a baby, and Rowan who acted like a baby, Andrew seemed to slip through the cracks. The last month Andrew had felt a couple of genuine family moments. But he remembered how rare such shows of love, or praise or pride were.

But his life was separate, ring-fenced almost. He was responsible for paying both his school fees and the Open University course fees. With that responsibility came a lot of freedom. Andrew was just unsure what it all meant.

Andrew was a firm believer in Karma. Too many good and positive things had happened as a result of helping others. Mr. Campbell and all the hard work led to money, connections and opportunities. Defending Julian from his father’s digs led to an opportunity. Treating everyone with kindness and respect had worked. He never got into it, walked away and didn’t fight with Rowan. Had supported the girls when they arrived at the school from the very first day. Sure there had been ups and downs but way more ups than downs.

Money was the goal that had changed the most dramatically since July 1^st of the previous year. In just six months Andrew had started a business and it was making money. He could afford to continue to pay for his own education and was helping Julian make money so that he could get a new computer. He had given Leslie 10% of the company so that she felt connected to goals and that she felt a part of living Faith’s life. This goal was probably going too well, if there was such a thing. He would have around £1,500 in the company bank account once he had paid Julian and Mhairi. The fees for the remaining two terms were going to come out of the £1,600 Andrew had at the bank as well as the money in his drawer in his bedroom. He had more than £400 just sitting in the drawer from tutoring and helping Mr. Campbell. Andrew had originally felt bad about how much he had charged Suzanne and Paula for the tutoring but given how their parents treated him at the end of term he had got over it. This is where the goals started to intermingle and mutually reinforce. Helped two female students who were struggling academically. Karma. Got paid by them. Money. Used the money to pay the school fees. School. Took the pressure off mum and dad. Karma & Balance. Became good friends with the women he tutored. Relationships.

Making a difference. This was 5b to Money’s 5a. The goal to was make money so that he could spend it to make a difference. But now it was tied into balance and karma and even school. It had become a mindset. Make a difference. It was becoming the way Andrew lived his life.

Finally there was fitness, the most dramatic change. The most amazing change in outlook. Andrew needed to exercise now. He was never going to be a world class or even regional class swimmer or runner. But he was a regular swimmer and runner, exercised every day. He liked the broad lean look. He had no interest in lifting weights or bulking up. The body had also attracted a lot of attention, the girls all noticed. Hell he got laid the previous day precisely because of his looks. Whilst he hadn’t been exercising nearly as long as he had been studying it already felt like an ingrained habit. He got up at 5.45 in the autumn and would continue through the rest of the winter.

Looking over the list Andrew had very little to complain about. Stay out of trouble at school, be wary of parents and focus on keeping a balance. He made a note to call Helen Graham and make an afternoon appointment for the following week.

Andrew went to bed early on January 2^nd. Not because he wanted to immediately get to sleep. He wanted quiet time to think about his dead friend, and the 17^th birthday she never got to live.

January 3^rd would have been Faith’s birthday. Andrew lay in bed thinking about Faith. He and Leslie kept her memory alive with her parents, in the sense of focusing on the positive impact that she had on his life. Andrew had met her on December 4^th 1978 and she was dead February 4^th 1979. He knew her a mere 63 days and had said his goodbyes before he had known her even 60 days. How had there been such an impact in so short a time? He lay there trying to think of just Faith, as opposed to Faith and Leslie. The conversations around death and the Fates were the things that were purely theirs. He had shared them with both sets of parents and Leslie. No one else. Wait, he had also talked about them with Helen Graham as well. These conversations led to his talking about his life and then the setting out of his life goals. What had triggered that trust in him to talk to relative strangers about everything? They had managed to get Andrew to talk about things he had never thought of. Leslie always said that Faith was the insightful one. She was the observer and understood what was going on just by watching from a distance.

In the end, Andrew couldn’t explain it. He mentally thought about old Andrew and new Andrew. But these 60 odd days they were the metamorphosis. He had to stop questioning it and accept it. He couldn’t go back to being old Andrew, this was who he was now.

Andrew missed his friend, missed talking to her. An odd thought struck him, he missed the camaraderie of the ward. He had started to block out the nausea and the pain, the dark times and last few days there. Instead it was the times when they talked. It was talking to Faith that he remembered the most. She never left her bed that he saw. She was wheeled everywhere in the bed. All they ever did was talk. What she meant to him was more real than who she was. Did Andrew know Faith? He focused on their time together but what about the time before that? Who was Faith?

He fell asleep that night with confused dreams.

The following morning Andrew was up at 5.45 as usual and after exercising and going for his morning run, was off on the bus into town. Warrender was open at 6.00 every morning but was all but deserted that morning. Only one other person was swimming. Andrew did his new normal of 40 minutes until 8.00, changed and then took another bus further into town to the offices.

He arrived two minutes after Julian and they just went right back into it. Julian started working on the remaining two systems while Andrew went through the boot up routine on computer after computer, testing that everything loaded okay and then loaded the VisiCalc templates onto each system. There appeared to be a skeleton staff there that morning and so they were able to work without interruption until into the afternoon. Julian finished the last two systems by lunchtime so he started doing the boot up and checking of the system while Andrew followed along behind adding the templates. At 3.10 they went to reception and asked to see Mr. Taylor. They were shown through into his office and gave him the final report.

“Mr. Taylor, we have finished all 33 systems. Every single one has had every connection checked and in most cases cables needed to be secured and connected properly. We have also checked the computer when it is powered up. There were all sorts of things wrong electronically with the computers which were impacting performance. We can go into as much technical detail as you want.”

He waved his hand for them to continue.

“We also checked that VisiCalc was loaded correctly. In 29 of the 33 cases it was not. That was one of your biggest issues. It is a tricky program to load, there are 12 disks that you have to go through to get it installed correctly. Again, all done. Finally today we have gone through and powered up every system to make sure that it is working properly and have loaded all the VisiCalc templates onto each computer. This should allow your staff to finally unlock the potential of the software on your business and your clients. Do you have any questions?”

Andrew looked at George Taylor wondering about his reaction.

“Can you show me on one system what it looks like please? As you can see they have not given partners computers. I would like to see what my staff are using.”

His request was polite and driven by curiosity.

“Of course, please lead the way and pick any system to use as the demonstration.”

Taylor just went to the first empty desk and Julian sat down and showed him the physical changes they had made. He made Taylor look at the back of the computer and showed him all the connectors. They carefully unplugged one of the peripherals and explained how that although there was a physical connection there we also had to ensure that the electronic connection to this ‘port’ was active. He was a smart man and got the gist. Once the computer was powered up Andrew loaded VisiCalc and showed Taylor the empty screen. He then loaded up one of the templates he had created and Taylor immediately saw the difference. Nothing they had done was remotely earth shattering. Patience and a modicum of skill and most users could get to that point, and fairly quickly. What they had done was firstly fixed their screwed up system and then given them some tools to be more successful in a shorter period of time. Everything that Andrew would have tried to explain to McBride if he had given him the chance.

George Taylor was not a chatty soul. He supervised discreetly and left them alone most of the time. His questions were few but intelligent. Neither of them had a clue what he thought of this contract and whether he personally was in favour. He kept that hidden along with most other things behind a perpetually bland expression on his face. Now he led them back to his office.

“Thank you both for all the work you have done over the last week. The transformation is miraculous and I know the staff will be very pleasantly surprised. I am in no doubt that you have completed your obligations under the contract. I have several requests of you. Will you both come to the office tomorrow please? I would like you to do the demonstration with all of the staff that are working tomorrow. Show them the importance of not touching the cabling, not yanking at the connectors, treating the computer carefully. Then doing a quick demonstration of VisiCalc and the new templates. If you sit with two or three staff at a time and do the same demo as you gave me I think the investment here will finally start to pay off. Lastly, could I ask you to document all the issues that you discovered as you were fixing the systems? I realise that I should have got you to do that earlier but things like 29 of the 33 VisiCalc installs being incomplete or what was that word you used, corrupted?” Andrew nodded. “I would like to have a record of the incompetence of the previous vendor.

“How would you like to be paid for this time? I would propose to pay you £200 for your time.”

He looked at them watching their reaction. Andrew looked at Julian with a question on his face and Julian nodded.

“We accept Mr. Taylor. Training your staff, even with a short demonstration, will allow them to get the most out of the software. Do you want another proposal outlining the terms to reflect this last request?”

Taylor smiled.

“No. Get Ms. Connelly to produce an addendum with the terms and we will sign off on it and add the payment to the final cheque.”

They shook hands and left his office and went through to where they had been working and started to pack up. Looking at each other they started laughing.

“Another £100. Can you believe it?”

Julian was getting giddy again.

“It makes you wonder how many systems have been sold but the install was screwed up doesn’t it?”

Andrew was looking thoughtful. Julian stopped and looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it? This firm is a large prestigious law firm stuffed full of smart people. Total fuck up. Needed two teenagers, self-taught hobbyists, to fix it. Who knows this stuff? Firms are buying these systems because it is all the rage in business papers and magazines. Hell, your dad was convinced when he talked to Leslie’s dad. Don’t you think that there is a lot of business out there? Just waiting for us to come along and fix their problems?”

Julian was looking at Andrew now with a gleam in his eye.

“We could charge £100 a day to fix their system plus you could add in £20 per copy of the template. There is a business out there. How do we tap into it?”

He was getting as bad as Andrew.

“I am scheduled to be over at yours this weekend, right?” Julian nodded. “Why don’t you ask your dad for some time that morning and we can talk to him about this. I would also like to make sure that his is not mad at me. I got pretty wound up either side of Christmas. In fact you should check I am still welcome at the house.”

Julian laughed.

“He’s not mad at you. We talked about it at Hogmanay. He is mad at McBride although he never said it directly but you could tell. Secretly I think he is quite proud of the way you stood up to his firm. Again, he would never admit that either. You had a position of strength and leveraged it. How did he describe it ‘we stood toe to toe and Andrew didn’t blink’. I had the best time with Dad this New Year. For the first time in forever, he understands what I am doing and sees the value in it. If we talk to him about making money then he’ll be happy as a pig in shit.”

Julian’s description of his father made Andrew smile which then slowly faded as he thought it through.

“Shit, this is where it gets complicated again. I want to talk to your father as an experienced businessman who is the father of my friend. But he also is a senior partner at a law firm we have just done work for and I have my own lawyer. Aaah. If I talk to my lawyer it is business and she should and would charge me. If I talk to your dad it is a discussion over the kitchen table in your house and I am picking his brain for free.”

Andrew was back to being confused again. It was time to go. He was going to the Campbells so they were heading for the same bus stop although would take different buses. Julian’s came first and Andrew stood there on his own thinking about everything that they had done over the last week and the possibilities for the future. Once he was on the bus he pushed all of these thoughts to the side. He knew that he would get immersed in computer stuff all day which is why he had spent the previous evening thinking about Faith. Now she again deserved his full attention.

It felt like there was a forced cheerfulness at the Campbells. Totally understandable but it was still very different to their usual relaxed chatting.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“I spent a long time thinking about Faith last night. My memories of Faith are the 63 days I knew her. Would you tell me about the Faith that you knew? Before she got sick. Faith had an impact on my life and I am started to combine that impact with the person. Can you tell me about the person? Ignore 1978 and 1979.”

Well this got them started. A little awkwardly at first but soon the three of them were telling Faith stories. It was exactly what the day needed to be and it filled in a lot of the shadows that littered Faith’s life. Faith did not have to be viewed through the prism of his relationship with her. Andrew had a fun night and they all sat together until it was time to go. He didn’t mention anything about New Year to Leslie and they parted as normal. He told her he would see her on Sunday.

The training day went quite well. Most of the staff were engaged although a few thought that they couldn’t be taught by a couple of schoolkids. Andrew just let it flow over him this time. Don’t fight everything and everybody Andrew. Taylor sat with them as Julian and Andrew talked through all the issues that they had encountered. He had a secretary with him taking notes. It wasn’t 100% complete but between them they detailed most of the major issues they had come across and had to resolve. Andrew did remind him that some people in the office had tried to fix stuff so it all couldn’t be pinned on the vendors. Once the secretary left he brought up the last point.

“Mr. Taylor, Julian and I were talking about your firm and what we had to do for you. You are a large and prestigious law firm and you were lost, out of your depth. I think that you need to consider hiring someone in your support staff who will be responsible for the computers. They are becoming more powerful every day. When we read the computer magazines there are articles of new computers coming out all the time. More memory, faster speed. Computers look like they are here to stay in business. Companies see the value of programs like VisiCalc. There will be more office software created. It is only a matter of time. You might need new computers or different software. You need someone who talks that language to guide you. It is something to consider.”

Andrew looked over to gauge Taylor’s reaction.

“I wondered about the future but I must admit I had not considered adding an employee. It is something that we will seriously consider.

“Thank you both for everything. I know that we did not make it easy and we paid the price for that. However, you both worked long hours on this job. It is up to us now to use what you have prepared for us. Here is the final cheque with the money for today included.”

He shook their hands and they left, walking slowly though Edinburgh’s business district.

“I am going over to my lawyer’s. Can you walk with me so that we can talk? I am eager to hear what your dad says tomorrow and I am going to pick Leslie’s dad’s brain on Sunday also. I am sure there is more work out there.”

Julian nodded in agreement.

“I think so too. You saw some of those people today. Just because you are a good lawyer doesn’t mean you know shit about computers. It will be the same with architects, doctors, all kinds of professionals. I wonder about accountants though. VisiCalc is mostly used to understand how a business is doing. Do you think they have realised its potential?”

Andrew looked at him thoughtfully.

“Yeah, they may be the one group that is making this work. Not sure how that helps us make money though. Let me think about it.”

They had come to Princes Street and Andrew would need to continue over to Drummonds several blocks further on.

“Hey, do you mind I leave you here. I want to wander along to the Radio Shack at the other end of Princes Street and look at the prices of the computers.”

Andrew smiled at Julian’s enthusiasm. He understood completely.

“Go for it, I need to go and talk to my lawyer. Fuck, I am so full of it. Listen me ‘talk to my lawyer’!”

They laughed and went their separate ways. Andrew carried on down to Drummonds and was soon sitting in Mhairi’s office. He had asked for a few minutes to speak to her.

“Mhairi, there is a whole bunch of things that I would like to talk to you about. Do you have time now or should we arrange for something after school next week?”

“It is the second business day back and things are quiet. It won’t pick up until Monday. We have time.”

“Thank you. I have had a bunch of thoughts and want to talk to you about them.”

Andrew went back over the last month. He revisited some of the initial ideas and problems that had been discussed three weeks earlier, although it seemed a lot longer ago. He explained the business opportunity to her regarding problem solving for firms that bought in a rushed fashion and had either been ripped off or just didn’t get the full benefits of what they had. The business aspects also troubled him. He was taking up a bunch of her time and although he knew that she would bill him he wanted things to be smoother.

“Andrew, don’t worry about that right now. You have drive, ambition and have spotted an opportunity. There will be times when it does feel a bit frantic. Your comments about the ego of the people that you are dealing with are absolutely true. When you stood up to McBride I thought you were completely wrong. I wondered if you knew what you were doing? When they signed the new deal I was floored. This is a new world and it is not 50 somethings that hold the power. It is the young and those that have invested the time in learning all this stuff.

“Andrew, I look forward to seeing what you can do over the coming years. I am excited to be part of it.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence Mhairi. I have several things I want to consider going forward. We will have £1,700 in the bank on Monday after paying Julian and setting aside money for your bill. I think that I should get an accountant soon. I want to make sure that we set aside money for taxes. Should Leslie and I be paid somehow? I am going to the Library after school on Monday to look up about small businesses and get some ideas. Neither Leslie nor I are earning any money so I want to think about what I can do. I also don’t want the money just to sit in the bank. I want to do something with it. You have heard about my life goals. One is to make a difference. To make a difference you need to have money. Leslie and I have talked about this. People with money have a lot of the same characteristics, they own a business, own shares in someone else’s business or they own property. I don’t think it is too soon to think about what to do to make money.”

He paused for breath and then carried on.

“Julian and I are a good example of this. He is being paid by the company. Do we need to worry about taxes or any other costs? I have heard about National Insurance but I have no idea about what it is or whether it is something that I should worry about. We are designing and building a computer game. No big deal, right? Who owns it if it becomes a real project. Should I own my share personally? Through the company? Should Julian and I set up a separate business? Every question seems to spawn more questions.

“I know that I have just asked you 40 questions in a row and I don’t expect answers. I am driven, and I can see all of these things potentially becoming problems in the future. And just to complicate it even more, before I am even 18.”

Andrew ran out of steam and looked over at Mhairi.

“You really are going to try and change the world aren’t you Andrew? Well you are right. I think we should get the Company an accountant as soon as possible. Then you, Leslie, the accountant and I should sit down and go through these issues. Some of these are for the future Andrew, but planning ahead may mean that you can do more, save some of your money, exert more control. Do you know any accountants? I would assume no but with you I better check.”

Andrew smiled at that.

“No. I don’t know any accountants. I have a good lawyer though.” Mhairi smiled and flushed slightly “By following Mr. Campbell’s advice. I am having dinner with them on Sunday and I will ask him if he can recommend someone. It will need to be someone starting out, qualified but still young. It needs to be someone that can work with an opinionated 14 year old.”

Andrew laughed at himself.

“The last thing is a couple of business items. Can you create what Mr. Taylor called an addendum to the proposal detailing the training day and agreeing a fee of £200. Then send two copies over to them for the attention of Mr. Taylor. He will sign them and send back our copy. He said he needed it for their books and records. Can I get a deposit slip for the bank account please? In fact give me three I will complete one for this cheque and get Leslie to deposit it and then we’ll have a couple of spares so that we don’t need to bug you. Lastly can you write out a cheque for Julian for his £100 for today? I will get Leslie to countersign on Sunday and give it to him at school on Monday.”

They completed the admin tasks quickly and it was time to for him to go.

 

Chapter 3

Andrew arrived at the Strong’s just after 10.00 on Saturday morning. Julian greeted him and they wandered through to the kitchen. Mrs. Strong looked up in surprise.

“No computer today Andrew? Did all the work for Julian (senior) over the holidays mean you need a break from them?”

“Yes and no Mrs. Strong. We did go pretty hard over the holidays but it was routine work. We haven’t had much of chance to do any programming as we have been working on the job for your husband. I brought the textbook with me and we will sit and go through some of the advanced chapters later and see what new techniques that we can learn. Julian was also working on writing some thin, elegant programs so we want to see if they compile properly and will run.”

What had started off as a general conversation had quickly descended into jargon and Andrew could see that he had lost her.

“Sorry. No computers today. Review some earlier stuff and start to plan ahead for next week.”

“Thank you for simplifying the last part. What are you going to start with?”

Here Julian jumped in.

“We are going to talk to Dad about the work we did and the opportunity for some follow up work.”

Five minutes later they were in Mr. Strong’s home office. He had been sitting there smoking his pipe and reading the newspaper.

“Dad, do you have some time to talk to us this morning?”

“Sure, what would you like to talk about?”

Andrew answered.

“I wanted to check that you were okay with everything at your office. I realise that I put you in the middle of a tough situation. We also wanted to pick your brain over the business and other opportunities. Would you help us?”

“If I wasn’t okay with what happened I would have let Julian know that you were no longer welcome in this house. I was very angry with you on the 26^th. Steaming mad frankly. But as you have astutely observed I was mad because a 14 year old was telling me what to do and pointed out, bluntly I might add, the mistakes we made. We then compounded them by sending in the wrong person to deal with you. George told me that he quietly observed you over the six days that you were there. Worked hard, clearly knew what you were doing, fixed everything, and took the time to clearly explain it to him and all the staff who would listen. His words not mine. I was proud of you and Julian. You also don’t suffer fools gladly. When it comes to computers most of us are fools and if we don’t recognise our own weaknesses then by heck, you sure will. I am a good lawyer and my son and his friend are good with computers. I would never consider listening to you about the law and more importantly you would never consider telling me what to do. Yet we as a firm did exactly that with you when it came to the computers.

“Once you had put us in our place you then just got on and did the job with a minimum of fuss and disruption. You were professional throughout even when you were not treated professionally. Don’t think we didn’t notice who listened to you yesterday and who didn’t. There will be consequences. So what can I do for you both?”

That was quite the endorsement. So between them they laid out the business issues. Andrew didn’t soften the language. The way Andrew had described Mr. Strong’s firm was accurate and he was sure that they were not alone.

“You have a skill that you can make good money with but you don’t have a lot of time and you don’t know how to reach your potential customers. I think that you wait this month and see if anything comes from working for us. I am sure that you are going to be talking to Brian Campbell as well.”

Here Andrew nodded in agreement.

“He will have some insights I am sure. You were lucky it was the holidays and that you could fix our problems. If you both only have Saturdays to work on this then you need to be careful. I would wait and see. If after a month there have been no follow ups then we can regroup.”

This was sensible, cautious advice but something nagged in Andrew’s mind that they were missing something here. Something wasn’t being said.

“That is good advice. It will allow us to get back to programming and working on our game and make sure that we are current with our schoolwork. There are at least another couple of things we need to talk about. The company has paid Julian £500 and we need a receipt to cover it for our accounts. He is not an employee. My lawyer.”

Andrew paused and shook his head.

“Said something about being a contractor. There may be tax consequences.”

“I know. I saw you shake your head when you talked about your lawyer. She is right. I will draft a receipt with Julian for you. Every person has what is called a personal allowance which is the amount that they can earn before paying tax. It is £1,165 for this tax year. I had already thought of this. Julian should be fine this year unless you have several jobs over the Easter break. But that would be a nice problem to have. What else?”

Mr. Strong was on the ball this morning.

“The future Mr. Strong. I wanted your thoughts on how we structure what we do. This will sound brash and you will have to excuse my lack of humility. I ended up with a company to work with other businesses, such as your firm. Do Julian and I need to do something similar for the game? We sit and work away. Total 50:50 involvement. I want to plan for it to be successful. How should we organise that? Does Julian need to have a company? I have hundreds of questions like that. All absurd in some ways but necessary to think about in others.”

Julian and his dad sat looking thoughtful as Andrew talked about computers, the game, companies, and the future, all of it in a jumbled mess.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way Andrew, but you are the oddest 14 year old I have ever met.”

Mr. Strong looked at him in amazement.

“I have businessmen who have been in business for decades who don’t think like this, are not this confident. I know the answer but I have to ask the question anyway. Do you really believe that this is all necessary, that the game will be a success?”

“We are trying to develop our own game and will focus on the Apple system when Julian gets his new computer. What we have both seen is that there is a constant stream of new games being advertised. Nearly all from America. Those computer magazines that you got at New York airport were great. They showed the state of the industry in the US. It is miles ahead of where we are.

“So do I think the game will be a success, be able to be sold to the public, or make us any money? Nah, no chance. Would it be great if it did? Of course. The odds are absurdly long though, a couple of school kids in Edinburgh Scotland. What I want to do is plan my life so that if things go well then we can take advantage of it. We heard a quote in Latin class last term ‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity’ Seneca I think. I want to be prepared and most importantly I don’t want to fall out with my friends over money.”

Andrew finished his long winded answer, an increasingly common way for him to talk.

“So no blind optimism just thinking ahead. That is very good. I see what you are trying to do. My follow up question is what is the medium term future for you both? Do you plan to go to University? Here in Edinburgh or somewhere else? Are computers your career? This is to you both.”

And so the morning went on. Andrew and Julian sat with his dad just talking through various things. All low key, no drama. They both enjoyed computing but neither of them saw it as their future, at least at present. Andrew was about to start a computer science course at the Open University but that was more out of necessity than anything else. Andrew figured that they had maybe the rest of this school year to make some money helping people get their systems fixed before they got better themselves or others recognised the business that was there. Nice money but not change their career money. This was what Andrew missed with his own parents. Being able to talk about things without it becoming tense. The inherently different attitudes of him and his dad and his mum’s constant need to be in control and have the last word meant that Andrew didn’t have these long free form chats about the future. They broke at lunch and then he and Julian sat at his desk looking at the textbook.

“You think that we can make a go of designing a game?” Julian asked quietly.

“I doubt we have much of a chance, but think about a couple of things. At the beginning of each computer mag there is that section of the latest industry news. I skim through this section normally but there are always stories of people moving, companies being bought and sold, games being licensed. There is a whole business side to this. Look at those ridiculous templates that I designed over the summer. Nothing fancy, anyone can do it, but people will pay for it now to save them time. We sit here and think about creating a video game. Nobody is paying us to do that, it is our hobby and our interest. But people are paying us more than £10/hour to fix their computer systems or install templates that they could build themselves. Maybe we cut back on the gaming right now and focus on the business side. I have been wondering if I could build some new templates. I would need an accountant or a businessman to help me, just like Brian did. There is easy money there I think even although it is not coding or designing software. What do you think?”

“I had been thinking about the game versus the business aspect of this. I have mixed feelings about this. Hell, we both go to private school. We might not be filthy rich but neither of our families are poor. It is not like we desperately need the money. But it is also nice to have that feeling of power. When you called me on the 27^th and told me Dad’s firm had caved. I couldn’t believe it. Then I spent New Year with the old man and actually enjoyed it, mainly because of his attitude. There was respect there. I was doing something useful, at least in his eyes. And as you have said, we were just using common sense, taking our time over tricky things and applying some of the solutions that we had come up with ourselves through trial and error. It was being paid money to be ourselves or something.

“The coding is fun though, the creation process. ‘This is what I am trying to do, here is how I think it will work followed by success or failure’. Does the coding have to be a game? After working all break and thinking about it, probably not. It is what a couple of kids would try and code. I can’t imagine us coding VisiCalc. I can’t begin to figure how to code VisiCalc but someone must have. When I think like that then I realise that I am still a babe in the woods.

“We should do both I think. Keep doing system fixes for people if anyone asks but also keep coding. We just need to figure out what to code?”

This was why you needed friends.

“These talks are really helpful. Why don’t we park the game for this term and make an attempt at some simple business software? Not to try and sell it but to allow us to teach ourselves how to do it. I am like you with the coding. I lose track of time and like you there is that exciting feeling as the code compiles to see if you have been able to create something useful that actually works.”

So it was agreed that they would switch to trying to develop business software. Nothing like the ignorant enthusiasm of the young!

On the Sunday Andrew left the house mid-morning and went over to the Commonwealth to swim. He enjoyed the freedom of the 50m lanes and the bigger pool. He swam hard but not flat out for more than an hour and was down at Meadowbank earlier than usual, it was only 12.35. When he got there no one from the afternoon shift had arrived yet other than Francesca. She was nice but they had never hung out and beyond ‘hi’ Andrew was not sure they had ever even talked. When she saw him she came over.

“Hello Andrew, Happy New Year.”

“Hello Francesca, Happy New Year to you too. How are you today? Did you have a good break?”

“The break was fine. A little lonely but I am used to that. I live on my own and my parents are both deceased.”

“That is tough at this time of year. I am sorry, I don’t know what you do for a living.”

“I am a junior doctor. I have just finished my first year of hospital training. I start as what is called a senior house officer on Tuesday at the Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow.”

Here her eyes sparkled. So she knew that he knew.

“This sadly will be my last day here. I will look for a similar opportunity once I am settled in Glasgow.”

“It sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I know that junior doctors work long hours. It will be important to have an understanding flat mate.”

Andrew smiled at her. Francesca was trying not to laugh.

“Stop it you bad boy.”

She gave him an unexpected hug. While still holding him she whispered.

“Thank you for being a good friend to her Andrew. She will miss you. Please don’t let your friendship fall away. She still needs lots of love and support.”

Then she drew back and smiled one more time at him. As was always the case when Andrew got unexpected praise like that he was flushed and not sure what to say. He was saved by the lady herself arriving together with two or three others. The moment passed and he merely said to Francesca.

“Of course, Doc.”

Nikki looked at Andrew oddly as they went over to the packing bench and started in on the afternoon’s work. It was some time before Andrew had sufficient cases over at the station that they were working side by side and could talk.

“Francesca told you she was a doctor?”

The tone was almost accusatory. Andrew looked round at her.

“Yes, is it a secret or something?”

“Well no, but she never talks about it.”

Nikki’s reply was curt.

“It came up because she was telling me about how this was her last day here. She is moving with her job. You’ll never guess where she is moving to?”

His tone was playful. Nikki whipped her head round.

“She told you that she is going to Glasgow?”

“Yes, and do you know what else? When I told her that she would need an understanding flatmate she smiled and gave me a big hug. So when do you find out about the transfer?”

Nikki looked nervous.

“Could be this week. It is the only thing that I am waiting on. I have a room in a two bedroom flat available for me as soon as I can arrange the move.”

She tried to sound nonchalant and failed. Badly.

“I want to lift you up and spin you round and shout from the rooftops, you know that, don’t you?”

Andrew was so excited for her. She looked horrified.

“You wouldn’t, would you?”

“Don’t tempt me, I am just so pleased for you.”

The remainder of the afternoon was fun. Lighthearted goofiness. Andrew was sitting on the bus when it dawned on him he would lose his packing partner. The person he had worked with almost exclusively for nearly a year. His happiness for her was tinged with sadness that his friend was moving. When Andrew got to the Campbells the mood from Thursday carried over. Over dinner he talked to Brian about some of the business stuff. Andrew didn’t get into the longer term plans as he needed to talk to Leslie. They talked instead about opportunities with firms trying to computerise for the first time and fixing the problems that they were having. The whole word of mouth thing, while the only realistic way for them to operate, still seemed far too random for Andrew’s liking. After dinner he and Leslie went through to her room and it was confession time.

“I have something important to talk to you about tonight Leslie.”

“Sure. Is it business stuff that you don’t want to talk to Dad about?”

“No, it is personal. I am sure there is a more subtle way to lead up to this but I am too keyed up. Leslie, I had sex on Hogmanay.”

“What! Really? Oh my god Andrew.” She smacked him on the arm. “And you are only telling me now. Andrew! Okay, okay. Tell me what happened.”

“That is the first thing that I need to talk to you about. Remember all the discussions about keeping quiet, being discreet. What about that? I do want to talk to you about this and I feel I need to talk to you about it. How do these two things reconcile. I can’t do both.”

That was a preview of Living Two Lives - Book 3. To read the rest purchase the book.

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