Chapter 27

The Blind Lunch Date


Back at my place, the first thing I did was to take my clothes off.... and get into the shower! I took out my braces, and rinsed my mouth out, then washed my hair, then my body, and finally brushed my teeth and my braces. Having towelled myself down, I went into my bedroom, where Amanda was waiting.

"Oooh, yes, you smell a bit better now" said Amanda, putting her arms around my still slightly damp body, "but there's just one thing: take your braces out...."

I took my braces out, and put them on the bedside table.

"Now, put these in...". She had my twinblocks in her hand. I took the top one, and pushed it firmly up into my mouth: whilst my fake brackets had 'loosened' due to the regular wear, these were still very tight, needing a bit more effort to put them in, and even more to remove them. Then I took the lower appliance, and pushed that firmly down onto my lower teeth. I let my tongue run over them... over the large expanse of plastic in my mouth, and over my teeth. Then I felt the clasps and the wires.... It all felt very good! It was a shame that I couldn't really wear these out in public, as they were by far my most favourite of my appliances. Ok, well maybe first equal with my double headgear. Or the facemask....

Amanda pushed me gently back onto the bed, and got on top of me, then put her mouth to mine, pushing her tongue furtively into my mouth so that she could feel the wires and clasps and the small amount of plastic that was on the front of my teeth. I could tell that she also needed to feel the large amount of plastic inside my mouth too, but I teased her by refusing her tongue's requests to open my mouth, forcing her tongue to keep feeling the metalwork outside of my teeth. After a while, I opened my jaws just enough to push my tongue through, still refusing her tongue entry. Our tongues danced together for a while, then finally I pulled my tongue back, giving her tongue the entrance that is desperately wanted. Whilst I could feel that her tongue was inside my mouth, the large amount of plastic meant that I could feel nothing unless her tongue happened to touch my tongue.

As we kissed, I ran my hand through her lovely long and naturally red hair. Then my hand went down a bit, to where the zipper was on her dress: I took hold of it, and started to move it downwards. Then I moved my hands to her..... am I allowed to write the word 'bra' without breaking the rules of writing stories? I moved my hands to her bra, and undid it......

<the next bit you have to imagine for yourself>

We lay on top of the bed, holding each other.

"Is it too soon to say 'I love you'?" asked Amanda

"Well, we've been going out together for three weeks.. so no. Besides, I think I love you too...." I replied, kissing Amanda yet again. "So, I guess next weekend we'll need to decide if we want to continue our relationship."

"I guess there's actually no reason we can't decide now... I mean, you don't leave renewing your insurance to the last minute, do you?"

"So, do you want us to continue?" I asked

"Hell yes! I'm only just getting to know you, and I do like what I've seen so far. WHat about you?"

"Well, actually...." I said, teasing her a little, "... actually, I'd like to get to know you a lot more too, so yeah. What do you think, another 4 weeks? Or do you want to go longer?"

"Good question.... let's just go for another four weeks, I think by then we'll know how we feel about each other a lot better."

"Ok, so another four weeks it is....!". Whilst I didn't really doubt that we would both want to continue things, it was nevertheless a pleasant relief to know that we now had another five weeks to see how we got on. From my perspective, I've really enjoyed the last three weeks, it's been so much fun in so many different ways, and I was really looking forward to when Amanda got her braces!

I got dressed, Amanda got re-dressed, then we had time to sit down for a while, before we went to collect Janice. She was ready, and to be honest, looked quite gorgeous: she had clearly made a big effort to look especially good: She had her hair (still coloured red) clipped back and out of her face, a very gentle bit of carefully applied makeup, and nicely painted nails. Her outfit was simple, but very flattering. In fact, I was trying to think the last time she had spent as much time on her appearance when we had gone out somewhere together, before I'd met Amanda!

It didn't take long to get into town, and we were nicely on time as we walked up to the bistro, where Mike was already waiting for us.

"Hi Mike! So this is Janice... Janice, meet Mike!". The two of them looked at each other, and I got the feeling that their first impressions were good for both of them. "We have a table booked for.... about now" said Amanda, checking the time on the elegant watch she was wearing today. "Are we ready to go in?" she asked. She led the way inside where, needless to say, the staff recognised her.

"Good afternoon, Ms Spencer!" said the waitress who greeted us. "Please follow me, your table is ready for you...". Whilst I'd never been here myself, I could see why Amanda came here: it was nice and bright, felt spacious, and the decor was fresh. I sat down with Amanda to my right, Janice to my left, and Mike opposite me. "Someone will be over to take your drinks order in a moment, but here's the menu. If you look over at the blackboard, you'll see that we also have a few specials as well" said the waitress, who then left us.

Amanda looked over at Janice and Mike. "Guys, feel free to have whatever you like, do NOT worry about the price: I've kinda set you two up, so knock yourselves out, and enjoy the treat!". I was starting to appreciate that Amanda tried to be very generous where she could, not just to me, but to others. You hear stories about people who have money can be very stingy, but that was not Amanda. That's not to say she wasted her money, I would say she was 'wise' with it, using it to allow herself and others around her to have a pleasant time.

"So, Janice, Mike is one of our clerks at chambers: I'll not say any more, otherwise you won't have so much to talk about. Mike, I know that Janice works at the Natural History Museum, doing some sort of scientific research, and I'm actually interested to learn what it is she does too, but again, I'm going to leave it to you to ask her about it! I guess I should also introduce my boyfriend Danny, I think you guys have met briefly once before... As far as I can work it out, Danny does technical support and training at some sort of manufacturing equipment place, and of course, I'm a barrister, working at the same chambers as Mike" said Amanda, introducing everyone.

The drinks waitress appeared a moment later. "Do you know what you'd like to drink yet?"

Amanda was looking at the drinks menu. "I have a fun idea: who would like some Pimms?" she asked. I will admit that I've never had Pimms before, so I was willing to try. I nodded.

"I've heard about them, but never actually tried one, so yes please!" replied Janice.

"I'd like to try one too" said Mike.

"Ok, so a good sized pitcher of Pimms then, plus I guess some water too".

We all spent a few minutes looking at the menus, and at the list of specials, then having all decided, Amanda looked up towards the waiting waiter ho came straight over. "You're ready to order?" she asked. We each told him what we'd like, with him asking us how we'd like things cooked, fries or baked potato and so on.

With our order taken, things went silent for a bit. It was clear that both Janice and Mike were a little awkward. "So, Janice, do tell us a bit about what you do at the Natural History Museum" said Amanda, starting the ball rolling.

"Well, I studied Environmental and Marine Biology, and I'm now part of a research project that's looking into bird evolution. It probably sounds quite boring, but we have an amazing collection of specimens at the museam - most of which the public don't get to see - that we are reviewing using more up-to-date technology than was used originally, and we're actually discovering all sorts of interesting things" explained Janice, who spent a couple of minutes telling us a bit more about what she did.

"So, I know that a Barristers Chambers is where barristers work, but I have no idea what a Barrister's Clerk does" said Janice.

"So, whilst barristers like Amanda work at the chambers, they are actually all self employed, but pay for the privilege of having a fully-serviced office... so a bit like having a room at a Regus building. There's a whole team that provide everything the barristers need, from receptionists, IT support, as well a several clerks. We're sort of the 'Office Admin' team, but it goes a lot further than that. We look after their diaries, schedule their clients, send out bills, liaise with the courts, even do a bit of research too" explained Mike.

"You missed out the most important thing, Mike: you guys make us coffee, and make sure there's always a good stock of biscuits!" said Amanda

"So how did you get into doing that then?" asked Janice

"Well, like Amanda, I studied law at university. However, unlike Amanda, it wasn't as prestigious a university, and I didn't get as good a degree as I'm sure Amanda did... so rather than thinking about becoming a barrister or a solicitor, I decided to become a barrister's clerk"

"And does it help, having the law degree?" asked Janice.

"Well, I think it helped me get the job in the first place, but it also means I can help Amanda and her colleagues a lot better - when I read something legal, it actually makes a lot of sense to me..."

Once the two started talking, things went very well. We let them do most of the talking (and to be honest, I think we both found it interesting learning more about Mike and Janice), but joined in occasionally.

We all enjoyed the Pimms, and the food was excellent too. We even managed a desert! And Janice and Mike seemed to be chatting together quite happily.

"Janice... I don't suppose you'd like to do something together this evening would you? Maybe a drink at a pub or something" asked Mike as we left the Bistro.

"Yes" replied Janice, "I'd like that. Let me give you my number...."

"I'll see you again later" said Mike to Janice, as he left us. I looked over at Janice, and could see a smile on her face.

"Something tells me that you like him..." I said to her, as we all walked together through town.

"Yes, he is rather nice! Amanda, thank you so much for lunch, it was a lovely idea! And the company was rather good too!"

This story is moving on very nicely. You've taken great care to craft each character with all their back stories and it really adds to the enjoyment factor when reading.

Chapter 29

Patently a problem at work



First thing Tuesday morning, I had just arrived in the office, and was putting my bag down at my desk, when my boss came over.

"Hi, Danny. Can you make yourself available at half-past? There's a rather important meeting happening in the boardroom, and I'd like you to be there, we may need your skills"

"Yeah, no problems - what it's about?" I asked

"Probably best you get the full story in the meeting. So get a coffee sorted out, check your emails, then take your laptop up with you, just in case"

So, I grabbed a coffee, checked my emails, then just before half past, walked up to the board room with my coffee. The door was open, so I walked in, to find several of the bosses there, plus someone I don't know. It's always worrying when you're asked along to a meeting, and several of the bosses are there.

"Good morning," said Mr Jones, "Danny, isn't it? Come in, take a seat. I hear you are the person who is good at explaining stuff.... you did that training recently in Asia, didn't you?"

"Yes, that was me... so what's this meeting all about then?" I asked, sitting down, and putting my laptop on the table in front of me.

"We'll explain everything in a few minutes, once everyone is here. To be honest, we may not even need you...."

Over the next couple of minutes, several others came in: my immediate manager, the design manager, and a couple of the product design guys.

"Thank you all for coming. Can I introduce you all to Mr David Sampson, he's the company's solicitor. I'll let David explain things....

"Thank you. So, I'm David Sampson, I work for Davis, Smith and Lyons solicitors, we work with your company when they need any legal help. Yesterday, your company received a letter from a solicitor who represents one of your competitors, they are alleging an instance of patent infringement. We need your help to understand the issues here, and work out if there is, in fact, a patent infringement."

"Erm, excuse me... Mr Sampson...." I said, interrupting. "I'm Danny by the way.... I don't know if it could be at all relevant, but my girlfriend is an IP lawyer, I believe this is the sort of stuff she deals with all the time, I wonder if she may be of use to us?"

"Oh... who is your girlfriend?"

"She's Amanda Spencer, I don't know if you've heard of her?"

"Oh, I definitely know of her, she's at the top of my list of specialist lawyers to contact after this meeting."

"Would it help if I called her... like now?"

"Ummm.... why not, it might actually save us quite a bit of time......"

I took out my phone and called Amanda. She answered on the third ring.

"Hello sexy, what you doing calling during the day?" she said

"Hiya.... you got ten minutes?"

"Yeah, sure.... what is it?"

"Amanda.... this is a business call.... I'm in our boardroom, with several of our bosses and other people, plus the company's solicitor. It seems that we've been accused of patent infringement, and I was thinking you might be able to help us."

"Sounds exactly like what I do...."

"Ok, why don't I put you on speakerphone, and pass you over to Mr Sampson, he's the solicitor?"

"Sounds good to me...". I set the phone to speakerphone mode.

"Can you hear us ok?" I asked her

"Loud and clear... go ahead!"

"Hello, Ms Spencer, I'm David Sampson, I work for Davis, Smith and Lyons solicitors, we represent Jones Machinery. Yesterday, the company received a letter from Brigstock and Parks, who are the solicitors for Gumball Processing, claiming a patent infringement. I'll admit that patent infringement isn't a particularly strong point for me, so I was planning on calling your office after this meeting, then Danny offered to call you. I'm wondering if you may be free and able to help us with this issue?"

"Good morning David, do call me Amanda. I don't think we've actually spoken before, but I have worked with a couple of your colleagues before." said Amanda. "Yes, definitely something I can help you with. I'm actually free at the moment, I wonder if it might be useful if I just come over there right now? I know where Danny works, I could probably be with you in 10 or 15 minutes..."

"Oh, excellent, yes, I think it could be VERY helpful. I'll have a word with our office to contact your clerk, to make everything official - I'll assume standard rates?"

"Sound fine by me. Ok, can you get copies of the relevant documents organised? I'll be with you shortly... Danny, you there?"

"Yes, I'm here"

"Can you meet me in your reception?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Anything else?"

"Ummm, I'm gonna need internet access at some point, I know in some places that can be a pain to organise, so can you make it happen?"

"Sure, no problem!"

"Ok, I'll be with you as soon as I can!". She ended the call.

"Danny, thank you for that, that might make things happen a lot faster. Can I suggest we all take a short break while we wait for Ms Spencer to arrive".

I called the IT support team. "Guys, I need a contractor login for the wifi please... name is Amanda Spencer..... she's a legal lady coming in to sort out a problem. Can you email me the details when you've done it, please?... Thanks!". Luckily the IT guys knew me well enough that when I asked for something like that, they were willing to help. I went downstairs and had a word with Brinda on reception.

"I'm guessing this is related to the solicitor guy who's here?"

"Yeah, Amanda is a specialist in patent law. You'll remember her, she dropped off that rose for me a few weeks ago".

"Oh yes, she was nice..." said Brinda with a smile

A couple of minutes later I saw Amanda's car arrive: she went and parked and came in to reception.

"Hi Danny!" she said, giving me a 'professional hug and kiss'. As ever, Amanda was dressed perfectly, her look clearly saying 'I'm here to do business'. "Hello again," she said to Brinda with a pleasant smile. "I had to double park.... if I give my keys to Danny, then you can call him if it needs to be moved, that going to be ok? Got a bit of paper and a pen?". She took the pen and wrote down her registration number.

"Ok, so I filled in your visitor pass, but you'll need to sign it.....". Brinda took the pass, and put it into a plastic holder, and passed it to Amanda.

"Your call was timed nicely," Amanda said to me, "because I didn't have anything specific in my diary for today. Ok, so let's go meet your bosses, and see if I can sort out your problems". I led Amanda up to the boardroom, where everyone was waiting. I was about to introduce her, but she did that herself: "Good morning everyone!" she said, clearly taking command of the room. "I'm Amanda Spencer, I'm an Intellectual Property Lawyer, and I'm here to assist you with your Patent issue...."

"Good morning, Amanda, David Sampson, we spoke a few minutes ago. Thank you for coming straight over. Please take a seat, and maybe everyone can introduce themselves very briefly" She sat down, putting her bag down next to her, and taking out a notepad and pen. One of the bosses went around the table, asking everyone to briefly introduce themselves.

"And finally, I guess you know Danny.."

"Yes, I do, but Danny, can you tell me your relevant skillset?". Wow, she was handling things very professionally.

"Product installation, pre and post-sales tech support, and training" I replied

"We asked Danny in, because he will be good at giving you a good overview, and a certain level of detail, of our products", added my manager.

"Ok, thank you all for that information", and she wrote notes for a moment

"Amanda, would you like a coffee?" I asked as she wrote.

"Oh, yes please...". She didn't need to say how she wanted it, I knew that she usually had it white with no sugar. I was about to go to the kitchen to get the coffee, when someone pointed out that containers of coffee and biscuits had been brought into the room. I poured two coffees, one for me, one for Amanda, then took the coffee, and the plate of biscuits, and put them on the table next to Amanda. Over the next few minutes, David and Amanda talked, then Amanda scanned through the legal documents.

"Ok, so this is a very common thing we see: Gumball Processing believe that we have used their patented process, and quite rightly, want to get some money out of us. In principle, there's 3 general responses we can make. First, we prove to them that we are not in breach of their copyright, in which case they drop the case, and that's pretty much an end to things. Second, we accept that we HAVE breached their patent, fully or in part, in which case it's my job to help negotiate a suitable licensing deal with them. The third is that we don't reach a suitable agreement, and we go to court. We want to avoid number 3 if at all possible: it will take too long, it will cost too much, and our products could end up in 'limbo' until things get sorted out." I quickly picked up on the way she was using the word 'we' and 'our', making it very clear that she was on our side.

"Now, one thing I should make clear to you all is that there should be no blame here. Unless one of you knowingly used the information in the patent, then the breach of the patent was undoubtedly accidental. The first thing I need to do is to work with you guys to understand the patent, and understand the way YOUR equipment works, so I can ascertain whether there IS a breach or not."

The meeting went on for pretty much the whole morning. I had received the email from the IT guys, and got Amanda's wifi connected: she needed to get online to pull up the patent details, which we displayed with the projector, so everyone could see.

Having worked out what bit of our kit the patent was applying to, I gave a product overview - using some of my training slides - and a bit more detail relating to that relevant module. She also had an initial chat with the design guys.

"Ok, thank you, everyone, for all the information, I don't know about you, but I need a break and some lunch. After lunch, I think I would like to talk with the design team in a bit more detail. I'm guessing that you probably have some original design notes, so if you can dig those out, and find the relevant bits, that might be very helpful....."

Before this morning, I didn't really appreciate what Amanda did, how she did it, and how completely professional and in control of things she could be. My respect level for her was way off the chart, and it explained so much of the Amanda that I was getting to know.

"Hey, can I take you to lunch?" asked Amanda. "This time it's a legitimate expense!". We walked the short distance to town and found somewhere to eat.

"Wow, Amanda, that was pretty impressive, the way you took control in there...." I said as we looked at the menu

"It's the way I work... the way I have to work. If I don't keep things tightly focussed, then we can waste a lot of time. And I will admit, you came over pretty professional too. And hey, thanks for calling me in the first place, I was wondering what I was going to do this week! The court case I was supposed to go to got adjourned yet again.". I explained to her what had happened, and that the solicitor had her at the top of his list to call after the meeting.

"Yeah, the problem then would be that their guys talk to my guys, and it's several days before we could have all got together. No, systems are there to bypassed when needed, and today has worked out well for everyone. Anyway, it's lunchtime, less work talk! What are we going to eat?"

By the end of the day, it had become quite clear that we had, in part, used the tech in their patent, and Amanda had already spoken to the other company's lawyer, and got an approximate cost for licensing the technology. She asked me to get the relevant managers together.

"I've had some great help from all the staff today, so do please thank them all. Moving on to the claim: it's clearly your choice, but I strongly recommend that we accept that we breached their patent, and that we should pay these licence fees - they are actually very reasonable" said Amanda to them, showing them the figures. "I suspect that re-engineering our product would cost us way more, and besides, it appears that the current design work for the upgraded product will breach that patent even more. There are 3 or 4 other patents that their lawyer has highlighted to me, I suggest that we carefully review those too. In addition, I can recommend a good patent engineer, and I suggest that you might want to get him to do an in-depth patent review with you"

So, today kinda sums up Amanda: she knows her stuff, picks up new things very quickly, interacts amazingly with others, and is able to instantly take control of situations.

It also explains why she sometimes wants someone else to take control of things.

A very different chapter, but an opportunity to see our characters in a very different setting. Not much braces though, but we do get to meet a few more of Amanda's family.

------------------------

Chapter 31

Oh, no! (you'd better get those hankies out)


I had just got to work when I had a phone call from a very tearful Amanda:

"Danny.... I really need you...."

"Oh, what's happened?"

"I just just had a call from mum: it's grandpa, he's had a stroke, and he's...... he's...... he's dead!". I could hear sobbing from Amanda, which didn't surprise me in the least: she was VERY close to her grandparents, and grandpa was a REALLY nice guy. I'd gone with Amanda to have Sunday lunch with them a couple of weeks ago, and had found grandpa to be most welcoming, very laid back, and a truly nice person. Hearing the news that he had died brought a few tears to my eyes, so I knew Amanda would be in a mess.

"What can I do?" I asked

"Mum and dad are driving up, but they won't be there for ages, so I need to go up to be with grandma... but I'm in no fit state to drive there.... I don't suppose you could drive me, could you?"

"Of course... let me have a word with my boss, but I'm sure it will be fine..."

"Danny, thank you so much..... I love you!". We chatted a little more, I was trying hard to calm her down a little, but not sure I had a huge effect.

I went and had a word with my boss:

"Erm, I need a favour" I asked "A big favour"...

"What sort of favour?". I explained what had happened. "Are you doing anything that is time critical at the moment?"

"Not at all, I'm just working on some Tech Notes, and some more training materials"

"In that case go, be with Amanda. Keep in touch, let me know when you'll be back: if anything important happens, we can always call you."

"Thanks. I'll have my laptop, so I can always remote in....."

So I quickly packed my stuff, then walked through town to where Amanda's chambers were... I guess I could have called a taxi, but it would probably have been no faster, plus the walk gave me a few moments to gather my thoughts. As I walked, I called the chambers, and spoke to Suzannah, asking if she could be there in reception when I got there.

"What's going on?" Suzannah asked when I got there.

"Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

"Sure...". Suzannah lead me to a small meeting room. "I went in to see her about ten minutes ago, and she was in quite a state, crying"

"Yeah, she'd just had a call from her mum: her grandpa had a stroke last night, and has died". We were both silent for a moment.

"Shit, that is terrible news! I'm not surprised she's in such a state, she loved her grandpa! So what's happening?"

"I'm going to drive her up to be with her grandma, which means she's going to be out of circulation for a day or two at minimum: what's in her diary?"

Suzannah typed on the tablet that she had with her. "She's clear this morning, but has a client this afternoon... then nothing tomorrow morning, but another client in the afternoon."

"Ok, so you'll definitely need to cancel the one this afternoon... how about you pre-warn tomorrow's client that there's a possibility you'll need to cancel... but you can confirm early tomorrow morning what's happening"

"That sounds like a plan to me. Anything else I can do?"

"Yes, I'm sure you have some small bottles of water around... can you get... hmm, four bottles for us, for the drive? Oh, and can you tell Chris". (Chris is the head of chambers, who we had dinner with a few weeks ago)

"No problem. I will need to get you signed in on reception, then I'll take you up to her..."

"Thanks: look, you have my number, if there's anything you need, call me rather than Amanda"

"Ok, yeah, I understand"

Having signed in, we walked up to the second floor, and Suzanna knocked on her door. "Just go straight in" she suggested. Amanda was sat on the settee, over by the window. I put my bag down and went straight over to her, and put my arms around her.

"Thank you for coming, Danny..." she said between sobs.

"That's ok, I'm yours for as long as you need me....". As we held each other, I spotted a decanter and some glasses, I guess normally used when she had important clients visiting. "Hey, let me get you a drink.....".

"What at this time of the morning?"

"Don't argue, it will help relax you a little". I took the glass stopper out of the rather nice cut glass decanter, and poured her a good sized glassful: from the smell, I guessed it was brandy.

"Here, drink...." I said, passing it to her. She stood up, looked at the glass for a couple of seconds, then drank it down in a single go. Three seconds later she took a couple of deep breaths, as the strong alcohol hit her.

I held Amanda in my arms again, trying hard to comfort her. "I had a word with Suzannah: your diary is clear this morning, and she's going to cancel your client this afternoon, then we'll sort out tomorrow a little later. So what's the plan, assuming there is one?". From a combination of my being there, plus maybe also the strong alcohol, Amanda was starting to calm down.

"So mum and dad are on their way, but they won't be there till a lot later, it's a long drive from Cornwall... so I need to get up to be with grandma as soon as I can. Evelyn (that's Amanda's sister) can't make it till this afternoon, and Alfie is away on business, so not sure if he'll make it any time soon"

"We planning on staying over tonight?"

"Yes, I think so. I'm ok, I keep a 'grab bag' in my boot, in case I need to be away unexpectedly, but we'll need to drop by your place so you can grab a change of clothes."

There was a knock at the door. "Come in" I said. Chris, the head of the chambers came in, and walked over to Amanda.

"Amanda, I'm so sorry to hear your news, I know you were very close to both your grandparents, but I'm glad Danny is here for you. Look, Suzanna has explained things, and she seems to have things under control, so just take as much time as you need"

"Thanks Chris...." Amanda replied. There was another knock on the door, and Suzanna came in.

"I've got the water for you, I also put in some packs of biscuits: I'll leave them on the desk.." she said

"Thanks Suzannah" I replied, and she left again. "You want to get going, or do you want a bit more time?" I asked Amanda.

"Let's get going" she said, taking my hand. On the way out, we grabbed our bags, plus the carrier bag with the water in. I drove us to my place, went in and quickly grabbed my washbag and a change of clothes and shoes, then we started driving up to her grandparents' place. Traffic was fairly light, so we made good time. About 15 minutes before we arrived, Amanda used the car's hands-free to call her grandma. It turned out that she was still at the hospital, having had to sort out some paperwork, but was waiting for a taxi, so would be home when we arrived.

Moments after I pulled the car into the driveway, her grandma came out the front to greet us.

"Go... be with her" I commanded. She rushed over to her grandma, and threw her arms around her. I got out the car more slowly, went over to them, and put my arms around both of them. There were no suitable words for that moment, so we all just held each other for a while.

A few minutes later, we all went into the house: I could sort out our stuff in the car later. "Hey, it's nice outside: why don't you two go and chat out in the garden, and I'll make us all some tea. Oh, Amanda, can I have your phone please?"

"Pardon?"

"Your phone... The last thing you need right now is a phone call interrupting you, so I'll act as your 'Personal Assistant' for the moment"

"Ah... ok.....". I don't think Amanda was 100% with it: she took the phone from her bag without any argument, and passed it to me, telling me the passcode. Wow, that is some trust she has for me! I put her phone in my right hand trouser pocket, mine was in my left pocket. While Amanda went outside with her grandma, I made some tea: I vaguely remembered where stuff was, but it took me a moment to find the actual tea! I got a tray, put the teapot, 3 mugs (I decided that mugs would be better than elegant cups and saucers if we were drinking outside!), strainer, small jug with some milk in, and the sugar bowl on to it, and carried it outside, putting it on the picnic table.

Amanda and her grandma were chatting as I walked out, which was good. I put the tray down on the table. Hell, what do you say to a lovely older lady whose amazing husband just died? Or to Amanda, whose grandpa just died, for that matter? I guess I'm lucky, all four of my grandparents are still alive, I've not suffered the pain of their deaths yet, so I didn't really have much experience with this.

"Hey, grandma, how do you like your tea?" I asked.

"A touch of milk, and one small spoon of sugar, please Danny" was her reply. I put a little milk into the cup (which I'm told is absolutely the correct way to make tea!), then poured the tea from the pot, through the strainer, and into her mug. I then added a small spoon of sugar, stirred it well, and passed it to her.

"Thank you, Danny... and thank you for bringing Amanda up to see me!"

"That's ok, grandma, it's the least I could do". I didn't dare mention the state that Amanda had been in earlier on. "Amanda.. white no sugar?" I asked.

"Yes please". I poured her cup of tea out, passed it to her, then did mine, then moved one of the chairs so I could sit down next to Amanda. As I looked at Amanda, I could tell she had been crying a little, so took her hand.

I took a deep breath. "Well, I only met grandpa that once, a few weeks ago, but he was a really nice guy" I said. The three of us sat out in the pleasant sunshine, drinking our teas, and talking about grandpa. Well, I mainly listened, and grandma and Amanda exchanged stories and memories.

I had finished my tea, and whilst sitting there with Amanda and grandma was nice, it was a bit boring for me. Amanda picked up on that fact: "Hey, Danny, don't feel you have to stay with us... if you want to go in and do some work or whatever, that's ok with us". So I went to the car, got my PC bag out from the boot, and went inside. I set up my laptop on the kitchen table, found the wifi login from the router - which was in the hall - and started working on the Tech Notes.   

As I worked, Amanda's phone pinged a few times, with non-urgent emails. Just before 12, her phone rang: it was her sister, Evelyn.

"Hello Evelyn, this is Danny" I said. I should add that I had never met or spoken to Evelyn before.

"Oh, hello Danny, why are you answering Amanda's phone then?"

"Oh, I confiscated it from her earlier, so she could spend some time with grandma, without getting distracted"

"Good idea! How are grandma and Amanda?"

"They are both out in the garden, chatting and reminiscing about grandpa. By the way, I'm so sorry about your grandpa, Amanda told me how much you both enjoyed coming here to visit him"

"Yeah, he was a lovely guy...."

"So, would you like to speak to Amanda?"

"Not necessarily, I was really ringing to let her know that I was about to leave, and I'll be with you in about 30 to 45 minutes.... hey, have you guys planned any lunch yet - it's just that I could pick up some sandwiches and stuff on the way if you like"

"Let me go outside, and have a word...". I walked out with the phone. "Amanda, Evelyn's on the phone, she's just about to leave, so will be here in about 30 to 45 minutes, but she was asking if we'd like her to pick up some sandwiches on the way". I passed her the phone.

"Hi there Evelyn, how you doing?". Slight pause as Evelyn replied. "Yes, sandwiches sounds like an excellent idea - grandma, you ok with some sandwiches for lunch?" Grandma nodded. "Yes, sandwiches will be great, and some nice cakes too." Another pause. "No, just the three of us and you, mum and dad won't be here for another 2 to 3 hours". They chatted a few moments more, then ended their call. "So Evelyn's gonna get us some lunch, and will be here soon".

"In that case, I'm going to nip in and use the loo" said grandma, leaving me alone with Amanda for a moment. Amanda passed her phone back to me. "You know, I'm glad you took my phone, it's stopped me from getting distracted".

"You guys ok?"

"Yeah, amazingly so. But I think grandma is glad to have someone here, I have a feeling that she would have struggled a bit if she were alone". As she talked, she looked at me, with amazingly relaxed, loving eyes. I went back inside again, and started working again. About 10 minutes later, Amanda's phone rang again: this time it was her mum, another person I'd never spoken with,

"Hello Amanda's mum, this is Danny"

"Hi Danny, nice to talk to you, albeit not in the best of circumstances. I'm betting you've taken Amanda's phone from her to stop her getting distracted?"

"Yup, that's the idea. How's your journey going?"

"We've just stopped for a break and a drink near Bristol, the traffic has been terrible, but it seems to getting better now. According to Google maps, we should be with you in a couple of hours. Has Evelyn got there yet?"

"No, she just rang a few minutes ago, she's on her way though, bringing some lunch. Amanda and grandma are out in the garden chatting,  they both seem to be coping ok. I don't know what the weather is there, but it's lovely sunshine here."

"Oh, good, I'm so glad you two were able to get there so soon, I can't think how grandma is feeling."

"Do you want to speak to Amanda?"

"No, I won't disturb her, just let her know how we're doing, and that we'll see them both soon."

"Ok, fine. Do call again if there's any problems..."

"Ok. Thanks Danny!". I went outside, and passed the message on, then stayed outside and chatted with them for a bit, then went back inside again. It wasn't long before I heard a car arrive, so went to open the front door. A lady, aged around 30, got out of the car.

"Hi, I'm Evelyn, I'm guessing you must be Danny. Here, want to take this?". She passed me a carrier bag containing sandwiches and cakes.

"Hi Evelyn, nice to meet you, Amanda has mentioned you a few times"

Evelyn laughed. "Amanda doesn't stop talking about YOU!"

"Come on in, they are still out in the garden". As we walked in, Evelyn suggested cutting the sandwiches up smaller, and putting them all on a big plate, same with the cakes.

"Nice braces, by the way, they suit you!" commented Evelyn, before she turned and walked out the back door. Hmm, not the sort of comment I would have expected, but maybe Amanda had told her that I 'had braces'. I stayed in the kitchen, letting Evelyn go out to the garden alone... they didn't need me getting in the way. I could see them all hugging each other, trying very hard to make the best of a rather sad day.

I put the kettle on again, rinsed the teapot and mugs out, and got another one out for Evelyn. While I waited for the kettle to boil, I unwrapped the sandwiches, cut them, and put them onto a plate, then did the same with the cakes. The kettle boiled, so I made a fresh pot of tea for us all.... while the tea brewed, I took the plates out, and put them onto the large outdoor table, then returned to collect the tray with the teapot, mugs etc, which I also put on the table.

Amanda got up. "Hey, come here" she said to me gently. As I got to her, she put her arms around me, giving me a lovely hug, then a soft kiss on my lips, then put her head beside mine. "Thank you, Danny....". I heard a slight sniff, and realised that she was starting to cry again. She had managed to cope for the last two hours ok, so it didn't really surprise me. I put my arms around her, and held her for a while, saying nothing.

"Hey, your big sis is here now"

"Yeah, and it will be even better when mum and dad get here...."

Chapter 33

I love you!


Amanda's grandpa's death last week has brought us even closer together. I have got to know a more emotional side of Amanda, and she has got to see a stronger, supportive side of me.

We went back to her grandma's at the weekend - her parents were still there. Things felt a lot more relaxed this time, I think that everyone had managed to get over their initial strong emotions, and were now waiting for the funeral, to bring a bit more closure.

I managed to go for a pleasant walk with Amanda's dad - Neil - and Amanda, giving me a chance to get to know Neil a bit better. Now that he was less emotional, and a lot more relaxed, I could see certain traits that he had inherited, or maybe learnt, from grandpa. 

Like last week, we've taken things gently this week. We went out on Wednesday to a semi-formal dinner with a small group of Amanda's barrister friends and their partnets at a rather posh, up-market restaurant. I hate to think how much it cost, probably more than I earn in a month! It's such a different world, where contacts are so important. Unlike techie people like me, who would just meet at the pub, and share a few packs of crisps!

So, next week, it's grandpa's funeral, on Thursday. The end of next week is also when our second 'contract' expires, so it seemed to me that we needed to chat about our relationship now, rather than then.

On Saturday, the two of us went out and had a rather nice, but simple, Thai meal, then went back to my place, where we sat together on the settee.

"You know, things seem to be working ok between us, don't they?" I said

"Yes, they are. I will admit that I was a bit apprehensive when we started, but no, now I'm getting to know you more, I am really enjoying being your girlfriend, plus enjoying having you as my boyfriend.". I sat there, saying nothing: I was hoping she might be a bit more forthcoming. "Look, I'm not really good at this, but... I enjoy every moment I'm with you. I look forward to being with you when I'm not with you. You have been a great strength for me the last couple of weeks since grandpa died: I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I would have coped without you being there for me.". She paused for a moment, then continued: "I love you, Danny, I love you so much, and I hate to think how I would manage without you". I put my arm around her, and put my lips to hers, kissing her gently.

"So, do I assume that means you'd like to continue our 'contract'?" I asked. Amanda smiled, then laughed.

"Of course it does, my darling Danny!"

"How would you like to make it 3 months this time?"

"Yeah, ok, that sounds sensible..... um, just a thought though?"

"What?"

"How about we take few days break from each other first... so the week after next, we don't meet up during the week? I think it might do us both a lot of good, we've been on top of each other quite a bit recently" suggested Amanda

"Ok, I can cope with that... how about we get together for dinner on the Friday?"

"Yeah, I'm up for that. By the way, I've not said it, but I WILL be there for Grandpa's funeral next week, I'm taking the day off."

"Thank you Danny, I have a feeling that it's going to be quite an emotional day for everyone..."

We sat and hugged and kissed for a while. "Hey" said Amanda, "go put your twin blocks in for me, you know how much I like them!". Who was I to deny such a request. As I went to get them, I started to think about Amanda's braces: Mei sent us a message a couple of days ago, along with a load of pictures of whet we'd ordered... they looked amazing, and when I showed the pics to Amanda, she was very excited. They were now in the post, so we now just had to wait. If we were lucky, it would be a few days; if we were not so lucky, it could be several weeks.

Certain bits of the story got written a while ago, which allows me to post regularly. You may have noticed a pause for a couple of weeks a bit ago.... I was busy, so unable to write. I'm likely to be quieter next week too

What a fantastic update - really good! I love the description of Amanda's first time in retainers. Can't wait for the rest!

Chapter 35

The fun continues...

Of course, never having worn braces before, Amanda wasn't used to removing braces from her mouth. Mei had made the braces so well, that they fitted to her teeth quite tightly, and she had a bit of a problem getting them out that first time - I think it was mainly a matter of her getting used how to pull, and in what direction.

Having removed her retainers, and put them back into their box, I passed her the box marked "top / bottom brackets". As she opened it and pulled back the tissue paper, I could see the braces: clear plastic, with quite large brackets, and, of course, headgear tubes on the molar clasps. Amanda took them out of their box, and inspected them, once again completely enthralled by them. She lined up the mirror, and put them in to her mouth, first the top ones, then the bottoms, each going into place with a pleasing click.

I had thought that she looked good in the retainers, but these brackets were even better, and they looked so real. Amanda was smiling widely, looking at the large amount of metal apparently on her teeth. However, when she tried to close her lips, she had a bit of a problem, as her lips were catching on the brackets. So she used her fingers to lift her lips over and onto the brackets.

"Don't worry" I said, "You'll soon get used to pushing your lips out a bit when you want to close them". With her lips now on her brackets, she opened her mouth a little, and put her tongue over her brackets at the front, lifting her lip up out the way, so she could explore her new braces. It was, once again, fun to watch her as she explored her new braces whilst at the same time looking at her mouth in th mirror. While she ran her tongue across her brackets, I ran my tongue over my brackets, to remind myself of the sensations that Amanda would be feeling.

At that point, I wasn't sure what effect the braces were having on Amanda, but they were definitely having quite an effect on me! Our heads once again moved closer, our lips touched, my tongue pushed itself between her lips, and touched metal... I ran my tonge first over her top brackets, then over her lower brackets. Whilst this was not the first time I had kissed a girl with braces - I'd kissed Mei when I was in Asia - the circumstances were very different today. Amanda is my girlfriend, and this is her first real experience of braces.

I pulled back from kissing her. "Amanda, I think we need to get into the bedroom fairly quickly...." I commented

"Oh, what'th the wush? I'm enjoying thith..."

"And I'm enjoying it too, but probably rather too much, if you know what I mean..."

"Ah, right....". We both got up and quickly went into Amanda's bedroom, where various things happened (that you will have to imagine, as I'm not allowed to give the details in this story!).

"Well, that wath kinda unexthpected...." said Amanda with a big metal smile just a few minutes later.

"Sorry about that, but I didn't want to 'waste it'!" I replied, "I should be ok now.... tell you what, you do look hot as hell in those braces! Although there is something that will make you look even hotter..." I suggested

"What'th that?"

"Headgear!" I replied. "Tell you what, why don't I bring your braces stuff in here, so we can continue to play....". I went out to the lounge, pulled all the packaging from the box, then used it to carry the braces boxes and the headgear stuff into the bedroom.

"Ok, so if you give me your upper braces....". Amanda tried to remove her upper fake brackets, but they were tightly in her mouth, but after trying a couple of different ways, she managed to get them out. "Don't worry, they'll slacken off a bit as you put them in and out a bit more. I looked at the facebows that Mei had sent, one bag said 'top' the other 'bottom'... I took the top one out of its bag, and it fitted nicely into Amanda's braces: Mei had already adjusted the facebow for us. I passed it to Amanda, so she could put it back into her mouth. "So, which headgear would you like to try?"

"Oh, so many decisions in life..... let's go for the neck strap!" responded Amanda with a lisp. I opened the plastic bag that contained the cervical strap, and then spent a few moments attaching the two force modules to the fabric strap. I put the strap around Amanda's neck...

"Ok, can you hold the facebow in place for me?". Amanda put her hand up to hold the front of her facebow in place, while I attached the straps on both sides. "So, you need the third hole for your cervical strap" I commented. Amanda picked up the mirror, and looked at herself, and smiled. "What do you think?" I asked

"I never in my life ever dreamed that I would ever get to wear braces and headgear, this is just amazing!!" she replied. Her lisp was slightly different, because of the facebow. I moved towards Amanda, putting my lips around the facebow, and kissed her on the lips. Again, this is something I had done before, with Mei, but it was a completely new experience for Amanda.

After kissing for a bit, I pulled back. "You know, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking we need to sort out some dinner."

"Hmmm, there's some stuff in the freezer.... or why don't we just get something delivered?! she suggested, talking stightly strange because of her braces and headgear.

"Home delivery sounds pretty ok to me". I got my phone out, and ran up the 'Deliver2Me' app. "OK, what do you fancy... there's pizza, donner kebab, Thai..... Chinese and Indian of course.... ah, Nandos if you fancy something spicy. Or if you're desperate, there's even KFC...". We decided to go for the Thai, so spent a few minutes deciding what to order.

"Remember to use my credit card" said Amanda. When I got to the checkout, it still had my card details, so I got 'her' card out (ok, actually my card, but on Amanda's account), and added it as an alternative card. The app suggested that it would be about 30 minutes before it got delivered, so I suggested that Amanda could try in some more braces.

"Hmm, what next? I said aloud. I thought about giving her the expander next, but an evil idea went through my head, so instead I found the one that said 'NOT a twin-block :-)'. This is the one we had asked for that was 'something that has plastic all over the teeth, kinda like my twin-blocks, but not a twin block'. I opened the box to find an upper and a lower brace. Made of fairly thin clear pink plastic, the top one was a horse-shoe shape, with the plastic coming over the teeth to the outside, and about halfway over the teeth - and when I say that, I mean over ALL her teeth, molars and front ones alike. The lower one was similar: a thin plate, but with platic over the teeth. In a way, they looked a bit like essix retainers, but a lot thicker, pink clear plastic, and only covering half of the outside of the teeth.

"These are your twin-blocks that aren't twin-blocks" I said, passing them over to Amanda.

"Mmm, nice...." she commented. I helped her remove her facebow and neck-strap, and she removed her brackets, then put the plates into her mouth. When she smiled, I could hardly see any white teeth, everything was covered in pink. It was only when she smiled wider that I could see the white tops of her teeth. I watched as she sat there, running her tongue over her 'teeth', but in reality the plastic over her teeth. I could imagine what she was feeling, as my twin-blocks were similar, but of course hers were completely smooth, no lumps like the twin-blocks had. "Oh, yeth, jutht ath good ath I hoped they would be...." was her initial comment.

Of course, I wanted to see what they felt like, so leaned towards her, and we kissed. I gently pushed my tongue past her lips, and immediately felt the lovely smooth plastic that covered her teeth. after enjoying the feel of the outside of the plates, I slipped my tongue between her... well, I was about to say 'teeth', but I guess it needs to be 'plates' or 'plastic covered teeth'. Mmm, nice, the plastic continued over the back of her teeth, and back as far as my tongue could reach. I could feel nothing of her teeth, or the rough skin of her palate, just the smoothness of the shiny plastic. I assumed that, like when she kissed me in my twin-blocks, she could feel almost nothing of my kiss, except on her lips and her tongue.

"It'th odd, but I think thethe are my favouriteth tho far" she lisped. She put her finger up to her teeth, and felt the smooth pink plastic that covered all of her her teeth.