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The Angel of Pie Jesu.
By John T. S. Teller.
Part 46.
Book two: Journey of the Coin.
Gareth.
I speak eight languages, fluently, and one of them is Japanese. But a long time ago I chose not to reveal that I do to most people. It's served me well. I do a lot of business with the Japanese, and playing ignorant has placed me in a position of knowledge without them even being aware of it. I can listen to conversations that I'm not supposed to understand, and I know when interpreters are leading me a merry dance, or when the opposition is trying to piss on me. Know your enemy, and in business, knowledge is power, especially when your enemy is not aware that you have that power. And during preliminary business meetings with the Japanese over a company that my partner, Shiro Takahashi and I have decided to sell - Kaisaki Industries (West) - which designs and produces high end parts for the mobile phone industry, I keep an ear open for anything said that might place me in a position of foreknowledge of the bargain we hope to reach.
I bought into Shiro Takahashi's ideas five years ago when he was just starting out and normal banks thought he was a risk too far. But that's what I'm all about. I don't have shareholders to worry about and any decision I make, I base it purely on due diligence and instinct. Those things have served me well over the years. I'm nobody's fool but my own, and foolish occasions have been extremely rare in my business life. Shiro is the same age as me and he wanted more capital to bring his business ideas to fruition. Pete Sawyer sniffed out the original enquiries he made, and one day in London, having done his homework on the young man, he put it to me that it might be a good opportunity to make a bob or two. I liked Shiro's ideas, but what clinched it for me was that he drove a hard bargain. I liked the latter. I don't like people who can be turned over easily. They are not my cup of tea. If they roll over easily to me then they'll do that in their business dealings... and their dealings are my dealings. The thing that really clinched it for me was after I enquired what he'd do with my investment and his answer was that every dollar I invested would go into the company and not his own pocket.
My initial bid was that for one million dollars I wanted 51% of the shares of the company, but Shiro would have none of it. I eventually settled for 35%, but with one proviso... I would hold one golden share that had complete power over all the other shares. So, although Shiro would own 65% of the company, my one golden share entitled me to guide the company in the direction I thought would be most profitable. Shiro took some persuading to accept me having the golden share, but when I revealed my portfolio to him and convinced him that I was better than he would ever be when it came to directing the company to be successful, he accepted and we struck a deal.
The relationship has worked well, and we now, conservatively, value the company at around three hundred million dollars, which will make me around a hundred million dollars profit if we sell it.
(I had to explain this to Aleric for him to understand why it was so important for me to travel to Japan, and when I told him that if we pulled the deal off, I would bring him and Gottwin another Masanao Sekisumi sword so they can begin a collection, I received a really juicy kiss and a demand that I also bring him back a silk kimono that was really sexy.)
But the preliminary business meetings are now over and this is the real deal where boss meets boss and the real battle commences.
****************
Apart from Japanese objet d'art, the boardroom is like most others I'm familiar with: a long table and the Chairman of both companies seated at the centre of it, opposite each other. I'm seated on the right hand side of Shiro, who is Chairman of Kaisaki Industries (West), with Pete seated immediately to my right, and the rest of our entourage - mostly lawyers - taking up about a third of the table. We're outnumbered... a good ploy by the `enemy'. But it doesn't bother me one bit. We've asked for five hundred million dollars for the company, and if they weren't interested then we wouldn't be sitting here. Shiro and I have decided to sell, so all that matters to us is the final figure, and three hundred million dollars is the least we'll walk out of this room with. Really, what this is all about is the thing that has driven me on since I was a small boy who made his first £2,000,000 before I was seventeen years old: the thrill of the chase that is creating wealth, and right now, because this is the biggest deal I've ever done, although I may look as cool as a cucumber, the adrenaline coursing through my veins is actually making me slightly dizzy.
Never look into their eyes and always remain passionless: that's the Japanese way, and because the Chairman of the `enemy' is an old man of sixty-five, I show due deference to his age when in contact with him. I could buy and sell him a few times in terms of personal wealth, but in these matters, he is Senpai: my superior because of his senior age, and that's the difficult part... adopting a subservient attitude whilst intending to be superior. And there comes a point where I can do just that admirably... when he addresses me in his halting English regarding a small matter of my parent's welfare. I break business tradition, look into his eyes with a smile and speaking fluently in his own tongue, I thank him profusely for his concern and inform him that they are happily retired in the US. And then I enquire about the well-being of his own family.
For a few seconds there's a deathly silence in the room, and for one split second I think I may have miscalculated, but when he smiles back at me and looks directly into my eyes, I know I have gained respect from him. In fact, he nods deferentially, and tells me that they are all in good health and that if I have time then he would be honoured if I could join him and his family at his home one evening for a meal. I reply that I would consider it an honour, but only when the matter in hand is finalized. I then add that family should always take precedence over business, and I would like to pay my respects to his family without a wisp of the cold winds of commercial reality blowing around in my mind.
He seems to like that, and again he smiles.
**********
"You took a big chance there Gareth!" says Pete as the limo whisks us back to our hotel. "It could have cocked the whole fucking deal up if he'd taken offence that you'd been fooling everybody that you couldn't speak the lingo."
I smile as I stare through the window at the multitude of busy people and the bright neon lights of Tokyo when nightfall is upon it; a bustling city of over thirteen million souls. Before Aleric, this was my real turn-on: the vibrancy of humanity in all its forms.
Humanity. I've studied it all my life. I know how it works, especially individually. It's how I've created my wealth. Ironically, and my association with Aleric proves this, I probably know more about those `out there' than I do about myself. Mr Miyagi, the Chairman of the company who wants to buy Kaisaki Industries (West) from Shiro and myself, could have taken it as an insult that I'd been fooling most of his people by not revealing I could speak Japanese, but he didn't, and that's because I paid him great respect by revealing to him that I do speak Japanese and that there would be no monkey business from me while the dealings were going on. He knew then that this was going to be a cards-on-the-table deal, conducted with honour, and the Japanese value honour more than most. Having pulled it off, I reckon my deference to Mr Miyagi will net Shiro and myself an extra fifty million dollars at least. I look at Pete, and grin. "It was a good move. Do you want to bet me your year's salary that we won't get four hundred million out of this deal?"
Pete chuckles. "You're a bastard!"
I grin, and then look through the window again.
**********
2am Tokyo time: 7pm Berlin time. Aleric is dressed in a blue check shirt, open at least four buttons, which reveals his slim neck and the beginnings of his collar bones, and blue jeans as I look at him on my laptop as we converse via an encrypted stream. He's in `our' apartment so we can be private, and he's using his laptop whilst leaning back against the pillow clad headboard of `our' bed. He scowls at me. "You didn't answer my last call!"
I wrinkle my nose at him. "I was in esteemed company. I was with Mr Miyagi."
"Who's he?"
"The Chairman of the company who wants to buy Kaisaki Industries from us. Anyway, you made the call in the middle of the night your time, so what made you do that?"
Aleric pulls a face. "It could have been important!"
I chuckle at him. "Important? You mean that thing in your pants was calling all the shots again. Anyway, you still haven't told me why you rang at four o'clock in the morning. You should have been asleep."
Again he scowls. "Well I wasn't. I forgot to have a pee before I went to bed and had to get up to have one."
I laugh. "So I was right. Anything to do with that thing between your legs and the first thing you think about is that. Have you had another date with that girlfriend of yours while I've been away?"
Aleric giggles. "Of course I have! I can't keep her out of my pants. She's a nymphomaniac."
That comment reduces me to deep giggles, and I eventually manage to say, "She's in good company then."
When Aleric has stopped chuckling, he asks, "Have you found yourself a new boyfriend?"
I smile and nod at him. "I think so. Mr Miyagi has invited me to dinner after the financial aspects of the business are done. Well, that which involves him and I. Just the lawyers to wrap things up then, and four days later I'll be home."
"What's that got to do with your new boyfriend?"
"Oh, I forgot. He's got a fifteen year old son who fancies me."
"Pffft! He must be crazy. Have you met him?"
"Not yet. But I have heard that he's dead cute."
"As cute as me?"
"Almost."
Aleric puts two fingers close to the web-cam, and when he's withdrawn them, he snarls, "You'll be telling me next that he's got a voice like an angel."
I stare at Aleric's face for a few moments, and then I say softly, "No. Only one boy has the voice of an angel."
Aleric's voice is also quiet when he asks, "Who's that?"
I blow a kiss into the web-cam with my fingers. "The boy I'm looking at now... the boy I love more than anything in the world."
I watch Aleric's face twist and turn as he tries to hide his feelings, but he can't hold back the tears, and angrily he wipes them away and snarls, "See what you've made me do now! I promised myself I wouldn't cry!"
I wait a few moments until he's collected himself, and then I ask, "Are you okay now?"
He nods, but his bottom lip is drooping when he says, "You've spoilt it."
"Spoilt what?"
He doesn't look at the camera when he replies, "I was going to make this a sexy call, but you've spoilt it by bringing love into it."
I understand exactly where Aleric is at this moment, and that's why I say to him, "I know what you mean. I'm sorry, but I'll be disappointed if I don't get to feast my eyes on you. Take off your shirt. I need to look at you."
**********
3.30am and I'm in my dressing gown in an executive suite of the Intercontinental Hotel overlooking Tokyo Bay, staring out of the panoramic window at the sights before me. But in my mind's eye as I down another Talisker is not this fabulous scene, but a vision of my boy in all his glorious naked beauty, performing sex acts on the web-cam. Did I enjoy him doing that? Yes I did, because I adore the gorgeous boy who has come into my life, and seeing him performing sex acts turned me on not only sexually, but it allowed me the opportunity to discover more about my boy. Although he said he wanted to do them for me, I know he's doing it because he needs to out his sexual drive. His sexual drive: his libido. I know he's a hormonal boy, but there's more to Aleric's sexuality than normal boy hormones coursing through him as Kurt said there was. Before I met Aleric I couldn't give a monkey's toss about people's libido unless I could use it in some way to gain monetary value over them, but since Aleric came into my life, I see it everywhere, especially since Kurt's lecture.
Take Pete for instance. He's as randy as a rabbit. He's always been that way ever since I've known him. He made a telling comment when we were on the way here. He said he and his wife still love one another. That's what I have difficulty with... how one can love someone and be unfaithful sexually? Is it a lack of loyalty, or is their libido so strong; so demanding that they just have to have sex? Do they separate sexuality from love: two facets of a relationship that they can compartmentalize? Is that possible? For me it isn't. Aleric is my love both sexually and spiritually. But will this libido thing make Aleric like Pete, or Kurt for that matter. Despite being Heindrich's partner, Kurt would jump into bed with me in an instant if I gave him the nod and the wink. He's told me as much, so I know I'm right. How would I handle it if Aleric was like them? I think it might destroy me if I discovered he had another man on the go. It doesn't bother me at all that he messes about with Gottwin, and I think I would chuckle if ever he told me another boy or a girl his age had been in his pants, but if he told me he'd been with a man, I'd probably be physically sick. How strange that is... it would devastate me even if Aleric said, It's only sex. That's what they do. Yes, they actually do separate the sexual act from the love aspect in their lives. In fact, Aleric did it tonight. I was going to make this a sexy call, but you've spoilt it by bringing love into it. Conscience? Love... sex... two entirely different things? Aleric cried when I got to him spiritually when I told him that I loved him more than anything in the world. I wonder what his reaction would have been had I said, The boy I'm looking at now... the sexiest boy in the world. I'll find out. When I speak to him again tomorrow evening his time, I'll tell him just that.
********** *********** ********** ********** **********
Aleric.
When I walk out of the school gates, I see Kurt's car parked just down the road. He's volunteered to pick me up because both Jan and Hansie are staying behind because they're in the drama group; practising for a play the school is putting on before we all break up for the summer holidays in just under three month's time. Gotty is meeting his girlfriend after school; they're going to her house to have something to eat, and then they're going to a multiplex cinema afterwards. I've been ribbing him big time about it. He's certainly got the hots for her, and she's mad on him. He keeps saying he's only going with her because he's after getting his end away, but I can tell that he really fancies her as well. He keeps trying to pair me up with Else, but she keeps wanting to kiss me, and there's only one person in my life who I want to kiss... my Beautiful Man, Gareth. They just don't understand. I don't think even Gotty can understand properly. I think Mum does, and Dad never seems to bother. He takes the attitude that if I'm happy, then he's happy.
*********
When I get in the Jaguar, Kurt says, "Hello sweetie pie. Met any nice boys today?"
I grin at him. "A few."
He puts the car into `drive', and when he's joined the traffic, he rolls his eyes and asks, "Any that want to get in your pants?"
I turn to look out of the side window so he can't see me grinning, and reply, "They all want to get in my pants. Are you jealous?"
I hear Kurt laugh. "Of course I am, but unlike you, when I was your age I used to let them. Two at a time if I was lucky."
I chuckle and snort, "Tart!"
More giggles from Kurt. "I love it when you call me that. It shows how much you love me."
I do love Kurt. After Gareth (not including Dad who comes in a different category of love), Kurt is the man I love more than any other. He's my mentor; my saviour; my confidante, and anything I need to discuss about what makes us the same comes easily to me. "Gareth calls you a tart."
"I know he does. That's how I know he loves me."
I turn and smile at him. "Do you let anybody call you a tart?"
He shakes his head. "Most would get a sharp kick in the balls, but I do make the odd exception for those I'm fond of." Then he chuckles. "How are you managing now your boyfriend's away?"
I give him a naughty look, and giggle. "I did it for him on the web-cam last night."
Kurt bursts out laughing, but manages to gurgle out, "What did you do exactly?"
I pull a face at him. "Mind your own business, you tart!"
We've gone two blocks before both of us can talk again because we're laughing so much, and Kurt has still has tears of laughter in his eyes when he says, "But it's not the same, is it?"
I give him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"
Kurt glances at me, and then sighs. "The real thing... skin to skin... lips to lips... the immense feeling of satisfaction when somebody else does it for you. That's real sex. Anything else is self abuse. Relief. Where sex is concerned, for people like you and me, our greatest satisfaction is knowing that we; our bodies, are so utterly desirable that they can drive somebody crazy with lust. That's the greatest turn on of all... knowing you're desirable. Don't you think?" I look through the side windows and digest Kurt's words. He's right. That's exactly how I feel when I'm with Gareth. I love him more than anything, but when we're making love, the knowledge that I'm desirable to him is the driving force that makes every orgasm so special; so fulfilling. When I do it myself, I'm always left with a feeling resembling depression. I've wanked and it's all over. I've achieved nothing except relief. "I'm right, aren't I?" Kurt asks again.
I look and him, and slowly nod. "Yes. I miss him so much."
Kurt smiles sympathetically. "His love... or his body?"
"Both."
It's a while before Kurt speaks again, and then he asks, "Are you capable of separating the two?"
"What do you mean?"
We've reached where the apartments are, and Kurt pulls the Jaguar over to the side of the road before we reach the gates. Then he looks me in the eyes, and says, "How do you fancy having a night out with me?"
I'm puzzled. "I'm not sure I understand."
He smiles. "There's so much I want to talk about; so much you need to know about life if you want live happily ever after with Gareth, and there's no better person in the world to teach you that than me. I love you both very much, and I want you both to be happy. That will only happen if you understand each other, and more importantly, perhaps, if you understand yourselves. I'm in the process of getting Gareth to understand himself, but I think I need to teach you a few things about yourself. It's Saturday tomorrow. Jan is having a stayover with Hans and I can get Heindrich to baby-sit. How about you and me have a night out together... a meal at Bedri's, and we can make it a really late night. In fact you can do me a favour. I'll book us two rooms, and we'll stay overnight."
I stare at him; astonished. "Mum wouldn't let me do that!"
Kurt grins evilly. Then he reaches into the glove compartment and takes out two tickets. He gives them to me. They're for an open air rock concert in Potsdam; lots of groups performing, including Status Quo. Although I sing mostly classical music, I love rock. I look at Kurt. He gives me another evil grin. "I've already arranged it with your Mum. We get there early evening, and to save us driving back late at night, we stay in Potsdam and drive back Sunday morning."
"But you said we would be staying at Bedri's place."
Kurt raises his eyebrows and snorts, "A few white lies make the world go round. Did you tell your Mum you were staying at Bedri's when you stayed there with Gareth?"
I grin and shake my head. "Of course I didn't."
He grins. "Right then, as far as anyone else is concerned, we're staying in Potsdam. And I mean anyone!"
I stare at him. "Including Gareth?"
"Especially Gareth! What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve about." He stares at me. "Well?"
"Will I be safe at Bedri's on my own?"
Kurt chuckles. "Trust me Aleric, Bedri will guard you like the most precious jewel on earth. He adores you."
I giggle nervously. "That's what's bothering me!"
Kurt busts into laughter, and gurgles, "You should be so lucky!"
"What do you mean?"
Still chucking, Kurt says, "Bedri is famous, and I don't know a single boy who's like us who wouldn't give their right arm to be able to say they've been satisfied by Bedri." Then I get another evil grin. "I can tell you from experience that nobody makes love like Bedri."
I stare at him. "You haven't!"
Kurt grins. "The first time when I was twelve, and the last time when I was sixteen." Then I get a wry smile. "Unfortunately, that's the limit for our Bedri. He's a boylover. When a boy starts to grow hair on his top lip, he's too old for Bedri."
**********
Kurt parks the car and comes into the apartment with me. He's as much at home in our apartment as he is in Gareth's now, and as soon as we get in, he asks Mum to put the kettle on. Then he looks at Dad, and says, "How's hobbly legs doing these days?"
Dad grins, gets up from his chair, takes hold of his walking frame, and slowly walks around the sofa three times. Then he grins at Kurt, and says, "I'll need a motor on it soon."
Kurt laughs. "You're bloody amazing you are! I think you've been fooling everybody all these years just so you could have them doing things for you."
Dad laughs. "I wish. Anyway, why are you here?"
Kurt puts a finger on his nose, and says, "Mind your own business. This is woman talk." And he goes off to the kitchen to join Mum.
Dad grins at me. "Had a good day son?"
I smile, and nod. "Yes Dad. Gotty's gone off with that girl tonight."
"I know. I'll have to have a word with him. I don't want him coming home telling us he's put her in the family way."
I giggle. "You're disgusting! Leave him alone!"
Dad stops at the back of the sofa and looks at me. "Disgusting! I don't know what to do with you youngsters today. That one is off kissing and cuddling with every girl he can get his hands on, and you think the sun shines out of the backside of the bloke upstairs." He tuts loudly. "Thank God I've got Gunther with his head screwed on."
I giggle again. "Gunther is a carophile."
"A what?"
I laugh. "He loves cars. He tells me he's saving up for an Audi TT."
Dad grunts. "I hope he can afford the insurance, because he's not getting it off me!"
I decide to tease him. "Mum says she'll pay for the insurance if he buys the car."
Dad snorts again. "She spoils you lot too much! I had to work for every mark I needed." Then he starts. "Look at all that paraphernalia you and your brother have got in your room! I could have bought a trawler for what that lot has cost! Anyway, I hear you're off to a rock concert tomorrow. What's happened to your singing lessons this weekend?"
I chuckle. "I will be singing, Dad. I'll be rocking and rolling."
Dad giggles. "Come here and give me a hug."
I go round the sofa and hug him. Then I kiss his cheek, and say, "I love you, you grumpy old monkey."
Dad grins, and then winks at me. "Not half as much as your Dad loves you."
**********
When Gareth's face appears on the laptop screen, I feel a sense of guilt, and that's because of what happened to me when Kurt was talking about staying at Bedri's and when he was on about Bedri being the best lover of boys around.
**********
Although I hid it from Kurt, my pinkler was rock hard when he was saying those things, and ever since, every time I think about what happened at Bedri's place last time - and I can never think about his place without remembering his beautiful, twinkling, mischievous, sexy eyes – I get a solid hard on. There's just something about the place, and Bedri, that turns me on. Well, I know what it is: sex. Pure sex... the kind that Kurt described. Our greatest satisfaction is knowing that we; our bodies, are so utterly desirable that they can drive somebody crazy with lust. That's the greatest turn on of all... knowing you're desirable. That's why I'm excited. Tomorrow night Bedri will be looking at me; wanting me; wishing he could have my balls and pinkler; the softness of my young body; the use of my bum; the taste of what semen I can make now, and I can make proper stuff now... really white stuff like Gottwin can.
But Gareth is different. Yes, he wants my body. In fact he adores my body, and the sex we have, and I feel exactly the same as he does. But it's what comes after that makes what we have so special: love. That's why we're so complete, because we have both. If I didn't love Gareth then maybe I might want sex with him, but if ever we were parted and couldn't ever have sex again, then I couldn't stop loving him. That's what I can't get my head around.
Before Gareth, none of this love and sex stuff between a boy and a man existed for me. I did like some of the stuff I did with Herr Biermaier, but it was only some of the things we did... especially when Hansie was sucking him off and Herr Biermaier's spunk was dripping from his mouth while I was fucking Hansie's little bum. That was pure sex: gay sex; and I think that may have been the moment when, subconsciously, my brain accepted that I was gay. But there wasn't a smite of love amongst that lot. Gareth is the thing that makes everything special. Because I love him.
**********
I smile at Gareth. "How's the business deal going on?"
He smiles back. "Fine. Most of the hard work is done. We did a great deal. Four hundred and ten million dollars for Kaisaki Industries."
I give out a loud whistle. "Wow! How much of that will you get?"
Gareth grins. "Thirty five percent... less taxes. But the company is owned by an offshore account, so the taxes won't be a lot."
I laugh. "How much will I have to spend then?"
Gareth gives me one of his special smiles. "Because I love the sexiest boy in the world, he can have all of it if he wants."
I chuckle. "What happened to the fifteen year old you thought was cute? Has he been cut out of your will?"
Gareth laughs. "He can't sing like an angel."
I pull a face at him. "You're doing it again."
"Again?"
"Yes, you're bringing love into it when I'm feeling sexy."
He laughs. "Well just hold on a minute before you start performing. I've got something to tell you. We're going to get married in a little chapel in South Wales when we go there during the school holidays this year. Now take those bloody clothes off!"
I giggle. "Not before I tell you something."
"What's that?"
"I'm going with Kurt to an open air rock concert in Potsdam tomorrow, and we're staying overnight there with some of his friends, so I won't be able to speak to you tomorrow night."
Gareth shakes his head. "I don't believe you two! Whatever am I going to do with you both?"
"Love us?"
Gareth smiles. "That I do, but I only want to see one of you naked, so get on with it! But before you do, I want to make you jealous."
I stare at him, puzzled by what he's going to say, and ask, "And what's that?"
He grins. "You going to Potsdam suits me fine. I'm having a late dinner with Mr Miyagi and his family tomorrow evening, and I'll be seeing my new cute boy."
I laugh, place the laptop on the already positioned small table at the bottom corner of the bed, and adjust it so I'll be visible on the bed, and then look into the screen and ask, "Is that positioned right? Yes? Okay. Well, Herr Moneybags, let's see if he can do this?"
Very slowly I strip off, lie on the bed, caress my body with my hands, and for the next half hour, I climax three times in three different ways whilst looking at my Beautiful Man sitting in a chair watching everything I do.
********** *********** ********** ********** **********
Gareth.
Aleric. He was so taken up with sex that he missed the most important part of our conversation, which was that we're going to get `married' in a small chapel in South Wales. But that's what sex does to him. I'm sure if I'd mentioned it after he outed his needs, then he would have pumped me about my plans. But it's just as well. I want it to be a surprise to him.
I told him a little white lie before I left. I told him I needed two days in the UK to prepare for the business going on here. I didn't. One would have done. But I had things to do the first day, and that's why I caught an early morning flight to London Heathrow and boarded a hired helicopter to take me to South Wales.
Two months ago when the boys were at school and I was at the apartment doing some work, I went online and looked for places for us to stay in South Wales, where I'd promised to take Aleric in the summer. And as I often do when surfing the `net, I got sidetracked by other things... especially the memories of the things that matter to me.
Memories. I have lots of them, especially those happy times I spent with my grandparents when I was a small child and they lived in Abergavenny before they moved to Builth Wells when I was an adult. An hours' drive would see us on the south coast, on the Barry Peninsula and picnics at LLantwit Major where the coastline was rugged and windswept, much like our special place at Wieck on the Baltic Sea.
So I got sidetracked, and went from looking for places to stay to houses for sale. Then something caught my eye that excited me the moment I saw it.
LLantwit Major. Chapel Farm. A 19th century six-bedroom detached house for sale on the coast. A superb, individual property enjoying open south westerly aspect and sea views. Lounge, family room, dining room, kitchen-breakfast room, utility room, cloakroom, and large entrance hall. Master bedroom with en suite shower room; five further double bedrooms with bathrooms. It also has a double garage that was formerly farm buildings and, with planning permission, has potential for further development; generous parking provision, and this property is sold with 2 acres of land, which includes a disused chapel that has outline planning permission for development. £600,000.
Disused chapel. That's what caught my eye. Fate... or that bloody spirit again? Whatever, after I'd look at all the photographs of the place, I was on the phone right away and asked the selling agents what the position was. They told me that an offer had been put in but the owner was holding out for the full price. Then, after further interrogation, they told me it was a second home and vacant on possession. In fact it was vacant right then.
Money talks. And it did. Within a few hours my lawyers in London had got the deal sewn up and the place was mine subject to me taking possession within four weeks. I know how property deals work in the UK, and I was well aware that solicitors drag their feet for months when they're dealing with ordinary folk. But I'm not an ordinary folk. I'm that bastard venture capitalist from South Wales, and when I want something as bad as I wanted that property, nobody pisses me about. I wanted that chapel for my boy, the most precious person in the world, and I wanted it not for development... I wanted it so it could be restored to its original state before mid-august... restored before I would marry him on the last Sunday of the month.
I didn't require planning permission to restore the chapel. It was about a hundred and twenty years old, had previously been a Baptist chapel, was deconsecrated as a place of worship, but that didn't bother me, and it was never used for burials, so that wasn't a problem either. All I wanted was what had once been a holy place and somewhere that had not been despoiled. I was thinking along the lines that if Aleric's God was around then he'd bless the place anyway.
Dai Williams is from Llantwich Major. He's a Master-Builder... one of the few left who are old school. I spoke to him personally from my office in Berlin as soon as the deal was completed. I told him exactly what I wanted and the timescale he would be working to. He said he would go and look at the place and I was to get back to him in a couple of days, and knowing how Welsh people work, I was pleasantly surprised when I rang back to discover that he'd actually gone and looked at the place. I got the usual spiel that there was this and that to be done and that the roof was leaking and needed a new one and also needed re-leading etc... etc. I told him that he reminded me of my grandfather. He laughed at that remark. I think that's when he began to like me. Well, that's when he began to take me seriously. And vice versa. When I asked him for a price, I expected more spiel, but he'd already done his homework. £116,580 plus VAT, and that included restoring the leaded windows, which he said were original and quite beautiful. Then he threw in a sweetener. He had some one hundred year old oak he would use to restore the door, which had been damaged when the old church furniture was being taken out, and he wouldn't charge me for that.
So, when the helicopter landed, it was on my own land at LLantwich Major, not fifty yards from the chapel where work was already taking place to restore it, and for the first time I was able to look at what I'd bought. Dai Williams was there to meet me. It had all been arranged. I liked him immediately. Grey hair and plenty of it; in his late fifties; a weatherworn face, which you would expect of a man who worked outdoors most of his life; rotund rather than fat; intelligent but with a keen sense of wit, and laughing eyes. In some ways he reminded me of an older Ralf. Yes, I liked him a lot.
Dai is a clever man. I did my homework on him before I telephoned him. He did his homework on me before he gave me a price. That's why he was prepared for a city guy... a Suit Boy... a damned wealthy suit boy who could fly about in helicopters when the need arose. That's why he didn't piss me about when he showed me around my own place. The house is lovely, but the gardens needed some TLC. Dai said he would arrange for a permanent gardener for me, but the man he had in mind was retired and would require cash-in-hand. The same applied to the cleaner-cum-housekeeper who would look after the main house and the chapel when I was away. I know how it works... I was back home. I asked him if he knew anyone who could refurbish the interior. He said he knew just the person who could do that, but it might cost me an arm and a leg if I wanted original stuff... cash of course. I know how it works... I was back home, and that's why I took him to the local pub and we had lunch.
Lunch. Home-made steak and ale pie and chips washed down with two pints of real ale. I was back home and loving every minute of it. No bullshit here... just honest down-to-earth Welsh hospitality with my new Master-Builder pal. So, by the time lunch was over, effectively, I'd employed someone to manage my property, and I couldn't have chosen a better person than Dai. And to seal the deal and to make myself number one client in Dai's book, after he'd told me that he was the conductor of the local Welsh Male Voice Choir, I told him that my office would contact him, and henceforth, Gareth Rhys-Jones Enterprises would be his sponsors, providing, that is, when I returned in late august, everything was done to perfection.
My final act of the day before I boarded the helicopter back to London was to go to the bank and arrange for a cheque to be cashed for £100,000. Dai and I had to wait thirty minutes while it was being arranged, but with it being a small bank, Dai would not be able to collect it until the following day. This was business done the Welsh way... enough cash for Dai to take on the job and pay for wages and stuff he needed, plus paying the gardener and housekeeper-cum-cleaner. Dai would declare part of the job and I'd pay that as I would a normal bill. He would want more. Refurbishing the interior had not been part of his initial estimate. But we were all winners. I wouldn't be paying VAT on tens of thousands of Dai's work or on the interior fittings, and he wouldn't be paying tax on the same amount. I know how it works... I was back home.
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I take my Bourbon and go to the window overlooking Tokyo Bay. This is a world of flashing neon lights and bubbling, vivacious humanity. I love it... I adore it. It gets the adrenaline flowing in my veins. But I'd swap it all right now if I was cuddling Aleric on the windswept Jurassic coast of the beaches near to the house and chapel I've bought. There's archaeological evidence that the area has been occupied by humans for over fourteen thousand years, but I'm pretty sure none of those humans have ever loved more than the two people who are going to exchange rings there in the late summer. God... I love my boy!
To be continued...
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