Long Blonde Hair, Sky Blue Eyes Pt. 11

Andi was planning an evening meal featuring her special spaghetti with meat balls, garden salad, and garlic bread, but Erik asked that they delay that until Saturday lunch because he wanted to take them out to eat at Honey's Pizza tonight. That was an easy agreement to get, and it came right before a text reading "ETA your place 4:40."

After lunch, Annika asked Erik if they could go to her office and talk. When they were settled in, she couldn't seem to find the right words. "Just tell me, Sweetheart. I'm not going to go off on you, or gather my stuff and split for another continent, so just talk to me."

She did, and it appeared two conundrums could be resolved with one decision. Erik phrased his reply carefully. "Miss Tina feels you need your name in lights and on tongues again to jump start your new brand, but you and I know you are months if not a year away from being ready, regardless. You feel you have unresolved issues to address in Hollywood, and I think you need to begin moving forward toward whatever your new goals are.

"If this is the direction you choose, or choose first, I'll back you fully. But I have a few demands before you get that backing. One, Seal Team 7 is with you, and this time they provide security wherever you are, regardless."

She lowered her eyes guiltily, but nodded and mumbled her agreement. "Two, I'm there. I don't have to be where you're filming, but I'm there and you're with me when not on set, including when you're doing other things for the production. Like publicity, cast parties, whatever!"

She looked up. "You want to be with me while I'm in California? Do you have time?"

"When do you start?"

"They want me in a month. We would shoot four more episodes over the winter, including some scenes on locations in San Francisco. But we wouldn't shoot the last half of December."

"That should work for me, although I might have to leave a time or two.

"Annika, you need to know that this isn't me not trusting you; it's me not trusting the industry," Erik said in a serious voice. "If I'm there, I meet the main players and see everybody in action, I'll feel better. Like I did in the Virgin Islands."

"No, no, Erik! I'm totally thrilled that you want to come, for whatever reason! I understand how you feel, and so does Daddy - none of us trusts the industry after the last debacle!

"But this is a rare opportunity. The potential producer and director, and the investors who have seen it, say the episodes we shot are excellent, and that I'm much better in front of cameras than anyone could have imagined! On the other hand, no scripts will be written until I decide, and we have to finish the last episode without D'Angelo. They have someone lined up to be my love interest, after they 'kill off' Bobby's character and a few others, but that person's participation is also dependent on whether I'm in.

"I'm embarrassed to tell you what they are offering me, but it's the kind of money stars command. With my earnings from the first four episodes, my lawsuit against the production company, and my potential earnings from this, I could get my design house and the rest of my business plans in place without borrowing or cashing investments.

"BUT, and I mean 'but' in all caps, I won't take any action until you and your girlfriends have looked into every element of the production company, crew, and investors! I'm not happily skipping into another trap! Likewise, I told them I would only accept a contract that includes the same requirements as the last one, including my veto authority over script and scenes."

"How soon do you have to make a decision?" he asked, knowing that his dirty work had already been done by the girls.

"Within ten days. Is that too soon?"

"Shouldn't be - Aila and Aini work quickly, and they're bored because I haven't had many special projects for them. Did you ask for names of the director, producers, executive producers, investment companies and investors?"

"Daddy did, before he let me talk to them. Do you want me to have him send all that?"

"No, I'll work it out with him," he lied, knowing he should have said that in the past tense; Carl sent it three days ago. To say Carl was cynical was an understatement; convincing Daddy was going to require some preparation, assuming Erik and the girls didn't find anything suspicious.

Still, if she was really that good, the series would vault her back into the limelight about the time - optimistically - her business would be ready to debut. The downside was, if she was really that good and her business boomed, when would they have time to start a family? Fuck! Rock / Hard Place!

"Okay, now that we've done what we can, pretty lady, would you like to work out? You seem a bit tense, and workouts always help you."

"I would! Do you know where Andi and Rhonda are? I need at least one of them."

"I saw Andi out in the yard with Eddie, and they looked like they were going for a run. That means Rhonda is somewhere near."

They got up and started for the door, but turned when Erik told her, "Hey, you have plenty of time, but I have supper plans for everyone, so be dressed and ready by 4:30, okay?"

She assured him she would, and dashed downstairs calling for Rhonda. Erik went to his room, showered, shaved, and dressed in Polo shirt, jeans, and boots. The boots would at least make him an inch or two closer to the height of that fucking Norse god Cassie was married to!

Annika came floating down the stairs at 4:30 in a dark red sweater dress and boots, looking as gorgeous as he'd ever seen her look. The weight gain and the fit and healthy look made her even more attractive, which wasn't easy to do. The whistled intake of breath from Freddy echoed his sentiments, and Andi let her know how good she looked. She beamed and asked, "Well, are we ready to go?"

"Not quite. We'll plan on 4:45. Y'all want to wait in the living room?"

The flow of conversation was easy and stimulating, and the topics diverse. At 4:28 Erik received an update that they were turning off 71, and he saw the SUV seven minutes later. No one else noticed, but they noticed the slamming doors. Rhonda and Andi frowned and looked toward their male counterparts, who looked unconcerned. "No alerts - it must be friendlies," Marcus assured them.

They heard knocking on the back door seconds later, and then a voice Annika would know anywhere loudly asked, "Where are you guys? Aren't you going to come greet your guests?"

She vaulted off the couch, gave Erik a nasty look, and hurried to the back entrance with Andi and Rhonda in hot pursuit and the four males following. The joyful greetings were loud, involved full-body hugs, and lots of words spoken in staccato bursts, usually overlapping. Erik would have been jealous of Johnny and KJ, but the hugs he got from Cassie and Hanna were, at the least, offsetting.

Erik suggested adjourning to the living room and enjoying an apéritif, but that was vetoed in favor of a tour, since none had seen the finished house. He had, as had the three male security team members, so Annika, Andi, and Rhonda led the tour while they adjourned to the front porch and enjoyed an apéritif - in the form of an icy cold beer.

"Your new penchant for surprising me is going to take some getting used to," Annika exclaimed when they returned from the tour, and attempted a squinty-eyed nasty look before succumbing to her happiness and bounding off to grab a drink with the others.

Giddy with the excitement of being together again, with the awesomeness of the remodeled house, and, for Hanna and Cassie, seeing that Annika was more herself again, the girls couldn't shut up, and KJ and Johnny were swept up in their enthusiasm.

Ultimately, the five women took over the outdoor sofa and loveseat, and their gabfest continued. KJ and Johnny joined the other three men, who were kicked back in wooden chairs with their feet up on the railing. The beer was cold, they had drivers for two Suburbans, and dinner reservations for ten at seven; life was good.

Ten minutes to freshen up and no clothing changes was surprising, as was the decision to have SUVs separated by gender. Erik's watch displayed a steady green dot, they had three security team members in each vehicle, another team had already checked Honey's and the surrounding area and was in place, and they had air reconnaissance.

It had been a while since they were last together, and they were intent on enjoying every moment.

It was a beautiful night, so given the choice of inside or outside, they chose outside. The dot remained green, and they agreed when they walked across the concrete slab to get some Amy's Ice Cream that they had rarely had more fun as a group.

When they returned, they discovered the luggage of the four afternoon arrivals was no longer in their SUV; it had been moved into bedrooms in the house. Two large bedrooms that shared a large bathroom.

Erik called Annika aside for a moment and quietly said, "I hope you don't mind, but I didn't want to move any members of our security to the dorm quarters, and I didn't want anyone else in the master suite, so I took the liberty of moving your things there, with mine. If you don't think you are ready..."

She ended that equivocation with her tongue down his throat and her body wrapped around his. "Oh Darling, I am SO ready!" she whispered after breaking the kiss.

Annika had been the perfect host since they arrived, but she seemed distracted when they gathered in the living room to finalize the day with a chat. Soon she was yawning and claiming fatigue, which Andi and Rhonda found amusing for reasons that escaped Hanna and Cassie. After another yawn, she gave Erik a smoldering look and then excused herself. Erik was politely chatting, but he now appeared distracted, until Andi gave him an arched eyebrow and turned her palms upward in question.

He excused himself as well, and went up the stairs. Hanna looked at Andi and asked, "What was that about?"

"Erik had your things moved into the rooms he and Annika were using, and theirs moved into the master suite - for the first time. I'm surprised she lasted this long. She had been trying every trick in the book to get him to join her in bed, but he had held firm. She even feigned falling asleep on the deck so he would carry her to bed and undress her. He did, and stood over her naked body for a while before turning and leaving.

"She was beginning to believe he didn't like her new body because he kept his distance so well!"

Rhonda quietly exclaimed, "Well thank God! Her workouts trying to relieve her frustrations were starting to exhaust me!"

KJ chucked, "Well, no offense, wife, but if he won't use that 'new body' I'd be willing to give it a try!"

Cassie whopped him with a right to the shoulder, and then chuckled. "I'm kinda jealous that you said that, but to tell you the truth, she might change my orientation, in the right circumstances. If he doesn't like THAT body, he needs to be seeing her shrink!"

"Ha!" KJ teased, "You want to be the meat in an Annika - Erik sandwich! And if I find out you have that waif costume in your luggage when you come down here to work with him, I'm going to be pissed!"

Johnny squeezed Hanna, who was practically in his lap, and warned, "Same with you and that concubine dress - I better never find it's been worn after he's been around!"

She replied, "It's in the Galveston costume shop, but how about I buy one to wear for you, Hot Stuff?"

Eddie, Freddie, Andi, and Rhonda looked confused through the teasing, and Rhonda finally asked what they were talking about. The answer came from four voices, with KJ telling them about celebrating Mardi Gras in Galveston, and then the others adding their parts of the story.

They were being quiet so they wouldn't be overheard, until Annika gave a cry that all but Freddie and Eddie had heard before, but recognized for what it was. After that, the remembrances grew louder and rowdier. Being overheard was no longer a concern, but the retelling set off something in Cassie and Hanna, who moved into the laps of their lovers, and soon they also were ready for bed.

While Bill didn't have any policies about employee fraternization, they generally refrained because it wasn't professional and could complicate carrying out your duties. After the other couples left, however, Andi looked at the guy she had been flirting with for days and nodded toward her bedroom. He got up and followed her, leaving Rhonda with Freddy, who got up and stood in front of him: "Do I need to ask?"

He was off the chair and holding her hand in one smooth motion, but he led her to his room, which was further from Andi's. He wouldn't know how right he was until later, but she struck him as a screamer.

****

Eight satisfied/ sated lovers were gathered around the kitchen table drinking coffee when Annika floated into the room and greeted everyone with an enthusiasm her friends and companions hadn't seen in a while. She grabbed two cups, fixed them up, poured the coffee, and took one of the open seats.

"Where's Erik?" Hanna asked with a gleam in her eyes. "Did you hurt him?"

"No, but I tried," she replied happily. "He's in better shape than I thought."

He appeared amongst the resulting laughter, looking no worse for the wear, saw his cup in front of the open chair, kissed Annika on the top of her head, said thanks, took his seat, and picked up the cup.

KJ couldn't let it pass. "So, what exactly are you thanking her for, Erik? The coffee? The new body, or for the ruckus we heard last night?"

"All of the above," he answered casually, before nonchalantly taking a sip and then observing, "Although I'm certain you didn't hear much, given the ruckus from your own room."

Which was true for all four of the other rooms, though no one else spoke up. Theirs was a contented group, and all pitched in to make, serve, and clean up their breakfast.

When they were done, Erik asked Annika, "Are you ready to see your new site now?"

"Sometime this afternoon. This morning let's start with the 'escape routes' in this house and then move to your new facilities. There's not much to see across the road, yet, but I'll share the plan changes after talking with Miss Tina and Mr. Tom and you can advise me as to next steps regarding construction."

"Angela is at the Greenlight site this morning with some of Cavo's guys, preparing quarters for the arrival of Karli, Roddie, and Sean on Thursday. Cavo has a little job this morning for in mother-in-law, but he could meet us at your site this afternoon. Not that either is going to be involved in the early construction, but they understand the construction processes better than we do."

She nodded, but told him she was still a good way from needing their help, so he sent a text postponing that meeting with Cavo.

Today's tour guides were the security team members, with occasional comments from Erik. The tunnel system had an institutional feel once you entered the hallways, as reinforced concrete will do when it's on all four sides of an 8'x 8' passageway. But the mildew smell had been mitigated, the modified and modernized ventilation system was working well, and the main 'panic room' or 'safe room' looked much homier after Angela's efforts.

It had a large pantry filled with canned and dried goods built into one wall, a smaller room housing a commercial freezer and refrigerator, and a kitchen of sorts along the west wall, which included another large refrigerator. A person wouldn't want to be stuck in here too long, but the amount of food stored and the single-over-double bunk beds only a few feet apart along the other walls testified to the possibility. The living/ workspace was the middle of the room; it included computer terminals among and between sofas facing out from the center.

A little further along was a smaller version of the first room, and beyond that were four 'college dorm suite' type rooms, sharing a bathroom between each pair. These were currently occupied by those who had come off the night shift, but Erik described them as "shared rooms that have beds on opposite walls, individual closets and dressers, and two bathrooms with sinks and dressing areas, but" He gestured to Casse, KJ, Hanna and Johnny, "a single large shower, like the rooms you guys are sharing in the house'.

"The builder/ previous owner must have either been as paranoid as you've become, Erik, or he knew you were going to buy it," Johnny stated as the tour ended.

"We learned he was in a blood feud with his former in-laws, who were well connected to dangerous people. The in-laws died when their plane crashed under mysterious circumstances, but no one was ever charged. After their deaths he closed all this off and let it get nasty. We did a lot of cleaning and deodorizing, improved the ventilation system, and added the two suites for our security teams, which also have access to the 'safe room.'

"I know you noticed that there are more tunnels, but our purpose this morning is just to show you how to access the hallways and get to the safe room in a worst-case scenario. Which we have no reason to believe will happen...at this time.

"And with that said, let's go see the 'fire ant mound' down the road. The tunnels under it dwarf these in scope and number!"

Angela and her team were gone when they arrived, leaving Erik to lead the tour. No one had ever before seen a building designed by security experts and built around the concept of developing usable space that is unassailable, or at lea st impenetrable, from ground level, below ground, or above. It was a unique experience, and KJ expression of claustrophobia while deep in the bowels was shared to differing degrees by others, but not Erik. He knew what was based here and would happen here, and appreciated it for its purpose and function. After all, one story below or four, you were still underground.

He thought of it as being like the old NORAD headquarters at Cheyene Mountain, now the Cheyene Mountain Space Force Station, where people had been working underground since 1957. Their challenge was to make the buildings earthquake proof amid a granite mountain; here the challenge was to stabilize the buildings and tunnels against the contraction of the rocky clay during drought and it's expansion when excessive rain saturated the clay to sufficient depth.

He was assured the hardened buildings would resist earth's forces and attacks by men, and they had redundant systems for all necessary functions, including power, water, and ventilation. That it cost him nothing but the one-sided agreements he made with the government, which took place after the great reaming and the dissolution of their broader partnership, made it that much more attractive to Erik.

They did not explore the tunnels that ran off like spokes in a wheel on U4 because they were top secret, and their terminals would be (maybe already were) manned by USAF personnel. The complex was well defended both onsite and from nearby Camp Swift, as well as from other sites and bases whose primary purpose was to protect the Texas Capitol in Austin.

His guests felt more comfortable when they returned to U1, which had been designed to be as light and attractive as the low-profile ground floor. Those floors were where most of the people would be most of the time, but they would all be 'moles' if sleeping onsite, and the production workers would spend significant time three and four stories down. Feeling comfortable in sterile rooms deep underground would be part of the screening process for production staff, when that process begins in a few weeks.

Once they were out of the complex, KJ did the whole 'kneel, kiss the ground, and praise the sun' thing. He said he wasn't even comfortable in domed stadiums or underground parking garages, so this tour took all his willpower. Cassie, who found the complex fascinating, ragged on 'her big, strong football player' unmercifully and tried to convince him it was just like a multi-story building above ground. He kept telling her it was not, and it was unnatural to live and work underground. That disagreement continued, to the delight of the others, until they arrived at Annika's hundred acre site across Texas Highway 71.