Читать книгу Hello Helen; It's Michael - DH Steppler - Страница 4

Before the grayness was upon me, I went to see Rick. I got to his office just about twelve thirty in the afternoon. He made a fuss to his secretary over seeing me right away and then sent her off in a dysfunctional manner to ‘get us some coffee, or scotch and right away’.

His office was too big to be cozy so the move I had planned was iffy with so much space possible between us. I tried it anyway.

“Rick,” I started and made eye contact.

“How long will she be gone?”

I lowered my voice to an intimate whisper never taking my eyes from his.

Dressed in a fine-cut business suit Rick looked quite handsome and desirable so his behavior just didn’t add up.

“She’ll be back in just a minute, you’ll see.”

It seemed to me that he would use his secretary as a shield if necessary.

“Oh pooh, I was just thinking that the scotch you mentioned sounded good and I hoped she’d bring some of that. Or maybe we could go out to lunch; I’m hungry, my treat.”

Poor Rick, he stood there with indecision written all over him. That was a man who made billion dollar deals on a weekly basis and instant business decisions hourly, yet he was completely thrown as to what he should do about me.

Seizing that moment of indecision, I moved in closer to him as he reached to close the door behind me. I slipped my hand into his and while squeezing ever so slightly I asked.

“Wouldn’t lunch be lovely about now?”

“Can we go somewhere and do the nasty?”

He asked with just a touch of menace in his eyes and his voice.

“I was thinking of something much sweeter. That soft kiss, you know what I’m talking about. I left you with it but, lo and behold you left me with it, too. So, I’ve given it some thought, how about you?”

“What do you mean?”

Crikey, did I confuse everyone?

“Did you give it some thought?”

I delivered those words as a gift from my sister who could coo a man into submission. I actually didn’t understand why such behavior would have any affect at all but that’s why my dance card was usually empty and guys had to wait in line to get a waltz with her. She knew what she was doing.

Rick was still bent on being crude.

“I exhausted my right hand to the memory of it.”

“I guess we didn’t see it the same; too bad. I was hoping for a repeat and a little comparison.”

“What do you need comparisons for?”

“A little something we have in common, experiments. I love to experiment with just about everything, even human behavior. Anyway, I read, just recently that you, too, are an avid experimenter.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Rick’s interest was peaked.

“Well,” I started slowly. “I was thinking of the number of times we’ve gone out and each time we’ve been out we end up with a conflict. Maybe we could put our heads together and figure out why we keep having issues.”

“Of course.” I continued.

“Experimenting will require impartiality on both of our parts. Can you be impartial?”

“Do you have a list of experiments?”

I was pleased that he seemed willing.

“Each experiment will have to be talked about and chronicled and agreed upon by both of us. Do you agree to that stipulation?”

A knock on the door stopped our conversation long enough for the secretary to bring the coffee and the scotch into the room on a tray. Rick said nothing while she was still in the room. When she left, he closed the door behind her. As an after thought Rick went to his desk and pressed the buzzer to summon the secretary.

“Hold all calls. I don’t want to be disturbed.”

I’m not sure if he was exhibiting his power for my benefit but I ignored his other exchanges all together.

He walked to a door that I thought was a closet on the opposite end of the office. Holding the door open for me, I walked to him and past his desk. I looked for a steno pad to take notes on and didn’t see one. I asked if we could get a pencil and a tablet to chronicle our experiments.

Rick went back to his desk and pushed the button again. “Bring me a couple of steno pads and a couple of good pens. Right now!”

After barking his orders, he went to the door to the office and waited, looking at his watch the whole time.

When she brought the supplies requested he took them from her, gave her a dirty look, and closed the door in her face.

It was pretty obvious that Rick didn’t know how to treat people. I was thinking that maybe I could help him with that.

Again he held the door for me to enter the room first. I went inside and was surprised to see a small apartment type room. The place wasn’t even as big as his office. Rick walked over to the table and chairs that were just off the kitchen and pulled out a chair for me to sit on.

Not sure what we were going to do at the table and chairs but I followed his lead and sat down on the chair indicated. He placed a steno pad in front of me and set one of the pens on top of the pad.

When he stepped into the kitchen I got up and went back into his office, retrieved the tray with coffee and scotch and brought it into the little apartment and set it on the small table where, I guessed, we’d be working.

I poured us each a cup of coffee and then I addressed the scotches. I looked at Rick and asked.

“Neat?”

“Ice,” he answered without the use of proper etiquette.

I ignored his bad manners and put a couple of ice cubes in one of the glasses and then poured a couple fingers of scotch in each glass. That day I took mine neat.

When he came back to the table, he took the receiver off the phone and made a call. I couldn’t hear the entire conversation but I got the idea that he was ordering lunch.

Handing him his drink, I asked, “What shall we toast?”

“How about your career,” Rick suggested.

“That seems silly since I don’t have a career. I’m thinking of retiring from the County and just staying home and gardening.”

“What about your musical career?” He was baiting me but I knew it so it had no affect on me.

“That’s pretty much over. I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. It’s ok, though, it was kind of a fluke anyway.”

“Oh, I know.”

I decided and raised my glass in his direction. He didn’t raise his glass but I continued the toast anyway.

“To successful experiments and a lovely afternoon, cheer thanks a lot, eh?”

Then I clinked our glasses. We both took a sip.

Rick sat at the table in the chair opposite me watching me. I got up and walked around the room with my scotch. There was soft music playing in the kitchen and I listened hard to hear the song and finally frustrated I went into the kitchen and turned up the radio. It was Mel Tormé singing ‘Beginning to See the Light’.

I sat down at the table and sang that song from beginning to end with Mr. Tormé. My voice never sounded better. The entire time I sang I looked at Rick, sang to Rick and finished with a smile.

“You said at one time that you didn’t get a chance to isolate my voice from the other singer and hear me sing. So that’s what I sound like by myself, obviously not that great.”

“You sounded ok to me,” Rick said.

“Thanks,” I said as I took another drink of the scotch.

I picked up the pen and steno pad and wrote the date on the top of the pad. Writing ‘Experiments with Rick’ at the top of the page just under the date, I was ready.

My stomach growled like it’s prone to do when I’m hungry. Rick heard and said that he had ordered lunch and that it would arrive shortly. Not used to having someone else order for me, I asked.

“What’d you order for me?”

“Actually I ordered a small buffet so you’ll have a choice for lunch.”

That was the first time that there wasn’t a venomous sound to his voice when he spoke to me.

I picked up the steno pad again and indicated the number 1, marking the first of the experiments that I planned. Next to the number I wrote ‘a soft kiss with Rick’. Then I added a number 2 and wrote next to the number ‘another soft kiss with Rick’. I noted the location and time.

The food service staff set the lunch up on the small kitchen table. Rick was still curt with the staff but he wasn’t as rude as he was to his secretary.

I could see that there would be a lot of wasted food. There was no way I could eat all of the food he’d ordered – maybe he had a rather large appetite.

From the lunch fixins I built a sandwich and gathered some of the greens for a salad. I’d need to report to the buddies in the garden what other produce was like.

As it turned out, Rick did have a fairly large appetite and ate a great deal. I kind of enjoyed watching him eat.

When lunch was through and the dishes were taken away. Rick moved over to the sofa in the small living room. With my steno pad tucked under my arm, I followed bringing the rest of my scotch and a fresh cup of coffee with me.

On the steno pad I wrote next to the first entry comfort, location, setting, time, and enjoyment level.

I explained to Rick that I was making a chart and when it was finished we could begin our experiments. Showing him the chart to see if he had anything to add to it, he was non-committal and just shrugged his shoulders. I took that as a ‘go ahead’ and put the tablet on the coffee table and scooted closer to him.

“Communication is important during this process so please feel free to talk to me. We will talk each kiss out before we begin again. Agree?” I started.

“Ok,” he said.

He didn’t make a move so I thought the work was up to me. I picked up the steno and filled in the location, the setting, the time, and for my comfort, I put ‘just eaten’. The last thing to fill in was the enjoyment level which I couldn’t say until after the kiss, so I dove in.

“Ok Rick, I’m going to position your head like so,” and I aligned his head for an easy kiss and then I moved in and placed my lips on his for a soft and sweet smooch. Rick didn’t participate.

My face only inches from his I said.

“I think we’ll both enjoy this more if you join me in the kiss.”

‘Ok,” he said.

“That was your turn. Now I get my turn. And he lifted my chin for his strategic need. Before he kissed me, I asked.

“Can I join your kiss or would you like me to be a stone like you were?”

“Whatever you want,” he said.

Rick’s kiss was quiet and soft. After the kiss we both wrote on our steno pads. He looked at me to take my turn.

“Please join me in the kiss. A kiss is, after all, something that should be done with two people.”

The kiss was soft and warm but otherwise not much of anything. After the kiss we both consulted our steno pads and recorded what we knew from the kiss.

Rick’s turn was interesting as he held my chin a bit too tight for comfort. He smashed his lips into me in an awkward manner that surprised me. When he released me I wrote on the steno pad that it was not one bit enjoyable that the grip was too intense and the softness was gone.

My turn and I was true to the experiment and was totally unbiased. I felt him start to get involved but the response from him was still lacking. I was thinking that we might have to be at it all day.

Rick took his turn and there was more of the lip mashing thing that was not one bit enjoyable again. I tried to make it work but a bad kiss is just that, a bad kiss. Back to the steno pad and I added more of my observations.

We went back and forth like that for another 5 or 6 kisses and I was sick of it.

“Please stand up over here if you would Rick.”

I pointed to a location just behind the sofa.

I moved my arms up and around his neck and put my fingers in his hair. I pulled him ever so gently to bend his head to kiss me. He was taller than me by about 4 inches and even standing on my toes I couldn’t reach him. He didn’t respond to my coaxing so I stood on the sofa and then I tilted his chin up so that our lips could meet comfortably.

That time I parted his lips with my tongue and tasted him for the first time. I was glad to note that he was not a smoker. He didn’t taste sweet like Michael but his taste wasn’t horrible.

Finally, Rick felt something because he put his arms around me during that kiss. It wasn’t great but it was so much better than before.

Rick’s turn had me cradled in his arms on the sofa when he brought his lips to mine. Now that was a kiss, soft and sweet and he penetrated my lips with his tongue. I liked it and what’s more, Rick liked it, too.

“That was good.”

Without separating I suggested that we do the same kiss again.

Rick smiled for the first time since we had been together. Then he planted another kiss on me just like the one before. When he finished, I said, “Again, please.”

Rick smiled again. After that, the afternoon turned into a make-out session in that little apartment of his. Rick caught on fast to what I liked and what I didn’t like. Lucky for me his intention was to give me what I liked.

At one point I suckled his tongue and I thought he would go nuts and his hands were all over me. I separated so that I could see his eyes. “Easy Rick, I really like kissing you, let’s just kiss today, ok?”

“Ok,” he agreed.

We kissed for an hour more and then I had to go. Before he’d let me leave, he insisted that I agree to have dinner with him on Saturday. I agreed and before we left his little apartment, we stood at the door that leads to his office and embraced a rather heady hug and kissed like there was no tomorrow.

Rick seemed to be a bit light headed when I left. It may have freaked out his secretary to see him smiling and animated and obviously happy for the moment.

After I got to the elevator I went back to the office and had his secretary announce me.

He pulled me back into his office and just stood there looking at me, waiting.

I hope this doesn’t sound pushy but, what are you doing tonight? Just letting you know that I am free tonight. I think it would be nice not to have to wait until Saturday for another of those fabulous kisses.”

“Maybe I could cook us a meal at my place, tonight.”

I let it hang in the air as he figured out to either turn me down or join me for dinner.

“Just a minute,” he said as he made his way to his desk. He pushed a button on his phone and added.

“Move the meeting we have tonight on my calendar to tomorrow.”

“When did you want me to be there?”

“Seven,” I said.

“Ok, I’ll see you tonight.”

On the way out I’d asked him if he was allergic to any foods; he wasn’t. I stopped at the store on my way home to pick up some steak to fix for dinner.

The minute I walked into the house the phone was ringing. “Hello,” I said.

“Hi Helen, it’s Rick, I have to cancel on you tonight but can we keep our date for tomorrow?”

“Oh, I’m disappointed, but yes, of course. I’ll see you tomorrow then around six.”

I wanted to get off the phone and I could tell that he was in a hurry also.

As soon as I put the receiver in the cradle the phone rang again.

“Hello,” I said, again.

“Hello Helen; it’s Michael. How are you doing?”

“I’m much better now that I’m hearing your voice. Where are you Michael?”

“I’m in San Francisco not far from the airport. I’m going to meet Lu when her plane lands.”

“Michael, can I come to you guys tonight, please? I’d be cagy and not let anyone follow me. I could even wear a disguise.”

“Helen, are you afraid?” Michael said.

“No, I’m not afraid; I don’t have anything to be afraid of; I just need.”

“According to David you do have something to be concerned about. Helen what about all the plans we made for the shows we’d do together? Well, that man has put an end to those dreams.”

“Michael none of it means a thing to me unless it has value to you. I can get it all changed if my having this kind of career has meaning for you.”

“What do you mean ‘you can get it all changed’?”

“I’ll talk to Rick and he’ll remove the boycott or scratch me off the black list or whatever it takes to make it right. It might take me a couple of weeks because Rick’s got some serious issues.”

“You should probably stay away from that guy.”

Michael’s tone took on a serious sterness.

“Like I said it might take me a couple of weeks to get things straightened out but I’ve got a couple of good ideas and a few crazy ones. I’ll keep you posted as to which ones work.”

“Helen,” Michael threw my name out at me like it was a curse.

“Please don’t forget that I know this guy. He’s odd but basically I believe him to be a good guy. When I was at their office today I saw something major between Rick and his secretary. I’ll help him fix that relationship and he won’t be hurting so much and won’t need to strike out.”

“Helen, you went to his office today?”

Michael nearly yelled in the phone.

“Yes, remember we’re old friends. Goodness Baby, calm down. He was surly at first but I’d left him with something to think about so I had an in. I had an interesting time while I was there. When I left his office he was smiling and probably freaking out his secretary.”

“What was he smiling about?”

Michael’s voice was still elevated.

“He was smiling because I’d agreed to have dinner with him on Saturday. We were also going to have dinner tonight but he had to cancel. That’s why I’m free to come to you guys.”

“What are you doing?” He demanded.

“You could be putting yourself into danger, and, dammit, Helen, you wouldn’t even be aware of it.”

It certainly wasn’t pleasurable to hear him worry about me because he thought me disabled.

“I get your concern Baby and I’ve taken it into consideration. I’ll use my recall; his tells’ll be evident and so will anything I may have missed from today. My first impression is that he was just trying to get my attention. He just needs someone to teach him a few things and I think I’m that someone.”

“What do you think you can teach him?” Michael wasn’t letting it go.

“A few things,” I said.

“Don’t be coy.”

He still wasn’t letting go.

“What things?”

“Well, how to treat another human being to start with and maybe beyond that, how to treat a woman,” was all I was givin’ up.

“Can you just give me a little more than that? How are you going to teach him?”

“Every situation is unique and must be treated as such. Please, I’ll be well armed with the truth and’ll probably have to make decisions on the spot.”

I wanted Michael to relax and not worry so much.

“Rick’s unaware of his own culpability in his odd relationships. He’s teachable. He learned how to kiss me without pissing me off and even beyond that. Like all of us, he just wants to be loved. He just wants someone he can put his arms around. I can totally relate to that.”

“A person with as much power as that guy has can do anything they want. Be careful baby. I’m worried for you.”

“I’ll be careful, I promise. Now, tell me where you are so that I can come to you. I want to be there for Lu when she arrives.”

“Come to the Embassy Suites right next to the airport. Get room 414 for the night and wait for us. We can’t be seen together. Be careful.”

“I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

When I left the house I felt like a spy as every part of my being worked at being invisible. I’d mapped out the exact directions and arrived earlier than expected. I got the room right away and closed everything up so that no one could see in the windows.

Snuggling up on the bed while I waited, it wasn’t long before I fell asleep. The fingers of the reconnect crept into my conscientiousness and I sat up, instantly awake and alert. There was light knocking and I went to the door, very excited to see them but there was no one there. I turned back into the room confused, not an unusual state for me. The knocking continued and I followed the sound. The knock was coming from an adjoining door. Again I yanked open the door and that time both Lu and Michael were standing there smiling at me.

For the second it took to recognize each other, we stared. With the grace of old pros we came together in a 3-person full body hug that was smooth and completely rewarding.

Michael and I sandwiched Lu with our bodies and took joy in the kitten like sounds she made of pleasure, relief, and eventual contentment.

Lu cried into my shoulder.

“Elena, I miss you so. Michael and I are sorry for leaving you out. We love you Elena.”

Her sweet apology brought tears to my eyes but the tears turned to laughter when I felt her kissing me and then I felt Michael kissing me, too. I let the apologies go on a bit longer but then I stopped all of the talk about regret.

“It’s really good to be here with you and I get that you’re happy I’m back in your life. I accept it all and want things back the way they were before. Promise me that we’re done talking about the past without each other and any crap that may have occurred and let’s move on, ok?”

They both shook their heads in the affirmative. After that we ordered room service for a late dinner. They ordered from their room and I ordered from my room; we were spies, remember. We joined each other when the orders arrived, sharing our meal and our time.

After dinner we spent the time just talking and reconnecting over and over again. We had a short catch. We nearly clung to each other the entire night. I actually did sleep with them in their bed. All of us spooned in together; we enjoyed the peace of the reconnect through the night.

The following morning we were all so happy and peaceful that Michael and Lu began to lament our time away from each other again. I saw where the conversation was going and nipped it in the bud.

“Please be positive for our final hours together today. It’s going to be hard enough to separate, please let’s make our time together good and stop thinking about what can make us feel bad or sorry, ok, guys?”

That was a signal to hook up and we all collided into each other for another joyful reconnect. We ordered breakfast separately again and then shared our meal in their suite. Michael had bought me and Lu new cell phones with new numbers for us so we could reach each other. We knew the phones weren’t bugged so we all felt safer. Michael wanted hourly check-ins but I suggested that a call in the morning to report about the night before would be good and maybe a call at night to report anything from the day. Of course, if something came up we’d call immediately.

I lingered as long as possible but finally had to leave them. Being the first to go I decided to confuse anyone who’d been assigned to follow me if there were such a person. A detour took me to the airport and then to the Northgate Shopping Center and then some grocery shopping and then I headed home.

The date with Rick was center in my thoughts as I went about taking care of my Saturday household chores. The location of our dinner plans were still a mystery to me so I was unsure of the clothing I should wear. Rick would probably call to confirm so I just needed to ask him.

When the phone rang I was just coming in from a visit to the garden. “Hello,” I said.

“Helen; its Rick.”

“Hello, Rick,” I said.

Michael liked it when I said his name so I thought I’d treat Rick to the same.

“Helen, I’m going to have to cancel our date tonight.” His voice was ‘matter of fact’ without a hint of indecision in it.

“Oh Rick, that’s too bad. I was hoping for a chance to wear my new dress. Rick, are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Any rain check available,” I asked.

“I’ll let you know.” The conversation was short and a bit uncomfortable.

Immediately I passed the information on to Michael and Lu who were still in San Francisco. Annoyance was creeping into my attitude when it came to Michael and Lu; I wanted to be with them and was starting to get pissed off that I was so close and yet unable to reconnect. The annoyance grew to include Rick for cancelling on me again and then leaving me hanging.

Just as I was folding up ‘the reconnect’ phone, the house phone rang.

“Hello,” I said.

“I just cleared my calendar and can make our date; you haven’t made other arrangements, have you?”

“Hello Rick,” I said.

“No I haven’t made other plans. You’ve just lifted my spirits. Will you be here at the same time as planned?”

“See you at 6,” he said, ending the call.

“Bye,” I said hastily into the phone to get my word in.

Another call to Michael and Lu with an update wasn’t received with much enthusiasm.

“Crap, I was just feeling relaxed that you wouldn’t be going anywhere with him tonight. Will you call me the minute you get home, please?”

“Everything’s gonna be fine. I’ll call as soon as I get home or as soon as I can anyway. How long are you guys gonna be in San Francisco?”

“We’re making plans to leave tomorrow morning. We’ll be heading home to London. We were talking and want to you to come to London and stay with us for a couple of weeks. Is that possible in the next few of months?” I was glad to hear that they were trying to figure a way for me to be in their lives again.

“That sounds just lovely. I’ll have to let you know; I plan to focus all of my attention on Rick to fix the misunderstanding that’s gotten out of control.”

“Please Elena, come.” Lu’s sweet voice made me smile to myself. I had missed her more than I thought was possible. Missing Michael was a given; I had a major connection to him but missing Lu so much was a surprise to me. Even I didn’t know the depth of my feelings for her until she was gone.”

“Lu, I can’t come until after this thing with Rick is solved. There’s no telling what he might do to you guys. Death better take me before he harms either of you or I will kill him for sure. I love you.”

Michael came back on the phone reminding me to be careful and to put 911 on my speed dial before Rick arrived. He told me he loved me and that he’d talk to me after the date.

There were two hours available to me to do the research I needed where Rick was concerned. I sat in the ‘Pinky bank’ and closed my eyes; bringing back into my recall the day before in Ricks office was as easy as a thought.

At first Rick’s secretary consumed my vision; she practically had an aura around her of nervousness. They’d had an argument of some kind before I got there. There was residue from the issue still clinging to their clothes and skin. Even though Rick was angry, he was glad to see me. He was rude and glad at the same time. It was very clear that he was trying hard to keep his anger in the forefront but was losing at the effort. The point where his secretary brought the coffee and the scotch is when I saw his biggest tell. He was showing off for her. When we kissed that fabulous kiss before I left, he was actually looking around. I thought that he probably wanted her to see us together. After examining and re-examining that scene in Rick’s office I came to the conclusion that Rick was in love with his secretary. That was valuable information.

The door bell rang at exactly 6 o’clock; I answered in a black cocktail dress. Rick, wearing a nice navy blue suit and a smile brought me flowers – a couple dozen long stemmed red roses – beautiful.

We went to ‘Horizons’ Seafood Restaurant in Sausalito. We had a great view of the Bay Bridge, the San Francisco skyline, and Alcatraz. The ambiance was romantic but I knew that Rick probably wasn’t romantically involved with me because of what I saw in my recall but I certainly didn’t let on. I’d decided that I was going to make Rick dump me. The plan was to be as needy as I could be and see how he handled that before I forged a relationship with his secretary.

The conversation was easy. Actually I just listened as was the nature of our communication. In the right setting Rick was talkative and comfortable. He talked and talked. At one point I reached over and touched his hand just to have physical contact of some kind.

Back at my house by 11 o’clock, I invited him in for a night cap. I poured us each a scotch and nearly downed mine with the first drink. The burn was wonderful and kind of took my breath away. After the drink, Rick took me into his arms slowly to get my permission; I think he was concerned that I’d slap him. It felt nice. We kissed a long and passionate kiss. My recall would later show Rick kissing me but wanting someone else – the story of my life.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?”

Rick was gone by 11:30.

“Helen,” Michael answered the phone.

“Is everything ok?”

“Can I come to you guys tonight?”

I didn’t beat around the bush. I wanted them and I had to ask; the worse they could do was say no. Nothing ventured and all that.

“Baby, are you alright?”

Michael was instantly worried.

Telling him that I didn’t feel loved was out of the question but I went with the truth.

“Yes, baby, nothing’s wrong except that I need human contact; I need you.”

His response came slowly and after some thought.

“It’s probably not a good idea for tonight.”

“Ok,” I said trying not to sound as disappointed as I was.

“Tell me how the date went.”

“It all went fine. He isn’t even into me. I think he’s trying to make his secretary jealous. He said he’d call tomorrow. He kissed me good night and the kiss made me miss you so much that I could hardly wait for him to leave. If I thought that kiss would go anywhere I would have taken it there.”

Before I consulted my recall, I was thinking about having sex with Rick, as a matter of fact, I was planning it. Feeling a bit let down that I wasn’t truly the center of Rick’s world I wondered if sex would be out of the question for him.

‘What are you telling me; that you would have sex with him?”

Michael sounded stunned.

“Yes,” I simply stated.

“I haven’t had sex for a long time and want to find out if it’s changed. Maybe I can get your permission. In the past few hours I’ve become ultra frustrated and not being able to come to you feels so wrong.”

“Oh Baby, I’m sorry.”

Michael didn’t like it that I was so uncomfortable.

An idea took shape in my puny brain and from it a flash of hope.

“Michael, maybe we can meet up in the universe. You can show Lu how to travel and we could all meet up on the current. I gotta do something or I’ll go insane.”

“Let me talk to Lu to see if we can do it. I’ll call you back in an hour or less.”

During that hour I completed all of the household chores that were on my Saturday list of duties, said good night to my little buddies in the garden, completed the walk through and the lock-up procedure before I completed the evening’s personal maintenance. The last thing for the evening was to check the web business. There was another hundred orders; I sent them on through to the lab.

I took the new phone with me to the lab. The expected call from Michael could have been at any moment and I couldn’t miss it. While in the lab, I started the process of separating the orders into categories relating to how difficult the object was to complete. That’s as far as I got before the phone rang.

“Hello Helen; it’s Michael. We’re going to give it a try. Hopefully we’ll meet you in the universe.”

“Before you go Michael know this, I am coming to you one way or another.”

Another few minutes in the lab and I had everything ready for a good start in the morning if I didn’t get back to them later on that night. I wasn’t sure what the night would bring me. If I missed Michael in the universe then I would get to him physically some way.

Ricky was practically yelling at me with her dancing particles to join her and travel. I closed my eyes and jumped in and that was all the effort it took. I was soaring into the universe attached to the current, the current of our combined flavors, our current. Soaring and waiting for Michael and Lu was pleasant on the current because it constantly charged me with a reconnect. Maybe I didn’t need them to keep from dying; maybe the current could save me if I took nightly trips. I didn’t want to put the connect into hibernation because that move took all of the passion and life out of me.

I was alone on the current until I was spent and the particles brought me back to my bed. I woke up feeling disappointed. A look at the clock told me that it was 2:30 in the morning. My body felt jumpy and the frustration was finally the impetus that got me into gear.

Throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I grabbed my keys and purse and headed to San Francisco and the Embassy Suites where Michael and Lu could be found.

Before I knew it, I was knocking on the door to their room. They didn’t answer so I went to the lobby and asked for room 414 for the night. Once inside, I went to the connecting door and knocked several times very loud before Michael came to the door in a bad mood after being awoken from a deep sleep.

His reaction was good; he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into his room and wrapped his arms around me. The reconnect was so sweet I nearly cried from the relief. It was good for Michael as well.

“I told you I’d come to you. It just wasn’t possible for me to be without you. I’m sorry if I put you in danger. No one followed me. My hair would be coming out soon if this were not available to me. I need you.”

“I know Baby, I need you, too. Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. Should we wake Lu?” He asked me.

“Yes,” I said as Lu interrupted me.

“I’m right here.”

Her sweet accent came from behind us.

Michael and I turned and opened our arms to include her in our reconnect. Again, we smiled and took pleasure in hearing her endearing moans while reconnecting. In our odd 3-person hold I thought of how difficult the situation was for him. He needed me but he wanted Lu. Honestly, I’d rather be the wanted one.

The phone in my pocket rang. All of us froze with concern because we were the only ones who had the number to that phone. I slowly removed the phone from my pocket and there on the LCD screen was Rick’s number.

No, I didn’t answer it. We all waited to see if there would be a message, but there was none. Ruining my ‘would-be’ career was one thing but I’d not let him mess with Michael and Lu. Even though the phone thing spooked me a little I still didn’t think that Rick hated me or had strong feelings for me in any way. So, why would a few disagreements cause him to try and spoil my life? These things didn’t balance out. Within me a conflict raged until I remembered not to question my own recall.

Michael ordered coffee from room service and then the three of us got as close together as we could to discuss what to do. What I saw was that we had to protect Michael and Lu first which meant putting distance between us; so, it was a good thing they’d be in London. We each brought ideas to the table but realized that we could only take one step at a time. And then gage the next step using the knowledge gained from the previous one.

Of course, the bottom line was that it would be mostly up to me. In actuality the weight didn’t feel like a burden probably because I was motivated to keep them safe and beyond to hopefully open the door for a future that could occasionally find me on stage with Michael singing and playing the piano and dancing, however we could be close enough for a reconnect often. It would be good to have that kind of fun again.

To lighten the mood, Michael instigated a ceremony of sorts to get rid of the phones. We smothered them symbolically in a plastic bag that I would fling in some obscure dumpster on the way home. Michael said that we’d try it again and I would receive another phone in the mail and we would talk in the early afternoon California time on Monday.

When there was absolutely no time left for us, we gripped on to each other and relished the wonderful peacefulness of the reconnect and the feel of being together.

I assured them.

“Don’t think for a second that I’ll let you go again. We’ll keep in touch or I’ll come for you. We need time together to figure out how to make this connection work for all of us and to get everything back on track again.”

They both kissed me sweet good-bye kisses and then I got in my car and headed home. Only getting a few minutes sleep for the night didn’t matter because the joy and goodness of being with them had me on an alert high.

On the way home I made a quick detour off the freeway to fling the phone laden plastic bag into a huge off-the-highway dumpster. I felt as though I were getting rid of weapons and trying not to be seen by the bad guys.

At 8 o’clock in the morning on Sunday I was just getting home but didn’t pull into the driveway. I headed directly into my Sunday shopping chores and all the stops that were part of the regular weekend duties. The early bird got the task done with finesse and efficiency and I was feeling relaxed as there was still time available for a nap.

Before I napped, I called Rick and invited him to Sunday dinner with the family. Splurging on lobster tails for the family weekend meal was somewhat unusual but the issue was that I never knew who was actually coming to dinner until after all the shopping and much of the cooking was underway. So, I was taking a chance that Rick would say yes when I spent the money.

“Hello, Rick,” I said into the phone.

“Good morning, Helen.”

“Sorry for the last minute invite, but would you like to have dinner with me tonight with my family? We usually have a ‘group catch’ after dinner. It’s a lot of fun. What do ya say? Will you come? Dinner’s at six.”

“Sure, I’ll come to your family dinner but I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to hang around after.”

Once Rick was on-board for dinner I began to relax a bit.

After the dinner ‘kits’ were put together and each one waited for their attention within the preparation time-line, I headed off to get in a few sleep cycles to make sure I had enough stamina to get the job done later in the day. Three hours worked wonders for me and gave me the energy I’d need to get through the day and evening and still be on top of things.

Dinner fell into place easily and each of my kids called to let me know that they would be coming to dinner. Ollie was bringing Mattie and Kevin was bringing Kathy but Margaret was coming solo. Henry never came to Sunday dinner with the family anymore.

Rick arrived a few minutes before 6 o’clock and seemed exceedingly shy around the kids. Dinner was impressive. We ate at the dining room table which I deliberately didn’t set before the kids arrived so that they could help. The feel of unity with my kids was never more present to me than when we worked as a team for about 5 minutes making the table setting decisions and getting it done.

As Margaret was bringing the dessert to the table, I gave Rick the ‘personalized catch object’ that I’d created for him and named it ‘Wally’, a bastardization of his last name. He really didn’t take much notice of it and ended up not staying for the catch. I found his ‘catch object’ in the corner of the sofa when I was taking care of the ‘walk-through’ process. That was a good indicator that he wasn’t interested in me because when someone you like gives you a gift, that gift, no matter how silly, is treasured. Take for example the new phone that arrived via special delivery on Monday morning; the phone was from Michael and I would indeed treasure it forever. His forgotten and left gift was the perfect excuse to go see Rick the following day.

I packed my famous meat-ball sandwiches and went to see him for an impromptu lunch. I made a point of getting there around 11:45 so that I could spend a few minutes with his secretary.

His secretary’s name, according to her name plate, was Amanda. She was blond with kind of straight and stingy hair and had striking blue eyes. Amanda was a bit on the plump side, sported beautiful porcelain skin and short, neat finger nails. She wore a stylish dress and extremely high heels that complemented her legs. When she smiled at me I was shocked to see her plain face transform into something quite lovely.

When I walked into the office Amanda was standing at a file cabinet just behind her desk. As she saw me coming, I could see that she was going to announce me to Rick before I even got to her desk. When we made eye contact I shook my head to indicate that I didn’t want to her to call him just yet. She watched me as I approached her desk. That time, I put my hand out for her to shake.

“Hi, Amanda, we didn’t get properly introduced the other day. I’m Helen, an old friend of Rick’s.”

She took my offered hand and smiled.

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Really stylin’ dress you’re wearing.”

I’d never seen another like it.

“Thanks,” she said, “made it myself.”

“Oh you sew; that’s something we have in common. Is that lovely frock from a pattern?

“No actually it is my own design; there was no pattern for it.”

There was pride in her voice.

“Wow, a one of a kind.”

I was impressed and suddenly became more interested in Amanda.

“As I look at the quality of the work you’ve done on that dress, I’d like to talk to you about design and technique. Would it be possible for us to have lunch one day this week?”

Amanda agreed to lunch but we’d have to check our calendars for a good day and time. She announced me to Rick and again I watched the interaction between the two of them. Rick made a show of coming into the outer office to get me and kissing me hello. Actually it was a nice kiss but I knew that he was getting back at Amanda for something with that show of affection. Saying only a word to Amanda about holding all of his calls, Rick took my hand and led me into his office and straight to his small apartment next door.

I went to the table in the kitchen to set down the luncheon container that I’d brought the sandwiches in and then to the refrigerator to look for something to drink to have with lunch while Rick just followed and watched. I acted like I’d been there a hundred times.

For the first time Rick spoke to me.

“Helen, I usually like to do the asking when it comes to dates.”

“Rick.”

I said his name again at the beginning of the sentence for a sense of intimacy.

“This isn’t a date. I just came by to return your ‘catch object’ that you left at my house last night. I made the sandwiches because they are really good and I wanted to share them with you. So I was killing two birds with one stone.”

My conversation continued.

“Come and at least try the sandwich and then you can kick me out,” I teased.

Rick came to the table and sat down. I put the sandwich on a plate for him. In a shocked move, he pulled me onto his lap.

“Maybe we could have a different activity before lunch.”

He suggested in my ear.

“These sandwiches need to be consumed while they’re hot.”

The words were out of my mouth and there was nothing I could do about that so I added.

“Maybe a taste of you as an appetizer before the sandwich would be good.”

Then I suckled his ear and kissed him on the neck.

His response was rapid and lovely. He claimed my lips with a soft and sensual kiss and after a few seconds he slipped his tongue into my mouth. The move intensified the kiss and my arms wrapped around his neck and my fingers found his hair. We moved against each other in a mutual need.

When finally I pulled myself from his embrace and from his lap I spoke.

“An appetizer, not the whole meal, not just yet anyway, ok.”

I didn’t want to cut off the possibility of more of the physical stuff.

“I’m not really a meat-ball fan.”

Rick informed me while he took his first bite of our family favorite.

I watched him with interest. His surprise was evident and I was delighted to see that he loved the sandwich. Having prepared three sandwiches; I didn’t think we could eat all three so I asked if we could invite Amanda to have a sandwich with us.

“Suit yourself.”

The recall would prove interesting to tell his true motivation.

Amanda was surprised when I came to her and asked her to join us for lunch in Rick’s apartment. I got the feeling that she didn’t want to be there but she came with me anyway. When we got to the kitchen, Rick was still eating his sandwich and licking his fingers. I went to the cupboard and got her a plate and took another bottle of water from the fridge. The whole time I explained that the sandwiches were family favorites and were kind of messy and would require many napkins.

Amanda tried to be neat while eating the huge ‘sammy’ but it was nearly impossible. I could clearly foresee a clothing disaster from those messy sandwiches. Figuring there were dish towels around somewhere, I pulled open the nearest drawer and found some rather large napkins. Taking the cloth finds back to the table, I touched Rick on the shoulder and moved my fingers to his neck to indicate my intent. When the napkin was secure around his neck and he didn’t try to stop me, I moved over to Amanda and treated her with the same care.

The timeliness of those napkins made me think that I was being assisted by the connect because as soon as I completed the task for Amanda, Rick dropped a plop of sauce from the sandwich onto the napkin which saved his tie. Amanda and I both laughed and to our surprise Rick laughed, too.

We sat quietly enjoying the sandwiches and I watched to see that they would barely look at each other but there was a definite attraction between the two of them and I saw it clearly and easily.

I didn’t try to fill the air with conversation because I, too, was enjoying the sandwich. I ate almost half my sandwich and was finished so I sat back and sipped water, watched, and waited.

Rick didn’t surprise me when he finished his sandwich and was zeroing-in on mine. Seeing the look in his eyes, I pushed my plate to him and let my smile speak for me at his wanting more.

“Helen, this is a great sandwich; I can see why it’s a family favorite.”

Amanda had eaten just about half and was also just sipping her water.

“Would you like me to wrap up the rest of your sandwich to take home,” I asked.

Looking at Rick, Amanda said, “Mr. Waller, are you interested; I know it’s not the same as your ‘super sub’ but it’s really good?”

She emphasized in a slow and sexy draw the ‘super sub’. I laughed at the sound of her voice not even knowing what the innuendo was related to, the inside joke.

Rick raised his eyes to her and slowly pulled his lips into a sweet smile. Goodness, he should do that more often, I thought, and took a mental snap shot. Amanda returned his smile, excused herself, and disappeared into the office beyond.

Rick watched her walk away and casually took a sip of his water. I busied myself cleaning up my setting but nothing that happened in that room would get by me. The radio in the kitchen caught my attention; I took the liberty of turning it on so that I could listen to music while cleaning up. The radio was set on an oldie’s station that was playing only ‘The Beatles’ during the two hour lunch time. The first cords of ‘Yesterday’ began and the music gripped me like it always did. The song came out of me like my own personal ‘Helen’ concert.

‘Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.

Now it looks as though they’re here to stay.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,

I’m not half the man I used to be,

There’s a shadow hanging over me,

Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why she had to go

I don’t know she wouldn’t say.

I said something wrong,

Now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.

Now I need a place to hide away.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Why she had to go

I don’t know she wouldn’t say.

I said something wrong,

Now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.

Now I need a place to hide away.

Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm.’

That song came out of me like it was the very life I was living. The Beatles would have been proud for me to sing along. When the song was done so was the chore of cleaning up the kitchen and clearing the table.

“You have a really pretty voice.”

Amanda had stopped at the door when she heard me singing.

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Rick said.

“She sounds like an absolute angel.”

“Thank you,” was all I said.

Amanda left the room and I went over to Rick and told him that I’d be going but first I wanted to return the ‘specially designed cartoon replica of him’ in that little catch object. When I gave it to him, he looked at it with what seemed like new eyes. He actually read the inscription on the little dangling arm before he realized that it did truly look like him. I knew the instant that little object took on a new significance and went from a child’s toy to a treasure. It felt good to witness that.

Seeing the changes in his behavior, the few smiles, paying compliments, the reduced stress between him and Amanda may have been the catalyst that prompted the aggressive move I made when I stepped close to Rick and slipped my just lotioned hand in his, our bodies touching and asked playfully.

“Is it time to send me away?”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. For a matter of seconds I wished I was more like my sister and knew what the hell I was doing.

For reasons I wasn’t at all privy to, I wanted him to hold me and kiss me and maybe even take me into that other room, right off the bathroom and close the door. Even though I knew we weren’t going to have a long term relationship, he was one of very few men who were even the least bit interested in me and therefore represented a possibility of sex.

For whatever the reason my strange behavior seemed to affect Rick in a positive way.

He brought our hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles and in doing so brought our bodies even closer together. It felt really nice and I’d a mind to purr.

“I was thinking while I ate that delicious sandwich and now wondering if you would be interested in participating in a few experiments this afternoon, right now?”

He spoke while looking straight ahead.

In my head I nearly screamed at myself, ‘What would Denice do?’ Finally I said.

“Seize the day.”

I put my free hand around his neck and pulled his mouth to me. He got involved quickly and I relaxed around being so aggressive. Yes, I knew he didn’t love me and yes, I knew I didn’t love him, but, luckily for me, I wasn’t looking for love. I was looking for carnal pleasures, plain and simple.

That was a really good kiss and I wanted more and was thinking of taking off my clothes when Rick spoke.

“For the experiments I have in mind we need a different setting.”

He walked me into the bedroom. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest, I had one shiver after another but I wasn’t going to back away. We stood at the foot of the bed and kissed again completely wrapped up in each other. Rick’s hand found its way under the front of my shirt to discover my breasts, a play ground.

A wretched complaining sound interrupted our session and Rick reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone. He listened briefly and then looked at me and then hung up the phone. Again he took me in his arms and kissed me soundly and then said.

“I gotta go.”

I groaned.

“Oh, one more please,” and resisted separation.

“Yeah, I liked that, too, and look forward to more.”

He kissed me again and squeezed me tight to him.

“Now I gotta go.”

He left me in his apartment. Even though I had learned a great deal, I was left feeling completely in need and frustrated. When I had myself composed, I left his apartment through the office and into the outer office where I found Amanda at her desk.

“Check your calendar for tomorrow and if it’s at all possible let’s you and me have lunch, ok?”

Amanda said, “One o’clock?”

“Sounds good, see you then.”

I’d been home for about a half an hour and was in the ‘Pinky bank’ preparing a bowl for later when the phone rang - our phone.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hello Helen; its Michael.”

Yes, I knew who was calling even if the phone wasn’t extremely selective; the reconnect told the story. It brought me first the longing and then the balance and the calm.

“Michael, is Lu with you?”

I needed us all together. The reconnect helped relieve the mental confusion brought on by the need; it also helped with the cry for physical gratification.

“She’s just in the other room, she’s coming. Are you ok Baby? You sound a bit wound up.”

“I guess I am.”

I confessed, I mean, really, why keep anything from him?

“Sex got yanked out from under me at the last minute and I’ve been left to cope. Honestly, right now I’m feeling like I’m gonna cry if I don’t get some physical contact and soon. Baby, this is pure torture.”

His reaction was of very quiet rage. I’d be the only one in the universe who could hear his ire for he was as cool as any man could be.

“Who’s the lucky guy?”

Butter couldn’t melt in his mouth, he was just that cool. You can imagine what a turn-on that was for me. Lord, help me.

“Rick,” I said like ‘oh duh’.

Ok, there it was, the rage bubbled over and he couldn’t hold in his temper.

“For Christ’s sake Helen.”

Would someone explain to me why I liked that so much, you know, that display of anger one only shows to those they love beyond caring if what they say isn’t popular but deemed necessary.

“I’ll be there tomorrow if you don’t tell me right now that you won’t see him again.”

How could I not feel how much he cared for me in those words and with the vehemence in his voice?

My skin was where I felt it first as the calm settled in on me and enveloped me and as with the wave in Sandy’s pool all of the pores on my skin accepted the pressure and opened up and allowed the calm to penetrate my internal being. Only that man, in all the world could do that to me, talk about plain and simple.

Our rhythm united, we sighed.

“Thank you for that display, I could eat you up; just by being you have given me such relief and sweet calm. Hope Lu won’t be long; we have a lot to discuss. There is so much to tell you that it may take all day to get it all out. You feel good, by the way.”

“Elena, oh, this is so nice.”

Her accent reminded me that I wanted to be with them. The reminders came by the second.

“Lu,” I said her name and it felt good for all of us.

“It’s good to hear your voice. Are you home and safe?”

“Si, Elena, we are home and miss you now.”

My tears had a mind of their own and needed to flow; I kept the sobbing to a silent stuttered sigh now and again. The mission found its way to the front and took control of my attention again. Deep breaths helped me focus and start.

“This is what I have learned. Rick is only using me to make his secretary jealous. They have a strong connection with one another but have had some kind of issue get in the way. I like his secretary; her name is Amanda. She is as comfortable with strangers as you are, Michael. Her interests are similar to mine. She’s also a designer and a seamstress. If I were into women, I go for her. Her porcelain skin is awfully nice.”

“Amanda and I are having lunch together tomorrow. After lunch, I plan to request help from both Rick and Amanda with figuring out why and who would boycott me from the Entertainment Industry.”

“Helen, we already know that it’s him.”

Michael was getting hot again.

“No, Michael, we don’t know that it’s him. If you were to ask me, from what I’ve experience in the past few days, do I fear and suspect Rick? I’d say, no, I don’t fear or suspect Rick at all. There is something goin’ on here that I believe to be directed by someone other than Rick.”

“What about his secretary?” Michael wanted more.

“What little information I could come up with was that she’s worked for Rick, as his executive secretary and regular go to person for seven years. She designs and makes her own clothes. She has a little brother who has social skills issues. Her parents were killed in a house fire a few years back along with the family cat, Jesus. She currently lives not far from the office with her brother. I’m telling you Amanda is not our culprit.”

“How can you be so certain that he isn’t the one behind it all?” Michael hadn’t yet received information that would help him to relax.

“The way he’s kissed me on a couple of occasions has led me to believe that he’s interested in some earnest ‘slap and tickle’. I’m honestly not bound to anything that would stop me from getting that gratification from him and dishing it out in return.”

“I hope you have more than that, Helen,”

Michael was still not satisfied.

“Michael, I sang for him. He’d asked me sometime back if I ever sang alone because he couldn’t isolate my voice when we sang together. So, I sang for him. He was impressed and at lunch offered to toast my musical career and was surprised when I told him the interest wasn’t there and that I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. Rick told me that he thought I was very good. And today in his apartment I sang with the Beatles, ‘Yesterday’. Odd, Michael the song nearly melted into me and the song was my life.”

I stopped while I remembered my feelings and the song and the admiration of both Rick and Amanda.

“Rick said that I sang like an angel.”

“Later he suggested that I might like to take part in an experiment and you know how much I love experiments… anyway… we ended up in his bedroom and about to remove our clothing when he was called away. Sometimes I feel as though the whole universe conspires to keep me a ‘re-virgin’.”

Michael and Lu both laughed; that was nice.

“Hey, are you guys holding hands? If you’re not holding hands, please do. The connection is stronger when you’re united. You can really help me out by sticking together as much as possible. There seems to be more of the reconnect garnered for me when you’re together, understand?”

I waited for acknowledgement from them and a promise that they would work at being together.

“Si, I promise Elena,” Lu said.

“Michael?”

“Of course, Baby, we’re together right now. You’re right we both feel better. I promise, too. We’ll work at staying together for all of us.”

They filled me in on what was happening with their new house and the visions from their telling contributed to a longing again. That time I knew I’d be with them soon in their new home in a country far away – another adventure.

We expressed our love multiple times and set 4 p.m. the following day as our calling contact time before we regretfully said good bye.

The following day I went to the city to meet Amanda for lunch. Since Rick was away at a meeting somewhere down town and wasn’t expected back until 2 p.m. we weren’t in a hurry to get back. During lunch Amanda confessed that her preconceived notion of me was wrong and that she had been surprised and then impressed by me a number of times. She didn’t leave off saying that she thought that Rick would be getting the better woman if he got me.

It took some doin’ to convince her that I’d like to see them get back together and that I was using Rick in hopes of having some sex. Then came the work of making her see how much Rick wanted her. She wanted a commitment before she’d give it up so to speak. Of all people, I understood where she’s comin’ from and I respected her personal decisions.

On the walk back to the office we talked about design and the next time we got together that I’d bring my portfolio; that she could come to my house and learn how to make patterns. Our friendship was already an easy alliance.

We were in the outer office for only a minute when Rick came through the door. He actually smiled at us. He looked at me and said, “Give me a minute, then come in.”

We waited the minute in the outer office and then I confidently walked into his office and pulled Amanda along with me. Rick was puzzled. As explanation I said, “Rick, can you and Amanda give me about 10 minutes of your time, please? I believe that someone is acting falsely on your behalf. At least I hope it’s someone else.”

“Why do you need Amanda to be here?” Rick asked.

“I believe in the fact that 3 heads are greater than 2 heads. I am bothered by this scary turn of events in my life and how our lives have somehow been linked publicly.”

In a quick five minutes I basically told them what had happened to me with his name backing the process. All of the offers that were extended had been withdrawn and all videos were gone from You Tube and the Internet. Even the short Wikipedia page that was there a number of months back had vanished. People had been warned not to help me or risk losing their careers.

“That’s crazy,” Rick said. “I’d never do anything like that.”

“I can vouch for that, Rick would never be vindictive like that.”

Amanda knew Rick was abrasive but she also knew him to be a good man.

Rick went into his apartment and came back a few minutes later as he was finishing up a phone conversation.

“I’ll be waiting to hear so make this a priority and top secret, understand?”

Just catching the tail end of his conversation gave me confidence that he could take care of the injustice that was happening in his name without his consent. Taking the lead like that had always been a turn on for me and for those moments when he took swift action to investigate I was captivated and enthralled. When I relaxed out of my own need, others became the spot light of my focus and I saw that Amanda was just as taken by Rick’s command of the role of the leader using a respectful yet demanding tone while speaking to subordinates.

Walking in the underground parking structure from the elevator to my car, I thought about talking to Michael and Lu and giving them the news that Rick was not the one behind the whole ‘ruin Helen’ campaign.

I couldn’t wait to talk to them and smiled to myself when the phone rang while I was thinking of them. I inserted the key into the car door lock and answered the phone at the same time.

“Helloooo,”

While opening the car door, I got an inkling of the reconnect. My body at first felt the presence of another in the nearly dark garage and then collapsed; brought to my knees by a searing pain that burned and zinged into my tendons and torched my nerve ends as all of my muscles cramped and constricted at the same time. Losing conscientiousness was a blessing.

When I awoke I struggled to understand what was happening to me. I was face down on the floor of a moving vehicle with my arms confined behind me. There wasn’t much light but I could see that there was blood all over the front of my pretty white blouse. There was pain in every muscle and mercifully I passed out and into a dream like state again.

While asleep, I felt a sense of protection like I was in an altered universe. An out of body experience allowed me to watch myself from a close distance and to detect danger as I watched. There was an eerie silence that settled in the air all around the van and the sense that I was alone and vulnerable in the world loomed over me like a death sentence. I feared for my safety and wanted to cry.

For what seemed to be hours I laid face-down in a very uncomfortable position on that dirty floor trying not to think of never seeing my kids again. Panic was not an option. Being asleep was helpful because the pain came back when I was conscience.

The vehicle made a slow turn and then everything got darker like the shades had just been pulled allowing no light in. I heard the sound of the driver’s door as it opened and closed; I was left there on the floor of that van with the smell of raw gasoline and rubber burning my nostrils. The blood had dried up on my face and created an infuriating itch. When I tried to scratch the itch by rubbing my face on the floor, my nose began to bleed. I had to breathe through my mouth.

Time passed and I was chilled to the bone. I drifted off every now and then and slept long enough to dream disturbing dreams of loss and sadness. The sound of the van door opening brought me out of my sleep.

“The room’s ready now.” The voice was soft and quiet.

The feel of large strong hands gripped me by my arm and tugged me to the edge of the door and then brought my feet around to the opening and pulled me to a standing position just outside of the van. The man was big, much bigger than me. He put me over his shoulder like a bag of laundry and then closed the door to the van. It hurt my stomach as he lumbered to the end of the garage to a door located there.

The room was nearly bare. He set me down fairly gently on a small cot that was against one wall of the 14’ x 14’ room.

He backed away from the cot and I got my first good look at him. He was a round kind of man, pudgy and soft, but strong. He was six foot four and probably weighed 300 pounds, maybe more. But honestly he had a kind looking young face that made me want to be his friend and pinch his cheeks. That’s what I felt even though I knew he had hurt me, pretty sure my nose was broken and my pants were wet from blood that came from a yet undiscovered source and the spilled gasoline from the floor of the van.

“Charlie,” I said as I read the name on the patch above his pocket.

“Do you know me?”

My voice was barely a raspy sound that I didn’t recognize.

Charlie smiled at me. My knowing his name seemed to please him. Every move he made was large and unexpected. He took a phone from his shirt pocket and stepped to just outside the door but he didn’t close it.

“Mandy, you don’t have to worry about her anymore, I have her. Don’t worry. We’ll talk later.”

Charlie came back into the room and smiled at me. I smiled back but I grimaced from the effort it took.

“Charlie,” I said his name again; my voice was better.

“Would you please take the hand-cuffs off of me and let me go to the bathroom?”

As an after thought, I said, “I promise not to go anywhere or to run away.”

“Ok,” he said and with no clumsiness removed the restraints. He led me to a tiny bathroom with only a sink and a commode, kind of pushed me in the room and closed the door. The relief of seeing the toilet was wonderful; I hadn’t realized how good it could be to pee.

I saw that the blood on my blouse was not just due to the broken nose but on my right side, just under my breast I discovered there was a silver-dollar sized section missing from the skin. The wound was oozing and I feared infection. At the sink, I washed off the area as best I could and caught site of myself in the filthy and cracked mirror just above the sink.

The site of me brought on involuntary tears. I carefully rinsed off the blood that had caked on my face and neck. The ordeal took a great deal of time and I worried that Charlie would come for me before I was ready to leave the little cocoon the bathroom had become. Even though the site of my face frightened me and the wound on my side hurt like crazy, I could tell that I’d be fine if other injuries didn’t befall me.

When I could do no more for myself in the bathroom I tested the door; it was open. Looking around outside of the little bathroom I could see that the place was empty except for the van. I made my way back to the room with the cot thinking that I needed to lie down before I collapsed again.

Charlie was sitting on a stool just inside the door of the ‘cot room’ reading a comic book, ‘The Green Hornet’. When I opened the door, he seemed pleased to see me and smiled. I moved to the cot and sat down in a pretty ungraceful move.

“Hungry?” Charlie asked.

“I have sandwiches if you want one.”

“What kind you got?” I asked him to keep him engaged in a dialogue so that our relationship could become personal, making it more difficult for him to kill me.

“I made two kinds, egg salad and peanut butter and jelly. They’re my favorites.”

He was taking individually wrapped sandwiches from a cooler next to the stool he was sitting on.

“Peanut butter and jelly,” I said.

Charlie tossed me a sandwich. I wasn’t one bit interested in eating anything but I wanted to shine a light on his effort and build a bond between the two of us. Even though I had to force myself to take a bite from the sandwich, after I did, I found that it was good and I ate it and smiled at Charlie.

“You used marmalade for the jelly; that’s a really good combination. I usually use strawberry or grape but this is much better.”

Charlie smiled at the compliment.

“Mandy taught me.”

Hearing her name again, I worried that his mind would be diverted to hurting me again.

Needing more information to be able to figure out a way out of that strange situation, I pushed the fear to the side and asked him.

“Do I know Mandy? Charlie, who is Mandy? She sounds like someone you care about. Is she nice?”

“Mandy’s my sister, she loves Rick. You have to leave Rick alone.”

His face had twisted up some as he told me to leave Rick alone and I thought he might raise his hands to me again.

My slowness was a factor and it took me mulling it over in my head for a time before I realized that Charlie was Amanda’s brother.

“Oh Charlie, you are Amanda’s brother.”

I took it slowly and gave him some information to think about.

“I just met Amanda recently; she’s a lovely person. She and I have become friends. She told me that she is in love with Rick. You probably already knew that?”

“She is going to marry Rick and I’m going to help her.”

Charlie had pride in his voice when he spoke of his involvement and need to help ‘Mandy’.

“Sounds to me like we’re on the same mission. Can I join your team in helping ‘Mandy’ marry Rick?”

“You don’t want to help; you want to marry Rick, yourself. I won’t let that happen.”

Charlie sparked up some of his anger that had been keeping him focused.

“I just learned yesterday that Rick also loves ‘Mandy’ did you know that?”

I waited for him to answer.

‘Yes, I know, he doesn’t love you.”

Charlie wanted to make sure I knew that I didn’t have a chance with Rick.

“Charlie, Amanda has become my friend. I would never do anything that would hurt her. She’s a wonderful person and I want to keep her as my friend. It would be nice if we were friends, too because I want to be in her life. She told me that you were the most important person to her. She said you have the best and strongest bond that any two people could have. She told me that you were kind and that you took care of each other.”

“Yeah, she loves me.” Charlie smiled at the thought.

“Mandy’s my best friend.”

“I am not standing in her way. Rick was using me to make her jealous. He wanted to see if she really loves him. What do you think? Charlie, does she really love him?”

“Yeah!”

“Then maybe I could help you get them together for good.”

The phone in his pocket rang. When he looked at the number he frowned and walked out of the room and locked the door behind him.

That frown worried me and my imagination went wild and I saw myself being killed in a bunch of different ways. I could see him beating me to death or knocking me on the head with the giant flashlight that hung from his utility belt. I could see his enormous hands around my neck and squeezing the life out of me that way, too. Or he could just leave me there to starve to death.

The pain in my side made me start to think more clearly. I reminded myself to use the tools that I’d been given to figure out how to deal with Charlie. I closed my eyes and using my recall method I brought back the moments in the parking structure before the phone rang. I could clearly see the van next to my car and that the side door was open. I could even see Charlie just inside the van. When I put the key in the lock and answered my phone at the same time, I got a flash of the reconnect and then it was gone. He tazered me right in the side where the skin was missing just under my breast. I watched as I collapsed and then the picture was gone.

“Helen,” I said my name out loud.

“You walked right into his trap and were completely unaware. Shame on you.”

I was surprised that I was more worried about Michael being upset and disappointed in me than just about anything.

I lay down on the cot and for a few minutes allowed the tears to be released. There was nothing I could do and suffering exhaustion from the ordeal I slipped into unconsciousness and didn’t wake until I heard the van drive into the garage on the other side of the door.

Charlie opened the door and walked into the room. I think he was surprised to see that I was still there. He brought me a large coffee from McDonald’s. I sat up on the cot and took the coffee from him.

“Thank you Charlie.”

The coffee was hot and burned my tongue when I tried to take a drink. Charlie laughed.

“I did the same thing. That coffee’s damn hot!”

Then he handed me an egg McMuffin.

I couldn’t control my tears as I looked at that horrid little breakfast sandwich and thought it to be my last meal.

Charlie saw my tears and said, “Would you prefer the pancakes?”

I smiled at his tenderness and said, “No, this is fine. Thank you.”

“Why are you crying?” His words were quiet and concerned.

“I miss my kids. I have three kids, Ollie, Kevin, and Margaret. I’m afraid that you won’t let me see them again.”

“Egg McMuffin was my Margaret’s favorite when she was a little girl.”

I ate the sandwich and felt better but thoughts of my kids lingered in my head and I had to work at keeping my imagination in check.

“While you were away, I did some thinking and I’d like to get your input on those thoughts; are you willing?”

I opened trying to engage in a conversation that would give me an idea of some kind.

“Ok,” Charlie said as he looked at me in absolute seriousness. “I’ll listen.”

“You don’t know this yet, but both Rick and ‘Mandy’ are my friends and I know that they love each other and should be together. Rick is very stubborn but he is also very smart. We could ask them to come to us so that we could talk to them and remind them that they love each other. What do you think?”

I stopped talking and just let him mull over what I said.

Out of the clear blue the idea of never having a catch with my kids brought on the tears again.

“Do you cry a lot?” Charlie asked me.

“Only when I think someone hates me and might keep me from having a catch with my kids again.”

I said quietly not knowing if that would spark his anger.

“Who hates you and your kids?”

He asked his confusion complete.

“Don’t you hate me Charlie?”

He was still confused.

“You said we’re friends. I don’t hate friends.”

Keeping it simple, I said, “Thank you Charlie. That makes me feel so much better.”

I finished the coffee and asked him to take me to the bathroom again. He stood up, roughly took my arm, pulled me along, opened the door, shoved me in, and threw my purse in after me.

The purse felt like my dearest friend. I went through it looking for my phone or anything that may be of use but a flash gift from my recall showed me that I dropped the phone on the seat of my car when Charlie tazered me. I took a mental inventory of the contents and used the products that I carried to clean myself up and brush my teeth. Found a hair-scrunchy so I pulled my hair back into a pony tail. I felt so much better.

Back in the ‘cot room’ Charlie was sitting on the stool next to the cooler drinking a bottle of spring water.

As I sat on the cot I felt ‘Hebly’ in my pocket and had an idea. I looked at Charlie for a minute.

“Charlie, I think better when I’m having a catch with a friend. Would you like to have a catch with me?”

While I spoke I pulled ‘Hebly’ from my pocket, got a minute sense of the reconnect which caught my breath but I recovered quickly and tossed ‘Hebly’ into the air a couple of times.

Charlie smiled and put out his hand for me to throw the object to him. I complied and sent ‘Hebly’ in Charlie’s direction in a lob that Charlie watched with such intense attention that I nearly laughed at how cute he was. Charlie caught ‘Hebly’ and held it for a few minutes taking his time to examine both of the faces and the dangling legs and the big ‘Michael feet’ and the rubber manicured hands. I was surprised that he recognized me as one of the two faces. I walked over to him. He looked at me and showed me my face on ‘Hebly’. Then he pointed to the Michael face and carried the question in his eyes without speaking.

“That’s the man I love.”

I simply spoke the truth.

Charlie nodded his head and smiled and threw ‘Hebly’ into the air nearly reaching the ceiling. When ‘Hebly’ returned, I snatched it out of the air in a move that surprised and pleased Charlie.

“Let’s have a catch,” I said and handed ‘Hebly’ to Charlie before I moved back over to the cot to create the necessary distance between the two of us for a good catch.

Our eyes met and then Charlie threw ‘Hebly’ to me in a pitch that anyone else would say was way too fast but Charlie didn’t really know who he was dealing with when it came to a catch. I snatched ‘Hebly’ out of the air and peppered it back to him with the same speed so that he could know what his pitch felt like to me.

His eyes lit up when he saw me catch his fast pitch and he was even more impressed when I sent it back to him using the same velocity. His laugh was deep and contagious. He caught my return pitch and sent me another even faster than before. He made me laugh but I had no trouble catching his pitch. I returned it to him in a side arm pitch that tickled him. He caught the pitch and returned it in the same way.

Charlie was like me, he never missed a catch and his pitches were hard and fast. He laughed but never let that get in the way of catching and pitching. For every pitch I sent him, he duplicated it on the return. We sent ‘Hebly’ back and forth until I could barely lift my arms. We had been playing a straight catch; I didn’t use distractions and didn’t have to read his tells because he had no tells.

My need to always be the greater player surprised me as I tried to figure a way to end the catch without losing. I decided on a distraction that always worked. I waited for the opportunity to put the distraction into action.

I winked at Charlie and he laughed but otherwise it had no affect on him. I saw his hand position and knew where he would be sending the object so the decision was made. I dove for the object but knocked it straight into the air. My body rolled to a stop on the floor but I caught little ‘Hebly’ in mid-descent and sent it back to Charlie in a sweet round house that smacked him in the face and bounced to the floor.

We both doubled over laughing.

“Again,” Charlie said.

“Let me pee first. You made me laugh too much, Charlie,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’m going with you, I gotta go, too.”

When we stepped out of that little room. There were shouts from the police for Charlie to ‘put your hands on your head’ and I could see about 15 guns pointed at him. Charlie was 4 good-sized steps behind from me. I feared for him and took those steps back and completely closed the distance between us. I put my body in front of him and wrapped my arms around him to shield him from those who seemed intent on doing him harm.

Charlie, in a knee-jerk reaction, wrapped his arms around me and we stood together a force against impossible odds and umpteen deadly weapons. After only a few seconds, I saw Charlie smile at something and looked to see what brought on the pleasure. Rick was advancing to us with Amanda at his side.

I started to cry as I asked that Charlie not be harmed. I told them he’s a good person and didn’t intend on hurting anyone.

After a very long time, the police took Charlie away and the paramedic put an antiseptic on the circular booboo on my side and then a comforting bandage. I spent the following hours at the police station answering questions and begging them not to harm Charlie. When they finally realized that I would not press charges against him, Rick and Amanda were allowed to take me to my car so I could drive home. We parted after hugs and plans for a get-together the following day. While I was saying good bye to them I saw myself as a third wheel, again. For a fleeting second I wondered if that would ever change.

Once in my car with the doors locked, I saw my phone where it had fallen when tazered out of my hand. It was important to call Michael right away but I didn’t know what to say to him that wouldn’t make me sound like a total fool. I hesitated only a moment before I pressed the ‘send call’ button. Michael answered on the second ring.

“Hello Helen; its Michael. Talk to me woman.”

The reconnect was sweet and tears of relief stung my eyes. His voice bathed me in all that I needed at that moment.

“Please, first would you just talk to me; I need to hear your voice.”

A stuttering sob jumped from my throat.

“Baby,” he started.

“We’ve been so worried. When we heard your voice in a kind of mangled ‘hello’ we both panicked and didn’t know what to do. Eventually we called Rick and reached his secretary. She told us what was going on and that the police were handling the matter.”

His voice soothed me and the calm was soft and good.

“Where are you right now?” Michael asked.

“I just got back to my car and found the phone. I’m still in the parking structure but headed home right now. It’ll be good to get home and have a shower and get some of this dried up blood off of me.”

I said it before I realized what it would mean to him.

“Baby, I’ll talk to you later, I gotta get home. I love you.”

In case something happened to me before I got to say it to him again the ‘I love you’ was important.

“Ok,” b-bye. Baby, I love you, too. B-bye.”

I closed the phone.