Loosening Up Bk. 08 Ch. 31-35-End

Dave had been with Ashley who had come off of her maternity quarantine from sex after she'd had her baby. They were cuddling together when Phil Layburn came up to them and sat on the edge of the chaise they were on.

Phil said, "Excuse the interruption, but it looked like you guys were just cuddling. We have a problem, and I'm the guy that has to rat out one of my brethren."

Dave sat up, "What do you mean? What problem?"

"The problem is Jake. I'm sure he had sex with a girl from campus this week. She's not in the Circle, and is kind of the town pump, if you know what I mean. He just showed up over at the bar, and I'm sure he's going to participate. I just don't think he's clean and I'm sure the girl he screwed in his car wasn't because of her reputation. I hate telling you this."

Dave glanced over at the bar where Jake had just gotten himself a beer. He was also putting the make on Morgan Collier, one of the pretty computer jocks that worked for the retail software company in town.

"Has he been with anybody here tonight?"

"Not that I know of," Phil said. "I think he just arrived. When he got here, he peeled off his jeans and shirt so he'd be more in keeping with the other men. He stashed them on a chair over near the showers."

"Shit!" Dave stood up. He looked at Phil, "You want to come with me or stay out of this?"

Phil made a huge sigh, "The right thing to do is for me to come with you."

Dave fastened a towel around his midsection and with Phil, still in athletic shorts, walked over towards where Jake was nuzzling in Morgan's neck. Dave saw Ty and gestured that he was needed immediately. Ty turned and followed.

"Jake, sorry to disturb you, but could you join us for a moment?" He had that deer in the headlight look, and Morgan suddenly looked embarrassed.

"Let's step into the core living room for a moment. Morgan excuse us." She backed away, taking her glass of wine with her.

In the living room, Dave gestured for Jake to sit. He continued to stand, and announced, "We have reason to believe that you have violated the 'safe sex' ethic of the Circle with a girl from campus named Tanya. You were seen having sex in your car with her."

Jake said, "Hey ... yeah ... I knew her from before I graduated. We used a condom."

Phil said, "I don't think that's accurate Jake. I happened to see you doing the deed in your car by the stadium when I was out for a run. That girl, Tanya, got out of your car and squatted beside the car to drain your load out of her pussy. You two were laughing at her antics. You even passed her some paper napkins that she used to blot the mess you made as you cleaned off your own cock with one of the naps."

Jake was silent, but looked from face-to-face at each of the men.

Ty challenged in a pissed-off tone, "You need to put yourself on quarantine and get weekly tests. Have you been with anybody in the Circle since you fucked Tanya?"

In an arrogant tone, Jake said, "No. I was just going to get together with Morgan."

Ty said firmly, "You are NOT to get together with anyone from the Circle for the next month starting today. You will get tested using the Circle Clinic on a weekly basis until that time. We will monitor your results."

Jake said, "What if I want to use my own doctor?"

Ty shook his head, "Sorry, we need to verify the sample from the time it's taken until we get the results. There are too many stories about faked STD tests for us to take that chance. One of our nurses or doctors in our clinic will oversee the results and the chain of custody. A disease in the Circle would be a real disaster for everyone. You know that."

Jake angered, stood, and said, "Fuck you all." He stormed out of the room leaving the other men.

Ty walked over to the music system that distributed music or announcements to the patio or various rooms in the core. He picked up the microphone and adjusted some of the setting. He then succinctly said, "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention. I regret to inform you that Jake Randall has just been placed on quarantine. Please do not engage in sex with him until he is cleared by the board for interaction with us. This will take about a month or more. That is all."

The men looked grim as they came back out to the patio. This was a first in the Circle. No one had violated the code of safety before.

There were many questioning eyes looking at Phil, Ty, and Dave, but no one asked any questions. Everyone could more or less guess about the nature of the transgression. Jake had fucked a muggle without protection.

Morgan ran up to Phil crying. "I didn't know. I didn't know. He was being so nice." Several others near her age were standing with her.

Phil wrapped her in his arms, "It's all right, honey. We caught the situation early. We don't think anybody else is infected, or even know for sure whether Jake is infected. He just did something naughty and should have known better."

The event put a wet blanket over the rest of the evening on the patio. Gradually, the place emptied until only a few couples remained. Dave rejoined Ashley, and the two of them remained beside the pool eventually having a second round of lovemaking.

When Dave got home, he found that both a text and email alert had been sent out alerting everyone in the Circle about Jake's exclusion for the coming month. Those messages covered the contingency that someone wasn't on the patio to hear Ty's announcement.

Sunday morning, Dave was serving omelets as he usually did. Murph appeared and hung back until Dave was working on a couple of omelets but had no one near him.

Murph approached Dave, "I gotta tell you something -- something bad. Last night, after all that shit happened with Jake, he came back to the townhouse and called Tanya. Apparently, she wasn't busy because he took off and went and got her. He brought her back to the apartment and they fucked most of the night.

"I was with Amanda in my own bedroom, but we've often left the doors open when we had female company in case they wanted to swap. After they'd screwed around for an hour, Jake asked whether we wanted to swap with him. We both told him 'Hell no!'

"Jake took off with Tanya this morning. I don't know where they went, but this is not a guy that seems to have stumbled and wants to repent and get back to full status."

Dave asked, "Do you know Tanya?"

"Not really. She was behind me by three years, so she was a freshman when I was a senior. By Christmas she had a reputation as being the easiest piece on campus. She just loved to fuck and would take on about anybody. I gather that little has changed. My guess was that her parents had been really strict with her about dating and such, and she was breaking loose after hitting college without parental supervision."

Dave said, "Could you see whether you can contact her and ask her to come into our clinic and get tested. Let's see exactly what kind of problem we're dealing with. If she's clean we have a discipline problem and not an STD problem, if you get my drift."

"I'm on it," Murph said. Dave served him an omelet and then went back to his regular service job, more or less forcing a jovial attitude.

Monday evening, when Dave got home, Murph sought Dave out at dinner. He said, "I have some news for you. For one, Jake moved out. I have no idea where he went, but he packed up some clothes and took off. He said nothing.

"The second piece of news is more positive, I think. I got to Tanya this afternoon. I explained that Jake was in trouble with some of his friends for screwing around without a test when he was with her. I asked if she be willing to get a free test at our clinic and she agreed. I explained that we were a free-wheeling bunch sexually and the results of a test would affect over a hundred people directly. She was out here at four p.m. and Grace was on duty and took her sample. It's already on the way to the lab; Grace is hand-carrying the sample. I should warn you that suddenly Tanya got very interested in the Circle and our social practices."

Dave thanked him for the news and later thanked Grace for her judicious handling of the situation. He wondered about this Tanya, but figured that after she got the results of the test, which would also be known to the Circle, she'd disappear.

* * * * *

Monday was a national holiday, so Dave again offered up custom omelets to his friends and lovers out on the patio that morning. The day was particularly warm and exceptionally inviting to someone with a motorcycle who'd been cooped up in an office all week reviewing contracts and the human resource strategic plan for EneRG.

He was just thinking about who might be good company for a medium length ride that day, perhaps up to the Meadows to see what was happening with his friends up there when Matt and Rose came by and ordered breakfast from him.

He sized up the two. They were more married than some of the long-married couples in the Circle now that they lived together in Scarlett's home. Scarlett was currently in New Zealand doing an outdoorsy film of some kind.

They both greeted him, however, with subtle differences. Matt said, "Hi, Dad," and Rose said, "Good morning, Dave."

Dave asked, "What are your plans for this holiday?"

Matt said, "I'm taking off with some of the guys from school in an hour for some deep sea fishing out in the Gulf. One of the guy's father has a big boat and said he'd take a group of us out there when he went."

"Take plenty of sunscreen," Dave cautioned with a grin.

Rose offered, "I'm totally open, got any ideas about what to do?"

Dave's mouth engaged before his brain. "Sure do. How'd you like to ride on my Harley up to Mark Worthington's weekend mansion to see what all they're doing?"

Rose lit up light Times Square on New Year's Eve. "REALLY? THAT'D BE SO COOL. YES. YES. YES."

Dave explained about what to wear, borrowing one of the helmets kept at his house, and putting on some sturdy footwear.

Rose teased, "Can I dress sexy, like some of the other girls that ride with you?"

Dave rolled his eyes, but nodded. "I guess. I have to approve it. If there's too much skin showing the cars around us tend to veer into us to see more. I'm sure you understand."

Rose nodded rapidly in an excited state, "I do. I do. I can be ready fifteen minutes after I eat."

"Take your time, I want to serve here until about nine-thirty. Plan on leaving about ten a.m. It's about an hour's drive up there. I like to take the back roads, too. We'll come back in mid-afternoon so we're here for dinner."

Rose scampered off after breakfast to change her clothes for the ride. He couldn't help but compare her to Cricket at about the same age. Rose was exceptionally smart and highly logical. She'd already distinguished herself by mastering the techniques and languages of her computer so that she could write specialized apps for anybody's iPhone. The notes from her school teachers had always been of high praise for her attitude, tenacity to solve problems, and skills.

Dave was making some adjustments to the motorcycle's saddlebags when Rose appeared. Dave gulped. She wore some ankle high black boots, exactly what he wore to ride. The cutoff shorts she wore were in artful tatters and proved to the casual observer that she wasn't wearing and didn't need any other underwear. Dave wondered how so little cloth that was in tatters could fetch such outrageous prices at some woman's boutique.

Rose had a lovely tanned bare midriff that matched her long legs. Above that she wore a rather full halter top. Since Rose's normal dress consisted of t-shirts, Dave hadn't taken in that she had developed further in her chest. She had a delightful set of boobs that proved she was about as adult as they come. Above that she had a bare upper-chest punctuated by a pearl necklace with a pendant that hung down and accented her cleavage.

Dave scolded himself for a few seconds of lust that he felt for his stepdaughter. She was for all intents and purposes a younger version of her movie star mother. Wow! She was his Lolita that day. Like the girl in Nabokov's novel, Rose had become sexually precocious. Dave, however, had resisted her charms as she became a stereotypical Circle pledge, along with her live-together boyfriend -- his stepson Matthew.

Rose spread her arms wide and thrust her chest forward, obviously tempting her stepfather. Her nipples were erect and barely hidden inside the halter top. "Is this all right? I borrowed this from Jenny and she wore this with you going to and from work one day last week. Her shoes fit my feet perfectly. I have a small shoulder bag, too."

Dave nodded quickly as he ogled her in a lustful way. "You're fine. Perfect, in fact. The weather is nice and warm, so I don't think you'll need a jacket, but you should bring a windbreaker just in case. We can put it with you bag in the saddlebag with my stuff."

The pair pushed off about five minutes later, and headed north on Route 301. Traffic was light and for a weekend day seemed to contain as many pickup trucks as he found on that road during a weekday.

Behind his shades, Dave often saw the drivers and often their passengers gawk at the gorgeous teenager on the back of his Harley. Rose was hugging Dave, and often turned and put her head on his back in an affectionate way. More than once, he felt her kisses on the back of his neck or even behind one ear or the other. When he did, he cursed silently to himself; he was losing the battle of wills about making love with her.

Chapter 35 - Temptations

"She has gonorrhea. Dr. Faurst talked to her earlier this afternoon. She's contacting about six guys she had bareback sex with over the past two months. Tim will test and consult with them at his in-town office. She was pissed off at one of the guys, and very apologetic for getting Jake in trouble. The last point is that we can't seem to find Jake to put him on azithromycin. Tanya, Jake, and the others should not have sex with anybody for at least three months."

Dave and Ty shook their heads. Ty said, "I'll alert the rest of the Circle about this. I'll use the term 'exposed' rather than 'has' since we don't have a test from Jake. I'm afraid he'll pop up someday and slide right into our sexual activities without thinking. He was pretty distraught the evening we put him on quarantine."

Dave acknowledged the comments. "Maybe Erin should put something in the weekly newsletter?"

"Good idea. We'll do both."

Two days later on Wednesday afternoon, Dave got a call on his cellphone from the guard at the gate to the Circle. He said, "Mr. Prentiss, I have a young lady here at the gate that would like to talk to the lead of the Circle. Mr. Winter is away until Friday, and you are the vice president of the board and next on the call list. Should I send her up?"

"What's her name?"

"Tanya Peterson, she said."

"Send her up. Tell her to park as soon as she gets to Circle Drive. I'll go out and meet her."

The call ended and Dave put aside his business reading folder, strolled between his house and the Ander's house, and stood on the sidewalk under the covered walkway. An older blue sedan came up the Access Road. Dave waved to her and pointed, and she pulled aside and parked where he'd indicated.

Seconds later, a pert blonde got out of the car and came over to him. "Mr. Prentiss, I was told?"

"That's me. You're Tanya Peterson?"

"Yes, I'm almost ashamed to admit. I wanted to see you or I guess Mr. Winter the head of the Circle Board ... you see ... I wanted to apologize." She started to choke up. "I'm so sorry ... for infecting Jake Randall with ... Oh, God ... gonorrhea. I'm so embarrassed. I never had anything like this happen to me in my life."

Dave nodded, "Apology accepted, and I take note of your sincerity. I assume you're getting treated for the condition."

Tanya nodded, "I am. I'm on the university health plan, so I got a large shot of some antibiotic, and I have pills I have to take every day for the next two months to totally wipe the disease from my body. I also think I know who gave me the bug; he's toast for the rest of time."

Tanya took a deep breath and said, "I know this is crazy, but I kind of went after Jake. I've been a bit of a slut since high school. If I liked a guy, I was a sure thing for him. I slept with maybe six or ten different guys over a year, but I've been cutting that back since last summer. Jake was different."

"What made Jake different?"

"He belonged to your Circle. I dated a guy from Phi Theta Rho fraternity for a while. He told me about some alumni that lived in this place, I guess -- the Circle. Besides having lots of sex, they were loving, supportive, and nurturing to each other. I liked the sound of that, and then one of my friends pointed out Jake as a member here. I wanted an 'in' and he was my best and only shot.

"I kind of seduced him. I'm good at that, apparently. While we were fucking on our first date, I milked him for information about the Circle. He told me a lot of things that I found refreshing and interesting about your lifestyle. Of course, I didn't know I was infected with anything at the time.

"Anyway, I'm here ... not under the best of circumstances ... and I'm interested in the Circle and the people in it. I tried to call Jake but there's no answer on his cellphone. I want to know more, more, more."

Dave had led Tanya between the houses and to the bar that was not yet staffed for the evening.

"Do you know where Jake is?"

"Not at all. I thought he lived here."

"He did. He does, but he disappeared the day we confronted him with his indiscretion with you. He violated perhaps our most important ethic about the Circle. He had unprotected sex with an outsider and failed to verify that you were clean, meaning you had no sexually transmitted diseases. When we confronted him, he was about to romance one of women in our Circle. Like you and your past behavior, we willingly share ourselves with others. If a person were to become infected that could in turn impact one or two hundred other people here in a week or so."

Tanya nodded, "Your nurse, Nurse Anders, told me that when she took my sample. That's why I'm so rueful of what happened with Jake. I had no idea I was contagious, or that he could have that kind of impact on others if I were -- as it turned out, I am." She sighed, "I guess we kind of dodged a bullet, huh?"

"Yes, we all did."

"Could you tell me about the Circle?"

Dave said, "I'll do better than that. I'll give you book, and also a couple of DVDs. Both are about the Circle. The DVDs are season one of the reality TV show about us, called The Circle. Wait here for a moment."

Dave went into the core living room, and picked up Cricket's book and the DVDs containing all thirteen episodes in season one. He went back outside and handed them to Tanya. These are yours to keep. I recommend you read the book and then watch the DVDs. Season two starts to air any day on the Lifestyles Cable Channel."

Tanya said, "I'll record it and watch after I've digested these two things."

Dave thought for a moment and said, "Tanya, in some ways you would easily fit into the Circle, and in other ways perhaps not. We think of ourselves as hypersexual or nymphomaniacs. We love sex. We also love each other unconditionally, and take the steps to protect each other.

"You apparently, based on what I think I know about you, are a bit of nymphomaniac. I'm not sure you appreciate that the people you like need to be protected. I think you'll learn that from Cricket's book.

"What I suggest you do is read the book. I invite you to come back in a few weeks and talk to some of us about your impressions about us from the book and the DVDs, and also how you would see yourself interacting with us. I guess in some ways, we are more conservative that you appear to be, but you tell us."