This chapter is longer than most but there are lots of lusty adventures to satisfy your libidinous desires. Please remember to rate and comment. Merci, Petitmort
Paul drove slowly along the tree-covered lane, marveling at the mansions on both sides of the street, each one nestled comfortably in landscaped estates of mature trees and flowering plants.
He was in Atherton, the most affluent of all the suburbs that line the peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose.
Jasmine had texted her home's address to him, which he dutifully put into his phone. Now, he was wondering if the GPS got it wrong.
Each mansion was more stately than the last. They seemed to emerge slowly from behind huge trees and ornate iron gates as he drove past.
He'd just had a heart to heart with Jasmine's mom, Jessica. She wanted to know why he hadn't yet broken off his relationship with her daughter.
He told her he tried, repeatedly, but he just couldn't. His heart wouldn't let him.
Despite his efforts to maintain a friends with benefits status, even sleeping with some of her college friends, their feelings for each other were as strong as ever.
Even stronger.
Now, he'd driven from Pleasure Point to Atherton to pick up Jasmine and take her to Chelsea's family's ranch in Petaluma, where they'd been invited for the weekend.
Paul was planning to use the two-hour drive to have a heart-to-heart with Jasmine. To tell her he was all wrong about not wanting to get emotionally involved.
He'd spent the last hour in the car thinking about what he wanted to say.
His phone led him to a large iron gate with ivy-covered stone walls. He couldn't even see the house from the street.
He pressed the button on the intercom. A moment later, he heard Jasmine's voice through the speaker.
"Yay, you're here! Come on up."
The gate slowly opened and he crept his convertible inside.
The driveway made an arcing entrance, snaking between towering oak trees, until a huge Italianate mansion appeared.
Four stories high, with hipped roofs and an imposing tower, it had bay windows, arched walkways, and a large wooden porch.
Jasmine was standing on the steps outside.
When he got out of the car, she ran up to him and jumped in his arms.
He held her tightly as she wrapped her legs around him.
"I'm so happy you're here," she said.
They kissed. A tender, lingering kiss.
"I almost thought I had the wrong address," he said. "This place is unbelievable."
"Yeah, don't freak out. It's much more comfortable than it looks from the outside."
He let her down, but she kept her body pressed against him.
"It's right out of
The Talented Mr. Ripley
," he said.
"It's kinda over the top, I know. My parents bought it when my dad got his first big movie deal. He called it 'the house Hollywood bought.'"
"It's amazing."
"C'mon. I'll show you around."
She took him by the arm and led him inside.
The entranceway was as grand as the facade. Enormously tall ceilings, tiled floors, double curved staircases.
"It was built in the 1880s. Technically, it's a Victorian but it's heavily influenced by Italian and Renaissance architecture. You know, like the homes you see in Florence and Milan."
"I wouldn't know."
"Oh, well, it's got all the hallmarks of Romanticism. The porticos, the woodwork, the focus on nature."
"I'll take your word for it," he said, wryly.
She took him through the entranceway past a large sitting room, a library, multiple fireplaces, and a room with a closed door.
"Check this out."
She opened the door to a darkened room.
"Lights," she called out.
The lights came on revealing a screening room, with a large movie screen and assorted couches and chairs.
"Screening."
The lights dimmed.
"Cleaning."
The lights became bright again.
"Never mind," she said. "Turn 'em off."
The room went dark.
She closed the door and led him down the hall.
"When my mom worked at Google, she turned it into a smart home. This is the kitchen."
The huge kitchen had an extension made entirely of glass. The mid-morning sun shone brightly through the glass ceiling.
"Shades," she said.
The glass instantly tinted, shading the bright sun.
"Anyway, my mom put in a lot of gadgets. Come on, I'll show you my room."
She opened a door to the backyard and led him across an expansive patio next to a pool.
"There's a cottage in the back that used to be the servants' quarters. We didn't have servants, so we used it as a guest room. Now, I get to use it. You'll like it, it's in the trees and very secluded."
She gave him a sly look.
A cute little cottage sat nestled near a grove of redwoods.
He smiled. That was Jasmine all over. A nature lover. Just like him.
She opened the door and turned on the light.
"No automated lights?" he chuckled.
"Nah, I don't need all that stuff."
It was a simple, two-room cottage, with a bedroom, kitchenette, and bathroom. Spartan, with a wood-carved, queen poster bed, it had a desk and bookshelves lined with books.
On the desk, a framed black and white photograph showed a man and a young girl of about eight or so. She was looking at a piece of paper and he was listening intently.
"That's my dad and me. I used to write fairy tales and read them to him. He was very supportive."
Paul nodded,
"So this was your room growing up?"
"No, my childhood bedroom was in the house. My mom let me move in here when I was a senior in high school. I think she was trying to build up my independence. She's very strategic that way."
"Oh, I know. She's always thinking three steps ahead."
He looked at the posters on the wall behind her bed. A Van Gogh. A Seurat. Photos of artists, writers, and musicians. Dorothy Parker. Joan Didion. Isabelle Allende. Georgia O'Keefe. Joni Mitchell. A young Bob Dylan.
She threw herself onto her bed, laying back on the pillows.
"So, this is my crib. Whaddya think?"
"I like it," he said, laying next to her. "It reminds me a lot of my friend Maddie's place. With all the books."
"I can't wait to meet Maddie."
"She wants to meet you too."
She lay her hand softly on his chest.
"So, I wanna hear about your internship. How's it going?"
"It's going great. I've already gotten out on the water."
"Really?"
Paul was in the first week of his summer internship at MBARI, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, working as a research apprentice.
"We went out on their boat. Or, their 'research vessel' as they call it."
"What were you doing?"
"Maintaining their oceanographic moorings. Next week, we're gonna prep sensors and then deploy them."
"Cool."
"Yeah, I'm pretty psyched about it. They said I'm gonna help teach an AI machine learning model to identify marine predators. Orcas, sharks, that kind of thing."
She smiled at him.
"I'm so happy for you. It's just what you were hoping for. Doing real research."
He checked out her walls.
"So, how come you have a picture of Steph Curry on your wall?"
She looked at the picture.
"He's one of my heroes. He gave me my first job."
"He what?" he chuckled.
"When I was a sophomore, I babysat his kids. Not at night, just during the day. They live next door."
"You live next door to Steph Curry?"
"Yep. He's great. One of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Why, are you a fan?"
"I'm a huge Warriors fan."
