Lenert’s Secret Jealous Interest

There was a pause as Ray considered his attempt to explain and make amends to Emma. Translator had let them down this time.

“The translator said Blute was Tree Blossom in English I’m so sorry for upsetting you. We meant no offence.”

Emma broke out in peals of laughter to the surprise of the team.

“The translator is correct, but this is just to alert you guys that a woman can hand it out too so beware of this German blossom. I know how to hand it back. Oh, and I will answer to Schon which means beautiful and Schlau which would mean smart in English. You chose very well.”

They all laughed in nervous relief while Ray waved them back to work and indicated she should follow him. They went out the back and entered gigantic, interconnected greenhouses with plants in various stages of growth including fruits she’d never seen before. He took her down long rows of potted trees inspecting them and explaining what they were doing in that area of research. There were several greenhouses each having entrance to another and several research assistants paused to share information with Ray who eventually turned to Emma.

“How much of what the assistants and I have talked about in this area have you understood and have you had a chance to read any of the scientific journals I gave you and how did you comprehend the articles?”

“Some of it I understood from university courses and a little of what you shared this morning I comprehended.  Remember I learned my science in the German language so must translate in my head or look up terms on my phone app so it will take a while, but you’ve wakened an appetite for knowledge in this area of science I’d never considered before so please be patient with me and help me understand it all.”

“I teach in universities to those commencing their journey in this branch of science and to those who are more advanced in their studies. My lectures with illustrations are on my computer and backed up. If you like I could put them on an extension hard drive so you can access them on your computer but like you said it’s in English, but you could study at your own pace. How would you like that?”

Emma was amazed at this generous offer. A university course like this could cost a fortune and here was a professor willing to give those lectures free and help her as she assimilated knowledge in this new area of science. Without thinking she reached out and planted a kiss on each cheek and Ray blushed a deep red. He turned away immediately and mumbled that he took that as a yes. Emma realized she’d embarrassed him and glanced around to see if any of the assistants had been observing them, but they were engrossed in what they were doing and paying no attention. This was a place where work was their life. She hastened to explain she was not trying anything inappropriate just grateful for the offer and Ray nodded heading for his workstation on conclusion of their inspection.

He searched through drawers and found an extension hard drive plugging it in and seeing it was empty. He then reformatted it and searched in the database for his lectures protected by a password. He was constantly revising his lectures in the light of things discovered in his work each day. He handed the hard drive to Emma and indicated she should follow him. He went to a back room where there was a free workstation and entered her details and a password then made her sit and face the computer camera while he entered the face recognition part of system entry and had her go through the process of getting her face recognized by the system. He then exited the system and waited a few minutes before turning the computer on again.

“Look at the camera Emma.”

The system opened with Emma’s picture at the top. Ray plugged in the extension hard drive and after a few seconds the menu came up for the semester introductory course he taught in universities.

“The first two hours of your day you’ll spend going through the lectures and answering the daily tests and I’ll grade them at my leisure as I can access this computer. If you do well, I’ll work with one of the universities to see you get acknowledgement that this has been completed under their umbrella for credit. Depending on how long you stay at this plantation I’ll guide you through more advanced courses for credit. The rest of the day you’ll do whatever I give you to do until I feel you can be useful to our work here which I already believe you will and must tell Lenert you are more valuable to work with us than to be part of the harvest as originally intended for you.”

“Thank you, Ray.”

Tears came to her eyes and Ray noting this fled to his research station. This woman was a puzzle but obviously a potential valuable recruit for the plantation in time.

Some months later when Lenert had just returned from one of his trips to Brisbane capital of the state in connection with backpacker temporary workers. The season for fruit harvesting and processing in the factory for sending on to canning factories and supermarket warehouses was coming to an end and Kathy’s agency who handled all the visas and travel plans for backpackers needed to be consulted regarding their travel plans when finished with Paradise Fruit Orchards. As they met together in her office she inquired about Emma Wagner as her name was not on the list and her father had paid funds which were held in the agency trust account to cover tours arranged for her to visit other parts of Australia. Her visa was for a specified period, and it would be getting harder for Kathy to decide to complete all those paid for visits if she left it much longer. Lenert said he’d bring that to her attention.

He’d been thinking about this issue for a while now. He’d noted a light on in the guestroom one evening at 2am and wondered if Emma was not well so knocked on her door and she came to the door surprised to see Lenert there. He asked if she was well and she smiled and told him she was working on the lectures Ray had given her and was grading her on toward university credits which Ray had arranged for. The final semester exam was to be held, and Ray had arranged for a university he worked with to send someone to administer the final semester exam as a favour as he was considered a valuable contributor to that university.

This was the first time Lenert had known of this arrangement for Emma, and he felt irritated Ray had not shared this plan with him after all Paradise Fruit Orchards was paying her wages. What was Ray’s motivation? It seemed to be unhealthy relationship Ray being in his fifties and Emma her mid-twenties. Why was Ray taking such a personal interest in this woman? Perhaps she should be sent on her way when the season finished to guard both parties. He’d mentioned it to Anika who gave him a tongue lashing. Emma was her adopted daughter now and the two had a close relationship in the short time she’d been there. So, he turned to his secretary Rachel Morris who he trusted implicitly along with her foreman husband and Rachel laughed at his suspicion. He remembered getting another surprise as he talked the matter over with Rachel who filled him in on some of the history of Paradise Fruit Orchards. Now Rachel was beginning to wonder about Lenert’s interest in Emma. Was he jealous?

Rachel and Ray were distant relatives. Their mutual ancestor had migrated to this country as a free settler in the eighteen hundreds and been granted a large selection which included the area now occupied by Paradise Fruit Orchards. He and his children slaved to clear the land living in bush shanties nothing more than cut rough timber supports and canvas roof shelter almost starving and far removed from any form of civilization in those days. They hunted the wildlife kangaroos and emus for food but slowly over time planted and nurtured the stone fruits they’d bought with them along with other seeds which they tried to cultivate sometimes unsuccessfully. A trip to Brisbane in those days would take weeks passing by aboriginal tribes and other settlers beginning to establish the government grant lands. Some succeeded and some didn’t finally to abandon their holdings and retreat on the long journey to Brisbane to seek work. Over time as families increased their ancestors had the property divided and over time those properties were further divided between children until well established farms developed and small trading stations developed to supply the increasing number of people farming that granite belt. These became towns in time. Stone fruits thrived in that area, and it became a speciality.

Ray was attached to this property as part of it had once belonged to his grandfather. The subdividing of the original holding was now being reversed, and small properties were being amalgamated as this was the age of economies of scale and only those with unlimited capital could provide the equipment needed to run successful mass production and that applied to fruit farming too. He’d wandered the orchards of his grandfather’s plantation and studied the ways of nature, and it had aroused a curiosity about how nature worked. When his parents had died in a vehicle accident a wealthy aunt had taken him under her wing with his siblings and Ray had with her financing and scholarships advanced to the respected educator and researcher, he was today. But his soul was knit to this land and Ray felt he had the best of all worlds being here rather than in a city attached to the daily routine of a full-time professor. Rachel said Ray had detected that same spirit of enquiry in Emma when she arrived at this property and hoped to interest her in eventually taking his place though being a foreigner that was just a dream. Rachel knew her relative had a long-term health condition which he’d shared with Rachel in confidence, and he wondered how long he’d be able to take the pressures of this work. She didn’t share this part with Lenert, but she strongly defended Emma and said there was nothing improper in the relationship. Rachel, Anika and Emma often spent time together and over time Emma had confided in these women the reason she was in Australia as they bonded together. What Rachel shared with Lenert was a surprise to him and he relaxed about the relationship and began to see Emma in a new light.

So, on his return to the homestead, he asked Emma to see him in his office first thing next day.

He inquired about the purpose of her studies and how she was going to deal with the tours her father had paid for as Kathy was anxious about the fact her visa was going to run out possibly before she could accomplish what had been paid for. He mentioned Ray saw her as a potential valued contributor to Paradise Fruit Farms with more academic training and noted he was already seeing that as a possible interest in future. Would she consider staying on beyond the one-year backpacker visa to work as an understudy to Ray and if that was of interest to her Lenert was prepared to work with her to make her stay here more permanent through those who owned Paradise Fruit Farms. This came as a shock to Emma, and she said she’d need to think about it but realized her father’s investments in tours was at stake now and she’d have to give him a response quickly.

That evening she messaged her father she’d like to speak with him personally and a time was arranged for both to have a video call at a time both could be available considering the time difference between her location and Bavaria. Emma was excited to talk with her father in German and explained how she’d developed an interest in this specialized aspect of science and was being helped with university studies in that field of interest. Her father encouraged her and gave his blessing. It was an interest that would help erase the hurt she’d experienced by being rejected by the one pledged to marry her. Emma learned her close friend had left Henry Hofmann and the Hofmann’s had attempted to make peace with their neighbours and inquire if Emma would forgive their son and have him back as he now realized he could only love Emma. Emma’s father had asked the Hofmann’s not to contact them again and thought it best if Emma could be away for a bit longer if that were to be possible. So, after that conversation Emma communicated to Lenert, she’d be happy to stay with them longer if that could be sorted out with immigration.

Lenert asked Ray if he could spend time to visit with him at the office for a private consultation. Usually, Lenert visited the research centre and had their conversations openly, so Ray was curious to know why a private consultation was necessary so hastened to visit the administration office and was ushered in by Rachel equally puzzled at the summons. Lenert got straight to the point. He wanted a report on what future Ray saw for this woman with their corporation and why he was helping promote her further studies. Ray told Lenert that the time would come when he’d for health reasons consider reducing his workload. The first to be affected would be his university lectureships this was not an immediate cause of concern but on the horizon. While the people supplied by CSIRO and employed by this corporation were competent, he didn’t see anyone with the passion or capacity to replace him here. Obviously, Emma couldn’t do it in the immediate future, but she had a passion for learning and drank in any new knowledge comprehending it in a short time. Over time with mentoring, she’d be capable of doing his job but of course she’d need to want to do this, and he hadn’t approached her about it as he was still observing her capacity to lead a scientific team in the long term. Of course, there was the question of her wanting to make Australia her chosen home too neither of them should get their hopes up yet, but it was worth testing.

Lenert sat deep in thought for a while.

“If I buy into what you are doing it would require a different visa to what she is in Australia working on. That would require pressure not only from our corporation which I’d have to sell the head office on, but it would need a strong support from CSIRO. Could you deliver that support?”

Ray smiled.

“They may want to see her for themselves, but I’ll work on that and you work on your corporate gods. I got word from the university this morning that Emma passed her first semester units with top marks and they graded her not me. A couple more semesters and she could graduate with a Master of Science in that area along with transfer credits she has approved from her university in Germany so that gives her a masters in two areas of science if she’s successful. I think Emma is worth an investment though you’d be getting her cheap because I’m delivering the lectures and not charging and the only costs would be for the graduation exercise.”

Lenert nodded.

“So, what’s your first move Ray?”

“I’m taking her to Canberra to meet the CSIRO influentials there and I’ll do that in connection with studies we are engaged in as I usually do and don’t worry, I have enough air travel points to buy her a ticket. Would you be prepared to cover her motel room? If not, I’ll do it myself.”

Lenert nodded and looked at his watch. Ray stood to go and exited the office while Rachel looked on with curiosity wondering about the secrecy which was quite out of character with Lenert. She hoped to pry it out of him later or find out what was going on through Anika.

Meanwhile Anika had been plotting again about her son’s future. He was approaching thirty years of age and Emma was in her mid-twenties. She’d already accepted this German transplant as a daughter but would prefer to have her as daughter in law. Lenert had resisted all her pressures in the Barossa Valley in his early twenties and had even taken this job far away to get out of her continual urgings to find a wife from the German community there. But Anika was back with her son now and had the same goal ahead of her. She had one woman she could approve living in the home with her now and that was Emma. Lenert had expressed no interest in Emma she could detect and she thought of many ways she could attain her goal of making Emma Wagner Emma Welk.

Little did she know Lenert Welk had noticed this German woman and his complaints about Emma’s seeming close relationship with Ray were really prompted by jealousy he was not willing to admit too. Rachel was already beginning to suspect it but knew Lenert would react badly if she teased him about it though he was quite OK with her poking fun at him about other eccentricities he had. He looked upon Rachel and her husband his foreman as very valuable friends with a broad knowledge of the area and how to motivate in the interests of the orchard very effectively. If Rachel had not been married, he’d have been very interested in her as a life partner, but he was a highly moral person and respected the boundary between himself and Rachel as a married woman. Now Emma was on the scene he realized there was an attraction there, but it was hopeless as she was only there for a season and would then be back to her beloved Bavaria so no point in getting romantically entangled. But Ray’s suggestion of enticing her to stay on gave him a glimmer of hope and he determined to pull out all stops to make her permanent stay in Australia attractive.

When Ray urged her to accompany him on his regular consultation with the CSIRO in the country capital of Canberra where they had their head office, she was surprised to be told Ray needed her assistance there and her way would be paid in full including accommodation. She mentioned it to Lenert, and he told her it was approved by him. So, she looked forward to seeing the nation’s capital and was surprised to find it was in such a remote area but beautifully laid out and maintained. She was received with respect by those Ray described irreverently as the gods of science and listened to Ray’s reports she was conversant with and drank in the knowledge obtained as they discussed the projects in hand hosted by their site in Queensland which the CSIRO valued as a major contributor to this area of their wide-ranging scientific explorations. The more Emma listened the more interested she became in making this area of science her future work and not the pharmacy work she’d been trained in as a career. She felt privileged to have stumbled on this opportunity in her planned backpacking holiday and looked forward to finding a way to advance her academic studies if she could get an appropriate visa. As they were heading home by air to Brisbane Ray told her the CSIRO would be contacting the government to find an appropriate way to keep her permanently in this country with a visa permitting her stay without a terminal point in time.

Lenert had approached his own corporate heads to say CSIRO were looking into getting Emma a more permanent visa status and would they give support to that so he could retain this woman, and they indicated they’d support the CSIRO in that plan provided the woman would give them a guarantee of five years of service. Emma had to think about this and once again had a web face conversation with her father who was supportive again and provided, she’d make a commitment to visit the family in Germany during her vacations. So, she agreed and waited while the wheels of government ground slowly considering the application. Her visa was about to run out, and Emma prepared to leave the country regretting this could mean her father’s investment in tours may be wasted.

To be continued.

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