Chapter 16 - David and Anne
David and Anne both flew into Darwin on the Sunday before the trial, though David had arrived on the lunch time flight and Anne did not get in until later in the afternoon. Anne had also talked to Susan parents and knew they had come two days earlier, though Tim had stayed on at University knowing there was little he could do for his sister.
Anne felt like a giddy school girl as the plane touched down, she could not believe her excitement at the prospect of seeing this man again. She felt almost disloyal to Susan for allowing David to dominate her mind, but alongside that she knew Susan would be well pleased. She and Susan had exchanged two letters in the meantime and their friendship was again as strong as ever.
Susan had specifically mentioned David in the last letter and wished her well when she met him on this trip. At the side of the writing she had placed little cryptic symbols and drawings of families and babies, as if to hint she should go for it. Anne herself had more or less decided to throw caution to the wind and let whatever would happen, happen.
She just hoped that David would not find it too painful watching what unfolded with Susan. Anne had very low expectations that anything good would come out of the trial. She understood sentencing would be delayed for a couple weeks to allow submissions to be made specifically on the punishment, the length of the custodial sentence. She had decided to put all her effort into this space, as she knew that nothing would change Susan’s mind on her guilty plea. But there was some hope that she could convince Susan to explain her fear, once the guilty conviction was made and this, along with many glowing character references, could be used to get a large reduction in sentence.
Anne waited; suppressed impatience mingled with nervousness, as everyone filed down the aisle of the plane and queued their way through customs. At last she was outside.
There was David, blue short sleeved shirt with muscular arms and tousled blond hair, gorgeous as ever. He was a bit slow spotting her as she was behind a bigger group.
She ran around them and flung herself into his arms. He let out a whoop of delight, picked her up and swung her around then planted a big kiss on her lips; it was more than a friend’s kiss.
They talked frenetically on the way to the hotel; he had booked them adjoining rooms. She went in and freshened up and then they went down for a drink and dinner. Finally with dinner, she felt obliged to turn the conversation to the serious business that they were here for. They spent the next hour discussing all the ways they could approach the court case to try and improve what happened, whatever the outcome might be.
Anne was very tempted to tell him about the text from Susan all those months ago, but something held her back. Now with the wine she was beginning to feel sleepy, and realised that, with the frantic rush to pack and leave and the two short days on the flight, her time was all out of sync. It had been lovely in business class but she had not slept as well as on her last trip; this time a mix of anticipation and nervous anxiety that everything hung in the balance for Susan from here was in play.
She felt a huge yawn come over her. David signed the chit for the bill and escorted her upstairs telling her she needed to get to bed and have a good night’s sleep.
Anne felt vaguely disappointed that the night had ended so soon but almost as soon as she lay down she fell into a deep sleep. She woke at four in the morning feeling cold, wishing there was another warm body alongside her.
It popped into her mind, there is a warm body just next door, what am I waiting for?
There was a connecting door between their rooms. She tried it, it was unlocked.
She made out David’s shadowy outline in the bed. He was sleeping soundly. Part of her felt disappointed but another part was pleased to give him a surprise when he woke up. She cuddled in next to him, lay her head on his chest and fell into a dreamless sleep.
In the early morning light she woke and saw David lying there, not moving but looking at her intently. “You are so beautiful,” he said, and gently stroked her hair as she pushed her face into him.
They did not make love then, but there was something nicer in their casual friendship and intimacy. As they got up to face the day she went into her room and carried her things into his.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said as she saw him watching her closely. “I just decided last night, when I woke by myself, that I wanted much more to be with you and was tired of stopping myself on account of anyone or anything else.
“So I figure we can both share this room though, if you really want to, we can keep the other room as well, just for appearances.”
David replied, “I am glad that’s how you feel, I have felt unsure how to be with you, wanting something much more than friends, yet being constrained by what has gone before and also by what Susan and I had, even though by the time I met you in Darwin last year it was really over. So I, like you, don’t feel inclined to waste time wishing for something when the alternative is to enjoy it now.”
Anne walked over and kissed him on the lips lightly before taking off her dressing gown, her back to him. She walked naked into the bathroom, giving her bottom a saucy wiggle as she closed the door part way, still leaving enough open so he could watch her as she showered.
He looked at her. She caught his eye. She could sense his desire as she turned on the shower.
“Why don’t you come and join me, then we can wash each others’ backs” she called out.
He came in alongside her, his erection throbbing.
She looked at it, bent down and kissed it, then took it into her mouth.
She looked up at him and said, “Another part of me that needs to feel it even more.”
He nodded, he had not spoken. He put his hands behind her thighs and lifted her up.
She felt it go all the way inside, it felt wonderful.
She said “Let’s stop messing around and go and fuck properly. I want you to fuck me as hard and long as you can. Then, when you are finished, I want you to do it all again. I am so horny to feel you moving deep inside me. Whatever else happens I want this part right now.”
The sex was better than they could have imagined and even on that first time they both came together. Soon they were doing it again and then they slept for another hour and did it again. About nine o’clock they decided they must have some breakfast and face the day.
Both felt good about what had happened and Anne told David what Susan had said.
David replied, “I think I am the luckiest man alive having had the two most gorgeous women in England. But after second course I don’t want to go back to the first.”
Anne replied. “I don’t mind her coming before me. But she better not come after me or I will cut that thing off.” She said it with such ferocity that he believed she would.
They visited Susan after lunch and told her about themselves.
Susan seemed genuinely pleased. She said, “It is funny, but I knew, David, right from the first day you met Anne that she was my main danger with you, not a crocodile. Right back then I felt a little jealous of your instinctive reaction to Anne. It was like she and you had a deeper level of attraction than with us. I see now that is how it was meant to be. So, truth be told, I am really glad for you both, and not jealous, well not more than a tiny bit.”
She turned to Anne and giggled. “Not the little brother for you Anne, imagine that.”
Anne giggled back and soon the three of them were laughing then hugging together.
It felt good to them all that life had moved on, at least for that part.
Now Anne turned to Susan, totally serious and said, “Whatever we can we do to help, we are here at your disposal. Can I find a lawyer to represent you in court? I know you said you don’t want a lawyer, you can speak for yourself, and that is your right. But you having someone in your corner, watching that the other side acts fairly from a legal viewpoint; that could be useful.”
Susan laughed and said, “Actually I so
rt of have one; the judge has taken it into his own hands to appoint someone in that role. He sat in at the pre-trial conference last week. I could see his mind was sharp. I kinda liked him, he did not try to barge in when I was speaking. So, as long as he does not try and take over and change what I have to say, you can retain him on my behalf. His name is James Williamson. Just make it clear that I do not intend to change what I have already said. I am merely asking the court to make its judgement on the facts. I am not asking for any deals or any other special consideration.”
She turned to Anne and said, “Did you know I am going to have twins, a boy and a girl? My parents will adopt them once they are born and take them back to England to live with them and have a good life. They can give them a much better life than I could ever have. So I am glad it will soon be over.
“There is just one thing I would like to ask you both, whether you stay together or not. I would like to name them Anne and David, with Marco as the middle name for the boy and Rosalie as the girl’s middle name, Mark’s mother’s name. It would make me happy if you would agree to that. And I would like you to be their godparents, I daresay my parents will have them baptised in the local Presbyterian Church in Reading, so perhaps you could both go along and make your promises on my behalf, seeing I won’t be able to come.
Then, after, I would like you to be like and aunt and uncle to them. If anything happens to my parents I would like you to take responsibility for their upbringing. You don’t have to adopt them but you must make sure they can stay together in a good happy family, being well provided for. Can you agree to all that? It will help set my mind at rest for the future.”
They agreed. Susan could see it was heart wrenching for them both. She was forcing them to confront the future that lay before not only her but would affect them as well.
Susan turned to David, saying, “David, you have been unbelievably good, kind and forgiving to me through all this. I am sorry for all the hurt I have caused you and for not being more honest with you at the outset; it would have spared you this. I also want to thank your parents again for their kindness, I wrote to them in January but could you still pass on my thanks and how sorry I am that they also have had to endure this.”
David had tears glistening in his eyes as he replied, “I have never regretted a minute I spent with you and you have nothing to feel bad about in anything you have done towards me. And, of course, I would not have met Anne but for you.”
Then Susan turned to them both and said. “Thank you for visiting, you should now go and do what you have to do. I can’t wait for it all to be over and to get out of this place forever. I am really glad it won’t go on much longer now.”
She said it with a bright and happy smile, like in a month or two she would walk out again into the bright sunshine and be free.
Inside Anne something quailed. Those were almost the same words one of her friends used last year the day before she took her own life.
She walled off that thought, surely not that, there must be another way out. Now she felt really trapped. Should she break it open and tell all. But as she walked away she looked back at Susan’s desperate pleading eyes. It was a look into her soul that only she saw. Anne knew she was still bound to Susan and there could be no good way tell Susan’s secret, not without a further betrayal of her friend.