by J G Jerome
Marissa howls to Josie. “Do you want to explain it to him?”
Josie snorts out her nose as she nods. I find myself laughing, and I don’t know why. Finally Josie calms down enough to talk. “William, love. I don’t know why you didn’t just fuck her and make her feel loved.” All the ladies break up laughing again.
Rebecca finally slows her laughter to the point she can speak again. “You probably gave her more orgasms in eight minutes than she’s had in months.”
“Years!” shouts Marissa.
“Ever,” adds Josie as she raises her hand.
I point at Josie, “Which is why I didn’t fuck her. You deserve to be first, Josie. Plus she’s still married.”
“I appreciate that, Will. I’ll be ready when you get home,” Josie responds. She is very earnest. Then she grins at me. “No ropes this first time, William. Maybe later.”
I grin back at her. “As you wish, Josie.”
Rebecca chimes in at the same time, “I’ll try the ropes.”
Marissa follows quickly with a, “Me too!”
We all laugh. I tell my ladies that I love them and disconnect. I get ready for bed feeling much lighter in my soul.
Wednesday morning came to me when it was still dark. Given it’s the last day in August, that means that I woke up early. I check my phone, and it says it is four-thirty in the morning.
“Geez!”
I go take a leak and slowly get dressed in workout togs. I grab an empty water bottle to refill and my key before heading out the door to the fitness center.
I have the room to myself. I start off on the elliptical for thirty minutes, after which I still have the room to myself. I jump into the 18-minute workout. I double the weight of the dumbells from Monday. I have to be careful of form with the extra weight, but I manage to only lose about three reps on average on the squat sets and none on the weighted burpees. I grab one of the yoga mats in the back corner and start working through a Sunrise Salutation. I’m into the third grouping, doing my first Plank into Serpent transition, when the door opens. I smile as I recognize the scent of the person joining me.
I push back into Downward Dog as a mat flops next to mine, and a tall sexy brunette with curly hair drops to Plank, Serpent, and Downward Dog in quick succession to catch up with me.
“Good morning,” I tell my neighbor.
“Good morning,” Susan responds.
I lead the way through my routine, and she follows without a word. We finish supine in Child’s Pose. I get up and roll the mat, Susan follows me. I murmur, “You smell just as delicious as last night.”
She spanks my ass. “Don’t make this harder than it already is, Will. I’m embarrassed.” She cuts me off before I can protest. “Not by what you did to me, but by my lack of restraint and decorum. I should never have gone to your room. I know you tried to dissuade me, but I was lost. Thank you for not taking advantage of me.”
I turn to look at her as I sip my water. I lower the bottle. “You’re too important to me to mess this up, Susan. I’ve got your back.” She gives a gentle smile. I see her aura is marginally less bright than last night, but still pure white. “I’m going to hit the shower and then have a leisurely breakfast. I’ll see you at the session.”
* * *
The rest of the day passed quickly, if uneventfully. The final day of the workshop was a half-day exercise until lunch, followed by a quick lunch and team briefings of the plans they made in the exercise taking until early afternoon. I gave a thirty minute after-action review at the end of the day to gather lessons-learned feedback, handed out the ubiquitous surveys, and got everyone out of the door by four-thirty in the afternoon to fight their way to the airport.
Susan and I shared a drink in the bar after I picked up the detritus in the conference room. She declined to let me take her to dinner, which was probably for the best. I asked for Friday off, and she agreed.
I grabbed a Reuben sandwich at the bar, and then retired for the night. I played guitar for a while before I packed it up. I stripped down to boxers and sat on the floor up against the wall, crossed my legs and began deep breathing exercises.
* * *
I walk through the workshop in my mind. I note a few things that I think could be improved. Then I think about my short time with Audrey - the joy and the heartbreak. The things she revealed about this secret world and the role of the Church. The Church’s likely reaction to finding me and-or Rebecca. I suspect they’ve all but forgotten about thaumaturges, but if they find out about Josie, either way they will try to capture her. Maybe I can throw Lafayette under the bus to save my family. I probably need to hold off on bringing Sidney, Mason, and Charlene out of their bolts until I have a more-secure environment.
That brings me to thinking about my new family. I’ve gone from having a distant relationship and a sometimes sex friend to having three women that love me. Audrey. Make that four women that love me, but one that is afraid to be with me. Susan. Don’t even go there! She is off limits - boss and married. I need to get a decent home for my three ladies, and keep room in case Audrey does show up. I need to send Rebecca and Josie to school. I think we can go the GED route, then into Yavapai County for basics and sciences. Bachelor’s degree is something we’ll have to figure out along the way - Flagstaff isn’t too far away. I suspect Josie will be very interested in physics and chemistry. I’m guessing biology and medicine for Rebecca.
Then I start to ponder my power. Apparently, I have quite a bit of it. I need to learn how to use it. I think Josie can teach me quite a bit, but it might be better to get both her and Charlene teaching me. I’ll have to discuss that with Josie. I open my eyes and my second sight. I conjure a small ball of ‘growth’ or ‘life’ into my left hand - about the size of a golf ball. It swirls and emits a light blue glow - like a summer sky. Then I conjure a ball of ‘entropy’ in my right of the same size. It swirls and manages to shine despite being black. I move them together and the two balls rebound away from each other.
‘Growth’ I kind of get, but I’m still not sure what to do with ‘entropy.’ Intuitively, it felt like the right solution to use the energy stored where Susan didn’t want visible pockets of fat. I think we need it in our digestive tracts. How about in our brains? Do we need it there? Do the chemical reactions in the brain require an entropic reaction? How about other organs? Our skin does to a certain extent, but maybe that’s more of the cells living a full life and new life replacing it. Entropy impacts cell division adversely - the breakdown of the telomeres on the chromosome pairs is obvious entropy. Can that be held in check without adverse impact?
So, I can pull souls from bodies, suck the life out of zombies, push ghosts or spirits into zombies, push them into golems, kill with entropic energy, heal by removing entropic energy and adding growth energy, and who knows what else. I’ve got a lot to learn.
I turn my palms and smack them together with intent. The two spheres in my palms collide, and then they explode in a white flash. I’m pushed back into the wall with a thud. It reminds me of when my grandad’s milk cow kicked me in the chest when I was a kid. The bed moves and the windows rattle. The mirror over the desk cracks, but doesn’t shatter. The room is noticeably colder. ‘What the heck?’
The two balls are gone, replaced by a single white glowing ball. I focus on it and try to see into it. I think I see faint eddies in it. It looks like a … soul. I don’t feel any awareness in it, but it’s like the energy that powers Gwen. I push it into my well, but it doesn’t go. I pinch it with the fingers of both hands and pull with intent. Oh my! Now I have two golf-ball sized balls again - one entropic, one growth. The room is now noticeably warmer. The two balls return to my well just fine. Okay...I definitely need to discuss this with Josie.
I get up and call the ladies on Facetime. Marissa picks it up on her phone. They are all at her parent’s house for dinner and a slumber party. I laugh at that image. Marissa tells me they are just finishing dinner, and they will call back in about an
hour.
I spend the time checking work emails, and giving some detailed instruction to a team member. Delores sends me a note asking if I can sign paperwork downtown at Yavapai Title tomorrow afternoon. I tell her my availability. I schedule a work meeting to talk through an issue first thing in the morning. Afterward, I call Bernadette to let her know that I can drop by tomorrow late morning. She says she looks forward to the meeting. She doesn’t indicate whether the package is ready or not, but I don’t want to talk about it on the phone anyway.
My iPad rings as I finish brushing my teeth. I crawl into bed and answer. Marissa is smiling at me with a large naked breast by one ear and a small one by the other. I tease her about growing boobs out of her ears and the other two ladies drop down to show me their pretty faces. All three of them are relatively tipsy. I suspect there will be some drunken frolicking tonight. Josie keeps howling ‘I love you’ repeatedly to both of them and me. Rebecca is giving each of them sloppy kisses.
Marissa giggles, “William, we are all in desperate need of your magnificent cock. Come home lover!”
I laugh, “Yes ma’am. I’ll be home early tomorrow evening. I’ll stop by the title company to sign paperwork on the way home.”
“Okay. The girls will be at the apartment when you get home. Mom is taking them over after lunch - she’s having a great time having more daughters. I need to head out to Flagstaff early tomorrow, so I’ll probably be after six in the evening before I get home.”
“Okay. Be safe, Marissa. I couldn’t stand to lose you.”
“I know, Will. I feel the same about you. Come home safe, my love.”
At that we have a round of ‘goodbyes’ and ‘I love yous’ before we disconnect.
I wake late the next morning. I do yoga, some martial arts drills, and finish with taiji and more yoga. Then I shower and grab a quick breakfast before I return to the room to take the conference call. I wrap up that call and another impromptu one before I shut down for the morning. I get a call from Susan as I’m closing my suitcase. She expresses her gratitude for both the professional effort and the friendship. I tell her I’m looking forward to seeing her again. She rings off, and I drag my guitar, roller bag, and attaché out the door.
At reception, I close out my bill. I tell them about the mirror, and the clerk, Haimish again, tells me not to worry about it. He hands me a box about the size of a ream of legal paper. I sit in one of the easy chairs and open it. Inside is a shadowbox with a familiar piece of ropework. There is a hand-written note.
Dearest Will,
Please keep this for me. I will come to recover it from you one day, but I don’t want to take it on the plane. I have your pictures of me wearing it, and those will have to keep my memories alive.
I have a long path to walk before I am no longer a mess. I think yours is short by comparison. Regardless, your kindness and affection have shown me what I want from life. I have to work for it now. I may not always be your boss, but I will always be…
...yours,
Susan
I smile and pack it all into the box before shoving the whole thing into my attaché.
I head out to my car and pack everything into the back.
* * *
In a corner of the hotel parking lot stands a pretty young Asian woman with a pageboy haircut wearing an orange sundress, floppy hat and sunglasses. She is propped in the open door of her Accord watching a tall man head out of the lobby to the parking lot. He loads a guitar, briefcase, and rollbag into the back of a grey Honda CRV. She watches him get in and drive away as she sobs heartbreakingly.
25 - Wrapping up business
I keep thinking of Audrey as I load my CRV. I close the hatch and get myself situated in the driver’s seat. I close my eyes and breathe deeply, leaning my head on my hands.
I counsel myself, ‘You are not going to turn into a weepy child, William! Man up!’
I sit up, turn on the engine, and queue up some tunes. ‘Oh! Buckle up!’
With my head marginally screwed on straight, I put the car in gear and drive off to meet Bernadette. It isn’t far to Bernadette’s townhouse from the hotel, and the morning rush hour is over. I stop first at Bank of America to withdraw five thousand dollars, and I follow that with a stop at Chase for the other five thousand I need to give Bernadette for the balance I owe her. Then I have another leisurely twenty minute drive to her house.
I pull into her circle drive and park. As I get out of the car, Manuel steps out of the door. As I approach the door, Viktorija steps into the doorway and smiles at me. She’s wearing a gold, halter-top jumpsuit that looks loose and airy around her legs. She also has on matching gold sandals with a modest heel. Her hair is up in a twist. Viktorija murmurs to Manuel, who nods in response with a kind smile.
Manuel pats my shoulder as I pass. Viktorija wraps her arms around my waist and buries her face in my chest.
She looks up at me. “I heard about Audrey. How are you holding up?”
I kiss her pink painted lips. “How did you hear about that?”
“She came to visit yesterday. I held her while she had a good cry. She told me all about the split. Apparently she went to see you Tuesday evening to tell you she made a mistake, and she saw you with a pretty woman on your arm walking into the hotel. She followed you in and saw her enter your hotel room.”
“That was my boss. She took me out for dinner, and then she wanted to hear me play guitar,” I explain. “I tried for the bar, but she insisted on my suite, and yes, she did make a play. I managed to avoid it, but I had to tie her up to get her past it. I didn’t know you two were friends.”
Viktorija laughs lightly. “Audrey and I have been friends since the day I met you. You were kind to me and introduced me to her. I had been here three days and had already been groped by every man in town and about half the women. You held me and comforted me. Afterwards, Audrey told me she remembered what it was like to be new in town. Before the two of you retired to your room, she gave me her phone number and told me to call her if I was lonely. I did. I spend most of my days off with her shopping, eating, or hanging out.”
Viktorija releases her hug and takes my arm. She leads me through the entry to Bernadette’s office. “Will, the Mistress is engaged elsewhere in the house, but she asked that I seat you in her office. She will be with you shortly.” I sit down in the armchair facing the desk. Viktorija kisses my cheek and hurries out to let Bernadette know I arrived.
* * *
Viktorija pulls her phone out of a pocket in the voluminous trousers of her jumpsuit. She dials a number from her recent calls.
“Hey, Audrey.”
Audrey moans, “I choked! I saw him in the parking lot, and I froze. I stood there watching him pack up and leave while I bawled my eyes out.”
Viktorija says, “Calm down, sweetie. All is not lost. He is here. Now.”
Audrey sobs, “It doesn’t matter. I saw him with her. He was smiling at her and then they went into his hotel room.”
Viktoria responds, “And he didn’t fuck her. He may have been smiling, but I’m willing to bet that it was like the one he gave me when I met him two minutes ago - it got nowhere close to his eyes. I know he cares about me, but I couldn’t get a real smile from him.”
Audrey say, “Tori, I don’t know. I should never have let him go.”
Viktorija fires right back. “You’re right. You had to be insane. But the insanity has passed, and you have a chance to get him back. Get over here! No argument! Get over here now!”
A hand reaches in and takes the phone from Viktorija. “Audrey, this is Bernadette. I have about fifteen minutes worth of business to discuss with William. I can’t stretch it much. You better be standing in front of my office door before I’m done. No is not an option.” Then Bernadette disconnects the phone.
Bernadette hands the phone back to Viktorija. “Too much?”
Viktorija smiles and shakes her head. “No, Mistress. It was perfect! Better than I imagined.”
> Bernadette grasps Viktorija’s chin in her hand and stares in her eyes from five inches away. “Remember that when I tell you the same thing, Darling.”
Viktorija drops her eyes. “He doesn’t love me like that, Mistress.”
Bernadette whispers, “Do you really think any man that didn’t love you would keep coming back and asking for you just to check on how you are feeling? Do you think any man that doesn’t love you would hold you and comfort you and not try to fuck that pretty little body or face? William is a special man, and he loves you. Finish your service to me, Darling. You are so close. Then go knock on his door.”
Viktoria’s eyes moisten as she smiles at her mentor. “Mistress, if you make me cry, I’ll have to go redo my makeup.”
Bernadette kisses her warmly and squeezes her tight bum. “Watch for your friend, Darling.”
Then the Lady of the House rushes off to her office.
* * *
I sit in the armchair and close my eyes. Audrey’s image is waiting behind my eyelids, kneeling on the bed smiling at me over her right shoulder. ‘I miss you, sweetheart.’
I open my eyes and stare at the middle distance as I breathe deeply. After a couple of minutes of waiting, I hear a confident stride on the entry tile.
“William, Darling!”
I stand and face my hostess. Bernadette opens her robe to bare her body and presses her breasts into my chest before she wraps her arms around my waist.
