Off Campus 04 Pt. 09

"No, seriously, two are at home running the show."

"How do you do it? Keep them all straight."

"Serious?"

"Yeah."

"Too glib to say that 'I just do'. I have a completely different relationship with each of the ladies. Hannah in there? She's the serious one. She's my rock, strong and resolute. I need her."

"Okay, so they're different. There's got to be something in common that attract them to you, and you to them."

"Smarts. I'm not saying that in a flippant way. These ladies are super-intelligent and along with that, have killer senses of humor. We could almost be our own Mensa chapter. The nearly constant verbal sparring is one way we make love. Ohgawd, are they bright! They keep me on my toes, for sure."

"Do you have a favorite?"

"Yes. My wife. She gets bonus points for putting up with me for thirty years."

Laughs.

"In all honesty they're all my favorites. Let me throw it back at you guys. How many have children?"

About half raise their hands.

"More than one?"

Only one drops out.

"Okay, which one is your favorite?"

"Ahhhhhhh!" in murmurs of recognition.

"We love each other in a family way. Yes, we are adults, and frankly we have a particularly joyous intimate side, in pairs and multiples, but if there is one thing that I "rule the roost" about, is that nobody is left out of our fun times. And we love each other, and, sometimes, yes, in 'that' way. 'Cept me and the guys. We keep it straight."

More laughs.

"You have guys?"

"Yeah, our publicist said not to mention them the other night. 'Too weird' he said. No, it was too difficult to explain in sound bites. One is my partner in the business and husband of one of the ladies. He and his wife, and I and my wife, are a loving foursome, and have been for several years. Together we sort of started this mess, unintentionally. The other gentleman is younger, and came into our group as Hannah's boyfriend. He has, shall we say, 'befriended' our wives."

Snickers from the group.

"That's okay. He's a great guy and I am mentoring him into forming real relationships. He's grown up a lot in a short time, and is becoming a true gentleman. I've come to love him as a son of sorts, but I don't like to think of it that way since he is, after all, doing my wife."

More snickers and chuckles.

"But isn't all of that really weird?"

"This is where it gets complicated. In short, we've sort of thrown away the rulebook that defines loving relationships. Not by intent, but by letting honest feelings bubble to the surface. And then there's the biggie."

"What's that?"

"Respect. We all respect each other, at so many levels. My overriding guidance for everyone is 'respect, trust and love'. And, again, honesty. Like right now."

I pause.

"Is everybody okay? Yeah, it's a lot to absorb. But I don't see any gray matter anywhere, so no heads have exploded."

"You are awful!" several laugh.

"Also, I've been instructed by that lovely lady in 533 that I am not to take anybody home with us. I have a rep for strays following me home, so nobody get any ideas."

Lots of laughs on that one.

"You are hilarious, Mr. Albertson. And interesting. I can see why they cling to you."

"Thanks. Hey, let's get everybody together for a group picture. Sarah, you do the honors, and then one with just you and me. My fifteen minutes is about to run out, so make it quick!"

Everybody chuckles at that and there are smiles all around as we bunch together for the souvenir. A repeat for a shot with Sarah, then a few of us just chit-chat as several of the staff head off on their rounds.

"Excuse me, everyone. I see Ms. Simmons, Hannah's psychologist coming down the hall. We're in the middle of her tearing me a new one about 'the serious pathologies' in our little family group, so I had best raise shields and resume our chat. It's been a pleasure! Thank you for taking care of my Hannah! See you later."

"'Bye, Steve! We love you!"

"I heard that, Steven," Bethany chuckles. "You are so bad. Recruiting for the harem, are we?"

"You know I don't work that way!"

"I know. Fun to aggravate you about it, though. Hannah doing okay? She was not well when I left this morning."

"Doing great. Let's go see her."

A few steps to Hannah's room and I see her eyes are closed. I gently tap on the door frame, and announce "knock knock". She awakens and smiles.

"Hi, sweetie," greets Hannah. I lean over for a kiss. "How'd it go with the nurses?"

"It was fun. Kinda blew their minds explaining our situation, but they were interested. Bethany's here."

"Hi!"

"How are you doing?" Bethany asks. "Looking a heckuva lot better than you were this morning! Hey -- great numbers on the monitor. When are they going to kick you out of here?"

"Oh, gawd, am I sore. But feeling like myself otherwise. No word on when they're going to send me home. Nobody's said anything yet about my getting out of bed, either. The bedpan sucks."

"Has your doctor been by yet?"

"No."

"We'll find out then."

I pull up a chair for Bethany and then find my own.

Bethany gets to work. "Hannah, now that you're feeling 'like yourself' we can talk a little more seriously about your relationship with Steve. This really should be just between you and me, but considering the extreme openness you two seem to share, we'll call it couple's counseling. You okay with that?"

"Shoot."

"How do you feel about Steven right now?"

"I love him more now than I ever have. He didn't have to do any of this."

"How do you feel about him in the context of the harem? That his affections and attentions are split seven ways. When you are back home, there will be a crisis involving one of the others. He will be rushing to 'protect' them in the same way. You have a long convalescence ahead of you. How will you feel when he takes off for parts unknown for several days to support them in their time of need? You're going to feel abandoned."

"No, I'm not! We talked about this, Bethany! You keep wanting to diminish the support of the others in the harem! They are all my friends and lovers! Steven may be most of the glue that binds us, but there is no competition, like you want to turn it into. If Steve's not available at some exact moment because he's tending to business or the others in counsel or in intimacy, there's always another one of us there to fulfill any need I may have, because they love me too! I love them. It's not all about Steven!"

"Would any of the other ladies drive for nine hours overnight to support you like this?"

"In. A. Heartbeat. Why is it that you keep pressing this? I love Steven, immensely. I love my girlfriends. And I love being in the harem. That kind of sincere affection, support and, frankly, mind-blowing, totally satisfying sex of the most intimate and fulfilling kind... well, it was never anything I remotely thought possible. But it is, and that gentleman sitting right over there... Jesus, Bethany, are you trying this hard to make me think about it all just to make me love him more?!"

"Yes. You're getting it. In unusual relationships like this there are frequently unhealthy components that only come to the surface under the stress of serious self-examination."

I push back, "You're also accustomed to men being the bad guys in nearly every counsel you undertake, yes? Not being accusatory, but I guess I am, in your current line of work I can't help but surmise you don't see much support from loving partners, especially in cases where the pregnancy is the result of sex outside of the core relationship."

"Nice turnaround, Steve, and, being honest, no I don't. There are a lot of jerks out there. A lot. I have to give you credit, you're not one of 'em. So there, an entry on the plus side of the ledger. Happy?"

"Oooo. Snark!" Hannah chuckles. "You've pressed her buttons, Steve!"

Bethany smiles, and continues, "Your relationship with multiple women in a cohabitation setting is a wreck waiting to happen, Steven. At least clinically. I feel it's only a matter of time before something goes totally haywire."

I again push back, "Uh. Something just did. Hannah is here in the first place to fix the consequences of what you might consider irresponsible and impulsive sex with relative strangers. Sorry, sweetheart, I'm having to look at things from her perspective."

"It's okay, Steven," Hannah reassures. "I know and love that you support our playtime, in and outside of us and the girls. Bethany, if it wasn't clear from what we discussed yesterday, we ladies love sex. We're a bunch of horny bitches most of the time."

This gets a disapproving smirk from Bethany. The pathology here is "engages in risky sex", but she already knew that. I don't understand her rancor, actually, since that particular behavior is very likely attributable to a significant number of the women needing the services of her clinic.

"You're not supposed to show judgment, Beth!" I chuckle. "Anyway, back to the 'haywire' thing. Given all that has 'gone wrong', we are recovering from Hannah's mishap, and, I believe, are emerging even stronger as the battles here subside."

"But there's more than just getting past a health scare."

"Yes. There are employment and business partner relationships among several of us. I recognize the minefield of combining that with love and intimacy. I'm especially worried about Jessica, the most needy of our troupe. You saw that I prop her up, and I have a real fear there may be a business decision somewhere down the line that will test that."

"I saw it last night, Steven. She works for you?"

"Yes. Jess is our restaurant manager. She was employed as a server there long before we bought the hotel, and our time together started well before we knew we were going to have a work relationship."

"What are the other conflicting relationships?"

"Almost everybody, though Hannah and Thad work at another restaurant in town. They both know I can't hire them because of our complex relationships. The rest? The best way I can put it is the hotel has become a 'family business', it's just that what defines our particular 'family' is unconventional. But, truly, we function well, with work divisions that are successful. The business is turning profitable with our loving team, and we revel together in the progress we've made. It was very much operating in the red when we bought it."

I get raised eyebrows and a smirk in response.

"Hannah, do you have any questions for me?" as Bethany wraps things up for the evening.

"Will you be back? It seems right now all that's left is my healing up enough to travel."

"Yes, I'll pop in like this until you are discharged. Steven, I talked to my PhD advisor today, and once he got past the shock in my relating the full extent of your situation he gave me the green light to redirect my thesis. He likes it because it's new and different. I'll touch base with you next week. I have your card."

"Sounds good. I'm hoping that you can get past the biases I've heard and give us an honest analysis. I am especially aware of and sensitive to academic studies that are pre-loaded with a specific outcome in mind, so beware that I'll be watching the watcher closely."

"Duly warned!" she chuckles. "See you guys tomorrow."

"See ya'!"

Whew. Bethany is a lot of work.

"What do you think?" I ask Hannah.

"She sure was pushin' it, Steven. She doesn't like what we have."

"From her point of view we violate too many of the basic assumptions in her field. If they don't like something they call it 'a pathology' and try to convince us we are obligated to address it. Then there's the magic phrase, 'high-functioning', which is academic BS for living successful lives in spite of the 'pathologies'."

"Can't wait until I can 'high-function' with you, Steven!" she laughs.

"Too soon!" I chuckle. "But I certainly appreciate the sentiment! We've got to concentrate on just getting you out of that hospital bed. Anyway, you tired of me yet? I really should touch base with the others, and it's getting close to dinnertime."

"Yeah, they undoubtedly miss you. Give Cheyenne a call to come pick you up. I'll be good here for the evening. I know you were figuring on maybe even spending the night in that chair, but with things going this well so far I think we're past that stage."

"Yeah, you're doing great. I'll call Cheyenne."

I call. I get quite the answer.

"Hey, lover! You would not believe what happened to us today. You will be shocked and totally surprised!"

"Uh... that sounds ominous."

"Oh, you're going to like it a lot. I'm going to keep it a surprise for you at the hotel. Seriously, you're going to go through the roof. Ready for a ride?"

"Yep. Hannah's kicking me out of here. She's doing great, by the way. Just need to get her up and walking and we may get to take her home."

"Good! See you in five!"

Surprise? Pleasant surprise? Nothing like that was on our agenda for this trip.

"What was that?" Hannah queries. "I overheard 'surprise'."

"No idea. She sure was excited about it, though. Hey. The drive is really short. I'd better get down there. It'll take longer to negotiate the maze here. Kiss?"

"You bet!"

She pulls me into her for a big kiss and maybe too big of a hug. Her raw strength is breaking through the pain. I feel absolutely wonderful for her, and with her.

"See you in the morning, girlie. Tell you what. I'll bring extra sheets and we can tie us some escape ropes to break you out of here."

"Ha! I love you, Steven. Another?"

She grabs me for one more big hug and kiss.

"Love you, too! Rest up!"

I make my way out the door, wave to the crew at the nurses' desk, and head toward the elevators. Admittedly I'm a little tired from the visit and especially the butting heads with Bethany, but there's something I've been told is wonderful waiting for me at the hotel. What in the heck could it be?

I emerge from the front entrance; in a fit of great timing Cheyenne is pulling into the circle drive. She is grinning from ear to ear.

As I get into the car, "Well, what did you guys do today that is so awesome and wonderful?"

I lean over for a nice kiss.

"You'll see!" as Cheyenne takes off. "Truthfully, we didn't do much. The concierge arranged for our security detail and with that we went to the mall, had a light lunch at a cute café, and spent a couple of hours in a big art museum. Cyan insisted on that. It was nice, though it did remind me that I'm missing the culture of the big city a little bit."

"Sounds like you had a pretty good time. How was the detail? That's a new thing for us. Were they okay?"

"They were great. Nice guys. The whole black suits and sunglasses thing is a little unnerving, but once we got used to them we felt the freedom it afforded, and it was wonderful to be free of that subtle fear. One volunteered to hang back to meet you, off the clock. We added him to our dinner reservation."

"Wow. They impressed you. Then I'm impressed. You don't brook much shit, Cheyenne."

"You'll see!" as she tries to suppress her laughter. Whatever this is, it has to be big.

We pull up to the valet stand and the bellhops see to our doors.

"Good evening, Ms. Morris, Mr. Albertson. Welcome back."

"Thank you, gentlemen!"

We step into the entry hall and turn into the lobby. Cyan, Ally and Jess are grinning and waiting for Cheyenne and I to approach the group. There is a large gentleman behind them in a black suit and sunglasses, striking a familiar figure. No. It can't possibly be. Impossible. He doffs his glasses.

"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD FUCKING SHIT! TONY!!!"

"Told'ja," I hear Cheyenne chuckle in a mumble. Heads turn at the commotion.

We step to each other and embrace in a huge man-hug.

"How are you? How's Maria? How's the new addition? What in the hell are you doing in the Springs?!"

"Fantastic to see you, Steven. I'm fine. Maria's doing really good. We had a girl, Heather. She's still keeping us up half the night. First birthday is next week."

"Great to hear! Still, why are you here?"

"Club was raided and shut down about two months after you guys left town. Amber's timing couldn't have been better. The ladies told me you and your beautiful friend here married Amber this week, and she just happens to be back at home. Congrats! Sweet girl, she definitely deserved a better life, and there you were to give it to her. You always impressed me as a quality guy, Steve. Oh, it is great to see Cyan again! Gorgeous, as always!"

"Thanks, Tony. I guess it was a bit of a shock, too, when your detail was brought in for the girls, and there she was."

The ladies close-in around me in a group hug.

"Yeah. I kinda had to peel her off of me," with a big grin.

Cyan giggles.

"Now what is this crap I hear about you and seven of the finest beauties I have ever set eyes on?"

I laugh, "It just sorta happened. It started with our usual kinky shit and turned into something nothing less than fantastic. I truly love all the ladies, and Phil and I are more best buds than we ever were. You know the only one you haven't met is Hannah. Once we stage her escape you'll get to meet her, too."

"Looking forward to it. Gawd, man, you have great taste. And smart! Dennis and I could barely keep up with their banter! Cheyenne here is kick-ass!"

"And I depend on her for it!"

I get a squeeze and a pinch from somewhere in the big hug huddle.

There's a soft voice next to my head that is Ally informing us, "Hey, guys. Time for dinner."

The girls break our huddle and the six of us stroll towards the restaurant. Since I've been in my suit all day I feel a little stale, so I dart into the restroom en route to splash a little water on my face, straighten my tie and realign myself in general. Taking a deep breath collecting my thoughts, I rejoin the gang in the restaurant foyer. The maître d'hôtel notes my arrival and welcomes us.

"Mr. Albertson, your table is waiting. We are so pleased to have you and your lovely friends as our guests tonight. Please, right this way."

I whisper to Jessica, "(Jess, slap me if I've underestimated you, sweetie, but have you ever been to a really fancy restaurant like this before?")

"(I think so, Steven. A couple of times, maybe. That place in town.)"

"(Doesn't count. This place is a couple of notches way above that. You might take note of what a truly formal dinner presentation is like. You may need to learn it for us.)"

"(Oh? You have plans?)"

"(Maybe. We'll talk upstairs. Sit next to me. No lap, though!)"

She giggles.

The maître d' and two waiters zip around the table as they seat the ladies and then Tony and I.

The dinner experience is quite the show. Jess is the only one of our group with no experience in truly fine dining, so her eyes get big in wonderment at all the commotion and the sheer numbers of service staff attending to us. I do the whole wine shtick with the sommelier, which mystifies her.

"(Why do you sniff the cork?)" as she sidles up to me for the question.

"(To make sure it's not gone bad. Smells like a musty basement if it has.)"

"(Why don't we do it at the bar?)"

"(It's mainly a problem with vintage wines, sweetie. We only serve the mass-market stuff at the moment.)"

Ally overhears and smiles at me for my kindnesses to Jess. She knows I'm using the opportunity of this road trip to gently address Jess's naïveté about a lot of things she had no knowledge of or experience with, in the confines of Ottawa. We need to bring at least a little bit of big city aura to The Abercrombie, and the little details such as the trappings of a fancy restaurant may be in our future.