Chapter 1
"Yes, Lee-Ann, I know that it's an hour's drive to work and back everyday, but I need to take my life back again, and the only way that is going to happen, is to get as far away from Cape Town as possible. Unfortunately I still have to run my company, so it still has to be within driving distance. I think Yzerfontein is just far enough, and close enough to do the trick." Jodie sighed as she waited for her sister's response.
"Fine! Do whatever you want, but you can't run away because someone got too close to you. I don't see you surviving in that quiet little place for more than a month anyway." Jodie held the phone slightly away from her ear as she listened to her sister steaming over the phone.
"She didn't get close to me!" Jodie shouted out. "This is me we are talking about. I make the choices and I decide when I allow someone to get close to me." Jodie started pacing up and down as she talked. "That damn woman is a nutcase. She is as close to a stalker as I've ever seen. No, means no, doesn't it? At least where we come from it does."
There was a pause before Jodie heard a response from the other side. "How arrogant can one person be? I am ashamed to call you my sister. Go and hide in your little corner of the world, but remember, thirty-five is already on the wrong side of thirty."
Jodie heard a thud in her ear as her sister hard handedly replaced the receiver. "Sisters, how much duller would life be without them," Jodie said as she closed her mobile phone.
"Actually, it would be a great relief to me if you could take your phone and go and argue with your sister a few meters in the opposite direction."
Jodie was flabbergasted when she heard the voice from the other side of the face brick wall. She couldn't see the person, as she would need to be at least two heads taller than her five foot to do that. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but this is my back yard, and in it, I can do whatever the hell I feel like." Jodie was fuming as she shouted against the brick wall.
"I'm just your next door neighbor," the calm voice replied.
"Well, that still doesn't give you the right to tell me what to do."
"It has nothing to do with right," the voice replied with an undertone of irritation. "It has to do with common decency, and consideration for your neighbors. It's after eleven at night. You're obviously not from around here."
"It doesn't matter where I'm from," Jodie replied, extremely irritated, as she couldn't see the person behind the voice. "I am here now, and I'm here to stay."
"Well, this is a quiet little town. People come here for peace and quiet, not to be woken up at eleven at night by a neighbor's shouting match."
Jodie could not believe her ears. "What planet are you from? It might be eleven, but this is a Friday night after all! You sound like an eighty year old lady," Jodie smiled sarcastically as she spoke.
"No, eighty years is a bit far off, but I do remember my upbringing, and my mother at least bothered to teach me some common decency."
"Oh! Is this how it's going to be? Now you're insulting my family?" Jodie was desperately looking around for something to stand on. She needed to see the woman who managed to infuriate her even more than her sister did.
"A minute ago you weren't far away from doing that yourself," the calm voice replied, infuriating Jodie even more.
"Well, you sound like an overbearing snob. You should keep to your own business and leave me, and mine alone!"
"With pleasure, just restrict your nightlife to the inside of your house."
Jodie could not take anymore. She stormed to the side door of her house and slammed it behind her. "What an asshole!" she shouted as it closed.
"I heard tha?." was all Jodie heard before the door clipped.
'Well, this was definitely not how I imagined my stay in Yzerfontein to start. Who does this woman think she is? Maybe Lee-Ann was right, maybe this was a mistake. If that woman is anything to go by, this town sounds like it has been caught up in a time warp.' Jodie walked to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water.
'I must just stay calm. Tomorrow is another day, and another day brings a lot of new possibilities. The town at least has a bar, and where there's a bar, there'll be women. A good night with a warm body will definitely put me in a better mood.'
Jodie took her glass of water up to her bedroom as she sidestepped some of the boxes that she hadn't unpacked yet. Once in her bedroom, she opened her window and walked onto her balcony without switching her light on. She had an amazing view of the ocean and could see the waves break in the moonlight. She silently thanked her best friend, who also happened to be an estate agent, for choosing the house for her.
The smell of the ocean was so different to what she was used to in Cape Town. The smell was so much cleaner and the stars were so bright, it looked like she could touch them. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she could see much more. She walked to the side of her balcony and realized she could see right onto her neighbor's porch.
She looked a little bit closer as she could see a figure walk towards a hammock on the porch. The figure disrobed and got onto the hammock as if it was a completely natural thing to do. Jodie almost lost her glass of water as she realized that the figure had nothing on underneath the robe. What she saw in the moonlight was enough to take her breath away.
"Well, if your mother knew what you were doing outside, she would probably have a heart attack," Jodie said out loud, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear. She could just imagine the woman from earlier walking onto the porch and grabbing her heart when she saw what her innocent daughter was up to.
When a bird flew past the balcony, Jodie snapped out of her trance. She abruptly turned around and walked back into her room.
She tossed around in her bed for a while, thinking about her relationship with Diane. When it started out, she actually thought that she had managed to find the person that she would like to spend the rest of her life with. They were compatible, they looked good together and she allowed Jodie her own space.
That was all Jodie ever wanted out of her relationships, but it was always the one or the other that was lacking. Diane however, knew exactly where Jodie came from and what she wanted. They had an understanding, but it all changed. It started with the questions. "Why are you so late? I thought we were going to spend the evening together? Did you forget what day this is?"
Jodie got irritated with the questions and Diane became persistent about them. She wanted them answered and Jodie refused. Jodie was not planning to answer to anyone. She never did and never would. She made the rules and everyone else had to follow. She had worked too hard for too many years to have that power taken away from her. She was running a top printing company and handled her relationships the same way as her company.
Jodie eventually fell asleep with her balcony door opening. The breeze was blowing her curtains outside where a lone figure lying on a hammock could see it move.
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The next morning Jodie only got out of bed after ten. She took a shower and got dressed, after which she walked out onto her balcony again. The view was even more amazing than it was the previous night.
She quickly stole a glance at her neighbor's porch, but saw no person or movement. 'Probably sleeping her old ass off,' Jodie smiled as the image of a prim and proper old lady in an old sleeping frock, crossed her mind. She looked out over the beach and also saw nothing, but on the waves she could see a few black spots. After looking more intensely, she could see that it was people. She couldn't see whether they were surfers or body boarders though.
After watching the movement of the people on the waves for a while from her balcony, Jodie decided to take a closer look after breakfast. She went downstairs and poured some corn flakes into a bowl with milk and sugar.
It didn't take Jodie very long to finish her breakfast. Once done, she switched on her house alarm and locked up. The walk down to the beach did not take long either, but once on the sand, Jodie walked considerably slower. The sand was extremely soft, and Jodie's feet were sinking deeply into it. 'This is one of the reasons why I don't like going to the beach,' Jodie reminded herself.
Jodie found a spot to sit between some of the dunes, as she didn't want the breeze to blow sand onto her. She threw her towel on the sand and sat down to watch the people on the waves.
Jodie could see now that they were all body boarders. The waves were forming far out and became quite high by the time they reached the body boarders, but only one at a time would take a wave. The others would just wait for the next one.
'If that was me out there, I would take every opportunity I got. It looks like those people have a world of time to just sit around waiting for waves. This is a real waste of time,' Jodie thought as she got up to walk back.
Once she was standing though, her eyes caught sight of the next body boarder catching a wave. She was quite amazed by the stunts the person was doing, while riding the wave. As the person came closer to the shore line, she could see that it was a girl. She kept watching her as she made her way out of the water onto the sand. Even through the wetsuit, Jodie could see that the girl had quite a body. She decided to sit down again.
The girl got halfway out of her wetsuit before she grabbed a water bottle and took a sip. Jodie could only see her back, but it was enough to get her aroused. The girl zipped herself up again and grabbed her board. Jodie could see the logo on the board and recognized it from some body boarding sponsor printing that her company had done. It was a Science Board. One of the best if the advertising was anything to go by.
She watched the girl for another hour, totally intrigued. She knew that the young, sporty type wasn't really her scene, but it would be good enough for a night or maybe two.
Jodie watched the girl get out of the water again. This time she got out of her wetsuit completely. Jodie appreciated what she saw. This was one awesomely built girl, although Jodie was not too sure that she should be thinking of her as a girl anymore, as this one looked all woman.
As the woman was grabbing all her stuff, Jodie got ready to introduce herself. The fact that the woman might not be into other women didn't even cross her mind. She was known for turning whomever she set her mind on, and this woman was no different. As Jodie walked towards her, she stopped in her tracks when the woman turned around. She was definitely not a girl. She was a woman in every sense of the word, and completely breathtaking. She had long, black hair and chiseled features. She also didn't look like a teenager.
Jodie smiled as she started to walk towards her again. The prospects were looking better and better in the small town. Jodie was about five meters away from the woman when one of the other body boarders came running up to the woman.
"Aunty Jenny!"
Jodie stopped again. This body boarder was a young boy. Probably about twelve years old. He ran all the way to the woman before he spoke again.
"Aunty Jenny, thank you so much. I can't wait for the competition this year."
Jodie couldn't hear the woman's response as a barking dog came running past her towards the woman and boy. At this point Jodie decided to leave the introduction to later. The town was so small, that she was sure that she would run into her again, and at least, she now had a name. Jenny.
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Once at home, Jodie opened her African Gray's cage gate. The bird did not look impressed as he got out and onto the top of the gate.
"Sorry Rossi, I didn't mean to neglect you my boy," Jodie said as she got his water and food bowls out. "I will give you some nice treats this morning, I promise."
"Vol kak ja." Was all the response Jodie got from the bird.
"Would you stop saying that! I am going to kill my sister for teaching you that. I know she is married to an Afrikaans man, but now she is teaching my bird to talk Afrikaans. By the way, I am not full of shit!"
"Fuck you," was the next response.
"That's more like it, but wait until the day our new neighbor dares to walk in here. I'm your boss; you don't say that to me."
"Love you Jodie."
"Now that's what I want to hear. Love you too Rossi."
"Morning."
"Good morning to you too, although it's already lunch time. I better get sorted here, as I plan to take on the town bar tonight."
Jodie worked the whole afternoon to get the house into a livable state. She was quite pleased once she was done. She made herself some dinner and afterwards took a long soak in the bath. She took time to get dressed as she was not planning to go home alone. She wore a grey, striped, Jenny Button suit with a white open neck long sleeve shirt. She used a minor amount of make up as she was blessed with the face of a cosmetic model. Her height was the only thing she ever had a problem with while growing up, but that hadn't bothered her in years. She now used it to her advantage. Once done, she admired herself in the mirror and winked. "That a girl, you go get them," she said aloud before turning around and getting her car keys.
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Once at the bar, Jodie realized that she was a bit overdressed for the small town bar. She looked around and couldn't see any possibilities. She decided to have a drink while she waited for any new arrivals.
"Give me a single vodka, double lime and lemonade," Jodie requested without even looking at the bartender.
"I'm used to getting well dressed men in here, but not really women. Where are you from darling?" The bartender was a young, blond woman. Jodie looked at her and guessed her to be about twenty-two or twenty-three. She wasn't bad on the eye.
Jodie smiled before she answered. "From Cape Town, but I have taken up residence here for a while."
"I take it that you're the one living in Jennifer's rental house?"
"I don't know whose rental house it is, as I didn't arrange it. My friend arranged everything for me, and I just arrived. It's number 23 Kite road."
"Yes, that's Jennifer's rental house. It's quite a nice, expensive place. You must have loads in the bank," the blond went on to say as she placed Jodie's drink in front of her. "But I don't know what you're doing in this little town of ours though. If I could afford it, I would be out of here like a flash. There are only two of your kind here and they are a couple, but who knows, if you keep smiling at me like that, I might make it three."
Jodie smiled even brighter. At least she would have a warm body that night. "Is this a bright enough smile for you?"
"It's something to start with, but a drink would make it even better. My name is Bridget by the way."
"Who am I to leave a lady thirsty? Have whatever you feel like?on me," Jodie said very suggestively.
Bridget did not hesitate. She poured herself a double Johnny Walker Blue Label.
"So, tell me about this Jennifer whose rental house I'm staying in, as I would really like to talk to her. I have a major problem with my next-door neighbor. I think she's a nosy bitch."
Bridget laughed. "Well, Jennifer is your next door neighbor, and the owner of the house that you're renting. You can however talk to her right now, as she is standing right behind you. Hello Jennifer, fancy seeing you here," Bridget added with an icy voice.
"Always a pleasure seeing the town tramp," was Jennifer's response, but the words were enough for Jodie to recognize the voice from behind the brick wall.
Jodie sighed as she turned around to face her neighbor and apparently her landlady as well. Her jaw dropped when she looked into the stunning face of the woman from the beach. "Aunty Jenny" definitely didn't look like anybody's aunty; she looked good enough to have for dinner, breakfast and lunch. Flashes of the naked body on her neighbor's porch ran through her mind. The realization that she was staring at the person whose body she was admiring, left her even more stunned, but flashes of their conversation also made their way into her mind and that gave Jodie what she needed to pull herself together.
"So, you're the overbearing snob who thinks that she is better than me?" Jodie stretched herself out as much as she could while she spoke. The woman in front of her was at least a head and a half taller than her.
"The name is Jennifer Stevenson, seeing that you didn't bother reading your contract, and you are the reason why I should have insisted on seeing who I was signing a contract with!"
"Well, you are the reason why I should have done this myself instead of trusting a friend!"
"Don't blame your friend if you don't have any common decency. She was at least a pleasure to deal with. As for you, I have seen about as much of you as I can bear. I think arrogant should be added to my description of you." Jenny turned around and started to walk away.
She didn't get far before she felt a strong hand wrap around her arm. "I want to cancel our contract. If I can find a new place tomorrow, I'll be moved out by the next day." Jodie almost sounded desperate as she spoke. The shock that she got from touching Jenny completely put her off from the way she wanted it to sound.
"I don't think so. If you do that, I lose out. You can give me two months written notice, which means you can be out in three months as this month has already started," Jenny hissed out.
"If that's what you want to do, I'll pay you for three months, but I am out of there as soon as humanly possible." Jodie's blood pressure was hitting danger levels as she spoke. "I wouldn't dare to stay in your house any longer than I need to."
"If you want to throw money away, be my guest." Jenny pulled her arm away from Jodie and strode away.
"I can do whatever I want, money is not an obstacle," Jodie shouted at the disappearing figure. She stared in disbelief even after she couldn't see Jenny anymore.
When Jodie eventually turned around, she realized that everyone in the bar was looking at her. She had obviously provided the evening entertainment. Jodie walked back to the bar and ordered another drink from Bridget, but made it a double.
"Talk about putting your foot into it," Bridget said as she poured the drink.
"What do you mean?"
"I think you just alienated the whole town."
"What?" Jodie asked in disbelief.
"Well, dear old Jennifer Stevenson is the town sweetheart. She put our little town on the map with that body board of hers. Everyone who's making money in this town apparently thinks that they have her to thank." Jodie could hear the sarcasm in Bridget's voice.
"I suppose you don't think so?"
"Hell no! She acts like she owns this town. Thinks she can tell everybody what to do. She even told me to get out of town once because my boyfriend broke up with me. How does that justify her telling me what to do?"
Jodie gave a wry smile, "I can definitely sympathize with that. Let's have another drink. Who the hell does she thinks she is anyway?" Jodie might be outing the words, but in her mind flashes of a naked body, as well as a smiling face belonging to a wetsuit glad body, were making her body react differently.
When Jodie got up to move, she was barely able to and not interested in taking anybody home, no matter how hard Bridget tried. She drove herself home, although she knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Drinking and driving killed people, but there was no taxi service in the little town.
Jodie made it home in one piece, but vowed to walk the next time she wanted to go to the bar. Even if it meant a long walk home, at least it was safer.
She got a glass of water and some headache tablets before making her way up to her bedroom. Once there, she couldn't help herself; she opened her balcony door and stepped outside. The moon was high, so she could make out the figure lying in the hammock. Jodie could feel her body going into overdrive again. She recognized the familiar ache in her lower body. Jodie groaned as she turned around and made her way to her bed. She got into it completely naked, but this time her mind wasn't filled with memories from her past, it was filled with images of her body wrapped around Jenny's.
Jodie moved her hands down her body and felt how aroused it was. With one hand remaining on her breast, the other made its way down to her very sensitive clit. It didn't take long for her to reach a climax more explosive than anything she had ever had on her own. She could not help but think how it would be, if she was really wrapped around Jenny's naked body. With those thoughts Jodie fell asleep.
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The next morning Jodie had to drag herself out of bed. After she gave Rossi his fresh food and water, she made her way to the local estate agents. Besides the local café, it was the only other place open on a Sunday.
"What do you mean there is no other rental available? This is a holiday town isn't it? Surely someone has a holiday home that they're willing to rent out?" Jodie couldn't believe what she was hearing from the estate agent.
"The problem isn't that there isn't any, there just isn't any available for you," the estate agent responded as politely as possible.
Jodie tried to keep her calm as she could see that the old lady was very uncomfortable with what she was relaying to Jodie.
"Apparently Jenny has asked everybody to stay away from you."
Jodie threw her arms up in the air before she walked out and into her car. She drove back home and promptly made her way over to Jenny's house. She pounded on the door.
It did not take long for the door to open. "I was waiting for you," Jenny said as she opened the door and indicated for Jodie to walk in.
"How the hell must I get out of your house if you're preventing me from getting another rental house?" Jodie could not hold her anger any longer.
"Simply because I don't want you in this town," was Jenny's calm reply. "And I do not wish you on anybody else, so this way, you will have to move out of our little town immediately."
Jodie looked at Jenny in disbelief. "Are you insane? Do you even live in the real world?" Jodie's disbelief turned into anger again. "I'll tell you what I will do. I will stay in that house of yours for the next three months, seeing that you are insisting on us keeping to our contract." With that, Jodie strode towards the door and opened it.
"You can't do that!" shouted Jenny. "You said you would move out in two days. I want you out of this town." This was the first time Jodie felt that she had shaken Jenny's cage.
"Well, there you and I have our biggest problem. You like to tell people what to do, but me, I don't take instructions from anyone. I will leave in three months and no sooner. By contract you can't throw me out."
Jodie slammed the door behind her and left a stunned Jenny looking at it.
To be continued.