Loosening Up Bk. 08 Ch. 06-10

"When this was presented to me, I had a hard time believing it to be true without someone wanting my soul or my body. It is. You'll ask yourself what the quid pro quo is, but there isn't any except what you take on to pay-it-forward. My helping you is part of how I'm paying-it-forward, by the way." Heather grinned, "Welcome to the rest of your life."

Kellie got teary. She stood and the two women did a polite hug. Some other pleasantries were exchanged and then Heather left the group.

Kellie shook her head in disbelief. She asked, "I guess I should quit the Club."

Dave chuckled, "You don't have too unless you want. When Christie and Heather started school, they both worked there occasionally more for fun than for the money. It provided an outlet for some of their energy in just the right way for them. You may quit, work part time, do cameo appearances, or not; just tell Jim what you decide. Since he raised the potential about you and this plan to us, he expects that you'll want to devote yourself to scholarship instead of exhibitionist dancing. We don't care so long as your grades stay up. As soon as you sign the contract, we will start your routine payments. I believe we are just in time to get you into the autumn semester at the university."

* * * * *

Karen Simon, Dave's sister-in-law by way of Alice and Julie, sat down with him at lunch the following Saturday. She grinned like a Cheshire cat. "I have some interesting news to tell you."

Dave looked up at the pretty older woman. Karen was about six years older than his wife Alice, and eight years older than Julie his other wife and also Owen's legal wife. "I'm listening."

"Well about six years has past since my father lost it and tried to have Christiana and Sean kidnapped to be raised in their church according to their evangelical ways. When we were working with Jason on things like restraining orders and keeping Daryl and I out of trouble in Ohio, he also filed a civil suit on our behalf. In that suit he co-named the Bible Church and the pastor and several trustees that my father conned into playing the role of kidnappers."

"Isn't your father Myron Waldorf still in a federal prison?"

"As far as I know. I don't communicate with anybody that would know. One of my old friends in Ohio mentioned about six months ago that my mother Elsie had moved to a small apartment to live alone. So, I'd say yes. The other three men are in a Florida prison. Jason keeps tabs on them for us. The don't come up for parole for another five years or more."

"So, your civil suit?"

"Oh, yes. When all the criminal cases started the civil case got shoved onto the back burner at Jason's request. We thought that if my father and the others were successfully prosecuted, then we'd be more likely to win the civil suit. As far as my parents were concerned, that lawsuit became a non-issue since they were left basically destitute by my father's donations to the Bible Church in order to have the kidnappings take place.

"Well, after many slow-moving legal motions back and forth over the years, the suit ended up exclusively against the Bible Church for its major role in the abduction attempts. Turns out they were pretty well heeled as well as misguided about how to help their parishioners achieve their goals.

"Anyway, Jason told me this morning that all the motions back and forth seem to have finally come to any end. The civil case will be heard in about a month in Ohio District Court. He thinks we have an exceptionally good case, especially since all of the guilty parties pleaded guilty and, in the process, admitted that the church and its teachings were the rationale for the planned abductions."

"Do you have to testify?"

"Yes. Jason has made sure that Daryl and I have no warrants or any legal problems with Ohio. I'm going to fly up with Daryl when the case goes to trial. The upside is that we might be awarded general and punitive damages of over ten million dollars. Jason expects the settlement to be about half that. Included in the lawsuit will be the disbandment of the Bible Church with the requirement that the current staff not engage in creating, managing, or working in any religious institutions for a period of ten years."

"And you have a strong civil case?"

"Jason believes we do. He's going up with us, but has a local firm in Cincinnati that has been handling things for us. This has all been done on a contingency basis, so our family only has an upside to this. I thought this had died a natural death years ago, but Jason said some of those legal appeals took many months to resolve or counter."

"If you win what will you do with the money?"

Karen laughed, "I have two teenagers heading for college in a few years, so we will establish an educational fund for them right away. They're the ones that my parents wanted to kidnap and squirrel away so it'll be poetic justice. They were absolutely nuts. The rest of the money will help the family and let us do some work about preventing such situations for others that leave highly restricted religious institutions."

"Thanks for sharing. If you need help or you need additional company in Ohio, let any of us know. Family first."

Karen kissed her brother-in-law in a most un-sisterly manner. "Later, Lover."

Dave went back to his reading the news about Hurricane Isabelle. The ninth hurricane of the season drifted around in the Atlantic for a week in mid-September before deciding not to head for the U.S. mainland and cross the state or loop around the south and into the Gulf of Mexico to attack from the west. The spaghetti models were all over the place. Finally, the storm turned northeast and headed for Bermuda. Dave sympathized with Derek, Nancy and Sheri who were twitching with the prospect of miles of downed power lines and thousands of homes without electric service. They were part of the backbone for Florida Power and Light Company.

Chapter 7 -- Outside Intruders

Dave heard the alarm going off. He woke instantly, had his shoes and shorts on and raced down the stairs of his home and out into the core. The alarm came from Owen's home. Several other lights came on and heads popped out of nearby houses. Dave ran to Owen's home, quickly punching in the five-digit code for access into the home.

Owen was on the phone and moving around in the living room waving off the security company from calling the police. After he ended the security call, he said, "Hey. Someone was here. Not one of us. They were outside trying windows and doors. I'm going to check the security camera as soon as I can get the alarm turned off. Sorry to awaken everybody."

"You alone?"

"No, Julie and Joan are upstairs. I told them to stay there."

"You armed?" He was almost yelling over the din of the alarm klaxon.

"No, but I can be in three seconds. There are weapons stored around the house. Dev and Deke set me up when they put in the system. You know I hate these things."

Dave chuckled, "Do people think you keep a billion or two lying around in loose cash?"

Owen sounded more serious, "Maybe." He was fiddling with the keypad and finally the alarm silenced. Owen went to his back door and waved to the others on the patio. "Sorry for awakening all of you. I think someone was around the house. I'll tell you more in the morning after I look at the security video."

Joan and Julie appeared from the stairs. They were both beautifully naked and looking worried through tousled hair. Dave went and kissed each of them. "I'm going to watch the security video with Owen. You guys can go back to bed." Holding hands, they silently turned and went back upstairs.

Owen unlocked the door to his small and windowless security closet. Inside was just enough room for a chair, small table, and a high-tech computer. Owen did something on the keyboard and with the mouse and then the display started to show the views of six outside cameras about fifteen minutes earlier by that time.

After a minute of nothing happening Owen sped up the video to twice real time. Suddenly, a dark figure dressed in black appeared in the frame coming to the front door. He slowed down the speed of the video. The figure obviously went to the front door and tried the door. He then tried an adjacent window, producing a screwdriver to try to jimmy up the sash. The alarm triggered and the mysterious man took off at a run towards the main gate.

Dave exclaimed, "Wow! A real intruder. What now?"

Owen picked up his phone and called 9-1-1. He explained about the attempted break-in, viewing the security video, the possibility that the individual was leaving the scene possibly along Christian Grey Drive, and then waited. About seven minutes later, a police car pulled up in front of Owen's house. Dave and Owen went out to greet them, both men holding up their empty hands. Owen hung up on 9-1-1 at that point.

Owen explained the situation to the two men in the squad car. A second car arrived. Several theories regarding the individual were posited, but there was no evidence to support any of them. Owen explained that all of his neighbors had the access code to his house, which happened to be a date many of them shared -- the date the Circle had officially started. The theory that it had been an errant neighbor was set aside, particularly after viewing the way the man ran towards the main gate.

Both police cars roamed the area and used their lights to shine between houses. One man searched the entire core area on foot. The core buildings were never locked so Dave and Owen helped go from room to room, closet to closet. Another squad car showed up and prowled along Perimeter Road, and then back along Christian Grey Drive all the way out to the main highway. Nobody was seen.

Three of the police watched the security video. They stated that detectives would be visiting first thing in the morning, and would want a copy of the video. Owen had already sent several frames of the video to the printer, but the individual's face was never clearly visible because of a scarf of some kind over the lower part of his face. The intruder had definitely been a man or a muscular and well-built woman.

Dave wondered if anybody got a good night's sleep. The next morning there was a record turnout for breakfast. The morning chef, used to a modest turnout was inundated. Bobbie showed up to help and some of the other kitchen volunteers that worked in the evenings joined in. The result was a large and well-attended breakfast for everyone.

The talk of the breakfast tables concerned the intruder at Owen's house. Two detectives showed up about eight-thirty to interview Owen and get a copy of the video. Like everyone else they were concerned about motive and intent.

Dale and Dev stayed at Owen's side while the police were there. After they left Dale recommended that Owen have a twenty-four-hour bodyguard assigned and a permanent guard on the house during the nighttime hours. Reluctantly, Owen accepted the recommendation.

Owen later met Krenan Vaughn, who went by the knick name Kray for some unknown reason. Kray was the size of Hummer, had the strength of Atlas, and a truly inscrutable look. Nothing seemed to phase him. He was about six-six, armed and wearing body armor, had a black belt in several different martial arts, and could run a hundred yards in about twelve seconds. He'd also done several marathons so he had some long-distance endurance as well. Despite the eighty-degree day in Florida, Kray wore a man's jacket in order to hide his shoulder holsters -- yes, more than one.

Dale introduced Kray and Owen, explained about the sought-after privacy and innocuous security coverage. The two men gave Kray a tour of the Circle core and Owen's home, and then drove him around in a golf cart so he could see the overall layout. He was given a copy of Cricket's book to explain the workings of the Circle. Several hand signals were arranged between Owen and Kray so that the latter would know if he were meeting someone new for the first time. After that hour Kray blended into the background of the patio and seemed to disappear in the shadows.

Owen and Julie went into work late accompanied by Kray. This time Kray drove explaining that he wanted to be sure his passengers could get down on the car floor should he need take evasive action, which he was trained to do in a vehicle.

About nine p.m. after dinner Kray introduced another man named Wen Sing -- another large man, armed, skilled in self-defense, and ready to take the night shift. Wen was a mix of oriental, Indian, and Tibetan cultures he explained. He would cover the house outside. Kray would sleep inside on the sofa. Kray said he was a light sleeper.

Kray gave Wen a quick tour of the Circle and then the two men took up the security stations. Owen had Alice and Rachel as his bedmates. Neither of the security men seemed to care one way or the other about Owen's personal arrangements.

Ten days went by without incident.

* * * * *

Over the weekend Dave, Alice, and Cricket flew the Citation up to Macon to visit Bret and Jean, and to meet their friends. Bret explained to Dave that 'An Intimate Barbecue' had been planned. They laughed at his categorization of the weekend, but the three Circle members had new paper that they scanned and sent to Bret -- just in case.

The one-hour flight up was a breeze and the small airport was nicely appointed to handle the small jet for an overnight. They arrived about noon, and Bret met them at the FBO with his car and drove them to his home. The home was a nice ranch on about five acres of treed land, so there was considerable privacy.

Another couple, Cory and Lean, joined them for lunch on Bret and Jean's patio, and then as the afternoon wore on more and more people started to arrive for the dinner cookout. The three were pleased to see that monokinis had been adopted as the standard dress code for the warm day beside the pool. Cricket was instantaneously almost naked as soon as Jean explained about what they'd newly adopted.

Cricket asked, "With no children around, why don't you all just go naked?"

The response was blank stares. There was no reason other than the residual mores of society that people had to wear some clothes. Cricket and Alice promptly tossed aside their bathing suits and did little happy dances.

Instead of trying to over analyze the situation the Atlanta Group was facing, the Circle members just tried to be good friends, learn people's names and something about them, and then see where the day and evening took them. The group was nice enough to write their names on their left shoulders to facilitate the remembrance of their names, although many of the Circle members had done that for Bret and Jean when they visited the Circle a few weeks earlier.

Alcohol loosens tongues. Everybody in the group except Dave and Alice were drinking alcohol. They had to keep their piloting skills especially keen to fly the jet home the next day, plus Dave didn't want any physical impairment if he was to romance anybody that evening.

Thus, with second or third drinks in hand a nice couple approached Dave and Jean. "Hi, we're Ian and Renata as you can see. We were curious about ... well, the prevalence of making love in your Circle. Bret implied a week or so ago that it goes on all the time. I hope we're not being too nosey."

"Oh, no. That's why we're here -- to answer questions exactly like this one. We do have sex a lot. There are several reasons. For one, we love our wives and friends, and making love seems to complete the picture with that person, making the relationship especially important and warm for each of us. Also, many of us know or believe that we are hypersexual. That's a medical term often used instead of nymphomania. Thus, we think about and desire sex frequently. It's important to our physical make up."

Renata spoke, "And Bret said there are over a hundred of you around all the time at your cohousing project?" Another younger woman with Riley written on her shoulder came and stood listening to the conversation.

"That's true. If you couple that with the sex as you were implying, we each have many options in terms of who and how we couple on any particular evening -- and most nights we are involved in making love with our friends. The phenomenon is not only a weekend event."

Ian spoke, "And no one gets jealous?"

Dave smiled, "No. We have learned about 'compersion' -- and that's the emotion we substitute for jealousy. Recognize that jealousy can take several forms -- 'you have something I want' and 'I'm going to lose what I have to you' are the two most prevalent forms.

"In our Circle we all know that the first kind -- you have something I want -- will be remedied by waiting a few moments until the person you want is available. We do make ourselves universally available to everyone in the Circle.

"As for the second kind of jealousy -- the feeling of loss -- we have eliminated the prospect that someone you love will go off with someone else. No one will abandon their primary loved one. We know that we can love multiple people so there's no need to specialize on only one person, especially in terms of sex. If I love multiple people, I don't need to abandon one person I love in order to love another. I love both of them."

Ian nodded slowly having taken all that in.

Renata asked, "How do you learn to love multiple people?"

Dave laughed, "How do you not? Look around you, particularly at your regular group of friends. You have already chosen them as esteemed friends, especially since you are at this gathering this afternoon. You only need to look at each of them and make a choice. Love is really a choice. I choose to love this person. Make that statement about each of them one at a time."

Dave looked at Renata and said, "Renata, I love you." He gathered her in his arms and hugged her close, feeling not only her body but the resonance he felt with her. He turned and did the same thing with Riley, and then turned and repeated the act with Ian who stiffened so much during the hug they both had to laugh.

Dave laughed, "Don't worry Ian, I'm a zero on the Kinsey Scale. I don't 'do' guys, but I do love those in my Circle. They're my best friends and people I know I can confide in and share my most intimate secrets. They do the same with me. We will not abuse the privilege. We also won't ever use what we know to create a humorous situation or humiliate someone."

Ian laughed and they did a fist bump.

Dave turned back to the women. "You chose at one point to love Ian and then you chose to have him as your husband. He made similar choices with you. Let's say he now ALSO choses Riley. He decides he ALSO loves her and perhaps ALSO wants her as a wife. We'll ignore the state laws on the subject of marriage and think of it more as a loving commitment between people."

Ian said softy, "I do feel that way about Riley. I've just never verbalized it."

Riley smiled and reached out and touched Ian's arm, "And I have always felt that way about you and Renata."

Dave amplified, "You ALLOW your CHOICES. Don't deny them. Don't sweep them away. Don't use other people or institutions to be a barrier. I have ten wives. Some of them are 'married' to other people as well. We chose to make that stronger commitment."

Renata said, "And the sex?"

"Just makes it all that much better. We make love. We express our love physically, emotionally, and spiritually with each other when we connect our organs together. It's always a beautiful experience ... and yes, the acts we perform are highly arousing and titillate special places in the brain to satisfy some of our deepest and lustiest needs."

Ian said, "You make it sound so simple."

Riley immediately spoke, "It is simple. We make it more complex by overlaying it all sorts of social and religious teachings about love and sex, and then the states get involves and legislate what sex acts are legal and illegal. Shit, in Georgia it's illegal to give or receive a blowjob. Thankfully the Feds overruled such crap, but only in 2003." She laughed, "I guess my parents were breaking the law for decades. It's a good thing the sex cops didn't come and arrest them."