Surveying has changed a lot since my father became a surveyor many years ago. He told me tales of lugging a heavy great theodolite around while his chainman hacked a path through the scrub with a brush-hook to get to where he had to hold up the staff so that readings could be taken. When these were recorded, it was back to the office to convert the distances and angles to create an accurate map of the property.
Nowadays all that I had to do was to point the laser beam at the staff that my assistant held, push a button and a record was made of the distance, angle and elevation above the datum point. Once all of the information was recorded, it was sent back to the computer at the office, and by the time we got back, a 3D map of the property had been printed off to send to the architect so that he could draw his house plans, complete with location on the block to within a bee’s appendage, along with foundation heights.
I was concentrating on collecting the data and didn’t notice the woman and her dog until she spoke. “Geoff Warner, you’re Geoff Warner, aren’t you?” The sign on the side of the SUV was a dead giveaway. It read Warner Locations, Registered Surveyors.
“The face that stared at me from the mirror this morning was his, so I guess I must be him.”
“Still the smart arse, eh?”
“Do I know you?”
“You probably don’t remember me, but you knew my sister.”
I took a closer look at her, vague recognition crept into my memory. “Don’t tell me, it’s coming back to me, Christ, you’re Jenny Fraser. What’s it been ten. Twelve years?”
“Try fifteen.”
“Whatever happened to Chrissie, she dropped out of my life without a word.”
“It’s a long story and you’re busy. I tell you what, you buy me dinner tonight and I’ll fill you in on all of the sordid details, unless of course there’s a Mrs. Warner waiting at home for you.”
“No, there’s not one of those waiting for me. Give me your address and I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”
She took her mobile phone out and called the number on the side of my SUV, switching to messaging she sent me her address. “See ya tonight.” With a quick wave, she and the dog were off.
Memories fought with my work as we finished the job. “Who was the woman you were talking to?” Angie, my assistant asked.
“Someone from my past, no that’s not true, I was going with her older sister for close on a year when she suddenly dropped out of my life. I took it hard because there was no warning signs, she was just gone.”
“So, you’re going to try and find out why, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing more than that, after all, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Have you been keeping tabs on my social life? Haven’t you got better things to do, like Mark?”
“Mark and I are going along quite nicely thank you.”
We completed our on-site work and headed back to the office. Angie uploaded the data into our computer, and we processed it. When the computer had completed doing its thing, the plans were shipped to the architects.
“You take care tonight,” Angie said as she packed up, “I don’t want you coming in to work tomorrow totally shagged because you fell for her charms.”
“Fat chance of that happening.”
Some women have this ability to make the simplest, most casual clothes, look positively sexy. Jenny Fraser was one of those, she made me feel under-dressed in my best casual clothes. I had to admit that, while there was a passing resemblance between her and Chrissie, she was much more attractive. I was going to have a hard time resisting her. “Wow.”
“Thank you. You scrub up pretty well yourself.” She kissed me. It wasn’t a full on, toe curling kiss, just a simple kiss on the lips. “Where are you taking me?”
“I’m not telling you, this will be my surprise.” I put my car into gear and headed off to my favourite restaurant. I hoped that she would like it.
“This is nice.” Jenny said as she finished her meal. “I wouldn’t have taken you to be such a gourmand.”
“When you fail dismally at cooking, you have to compensate, I guess that I’ve over-compensated.”
“You won’t find me complaining.”
“I don’t want to put a dampener on this pleasant evening, but you were going to tell me what happened to Chrissie.”
“Take me home first, it’ll take a while.”
We were seated at her kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of us. “You remember that Chrissie had this job with a promotions company.”
“Yeah, she loved it.”
“Well, that’s where the troubles began. The company had the job of promoting the Australian leg of this band’s world tour. The front-man asked that Chrissie take on the role of their organiser for the duration, you know, making sure that the bands’ demands were met, arranging the booze and chemical stimulants, that sort of stuff. By the end of the Australian leg, this role was extended for the rest of the tour, and she went back to England with them on the promise of a long term relationship with said front-man.”
“Don’t tell me that she ended up with him.”
“No. By the time they got back to England she was having sex with all of the band.”
“Shit.”
“It gets worse. She was set up in a flat somewhere, Willsden I think, because it turned out that he was married, and he didn’t want his wife to find out.”
“Don’t tell me, she did.”
“Yes, she did. When the dust had settled, she was without her flat, her visa had run out, he had promised that when they got married she wouldn’t need one, and she had no money. It was about then that she found that she was pregnant.”
“Does it get any worse than this?”
“Yes, a girl that she knew from band gigs was working for an escort agency and making good money, at least that’s what she said, she conveniently forgot to mention the fact that most of it went on drugs. Anyway, Chrissie began to work for the agency, and was doing quite well until her pregnancy became apparent. Oh, there were some kinky blokes that got off on fucking pregnant girls, but not enough for her to pay her bills. She was living, if you could call it that, in a squat when she went into premature labour. She never made it to hospital.”
“What happened to the baby?”
“It died. If those she was living with had thought to contact the hospital or an ambulance, the outcome might have been different. They didn’t know what to do and didn’t want to face the police, so she was left there.”
“Did your parents do anything?”
“They didn’t find out until much later. They tried to trace her when they hadn’t heard from her for a couple of months, but no-one knew where she was, not even the band that she went to England to be with. That turned out to be untrue, some months after this happened, the front-man’s marriage ended, and his wife spread the word that her wonderful husband had cheated and abandoned his lover when he found out that she was pregnant. She told the police that she had heard that Chrissie had died, The police investigated and learned the truth. They contacted Mum and Dad.”
“I’m so sorry, not only for Chrissie, but for your parents. Neither deserved that. How did your parents take it?”
“Very hard. They felt that they should have done more although I don’t know what they could have done. They did insist that I should go to Uni and get a proper job.”
“When you say proper job, what did you study?”
“I have a degree in Civil Engineering and work for an infrastructure company that builds roads and bridges.”
“A good enough job, a bit up and down, but for the right companies there’s money to be made.”
“Sort of like yours, when the home building is buoyant you will have work, but if no-one’s building things could get quiet.”
“We survive. We’ve embraced the latest technology to make life easier and cheaper. By minimising our costs, we can charge less and still be competitive.”
“Enough of this boring conversation, how’s your love life?”
“As near as dammit to non-existent, and yourself?”
“I don’t seem to have much luck. The few men that I have allowed in have not been as great as they had led me to believe. I wish I could find a man who performs better than his ego tells him. What are you like in the sack?”
“I’ve had no complaints. Any relationship that I’ve had has lasted for several months, but then something happens, either of both of us begins to lose interest and it peters out.”
“Not like with Chrissie. I was really pissed off with her the way that she just dumped you. I would never do that.”
“Is that a hint?”
“We shall see, that’s all I’ll say at this time.”
The coffee had gone cold, but I declined a fresh cup, choosing instead to go home. Jenny walked to the door with me. “Geoff, I was in love with you when you were going with Chrissie.”
“I thought that you were cute, but too young for me. Then, after I got dumped, I wasn’t going to get involved, ever again.”
“But you have had several relationships, are you still scared?”
“In the back of my mind there is a hesitation, yes.”
“Maybe I can do something about that.” She took my head in her hands and kissed me, a long, lingering, emotion filled kiss, that left me wanting, no, hoping for more. “Hold that thought.” Her lips whispered to mine.
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
“If you want to hide your feelings you had better tell him.” She said, squeezing him.
“Well, how did it go?” Angie asked as we unloaded the SUV for our next job.
“How did what go?”
“Your date with Jenny?”
“Interesting, that’s all I’ll say.”
“Did you learn anything more about what happened to her sister?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. If only she had come to me when it all came crashing down, I might have been able to help.”
“So, you think that you could have done something?”
“No, she was caught up in a world of sex, drugs and rock and roll on the other side of the world. There was no escape for her.”
“So, what happened to her?”
“She thought that she was in love with the lead singer of this band that was touring. He invited her to join and help them. They used her and when they got back to England he went back to his wife, and she was left on her own. She was pregnant, it may not have been to him, they were all screwing her by then. Her life was in a downward spiral from which there was no way out. She died giving birth, she was alone in a squat, abandoned by everyone.”
“Fuck.” This was the first time that I’d heard Angie swear. “So where do you go from here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Will you be seeing Jenny again?”
“Yes, quite likely.”
“Be careful.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I saw the way that she was looking at you yesterday, she’s got the hots for you, and it goes back a long way. If she’s anything like her sister, well, take this as a warning.”
“I’m sure that she’s not like Chrissie, she seems to have her future mapped out.”
If I didn’t know better I’d think that Angie was a tad jealous, but she had Mark, so why should she be jealous of me if this thing with Jennie goes any further?
My phone rang just after I got home, it was Jenny. “I’ve been waiting for you to call, but then I wasn’t sure that you know how to extract my number from your call record, so I thought I should call you. Do you like pizza?”
Where did this come from. “Yes, I don’t often buy one because I can’t eat a whole pizza on my own and I can’t come at left overs.”
“Great, give me your address and I’ll be right over, pizza in hand.”
She must have already ordered the pizza because she was at my front door within fifteen minutes. She kissed me as she strode past on her way to the kitchen. I broke out a bottle of red and a couple of glasses and we settled down to our meal.
“I’ve been thinking…” We both said at once.
“You first.” I said.
“Mum and Dad haven’t really got over what happened to Chrissie, and it continues to drag at their happiness. I would like to try to find out more about what happened to her.”
“But that would mean going to England, wouldn’t it?”
“Not at first. The promotions company that she was working for, the one that allowed, probably encouraged her to go to England with the band, may know more about what happened.”
“Do you think that they’d tell you anything?”
“Probably not, but a threat of using social media may get them to change their thinking.”
“It’s worth a try I suppose.”
“What were you about to say?”
“I know that it’s early days but, do you see this, us, going anywhere?”
“Yes, I do, but there will be a minor problem.”
“I can’t think of any, what did you have in mind?”
“Angie.”
“What about her?”
“I’ve seen the way that she looks at you, and when we were talking yesterday, I picked up a feeling of animosity towards me. I think that she’s in love with you.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Typical male, no thought of the feelings of others.”
“But, she’s got a boyfriend, Mark.”
“Have you actually met him?”
“No, I try to keep our relationship professional, separate from personal.”
“Good luck with that. I’m taking a chance here, I’m going to jump off the end of the jetty with holes in my water-wings, so here goes.”
I might be slow on the uptake when it comes to women, but even I could not mistake the sense of purpose in her expression. Her kiss left nothing to my imagination.
“I’ve just placed a patch over the hole.”
“What hole?”
“The one in your water-wings.”
“Good.” Her top was followed by her bra, then her jeans. Normally these would have been followed by her panties but, she obviously came prepared, because she wasn’t wearing any. “Get a wriggle on, we haven’t got all night.”
“Yes, we have, what’s your rush?”
“I’ve waited years for this.”
“Then what difference will a few more minutes make. Why don’t we take our time and enjoy a slow build up to this.”
When I got to my jocks she couldn’t wait any longer. “Where’s your bed?” She was ripping them off.
I stepped out of them and led her to my bedroom and my bed.
I pulled the sheets down to the foot of the bed, my mind going back to my time with Chrissie. This was not the same, no sooner had I dropped my dacks than she would have me in her mouth.
“My, he is impressive, isn’t he?” Jenny said, his lordship resting in her open hand.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” My hands had reached her breasts, cupping them and caressing her nipples.
“I can’t wait.” She whispered, her hand had closed on him. She sank to the bed, drawing him with her. I thought that she would lead him into her, but no. He was between her legs, and she was caressing him with her now moist pussy lips. I moved to place his head at her entrance but she would have none of that, resuming her caresses. “Roll over.”
I was curious as to what she had planned. I didn’t have long to wait, she resumed sliding along my cock for several minutes before allowing him access to the promised land. She had complete control of the process, not that I was complaining mind you, until we both came.
“What would you like for breakfast?”
“What?” Why would she ask that?
“You do want me to cook you breakfast, don’t you?”
“So, you’re planning to stay the night, are you?”
“Only if you want me to, you do want me to, don’t you?”
What could I say.
Angie beat me to the office and was transferring the data from the day before so the architects could produce the block layout. “Well, look what the cat’s dragged in, had a hard night did you?”
“Hardish night, yes.”
“With Jenny, I bet.”
“If you must know, it was.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Why, are you getting jealous? I’m not jealous of you and Mark.”
“Who?”
“Mark, you know, your boyfriend.”
“Oh, that Mark.”
I was thinking of a comment when my phone rang. “Warner Locations, Geoff speaking.”
“Good morning lover, will you be fully recovered for a repeat performance tonight?”
“Oh, hi Jenny.”
“Let me guess, your jealous assistant, what’s her name, Angie? She’s all upset that you were with me last night. You don’t have to answer that. My reason for calling is, I mentioned you to my boss, and suggested that you might be interested in working for us.”
“I could be, I’ll need to know more before I make a decision.”
“Great! He wants to meet you this afternoon to discuss what he has in mind.”
“Sorry, this afternoon is a no-go, I, we’re busy all day.”
“This is a great opportunity for you, I hope that you’re not saying no.”
“No. What I mean is, no, I’m not saying ‘no’ to the whole deal, just ‘no’ to this afternoon.”
“Well, if you can’t make it this afternoon, how about this evening over dinner, are you interested in that?”
“For a free meal, sure.”
“Great, be at Valley Inn at six-thirty for seven. You do know where that is, don’t you?”
“I know of it, it’s a little out of my price bracket, I’m sure that I can find it.”
“What was that all about?” Angie asked.
“Jenny has mentioned me to her boss and, it seems as if he has a project that he wants us to work on.”
“Be careful, that’s all I’m going to say on the subject.”
We set the answering machine and left. It was going to be a long day, the client was opening a subdivision with five building blocks and wanted complete plans, including access roads, by tomorrow.
As I walked through the front door of the prestigious Valley Inn, I was hoping that this wasn’t going to go on too long as I hadn’t fully recovered from last night and the busy day.
Jenny stood as I approached the table. “Daddy, this is Geoff Warner, you remember him, don’t you?”
“Sure, you were going with Chrissie before she left.” He held out his hand. “Sit.”
I sat. “When Jenny called this morning, she conveniently forgot to tell me that her boss was also her father.”
“Would that have made a difference?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Good, let’s order, we can discuss this later, I’ll not have a perfectly good meal spoiled by business,”
The meal was perfectly good, and replete, it was down to business. “I have acquired a parcel of land from a fire sale. The guy saw the potential for the land but his pockets weren’t deep enough and the bank foreclosed. I also see the potential and want to develop it in three stages. The first will front the beach, the blocks well sell for a fortune, more than enough to develop the other two stages in the hinterland behind the first. These will appeal to those who want to live close to the beach but can’t afford the price, and those looking for a bush retreat.”
“Where do we fit in?”
“I want a plan for the whole of the first stage, roads and blocks laid out along with infrastructure such as storm water easements. Can you do that?”
“I’ll have to look over the land first, get a feel for it.”
“Jenny can take you out on the weekend, you can check it out and see what you think. I want to know how much it will cost to prepare the development for sale.”
“Okay, I think that I can manage that.”
“Good, Jenny will liaise with you on the details. You’ll need the whole weekend, it’s a hundred and fifty kilometres away.”
I groaned internally, would my body survive? “I look forward to it.”
I was given the royal treatment, limo ride to the site. When I had looked over the land in question the limo arrived back to take us to a nearby, tourist trap town and hotel. We dined at a flash restaurant with equally flash prices, then back to the hotel for a night of unbridled lust. My last thoughts, before drifting off to sleep, was of foreboding, not so much about the job, Angie and I could knock that over in a couple of days, but of the reciprocity that went with all this attention.
“Well?” Angie asked when I arrived at work.
“Jenny’s father is a Civil Engineer, but this job isn’t connected with his company, at least not directly. He has acquired some land that he wants to develop. We have been asked to submit plans for the first stage, you know the deal, set out the blocks and roads to maximise the potential.”
“Are you sure that you want to do this?”
“Why would you ask that, work is work, and it could lead to a lot more down the track.”
“I get the impression that you’re having second thoughts about this project and Jenny’s connection with it.”
“You know me too well. It’s Jenny’s connection and what her expectations are that bothers me.”
“So, where do we stand?”
“We go down there on Thursday, survey the land and design a layout for them. We should be finished with the survey side by lunchtime Friday.”
“So, I’ll have to pack my bags for an overnight stay then.”
“Yes, will that be a problem, you won’t have to cancel a date with Mark?”
“No, I, we had nothing planned.”
Thursday brought the first sign of a problem. “What the fuck is she doing here?” Jenny was not pleased that Angie was with me.
“Angie’s my assistant, I need her. I can’t do this job without her.”
“I came down here to help you.”
“I prefer to work with her, she knows what to do without me having to explain everything.”
“I’ve booked us into the hotel we stayed at before.”
“Cancel it, we’ve booked a couple of cabins at the caravan park just down the road.”
“I guess that I’ll just have to slum it then.”
“We’ll have no time for socialising, you may as well go home and leave us to it.”
“What does her boyfriend think about this?”
“My boyfriend,” Angie interjected, “Is okay with this, he trusts me to be professional.”
An unhappy Jenny left.
We unpacked our gear and quickly established a datum point. From, this we set out the boundaries of the land along with its levels. “There are two other parcels of land that will eventually be included in this overall development. We need to establish the dimensions and factor those into the infrastructure plans.”
“Why is that a concern?” Angie asked.
“This lower block is not that high above the beach while the other parcels are on a relatively steep slope. We need to take into consideration the storm-water run-off from those in the plans.”
“But, won’t that add to the cost of development?”
“Sure, but we need to factor in what is known as a hundred year event. Should that occur, the insurance companies will not pay out on flood claims on the basis that such a scenario should have been included in this development.”
“Someone’s not going to be happy.”
“Not our problem, due diligence is what is called for. If he decides that he won’t go with our plans, so be it. If the worst happens and it goes pear shaped, I’m certain that he’ll blame us for not taking these factors into consideration.”
By late afternoon we had all of the dimensions necessary to draw the plans for the initial development. “Right, let’s call it a day and head for the pub, they should have decent food there, my treat.”
“You don’t have to, you know that.”
“I insist.” The food was good, somewhat larger serves than we’d get from a restaurant but we were both hungry, not having stopped for lunch.
We got back to the caravan park around nine o’clock. “Geoff, do you mind if I come in for a moment?”
“Sure, come in.” I held the door open for her. “What’s on your mind?”
“It’s about us.”
“What about us, is there a problem?”
“Jenny’s the problem. Look, I admit to misleading you about my relationship with Mark.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“Yes.” She paused to gather her thoughts. “Mark doesn’t exist.”
“What?”
“I invented him because I thought that if we got too close it would affect our working relationship. The truth is, I know now that I have feelings for you, feelings that I have tried to suppress. Seeing you with Jenny, and the way that she is manipulating you, I have decided that I just can’t let that happen.” She came to me and put her arms around my neck. “Geoff, I could be making the biggest fool of myself, but I love you. There, I’ve said it and it’s out there. You can tell me that I’ve been an idiot now.”
“No, you haven’t been an idiot.”
“Thank god for that.”
“Hold that thought for a couple of days. I have a bad feeling about this job, and I think that you’re right, we are being manipulated.”
We set out the boundaries and topography for the other two parcels of land before heading back to the office to draw up plans for the first subdivision.
Just before five my phone rang. I looked at the calling number. “Jenny.” I said to Angie. “Hi Jenny.”
“Geoff, I need to talk to you.”
“What about?”
“You, me, us. Can you come over tonight or, would you prefer for me to come to you?”
“I’ll be working late tonight, I want to get the plans finished so that I can give it to your father on Monday. I don’t know how long it will take.”
“She’s with you, isn’t she?”
“Angie is with me, she is an important part of the team and I need her assistance on this.”
“Bullshit. Listen mate, I know what’s going on between you, you slept with her last night, didn’t you?”
“Have you been spying on me?”
“So, you did.”
“I didn’t say that. Look, we have a lot of work to do, and the longer I spend talking to you, the longer it will take. I’ll have the completed plans ready for your father to look at first thing Monday morning. I presume that you will be there.”
“He’s not going to be happy with this.” Angie said as we put the final touches to the plan.
“I really don’t care. I’m just covering our arses. Now, the next question is, where do we spend the night and the weekend?”
“She knows where you live so that’s out. Chances are that she has already found out where I live so I think we should give that a miss. We could always stay with my parents, that’ll kill two birds with one stone. They know about you and my feelings, and they’ve been pestering me to meet you, so…” She dialled a number. “Hi Mum, is it okay if I stay with you for the weekend? No, nothing’s the matter, and by the way, I’m bringing Geoff with me. I’ll fill you in when we get there. See ya.”
We left separately and met in the undercroft car park of the local shopping mall where I left my SUV and jumped into her car. We weren’t followed, at least her car wasn’t followed, but I thought that I saw Jenny’s car just up the road from the entry.
Angie’s parents were a far cry from Jenny’s, salt of the earth would be an apt description. “So, we get to meet the best boss in the world, the guy that Angie has had the hots for as long as she’s been working for you.”
“Dad!”
“It’s alright. I have to admit that I’ve been a little slow on the uptake as far as Angie’s concerned, I have my reasons, but they seem to not exist anymore. We’ve sorted our relationship and couldn’t be happier.”
“There is a slight problem though.” Angie said.
“What would that be?” Her father asked.
“This job that we’re working on, it’s with, it’s complicated, you see this woman, Jenny, who is the sister of the woman that broke his heart some years ago, well she has the hots for him too, and she has manipulated him with the offer of a job that could lead to a permanent situation.”
“How do you feel about this?” He asked me.
“I’m not happy with it to tell you the truth. A lot depends on how her father reacts to the design that we’ve prepared for him. I think that he’s covering his arse by setting it so that if there are repercussions, we’ll cop the blame. I could be wrong.”
“But you’re not taking chances, is that it?”
“You could say that. Monday will tell me one way or the other.”
Angie’s parents were okay with us sleeping together and I don’t remember ever feeling as comfortable as I did with them.
Monday. I was kept waiting, I think on purpose, for half an hour, before being ushered into his office.
“Good morning, sir, Jenny.”
I got a grunt from him and a frosty glare from Jenny along with the mouthed words ‘I’ll speak to you later’.
I handed over the plans and waited. “Explain this.” He pointed to the wetland feature of the plan.
“We have factored in the other subdivisions when planning the storm-water infrastructure.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have those two parcels of land up the hill from this one. I have taken into consideration the storm-water runoff from those when calculating the size of the drains. What I also had to factor in was the so-called hundred year event.”
“What do you mean?”
“Every hundred years or so there will be a situation where torrential rain coincides with a king tide. The storm-water outfall is below the hundred year flood level. This will cause the storm-water from those other two developments to back up and overflow the drains, causing substantial flooding of this development.”
“So?”
“Knowing the way that insurance companies operate, they will reason that, if we only provided drainage for this subdivision, we would be responsible for the flooding and not pay out. The residents will sue you for the inadequacy for the drainage. I have made allowances for this contingency.”
“What is this?” He pointed to the wetland area between the housing and the beach.
“That is part of the contingency plan. Do you see that artificial island in the middle, well that conceals a large pipe the goes down into the water table. If flooding should occur, the floodwaters would enter the wetland and flow down into the water table. The wetland is designed as a pressure valve to slow the flow of water entering the sea and minimise the possibility of flooding.”
“I didn’t ask for this, all I asked for was a design for a subdivision. Have you any idea how much this,” he waved his hand over the plans, “will cost? I’m in this to make a profit, I’ll be lucky to break even.”
“I was also covering my own arse.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’m not saying that you would, but if this thing went pear shaped, you could sheet the blame onto me for not taking those factors into consideration.”
The look that I got confirmed that he had already been thinking down that path’
“I’ll leave you with it. I’ll send you the invoice.”
His reaction to that suggested that I would be lucky to get paid.
Jenny followed me as I walked to the front door. “Wait. I went to your place on Saturday, and you weren’t home. Where were you?”
“I had a quiet weekend with friends.”
“I suppose you were with the little bitch.”
“What do you expect me to say, that I spent the weekend with Angie?”
“I wouldn’t know, she wasn’t at home.”
“Are you checking up on me?”
“I’m protecting my interests, that’s all.”
“Look, Jenny, You’re a nice girl, but there could be a conflict of interest at play. How would we be if I’d produced a plan that proved inadequate in the scenario that I explained to your father. It would be seen as my fault and that would create tensions between your father and me that I don’t think a relationship between us would survive.”
“But you don’t know that.”
“I’m not prepared to take that chance.” I wasn’t prepared to argue any further. “Look, I’ve got to get back to work, we have a job to finish. Let’s just leave it how it is for the time being.” She stood and watched my back leave the building.
“Well, how did it go?” Angie asked.
“I don’t think that Daddy’s happy and I know that Jenny isn’t.”
“Do you think that he’ll proceed with your development plans?”
“Probably not. He has approached this with your typical bottom line mentality, go with the cheapest and hope for the best. Now, we have a job to get to.”
Jenny got out of her car as I parked in my designated space. “Geoff, I need to speak to you.”
“I’ll get these figures into the computer.” Angie said as she went into the office.
“Well, what do want to talk about?”
“Firstly, here’s a list of things that Daddy wants changed to your plan.” She handed me a sheet of paper. I glanced quickly at it. No surprises there. “Geoff, darling, you know that I love you and I don’t want to lose you, especially not to that Angie person. Have dinner with me tonight, please, we need to discuss our relationship.”
“Jenny, I hope that you don’t take this the wrong way, but I have to tell you that, what I feel about you, is very much how I felt when Chrissie and I were together.. ”
“I’ll never leave you like she did, ever.”
“It’s not that. She had this jealous streak that flared up if I even so much as looked at another woman. It affected me to the point that I was considering ending it when she decided to go to England. I do not want to go through that again.”
“But I won’t.”
“You are jealous of Angie, you were even jealous from the first time we met.”
“Are you telling me that there’s nothing going on between the two of you?”
“There is now, but it took your actions towards her and me to make that happen.”
“The fucking bitch! You listen to me!” She was angry, there’s no getting away from that. “Daddy will not be using your plans and good luck getting any money out of him!”
“Okay,” I said in as calm a voice as I could muster, “You tell your father that, unless he pays for the work that I have done, I will sue him and raise the points that I made to him as evidence that my plans were appropriate for the situation. If he chooses not to use them, if he goes for a cheaper plan that doesn’t address the issues, that’s not my problem. I am charging for work contracted and provided. End of story.”
I had given him thirty days to pay the invoice, but no money was forthcoming. After sending reminder notices and waiting a further three months, I rang my lawyer. “Brendan, Geoff Warner, I have a problem. I carried out some work for Jansen Developments and they haven’t paid their bill. Can I make a time to discuss this, it’s complicated.”
“Sure, how about you take me to lunch tomorrow, you’re paying/”
“Where and when?”
“The Providor at twelve thirty.”
The Providor was a mid-range restaurant favoured by the legal profession. Angie and I found Brendan already seated, chatting to a waiter. “Who is this?” He asked.
“Brendan, I’d like you to meet Angie, she’s my assistant.”
“Come on spill, she’s more than your assistant.”
“A work in progress.”
“All right, you’ve got a client that hasn’t paid his bill, so what’s the problem?”
“There are two problems. The first is that I got the job through, you remember Chrissie, don’t you?”
“Don’t tell me that she has surfaced and you’re shagging her again? Sorry my dear, but this bitch gave him the run-around and he never got over it.”
“No, not her, it was her young sister Jenny. Anyway, she arranged for me to do a job for her father, a new subdivision down the coast. I produced plans for him but he didn’t pay me for work done.
“Has he given you a reason?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly what he wanted.”
“In what way?”
“He wanted cheap, I gave him a professional plan”
“Has he moved on the development?”
“Yes, the roadworks are underway.”
“I don’t suppose that he’s done something stupid like using your plans with some modifications, has he?”
“The road design is the same, he hasn’t set out the blocks yet.”
“Will that make a difference?”
“On my plan I made provisions for storm-water mitigation. If he sets out houses between the road and the beach he’s asking for trouble.”
“How so?”
“My plan has the storm-water outfall well above the mean high tide level. That way, if heavy rainfall occurs at the king tide level it will still clear. By placing blocks in the area below that road, the storm-water outfall will be below the king tide level.”
“You say king tide, what is that?”
“On a regular basis, when the full moon is between the earth and the sun at a time when the earth is closest to the sun, the high tide is considerably higher than the mean high tide level. But that’s not the worst thing.”
“Okay, explain the worst.”
“There is this thing called a hundred year event. This is when there is significantly more than normal rainfall. If, and this had happened on occasions, this rainfall event occurs at the same time as a king tide, the resultant flooding can be catastrophic.”
“Okay, I’m famished, let’s eat, and tomorrow I’ll call around to your office and we’ll go over this in greater detail.” He signalled a waiter.
It was some six months later, and we were in court. James Jensen was giving evidence.
“Mister Jensen,” Brendan began, “When you asked Mister Warner of Warner Locations to survey a parcel of land for you at Sanders Beach, what was the specific brief?”
“I explained my plans and asked that he produce a detailed plan of the development.”
“So there were no limitations on your proposal, no mention him of keeping the costs down?”
“No, but I expected that he would use his judgement and come up with something reasonable.”
“When he submitted his plans, did he explain to you the reasons for his design?”
“He said something about future planning to include the two other parcels of land that I was to develop.”
“Did he not explain that the infrastructure that he designed for this development also took into consideration the pressure placed on it by these other developments?”
“He mentioned something about king tides and hundred year events. I didn’t understand any of it.”
“Did you seek clarification from him?”
“No.”
“So, given the lack of a specific brief, you chose not to go ahead with his design?”
“Yes.”
“Did you, or did you not, send Mister Warner a list of alterations that he should make to his plans?”
“I don’t recall that, no.”
Brendan took the sheet that Jenny had given me and passed it to him. “Then what is this?”
“Oh that, my daughter was badgering me about what a brilliant plan Mister Warner had submitted, so I gave her this list, more to appease her than having the expectation that he would comply with it.”
“And why was that?”
“It was she, because she had visions of a relationship with him that included marrying him, she thought that, by me offering him ongoing work, it would help her to realise that ambition. I agreed on that basis.”
“So, you had no real intention on using the plans he produced?”
“No, not really.”
“But you did use his plan, or at least part of it, didn’t you.”
“Well, I showed his plan to the surveyor that I normally use and, he must have had that in the back of his mind when he drew up the plans that he submitted to me. If he copied Mister Warner’s plan then Mister Warner has a problem with him, not me.”
“His plan is identical in every aspect except that the land set aside for a storm-water retention system in Mister Warner’s plan has been used for housing, is that not correct?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“You have used part of Mister Warner’s plan, yet you refuse to pay him for work done, is this not, correct?”
“I suppose so.”
“You have also chosen not to take into consideration the storm-water infrastructure that would take into consideration the increased load placed on it by your development of the other two parcels of land, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Even though Mister Warner had explained to you that the insurance companies would not pay flood insurance claims in the event of the possibility of a rainfall event occurring. You chose to ignore that?”
“Yes.” “Could it be because, in the event of such an occurrence, it would be the individual homeowners’ responsibility not yours?”
“Yes.”
“Even though there have been several cases where these claims have resulted a class action against the insurer that resulted in the insurer taking action against the developer?
“I wasn’t aware of that, no?”
“No further questions.”
There was a hasty conference between Jensen and his lawyer.
“Your Honour,” Thomas Butcher, Jensen’s lawyer stood. “My client is offering to pay Warner Locations eighty percent of the invoiced amount.”
I looked at Brendan.
“If he agrees to raise that offer to eighty-five percent, we will accept it.” Brendan looked at Jensen.
“We agree,” Butcher announced.
Angie and I had no sooner arrived back at the office than my phone rang, it was Jenny. “Hi Jenny.”
“Geoff, I need to talk to you, I want to talk to you.”
“Then talk.”
There was a pause before she spoke. “I have changed, I know that I was jealous of Angie, but I’m okay with that, with her. I know that we can be good together, I want to give it another chance, us another chance, please.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why?”
“I get the feeling that you are doing this with the expectation that, if it goes down that track and we get married, I’ll forget about the money he owes me. Would I be close to the mark?” There was another pause. “I have another reason, Angie and I are getting married.”
“When?” Angie asked
Jenny had disconnected.
“This is sudden,” Angie said, “I know we have discussed the possibility, but there’s been nothing definite decided as yet.”
“Okay, Angie Reynolds, will you marry me?”
“Of course, you didn’t have to ask.”
“Gee, I expected a little more enthusiasm than that.”
“Oh, you mean like this?” She threw herself at me, her arms around my neck and pushing me back against the wall. “Is that enthusiastic enough for you?”
“It’ll do to be going on with.”
“Bastard!”
“Bitch!”
We collapsed laughing to the floor. You can use your imagination as to what happened next.
Mother Nature has this habit of biting people on the arse. A matter of months after the court case, the vision of getting paid went down the gurgler big time.
Jensen had no problem selling most of his beachside blocks and construction was well underway on many houses. Emboldened by this, he advance the development of the other two parcels of land. Roadworks had been completed and the ‘for sale’ signs had gone up, when it struck.
Afternoon thunderstorms are quite common in this part of the world in Summer. This one was bigger than most, something like 150mm (6″) of rain in a little under an hour. As the trees had been cleared and the blocks levelled, there was little to stop the top-soil washing onto the roadway and being funnelled down the hill. In no time at all the beachside blocks were up to their armpits in muddy water cascading through half completed houses on its way to the sea.
Claims lodged with the insurance companies were met with refusals. My court case had attracted attention and the refusal based on the situation having been at the least minimised, at the most avoidable. What made matters worse was, the insurance companies refused to issue flood insurance on future land houses.
Sales of land ground to a halt, and in desperation, Jensen called into our office. “I know that I ignored you warning, I know that I have been reticent in paying you, but I need your help.”
“I don’t know why, but I will help on one condition.”
“And what is that?”
“I will not commence work until the construction costs have been lodged in a bank account in my company name. I will draw on half of that money to cover monies owed and the balance of further work on completion. You can use your own civil construction company to carry out the work but, and this is non-negotiable, if there is any divergence from the design or specifications, I will draw down the balance of the monies and you will be on your own. I will not be responsible for the result.”
“I will have to consult my backers before committing myself. Give me a month.”
“You have a month.”
“You are aware that you could have saved yourself a lot of money if you’d accepted the original plans?”
“Don’t rub it in. I will need to see your solution before I commit myself.”
“Okay, cough up what you owe, and I’ll make a start.”
The money arrived the next day. enough for me to buy an engagement ring for Angie.
“So, how do we solve his problem?” Angie asked as she stared at the rock on her finger.
“We’ll get them to dig a two metre wide by two metre deep concrete channel down the centre of the road. This will be filled with 75mm aggregate (rock) and covered. This will slow the flow of water down. The run off drains from the streets will be piped into this channel. The water will filter its way down hill. The outlet pipe will be on top of the channel and well above the mean high tide level.”
“I suppose that you’re going to tell me that this came off the top of your head.”
“No, it was an alternate to the original design.”
By the time that work had finished and it had survived its first heavy storm, Angie and I were married. No, we did not invite Jenny, although I did notice her at the back of the church, We were surprised to find a present from her in among the pile that we had to sort through when we got back from our honeymoon. The package contained an apology full of remorse and contrition along with a pile of maternity clothes for Angie. Had she been stalking us?
“I had a call from Jenny just before the wedding asking for hints on a suitable present. I told her that anything should be accompanied by an apology and that you would be needing maternity clothes very soon. She took that amazingly well, there’s hope for her yet.”