That was the finale of this year's storytelling for Den & Lauren. I'm giving them a rest for now. Please let us know if you enjoyed this long story. Next year, I'm starting a new story for The Chaotician. We're going back to the world of Caleb Howell, Jannah Tang, and the weird world of chaos magic. The stories of…

Time passed. Seasons changed. Pumpkins came out, shone bright with the light of a million tiy candles. The nights blazed with fireworks, and the air turned chill. December came, and with it the thrill of impending Christmas. Christmas lights came on in the city, draped across the streets and hanging from lampposts, adding an early sense of festive cheer, the colourful lights shining in puddles rippling with heavy rain.

Week Two Garrison opened his eyes, and gazed up at an unfamiliar ceiling. He found that he was lying in a single bed, alone. The room he was in had no windows. The floor was carpeted, the same off-white colour as the ceiling and walls. The bed was the only stick of furniture in the room. There was no apparent door.

Week Two, Friday 'Let me in to your home,' said Charlotte to the naked Margaret Garrison, who was standing in the doorway of her home. 'Of course,' whspered Margaret, stepping back into the interior of her home, and allowing Charlotte to gain entry.

Week Two, Wednesday 'This chat is secure,' said Marilyn to Morton Jessop. Jessop looked at the screen of the laptop on the desk. The four-woman team stared at him through individual windows. 'Let's begin,' Jessop said. 'Abigail, your data package has given me much to work on. What has the team found since?' 'The mistress' name is Elaine Daniels,' Abigail said.

The Right Honourable Anthony Garrison was under surveillance ... and neither he, nor his wife, nor his associates, knew it. The team kept tabs on Garrison virtually 24/7, monitoring his phones, emails, social media activities, and his physical comings and goings, through an interlocking network of covert surveillance behind newspapers or through long lenses and parabolic microphones. Week One, Tuesday morning…

'Activate them.' Marilyn had already prepared for Morton Jessop's command. With four keyed commands on her desk, she sent four couriers on their way to deliver packages she'd only just put in their hands a few minutes before. The couriers did not know the recipients. They only had one task: to deliver the packages, and then return to base.

Expect multiple parts to this story this week. I have sustained a slight injury to my typing hand, so I will just about manage multiple chapters of short length. By the time Friday rolls along, I should have a story whose length is greater than the length of a single chapter published just once this week.

Den & Lauren: Watchful Eyes 'Marilyn,' said Morton through the intercom, 'do I have people on the ground to get me more information?' 'Hang on,' Marilyn replied. There was a pause. 'Only,' Martin added, 'I can't be doing all of the legwork. God knows, I'd love to. But if my face started to show up everywhere, that'd make even the most oblivious klutz in the world start to feel suspicious.'

Morton Jessop was not expecting his new workplace. He had expected a windowless office, a cramped room with bare brick walls, a bare lightbulb, and a tiny desk salvaged from the British Heart Foundation Furniture Donation shop downtown, covered in ancient graffiti. He did not expect his office to be as spacious as it was, with a desk whose work surface was a single semicircle of black glass, set against a panoramic window which looked over the town.

'Now this is more like it,' Den said, watching the rain pour outside, buffeted against the patio window by the wind from the sea. 'What? Bad weather?' asked Lauren, across the hotel room. 'No, I meant ... this place,' Den replied, looking out at the worsening weather. 'What, Port Dinorwic?' Lauren asked. 'Yeah,' Den replied. 'Back where we took a holiday, how many years ago?'

Morton Jessop was not expecting company. The campus of Moire University boasted may little hole-in-the-wall cafes, coffee houses, and even a restaurant. Morton had his favourite, a place called The Baker's Dozen; and her he sat, whiling away the afternoon at his ffavourite table, sipping a latte, his nose buried in a John leCarre novel. Normally, John leCarre would be his ideal read.

'What we were thinking, Mr Jessop,' interrupted Lauren, 'is none of your concern.' As the board looked on, Lauren rose gracefully to her feet. Her presence, the firm set of her face, commanded the full attention of every person in the room. Silently, she crossed the room to stand over a visibly-quailing Morton Jessop. 'So I would like to know, from you, what you really meant with your questions.'

Morton Jessop stood, and turned to face Den. 'I have one question to ask you,' he began. 'I would like to know what kind of an image you are giving for Moire University by taking time off from work … to film an adult movie?' The silence fell about the boardroom. Every face turned to face Den. Den took in a long, deep breath.

A phone chimed. Den looked down, patting his pockets. He glanced at Lauren, who shrugged. 'Whose phone is that?' he asked. The board glanced around at one another, mystified. 'I think it's one of mine,' came a voice from the fr end of the table. All eyes turned to focus their attention on the young woman who'd spoken. 'Linda?' Den asked.

'So,' Den asked, as he looked through his wardrobe, 'what have we got planned for today?' Lauren sat at her makeup table, applying her face, a choice of hairpieces on one side of the unit: brunette French bob, pixie cut, redheaded ringlets. Den looked at her slender bare back. She wore stockings and heels, and nothing else. 'Like what you see?' Lauren asked.

Just to let everybody know - this last week, I had a tooth extracted. I think I caught a cold somewhere in town, so not only do I have a sore mouth, but a sore throat. I namedropped some EDM musical tracks in Wrap Party. They're real - you can get them on Youtube and Spotify (apart from Den's "Experimental Hypermix" tapes ...

'Do you have your playlist set up?' Lauren asked Den. Den looked at Lauren, lying in the bed beside him in the trailer. The covers were on the floor, covering their clothes. One last moment of passion before the trailer went away. 'I have,' Den replied. 'I'm going to start with some oldies to get the house on its feet, hit them with a couple of my homegrown tracks, and then, when they're pounding the floor ...'

I've looked at tonight's episode, "Wrap Party," and the words don't really come together the way I want to, so I'll be reworking it from scratch and releasing it some time during this week. Sometimes, the story just doesn't work. It's not often I've had to redo an entire chapter from scratch like this.

The morning air was chill, but it was dry, for the first time in almost a week. Good job the weather was turning out okay on this day, because the crew were getting tired of all the waiting while t…

Short post here. Just to let you know what’s coming in the runup to 2026, which is in three months. There are just ten more episodes of this current season of Den & Lauren to come. The st…

Short post here. Just to let you know what's coming in the runup to 2026, which is in three months. There are just ten more episodes of this current season of Den & Lauren to come. The story of Judith, the Mystery Team, the Book Club, Moire University, and of course the adult movies, will reach their conclusion on December 7 2025.

The final rounds of filming were almost upon them. There was a general sense of anticipation among the cast and crew, as the last handful of scenes in the script were being ticked off, and the loca…

The final rounds of filming were almost upon them. There was a general sense of anticipation among the cast and crew, as the last handful of scenes in the script were being ticked off, and the location unit found their last spots to record background and transition scenes. Lauren caught up with Tamara in the Makeup. 'We're waiting for you to finish here,' Lauren said.

Judith looked around at the set, the readied equipment, and the naked crew waiting for their instructions. 'What do we do here, then?' Den looked at Judith. 'We follow the script.'