The Department of Hate - A Love Story (19 page)

“She’s got it in for him, really, really bad, no one knows why
.” Marduk smirked. The thought of it was incredible. He said

“Wouldn’t want to be him.”
Dagon replied with great sincerity

“That’s for
fucking sure.”

Dagon watched Odin disappear into the distance. He wished that the Divine Goddess Amaterasu would smash down the Nordic Gods. He had nothing but contempt for Odin and his thugs. Their only usefulness lay in the fact that being less powerful they were still able to directly manifest themselves on Earth and mix in with the humans.  Very soon that skill would no longer be of any relevance. He was surprised though by Marduk’s assertion about Ishtar’s supposed gratitude. He looked at Marduk with great puzzlement and started to ask

“Ishtar would never ....”
Marduk laughed out loud.

“Of course not. Not in a million years. She has no time for dogs. She’ll cut his fucking heart out and eat it
.” Dagon shrugged.

“Of course she would, sorry,
I wasn’t thinking straight.” Both of them yearned for Ishtar with heart breaking, soul shredding fervour. She’d been gone for some time and they just ached for her. Both of them wanted one more night with her whatever the consequences – and for that would do anything, absolutely anything. Neither of them would hesitate to destroy a billion universes and slaughter the untold trillions of lesser beings inhabiting them.

Chapter 16 – Weddi
ng Preparations in London

Ten years earlier Jarrod had almost got married to Elizabeth Collins, a young woman he met while he was at Cambridge. He was studying philosophy, in the second year of a doctorate. She was studying English Literature, completing the final year of a first degree. She had practically thrown herself at him – he didn’t have a chance.  Jarrod had been shy at first.  He’d had no experience with women until then. But after sleeping with her the first few times and finding out what he’d been missing he became extremely enthusiastic and not shy at all. He loved just being with her, looking at her, touching her, her smell, her taste. He loved waking up with her in a warm bed on a cold morning, holding her tightly, pressing up against her, kissing her on the back of the neck and then sliding up into her – afterwards laying together there for hours on end.

Their affections had grown. They were always together. They went to any number of plays and concerts, frequent hiking trips, occasional overnight trips into London to see West End musicals, and spent several long summer weekends in a hotel on the beach in Bournemooth. Jarrod had always spent most of his time alone – not exactly by choice, there was just no-one he connected with.  This was so different.  Just having someone to do things with was great, and of course the sex was unbelievable. Somehow after just six months or so they ended up officially engaged.  Jarrod wasn’t sure who asked who. It just happened. Now they were off to Knightsbridge in London to meet her parents. He hadn’t met them until now – they were always too busy or out of the country. They were apparently very wealthy and very powerful and this made Jarrod not nervous exactly but cautious. They definitely wouldn’t approve of him.

They got off the train at the Knightsbridge subway station and caught a cab. Beth told him that her parents’ house was about half a mile away. They sat back together without saying anything. Jarrod looked at her and smiled. But not for the first time he asked himself did he actually love this woman. He had to admit that as delightful as she was he could never really be himself with her. She was quite demanding and quite opinionated – but that wasn’t it - more a fundamental mismatch of style and attitude. They had never really had any substantial discussion about anything important, and well, quite frankly, she wasn’t smart enough for that. Who the hell was?  A harsh thought intruded itself

‘Pretty tits and a readily available cunt are poor substitute for true love and a genuine meeting and union of mind and soul.’
He shook his head, thinking

‘Ughh, where did that come from?’
The cab pulled to a stop in front of a large house.  Beth turned to him and smiled

“We’re here darling.”

Dinner was awkward. At first no one said much about anything.  The four of them sat around a large wooden table in the dining room – Jarrod and Beth, Mr and Mrs Collins.  Robert and Susan were their names apparently, but he doubted he would be allowed to progress to first names any time soon. They were all elegantly dressed – including Jarrod - he’d been warned.  Jarrod wore a white shirt with a collar and a grey suit – which was not at all like him. Beth wore the low cut long bright red dress which drove him just crazy. She exuded sexuality.  That’s why she wore it - and possibly to annoy her parents, he wasn’t sure. Mr Collins was still wearing his business suit and Mrs Collins wore a pale yellow dress which looked both simple and extremely expensive at the same time. They both seemed stiff and formal. Jarrod glanced around the room. There were several large paintings, lavish curtains, some pieces of furniture, all of it ornate and elaborate. He didn’t pay much attention – never having had any time for that kind of thing. Uniformed servants bought in the food – roast pork and vegetables, and later for dessert strawberries and ice cream. Jarrod picked at his as did Beth and her mother. Mr Collins devoured his portions, quickly and greedily.

Beth’s parents made no attempts to conceal their doubts about him. Eventually the interrogation began and slowly escalated as the evening progressed. Yes, he’d grown up in Brighton. Yes, he’d gone to St Anne’s parish school. Yes, he’d been raised a catholic but was now an atheist. Yes atheist, not agnostic. ‘Agnostic’ was just a weasel word invented as a polite compromise. Yes, his parents were retired. Yes, his father had been a plumber. Yes, he’d been thrilled to get into Cambridge. That was another polite lie. He’d always considered it inevitable and his by right. It occurred to him that they would probably have liked that answer better. They continued asking him various questions. He continued to answer, determined to be polite at all cost. Beth smiled at him, encouraging him. He could see that she also was feeling quite uncomfortable.

He sized them up. Mrs Collins wasn’t really being very aggressive. She was just backing her husband.  She was quite thin and starting to age but Jarrod could see that she’d been very beautiful in her time. She wasn’t really even being deliberately impolite and was obviously quiet and reserved most of the time – though clearly capable of any level of savagery should the need arise. In contrast, her husband was large and overweight, bullish and overbearing, demanding and aggressive, and very loud.  He was very opinionated and obviously used to getting his own way.  He reminded Jarrod of someone but he couldn’t think who - someone from another place entirely. Jarrod disliked him instantly – and this clearly was never going to change.  It was quite clear that he didn’t like Jarrod much either.

After dinner Mr Collins poured glasses of wine and passed them around.  He sat back in his seat clearly very satisfied with how things had gone so far and getting ready to close in for the kill.  Jarrod had been on the defensive for some time. It didn’t really bother him. The standard hypocrisies of social convention constrained his responses as Mr Collins like all bullies understood quite well. Jarrod could hardly shrug indifferently, get to his feet, calmly tell the asshole to go fuck himself, walk out and never give him another thought.  Well, not if he wanted to keep fucking Beth. There it was again. He was surprised by the harshness of his own thoughts – wondering where they came from. Mr Collins waited for the right moment then continued

“You’re doing a doctorate in philosophy.” Jarrod replied carefully

“Yes.”
Mr Collins asked him bluntly

“What do you intend to do with it?”
Jarrod blinked, surprised. It was a child’s question, stupid and ignorant, undeserving of any answer.  Mr Collins did at least pick up on this and sneered, partially correcting himself

“Hmmm. I mean a career. What are you going to do next?”
Jarrod replied

“I’ll get a lecturing position, somewhere. I’m already looking around.”
Mr Collins smiled nastily

“Ah an Academic!”  He paused as if to think, then continued on, “How do you, how do I put this, how do you intend to support my daughter on what will be - lets be frank - a very modest salary?”
Jarrod snapped back.

“I’ll write some books.”
There had been several very mediocre books written by one or two well known philosophers in recent years – pop philosophy, pop science, self-improvement, wisdom of the ages! Mostly crap, but best sellers nonetheless! He was sure he could churn out something along those lines. Mr Collins looked sceptical.

“What on? Philosophy?”
Jarrod replied slowly

“Yes, why not?”
Mr Collins was probing around looking for the right line of attack. But he was also genuinely puzzled.

“Who will want to read that? We all have far more pressing concerns. What will you write about?”
Jarrod was in familiar territory now – the same old questions from hundreds of tutorials with students  considerably brighter than this nasty old fuck.

“Simple enough! Critical review and analysis of basic ideas and assumptions“.
Mr Collins shot back

“What kind of assumptions?”
Jarrod replied casually

“Objectivity,
Subjectivity, Context, Knowledge, Reason, Morality, Justice.” Mr Collins was still sceptical

“Why would anyone bother with
all of that?” This time Jarrod shot back             

“How could anyone not bother?” He waited for this to sink in, fat chance of that, then pushed on, “These assumptions underlie everything you do, everything you say.
How could you not want to become aware of them, think about them, critique them? The alternative is to be a slave to base instinct, the vagaries of upbringing, or to whatever propaganda is being pumped into you by Church and State.” Mr Collins thought about this for a few moments then he replied, slowly and cynically

“What if, after careful analysis I decide I like my b
ase instincts, my upbringing and a society that works to my distinct advantage, and I want to just keep doing what I’m doing and perhaps spread around a bit of propaganda of my own.” Jarrod was surprised. Clearly Collins wasn’t quite as stupid as he had thought.  He replied

“Then I
simply wouldn’t know what to say to you.” Collins smirked

“Of course you wouldn’t
.” He felt that he’d won the argument.

Towards the end of the evening Jarrod was exiled to the guest house – several rooms on the ground floor that were separate from the main house. Beth was explicitly forbidden from joining him, by her father. Her mother watched on, rolling her eyes, but didn’t disagree. He said goodnight to each of them, kissed Beth lightly on the cheek and made his way down to the guest house.

Beth turned up about an hour later wearing just a skimpy pale blue negligee and matching panties under a dark blue dressing gown which she took off immediately. She seemed exasperated

“They are such prudes - and hypocrites too. I have it on excellent authority that mummy in her day used to spread her legs for half the hockey team and as for my father, well, whenever I’ve visited him unexpectedly in any of his offices there’s always been some pretty young thing pulling up her panties and adjusting
her skirts as she scampers off.“  She stopped and smiled at him sweetly.

“I’m so sorry. They were simply awful to you, especially my father, of course
.” She was almost pouting. Jarrod replied calmly

“No problem. All pretty much as expected.”
Beth smiled

“Yes, you handled him quite nicely I think
.” Jarrod didn’t really agree with that. He looked closely at Beth keen to see her response.

“He made a good point at the end though.”
Beth made a face. Then she slipped off the negligee and panties and stood at the end of the bed completely nude.

“
So do you want to argue philosophy or do you want to fuck me?” Jarrod smiled – that was a good response. He replied

“Well, when you put it like that.”

He moved towards her then reached for her. But she took a step back, still smiling. She was in a strange mood. She said quietly

“I think that you should spank me.”
Jarrod was surprised - they’d never done this before. He could only say

“What?”
But Beth was insistent. She pouted.

“Yes. Over your knee
I should think.” Jarrod hesitated

“We can’t make too much noise.”
But Beth was completely unconcerned.

“Why not?  A tactical error on their part don’t you think? Putting us way down here.”
Jarrod finally agreed

“Well if that’s what you want.”
Beth nodded, made a purring sound in response

“Mmmmmm
.”

He took her by the arm and then sat down on the bed pulling her down over his knee. He started spanking her, softly at first and then quite firmly. She made whimpering noises and tried to wiggle about which he prevented. He stopped - enjoying the moment. He loved the way the soft red flush spread across her pale pink cheeks.  And the shape of her ass! What God invented that?  Just the right combination of fashionable elegance and carnal utility!  He gently massaged her cheeks eliciting from her a long satisfied sigh.  He stood up, throwing her onto the bed as he did so.  He moved towards her and then climbed up onto her. He was a lot rougher with her than usual but he knew that she would like it – and he realised with some surprise that he didn’t really care if she didn’t.

                       ***************

Jarrod slept in – not getting up until after ten. Beth had left sometime during the night. He took his time showering and getting dressed then made his way round to the main house hoping to meet Beth there for breakfast. He found the way into the kitchen area. Beth wasn’t there but her parents were. They both looked at him harshly. Beth’s mother asked

“Is Beth with you?”
Jarrod replied awkwardly

“Um. No.”
Beth’s mother looked worried.

“She’s not in her room or anywhere in the house. But her bag is still there. It’s not like her
.” Jarrod felt like he had to say it