Quiet Resolve

"That is where the girls were?"

"Yes."

"Where the hell is her mother?"

"Marsha's mother is in a nursing home in Pottsville. Hamilton has been paying for her expenses there."

I finished the fruit and poured myself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the table.

"Why did he have to kill us? What did that gain him?"

"We were never really sure, but it looks like he was hoping to get sympathy votes because he was a grieving widow. He would also inherit a hell of a lot of cash. I guess he hoped to further elevate his standings by marrying a widow with two young girls. Everything was planned to make him look good for the public."

"Sounds like a stupid plan to me. What would he gain by killing me? Of course I am a little biased."

Both of us got a small snicker out of my weak attempt at black humor.

"Why did Marsha decide not to go thought with the plan?"

"Dennis, you will have to ask her, but I think she was beginning to have feelings for you."

"She used me. From day one, I was just a tool to her. There is no way that she felt anything for me."

"Don't count on it."

"How do you know all of this?"

"My father has been monitoring all sorts of stuff for over a year now."

"Okay, but tell me again, why you are here?"

"My father is a very slow, meticulous man. We knew for along time what was going on and we knew that we had to end it, but according to him, the time was never right. I was pulling my hair out, trying to figure out how to get him to do something. Then a knight came to my rescue on a white horse."

"Thanks, but that is not the way I would ever describe myself. You still did not answer my question."

"When you flooded the world with all the lawsuits and publicity releases, things came to a head fast; real fast. You got my father off of his dead ass and made me a happy woman."

"That wasn't my intent. I guess I wanted to get out of a bad relationship and let my feelings be known along the way."

"You did good, Dennis. You did real good. That is why I am here. To thanks you."

I smiled and got up from my chair. "I am glad that all that has been taken care of. Now you have to excuse me, because I have to get to work. I am already late."

"Relax, Dennis. Your work scheduled has been changed for the week. Daddy has talked to the Captain and your only job for the next seven days will be to keep me company."

I sort of shook my head in disbelief, and walked away. I heard what she said, but can't say that I liked it. I really didn't want to spend the rest of the week entertaining a rich, spoiled brat. I had work to do.

Chief Daggert, my immediate supervisor was of no help. He sighed when he saw me and instructed me to go to the helm. I didn't get to see the Captain, but the second mate informed me that everything that Emily Wilcox had said was true. As I walked back to my cabin, I realized that I didn't have any clothing that would fit in with what I was expected to do. I had two, used tuxedos, some Dickie work clothes, and the outfit that I wore when I boarded the ship.

I changed into the best shirt and pants that I had and started looking for my new mistress. I found myself being used by a woman again and I didn't like it. Was this my destiny. Would I spent the rest of my life as a whipping boy for dominant women? Maybe the word 'dominant' is a little strong. In any event, I was not happy.

She was reading a pocket book, while on the deck, and sheltered from the wind. She smiled as I approached, but seemed anxious.

"I am sorry if I upset you, Dennis. That was not my intent. I was hoping that you would get some satisfaction out of the arrangements that were made with the Captain. Your reaction indicates that I was way off base.'

I sat beside her and tried to get comfortable. I never did like deck chairs. "I was hoping that we could come to some sort of a compromise. I am willing to spend the days with you and I will do everything that I can to be a good companion, but I feel that my evenings belong to the unaccompanied ladies that are on the cruise."

"You want to dance with them?"

"Yes. There are several other men here that are doing the same thing, but there are never enough to go around. These women wait all day to dress up and go dancing. I can't let them down."

"Okay, I can accept that with a few restrictions. Between dances, you will sit with me, and I will get to select the women that you dance with."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"I don't really know, but lets try it tonight. If it doesn't seem to work out, I will drop it."

"Okay, I'll give it a try. I don't under stand why you want to do that, but I'll try."

"Good. This afternoon we will be stopping in Napoli and I will be buying you a few clothes for the rest of the trip. I can afford it and I will not take 'no' for an answer. Any questions?"

"No."

We both laughed when we realized that I gave her the answer that she said she would not accept. The rest of the day was fun, but there were not enough days left on the cruise for me to wear all the clothing that she bought for me. In fact I had no room in my cabin to store them. Most of the shopping booty ended up in her suite, by necessity.

Emily and I had supper together, but not at the Captain's table. After supper, I changed into my black tux for the evening. Emily had a small table for two reserved on the edge of the dance floor, and was waiting for me.

"You look very elegant, Dennis. The tux suits you."

"Thank you, but I feel out of place."

"You are staring me. Do I look okay?'

"You are absolutely beautiful. I can't understand why Hamilton did not appreciate what he had."

"I spent an hour in the ships beauty salon getting ready for the evening. I am glad that you feel that it was worth the time."

"The dress fits perfectly and sets off the pearls. I don't want to sound crude, but I think getting your bust line adjustment was a good decision."

She leaned over and whispered, "You are not supposed to make remakes about a woman's breast, Dennis. It is inappropriate."

I whispered back to her, "Sorry. I don't have a lot of experience at this gigolo thing. I am learning fast however, by necessity. Some of these ladies are real flirts."

Before getting comfortable, I excused myself and walked over to the line of male companion dancers standing by the stage. Most of them were older men who got to take the cruises free in exchanged for dancing with the guests six hours a night. They all loved the evenings and enjoyed entertaining the ladies. They were aware of my situation, but I still got a good teasing from them. Each of them promised to dance at least one dance with Emily that night.

Emily enjoyed the evening more so than I would have ever expected. She had a different partner picked out for me every dance. The biggest challenge was a German lady in a wheel chair. I was unsure how to handle it, until the lady herself, made a few suggestions. She was the only one who I danced with twice. Emily got to dance several times and a few were with other passengers. It was easy to understand why.

She stayed with me until the band finished for the night. I walked her to her cabin and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek and a sincere "Thank you". It was a wonderful evening as far as I was concerned.

The week flew by. The last night of Emily's trip she literally dragged me into her room and had her way with me. I got the feeling that she was a little disappointed with my lack of effort on the previous nights.

Her new boobs were still a little tender, but not enough to stop her from enjoying my clumsy efforts at gentle grouping. For the first time ever, I found sex to be fun and uninhibited. Emily and I seemed to move together and fit together perfectly. When I fumbled around trying to get a condom package open, she grabbed it and threw it to the floor. Before morning, I had emptied myself into her three times, including once in the mouth. She was willing and exuberant. I was in heaven.

Four hours later, she was leaving to fly back home. She tried to convince me to go with her, but I didn't feel right about it. I still had four months to go on my contract. I promised to contact her as soon as I finished my obligation. It was a petty, stupid decision, but it was still important to me.

For the next few weeks, I tried to convince myself that it only happened because she was recovering from the fall out with Hamilton. Sometimes I felt like a cad, because I had taken advantage of a grieving widow. Then I remembered that she wasn't grieving, but rather celebrating. The more that I thought about it, the more I confused myself.

I spent my mornings with the daily safety reports and maintenance logs. My nights were filled with dancing. I started to specialized in entertaining the ladies with handicaps. The other escort dancers were more than happy to give me full reign in this area, and the female guests were tickled pink.

Emily Wilcox never sent a letter, an e-mail, or any other type of correspondence. I also never heard from Marsha, but then she had no idea where I was. I found myself thinking about Brandy and Brenda a lot more that I expected to. I really missed them. I thought a lot about the situation that Marsha had put us into. I understood the basic concept of what she and Hamilton were trying to do, but I never understood why they decided to do it. It was easy to explain it all away in my simple brain just by telling myself that I was just not sophisticated enough to comprehend it. Only Marsha could answer all the questions.

My contract was up. The cruise line wanted me to sign up for another six months with a little bonus. They also offered to send me to a maritime school in London so that I could get certified in some areas related to the ships electronic and safety systems. If I accepted the schooling, I would incur a full years commitment with the company. I promised to give them and answer in thirty days. I was flattered to learn that several of the lady guests had requested the dates when I would be on board so that they could schedule their trips.

Instead of flying home, I got a flight into Orlando. My mother was sharing a modular home near Ocala with a gentleman friend who turned out to be quite pleasant. Mom seemed to be genuinely upset that the marriage with Marsha didn't work out.

My spirits were low as the plane landed in Philly. Going home was not something that I was looking forward to, but it had to be done. It was time to clear things up with Seymour. I wanted to make sure that I didn't owe him anything. I had no place to stay, no job prospects and nothing to look forward to. It would have been a lot easier if I had planned ahead, at least a little. There was plenty of time in the last few months to look for a new job on the Internet, or at least a new place to live, but there was also no motivation on my part.

Most of the people departing the plane at the terminal were upbeat and excited, but I was with the second group; business men who were coming home with dead eyes and a bored expressions.

A whole chapter of my life had passed and I had nothing to show for it except heartache. Watching the other passengers being warmly greeted by their friends and families only made my depression worse. All I had to look forward to was getting a rental car and driving back to the source of my misery.

"Dennis! Dennis! " The sound of my name being yelled by some children got my attention, but just until I remembered that there were over two hundred people on the flight and the chances that a family man on the flight had the same name as mine, was pretty high. I smiled at my gullibility and kept walking.

"Dennis! Dennis!" There it was again. This time I looked for the source and was surprised to see Brenda and Brandy running up to me. It didn't make sense. No one knew that I was even on the plane. It was only a matter of seconds until the both of them were grabbing at my hands. They never had acted this way before, and I found it to be confusing. Marsha could explain it, I was sure. The only problem was that Marsha was not there; Emily was.

Emily waited with a smile on her face. I set my carry-on bag down and we traded cheek kisses, like you see posh people do in movies, but never see anyone do in real life. It seemed natural and I didn't know what else was expected of me. We were walking towards the terminal exits when a guy approached and asked for my claim tickets. Emily nodded to me and I handed them to him. A limo was waiting by the curb. The two girls were jabbering the entire time. In fact they were talking more today than I had ever heard them speak before. I picked up words like 'limo' and 'Aunt Emily', but I was unable to put any completed sentences together.

Things were suddenly very quiet as the limo doors closed. The hustle and bustle of the terminal were behind us.

"Welcome home, Dennis." Emily took my hand and smiled. I didn't get to respond.

"Isn't it neat, Dennis? Have you ever been in a limo before?" I couldn't tell which one of the girls was talking. I looked over and smiled. I really had missed them.

"No, never."

Brandy started up again. "Dennis, we are going to have a sister. I want to name her Brittany, but Brenda wants to call her Bethany. What do you think, Dennis? What do you want to call her?"

My head was spinning. There were a million questions waiting to be answered, but I was unable to formulate one. The 'new sister' comment started to register. Was Marsha pregnant, and if so, where was she? I paused for a moment and then looked at Emily. She smiled and then glanced down at her stomach. Although it was too early to really feel anything, she put my hand on her stomach.

When Emily had said that a condom wasn't necessary, I had assumed that she was on some sort of birth control. I guess I was wrong.

"Dennis. Are you happy to see us?" Brenda was trying to give me a little kick to get my attention, but the limo seat was a little too far away.

"Yes. I missed the both of you very much and I am very happy to see you."

I was rewarded with two big smiles and a hand squeeze from Emily.

"Am I going to get some sort of explanation?"

Emily leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

"Maybe and maybe not."

I decided that I really didn't need or want one.

Epilogue. Shortly after I left, Marsha had contacted somebody in the State Attorney's office. Although she had agreed to testify against Hamilton, it never got to trial or even close. Hamilton Ryder's demise brought everything to a complete stop. Somehow or other, a zealous public servant felt that Marsha had to be punished and she was the one that got the short end of the stick. She ended up with three to five years for conspiracy to commit murder and a few other similarly ridiculous charges. An appeal is underway to have it all thrown out. Emily found out that Marsha's sister was not able to take care of Brandy and Brenda, and volunteered to fill in. As amazing as it may seem, Emily and Marsha actually became friends.

I am presently living with Emily and the girls. As soon as Marsha gets out of prison we are all going on a week-long Mediterranean cruise. I am not sure what the sleeping arrangements are going to be, but I am sure that Emily will surprise me. I have two new tuxedos.

Oh yes, I turned down the job.