The Pulse Pt. 05

I headed into work and checked in with Fiona. She was looking a bit off and was telling everyone that we'd had a bit too much to drink last night. She came down to the warehouse for a bit of fresh air around mid-morning and we did at least manage to have a mostly private chat.

"How are you Fiona? I feel so guilty."

"I'm OK. It doesn't feel great to be honest but it's not your fault. And I know that our accident overshadowed things a bit but I had a great night last night."

"Me too."

"Sweeney's was just brilliant and so was someone else I can think of," and she leaned over and gave me a kiss.

"How did it go with your parents last night? They didn't look too impressed to me."

"I'm afraid that they've decided that you're leading me astray. We were up quite late into the evening trying to talk it out. We've sort of agreed to disagree but I don't know what they want. Maybe for me not to grow up."

"I don't know what to say, Fiona. I hate feeling like the bad guy."

"You're not. It was going to happen at some point. They just need to see that their little girl has grown up."

"I don't need to stop seeing you do I?"

As I said it I realised that I sounded quite needy. I really didn't want to stop seeing Fiona.

"We might need to cool things off for a while. Maybe give it a week or two to let them calm down? I'll call you from the phone box so we can have an actual conversation and let you know what's going on."

"OK..."

"Hey, it's just temporary."

"Well family is important, so you need to do the right thing."

"I know. But for me as well as for them."

And she turned and leaned up against me, pushing her whole body up as close to me as it would go and we kissed.

"Ahem. If I'm not interrupting, maybe we can get some work done around here."

"Sorry, Nick."

We both blushed. She squeezed my hand before heading back up to the finance office.

Today was quite a slow day. It was a bit overcast and so I was given the dullest of all dull jobs - counting stuff to see if we actually have the same number of things in stock that the computer says we should.

It is truly monotonous but it did give me some time to try and clear my mind of my guilt about Fiona and her parents. More importantly, it gave me time to think about my use of the Pulse.

A lot of things about the Pulse truly scared me. What I'd done to those rapists was truly deserved but the fact that they could be vegetables for the rest of their lives is horrific. I had the power to do that. Who made me judge, jury and executioner?

It also made me doubt my relationships. Who was I influencing and would they have wanted to be with me without the Pulse? It was one of the reasons that I didn't want to use it to change how Jennifer felt about me. Sure, I could have shut her up and forced her to like me but I don't think that I could live with myself if I was basing all my dealings with people on manipulation and coercion.

Which made the uncontrolled emotional outbursts all the more worrying.

What would happen the next time that someone I cared for was in danger? Would I kill someone? The thought made me shudder and I started to look inside at the swirling Orb in my mind. The tangled threads whirled ominously and...wait...was it smaller than when I last looked at it?

It was tough to tell as it was always in motion. Maybe I was imagining things.

I sighed deeply.

The Pulse had had a massive positive effect on my life. I'd helped people. I'd done good things with it. I'd stopped a break in, stopped a gang rape. These were all good things. I'd managed to get people to look at me as a normal human being and made my last few weeks of school almost pleasurable. I'd become more confident and I was dating. Actual females wanted to be with me.

And yet I couldn't help wishing that it had never happened to me.

I was uncomfortable with what might happen and the responsibility that it carried. Part of that was the not knowing. Could I fly? Probably. How long for? No idea. How could I hide the fact from everyone that saw me if I did fly? I couldn't mentally influence everyone I met.

Or could I? I had visions of myself flying through the air on a surge of red power with blue threads flowing out of me like a spider's web.

That was the lure of the power calling me. Making me think that I could do anything.

Of course I couldn't. I was already becoming exhausted and eating massive amounts using the Pulse as I was. Who knows what significant usage would do to me?

It was so frustrating to only know a small amount about what I could or should be doing. Of what the Pulse was capable of.

I looked at a particularly large crate of post footings that I needed to count. I reached for the Pulse and tried to figure out whether I could use it to count the number of items in there. Nothing.

I sighed and started pulling them out of the crate and doing it the old fashioned way.

The day dragged on and on. Nick eventually took pity on me and set me to moving stuff around with the pallet truck. It was the least enjoyable day's work I'd had in months.

I went upstairs at the end of the day with the much brighter prospect of seeing Fiona but her parents had been in to collect her five minutes earlier.

Fuck.

I left work in a pretty foul mood and nearly forgot to stop at the off licence to pick up a bottle for the party. I sat outside the shop in my car and wondered again whether I should go.

Dammit, this was the sort of thinking that had dogged me for the last six years. That was the hesitant, unsure version of me. I was angry with myself for falling into that hole again. I'd go to the party and if I didn't like it then I'd leave but at least I wouldn't be living in my fears.

Could, woulda shoulda be damned!

Suitably uplifted, I bought a bottle of champagne and four cans of stella artois and drove home to get ready.

When I got home I found Mum and Dad sorting stuff out that Dad would be taking when he moved out. I got a real lump in my throat watching them being so matter of fact about it. The bookshelf in our sitting room would take a significant hit when he left. Other than the property details that he had shown me this was the first moment that made the divorce seem real. It was for the best though. I couldn't go back to the days of the two of them screaming at each other.

I showered and got changed into a smart shirt (another one of Dad's) and a pair of shorts. I chucked some clean underwear, some swimming stuff, my work gear and a toothbrush in a bag and went digging in the loft to find a sleeping bag to take with me.

By the time I was decent Mum had a couple of toasties for me which I wolfed down.

"Take it easy tonight, sweetie. You don't have to drink yourself into a stupor just because school has finished you know."

"I know Mum. It'll be spread out through the evening anyway and I'm sure there'll be food there. I'll head straight to work tomorrow though so I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

"It's roast beef so don't you forget!"

"My favourite! See you later. Love you."

The drive to get to the McConnell's place took longer than I thought. When she said Old Basing what she really meant was "in the middle of nowhere". Thankfully we'd walked around the area a bit as a family and so I had some idea of how to get near there at least.

I'd almost turned around on the way down to their place because I couldn't believe there was anything at the end of the country lane that I was on. I eventually reached the gates, imposing iron wrought things that shielded a long gravel driveway beyond. They were open and I drove through them, past the gatekeeper's house and down a huge driveway, probably about half a mile long.

As I got closer I could begin to hear music pumping and then I saw the house itself. It was a modern monstrosity. It was brick built and huge but it lacked any sort of charm or style. Someone had obviously told the architect that they wanted a really big house with really big rooms and that was about it.

There was a large garage off to one side, a fountain in the centre of the lawn and the driveway looped around in a circle before heading back out towards the gate.

There were cars all over the place and I found a spot where I hoped that I wouldn't be blocked in later. I retrieved my stuff from the car, and as I did, realised that the condoms that I'd bought from the pharmacy were sitting in plain sight. With very few places to hide them I put them in my bag and covered them over with clothes.

I grabbed the booze, put on my sunglasses to combat the late sunshine and headed towards the front door.

I rang the doorbell but after a minute or so with no answer I just pushed at the door. It was open and I was suddenly assaulted by loud music and laughing voices.

Everything in me wanted to turn tail and run. This was not my natural happy place. Just as I began to doubt myself, one of the other gymnasts came by.

"Hey, Jake! Come on in, man."

"Thanks Charlie, I wasn't sure what the deal was."

"It's open house man. Nice shades by the way."

"Thanks...err..you too."

"C'mon, I'll show you around."

He took me through the cavernous entrance hall, complete with a grand piano, stairs leading up either side and a huge chandelier. He led me through to a big comfy sitting room at the back of the house. The stereo was set up with the speakers pointing out of the patio doors and about twenty people were sitting, chatting or dancing looking down across an impressive back garden that stretched down to what might have been a lake or a river in the distance.

We turned off through a large door to the side and found the kitchen. It was vast with enough space for most of my house in it. Another group of people were in here hanging near the fridge and the huge island. One of the guys, I assume her older brother was acting as bar man.

Charlie propelled me forward into the room.

"Hey, Christine! Guess who I found?"

"Jake!" she squealed and she ran over and threw her arms around me, giving me a huge hug. She looked fairly tipsy but far from drunk.

"You made it."

"Yeah, it was a bit tough to find and I wondered whether I had enough petrol to make it down the drive but I got here."

She laughed far harder than my lame joke required and wrapped an arm around my waist drawing me further into the room.

"Well, you made it and you look good. Doesn't he look good Ami?"

"Sure. Hi Jake."

"Hi Ami."

"And he brought champagne! Thanks Jake. Start as you mean to go on. Let's get this bad boy open and get you all caught up."

I was nodding acquaintances with most of the people there though Charlie was the only one other than Christine who was particularly friendly. I was given a large glass of champagne and dragged outside to the pool.

She led me outside chattering away. She was wearing a pair of daisy duke shorts and a white bikini top that highlighted her small breasts and showed off her tan very nicely. Sophie Ellis Bexter followed the Artful Dodger and Destiny's Child on the stereo:

If this ain't love

Why does it feel now?

Why does it feel now?

Why does it feel now?

Why does it feel so good?

There were plenty of hot bodies on display as Christine introduced me around. There were a few people that I knew from classes, one or two vaguely hostile looks but most people seemed pretty chilled. They were all more interested in the music and the booze.

Suddenly there was a shriek from behind me as one of the girls was shoved into the pool. That seemed to kick things off.

"Christine, is there somewhere I can ditch my bag?"

"Of course, I'll show you."

And I followed her very attractive rear end back into the house and upstairs.

"I thought that we were just crashing on the floor."

"With this many bedrooms? It's fine. Here you're in this one."

It was a double room, looking out over the party at the back of the house. It was all nicely decorated and would have been a master bedroom in most people's houses.

"This is fantastic, thank you. I was just looking for a bit of floor space."

"Nah. Now come on, you're missing out. Unless you want to get changed into swimming stuff now?"

"That might be an idea, thanks."

She stood there looking at me as I waited for her to leave. She suddenly realised what she was doing.

"Ooops! Anyway, see you in a minute."

She headed off leaving the door mostly open. I quickly changed into my shorts. I'd forgotten that they were a bit tight but it was too late to do anything about that now. I threw on a t-shirt, grabbed my towel and headed back downstairs.

I stood to one side taking in the scene and slowly started to relax. The champagne began to work its magic and I gradually allowed myself to go with it, chatting to a few people. Charlie was waving at me to join in an impromptu game of water polo so I slipped off my shirt and headed into the pool.

Between my too tight shorts and my in-shape upper body I had more than a few looks as I stripped off before heading to the pool. I smiled inwardly at the different reception from what I was used to getting from a lot of this crowd.

I jumped into the pool and Charlie and I started playing against a couple of the other guys. We made a good team and were sweeping all comers before us. After a while I started to notice that other people weren't joining in so I suggested that we split up and go to four players on each side. The mood changed for the better and a couple of girls jumped in too. It all got a lot more fun.

Eventually the game broke up and it was just a free for all. I was groped several times in the melee and gave as good as I got with shrieks and shouts punctuated by the music. Whoever had chosen the tunes was smashing it as everyone started bouncing up and down shouting along to Limp Bizkit.

I was actually enjoying myself.

I started to feel tired and climbed out of the pool. One of the girls pinched my arse as I climbed out and I made sure that I knew who it was for payback later. I grabbed my towel and was drying off when I began to notice the looks again. I realised what it must feel like for a girl when she goes into a bar and gets looked up and down by the assembled males. That's exactly what it felt like to me as the girls all had a good look. It wasn't as enjoyable as I'd thought it might be.

I decided to get away from the raging hormones at the pool and headed back towards the house to get a drink. As I got a bit closer I saw Ami near the stereo and realised who was keeping everything going so expertly. I finished drying off, threw my t-shirt on and headed over to see her. She looked up at me from reading the track listing on the back of the CD.

"Can I get you a glass of something seeing as you're doing all the work here?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What would you like?"

"Some wine would be good," she almost smiled.

I topped myself up and got her a decent glass of Sauvignon. She took it without saying anything and I wondered what I'd done to piss her off.

"Are you OK, Ami?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound it from where I am," I must have been emboldened by my third glass of champagne.

She rounded on me looking furious. I just shrugged at her, holding my hands up.

"Hey, I'm not trying to judge but I've spent most of the last six years telling people I'm fine when I wasn't."

She looked long and hard at me, absentmindedly switching to the next song as she did it. She obviously made a mental decision.

"You're right. I'm not fine but I've realised that most of these people don't give a shit so long as the music is playing and the booze keeps coming. Who do you think organised this? Not Christine."

She said it almost bitterly.

"Wait, you mean you've been getting all this sorted for her? Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked in a small voice.

It took a moment for my addled brain to catch up.

"Oh...Oh...I mean...err...I don't know what to say."

"No. There aren't many things to tell someone when they're faced with unrequited love are there? How did that go down with you and Tina?"

"How did you..?"

"I know everything about everyone. Well most things anyway. And it's far from a secret from what I can see. So what did you say to her?"

"I told her that she was a very attractive girl but I didn't want her to get the wrong idea. And that I was sort of seeing someone...though that doesn't look so good right now."

"Fiona?"

"Damn, you do know everything don't you?"

She just nodded with a small smile.

"Yes, with Fiona. She's wonderful but I don't think her parents like me much."

"I'll let you into a secret. No girl's parents like their daughter's boyfriends much."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to find that out. So what about you and Christine?"

"There is no me and Christine. I'm not even sure she knows. She's a very heterosexual girl I'm sad to say. The good news for you is that you're very much her type."

"Really?" I spluttered through my champagne.

"Yes 'Really'. You can't be that blind. You're most of the girls here 'type' as I'm sure you'll find out later."

"What?"

"These things can start to get a little heated later on. Buckle up big boy."

And she reached over and squeezed my cock. She laughed at my expression and put on Muse's Muscle Museum.

"This one's for you...and a little for me. Thanks for coming over."

Can you see that I am needing

Begging for so much more

Than you could ever give?

I grinned at her and started to head back to the rest of the group. A trestle table had been set up while we were all in the pool and it was groaning under the weight of BBQ food and hot pizza.

We all set-to like gannets.

I settled down talking about gymnastics with Charlie and finding others joining in the conversation. It was cooling down and someone had fired up the patio heaters and turned on the pool lighting. The party atmosphere had died down a bit while people ate. Some of the girls got changed into some stunning looking outfits and I was doing my best to keep my dick under control.

"Is this seat taken?" said Christine and before I could answer she planted her hot pant covered arse firmly onto my dick. She was wearing a boob tube that showed her nipples and she ground her rear around on my cock as she pretended to get herself comfortable.

She then joined in the conversation as if nothing had happened subtly shifting herself around my raging boner and occasionally biting her lip as she felt my cock pulse underneath her.

I was embarrassed but hugely turned on. No one else seemed to care so I just decided to go with it.

Seeing my situation Charlie brought me a beer to save me having to get up. I gave him a grateful nod as the subject turned to music, university and Mission Impossible 2. Ami had the soundtrack on. I was finding it hard to concentrate though as Christine's gifted arse cheeks were clenching my cock between them making me worry that she'd have me coming in my trunks if I wasn't careful.

Thankfully I still had a plate and a slice of pizza to cover myself with when Christine got up to go to the bathroom. I sat there thinking of Baldrick in a dress and willing blood to my other extremities. I decided that I'd see what the garden looked like before the light went completely and maybe try and walk off my boner.

I finished my pizza and trying not to be too obvious I casually covered myself up until I felt things subside. I started to walk past the pool when Christine caught up with me.

"You're not leaving are you Jake?"

"No, I just thought that I'd try and settle all that food and drink by walking down to the end of the garden and back. I don't usually drink like this and that champagne feels like it's gone to my head."

She laughed.

"Of course, you haven't been here before have you. You'll get your feet wet if you go too far. Let me show you."