Shi no seppun.

Close Encounters

[April 12th, 1999]

“Master Greenwood is busy. Please call again tomorrow”

Josh slammed the receiver down and cursed, exhausted by his constant failed attempts to contact the Master. His parents’, now his, estate was large enough, and entering a partnership with the Greenwood estate would benefit them both greatly. The Greenwood estate was famous for its orchards, and the McDonnell estate for its vineyards. Master Greenwood, in his continued search of inebriation, had been the one to initiate contact with Josh requesting a partnership for a cut of the vineyards, while Josh had an interest in the cultivation of the orchards. On paper, the agreement was perfection. However, executing the initial meeting had proven costly, troublesome and all-round aggravating. Josh slammed his fist on the table and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other hand, fighting off the impending headache that the situation had given him. With continued attempts to call and visit Josh had not been able to set eyes on the elusive woman from the estate and it had started to annoy him. Thoughts of her plagued his mind all day and night since first setting eyes on her. Unfortunately, Samuel chose that exact moment to knock on the door.

“What?” Josh almost shouted, turning to look at the open door with bloodshot eyes.

“Woah, calm down, who pissed in your cereal this morning?” Samuel laughed. Josh muttered something under his breath, inaudible to Samuel’s poorly developed ears. Unlike Josh, Samuel never spent time just sitting and listening, picking up on the smaller sounds. Samuel was a live-in-the-moment boy, while Josh was a thinker. Samuel looked towards the desk, seeing the receiver slammed back into place, and tutted. “Still no word from the old man, eh?”

“No Samuel. Still no contact from Master Greenwood” Josh’s thoughts strayed to that fatal day when he first laid eyes on the elusive woman, his face softening as he thought of her long blonde hair cascading down her back as she walked away from him. His thoughts took on a shift in direction as he fantasized about that blonde hair caressing his bare chest, her body pressed to his…he shifted his thoughts back to reality and blushed slightly, recovering himself. “I might go over again and endeavour to establish contact face to face” his voice caught in his throat slightly.

“No way. You’re not going over there to try and ‘see the Master’, just so you can get a glimpse of his daughter again” Samuel sighed, “you need to get her out of your head. When’s the last time you even had sex?” Josh whipped around to look his friend in the eye

“Not all of us think completely with our… manhood like you do, Sammy.” Josh smirked, feeling quite the hypocrite as he scolded his friend while Josh himself had frequently been experiencing sexual fantasies involving the elusive woman at the Greenwood estate.

“Oh come ON, Man. You’ve been moping around since we first saw her. She’s pretty, sure, but she’s also very prim and proper” Samuel paused a moment, watching Josh’s fist clench, realising he might have crossed some kind of line “in a good, marriage-material way…but you’re so pent up you’re ready to kill someone!” Josh bit his tongue hard, almost drawing blood. “I know what you need, so grab your money and follow me.”

***

“My lady, there is a gentleman here to see you” Olivia smiled as Rose turned in her chair

“Thank you, Sweet Olive, but please just call me Rose, okay?” Olivia blinked a couple of times, surprised as Rose sighed, “See to me, you’re not my servant, you’re my friend.  You don’t have to be so formal with me” Rose smiled warmly as Olivia blushed slightly and nodded.

“Shall I send him in?”

“No thank you, I’ll meet him in the foyer. I don’t wish to have a gentleman in my bedroom unless he is my suitor” Rose laughed, “Please tell him I’ll be a moment” Olivia nodded and disappeared. Rose sighed slightly and looked out of the window, daydreaming. Her thoughts travelled back to that fateful day when she saw him, she wished she had waved back in time, and she wondered when he might return, if he returned. She collected herself and wandered over to the full-length mirror. She decided to tie her hair back, leaving pretty blonde ringlets to frame her face. Rose had a lot of spare time that she concentrated on finding a look that suited her, and she did it well. She smoothed the material of her full-length lavender dress over her stomach, unsatisfied with the result of the soft material clinging to her pale skin. She sighed, deciding the dress would just have to do, and headed down the stairs.