Vivienne had no real idea exactly how long she’d been sitting outside the Cottage but it must have been a while. The sun was starting to go down behind the trees. The warmth of the day had long since passed.

A few goose-pimples had appeared on Vivienne's arms. These were the spur for her to stand up and go inside the cottage. It was marginally warmer inside but Vivienne was still cold inside. All she could think of… ‘where was Jacques?’ rapidly followed by 'I hope he is all right'.
She’d been inside the cottage for well over half an hour when she heard a sound from outside. It was the sound of Ducks and Geese quacking away. Something or someone had disturbed them.

Vivienne went outside and her heart skipped a beat. There was Jacques. He was rounding up the birds for the night. He looked up and saw Vivienne. A huge smile broke out on his face.

Once he’d finished with the birds and had closed the door to his poly-tunnel, he came over to the cottage.

“Well, hello! This is a nice surprise,” he said cheerily.

All the anger that Vivienne had been bottling up inside her melted away in a flash.

“Where have you been? I was getting worried.”

“I’m fine. I’ve been up in the woods finishing something off. How long have you been here?”

Vivienne looked at her watch.
“Over two hours.”

Then he saw her shiver.

“You must be getting cold. Let me make up the fire in the stove and get something to eat on. While I am doing that, you can tell me all about it. There is clearly something troubling you if those frown lines are anything to go by?”

Vivienne wasn’t going to be fobbed off like that. She stepped up to him and kissed him. He responded. They embraced for quite a while.

“I’m good now,” said Vivienne when they broke apart.”

---

Jacques made up the fire that was burning in the stove. It didn’t take long for the kitchen to become nice and warm. He was soon busy making some Vegetable soup.

“I wasn’t expecting you until next week at the earliest?”

“I know but things got a bit mad in London,” said Vivienne.

Now that she was warm, she took off her coat.

“I went out earlier to do some shopping. I was dressed like this.”

Jacques looked her up and down.

“Are you managing those boots all right?”

"So far, yes I am. When I was out I ran right into Janice. She took one look at this and went a bit mad."

Vivienne was pointing to the vivid outline of the rings in her nipples. The thin blouse did little to hide the fact that she’d had them pierced.

Jacques smiled.

“Do you like them?”

He grinned.

“I did wonder what that chain was for. Now I know,” he replied grinning.

“I tried not to but I’m afraid I let rip. She called her sister and they have been on the warpath ever since.”

“You need to get another phone number then?”

“I do and I’m going to do that tomorrow. I’ll get one for you. Just for us to use.”

Jacques didn’t look too pleased.

“Ok,” he replied but Vivienne wasn’t convinced.

“I went home, packed my bags and did a runner. So here I am. I hope you don’t mind?”

Jacques put down the knife that he was using to chop up some carrots and came over to Vivienne. He took her hands in his and looked her right in the eyes.

“Of course, I don’t mind. Things will be a little cramped for a bit but we’ll get used to it.”

Vivienne went a little red in the face as she remembered her parting words to Janice.

“I really did it this time with my daughters. She made me so angry with her attempts to control me that I told her that I’ve stopped wearing underwear. I burned all that I owned the other night. It felt rather liberating at the time. Now I’m not so sure…”

Jacques grinned.
"You are one of a kind, Vivienne. Please… don’t ever change.”

Vivienne undid her skirt and let it drop to the floor. Then she removed her blouse.

“Jacques, take me please?”

---

The dawn chorus woke Vivienne early the next morning. Jacques was lying beside her. His breathing told her that he was still fast asleep. It was then that she realised that she was still wearing the boots that she’d worn the previous day and had travelled down from London wearing them.

Their lovemaking had been gentle and passionate. Jacques was everything she’d imagined and more. Vivienne had let him dominate her throughout. It was everything that she’d ever imagined it would be. When he came inside her, a shudder went through every sinew of her body. It had been so long since the last time Rex had made love to her there were times before the last night that she’d wondered if she’d ever experience it again. Jacques had made her so happy.

Over breakfast, Vivienne said,
“Thank you for last night. It had been so long.”

Jacques took her hand and kissed it gently on the back.
“It has been a long time for me as well.”

Vivienne looked him right in the eye.

“You know that with me not wearing any knickers, you can do it anytime you like.”

Jacques seemed shocked by what she’d said.

“Are you sure about that?”

“What did those words that I was going to have engraved say? ‘I’m giving myself to you’. I mean it. I am yours to do with what you want.”

She looked down at the table before saying quietly.

“I have dreamed about this day for years. Any time you feel the urge then I am going to be there for you. I mean it. I want you to dominate me.”

“Do you know what you are saying? ‘Dominate’ is a very strong word?”

“I do. I really do.”

Then Vivienne groaned.

Jacques sat there saying nothing until Vivienne had gotten herself back together.

"Just thinking about it made me come again. I'm sorry about that."

Jacques looked her right in the eyes.
“It won’t be easy for me you know. To do what you want. You have a pretty strong character. That comes from bringing up two children and managing a career.”

“It won’t be easy for me as well. I want to be dependent on someone for the first time in my adult life. You can make all the important decisions but I will have some input so I’m not talking about ’50 Shades of Grey’ type of dominance. Sort of you being the main player and …”

“I think I am starting to understand the meaning behind those words.”

Vivienne took his hand and gripped it tightly.

“I know I’m just a crazy old woman who is as mad as a hatter but I’ve had these dreams for years and… and I felt that you might be the person to help me… help those dreams come true.”

“Years?”

“Decades more like.”
“I wrote it all down.”

“This is getting interesting???”

“This is my fantasy so I’m entitled to it aren’t I?”

“And I’m a bit part player then?”

"That's it, Jacques. You aren't. I'm in love with you and want to be with you for the rest of my like. Oh, I have tried so hard to convince myself that because of our age difference we could not be a couple but something in my brain says no and pushes those thoughts into the long grass. So here I am, deeply in love with you hoping that you are least feel something for me.”

Jacques sat there for a bit not saying anything. Then Vivienne noticed a wetness in the corner of his eyes.

“I’m sorry Jacques. I should not have come.”

“No Vivienne, this is where you should be. Right here with me."

Then he stood up and took hold of Vivienne’s hand.

“There is something that you need to see.”

“Where?”

“Up in the woods.”

Vivienne’s shoulders sank.

“I only have heels with me. That what you get for taking up with someone with only half a brain.”

“Those rather nice boots will do.”

“The ones I’ve been wearing since yesterday?”

“Perfect.”

Vivienne shook her head in bewilderment.

Jacques just took her hand in his and led them her of the Cottage.

They crossed the small stream that separated the Cottage from where Jacques grew his herbs and vegetables. Then he walked up towards the tree line. Vivienne saw a path leading up the hill. She took care with her heels as there were tree roots everywhere.

About seventy-five yards in, Vivienne saw a structure ahead.

“Is that where we are going?”

“That’s right. Are you managing ok?”

“If I tread carefully I’m fine.”

He squeezed her hand a little tighter.

It soon became clear to Vivienne, that the Structure was pretty old. It was in a clearing on its own. There were views back down into the valley. Vivienne could see the stream and the Waterwheel that was turning slowly.

"This is an old woodshed from when it was all coppiced. There used to be three charcoal kilns at the front."

He stepped up to a large pair of double doors and slid one open.

“This is the project I’ve been working on. I had hoped to finish it before you came down but… Well, you are here now so here it is.”

Vivienne could see some form of structure inside.

“What is it?”

“That my dear is our new home.”

“What about the cottage?”

“That is where we will officially live but this is for us. A lot more space,” said Jacques.

He’d been fiddling with something. Suddenly, the place was bathed in light.

“Wow!” said Vivienne.

“I built this totally inside the old barn. When I take the roof off there will be lots of light inside.”

Vivienne was, to put it bluntly, gobsmacked.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Err… Thank you Jacques might be a start?”

Vivienne laughed and hit him on the arm. It wasn’t hard. But…
“Ouch. That hurt.”

“Wimp!”

“Come on, let me give you a guided tour.”

There really wasn’t much to see given the state of the building work.

“Where are the walls?”

“That’s it. There aren’t any apart from the bathroom and utility room. It is one big room. We can set it up as we please. A perfecty blank canvas."

Vivienne looked around the space. It was like a hall. The roof had exposed beams. The walls were made of a material that seemed strange to Vivienne. They were also very thick indeed. The side of the building that looked out over the valley was open but she saw large glass doors propped up in the corner.

She wandered over to the wall and to her surprise, they appeared to be made of straw.

“This looks like Straw?”

Jacques smiled.
“Correct. There is a lime plaster cover on both sides. They are almost sixty centimetres thick and give incredible insulation.”

Vivienne was in awe of what he’d done.
“How long have you been working on this?”

“About six years. I’ve been spending whatever time I can here but it has been hard to keep what I’m doing quiet.”

“Why? Shouldn’t this be on Grand Designs?”

“What’s that?”

“It is a TV show about people building these wonderful houses. But you don’t have a TV, do you?”

“That is one thing that I don’t miss… TV that is.”

Then he added,
“I need to keep it quiet because I don’t exactly have planning permission. I managed to get those doors shipped to a storage unit in Exeter. I borrowed a tractor and a flatbed trailer from a local farmer to bring them here. Only a tractor or something like my Land Rover can get up the path from the road to this place. It is even worse than the lane up to the Cottage.”

Vivienne was in awe of what Jacques had done.

“But…? What happens when you take the roof off? Won’t anyone flying overhead see a new building?”

Jacques shook his head.
“It will be disguised to look like the roof has simply fallen in.”

“What about services?”

“I’ve piped it into the waste system of the Cottage. As you know, that goes to a septic tank halfway down the track. There is a pump down there for water. Electricity is from the same Battery system as supplies the cottage.”

“I see a chimney. Won’t anyone looking see the smoke?”

“I operate three Charcoal Kilns remember. No one will notice one extra plume of smoke from my property.”

“What happens next?”

“I was hoping to get the windows fitted before you came down from London. With them in place, it will be weather tight. Then we can start working on the interior. Designing a kitchen and the like.”

“But all done on the quiet?”

"It was to be the home that Jacques Built. My Cottage needs a lot of work. The roof needs to be completely removed and the main beams supporting the roof replaced. I knew that when I bought the place. I also saw this here and knew right away what I needed to do. I just ran out of time. Sorry.”

Vivienne took his hand. She gave it a squeeze and then kissed him.
“Then it is time that this place was christened, don’t you?” said Vivienne as she dropped her skirt to the floor.

---

“What do we do next?” asked Vivienne when they returned to the Cottage.

“I think we should get you properly moved down here. Then we can work together on the house. Two pairs of hands are better than one, are they not?”

“Sounds like a plan. I told my lawyer that I will be back in London on Monday at the latest.”

“Then we go tomorrow…”

“We?”

Jacques smiled.

"Yes, we. We hire a van, drive up to London, load up everything you want to take and get the hell out of town. If we leave here early enough, we can be there and back in a day.”

“We?”

"Yes, we. We can share the driving and two pairs of hands are better than one when it comes to manual labour.”

“But…”

“Don’t you want my help?”

"What about the van? Where can we hire one?”

“We can go to Plymouth to rent one. I know where two of the major companies are located. We go in your car, get the van, drive back here and drop your car off. Then first thing tomorrow, we leave at the crack of dawn."

“I have people coming to clear the house. They are starting work tomorrow. I had to fix it with the agent to give them the key. I’d rather not be there while they are working.”

“Then we should get the van and go up to London tonight. Then we can be in and out before the house clearers arrive.”

“I don’t want to stay at my house. I’m sure that my dear daughters are keeping an eye open for me so that they can pounce and give me another slagging off.”

Jacques laughed.

“You do seem to have more than a bit of a downer on them, don’t you?”

“One day my dear, you will meet what are turning out to be the sisters from hell. The ‘Ugly Sisters’ from Cinderella have nothing on them believe me so, please don’t jump to any conclusions eh?”

Jacques gave Vivienne a kiss.

“Then we stay at a motel or hotel not that far away then? An early start should see us all loaded up by what? Seven?”

“How early is early?”

"What is the saying? Oh yes, 'up with the lark'. Say we leave the hotel at five, twenty minutes to your home, and an hour and a half to load up. Then we will be gone by seven. How does that sound?"

“Good. At least tomorrow is a school day. There will be less chance of running into my dear daughters. They have the school run and then they should be working but you never know do you?”

Jacques took Vivienne’s hand.
“I’ll be the ‘Man with the Van’ that you hired to do the move if anyone asks!”

Vivienne smiled.
“You are so kind to me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

---

“That’s the last of it,” said Vivienne as she loaded a decidedly ancient tin box into the van. The van was far too big for what they were carrying but it was the only one available at such short notice. The Tail-lift had proved useful as a staging shelf.

“What next?” asked Jacques as the buckled up their seat belts.

“I need to hand over the keys to the agent. Then we are free to go.”

“What time do they open?”

“Nine. That means we have time for a nice breakfast. I know just the place,” said Vivienne.
"Plus, it isn't on the route of my daughter's school run."

“Sounds good to me. Which way do we go?”

“To the bottom of the road and turn left,” said Vivienne.

---

With a good breakfast inside their stomach’s, Jacques drove them to the Estate Agents Offices.

"Ah, Ms Carter. Nice to see you again. Can I help you with something?" said Mr Thurston.

“I’ve come to drop off the keys. I’ve moved out. As you know, the clearers are coming very soon. Give them the keys you have and get them back when they are done.”

“Thanks. It is a change to get the keys so early.”

“I hired a ‘Man with a Van’ and today was the only day he could make it.”

“Good luck in your new home.”

“Lots of work needs to be done to make it truly a home but as they say, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’.”

“Indeed. Your daughters were in here yesterday asking me if I knew where you were moving to.”

“As you didn’t know, you couldn’t tell no lies?”

“That’s true but the taller one clearly didn’t believe me.”

“That’s Janice. She’s a paralegal so she thinks everyone lies all the time.”

“That explains it. Thanks again for dropping the keys off.”

“Thank you for getting it sold so quickly. You have the address of my Solicitor to send the bill?”

“Yes, we do.”

“They have the authority to pay it on my behalf so there should not be any delay in getting payment. They are aware that it will need to be paid pronto if you get my drift.”

"You are certainly trying to keep where you are going to a secret aren't you?"

Vivienne smiled.
“After meeting my Daughters yesterday, wouldn’t you do the same?”

He didn’t need to answer. The smile on his face clearly said ‘Yes’.

---

“Where too now?” asked Jacques as Vivienne got back into the Van.

“Home Jacques but take it steady.”

“Oui Madame!” he replied with a huge grin on his face.

The morning traffic was not in their favour but once they’d reached the M3, things calmed down considerably allowing both of them to relax.

Not long after they’d reached the A303 south of Basingstoke, Vivienne said,
“I think we deserve a comfort break. Sutton Scotney Services is not that far away.”

“Good idea Madame!”

Vivienne punched Jacques in the arm. She was so happy that she could not stop smiling.

“Is this the turning?” asked Jacques a few minutes later.

“Yes, that’s it.”

He slowed the van and took the slip road. They soon found the services got parked.

They walked into the Services Building hand in hand. Vivienne was feeling as if she was sixteen again.

Half an hour later, they emerged feeling refreshed and ready for the next part of their journey to Devon.

“I don’t think we should take the A303. We’ll probably get stuck at Stonehenge. There were signs about some roadworks between 09:00 and 16:00 today. We should take the A30 towards Salisbury,” said Vivienne.

Jacques looked at her oddly.

“How do you know all this?”

Vivienne smiled.
“You can blame Maxine. This is where we met for the first time. I was struggling to get my car charged. We had coffee much like we did today. She briefed me on the best ways to get down to Devon from here.”

Jacques relaxed.
“Ok boss.”

“Hey, who is driving this bit?”
Vivienne was at the wheel.

They left the service area in high spirits and took the A30 towards Salisbury.
“It looks like someone else has the same idea,” commented Vivienne.

“Eh?”

“That black Audi behind us. It was parked near us at the services.”

Jacques used the nearside wing mirror to see that indeed a black Audi A4 was following them.

---

Vivienne followed the A30 through Salisbury and headed west. It was turning into a nice evening.

Her hopes of getting back to Devon at a reasonable hour and without issue took a nosedive when Jacques said,
“That Audi is still there.”

“So?”

“Please don’t react but I think we are being followed.”

Vivienne’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Couldn’t they just be going in the same direction as us?”

“He’s had plenty of opportunities to overtake us but for some reason, he hasn’t. Can I use your phone?”

“Sure. It is in my bag.”

Jacques fished Vivienne’s phone out of her copious handbag.

“The PIN code is 4606023,” said Vivienne.

“Thanks.”

Jacques entered the access code and proceeded to frantically press the keys. He was sending a text message. It pinged as the message was sent.

He put the phone down. Then he picked it up again. This time he was looking at a map of the road ahead.

“If you turn right about a mile ahead, we can get back onto the A303. We can see it he is following us or not.”

Vivienne saw the turning in good time. She signalled and made the turn. The Audi didn’t follow them.

“He’s not behind us now.”

She couldn’t see Jacques’s hands but he was clenching his left fist tightly. He was not trying to show his concern to Vivienne.

A few minutes after they’d rejoined the A303, the phone beeped.

“What do they say?”

“What?” asked Jacques.

“Whoever you sent that text to has replied? Yes?”

“They have. The Audi belongs to a Private Eye who does work for Janice’s firm.”

This time Vivienne showed her concern. She thumped the steering wheel with a free hand.

"He's not behind us now?" said Vivienne as they reached a section of a dual carriageway. All the cars that were behind them sped past.

“We are a long way from home so…”

“Don’t count our chickens?”

Jacques smiled and put his hand on Vivienne’s thigh. She smiled back but he could tell that is was very much an act on her part.

---

They’d just passed Wincanton when Vivienne said,
“He’s back.”

Jacques looked in the mirror and saw the same black Audi about 100 yards behind them.

He picked up the phone and sent two more texts.

“Keep going. Our friend will soon be getting a visit.”

Vivienne desperately wanted to ask what sort of visit Jacques meant but dared not to. She remembered the note from her ex-colleague Alec that was waiting for her when they went to her home to collect all her stuff. The contents backed up what he’d told her about his former career. His actions over the past hour or so had demonstrated that he still had many contacts in whatever Government Department he worked or had not worked for.

They were approaching the Naval Air Station at Yeovilton when two Police Cars with all lights flashing went past them going in the other direction. At first, Vivienne thought nothing of it but a few minutes later they returned and forced the Audi to stop.

“That gentleman is going to get his collar felt. There is an arrest warrant out for him from Derbyshire Police. He is wanted there for questioning concerning three cases of sexual harassment and threatening behaviour.”

“Did those messages say that?”

“They did indeed.”

Jacques picked up the phone and deleted them.

“We will need to have a little talk when we get back to Devon don’t you think?” stated Vivienne.

The tone of her voice told Jacques that he’d need to tell her everything he could about the rather murkier side of his past.

Jacques half-smiled.
"Yes, boss."

[to be continued]