Old Lovers Don't Die

by Anderson, Paul G

  “That’s okay. Perhaps in the next few days we can all meet up for coffee,” Christian said.

  “We will let you get on with signing the papers then. If you have time, come and have a chat. Otherwise I will phone you to organise a time to talk,” Isabella said as she walked off with Simone hand-in-hand.

  “Now that’s something I didn’t see coming,” Petrea said.

  “I had no idea that was going to happen either, although Isabella had told me about Simone. I thought it was just a past experiment. Simone was waiting for Isabella at the airport and my guess is that they haven’t been apart since.”

  “So are you devastated that you never got to find out whether it was just a first love thing with Isabella, or whether it was her chemistry which was unique to you both and never to be replicated?”

  “I was a little bit stunned at the airport. However, there has been so much happening with my mum and dad that I have not really thought about it too much. Other than thinking it was a chapter now definitely closed that I was hoping to reopen and find some answers.”

  “Maybe you need a new book to read,” Petrea said, with a mischievous smile.

  “Any suggestions? Do-it-yourself chemistry?”

  “That is quite funny, Christian, but self-pleasure I have found lacks the intensity that I enjoy. Therefore, it would not be my first choice for you either. I have just realised that I have left one of the documents that I need you to sign in my room. I don’t want to leave that lying up there on the table as it is highly confidential. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll get it and then we can come down to lunch.”

  Christian looked at Petrea; he could not imagine her leaving a confidential document on the table in her room. She seemed far too organised for that; however, putting a little distance between him and Isabella for a few minutes was attractive.

  The lift took them to the second floor in silence. Petrea stood close enough to him that he could feel her hand against his leg. There was nothing more than the faintest contact but the effect was such that it completely distracted him from his thoughts about the Isabella encounter. He was not certain whether it was his imagination, or whether Petrea was exerting gentle pressure against his leg. Notoriously bad at interpreting any kind of body language, he reassured himself that it was his imagination. Then as her perfume drifted up, he had an overwhelming desire to feel the softness of her skin next to his. He closed his eyes and tried to picture his golden retriever until he felt the lift stop. He opened his eyes to see Petrea standing in front of him smiling, almost as though she knew what he had been thinking.

  “Follow me,” she said, walking out of the lift.

  The corridor was lined with paintings of African wildflowers. Underneath each one was a small brass plaque detailing the history of the artist. They stopped in front of Petrea’s room, and Christian could see next to her door bright red pistol Aloes set against the backdrop of Table Mountain. It captured the beauty of the Cape and was, he thought, very Freudian given his thoughts in the lift. As Petrea swiped her door card, Christian saw the artist was a Margaret van Zyl and started to read some of her details on the brass plaque, when Petrea unlocked the door. Holding it open, she said,

  “Coming in? Or are you going to stand out there reading history?”

  Christian walked towards her and as he did so, her perfume reached up again and embraced his desire. As he turned sideways to pass her in the doorway, he glanced down at her beautiful cleavage, delicately framed by her white shirt. He heard Petrea lock the door behind him. Turning around to face her, he watched as she put the hard briefcase down on the floor in front of him. She then took off her jacket and threw it on the nearest chair, before standing on the briefcase in front of him smiling. Slowly Petrea stretched and stood on her toes before reaching up and taking his face in her hands and then gently kissing him. Christian leaned back against the wall, feeling the softness of her breasts, as she pushed her body in against his. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her gently towards him, while her tongue danced along the edge of his lips. He held her tightly against his body, feeling her tongue hesitate before exploring the edges of his mouth. Then she gently forced open his lips, touching the tip of his tongue with hers in small sensual circles.

  Christian opened his eyes and looked at Petrea. Her eyes were closed but her sensuality was undiminished. He closed his eyes again, and kissed her with a passion that only the deep desire to make love could generate.

  “Wait,” she whispered, opening her eyes and looking up at him before putting one finger on his lips to prevent a question.

  “I want this to be the most remarkable first encounter.”

  As she proceeded to place delicate soft kisses all over his neck, he did heard her whisper,

  “I want you so much, deep inside of me, where you can touch a part of me that tells you how much I want you.”

  Taking her head in his hands, he kissed her with a raw passion, before she broke free laughing, kissing the tip of his nose, before pushing him gently back against the wall. Then, unbuttoning his shirt, she began teasing each of his nipples with the tip of her tongue, lightly caressing each nipple until they each became erect with desire. Her passionate need climbed over his body invading every pore, threatening his control. Every fibre within him became more demanding of release; the hardness of his desire begged for an orgasmic tumult. She rubbed her body against his, enjoying his desire and then said,

  “Come with me.” She took his hand and led him into the bedroom.

  Christian followed, enjoying feeling the all-consuming passion that he had not experienced since Isabella; at the foot of the bed, he could no longer control his desire and pulled her to him, kissing her with an uncontrolled intensity. They both stumbled back landing on the bed laughing, struggling in their passion to remove each other’s clothes. Petrea undid the remaining buttons on his shirt as he lay back on the bed before finally pulling his shirt off and throwing it on the floor. Teasing his nipples with her tongue again, she stroked his abdomen, stopping teasingly at the top of his jeans. Slowly she touched his hardness, stroking it lightly, she gasped and said,

  “That feels so hard and beautiful I just want to kiss all of it and then feel you deep inside of me.”

  He stood up and slipped off his jeans, watching as she removed her bra - displaying beautiful breasts. He hung his jeans over the chair next to the bed, as Petrea lay back naked on the bed watching him, teasingly stroking the firmness of her nipples. Christian could not believe that everything about her was so beautiful, from her breasts to her dark beautifully trimmed, dark enchanting forest.

  Stepping out of his boxers, he lay down next to her feeling the sensual softness of her skin. Bending forward he kissed her nipples softly, taking each between his lips, sucking and caressing them with his tongue. As he traced his tongue across the tips, Petrea whispered,

  “Christian, that is beautiful.”

  Christian looked up to see Petrea smiling at him. Reaching down, he stroked her inner thighs with the back of his fingers. He then traced the outlines of her soft dark hair. He heard her sigh and call his name again.

  “Make love to me,” she whispered in his ear as she lay on his chest. Christian reached down and held her hips with both hands.

  “Christian, that’s beautiful,” she said as the intimacy of Christian’s love-making overwhelmed her.

  Christian looked up. Petrea’s eyes were closed, but her smile revealed the intensity of her pleasure.

  “Christian.”

  Petrea called more loudly as Christian’s passionate fire infused her whole body. As their ecstasy climaxed he called her name, holding her tightly. After several small contractions, Petrea stopped moving, lying silently on his chest. He held her tightly, overwhelmed by the intensity of their passion, not wanting the moment or the feeling to end.

  “So do you like the new book?” she said lifting her head off his chest to look at him, smiling mischievously.

  “Very cute.
I am, as you know, an avid reader. How many chapters do think there might be in this new book?”

  “How many chapters would you like there to be?”

  “From that experience, many more. However, I suspect we may not get beyond page one with you living in The Hague and with me in Australia.”

  “Well, if you enjoyed that first chapter as much as me, we may get to create a few more chapters shortly. I’m taking up a position with a law firm in Sydney.”

  “Could be the best read I have ever had then,” Christian said laughing. “Shall we get dressed and go and have lunch with my mother, and you can fill me in on some of the details.”

  “That sounds great, but I do need you to sign the papers.”

  Christian dressed slowly as Petrea showered, reflecting on how his journey had begun and evolved into an adventure he could never have imagined. He left Adelaide for an overseas surgical experience, and hopefully to see whether Isabella was the unique alchemist when it came to his passion; the trauma of the shooting, finding his father, and then wondering whether the question with Isabella would remain forever unanswered. Then, in another twist, Petrea emphatically answered part of the Isabella question. Chemistry was an equation with many different evolutionary elements; the unique order which those elements interacted caused the combustible reaction, which promotes passion and desire to Himalayan heights.

  “Sign here, gorgeous man,” Petrea said, walking up to the table where Christian was sitting. He looked at her silk dressing gown distractingly covering of parts of her wet body. Christian suddenly wanted her passion again. He ignored the paper that she had put on the table, pulling her to him and undoing her gown.

  “Hold on, Tiger! I want more of you too. However, your mother will be wondering what has happened to you, and we don’t want security knocking on the door as we’re shouting each other’s names!”

  Christian laughed.

  “No, that wouldn’t do. I’ll stop if you promise me we can start again later.”

  “I’m here for another two days. You can stay with me if you have the stamina! Now sign this while I get dressed.”

  Riding down in the lift, Christian put his arm around Petrea’s waist, closing his eyes and reliving the wonderful lovemaking. As the door of the lift opened, Christian turned to Petrea and said,

  “Mothers know.”

  “I’m sure she will if you keep smiling like that as will ex-girlfriends if she is still around!”

  They walked through the foyer out onto the covered front deck. Christian looked to his left. Seated at table twelve, he could see his mother, father, Tim, Mike, and Sian. It was indeed a day of continuing surprises. His father, upon seeing him, waved. Christian walked over to the table turning and introducing Petrea, briefly explaining who she was and her involvement with the ICC. He tried not to look at his mother whom he could feel staring at him when Mike said very mischievously,

  “You are missing several of the buttons on your shirt.”

  “I think you need a good lawyer if you attempt to reply to that,” Petrea said, smiling at Christian as she sat down on a chair that Jannie had pulled up next to him.

  Christian took the chair next to his mother, who gave him a knowing look that only mothers, with their deep instincts for their children, can manage. Then, with what Christian had come to understand was an approving smile, she handed Christian and Petrea a menu.

  “We ordered about half an hour ago but they are incredibly slow here. I think that was about the time that you went to sign your papers! Did you manage to get those all signed?” Renata said looking at Christian.

  “My lawyer was happy,” Christian said looking in Petrea’s direction.

  “If you decide what you would like for lunch, I’ll go inside and see whether I have any influence with the chef,” Mike suggested.

  “That would be great, Mike.”

  Christian quickly glanced at the menu.

  “I’ll go with the salmon salad.”

  “Make that two,” said Petrea.

  “Mike, there was one thing that I’ve been meaning to ask since we rescued Isabella that day in the bush. The blue drums that were stacked up at the bottom of the mountain. Did you ever find out what they were?”

  “I sent your photographs of them to our office in Johannesburg and they identified them as drums of Tabin nerve gas. They were supplied by the Syrian. We are now helping the Congolese destroy those drums safely.”

  “So the twelve hundred South African troops that are now helping the Congolese army, to secure that North Kivu region and all its resources, are under no pressure to secure supplies for the major mining companies in South Africa?” Petrea asked.

  Mike collected up the menus, before looking at Petrea.

  “I would like to plead the Fifth Amendment on that.”

  Renata turned and looked at Christian.

  “Just to update you, Tim and I are going to put our engagement on hold, while your father and I spend the next few days catching up and sorting out a few decades. Then we are going to fly back to Australia with you.”

  “Mum, I’m obviously happy with what you decide. I know it’s a really difficult situation. That does sound like a good suggestion though. It will give also you a chance to catch up with Nadine and Isabella.”

  “Isabella is sitting over there in the far corner with Simone, so I have already organised that for lunch tomorrow. Sian provided a full breakdown on what happened at the airport. It’s good to see that it has not had a significant impact on your medical recovery.”

  “We literally ran into them, Mum, as they came out of the lift.”

  “Well, now that you and Petrea are better acquainted, I’m sure it would ease the tension a little if you and Petrea had coffee with them later. That is, if we ever get any food.”

  “I think there are still a couple of documents that Petrea still needs to have signed later, perhaps after that,”

  Christian said looking across at Petrea.

  “I’m sure there must be some unsigned documents up there somewhere,” Petrea replied, looking directly at Christian, as everyone laughed.

  THE END