Loosening Up Bk. 06 Ch. 21-25

Christie reported the next day that copies of the 'Life' section front page had appeared on various bulletin boards around campus, including in the student union. She also reported that a number of students had come up to her and praised her 'balls' and 'audacity' for working in that industry and standing up for women's rights. Marcia continued to accompany her on campus.

She also noted that Elton had become the laughing stock of the university students, and been given the new name of 'Jerk Off' by his fraternity brothers and classmates. Collectively, the women on campus had banned together to totally cock block Elton Nimrod; he'd never get close to any co-ed except to have them tell him to go play with himself. Christie seemed to have gotten the last laugh, but one she really didn't care for.

Mark and some of his extended family came by the Circle on Friday evening for cocktails and dinner. Mark sought out Dave as soon as he walked onto the patio. Dave was tending bar along with Phil. The bar was again a new one, this time a permanent installation outside on the patio and able to seat sixteen people on the new barstools. More than that could gather around. Several new high-top tables that matched were also nearby. The bar had turned out to be the hub for the early evening gathers and then later around ten or ten-thirty when people returned there after their first round of lovemaking to 'discover' another partner, if they wanted.

Mark grinned at his relatively new friend; "I need to talk with you about something."

Dave figured it had to do with some kind of social interaction between the groups, or even more about Christie and how she was being treated. He got Dale to take over for him, and walked off with Mark since he'd indicated he wanted some privacy about whatever it was. Mark's broad smile signaled Dave that it was nothing serious.

Mark said, "Have you ever thought of leaving Florida Power and Light and taking on another challenging job?"

Dave was taken aback and came to a stop. "No. I'm in a key position there, and I wouldn't want to let Derek, especially after the significant support he's given me. I just got promoted a year or so ago, right after Hurricane Marco."

"You're Vice President of Lines, if I have the title right. That is important in a public power utility -- in fact, it's the hub position."

Dave nodded. "I think so. Derek had the job before me. I try not to let it go to my head. Mostly its jockeying resources in creative ways to get the most bang for the buck." Both men knew it was more significant that paper shuffling that Dave suggested.

Mark speculated, "And Nancy Mason is your number two and would do a great job in your shoes if you vacated the job."

"I think so. I'm not planning on kicking the bucket anytime soon, though. She is sharp, and I certainly enjoy working with her. She's got Sheri Seaton following in her footsteps, too."

"What if Derek was all right with you leaving to take on a new position?"

Dave shook his head. "I'd have to think about it. It's funny, I agitate for everyone around me to take risks and break the rules and I've done what others tell me are some innovative things within my area, but I've been pretty conservative about my own career other than that."

Mark laughed, "We're all the same way. Just so you know, I did talk to Derek. While he would hate to lose you, especially as a friend, sounding board, and colleague, he supports what I'm proposing. He urges you to accept my offer. You can ask him."

"Uh oh," Dave said in a worried tone. "What's been going on behind my back?"

"I didn't want to ask you if Derek couldn't support your move to a new, outside post. I like him and value his judgment. I also don't want to lose him as a friend any more than you do. If he were younger, I'd ask him, to tell the truth. He understands the CEO position, but I think you have most of that and are more daring on the job."

"What are you offering?"

Mark reached beside him in a small portfolio and pulled out a sheet of paper. "This is a Non-Disclosure Agreement. It says I own your balls if you talk about what I'm about to tell you in an inappropriate manner."

"I understand." Dave scanned the document and signed it. "If this is the prelude to talking about some kind of job, it must be a' wowsie' position."

Mark chuckled, "Tom Power, who you've met, and I have been working on a development a smart young man in one of my R&D centers named Nat Sterling came up with. It's a unique battery that is lightweight, charges rapidly, doesn't wear out that we can tell, can handle hundreds of thousands of recharges without degradation, and has an inordinately high energy-density so it lasts and lasts before it runs out of juice.

"As far as we can tell, and we've done lots of testing, the batteries are safe, meaning no explosions like the lithium-ion batteries that plagued Samsung, they're fast charging, and we think they're easy to manufacture. The battery could power your cellphone without recharging for over a year at full brightness with the cellphone on a continuous open two-way call link. In many applications, it would last longer than the product. Think of a car with one less component that would wear out. Those are the major benefits."

Dave's eyebrows had rotated up his forehead at Mark's description of the technology. He asked, "Cost?"

"Not outrageous. The technology is based on Lithium and Thallium, and we've cornered the world market on the elements, particularly Thallium. We really want to capitalize on this."

"What would you want me to do?"

"Fundamentally, I want you to take over from Tom, make this a real company with manufacturing plants and resources, and get this sucker to market in a way that makes everyone want them in everything they own. We have fast-track patent applications about to be issued we're told, so we have the technology protected for the next seventeen years. I don't mind being an innovative monopoly."

Dave frowned, "The battery market, if this is what it sounds like, is endless. I mean this could be worth billions."

"Tom did an estimate and thinks the company could make about $1.4 Trillion in profits -- that's trillion with a 'T', over the next ten years. Your job would be to make it happen."

"Holy shit. That sounds like a wild ride. Every direction you turn there's an application. No one is making them?"

"Only in our labs experimentally. We even have some spinoff technologies that look just as promising, but we can talk about those later. Nat had been working on manufacturing techniques with a small team of developers. We've kept a lid on this, but any day we expect a leak or something, especially since the patents will become announced very soon when they're issued."

"Tell me about the position," Dave suggested.

Mark launched into a description of the position he wanted Dave to assume, namely CEO of a new corporate entity dedicated to the production, licensing, marketing, and application of the new battery technology. The company would issue stock separate from Worthington Industries, and Dave along with a few of the other Worthington executives would be initial major share holders. Dave would get to name the company. Mark thought they'd do an IPO once the first several major implementations of the technology had been on the market.

Dave sat back and pondered the whole situation. "What's the downside of this?"

Mark shook his head, "Damned if I can think of any, short of you leaving Derek, Nancy, and the others that work where you do now. You could bring some of the underlings with you if you want; for instance, Nikky, who I know is your EA. From our conversation, Derek will name Nancy to become Vice President. Sheri would move up, too."

Dave got up and walked around as Mark watched him. His brain was in turmoil. He came back towards Mark and asked, "No salary, right? All bonus and profit sharing."

Mark laughed, "I'll give you a million as a signing bonus, plus a company car of your choice, use of the jets, the villa, and anything else you can think of that doesn't classify as salary -- perks galore, if you will. That's the same basis as me, Andy, Tom, and a few others. You eat what you kill, in other words."

"What's Tom going to do? Am I taking something away from him?"

"No. I'm moving him up. I want him to replace me in my role as head of all operations. I want him to fix the day-to-day stuff that's already underway, except in the battery business. That's your job. I want to get into the strategic stuff, including other state of the art advances going on in our labs."

"Let me talk to some people first. I'm inclined to say yes. When do you have to know for sure?"

"How about midnight?"

Dave laughed, "Shit, you put a lot of pressure on a guy."

"Just wait until you feel the pressure I'll put on you in the job. I want it all, right now!" Mark also laughed.

The pair split apart, and Dave went and got a drink -- his wine over ice that had been his trademark drink for years. He saw Derek just arriving, and made a beeline for the man.

"Derek, I need to talk to you."

Derek grinned, "I bet that Mark Worthington talked to you."

Dave nodded. "I am a man that is intensely loyal to my friends, and you are more than a friend. You've been my mentor and number one supporter from the first time we met. I won't leave if you want me."

Derek smiled, "Don't pass up an opportunity to better your own circumstances. I never have, and you shouldn't either. I understand your loyalty and friendship, and I am grateful. Neither of those will suffer, AND you should take the position that Mark is offering you."

"But Nancy ..."

"I love Nancy, and you've done a superior job in always grooming her to take over from you. She's done the same with Sheri. I've seen lots of promotions get squelched because the exec didn't groom his or her replacement. You have and that makes my agreeing to this much easier. Congratulations."

"He wants an answer by midnight."

Derek laughed "Go talk to Alice and Pam, and then tell him you accept. I see him talking with them right now."

Dave turned and saw that Alice and Pam were paying close attention to whatever Mark was saying to them. He headed over to them.

Mark was just finishing his point, "So, that in a nutshell is what I asked your husband to do."

Alice and Pam turned to Dave as he arrived, "And, you said yes, of course."

"I wanted to talk to you first."

Alice went, "Pfffft! Tell him yes. I think this is a superb opportunity for you. Take your own advice and do something bold."

Dave turned to Mark, "I guess the answer is Yes, I accept your offer. What now?"

Mark nodded, "Derek is expecting you to handoff to Nancy next week, and so why don't you start a week from Monday. I think that's March tenth. Come to my office in St. Petersburg and we'll figure out what to do with you. I've been thinking of moving the whole operation to Sarasota so that we could get it away from the other, more mature Worthington businesses. Nat lives down this way, too. I want a lot of ideas in this startup that break all the rules. Think up a name for the new company, too. We'll want to start using that right away."

"Yes sir, boss, sir," Dave teased and saluted.

Sunday morning, Dave walked onto the patio ready to do his cooking breakfast routine for everybody in the Circle. Nancy had spent the night with him and volunteered to help. Sharon and Cindy were there in their cute little sexy waitress uniforms, sans underwear. Ron showed up to help on the grill in the kitchen as a short-order cook. Several others were already cleaning the tables and helping get organized.

Nancy came in after delivering one of the first orders -- some French toast. She told Dave, "You'd better go out to the patio. Several of the others have spotted something in the newspaper, and I was told to tell you it's not good news."

Dave grabbed his endless cup of coffee and hustled out to the patio. Ty, Dori, and Pam flagged him down with a wild wave. The three had the newspaper opened in front of them.

Ty said, "Tampa Times -- Sunday edition; look at this."

Dave scanned the front page of the 'Local Living' section. He started reading:

Polygamy, Polyamory, or Swinging?

Eighty people in Sarasota face that question on a frequent basis, namely because they live together in relationships that are emotionally, romantically, and physically intimate. The cluster of people are constantly trading partners or sharing themselves with others in the group in every way imaginable.

Those eighty people call themselves the Circle, named appropriately after a cohousing endeavor created a ring of homes that started over five years ago. The group is about forty-five women and thirty-five men, and they live together without the boundaries associated with normal relationships. The adults range in age from eighteen to sixty-eight. The group is not particularly religious and has no leanings towards being a cult with sexual proclivities.

The group is excessively social, gathering each evening for a cocktail time and then a shared dinner. They have a large common area, part indoors and most outside that includes a large patio and pool.

Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse. Several men in the group have more than one 'wife', and one man has his legal wife and five others living with him. Everyone is careful insofar as government entities to not attempt any illegalities by claiming extra dependents or such.

Polyamory is a term used by multiple people that love each other usually in some kind of sexual relationship. The group uses this term to describe their inter-relationships. They consider themselves to be nonexclusive. A modern term is 'consensual nonmonogamy'.

Swinging is a term coined in the post-war era to describe men and women engaging in free and open sexual relationships with one another. To outside appearances, the members of the Circle would appear to also fit in this category due to their open marriages and free-flowing relationships. More typically, Circle members describe themselves as 'in love' with their fellow members, putting them back in the polyamorous category.

A member of the Circle, however, doesn't appear to blink at the idea of spending an evening making love with several other partners, and then cuddling up and sleeping with yet another including their spouse.

The dress code in the Circle is relaxed, and partial nudity is the norm in warm weather. The group treats nudity as a nonsexual state; it's what people are when they're not wearing clothes.

The group functions as a large family in many ways, sharing jobs and tasks around the property that include child care, meal preparation, cleanup, public room cleaning, trash handling, and pool maintenance. Further, the group has hired full-time nannies and a chef for their communal meals.

Many of the women in the Circle have children. The oldest child is eight and the youngest only a few months. Paternity is a relaxed concept for many in the Circle, with men and women seeming to not care who fathers a child who they raise in their own homes with their partner or husband.

Circle members cover a broad spectrum of professions: doctors, nurses, engineers, finance executives, and foundation sponsors and executives, and numerous entrepreneurs. A number of members are or were recently university students. Several well-known luminaries belong to the group and appear to fully participate. These include local billionaire and philanthropist Owen Bennett, and movie star Scarlett Johansson. Johansson reportedly has a long-term relationship in one of the 'poly' marriages in the group.

One of the student members of the Circle recently surfaced in another news story only a week or so ago. Christie Lee, formerly a dancer at the Club Ecstasy and also an adult video star, became controversial on the Sarasota campus of the university when another student made a point of revealing her career in pornography. She stated she used the money from those videos to help finance her college education.

Other members of the large Circle community include well-known adult video stars Alice Angel, Emmie Cox, Kat Kuntry, and Mike Harder. One of the Circle members owns Circle-X Productions that makes award-winning adult films and sells them online. Many in the Circle have made cameo appearances in the films just for fun ...

Dave kept reading as the others standing around watched his expression. Finally, after reaching the end of the article he looked up and smiled. "They forgot to mention a few things such as our dozen pilots, or Owen's skills as a tattoo artist. Maybe we should write a letter to the editor extolling our other virtues, skills, values, and capabilities. I think the ability of some of us to deliver A-spot orgasms should also be highlighted."

Pam sounded surprised, "You're not upset?"

Dori nodded in agreement with the question.

Dave shook his head. "Nope. We've been expecting this for years. Little bits and pieces of our existence have leaked out publically just about every month. Sooner or later, someone was bound to put it all together. I suspect, given the level of detail, that some of us got interviewed surreptitiously over the past few weeks. The articles about Christie probably helped crystalize some of the article for many. She got interviewed as well, but I know she wouldn't have given out all of this."

Dori said, "What do we do?"

Ty laughed, "Other than alerting everybody about it, nothing."

Dave said, "I'll let Scarlett know. She's in Dublin filmingCrystal Clear and doing the bomb scenes with Chris Hemsworth. Cricket is over there with them."

"What will she have to say?"

"Oh, the paparazzi will roast her, but she always knew that our relationship and the Circle wouldn't be a secret forever. It wasn't an issue of whether things would get revealed, only when they'd pop up like this."

"Why's Cricket over there? I thought the screenplay was finished," Dori asked.

"Oh, it is. Scarlett set up a little rendezvous between her and Chris Hemsworth this weekend. She's also going to appear in a cameo in the picture. I'm not sure what role she'll have, but she's in the movie and will appear in the cast listing twice: once as an actor and again as the author of the original book and screenplay."

"The book isn't even on the market, is it?"

"No. The publishing house is coordinating with the movie studio in releasing the book and movie together.Road Trip became a best seller, especially the online version. If she hasn't already, she'll be getting a nice chunk of change just for the book."

"Will she get paid for being an actor?"

Dave laughed, "Yes. She had to join the Screen Actors Guild in order to appear. I think she'll get about two hundred dollars for a walk-on role, but more if they give her a more significant role with dialogue. She didn't tell me those numbers, but I vaguely recall somebody on TV talking about those numbers."

Pam said, "You'd better call Scarlett now, before she gets ambushed by the paparazzi."

Dave walked around to the other side of the pool and placed his call. Despite the international distance between the two the call went through after a long hesitation.

"Hi, Honey. What's up?" Scarlett answered.

"I love you, but I'm afraid I'm calling because of some bad news."

"Oh, no. Is everybody all right?"

"Yes, it's not that. There was a feature article in this morning's Tampa newspaper that revealed about everything anybody might want to know about the Circle including your membership in it. The article was pretty explicit about the open sex."