Crystal Clear Ch. 29

I breezed along to some other articles that Google popped up to my search. I'd blurt out a statistic occasionally, 'About a third of teens and young adults sext.' 'The older the cohort, the higher the percentage that sext, peaking in the mid-twenties apparently, and rolling off after that.' 'Forty-six percent of young adults in their late twenties send sexts to each other.' I told the two, "There's a lot on the Wikipedia site too; apparently the incidence in Europe is higher."

Nadia had been listening. She said, "I'm the youngest of all of you at age twenty-four, and I can tell you I think your statistics are low. At the College I attend, I thinkeverybody has done it. Sean and I do it to each other a couple of times a week. PJ's even let me include her in some of the pictures I sent Sean, and he shows his roommates sometimes. You know Sean, Dan, PJ, and I sent one to you of the four of us fucking in the living room. It was no big deal."

Dan muttered, "Somehow, that's not really comforting."

I said, "Maybe not, but I had an idea during my run, and now I'm sure of it. Let's use Edie and theDayton Daily News, if they're willing. It'd give us a single media outlet to respond through, and position us better with the media. After that, we can just refer to whatever they printed. Should I call her?"

Terry and Dan spoke in unison, "YES!"

Crystal sashayed into the kitchen, "Yes, what?"

I spoke, "Yes, call Edie, and see whether she'd like another exclusive from Jim Mellon and Crystal Lee about the sexting allegations."

Crystal smiled. "I like that idea. She's nice. Maybe she could come down here, or we could go see George, Summer, Little Jim, and Little Crystal too. Maybe we could mess around a little too?"

I pondered the options as I called Edie. I got her recorded message, and asked for her to call me ASAP. I gave her my new cell phone number. My phone rang about five minutes later, "Jim, this is Edie. I've called you old cell phone number two-dozen times, but it's out of service."

I told her, "Yeah, we shut it down since the number and phone had been hacked. That's why I called you. Do you want another exclusive interview with Jim and Crystal?"

"Heck, yes!" Edie practically screamed into the phone. "When, how?"

"First, tell me what George and Summer are doing. How're the babies? I haven't talked to them for almost four weeks."

Edie went, "Ugghh. Both kids have the flu or some bug. I just hung up talking to Summer. She suggested I not come up to the house for the weekend unless I wanted to contract some dread disease up there."

I said, "I'll give them a call to try to add some cheer to their day. Thanks. That makes the decision easier. You come to Nashville to interview us. Do you want me to send a plane?"

"Really? You'd do that for me? A whole airplane?"

"Edie, I love you, and yes, I'd do that for you."

We sorted out the details of her trip to Nashville. I got Ellen on her new cell phone arranging for a direct flight that afternoon from Dayton to Nashville, a trip normally requiring one or two stops. She'd call Edie back with the details.

Terry and Dan went off to prepare a set of talking points regarding the sexts. I wasn't sure but that they were over thinking the whole situation. After the initial embarrassment wore off, I was all for just admitting that some of us in my circle of very close friends had swapped some pictures we never thought would see the light of day. And let it go, at that. For the first time since the story broke, I'd started to feel better about the situation."

I also thought about some of the last face-to-face conversations I'd had with Edie. She'd asked for me to make her pregnant – to be the father of a child we'd share. At the time, I thought it was the halo effect from spending time with George and Summer. Summer had two of my children, at the request of her and her husband. I would do anything for George, but impregnating his wife had been one of the most pleasing things in the world to help him with. He had injuries that had made him sterile and had taken part of one leg. Predictably, Summer and I had fallen in love, only with his blessing.

Edie now lived a good part of the time with George and Summer, and Little Jim, and Little Crystal. Despite modest protests from us, the couple had named their children after Crystal and me. I hoped we wouldn't tarnish their names too badly. George now enjoyed the pleasure of the two women who also loved each other. The three of them formed a comfortable and loving trio.

Crystal and I spent the day learning two new songs that PJ had written. PJ came down for most of the afternoon and played the synthesizer keyboard while Crystal and I played guitars and sang.

About five-thirty, the door to the studio opened, and Ellen escorted Edie in who had a big smile on her face. We stopped working, gave her a hundred serious kisses, and introduced her to PJ – the one new face she hadn't met.

After a polite hug, Edie bluntly asked PJ in a pleasant way, "Are you a Mellon Girl?"

PJ nodded, grinned, laughed, and said, "Of course, isn't every female that gets within fifty feet of Jim a Mellon Girl? Yes, I've had the Jim Mellon experience many times – fortunately." They all had a good laugh at my expense.

We went into the living room, and Nadia brought us some hors d'oeuvres and wine.

Edie said, "Before my brain gets too clouded with the wine, I want to see what the press was talking about."

Nadia had heard the remark and showed up two minutes later with a silver tray carrying eight cell phones. She said smugly, "They're all charged up."

I booted up my cell phone first, and showed Edie the pictures that had been sexted to me and that I'd sent to some of the others. She laughed and grinned, taking the pornographic images in the spirit in which they were given – erotic teasing and titillation.

One by one we went through the phones, pointing out that we weren't sure which if any of the other phones had been hacked. I explained we'd switched off all our phones just to be on the safe side. Edie verified that had been a good idea.

Dan and Terry arrived and met Edie. Terry remembered her from a year or so earlier when she kicked off the revelation about my fatherhood after some good reporter research and deduction. After introductions, they presented her with a page of 'talking points' the pair had put together, basically ways to waffle around the facts of the situation.

Edie read the page and said, "OK, now just change the subject, and let me distill all this stuff until after dinner or tomorrow. I want to see what my little mental brownies can come up with."

On that note, Edie went into great detail about my children and their latest accomplishments and growth. Her iPhone was full of photographs, so we fawned all over them for a while. I could tell she had become enthralled with her extended family, plus she glowed whenever she mentioned George, Summer, or the children. She openly talked about her ménage a trois with George and Summer too.

Crystal paid particular attention to Edie's report about Little Jim and Little Crystal. She sat on the edge of her seat, taking in every detail about their growth, development, and daily activities. When Edie started showing pictures, it was Crystal's eyes that had to see them first.

After dinner, Edie became quite affectionate, cuddling up to me in the living room and urging Crystal to join us on my other side. "Let's surround Jim with love tonight," she urged. Crystal didn't need a second invitation, and towards bedtime she whispered in my ear, "You make love with Edie tonight – put the emphasis on her. She needs you." I gave Crystal a questioning look, and she nodded her affirmation of what she'd just said back to me.

At one point, while Edie left the room, I said to Crystal, "Edie's going to want me to make her pregnant?"

Crystal just smiled and said, "Well, do it." The way she said it let me know she was truly sincere in seeing me father another child.

An hour later, I tried to create a third child, this time with Edie as the mother. Edie didn't have the kind of clairvoyance that Summer had, so there were no "We did it" pronouncements from her after our initial orgasmic event. Instead, we just reconnected on many levels, reestablishing the love we felt for each other, and our bodies bringing together our mind and spirits, as well. I felt that something had happened, some inner sense of knowing and accomplishment that I hadn't felt before.

In the morning, before Edie and I joined the others, we made love again. This time, I felt even surer about having planted my seed. As I cuddled Edie in our post-coital bliss, I whispered to her, "Thank you for having my child. I feel so privileged that you chose me."

Edie hesitated, "But, we won't know for a few weeks."

I just kissed each of her eyelids closed and said, "I know now." I gave her a full body hug.

We showered, dressed, and joined the others for a long, leisurely breakfast.

Margo called about ten o'clock with an update from the U.K. "The six people they arrested are out on bail. They pleaded not guilty at their arraignment. They're jobless and no newspaper or magazine will touch them; the same for the others who were fired. Scotland Yard apparently will press for the maximum penalties under the law, and they're using this situation as an object lesson to other would-be hackers. Coincidentally, they found evidence that a couple of the blokes they arrested had been trying to hack Prince William and Prince Harry's cell phones. I think the lot of them are doomed to long jail terms. TheGlobe has responded to the civic lawsuit on your behalf; they're trying to negotiate for a much smaller amount; however, the paper has been on the financial edge for over a decade, so there's no way they can come up with anything close to £50 million."

I muttered something about justice being served.

Margo went on, "Get this. The paper published a full-page apology to you and ten other celebrities they admit to hacking and exposing, plus the parents of a young woman who was later found murdered. These are the 'caught-red-handed' cases, but there are a few dozen others we suspect. Scotland Yard is on it. My guess is that the paper will fold in bankruptcy within the week."

"Couldn't happen to a nicer group of people. Any word about Mansard?"

"Mansard Industries, the holding company, issued a press release this morning deploring the acts as 'way over the line' in terms of propriety and acknowledging the illegality. He said all prosecutions of the guilty should receive the maximum penalty, and all civil lawsuits should be recompensed at whatever level the courts and juries decide. Basically, he's disowned the paper and the people in it. He stated he had no knowledge of the shenanigans, and is friends with several people the paper trespassed on. He didn't mention your name specifically."

"Well, I hope he's not mad at me."

"Doubtful. You might give him a friendly call."

Less than five minutes later, I talked to Joe Mansard. He was ripping mad at the newspaper. I volunteered to withdraw my civil suit, but he asked that I leave it filed as is. "The paper will fold shortly, if not of their own will then of mine. I've wanted to dump that asset for a while, and this will be as good a time as any. They weren't making any money, and the men that run it weren't getting into the Information Age with online capability. Now, it's too late."

Joe and I pledged to get together for some R&R soon, and we hung up.

I brought Edie up to speed on the events.

Edie said, "My gut tells me to do what you did with your baby, come clean and allow me to water down the events with some polite language."

I said, "I like that approach."

Terry and Dan said, "Does he have to admit he has pornographic images in his pocket?"

Edie said, "We'll use better language than that, but yes. Call it for what it was, and it'll go away real soon." She paused and said, "Look, give me a half-hour on my laptop, and I'll show you what I think will work." She bent over her laptop on a side table, and the computer keys started to burn as she typed.

Headline: Star apologizes to fans.

Nashville, TN. In an exclusive interview, Jim Mellon today acknowledged he did have some racy photos on his iPhone that close friends had sent him – sexted him, and he just didn't think to erase them. "They were sent as a tease ... a joke, and for no other purpose than risqué fun.'" The disclosure arose because a British tabloid illegally hacked his cell phone.

'The News of the Globe' newspaper, based in London, was the source of the discovery. Eight reporters and senior editors of that paper have been dismissed over this case; others who consulted or freelanced for the same newspaper have been arrested in the case. The paper, and other media that have published the news based on the illegally obtained information, are each being sued for $75 million, as well as investigated for illegal practices by Scotland Yard. No known legal action is pending in the United States – yet! Civil lawsuits are expected against news media that carried the story.

Mellon went on to comment in his interview on the violation of his privacy as well as the severe abuse of laws requiring court orders before anyone can hack into someone's private communications. He said, 'Celebrities have this happen to them often, and it's illegal in the U.K. and the U.S. I hope Scotland Yard and the other legal authorities make an object lesson of this case. The American justice system has similar laws.

Sexting has been a recent phenomenon since the advent of cell phones capable of taking and sending photographs and movies. The victim list of cell phone hacks includes Hillary Clinton, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Donald Trump, Mel Gibson, and many others. Scarlett Johansson was particularly embarrassed when nude photographs of her were exposed after her cell phone had been hacked. Other women with racy pictures that got exposed include Victoria Justice, Snooki, Blake Lively, Olivia Munn, Taylor Swift, Natalie Portman, and Beyonce.

Estimates are that fifteen percent to upwards of a third of all teenagers send or receive sexts, and the number increases for young adults in their twenties with estimates as high as fifty-nine percent. When youth are involved, various child exploitation laws may be invoked.

Having nude pictures of yourself or another adult on your cell phones or computers is not a prosecutable offense – thank heavens. Otherwise, a third to half the world would be eligible for a jail term. Given the prevalence of the practice, any claims of immorality of the practice seem to be questionable.

By Edie Gerst

###

Dan, Terry, Crystal, and I thought Edie's article captured the spirit of what we wanted to say, plus by spreading the blame across some other celebs who had already been smeared by such tactics, it softened the direct blow on me.

Dan and Terry would be able to deflect any further press inquiries by saying the matter had already been covered completely by the media in the interview I'd granted Edie and theDayton Daily News. I also wouldn't respond to any questions about the situation citing pending legal action on both sides of the Atlantic and the already-published story by Edie.

Edie kissed us all goodbye, and headed back to Ohio. I promised I'd be up for a couple of days in two weeks. I also wanted her to start taking vitamins, stop having an occasional glass of wine, and start acting like a pregnant mother. Edie still wasn't sure she'd gotten pregnant on her short visit; I felt certain, plus I thought she suddenly had that special glow about her.

Edie had been right. After the article was published, there were twenty-four hours of attention and agitation by the press, and then Kim Kardashian got photographed having a wardrobe malfunction at a LA restaurant, and any further mention of the sexting event disappeared as new events consumed the press.

Claire came home to Nashville from a trip to New York, and I could tell something was eating at her. I urged Ellen to see what had transpired to make her appear on edge. An hour later, Ellen and Claire came into the studio where I'd been working on one of PJ's new songs. I could tell Claire had been crying by her red eyes and blotchy complexion.

I stood and gave Claire a hug. She said, "Joe's pushing me again on the marriage thing. I don't know what to do. I love you all, and don't want to leave, but I love Joe ... and Beth ... I just don't know how to decide." We sat with her and tried to calm her down.

I finally asked, "Why don't you write down all the things that bother you about Joe, his proposal, and your situation, so that you have some focus to your angst? Right now, it seems unfocused and a bit all over the map. Let's see whether we can't help you solve each problem, one at a time. Write down the good things about it too."

Claire acknowledged that was a good idea. Ellen pulled her away and said, "Come on, I'll help you." The pair went off with a new mission.

When I quit for the day, I found the others in the living room. Crystal had just come back from an afternoon shopping trip, said she felt a little wiped out, and took an unusual recuperative afternoon shower before joining the group about the time I did. Terry and Dan had just returned from their downtown offices to hang out with us for the evening. Nadia brought several beers and a bottle of wine into the room along with some cheese and crackers.

Claire flopped down on the sofa next to me and presented me with a page with the title:'Issues With Joe's Marriage Proposal.' Ellen sat on my other side. Getting a nod from her, I read the page aloud since we all knew the decision Claire faced.

1."I won't get to spend enough time with Jim, Crystal, Ellen, PJ, Nadia, and my other dear friends.

2.Joe will be off much of the time running his empire and not have time for a wife.

3.Beth will be off much of the time helping Joe and not have time for a partner either.

4.Joe sends signals of wanting a stay at home wife. I want a career, and mine is just getting off the ground with movies, so I'll be away some of the time – Hollywood?

5.Does Joe want a 'trophy wife' – is that how he sees me? I don't want to be one.

6.I want children, and Joe has already had his – Beth! Will he want a second, younger family?

7.I am twenty-five years younger; do I want to be widow just as I reach fifty or sixty?

8.What skills will I have then to live if all I've been is a housewife and an 'at home' entertainer of special guests.

9.Joe knows my past. Does he expect me to replay some of that?"

After reading the page, PJ said, "You have some serious discussions to have with your erstwhile fiancé. A few of these look like showstoppers."

Crystal tuned in and said, "May I ask you a rather key question? It sort of ignores everything on your list. You see the trees; I'm seeing the forest."

Claire looked at her expectantly.

Crystal said, "Do you really love Joe? Do you want to be married to anyone? Joe? Jim? Me? Ellen? Some other prince or princess that might sweep you off your feet?"

Claire was taken aback by the questions. I could tell she hadn't faced any of them, only the immediate issues that worried her about Joe's proposal.

In a weak voice, Claire gasped, "I care a lot for Joe and Beth; I do love them; but, oh, God; no, I don't want to marry anyone." She paused, and continued, her voice choking up as she spoke; "Well, not just anyone. Jim's the only one I'd ever consider, but I wouldn't do that to you or Ellen or any of the rest of you. I couldn't monopolize him; he's so important to all our lives, and I love you all too."