Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Series Title: Highbury Tales By: Alexander Sunshine Episode 8: Rich People
Can't Dance

   ---------------- Author's note: You know you have been spending too much
time writing when you accidently call your significant other by one of your
characters' names.  ----------------

   London University spread out just south of downtown Highbury.  Although
it was particularly renowned for its business and law colleges, it had
colleges for every major area of study.  Alice would have appreciated their
expansive libraries but she incorrectly and unconsciously assumed that only
students were allowed to use them.  However, on this cloudy grey morning,
she ventured into Mechanic's Hall of the engineering college, to see if she
could procure cheap or free used parts that could help her build her Alset
machine.

   She followed the signs to the shoppe and came to a wide desk where two
scruffy but collegiate young men sat and chatted with each other.  As she
approached, the men looked at her and said a few more words to each other
before they gave Alice their full attention.

   "Hello," one of the men said.  They both smiled flirtatiously, eyeing
her from head to toe.

   "Hello," said Alice, speaking briskly.  "I was wondering if you had any
old ceramic or ferrite Halbach electro-magnets lying around, perhaps I
could do you a favor by taking it off of your hands.  Or perhaps a Coloumb
homopolar flux-motional inductor?"

   The man raised his eyebrows and turned to his friend.  "She wants a
Coloumb homopolar flux-motional inductor," he said, and they both chuckled.

   "Sorry ma'am, we usually do not have any used equipment just 'lying
around', there is never enough even for the graduate students to use."

   "Oh, all right." Alice said lightly.  "I just thought I would ask.  Do
you have any used equipment at a reduced price?"

   "Sorry ma'am."

   "Okay, thanks anyway." She gestured a farewell and walked away.

   As Alice wandered back through the college grounds, she wondered why she
had been so motivated to go there.  She came with the faith that in going
there she would be able to get the parts, one way or another, that
something would just fall into place.  It was drizzling now and colder and
so Alice decided to walk through a building instead of walking outside.

   As she walked past a lounge area she heard a voice say, "Hey look, it's
Alice."

   She turned and was almost glad to see Brian, until she was instantly
struck with fear as she noted that he was with Eddie Barton and a few other
boys.  They all sat in the lounge area, books and overcoats strewn about
the tables and chairs.

   "Brian..." she said.

   "Oh look...  It's the sari-girl." Eddie said with a smirk.  He was
sitting on the table with one leg up, but then he stood up.

   Another boy that Alice recognized, the one with the beak-nose, took his
wallet out of his pocket and procured a ten-pound note.  He said "Hey,
sari-girl, I've got another ten-pound note for you." All of the boys
laughed but most were too cowardly to look her in the eye.

   Brian's mouth hung open, and he blinked innocently.  He realized that he
was not completely understanding what the boys were alluding to, but he
understood well-enough that it was not nice.  In the midst of
unpleasantness of the situation, Alice was heartened to see that it was
finally sinking in how not-good his friends were.

   "Hey..." he began weakly.  "Don't call Alice that anymore."

   "Ha ha!" said Eddie.  "Don't call her what anymore?  Sorry-girl?" He
went closer to Alice and patted her shoulder.  "She knows I mean nothing by
it, right?"

   She stepped away from him, unsure of what to say or do.  She didn't want
Brian to find out...

   Brian stood and went between them.  "Now listen," he said, hesitating.
He had never spoken thus to Eddie before: "You apologize to Alice!  She is
my friend and I won't let you disrespect her!  And don't you touch her..."

   "All I did was pat her on shoulder, I can pat her on shoulder if I feel
like it!" and with those words he moved closer to Alice.  But as he did so
Brian stepped in the way and grabbed his arms.  "Get your hands off of me!"
he complained.  When Brian continued to wrestle with him, Eddie punched him
square in the face, making him fall to the floor.  Eddie dove to the floor
and two of them wrestled while the other boys began shouting in excitement.
It was only seconds before three campus-security officers rushed in and
separated the two young men.

   "Break it up!  Now!" one of the officers said.  He was heavy-set spoke
in a muddled blue-collar accent.  "Now, who started this?"

   "It was him!" one of Eddie's boys said, pointing at Brian.

   Brian was taken aback.  "I didn't hit him!  I was trying to-"

   "You put your hands on me first!" Eddie insisted.

   "That's true," someone said, and the others nodded in agreement.

   "Come quietly with us, unless you want to get yourself into more
trouble!" the security officer said.

   Alice watched helplessly as they hand-cuffed Brian and started to lead
him away.  "No!" she finally said.  "Where are you taking him?  At least
tell me where you are taking him..."

   "We will take him downtown to the the police station, and hand him over
to the city police."

   *******************************************

   Ever since Alice and Rupbert had had their falling-out, they had not
spoken.  Alice did not go to the book-store and Rupbert had his meals at
the cafe instead of at home with her and Brian as usual.  They both did
come to bed however, independantly they had both realized that not coming
to bed would be burning a bridge of some sort.  Alice went to bed late
after he had fallen asleep, and Rupbert left early before she would wake
up, and so they were never both awake in bed at the same time.

   Alice decided that their quarrel was irrelevant in light of what was
happening to Brian.  She rushed over to the book-store, it was about a
twenty-minute jog.

   As she rushed into the store, Rupbert was sitting at the front desk
studying some kind of documents.  He looked up at her and immediately
detected that she had arrived on some serious matter.  "What's wrong?" said
Rupbert.

   "Brian has been arrested!  You must get him out of jail!"

   "What?  What happened?"

   "He got into a fight with one of his friends from school.  The campus
police broke it up and took him to jail!"

   Rupbert stood up immediately.  "Let's go, we'll take a taxi!"

   *************************************************

   The police station was busy that morning.  As they walked in, Alice was
reminded of the day after she had first met Rupbert.  She recognized the
receptionist as being the same lady who had manned the desk that other day.

   "Hello-" Rupbert began, standing in front of the receptionist's desk.

   "Are you here to report a felony?  Or a crime in progress?" she asked
perfunctorily.

   "No," said Rupbert, "but..."

   "Please wait a few minutes." The receptionist interrupted brusquely.

   "But-"

   "I'm sorry sir but have a seat and we will get with you when we can, we
are very busy."

   Rupbert sighed.  He noticed that Alice had already made herself
comfortable in the waiting area.  He sat down next to her.  "Brian did not
get hurt, did he?" asked Rupbert.

   "I don't think so, the fight was very short." she said, staring at the
ground.  There was a long silence as they both thought about their quarrel
about the Alset machine.  "Ruby, I'm sorry I insulted you." she said
finally.

   "It all right, I over-reacted." he said immediately.  He was prepared.
He had ruminated a great deal on the matter.  "It's just that I am so tired
of people looking down on me.  It has been this way my entire life.  I
don't understand why.  I am a cultured, well-educated, well-bred gentlemen,
and yet somehow everyone always manages to see me as beneath them."

   Alice put a gentle hand on his arm.  "Do not be so hard on yourself, I
would be willing to wager that most of your peers feel the same way often
times."

   "It doesn't look like it.  Oh well, it's not your fault how other people
have treated me.  And you are right, there is no real reason for me not
give you the money..."

   "Don't worry about that anymore," Alice interjected.  "I don't want you
to give me the money anyway.  I want to find my own way to build my
machine, and not depend on you for everything."

   "Oh, all right." Rupbert smiled and took both of her hands in his.  "I
am so glad we are forced to sit here together so we could have this talk,
despite the circumstances.  The idea of you going through your day, upset
and disappointed at me, it kills me!"

   Alice leaned towards him and they embraced.  Just then they heard the
receptionist's voice:

   "Hello Mr.  Greenleaf, I can help you now."

   *****************************************************

   After Rupbert paid for Brian's bail, he was released.  Later they would
learn that Eddie Barton would not press charges against him anyway.  In the
meantime, Rupbert went back to his store after escorting Alice and Brian
back to the house.  The two of them sat together for a while until Bill
came home and joined them.

   "Hello you two." Bill said with a warm smile, sitting down across from
them.  He was being very uncharacteristically friendly and cheerful.  "Are
you all right?" he said, noticing Brians shirt and jacket were torn and
that he had a bloody scratch on his chin.  "What happened?"

   Brian was suspicious of Bill's display of concern, but decided to play
along: "It was nothing.  I just realized that my best friends are not my
friends at all and got into a little tussle!  I'm not hurt, but I'm
probably going to be expelled from school..." Brian said.
"So what?" said Bill, he suddenly looked very annoyed.  His display of
friendliness and compassion was indeed short-lived.  "You were just wasting
your time there, studying the bible instead of learning anything useful or

even true for that matter."

   Brian let out a short sigh.  He chided himself for believing that Bill
would actually be friendly to him.  "No one asked you for your point of
view about my studies!"

   "Can you two try to get along?" Alice said, with little hope in her
voice.  She was disappointed at how quickly they were getting at it.

   Bill ignored her: "No one asked for my point of view, y'say?  Well no
one asks primitive-minded blokes like you to go door-to-door, disturbing
people on Sunday morning, to give *your* childish, superstitious
point-of-view."

   Brian scoffed.  "When did I ever try to go door-to-door, try convert
anyone?  Even if I did, I'd never even bother to proselytize to you in
particular." Brian waved his hand dismissively, but then he turned to Alice
and glanced back to Bill occasionally as he continued: "Let me teach you
something Alice, an illuminating but difficult and dangerous truth.  There
are two kinds men: men like you and me who are capable of perceiving and
growing spiritually, and then there are men like Bill here.  All of
creation has the divine spark, but individuals like Bill here lack true
free will or individuality, they don't have their own soul.  Men like Bill
are called 'organic portals' because they serve as passive agents for evil
spirits to manipulate and work through."

   Alice blinked and stared at Brian incredulously.  She had never heard of
such a strange idea from him or anyone else before.

   Bill scoffed.  "Oh, so I don't have a soul now, and you do?  Well, I
have an 'illuminating but difficult and dangerous truth' for you
bible-boy-Brian, none of us have souls, not one of us!  We are all just
meat, we are all just carrion at different levels of decay.  We are born,
we eat, we shit, we fuck, then finally we die.  Anything else is just
make-believe and superstition!"

   Brian made a show of staying calm.  "I'm not going to argue with you. 
It would be foolish for me to expect you to profess to anything else. 
Clearly, you lack the higher chakras, etheric organs necessary for
perceiving the greater reality."

   Bill laughed.  "What?" He turned to Alice, who was doing her best to
stay of it.  "Do you hear what this clown is saying?  It's like he's making
it up as he goes along!  Where does he get this gibberish?  What nonsense!"
He stood up and hastily took a cigarette out of his pocket, and then a
match.  He lit the match and then the cigarette.

   Brian folded his arms together.  "I don't think Rupbert wants people
smoking in the sitting room.  The smoke gets into the upholstery..."

   "Fine then!  I'll go outside!" He spitefully flicked his match at Brian.

   "Don't throw lit matches at me!  Where did it go?" The match seemed to
have fallen between the arm of the couch and Brian himself, but when he
looked there he did not see it.  Before he could find it, for some reason
his torn jacket caught fire very easily.  Brian stood up and shouted, and
Bill started to laugh as he tried to beat the flame out of his jacket. 
"Look at this!" Brian said to Alice.  "He set me on fire!  In my own home!
Rupbert will hear about this!  I hope he kicks you out!"

   Bill continued to laugh and mocked him, repeating: "Rupbert will hear
about this...  I hope he kicks you out!" He went to the back of the house
and slammed the door as he left.

   After the sound of the back-door finished reverberating through the
house, there was a tense silence, until Alice said: "Tell me Brian, is what
you said about Bill true, do you really believe that...  that he doesn't
have a soul?"

   "Uhm...  yes..." he answered apologetically.  "I probably shouldn't have
brought it up like that, I let Bill get to me again.  But what I said... 
it's true.  I've read many books about religions and mystical traditions
over the years, and eventually, always in the esoteric texts but never in
the layman's texts, they all get to explaining that unfortunately, not all
men are the same."

   "It saddens me to consider that..." she almost said 'Bill', "some people
cannot grow spiritually, that they cannot grow beyond this mundane world of
darkness and suffering."

   "Don't waste your time feeling bad for them, it's their choice!  Don't
you see Bill's attitude?  He attacks and ridicules spirituality instead of
trying to understand it."

   "Well...  I have noted that you do not make any fair attempt to appeal
to his sense of reason.  Perhaps if we told him about what we have seen and
experienced..."

   "No!  You are assuming it is about reason, it's not about reason.  If it
were so simple, then there would be no religion, spirituality would just be
another science.  It's not about reason because people only see what they
want to see, they only believe what they want to believe."

   "But here in the west, people are predisposed to believe in shallow
religions and empty rituals, if not atheism, and so wouldn't many
individuals who are not, what was the term you used?"

   "Organic portals..."

   "Wouldn't many individuals who are not organic portals believe in only
materialism, since that is what they were educated to believe in?"

   "Yes, I think that is safe to assume."

   "So, you can't know for sure whether someone has a soul or not..."

   "I suppose not..." Brian frowned.  After a moment of hesitation he
added...  "so maybe Bill does have a soul, right?  That's what you want me
to say now!"

   "Well...  you should consider the possibility..."

   "I don't understand!" he said, standing up, he looked as if he would
storm away, but then he said: "You see how Bill is, but you are always on
his side!  No matter what he does he is completey above reproach! 
Everything he says or does is with impunity!  I can't compete with that!"
And after those words he did storm away.

   ***********************************************

   Later, after the sun had gone down, Alice took some time to look over
the Alset manuscripts once again.  She wistfully wondered how she could
afford to buy the parts and finally build it.  As she pondered, the quiet
of the house was broken by the sound of someone walking around.  Judging
from the heaviness of the footsteps, she thought it sounded like Bill.  She
heard the person leave through the front door.  She thought she should just
keep reading but then on an impulse she rushed to the front door and
stepped out.  The sky was clear, and the moon was full, and so she could
clearly see it was Bill walking away from the house.  She quickly rushed
inside to get her coat and then went back outside.

   Pulling up the hood of her coat, she followed him from afar through the
streets until she saw him enter a pub.  As she drew closer she could hear
that the place was quite crowded and festive.  She stopped for a moment on
the broad doorstep, where a few small groups of men and women were
gathered: A middle-aged woman who looked like a prostitute (with her heavy
makeup and low-cut dress) smoked a cigarette and flirted with some young
men.  Some teenagers chatted with each other before parting ways.

   Alice stood amongst them and looked through the window, into the pub. 
Inside was dimly lit but she could see Bill as he moved through the crowd
of working-class folk.  She was losing sight of him and so she went inside,
where the air was bubbling with laughter and hollering, rough-hewn accents,
and beer glasses clanking.  It smelled of stale liquor and tobacco smoke.

   She pulled down her hood and sat down at an empty table in the corner by
the front door.  She searched for him, although she did not want him to see
her and so she kept her head low.

   Finally she spotted him.  He was talking to a lanky young bloke, the
conversation seemed casual from a distance, but then as they spoke, without
looking at his hands Bill discreetly handed the man a small pouch.  The
man, in a similar fashion, handed him some money.  It happened so quickly
no one should have noticed it without looking as intently as she was, and
without being in such a low position.

   'Selling drugs!' she thought.  'If Brian or Rupbert found out, they'd
kick him out of the house and I'd never see him again!' She watched Bill as
he continued to talk to the lanky man.  Soon some others joined them and
she could not see him anymore.  Suddenly she noticed that a different man
was watching her.  He was a dirty-looking, overweight man with a bushy
graying beard.  When their eyes met he winked at her.

   Alice felt impelled to get away from him and so she got up from her
chair and moved closer to where Bill was.  She realized it was easy to not
be seen since she was so much shorter than everyone else in the pub.  As
she continued on she found Bill again, and saw that he moved through the
crowd with a few other men to another crowded room.  He and three other men
all sat down at a card-table.  Several others stood about to watch the
card-game.  Alice discreetly positioned herself behind Bill so that he
would not see her.

   Four men sat at the table, one of them dealt each man five cards.  Alice
did not understand the game but she saw that there were some cards face up
on the table and money too.

   They each looked at their cards and put some money into the center of
the table.  One at a time, each player said something and then took another
card.  Bill put more money into the center of the table, and then two of
the other players put their cards down; they seemed to be forfeiting the
game.  Alice tried to look at Bill's cards but could only see the ones
showing on the table.  She saw that he had a three and four of hearts
showing.  She thought they did not look like good cards to have in most if
not all card games, and the left-over player seemed to think that too:

   "You're bluffing!" he said.

   "Maybe I am..." Bill said, shrugging nochalantly.  He added a
fifty-pound note to the pile of money in the center.

   "Oh no...  I won't let you bluff your way out of this one!" the other
man said, placing another fifty-pound note of his own to the pile.  "Read
'em and weep!" He put his cards down on the table, face-up.  Alice could
barely see that he had many face cards in his hand.

   Bill, still with his stoic game-face, revealed his cards and took a
drink from his beer mug.

   Incredibly, as Alice could see, his entire hand that he was dealt were
hearts, and all within sequence, from the three to the nine.  The crowd
around them erupted in gasps and laughter.  "Wow!" someone said.  "That's a
once-in-a-lifetime hand!" someone else said.

   "You weasel, you cheated!  I always wondered if you were a cheater, but
this time it's obvious.  Just admit it!" the other player shouted.

   Bill grinned finally and quipped: "Don't be such a sore loser, your wife
makes more than this every night standing out on the boulevard..."

   Instantly the man stood up and propelling himself across the table,
knocking his glass of the table, he threw his fist at Bill, but the latter
easily caught his fist in his own hand.  He bent his hand back painfully
and the man cried out.  Bill muttered something quietly, even in the din
his deep sonorous voice was distinct, but still unintelligible.  The
injured man held his wrist in pain and scurried away embarrassedly as the
other men and women laughed at him.

   As Bill stood up and collected the money from the center of the table,
the main room of the pub became relatively quiet.  Then some music start
playing; A man and woman played the fiddle while others who were sitting
around stomped their feet and some people clapped their hands.  Men and
women rushed to the center of the room and started dancing.  There were a
few girls who had loose, knee-length skirts that spread out like a fan when
their dancing-partners spun them around.

   'When was the last time I was amongst such revelry?' Alice thought.  'I
thought everyone in Kingsland only had stuffy cock-tail parties and balls.
I've been around rich folk too much, the way they dance...  it should not
even be considered dancing at all.  But this is beautiful...  this is real
dancing!  Rich people can't dance like this.'

   Suddenly Alice realized that she had lost track of Bill.  She went into
the main room and sat down.  Where was he now?  She laughed as she observed
a rotund drunken man who flailed about in the most rhythmless yet merry
fashion.  She was not sitting for much longer when she felt someone tug at
her hand.  She turned and saw that it was Bill himself, and feared that he
knew that she had been following him.  But he just said: "Hey!  Dance with
me."

   "Yeah!" she replied.

   He picked her up right out of her chair and she screamed in excitement
as he spun around with her in his strong arms.  He tilted her backwards and
forwards, and then backwards again, and he playfully but gingerly flipped
her over and onto her feet.  He took her hand and spun her around.  He let
her go and danced near her for a while.  Alice closed her eyes and let the
music take over her body.  She kept running into the people near her but
she did not care!  When she opened her eyes Bill was gone but she did not
care about that either, she had so much fun dancing.  She followed the
other people dancing who started going around in a circle, stomping and
kicking their legs and waving their arms.  The musicians started to play
faster and faster, and the dancers in response moved faster along with it.
The music kept playing at a frenetic pace and Alice abandoned herself to
the moment, dancing and running around to keep pace with the rest of them.

   Amidst the revelry, a drunk young man with a shaggy hair-cut accidently
strayed too far from the dance-floor and crashed into a table.  There was
the sound of heavy glass crashing into the floor.

   The man at that table stood up "Hey!  You spilled my girl's drink!" he
shouted.

   "Oh yeah?" the drunk man said, and without another word he just punched
the complainer straight in the face.  At that instant pandemonium broke
loose.  The music may have stopped, but it was hard to tell since it would
have been lost in the din anyway.  Male and female voices shouted and
screamed.  The pub rumbled with movement as people began overturning tables
and hitting whomever was next to them.  Others pushed and shoved as they
tried to get out the now inadequately-sized front door.

   Alice decided it was time to go home.  She climbed onto the long
bartenders table and took the easy high road toward the front door.  Twice
she almost slipped on some spilled liquor, but she made it across, got
through the crowd and made it out the front door.

   As she stepped out she was relieved to breathe in the fresh clear air,
and then was suddenly confronted by the sight of Bill, the only still
figure in the migrating crowd; he was by himself leaning against the wall
and smoking a cigarette.

   "Hey..." she said, stepping closer to him.  "Is it always like this
every night?"

   "Nah, it's just a typical slow Thursday." Bill said cooly.  "Usually we
skip the dancing and go straight to the brawling."

   Alice laughed.

   Bill flicked his cigarette to the floor and stepped on it.  "I was
thinking of going home, want me to walk you home?" he asked.

   "Yes, I'm so spent now, I would like that."

   **************************************************

   While walking through the streets Alice kept laughing out loud at Bill.
He seemed just a little bit drunk.  He walked all right but muttered and
ranted on about the silliest nonsense.  As they arrived home, and Alice
opened the door, she was laughing so hard she just about ran out of breath.

   They both stepped inside and found Brian near the front door waiting.

   "Alice," he said.  He glanced at Bill with annoyance but did not
acknowledge him further.  He smiled at Alice as he observed her uplifting
mood.  "I didn't think you would come home so late.  I was wondering where
you were."

   Alice caught her breath.  "Oh, I was just at the pub with Bill."

   "Oh." Brian folded his arms.  "I thought perhaps you'd want to study
with me tonight, I found a new book I think you would like."

   "Perhaps another time, I am so tired now." Alice said.

   Bill studied Brian's manner for a moment, the former obviously enjoyed
how much it pained the latter to consider that Alice was out having fun
with him.  Without a word he walked away, up the stairs presumaby to his
bedroom.

   Alice collapsed onto a chair nearby.  "I had so much fun!  There was
music and dancing, and drinking."

   "Oh..." said Brian.  "You do look like you had a great time." He thought
that he had never seen her so happy before.  "Why didn't you tell me you
were going to a pub tonight?  I could have gone with you..."

   "I didn't plan on it.  I was just walking by and noticed Bill was
there..." she trailed off, unsure of whether she was picking the right lies
to spare his feelings.  Well, I think I want to go to sleep now.  I danced
so much I'm sure I will be sore tomorrow!"

   "Ok..." Brian said as she walked away.  "Sweet dreams..."

   *************************************************

   As Alice prepared for bed she thought about Bill.  Not only did he have
a soul, there was something extraordinary about him, she could feel it.  He
had secrets, she desperately wanted to know them, she wanted to know him.
In the bathroom she combed her hair and washed her face and hands.  After
she was done in the bathroom, she went to the guest bedroom she used to
sleep in instead of her and Rupbert's bedroom.

   Bill was in there, lying in the bed, but also sitting up against the
cushioned headboard.  He wore grey, light, short-sleeve pajamas.  She was
shocked to see him there so suddenly, she did not know what to think.  She
stared at him silently and wondered why she herself had felt impelled to
come in here.  He looked into her eyes briefly, a cool yet seductive
glance. Alice turned around and closed the door behind herself.  She
approached the bed and sat on the edge next to him.

   As she sat down Bill sat up more and faced her very attentively. 
"Hello." she said with an anxious flatness.

   "Hi." he said.  He watched her silently for a moment, and blinked.  "How
are you doing tonight?" he asked, resting his hand close to her.

   "Good." Her voice was strained.  *I want you* she thought.  "I hope I'm
not disturbing you.  I'm just unable to sleep now, even though it's so
late. I did not think you or anyone else was in here...  but since now I
see that you were awake, I think maybe we could keep each other company. 
We are the only ones awake in the house."

   "No, you're not disturbing me, not at all.  I'd be glad to keep you
company." Bill said.  "I just wanted to sit here for a while, this is a
nice room." He smiled.  Alice thought she had never seen him smile so
genuinely before, and her heart leapt.  After a silent pause he said "I'm
not blind y'know, Alice."

   "Pardon?"

   "I see the way you look at me, it's rather blatant, actually.  You look
at me the way a kitten looks at an open can of tuna-fish."

   "I'm sorry," Alice said, looking down at her lap.

   "No need to say you are sorry.  Why don't you relax?"

   "I'll try..."

   "You think you can just make eyes at me, and I should just come running
after you?"

   "I don't know..."

   "It's almost insulting." Bill put up a hand as he saw how upset Alice
looked in response to that remark.  "No, that came out wrong.  I just mean
to say, the way you've been going about your goal has been
counter-productive."

   "Oh?" She lifted herself and sat closer to him.

   He took up a strand of her dark hair and stroked it briefly.  "You can't
seduce me.  That's not the way this is going to happen." he said in a low
voice, almost a whisper.

   "Oh."

   He smiled at the way she said that, but then spoke with an affected
seriosness: "Tell me, Alice.  Did you find me attractive when you first saw
me?"
She smiled and became more relaxed at last, as she thought about his
question.  She loved the way he said her name.  "No, actually.  I thought

you looked spooky."

   "Spooky, eh?" He chuckled.  "Have you fantasized about me?"

   She breathed and looked into his deep blue eyes earnestly.  "Yes..."

   "I've thought about you too.  You haven't been with many men, right?"

   Alice looked away silently.

   "Right, you haven't, there's no need to be embarrassed about that.  I've
thought about all of the new experiences I could give you." Bill leaned
over, and pulled her close to him, almost putting her on top of himself. 
He put his face close to hers and spoke in a low murmur into her ear: "I
could have you purring continuously, for hours, like a kitten."

   Alice could not manage to say anything, she felt faint.

   Bill sat up again and slid his hand up underneath her nightgown and
rested his hand on her thigh.  "Tell me Alice, when you would fantasize
about me, what would you think about?"

   "Ummm...  sex?"

   Bill laughed briefly.  "Where?  In here on this bed?"

   "Sometimes..."

   "Where else?"

   "Outside, in the garden, when it's warm.  Or...  on a train."

   "On a train eh?  That sounds adventurous." He said wryly but then
abruptly switched to a low, serious tone: "What would you think of us
doing, exactly?"

   "I think you already know...  use your imagination."

   "I don't want to use my imagination!  Tell me...  in detail."

   "I can't...  this in uncomfortable." She said as he felt him slip his
hand which was on her thigh up to her panties.  Alice would have stood up
and left but Bill roughly put his arms around her and kept her there.  She
relaxed and now they both sat up on the bed.  She faced away from him but
sat between his legs, spooned up against him, his chin on her shoulder, she
could feel his hot breath against her delicate neck.

   "Tell me about when you first started fucking Rupee..." he whispered in
her ear.

   "Uhh, well...  I met him at his book-store, he gave me a job working for
him because I had lost mines, and I was glad to take it, because I was
already in love with him."

   "You really love him?"

   "Yes..." She wondered how he felt about that.

   "But when did you start fucking him?  Were you on your hands and knees
one day, cleaning the floor, when he came up behind you and attacked your
ass with his pecker?"

   Alice laughed.  "No..." she laughed some more.  "One night I just went
to his bedroom and waited for him on his bed, naked."

   "Oh wow...  you're such a tart..." he whispered as he slowly and gently
stroked her crotch through her panties.  "You just want to seduce
everything with a tea bag, eh?  Have you been fucking Brian too?"

   "No..."

   "Why not?  Obviously, he wants you.  Bible-boy has probably never
touched a woman in his life, you should at least give him a courtesy-suck.
Wouldn't he hate to see us like this in here?"

   "Yeah..."

   "But we could all have some fun together, I could watch him try to fuck
you good and then I'd tell him a few pointers, and show him how it's done."

   "Oh my goodness..." Alice laughed.

   Bill manuevered his hand to get beneath her panties and continued
whispering in her ear: "Does Rupee ever tongue your cunt for you good?"

   Alice sighed at the sultry sound of his dirty words.  It was difficult
to stay relaxed enough to talk as he tickled at her nether-regions.  "He
has a few times, not usually."

   "My, I thought he was a gentleman.  A gentleman eats the pussy to
satisfy the bird!"

   "'Eats the pussy to satisfy the bird'?  Where do you get this stuff?"
she giggled.

   Bill moved out from behind her and directed her to lie down in front of
him.  "I can't say I'm much of a gentleman, but I'm glad to be in this
respect..." He pulled down her panties and lifted her nightgown to her
waist.  He bent down and set his tongue to work at her delicate flower.

   She put her hand over her mouth to stay quiet, she didn't want Brian or
Rupbert to hear, but she was in ecstasy.  Her only complaint would have
been he went so gently and slowly, and kept stopping.  But she strongly
suspected that he meant to tease her.

   "Oh...  please...  Bill...  put your dick in me." she could barely say.

   "Wait, I'm not done yet..."

   "You're torturing me..."

   She opened her eyes and saw that Bill was taking off his clothes.  She
admired at how well-toned his form was.  As she watched she was reminded of
a thought that she had once had: that he acts so cool and confident, as if
his penis is two feet long.  He took off his shorts she finally got to see
his red, angry member, and saw that while he was not in fact two feet long,
his thick ten inches was nothing to be ashamed of.

   "Oh, yeah..." she moaned.  "Fuck me with that huge prick of yours!"

   "First you have to pay your respects."

   She was eager to oblige as he positioned his crotch by her face where
she lay down.  She took him into her mouth hungrily.  He grasped her hair
close to the scalp and directed his penis deeper towards her throat.  "How
long have you wanted my cock?" he muttered.  "Now here it is...  if you can
take it all in."

   He moved and sat up between her legs, right in position for the final
act, but instead he rubbed his penis against her thigh, and with his other
hand he massaged her clit.

   "Oh, fuck...  yes..." she moaned.  "What are you waiting for!"

   Bill laughed.  "Mmm, I love watching you be so impatient, it's fun
teasing you...  What's the hurry?"

   He finally pushed forward and Alice felt a subtle kind of satisfaction
as he finally filled her up with his manhood.  He thrust into her gently
but deeply.  "Oh, this is good..." Bill said.  "I want to make this last
forever.  Ohhh...  isn't this good?"

   "Yeah...  ohh..." she whispered.  As he continued to fuck her so
carefully she felt as if her entire body was submerged in pleasure, deeper
and deeper, yet not closer to climax.  But still, he was making her crazy.
The pleasure just made her so hungry for more...  If he just went a little
bit faster...

   "Enough!  This is too slow!" She sat up and tried to push him down.

   "Ooft!" he said affectedly.  Her strength was feeble compared to his,
but he gave no resistance to her push, and he lay down on his back
obediently.  Alice sat on top of him and guided his dick back inside of
herself.

   As she bounced up and down Bill admired how her breasts moved beneath
her nightgown.  He reached up and unbuttoned the front of her night-gown
revealing her brown-nippled orbs.  She bounced up and down on him as fast
as she could, but then she felt herself getting tired and so she stopped
abruptly to catch her breath.

   "Hey...  why did you stop, 'What are you waiting for?'" Bill teased.

   "Ugh, fuck you!" she said, giving a fake, gentle slap across the face.
She energetically went back to moving up and down on his cock but then
stopped again abruptly.  Then she continued again but more slowly.

   Bill stared into her eyes with his own, deep yet luminously blue eyes.
"It's no use Alice," he said as cooly as he could under the circumstances,
"you'll never get enough of my cock." He winked at her.  "It's all right,
I'll make love to you forever..."

   Alice thought what he said was more weird than sexy, but that was just a
passing thought as she focussed on the act in progress.  Suddenly, Bill
resolutely sat up.  Arms and legs wrapped around each other, he held her
close and made a trail of hot wet kisses up her neck and to her lip.  He
started thrusting into her hard and fast, finally.  The two of them were
like a tangle of limbs undulating together, a beast with two backs.

   As they both felt orgasm come near, they both gasped and moaned, and
Bill looked quite dazed.  His blue eyes were like flickering candles as his
eyelids fluttered.  "I love you Alice..." he whispered.  "Why haven't you
realized it yet?  That you are mine...  you belong to me...  always. 
You're my property...  I own you...  Ohh...  I love you so much..." And
then they both climaxed.  They both writhed and shuddered, as if it was too
much pleasure for only two bodies.

   ***********************************************

   Afterwards, Alice went downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of
water. As she passed the sitting-room, she saw that Brian was sitting there
alone silently.  Alice wondered if he knew what had just happened.  The
calm but positive expression on his face suggested otherwise.

   "Good evening, Brian." she said.  "You almost startled me, I didn't
expect to see you here sitting all alone in the dark."

   "I'm sorry I spoke to you so harshly earlier."

   "It's all right, I understand why you feel the way you do."

   There was a sound in the dark of papers rustling, near Brian.  "Alice...
I have something for you.  Earlier tonight you did not give me a chance to
give you this."

   Alice sat down across from him and looked at him expectantly.  He handed
her a plain white envelope.

   "What is this?" She opened the unsealed envelope and found a check
inside.  The check was written from Brian himself to her, the amount was
five-thousand pounds.

   "What?  Where did you get all of this money?" Alice asked.  "You said
you did not have enough..."

   "It's from the university.  I've been expelled, and so they refunded my
tuition." He spoke matter-of-factly, with his hands folded neatly on his
lap.

   "Brian, I'm so sorry!  I can't take this money.  Perhaps you could
enroll in a different college?"

   "Perhaps sometime in the future I will, but for now, I'm sure most
colleges would not accept me, given my other-than-honorable discharge from
my previous college of attendance.  Besides...  I want you to have the
money." he said warmly.

   "Oh Brian, I don't know what to say." Getting the money all of a sudden,
when she least expected it, she did not have time to realize how she felt
about it.  "Thank you."

   *******************************
   Next Episode: This is Only the Beginning