Fire Woman

Because your wife is trying to clear her schedule for it, he reminded himself, and she's stuck with a bunch of clients who won't let her go. The risks of marrying a celebrity psychotherapist. She can take a break with me soon, though, we're already planning that. In the meantime... Lisa and I aren't monogamous. And this woman's from out of town, wants to explore the Nobles Game. Like Boris said, who better to guide her than an old crush who's done well for himself?

Even if she remembers me, what she and I had is long over. She may not have even felt the same way about me. We laughed together, played together, but it never got serious. We were too young for that, we minimized any affection there was. My first kiss that I remember was someone else. That woman was another girl I met in Santa Fe- Claire Mendoza. She was a middle school crush for me. She's a professional musicians' agent these days. One of her clients performed here at Garin-Ruiz last year. I chatted with Claire and her husband in my lounge after watching the show. We're still kidding acquaintances, but we probably won't ever get together on the swinging side. She's faithful to her husband. I mentioned ethical non-monogamy to them, and they laughed at the very idea. What she and I had romantically was long over.

Then again, Claire doesn't want to be a swinger. Emily does. And I have multiple other former romantic partners who are employees of Garin-Ruiz and Nobles players. Jodie Lee Nichols, the assistant manager of my lounge, is someone I dated back in high school in Taipei. Angie Messina Smith, the lead architect on our construction team, was my second college girlfriend. Lisa, my first college girlfriend, who's one of our networked psychotherapists, is my wife now. All three of them play Nobles with me at times. Erika Christensen, Alicia Witt, and Keira Knightley play Nobles off and on, too. So do Cat Osterman and many other celebrities I could name whom I once dated. You've had many adult relationships with women, Doug. Why not add Emily to their ranks, if she's interested? And she might be. If you talked to her...

Doug doubted anything romantic would happen between him and Emily now. He was happily married and loved his wife. Hmm, she liked to test him sometimes with crazy challenges- was this one of those?

Yes, it could be. He called Boris back. "Hey, Boris. This Emily thing isn't one of Lisa's tests, right?"

"Not as far as I know. Did you tell Lisa about Emily?"

"Of course. I met Lisa in college, remember? Around the same time I met you. We were together four years- she was the first serious adult swinger I dated. Jodie Lee's family was in the lifestyle, but when I first met her, she was an amateur at best. Then she graduated high school, went through the Aussie military, got employed by my club in London... by then our romance was over. She and I became casual lovers when we reunited. It's been the same for every woman I've dated. Relationships proceeded, ran their course. Nothing lasted forever. And Lisa and I are recently back together because out of all the women I dated, all the ones who meant something to me, she meant the most. And she's never married anyone besides me."

"Yeah, and you had a previous divorce that shook you up emotionally. I know that too."

"My first wife, Marie, fell out of love with me," Doug acknowledged. "That was how she put it. That's been over since 2017 now. We took years to fully split, like my Mom and Dad. Marie and I still cared for each other at the end, we were amicable, but neither of us wanted to live with the other anymore. Still don't. I'm not sure if my previous experience with the swinging lifestyle, my acceptance of it and her lack thereof, played a role in our split. Marie and I never tried swinging together. She said I had a pass to cheat when we were emotionally separated, but that was always more clear to her than me. She cheated on me before our split, while I was faithful to her until our divorce was over. I ran my swinger's club in London for all the eight years we were together, but put aside all other sexual partners in her favor. It got pretty bitter with a couple of them, but that was how I thought it had to be."

"And you and Lisa have never been that way," Boris told him. "She's always been the sort of person to enjoy a long string of temporary relationships. She had a lot of hookups before you met her and got together. She maintained relationships with other lovers while she was with you the first round. Lisa allowed you to be the same way. And when you split after college, so she could go to USC for her doctorate and you could become a Travis County Deputy... you both dated other people."

"For over twenty years. I know. Then we got back together recently, after I called her and proposed it. Lisa was always emotionally loyal to me all that time. I became the same to her all over again once I decided to be so. Marie, Erika, Cat, the rest... they were all just side crushes for me, compared to Lisa. Same for Lisa with all the men and women she's dated besides me. We're the lasting romance. Just like you and your wife, Boris."

"Right. But now your old crush is at our club, wanting to live our lifestyle. Are you saying you don't think you should check her out?"

Doug looked at himself in the office mirror. He was handsome enough, right? Light brown hair, thin beard, stocky but fit. Strong jaw like Emily, prominent nose and blue eyes framed by spectacles. Though his face was a slightly different shape than hers, and his eyes were a different shade. If Brie Larson could play her in a film, Seann William Scott or someone similar could play him. He could connect with women easily, usually. And he only lived once. Was Emily a regret? Yes, somewhat. Would he hook up with her if he could? Now that they were adults, if they were still attracted to each other, of course. So... Would she like him? Maybe.

I still resemble He-Man, he told himself, or his alter-ego Prince Adam at least. And Emily could be She-Ra, though we never played the roles as brother and sister like those two characters were. We were just partners in heroism, like Spider-Man and Firestar. Robert would be our ally when we needed one. I don't remember anyone who played bad guys, the lasting villains of my life came later. I imagined Dad as a bad guy at times, but the original Star Wars trilogy was a big influence on me growing up too, and since the hero of that film series reconciled with his evil father at the end, and that villain gave up being evil, I was glad to mirror that plot with my father. Once Dad apologized to me after the divorce concluded, once he stopped trying to hurt me and the rest of our family.

I've similarly made peace with various other antagonists in my life over the years. Some unrepentant assholes, like that London crime boss Jim Kurtz, are now serving life in prison, or are otherwise the subjects of their own karma, but... he shook his head. I am not one of those people. I hope to God Emily isn't the sort of attorney who defends such assholes. That would clash with the girl I knew. It clashes with Silvan's and her clients' testimonials too. That's good. But to know for sure...

I have to meet her to find out, he realized. And our old relationship will connect us. Okay, Boris, I'll take your request. Let's see what happens.

"Let me check with Lisa," he spoke aloud. "She's asked me to do that, before I hook up with anyone new who might be long-lasting. And I had a crush on Emily long before I met Lisa, so this might qualify."

"Right," Boris agreed. "Good idea. You know if right now is a good time to buzz her?"

"I spoke to her this morning. She's still caught up with the Wood vs. Warner trial in L.A., says she'll be stuck in that area at least another day or more. Unclear court schedule, attorneys keep shuffling witnesses and taking longer than planned."

"I know. Very bitter dispute."

Lisa was representing the celebrity victim of an abusive relationship, Doug reflected. One of many such people she had on her client roster as a psychotherapist. Lisa's client, a woman surnamed Wood whom Doug also knew as a Noble, had sued one of her ex-boyfriends for emotional distress caused by sexual assault years after they broke up. She couldn't press criminal charges due to bad credibility before the press, but civil court was another matter. Several other women the same man dated had joined Wood's lawsuit, and some later recanted their testimony and settled out of court. Then her ex, a celebrity surnamed Warner, turned around and sued Wood for defamation. She countersued him as well.

The majority of the charges on both sides had been dismissed for lack of evidence before Lisa and I got back together, Doug remembered. Now Lisa was helping her therapy client get the last of the charges similarly resolved, testifying about her client's state of mind for the press and the lawyers. It was a mess very familiar to anyone who followed Hollywood gossip, with a thousand similar echoes. Lisa Coleman, celebrity psychotherapist, had many such clients.

Wood vs. Warner is the most serious of Lisa's cases right now, Doug reminded himself. The only one with court dates pressing on her at the moment. Soon as she gets done with the trial, she'll be back at Garin-Ruiz and then we can arrange our honeymoon. In the meantime, I have her permission to fool around with other people. Our marriage is devoted, but open to polyamory. And the majority of my business is here in Lake Tahoe while she travels to L.A., New York, and elsewhere when necessary. Just like Marie, an international grocery businesswoman, Lisa is on the road a lot.

He pulled up a picture of Lisa on his computer. His wife was a curvaceous fresh-faced redhead in her mid-forties, same age group as Doug. She resembled an older Karen Gillan. Lisa grew up in Houston too, he recalled. Went to a different grade school, a few years ahead of me and Emily. Under different circumstances, she could have been our Teela. He-Man's redhead female warrior pal, usually the character linked to him romantically when fans ask. Doug opened a chat app on his phone and messaged his wife.

"Hey, how you doing? Need to chat a bit if you get the chance. Nobles matter."

He then addressed Boris again. "Anything else you can tell me about Emily?"

"No. According to her application, she's never been a member of any other swinger's clubs. But she has to know of our lifestyle, having worked on both sides of sexual crime cases and all that. I sent her the appropriate literature. She picked 'dame' for orientation in our Nobles game, code for a straight married female swinger with a hall pass, if you remember."

"Yeah, I know. I'm a knight myself, the male equivalent. I'd be very surprised if she wasn't familiar with swinging before you sent our literature. I'll ask her. Have you told her she'll be meeting me?"

"No. She's probably familiar with you, you're a bigtime celebrity CEO and all."

"Right. I'm a billionaire, same as Bruce Wayne and Elon Musk. Not quite as rich, obviously living in a different universe, but..."

"But you're famous. That gives you an opening."

"Right. Emily will probably recognize my professional name. Lisa's name too, should I mention her. Does Emily do celebrity cases?"

"I checked the Friendship networks, and yes- minor ones. Her name is listed on retainer for a few big names in the Houston area. Nobody that famous offhand. I guess they're mildly famous, though, to those in the know. Given her reputation, many of our celebrity clients might be interested in knowing Emily too."

"Great. Well, maybe membership here can be a boon to her business. Same for our reunion. I'll ask her. Hope Lisa gets back to me soon. Let me know what time Emily arrives tomorrow. I'll meet her soon after she checks in here."

"Keith already has a program monitoring the register," Boris said, referring to half of the resort's chief computer programmer couple. "It's set up to email you. I'll tell Emily you'll meet her in your lounge. She has to know your dating history a bit. It's notorious as Oliver Queen's or Tony Stark's in its own way. You're definitely a playboy."

"Yeah, but with Lisa... I always go back to her when other relationships run their course. She and I have made that arrangement and I will honor it."

"Same for me and Elena," Boris laughed. "May it stay the same with you and Lisa even if you stray from her with Emily, should it work out that way. Good luck, Doug."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later." Doug hung up, then pondered the situation some more.

I considered dating a lot of other women after Marie and I split, Doug recalled. After the psychological and economic effects of our divorce subsided, and the Covid pandemic calmed down. Marie took a lot of my assets when we parted. Brexit and the pandemic combined with that to make me have to leave London and move back to the USA. It was a mess for a while. Once it was over, I tried to rebuild my love life, settled on Lisa eventually. She's my soulmate, Disney's Janine "Fox" Renard to David Xanatos or whatever analogy you prefer. Emily was just a previous love interest.

And I hadn't even gone through puberty when I knew her. I didn't even really know what romance or sex was back then. At least I wasn't a bully to her, or vice versa. Now we're adults and... she wasn't one of the women you contacted to explore the possibility of restarting a relationship after you split with Marie, he reminded himself. You were long out of touch. Given that Emily was married to another man, you wouldn't have seriously considered her anyway. Same for Erika, after she married Cole Maness. Or Keira, who's now with James Righton. Or any of the other women you've dated who have since married other people and stayed with them. You assume they're devoted to their spouses. They always have confirmed that, even the Nobles players. And that's how it should be.

His text app chimed just then. Lisa was answering. "What's up, Hero?" She was using her pet name for him. "Trial's pretty typical right now. Just finished my first cross of the day. I got about half an hour till they call me back in."

Doug quickly forwarded Lisa Emily's Nobles application, the link to her website, and explained what was on his mind. It didn't take Lisa long to reply.

"I don't remember meeting her. The Hays County internship was a long time ago. Wow, you think she's really the same crush you knew?"

"Silvan confirmed it's her," Doug typed back. "I haven't met her yet. I plan to keep things casual even if we do hook up. Geez, what are the odds of this?"

"You know how I feel about odds, Hero. Same as Han Solo. Don't consider the odds, just do what you want to do. If you can do it. And I think you want to take this chance. It seems fun to me. So... fine, go ahead. You want to swing with this chick, proceed and have fun. Let me know if she's attracted to women, okay?"

"The application said she was straight."

"Yeah, but you know how people's minds can change on that. Let me know if hers does. Or if she needs my therapy."

"You got it," Doug replied. Lisa was the type of psychotherapist who sometimes personally treated her clients with discussion of sexual techniques, he reminded himself. And sometimes it went further than discussion. Lisa was not officially a courtesan, but she was a proud swinger. She had defended her license for sex therapy several times, kept her publicly known sex life with patients to a "neither confirm nor deny" level. It was risky but possible in their universe. "Thanks, Lisa. I love you."

"Love you too, Hero. Hey, looking at Emily's picture again, I think I might recognize her from the old college days. Not a girl I banged, but maybe one I helped. I'll have to think about how. I've helped thousands of clients, Hero, and initiated a lot of them into the Friendship after you brought me in. This chick's details aren't immediately coming to me... but she is familiar."

So it probably wasn't a test. "Check your files. She might be in there."

"I'll do that. Hey, you decided where we're going on our honeymoon yet? I'm leaning towards Spain, or maybe Bora Bora."

"Central Texas might work if you want to stay close to home," he typed back. "Or Maui."

"Forget Maui," Lisa typed back. "Already been there."

They laughed for a while longer, until the trial demanded her attention again, and his more immediate circumstances demanded his.

"I'll let you know how things work out with Emily," Doug told Lisa at the end of their chat session.

"Remember, Hero, we make our own luck," she replied. "Later."

He smiled, then took a breath and looked at Emily's picture again. Okay, Fire Woman, Doug Ramsay thought. Soon I will see if we can regain what we once had.

***

Chapter 2: Emily Arrives.

***

The next day, Emily Johnson Cartwright arrived at Garin-Ruiz. She stepped into the hotel nervously, grimacing as she set down her suitcase near the front desk.

"Checking in, ma'am?" asked a clerk.

"Yes," Emily answered, speaking carefully. The resort was still making her anxious.

This kind of place should be familiar to you, she reminded herself. You're in the business of defending sexual deviants in court. You've never set foot in a swinger's club before because you believe in the institution of marriage, but many of your clients and your husband... separated husband, Emily reminded herself. Soon to be divorced. I let him play around for over a decade, ever since I accepted that he no longer found me attractive sexually. Now divorce is allowed for us, and soon it will happen. This vacation here is Jake's gift to me. I decided to take it. If I meet someone interesting here, I will play around with them. I must. I haven't had sex with anyone but myself in over a decade. Damn cancer and conflicts with Jake, bad relationships I've witnessed getting me down. I must put it all aside now that Matt has moved out and I'm ready.

And look at this place. I see families relaxing here, some with children. No jealousy, anger, or other negative emotions. The swinging has to be cordoned off from the main areas, in plain sight, but not obvious to the unfamiliar people. The literature I got assured me of that. The casino, the hotel, the sports activities... it's all in separate areas for kids and adults. Like that Pines Camp Jake told me about in Virginia, but not as outdoorsy. No nudists here I can see, that's a relief. I don't think I can go that far yet. Maybe later. I need this. My life needs it. Call it mid-life crisis, whatever you must. I need to be here.

You could have done a swinger cruise, she told herself. You could have visited a local club in Houston. But no, you had to go high end. You had to get away from your usual environment. Damn it, Emily, you decided to do this. Jake told you about this club and you decided to come here. Now, relax!

She signed the hotel register and pocketed the room key once the clerk put them before her. "I'm here till Sunday, everything's fine?"

"Yes, ma'am. Can you hold on before going upstairs, please? Our owners would like to speak with you regarding your Nobles registration."

Right, the swinging code arrangements, Emily remembered. "Can I just contact them privately later, once I settle in?"

"You could, but they're right over there in the lobby lounge."

The clerk indicated a couple seated at a table with three chairs nearby, chatting over a meal. Emily looked them over. The man was large, blonde, with a Van Dyke beard. The woman was a petite Latina. The kind of couple where you wondered how they managed sexually, given their physical differences. Like something out of James Bond or worse parodies. Not quite circus freaks, but... shut up, Emily. You of all people shouldn't be judgemental. Some of the prostitutes you've prosecuted and defended have been crazy physical types too, compared to their alleged clients. It's no big deal.