New Island Breezes RPG Story Thread

[Foxee]

TAI AND MARISSA made quick work of the egg hunting among the laying boxes and returned to the kitchen with their finds – ten smooth speckled brown eggs.

She was a nice lady, Tai thought, though a little tentative.

It was nearly eight O’clock when they returned and the mass breakfasting had taken on a rushed feeling. Tai followed the outdoor contingent outside before Jean-Marie could catch him, intent on talking to the California man, Chad, again.


ANYA DRIED HER HAIR carefully, standing at her bedroom window. Her pilates workout, breakfast, and shower were out of the way.

The desire to go out and enjoy the sunlight ached in her bones as she saw an unfamiliar figure out for a run, then, later another. One man, she smiled and felt envious, jumped into the surf for an early morning swim.

She moved about the room restlessly. Perhaps she would visit her Japanese garden, yes, that was it! After all, she had to see how badly the storm had damaged it.

The bedroom door gave a muffled click and swung outward at a gentle push to the rest of the suite. She stepped through, wrapped in a towel, and closed it again. When closed it simply looked like any other section of the shallow closet that ran along this wall, complete with shoes sitting on the floor and sliding panel doors.

Energized by the idea of going outside to enjoy the day Anya quickly slipped into a pair of white capris and a sleeveless mandarin collar purple silk blouse, leaving it unbuttoned to her breastbone. She scraped her hair up into a ponytail and twisted it, adding some decorative hairpins studded with clear, purple, and green glass beads.

Ignoring the mirror, she skipped makeup and headed toward the door.

And realized that in between her and that little oasis there were how many strangers? She stopped. Sidled uneasily. No, not a very good idea after all.

Suddenly the suite seemed very small.

Setting her shoulders straight, Anya picked up the keypad and pressed two numbers that would send a two-tone code to all of the bodyguard’s talkies. She could get an escort to her little garden and simply have the meeting with Dr. Marsden and Blake there.

Setting the keypad down on the piano, she picked up the journal and froze, stepping back a pace and narrowing her eyes at the offending instrument. Now, when had that shown up?


JEAN-MARIE LOOKED the small group of new people over.

Desmond had been breakfasted, kissed, admonished to straighten his collar, and sent to meet his new group outside on the patio at the back of the house.

The house was in desperate need of thorough cleaning which would take the better part of a week. She set Adiel and Marissa to doing that, showing them where the cleaning supplies were and starting them in the dining room.

“Just start here and go to the library next door when you are finished,” she told them, “scrub the walls, take down the window treatments and wash them, shine the windows, clean the floors, dust everything! Just keep working your way from room to room.” That went without saying, which never stopped Jean-Marie from saying it

She kept the immaculate Jingla in the kitchen with her and brought Adam in as well. She gave him the job of putting away all of the supplies that had come in from the vans and bringing in anything that had not already been unloaded.

“Where did Tai go?” Jean-Marie wondered aloud, looking around for him, “That boy. Never mind. Just ask if you need to know where something goes,” she told Adam. Most of it was intuitive but anyone new to the layout might need an occasional pointer.

“Now, I hope I do not have to completely re-train you,” Jean-Marie told Jingla, “although I imagine I will. We have our own ways of doing things and Miss Anya has some very specific tastes.”

She paused, pulling out some things they would need for making the meals of the day, “Speaking of tastes,” she added thoughtfully, “we will be making some vegetarian dishes as well. I would be interested to see what recipes you might know.”

[Blossom]

Hayley was just finishing off her croissant when Tai and Marissa came cheerfully in with almost a dozen speckled eggs that would soon be poached, fried, scrambled or turned into omelettes. Tai gave her a grin, then glanced absently at the kitchen clock. Hayley started in surprise when, following his gaze, she realised it already eight o’ clock.

She wolfed down another croissant, hoping she’d have time to look round her lab but know she wouldn’t really get to look properly. She really had to improve her time-keeping skills … and, now that she thought about it, Hayley really had no idea where she was supposed to meet Anya and Blake. Well, presumably they’d send one of the bodyguards to tell her.

Finished her breakfast, Hayley quickly thanked Jean-Marie and then hurried through to her lab. The door was locked again after last night, but luckily she’d thought to put the key in her pocket before coming down from her room.

The lab had a fairly basic layout. Two full length windows were set into the wall opposite the door, between which her desk ran along the wall. It had a stainless steel surface with a sink at either end, a gap for her chair in the middle between various drawers and cupboards in which should still be stored her research equipment. In the wall above were three glass fronted cabinets which would probably be locked and empty. Stainless steel worksurfaces also ran along the two other walls of the lab with drawers and cupboards underneath, and in the middle of the room was a stainless steel table.

Apart from the table, where she’d stitched up Marissa yesterday, the room was still dust sheeted. Bright light streamed in from the windows, reflected off the plain white walls. There were strip lights along the ceiling for the evening or in case of a stormy day, but usually the brilliant island sunlight was more than enough.

Hayley glanced at her watch. 8:20. Just enough time to get the dust sheets off and a have a peek in some of the cupboards.

[seigfried007]

Adam set a can of light red kidney beans on one of its fellows in the cabinet and straightened. "Mrs. Jean-Marie, are we planning ovo-lacto vegetarian meals or Vegan?"

[Foxee]

"I would assume vegan meals, Adam," Jean-Marie replied, startled that he answered when she'd been speaking to Jingla.

[slayerofangels]

Blake let out a breath, straightening his tie in front of the mirror. It wasn't perfect, but after a shower and a uick trim, he was as relaxed as he was going to be. He chuckled slightly, picking up his suit coat and walking over to the open window. The newcomers must have been having an effect on his nerves, as he hadn't been this concerned about his appearance for a while. He sighed, knowing that wasn't really true. He hoped he'd made a positive impression the night before and he intended to reinforce that as best he could.

Princess charming will be laughing at you, not with you, Old Man. Relax.

The morning breeze felt pleasantly cool, and he closed his eyes, savouring the moment. It didn't last. A solitary cloud drifted past the sun, and it was gone. He glanced at his watch. Seven thirty; just about time to get moving. The employees and the other bodyguards should have been well awake and fed by now.

Well and good.

Shrugging on his coat, he cast an appraising eye over the gardens below. The groundskeeping staff were going to be busy. It would take at least a few days to get everything looking tidy, let alone respectable. Still, that was Desmond's arena and Blake was more than happy to leave him to it. There was work enough to go around and Desmond managed perfectly without Blake getting in the way. So why now? He grunted with amusement.

You know perfectly well why.

No matter how many staff came and went, there was always that urge to check in on them himself. But he couldn't do that himself, he had enough other jobs, and besides, he had to maintain a detachment from them. Desmond and Jean-marie would manage well enough; they always had. He shook his head. It was past time. Striding quickly from his rooms, he locked the door behind him and set off down the hall to Anya's chambers. He was half-way there when the two-tone beep in his pocket rang out. Fishing the beeper from his pocket, he sent back a one-tone reply to let her know he was coming, and sped up.

"Miss Anya," he said, knocking on the door, before moving on into the small reception room. "Sleep well?"

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

Desmond cast a playful smile in Jean-marie's direction as she began ushering her helpers around. It was long past time for him to get started too, but he lingered for a moment longer, watching her go. Clapping his hands together, he turned and threw a sharp, appraising glance at the employees, then smiled broadly to show he was harmless.

"Bruce, Conrad, Chad, Kari and marie, follow me," he said, "I'll give you the tour so we can get out of my wife's kitchen and straight to work."

Leading them out into the grounds, he thanked the heavens that his knees weren't acting up today, and he set off at a brusque pace. Taking them forst to the pool area, he walked them through the various gardens, past the chicken coups and on to the fruit trees and vegetable patches, elaborating on their conditions in various shades of understatement as he went. Some of the last few patches were only storm-tossed, having recieved the lion's share of his attention, but the rest had proven all but impossible for him and the bodyguards to keep up with. When he was reasonably certain that he hadn't missed anything, he turned to give them their jobs.

"Aside from being a bit storm-tossed, things are more or less as you see them. Chad, I understand you have experience with pool maintenance. Take Marie and give the pool area a good once over," he said, "report to me when you finish. We have a lot to cover so we'll try to get as many small jobs out of the way as we can before tackling the big ones. Bruce and Kari, start at the vegetable patches. Give them a good weeding and tidying, then do the same for fruit trees. They shouldn't need watering this morning but they might later on. Conrad, you'll be coming with me. The generators in the house could use some routine maintenance. Any questions?"

[alanmt]

Chad shook his head. Intuitively, he liked Desmond. The man seemed relaxed but competent, and he suspected that he would be easy to get along with as a supervisor, as long as one didn't slack off.

He turned to the tall, athletic brunette with whom he had spoken in the hallway the previous night before dinner. College age, she reminded him the easterners who worked at resorts during the summer season at Yosemite. She was a Brit, though, like Hayley, he thought.

"Well, Maria, looks like you're stuck with me!" he joked. He turned back to Desmond.

"All right, we're off to hang out at the pool. I'll track you down once we've got it in shape."

He led Maria back to the pool, unconsciously taking charge. The pool area was beautifully designed; it was what Chad called a "Hollywood pool", a beautiful and no doubt very expensive installation designed to serve as a private resort area of relaxation for the estate's owners during the day, but capable of serving as the focal point of a party during the evening. Chad surveyed the area. It seemed in reasonably good condition, aside from a litter of broken foliage blown in by the fury of last night's storm.

"I don't know how much experience you have with pools," he said to Maria, "but they require a lot of work." He grabbed a long pole with a net on one end from its wall mount, and handed it to her. "This is a skimmer - it's used to remove everything from drowned bugs to big clumps of leaves from the surface, and to pull out whatever has dropped to the bottom. Why don't you skim the pool, getting all of these leaves out, while I check the chemicals and the pool motor to make sure it's running properly? Then we can vacuum the pool and get this deck in order."

Chad moved to the poolhouse and glanced inside. The pool motor chugged away, recycling the water. Chad checked the equipment out, finding everything in working order. No unusual maintenance problems. He was surprised to see a temperature gauge and heater. A heated pool in the tropics! As he suspected from his first look at the pool, no expense had been spared. He quickly located the chemical kit he needed and returned to the side of the pool.

Maria was making good progress. She had already removed the largest clumps of leaves, although many loose ones were still floating on the pool surface. As Chad scooped up water samples and added a few drops of chemicals to test the chemical levels, something caught his eye. At the bottom of the pool.

He squinted his eyes through the water.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, "What the heck is that!"

[Cold Twilight]

Jingla listened and waited patiently as everyone else but Adam and herself made their way out of the kitchen, and then Marie turned to them with some last words.

“Now, I hope I do not have to completely re-train you,” Jean-Marie told Jingla, “although I imagine I will. We have our own ways of doing things and Miss Anya has some very specific tastes.”

Jingla nodded as Jean-Marie paused, pulling out some things they would need for making the meals of the day, “Speaking of tastes,” the cook added thoughtfully, “we will be making some vegetarian dishes as well. I would be interested to see what recipes you might know.”

Before Jingla could reply, Adam, who was now stocking the pantry shelves, set a can of light red kidney beans on one of its fellows in the cabinet and straightened. "Mrs. Jean-Marie, are we planning ovo-lacto vegetarian meals or Vegan?"

"I would assume vegan meals, Adam," Jean-Marie answered, and Jingla held back a sigh. Yes, she would need training in this.

"I have had no special training in creating either vegetarian meals or vegan meals, but I know of several types of salads, both fruit and greens, that might apply," she said quietly, glancing from Adam to Jean-Marie. "Where I have worked, it was more desired to have...ah...seafood, and other meats in various settings. Also," she shrugged matter-of-factly, "I have more experience with matching wines to food than preparing it."

She raised her eyes, shoulders straight, to meet Jean-Marie's gaze.

-----
lol. Look at Adam go! He's so bold!

[seigfried007]

Adam nodded. If in doubt, after all, it would be better to assume the most restrictive option.

Mentally, he wandered the pristine kitchen of his former employer--all brass, oak, white tile and sunshine, cookbooks lining shelves over the spice racks. He plucked one from this shelf and scoured it for recipes containing neither meat nor animal byproducts much as he had when he'd lived there on the days when he knew Mrs. Harriet--a most loud and dogmatic Vegan--would come to call.

"Red lentil pate with tarragon; soba noodles with shredded vegetables and spicy peanut sauce; rissotto with winter vegetables and fresh sage; curried bulgur and garbanzo wrap; rice porridge with gingered blueberries and toasted nuts..."

He gently slid a knife between the books and eased another from the shelf.

"Eggplant steaks with pumpkin, tomato, and mushroom ragout; miso-glazed eggplant; celery-root and potato latkes; miso-glazed peas and carrots; stuffed roasted onions; roasted cashew; cashew and vegetable stir-fry... perhaps with water chestnuts and maybe fried onions; spanish rice or fried rice substituting bacon for imitation pieces much like with the stuffed onions; spaghetti with tomato, garlic, onion, black olives, mushrooms and perhaps some green peppers or even chiles," Adam said in a bland but pensive tone. He tilted his head to the side, shuffling through his mental stack of recipe cards and tossing out the vast majority of now-offensive dishes.

He plucked another can from the crate and set to stacking it with its brothers. "Pancakes with egg product, latkes, fruit compotes and salads, carrot cake with egg product and powdered suger icing... I suppose both fruit sauces and maple syrup may suffice though no doubt the heavy whipping cream and yogurts should go... Psuedo-chocolate using vegetable oil in place of butter could be used in icings and sauces. Most deserts can be used as breakfasts, which is always pleasant for the cook--provided ample freezer and refrigerator space."

He sighed, shrugged and placed another can. "When all else fails, toss seemingly random plant products in a bowl, stir in a few seasonings, and flip a coin to determine how to cook it. If it tastes terrible, strike it off the list of options. The beauty of gourmet cooking lies in its imagination and how it looks on a plate."

He looked back to Jean-Marie, who seemed startled. Maybe she had been speaking to the girl only? Neither had been personally addressed and, as he hadn't been looking at her when the meal planning was mentioned, he couldn't be certain that she hadn't asked him. "My apologies for speaking out of turn, Mrs. Jean-Marie."

[IvanTiger118]

"One question. I assume you have some tools since I wasn't allowed to bring my own on the plane."

[crazed scribe]

"Aside from being a bit storm-tossed, things are more or less as you see them. Chad, I understand you have experience with pool maintenance. Take Marie and give the pool area a good once over,”

Good she was with the Canadian, he'd seemed friendly when she had spoken to him on the landing, not someone who would be too dominant or boring. He seemed like someone she could get on with. They might even be able to have a laugh, if that was allowed here... Although Desmond seemed pretty relaxed and a good leader. At least he's not Blake she thought. It seemed she had landed on her feet.


"Well, Maria, looks like you're stuck with me!" he joked.

“Oh no!” She laughed.


He turned back to Desmond."All right, we're off to hang out at the pool. I'll track you down once we've got it in shape."

It seemed like she'd been right they were all ready cracking jokes. She had no idea how to run a pool so she just hoped he'd be able to take care of any difficult bits. How difficult could it be anyway? She followed Chad to a fancy pool which was even nicer than some of the ones she had been in on her gap year. It seemed very expensive though, she just hoped that they would be allowed to use it.

I don't know how much experience you have with pools, but they require a lot of work.”

“Sorry I have no idea how to look after a pool, all I know is how to swim in one!” She joked.

“This is a skimmer - it's used to remove everything from drowned bugs to big clumps of leaves from the surface, and to pull out whatever has dropped to the bottom. Why don't you skim the pool, getting all of these leaves out, while I check the chemicals and the pool motor to make sure it's running properly? Then we can vacuum the pool and get this deck in order."

A skimmer, she could deal with that. She would leave all the chemicals to Chad, no doubt if she got her hands on that she'd end up killing someone. She had managed to gather up most of the leaves, leaving a few clumps floating around here and there, when Chad shouted, “What the heck is that!"

She stared down into the depths of the water and in the corner, which was why she hadn't noticed it, there was a dark, still mass. There was only one conclusion...

“It must be a dead squirrel or something, I'll use my net to get it out.” Emptying her current load she used it to pull out the dead form. It was a dead squirrel. “That's disgusting!” To be honest it didn't look like it had been too happy when it had died.

[slayerofangels]

"Yes," Desmond replied, watching Chad and Maria move off, "we'll be collecting those on the way back. The generators are simple enough to maintain so it shouldn't take too long. Anything else?"

[IvanTiger118]

He shook his head. "Let's get to it."

Desmond started down the path and Conrad followed. A gentle warm breeze came in off the ocean. He remembered his swim in the warm water this morning and smiled. This seemed like a very peaceful place. He could see why Anya would have come here to get away from things.

As they walked, he admired the massive building he was now going to be in charge of keeping up. He wondered how up to date it was. Was he going to be working on a new unit or one of those old fashioned ones? He actually preferred the older ones. The newer ones seemed to be more computer controlled than anything. Those were no fun to tinker with.

[Suzip]

"Bruce, Conrad, Chad, Kari and Maria, follow me," he said, "I'll give you the tour so we can get out of my wife's kitchen and straight to work.” Desmond stated.
The group followed their instructor out into the grounds, Kari made sure she kept a safe distance from the cowboy. Yesterday’s altercation was still vivid in her mind.

Anyone thinking they were going to have a leisurely stroll through the grounds was in for a big surprise. Desmond led them in long strides, unsurprisingly as he was so tall. Kari didn’t have any trouble keeping up with him, the benefits of keeping fit she assumed. He had kind eyes and a bronzed face obviously from working outside over the years.

They followed him like obedient troops as he took them over the grounds, explaining the ins and outs of ground work. Most of the areas Kari was familiar with from her morning job.

He sent the tall American Chad, although not so tall compared to Desmond himself, and the other dark haired woman Maria off to the swimming pool.

“Bruce and Kari, start at the vegetable patches. Give them a good weeding and tidying, then do the same for fruit trees. They shouldn't need watering this morning but they might later on.

Kari looked from Desmond to the cowboy and back again.

‘No, no, no, no, no, no!’ she screamed in her head.

She couldn’t possibly work with that creep. He’d bite her head off as soon as look at her. However, Kari had other problems on her mind. She hadn’t done any gardening in her life. She couldn’t remember if there had been a garden where she lived with her parents but her foster parents lived in a council flat and she didn’t really suppose her window box counted.

Desmond moved off leaving Kari and Bruce standing face to face. He stared at her blankly.
“Got a problem have ya?” he asked gruffly without any recognition is his eyes.
Kari frowned. She didn’t think he recognised her.
“Not sure if I introduced myself yesterday,” she began. “I’m Kari.”
He just raised his eyebrows and readjusted his hat.
“We collided on the bus,” she prompted him.
He coughed clearing his throat. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Ok then….” she said, stalling for time as she began to look around for some escape. “There’s a shed over there. I’ll go and see what we can use.”

[Blossom]

After removing the dustsheets, Hayley folded them and placed them in a neat pile on of the worksurfaces. As she turned to survey the newly uncovered lab, she noticed Chad and one of the younger, dark haired girls out of one of the windows, bending over the pool, seemingly looking at something at the bottom. As Hayley watched, the girl reached in with her net and fished something out – something bedraggled, furry and apparently dead. Hayley shuddered and turned back to the lab, not envying her.

Removing the dustsheets had revealed that the wall cabinets, while locked, were in fact still full of petri dishes, glass slides and test tubes. The drawers and cupboards beneath the steel surfaces were undoubtedly full as well. Bending down and pulling the nearest one open showed a couple of microscopes and varied glass beakers.

Hayley glanced down the row, trying to remember roughly where everything was. At the end, she saw, were the mini fridge and freezer she had put in. She wondered if Derek’s blood samples were still in there … She glanced down at her watch. 8:27. She shouldn’t look … she really didn’t have time.

[Foxee]

JEAN-MARIE INTENDED to push this one a little. She obviously had experience and self-confidence. What she didn’t know was whether Jingla would be a prima-donna. If she was, that was going to be a problem.

Instead the girl was proving to have a core of practicality that Jean-Marie throroughly approved of. She appeared for work as neat and businesslike as anyone could wish.

"I have had no special training in creating either vegetarian meals or vegan meals, but I know of several types of salads, both fruit and greens, that might apply," she said quietly, glancing from Adam to Jean-Marie. "Where I have worked, it was more desired to have...ah...seafood, and other meats in various settings. Also," she shrugged matter-of-factly, "I have more experience with matching wines to food than preparing it."

Jean-Marie nodded, liking the girl in spite of herself.

“We need some vegan options for the little Germanic boy but the main meals will have as much meat and seafood as you care to prepare.”

Jean-Marie never stopped moving, setting out the cutting board and various vegetables, checking the bread, comfortable with bustle.

A rapid muttering from behind a can of kidney beans garnered her attention. Adam was apparently reeling off every vegan dish he could think of. She briefly wondered if he was autistic.

“Adam, when you’re done there I need you to assist Adiel and Marissa for the day. We will rotate duties so that each of you will be in the kitchen for a day. Eventually each of you might settle into duties that suit you best.”

Jean-Marie brought her hands together in a resounding clap.

“Let’s cook!” She told Jingla, “Later, you can see the wine cellar.”


TAI WAS AT LOOSE ends. He wanted badly to talk to Chad but Kari had been paired with the cowboy, a dashing, romantic, and surprisingly rude figure. After a moment’s thought he followed Kari and Bruce. He stayed out of their very short conversation and then followed Kari.

“I can help you find things,” he offered, “I help Desmond sometimes.”


"MISS ANYA,” BLAKE’S knock came almost the same time as his voice in the small reception room. "Sleep well?"

“I did,” she replied, tying the ankle ties on her espadrilles, “I hope our new guests didn’t cause any nightmares for you.”

She straightened, a small smile tugging at her mouth, cabin fever in her eyes.

“I thought we might meet Dr. Marsden in the Japanese garden. Even if it is a mess at the moment it is still beautiful.” She cast a longing glance at the sun-filled windows.

As they descended to the lower floors she couldn’t resist needling him.

“I’m afraid that there has been a security breach in my suite.”

She kept her eyes averted as they walked, preparing to enjoy his reaction.