At sixes and sevens.

The next few weeks flew by. Yvette felt like a leaf in the wind, drifting towards her inescapable fate. The days turned cold and rain soaked the streets. Her emotional rollercoaster did not seem to stop, and she was past her first few serious fights with Jay. Sometimes it seemed they were on the brink of breaking up, but sex afterwards was always fantastic, and the next morning everything always seemed so perfect;, that Yvette quickly accepted that this is just how their relationship is shaping up, smoothing the rough edges, so they can work on their lives together without a hitch.

Jocelyn was gone, and Julie-Marie remained awkwardly silent, always busy with guiding someone else. Yvette thought she might want to express something with her sudden silence - she almost felt reprimanded by it. “Well, the old goose will loosen up once she needs the dough”, Yvette thought, and decided to leave her guides out of her life for a while. She was busy filling her life with Jay anyway, although she was a little afraid, as she felt one side of her personality opening up again, one aspect she worked hard in the past to make peace with, and let go of.

After an intense week of fighting, forgiving, and bondage sex, she retreated to her castle, the old family home again, to lick her wounds, quite literally. Her ankles and wrists were sore from the light bruises the handcuffs left on her. She learned to enjoy each of these sessions more, as she opened herself up and dived into the ecstasy of complete exposedness.

The garden was invisible under the blanket of the fallen leaves of the giant oak. She felt grateful that she got some repairs done earlier, in the summer, because the quickly and smoothly running hot tap water was a real blessing this time of the year, as the colds started to bite. She took a huge, comforting bath with ice cream, champagne and candles, before hitting her old bed and sleeping through most of the next day.

The next morning Yvette woke up to a beautiful day. Bright sunlight filled the spacious rooms with old furniture, the flying dust glinting in the golden rays. It was a relief, after weeks of overcast sky and lots of rain. She lit her candles, her sage from the garden, placed a teapot on the stove.

“I am enough, I am loved, and I love myself.” she said to herself quietly. “I will find love because I deserve love, I want love.” She almost felt the presence of her grandparents, smiling over her, as she was using their old things in their old kitchen.

As she sipped on her tea and smelled the sweet smells of jasmine and plumeria flowers blowing in the wind, and eating her juicy grapes picked from the hillsides nearby, she began to write a list of what she wanted in a man.

“A different look, mysterious, he must have a sense of humor, intuitive and be able to read my feelings without having to say a word. He must love to write, read and listen to music, he must be able to accept me for who I am, and not for the things that I have. He must love sex!”

Her phone beeped. It was the app which is in connection with the gate bell and the surveillance system she had installed a few months back. The sound made it clear that Jack arrived, and pushed the ring button. With a touch on her phone, she saw the picture of the small HD camera attached under the wings of the owl statuette on a pillar of the gate. It was Jack’s old Land Rover. She opened the gate, grabbed the teapot with two mugs and went down ahead to greet him.

“Thanks a lot for coming…” breathed Yvette, crossing her legs on the bench “...you okay here, I mean, you don’t mind staying out? It’s a bit brisk, I know, but the Sun shines so delightfully, I thought…”

“Nah, it’s alright.” answered Jack, flashing his million dollar smile.

“And do excuse me for this invitation, it must be strange…”

“No problem at all! You sure you don’t need anything, though, I got my tools with me in the pickup…” Jack gestured helpfully back to the old white all-terrain vehicle.

“No. Thank you. It is something else I need… taken care of.” Yvette said, blushing.

“I’m all ears, Yvette.” said Jack, his eyes cast down first, but then looking straight at Yvette. He tried to look confident, with some degree of success.

“Look.” she sighed “I know you already think I’m a little crazy, and this will not help, so, please don’t judge me, this is very… stupid.”

“You know how to tease, really.” he said with a boyish laugh “I’m telling you, Yvette, I’m not like all these folks around here, you know, sometimes I put my nose out of these woods, I’ve been to town, I even, guess what, been out of State a few times! I don’t even think you’re crazy, I just wanted to make sure… you know, and you’re a nice lady coming here all alone usually, so I wanted you to know that… if you need anything, Jack’s at your service!”

“I know. I appreciate that. Really.” Yvette nurtured some guilty thoughts about what she would ask from this handsome, honest guy, especially now that she had a taste of sub-o erotica, but she quickly rerouted her thinking. Situation is pretty awkward as it is, no need to make it more severe.

Jack nodded and waited expectantly.

“Okay...” Yvette gathered her will. “It’s about a letter. I got a letter. I… don’t know who sent it. This could not come with the post as there is no address on it, no stamps, nothing. Someone just threw it in the post box.”

“Go on. What’s with the letter?”

“It’s just… you have any idea who sent it?”

“Ah, well. You know, they are probably kids, teasing you. Nothing, you know..., intimidating I hope?”

“Nah, no way, no…” Yvette laughed in embarrassment “It’s just freaky, that’s all what it is.”

“Okay. Is there anything in the contents that could give you ideas, who the sender might be?”

“Jack… it’s a single word.”

“Oh. Really?”