The three story town house in the outskirts of Birmingham looked occupied. The curtains were up and at the press of a button they closed as the day ended. The house was tidy and a pair of cleaners arrived once a week to keep everyone in order, but Graham was in the house on his own, and apart from a bit of dust there was little for them to do. Maisie and Jane tried to engage Graham in conversation but they often gave up after a series of monosyllabic replies.

They would change to sheets on Graham’s single bed and the one towel and the sheets and pillowcases would be put on to wash, and that would be that until the next week.

What Graham did in the intervening time was a closed book to them. They remembered the happy times when Graham’s parents had been alive, but that was now two years down the road and Graham had been on his own in the four bedroom house for all that time.

“It isn’t healthy for him to be on his own all this time.” Maisie would say to Jane, and Jane would agree with her, as she did every week.

“What does a young man do who has inherited a large house worth several million pounds, and a sizeable income from two dead parents? What is he, twenty-four?”

Jane would say quietly to herself that Graham was still 24, as he was the last week and the week before that.

“The house is so neat. There is nothing out of place, and all his parents’ belongings are still in the rooms and their bedrooms.”

Graham exercised in the private gym before the cleaners came and swam in the basement pool while the cleaners were there.

Every week a delivery lorry from one of the more upmarket supermarkets delivered the week’s food and drink to the front door. It was always the same time and the same day and the same contents.

The delivery driver got to know Graham from the weekly delivery, and tried to engage Graham in conversation but apart from pleasantries, Graham kept himself to himself.

Graham walked every day, wet or shine. He walked round the local park. It was exactly a mile if he went round twice.

It was not uncommon for a mother to cart a pretty daughter round to Graham’s front door and to introduce her to Graham. Such events were terribly contrived and both Graham and the unwilling victim would exchange a few banal comments before both lapsed into silence. The mother would eventually decide that enough was enough and the episode was ended to the relief of everyone.

It was somewhat to Graham’s surprise to find a woman of about his age on the doorstep one day just a bit after his afternoon cup of Earl Grey.

“Can I help you?” he said rather warily. She was on the step below his front door and her 5ft 2in height was below where he normally looked. He absorbed the blond hair tied quite formally, and the conservative skirt and blouse with a cardigan over it. He also noticed a bit of paint on the back of one hand and a sandals over feet with scarlet nail varnish on each toe.

He imagined quite correctly that this young woman was a school reacher at the local primary school that was just a couple of hundred yards away. He could see their playground if he visited the fourth bedroom that was never used.

“I hope you may be able to help because I have a problem.”

Graham wondered whatever sort of problem could bring this young woman to his door.

“I am Karen Hall. I work at the Primary School round the corner. I run the swimming classes for the children. We aim to have every child able to swim before they leave.”

“That is very laudable, but how does that involve me?”

“The problem I have is that we had some old students broke into the building over the weekend and had a party. They decided that it would be clever to throw bottles into the pool and some of them broke. The pool is not safe to use until all the water has been drained out and the bottom cleaned to make sure there is no glass left.”

Karen, took in a deep breath, and continued.

“We have a visiting examiner coming to the school to issue certificates to the children when they have done their various tests, but if we lose this slot we will not be able to test them until next term when some of them will have moved on to the Upper School.”

“I understand that you have a private pool and I was wondering if it would be possible to bring some children here to complete their preparation for the test, and then for the examiner to test them?”

Karen stopped then. She knew that she had said enough.

“Please?”

Graham’s mind was in a whirl. What to do?

“It is not out of the question, but my pool is not large and I don’t know how many children it can accommodate. There are only six changing cubicles and only a unisex toilet.”

“May I see?”

Graham opened the door wide and Karen climbed the last two steps and came inside.

When they had walked down the hall and climbed down the stairs to the basement the lights came on automatically and Karen was able to see the Gym and the Pool fully lit.

“This is amazing! Do you live here all alone?”

“This was all built for my parents, but now they are no longer here, I live here alone, yes.”

“The pool must be 15 metres long, and has a width for three lanes.”

“Yes, that is true. I can put ropes out to separate the lanes.”

“What is the depth?”

“It is a metre at the shallow end and one metre, sixty at the deep end. No room for diving, but I don’t think you mentioned needing diving as part of the tests.”

“I can see the changing cubicles and the two showers.”

“How many children at one time?”

“I would have to manage the numbers, but there are thirty three altogether.”

“How long would each session last and for how long until the tests were completed or your pool is back in action?”

“Each child would need a thirty minute session once a week, and the examiner is due in just under three week’s time.”

“What about supervision?”

“I would be in the pool with the children and I would have one or two parents to help with changing, then escorting the children back to school.”

“Are we talking about daytime or after school?”

“I have a whole day or two half days where I my class is covered and I do the swimming tuition. At the moment that is a Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. The day the examiner comes would be a whole Wednesday and we would need several staff to ferry the children to and fro.”

“I would like to help, but there are a few ground rules. The children are supervised throughout. Particularly when coming through the house. They come changed so there is only a matter of getting dry and back in their clothes as each group finishes, and finally all the users, including the adults wear swim caps. I would also prefer it if the children are encouraged to use the toilet before coming. As you can see there is only one WC here. I also need to know that the children and adults are covered by the school’s insurance. This is not a school pool and the tiles get slippery.”

“I think all your points are very reasonable, but I must get confirmation from my headteacher that we can agree to them all. Can I phone from here and ask her to come round?”

“Certainly. I think you should get a signal here.”

Some ten minutes later there was a ring on the doorbell and Graham open the door to the Head. She was very grateful that he was prepared to allow the school to use the pool, but made sure he understood that the children came first.

“Would you be prepared to go through a Police Check?”

“I doubt if it would be much good to you as I understand that you need to use the pool immediately and it takes a month or more to get one. As it happens I have a current Police Check from my University time. They last for three years, but you wouldn’t be able to have one done for these particular circumstances.”

“If you have a current generic certificate then that should be fine, as long as there is a female member of staff here at all times.”

“I have no intention of helping lots of young children get dry and dressed. I will leave that to your parents and staff.”

“Can we start next Tuesday from one until three? I know Karen usually has Wednesday and Thursday, but I can get more parents in to be volunteers on those two days”

“That is fine 1pm until 3pm on Tuesday and Wednesdays for the next three weeks. We will send six children at a time with a female member of staff. They will have a 30 minute swim then time to change before the next six arrive. That is 18 children on the Tuesday and the rest on Wednesday.”

“We haven’t talked about any cost.”

“There is no cost. I am glad to help out. The only cost will be the swim caps and any extra insurance premium. Please send me a photocopy of the certificate of insurance before Tuesday.”

“I will certainly sort out both of those things as soon as I get back to school.”

“I will also draft a letter to parents because this house may only be yards from the school gates, but does count as an outside visit.”

“I don’t know how Karen wants to deal with things but I am happy for her to come early to get into her costume and stay later to get back into street clothes.”

“Thank you for that, I was wondering what I was going to do.”

The three walked back to the front door, and Graham said goodbye to them.

He saw that the two women were in animated conversation as they walked the short distance down the street and turned left into the school gates.

I wonder what they were talking about? he said to himself.

Copies of the documentation arrived but there was no further communication before the following Tuesday, but Karen rang his doorbell at 1:45pm as agreed.

She showed herself down into the pool area and Graham left her to get on with setting up the pool to her requirements.

When the doorbell rang he answered it and showed an adult helper down with six small girls already dressed in the school PE kit with what were clearly swimming costumes underneath. Each had a bag that no doubt contained a towel and their day clothes.

After showing the group down, he busied himself for the next 30 minutes. The group was quiet and it seemed like no time at all until the six were trouping back up the stairs, and the next group arrived with a second helper.

Again, the six children were dressed before the third group arrived with the first helper again. She clearly knew the ropes now and Graham didn’t have to do anything until they left about 40 minutes after they had arrived.

Graham went down to the pool to see Karen and to see how everything had gone. She was doing lengths with speed turns. She was really too fast for the small pool, but seems to be enjoying herself.

Graham sat and watched for a few minutes until she noticed him and stopped.

“I hope you don’t mind me having a swim after the children have gone. They are looked after by the helpers until home time, so I don’t have to worry about my class. They will be having a story on the mat now, to get them calm before going home.”

“No, you are very welcome to have a swim. You certainly seem to be a very good swimmer. It is a pity the pool is not a bit longer for you.”

“I have been a competitive swimmer when I was at school. I don’t get enough time to swim now. Too much preparation and marking to be done, and when that is done I am too tired to go to the swimming baths in town.”

“Why cannot you use the school’s pool?”

“It is hired out to different groups every evening. Water Polo one night and Synchronised Swimming another. A mother and baby swim another and so on.”

“If you want to swim you can come here. It is only me who uses the pool normally and that is really a bit of a waste.”

“If you don’t mind, then I will certainly take you upon the offer. I don’t like the crowds at the Council run pool. You even have to book for early in the morning sessions.”

“How is it that you have such a grand house and a gym and a pool. Are you very rich?”

“Sorry, it was rude of me to ask. It is not my place to ask about you.”

“I don’t take offence easily. My parents wanted all this in the basement. They were both entrepreneurs, but died together in a train accident on the Continent a couple of years ago. I am their only child, so this is all mine now."

“I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It doesn’t matter it is old news now. I must clear out their things soon. Their bedroom and studies are still filled with their treasured possessions, clothes and so on.”

“So you own this house and everything in it?”

“I do. I have thought of selling up and moving to somewhere smaller, but haven’t got the heart to dispose of my childhood home yet.”

“I can understand that. It is a big thing to sever those childhood roots.”

Karen was still standing in the pool.

“I am getting cold standing here. I must have a shower to warm up, and then leave you to your evening.”

“You are welcome to share a meal here if you wish. We can order a takeaway curry or pizza if you would like that.”

“I will get changed now, but yes I would happily share a pizza with you.”

“What would you like?”

“I think a Five Cheese Pizza would be nice, thank you.”

“I will have my usual Pepperoni. I hope you will be happy with a 10”. I can get a 12” if you have a big appetite.”

I am not sure that I will be able to get through even a 10” pizza. I don’t suppose they do an 8”.

I don’t think so, but you can take home what you don’t eat and have it for breakfast.”

“I will get them ordered while you change.”

Karen arrived upstairs about 20 minutes later. Her hair was still damp and was held away from her face with a barrette.

“Come in”, Graham said.

“The pizzas should be here in about 15 minutes according to the App.”

It was almost exactly 15 minutes when the doorbell rang and Graham went out to collect the two flat boxes.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Just water, please.”

“The tap over the sink does still or fizzy. What is your preference.”

“I don’t think I have ever seen a tap that does both, and I think it also does boiling water and iced water as well.”

“Yes, it does. You just have to get used to the various controls.”

“Will it do a iced fizzy water?”

“Is that a test or would you actually like iced fizzy water.”

“Yes, iced fizzy water would be good.”

The tap was twisted and with a gurgle and a splutter a glass was filled with iced carbonated water.

“Tuck in … The pizzas will be getting cold.”

Conversation was muted as they ate.

“Where is home for you, Karen.”

“Everywhere and nowhere. I grew up in an Army family. We moved every few months or even weeks from one married quarter to another. I saw the inside of many military schools.”

“Where are your parents now?”

“They live about 30 miles from here in a cottage with a thatched roof and climbing roses round the door. Very quaint and chocolate boxy.”

“Does that go with the military life?”

“I suppose that a life spent in one utilitarian property to another for one’s entire married lives, does make such an individual property more attractive.”

“Have you got somewhere convenient to the school to live?”

“I have a rented flat about a mile away. It is close enough to walk to school each day.”

“I guess you have preparation to do before tomorrow so I shall not hold you up. I will let you in when you can get here tomorrow and then will let you let in the groups with their helpers.”

“I cannot easily do that, because I will be wet, between each group.”

“Silly me, I was forgetting. I will let the groups in if they ring the doorbell.”

“I hope you are not regretting allowing us to come here.”

“Not at all, I am pleased to help.”

When they reached the door, Karen picked up her bag with her wet costume and made her way home.

Graham settled down to read a book that had peaked his interest and the evening was soon a memory for both of them.

As he lay in bed waiting for sleep, he mulled over the day. He had enjoyed being useful to the school and its children. He had everything he wanted that money could provide, but none of it meant very much to him. He needed to get the house sorted and his parents belongings either sold or given away, but it was such an enormous task that he kept putting it off. He wondered if Karen could offer some advice as to what to do with some of the beautiful clothes his mother wore and the jewellery his father had bought for her, but then realised that she would have had no experience of such items. He would need a visit from a specialist auction house to find out their worth.

In the morning he opened some of the drawers in their bedroom and took out some of the dresses and accessories she had worn. Many of them held memories for him. He recognised the names of famous couturiers of the last few decades, and knew that they were items of significance in the fashion world.

Then he visited both their offices and saw gold cuff links and tie pins, several gold hunters and half-hunter watches and his father’s signet ring. A gold and onyx desk set caught his eye with its ormolu mount, or was it really gold and not the cheap alloy he had thought it was. The Hallmark confirmed that the moulding was indeed gold.

His mother’s jewellery cases held rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces of gold and platinum with a variety of precious stones. The weight alone told him that these items were valuable.

The other thing he decided to do was to open the family safety deposit box. He had no idea what it contained and now that it was two years after the death of his parents he thought he must examine the contents.

So early the next morning Graham gathered up some of the most impressive items of gold and other jewellery into a small case and set off for the Vaults in Central London. He had his father’s key and the grant of probate to show at the desk to prove that he had the right to access the vault.

It took about twenty minutes of completing the particulars needed by the vault management before he was lead down in the lift, and through a massive steel door into one of the vault chambers deep underground.

The staff member unlocked the drawer with his key, and Graham opened the second lock with his key. When the drawer was released the staff member drew out the inner lining of the drawer and placed it unopened on a desk in the vault, then left him alone.

What went into the box or out of it was kept totally secret.

Graham lifted the lid to show bundles of papers and little else. He removed these and put the boxes that held the various pieces of jewellery back in the box.

He wanted to decide what the papers were and looked through them carefully. The first thing he noticed was that there were some photographs of two young women in bathing costumes of perhaps the 1950’s. Lots of Broderie Anglaise in other pictures with flowing summery dresses in that most delicate of fabrics. The two women were clearly deeply fond of each other as there were kisses and cuddles.

Next came love letters that seemed to be from his mother to this unknown woman in the pictures. They were tied with a gold coloured ribbon and simply said Charlotte on a tag.

His birth certificate came next. In it his mother was shown, but there was a dash where his father’s name should have been.

“I know who my father was. Why should there be a blank on the certificate meaning that my father was unknown and I was born out of wedlock?”

The letter explained everything. Graham’s mother, Phoebe was in love with Charlotte, an old school friend. In a time when single sex relationships were not acceptable, the two women decided to create a fantasy. Charlotte looked as if she could pass for a young man, and with various aids to assist her, she lived and worked in the family business. As she aged, her persona aged as well and no one knew her secret. At home the two women dressed as women and occasionally went out together to a well known lesbian club in London.

No one checked too far when they married as man and woman at a village church deep in the Cotswolds using the vicar’s wife and his housekeeper as witnesses. They had issued banns three weeks before the marriage and as no one knew them in the congregation, there were no objections.

Graham was the intentional product of a one night stand with a friend where the wine flowed too freely.

The postmortem after the accident would have revealed that the car contained two women, but the cause of death was clearly the trauma from the accident. Death certificates were given without question in the names quoted in the deeds polls made decades before where Charlotte became Charlie, and on documents in wallets and purses.

Graham was bemused. He had seen his father on the beach stripped to the waist. How could he have been a woman? Old photographs showed the swimming trunks he wore were not skin tight and were more like Bermuda shorts. Even when wet they did not cling, so he might have got away with that, but what about his chest?

Graham looked at old holiday photos and the person who looked like a slim quite short man in trunks might have had a very small bust.

“I suppose that as a child, you see what you expect to see. Charlie was almost flat chested and must have worn something like a 32AAA bra, if indeed they had worn a bra at all. I suppose that with the right haircut and clothes they must have been able to carry off the deception.”

Graham thought back. He had never seen Charlie shaving, and had not seen him naked even when he crept into the big bed when he was little.

Things began to fall into place as he thought through his childhood. Things he had accepted as quite normal in his exceptional household which used the considerable incomes of his two parents to create a protected, but exclusive upbringing.

Graham went through the documents several times over the next few days until he seems to know them off by heart, but it was getting close to the time for the children to use his pool again.

The documents were locked in a drawer and he was soon answering the door to Karen who busied herself with the pool preparations and changed in one of the cubicles.

Graham answered the second door bell ring and the six children rushed down to the pool. They knew the routine now and didn’t need his guidance. The helper shrugged and said sorry, that the children seemed to think that they owned the place.

“Don’t be sorry, I am glad they feel comfortable here.”

Three-quarters of an hour later the doorbell rang again and there was an efficient exchange of children. This was repeated with the third group.

When the last group had gone, Graham went down to the pool and saw Karen doing some lengths as she had done on previous visits.

After some minutes she stood with the water dripping off her.

“Were you watching me?” she said.

“I came down to see whether everything had gone well, then I saw you, and you just seemed so graceful slipping through the water that I watched until you had finished.”

“Yes, everything went very well. The children really enjoy coming here. It is really much more inviting than our rather draughty and utilitarian pool at school, although we are lucky to have it. The school governors regularly have to rob various budgets to keep the pool open.”

“Would you like to stay and have a pizza like last week or a curry?”

“That would be very nice, and we can discuss the full day when the examiner is coming. It will be something of a military exercise to get all the children through in the time.”
“Shall I order pizzas, or would you prefer something different?”

“I think a vegetable curry with some rice and a Naan bread would be nice, and thank you for offering it.”

“I will get them ordered, and give you some privacy to get changed.”

She came up to the kitchen dressed in her demure outfit she used for work, but Graham had seen that she had a very feminine body when dressed in the black one piece swimsuit she used for the classes.

“I have a bit of a problem, Karen announced as soon as she came into the kitchen. My teaching swimwear is worn out and would be indecent to wear again, so I shall have to get a new one.”

“We have a few minutes before the curries arrive. My late mother had many costumes. Some of them from well known designers. She was about your size, I think. You are very welcome to look through her swimwear and have whatever might fit you.”

“That is very kind. I am happy to look but swimwear is quite individual and you may not be a very good judge of sizes.”

“You may be right, but it costs nothing to have a look. They are all in one closet in what was her dressing room.”

They went up the stairs to the master bedroom. It looked just as if the couple had left and were soon to return.

“Is this how they left it two years ago, before the accident?”

“Yes, I don’t need the space, and haven’t had the drive to come in a clear it out.”

“Show me the swim suits.”

Graham drew back a folding door to show another room filled with a dressing table and numerous cupboards from floor to ceiling.

“I can see why you were reticent to sort out your parents’ things. There is so much of it.”

Karen looked at one or two items on the hangers. You are a good judge of sizes.

“These are my size even to the cup size on the bikinis.”

Karen looked along the hanger rail and took down two one-piece suits that were modest and might do for her teaching. One was navy blue and the other, a saffron colour.

“These would be fine for teaching.” she said, but I am not sure about taking another woman’s intimate clothes.”

“Would you wear something that you got in a charity shop, where you didn’t know the woman previously?”

“I think I would.”

“Then I don’t see that this is any different. If you can use these then they are yours.”

“OK, I will.”

Karen looked down the rail and noticed that there were some costumes for a woman with a much smaller bust than Graham’s mother. In fact the woman who would have worn the costume was not much bigger than a girl.

“What are these. They would not fit your mother.”

I think that relates to part of my story that only became clear just before the weekend. I have been itching to tell someone the story, but living alone doesn’t allow one to vent things like this. If you are prepared to be a listening ear then I will tell you over the curries.”

The door bell rang and Graham ran down the stairs to answer it.

The smell of curry wafted up the stairs and Karen left the rails of attractive garments and returned to the kitchen where Graham was arranging the curries on plates.

Karen had taken only two mouthfuls of curry and rice, before Graham began. He explained about visiting the Safety Deposit in London and how he had found the bundle of documents that explained how his mother and ‘father’ had lived their lives.

Karen had to eat a mouthful of curry rather quickly to save spitting it out when Graham revealed that his father was actually a woman.

“How can that be?”

“I was conceived with the help of a family friend who was plied with booze and thought he was managing to have sex after a one-night-stand with his friend’s girlfriend.”

“Do you know who your biological father is, or was?”

“I know his name, but haven’t got any further than that.”

“I think the skimpy swimwear was my father’s when he or should I say, she, was at home. On the beach on holiday she was very flat chested and I have found bras that were 32AAA in one drawer, but in recent years they have been on holidays on their own without me and it may be that my farther wore more feminine swimwear now it is much more acceptable to be a lesbian couple.”

“32AAA is as near flat chested as a woman is ever going to get, but she may have had to put some concealer over her areolae for them not be too obvious. ”

“I am sure you are right.”

“You didn’t get a chance to try on any of the costumes. Do you want to try any on to see if they can save you some money.”

“There are two or three that are modest enough to be suitable for lessons, and yes, I will try them on. I really shouldn’t feel uncomfortable wearing another woman’s clothes.”

“There are many more garments up there that will only go to a charity shop eventually. Take your pick.”

“Thank you. I will, but many are more suitable for a much older woman and they would make me feel dowdy.”

“I quite understand, but there are several quite risqué bikinis that don’t leave much for the imagination.”

“I noticed them. They are attractive but I have no idea when I would wear them. I don’t go on foreign holidays and they are not suitable for the town swimming pool.”

“You are welcome to wear them here, if you would like to do that.”
“That is an idea. Shall I be quite naughty and try one or two on?”

“By all means. Am I able to look at the result?”

“Yes. I think that would be ok. You do own them after all.”

“Own them, yes I suppose I do, but they are not a lot of use to me.”

After they had finished their meal Karen went up to the bedroom and changed in the dressing room.

She emerged with the garment just about covering all the important bits. The bottom was little more than a thong with string ties holding it together and the top allowed the woman’s nipples to be covered but little else.

“I think I like your mother. She was a woman of character. Any woman feeling comfortable on a beach dressed only in this tiny bikini deserves my applause.”

“I didn’t think of my mother as a risk taker. She always seemed quite modest in both dress and deed.”

“I suspect that she was actually rather different from what you were allowed to see.”

“I think you may be right. I think I missed out on some parts of her life.”

Karen went back into the dressing room and came out wearing a bright pink iridescent bikini. It was almost transparent and Graham was quite taken aback by how much of Karen’s flesh was visible through the fabric.

Graham coughed in a manner that showed that he was very aware of Karen’s body.

“There is another bikini in there that I love, but I would need to shave first. It appears to be made of lace. Lace garments with body hair is a big no-no.”

“When I come tomorrow I will make sure the body hair is absent and then I will try that bikini on.”

“I can hardly wait. You will look stunning in it as you have in all the bikinis.”

“I thought you would like the pink one. It is essentially transparent, and may be completely transparent in the pool.”

“I will put it on again and we can see.”

Karen put the pink bikini back on and she skipped down the stairs to the basement with Graham following knowing that the pair of unfettered buttocks would soon be wet in the pool.

Karen was right. The costume was designed to become almost invisible in water.

“I don’t know where to look.” Graham joked.

“I am sure you do. You are looking there now!”

Karen did a few strokes up and down the pool but the bikini wasn’t really meant for swimming and the ties soon undid themselves and Karen was left holding the garment more or less in place.

Shortly afterwards there were a pair of dull thwack sounds as the top and bottom hit the side of the pool and Karen completed her second swim of the day in the altogether.

“When she has stopped she asked if Graham minded her swimming without a costume.”

“Not at all. Swim with or without. I will enjoy looking at you anyway. Your lithe body is so graceful going through the water, but I do take the point that the costumes would look better if you didn’t have the body hair.”

“Do you have a towel down here? I have left my towel upstairs.”

“I don’t use them. Too unhygienic. I have a warm air blower. Just sit under it for about three minutes and you will be dry.”

“That means that I will be naked under it, and will have to go back to the bedroom naked as well.”

“There isn’t a lot left to see. Why should you be concerned about being naked after what you have just done?”

Karen got out of the pool and Graham showed her where to sit under the blower. He set it to blow warm air for five minutes.

They walked up to the bedroom where Karen got dressed again and collected her belongings and headed off into the night. She hummed a tune as she went, planning to use a depilatory as soon as she got home.

Graham felt invigorated and spent the next two hours going through his ‘father’s’ things in his office. With his new perception of his ‘father’ he saw what had been obvious in the past had he known what to look for. There was a feminine wallet and a membership card to a lesbian club. There was an old diary in pink leather. Just skimming through it there were capital M’s written in at roughly monthly intervals and various birthdays and business meetings.

Much of the paperwork was to do with the business that the family owned and Graham had already taken over the management there, but there were several sets of unfamiliar bank details. Probate on his parents’ estate had been settled about a year ago, so Graham was a bit concerned that his role as executor may have been compromised. He sat down at his computer and logged into each account. They were all empty and closed except for one.

This one account was for an account in the Bahamas. He couldn’t access it so had to search for an access code that went with the account number.

The Estate had been easy to sort out. There were several bank accounts for each of his parents but much of the Estate’s value was the property where he was living. The remaining value was the share capital of the business and that had also been valued and the tax paid.

Graham looked through the old diary and found nothing he could recognise relating to the Bahamas bank account. He looked through desk drawers and found nothing. As a last resort he looked through the purse part of the woman’s wallet and found a slip of paper with what proved to be the access code for the Bahamas account.

The account had never been accessed after the initial deposit had been paid in some nine years previously. There was an initial balance of over a million pounds and there was no action on the account since. It was just dormant with no interest payments or anyone logging in or out.

Graham just sat in his ‘father’s chair and stared at the account balance.

“Where had all this money come from and why did his ‘father’ see a need to hide it away in the Bahamas? He thought and thought and came to no constructive answer.”

The account was in his ‘father’s’ name. It was not an account for an holder who was known to be deceased.

Before going to bed he knew that he would need to see the solicitor who had acted for him in proving his parents’ joint wills. He did not look forward to that, but needs must, he thought. He printed out a statement of the account and then logged out and headed for bed.
He slept poorly. He was mixed up between his budding association with Karen, and the source of the newfound money. By morning it was all mixed up in his head and he was weary.

A call to the solicitor’s office meant that he now had a meeting set for the morning of the following Tuesday so he could set that aside in his mind.

Karen would be busy at school. It was 9:30 by the time he had breakfasted, and 10:30 before he felt human after a swim.

The children would start to arrive as soon as lunch was over, so he cleaned the pool and added a bit of extra chlorine solution.

Karen arrived as usual, fifteen minutes before the first batch of children. She was wearing the navy blue costume.

“I think that costume suits you very well. I am pleased that you could use it.”

Karen did a little twirl and curtsied.

“Thank you kind sir.” she said with mock humility.

All was busy while the children did their sessions, but Graham was now into a routine where he timed his visits to the front door to let the children in and out.

After the last group had left he found Karen doing lengths still in the navy blue one piece costume.

“I thought you wanted to try on the lace bikini?”

“I do, but I thought I would wait for you as it is in your part of the house that I think is private.”

“Then I will take you upstairs and you can try it on.”

Karen dried herself quickly with the towel she had brought and they went upstairs together.

The bikini was on his parents’ bed and the blue suit was instantly shucked off and Graham could see that Karen had been very thorough with the depilatory the night before.

The lacy bikini bottom slid up her thighs to fit very snugly over her hips and the top was put on back to front and then rotated until the cups fit over her bosom perfectly.

She did a turn and said. “You like.”

“That suit could have been made for you. It fits perfectly. You look beautiful in it but there is not a lot left to the imagination.

“I feel very sexy in it. I can feel the narrow strip of fabric between my legs. It is both slightly uncomfortable and arousing.”

“I am finding it very arousing as well, as you might have noticed.”

“There is no way that I can wear this suit in the water. It would stretch, so it is really only for sun bathing.”

“Where were you thinking of sun bathing?”

“Where would you like to see me wearing this suit to sunbathe?”

“Oh, anywhere warm?”

“I have three weeks of school holiday coming up. Might we share a holiday?”
“I might share a holiday with you if we were together and you would let me pay. After all I have a great deal more money than you.”

“Do I have to offer you my virtue to be part of this holiday?”

“That is up to you, but I think it is important to sort out the ground rules. I would expect us to share a room if we went on holiday together.”

“I think I could manage that. There isn’t much that you haven’t seen, and I think I would enjoy sharing a room and everything that goes with it.”

“Lets both strip off and have a swim together. If this is going to work, then we have to start somewhere.”

The swimming pool resounded with laughter for the first time in over two years. When eventually they were sitting under the dryer together their thoughts turned to holiday destinations.

“I think that somewhere like the Canary Islands is safe enough in this troubled World. It is warm the year round and it is well geared up to British tourists. I also like the idea of going somewhere where we can swim like this.”

“You mean go somewhere that has naturist beaches? That would be a first for me.”

“I haven’t been to a place with a naturist beach either, but I would enjoy going to one with you.”

“Wouldn’t it be awkward if other people look at me naked. You wouldn’t be jealous?”

“I would be proud of having such a beautiful girl being with me. How I would get on with being constantly stimulated by you is another matter.”

“I think we may be better with a beach where it is normal to be topless, with the option of stripping off if we feel that it is OK.”

“That sounds a good idea, so where are we going?”

“I have wondered about Fuerteventura.

“Have you been to the island before?”

“Yes, I have been to there before. So leave it to me. Give me your school holiday dates and I will book us a week during your holiday. I don’t want to take up too much of your break.”

“I have no other commitments except being prepared for the new term and that will take three or four days.”

“Are you staying for a meal?”

“Yes. I will enjoy your company.”

“What will it be this time?”

“There is a Cretan restaurant that does a good Moussaka with a Galaktoboureko to follow.”

“I know Moussaka. That is the dish with mince and aubergines and a creamy sauce. What is Galaktoboureko?”

“It is a custard pie. It isn’t as sweet as some of the other Greek deserts, like Kataifi or Baklava, and for some reason the restaurant only serves Greek yoghourt and honey at the table. I suppose it gets mushed up on the back of a moped.”

“You sound very knowledgeable.”

“Not really. Just holiday Greek. Enough to order a meal without getting something inedible as well as ordering a couple of beers.”

“I suppose we should get some clothes on?”

“I will put some clothes on to accept the delivery, but you can be as you wish. I doubt that I will get tired of looking at you without them.”

“I think I would be happier getting dressed to eat the meal. There is a danger of us getting overwhelmed and not eating it.”

“Good point, but I was looking forward to spreading custard tart over your boobs and then being able to lick the custard off.” he said somewhat sadly.”

“Not too keen on that, even had it been the traditional can of spray cream and strawberry jam. The last time my boobs were stained pink for several days. The clothes could come off again afterwards of course.”

“But custard tarts are not pink’”

“I still think I would prefer to avoid that, but I am happy to lick custard off your chest so you can enjoy the experience.

“That is something for the future. I hope that is a promise as regards shedding the clothes later.”

“Am I staying the night?”

“If you would like to then I would be delighted.”

“We might as well get some practice if we are sharing a room on holiday.”

The doorbell rang and Graham went down to collect the order. Karen slipped on her clothes while he set the meal out on plates.

They were largely quiet as they ate. Each seemed to be deep in their own thoughts.

As if on queue the doorbell rang as they ate their last mouthful.

Graham answered the door. There was a elderly man standing there.

“Can I help you?” Graham asked.

“I am sure you can.” The man replied.

“Can I come up?”

“Only if you let me know why you need to come in.”

“I am the author of this story. It is what I decide makes your lives go one way or the other.”

“Are you telling me that my life is not my own?”

“That is exactly what I am saying. Karen is there wondering what is going on. Shall we go up?”

Graham guided the man up to the kitchen, because he had a gut feeling that what the man was saying was true.

“This man says he is the author of our story.”
“We have reached a balance point in the story. I am going to give you; the characters in the story, a chance to give your opinions. When you have made your stance clear I may make you forget and the story will continue; or maybe not.”

I am going to let each of you see the background of the other.

Karen and Graham looked at each other and at the author.

“Karen, when you were fifteen you were the main accomplice in a trial of romance fraud. You cleaned out several men by convincing them that you were in love with them. It was only because of your age, that you didn’t get a custodial sentence. That would have shown up on your police record and you definitely would not have been able to train as a teacher.”

Graham could see how Karen had gloated over the men she had tricked and how she had shared the money with her older woman accomplice. She had been a good actress and had slept with all three men even though she was under age and it was the threat of revealing her age that eventually convinced them to give her what she asked for.

“Graham. You have always been wealthy but now you are rich. Fraud is not for you, but you were very controlling of your last girlfriend. She had to give up her job and had to be available for sex whenever you wished. You paddled her frequently and made her wear various rubber appliances. You took over the money she had, and manipulated her. Your conviction for coercive control is noted and the jail sentence was only as short as it was because of your age. At the time you showed no remorse. I am not sure you do now.”

“I am very sorry about that case now. I fell head over heels in love with Grace and I treated her abysmally. I know I was blasé about it at the time, and I hurt her a great deal. I learned my lesson and would not do that again.”

“You have both been very unkind to partners in the past and have had to live with that in this story at least. I don’t know if you are free of those inclinations?”

“Do we exist? You seem to be saying that we only exist in this story of yours.”

“Yes, you exist, but I can manipulate your lives to some extent, and can predict your futures fairly accurately.”

“Is that true of other people, or just us?”

“It is true of everyone, but most people are only touched very lightly by someone like me. They live their lives unaffected by any sort of manipulation.”

“Then why are you interfering with our lives?”

“If I didn’t interfere with your lives, as you put it, then either one of you or both of you would have a disastrous impact on the other.”

“Isn’t it the right of humans to be fallible?”

“Yes but I can see the impact that would have going much further than you can possibly imagine. The most likely scenario is that Graham would murder Karen most horribly, in a fit of jealous rage. ”

“Then I will leave now.”

“That doesn’t work. The attraction between you is like a powerful magnet. You would be drawn back together as a moth is drawn to a candle flame. The moth doesn’t know that the flame will burn them, but you will do just the same even though you know the finality of it. Your relationship will be totally compelling, totally absorbing but tumultuous. It will be a collision of minds with catastrophic consequences for you both and there will be knock on effects that I cannot predict in Society as a whole.”

“You have only known each other for a few days and I have made it a happy experience, but does it make it a better story if you, Karen, asset strip Graham and leave him a pauper? You have a superb body that any man would adore and the intelligence to wrap him round your little finger. I could make it so that he fauns over you and will give you everything, and then you will leave him to debts and an early grave.”

“Graham. If I let this relationship blossom, will you try to manipulate Karen into a very one-sided relationship where she is utterly dependent on you for everything. I don’t think you have thought this holiday through. If you go to the Canary Islands I think that you will have so much jealousy that it will end up with you parting aggressively, or you hurting Karen badly.”

“Which way will I write the story? Who will get the upper hand? You cannot both win. One will hurt the other as night follows day, or you will both self-destruct.”

“My crime was due to jealousy. I couldn’t cope with any other men looking at Grace. I wanted to lock her away so it was only me that could love her. I put her on a pedestal and adored her, but I did come to understand that what I did was wrong. I cannot deny that I find women deeply attractive and their beauty becomes an obsession. I was only a hair’s breadth away from hurting Grace because other men ogled her constantly.”

“That is what I meant. I don’t think you could cope with having a girlfriend who is as much eye candy as Karen is.”

“What about you, Karen. Could you keep your hands off Graham’s money or would you become obsessive about parting him from it. You were seriously avaricious in your teens. You are giving all the right signals for a woman intent on getting her own way even now.”

“I think that is fair. I hurt when I think of the riches in this house and what I could do with such wealth. I enjoy my work as a teacher, but it will never make me rich.”

“I think I have made my mind up. Thank you for your input. It has made my decision clearer. I cannot make you change your attitudes or needs, but I can add a twist to the story. You will both remember this conversation and your past lives when I write the rest of this story.

Graham, you will become Karen. Her teaching skills and finely honed and almost insatiable sexual prowess will be yours, but you will retain the basic sense of honesty that you have now. As a small woman with a body to die for, you will be the subject of innumerable sexual fantasies rather than being the man perpetuating them. People will lust after you from a distance and you will need Graham’ presence to give you protection. There will be people who would prefer to slash your face and breasts with a Stanley Knife, rather than fail to conquer you sexually. Finally you could be entirely narcissistic, loving yourself to the exclusion of all others, but I will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Karen, you will have Graham’s body. You will feel compelled to protect her above your own safety. You will need body guard skills and must learn those. You will be even more smitten by your old body than Graham was of yours. You will adore her unreservedly. You will have all the wealth you desired from Graham’s money, but will have the responsibility that goes with it and the irresistible love for her that would make stealing from her an impossibility.

“I can see you looking at each other in that particular way where two is company, and three is a crowd so I must go. It is time for you to explore your new bodies in the pool. Enjoy being in bed together tonight. I think sleep will not come easily. Enjoy the holiday and remember that you will have no choices in the end. I hope we will all enjoy the ride afterwards. I will make sure to remember the birthdays of your two little boys with gifts sent from a loving Uncle Tony.”