Читать книгу Exploring Connections - DH Steppler - Страница 4

With Tut taken care of, that is to say that he was prepped about our being gone and he knew that Margaret, Ollie, and Mattie would be coming by for regular visits with him and we had given him sweet talk and kisses right up until we left, and all of our ducks in a row, Charlie and I boarded the plane to London. We actually looked forward to the 13 hour flight, for the opportunity to snuggle next to each other, to talk quietly, to touch and kiss often. Charlie’d brought a book he was reading and wanted to finish; so, while Charlie read I used the time to work on a couple of designs I’d started but hadn’t taken the time to finish.

We carried with us the added benefit of increased creativity and accelerated mental acuity that was a temporary side effect of our out-of-body travel – our combined essences. I’d grown to expect the boost and used it to assist me for a number of assignments for the ‘Three Women’ design work I did; but it helped me in every project I was involved in. It had assisted me in the preparation for that very trip by enabling me to complete and add multiple pieces to our wardrobes, pieces specifically for that trip. Because of it I was confident that we would represent both ourselves and the company well at each of the planned events.

It took only minutes to finish the necessary work on the two designs and then I was on to other things that required my sketch pad and a number of pencils. Doodling and drawing pictures that made me laugh brought Charlie out of his book to investigate my mirth.

I’d doodled on my sketch pad, with the heading ‘The Time Troup’ the four of us (Charlie, Michael, Lu and me) in matching sleek and stylish super hero type costumes complete with capes, gloves, boots, and utility belts. But the funny part was that I’d added Tut in the same super hero costume to the picture.

Charlie examined the picture for quite a few minutes and then he smiled at me and kissed me a couple of times. He went back to his book and I continued to play with the super hero costume thing for another couple of hours.

Eventually I put a blanket over me and curled into Charlie while he finished his book. Charlie had to wake me when we touched down.

When we got off the plane there was no Michael or Lu to greet us as there had been every other time I’d flown into London. Even though we knew they weren’t coming, we both wished that they would somehow surprise us and be there anyway.

As we pulled our luggage through customs Charlie spied a young man holding a sign that said ‘Helen and Charlie’. Wyatt offered us a driver for our entire stay and it was nice that he’d sent a car for us. We were staying in the large apartment known as the ‘servant’s quarters’ attached to ‘The Miles’ and planned to take some time to go through, sort, and dispense with Miles’ belongings. It was a project that I didn’t look forward to.

The young man led the way to our car. As soon as we were at the curb both Charlie and I started looking around with expectation and even more so after we caught a look at each other. We both felt the fingers of the reconnect so we were searching for our connected best friends. There they sat in our limo waiting for us. Michael had contacted Wyatt to get the incidentals of our arrival.

We hugged up and were all smiles for quite a while. We had some exciting things happening and they were exceptionally eager to get started. Michael had printed out the itinerary that I’d emailed him along with the step by step process for teaching Charlie and Lu about the ‘out of body travel’. He said that they couldn’t wait until the afternoon to get together so they decided to just insinuate themselves into what we had going on. That worked for both Charlie and me.

The driver took us to ‘The Miles’, gave us his card, saying that he was at our disposal and would be only 15 minutes away. Call any time and he’d take us wherever we wanted to go. Charlie tipped the young man and took my hand; we stood for a minute to admire and appreciate the beauty of the building before we walked up those elegant steps that lead inside.

We met up with Wyatt and Millie; after hello hugs and kisses and plans to meet in the kitchen for lunch, Wyatt and Millie went back to work. The rest of us went to the ‘servant’s quarters’ to get Charlie and me settled in and to begin the process of going through Miles’ things. The three of them laughed at me while I distributed to each couple a written detailed process for the task at hand. Since I didn’t know that they would be there with us, I gave them my copy and would share Charlie’s copy.

I set the timer so that we wouldn’t miss lunch in the kitchen with Millie and Wyatt and explained the process to them. Wyatt had at the ready for us umpteen boxes and tape and marking pens. We started the triage in Miles’ home office first going through the desk which was piled high with mail and financial reports. Using the ‘three box’ method: one for trash, one for ‘must keeps’, and one for ‘not sure just yets’, we eventually uncovered his desk. The desk felt familiar and it took a moment before I recognized that it was the same as the one I saw in the old Victorian house when I visited Tut while traveling red.

The lunch bell went off; it was difficult leaving because the desk had so many little compartments in it; we couldn’t wait to look into every one to see what little treasure might be there. It had been so much fun going through all of the stuff that covered the desk I just knew that the desk itself would reveal surprises galore. Even though we had plans to meet at Michael and Lu’s during the afternoon for the step by step ‘out of body travel’ training that Michael and I had agreed upon, we all agreed to go back and satisfy our curiosities about the contents of the desk immediately after lunch.

Wyatt had a catered buffet set up in the kitchen and we sat around the big round table. Even though the settings were ornately elegant, the ambiance was cozy and assisted in the ease of our conversation.

Charlie responded to a summons from Wyatt to talk about some equipment that had arrived for him and wanted to take the time to show him where it was located; so, while that was going on, I prepared plates for both Charlie and me, sat down at the round table, and saved a place for Charlie with his plate of food.

When Charlie returned to his soup and sandwich, his soup was cold but he wasn’t interested in it anyway. He wolfed down the sandwich and told us that he had to take a couple of hours to fix a problem with the supplied equipment and would be working in the basement until it was time to go to Michael and Lu’s in the late afternoon.

The last thing he did before he took off to the basement was to kiss me a sexy parting kiss so that I’d think of him while we were apart. It worked every time. That time he added something new. Our noses touching and side by side after the kiss Charlie whispered in a whisper so quiet it was almost not hearable but his lips moved just enough to reveal his words, ‘I love you’ in his breath on my cheek.

When I was able to take my eyes off of Charlie’s retreating backside, I turned to see that all eyes were on me. They were probably waiting for me to answer a question that I didn’t hear or maybe I was saying the thoughts about Charlie out loud. I love you, too Charlie. Lover, you are my treasure and I promise you some outrageous lovin’ tonight, that lovely butt is all mine’.

Just smiling and waiting for someone to instigate dialogue that I understood seemed the right thing for me to do. Eventually Michael finished what he was saying.

“…and we’ll be seeing you at our place.”

“Whoa,” I said.

“Please back up, obviously I missed something.”

“We got a call about the house, water in the basement, something about the pool. We’ll see you at the appointed time.”

They each kissed me and then took off out the front.

Millie excused herself to go back to the office; there was more to do before the day was out. She wanted everything to be just right for a visit from Denice and Amanda who were arriving in the late afternoon the following day. With Charlie’s electronic help, it looked to me that she was on the right track. It was kind of sweet to see her worrying about pleasing my sister. Eventually she’d learn that my sister was a kind and caring person who would never hurt your feelings intentionally but would only encourage you to do your best and not to limit yourself. Denice’s own personal way to motivate you was to believe in you. She’d do nothing to break someone’s spirit; she’d only be optimistic and coax you into a more positive direction.

Wyatt only had a minute but he barely took that. He gave me papers to read while telling me that there were rumors stirring that Cary Colton was gathering information to launch a huge law suit against me and all the corporations that I hold title to or holdings within. He also told me not to worry so I planned to do just that and not worry.

Back in the ‘servant’s quarters’ alone, I began to go through the tiny compartments in Miles’ antique desk. It took a long time to go through each drawer. Starting at the top left corner; I figured that going from left to right was a natural way to look at things and a good process that would help keep my place during a break. The first compartment/drawer was nearly filled to the brim with a strange combination of paper clips, safety pins, rubber bands, and long cylindrical sticks of lead for ‘Ever Sharps’. The reason it took so long to go through the drawer is that I could see that there was some kind of paper at the bottom of the compartment; the mission was to get a look at that paper. After sticking myself with an unhooked safety pin a couple of times trying to get past everything to get to the ‘something’ at the bottom, I dumped the entire contents in a box lid that was plenty big enough. The focus of my attention turned out to be a small beat up picture of Tut and Cleo, Tut’s mate from all those years ago, with the date ‘January 1, 1963’. I slipped the picture into my shirt pocket and organized the rest of the contents. I saved the office supplies but threw the junk into the trash box and moved on to the next compartment. Handling each drawer and each item within each of the drawers with great scrutiny; I felt a responsibility to Miles to give his belongings their due respect as I went through all of it.

Actually I hadn’t gotten through but a few of the desks little compartments when Charlie came in through the side hallway moving fast. He smiled big when he saw me and came to me for a hello kiss.

“Hello,” I said.

“Sorry I’m so late, thought you might go without me,” Charlie apologized.

“What time is it?” I asked, having lost all track.

“Time for us to go.” Charlie said.

“Let’s go the back way.”

I pulled Charlie through the side door and back through the greenery on our side of the fence to the ‘garden wall’. Climbing that wall had always been a breeze but standing there holding Charlie’s hand and looking up at it, I was unsure how I could have climbed it so many times. Not wanting to show Charlie any skepticism, I took the wall like it was nothing to climb and he followed me. We stood together at the top of the wall and took a moment to honor the strange vista of ominous looking clouds that got darker in the distance. I knew better than to stay too long on the wall; time played tricks on all of us while at the top of that wall.

When we jumped to the other side onto the path that led to Michael and Lu’s place, Charlie stopped for a moment and held me in his arms for a time and then kissed the top of my head. I showed him my watch so that we both knew that we needed to pick up the pace if we didn’t want to be too late.

I’d run that distance many times and knew all of the plants along the way. Charlie and I had made love in a small outcrop of dense trees on the path between the estates and wanted to repeat the act. We made each other a silent promise that we would see to it at another time, but for sure during that trip. We were running full out by the time we rounded the last bend before catching sight of the back door and Michael and Lu both standing there waiting for us.

Their house was like a home to me. I’d spent many months there using their home as a sanctuary and a place of peace.

Once seated in the music room around the coffee table, Michael started the conversation with a bit of a confession.

“Lu and I have done some experimenting on our own with the ‘particle travel’ and have met with limited success. Lu was unable to jump the particles and we were thinking that Helen may be able to help explain things to her better than I’ve been able to.”

“Charlie and I have also done some experimenting but we have been quite successful so maybe we can help. Show us how you went about the process.”

Even though Charlie and I had already gotten past where they were, we were willing to go through all of it slowly to bring them along.

Michael and Lu took up positions next to each other on the sofa. Michael was holding ‘Hellie’ (Hellie is the personalized ‘catch object’ that has my cartoon face – Michael used it because I’d taught him the ‘universal travel’ using it) in his left hand and both of them were staring at it waiting for its magic to take over. When the particles finally appeared, Lu never saw them.

No thinking was even required to figure out the problem. They were using the wrong catalyst to assist Lu in travel. Lu was connected to both Michael and me and would need both of us to even be privy to the particles.

“Hellie isn’t working for Lu. Lu, could you go get your ‘Arec’ object?” The ‘Arec’ object carried the cartoon faces of both Michael and me.

“Arec’ should work for both of you because Michael only needs me and Lu needs both of us to make the connection complete and give her the necessary juice to see the particles.”

I was pleased to see that Lu came back to the music room carrying the entire box of objects that I’d made for them.

“Let’s take these experiments into the guest room. We should be practical and keep ourselves safe so that we can be monitored by the others, ok?”

With that suggestion, we moved our experiments into the guest room where Charlie had set up cameras for past monitoring. When we got there I took over the experiment and directed Lu to sit with her back to the headboard and ‘Arec’ in her right hand. She got into a comfortable position where she could keep her eyes on the object to watch for the inviting particles. Nothing happened for many long minutes so without feeling silly, I asked Michael to kiss ‘Arec’ a few times and I did the same.

Lu settled back against the bed board to watch for the invitation. That time it only took a minute before ‘Arec’ presented the inviting particles. Lucy got excited when she saw them. I talked quietly to Lu while we watched the particles multiply and begin to move around rapidly and sparkle some.

“Just see them and recognize that they are an invitation that you can accept or decline. Lu, inhale deeply and try to recognize the scents that are being carried by currents within those particles like you do when you’re in the garden.” I encouraged.

We all watched her smile when she caught scent of something that she recognized.

When it dawned on me that we should be including Charlie in the process. I reached into the box and pulled out the ‘Us’ object that was unique because it carried the faces of Michael, Lu and me. It was one of only three objects (one for each Michael, Lu, and me) with three faces I’d ever made because the process was so delicate and costly to reproduce. After each of us kissed the object, I gave it to Charlie and asked him to sit next to Lu and lean against the headboard. Cradling ‘Us’ in his right hand, Charlie watched for the particles.

The two of them sitting side by side on the bed staring at the little objects was quite funny but we were all dead serious. The picture of the four of us sitting on the bed, Michael and I were seated on each side while Charlie and Lu were sitting in the middle of the bed with their backs against the headboard turned out to be the exact locations to witness a new phenomenon.

The particles showed first just above ‘Hellie’ which was held in Michael’s hand. We all saw them and just watched. While we were concentrating on the dancing particles just above ‘Hellie’ we watched the particles appear around “Arec’ being held in Lu’s hand. Lu let out a little squeal when she saw them. We all saw them. Seconds later ‘Us’ showed an invitation of dancing particles to Charlie but we all saw them. The particles multiplied and filled the space that separated us and moved as a single body toward my right side. That’s when Ricky took over and sent out her dancing particles that surrounded the others and they all glowed.

With strained discipline we sat there and just watched Ricky’s light and particle show. It went on for several minutes and just when we thought it would end, Ricky shot two bright red sparks out into the frenzy of particles that slowed things down. We watched as the sparks disappeared and blended into the other particles. Then Ricky sent another couple of brilliant red sparks into the middle of the party.

We all recognized the invitation and sat in wonder of the strangeness of it all. We did nothing in response to the invite except for the few words that I deemed necessary.

“Thank you Ricky for the beautiful invitation; we promise to honor it when we have more knowledge. Please continue to invite us.”

We sat there for a bit longer each of us carrying a silly grin in wonder of what we’d just witnessed.

“That felt like a big step, to me.” Charlie offered.

“You mean as opposed to ‘baby steps’? That was pretty big to me.”

I headed for the door. They all followed me into the music room where we hugged up to gain the calm needed for a productive debrief of the experiment.

Michael went first and used the attitude of a report – clinical and not emotional. I loved it when he took the lead because that meant that he had a direction for us to take.

“We saw the particles come from ‘Hellie’ in my hand and then we saw ‘Arec’ release particles that joined the others. After that ‘Us’, held by Charlie emitted her particles then all the particles united and headed for Ricky. Ricky released her particles which had a calming effect on the other excited particles and they glowed before we saw the two bright red sparks and then two more.” Michael paused.

“Is that pretty much the take you all had on it?” He asked us.

Each of us nodded in answer.

“Any ideas about what it all means and if we should respond to Ricky’s invitation?”

Michael put it out there – what we were all thinking.

“I’m afraid to jump.” Lu said quietly.

“We can’t all go at the same time.” Charlie put in his thought.

“Employing our ‘baby steps’ idea, maybe we should travel by twos in the beginning. Michael and I can act as guides for you two but in the beginning, there should always be two left behind to monitor. We aren’t going to be traveling red for a bit so we don’t have to worry about the travel taking more than about an hour at a clip.”

I looked to each of them to get their take.

Michael was eager to get to the travel part of the lesson but still adhered to our planned process of taking baby steps even though we were surprised by what we saw and then surprised by the fact that we saw the particles so rapidly using the catch objects as aides.

“When we travel together we can use Ricky to gain access to the invitation but if the three of you are alone and want to travel on a current you’ll need your connected object. That means ‘Hellie’ for Michael, ‘Arec’ for Lu, and ‘Us’ for Charlie; making use of the objects will enable you to travel alone into the universe.”

They each looked at the object that was their ticket to travel alone and waited for me to give them further instruction.

“Things are happening for us much faster than we could have imagined so why don’t we do some traveling today? Michael, Charlie and I can monitor as you and Lu travel. Charlie and I can now meet up on a current the same way that Michael and I have done dozens of times.”

“Lu is having trouble letting go and jumping. Is there something you can do that will help her?” Michael asked.

The fear in Lu’s eyes told me that even though there was no reason for her to be afraid; she was still scared and couldn’t relax.

I stood and they all stood. Without another word we came together in a group hug that brought each of us the calm that we needed while talking about experiments. While still in the four person huddle I asked that we all go back to the guest room and give traveling a try. I’d be there to support Lu even if I had to jump the particles with her and leave Charlie behind to monitor all of us.

Back in the guest room I watched as Lu’s anxiety began to rise again.

“Hug up for Lu.” I said.

We hugged until she was calm and comfortable again. Michael and Lu lying side by side on the bed with ‘Arec’ between them they waited for an invitation. When the particles showed, Lu smiled and looked at me.

“Look at the particles and then mentally step into them. I know that you caught a scent the last time so if you catch another scent, just stay with it and jump into the middle of it. As long as you and Michael are touching, you’ll stay together.”

Lu looked at me and smiled. Michael said, “Now,” and they were gone. Charlie and I watched as they slumped into each other in their unconscious state. I checked the time and then we left the room.

In the music room Charlie showed me the good bead he had on our space travelers on the screen of his phone. We figured we had about an hour to play in the music room before they came round. Charlie used one of the guitars stored along the wall and I played the piano. Anything that Charlie wanted to hear, I played. It was best when Charlie and I played the same song. We laughed and sang for the entire hour and then we went to check on them.

Michael and Lu really didn’t need us; we just checked to see that they were ok and then we left them alone to dispense with the sexual energy generated from that experience.

We told them to give us a call when things were more peaceful and Charlie and I headed back to ‘The Miles’ via the back route, over the garden wall and through the side door to the servant’s quarters. Climbing the wall again, me first and Charlie moving close behind was fun and child’s play but the mood changed instantly as we stood for only a moment at the top making note of the sensational ‘Transylvania-ish’ London sky and holding each other. The vista carried with it an adult seriousness that sobered us and gave us other ideas.

We talked about calling Tut and decided to wait until a bit later because by my watch Tut would be taking his morning nap.

Going in through the side door, we were in a hurry with a somber adult agenda but otherwise not much clarity. Charlie dispatched with our clothing quickly and took me to bed while he kissed me multiple times; his lips soft but urgent whispering, ‘I love you’. Even in our hurry to couple there was no clumsiness. Our bodies knew each other well and for me it was like dancing; Charlie was easy to follow. The times when I took the lead Charlie relinquished it to me in a smooth transition so it was easy to switch things up at any given second. After we had satisfied each other, we lay happily while Charlie was running his fingers through my hair and kissing me absentmindedly, whispering in a voice nearly inaudible, ‘I love you’.

“Why do we bother with clothes?” Charlie asked.

“So that I can have the pleasure of you removing them, I’m just sure of it.”

While I lay there, still feeling Charlie’s touch, tender and nurturing, my mind drifted to the fascinating experiments we’d been through only an hour before. The process and objects were ‘spot-on’ successful and next we’d teach the Newbies how to get to each other when not physically close. Not wanting to ‘jump the gun’ I couldn’t help but see that with the power of the four of us, our travel in the red could be more controlled. Those thoughts alone were motivating.

Charlie and I languished on the bed touching and stroking but pretty much in our own heads. Michael called to say that he and Lu were through for the day but he couldn’t wait to debrief after breakfast; he was encouraged by our success. Even though I was disappointed that we weren’t going to conduct anymore experiments that night I was satisfied to stay put for the rest of the evening.

We called Margaret to get a report of how Tut was doing and of course to talk to him about when we’d be home and how much we missed him. We thought we might talk to him about the research we’d done online looking for a mate for him. Charlie deemed it important to get Tut’s take on everything that we were doing on his behalf. I agreed.

“Hi Helen.” Margaret answered the phone and sounded happy and upbeat.

“You’re not coming back early, are you? I really like spending time with Tut.” Margaret continued.

“Our schedule is the same. How’s Tut?”

Charlie and I said the ‘How’s Tut?’ question at the exact same time. We laughed.

“He’s ornery,” she said and we could hear that she was walking as she spoke.

“He’s funny, he’s smart, he beautiful.”

Her voice changed into a ‘coo’ as though she were cooing at Tut.

“I love him.” She finished.

Then we heard from Tut; it was one of his really annoying whistles. Charlie answered it with the same whistle only louder – and way too close to my ears. Grabbing Charlie’s phone to ‘make hot’ as Charlie calls it the cameras in the bedroom so that we could see Tut remotely. The cameras in the guestroom at Michael and Lu’s were still ‘hot’ and there for me to see and fumble around with in trying to change was the live shot of Michael and Lu in a carnal embrace. Charlie laughed when he took the phone from me and pushed two buttons and then we waited for maybe 10 seconds before we could see our bedroom remotely on Charlie’s phone.

Tut and Margaret were sitting on the end of our bed.

“Hey, hey good lookin’; I’ve missed you pretty boy.” I spoke my own sort of coo, having truly missed him and was moved by the sight of him on the monitor.

Tut stood tall and faced the sound of my voice and then turned his back on me and marched to the middle of the bed. Margaret moved away from the bed; her happy face had turned to concern and worry. Tut, positioned to face in the direction of my voice; with a magician’s flair opened his wings displaying his impressive expanse.

“Helen, squawk, Helen; I love you, Helen.” Tut cried out in a voice I’d only heard him use once and that was at our wedding.

“Wow! Pretty Boy! You are awesome. We miss you so much. Even though Margaret’s attention is probably hard to take be kind to her; she’s trying. Maybe you could teach her a couple of songs on the guitar. She picks things up quickly.”

After Charlie and Tut whistled their good byes and I reminded Tut that I loved him and would be happiest when we were all together again, we ended the conversation with a promise to call again soon.

The following morning we were reminded of the work we’d put our bodies through the night before with some muscle soreness but we didn’t mind because we were reminded further of how we got sore in the first place.

We’d resisted the urge to go hunting for food in the middle of the night and were glad of it when we saw the spread that Wyatt had provided for us in the kitchen of the big house (The Miles).

Michael and Lu arrived only a few minutes after us. They were holding hands and smiling from ear to ear indicating that they’d had a pretty good night. Just like Charlie and me, they were ravenous and wanted a substantial meal.

We filled our plates from the buffet provided and seated ourselves at the big round table in the kitchen, where Wyatt and Millie indicated. Having grown accustomed to the coziness of dining in that big kitchen instead of the huge dining room, we were comfortable but quiet for the first few minutes while we dealt with our hunger. When the sounds of eating settled down Wyatt was the first to speak.

“Helen, can you spare a few minutes this morning after breakfast to talk about an issue?”

I looked for the ok from my troup but mainly from Charlie who just nodded.

“Sure Wyatt, whatever you need.” I said.

Wyatt disclosed a bit about the ‘Big Bash’ that’d be happening the following evening and Millie, when she spoke, talked almost nonstop about the state of readiness the office was in to receive Denice and Amanda’s visit.

Every now and then I’d catch Michael and Lu in an ‘I love you’ eye lock. The conversation was not lacking as both Wyatt and Millie were verbose to the extreme and in good moods.

In Wyatt’s office he handed me a report that he’d put together regarding my financial portfolio and those who were trying to gain privileged information about me and my holdings.

The name at the top of the page was Cary Colton, a lawyer who’d tried to insinuate himself into ‘Three Women’ which I put a stop to and actually 86’d him out of the store front office in San Francisco.

“I have buttoned down any loop holes that I can think of that would give him any direct information about you or the companies you’ve an interest in.” Wyatt was assuring me.

“Wyatt, this guy makes me nervous. He’s the brother of Gene Handy, the guy who tried to kill me a couple of times.”

I wanted Wyatt to know the seriousness of having Cary Colton anywhere near our companies.

“Thank you, Wyatt, for being diligent where Colton is concerned. He’s not the most ethical guy, so watch out for anything that’s not on the up and up.”

When I returned to my chums they were still seated at the breakfast table drinking coffee and chatting.

Charlie greeted me with one of his ‘hello’ kisses and hesitated only a second with our faces close as he whispered in the quietest whisper “I love you, Woman.” The sound of his ultra quiet voice and his breath on my cheek was quite a draw; subtle and sweet foreplay.

Michael and Lu were interested in doing more experiments with ‘universal travel’ and wanted to debrief first thing in order to move on.

The four of us went to Michael and Lu’s place and met up in the guest room where we’d first debrief and then try some more experiments.

“After yesterday, I’ve got a better understanding of what we’ve done in the past. Helen you said just the right words.”

Michael started the conversation.

“Si Elena,” Lu added.

“I understand why you travel when we don’t want you to.”

I said. “Lucy, why don’t you report first?”

“I report: after we hugged up and I was not afraid, I see the specks and listen to Elena. When Elena said to step into the middle of the dancing specks with my brain I did. Holding Michael’s hand was good. I felt like air, very light. I feel a reconnect and I feel Michael with me. We were on a ribbon and I could feel that ribbon wrap around us and push into us, squeezing and squeezing until we squeezed together and pushed us into each other. That was so good. Being all together with Michael was wonderful, beautiful. I know he loves me, I could feel his happiness when we were wrapped up in the ribbon. There was no where to go but to each other.”

Lu stopped and looked at Michael to get his agreement with what she’d said. Michael smiled and nodded.

“When I woke up I was, how you say, horny.” Lu said.

“We make love like crazy, very good. That is my report.”

We all sat there adoring her, she was so cute and funny and serious at the same time. I had a flash of what it would be like to be united on a current or ‘ribbon’ as she called it with her and quickly cast the thought aside as Michael made his report.

“As soon as we jumped I actually felt Lu release her hold on consciousness.”

Lu stopped him with a look of understanding and said, “Si, me too.”

“Lu and I have not discussed the travel because of our process of debriefing all together. All of what she said is part of my report as well. I’ll add that accepting responsibility for the success of the travel gave the experience a different feel. Controlling the current was as easy as a thought. The squeezing that Lu mentioned was nearly the same as when we’re in the pool.”

Michael stopped for just a moment and retrieved our schedule from his pocket; took his time to look for something.

“I didn’t read the entire process but now I see that you’ve scheduled some pool time for the four of us. Things just keep getting’ better.”

Michael again took the moment to recognize how incredible it was to be part of something cosmically special.

“To finish my report I’d like to comment on how easy it was and what a pleasure it was to be absorbed into Lu. It was hot!”

He leaned over and kissed Lu who’d read his body and was ready to receive him.

We waited for them to finish their cuddle for a couple of minutes and then I asked if they needed more time and should we postpone the next step of the experimental training until they’d met their need for each other. Charlie showed me that he was ok postponing the training so that he could also meet his need for me.

“What is next step?” Lu asked with excitement her interest peaked.

“Next we separate you physically and teach you to find each other on a current. Michael will be in your room and you’ll stay here in the guestroom. I’ll be here with you and Charlie’ll go with Michael to monitor and keep him safe.”

Charlie and I made eye contact and I felt a slight reconnect and smiled at him.

“Let’s take a stretch break and meet up here in about 20 minutes,” Charlie suggested.

We hugged up in our four person huddle and then went in different directions. Charlie turned to me when Michael and Lu left the room.

“Listening to their reports made me, as Lu put it, horny.”

Charlie kissed me one of his deep lovely kisses.

He didn’t need to try so hard, I was on the same page and all go. Ever practical, I locked the bedroom door. Charlie and I satisfied our carnal need for each other and at the same time shined a light on our ever expanding love.

“It’s impossible to get enough of you. Woman, I love you.”

“It’s the same for me Lover.” I said hugging him.

As a team Charlie and I changed the bedding. It was a quick process for us because we did most things together. Then we took a shower which was another fun experience. The ‘stretch break’ took us longer than 20 minutes but it was time well spent.

Like clockwork, Michael and Lu arrived exactly as we were ready for them.

“We’ve taken bigger steps than we thought we’d be able to and I’m glad of that but I also don’t want to push too hard. That said I’d like to suggest that this experiment be the last for today giving you guys time to practice finding each other and slowing our schedule down a bit.” I waited to get their take.

Michael said, “Let’s not set any hard and fast rules for what we’ve got. We could easily be surprised again and I think we need to seize every opportunity to figure it all out.”

“Ok, let’s go then,” I said.

Michael and Charlie went off to the master bedroom where Charlie would act as monitor as well as student observer for his turn at finding me out in the universe.

Lu had with her the catch object with the faces of Michael and me, ‘Arec’.

“Arec’ will be your catalyst and assist in bringing the particles needed for travel to you.” I told Lu.

Talking her through it, she responded to my lead without question.

“Take a couple of deep breaths and exhale completely between each breath. Relax all of your muscles and let the tension leave your body.”

I could see that she was relaxed and I felt good and comfortable enough to begin.

“Watch ‘Arec’ and wait until the particles are present and then let them surround you and suggest the current to take. Allow your body to release its hold on you.”

The particles presented and we both watched as they danced and grew to surround her. I didn’t tell her to jump; but she did. I watched her body let go as her muscles shut down into unconsciousness.

Observing her as she lay there asleep and beautiful, I took the time to appreciate what a lovely gift she was to the world. In my mind I likened her to an exotic flower that helped to soften the trials in our lives just by their very existence. It felt like a privilege to be there with her.

Just as Lu was coming round after the universal travel Michael and Charlie came into the room. Charlie took my hand and pulled me toward the door. I watched as Michael went to Lu and embraced her.

Charlie stuck his head back into the room and said, “Debrief in the music room after.”

We went for a walk and spent some time with the small family of gardens around the estate. Walking hand and hand and breathing breath for breath, we felt the greeting from the greenery in the moving air.

“I understand you better now.”

Charlie said while swinging our hands back and forth like a kid in school.

I smiled. Our relationship and bond was getting stronger and better all the time.

“Are you looking forward to our turn on the current?” I asked.

“Yes.”

We walked all the way to the end of the long fence and garden wall loving all the plants along the way. Stopping for a few minutes in the thick outcrop of the tall trees that Charlie was getting to know and learning to love like I did, we promised to return the same way and to have our way with each other in the middle of those trees, again.

Back in the music room with Michael and Lu, I was eager to hear how the travel went especially for Lu as it was her first time out and alone in the universe to find her way without the help of connected contact.

We were greeted with big smiles from both Michael and Lu. Lu seemed to be literally chomping at the bit to give her report so she went first.

“On the ribbon alone was at first a lonely time and maybe afraid that I would float out into the universe and not go where I should. Michael was there and he wrapped the ribbon around us and we soaked each other up like a sponge. I’m not sure how I found the right scent and I just appeared on the ribbon. Michael, how did you get to me?”

“The particles took me to the current but I could sense you even before we were together.” Michael said in response. “Could you sense me?”

“I can’t say that I was aware of you before but I was glad when you found me. I felt less person before you came but I felt more with us combined.”

Lu worked to explain what was nearly inexplicable. She was still wrapped in the ‘Oh My God’ of it all.

“I know what you mean about ‘more’ ‘cause there’s a definite sense of openness and expanse.” Michael said.

Hands joined, Charlie and I watched the exchange between the two of them. It was good to see them discuss and re-share the experience. I’d been there and understood the wonder and freedom while alone out in the universe. It’s an experience that you have to earn by being willing to let go of all control and release the physical world and at the same time allow yourself to be embraced by a quieter, spiritual world and allowed to see and feel and hear with greater clarity.

When Charlie’s turn came, he was ready with his ‘Us’ object and as into the process as I was. Michael, Lu, and Charlie went to the master bedroom – Lu went with them so that she could watch from that end and I stayed in the guest room where they could monitor me from anywhere.

When my cell phone rang, I knew they were ready in the master bedroom; I looked at Ricky and she was presenting her invitation. When the invitation surrounded me, I jumped into the middle of her particles with the idea to find Charlie. Charlie and I had been on the current a number of times but we were always together when we jumped, connected physically, which made it easy. We may as well have been connected because as soon as I found myself on the current I felt Charlie. There was no effort given at all. I just thought of him and letting go.

We combined into one being and became part of something wonderfully clean and whole. The added boost in strength and power was exhilarating and sexy and we would carry it with us into our separated physical lives. For those moments when we were absorbed into each other the world took on a positive glow and we were rich with a shared understanding of the needs and wants of the other because those same needs and wants had become our own.

When I was gaining consciousness the three of them were coming into the room and when I saw the look on Charlie’s face, I couldn’t get to him fast enough. He lay down beside me and we at first just looked into each other’s eyes.

Charlie whispered, “I love you, Woman.”

His eyes were watery with love for me and I was as emotional as he.

Michael and Lu left us to handle our physical need for each other and as he was closing the door Michael gave us a reminder.

“Denice and Amanda arrive in an hour and a half.”

Charlie removed our clothes with efficiency and respect and when our bodies were touching skin to skin we could feel every little nuance of our lovemaking, we rejoiced in the feel of each and every touch. Our breath mingled and our hands moving to know it all we coupled, we joined our bodies; we became one – working to simulate the experience that we’d shared while on the current right there in our physical world.

It seemed like only minutes had passed when Charlie said that we only had 20 minutes to get ready for the late dinner and the arrival of Denice and Amanda.

“No!” I yelled in my head.

“Charlie, I need more time with you when we aren’t concerned with time and schedules.”

“You know Charlie, I feel cheated that we can’t just stay here and be together and let the rest of the world take care of itself. We should have a real honeymoon; don’t ya think?”

“Yeah,” Charlie said in between kisses on my neck.

“I’d like a shower but I want to climb the garden wall on the way back to our quarters; so let’s get dressed, climb the wall, take a shower, we’ll be a bit late for Denice and Amanda. They can wait for us.”

“Don’t dress just yet.” Charlie whispered while he pulled me on top of him and guided himself into me.

“We’re already going to be late, now even later.” Charlie said just before I heard his quiet but high pitched moan of appreciation as our bodies joined.

As it turned out Denice and Amanda were late due to a travel delay. Sam and Rick came with them. They’d planned to handle the business by the end of the week and then each couple was heading in a different direction for vacations and some much needed couple time.

When I heard them talking about their anticipated vacation it made me think about the honeymoon that Charlie and I should take. I was already having a difficult time keeping my mind in business and I was glad that I’d completed my assignment for ‘Three Women’ early. While other’s talked, I day dreamed about being on a deserted island with Charlie and when I was saturated with the picture and feel of us there, I’d day dream about being on a cruise with Charlie, sitting on the balcony of a ship while out in the middle of the ocean was the best place to be.

Twice someone interrupted my reverie and I was nearly annoyed with having to get involved with their discussion.

Charlie leaned into me and asked, “Where are you, Woman?”

“I’m with you Lover, on a secluded beach and we’re both naked on the sand.”

“Woman, I want to be where you are.” Charlie whispered and hugged me to him.

Even though both Charlie and I were jonesin’ to be alone, we were glad to see our sisters. Those women had been our rocks when we didn’t have each other and we loved them and wanted to see them happy. We put aside our primal desire for each other to see to their needs.

Sam and Rick were best friends and spent a great deal of time together which worked for their wives because they were always involved with ‘Three Women’ in some way. Rick would gladly back any endeavor that Amanda was involved with and Sam would do anything, no matter how small, that Denice asked. The four of them were a really good team. It was easy to see that they spent a great deal of time together in the fact that they nearly moved as one body.

They always requested the first evening of any trip be left open for them to settle in and come down from the long flight. That worked for me and my three connected buddies. After promises to meet for breakfast the following morning Denice, Sam, Amanda, and Rick went to their rooms for some time alone while Wyatt and Millie had their own agenda. Charlie and I took Michael and Lu to the servant’s quarters to debrief and make plans for more training and more travel.

Charlie went first.

“I jumped just like Helen showed me. I worried about being without her but her scent was easy to follow; I found her on the current waiting for me.”

Charlie was finished with his report so Michael coaxed him with a few questions.

“Can you tell us what the experience was like for you?”

Charlie thought for a second and said, “Amazing.”

“Can you tell us what was amazing?” Michael pushed.

“Helen’s amazing.” Charlie said.

“What I mean is what was it like for you when you blended your essences?” Michael clarified.

“Helen’s amazing.” Charlie said again.

“It was satisfying - different than the physical but part of it like they need to go together.”

“Yeah.” Michael agreed.

“That’s probably why the sex after is so good.”

Charlie looked at me as if to say, ‘Is that enough?’

Understanding that the talk about sex was in itself foreplay and Charlie wanted me, I got to the business so that Michael and Lu could leave and Charlie and I could be alone.

“Tomorrow’s the big bash so we probably won’t be able to train tomorrow. I suggest that you practice until we can get together which will be the day after tomorrow. Then I’m busy with ‘Three Women’ work for the following day and the day after that I’m scheduled to spend a few hours with Wyatt for ‘The New Holdings’. Charlie has some work to handle for ‘Three Women’ in this office.”

“Can we get together for some ‘Red Travel’ training after that?” I was trying to get everyone’s buy-in, everyone agreed.

“With the schedule set,” Michael said, “We’re taking off home; see you at breakfast with your sisters.”

At that we hugged up and said our good nights.

The door was closed and Charlie had me in his arms in that very instant, carried me to the bedroom, removed our clothes and revealed his urgency.

“Good God Woman it’s so good to feel you and smell you. Your scent has changed a bit. Your breath smells like peppermint.”

Charlie kissed me a deep kiss and whispered on my cheek, “I love you, Woman.”

“More every minute Lover,” was all I said.