The Other Mrs Hayes

by Ross Richdale

  My God she had huge firm breasts with tight nipples and on reaching down between her legs he found that she was already moist. He managed to undress himself, tossed her on the bed, yanked her shortie pyjama pants off and finished undressing himself. He mounted her in a frenzied penetration just as his organ ejaculated. It was over in seconds but that was just the beginning.

  Stacey had an orgasm on his second penetration and their frantic love making continued on and on with one climax leading to another. Time was forgotten before finally, exhausted and covered in perspiration they fell asleep in each other's arms only to awaken at dawn for another frantic burst of lovemaking.

  ''Now that coffee I promised you,'' Stacey said as she stepped out of bed and dressed in her shortie pyjamas again.

  Laurie grinned and also redressed. What a night! Never in his wildest dreams did he anticipate what had happened. But now...

  Stacey handed him a hot coffee after he walked into the kitchen.

  ''What now?'' she whispered.

  ''Hell, I don't know but it is more than a one night stand, isn't it?''

  She nodded. ''It was too sudden, Laurie. We need to be discrete.''

  ''But...''

  ''I know. We just be careful, that is all I ask. Is that fair?'

  He grinned, nodded and knew that both their lives had changed for the better. Was it fate or something that had been on a slow boil for months now?

  ''So tell me about your marriage,'' he said.

  She grimaced. ''I will but not now. Come around for a coffee tomorrow afternoon and I'll explain everything.''

  ''This afternoon you mean?''

  ''No my dear office manager; tomorrow is Sunday afternoon.''

  ''And afterwards''

  ''Don't push it, Man, just don't push it.''

  ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON Stacey told Laurie everything from when she was first contacted by Doug and seeing the pregnant Jessica at the airport, up to Brendon's latest disappearance.

  ''That was two weeks ago and Jessica has found that the same thing has happened to her. When she arrived home, all of his things were gone and their bank account had been emptied out.''

  ''So how is she coping with the new baby and little girl?''

  Stacey shrugged. ''Her mother has taken her under her wing but Jessica is still pretty distort. She calls me just about every day on her mobile.''

  ''You seem to be getting on quite well with her.''

  ''I didn't expect to but, yes we have become quite close. Strange, isn't it?''

  Lauri grinned. ''Almost as strange as what happened to us.''

  Stacey thought back and realised that her office manager may have been attracted to her for months now. He was, though highly principled and had kept his feelings to himself. Also she had come to rely on him more and more as the present situation unfolded.

  ''Was it, Lauri?'' she asked.

  Lauri coughed and his cheeks reddened. ''I guess we were thrust together so much, it was inevitable,'' he confessed. ''But who made that giant step in the end?''

  Stacey laughed. ''Just that wee nudge,'' she whispered.

  Laurie grinned and stepped forward. ''So how about now?''

  Oh hell, he wanted sex right now. She glanced down and saw his shorts were again peaked. ''It's the middle of the afternoon,'' she protested.

  ''So lock the door.''

  He grabbed her and the almost violent kiss was followed by clothes disappearing. Her new partner carried her back into the bedroom for a repeat of their lovemaking of the first occasion.

  In fact to Stacey it was even more so, inhibitions were thrown aside and she responded to his petting with a frantic orgasm when Lauri made love to her. It was so different from sex with Brendon, nothing like this had happened to her before! In hindsight she realised that she had tolerated her husband rather than enjoyed his almost hasty sex. But of course he had Jessica and probably other women to have intercourse with.

  ''Deep in thought again,'' Laurie said an hour later as they dressed

  Stacey nodded. ''You've given me lots to think about,'' she whispered and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  BACK AT SCHOOL THE following week Laurie was almost too formal even when there was nobody else around. By Wednesday, Stacey glowered when he came into the office to say the new family that had an appointment had arrived.

  ''Oh for God's sake stop calling me Mrs Hayes. Even before we started you know what, you’d call me by my first name on most occasions,'' she mumbled.

  Even now she was embarrassed about using the word 'affair'. She guessed childhood morality with her parents' somewhat traditional attitude showed through. At least this was a heterosexual relationship. With just about all the modern TV programs having same sex couples it was almost outside the norm for a woman to need male companionship.

  ''Yes Stacey,'' Laurie replied and showed a couple and two school-aged youngsters in.

  She stood, shook hands with both the parents and offered them a seat on the office couch before sitting on an armchair beside her desk.

  ''The problem is the address you gave when you enrolled Karla and Douglas at our school...'' She smiled at the two children. ''...is an empty section.''

  The woman turned to her partner. '' I told you it would be checked, Gareth."

  The man looked embarrassed. ''We own the section and are going to build on it,'' he muttered.

  ''So where do you actually live?'' Stacey asked.

  The address they gave was a couple of kilometres across the city outside their school zone.

  ''Your school has such a high reputation,'' the woman said. ''We're renting at the moment and it'll take several months before our new home is built on our section. For one year or so we didn't want our children's education interrupted. Gareth has been transferred to Wellington by his firm.''

  Stacey grimaced. ''Unfortunately we have almost a hundred out-of-zone applications to enrol children here. Unless you can show me that you have a builder's contract to build your new home, all I can offer you is a chance for your children be balloted in. We are allowed thirty-two out of zone enrolments for next year.''

  Gareth looked resolved but the woman annoyed.

  ''We'll need to get back to you,'' he said and the meeting was over.

  After they left Laurie ambled in. ''That's the second couple to use that last remaining unsold section's address on that sub-division to attempt to enrol their children here. They must think we're easy to fool.''

  ''Sheer snobbery,'' Stacey replied. ''Add them to the ballot, Laurie.''

  ''By the way,'' Laurie asked, ''are you doing anything over the weekend?''

  ''Shacking up with the new boyfriend,'' Stacey didn't even look up. ''Have you got that latest MOE return filled in yet?''

  CHAPTER 7

  "Do you think this is wise?" Laurie said after Stacey told him that she was going to the airport to pick up Jessica and her children. "What if she has an ulterior motive?"

  "Such as?"

  "I don't know, wants to see what your house is like so she can sue for half the property in some future claim perhaps. You don't really know her."

  "I have a lot to do with people, Laurie and think I can judge a person relatively well. I see a young mother who, through no fault of her own is suddenly left with a newly born baby who seeks support." She grinned. "I judged your character pretty well, didn't I?"

  Laurie smiled. "Just be careful, that's all."

  Stacey grimaced. Perhaps Laurie was right. It was a strange situation but Jessica sounded really distressed. She doubt if she could fake that in an elaborate plot to benefit from Brendon's disappearance. "I'll keep my eyes open," she said. "I'm leaving school a little early for, no doubt the traffic to the airport will be bumper to bumper."

  STACEY ARRIVED AT THE airport with a few minutes to spare before Jessica's flight was due to arrive. However, after spending another ten minutes finding a car park she arrived at the Domestic Arrivals section of the terminal building to find that the Auckland flight
had already arrived.

  "Damn," she muttered and made her way through the crowded area to where the luggage carrousel was situated. It was packed with a crowd two or three deep, finding their luggage. From the rear there were several women that looked like Jessica with one even having a couple of children with her. The woman turned and Stacey realised that it was a stranger.

  She decided to walk to the far end of the crowd. As she stepped back she felt a tiny tug on her skirt, looked down and saw huge eyes staring up at her.

  "Mummy told me to wait here."

  Stacey picked the four-year-old up into her arms and kissed her on the cheek. "Hello Carla. And where is Mummy?"

  Carla laughed and pointed over her shoulder. "Over there! She went to get our bag."

  Stacey turned and saw Jessica coming towards them with the baby in pink shawl tied, papoose style, across her breasts and towing a suitcase in its tiny wheels. Her mind flashed back to the first time she had seen her rush up to Brendon in her advanced pregnancy state. She still looked so young as she smiled and rushed up to them.

  "Sorry," Stacey said. "Couldn't get a park."

  Jessica grinned. "We landed five minutes early, too. Poor wee Austin needed changing and there was no room on the plane. Then in the powder room I reckoned a dozen other mothers were all feeding or changing babies. They were a friendly bunch, though."

  "So how about a coffee here before we leave." Stacey nodded at a coffee bar they were standing in front of. "Now I've found you, there is no rush."

  "Can I have a smoothie, Mummy; one of those chocolate ones?" Carla asked after Stacey placed her back on the ground.

  Jessica smiled. "You've been such a good girl, I'm sure we can get one."

  They walked in and found a table. Stacy insisted on buying them all something and a few moments later they were with their food and drinks in a world of their own even though dozens of people were moving back and forth around them.

  Jessica turned serious. "Thank you Stacey," she said. "You don't know how much I appreciate having your invitation down here. I promise I won't be a burden."

  "So how is Austin?" Stacey asked.

  "Putting on weight but he had a nasty rash a couple of days ago. I've put cream on it and it helps."

  As she continued to chat away, Stacey felt pleased that she had offered to help. Laurie's worries were unfounded but valued. She grinned. Oh there were still problems ahead and life was certainly changing but at the moment it was positive.

  AS SOON AS JESSICA stepped inside the house she just stared around. "Oh My God," she gasped after she walked into the open-plan kitchen and living area.

  "What's wrong?" Stacey asked. She had made an effort to remove everything relating to Brendon from her home. Photographs and other items were tucked away in boxes and stored in a small room at the back of the car shed.

  'The lounge set is identical to the one I have at home," Jessica walked across to the far side and touched a desk that was beside a computer on a corner table. "This is also the same. It could have been taken from my house." She turned. "Did Brendon pick these?"

  "He did actually. I remember I thought a different computer table would fit into this room better but he insisted on the one here. As for the furniture, I can't really remember for we've had it for quite a while now."

  "But my furniture is quite new. I remember that Brendon had it especially made by a cabinetmaker. It was more expensive than ready-made stuff but he said it was a design he liked when he was a boy."

  "Another quirk in his character," Stacey said. "He attempted to make two homes the same. I'm sorry Jessica, I tried to remove anything that would remind you of him."

  Jessica shrugged. "A perfect double life."

  "That would have continued if your mother hadn't hired Doug McCann."

  "But one of us would have found out eventually."

  "I guess," Stacey replied. "But come through. There are two spare bedrooms. The smaller one would be just great for Carla. It even has wallpaper for a little one."

  Hoping that the room wasn't another repeat of one at Jessica's house, she opened the door to show the room. She had cleaned it and had actually bought a new eiderdown with cartoon characters probably liked by a little girl.

  Carla's eyes lit up as she ran in and pointed at the eiderdown. "I love it Mummy. That's Dora and her friends."

  "Different, I hope," Stacey whispered to Jessica.

  "Yes. Completely," Jessica said.

  The next-door bedroom had a bassinet that Stacey had brought out of storage. "It's a little old but should do," she said almost apologetically.

  Jessica smiled. "It's wonderful. Everything is. I love your house."

  "Not too much like yours,"

  "No my home is more modern but I love these character homes. In some ways it is similar to Mum's place though she tends to have older style furniture."

  "So relax. I'll help you unpack and settle in. If there is anything else you need for Austin, there's a supermarket and mall not too far away that we can visit."

  DOUG HAD A NEW CONTRACT with Chelsea; this one was to trace Brendon. It had been three weeks since he had disappeared from both Jessica's family and Stacey's lives and he had not returned to work. After the usual checks had turned up nothing, Doug used other methods to trace Brendon's whereabouts. Phoenix Investigations had recently purchased sophisticated face recognition and tracking devices used with CCTV cameras in London, England. This was even superior to that used by the New Zealand police and was mainly used by the firm in a contract with Immigration New Zealand to trace overstayers.

  Within a few minutes he had a trace on Brendon Hayes from dozens of cameras that were all in the greater Auckland area. His job now was to follow these leads with the usual footwork, as he called it.

  65 CHANNING CRESCENT, Botany Downs was a modern brick home in a suburb of hundreds of similar houses. Doug had his parked his car just up the road since early morning and watched as Brendon drove his vehicle out. This was quite a new vehicle registered to a Reyna Aquino who was actually on the Phoenix Investigations database as a potential overstayer. She was a Filipino on a student visa that was due to expire within two months. As the car with the name Summit Real Estate plastered across the front doors drove by, Doug photographed it. He already knew that Brendon had begun working for this firm as a real estate agent. No doubt with his ability as a smooth talker he'd do well in the position. Checks had shown that he had already sold two houses in the area.

  Doug drove up to 65 and rang the doorbell.

  "Miss Reyna Aquino," he asked to the woman in her twenties who answered the door. He held up a badge. "Doug McCann from Phoenix Investigations working on behalf of the New Zealand Immigration Service." This stretched the truth a little but gave him a good reason to visit her.

  She paled slightly and sucked on her bottom lip. "Yes but my visa to New Zealand has not expired." She stepped back. "You had better come in. I can get my documents to prove it."

  Several minutes later, Doug handed Reyna back her passport and smiled. "Thank you. Everything is okay. I see you only have an extension until the end of the academic year but have purchased this lovely home. Is there a reason for this?"

  Reyna looked nervous. "My parents back in Manilla have helped pay for it for Brendon and myself as a wedding gift."

  Doug frowned but again this was really a ruse for his investigations had already discovered that Brendon was about to continue his bigamous ways. Surely he was not as naive as it seemed to believe that he could to get away with it again?

  "The New Zealand government is clamping down on marriages of convenience, Miss Aquino," he said. "If this is your situation, I would strongly advise you to consider any consequences of any action you may take."

  "No it's nothing like that, Sir," Reyna flustered. "Brendon and I are genuinely attracted to each other and have begun living together." She looked nervous. "I believe this is not a crime in New Zealand."

  "That is true," Doug replied. "Ho
wever, the new requirements for somebody like yourself is for you to be sponsored by a person or company if you are to seek permanent residence here. Just being married to a New Zealander is not sufficient."

  "Brendon told me that and we are arranging my sponsorship with the firm who will employ me after I have graduated at the end of the year."

  "Good," Doug smiled. "And when is the great day taking place?"

  "What great day, Sir?"

  "Your wedding."

  "Of course. It's in two weeks. I originally wanted a church wedding but as Brendon is divorced and is not a Catholic like myself, we both though a civil ceremony would be better."

  Doug stood up and extended his hand. "Thank you Miss Aquino. As long as all the details are forwarded to the immigration department I'm sure your continued residency in New Zealand will be no problem."

  He was going to offer her all the best for her marriage but decided that in the circumstances the statement would be somewhat hypocritical. Instead he exchanged a few general pleasantries and left.

  By the end of the day he discovered more about the so-called wedding ceremony. It seemed that Brendon wasn't so naive after all. The wedding would be a complete fake with the so-called civil celebrant taking the ceremony not even registered. To date, no application had been made for a marriage licence but this could still be done for this was only required three days before the actual ceremony. However, a lavish venue and restaurant had been booked for the wedding and reception afterwards. Also bookings with an upmarket hotel had been purchased in Wanaka, a lake resort a thousand kilometres away in the South island as well as airline tickets there.

  So yet another young woman was about to be victimised by this immoral man!

  DETECTIVE INSPECTOR Toby Matthews sat back in his swivel chair and grinned at Doug. "So this guy has three wives, has walked out on them all and is in the middle of organising another marriage. Hell, why can't he just shack up with women?"