Grace Saves Henry Ch. 04

Sunday morning started like the day before, with some awesome fucking. Henry was in high spirits. He was beginning to believe in Grace's idea that genuine love added to anything created the very best of everything.

Their plan was to get to Stephen's house after ten, since he should be playing golf by then. They talked over the possibilities of what could happen, and Grace created a short list of missing items: bicycle, Brahmin handbag, CZ ring, and a beautiful hand-painted silk scarf she had bought at a craft fair. Then she put copies of their receipts on her phone, and also on a thumb drive. All told they added up to $2300.

The ring in particular would be a sore point with Stephen. He had tried to pass himself off to Grace as a jewelry expert, but he had sneered at her opal ring, which consisted of a single opal, a triplet, costing Grace $400. Yet at the same time he raved about her "real" Diamonique ring, a brand created by the online shopping giant QVC, which Grace had only paid $85 for at full price. "Of course it's real," she had told him, "I'm holding it!" He laughed at the time, thinking she was joking. Looking back, Grace realized shewanted to believe Stephen, but she knew he was lying about being an expert. He probably lied about everything else as well. At first he even thought Grace was some sort of heiress, when she simply turned out to be a thrifty woman who loved pretty things. He probably decided to kick her out after he tried to sell the ring, or if he had tried to get it sized. Then he gave it to Belinda, telling her it was real.

They ate a healthful breakfast and planned everything out one more time, even up to discussing whether or not Henry should let himself be seen. They decided if Belinda was alone, Henry should stay in his truck, watching. If Stephen was there, Henry should stay near Grace as a male presence for the coward to see. His rugged demeanor might just make Stephen shit his pants. Grace almost hoped that would happen, just so she could laugh at him.

Henry knew Grace was nervous. As they drove near the house, Stephen's red Subaru was not there. There was just an unfamiliar silver Camry, probably Belinda's, which probably meant she was home. Grace walked up to the door and rang the bell.

The door was opened by a statuesque blonde woman. She seemed to be about 25 years old, wearing a beautiful kimono-style robe. Grace introduced herself and told the woman, who never mentioned her name, why she was there. When Grace voiced the four items without even looking at the list, at first the woman had an angry look on her face. Then Grace showed her the receipts, and the look became one of dismay. She knew where all four of the items were. It seemed to Grace that Belinda was angry at the monetary value of the receipts. When she saw how much the ring actually cost, her intake of breath and an almost silent, "That's all?" told Grace that she was a golddigger, and that she had thought the ring was a true diamond, not man-made. She asked Grace to come inside, but Grace wisely declined.

Belinda, since who else could she be, went inside and came back with three items. Ring, scarf, and handbag. When Grace asked about the dust bag for the purse, Belinda looked perturbed but she went to get it. She handed it to Grace, and then she went to open the garage door for the bicycle. Grace looked at it in disbelief. It was broken, covered in mud, and missing one wheel.

"What happened to it? That brand new bike cost me $1500." Grace was appalled. Belinda admitted she didn't even know how to ride a bike, and things got 'out of hand.' Grace turned and gestured toward Henry's truck. He drove to the driveway and got out. Looking at the bike, he took pictures of it, then looked at Belinda as if she was a bug. Belinda squirmed under his gaze, and tried to apologize.

Henry's hand on Grace's shoulder was the only thing restraining her. Finally, even that didn't stop her. She couldn't help herself, and said, "You and Stephen deserve each other. You'd better hide your valuables from him." Then she turned and got in the truck. Henry put the pieces of the bike in the truck bed, and they drove off.

Grace was crying. "I only rode it one time. I was going to ride it across the new Bay Bridge the weekend after the Bay to Breakers."

Henry could think of nothing consoling or helpful to say, so he just stayed silent. But his engineer mind was already trying to figure out how many hours it might take to make the bike like new again. He never even considered that he might not be able to repair it. Of course he could.I needed a hobby anyway. Looks more and more like Grace is my new hobby. He made a spot for it in the garage. Grace told him to just throw it away, but you never say that to an engineer. All that means is free parts.

She remembered that the Brahmin dust bag still felt heavy, when it should have been empty. She opened it, reached her hand all the way down to the bottom, and pulled out an old wallet of hers. Also Brahmin. "Henry! My old wallet!" She opened it and found her old driver's license, which she thought she lost, a credit card, and cash. $2000. They looked at each other, trying to decide who the money legally belonged to.

"She had a strange look on her face when I asked for this. I think she knew what was in it. I also think she had to get it from Stephen's room. It must be mine."

"Maybe Stephen knew, also, and was stashing money in it. Were you ever missing any cash?"

"Oh my gosh, yes! Why that lying bastard! He was gaslighting me from the very beginning."

Henry thought,Google gaslighting. I'm really out of touch with all these new terms. "What about this credit card? Were there any charges you couldn't explain?"

"No, as soon as I couldn't find it I contacted the bank. They canceled that card and issued me a new one. So this one is dead."

Suddenly Grace's mood lifted. She was relieved, happy, and resolved. They did it! She was finally free of Stephen! Even though it cost her the bike.

He decided he had to ask. "What does gaslighting mean?"

She smiled at him. "You are out of touch, aren't you? Do you like old movies?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I take it that you've never seen the 1944 Noir movie Gaslight, starring the beautiful Ingrid Bergman and the handsome Frenchman Charles Boyer as her husband."

"No, I have never seen it."

"We should rent it. Or buy it! It's about a woman who thinks she's going insane. It's set in the time period before electricity, when homes were lit with gas lamps. Every time she's alone she sees the gas light fade and return, fade and return. He tells her they're fine. He's lying. He wants to commit her to an insane asylum so he can have her inheritance. And that's where the term gaslighting comes from. The movie was based on a play called Gas Light. I'd love to see that play if it's ever done by a community theater somewhere."

Idly, Grace turned the dust bag upside down and two pieces of paper dropped out. She shook it, and a third dropped. She picked them up. The first one was a note in Stephen's handwriting, listing some things that Grace still owned, and which were now in Henry's house. All jewelry, all family items passed down from her mother. No receipts for these, but Grace had them appraised once. The black pearl necklace was worth the most.

"When we lived in the Philippines a friend of my Mom was going to Hong Kong on a shopping trip. Mom asked her to get her some pearls. This three-strand necklace cost her $250. When I got it appraised three years ago it was worth $2,000. These other two items were also bought on the same trip.

Another piece of paper had a name and phone number. Cryptic, but Henry had a suspicion that it was the name of a buyer. A fence. When the third piece of paper turned out to be a check written to Stephen for $5,000, Henry said, "Okay, that does it. I'm going to call the police."

Grace thought of the changing looks on Belinda's face.Was she in on it? What if she wasn't, and Stephen was simply going to gaslight her the same way he did me? She could be in trouble when he finds out I've got this stash bag. Or I could.

She told Henry her concerns. "Now that we suspect him of other things, we have to notify the police, Grace. Or we could be accessories to his crimes." She agreed, even though she was afraid of what Stephen might do. He had a temper. Henry made the call.

"Where did you meet him, Gracie? Stephen, I mean."

"At a party. He was a friend of a friend, so I thought he was safe. He was charming. He dazzled me. And now that I think about it, that friend hasn't contacted me since... since I moved in with Stephen. Hm. Some friend."

Fifteen minutes later, a dark unmarked car pulled to the curb in front of Henry's house. Thank God Henry had the presence of mind to tell her to get dressed, so they both met the man at the door when the doorbell sounded.

The man introduced himself as Detective Hooker, and showed his credentials. He said Henry's information had been forwarded to him because he was working on a puzzling set of burglaries and thefts, and this might help his case.

Grace and Henry told Detective Hooker the whole story, starting from last Friday when she got that dump text from Stephen. He recorded the whole thing. It took a long time. He took copies of the texts, pictures of the belongings that she retrieved that morning from Belinda, even the ruined bike. He looked at the jewelry, and took the three pieces of paper, the list, the name, and the check.

"Grace, these things on his list. Do you still have them? Can you check?"

She looked shocked. "I didn't look in my jewelry box." She ran to get it.

"I'm afraid to open it. You do it, Henry."

It was a beautiful jewelry box. Also from Hong Kong. It took him a while to figure out the intricate catch. He lifted the lid. Right away he saw a pearl necklace. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Here Gracie. You know what these all are. You have to look."

She could breathe again. "Oh, thank goodness. Oh my God, I was thinking that $5,000 check was for all these. Maybe stupid Stephen couldn't open the box."

The detective didn't think so. "If that was the case, this whole box would be missing. Maybe he just couldn't find it. Looks to me like you have more than $5,000 worth of jewelry here. You are lucky you still have it."

He got Stephen's name and address, and was about to leave when Grace stopped him.

"If you are going over to his house, he owns a red Subaru. Belinda moved in with him last Friday. I'm worried for her safety. If you ask him if someone else lives there, please see if she's all right. But, what if he says no? I know she's there. He's probably going to be mad about what I've done today. Especially if he's counting on that $5,000 check."

"I'll have a uniform with me. If he says no, and won't let us in, I should be able to get a search warrant. I won't leave until I have someone to keep an eye out, in case he takes her somewhere."

He didn't take Grace's things that Belinda returned, but he asked that she keep everything in a safe location, and to not handle them anymore. He promised he would let them know what happens. It was late when he left, around eight p.m. But they weren't very hungry, so all Henry fixed for them both was some canned soup and crackers.

Grace counted herself lucky. She and Henry went to bed and fucked to relieve their stress, laughing about it because that was her job. And very glad that theycould laugh about it.

Henry was slowly becoming used to having Grace in his home, willing to fuck at a momen't notice. He had never been happier. Even though Doreen was still in a coma, he was already starting to consider Grace his substitute wife. With all the privileges that suggests.

Henry accidentally overheard a phone conversation between Grace and her sister. He realized that he was the subject when he heard Grace say, "Well, he looks a little shaggy right now, but after a haircut and a beard trim you'd swear he was Ben Affleck's brother, except I like Henry's smile more. Yes, he's that sexy. He's 38, not that old. He's an engineer. The building is full of engineers, silly. No, I found him first...."

He went into the bathroom and took a good look at himself in the mirror. He wasn't cleaning up for Doreen anymore, so much so that he realized he wasn't cleaning up for anyone.Dave at work always looks sharp. I'll have to ask him tomorrow about a good barber.

- - - - - -

When they woke to the alarm on Monday morning, they were anxious to get up and see if their new living arrangement would make a difference in their working environment. But first, Grace demanded sex.

"Sex on a workday morning?"

She looked at him, "Of course. Why not? It doesn't have to be earth shatteringly awesome, honey. It can be a simple quickie. A nice start to the day, a little reminder of what's to come at the end of the day, and everybody's happy. Then shower away all the sticky stuff and off we go! Head to the cafeteria for some breakfast and we're all set. That's where I usually get my oatmeal. Add some cinnamon, raisins, brown sugar, yum! Almost as tasty as your cum!"

He blushed. She giggled. They play-fought for about 30 seconds and then he skewered this girl who made him turn red just by reminding him of certain things. And later, as they were in his truck, heading to work, he realized he'd been smiling ever since.She said 'at the end of the day.' Twice a day! Every day? Damn!

Grace had dressed in her new, skimpy attire. Henry shocked himself by deciding that he liked it. Still, he made sure she wore that pash-something scarf, even if only during the walk from his truck in the parking lot to the front door of their building. A few other engineers, walking in at the same time, couldn't help but follow Grace with wide eyes as her carefully placed steps didn't quite hide her womanly assets. And the scarf hid little. She smiled at that. But no complaints were heard, or forwarded to management.

Grace's desk was in a remodeled office area, facing the doorway. There was space behind her desk for a printer, a work table, and a filing cabinet. A large window to the outside was behind all that, giving her natural light. It had an extra wide sill, almost two feet deep, on which she had placed a hastily-purchased potted cactus. Blinds were placed on the inside of the sill, so any plant placed there received no shade. She had hoped the cactus would live. Everything else she tried just shriveled up. The sun through the window in the afternoon was blistering. So hot that at one o'clock she always just closed the blinds, to keep her space from being too hot. Then she forgot to open them, until just now.

Oh my god, my little cactus! If I don't see it, it gets no water. It must be shriveled up. She opened the curtains, and blinds, and went to grab the poor little plant. Shock wasn't a strong enough word for what she saw. The cactus was not only still alive, it had blossomed! She counted fifteen little white blossoms all over it. She considered it a good omen, and moved it to the middle of the sill. The place of honor.

To the left and right of her rather deep office, the doors to two section managers' offices were located. Mr. Cameron's office was to her right, and Mr. Sayre's office was to her left. The doorway to the hallway in front of her had no door. She liked the fact that when either manager had to leave his office, he must enter her area first, and then enter the hallway to go anywhere else in the building. They liked it too, because her cheerful face always greeted them, whether they were entering or leaving.

On this day she once again dropped her things on her desk, slipped her purse and phone into a drawer, and gently tapped on Mr. Cameron's door. Once again she heard his voice say the familiar "Enter" and she opened the door and walked into his office.

Perry looked up and beheld a Grace different from any other day. His heart jumped. The requested outfit left nothing to the imagination except, perhaps, the shade of pink hidden within her pussy. Now he understood the request that had been made to him. His growing cock, as always, welcomed her as he blessed the State of California for its stress relief free use act. This past year had been the most enjoyable ever, and he attributed it all to Grace. An apt name, he believed.

"Grace, you look wonderful. Divine. How do you feel in it?"

"Good morning, Mr. Cameron. I'm a little unsure about strutting around in this, but when I looked into the mirror this morning I liked what I saw. Finally, I decided, I looked the way I felt. Like a woman absolutely ready for what my day requires. I hope the men I service today look at me and appreciate it. Perhaps their stress relief will be a little more relaxing than they expected. Do you agree?"

"Indeed. I totally agree. Shall we begin?"

Grace smiled, shut and locked the door, and started to remove her clothes. At that point he said, "Wait. With what you are wearing today, let's do something different. Keep your clothes on."

He stood, which revealed that from the waist down he was already nude, and already half hard. "Your clothes, such as they are, won't hinder any of our efforts of either arousal or fucking. It makes me wonder if other girls will be told to dress like this, and perhaps open the doors a bit to the men not yet using the free use girls. Saves time. Minimizes embarrassment if doors are accidentally opened. Not every office has a locking door."

As he approached her and slid his hands around her middle, Grace's only comment was to agree that she wondered that, too. At this point she doesn't speak much. Her job was to get the man ready for penetration without wasting time with unnecessary conversation. She always thought of herself as the nurse, and the man as the patient. They always have some level of stress. It's her job to lower it as much as she can, within the time that he allows. And she does it not with medication, but with love. At some level, they all recognized the magic that she appeared to be responsible for.

Perry's hands slid up under her top and around her breasts, and he slipped his thumbs over her nipples. With no bra, he would only need to remove her top if he needed the visual push that seeing those boobs produced. After a year, he knew her body very well. Perhaps even better than a husband would, and the visual wasn't so necessary anymore. At least for him.

"Very nice, Mr. Cameron. I'm quite wet now. And still dressed! Was this your idea?"

Free use included kissing, of course, and he loved kissing this little piece of heaven. "Mmm," was all he said. His lips were too occupied to answer with words.

She kissed him back, and used her tongue to hasten his own arousal. As she looked at his erect cock, she realized that wasn't really necessary. He was ready, and up to something. Pun intended.

"I won't fill your pussy this morning, Grace. I'll fuck you up to cumming, then pull out to fill your mouth. You still drink cum, don't you?"

"As long as it's still delicious I do. Have you been eating hot food much? That makes a strange cocktail for me."

"No, my gut can't take it like I used to. But I think you'll appreciate the apricots I ate yesterday." He chuckled. "Sandra keeps wondering why I eat more fruit than I used to. Are you ready?" She nodded.

He flipped up her skirt and pushed into her, and they both moaned with the pleasure his cock gave, and received. No time wasted with clothing. Truly amazing. He started fucking, the both of them still standing, his hands still on the bare skin of her waist.

"Oh my, oh my," she said, "Mr. Cameron, this is... oh... good!"

"Sit, girl, quickly, I'm already about to cum! I need your mouth!"

She backed up and sat on his sofa with a plop! He came forward and quickly pressed his cock into her open mouth, just in time as he came, eyes closed and letting one hand assist with getting every drop into her mouth, while the other one held her head steady. His dreamy smile told her he was finished, so she swallowed and imagined it was... what? Henry's? No.... someone else's.