From Norway with love

[BDJ]

aaardvarky wrote: "My partner returns tomorrow and 'they' do not even know I write this, hence my urgency to get to this point in the tale."

Methinks this tale has a lot of its inspiration from real life...his.

[Johng1953]

.

[Chrislydi]

aaardvarky wrote: "My partner returns tomorrow and 'they' do not even know I write this, hence my urgency to get to this point in the tale."

Methinks this tale has a lot of its inspiration from real life...his.

I suspect L and Aaardvarsky know each other rather well while N is still very special to him and maybe still wears his wedding band?

I've just thought on and can immediately contradict myself as N has contributed to this log and therefore most definitely knows of Aaardvarsky's activities...hmmm the mystery deepens, maybe he's just a good personal friend to N? I was thinking the 'they' referred to N and Lars.

Chris

[aaardvarky]

How is it that I am male all of a sudden? Have I given you that impression? The 'they' was simply as a neutral pronoun to avoid any assumption of my gender from that of my partner. Now we know that N and Eve are female, and we can count on L and Lars being male. Horacio has to be male, after all he is Argentine! And dear old Raul and his friend Amado have no worries about their gender - do they even care? But there remains Aaardvarky. Now who, or what is she? Perhaps this question doesn't need to be resolved and may never be absolutely clear?

[Chrislydi]

The use of the word 'darlings' pointed more to a female but N is a separate contributor and still knows of your writing this, Eva is very definitely a possibility. as is an other as yet unmentioned name in your tale. If we know her then Eva is the most likely.

Ok this is a huge stretch but could our very own Aaardvarsky be welcoming L back home today?

I'm blaming that strange thought on my lack of sleep last night. I needed a rapid lowering of the temperature to get any real worthwhile rest and could have done with borrowing a little of the magic from that dress, but as it was it turned out to be a fitful and uncomfortable night.

Tbf the more I think on the more credible this looks, Eva would be on very good terms with N especially when getting her to contribute and having L as her partner with N's complicity or following their divorce could also make sense. As I think any divorce would be for legal reasons and to make things easier. N's continuing obsession with Lars also points to this possibility.

Also Aaardvarsky (herself) practically told us she was female as it looked as if we were, or at least I was never going to guess her identity unless it was practically spelt out for me .

Chris

[BDJ]

I have become lost in this maze of conjecture. Aaardvarky is an older British gentleman who, like me (and L) has lived a hedonistic live full of interesting experiences. Most of all, as his writing style suggests, he loves messing with our minds...challenging our conclusions, or misconceptions, chuckling at the intellectual turmoil he has wrought.

It's my two cents worth of hot air and I'm sticking to it. Now, I must leave you for the day: a doctor awaits.

[aaardvarky]

Oh Chris darling, I am enjoying your struggle. You will get more sleep tonight, for it is to be cooler! Your confusion arises from the question whether the 'writer' and the 'narrator' are the same person and/or indeed of the same gender. When you are satisfied about the narrator, establish whether the writer (penned as Aaardvarky) is he, or she, or someone else. Do not worry too much about the story's characters - they may or may not give reliable clues to the writer's identity, for they exist only in the writer's mind. It does seem from reading the post to which you reply, that the request emanates from the writer. Their 'their' (so to speak) may or may not be L, Lars, N or Eva. Irrespective, it would be helpful for the writer to be guided as to whether this story should remain a secret script from the writer's partner!

[Chrislydi]

The far easier solution is to give up and your discussions with BDJ perhaps do point to an elderly gentleman, however i like the idea of an easy solution and am quite comfortable with not caring much either way.

I do understand your separation of the writer Aaardvarsky and the narrator, and the narrator i would say is male while the writer could easily and I think likely is female.

(Maybe I need some help from Johng1953)

Chris

[aaardvarky]

Chris, don't give up. Seeing you struggle with this reminds me of N watching L! The 'old gentleman' idea is a nice one. But I am neither! (goodness, two exclamation marks in one line!!) Writers have always struggled with the gender tag - George Eliot and even JKR had a go. You need to try harder.

[Johng1953]

The far easier solution is to give up and your discussions with BDJ perhaps do point to an elderly gentleman, however i like the idea of an easy solution and am quite comfortable with not caring much either way.

I do understand your separation of the writer Aaardvarsky and the narrator, and the narrator i would say is male while the writer could easily and I think likely is female.

(Maybe I need some help from Johng1953)

Chris

Sorry, you must be thoroughly and hopelessly lost if you believe I could help because that's pretty much where I am and just hoping I'll see the light later!

[Chrislydi]

Chris, don't give up. Seeing you struggle with this reminds me of N watching L! The 'old gentleman' idea is a nice one. But I am neither! (goodness, two exclamation marks in one line!!) Writers have always struggled with the gender tag - George Eliot and even JKR had a go. You need to try harder.

I read Middlemarch at school, I actually quite liked it. Wasn't there an older cleric type, the Rev. Casaubon who Dorothea liked, but who struggled and devoted a lifetime's study on some obscure religious text on which everyone knew his solving would hardly make many ripples. Such a sad struggle when there was no real relevance anymore and nothing to be gained.

Perhaps there are one or two parallels here

Chris

[BDJ]

aaardvarky,
Well if you're not like me then that's egg on my face. But how does anyone know the age/gender of anyone here. After all, a male BDJ is claiming to write the story of his wife's life...in her words. I'm not sure. Is Jade putting us on and it is really her who is doing the narration? (she does get those sex scenes right...much better than a man would.) Or I, BDJ, may be the reincarnation of my grandfather's mule...and to Jade that makes a lot of sense! Confused you yet?

This is all in good fun, for who(or whom)ever you are, you always will be him/her/it. And, as is said where I grew up in eastern North Carolina: you write good. But then moonshine is good, too.

[aaardvarky]

BDJ - I am flattered that my writing is compared to moonshine! You are right about the anonymity of writers. The very act liberates us to be what, in that moment, we want to be. The rest is all down to how the recipient picks up the words.

[aaardvarky]

36. The last chapter

At the start of this story we peered into the lives of N and L, a seemingly affluent but ordinary London couple, their only distinction being that throughout their marriage with the acquiescence of the husband, the wife had retained her lover from her youth.

We witnessed their first encounter - the moment in London that L was confronted by the reality of his wife’s ‘other life’ with her paramour. That meeting proved to be eye-wateringly steamy, unearthing for L an hitherto unrealised fascination with his wife’s infidelity, paving the way for N’s trip to Norway and her subsequent holiday with her lover to Portugal.

Their journey took L and N from the unspoken to the graphic - L, first as an observer; then as a collaborator, albeit from a distance; and finally as an active participant. It became evident too that the relationship N had forged with Lars was one that she could never discard.

It was against this backdrop that N was to procure a young mistress for her husband. This was not, nor ever could be to free herself for an exclusive life with Lars. Instead, in the 2nd Act she laid claim to Eva in a seduction to be witnessed by L, and for his first sexual encounter with her, she dressed Eva as herself, in ‘the dress’.

Thus the web was spun. She had secured Lars as her lover, ensured that her husband was captured by both indulgence and denial, and that his young mistress remained ensnared.

We cannot but doubt their future fidelity, after all Lars still lusts for Eva, L for his wife N, and there is every possibility that whilst she remains under N’s spell Eva is unable to escape her obsession with her mistress.

They remain together in their San Telmo home. Assisted by Horacio, Raul now closes the shutters against a cold westerly wind. Amado has polished the Continental for the last time before covering it with its winter tarpaulin. In the upstairs dining room candles flicker and four places are set for dinner. Our players arrive from different parts of the house, greeting each other with kisses and a hug. Free from rules and social expectations, the direction of their departure may reveal another surprise that we cannot yet predict, and which almost certainly will provide the source of another tale.

[Mad Dog65]

I really enjoyed this story. thank you for taking the time and for sharing it!

[Chrislydi]

Thank you for sharing such an elaborate tale of magical sensuousness and unusual connections. I appreciated the style and the uniqueness above all else, concentrating as it did more on the cerebral rather than the purely visceral. I'm not sure your intended interpretation came across too well to me at least, with N's obsession with Lars and the gradual distracting and even sidelining of L, making his ready acquiescence to Eva more a fait accompli than anything else. This came through quite powerfully in the end with the totemic dress acting as a handy portal, a spiritual if tenuous connection to a mythical three way bond. N's love of Lars was rapidly becoming an all consuming emotional one, with the physical aspect now just little more than an expression of it. There is still maybe a spiritual link between all three, and L does finance and help facilitate the couple's adventure, but it's that couple's ever growing closeness that shows no sign of diminishing.

Chris

[BDJ]

To fully express my feelings of the termination of this obsession you have created with some of us, and to interject a touch of levity in so sorrowful an event, I will just say: What he said. Chris has expressed my sentiments exactly. But I had a lot of fun interjecting my own persona into the mix...my own little monkey wrench, which I'm glad to admit, had so little effect.

It is hoped that you will come our way again, to titillate us with confusingly erotic imagery, to set our imaginations on fire with your wayward prose, to jangle our nerves with suspense. It's a good thing John Jassons is just beginning his tale.

[aaardvarky]

May I thank all of my readers for their support with this story, especially those who have written to me or posted a comment on the thread. It has been a privilege to have you as followers during this process. By request, as a gift for you all, I have copied Part 3 of the trilogy into a new continuous post which you will find in the Library under the heading Argentina. Keep reading, writing and posting. All the very best, Aaardvarky.

[Johng1953]

No, thank you for an amazing and original tale.

[Chrislydi]

Yes Aaardvarsky, it's been a real pleasure to have the privilege of reading your work, it's never been below top drawer.

Chris

[BDJ]

All three of us will miss the heady rush of trying to puzzle out another segment. Amado, for one, wants to continue driving the Continental. My American expatriate self wants to stay but the cats have to be fed--the caretaker must go on her own vacation.

I'll be patient...knowing a writer's gotta write.

[aaardvarky]

1.

Was it that they were ‘outed’ by a well-meaning associate that did not comprehend their desire for anonymity? Or maybe on their permanent move from London to Buenos Aires, they were ready to lift their veil of secrecy? Either way, L’s true identity as the lawyer, Laurence Stillington and that of his psychologist wife Nina Gardinier were shared, and their identity, hidden hitherto as L and N was stripped away forever.

Dear reader, thus with that passing, in our story too, L and N have transitioned to Laurence and Nina. Do not fret about my naming them - as the reporter of this their tale I have their full permission and consent.

In our last story we slipped quietly away from the Buenos Aires barrio of San Telmo in which Laurence and Nina had taken up residence with their partners Eva and Lars, their relationships simultaneously simple and complicated. The soundness of Laurence and Nina’s marriage could not be doubted whilst N’s romantic needs were fulfilled by her long-term lover Lars. Laurence, understanding Nina’s needs, had remained devoted to her, enjoying her pleasures and thrills with vicarious fascination as if they were his own.

In return for Laurence’s generosity in sharing his wife with Lars, Nina had procured the youthful Eva as her husband’s mistress, a choice made from wisdom rather than necessity. In managing this appointment, Nina remained as both protector and controller.

Through the prism of conventionality the casual observer might assume our characters may have transitioned into two exclusive pairings. But to imagine that would defy the dynamic that brought about this arrangement in the first place. Their relationships involved complex and flexible symbiosis, similar to a river in spate, momentarily changing its course - and when the surge ceased, returning to its original riverbed.

Neither should we forget the connecting doors between husband and wife’s suites - when opened returning the couple to a daily normality, and when closed injecting mystery and denial.

An Argentine winter, with sharp winds cutting the street corners and mists rising from La Plata, has now receded. In its place, a glorious spring with the Jacaranda preparing to bloom. The Recoleta widows have shed their furs to be replaced by the long legged girls that gather in corner bars.

We join them as Raul opens the shutters to allow glittering spring light to pick up columns of dust that hang in the ballroom. Somewhere across the house Laurence, Lars and Amado prepare for their Wednesday outing together to play chess beneath the trees in Parque Lezama, or in Amado’s case simply to watch from the shade.

Later, as Raul takes his siesta, Eva joins Nina by the pool. This is the moment when our two women are most at ease, a silent house and the opportunity to bathe topless. Eva drops her towel to the flags and walks to the pool edge to splash her feet in cooling water. She slips from the side and swims out with a slow breaststroke. Nina follows, her dive and strong underwater strokes taking her into the middle of the pool to surface between Eva’s outstretched legs. Eva turns. Her toes dance on the bottom of the pool as Nina folds her in her arms. Their nipples touch then their breasts connect, first fleetingly, then with a flood of feeling, and finally with a passion of desire. Instinctively their lips meet. Feeling Nina’s tongue, Eva opens her mouth. Some say that time can and does stand still, and this was one of those occasions - a moment of sensuality that defied haste; a private episode, unobserved, unaccounted, connecting both emotionally and physically. They felt the rush, the temptation of touch, the naturalness of intimacy.

As quickly as it happened, the moment passes and the stopped clock jerks back into time . But in that moment a connection is reaffirmed, acknowledging a shared emotional and physical attraction, a bonding without words.

I have shared this moment with you, not because it was in any way defining or momentous in itself, but for what was to come to pass.

[BDJ]

Take a deep breath, BDJ, let it out slowly. My senses have only returned from their heightened state from contemplating another event: Chris and Cath together with Jack and Sammie (for those who don't know, I'm referring to 'Hoping to restart playing with hotwife soon,' by chrislydi.)

If Nina and Eva are destined to experience in the bedroom that which came to pass with Cath and Sammie it will be eroticism writ large on our senses.

Aaardvarky, this introduction instructs the roller-coaster riders to fasten their seatbelts...what comes will be a mental/erotic bonanza!

[Chrislydi]

It's a real treat to be in the company of Laurence, Nina and Lars once again, with the new more permanent addition of Eva adding another layer of complexity to an intricate web. A celebration of the cerebral, and a connection of emotions awaits with all that energy no doubt both encapsulated and symbolised by that totemic portal once again, The Dress.

Chris

[Johng1953]

I'm really glad you've resumed this story. Not just for the fascinating relationships between the people involved but also for your prose, the way you set the scene and not just sexually. I've never been to Buenos Aires but in a few sentences you transported me there.