The Rescuer Ch. 03

If we were in her studio, I was sure that she would be kissing me by now, and I was extremely puzzled and worried why she wasn't.

Another two, then a third very intense shudder made Jenny moan, as her body just couldn't get enough of the private little world she had just drawn in so tightly around us. Nothing else existed for her, outside of what she could hold against her body, and felt in her mind and heart.

I didn't have to do anything special.

Just be there as her friend, and let her believe that her long ordeal of worrying about the tour, and her forced trips outside of her new sanctuary was almost over. Part of Jenny's unexpected amount of passion towards me probably had a good reason. She must've found out that I had been the one to cancel the so called VIP party for tonight.

That unauthorized fiasco was more than one step too far for Jenny.

I only had to make two phone calls to cancel it, and one more to suggest another idea altogether. My main point was that she lived here, in the same town as her permanent collection, and didn't want to meet a group of local people she might bump into some day.

Later on, smaller events without even the numbers of tonight's tiny and exclusive preview party, could be arranged.

The thought of the Artist, becoming traumatized enough with this particular museum location, to never feel comfortable enough to revisit her own work? That was the thought that had finally forced the museum director to let go of that particular section of his contract.

But I needed Jenny to at least face a few people, to keep all of her new progress meeting strangers on track. That was what the last call had been all about. Maureen had worked her usual magic on everyone, and especially in the afterglow of the two back to back finales, none of the original guests slated to meet the woman in my arms objected. Just three new people were coming to meet Jenny on the Terrace.

It was all setup. I just needed to get the shy trembling woman in my care ready in time for them.

Somehow.

My worries must have distracted me a bit too much... and the girl in my arms sensed it... and made me pay for that transgression right away.

Jenny was strong enough to actually hurt me, a little, when she got really swept up in her pleasure like this.

I actually liked that about her.

Quite a lot.

Her hugs became something much more intense, as another lightning explosion raced thru her entire body. I carefully matched her strength, and even dared to pull her hips down tighter against my dress pants, until she actually whimpered at the intense sensations.

My body reeled, right on the edge of my own control, because it had forgotten what it was like to face such overwhelmingly honest passion. At least in anything but my barely remembered dreams, and never forgotten nightmares.

So I was very ill prepared when Jenny's dark eyes suddenly flashed open... and as she looked deep into my uniquely gray ones... I suddenly found out that all of my normally inviolate defenses were down.

Never before had my friend looked at me so intensely.

Not like this.

Not ever.

Worse, Jenny seemed to be looking for something very specific.

That she should have not known to even look for inside of me!

There was a very singular reason that I had always been able to so successfully resist her considerable charms. I knew that there was no real actual danger of damage to her, if I ever gave in to her desires. It was actually me that was the one so sexually vulnerable.

In that way, I was much more of a crippled soul than her.

Jenny was freely offering her entire heart, mind, body and soul to me again, and she desperately needed and wanted me to accept those precious gifts!

But I did have one last line of defense... and proof of that was what my friend was looking for... and in my confused reaction to her naturally open sexual nature Jenny unfortunately found it.

"... it's true... Emma said to look for it... and that if it was me that you were falling in love with... even though we ALL know that you shouldn't... I'd be able to tell... who is she... this lucky girl that has finally recaptured your heart again... you haven't fallen back in love with Emma... I'd know that... it's not Karen again... I remember how you looked at me whenever I teased you... both before, during and after your break up with her... it's someone else... completely different... off everyone's radar... I'm so glad!... otherwise the next time you came to my studio... I was just going to tackle you... pin you to the ground... and fuck you... in my entire life I have never been so close to someone as I've become to you... that I didn't actually end up fucking... at least those that weren't already in a relationship and off limits... I don't break up marriages... or close friends who love each other... I don't need to do that just to get laid... you know how hard being around you has been for me... you being so single and lonely... in pain... the only kind of damage that I can help heal in someone else... the same way you do virtually everything else for me... but I'll bide my time... at least until I find out who she is... and if she isn't the jealous type... or is like me in other ways too... I'll find some damn way of having you BOTH... trust me... it's going to happen someday... I'll have you both... some day soon!... "

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Maureen finally nodded at her, and Ellie used a bit of her new found confidence to pry Everett easily away from yet another group of well wishers.

Strangely Carissa managed to break away from Lynette, and her ghastly mother, with only one silent nod. Another round of not so subtle glares kept anyone else from approaching, until just the four of them suddenly stood in a small clearing of the otherwise packed and overcrowded garden.

The first of the remaining ticket holders, from the impromptu festival outside the museum, had just been let into the exhibit hall. A few of them were skipping the art and heading directly for the food and the bar tables. The elderly woman's soft voice was a bit hoarse from talking so much. Yet further proof that clearly the longer than expected night out, had begun to exhaust the last remaining original stalwart of the arts community.

Ellie counted herself lucky to have overheard the almost lightning quick conversation, with the dedicated musician that had been struggling to find enough friends to put on the impromptu concert. The foundation Maureen and her husband had created, almost fifty years ago, was famous among all the students.

Whimsical, unpredictable and at times very extravagant, so many people at the local colleges had had their entire lives changed by just one brush with it. Where other such charities were rigid and uncompromising about handing out money. No one ever knew when the original deep pocket, and then later purse, would open up.

Since her husband had passed over thirty years ago, the randomness had only gotten worse. Maureen's time and interest became even more intense, but secretive. Ellie felt bad that she hadn't even remembered that the elderly woman still showed up at select events like this. When the frustrated young man received his royal summons, he seemed shocked, but had instantly followed her over to Maureen standing near one of the outer walls.

A not so little classical music appreciation tour, for all the surrounding cities' elementary schools next year? Every single one of them? It got negotiated and created in under a five minutes. A simple handshake, backed by her enormous reputation for keeping her word, sealed the deal. Then the talented musician and arranger suddenly had no problem getting his friends to agree to help in the garden tonight.

Ellie was used to big numbers getting thrown around at her job. But what was represented by a few scholarships, and a stream of guaranteed paid gigs thru out the academic school year, in exchange for helping with one impromptu concert? It made her head spin.

Still, even with that unplanned triumph, Maureen obviously relished even more revealing whatever last surprise that she'd been secretly holding up her sleeve.

"I think I have something to show all three of you, that you weren't expecting! I'm sure that the museum event staff have things well in hand now! We can certainly slip away for a few minutes. If we don't go right now though, the opportunity may not be there for you to enjoy, even if we delay just a little bit later! So, if there are no useless, fussy or disagreeable arguments? Follow me."

Rather than just heading directly to her eventual goal, Maureen seemed to almost wander thru the crowd, with Carissa and Everett in tow behind them. Ellie found herself lightly supporting the wonderful old woman again, with her left hand gently resting across the bent back and shoulders.

A few times, the well trampled surface of the once thick grass, made the footing a little uncertain for them all. Maureen had no trouble using her mostly hidden right hand to grab on tight to her hip whenever that happened. On the outside, to any of the many onlookers, nothing about the older woman's grasp looked unnatural.

About halfway towards the back corner of the garden, the one the farthest away from the warehouse, the feel of the tiny hand on her hip suddenly changed. The tight irregular grips to steady her balance stopped, but so did the gentle touch of companionship. If Ellie didn't know better, the soft caresses on top of the thin material of her dress had just become almost sexual in nature.

Not alarmed, still she had to glance downwards at the almost colorless eyes, to see what had so suddenly changed in the kind utterly respectable woman. All she got back was a slight nod, and a silent look that somehow said to be patient, and be a good girl and learn.

Ellie had grown up with all four grandparents baby-sitting her, and knew that look far too well from past experiences.

Without even a change of expression, Maureen somehow warned off the next two people seeking to delay them. Her eyes just wouldn't focus on them, and that bit of deliberate inattention made those guests hold perfectly still while they passed by. The hand on her hip got even more intimate, but still wasn't even moving an inch from it's original position. Not sure what to make of it, Ellie just had to wait to see how the older woman was going to handle the rest of their crowded approach towards the Exhibit hall's back windows.

It was almost as if they were deliberately retracing her earlier steps with Everett, but before Ellie could ask, Maureen spoke up again.

"It's always so hard to say NO to the party goers at times like these! Even though I want to say YES to everyone, I just can't sometimes. Most people think they are only just taking up a few moments of your time, but they aren't! Well, not all of them think that, or MAYBE some of them do? But if we stopped for each and every one, we would never get thru this crowd!"

The soft very experienced caresses stopped at each word Maureen so slightly overemphasized, but only Ellie knew of the second messages she was being given. For NO, there had been two taps with a single finger on her hip. For YES, there had been only one single tap. MAYBE got three such hints.

Ellie tried to steady her voice, still a bit unbalanced by the oddly comforting hand that had gone back to softly stroking her hip.

"I agree, that YES it's important that we be polite, but MAYBE there just isn't a good way of doing that every single time? Perhaps there is NO easy way to keep from offending some people."

The middle finger on her left hand shook a little, each time she tapped out her understanding on the old woman's shoulder. A soft pat of the entire very warm hand on her hip, was the only clue that Ellie had that she wasn't imagining this whole lesson in covert communications. Maureen skillfully dodged another two high society couples, and kept on talking as if nothing else special was going on.

"But people can be so contrary at times! They say they don't care about appearances, or who they are seen standing next to at parties, but they are actually guilty of the exact OPPOSITE thing!"

The word OPPOSITE was a accompanied by a scratch of a single fingernail looping back upon itself. Carissa chimed in, well before Ellie could even begin to think of her reply, and how not to have it seem parrot-like.

"I used to think that my parent's parties just had to be so much fun! Then as I got a little older, I realized that it was just the same boring people, over and over. Once I figured that out, I stopped wanting to sneak down after my bedtime, and visit with them."

Maureen replied with a light laugh, even as yet another group failed to get them off track.

"Just you WAIT until you get a real home and start throwing your own parties! That's always the DANGER with playing the host too often! You so quickly run out of new friends to invite to keep things interesting! "

The word WAIT was all four finger tips pressing into her hip at the same time, and holding steady for a few seconds. But DANGER had actually hurt her. It took all she could do not to wince, as four very sharp fingernails dug in deep enough that they would leave marks on her skin. When they refused to stop scratching her thru her dress, Ellie had to figure something out quick before she gave this new game away.

Waiting until they stood by a door to a side building, finally at the corner next to the Exhibit Hall's glass wall, Ellie quickly ran thru all six of the signals again. But this time in the proper order. No one, not even Carissa or Everett, could see her desperately tap out the messages she had just learned from Maureen.

But when it came to confirming DANGER, she just couldn't dig into the skin of the frail woman's shoulder for very long.

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Carissa could see how tired both her boss, and the high society lady she had been in awe of for so many years, were getting.

When the door didn't open up for them, and proved to be locked to her own curious touch, she looked down on Maureen with a puzzled expression. Everett seemed to understand this sort of thing so much better, and just patiently chatted about the music that was being played by the university students. After another minute or so, they left the isolated corner and abruptly moved on along the tall Exhibit Hall windows themselves.

On the inside of the building, the ground floor was brightly lit again, with people clearly enjoying getting to see the art that had been in the news so much lately. The Artist never let her work be photographed, or have video cameras capture it to be shown later.

You either saw it in person, or you didn't get to experience it.

Period.

After walking about twenty feet, but still well before they got near the main double doors between the garden and museum, Maureen resumed speaking.

"You just need to take your TIME when trying to RUSH thru events like these. Most people will THINK that we actually went into that first door! They glanced at us, and when they looked back, we were gone! They'd probably even SWEAR that we'd gone into that side building in a legal court! Most guests at parties are totally UNRELIABLE witnesses! They only see what they WANT to see! Nothing else!"

They weren't exactly running, but Maureen's voice seemed to be growing a little breathless at times.

Up ahead, an alert Opera House guard paused the stream of people going in and out of the museum's tall double doors, and let them pass by the entrance easily. Since they were so near the multiple makeshift kitchen entrances, there were no opportunities for any of them to speak privately for a little while. As soon as they made it to the next inner corner of the garden, and made the turn, the cross traffic got even worse.

A platter was making its way towards them, filled with some really delicious looking delicacies. Maureen just stared at the startled short young college girl carrying it. Without a single word, the tray was lowered a little bit more, and the older woman deftly picked one of them off. A smile of real pleasure crossed that wrinkled face as she tasted it, and with a little royal nod, the server resumed her duties.

Having just seen one of their like do it, every passing tray after that along their way, was briefly held low for inspection. Some trays simply got nods and were left untouched. One had two such bite sized morsels removed. By the time they were half way along this second side wall, one last server came out of a busy door, holding something that made Maureen step backwards.

"On my! Those look simply wonderful! I can't possibly even touch one! I'd never stop eating them! They are absolutely beautiful! Are there plenty more back there?"

The huge silver antique tray was filled with tiny individually handmade chocolates. All decorated so precisely it was hard to believe that a real person, and not a machine, had piped the designs made out of colored icing. Perhaps a hundred little bits of heaven rested on small lacy bits of parchment paper.

They were of a level of sophistication and elegance, that even on all of her travels overseas, Carissa had never seen their like before.

"Yes, ma'am. They are from a special provider, so new to the city, they supposedly don't even have a proper shop or distribution setup yet. There isn't even a name or a card attached to the dozens and dozens of big boxes! And this is just a few of the choices! We keep opening up lids and they all seem different every time! We've been told to stop taking them out so fast, and come out different doors, because people seem to be waiting to ambush us before we can set them out onto a table. One girl even had a completely empty tray by the time she reached her destination!"

Maureen seemed actually shocked that she had never heard of the chocolates or their maker before... and her left hand trembled as it reached out towards the tray... and slowly lowered back down.

"I'll have to find the real source of your secret treasure vault, young lady, when we have concluded our business. Just as long as you're sure, and promise me that you won't run out?"

The cute girl seemed to understand as she nodded, then almost seemed to curtsy before she hurried away. But it was true, she had several people following her, the instant she was in the main garden area itself. The next person to come out the door was confidently carrying a tray of elegant champagne glasses. The stem ware was different than anything else they had seen so far tonight. Clearly what was inside of them wasn't a common vintage, but Maureen worked magic once again.

"Girls? If you would each take two glasses? And Everett? Would you take just one? We are about to be officially late in a few minutes, and we must hurry. There you go! Good man! Please HURRY along!"

As if he was unable to refuse, the tray was held out to each of them, leaving only Maureen unburdened. The next few steps saw a flurry of servers carrying more ordinary sandwiches and bar fare dodging around them. Their group was silent again, and the path abruptly cleared ahead, until a simply huge Opera House guard standing in front of a narrow door came into view.

He was every bit six and half foot tall, and seemed to be made of nothing but muscle, but somehow managed to look elegant and not brutish in his fancy tux. His eyes were steadfastly fixed out onto the crowd, unmoving, like the ex-military men all the Opera House guards probably were.

He was startled badly when he finally looked down to see the face of the shrunken barely five foot tall figure looking up at him. Without a single word, he fumbled in his pockets for a loose key, and he hurriedly unlocked and opened the odd door that had been almost completely hidden by his bulk.