The Circle Ch. 42

The edges of the show and a few after that followed Tammy and Tracy through their very different struggles about rebuilding their lives, and broadened the focus on the daily life in the house, including some of the pairings and threesomes that formed some evenings after dinner and that went off to make love. Each episode of the show seemed to show a little more of that side of things.

Jessica's move into the house to do some 'research' was a feature of one episode, including long talks with Jim and Monica where they each encapsulated many of the values, principles, and operating practices of The Circle. The episodes featuring the interviews built up a latent audience for Jessica's research paper on the polyamorous intentional family.

As promised, Marty sent a bag or two of fan mail each week – the letters she thought were the more interesting and representative of the thousands received. They sat piled on a table in the lounge and it became a favorite pastime after dinner for some of The Circle members to gather and read them to each other. A favorite expression heard often in this pastime was, "Oh, hey. Listen to this one ..."

* * * * *

Darrell Brinnell or 'Dar' – rhymes with 'car' – as he told everyone to call him, was the top cameraman or videographer on the NBC team assigned to the filming ofThe Circle. Tall and gangly and in his late thirties, he had a quiet demeanor, a sense of humor, and a pleasing personality on or off the job. He had a knack for capturing the rare and interesting moments in the daily life of The Circle on film, and that was probably why NBC had put him on the job to filmThe Circle TV show. He was a professional.

Dar obviously liked the people in The Circle, and enjoyed bantering with them between shots. When a comment or two would lighten the day and not interfere with the filming, everyone liked it when he stepped in to say just the right thing.

Dar knew everyone's full name, even the babies – and he could tell them apart, unlike some of the other crew. He was engaging, and in brief conversations revealed that he had a wide range of interests and knowledge.

Because of her work at the local TV station with other cameramen, Willow was drawn to Dar, and it became no surprise to see them hanging out together even when he was off of his shift. Willow made a natural move to include him in some of The Circle's public activities, and he fitted in well. The pair especially liked to bicycle around the back roads and go on short adventures – to the state forest for a picnic, or into the small town to poke around the various shops and maybe get an ice cream.

Dar outfitted one of the bikes in the garage with a toddler seat so that Ariana could accompany them. He'd put a diaper pack on the back of his bike, wore a backpack with lunch or other supplies, and off the three of them would go, often accompanied by several of the others. Of course, this also meant that he got videoed by another NBC team because he was socializing with one of the members – and a somewhat famous one at that. He became an outside 'boyfriend.'

Dar was inclusive, and liked group activities. The more the merrier seemed to be his motto. One could feel his enthusiasm rise when other people wanted to join in a picnic or outing of some kind.

It was rare to hear Dar disagree with someone, even on his own staff, and the word 'but' – an indicator of a negative opinion, just wasn't in his vocabulary. He had a natural way of coaxing someone to see other points of view without discord. He never criticized another person, even public personalities in the news. At the other extreme, he was quick with praise and celebration when someone on his team or in The Circle did something noteworthy.

When Tracy finally shed the cast on her broken arm from the airplane crash and simultaneously lost the therapeutic boot on her injured foot, Dar was the first to see the changes and give her a brief hug and supportive word about her progress.

Because of her job at WWLX-TV, Willow became the focus of several of the camera teams for a couple of weeks. She would go into work in the mid-morning, pick up the copy for the noon news and deliver that accompanying another newscaster and a weather girl, work up the copy for the evening news in the afternoon plus handle some station breaks, and then at five, five-thirty, and again at six would host half-hour newscasts. After that, she'd wrap up for the day and return home.

One day, Dar caught up to Lynn who was playing with Ariana just as her mother came on TV. Ariana lit up like a Christmas tree, and kept pointing at the TV set and repeating 'ma-ma.' Ariana eventually paid rapt attention to every word her mother was saying, whether it was about the crisis in Syria or the local city council meeting; the toddler looked so intent on catching every nuance of the news. Dar captured the cuteness of the toddler on film with rare and pleasing camera angles.

Later, Dar showed Willow and Lynn the clip to much laughter between them. Even Ariana liked watching herself on the television set.

Dar invited Lynn and Willow to dinner one Sunday evening when everyone was off duty. He took his double date in stride and was the perfect host for the two women. He was equally attentive, showing great interest in everything either woman raised. A week later, he took Tammy and Michelle out, obviously aware that Michelle was married, but wanting to just spend time with some of The Circle who he saw most frequently. He obviously liked everyone, especially the girls.

During the week he started to engage more with Alice who worked from home, and then some of the other women. He even got to follow Tracy around Visionix one day to get an indication of what she did on the job. Visionix loved the free advertising.

Dar and Matt had a natural affinity because of their mutual interest in photography, including of the human form – Matt with still lifes, and Dar with the video camera. They had a whole new vocabulary about cameras, lenses, focal lengths, CMOS chips, light adaptions, and so on that seemed foreign to most of the others. It was not unusual to see Matt standing behind Dar as he shot some scenes, learning about positioning and camera angle from the pro.

Matt and Alice confessed to Dar about the porn films they'd done. No one as yet had alerted NBC to this aspect of The Circle. Dar laughed, and did borrow copies of a DVD or two to view.

One night after Willow and Jim had made love, she asked, "Would I be creating an awkward situation if I made love with Darrell sometime soon? I really like him, and so does everyone else."

Jim smiled, "Of course not. Despite your presence in The Circle, you are still a free woman. No one owns you or needs to give you permission."

Willow nodded, "I just wanted to be sure ... and that you especially are OK with that?"

"I like Darrell, and I know most of the others do too. He's gone way out of his way to befriend each of us, and we all know he likes us and we like him. He's a good choice."

Willow snuggled into Jim's arms, "Thank you for understanding. Dar has been so good to me and Ariana."

Jim thought a moment, "Does he want to belong to The Circle? He could, you know. Right now it might compromise his work, but someday the TV show will end. He might like a home with us. Ask him about it."

Jim could feel Willow smile against his chest. She just kissed him to indicate that she'd heard his remark.

Willow sought out Darrell the next evening immediately after she got home from work. An astute observer would have seen the seductive smile on her face, and the enthusiasm with which she greeted her friend. After a few minutes, there was some whispering and then the two of them silently slipped away from the others for the night.

Jess had observed the interaction of Willow and Dar. She'd not yet interviewed Willow for her research paper, but now that need ratcheted up on her agenda. She also decided to put Darrell on her list too.

As Jess sat thinking about her research and findings so far, a pair of strong hands came onto her shoulders from the back, and gently massaged her muscles. She closed her eyes and instantly gave into the sensations provoked by the hands, even purring aloud to indicate her approval.

A minute later, someone kissed her ear and then down her neck. She turned into Mike's arms and kissed him on the lips. "Yummmm," she purred. "You do that divinely."

Mike said, "I can do a little better without the sweater."

Jess gave a subtle laugh, "I bet you could do even better than that without clothes."

Mike nodded and kissed her nose, "You have the best ideas; maybe we should try that."

Jess rose and put her arms around his neck as he joined her in front of the sofa. "I want the whole treatment. Come with me." She led him away from the lounge towards the stairs to her room.

Steph had been sitting a few feet away watching the less than subtle invitation to couple between the pair. She'd also seen Willow and Dar disappear; it was that time of the evening.

A minute later when she looked up from her magazine, Steve stood in front of her with a hand out to her. "I am hoping you might like to join me tonight. We haven't had time together for several weeks, and ... well, I really missed you while you were away."

Steph broke into a smile and stood. She took Steve's hand, kissed the back of it with the roughness honed from his manual work, and then wrapped his arm around her. Together, they headed off.

Tammy had stayed after dinner, not to babysit, but to enjoy full membership in The Circle. People were still very gentle in approaching her for sex, but she was slowly getting to know many of the people in an intimate way.

Kyle came over and sat down beside Tammy. Just his presence at this time of night signaled a wish for sexual union. Kyle leaned in and kissed Tammy, and she kissed back with more than her usual ferocity.

Since breaking through the sexual barriers she'd put up years earlier, Tammy had rediscovered the kinetic joy of sex, and was like a new convert to some cult – she couldn't get enough of that side of The Circle, fast enough. Not everyone knew of this side to her, however.

Kyle pulled away, "Wow. I like the way you kiss."

"Me too, and the answer is yes."

"Answer? I haven't asked a question yet."

"But you're going to, and the answer is yes, I'd love to, please."

Kyle teased, "So, you really don't mind taking over my job of emptying all the public wastebaskets each day next week?

Tammy poked at him, "Nonsense. You were going to ask me if I'd like to go to your room with you. You want to intimately explore my hot middle-age body."

Kyle laughed, "True, that."

"And so, my answer is yes. I want to make love with you." Tammy pulled Kyle's head to hers and they kissed again.

Kyle continued to suffer from some level of disbelief that Tammy could be so ready to go off with him after her months around The Circle as she struggled with the last steps to her grief and unwillingness to commit further to the world. "We don't have to ... you know ... if you'd rather just ..."

Tammy leaned into Kyle so her words would be clear and only for his ears; she whispered, "I want to fuck you. I want you to fuck me. I want us to make love. NOW."

Kyle found his sea legs at that point. "Great. Let's go." He put out his hand, Tammy took it, and off they went towards Kyle's quarters. Tammy looked so pleased.

The next night the TV cameras recorded some other pairings by the same women. Willow went off with Bill. Lynn captured Dar and led him away instead of Derek, her previous night's partner. Jess went off with Alex. Mike led an increasingly pregnant and very happy Lolly away towards his room. Steph accepted an obvious proposition from Matt; and Steve went off with Tammy, who had another wide grin on her face because she was going to get to make love to a new man.

The camera also captured Alice leaning in and kissing Monica in a romantic way. Together the two women made a rather obvious indecent proposal to Jim that made him break into a huge smile, and the three of them headed off together. Right behind them Bob and Nathan had captured Ellie for some similar evening fun.