Maxine's New Life Ch. 13a

"It's got plenty of gas, would you like to try it?" I asked.

"Could yo u wait while I get a heavier coat?" she asked.

"Sure, just come back when you are ready. Dress warm." I advised her. It was almost 5PM, so it was still a little warm, but starting to cool down. She was still likely to find it too cold for more than a minute.

A half hour later I stood in the alley and watched her return from her first ride on my bike. "I love it. I want one right now." She said it laughing.

"If you are serious, I can get you one right now," I said with a grin.

"How much are they?" She asked

"Anywhere from $300 to about $600." I said. "That's a lot for a toy."

"Not really, can I keep it in the store room and have it be just be our secret." She was serious. She didn't want Johnathan to know. I wasn't sure what that meant. I agreed to the secret toy probably because I didn't care for Johnathan Hunter.

I even put Cheryl into the cruiser with the bike rack on the rear and drove her to the Laboring Few's bike shop. The drive took about five minutes since it was on the opposite side of the little town. Everything the ministry did was within walking distance of their storefront church/ The old motel I bought was not within walking distance of the other ministry entities, so it was sold off. That was my take on it anyway.

"Cheryl This is Bob. Bob is the manager of the Laboring Few Bike Shop. Bob, Cheryl is interested in a motor bike." I explained.

"Then Cheryl, you should just look around and find the right bike first. Then we can talk about the right motor combination for it," Bob informed her.

Bob went back to working on bikes in the rear while Cheryl and I looked over the stock. Cheryl picked out a cruiser, which had no doubt previously been owned by a teenage girl. It appeared to have been stored in he basement, since there was almost on sign of wear or rust anywhere.

"I really like t his one and it's only $75," Cheryl said.

"Well there is going to be an addition charge for the motor. Let's get Bob back out here and do the rest of it." I said to Cheryl. She agreed, so I went to the back and brought Bob out with me.

"So how much do you know about motor bikes?" he asked her.

"Just that I rode Maxine's and I really did enjoy it." she said.

"Max has a motor set up she designed for us. It is a quick release model. Do you need that?" he asked.

"Do I Maxine," she asked me.

"Well with the quick release you could store the bike inside your apartment, if you were to move somewhere else. Otherwise no, you don't really need that."

"Then no, I don't think I need it." she said.

"Did you like pedaling the bike now and then?" Bob asked.

"You mean like helping it up the hills and starting off?" Cheryl asked. "I didn't mind that part at all. It made me feel like I was getting some exercise."

"I can put you onto a centrifugal clutch setup like Maxine's. It would have just a little more power, since you don't need to take it off the bike. That set up would run you $250, since Maxine brought you in. Add the price of the bike and its $325 plus tax." Bob stated flatly.

"Would it be $300, if she wasn't a friend of mine?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Nah, we give all your friends a discount. Its a $400 dollar set up for Joe off the street," Bob said. The question was really helping him sell it, and he knew it.

"Then I'll take it," Cheryl said. "Is there anything I need to know?"

"Yeah, I'm going to send along a booklet. Maxine can fill you in as well." He admitted.

"I have a gallon of premix, so you can use that to start out. When we need more, I'll show you how to mix it." I informed her.

"So when can you have it ready?" she asked bob.

"In about fifteen minutes. That's the beauty of these things." Bob said rolling her bike through the rear doors. Bob was as good as his word. We were back home and getting her bike ready for it's maiden voyage a half hour later.

With her blond hair flying under the bike helmet, Cheryl was going to be quite a traffic stopper. She might be close to my age but she was a much more attractive woman. Even if she was sneaking into middle age. We rode the bikes around the downtown then back home. I was getting cold, and it was getting dark, when I caught up with her at a stop sign.

"God girl, I'm freezing we need to go home," I said.

"I know, I'm cold as hell but I'm having so much fun." she said.

"Well, if you wake up in time, you can come along on my morning outing tomorrow." I suggested.

"You tell me what time, and I'll be there." Cheryl said still grinning ear to ear.

"Let's talk about it at home, I am about to become maxie pop," I said.

It was dead dark when we stored the bikes and arranged a time to go to breakfast the next morning. Then she was gone. Mike finally called an hour or so later.

"I got a reservation for a flight on Wednesday. I'm going to be having equipment shipped in UPS, but it won't be there till Thursday." He said.

"Mike are you going to be sleeping in the apartment, or is it just a production space?"

"I'll be staying there, is that a problem?" he asked.

"How about Gwen?" I asked.

"I figured she and Lucas would be staying together. I know you two don't get along." Mike said.

"Sounds like a good plan," I agreed without commenting on my dislike of Gwen.

"You know she will still be following you around shooting imagine for the show. I will try to keep her out of the editing as much as I can. Having people. who don't like the actors. can make editing pretty scary."

"You know best about that. I just didn't want to have a knock down drag out fight in front of my other tenants."

Since Mike wouldn't be in until Wednesday, I had one more day of total boredom. Maybe I could find something to do, I thought. I do have a new playmate, it seemed. I will have to keep it just friendship. It is what I promised myself, when I bought the apartment building.

I was awake, showered and dressed at 7:30AM, when the knock came on my door. I hadn't really expected Cheryl to show. Sure, she was all excited the night before, but who knows what a soft party girl will really do in the harsh light of a cold morning.

"Good morning, you better bundle up Max. It is gold out there." Cheryl said. She had only been ten feet, as far as I knew, and she already felt the cold?" It is going to be an interesting morning, I thought.

"Oh, I'm sure it is," I replied. I picked up my final piece of riding gear, the slightly thermal nylon pullover parka with the hood. When we left the store room, the bikes were both running and I was covered, with only tiny patches of skin exposed. Cheryl had more exposed but looked gorgeous. Oh well, it wouldn't take long for us both to know how she handled it.

I led the way through town to the Hardee's fast food restaurant. It was no more than a ten minute ride, but it felt longer in the bitter cold morning. We parked the bikes in a spot on the front, by the road. Might as well attract some attention, I thought.

"So you okay?" I asked Cheryl.

"Hell, I'm better than okay. That's almost as much fun as sex," she said.

"It's more fun than some of the sex I have had," I replied.

"Come to think of it, you are right," she said as we walked toward the door of the restaurant.

I must admit that we got a lot more attention taking off our outer wear that morning. When it was just me, hardly anyone noticed.. I didn't mind sharing the attention, I even enjoyed the view myself. Cheryl was a knock out blond. She was just a very few pounds over weight, not enough for men to notice. The great things was that her body, both top and bottom, matched. Mine didn't match at all.

When Cheryl stripped down to the tight wool pants, and even tighter sweater, men began to drool. Even her tiny little belly fat was gorgeous. We left the outer wear in a booth and went to the counter to order. While I filled up my delta cup and ordered breakfast, Cheryl was very attentive. She mimicked me as much as she could. I figured she was just feeling a little lost and trying to fit in.

More people than usual nodded and said good morning. Cheryl was proving to be a real asset, sort of like a flashing sign. Frankly, I was enjoying watching her enjoy the attention. She seemed to light up under all the glances of obvious admiration.

"I have never had breakfast inside one of these. This is just so damn cool," she said. I suppose there were people who had never eaten inside a fast food restaurant, but I sure as hell didn't know any of them.

"Glad you are enjoying it. To be honest I'm enjoying the company. You do know that most of this attention we are getting is because of you?" I said.

"Bull, these are your friends," she said. Then a second later she added, "Aren't they?"

"Sweetie most of these people ignore me, when I'm here alone." I replied honestly. I waited for her to respond. When she just smiled, I changed the subject. "Are you a wanted criminal?" I asked.

"Lord no," she replied with a strange look.

"In witness protection or on the run from some dangerous drug cartel?" I asked smiling.

"You are kidding right?" she asked with one of those things that could have been a conspirator's smile.

"Yeah sort of," I admitted. "You know that I have a rather colorful past?"

"So I have been told," she admitted.

"Some idiots want to make a reality TV show about my real life. If you go along, you will be part of it. They will pay you of course. That is something their people will be talking to you about. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be in any danger. I know the background of all the other tenants, and they should be okay with it. I wanted to be sure that you would be."

"Hell, I think it sounds like fun. The real sluts of Aster," she said with a laugh. "Only people just think I'm a slut. I'm not really."

"In spite of the evidence to the contrary, neither am I," I admitted laughing. "Good then we are cool?" I asked.

"We most definitely are cool," she replied smiling warmly.

"Good, then let's fill up my coffee cup and go take a walk." I suggested. We did just that. Cheryl was as big a hit at the mall as she had been at breakfast. More people smiled and spoke to us, while staring at her flopping boobs.

"If we are going to walk like this, I need a better bra," she informed me.

We got home at almost 10AM. Cheryl left for her apartment and I cleaned up after my ride. I didn't really need a shower, but I did need to scrub my hands. They had the smell of exhaust and gasoline on them.

Just before noon I had a call from Lois. "Maxine some woman just called me to set up an appointment. She wants to discuss a TV show. Is that some kind of con?" she asked. "She said you were involved."

"Can you come over and I'll tell you what I know. You can decide about seeing her. Was her name Jen?"

"No it was Gwen something or other?" Lois said.

"Ah come on over and I'll fill you in." It wasn't two minutes later that the knock came to my door. "So come on in. I have some coffee going."

"Okay, the coffee sounds good. I had no idea you were a TV star Max." she said laughing.

"Trust me I'm not. Here is what this is all about." I explained all that I knew to her. When I finished, I gave here the same option as Cheryl. "Tell them to go to hell or take the money and play along."

"Hell, I like money and being on TV will be fun. You promise you aren't going to bring anything dangerous home with you?" she asked.

"I am most definitely not going to be bringing anything home with me. All of the work I will be doing for the Redheaded Stranger will be out of town. I will also be using fake IDs, so it should be anywhere from very hard to impossible to trace me. If you are worried about your safety, the TV folks will pay to move you to a different apartment."

"Heck Max, I was hoping for a pistol that's all." she said.

"Now we can probably do that, but it's safer if you don't have a weapon. If anything out of the ordinary happens, call me and I will take care of it." I was beginning to wonder if I had done the right thing by agreeing to do the TV show.

"Well, I can tell you right now, I'm going to take the money. It sounds like a blast to me." Lois said.

"Lois you can't tell anyone until the first contract period is over. Not even your kids." I informed her.

"Oh this just gets better and better," Lois said laughing. "Now I'm in a James Bond movie."

Gwen had obviously made it into town ahead of Mike. She had probably decided to come back for a visit with Lucas regardless of my decision. It was as good an excuse as any to try to figure out a way to weasel out of the contract.

I expected to hear from the EMT cowboy and Sarah Beth before the day ended. I wasn't disappointed. Sarah Beth had already spoken to Gwen when she called me at 1PM. She wanted to know if they would really pay her. I told her that they damn will better or there would be hell to pay. She seemed to accept that.

"So is this a porn shoot?" the EMT Cowboy asked.

"No it isn't porn at all. It might be R rated now and then, but not XXX." I replied.

"Damn, I was hoping that it was. That Sarah Beth is a cute chick," he said with a leer I could feel over the phone.

"Down boy, I promised her grandparents that I would take care of her, and I take that kind of promise seriously." I advised him.

"What if my intentions are pure?" he asked.

"That might be a different thing, but they aren't. I can tell from your voice," I did laugh to make it easier for him to take.

A short time later, Mag7 blasted from on the top of the row of file cabinets in my bedroom. I found the phone and said "Hello."

"Max, it's Cheryl how about we take a ride? I need to buy some groceries and I would love the company."

"You've got it, I need to get away from this damn phone. How much are you planning to get at the store?" I asked.

"Not much that little basket on the handlebars won't hold much," she said.

"Ah but honey, I have a small aluminum trailer we can put on your bike. With it you can bring home not just the bacon, but the eggs and toast as well."

"Very cool, I swear Max you are the best," she said.

"Remember that when I have to scold you about something or other," I replied.

"Okay, I promise that I will." she said. "How about fifteen minutes?"

"Sure come on over, it's a little warmer now. I won't need all the Eskimo gear. "

We rode to the grocery store where she bought enough of everything for one or two people, no more. I walked the aisle with her just looking and talking. When we got home, I had messages from Gwen and the Redheaded stranger. Gwen wanted me to call and left a number. Martin said he would call back.

"Gwen, you don't start for a week what is all this talking to my tenants?" I said it as a challenge right up front.

"No Max, our agreement was that we start as soon as we find anything to shoot. You and Executive Security Service start in less than two weeks. We have that long to be ready to shoot but we can start anytime we want."

"It's not worth the effort to argue. So what do you want?" I asked.

"I want you to tell your tenants and other friends that it's okay to talk to me." she said.

"When you are going to talk to them, call and give me a heads up. I'll keep the phone with me, so that you can call me and just hand them the phone. I'll tell them then. It will be better that way." I said.

"Like you said, it ain't worth arguing." Gwen suggested.

Cheryl was the first to call.

"Max what should I tell this woman?" she asked.

"Cheryl, you can tell her anything about yourself that you want. Tell her only things about you that you wouldn't object to your mom knowing, because she just might after this. I expect that the more engaged you are with these people, the more you will be in the show, and the more money they will pay you. Of course you aren't going to get rich from them I'm sure,"

"I know, but at least it is money I made myself," she suggested.

"You can always talk to Johnathan before you sign anything hon," I suggested. "Once you sign that release, they can use anything you say to them and anything they shoot of you in a public. They are going to follow me around, and if you are with me, then you are fair game as well. That is if you sign the release.

"I understand all that, and Johnathan will just tell me to do what I want."

"Then as long as you understand, pick your poison." I suggested.

I gave everyone the same advice when they called. Gwen seemed to be satisfied with that. Martin the Irishman aka the Redheaded Stranger, never did call back.

109 The thing is...

On Wednesday morning I packed the cell phone along on my morning ride with Cheryl. It was probably not a good thing that I had begun to think of the morning ride and Cheryl as part and parcel of the same thing. But there she was knocking on my door at 7;30AM again. Breakfast was again filled with guys leering at her boobs, while I smiled inwardly. I have no idea why I found it so satisfying, I mean she wasn't really with me in a romantic sense. Even so. I felt almost like a proud parent.

The walk went off without any problems at all. We passed by a gas station on the way home. I noticed Gas prices were going up again. I made a note to fill up the cruiser and my gas can before they got any higher.

The motors on our bikes were about the size of a weed eater, but were of much better quality. They required a 50:1 mix of gas and oil. Fortunately they packaged oil in the right size bottle for one gallon cans of gas. I had a two and a half gallon tank and a one gallon tank. When I got down to less than half the big can, I transfered it into the smaller can. At that point, I put two gallons in the big can along with two of the little bottles of oil. It was a pain for about thirty seconds, then it was over for a month or more.

I got the gasoline ready for the next month before my phone rang around noon. Mike was at the airport in Tryon. The airport was actually between Aster and Tryon. It wasn't there because Aster was a big suppler of air traverlers, but because the land had been cheap, when they built it.

"So I suppose you want me to pick you up?" I asked.

"Actually no, I just wanted to give you a heads up. We should be there in about twenty minutes or so." Mike said.

"We who is we?" I asked. There was a too long pause.

"He said to tell you that it was Irish," Mike said. "Now I have to go. The bags are coming out." I knew that he really said it, so I wouldn't ask more questions.

I never had lunch before three, so I just made more coffee. Since I drank coffee all day long, the pot was always on. While I waited for the two new men in my life to show, I reran the security camera files. Nothing happened over night and that was a good thing.

My phone played the Mag7 theme again, but I caught it pretty quickly that time. "We are five minutes out. We just wanted to let you know."

"It's too cold to stand bye the gate, but I'll keep an eye out for you. What are you driving?" I asked,

"A black Cadillac SUV," Mike said.

"Of course you are, the ride of choice for thugs and cops," I said it with a laugh. I kept an eye on the parking lot camera until they arrived. Once the Caddy was in the parking lot, I walked to the gate. I carried Mike's card key and door key in hand. His unit was the one on the right hand corner of the building.

"Well hello strangers," I said as a greeting. "What bring you to my part of the world," I asked jokingly.

"I'm just a tourist," Irish said. "This one is going to be staying a while."

"Oh goody, he makes it a full house. Well, when you get settled in, come on down to number three. I have coffee on."

"I'm going with you, I don't do bellhop," Irish said.

"When you get your stuff in the first unit, number 6, come on down to unit three. We will be waiting." I said to Mike. I knew that he wouldn't have much in the way of luggage, but he would most likely want a few minutes to look around his new temporary home.