

Her

Catalyst

## a story of hope and love

## in an alternate timeline

# Part 04 of 25

## Geoff Schultz

ebook format edition - distributed by www.smashwords.com

Copyright 2020 by Geoff Schultz

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, and events in this book are products of this writer's imagination or, in the case of referenced historical persons, are used fictitiously. Any other similarity to actual persons, names, or events is purely coincidental.

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License Statement: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this writer.

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Note to the Reader: The principal elements of this story were previously released under a different title by Glynn Glenn who requested that this writer rewrite and release this story under his own name.

WARNING:

Each of the 25 Parts of Her Catalyst has some descriptive scenes of intimate pleasure experienced individually or shared between consenting adults which are inappropriate to children and will be offensive to some adults. Some Parts also have brief descriptive scenes of violence unrelated to intimacy. In addition, some of the statements and ideas expressed by the characters may be offensive to some people. The intent of this writer is not to be offensive, but to allow the characters to practice their right of the freedom of speech.

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An explanatory note:

This story takes place in an alternate time line which uses a calendar of ten months with six weeks of six days each. The remaining five days are set aside for the New Year holiday at the beginning of the year which expands to six days every fourth year.

Months are identified as 'first' through 'tenth' with the New Year holiday being the 'zero' month at the beginning of each year. The days of the week are known as: first-day, second-day, third-day, fourth-day, fifth-day, and sixth-day. Dates are recorded with four digits for the year, two digits for the month, and two digits for the day. For example, 2120-06-18 refers to the year 2120, the 6th month, and the 18th day.

Days are divided into 24 hours with the start of the hour being referred to by the number followed by the word 'hundred'. For example, noon is called 'twelve hundred' and an hour later is 'thirteen hundred'. Rather than use precise times, the following abbreviations are used to designate general time periods with the dates:

(n) for night or about from 0001 to 0600

(m) for morning or about from 0601 to 1200

(a) for afternoon or about from 1201 to 1800

(e) for evening or about from 1801 to 2400

For inclusive time period listings with dates, '>' is used between time period abbreviations. For example (m>a) means from the morning into or through the afternoon. For partial time period listings with dates, (a1) is the first part of the afternoon and (a2) is the second part of the afternoon.

The cartographic coordinates used in this story to identify municipalities and other locations are based on a defined circumference of the earth of 25,000 miles divided into 1,000 units of 25 miles each. Longitudinal coordinates begin near the western edge of the Western Ocean (in the reader's timeline it's called the Pacific Ocean) and reach the 500th unit near the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. While the units are 25 miles apart at the equator, their separation diminishes as the location nears the North and South poles. Latitudinal coordinates begin at the North Pole and maintain a 25 mile separation to reach the 250th unit at the equator and the 500th unit at the South Pole. After the cartographic coordinates were defined, it was discovered that the circumference of the earth around the poles is less than it is around the equator so there is some overlap of units at the North and South poles based on maintaining the 25 mile interval between units measured from the equator. For the story of why the cartographic coordinates were developed, please read The Trouble With Luck available at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/GeoffSchultz.

# Her Catalyst – Part 04

2147-09-01 (a3>e1)

The restaurant is busier than Angelisa ever remembers it being as she takes food to another customer then refills another drink while she slips past the line of customers who are waiting for the next table. Those who hadn't been here last night want to find out all about what happened from those who were here and they are only too happy to re-tell what they saw and heard. When she's asked, Angelisa honestly says, "I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk, I have another customer."

It's such a 'talk worthy' event that people are even interrupting their own and even other people's meals to discuss it which is something she's never seen before and is even somewhat of a cultural taboo. As she's hurrying from table to kitchen and back again, Angelisa is glad to hear that she can detect no embellishments to the story as it's told and re-told.

* * * * *

After they have more food and drink in them, Sharlene and George take care of the stuff they piled in the front room last night. When they start to look at what's available to fix for dinner, they see that either Maria or Angelisa had greatly added to their take home container of food. Although they're tempted to serve that, they settle on re-heating some of the chicken soup they made at George's yesterday and brought some in the cooler. Since there are a couple of more hours before Klara is due to arrive, Sharlene sends him to the love seat to read while she unpacks her luggage and gets a load of laundry going.

When there is nothing more pressing for her to do, she finds herself sitting on his upper legs and cuddling with him. He starts to put his book down, but she tells him, "No, George, you can keep reading. I just need to be close for awhile."

He still puts his book down and explains, "But it's better to hold you with two arms rather than one. Besides, it's hard to kiss you when I'm reading."

Because he senses she needs comfort rather than passion, he strives to keep his kisses gentle and comforting rather than exciting. And kissing the top of her head rather than her lips sometimes helps towards that goal. A couple of times she gets up to deal with the laundry, but she's soon back to cuddle.

When she hears the doorbell ring, Sharlene gets up, goes to the door, opens it, and says, "Klara, come in."

"Hello, Sharlene. It's good to see you." They hug.

"You made good time."

"The flight actually got in a few minutes early, there were no lines to get the rental vehicle, and you gave good directions. By the way, I'm supposed to scold you for not calling your dad in over a week."

"Ouch, sorry."

"Don't worry. Since we talked last week, he figures you must be doing okay. So, where's your distraction?"

As they leave the front room, George stands up from the love seat and walks towards the ladies.

"George, I would like you to meet Klara Sohkohlov. Klara, this is my distraction, George Greyson."

They shake hands and say how nice it is to meet each other. Klara looks at Sharlene and asks, "You admit that he's your distraction?"

She grabs his hand and says, "When it comes to George, I'll admit to almost anything."

Klara's eyebrows rise in surprise as she looks back and forth between them until George shrugs his shoulders and says, "She seems to think there's something special about me, but I haven't got a clue what it is."

"And he doesn't listen when I tell him how wonderful he is."

"Are you arguing already?"

"No, Klara. After decades of being ignored, poor George can't believe I see something very special about him."

"Especially after he's been indoctrinated by society that beautiful young women can't see anything positive about old men."

George nods his head as he responds, "That's an additional factor in the equation. I'm sorry, Sharlene, you've made it clear you do want me, but I still can't understand it."

Sharlene turns to hug him as she tells him, "I know, George. Yet to me, you're so obviously wonderful, I can't imagine how nobody else can see it."

He kisses the top of her head then tells her, "I'm just grateful you see whatever you do see. Shall we feed Klara? It's probably been a long trip and considering what they don't serve on airplanes, she's probably hunger and thirsty."

"Of course. I'm sorry, Klara. I hope you don't mind re-warmed chicken soup. We made it yesterday at George's and didn't get here until late. I wasn't up to going to the grocery store today."

"Chicken soup sounds good."

"George, can you get it started while I give Klara the tenth-credit tour?"

"Sure."

When they reach her bedroom, Sharlene can see the question in her eyes and answers, "Yes, Klara, only one bed. And yes, George and I have slept in this bed since I brought him home from the medical center. When we spent last week at his place he did have another bedroom for me, but I still ended up in his bed for part of most nights. And no, we haven't made love. I'm not usually inclined to speak about my private life, but George and I have slept in the same bed for almost four weeks and we've done a lot of hugging, kissing, and touching during that same time and he hasn't yet touched me intimately with his hands."

"The way you say it makes it sound like you haven't refused him."

Sharlene shakes her head as she explains, "No, I haven't refused him. I've even offered myself to him and have given him permission to touch me. And I know he wants to touch me, but he's restrained himself, incredibly, to lead me on what he calls a journey of touching in which he takes small steps in touching me towards intimacy. Every couple of days, he touches me a little more than he's touched me previously. In between, he touches me no more than before, but so often in new and creative ways.

"When we started touching, the reason he gave me for taking me on the journey was so I could call a halt to it whenever I thought the touching was getting to be more than I wanted. He didn't want to overwhelm me with more than I could deal with. And he hasn't. Not even close. I'm sorry. I don't mean to try to persuade you. I just can't seem to stop myself from wanting to convince people how wonderful he is. . . . He probably has the soup ready by now."

"Well, let me wash up and I'll be there in a moment."

"Thank you for listening, Klara," Sharlene hugs her.

"Thank you for being willing to tell me."

A couple of minutes later, Klara stops at the edge of the kitchen and sees them standing in front of the stove with an arm around each other and her head on his shoulder. He turns his head and asks, "Klara, what would you like to drink? We have orange juice and iced tea, or we could heat up the kettle for some hot tea."

"Iced tea will be fine."

George dishes up bowls of soup, while Sharlene pours drinks and then sets out a plate with cheese slices and crackers. Since she guesses they'll sit next to each other, Klara takes a seat on the other side of the table to watch them. He hands her a bowl and tells her, "There's more if you're hungry."

"Thank you, George. It smells good." She dips a spoon in, lifts it up, looks at it, then looks at them and asks, "Are you sure you want to call this soup? It's thicker than many stews I've seen."

"I suppose we could water it down if you wanted."

"No, not at all." She takes a bite and says, "Mmm, this is good. I guess I just question the term 'soup'." Klara finishes her bowl, and another half bowl then says, "Very good. Call it what you want, just don't change the recipe."

Sharlene explains, "This batch of soup is a little different because George had slow cooked a couple of chickens over the grill for Aunt Paula and Uncle Paul on fifth-day. We cleaned out his fridge yesterday and used what we thought would work and added some vegetables from his garden, and, presto, soup."

"Klara, would you like something else?"

"No, thank you, George. Oh, maybe some more iced tea?"

"Coming right up."

After the table is cleared, the kitchen is cleaned up, bathroom trips are done, and full glasses of iced tea are in front of them, Klara looks at him and says, "George, let me be honest with you. When I heard that Sharlene had taken you into her home, I about freaked. Quietly, of course, I didn't want to alarm her parents. So I did a discreet, but very thorough background check on you. Other than an occasional speeding ticket years ago, you're about as squeaky clean and legally boring as a person can get. So I calmed down some.

"You need to understand that I've known and watched over Sharlene since before she was born. I worked for her grandfather, I worked for her father, and I currently work for her dad. For most of her life she didn't know me as more than a nice lady in her dad's office, but I'm also a friend of her parents and so have taken a somewhat parental view of her over the years."

"I'm glad. And thank you for checking on me to ensure her safety."

Klara raises her eyebrows in surprise then goes on, "But I still wasn't satisfied. So I made some other inquiries. I checked into your credit, your property, your finances, your legal papers. I found out about the fiasco at the library reading program, I found out about the ad you put in the paper, I had a couple of long talks with Paula and Paul. I even talked to Jean and Rachel. After all I could find out, I came to the conclusion that either you're the world's best actor or you're nothing more than who you claim to be."

"Thank you."

"And that's why I flew in early, to meet you and judge for myself if you're real."

"I hope you take your time, because nobody can reveal all sides of themselves in a short period of time. Just last night I got really angry. I'm sorry, love, I wasn't going to bring it up."

"But George, you were so wonderful. You were . . ." and Sharlene almost flings herself into his arms and begins to sob.

* * * * *

2147-09-01 (e2)

With raised eyebrows, Klara watches them closely, but sees nothing more than Sharlene huddling within his arms and George snugly holding her while he kisses the top of her head and murmurs gentle words. Several minutes pass before Sharlene calms down a little. He reaches around and grabs the tissue box from the counter and gently dries her tears. He even tries to get her to blow her nose with the tissue he holds, but she insists on doing that herself.

Klara asks, "What happened?"

While he continues to hold Sharlene and gently caresses her head, George tells Klara what happened last night.

It the silence which follows, Sharlene whispers, "I didn't mean for him to get hurt. I just wanted him to go home and grow up."

"I know, love. You didn't try to hurt him. Your kick was meant to disarm him and not hurt anyone. You protected yourself. Afterwards, I realized you also tried to protect everyone else at the same time. When you tried to kick the knife out of his hand, you directed it towards the only place where no one was standing or sitting. Instead of thinking about him, think instead about the other women he won't be able to rape. Think about the families who won't have to fear him and his extortion."

"You're right, thank you," she kisses him then turns and says, "I'm sorry, Klara, I didn't mean to put on a show."

"You're not. If something like that had happened to me, I probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning. If George's description is accurate, and I have no reason to doubt you, then you were both completely within your legal rights. Do you happen to know which police department those officers were from?"

George shakes his head as he verbally answers, "No. That's something I didn't pay attention to. I don't even remember what color their uniforms were. I think they gave us their business cards. I'll have to check my shirt pocket. If I can't find it, I can call Maria at the restaurant because I think she knows them."

"It doesn't have to be now. Have you thought about any kind of response?"

"No."

"Sharlene?"

"Not for me personally. I think I'll get over it after some time has passed. I had thought of asking you for a recommendation of a lawyer on behalf of the other victims who he claimed to have raped and extorted."

"Ask no further. I would be privileged to take on the case. I'll double check the laws, but I don't think there have been any significant changes since you were born. By the way, my time on this one is free."

"Klara, I know there will be other costs and I'll gladly cover them if I can. Maria and her family were always very welcoming to me, and I helped her kids learn to read. If that . . . so and so had hurt Huleeoh or raped Angelisa, I . . . I . . . I would have killed him. If I had known he had raped women when I first stuck my gun in his gut, I would have pulled the trigger then and there."

As she gently caresses his face, Sharlene tries to comfort and encourage him, "George, calm down. He didn't hurt Huleeoh or Angelisa. He's gone now and won't hurt anyone else. You stopped him, George. You called his bullying bluff. You stood up to him. What you did made him lose face in front of his supporters. My guess is that's why he pulled the knife. He felt he had to regain his power."

"George, Sharlene is probably right. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to stand up to a bully. I suppose I should ask if you think the other victims will accept me as their lawyer."

He thinks for a moment then says, "I really don't know, Klara. I think Maria might on our recommendation. Whether she can convince others to step forward, I don't know. It will probably help that we'll do it without cost to them. Some of them might prefer to put it all behind them and forget about it and try to let time heal their wounds. I suppose we could take you up and introduce you to Maria and see how that goes."

"How far is it?"

"Usually a couple of hours, but I normally drive it on the weekends. It might be a little longer of a drive during the week."

"Well, let me think about how I want to coordinate my time with the Project and maybe we can make a trip or two up there. If I need more time, is there a nearby hotel I can stay at."

"No, but you can stay at my place. I have another bed I can take out of storage and set up for you. Or I could let you have my bed and I can sleep on the sofa."

"I wouldn't want to chase you out of your bed. I assume you and Sharlene will share a bed."

He pauses before he explains, "We have and I welcome her when she's willing to join me in my bed, but I won't make her feel obligated or forced to share my bed. When we first came here, she made it clear we were going to sleep in the same place so she would be able to monitor my medical condition. Since she preferred to sleep in her bed instead of on the love seat or on the floor, we slept in her bed. Since then, I've been selfish enough to enjoy cuddling with her even though I don't think my medical condition any longer requires her to monitor me that closely.

"If she decides that at any time she doesn't want me in her bed or her life, then I'll sleep on the sofa or leave, whatever she wants, whenever she wants, no questions asked. That's one of the reasons I won't ask her to marry me. I want her to be free. I understand she has a life insurance policy from her biological parents which she can use to help her while she's out of a job, but those don't last forever. I've already told her that I'm perfectly willing to support her as long as I can with no obligation on her."

Klara nods her head in understanding then says, "Since I've looked at your financial situation, if you remain careful with your spending that should be for the rest of your life and beyond."

"That's my intention."

Klara turns and says, "You've been rather quiet, Sharlene."

"What can I say? This kind gentle generous loving man is willing to support me, care for me, protect me, and give me pleasure without obligation, coercion, or force. I'm sorry, Klara, I can't refuse such an offer. I don't mean to make it sound like a cold hearted business deal. Most people would see our age difference as an insurmountable barrier, but in so many other ways, we're very compatible.

"I think the first thing I noticed about him which made him special in my eyes, is that I was comfortable with him, I felt safe to be in his presence. I think you have an idea of how many other males I've been comfortable being around. I've felt comfortable discussing topics with George and asking him questions which I've never done with anyone else. The longer we're together, the more I like about him and the more I want him, not only to be with him, but in all ways."

"Thank you, both of you. I appreciate your willingness to tell me things which are essentially none of my business. Before I deliberately change the subject, I need to make a trip down the hall and refill my drink. Excuse me."

After Klara steps away, they share another kiss and while he catches his breath, Sharlene makes her own trip down the hall. He's just getting up to refill their drinks when Klara returns and asks, "Where's Sharlene?"

"She made her own trip down the hall and now it's my turn."

When they're all back at the table with refilled drinks and everyone is in their own chair, George hands Klara the business card which he had received from the police officer last night.

"Thank you, George. I guess I have one more question before I change the subject. How do you feel about me snooping into your affairs?"

"I'm not pleased that my affairs can be looked into, either by you or anyone else. Since your motivation was concern for Sharlene's safety, then I'm not going to get bent out of shape over it because her safety is more important than my privacy. If it had been for some other reason, I would be inclined to find a good lawyer and sue your pants off for an invasion of my privacy."

"But if you sued my pants off, that would be an invasion of my privacy."

"I'm sorry I used the wrong terminology, but you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do know what you mean. Thank you."

Sharlene looks back and forth between them before she says, "I don't know what you mean."

Klara looks at him and he waves a hand at her to indicate she should explain. "I guess George and I are dating ourselves because the phrase of 'suing one's pants off' isn't often used any more. Essentially, it means suing someone for everything they own, including the pants they're wearing. The laws have changed so a private party can no longer collect very large punitive or punishment awards, only the government can do that. A private party can only collect compensation for damages received, probable future loss, and an equivalent punitive reward. Of course, there are ways to manipulate the figures to anyone's advantage, but no more suing the pants off another person. Change of subject, Sharlene, what have you been doing in regards to getting your new company ready to go?"

She pauses before she admits, "Not much, I'm afraid. I've been writing notes about ideas I've had for how I would like to see the company function and what its philosophy ought to be. Mariam knows more about the practical side of it, but I've been hesitant to talk to her since I don't want to compromise her position or have it somehow come out what our plans are."

George taps her headband and reminds her, "Don't forget the emotional recordings you're collecting."

Sharlene turns to him with a dreamy smile, kisses his cheek, and tells him, "Thank you. I do tend to forget about that."

Klara looks puzzled and asks, "Emotional recordings? I guess I'm the one who doesn't understand something."

"A major part of the Project is the gathering of emotional responses through digital recordings."

"Yes, I know that. But how do you fit into that?"

"After Mariam talked me into trying out for the Project, most of my emotional recordings were so low level Mariam threatened to use them as a sleeping pill. The last week I would probably have been with the Project and attempting to collect emotional recordings, I took a week of vacation and spent it with Aunt Paula, met George, and had my first sexual experience. When Mariam saw my emotional recordings from that week, she about came unglued and said parts of my recordings were the cleanest recordings she had seen."

"If I remember right, there are two main measurements to the emotional recordings, one is the intensity and the other is how clean or singular the particular emotion is."

Sharlene nods her head and says, "That's right. Anyway, that happened at just about the same time the Project was starting to melt down and Mariam had done a preview of my emotional recordings and hadn't entered them into the system. She told me not to submit them, but to save them on my computer. When the message came to turn in our headbands and equipment, I turned mine in. After the inventory was taken, Mariam had some turned in which had already been recorded as lost, so she gave me one and insisted that I continue to record my emotional responses and save them on my computer."

"I assume on the basis that since some of your previous emotional recordings had been clean and strong enough, Mariam figured you would probably have other strong clean recordings."

"That's right."

"Interesting. I would like to come back to that in a little while."

* * * * *

2147-09-01 (e3)

Klara pauses then says, "So, you've been jotting down ideas about how you want the company to operate and what it's philosophy ought to be and you're making emotional recordings which you hope will be able to be used to support the company. Have you been doing anything else?"

She drops her head in embarrassment then answers, "No. I really don't know what else I can do."

"I'm sorry, Sharlene, I didn't mean to sound harsh. Most people who start companies concentrate on the practical and give no thought to the underlying principles and philosophy which they want to apply to how the company operates. I'm glad you've thought about those things."

"I was trying to follow your advice of being the senior partner and setting the direction of the company and use the expertise of the people around me for them to do what they do best."

"That's good. It's a little rough when the practical partner is sitting around with her hands tied and isn't in a position to really do anything."

"Just in our few somewhat general talks, I've come to rely on Mariam to deal with the practical side because I don't have a clue as to what to do."

Klara assures her, "That's okay. Even if you did know what to do, you're not in the position to do a lot of those things and be able to keep it all legally tight. My guess is that Mariam is frustrated at not being able to do anything and is probably racking up ideas and energy and when she's finally released, she'll make your head spin."

"Yeah, that would be Mariam."

"Since it's actually the investment company which is going to bid on the Project and because I'm the representative of the investment company, there are a few things I can do that you can't. Sometime this week, we'll apply for a local business license for a new company called Digital Empathy which the investment company will form. We also need to find out from Mariam or someone else at the Project how much room is needed for the inventory and the equipment and rent a place which will provide that much space as well as room for offices and a conference room. I've already contacted a local real estate agent and have several possibilities lined up to look at in various sizes. And before you worry, I do have access to considerable funds which the investment company has set aside for the Project."

George asks, "So, based on Sharlene's initial pitch and your research, the investor is really serious about acquiring the rights to the Project and developing it?"

Klara nods her head as she answers, "That's right."

"And if the investment company doesn't win the bid for the Project?"

"Then whatever expenses were incurred are written off and they go look for other projects to invest in. It will probably feel like life and death to Sharlene and Mariam, but to the investment company, its 'ho, hum, another day at work'. Do you have any other questions?"

"Not that I can think of."

"If you do have questions, ask me or ask Sharlene to ask me. From what she's said, you've been asking some good questions and making some valuable suggestions. Keep it up. We both want Sharlene to succeed. Now, Sharlene, if you can get your computer while I get mine, we'll exchange some data. I have an updated business plan for you to review, most of the changes are minor and I would like to read over your ideas about the company's functioning and philosophy, if you don't mind."

"I would be happy to have you read them. Some of them might not be very understandable since I tend to use abbreviations from both engineering and medicine. If something doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to clarify it."

For the next few minutes they transfer data from one computer to another using a mini-drive.

Klara sets her computer aside and says, "That takes care of that. Now, Sharlene, I would like to go back to your emotional recordings. As far as the Project is concerned, your better emotional recordings don't exist."

"From what Mariam has said, that's true. As far as I know, the only ones who know of the recordings, and they don't know whose emotions they represent, are Todd and Julie who work on the technical and testing side of the Project and on a weekend while they used their own equipment, they reviewed what Mariam had seen. Because they reviewed the recordings on their own time using their own equipment they felt they were under no obligation to report what the recordings contained."

"That's probably the case, but it could be a sticky point if someone finds out about it. You said Mariam came unglued in response to your emotional recordings. What kind of reaction did Todd and Julie have or do you know?"

"Julie called Mariam about it and Mariam recorded the conversation and downloaded the recording to my computer. I forgot about it and haven't listened to it yet. Let's see, here it is."

They listen to the phone call in its entirety for the first time.

Klara nods her head as she responds, "Interesting. She sounds mighty excited about it."

"After that call, Mariam and I made some substantial changes to the business plan before we forwarded it to you."

"So that's what sparked the commercial or Emotique side of the company."

"That's right. Before that, we were stressing the therapeutic side and wondering how to keep the therapy affordable while we paid the bills."

"Let's see, Mariam saw your recordings as unique, and Julie thought they were highly marketable, so you've been continuing to make emotional recordings in the hopes of stockpiling good recordings for when the company is ready to start offering them."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "That's right. I know I'm taking a lot on faith, but by the same token, my emotional recordings are really a by-product of George touching me. I want him to touch me whether or not I'm making emotional recordings, or regardless of what quality they are."

"So, do you have any way to verify their statements?"

"Not currently. I've seen no emotional recordings other than my own so I have no basis for comparison and I haven't tested any at all."

"Do you have any idea how your more recent recordings compare to what Julie was so excited about?"

Sharlene pauses for a moment then says, "Yes. I'm not sure of all the legal ramifications, but when I still worked at the Institute, Mariam gave me a copy of the software they use to review and graph the emotional recordings. The software was developed within the Institute and as an employee of the Institute who was reviewing only my own emotional recordings, Mariam saw no conflict with me having a copy of the software as long as I didn't change it, sell it, or give it away. When I left the Institute, nothing was said about removing any electronic data or software from my personal computer. And I do have other software and files on my computer from the Institute which I had brought home to work on during my off hours."

Klara thinks for a moment before she responds, "If that's the case, then it's probably okay for you to have it. I wouldn't worry about that. Unless you received specific written direction to remove company developed software from your personal computer, then you're under no obligation to do so, like you say, as long as you don't change it, sell it, or give it away. There's been a couple of oddball court cases which went the other way, but the vast majority of cases supported the employee who had software and files on their computer on the basis that the company didn't provide the employee with compensation for either their time or the rental of their personal equipment.

"Actually, I'm glad you do have the software. I would like to see some of your recordings, but before I do, let me try to assure you that I'm not trying to intrude on your personal life. I admit that I'm highly curious about how you experienced sexual pleasure as Julie described it without being touched intimately, but that's none of my business.

"What I would like is some background information on how the emotional recordings are scored and have some basis for comparison when I go to the Institute for their demonstrations. If your recorded emotional data is equal to or better than the other recordings they have available, that will make the investor feel better about the chances of success. Of course, that depends on being able to transmit the emotions so the potential customer can experience them."

Sharlene nods her head and says, "That's one of the things I've been concerned about. Since we aren't able to freely talk to Todd and Julie and without the transmission equipment to experiment with, there's still a big question about whether this will work at all. I may be making the best emotional recordings available, but if the customer feels nothing, then my recordings are useless. Maybe I'll take Dad's advice and go be a beach bum somewhere except I'm definitely going to take George with me."

George speaks up, "Like I told you, if your new company doesn't work out, you're always welcome to stay at my place. If we're careful with the money I have, you could live there quite awhile past when I'm gone. Of course, you might be bored silly, but you would have shelter and food."

After she winks at Klara with her right eye, Sharlene turns her head to the left to look at him and tell him, "Thank you, George. I really appreciate your willingness to take care of me. I may not feel as strongly about it as Mariam does, but I think things will work out and the company will succeed. I just don't know the details yet." She kisses him on the cheek.

Sharlene pauses they turns to her and says, "Okay, Klara, let me show you some of my emotional recordings."

George gets up and suggests, "Klara, why don't you sit here, it will be easier for you to see."

"Thank you, George." She goes to where he was sitting and he sits down at the end of the table nearest Sharlene.

* * * * *

2147-09-01 (e4)

As she brings up a file on her computer, Sharlene says, "Let's start with the confusion one Julie mentioned. As you can see, several emotions are graphed, but none of them is clearly dominant. I don't know what their measurement parameters are, but from what I understand, the software scores the various emotions by their intensity then stacks their scores from lowest to highest. So this top emotion has an intensity of about two because that's the difference between it and the next highest emotion, but it's stacked on top because at that moment, it's the most intense emotion.

"The software is set up so a composite score of four will get tagged and any individual emotion with a score of four will also get tagged. If we go across the time scale a little further, we see the confusion drops away and the emotion which Julie called 'contentment' is prominent with an individual emotional score of just over four. In contrast to that, here's a sample of what my normal background emotional recordings looked like."

"Interesting. So when you felt an emotion, you really felt it. In your confusion one, it's like you hit a brick wall and went to contentment, hit another brick wall and back to confusion. I can't imagine that's something which is normally seen."

"From what Mariam's said, no, it's not normal. But," Sharlene quickly glances at George then continues, "the situation was quite unusual. That leads to the other one Julie mentioned which Mariam also thought was unusual, not only in the emotion I experienced, but its intensity, how clean it is, and how abruptly it starts and stops." She shows the graph for a minute before and a half minute after.

"Yes, I can see why Mariam would think it's unusual." Klara briefly pauses then asks, "This is the one they defined as sexual pleasure?"

"Yes."

"How . . . no, I won't ask."

"You wanted to know how a sexual experience could start and stop so abruptly?"

"To be blunt, Sharlene, yes."

"Someday I'll tell you the story, but unless you wanted to stay up somewhat later tonight, it would probably be best to save it for another day."

"You've got a point there. How did Julie and Mariam know it was sexual pleasure?"

"Apparently Julie felt it as such when she tested it and Mariam recognized it by the color the software used to graph it. From what I understand, enough people have described the emotion they felt at specific times and by connecting those times with the graph, they've identified certain colors as being associated with certain emotions. How the software knows which colors to assign to which emotions, I don't know."

"And you agree with their assessment?"

Sharlene pauses then admits, "Well, I certainly can't claim a lot of experience, but when Mariam pointed it out to me and I thought back to that point in time, I remembered thinking that what I felt was probably of a sexual nature and it was definitely pleasurable, so I can't argue with them."

"Fair enough. Do you have any other examples of emotions which you're willing to show me so I have some basis for comparison?"

"Humm, let me see. This one I tentatively labeled 'wonder'. Now that I say it, it doesn't express the emotion I felt. Maybe 'awe' or 'amazement' would be better."

George asks, "When was that?"

Sharlene turns her head to him and answers, "When I walked into your library."

"You did seem a bit dazed."

She nods her head to him then turns back to Klara and explains another recording, "This one I labeled 'fun'. You should have seen it. Molly, a large canine who adopted George, was playing futball with me." She briefly chuckles before she continues, "Not only is it funny to watch her dribble a futball, but she's good at it. I wish I had a video recording of it. I have no idea what anyone else will make of the emotional recording, but seldom have I laughed so hard."

"I can certainly see that when you experience a strong emotion, you tend to experience that emotion and no other. Thank you, Sharlene. I'm real curious about what kind of emotional recordings they'll show me at the Institute to make the Project look enticing. What's your schedule look like this week?"

"Let me verify. . . . The only thing specific is a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist for George on fourth-day."

"Okay. I would like you to come with me to the dinner and presentation the Institute is having on fourth-day evening because I would like to know how what they say compares to what you've heard. George, would you be interested in coming?"

"Only in the interest of being with Sharlene. I doubt if I have anything appropriate to wear. Maybe I could pretend to be a bum who wandered in off of the street in search of free food."

"I don't think you'll need to do that. Let me find out more about what kind of setting it will be and then you can decide. Tomorrow, I plan on going to the Institute, present my credentials and spend as much time as I can snooping around, asking questions, scheduling a demonstration or maybe several, and if I can swing it, take Mariam off site for lunch. Sharlene, I may ask you to attend a demonstration or two also, I don't know yet. I'm going to have to see what the atmosphere is like. Beyond that, I'm not going to make any plans until I know more about what's going on. One thought which crossed my mind is the idea of going to talk to Maria and the police on fifth-day, spend the night at George's, and try to talk to some of the other victims on sixth-day, if that would be okay."

George responds, "No objections from me. You would be welcome in my home, even if you weren't going to help Maria and the others."

"Thank you."

Sharlene says, "If there's anything we can do to make your stay more pleasant or help with either the Project or the victim compensation, please let us know. Other than the cardiologist visit, our time is flexible."

"Thank you, Sharlene. I appreciate you fixing dinner for me and I really appreciate both of you being willing to talk to me. As I get a feel for what's going on and how to approach the various angles, I'll let you know and we'll try to get a more defined schedule. Well, if I'm going to make an obnoxious nuisance of myself at the Institute tomorrow, I'd better get my beauty rest." Klara shuts down her computer, gathers her things, and suggests, "George, hang onto the business card, I made a note of the information I need."

When they get to the front door, Sharlene turns to Klara and says, "Thank you for coming and for all of your help with the Project."

"It's my pleasure. Corporate negotiations have been my job for many years and without bragging, I'm good at it. But victim compensation is my passion. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to pursue it over the years, but maybe it's time to retire from the corporate world completely and volunteer my time and abilities to help victims. Thank you for the opportunity."

"It's not like we planned it."

"I know, George. Nobody plans on being a victim. It was nice to meet you." Klara starts to hold out a hand then says, "Ah, Sharlene says you give good hugs, let's see." She hugs him and after a moment's pause of hesitation, he hugs her back. When she steps back, he quickly releases her. She turns and hugs Sharlene while she whispers, "We'll talk some more." In her normal voice, she tells them, "I'll call and let you know what I find out or if I think it's sensitive information, I'll stop by, but I'll call before I do. See you later."

"Good night, Klara," they respond, in stereo.

As Sharlene watches through the security screen door until Klara has pulled out and driven down the street, George steps up behind her and hugs her. Sharlene steps forward to close and lock the front door, turns out the porch light, and is immediately back in his arms and kisses him. When she has enough breath, she says, "Klara likes you."

"I don't know, love. She's real good at pulling out information, but rather stingy about sharing it. I wouldn't want to go up against her in a court room or anywhere else for that matter."

"Don't you trust her?"

"I trust her completely when it comes to your welfare. But it wouldn't surprise me if she planted an electronic bug or two to hear how I treat you when she isn't around."

"But you don't treat me any differently." She gives him a bit of a pout then says, "Except you're not as free with the kisses."

He grabs her bottom lip with his own lips and converts it into a thorough kiss. When he can speak without panting for breath, he asks, "Is that better, love?"

"Mmm, me like, want more." She jumps up into his arms, wraps her legs around his waist and kisses him passionately while he quickly slips his right forearm under her buttocks to help hold her up. When she lets him breathe, she nibbles on his ear and squirms just a little as she tells him, "I like how you're holding me. You know, as you find new and creative ways to touch me, I'm starting to think of a few variations myself."

"That's good."

"I can think of some interesting variations for how you're holding me now, but they all seem to be more applicable to further along during the journey."

"Probably so." He steps over to the chair she keeps near the front door, moves his arm from under her buttocks, and requests, "Hop down on the chair. I'm no longer the muscle man of my youth who can hold up beautiful women for hours in my arms, not that I could do it then."

She stands on the chair and starts to ask, "Now what . . ." when his right hand pulls her head down for a kiss. While her hands reach up to hold his head for the kiss, he lowers his right hand and begins to pull the bottom of her shirt out of her skirt waistband. When she feels that, her kiss becomes more ardent, until she has to let him breathe and transfers her kisses to his face. She doesn't notice him unbutton the bottom buttons of her shirt until his two hands slip under her shirt which elicits a gasp of pleasure from her then his hands begin to caress the bare skin of her upper abdomen, sides, and back.

His breathing is nearly at a normal pace before he lowers himself to brace his knees on the front of the chair, leans over, and begins to kiss her upper abdomen. She responds, "Ohhh, Georrrggge," grips the back of his neck with her right hand and gathers up the ends of her shirt in her left hand to lift them out of the way of his kisses which go from one of her sides to the other and from her skirt waistband almost to her bra. He slides his hands down her sides, over her hips, down the outsides of her thighs, across her knees and down the outsides of her calves, until they encounter bare skin. Slowly, he slides his hands up the bare skin of her legs, under her skirt, over her knees, and with back and forth movements from the fronts of her legs, across the outsides, to the backs of her legs, his hands slowly climb her legs up to the middle of her thighs then slowly move down her legs.

When they reach her knees, one of his hands changes direction so that one hand goes from the front of her legs to the back of her legs across the outsides of her leg while his other hand goes in the opposite direction and as his hands slowly move back up her legs, her breathing becomes heavier as the pleasure seems to twist higher with each move of his hands. She barely controls her cry of pleasure since she wants the pleasure to last longer and longer as his hands reach the middle of her thighs then slowly caress back down again.

He leans closer to her while his kisses on her upper abdomen are interspersed with little tongue caresses, and his hands, once they've reached her knees, glide across her skin from the fronts of her legs, across the outsides, around the backs, and far to the insides of her legs. She groans louder. His hands move a little higher, the pleasure builds, she leans her shoulders back onto the wall, his hands move a little higher, she thrusts her hips forward, his hands move a little higher, the pleasure is almost more than she can contain, his hands move a little higher, she twists her knees outward which causes her hips to touch his shoulders and her pubic area presses onto his chest as her climactic cry echoes through the room and he grips the insides of her legs.

A couple of moments later, she gasps at each move of his fingers as they spider crawl up the rest of the way along the insides of her legs to the middle of her thighs. When he feels her knees start to spread further as her legs collapse, he tightens his hug on her legs, holds them with his left arm, slips his right hand out from under her skirt, slides it up her back while he stands up and catches her slumping body. As he braces himself and holds her tight with his right arm across her back, he releases his grip of her legs with his left hand and quickly moves it to behind her knees. He pauses a bare moment longer to make sure he has a firm grip and while he's thankful she's as small as she is, he lifts her feet off of the chair and carefully stands up. One step at a time, he carries her to her bed and as carefully as he can, he lays her down. Since he recognizes the feel of strained muscles in his back, he holds onto the bed as he slowly walks around to his side, lays down, holds her hand, and falls asleep.

* * * * *

2147-09-01 (e5)

Sometime later, Sharlene slowly floats out of her daze of pleasure and when sufficient awareness returns, she wonders how she ended up in her bed. As she remembers the intense pleasure and feeling herself collapse into his arms, she gasps as her memory provides her with the feeling of pleasure she experienced. Twice more she replays the memory then she tells herself that enough is enough before she causes herself to collapse again.

Slowly, she lifts her left hand far enough to see her fingers move. When she tries to lift her right hand, she can feel the muscles tense, but it feels like it's being held down. Sharlene turns her head slowly to the right and sees George. As she smiles, she follows the line of his arm with her eyes and realizes that he must be holding her hand. She raises her eyes back up to his face and warmly gazes as him for the short time it takes before sleep claims her again.

Although he's not sure whose sleepy jerk wakes the other one up, when he's aware enough, he turns his head to smile at her. She rolls over towards him, but as she does, she rolls onto their clasped hands and gasps as the pleasure surges into her when her pubic area comes into contact with their hands. She quickly rolls back then looks in surprise at their hands.

Since he's concerned about what her gasp might have meant, George asks, "What's the matter?"

"I must still be sensitized, because when I started to roll towards you, our hands ended up between my legs."

"Oh, I was concerned you twisted your hand or something."

"I suppose it's hard to tell from just a gasp as to whether it was pain or pleasure. I can assure you, this one was pleasure, I just hadn't expected it."

"Let me move my hand, then."

"That's probably best, this time," as she silently adds to herself, "but next time might be different." When he moves his hand, she rolls over to him, cuddles up, caresses his face, and tells him, "Thank you very much for touching me, it was glorious. I didn't mean to faint on you, or to have you carry me to bed."

"I didn't want you laying on the floor. This morning, I was surprised and barely kept you from falling to the floor. I didn't think I could pick you up from there. I'm going to have to be more careful about where we are before I start touching you or I need to stop touching you before you collapse."

"What a dilemma. I really like your creative and apparently spontaneous touching and that includes the creative locations. I'm so looking forward to finding out what other locations you can turn into a place of intimate adventure. I guess that means stop touching me sooner. I certainly don't intend to be fainting or collapsing or whatever I'm doing, but I also don't want you to stop touching me sooner. To peak out like that in pleasure is absolutely incredible. To let myself go and float higher and higher in an ocean of pleasure and to know you're there helping me to receive the pleasure as well as keeping me safe, there's no way to describe in words how wonderful that is."

"Then I'll try my best to balance the pleasure with your safety. Maybe stop touching you sooner if there's a possibility you might fall. Or wait to touch you to oblivion so that if you do fall, you won't hurt yourself."

"If you can safely lower me to the floor, I'll gladly lay on the floor for awhile in exchange for you touching me to oblivion. Oh, I like that phrase. When I download the next batch of emotional recordings, I think that's an excellent descriptive name. I wonder how it will come across when we can share it with others."

After a little while, George starts to chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just imagining the government coming along and making you put warnings on some of the emotional recordings."

That really puzzles Sharlene so she asks, "Why would that be funny?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want the government to stick their noses in any more than you would and probably even less so. But, if the warning was something like 'Use only when laying down', how do you think people are going to respond?"

"Umm, probably something like 'if it's that good, I've got to try it out'."

He nods his head as he responds, "And that's going to be better advertising than twenty so-called testimonials spouting off in television ads."

"Oh, my." She laughs and when their laughter diminishes to chuckles, she says, "That does give rise to the thought that we might want to have a caveat with the emotional recordings to say they have been tested, but that people who access them do so at their own risk."

"That's a good idea, but to help keep the government's nose out about possible safety issues, you should give your own warning for the more intense ones; something like 'testing has shown this emotional recording is most safely experienced while laying down'. There's probably a simpler way to say it though."

"We'll give it some thought. I'm somewhat tired, but not tired enough to go to bed. What about you?"

"I need to wash up and I could use a snack and a drink."

"Wash up? You made another mess? I don't know what I'm going to do with you and your messes?"

He pulls her up on top of him, hugs her, and says, "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to start calling you my little mess maker, because it's all your fault I'm making these messes," and he starts to tickles her.

After an initial shriek of surprise, she squirms and laughs until she gasps out, "Stop."

He stops.

When Sharlene is calmer, she proclaims, "Oh, George, what a joy you are," and kisses him breathless. She lays her head down next to his, nibbles on one of his ears, then tells him, "For being a boring old man, you're sure a lot of fun."

"Not without your inspiration."

"I disagree with you. I saw your interaction with Huleeoh and Angelisa. I can imagine you outside playing ball with Huleeoh while you try to keep it from Molly and then chase her when she catches it. Or when Angelisa was younger, you tickling her and then she cuddles on your lap and laughs while you read a funny story."

"They're good kids."

"Oh, George. That's only half of the equation. You're a good man. They wouldn't find your company pleasant and want to interact with you if you weren't a good man. My reasons for thinking so will probably be different than theirs, but either way you're a good man. A wonderful man. And just to show you what I think of you," she kisses him passionately breathless.

"Thank you . . . my love."

When his breathing is back to normal, she quits kissing his ears and neck and suggests, "Come on, lover boy, let's get you washed up."

"I'd better take care of it."

"I've washed you up before."

"I know. And I'm both thrilled and grateful you have and are willing to do so again. But I've laid here awhile and it's dried a little and will probably take more than a wet washcloth to wash up. I'll probably need to sit in the bathtub for a couple of minutes."

"I can help you."

"Sharlene, please, not yet. Oh, love, I very much want the kind of help you're offering, but I won't be able to control myself yet. If you were to help me take a bath, I don't think I could resist pulling you into the bathtub with me. Even if I could somehow not touch you more than I have already, you wouldn't want to get out of the bathtub with dripping wet clothes. So you would take off your clothes in the bathtub, I would see your beautiful body in all of its glory, and I wouldn't be able to resist touching you a lot more.

"Just thinking about it is almost more than I can control. In a way, the journey is also a way for me to learn to control myself to only touch you in small increments so I can learn to please you without thinking I have to take your clothes off and make love to you. It's also a way for me to learn to control myself by seeing your body revealed a little at a time. I'm sorry, my love. I really don't want to disappoint you or discourage you . . . ."

She lays a finger across his lips to interrupt him and says, "Shhh. Thank you for telling me. And thank you for wanting me. You just keep getting more wonderful all of the time. I told you that you might have to sit me down and talk to me every day. I'm glad you did and I'm glad you're willing to do so. And now I have another scenario to look forward to. While you get washed up, how about I get the kettle going for some tea and I'll get some cookies out to round out the day."

"That sounds lovely," and he pulls her close for a thorough kiss.

While he's catching his breath, she gets up and tells him, "Don't take too long, or I'll have to come in and check on you."

"Yes, ma'am."

Several minutes later, they meet in the hall as she's coming to check on him and he's coming out after his bath. Before he can get a word out, she's kissing him then tells him, "I was getting lonely for you."

"I wasn't that long in the bath."

"I know, but I couldn't think of anything else to tease you about."

After an initial cup of tea enjoyed in companionable silence at the table, they take another cup with them to the love seat where he reads to her some more. It's not long before he's starting to yawn. She tucks him into bed with a thorough kiss then stays up a little later to avoid the temptation of doing more than cuddling with him in bed.

While she gives him a chance to fall asleep, she does another download of her emotional recordings and is happy to see that they continue to be quite clean. She's very aware of how intense the emotions are and is becoming more curious about what it will be like to experience her own emotions played back. Patience, more patience, she reminds herself. When she thinks he ought to be asleep, she shuts down her computer, checks that the doors are locked, turns out the lights, changes into her pajamas, gets in bed, cuddles up to his sleeping body, and soon joins him in dreamland.

* * * * *

While her feet are aching from being on them all day, Angelisa lays in bed and replays in her mind what she had overheard. Many people wondered who the woman was with George and how she seemed to so easily take care of Hektor. Several of them told stories about George, some whose children had been in the public library reading program while a few of the men had been on the construction team which had built his house. They generally appreciated how down-to-earth he seemed to be even while he must be extremely wealthy to have such a big house for one person. With a final wondering thought of whether they were exaggerating about the size of his house or the guessed at size of George's bank account, Angelisa drifts off to sleep.

* * * * *

2147-09-02 (m1)

When she wakes up later than usual, but before George, Sharlene gets up and does a moderate tai-chi workout and wonders what Klara is finding out. After a leisurely cup of tea, she decides to see if he's ready to get up. She steps into the bedroom, sees that he's sitting up on the side of the bed with a look of pain on his face, and asks "What's the matter, George?"

"I think I overworked a couple of muscles last night."

"Which muscles?"

"Shoulders and lower back."

"Was it from carrying me to bed?"

"I don't know for sure, but that would be my guess. Since you're here, can you give me a hand up? My bladder is getting rather insistent."

"Of course. How can I help?"

"If you can brace yourself, pulling myself up should be easier than pushing myself up off of the bed. Ah, thank you."

"Are you going to need help in the bathroom?"

"I think I can leverage myself up by using the wall."

A couple of minutes later, he gingerly walks out of the bathroom.

"Would a back rub help?"

"Mmm, sounds glorious. Where do you want me?"

"Why don't you lay down the same way you did last time?"

She helps him take off his pajama top then he carefully lays down diagonally across the bed with more than one grimace of pain. When he's settled, she begins to work on his shoulder muscles and hears an almost equal distribution of 'aww's' and 'oww's'. As she steps closer to the corner of the bed to work on the muscles which are further down his back, his hands try to caress her lower legs, but the effort isn't his usual smooth caress because the movement of his hands freeze in place when she works on a tight muscle.

She steps up to the corner of the bed, braces her knees on the bed on either side of his head, bends over to work on the muscles in his lower back, and tries to give it all of her concentration in order to distract herself from his caressing hands which are moving, somewhat jerkily, up and down the backs of her legs centered around her knees. When she has most of his muscles partially loosened, she's surprised to notice that his hands are no longer caressing her legs. Before she can ask a question, the answer comes in the sound of a soft snore from him. With a light smile, she covers him up, gets dressed, and leaves a large note to tell him she went to the post office and will be right back.

When she returns from the post office, she goes to check on him and finds that he's just starting to stir.

"Thank you, my lady, my back feels much better."

"I'm glad. Are you hungry or do you feel up to a little tai-chi?"

"Food can wait for a little while."

After she leads him through some tai-chi exercises with emphasis on gently stretching the back muscles, he gets dressed while she fixes them something to eat.

After the breakfast dishes are cleaned up, they go to the love seat and he reads while she sits next to him and goes through her mail and pays her bills. Once that's done, she puts her papers away and starts to prowl the house. He notices her go up and down the hall a few times and in and out of the room apparently without doing anything so he puts his book down, requests, "Come here, my lady," and opens his arms. She almost runs to him, sits on his upper legs, and cuddles up close before he can ask, "What's the matter?"

"I'm anxious, restless, something. I wonder what Klara is finding out about the Project, and how they're treating her, and how she's treating them, and how it will affect everything, and a half a dozen other things."

"It's not easy being uncertain about what the future holds in store for you."

"It's never been this hard before."

"How uncertain was your future at other times in your life?"

She pauses to remember before she answers, "I have to admit, not very uncertain. This is like someone else has control of my choice. Before, the uncertainty was trying to decide between several choices open to me."

"And now, not only do you feel like someone else will make the choice, but you can't even try to influence the person who is in the position of making the choice."

"That's exactly right."

He nods his head, "I know how you feel. I also want you to know that I care about you very much and only want what's best for you. Please don't take what I say next too harshly. Even if you aren't able to get the Project and start a company with it, you still have options. You can start your own practice, you can teach, you can go work for a hospital, you can work for another research company, or you can just stay with me.

"Take a moment to think about Mariam and the others. The Project which they put a lot of their lives into is shutting down and the Institute is ready to toss them out on their ears. They're on trial giving demonstrations to potential employers. It's like being on a two week long job interview and when that's done, they're left hanging. Even during the training phase, they're back into a job interview environment and still don't know which way the axe is going to fall. Hopefully, they have more self-confidence than I do, because if I had to go through that, I would be a nervous wreck or would have just quit and hoped to find something else."

"I'm sorry. I didn't even think about what the others might be going through."

"Sharlene, there's no need for you to be sorry, you haven't been in a situation to have experienced it before. No descriptions of the situation can come close to conveying the feelings people have in those situations. I didn't tell you to make you feel guilty, but to help you to feel more secure about your own position and maybe feel a little sympathy towards the others."

"Thank you. I guess I really don't have anything to worry about for myself. Maybe I should use some of my nervous energy to think about how to reduce the worry for other people."

He kisses her forehead and tells her, "That's my wonderful lady."

She turns and kisses him thoroughly before she says, "And look who's talking, wonderful man. If it weren't for you, I would be bouncing off the walls or getting all bent out of shape with worry. So what are some of your suggestions, oh mighty wise man?"

He pauses then says, "I won't waste the time to argue with your description, but just remember your own secure position and be your usual confident and pleasant self. I know there's nothing you can do for the others for several weeks yet. If and when you do interact with them, be positive and pleasant, but don't make promises you can't guarantee you can keep. If you get the Project and when the 'training' starts, keep it as short as possible. We know that no real training is going to take place because you don't have a staff of people who need to be trained.

"When the people come to do the training, find out what their capabilities are and what their personalities are like and think about whether you would want to work with them all of the time. If everything is positive, offer them a position as soon as possible. If you can talk Klara into convincing the investor to float the company long enough, it might be good if you can offer the position for a guaranteed year, barring unforeseen adverse circumstances. You might even set up a contract spelling out responsibilities and benefits for each party."

"All of that makes a lot of sense, George, but I'm not sure I can see a reason for a guaranteed one year position. Even my contract with the Institute allowed for either party to terminate the contract almost at any time if they could provide sufficient reasons."

"I was thinking more along the lines that you're starting a new company with new technology. A lot can go wrong and there are a lot of ways in which things can fall apart. By telling the people they're hired for a year and unless they really screw up, they'll have a job for a year, that will give them more incentive to make the new company work, instead of worrying about whether the axe is going to fall this week or next week. From the very beginning, you give them a stake in the success of the company. If they can make the company at least start to be a success, they can ride with it into the distant future. If things don't work out, after a year they can say they gave it their best shot and go on to do something else."

She looks at him with some surprise then asks, "Are you sure you don't have a psychology degree?"

He shakes his head as he answers, "No way. Most psychologists couldn't make it out of a room unless the door was open and they had detailed instructions and a map. And then they would probably still need a blind person to lead them by the hand to help them get out. No, I'm looking at it more from a common sense practical approach and thinking how so-called average people might respond to the situation.

"If you can make it clear you want the individual person because they have the abilities and/or aptitude you need in order to accomplish a specific task or goal, odds are they'll meet or exceed your expectations. To some degree, it even works with a hard case like me. Too often, I was just a body to fill a position. If I weren't there, somebody else would be, and the company would go on, and without really caring how well or how poorly the job was being done."

Since she isn't sure she understands him correctly, Sharlene asks, "Are you saying that companies don't care how well the job is being done?"

"In most cases, they don't, regardless of what they say. Top executives don't look at quality of people, they guess they need 'x' number of people to do job 'y', so that's how many they hire and staff, regardless of whether it really takes more or fewer people to do the job. Nor do they really care if the people have the right tools to do their best.

"In virtually every organization I've worked for, there was so much inefficiency, waste, improper training, inadequate tools, lack of communication, and make work that the only way they could stay in business was to overcharge the customer. And the only reason the customer doesn't go to another company is because all of the other companies are in the same condition and doing the same things. Once in awhile, some company will get its act together and be able to provide a better product at a lower price and take over the market. Even considering other factors which may be involved, the competitors will still stand around, wring their hands, and complain rather than improve their own processes or product."

"I think I understand what you're saying. Even in my short life, a few times I've seen a company come out with an upgrade of a product which was better made and less expensive than anybody else. The competitors lowered their price, but didn't improve their product and a couple of them went bankrupt in the process. The thing I don't understand in your list of things that companies do wrong is the term 'make work'. What do you mean by that?"

George chuckles then explains, "That has to be the king of wastefulness. 'Make work' can cover a lot of things, but is usually involves having the employees do something which has no actual value. One of the best examples is the generation of reports. Some executives live for reports, the more reports the better. What they don't seem to realize is that when somebody is making a report for their review, that person isn't doing something more useful. Management also doesn't seem to realize how long it can take to write a report which they might read in a minute and then criticize because it wasn't written in exactly the right format.

"Too often a person is hired to do a task and then gets buried in trying to write the multitude of reports, often duplicated, which management wants to review. When the person can't do the task well for which they were hired because of the number of reports management insists on receiving, there are more reports to write or meetings to attend. I don't remember exactly how it goes, but there was a saying about an employee who had to spend all of their time in meetings explaining why they didn't get the work done because they were spending all of their time in meetings.

"I understand that some reports are necessary, but the information gathering and the report preparation should be calculated as part of an employee's job description. And no more than the absolute minimum number of reports required for the business to function. A lot of companies may start out with that intent, but the minimum number usually grows exponentially faster than the company itself."

"Interesting. I never would have thought that reports could make such an impact. Gee, old man, I'm not sure it will be comfortable to keep you around if I'm going to be a company executive."

"Young lady, I never claimed to be comfortable to be around, whether or not you're a company executive."

* * * * *

2147-09-02 (m2>a1)

Sharlene thinks about what he's said for a little while before she responds, "True, but I still feel comfortable in your arms. So, as my ideas man, how do you propose that I avoid some of those executive problems?"

George pauses to take a drink before he answers, "One of the best things you can do is to keep the company as small as possible and still be able to function. Another thing is to talk to the lowest person on the totem pole involved in a process. There was a joke of a story which went around a lot of years ago. A proposed new process was recommended to the people who were working in a factory. They looked at it and said it was a pile of shit. Their boss was afraid to use that kind of language with his boss and so he said it was a pile of manure.

"That boss didn't want to use harsh language with the next boss so they said it was a pile of fertilizer. Who told the next boss it was good for growth and the next thing you know, the new process is put into operation while the executives are giving themselves bonuses for improving the process. When the new process really doesn't work out, the executives scratch their heads and wonder how the workers screwed it up."

She thinks about it for a little while then says, "You know, in a general way, that's what happened with the study I was working on before I quit. From what I was able to pull together from the history, the people at the bottom said we ought to start this study to understand what kind of problems are going to crop up and will need to be overcome before we can really start to study how the brain affects behavior. It worked its way up the ladder and then the Institute was announcing they had achieved a breakthrough in understanding which areas of the brain affected particular behaviors and mental disabilities."

"So, you've seen it."

"But I didn't understand how it came about until you explained it. I'm going to change my earlier statement. If I'm going to be a company executive, it may not be comfortable to have you around, but I think it will definitely be worthwhile, especially if I want the company to be true to the ideals and philosophy which I envision." She kisses him thoroughly then tells him, "Thank you, my wise old man. I know you think of yourself as cynical, yet most of what you've had to say, whether I liked it or not, was practical and sensible. I appreciate your experience and your willingness to tell me what I need to hear. Please stay with me and keep me true."

"I don't know about keeping you true, but I'll gladly stay as long as you can put up with me."

"Thank you, George. I know you don't want to be involved in the day to day operation of the company, but I would like you to be involved as much as you can. I know you love and care about me and that if you tell me something, even something unpleasant, you're doing it for my benefit. Keep it up, old man. Stay with me and keep it up." She kisses him breathless, again.

When his breathing is somewhat normal, he asks, "With that kind of a reward system, how can I refuse?" and makes a valiant attempt to kiss her breathless.

"Mmm, if that's the kind of response you're going to have to my 'reward system', I think I'll have to reward you just for the sake of your response."

This time as she kisses him, his right hand begins to unbutton the top of her shirt. Before he's totally out of breath, he moves his kisses across her check, to her ear, and down her neck. Her excitement starts to grow as his kisses go back and forth across her neck and slowly begin to work their way down her upper chest while his right hand pulls the bottom of her shirt out of her pants on her left side.

As he supports her with his right hand, his left hand pulls her shirt out of the back of her pants and then slides up the bare skin of her back, over her bra strap and up to support her neck while his right hand slides back down and pulls her shirt out along her right front to caress her upper abdomen and left side which she makes easier by unbuttoning the bottom buttons of her shirt and is stopped by his hand before she can undo the remaining buttons, which leaves only two buttons to hold her shirt closed over her bra.

His right hand seems to be almost everywhere it can reach, caressing her abdomen, sliding up the outside of her thigh, caressing her side, sliding over her hip, or slipping between her legs at about the middle of her thighs which encourages her to spread her legs in invitation. While his lips continue to kiss her upper chest, her groans grow deeper and louder as his kisses slowly move down, until they're following the open collar of her shirt just above her bra while his right hand caresses the insides of her thighs from her knees to the middle of her thighs.

She almost cries out in climax as his right hand slides up the front of her thigh and over the front of her hip as she thinks to herself, "so close, so close," to caress the bare skin of her upper abdomen, left side, and part of her back. His right hand slides from her back across her side to her front and when his kisses reach the deepest part of her open shirt and as his tongue reaches down to touch the hook of her bra, the thumb of his right hand slips under the waistband at the front of her pants, and her pleasure slips over the peak to climax.

As he gives her some time to come down off of the peak, his kisses move back up her chest to her throat, her neck, and nibbles on her left ear lobe while his right hand caresses her upper abdomen, left side, and some of her back. After a little while, his right hand drops down over the front of her hip which causes her to gasp, along the front of her left thigh, up the inside of her thigh, across to the middle of her right thigh, down to her knee, up the front of her right thigh, over the front of her hip which is accompanied by her groan, and up to her bare abdomen.

His hand caresses her just under her bra, slowly goes back and front across her abdomen, drops a little lower with each pass and slowly lifts away until only three fingers are touching her then two fingers. As his lips reach hers and they passionately kiss, his right hand is just one finger which is sliding just under the waistband of her pants as she breaks the kiss to cry out in pleasure. Rather than touch her to a third peak, his kisses and caresses become more comforting than passionate and after a little while, the pleasure becomes steady instead of waves rolling through her, then is slowly dissipates and leaves her feeling a warm glow of joy and comfort.

"Thank you, George. You always seem to know just what I need or want."

As he leans back in the recliner, he pulls her with him until they're almost horizontal.

"Mmm, so nice." In a minute or so, Sharlene drifts off into a light doze. Sometime later, she stirs, then turns in his arms until they're chest to chest and she kisses him, lays her head next to his, and nibbles on one of his ear lobes while his breathing becomes more normal. "Well, my mind reading man, what's next?"

"How about a trip down the hall and then something to eat?"

"That's probably a wise choice. What about after lunch?"

"I don't know."

"My wise man isn't all knowing?"

He briefly chuckles then says, "Not hardly. Sometimes I wonder if I know anything at all."

"As long as you know how to hug and kiss and touch me . . ." she leaves the rest unsaid as she kisses him again.

"Oh lady . . . what a wonder . . . you are!"

"You're pretty wonderful yourself, old man. You know, if somebody who knew me earlier in my life saw me now, they would want to test my DNA and run my fingerprints to verify it was me."

"Why do you say that? You haven't changed your appearance have you?"

"No. My appearance is the same, it's my behavior which is totally different. For most of my life, I've always been busy. I had to force myself to take the time to sit and do nothing except slowly sip a cup of tea. A workaholic is the usual term, except that I was getting an education most of that time. Now, I would be perfectly content to lay here in your arms and soak in your love. Now, I'm more inclined to be busy to distract myself from you. I almost wish I was creative enough to write music so I could try to describe how you make me feel."

"I couldn't be creative enough to describe you. In fact, for weeks now, I've been mentally reviewing parts of old songs I remember and all of them fall short of being able to describe your beauty, your wonderful personality, or how you make me feel. Words just don't seem to be adequate and I'm concerned that my touching you might come across as simple lust rather than as feeling joy in your presence, appreciation of your caring for me, and desire for you as an entire person."

"I'm sure there's an element of lust in your touching, but it's small, otherwise you would have made love to me weeks ago. When you stop me from taking my clothes off, when you sincerely and with a tone of reluctance tell me, 'not yet,' your touching does speak volumes to me and all of it is eagerly anticipated and gladly welcomed."

This time as she kisses him, his hands caress the bare skin of her back under her shirt and once even slips under her bra strap to rub her from side to side across her back. "Ohhh," she breaks the kiss, lays her head next to his, and soaks in the comforting pleasure his touching brings her. Although she's more than half tempted to squirm her body on his and escalate the pleasure, her reasoning mind barely convinces her to be patient and to not wear him out because there's plenty of time for more touching. A little later, she verbally expresses herself, "Mmm, so nice. I don't want you to stop."

"I don't want to stop either, but we need food for energy to do more touching later," he suggests while he reluctantly removes his hands from her bare skin and makes an attempt to pull her shirt back into place.

"So wise."

"You'll need to move first, because if I try to sit up, it'll bend you in a way your body wasn't meant to be bent."

"I know. But that means moving away from your arms and body."

"Life is full of sacrifices. I don't want you to move, but if you don't, you may find laying here soon becomes less pleasant."

"I know what you mean."

She pushes herself up, sits on his legs for a moment to just smile at him, rolls over to her side of the love seat, stands up, and offers him a hand up off of the love seat. When George is standing, Sharlene hugs him tightly, gives him a brief passionate kiss, and with arms around each other, they walk down the hall to separately take care of their bathroom needs.

When they meet in the hall again, he gently pushes her against the wall, then seems to recover and pulls her against him as he hits the opposite wall. As they walk down the hall and appear to bounce off of the walls, she starts to giggle then laughs at how absurd they must look. Soon, they're both laughing and it takes quite a few minutes before they can look at each other without starting to laugh again.

They make a quick lunch of sandwiches and after they clean up, she settles him on the love seat to read after a thorough kiss. She refuses his offer for help on the grounds that she needs a distraction and starts to clean the house.

* * * * *

2147-09-02 (a2>e1)

A few hours later, as she takes a break while she's cuddled in his arms on his upper legs, she answers her ringing phone, "Hello?"

"Hi, Sharlene, it's Klara."

"Hi, Klara."

"Do you mind if I come over for dinner again?"

"Not at all. We have some burritos we were going to reheat, but we can fix something else if you would prefer."

"No, burritos sounds good. I don't know exactly when I'll be there, but it will probably be an hour, maybe an hour and a half."

"No problem, we'll see you then."

"Thanks, bye."

"Goodbye." Sharlene puts her phone away and explains to George, "That was Klara, she'll be over in an hour or an hour and a half for dinner. I received the impression she had a lot she wanted to talk about, but whether it's good or bad, I don't know."

"Then there's no sense in worrying about it, love. Were the burritos going to be okay to serve her?"

"Yeah. Do you have any idea how long they'll take to reheat?"

"If it was just for me, I would throw them in the microwave for a couple of minutes. They would probably be better warmed up in the oven. I can toss them in the oven on medium heat in about a half hour, and then we can turn the heat down to keep them warm until she gets here."

"What about the bean and cheese dip?"

"I can get that started on the stove when she gets here or if you have a crock pot, I could get it started now on low heat."

"The crock pot will take less attention."

She gets out the crock pot and as he gets the bean and cheese dip started, she goes back to finish her house cleaning.

* * * * *

When she's done with her cleaning, Sharlene goes to the kitchen to find that George has made a salad in addition to getting the burritos in the oven and is just finishing cleaning up. As she hugs him from behind while he dries his hands, she declares, "A man who cooks and cleans up after himself, I'm really going to have to keep you around."

He turns in her arms to hug her as he says, "How droll. I thought you wanted me as a love slave."

She laughs, tells him, "Love partner," kisses him breathless, and continues, "definitely a love partner. I always did want versatility in my man. I'm half tempted to ask you to get me all excited, except that I would prefer not to distract Klara from thinking about the Project. There's no sense in giving her stories to carry back to Dad."

"I'm sure she already has plenty of stories to tell your dad. I'm just not sure what kind of spin she's going to put on them."

"Now it's my turn to tell you not to worry. It really doesn't matter what she thinks or what she tells my parents. I'm an adult and entitled to make my own decisions, regardless of what anyone thinks of them. My decision is to keep you with me as long as you want to stay with me."

"I'll gladly stay as long as you want me to."

"Since our decision to stay together is mutual . . ." the kiss which follows is just as mutual.

Several minutes later, while he sets the table, Sharlene goes to answer the doorbell, opens the door, and says, "Klara, come in."

"Hi, Sharlene," she responds and gives her a quick hug. "Mmm, something smells good."

"We have a bean and cheese dip to go with the burritos and George made a salad."

"So, he knows his way around a kitchen."

"Yes, he's not a gourmet, but the chicken soup you liked last night was mostly his doing, I just helped cut up some vegetables which I pulled from his garden."

"There's more to the old man than meets the eye."

Sharlene nods her head as she says, "Most definitely. And weren't you the one who told me you don't pay attention to outward appearances?"

"Caught me on that, eh? Good for you. Let me make a trip down the hall, and then I'll be ready to eat."

* * * * *

When he sees her push her empty plate away, George asks, "Do you want some more, Klara?"

"No thank you. That was very good. Was it something you made?"

"There's no way I can take credit for something this good. This is the leftovers from our dinner on sixth-day," he carefully watches Sharlene for her reaction, "although Maria or her daughter added a lot more to it when we weren't paying attention."

"Rats, I was hoping to ask for the recipe."

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you there. I've been half tempted over the years to ask Maria, but I didn't want to take away what little business I give them, especially since they seem to be just getting by."

"Good point. I don't want to sound pushy, but can we put the food away before I get distracted from what I have to talk about. I don't need to eat anymore since it might affect my girly figure."

As they laugh with her, Sharlene and George soon have the table cleared and fresh drinks in front of everyone.

Klara takes a drink then says, "Thank you. As I had planned, I spent the day making a nuisance of myself at the Institute digging into anything I could find about the Project and listening to anyone who would talk about the Project. I was also able to take Mariam out to lunch offsite. If there was a question I had about the Project, about half of the time I was directed to Mariam. She seems to be quite a competent young lady and I'm not easily impressed.

"I think I surprised Mariam because when we were at lunch, I didn't ask about the Project, I asked about you two and especially what she thought of you, George. So she told me about her long talks with Sharlene and how you agonized over what was happening. She told me about seeing George in the hospital and wondering what Sharlene could possibly see in you. She went on to say that after she met George, she was impressed with his gentle caring way with you as well as his intelligence and creative ideas.

"Then she somewhat shocked me by telling me she had asked George to take her to bed and he had refused. She made it clear that he's the only man to ever refuse her offer and that he did it to not hurt you. When I thought about what she had said and what you had told me about how he was treating you, well, I guess I owe you both an apology, especially you, George."

He reaches across the table and gently lays a hand on hers as he tells her, "Klara, no apology is needed. You cared about Sharlene and wanted to protect her, nothing else matters."

Sharlene leans on him, grins at Klara, and asks, "Isn't he a jewel?"

"I'm not ready to make that sort of an assessment. What concerned me was that he wasn't trying to take advantage of you in any way. I feel satisfied that he won't try to intentionally take advantage of you. My second concern was whether the relationship was your decision and that you're happy with it. I'm satisfied that that's the case. But let me warn you, George Greyson, if I hear that you've intentionally hurt Sharlene, I'll be after you."

"Good."

Klara sits back, looks at him in surprise, and asks, "You said 'good'?"

"Yes. I have no intention of hurting Sharlene, intentionally or otherwise, but if I should fail, then by all means, come after me. That's no less than what I told her Aunt Paula, who threatened to chase me down and kill me if I hurt Sharlene."

Klara shakes her head in disbelief then says, "I've had major corporate lawyers tremble when I threatened them, and you welcome my threat?"

"Sharlene's safety is more important than a few million credits of corporate money."

Klara looks back and forth between them before she says, "You are an enigma."

He shrugs his shoulders as he responds, "I'm just a boring old man who a wonderful young lady brought back to life, both physically and emotionally. She's worthy of much more than I can ever give her, but for some strange reason," he turns to kiss the top of her head, "she wants to keep me around. And I'm too selfish not to take advantage of such a wonderful and beautiful woman's attention."

"I can understand that." Klara looks at Sharlene with her eyebrows raised in question.

"Klara, as I told you before, George is the only man I've been around with whom I'm completely comfortable. Even with Dad, there are certain obligations and responsibilities expected, they may be very easy to meet, but they're there. With George, I'm free to be who I want to be. He gives me reasons to laugh, to be silly, to feel much pleasure, to think, to contemplate the world, to reassess myself for my improvement, and to be comforted. I know most people ignore George, if they even see him. But to me, he's the most beautiful person I've ever met."

"Well, George, what do you have to say to that?"

He shakes his head and says, "I don't understand what she sees in me. I just try to be gentle and caring towards her. Frankly, I'm in awe that she even wants me anywhere near her. Anything more than that is so far beyond my comprehension, that even though I recognize the words, I just can't fathom how they can be applied to me."

Klara looks back and forth between them a couple of times then says, "You two have given me a lot to think about, as well as a few surprises and, to toot my own horn, I'm not easily surprised. As long as you're happy with each other, there really isn't much I can say."

As they look at each other, without planning to, they kiss, but keep it short for Klara's sake.

Sharlene makes her position clear, "George is my man and I intend to keep him as such. I know it will be difficult for some of the family to accept our relationship, so I'll want to break the news as gently as possible, but in any case, our relationship is something they'll have to learn to live with."

Klara chuckles then says, "I guess you're following in your family's footsteps of having an unusual relationship. If any of them give you too much grief you can always ask how easily their relationships were found acceptable."

"That's a good idea, thank you, Klara." When she notices his questioning look, Sharlene tells him, "I can tell you later about some of the family relationships, or at least what I remember from family stories. Klara knows as much or more about them than I do, so there's no sense in me taking up her time to go over them."

"Thank you. I'll be right back and then I can tell you what I found out about the Project."

* * * * *

2147-09-02 (e2)

When Klara returns to the table, she looks around and asks, "Where's George?"

"He went down the hall also."

"Sharlene, are you happy with him?"

Sharlene sets down the pitcher she was filling their glasses with, clasps Klara's arms, looks her in the eye, and answers, "Yes, Klara, I'm very happy with him. Everything I said earlier about him, I mean. I could go on and on about how wonderful he is. He's not perfect. He can seem quite cynical, yet most of that was developed over years of disappointing experiences. He's not socially oriented, but neither am I. In so many ways, we're compatible. The only problem is our difference in ages. Odds are that he'll die within the next twenty years, and I'll have many more years than that to live and miss him. But I would rather live a few short years with him, than to have never known his love."

"Thank you for being willing to talk to me about him."

"I like to talk about him, to express how I feel about him. With him, sometimes I run out of words and can only kiss him or touch him. By being able to talk to someone else about him, maybe I can find more words to express myself to him. Now it's my turn to make a trip down the hall."

They meet in the hall and wordlessly hug and kiss each other. As Sharlene continues down the hall, George takes a couple of moments to catch his breath and regain his composure before he resumes walking towards the dining room. When he sees the pitcher, he finishes filling their glasses before he puts the pitcher back in the fridge and asks, "Klara, is there anything you want to ask me while she's out of the room?"

"I suspect that whatever I asked you in private, I would get the same answer you would give me while she was here."

"I would certainly hope so. I have nothing to hide and nothing to lose. Even if she comes back into the room in two minutes and tells me to leave, I would still have my memories, feeble though they may be, of how wonderful and beautiful she is, and how enjoyable she is to be with."

"Will you marry her?"

He shakes his head then answers, "No. I've already told her I won't. It's not that I don't want to share my life and all I own with her, but I want her to be as free as she can be. No obligations or responsibilities on her part. If she doesn't get the Project, I'll support her for the rest of my life and if we're frugal with my money, she could live quite a few years beyond my death without having to work. Even then, she might be able to sell off some of my property to let her live work free even longer if that's what she wants.

"Nor will I father a child on her as I've told her. I'm too old to raise another child and the risk of genetic defects greatly increases with an old father. If she wants a child, she'll have to adopt or find some other way of getting pregnant. Do you have any other questions?"

"Not now. Thank you, George."

When she steps back into the dining room, Sharlene notices the look of concern on Klara's face and asks, "Is something the matter?"

"No. You two have given me a lot to think about. I'm glad you're happy and I think you've given George a new lease on life. We'll talk more over the next several days. . . . Now, about the Project. When I arrived at the Institute and presented my credentials, I was given the red carpet treatment in a hurried way. It was strange, the executives wanted to make me feel special while trying to ignore the existence of the Project and the scandal it created for them. So I was passed from executive to director to manager without learning much until they introduced me to Mariam and then they quickly disappeared. Mariam greeted me warmly and when we were alone, she asked how you two were doing."

"Oops, it's been a few days since I talked to her."

Klara explains, "She didn't seem to mind and after I said you both appeared to be doing fine, she directed her attention to an explanation of the Project. Without having to ask, she told me how much room had been dedicated to the Project and how much room was being used for the inventory and the equipment currently in use. After lunch, she introduced me to a young lady named Kassandra who explained the process of incoming emotional recordings and how they review and score them.

"When I asked to see some of their best representative examples, they quickly accessed the database and showed me the charts of several recordings. Then Mariam introduced me to Todd and Julie who explained the testing process and their attempts to verify the response of the testers to transmitted recordings. I also asked them to see some of the best representative examples and they accessed the same recordings. Yet, at the same time, I had a subtle feeling they were hiding something, as though they had access to recordings which Kassandra didn't know about.

"When I asked them about using the recordings with an 'average' person or even someone with a mental disability, they were real concerned about whether the recordings they had were intense or clean enough to be used in those ways. When I requested a demonstration of some of their better samples, they seemed glad to be able to set me up. A couple of the samples, I could barely sense and a couple of others were mildly pleasant, as though I was recalling a pleasant dream or an enjoyable past event. They even provided me with printouts of the graphs from the samples which I experienced so I would have a reference."

Klara takes a drink before she continues, "All in all, it was quite an interesting day. As far as I could tell, there was no one else investigating the Project, but since this is the first day, that's hardly surprising. Everyone who worked directly on the Project seemed to be glad to share what they knew about the Project as well as what they thought the Project could have or should have accomplished. On roughly first impressions from talking to Mariam and the people she introduced me to, they seem like people who want to do whatever is necessary to keep the Project going. Most of the managers I talked to were either acted more like salesmen or were embarrassed about the Project.

"I also received a couple of suspicious hints from people thinking that maybe I was from the investors who are looking into the study you had been working on. Apparently, they're nervous that the same sort of scandal which developed at the Project will erupt with that study. After you had told me about it, I did some investigating and was able to ask them some pointed questions which caused them to be more nervous and encouraged them to treat me with kid gloves. That made me feel good. I always did like to tweak self-important managers in their home territory. That's a brief review of my day.

"Sharlene, can you get out your computer again. I want to compare some of the graphs I was given with what you said Mariam sent to Todd and Julie. I think I remember them, but I would like to verify my memory."

In a couple of minutes, Sharlene has a chart displayed on her computer screen and Klara briefly looks at it before she says, "If I take only the two recordings during which I felt something pleasant, and compare it to yours, this one I felt was obviously less clean than yours. What about the one you said you recorded when you were playing with Molly?" When Sharlene brings it up, Klara compares again and remarks, "Yours is definitely more intense than what they said were their best examples.

"No wonder Mariam was all excited and told you to keep them under your hat. If these are truly their best examples, what I felt was nice, but it was more like remembering rather than experiencing. I doubt if people are going to want to pay for feeling a pleasant memory. They can do that for free. What people generally want and are willing to pay for are new experiences.

"I prefer to fully investigate and have all of the cold hard facts laid out before me, but in this case, we can't fully investigate without giving away our secret weapon. Based on what I found out today, with a healthy dose of intuition or speculation, this," she points to Sharlene's computer screen, "will make Digital Empathy a success while this," she holds up the printed out charts, "will make a nice footnote in a novelty article in some little read medical journal. Unless you can find some other people who can record emotional responses as strong and as clean as yours, you'll be the source for making Digital Empathy a success.

"Sharlene, that leaves a big decision in your hands, do you go forward with the Project knowing that, at least for now, you're the only source of usable emotional recordings? That will make it much easier for others to find out where the recordings are coming from and there can be a lot of implications to all of that. Or do you retain your privacy, call the Project quits, and everybody go their own way?

Klara briefly pauses then says, "I'm not going to stick around and discuss it with you tonight. I want you to think about it. I would even say take several days. I really don't want you to rush your decision, but the longer you wait, the harder it will be to get things done if you decide to go forward. I'll support you either way you want to go. I'll stay in the area until you decide. You have my phone number, so just call.

"It may seem harsh for me to dump the decision on you and run, but over the years, I've found that's the best way to operate. From past experience, if we start to discuss it, we'll end up in the paralysis of analysis as we try to sort out all of the ramifications and all of the what-ifs and that will probably make it even harder for you to make a decision. Stand up here and give an old lady a hug.

"Sharlene, I want you to know that even though we haven't had a lot of interaction over the years, I've always thought of you as a surrogate daughter. I'm very proud of you and what you've already accomplished. I know you'll do great things in the future. I'll support you in any way I can, but only you can decide what's best for you. Okay?"

"Yes, Klara."

"Good girl. Come here, old man, and give me a hug. . . . You take care of this little lady, she's going to need all of the love and support you can give here."

"I fully intend to."

She gives him a warm smile, "I know you do, George." As she gathers up her things, she says, "I'll leave these charts for you." When they reach the front door, Klara hugs them both again, then briefly puts a hand on one of Sharlene's cheeks, looks her intently in the eye, and says, "Call me when you decide." Klara steps out of the front door and walks to her rental vehicle without a backward glance.

Sharlene steps up to the door while George steps up behind her to hold her. When Klara has pulled out of the driveway and is driving down the street, Sharlene closes and locks the door, turns out the porch light, turns around, and tightly hugs him.

* * * * *

2147-09-02 (e3)

After awhile, Sharlene releases the hug, puts her hands on George's shoulders, leaps up onto him, wraps her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and kisses him passionately as he moves his right arm under her buttocks to support her. When she lets him breathe, she moves her lips to nibble on his ear then lowers herself a little to kiss his neck under his beard. As she does so, something rubs on her pubic area. While she guesses that what she feels is his belt buckle, she doesn't really care as she lifts herself and more slowly lowers herself across his belt buckle. Swiftly, her pleasure builds as she lifts and lowers herself a few more times before she cries out in climax and lets him support her while she pants for breath on his shoulder.

He carries her to the other room where he has her stand on the love seat. As his left arm holds onto her, his right hand pulls the bottom of her shirt all of the way out of her pants. Then he uses his right arm to hold and support her while he slides his left arm under her shirt to caress her bare skin.

A little later, his left hand provides her with some support which frees up his right hand to undo the top and bottom buttons of her shirt. He feels her excitement grow and begins to kiss her exposed upper chest while his right hand slides over her hip, down the outside of her left leg, across the back of her leg, and reaches to the inside of her thigh near the middle. As he slides his hand back out, he slowly spider walks his hand around the back of her leg, far to the inside along the middle of her thigh which encourages her to loudly groan in pleasure.

He gently pushes her to the back of the love seat and, a moment later, he reaches around the back of her legs with his right arm, pulls her legs off of the love seat, and supports her in a controlled fall onto the seat of the love seat. He turns her body to lay her head on the right arm rest and kneels in front of the love seat. As he supports himself on his left arm, he begins to kiss her while his right hand caresses her upper abdomen.

When he senses that she needs to breathe, he moves his kisses to her neck and upper chest while her breathing becomes heavier and her groans louder. A little later, she feebly tries to push his right hand down across the front of her pants then he moves his kisses to her upper abdomen and his right hand slides down to caress the fronts and insides of her thighs from her knees to the middle of her thighs.

Soon, with more pleasure added to her recent climax, she lifts her hips into the air and as his kisses and caresses grow in fervor, but remain within his self-imposed limits, she cries out, holds her position for a moment, then slumps to the love seat as he almost bites her abdomen to stifle his own wordless cry of pleasure. He turns his head towards hers, rests it on the bare skin of her upper abdomen, and waits for his own labored breathing to settle. When he sees that she's fallen asleep with a dreamy smile on her face, he gets up, goes and washes up, changes into his sweat suit, comes back to the love seat to sit on the edge, and holds her hand until she wakes.

He's jerked out of a light doze when Sharlene pulls his head down, proclaims, "Oh, George, thank you," and kisses him.

When his breathing settles enough to speak, he declares, "It was my pleasure."

She boldly touches him between his legs and asks, "Did you receive pleasure?"

He gently removes her hand, lifts it to his lips to kiss it, and answers, "I had a sexual release, but whether I did or not, giving you pleasure gives me pleasure."

"You selfishly selfless man, kiss me." He happily complies with her request. When he has to stop to breathe, she turns her body so her back is tight to the back of the love seat, pats the seat in front of her, and requests, "Lay down next to me." He attempts to do so, but it's awkward, so they adjust their positions until he's laying flat on his back and she's laying on top of him.

"This is even better," she proclaims and kisses him breathless again. As she lays her head next to his, she kisses, nuzzles, nibbles, and sucks on his ear as his hands gently caress the bare skin of her back under her shirt. Long after his breathing has settled so he'll be able to respond verbally, she says, "Mmm, you touch nice. . . . So, what am I going to do?"

He pauses for a little while then says, "I don't know . . . whatever you decide I'll support you as much as I can."

"I know you will and I really appreciate it. . . . I don't know which way to go."

"You've been working towards this for some time, what makes you hesitate?"

"I don't like being the only one whose emotional recordings are strong or clean enough. Even if I am the only one, I still want to retain my anonymity and privacy. Sharing my emotional recordings is one thing, but if I let the world know who I am, that will bring every kook and nut case out of the wood work while they want to try to be a part of it."

"So don't be the only one."

"It will take time, maybe lots of time, to find others whose emotional recordings are usable."

"Probably so, but you don't have to submit your recordings as one person, do you?"

She pushes herself up, looks at him in surprise, and asks, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know all of the details of how it was organized in the past, but when you submit your recordings, do them as different people. It's supposed to be anonymous, so instead of submitting your recordings as one anonymous person, do it as, say, ten anonymous people."

"That won't work since the recordings are submitted in weekly intervals."

He asks, "Do they have to be submitted in weekly intervals?"

"I suppose not."

"Are you really interested in reviewing the emotional recordings of people while they go to work, go grocery shopping, sleep, etcetera?"

"No."

"You really just want their clean and intense emotional experiences, right?"

"Yes."

"So give your emoters, I guess you call them, copies of the software like Mariam gave you and let them submit whatever recordings they want."

"Oh, . . . let me think . . ." She pulls her knees up to either side of his chest and sits on his lower abdomen to take her weight off of her arms. As he caresses the outsides of her legs, he watches her face quickly change as her eyebrows raise, then furrow, her smile turns to a frown and back again, she starts to nod, shakes her head, then nods again. Soon, her eyes open wide, she looks down at him, declares, "That's it, George, that's it," and almost dives down to his lips in order to thoroughly kiss him.

As she passionately kisses him and squirms her body, she feels something between her spread legs which presses on her pubic area. That inflames her desire which encourages her squirms to become more feverish which soon results in her crying out in pleasure. She pauses only briefly to savor the pleasure then she's moving again and as her pleasure crescendos, she again verbally expresses her climax.

Since he's concerned about her quickly wearing herself out, George lifts her hips up and away from his body. When she starts to move again, Sharlene doesn't feel anything pressing on her pubic area. When she opens her eyes and looks down, she sees that he's holding her hips up. Reluctantly, she agrees with his wisdom, straightens out her legs, and lays flat on him while she has to try hard to not think about how close her pubic area is to being touched even now.

"Thank you. Thank you so very much." She kisses him long and thoroughly. When she lets him breathe, she lays her head next to his and feels like she could almost melt into him. She feels so much . . . desire? . . . love? . . . something for him, that if she had the energy, she would take his clothes off, take her clothes off if he wouldn't, and . . . while she's not sure what would come next, the thoughts slip from her mind as she soaks in his love while she feels safe and contented in his encircling arms. Sometime later, as the daze of pleasure recedes and some energy begins to reanimate her mind and body, she lifts herself up, looks at him, tells him, "My precious, precious man," and kisses him.

While he waits for his breathing to settle, he caresses her smiling face, and when he's able to, he asks, "Is that anything like, 'my preccciousss'?"

"Oh, you. What Golin or Smohgahl, whichever name you want to use, had, was a piece of gaudy costume jewelry compared to you. I don't know about you, but I could use some food and drink if I'm going to have the energy to do anything." She gets off of him, kneels on the floor next to the love seat, cups his head with her hands, and kisses him breathless. When her own breathing has settled enough, she tells him, "Thank you so very, very much." With the last dregs of her self-control, she gets up and goes to the kitchen to get something for them to eat.

Slowly, he sits up and rests his head in his hands as he almost trembles with his desire for her and wonders how much longer he can resist her seemingly endless capacity for intimate pleasure and is speechlessly amazed that she wants to share it with him of all people.

When she returns to the love seat with a sandwich and a drink for each of them, they quickly devour the food and are both surprised at how hungry they were. She takes the empty plates back to the kitchen, returns to the love seat, sits next to him, holds his right hand in both of hers, glances at his face, then looks down. After a pause, she asks, "George, do you still want me?"

"More than ever."

"Will you stay with me?"

"As long as I can."

Sharlene leans on his shoulder, sighs, "Thank you, George. . . . Thank you." A couple of minutes later, she sits up, pats his hand with her right hand, then reaches up to turn his head towards hers, and kisses him. As she warmly smiles at him, she suggests, "Why don't you read some? I need to write down your wonderful suggestions before I forget them."

As she walks away, he can only stare after her while he tries to understand what she's been saying to him while another part of his mind drools over her enticing backside. He shakes his head to try to dispel that thought, or at least enough to not respond to it, then he gets up and slowly goes down the hall to empty his bladder before he returns to the love seat and resumes reading his book.

* * * * *

2147-09-02 (e4)

Sometime later, Sharlene returns to the love seat and notices that he's put down his book, laid back, and fallen asleep. She kneels on the love seat next to him and as she looks at him for a long time, she marvels that she can be so moved by such an apparently unremarkable old man. Yet there's so much inside of that bland exterior. She thinks about how much of what she's written down about running Digital Empathy has come from his ideas and suggestions. A number of them she or Mariam might have eventually thought of, but how much time and energy would have been lost without the gift of George.

And his touching! As she looks at his hands, she starts to feel excited at the thought of his hands touching her. Yet, thousands of other men must have hands of similar size and texture. What makes George's hands so special? And his eyes, she can feel both the care and the desire which seems to flood out of his eyes whenever he looks at her. Even now, it's all she can do to resist crawling onto him and snuggling into his arms. How is she going to run a company, when all she wants to do is to be in his arms? That's the biggest dilemma.

Klara's request for a decision about whether to go forward or not is relatively easy to answer. Go forward and work out answers to the problems as they come up. And how many of those answers have already been provided by George. He doesn't want to be involved, yet it's been his ideas and suggestions which have provided so many of the answers. It seems like the best way to go forward is to drag George along and climb into his arms as often as she can. She doesn't want to force him into doing something he doesn't want, but she needs him as well as wants him.

So, if he doesn't want to be involved in the day to day operation, in spite of his ideas which so strongly affect it, what kind of position can she give him? Isn't there a group of advisors or something which most companies have? She thinks about her dad's company . . . that's it, a board of directors. Excellent, George can be on the board of directors and if he spends time with her in staff meetings, he can be free to make all of the suggestions he can come up with.

Who else on the board of directors? Klara, definitely. Dad? Well, he's been running a company for a long time so he can provide some good suggestions. Her and Mariam, and maybe a couple more suggested by Klara and Dad. She take her phone out, but stops before she calls Klara as she realizes that it would be better to let her mind think about it overnight.

She looks at the time and then at him and decides it's probably time to get him into bed. She leans over him and begins to kiss him and caress his face.

His eyes pop open and relax into a smile as he asks, "Hello, Angel, is it morning?"

"No, lover boy, you feel asleep over your book. You need to go to bed, but I'm not big enough to carry you."

A moment later, he cups his hands to his chest, places an invisible object in her hands, and says, "Here, you carry my heart and my body will follow."

"Oh, George," as tears come to her eyes, she ceremoniously places her cupped hands to her own chest, presses in, affirms "Your heart shall be next to mine," and almost falls on him in her hurry to kiss him. Even after their breathing has settled, Sharlene lays there for a long time as she occasionally kisses his ear or nearby neck while she idly plays in his beard with her right hand. A little later, she asks, "George?"

"Yes."

"I know you don't want to be involved in the day to day operation of the company, but I really want you there with me. You've given us so many wonderful ideas and suggestions that, well, I don't think I can do it without you. Instead of being the vice president of morale or of ideas as Mariam and I suggested earlier, I would like you to be on the board of directors. That way you have an official position and can be involved as little or as much as you want."

He looks at her in surprise before he asks, "You're serious?"

"George, I need you. I want you, desperately. Your touching, your kindness, your ideas, your gentleness, your suggestions, everything about you that I've come to know and love. I think Digital Empathy and Emotique need to exist and flourish. I can't explain it, but I feel strongly that they do. Even more strongly, I feel like you need to be there to make them all that they can be. Without you, they'll be a hollow shell. It's almost as though we've been guided together for this purpose. Please, George?"

He briefly laughs bitterly then shakes his head before he says, "Mister nobody on the board of directors. What a cosmic joke. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound so bitter. And I certainly don't see it as being guided for some purpose. But for you, Sharlene and only for you, will I do it. I like Mariam and even Klara. I think Digital Empathy might have some value. But compared to making you happy, they have no value. How you've enchanted me into this, I don't know."

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I need you and want you and that you want me and will stand with me and support me. Forget the why and the wherefore, just stay with me."

He sighs deeply before he responds, "Oh, love, I'll stay with you as long as you can tolerate me. I never want to hurt you, but if I think you're making a decision which will hurt you, I'll probably tell you to stop."

"Please do. I trust your experience. If I can't explain myself to your satisfaction, I promise to take a step back and rethink my decision. Thank you, George. There may be times when you regret getting dragged into this, but I'll never regret having you with me."

"Sharlene, you're going to have to be more careful with your promises and statements. The future has a way of making us bitterly regret our promises. And never say never. There will always be the chance that unforeseen circumstances will come by and turn your world upside down."

"You're probably right." She starts to get up and he reluctantly releases her. A moment later, she suggests, "Come on, I need to get you to bed before you get sleepy again."

"Yes, my love."

When he stands up, she hugs him tightly and with an arm around his waist, she leads him to the bedroom. She leaves him to get his pajamas on and to take his teeth out and brush them. As George gets into bed, he wonders what he's gotten himself into. He really doesn't want to get back into the business world because so much of what goes on there is absolutely despicable to him.

Yet, he can't find it within himself to disappoint her. She's such a delight, such a fresh breeze of wonder, and, oh, so beautiful. It's unbelievably incredible that she wants him. He'll just have to grin and bear it, while he knows that her presence will make it more bearable than anyone else could. With that thought settled, he rolls onto his side, pulls the covers up, and is soon asleep.

Just a few minutes later, after she cleaned up in the kitchen, checked the doors, and turned out the lights, Sharlene comes into the bedroom and is disappointed to see that he's already asleep. She tells herself it's probably for the best, otherwise she would have had a hard time not pushing him to touch her so much more. She sits on the floor next to the bed and looks at him for a long time.

While she feels guilty about begging him to be involved in the company, she still thinks he'll make the difference. Somehow, she'll have to make him feel wanted and comfortable. Even through her guilt, she feels her desire for him bubbling just below the surface. Oh, how much longer before he feels free to touch her completely?

A little more patience, she reminds herself. Just think about how much he's already touching her as he's unbuttoned her shirt and slid his hands up under her skirt. She shivers in delight at the feelings those memories provoke. She quietly chuckles at how appalled her mom would be to know that a man, any man, had his hands under her skirt. Well, if she wore her skirt as short as many young women do, George wouldn't have to reach under her skirt to touch her where he has. Rather than display herself to everyone, how delightfully delicious it is to have her man sneak his hands under her skirt to touch her. She cuts that thought off before it goes any further, gets up, gets herself ready for bed, cuddles up to his back, slips her left arm under his pajama top and across his chest, and is soon asleep.

* * * * *

2147-09-03 (n>m1)

When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he carefully gets up and goes to the bathroom. As he gets back in bed, he tries to gently slide his left arm under her head.

Sharlene asks, "George?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I was just going to hold you."

"Yes!" She pulls herself up and lays on top of him slightly diagonally with her left leg between his legs and her head next to his right ear where she whispers, "Like this?"

"That's more than I intended, but I do like you close," as he wraps his arms snugly around her.

"Mmm, me too." She gently nuzzles his right ear while she caresses the left side of his face with some of her hair, then suggests, "Go back to sleep, my wonderful man."

His only response is a dreamy, "Mmm," as he falls asleep under her warm feminine weight. A little while later, she follows him into dream land.

* * * * *

When Sharlene wakes up sometime after sunrise, she thinks something is missing. It takes her awhile to realize that she misses the sunshine streaming through his bedroom windows. After only a week at his home, she already feels as though she has left her own home. Carefully, she starts to get up and as she moves her leg from between George's legs, she barely resists the temptation to stroke his erect penis which was under her leg. Once she's out of bed, she goes to the bathroom, then to the front room where she hopes that a vigorous martial arts workout will distract her from him. After she cools down with some tai-chi exercises, she checks the time and calls Klara.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Klara. It's Sharlene. I've decided to go forward."

"That was quick."

"Not really. I had already pretty much decided to keep going forward. Your comments last night had thrown a variable into the works which I hadn't considered thoroughly enough. Again, George came through with a solution."

"Really? Is it my imagination or is it that every problem I hear about, George has a solution."

"It's not your imagination, although I can't say he's had a solution to every problem, just most of them. I continue to be astounded at how he seems to come up with such sensible and practical solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems."

"Interesting. So, Sharlene, are you ready to take the next steps?"

"I guess that depends on what they are."

"I think the first thing we ought to do is apply for a business license, then rent a postal box, and I think we ought to check out some of the possible rental properties. I'll need to get in touch with the real estate agent and see when he's available. When can you be ready?"

"An hour. Do you want me to pick you up, Klara?"

"No, I'll pick you up. We'll maintain the appearance of investor representative and local friend for the present. I'll see you in about an hour.

"Okay. Bye."

Sharlene goes to the bedroom and when she sees that he's still asleep, she takes a quick shower and only the pain of constantly biting her lip keeps her from touching herself and imagining that it's his hands which are touching her. She gets dressed in her typical business attire of shirt and slacks. As she opens the bathroom door, she sees him sitting up on the side of the bed.

George turns, toothlessly grins at her, and proclaims, "What a beautiful sight you are."

Her return smile is like the sun coming over the horizon as she tells him, "You make my heart throb, old man."

His eyes open wide.

"Will you brush my hair for me?"

"Gladly, after I empty my bladder."

After his hands are washed, he sits on the end of the bed and she sits on his legs. As he brushes her hair, he asks, "So, you decided to go forward with the company?"

"Yes, with your support."

He pauses a moment in his brushing to digest that statement then asks, "You think I'll make a difference?"

"You've already made a big difference in several ways. Without you, I wouldn't be having these emotional experiences. Without you, we wouldn't have a name. Without you, we wouldn't have a technological breakthrough. Without you, I wouldn't be able to retain my anonymity while providing emotional recordings. Whenever someone comes up with a problem, you have a sensible and practical solution."

"A few lucky guesses. If you rely on me for solutions, you're going to be greatly disappointed."

"I don't intend to rely on you for solutions, but I also don't want to miss out on any of your other 'lucky guesses' which come along."

"Humph. So, what's on the agenda?"

Sharlene answers, "Klara will be by in about a half hour and we'll go apply for a business license and rent a postal box for the company. Maybe we'll look at rental properties to start out in depending on when the real estate agent is available. I didn't think you would be interested in applying for a business license, but if you don't mind, I would like you to come along to look at rental properties."

"Can I think about that one?"

"Are you about done?"

"Just about. . . . There. Do you want it braided?"

"No. I'll just put a clip in it." She turns, reaches around, pulls his head to hers, kisses him, then tells him, "Thank you for brushing my hair." She stands up and steps over to the bathroom where she brushes her hair above her ears straight back, clips it together, lets the rest of her hair fall down her back, turns, and asks him, "There, how's that?"

"Ah, Sharlene, you're lovely."

"No, silly, how's my hair?"

"It's lovely too. It's times like this that I wish I had a greater interest in poetry."

"Why do you say that?"

He pauses, but he's unable to find the right words so he says, "Because my feeble words can't begin to describe you."

She quickly slips on her recording and decorative headbands, steps over to him, leans over, and huskily whispers in his ear, "Later, you can let your fingers do the talking." Reluctantly, she stands back up and suggests, "Come, let's get something to eat before Klara comes."

"Shouldn't I get dressed first?"

"Come on, we should be finished eating before she gets here." Silently, she adds to herself that she likes to see his physical response to her presence outlined through his pajamas.

"What did you want to eat?"

"I thought of eggs and toast."

"Do you have an apron? I can do the eggs so you won't splatter any grease on your clothes."

"You're as thoughtful as ever. . . . Will this work?" She holds out a full length apron to him.

"Yep."

It's only a matter of minutes before the food is prepared and eaten and shortly afterwards the kitchen is cleaned up.

"Do you mind if I take a bath while you're out with Klara?"

"Of course not and you don't have to ask. I know, you're just trying to be polite."

He shrugs his shoulders with a slight grin.

"Thank you for your courtesy. Now, how about a kiss before we go our separate ways?"

He's only too happy to comply with her request.

A couple of minutes later, after she hears the bath water turn off, the doorbell rings and she goes to answer it, "Hi, Klara, come on in."

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Let me go tell George we're leaving."

After she carefully closes the bedroom door behind her, she opens the bathroom door.

When he hears the door open, he turns, and in near shock, he exclaims, "Sharlene!"

"I had to kiss my man goodbye."

He starts to raise his hand, but she stops him and says, "No, hands off this time." As she kneels down beside the tub, her right hand cups the back of his neck and pulls his head to her and kisses him while her left hand slips into the bath water between his legs and briefly fondles his scrotum. While he's trying to catch his breath, she gets up, dries her left hand, requests, "Don't forget me", and is out of the door before he can respond.

With a tone of disbelief, he tells the walls of the bathroom, "Forget her? That's the last thing I'll ever be able to do."

* * * * *

2147-09-03 (m2)

Sharlene closes and locks the front door and is soon in Klara's rental vehicle and has her seat belt buckled. Klara starts to back the vehicle out of the driveway and asks, "So, where was George?"

"In the bath."

Klara slams on the brakes which causes her vehicle to block most of the road, thankfully there's no traffic at the moment, then she turns and briefly stares at Sharlene before she asks, "George was in the bath and you went in to tell him you were leaving?"

With a wide grin and a voice of innocence, Sharlene says, "I had to kiss my man goodbye."

After she briefly shakes her head in disbelief, Klara looks around and resumes backing up and then starts down the street before she says, "Never in a hundred years would I have guessed you would go crazy over a man."

"Oh, but what a man he is."

"What's gotten into you?"

"George has. Well, actually he hasn't. Not yet, anyway."

Klara pulls over to the side of the road and stares at her before she asks, "Sharlene, what is going on?"

"I'm sorry, Klara. I don't mean to be so distracted, but I can't think about that old man without a warm glow. Last night, after you left, I virtually attacked him, he took it in stride and gave me much pleasure. When I was finally exhausted, he sat beside me and held my hand until I woke up. He could have so easily taken advantage of me, yet he didn't, just as all of the other times he hasn't. Later, when I wanted more pleasure, he touched me so wonderfully, but stopped short of touching me to exhaustion.

"When I had calmed down enough, he asked me what I was concerned about. I told him I didn't want to be the only one to have usable emotional recordings. He gave me a very simple solution to make it appear like I wasn't the only one. Later, I told him that I wanted him to be a part of the company. He was quite unhappy about that, but said he would do it for me. Klara, how can I not be crazy about that man?"

"Humm. Since you put it like that, I begin to see your point."

"How come so many people can't see how wonderful he is? I'm glad they can't, so I can have him. He's been hurt by so many people for so many years. The bitterness runs so deep in him that I don't know if I can handle it. Yet, he's so wonderful, I can't do anything else, but be there when he digs out the bitterness and help him replace it with love and acceptance. Oh, Klara, I love him so much," and she begins to sob.

After she gives Sharlene some time to let some of her emotions out, Klara hands her a package of tissues and gently rubs her back as she tells her, "It's okay, Sharlene. I'm glad you have someone to love and I'm very glad he's so gentle and kind to you. He sure seems to think the world of you."

"I'm sorry, Klara, I didn't mean to go all emotional on you."

"It's quite alright. We all need someone and sometimes more than one someone we can pour our heart out to. I feel privileged you can share your feelings with me. On first-day when you sat on his lap and cried about the evening before, was that the first time you had cried in front of him?"

Sharlene shakes her head then answers, "Not at all. With the tears I've poured onto that man's shirts, you could have done a big load of laundry. And he's always been gentle and patient with me, just like you saw. When I was a little girl, I could easily be upset and would get on Dad's lap and cry my heart out. As I grew older, I learned that society considers that to be inappropriate behavior, so I forced myself to be tough. With George, I don't have to be tough. If I get upset, I crawl onto his lap and he cuddles me and he lets me cry it out, whatever I need. In some ways he's clumsy, he's not social or romantic, subtle hints pass him by, but if I'm clear about what I need, he's there for me and gives me what I need and want.

"Oh, Klara, I had no intention of being interested in a man and certainly not one old enough to be my grandfather. I'm well aware I only met him a few weeks ago, but in those few short weeks, I've come to the point where I can't imagine living life without him. I know that one day I'll have to, but until that day comes, I intend to make the most of every day I have to be with him. The hardest thing about deciding whether or not to go forward with the company wasn't being the only one whose emotional recordings were usable, it was the amount of time I would be away from George. That's why I asked him to be a part of the company, so we had more time together as well as to take advantage of his ideas and suggestions."

Klara asks, "What position did you think of for him?"

"I asked him to be on the board of directors. That way he doesn't have daily duties, but he can help out anywhere and whenever he wants. I won't claim to understand how a board of directors works, but it seemed appropriate considering how much he's already contributed. He has a lot of experience from the bottom side of companies which is a perspective which is probably often missing from a board of directors."

"That's a good point. In fact, that's a very good position for George. Had you thought of anyone else for your board of directors?"

"I thought of you and Dad, as well as Mariam and myself. I don't really know who else, maybe Aunt Paula."

"You have been thinking. I, for one, would be honored to serve on your board of directors and I think your dad would be tickled pink. With a small company, just starting out, you really don't need much of a board of directors, in fact most small companies don't have them. However, if you do have one, it shows that you're looking ahead and want to have people to advise you on how best to succeed. By jolly, this is going to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Thank you, Sharlene, for including me in your adventure."

She looks at Klara in surprise and asks, "You, . . . you don't mind?"

"Not at all. I told you it would be fun when you first asked me, and it's just getting better all of the time."

"You won't mind working with George or object that I want him with me."

Klara softens her tone as she says, "Sharlene, let me speak as a woman and not as a lawyer. There's a possibility that George is fooling all of us, but I think that's a very, very small possibility. With that being said, I'm envious of you. To have a man look at me the way he looks at you, and to treat me with the gentleness with which he treats you, I would give almost anything for that. Don't tell him I said so, but I think you have a very special man there. It's a shame he isn't younger, but many of the experiences he's had over the years have shaped him."

"I think he was probably a special man even when he was young and many of those experiences haven't so much shaped him as buried who he really is and paved it over with a lot of bitterness."

"That could be, but it's something we'll never know, and even if we did, we can't change it. Sharlene, I really am happy for you. And when you tell your folks, I'll be happy to support you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Oh, thank you, Klara, you don't know how much that means to me." Although it's not easy, they do manage a respectable hug in the vehicle.

"It's my pleasure, young lady. Now, shall we go apply for a business license and get ready to change the world?"

"You bet."

* * * * *

2147-09-03 (a)

A couple of hours later, after they acquire a temporary business license, rent a postal box, and go back to provide the postal box address to the licensing agency, they return to Sharlene's house.

As she drives there, Klara says, "You know that George thinks you need to be supported since you're out of work."

"I know. I've told him I have a life insurance policy from my biological parents which I can live on for awhile, but I never told him how big it was, nor have I told him about my other funds. It's obvious he's not after me for my money. I'm almost a little concerned about what his reaction will be when he finds out how much I do have. The funny thing is, I don't even know.

"I thought I would wait until things settle down after the issue of the Project is resolved before I tell him. I don't want to add another unsettling factor to the equation and I want some time to be able to spend with him in case he has a bad reaction. I don't think he will, but I would rather have the time and not need it than the other way around."

"That makes sense. On another subject, when I asked him, he said he wouldn't marry you and that if you wanted children, you would either have to adopt or find some other way of getting pregnant."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "We've already discussed marriage and he's made it clear he has no intention of fathering any other children. I personally have no problems living with him without getting married. I'm certainly no expert, but even I've seen a number of problems with how people deal with being married. I'm sure it will bother Mom, and I hate to say this about my own parents, but their marriage isn't one that I would want to hold up as a positive example. When Aunt Paula talked to me about the subject, the first thing she reminded me of is that Uncle Paul isn't her first husband. Frankly, their marriage would be on the rocks or dissolved if George hadn't have intervened."

"We all wondered what happened, but she never would say."

"Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said something."

Klara assures her, "If she told you and didn't forbid you to speak of it, then you haven't broken any confidences."

"I suppose so, but I would feel better if she told you directly or if she gave me permission to tell. It's somewhat private and I don't want to get over the line of divulging private information. I've already gotten on top of the line with Aunt Paula and my relationship with her is too valuable to me for me to give her any reasons to be upset with me."

"Fair enough. What about the children issue?"

Sharlene says, "I assume you know I can't have children."

"Yeah. Your dad told me not long after you found out and told him. It was during one of his rare depressions and he was lamenting the unfairness of life. I'm sorry that choice was taken away from you."

"I felt sorry for myself for a little while, but I soon realized that if I wanted children, I could always adopt and the only thing I would really miss out on was morning sickness, waddling around with a pumpkin in my belly, and the pain and risks of bringing another child into the world, as though the world needs more people. The funny thing is that I think George would be a good father. I don't know how he is with little children, but he seems to get along with Maria's two children quite well.

"When we talked about our touching progressing towards the intimate, he was concerned that he might be carrying some unwelcome disease. I assured him that he was clean because I had all of the tests run when he was in the hospital with his heart attack. Then he told me that he had had a vasectomy, but hadn't gone back to the doctor's to be tested to see if the surgery was a success. I almost told him then that it wasn't an issue, but, for some reason, I didn't. I've been thinking that the next time we're away at his place I'll tell him then. Hopefully before he wants to stop touching any further in fear of getting me pregnant."

Klara hesitates before she says, "I don't mean to be prying, but I'm very curious. You've made it clear you receive a lot of pleasure from him touching you, but you've also made it clear that he hasn't touched you intimately. From all that I have heard, read, and even experienced, I don't know how you can have that much pleasure without being touched intimately."

Sharlene shakes her head as she responds, "I don't know what the reason is for sure. He's convinced that a major factor is my sheltered upbringing and that I've never been touched before, so I don't have negative emotional baggage which is attached to being touched, thus when I'm touched, I give myself fully over to the pleasurable feelings. I think a lot of that is because I feel perfectly safe with him. I have no concern at all that he'll take advantage of my vulnerability.

"Actually, it's gotten to the point where I would welcome more extensive touching on his part, probably because I absolutely trust him to not intentionally hurt me. Sometimes I wonder if I'm hypersensitive or something because of how exciting his touch is to me. I don't know and I have no basis for comparison. I've pretty much given up on trying to think of a reason and would rather spend my energy on enjoying how he touches me."

"I suppose you did have a rather unique upbringing which could factor strongly into the situation. It would be quite hard to find other young women with a similar upbringing so you could compare notes with them. The practical approach would definitely be to enjoy it. Thank you for being willing to talk about it. Most women would either clam up or brag they taught their man everything he knows about touching a woman. When I think about the string of circumstances which brought you two together at the same time the technology came into being for you to be able to form this company while having such clean and intense emotional recordings, it boggles the mind."

"I know, Klara. I'm amazed at the odds of everything coming together. When I suggested to him that there might be a purpose to it, he became rather upset."

"Really?"
Sharlene nods her head as she answers, "Yes. He's only made a couple of references to it, but apparently he was quite religious when he was younger and somehow got very badly burned. It's not a subject I'm inclined to bring up after I watched Mom bounce around in the religious world and only become more confused and poorer in the process."

"That sounds like another area in which you and George are compatible."

"Yeah. Isn't the common advice never to talk about religion or politics? In general, we agree on religion and although we haven't discussed it, I'll bet his feeling about politicians is not to trust them, and although I don't have his experience, I haven't seen or heard anything from politicians to make me feel comfortable with them."

As Klara pulls into Sharlene's driveway, she suggests, "Instead of arguing about those topics you can play, 'can you top this story'. It's got to be better than trying to carry on an intelligent conversation about the weather." They're chuckling at that as they go into the house.

George looks up from his book and asks, "What's so funny?"

Sharlene answers, "The weather."

The ladies laugh while he looks at them and wonders what they've been drinking.

Sharlene goes over, settles onto his upper legs, kisses him, and explains, "Before we came in, we were talking about how religion and politics are usually regarded as unwelcome topics of conversation, so we were wondering how people can have an intelligent conversation about the weather."

"You're right. Maybe that's why I'm such a social flop. When someone wanted to talk about the weather, my thought was usually why talk about it, go look out the stupid window. Or was it, go look out the window, stupid."

At which they start to laugh again.

"So, how did everything go?"

With a glance at Klara who waves her on before she walks down the hall, Sharlene answers, "We applied for a business license and received the temporary. The official one on fancy paper will come in two or three weeks. So Digital Empathy is now an officially established company. It helped a lot that Klara had already done the research on the name and had registered it. With the temporary license, we were able to rent a business postal box. While we were out, the real estate agent called and we made arrangements with him to look at several rental properties this afternoon which are about the size we'll probably need to start out with and they're all within just a few miles of here. We wanted to get some lunch and invite you along to check out the rentals."

"I suppose I can go along and look things over, scowl a lot and maybe knock on a wall or two. Not that I would know what the wall was telling me. Or I could pretend to be your bodyguard and stand around looking stern while wearing sunglasses."

Sharlene moves her head next to his in order to whisper in his ear, "Mmm, does that mean you'll cover my body with yours just to protect me or to give me pleasure."

He whispers back, "Young lady, you have a guest."

She gives him a quickly whispered, "Oh, pooh," a longer kiss, and before she gets up, she asks, "How about some sandwiches for lunch?"

It's only a matter of minutes before they have sandwich makings spread out on the counter. Even while they take the time to enjoy the food with light conversation, it's not long before they've eaten, re-hydrated, and cleaned up the table and kitchen. They're able to relax for a little while before it's time to go look at the rentals. Before they leave, George asks to borrow a pad of paper and a writing utensil to take notes.

When they meet with the real estate agent at the first of the properties to look at, Klara takes the lead since she made the initial contact and, as the investor's representative, she's the one with the checkbook. Over the next few hours, they look at several properties, a couple right next to each other, and another which had three possibilities in the same roadside shopping center. George takes notes, points out water damage in a couple which encourages him to question the integrity of the roof, taps on the walls and in one case accidentally puts his hand through a wall which was rotten on the backside. A couple of rentals have cosmetic damage which make them look bad, but could probably be easily and rather inexpensively repaired. With George's notes and the floor plan drawings in hand, Klara thanks the real estate agent for his time and says they'll get back in touch with him hopefully within a week.

* * * * *

2147-09-03 (e)

They get back in Klara's vehicle and go to Sharlene's house where they have a dinner of takeout pizzas then discuss the pros and cons of the various properties. As their discussion continues, they realize there are a few factors they hadn't considered, but several of them are resolved by looking over the floor plan drawings or one or another of them remembering the general location. A couple of other factors are going to need some input from somebody more familiar with the Project, but since they're unsure how to get that at the present, they make a note to think about it over the next few days. When they run out of things to consider and have a list of pros and cons for each property, Klara bids them good night and goes back to her hotel.

Since they're tired after the busy day, Sharlene and George make their way to the love seat and flop down next to each other. In a little while, they turn the television on and find a nature show to 'blah' out in front of. Partway through the show, Sharlene slides over, reclines on him with her back snug to his chest, and pulls his arms to wrap around her upper abdomen.

Some minutes later, she lifts his arms up a little, pulls the bottom of her shirt out of her slacks, undoes the bottom buttons, and snuggles his hands and arms on her bare skin. Not long after that, she takes one of his arms at a time, unbuttons the cuff of his shirt, and rolls up his sleeve so the bare skin of his forearm is touching the bare skin of her upper abdomen. She wiggles in pleasure at the feeling of skin on skin.

After the television is turned off at the end of the show, he starts to nuzzle her right ear which is interrupted when she turns her head and kisses him. The awkwardness of the position is soon obvious, so she breaks the kiss, turns about ninety degrees to the right and resumes the kiss much more comfortably. The fact that they've been awake and in each other's company without touching or kissing for several hours becomes apparent as their hunger for each other makes itself obvious. When he has to breathe, she kisses his neck, his face, and his ears as his hands seem to play music across the bare skin of her back and upper abdomen which leads her nerves to joyfully sing.

During the third or fourth reluctant separation of their lips so he can breathe while his left hand continues to caress her back, his right hand slowly and a little clumsily undoes the top buttons of her shirt. He interrupts her moan of anticipated pleasure to hungrily lock lips with hers while his right hand returns to tantalize the skin of her upper abdomen. Before he's totally out of breath, he moves his kisses across her cheek to her ear where he momentarily pauses to suck on her earlobe while his left hand caresses the skin under her back bra strap which is accompanied by her groans of pleasure.

He moves his left hand from under her bra strap and slides it the rest of the way up her back to support the back of her head as he leans her back to more easily nuzzle, kiss, and lightly tongue caress the tender skin of her neck. As she feels her pleasure rapidly grow, her breathing quickens as his lips touch her more fervently while she pulls his head tightly to her neck and responds with groans of pleasure.

When she can breathe without panting, she grabs his head with both of her hands and feverish kisses him and moves her kisses to his face just before he almost turns blue from a lack of air. She feels a new set of nerves singing with pleasure then realizes that he's moved his right hand to her legs and is slowly caressing the fronts and insides of her lower thighs. She allows her legs to separate only a short distance and her pleasure soon nears the summit as he caresses the insides of both of her thighs at the same time with his right hand. As his kisses move from her neck to her upper chest, and his right hand slowly caresses further up her thighs, her groans become louder, her breathing becomes faster, and as his hands move past the midpoint of her thighs, she reaches a hand down to briefly touch herself and cries out as the pleasure propels her over the peak.

While his right hand slowly moves down her legs towards her knees and his kisses move back up to her neck, his first thought is surprise that he didn't climax with her then guesses he must be more tired than he thought. A second thought which makes it to his conscious mind is wondering if she's received satisfaction. As his lips reach hers, his second thought is answered as she hungrily kisses him. When she lets him breathe, she proclaims, "Oh, George," and her many, "that was," kisses, "wonderful," cover, "touch me," his face, "again," his ears, "please," and centers back on his lips.

His hand begins to slowly move up the insides of her legs again while his kisses go over her chin, down her throat and begin to go back and forth across her upper chest while slowly descending. As his right hand passes the mid-point of her inner thighs, her legs fly open in invitation, and her breathing becomes shallower. Since he's no longer able to caress both of her inner thighs at the same time, his fingertips begin to move in circles along the inside of her left leg, with each circle moving further up her leg accompanied by successively higher pitched gasps until she cries out in climax when his hand almost reaches the top of her inner thigh.

As his right hand slowly descends her left inner thigh in the same manner in which it ascended, she gasps or jerks as the pleasure shoots through her nerves. When his right hand nears her left knee, he slides his hand across the front of her leg and pulls her legs together and caresses the outside of her left leg in a comforting manner to help her calm down. She caresses the top and back of his head she has snugly pressed to her upper chest and gasps out, "Incredible . . . such pleasure . . . didn't think . . . it was possible. . . . Did you?"

"No. Probably a bit too tired."

"Not stimulated. . . . Fix that." She slips her right hand between their bodies and between his legs and she begins to stroke him through his pants as she gasps out, "One-sided pleasure . . . isn't fair." His heavy jeans provide a significant barrier to her light touch, but for him to just be aware that her hand is there has its own significance. His right hand starts to caress her right thigh from the front of her leg to sliding between her legs then back to the front and he follows that pattern as his hand slowly moves up her right leg while his kisses again move down her upper chest. When his right hand caresses her higher than the middle of her thigh, her legs again open invitingly, while her groans lengthen and deepen.

As the gap narrows between his hand and the inside joining of her leg and torso, her hips squirm as the pleasure courses through her and her breathing becomes faster and shallower. Higher and higher his hand slowly moves, until she can wait no longer and lifts her hips in an attempt to close the gap. As his hips follow hers into the air, his cry of pleasure is drowned out as her climactic expression resounds through the room for a seemingly long time as she reaches the peak and beyond before she collapses on him and he slumps onto the love seat while he retains just enough reasoning to pull her head and upper body towards him before he's lost to the world.

Reluctantly, Sharlene drifts out of her daze of pleasure and realizes he's fallen asleep. Since she's so grateful to him and feels satiated, at least for now, she snuggles a little closer, relaxes, and drifts off into a light doze.

Later yet, George starts to stir and hugs her tighter as he becomes consciously aware of her presence which brings her out of her doze and allows her to express herself, "Thank you so very very much. If we weren't tired, I would want to switch touching roles to show you how much I appreciate you touching me and the pleasure you give me."

He assures her, "Allowing me to touch you and to give you pleasure is all of the thanks I could want. I would have never imagined myself in such a relationship with a person like you, not even in my wildest fantasy."

"That makes two of us, because as I told Klara this morning, I never imagined myself in a relationship with any man, much less someone old enough to be my grandfather."

"Not with any man?"

Sharlene shakes her head.

"Then how come you were willing to even get in my pickup?"

"I hadn't planned on a relationship. When Aunt Paula told me that my guide was going to be a man, I about freaked. She made it very clear you are trustworthy and safe. I've never really had a bad experience with a man. Between my mom's vague and general admonitions about men and since I had never been around any other than a few family members when I was young, it was more like I didn't know how to act or respond to a man. When I was in college and medical school, I was younger than the other students and so I usually wasn't bothered, but I heard enough from the other female students which encouraged me to build a strong aversion to being around men as well as a strong sense of distrust towards them.

"That's why a significant element of our relationship and indeed the reason I could even consider a relationship with you, is the level of trust I have in you and the strong sense of comfort I have in your presence. It's the dichotomy of my comfort with you and my distrust of men in general which was a major part of my agonizing to Aunt Paula and Mariam over what was happening to me."

He briefly pauses before he responds, "Well, I think you're about the first woman I'm aware of who considered my being 'safe' to be with a positive factor in developing a relationship. Most of the time it was more like I was 'safe' to be with, but not interesting enough to form a relationship with."

"I'm afraid I would have been right there with a lot of those others if something inside of me didn't insist there was something special about you, which kept me around long enough to find out how interesting and special you really are. Whatever it was, I'm forever grateful, because I can't imagine going through life without knowing you and being with you." She seals her statement with a long loving kiss.

When he's finally able to breathe without panting, he tells her, "Thank you, my lady. I certainly don't want to be without you in my life, but I can all too easily imagine it because I lived that way for many many years. Not only did you save my physical life, you saved me from continuing to live a life of despair, and I can never thank you enough or do enough for you to begin to compensate you for the gift you are to me." This time, he initiates the kiss.

When they need to breathe, one's kisses moves to the other's face, but make their way back to lips. Several times they repeat the general pattern for a kiss which extends for many long tender minutes, enjoyment without reaching excitement, closeness without going into intimacy, pleasure without becoming passion. When the hands on the clock have moved a significant distance, their kissing slowly dissipates as they snuggle together and relax in each other's arms and presence.

The hands on the clock hike quite a distance further before their bladders demand attention. With barely a word, they get up from the love seat and check that the doors are locked and the lights are off. They separate to get ready for bed in the two bathrooms and are soon getting in bed together where they share another long loving kiss before they cuddle close and in a little while, they drift off to sleep in each other's arms.

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (m1)

Slowly, Sharlene drifts awake and is somewhat surprised to find that she's still cuddled up next to George instead of being half undressed and laying on top of him as she had apparently only dreamed. Even though it was a dream, her body tingles with pleasure as she discovers when she moves slightly and one of her erect nipples is dragged along his side. With great reluctance, she carefully gets out of bed and tries to disturb him as little as possible. Once she's up, she sits down cross-legged on the bed and looks at him and, again, she wonders how he can affect her so much. As she makes the effort to calm down, she realizes it's probably a good thing she tends to wake up before him, otherwise it would be almost impossible to get out of bed.

She gets dressed, checks her phone, and finds a brief message from Klara which says she'll spend the day at the Project again and will be by late in the afternoon to pick her up for the Institute's official presentation of the Project and informal dinner. That reminds her that she ought to do something with her recent emotional recordings. After they're downloaded, she erases the recordings, puts the ERD back in her headband, reviews the recordings, and makes notes of what she can remember was happening.

Last night's three peaks of pleasure show above the high plateau which is so incredible itself, at least compared to her previously normal recordings. Again, she sees that the pleasure only slowly dissipates even though she was consciously unaware. She really wonders what's going on in the brain at a time like that, but she can't imagine having that kind of an experience in the laboratory conditions where the brain scan equipment is so typically kept. And then to hold her head still while experiencing such pleasure? No way!

As she reviews the last of the recordings, Sharlene notices there's another event recorded recently and can only conclude that it was the dream she experienced. Although it isn't as intense as the pleasure George gives her when she's awake, it's still clean and rather strong, apparently cleaner than the better emotional recordings the Project has so far collected, as least from what Klara said she was shown. Just to be sure, she checks the charts which Klara had been given and left with her, and, sure enough, her dream recording is as good as or better than the best printed out charts.

For awhile, she just sits there while she looks at the print outs and compares it to the dream recording on her computer and she isn't sure whether to be frightened or excited at the comparison. When she feels a hand gently rest on her shoulder, she instinctively knows it's George and instead of jumping in surprise, she turns her head to kiss his hand, then turns her head up to smile at him.

He returns her smile and asks, "What'cha doing?"

"Waiting for you to bend down so I can kiss you."

He immediately does. While he catches his breath, he stands back up, leans on the table, pulls a chair over, places it next to hers facing the opposite direction, sits down, and begins to caress her face. When his breathing nears normal, he leans over and initiates the next long kiss. When he can breathe again, he asks, "What were you doing before I interrupted you?"

"I was reviewing the download of my latest emotional recordings, including last night's exciting adventure, and comparing it with the charts the Project gave Klara of their supposed best recordings."

"Why do you say 'supposed best'?"

"I find it hard to believe that my recordings are as clean and intense, or even more so, than the best recordings the Project has received. Here, look at this chart and compare it to the one on the computer."

He turns his chair around to sit thigh to thigh with her and says, "It does look like yours on the computer is cleaner and a little more intense. Can you change the scale on the computer screen so it more closely matches the printed chart?" She makes a couple of cursor moves and clicks and he observes, "The difference isn't great, but there's clearly a difference."

"And that," she points to the computer screen, "was a dream I had this morning."

"Really?"

"Yes. And if my memory of the dream is accurate, we were just getting started touching. Here's my chart from last night."

"Wow! Big difference."

"Yeah. If this is their best," she points to the chart he's holding, "what kind of a reaction will there be to that," as she points to the computer screen.

"Can you show me the charts of the emotional recordings which Mariam sent to Julie and Todd?"

"Here's the one from the first time in your pickup."

"Humm, the overall intensity is about the same as this, but your chart is clearly cleaner."

"And from what Julie told Mariam, how clean it is, is a big factor in how well the prime emotion is felt."

"What about some of your other recordings, like when you were playing with Molly."

As she pulls them up, he looks through the printed charts for some labeled along the lines of 'joy' or 'fun'. After he takes a couple of moments to compare them, he remarks, "Even with these emotions, your recordings are clearly cleaner and give or take a little, just as intense. It looks like when you have a strong emotion, you give your whole attention to it, regardless of which emotion it is."

"Yeah. I feel a bit of selfish pride about that, but the more I think about it, the more I'm bothered by having 'better' recordings than the other recordings which the Project has seen."

He sets the papers down, wraps his arms around her, and tells her, "Lovely lady, in this case, your difference from others is most likely going to end up being for your benefit. Based on Julie's stated reaction, your recordings are going to be what gets Emotique going. In time, as you look for others who can produce clean emotions, no doubt you'll find them. You might want to start your future search with those people who are in more stereotypically emotional cultures. Whether their emotional recordings will match their reputation is anybody's guess, but it's as good a place to start as any."

"I think I'm going to have to start calling you my guru. You're always giving such good advice and inspiring me to go on." She expresses herself with a thorough kiss. "Thank you, my wise man. I suppose if I'm going to keep you wise and functioning, I'd better feed you. Does anything strike your fancy?"

"Besides you?" he takes her nearest arm and begins to nibble and kiss it.

"Are you trying to distract me?"

He pauses for a moment before he says, "Actually, no. Just seeing you sit here so beautiful, luscious, and delicious, well, sometimes I have trouble controlling myself. I'm sorry," as he gently and reluctantly sets her arm down.

"Don't be sorry." She reaches up to caress his face, "I really like you wanting me. I, too, have trouble controlling myself. It was very difficult for me to get out of bed this morning and now I want to follow up on my dream of us touching. And I would thoroughly enjoy letting you kiss my arm and beyond, but I could feel the tremor in your hand when you were holding my arm. You need food in you, otherwise you'll be in no shape to touch me and I know neither one of us wants that to happen."

"The lovely lady is right. What shall I fix us?"

"You can sit there and not wear yourself out more. I won't take me long to fix some eggs and toast. If you want, you can look at my emotional recordings."

"I'm sorry, but seeing lines on a graph is nothing compared to feeling your skin under my hands and lips."

"You keep talking like that and I'll forget about food."

"Do you have solitaire on here?"

"Only if it came with the system."

"Usually it does. . . . Ah, here we go." He distracts himself by playing solitaire for the few minutes it takes her to fix breakfast.

Even though they take their time, it's not long before they're done eating. As she gets up to start clearing the table, he asks her, "What time will we need to leave to make it to my doctor's appointment on time?"

"About twelve hundred."

"Okay. I guess I don't have to rush and get a bath then."

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (m2)

Sharlene touches George's shoulder as she comes back to the table and assures him, "No, you don't have to rush."

She steps closer to the table and hears him mutter, "Good." A moment later, his right hand touches the back of her left knee and slides up the back of her leg. She gasps at the pleasure his touch inspires within her and slightly bends over to support herself on the table. As his hand goes down her leg, George rolls his chair behind her and this time, he more slowly slides both hands up the backs of her legs, which is accompanied by her moans, to about three quarters of the way up her legs. While he slides his hands slowly down, he scoots forward to sit on the front edge of the chair, spreads his legs and puts his knees on the outside of her knees.

When his hands reach her knees, they move partway to the outsides of her legs and slide up and up until his thumbs almost touch her buttocks which encourages her to encourage him, "Yesss!!" While his hands slowly slide down, she pushes herself upright and leans back so her buttocks are touching his chest and her spine is on his face. Again, his hands start from her knees only this time they slowly go up the outsides of her legs while her pleasure grows as his hands move past her thighs, over her hips, across her waist and up her sides with her moans of pleasure following along.

His caressing hands stop just short of her bra line before he slowly moves his hands slightly back and forth in a shallow zigzag pattern down the outside of her body. When his hands pass over her hips, she caresses the back of his hands with hers until they go beyond her reach, then she reaches somewhat behind her to put her hands on his shoulders to support herself.

Upon arriving at her knees, his caressing hands move partially to the fronts of her legs then slowly ascend her thighs and slide partially over the front of her hips and again reverse direction just before they reach her bra line. When his hands cross back partially over the fronts of her hips on their way down her legs, her body shivers in anticipation and after she re-balances herself, she uses her right hand to pull the bottom of her shirt out of her pants and then re-grips his shoulder.

His hands move at her knees to fully cover the fronts of her legs before they slowly caress up her legs and as they come near the tops of her thighs, his caressing hands make an slight outward detour around her pubic area. As his caressing hands cross her waist, they slip under her shirt, move closer together, and even more slowly slide up her bare skin in perfect position to cup her breasts, while she groans with the growing pleasure, but his hands stop within a fraction of an inch of her bra before they again descend her body.

His hands seem to linger for awhile in order to caress the bare skin of her upper abdomen before they go down over the waistband of her pants in a zigzag pattern which goes from the sides of her buttocks to the fronts of her hips before they move down her thighs. At her knees, his hands move part way to the insides of her thighs as they slowly go up her legs. She tries to spread her legs in invitation, but his knees have hers gently trapped, so, to her, it feels like his hands are sliding up a crack in her body, higher, higher, higher until she cries out in pleasure as his hands reach to within a bare inch of her pubic area.

After they remain for a little while to briefly caress her there, his hands slide out from between her legs and slowly move down the fronts of her thighs to her knees. He spreads his knees slightly which allows her legs to open a little more then his hands move inward and slide up the insides of her legs, slowly, inch by inch and further stimulate sensitive nerves even through the fabric of her pants. His caressing hands move up past the middle of her thighs and her cry of pleasure climbs the scale while she thrusts out her hips and wants his hands to move just that little bit more to touch her pubic area eagerly awaiting his touch.

As his hands move down the fronts of her legs again, she tries to bring her panting breath under control and pushes her hips back to again rest her buttocks on his chest. When his hands seem to pause at her knees, she can't seem to speak, so she rubs her buttocks on his chest in what she hopes he'll understand is an invitation for him to continue.

He apparently understands because his hands move in between her knees to reach the backs of her legs, then pull out some and so he slowly moves up her legs as his hands seemingly reach deep within her past the insides of her legs to the backs of her legs and back out again. While his hands slowly climb her legs, her pleasure climbs the mountain, until she thrusts out her hips as his hands almost touch her pubic area through her pants and her cry expresses her climactic pleasure as it leaps off of the mountain for the stars. Even as his release arrives in conjunction with hers, his hands move from between her legs, somehow without touching her more, to catch her slumping body, turn it, and cuddle it on his upper legs.

For a seemingly long time, he can do no more as he waits for his ragged breathing to settle. He holds her for a long time afterwards as he marvels, yet again, that she wants him to be with her and to touch her. Never before has a woman wanted him to touch her so frequently or so thoroughly. All he can feel for this young woman in his arms is care, gratitude, love . . . none of which seem to be able to fully express his feelings towards her. Sometimes it seems as though his own selfish desire for her is receding as his desire to give her pleasure seems to be increasing. Not that his desire is gone by any stretch of the imagination because all he wants to do is touch her. Even now, he has to restrain himself from hugging her tighter as though he can squeeze their bodies together into one.

She starts to wake up then recognizes the feel of his arms securely enfolding her and drifts back into the daze of pleasure. Eventually, Sharlene fully wakes up, opens her eyes, pulls George's head down, kisses him breathless, and tells him, "Thank you. Thank you so very much. It was incredible, absolutely incredible. . . . I don't want to share you, but I wish every woman could feel what I feel when you touch me. I have no idea how your touching compares to others, but to me it's so very wonderful. . . . Words just aren't adequate. . . . Even if I had the energy, I don't think I could express myself fully enough by touching you. . . . Stay with me, maybe someday I'll find a way to express myself and thank you."

"Shhh, you already do thank me more than enough. For you to allow me to touch you and give you pleasure is more than I could ever wish for. My giving you pleasure is an inadequate attempt on my part to say thank you for letting me be a part of your life and for allowing me to touch you in the first place."

"We do keep going around in circles on that, don't we? But it's such a lovely upward spiral of pleasure as long as we keep it going," she kisses him again. "Humm, were you thinking of giving me pleasure when you asked about when we needed to leave for the doctor's appointment?"

"Yes."

"Why? I'm certainly not complaining and I'm exceedingly happy you did, but I would like to know what you were thinking."

He pauses for a little while to allow his breathing to further settle before he responds, "Yesterday, we went quite a few hours without touching. It looks like today might impose similar restrictions, so I thought if we could share some pleasure before many non-touching hours, it might reduce our desperation and allow us to have a little more control over our desires."

"Thank you for thinking ahead." A couple of moments later, she slyly smiles at him then says, "You know, even if your intent doesn't work out, I'm very glad you touched me because the pleasure you gave me was so wonderful . . ." and she can only kiss him again.

When his breathing has again settled, he suggests, "I suppose I ought to take my bath now."

She sits up and begins to unbutton his shirt before she asks, "Are you going to need some help?"

"Young lady, I keep warning you that I may not be able to control myself if you try to help me in the bath."

"You did yesterday when I kissed you before I went with Klara."

"Barely. And I think the only reason I did, was that I was still recovering from the shock of you walking in the bathroom when you were walking out again."

"Did you forget me?"

"Hah! No way! Sharlene, the only way I'll forget you is when my brain no longer functions and even then, my body will remember you for a long time afterwards." He kisses her as though to demonstrate that very point.

When he leans back to breathe, she caresses the bare skin of his chest through his open shirt and tells him, "Thank you, George. I know you keep warning me that you might lose control. I'm having trouble not losing control myself. I really want you George, all of you. Just as I want to give you all of me. Earlier, I had hoped the journey would keep me satisfied, but the more you touch me, the more I want. Yet I don't want to miss out on the next gentle step of the journey. It's really quite a quandary. So keep reminding me, keep touching me and maybe, somehow, we'll make the journey last a few more steps." She kisses him thoroughly, again, then tells him, "Poor George, I suppose I ought to quit kissing you, so you have some breath and energy to take a bath."

He pauses a moment then both shakes and nods his head.

She chuckles then says, "I know what you mean." Although his arms seem reluctant to release her, she gets up and suggests, "Come on, old man. At least I can walk you down the hall and make sure you get there okay."

In the bedroom, George wraps her in his arms, tells her "Thank you, Sharlene," kisses her, and while he's still panting for breath, he grabs clean clothes from his luggage and makes a retreat to the guest bathroom. When she hears the lock on the bathroom door click, she knows it's as much to keep him in as to keep her out because she had seen the flash of desire in his eyes when he had glanced at her and then at the bed before he dashed off.

She steps over to her dresser, gets out a clean panty, then as she remembers how his hands slid up her skin to almost cup her breasts, she moves the bras around in her drawer. He came so close to touching her and when he does touch her, she wants to be able to feel it and her regular bras are too thickly padded. She'll just have to wear some of her looser shirts and hope they'll hide her nipples when they became erect. Most of the time she never notices them, and wonders if that will change when he starts touching her there. Since she decides she had better clamp down on those thoughts, she washes up, which threatens to start the thoughts again, and changes.

When he emerges from the bathroom, he puts his dirty clothes with his luggage and finds her in the front room doing tai-chi. He watches her and stares in awe at her graceful moves. She's astounded at how much she enjoys him watching her. Before, she hardly wanted anyone to notice her, certainly not to stare at her. Now she can't get enough of him, either looking at her or, preferably, touching her. She stops her routine and works with him to review the moves he knows and to add a couple more which flow from the ones he's already learned.

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (a1)

After a brief rest and an early lunch, they're in her vehicle and on the way to his doctor's appointment. While they wait for some test results, Sharlene checks in with Doctor Karlson's office manager and finds that the insurance company had grumbled some about her portion of the physician's bills coming in later than the others, but because she is the identified physician of record for George, and considering the nature of his condition and treatment, Sharlene is given a nice sized check which the office manager had just received from George's insurance.

Once the test results are back, they meet with Doctor Karlson who goes over them in some detail with Sharlene while most of it goes over George's head. The tests continue to show some improvement, but the rate of improvement has slowed which suggests that George's condition is nearing a plateau. Doctor Karlson mentions that several other patients who have received the same treatment often show similar levels of improvement which is a big step in getting the experimental drug made acceptable for standard treatment.

After making a follow-up appointment in three weeks, Doctor Karlson steps to the door of the examination room, then turns back, smiles, and says, "Doctor, I understand that your relationship with your patient has gone beyond the doctor-patient stage."

Sharlene hesitates before she admits, "Yes, Doctor, it has."

"Good for you."

They both look at Doctor Karlson in surprise.

He explains, "Hey, I'm a heart doctor. If love comes from the heart as popular literature suggests, then promoting love promotes a healthy heart. Actually, many studies have shown that people in love generally are healthier with the heart being one of the major benefactors. When it comes to people in love, I'm usually quite unobservant, but my nurse and office manager assure me that you two are in love and I've learned to trust their judgment.

"Your age difference is unusual, but hardly unique. My own grandmother, by her choice, married an elderly man while she was a young woman. They beat the odds and had a normal child. When my grandmother was older, she married a guy who is about my age and he was actually very good to her and took care of her when she became sick and died. Although society may frown on your relationship, ignore society and enjoy each other."

"Thank you, Doctor, I appreciate the support."

"Uh, Doctor Karlson?"

"Yes, George?"

"Um, well, since you approve of our relationship, I, uh, I've already told Sharlene I have no intention of fathering a child, and, well, I had a vasectomy a number of years ago and, I, uh, never went back to the doctor's to verify if the surgery was successful."

Doctor Karlson summarizes, "Since you don't want to get Sharlene pregnant, you want to have a sperm count done, but since Sharlene is your physician of record, but doesn't have a regular practice, you don't know how to have the testing done and really don't want to do something like that in a doctor's office."

"Yes, exactly, thank you for understanding."

"Oh, I understand. When I had my vasectomy done, I had no intention of going to my doctor's office to verify if the surgery was successful. So I did a little investigating and did the sperm count myself." Doctor Karlson turns to Sharlene and asks, "Do you have a standard laboratory microscope?"

"I left it with most of my other standard equipment at my parent's home when I moved here. I didn't plan on needing it while doing research on brain scans."

"I probably would have done the same. Just a moment." Doctor Karlson steps out of the door and is soon back and hands Sharlene a case as he explains, "This is an older model, but it works just fine. You can bring it back at George's next appointment. Just get a semen sample on the slide and look for any of the little buggers swimming around. If the surgery was done right, you shouldn't see any." He winks at George then says, "I'll leave it up to you two as to how to get the sample on the slide. Is there anything else?"

George shakes his head as he answers, "No. Thank you, Doctor, for your understanding and help."

"My pleasure. We'll see you in three weeks. Enjoy."

"Thank you, Doctor."

When Doctor Karlson steps out and closes the door, they look at each other and chuckle. George gets his shirt back on and unnecessarily turns his back to Sharlene while he tucks in his shirt and re-buckles his pants. They stop at the front desk to verify the next appointment and are soon back in her vehicle on the road to her place.

When they're about halfway back towards her home, Sharlene's phone rings and she requests, "George, can you answer that? It's in the front pocket of my purse."

Although he feels somewhat self-conscious about getting into her purse, he pulls out the phone and as he remembers her instructions, he answers it, "Hello?"

"Is Sharlene there?"

"She's driving. This is George. Can I take a message?"

"Hi, George. This is Klara."

"Hi, Klara. What can I do for you?"

"Can you ask Sharlene if it's okay if I stop by in about a half of an hour?"

"Just a moment. Klara wants to know if it's okay for her to be at your place in a half of an hour?"

"That's okay."

"She says that's okay."

"Good. I'll see you there. Bye."

"Goodbye."

He puts the phone back from where he got it.

Sharlene snaps her fingers in disappointment and exclaims, "Drat."

"What's the matter?"

She turns to briefly grin at him as she says, "I wanted to do a sperm count."

He briefly stares at her then starts to chuckle which turns into laughter.

She chuckles with him, then says, "I'm not sure that I understand what's so funny about that."

"My history. Oh, love, that you can be disappointed in not having time to get a semen sample from me to count sperm, is just so contrary to my historical experience, that it's, well, funny."

She chuckles with more understanding then remarks, "Yeah, I guess it would seem rather unusual."

"What will I do if there are some of those 'little buggers swimming around' as Doctor Karlson put it?"

"There are other methods of preventing the 'little buggers' from going where they don't belong. Or we can have the surgery redone. I'm qualified to do brain surgery, surely I can manage surgery on a couple of testicles."

"Um, I'm afraid that my response to you touching me there would not be conducive to a surgery."

"You don't want to let a few more get loose before we cut off their escape path."

He again briefly stares at her before he says, "I've heard a lot of various expressions related to a male's sexual release, but that's the first time I've heard it stated like that."

She just grins at him.

"I don't understand. You have no experience with a man sexually, yet you seem to be interested in touching my male anatomy and encouraging me to climax or have sexual release or whatever else you want to call it."

Sharlene becomes more serious and tries to explain, "George, I don't understand it either. When I was at the university and listened to the older more experienced females, it was more like they tolerated the man's anatomy even when they enjoyed sex. I have no idea what it will feel like to have your male anatomy inside of my female anatomy. I can make some wild guesses based on what your touching feels like and from touching myself. Somehow I just know it's going to feel very good and I anxiously look forward to that.

"I also know that you like to be touched and I really want to please you. Admittedly, those are factors and probably not the full explanation. But I can't give you a fuller explanation. All I can say is that I very much want to touch and feel you. For me to even see your erect penis excites me and I don't know why. Just yesterday morning when I woke up laying on top of you, I noticed your erect penis was under my leg when I got up. The only reason I didn't start stroking and touching it is I didn't want to disturb your sleep."

While he's still staring at her, he pauses before he responds, "Oh. I'm sorry, I assumed you were like most women who barely tolerated a man's anatomy and were only touching me because you thought I would like it."

She tries to explain, "I do want to touch you because I know you like it. I also want to touch you, because, well, I want to touch you. I enjoy seeing you get excited and what little I've touched you has been fun. I like the feel of your male anatomy. I want to touch it and feel it and see how it functions and how it's connected to your body. I can look some of that up in my medical texts, but it's not the same as feeling and closely observing."

"Oh my."

"What?"

He hesitates before he admits, "That's just what I've wanted to do, only with the female anatomy. I know I can't see how it functions because so much of it is internal. But to touch it while I'm looking at what I'm touching and seeing how all the parts fit together . . . to take the time to touch your anatomy, and find out how you respond to being touched in different ways, in different combinations is a dream, a wild fantasy, it's . . . . I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten carried away. I hope I didn't offend you."

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (a2)

While she tries to stare at him and watch the road at the same time, Sharlene finally pulls off the road and parks the vehicle. She reaches over to take his head in her hands, turns it towards her, and kisses him as passionately as she ever has. Although he's momentarily stunned, George soon responds. When she lets him breathe, she asks, "You really want to touch my female anatomy while looking at it to see how it all fits together? And then you want to touch me in various ways to see how I respond and find what I like?"

Cautiously, his nods his head.

"I don't know why, but that's the most exciting thing you've ever told me!"

His eyes open wide.

"Oh George, if this weren't such a public place, I'd take off my pants right now and let you start. Oh, how exciting!!" She seems to shiver in anticipation.

He almost stammers in surprise, "You . . . you . . . want me to look at how your female anatomy is put together and touch you . . . and touch you in various ways to find out what you like best?"

Even while she bites her lip to help her maintain some control, Sharlene nods her head.

"Oh my. . . . You'll probably hate me for saying this, but I . . . well, I . . . I think it's too early in the journey for that."

"I know. And no, I don't hate you. When it's appropriate in the journey, will you look at my female anatomy while you touch it and then touch it in various ways to see what I like best? Will you promise to do that?"

Since he's still unsure he's really hearing what she's saying, he asks, "You really want me to touch you like that?"

"Oh, George, very much so. I just hope I can wait long enough."

He hesitates only briefly before he assures her, "Then, Sharlene, I promise to touch you like that. Most happily, do I promise."

"Thank you, George. Thank you very very much. I really don't know why, but when you said what you wanted to do, I got so excited I could barely control myself. If you had first told me that at home, I would have had you on the floor and our clothes off so fast you wouldn't have known what hit you. Why is that so exciting? I don't know. I just know that it is. I can't seem to stop thinking about it and being excited about it. I hope I can calm down before I get home or Klara is going to wonder what happened to me. Will you drive the rest of the way home?"

He pauses before he answers, "No. In this case, you had better drive. It will more likely force your thoughts away from the subject rather than sitting here with nothing else to do but think about it."

"You're right as usual. Okay. Give me a little while to calm down before I get back into traffic." A little later, she gets back on the road and takes the side streets back to her place because they require more concentration and take longer which gives her more time to calm down.

While Sharlene drives, George wonders where this interest of hers has come from. It certainly isn't like a typical female, at least compared to any he's known or heard about. Since she's a doctor and interested in the human body from a medical standpoint, that could explain her curiosity, it might even explain her being interested in how she might respond to being touched in different ways. But none of it explains her excitement.

Of course her excitement only encourages him, as though he needs any more encouragement. He's having enough trouble controlling himself as it is. What a fine kettle of fish this is. If he could have half guessed what her response would have been, he would have kept his mouth shut. In so many ways, he seems to understand her and is almost able to anticipate her response, except in the area of her response to intimacy. He seems to have seriously under estimated her capacity and her interest all along the line.

As they step in the door at her place, he half expects her to attack him, in a most pleasant way, but when she puts her things down, she slips into his arms, rests her head on his shoulder, and tells him, "George, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me in the vehicle. I don't understand why I feel the way I do. Your touching has been so wonderful. You've been so gentle and so generous. The journey so far has been absolutely marvelous and only promises to be better.

"I don't want to scare you away. I think I make an effort to control myself. But all I can think about is how much I want you and how much I want you to touch me. It seems like nothing else matters. What's wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? I don't understand."

As she starts to sob, he can only hold her. She's just starting to calm down when the doorbell rings and she requests, "Answer it, please." She slips out of his arms, turns away and grabs a nearby tissue to dry her tears.

He opens the door and says, "Hello, Klara, come in."

"Hello, George, where's . . ." Klara shoves her packages at George, glares at him, steps over to Sharlene, and hugs her as she asks, "Sharlene, what did he do to you?"

"No, Klara, no. George . . . wonderful," and she bursts into fresh tears.

Since he doesn't know what else to do, George takes Klara's packages and sets them on the kitchen counter and goes back to close the front door while Klara leads Sharlene over to the love seat. When Sharlene's sobs begin to settle, he pours glasses of iced tea for them and takes them over to them. Sharlene responds, "Thank you, love. Bring your drink and come sit."

Klara doesn't know what to think. Since she has no other data available, she assumes George must have made Sharlene upset, but she's obviously not upset with him.

When he returns with his drink, Sharlene gets up, waves him to sit, then sits on his upper legs, cuddles up to him, and tells him, "Ah, love, thank you," as he wraps his arms around her.

"George didn't make you upset?"

"No, Klara. He's only been his usual gentle, warm, generous, and wonderful self. I upset myself and probably shocked my poor man. I guess you could say this is a continuation of our conversation from yesterday morning. I want him so much . . . I . . . I can't describe it. What's worse, is that I don't understand it.

"If I only really liked George, it would be easy to explain in terms of how wonderful and generous and loving he is. And the ways in which he touches me are exciting and marvelous. But this, whatever it is inside of me, feels like more than an obsession, more than an addiction. I want him, all of him, and I want him to touch all of me.

"A little while ago on the way back from George's doctor appointment, I pulled off the road and almost . . . I almost took my pants off so he could touch me right then and there. From the conversations which I overheard while in college and medical school of other women who gave every impression of enjoying sex, I never did hear of anyone who expressed that level of desire or want or obsession or whatever it's called. That's what I don't understand. And because I don't understand and can't control my feelings, I became upset."

Sharlene takes a drink before she goes on, "Poor George, when he first described his suggested journey of touching, he figured he would have to take it very slowly while using very small steps in touching me more. Not only because I had never been touched before and had no idea of what to expect, but also so I could call a halt to the process whenever I felt it was approaching anything which might make me uncomfortable. Considering my background and my unfamiliarity with males and my somewhat aversion to males, it was quite natural to figure that if I was going to be touched at all, it would have to be slowly and in little steps. That's what I expected, that's what George expected, and although we didn't specifically speak of it, that's what Aunt Paula expected.

"What nobody counted on was that after my first sexual experience and after George started to touch me, it was like the flood gates were opened and instead of a shy kitten, he found himself with a wild tigress on his hands. He's already greatly speeded up the journey of touching and still it doesn't go fast enough to meet my desire. But I also don't want to miss out on any of the upcoming steps of the journey. It's been the most wonderful and incredible experience I've ever had and so much more than I could have ever imagined.

"Most people I've heard about went from holding hands to making love in the back seat of a vehicle or in bed. For all of the touching we've done and for all of the pleasure he's given me, he hasn't yet touched my breasts or my pubic area with his hands, not even through my clothes. I'm continually amazed at the creative variety of when's and where's and ways he's figured out to touch me. I don't mean to embarrass you, love, but I need to remind myself and explain to Klara why I don't just take the easy solution, rip our clothes off, and make love to you.

"Even if I did go for the easy solution, it still doesn't help me to understand this level of desire I feel. Actually, I have a sneaky suspicion that even if I took the easy solution, it wouldn't satisfy the desire I feel. I don't understand it, nor do I expect either of you to understand it or to have a solution. By telling you about this extreme level of desire I feel, maybe I can gain a little control over it or maybe you'll be able to understand when I seem to go flying off of the cliff."

Klara pauses before she responds, "I've heard of girls who became rather sexually active right after puberty, but you're well beyond that and what you describe sounds more intense than what those other girls went through. Not only that, but those other girls who were sexually active would get in bed with almost anyone they were attracted to. All I hear from you is George. Do you feel any interest in any other males?"

Sharlene shudders in revulsion before she answers, "Not at all."

"Well, I can't say I've ever heard of a similar problem. Even the few case studies of nymphomania I've read about didn't have a single personal focus to their desire. I certainly don't have a solution for you. The best I can suggest would be to touch more frequently and maybe that will help you to keep the desire down to a dull roar."

"We haven't specifically discussed it, but we seem to have already arrived at that conclusion. Or at least that was the idea behind George's initiating the touching this morning."

"Have you been recording them? Maybe you'll have something to compensate you for your upset feelings."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "Yes, I think I've recorded almost all of my responses to George's touching. If we do acquire the Project and if Julie is right about the potential of my recordings, I'll have some good ones to share."

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (a3)

Klara shakes her head as she says, "Nothing like having these old eyes opened wide. Thank you for being willing to share what you're feeling. George, I apologize for accusing you of doing something to Sharlene."

"Klara, no apology is necessary. You were attempting to protect Sharlene. Nothing else matters."

"Isn't he wonderful?" Sharlene reaches up to kiss his cheek and snuggles back down onto his chest.

"I'm not ready to admit to that, yet," Klara looks directly at him, "but you have been a most pleasant surprise from my first suspicions. From what I've found out and observed, you're gentle and protective of Sharlene and for that you have my gratitude and admiration. Now, before we go off in some other direction, I did come over earlier than I had originally planned for two reasons. One, they were closing the Project area early today to allow people to get ready for tonight's wing-ding and two, I want to convince you, George, to go with us."

Since he's quite surprised at that, he asks, "What do you want me for?"

"To be blunt, I'm playing 'The Game' and I have a role for you."

"You make it sound like the game is something special."

Klara explains, "Well, it's more of how I look at it personally. Most others refer to it as corporate negotiations. A lot of it is feeling out the competition and out-psyching all of the other parties. I don't always guess right, but my track record is quite good. Good enough that I've had some companies offer me a lot more money than I'm making now, but I make more than enough to live quite comfortably and I enjoy working with Sharlene's dad. In this case, I have a lot of confidence, for a number of reasons, but if there's something I can do to further stack the deck in my favor, I'll do it. And I think you can help."

George somewhat hesitantly asks, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go and pretend to be a really wealthy eccentric investor. Give honest answers, but couch them in terms which suggest more. For example, if someone asks where you live, instead of saying 'I live a couple of hours away', say that you're currently residing in a cottage a couple of hours away. Since you haven't always lived in the same house, you're currently residing there and since there are no legal definitions of a cottage, then it doesn't matter how big or small it is. If you're unsure how to answer, say something like you want to consider all of the ramifications or that you need to consult with your advisers. Without clearly saying you're the anonymous investor, I want to give the impression that you are."

George pauses to consider her request then turns, kisses Sharlene's cheek, and asks, "What do you say, Doctor Doll?"

Sharlene's eyes light up as she turns to kiss him fully but briefly then answers, "Whatever Mr. G wants."

"Doctor Doll? Mr. G? What's going on?" Klara looks back and forth between them while they laugh.

It takes a little while for their laughter to diminish to chuckles and for Sharlene to answer, "One time I told George about a dream I had of going to some fancy party given by some snooty medical school classmates and taking him as a wealthy eccentric who I was gold digging. He expanded on the scenario and decided to call me Doctor Doll and because he was supposed to be hard of hearing, he spoke overly loud while he complimented me on not wearing makeup like some of the women who looked like escapees from a wax museum."

Klara opens her eyes wide in surprise at the explanation then asks, "So where did 'Mr. G' come from?"

"Actually, I got that idea from some of the kids who George taught in that library reading program. He wanted to be called by his first name, the program leaders insisted the children call the tutors by their title and last name, so George and the kids compromised by them calling him Mr. G. The kids knew it meant 'George', but the program leaders thought he was being generous with little kids who couldn't properly pronounce 'Greyson'. It seems to fit the persona of an eccentric private person."

Klara chuckles over the explanations then says, "This is going to be more fun than I imagined. Will you do it, George?"

"If you think it will help Sharlene's cause, I'll do it. I just hope I don't make a mess of things."

"I don't think you will. Is it likely that someone there might know you?"

"I've met Mariam, but other than that, I don't have a clue."

"That's possibly a risk, but I'm guessing it's small enough I'm willing to take it."

Sharlene asks, "Klara, have you given Mariam any hint about this?"

"No."

"Then I'd better call her. I don't want her to spoil the game by greeting George like she normally would." Sharlene gets out her phone and hits a speed dial number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mariam. It's Sharlene."

"Hey, girl. Long time, no hear."

"I know and I'm sorry. I'll try to get together and talk soon. Listen, I wanted to give you a heads up that Klara and I are going to drag George to the wing-ding tonight for the Project. He's going to be Mr. G and I'm going to be his Doctor Doll."

"Oh? Oh!! Gotcha. Are you going to dress like I suggested?"

"No. I want him playing his role, not drooling over me."

Mariam chuckles then says, "That's a good idea. It sounds like fun. I'll see you there."

"Thanks Mariam. Bye."

Klara asks, "Drooling over you?"

"When I told Mariam about George's embellishments to my dream, she added her own in suggesting a white dress to compliment my skin tone which was open down the front to my navel and open up the sides to my hips. George said if I was dressed like, he would just stare at me instead of playing his role."

"Sounds like you guys have thought it through."

"No, Klara, we were just letting our imaginations run wild."

"Well, if you two can play those roles, we'll let other people's imaginations run wild."

George asks, "Lovely lady, are you willing to do what Klara is suggesting?"

"I think it might be kind of fun."

"Then I'll apologize ahead of time for anything I might say to or about you."

Sharlene is quite puzzled by his statement so she asks, "Why do you say that?"

"For me to play the role of an eccentric and to treat you as 'Doctor Doll', I would be demeaning you as a woman, as a professional, and as a whole person and would be treating you more as though you were a toy or a sex object. I don't think of you that way, nor do I want others to think you can be thought of or treated that way."

"Oh, love, I know you don't think of me that way. I guess if someone asks, I can say that you see me as a delicate porcelain doll and treat me with the utmost care and gentleness. All of which is true." She kisses him briefly then tells him, "Thank you."

He looks at Sharlene a moment longer before he turns and says, "Well, Klara, I guess you have a couple of actors. About all I have to wear are jeans and shirts. Nor do I have anything to go with them to suggest something eccentric."

"Don't worry about that. Where did you put the packages I gave you?"

"I set them on the kitchen counter. I didn't know what else to do with them."

Klara suggests, "Show me what you have to wear and let me work my magic."

For the next hour or so, with Klara's guidance, they check out their wardrobes and in the end, Klara and George dress very similar to how they normally dress. In the packages Klara brought is an outfit for Sharlene which is eye-catching yet modest and fits her perfectly and with a couple of pieces of jewelry which she seldom wears, Sharlene is also ready. Their success will be more in how they play their roles, than in how they appear. For that, a heavy reliance will be on George, which causes Klara some concern about her scheme. After a small snack to tide them over and some role playing to get in the mood, they get in Klara's rental vehicle. Sharlene sits in back with George who suggests it's part of playing the role, and they go to the Institute's presentation and dinner.

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (e1)

When they arrive at the hotel near the Institute which has a couple of large meeting rooms that were rented for the occasion, they notice that there seems to be quite an effort to impress prospective purchasers of the Project beginning with doormen and valet parking. As Klara stops in front of the main entrance, George leans over and thoroughly kisses Sharlene just before the doorman opens the back door. He looks in and can't stop himself from staring. Klara comes around the back of the vehicle, looks in, shrugs a shoulder to the doorman, and loudly clears her throat.

George looks up in apparent surprise and asks, "Are we here already?" He gets out of the vehicle and says, "Klara, thank you for the lift."

"My pleasure, sir."

George winks at the doorman and suggests, "Can't very well get a lip massage inside, now can I?"

"Uh, no, sir."

George reaches into the vehicle and says, "Come, my love, let's see what this Project is all about."

As George steps back and Sharlene slides out, the doorman's jaw drops open at seeing a small, delicate, incredibly beautiful woman step out wearing a pearly white short sleeve silk shirt open to the middle of her chest revealing a couple of inches of red lace at the 'v', very full matching silk trousers and her long black hair hanging loose down her back except for some from her temples which is pulled back and held in place with a filigreed silver hair clasp.

As he passes the doorman, George taps the bottom of his jaw, suggests, "Don't catch flies," and walks in the front door with Sharlene's arm tucked in his.

After a moment or two, the doorman turns to Klara and asks, "Who was that?"

She answers, "Mr. G," as though everyone knows who that is and follows in their wake.

"Oh, right."

When Klara catches up with them in the main lobby, she whispers, "George, that was excellent," while Sharlene smiles with pride.

He whispers back, "Let's hope I can keep it up."

Sharlene reaches up, kisses his cheek, and tells him, "You'll do fine."

Klara proceeds them to the sign-in table and then to the 'meet and greet' cocktail social event. Soon, the buzz circles the room and many furtive glances and some outright stares are directed towards them. In a moment, Mariam is walking towards them and embraces Sharlene while she whispers, "Where have you been hiding yourself?"

"Climbing mountains."

At first Mariam looks confused, but that soon gives way to wide open eyes. When she tilts her head slightly towards George, Sharlene responds with a nod. Sharlene directs Mariam to George and patiently waits while he finishes saying something to Klara.

He turns back to Sharlene and says, "There you are, love, and who is this with you?" as he makes an obvious point of looking Mariam up and down.

"Mr. G, I'd like you to meet my friend, Mariam N'gambu. Mariam, this is Mr. G."

As she extends her hand, she says, "It's nice to meet you, sir."

He takes her hand, turns it, bows over it and kisses the back of her hand then says, "The pleasure is all mine." He gives her a brief wink before he turns his head to Sharlene and asks, "Hey love, are all of your friends so pretty?"

Sharlene just smiles at him as he turns back and kisses Mariam's hand again before he apparently releases it with reluctance.

As they do a little mingling, the ladies make it appear that either Sharlene or Klara is always at his side to accede to his merest whim. Sometimes they walk off and return just to give that impression. Once when they're near another group of people, he leans over and nuzzles her ear. Just loud enough to be heard, Sharlene suggests, "Mr. G, not here."

"What's the point of being with a beautiful woman if a man can't enjoy her beauty?" He winks at those who are standing behind her which encourages the men to grin and raise their glasses in salute while the women raise their noses and turn away.

A couple of minutes later, he asks, "Doctor Doll, can you please get me a drink?"

"Of course, Mr. G."

As Sharlene moves off with her trousers billowing around her legs and her long loose hair rising up like wings, she draws the attention of almost every eye in the room.

One of the men steps up next to George, and proclaims, "What a creature!"

Even while he pushes down his desire to throttle the man for his disrespect, George keeps his response simple, "Lovely, isn't she?"

"Who is she?"

"MY lady."

"Why did you call her doctor?"

"She's also my personal physician."

The man stares at George for awhile before he asks, "Personal physician?"

"Yep. I'm her only patient. It's so much easier that way. No waiting in line and all of that rot. Besides, if she was seeing other patients, there's no telling what kind of horrible diseases she would bring home." George grins to himself as he hears the man swallow nervously and step away.

In a moment, Sharlene returns with a drink while half of the eyes in the room follow her.

"Ah, thanks love. Is it right?"

Sharlene pulls out a thermometer, puts it in the glass, waits a moment, looks at the readout, and reports, "4.4 degrees centigrade. I'm sorry, sir, it's a tenth of a degree too warm."

"That's okay, pretty lady, it must have been the distance across the room." George takes a sip, proclaims, "Mmm, good enough, thank you, my lady," and bends over to briefly kiss her.

"My pleasure, sir," as she steps to his side and snuggles up to him.

A little later, he slips an arm around her shoulders, directs her to some empty chairs along a wall, and quietly says, "I'm sorry, love, I'm not used to standing so much."

"That's okay. What did you say to that man? He seemed to go a bit pale and back away from you when I was coming back."

"He wondered who you were. After a few words, I said you were my personal physician and that I was your only patient."

Sharlene slips out of her chair, kneels in front of him, and begins to rub his calves as she says, "That's excellent, George, no, don't protest, I'm your personal physician, remember?" She winks and grins at him.

"Oops, it looks like a couple of big-wigs are coming this way."

"Stick to the role."

A moment later, a couple of men stop a few feet in front of George and only partially succeed in not staring at Sharlene's back. George speaks up, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, I can't stand up and greet you at the moment, something to do with the legs."

"How's that, Mr. G?"

"Much better, thank you, love."

Sharlene stands up and steps a pace to the side.

"Gentlemen, pull up a chair and let me know how I can help you."

One of the men responds, "I'm Charles Kampton, the executive director of The Institute for Psychological Responses and this is Nik Nikkels, the director of the Emotional Data Recording Project. We were wondering what we could do for you or what your interest is in the Project which we regretfully have to put on the market."

"Well, I wouldn't want to go around the public process, but the little lady," George waves an arm in Sharlene's direction, "heard about it and expressed in interest in it. My attorney did some investigating," he turns to Sharlene and asks, "can you have Klara come over?" then turns back to them, "and thought there might be some possibilities and since I happened to be in town, I thought I might be interested in having my own look."

"Klara's on her way, sir."

"Thanks, love."

Charles says, "We were keeping an eye out for any VIPs arriving, and I'm sorry sir, but we didn't see you arrive to greet you."

"Oh, that's okay. Klara, thanks for coming so quickly."

"It was my pleasure, sir."

George turns back to the directors and responds, "Anyway, Klara was kind enough to give me a ride. Apparently, there isn't a nearby vertical landing site and I do so dislike those stretch vehicles, they're so difficult to get in and out of. Besides, I always did think an ostentatious display of wealth is so gauche, don't you?"

Charles tries not to stare as he answers, "Oh, yes, sir."

"So, Klara, does the Project have the potential which my love thought it had," he holds out his hand to Sharlene. She quickly takes it, sits down next to him and continues to hold it.

Klara visibly winces, "Mr. G, from what I've been able to find out, the Project does have potential, but it's not a sure thing."

As he frowns, George turns to the men and asks, "Gentlemen, what are the problems which the Project has to overcome in order to become a viable business concern?"

All eyes turn to Nik Nikkels who pauses before he responds, "Well, Mr. G, there does seem to be some technical difficulties with verifying that the emotion being felt by the tester is the same emotion which had been previously recorded and is being transmitted to the tester."

"Humm. Sounds like either the emotion being transmitted isn't strong enough to be recognized by the tester or the tester isn't being trusted or the equipment isn't working properly to allow both input and output emotions to be recognized. Can any of those be the problem?"

Nik clearly hesitates before he admits, "Well, uh, all three seem to be factors to one degree or another."

George frowns further before he says, "So, how many people do you have submitting emotional recordings into the Project?"

Nik answers, "None presently. We had as many as fifteen hundred people submitting emotional recordings at any one time."

"With that many people you didn't have strong enough emotions for the testers to recognize? What about emotionally disturbed people being able to feel the emotions? It sounds like we're going to need a lot more people sending in recordings just to find a few who produce strong enough recordings." George turns to Sharlene and says, "I don't know, love, it's beginning to sound more like a money drain rather than a business opportunity." When she drops her head and looks up at him with big sad eyes, he seems to melt then responds, "Okay, we'll keep checking into it."

Her face lights up with a huge smile.

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (e2)

After a brief pause, George asks Sharlene, "What's your pretty friend say about it?"

"May I have her come over and tell you, sir?"

"Please do. Klara, did you find out how many units to collect the emotional recordings are in the inventory?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't remember the exact figure, but I believe it was no more than a couple of thousand units."

"Humm, if we're going to increase the amount of incoming recordings just to find a few which are strong enough to be useful, especially for helping emotionally disturbed people, we're going to need a lot more of those recording collecting units. Do you have a suggestion, Klara?"

"Twenty five thousand units, sir."

"Fine, make a note to prepare a purchase order for that amount. Do you have the supplier information to give them a heads up?"

"No, sir. It will be provided when the Project is awarded."

"I guess we'll just have to wait then."

Nik speaks up, "Mr. G? We could provide that information ahead of time if you were interested."

"No, no. I don't want to go outside of the public process. I want to keep everything above board and legal. Ain't that right, Klara?"

Klara gives him a big grin and exclaims, "Yes, sir!"

There's a pause in the conversation so Mariam asks, "You wanted to see me, Mr. G?"

George turns and smiles, "Ah, Mariam, thank you for coming over. This emotional data recording project, I understand you've been quite involved with it."

"I'm more on the administrative side rather than the technical side, sir."

"Which means you probably know more about it overall than anybody else. Do you think it's worth saving?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

"I understand there are some technical difficulties as well as problems with the availability of quality emotional recordings."

Mariam significantly glances at her bosses before she responds, "That appears to be the case, sir."

"Yet you think it's worth saving. So, in your opinion, recognizing that you're not a technical expert, what do you think would need to be done to save the Project?"

"The thoughtful application of appropriate resources, sir."

"More money, eh?"

Mariam shakes her head then says, "Not necessarily, sir. Sometimes an outside person who takes a fresh look at a problem can see a solution which those who are deeply involved in the problem won't be able to see."

"I like your attitude, young lady."

"Thank you, sir."

"Klara, would it be appropriate to speak more with Mariam, um, maybe this weekend?"

"Yes, sir, as long as the talk is restricted to what is publicly available or to her personal opinion."

"Well, you'll be there to keep me on the straight and narrow."

"Of course, sir."

"Would you gentlemen object if I invited Mariam to discuss the Project further?"

Charles quickly responds, "Not at all, sir."

"Thank you. Mariam, I would like to invite you to my cabin in the woods to visit with us," while he holds up Sharlene's hand clasped to his and waves his other hand to Klara, "this weekend to talk about the Project. You don't have to answer right away. When you decide, call my love," he lifts up Sharlene's hand and kisses it, "and if you decide to come, she can give you directions."

Mariam hesitates then asks, "Excuse me, sir, but your cabin in the woods? Will there be enough room for all of us?"

"Humm, you've got a point there. Five thousand square feet might get a little crowded." George grins up at her then ways, "We can probably figure out a way to manage."

"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to get in touch with Sharlene."

"Good. That's settled. Thank you all for your time." George glances around and asks, "Is it dinner time yet?" Just then, an announcement is made over the intercom system requesting that all attendees proceed to the next room for the formal presentation and dinner. As they sit down next to each other, George leans towards Sharlene, takes a deep breath, sighs, and whispers, "How much longer?"

She leans over, nibbles on his earlobe, winks at the people sitting at the table behind them, and whispers back, "Hang in there, you're being fantastic."

The food served for dinner is fairly good, but the presentation about the Project leaves much to be desired. During the question and answer session after the presentation, Klara isn't the only one to ask some pointed questions. A couple of people stop just short of calling the moderator a liar in comparing the answers given to questions being contradictory to the statements given in the presentation.

At the end of the evening, a few people come over and thank Klara for asking questions which they hadn't quite dared to ask or want to know where she acquired her background information in order to ask her questions. She politely points out that all of her information came from the public distribution of information about the Project or from talking with the employees or management. A couple of people admit the organization they're representing is curious about the Project, but has no real interest. There are even a couple of people who come by to supposedly chat with 'Mr. G,' but they're obviously trying to get a better look at Sharlene.

As they're preparing to leave, the two directors 'happen' to be near the door they're about to exit. Charles stops him and asks, "Excuse us, Mr. G, but what did you think of the presentation?"

"One moment, please. Klara, can you please take Doctor Doll a few steps away, I don't want to offend her delicate ears."

"Yes, sir."

They step a little ways away, but are close enough to clearly hear everything he says, as are a number of other people who drift closer.

"Gentlemen, I'm a simple man, so let me put this in simple terms. Your presentation was the biggest pile of bullshit I've heard in a long time. You gave no data, no facts, and no supportable figures. All I heard were empty platitudes and conjecture. If someone in any one of my organizations gave me a presentation like that, in clear contradiction to the known facts, they would have been fired on the spot. Now, my lady love happens to believe in the CONCEPT of the Project. You've just made her job a lot harder in trying to convince me that keeping the Project alive is worthwhile. I don't like it when people make her life any harder than it is while she puts up with me."

By this time the directors' faces have gone quite pale.

"If the Project concept is to be saved, then a lot of resources will need to be applied to prove the concept, then more resources will need to be added to make the concept functional, and still more resources will be needed before the Project can possibly become commercially viable. Gentlemen, I'm not a young man, and when I invest in something I would like to see a return on my investment while I'm still above the ground. Now, before I say something I might regret, I bid you good night. It's been a most interesting evening." George turns to where Klara and Sharlene are standing and asks, "Ladies, shall we depart?"

"Yes, sir."

Sharlene grabs his arm and leans on him while Klara precedes them out of the door. While they wait for the valet to bring Klara's vehicle, a few people come by to shake George's hand, thank him for his clear words, and agree with his sentiments. He very politely thanks them and doesn't have to chit-chat long before the valet brings Klara's vehicle. They quickly get in and as Klara pulls out, he gives a single wave of his hand to the others who are waiting for their vehicles. As soon as they're out of the parking lot, he slumps back and asks, "Is it over?"

Sharlene answers, "Yes, lover, it's over."

In another moment, they're just another anonymous vehicle in the traffic and Sharlene turns his head towards hers and kisses him so thoroughly that the evening just past seems to fade into only a bad dream. When she lets him breathe, she declares, "George, you were magnificent," and she continues to kiss his face and neck and ears. As his breathing settles, his face takes on a dreamy smile, and he falls asleep. As his limp body leans onto her, she almost panics, but she quickly finds his regular pulse and hears his steady breathing. After she undoes her seat belt and loosens his, she scoots over and gently lowers him until his head is laying on her right thigh.

Klara looks in the rear view mirror and asks, "What happened to George?"

"He fell asleep."

"Sharlene, I can't recall seeing a better performance in a long time. He took on that role like he was born to it. I could hardly believe it was the same man we left the house with."

"He was magnificent."

"He couldn't have done it without you. You played up to his role to perfection. You made it believable which made everyone else want to believe it, so they did. You two were perfect. I wish I had a video recording of that."

"Klara, will you tell him that when he's awake to hear it?"

"Can't you tell him?"

"You know it won't be the same. Please, Klara?"

"Why, Sharlene?"

"Why not, Klara?"

She pauses before she says, "I don't want to have to admit that I was wrong in my judgment of him."

"Klara, you're very special to me and have been a tremendous help and encouragement to me, but you're not perfect."

"I know I'm not."

"But you don't like to admit it." Sharlene pauses before she continues, "Klara, we all misjudged George, you, me, Mariam, Aunt Paula, everyone. A lot of that is because he doesn't easily reveal who he is. And that's why I want you to tell him what you honestly thought about his performance. You know, he's afraid of you."

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (e3)

With an expression of surprise, Klara asks, "Why do you say that?"

Sharlene answers, "Because he thinks that in your eyes, he isn't good enough for me. He hasn't told me that in so many words, but I'm quite sure it's what he thinks. You've already shown what you can find out about him. I think he's afraid you'll find some deep dark secret of his, whether he has one or not, and convince me to send him away. He felt the same way about Aunt Paula, and tried to tell me what he thought his failings were before Aunt Paula could tell me. His past is his past, nobody's perfect, but his treatment of me has been so close to perfect, I have absolutely no complaints about how he treats me. And that's all that matters."

Klara sighs then says, "You're right. That is all that matters and from what I've seen and heard from both you and Mariam, he does treat you better than almost any man I know of. I'm sorry, Sharlene, I guess it's the maternal instinct in me which doesn't think anyone is good enough for my little girl."

"Thank you, Klara. I know you care about me and want to protect me and in that, you and George are like twins. He's probably your best ally in that effort."

"You're probably right. Okay, I'll try to convince him that I support him in his efforts to protect and care for you. He might not believe me at first. He does have a healthy suspicion of authority and power figures and lawyers are often associated with both groups."

"I know, just be sincere and honest and then he'll be responsible for his reaction."

"Are you getting wise ahead of your age, girl?"

Sharlene chuckles then says, "With you and George as my guides, how can I go wrong?"

Klara chuckles with her then 'accuses' her, "Flatterer," as she pulls into Sharlene's driveway. After she turns off the vehicle, she asks, "Are you going to need some help getting him into the house?"

"I don't know." Sharlene hands her keys forward and asks, "Can you open the front door while I try to wake him up enough to walk?"

"Sure."

"George. George, it's time to wake up." She bends over to kiss his temple and tickle his nose and lips with her hair. "Wake up, lover boy." He sleepily brushes her hair away from his nose. "We're home, it's time to get out of the vehicle," and she tickles him with her hair some more.

A moment later, George's eyes pop open. He looks around, sees her, relaxes, grins up at her leaning over him and says, "Hello gorgeous. Where are we?"

"In Klara's vehicle, in my driveway. Do you think you can walk to the house?"

"I think so." George levers himself up into a sitting position and sways a little then suggests "I may need some support with the balancing act." He turns to face the vehicle door which Klara has opened, grabs the hand she offers, and with a little push from Sharlene behind him, he stands up outside of the vehicle. He takes a step forward, surprises Klara by wrapping his arms around her and kisses her on the forehead before he says, "Klara, you played the role of a corporate lawyer to perfection. Have you ever thought of becoming one?"

She just stares at him in disbelief until he starts to sway more and she automatically responds by hugging him to hold him upright.

"Sharlene, why do I feel so giddy and weak at the same time? Is this what it's like to be drunk?"

Since she's just climbed out of the vehicle and closed the door, Sharlene quickly steps over to help support him and they guide him into the house before she answers, "I don't know what it's like to be drunk, but to have a sudden and complete release from a high state of stress can produce euphoric feelings while the body feels like it's exhausted after extreme exercise. Let's get you to the love seat so you can recline and then I need to get some food and drink in you."

After he's seated and reclined, Klara grabs their purses out of the vehicle, locks it up, and then closes and locks the front door of the house. At the same time, Sharlene hands him a drink of orange juice and starts to put together a light meal for him. A moment later she asks, "Do you want something, Klara?"

"Just point me to your glasses and I'll get some iced tea."

Since Sharlene is standing in front of that cupboard, she hands two glasses to Klara and asks, "Can you pour me some, too?"

Soon, he has a plate of food to go with his drink, Sharlene is seated next to him, and Klara rolls over one of the dining room chairs so she can sit down and face them. Now that he has some food and drink and rest, as well as several minutes in a non-stressed environment, his adrenaline rush dissipates and, as his euphoria fades, his mood makes a clear swing in the opposite direction.

He drops his head and briefly shakes it. After a pause he proclaims, "What a fool I was. Do you take me out and shoot me now or wait until dawn for a traditional execution?"

Since she feels alarmed at his question, Sharlene asks, "What do you mean?"

"After the way I treated them, they wouldn't give you the Project if you offered them ten times the going rate."

Sharlene stares at him in shock and is about to protest when Klara speaks up and says, "George, listen to me." A moment later, she speaks more sternly, "Look at me when I talk to you." When he looks at her, she goes on in a gentler tone, "George, you gave one of the most beautiful performances of a wealthy investor I've ever seen. And with the wonderful support Sharlene gave you in your performance, I couldn't have scripted it more perfectly. Sharlene said you were magnificent and you were. Unless I've read them totally wrong, they can't wait to get rid of the Project and all of those potentially interested parties won't want to touch it with a ten foot pole."

"You've got to be kidding."

"Not on your life. What you told those self-important so-and-sos was exactly what they needed to be told. You didn't lose the Project for Sharlene, you just about handed it to her on a silver platter."

"There's no way . . ."

"George, shut up for a moment. I don't mean to be harsh with you, especially after you did so wonderfully, but you need to listen. I've seen a number of rags-to-riches investors in action before and you could have matched any one of those for filling the role. You paid attention to the doorman, yet you put executives in their place. You don't like stretch vehicles, but think nothing of arriving in a vertical landing air vehicle. You flirt with the pretty women, yet publicly declare that Sharlene is your love. You don't want to spend resources, while you ask me to put in an immediate order for more than ten times the amount of equipment they had ordered. It all fit the persona and I'll bet you that at least the director of the Institute has had to deal with a few of them and recognized the behavior."

"You really think I did okay?"

"You did much better than just okay. After your speech at the end, it was all I could do to restrain myself from doing cartwheels and laughing myself silly. It was excellent. I don't want to give you a swelled head or something, but, well, I can't tell you how perfect it was."

He stares at Klara in disbelief for awhile before he asks, "I didn't screw it all up?"

"No, George, not at all."

Somehow he believes her or it took this long for her words to sink in enough for him to exclaim, "What a relief! Both of you have put so much time and energy into this, I was so afraid that in just a few words, I caused it all to go up in smoke. I couldn't help myself, that presentation had to be one of the worst and most worthless . . . I don't know what to call it. . . . Well, I reacted."

"And that honest sincere reaction put the icing on the cake. You reacted just like an investor who knows the value of his resources would react. Maybe I should call those so-called directors and congratulate them on setting the stage for your performance, but I won't. Let's face it, they dug their own grave with how they handled and managed the Project from beginning to end. And George, you gave them a nice grave stone to commemorate the event."

"Well, whatever I might have done positive, I couldn't have done it without you two. I certainly don't mean to slight you Klara, but I would have fallen apart without my lovely lady right next to me almost every minute." He picks up her hand and kisses it while he restrains himself from going further. "A couple of times she had to remind me to stay in the role and that kept me going."

"I know, I heard every word you said."

"What!?! How could you?"

"Can I have my pen back?"

"Huh? Oh sure." George hands Klara the pen she had put in his pocket.

"This is a microphone and transmitter, as well as a fully functional ball point pen. Not only did I hear, I recorded it as well. Before you become too upset, I didn't do it to invade your privacy, I did it as evidence of what you were told by those directors. I guessed they would make a bee line to you as soon as they suspected they might have an apparent VIP at the event. Most of the other attendees who weren't employees were more mid-level information gatherers rather than the decision makers or just one step away from the decision makers.

"After you told that man who admired Sharlene that she was your personal physician, I saw him pass the word on to a couple of others, and one of them slipped out to get the directors. When they came in, they were almost frantic when they couldn't see you, until they spotted the two of you sitting along the wall. I suspected they were going to give you a big song and dance which would make the presentation seem like a soft sell, but you took control of the conversation before they could open their mouths and encouraged them to admit to some of the problems. That only added to their impression that you were somebody who took the bull by the horns and got the job done. The end result is better than I had hoped for because we have a contrast between what was said in the presentation and what they privately told you.

"You probably didn't see their faces, but when they saw you give into Sharlene's excellent sad eye routine, they figured they had a back door to get to you, especially when it was made clear that Mariam was her friend. For you to invite Mariam in front of them was a stroke of genius, because I'll bet you almost anything they're going to do their best to convince Mariam to come so she can convince Sharlene to convince you. After the weekend, I bet they're going to try to pump Mariam dry of everything she heard and saw. I wish you didn't make the comment about your cabin in the woods being five thousand square feet because they're going to want Mariam to confirm that specific detail."

"That will be the easiest thing for Mariam to verify because the inside of my home is just over five thousand square feet. I'll even get out the architectural plans or my tape measure and help her measure it if she wants."

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (e4)

Klara's eyes go wide in surprise before she asks, "It's really five thousand square feet?"

George nods his head as he answers, "Yes."

When Klara looks pointedly at Sharlene, she answers, "I'm sorry, Klara, I didn't measure it, but it is big and roomy. His library alone is probably as big as this place and the main living area is even bigger than that."

"How excellent! That's about the only detail they know about you and when Mariam confirms it, they're going to be sure all of their other suppositions about you are true. This is going even better than I hoped it would."

George thinks for a moment, "Speaking of Mariam coming up, we ought to think about when. If I recall, we were going to try to talk to Maria. Is that tomorrow? I was hoping to sleep for a week after this evening."

"Sorry, lover, no sleeping for a week. Klara, were you able to talk to the police department?"

"Yes. They said any time after mid-morning tomorrow they would have a copy of the statements and recordings available assuming I can provide my credentials, which will be no problem."

Sharlene turns back to him and asks, "George, when would be a good time to talk to Maria?"

"I'm not a frequently customer, but my best guess would be the early afternoon shortly after the lunch crowd leaves, but before they have to start preparing for dinner. If Maria is agreeable and can contact a few of the other victims, then probably sixth-day morning would be the best time to meet with any others."

"When Mariam calls, then how about I suggest early afternoon on sixth-day?"

"That sounds good. Why don't you have her stop at Paula's and call. Then you or I can drive down and guide her to my place. There's no sense in having her getting frustrated while she tries to find my driveway entrance. What about inviting Paula and Paul for dinner on sixth-day? I've been somewhat remiss in my hospitality towards them over the years, but with you lovely ladies there, I won't have to worry about keeping the conversation going."

"They would like that. Klara, do you have any objections?"

"Not at all. I always did like Paula, but I don't recall meeting Paul."

"Uncle Paul is hard not to like. He's easy going, quick to laugh, and usually finds the funny side of a situation."

George asks, "Do you think they would object if I served the same dinner as last week?"

"As long as it's not the same chickens, of course they won't."

He chuckles then says, "That would be rather hard to do. I don't have much of a repertoire, but the grilled chicken usually turns out pretty good."

"It was very good considering how little was left to go into the chicken soup."

"Okay, we can do that for sixth-day dinner. I'm inclined to not plan dinner tomorrow just to allow for more flexibility. If nothing else, we can pull something out of the freezer. What about sleeping arrangements? I have a couple of more beds I can put up, or I can sleep on the sofa or really rough it and put a sleeping bag on a lounge chair on the back porch."

"Old man, I'll be in bed with you both nights."

"Sharlene, I don't want you to feel obligated or forced."

"I know you don't, lover, but I do like to cuddle up to you. Tomorrow night Klara can sleep in the second bedroom, if you have no objections, Klara."

"I'm flexible with where I sleep, but I draw the line at a sleeping bag on the ground. I got tired of that a long time ago."

George nods his head and says, "I know what you mean. When I was a kid and the family went to visit relatives, it was usually a sleeping bag on the ground. When I did my civil service duty, I was rather shocked when they provided us rough and tough men with air mattresses to go under our sleeping bags."

Klara looks at him in surprise, "You're kidding. They issued air mattresses?"

"They sure did. I almost had to ask what it was because I'd never had one before. No, Klara, no sleeping bags unless you beg for one."

"I won't do that. Instead of you having to set up another bed, I was kicking around the idea of spending some time with Paula while I'm here. Maybe on sixth-day night, I can stay at Paula's while Mariam stays in your second bedroom."

"I don't want you to feel unwelcome, Klara."

"You're not, George. I've wanted to gossip with Paula for awhile and this would give me the opportunity without you having to go to the trouble of setting up another bed for just one night."

"Before we make definitive plans, I'd better check with Aunt Paula. Humm, I'd better try calling her now, or I'll need to wait until the morning."

Sharlene gets out her phone and hits a speed dial number.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Aunt Paula."

"Sharlene, are you okay?"

"Yesss. Is there a reason I shouldn't be?"

"We heard about what happened at Maria's."

"Oh, that. I'm sorry I didn't call you and let you know I was okay, but all I wanted to do was to put it behind me. Yes, both George and I are okay."

"I thought that was the case, but I didn't want to call you and remind you."

"Thank you, Aunt Paula, and thank you for caring enough to worry."

"Hey, I'm good at it. Why not practice my natural talents?"

"I would prefer that you practice some of your other natural talents rather than worry. Leave that one for Mom, she can do it well enough for everyone."

"Have you talked to your folks lately?"

"No, and I've already been chewed out by Klara who's here to help investigate the Project and help me start a company to take it over if I can."

"Klara's there? Is she going to come visit or do we need to come down?"

"That's what I was calling about. Klara is willing to volunteer her time to help the other victims check into compensation in regards to what led up to last weekend's situation at Maria's. We'll be coming up in the morning, Klara will get a copy of the statements from the police, we'll try to talk to Maria in the early afternoon and then to George's for the evening. I'm sure we can stop by for at least for a little while. We would like to invite you and Uncle Paul to George's on sixth-day for dinner with Klara and us, maybe Mariam will be there also. Klara wants to spend some time with you to catch up on the latest gossip and was wondering if she can spend sixth-day night at your place."

"That sounds like fun. Of course Klara can spend the night here, both nights if she wants. Do you have any idea of what's planned for dinner?"

"George was wondering if what he served last week would be okay to serve again."

"No objection on our part. That was really good, as long as he doesn't want to serve the same chickens."

Sharlene laughs then says, "That's just what I told him. I don't mean to keep you up, Aunt Paula, but I did want to give you a heads up as early as possible."

"So, is George still being good to you?"

"He's being wonderful to me."

"I just want to make sure. He's pulled a few surprises on me since he's met you."

"Well, he's pulled a few more surprises here recently, but they've been good surprises. I'll tell you when we get together."

"Okay. Just remember we care about you and are only a phone call away."

"I know and I really appreciate that."

"Good. Well, give George a hug, say hi to Klara, and we'll see you some time tomorrow."

"Thanks, Aunt Paula. I love you."

"I love you too, child. Bye."

"Goodbye."

* * * * *

2147-09-04 (e5)

Sharlene puts the phone down, turns, sits on his upper legs, hugs him, and explains, "Aunt Paula said to give you a hug. Klara, she said 'hi' and that she'll be happy to have you stay at her place, both nights if you want." She turns back to George and says, "Oh, and she said that what you served last week would be fine as long as it isn't the same chickens."

He shakes his head with a mock frown and says, "I'm going to have to talk to Paula about being picky about what's being served for dinner."

Sharlene chuckles then says, "Well, old man, I suppose you could just get a couple of new chickens, claim they were the same ones and then we could marvel at your magical abilities."

"Yeah, right. Changing the subject, when do we need to be ready to leave tomorrow?"

Klara answers, "I suppose that depends on where the police station is in relation to Maria's and your place."

"I didn't even really look at the business card they handed us. Which department was it?"

"The card was for the sheriff's office who is handling the investigation."

"Okay, that would be just a little more than halfway between here and my place. I don't know what traffic is like on a fifth-day morning, but I don't think it will take more than an hour and a half to get there."

Klara suggests, "I'll assume that when they said the copies would be ready by mid-morning, they meant no later than about ten hundred. If we plan on being there around eleven hundred in case they need some extra time, then I guess we can leave here about half past nine hundred. I'll go ahead and drive since I think my rental vehicle will more easily seat three than Sharlene's little vehicle."

George thinks for a moment then says, "In that case, I think I'm going to go to bed. Up you go, little lady," as he gently pushes Sharlene off of his upper legs and onto her side of the love seat. As he stands up, he sways just a little and proclaims, "It's definitely bed time." He steps over, places a hand on Klara's shoulder, and tells her, "I must say, young lady, you definitely know how to show an old man an interesting evening, but if that's your idea of a date, the next time you ask me out, I'm inclined to say, 'no thank you'."

Klara theatrically sighs then responds, "Ahhh, George, and here I thought we really had something going."

He groans is mock dismay, then steps over to Sharlene who has stood up for a quick hug and kiss, says, "See you tomorrow," and walks down the hall while she watches him and keeps looking in that direction even after he's out of sight.

When he's well out of hearing range, Klara asks, "I don't mean to be nosy, but you don't go to bed with him?"

While she's still looking after him, Sharlene answers, "Usually only when we're both tired. I find that I control myself better when I can remind myself not to disturb his sleep. I hope you don't mind staying a little longer, because if I go down there before he's all the way asleep, it will be awhile before I let him sleep and I'll end up pushing him further than he's ready for me to go."

In a softer voice, Klara asks, "You really want him that much?"

Sharlene turns to her as she sits down and answers, "I don't know if what I feel is normal or not, but for several days, a couple of weeks, I don't know exactly how long, about all I can think about is how much I want him. And after his performance tonight, if you weren't here to unintentionally control me, I'm not sure I would have had the front door closed before I was taking our clothes off and turning the heat up from there."

Klara shakes her head then says, "I just find it hard to believe that he restrains himself when you're clearly giving him 'touch me' signals."

"If I am, I'm not even sure what those signals are. He's pointed out how some of my more obvious moves can be interpreted. I'm not sure how much he recognizes subtle signals or whether he's learned over the years to ignore them in the belief that they're not applicable to him. Regardless of signals, I've verbally told him to touch me more and have given him permission to touch me all of the way. I know he wants to. Not only has he very clearly told me on a number of occasions, but when he's touching me, sometimes I can feel his hands trembling from the effort to not move them a few more inches to touch me more. And his restraint is all for my benefit.

"He wants me to enjoy a slowly expanding experience. Even when I try to describe it to myself, I can't think of enough superlatives to express how wonderful it's been. If his past touching is any indication, his future touching will be indescribable, or at least that's how I'll respond to it. Like I've said before, I don't know how much of it has been his way of touching me or my sensitivity or some combination, but whatever the cause, all I want is more. If someone had told me just a few months ago that I would be acting and feeling this way, I would have called them a liar and sued them for defamation of character or something similar."

Klara nods her head then says, "He's a remarkable man. Even when I recognized the desire for you in his eyes, I was trying to convince myself that somehow he wasn't that interested which made his restraint easier to explain. I didn't want to admit to myself that he can be so wonderfully caring of you which enables him to restrain such desire. I have a feeling that when he feels it's appropriate to fully express his desire for you, he's still going to have to exercise a lot of effort to not touch you continuously."

"I can't wait, but somehow I will. My relationship with George and how I want to see it keep growing is another reason I like your idea of a senior partner mentality for my role in the company rather than a president mentality. It should encourage the others to solve their own problems, rather than always coming to me to make the final decisions about subjects I know little or nothing about. Hopefully, it will also give me more time and flexibility to spend with George."

"There's another reason to encourage you to spend more time with George."

Sharlene is quick to ask, "What's that? The more reasons the merrier."

Klara answers, "Your emotional recordings. If your emotional responses remain fairly consistent, Digital Empathy will most likely need more of those emotional recordings which you appear to experience with George. Especially compared to what the Project is so far claiming as their best."

"Except it will be hard to use that as a reason to explain being away from the office if my emotional recordings aren't known to be mine."

"You've got a point there. I suppose you can admit to some recordings which may be similar to the better ones the Project has."

Sharlene shakes her head as she responds, "Sometimes it does seem like it would be easier to just run away with George."

"It would be easier, but at some point in time you would look back and regret doing so."

"You're right, Klara. I'll just keep it in the back of my head as an escape route. It might make it easier for me to hang in there a little longer if I know I still have an escape available if it becomes unbearable."

"There you go. And on that note, for your sake, I'm going to hope that George is asleep, because I'm getting tired and tomorrow is going to be a busy day." They stand up and hug for quite awhile before they walk to the front door.

"Klara, thank you so much for your support and your encouragement and for talking to me as well as listening so well. I really appreciate it."

"Young lady, it's been my pleasure. I'm glad I've had a chance to meet and to get to know George. In some ways, he just seems too good to be true. Actually, I'm jealous of you and the unique opportunity he's giving you to go on that journey of touching. I can easily understand your desire for more. But at the same time, I want to encourage you to be patient and let him lead you on the entire journey. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you, so take advantage of his gift and enjoy it. In the future, it will be something you can look back on with joy and no regret."

"I know that and believe it also. It's just that sometimes the desire comes close to overwhelming the reasoning abilities."

"Sometimes it does or at least it sure seems that way. Well, get yourself some rest and I'll see you in the morning. Do you want me to call before I come over?"

"That won't be necessary. I usually wake up early, but I'll set my alarm clock just to be on the safe side."

"Good idea. Sweet dreams, Sharlene."

"Good night, Klara." After Klara has pulled out of the driveway with a final wave, Sharlene closes and locks the door and turns out the porch light. She takes a few minutes to make sure everything is picked up and put away then she yawns as she turns out the rest of the lights. She's surprised at how tired she feels then guesses that the stress and excitement of the evening are catching up to her. She gets herself ready for bed, cuddles up next to him, and is soon asleep.

* * * * *

2147-09-05 (m)

Sharlene wakes up early and when she decides there's time to let George sleep longer, she gets up and does a vigorous martial arts routine and cools off with an extended tai-chi practice. Somewhat to her dismay, the exercise hasn't sufficiently distracted her. Since she knows it's going to be a long day without the social freedom to touch him or for him to touch her, she slips back into bed and cuddles up close to him. In a little while, her left hand unbuttons his pajama top and caresses his chest. As her caressing hand moves down his body, it reaches the waistband of his pajama bottom and undoes the snaps which hold the waistband closed.

A moment or so later, she moves her left leg from next to his left leg and lays it across his body at his hips so her calf is along the outside of his right thigh. Then she props herself up slightly on her right arm and begins to kiss his chest as her left hand moves down over her leg and begins to touch him between his legs. As his breathing speeds up, his legs spread some, his left arm reaches across her back and pulls her tightly to him, and his right hand finds her left leg and begins to slide along the outside of her leg where it lays across his hips.

She braces herself a little more with her right arm and left leg then she begins to rock her pubic area across his left hip bone. As their breathing becomes more rapid, his right hand slips to the back of her leg before it begins to slide up towards her buttocks. She does the opposite of what she had intended to do when she throws back her head and cries out in climactic pleasure which startles him fully awake

When their breathing has settled some, he asks, "Sharlene, . . . what are you . . . doing?"

"Giving us some pleasure before a long day, waking you up, and giving you a token of a reward for how well you did last night."

He soon becomes aware that her left hand is continuing to fondle his scrotum and stroke his penis and his breaths become shorter and faster which makes it difficult for him to say, "Is it wise?"

She starts to rub herself on him again which rapidly causes her breathing to speed up while she gasps out, "Better . . . blow off steam . . . than blow gasket." After just a few more strokes of her hand along his penis while his hand has slid up the back of her leg almost to her buttocks, he thrusts his hips into the air which causes his left hip bone to lift her up by her pubic area and as she cries out in climax, she feels the pulsation of his penis under her hand.

Following a couple of moments of holding still in highly pleasurable tension, he suddenly relaxes onto the bed while her body remains closely hugged to his and follows him down. With a last bit of reasoning, she relaxes the grip of her left leg on him so she can move her pubic area a little ways away from his body and since she's tired from her earlier exercise and partially satiated, she slips into a light doze.

Sometime later, Sharlene wakes up to the alarm clock and automatically rolls away from him to turn it off. She gets up, gets a warm wet wash cloth, and washes him up which starts to arouse him and brings a dreamy smile to his face. She resists her desire to touch him more, gets off of the bed and goes to take a shower where she also has to resist the temptation to touch herself more. When she's dressed, she wakes him up and asks him if he'll comb her hair. After he makes a quick bathroom trip, he sits on the end of the bed and she sits on his legs while he combs her hair.

When he sets her comb down and picks up her hair brush, he asks, "Sharlene, was it a dream or were you touching me before your shower?"

"I was touching you. Did you enjoy it?"

"Very much so. Thank you. But I'm not sure it was wise."

"Maybe not, but you've been giving me so much pleasure, it's about time you received some," and she reaches behind her and begins to gently touch his pubic area and slips her hand down between his upper thighs. He stops brushing her hair and just sits there to enjoy the sensations of her touch.

After a little while, he gently removes her hand and suggests, "Oh, that felt so good, but it's not the way to get your hair brushed. Thank you."

"George, how do you resist not touching me more?"

He again stops brushing her hair, pauses for a little while, grips her shoulders, pulls her back a little, kisses the back of her head, pauses in thought, and says, "I don't know, but it's hard. Sometimes I'm amazed I have resisted touching you more. The more I touch you, the more I want to touch you while at the same time it seems just a tiny bit easier to resist because the time is getting closer to when I'll feel it will be appropriate to touch you more completely. I know that's not much of an explanation, but it's the best I have for now," and he resumes brushing her hair.

"That makes a certain sort of sense. I still don't know how you do it because I certainly can't. Yet, at the same time, I think I'm resisting to the best of my ability."

"Well, I do have a few more decades of experience in resisting and learning to set aside my desires."

"Did you have to resist much in the past?"

He nods his head then verbally answers, "Frequently and in many situations. Sometimes I would just ache or even feel my muscles quiver while I tried not to touch either because the situation was inappropriate or I knew that my touching wouldn't be welcomed."

"Even at home?"

"Often that was worse. My ex-wife had no problem dressing or undressing while I was in the room, but she also made it clear that I wasn't to touch her in other than the lightest manner, if at all, unless she happened to be interested in sex. Sharlene, I guess I probably ought to warn you that as you encourage me to touch you more extensively, I'll also want to touch you more frequently. You may still find that you have to tell me to back off or to keep my hands to myself."

"If I do, then I hope I can express it as well as you have and tell you that I want you touching me, but just not yet and that the delay has a logical reason."

"I still find it amazing that you want me to touch you at all and even more so that you want to touch me. But it's mighty hard to deny the evidence when you ask me to touch you or when you willingly touch me while I can't figure out how I can be obligating or forcing you to do so."

"There's nothing to figure out, George. I haven't felt forced or obligated by you to do anything. The only exception is a rare occasion or two when you stopped me from doing something which might have hurt me. I'm deeply grateful that you so willing protect me while at the same time you give me so much freedom."

"I just can't imagine doing anything different. It's what any person deserves. There you go, your hair is brushed. How do you want to fix it?"

"I thought I would just braid it and I can do it while you get dressed. Then we should get something to eat and hopefully have time to pack a few things before Klara gets here."

That's what they do. They're able to cuddle for only a few minutes before Klara rings the doorbell and is ready to go. They quickly lock up Sharlene's house and toss their overnight bags in the rental vehicle. George encourages Sharlene to sit up front with Klara, so Klara doesn't feel left out and to help them control their desires. It's a pleasant drive as the ladies chat while he watches the scenery go by, which he usually can't see much of when he drives.

* * * * *

Angelisa can hardly remember a time when she was so glad the school week is over. It seemed like everyone at school was talking about the demise of Hektor, but for the first part of the week, nobody associated it with Maria's restaurant so Angelisa was able to keep a low profile and was basically ignored which was just how she preferred it. However, as the week went on, some of the stories became embellished then transitioned into total fiction. Yesterday afternoon, she had heard several students discussing the situation and wondering what degree of black belt the guy had who beat Hektor in a martial arts contest before shooting him full of holes over some girl.

Since she was no longer able to control herself, Angelisa had blurted out, "That isn't what happened."

One of them had turned to her with a sneer, "How would you know, 'Bookworm'?"

"I was there."

They stared at her in silence for awhile before another one of them asked, "Where?"

"At Mama's restaurant."

"Her 'mama' has a restaurant?"

"Shut up. Can't you say anything without a sneer? Angie, what really happened?"

Angelisa told them what happened, in straightforward terms.

"That isn't what I heard."

Angelisa asked, "Was the person you heard it from actually there?"

The person hesitated then admitted, "No."

"Then how would they know? If you don't believe me, go ask the police. They saw the whole thing." That stopped them long enough for Angelisa to slip away.

This morning was even worse. Apparently the news had gotten around, because before she even arrived at school, other students were bugging her to tell them all about it. The teachers controlled themselves better, but she could see their curious looks directed towards her. Angelisa got to where if someone barely looked at her, she would tell them, "Go ask the police, they saw the whole thing."

* * * * *

It's a little more than an hour later when they arrive at the sheriff's office and after Klara presents her credentials, the sheriff provides her with an electronic copy of the statements, both recorded and transcribed, and copies of all of the audio and video recordings made of the event. They also provide identification documentation on Hektor and those who were with him. While they're there and with Klara present, the investigator asks Sharlene and George if they remember anything else. They go back over what they remember of the event, but aren't able to provide any other useful information.

Before they leave, Klara provides the investigator with her contact information in case further evidence is brought to light during the investigation. The investigator makes it clear their actions had been well within the legal guidelines of self-protection and that it's being considered as a suicide, even if unusually administered, and that the standard judicial preview gave the same verdict. Only some exceptional new evidence could overturn the verdict so he does ask that they maintain current contact information on file with the department until a final review of the case is completed.

* * * * *

2147-09-05 (a1)

It's almost another hour drive before they arrive at Maria's for a late lunch and are warmly greeted. After an excellent meal, Maria gladly sits down with them and George brings up the idea of meeting with the victims of Hektor to discuss the possibilities of a victim compensation lawsuit. He turns it over to Klara who gives a general idea of the process to the small group of people who have gathered around.

She makes it clear there are no guarantees and that it's often one person's word against another's, which makes it difficult for the court to decide. Maria and a couple of others say they understand the difficulties, but are willing to discuss it further. They agree tomorrow morning will be a good time at Maria's restaurant which has the most room, and they'll get the word out to other people who might have been victimized. After a round of hugs or handshakes as appropriate, they drive through town to Paula and Paul's.

* * * * *

Finally, her one day a week lab session for her science class is over for the day and Angelisa rushes home only to find out that she missed seeing Mr. G and Sharlene who had stopped at the restaurant for a late lunch. It takes awhile for it to register with her that Maria goes on to say they'll be back in the morning for a meeting with the other victims of Hektor.

* * * * *

The ladies disappear into the house, while Paul, with George's company, watches the store. About an hour later, they're back on the road for the short drive to George's. Klara starts to get irritated with his apparent back seat driving until he tells her to turn and she sees how his driveway is almost hidden. After she parks the vehicle next to his house, Klara likes what she can see of his yard and wonders if he was accurate about the size of his home considering the end doesn't look that big.

Molly isn't obvious when the strange vehicle pulls in, but when George gets out, she races over and greets them in her own welcoming way. While George and Sharlene play with and pet Molly for a few minutes, Klara looks on and it's as though the relationship of Sharlene and George snaps into focus and she sets aside the last of her doubts, declaring, at least in her own mind, that it's right and proper to consider them a couple.

When Molly trots off, George unlocks the front door and with a bow, he ushers the ladies in. Klara takes a couple of steps in and stops while she looks around her in surprise. She's seen some fancy homes in her life, but the roomy simplicity of his front room and visible dining room has a comfortableness about it which few homes she has seen, can match. He brings their bags in from the vehicle while Sharlene happily gives Klara a guided tour through the bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry room, dining room, kitchen, and finally, the library.

As Klara steps into the library, Sharlene turns on the lights, and Klara stops to stare in amazement. Again, as she compares it to some other private libraries she's seen, his has a cozy hominess which few others can come close to. Reluctantly, they step out of the library and go to the kitchen for a drink where he asks them about dinner and sets something out to thaw.

Klara says, "George, I'm impressed. You have a very nice home and a wonderful library. You've done a very good job of making it feel roomy, yet cozy and comfortable."

"Thank you."

"If I had tried to describe the home of a wealthy eccentric rags to riches single older man, I couldn't have done a better job than what you have here."

He looks at her in surprise then responds, "Really? I would have thought someone like that would have a much more luxurious place with fancy gadgets, more stuff, and famous art."

"Some do. But a number of others who I've either met or heard about would feel right at home here."

"Thank you again. Change of subject. I thought I would make a quick trip into town to pick up some chickens to prepare for tomorrow night. Two questions: would you feel comfortable being here without me for a little while and do you need me to pick up anything?"

Klara and Sharlene glance at each other, then Sharlene steps up to him, gives him a hug and a kiss then says, "We'll be fine, lover. I doubt if Molly has gone far and I can take one of your handguns with me while I give Klara a tour of your yard. We have all we need for the next couple of days, but if we did forget something, we can rough it for that long. Just hurry back."

"You can count on that," he kisses Sharlene then suggests, "Why don't you start your outside tour at the garage? If I start to leave in the pickup, Molly will want to ride along, but if it's obvious that you're staying, she'll more likely stay also."

Sure enough, as George backs out the pickup, Molly is right there and looks somewhat puzzled when he doesn't open her door. He kneels down in front of her and says, "Molly, I would like you to stay with Sharlene and Klara," he points to them, "and help protect them. Can you do that for me, please? I'll be back in just a little while."

After a single, "Woof," and a quick lick, Molly trots over and sits down next to Sharlene.

"Thank you, Molly." He stands back up, gets in the pickup, and is soon going down the driveway.

While Sharlene shows Klara around his yard, Molly stays right with them and even carefully walks through the garden with them. After the tour, they sit on the back porch so Molly can stay with them. When Klara asks, Sharlene tells her what she knows about Molly's history.

George returns a little later and Molly trots over to warmly greet him and walks with him back to the porch where he greets the ladies. He sets his packages on the table, kneels down to hug Molly, and tells her, "Thank you, Molly. I knew they would be safe with you." He briefly kisses Sharlene then takes the chickens into the house and begins to prepare a marinade for them to soak in overnight.

When George steps into the house, Molly lays her head on Sharlene's leg and looks up at her. She leans over, hug's Molly's head and kisses her forehead then tells her, "Yes, Molly, you kept us safe, thank you." Molly gives her a quick lick and dashes off and is soon back with a tennis ball which she drops into Sharlene's lap with a hopeful expression. She gets up and throws the ball for Molly and as the game progresses she tries to throw the ball in a different direction than the movement of her arm indicates, but Molly is seldom fooled.

When they tire of the game, Molly leans on Sharlene and as Sharlene kneels down to hug her, Molly pushes against her harder, knocks her down, rolls over her, crouches down a couple of feet away, softly barks at her and when Sharlene rolls towards her, Molly dances a couple of feet away and softly barks again. Sharlene lurches to her feet and a game of something like tag ensures.

Once Sharlene attempts to tackle Molly, but Molly rolls and is back on her feet while Sharlene is laying on her back looking at the sky. A couple of minutes later, after they play some more, Sharlene is laying on the ground laughing while she tries to catch her breath. Molly comes over and lays on her side on top of Sharlene who can only tightly hug her.

Klara, who had been grinning, then chuckling, is now laughing out loud at them. She gets up, steps over to them, bends over to pet Molly, then pushes on her and says, "Okay, Molly, you don't want to squish Sharlene under all of that fur." Molly gets up and Klara extends a hand to help Sharlene up as she says, "I think that canine weighs as much as you do."

"Probably. She sure is fun, aren't you Molly," who responds with a brief, "Woof," retrieves her ball, and disappears around the end of the garage. "And she seems quite intelligent for a canine. You saw what she did when George asked her to stay and protect us."

"And he hasn't trained her?"

Sharlene shakes her head as she answers, "He says he hasn't and I believe him. It's unlikely she could have had that much training before George rescued her when she was apparently only about half grown and between Aunt Paula and George, her history is pretty well known since then. Even training wouldn't explain her ability to know what's going to happen before it does. Like George once said, he doesn't speak 'canine' very well, so he can't ask Molly to explain it. Since he can't explain it, he can only accept it as one more mystery of life."

"That's a good philosophy. So where is the old man?"

"Let's go see. I think he's probably in the kitchen."

Klara suggests, "You ought to brush yourself off before you go in."

"You're right, thanks." Sharlene uses the whisk broom which is hanging near the door and soon has the loose grass and canine hair brushed off.

As Sharlene hangs the whisk broom back up, Klara asks, "Is that another one of his practical ideas?"

She just grins at Klara in answer.

In the kitchen, Sharlene hugs George from behind and asks him, "What are you doing, old man?"

"Getting the chickens soaking in a marinade. Last week I bought them too late to marinade, but this time I can let them soak for almost twenty four hours before I put them on the rotisserie and slow cook them. There we go. Now to wash up and put them in the fridge overnight. It looked like Molly gave you a bit of a work out."

Sharlene chuckles then responds, "Yes, she did. It shocked me when she first knocked me over, but it was soon apparent she was just changing the game."

"I was surprised at that also. She hasn't tried that one on me, probably because I outweigh her by quite a bit." George picks up a towel, dries his hands, turns, grabs Sharlene by the waist, picks her up, sets her on the counter, and says, "With such a little thing like you, she figured she could get away with it."

"Just like you figured you could, eh?"

"Oh course." He grins at her and winks at Klara as he says, "I just did."

Sharlene grabs his arm and pulls him close and says, "Excuse me, Klara, while I teach this old man the consequences of such manners."

"Oh, don't mind me, I always did like to see a man properly disciplined," and watches Sharlene tightly hug him and thoroughly kiss him.

As he steps back to catch his breath and keep his restraint from disappearing entirely, Sharlene turns to Klara and asks, "Do you have any suggestions for the rest of the afternoon and evening?"

"I would like to review your witness statements from last week and then I'll go spend the evening and night with Paula."

"Is there any particular time . . . you would like dinner . . . before you go?"

"No, George," Klara grins at him then says, "but I'll let you catch your breath first."

He just grins back.

"I didn't set a specific time with Paula."

Sharlene asks, "Why do you want to go over our witness statements? The sheriff's investigator seemed to be rather clear we're not in any danger of being charged with something."

"That's not the reason. I want to get a little more of an idea about your assailant and what he was like."

Sharlene shudders then asks, "Wouldn't the recordings give you a better picture than our memories?"

"In some ways, yes, in some ways, no. I can go over the recordings by myself and so far we don't know their quality or how much they caught. I also want your impressions which the officers weren't inclined to ask about or record if you did give them."

George steps closer and hugs Sharlene as he says, "Love, I know you want to forget about it, but the best way to deal with it is to bring it out into the open rather than brush it under the rug and let it fester."
"You're right. Okay, lift me down, old man." When he looks at her a puzzled expression, she explains, "The consequences of your actions, you lifted me up here, you have to lift me down."

While Klara chuckles in the background, he starts to lift her up, but Sharlene wraps her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and kisses him. As she lets him breathe, she whispers in his ear, "Carry me to the table." Without responding verbally, he tightly hugs her, carries her to the table while he resists the temptation to slip an arm under her buttocks, pulls out a chair, and sits on the front edge. She unwraps her legs, gets up, lets him sit back in the chair, sits on his upper legs, kisses his cheek, snuggles up to his chest, and tells him, "Thank you, lover."

As Klara follows and sits down, she's shaking her head then says, "I don't know which of you surprises me more."

* * * * *

2147-09-05 (a2)

A few moments later, Klara redirects their thoughts to the business at hand and for the next hour or so, she goes over their statements while she asks them what they were thinking and feeling and what their impressions were. There are a couple of minor differences in their accounts, based on what they observed and remembered, which only enhances the validity of their statements since no two people will remember the same event in the same way or necessarily in the exact same sequence.

By going over their accounts together, they're able to remember things they had forgotten or hadn't noticed before, although none of it would be of any significance to the sheriff's investigation, but it adds to the impression which Klara is gaining of Hektor, as well as her impression of George and of his relationship with Sharlene. When she's done, Klara asks, "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

As Sharlene seems to sink further into his comforting embrace, she says, "Klara, I'm very glad you aren't the prosecuting attorney in this case. I don't think I could handle it without begin constantly comforted by George."

"You probably could handle it, but you're being spoiled because he's so quick to comfort you. Of course, for you to know that he'll comfort you as soon as he can would enable you to more easily handle a tough situation. I'm certainly not chastising you, because I can think of a lot of times when I wished I had someone to comfort me like you do. So enjoy it, revel in it, and know that you'll be able to handle a tough situation, because you know that he'll comfort you as soon as humanly possible."

"Sometimes I worry that I'll be so spoiled I won't want to leave his arms."

Klara exclaims, "Bosh! I suppose it might feel that way to you, but you didn't let that affect you last weekend. You did what needed to be done, partially because you knew he was there to support and comfort you. I'll bet it would have turned out significantly different if George hadn't have been there to protect, encourage, and then comfort you."

"I know the results would have been quite a bit worse without this wonderful man being with me. I suppose that's why I seldom go out on my own. Between Mom's warnings and some friends in college warning me, I pretty much avoid quiet lonely places unless I'm with other people. It makes it easier since I'm not a very social person to begin with."

"That's a good policy. Oh, I did have one more question. George, do you normally carry a handgun?"

"I didn't used to, but with this lovely lady in my life, I need an edge in being able to protect her."

"Does she need your protection?"

His pause is brief before he answers, "Probably not, but I would prefer to be prepared rather than have to live with the regret of not being prepared and unable to protect her when I needed to."

"Thank you. That's what I hoped you would say. Enough of my interrogation. How about some dinner, then I'll go gossip with Paula and leave you two love birds alone."

Sharlene assures her, "You don't have to run off, Klara."

"I know I don't have to, but it's been a long day and I think you would like to spend some time alone with George. Besides, for the next couple of days, you won't have much time alone with him, so enjoy it while you can."

"Thank you."

Klara asks, "George, are you going to want some help with dinner?"

"No, thank you. Why don't you two relax and enjoy each other's company?"

Klara puts her computer away with the witness statements and sets it by the front door with her bag which George had brought in. As she comes back to the dining room, she says, "George, I was somewhat surprised to see a piano in the front room. Do you play?"

"Poorly. It's been many years since I used to play, but I thought I would try to pick it back up again. Sharlene plays very well."

"I know she used to." Klara turns to her and asks, "Didn't you leave your piano at your folks' place?"

"Yes. I didn't realize how much I missed it, until I came here and was able to play again."

Klara turns back to him and asks, "In many ways you're quite practical, so why a grand piano?"

"I was able to pick it up at an estate sale and I couldn't see them throwing it out. So I bought it and had it restored. In the end, it didn't cost much more than if I had purchased a slightly used upright."

"Really? I would have expected a restoration to cost a lot more than that."

"Well, almost all of the damage was cosmetic and it looked worse than it was. I think the person who restored it also gave me a good price because he would rather see a piano being used rather than being tossed out or ignored."

"So even with something which appears to be extravagant, you have a practical explanation for it. You have me curious now, how could you afford such a large library? I doubt if you purchased all of those books since you won your money and that many must have cost a fortune."

He explains, "If you had the time to look more closely, you would see that the vast majority of the books are used or public library discards. I doubt if I paid retail for more than a couple of hundred of those books and those were primarily textbooks from a few decades ago. When I bought the piano, they were also selling several hundred books which I bought for almost nothing. I usually go to the city two or three times a year for the public library's used book sales or I buy books at charity thrift stores. If I've picked up most of a series and can't find the last one or two, I'll check out the used book stores, or once in a blue moon, I'll buy it online."

"Why not buy retail, you can afford it now."

"After many years of using alternate sources for my book buying because I couldn't afford it otherwise, I found that I kind of enjoy the treasure hunting aspect. Very seldom do I go looking for a specific book unless it's to add to a partial series which I already have. I could borrow from the public library, but I like to have books around me and enjoy reading older books which libraries no longer carry. Or they get rid of the first book in a series before the last one is ever published. I suppose you can say that books are my vice. Actually, I spent a lot more on extending the house to comfortably hold the books than I've spent on all of the books themselves."

"Interesting. I must say you have an impressive home."

"Thank you. I hadn't meant it to be impressive, just comfortable."

Klara thinks for a little while then suggests, "You know, I think we ought to find a way for Mariam to take some hidden video or pictures of your place when she comes up tomorrow. I'll bet her managers will want her to verify 'Mr. G's' statements as much as possible and will want her to tell about her visit as completely as possible."

Sharlene exclaims, "Damn."

George asks, "What's the matter, love?"

"I thought I had left my phone off, but it's on and there's no message from Mariam. She hasn't called because I know I'm in area here."

"Unless she called this morning while we were traveling. There are a few spots which don't have coverage."

"True, but knowing Mariam, if she had received an out of area message she would have just tried back later."

"Maybe she just hasn't had a chance yet . . . ."

Just then her phone rings and Sharlene almost drops it in surprise before she answers it, "Hello?"

"Hi, Sharlene, it's Mariam."

"Ah, Mariam, hello. We were just talking about you."

"Good things, I hope. I wanted to call earlier, but I only got home a few minutes ago. What a day! I'm not sure whether the bosses thought the world was going to end or just begin. Boy, did you guys throw them into a tizzy. They made it clear, using both the carrot and the stick, that I was to accept Mr. G's invitation to his cabin in the woods this weekend. They gave me a video recorder to record what I could, but when I objected to spying on my friend, they backed off a little.

"They also want a complete report on second-day, or whenever I get back from this weekend foray, of what I heard and saw. I don't mean to babble, but I want to get this out before I forget. The way they carried on, I almost quit my job right then and there. At the same time, I'm vindictive enough to want to see this through and watch them sweat. There. Thanks for listening."

"No problem. I'm glad you're willing to let me listen. Relax, have a glass of wine and then get a good night's sleep."

"I've already knocked off one glass of wine and started sipping on a second. I was so agitated I had to wait for awhile before I called."

"As long as you sleep it off before you try to drive up."

"No fear of that, Sharlene. So how do I get there?"

"Do you want verbal directions or shall I send you an email?"

"Both, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'll give you directions to my aunt's place because finding George's driveway can be somewhat difficult. When you get to my aunt's, give me a call and somebody will come and lead you to George's. We have a meeting with some other people in the morning and I don't know how long that will take. So sleep in if you want and enjoy the drive up. Are you ready for directions?"

"Pen and paper in hand."

After she gives Mariam directions to Paula's store, Sharlene says, "I'll let her know you're stopping there, so step in and introduce yourself if you want and give me a call."

"That sounds easy enough. How much further is it to George's?"

"A couple of miles. It's an easy drive, except that the entrance to his driveway is hard to see. We don't want you to get frustrated driving up and down the road and not finding it."

"Thank you. I wouldn't want that either. Is there any particular time you do or don't want me to arrive."

"No. I'm guessing that our meeting will run into lunch time, so take your time and come up when you want. If we aren't done with our meeting when you get up here, gossip with Aunt Paula. She's wanted to meet you for some time now. Tomorrow evening, we'll have her and Uncle Paul up to George's for dinner."

"You've told me a lot about her so I'm looking forward to meeting her. Humm, I'd better get something to eat before the wine goes totally to my head. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

"Goodbye." Sharlene disconnects the call.

Klara quickly asks, "Well?"

"She's coming and as you suspected, her bosses are real anxious for her to visit and report back. Mariam told me about a record feature on her phone and mine has it also, let me see if it worked. Yep. Let my download it to my computer and play it for you." A couple of minutes later they listen to the entire conversation.

Klara smiles and proclaims, "Excellent. Talk about playing right into our hands. Tomorrow, I'll go with you to guide Mariam here because I want to check her vehicle and belongings to make sure her bosses didn't sneak some other recording device in without her knowing about it. Before we bring her up, we'll coach her some and let her video record some and then catch her and stop her. Let me work out the details overnight. Oh, I would like a copy of the phone conversation. It's not direct evidence, but if something happens down the road, it's strong circumstantial evidence of corporate espionage which is a legal no-no." She gets out her computer and Sharlene downloads the conversation.

George announces, "Dinner's about ready, ladies, so if you're going to be good little girls and wash your hands, now's the time to do it."

When they both stick their tongues out at him, they look at each other in surprise. As they laugh, they go down the hall and wash their hands.

* * * * *

2147-09-05 (e1)

"That was good, George. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Klara. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"That was another surprise. I would have never guessed you were much of a cook."

"Actually, I'm not. I can make some very simple meals, but anything more than that, I slavishly follow a recipe."

"You must go through a few cookbooks to find good recipes."

He shakes his head as he explains, "No, because for the most part, I can read a recipe and wouldn't know whether it would be good, bad, or indifferent. Most of the recipes I use are from my ex-wife and a few are from my brother."

"You don't have trouble talking about you ex-wife?"

He briefly pauses before he answers, "Yes and no. No, because in many ways she was a good woman, but we were somewhat incompatible which grew over the years. Yes, because that was a past relationship and I don't think it's fair for Sharlene to feel as though she or our relationship is being compared to one from my past. If our relationship works, it should be because we've made the effort to make it work and it stands on its own, not because it's better in some way than a past relationship."

"I like that approach. Thank you, George. Well, I'll leave you kids be for the evening. If I think of something important, I'll call. Will I have any trouble finding your driveway in the morning?"

"Let's just say, less trouble. The light shining from the east should more clearly show the gap in the trees. If it's not clear, give Sharlene a call and I'll drive the pickup down and guide you in. On second thought, we could drive down and meet you at Paula's."

"You don't mind driving down and leaving your pickup there."

"No. Maybe I can talk Paul into doing an oil change while it's there."

"Okay. That sounds like a plan." Klara walks to the front door and picks up her computer and purse while George picks up her overnight bag and they walk out to her vehicle. After she hugs each of them, Klara gets in her vehicle, turns it around, and carefully drives down his driveway.

As they watch Klara go, George steps up behind Sharlene, gently grips her upper arms and pulls her back to him. As he begins to caress her upper arms, she places her hands on top of his to ride along and encourage his caresses. He bends his head down to kiss the top of her head then kisses down the side of her head to nuzzle down the back of her right ear. She hums in pleasure when he gently sucks on her earlobe and as his kisses and nibbles drop from her earlobe to follow her jaw line.

She reaches up with her right arm, places her right hand behind his head, and turns it to meet her turning head to begin a kiss which is broken when she gasps in pleasure as his right hand which drops from her lifting arm seems to fall directly onto her right breast. Before he can ask what has caused the gasp, she renews the kiss with hunger. When she lets him breathe, she struggles to get the words out, "Oh, yes, George. . . . So good. . . . Please, . . . my other breast too."

He turns his head to look down at his frozen hand before he can respond, "Breast? I'm sorry."

Before he can move his hand, she drops her arm and clamps his wrist in place. She grabs the back of his right hand with her left hand, briefly moves it away from her body, drops her right arm through the gap, deliberately places his right hand back over her right breast, and begins to move it to caress her breast. A moment later, she reaches across with her right hand to grab his left hand, places in directly on her left breast and begins to move it also. She seems to deeply sigh and moan in pleasure at the same time before she says, "It seems like I've waited so long for this moment. Please, George."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure."

When he begins to move his hands over her shirt covered breasts, she relaxes her grip on his hands and begins to caress the back of his hands and wrists in order to encourage him to continue to touch her and begins to slide her buttocks across his upper thighs. Her pleasure rapidly builds as his hands vary their movements across her breasts, up and down, left and right, and in circles. Hungrily, her lips seek his and when they meet, her pleasure escalates which drives the passion of the kiss until her cry of climactic pleasure is muffled by his lips which are still clamped to hers. They pause their movements in order to concentrate on catching their breath.

She turns in his arms, pulls his head down, and kisses him passionately, but keeps it brief before she strongly suggests, "Inside."

Then turn and almost as one body, they quickly walk into the house and pause only briefly to close and lock the front door. Sharlene clasps his right hand to her waist and starts to lead him to the bedroom, but George steps close behind her, fully encapsulates her waist in his right arm, lifts her off of the floor, snugly holds her to him, hotly breathes in her ear, "Not yet," and heads to the love seat. As he sits, he holds her close to him and when he reclines, he pulls her up him to where their heads are next to each other and they turn towards each other to hungrily kiss as his right hand returns to caressing her breasts.

Even through her shirt and the thin bra she had thankfully put on this morning, the waves of pleasure soon have her moaning and squirming in pleasure which intensifies when his left hand slides over her hip, partway down the fronts of her thighs then slips between her quickly spread legs to slowly move up the inside of her left thigh. The third or fourth time his hand slowly slides up the inside of her thigh, she can no longer contain her cry of pleasure.

After a momentary pause, his left hand slides up her side and begins to caress her breasts as his right hand slowly moves down the center of her torso and barely detours around her pubic area. As she recognizes his rapid breathing, that seems to intensify the waves of pleasure which are rolling through her, and as his right hand slides up the inside of her right thigh, the crescendo of her pleasure is barely contained as she bites her lip, but when his hand moves up the inside of her leg a second time and is accompanied by his hips thrusting her into the air, her cry echoes through the room as he holds the position until he slumps down with her right on top on him. They can only lay there gasping for breath in the afterglow of great pleasure.

When her breathing settles, she rolls over on him and tells him, "Thank you so very much." Since she feels somewhat satiated, she kisses his neck and nibbles his ear without getting all excited again even while he firmly hugs her to him. For several minutes, they lay there as they soak in the warm glow of each other's presence before she asks, "George?"

"Yes, love."

"If I roll over, will you please touch my breasts again?"

"No, my precious, I wouldn't want them to get sore the first time they were touched."

"Is that likely to happen?"

"From what I understand, yes. The more sensitive the area of skin, the more likely it is to become sore when it's touched too much."

"What's too much?"

"I don't know. I think it would probably vary from person to person. I really don't want to push you to that point the first time. It would be better to try to restrict the touching there to just a little longer each time until we find out what your limits are. I wouldn't want to go too far too fast and have your breasts become very sore and not want to be touched again."

"That's a good point. It felt so good for you to touch them even through my shirt and bra that I wonder how much better it will be when your skin directly touches them."

He hesitates then suggests, "I don't like to say it, but it might not be as nice as you think it will be. The skin on my hands is kind of rough."

"I don't think your skin is that rough. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." For some time, they just lay there. Later, she says, "You know, George, if my breasts did get sore from being touched, you could always kiss them and make them feel better."

"Oh, lady, don't tempt me so."

She pauses in surprise then asks, "You want to kiss my breasts?"

"Very much so."

"Why?"

He briefly hesitates before he answers, "That's a little hard to explain. I want to kiss you just about everywhere, but for some reason, your breasts hold a special allure. Is it because a woman's breasts are more sensitive and hopefully give her more pleasure than kissing her elbow? Is it because a woman's breasts are not exposed in our culture which gives them the allure of the mysterious? Is it some psychological regression to being a baby? Or is it some combination or something else entirely? I really don't know why. All I know is that I do want to kiss your breasts and look forward to the appropriate time in our journey."

"Thank you for trying to explain. Your willingness to try to explain or give a reason to questions I have is one of the things I really like about you. There are very few people I know who I would even feel comfortable asking the question to begin with."

"You're rather unique in even thinking there's a question to be asked. Most people either accept the insinuation of what society seems to imply the answer is or they accept society's unspoken taboo of asking such questions."

"I often perturbed my parents with my questions and when I was rather young, I learned to direct most of my questions to Dad. Mom would either ignore the question, tell me to ask Dad, or just get up and walk out of the room."

"That must have been tough on you to not have an older woman to go to in order to ask your questions."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "It was and that's one of the reasons I feel so close to Aunt Paula. In many ways, she was the mother who my Mom wasn't able to be. I could also talk fairly freely with Grandma Running Deer even if I didn't get to see her as much as I would have liked. Thankfully, Dad never said a word about some of the phone bills I ran up when I did feel the need to talk to either one of them. As a teenager, Alice, the paramedic who rescued me, would often make time for us to get together and talk. So I did have older mentors, I guess you could call them, but even with them I was hesitant to ask some of the questions I've asked you. But then, they would have been hard pressed to be able to answer the questions I've asked you about the male perspective to certain issues."

George chuckles then says, "Probably so. Well, little lady, as much as I want to stay like this with you, my body is starting to make certain demands which will have unpleasant consequences if I don't pay attention to them."

"You'll have to kiss me before I let you move."

That's a demand to which he's only too happy to comply with. When his breathing is somewhat back to normal, Sharlene gives him a hand up from the love seat then walks with him down the hall so she can also wash up and change her panty.

* * * * *

2147-09-05 (e2)

Sharlene is back in the front room before George and she almost chides him for taking so long when she realizes he's changed into his sweat suit which most likely means he had a release to wash up. Which, she feels, is partially her fault for getting so excited and getting him so excited, but, oh what fun it is.

With an effort to control herself, she walks, rather than runs, over to him for a hug and another kiss then asks, "Well, lover boy, do you have any distracting suggestions for the rest of the evening?"

"With the operative word in that question being 'distracting', we could read to ourselves, see what's on the idiot box, watch a movie, or I can read to you."

"I don't know, old man. Three fourths of those supposedly distracting suggestions require us to be in rather close proximity to each other. How distracting is that going to be?"

He just bends over and kisses her thoroughly to which she enthusiastically responds. When he has barely enough breath, he answers, "I know, . . . not very . . . distracting," then hugs her while he pauses to steady his breathing before he admits, "I guess I need a distraction, but I don't want to be away from you."

"Is something the matter?"

"No, not really. I guess I'm back to feeling overwhelmed that you want me to touch you and to touch you intimately. It's beyond my wildest fantasy. I just want to keep touching you and holding you. I know it's irrational, but I feel like if I'm not touching you, you might disappear in a puff of smoke or something."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "I know the feeling of wanting to keep touching you. My fear is that you'll convince yourself you're not good enough for me and disappear in a cloud of dust."

"I don't have to convince myself, I already know I'm not good enough for you, but I'm selfish enough to want to stay around as long as you can put up with me."

"Oh, George, you're a wonderful man. Sometimes I know I'm too selfish to deserve someone as generous and as caring as you are," she places her fingertips on his lips, "and no protests." She moves her fingers away from his lips to play in his beard then says, "Since neither of us thinks we deserve the other, we'll just have to accept the gift of the other's company and respond to it as a gift rather than as something we deserve and are entitled to." She gently pulls on his beard to pull his head down, they kiss, then tightly hug while they let their breathing return to a normal pace. After she's thought through the options he offered, she suggests, "How about putting a movie on? That might distract our desires while we cuddle."

"Okay. Why don't you choose one and I'll get some popcorn fixed, at least I assume you like popcorn."

"Oh, yes."

In only a few minutes, they have a large bowl of popcorn to share, fresh drinks, and a movie started.

* * * * *

A couple of hours later, Sharlene briefly kisses him, says, "That was fun," and starts to hum the theme song.

"In some ways, the music is what makes that movie."

"It's good, but do you think it makes that big of a difference?"

George chuckles then says, "Some time ago I watched this movie while the music track was muted and was surprised at how poor the dialogue and acting seemed. The next night I watched it again with the music on and it was like a completely different movie. I've tried the same experiment with a few other movies, but none of the others were impacted so much by the music."

"Interesting. You wouldn't happen to have the piano music for it, would you?"

He shakes his head as he answers, "No. It's probably been a good thirty years since I've bought any music. I know I couldn't have done it justice, so I (yawn), excuse me, wouldn't have bought it anyway. Actually, the best part of the movie," as he nibbles on the back of her ear, "was having you to cuddle with." He briefly sucks on her earlobe before he moves his lips and kisses to her neck which she arches to give him better access.

"Mmm, that's nice. Are you trying to get me excited?"

"Not (yawn), excuse me, intentionally. You're just so tasty and touchable that I (yawn), excuse me again, just want to touch and taste you."

"I'm not sure I like the direction this is going. You're going to get me started and then fall asleep on me."

"Under you, I am distinctly (yawn), excuse me, under you."

As she gently digs an elbow into his ribs, she tells him, "You know what I mean, old man." Reluctantly, she moves his hands away from her, gets up, extends a hand to him, and suggests, "Come on. Let's get you to bed." She helps him up then says, "I'll take care of the glasses and the bowl while you get ready for bed."

"Yes, my lady. I'd better check the doors."

"You check the front while I check the back."

After she makes sure he made it to the bedroom okay, Sharlene gives him a brief kiss then goes to take care of the popcorn bowl and drink glasses and returns to the bedroom. As she lays on her back on his bed, she smiles as she remembers his kisses while she waits the couple of minutes it takes him to finish getting ready for bed. When she hears the bathroom door open, she sits up and watches as he takes care of his clothes, welcomes his kiss with restraint, then follows him around the corner of the bed and waits as he sets his alarm.

A couple of times, he starts to reach towards her, but stops then he tosses back the covers and lays down. Before he can reach for the covers, she leans on him and reaches across him to grab the covers. He changes the direction of his right hand from the covers to her face. She turns to him with a big smile, pulls the covers across his chest, then leans over and kisses him.

George moves his right hand down her neck, across her upper chest and begins to caresses her left breast through her shirt and bra. She moans as the waves of pleasure move through her and when her knees seem to weaken, his hand slides down the front of her until it reaches the front of her hip, then he pushes up and with a roll of his hips, she half falls across him to land on her back next to him on the bed. As he leans partially over her while he supports himself on his left elbow, he kisses her welcoming lips while the fingertips of his left hand play the music of pleasure on and around the nipple of her right breast. When her pleasure grows to where she needs to breathe instead of kiss, his lips move to kiss and nuzzle her all over her face, neck, ears, and throat.

Soon, his right hand joins in making the music of pleasure across her body by caressing the front and outside of her left leg. She tries to touch him between his legs, but the volume of covers is too much for her to touch through. Her moans turn to groans when he reaches around the outside of her left leg to caress the back of her leg.

She bends her leg at the knee and braces her foot on the bed then rolls partially towards him which makes it easier for his hand to move up the back of her leg right up to her buttock before it slides back down her leg. After a couple of caresses up the back of her leg, he slips his hand further around the back of her leg to slowly slide up the inside of her thigh, higher, higher, until she cries out just before he would have touched her pubic area, if he hadn't have stopped just an inch away.

Slowly, he moves his hand down the inside of her thigh and brings it around the outside and then the front of her thigh at about her knee and moves back up her leg while he makes a zigzag motion with his thumb leading his hand deep along the inside of her leg. She barely restrains herself from crying out again when his hand gets tantalizingly close to her pubic area, but the intensity of the pleasure overwhelms her thought of reaching down to pull his hand up that short distance.

While his hand slides back down the inside of her left leg, she relaxes the bracing of her left foot and rolls back flat on the bed. When his hand reaches her left knee, he moves it over to her right leg and slowly slides it up the front of her thigh, over the front of her hip, and lowers his arm to slide zigzag over her body as it follows his hand which angles up and as it begins to caress her left breast, she lifts her hips towards his elbow which is just above her public area and cries out. As his right hand moves down her torso, her hips drop back onto the bed.

Even as his hand slides down the top of her left leg, her breathing barely slows, but begins to speed up when his hand moves back to her right leg and slowly slides up the inside of her right leg. She attempts to spread her legs, but she can only move her left leg since her right leg is already next to his blanket covered body. Her pleasure grows with each inch his hand moves up the inside of her thigh and as it nears the apex, her cry of pleasure is extended as his hand moves back and forth across her inner thigh a bare inch from her pubic area.

As she relaxes into unconsciousness, he slowly moves his hand back down her leg, which elicits occasional whimpers of pleasure from her. When his right hand reaches her knee, he moves it from her leg, slips it between their bodies to brace on the bed, and moves his left hand to slip under her neck. A moment later, he braces himself on his left elbow and forearm then his right hand reaches down to pull her legs together before he stretches to grab the covers on the other side of her and pulls them over her while he lays back, rolls her partially onto him, and covers her with the blankets. In moments, he's asleep.

A number of minutes later, she wakes up just enough to figure out the situation and with a smile of remembered pleasure and recognizing the coziness of their positions, she falls back asleep.

* * * * *

When they finish cleaning up the restaurant, Maria suggests that Angelisa find the statement she had written after the time Hektor had bothered her. Although she really doesn't want to be reminded of that situation, she guesses Maria has a reason for the request, so Angelisa finds the statement among her stored papers and sets it on top before she gets ready for bed.

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (n>m1)

When he wakes up in the darkness of the late night, George gently rolls Sharlene off of him and makes his way to the bathroom. As he comes back to the bed, he chastises himself for being disappointed she's not there, after all, he more or less caused her to fall asleep in her clothes which generally aren't comfortable to sleep in. He curls up on his side and shortly before he falls asleep, she lifts the covers on his side of the bed.

As he opens his eyes and rolls onto his back, he sees that she's changed into her pajamas. She gets in bed, lays on top of him and between the two of them they get the blankets back in place. After she gives him a long thorough kiss, she tells him, "Thank you for giving me so much pleasure", lays her head next to his, and briefly nuzzles his ear before they go back to sleep.

* * * * *

The new day dawns with the scent of Sharlene's hair flavoring each breath he takes since some of her hair covers the right side of his face while they lay cheek to cheek. For a seemingly long time, George lays there while he enjoys the feel and smell of her hair with her face next to his and the oh so comfortable weight of her body on his. Since he seems unable to resist the enticement of her closeness, he begins to nuzzle her ear.

She hums then says, "Mmm, that's nice. I like the way you wake me up."

"I didn't intend to wake you, but I just couldn't resist you anymore."

"Mmm, there's nothing like the feeling of being irresistible." She turns her head just enough to briefly kiss his cheek before she tells him, "Even when you can't resist me, you're still so gentle and loving. And last night, what a wonderful way you put me to sleep."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I've got to control myself or I'll end up embarrassing us over the next two days since there will be other people around."

"I'm not worried, lover. You've been wonderful in being able to control yourself when the situation demands it. You've actually been better at it than I have. And when you don't have to control yourself, I'll gladly take all of the touching you want to give me."

He hesitates to say, "I don't think you realize how much of a temptation you are and how tempting your offer is."

"I think I have somewhat of an idea of how tempting you think I am, after all, you do have other ways of expressing yourself." As she props herself up slightly, Sharlene slides her left hand between their bodies to touch the bulge in his pajama bottoms.

She moves her hand back and forth across the front of George's pajamas a few times which causes his attempt to speak to be almost a moan, "Mmm, I . . . I'm not sure," until his erect penis seems to jump through the open fly of his pajamas into her waiting hand, ". . . ohhh . . . that's wise," to be stroked by her.

"I'm not concerned about wisdom right now, does it feel good?"

"Oh, yes, . . . ohhh, . . . very good."

In response, his hands caress her back, her sides, as far down the outsides of her legs as his hands can reach. After awhile, his hands concentrate their caresses on her lower back, her hips, and the upper part of her buttocks. At first gently, then more firmly, he presses her hips down until her pubic area begins to slide then rub across the back of her left wrist which is between their bodies. Her excitement which had been growing with his excitement, now rapidly escalates.

Her smooth strokes become more erratic as the waves of her pleasure grow higher. The pleasure in each of them builds and builds and as he presses his hands a little more firmly on the back of her hips while he thrusts his hips upwards which traps her left hand between their pubic areas, she cries out in climax and feels his penis pulse in her hand. As he slumps down onto the bed, he soon relaxes into a doze. Carefully, she pulls her hand from between their bodies, with a couple of dizzying spikes of pleasure and, surprisingly, follows him into sleep.

* * * * *

George reflexively tightens his grip on her as he throws out his right hand to turn off his alarm. A moment later he says, "I was going to ask if we're still in a dream, but that thing answered my question."

"The pleasure you've been giving me is so dreamy, yet feels so wonderfully real, I can hardly wait for the next exciting episode." Sharlene gives him a long kiss and when she has enough breath, she says, "Mmm, very wonderfully real. Well, since I helped you make a mess, do I get to wash you up?"

"That's an offer I'm going to delay with difficulty. I was figuring that I ought to bathe or maybe try taking a shower this morning, so I can take care of my mess that way."

"I suppose that would be the path of least temptation. Okay. While you get washed up, I'll get dressed and see if I can put something together for breakfast."

"That might be difficult since we haven't re-stocked after we cleaned out the fridge last weekend."

"Then don't be surprised if I set a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of you."

He chuckles then says, "Okay, I'll leave breakfast to your creative abilities." Moments later, he kisses her as long as he can without running out of breath then suggests, "On the other hand, maybe I'll just have you for breakfast . . . and lunch . . ."

Sharlene laughs then says, "You would just have me all day long if you could. As much as I like the idea, I wouldn't enjoy having Klara come and beat the door down because she wondered what happened to us."

"Humm, maybe I'll have to accuse her of being a spoil sport."

"Let me know when you plan to do that so I can be prepared to protect you from her."

For awhile they laugh at how silly that would look. When their laughter settles down to chuckles, he chases her off with a few more kisses and gets a shower. She goes to the guest bathroom to wash up and get dressed then investigates the kitchen to fix something for breakfast.

* * * * *

It's a half hour before the meeting in Maria's restaurant with the other victims of Hektor which some lawyer with George and Sharlene had arranged and already the place is filling up and Angelisa is keeping relatively busy getting drinks and refilling them. She shakes her head in dismay at the missed opportunity to have a quiet morning of sleeping in and avoiding people.

* * * * *

They quickly clean up after breakfast, get in his pickup with Molly along for the ride, and drive down to Paula and Paul's. When Klara sees them, she's not sure whether to be upset or smile at how they almost ignore those near them due to their mutual attention towards each other. When Paula pulls Sharlene away for a brief chat, George makes arrangements with Paul to have the oil changed in his pickup while they're with Klara.

A little later, the three of them get into Klara's vehicle for the drive through town and the few miles beyond to Maria's. When they arrive, Angelisa slips in to greet them with her own hug after Maria and is surprised to see that the person with them looks like somebody's grandmother rather than some big city lawyer to strike fear in a person's heart. George and Sharlene are initially dismayed at the size of the crowd, but are relieved moments later when they find out that many of the people are family and supporters of the actual victims.

Angelisa feels pride as she watches Maria stand up, bring the meeting to order, and give a review of what had been talked about yesterday between her and the lawyer. Maria turns the meeting over to Klara who first tells them that she's going to record what's said, then gives them an overview of the law regarding victim's rights and compensation. Angelisa is surprised to hear that such laws even exist so she listens closer, although a part of her wonders how often such laws are enforced considering what she's heard about rich people and big companies.

Klara makes it clear there are no guarantees with the victim's compensation laws because there's no way to know what the perpetrator's resources are or how the courts will rule in any particular case. Even if there is compensation, it can never undo the damage. She pauses a moment to look over the thoughtful faces before she continues, "One of the hardest parts of the process is for the victim to relive the event and make a record of it. The more details you can write down the better, even though it makes you feel bad or humiliated or whatever other negative feelings you might feel. If there were witnesses to you being victimized, ask them to write down what they saw and what they heard.

"If the case goes to court, it will be even harder for the victim, when the other lawyer tries to discredit you or make it sound like you asked for whatever happened to you. That's what each of you will have to decide. Do you want to relive it over and over again to get it all written down and then be called a liar or worse by the perpetrator's lawyer? Do you want to face the ridicule of family or friends when they find out you've been a victim? Some people have found that to be a worse experience than their initial victimization. I know it's a lot of information in a short time and a lot you'll need to think about. Does anybody have any questions I can answer now?"

"Are you a lawyer?"

"Yes. Mostly I've worked as a corporate lawyer, but I've also done a couple of victim compensation cases before and know other lawyers who specialize in victim compensation cases with whom I can consult."

"Did you win those victim compensation cases?"

"Yes. But, by law, I'm not allowed to discuss what the compensation was in those cases."

"How much do you charge if we decide to make a case?"

From out of the crowd, a voice asks, "Are you worried about your money, Hohsay?"

Klara nods her head as she answers, "That's a fair question. There have been some victim compensation cases which some lawyers have won, but they charged so much, the victim ended up with almost nothing. If you decide to make a case, I'll volunteer my time."

An immediate stir goes around the room.

"What about expenses?"

George stands up and says, "I'll cover any of her expenses as long as I'm able."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (m2)

When the buzz in the room dies down, a quiet voice asks, "Why?"

George asks in response, "Why what?"

"Why will you cover her expenses and why does she volunteer her time?"

He answers, "I'll cover her expenses because I'm able to and this is my community also. I'm not a social person, but many of you have made me feel welcome. Especially your children, some of whom I've had the privilege of helping them learn to read. Even if you make a case, you may receive no compensation, but you'll send a message to others that you won't easily be victimized and that when one of you are, the rest will stand together and support the victim. Klara?" He sits back down.

"First of all, victim compensation is something I strongly believe in and want to see more cases brought to court. If more victim compensation cases are brought to court, then maybe potential bullies will think twice before they hurt someone. Secondly, my friends," Klara points to Sharlene and George, "were also victims of the person who bullied you. Third, I'm considering retiring from my corporate job and have enough to live comfortably. Fourth, I want to do something more important with my life than sit around and watch television or play golf."

"You aren't local, so how do we talk to you or give you what we write up?"

"I don't have enough business cards with me for everyone, so I'll leave some with Maria and you can share them. I'll be in the city from time to time to help Sharlene with another project and will come up to talk when there's a need. As much as you can, write down your questions and concerns and you can either mail them or email them. Most of your questions I'll be able to answer in the same way. If your case does go to court, you'll want as much of it documented as possible, even your questions." After a pause, Klara asks, "Are there any more questions?"

After a longer pause when no more questions are asked, Maria steps over and suggests, "Sit, relax. In the family, they talk it over. To think of question takes time or have courage to ask. Most not used to or afraid of lawyer. Angelisa to bring iced tea, maybe some ask question in private."

A few moments later, Angelisa sets out the drinks, hesitates, then asks, "Mr. G, is this what she means by writing it down?" and hands him the statement which Maria had suggested she find.

"Did Hektor . . .?"

"No, you stopped him."

George asks in surprise, "I did? When?"

"It's in there."

"Shouldn't Klara read it?"

"You first, please."

When he finishes reading it, George looks a little paler and says, "I'm sorry, Angelisa. I didn't know he was bothering you."

"I'm not blaming you, you couldn't know. Is this the kind of detail that she wants?"

"It looks good to me, but I'm hardly the expert. It's concise, has very clear details," he gives her a slightly teasing smile, "and the grammar and spelling are good."

"Thank you, Mr. G. I guess you can let her read it now."

"Were you able to talk Huleeoh into writing something since he was a witness?"

"Mama did, but he wanted to give it to the lady," Angelisa glances at Klara, "himself. I told him I had to give mine first otherwise his wouldn't make as much sense."

She's thrilled as George gently squeezes her hand while he holds up the paper and tells her, "This was very brave of you, Angelisa. Thank you for trusting me to read it." He turns and says, "Klara, Angelisa has written a statement and wonders if this is the kind of detail you're looking for. It looks good to me, but I'm not a lawyer."

Since she had watched the interchange out of the corner of her eye, Klara looks over at them and reaches for the paper as she says, "I would be happy to." She looks at Angelisa and asks, "Does your mother know you wrote something?"

"Yes, I told her about it as soon as I could after it happened. She told me to write it all down and said it would help me to get it out from inside of me."

"Your mother is a smart lady." Klara pats the seat next to her and requests, "Come, sit down while I read it."

As Angelisa sits, Sharlene reaches across the table to squeeze her hand, gives her a warm smile, and says, "Thank you for sitting with me and letting me hold your hand last week when I gave the police my statement. It helped me a lot."

"I was surprised they didn't let Mr. G stay with you. I'm glad I could help. I remember how much Mama had to hold me when I wrote that out and what happened to me wasn't near as bad as what happened to you."

A little later, Klara turns to Angelisa and says, "Young lady, this is very good. You give lots of clear detail of what actually happened and then you said how it affected you. Did you take this to the police?"

Angelisa struggles to contain her surprise at such praise before she answers, "No, I didn't think they would do anything. It didn't seem like a real crime, more like what happens in a school playground with bullies."

Klara clearly tenses up and bites her lip before she expresses herself, "Damn!!"

"Klara?" is heard in stereo from both Sharlene and George.

"I'm sorry. I know this kind of stuff goes on in the schools, but what the school administration too often doesn't understand or want to understand is that this sort of behavior is a crime. It's not just bullying, it's assault and battery. Too many criminals got away with being bullies in school and since they got away with it then, they escalate the violence and figure they can continue to get away with it. And when people are victimized in school and the teacher accuses them of tattling, they don't bother to speak up later in life when they're victimized."

"Ma'am?"

They look up and see Huleeoh standing at the end of the table looking at Klara who answers, "Yes?"

"Angelisa said I had to wait until after you read her paper before I could give you mine."

"And you are?"

"I'm Huleeoh and I saw what happened between her and Hektor."

"Did she ask you to write down what happened?"

"No. Mom did when Angelisa told her what happened."

Klara quickly reads it then turns to him and says, "Very good, young man. There are a couple of spelling errors," she winks at him, "but, in this case, that's okay. We won't give it to your language teacher to grade." After she glances at each of them, she asks, "Are these copies I can keep?"

They both reply, "Yes."

"Good. Keep the originals safe." Klara takes a drink and thinks for a minute before she asks, "Angelisa?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to ask you to do something which will probably be very hard for you to do, but before I ask you, I want you to think about what I ask for a little while before you answer, okay?"

Angelisa shudders inside and turns slightly pale because she doesn't dare to imagine what a lawyer would ask her to do. She hesitates before she quietly says, "Okay."

"Will you stand up and read your statement in front of all of these people? I think it will help them to know how to write their own statements. If you agree, I'll speak first to tell them why I'm asking you to read it."

Angelisa looks down at the table partially in relief since she had expected something much worse and partially in fear of doing what Klara asked. George and Sharlene each grab one of her trembling hands and even Huleeoh puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. For her to be around a lot of people is bad enough, but to stand up in front of them? Angelisa thinks about it for awhile and can maybe understand the reason for such a request, but what will it take to make it through? Although it's probably just her desired imagination, she can almost feel the strength and encouragement flowing into her from George and to a smaller degree from Sharlene. She gives a single nod of her head and asks, "Can Mama stand with me?"

"Of course. Huleeoh, can you go ask your mother to come here and tell her why?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Soon, Maria is at their table with a look of real concern on her face as she asks, "Is wise, Angelisa read paper?"

Klara answers, "It will be hard for her, but I think she'll be stronger afterwards and it will help the other people to know that a young lady can stand up and speak out as well as give them a better idea of what to write."

"You do this, Baby?"

"I think I can, Mama, if you stand with me."

"Course I stand you with."

"Sharlene, Mama doesn't read standard very well. Would you finish reading it, if I can't?"

"I would be proud to help you."

"Thank you." Angelisa pauses a little before she says, "Okay, I guess I'm ready."

After they stand up and Maria gets everyone's attention, Klara says, "It's come to my attention, that this brave young lady," she puts a hand on her shoulder as Angelisa blushes at the description, "has also been a victim. What she experienced was not as bad as what some of you might have experienced, but it was still a crime against her. She's written a statement of what happened to her and it's a well written statement. I've asked her and she's agreed to read it. The important part is not the good grammar or spelling. A lot of people can help you with that. The important part is to clearly say what happened with as many details as you can provide. Angelisa?"

She takes a step forward, takes a deep breath, and while Maria stands behind her and holds her shoulders, Angelisa glances up at the faces who are looking at her. She quickly drops her head, and reads her paper while she tries to read it as though it was someone else's story and loudly enough for all of them to hear. There are times when she pauses to get her emotions under control, but she perseveres and when she finishes, she's immediately enveloped in Maria's hug. After a long hug, several of the other women come to hug her or talk softly with Maria.

When the other women resume their seats and talk quietly at their tables, Sharlene hugs Angelisa and tells her, "Well done and thank you for asking me to help."

After a little while and since she thinks this is an occasion when she can get away with it, Angelisa steps over to George, hugs him, and says, "Mr. G, thank you for helping me to find the confidence to read and write well. I couldn't have done that without your encouragement."

"You did very well. You should be proud of yourself."

It's a struggle for Angelisa to release the hug since she wants to stay and melt into his arms, especially with his sincere words of praise. She also wants to stay and linger in their presence, even the warm acceptance of Sharlene, but Maria soon sends her off to serve customers.

For the next several minutes, a few families speak briefly with Maria before they leave. A few stop by the table and thank Klara and George for their offer of help and a couple of people ask some questions which Klara is able to easily answer.

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (m3)

When she glances up a few minutes later, Angelisa notices that Reb is looking at Klara before she hesitantly steps closer. Since she's heard some of her story from other people, she can't imagine how Reb survived it. If there was anyone who was the prime victim of Hektor, at least as far as she knows, it was Reb. Angelisa tries to remember whether she's even heard what Reb's given name is.

"Excuse me?" They look up and see a young woman with a hard expression on her face hold out a large thick envelope to Klara while she says, "Here."

Without taking the envelope, Klara asks, "Won't you sit down?"

The young woman pauses then shrugs her shoulders and says, "I guess."

When she sits down, Klara takes the envelope and asks, "What's your name?"

"Reb."

"I suppose it's none of my business, but that's an unusual name. Is it a shortened version of another name?"

She pauses for a moment, but since she senses nothing but honest interest, she shrugs her shoulders again and says, "My given name was Rebeka. When I was a young teen, my dad called me Rebel. After I left home, I went by Reb. I suppose it could be short for either of them."

"What's in the envelope?"

"A copy of my diary. When I heard about this meeting, I made a copy of it, but I wasn't sure I wanted to give it to anyone. After Angelisa read her statement, I went to my dad's vehicle and got it."

Since she's certain she's facing another victim, Klara is extra gentle as she says, "This will take some time for me to read. Can you give me a brief overview of what it contains which might be significant to what we talked about today?"

After she hesitates for awhile, Rebeka barely nods her head, then relates the basic facts in a voice which is almost void of emotion, "It's not in there, but when I was young, my mother died. I was crushed. I suppose Dad tried his best, but nothing was right afterwards and I started to rebel against the unfairness of the world and started hanging out with the rougher kids. Hektor raped me. When I told Dad, he threw me out of the house. I had nowhere to go, so I 'joined' Hektor's gang to have food and shelter. Then I started writing. A lot of what Hektor and the gang did is in there with names, dates, and places. They teased me about being the gang's historian, but Hektor thought it was cool to have his exploits written down."

"I'm so sorry. Do you have a place to stay?"

"Yeah. After Dad heard what happened," Rebeka glances at Sharlene, "he found me, said he was sorry he didn't believe me before, and invited me back home. We're not comfortable with each other, but I think he's sincere."

"Thank you for coming forward and sharing with us. I can't say I understand what you went through, but I've talked to enough young ladies to know that it's often very hard. If you want to talk about what happened with someone who does understand, go talk to Paula at the Country Store on the other side of town."

"Aunt Paula?"

Klara nods her head as she answers, "Yes, Sharlene. Her story is very similar to Reb's. When she heard about what Hektor had done, she offered to talk to others if it would help because she had found someone to talk to and that helped her."

Rebeka is surprised and asks, "Paula at the Country Store had been raped and kicked out of the house by her dad?"

"Yes, and she's willing to talk to anyone who wants to work through the pain. She's not a psychologist, but she's been there and survived."

"I thought it was the end of the world."

"So did she and in a way it was, because she was never able to have children."

"Because of the rape?"

"Yes."

"Ouch. Not that I would want to be touched by a man to have a child." She hesitates then glances towards him and says, "No offense, Mr. G."

It takes him a few moments to get over his surprise enough to say, "None taken. If I was in your position, I wouldn't want it either."

Since she's startled by his answer, Rebeka looks at him for a moment longer before she says, "You mean that."

"Of course. When Hektor even verbally assaulted Sharlene, I almost blew him away. That's no way to treat a lady."

"Yeah, I saw it. That's another reason I brought this," as she points at the envelope. "You were trying to protect her," Rebeka glances at Sharlene again, "which is unusual in my experience with males, and I don't trust what the coppers say, so I thought if they found out what Hektor was like, they wouldn't do something bad to you."

"Thank you for your concern."

Klara asks, "Reb, or may I call you Rebeka?"

She just shrugs her shoulders at the question although there seems to be a slight expression of hope in her eyes.

"What are you doing now and is there some way in which any of us can help you?"

She hesitates before she answers, "Maybe I'll go talk to Paula. I don't know. I can't stay with Dad forever. I've got to find a job, but in this town, with my reputation, there's no way that's going to happen."

"What can you do, job wise, or what interest do you have which you might want to pursue in college in order to get a good job?"

With a bitter bark of a laugh, Rebeka answers, "About the only thing I'm good at is hanging around with losers or laying down and getting raped."

As she internally winces at the bleakness and pain in Rebeka's voice, Klara pauses a little while to control the expression of her reaction before she says, "Then think back before your mother died, what were you good at or interested in doing."

"Why?"

"Humor me."

Rebeka sighs and even as she believes there's no value in doing so, she answers, "It's been so long I don't remember very clearly, but I did like to draw pictures of animals and write little stories about them. When I went back home, I tried to throw my drawings and stories out because of their naive view of the world, but Dad stopped me and took them away. I was too tired to fight him on the issue."

"I don't want to tell you want to do, but I encourage you to talk to Paula. If you want to talk to one of us, call. If you can't afford to talk long distance, leave a brief message and we'll call you back. When you feel comfortable, I would like to look at your drawings and stories." Klara hands Rebeka her business card with Sharlene and George's numbers written on the back.

"Why would you be interested in those?"

"I know somebody who knows somebody who's always looking for fresh materials which can be developed into children's stories. I have no idea what your drawings or stories are like, but a possibility is better than no hope at all."

Since she's felt like there's been no hope for so long, Rebeka hesitates before she admits, "I suppose."

Klara stops herself from taking her hand as she tells her, "Rebeka, thank you for having the courage to come talk to us. I'll be honest and say I was surprised you would open up and speak about being raped in front of George."

Her bitterness is obvious as she says, "I'll be honest back, it's a form of vengeance to throw it in a man's face." She hesitates then looks at him, "Mr. G, I don't mean to include you in that last comment. I think you're different and that you can be somewhat trusted."

Since he's surprised again, it takes him a couple of moments to respond, "Why, thank you. I don't know why you would trust me. To the best of my knowledge, we've never met."

"That's true. I've seen you in town a few times." Since she doesn't want to reveal more than she already has, Rebeka stands up and says, "But that's not it. Molly trusts you." She walks away and doesn't see their surprised looks.

As they start to recover from their surprise, Maria stops by their table and says, "That one, she's hard."

Klara nods her head as she responds, "Yes, in some ways she is. But she was raped by Hektor then kicked out of her father's house. She has to be hard on the outside to cover up the hurting lonely girl on the inside."

"Her, too?"

"Yes."

"Klara, back do I call her?"

"No, Maria. If we push, she'll just build a thicker wall. She now knows there are people who are willing to care, but she has to decide when to make the next move."

Maria shakes her head as she says, "So much pain by one person caused. To fix, so many people and much time it take."

"That's very true."

"We, in kitchen, start. For lunch, you stay?"

"We won't be in your way?"

"No, no. Other people, yet talk. Not interrupt lonely hard one."

For the next couple of hours, they talk with a few other people, enjoy an excellent lunch, then a few more people stop by, some with stories, some with questions, and a few with names of other possible victims.

Other than delivering their lunch, Angelisa is unable to spend any more time with George and Sharlene. As they get ready to leave, she makes a point of being there to hug them with Maria who won't accept any other payment for their meal.

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a1)

They're just getting in Klara's vehicle when Sharlene receives a call from Mariam who has arrived at Paula's and she responds and says they'll be there in a few minutes. In the short drive, they decide to coordinate with Mariam to let her video record the outside of George's house, the front room, and interrupt her at the entrance to the library. Klara parks the vehicle in front of the store.

When Mariam sees them get out of the vehicle, she dashes out of the store, and to almost everyone's surprise, she throws herself at George and kisses him soundly as he spins her to dissipate her momentum. Mariam barely releases him before she dashes over to Sharlene to hug and kiss her. With a little more decorum, she gives Klara a big hug.

As they move towards each other, Mariam declares, "You guys were magnificent. What a tizzy the big-wigs were in. I've never seen them so discombobulated. They were like a little kid who had wet their pants, but was afraid to tell the teacher. It was great. Thank you for warning me. . . ." It takes a moment for them to shift their minds to what Mariam is talking about and almost a minute longer for her monologue to die down. When Mariam has settled down some, Klara pulls her aside.

George goes to check with Paul and Sharlene steps over to Paula who says, "So that's Mariam, a bit of a live wire, isn't she?"

Sharlene nods her head as she answers, "Yes, she is."

Paula cautiously asks, "You're not jealous when she kissed George like that?"

"No. Mariam is an exuberant person who wouldn't willingly hurt me. And if George thought she was trying to separate us, he would immediately push her away. I don't get jealous when you hug George."

"No, and I'm thankful you don't. He gives good hugs."

"Mariam thinks he gives good kisses, too."

Paula nods her head and responds, "He does. I guess I'm just a little old fashioned and not inclined to so thoroughly kiss a male friend. So how did it go this morning?"

"I thought it went well. Klara seemed to think it went well. It's one thing to read statistics or stories, but to hear people tell of being victimized and still feel the pain in their voices, it was very hard to sit there and not burst into tears. When one young lady told of being raped and kicked out of her home, Klara suggested she come talk to you because it had happened to you and you would be willing to talk to her. I didn't know that happened to you."

Paula pauses before she responds, "Well, Sharlene, it's not easy to talk about, especially since I somewhat brought it on myself. I thought it would be fun to play with a young man and rebel against my parents. The problem was that I had no clue what I was getting myself into. What I thought was going to be play, turned rough, very rough and I was hospitalized and almost died.

"My parents' insurance covered the medical bills, but when I was physically well, they kicked me out of the house, so I ran with a rough crowd for awhile. I won't go into all of the details now, but I was able to escape that life, get a job, and eventually the family grudgingly accepted me back, at least partially. Did the young lady who Klara suggested come talk to me reveal her name?"

"She called herself Reb. Apparently her given name is Rebeka, but her father called her Rebel. She seemed to know who you are and she said she trusted George because Molly trusted him."

Paula nods her head then says, "I think I know who you're talking about. I'll keep an eye out for her if she's willing to come by and talk. By the way, what was Mariam so excited about? After she introduced herself, I got lost in the first half of the sentence."

"It was about a dinner and presentation which we attended for the Project we hope to acquire. I think I would rather explain it tonight when Uncle Paul can hear it also. Klara has a recording of some of what went on which might give you a better idea than me just telling you about it."

Meanwhile, Klara gets Mariam calmed down a little more and asks, "Which vehicle is yours?"

"That's the funny thing. When I left work last night, it was running rough, so I took it over to the vehicle shop I normally go to and they gave me a loaner for the weekend."

"Have them check the electrical system, probably the spark plug wires and if they see something which doesn't belong, ask them to leave it alone until we can look at it."

Mariam's eyes open wide as she asks, "Do you think it's a bomb or something?"

"I seriously doubt it's anything so dramatic. If there's something there, it's probably a tracking and recording device."

"Let me call them right now." Mariam does and they assure her that if they find something they'll leave it for her inspection. She turns back to Klara and asks, "Who would do something like that?"

"The Institute. Didn't you say they gave you a video recorder to spy on us at George's?"

"Yes."

Klara pulls a device out of her own purse and says, "First of all, let me check your purse for any other recording devices they might have planted." Mariam gets her purse out of the loaner vehicle and when it's checked, it appears clean. "What about the video recorder?"

"It's in my purse also."

As Mariam reaches in, Klara stops her, "Leave it for the moment. Have you touched it?"

"I think only on the cord to put it into my purse."

"Good. Let's get back to the others, we have some plans to make." As they near the front of the store where Paula and Sharlene are talking, they see that George and Paul are coming over and wait for them. Sharlene introduces Mariam to Paul and they all turn to Klara who asks, "First of all, where's the local police station?"

Paul answers, "In town, at the second stop sign on the northwest corner. Why?"

"I think we might have a corporate espionage case brewing and I'll want to check on some possible evidence. I suspect that Mariam's vehicle was also tampered with, but we won't know until we get back to the city."

Sharlene says, "I was wondering where it was and how you got here."

"It was running rough when I left work yesterday so I took it to the vehicle shop I go to and they gave me a loaner for the weekend."

Paul suggests, "An electronic long range tracker and recorder if it's not connected properly will short out the spark plug wire it's connected to."

Mariam says, "That's what Klara suggested, so I called the shop and they said if they find something that doesn't belong, they'll leave it alone until we can look at it."

Klara explains, "The Institute also gave Mariam a video recorder to spy on George. I want to take it to the police station to get it tested for fingerprints to give direct evidence of who is encouraging Mariam to spy for them. George, I would like you and Sharlene to go ahead and go up to your place to be there to greet Mariam when I guide her there. I think I can find your driveway, but if you can tie a ribbon or something to a tree on the north side of your driveway, I would appreciate it and promise to take it down when we pull in. Mariam, you and I will go to the police station and hopefully they'll cooperate with me."

Paula suggests, "If you have any trouble, ask to speak to Chief Brown. He was disappointed the sheriff's office took over the investigation from last weekend. I think he would jump at the opportunity to be involved in a corporate espionage case."

"Thank you, that's good to know. Mariam, after we get the video recorder tested for fingerprints, I'll want you to take a few minutes to practice holding it with your left hand mostly hidden in your purse. When you feel comfortable, we'll have you video over the practice session to erase it, something innocuous like maybe the inside of your vehicle. After we start down George's driveway, I want you to take out the video recorder and record going through the trees and then the outside of George's house. Then put it away while you park.

"As we go to the front door, have it in your left hand in your purse to record George opening the door and inviting you in. You're right hand needs to be free to shake his hand. While you do, pan to the left with the camera to record his front room. Then Sharlene will come and greet you with a hug which will require you to turn off the video recorder. A little later, we'll give you the opportunity to 'sneak' over and start to video record George's library. I'll catch you at it. George, I'll want you to say something about it not being her fault and not to shoot the messenger then we'll 'confiscate' the recorder and enjoy the rest of the evening."

Mariam grins and says, "That sounds like fun."

"Are there any other details which need to be worked out?"

George suggests, "Sharlene, you probably shouldn't be wearing the headband while Mariam might be video recording."

"Good point."

Klara asks, "Okay, Paul, I assume George's pickup is ready to go?"

"It's fit as a fiddle, if I say so myself."

Klara puts on a frown as she says, "I'm not sure that makes me feel good, I've heard some pretty wretched fiddles over the years." That generates a number of sympathetic chuckles. "Okay, Sharlene and George, why don't you two go ahead and go up to your place while Mariam and I run down to the police department and we'll all be out of Paula and Paul's hair. It will probably be at least a half of an hour before we get up there."

"Okay." They start to step away, then George turns back to say, "Mariam, when you get to my place, don't be surprised if a large canine is waiting outside of your vehicle door. It will be Molly. Let her sniff your hand. You should be able to pet her and then she'll let you come to the door."

Klara nods her head and responds, "Good point, George. Mariam, if you can, get a video recording of Molly when you get out of your vehicle door. She's big and gives the impression of being a guard dog."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a2)

When George and Sharlene reach his driveway, he pulls out some yellow tape he has in the pickup and uses that to make a big 'X' on a tree trunk which will be more obvious that just tying it around the tree and Sharlene calls Klara to tell her what to look for. After he puts the pickup in the garage, for once, Sharlene is happy Molly isn't there to request their attention as she hurries him into the house. As soon as he closes and locks the door, she hurls herself into his arms, his left arm goes around her back while his right arm goes under her buttocks, and she kisses him.

She has to wait for her breathing to settle some before she can say, "Thank you, George, for letting me know only pleasure from your touch. It was so hard not to get in your arms while I listened to Angelisa and Rebeka talk about the pain of a man's touch. That shouldn't be what happens."

"I agree, love. No woman should have to experience that. If what I understand about your emotional recordings is true and if Emotique works, then maybe more women will experience the joy which should come from touching and hopefully fewer will experience the pain some men want to inflict upon them. That's one area in which I most despair of being recognized as a male, that I could be associated with such cruelty and pain. I never could understand how someone can derive pleasure from deliberately causing pain to another person."

"I know and that's part of what makes you so wonderful." Their kiss is long and deep. "Mmm, George. I wish we had more time before they arrived. I could really use some of your loving touch, but I'm afraid that once I get started, I won't want you to stop. I guess I feel enough responsibility not to be in here screaming my head off in pleasure from your touch, while they're left standing on the porch wondering what's going on."

"I think I know what you mean. I feel like I want to touch you and touch you and let the pleasure drive away even the memory of the pain you heard about this morning."

"Oh, George, that sounds so wonderful. Is what we heard this morning some of what you refer to as negative emotional baggage being carried into a relationship?"

"Yes, although it usually isn't as extreme as what Rebeka suffered. Even what Angelisa experienced can easily interfere with her being able to trust a man to touch her, much less give herself the freedom to fully experience the touch. For a lot of people, the negative emotional baggage has no physical element, just an unpleasant relationship or of feeling betrayed by someone they trusted."

"After hearing their stories, it only makes me more grateful for my sheltered upbringing and having you be the man to touch me." She kisses him again.

"As much as I want to keep holding you, my body is telling me that I'm going to have to let you down before I drop you."

"I'm sorry." She releases the grip of her legs from around his waist and lets him lower her feet to the floor. "I just so much see you as my man, I forget you don't have a young body to go with your young mind and desires." She leads him to the love seat.

"I know. Sometimes I feel like my body is betraying me when all of the rest of me is trying to accomplish something."

He sits and she cuddles close while she sits on his upper legs then tells him, "In some ways, I'm glad you're older. If you were younger, I think more women would see you as desirable."

"I don't know why, they never did when I was younger."

"That's strange. Mariam's invited you to bed and Angelisa looks at you with a certain curiosity in her gaze."

"I'll bet if you weren't with me to make them curious, they would avoid me like the seven year itch."

"You think it's because of me?"

He nods his head as he says, "I'm quite certain of it. Both of them have seen you willingly get on my lap and in my arms. Most likely their thoughts go something like, 'Why is that beautiful young woman going to that old man? She could have any man she wanted. Why would she prefer him over someone who is younger or more handsome or more athletic or obviously rich?' That's why they're curious about me."

"Then I wish I had a thousand clones of you so that when they're curious, I could share you with them to give them pleasure and satisfy their curiosity."

As she kisses him, his right hand slides from her side and gently begins to caress her breasts. She moans into his mouth and begins to kiss him more fervently. When he starts to move his right hand away, she grabs it, holds it to one of her breasts, takes a couple of deep breaths, and tells him, "Please, leave it, touch me. I know you don't want to escalate our desires, but I need your touch."

Once his breathing is mostly recovered, he slides his left hand up her back to cup the back of her neck as he leans her back and his lips hotly cover her neck, her ears, her throat, and her face, while his right hand caresses her breasts and his right elbow slides across her lower abdomen. As she gives herself over to the waves of pleasure which flow through her, she's almost surprised at how wonderful and comforting it is while the pleasure stays below the level of the mountain peaks she's used to having her pleasure climb to. She revels in the pleasure and it almost feels like she's being cleansed or made whole or something equally marvelous. When he feels her relax and almost seems to melt under his touch, he slowly reduces the level of his touching until he's just hugging her and then he leans over to gently kiss her lips before he sits back up to breathe.

"Oh, George, thank you so much. That was absolutely wonderful. It was just what I needed. I wish I could please you so well."

As he gently caresses her face with his right hand, he assures her, "Lovely lady, it gives me great pleasure to see you enjoy and relax. You've been somewhat tense all day. If my touching can help you relax, then I'm happy to do it. I still consider it a great privilege that you willingly allow this old man to touch your beautiful young body, especially to be able to give you pleasure."

Before Sharlene can respond, her phone rings and she answers it, "Hello? . . . Thanks, Klara." She puts her phone away and explains, "Klara just took down the yellow 'X' and is coming up the driveway with Mariam following."

"Then you should probably get your headband off."

"Not until you kiss me." He gladly does and is surprised she keeps the kiss going until he's breathless before she scrambles off of his upper legs and disappears down the hall.

He's barely recovered his breathing when the doorbell rings. He gets up, opens the door, and says, "Mariam and Klara, welcome to my humble cabin, please come in."

"Thank you, Mr. G." Mariam extends her hand to shake which he takes and turns to kiss the back of it.

George turns his head and speaks up, "Doctor Doll, your pretty friend and our lovely lawyer are here." After he releases Mariam's hand, he takes Klara's hand and to her surprise, he kisses the back of it also then says, "Welcome back, Klara."

"Thank you, Mr. G."

"Mariam, how was your trip?" Sharlene asks as she comes around the corner and hugs her.

"It was fine. It's so good to see you." A moment later, Mariam glances down at her purse and says, "Okay, it's off."

They all visibly relax.

Klara suggests, "Sharlene, why don't you give Mariam the tour then we can 'catch' her video recording the library and have this charade done with for the day."

As Sharlene leads Mariam by the hand down the hall, George turns to Klara and asks, "How did it go at the police station?"

"It went well. I'll share the details when Sharlene gets back. Do you have something to drink?"

"Iced tea or water."

"Do you have anything stronger?"

"I might have some wine or, if you prefer, I do have a bottle of blackberry brandy."

Klara doesn't hesitate as she says, "A brandy sounds wonderful. I forgot how distressing it can be to hear people tell about being abused or victimized."

"I know. Sharlene was rather uptight about it. Thank you for giving us some time."

"I don't mean to be nosy, but what did you do with the time?"

He hands her a small glass of brandy as he says, "Here you go."

"Thank you. Cheers."

"Cheers. We talked some, kissed some, and I touched her some. Thankfully, it helped her relax rather than got her excited."

"You seem to know how to give her what she needs. Thank you, George, for being such a good man to her."

"I just hope I can meet her needs and desires. Klara, you can't imagine how precious she is to me. To have such a wonderful and beautiful young woman like her take an interest in a rundown old man like me is an incredible miracle. It's way beyond my wildest fantasy."

"Sharlene, look at this, they're having a drinking party and didn't invite us."

George says, "I'm sorry, Mariam, but you were out of the room. What would you like?"

"Do you have any wine?"

"Let me check." George pulls an opened bottle out of the fridge, shows the label to Mariam, and asks, "Will this do?"

"That'll be great."

He pours her a glass, "Here you go."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Mariam. Sharlene?"

"I don't know, I've never done any drinking."

"That's perfectly fine, love. Don't feel obligated to drink alcohol just because the fools around you are."

"I don't want to be unsocial."

George steps over to Sharlene and hugs her as he says, "Please, love, never drink alcohol to be social. Too many people have ruined their lives trying to be social with their drinking. Some people like the taste of alcoholic drinks either by itself or with a meal while other people feel like it helps them to relax. As long as they do it in moderation, then it's not a problem. This is the first time I've had a little glass of brandy in many years. I like the taste, but I usually add it to a mug of tea rather than drink it straight."

"What's brandy?"

"I don't remember how they make it, but it has about ten times as much alcohol as wine."

"Can I try some?"

"If you don't mind, try a small sip out of my glass. Let it sit on your tongue for a little while before you swallow it."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a3)

Sharlene takes a small sip and as she lets it sit on her tongue, her eyes open wide and when she swallows in surprise, her eyes start to water. A few moments later, she exclaims, "Oh, it burned going down, but it tasted like blackberry."

Klara turns the bottle so Sharlene can read the label.

"Blackberry flavored brandy. No wonder you like the taste."

Sharlene takes another small sip and lets it sit on her tongue somewhat longer before she swallows. As she hands the almost empty glass back to George, she says, "I'll stick with the iced tea. That tastes too good to be safe with."

George quickly finishes his glass of brandy then pours three glasses of iced tea since Mariam indicates she'll stick with the wine for now.

Klara asks, "Mariam, are you ready to finish the charade?"

"Sure, if I remember right, you want me to start to video record his library and you'll stop me. I haven't even seen the library."

"I'm sorry we distracted you with our drinking party. Get your video recorder ready, but don't turn it on until after we get the doors open. I think your natural reaction will add to the video."

George opens the door, turns on the lights, Klara gently pushes Mariam in and she turns on the video recorder. Mariam stares in amazement and pans the library with the video recorder as she looks around, and proclaims, "Oh my. . . . This library . . . is huge."

"Mr. G!! She's video recording the library."

"Stop her, but don't hurt her. She was probably forced to do it by someone else."

Klara takes the video recorder from Mariam's unresisting hand and turns it off while Mariam starts to walk into the library and seems to be oblivious to all else. Sharlene follows her in with a whispered comment to Klara that she'll keep Mariam from getting lost. When they return from the library a few minutes later, Mariam goes to George, warmly hugs him and tells him, "Thank you for inviting me. It's a wonderful home for a wonderful man," then she pulls his head down to warmly kiss him. She turns to Sharlene and hugs and kisses her just as warmly before she says, "Thank you for being my friend." She steps over to Klara and foregoing the kiss, she hugs her twice as long then verbally expresses herself. "Thank you for involving me." A moment later, she sits down at the dining room table with a dazed look.

Klara asks, "George, does your library always affect people this way?"

"No, it doesn't. Not that many people have been here to see it. When Paula first saw it, she seemed surprised at the size. Paul's reaction was more like 'cool, whatever turns you on'. For some reason, you three seemed to be more affected in a dazed or amazed way. I certainly don't understand it."

Mariam explains, "It was like walking into a place of wisdom and comfort. What was the word I thought of? . . . A sanctuary. That's what George's library is, a sanctuary."

Since she feels somewhat concerned about Mariam's reaction, Sharlene asks, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm very okay. . . . I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound goofy on you guys. When I was a little girl, I loved my books. As I grew older, I was distracted by many different things. It's been a long time since I've been around a lot of books. George, for me to walk into your library it was like walking into my home as a child and to know there was love and comfort and wisdom there. Or what I thought walking into a place of worship ought to be like where a wise and loving deity would share his wisdom with the people and comfort them. Oh, George, don't look so concerned. I know it's only a room with books on shelves, but to me, if feels like a very special place."

"Thank you, Mariam. I'm glad it makes you feel good. You're welcome to come and sit in my library whenever I'm home. I might even let you check out a book or two," as he winks at her.

Mariam grins in return and says, "Thank you."

George turns and asks, "So, Klara, you were going to tell us what happened at the police station."

"Before I do that, I would like Mariam to tell us what happened after we left the dinner and presentation on fourth-day evening. It might help keep some continuity to the story. Mariam, do you mind if I record what you have to say?"

"If you think it will help our cause, go for it. What I'll relate, some of it I observed and some of it came to me second or third hand, but there's a strong consistency, so I'm very inclined to believe the second and third hand information. First of all, somewhere between two-thirds and three-fourths of the people there, were people employed by the Institute. The only purpose for that many people was to give the real potential investors the impression there was more interest in the Project than there really was."

George suggests, "Smoke and mirrors."

"That's right. Everything about the evening was built around smoke and mirrors."

Sharlene says, "I assume you're using the term 'smoke and mirrors' metaphorically."

Mariam nods her head then explains, "Yes. The term refers to how magicians or illusionists would use smoke and mirrors to distract or to hide how they accomplished their tricks. In the business world, it's taken on the meaning that what you're being shown is the illusion itself, because there's nothing of substance behind what they're showing or saying. Related terms are 'a song and a dance' or 'a dog and pony show' which aren't meant as much to be illusion, but more to be entertainment to distract the audience from the facts which are probably bad.

"So the setting of the presentation was a large number of Institute employees who were encouraged to look like prospective investors in a fancy hotel with valet parking, doormen, a bar, and a nice dinner. The only thing missing was a string quartet, and that was actually discussed. There was too much dissension between having a string quartet and a rock band that the live music idea was shelved.

"The directors made a point of checking on all of the vehicles which arrived since they assumed a big-wig like themselves would want to arrive in a stretched luxury vehicle. When the word got back to them that a Mr. G was there with a personal physician because he didn't like to wait at the doctor's office, they about went ballistic and accused each other of not seeing the vehicle which brought such an obvious VIP.

"When they accused the doorman of not informing them of your arrival, he made it clear you arrived in a very ordinary vehicle, but he remembered you very well. Actually, he remembered Sharlene very well, but you were with her. Of course, they immediately went to the reception hall and almost had at each other again until someone pointed out where you two were sitting along the wall.

"After the presentation, when it was apparent that the two directors were waiting to ambush you, some of us were able to quietly pass the word for the employees to step back and let the potential investors move forward to hear the interchange. Many of us couldn't hear all that was said, but somebody had put a recording device nearby so we were able to hear it afterwards, but we could see the reactions.

"George, I don't know if you noticed or not, but when you said you would fire somebody for giving such a misleading presentation, the directors both went pale, partly from embarrassment and partly from anger. After you left, they were astonished and angry that anyone would talk to them like that. Of course, we've been trying to tell them many of the same things for a long time, but since our jobs were at stake, we were generally more soft spoken about it."

Mariam takes a sip of her wine before she goes on, "Anyway, a number of those who had come to learn more about the Project were real appreciative of what you said, George, and in combination with the questions Klara and others asked, they realized that what was being billed as fact, was speculation at best. Those who had been initially interested in the Project were looking at it as a potential money maker once the scandal element was removed. They weren't interested in something which was going to take a lot more investment as you pointed out.

"Before everyone left for the evening, it was clear that what little interest there had been in the Project before, had shrunk dramatically. A lot of us overheard the 'real' investigators say they were reporting back to their superiors to drop the thought of acquiring the Project like a hot potato. And we were good little employees and reported it all to management the next morning.

"After we all gave our reports of the evening to management yesterday morning, they went into a closed door session. It was about the middle of the afternoon when they called me in, 'they' meaning all of the directors at the Institute, and the majority gave me the carrot and the stick at the same time. It was clear they couldn't agree on which approach to use, but they were very certain of the rightness of whatever position they held, even if it changed from one minute to the next.

"It was so bad, I almost got up and walked out. On the one hand they wanted me to spy on you and find out more about you as well as to report any conversations so they might find a way to use it against you, thus the video recorder. On the other hand, they wanted me to cozy up to George to sweeten your attitude towards the Project because they were beginning to feel as though you were their last hope."

Klara asks, "Mariam, how cozy did they suggest you get to George to sweeten his attitude."

"They were about one syllable away from telling me to take George to bed."

Sharlene exclaims, "No way! They did!?!"

Mariam nods her head as she answers, "Yes. They didn't actually say the word, but it was very clear that's what they meant." Mariam digs into her purse, pulls out a pen similar to what Klara had George carry in his pocket, and hands it to Klara as she explains, "This is supposed to have a recording of the conversation. Todd gave it to me when he heard I was called in to meet with the directors. I have no idea whether it recorded anything and if it did, how well it recorded. If it's a good recording, I would like you to review the possibility of a lawsuit against them for their suggestions to me."

Klara assures her, "It will be my privilege to look into the possibility of a lawsuit for you."

"I know my relating of what happened after the presentation wasn't real smooth, but I'm so mad at how they treated not only me and you guys, but how they treated the other employees and interested parties. If I didn't think the Project had potential, I would drop the whole idea and let them have to beg or even pay someone else to take it off of their hands.

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a4)

Mariam takes another sip then remembers, "Oh, there is one other thing. Just before I was dismissed, one of the directors, I don't even remember which one, said that he thought Sharlene looked familiar. I tried to keep the harshness out of my voice, but I don't think I succeeded when I said she ought to look familiar because she worked there for several months and quit when she found out she had been lied to about the brain study she had been working on.

"A couple of the directors went real pale and quiet at that. I think they're afraid of another scandal hitting the place. Sharlene, I don't know if you've talked to Klara about what you were told when you started at the Institute and what you found out later, but I would strongly encourage you to pursue it. The more I'm around the leadership there, the more it feels like a cancer which needs to be cut out."

Klara responds, "Sharlene has already forwarded the information which she had available and after I did just a quick review, it looks real promising. I haven't taken the time to look at it closely, but you've given me the incentive to do so. I'll have to think about whether the lawsuit or rumor approach will have the greatest affect."

Sharlene asks, "Rumor approach?"

Klara nods her head as she answers, "Yes. Sometimes letting the word get out that there's a lawsuit being developed can be more effective than dropping a completed lawsuit on a judge's desk."

"Really? Why?"

"Because a judge can issue a gag order restricting any party named in the lawsuit from speaking about it. But it's impossible to put a gag order on a rumor."

Sharlene looks back and forth between them then says, "With all of my questions, I'm beginning to feel like a little kid who has snuck in to listen to the adults talk."

George assures her, "Please don't feel that way, my love. You haven't had to deal with business and legal issues before, so you aren't familiar with the vocabulary. If one of us were listening while you were talking to your medical colleagues, well, at least for me, it would be like trying to listen in on adults who were speaking a foreign language."

"Thank you, lover. I guess every field has its own specialized language, but we only tend to pay attention to our own."

"Too true, chief, I couldn't have said it better myself." They both start to laugh while Klara and Mariam look at them as though they're half crazy. George suggests, "You tell them, love, while I go get the chicken on the grill. Don't wait on me to continue the conversation."

Mariam asks, "What's so funny about what George said?"

"It's not what he said, but that the approximate quotation comes from my favorite series of books when I was a child and the characters who were given credit for the original statement."

Klara suggests, "The Chronicles of Narian, if I remember right."

Sharlene nods her head, "That's right. I don't know how many times I read those books. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get us off track."

"No, that's fine. I basically wanted us all to hear what happened after the presentation. Was there anything else, Mariam?"

"Nothing from yesterday that I can think of right now. What about what we found out at the police station?"

"I thought I would wait until Paula and Paul are here since they seemed interested. Actually, I was figuring on taking a break about now anyway. I didn't want to spend the whole day in serious discussion, especially after this morning?"

"What happened this morning?"

Klara suggests, "I'll let Sharlene and George tell the start of that story."

Sharlene responds, "Thanks, Klara. Mariam, we'll tell you, just not now. My guess is that Aunt Paula will want to coax it out of us this evening. If she doesn't, I'm inclined to wait at least until tomorrow to tell you. Right now, I need to make a trip down the hall. After that, if you're interested, we can do a tour of George's yard and garden, although you might want to throw on some jeans if you brought them."

"I would like that and I did bring jeans."

"Klara?"

"You two go on. Maybe I'll bug George and see what he does to his chicken which everyone likes so much."

A couple of minutes later, Sharlene is showing Mariam around George's yard and garden with Molly tagging along. Klara does ask George about his chicken, but she isn't really that interested, so when the conversation lags, she goes back in and listens once to the recording which Mariam gave her to let it percolate in her subconscious. Klara then does another review of the video recordings which the police had given her of last weekend's event with George and Sharlene and marks the composite recording the police put together. It'll be hard for Sharlene and George to see themselves in action, but it might help when they have difficulty in trying to tell about what happened. She knows Paula will be very interested and Mariam will be highly curious.

As Klara steps up to a window and looks out, she notices Sharlene carry a futball across the yard with Mariam and Molly. On a whim, she grabs the video recorder which Mariam had been given and goes out for a better look. Just after she turns on the recorder, Klara sees Sharlene explain the boundaries to Mariam. Shortly after they start a game, Klara stares in amazement as Molly is dribbling the futball and keeping it away from them. Klara's chuckling soon turns to laughter as she watches their antics through the recorder.

A few minutes later, Sharlene and Mariam are collapsed on the grass breathing heavily while Molly is sitting at one side of the yard with a paw on the futball. Klara turns the recorder off and sets it down while George goes over to pet Molly then helps a laughing Sharlene and Mariam get up. As they head back to the porch, Molly follows while she dribbles the ball over to join them for a rest and enjoys the extra petting and attention.

Mariam shakes her head as she says, "I haven't had so much fun in a long time. George, how did Molly learn to dribble the futball?"

"I assume she learned by watching the kids at the local school either during recess or during their physical fitness classes."

"How did you know she could play?"

He explains, "I guess it was something like a couple of years ago, I was cleaning out some boxes I had stored in the garage and one of them had sports equipment which I've had sitting around for many years. I pulled the things out of the box and spread them out on the porch to look them over. Molly grabbed a tennis ball, brought it over, and set it in front of me. It took me a couple of moments to make a guess as why she would have done that, but as soon as I moved my hand towards her, she picked up the ball, put it in my hand, skipped back a couple of paces, lightly barked, then looked over her shoulder into the yard and back at me. I threw the ball for her and decided that I would save them for her.

"When she was done chasing the tennis ball, she looked over the other stuff I had while I watched her. I had a couple of baseballs and softballs, but she showed no interest in those. When she got to the futball, she batted it around a couple of times and then dribbled it over to me. I don't know how long I stared at her in surprise. It didn't take us long to sort out mutually agreed to boundaries and I would play with her. Of course, she ran circles around me, but she seemed to think it was fun."

Sharlene frowns and says, "Another video opportunity missed."

Klara responds with a grin, "Not this time. I happened to grab the recorder Mariam brought and caught some of it. I don't know how good the recording is because I was laughing so hard."

"That's great. Thank you."

Mariam looks back and forth between them then says, "Hold it, I'm missing something here. Did you want to video record Molly or us playing with her?"

Sharlene answers, "Both. However, when I first mentioned it to Klara, it wasn't planned for you to come up. It's amazing to watch Molly, but it's also good slapstick comedy to see her run circles around a person. I told Klara about it last week when she wanted to view some of my emotional recordings for comparison to what the Project was showing. One of the samples I showed her was when I played futball with Molly the last time. I wondered what it would be like to have a playback of the emotional recording while watching the video recording of what was happening when the emotional response was recorded."

"That's a great idea, or at least something worth giving a try."

"Actually, George had the idea of showing a video recording while experiencing an emotional recording, at least for the more publicly acceptable emotions."

Mariam turns to him and asks, "Where did you get the idea?"

He answers, "From watching Sharlene practice her tai-chi. She moves so smoothly and gracefully, that I thought watching a video of her while experiencing the emotion of contentment or peacefulness or something similar would enhance the emotional experience. She expanded the idea to include watching something funny while experiencing joy or happiness. Few people could object to seeing a recording like Molly playing futball and running circles around her human competitor."

"Very true. Wow, another whole new dimension to Emotique or maybe more so for the therapy side in giving a double dose with both an emotional and visual recording. At the rate you two are coming up with ideas and emotional recordings, at least from your hint the other night, it'll take the rest of us years to get it all in place and in operation."

Mariam rubs her hands together in glee before she continues, "I can just see us starting a video recording division to make movies specifically for particular emotional recordings to enhance the experience. I would love to see the affect that watching Molly play futball while experiencing the emotion of joy would have on somebody with a significant depressive disorder. It may not stay with them long, but a variety of frequent experiences could encourage significant improvements."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a5)

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "I hadn't thought it through that far, but that was the direction of my thoughts. What I find frustrating is that we keep coming up with ideas and aren't able to start working on them because I don't dare spill the beans yet to the people with the technical expertise. That reminds me, Mariam, do you know who was involved with the software for the Project? I would rather have the key to the front door than have to hack a hole into the software."

"Supposedly all of the passwords into the software code are to be provided to whoever takes over the Project."

"That's good to know. Do you know who did the programming? A lot of times programmers don't explain the function or intent of the code and sometimes it can be very difficult to figure out which part of the code has what affect without spending a lot of time and effort to track each piece. Not only that, but most programmers put in hidden back doors and I would really like to know what those doors are or figure out a way to lock them from the inside."

"I'll have to look into that. I don't think there was a specific person or persons assigned to the Project. The Institute had a pool of programmers who wrote or worked on the various software programs or who would deal with problems as they came up."

Sharlene explains, "The reason for my question is that I've been thinking of some possible changes to the process of how the emoters submit emotional recordings, but I don't know if that will require or maybe work better with some software changes. Oh, well, something else to put on the back burner."

Mariam turns and says, "Klara, I was curious as to which emotional recordings you were shown. I'm familiar with a lot of what's in the database, since I've had time on my hands to try to more clearly identify, label, and organize the recordings. I guess I was wondering whether they were showing the real stuff or something manufactured."

"Give me a minute and I'll show you what was demonstrated to me."

As Klara goes into the house to get her briefcase, Sharlene asks, "Mariam, do you think they would fake the emotional recordings?"

"Not the recordings, but they could make charts which showed anything. And then when they demonstrated it, they could say, 'Oh, I'm sorry, you must be one of the people who can't experience the emotion fully'. Considering what they've already been doing, I wouldn't put it past them to try it. After all, how is someone going to be able to know for sure if they've been lied to? I trust Todd and Julie to give a fair demonstration, but not management to give an appropriate explanation."

Sharlene suggests, "While Klara is getting her stuff, let me get my computer and download my recent recordings and we'll see how playing with Molly a few minutes ago compares."

Soon they're both back. Klara hands Mariam the charts and says, "These are what I was given by the managers when I asked to see the best samples they had. Kassandra and Todd and Julie gave me the same ones. Todd and Julie also demonstrated these for me. A couple I could barely feel and another couple were mildly pleasant."

Mariam looks them over before she says, "I don't have a perfect memory, but I'm almost positive these are the best we have in the database."

"When I had asked for the best samples, I had a slight impression that Todd and Julie had access to recordings which either weren't in the database or that Kassandra wasn't aware of."

"Those would be the samples of Sharlene's recordings I sent them to test on their own time."

Klara nods her head and responds, "I suspected that was the case when Sharlene told me about them testing those samples. Has there been any indication that others have become aware of those samples?"

Mariam shakes her head as she answers, "Not a peep."

"Good. Sharlene, can you bring up the ones you showed me on second-day which we compared to these charts? Thank you. Mariam, when I compared these printed out charts with Sharlene's charts, I found it interesting that hers were cleaner as well as more intense than the best samples the Project had. I don't know if you can answer, but how much of a difference is felt between these two charts with a one point intensity difference?"

"That's hard to say, because I don't test well with experiencing the emotions which are recorded. From what Julie has said, the clarity of a recording can have more of an effect than a similar difference in intensity. For example, if there are two recordings of the same emotion, A and B, recording A may be a point higher in overall intensity than recording B, but if the prime emotion on recording B is a point more clean than on recording A, then recording B will be more easily felt."

"So a cleaner emotional recording can be more easily felt than a higher intensity recording."

Mariam nods her head as she responds, "That's what I understand. Sharlene, can you please bring up your first recording which got me all wound up? Yeah, that's it. I think I have it imprinted on my brain. As you can see, Klara, it's almost exclusively one emotion, in this case, sexual pleasure. Let's see, this chart is the best sample the project has of sexual pleasure. It looks like you made a note here calling it 'mildly pleasant'."

"That's right."

"This is what Julie was acquainted with before I sent her this one of Sharlene's. As you can see by comparing the two, this print out is about three-quarters of a point higher in overall intensity than Sharlene's, but when you measure the intensity of the prime emotion, this one doesn't quite measure an intensity of three, but Sharlene's is just a hair over four. This one is mildly pleasant while this one got Julie all excited."

Klara nods her head then says, "That's what I thought, but I wanted to confirm that I wasn't misinterpreting something. My impression then, as I told Sharlene, is that this recording which the Project currently has might make a nice footnote in some medical journal as an interesting experiment, but this one which Julie tested of Sharlene's will make Digital Empathy marketable."

Mariam confirms, "That's what Julie and I think, not that she knows anything about Digital Empathy. And just to assure you, when I report back to the Institute management, I can honestly say that when we demonstrated our best samples, you found them to be, at best, only mildly pleasant and that you felt anybody who takes over the Project is going to have to find much better sources of emotional recordings, which, of course, will require much more time and money to find and cultivate."

"That's exactly right. Frankly, if I didn't know we had a better source of emotional recordings," Klara lays a hand on Sharlene's shoulder, "I would be much more hesitant to encourage the investor to move forward with the Project in spite of their initial interest."

"So, based on the information which the Project has provided you, you would be inclined to advise the investor against investing in the Project."

"Yes. Are you sure you aren't interested in becoming a lawyer? You're nit-picking with the best of them."

Mariam chuckles then answers, "No, thank you. I couldn't do it all of the time. Based on the performance you guys provided on fourth-day evening, the directors should have tried to honey up to Sharlene instead of trying to get me to honey up to George."

Klara says, "Oh, don't think they won't, especially when you report back. Sharlene, just to warn you, I suspect the Institute might be inclined to offer you a very plush position if you can talk 'Mr. G' into taking over the Project."

Sharlene exclaims, "I couldn't do that. Why, to be a personal physician at my age is almost unheard of. Not only that, but Mr. G encourages me to study and expand my medical expertise as well as get involved in other projects of my choice. And the fringe benefits, well, they're just too wonderful to describe."

They all laugh.

Mariam hesitates, but can't resist asking, "I don't want to be nosy, but I'm dying of curiosity. Do any of those 'fringe benefits' result in emotional recordings?"

Without verbally responding right away, Sharlene takes the ERD out of her headband, downloads her latest recordings, verifies the transfer, deletes the recordings from the ERD, and puts it back into her headband. As she starts from the back of the download, or the time right before she took it out of her headband, she scrolls backwards and points out, "Ah, here we go, this is when we were playing with Molly just a little while ago."

"Excellent. Klara, look at how Sharlene's recording compares to the Project's best recording of happiness. Not only is it a little cleaner, but it's more intense. Other than a couple of good recordings of fear, this recording of happiness is one of the best the Project had overall. Do you have other good recordings?"

Sharlene backs up her recent download to a little while before and explains it, "Here's what I recorded when George cuddled me while you two went to the police station."

Mariam's eyes open wide and she exclaims, "Wow! That's great. Not blow your socks off intense, but look how clean that is. I wonder what that one would feel like. It's charted as a single emotion, but yet the coloration is like it can't decide between contentment and sexual pleasure."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a6)

Sharlene hesitates then says, "That reminds me of something I was wondering about. If we want these emotional recordings to be able to be felt by the average person, then shouldn't we be testing them with average people, maybe as a survey process rather than having professional testers?"

Mariam nods her head as she answers, "You're probably right about that."

"Not only that, but what about the person who submits the recordings. I was thinking that regardless of what my emotional recordings are like, I would like to have a little more control over what parts of my emotional life are available for display. Something I would like to consider would be to provide a basic version of the software to the emoters, to use the term the Project used, and let them review what they record and then forward only the better recordings or only the ones they want to share. Not only does that allow the person more control, but it also reduces the amount of time we spend sifting through and storing unusable recordings."

"That's a good point. We should be able to also take the time and date stamp off of the recordings, because we'll be interested in the emotional recordings, not when they occurred."

Sharlene clarifies, "Actually, I would prefer to have the time and date stamp removed just before the recording is sent in. When I've reviewed my recordings, the time and date reference helped me to figure out what was happening. Along with the basic review software, it would also be good if the emoter had a basic copy of the demonstration software so they can validate their own recordings, if that's practical. By providing them with the tools to manage their own emotional recordings, then we can more easily set standards of what's worthwhile for them to send. I wouldn't want the emoters to be sending in recordings they thought were great, but in reality weren't clean or strong enough to get more than a response of 'mildly pleasant'."

Mariam nods her head and responds, "If we give them the tools and responsibility to manage their emotional recordings then it does make more sense to, in a way, partner them in by providing them with a portion of the profits based on the number of downloads their emotional recordings generate rather than paying them a standard amount regardless of the quality of their recordings. Sharlene, do you have any thoughts on how strongly you would want to partner the emoters in for?"

"Well, my initial thought was setting aside fifty percent of the profits for the emoters. Part of that is because it will be their only compensation and another part is that without the emotional recordings, Digital Empathy will be a useless shell. Of course, that will depend on what our arrangement ends up being with the investor. My guess is that the funds which the investor provides to us in order to set up the business are going to be treated as a loan which we will need to pay back over a certain period of time in addition to a portion of the profits to compensate them for the risk they took in getting us started.

"With the remaining portion of the profits, some should be set aside for reinvestment and to help the company through down times and some for profit sharing with the employees. Of course, this all assumes there will be a profit from early on. If the emoters don't receive some sort of compensation soon, they'll give up and we'll lose before we even start."

Mariam asks, "Klara, do you have any idea as to how committed the investor is to taking over the project and keeping it going?"

"They're committed enough to set aside a good chunk of change in addition to have me stay here for almost two weeks to begin with. I've also been provided with the resources to rent a facility even before we know we've acquired the Project. It will start as a short term lease, but it was thought that was better to get something ahead of time and have some choice rather than wait until the last minute and not find anything suitable. In fact, if things work out, we might be in a position to sign a lease this coming week and you can let the Institute know that."

"That's great."

Klara continues, "As far as keeping it going, that will depend on a lot of factors. In many ways, the investor is inclined to approach it as 'Mr. G' expressed it. They have more than enough resources available, but they aren't going to want to throw their money away. Renting a facility is about the least of the expenses to be considered. Salaries will probably be a major factor in how long the investor will want to float the company before there begins to be a profit. They know people need a reasonable income and benefits to live on as well as to retain the best people, but if everyone wants corporate executive type salaries, then you can probably expect the float time to be significantly reduced."

Mariam suggests, "So, if we can keep our desires and staff size small, it will make it easier to convince the investor that we want to make a go of the company rather than use it as some sort of get-rich-quick scheme."

Klara nods her head and says, "That's right."

"Then if the company uses a portion of the profits to share with the employees, it can not only encourage us to work harder for success, but could, theoretically, significantly increase our individual incomes."

"That's a possibility. Of course, if we don't get the Project, then all of this will have been an interesting exercise. I've tried to stack the deck in our favor while staying completely legal, but one can never be sure of what the outcome will be until the ink is dried on the signed agreements."

Mariam responds, "Thank you for telling us what you can. I know there are a lot of factors involved before decisions can be made, but even small steps, like renting a place, give me hope and helps to keep the despair at bay."

"After what I heard and saw at the demonstration and what you've said, the odds of our success are improving, but there are no guarantees."

Since they recognize that any further discussion will be just speculation, the conversation lags.

Mariam asks, "George, you've been pretty quiet. What do you think about all of this?"

"Well, as I told the lovely lady, I'll help out as much as I can because I do want her to succeed, but I have no interest in being involved in the day to day operation of the company. If things don't work out, I've already told her that I'll support her and take care of her as long as I can. Since my home is already paid for, my financial needs are somewhat small, so if I'm careful with the money I've set aside, Sharlene, if she's willing to put up with me, will have food on the table and a roof over her head for as long as I live and probably for some time after that."

"That's rather generous of you."

"I don't think it begins to compensate her for giving me a new life, quite literally physically and emotionally."

Sharlene turns off her computer and steps over to sit on his upper legs as she says, "And that's not the only way in which this old man is so very generous," and she gives him a brief, but thorough kiss.

"I still say you're the generous one in letting me enjoy your presence and have the privilege of touching you."

"Klara, are we going to have to teach these two how to really argue before they kiss and make up?"

"But, Mariam, why would I want to waste my time arguing when I can spend it kissing this wonderful old man?" Sharlene puts action to her words.

"Okay, you two, enough of the love-starved teenager routine." Klara shakes her head before she asks, "George, are you going to need any help with getting dinner ready?"

He gives her a grin then asks, "Why should I be thinking about dinner when I'm already enjoying dessert?"

Klara just rolls her eyes.

He clarifies, "Actually, the chicken is doing fine. I thought I would go to the garden in a little while and see what I can put together for a salad and then I'll get some wild rice cooking."

Sharlene suggests, "Lover, why don't I drag Mariam along to the garden and we'll get the salad fixings or maybe just do finger vegetables? I think we got most of the lettuce last weekend."

"Sure, love, whichever way you want."

While Sharlene and Mariam go to the garden, George goes into the house to get some wild rice ready and then brings it out to cook on the grill and notices that Klara had been just sitting there, apparently in contemplation and then begins to rapidly type something on her computer. After a few minutes of alternating typing and reading on her computer, she asks, "George, do you have a printer I can use?"

"Yes, follow me." He leads Klara into the corner of the library where his computer is set up and helps her hook up her computer to his printer.

When she's done and her computer is disconnected from his printer, he doesn't say anything, but she notices his curious expression and explains, "It's a 'confession' I would like Mariam to sign which says she was encouraged to the point of coercion to spy on us and our meeting location. I also did up a preliminary case review for her to bring suit against her bosses for trying to get her to participate in corporate espionage."

"It sounds like you're going to be busy. With setting up Digital Empathy, the victim's compensation case, and Mariam's case, how is that going to affect your regular job?"

Klara pats George on the cheek as they walk out of the library towards the kitchen and says, "Don't worry about that. There isn't that much to do and it's decreasing. Sharlene's dad has already talked with me about retiring or just being part time more on a consultant basis. I'm not really ready to fully retire, but I also don't want to jump back into the back-stabbing rat race of long hours at some other company. So taking on these other projects will keep me busy without being overwhelming."

"I'm sure you have other reasons for helping Sharlene, but I still appreciate the effort and enthusiasm you're putting into helping her succeed."

"Thank you. As I told her when she first brought up the possibility of taking over the Project, it's been fun. I haven't been involved in setting up a new company for awhile and this gives me more opportunities to be creative than in the usual set up."

"Then I'm glad you have this opportunity."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a7)

Klara and George sit back down outside where she gives him some background, "When I was fresh out of law school, Sharlene's grandfather offered me a good position for a new lawyer. I was able to put my training to work right away instead of being little more than a clerk in some big law firm for a lot of years. He gave me a lot of trust, encouragement, and friendship over the years as well as a very comfortable income.

"In a lot of ways, I was more a part of the family than strictly a business associate. I watched his two sons grow up into fine young men and work their way up the company ladder. Everyone expected them to take over the company, but their father still insisted that they learn the company from the ground up, quite literally, since their first jobs were shoveling dirt. When Sharlene's parents met and married, it was like the golden years, the family was extremely happy and the company was very well respected and growing.

"When her parents were killed, it was like a major part of everyone's lives died with them. I made a silent vow to watch over Sharlene, however I could, to see that she was happy and able to succeed in whatever she set her mind to do. The family went on and the company went on, but from that point on, there wasn't the enthusiasm there had been. Slowly, the company has been moving from a construction company to more of a consulting company. Yes, we've done our best to set up local construction companies around the world to carry on the work, so in many ways the transition has been quite natural, but since I've been so close to the inside, I can see there's been a change of attitude.

"Sharlene grew up under that lack of enthusiasm which is most clearly displayed by her mom, and sometimes I despaired that she would ever find joy in her life. Even as a young girl, Sharlene was serious and dutiful. She was involved in many activities, but most were oriented towards her learning something and she approached her education like something to be conquered. Very seldom did she just do something for the fun of it."

George nods his head and says, "She's told me that she almost had to force herself to sit down and relax with a cup of tea when she was in college and medical school."

"That's true. I've seen her laugh and cry more in the last week than in all of her previous years. I'm so happy she's happy that I would do almost anything to keep it going. I don't know that somebody else couldn't have been the one, but, for some reason, you've been the one to make her happy and to feel unconditionally loved. For that, I thank you with all of my heart. At first I thought you were after her for other reasons, but she's convinced me that she went after you and that you responded to her with gentleness and compassion. For all you've done for Sharlene, and I suspect all you will do for her in the future, I sincerely offer my friendship."

They warmly shake hands then he responds, "Thank you, Klara. I appreciate that. She's been such a joy in my life that it's like my life previously was just a bad dream which I finally woke up from."

As they come up to the porch with fresh vegetables, Sharlene asks, "Old man, did you miss me so much that you had to find some other woman's hand to hold?"

Before George can answer, Sharlene sits on his upper legs and kisses him. While he's catching his breath, she turns and winks at Klara then turns back to George and works very hard at trying to pout at him. Once his breathing is partially recovered, he grabs her bottom lip between his which becomes another kiss. When she lets him breathe, she snuggles closer to him.

In a little while, Mariam turns to Klara and says, "It looks like I lost my partner in the clouds. Would you care to help me fix the vegetables?"

"Sure." When Sharlene starts to sit up to protest, Klara assures her, "Stay there, we can take care of this, besides, I have something I want to talk to Mariam about."

After Klara and Mariam step into the house, Sharlene turns to him and asks, "So, lover, did you miss me?"

"Lovely lady, I miss you whenever you aren't in my arms. Rather than drive you away because I'm acting like a leech, I try to exercise a little control over my desires. I know Mariam is your friend and you two want some time together." As he adds a touch of a leer to his voice, he suggests, "I could have chased after you to the garden."

Sharlene starts to unbutton his shirt as she asks, "And what would you have done with me there?"

"Uh, kissed you and hugged you."

"You wouldn't have attacked me?"

"I'm not inclined to attack any woman, especially you."

She slips a hand into his shirt to caress his chest then says, "I suppose that attack is a rather inappropriate term. Would you have touched me and given my pleasure?"

"Gladly, if that's what you want."

"Lover boy, that's about all I want. Would you give me pleasure while we're in the garden?"

"Lovely lady, if I can, I'll gladly give you pleasure almost anywhere, as long as there isn't an audience."

"What about the birds and the bees?"

"I doubt if they're much interested in the courtship rituals of humans."

Sharlene briefly pauses then says, "Humm, I just realized something."

"What's that?"

"If we played in the garden, we might get dirty and then we would have to help each other get clean . . ."

George interrupts her, "Don't tempt me, young lady."

"I suppose it's a little early in the journey for that. The continuing dilemma, I love every step of the journey and your creative ways of touching me, but I also so much want you to touch me more."

"I also want to touch you more, but I also want to touch you in as many ways as possible to give you variety in your pleasure and to give you choices in how you want to feel pleasure."

"You're certainly succeeding, lover boy. When I overheard some of my classmates talk about their sexual activities, and some of it was rather detailed, there wasn't even a hint of many of the ways you've been touching me or how much pleasure was available."

"That's part of the idea of the journey of touching."

"I know and I'm thoroughly grateful. Sometimes it's all I can do, not to tell others how wonderful it is to be touched like you've been touching me."

"I'm afraid most people wouldn't be interested. And if they were, odds are their partner wouldn't be."

"Well, maybe Emotique can help them to rethink some of their ways."

He shakes his head then says, "I don't know, Sharlene, unless you want to reveal what you were doing when you felt your pleasure. Everybody will assume you were experiencing sexual intercourse just like Mariam did when she first saw your recording."

"You're right. I'd forgotten that's what she assumed."

"As much as I want to keep you here, I suppose I should act more like a host to my guests."
She grins and asks, "You mean instead of us acting like sex-starved teenagers?"

"Yeah. You have to wonder why teenagers can be sex-starved when even the active ones have only recently become aware of it. You want to talk about sex-starved, talk about some old fogy who's gone without for several years." He hungrily kisses her which elicits just as hungry a response from her.

While George catches his breath, Sharlene buttons up his shirt as she says, "I don't want to let the other women get interested in your body."

"That's not bloody likely and you know it."

"They don't know what they're missing. Alright, the truth is that I need to keep my own interest down. And before you start to argue with me about it, just accept the fact that I'm interested in your body. Now, let's go see how they're doing with those vegetables."

As they step into the kitchen, Sharlene and George find that the vegetables are partially dealt with while Klara and Mariam are deep in a discussion about the issues involved with corporate espionage. They leave them to the discussion and soon have the vegetables finished. When he runs the disposal which leads to the compost, the noise seems to startle Klara and Mariam out of their discussion.

Klara says, "We're sorry, George, we weren't sure where things were and started our discussion before we made it out to ask you."

"That's all right. I shouldn't have left it for you to do. Did you get everything sorted out?"

They glance at each other, then Klara answers, "For starters anyway. Mariam made some good suggestions for revisions. Can I impose on you to use your printer again?"

"It's no imposition. You know where it is, feel free to use it. If you need more paper or something, give a holler and I'll get it for you."

While Klara goes to use the printer, Mariam turns to them and says, "Boy, am I glad I admitted up front that the directors wanted me to spy on you guys. Apparently, I could have been held partially liable if I had started any type of spying activity and confessed later. And the recording of the conversation I had with the directors was clear and had statements which I had either forgotten or glossed over.

"Not only were they clear about wanting me to spy and report back on your conversations, but the way they said things has apparently been well recognized by the courts that I was to offer my body to 'Mr. G' if it would soften his attitude towards the Project. They also made it clearer than I realized at the time that my job was at stake if I didn't do as they told me."

Sharlene asks, "What's going to happen if you say you got caught and couldn't do as they wanted you to do?"

"I don't know. Klara and I had only started discussing that and are trying to sort through my options."

"If worse comes to worse, you're welcome to stay at my place even if I'm here with George."

George suggests, "You could also spend time here if you wanted, but I'm afraid you would get bored with us."

"Thank you, both of you. I don't think it'll come to that, and I wouldn't want to impose to that degree, but I do appreciate the offers very much." Mariam gets up to hug and kiss first Sharlene and then George.

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (a8>e1)

Klara comes back into the room just before Mariam finishes kissing George and remarks, "I thought you weren't going to honey up to George."

Mariam clarifies, "I'm not, I'm thanking him for offering to let me stay here if I lost my job, just as I thanked Sharlene for the same offer. It's not that I'm unwilling to hug and kiss George, but if I'm going to do so, it will be on my terms and for my own reasons, not because my boss told me to do it. If you want to get technical, I was kissing George Greyson, not some enigmatic 'Mr. G'."

Klara chuckles then says, "Well stated, young lady. If you decide to change your mind about being a lawyer, let me know."

"Thank you for the offer, but I think getting Digital Empathy up and running with Sharlene is more up my alley. Beside, I'm more likely to get a fancy title and maybe even make a decent salary a lot faster with Sharlene, than if I had to take the time to go back to college and law school and then work my way up the corporate ladder as a lawyer."

"You're right about that. I just like the way you think. Actually, having you manage the business and administrative side of the company will probably be the right approach."

"Thank you, although I don't want to be taking anything away from Sharlene."

She assures her, "Mariam, you're not and even if you were, you're welcome to it. I don't have either the background or the interest in the nitty-gritty details of the business. I'll probably have some ideas about policy and philosophy, but unless something happens which changes my mind, I'm not particularly going to be interested in the procedural details.

"That reminds me, Mariam, can you start making a list of the things we're going to need to purchase up front to get the business going such as computers, software, furniture, office supplies, in other words, all of the things which aren't going to be provided with the Project, but will be needed to make it work? My inclination would be to aim more at reliable than fancy. Klara, I assume that money will be available for setup costs."

Klara nods her head as she answers, "Most definitely. I would suggest you do your research and get quotes for the things which you'll need, but wait until after you've acquired the Project before you actually purchase anything. The only exception to that is renting a place. I would rather rent furniture to temporarily put in an already acquired place than to have a bunch of purchased furniture with no place to put it.

"Most reputable places you might buy equipment and supplies from will provide a quote which is good for several weeks to a month. Mariam, you might tell your directors that we requested a list of equipment and supplies which were used by the Project, so that if any employees transfer, they'll have familiar equipment available. I think they'll probably encourage you to make such a list with the idea that we're serious enough about acquiring the Project to want that sort of information."

Mariam asks, "How do you want to handle my 'confession' of spying and how will that affect making equipment lists?"

"I'm not sure yet, and I want to think about it for a while longer. Change of subject, George, do you have any idea when Paula and Paul will be here?"

"Considering Paula usually closes the store about now, I'd say in the next half hour or so. Why, Klara?"

"It finally dawned on me that I smelled something when you and Sharlene came in and that it must have been the chicken. I guess it finally sunk in how good it smelled and that encourage me to think about dinner."

George suggests, "If you want to, go ahead and drag the vegetables out of the fridge and munch on those. I probably ought to check the chicken and rice anyway." While he goes out, Sharlene takes the vegetable tray out of the fridge and sets in on the counter near the table. He steps back in and explains, "The chicken and rice are basically done, so I turned the heat down to keep them warm until Paula and Paul get here." He gets out plates and eating utensils while the ladies quickly set the table and the conversation turns to chit-chat for awhile until the doorbell rings.

Sharlene answers the door and invites Paula and Paul in and after hugs or handshakes are shared all around, Sharlene pours drinks while George goes out to get the chicken and rice. Soon they're dished up and enjoying the food. When they have empty plates and full bellies, they thank George for the fine meal while he clears the table with Sharlene's help and puts the remainder of the chicken carcasses into a soup pot to simmer for broth.

After they're all sitting back at the table with fresh drinks, there's a pause, then Mariam asks, "It probably isn't any of my business, but Sharlene you're my friend and I had the impression that something happened to you last weekend. You also wanted to know what happened at the police station this afternoon. Who goes first?" Even as she's speaking, Mariam sees that Sharlene and George quickly grab hands.

Klara asks, "George, does your television accept audio and video input from a computer?"

"It should, but I've never done it before."

"Well, I have the police statements and the recordings which they collected from last weekend on my computer. I also have the audio recordings which led up to Mariam's and my visit to the police station this afternoon. That may save you having to retell your stories."

"Thank you, Klara. Let's see if we can get it connected."

Sharlene gets up and goes with George and the rest follow. They quickly find the right cables and connections and a brief test shows there's a good connection. They're soon seated with Sharlene cuddled on George's upper legs on the love seat with Mariam sitting next to them while Paula and Paul sit next to each other on the sofa with room for Klara who gives a brief introduction, "A week ago, George and Sharlene were leaving here and stopped at a little restaurant on the other side of town for dinner. By the way, George, does the restaurant have a name?"

"Probably, but I don't know what it is. Everyone just refers to it as Maria's place."

Paula and Paul nod their heads in agreement.

"Thank you. While they were there, a local bully and his gang came in. What you two probably don't realize," Klara looks at Sharlene and George, "was that someone was controlling the movement of the security cameras from shortly after the local bully walked in and almost everything that happened was recorded. What surprised me is that the police had enough audio recordings from various people with their phones or other devices so that almost all of the verbal interchange was recorded and someone at the sheriff's department did a good job of connecting the audio record with the video record, so there's a rather complete record of what occurred. I compared the original files with the composite one the sheriff's office put together and I couldn't find any discrepancies." Klara sits down, says, "Here's what happened," and she hits the remote control start button.

While George grits his teeth to watch it, Sharlene buries her head in his chest and Klara partially watches them while the other three stare in amazement as the scene unfolds. When it's done, the first to respond is Paula who quickly gets up and almost climbs onto George's legs to hug them both, while Mariam reaches over to lay a comforting hand on Sharlene's leg. Paul comes around the back of the love seat and, while he feels a surprising loss of words, he lays a hand on each of their shoulders and gives them a firm lingering squeeze.

After awhile, Paul steps away and asks, "Klara, can you run the first part of that recording again?"

With a look of almost horror, Paula turns on him and asks, "Paul, how can you?"

"Easy, love. I thought I saw something in the background of the recording which may make this bigger than it seems."

Klara hands Paul the remote control. Twice he re-watches it up to the point of the actual confrontation before he announces, "Klara, they were targeted."

After a chorus of shocked, "What!?!"s, Klara gets out, "How can you tell?"

"The bully, Hektor, barely acknowledges anyone as he makes a direct line to their table. Someone knew right where they were and directed Hektor there."

Sharlene asks, "But why?"

Paul shakes his head as he answers, "I don't know. Hektor considered himself a lady's man, but from what I've heard, he always waited until they were somewhat under his control before he would make his move. I haven't heard of him starting a confrontation over a woman before."

George asks, "Could he have been encouraged to do so that time?"

"I suspect so, but by whom? Klara, do you have any recordings which might have showed the people behind Hektor?"

"I think there was one. Here it is."

Slowly Paul watches it while he pays close attention to the faces. After he watches it a second time, he sits back and exclaims, "Damn!"

Klara asks, "What is it?"

"Most of the people in Hektor's gang are watching the confrontation with almost disinterest and then surprise. One watches the confrontation with glee and then shock before he quickly disappears." After he starts at the beginning of the video again, Paul pauses the recording and points out the person in question and they all observe as the person watches the confrontation with glee, then dismay, then shock, before he quickly scurries out of the door before anyone can stop him. Paul suggests, "I'll bet the police didn't even know he was there."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (e2)

Klara asks, "Who is he?"

Paul answers, "He's a little coward who's always trying to get some young punk like Hektor to do his dirty work for him. He's got a bad reputation for trying to get pretty women alone and abuse them. He gets away with it because he can claim they came to him and then it's his word against her word as to what was agreed to in private. I suspect he found out somebody new and pretty was in Maria's and sent Hektor in to fetch them so he could 'rescue' them from Hektor and do as he wished."

"Why is his word believed over her word?"

"Many times the girl involved is afraid to speak up due to embarrassment or is concerned about their future safety. Some of those who have spoken up have had some bad things happen to them or their family, but there's no clear evidence that one thing led to the other. And the police are more geared to solving the obvious crime and not looking further along the back trail to see what might have been motivating factors."

Klara asks, "Do you know his name?"

"I've heard him referred to as Ed or Eddie, but nothing more. The rumor is that his father is a wealthy quadrant politician. My guess is the kid will want to keep quiet about the failure of Hektor, but he could surprise me and find some other flunky to try to do what Hektor failed to do."

"And unless we can get one of Hektor's gang members to confess that he was there to instruct or encourage Hektor, then there's no way to connect him to the crime."

"You know the law much better than I do, Klara, but that's the way I figure it."

"Thank you, Paul, for your observations. If you have any other information about this person or any of the others, I would appreciate it if you can write it down or direct me to where I can find more information myself. This may throw a whole new light on our possible victim's compensation lawsuit."

Mariam asks, "Victim's compensation lawsuit?"

Klara nods her head as she answers, "Yes, we meet this morning with some of the other victims of Hektor to discuss the possibility of such a lawsuit against Hektor's estate or family. I suspect the possible compensation will be minimal or non-existent, but I'm still willing to pursue it to help the victims feel better about themselves and maybe help them stand up to the next bully. If there was someone behind the scenes calling the shots, that adds a whole new dimension to the case.

"When we met with the victims this morning, one young lady gave me what she said was a diary or history of Hektor's exploits with names, dates, and places. I haven't had a chance to read it, but maybe it will give some insight into Hektor's motivation and how much was external. Paula, if Rebeka, or Reb as she's called, comes to talk to you, can you ask her if she knows who this person is and what his connection to Hektor was?"

"Sure, Klara, but I don't want a copy of the whole recording."

"That's fine, let me make a copy of this frame and I'll print it out if George doesn't mind."

"Print away."

Klara disconnects the computer from the television to take it to the printer.

George turns to Sharlene and asks, "Are you going to be okay, love?"

"Yes, if you keep holding me. Thank you, Aunt Paula and Mariam for your concern. Thank you, Uncle Paul for your concern and for noticing the background. Maybe it will help some of the people who have been more seriously victimized by that bully. I don't know how some of those people can keep going after what they went through."

"Many people find they're stronger than they think they are when they're faced with a crisis."

"It's not the crisis which bothers me as much as being able to get up and face the next day and the aftermath of the crisis."

George hugs her tighter as he tells her, "Sharlene, you did this time and you'll do it the next time, too."

"Only because you were there with me. Oh, George, don't leave me," and she bursts into tears.

"Shhh, love. I won't leave you."

He kisses the top of her head and caresses her head with his right hand. When he glances up, Paula gives him a smile and nods her head.

When Sharlene's tears diminish to occasional sobs, George asks, "Mariam, can you please get the box of tissues from the table on my left?" After he takes the box from Mariam, he says, "Thank you," pulls out a tissue, and gently dries Sharlene's tears and wipes her nose.

Sharlene takes the tissue from him to wipe her own nose and says, "I can do that."

"I know you can, but I want to help you when I can."

She puts her hands down, turns to look at him with a sad smile and tears in her eyes, and says, "Oh, George, you always want to help me. You're such a wonderful man." She lifts her left hand to the back of his neck, pulls his head to hers, kisses him long, tells him, "Thank you, George," then rests her head on his shoulder and snuggles as close as she can.

Klara reconnects her computer, hands the print out to Paula, steps over to Sharlene, puts a hand on her shoulder, and asks, "Are you going to be okay?"

"With George here, yes. Thank you, Klara."

"Good boy, George."

"Woof, woof." As Klara looks at him in surprise, the others chuckle, and the mood lightens.

After a brief pause, Klara continues, "Before I tell what Mariam and I found out at the police station, let me fill in Paula and Paul on what led up to it. Two nights ago, the Project, where Mariam works and which Sharlene and her want to take over, had a dinner and presentation to try to impress potential investors. I asked George to act like an eccentric wealthy investor while Sharlene got dolled up as his companion. I gave George a pen to carry in his pocket, but didn't tell him until afterwards that it was also a microphone and transmitter and that I recorded all he said and others said to him. I've cut out the part during dinner and the presentation. You really don't want to hear him chew his food even if it was more entertaining than the presentation."

They chuckle at that.

"This may help explain Mariam's exuberant greeting when we arrived at the store this afternoon."

With her dark complexion it's hard to tell that Mariam is blushing, but Sharlene recognizes it and leans over to rub her arm which Mariam responds to with a smile of thanks. As they listen, they more frequently look at George, who keeps his eyes closed and his lips buried in Sharlene's hair on the top of her head.

When it's over, Paul bursts out, "I thought I was just teasing you when I called you an old fraud. So where do you keep your millions?"

The others start to laugh. When the laughter diminishes with an occasional shaking of their heads as one person then another remembers a particular line which struck them, George explains, "I couldn't have done it without Sharlene. You heard how often she had to encourage me to keep me going."

"But you did it, my old man." None of them miss the blaze of pride in her voice and eyes as Sharlene turns George's head to kiss him.

Klara lets the kiss go on and when it 'finally' finishes, she asks Mariam to relate what happened afterwards for Paula and Paul's enlightenment. After Mariam is done, Klara picks up the narrative, "When Mariam and I went down to the police station, I asked for some assistance in helping to acquire evidence for a possible corporate espionage case. The officer on duty, I think he was only a rookie, looked at me like I was speaking some foreign language. So I asked to speak to Chief Brown. A couple of moments of explanation were all which were required before he seemed to bend over backwards in his effort to be helpful.

"Not only did he fingerprint the video recorder, he also took photos of it with the serial number and the fingerprints clearly highlighted. Then he ran the fingerprints through the computer and both the director of the Institute and the director of the Project had handled the video recorder. He printed that information and cleaned the equipment of the fingerprints. Then on a whim, he ran a tracer on the serial number and it had clearly been sold new to the Institute, so he made a copy of that information for me as well. I let him know that if anything came of it, I would let him know and give him credit for his assistance."

Mariam asks, "By the way, where is the video recorder?"

Klara pauses in thought then answers, "I'm sorry, I think I left it on the table on the back porch."

"No problem, I can get it." When Mariam comes back in she asks, "Do you think we can play back what you recorded when Sharlene and I were playing with Molly?"

"George?"

"Go for it. If the cable we used for Klara's computer doesn't work, I might have another."

"It fits." Mariam starts the recording which shows her driving up George's driveway behind Klara's vehicle, but before she can fast forward it, Klara tells her to leave it and they watch what 'the spy' had recorded. Mariam pauses it after the recorder had been 'confiscated', "Klara did you want that erased?"

"I don't know yet. I would like to think about our response to their spy attempts a little longer. We can always erase it later."

"Okay."

Mariam resumes the recording and soon they're all laughing at Molly with the futball and the attempts of Mariam and Sharlene to take the ball away. When the recording ends, Mariam clumsily turns off the recorder while she continues to laugh.

After the laughter diminishes to chuckles, Sharlene says, "Mariam, I would like to get a copy of that on my computer, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, I'll want a copy also. Actually, once it's downloaded onto a computer, it will be easier to transfer between computers rather than download it several times."

Since the video entertainment is done for the evening, the conversation stalls then picks up in smaller groups. George chases Sharlene off of his upper legs to make a trip down the hall, so she gets her computer to download the video recording of Molly and then forwards a copy to Mariam's email account and after asking, forwards it to Paula and Klara also. When George returns, he checks the simmering soup broth, turns it off and moves it to the side to begin the long cooling process. When Sharlene asks him about his email account, he's a bit embarrassed to admit that it's lapsed, again.

Sharlene suggests, "That's something else to add to my list of to-dos for Digital Empathy, email accounts for the staff and the board of directors."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (e3)

Mariam's voice has a hint of fear as she asks, "Board of directors?"

Sharlene nods her head as she answers, "I know most small companies don't have them, but I could use the advice of wiser people. Actually, what gave me the idea was to find a formal position for George," who had wandered over to talk to Paul, "which will allow him to be involved in anything without giving him day to day responsibilities."

"That's a good idea. Who else?"

"Me and you."

Mariam's eyes open wide as she asks, "Me?"

"Of course. You've been as much the motivation for Digital Empathy as anyone."

"You'd better be careful, Sharlene, I'll have a swelled head with all of these big-wig titles before the company even starts. Who else?"

"Klara. I plan on asking my dad, but I want to do that face to face. I think I'll also ask Aunt Paula, but I want to do that in a quieter setting."

Mariam responds, "I don't know your dad, but I think all of the others are good choices. When you first said 'board of directors', I almost panicked at the idea that some other group of people might be able to take control and change the whole aspect of the company. But the people you named will only want to help support your philosophy and goals in the best way possible."

"That's why I thought of them. Both my dad and Klara know a large business from the top, while George is well acquainted with large businesses from the bottom. You're well acquainted with business in general and Aunt Paula is familiar with all aspects of a small business. And I haven't got a clue about any of it."

"Don't sell yourself short, Sharlene."

"I'm not, I'm just trying to be honest with myself. I've been learning a lot from each of you, but I still have a lot more to learn. Oh, I wish this was done and over with. There are so many things I want to talk over with you and the others, but I don't dare. I trust you, but the more I hear about the management at the Institute, the less I trust them. Who knows how long it will be before they try to drug you or put truth serum in your drink to find out what's going on that you might know about."

Mariam responds, "Ouch. I hate to admit it, but those sorts of things have crossed my mind. What I don't know, I can't tell."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Sharlene. Welcome to the world of cut-throat business practices."

"If we do get the Project, hopefully the contract will be so water-tight we won't have to worry about being back stabbed. Then we can concentrate on conducting our business above board and cooperatively with our suppliers and customers."

"I fully agree with you."

After that, they drift back over to the others and get involved in various conversations as the topics and groupings fluctuate. Sharlene and George are seldom more than a pace apart and more often than not they're holding hands or in some other way touching each other. A couple of hours later, Paula and Paul leave and Klara goes with them.

George sits down on the love seat and Sharlene quickly settles herself on his upper legs. Mariam looks at them for a moment then sits down next to them on the love seat and leans on his shoulder.

Sharlene kisses his cheek before she says, "George, thank you for inviting Aunt Paula and Uncle Paul. I think they liked being involved or at least informed of what's going on."

"It's my pleasure to invite them. I like them, but I'm usually a poor host when it's just me. You ladies and Klara helped to keep the conversation going."

The silence stretches for quite a few minutes as each is lost in their own thoughts.

Mariam says, "George, Sharlene is right, you're a comfortable old man."

"Thank you for the thought, but where did that come from?"

"Normally, I can't sit still for long. I have to be busy. But just now, sitting in the quiet with you two, it's quite comforting and peaceful."

"I'm glad you feel that way."

Many more minutes pass in silence which is interspersed with his intermittent yawns which increase in frequency. Since he knows he can't put it off any longer, he announces, "I'm sorry, ladies, but I'm going to have to go to bed."

Mariam asks, "Is that an invitation, Mr. G?"

George whips his head around to stare at her while Sharlene covers her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"No, young lady, it's not!" He softens his tone, "I'm sorry, Mariam, I realize you're only teasing, but I didn't like playing the role of Mr. G especially since that role was intended to imitate a type of person and how they would probably treat a woman. I felt dirty calling Sharlene 'Doctor Doll' and I felt ashamed of having her play a role which had her jumping to respond to my slightest suggestion. To be honest, I don't think I've actually invited Sharlene to my bed. I welcome her if she comes, but I leave it totally up to her."

"George, I'm sorry I upset you. And I didn't mean to spring it on you, but I can now honestly say that you refused to take me to bed. My bosses can't very well expect me to rape you to make you feel better about the Project, so with your refusal and that you only have eyes for Sharlene, they can hardly blame me for 'not making an effort'."

He pauses to consider that before he says, "Thank you for explaining, but, next time, can you give me a little warning, please. You've been a wonderful friend to Sharlene and I would like to consider you my friend also, but I don't like to be caught in surprise and end up snapping at my friends."

"Friend George, can I have a kiss?"

He asks, "Sharlene?"

"George, you two are my best friends, I trust both of you. If it makes Mariam feel better to have a kiss from you, then please kiss her. And kiss her good, old man. I've bragged that you kiss good and I wouldn't want it known that I don't know what a good kiss is."

He briefly looks at her before he asks, "I'm sorry, young lady, but how much experience do you have to know whether my kisses are anything beyond mediocre if even that? You may like my kisses, and I'm extremely grateful that you do, but that doesn't mean anyone else will like them."

"You're right. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want you to kiss her halfheartedly, on the basis that you want to save your best for me. Mariam is my best friend and deserves the best you can give her."

"Then I'll try to kiss Mariam to the best of my ability."

He turns his head to ask Mariam if that's acceptable, but she grabs his head with both hands and hungrily kisses him. After a momentary surprise, he hugs Sharlene closer with his left arm and fully responds to Mariam's kiss while his right hand lifts up to cup the back of her neck.

When Mariam finally lets him breathe, she winks at Sharlene and says, "You know, George, Sharlene may not have much experience, but she's right, you do kiss good."

"Thank . . . you."

As his breathing becomes more settled, Sharlene gets off of his upper legs, stands up, and extends a hand to help him up.

As he accepts her help, he suggests, "I need to check my chicken broth before I go to bed." The covered pot is still quite warm and since it will take a few more hours to cool down, he decides it can sit out until the morning.

"George, go get yourself ready for bed. I'll check the doors and give you a couple of minutes before I come to tuck you in."

"Thanks, love." He gives Sharlene a thorough but brief kiss before he yawns again and makes his way down the hall.

A couple of minutes later, she's sitting on the end of the bed waiting for him as he comes out of the bathroom. He gets in bed, scoots over a little, and pats the bed beside him for her to sit down before he asks, "Sharlene, why do you encourage me to kiss Mariam?"

She sits and thinks for a moment then says, "I'm not sure I have a good explanation. It seems obvious to me that she wants to be kissed and I like how you kiss me, so, at least in my opinion, you're a good kisser. I guess it just seems okay that if she wants a kiss, give her a kiss. I enjoyed kissing her, but your kisses seem better and I'm guessing she might feel something similar."

"I don't have the energy to kiss you as long or as much as you want. I'm afraid that if I kiss Mariam, I'll have even less energy to give to you. You're first in my heart and life and I don't want anything or anyone to diminish what little I can give you. . . . I don't know how else to say this, but Mariam's kiss was sexually hungry. I can't imagine it was directed at me personally, and I know she wouldn't want to hurt you, but if she's that hungry, I'm afraid of what might happen."

"You're afraid that she or you may lose control and end up in bed together?"

He hesitates then nods his head, "Yes. Oh love, I know I've said the word is more abused than used properly, but I can think of no other word to use to say that I love you very much. I cherish you. I want only what's right and good and wonderful and pleasurable for you. And I never want to do anything which could cause you any kind of pain or discomfort or even unpleasantness. This is one of those times when I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a man."

"Why do you say that?"

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (e4)

George turns his eyes away from her before he admits, "No matter how much I remind myself that you're the center of my life, and no matter how much I try to control or reject the thought, I still see Mariam as an extremely attractive and desirable woman. . . . I feel like I've betrayed you."

Sharlene wipes the tears which begin to roll down his cheeks.

"I didn't want to run the risk of hurting you by telling you, but I can't silently lie to you or run the risk of things getting out of control without warning you. I'm sorry, Sharlene. I really only want you."

"I know you do, lover. I think I know the answer, but can you tell me why it might be harder to control yourself with Mariam than it would be to control yourself with me?"

"I don't know if this makes any sense, but with you, I have an overpowering desire to be gentle with you, to go slow, to help you enjoy pleasure in as many ways as possible in incremental steps which hopefully gives you more pleasure not only during the journey, but as you enjoy the journey, more pleasure in anticipating the enjoyment of the future steps of the journey of touching. With Mariam, I don't know, . . . as much as I like her and wouldn't want to hurt her, . . . nor do I want to make it sound as though it's something bad, . . . but I think it would be more like, satisfy the sexual hunger. . . . I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you or make you feel bad."

Sharlene gently caresses his face as she tells him, "Shhh, lover, you didn't make me feel bad and you didn't hurt me. You make me feel very special. I know you've had a hard time controlling yourself with me even with the added incentive of taking me on the journey. If we weren't on the journey and you had accepted my invitation several weeks ago, I'm sure you making love to me would be very gentle and special and I very much look forward to it.

"When I encourage you to kiss Mariam, it's not to hurt you or to interfere with our wonderful relationship, it's simply to make her feel better, to help her feel good about herself. I don't know why she isn't in a relationship of her own, nor am I inclined to stick my nose into her life in that way, but I'm pretty sure she misses the affection as well as the physical aspects of a relationship. Because of that, I want to help her. I guess I shouldn't be putting the burden on you to help her. I'm sorry I hadn't thought of what affect it might have on you and I really don't want to make you feel obligated. It just seems to me that you have so much love to share, I didn't think there would be a problem with you sharing some of it with Mariam."

He hesitates before he responds, "Thank you for clarifying your reasoning. I don't object to helping Mariam or encouraging her to feel good about herself, but the whole sexual element can be volatile and I wouldn't want it to blow up in any of our faces. I guess I'm somewhat amazed that you can encourage me to kiss Mariam. Most people are very selfish with their relationships and wouldn't think of encouraging their partner to be friendly with someone else who might potentially be considered competition. I know I couldn't encourage you to be so friendly with another man."

"Interesting. I understand what you're saying and even with my limited social interaction, I've seen how people cling to their relationships. Is there something strange about me or do I have such confidence in your love and care for me that I'm not bothered by you and Mariam kissing? I don't know. I'm going to have to think about this some more. In the meantime, I need a good kiss." To which he more than willingly obliges her. "I would like to ask for more, but you're tired and it probably wouldn't be courteous towards Mariam for us to give each other pleasure while she sits out there by herself."

"You're right, even if she would expect us to do so."

Sharlene chuckles then says, "That wouldn't surprise me. George, thank you for loving me and thank you for talking to me and telling me about your difficulties. I really appreciate your willingness to tell me how you feel even at the risk that I might be upset. Try not to worry about Mariam and I'll try to figure out why I feel the way I do." She kisses him breathless then says, "Sweet dreams, lover."

"With you . . . always."

After she closes George's bedroom door behind her, Sharlene takes a few moments to try to control her thoughts of racing back in. When she feels calmer, she goes back to the living room where Mariam is looking at the titles of his movie collection.

Mariam looks up at her and says, "I thought you might take longer to tuck him in."

"We were tempted, but didn't think it would be courteous towards you. I need something to drink. What about you?"

"I would like some more of that wine if there's any left."

"Did he get it out of the fridge? I wasn't paying attention."

"It was chilled when he served it, so it probably was from the fridge."

"Why don't you check the fridge and get out the iced tea while you're there and I'll get a couple of glasses."

"Sharlene, do you think he would mind if I finish off this bottle."

"I doubt it. But as a reminder that you did, let me rinse it out and leave the empty in the sink. That way he'll know to replenish it if he wants. Besides, I don't know what he does with empty glass. I'm quite sure he recycles it, but I don't know how he does so."

"I'm surprised your clothes aren't all wrinkled, you were in there quite awhile."

Sharlene's chuckle comes out more like a giggle before she says, "I'm tempted to tell you that I took my clothes off to 'tuck him into bed,' but the truth is we mostly talked."

Mariam is surprised and asks, "He was willing to just talk?"

As they sit on the love seat, Sharlene answers, "Actually, he's the one who started the talk."

"You're tucking him into bed and he wants to talk? What would he want to talk about at a time like that?"

"You."

"ME!?! Why would he want to talk about me?"

Sharlene suggests, "Calm down. Actually, he was wondering why I was encouraging him to kiss you. I told him that I didn't have a good explanation. He described your kiss as sexually hungry, and was afraid of where it might lead."

"Um . . . uh . . . where did he think it might lead?"

"He was concerned that it might lead to you two being in bed together. He didn't want to tell me because he was afraid to hurt me, but he also wanted to warn me that it was a risk."

Mariam pauses before she remarks, "You seem mighty calm about it."

"I know and that's what's puzzling about it. I know most people in a similar situation would feel threatened or jealous or angry or something similar and I don't understand why I don't feel anything like that right now."

"Why did he think it might lead that far?"

Sharlene responds, "Before I answer that, you need to know that he likes you as a person and wouldn't want to hurt you, regardless of how his words may sound. He was rather distressed that while he considers me the center of his life, he's unable to control his thoughts that you're an attractive and desirable woman. He couldn't imagine you would be interested in him personally, but he was concerned that if your kiss was an indication of how sexually hungry you were, you might view him as available especially since I've encouraged the expression of affection between you two."

"Oh." Mariam hesitates before she responds, "I thought I was doing a better job of controlling myself. . . . Sharlene, I'm sorry, but I am beginning to desire that old man of yours. I suppose 'sexually hungry' is probably as good a description as any of how I kissed him. I don't like saying it, but that's where he's wrong. My kiss was meant for George personally. I suppose I could be offended at his idea that I'm so desperate, I would go for a worn out old man because he was the only one available. Yet, I'm not offended, because while he may look at himself that way, I see the way he looks at you and treats you, and I want it for myself. Even a small portion of it would be wonderful.

"I still think you're one very lucky lady. I know I thought you were out of your mind to even think about an old man like George, much less be interested in him, but the more I see of you two together, the more I'm jealous and want that kind of relationship for myself. Then I have to stop and remember that you're my best friend and I should encourage your happiness rather than try to take it away from you. I'm sorry, I don't mean to make your life more difficult."

"You two have certainly opened my eyes this evening. Thank you for telling me, I didn't realize you were being so affected by him."

"Neither did I. I was impressed with how well he played his role on fourth-day evening at the Institute, but that really wasn't George himself. But as I've watched you two interact this afternoon and evening, I don't know, it just sort of hit me how caring and generous and gentle he is with you. And it dawned on me, that's what I want in a relationship. It's been easy for me to find a bed partner when I was interested, but there was always something missing. I don't think I feel ready to settle down and marry, but I would still like a relationship which is more than just a few days of fun."

Sharlene softly asks, "So, is it George or is it that kind of a relationship you want?"

"Do you have to ask such hard questions?"

"That's what he accuses me of. He'll warn me that I may not like the answer, but if I insist, he still answers the question."

"I want that kind of relationship." Mariam hesitates before she admits, "I'm sorry, Sharlene, but to be honest . . . I want George also. I know I could never turn his heart away from you . . . and I really don't want to even try, but I still think it would be wonderful to experience his gentle loving. I can't explain it, but most of the men I've kissed, and it's been more than a few, and some of them have been gorgeous, it seemed like they were taking something from me. Yet, when I kiss that dumpy old man, I feel like I'm receiving something from him. It's like, for the brief time the kiss lasts, I'm the only person who matters to him."

Sharlene nods her head then responds, "Maybe that's why I think his kisses are so good even though I've never been kissed before. He does make me feel like I'm the center of his world. I never could find the words before to express what I felt. Well, he also makes me feel that way even when we're not kissing."

"I guess that's part of why I think you're so lucky to have found him."

The quiet lengthens as neither of them is quite sure where to take the conversation from there.

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (e5)

Mariam shakes her head then says, "Enough about George. I don't mean to be nosy, but I couldn't help but notice a number of boxes in that spare bedroom. It seems so odd of George to have boxes sitting in an empty room like that. Do you know what they are?"

Sharlene laughs while Mariam just looks at her with a puzzled expression before she answers, "That 'enough about George' didn't last long."

"What do you mean?"

"Although those boxes are a project I'm working on, they're all about George."

"Oh? How?"

Sharlene explains, "Apparently a number of years ago, George won some money. He hasn't said how much it was, but it enabled him to build this house with enough left over to go with his retirement to live on, if he remains careful with how he spends it. After he won the money, he said he felt a little flush and knew someone who was going to open a store and George decided to invest in the store. He said the conditions were right and all of the numbers looked good. Just before the other person was to open the store, he found out he had cancer and didn't want to go forward with the store in that condition."

"I wouldn't either."

"George knew the other person couldn't afford to pay back his investment, so he took his portion in the already purchased stock. He was able to sell some of it to recoup part of his investment, but the rest he couldn't, so when he moved here, he put the unopened boxes in the guest bedroom and forgot about them. When I first visited two weeks ago, he put my luggage in that bedroom and said there should be hangers in the closet if I wanted to hang up any clothes. I opened the closet to hang up some clothes and there were all of those boxes. I asked him about them and he was surprised at my question because he thought the closet was empty. When he looked in the closet, he seemed stunned, until he remembered them and then told me the story."

"So what kind of project are you working on with the boxes?"

Sharlene answers, "I'm sorting the contents. Come on, Mariam, and let me show you. I have a box which I sorted out for you." They walk down the hall and into the 'empty' bedroom.

"For me? What would you have for me?"

"Here, this box is for you, if you want it. Go ahead and open it."

"Huh?" As she looks in the box, Mariam's eyes open wide in surprise before she asks, "Lingerie?!? George was investing in a lingerie store?"

"Yes. I'm guessing those might be more your size."

"Boring old man George was going to invest in a lingerie store? I don't believe it."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "It's hard to believe, but you should have seen his face when he saw those boxes and recognized them. He was rather embarrassed. Then he said I can have any of it I want or share it with anyone and what I don't want he would either try to sell again or give it to a charity thrift store."

As Mariam starts to look through the box and as she holds some pieces up, she remarks "This is one of the better brand names. Sharlene, this isn't discount store stuff, this is real quality lingerie."

"Really? I didn't have any idea. I've been wearing a little and it seems nice, but I don't have much of a basis for comparison. If those won't fit you, this box has slightly smaller sizes and that box on the other side has slightly larger sizes."

"Sharlene, I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, just decide what will fit you and what you would like and enjoy it."

Mariam stands up, tightly hugs Sharlene and says, "This is a wonderful gift. Thank you. You're a good guesser, because those are basically my sizes."

"If you want, take some from the boxes of the near sizes. I really don't know anyone else near my size, so I'm saving just about anything I might be able to wear. And then I divide it up to leave some here and take some to my place in the city. One of these days, I'm going to model some of it for the boring old man. He's already told me to wait for awhile because he didn't want me to tempt him to jump way ahead on the journey."

Mariam sits down on the floor since she feels slightly stunned by it all then asks, "So, is he still taking you on the journey of touching you were telling me about?"

She sits down also and answers, "Yes," with a big grin.

"I was going to ask how it's going, but that answers it."

Sharlene nods her head as she explains, "It's absolutely wonderful. I don't want to miss a single step, but it's so wonderful, I can hardly control myself in not wanting the rest of the steps right away. He's demonstrated better control than I have and often he has to help me gain control or even tell me 'not yet'. I know he's anxious for more also. Sometimes I can feel his hands tremble as he works to control himself from touching me more. I don't have any comparative experience, but from what I've heard others say, George has shown unbelievable control over his desires."

"Compared to the men I've known, he's shown unbelievable control in being able to tell me 'no', and I'm not even sharing his bed at night or being all alone with him for days at a time. The more you tell me about his control, the more I wonder if he's real or if he's a man or if he's interested in females."

"I can fully assure you that he's real, he's definitely a man, and he's very interested in females. And that just makes his self-restraint all the more remarkable."

"Um, . . ." Mariam starts, but can't finish the statement.

"You wonder how I can know when I have no previous experience?"

She winces before she says, "I don't mean to disparage your knowledge, but it did occur to me . . ."

Sharlene reminds her, "You ought to know by now that you can be blunt with me."

"I know. I guess I'm not quite used to talking to you about sexual matters and you have to admit that when all of this started you were rather naive."

She clarifies, "It was the relationship elements with a man I was most naive about. When this all started, my knowledge of the biological functions was on some back corner shelf of my mind. When I was approaching puberty, I received a very thorough education from Aunt Paula and one of my grandmothers which was later validated by a female paramedic friend and a gynecologist.

"Now that I'm with George, I've started to remember a lot of what I learned and have been doing some research, which, of course, is often lacking in comparison to 'hands-on' experience, but as we become more 'hands-on', I'm learning two primary things. The first is that what I learned from my aunt and my grandmother is often more accurate than what I've found in my research and the second thing is that he certainly knows how to touch me to give me pleasure. Of course, George is sure that my pleasure has more to do with how it's a new experience for me than with how he touches me. I think a lot of it has to do with his gentleness and how much I'm comfortable with him and trust him."

Mariam nods her head as she responds, "That would definitely affect your level of pleasure. I know that the more I can trust the man I'm with, the more I feel like I can give myself over to the pleasure. Often the more foreplay he's willing to engage in, the more pleasure there is."

"Would you define foreplay as touching and giving pleasure before sexual intercourse?"

"Yes."

Sharlene chuckles before she says, "I never thought of our journey of touching as foreplay, but it definitely fits the definition and George is sure willing to do it."

"I don't want to be thought of as someone who gossips about their own or somebody else's private affairs, but that makes it sound like you two haven't made love yet."

"I guess talking about his level of control isn't a clear statement. No, we haven't made love. I suspect it will be awhile yet before he feels like the journey has progressed far enough to take that step. I'm not one to gossip about my private affairs either, nor do I want you to feel embarrassed or bothered or whatever you might feel, but sometimes I feel like I need to tell someone how wonderful George's guidance on this journey has been."

"I don't want you to feel like you're revealing confidences, but I have to admit I am very curious about you two."

Sharlene suggests, "Let's go back to the living room where it's more comfortable. Did you want to put your box of lingerie with your luggage so you don't forget or did you want to go through the near sizes first."

"I would like to go through the near sizes if that's okay. I'm certainly not going to forget. I still feel stunned by such a gift."

They go back to the living room with fresh drinks, sit on the love seat, and Sharlene starts, "Mariam, I trust you, but I don't want to put you in the uncomfortable position of trying to hold in something you want to tell somebody else about."

"Thank you for your trust and your concern. I don't have anyone who I would be inclined to tell, but if you put whatever you might want to say more in conceptual terms rather than stroke by stroke details of how he touched you, then even if I said anything in the future, it could be stated as an idea or a dream or even something I read about in a book."

"Fair enough. As I've said in the past, I've never been touched by another man so I have no basis for direct comparison. I've overheard other women talk and one of the major complaints seemed to be that the man was in more of a hurry to get to sexual intercourse and less interested in cuddling, touching, or foreplay. That's a point in George's favor because he does enjoy cuddling and touching. I think a lot of his success in touching me and giving me pleasure is that he touches me thoroughly only to a certain level. Then it will be a couple of days later before he touches beyond that certain level to a new level.

"In between, he'll touch me at the same level in different ways. I can't remember exactly, because the pleasure tends to blur the details of how he touches me, but seldom have our touching events which led to my pleasure been the same. As a result, a lot of how he touches me has a uniqueness to it, plus there's the anticipation of how and when he's going to touch me the next time. Even when I initiate the touching, he still finds a way to make it a little different."

* * * * *

2147-09-06 (e6)

Mariam nods her head as she responds, "That approach would certainly go a long ways towards keeping the touching exciting and the pleasure building. Would you be willing to give me an example of what you mean by him touching you to a certain level?"

Sharlene answers, "Just to clarify, when I talk about his touching, I mean where his hands or lips are intentionally touching me. I've figured out a couple of ways of having his body touch my body in very pleasurable ways, but since they're weren't how he intentionally touched me, I don't consider them to be a part of the journey he's guiding me on, but more a part of my impatience with wanting to be touched more. Anyway, early in our touching, he wouldn't touch my legs any higher than about the middle of my thigh, but only on the fronts and outsides of my legs, the next level was to the middle of my thigh up the backs of my legs, the next level was to the middle of my thigh up the insides of my legs, and all of those were through my pants. Then he repeated the same sequence of levels on my bare skin under my skirt. Of course, having his hands 'sneak' up under my skirt added its own level of excitement."

"Yeah, that would." Mariam pauses then looks at Sharlene in surprise for a little while before she asks, "Hold it, you mean he would touch your legs only up to the middle of your thigh for about two weeks?"

"Something like that. I wasn't writing a diary or keeping records, but it was probably about that long."

"How did he keep that exciting without you wanting more?"

"Mariam, any time he touches me I want more. As for keeping it exciting, his touching is many times spontaneous and although I wasn't expecting it, it's so wonderful, I gladly accept it. Sometimes he'll touch my legs from in front, sometimes from in back, or when we're standing or sitting or laying on the bed. Without going into the details of how the situation developed, one time he ended up kneeling in front of me while I was standing and he partially opened my shirt in order to kiss the skin of my upper abdomen while his hands reached around the outsides of my legs to caress the insides of my legs to no more than the middle of my thighs. But the combination of how he was holding me and touching me was quite exciting. Ooh . . ."

"What's the matter, Sharlene?"

"The more I remember it and talk about it, the more I'm about ready to race down the hall and wake him up."

Mariam barely pauses before she admits, "I'm afraid I would be right behind you. I can almost imagine what that type of touching might have felt like, and I think I would strongly push him for a personal demonstration. We've got to change the subject." The quiet lengthens as they think their own thoughts which strongly lean towards encouraging them to wake him. With an almost physical effort, Mariam thinks of something else and asks, "So, what do you think our chances are of getting the company up and running?"

Since she's surprised at the change in subject, Sharlene takes a little while to respond, "Huh? Oh. I don't know. I've been wondering that myself. Sometimes I'm just ready to bag the whole effort and just settle in with George and enjoy as much intimate pleasure as he'll give me. Other times, I'm ready to march on the Institute and demand that they hand over the Project to us since we have a much better idea of how to do something positive with it."

"I can understand both of those feelings quite well. Klara's had to be rather closed mouth when she visited at the Project, what does she think?"

"You heard her when we were comparing my emotional recordings with the best the Project has. She's pretty upbeat about the prospects. I'm feeling somewhat more cautious because there are so many unknowns involved. It almost makes my relationship with George seem simple and straightforward. Sure there are unknowns, but one of the reasons he stated for going slow was to give me every opportunity to back out with no commitment and as little damage to my feelings as possible. The Project is a whole different challenge.

"I have to commit myself while many of the key questions are still unanswered. Can the average person feel the emotions which are being provided? What equipment or software is needed for the average person to feel the emotions? Will people want to experience other people's emotions? How much does it cost? How much do we charge? Where do we find the right people to make it all work? Whose toes are we inadvertently going to step on by offering emotions for other people to experience? What kind of possible reactions might they have? And on and on and on."

Mariam nods her head then says, "Yeah, it does seem like that. Every question seems to generate multiple other questions with maybe half of an answer to any one question figured out. I have a lot of questions, some of them you might be able to answer, but I want to avoid getting too specific or detailed in our discussions because I don't want to accidentally reveal more than I should when I report back, which I'll have to do. I suppose I could just quit the job and start working with you on the company, but that would probably suggest to their devious little minds that we've been working together on this idea for some time and they might give the Project to someone else just to spite us."

Sharlene agrees, "That's one of my concerns also. I'm glad it's Klara who is handling the interface. She has a much better idea of how to deal with those kinds of people. The longer this goes on, it seems like she's more convinced they're playing right into our hands. I'm afraid if we push just a little too hard, they'll give the Project to someone else just to spite us, as you say. George was real concerned that he blew it for us on fourth-day evening when they cornered us after the presentation and he told them what he felt, role or no role. It was so stressful for him that we barely got out of the hotel parking lot before he fell asleep. Once we got back to my place and got him in the house, it took quite awhile before Klara and I could convince him that he had done well."

"I can believe that. From what I heard directly and through the grapevine afterwards, many people who were there, both employees and investigators of the Project, were real impressed with what he had to say and unless he's a fantastic actor, the sincerity and conviction of what he had to say was very obvious to all. They are several possibilities of how the Institute management is going to respond.

"From their perspective, they'll give it to 'Mr. G' because nobody else will want it, or they'll absolutely not give it to 'Mr. G' because he embarrassed them, or they'll give it to 'Mr. G' even though they're embarrassed because they recognize the truth of what he was saying, or they'll give it to 'Mr. G' to spite him in the sense of 'let's see if you can do a better job than we did'. Without assigning any other values than the number of possibilities and ignoring whatever kind of proposal Klara puts together, I would suggest we have a seventy-five percent chance of getting the Project simply on the basis of George's performance."

"That's an interesting analysis. It may not have any mathematical or statistical validity, but it may actually be more valid in the end considering the personalities involved. Thank you. That's something you probably ought to share with Klara. That reminds me, we didn't make plans with her for tomorrow or for going back to the city. Oh, well, I can call her in the morning. I doubt if she'll want to leave before noon."

Mariam asks, "So, what are mornings like here with George?"

"I usually wake up before him and depending on how distracted I need to be, I'll do a tai-chi workout or check my email or whatever else to keep me busy until he wakes up. We have breakfast and then we try to find something to do which reduces how much we're touching each other. I'm pretty sure that tomorrow morning after breakfast, he'll want to take care of his chicken broth and either do it up for the freezer or make a batch of soup and then throw that in the freezer. Maybe sometime around the middle of the morning, I'll call Klara and see what her plans are, assuming she hasn't called first. Do you have any plans or suggestions for tomorrow?"

"No, just hang out and 'spy' on you guys. The directors even made it clear that if you guys were going to stick around here and didn't object to my presence, then I didn't have to show up to work on second-day."

"That's interesting. My guess is that Klara will want to head back tomorrow, so we probably will also. (yawn) I guess it has been a long day. George ought to be asleep by now." Mariam follows as Sharlene gets up and double checks the doors and turns out the lights.

Since she's somewhat surprised at her statement, Mariam asks, "Do you purposely wait until he's gone to sleep?"

"Usually I'm not tired when he is, but I've come to realize that it makes sense for me to wait until after he's asleep. I guess you might call it my contribution to keeping the journey from going too fast. If I went to bed with him, I'm afraid it might be awhile before I let him go to sleep. I'm sure it would be wonderfully fun, but we would both feel guilty for jumping over the next steps of the journey. (yawn) Mmm, sorry."

"Actually it's about my bedtime too. Do you need to use the bathroom first?"

"No, go ahead, I'll use George's. Mariam, thank you for being willing to listen to my ramblings about that old man."

"Thank you for telling me. Although in some ways I wish I didn't know how wonderful he is to you."

"I certainly didn't tell you to make you feel left out or jealous or anything like that."

Mariam assures her, "I know you didn't. You have something wonderful happening in your life and you want to share it. I completely understand. Actually, I would probably be less gracious about it if the tables were turned. Well, good night," she gives her a hug. Their kiss is a bare brush of the lips, since they know that anything more could too easily encourage them to want to wake him up.

"I'll see you in the morning." Sharlene steps into George's bedroom and gently closes the door behind her.

Mariam stands there a moment longer and is half tempted to follow her, but realizes that despite Sharlene's encouragement of her kissing George, anything more could too easily jeopardize their relationship and it isn't worth taking the risk. After she takes care of her needs in the bathroom, Mariam is soon changed into her night clothes and in bed then she lays there for quite awhile as she thinks about what Sharlene had told her.

Just after she closes the door, Sharlene almost opens it again to invite Mariam in, but then she realizes that would be too much for George. She gets herself ready for bed and goes to his side of the bed and fondly looks at him for a little while before she goes around to the other side of the bed, crawls in, cuddles close to his back, slips her left hand under his pajama top, pulls herself tightly to him, and is soon asleep.

* * * * *

2147-09-07 (n>m1)

George wakes up late in the night to find a warm body snuggled up to his back and luxuriates in the feeling until his bladder becomes overly insistent. Gently, he removes her arm from under his pajama top, slips out of bed, and goes to the bathroom. He barely lays down in bed when Sharlene pulls herself up to lay on top of him and sleepily whispers in his ear, "Missed you."

"I wasn't gone that long."

"I got cold without you."

He makes sure the blankets are pulled up over her and hugs her to him.

"Mmm, nice," she briefly nibbles on his ear and as their bodies warm each other, they soon fall asleep.

* * * * *

A few hours later, Sharlene wakes up and enjoys laying there for awhile. When she begins to feel restless, she decides to get up before she wakes him, but when she slips off of him, George jerks when her leg slides across his erect penis. Without taking the time to think about what she's doing, she grabs a couple of tissues and with only a few strokes of her hand, he tenses, his penis pulses, his release fills the tissues, and he relaxes with a dreamy smile on his face.

She has to bite her lip in an effort to not do more before she washes him up, takes care of her own bathroom needs, and is soon in the living room doing an intense martial arts workout and even uses the furniture as obstacles to work around or leap over. When she's worked enough to be breathing heavily, she cools off with an extended tai-chi session. As she releases her breath and relaxes after her final move, Sharlene opens her eyes and sees Mariam standing in the hallway entrance looking at her with an expression which she can't interpret, but instead of asking, she simply says, "Morning, Mariam."

She swallows nervously then responds, "Hi, Sharlene. Uh, do you always do that in the morning?"

"No. But since I don't know how long you've been standing there, I can't be sure of what you mean by 'that'."

"I don't know what to call it, so I would describe it as some kind of slow motion martial arts."

Sharlene explains, "It's called tai-chi and it's a form of exercise and relaxation. There's also a variation which is more of a martial art."

"Whatever it is, you're impressive, so smooth and graceful. It was so relaxing to watch you, I almost felt like I could dissolve into a puddle on the floor. If George saw you, I'm not sure whether he would dissolve into a puddle or make a puddle on the floor while drooling over you."

"Really? The first time George saw me he said he wanted to video record me and thought it might be useful with an emotional recording of contentment or peace. Kind of like using a video of Molly playing futball might be useful with an emotion of joy."

Mariam nods her head as she says, "Yeah, that would work, if you weren't sweaty which causes your pajamas to stick close enough to you in order to show off your feminine charms."

Sharlene glances down and sees that her erect nipples are very obvious then it takes her a moment or two to respond, "Humm, that could be a problem for a video recording. I did an intense martial arts workout before I did the tai-chi which is why I'm sweaty. I was trying to distract myself from George, but now I'm half inclined to go wake him up so he can see my feminine charms as you put it."

"If he can resist you now, he's either a saint or something's wrong with him."

"Then call him a saint. He hasn't seen me so sweaty before, but he's seen my nipples through my pajama top, and although I interpreted his look as hungry to touch them, he resisted. I'm not sure how much longer I'll let him resist. Damn, no matter what I do or think, it seems like my thoughts keep turning back to him. I'm beginning to think that when he finally consents to fully touch me, I'll need a week alone with him to work out all of my pent up desires."

Mariam looks at her for a little while before she says, "He's really got you hooked."

Sharlene nods her head and agrees, "Oh, yeah. I suppose some other man could possibly touch as well or maybe better than George, but few would be as gentle and I seriously doubt any others would be as patient. I still think the key is that I'm comfortable with him and feel like I can completely trust him. He is who he is and he lets me be who I am or want to be. He doesn't try to impress me that he's something other than who he is, nor does he try to change me or my behavior.

"There have been a few times he's pointed out how my moves or behavior might be interpreted, but he hasn't even suggested that I change. He just wants me to be aware so I can freely decide whether or not to move or behave in those ways. . . . Well, I suppose I ought to go get a shower. Are you going to need the bathroom for a little while?"

"No. You're not going to use his bathroom?"

"If he was awake and we could coordinate, I would, but if he woke up while I was in the shower, I wouldn't want him to feel obligated to use the guest bathroom."

"Are you afraid he would want to climb into the shower with you?"

"Not at all, I would welcome him, but he wouldn't want to mess up the journey that way, nor do I want him to feel guilty if I push him past the point of his resistance."

Mariam shakes her head as she says, "Sharlene, if I didn't see this change come over you, I wouldn't believe you're the same person I thought I knew so well just a few weeks ago."

"Klara's been rather shocked at my behavior also and she's known me all of my life."

"Then I guess I can't feel so bad about thinking I knew you."

Sharlene grins as she responds, "I guess not."

"Before you go, do you know if George has any coffee around here?"

"I haven't seen any. He does have some good black tea or hot chocolate mix if that will work."

"Mmm, I haven't had hot chocolate in a long time. Would he mind?"

"Of course not. Let's see, where was it? Here it is and here's a cup and there's the kettle." Sharlene hugs her then says, "Thank you for listening to me prattle about George."

"It's been interesting. Go get your shower so we can prattle some more before he wakes up."

"I'll see you soon."

Mariam starts the kettle and while it's heating up, she wonders how George can resist Sharlene. A moment later she thinks to herself, "I've never been interested in a female before, but there's something about her that even has me interested. That must have been what was bothering me last night. I wanted George to touch me like she described, but I wouldn't have resisted a demonstration from her. Damn, am I that sexually hungry? Am I going to have to find some young stud to blow my socks off to keep from thinking about those two?"

Just about then, the kettle begins to whistle, so she turns her thoughts to making her hot chocolate. She takes a couple of sips then carries the cup with her as she goes out on the back porch to sip it while she lets the quiet of the morning soak in. In a little while, Molly shows up and lays her head on Mariam's leg. After she's been petted for a little while, Molly looks up at Mariam with her big eyes, and the next thing she knows, Mariam is telling Molly all about her feelings towards Sharlene and George and the company and anything else which comes to mind.

When Sharlene steps into George's bedroom to get clean clothes, she sees the bed is empty and the bathroom door is closed. She bends over her luggage to get out her clothes and toiletries. Just before she's about to stand up, she hears the bathroom door open, there's a momentary pause, then she hears, "Are you trying to tempt an old man?"

Sharlene stands up, says, "Not intentionally," and turns towards him, "but I won't object if you are tempted."

His eyes widen when he sees her outlined frontage. She drops her things and with a couple of quick steps, she leaps into his arms, plasters herself to him, and passionately kisses him. He moves one of his arms to under her buttocks in order to help hold her up, her legs wrap around his waist, and his other arm goes around her back to squeeze her tightly to him as he enthusiastically responds to her kiss. When she lets him breathe, she tightly hugs him, squirms her body on his then stops and pushes back slightly and is glad his arms don't release her.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting your clothes all sweaty."

"I don't mind if you don't mind."

If possible, she hugs him even tighter. More slowly this time, she leans back and tilts his head down to see her obvious feminine charms, briefly pauses then asks, "Do you like the view?"

There's a definite huskiness to his voice and a hunger in his eyes as he answers, "Yes, very much."

"You can touch them."

He groans then says, "Soon, my lady, not yet, but soon." A moment later, he squeezes her to him and initiates a kiss which almost leaves her breathless before he has to stop.

"Mariam thinks you must be a saint to resist me."

"I ain't no saint. Please, Sharlene, say no more. I don't want us to regret me throwing you on the bed. A little more patience. Hop down."

After she slides down him, he holds her head with both of his hands and gently kisses her. As the kiss deepens, he glides his right hand down her neck and as it goes between her breasts, it takes her breath away. At her waist, his right hand slips under her pajama top, circles across her bare skin just above her waist to her back and a moment later, he almost crushes her to him. Abruptly, George releases her, steps back a moment and looks at her intently with such hunger and desire she's almost stunned.

He roughly turns his body and uses the wall for support as he walks out of the room and locks the door when he closes it behind him. As he leans on the wall in the hall, it takes him quite awhile before he can gain control of himself and calm down at least enough to function. He goes to the kitchen, makes a cup of hot chocolate for himself, and begins to work on removing the chicken bones from the broth.

* * * * *

2147-09-07 (m2)

Sharlene stands there for awhile as she looks after George then she almost calls out to him and knows that she's just witnessed something extraordinary. There's no doubt in her mind he wanted her, desperately wanted her. If she didn't trust and want him so much, she would have found such intense desire to be frightening. While she feels somewhat dazed, she goes to her luggage to retrieve the things she had dropped.

It only takes a brief glance at the door for her to notice that he's locked himself out. She's sure he has a key, but the intent is clear, he doesn't trust himself to control his desire. Since she's been so intent on her own struggles, she feels guilty that she keeps forgetting he's also struggling to control desire. And it's probably harder for him, not only due to his male hormones and having gone without for so long, but also due to his knowledge of the pleasure to come, while she's only guessing at what it might be like.

She takes her things into his bathroom and almost automatically starts the shower while she continues to feel partially dazed. As she begins to wash her body, she's shocked out of her daze by the pleasure which crashes into her. It takes little imagination for her to pretend that it's his hands which are touching her instead of her own and soon she cries out in climactic pleasure.

She's beginning to feel weak after her third peak of pleasure and knows she has to stop or she's going to get herself into trouble. With great effort, she rinses off, gets dried, dresses in practical pants and shirt, and quickly braids her hair. After she puts her things with her luggage, she goes down the hall and finds George in the kitchen. She steps up behind him, hugs him, lays her head on his back between his shoulder blades, and asks, "Where's Mariam?"

"Outside, talking to Molly. Sharlene, I'm sorry I acted so harshly."

"I'm sorry I pushed you. And you didn't act harshly. You were trying to protect us both from guilt and regret. Thank you for wanting me so very much. Whether or not any other man would want me, I'm very glad you want me. Your touching and this journey have been so marvelously wonderful it's hard to imagine it can become any better, but I know you'll make it so much better. Thank you very much for controlling your desires. I'm sorry I don't appreciate your efforts as I should."

He dries his hands, turns in her embrace, and says, "Oh love, I don't want you to feel sorry or sad. I'm sorry I'm having such a hard time controlling my desires with you. I don't understand it. I've never met a woman to affect me so thoroughly."

"From what you've told me, you've also never had to resist someone desiring your touch for so long."

"I suppose that's true, but still . . ."

"No 'but still'," Sharlene interrupts. "Those few people who know of our relationship are absolutely astounded that you control your desire as well as you do. And they don't know half of how hard I've pushed you from time to time. Mariam was sure you couldn't resist me this morning if you just saw me. I literally throw myself into your arms after you see me, then I make sure you see me up close, offer myself to your touch, and you're still able to say, 'not yet'. I don't know how you do control your desire. I'm overwhelmingly grateful that you do, so the journey can continue. I'm ashamed I can't control my own desire nearly as well as you do and end up putting so much of the burden on you."

"Shhh, love. Please, no blame, no shame. We can only do as well as we can do. If we should give in to our desires, we've had a good journey, at least I think so, and we've already made a mental list of touching for pleasure which we can use at other times and in other places."

"It's been a fantastic journey. Nothing I could have guessed and certainly nothing I ever overheard others talk about, gave me any clue about how wonderful it is when you touch me. At times in the past, I wondered what I was missing out on. Now, I think, how can they not know what pleasure is available to them. Thank you so much for thinking of the journey and leading me on it. And thank you very much for having the strength and courage to tell me, 'not yet'. I'll try to be more patient because I really don't want to miss out on any of the steps." The rest she says with her lips in a non-auditory manner. They're so lost in their own world, they don't hear the door open.

Mariam watches them for a little while before she says, "I don't know about you two."

They're both startled out of their kiss and look over at her then George gasps out, "Sorry, Mariam . . . not done," and returns to kissing Sharlene while he ignores Mariam's shocked look. Soon, they break the kiss and he leans back while he tries to catch his breath.

"What do you mean, you're not done?"

Sharlene answers, "He wasn't out of breath. It's never been discussed or planned, but we tend to kiss until somebody needs to breathe. Poor George is usually the one who has to breathe first."

He just grins while his breathing settles before he asks, "So, Mariam, how was your conversation with Molly?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a conversation, but she's a good listener. I'd swear she understood what I was saying."

"Whether it's the actual words or the tone of voice, I don't know, but I'm sure she does understand. I don't know of anyone who's fluent in 'canine', so she's not going to reveal any secret you tell her. Change of subject, I'm sorry I don't have much choice, Mariam, but would egg batter fried bread be okay for breakfast?"

"Sure. It's been awhile since I've had any since I can never seem to get the proportions right to fix it for just one person."

He requests, "Can you take care of it, love? Go ahead and fix it for you two. I'm almost done with the broth and I would like to get it finished and then I can get mine."

"Okay." Sharlene turns to Mariam and explains, "George has the solution for fixing for just one person. He makes a large batch and freezes what he doesn't eat. It turns out surprisingly good." She gets some out of the freezer then suggests, "George, it looks like next time we come up, we'll need to make some more."

"Can you write it down on the grocery list? Thank you."

"On the grocery list?"

"Yes. It's something I know how to make, so it tells me to buy the necessary ingredients."

"Smart man," Sharlene tells him as she winks at Mariam.

"I wouldn't call it smart, more like dealing with a poor memory. If I wrote down something like three dozen eggs and a gallon of milk, when it comes time to go to the grocery store I would wonder what I was thinking. If I put down the end product, then when I make the list that I take to the grocery store, I can look up the recipe, get the right amount of ingredients listed and what they're for."

Sharlene gets out eating utensils, butter, maple syrup, and peanut butter, and puts them on the table and soon hands a plate of egg batter fried bread to Mariam who watches in amazement as Sharlene puts peanut butter on a slice of egg batter fried bread, puts another slice on top, and pours syrup over it all.

"Peanut butter?"

Sharlene pushes her plate over, "Try a bite."

Mariam takes a bite, proclaims, "That's good," and quickly fixes her own the same way.

"It's another idea of George's."

A couple of minutes later, he sits down with his own and says, "There's more Mariam, if you're hungry."

"Maybe another one."

Sharlene says, "I'll get it. I was thinking of having another one myself."

"Thanks, love."

When they're done eating, George cleans up the breakfast dishes while Sharlene calls Klara. In a couple of minutes, she returns to the kitchen and reports, "Klara wants to stop by Maria's on the way back to the city to see if there have been any early repercussions to our meeting yesterday morning. She suggested we meet at Aunt Paula's sometime around sixteen hundred, then go to Maria's for an early dinner and then to the city. I agreed unless either of you have any objections."

They both shake their heads. Sharlene continues, "Mariam, Klara wants to ride back with you to get more information about the management of the Institute as well as to get your thoughts on what their reactions might be to a spying lawsuit and to your complaint. She figures George or I can drive her rental vehicle and then meet at my place."

"No objection on my part, except that unless we convoy, one of us may get to the city sooner. When we get near the city, we ought to call and find out where we are. If I get there first it might be better to meet at my place rather than sit in your driveway with Klara."

"That's a good idea. Odds are you'll probably get there first."

George asks, "Well, ladies, do you have any ideas of what you would like to do for the next several hours? Entertaining has never been one of my strong points."

Sharlene and Mariam look at each other and start to laugh. As he looks at them with a puzzled expression, Sharlene steps over and hugs him, "Old man, you can entertain me very well."

George blushes then says, "I don't think that would be appropriate with Mariam as our guest."

Mariam leans over the counter and asks, "But what if I want to join in on that entertainment?"

He stares at her for a little while then says, "Mariam, my heart and body belongs to Sharlene."

Mariam stands back up as she responds, "Quite right. I'm sorry if it seems like I keep testing you."

"Thank you. I suppose if you're testing me, do I dare ask if I'm passing or failing?"

"From what I've seen, you're passing so far."

"Thank you, again."

"Well, George, did you have any ideas?"

"The only things I can think of are to make the broth into soup and to play some with Molly. It will take a little while to get the soup fixed and cooked, and a couple of hours to cool before it can go into the freezer." They help him with the soup by pulling a number of carrots and several onions from the garden, then wash and chop them while George picks some herbs to add. After the ingredients are ready, he starts cooking the broth, puts in the vegetables and herbs and adds some chopped celery from the freezer. When the carrots are almost cooked, he adds the noodles. Once the noodles are done, he turns off the stove and sets the pot on the counter to begin cooling.

* * * * *

2147-09-07 (a1)

After a light lunch of sandwiches, they sit on the back porch and soon Molly joins them. Molly enjoys a good round of petting then gets her tennis ball and brings it to George who promptly throws it for her. After a couple of throws, Molly brings it to Sharlene and after a couple of more throws she brings it to Mariam.

When Molly brings it back to George, he tosses the ball to Sharlene and suggests, "Why don't you two toss the ball between you and see if you can keep it away from Molly." They do and find that it's harder than they thought it would be, since they don't always catch it and Molly is quick to grab it before they do, or Molly jumps up and catches it just as it leaves their hand.

Once as Sharlene catches the ball, Molly knocks her over by going through her legs, then breaks Sharlene's fall with her back as Molly almost sits so Sharlene slides down her back to sit on the ground. Molly whips around, grabs the ball still in Sharlene's hand and slightly growls which is so surprising that Sharlene releases the ball. Molly takes a couple of steps back, puts the ball on the ground, puts a paw on it, and grins at Sharlene, at least that's how she interprets it.

Sharlene takes a moment to realize it's a part of the game then she lunges at Molly, knocks the ball away and briefly mock wrestles with Molly. She pins Molly to the ground and gives her a good ear scratching, but when Molly turns her head and quickly licks Sharlene's face, she's surprised and releases Molly enough which enables Molly to roll her off, quickly gets to her feet, and dashes after the ball which Mariam ignores as she walks over to Sharlene and asks, "Are you okay?"

"Of course. Molly didn't hurt me, but she sure surprised me."

"Why didn't George come and check on you?" As they turn to look at him, they see a big silly grin on his face as he lifts his glass in salute while Molly sits down next to him with just as big a grin. A moment later, Mariam says, "If I didn't know better, I'd say they planned it."

Sharlene accepts the hand which Mariam extends to help her up and asks, "Why would they plan something like that?"

When they reach the porch, George stands up to help brush Sharlene off and Mariam just gives her a knowing smile. They sit down to rest while George goes in to transfer the partially cooled soup into smaller containers which will allow the soup to cool faster before it goes into the freezer. When he comes out, he refills their drinks and listens to them chat for awhile. As it approaches the time when they need to leave, he does a quick walk around the yard, makes sure things are secure, and puts the soup in the freezer.

After bathroom trips, they put their luggage in Mariam's vehicle along with the box of lingerie, for which Mariam profusely thanks George with an appropriate kiss to Sharlene's amusement. They make the short drive to Paula and Paul's with Sharlene sitting on George's upper legs since there's no other room in the vehicle, not that either of them mind.

George transfers his and Sharlene's luggage to Klara's rental vehicle and after brief goodbyes to Paula and Paul, Sharlene rides with Mariam as they follow Klara's vehicle to Maria's while George serves as navigator.

Already it's been a long day for Angelisa and there are still hours to go. Since the 'event' with Hektor, the restaurant has never been busier and has almost become a community gathering place. Maria is happy about the increased income, but Angelisa is getting tired of sore feet and even worse than that is for her to have to deal with all of the people. For the most part they're courteous, but simply to have to be around them and interact with them is a struggle for her. She's even been too tired in the evenings to settle down with a book which she feels is a real sacrifice. It's been tough enough just to get her school homework done.

If it wasn't for George figuring out her reading problem and encouraging her, the homework couldn't be getting down and she would probably be miserably married. As though her thoughts of him had conjured his presence, Angelisa glances up and sees him walk in with Sharlene, Klara, and another woman. Although she wants to rush over to greet them with hugs, she can do little more than wave a hand in greeting while she tries to concentrate on taking her current customer's order.

The four are very warmly welcomed not only by Maria, but by several of the other customers who had been at the meeting yesterday or who had heard about it. Maria takes their order and gets their drinks and while they wait for their food, they talk with her and Maria assures them that as far as she knows, there has been no negative feedback to their meeting.

When their food is ready, Angelisa is almost surprised Maria allows her to serve them. She carries the platters of food over and when she says, "Hello, Mr. G," she catches the startled look of the dark skinned woman out of the corner of her eye. Following his direction, she hands out the proper plates, greets Sharlene and Klara by name and receives warm smiles.

After the food is served, George introduces her to Mariam and they politely shake hands while Sharlene supplies Mariam's last name and gently teases George about not remembering how to pronounce it. A moment later, Angelisa places a hand on his shoulder, leans over, and whispers in his ear.

He responds, "Thank you for telling me, Angelisa."

After she restricts herself to a brief squeeze of his shoulder, Angelisa steps away to serve her next customer.

When they look at him, George leans over to whisper to them, "Apparently, a couple of other customers have left an extra credit or two to help pay for our bill. They know I can pay my own bills, but it's their way of saying thank you for our support of them and meeting with them yesterday morning."

Mariam asks, "Is she the one who first starting calling you 'Mr. G?"

"No. A few years ago, I volunteered at the local public library for a tutoring program to help the local kids improve their reading skills. The program leadership insisted that the kids refer to the tutors by title and last name. I prefer to be called by my given name, so the kids and I compromised on the 'Mr. G' name. The kids understood it meant 'George', but the program leadership thought I was being generous because some of the little ones couldn't properly pronounce 'Greyson'.

"The kids thought it was a great game to have one of the adults join with them to pull the wool over the eyes of the other adults. Even after I left the program, some of them, like Angelisa, have continued to call me 'Mr. G,' even though they know they're free to call me 'George'. Enough about me, eat, enjoy." And they do.

* * * * *

Angelisa glances towards their table from time to time because she wants to be ready to serve them if they need something while she wishes she could sit with them and enjoy their company. When she notices that they appear to have completed their meal, she returns and asks if they would like anything else.

George smiles and says, "Just a container to take the leftovers home. I don't want any of this wonderful food to go to waste, just let it go to the waist," as he pats his belly.

Angelisa returns his smile, soon returns with takeout containers, and gives his shoulder another brief touch before she steps away. They transfer their leftovers to the takeout boxes.

"Mr. G, how you doing?"

George looks up and answers, "I'm doing good, Huleeoh. How did the spelling test go?"

"Great. The teacher was so surprised I could spell 'humongous' that she asked me how I remembered it. So I drew a picture on the board and explained it. She didn't know what to think, but a lot of the other kids laughed because it was funny and made sense to them. She finally figured it was okay if it helped me to spell.

"After school, some of the kids asked me to help them with other words. At first, I didn't have any ideas, but after awhile someone had part of an idea and someone else had another part of an idea and in a little while we were putting together little stories for some of the harder words. By the way, I made a copy of the picture I shared with the class. Would you like a copy of it? I can get it in just a couple of minutes."

"Yes, I would very much like a copy of your picture. Thank you. It might be best if you check with your mom first before you run off the job."

While Huleeoh checks with his mom who nods then gives George a thumbs up, Mariam and Sharlene go to the restroom.

Mariam says, "Sharlene, Angelisa has a crush on George."

"Really? That's good. I don't think I noticed."

"You don't mind?"

Sharlene answers, "I don't mind you kissing George. If Angelisa sees George as a potentially desirable man, then maybe she won't be so bound by the age fixation so many people in our society have concerning relationships. Hopefully, by using George as an example, she'll look for a gentle man with whom to form a relationship rather than someone who fits the usual societal approved models. Besides, not only do I trust George to not hurt me, he's also a free man. He insists on not coercing me into a relationship and that I remain free to choose whatever I want. Can I do any less for him?"

* * * * *

2147-09-07 (a2>e1)

As they come back to the table, they trade places with Klara. A moment later, Huleeoh is back with the drawing and he gives it to George who briefly chuckles then says, "This is great, Huleeoh," and hands it to Sharlene who looks at it with a smile and then passes it to Mariam.

"Wow. I wish I could draw that well," and she hands it back to George.

Huleeoh beams with pride. A moment later, he turns and whispers in George's ear who whispers something back. After he takes a moment to apparently think through what he wants to say, he turns and asks, "Mariam?"

"Yes, Huleeoh?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, but I won't promise an answer."

Huleeoh nods his head in understanding then asks, "Are you from the African sector?"

"No, but my family was. Why?"

"I've never met someone from there and was just curious."

"And what are you so curious about?"

He hesitates a little longer before he asks, "What does your hair feel like?"

"My hair feels like hair. It's the same as yours except that it's really curly instead of straight. Do you think light hair feels different that dark hair?"

"No."

"Here," Mariam lifts up a single hair and suggests, "feel this." When he does, she asks, "And what does that feel like?"

"Hair."

"There you go. I think what you're curious about is how it feels all together."

He shyly nods his head.

"Are your hands clean?"

He's a little startled by the question, but quickly answers, "I washed them before I brought the picture to Mr. G."

"Well, then, you can touch my hair on one condition."

"What's that?"

"That I can touch your hair."

"That's fair."

Mariam leans her head over and tells him, "Go ahead and touch my hair."

"Cool! It's like fuzzy."

"Now it's my turn. You have nice hair. I wonder what it would be like to curl some of it."

Huleeoh steps back in alarm, but when he notices the smile on Mariam's face, he realizes she's only teasing him and laughs with her then says, "I think I would get teased at school."

"We don't want that. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Thank you for having the courage to politely ask."

George says, "Huleeoh, it looks like your mom is waving for you. Let me come with you and explain."

"Thanks, Mr. G."

"Ladies, I'll return shortly."

He goes to smooth things over with Maria and points out that Huleeoh was curious and had politely asked to satisfy his curiosity. As she had watched Huleeoh spend a little time at their table, Angelisa wistfully wishes for the freedom and flexibility of children without the social restrictions imposed upon adults even as she takes her next order. After a quick trip to the restroom, George rejoins the ladies, leaves a substantial tip, and pays what little of their bill remains.

When she notices them getting ready to leave, Angelisa makes sure she's there to hug them 'good-bye', then has to mentally kick herself at the futility of wishing she could go with them and spend her time in their caring company instead of wearing her feet out while working at a job which has no future. Even if she takes over the restaurant as Maria ages, it will only mean more work in taking care of all of the business elements as well as serving the customers.

Klara gives the rental vehicle keys to George and then joins Mariam in her vehicle. He takes a couple of minutes to familiarize himself with the controls of the rental vehicle before he and Sharlene follow Mariam down the road.

While Mariam drives, Klara makes it clear that if her questions are distracting Mariam from her driving, to speak up and she also asks for permission to record their conversation. Mariam agrees to both and encourages Klara to proceed. For the rest of the trip, Mariam tells all she knows or can guess at, about how the management at the Institute is likely to respond in regards to the Project in light of George's responses, her own 'spying' attempts, a potential resulting lawsuit, and a potential lawsuit for defamation of character for suggesting that she tempt 'Mr. G' into bed to encourage him to be favorable to the Project.

* * * * *

Since they haven't heard anything from Sharlene, Mariam and Klara assume that they've arrived in 742x158 first and go to Mariam's home. They make plans to meet in the morning at Mariam's before they go to the vehicle repair shop to check on her vehicle. Mariam calls Sharlene and is told they'll be there in about fifteen minutes. As they talk some more, Mariam is undecided about pursuing a lawsuit until she thinks about the options some more and finds out about her vehicle.

Soon, the doorbell rings. As she invites Sharlene and George in, Mariam is surprised to see Sharlene hop down from riding piggy-back on his back and asks, "What happened? You were wearing pants when we left."

Sharlene explains, "Nothing as fun as you're insinuating. We stopped to make a pit stop and let George stretch his legs. As I was getting back into the vehicle, another vehicle went by through a pot hole and splashed muddy water on the bottom of my leg and got my pants, shoes, and socks all wet. George gallantly stood guard, without looking, while I got out of my wet pants and put on this skirt. When we got here, he didn't want me to walk across the driveway with bare feet, so he carried me."

"That's too common place, too ordinary. I was hoping for some wildly romantic interlude for you to entertain us with." They just laugh with Mariam.

After they restate their plans for the morning, they say good bye to Mariam and leave in Klara's rental vehicle. When they arrive, Sharlene invites Klara in, but she demurs and explains that she wants to work on the Project proposal as well as consider the possibility of lawsuits against the Institute. Before George can object, Sharlene hugs Klara and is out of the vehicle door with her wet pants, socks, and shoes, and dashes across the sidewalk to her front door in her bare feet. George wishes Klara good night and grabs their luggage to follow Sharlene into her house.

After Klara's vehicle is moving down the street, Sharlene closes and locks the door then turns and hungrily kisses George before she asks him, "Why don't you like the idea of me outside with bare feet?"

"I don't want you to hurt your pretty little feet."

"You think my feet are pretty?"

"All of you is pretty."

"Well, they didn't get hurt, but I suppose they might be a bit dirty."

He asks, "Shall I carry you to the bathtub so you can wash your feet?"

"Um, you'd better not, one of us might want more than just my feet washed."

"Humm, you're probably right. I'll get a washcloth."

She sits down on the chair near the front door and he's soon back with a warm wet washcloth, a hand towel, and a bath towel. She's somewhat puzzled at the last item until he folds it several times and places it in front of her and kneels on it. He starts with her right foot which had been splashed and takes a seemingly long time to wash and then dry each of her feet. When he sets the washcloth and hand towel aside, he picks up one of her feet and begins to kiss the top of it before he slowly moves his kisses up to her ankle. He gently sets that foot down to give the same attention to her other foot.

As his kisses slowly move up her legs while he alternates from one to the other, she luxuriates in the pampering he gives her while she notices that he's careful to lift her legs no higher than her hips and he bends his body over the rest of the way in order to kiss her legs. After he kisses her knees, he sits up, leans back, and stretches. She winces when she hears his shoulders grate then she scoots forward on the chair, captures his head with her hands, and asks, "Are you okay?"

"Just stretching a little."

"I don't want you to hurt yourself in an attempt to give me pleasure."

"You liked me kissing your legs?"

"Of course I did, silly old man. If I didn't like it, I would have pushed you away. Why didn't you lift my legs up to kiss them? It would have been easier on your back."

"It would have also lifted your skirt to reveal more of your legs and I'm not sure I can resist that much visual temptation."

"You gallant man," she tells him then thoroughly kisses him.

As he leans into her kiss, George's hands slip under the bottom hem of her skirt and begin to caress the fronts and outsides of her legs just above her knees. While his hands slowly move up her legs, she has to break the kiss as her breathing becomes more rapid. His lips explore her cheek, her jaw, her ear, and momentarily suck on her earlobe before they reverse direction then linger briefly on her lips before they move to give her other ear the same treatment. As his hands reach the middle of her thighs and his kisses begin to trail along her neck, her pleasure feels almost overwhelming, and she's almost grateful when his hands begin to move back down her legs so the pleasure, even though it's not as intense, lasts longer.

His hands reach her knees then reverse direction and this time they include most of the backs of her legs in their caresses, and her pleasure is soon back to almost overwhelming by the time his hands reach about the middle of her thighs. As his hands slowly move past the middle of her thighs, her pleasure continues to grow beyond what she thought she could contain. Her legs, quiescent until now while they enjoyed the pleasure, spread wider, her feet slide up the backs of his legs, and as her heels reach his buttocks, he groans, her legs spread more and pulls them closer together. She cries out in climax as his hips come into contact with her high inner thighs which makes him feel like he's inside of her and his body responds.

After a few moments to catch her breath, she begins to rock her hips on him and as his hands move higher up her legs, neither of them notice that her skirt no longer covers her legs. As his hands move back and forth across the fronts and outsides of her legs, inch by inch higher, her pleasure seems to grow by yards and she holds off as long as she can, but when his hands trace the seam of her panty from her buttocks across the outsides of her legs, and begin to go over the fronts of her legs, her cry of climactic pleasure goes on for a seemingly long time until she collapses in a state of pleasure satiated. As her legs relax their grip on him, his body slumps on hers.

* * * * *

2147-09-07 (e2)

George stirs a little later and while his eyes are still closed in pleasure, he sits up and seems to automatically pull her skirt partially back down her legs. He pauses for awhile longer to catch his breath then reaches back to gently remove her feet from behind his knees where they had fallen down his legs as she relaxed. When he thinks he has the energy, he finally opens his eyes and as he sees how Sharlene is positioned, he's sure she won't be comfortable remaining there.

After he thinks about it for a little while, he leans over and as gently as he can, he pulls her torso forward to fall over his back. He moves his left hand to grip her right wrist behind his back in order to try to hold her in place then he slowly sits up and takes her weight on his right shoulder. He moves his right foot from a kneeling position to be flat on the floor and holds her legs to his chest with his right arm. His left hand releases her wrist to grip the back of the chair in order to help him slowly stand up before it moves to the wall so he can brace himself as he carries her to the bedroom.

Once he's there, he slowly lowers himself then bends over so she's basically sitting on the edge of the bed. As gently as he can, he lifts her torso off of his back to fall onto the bed. Carefully, he turns her so she's fully on the bed and covers her up. He sits on the end of the bed and watches her while he waits for his breathing to settle.

After awhile, he gets up, retrieves the luggage, washes up, puts his sweat suit on, retrieves the washcloth and towel he had used to wash her feet, takes her wet pants, socks, and shoes, and puts them in the laundry room. He goes back to the front room to make sure everything is picked up and sees her headband which must have fallen off of her when he picked her up. While he hopes it wasn't damaged in the fall, he puts it on the bathroom counter where he's seen she keeps it when she's not wearing it. Since he's not sure what else he can do, he lays on the bed near her, pulls a blanket across him, and is soon asleep.

* * * * *

Sharlene wakes up to find herself in bed and covered up. Soon, she turns her head, sees him asleep nearby, and her heart goes out to him. Not only does Geroge give her great pleasure, but he takes care of her when the pleasure overwhelms her, even to the point of carrying her to bed. Although she's not very heavy for an adult woman, that's still a lot of effort for an old man.

It's so hard for her to believe how caring and generous he is, yet he's constantly demonstrating it. She's sure others would explain it away by saying that he's trying to win the heart of a beautiful young woman, yet he's not wining and dining her or doing any of the typical romantic things society expects a man to give to a woman. If he was trying to win her heart, he certainly wouldn't have been telling her to find someone else, nor would he be giving her constant opportunities to leave or to send him away.

The only thing she can think of as a reward which he would appreciate is to let him touch her and to touch him in return, yet she gains so much more pleasure than he does. Sometimes it's all she can do, to not throw herself at him, completely and totally, yet she guesses that might scare him more than reward him. Half of the time, the only way she can get away with touching him is when he's still asleep. She's pretty sure his dreams benefit from it, but he doesn't even know he's being rewarded unless she tells him.

Patience, she reminds herself, patience. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the pleasure, and keep telling him how much she appreciates it and enjoys it and wants to enjoy it more. Since he seems to enjoy giving her pleasure, he sure tells her often enough, give him what he wants, regardless of how selfish it may appear to herself. She gets up, washes, and puts her pajamas on.

She walks to the front room and when she recognizes that he even picked up their things before he laid down, her eyes begin to brim with tears. While she works hard to control herself, she finds her wet pants, now rather dry, in the laundry room along with her socks and shoes. If he knew what she would have done with them, he probably would have done it. He's even laid out the washcloth he used to wash her feet on the washer to let it dry rather than leave it crumpled up and run the risk of mildewing.

When she finds her headband on the bathroom counter where he put it, she takes it with her, gets out her computer, and does a download. After she puts the recording device back into the headband and puts it on, she checks the last entry and from the way the data ends, she suspects it fell off of her head when he carried her to bed.

Soon, she pushes the computer away from her, lays her arms on the table, puts her head on her arms, and weeps tears of joy? love? happiness? She doesn't know which and right now she doesn't care. He's just so wonderful to her that she feels overwhelmed. It's several minutes before she's cried out and can bring her emotions under control. As she gets up to grab a couple of tissues in order to dry her face and blow her nose, she almost feels a slight resentment that he isn't right here to comfort her, but after a moment of thought, she realizes it's a good thing he isn't here or the journey might end right now.

She sits back down, pulls the computer back to her, downloads the last few minutes, and sees that the headband appears to be functioning in spite of falling off of her head. When she looks more closely at the data, she can see the intensity is enough to be noticed, but she doesn't have a clue as to how to interpret the color on the chart. While she guesses it will have to wait to be tested to see how someone else might describe it, she makes a note of what she thought she might have been feeling when the emotion was recorded.

When she's done with that, she checks her email and quickly discards the junk. The only valid ones are quickly reviewed and responded to. For a few minutes, Sharlene sits there and knows there's something she should do. Then she's embarrassed to realize that what she hasn't done is communicate with her parents. Since it's probably too late to call them, she starts to type an email.

First, she apologizes for not communicating more frequently, then writes about working with Klara and the progress they're making. She includes a brief review of the Institute's dinner and presentation and the impact which George had when Klara encouraged him to participate. She provides a very brief synopsis of their meeting at Maria's and how Klara was volunteering her time and George volunteered to provide the ancillary finances while she leaves out the part which she and George had played which brought the whole situation to a head. Her dad would be concerned about the danger she had been in and proud she was able to protect herself, but her mom would absolutely freak.

She downplays her relationship with George while she mentions his contributions which insinuates that they're seeing each other, but on more of a professional level. Neither of her parents will initially be happy to see that her boyfriend is almost old enough to be her grandfather. Her dad will probably accept it as he gets to know George, but her mom will have a cow and probably never accept George, regardless of how polite, kind, and generous he is. When she re-reads it, she makes a couple of corrections and puts in a plug for how wonderful Aunt Paula has been, not only in listening to her, but also in welcoming Klara and Mariam.

As she reads through the email again, she feels like she wants to make it clear that life isn't all work. Like a light bulb turning on, she attaches the video recording of her and Mariam playing with Molly and gives a little background explanation. While she hopes that will make her mom a little happier about her being away from home, she signs off with her love and sends it. Now that she feels like a load of guilt has been lifted from her shoulders, she sits back and relaxes for a little while.

Sharlene makes a cup of tea and after she brings it back to the table to sip on, she takes a look through her accumulated emotional recordings and is happy to see that the clarity and intensity remain strong. She's also rather surprised at how many there are then realizes she has plenty of room on her computer for many more. Even if she generates a lot more recordings before she can start submitting them, she's in no danger of running out of memory, although an external memory source might be a good idea as a backup. She wouldn't want to lose all of those recordings if her computer crashes, rare as that chance might be. After she finishes her tea, she shuts down her computer, rinses out her cup, checks the doors, turns out the lights, and goes to the bedroom.

She sits on the bed for awhile and just watches him sleep. Since she knows he won't comfortably sleep there, as well as being in a difficult position for her to cuddle with him, she gently wakes him up. She helps him get his pajama top on, but he wakes up enough to take care of the rest of his routine in getting ready for bed.

Once they're under the covers, they're quickly in each other's arms and hungrily kiss. She half expects him to become more excited so she's a little surprised when he starts to relax with the kiss and as he runs out of breath, he lays back with a big dreamy smile and lovingly caresses her face and hair. She moves closer, lays on him, and hugs him tighter as one of his hands caresses her back while his other hand caresses her hair and occasionally plays with one of her ears. Soon, she feels herself relax with his comforting touch and it's not long before they both drift off to sleep.

* * * * *

While she lays in bed, Angelisa can't keep the tears of frustration away, even as she tries to remember George's encouraging words that with a good education and some effort on her part, she can do almost anything with her life. She doesn't want to disbelieve him, but sometimes the hope seems so impossibly far away or so improbable, it might be better if it didn't exist so it won't distract a person from the daily drag of existence and duty. She quietly sobs herself to sleep as she learned long ago how to do it without disturbing Huleeoh in his bed on the other side of the small bedroom they have to share.

* * * * *

2147-09-08 (n>m1)

Late in the night, George wakes up and gently rolls Sharlene off of him. He's so tempted to roll on top of her and advance from there, but his screaming bladder announces other priorities. He takes his time to go to the bathroom which helps him to get his desires somewhat under control. A couple of minutes later when he gets back in bed, he deliberately lays on his side facing her which leaves a little room between them and that helps to reduce his temptation to touch her long enough for him to fall back asleep.

* * * * *

When Sharlene wakes up in the morning, she's surprised to see that George is curled up facing her because he's never done that before. She makes a mental note to ask him about it. Since she guesses that her good cry last night followed by his gentle comforting touches helped to reduce her tension, she gets up and spends quite awhile doing tai-chi which further reduces her tension. While she takes the time to slowly sip a cup of tea, she kind of lets her mind wander as it touches on a number of subjects, but she doesn't concentrate on any one of them. She doesn't often have the time to do so, but she's found in the past that it helps to bring the more important issues to her attention.

After many minutes, there are no issues which seem to be waving flags for her to pay attention to, although she's surprised at the number of issues which come up to be eventually dealt with. And here she had hoped that being out of work would reduce the number of issues to cross her mind. That's what she gets for thinking about starting a new company.

She goes to the bedroom and quietly empties her luggage, but when he starts to stir, she's quickly moves to sit on the bed near him and watch him wake up. When he opens his eyes, he sees her, gives her a quick smile then looks away. She senses that something is bothering him so she scoots closer, takes his right hand in both of hers, kisses it several times, then holds on to it as she asks, "George, what's the matter?"

"Uh, . . . Sharlene, I'm sorry. . . ."

"Sorry about what?"

"Earlier . . . when I woke up . . . you were laying on top of me. . . ."

"I've done that before."

"Yes, but this time . . . when I rolled you off of me . . . I almost rolled on top of you," he struggles to get the words out, "and . . . uh . . . raped you."

"You mean made love to me."

"No . . . raped you."

"George, you can't rape me."

That startles him and it takes him a little while to get out, "Can't? What do you mean, can't?

"I've already given you permission to touch me up to and including making love to me."

"But not while you're asleep, unaware, and vulnerable."

"Then let me clarify. You have permission to touch me up to and including making love to me, even when I'm asleep. But I would prefer that you wake me up so I can enjoy the pleasure more fully."

He stares at her for awhile before he says, "You can't be serious."

"I'm very serious." Sharlene leans over and starts to unbutton his pajama top.

He grabs her hands and asks, "What you are doing?"

"I'm going to make love to you so you won't feel guilty when you want to make love to me."

"Please, love, no, not yet. I'm sorry my lack of control makes you feel like you have to go to such extreme measures."

"Slow down, old man. They're not extreme measures. Making love with you is the whole direction of this journey. There's no reason for you to feel guilty about any aspect of our relationship, especially the physical side. Besides, you're not the only one who is having trouble controlling your desires. I don't know how many times I've almost woken you up just so you could touch me more. Even though I've been pushing you very far on several occasions, the one thing which helps me to have any control is for me to notice how much you control yourself.

"You've already been controlling your desires for what seems like a long time and to such an unbelievable extent. When you can't control your desires anymore, tell me and we'll make a celebration out of it, even if it's in the middle of the night. You don't have to sneak and you don't have to overpower me, when it's time to fully release your desires, wake me and tell me, so I can join in and help to fulfill your desires."

Because he's barely able to believe what his ears hear, he stares at her longer in surprise before he almost blurts out, "You mean that!?!"

"Of course. Every time you touch me, I want you to touch me more. Even though I know we're not that far in the journey, I keep hoping you'll jump a few steps ahead and touch me intimately. Or even accidentally touch me so I can encourage you to keep your hand there and touch me more. How many times have I tried to move your hands to my breasts under my shirt or to my pubic area and you resisted? The night before last when Mariam and I stayed up after you went to bed, I described how you touched me once and I was getting so excited, I almost left her sitting there and raced to your bed to touch you and to wake you up so you could touch me."

"Oh. . . . You want to be touched that much?"

Sharlene tries to put all of the conviction she feels inside of her into mere words, "More, George, more. When you touch me or even when I think about you touching me, I seem to have only one response: it's so wonderful, I want more. If I wasn't trying to start a new company and have Klara and Mariam helping and encouraging me; if I wasn't distracted by all that involves, I would have broken down your tremendous control weeks ago and instead of talking about it, we would have our clothes off and you would be inside of me right now giving me exquisite pleasure."

It takes him awhile to have any kind of response, "Oh, my. You seem to be enjoying it. I guess I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that you really do want me to touch you."

"Yes, George, I really do want you to touch me. And I would be very happy to demonstrate how much I want you to touch me."

"Oh, love, that won't be necessary. I'm sorry I'm having such a hard time accepting your desire for me to touch you. Thank you for letting me touch you and continuing to remind me that you do want me to touch you."

"Before I lose what little control I have remaining, I suggest we get up and get dressed. Maybe if we have a few more clothes to work through, it might give us that little bit more time to gain control."

He gets out of bed and suggests, "Don't count on that."

As he stands up, she notices that a certain portion of his lower anatomy 'salutes' her, or at least that's how she wants to interpret it, but she tries to ignore the promise of pleasure it suggests to ask him, "Why do you say that?"

He partially squats to get clothes out of his luggage as he answers, "I think you'll find that rather than be a distraction, working through several articles of clothing can add to the anticipation and excitement."

"Really? I wouldn't have expected that."

"For some men, their interest in a female is in an almost direct proportion to how much skin she reveals. To me, a woman wearing only a scowl and having an angry stance is a lot less interesting that a fully clothed woman with a sincere inviting smile. How did you feel when I pulled your shirt out of your pants or when I undid the top buttons of your shirt?"

"You'd better go get dressed before I ask for a demonstration and then demonstrate to you how much I do enjoy it."

George quickly stands up, says, "Yes, ma'am," bows slightly, and is rapidly out of the bedroom door on his way to the guest bathroom. Sharlene gets herself dressed in shirt and pants and as she starts to walk past, he opens the door to the guest bathroom. When he sees her, he waits for her to pass, but she steps into the doorway and before he can step further back, she grabs him and kisses him, then resumes walking to the kitchen and leaves him standing there feeling somewhat dazed. He recovers, puts his pajamas with his luggage, and follows her.

They have a quick breakfast and while he rinses off the dirty dishes to put them into the dishwasher, she checks her phone for messages. There's one from Klara which reminds her that she's going with Mariam to check on her vehicle and asks if she had any preferences about which rental facility might work for the new company. They get fresh cups of tea and sit down at the table with the floor plans, prices, and notes they had taken. There are some factors which neither of them have the answers to, so, as they review the information they do have, they make notes about those other factors and how they may impact their choices.

* * * * *

2147-09-08 (m2>a1)

Sometime later, he makes a bathroom trip while she brews two more cups of tea. When he sits back down at the table, he pushes her chair a little ways away to the right so she can step between the chairs to set the tea cups down, rather than make her reach across the chairs. Once the tea cups are on the table, he reaches behind and around her to hold her right knee, hugs her left side to him, and says, "Thanks, love."

"You're welcome," while she moves her left hand to his left shoulder and pulls him tighter to her side. After a moment, she moves just enough away so she can bend over and kiss him. As a result of her move, his hand slides across the backs of her knees from her right knee to her left. While the kiss progresses, his right hand begins to slowly move up the back of her left leg. As she feels his hand caress her, she deepens the kiss, then breaks it to gasp as his hand slides up past the middle of her thigh and moves closer to her buttocks. When his hand reverses direction just before it reaches her buttocks, she takes a little while to catch her breath.

As she resumes the kiss, his left hand reaches up to the side of her head and fondles her right ear while his right hand begins to move back up her leg, partially along the inside of her leg. She cups his head with her right hand and tries to concentrate on the kiss, but it becomes more difficult to continue as his hand moves higher up her leg. She nearly cries out when his hand almost touches the bottom of her buttocks.

While his right hand recedes down her pants covered leg, she straightens up a little and moves his head to rest on her upper chest and rests her chin on the top of his head while she waits for her breathing to settle. When his hand moves to the full inside of her left leg and begins to zigzag upwards, her legs spread and the waves of pleasure surge higher within her which obscures the feeling of his left hand as it leaves her head and slides down her neck and across her upper chest until it cups her right breast through her shirt and she cries out in pleasure. As his right hand backs down her leg and his left hand holds still, he gives her some time to catch her breath, but it's not long before she huskily whispers, "More, please."

His right hand moves back up the inside of her left leg and his left hand caresses her right breast through her shirt. She straightens up a little more, and even while her breathing is more pants and gasps, she rocks her torso slightly which causes her left breast to be rubbed on the side of his head. The pleasure envelops her like a cloud, seems to reach every pore of her body, and every pore seems to give voice to the pleasure as his right hand reaches her high inner thigh, a bare inch from her pubic area.

When he recognizes that her leg muscles are beginning to tremble, he carefully removes his right hand from between her legs. A moment or so later, he moves his hand to the outside of her right leg at about the middle of her thigh to use as a guide, while his left hand moves from her breast to her right shoulder and he turns her towards him, sits her on his upper legs, and holds her snugly to him while he lets her breathing settle and her pleasure recede to something less than overwhelming.

"Thank you, lover, thank you very much." A little later, she says, "I don't want it to sound like a complaint, but my right leg missed out on all of the fun."

"You mean I only touched you along here?" Sharlene gasps as George's right thumb starts just above her knee to slide up the inside of her left thigh, "and not here?" he gently grabs her right leg high on the inside of her thigh and as he slides his hand back and forth, she almost cries out as the pleasure sky-rockets through her. He slides his right hand down the front of her pants covered right leg and when it goes just past the middle of her thigh, his hand slides down to between her legs, which open wider in response, and slowly zigzags up the inside of her right thigh. He pulls her closer with his left arm then reaches around her back and with the fingertips of his left hand, he begins to tantalize her left breast through her shirt.

While she gasps for breath as the pleasure starts to overwhelm her, his right hand seems to be all over the insides of her thighs, almost, but not quite touching her pubic area while the fingertips of his left hand touch all over her left breast with occasional gentle tweaks of her erect nipple as it stands out even through the fabric of her bra and shirt. She tries to hold on as long as possible to let the pleasure last, but it's not much longer before it overwhelms her and her cry of climactic pleasure goes on as he continues to touch her for a little while. When he moves his hands away from her thighs and breast, she slumps into his arms which cuddle her to him.

A few minutes later, when her breathing has settled and the pleasure has receded at least enough for her brain to not be short circuited, she tells him, "That was so wonderful, thank you. . . . How do you keep giving me so much pleasure?"

"Easily. It makes me feel good to see and hear you receive pleasure. I enjoy your enjoyment. I can't explain it, but the idea that you want me to touch you, that you're willing and even encouraging me to touch you, is mind boggling. I can think of nothing I would rather do, except touch you more."

"Oh, will you?"

"Only if you want me to and not yet because you need to rest for a little while. Shall I get you something to eat and drink? It's getting close to lunch time."

"Did you have a sexual release?"

"Close, but not quite. You're a mighty powerful inspiration. I think I was able to control myself just a little by concentrating on touching you. I'm not used to touching you with both of my hands in different ways in different places."

"You certainly succeeded. I'll gladly let you practice your two handed touching on me almost any time. I would even beg you for it, if that's what it takes to get you to do it more."

"It's very much my pleasure to touch you more, so you don't need to beg." After a long kiss which almost gets them wound up again and a snug cuddle while he catches his breath, he gently transfers her to her chair and quickly fixes a sandwich and a drink for her and then him. As he cleans up after the meal, Klara calls and says she'll be over in a few minutes.

When she arrives, Klara hugs both Sharlene and George then gladly accepts the sandwich and drink he gives her. After she's finished, Klara pushes the plate away, takes a long drink, sits back a moment with her eyes closed, then sits up, looks at them, and says, "Thank you, George."

"You're welcome."

"What a morning. I went with Mariam to check on her vehicle and, sure enough, there was some sort of electronic box connected to her vehicle which didn't belong there. I made a couple of phone calls and was connected with a lieutenant in the local police department who has specialized training in corporate espionage. He was glad to help and brought along another detective and an electronics technician and they thoroughly went over Mariam's vehicle, but they didn't find any other devices which didn't belong.

"They checked for fingerprints on the device, but most had been wiped off except for some on the connection side. Apparently, whoever had connected the device thought about trying to remove any fingerprints after it was installed. Some of the ones they found matched some from the video recorder Mariam had been given and some matched those of one of the security people at the Institute. The police removed the device, turned the vehicle over to the shop, and it immediately worked correctly.

"Mariam gladly made a statement that she had no idea what the device was, nor had she requested that it be attached to her vehicle. Combined with the fingerprints from the video recorder and her statement about being instructed to spy on what we discussed which was beyond what we invited her for, the police lieutenant was almost rubbing his hands in glee. I'm scheduled to meet with him some more this afternoon to review the evidence more fully and determine how to approach the case. We sent Mariam on to work with the explanation of vehicle trouble, which was true while a detective followed to observe her vehicle after she parks it."

Klara takes a drink before she continues, "I had intended to sign a rental agreement today, but that will probably have to wait a day or so. I did up a draft proposal last night for taking over the Project based on the request for proposal which the Institute put out. A lot of it deals with the legal issues involved and may not make much sense to you, but I would still like both of you to read it over and discuss it and see what you think and compare it to the request for proposal." She turns to Sharlene and adds, "I also emailed a copy to your dad to review.

"Depending on how things work out at the police department this afternoon, I would like to come by for dinner and then discuss the proposal as well as to fill you in on what I find out this afternoon. If Mariam calls and wants to talk, have her come over also. With the way the management at the Institute has treated her and is likely to treat her after her 'failed' spying attempt, I think they've drawn the line and put her on the other side of it. At least that's how she was feeling this morning."

Sharlene suggests, "I can call her and invite her over."

Klara shakes her head and explains, "No, it would be better to let her make the move. We don't want to give any indication that we're pulling her, let them show their colors by pushing her."

"Okay. Is there anything you would like for dinner?"

"Home cooked food. It's not what I eat which interests me this evening, but who I eat it with and the level of privacy, so anything is fine."

George suggests, "Klara, you ought to be careful with those kinds of statements."

"Why do you say that?"

"One of my great aunts was known as a wonderful cook, but also as a practical joker. One time, or so the story goes, when my parents were visiting, my dad was asked the same question and gave a similar response. At dinner time, the smells coming from the kitchen were wonderful. They sat down and my great aunt brought in a soup pot and set it on the table. As they went to dish up, they found that the wonderful smelling broth was filled with old screws, nails, nuts, bolts, and who knows what else. After a good laugh by my great aunt, she brought out the real dinner."

Klara chuckles then says, "She sounds like my kind of woman. Okay, I'll be more careful. And thank you for giving me something to laugh about. I do tend to get caught up in the challenges and sometimes forget that there are roses to smell and things to laugh at. When I agreed to help with getting your company set up, I hadn't expected these other activities. I'm not complaining, I like to keep busy. I think Robert's going to be a bit surprised when I report back."

When she notices George's puzzled expression, Klara explains, "Sharlene's dad, Robert, is my boss. I essentially took these two weeks as vacation from the consulting company, so when he asks how my vacation went, even though he knows I'm helping Sharlene to start up Digital Empathy, he'll probably threaten me with another two weeks of vacation to 'rest'."

George responds, "I assume you're not interested in going to some fancy resort to sit around the pool all day and party all night."

"No way. If I was inclined to do that, I could do it at home instead of wasting a lot of money to be around a bunch of strangers. I've done enough traveling and staying at nice hotels and dealing with strangers through the years on the job. When I get completely tired of the challenges, I'll be inclined to sit back and read through a library. Well, I should get going. Thanks for lunch, the laugh, and the company. I'll see you again later this afternoon." She gets up and after she gives each of them a hug, Klara is soon out the door.

* * * * *

2147-09-08 (a2)

George hugs Sharlene from behind as they watch Klara pull out of the driveway then says, "She almost makes me tired just to watch her."

Sharlene closes the door, leans back on him, pulls his hands up to her breasts, and says, "I hope you're not too tired."

As he begins to gently touch her breasts through her shirt and bra, he asks, "You're not feeling sore?"

"Not that I've noticed."

He leans over to nuzzle her ear and says, "Then in that case, I guess I can be not tired for awhile to please my wanton woman."

She luxuriates in his touching while she caresses the backs of his hands to encourage him on. Not only does he touch her shirt over her breasts, but his hands also caress her across her upper chest then slip under the collar of her shirt to follow the outline of her bra. Or his hands are under the bottom of her shirt to caress her across the bare skin of her upper abdomen and follow the outline of her bra from there. As the pleasure grows, and as his hands wander over the upper front of her body, they keep coming back to her breasts and raise her pleasure to higher levels.

After quite awhile of keeping her hands on his to continue to encourage his caresses, she slides her hands off, reaches behind her, and begins to caress the front of his pants and is sure she can feel the bulge of his erect penis through the cloth. As his breathing becomes more rapid, his growing pleasure excites her own pleasure to higher levels. While she tries to concentrate on what her hands are doing instead of what his hands are doing to excite her, she unzips his pants zipper and slips her fingertips into his pants to caresses his penis through his underwear.

A little later, as his left arm holds her across her breasts, and his right hand is at the waist of her pants almost ready to slide under her pants waistband, he pulls her more tightly to him and she cries out while his penis pulses under her fingertips. After they briefly pause to partially catch their breath, she turns in his arms and kisses him more completely breathless. Then she has to wait in order to gain enough breath to tell him, "Thank you again. You touch so wonderfully."

"I'm glad . . . you like."

"The word 'like' is too much of an understatement. I think 'ecstatic' might be a better description. I'm still amazed at how willing you are to give me pleasure and yet you never ask me to please you."

"Sharlene, it's my pleasure to give you pleasure. I find it so exciting to give you pleasure that there's really no need for you to make an effort to give me pleasure."

"Don't make it sound like it would be a chore or a duty on my part to give you pleasure. I want to give you pleasure. I don't touch you when I can," as she slides a hand through his open pants zipper to caresses him, "out of duty, but because I want to. You may find it hard to believe, but as you become excited, it makes me more excited. Don't you like me to touch you?"

"Ohhh, yes. Very much."

What little flaccidness his penis had, disappears under her touch. Soon, she pulls her hand out of his pants and 'complains', "Zippers aren't comfortable, besides we ought to wash you up."

"I can do that."

"I know you can. So can I. George, I want to give you pleasure. Although you can touch me almost anywhere and give me pleasure, I seem to have fewer choices of where to touch you. I suppose I have to admit, I haven't made much effort to try touching you anywhere else. Let's wash you up first before I get distracted."

She firmly grabs his hand, leads him to the bathroom, ignores his protests, undoes his pants, pushes down his underwear, and gently washes him. After she dries him, she continues to touch him while he leans back on the bathroom counter and feels like he's going to melt into a puddle of pleasure. When he reaches for her, she gently pushes his hand away, says, "I'm a little sore," even though she knows it's a lie, but she thinks it's the only excuse he will hear which will allow her to keep touching him.

As his breathing deepens, she feels her own excitement growing and wishes she hadn't have said her breasts were a little sore. Soon, she realizes she needs to stop before she's as naked as he is, so she reluctantly moves her hands away and goes to his luggage, gets a clean pair of underwear, and helps him get redressed.

"Thank you, lady. Your touch was very very good."

"It was my pleasure. I'm sorry I had to stop so soon, but if I kept going, I would have soon had my own pants off."

He pulls her into a tight hug and says, "Thank you for having the discipline to stop. I'm afraid I wouldn't have and would have been helping you get your pants off."

"Shhh, old man. I don't need any more encouragement. I'm still very close to stepping over the line." They quietly hug for a long time and hope to enjoy the closeness while the strong desire for more slowly dissipates. "George, in the next couple of days or so, I'm going to need to give you pleasure without you giving me so much pleasure I can't think straight."

"Why do you say that?"

"How else are we going to do a sperm count?"

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that."

"Well, I wouldn't want to get us both all excited and then have you stop short of completing my pleasure because you're afraid of getting me pregnant, or not stopping short and having you feel guilty because of the risk."

George hesitates then says, "That reminds me. There's something else to consider in regards to the possibility that our desire may cause us to jump ahead on the journey."

"What's that?"

"Well," he stops then hesitates some more before he says, "it's not something I've ever discussed with a woman and I'm not sure how to approach the subject."

"Just say it, old man. I know you're not trying to offend me."

"Your hymen. I wouldn't want to be starting to enter you and end up hurting you by breaking your hymen."

Sharlene briefly kisses him before she proclaims, "You wonderful considerate man. You don't have to worry, because my hymen has already been removed. When I was about to enter puberty, my doctor had it surgically removed for two reasons, one, because in some women it interferes with their menses and two, she thought it was an insult that a woman had to prove her virginity so painfully on the wedding night or that a woman's first experience of sex should be painful."

He nods his head as he says, "Good. I don't know about the first reason, but I certainly agree with your doctor on the second reason. I've always thought it was a despicable double standard that a man could claim to be a virgin on his wedding night and everyone would believe him, but a woman had to bloodily prove it. And if for any reason, she didn't bleed on the wedding sheets, she was automatically accused of adultery and punished without any investigation into who her partner was in the adultery. That's one crime in which there are, by necessity and definition, at least two participants. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get on my soapbox."

"Don't be sorry. I agree with you and the fact that you sincerely believe it and are willing to express it, only makes you more precious to me," and she kisses him in demonstration. "How do you do it? Just when I think you're so wonderful you couldn't possibly be more so, you do or say something which makes you even more wonderful and precious to me."

"Young lady, are you sure you're not wearing rosy tinted contacts? You're the wonderful one. I'm just an old man basking in your presence and hoping to return a small portion of what you've already given to me."

She pushes him towards the bed and tells him, "George, sit down." He's barely able to sit before Sharlene kneels on the bed while she straddles his legs, sits on his knees, grabs his head with both hands, and stares into his eyes. A few moments later, she tells him, "No matter how wonderful you are, George Greyson, you can still irritate me. I know you're trying to overcome many decades of neglect and no self-worth and I know it won't change overnight.

"I don't mean to sound harsh, but it hurts me to hear you degrade yourself. You're the most wonderful man I've ever met, and the more time we spend together, you only become more wonderful to me. I could give myself to you, totally, completely, right here, right now, and it wouldn't be enough to demonstrate how much you mean to me. Sometimes I wish I could wear you like another layer of skin.

"Please, George. You're a good man. You're a wonderful man. I very much want you to be a part of my life. Without you, my life was and would be an empty shell. Be gentle with yourself." Since she feels like she runs out of applicable words, she pushes him back on the bed and kisses him as thoroughly as she's ever kissed him.

About the writer:

After decades of doing office work from which he escaped to read books and occasionally write something in the evenings or on the weekends, this writer was finally able to retire and move back to the dry heat land of saguaros, Gila monsters, and bark scorpions (while they can be a low maintenance pet, they are not amenable to leash training).

If you liked this story, please tell your friends about it and leave a review. You can also contact this writer at geoff_schultz_01@yahoo.com.

