Encompassing Love (17 page)

CHAPTER 28

“The day I know it all is the last for all.”  -- from the Book of Brian

Tomorrow was practicing backflips when Renfield walked out to watch.

“Go on, I know you have some criticism.”  Tomorrow looked at him and remarked.”

“No.  Well, yeah.  Conservation of energy if it’s for a fight, don’t do it.  If it’s for exercise, by all means.”

At the edge of their vision another was suddenly there.  Both Renfield and Tomorrow turned to look as the figure approached.  The man approached and Renfield did not move.  He signaled with his hand for Tomorrow not to stir because he knew she could not hear either of their thoughts.  The man leaned in and spoke to Renfield.  Renfield nodded.  The man vanished.

Renfield’s mood had obviously changed.

Tomorrow asked, “Who was he and what was that about, Adam?”

“I’ve told you before we are not the only ones.  He was providing me a SITREP.”

“What situation was he reporting to you on?”  Tomorrow moved towards him.  Her eyes lowered as she tried to delicately get an answer from Adam.

“Things important to him.  So about the backflip maneuver.”  Adam tried to grin off the conversation.

Tomorrow pressed, “What he called you.  That is the titled of the person that Venetia and Tina said the books told them to look for.”

Adam shrugged, “Was it?”  He gestured with his thumb to the place the man was standing, “He probably spoke wrong.”

“Both of you blocked your minds to me as soon as he appeared.  But he spoke and I can hear.”  Tomorrow points out.

“More than you would care to.  You seem annoyed at times, by my snoring.”  Renfield laughed and gestured for her to continue to exercise.  At that, he signals with is eyes how much he cares about her.

“You know what I meant”, she replies.

“Hmm, we can’t listen to everyone all the time every moment. You know this.”  Renfield replied.

“I was focused on you, Adam.  I would have heard if you weren’t blocking.  Before, whoever that was showed up, your focus was on me.”  Tomorrow pointed out as she bent over in front of him to being a forward flip.

Adam grinned and said, “As it always will be.  But sometimes there are things I have to attend to.  Like my crazy lover disappearing to go save the world.”

Tomorrow stood back up and exclaimed, “Touché”

Adam laughed and said, “Yeah, I saw that!  Pretty nice if you ask me!”

Tomorrow let go of pushing him on the conversation about what just happened.  She knew he would avoid her questions if he deemed it important to or for her safety.  She thought to herself, “The bad thing about an over protective lover was that he’s over protective.  However, the good thing about an over protective lover is that he is extremely protective.”  That thought made her feel comfort with Adam that she never felt growing up.

CHAPTER 29

“If you live long enough, you start to appreciate it.  Odd since you grow older and can interact with life less and less as the days count by.”  -- from the Book of Amelia

She awoke and looked around with her eyeballs, unwilling to test raising her head.  She was in her bed.  She had no memory of getting in it.  She felt around and behind her was an object.  “Adam.”  She thought and she smiled.  Then she felt herself realizing she was naked.  She smiled again.  She to closed her eyes to simply breathe in the moment, then she felt him move.  She turned without raising her head from her pillow.  She couldn’t help but think how much she loved the idea of pillows. “Before you say it, no, I don’t remember, but I’ll assume you are responsible for me being naked and, well”, her mind searched for the right word to use, “satisfied.”

He laughed and said, “If it wasn’t me, I’d be angry right now.  It’ll come to you.  You were rather insistent!  I didn’t particularly mind.”

Tomorrow thought about the night before then she said, “Oh my Lords, I can’t believe I did that!”

Adam laughed.  “What do you want for breakfast?  How does that work around here anyway?”

“Oh, they bring me something.  Did I mention to Venetia or Tina that I needed to double my rations while you are here?”

“No, but I’m sure they figured that out.”  He stepped out of the bed and then asked.  “What are the facility arrangements?  I wasn’t sure so I’ve been holding that water for quite a while.”

Tomorrow sat up slightly and pointed to a chamber pot.  “You leave it outside the door, but we’re going to have to share.  That’s another thing I should mention to Tina or Venetia.”  She rubs at her eyes as she sees him begin to use the pot and then she sits up suddenly, “Adam!”

He turns quickly, his mind ablaze trying to hear the presence of anyone else.

“It just occurred to me.  I don’t have rights to this room anymore.  I don’t have a job.”  She looked down at her own hands as if the answer to her suddenly realized plight was within them.

Adam crawled back in to the bed with her and said, “Relax.  I am sure those two have something else planned for you to do.  They really do like you.  That was obvious.  They wouldn’t leave you without something to do to earn your keep.  Plus, I can be helpful too.  Just don’t ask how.”  He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Are you sure?  I’m not even sure it’s okay to be in here?”  Tomorrow’s voice started to have a note of panic.

“You are the first royal teacher!  Do you think there aren’t other to teach?  They may not require all of the things you taught Amelia and Conan, but there are people having kids around here all the time.  After last night I’m pretty sure you know what brings that on!”  Adam leaned to her again and kissed her and then asked, “What time to they bring something by to eat?”

Tomorrow considered what he had said while she looked at the clock.  “It’s out there now. If there is anything to come.”

Adam could hear her mind and he knew she was actually physically holding her breath.  Not in a kid way, but she certainly was not breathing in or out.  He listened to her breathing as much as her mind.  He walked to the door opened it and retrieved the tray.  He set it on her table.  “See, you’re still considered.”  He took the top off of it and noted that there was one meal inside.  He considered that neither Tina or Venetia was in any shape to consider the additional occupant, last night, and even if they had, it was certainly doubtful that they would have remembered to tell someone.  He lifted the plate to take it to Tomorrow.  That was when he noted that under it was a letter.  He put his body between himself and the letter so that Tomorrow wouldn’t know he was reading it.  He could see it was a decree and began wondering if he had misjudged and given Tomorrow false hopes.  He read quickly then looked at the plate.  Then he smiled and picked up the plate and walked to the bed with plate and letter in hand.  He places the plat in the curvature of her body can crawled in the bed next to her, sliding the letter under her pillow while she was distracted.  “You’re trying to decide to eat or piss in camp first.”

Tomorrow gave him a look that was half a smile and half a frown.

“Just go, I got food.”  Adam said.

She returned and grabbed a grape and plucked it into her mouth.  Then she said, “Did you eat any of it?”

“A piece of melon that was delightful.  I was waiting for you.”  Unable to continue the suspense he said, “Well there are now two pieces of news and the question I tried to ask you last night.”  He reached his hand under her pillow and produced the letter.  “Read.”

Tomorrow read the letter.  As she went through each sentence, her eyes grew wider.  At one point, she actually gasped and put her hand to her mouth.

Adam watched her and smiled.

Tomorrow turned to him, “So what do I do with that?  I’ve never really bought anything, except the chairs and clothes.

Adam responded, “Well first, you want to pick that up and put it in a bank.  Do you have banks yet?”

Tomorrow said, “Yes, I taught the kids the basics of economy, but I never thought I’d be part of it.”

Adam laughed.  “Okay good. Then put it in there and think about it and plan it before you spend it.”

She turned to him and said, “I’ve never had anything to hold on to.”

“Now you do.”  Adam replied noting that he was included in her statement.

“So what is the other news?”  Tomorrow asked while picking at the slab of meat on the plate. And then reaching to tear it and hold up a large piece for Adam to chew.

Adam took a bite and then said, “You eat.  This breakfast is for you, but thank you for sharing.”

“Adam, I can tell when you are craving meat.  You start to get a certain look in your eye.  Plus, it’s cow.”  Tomorrow pointed out.

“This I have heard before.  Am I that easy to read?”  He asks.

“Just go on and tell me!  Also, eat the meat, I will eat the rest.  The meat is the only part you really want anyway and we both know it.”  Tomorrow looks at him and then opens her eyes wide in frustration.  “Okay, eat the meat and then tell me. But don’t just look at me.”

Adam reached down took a bite of meat, chewed and then said, “I know her your father is now.  At first I thought he was the brother of the two who created Brian and Persistence with my daughters but then tried to kill them.  I still don’t know what that was about.  I could hear their intentions and besides the normal young man’s intentions they were not considering that option when they…”  Adam stops and his eyes go down.  Then he raises his head to see her again and continues, “Anyway, I suppose that’s not who it your father is.  His father is a real asshole.  So be glad.  That leaves a puzzle to be solved.  He’s an asshole, but he was their asshole.  Your father is not blood to me.  He’s an asshole too, but he was once a friend.”

Tomorrow listened to his words, but she also felt his mind at the same time.  “I’m sorry Adam.”

“I’m not.  Well at least I don’t think I am.  If it weren’t for that asshole, I would never had Brian and Persistence in my life and I damned sure wouldn’t have you in my life and that would have made my world a lot smaller.”  Adam picked up the rest of the meat and put it in his mouth and chewed, hard.

“That’s where you went last night after I asked you about them.  You did it for me.”  Tomorrow locked at Adam’s mouth.

Adam said, “Trying to steal my cow, woman?”

She laughed.  “Okay.  So what was the question?”

“Let’s go bag you a bank account first.  Then you tell me about the ideas you have on spending the money.”  Adam said.

“Phillip killed him didn’t he?”  Tomorrow looked at Adam intensely.

“I don’t know.  But that’s perceptive.  I was thinking the same thing.  Does it make him less of a martyr?”  Adam asked of Tomorrow.

“No.” She stuck the last grape in her mouth and continued. “It makes him a good man.  It had to be a situation.  Plus, he spent every day of his life trying to help my mother.  I’m here.  I have you next to me, for now.  So he was a good man.”  Tomorrow picked up the plate and tried to reach over Adam to put it on the floor, but as she realized she couldn’t reach that far he picked her up and moved her over top of him.  She smiled and let go of the plate.

CHAPTER 30

“I suppose we all felt he couldn’t exist forever.  I still suspect he will outlive me.”  -- from the Book of Christina

“Nah.  Who builds a house that far out of the city?”  He points to the drawing.  “I know this peak.  How would we get our equipment up there?  I suppose there might be some unused pulleys and what have you’s around from when they tried to mine that years ago, but they didn’t find iron.  A vein of gold is all they pulled out of it.  Almost bankrupted them setting that operation up.  I think I’ll keep my company.”

“Tim, is it.”  Adam asked.  “See Tim they were trying to mine, not build.  Building there wouldn’t cost as much as your making it sound.  Also when you say that far out of the city, there is a major road at the base of that rise.  If I’m correct and I’m pretty sure I am, it was developed by the mining company you just referenced.  So you not only don’t have that cost, if I read right, you were the contracted construction company, so you’ve already profited from that location.”  Adam points a finger at Tomorrow and then to himself, “We checked.  You’re company has an excellent record, but there are others with just as good or better reputations.  We just figured it would save us all time if we went with a company that knows the area. Which, you just told us you do when you so quickly recognized the peak from a drawing.”

Tim looked up at him and then to Tomorrow.  “How much are you offering?”

Tomorrow began to replay but Adam said, “What are you quoting?  We’ll determine if it’s reasonable.  If not we’ll talk to other construction companies.  Funny thing about building a road under contract is you don’t own it once it’s done.”

Tim flared his eyes at Adam and then said, “I thought she was the customer.”

“She is.  I am here to provide council but when I note things, I am under her direct orders to speak up about the minor errors as they sometimes occur in these types of transactions.”  Adam said.  He thought fast to Tomorrow whom he could hear was about to say something.  “Don’t speak, please.  Your silence is more powerful than your words at this moment.”

Tomorrow cleared her throat and sat up and looked at Tim awaiting his response.

Tim replied, “I’d have to do the math, but I’m going to throw a number out.  It would be at least 5 million batoons.”

Adam thought to Tomorrow.  “I don’t have a clue what that means.  The apartment you looked at the other day, how much did they tell you that would be per month?”

“Batoons are the standardized trade.   The number provided to me per month to rent that apartment was 175 batoons.”  Tomorrow thought back at him, making sure she was clear.  A practice she had picked up having to talk to the kids that way.  She learned to be sure they understood before continuing and the same now applied here.  The irony of teaching Adam was not at all lost on her.

Adam leaned forward, “Tim, really?  We didn’t ask you to line it in iron.” Adam sat back and held his hands up with a shrug and chuckled.

Tim looked annoyed, but he considered the facts.  “Okay, tell ya what, let me work the numbers and I’ll get back to you.  I might be able to come in at half that.”

“Tim, it is incumbent upon me, as the lady’s advisor that I inspect the materials you use and remain on site while it is built to assure that construction is superb.”  Adam said, in a flat tone.

Tim’s lip rose in a bit of a snarl but when his lips parted he said, “Of course.  We only use the highest quality material and my men are excellent at what they do.  As are you, sir.”  He nodded his head to Adam.

Adam rose and held out his hand.  Tomorrow took it and turned him towards the door and then said, over her shoulder, “Good day, Tim.  I will be in touch at noon tomorrow.  Anything later than that and I will move on to other options.  It’s been a pleasure discussing the matter with you.”

Adam heard her thought.  He didn’t particularly agree, but he also saw the wisdom in her move.  He escorted her to the door.

Since there was no one in that hallway she clicked taking Adam with her.

At the riverside she said, “That was fun!  I want to get another quote now!”

Adam looked at her and said, “I hope he doesn’t come running out of that door to make an offer.  It’s going to seem mighty odd if he asks anyone which direction we went.”

“Oh.  Does that happen?” Tomorrow asked putting a finger to her lips wondering how she could undo what she had just done.

“Yes, if the negotiator does a good job.  Did I do a decent job, Tomorrow?”

“You were phenomenal!  I loved it!”  She stops and looks at him, “I messed it up didn’t I?”

“Not particularly.  You may have helped.  He was wrestling with too many possibilities in his mind to tell which he was going to go with.  You did fine.”  Adam then pulled her to himself and kissed her then he moved his mouth to her ear and whispered, “On second thought, you were bad.”  He heard her giggle in response. 
“So, bad girl, how about…”  Adam trailed off as he turned her around and kissed the back of her neck and ran his hands down the inside of her thighs.

That evening he woke up and gathered his clothes and hers, walked to her and put his hand on her back and clicked.

Tomorrow woke and looked at herself in her bed, noticing the covers were not on her.  Then she remembered that when she fell asleep they were at Adam’s getaway at the edge of the river.  She wondered how many times he had been there.  She smiled as she reached down for the covers.  She swung her arm wide to also cover Adam, when she noticed he wasn’t there. “Well, at least I can hope he’s bringing back a cow. I am pretty hungry.”

As she lay her head back down she heard his mind enter the room and looked up.  He held up two knives his right hand while concealing something behind his back with his left.  She watched as his fingers moved extremely quickly and one knife was suddenly tucked in his palm up against his writ point at himself while the other was held by it’s tip handle held out to her.  She grabbed the hilt of it and then looked to see what was in his left hand as he swing it around quickly towards her face.  “That smells wonderful!  It’s cow, but I’ve never smelled a cow like that!”

“This” Adam says, “is filet mignon.  A very good cut, medium rare with a very slight touch of fine black and white pepper, cooked over a split jalapeno and two split habanero peppers and then treated to a bleu cheese that is extreme.”  He passes the dish to her and she sits up with the knife as he slides the forks out from under the plate and holds one out to her.  “One of the few benefits of time and space, for m’lady.”  He clicks, returns and holds a glass of wine out to her.  “That should make for a good pairing.”  She sets the fork down on the plate and sips the wine first.

“That’s good!  Which of these is mine?”  She asks while hovering the fork over the two fillets.

“Well as I remember consistency is one of the more important things where I got this.  Take out, not so much.  So start on one and we’ll turn the plate and see if we can tell the difference.”  Adam cuts off a corner and Tomorrow mimics him.  He waits while she puts it into her mouth.

Her eyes light up and she chews quickly so she can say. “Now I know why you love cow!  Oh the lords, this is…”  Tomorrow doesn’t finish the sentence before hearing him and getting that she should cut small pieces and work towards the center in a spiral manner.  She takes another bite.

Adam take his bite and delights in the fulfillment of the memories of this wonderful treat.

Tomorrow looks down at the plate, “What is this?”, she asks while hovering her fork over some green spears over what she knows to be mashed potatoes.

“Try it.” He responds.

She didn’t really require urging.  As she pulls the fork from her mouth she notes several details about it.

“I prefer it crisp, barely cooked, but I figured it was your first time, so I went with well cooked, but, if you look under the potatoes, there’s some that are crisp.  I was going to hide them from you.”  He winks at her as she pops a near raw version into her mouth and chews.

“I like both.” Tomorrow announces.  “It’s a very distinctive flavor and it’s not bitter.  What is it called?”

“Asparagus.  I asked them to cook it with lemon, garlic and a touch of oil of olives.  There are a few sauces sometimes used on top of them, but, as I said, it being your first time, I tried to stay as close to the flavor of that particular vegetable as I could.” Adam looked down noticing she had already eaten most of her filet, so he spun the plate.

Tomorrow paused from eating and asked, “Does it have any specific healing properties or other benefit?  You eat it raw anyway, I’m sure.”

“Yup.  After eating it I will be able to tell immediately if you pee in camp!”  Adam took a bite of her filet and then felt her fist bump his arm.  “Ow!”

“I’ve had this kind of cheese before.  Marla makes it.  But this is more, ‘flavorful’ is that the right word?”  Tomorrow asks.

“Sure it is.  With cheeses like this and especially this one, you could also use the term, pungent.”

“I thought that was for when you let air out from behind.”  Tomorrow asks while sipping the wine he has brought her.

Adam looks at her and then he smiles and looks back at the plate.  Then he looks at her again and opens his mouth.  Then he looks back to the plate.

“What, Adam?  I can’t even focus on what you’re thinking right now because your thoughts are scattered.”  Tomorrow looks into his eyes.

“I don’t think.  I don’t know.  I wonder if.”  Drawing a conclusion he finally says, “Don’t say that to someone else.  They wouldn’t understand.”  Then Renfield chuckles.

She swats at him.  “I don’t talk about that stuff with anyone else.  But you and I have been with each other, so why not talk about it.”

“I’m teasing you, but now I don’t know how the cheese tastes to me.  How about you put yourself to use and bring it up a notch.”  Adam says.

“Ok.”  She stands on the bed, turns around pulls down her panties and squats over the meal.

“No!  That was a joke!”  Adam yells.  “You don’t get when I am joking yet?”

“It isn’t me that doesn’t get jokes anymore.  It’s you.”  Tomorrow points her fork at him then touches him on the nose with it.

Adam nods his head to her, realizing he’s been bested.  He then cuts off the last of his half and impales it on his fork and then holds it out for her to eat. As her lips part and her tongue licks at the fork and her eyes stare into his, he takes the last bite, chews and reaches for his pocket.

“All of the things you’ve been thinking definitely point out that it’s not simple.  But my answer is, yes.  However, I still want the ring, Adam.”