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Chapter One..The Beginning:

She stood there looking down from the outside rail and wondered how people find the courage to actually jump from this height. It would be wonderful to float down trailing scarves and skirts like a falling leaf.

Momentarily she thought of Tom, and what her life could have been, and what she had now sitting in the room behind her.
Her secretary, Madeline, typed remorselessly, transcribing the words she had spoken for the last time, before climbing up here, to see what somewhere higher than her office looked like.
The office was situated in the highest building Sydney had to offer, and it overlooked the Harbor and the Ferry which was a constant delight, as she could watch for his arrival every Thursday, and run down to meet him as he entered the apartment just one floor below.

It was all set up so they could be lovers once more, after all these years. The few years apart had been difficult, and now they were lovers, and friends and mates again in so many ways.

Her other offices around the world had similar setups so he could meet with her whenever she chose. It took some organising, but Marilee could organise anything. She had waited a long time for this day, and now she was going to make sure it was perfect. Today was the day she was going to marry her one love. This was it. Her last gesture to the world.
Finally after all these years, she was going to be a bride again, and she was going to marry Tom.
Her heart sang and sang.

Her bright eyes flashed as she remembered last Thursday.

That was the day she'd first spotted them, or to be exact, thought she recognized his distinctive brown head bobbing in the mill of the crowd. She had glanced at her costly jewelled watch just to assure herself of the time and like an amateur pick-pocket or thief- followed him.

His direction was straight forward and he seemed oblivious of her shadowing his steps. But, to insure her invisibility, she had stopped and made a show of studying several of the shop windows, while still keeping him in her rear vision. It was a trick she'd learned from watching those grainy black and white detective videos he was so fond of. Who would think they would come in handy?

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Tom stood there looking at the Poster on the wall of his small study. Marilee was standing there looking straight at him and he could feel the smile that poured out of her eyes as she laughed into his face.

What happened and why? He had repeated this to himself over and over again. He was in his final year and had so much to do before the end of the Semester. What happened to them and why were they seperated. Neither of them had a real answer.

He was young and still at University doing his finals, and she was hovering between his career and his lust. One memorable night flashed through his mind, as he saw her walking across the campus carrying her funny little rug and a picnic basket which he knew contained some food and a bottle of red.

The Worlds were separating and the worlds were linking, and he was walking across green grass in a mist, and she was still trailing along, her eyes wide with love and wonder. Then they were on yellow sand and the waves were flowing over their bodies as they lay in the moonlight. They were walking hand in hand in the snow and the moonlight was playing tricks with his eyes and her hair.

It was all rolling across him like a the psychedelic images over a white balloon that had transfixed them at Libby's Opening....

His green eyes crinkled as he smiled and he scratched his head and gave a wry grin. He would always love this woman and God was his witness.

Again the memories rolled across.....

They were eighteen when they met. He was a holiday folk singer, and she was a waitress. They woked together in this seaside resort, and they were friends and lovers from the moment they met.

She was a shy little thing with and so dependent on him, and from the first moment they met, she had loved him, and he had returned the love with a matching passion. They were both virgins, both naive, both highly intelligent and ambitious, and both so very full of the joys of being young.

"Tommy!!!! " she would cry, and his heart would melt. 'Tommy!!!"

"Do people who are eighteen know where life is about?", thundered the lecturer from his pedestal up on the stage, and Tom turned away from the poster and wondered how that big break came....

It was later that same year that Greatchen came into his life. Somehow he managed to keep Marilee happy, and keep his friendship with Greatchen.

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Libby sat by the window and wondered when he would give her the money he owed her. Their small son was with a neighbour while she stayed home to work at another canvas. She was getting tired of these tantrums her Agent had started to throw lately.

Behind her, the studio was neatly ordered, with shelving and catalogues, and cupboards holding her prescious drawings and collections. She had recently started with digital, and her photographs were in high demand, and if the Agent paid her properly, she knew she would not have to wait for Norm's miserable support, which was what she and Matt mostly survived on these days. After her marriage failed with Norm, she was working in a discotheque when Tom found her waiting on tables. Stunned by her loneliness and despondency, Tom started taking her out mostly to cheer her up. He also started to fowm a close attachment with her son Matt. It was inevitable that they should marry.

(Musi) Tom and Libby were legally married, not that it mattered.

Norm and Libby's life together was different.There had never really been a proper marriage with Norm, just a justice of the peace and an arrangement, one of convenience, designed to give their son a name, but that did not excuse him from paying his fair share. "Ha," she laughed out loud. If he was to pay his fair share they wouldn't be living here in this dump. They would have a house, with a yard for Matt to play in, maybe even a car, so they didn't have to ride the filthy bus all of the time.

The checks came regularly, for the first year, while she was pregnant and when Matt was first born, then they began to come later and later. She didn't complain. She had her art to keep food on the table and the rent paid, on her miserable ghetto flat. Then one month there wasn't a check at all. The next month the check came again, then two failed to come. Soon there were no checks coming at all, but still somehow Libby managed, until Matt began to take up more and more of her time each day and her work began to suffer. Now Norm's checks seldom came at all. As a freelance commercial artist, there was no money if there was no work. It was tough making ends meet this way.

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She considered her body again this morning standing there nude in front of the mirror, critically examining herself for any sight of something.

The contest was not even a week away, and she had been working so hard for so long now. Her whole life seemed poised on this one event.

Greg had promised her he would get a job and not depend on her so much. Her mother was waiting to hear about what was happening to her, and David was saying they should get married.

"I have no idea what I want to do," she said despondently as she considered all the others depending on her, and how sometimes the burden was getting too big to be carried.

"I wish there was someone I could even talk to," she cried to her reflection. "You are no goddamn good. You agree with everything I say."

Smiling tightly, she grabbed the big fluffy white towel that she loved, and completely nude, walked aross the open area to where the full sized pool was, being cleaned by Stuart, her trainor, property manager, and sometimes friend.

He looked up as she arrived, and realised something was troubling her. He had that knack of seeing what she was thinking, and over the years he had worked for her, they had developed a strange bonding. He lived above the stables, in a perfectly designed apartment overlooking the arena and the stars at night, and he went his own way, and lived his own life.

His duties were the pool and the running of the stables. Anna, the wolf eyed Lady, was a horse whisperer, possibly because she was half animal herself, and Dale the stable boy, lived and breathed the horses under his care, so Stuart had plenty of time for himself. Greatchen did not bother them, and they did their tasks without any fuss, and the property ran smoothly under mostly Stuart's control. Greatchen had the money, they did what they were paid to do, and if her maintenance and cheques came in as they should, everything would go smoothly.

However, despite the enormous figures that went through the accounts, there were months when things were lean.

It was then, that Greatchen would come and spend more time where he was, and he would massage her tenseness away, while he let her talk about what was on her mind. Sometimes she would take a horse and ride. He knew she rode them hard as they were covered in sweat and almost wild when they returned.

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Margaret met David at a Party at Marilee's Place. She was a member of the Introduction Agency that Marilee had financed for Judy, which David was also a part of. She was thrilled to have been invited to the Party, as she had heard much about these society functions that she had never quite been able to get into.
When she was introduced to David, she immediately saw her opening. Like Marilee had before her, she attached herself to David. She discovered that what he wanted was not the socialite, he already had the display buterfly in Marilee, Margaret went for the servile role. She did everything he asked her, and when she confided that she and her daughter were seeking a fresh start somewhere, David moved them into his Toorak House, which he kept for his nocturnal visits to the Big City.
It was with a matter of pride, and some trepidation, that she confessed this to Marilee at the next function, but to her surprise, Marilee accepted her docile role in their lives.
In fact it was Marilee she went to, when she decided to have another child, and she asked Marilee to use her influence with David, which she did.
Their child, a boy, was born in wedlock, as Margaret had promised him all rights, if it was a girl, but it was a son, and she ensured her protection and future maintenance, by providing him with a second son, not long after.
Their life had a strange pattern and routine. She lived basically in his house, which was still his, because of the very formal and clearly laid out pre-marital agreement she had to sign, claiming she would never make any demands at all on any of his money. She saw him every second weeekend, and led her own life while he continued to lead his. The only change was that she had two children, and a very open marriage certificate which gave the boys his name. Her daughter by first marriage, was now living her own life, as she had chosen to move away, and that suited Margaret as she was getting a bit too attractive for Margaret's comfort.
She was happilly in this routine, blissfully unaware of the events that were going to suddenly change her life.

(Mus) She sat, alone, by the window, staring into the night, but seeing nothing. Her mind was filled with hate, with sorrow and with pain. How could something like this happen? How could someone be so evil, so hurtful and so unfeeling?

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With Gretchen away, protecting Tom Thompson, Stuart took charge of the horse farm. There were only three employees. Stuart, his lover Dale and the mysterious horse whispering woman, Dale referred to as the Wolf Lady. All three were determined that their employer be proud of them when she returned, so they did their best to maintain the same level of efficiency she demanded when she was present.

It would be unfair to say that they liked having their boss away, but for Stuart and Dale, it meant not having to hide their love affair. As soon as she returned , they would be forced to go back to their secret midnight rendezvous, stolen touches and knowing glances. They didn't have to hide their relationship from The Wolf Lady, because she simply couldn't have cared less. All she was interested in were the horses, period.

Gretchen was away for several weeks at a time, only returning home briefly to check on things, so Stuart and Dale decided to embark on a new venture. They had lots of free time on their hands, so they decided to supplement their incomes a little. This venture didn't involve leaving their home, but in fact could be taken care of entirely from the ranch. They decided to create a web site, devoted to internet dating. This site would be different from most other dating sites on the web, however. It was geared to sex, hot steamy, one-night-stand sex, with no strings attached. It wasn't a place for singles to meet their soul mate, marry them and live happily ever after. It was a place to find a one night sex partner, or more than one, get down and dirty, then wake up the next morning with no ties and no regrets. They called it SexLine.

Gretchen would have been mortified, had she known, but they carefully kept their secret from her. It wasn't that she was some kind of prude. She had partaken in her share of sexual escapades. Stuart just didn't think she would want her employees involved in the sex trade in any way, especially from the farm.

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