Keeping Company Ch. 02

It was clear to each of us they knew what was going on. And the looks we gave Beth as her folks and the children left didn't faze her in the least. We sat around the day room and let Beth talk since this was her meeting.

"Yes, I told them everything, but please hear me out before you pass judgment on me."

Everyone was going to apart from Mandy.

"No. You took it upon yourself to tell your folks about something that concerns us and then you ambush us with it as we come through the door. Are you fucking nuts? I know for a fact your house phone works as does you cell phone, yet you talk to your folks about us and never talk to us about wanting to do it. What you did is unforgivable and now we are left with dealing with it rather than knowing ahead of time."

"But there is a reason I needed them on board before I came to you about this."

"That maybe so, Beth but you have us all on speed dial. Any one of us could take a call if the other is in a meeting. We all think alike and would give you the same advice. Don't hit us sideways with things like this."

Beth slowly nodded her head. She walked up to each of us and we stood as she did so that she could hug us and apologized for her actions. We let her sit down again and tell us in her own time.

"Mom and dad want to retire early; I want to move away from here. All of us want to move closer to you guys when the children finish school. Can we make this happen?"

Amy left this one to me.

"It's not impossible, Ginny never wanted to leave our house and I would like to think a part of her is still there. If you can put up with a friendly ghost then move into my place. We will find an apartment for your folks and the twins can go to the same school Steven went to."

Beth became nervous.

"My folks can't afford an apartment, they live in rented accommodation."

"Fine, then make a deal with them. We will buy the apartment on condition that they baby sit occasionally. That gives them time with the twins and us time with you and the twins."

Her eyes scanned the room. All heads nodded when Beth looked at them. Mandy of course had to have the last word.

"Of course, if you had talked to us about this on the phone we would already be looking for an apartment close to the house."

Amy had to get her ten cents worth in as well.

"Mandy is right, to anyone but us it would look like you're blackmailing us to get what you want. Don't do things that may harm the group, Beth. We would have gladly got the apartment for your parents and given it to them as a gift. Now they will always think we did it because we had to."

Again Beth listened to what was said, her hands came together and she looked at the floor for a moment.

"Can we put today down as me being young and stupid?"

This time the girls smiled as they nodded there heads at Beth. Carol stood and held out her hand towards Beth. She took it and they climbed the stairs, her bedroom door shut moments later.

"She's going to need a job or she will get bored."

We agreed as an all too familiar sound of soft moans came from her room.

Mandy looked up the stairs and smiled. "Do I sound like that?"

Wendy saw her opportunity and went for it. "Nah, with you it's usually 'shove that cock into me master, make this slave beg for more'."

The cushion that got thrown across the room was quickly followed by laughter. Amy said she would talk to a realtor she knew and I announced that I would get the builders over to the house. Re-wiring needed to be done and putting in an up to date kitchen and bathroom plus anything else to modernize the house for a young family.

As the room once again went quiet, Amy decided that now was a good a time as any.

"You know what Beth is doing is only speeding up what was already planned for some time."

I nodded, reminding myself when she had touched on this subject at the time of Steven's funeral.

"We left you in the house for as long as we could. Ginny held you there but it's time to move on. As soon as Beth and the children move in, you will have a different life. I have already sorted out a PO Box for your mail. We have all made room for you in our houses and apartments, clothes will be moved so that all you have to do is walk out of one and into the other."

"I want to go back to work as well."

Amy still pushed on with her argument.

"That's fine, we all have internet access. Take a look at it, and if it needs upgrading then let us know."

The orgasm that one and then the other had soon afterwards made the girls giggle. I took Wendy's hand and we walked out of the house and sat on the porch.

"I need to ask something of you. When Beth comes to live at the house would you let her become your PA.?"

"It's within the realms of possibilities. Amy checked her college qualifications and although they are under used since she became pregnant, with time she could do the job and really well. But I have to know why you ask this of me."

"We as a group need to look out for ourselves; the PA job could be flexible enough to cope with the children's school times."

"That's a good answer. Now tell me the real answer."

She was smiling when I turned to look at her.

"I'm hoping that today was a genuine mistake. Mandy tore into her and I'm thinking that she realized she could have handled it differently. If I'm wrong then I think one of us needs to be close to her so that we see it coming the next time."

Wendy watched me for a while, she knew I hadn't lied.

"Ok, I agree. Perhaps we can use the time she has left here to our advantage and get her enrolled in a few evening classes."

When we walked back into the house we could hear the shower running and both girls giggling upstairs. We talked about what we had discussed outside and decided to say nothing further until we talked to Carol back at the hotel. That in itself was a revelation. Carol liked the idea but thought it was a bad idea to allow her to be Wendy's PA. Beth kept her married name for the sake of the children.

It wouldn't take long for others at the factory to realize that she was Ginny's sister-in-law and that would heap a great deal of pressure on her that she didn't need. We all agreed, so we moved Beth to Carol's PA and would make her part time. Carol phoned her later that evening and talked to her about it. We heard the scream across the room and I'm sure she woke the children.

Our plane didn't leave until late evening on Sunday, so we took Beth and the twins out to dinner. Beth sat between Carol and Wendy and between them they worked out a couple of courses she could take that would be beneficial to her. She beamed that smile of hers all evening. Even the children noticed and told Amy that they hadn't seen that look on their mom for a long time.

The Past...

It was six weeks later that I seemed to wake up. Mandy Trenton sat across the kitchen table from me and smiled when she saw me looking at her. I knew I was being impolite but I had to ask.

"May I ask why you are in my house?"

Mandy got up and made me a coffee, passed it across the table and sat back down again. Her smile never left her face.

"After the reception you managed to get back here and then had a break down. We have taken turns in looking after you ever since. I have to phone the rest and let them know you're awake now."

"Can I talk to you first before you do that?"

Mandy shook her head and picked up her cell.

"That's not a good idea. Let Amy explain everything, she will do a much better job than I could."

A sense of calm sat between us. I had met Mandy perhaps ten times while she visited Ginny, yet now the woman sat across from me was somehow different. My hand went across the table and stopped; Mandy looked at it and then placed her cell into my hand. The cell then sat at the end of the table while I looked at Mandy.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Mand..."

"No. I know your name. I'm asking who you are. I sensed it the first time I met you but dismissed it since I felt it was none of my business. Now I wake and find you across the table from me and that same feeling is there."

Mandy seemed to fidget in her seat. Her stare was a constant, I was making her uneasy yet I couldn't understand why.

"Please don't ask questions until..."

"Again, no. Amy will be a distraction to this conversation. I'm talking to you because something in me says I must. Who are you?"

It was a flicker at first, as though there was some sort of internal battle going on within her. Mandy sat looking at me but her eyes gave away the turmoil she had going on, I refused to back down and Mandy simply continued to stare at me. Finally she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"We can't do this; he's only just woken up."

She seemed to be talking in the third person. I slapped the table top with my hand and Mandy jumped before she looked at me once again.

"Now that I have your attention again, who are you?"

Mandy tried once again.

"Please let me call Amy."

Again I watched her, that look in her eyes held me. Mandy's mind seemed to be going a mile a minute. Finally she stood and paced, wringing her hands as she did.

"We can't, he's not ready. It's too much to heap on him all at once. Perhaps when he's used to the girls, then we can ask him."

Again that third person conversation. Then something pulled at my thoughts, a realization of sorts. I called over to Mandy and asked her to come around the table. She was hesitant at first. Once she stood in front of me her head was down. I felt too weak to stand so I told her to kneel. Her head shot up to look at me and a smile fought its way to her lips.

I held her hands as one knee gave and then the other. Mandy knelt in front of me, her eyes locked onto my chest. That same feeling surfaced within me once again and I still couldn't figure it out.

"Who are you?"

This time my question sunk in, her head moved and her eyes locked onto mine.

"I am slave."

Why wasn't I shocked? This woman kneeling in front of me just told me she was slave as though it was a natural thing to tell someone.

"Why do you hide?"

"At first I hid from her, she couldn't accept me. She believed she was insane; Ginny caught us talking out loud. She calmed Mandy and I couldn't hide from Ginny. She knew who I was and wouldn't let me hide. I must go, Mandy will talk to you now. Please let me go."

My hands opened and she pulled her own from mine and placed them on her lap. She continued to look at me and I realized why.

"Stand up."

Once stood, Mandy quickly walked to the other side and sat back down again. Her neck reddened slightly before she looked at me.

"Please let me call Amy. There is so much to tell you yet we have to temper that with how fragile you are at the moment."

I had no intention of making this easy for her. I would have liked to talk to them separately and I doubted very much that would happen now.

"Remove your panties and place them in the middle of the table."

Mandy's face was a picture of anger, not shock but anger. She reached under her skirt and started to pull down her panties.

"Dammit I knew when he saw you it was a big mistake. You had better fix this and make sure he knows everything."

The panties were placed onto the table, in return I gave Mandy her cell back and she called Amy and told her to get here quick. In the hour it took for Amy to get here Mandy just sat and waited. Amy came charging into the kitchen and looked at me before going to sit next to Mandy.

"Don't let the dumb look fool you. He woke just over an hour ago and spotted slave straight away."

Amy went to say something to me and then noticed the panties on the table; she picked them up and noticed the wet stain. She couldn't hide the smile as she handed them back to Mandy.

"He wanted them in return for giving me back my cell. Slave wet herself when he told her to kneel, she likes him. If he agrees then she's his and the dynamics of the group will change. I'm sorry but I have to give her this."

I sat listening to this conversation, it was interesting and I sure looked forward to when it all fit together.

"It's ok, the girls understand. You know we have talked of all eventualities. If it keeps slave and you happy then we will adjust accordingly. But I need you to focus now, ok?"

Mandy nodded, and looked towards me, the anger in her eyes still there but more aimed towards slave than me. Her hand reached out and placed the panties back on the table before she looked at Amy and blushed.

"Slave won't let me keep them; she says they're her gift to him."

Amy laughed, shook her head in amusement and stood to get herself a glass of water before sitting back down again. Amy held Mandy's hand and waited for her to look as her before she spoke again.

"Do you want to stay for this? I phoned the girls and they know he's awake. We will all be here this evening for dinner to introduce ourselves and offer him membership."

Mandy shook her head.

"I'm going to be a distraction if I stay. I need to go home and talk to her. He's the one for her and I feel like a mother letting her child out into the world. Please make him understand I'm not nuts. He also needs to know what he's getting from me if he agrees. I can't do it because she will keep getting in the way. I have to calm down the party she's having in my head."

Amy nodded her head, leaned in and kissed Mandy tenderly on the lips before we both watched her get up and leave. Amy and I sat and stared at each other, the ticking of the kitchen clock the only noise. She took another sip of her water and started talking.

"She's right you know, she isn't nuts."

The shake of her head made her stop what she was going to say.

"Perhaps it's best I start almost from the beginning and tell you about us. Ginny was working for the fashion house when she met Mandy. They treated her appallingly, twenty-two years old and nothing more than a gofer."

The anger that exuded from Amy was real when she told me about Ginny becoming Mandy's only friend at the fashion house; she quickly noticed her abilities with numbers and would set her tests that progressively got harder. It was amongst her talks that she found slave. It seems that Mandy had a slut side to her and every guy at the fashion house used her for nothing more than a pin cushion.

Finally something inside her head snapped and slave was born to try to curb her sluttish/destructive behavior. But Ginny saw more to Mandy than a gofer and offered her a way out. Ginny put her in touch with the local college and she started night courses in accountancy. She finished the course two months ahead of the course time with a recommendation that she tried for her Bachelors in accounting.

Amy sent her on that and she finished that a month ahead of the rest of the class, a straight A student if there ever was one. When she came back, Ginny was waiting for her and as a silent partner; Mandy wanted a couple more qualifications first and sailed through them as well. So they went into business together and her accountancy firm is now the best in this state. It also helped that she was OCD with numbers and that slave kept Mandy's sluttish behavior in check now.

"You could say that Ginny and Mandy started all this. When the fashion house moved away Ginny started working for Wendy Morgan. She knew straight away that something smelt wrong about the factory and snuck Mandy in one weekend with Wendy. It took her two days and loads of coffee to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it."

Now I understood why all the files suddenly appeared. They needed proof and who was behind the slide of fortunes at the factory. It seems that Wendy was so impressed with Mandy, she moved accountancy firms during the boardroom shuffle as well. Wendy also introduced Amy to the group. It was Amy that worked out the law angle and the threats needed as leverage when it came for Wendy to remove some of the board.

"The mayor's ball date with Wendy was real, you know. She was so wrapped up with dealing with the board and the fall out that she forgot. The day after the ball she wouldn't shut up about you. Ginny thought it was funny. She was ok about it, after all you loved her and to you no other woman existed."

It appears by the fourth time I accompanied Wendy, Amy was curious and asked Ginny what all the fuss was about. It of course coincided with the awards dinner. Ginny got me to go and by the time the test results came back on the wine soaked into the napkin, all three girls where relieved that I had. They had introduced one other member to there group, Carol-Ann Mackenzie.

"We once called ourselves the glass ceiling group, until Ginny pointed out that we had reached the top of our given professions so how could we go any further. Other than Carol, we knew the real reason. We had come to love one man and on the rare occasions we went on dates with other men we found ourselves comparing them with you. We couldn't do that to them. It wasn't fair so we stopped."

Even though I watched her every movement, I could find nothing telling me she was lying. Yet how could a bunch of women as powerful as these have Ginny as one of the members? So I asked her. Amy looked a little uncertain as to how to continue this conversation.

"When you're well enough then the reading of the will may answer your questions. I'm your friend and also your lawyer. I need you to wait until the reading. All I can say is that we will each be there because some aspects of the will you have to seek advice. We want to be on hand when you do."

Me being a guy thought the worse.

"Did Ginny ever do anything wrong?"

Amy vigorously shook her head.

"Never, she loved you from the day she set eyes on you. You called it soul-mates. She has worked all her life to protect you and your quality of life was all important to her, which is why she always glowed when you thought taking us out meant you were cheating on her with Wendy and me."

The Present...

I spent a week boxing up the things I wanted to keep; ironically I placed them into long term storage. To me it was a mental thing. If I ever needed to re-connect with Ginny then I would lock myself into the storage box and have a damn good cry. The rest I gave to good will. Two weeks later the builders came in and said it would take four weeks.

I pulled the foreman to one side and told him I would prefer it if he took five weeks and it got done properly and pay for the extra week, rather than rushed since it was family that was coming to live here. The wedding band on his finger told me he understood what I said and it was not meant as an insult for his work.

My first week under this new arrangement with the girls meant I was with Mandy for a week. It was like meeting Mandy all over again. I opened the door to let myself into her apartment and she stood in the middle of the room, her jaw dropped. She dropped the file she had in her hand and rushed at me, her arms and legs wrapped around me like a limpet.

"Thank you. I hoped you would start with me."

I can't deny my heart beat a little faster with her this close to me. When I got her calmed and sat down I felt I needed to talk to her.

"Ok, no rules. We need to feel our way for a while, that's a given. Mandy, there is a 'but' attached to this. I don't want slave bullying you for attention just as I don't want slut bullying slave for attention."

Her eyes watered and her smile just got bigger as she quickly nodded her head.

"Slave asks to be first since she says she found you first."

"And what does slut say?"

She blushed, she actually blushed. An unusual thing for her.

"I have a request. Since slave pulled me back from making a mess of my life and she met you, we made a decision that the dynamics would change and I would no longer be with the girls. I know I love you, we love you, but I miss the girls. Once in a while can we have one of the girls with us?"