Unencumbered Woman , livre ebook

Troubador Publishing Ltd - Alice Davies Mary

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65 pages

English

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Caroline and her ex-army husband Mike embark on a trekking holiday in Nepal, where they meet Sandra, a divorcee in her sixties, and Jane, a single woman now free after the death of her elderly mother. When unexpected events leave Mike and Jane unable to complete the trek, Caroline and Sandra continue without them.During the trek without Mike, Caroline is surprised by the uplift in her mood. She is deeply affected by her experiences and, returning to the hotel where Mike and Jane have been recovering, Caroline is a changed woman.Faced with family problems, Caroline and Sandra acknowledge that their lives need to change and some very difficult decisions must be made. To be an unencumbered woman comes with a price, but are they willing to pay.This novella is framed by a collection of seven short stories, each of which explore women's relationships with power. The short stories explore female struggles with sexuality, political ambitions, revenge and living with the consequences of their actions.

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Short story

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Publié par	Troubador Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	28 août 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781803133799
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Copyright © 2020 Mary Alice Davies

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

Matador
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Email: books@troubador.co.uk
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Twitter: @matadorbooks

ISBN 9781803133799

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

To the women, and men, who struggle with the challenge of being unencumbered.

Contents
Where are the Women!
Rebooting Intimacy
The Dilemma of Owning Yourself
Revenge Is Sweet!
The Flying Club
The Living in La-La Land Mission
Twice as Much Husband and Half as Much Money
The Scent of Hope
The Unencumbered Woman

Where are the Women!
Shame
They’re not on the board.
Because they don’t fall on their sword?
They’re not in the club.
Because they can’t afford the sub?
They’re not in the House.
Playing second fiddle to their spouse?
They don’t control the bank.
It doesn’t do to be too frank?
We know that this is wrong.
Women are bold, clever and strong.
For society it’s a shame.
More women would raise the game.
Women should have more power.
We could get rid of the old shower,
An elite of Oxbridge men,
Living ordinary lives, really, when?
So know nothing of the strain
Women go through to obtain,
Work, respect, power and the right
To dignity and a chance to see their light
Shine.

Rebooting Intimacy
When the flat was empty of other people, Sam turned on the computer to check the progress of the delivery. It had been carefully planned so that the parcel would arrive on Saturday morning while the flatmates were away for the weekend. The delivery was on track, expected at 8am the next day. Sam was too anxious to sleep well and was up by 7am just in case it arrived early. It didn’t.
The shipment was from a warehouse in California supplied by a university known for innovation in robot technology. Sam was nervous and nearly severed a finger when cutting the string around the large parcel. There would be a lot of bubble wrap to dispose of. Sam gently removed the sexbot and gasped. She was beautiful, if not altogether humanoid. Rather too perfect for a mere mortal. Total customisation had been expensive so her features had been selected from an online catalogue, a more affordable option. She looked like Audrey Hepburn. Sam had always had a thing about Audrey Hepburn, ever since seeing her in Funny Face . Real women were too terrifying to approach so the sexbot was an expensive experiment. From the online catalogue of smells, Sam had chosen the perfume “Obsession”. It was a very exotic smell, which unfortunately lingered. Sam began to think it might have been a bad decision. The flatmates might start asking questions.
Her technology was impressive as Sam began to find out. When touched she smiled, and she made soft sighing sounds when stroked. She couldn’t stand up unaided but that was no problem because Sam wanted her lying down. The app had already arrived on Sam’s laptop so there had been opportunity to study the instructions on how to make the most of Audrey, as Sam had decided to call her. She didn’t talk, the technology for that was still a bit crude, but Sam remembered Audrey’s voice from her films and with a vivid imagination no speech was needed. However, she groaned and grunted appreciatively when Sam touched her in certain places. It was going to be a fantastic weekend.
By Sunday afternoon, Sam had worked through Audrey’s repertoire at least three times. Those techies in California certainly knew a thing or two about giving pleasure. Audrey had functions that Sam didn’t even know existed. It was money well spent. Music made the experience feel more intimate. From memory, Audrey liked jazz in Funny Face, so that was what she got. Just as well that Sam liked jazz too.

There was a noise on the stairs, the door was unlocked and Sam’s flatmates rushed in to the flat. It was only early evening, but Sam had been cautious and Audrey had been put away, hidden behind the clothes rail in his wardrobe.
‘You look happy Sam, did you have a good weekend?’ Sam smiled and nodded.

The flat was a hive of activity on Monday morning as they rushed around getting ready for work. Sam was up first, looking forward to it for once. The work was research in The House of Commons. An OK degree from The London School of Economics, a stint in Harvard Business School and some good family connections meant that the job interview had been a piece of cake, the result a foregone conclusion. For two years, Sam gradually grew into the job and was now regularly required to attend committees with or on behalf of his boss, a Minister who was the chairman of a group looking at the implications of Artificial Intelligence, or AI as it was called, for British business. That was how Sam had discovered the development of sexbots, from some research papers from a university in California. Not that it was mentioned to the Minister, who was supposedly a happily married family man, a fact he made plenty of use of. Having a photogenic family is a great asset in politics even in the 21 st century. Over the weekend, Sam had done some excellent field work on AI but that would remain a secret. Being sexual with Audrey was stress-free after the initial learning curve, especially when compared with an embarrassing failed attempt to date Polly, a fellow student in Harvard. Just remembering it made Sam feel hot, ashamed and had inhibited any further attempts at intimacy. But that was pre-Audrey. Post-Audrey was a new ball game.
The Minister had been invited to a spring conference in California called “AI and an ageing population.” Sam had been tasked to obtain the details and organise the Minister’s timetable while he was at the conference. So, Sam picked the sessions that were interesting, on carebots and gardenbots. There was no mention of sexbots. Just as well, the Minister would freak out at the very idea. He showed very little interest in the conference and Sam was unsurprised when he came in one day looking particularly serious.
‘Sam, I think you will have to go to the conference on my behalf. I just have too much on at the moment. You know more about it than me, write me a report.’
‘Yes of course, Minister.’ If he only knew, thought Sam with a grin. A spring trip to California, wonderful. A post-Audrey Sam hummed a little tune.

With the excuse of getting over the jetlag, Sam made sure to arrive in Monterey a few days before the start of the conference in time for a bit of sightseeing. The aquarium was spectacular and the historical Cannery Row a reminder of Sam’s favourite Steinbeck story. The town was busy. Sam thought that some people must be conference delegates. There were a few good-looking women; hopefully they were AI experts and there would be a chance to meet them. Since Audrey, things seemed to be getting better all the time. At the conference dinner table was one of these women, who was called Zoe Summers, according to the little place tag. They began a conversation.
‘I’m a scientific journalist, freelance, but I’m here to get the story for a few serious newspapers. There’s a lot of interest in AI at the moment, a political hot potato I believe.’
Sam smiled in agreement.
‘Too true. I’m here on behalf of my boss who is a Minister.’ When Zoe raised her eyebrows in surprise, Sam explained that his boss was a Government Minister. Zoe moved her chair a little closer. Sam noticed that she smelled even better than Audrey. She looked good. Not quite as perfect as Audrey but similar in some ways: slightly built with short blonde hair. When Sam had spotted her earlier in town she had been wearing running gear. She explained that running was almost an obsession, she ran before breakfast and in the late afternoon.
‘I’m in training for the London marathon,’ she explained. Sam was impressed; slim, fit women were a bit of a turn on.
After the conference dinner and the speeches ended, Sam and Zoe walked back to their hotel. By coincidence they were both staying at the same place just set back from the sea. They sat in the lounge and chatted a while, then Zoe said she was tired.
‘See you at breakfast,’ said Sam.
Back in the small room on the second floor, Sam lay on the bed and thought about Zoe. There was the same effect as usual when he thought about an attractive woman: feeling anxious, heart rate increased, slightly breathless. Better to think about Audrey, much safer, less stress.
After breakfast, Sam and Zoe walked together to the conference venue. Each day started with a plenary session. It was about the use of carebots. During the question session afterwards, Zoe put up her hand to ask a question.
‘What about the effect of carebots on personal relationships?’ she asked. There were no answers to the question but it initiated a lively discussion. For the rest of the day Sam and Zoe went separate ways. Sam attended a popular workshop on sexbots, which had been added to the programme at the last minute. Zoe had chosen other workshops