Allocation

"Speaking of the truth, do you still claim that you never raped Gelsey?"

"No," Nelson said quietly, looking at his hands.

"Thank God," she said. "Gelsey is so far gone that I think she's started blaming herself."

"What do you mean?" he said.

"It's all my fault," Linda said. She couldn't continue because she was sobbing so hard. Before he could think, he put his hand on hers to comfort her. He saw Linda look at his hand and then look up at his face in bewilderment. He also didn't understand why he was trying to make her feel better. But she didn't remove her hand, and he didn't take his away. She took a breath and began talking again.

"We were so happy when she decided to divorce you," she said, "and our happiness was growing day by day. Then you raped her. If I knew what I know now, I would have told her to install the lock on the bedroom door, stay with me every evening until bedtime, then go home and run right into the bedroom. I should have told her to forget the rape. She would have listened to me.

"But no, I didn't think of her. Like you said, all I think about is myself. I already thought of her as mine, and I was furious that you dared to put your filthy hands on my possession. In my insane hatred, I concocted the first video and then the second. She was so fragile and vulnerable because of what you did that she went along with them, although she was always reluctant. I should have seen it then. I made myself believe that she hated you like I did.

"Looking back, things started going downhill after the first video, although I didn't realize it. It began dawning on me when she was such a wreck after the second video. She cried for days. Then she seemed to calm down, and things looked like they were getting better.

"All of a sudden one night she fell apart. She started talking about crazy things, like she might kill herself if I didn't let her go back to your house to make sure you were all right."

"I reasoned with her and explained that the decree was only a few days away, and that you might be so angry that things could get out of control. I wouldn't allow her to put herself in danger. When I promised her I would see you and bring her a video to prove you were all right, she gave in. She's never watched your humiliation video once, but she's watched those few minutes I took when I visited you over a hundred times."

"She's been stalking you, too. Like I said, she found out where you live, and I found out she sometimes drove by your new house. I warned her to stop before your neighbors reported her. She knows how well you've been doing at work, and she even knows about some of the women you've dated."

"I don't know how, but she managed to talk to one of them about you. The woman told her all about how wonderful you were, how well you treated her, how passionate you were about everything and how she wished you had been more interested in her. The woman told Gelsey there was someone in the past that you still had a torch for. When she came home and told me that, she burst into tears and wouldn't stop crying the whole night.

"She's apologized to me about her obsession and agreed with me that she should talk to a therapist, but she's never made an appointment. She knows she's making herself unhappy, but she doesn't care.

"She tries to make it up to me for being ungrateful. She tells me how wonderful I am and how much she loves me and how she doesn't deserve someone so wonderful who puts up with her and caters to her and does everything she asks.

"And I do that. Before I met her, I always took the lead in every relationship, and she's such a beautiful little thing that I thought that it would be the same with her. But since we've been together, she's bloomed.

"She was wonderful when I met her. Now she's amazing -- her personality, her looks, her warmth, her mind. She's the boss at our house, and I'm happy with that. This obsession with you is the only thing standing between us and happiness. I say us, because I can't be happy while she's like this.

"I talked to my shrink about it, and I've asked friends for suggestions. She knows all about that, because I tell her everything. She's always ready to try something, except for going to a therapist. A few weeks ago, I was wondering again why she was so reluctant, because it wasn't like her to be irrational, and then it hit me. She's so smart that she knows exactly what the therapist is going to tell her, and she doesn't want to hear it.

"When my therapist told me Gelsey is still sick in love with you, I didn't want to hear it either. Our home became twice as sad. I brooded all the time. I should have thought about Gelsey, but I could only think of myself, how I would go insane if I lost her.

"I came up with a script, a crazy script that nobody in her right mind would perform, a desperate script, because my life is slipping away. That's why I'm here."

She looked down at her hand, covered by his and started sobbing. She brought her other hand next to the two hands, and then she grabbed his hand with both her hands and squeezed it tightly and put her forehead on top of his hands as she continued to cry.

Nelson had become more and more agitated as she spoke. He wanted to jump up from the table and run to wherever Gelsey was.

"Should I come over tonight?" he asked.

She raised her head from his hand. Her makeup was smeared all over her face. He realized immediately he had said the wrong thing, because she let go of his hand, and she stopped crying at once. Her runny face hardened into steel, and her eyes were full of lightning.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Nelson? No, you're not coming over tonight if you know what's good for you. You're going to follow my script, or I'm going to write a different one."

"I'm sorry," he said, "I just thought --"

She interrupted him.

"Shut up and listen hard. I'm taking a big risk with you, and it's only because I'm desperate. You'd like nothing better than to do your script. But if you don't perform my script, I'll risk everything, even my life, to stop you."

"I don't understand.

"It's what you said on the phone. I'm thinking only of myself. No matter what happens, I'm not going to lose her. I accept that things won't be the same as they are now or as they were just before the divorce. But I'm not going to give her to you or anyone else and step out of the picture. In my script, you will bring us so close that no one will ever come between us."

"How are you going to do that?"

Nelson kicked himself mentally for putting her on the defensive. What twisted plan was she about to share with him?

"As you know, her birthday is coming up next week," Linda said. "My plan is to give her the best present she's ever received or ever will receive. When she gets it, she's going to love me even more than she does now, and on top of that, she'll be grateful to me for the rest of her life. Because I'm going to give her you."

"What happens if I don't go along with your script?"

After he spoke, he quickly realized he had made another mistake and rushed to fix it.

"I'm asking just out of curiosity. I'm not saying no."

"You'd better not, because if you cross me, I'm going to find her another man. She's not a lesbian. I'm not even sure that she's bi. It was pure luck that I came along when I did.

"She's as loyal to me as she was to you, and she listens to me because she knows I would never do anything to harm her. I'm going to find her a man who's better than you are. There are plenty of them out there, and many of them would die to have a wife like Gelsey.

"I'm going to screen them until I find the best of the best. One important criterion will be how he feels about my special relationship with Gelsey. I'm sure he won't mind once he realizes what he's getting.

"Gelsey will have a wonderful loving husband and a family. He'll have her and the family. And I'll still have Gelsey -- not all to myself, but nothing's perfect.

"If you try to fight me, I'm going to be a wildcat. I'll sabotage you any way that I can, and I'll be proud when you call me a liar, because I'll lie and steal and break the law if I have to. I'll do whatever I have to do to keep you from getting to her before I complete my script. To win, you'll probably have to kill me first.

"That's what I'll do if you don't let me give Gelsey my birthday present."

"I understand. The reason I'm hesitating is you haven't told me what you want for your birthday. What do I have to do for you so you will let me see Gelsey?"

"You're so stupid," she said and began crying. "Don't you understand? I don't want anything from you, except your promise that you won't try to separate me from Gelsey. I know you hate me, and you can't stand the sight of me, but I'm going to be part of your life. I'll try to keep out of your sight as much as I can, but I have to see Gelsey. I have to be Aunt Linda to your children. I have to."

"What about sex?" he said.

"Is that what it comes down to for you, Nelson?" she said. "Are you still a committed toxic-testosterone bigot? I was wondering when you'd bring that up. You're probably thinking Linda will insist on one night in bed with Gelsey every week or something like that. I want every night in bed with Gelsey. You took her for granted, so you have no idea she is a wonder woman in bed. She's a sex goddess.

"But I love her too much to require that in my script. She and you will make that decision later. If the two of you tell me I can never love her that way again, I'll go back to casual sex with other women, like I did before Gelsey. Because there's only one person I can ever love, and I will love her to my dying day even if we don't make physical love.

"Also, I'll be moving out. A man and his wife need to be together to raise their family. But if Aunt Linda finds a house for sale down the street, she'll find a way to buy it.

"I've talked enough. I know my proposal is distasteful to you, so I'm going to give you a few days to think about it. I hope you make the decision I want, but just in case you don't, as of tomorrow morning, every spare minute that I have will be spent on researching good men to introduce to her. Thank you for listening politely."

She began to get up, but she felt two large hands on her arm pulling her down, almost violently.

"Linda," Nelson said, "you're not leaving here without my answer. I'll be honest. I'm still suspicious of you and your script. You could be lying, and this could be another one of your sick set-ups. I'll be watching you closely. But you've got me because I've got to take the risk if there's even the slightest chance I can be together with Gelsey again. My answer is yes."

***************

"Tell me again. Why am I opening presents in the bedroom?"

"The next present will explain it," answered Linda. "It's that box over there."

"That's from a store where you should never shop," Gelsey said. "Everything is way overpriced. I can't understand why anyone would even walk into that place."

"Because it has some beautiful things for beautiful people."

"Oh, Linda, you shouldn't have. This is not for me. It's for a princess on her honeymoon."

"Rub the fabric on your cheek," Linda said. "Have you ever felt anything like it? Look at your fingers through it. It's so sheer that there's almost nothing there, but see how the hint of rose makes your beautiful hands look even more beautiful. I want you to take off all your clothes right now and put it on."

"Now I know why we're in the bedroom,. You know when I put it on, it will get me all wet, and then I'm going to make wild love to you. You're just a silly schoolgirl, Linda."

"You can be the boss the rest of the year, Gelsey, but tonight I'm the boss. Now take off your clothes and put on that negligee."

"You are so silly. There, how does that look?"

She turned around.

"It looks so good, I want to jump you right now. Any man or woman in the world sitting where I'm sitting would want to do the same thing. The color is barely perceptible. There's just enough of it to make your beautiful skin glow in a pink aura.

"It's so sheer that your breasts and butt and legs and even the curls between your legs look dreamy, like they're in soft focus. And it's cut simply, with no fancy buttons or bows or other frills. Other women need those, but this is for the woman who doesn't have any flaws. That's why it's so expensive. The designer has found a way to improve on perfection.

"There's just one gift left. You've been feeling a little sad lately, and it was making me sad. I want to be happy, so I shopped everywhere until I found the perfect gift to put a smile back on your face."

"I'm sorry I've been so moody, Linda. I need to work on showing you how much I appreciate all the things you do for me. You don't need to buy me expensive gifts. That's not what makes me happy. You make me happy. You know that."

"I can't wait to see the look on your face when you open it. It's over there on the bed."

"That's one huge cardboard box," said Gelsey. "What have you done, Linda? It's almost as long as the bed and too heavy for me to lift. I can't see any way to open it."

"That's why I brought this box cutter," said Linda. "I created a script, too. You're going to stand over here with your back to the bed while I cut through the cardboard from the top to the bottom. When I'm done, I'll give you the signal, and you'll pull the pieces apart."

"Why are you crying?"

"Just follow the script, and let me focus. I've got to do this carefully. I don't want to cut into the present. There, I'm done. You can turn around now."

"I'm dying of curiosity. Okay. One, two, three, open sesame!"

She pulled apart the cardboard and screamed.

"Happy birthday, Gelsey," Nelson said. "I need to apologize for being naked and for this hard thing here. But I was listening to the discussion about the negligee, and I couldn't help it."

Gelsey stared at Nelson, and Linda breathed hard for a minute before she spoke.

"I know you and Gelsey have a lot to talk about right now, so I'm leaving. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Goodbye."

She walked quickly from the room without turning around, but Nelson could see she was crying.

He looked at Gelsey, waiting for her to say something, but all she did was gaze at him. He finally spoke.

"Was Linda right? Can a stupid present that once hurt you make you happy now?"

Gelsey didn't answer.

"You won't believe what I'm thinking, Gelsey. This is so dumb, but I have to say it. Whatever Linda spent on that negligee was worth every cent."

When Gelsey finally spoke, she was talking to herself.

"I don't believe it. How could she do this to me?"

"You don't sound happy," Nelson said as he got up from the bed. "I'll get dressed and be out of here in a minute. I thought this might happen, but Linda was so convincing. She thinks you love me."

"Damn that Linda!" Gelsey said. "She had no right -- no you don't. You're not going anywhere."

She pushed him hard, and he fell back onto the bed.

"I don't understand," he said. "You don't want me here, so I'll leave and you can work out your differences when Linda comes back."

"Who said I don't want you here. I'm angry at Linda, because I can't hide anything from her. It infuriates me the way she reads my mind. But she doesn't know everything."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, she said we have a lot to talk over right now, and she got that wrong. We'll talk later. Right now, we have other things to catch up on. Please help me get this cardboard off the bed."

*************

Linda was still reading her mind, because she waited three hours to come back. It was barely enough time for them to get dressed and go downstairs. Linda made coffee, and they talked.

"I can't believe you went off for three hours," Gelsey said, trying to keep a straight face. "You knew I wasn't going to talk to Nelson without you here. From now on, when any of the three of us has anything to say to or about any of us, he or she is not going to say it until all of us are present. Understood."

"Yes, boss," Linda said.

"I'm going to speak first." Gelsey ordered. "Nelson, do I need to explain to you that you really raped me? You understand now?

"Yes, and I'm really --"

"No interruptions. Okay, now don't get this wrong, because what you did was immoral, evil and disgusting. However, it was that night that I started to really love you. I don't know why, but maybe I responded to your passion, as perverted as it was.

"For years, I was comfortable and you were comfortable. Did you screw other women?"

He nodded.

"I thought so. I figured it was no big deal for you, and it didn't threaten me, so I didn't even care. Now I do care. You better never do that again.

"I was so upset about the rape -- and probably about my conflicted feelings -- that I went along with Linda's scripts, even though I didn't feel right about them. When we finished humiliating you, I was mostly relieved that it was over and I would never see you anymore. I felt that all I was doing was hurting you, and I never wanted to do that again.

"A few days later, I realized that my feelings were more than just guilt over what we had done. It gradually dawned on me that I loved you and would always love you, and you would always hate me. That depressed me. Then I thought of Linda. I loved her, too, and even if I found a way to win you back, it would destroy Linda. So I was helpless. I couldn't do anything or tell anyone.

"But that damned Linda read my mind, and here we are. I don't know where we go from here. All I know for sure is this: I want each of you in my life, and even though you dislike each other, I think my love for both of you is strong enough to cover us all like a blanket and make us warm enough to melt some of the ice. Now it's your turn to talk."

**************

Over the next few weeks, the three of them worked things out. Gelsey moved in with Nelson, and they remarried. The three of them spent time together, Gelsey spent time with Nelson and she spent time with Linda. Gelsey asked Linda to shoot an unscripted video of her and Nelson making beautiful, intense, passionate, caring love. She gave it to Linda, and asked her to watch it, so that she understood about her and Nelson.

Then Gelsey asked Linda to give Nelson lessons in videography. Once he was proficient, Gelsey asked him to shoot an unscripted video of her and Linda making love. Linda went all out to prove she was a better lover than Nelson, and the video sizzled. Gelsey told Nelson to watch it to understand about her and Linda.

Sometimes the road was bumpy, but when Nelson and Linda were screaming at each other, Gelsey found a way to calm them down. Nelson resented one of her methods, sending Linda to watch the humiliation video, but it was effective. He could hear Linda's giggles as she watched his pain and degradation, and he hated her intensely while she was doing it. But he had to admit that after a half-hour or so, she was a happy camper again and even friendly to him.

Once she admitted to him that the fake rape DVD had been one of her proudest achievements and she was sad that he had destroyed the last copy and she would never be able to watch it again.

Slowly the distrust between Linda and Nelson crumbled, and the three of them grew closer. For her birthday, Nelson surprised Linda with the fake rape DVD.

"I don't know why I didn't smash it to pieces," he said, "but now I'm glad I didn't. I hope it makes you happy, Linda."

Linda was overwhelmed by the gift, hugged him, and cried for five minutes before she rushed off to watch it.

A few weeks later at dinner she surprised Nelson and Gelsey.

"I know it's selfish of me," she said, "but I want more sex. The other night, when I was home while the two of you were rutting over here, I couldn't believe what I was thinking.