

Her

Catalyst

## a story of hope and love

## in an alternate timeline

# Part 02 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.

* * * * *

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.

* * * * *

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.

* * * * *

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 02

2147-08-22 (e1)

About an hour later, after she resisted many urges to go check on George and make sure he's okay, Sharlene hears the bedroom door open. With a sign of relief, she hears him slowly shuffle to the kitchen entry. She turns around, sees him lean on the wall, and hears him say in a voice which is barely above a whisper, "And now on the runway . . . is the latest in fashion . . . for the decrepit old man."

She quickly steps over to him, hugs him, and bends her head down to put her ear to his chest. Between slightly labored breaths, she hears that his steady heartbeat is a little faster than normal. She quickly suggests, "Let's get you sitting down to rest." With her left arm around his waist while she holds his right arm over her shoulders, she guides him to the table and helps him to sit down.

He sighs then says, "Ahhh, thank you."

"How are you feeling?"

"A bit tired."

"I thought I said to holler if you needed help."

"I didn't need any help. . . . I was feeling okay . . . until I was walking down the hall . . . then it was like my energy . . . started draining away. . . . I'm not sure . . . I could have hollered."

She steps closer to the chair, pulls his right arm around her waist to grip her right hip bone, and pulls his head to lean on her chest. A couple of moments later, she asks, "Did you have any trouble bathing?"

"No. . . . I'm not sure my hair . . . is all the way clean."

"It's clean enough, although it looks like it could use a combing."

"Yeah. . . . I thought holding my arms up . . . long enough to do it . . . would push my luck."

"That makes sense. Did you have any trouble getting dry?"

"That was a challenge. . . . My body almost dried more from evaporation . . . while I tried to figure out . . . how to dry myself without falling. . . . Back was still a little wet . . . when I put the sweat shirt on."

"Let me get you something to drink then I'll comb your hair. Where's your comb?"

"It should be on the top of . . . my luggage with my wallet."

"Here's your drink. You're probably thirsty, but slow sips and no gulping."

"Yes, ma'am. . . . Thank you."

A few moments later, she's back and requests, "Hold your head still and I'll get your hair combed. I don't mean to be nosy, but it's unusual to see a man of your mature years wear his hair long. Is there any particular reason you do it?"

"Not really. It just feels more like me. At work, I used to claim it was for diversity. It also saves time and money in not getting it cut all of the time."

"Has your hair always had this fine of a texture?"

"As long as I can remember, at least a week or so."

She playfully slaps his shoulder and tells him, "You can remember more than that."

"Since only my hairdresser is supposed to know, once a beautiful lady came into my life, I'm not sure my past is worth remembering."

"Why is only your hairdresser supposed to know?"

"I guess I'm dating myself again. It's from an old commercial for a woman's hair coloring product which was supposed to give her such a natural look, only her hairdresser knew she colored her hair."

When she finishes combing his hair, she steps around in front of him, straddles his legs, sits on his knees, puts his hands on her hips, puts her hands on his shoulders, looks into his eyes, and asks, "George, am I to assume that I'm the beautiful lady you referred to? And why is your past not worth remembering?"

He pauses before he admits, "Sharlene, you don't have to assume. You are the beautiful lady. Up to this point in time, you coming into my life is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Oh George," she scoots up his legs to hug him, while he pulls her towards him with his hands on her hip bones and she requests, "hug me." As she tightly hugs him, his arms slide around her back and he just as tightly hugs her. After a long hug, he feels her relax her grip so he relaxes his as well. She looks at him for a moment, then grabs his head with both of her hands and kisses him. As he responds to her kiss, one of his arms tightens its hold around her while the other slides up her back, to play through her hair and caress the back of her neck. When she breaks the long kiss and touches her forehead to his while they catch their breath, she thinks to herself, "So this is what Aunt Paula meant."

"Ding," says the timer on the oven.

While she thinks to herself, "Saved by the bell," Sharlene says out loud, "Dinner should be ready." After she gives him a quick kiss, she scrambles off of his upper legs as he reluctantly releases her. She steps around the kitchen counter, checks the oven's contents, closes the oven, turns it off, sets out hot pads, opens the oven, removes the contents, puts them on the hot pads, closes the oven, and leans her arms on the counter for a moment to calm herself. Moments later, she grabs the eating utensils and butter dish and as she goes back around the counter, she sees that he's leaning over with his elbows on the table and his head cradled in his hands. She quickly sets the things on the table, kneels beside his chair, puts a hand on his shoulder, and asks "Are you okay?"

He halfway sits up while he keeps his left arm on the table for support, gently caresses her face with his right hand, and tells her, "Yes. No. Lovely lady, you have a powerful effect on an old man. I don't know whether to thank you or blame you, but I'll treasure it always." A moment later, he leans over to kiss her forehead.

She quickly leans on him, wraps her arms around him, and rests her head on his shoulder. Without daring to speak, she hugs him for awhile then gently pushes herself up and away. When she's back in the kitchen, she slowly dishes up the casserole, puts a fresh baked roll on each plate, covers up the casserole and the rest of the rolls, takes the plates to the table, sets them down, goes to the fridge, gets the iced tea pitcher, walks to the table, refills their glasses, sets the iced tea pitcher on the table, sits down, tells him, "Eat," and follows her own advice.

Her plate is almost empty when she pauses in her eating.

He notices and since he's concerned about her expression, he gently takes and holds her nearest hand, pauses, then asks, "What's the matter?"

"I'm disturbed."

"About the relationship?"

"Yes."

"I'll leave." He starts to stand up.

"No, George," she grips his hand, "No. Sit. Stay. I'm sorry. Don't go."

"I don't want to disturb you."

"You're not. It's my own feelings which are disturbing me."

"I can leave so you'll have time to deal with your feelings."

"No, George. If you left, I would be more disturbed. Finish your meal and maybe later I can think it through or maybe we can talk about it. Would that be okay?"

"Whatever you want, my lady."

They finish the meal in silence.

As he pushes his empty plate away, he says, "That was good. Thank you. Excellent rolls. You were busy to make these in an hour."

"I used a trick my grandmother taught me. Make a big batch and after the dough has raised, shape the rolls and put them in the freezer. When you want them, defrost what you want and bake them."

"Excellent. Can I have another?"

"Of course." Sharlene gets up to get it as she asks, "Are you still hungry?"

"No. Fresh baked rolls are a weakness of mine."

"So to keep you around, I could bribe you with fresh baked rolls? Here you go."

"Thank you. Only if you want me to be fat and unhealthy."

"I don't want that. I guess we'll reserve them for a treat."

After he takes a bite, he says, "Mmm, yeah. Wonderful."

"They used to say that a way to a man's heart was through his stomach."

"That wouldn't work with me, but my taste buds would enjoy the attempt."

"Let me get these dishes cleaned up and then we can watch the movie."

"I'd better make a trip down the hall then."

"Are you going to need help?"

"I'm feeling better, I think I can manage."

* * * * *

2147-08-22 (e2)

A couple of minutes later, George flops onto the love seat and proclaims, "Ahhh."

Sharlene quickly arrives from the kitchen, takes his pulse, and asks, "Are you okay?"

"I felt better than I apparently am."

"Rest. Do you want a drink refill?"

"Yes, please."

"A few more minutes and I'll be done in the kitchen." It's not long before she's back, sets up the movie, and sits down on the love seat next to him. During the movie, she holds his hand and when their palms get sweaty, she dries their hands off along the outside of her leg from her knee to the middle of her thigh, then holds his hand some more.

As the credits for the movie roll up the screen, he remarks, "Good movie," pulls their clasped hands up, kisses the back of her left hand, and says, "And thank you for holding my hand."

She pulls their hands towards her, kisses the back of his right hand, and says "It was my pleasure."

He pulls her hand towards him, kisses it then proclaims, "I disagree young lady, it was my pleasure."

After she pulls his right hand towards her, she kisses it again and asks, "Are you arguing with me, old man?"

He barely pauses before he pulls her left hand towards him for yet another kiss and 'dares' her, "Yeah, what'cha gonna do about it?"

With her right hand, she grabs the back of his neck, pulls his head towards hers, proclaims, "This," and kisses him. When she breaks the kiss, she 'challenges' him, "And what do you say to that?"

He lifts his left hand to grab the back of her neck and says, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," and pulls her head towards his and kisses her. When they break the kiss, they're both chuckling as they lean back to catch their breath. When he can speak without panting for breath, he says, "You're a jewel, young lady."

"I'm about ready to call you a major liar, old man."

As he looks at her in surprise, he asks, "What do you mean?"

"There's been very little about you which has been boring since you've been here."

"It's the company I keep here."

"Blame it all on me, huh?"

He shakes his head as he clarifies, "Not blame, giving credit where credit is due. If it weren't for your presence and inspiration, I would be what I've always been, a boring old man. At some point in the future, when you're tired of me, or I'm no longer interesting to you, I'll go back to being a boring old man. In the meantime, I feel like a new man and am having a lot of fun being with you."

"That's probably not the most romantic way of saying it, but, thank you, George, I appreciate your honesty."

"I'm glad you like my honesty, because I hadn't intended for it to be romantic."

"I have the impression that you don't care for the whole idea of romance. Why?"

He takes a drink before he explains, "Because the way it's practiced, 'romance' is for one person to impress another person with a false image of themselves. Each person expects the other person to continue the impression, but since it's not really who they are, when the hook has been sunk, they no longer feel the need to expend the effort to keep the impression going. Then they're disappointed and most often the relationship goes downhill from there."

"I can't claim to have paid a lot of attention to other people's relationships, but I've overheard people talking about the romance having gone out of their lives. If it gets explained, it's usually something like, we don't go out anymore or he doesn't buy me flowers anymore."

"Yep, that's it."

Sharlene thinks for a little while then asks, "George, speaking of romance, I've noticed in movies where there's a romantic involvement, the people kiss differently than you and I kiss. Do you know why that is?"

"Huh? Oh. I'm sorry. I keep forgetting you haven't been romantically involved before."

"So what's the difference?"

He pauses before he says, "I guess you could say that the kiss we share is more of a kiss between friends. The other type of kissing is more often associated with people who are in a more intimate relationship."

"That's the relationship difference. What's the physical difference?"

"Um, what do you see in the movies that's different?"

"George, you're waffling on me again and trying to divert me, aren't you?"

He hesitates to admit, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Well, um, the kissing we've been doing is pretty much closed lips. The other kissing is more open mouths and tongues touching."

"Why are you hesitating?"

"The other kissing is usually considered a further step towards intimacy."

"Will you show me?"

He hesitates again before he says, "I was afraid of that."

"Why are you afraid of that?"

"Sharlene, you're a wonderful, gentle, generous, beautiful young woman. Do you really want to be more intimate with an old bum like me? Take your time to think before you answer."

She pauses only very briefly before she assures him, "Yes, George, I do want to be more intimate with you. You've been so very comforting to me and considerate of me and I very much enjoy our hugs and kisses. I've been asking myself the question of how intimate I want our relationship to be several times over the last couple of days and the answer has always been, 'just a little more intimate'. I really don't know when I'll finally say 'stop here and go no further'. So, yes, I would like to be a little more intimate. Will you show me?"

He sighs and hesitates before he answers, "Yes, I'll show you. . . . I don't know whether to be terrified or thrilled."

"Why are those your choices?"

"I'm terrified I'll either bungle the whole thing or hurt or offend you. I'm thrilled that such a beautiful young woman wants me to show her a more intimate kiss."

"Think thrilled and be selfish. I think you want to kiss me more intimately."

"There's no doubt about that."

"Well," she moves to sit on his upper legs, "I think being closer will help," as he nods his head and wraps his arms around her. She suggests, "So, why don't we start as we normally do and I'll try to follow your lead as you transition to the more intimate kiss."

He hesitates then asks, "Are you sure you want to go there?"

To answer him, she starts the kiss. He gently takes the lead and slightly opens his mouth then slips his tongue to just between her lips and slides it across her lips. While he ignores the widening of her eyes, especially since his are closed, he gently tilts his head slightly to the side while he maintains the lip contact, opens his mouth a little further and moves his tongue along her lips as she opens her mouth in response. He slides his left hand up her back to support her head, gently pushes her backwards with his head, tilts his head a little more, opens his mouth a little more, and touches her tongue with his.

As though a light bulb is suddenly turned on, her hands go from his back to his neck as she pulls his head, and subsequently his lips, more tightly to her own. Eagerly, with a throaty moan, her tongue seeks to touch his lips and is soon playing with his tongue. All too soon, it seems, they have to break the kiss to breathe. As he leans back on the love seat and gently pulls her with him, she rests her head on his shoulder while he caresses her hair. After a couple of minutes, during which they catch their breath, she sits up, caresses his face, and asks, "George?"

"Yes?"

"Uh, more!!" She pulls his head to hers and shows him how quickly and thoroughly she's learned a new way to kiss.

When she gives him an opportunity to catch his breath, he stammers out, "Wow, . . . woman."

She needs to catch her own breath before she can stammer, "Thank you, . . . George. . . . That's . . . wonderful."

Awhile later, he asks, "Are you sure you haven't practiced before?"

"You're my teacher."

"You have a natural aptitude because I felt like the novice. It didn't bother you to share germs?"

"No. That's an interesting way to put it. Oops," she kisses him yet again, "some . . . of my germs . . . didn't get . . . shared."

A couple of minutes later, he asks, "Can you look at my feet?"

"Why?"

"I think you blew my socks off."

"No, they're still there."

"Something got blown away. I've enjoyed kissing in the past, but I don't remember ever being kissed like that."

With some concern obvious in the tone of her voice, she asks, "George, is there something wrong with me?"

"Absolutely not! I'm sorry, Sharlene, I'm not trying to scare you or point you out as being different. Something is very right with you. Just as we talked earlier and as Mariam pointed out about how clean your emotional recordings are, you don't have a bunch of negative emotional baggage which interfers with their expression. The same applies to your kissing. When you kiss, you kiss. Period. Nothing else is going on. You put your whole self into it and as the recipient, it's wonderful."

"Do you really think so?"

He gently holds her head between his hands, looks intently into her eyes, and tells her, "Yes, I do. I can't scientifically prove that a lack of negative emotional baggage enables you to more cleanly express your emotions, nobody could scientifically prove that. But all of the available evidence points to that as the reason."

As she visibly calms down, she responds, "Thank you, George."

He catches just the hint of a secretive smile, before she kisses him again and his eyes close in pleasure.

* * * * *

2147-08-22 (e3)

It's a few minutes before their breathing is back to normal which enables George to proclaim, "What a delicious morsel you are, my lady."

Sharlene asks in surprise, "Delicious?"

"Well, you could say we were tasting each other." With a quick swipe of the tongue, he licks her lips.

"You!"

As she leans in to lick his lips, his tongue darts out and licks the end of her nose which causes her to lean back in surprise and he takes advantage of her movement to go for her throat with kisses and light caresses with his tongue. She relaxes and surrenders to the pleasure and her moans almost deepen to groans before he has to stop kissing her in order to catch his breath then he just tightly hugs her to him.

"Oh George, that was wonderful, thank you. I wouldn't have imagined an intimate kiss could be turned into something playful," she says while she tightly holds onto him.

After he catches his breath, he suggests, "Part of what can make intimacy so enjoyable is when it's also fun."

"Let me think about that for a little while."

"Take all of the time you want. I'll just be selfish and hold you." He also caresses the side of her face which isn't leaning on his shoulder and finger combs her hair.

After she thinks about it for a little while, she says, "I guess I'm having trouble with your statement in trying to separate enjoyable from fun."

"Maybe 'fun' wasn't the best word to use, 'playful' would probably be a better word. Even so, people often seek the selfish release of sexual tension without having fun with the other person who is involved in the intimate activity."

"That makes more sense. So, if a relationship between two people is more enjoyable when they can have fun and be playful with each other, then an intimate relationship should theoretically also be more enjoyable when there's an element of fun and play mixed with the intimacy."

He nods his head as he responds, "That's what I think. Not only that, but by adding an element of play, I think a couple can distract themselves somewhat from the urge to mate as well as to increase the anticipation to make the intimate activity more enjoyable."

"George, how can I ever thank you for opening my eyes and nerve endings to new pleasures."

"I'm the one who thanks you for allowing me to be with you and to participate in helping you to enjoy pleasure. You're an absolute fantasy come to life. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined having a relationship with someone as wonderful as you."

"Oh, George, . . . just hold me."

"It's my pleasure."

Several minutes later, she suggests, "I think we had better move before we fall asleep here again. I also need to get my shower before it gets any later. Do you think you can use the other bathroom to get ready for bed while I shower?"

"Sure, I'll just have to move my things."

"Are you going to need some help?"

He mentally bites his tongue to keep himself from asking the reciprocal question as he answers her spoken question, "No, I think I'll be okay. I had a good meal and a nice rest."

She gets up, extends a hand, and suggests, "Well, come on, old man. I want to make sure you get down the hall without any problems then I'll come back and turn off the lights."

He gets his things out of the master bathroom and his pajamas from his luggage and disappears into the guest bathroom while she checks the doors and turns out the lights. She gets a clean pair of pajamas from her dresser then leaves the bedroom door open and closes the bathroom door behind her. As she gets undressed and the shower ready, she keeps thinking about how he had almost touched her over her breasts, how he had threatened to pull her into the tub with him, how he hugged her, how he touched her even though it was usually at her insistence, and how he kissed her.

In the guest bathroom, George takes care of his teeth and undresses. When he hears the water turn on in the other bathroom, he begins to imagine Sharlene in the shower with her slender brown body all slippery and soapy. As he remembers her erect nipples which pushed out her pajama top this morning, he groans and sits on the toilet while he thinks about soapy hands sliding across her breasts and bumping into her nipples. As he imagines soapy hands sliding down her body to give her pleasure, he soon empties his built-up seminal fluid into the toilet bowl and leans back with a sigh of relief.

While she's thinking those thoughts, instead of washing her hair first as usual, Sharlene finds that she's grabbed the soap and is humming in pleasure while she caresses her breasts and wonders what it would be like to be touched by him. After she slides the soap and her hands down her belly, she soaps up her pubic hair and buttocks. In a little while, she sets the soap aside and tries to scrub herself, but is soon only 'washing' the outside of her vulva, then the inside of her labia. When her fingers slide across her clitoris, she groans deeply, then stops pretending to wash and gives herself to the pleasure which quickly becomes climactic.

After several minutes of pleasure, she leans back on the shower wall with a sigh of satisfaction. Now that her sexual tension is released, she's able to finish washing her body, washes her hair, and rinses them both. She turns the water off, but as she starts to dry herself, she has to clamp down on her thoughts to keep from getting excited again. When she's finally dry, she puts her pajamas on, brushes her teeth, grabs her comb and brush, and opens the bathroom door. She's momentarily surprised when she notices that George is sitting up in bed while he reads a book, then she asks herself, "Where else would he be?" before sits down on the edge of the bed to comb and brush her hair as usual.

She hears his soft voice, "Sharlene?"

"Yes, George?"

"May I do that?"

"Do what?"

"Brush your hair."

Since she's surprised at what he said, she turns to face him and asks, "You want to brush my hair?"

"Yes, if you don't mind."

"Why?"

"Well," he hesitates a little longer then admits, "since I was a young man, I've dreamed of brushing a young woman's long hair."

"It's certainly no dream to take care of. Sure, come on."

He scoots up close behind her, takes the offered comb and brush, and tries to assure her, "I'll try to be gentle."

"I'm sure you will. Why have you dreamed of brushing long hair?"

"I don't know. I just remember always wanting to."

As he gently combs and brushes her hair, she's surprised at how comfortable and relaxing it is for her. She knows her mom must have brushed her hair when she was young, but she doesn't remember it. She so wanted to be grown up when she was young, that as soon as she was able to brush her own hair, she probably insisted on doing it herself. Later, she glances at the clock and is surprised at how much time has passed so she asks him, "Are you still brushing my hair?"

In a quiet dreamy voice, he answers, "Yes. Isn't it wonderful?"

"What's wonderful?"

"Your hair. It's so silky smooth, so long, so beautiful."

Since she notices that he's brushing the hair along one side of her head, she pulls some from the other side of her head to examine it. It is silky smooth. She just usually brushes it enough to get the tangles out.

"How did you get it so silky smooth?"

"I just brushed it."

"You've been brushing it a long time."

"I have?"

"Yes. You've done a wonderful job. I've never felt it so nice."

"It's nice hair."

"I think you've brushed it enough for now."

"Okay. Can I maybe brush your hair again sometime?"

"Yes, but now it's time for bed." She begins to feel a little worried since he sounds like he's in some sort of a waking dream. A moment later she suggests, "Why don't you go to the bathroom before you go to bed?"

"Okay."

She watches him walk to the guest bathroom and close the door. As she walks to the master bathroom toilet room, she briefly thinks about it then takes off her pajama top and swings her head so her hair slides across her bare back as she responds, "Mmm, nice. I wonder . . ." but she quickly clamps that thought off before she gets distracted and puts her pajama top back on. She does what she needs to do, washes her hands, and steps into the bedroom just as George walks in from the guest bathroom with a quizzical expression on his face while his hands are slightly shaking. She asks him, "What's the matter?"

"One minute I'm dreaming I'm brushing your hair and the next thing I know, I'm in the other bathroom washing my hands and they're shaking. Do you know what happened?"

"Interesting. Let me check your hands. Yep, muscle spasms. You overworked your arms."

"How?"

"You brushed my hair for a long time. When I commented on the time, you answered in a quiet dreamy voice. After a short conversation, I sent you to go to the bathroom before you came to bed."

He looks at her in surprise then asks, "I actually brushed your hair? It wasn't a dream?"

"No. It was real. You did a wonderful job. I've never felt it so nice. Here, feel it yourself."

He hesitates and asks, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, George."

"Mmm, that is nice."

"Let's get you in bed. I'm not surprised your arms are shaking. You brushed my hair for a long time. Before you pull the covers up, I want to look at your surgical site, so unbutton your pajama top."

He grins at her as he asks, "You don't want to rip my shirt open to get at my chest?"

She grins back even as she shakes her head, "No, because then I would feel responsible to sew your buttons back on." As she gently touches the incision sites, she asks, "Does that hurt?"

"It's a little tender, but it doesn't hurt."

"Good. We'll leave the bandages off for now. I'll try to remember to check it now and then. Okay, you can button back up."

* * * * *

2147-08-22 (e4)

After Sharlene turns off the lights, she gets in on her side of the bed and asks, "Are you going to lay on your back?"

"Yeah. I often start out on my back then later roll to my side."

"Do you mind if I cuddle?"

"Mind? I'll be glad to have you," and George quickly opens his arms wide.

She lays down on her right side with her head on his left shoulder and lays her left arm across his chest. He wraps his left arm under her head, over her right shoulder, down her back to her waist, and gently hugs her.

"Mmm, nice. George, do you mind if we talk a little?"

"No. Would it be okay if I played in your hair while we talked?"

"As long as you don't get too distracted and stop the conversation."

"I'll try. If I stop paying attention, smack me alongside the head or something similar. What did you want to talk about?"

"Our relationship."

He hesitates to say, "Young lady, this is a rather awkward position for us to be talking about our relationship."

"Maybe."

"What do you want to say about our relationship?"

"I want it to grow."

"What do you mean by grow?"

"More touching."

He pauses before he says, "I'm not trying to be difficult, but I do want to make sure I understand what you mean. We've been doing a whole lot of touching the last couple of days and I've enjoyed every minute of it. And we're doing a lot of touching right now." To demonstrate, he caresses her back with his left arm and slides his right hand along her arm which is laying across his chest.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want you to touch me more intimately."

He definitely hesitates before he asks, "Are you sure?"

"Yes and no. Yes, I want. No, I'm not sure."

"If you're not sure, then I shouldn't touch you more intimately."

"If you don't touch me more intimately, how can I be sure whether or not it's what I want?"

He pauses to think about that then says, "You may have a point there. Sharlene, I'm . . ."

"I know, a boring old man who wants to meet a slender lady who wants to be touched. I'm a slender lady and I want to be touched."

His eyes open wide in surprise and it takes him a few moments to be able to ask, "How did you know about that?"

"Aunt Paula showed it to me. Apparently, she got it from somebody named Jean."

"My past history haunts me."

"No. It's more like your past history is a resume of your accomplishments. When Aunt Paula and Uncle Paul were separated, she did some checking around about you and talked to the other ladies you had dated. The common response was that you knew how to touch a woman, but nobody would say how far that touching went."

He tries to clarify, "It's not so much that I know how to touch a woman better than any other man, but I do try to listen to their answer when I ask them how they want to be touched."

"Will you listen to me when I say I want to be touched?"

He hesitates before he answers, "Sharlene, my lovely young lady, I would gladly touch you and cover your body with kisses, but I'm going to resist the temptation for your sake." As she starts to open her mouth to protest, he requests, "Please, don't immediately object until you hear me out."

She's somewhat reluctant to agree, "Okay."

"For one thing, we hardly know each other and if I recall correctly and if things haven't changed in the last few weeks, you haven't been touched in any sort of a sexual manner."

"That's true. But I know the most important thing about you, and that is that I trust you and am comfortable being with you. The most touching I've done has been with you as we've hugged and kissed." She pauses some before she admits, "And, . . . well, . . . um . . . since your pickup . . . I've tried touching myself."

"Good for you. Did you enjoy it?"

"Uh . . . yes."

"Very good."

Sharlene shakes her head then says, "I don't understand. Here I am asking you to touch me and you admit you want to touch me, but you hesitate to do so, yet you congratulate me on enjoying it when I touch myself."

"That's right."

"Can you explain what you mean?"

"For you to enjoy it when you touch yourself means that you're enjoying intimate pleasure without coercion or obligation. If you don't want to be touched, you don't touch yourself. If you do want to be touched, you touch yourself. You're in control of what happens to your body."

"Sometimes I wonder when my body wants to be touched and my mind is saying there are other concerns."

George nods his head as he responds, "There is that battle, but it's all internal, between your body and your mind. There's no external source which is telling you to do it or to don't do it. I've heard of too many situations where a young man tells his girlfriend he's going to show her a good time then almost rapes her and leaves her in a state of not knowing what happened. Often the response is either redefining the unpleasant event as enjoyable or recognizing the event as unpleasant and wanting nothing more to do with what should have been enjoyable. Since you've learned what you find enjoyable in a safe environment, it puts you a step ahead of some of those other young women. You're also more likely to be aware of and less likely to fall for the ploy of a young man who wants to show her a good time as a cover-up for him simply wanting to have a good time at her expense."

"That explains why you thought it was good I enjoyed my own touching, but it doesn't explain your reluctance to touch me more."

"Do you know what to expect when someone else touches you?"

"No. I would hope it would be as enjoyable as when I touch myself."

"That would be my hope also. But the point I'm clumsily trying to make is you don't know what it would be like to have someone else touch you. Do you?"

She hesitates to admit, "No."

He pauses then tries to explain, "I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or saying anything other than the statement of a fact. Every woman I spent time with who your aunt might have talked to, already knew what it was like to have someone else touch them. Whether they found my touching more or less enjoyable, I don't know. If or when I touch you more, I want you to enjoy it as much as when you touch yourself.

"Since I've never touched someone who hasn't been touched before, I don't know if I can meet that expectation, but I'll try. What that means is that if you really what me to touch you more, I'm going to try to take little steps in how much I touch you. That will also allow you to more easily halt the process before it gets to a point you don't want to deal with. . . . I don't mean to embarrass you, but when you say you want me to touch you more intimately, what do you mean by that?"

Although she's not sure whether she's embarrassed to say it out loud or not, she still pauses before she answers him, "Touching my breasts and my, uh, pubic area."

"That's what most people think of as intimate touching. There's a whole lot of touching which is more intimate than our hugs and kisses have been and which you might enjoy before your breasts or pubic area are ever touched. And then there are degrees of touching even there to be explored before the 'ultimate' act of making love. I have the impression that you aren't interested in having a child any time soon."

Sharlene shakes her head as she assures him, "Not at all."

"Then there's no need to rush to the baby making act. If you decide to keep me around for the next step of the process, then I would be very honored to be the one to share that step with you. One word of warning: I'll probably need to step away sometimes to keep myself under control. I want you to enjoy the progression of every little step of the journey of touching you more, without coercion from anyone, especially me. Does that make sense?"

"Yes. Thank you for wanting me to enjoy the journey, even though I'm not fully sure of what you mean by that." She hesitates before she asks, "Um, about your warning, does that mean you might become so sexually excited you might want to do more than you think I'm ready for?"

He nods his head as he answers, "That's what I mean."

"Those steps of the journey you talked about, can you give me a preview of what some of them might be?"

"Can't I just tell you?"

"It might be more convincing that there's something to look forward to if you give me some actual examples."

He hesitates then says, "You might be right about that. I guess I can give you a couple of brief examples. With your permission?"

"With my permission."

"There's nibbling on your ear lobe . . . or kissing your neck," she stretches it to request more. He briefly slips his hand under the back of her pajama top, "Or sliding my hand across your bare back . . ."

"Mmm."

". . . or slowly dragging my hand up the back of your leg."

"Ahhh . . . ."

He lifts his hand away just as he reaches the back of her knee.

"Oh, George, can you do it again?"

"I can, but I won't. Is the touching I did something you might look forward to?"

"Yes."

"Sometimes positive anticipation makes the future event all the more pleasurable."

"Oh, you wonderful man, kiss me."

"I can do that."

Sooner than he wants, he has to break the kiss to catch his breath.

"George, the journey of touching is most definitely looked forward to with positive anticipation."

"With you, it most certainly is." He kisses her forehead and suggests, "Sleep well, my lovely lady."

As she snuggles closer and holds him tighter, she says, "Sweet dreams, old man."

He slightly tightens his arms around her and whispers, "With you, there's nothing else."

In a few minutes, they drift off to sleep while they still hold onto each other.

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (m)

When she wakes up, Sharlene isn't as surprised as she was yesterday morning to find herself again cuddled up to George's back. Soon, she realizes he's still asleep, so she stays where she is and remembers their discussion from last night and the brief examples of more touching he had given her. Well, the earlobe nibbling hadn't done much for her, but she probably shouldn't expect herself to enjoy everything.

If the others were even partially representative examples, it will be fun to take the time to go on the journey. If the tension grows to be too much, she can step aside and touch herself in private. Still, she thinks, there must be something wrong with her to enjoy the touches of a boring, well, maybe not so boring, old man. What is it about him that affects her so much? She still doesn't know.

As she thinks about the apparently handsome or hot or cute younger men who she had heard about or had even been pointed out to her, her reaction to them was that they were so full of themselves. If she were to show an interest in any of them, the vast majority would use her and dump her. Not that most of the apparently beautiful or desirable women didn't act the same way towards their male admirers. What George lacks on the outside in comparison to other males, he more than makes up for on the inside. He isn't some fancy, what's the term, 'toy boy,' to parade around town. Considering their age differences, she would more likely be considered a gold digger.

What would it be like to dress George up as a scruffy eccentric zillionaire and go to some posh to-do where her medical school classmates are hobnobbing and see their faces as she walks in while she's draped on his arm, somewhat dolled up, but still clearly recognizable. She giggles as she builds the scenario in her mind. As the image grows, she starts to chuckle, and then she thinks about some of her stuffiest classmates, especially the ones who barely earned passing grades, and begins to laugh out loud.

He wakes up to her laughter and although he wonders what she's laughing about, he suggests a possible answer, "I didn't think my back was that funny looking."

"It's not, George," she kisses him between his shoulder blades. As she continues to chuckle, Sharlene says, "Roll over this way and I'll let you in on the joke."

He rolls over and as he looks at her, he gently caresses her face, and tells her, "Morning, angel."

"Good morning, old man," she leans closer to him and lightly kisses him.

"Wow! What a way to wake up in the morning. What's so funny, if it isn't my back?"

She chuckles some more as she tells him and throws in some embellishments to her first imagination.

Before she's done, he's chuckling with her then says, "I'm not much for fancy parties, but that might be kind of fun to shock a bunch of self-important busy bodies. I could pretend to be even harder of hearing than I am and loudly ask you as 'Doctor Doll' to go get me a drink. When you got back, I could loudly tell you that I'm glad you don't wear face paint like some of those escapees from the wax museum."

With that, she's laughing out loud again.

"And then I can look around the room and find the second most beautiful woman in the room, point to her and say, 'Like her, especially with those balloons about to pop out of her chest'."

As she laughs harder, Sharlene gasps out, "Stop, George, stop." As he laughs with her, he wipes the tears which are rolling from her eyes, until she's able to bring her laughter under control. As he wipes the last of her tears from her cheek, she looks at him with his silly grin, says, "You funny old man," and much more thoroughly kisses him. A little later, she leans back with her own grin and proclaims, "You shouldn't make me laugh so hard. This time, I damn near peed my pajamas."

"Speaking of which you'd better run off and avoid the temptation of making such a mess or I'll get there first." She dashes off while she's still chuckling and is back almost before he gets himself out of bed and standing up.

While he goes to the bathroom, she gets her clothes out, but decides she'll wait with dressing until she knows she won't be caught half undressed when he comes out. After he washes his hands, he sees her sitting on the edge of the bed and requests, "Stay there a moment, please."

He sits down next to her, takes her hand, and with a smile on his face, he says, "If I knew where some of my old co-workers were or even some of my family, I would love to give them the same kind of shock treatment you want to give your classmates. They would only see your beautiful outside. Thank you so much for letting me see your beautiful personality also."

"You're the one who keeps surprising me with your unexpected humor and creativity, 'escapees from a wax museum,' and 'balloons about to pop out of her chest'. Where do you come up with those lines?"

"I don't know. They just kind of pop into my head. Maybe there's some sort of humorous dimension which occasionally crosses paths with my astral self."

She chuckles then says, "There you go again. And why would you look for the second most beautiful woman in the room?"

"Because, my lady, you would be the most beautiful woman in the room."

That surprises her so she asks, "Do you really think so?"

"I don't think so, I know so."

"You can't know that."

He gently disagrees, "Since there's no quantifiable way to identify beauty, then we have to rely on subjective measures and as the old saying goes, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and I'm doing the beholding and you're very beautiful."

"There's also the old saying that flattery will get you anywhere."

"I'm not trying to flatter you. What I tell you is what I feel, or believe, or think, or however you want to put it. And I'm not trying to get anywhere. How far our relationship has already gone is beyond my wildest dreams."

"And that's part of why you're such a special man." She gently pushes him back onto the bed, lays on him, and kisses him while he wraps his arms snugly around her. Finally, she allows him a chance to partially catch his breath.

He doesn't wait for his breathing to fully settle before he tells her, "Wonderful breakfast . . . what's for brunch?"

Even as she laughs, she tries to start kissing him again, which doesn't work well, and that causes both of them to laugh even harder, so she quits trying to kiss him and cuddles instead.

After several minutes of laying there in the comfort of each other's arms, he says, "What an honor you do an old man."

"Honor? Why do you say that?"

"No matter how many young men clamor for your attention, I can remember that it was this old man who was the first man who the beautiful Sharlene invited into her bed. Thank you." This time he initiates the kiss to which she apparently has no objections. It's not long before he has to break it off in order to breathe.

"As much as I enjoy hugging and kissing you, old man, it's time to get some REAL breakfast in you to build up your strength. I can't have you wearing out on me just when you start making interesting things happen. Grab some clothes and go to the other bathroom and get dressed and I'll get dressed here and then I'll go get some breakfast started."

"To hear is to obey, if I can get off of the bed again. . . . Made it." A few minutes later, he shuffles into the kitchen, looks at her and . . . .

Sharlene asks, "George, what was that noise you made?"

"That was my attempt at a wolf whistle. I never could do it right."

"What's a wolf whistle?"

"I'm dating myself again. You don't hear it much except out of trained birds these days. In some old movies or cartoons, when a man saw a pretty woman, he would wolf whistle at her. How it got the name of 'wolf whistle', I don't know."

"So you're trying to tell me that I'm pretty?"

He nods his head as he answers, "Every time I see you, I think you're very pretty. But I don't want to sound like a parrot or a broken record saying, 'you're pretty, you're pretty, you're pretty'. Sometimes I want to find a new way to say it. Or to say you're pretty when you move, or look, or smile, or something else which encourages me to look at you some more and realize just how pretty you are."

"You old flatterer, go sit down at the table, breakfast is almost ready."

Several minutes later, he turns to her and says, "That was another good meal. You're going to spoil me. A few more days like this and I won't want to fix my own meals when I get better."

"What kind of meals do you fix for yourself?"

"Usually as simple as they can be. I used to be able to make a halfway decent omelet, but, many years ago, I somehow lost the knack of being able to turn it right and would either end up with a mess or convert it into scrambled eggs. One other thing I can do fairly well is to make a grilled cheese sandwich, but as some people have said, it's pretty hard to mess that up."

"I'd better get these dirty dishes cleaned up." Sharlene stands up and picks up most of the dirty dishes and utensils to take to the kitchen. When she notices that he's turning in his chair to watch her, she asks, "What are you looking at?"

"You."

"Why?"

"Because I like to look at you. You're graceful and beautiful and my eyes just aren't tired of looking at you. At least I hope you don't mind me looking at you."

As she steps back to the table, she says, "Thank you for the flattery and, no, I don't mind you looking at me, but I really do want to get some house cleaning done. So give me a good hug and then go sit down on the love seat and rest."

Since he's only too happy to comply with at least the first part of her request, when she sits on his upper legs, he wraps his arms around her, hugs her, and gratefully joins her in the kiss she initiates. She reluctantly breaks the kiss to let him breathe, gets up, gathers the last of the breakfast dishes, cleans them up, and goes off to do some housework. In an attempt to distract himself from her and to get some rest, he grabs his book, and reclines on the love seat. He's only able to read a few pages before his eyelids drop and he falls asleep.

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (a)

About three hours later, George wakes up to a kiss on his forehead and opens his eyes to see Sharlene kneeling on the love seat with her legs straddling his legs and leaning over him, while his hands are caressing her legs on top of her jeans, seemingly of their own accord.

"It's lunch time, old man."

He lifts one hand up to gently pull her head closer to his, kisses her, and proclaims, "Mmm, wonderful lunch. And low calorie, too."

She grins then suggests, "You greedy old man. Go get yourself washed up while I finish fixing lunch." Following a quick kiss, she scrambles off of the love seat and goes back to the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, he returns and sits at the table where she's just setting down plates of food.

A little later, he takes a drink then looks at his empty plate before he looks at her and says, "Another wonderful meal. Thank you, my lady. What's on the agenda for this afternoon?"

"I want you to rest some more. We may be up late talking to Mariam and I don't want you to wear yourself out trying to stay awake or have you fall asleep and hurt yourself falling off of a chair or something. I need to pick up a few things from the grocery store and fix dinner. I thought I would grab a quick shower after I put dinner in the oven. Um, would you be willing to brush my hair again?"

"Willing? I'd love to. Here I am imposing on you and interfering in your life and you let me hug and kiss you and brush your hair on top of it. I'm surprised I haven't died from guilt."

"There's no reason for you to feel guilty. I'm the one who asked you to do it. And no more talk of dying, especially from something as stupid as guilt. I want to keep you around for that journey you talked about."

"I'm sure someone else could help you on a journey of touching."

"Sorry, Marley. I know you didn't promise, but you told me about the journey and I want you to take me on it."

He pauses in surprise then asks, "Me? You really want me?"

Sharlene grabs his hand and squeezes it as she assures him, "Yes, George Greyson, I really want you to lead me on that journey. I really want you to touch me and to join me in the experience of learning how I want to be touched."

His eyes which are bright with surprise soon become bright with moisture as the tears begin to roll down his cheeks. Quickly, she gets up and as she sits on his upper legs and cradles his head on her shoulder, he begins to sob and hugs her tightly.

After a few minutes, when he's calmed down some, he says, "Oh, Sharlene, I don't mean to cry on you. Even as you keep showing me, it's so hard to believe how wonderful you are to me. You're such a wonderful person, a treasured gift being given many times a day, a marvelous dream I'm afraid to wake up from." Soon, he runs out of appropriate words to express his feelings so he just hugs her tighter for awhile then tells her, "I don't deserve you."

While she hugs him with one arm and cradles his head and wipes his tears with her other hand, she remembers her aunt telling her at the medical center, "Be patient with George. He's slow to open an undeserved gift." She tightens her grip on him then kisses the top of his head and assures him, "George, it's not a matter of deserving. After I grew up in a loving and sheltered life, I can't claim to deserve the gift of touching you've been giving me. Especially not the sheltered, patient, gentle, exciting journey you're taking me on. Since neither of us deserve, let's enjoy each other as long as we can. Okay?" After she leans back enough to pull his head up in order to look at her, she repeats herself, "Okay, George?"

"Okay."

When she finishes kissing him, she says, "There, sealed with a kiss."

"Thank you, Sharlene." He gently moves her head, initiates another kiss, and proclaims, "Double sealed."

"Thank you, George." They snuggle and hug. A couple of minutes later, she says, "I'd better go to the grocery store so I can get dinner ready."

"Do you want some help?"

"Not with dinner. I want you to rest. You can help brush my hair later."

"Gladly."

She requests, "A quick kiss," which he more than willingly gives, "then I'm off."

* * * * *

When Sharlene has dinner in the oven, George asks her, "While you're in the shower, do you mind if I sit out back? I noticed you have a lounge chair out there."

"Not at all. Maybe I'll have you brush my hair out there, it will probably dry a little quicker."

A number of minutes later, he hears the door open, turns his head, and says, "Young lady, I think you get prettier every time I see you."

"Thank you. Is there anything interesting going on out here?"

"Your arrival."

"Besides that, old man."

"Watching the hummingbirds. They kind of remind me of you."

"How so?"

"They're petite, beautiful, graceful, and fierce defenders of their territory."

"Well, sit up a little, my flattering old man, so you can brush my hair." When he does so, she sits on his upper legs with her back to him and stretches her legs out along the outsides of his. As she hands him her brush and comb, she suggests, "And try not to drift off to dream land this time."

"With you on my lap and your hair in front of me, your suggestion is somewhat too late." He begins to gently brush her hair. Several minutes later, he sets the comb and brush aside and says, "I think I have it brushed out."

"So what are you doing with my hair then?"

"Playing with it."

"Oh you."

She leans back on him and pulls his arms around her upper abdomen, which encourages him to hug her snugly and kiss the top of her head and the tops of her ears. As they continue to lay there, he loosens his hug and gently rubs his hands across her shirt while he's careful to stay above the waist band of her jeans and below her bra level.

"Mmm, that's nice." A few minutes later, she says, "I don't want you to stop, but I'd better go check on dinner." She looks at her watch and remarks, "Mariam could be here at any time. Can you take my brush and comb down to my bathroom?"

"Of course."

"Well stand up here, old man. I want another hug and kiss. I'm going to have to restrain myself while Mariam is here."

Without a word, he quickly, at least for him, scrambles out of the chair and gladly complies.

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (e1)

As the doorbell dims to silence, Sharlene opens the front door and says, "Hello, Mariam. Come on in."

"Hi, Sharlene, is he here?"

"Yes, he's still here. Put your stuff down and come on into the kitchen."

As they walk towards the kitchen, Sharlene sees George coming down the hall and waits for him to get closer before she says, "George, I'd like you to meet my friend Mariam N'gambu. Mariam, this is George Greyson."

"It's nice to meet you, Mariam. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I can properly pronounce your last name." He extends his hand to shake.

"Mariam is fine. You look better than you did at the medical center," she says as she shakes his hand.

He quickly looks at Sharlene who explains, "Mariam stopped by on sixth-day while you were asleep to bring me some more clothes."

A moment later, George turns Mariam's hand, bows, kisses the back of her hand, and tells her, "Ah, m'lady. Had I but known you were to grace me with your presence, I would have had my squire polish up my armor so I might have presented a better appearance to your ladyship."

With her eyes open wide in surprise, it takes a moment for Mariam to recover, curtsy to him, and say, "You are too kind, sir knight."

They both turn to Sharlene whose chuckles have turned to laughter. Soon they're all laughing.

Mariam 'accuses' Sharlene, "I thought you said he was boring?"

"He's a lot less boring than I was led to believe."

"Not true, young lady. I was quite thoroughly a boring old man, until you turned my life upside down."

With a smile on her lips and a glow in her eyes, Sharlene gently strokes his cheek once and says, "Mariam, not even three days here and already he's arguing with me." She turns to see Mariam's wide opened eyes and says "But if half of what my aunt said is true, he's right." A moment later, she turns back to George, gives him another caress on his cheek, and says, "I haven't heard him complain about it."

As he catches her hand with his, he gently squeezes it and says, "Complain? This angel brings me back from the dead, gives me a reason to live, and allows me to spend time with her, there's no way I'm going to complain. I'm still amazed she wants me around."

"Ding," the timer announces.

"Dinner's ready. Okay, you two, go sit down at the table and I'll have the food there shortly."

* * * * *

When Sharlene stands up to clear the dirty dishes, Mariam asks, "I know you don't usually wear your hair loose, but it seems shinier. Have you started doing something different with it?"

"George brushed it." Sharlene briefly touches his arm before she takes the dirty dishes to the kitchen.

Mariam turns to look at him in surprise and asks, "You brushed her hair?"

"I offered, she accepted, I brushed it."

"Isn't that rather unusual for a guy unless it's in a salon?"

"That's not something I've talked about with other guys, but since I was young, I don't remember how young, I've dreamed of being able to brush a young woman's long hair. Sharlene allowed me to fulfill that dream." He turns to look at her and declares, "She has beautiful hair."

"You two are smitten. I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't have seen it. George, I can understand you being smitten. No offense, George, but Sharlene, I don't understand you."

He responds, "No offense taken, Mariam. I've asked the same question multiple times."

Sharlene comes back to the table and responds, "Mariam, I'm not sure I understand it either, but, . . . Hold it, what do you mean you can understand George being smitten with me?"

"Don't you know?"

"Know what?"

When Mariam looks at George, he says, "I've tried to explain it to her."

"Know what!?!"

George grabs Sharlene's hand and waves to Mariam to explain.

"Sharlene, you are that rare combination of a beautiful personality contained in a beautiful body. Virtually every man at work and a number of the women are smitten with you. I don't know how many times I've seen work stop when you walked down a hall and after you were no longer in sight, the dreamy smiles which remained were many."

George gently pulls her to him, holds her as he notices her panicked look, and suggests, "Lovely lady, be calm."

Sharlene grips his shoulder, "How did you know since you've only seen me at my aunt's when nobody was around?"

"For decades, I've watched beautiful women and I've watched people watching beautiful women. I'm sure that when Mariam walks through the office or in a store, she turns heads and probably even causes a few cases of whiplash."

"Why, thank you, George."

"You're welcome. Sharlene, when you walk somewhere, people stop in their tracks to watch you. There are other beautiful women who also cause people to stop in their tracks. But because you also have a beautiful personality, when people stop to look at you, they do so with a smile because you're humble and gentle and generous and cheerful. You look people in the eye and greet them by name. For the most part, other women aren't jealous of you because you aren't a threat to their own femininity. You're not going to try to take away their husband or boyfriend or even imagine doing so. When people get to know you, they want to be around you. Mariam, did I miss anything?"

"I might have said it differently, but you covered the waterfront."

Sharlene turns, sits on his upper legs and as he wraps his arms around her, she requests, "Hold me, George."

Mariam looks on in wide eyed surprise.

Sharlene tries to explain, "I'm sorry, Mariam, but the thought of being different scares me. I've always wanted to be thought of as normal even as I've always known that I'm different. George has tried to tell me on several occasions how physically attractive I am, usually after I've pressured him. So you agree with what George said?"

"Oh, yes. Different. So that's why. The light dawns. When we spoke after your vacation, you would start to get upset when I remarked at how unique your emotional recordings were and as I look back, you often tried to change the direction of the conversation to avoid talking about how you're different."

"Yes. For many years when I would get upset like that, I've had to hold it in until I could be by myself. Now I can get the hugs I so desperately want. I don't mean to embarrass you or put on a show or anything. I've been taking advantage of George very much during the last few days as we've talked about a number of things which have upset me. George has been very kind and held me when I wanted it and released me when I asked."

"I'm going to intrude even though it's none of my business simply because you're my friend. Has George taken advantage of you in any way?"

Sharlene shakes her head as she answers, "No. Even when I offered myself for more intimate touching, he refused."

"George, don't you find Sharlene attractive?"

"Very much so."

"Then why did you refuse her?"

"Because she isn't ready. Sharlene, I don't mean to talk about you when you're right here, but it's the easiest way for me to answer Mariam."

"It's okay."

He turns back to Mariam and tries to explain, "Sharlene is in a unique situation of having been raised in a sheltered life, and has never been abused or sexually mistreated. She became aware of her own enjoyment of intimate pleasure relatively late in life compared to most people. If I recall correctly, you remarked on how you thought that enabled her to have clean and intense emotional responses."

"That's correct."

"She hasn't been touched intimately by another person and has no idea what might or can happen. Now, she has a rather unique opportunity to experiment with being touched and to explore intimate pleasure without a bunch of negative emotional baggage. I think she ought to have the chance to take advantage of this opportunity without coercion or obligation. I won't have this opportunity ruined because of my selfish desires. Why she wants me to participate in this opportunity stuns and amazes me. I'm very concerned that I can't live up to her expectations and that my own negative emotional baggage will get in the way. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes it does. George, I want to apologize for my earlier comments."

"I thank you for the offer, but no apology is necessary."

"Sharlene, as your friend, I'm going to cheer you on. But I'm going to be honest and say I'm mighty envious of your opportunity. Just a moment." Mariam goes to the front room and is soon back. "Here's a headband, battery, re-charger, and a couple of ERDs. They were turned in after the inventory was complete. Start making emotional recordings again. If things work out for us to acquire the Project, and if your emotional recordings remain clean and strong, we'll be ahead of the game."

Sharlene gets up and gives her a hug as she tells her, "Thank you for staying my friend. I don't want you to be envious. I'm jealous and ashamed that you thought ahead while I've just been thinking of myself."

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (e2)

When everyone is in their own chair, George asks, "Did I miss something or did you say acquire the Project?"

Mariam asks, "Didn't Sharlene tell you about the Project?"

"She told me briefly about the Project and the stated purpose compared to the unspoken funding purpose. The main direction of the discussion was from the aspect of her part in it and how it led to you wanting to meet me. She said something about the Project being put on the market, but not about you guys wanting to acquire it."

Sharlene suggests, "Go ahead Mariam and fill him in. Then you can fill us both in about what has happened since we last talked."

"The same week that your lady friend," with a wink to George and a big grin in return, "returned from vacation, a big funding scandal hit the Project, so her better emotional recordings were never entered into the system." Mariam turns to Sharlene and asks, "Did you show him your charts?"

"Yes."

She turns back to George and says, "So you were able to see how clean and strong her emotional responses were."

He answers, "Compared to her earlier responses, yes, but I have no basis by which to compare her responses to the responses of anybody else."

"True. I suppose you'll have to trust me when I say that her responses were much better than most of the other Project participants. If the Project management had seen her emotional recordings, they would have been thrilled, but I can't imagine the military would want to project sexual pleasure at the enemy."

"It might have been a strong distraction."

Mariam nods her head as she says, "That may be true, but even with its potential distraction value, I doubt if the military would want to use it. The Project was looking for the strength and clarity of emotional responses like Sharlene has recorded, to then transmit such emotions to people who could benefit from them. The transmitted emotions of joy, peace, contentment, and even fear and anger can be useful in therapeutic or training situations.

"I'm convinced that the stated purpose of the Project has a very large potential benefit to help other people. At the same time, I'm afraid that if some other organization takes over the Project, they may have less helpful motives. When the rumor came down that the Project was in trouble, I gathered up all of the information I could about the Project, including the names and addresses of those companies who supplied the equipment and software.

"One night when Sharlene and I talked about it, I must have been mighty convincing because she said she might know someone who knew someone who might be willing to invest in such a project if it had a chance of being modestly profitable. She also knew someone to talk to about the legal issues involved. So while she worked those angles, I gently twisted my dad's arm to help put together a business plan to present to the investor in order to request the necessary funds to acquire the Project. Shortly after we talked, Sharlene had already lined up the investor and the lawyer. It's your turn to contribute to the story."

Sharlene explains, "After we talked, I called my dad. With his parents, he runs a global consulting and construction company and is often approached by investors who want to add some social good to their profits. After I gave him some details, he directed me to who might be most interested and when I talked to the investor, they were interested, but wanted to be sure it was feasible before they committed themselves.

"While I was talking to Dad, one of his company lawyers was with him, so I asked her if she could recommend someone to help set up a new company as well as negotiate a complete and secure transfer of the Project assets to the new company. Since she didn't have enough to keep her busy at Dad's company and had been thinking of retiring, she jumped at the chance and offered her services. I made it clear she needs to keep track of her hours, because if it goes through, it has to above board and legal. I haven't talked to her since, but she indicated she was going to start gathering public information about the Project and I gave her the contact information for the Project and the Institute. That's all I know."

Mariam gives them the current status, "Since the Project has been defunded by the government, there are only a few people left, so I've become the main point of contact for information. The Project isn't officially on the market, but it's well known that it's going to be. I've had a few general inquiries from universities who sounded interested in the research, but they didn't sound like they wanted to spend any money in order to acquire it. A couple of well-known research labs have expressed mild interest. Then there was a call from a lawyer named Klara Sohkohlov who said she was calling on behalf of an anonymous investor who expressed strong interest. I'm guessing that Ms. Sohkohlov is the lawyer you talked to."

Sharlene briefly pauses then nods her head as she answers, "Yes. I wasn't sure what her surname is since I've always known her as Klara."

Mariam goes on, "When I dutifully told management about each contact, they became real excited when I told them about an anonymous investor, but their excitement died down when I told them that Klara had asked some pointed questions about the technical aspects. Management has indicated they hope to put the Project on the market in just over two weeks. They're trying to go as fast as they can to quit dumping more money on an unfunded project. But at the same time, they're trying to cram some more testing in, to hopefully be able to raise the price.

"Unless something changes over the next two weeks, the agreement with the government is that the Project assets are limited to proprietary software and equipment and intellectual property such as the research and emotional recordings which have already been collected. I imagine that will greatly cut down on the number of interested parties. Some of the inquiries we've received were only interested in trying to get the commercial hardware and software and office equipment at a bargain.

"Another part of the agreement with the government is that several of us who have worked on the Project are supposed to be assigned to the Project's purchaser as trainers for a minimum of two weeks then transferred to another position within the Institute without loss of seniority or benefits. If we accept positions with the Project's purchaser, we're to be released from the Institute without prejudice. That's the news from the Project side. From the side of our new company, the only news I have is that I have a draft business plan for you to review and to pass on to Klara and the potential investor for their review."

George hesitates then asks, "Um, I don't mean to stick my nose into your affairs, Mariam, but could your involvement on both sides of the issue be viewed as a conflict of interests?"

"I don't think so. All of the information I've gathered will be a part of the public offering package. By gathering the information ahead of time, it made me look proactive as well as helps to keep management honest. All of my communications with Klara have been documented and the information I gave her is available for public release. Even my working on a business plan with my dad was done as a favor to a friend who quit the Institute before it was announced that the Project was going to be put on the market."

"Mariam, I know I haven't discussed this with you yet, but, George, if you have questions or comments, please speak up. You're not sticking your nose into someone else's affair. Call it a woman's intuition or whatever you want, but part of the reason I wanted you to be a part of this discussion is that I think you can contribute something."

He looks at her in surprise for a little while before he says, "I don't see how. I've never run a business, I don't know anything about emotional brain waves and what I know about electronics wouldn't fill a thimble."

"Sharlene, I agree with you and on this issue, you're outvoted, George. Your question about a possible conflict of interests is a good one. I didn't think about it until my dad brought it up. Other than reviewing and improving the business plan and coming up with a company name, I think we only have the one technical issue to resolve before we can present our proposal to the investor."

"If I can stick my nose in, what's the technical issue? It sounds like you both know what it is."

Sharlene suggests, "Go ahead, Mariam."

"You understand that we can collect recordings of emotional responses like you saw from Sharlene's charts."

"Yes."

"The second part of the Project is to transmit an emotional recording to another person. When strong clean emotional recordings have been transmitted to a calm resting recipient, they've identified the emotion at nearly one hundred percent accuracy. The problem is that they're unable to objectively validate their emotional identification or to measure the recipient's emotional response to the transmitted emotion. In some ways, it's a technicality, but it could also be very important. We don't want to use an emotion in a therapy setting which a person will receive or respond to as though it were a different emotion."

He nods his head and responds, "That makes sense. So what's been tried?"

"The transmission of the emotion uses the same headband as the recording of the emotion. The flow of information just goes in the opposite direction. I don't understand the technical aspects of how they do that. The technicians tried using receivers on one side of the headband and transmitters on the other. The results were garbage. They tried alternating the receiving sensors and transmitting sensors. The receiving sensors picked up what the transmitting sensors sent while the person wondered when the experiment was going to begin. The same thing happened when they used two headbands, one to transmit and one to receive. I talked to the head technician this afternoon and they're about ready to give up. I tried to encourage him to hang in there and try some outlandish things and then left before I could hear his objections. I'm just not ready to give up before we even have a chance to start."

"Have they tried transmitting and receiving on different frequencies?"

"If I recall correctly, they have. Apparently, the emotional brain waves constitute a very narrow width of electrical frequencies and the equipment currently available can't discriminate the frequencies narrowly enough to avoid interference."

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (e3)

George hesitates then asks, "Have they tried pulsing the transmitting and receiving?"

Mariam looks at him in surprise, "What do you mean by pulsing?"

"I read somewhere that when they use fiber optics for transmitting data, they actually breakup say ten conversations into ten overlapping conversations with each one occupying one tenth of the transmission, but the increments of lost transmission for each conversation are so small, the human ear never notices. If they pulsed the transmission for a tenth of a second, had a tenth of a second pause, received for a tenth of a second, had another pause and repeated the cycle, maybe they could transmit and receive without interfering with each other." When he notices their expressions of surprise, he says, "Sorry, dumb idea."

"No, George. The technicians told me the things they've tried and that wasn't one of them. Anything is worth a try at this point."

When he sees her get out her phone, he says, "Mariam," then pauses until she looks at him, "before you call, if the technicians work on their own time, are they required to share their results with the Institute?"

"I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"If something has positive results and they don't have to share, that gives you ladies a leg up on the competition. I'm just looking out for your interests."

"Sharlene, kiss him for me."

"Kiss him yourself. While you make the call, I'll do my own kissing."

Mariam looks somewhat surprised before she asks him, "Do you mind if I kiss you?"

He looks in surprise at Sharlene who smiles at him in apparent approval before he turns back to Mariam and says, "I'm rather embarrassed that two lovely ladies want to kiss me, but I've never turned down a freely offered kiss from a pretty lady."

George allows her to initiate the kiss and is surprised that her kiss is more than a peck on the lips which he needs to respond to. When Mariam breaks the kiss, she remarks, "If that's typical of older men, I'm going to start raiding the local nursing homes. Sharlene, he's all yours, but don't wear him out. If neither of you object I might be back for seconds."

While Mariam steps into the other room to make her phone call, Sharlene sits on his upper legs, hugs him, and kisses his breath away. As she lets him catch his breath, she whispers, "George, you've been wonderful. I haven't known Mariam for very long, but she tends to hold onto first impressions. From the time I was able to clear up the assumptions about me and my week of vacation, she's thought you were mighty strange. And now you have her wanting to kiss you."

"I certainly didn't intend . . . for that to happen. . . . I especially don't want to kiss . . . or even hug another woman . . . if it bothers you."

"George, you have a big heart and give wonderful hugs and kisses and I've selfishly and tremendously enjoyed your gift. If I can share a little of my man's gift with another hurting soul, I will."

His great surprise makes it difficult for him to get the words out, "Your . . . man?"

"Oh, George, of course you are. I know I haven't said it, and my head has tried to deny it, but my heart has been singing it for a long time. If you can freely admit to wanting to spend the rest of your life with me, I can at least call you 'my man'."

"My angel," whether he's out of breath or not, George initiates the next kiss.

Mariam steps back into the room and stares at them for a little while before she says, "Good grief, I step out of the room for a couple of minutes and you two are all over each other."

"I . . . didn't . . . move."

"He's got you there, Sharlene. At least you aren't trying to pretend innocence like a couple of teenagers who were caught necking by a parent."

While he keeps one arm tightly around Sharlene, he waves Mariam closer and stammers out between breaths, "Tell us . . . while I catch . . . my breath."

"I talked to the head technician, his name is Todd Snoqualmee, and he said that as long as it's his own time and any specialized equipment is his, which it is, he's under no obligation to share the results. I've already given him unspecific hints that I heard a rumor about somebody being interested in the Project and he's concerned about keeping his job, so he's been more than cooperative. It just so happens that his most successful tester is his wife, Julie, who is also an employee of the Project and they have the recording equipment and software so they can test and check the results any time they want. I don't want to interrupt long, but from all that I've learned, both he and his wife might be good additions to the new company.

"Anyway, he had me on speaker phone and Julie was also on the call. I told him that I was visiting Sharlene and that her friend wondered if we had tried pulsing the transmitting and receiving. Before I half explained it, he understood and said they hadn't tried it, but that it's a good idea. Even as he talked, I could hear him fiddling with equipment. Then he stopped and said, 'Sharlene, why is that name familiar?' Julie answered, 'She's that very nice pretty little doctor with the long black hair you keep mooning over.' 'Oh, her!' 'Yes, dear. As Mariam said, she has a male friend, so get your mind back on your job.'

"I finished up by saying that when they had tested the idea, to give you a call with the results and I gave Julie your number. The reason for that, as I told them, is that if I know about an improvement to their testing process directly from them, then I'm under obligation to report it to management and make it a part of the public information. If I hear it from you, then it's just a rumor."

Sharlene gets up and gives her a hug.

While she's still half hugging Sharlene, Mariam turns to George and somewhat uncertainly asks, "May I sit on your lap and hug you."

"As long as Sharlene doesn't mind, I'm selfish enough to say, 'yes'."

When she looks at Sharlene with a question, Sharlene quickly responds, "Yes," with a smile and gently pushes Mariam towards George.

Slowly, Mariam sits down and he very gently wraps his arms around her. As her hesitant hug becomes more firm, he responds in kind and softly kisses her head above her ear. After Sharlene brings another chair over closer and sits next to George, Mariam sighs deeply and lays her head on his shoulder. In a little while, she sits up, kisses him on the cheek, and tells him, "Thank you, George."

"You're welcome, Mariam."

"Sharlene, trade places."

After they swap seats, George continues to hold Sharlene with his left arm, while he uses his right hand to gently take Mariam's left hand. He pauses a moment in surprise when she lets him, then he says, "Mariam, you've been a good friend to Sharlene and I thank you very much. I want you two to remain good friends. I don't want to interfere in your friendship. If there's anything I do which you think interferes with your friendship, please let me know and I'll stop doing it, as long as it doesn't hurt Sharlene."

"You're serious?"

"Very much so."

Mariam looks at Sharlene with a questioning look while she points at George with the index finger of her right hand, Sharlene clearly nods her head with a smile and hugs him tighter. "Sharlene, I'm so very sor . . ."

She leans over and places her left index finger on Mariam's mouth to cut off her apology and assures her, "You have no need to feel sorry or apologize. You cared about me and worried about me because I was naive and ignorant. If it had been almost any other man but this boring old man, you would have been so very right and I would have been in trouble and very hurt. Even with his great patience, I almost pushed him past his limit of restraint and without knowing any better.

"Only by talking with you, my Aunt Paula, and George, have I gotten half of an idea of how much danger I unwittingly put myself in. I'm still learning that I'm naive and ignorant and have nearly pushed him to his limits in the last couple of days. There may come a time when I come crying to you because George went further than I was ready for. I want you to know in advance, please don't blame George, because most likely the fault will have been mine in pushing him too far."

"Sharlene, I'm still tempted to take you gambling. You're such a lucky lady to be so naive and to find the one man to allow you to keep your innocence. George, I absolutely couldn't believe it when Sharlene told me what happened in your pickup and I saw how intense her emotional response was and you hadn't touched her. I can see you're not shy about touching her, yet I'm willing to bet, you haven't touched her much more than what I've seen."

"True."

"I've been in a number of relationships, some quite enjoyable and since I've met Sharlene, I've felt like I had to protect her as though she was my little sister. Now I find that I'm envious of her and my past relationships seem kind of shallow in comparison. This is confusing."

Sharlene releases her hug with George in order to lean over and take both of Mariam's hands in hers while George puts a comforting arm around Mariam's shoulders. She assures her, "Mariam, you're my best friend and you've been the older sister I never had. I certainly don't want to be the cause of you feeling bad. As we've already talked, getting to know George has been a confusing shocking experience for me and you were there for me to talk to, to help me think, and to look at the various angles.

"If I had had a crystal ball five weeks ago and saw where I am now, I would have said it was absolutely, totally, and completely impossible. At that time, I had no interest in this kind of relationship with anyone, much less an old man. Now, I can hardly seem to get enough of him. I hope I'm not caught up in some sort of infatuation which is going to disappear in the next week or so, because there's a wonderful man under his unremarkable exterior."

"I think you're more than just infatuated. I see some signs which could be interpreted as infatuation, but in context, it's deeper than temporary infatuation. I think that's part of my being envious. Most of my relationships were built on infatuation."

"If it's any consolation Mariam, before I met Sharlene, I could say the same thing. I admit I'm infatuated with Sharlene. I think I'll be infatuated with her as long as she allows me to stick around."

"Don't sound like a fool, George."

"What do you mean?"

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (e4)

Mariam shakes her head as she asks the question, "Why are men so slow? George, you're not infatuated with Sharlene, you're madly in love with her. That's really why I'm envious of her. To have a gentle caring man look at me the way you look at her. Even feeling envious, I want to stick around and feel the reflected glow."

"Is this what love is? I was never sure because it's always said so casually even when one person doesn't really like or care for the other person."

"I agree that it's often used inappropriately or even in an effort to convince someone of something which isn't true."

George nods his head as he responds, "That's one of the reasons I tend to avoid using the word. The ancient Greeks had at least three words which we translate into the one word 'love' and each one meant very different things."

"What did they mean?"

"One word was for a perfect selfless altruistic caring of one person for another, one word was for the relationship of close friends, and one word was for a sexual relationship."

"Then if we use the one word 'love' to encompass all of those elements, then from what I see, George, you love Sharlene."

He turns to her and after a brief pause he says, "Sharlene, I guess I love you."

"George, I know you do," and she kisses him, even while she holds Mariam's hands and one of George's arms is still companionably around Mariam's shoulders. Sharlene breaks the kiss to let George breathe then turns and says, "Mariam, thank you." When she notices the tears on Mariam's cheeks, Sharlene quickly gets up and gets some tissues which she hands to Mariam while she kneels in front of her and asks, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter. I'm happy for you. Maybe later I'll cry my heart out from jealousy, but for now I'm very happy for you." She returns the long tight hug which Sharlene quickly gives her. After a pause, she asks, "Can I hug George?"

When she sees Sharlene's smiling nod, Mariam gets up and before she can ask, she sees George's arms already open in invitation, sits on his upper legs, hugs him, and receives a tight hug in return. In a little while, she sits up and kisses him. When Mariam breaks the kiss, she snuggles up to him and lays her head on his shoulder, "Thank you, George. Take good care of Sharlene."

"I fully intend to."

Mariam sits up and looks at Sharlene who is now sitting close in the other chair and tells her, "Hang onto this old man. He's a keeper. If you ever get tired of him, send him my way."

"I'm going to hang on to him. I'm glad you recognize his value. I think my aunt is the only other woman who knows how wonderful he is."

Mariam gently pulls Sharlene's head close, looks in her eyes, and tells her, "Lucky lady." Surprising both of them, she kisses her, on the lips. A moment later, she says, "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't offend you. I've never done that before, but I couldn't think of how else to express myself."

"I'm not offended, but I am rather surprised." After she briefly considers it, Sharlene asks, "If we can kiss a male friend on the lips, why can't we kiss a female friend on the lips?"

Mariam briefly looks at her in surprise then gets off of his upper legs, pulls Sharlene to her feet, hugs her and says, "You belong on George's lap. With both of your permission, I may sneak in for a quick hug and kiss, but you belong there."

Sharlene starts to sit on George's lap to get a good hug, but finds herself being gently pushed off as he proclaims, "Nobody belongs on my lap now unless they want to get wet."

As they laugh, the two ladies each grab one of his hands and help him stand up. As he slowly walks down the hall, they stand next to each other, with arms around each other.

"Sharlene, I've been interested in boys since I was a young teenager. I've known many and dated a lot, but I've never met a man like him. I don't want to offend you, but I'll bet he would be good in bed. I'm guessing that he wants to go slow in his relationship with you, take the scenic route in a manner of speaking."

"Yes. He said he's going to take little steps in how he touches me more, partially because I've never been touched before and don't know what to expect and partially to more easily stop the process before it gets beyond what I'm ready to deal with. He also said there's a lot of touching which can be done before it gets real intimate and even there, there's a lot of touching which can be done before sexual intercourse. He warned me that he'll need to step away sometimes to get himself under control. He said he wants me to enjoy every step of the journey without coercion from him or anyone else."

Mariam shakes her head then says, "You lucky, lucky lady. You're being given a once in a millennium opportunity. If you've never listened to another word of advice, listen to this one: take this opportunity. Go slow. Help him to go slow. If you start getting too excited, step away and touch yourself. I'm guessing you've done a little of that since this all started."

She blushes and quietly says, "Yes."

"Don't be embarrassed, Sharlene. Almost everyone touches themselves at some time or another. I'm sure that's what George meant when he said he would have to step away to control himself. You can do it too, to make the journey last longer. Be willing to experiment, to try new things. I think you'll find ways of enjoying yourself with George that the rest of us have never dreamed about. Even when you do get to the point of sexual intercourse, you'll have found many ways to enjoy yourself and many paths to get there so your love making can stay alive and fresh and exciting for many years. Just thinking about the possibilities of such a journey gets me excited.

"I don't mean to intrude on your private life or to sound voyeuristic, but I have a feeling that there will be some use for the clean feelings of sexual pleasure which your emotional recordings showed. I don't know how, especially since it doesn't fit the therapeutic nature we've been talking about for the company. Until we can figure out a use for them, if you're willing, wear your headband as much as you can and download and save your emotional recordings.

"Maybe you'll even have some other emotional experiences like that contentment one from the sixth-day when you were on vacation. That one will fit the therapeutic nature of the company. If you have more clean emotional experiences, think about getting a bigger hard drive to store the recordings. If we decide later there's no use for them, it'll be easier to erase them, than to try to go back in time and record them."

As they hear George slowly shuffle up the hall towards the kitchen, they break their hug and Sharlene goes to him and asks, "What's the matter?"

"My legs aren't used to a couple of beautiful ladies sitting on them for hours while hugging and kissing me."

"I'm sorry, George."

"Don't be sorry. I'm not complaining. I would rather give up walking than not have you sit on my lap while you hug and kiss me."

"You dirty old man."

"You're finally learning. Have you been talking sense into this young lady, Mariam?"

"No."

"Damn. I need another drink."

"I'll get it. You sit down."

"Mariam, I thought you were on my side to open this young lady's eyes."

"I do want her eyes opened, but I've always been on her side. In this case, it was my eyes which needed to be opened, because I think you're the best thing to happen to her."

George sits down somewhat roughly, pauses, then asks, "Oh? What changed your mind?"

"You did. And seeing how you treat her."

"Mariam, sit down," he points to the chair across the table where she had been sitting. "I'm going to lay a charge on you similar to what her aunt threatened me with. If at any time you think I'm mistreating or hurting Sharlene in any way, either tell me or hit me across the head with a big stick. I don't intend to hurt her, but I can be clumsy and inconsiderate."

As Sharlene hands him his refilled drink, she asks, "What did my aunt threaten you with?"

"She said if I ever hurt you, she would track me down and kill me. I told her to please do."

"She didn't!"

He nods his head as he responds, "She did and we were both very serious. You're her precious little girl, especially since she didn't have her own child. . . . Are you going to sit down so I don't have to keep twisting my neck to look at you?"

"Oh, be quiet, you selfish old man. Mariam, do you want another drink?"

"Yes, please. I guess she told you."

"Well, I may appear old, but that's because I was a part of a mad scientist's experiment who tied my aging process to the people I was around and to the number of kisses I received from them. Since I was trapped in an old folk's home and the women weren't interested in kissing me, I aged much more rapidly than the actual number of years I've lived. That had gone on for so long, I don't know how to be anything but a boring old man."

"And I suppose it takes a beautiful young woman like Sharlene who likes to kiss you in order to restore you to health."

"That's right."

"Yeah, right, George." Mariam turns to Sharlene and asks, "So, how often has he come up with crazy ideas like that?"

Sharlene grabs his hand and holds it with a smile before she answers, "A few times. In all of the talks with my aunt, she never said anything about his sense of humor or being silly. So it stunned me when he claimed to be the Mad Maniac Manufactured in Myopia who wasn't going to release me from his lap. Later, I imagined dressing him up as some eccentric zillionaire with me draped across his arm and going to some fancy dinner party with my medical school classmates. When I told him about it, he said he could pretend to be hard of hearing and loudly ask me as 'Doctor Doll' to get him a drink. When I brought him the drink, he was going to compliment me, loudly of course, for not wearing makeup like the other women who looked like escapees from a wax museum."

"Doctor Doll!?! What a riot!!" After Mariam's laughter diminishes, she adds to the scenario, "I can almost picture it. I'll go as a reporter and get it all recorded. You're wearing a soft slinky loose white dress to show off your skin tone. It'll be open down to your navel and slit along the sides of your legs up to your hips. On a simple necklace you'll have a single huge diamond which rests right in the middle of your chest. Your hair is loose and flowing down your bare back."

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (e5)

George exclaims, "Whoa, Mariam. You dress her like that and I'll be staring at her instead of playing my role. Wow! I thought I had a vivid imagination. I hereby appoint you as appearance coordinator for the president of Digital Empathy. She could say the company is going bankrupt, but please buy our stock. The next thing you know, the stock price will double."

"Sharlene, that's it!"

"You want me to dress like that?"

"Yes. No. What I mean is the name of the company. What George said, Digital Empathy."

"Digital Empathy?"

"Yeah. We want one person to be able to feel what another person feels which is empathy and we're doing it through digital recordings. Digital Empathy." Mariam hops out of her chair, goes to George, says, "I'm not even asking permission," and kisses him quite thoroughly. She stands back up while George looks rather dazed and puts a hand on each of their shoulders. "It also fits with the emphasis of the company to help people in therapy. Digital Empathy. It's perfect." After she gives them both a quick kiss, Mariam starts to dance around the room.

With bemused smiles, Sharlene and George stand up and hug. A moment later, Sharlene tells him, "Thank you George," and gives him her own thorough kiss.

"But I didn't do anything."

"That's okay, enjoy the benefits."

"That I can do," and he initiates the next kiss to which she gladly responds.

When Mariam dances back towards them, they each extend an arm and include her in a three way hug. Soon Mariam is ready to dance off again and tries to lead George, who demurs, "I'll fall." So she grabs Sharlene's hands and they dance off like they've practiced for years. As he sits down and watches them, George's heart aches at the beauty of two lovely ladies dancing just a few feet away from him and marvels that he's allowed to observe them.

In a little while, Mariam tires and walks back to the table hand in hand with Sharlene where they briefly kiss before Mariam sits in her chair to catch her breath and Sharlene sits on George's upper legs to hug and kiss him then she reminds him, "I told you that you would have something to contribute."

Once she's caught her breath, Mariam gets up, and rolls her chair around next to George's. She gently takes his right arm away from around Sharlene and holds his hand between hers with the back of her bottom hand resting on Sharlene's knee who puts her own hand on top of Mariam's. A moment later, Mariam tells him, "George. Thank you for that wonderful name. I won't apologize for kissing you, because I don't know how else to say thank you in a way which words can't convey. I do apologize for startling you and for kissing you without permission. In my opinion, Digital Empathy is the perfect name for our proposed new company. In such a short time, you've greatly helped our new company. You've given us an identity which can make or break a company and you may have given us the key to a technical breakthrough."

He tries to add some realism to her enthusiasm as he responds, "Technical breakthroughs seldom come on schedule. As for the name, Digital Empathy just kind of popped into my head and may already be taken as a company name which will mean you have to come up with a new one. Kissing, that's a little tougher. I won't deny that I enjoy your kisses even if I'm startled by them. I'm also selfish enough to take any you want to give me without you having to ask for permission. I'm an old man, how can I not enjoy the attention of a pretty young woman?

"The real issue is: if at any time Sharlene feels bothered, threatened, irritated, or even annoyed at any kisses you and I may share, I'll call an immediate and total halt to any further kissing. Sharlene is the pacemaker of our relationship. I may go slower than she wants, but I never want to go faster than she wants.

"As I've told her on more than one occasion, if she gets bored or irritated or annoyed with me, I'll leave, no questions asked. I won't inflict myself upon her one minute beyond what she can tolerate me. It may sound like I'm putting the burden of the relationship on her, but what I'm trying to do, is to give her as much freedom as possible to either end or continue the relationship as she wants."

Mariam gives her a questioning look.

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "Yes, he's serious. He started to walk out last night." As she notices Mariam's shocked expression, she explains, "I said I was disturbed by the relationship. He said, 'I'll leave,' and without hesitation he was getting up to go. I stopped him and clarified that the disturbance was all internal. He was ready to stop the relationship rather than have me be disturbed by it." She turns to George as she says, "What the dear man never considered is how disturbed I would be if he left."

She turns back to Mariam before she goes on, "About you two kissing and hugging, at this point, I don't have a problem with it. If I do feel bothered by it, I hope I'll be mature enough to talk about it. George is my first man and I'm going to claim proprietary rights to him, because I can be quite selfish. But I also believe that George has a big heart and a huge reservoir of affection to share. I feel kind of proud of him for sharing his hugs and kisses with you. I know he shares hugs with my aunt and I would never think of interfering there."

"Maybe he can be the vice president in charge of morale so that when we get down or overwhelmed at starting a company, he can cheer us up with his hugs and kisses."

He quickly responds, "Hold it, my relationship is with Sharlene. I've enjoyed hugging and kissing you, Mariam, but I'm not going to go around hugging and kissing a bunch of strange women. I would drive them away faster than you could hire them and the sexual harassment lawsuits would bankrupt you. There's no way in heaven, hell, or anywhere in between that I'm going to hug and kiss any man you might hire."

Sharlene assures him, "George, I would never ask you to, I'm going to keep you for executive privilege only." She winks at Mariam then asks her, "That reminds me, does the business plan have to list proposed company executives and if so, who are they?"

It takes Mariam a couple of moments to consider how to respond to Sharlene's sudden change of topic, "One of the keys of a business plan is to list the proposed executives because investors usually want to see what kind of track record the executives might have had, either in starting or running a company. That could put us at a huge disadvantage since you're a newly minted doctor and I'm an administrative assistant. So far, I only have the two of us listed, you as president and me as vice president in charge of administration.

"I think I can handle all or most of the support functions, such as the finances, supplies, records, and facilities. You'll probably want to oversee the research and testing. We may need to get someone in to handle publicity and marketing. We'll probably lose money the first several years since we're dealing with new technology, new ideas, and a non-existent market. I think that once we can solve the technical issues and develop the right marketing approach, the sky's the limit. If we keep the business model as simple as possible, we might be able to expand rapidly if we have the opportunity.

"George, part of the reason I became so excited about your idea for a name is that I really believe in the stated purpose of the Project. Another part is that I like a doable challenge. Starting a new company is a big challenge, but I know it's doable because new companies are started all of the time and your suggested name provides a wonderful identity.

"I also believe that somehow the Project intent can be made profitable, to what degree I don't know and by what means, I have some ideas, but I'm not sure how practical they are. The final part of the reason is purely selfish. I want this new company to succeed, not only because I've had a part in laying the groundwork, but so I can get a promotion from administrative assistant to vice president overnight. The pay may not change much, but it will look impressive on my resume and business card."

George looks at her for a little while before he responds, "Mariam, I'm impressed. It sounds like you've done your homework and have really got things organized. The only thing which puzzles me is your last reason. Why would you want to be a vice president? They may know their way around a golf course, but most of the time, the administrative assistant knows ten times as much about the company. Are you thinking about taking up golf?"

Mariam is about to verbally lay into him when she sees his grin and the twinkle in his eye so she changes her response to, "You're right and you also know what I'm talking about."

He nods his head as he responds, "Yes, I do. And I'm proud to know you and applaud your ambition. Not that I generally applaud ambition because it's most often too self-centered. I think you have your heart in the right place of trying to help others without gouging them."

Sharlene asks, "What do you mean by help others without gouging them? Mariam, do you understand what he means?"

"I'm pretty sure I understand, but I'll let him explain."

"I don't mean to pick on your chosen profession, lovely lady, but it's what you're familiar with. What's the reason a hospital exists?"

"To fix injuries and to help people heal."

"What's the purpose of a hospital?"

"Isn't it the same?"

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (e6)

George shakes his head as he answers, "No. The purpose of a hospital is to make money for its investors. Regardless of the medical needs of a community, a hospital won't be built unless they think they can make a profit. I can understand that if investors put up money for something to be built, they have every right to expect their money to be returned with a modest fee paid for lending the money. The hospital itself needs to earn money to pay for staff, supplies, facilities, equipment, upkeep, etcetera. What happens in most companies is that even as they claim to provide a service to the customer, they're going to charge the customer as much as they think they can get away with. That's what I call gouging, but the capitalists call it charging what the market will bear.

"That's why there are so many battles in the medical profession between the medical providers and the insurance companies. Medical providers want to make a lot of money while insurance companies want to pay as little as possible, yet they turn around and charge their clients as much as they can. That's why hospitals will hire nurses to work one hour less than full time so they don't have to pay full time benefits.

"Consider the recent surge in petroleum based fuel prices. Is it because it costs more to pump the oil out of the ground, process it into fuel, ship it to its destination, and sell it to the customer through a local store? No. It's because the oil companies wanted to make bigger profits and so they started to raise the price. They know our society is dependent on petroleum based fuels and will pay almost anything because the alternatives are, for the most part, even more expensive, at least in the short term.

"I don't know how you intend to set up your pricing structure for your services. If your greater interest is in helping people rather than making lots of money, you'll calculate your operational costs, which will involve a lot of guess work, and you'll take an even bigger guess at the demand for your services. By dividing your operational costs by the number of estimated services, you'll have a rough estimate of cost per service which might be a starting place of what you might consider charging the customer. If it seems higher than what you think a customer might pay, lower your price and hope that a greater than estimated demand for services will make up the difference.

"If the demand for your product grows, you can start to lower the price for your service so you still cover your operational costs and make a modest profit. If the customers like the product or service they receive, if you lower the cost further, it will increase demand. Most companies try to raise prices to increase their profits, but if your operational costs are rather fixed, you can lower your prices and get your profit from increased demand.

"Look at the multitude of places which sell coffee. Their prices are considered low enough by most people that they don't think twice about picking up a cup of special coffee in the morning on the way to work, or when they're going home from work or at other times during the day. Many people feel like the few credits they spend for a cup of convenient coffee is less expensive to them than taking the time to make coffee at home to take with them. That's rather long winded and around the bush and I really don't intend to tell you how to run your business. Through all of that mess, did I answer your question?"

"I think so. You must be getting tired, because you don't usually run off like that. To boil it down, what I think I heard you say is that if our real concern is for the customer, then we ought to keep our per service charge at barely above the per service operational cost. If our product or service is popular enough to lower the cost per service to a level many people feel is inconsequential, then demand will be high enough to provide a good profit."

"Very nicely (yawn) put. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry. It's late and you're starting to fade fast. Mariam, I need to get George to bed before he's unable to walk. Do you want to continue our discussion and review the business plan then?"

"I would like to have him as a part of the conversation. Why don't I come over tomorrow and we can talk then?"

"That would be fine. Come on, George, let's go. Oops. I was afraid of that. Mariam, do you mind helping?"

"Not at all. What do you want me to do?"

"Take his arm across your shoulder and put your other arm around his waist, like this. On three, we'll stand him up. One, two, three. Okay, George, we'll go slow and provide the balance, but you need to take the weight."

As they near the end of the hall, he mutters, "Potty."

Sharlene winces then says, "I was afraid of that. Mariam, if you want to wait."

Mariam assures her, "I've seen and handled naked men before. If we can get him on the toilet, I think nature will do what it needs. I'll stay with him while you get his pajamas or whatever he sleeps in. Then I'll help you get him into bed."

"Okay. Here we go. George, lean on the wall." Quickly, Sharlene lifts the toilet seat and undoes his pants and drops them with his underwear to below his knees then tells him, "George, sit down."

While Sharlene takes his pants and goes to get his pajamas, Mariam makes sure he's aiming into the toilet bowl, says, "George, pee," and he obeys. Mariam gets his shirt off and wipes him off as Sharlene comes back with his pajamas. When she looks up and sees Sharlene stare, she asks, "You've never touched a man before, have you?"

"No. I helped undress him a couple of times, but I never touched him."

"It's no big deal. If he were more awake, he would think it was a big deal. Let's get his pajamas on and get him to bed."

Once his pajama top is on and his pajama bottom is at his knees, they stand him up, finish getting his pajamas on and stand him leaning on a wall while Mariam quickly washes her hands. A few moments later, they sit him on the side of the bed and while one of them guides his fall to the side and the other lifts his legs, they get him laid down. Before she covers him, Sharlene asks, "Mariam, can you feel the muscles twitching in his thigh?"

"Yeah. That's clearly twitching."

"That means his muscles are overworked. Oh, Mariam, he seems to be doing so well that I keep forgetting he just had major surgery and is really weak."

After George is covered up and already asleep, Mariam puts an arm around Sharlene's shoulder, directs her out of the room, and asks, "How many post-operative patients have you had to deal with as a nurse?"

"None as a nurse. Oh, I see what you mean. As a doctor, I would pop in, say, 'How are you doing,' and leave, while the nurse had to take care of all the details."

"That's right. So don't blame yourself because you don't know all of the details. When I was young, I helped take care of my great grandpa when he was getting old. I don't know how many times he seemed to be doing fine and then he reached the end of his strength for the day and all of a sudden he was swan diving onto the floor. I was too small to pick him up or carry him, but I helped with almost everything else, including helping him go to the bathroom and washing him in the tub while my mom or grandma would hold him up. He started calling me Nurse Mariam. Years later, it dawned on me that part of the reason he did so was because it was embarrassing to him for his great granddaughter to touch him and wash him."

"It's sad that you were put in that position, but I suppose it prepared you for unpleasant things later in life."

"Pleasant things, too."

"What do you mean?"

Mariam suggests, "Sit down. By helping to take care of Great Grandpa, I unintentionally learned a lot about male anatomy. A lot of young men when they've gone through puberty think they're hot stuff and try to impress or shock young females with their anatomy. It really deflated their ego when I told them that my great grandpa's penis was bigger than theirs. When I was older and interested in touching and being touched, I wasn't afraid to touch a man."

"I think that's part of why George wants to go slow with me because I have no idea of what to expect."

"I think you're right. That's why I'll suggest that you touch George when he's asleep, even if it seems like you're taking advantage of him. Touching him will help you to demystify his male anatomy. Instead of it being some big bad mystery which is sinful to think about, much less to touch, you need to realize that it's just another part of his anatomy, like an arm or a leg. You don't have any trouble touching his arms or legs, so there's no reason to have trouble touching his genitals. I'm not going to tell you how to touch him, because I don't know what he likes.

"Just remember this, that jewel of a man in there isn't going to hurt you. I may be jumping to conclusions, but from my perspective, he dearly loves you. He wants to please you. He wants to touch you and bring you sexual pleasure. As he touches you, touch him. When he experiments with how he touches you and asks if you like it, do the same for him. Make the relationship a partnership and you'll both enjoy it so much more. I know I'm not a good example with a long string of short term relationships, but I've had very few sexual partners complain about me."

* * * * *

2147-08-23 (e7)

Since she's feeling rather inadequate and uncertain, Sharlene hesitates then suggests, "Maybe I should step back and let you develop a relationship with George."

"Don't you dare tempt me like that! And don't you throw away the love George has for you." Mariam grabs her by the upper arms and firmly tells her, "Sharlene, look at me. George wants you. You, girl. I'll admit that he's fun to hug and kiss, and I have more experience than you. He knows it, but that isn't what he wants. He wants YOU. He may not be able to admit it, but you're the person he's been looking for all of his life. From what you said that your aunt said, George has had a string of short relationships."

"Before that he was married for over thirty years."

"Was it a happy affectionate relationship?"

"Um, apparently not."

"I'll bet she was trying to run away from something when she agreed to marry him."

Sharlene looks at Mariam in surprise then asks, "How did you know?"

"What was she running from?"

"As abusive father. How did you know?"

Mariam explains, "Because if she had married George for who he was, she would still be married to him, unless she died."

"I'm getting confused."

"I'm sorry, Sharlene, I don't mean to confuse you. You gave me the key earlier. You said George had a huge reservoir of affection to share. The only way he could have a reservoir of affection was to have it continually refilled by being in an affectionate relationship or by hoarding it because he wasn't allowed to share it. Before tonight, the primary description of George I heard was that he was a boring old man.

"The man I saw tonight wasn't the man you told me about. The man I saw tonight was gallant, humorous, intelligent, and, above all, affectionate. He's certainly not boring and the longer the evening went on, his age disappeared. I don't recall ever meeting a man so open with hugs and kisses and yet not going any further. And I'll bet that he's hardly touched you much more."

"Just a little."

"Was that little more touching of an intimate nature?"

"Not by the usual meaning of the word."

"I don't want to pry, but will you tell me?"

Sharlene briefly hesitates then explains, "Well, last night when I asked him to touch me more, he refused and said I wasn't ready. That's when he told me he was going to go slow. I pushed him for a preview. He insisted on getting my permission first. When I gave him permission, he nuzzled my earlobe, kissed my neck, slid his hand under my pajama top to caress my back, and slid his hand up the back of one of my legs to my knee through my pajama bottom. When I asked him to do it again, he refused."

Mariam's eyes open wide as she asks, "Pajama top? You were in bed together when this happened?"

"Yes."

"Oh, my. Was there any other touching?"

"Um, no."

"So he's limited his touching to only hugging and kissing?"

"Yes, that and holding my hand a few times."

"Sharlene, I'm going to try to be gentle and blunt at the same time. George so much loves you and respects you that it's mind boggling. I didn't think it was possible. If he desired me as much as he desires you, we would have been in bed a week ago and not to sleep."

"He desires me?"

"Hasn't he told you that he does?"

"I guess he has. He told me I was physically attractive and he did say he was excited when I experienced intimate pleasure in his pickup on that fifth-day."

"Did he say how excited?"

"He made me ask all of the questions, but the result was that when I asked him if he had masturbated after seeing me enjoy pleasure on fifth-day, he said he hadn't because his body didn't wait that long."

Mariam is surprised and asks, "You two talked that bluntly?"

"Yes."

"Wow. Okay, I know I just met him and could be misreading him, but I don't think so. To keep it simple and blunt, two words: 'Keep George'. Let me say it again: 'Keep George'. If it seems like a hundred years before he fully makes love to you, take the hundred years. When you were in the pickup on fifth-day, how were you dressed?"

Although she's somewhat puzzled as to why Mariam would ask such a question, Sharlene answers, "A long sleeve shirt tucked into jeans and wearing hiking boots."

"Yet he saw you as so desirable that he spontaneously ejaculated? I'll bet that his desire for you has increased as he's gotten to know you as a person and not just as a beautiful body sitting next to him. A few weeks later, you're both laying in bed with only a thin piece of fabric separating the two of you and he barely touches you. His desire for you didn't decrease. His love for you and respect for you has increased to control his desire. Two words: 'Keep George'.

"I know you don't have experience with men, but use your analytical mind and compare the two events: Event A, you're fully clothed, sitting in an old noisy pickup, you ignore him, he ignores you, and when you experience pleasure, he doesn't touch you, yet he spontaneously ejaculates. Event B, you're wearing thin pajamas, laying in bed next to each other, you ask him to touch you, he hugs and kisses you, but barely touches you more. If George didn't desire you, he wouldn't be hugging and kissing you. Remember, I've seen you two hug and kiss and horny teenagers can't do it any better. The only explanation for him barely touching you as a result of Event B is because of his love and respect for you. Two words: 'Keep George'."

Sharlene asks, "Why do you keep saying, 'Keep George'?"

"I'm not doing a good job of keeping to simple and blunt, so if you hear nothing else of what I say, I want those two words, 'Keep George,' drilled into your head. Ask yourself this, does George know that you lack experience?"

"Yes."

"Does he still want you?"

"Yes."

"Then it's not experience he wants. He wants you. I'm guessing that many of the times when you two were hugging and kissing, you've been on his lap. How many times has he chased you off of his lap?"

Sharlene pauses to remember, "Twice, I think."

"Why?"

"To go to the bathroom."

"At least once tonight he admitted he let you stay on his lap too long, as least as far as his legs were concerned. He wants you even to the point of putting up with his own discomfort."

"I hadn't thought about it from that angle."

"If this was a court of law, George would have been convicted long ago of wanting you. That man very much wants you, very much desires you, very much loves you, and very much respects you. From what you've said and what I've seen, unless he's hiding some deep dark secret, it doesn't get any better than George. I'm not saying he's perfect. No man, or woman, for that matter, is perfect.

"I'm not saying you won't have squabbles and disagreements. You could probably find a number of men who would desire you as much as George, but I seriously doubt if you're going to find a man who respects you and loves you as much as George. Do you have any questions or comments about what I've tried to say?"

Sharlene considers what's been said for a little while before she responds, "Not that I can think of, other than thank you very much. Without a basis for comparison, I had no idea of how much George wanted and loved me. You've certainly helped me to open my eyes further."

"My compliments to the organizer of tonight's entertainment. I must say, this has probably been one of the most unusual evenings in my entire life. I find myself hugging and kissing a man at least old enough to be my father and maybe even my grandfather and am surprised how much I enjoyed it and it isn't even a first date. I'm helping to undress and put a man to bed I only met a few hours before. And I kiss another woman for the first time in my life. Sharlene, you run a very strange house."

"How can I ever thank you for all of the care and help you've given me?"

"Just let me be your friend and stay my friend. If we're going to start a new company together, we'll need to work at being friends, because there are going to be an awful lot of challenges and potentially divisive decisions to be made. I didn't mean to stay so late." Mariam starts to walk towards the front door and asks, "Do you still want to go over the business plan tomorrow?"

"Sure. I don't have anything else planned. If the Institute is going to put the Project on the market the week after next, we're going to need to get our ducks in a row pretty quick."

"Is there any particular time I should come tomorrow?"

"Any time after noon should be fine."

"Um, Sharlene. I rather shocked myself when I kissed you. You didn't seem bothered by it. Have you kissed another woman before?"

"No. It was a first time for me also. I was surprised, but I wasn't bothered by it. George and I hug and kiss a lot and by any definition we're just friends. You and I have been friends longer than I've even known George and we've hugged. Why should it be a problem if we kiss?"

Mariam pauses before she answers, "I don't know that it's a problem, but our cultural attitudes are certainly against women kissing. Yet in other cultures, women kiss each other and men kiss each other without sexual connotations being added. Hug me before I run." As they hug, their heads turn towards each other and their lips meet.

"That was nice, Mariam. Thank you."

"Thank you. Tomorrow, then."

"Bye."

Sharlene waits until Mariam has pulled out of the driveway and starts down the road before she turns out the porch light and locks the door. After she makes sure things are picked up and the doors are locked, she turns out the lights as she goes to the bedroom. When she steps to the side of the bed, Sharlene looks down at George for a little while with a smile on her face. A moment later, she gets her stethoscope to listen to his heart and hears a good steady beat. Since he's laying on his back, she opens his pajama top, checks his incision sites, notes how well they're healing, closes his pajama top, and gets herself ready for bed.

As she lays on her right side next to him, he doesn't stir as she cuddles up to him. Sharlene thinks for a minute or two about what Mariam said then slips her hand down and finds that the waist band of his pajama bottom is somewhat snug then remembers that his pajama bottom has an open fly. She carefully slips her hand in, gently explores, and compares what her hand is feeling with her memory of the diagrams from her medical textbooks. A couple of minutes later, she removes her hand, makes sure they're both covered, cuddles up closer to him with her head on his left shoulder, lays her left arm across his chest, and falls asleep.

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (m1)

"Mmm." The sound of her own voice startles Sharlene enough to partially wake up and realize that her back is being caressed. This causes her to wake up more and become aware that she's still laying with her head on George's shoulder with her left arm across his chest while his left arm is gently sliding back and forth across her back. Even as he squeezes and releases her back, she realizes that he's still asleep and must be dreaming. She opens her eyes and lifts her head to look at his face and sees that he appears to be muttering something, but it's too quiet and disjointed to be understood.

As she moves her eyes down his covered body she sees a bulge in the blanket. She gently lifts the blanket to look under it, but it's too dark to see anything so she lowers the blanket. After she briefly thinks about it, she moves her left hand down his body to gently explore and is surprised to feel that, she quickly reviews the medical textbooks in her mind, he has an erection which is sticking up through the open fly in his pajama bottom. She thinks to herself, "Interesting, so that's what it feels like."

Carefully, she removes her hand since she's quite sure he would be embarrassed to know he had one and doubly embarrassed to know she was touching it. If she wants him to eventually touch her in the pubic area, then she had better get used to the idea of touching him there. She snuggles a little closer and as she enjoys him caressing her back, she drifts off into a light sleep.

Awhile later, she wakes up again. Since he's still asleep and is no longer caressing her back, she soon realizes that her bladder is sending her mind a rather urgent message. Carefully, she gets out of bed and takes care of her needs. She checks the time then decides to let him sleep, gets dressed in a comfortable shirt and jeans, goes to the kitchen, and heats some water.

As she waits for her tea to brew, Sharlene sees the headband on the table. She briefly thinks, says to herself, "There's no time like the present," and while she hopes the battery is charged, she checks to make sure the ERD is properly plugged in and puts the headband on and plugs the re-charger with a spare battery into an electrical outlet. Once her tea is fixed, she sits at the table and checks her phone for messages. When she sees one from her aunt, she calls.

"Hello?"

"Morning, Aunt Paula."

"Sharlene, how are you doing?"

"Pretty good."

"How's George?"

"He's doing a little better every day. He's sleeping right now. Mariam was over last night and we kept George awake longer than we should have."

"Would it be okay if Paul and I come down tomorrow? We thought we could bring your vehicle down to you."

"Of course you can come. George would love to see you. And I prefer my own vehicle to the rental I have."

"I just wanted to touch base and make sure you didn't have something else planned for tomorrow. I have another customer so we'll talk tomorrow when we get there. Bye."

"Goodbye."

She checks her phone again and sees a message from Klara which says to call at any time. Hoping that now would be an okay anytime, she calls.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Klara. This is Sharlene."

"Sharlene, how are you doing?"

"Pretty good."

"How's your house guest?"

"What?"

"What's his name, Greg, no George."

"He's doing better. How did you know about him?"

"The old spy network." Klara chuckles then admits, "Not really. Your dad and I tried calling you a week ago last third-day to see if there was any behind the scenes news about the Project, but your phone was listed as out of area which he thought was odd. So he called your aunt and caught her just as she was about to go out the door. She said you were on an airevac with a neighbor who had suffered a heart attack. He figured that wasn't a good time to try to talk to you. Your aunt has given your dad brief updates and we figured that when things calmed down some you would call. And you did."

"I'm sorry I didn't call earlier, but things have been somewhat crazy. Dad was probably getting worried since we usually say, 'Hi,' at least once a week."

Klara assures her, "He's doing fine. And he's real proud of you for helping your aunt's neighbor and making sure he received good treatment. I was rather puzzled to hear you did bypass surgery on him yet he was out of the hospital in a week."

"What we did on George wasn't a typical bypass. We did what's called a Thompson bypass which is basically making two small incisions between the ribs to remove a localized blockage in an artery. The recovery time is much shorter than a typical bypass where the chest cavity is cut open."

"Isn't the hospital stay for a Thompson bypass usually a couple of weeks?"

"Klara, is there anything you're ignorant about?"

She chuckles then says, "Not much, and if I find something I don't know about, I go digging. In this case, I have a cardiologist friend I asked about bypass surgery and he said it had to have been a Thompson bypass. Even he was surprised that George was out of the hospital in a week instead of two."

Sharlene explains, "I also gave George an experimental drug which uses adult stem cells to help rebuild the heart muscle and it seems to be working quite well."

"Good for you. I was surprised to hear you're helping him to convalesce in your home. Sharlene, is he safe? Shall I do a background check on him?"

"Klara, he's very safe. Aunt Paula has known him for several years and felt he was safe enough for me to be alone with for several hours out in the forest. If it makes you or Dad feel any better, do a background check."

"What were you doing in the forest alone with a strange man?"

"I went to look at the animals at a swampy pond in the area while he cut firewood. Basically, he was a chauffeur and a tour guide. We hardly even talked."

"Do you really feel safe with him?"

"Perfectly safe. He's a kind and gentle man. He's recently out of surgery and is probably old enough to be my grandfather. If I can't protect myself with my martial arts training, then I'd better move home and be my mommy's little girl again."

"Ouch. Okay, you've made your point. I guess I'm just an old worry wart. I've watched both you and your dad grow up and I guess I feel a bit protective of you."
"Thank you, Klara. I really appreciate it."

"Do you have any scoop on the status of the Project? Oh, by the way, if you're going to share information which hasn't been publicly released, call me. It's much harder to track down phone calls than it is to pull email files."

"Okay, by phone it is. I've been kind of out of the loop while I've been taking care of George. I had Mariam over last night to talk about it. I think she said she had talked to you."

Klara responds, "Yes. She sounds like a competent young lady."

"I think she is. Anyway, the current news is that the Institute and the government have agreed that the assets of the Project to be put on the market are the proprietary information and software, specialized equipment, and any research and electronic emotional recordings which have been collected. The commercial hardware and software and the office equipment stays with the Institute. Another part of the agreement, if I remember right, is that several employees from the Project will be lent to the purchasing entity for a minimum of two weeks for training purposes and Mariam is one of them. After that, the Institute is to provide them with new positions or allow them to be hired by the Project purchaser.

"From what management has told Mariam, the Project will probably be officially put on the market the week after next. Since Mariam is the point of contact for the Project, she has to report to management any time somebody contacts her for information about the Project going on the market. Apparently, management was real excited when you called on behalf of an anonymous investor, but the excitement died quickly when you had asked some pointed questions about the technical aspects. Mariam checked with the head technician on the transmittal portion of the Project yesterday afternoon and they still can't electronically verify that the recipient is receiving the emotion which is being transmitted."

"Isn't that kind of a show stopper for what you want to do?"

Sharlene answers, "It might be, but some unpublished information is that last night George made a suggestion which we passed on to the head technician. It was an approach they haven't tried yet and are going to test it on their own time and with their own equipment so they don't have to report the results. When they try it, they agreed to call me so if Mariam hears about it, then it's only rumor and she's not required to report it. Is all of this sneakiness normal business?"

Klara assures her, "Very normal. As long as there's no paper trail of conversations, nobody can seriously complain, that's why I said to call with unpublished information. So there's a chance the technical roadblock has been removed?"

"I don't know. But the head technician was cautiously optimistic."

"That's good news. When you hear, pass it on. But officially, the technical roadblock is still in the way?"

"It was as of last night, unless they think of something else."

"Fair enough. If I recall when we first talked about you buying the Project, you said you were going to have Mariam work on the business plan. How's that going?"

"She has a draft which we plan to review this afternoon. So far, all I know about it is that she has me down as president and herself as vice-president in charge of administration."

"Can you shoot me a copy when you're done reviewing it?"

"That was the plan."

"Good. Was there anything else?"

Sharlene thinks for a little while before she asks, "How do we handle the money so my name isn't on it and how do we have a new company take over the Project with Mariam as a vice president?"

Klara explains, "Since he figured you had other things on your mind and he's still listed as a joint owner on your account, your dad has already authorized a transfer of funds into an investment company which he's used before for other investors. A lot of money goes in and out of that investment company all of the time. He's used it to invest some of your money before. What he's thinking of doing, is that when it comes time to transfer the money to buy the Project, he'll make several other investments in the same amount so no one can prove that the money from your account went to the Project.

"As for the second part, the investment company takes over the Project, then forms a new company to run it and is impressed enough with Mariam to hire her. To be on the safe side, take her name out of the business plan, but keep yours in and make sure you send the business plan to me through your email. As president, you can hire who you want. Since you know and like Mariam and since she knows the Project, it would only be natural for you to hire her."

"That makes sense. Thank you. You've been a big help."

"It's been fun and it's only going to get better. I always did like to get paid for having fun."

"That's something I hadn't thought about. How and when do you want to get paid?"

Klara assures her, "Don't worry about it. I'll send a bill when we're done."

"Can you handle your expenses?"

"Yes. Like I say, don't worry about it. I've been dealing with legal expenses since before you were a twinkle in your father's eye."

Sharlene pauses then says, "Oh my. It just dawned on me that if you watched my dad grow up, then you must have watched my father grow up."

"Yes, I did. He was a wonderful man and Soo-Lin was absolutely delightful."

"I never thought to ask you about them. Sometime when we get together, can you tell me what you remember about them?"

Klara answers, "Of course. I'll probably be coming over in the next couple of weeks to do the negotiations for the Project on behalf of an 'anonymous investor' and you should come home sometime in the near future so your account can be signed over to you."

"I keep forgetting about my accounts, Dad's always taken care of them. I'll probably need to have him transfer some money into my checking account now that I'm not working."

"I think he already has, but you might want to double check."

"Thanks, Klara."

"No problem. By the way, have you thought of a name for the new company?"

"George came up with Digital Empathy and Mariam liked it so much, she quite literally danced around the room. George tried to remind her that somebody else might have already used it and then we would have to think of something else."

"I'll do a search and see if the name has been used for another company. It sounds like George is a bit of an ideas man. I didn't know he had anything to do with the Project."

"He doesn't. I just had a feeling, feminine intuition I guess you could call it, that he was going to contribute something, so I asked him to participate in our discussions."

"That's good. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Sharlene pauses for a moment then says, "Not that I can think of. Is there a better time for me to call?"

Klara answers, "No. When you want to talk, just call. If I'm busy, leave a message. I'm flexible."

"Thank you. I really appreciate your concern and your time."

"Sharlene, it's been my pleasure. I've enjoyed watching you grow up from a little girl to become a competent young woman. Oops, gotta run. Somebody's at the door, it must be my new toy boy."

"Klara!"

"What? Do you think I'm too old for a toy boy?"

"No. You would probably run circles around one. I just know you like to tease me."

"You're right. Thanks for calling and we'll talk again."

"Okay. Bye."

"Goodbye."

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (m2)

As she realizes that it's probably time for her to check on George, Sharlene goes to the bedroom and when she sees that he's still asleep, she debates with herself as to whether she ought to wake him. A moment later, she decides to check his heart as a way to see how asleep he is, so she gets her stethoscope and hears a good steady beat. When she opens his pajama top to check his surgical site, he starts to stir awake.

While she's closing his pajama top, he sleepily mutters, "Are you sneaking a peek?"

"I was checking your surgical site." Before he can respond, she leans over and starts to kiss him more fully awake. "Mmm, that's nice, George," as she feels the back of his right hand slide along the front and outside of her right knee and a little ways up her thigh. A few moments later, she asks, "What about my other leg?"

"I don't think I can reach it from here."

She gets on the bed and kneels while she straddles his abdomen and leans over him. As her hair forms a curtain to the sides of their faces, he reaches up and caresses her face and finger combs her hair. A little later, he gently pulls her hair to bring her face close to his and kisses her. As he releases her hair, he slips his hands under her body and over her jeans, and caresses both of her legs along the front, the outside, and slightly around the back of each of her legs then back around to the front. With each front to back movement he goes a little higher along the length of her legs until he gets to about the middle of her thighs. She breaks the kiss, almost hums, "Mmm, nice," and drops her forehead to his shoulder.

While he's catching his breath, he continues with the front to back movement and goes down the length of her legs a little at a time until he reaches her knees. He stretches his arms as far as he can reach and finger caresses the upper end of the outsides of her calves. In a moment, she realizes he can't reach any more of her so she pulls her knees a few inches up along the bed. That enables him to caress her along the backs of her calves and up to behind her knees. As he slips his hands around to the fronts of her knees and slowly caresses up the fronts of her thighs to about the middle of their length and back down, she begins to kiss him more passionately.

He continues the slow up and down movement of his hands, without going any higher than the middle of her thighs, and moves away from the fronts of her legs about an inch at a time. When he gets to the edge of the backs of her legs, she breaks the kiss to try to catch her breath and again drops her forehead to his shoulder. His hands move an inch further in, then slowly slide up the backs of her legs and slowly back down again, another inch further in, he slowly slides his hands up the backs of her legs and back down again as she moans with the flowing pleasure. When his hands are fully on the backs of her legs, he slowly slides his hands up and down then continues to caress the backs of her legs while her growing pleasure causes her groans to grow louder.

"Higher, George!"

"Not yet."

"Higher!!"

"Not yet."

She scrambles off of the bed, stumbles to the bathroom, and barely closes the door in her hurry to open her pants enough to push her right hand in to touch herself. Almost immediately, her pleasure surges higher and she isn't sure what kind of sound she makes as her pleasure peaks to release her sexual tension. As she slowly calms down, she isn't sure whether she feels embarrassed at her behavior or is ready to insist that he touch her more.

While he wonders how much longer he can hold off on touching her more, George stumbles to the guest bathroom, washes up after he almost made a mess in the bed, and empties his bladder. When he's done, he returns to the bedroom, gets his clothes, and goes back to the bathroom where he gets dressed. He steps back into the bedroom, puts his pajamas in his luggage, and as he stands up, Sharlene comes out of the bathroom. They look at each other for a moment and both start to say, "I'm sorry," at the same time.

He suggests, "Ladies first."

"Come, sit." As they sit on the bed next to each other, she takes his right hand in both of hers and tells him, "George, I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I'm sorry I pushed you."

"Oh, love. You didn't push me. Did I tell you to stop?"

"No."

"They how can you say you pushed me?"

He briefly hesitates before he answers, "If I hadn't of touched you so far, you wouldn't have gotten so excited."

"But isn't the journey about me being touched to enjoy sexual pleasure in many ways before we ever get to sexual intercourse?"

"Yes."

"From what I've heard, being excited is a part of enjoying sexual pleasure. Isn't that true?"

"Yes."

She smiles and assures him, "Then I say you're doing a wonderful job. You sure know how to touch me. You didn't take any time to please yourself and I know I was being selfish and not even thinking of pleasing you."

He turns his head away and hesitates before he admits, "You didn't have to."

"You mean you became so excited while you were pleasing me that you had a sexual release?"

He nods his head.

"Did you need to touch yourself?"

He shakes his head.

"Oh my. Maybe we are like a couple of horny teenagers as Mariam accused us of being." As she notices a slight grin on the side of his month, Sharlene encourages him, "George, please look at me. You're an absolute wonder. I'm yelling for more, you're about to have a sexual release, and yet you have the control to tell me, 'Not yet'. You keep saying you don't deserve me. The truth is that I don't deserve you."

She puts her hand on his month and requests, "Please don't interrupt. I don't deserve to selfishly keep enjoying sexual pleasure in such a safe environment. I listened when my aunt and Mariam said that if I had been with any other man I would have been raped. I would have spent the rest of my life in conflict of wanting yet fearing sexual pleasure.

"With you I'm comfortable. With you I feel safe. With you I want sexual pleasure. I don't fear it. Please forgive me for wanting to go further faster. I really do want to walk this journey with you. I want to enjoy every step of the way. I don't want to miss out on any kind of touching you want to share with me.

"You said you may have to step away to control yourself. Mariam warned me that I might have to step away for the same reason. Maybe I am the equivalent of a horny teenager, because I had no idea that being caressed like that could be so excitingly pleasurable. George, how can I give you pleasure? I don't want this to be a one sided journey."

"I'm obviously enjoying intimate pleasure just by touching you and seeing you enjoy intimate pleasure. For you to allow me to be with you, to touch you, to bring you pleasure is more than I could have ever dreamed was possible. I . . . I . . . I don't know what more I can say."

She pushes him back onto the bed, lays on him, and requests "Don't say, kiss." As the kiss seems to naturally become more passionate, the thought intrudes that she's pushing him too far for both his health and his control. As she allows wisdom to prevail, but not without some regret, she backs off, breaks the kiss, cuddles up to him, and tells him, "Thank you."

As he catches his breath, he falls asleep.

She thinks to herself, "What a quandary. If I keep wearing him out, he'll never recover. He keeps giving and giving and never asks for anything other than the opportunity to keep giving. Yet if I'm to believe his words and his actions, he's enjoying himself. Maybe he is being selfish in a way. The more he pleases me, the more pleasure he enjoys. I'd better get some food in him otherwise he won't have the strength to do anything."

With that thought, Sharlene goes to the kitchen, pours a big glass of orange juice and carries it back to the bedroom. Although she doesn't like to have food in her bedroom, unusual problems require unusual solutions. She gently caresses his face and tells him, "George, it's time to wake up."

"Mmm, hello angel."

"Hello, hero."

"Uh, what happened?"

"I'm afraid I wore you out. Come on, sit up so you can drink some orange juice. Take it slowly. Since we didn't discuss the new company business plan with Mariam last night, she's going to come over sometime after noon to review it with us."

He asks in surprise, "Us?"

"She specifically wanted you to be a part of it. This morning while you were still asleep, I briefly talked to Aunt Paula and let her know you're doing fine. She and Uncle Paul are planning on coming down tomorrow afternoon to visit. They're going to bring you some more clothes and your mail and they'll drive my vehicle down."

"It'll be good to see them." He hesitates before he asks, "How are we going to tell them about what's happening between us?"

"I'm not sure we need to tell them. My aunt told me she thought something like this might happen. I suspect she warned you of something similar."

He nods his head then briefly hesitates before he verbally responds, "Yes, she did. I thought it was so unbelievably impossible that it was one of the few times I've found it hard to take her seriously."

She almost protests, "You told her you wanted to be with me."

"Oh, yes. But that you would want to be with me? No way."

"But I do want you. And every day I want you more. Don't you believe me?"

He turns his head away to consider how to respond then turns his head back towards her while he answers her, "I'm trying to, but that idea is taking a long time to seep into my fossilized brain cells. I'm having to overcome decades of training and experience to realize that a warm, caring, wonderful, beautiful young lady like you would want to be with an old bum like me, much less allow me to touch you."

"I'm sorry. I know I'm having a hard time believing you when you keep insisting that I'm pretty and that you find me attractive. I forget how much more difficult it must be for you to believe the opposite of what you've experienced for so long. I'll just have to keep telling you and showing you that I want you. Are you okay with that?"

"Okay? Lovely lady, you're a dream come true. I think I'm going to rearrange the calendar to Before Sharlene and Since Sharlene."

"You flatterer, I really do want you."

"I'm beginning to get a glimmer of that. I really do think you're beautiful."

"I know you do, George, and I really appreciate it. Since you finished the orange juice, why don't you get up and we'll get you some more to eat. You used up a lot of energy this morning."

A little later, with much support from the wall, he makes it to the kitchen and continues to the table where he semi-falls onto a chair. A moment later, he tells her, "You were right again, lovely lady. My energy level is shot."

"Some more food should help. How does egg batter fried bread with maple syrup sound?"

"It sounds good. Do you have any peanut butter I can have with it?"

She looks at him in surprise then asks, "You put peanut butter on egg batter fried bread?"

He nods his head as he answers, "Yes, when I feel in the need of more energy, I'll put a thick layer of peanut butter between two slices and then cover it with syrup. It even tastes pretty good."

"That's probably a good idea. By the time the sugar from the syrup and bread has surged through the system, the protein and fat from the egg and peanut butter have been digested to provide continuing energy." A few minutes later, she brings a plate to him and tells him, "Here you go. Two slices of egg batter fried bread. I'll let you add your own peanut butter and syrup. . . . That looks interesting. Do you mind if I try a bite?"

"Not at all. Go ahead." He pushes his plate towards her.

She holds her fork up and assures him, "I haven't eaten off of it yet."

"Sharlene, at the rate we've been kissing, if any of our germs haven't met, it's because they're on a long vacation."

She looks at him, looks at her fork, looks back at him, proclaims, "You're right," and with a bit of a mischievous grin, she deliberately sticks her fork in her month, rolls her tongue all over it, pulls it out, looks at it, cuts a piece of egg batter fried bread from his plate, and, as he laughs, she pops it into her mouth. Her eyes widen, "Hey, that's pretty good," and she proceeds to fix her own egg batter fried bread in a similar manner.

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (m3)

Several minutes later, he puts his fork down on the empty plate and tells her, "Thank you, Sharlene. That was another fine meal."

"You're welcome. So, what do you do with left over egg batter fried bread? I can't imagine you just make two slices at a time."

"Nope. I'll make a large batch and put the leftovers in the fridge or the freezer and when I want some, I'll pop a slice or two into the toaster."

"That's a good idea. When I grew up, Mom was careful to make only as much as she thought we would eat. I haven't had egg batter fried bread for awhile because I didn't want to make the effort of fixing it for just two slices. I imagine you could do the same thing with waffles."

"Yep. You just have to be a little more careful with them in the toaster since they'll burn more easily."

"What about pancakes?"

"They don't work so well in a toaster. Usually I just microwave them."

"For someone who doesn't eat breakfast, you know a lot about fixing left over breakfast foods."

"Who said anything about them being breakfast foods?"

She looks at him in surprise, reacts, "Huh?" then says, "Oh. I guess there's no law which says they can only be eaten at breakfast. You do like to buck societal conventions, don't you, old man?"

He gives her a grin then responds, "That's me."

"How many other societal conventions are you likely to buck?"

"I don't know, Doctor Doll. Suppose you and I go paint the town red and find out?"

She laughs then says, "Doctor Doll. You picked a winner with that one. If I had been dressed as Mariam suggested, would you really have forgotten your role and just stared at me."

"Oh, yes. I have a hard enough time not staring at you as it is. If you were dressed as provocatively as Mariam suggested and showing off flashes of your body, I would have definitely stared. I'll give you a warning right now, if our relationship continues, you'll find me staring at you. There may be times when you have to hit me alongside the head with a two by four to get me to start breathing again."

"Now I want to stare at you in disbelief."

He quickly sets his elbows on the table, puts his chin in his hands, opens his eyes wide, stares at her, and says, "Okay, I'll stare at your beauty and you stare at me in disbelief. What I see is much nicer than what you see."

She pushes his face aside as she tells him, "George, I'm serious."

"So am I." When she turns in her chair and faces away from him, he gets out of his chair, kneels down in front of her, takes her hands in his left hand and caresses her face with his right hand. A moment later, he says, "Sharlene, I'm sorry I upset you."

"Oh, George, you didn't do it on purpose. I'm sorry I get so easily upset about the subject. I expect you to believe me when I say I want you to be with me. I should believe you when you tell me I'm beautiful or pretty or attractive or whatever you call me."

"The correct answer is D, all of the above."

With a sad smile, she says, "George, you're a jewel." She takes a deep breath, pauses, and asks, "Okay, George, how beautiful do you think I am?"

"Before I answer your question, I want you to realize what you're asking. You're asking for my opinion on a very subjective matter. What I say may be the exact opposite of others. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think so. So, in your opinion, how beautiful do you think I am?"

"In the opinion of this demented old fool, you're the most beautiful woman on the planet."

"Oh. George, why did you say it like that?"

"If it's too hard for you to accept that you're beautiful to the general population, then it might be easier for you to accept that you're beautiful to a foolish old man. In either case, it can explain to you why I find you so attractive and want to stare at you and be with you."

Since she doesn't like the idea that he would push himself down in order to lift her up, she tells him, "You don't need to denigrate yourself so I can feel more comfortable about your exalted opinion of me."

He seems to ignore his side of the equation as he responds, "What's important is your self-esteem. I'll do almost anything to make you more comfortable and to improve your self-esteem. You're young and have your whole life ahead of you. It's a dog eat dog world out there and for you to run your own business will throw you into the midst of it. You're a kind and gentle person and you'll need as strong of a self-esteem as you can develop."

"But what about your self-esteem?"

"Think about it for a little while. I'm old. I've lived my life. I've already died once. What do I need self-esteem for? The people who are important to me; your aunt and uncle, Molly, and you, like me. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks?"

She tries to think of something to say, but all that comes out is, "Oh."

"The truth of the matter, young lady, is that my self-esteem has never been higher. As I'm beginning to believe that YOU really want ME, I'm on top of the world. If I was just a little more egotistical, I would find the busiest shopping center and strut down the middle of it with you on my arm. I probably wouldn't because I'm not inclined to do any kind of strutting, but that's what I feel like doing."

"Does being with me and me wanting you, really mean that much to you?"

He nods his head as he answers, "Yes, it does. Because of you, I'm a new man. If you had hoped to have a relationship with the old George, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed."

"George, this is one time I'm going to disagree with you. You're not a new man. For some reason, you've allowed the real you which has been buried for so many years, to shine forth. People don't change their personality overnight, but their hidden self can shine forth almost overnight, if the environment is right."

"Well, I feel new, but whether it's a new me or a hidden me, the thing which is most important is what caused the change, and that's you. Whether you remade me or provided the right environment for me to step out of hiding, the credit goes to you."

"Oh, my."

"Here I go upsetting you again, I'm sorry."

"Maybe I'm beginning to get an idea of how hard it is for you to believe how much I want you, when I'm finding it so hard to believe I mean that much to you. Oh, just hold me."

Without hesitation, he wraps his arms around her and turns his head to rest it on her upper chest as she hugs him tight and rests her chin on the top of his head. After awhile, she slides her arms up his back, gently pulls his head away from her, tilts it up, and kisses him with warmth and caring rather than passion. When she senses that he needs to breathe, she breaks the kiss, hugs his head to her upper chest with both arms and begins to gently rock back and forth while his hands caress her back.

After a while, she asks, "What am I going to do with my wonderful man?"

"Help me to get up?"

"Oh, George, I'm sorry."

"I'm the one who knelt here."

"But you did it for me."

"I don't mean to be curt, but we can sort out the blame later. Can you move a chair a little closer to directly behind me?"

She quickly gets up, pulls a chair closer and asks, "About here?"

"Maybe, I really don't know." He puts his hands on her chair, pushes up, "Owww," puts a hand on the table for balance, glances back, "Can you turn the chair ninety degrees so I can reach the back with this hand?" He places his hand on the back of the chair, says, "Thank you," and sits, "Ahhh, made it."

"I'm sorry, George."

"Sharlene, no more sorry." He starts to rub his knees before he says, "I know better than to kneel on the floor. Damn. If I had used half an ounce of brains, I would have pulled my chair over. I may feel like a new man, but my body keeps reminding me that I'm just an old fool. I'm sorry I was harsh with you."

She softens her voice as she says, "George, thank you for being so concerned about me that you forgot your own limitations. I understand that you feel like a fool, but it was a very clear demonstration of how much I mean to you."

He lifts his arms up to her, gently directs her to his side, hugs her, and says, "Ah, love, how did I ever live before I met you?" That startles her as she remembers Mariam's words, "You're the person he's been looking for all of his life." Although he doesn't understand why she briefly shivers, he applies the right solution and hugs her tighter.

A couple of minutes later, he asks, "Can you please help me to the love seat?"

"Of course."

As he holds onto her and anything else close enough for support, he makes it to the love seat, half falls on it, then says, "Ahhh, thank you."

She looks up and announces, "Oh, the breakfast dishes. I'll be right back."

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

He has a brief discussion with himself, "George, you old fool, you went and lost your head over a pretty face, I thought you knew better than that. I thought I did too. But, conscience, she's more than just a pretty face. She's kind, gentle, caring, intelligent, has a fantastic smile, a gorgeous body, and beautiful hair. But best of all, she wants me. She could have almost any man in the world, but she wants boring old foolish me. Now isn't that something?"

"George?" Sharlene's voice interrupts his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"What are you smiling about?"

"You."

"Why me?"

"I'm just reminding my conscience that you're more than just a pretty face."

Since she didn't expect that answer, it takes her moment to ask, "Does your conscience object to a pretty face?"

"Yes, if I lose my head over one."

"Did you lose your head over me?"

He turns to look at her and reaches up to caress her face as he answers, "In many ways I have, like kneeling on the floor."

"So you don't kneel on the floor?"

"The only time I kneel is to scrub the floor if it's really dirty or to pull weeds from the garden or flower beds and then I'm prepared and wear knee pads and have something available so I can pull myself up with."

"You wouldn't kneel to propose to a girl?"

He shakes his head then answers, "I didn't kneel the first time and I don't intend to go through that again. Even if I was inclined to marry, if I had to kneel to beg a woman to marry me, then I'm not worthy of her. Sharlene, I like you very much and if Mariam is right about the definition of love, then I do love you. I have no intention of offending you and I never want to hurt you, but on the subject of marriage, I'm crude and blunt, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks, I'll never do it again."

"Was it that bad?"

He drops his hand from her face and looks away before he says, "Yes and no. I should have never gotten married to begin with. Most people shouldn't. I would guess that over ninety percent of the people who go into a marriage have no clue what they're getting into. I certainly didn't. Most people go into marriage with high emotions and high expectations and when reality sets in, they're stuck.

"You can get married for a few credits, but to end the marriage takes lawyers and courts. If two people care for each other, a piece of paper and a ceremony isn't going to make them care for each other more. And if two people really don't care for each other, a piece of paper and a ceremony isn't going to turn their apathy into care. That's my brief lecture on the subject, take it or leave it."

It takes her a little while to respond, "George, I'm glad you can be crude and blunt. You've been so kind to me and caring about how I feel, I was hoping it was real and not sugar coated."

He turns back to her and says, "Young lady, I know I'm far from perfect, but one thing I've tried to stay true to is to say what I mean and mean what I say. I learned a long time ago, that if I try to sugar coat something, sooner or later the sugar coating will dissolve and the ugly truth will be there for all to see."

He looks away and drops his head with a sigh, then says, "Sharlene, I'm sorry I'm sounding so harsh. When I make such an obvious fool of myself, I get irritated, and I'm afraid I get harsh with those around me. That's a part of who I am and I'm too old to change some things. If it bothers you, please let me know and I'll leave. You've been so kind and gentle and loving towards me, that you shouldn't have to suffer harshness in return."

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (m4)

She sits on his upper legs and suggests, "Oh, George, it's hard for me to hug you here, so why don't you hug me." As he hesitantly, but gently, wraps his arms around her, Sharlene rests her head on his left shoulder and pulls his arms tighter around her. "Thank you for being real. I don't want you to be irritated and I certainly don't want to provoke you to be irritated, but I'm very glad you're comfortable enough around me to be irritated. I don't want you to pussy-foot around me or to treat me with kid gloves. I want you to be real, to be yourself, to be free to be irritated and angry, and to be free to be caring and loving."

"Young lady, that's what I want for you, that freedom. No matter how much I selfishly want you in my life, no matter how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I won't marry you because I don't want to tie you down or to put you under any obligation or coercion. I may not understand why you want to keep me around, but, at least from my perspective, you aren't being coerced or obligated to do so."

"George, to set your mind at ease, I have no intention of trying to drag you into marriage. Even in my short life of ignorance, I've seen many problems with it. When I talked with my aunt, she pointed out a number of other problems with marriage. In many ways, her thoughts on the subject are similar to yours and my thoughts lean heavily in the same direction. As a follow on, I freely admit, to one and to all, that you haven't coerced or obligated me in any manner.

"I'll also freely admit, George Greyson, that I really do want to keep you, even though I don't fully understand it myself. Since we both understand there isn't any coercion or obligation being applied, then we can do what we please as long as just the two of us agree. If you do agree, then participate, because what I want is a good kiss," to which he most heartily applies himself, until he runs out of breath.

"I don't know . . . how good of a . . . kiss it was . . ."

"Say no more, it was a very good kiss and when you catch your breath, I'm going to be selfish and request another." A few moments later, he happily honors her request.

While his right arm is around her upper abdomen and is holding her waist with firm gentleness in order to hold her close, his left hand caresses her back, while she rests her head on his left shoulder and he fully catches his breath. After a couple of minutes of quiet closeness, his left hand which had been caressing her back, slides up through her hair to the back of her neck. He gently grips her neck and with her active cooperation, he lifts her head away from his shoulder, tilts her head and torso back a little, and leans over to start kissing her neck.

She responds, "Mmm, nice," as his kisses slide under her chin and along the other side of her neck and he begins to intersperse them with an occasional quick flick of his tongue. A short time later, while he makes sure his lips are covering his teeth, he 'gums' her neck and growls, to which her eyes widen in surprise, but he's already moving on to kiss, nuzzle, and tongue caress her, this time along the collar of her shirt and moves towards the top button of her shirt.

As he moves his kisses back up towards her neck and tongue caresses the hollow of her neck, she slips her hands up and undoes two of the closely spaced buttons of her shirt to pull the top of her shirt further open. She's just in time because his kisses, which had gone to the other side of her neck, are now following the collar of her shirt further down across her upper chest and are accompanied by her moans of pleasure.

His kisses follow the collar of her shirt to the other side of her neck. After a bare moment of thought, she boldly undoes two more buttons and thrills as his kisses come back down her chest along her shirt collar which barely covers the top of her bra. He drops a few kisses in the middle of her chest which causes her to groan, then his kisses move back up along her collar to the other side of her neck, to nuzzle her ear, across her chin to nuzzle her other ear, across her cheek to stop at her lips, and he thoroughly kisses her.

When he breaks the kiss to catch his breath, she asks, "Is that what you meant by covering my body with kisses?"

"Well, this is hardly," he slowly traces a finger along the last line of kisses across her chest while she responds with a sharp intake of breath, "your whole body."

While his finger slowly goes up her neck to follow her hair line, she requests, "Do it again, please."

"I don't think . . . I have the breath." His finger goes across her forehead and past her ear.

"Your finger."

It follows down her neck and along her collar, "Like this?" then his finger moves to just above her barely hidden bra at the center of her chest.

"Yes," she responds with another sharp intake of breath.

His finger moves back along her collar to the other side then along her neck to the center point which is followed by a swift slide of his finger straight down her chest as she gasps. For a couple of minutes, he draws lines on her upper chest with his finger, sometimes with the fleshy portion, sometimes with the finger nail, sometimes straight, sometimes in waves, and with each variation, he always stays above her shirt collar. Then he caresses her upper chest with a few fingers which is followed by caresses with the palm of his hand, while she hopes he'll 'accidentally' slide the palm of his hand just a little lower.

She's about to grab his hand and move it lower, when he slides it to the back of her neck, pulls her head up towards his descending lips and kisses her. It ends up being a short kiss, because he's soon out of breath, breaks the kiss, and leans back. Following his movement, she snuggles up to him and rests her head on his shoulder.

A few minutes later, she realizes he's been rather quiet and as she notices that his hug has become slack, it dawns on her that he's fallen asleep. As Sharlene carefully gets up, he starts to stir, but when she leans over, kisses his forehead, and tells him, "Sleep, George," he settles back down.

As she buttons her shirt back up with a little feeling of regret and isn't sure whether to be upset or bemused that their combined antics keeps George worn out, she decides she ought to try to be semi-productive in a way which will distract her. She walks to the front room where she makes the effort to calm herself then spends the next half hour or so doing tai-chi and does a light martial arts workout. When she's done, she recognizes that he's still asleep so she turns on her computer and starts to go through her email.

She first checks who the senders are and sees one from Mariam where she asks her to send some of her original clean emotional recordings so she can pass them on to Todd and Julie to test and to see what they think of them. In her response to Mariam, she requests to remain anonymous, and attaches her 'third-day in the pickup' and 'sixth-day talking to George' emotional recordings. A couple of other emails take a little thought to respond to, but most are quickly dealt with. She decides to email her dad to let her parents know she's alive and well and not a figment of her aunt's imagination.

As she's closing her email, Sharlene's phone rings and she quickly grabs it before it can disturb George and asks, "Hello?"

"Sharlene?"

"Yes?"

"This is Julie Snoqualmee, from the defunded Project."

"Oh, hi, Julie. How are you doing?"

"Real well. Actually, fantastic. That idea your friend had to pulse the transmittal of an emotional recording?"

"Yeah?"

"It works!"

"Really? That's wonderful."

"Todd had to tweak the equipment and signal just a bit, but it works beautifully. I'm guessing Mariam told you that in the past, Todd would send an unknown emotion and I would have to say what it was."

Sharlene nods her head even as she responds verbally, "Yes. She said that when the clean emotion was a four or above, you identified the incoming emotion at about one hundred percent accuracy, but below that, your accuracy dropped off fast."

"That's right. Another element of that test was to identify my emotional response to the incoming emotion which isn't always the same. Of course, we couldn't verify what my emotional response was. When we pulse the signal, we can identify and verify my response to the incoming emotion. Even when I lied about what my emotional response was, the emotional recording of my response caught every lie.

"We'll need to test it with other people, but that can wait until after the Project is sold. In past tests, I was no better or worse than the others, but Todd, bless his heart, kept saying I was the best. The other testers took it in good grace since they know Todd is rather biased. I say that because I don't want you to think the test might not work with others."

"I appreciate the clarification as well as your willingness to do it on the sly."

"Todd and I have been around the business side of research for a number of years and are well aware of the need as well as are quite comfortable about doing things on the sly. Mariam was pretty closed mouth about it, but indicated you were somehow involved in acquiring the Project to carry on its stated purpose."

Sharlene clarifies, "Actually, it's more that I know someone who knows someone who might be interested in investing in the Project because of its intent to help people as long as there's the possibility of making at least a modest profit."

"That makes more sense. I assume your involvement is that you pitched it to the person you know, so they could pass it on."

"That's about it."

"That's probably what Mariam said, but between what she might have left out and what we assumed along the way, the story became a little twisted."

"It's pretty easy for that to happen."

"Don't I know. Anyway, I wanted to give you the good news. Well, I'd better go because Todd is hollering that he has more to test. Men! Either all work or all play. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks so much for the good news, Julie."

"You're welcome. Bye."

"Goodbye." Immediately after she disconnects the call, Sharlene dials another number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Klara. This is Sharlene."

"You have unpublished news already?"

"Yes. I just got off the phone with one of the testers who is married to the head technician of the Project. They took George's idea, tweaked the equipment some and it worked. The tester even lied about some of her emotional responses and her electronic recording showed every lie. They'll want to do more testing and with other people, but the tester said her results in the past have been consistent with others, so there shouldn't be any problem with other people."

"Is there any reason to not believe her?"

"Not that I'm aware of. I wasn't that involved in the Project. Mariam had her fingers in every element and I think she knows the head technician and his wife. If I can think of a way, I may try to broach the subject."

"Sharlene, don't bother trying to be sneaky, just say I asked the question. Lawyers have a reputation for being nosy, pushy, and distrustful. Sometimes it's a tough job, but I try to live down to my chosen profession's reputation."

Sharlene laughs then says, "And while you're doing it, you're laughing at those who take it seriously."

Klara chuckles along with her then says, "I've got to get my jollies somewhere. So, unless somebody is trying to pull a sneaky on us, that technical issue is resolved, unofficially."

"As far as I know."

"Good. I'll let our 'anonymous investor' know that the countdown continues."

"Klara, thank you for all of your help with this."

"It's my pleasure. Take care of yourself."

"I'll try. Bye."

As she goes into the other room, Sharlene sees that George is starting to stir. She kneels on the love seat next to him, leans over, gently kisses him, and tells him, "It's time to wake up, Prince Charming."

He asks, "Isn't that a reversal of the roles?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Wasn't it Prince Charming who was supposed to wake up Sleeping Beauty with a kiss?"

"I don't know. I wasn't much into fairy tales."

George shakes his head as he says, "Poor young people these days, they're deprived of all the best in current literature."

"Now you're going to tell me that you knew Sleeping Beauty?"

"No. She didn't go for the likes of me. I almost had a chance with Cinderella, until that fairy godmother of hers convinced her to try on some fancy dress. After that, she wouldn't step away from a mirror for more than about ten minutes at a time. I'll tell you, the one I really fell for was Rapunzel with all of that long beautiful hair," as he begins to play in Sharlene's hair.

She laughs then says, "I think I'm going to be jealous. If she had agreed to marry you, how would you have kept her?"

"A whole lot better than Peter did. A pumpkin shell, indeed, of all the preposterous places to keep a wife. Rapunzel, yeah, it would have been hard. I can't imagine what her shampoo bill was like and I doubt that any city has established a building code for a six story shower. With that much hair hanging off of her head she must have had constant migraines. It's bad enough living with occasional migraines, but constantly, no thank you. I know it wouldn't have worked, but she looked good from a distance."

"Oh, you!" Sharlene gives him a brief kiss then suggests, "Take yourself down the hall and get ready for lunch."

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (a1)

After they finish lunch and clean up, George asks, "Sharlene, what happened last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"I remember we were sitting here at the table talking, then my memory is real fuzzy and I seem to remember hearing voices and then I woke up in your bed this morning."

"Well, um, I'm afraid we kept you up talking to the point where you had no more energy and more or less fell semi-asleep while you were sitting up. With Mariam's help, we got you down to the bedroom and into bed."

"From your hesitant answer and considering I was in my pajamas and didn't wet the bed, that means you somehow got me to go to the bathroom and into my pajamas. I don't think I want to know the details, but how do you put up with my continual imposition, especially when I become so incapacitated you have to treat me like a baby who weighs ten times too much. I'm so sorry I put you in that position."

"George, don't be sorry. I was willing to do it because I want you around and because I felt guilty for allowing you to become incapacitated. The reason I invited you to stay with me is I thought it would be a more comfortable setting for you and so I could get to know you rather than to have you stay in a nursing home type facility. Instead of paying attention to your energy level and letting you rest and recover, I keep pushing you to your limits."

"Thank you, Sharlene, but in my opinion, I'm more guilty for not paying attention to my limits and then making you feel obligated to take care of me when I can't take care of myself. I might learn faster to pay attention to my limits, if you let me lie where I fall and make me clean up my mess and suffer the consequences of my actions."

"I don't think that will work, because you might not be aware of how fast your energy is disappearing. Mariam didn't blame either of us and she helped without hesitation. Apparently, when she was young, she helped take care of her great grandfather and said that he would be doing fine one minute and the next minute he was diving onto the floor."

The doorbell interrupts, "Ding, dong."

"Oh, that's probably Mariam. Are you going to be okay?"

"I think so."

Sharlene goes, opens the door, and says, "Mariam, come on in."

She steps in the door and hugs her before she says, "You look a little subdued. What's up?"

"George and I were talking about what happened to him last night and we're each trying to take the blame."

"Talking instead of kissing? That's a bad sign. Hello, George."

"Mariam, I want to apologize . . ."

"Stuff it, old man. I saw the same thing happen to my great grandpa numerous times. We never did figure out how to judge when his energy was going down the tubes. It happens. You needed help, we were there to help, end of story. If it had been one of us who needed help, I'll bet my bottom dollar you would have helped without hesitation."

"If I had to help one of you in a similar manner, it would have been much more pleasant on the eyes."

"Maybe so, George, but there's more to a relationship than what the eyes can see and you know it." Mariam turns to Sharlene, points at George, and asks, "With your permission?"

Since she suspects what's coming, she grins and says, "Be my guest."

Mariam steps up to George, tells him, "Pucker up, old man," and kisses him before he has time to object. She turns back to Sharlene, "May I?"

"Of course." They share a hug and a kiss.

Mariam steps back a little, but maintains half of a hug with Sharlene, points at George, and asks, "How do you get anything done with him around? He's a good kisser and I haven't had regular kisses for awhile now."

Sharlene chuckles, although it sounds almost more like a giggle, before she responds, "It's hard. Usually I have to wait until he's asleep to get much done."

"I don't know about you George, having young women lining up for your kisses. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Uh. Well. Um." He looks up at them and says, "Super Stud at your service. As you'll note on my business card," as he pretends to hand one to each of them, "distractions are my specialty."

As Mariam's eyes and mouth pop open in surprise, Sharlene, with a big smile, almost launches herself at him and kisses him. When she breaks the kiss which allows him, once again, to breathe, Mariam recovers from her surprise and says, "I don't know about the 'Super Stud' part, but you sure are distracting." As they walk towards the table, she asks, "Has he had any other wild tales?"

Sharlene chuckles then answers, "This morning he called fairy tales current literature and told how he almost had a chance with Cinderella until her fairy godmother put her into a fancy dress then she wouldn't leave a mirror alone for ten minutes. But he was really smitten with Rapunzel and all of her hair, but couldn't imagine what her shampoo bill would have been like."

As they laugh, he just sits back and grins.

Mariam asks, "Where do you get such wild stories, old man?"

"I don't know. I don't come up with them on demand, even my own demand. Usually they just pop into my head out of the blue."

"Sharlene, do you mind if I get a drink?"

"Not at all, you know where the glasses are."

"Mariam, can you bring the iced tea pitcher back with you?"

"Sure, George."

When everyone has filled up their glasses and the pitcher is back in the fridge, Mariam starts, "Sharlene, the reason I wanted to forward some of your emotional recordings to Todd and Julie, was that I wanted to get their reaction to them since they're different from what we usually receive. I've gone through some of the database which I didn't have time to access before and I haven't seen anything yet to match how clean your recordings are for sexual pleasure. Nor have I seen anything like what you recorded for that sixth-day. I'm hoping that when Todd and Julie review them, they may have some ideas as to whether those recordings might be commercially viable. Many of the other types of emotions which have recordings in the database will be useful for therapeutic or training purposes, but I imagine those areas can be hard to break into with a new technology.

"I think we have a workable business plan, but I also think it will be a few years and a lot of work to convince trainers and therapists that our product can be useful, which means it may be awhile before an investor sees any profits. We'll probably have to convince the investor to think of the long term, which they usually don't do. Just to reassure you, I did keep your name off of your emotional recordings and said they came in after the scandal first hit and hadn't been reviewed and that I wasn't sure how to interpret them. I fudged a bit on the interpretation bit, but the rest of it's true."

Sharlene responds, "Thank you for keeping my name off of them. Before we review the business plan, I had a couple of phone calls you need to be aware of. I had a message from the investor's lawyer, Klara, to call her, which I did. Apparently, while they talk to you, above board, they want me to pass on to them any unpublished rumors I might hear which might give them a heads up as to what's coming down the road even though they can't really use the information.

"I don't remember whether I've said it before or not, but I've known Klara for several years, but not well. She's been a lawyer with my dad's consulting company for many years, but she also works with other investors as she's able to, with Dad's blessing. Dad thinks very highly of her, so I have no problem trusting her.

"I told her what you told us last night about the definition of the Project's assets and about the employees assigned for the training transfer. I also told her that as of yesterday afternoon they still couldn't verify the response to the transmitted emotion. She recognized it was a possible show stopper, so I passed on the unpublished information of George's technical suggestion and that the head technician was cautiously optimistic about the approach and would pass the testing results on to me and not report the results. So I asked her if that sneakiness was normal business and she assured me it was.

"Klara asked about the business plan and I told her we're going to review it this afternoon, but all I knew was that you had me listed as president and you as vice president. To be on the safe side, she suggested we should take your name out in order to avoid any possibility of a conflict of interest lawsuit and she requested that I forward it to her from my personal email account. She figured if I'm listed as president, I can hire who I want and since I know you, it would only be natural for me to hire you and thus avoid any possible legal issues."

"I don't have a problem with taking my name out. I wondered if it might look somewhat suspicious if it ever leaked out."

"Klara also gave me some unpublished information of her own. Apparently, the investor has already transferred money into an investment company which, if everything works out, will buy the Project then form a new company based on our business plan."

Mariam's eyes open wide before she exclaims, "They've already set money aside? Wow!"

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "I guess it makes it easier to move forward when the time comes, but if things don't work out, it just gets transferred back. I received the impression from Klara that it's a pretty normal way to do business at that level. She gave me no idea as to how much it was, whether it was the limit the investor was willing to use, or to use as a down payment, or whether it will cover the operating costs of the company for several years before profits can start coming in, and I wasn't about to start asking at this point."

"No, I wouldn't ask either. At least, the investor is interested enough to at least indicate money is available. That's good news."

"I also told her about George's idea of Digital Empathy as the company name and that you liked it. She said she would do a search and see if it's been used for another company."

"This is great. We really do need to get the business plan going."

Sharlene says, "Before we do, I want to tell you about another phone call I had this morning from Julie Snoqualmee. She and Todd took George's idea and worked with it. Apparently, they had to tweak the equipment and the signal, Julie didn't give me any specifics, but the bottom line is . . . it works."

"It works?"

"That what she said."

"Wah-hoo!" Mariam jumps up from her chair, pulls Sharlene out of her chair, dances around the room with her while she chants "It works, it works," gives her a big hug and kiss, dashes over to George and gives him a big hug and kiss, heads towards the front door and does a cartwheel, and does another on the way back, dances Sharlene around the room some more, stops, throws up her arms, yells, "It works!!", gives Sharlene another kiss and a hug that lifts her off of her feet, drags her to George, plops her down to sit on George's upper legs, kisses him again, and slumps down by them while she tries to catch her breath.

Sharlene shakes her head as she exclaims, "Wow, if I had known you were going to react like that, I would have said they're making slow progress."

"It must be . . . the luck of Sharlene . . . for so many pieces . . . to come together . . . all at the same time."

"Julie said she even lied about what her emotional response was, but the recording of her emotional response caught her every time. They'll want to test it with other people, but since her past testing results have been quite consistent with the other testers, they figure that can wait until after the Project is sold. Right after I got off the phone with Julie, I called Klara and told her what Julie had said. Klara's first question was if there could be any reason to doubt Julie. I said I didn't know of any reason to doubt her, but had to admit I didn't know her and that we would have to rely on your judgment. Klara said she would let the investor know that the countdown continues."

Mariam nods her head, "Klara's question is reasonable. I can't claim to have known Todd and Julie a long time and they do have a vested interest in making it work, but what little I know about them and my gut feel, or if you prefer the more delicate term of female intuition, is that we can trust them."

"Well, come on up off of the floor and let's see what you and your dad put together for a business plan."

"Before I do, I need to make a quick trip down the hall." Mariam walks away.

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (a2)

"George, thank you for your ideas, you sure made Mariam happy." Sharlene kisses him quite thoroughly.

As she returns to the room, Mariam remarks, "You two are making a bad habit of necking when someone leaves the room."

"I don't know what the young lady's excuse is, but her allowing me to kiss her is too exciting to pass up any opportunity. I think we have a long ways to go before kissing her becomes old and routine."

"Just for that, I'll have to see if we can't get there a little bit faster," and Sharlene kisses him again.

Mariam tries to frown as she says, "Since neither of you paid any attention to me when I asked if you wanted more to drink, I just brought over the pitcher."

George breaks the kiss to catch his breath and tries to speak between breaths, "Wow. . . . That's not . . . the fast way . . . to old . . . and routine . . . . Thanks, . . . Mariam."

"You keep that up, Sharlene, and poor George will never recover."

"I know. It kind of bothers me that I enjoy him so much, I'm not paying attention to his limitations."

"But what . . . a way . . . to go," he responds with a big smile.

"If I have anything to say about it, old man, you're not going to go for a long time." After she gives him a brief kiss, she hops off of his upper legs and sits on her own chair then asks, "What do you have for us, Mariam?"

"Just a moment." She soon returns with her bag which she had set down by the front door. "I have a hardcopy for each of us and I also have it on a mini-drive so we can make any changes before we pass it on to Klara and the investor. As you can see, I left some room on the page for making comments or corrections or any other notations. Dad was quite confident in being able to put a business plan together. I knew he worked with new businesses, but I didn't know how much experience he had in that area. I did some checking online to compare his business plan to some successful and some theoretical model business plans and it covered the same areas and it appeared to be well done."

"That's good to know, because this is all new to me. What about you, George?"

"It's all new to me also. As long as it's written in clear language, maybe I'll understand parts of it, but I have no experience."

Mariam suggests, "I know we need to take my name out, but we want to leave Sharlene in as president, to make sure the philosophy of the new company stays true to what we've discussed. Other than that, why don't you guys read through it and see if something doesn't make sense or make note of any spelling or grammar errors and then we can go from there."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "That sounds like a plan."

Several minutes later, George gets up as he says, "I'll be right back."

"Okay."

A couple of minutes later, George returns, sits down and begins to read the business plan again. Quite a few minutes later, George sets it down with a thoughtful look.

In the quiet, Mariam turns to Sharlene and says, "I think this is the longest I've seen him go without looking at you."

He quickly turns to Sharlene and grabs her left hand as he asks, "Have I been neglecting you, light of my eyes?"

"No, George. I think Mariam is teasing you, but I also think you want to seriously help us, so you're making the effort to read and understand the document."

He puts on a drawl as he says, "Well miss, what were rit'n on this here piece uh paper were so far ovuh my hed, I's jus try to count duh letter 'ee'. Duh number got sooo big, I's plum furgot what it were and had to start alllll ovuh agin."

As she laughs, Sharlene leans towards him and tells him, "Kiss me, old fool." Which, of course, he does. In consideration of Mariam, they keep it short.

George looks at Sharlene and tells her, "That's one of the problems of sitting next to a beautiful young woman, sometimes the brain leaves its normal position of between the ears and drops down a couple of feet."

"Before I distracted you, you looked rather thoughtful about what you had read."

"It's really not my place . . ."

Mariam interrupts him, "I'm going to beat Sharlene to the punch and say it is your place to speak your mind. You may not think it very important, but your idea led to a technical breakthrough. Without it, our intended company would have died before it was born. And your idea of a name, regardless of the context of how you thought of it, is so appropriate to the business that it will encourage success while another name could have brought failure. I was trying out all kinds of names and a somewhat descriptive one I came up with was 'Brain Energy Wave Activity Response to Emotions'. I crossed that one out as soon as I realized its acronym spelled BEWARE. So, what were you thinking?"

George hesitates for a little while before he says, "From what I understand, the purpose of a business plan is to impress an investor or bank loan officer to give you money to start a new business with the intent that you'll make a profit and the investor or bank will share in it as well as get their initial money back. There's a couple of places in there where the emphasis is rather strong that good size profits are going to be had, but, if I remember right, you were concerned last night that profits might be hard to achieve.

"From what I've heard, the proposed investor might be somewhat insulted at that emphasis, especially when they're aware the whole proposal is based on totally new technology with technical issues and no sure market. Considering that risk, the investor is either going to want a high percent of any forthcoming profits to offset the risk or they're willing to risk losing money because they're more interested in the therapeutic possibilities. My guess is the latter.

"If I'm right, you may want to de-emphasize the profits, emphasize the expected therapeutic benefits, and lean your proposed pricing model to affordability. Those who are going to receive the therapeutic benefits, either directly as patients or indirectly as insurance companies and medical practitioners, will more likely be willing to try the therapy in the first place, if it's less costly, or at least no more costly, than any other therapy which is attempting to achieve the same results.

"Once they see positive results from your therapy and if it's affordable, they'll beat a path to your door. Since your emotional recordings are going to be in a digital format and can be used multiple times, you won't need to keep producing a new product for each new customer, so you can keep your operational costs low and go for volume to achieve profits."

Mariam considers that for awhile before she responds, "Without meeting the investor, you make a good point about their probable mental approach to this venture. I hadn't thought about it from the aspect that they're probably well aware of how high a risk this is."

"Well, one way to see what approach the investor is taking would be to offer them a bank interest rate return on their investment, period. No, that probably wouldn't be fair since they're taking a big risk, especially if they have to float the company for several years. Odds are it will take several years, because the medical profession will want to see research results which indicate the benefit of your therapy and that will take time. Correct me if I'm wrong."

Mariam turns to her and asks, "Sharlene?"

"You're right, George. Most medical professionals won't accept any new treatment approach until there are some research results which are at least strongly indicative of a benefit. And this will definitely be a new treatment approach. We'll probably have less of an uphill battle with the training aspect. Some will view our treatment approach with the same amount of enthusiasm as you would if somebody tried to treat your broken arm with a crystal which was blessed by a voodoo witch doctor."

"Even with the positive news today, it sounds like we're facing something more than a mere challenge."

Sharlene explains, "Mariam, the best way to open eyes in the medical field, is to demonstrate positive benefits with very thorough research documentation. I think it can be done, but we'll have to be frugal. We'll need to keep our staff small, our pay and benefits moderate, don't put our facilities in the high rent district, and do as much of our business online as we can instead of having expensive retail outlets. Rather than give employees high salaries with perks and fancy benefits, maybe we can offer them a portion of the profits.

"In regards to those who provide the emotional recordings, the Project offered fairly generous one time payments, if I recall correctly, but we aren't going to be in a financial position to do that, at least not up front. While we're interested in research and therapy, those don't pay the bills without large corporate and government investments which means they stick their fingers in and we saw what happened with that.

"We've talked about controlling the philosophy, but since we'll still have bills to pay, we'll have to take the business approach, even though I, personally, don't like it. I can probably do fine for a few years on almost no salary and take the difference in a percentage of future profits. Maybe we can do something similar for those who provide the emotional recordings. Like set aside a portion of the profits for the, what was the term the Project used, um, 'emoters' or something like that, and whatever percentage their emotions were accessed compared to all of the emotions which were accessed, they receive that percentage of the set aside portion on a quarterly or annual basis."

"Sharlene, that makes a lot of sense, what do you think George?"

"It sounds fine to me, except for one thing."

"You heard it here first, Mariam. My boyfriend is about to disagree with me."

"Lovely lady, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. You suggested doing your business online rather than in expensive retail outlets. I think you're forgetting that many potential customers or patients or whatever you want to call them, aren't going to have online access because they can't afford it and they may be the ones who would most benefit from your services. It doesn't make sense to conduct your business in a way which would avoid a large portion of your potential customer base.

"I agree about not getting into expensive retail outlets, the overhead would greatly reduce your ability to offer your services at an affordable rate. A different approach would be to franchise your service through local medical professionals as an optional treatment which they can offer their patients. You could offer the profit portion approach to them also, based on how many doses of electronic emotions they dispense. That would also help to keep your operational costs to a minimum."

Sharlene gets up, proclaims, "George, that's a wonderful idea," and kisses him while Mariam is only a step behind. When George stops the kiss in order to breathe, Mariam starts to step in, but Sharlene stops her, suggests, "Let him catch his breath," and kisses her instead. Once George's breathing settles, Mariam transfers her lips to him. Soon, George has to stop to catch his breath again.

"I've never had . . . so much fun . . . getting tired."

"We need to get this written down before we forget half of it. Sharlene, can I borrow your computer, I can type faster than I can write."

"Let me get it." She soon returns with her computer and asks, "Do you want me to do it?"

"How fast is your typing?"

"Adequate."

"I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty fast. I'll just get it down in a word processor and then it can easily be changed and when we like the results, we can copy and paste it into the business plan."

"Let me bring up the software then you can go for it."

"While you ladies work on that, I'll take a short walk down the hall."

"Are you okay, George?"

"I'm just a little stiff from sitting in one place for awhile."

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (a3)

A couple of hours later after they type, edit, revise, discuss, calculate, and guesstimate, they decide to take a snack break before they go on. They're about to do another review of the business plan when Mariam's phone rings. She quickly checks to see who is calling before she hits the record button and answers, "Hello, Julie. What's . . ."

"I want more."

"More? More what?"

"I'm sorry, I've tried to take some time to calm down before I called, but . . . . You know those emotional recordings you sent Todd earlier today which came in after the Project was defunded?"

"I sent several."

"Did you look at the charts before you sent them?"

"Yeah."

"There were two that should have stood out as being different."

"I was wondering if they were real, they seemed so clean," Mariam grins and gives Sharlene a thumbs up.

Julie proclaims, "They're the real thing all right. The one marked sixth-day is unique. Total confusion so strong I could taste it for several minutes, then like a wall, a couple of minutes of such contentment as I've never felt, then another wall and total confusion. I have no idea what the person recording it was going through. It must have been a really strange situation to flip flop confusion and contentment so strongly and so suddenly. I would love to slip that confusion into the drink of politicians as they're giving their speeches. I'm not sure who would want to buy a dose of confusion, but that recording you sent would do it for them. For the contentment part, if we can set that up to cycle for several minutes, it's an instant best seller for people who are compatible with the receiving equipment.

"The one marked third-day, all I can say is WOW. Over the months we've been testing emotional recordings, we've had a number of sexual pleasure recordings with a composite score of four, but of the rather few which had a clean score of four they had to be more intense than the one marked third-day because overall they weren't as clean. Even though the sexual pleasure portion scored the same, the presence of other emotions muddies the water, so to speak. As a tester, we notice it. If we can set this third-day one to cycle for a few minutes, we have another instant best seller.

"I can't imagine what caused that person to go from almost no emotion to pure sexual pleasure in a heartbeat. Whatever it was, I loved it. Poor Todd didn't know what hit him when the recording was done and I attacked him. He's not complaining though. After I calmed down, we waited awhile and ran the sixth-day one a couple of times and then did the third-day one again and it was just as great the second time around. I'm half inclined to break all of the rules to find that participant and have them live with a headband. The confusion was excellent and the other two were as pure as freshly fallen snow."

Mariam suggests, "Let's not go breaking those rules because that might ruin any possibility of the Project getting sold and used properly. The best we can do is if somebody picks up the Project and wants to keep to the intent and is willing to listen to us during the two week training period, then we can try to contact the participant through the bank and hope they respond and are willing to continue participating. In the meantime, enjoy what you have and we'll hope for the best."

"You're right." Julie almost sighs before she says, "It just seems criminal that something so wonderful can be so easily ignored or tossed out."

"I know, but that's business and what happens when greedy executives get their fingers in the pot. You've seen it before, you'll see it again."

"Ain't that the truth? Anyway, I knew I had to tell you, and I really appreciate you sending those emotional recordings over."

Mariam assures her, "I really appreciate you calling and confirming them. If you can, keep those recordings and your reaction under your hat, because, technically, they don't exist. If things work out, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed, we'll have a pleasant surprise for the new owner and then we can try to contact that participant. In the meantime, have Todd run those recordings for you again."

Julie chuckles then says, "I'm not sure he'll do it yet. He might need some more time to recover."

"It's times like this that I wish I was compatible with the equipment. I thought those recordings were unique and I wondered what they were like."

"As you say, if things work out. If they do, maybe we can take some time and let Todd tweak the equipment or the signal to see if you can experience them. That's one of the things the Project didn't want us doing. I'm not sure, but I think more people could experience the emotions, if there was a chance to try to personalize the input."

"That's an interesting thought and we'll have to keep it in mind. Julie, thanks again for taking the time to test those recordings and letting me know about them."

"Mariam, I can truly say, it was my pleasure. Thank you for sending them. Well, I didn't mean to take up so much of your time."

"This time I can say, it was my pleasure. If you wear Todd out, I suppose when he goes to work on second-day and looks tired and weary, he can claim that he's worried about the future."

"He's already doing that, thankfully those latest recordings are distracting him. If you hear anything better than pure rumor, let us know. Until then, take care."

"Thanks, Julie. If I hear something, I'll discretely pass it on. Enjoy. Bye."

"Goodbye."

Mariam turns off the record feature, closes her phone, and proclaims, "YES!!! Oh, YES, YES, YES!!!" After they quickly stand up, Sharlene and George pull her into a hug and take turns kissing her until she has to calm down just to breathe. "Oh . . . thanks . . . guys. . . . I . . . needed . . . that." A couple of minutes later, she's able to speak normally, "Oh my, I feel like we just hit the jackpot. This is it. This is IT!! I just knew, without any reason to back me up, that they would point to what had commercial value."

Sharlene says, "From what I overhead, they were talking about the emotional recordings you sent earlier today which, I assume, included the two I sent you."

"Yes."

"I'm also assuming they liked my two emotional recordings enough that they thought they might have commercial value."

Mariam responds, "No. Julie didn't say she liked your emotional recordings, she loved them and thought they would be instant best sellers. She said even your confused feeling on that sixth-day was excellent. She didn't know if it had any commercial value, but she wanted to try it on politicians while they're giving speeches. We need to redo the business plan. Or do we keep this under our hat and surprise the investor with the commercial success."

Sharlene hesitates then says, "I don't know about that. What do you think, George?"

"I suppose the first question is whether Mariam is going to have to reveal to the Institute that she knows about some better recordings, like you were concerned about hearing about the testing results."

"That's a good question. My initial reaction is 'no,' because they were never entered into the database." Mariam thinks about it then clarifies, "Actually, the emotional recording database data entry screen was disabled several days ago so nothing more can be added. Since they didn't make it into the database, as far as the Project is concerned, there can't be any more emotional recordings. However, they are continuing to push the testing element, so if I directly hear of any progress there, then I would be obligated to report it."

George nods his head as he responds, "I see your point. As far as keeping things under your hat, I can understand being willing to stack the deck in your favor when there's no obligation to reveal the information to the Institute who would most likely abuse the information. However, sooner or later, the investor will find out you knew there was less risk than you advertised. Although the investor might like the profits, they might question your integrity. If you can show this makes the new company less of a risk, maybe the investor will agree to a smaller cut of the profits. Then you can spread those profits among more people and help them towards financial independence instead of just one person who's already there."

Sharlene kisses him before she tells him, "I'm definitely keeping you around. That's such a wise and practical approach. Not only do we help people with therapy, we help the participants and employees financially, all while keeping the therapy affordable. So, how do we approach this? One company or two companies?"

When he holds up a hand while he catches his breath, they stay quiet so he can explain himself. "My suggestion would be one company financially, with the commercial side as a subsidiary division. That will more easily allow the profits of the commercial side to be used to pay for the research and to keep the therapy side affordable before the overall company profits are calculated and shared."

This time Mariam moves first and kisses him. "That's another wonderfully wise and practical approach." When she releases him to catch his breath, she dashes around the table and starts to rapidly type.

Since he's feeling dazed from the compliments and kisses, George carefully sits down and takes a drink. As she recognizes his daze, Sharlene sits on his upper legs, gently kisses his cheek, and gives him a long hug, which he gratefully makes mutual.

Several minutes later as the pace of Mariam's typing decreases, George whispers, "Thanks, love, I needed that," and gently kisses her.

She whispers back, "It was truly my pleasure."

Mariam proclaims, "Okay, love birds, it's time to come back to the real world of dreams coming true."

"Sorry, Mariam, but my dream come true is on my lap."

"Don't be so selfish, George. Even if we keep it as one company, we need to think through the commercial side almost as though it was its own company because it will have a different approach, probably a different pricing structure, and possibly even a different name."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "You're right, Mariam, a different name would be appropriate since Digital Empathy more relates to the therapy approach and in the public's eye, at least, I think we want to keep the commercial approach separate from the therapy approach. We won't hide the connection, but I think we can operate without making a big deal out of it." She kisses him then asks, "Do you have any other thoughts, old man?"

"Yeah. First a trip down the hall. A couple of gears are turning, but it may be awhile before the results can reach my speaking apparatus."

"Okay, while you go, I'll get you another drink, maybe that will help your speaking apparatus work more smoothly."

"That would be nice."

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (a4)

As soon as Sharlene brings his fresh drink to the table, Mariam whispers, "You were so right to have George be a part of this. I can't believe how much he's contributed. I don't know how to sneak it in yet, but I think he deserves to be cut in as a silent partner and participate in the profits."

"Thank you for thinking of him. I figured I would share some of mine with him."

"I thought you would, but I think he needs to be individually recognized for his contributions. I'm convinced the profits would be much smaller without his input. Maybe we'll give his old pickup a paint job for its contribution to the commercial element. I noticed you're wearing the headband. Have you had any good recordings?"

Sharlene has an embarrassed blush as she says, "I don't know."

"In other words, you've had some emotional event or events, but haven't downloaded the recordings to look at them."

"Yes."

Mariam assures her, "Don't be embarrassed. I'm happy for you and I'm happy for George. I think you're his dream come true. I also think he's been good for you. And if things continue in the right direction, I'm going to be happy for me, because if your emotional recordings remain clean, we're all going to find our financial burdens greatly reduced. So, as much as you can, wear your headband and download and save your emotional recordings. Get a bigger hard drive if you need to. As much as possible, we'll keep the source of the emotional recordings known to only the three of us so your private life stays private."

"Thank you for your support and for supporting George." Sharlene hesitates then admits, "The more our relationship grows, the more I worry about my family's reaction."

"I understand that. I also say, if they react, they react, you can't control that. Talk it over with your aunt, she knows George, and from what I've heard and pieced together, she loves you like a daughter. I know it's easier to say it than to do it, but don't worry about your family reacting, who knows, maybe they won't. Either way, enjoy your relationship with George. Think about what you want. Only you can choose your path to happiness."

"Thank you." Sharlene briefly hesitates then asks, "I was going to ask, do you have any plans for this evening?"

"No. Why?"

"If you don't mind, I would like to keep working on this. I thought I would call out for pizza in an hour or so. If it looks like it's going to go a long time, I'll get George to bed earlier. I know we're making a lot of changes, but I would like to get the business plan sent off to Klara this weekend. My aunt and uncle are coming down tomorrow which will make it difficult to keep working on this unless you want to come by in the morning."

Mariam suggests, "Why don't we keep that as an option? Even though we're making a lot of changes, I think they're very positive changes. If worse comes to worse, we can send the business plan to Klara as a rough draft and ask for her input since we're both new at this."

"That's a good idea. I would still like to get as far as we can."

"I agree. . . . Ah, there he is."

Mariam looks over at him and asks, "George, since you objected to being our morale officer, how about being the vice president of new ideas?"

"Ha, ha, ha. New ideas? I haven't had a new idea since before you were born. I just regurgitate old ideas and slap a coat of paint on them. I'll help you ladies all I can, but I have no interest in being involved in a company with all of the headaches and hassles. As long as my lady wants, I'll be here for her, and as long as she allows, I'll share hugs and kisses with you." He sits down and takes a drink.

"Okay, George, no involvement with the company." Sharlene pauses then asks him, "Did your thoughts make it to your speaking apparatus?"

"I need a little more information before my thoughts can make sense. You've talked about emotions in general. Do you have specific ideas about which emotions will be used for therapy and which will be used for the commercial side? Will or can some emotions be used on both sides?"

Sharlene looks at Mariam who answers, "Those are good questions. Let me start with an area we haven't talked about much and that's training. One of the best examples of fear the Project received was from a veteran firefighter just before he went into a burning building. This gave us the idea that we could make the training scenarios of firemen, policemen, paramedics, and the military more realistic by adding the emotion of fear to the training. It would also help people in those professions who had problems with fear learn to deal with it. The next area is what we've talked more about and that's therapy. We've thought of using anger in helping people assigned to anger management therapy.

"Other strong emotions the Project has recordings of are joy, peace, and happiness which we think would be helpful in treating those people who suffer from depression, anxiety, or similar problems. We could probably use Sharlene's recording of contentment there also. Then we have sexual pleasure which had been kind of put to the side until Julie suggested the commercial value. We'll have to set aside Sharlene's confusion emotion until we can think of a use for that one. One of the problems through this whole process is that a lot of emotional recordings aren't strong enough for the so-called average person to experience."

"Okay, what about fear being used in therapy for people who are dealing with phobias."

"That's good, George," as Mariam starts to type again, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Confusion. What was it? Oh, yeah. Confusion could be used for training people in crisis management, or medical people in emergency situations."

"Oh boy. Keep going."

He pauses to think, "I think you'll find that a lot of people will want to conduct self-therapy just as they like to medicate themselves, so all of those emotions which are appropriate for therapy, could be used on the commercial side. It wouldn't surprise me if fear has commercial value, not only for people who are trying to overcome their own fears, but because some people like to be scared. How many people watch horror movies for the fun of it?

"Both contentment and intimate pleasure have real potential for commercial value. I was going to say that anger wouldn't have commercial value until I realized there are people who know they have a problem with anger, but it's not enough of a problem for them to be forced into an anger management program, so they may try to do the self-therapy approach. That's quite a smorgasbord of emotions which could be used on the commercial side."

He takes a drink before he continues, "I think the therapy side needs to be real affordable, because you're trying to help people who often have very limited financial resources, frequently because of their problems. In contrast, I think the commercial side could have fees somewhat higher so people will believe they're receiving something of value, because most of those people will probably be looking for their own pleasure, even if they're using the emotions with self-help reasoning.

"I also think the commercial side could be almost totally online. The people buy the headband for a modest price and then, for a fee, they access one time plays of the emotions like they can do with movies and some music. I don't know how the technology works, but that could be looked into. You really don't want to have a retail outlet or a doctor's office franchise where people are experiencing anger or intimate pleasure, there would be too many liability problems. Let people experience those emotions in their own home."

Mariam encourages him, "Excellent, George, excellent. You're on a roll. What about a name?"

He thinks for a moment then somewhat summarizes, "You have a variety of emotions and you want to give them a high end appearance. Let people think they're receiving some luxury even if the price is modest." He pauses in thought then asks, "What are those fancy little stores people like to go to because they think only rich people can afford to go there?"

Mariam suggests, "Do you mean boutiques?"

"That's it. You're going to have a boutique of emotions. . . . You could call it . . . Emotique." Both of the ladies stare at him with dropped jaws and when he notices that, he says, "Okay, dumb idea. We'll think of something else."

Sharlene shakes her head as she responds, "No, George. No, it's not a dumb idea. It's . . . it's . . ."

"It's perfect. It's ab-so-lute-ly perfect. I'm stunned, it's so perfect." While Mariam sits there with jaw dropped again, Sharlene is soon straddling George's legs, hugging him tight, and really kissing him. In a moment, Mariam recovers enough to go around the table and joins their hug and soon it's unclear who is kissing whom.

After a little awhile, George gasps out, "Stop." The ladies share another kiss and look at him with sad smiles.

"I'm sorry, my wonderful man. You have the most wonderful ideas. I don't know how else to say thank you."

Mariam nods her head, "I agree. Words just aren't good enough."

For a few minutes they quietly hug and touch and allow George to get his breath. Eventually, he's able to verbally respond, "I'm sorry, ladies, that I stopped the fun. I can hardly think of a better way to go than to be smothered by the kisses of two beautiful ladies. Now that I've experienced your hugs and kisses, I'm very selfish and want to have many more, so I do want to keep breathing."

Sharlene caresses his cheek as she tells him, "We know George. We want to keep you around also." With a glance at Mariam who nods and caresses his other cheek, Sharlene tells him, "We've enjoyed your hugs and kisses and I've especially enjoyed your other touching. I know you didn't plan it, but you were in the right place at the right time for me to enjoy my first intimate pleasure, I like that term, and you didn't take advantage of me. From what I understand, that allowed me to record intimate pleasure which was very clean. That and the clean emotions of other people will enable Digital Empathy to succeed in its goal, as well as to help a number of people financially.

"For the last two days, you've asked the right questions and made excellent suggestions which have turned our efforts from a rough 'iffy maybe' into a highly probable success. I'm not going to ask you to be involved in the operation of the company, but your contribution has already been so great that you'll be sharing in the profits, and I won't listen to any of your objections. If you wish, accept it as a gift, but I think it will be an appropriate compensation for the contributions you've already made. Of course, Mariam and I could raise our salaries so high that your share of the profits will be just a few credits."

He bows his head, pauses, then says, "Thank you."

Sharlene lifts his head, gently kisses him, and tells him, "We're the ones who thank you. Mariam and I are putting our lives into this, but you've given us the key to success. Without your suggestions, we would be out in the cold."

"That's right, George," as Mariam bestows her own gentle kiss, "thank you." She softly steps away, goes back to her chair, and is rapidly typing again.

Sharlene gives him another gentle kiss, then another, their kisses become more ardent, but before they go very far, he has to break the kiss to catch his breath again.

"George, let's get you over on the love seat so you can rest more fully for awhile. I'm going to order a pizza and go pick up a salad. Is there anything you really don't like on pizza?"

"Anchovies, broccoli, or sun-dried tomatoes."

"No problem then. Mariam?"

"Whatever you get will be fine with me."

Sharlene quickly kisses him then tells him, "Okay, I'll be back in a little while."

* * * * *

2147-08-24 (a5>e)

Mariam waits for about five minutes after Sharlene leaves before she stops typing, walks over, sits on the love seat, and asks, "George, will you take me to bed?"

His eyes jerk wide open in shock and he just stares at her for quite awhile before he answers, "No."

"Don't you want me?"

He hesitates some more then responds, "To be honest, I have to say 'yes'. I'm a selfish old man and you're a very attractive young woman who I like a lot. You're exciting, you're probably experienced, I'm guessing you would be so much fun in bed, you would knock my socks off. But it would hurt Sharlene if I touched you in ways I've refused to touch her. Although my body is saying, 'yes, let's get it on', I still say, 'no', because I won't hurt Sharlene. Nor will I run the risk of hurting her when she found out we did it behind her back."

"Thank you for your honesty and thank you for protecting Sharlene. I also want to apologize for testing you, but I still have a hard time believing you are what you appear to be." Mariam nods her head as she confirms, "Yes, I was testing you. I'll be honest in return and admit that I would have had a hard time protecting Sharlene's interests, if you had agreed to take me to bed. You may not be young and robust, but I'm guessing that your gentle touching would produce much pleasure while making love. To avoid hurting Sharlene, I suggest we keep our conversation private. Will you allow me a good kiss?"

He hesitates again before he answers, "Yes."

After a long friendly kiss, Mariam sits back up and as he catches his breath, she tells him, "Old man, you should be very proud of yourself."

"Why do you . . . say that?"

"You're the only man who has said 'no' to my offer of going to bed. Now, I'll let you rest. Thank you, George."

"Thank . . . you."

* * * * *

Sometime later, Sharlene returns with a pizza and a salad and notices that George is reclined on the love seat with his eyes closed and Mariam is still working on the computer. She sets the food on the kitchen counter, steps over to the table, and asks, "How's George been?"

"Quiet. I thought I heard a couple of snores, but I'm not sure."

"Poor man. I'm hardly giving him a chance to recover."

"Maybe, but he's certainly not complaining. I'm guessing that when the excitement of trying to get a new company off of the ground dies down and we have to deal with the day to day problems, you'll be busier and he'll have more time to recover. In the meantime, you might wake him up so he can eat before the food gets cold. I have just a little more I want to get written down before I forget and then I'll be ready for food also."

"Okay." Sharlene steps around to the love seat and softly tells him, "George, it's time to wake up. I have the food here."

As he drags his eyes open, he sees her, smiles, and says, "Oh yes, you're a feast for the eyes."

"No, silly," she reaches over to stroke his face, "you need food to help build up your strength so I don't wear you out so easily. Mmm," she responds as he kisses, nibbles, and tongue caresses the palm of her hand which he's holding, before she suggests, "later, please."

He releases her hand as he says, "As my angel wishes."

She leans over to whisper, "Not as I wish, but what the occasion calls for." After a warm kiss, she gets up and encourages him, "Come on, George, get yourself ready to eat."

"Yes, my lady." He gets up and walks down the hall.

By mutual unspoken agreement, they avoid talking about the company while they take their time to eat, but it's not far from their minds. After the dirty dishes are cleaned up and the leftovers are covered and put in the fridge, they're quiet for a little while, as each wonders if one of the others will be the first to open the subject.

Sharlene asks, "Mariam, when I came in you were still busy typing. Was that all for the business plan?"

"No. I was also making notes of what we'll need to do to get the company going. Some of it is what we discussed earlier and some are my own ideas which are a result of our discussions."

"Do you think we're ready to redo the business plan?"

Mariam nods her head as she answers, "I think so. I've tried to keep related ideas together. Hopefully, we can basically do a copy and paste job with the changes."

Sharlene suggests, "Let's make sure we save it as a new file. I want to be able to look back and see how much has changed with a few good ideas and some timely news."

"That's a good idea. Let's gather around so we can get everyone's input on putting the right pieces in the right places."

George suggests, "You ladies go ahead. I would like to get cozy with you, but I think I'll be too distracted and I already have enough trouble reading from a computer screen. If you want, I can review it when you have it together."

"Are you sure, George?"

"Yes, I'm a little tired, so I'll just recline on the love seat for awhile. You two concentrate on your business plan. It may not be something set in stone, but you do want to make it as good as you can."

* * * * *

A couple of hours later, Sharlene and Mariam feel satisfied with the results and hook up the printer to make copies.

Sharlene asks, "George, do you feel up to reviewing our business plan again."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, if you want me to."

"We do."

"Okay. Let me make a trip down the hall and get a new drink and maybe my mind will be semi-functional." When he returns, he reads the document. Sharlene and Mariam are almost getting impatient with him as he goes through the document several times, before he looks up and says, "It looks pretty good to me."

Sharlene asks, "What are all those notes you're making?"

"Most are questions which aren't applicable to the business plan, but may need to be considered when the company is actually started. A few were typographical or possible grammatical errors and a couple of items didn't make sense, but didn't appear to be critical issues."

"Let's start with the items that didn't make sense. . . . You're right, it doesn't make sense. Mariam, what did we mean with that?"

"Um. Oh. This word is misspelled and changes the whole meaning. That's what I get for trusting the spell checker."

After another hour of discussion, they're satisfied with the business plan and have incorporated George's questions into the other document on what needs to be done in order to get the company started and going. They verify the changes have been made then save the final document on Sharlene's hard drive and Mariam's mini-drive. Sharlene does a final check to make sure she has the right document attached before she emails it to Klara. Once that is done, they sit back and share satisfied smiles.

Mariam remarks, "That was more tiring than I expected."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "I know what you mean. It's probably because of the emotional energy being expended earlier. I'm curious, when you talked to Julie earlier, was there anything else she said other than thinking my emotional recordings might have commercial value?"

"I don't remember right now. Why don't I download it and you can hear the whole conversation?"

"You have a record feature on your phone?"

Mariam nods her head as she answers, "Yeah. It's been a life saver. Too often I've forgotten exactly what was said, but by recording the conversation and then going back over it later, I've avoided making some costly mistakes."

"Do you need special software for it?"

"No. It uses a standard audio file format. Let's download it to your computer and you can listen to it at your leisure. . . . There you (yawn) go. I'm sorry, I guess I'm more tired than I thought. I'm going to call it a night."

"Mariam, are you going to be able to drive home safely? If you want, you can sack out here?"

"I'll be fine, I don't have that far to go. Walk me to the door. George, thank you so much for your ideas and suggestions. They're going to make a big difference in the success of our company. Give me a kiss and no objections."

He does.

"Sharlene, thank you for finding him and having me over. We're going to do it. Kiss?"

"Of course," they share a kiss. "Thank you Mariam. Without your enthusiasm and conviction to save the Project, we wouldn't be doing this."

"Without your encouragement and George's suggestions, my enthusiasm and conviction would have died on the vine. I need to go before I do get too tired. Sweet dreams, you two. Night."

"Good night."

Sharlene steps up to the door, but doesn't close it until Mariam has pulled out of the driveway and starts down the street. While she's waiting, George steps up behind her and holds her. She briefly steps forward to close and lock the door, turns out the porch light, then steps back, leans on him, and pulls his arms snugly around her upper abdomen while he kisses the top of her head.

"Mmm. You do give such nice hugs and kisses." After awhile, Sharlene pulls his arms slightly away from her, slowly turns to be perpendicular to him, reaches up and pulls his head down and kisses him. When he needs to catch his breath, she turns fully towards him and hugs him tight. Since she feels like she wants more touching, she almost starts to rub her body on his until she realizes that she's already pushed him to his limits earlier today. With reluctance, she pushes herself a little ways away from him and suggests, "Come on, George, it's time for bed."

"Good idea."

With one of his arms around her shoulders and one of hers around his waist, they make their way to the bedroom. While he gets ready for bed, she checks the doors, turns out the lights, and gets ready herself. Their cuddle in bed is brief before they both fall asleep.

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (m1)

When she dreamily wakes up with her head still laying on George's shoulder, her left arm across his chest, and his left arm around her back, it seems so natural and right that it's hard for her to believe this is only their fourth morning together. Curiously, Sharlene glances down and sees a bulge in the blankets and wonders what his dreams are like. If what he says is any indication, she's probably a part of them, and that means, she glances back at the bulge . . . oh my! Since she's not sure whether to be embarrassed or excited, she lays there and wonders, about him, about herself, and about her feelings in regards to him. After awhile, she notices that her bladder seems to be saying, "Quit thinking about his bladder release mechanism and think about your own."

She carefully gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom then realizes that one way to demystify his genitals is to call it a 'bladder release mechanism,' or she can negatively think of it as an 'impregnation device'. That leads to the thought that if their relationship continues and the journey continues, sooner or later, he's going to be concerned about the risk of her becoming pregnant. She doubts that he wants to father any more children and is probably aware that the medical and genetic problems of children are greatly increased with older fathers. That raises the question of when to tell him it's not an issue and how is that going to affect their relationship and the journey of touching he talked about.

He's still sound asleep, so she decides to get her shower out of the way. With clean clothes in hand, she goes into the bathroom and locks the door and isn't sure who she's protecting from whom. As she washes her hair, she thinks about how he has played with and in it on different occasions. It was comforting to have him brush her hair and as she remembers his dreamy smile after he brushed her hair the first time, it brings a smile to her lips. After she rinses her hair and while she washes her body, she has to clamp down on her imagination of him touching her more because she doesn't need to get all excited before her aunt and uncle arrive.

George wakes up to the sound of the shower and recognizes that his penis is painfully erect then remembers that he had been dreaming of being in the shower with her. While he barely resists the temptation to check, he hopes she's locked the bathroom door in case his resistance gives way to his desire. Slowly, he gets up, goes to the guest bathroom, empties his bladder, and throws his clothes on from yesterday. Maybe after breakfast, he can get a bath before Paula and Paul come.

Carefully, she finishes washing herself and rinses off. How long is she going to be able to imagine him touching her before she insists that he touch her for real? He's touching her a little more, so she can try to have more patience. As she looks back in time, when she realizes that he's only been touching her for four days, they're doing a lot of touching. Before George, she would have been surprised if she would have let a man touch her as much as he has after four months of a relationship.

As she dries herself off, it seems as though her interest is settling down until she gets to her pubic area and then she has to bite her lip and strictly control her fingers to dry and not play. She relaxes as she puts on a nice short sleeve shirt and a just below the knee length full skirt as though her clothes provide a layer of protection from her being able to touch herself. When she steps out of the bathroom, she sees that he's up and dressed and is sitting on the end of the bed which he made and is apparently waiting for her.

He sees the comb and brush in her hand and asks, "May I brush your hair?"

She hands him the comb and brush, says, "Yes, please," turns, "Thank you for making the bed," and sits on his legs just above his knees.

"No problem. I'll do almost anything I can do to help you and to reduce my imposition. . . . You have such nice hair."

"Your interest in brushing my hair is certainly no imposition. I've been tempted to cut it short multiple times because it can be a hassle to take care of. Your willingness to brush it makes my life a little easier and I find it nicely relaxing to have you do it."

"I like brushing your hair. If you want something fancy done with it, you'll have to do it yourself. I'm not sure I can manage even a simple braid."

"Maybe when we have some time, you can practice with my hair. If you don't like the results, you can just brush it out and try it again."

"You wicked temptress. I might have to call the Moral Review Board and report that you're trying to corrupt this innocent youth into having lustful desires."

She chuckles then says, "Yeah, right. I think you have it backwards, old man. I didn't know what lustful desires were, until I got to know you."

Abruptly, he stops brushing her hair and in a voice full of surprise, he asks, "You have lustful desires?"

"Why do you think I want you to touch me more? It's not the kind of fun which self-righteous religious people would call morally pure and innocent."

"Oh, I didn't think about it from that perspective. . . . I guess I'm the one who is doing the corrupting."

She turns part of the way around, grabs his head with her hands, and tells him, "George, you aren't corrupting anything. Instead, you've helped me to open my eyes to the beauty of intimate pleasure. It's a wonderful new world which I didn't know existed. I know a lot of people and organizations try to make it into something dirty and distasteful. But between two caring people, with mutual agreement, there's nothing dirty or distasteful about intimate pleasure. The worst thing about intimate pleasure I've seen is that it's distracting. If our society wasn't so tied up with time and accomplishment, the distraction result would become meaningless."

She gets up, turns the rest of the way around, pushes him back onto the bed, pulls herself up his body with her legs spread across his, assures him, "Yes, I do have lustful desires and one of these days, you're going to satisfy them," and she kisses him. When she breaks the kiss to let him breathe, she goes on, "I suspect that when you satisfy my lustful desires, it will only encourage more desire on my part, which, hopefully, you'll be willing to satisfy. So I'm going to selfishly keep you around.

"That reminds me, if Emotique is going to compensate those who provide emotional recordings, we ought to compensate the person who helps generate the emotion which is recorded." She gives him a smile full of invitation before she continues, "Like you do for me. Without you, I wouldn't be having any emotional responses worth recording."

He slides his hands through her hair from the top of her head and down then he reminds her, "Without the headband, you won't make any recordings."

"That's fine. Some we'll share with others. The rest we keep for us," and she kisses him again. As she again lets him breathe, she realizes that maybe she should have touched herself in the shower. She's having enough trouble controlling her urge to squirm and touch him, especially with her legs spread over his. A couple of moments later, she forces her thoughts away from that and says, "Besides, it's hard to wash my hair or have you brush it while I'm wearing the headband." Reluctantly, she gets off of him, "That reminds me, you haven't finished brushing my hair."

George slowly sits back up then resumes brushing her hair. A moment later he tells her, "I have to admit that I don't find anything wicked about you, but you are very tempting."

"Then we each have something to selfishly look forward to, you to satisfy my lustful desires and me to fulfill your temptations."

He briefly interrupts his brushing of her hair to kiss the back of her head before he resumes and says, "Sharlene, you're an absolute wonder. I can't begin to express how much it means to me for you to allow me to share even a few days of your life. My only regret is that I didn't meet you half a century ago."

"I wasn't even born then."

"I know."

"And my mother was probably only a little girl."

"Yeah, that would have made it a little difficult to meet you then."

"I really mean that much to you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

He pauses to get his thoughts together in order to explain, "It's probably hard, but try to imagine it from my perspective. As a child, I didn't get the physical or mental affection I craved. Even before I was a teenager, I was interested in females, but they weren't interested in me. I married when I never should have done so, to someone with whom I wasn't particularly compatible and stayed for over thirty years. After that, I had an occasion brief friendship with a female. I am by nature, boring and anti-social.

"Then out of the blue, this incredibly beautiful young woman with a warm, caring, and generous personality says, 'George, I want you.' She doesn't just tolerate my presence, but she even initiates hugs and kisses and requests more touching. Whenever I stop to think about you, I wonder when I'm going to wake up and this will all disappear as a fantastic dream."

Sharlene leans back on him, grabs his hands, pulls on them to wrap his arms around her, and tells him, "Oh, George, maybe I can imagine a little. No matter how dream like it may seem to you, it's real. I'm really here, you're really touching me, and I really do want you to touch me, this much and more."

He kisses the top of her head and tells her, "Thank you."

After they hug in quiet contemplation for several minutes, she asks, "Are you done brushing my hair?"

"Not quite."

As she releases his arms and sits back up, she suggests, "Why don't you finish up and then we need to get some breakfast."

"After breakfast, would it be okay if I take a bath?"

"Of course. You really don't need to ask permission."

"I try to be polite and I don't want to overdo my imposition or interfere with your plans."

"Thank you for your courtesy and consideration."

"Well, I think your hair is basically brushed."

"Your basic brushing is more than I ever do. Someday I'm going to have to give you the time and see what your 'more than basic brushing' is like. Come on, let's go get some breakfast. Oops, I'd better get my headband on first."

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (m2)

A couple of moments later, George asks, "Did Paula and Paul say when they're coming?"

He stares as her hair briefly swishes back and forth as she shakes her head, then Sharlene verbally answers, "No. It varies depending on who they can get to watch the store for them. I usually plan on serving them lunch whenever they get here which is usually sandwiches that can be quickly put together. We'll visit for the afternoon then I usually fix a nice dinner which gives Uncle Paul an excuse to have a glass of wine. They usually don't stay long after dinner considering the drive back and that they need to get up first thing in the morning to open the store. Sometimes I wonder how they keep taking care of that store six days a week. I can't imagine they're making a lot of money on it."

He agrees, "I doubt that they are. I think part of what keeps your aunt going is the social interaction. She likes the give and take with the customers and being able to keep her fingers on the pulse of the community. In some ways, she has the reputation similar to a good bartender who compassionately listens to the customers. They may not have received a solution to their problem, but they feel better for having talked to her."

"You may be right. The few days I helped her in the store when a customer saw me behind the cash register they would look around for Aunt Paula or ask about her."

"And I'll bet that when you were busy, the customers were taking a good second or third look at you."

"Before I respond to that," they step into the kitchen and she asks, "will eggs and toast be okay?"

"Yes."

"I'm beginning to believe that you find me attractive. But not everybody has the same definition of beauty."

"True, but considering the number of people there are, even if every person has a slightly different definition, many of those definitions will be virtually identical."

She thinks for a moment before she admits, "That's probably true. So, what are you going to do, interview all of those customers and ask if they looked at me other than when I rang up their purchase?"

"Did you only help out at the cash register?"

"No. I helped stock shelves and rearranged some displays."

"I'll bet you were being looked at across the shelves and down the aisles."

"Come on, George. You're letting your own interest in me color your perception of other people's actions."

"I don't think so."

"Okay, old man. Twice now, you've used the term 'bet'. Are you ready to put your money where your mouth is?"

"What about something more interesting than money?"

"Now you're not making sense. You've been quite embarrassed at the idea of me seeing you, much less touching you, and you've denied me when I asked for more touching. What are you thinking?"

"A back rub."

"If you wanted a back rub, why didn't you simply ask for one?"

"I don't want to impose on your generosity. Sharlene, I still haven't got my head around the idea that you would be willing to touch me, especially if you're not being touched back."

"Then I agree to give you a back rub, although I don't know how good it will be. Just so I'm clear, the point of the bet is that you think others find me attractive and I don't. Again, how can we decide who wins the bet without interviewing the store customers?"

"I know it's not a scientific approach, but if Paula saw an observable increase in male customers while you were helping in the store, then I contend it was because they made extra trips to the store to look at you or they told their friends about you and they came to look at you."

She hands him a plate and says, "Here, have some food."

When they're finished eating, Sharlene turns to George, and says "So, you're going to assume that more male customers while I helped in the store means they were looking at me because they thought I was pretty and rely on my aunt's memory of subjectively observing an increase in male customers as the evidence. That's a really sloppy approach."

"I said it wasn't a scientific approach. Even if we did go back and interview the customers, then we would be relying on their memory and their truthfulness. A lot of men in that community would never admit going out of their way to see a pretty woman, even while they were doing it. If I was one of the customers being interviewed, I would have held up my bag of purchases and asked, 'What pretty woman?', even while I was fully aware of who they were talking about and wondered what I would need to come buy the next day."

"If that's the case, then relying on my aunt's observational skills can't be any more unreliable."

He nods his head as he responds, "That's what I figure. And she does observe. If you asked her at the end of the day, she could probably name three fourths of her customers for that day and half of what they bought."

"Okay. We ask my aunt if there was a noticeable change in customers while I helped in the store. Who asks the question?"

"I think you ought to. I might unintentionally ask a leading question and I want you to be comfortable that the answer is appropriate to the question. Let me be blunt. Very seldom do I bet. In this case, you're being set up because I'm sure I'll win the bet. With that being said, I'll willingly drop the whole thing."

"Thank you for letting me know that I'm being set up. Now you have me curious about what Aunt Paula's answer will be."

"That's fine. Ask her. We don't have to make it into a bet. When I used the term 'bet', I meant it more in general terms rather than as a wager."

"Well, I've never had a wager with anyone before, so why not? I don't object to giving you a back rub, so let's do it. Do we spit in our hands and shake now?"

He looks at her in surprise then asks, "If you've never wagered with anyone before, how do you know about putting your money where your mouth is and spitting in your hand before shaking them?"

She hesitates to admit, "Old movies."

He laughs, grabs her hand, kisses the back of it, and proclaims, "You're a treasure. No, I don't think we need to spit in our hands. Even if we were going to, you're forgetting one element of the bet."

"What's that?"

"What do I give you if you win?"

"Aren't you sure you're going to win?"

"Yes. But I still want to be fair."

"Okay, um, let me think."

"That's fine. Take your time."

Sharlene barely hesitates before she says, "If I win, I want you to advance the journey to the first step of touching me intimately."

"That's hardly fair."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if you win, I win. I want to touch you probably as much as or more than you want to be touched."

"I don't see a problem. I prefer win-win situations."

"If that's what you want, I certainly won't argue."

"If we don't spit in our hands, how do we seal the bet?"

He explains, "Most bets are sealed with a verbal agreement of the terms, or a simple handshake, without the spit, or with a kiss." He turns her left hand over and kisses the palm. With kisses, light nibbles, and little tongue caresses, he slowly moves from her palm, to her wrist, up the inside of her arm, and as he stretches further, she gets out of her chair and sits on his upper legs without his kisses missing a beat. When she sits, his left arm goes partway around her back so his hand can walk up her back, through her hair, to gently caress the back of her head and neck.

After he kisses the inside of her left elbow, which elicits a moan from her, he moves up the inside of her arm to the cuff of her shirt's short sleeve. His kisses skip over the fabric of her shirt, he releases her left hand and moves his right hand to hug her as he transfers his kisses, nibbles, and tongue caresses to her neck. He slowly goes along her neck in one direction and back again then he kisses up to her jawbone, across her cheek, and settles on her lips.

"Oh George," she announces when he stops to breathe then she proclaims, "that was wonderful. Somehow I don't think that's the type of kiss which is usually used for a bet."

"Probably not. . . . Still fun."

"Saying 'fun' is quite an understatement. You're amazing. I had no idea such gentle touching could be so exciting. When I've overheard other women talk about exciting touching, it was usually at the breast or pubic area. Yet your touching hasn't been near either of those places, but it's been so exciting. Either I'm hypersensitive or you're extremely good."

"Or the other people . . . never took the time . . . to do other touching."

"I suppose that's possible."

"More like probable."

Since she's puzzled by his statement she asks, "Why do you say that?"

He waits a little longer to catch his breath then suggests, "People have expectations which are encouraged by the media, movies, gossip, or bragging and all of them are centered around the sexual organs. Or they're more anxious to score a sexual conquest than they are to make the effort to please their partner."

"Now I'm beginning to wonder if our touching will produce any quality emotional recordings."

"Why not? It's your response which is being measured, not how you're being touched."

"You're right. Then I wonder what my emotional recordings will show and how they compare to the ones from my vacation."

"Maybe you'd better wait to check until after Paula and Paul leave because they'll want to have your attention."

"You're right again. So smarty-pants, what do we do next?"

"Well, we probably ought to clear the table and clean up after breakfast then I ought to take a bath. You wouldn't want me to complain to your aunt that you won't let me bathe, because you're afraid I might leave a ring in the tub."

Sharlene laughs then says, "I can almost hear Aunt Paula scolding me for that. And my mom would say, 'Quite right, dear, you don't want the dirt from some strange man messing up your clean tub'."

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (m3)

George winces then proclaims, "Ouch. Am I going to be a problem for your family?"

Sharlene assures him, "I love my family, but you're a more important part of my life right now than they are. They may take a little time to get used to our age difference, but they've always supported me when I've clearly made up my mind. And I've clearly made up my mind about you, I'm keeping you. I have some extended family members who are real 'stuck in the muds', but I never see them. In my more immediate family, the only problem might be Mom, because she's of the 'stuck in the mud' orientation and we've been gently bumping heads for years.

"Even before I was a teenager, if I needed to talk to someone, I went to my dad, my aunt, or an older paramedic friend. Or even my dad's parents. Mom couldn't handle difficult conversations or situations. Even though I know what happened which apparently caused her problem, sometimes it's hard to be sympathetic. So don't waste your time and energy worrying about them. The family knows that Aunt Paula is highly protective of me, and I'm sure she'll support us, so nobody will be in a position to complain, unless they just want to hear their own head roar, which I'll ignore."

"Okay, I'll leave that worry to you for now." George pauses then asks, "Do you want some help clearing the table?"

"No. You rest for a little while then go get your bath. With the intent of asking the question out of concern rather than ulterior motives, are you going to need any help with a bath?"

"I think I'll be okay. I seem to be having more problems with running out of breath than running out of strength, at least this early in the day. If you start having ulterior motives, I might have to change my answer."

"Well, my wonderful dirty old man, I didn't say I wasn't having ulterior motives, I asked the question out of concern. When I loosen the leash on my ulterior motives, your journey time table is going down the drain."

He swallows nervously then pauses longer before he responds, "Uh, thank you for the clarification."

"So, keep the journey going, it's been absolutely wonderful so far, certainly more wonderful than I could have dreamed was possible. What little I've talked to others and have overheard, there was no indication that the preliminaries were so much fun. And we supposedly haven't gotten to the good part yet." After she thoroughly kisses him, she suggests, "Maybe that will last you through your bath." She gets off of his upper legs with a grin, gathers up most of the breakfast items from the table, carries them to the kitchen, and notices him turn in his chair to watch her, but she still asks him, "What are you looking at?"

"You."

"Why?"

"Because I like looking at you and I like the way your skirt flows with you."

As she walks back towards the table, she says, "If you're going to stare at me, I'll give you something to stare at." She spins around which causes the hem of her skirt to flare and show flashes of her legs several inches above her knees.

As his eyes open wide, he proclaims, "Whoa! Calm down my heart, she's only teasing you."

As she steps up to the table in order to pick up the last of the breakfast items, Sharlene bumps his arm with her hip and asks, "You think I'm only teasing? Humph."

"You know, there's something else which is nice about you wearing a full skirt."

She turns her head to look at him as she asks, "What's that?"

"It makes your bare legs more accessible," as he bends over slightly to slide his right hand over the back of her bare left calf.

"Ohhh," she braces herself on the table with her hands. As his hand slides up and down her calf, along the back, the outside, the back, the inside, the back, the outside, then the front of her calf with the back of his hand, she 'accuses' him, "You're getting mighty bold in your old age."

"I know I should apologize for touching you without your permission," even as he continues to caress her calf, "but it seems like the right thing to do and, surprisingly, I don't feel guilty about doing it."

"Well," she turns her body to face him, "Mister Bold," pushes his chair a little further from the table, "it's not quite right," swings her right leg around, sets her foot on his left thigh, and says, "because my other calf wants equal attention."

"Young lady, you're a dream come true," and he diligently applies equal attention to her right calf.

After a few minutes, she slips her right foot over his left thigh, sits on his knees with her legs straddling his legs, says, "My calves thank you for your attention. Since they're unable to communicate their thanks, I'll have to do it for them," leans towards him, and kisssseess him.

Sooner than he wants, he has to break the kiss to gasp for breath then stammers, "That was . . . the most . . . wonderful . . . breakfast . . . dessert . . . I've had. . . . Thank you."

"George, I don't understand you. I put on this shirt and skirt for no special reason, yet you act like it's something wonderful."

When he has mostly caught his breath, he explains, "It's not the skirt itself. It's the skirt being worn by you. I'm not sure I can fully explain it. Part of it is the way a full skirt moves with your hips, part of it is how it flows around your legs, and part of it is that your legs are more accessible with a skirt than when you wear pants. With your grace and how you almost flow rather than walk, the full skirt was designed for a person like you."

"Thank you for the flattery, but I'd better send you off to your bath before I distract you more or demand more touching. Give me a good hug and then go get your bath."

Since he's only too happy to comply with the first part of her request, he wraps his arms around her, hugs her tighter as she scoots closer, and gratefully joins her in the kiss she initiates. After she reluctantly breaks the kiss, she hugs him a little longer then slides to one side in order to stand up and swings her other leg off of his and with a saucy twitch of her hips, she takes the rest of the breakfast dishes to the kitchen sink.

As he sits there and tries to catch his breath, he also wonders if he's going to be able to control his hormones enough to give her the extended touching journey he semi-promised to her. When he's breathing more normally, he trundles down to the bedroom, grabs some clean clothes, and goes in to take his bath.

While he bathes, she finishes cleaning up the dirty dishes and the kitchen then goes to the front room for a long slow tai-chi practice. Since she's fully concentrating on her moves with her eyes closed, she doesn't see him quietly sit down on the chair near the door and watch her. As one half of his mind marvels and the other half drools over her beauty, he's amazed at her gracefulness and how each move seems to so naturally flow into the next one such that he's unable to figure out where one move ends and the next one begins. When it's apparent that she's done and just before she starts to leave the room, he breathes out, "Beautiful."

She spins and exclaims, "George, you startled me."

He stands up and says, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

"How long were you watching?"

He wraps his arms around her as she steps close before he answers, "I don't know. Who wants to look at a clock when you're here to be looked at? Was that some of your martial arts?"

"Technically, no. It was tai-chi which is more for gentle exercise and relaxation, although there is a form which is more of a martial arts approach."

"Whatever it was, you sure do it gracefully and beautifully. Maybe we ought to video record you doing it and show it while an emotional recording of contentment is playing. It would be great for helping people to relax."

"That's an interesting idea. I'm not sure I want to take that idea very far though. So far my strongest emotional recordings have been of intimate pleasure and I don't want to do an appropriate video for that."

He nods his head as he responds, "I agree with you on that. Maybe just use the video idea for the therapy side of the company and let people use their own imagination for the commercial side."

"We'll have to bounce that idea off of Mariam. I'm not sure I like the idea of me being the star of a video."

"You would be a much better star than me. Even though I don't know any of the moves of tai-chi, it seemed to me as though you're very good, and you're clearly very graceful. If I tried something like that, you could sell it as slapstick comedy and give people something to laugh about."

Sharlene hesitates before she asks, "You liked watching me?"

"Lovely lady, I haven't seen you do anything I didn't enjoy watching you do. And I freely admit that I'm tremendously biased. Even if I try to discount that, you doing tai-chi is a thing of beauty. Maybe we ought to video record you and let you see for yourself how beautiful it is. I know you'll be biased in the other direction, but I still think you'll be surprised at how graceful you are."

"I don't know. Let me think about it. Right now, I think I want a snack and a drink to tide me over until Aunt Paula and Uncle Paul get here. Come on, I guess I'll let you be a little selfish and watch me fix a snack."

"Mmm, sounds wonderful. I'll warn you though, if you keep me around long enough, I'll want to have you for a snack."

"I suppose I'm small enough to only constitute a snack."

"Not at all, I would gladly have you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner also. I just need to start out small or you'll overwhelm me."

After a snack and a drink has been ingested and the dishes are cleaned up, he reclines on the love seat and rests while she does a quick walk through the house to make sure things have been picked up and put away. A little later when she joins him on the love seat, they quietly enjoy each other's company and turn on the television to help distract them and keep the display of their affection down to holding hands and warm smiles, even while each of them feels the desire which is bubbling just below the surface for them to be touching each other more.

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (a1)

When she hears the doorbell ring, Sharlene quickly gets up, opens the front door, and proclaims, "Aunt Paula, Uncle Paul, come in."

Paula gives her a hug and whispers in her ear, "Sharlene, you look mighty pleased with yourself."

"I'll tell you about it later."

"Hello, Paula."

As she hugs him and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek, she says, "George, you're looking a lot better."

"The credit goes to Sharlene."

Something in the way he says Sharlene's name, causes Paula to look sharply at him, but she doesn't say anything as she steps aside.

Meanwhile, Sharlene and Paul warmly greet each other with a hug. Then Paul and George firmly grip hands and, to everyone's surprise, they quickly hug each other. A moment later, Paul says, "Well, you old fraud, you certainly look better than when I last saw you laying on the ground with Sharlene beating on you. Whatever did you do to make her so mad at you?"

Everyone laughs which dissipates the underlying tension.

Paul suggests, "Before I forget, I'd better get the things out of the vehicle."

"I'll help."

Sharlene tells him, "No you won't, George. You're doing better, but not enough to carry stuff in from the vehicle. I'll help Uncle Paul. You go rest and talk to Aunt Paula."

"Yes, boss," he gives her a bow and a grin then says, "Come on, Paula, help me make it to the other room."

As Sharlene and Paul step out and close the front door, Paula redirects him, "George, let's go out onto the back porch, I think it will take us longer to talk, than it will take them to bring in the stuff."

He steps out the back door with her and after he closes it, he asks, "What do you want to talk about, Paula?"

"You two, what else?"

"What about us two?"

"George, don't be an obstructionist."

"I'm not. Paula, you're one of the best friends I have and I know Sharlene is like a daughter to you. I promised you before, that I would do my best not to hurt her and to the best of my knowledge, I haven't done so. A few times I've upset her with what I said and when I recognized it, I offered to leave, but she said, 'No'. We talked about it and came to an understanding. You also asked me to oblige her and I've tried to do that. Now, I'm going to be blunt. Beyond that, my relationship with Sharlene is just that, MY relationship with HER.

"If you have specific questions which I think might be related to her health or well-being, I'll answer them, but other than that, I'm not going to tell you. Just as I didn't tell you or anyone else what happened in my relationships with any of the other women in town. Just as I've never told anyone anything about what happened between us. If Sharlene wants to give you a minute by minute description of the last week and a half, that's her option. We haven't talked about it and she's under no obligation to speak or to be quiet. Did you have something specific you want to know?"

"George, I'm sorry." As she reaches for him, Paula gladly steps into his opening arms for a hug. "You're right. I'm just concerned about her. And I'm sorry if I sound like I don't trust you."

"Paula, I'm not sure I can trust myself. But I will say I've kept my promises to you. A couple of times, I did start to push her limits, but as soon as she said to stop, I did. She's been very kind to take me into her home and care for me and I have no intention of betraying that kindness. I've made it very clear to her that I'll stay only as long as she wants me to. I've offered to and even started to leave, but she's stopped me and told me that she wants to keep me around. As long as she can put up with me, I'm selfish enough to want to stay and enjoy her company. Take some time to talk with her. If she's unhappy with having me around, I'll pack my bags and go home, no questions asked."

"Thank you George. I know you want to be with her, probably now more than ever, so I really do appreciate your offer to leave. I don't want to see her hurt, but I also don't want to see you hurt."

"As I told Mariam when she visited the other night, my relationship with Sharlene is at her whim, and proceeds no faster than her pace. If there's a problem with our relationship, I'll accept any blame. Unless you have some specific questions which I'm willing to answer, you'll need to talk to her about the relationship."

Paula only briefly pauses before she asks, "One question then, have you touched her?"

"No more than she's allowed. At first I waited for her to make the first move or I asked permission. She didn't want me to ask permission all of the time and said that would take away the surprise and spontaneity. Like I said earlier, when she said to stop, I stopped. Apparently, I haven't caused her too much distress, because she keeps telling me she wants me to stay. I certainly don't understand why she would want me to stay, but she says she does, and I can't see any way in which she might feel coerced or obligated to do so. That's the situation."

"Thank you again. I'm sorry I jumped on you right away, George. I should have asked first, how are you doing?"

"A little better every day. I'm slowly getting stronger, and I'm not so uncoordinated when I walk, but I run out of breath rather quickly. It seems slow to me, but apparently due to Sharlene's treatment of my condition, I'm doing much better than others who have had similar problems and treatment. I'm just taking it one day at a time, getting a little better, and enjoying being with Sharlene."

"Well, my old friend, let's get you back inside before they come looking for us. Thank you for talking to me and thank you for the hug."

"It was my pleasure."

In the meantime, while Sharlene helps Paul get the things out of the vehicle, he says, "Well, young lady, prepare for your aunt to corner you and question you."

"I expected that. Thanks for the warning, Uncle Paul."

"A bit more of a heads up, she's been on pins and needles since you rescued George and more so, since you took him into your home to recover. One minute, she's concerned about you, another minute it's George, then later it's the two of you, and still later, it's what the family will think if you two do develop a relationship."

"She is a bit of a worry wart."

"Yeah. I know it's really not any of my business, but has George treated you okay?"

"Uncle Paul, thank you for your concern. George has been kind, gentle, and very considerate of me. He couldn't have treated me any better."

"Good. I thought that would be the case. I didn't want to make an assumption, so I thought I would ask straight out."

"I appreciate that. I also thank you for bringing down George's things and my vehicle."

"Not a problem. Paula needs to get those pins and needles out of her backside and we wanted to see how George is doing."

"I still appreciate it. Shall we get these things into the house?"

"Yeah, knowing Paula, she took George out to the back porch to interrogate him, so we wouldn't easily interrupt."

Sharlene chuckles with him, "You're probably right."

As they step back into the house, Paula and George see that Sharlene and Paul are in the kitchen getting things set up to make sandwiches.

Paul pretends to pout and 'complains', "Oh, drat. They came back in. All of this hard work and we only get to eat half as much. Sharlene, it's just not fair."

They all laugh then quickly set the table, pour the drinks, and start to eat.

Partway through the meal, Paula 'orders', "Alright you two, hands on the table."

Even while she tries not to give things away, Sharlene asks, "What do you mean?"

"I know you're holding George's hand under the table."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I know George isn't left handed, and I also know most of the tricks in or out of the book."

While she continues to clasp his hand, Sharlene brings it up and sets their hands on the table and says, "Okay. I didn't mean to hide anything and I figured I would tell you after lunch. To be up front and to avoid any confusion, I hereby announce to both of you that George is my man and I intend to keep him around as long as I can."

Paul grins and says, "Jolly good. I'm happy for both of you."
All eyes turn to Paula, whose eyes are wide with surprise. It takes her a moment to respond, "Well, I half expected it, but I'm surprised at your willingness to announce it. That certainly does away with any doubt. Yes, I'm happy for both of you. And when the family finds out, I'll support you. I think most of them will support you, at least once they understand that it's your free choice."

Paul looks at George and says, "Well, old fraud, we haven't heard from you."

"Of course, I'm happy for us," which causes the others to laugh. "As I told Paula before and again a few minutes ago, I'm selfish enough to want to enjoy this young lady's company as long as she can put up with me." He raises her hand and kisses the back of it.

After a couple of minutes of quiet eating, Sharlene asks, "Aunt Paula, what did you mean by knowing most of the tricks?"

She chuckles before she explains, "You know your mom is older than me and she always wanted to show how mature she was. When she was a teenager, she brought her first potential boyfriend home to meet the folks. It was all done so properly, and since I was several years younger than her, and had no interest in boys at that time, I felt like I was being gagged with a spoon and wanted to put a lizard in someone's drink. Of course, afterwards, I would have felt sorry for the lizard. Still, I watched her and her boyfriends and how proper they were and yet how clumsily they were in trying to hold hands or sneak a kiss.

"When I was older and became interested in boys, I thought of all the ways I could be sneaky with my current boyfriend and kiss him right in front of my sister or parents without them noticing. Of course, later I had to tell her what I did and how I did it, which made her mad that I could get away with it and she never could. Even when she told our parents I admitted it, they wouldn't believe her, because they were sitting right there and never saw a thing. When they asked if she saw anything, Sarah had to admit she didn't see it herself.

"As the years went by, I gained the reputation of being on the wild side and somewhat the black sheep of the family, which, in many ways, I fully earned, and not without a certain intent on my part. Not only did I rebel against the properness of the family, which covered over a good dose of falsity and hypocrisy, but I also worked at being sneaky while doing outrageous things, right under the family's nose. Of course I had to brag about it to my sister.

"If I had put as much effort into being productive or useful as I did into being sneaky, I might have really accomplished something in life. That's a brief explanation of knowing the tricks. So don't bother trying to be sneaky around me. If you want to hold hands, do it in the open. Be proud of your relationship. If someone doesn't like it, tell them to go eat gravel."

"Thank you. I appreciate your support. Apparently the meal wasn't gravel, but has everyone had enough?" With affirmations all around, Sharlene suggests, "Well, let me get things put away, so we don't have the food and dirty dishes staring us in the face."

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (a2)

With a little help, everything is soon cleaned up and as they resume their seats, Sharlene says, "By the way, Aunt Paula, I've got a bit of a bone to pick with you."

"Oh, what did I do now?"

"You kept telling me that George was a boring old man. You may have got two out of three right, but boring he ain't."

"Oh? And how is he not boring?"

"A couple of mornings ago, I started to laugh at the mental image of going to a fancy party some of my stuffy medical school classmates were putting on, with George dressed up like an eccentric zillionaire and me draped on his arm. Straight laced Sharlene showing up as some gold digger. When George asked me what I was laughing about, I told him and he extended the image by claiming to be hard of hearing and loudly asking me as 'Doctor Doll' to get him a drink. When I brought it to him, he was going to loudly compliment me on not wearing makeup like the escapees from a wax museum who were standing nearby."

Paul laughs then exclaims, "That's great, George, 'escapees from a wax museum'. That's even better than 'plastic faces'."

Paula looks at George with wide eyes while he just shrugs his shoulders with a grin. A moment later, she asks, "George?"

"Paula, I can't explain it. I've been a boring old man for so many years I didn't know anything else was possible. Since Sharlene came into my life, I feel like a new man. Instead of dreading getting up each morning and looking forward to finding the next tree to fall over so I could 'catch it', I look forward to getting up and spending time with this lovely lady. When I empty my reservoir of silliness and she gets tired of me and sends me on my way, I'll go back to being a boring old man. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy every minute I'm allowed to be with her."

"Sharlene?"

"I can't explain it either, Aunt Paula, but towards the end of that week of vacation, I thought there was something about George that was buried, which he refused to let out, but I had no idea what it was. I caught a glimpse of it in the medical center when he was trying to trade parts of his meal for parts of mine. He intrigued me, which is part of why I invited him here to recuperate. I had to know who he was. Since he's been here, he's blossomed. It's hard to reconcile him with the dour old man who was my chauffeur to the swamp on that third-day morning."

"Yes, I can see that. Well, Sharlene, I have to congratulate you. You've accomplished what several other women failed to do, who also recognized something buried in George."

"What!?!" is exclaimed in stereo by both Sharlene and George, while Paul sits back and nods his head with a knowing smile.

"George, do you know why the other women in town approached you to develop a relationship?"

"The best I could guess was they were lonely and desperate and I was kind of the last resort before they gave up. Other than that, I had no idea. I just tried to enjoy the relationship for the short time it lasted."

Paula nods her head, "It's true that for the most part they were lonely, other than the clumsy gold diggers who you quickly disappointed. But the lonely ones weren't that desperate since they've all become happily married. No, they saw something in you they wanted to know more about. For some reason, they weren't able to get you to open up."

George pauses in thought for a little while then says, "Maybe I had to die first. . . . Don't give me those startled looks. I don't know about others, but after I died, I can look back on my life and realize that almost nothing I ever did had any meaning. So when this angel not only saves my life, but allows me into hers, it's a chance to start over, to live one day at a time. After all, I really can't do much worse than I did the first time around."

Paula looks at him for a moment before she says, "I'm not sure whether to call that a mature attitude or a cynical attitude."

"You don't have to put a label on it. It's just my attitude."

"So, do we look forward to wedding bells or children in the future?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Paula. I have no intention of fathering a child. Nor do I have any intention of getting married and I've already told Sharlene that. So, no more talk along those lines when I'm around."

"I'm sorry, George, I do know your feelings on those subjects."

"Aunt Paula, just to be clear, I have many of the same objections to marriage which George does, and recognize some of the problems of marriage which you talked to me about in the past. So, if someone in the family talks to you about it, most likely Mom, please put a halt to it. I know I'll have to do it also, but if they hear it from two sides, maybe it will sink in a little faster. With that being said, I want to change the subject. When I helped you in the store a couple of weeks ago, did you notice a change in your customer profile?"

"Yes. Why?"

"First, what was the change and then I'll say why."

"There were more male customers and our normal male customers stopped by more frequently. Why are you interested?"

Sharlene answers, "George and I have a bragging rights bet that you noticed an increase in male customers while I was there. Do you have any idea as to why that might have been?"

"To be blunt, girl, it was to look at you."

"Damn. You win George."

"I told you so."

"Hold it, Aunt Paula, how do you know it was to look at me?"

"Since the customers are used to only one person running the store, when they saw you at the register, or even stocking the shelves, they didn't always look to see if I was around and I overheard several of them talk to their friends. A typical conversation would go something like this: Person A, 'Wow, she's pretty. I'm gonna ask her for a date.' Person B, 'Better check with Paula first, that's her niece.' Person A, 'Oops, at least looking isn't a crime.'. My favorite one was when Person B pointed out to Person A that Molly was laying down beside you. To which Person A responded, 'Damn. I don't know whether to be more afraid of that canine or of Paula.' That made me feel good."

The others laugh with her.

As the laughter diminishes, Paul says, "I overheard similar conversations either in the shop or while I helped people get fuel. A few came by the shop to ask who that gorgeous creature was in the store. When I said it was Paula, . . ."

Paula interrupts Paul with a kiss and an observation, "Isn't he sweet?"

". . . they would say they knew Paula, but this one was real young. I would say, 'Oh, you must mean Sharlene. She's Paula's niece.' The most creative response I remember hearing was, 'It's okay to window shop, but don't handle the merchandise,' with the other responses being of a similar 'hands off' nature."

Sharlene protests, "I'm not merchandise."

"We all know that. I didn't agree with his statement, I just said it was the most creative response I heard."

"I'm sorry I jumped on you, Uncle Paul, but the whole subject makes me nervous. George has spent a lot of time talking with me and helping me to accept the idea that I'm physically attractive which was the reason for the bet. Thank you, both, for making it clear I was under your protection. I had no idea any of that was going on."

"You made more of a stir around town than having an airevac come in for George. And an airevac is so rare I can't remember one being in the area for several years."

George recognizes the grip of her hand on his increase so he scoots his chair back and barely gets it settled before she's sitting on his upper legs and he wraps his arms around her.

As the other two react with dropped jars and wide eyes, Paula recovers first and asks, "Still?"

Sharlene answers, "More like again."

Paul retains his surprise as he looks back and forth between them then asks, "What?"

Paula answers, "When Sharlene was young, she was often braver and more mature than many other children even though they were several years older. However, there were some situations or some subjects which upset her more than others and when she would become upset, she would look for the closest person she considered safe and crawl onto their lap for a hug."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "I know it looks and even feels somewhat childish, but after George innocently held me the first time I requested it, I've taken great advantage of his open arms. I've been naively bold in starting some conversations and even when George warned me away from the direction of the conversation, I pushed on, and, in many cases, he was quite right that I would get upset. Even though he freely admits that he likes me here, he hasn't taken advantage of my weakness. And I've never caught him starting a conversation which he knew would upset me. If he thought a topic might upset me, he would warn me and make it clear he wasn't trying to upset me, but only trying to speak clearly and honestly."

Paul shakes his head then says, "I'm not sure whether George's anticipation or Sharlene's action surprised me more, and I'm usually not easily surprised."

"They surprised me too, love. It took me a little while to remember she did that when she was younger, though much older than other children would allow themselves to be hugged. So you didn't 'grow out of it', you buried it."

"That's right, Aunt Paula. For many years in similar situations, I would force myself to be tough, bite my lip, and leave as soon as I could. When I was finally by myself, I would hug my pillow and cry my eyes out. Now, I just ask George to hold me and I don't have to bury it or let it build up to dangerous levels."

"That's good for you and I don't see George complaining."

"No, he's never complained even when I sat here long enough to cut off the circulation in his legs." Sharlene turns to him, says, "Thank you," and kisses his check.

"It's my pleasure," as he releases her to sit on her own chair.

Paula looks at them a little longer then says, "Well, you two do seem to be quite comfortable with each other," to which they just smile at each other. "I think even the blindest members of the family will have to admit that you have genuine affection for each other."

Sharlene says, "Just a week ago, when Mariam came to the medical center to bring me some more clothes and saw George for the first time while he was asleep, she was convinced I needed my head examined to be interested in George. When she came over a couple of nights ago and met George awake for the first time and talked to him, she had to change her mind and realized he wasn't so bad after all and even his age seem to diminish in importance."

Paula nods her head as she says, "That's good. I was wondering how that was going to work out. It can be real difficult when the two best friends of a person don't like each other."

"He won her over. Before she left for the evening, she even asked him for a hug, and as you know, he willingly shares hugs."

"Well, my boring old man, it sounds like you're building quite a fan club."

Sharlene nods her head and responds, "Yes, he is. And he tried telling me the other day that his fan club was only Molly."

They laugh at that while he just shrugs his shoulders with a smile.

When the laughter diminishes, Paula asks, "Speaking of Mariam, what's the situation with that project you want to take over?"

George gets up, briefly kisses Sharlene, and says, "Lovely lady, while you tell them, I'll make a quick trip down the hall."

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (a3)

"Okay." Sharlene turns back after watching George start to walk down the hall and answers, "The last Mariam had heard, the Institute was hoping to put the Project on the market in no more than two weeks. So far, the agreement with the government is that all of the proprietary hardware and software, the research, and the collected emotional recordings will be put on the market to be sold. The commercial hardware and software and office equipment and supplies, stay with the Institute. We think this will keep the interest down, because they've already received inquiries from organizations who were hoping to pick up the office stuff at a bargain.

"One other part of the agreement with the government is that several people, Mariam included, will be sent to the purchasing organization for training purposes. If the purchasing organization wants, they can hire the people or the Institute will have to find them other jobs. Officially, there's still a technical roadblock in the process which may further reduce interest, but thanks to one of George's ideas and some private testing, it looks like that technical roadblock has been removed.

"So far, Mariam hasn't heard any rumor about the price which is going to be attached to the Project. I suspect it won't be real high since there isn't any clear commercial value to the Project, especially since it was operated and advertised as research oriented, in addition to the Institute trying to unload it as quickly as they can in order to reduce their continuing expenses.

Sharlene pauses to look towards the hall then turns back and says, "When I talked to Dad about a potential investor, I'm keeping it quiet for now that it will probably be me, I also asked for someone who could help us on the legal side. I think you've met Klara, who works for Dad's company." When she sees Paula's nod her head, she continues, "Apparently, there's not enough to keep her busy at the company, so she accepted my request for her services to help out. I insisted that she keep track of her hours, so we can pay her and keep it above board. She's been gathering what information she can which is publicly available and I've been keeping her informed of the behind the scenes happenings and rumors I know about, so she'll be in a position to move forward as soon as the information is public.

"Yesterday, Mariam was over again and we went over a business plan which she and her dad had put together. We started by just making some minor changes to it. Earlier yesterday, Mariam had sent some of my emotional recordings to one of the testers in order to get their reaction to them. They called in the afternoon and said they liked them and thought the recordings had commercial possibilities. After we talked about it a little longer, we realized that could be the ticket to make the company financially successful, so we had to almost rewrite the business plan. Thanks to several ideas of George's, including company names, . . ."

George steps into the room and unnecessarily announces, "I'm baaaack."

". . . we think we have a real chance at financial success to pay the bills and to support the research we want to do. When we had the business plan put together as well as we knew how, I sent it on to Klara for her review. For now, we're keeping Mariam's name officially out of the business plan, so if something comes out in the future, she won't be put in a compromising position."

Paula asks, "If I may be nosy, what did you decide on as a company name?"

Sharlene answers, "Digital Empathy. George came up with the name while describing a hypothetical situation and Mariam latched onto it and liked it so much, she quite literally danced around the room. We thought it was appropriate for what we want to do to help people in therapy and to enhance training situations by using digitally recorded emotions.

"As a subsidiary, we plan on setting up the commercial side of the company in such a way that people can access emotional recordings online and experience them in their own homes. George came up with the name of Emotique based on the idea of a boutique of emotions. There are still a lot of technical details to work out and a lot of organizing to do before we'll be ready to 'open the door to customers', but we think we're on the right track. A lot will depend on if our business plan is workable, if the investor is still interested," with a wink to her aunt, "and how the Institute prices and markets the Project."

Paula shakes her head then says, "I thought it was hard enough to take over an existing business. I can't imagine starting one from scratch with new technology and not even knowing if there's really a market for your product."

"A lot of the credit goes to Mariam for getting things organized and putting together a lot of the details. George has been a big help with his ideas and appropriate company names. Sometimes I feel like I'm the weak link. About all I did was talk to Dad about a potential investor and legal help."

George reminds her, "Without your emotional recordings which Mariam's friends tested, the chance of commercial success will be greatly reduced regardless of Mariam's details and the few things I came up with."

"I suppose if I don't want you to diminish your contributions, George, then I guess I shouldn't diminish mine either."

"You've got it, Madame President."

Paula asks in surprise, "President?"

Sharlene shrugs her shoulders and explains, "It was Mariam's idea as a way to maintain control over the direction and philosophy of the company. It was also a way to keep Mariam's involvement under the table. As Klara pointed out, if I'm president, then there won't be anything underhanded if I hire my friend who might have had a conflict of interest if she was directly involved in a new company buying up the Project."

"That's a good point. It sounds like right now it's kind of a waiting game for all of the parties to declare their intentions."

"That's pretty much the situation. We might get together with Mariam sometime this week and work on some of the details of how we might want to organize and operate the company. George has had some good ideas, I have a few things bouncing around in my head, and Mariam has quite a bit of experience on the business side, so maybe we can get something down on paper. Since both of you run your own businesses, can we maybe have you review what we put together and see if you have any suggestions for improvement?"

Paula looks at Paul before she responds, "I don't know about being able to offer any suggestions, but I think we would both be willing to help you."

Paul suggests, "As long as Sharlene doesn't try to sell beer or repair vehicles with her emotional recordings."

"Uncle Paul, maybe we could help you by giving your customers a dose of happiness as you hand them their repair bill."

"That's a great idea. Then I can raise my prices and still have happy customers."

They laugh with him.

Paula announces, "I don't mean to break up this party, but I would like to talk to Sharlene for a little while. So, do we send you guys out of the room or do we go out of the room."

"Aunt Paula, if you wouldn't mind, can you help me turn in the rental vehicle? I had originally thought about doing it tomorrow, but it might be more than George is ready for and I'm trying not to push him too hard so he can recuperate. On the way back, we can talk. I also want to pick up a couple of things at the grocery store. If we still have more to talk about, we can decide then who gets sent out of the room."

"That's a good idea. Let me make a trip down the hall, grab my purse, and I'll be ready to go."

A couple of minutes later, Sharlene asks them, "Are you gentlemen going to be able to survive without us for a couple of hours?"

Paul answers, "Watch out, George. When they start calling us gentlemen it means they're going to want something from us."

"I don't know, Sharlene. I might just dry up and blow away without you here."

"Oh, give me a kiss and you'll survive," which, of course, he does to the amazed looks of Paula and Paul.

"Paula, snap out of it. Are you going to let those two young pups do better than us?" Since she doesn't want to resist that challenge, she lets Paul know he's been very well kissed.

"Okay, Aunt Paula, we're not in some kind of kissing contest."

"Why not?"

"Well, for one, George has been out of the medical center for less than a week and runs out of breath rather quickly. And for two, I would like to return the rental vehicle."

"Okay, okay, let's go."

After the ladies leave, Paul asks, "Well, George, do I raze the young studs around town that they weren't man enough to capture Sharlene, but that old man George was?"

"I would prefer you didn't. I wouldn't want some young buck to think he could pick a fight with me to prove he was a better man, or to have someone accuse me of robbing the cradle, or to have those rumors of hidden money resurface and have to chase off the gold diggers."

"I knew you wouldn't want me to, but I had to get at least one good tease in on you. After all, you and Sharlene do make a rather odd couple."

George nods his head as he says, "Don't I know. I can hardly believe it and can't fathom why she wants me around. Like I said earlier, I'm too damn selfish to not take advantage of her willingness to have me around. I've been somewhat concerned that when I'm stronger and we go out of the house together, even to the grocery store, there might be a bit of ridicule. About the best explanation I came up with is for her to pretend that I'm her doddering old grandfather."

"That's a good idea, but I'm not sure she'll agree to it. You could probably get away with the gold digger approach here in the city, but it won't work back in town where everyone knows everyone else."

"Yeah, I know."

Paul says, "I have the impression she does want to keep you around, and for the long haul. If that's the case, have you thought about living arrangements?"

"The thought has crossed my mind a time or two, but I'm trying not to think about it. Frankly, I'm not ready to handle that issue. And then there's the issue of her new company. How is getting a new company off the ground and keeping it moving forward, going to affect where she wants or maybe needs to live? I have no idea."

"Ouch. I forget about that element."

"Yeah, and how much am I going to distract her from putting her efforts into making the company a success."

Paul suggests, "Well, to be honest, she may crave that distraction. When Paula and I were trying to get the store and the shop going, there were times we desperately needed to forget about the business, even if it was just for a short evening."

"I hadn't thought about it from that aspect. I know I don't have any answers and I never did have a crystal ball. All I know to do is to enjoy each day she lets me stay around until she gets tired of me, then I'll leave."

"Considering how many unknowns are up in the air, that's probably as good an approach as any."

"Thanks, Paul."

"Not a problem, George."

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (a4)

Sharlene gets into Paula's vehicle after turning in the rental, and says, "Okay, Aunt Paula, I know you're anxious to hear what's been happening the last few days, but I would appreciate it if you would tell me what you and George talked about first."

"Well, it might change what you're willing to talk about, but George was right. Okay, I wanted him to talk about you two, but he wouldn't, like I should have guessed. He reminded me that he had promised me he would do his best not to hurt you and to the best of his knowledge, he's fulfilled that promise. He also said he had upset you a few times, and had offered to leave, but you had told him to stay."

"Before you go on, if that's what he promised you, then I can assure you that he has kept his promise. He hasn't hurt me in any way. George hasn't upset me himself, although some of the things he said did upset me. In almost every case, I'm the one who pushed him to answer my questions and say the things which upset me. And he's always very gentle and willing to comfort me when I am upset."

Paula pauses before she goes on, "The next part is somewhat harder for me to admit. He reminded me that when we talked about you, I had told him, somewhat as a forewarning, that if you asked him to touch you, that he should treat you no differently than he treated me when I asked him to touch me. He said he had tried to do that."

"If that means by him being gentle, considerate, and never pushing me, then he's done that also. At first, I had to initiate the touching. If he showed the least boldness and touched me, even to just hold my hand without first asking for permission, he apologized. Finally, I told him that he didn't have to ask for permission because it would remove the surprise and spontaneity from the relationship. After that, whenever he's touched me, it was only a little more than how he had touched me previously. Even when I asked him to touch me more, he refused me and said, 'not yet.' And that was in spite of him clearing stating he found me attractive and wanted to touch me more."

Paula's eyes open wide and she briefly turns to look at Sharlene before she turns back to pay attention to the traffic then says, "Really? I continue to be amazed at his restraint. Anyway, after that he said he was going to be blunt and said that his relationship was with you and that other than maybe answering specific questions related to your health or well-being, he wasn't going to tell me what's happened in your relationship, just as he hasn't said what happened in his relationships with anyone else. He said if you wanted to give a minute by minute description of the relationship, it was totally up to you, that you two hadn't talked about it, and that you were under no obligation to either speak or to be quiet."

Sharlene looks at her in surprise and asks, "He said that?"

"Yes."

"That's interesting. I'm going to have to think about that for a little while. Was there anything else said?"

"Yes. He said that a couple of times he had started to push your limits, but as soon as you said to stop, he did."

Sharlene chuckles before she explains, "I would hardly call it pushing my limits, but, yes, when I said stop, he stopped. Once, he was tickling me, and the only other time I remember telling him to stop, was when he had me laughing so hard, I almost peed my pants." She brings her humor to a quick halt and says, "One other time, I did say the equivalent of stop and that was when he was ready to walk out because what he had said had upset me. What the poor man didn't realize is that I would have been more upset if he had walked out. I suspect he said more than that."

"He said you were very kind to take him into your home and care for him and that he had no intention of betraying your kindness. He also said he had made it clear to you that he would stay only as long as you wanted him to and that he was selfish enough to want to stay. He had offered to leave, but you had told him you wanted him to stay. He wanted me to talk to you and if you were unhappy with him being around, he would pack his bags and leave, with no questions asked. He said he told Mariam that his relationship with you is at your whim and if there was any problem with the relationship, he would accept the blame."

Sharlene nods her head as she responds, "Yes, he's made it very clear he'll only stay as long as I want him to. The only thing he hasn't directly said to me was that he would accept the blame for a problem in the relationship, although it's consistent with everything else he's said. About the closest thing to a problem from my perspective, is that he has a hard time believing that I do want him to stay. But when I think about his personality and the things both you and he have said about his past, his view of me wanting him must be like believing fish will start to fly and roost in trees next week."

"That's probably a good analogy. He asked if I had any specific questions, so I asked him if he had touched you. He said no more than you allowed. He repeated what you just said about you not wanting him to ask permission before he touched you. He reiterated that he didn't understand you wanting him to stay, but he couldn't think of how you might be feeling coerced or obligated to want him to stay. That was the extent of what we talked about."

"Thank you, Aunt Paula, for telling me what you two had talked about. It's very true he hasn't touched me more than I allowed. Frankly, a few times when he's touched me, I wanted him to touch me more or further than he had, but he refused. One time I even yelled at him to touch me more and he gently said, 'not yet.' Even when he was so excited he had a sexual release without touching himself."

"You've got to be kidding."

"Absolutely not."

Paula looks at her in disbelief probably longer that she should while driving, then exclaims, "He was that excited and didn't touch you more? Unbelievable!! I know I've pushed the bounds of confidentiality, but I'm really curious. Were you excited?"

"Very. Why do you think I wanted him to touch me more? I was so excited, that when he didn't touch me more, I had to touch myself to get relief. On another occasion when I asked him, he made it clear that my response was going to be different from other women. First, because I didn't have negative emotional baggage to interfere with my enjoyment and second, I had never been touched even close to intimately, so it's going to be new and wonderful. That's one of the reasons he's given me for taking the time to explore different types and levels of touching rather than rushing right to the sex act itself."

"He's probably right about why you can get so excited. Damn, Sharlene, how I envy you."

"Aunt Paula!"

"I'm sorry, but I do envy you, even though I know it wouldn't be the same for me, because I do have negative emotional baggage and I am experienced, so it's not new and wonderful. You have a unique opportunity here, not only because of your background, but also because of George. I knew he could restrain himself more than most men, but I wouldn't have imagined he could restrain himself that well. Oh, my. So my boring old man isn't so very boring after all."

"No, he's not boring. And I don't mean just the touching. He has good ideas, he makes me laugh, and he comforts me when I'm upset."

"I think it's obvious what the answer is, but George did want me to talk to you. Sharlene, are you happy with him?"

"Yes, Aunt Paula. Very happy. I know it doesn't make sense in regards to any of societal norms, except maybe for the idea that opposites attract. I want to keep that old man in my life and I can't explain it except by saying how kind, and gentle, and considerate, and silly he is and how wonderfully he touches me without pushing me, while delaying his own desires."

"That's good enough for me."

"Thank you, Aunt Paula."

After they stop at a grocery store and pick up a few things for dinner and other meals, they arrive back at Sharlene's home. As they step in the door, they're surprised at the quiet. When he hears the door open, Paul comes towards them making hushing motions even though they're not talking before he says, "George is asleep. Do you have more to bring in?"

Sharlene answers, "There are a couple of more bags in the back. What happened?"

"Let me get the other bags then I'll tell you."

When he brings the other bags in, Sharlene asks, "Uncle Paul?"

"Nothing actually happened. We talked for awhile and after a few minutes of quiet with no conversation, I realized he had drifted off to sleep. So I turned on the television, muted the sound, and watched the ball game."

"I should have remembered and mentioned it. Except for yesterday when Mariam was here, he's dropped off to sleep in the afternoon. He's getting stronger, but he still has very little stamina and I'm afraid I haven't given him enough time to rest."

"That may be the case, Sharlene, but he certainly didn't complain about it. He mostly just seemed very amazed that you want him. He's concerned about what ridicule you might get when you two go out. He figured you could pretend he was your doddering old grandfather. I suggested he could use the gold digger approach here in the city, but it wouldn't work back home. I don't mean to stick my nose in, but I get the impression that you do want him to stay for the long haul, so I asked him about the future.

"He said he wasn't ready to deal with that issue and threw in the added complication of how starting a new company might affect where you need or want to live. He's also concerned about how much he'll interfere with the attention you need to devote to the company. I told him that you might appreciate the distraction he might give you to step away from the pressures of starting a new business. I know that Paula and I sure did."

"Uncle Paul, I think that's the longest speech I've heard from you. Thank you for talking to George and listening to him. He does tend to worry, but most of the time, it's about a real problem. I never considered how the new company might affect where I live or a lot of other related issues. I guess I'll need to get together with Mariam and hash out some more details. I suppose we ought to let George rest and I probably should get dinner ready to throw in the oven."

"Do you want some help?"

"If you don't mind."

"What are you fixing?"

Paula answers, "She decided on lasagna. And, yes, Paul, we did get some more wine."

"More? Oh boy. Hold it. I thought I had left a couple of bottles here." Mockingly fierce, Paul asks her, "Young lady, have you been nipping into my wine?"

Sharlene briefly chuckles before she answers, "No, Uncle Paul. A few weeks ago, Mariam was over after a stressful day at work and had a couple of glasses. By the way, she complimented you on your choice of vintage."

"Really? She sounds like quite a reasonable young lady."

"She is, as well as being a good friend. She reminds me of a slightly younger version of you, Aunt Paula. Maybe that's why I get along with her so well."

While they fix the lasagna, some to put in the freezer for another meal and some for dinner, they talk about a variety of things and gossip about the town. Even though Sharlene doesn't know most of the people her aunt and uncle mention, she likes the homey atmosphere of hearing about people who, for the most part, get along and care about each other. Although they keep their voices somewhat down, they still fix the meal with the normal amount of kitchen noise and George seems to rest well without being disturbed by the background noises. Once the food is in the oven and the freezer, and the kitchen is cleaned up, they sit down at the table and continue to visit.

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (e1)

Awhile later, George begins to stir and Sharlene pops out of her chair to go to him while Paula and Paul exchange a significant glance.

She quickly kneels next to him on the love seat and asks, "How are you doing, old man?"

"Hello, angel. I must have dozed off."

"It looks that way."

"Paul and Paula?"

"They're sitting over at the table chatting with me."

"I'm sorry I dozed off."

"Don't be. Remember you're still recuperating."

"Sometimes I forget. Well, I'd better make a trip down the hall."

"Do you want some iced tea to drink when you get back?"

"Yes, please."

"Here's a little something to inspire you to hurry back." Sharlene kisses him briefly but passionately.

"How far did you say you wanted the world moved?"

She whispers in his ear, "I don't want the world moved, just me." In her normal voice she suggests, "Come on, old man. Up you go."

A couple of minutes later, George sits down at the table and says, "Paul, I want to apologize for falling asleep on you."

"Forget it. It was a nice quiet peaceful environment and I almost dozed off myself. I had to turn the television on to stay awake until the girls got back."

As the quiet lengthens, George says, "I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation."

Paula answers, "You didn't. We're about talked out. We need some fresh topics. Did you have something you want to talk about?"

"It finally dawned on me that I've been away from the homestead for almost two weeks. Is everything okay?"

Paul nods his head as he answers, "It was this morning before we left. I popped over every other day or so and threw some water on your garden. Molly's been keeping an eye on it also. A couple of the town idiots stopped by the shop to say there was a mad canine up at your place. When I asked what they were doing there, they muttered something about hearing you were in the hospital and checking the place out since you were gone. I told them it was a good thing I hadn't been there or they might have had more than a barking canine to deal with. They left in a hurry."

"Thanks, Paul. It sounds like I owe you and Molly an awful lot."

"We're friends. You would do it for us if the situation was reversed. For Molly, I think it's more like she feels she owes you for the kindness you've shown her."

"Anyway, I still appreciate it. For a long time, I've been thinking about putting in a gate at the end of the driveway, but couldn't make up my mind as to what kind of gate and how much of an inconvenience it would be to open and close it all of the time or when friends like you come to visit. I've had a couple of the town idiots, as you call them, stop by a time or two, and then the so-called traveling salesman. Usually when they realize someone is there, they turn around and leave. It's a nuisance to stop what I'm doing to make sure they do leave."

"I know what you mean. Have you had any more trouble with those religious ones?"

George shakes his head as he answers, "No. I guess word got around and they 'black listed' me."

Sharlene asks, "Which kind? We have several groups here in the city."

"In town, it's usually just two young men on bicycles."

"I know which ones you mean. How did you get them to leave you alone?"

"I quoted some of their own literature back to them and told them that people who thought they were going to become a deity needed to be committed to a mental institute."

Sharlene chuckles then says, "That's good. It's funny how they try to act humble, yet you know how egotistically arrogant they have to be, to think they're good enough to be divine."

George nods his head in agreement before he verbally responds, "What's interesting is that the literature of most religions instruct their followers to be humble and caring while it also makes it clear that the only way to paradise is through their belief system. Very few people can manage a firm belief without becoming arrogant about it and throwing out their humility. Enough of that topic, is there something else we can talk about?"

"Ding," says the timer on the oven.

Sharlene suggests, "How about some dinner?"

George asks, "So, what do you want to say about dinner? Discuss the nutritional elements, or the expertise of those who prepared the food. Or maybe talk about the culture which the meal came from, or the history of how the meal was developed and how it came to be associated with a particular culture. I suppose we could even discuss the aromatic qualities of the raw materials and how they undergo metamorphosis when they're cooked together."

Sharlene clamps a hand over his mouth as Paula and Paul start to laugh then she tells him, "Not talk about, eat."

George clasps his hand over her hand and begins to kiss it, "Mmm," and nibble her palm, "yum," then her wrist, and starts moving his kisses and nibbles up her forearm, as he says, "this is delicious."

Sharlene looks over at her aunt and 'accuses' her, "And you said he was boring." As Paula and Paul laugh harder, Sharlene pulls her arm away and kisses him until he needs to breathe then tells him, "I guess there's more than one way to shut you up."

"Put your hand . . . on my mouth . . . and say 'eat'."

"The old fraud's got you there, young lady."

Paula suggests, "Maybe I'm going to have to join Paul and start calling you an old fraud, too. You sure had me convinced you were a boring old man. And don't protest. Save your breath while I help Sharlene get the table set."

As he looks across the table at Paul, George just grins and shrugs his shoulders.

* * * * *

After the leftovers are put away and the dirty dishes are dealt with, they sit back down at the table with fresh drinks. Paula asks, "George, do you have any idea of when you'll be able to go home?"

"That depends on what the good doctor says."

"Sharlene?"

"I don't know. He seems to be doing quite well, but cardiology isn't my field. Besides, I don't have any of the necessary test equipment. I'm thinking about getting him in to see a specialist this week if I can. I consulted with a local cardiologist who's associated with the organization which is promoting the experimental drug I used on George." She turns to him and explains, "He's the one who visited when you were at the medical center."

"Okay."

She turns back to look across the table as she continues, "He's interested in following the case and will probably be willing to help do some further tests to have some evidence of how well the treatment is working."

George asks, "What kind of tests are you talking about?"

She turns back to him and assures him, "Nothing to be concerned about, probably nothing more than a heart monitor, a scan, and a standard set of blood tests. He might want to do a stress test, but without a stress test done before the treatment, there wouldn't be any comparative value."

"So nothing like running a video recorder up a vein to look at my heart?"

"No. That wouldn't really show anything about whether the condition of the heart has improved or not. It could be useful to look at where we sewed your artery back together and make sure the artery is staying together and not forming excessive scar tissue, but a scan can tell us almost as much and it's a lot less invasive. By the way, do you have a regular physician who I should be talking to?"

"No. The last time I saw a doctor was several years ago when I went to the local clinic to get an antibiotic for a case of bronchitis."

"I thought that was probably the situation, but I should have asked you several days ago."

George turns to look across the table and asks, "If you guys don't mind, can you keep an eye on the homestead for awhile longer?"

Paul assures him, "Not a problem."

Sharlene suggests, "Actually, George, you don't need to stay here to recuperate. Depending on what we find out from the cardiologist and what further testing he recommends to document the treatment, I was thinking of going to your home and staying with you to keep an eye on you for awhile longer, if you have no objection."

"I have no objection to being with you whether here or there or anywhere else. What about the new company?"

"That will be a part of the equation. Not everything needs to be done face to face and even if there's the need to do so, it's only a couple of hours to drive back here if I need to."

"I would be happy to invite you into my home, but you'll probably have to yell at me to rest and quit trying to do all of my normal chores."

"I'll just stick a couple of good books under your nose and that should keep you out of trouble for awhile."

George chuckles then says, "You're probably right about that. On second thought, now that I'm not such a boring old man, maybe it won't work so well."

Sharlene suggests, "Then I'll have Molly sit on you for awhile."

When the laughter diminishes, Paul turns to Paula and says, "Well, love. We probably ought to hit the road soon. It's a bit more of a drive for us old folks and you have a store to open early in the morning."

"You're right."

After they make bathroom trips and gather up their things, they meet at the door. Paul firmly grips George's hand and hugs Sharlene while he says, "George, I'm so glad to see you doing better. And I'm happy for both of you. I think each of you have a lot to offer the other." He goes to get the vehicle open.

Paula hugs him, "George, thank you very much for keeping your promises." While she hugs her, she says, "Sharlene, I love you, child." She pulls them together into a hug as she tells them, "I'm very happy for you two. Take your time and be patient with one another and I think you'll have the best time of your lives." With another individual hug and kiss on the cheek to each of them, Paula quickly steps out the door.

Sharlene steps up to the door, but waits until her aunt and uncle have pulled out of the driveway and started down the street before she closes it. While she's waiting, George steps up behind her and holds her.

* * * * *

2147-08-25 (e2)

After she closes and locks the door and turns out the porch light, Sharlene leans back on George and pulls his arms tightly around her. After a little while, she loosens his arms, turns around, backs him up to the nearby chair, pushes him down, straddles his legs, hugs him close, and passionately kisses him.

When she lets him catch his breath, she asks, "George, what have you done to me?" Without recognizing the fear which blossoms in his eyes as he rapidly breathes, she goes on, "That's the first time I couldn't wait for my aunt and uncle to leave. Every other time they visited, I was sorry to see them go. I'm feeling sorry about my attitude, but whatever you've done to me, I love it and I want you to keep doing it."

She proceeds to kiss his face, his neck, and when his breathing has settled, his lips. When she needs to let him breathe again, she says, "My poor man. I'm going to have to back off on kissing you so much until you have more lung capacity. Maybe some breathing exercises or time on a treadmill." When she sees him grimace, she just laughs and kisses his cheeks and neck some more.

It's a little while before he can verbally respond, "Oh my lady, you're a marvel. I don't know how much breathing exercises will help. I never could hold my breath for very long, even when I was a teenager and actively involved in sports." With a bit of a suggestive grin, he remarks, "You know, if the kisses are shorter, we'll just have to have many more."

"You selfish old man," and she kisses him again.

A few minutes later, George asks, "Will you teach me tai-chi?"

Sharlene looks at him in surprise then says, "That's a strange request. Why?"

"To be blunt, I want to be close to you, but I need a distraction or I'm going to break all of my promises."

"I'm sorry. I'm so much enjoying our touching and kissing and wanting more myself that I'm forgetting how it's pushing against your limits."

He tries to assure her, "There's no need for you to feel sorry and there's no way for you to know what my limits are unless I tell you. Sometimes I'm not even sure where they are until I'm almost there."

"So, was asking to learn tai-chi strictly for the distraction value or are you interested in learning?"

"I've known about tai-chi for many years and have had a mild interest in it as well as the martial arts, but never enough to overcome my fear of making a fool of myself in a class. Considering all of the other things about me that you've been willing to put up with, showing myself as a clumsy oaf shouldn't be too much more of a burden, unless it's the straw which breaks the llama's back."

"Oh, George, I'm not just putting up with you, I'm enjoying you and your company. I wonder what kind of a man you would have been if your self-confidence had been built up instead of being torn down. I don't care how clumsy you are. If you're interested in learning tai-chi, I'll help you. I have a couple of instructional books on the subject, but I left them at my parents' home when I moved here along with most of my other books. I think I can show you some of the basic moves."

"I think I have one or two tai-chi books at my place, but I haven't tried to learn it on my own."

"We can start with the basic moves then see what kind of tai-chi books you have and add some more moves. I'm looking forward to seeing your library. Aunt Paula was quite impressed with it when you gave her a tour that time you invited her for dinner."

"I would be happy to give you the tenth credit tour. I don't know how impressive my library is, especially since most of the books are used and some are obviously damaged, but I like them. Sometimes, I'll just sit in there and soak in the ambience."

"That sounds nice. When had you thought about starting to learn tai-chi?"

George only briefly pauses then suggests, "Um, tonight?"

"You do need a distraction."

"Yes. And I'm being selfish about the type of distraction, because by learning tai-chi, I'm still with you and being active, rather than going to another room and trying to read or something and have my mind wander back to my desire for you."

Sharlene barely hesitates to admit, "To be honest back, I'm half tempted to push you and encourage you to fulfill your desires, but I think we would both feel guilty afterwards. I guess I can use a distraction too. Alright, let's start the tai-chi tonight. It will probably be easier for you to make the moves if you're wearing something looser, like your sweat suit."

"Good idea. I'll be back shortly." After a brief kiss, he goes to the bedroom to change. While she waits for him, she recognizes that she really does need a distraction since she's more than just half tempted to push him.

* * * * *

About a half hour later, she calls a halt to the tai-chi lesson as she realizes that his balance is beginning to waver. After she walks him to the love seat and makes sure he's sitting, she gets him a drink and sits next to him while he sips it and tells him, "You did okay, George."

"It helps to have a good teacher and an encouraging environment."

"Which wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't have made an effort."

"Thank you, lovely lady."

"You need to rest awhile. Do you mind if I turn on the television?"

"It's your home."

"I know, but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"Somehow I doubt that what you might want to watch will make me uncomfortable, unless it's a recap of the most gruesome surgeries of the day. If I don't want to watch the television, I'll just turn to watch you. Actually, I'll often take a break from my reading about this time of an evening and catch one of the nature shows."

"That's what I was going to turn on. You know, in spite of the difference in our ages, we do seem to have similar interests."

He grabs her hand and kisses it, "I don't know. My big interest in life is touching and kissing a beautiful young woman named Sharlene. Somehow I doubt that you have the same interest."

"Pick your ears, old man. I said similar, not the same. My big interest is in hugging and kissing an intriguing old man AND to be touched and kissed by him. So there!" And she proves it by doing so. It causes them to be late in turning on the television, but since the first part of the program is advertisements and introduction, they miss very little.

* * * * *

As she turns off the television at the end of the show, Sharlene remembers, "Well, George, I guess I owe you a back rub."

"You don't owe me anything."

"I wouldn't want it to be said that I renege on a bet."

"It wasn't much of a bet since the odds were heavily stacked in my favor."

"Ahhh, but you didn't have a guaranteed win, so you won the bet. How do want your back rub?"

"However is most convenient for you. I could sit backwards on one of the chairs, lay on the floor, or lay on the bed."

She briefly thinks then suggests, "Um. Let's have you lay on the bed. That way if you become sleepy or relaxed, you won't have to move far."

"Okay. I guess I'll just get my pajamas on then. If I do fall asleep then you can just let me lie." A few minutes later when they're in the bedroom, he asks, "How do you want me to lay?"

"First, you need to take off your pajama top so I can check your surgery site again. . . . That's healing nicely. Does it bother you in any way?"

"Sometimes its a little itchy, but other than that, I seldom notice it."

"Good." She thinks for a moment then suggests, "Why don't you lay on the bed diagonally with your head at the corner? That way I can stand on the floor and still reach you. I should be able to push a little harder than if I knelt on the bed."

"Like this?"

"We'll try it. I learned some of the techniques, but I haven't practiced, so I don't know how much I remember."

"Considering my lack of experience, I wouldn't know if you're an expert or a novice. Just to have you touch me will be wonderful."

"Mister Flatterer."

Sharlene starts at George's shoulders, begins to rub his back and from his 'oww's', 'ahhh's', and 'mmm's', she must be successful in finding his tight muscles and working them loose. Shortly after she steps closer to the bed to reach the middle of his back, she suddenly stops with a gasp of breath because she feels his hands slide up the fronts of her legs from her ankles to her knees and back down. She tries to ignore his caresses in order to concentrate on her massage efforts, then she feels his hands slide back up her legs along the outsides of her calves and back down again. When she takes another partial step closer to the bed to reach further down his back, his hands gently, almost ticklishly, slowly slide up and down the backs of her calves and occasionally pause to play around the backs of her knees while she hums in pleasure.

She steps right up to the bed and has to spread her legs across the end and side of the bed so she can knead the muscles in his lower back while her loose hair slides across his bare back. That causes him to hum with enjoyment at the same time as his hands reach around her calves to slowly slide up the insides of her calves and just as slowly slide back down. While his hands continue to slowly and gently caress her lower legs as she responds with hums and moans, she realizes that, with her legs spread and leaning over him, her skirt prevents her from moving closer which is probably a good thing otherwise she would be straddling him and rubbing herself on his head. As she pushes herself backwards, she lightly scratches his back while her hair slides across his back which causes him to groan in pleasure.

She asks, "Was that a good enough back rub?"

"It was wonderful. Thank you."

"Rest for a moment while I turn out the lights and get myself ready for bed."

"Okay."

After she checks the doors, turns out the lights, and puts on her pajamas, Sharlene comes back to the bed and sees that he's fallen asleep while he's still laying diagonally across the bed on top of the blankets and with no room for her to get under the covers. She reminds herself, "Well, I told him to lay like that. What do I do now?"

After she thinks about it for a few moments, she grabs a couple of extra blankets, gets on the bed, lays on his back, pulls the blankets up, spreads her hair across his arms, and with her chin dropped over his shoulder at the back of his turned head, she welcomes the heat from his bare back and is soon asleep.

* * * * *

2147-08-26 (m)

Sometime around dawn, George wakes up, but he doesn't move since he finds himself laying on his front on the bed and with an unfamiliar weight on his back. After he considers it for a few moments, he figures out that he must have fallen asleep while laying diagonally on the bed which left no room for Sharlene. The guilt he feels is counterbalanced by the pleasure of having her lay on top of him and with her hair covering his arms. He soon realizes that her legs are along the outsides of his and he starts to think about how that might affect the position of her hips and adjacent anatomy, but before the thought can fully develop, he's asleep again.

* * * * *

When she wakes up, Sharlene takes a moment to remember how she ended up sleeping on his back. As she quietly chuckles at how the events of last night led to this, she realizes she's nice and toasty warm from his body, usually a couple of blankets aren't enough for her, and that her bladder is sending her a semi-urgent message. She tries to be careful as she gets out of bed, so when she feels him start to stir, she kisses his cheek, and suggests, "Sleep, George." While he settles back down with a dreamy smile, she makes sure he's covered with the blankets, gets herself up and dresses in loose pants and a shirt. As she steps out of the bathroom, she recognizes that he's still asleep so she goes to the kitchen, turns the kettle on then starts to brew a cup of tea.

Sharlene makes the assumption that his office is probably open so she calls the cardiologist she had consulted with when George was in the medical center. Apparently, he had advised his staff, because as soon as she identifies herself, she's put directly through to him. Soon, they have arrangements made for her to bring George in at twelve hundred on fourth-day for a complete cardiology examination.

After she fixes her tea, she sips at it while she checks her phone for messages, there are just a couple of junk calls which she erases, then she checks her computer for any emails. Other than one from Mariam asking how the visit with her aunt and uncle went to which Sharlene briefly responds that it went well and they approve of her relationship with George, the other emails are quickly dealt with.

When she's finished with her cup of tea, she goes back to the bedroom and sees that he's beginning to stir. She briefly thinks then kneels on the floor next to the bed and kisses the end of his nose which causes his eyes to pop open in surprise. His expression quickly turns into a toothless grin as he recognizes her and says, "Hello, beautiful."

"Hello, handsome."

George's laugh has a bitter edge as he says, "You have the wrong bedroom, young lady."

"No I don't." As she slides the tip of one of her fingers across one of his toothless gums, she tells him, "You may not be handsome in the physical appearance sense, but you're handsome in the ways which count for me."

"Even when I lay across the bed and don't give you anywhere to sleep?"

Sharlene chuckles then says, "I'm the one who told you to lay that way. You may not be as soft as the bed, but I slept comfortably and woke up nice and toasty warm from your body. Was I too heavy for you?"

"No. I woke up earlier for a little while and it took me a few moments to figure out what the situation was. I enjoyed feeling you so close and your hair across my arms. It was so nice I just relaxed and fell asleep again. I'm sorry I took up the whole bed."

"Don't be sorry. I enjoyed holding onto you and sleeping on you. I wouldn't recommend it as a steady practice, but it was still nice."

"Thank you."

"Now, George, why don't you get up and throw on your sweat suit. I'll get you a drink and then we'll do some tai-chi before breakfast."

"Um. A quick kiss first?"

"I don't think so," and she proceeds to give him a long passionate kiss. "Do you still want a quick kiss?"

"Not unless . . . it's another."

"You're selfish. Don't you get tired of kissing me?"

"Nope."

Sharlene gives him a quick kiss then encourages him, "Come on, selfish. Up you get."

After he makes a bathroom trip, she has him repeat the tai-chi moves he learned last night then she adds a couple of more moves and has him practice those several times. After breakfast and the dirty dishes are cleaned up, she tells him about the appointment with the cardiologist.

George asks "Did you have any trouble setting it up so soon?"

"No, he's interested in the results of the experimental drug I used on you. The group which developed the drug has already told him that they'll cover the cost of the office visit and cardiology examination."

"That will help. I'm not looking forward to getting that medical center bill. And what about paying you?"

"George, you don't need to pay me. I willingly offered my services to you as a friend."

"Thank you. I appreciate that. But the insurance company doesn't know that. You ought to at least submit a claim to them."

She hesitates to admit, "To tell you the truth, I don't know how."

"Talk to the cardiologist. Maybe he or his staff can help you."

"That's a good point. Thank you. So, what would you like to do for the next couple of days?"

"You mean besides touch and hug and kiss you?"

"Yes. And you know we need to ration ourselves or we'll spoil the journey. Regardless of how much I keep begging you to speed up the process I do want to enjoy the scenic route as you call it."

"I'm glad. Until you hear something from Klara or until Mariam has some free time, it will probably be hard to do much about getting ready for your new company."

"That's right. I've had some ideas, but nothing quite solid enough to jot down or discuss. Back to my original question, what would you like to do for the next couple of days?"

"I was thinking that I might have the energy to go to one of the local charity thrift stores and look for some used books. That might help distract me and keep me out of your hair for awhile."

"That sounds like a good idea. I might pick up some myself. I haven't taken the time to sit down and read a book just for the fun of it in a long time. Go get yourself dressed while I check the phone listing and see what's closest."

* * * * *

It's almost two hours later when they pull back into her driveway. Sharlene insists, "George, leave the bags. Let me get you into the house and resting and then I'll bring the bags in."

"Okay."

When he's settled on the love seat, she hands him a drink and tells him, "Here, drink slowly while I go bring the bags in." Once the bags of books are in the house, she sits down next to him with her own drink.

He tells her, "Thank you for the drink and for taking me shopping."

"I guess it was just a bit too long for you yet."

"I'm sorry I was so distracted looking at books."

"It's kind of hard to know how long you can go until you try."

"You're right."

"I guess your treasure hunt worked pretty well this time."

He nods his head as he responds, "Better than usual. Somebody must have donated a personal library. Seldom have I seen so many books I don't already have. Actually, I might already have a few of them since I can't remember all that I have. Usually I carry my list with me when I go book shopping."

She asks, "What do you do if you've bought a duplicate?"

"Give it away or donate it back to the charity."

"Finish your drink, then I want you to rest."

"But I am resting."

"And you're having a hard time keeping your eyes open. Sleep for awhile," she kisses him, "and I'll have more for you later."

"Mmm, thank you."

It's not long before George drifts off the sleep. As she looks at the bags of books, Sharlene soon finds herself sitting on the floor and organizing the books alphabetically by author's last name. It takes longer than she thought it would because she keeps stopping to read the cover and sometimes several pages of a book. A few of the authors she recognizes as ones she had read when she was in college or younger.

The more she sorts, the more she's surprised at the variety of books he had picked up. Although they are primarily science fiction and fantasy, there are also several mystery, military, frontier, spy, and historical fiction books as well as a couple of biographies and another couple which look like they might border on being romance novels.

* * * * *

2147-08-26 (a>e)

When she looks at the clock, Sharlene is surprised that almost another hour has gone by. Gently, she kisses him awake.

When he opens his eyes, his first words are, "Hello, angel."

She smiles at his description and says, "It's time to wake up for some lunch."

"I love the way you wake me up."

"I thought you might like it."

"Mmm, there's no better way." While he watches her fix lunch, he asks, "Did you have fun sorting the books?"

"Actually, yes. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I know how fun it can be, especially while being distracted by starting to read a book or two."

She nods her head and says, "That's what took me so long. I recognized some of the authors from when I was younger and had more time to read. I was interested in the variety of your selection and somewhat surprised that a couple of them looked like they might almost be romance novels."

"Which ones are those?"

Sharlene steps back into the other room for a moment to pick up a book and says, "This one and, where is it, this one."

He chuckles while he follows her back to the kitchen and says, "You're right, they do look like they might be romance novels. I've read a few books by this author before and none of them were remotely like the usually definition of romance novels. Now that I think about it, a couple of his other books had similar covers. This other author does write some books more like a typical romance novel, but she does a good job of writing a believable historical fiction or fantasy."

"So you've read some romance novels?"

"Sure. I've tried reading a few of almost all types of books. The only type of book I knowingly have avoided all along are horror stories."

"For someone who isn't interested in romance, I'm surprised you've read some."

"I read some in the past. That doesn't mean I keep reading more. I didn't know what they were like until I did read some. One of the reasons I don't like romance novels is the same reason I don't like much of what is claimed to be meant by the term 'romance'. It's all so phony. Romance novels are more like fairy tales, he's Prince Charming and she's Sleeping Beauty and all of the attraction between the characters is external. To add to it, romance novels are overly predictable. The characters meet, fall madly in love, have a disagreement which is blown all out of proportion, reconcile their differences, and hop into bed."

"Is that what they're like?"

He nods his head as he answers, "For the most part. I've talked to some people who read them regularly and they said something similar."

As she hands him a plate of food and a drink and takes her own to the table, she says, "I'm glad I haven't tried any."

"I don't think you would like them."

When they've finished eating, Sharlene asks, "I've overheard other women talk about going to a romantic dinner. What about that?"

"If it's a special dinner with someone they know who enjoys a fancy meal also, then there's no problem. If you quizzed some of those women, you might find that their idea of a romantic dinner is with a handsome stranger at an expensive restaurant with him footing the bill."

He pauses then chuckles before he explains, "What makes it even more ridiculous is how often the woman will be wearing a fancy dress which is so tight she can hardly breathe, her chest fat will be shoved into unpleasant positions, her high heels hurt her feet, her skirt is so tight she can barely walk, she spent hours getting her hair and makeup just right, and her fancy dress is rather revealing which causes most of the men in the area to stare at her to the consternation of their own dates who have done the same thing. I probably misunderstand the whole thing, but I can't imagine how that can be 'romantic'."

"Since you put it that way, I would have to agree with you. I've seen a few women either getting ready or coming back after a fancy dinner and it's about like you described it." She hesitates a little then asks, "George, what would you describe as a romantic setting?"

"That would depend on what you define as the goal of the romantic occasion."

She looks at him in surprise then asks, "What do you mean by the goal of the romantic occasion?"

"Why do people want to go to a romantic dinner? What's the point? What do they hope to get from it?"

"I don't know. I thought it was just to have fun."

"I guess it depends on what you mean by fun. Not only in romance novels, but for many 'regular' people, a romantic occasion is to get her in the mood, so that when they're in private, they rip each other's clothes off and have sex, to put it bluntly. Like I said, I probably don't understand it, but that's how it comes across."

"Um, I don't know, George. It does seem to come across that way, but I wonder if that's what's really going on in their minds. Well, I'm not going to go out and start interviewing people. So, assuming that getting her in the mood for sex is the purpose of a romantic dinner, how would you set the stage?"

"Sharlene, you're heading this conversation in a dangerous direction."

"Maybe I am." She grins then asks, "Can you answer my question?"

"Are you sure you want an answer?"

"Yes."

"To be honest, I would have to say it depends on what she wants and likes which means taking the time to get to know her."

"Forget the generic female, George. If you wanted to get me in the mood for sex, how would you set the stage?"

"Sharlene, please. Our relationship isn't far enough along to be looking that far ahead. I know you like to be touched, but beyond that, I don't know you well enough to know what you like or what makes you feel special or interested. I don't think you would like to wear uncomfortable clothes and prance around in some fancy restaurant, but I could be totally wrong."

"I'm sorry I'm pushing you. I was just wondering what to look forward to. And you're right, the idea of putting on fancy clothes and going to an expensive restaurant doesn't appeal to me. I guess I'll just have to be patient and enjoy your touching, which is enough of a stage setting as it is." As she gets up and clears the table, she asks, "Do you have any other ideas of things you might want to do, other than read for the next couple of days?"

He asks, "Do you have anything planned?"

"Nothing other than your cardiologist appointment on fourth-day."

"To help with the rationing of our touching, I ought to distract myself and stick my nose in a book or practice tai-chi. Now that I think about it, I'd better check and see how soon I need to do laundry."

"You can do that while I take care of these dirty dishes."

A couple of minutes later he returns and says, "It looks like I'll probably need to do laundry tomorrow, if that's okay with you."

"That sounds fine. I can probably wait a couple of more days myself. Why don't you read for awhile if you want. Maybe pick out a book or two for me."

"What would you like to read?"

"I really don't know. All I've read for the past several years have been textbooks and medical journals."

"What did you like to read when you were younger?"

"I liked stories about animals and some fantasy. When I was a child, my favorite was The Chronicles of Narian, I must have read it several times. As a teenager, I enjoyed a series, what was it, something about rings."

He asks, "The Master of the Rings?"

"I think that was it. Did it have some little people in it? I mean other than dwarves or brownies."

"If by little you mean in height, then yes, there were bohbits."

She proclaims, "That's it!"

"Okay. Let me see if there's something along those lines that we picked up."

A few minutes later, he returns to the kitchen just as she's drying her hands after taking care of the lunch dishes.

He hands her two books and says, "Here are a couple of possibilities. Few books can match Narian or the Rings series, so be prepared for some disappointment, but for just fun escape fiction, both of these authors are pretty good. If you like them, I have more of their books at the house you can read."

"Thank you. Now how about a good kiss before I send you off to read."

He quickly responds.

She walks with him to the love seat and says, "I've thought of a few things to jot down which I want to talk to Mariam about and then I'll join you." As she gently pushes him back onto the love seat, she follows and gives him another kiss. Before his breathing has settled, she tells him, "Enjoy your book," and steps away to make her notes.

* * * * *

About an hour later, she sits down next to him to read. They try holding hands, but find it difficult to continue since they need two hands to turn the pages of their books at different times. They try snuggling, they try cuddling, but they keep getting in each other's way.

Soon they realize that just sitting companionably close while they read will have to suffice. Before another hour has passed, George is nodding over his book and struggling to keep his eyes open. Finally, he gives up the battle, sets the book down, lays back, and is soon asleep.

* * * * *

After dinner, they read some more to allow some time for their meal to digest. A couple of hours later, Sharlene has George practice the tai-chi moves he's learned which requires some correction and then she teaches him a few more moves. About a half hour later, she sends him back to the love seat to rest.

It isn't long before he starts to nod off, so rather than allow him to fall asleep there, she gets him up and tucked into bed. She takes care of a few minor things around the house, but it isn't long before she's in bed and cuddles up to the back of his sleeping body.

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (m1)

When she's awake enough, Sharlene marvels at how much she likes cuddling up to his back. After years of not cuddling with her stuffed toys, she thought that would have cured her of the desire, but it's more like after enforced denial, the desire is even stronger. Even though she's fully awake, she lays tightly to George's back with her left arm snugly across his chest and her right arm under his neck and along his arm for quite awhile before her bladder begins to demand attention. She carefully gets up, puts on some loose clothes, and while he's still asleep, she goes to the other room and practices some of her martial arts.

Sometime later as she walks back down the hall, she hears the toilet flush. She steps up behind him and hugs him while he washes his hands. After he dries his hands, he hugs her arms, and tells her "Mmm, that's nice. Thank you, young lady." A little later, he suggests, "Um, I'd better get dressed."

"Before you do," she releases her hug, turns him around, says, "I should look at your surgical site again," and undoes the buttons on his pajama top. He quietly groans as she lightly slides her fingers over the scars and the surrounding skin. Finally, she recognizes his tension and asks, "What's the matter?"

"You're distracting me in a direction I shouldn't go."

"What?" She steps back slightly in surprise, glances down, and when she sees the bulge in his pajama bottom, she exclaims, "Oh. Did I cause that?"

"I can't say you caused it, but it's my reaction to your close presence."

"I'm not sure whether to be excited, embarrassed, or medically curious about how it got that way, what it looks like, and what happens next."

He suggests, "Stick with being embarrassed so I can calm down and get dressed before I make a mess or push you."

"Humm, I wonder," while she slowly weaves a finger down his chest. As she lifts her finger away at the waistband of his pajama bottoms, she 'finally' admits, "I suppose you're right. Okay, I'll leave you alone to get dressed. When you're done, come out to the other room and we'll practice some tai-chi."

He barely croaks out an "Okay," before he steps back into the toilet room and soon releases his seminal fluid with a sigh. After he washes up, he gets dressed and goes to the other room for his tai-chi lesson.

* * * * *

When they've finished eating and have cleaned up after breakfast, Sharlene sends George to rest and read on the love seat while she cleans up the dishes, then goes to the other room and checks her email and phone for messages. When she hears a message from Klara which is little more than 'call me when you can,' she dials the number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Klara. This is Sharlene. I received your message."

"Hey, I'm glad you called. Listen, I wanted to let you know that I looked over the business plan you emailed me and from what I can see, it looks pretty good. I did make a few suggestions which should strengthen your legal position if you can take over the Project."

"That's great. Especially since that's the area I know about the least."

"That's what I'm here for. With your permission, I would also like to bounce it off of a couple of other people who are more knowledgeable about the business side."

"As long as you trust them, Klara, I'll take all of the help I can get."

"Okay, I'll do that then. It may be a few more days before I can get it back to you."

"That's fine. I don't know that there's a deadline or anything, do you?"

"Technically, there isn't because the investment company will do the purchasing and can take what time it wants to form another company in order to run the Project. By the way, Sharlene, have you thought about where you want to legally establish the company?"

"I kind of assumed here since this is where the people associated with the Project are located. Would there be a better place?"

"There probably won't be for starting out. Almost any place has advantages and disadvantages. If your company grows very fast or branches into other areas, then you could look at the situation and move the corporate headquarters, at least on paper, to another location at a later time."

"Gee, maybe I can follow Dad's advice and move the company to a tropical island and be a beach bum for the rest of my life."

Klara asks in surprise, "When did he give you that advice?"

"When he told me about my funds. He was trying to distract me from the shock of how much was in them."

Klara chuckles then says, "I can just hear him do that. And he probably teased you about taking your money and doing it himself."

"Yep, that's just what he did."

"I guess we know him well enough. There was something else I wanted to pass on. Give me a second while I glance through my notes. Ah, here it is. The company names of Digital Empathy and Emotique haven't been used that I could find, so it looks like that's a go."

"Great. Mariam will be thrilled."

"Probably the tightest time factor for your company would be to get those names registered so no one else can preempt you."

"How do we do that?"

"If you're sure you want them, I can take care of that from here right away."

"If you could, I would appreciate it. Mariam loved them and I really like them and think they're appropriate for what we're trying to do. I suppose if something changes along the way, we can come up with something else."

"Of course. When it comes to the world of business and legal, almost nothing is set in stone. Do you have any other juicy gossip?"

"Not that I know of. Pretty much what we know made it into the business plan or I've already told you. Mariam and I have been jotting down notes related more to the day to day operation. We'll probably get together in a few days and combine our notes."

"That's good. How's George doing?"

"He's slowly getting stronger. I took him book shopping yesterday and it was almost too much. I have an appointment for him with a cardiologist tomorrow, so we'll be able to see what the tests say about how he's doing instead of relying on my inexperienced eyeballs."

"How are you getting along with him?"

"Very well. I've been surprised at how comfortable he is to have around. He seems to enjoy whatever food I fix and he doesn't impose himself on me. He's been very much a gentleman."

Klara pauses then asks, "Sharlene, do I detect something in your voice which says he's more than a friend of your aunt who happens to be convalescing in your home?"

"Um, . . . uh, . . . yes."

"Interesting. Have you told your folks yet?"

"Nooo. . . . I emailed Dad a few days ago just to let him know I was okay. It's only been in the last few days that I even realized I'm beginning to think of George as more than my aunt's friend."

"Does Paula know?"

"Yes. She was aware, or at least suspected it might be coming, while I was still trying to reject the whole concept logically. Poor George, he still has trouble accepting the idea that I want him around."

"Really? I'd better stop now or you're going to feel like I'm interrogating you. Sharlene, I do have a couple of questions before I let you go. Does Paula approve?"

"Yes. She's known George for several years and she and Uncle Paul were here to visit on first-day and approved and said she would support us with the family."

"Is the relationship your idea or did he weasel his way in?"

"Klara, I assure you, it was totally my idea. George has made it very clear that as soon as I don't want him around, he'll leave, no questions asked. He even started to leave a couple of times when I became upset. And no, he didn't cause me to be upset. Rather than try to defend him, I would prefer that you meet him so you can form your own opinion."

Since she's somewhat surprised at her statement, she asks, "Are you that confident in your choice?"

"Actually, yes. First of all, I know I'm not the greatest judge of people, but I do trust George. Also Aunt Paula and my friend Mariam are pretty good in that area and they both approve of George. Secondly, I doubt if I could come up with a good enough argument to convince you, if you have an opposite opinion."

Klara chuckles then says, "Drat, my greatest weapon disarmed. In that case, I look forward to meeting him and I'll do my best to keep an open mind until I have enough evidence to convince me one way or the other. So, have you thought about how you're going to tell your folks?"

"Not yet. I think Dad will have some misgivings until I can assure him that it's my choice and then he'll support me. I'm afraid Mom will be appalled, no matter what."

"Humm, you're probably right about that. Well, if something comes up which causes you to change your mind, give me a call and I'll help."

"Thanks, Klara. I appreciate your concern."

"No problem. I imagine I'll be there shortly after the Institute puts the Project on the market. In the meantime, call me if you hear anything."

"Will do. Thank you."

"It's my pleasure. Bye."

"Goodbye." After she disconnects the call, Sharlene hits her speed dial.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mariam. It's Sharlene."

"Hey, what's up?"

"I have some good news for you, but I don't want you to get too excited at work."

"Um, that could be a problem. Why don't I call you when I go to lunch?"

"That would be fine."

"Okay. I'll talk to you then. Bye."

"Goodbye."

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (m2)

Sharlene checks on George who is quietly reading, fixes a cup of tea, visits the bathroom, and works on getting her thoughts together before she picks her phone back up and makes another call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Dad."

"My favorite daughter. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. And I'm your only daughter, so how can I be your favorite?"

"Are you suuure? Besides, only doesn't preclude being favorite. So, what's up?"

"I just thought I would call and let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or something."

"I was a little concerned when your phone was out of area, but when Paula said what happened, I have to say, I'm real proud of you for stepping in and helping her neighbor."

"I'm glad I was in the right place at the right time to help. He's a good friend to Aunt Paula and Uncle Paul. I had met him a couple times before that and like him. So it wasn't like he was a total stranger."

"If I understood Paula right, he's staying with you while he recovers?"

"Yes. Dad, there's no need to worry. Aunt Paula would never have agreed to it, if she didn't trust him. George is a gentleman in the best meaning of the word. He's been here a week today and has been no trouble. We've had some long talks and a few laughs. He's done a lot of resting and reading books. As I told Klara a few days ago when we talked about the new company, if I can't protect myself from an old man who is just out of surgery, then I should go home and be mommy's little girl again."

Robert chuckles then says, "That's a good point. Okay, Sharlene, I'll turn the worry volume down. So what's it like to not have to go to work every day?"

"It's kind of nice for now. I think in a few weeks, I'll want to be doing something, but if our company idea works out, that should keep me rather busy."

"How's that coming?"

"Pretty good, I think. I talked to Klara a few minutes ago and she thought the draft business plan we sent her was pretty good and has made some changes to make our legal position stronger. She's going to have a couple of other people look it over. Have you had a chance to look at it?"

"Not in depth, but a quick read looked good." Robert pauses before going on, "I don't mean to disparage you, but I'm guessing you had some help."

Sharlene explains, "Actually, my friend Mariam had her dad help her put together the initial plan. This past weekend, Mariam and I made some changes before we sent it off to Klara. As far as the business plan goes, my contribution was pretty small."

"I was curious where you got those names for your company. What was it? Oh, yeah, Digital Empathy and Emotique. Digital Empathy seems real appropriate for that project, as least as far as I understand it, but I'm not sure I understand Emotique."

"The idea of Emotique is a boutique of emotions."

"Oh, I like that."

"We think the names are appropriate and those were both from George."

Robert is surprised and asks, "Really? I didn't know he was a part of the Project."

"He's not. I just had a feeling he could contribute and asked him to join our discussions. Not only did he come up with the names, but he gave a suggestion which appears to have provided a technological breakthrough we needed."

"It sounds like he's an ideas man. What kind of work does he do?"

"He's retired and when I asked him what kind of work he did, he gave an even shorter answer than you did when I asked about the family business a few years ago."

"What did I tell you then?"

"You said you typed emails, looked at numbers, and talked on the phone."

"His answer was shorter than that?"

Sharlene chuckles then says, "Yeah. He said 'office work'."

Robert laughs before he responds, "That's good. I'll have to use that sometime. So did he describe 'office work'?"

"Apparently, he worked at several different jobs which varied quite a bit, but all were in an office environment and involved working with information or the documents which contained information. Let's see if I can remember. One example he gave was managing drawings of semiconductor designs, another was doing clerical work for a research and development engineering group, and a third example was scheduling maintenance on commercial aircraft. Apparently, he's had a number of other jobs. I didn't go digging, but my impression was that he would change jobs to try to find something better rather than being fired for incompetence."

"Those are some rather varied fields. Are you going to drag him out of retirement to help with the company?"

"No. He said he would help where he could, but he didn't want anything to do with the day to day operation. In addition to the names and a technology solution, George has given us some good ideas about some of the things to consider in our company philosophy and pricing structure. I think he would like your approach of involving the local people and even starting local companies in an effort to provide a quality product at a reasonable cost. He refers to the capitalist concept of 'what the market will bear' as gouging the customer."

Robert briefly pauses then says, "That's a harsh way to put it, but too often true. That was one of the things which irritated my dad the most about our economic system. Just out of curiosity, what was one of the things that George said about your pricing structure?"

"Since our product will be recorded emotions, the same recording can be used multiple times rather than us having to produce another copy of the product for each customer. That should keep our overhead down. If we keep our price within reach of most people, we can expand our potential customer base and can gain our profit based on volume rather than on unit price."

"That sounds like a good approach."

"It also fits with our intent of helping people, so our aim is not high profits, but we do want to make enough to pay our bills." Sharlene pauses before she asks, "By the way, Dad, can you transfer some money into my checking account so I can pay my own bills for a few months?"

"Sure. Do you have any idea how much you want?"

"Um, would 25,000 credits be okay?"

"Sharlene, that's a drop in the bucket compared to what you have. You know, you probably ought to take control of your accounts."

"The thought has crossed my mind a few times."

"If you want, I can probably have the paperwork drawn up and sent to you."

She pauses before she says, "No. I've been thinking of visiting for a few days in the near future. I think I would rather spend some time talking with you about managing the accounts and take care of the switch over in person."

"That sounds good. And we sure would like to see our little girl again. I'm glad you called, but I'm going to have to bail here shortly since I have a meeting in a couple of minutes."

"I didn't mean to interrupt your work."

"It's quite all right, kiddo. I would rather talk to you than these bozos who are walking in through my door. Don't give me those dirty looks, I'm talking to Sharlene. That's a different story, they say, 'Hi'."

"Tell them, 'Hi,' and give Mom my love."

"Will do. Love you."

"I love you too, Dad. Bye."

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (m3)

George looks up from his book when Sharlene comes back into the room and says, "Hello, pretty lady. It sounds like you've been busy."

She walks over to the love seat and sits down perpendicular to him with her legs tucked under her and her knees touching his right leg before she explains, "I had a message from Klara, so I called her. She liked the business plan we sent and made a few changes. She's also going to have a couple of other people review it. It looks like nobody else has used the names of Digital Empathy or Emotique, so she's going to register them for us."

"Mariam will be happy about that."

"I'm sure she will. I called her, but she decided to call back when she's out for lunch rather than hear good news at work." She takes his right hand and holds it on her right leg just above her knee and tells him, "I want to let you know that when I was talking to Klara, she heard something in my voice when I was talking about you which made her suspect you are more to me than just my aunt's friend. So I told her, 'yes'. I let her know that Aunt Paula approves and that the relationship is my choice. Rather than go into a long winded defense of you, I told her I would prefer that she meet you and form her own opinion."

"Klara is your lawyer?"

"Yes. And she's been a friend of the family for many years."

He hesitates to ask, "Do you think I can be acceptable to her?"

"Yes, I do. Klara may look like someone's sweet gentle grandmother, but she's as tough as nails. She's also scrupulously fair which I recognize is somewhat unusual for a lawyer. The fact that Aunt Paula approves of our relationship will be a positive factor in her assessment. Just be yourself. You won over Mariam, I think you'll win over Klara. At the worst, she'll just be neutral about our relationship."

"Okay. If she's going to meet me, does that mean we go there or is she coming here?"

"She plans on coming here shortly after the Institute puts the Project on the market to review the Project for the investor. That way she can meet the people who are involved, ask the tough questions, and pass on her recommendations to the investor."

"I'll be selfish and say it makes it easier for me to meet her in a familiar environment."

As she raises herself up, Sharlene swings her right leg over his to straddle his legs, grabs the sides of his head, pulls it towards hers, assures him, "Don't worry, love, you'll do fine," and attempts to kiss his worries away.

"Mmm, with that inspiration, I'll take on the nearest dragon."

"Forget the dragon, I would prefer that you pay attention to me."

He slides his hands along the outsides and partially along the fronts of her legs from her knees to her hips then asks, "How would you like me to pay attention to you?"

"Mmm, you're off to a good start." She slides her hands along his arms to encourage his caressing of her thighs which he expands to the outsides of her calves. As the pleasant feeling of his touch grows to pleasure, she slides her left arm up to his shoulder to brace herself as she leans forward to kiss him while she caresses his left arm with her right hand. When she leans forward, her hips rise a little above his legs, so his next caress down the outsides of her calves, comes up the backs of her calves. As she breaks the kiss, she moans in pleasure, while his hands slowly advance up the outsides of her thighs.

She leans her head onto his left shoulder as he kisses her neck. His hands slide up the outsides of her thighs and caress down the fronts of her legs. While his hands go down the outsides of her calves again and turn in at her ankles, she grips his upper left arm with her right hand and raises her hips higher as his upward caress is across the back and slightly along the insides of her calves. As his caresses move up past her knees, he slows the movement of his hands up the outsides of her thighs then caresses back down her legs.

"Oh, George, do it again."

Slowly, he again caresses back up the outsides of her legs then his caresses go higher over her hips and over her waist. Her head lifts off of his shoulder which allows his kisses on her neck to move along her collar to her throat and that causes her to moan louder. His hands slide back and forth a couple of times across her back then down over her waist and her hips and back down the outsides of her thighs. She drops her head to his shoulder again while his kisses move to her neck and she requests, "Again, please."

She releases the grip of her right hand on him and clumsily, with one hand, she unbuttons the top three closely spaced buttons of her shirt. When his hands begin their upward caress across the backs of her calves, she braces her right hand on his shoulder and as his hands go up the outsides of her thighs, her head comes up and his kisses trail down her collar to the top of her chest. As his hands move upwards over the outside of her hips and waist, she just groans.

Even as his hands move back down her legs, her pleasure barely recedes, but grows as his hands begin their slow movement back up her legs. She doesn't know what noise she's making, but she delays, delays, delays, and when she can no longer hold in the pleasurable tension as his hands are sliding up her legs and his kisses are gliding down her chest, she moves her right hand to between her legs and barely presses her fingers onto her pubic area through her pants and her climactic cry continues as his hands go over her hips and his lips are almost to her bra as though he's holding a ball of pleasure with her in the center. As she slumps down, she sits on his legs and rests her head on his chest while he gently caresses her back as she tries to bring her ragged breathing under control.

"George, that was wonderful. Thank you."

"It was my pleasure."

"Did you have a release?"

"Almost. I would have, if I hadn't have relieved myself when you had me all excited this morning."

"Um, so you need recovery time in between?"

"Yes. As the machinery gets older, it takes more time to recover."

"That makes sense since there's a physical element to a male's release."

"I have a feeling that if our relationship continues, you'll excite me enough to reduce that recovery time."

She lifts her head up from his chest in surprise and asks, "Do I excite you that much?"

"Oh, my, yes!"

"Why? Or how? I'm not sure what the right question is."

"First of all, you're an extremely beautiful and graceful woman who is exciting to watch and be around. Secondly, I find it very exciting when you get excited. I don't think I could rationally explain it even if I understood it, but I sure know it's happening."

"Humm, just like I can't explain why I get so excited when you touch me. I've seen people touch in public as much or more than you've touched me and they seem to have no more than a pleasant smile."

He suggests, "It's probably because they've done that level of touching many times before, so the excitement isn't as strong."

"Maybe that's it." She gets up just enough to turn and sit on his upper legs, then leans back on him and says, "That's enough trying to explain, just cuddle me."

"Gladly."

* * * * *

The ring of the phone startles Sharlene out of her light doze. As she slowly sits up, she notices that George hardly stirs as she answers the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi, Sharlene. It's Mariam."

"Hi."

"Are you busy?"

"No, why?"

"You took longer to answer the phone than usual."

"Oh, I guess I dozed off while I was cuddling with George."

"Don't tell me that, you'll make be jealous."

"Okay. I was helping the zoo capture a loose tiger which was threatening a tour of school children."

Mariam chuckles then says, "I guess if you're going to lie, be creative about it. So, what's the good news?"

"I talked to Klara this morning and she thought the business plan was pretty good and made a few changes to strengthen our legal position. She's also going to have a couple of other people review it."

"That's great."

"She also couldn't find any other company which had used the names 'Digital Empathy' or 'Emotique,' so she's going to get them registered for us."

"Excellent!! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"That's okay."

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. That IS good news. I'm glad I waited to hear it until I was away from work. Yippee!! Oh my. Maybe I should have waited until I got home. It's going to be hard to calm down before I have to go back to work."

Sharlene suggests, "Maybe I'll wait until the evening to call next time."

"Maybe so, but that does brighten my day."

"So how's it going?"

"Actually, work isn't bad. It's just that with the Project going down, morale is pretty bad. Well, except for Todd and Julie."

"What's wrong with them?"

Mariam explains, "Nothing is wrong. They're still floating in the clouds from your emotional recordings they tested. They were smart enough to insinuate that they had some wonderful job offers which has everyone else fooled. When I went to their office, Julie was discrete, but quite clear about why their morale was so much better than everyone else."

"That reminds me, I know you and I know about Julie and Todd. Who else is supposed to be a part of the training team? And would we want to keep them on with Digital Empathy?"

"Those are good questions, Sharlene. I think I know, but I'm not positive who else is going to be on the training team. I'm not sure I can ask that without raising suspicion."

"Do you think they would respond if Klara asked for that information?"

"I'm sure they would respond, but I'm not sure the information is publicly available yet for her to be able to ask about the training team."

"I think I'll call Klara and see what she thinks. Why don't you come over for dinner after work on fifth-day and fill us in on what's going on? I've been jotting some notes down and I would like to discuss some things with you about the company."

"That sounds like a plan." Mariam asks, "Do you want me to bring something?"

"Just bring your appetite, and whatever thoughts you've come up with."

"I can do that. I'll see you on fifth-day then. Bye and thanks for telling me."

"It was my pleasure. Goodbye."

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (m4)

Sharlene takes a few moments to get her thoughts in order then dials another number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Klara. It's Sharlene."

"Hello again. You have more news already?"

"No, more like a question."

"Shoot."

"I was just talking to Mariam and was wondering who the Institute was going to provide as the training team which goes with the Project for two weeks and she wasn't sure who they were. I don't even know if the idea has been made public. I think it was supposed to be a part of the government agreement. Mariam thought the Institute would provide the answer to a potential investor, but thought she would arouse suspicion if she asked about it. The reason I was wondering is that while we're trying to decide on what Digital Empathy will be like as a company, I need to think about what positions we'll need to fill and whether the people currently associated with the Project will be a good match or not."

"That's a mouthful, but I'm glad you're thinking about it. Let me look into it. If I find the information, what had you thought you might want to know about the people?"

"About all the further I thought was getting their resumes. I don't know what else." Sharlene pauses before she asks, "Would it be appropriate to do security or background checks?"

Klara explains, "Probably not at this level. A lot of times, people with past security problems have cleaned up their act and those who are security risks in the future have clean checks. More often than not, a person with a good people sense will identify a problem person sooner than a background or security check will."

"I suppose I'm jumping the gun on this, but it dawned on me that I really don't know any of the people involved with the Project except for Mariam. If I'm going to be running a company I want to have appropriate people and I'm not really good at figuring out people."

"Slow down, Sharlene. It sounds like you got hit with the responsibility club."

She thinks about that then says, "I guess so. It kind of snuck up and whacked me."

Klara assures her, "That's okay. It's good that you're thinking about these things sooner rather than later, but the first thing for you to do is to relax. You already have good people ready to help you. You say that Mariam has good people sense, so rely on her. If you want, I can meet with the people you're thinking about or even sit in on interviews with you if you want. You can interview the same person a half dozen times in different settings if you want. When you have an idea of the types of positions you need filled, you can check around at the local colleges for experts in those fields and ask for their recommendations or even ask them to help with the interviews."

"I never thought about half of those things. Thanks, Klara."

"It's not a problem. You keep coming up with the questions and someone will either have the answer or will know where to look for the answer."

"The more I think about running a company, the more I feel like a fish out of water."

"The key is to do what you do best and surround yourself with good people who do everything else." Klara thinks for a moment then suggests, "With the type of technological company you're looking at running, your role will probably be more in providing direction and setting the company philosophy. Instead of thinking of yourself as the president who knows, does, and oversees everything, think of yourself more as the senior partner who sets the tone, but allows each of the other partners to be the expert in their area of responsibility."

"I like that idea. Thank you, Klara. When I was first thinking about leaving the Institute and mentioned to Mariam the possibility of going into private practice, I thought of her more as a partner in handling the office functions rather than as her being an employee."

"There you go. Take that same concept and expand it a little further than what you would find in a doctor's office."

"Thanks, Klara. It already feels like the responsibility club is getting smaller."

"It will come back and hit you a few more times before you're comfortable with the whole concept of running a company."

"I still appreciate your advice."

"And I'm happy to give it especially since you're willing to listen and learn. We want you to succeed, but we won't force our advice on you. Do you have any other questions?"

Sharlene thinks for a little while before she says, "Not at the moment."

"When you do have questions, either call or email me. Oh, by the way, your dad is less concerned about your house guest since you called this morning, but he still thinks it's odd that you invited George into your home instead of having him in a convalescent center."

"He already talked to you about that?"

"I was one of the bozos he didn't want to talk to this morning when he was talking to you."

Sharlene chuckles then says, "You're not a bozo, and he knows it."

"I know, but that's part of the teasing we do in the office."

"What did you tell him about George?"

"I said that you and I had briefly talked about George and that if Paula, who was there, agreed to it, how could we speak against it."

"Thanks, Klara. I really owe you."

"No, you don't. I just said what I know. Paula's pretty sharp, but she's not always right and neither am I. So I still reserve the option to form my own opinion about him."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"That's good. Oops, gotta run. The boss is on the other line. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks again, Klara. Bye." Sharlene disconnects the call and as she goes back to the other room, she sees that George is still asleep. She checks her watch and decides that it's probably about time to wake him for lunch. She watches him for a little longer while she sits on the love seat next to him then she turns and sits on his upper legs, pulls his arms around her, and feels them almost instinctively hug her. As she caresses his face with her left hand, she suggests, "George, it's time to wake up." She kisses his cheek then his lips and soon he's responding.

"Mmm, I was dreaming of holding you on my lap."

"I guess your dreams come true."

"You are my dream come true, assuming that I'm not still dreaming."

"You seem awake to me. What would you like for lunch?"

He pauses to think for a moment then says, "I'd like the chateaubriand with fresh green beans, the fresh baked rye rolls with newly churned butter, a bottle of '97 Riesling, and for dessert, the straight off the vine strawberry and kiwi combination."

"Nope, you're still dreaming."

"You mean your menu is wrong?"

"I'm sorry, but we're fresh out."

He exaggerates a pout with his lower lip so she grabs it between her lips and gently pulls. He pokes her lightly in the ribs, she squawks in surprise and releases his lip, they stare at each other for just a moment, then begin to hungrily kiss. She reluctantly breaks the kiss to let him breathe and gladly lays her head on his shoulder and soaks in the comfort of his hug.

When his breathing has almost reached a normal pace, he leans her back slightly, supports her head with his left hand, and kisses her along her jaw, around her ear, along her neck, across her throat, which causes her to moan, along the other side of her neck, and follows her collar bone from one side to the other. As his kisses follow the neckline of her shirt, which she had forgotten to button up earlier, lower and lower across her chest while his right hand caresses her left thigh and up her hip and across her waist and along her upper abdomen, her moans turn to groans.

He slides his right hand back down her thigh and rains kisses all over the top of her exposed chest and intersperses them with little caresses of his tongue. As his right hand goes back and forth across the front and outside of her thigh while slowly rising up her leg, her excitement grows and when his hand reaches her hip, she slips a couple of fingers of her left hand between her legs, presses in, and cries out in climax as he grips her thigh, groans, tenses up, and relaxes with a sigh. In a moment, she slumps on his left arm, but as the fingers of her left hand twitch and press in, she jerks as the pleasure shoots through her. After the second time, she pulls her fingers out from between her legs with a longer jerk and slumps even further on his arm and the love seat arm rest. They both fall into an exhausted doze.

* * * * *

About a half hour later, they slowly wake up and Sharlene asks, "George, what's happening?"

"I don't know, but you seem to be enjoying it and I sure am."

"Your touching has been so exciting I don't know how I'll be able to handle it when you start to touch me intimately."

"Maybe it won't be as exciting as when you touch yourself."

"My modest man, I serious doubt that. The way you touch me is so exciting it's like I can't wait for you to touch me intimately. I don't know what's gotten into me. I should be thinking about the company, but I keep thinking about what it's like for you to touch me."

"Calm down, lovely lady. In a way, you are thinking about the company," he taps her headband. "Your emotional responses are going to bring the company success, if I understand what Mariam has been saying."

"Well, I'm not thinking about the company when I'm enjoying so much pleasure."

"That's good. You don't want to spoil the emotional recording with extraneous thoughts."

"You're right again. . . . But your touching, it keeps blowing me away."

"That's better than it being so uninteresting that your response becomes, 'ho hum'."

"Yes, but . . ."

He suggests, "You feel guilty for enjoying it so much."

She thinks about that before she says, "I guess that's part of it."

"I can't take away your guilt. All I can do is encourage you to enjoy it while it's enjoyable and to remind you that you'll be sharing your enjoyment. Most people are selfish and wouldn't dream of sharing their intimate pleasure. You're in a unique position to both enjoy intimate pleasure and to share it with others without compromising any of your values or having them invade your privacy."

She sits up, kisses his cheek, and tells him, "My wonderful man. You do have a way of clarifying the situation. Thank you so much, not only for the pleasure, but for helping me to feel free to enjoy the pleasure."

"It's my pleasure. I'm selfish enough to admit that I very much enjoy seeing you be excited. And if you can help others through your enjoyment, so much the better."

"I don't know about you, but I need some food or I won't have the energy to enjoy more. Shall I fix something special for my special man?"

Rather than verbally answer right away, he picks up her arm and begins to kiss, nibble, and tongue caress along the inside of it and, in the process, he somehow manages to say, "The only thing special I want is you."

"Whoa, George."

Quickly, he gently releases her arm.

"I don't want to, but I'm going to have to ask you to back off for awhile."

"I'm sorry, Sharlene, I don't mean to push you."

"You're not really pushing me. I don't know why, but after I've enjoyed myself so much, I seem to feel hypersensitive for awhile afterwards. When you were just now kissing the inside of my arm, it almost got me going again."

He looks at her in surprise then asks, "Really?"

"Yes, really. I'll fix something to eat. Are you ready to eat?"

"Yes, but first I, uh, . . . need to wash up before I do anything else."

Her eyes open wide before she asks, "You had a release while you were kissing me?"

"Yes. Your excitement excites me."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it also. I get the impression you don't like the mess."

"Not when it kind of feels like I peed my pants and is stickier to wash up."

"Oh. I had no idea that's what it's like. I suppose there's no way to prevent it."

"Sure there is. Just don't allow myself to be in a situation where I get excited. I lived that way for many years and I can't say it was fun."

She thinks for a moment then says, "No, I imagine it wasn't. Are there any other choices?"

"I could start wearing a prophylactic or condom to contain the initial mess, but if I don't wash up right away, I'll still have a bigger mess to wash up later."

"Why's that?"

"Now is not the time to go into a lesson on the functioning of the male anatomy before, during, and after coitus."

"Okay. Go wash up and I'll fix lunch."

A few minutes later, he flops down at the table and tells her, "You're right. It's time to eat."

As she brings a couple of sandwiches and drinks to the table, she asks, "Is there a particular reason you say that?"

George just holds up his trembling hand.

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (a)

After a quiet lunch, George sets his glass down and says, "Thank you, my lady. I needed that."

"So did I. I didn't realize you had gotten so shaky."

"Neither did I until I came out of the bathroom."

As Sharlene finishes taking the dirty dishes to the kitchen and comes back to the table, she asks, "What are you looking at?"

He pauses then says, "You . . . and your unbuttoned shirt."

She quickly lifts her hands to the lowest unbuttoned button then hesitates and asks, "Does it bother you?"

"No way. I enjoy looking at you. The question is, does it bother you for me to look at or to ever stare at your bare skin?"

She pauses for a little while to think about it then says, "No, it doesn't bother me," and she lowers her hands and leaves the button alone.

"Even if I reach over and do this?" He slides a finger on her bare skin along her open collar.

She grabs the table with a quick indrawn breath then exclaims, "It does the opposite of bother me."

"Maybe you'd better sit down in your own chair before we both get carried away again."

"That's probably a good idea. Was there anything you wanted to talk about to distract us."

"Let me think. This morning you said you had told Klara about me when we were distracted in another direction. Was there anything else you wanted to say about that?"

Sharlene shakes her head as she answers, "No. I think I covered what Klara and I talked about then. After I talked to Klara, I called my dad and talked to him for a little while. He asked about you staying here to recover. I told him I trusted you and that you're a gentleman. When I told him Aunt Paula approved and that if I couldn't defend myself from an old man just out of surgery, then I'd better go home and be mommy's little girl, he said he would turn the worry volume down.

"He liked what you had to say about our proposed pricing structure and agreed with your interpretation of charging what the market will bear. He also liked the company names and was surprised you came up with them and yet had nothing to do with the Project. Then he laughed when I told him about your description of your jobs as 'office work' and how it was shorter than his description of his work." She pauses a little while then asks, "Do you remember me telling you about the life insurance policies from my biological parents?"

"Yes."

"They're still under my dad's control. He asked if I was ready to take control of them. I told him I had been thinking about it and would probably visit for a few days in the near future so I can discuss the management of the funds with him and get them signed over to me. I'm half thinking about doing that sometime after the issue with the Project is settled one way or the other."

"Do you need some money to tide you over in the meantime?"

"No, but thank you for asking. Dad is going to transfer some money over to my checking account for me."

He hesitates before he asks, "Um, you said that Klara picked up on our relationship being more than a friend of your aunt's. Did your dad pick up on that, too?"

She shakes her head as she answers, "I don't think so. At least nothing was said. While you were asleep earlier, Mariam called and I told her the good news about the business plan and the names. As we guessed, she was real happy about that. Before I forget, I invited Mariam over for dinner on fifth-day. I asked her about the training team the Institute is going to provide to the entity who purchases the Project. She didn't know for sure who all was going to be involved, but thought the Institute would provide the information if Klara asked for it, so I called Klara and talked to her about that. She said she would look into it.

"While I was explaining that I wanted to know who the training team was to get an idea of who we would be working with and what other kinds of positions and people we would need to get the company going, it hit me that starting and running a company meant finding and hiring the right people and because I don't have a strong sense for people, I started to almost panic. Klara calmed me down and pointed out that I already had good people like her and Mariam to rely on to help me find other good people. She also gave me some other ideas of who to talk to for further recommendations. I think the best piece of advice she gave me was that instead of trying to be a company president that tries to know, do, and oversee everything, I ought to be more of a senior partner who provides direction and sets the company philosophy and allows each of the other partners to be the expert in their area of responsibility."

"That's a good idea. It seems to fit your personality better and will help the others feel like they have a stake in the success of the company."

"What's odd is that was the approach I would have taken if I had started my own private medical practice with Mariam as the office manager. It never dawned on me that I could use the same approach with Digital Empathy."

"There you go. Surround yourself with good people, ask the questions, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the innovative solutions they develop."

She grabs his hand as she tells him, "Thank you. You not only touch me wonderfully, but you're also a good listener and encourager. I appreciate it."

"If that's how I can help you, I'm glad to do it. Actually, I'm being rather selfish, because I'll do almost anything to keep getting those smiles of yours aimed at me." He squeezes her hand, "And with your hugs and kisses, you're a fantasy dream come true."

She looks down at the table and her mutters are just loud enough for him to hear, "I'm going to sit here. . . . I'm going to stay in this chair. . . . I'm not going to move. . . . Yes I am." She gets up, straddles his legs, hugs him tightly, and kisses him passionately.

As they catch their breath after the kiss, they hug even tighter, and she barely controls her urge to squirm her body on his and raise the excitement level. Gently, but firmly, she pushes away from him and stands up. She holds onto his right shoulder with her left hand, caresses his face with her right hand, tells him, "Go read a book, George," and steps away.

Somehow, he resists the temptation to wrap her in her arms or to even touch her before he responds, "Yes, my lady," gets up, and walks down the hall to empty his bladder.

When he comes back, he stops a few feet away and asks, "Sharlene?"

"Yes, George?"

"Can I do some laundry?"

She breathes a sigh of relief before she says, "Of course," then hesitates before she admits, "I was afraid you were going to say you're leaving."

"I almost did. I'm sorry I keep pushing you."

"George, I don't think you're pushing me. I don't understand how I can get so excited so easily. I think it kind of scares me which makes me want to back off even while I want you to keep going."

He steps just close enough to gently place his hands on the top of her shoulders and tells her, "I don't want you to be scared."

"I know you don't. I'm not scared in the sense of being frightened, but more in the sense of not knowing how to handle my emotions. George, feeling you touch me, hug me, and kiss me is absolutely wonderful. I couldn't ask for something more wonderful." She slips under his arms to hug him and feels his arms gently encircle her. In the midst of enjoying the hug, she says, "If you can, be patient with me awhile longer."

"Of course, my love," and he kisses the top of her head. A couple of minutes later, he feels her hug loosen and he loosens his arms. When she takes a half step back, he briefly caresses her face as he says, "You're still a dream come true."

As she smiles up at him, she says, "Thank you," and pulls his head down for a warm gentle kiss. A little later, she reminds him, "Laundry?"

"Yes, ma'am. I wouldn't want to be arrested for indecent exposure on the way to the doctor's office tomorrow."

She chuckles then says, "No. That would probably be quite an inconvenience. Sometimes I wonder about our laws. You wouldn't be any more exposed than what a person sees in a museum or an art gallery."

"Ah, but those are works of art, I'm just an old man who is trying to imitate a beached whale."

"You may be old and you may be a paleface, but you're nowhere near big enough to qualify as a beached whale."

"What about a dehydrated beached whale?"
"Forget the whale bit and let's get your laundry going."

He assures her, "I can do it myself. I just didn't know if you have any rules regarding how you use your equipment."

"Not that I'm aware of, but I can at least show you where I keep the detergent and so forth. After you get it started you probably ought to rest and read. I want to write up some notes of what Klara said before I forget."

"Okay. Thank you."

* * * * *

A couple of hours later, Sharlene hears the dryer buzz, but doesn't hear George get up to check it. She looks over at him and sees that he's fallen asleep. She goes to the laundry room, pulls his shirts out of the dryer, hangs them up, then transfers his pants from the washer to the dryer and turns it on. When she briefly checks his luggage in the bedroom, she sees that he's already finished his other laundry which was only white underwear and socks. His wardrobe reflects his image of a boring old man, but his touch is certainly not boring as she traces the movement of his finger across the bare skin of her upper chest. Before she allows herself to do any more thinking about what his touch does to and for her, she goes back to work on her notes of what she would like the direction and philosophy of Digital Empathy to be.

* * * * *

While she starts to gather the ingredients to prepare dinner, Sharlene hears him begin to stir. When she gets near the love seat, she sees him look at the clock and mutter, "Damn."

He starts to get up, but she gently pushes him back down, kneels on the sofa while she straddles his legs, sits on his knees, and tells him, "It's okay, George. I finished your laundry for you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave that for you. Thank you for taking care of it."

"It's quite all right. The machines do all of the work. All I had to do was take the clothes out of the dryer and hang them up. It's not like I had to scrub them on a rock with some local root next to a mosquito infested swamp and spread them on some bushes and hope they dried before they mildewed."

"That sounds like a personal experience."

"It was."

He looks at her in surprise then asks, "When did that happen?"

"When I was on an engineering internship with my grandfather's construction company."

"Will you tell me about it?"

"Not now. I was just going to start dinner when I heard you stir. I didn't want you getting upset that you didn't finish your laundry."

"I don't want to impose on you."

"You're not imposing on me. Your only task is to rest and to recover." With a touch of a saucy grin she adds, "I could say your other task is to touch me, but you would say that wasn't a task."

"It isn't. It's my pleasure. And I'd better not get started or you won't fix dinner and I'll wet my pants."

"A quick kiss, then I'll let you up," to which he swiftly complies.

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (e1)

"Thank you, Sharlene. That was another fine meal."

"Oh, come on George. It was just something I threw together."

"Let me warn you then. If you visit at my place, you'll be sadly disappointed at the level of the cuisine."

"Are you going to keep me out of your kitchen?"

"No, but as the host, I figure it will be my responsibility to fix the meals and my repertoire is rather limited."

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, but I think you can forget about the host stuff. I like to cook and you're still recovering. I'm certainly not going to insist that you wear yourself out in the kitchen. I'll need your help to find things in your kitchen, but I can still do the cooking. I was thinking that when we're at your place, sometimes I could cook dinner at Aunt Paula's for the four of us. That way we get fed and Aunt Paula gets a break from having to fix a meal."

"That's probably a good idea, as long as we won't be imposing on them."

"I doubt if they think it's an imposition if I'm cooking for them. You look doubtful. And since they've made it clear they like me to cook for them, you think you'll be an imposition on them."

After a few moments of silence while he looks at the table, he answers, "Yeah."

"And you keep worrying about being an imposition to me. The light begins to dawn. You think you're an imposition to everybody?"

"Yes."

"You think that nobody wants you to be with them."

He pauses before he admits, "Yeah."

"I want you to be with me, George."

He looks up with a face of anguish and asks, "Why? Why would the most beautiful woman in the world want the scum of the earth to be near her? Why?" He drops his head as the tears roll.

She tightly holds his right hand between both of hers and tells him, "Because I want the most gentle, considerate, and comfortable man I've ever known, to be with me. I'm selfish, George Greyson. I want you. Not a million other men. You. Only you. . . . I'm terribly sorry you've been discarded in the past and left lonely and unwanted. I can't change that. All I can do is to want you just as you are. And I do want you, even with your pain. I don't know why people in the past rejected you. They must have been fools to not bother looking long enough to see the real you. You really are a wonderful man, George Greyson. I really do want you. Will you let me keep you?"

"You . . . really . . . want me?"

She nods her head and speaks with all of the sincerity and conviction she feels inside, "Yes I do. And don't bother asking why. I want you, period. I want all of you; your joys and your sorrows, your touching and your intellect, your silliness and your seriousness. Where everyone else saw a boring undesirable old man like a lump of cheap coal, for some reason I can't fully explain, I see the diamond hiding in the lump of coal, the real George Greyson.

"I see and want the giving, unselfish man who denies his own pleasure so that another may enjoy hers. The man with the gentle spirit who tamed the wild beast and made a friend of Molly. The generous man who sent a woman he wanted on a paid two week vacation with her estranged husband so they could repair their marriage. The creative man who came up with names for a new company to give it a better chance of success. The passionate man who opened the senses of a scientific nun to the joys of intimate pleasure. George Greyson, will you let me keep you?"

"Um . . . I . . . but . . . uh . . . yes."

"Thank you. That makes me happy."

He pauses in surprise then asks, "It does?"

"Yes, it does. I understand that you're having to overcome decades of learned behavior and to reverse reinforced thought patterns. That you can answer my question without questions, without denials, and without refutations, makes me very happy."

"Thank you, Sharlene. I'm sorry I broke down on you. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for wanting me."

"You've helped me through my emotional traumas. Besides being the right thing to do, I want to help you through your emotional traumas. We'll both have more to come. If we stick together we can support each other. I know you want me and I know that I want you. Nothing else and no one else matters."

"Thank you."

She gets up from her chair, pushes his chair back from the table, sits on his upper legs, wipes his tears dry, gives him a brief gentle kiss, leans on his chest, and requests, "Hold me," which he gently and gladly does. A number of minutes later, she sits up and gives him another gentle kiss then tells him, "Thank you for holding me."

"Thank you for letting me hold you."

Reluctantly, she stands up, puts the leftovers away, clears the dirty dishes, puts them in the sink to soak, and wipes off the table, while she notices that his eyes watch her every move. When she comes back to the table and stands near him, she remarks, "I think you like looking at me."

"There's only one thing better in life than looking at you, and that's touching you." He lifts his right hand most of the way to her then says, "I'm amazed you haven't buttoned up your shirt."

"Should I?"

"I . . . I don't know."

"Most of the day, I haven't noticed it. The few times I've been aware of it, I liked the idea of you looking at me and liking what you see. I don't know if that makes me a bad person or not, but that's what I feel."

"As long as you're not flaunting yourself to the world or teasing people with what they can't have, I don't think that makes you a bad person."

"I guess it's kind of like what Aunt Paula said that between two people who care about each other, there's no wrong way to enjoy intimate pleasure. I liked it when you touched me here," as she slides her finger across her upper chest, "and when you kissed me here," while she circles her finger in the deepest part of her open shirt, just above her bra which draws his eyes like twin search beams. She steps closer and takes his still raised right hand and guides it across her upper chest and along the collar of her shirt, down and back up the other side, reverses direction, goes down and then back up to the first side.

A few moments later, she steps even closer, straddles his legs, sits on his knees, and starts to pull his head towards her upper chest when she realizes it would be an awkward position for his neck. She scoots her hips up his legs and with the support of his arms behind her back, she leans back just a little and pulls his head to her upper chest where he kisses her all over her bare skin, from her neck to just above her hidden bra, back up her chest, and across her neck. Even as she feels the pleasure of his kisses, she realizes that her legs are spread wide over his hips. A moment or so later, she braces her feet on the back of the chair, pulls herself tighter to him and as the waves of pleasure surge higher through her especially with her pubic area tightly pressed to his lower abdomen, she doesn't care and maybe even hopes he will take advantage of her. Before she can suggest something more, a cry of climax escapes her lips and she slumps onto his supporting arms.

After a couple of minutes, she feels spent and relaxed with his head turned and resting on her upper chest. When she gently picks up his head from her chest, he follows through and sits up straight. Once she's sitting up while still straddling his hips, she hugs him tight and thoroughly kisses him. When she breaks the kiss to let him breathe and to catch her own breath, she lowers her feet from the back of the chair so she's only straddling his legs, and lays her head on his shoulder. After her breathing becomes more normal, she turns her head, kisses his neck, nibbles on his ear, and says, "Thank you, George. Thank you very much."

"Thank you, my lady. I think you've blown off more than my socks."

"George, I want more, but I don't have the energy."

"I know what you mean, tomorrow maybe. If we remember what we did, maybe we can do it again some time."

"Mmm, yes."

"I don't want to break up this love feast, but my bladder is hollering and I have a mess to clean up."

Since she's surprised at him saying that, she asks, "Again?"

"Again. You're some sort of miracle worker for this old man."

"Why's that?"

He explains, "I don't think I've had a sexual release three times in one day before."

"You find me that exciting?"

"Simply put, YES!! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell in your ear. Up you go. When I come back, tell me about your heritage. Maybe that will distract me some."

While she walks with him towards the bedroom, she says, "The way you keep looking at me, I'll have to blindfold you to distract you."

"We might have to do that."

George picks up his sweat suit and disappears into the guest bathroom to wash up and change.

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (e2)

After she empties her own bladder, Sharlene gets her computer, goes back to the dining room, puts the computer on the table, turns it on, sets out a couple of snacks and drinks, and just as she pulls up a photographic chart, George walks in and sits down next to her.

She points to the computer screen and explains, "This is a chart of my family tree of the last two generations which my mom helped me make when I was a little girl. Rather than go further back in my family history which I don't remember much about the little which is recorded, let me start with one of my great grandfathers, Thomas Schmidt. He was born in the African sector and with few job opportunities near where he lived, he joined the Coalition Construction Corps and was sent to the Deutsche Quadrant in the European Sector to help rebuild the infrastructure after a very destructive war. Although he started as a common laborer, it wasn't long before he was making suggestions which resulted in better quality construction at lower costs which encouraged his managers to sponsor his education.

"He earned a degree in construction management and returned to the Deutsche Quadrant with his bride, Martha, whom he had met in college. His first project was to rebuild a school and after it was completed on time and below budget, he was given a bigger project to manage. Part of his success was that instead of bringing in highly paid construction crews, he hired local people and trained them to do the work as well as used local firms to provide the supplies which made him quite popular in the community.

"He also had a sense of humor and when Martha gave birth to a son, they named him Hienrik. When he was old enough, Hienrik went to the local schools and although he obviously didn't have blue eyes and blonde hair, he was very popular and spoke Deutsche like a native. When the work with the Coalition Construction Corps was finished, they returned to the African Sector and although it was quite a culture shock for Hienrik, it didn't take him long to fit in and become fluent in Swahili.

"Thomas's reputation as a construction manager preceded him and he did some consulting with construction firms who were building high-tech architectural showpieces. He did good work, but it wasn't until he was requested to oversee the construction of a hospital in an economically depressed area that he found his niche in life. Within a few short years, he was traveling the world and consulting on or overseeing public construction projects. When Hienrik was a teenager, he would often accompany his dad and was soon adding valuable suggestions of his own.

"With the practical experience he had received, Hienrik easily earned a civil engineering degree and went on to manage several construction projects on his own. Since he had watched how his parents had tried to improve the living conditions of the people near their construction projects, Hienrik thought about what he could do to improve the financial lives of the disadvantaged on a larger scale. He decided more education was needed and worked on a doctorate in economics. As a graduate student, one of his assignments was to teach one class each term to undergraduate students.

"One term he was able to teach a class called 'The Economics of the Disadvantaged'. While the subject was important to him, he found that most of the textbooks and other materials related to the subject were inconsistent with what he had observed. Since many of the students who had signed up for the class only took it to fulfill a requirement, Hienrik soon found he was teaching the class to one student.

"That student was Running Deer Lakota who was pursuing her own civil engineering degree after observing the problems of failing infrastructure in her own portion of the Western Sector while she was researching the traditions, stories, and legends of her own culture and those nearby. Too often the poor construction was as a result of limited financial resources or because the local government had to accept the lowest bid for a project. One day after class, she asked Hienrik why he taught garbage he didn't believe. Rather than be offended because he was wondering that himself, he invited her to lunch and, as my dad once described it, that started their storybook romance.

"After Running Deer graduated with her degree at the top of her class, she was hired by a prominent Trader Sector engineering firm to design high tech office buildings. A few months later, she found out that she had been hired because the firm's executives felt its engineering staff was poorly represented by females from the Western Sector. When she confronted her manager, and he confirmed it, she immediately quit and moved back to her family's ranch.

"A few days later, Hienrik arrived in an attempted surprise visit from his job in the African Sector and found her apartment vacated and that she had quit her job. Since he was concerned about what might have happened, he contacted her family and her brother assured him that she was there, safe, and very upset. When he arrived at the ranch the next day, he was glad she had already worked off most of her anger and willingly threw herself into his arms. That evening, he proposed to her and when he called his parents later to say she had accepted, his dad suggested that the two of them form a company to do the kind of engineering they really wanted to do and to take over what he had been doing.

"For the next several years, they managed or consulted on construction projects all over the world and in between projects they would alternate their time between the families. When Running Deer had David, she stayed home to raise him and a couple of years later she had Robert. As David and Robert grew older, Running Deer and Hienrik often took them along to their construction projects except when it wasn't safe and then they would alternate staying with family in the Western and African Sectors. David followed in his parent's footsteps and earned an engineering degree while Robert earned a business administration degree and both of them went to work for the family business and everyone assumed they would one day run the company."

Sharlene pauses to take a drink before she continues, "Before I go further along my patriarchal line, I need to cover about the same distance along my matriarchal line. Unfortunately, the family knows very little about them. Apparently, the earliest memories of my maternal grandmother, Sha-Lin, were of working as a child in the laundry of a . . . house of prostitution in the Thai Quadrant." As she notices his raised eyebrows, she nods her head and says, "Even though I've learned to accept the facts, it's not easy to admit it to other people.

"Anyway, she never did know whether she had been orphaned or sold by a family member. When she was old enough, she was trained to be, what you might call, a working member of the house. Apparently, she didn't want to live the rest of her life in that environment, but with no real education she didn't have a whole lot of choices. About the only option open to her was to try to become a mistress to a foreigner who might take her away and when a nervous young man from the European consulate showed up at the house, she made the effort to make him happy.

"A few weeks later, he rented a small apartment and she became his mistress. Instead of requesting gifts like many other young women would do in a similar situation, Sha-Lin encouraged him to teach her to read and write standard. Later, she allowed herself to become pregnant and he was both mad and happy, but rather than leave her, he accepted the responsibility and even took her to the consulate doctor when her daughter, Soo-Lin, was born. When it was time for him to return to the European sector, he didn't dare take them with him, but he felt too guilty to leave them there so he smuggled them to the Koala Quadrant where he arranged for Sha-Lin to work in the laundry of a hotel at a tourist resort.

"It wasn't easy for Sha-Lin to raise a child on her own, but she was happy to escape from a life of prostitution and especially happy that her daughter wouldn't be raised in that environment. As Soo-Lin grew up, she was very curious and learned everything she could about the resort and volunteered to help with almost every job she was able to perform. She would also charm the guests with her cheerful questions about their homes and encouraged them to teach her their languages. When she graduated from high school, with some help from scholarships, money her mom had been able to save, and gifts from the hotel staff, she was able to go to college where she majored in hotel management.

"One time between college terms while Soo-Lin was visiting the resort, Sha-Lin had a heart attack and died. It was very hard for her to lose her mother, but she remembered the sacrifices her mom had made for her benefit and that encouraged her to continue with her education. When she graduated, she was offered an assistant manager position in a small hotel which was a part of a sector wide chain. After another promotion to more responsible position, she was offered the prestigious but risky position of arranging business meetings at one of the chain's larger hotels for visitors from other sectors."

* * * * *

2147-08-27 (e3)

Since Sharlene is occasionally pointing at the applicable photographs on her family tree chart as she talks about each person, George understands that she was just talking about her biological mother. Although he's inclined to make a positive remark about her mother and grandmother, he quietly lets her get a drink before she resumes her story.

"At about that same time, David was overseeing all of the projects in the Asian sector for the family business and would meet at that hotel with sector and quadrant officials to finalize the contract before a large project was started. One time, when the translator David had hired hadn't arrived in time, Soo-Lin followed the hotel guidelines and offered to serve as the translator. He already knew the meetings she arranged tended to run smoother, but after that meeting when he found out more about her language capabilities, he was very impressed.

"When David returned home, he discussed her capabilities with his parents and when they handled the next contract negotiation arranged for that hotel, they talked with Soo-Lin and offered her a position with the family business to arrange meetings throughout the Asian Sector. She was encouraged to accept the position by the head manager of the hotel who had previously worked with Hienrik and Running Deer on a construction project before he felt the need to move on after a change in the local political weather. Soo-Lin accepted the position and several months later she accepted David's marriage proposal.

"Dad once described that time as the golden years of the company since David and Soo-Lin were very popular and very happy with each other. And he and Mom had happily recently married and the company was doing very well. Then Soo-Lin became pregnant and a few months later Mom also became pregnant and that drew them even closer together. From the stories I've heard, people didn't think life could get any better."

Sharlene briefly pauses then says, "When my mother went into labor with me, my father carefully drove her to the hospital since it was a dark and stormy night, but as he turned into the hospital driveway, a drunk driver crossed the street and slammed into their vehicle and killed them both instantly. I was partially expelled from my mother's womb, but in only a minute or two, a paramedic was there and she finished delivering me and ran me up to the hospital to be examined."

"I'm sorry."

She gives him a sad smile and says, "Thank you, George. I can't honestly say that I miss my biological parents since I never knew them, but from all that I've heard, they were very special people. Anyway, the police went and got Dad and Mom since they were the next of kin and after mother's obstetrician told them what happened, Mom went into shock and miscarried her baby boy. It damaged her uterus so much that she was never able to have another child and she has never recovered from the psychological shock.

"My parents had intended to name me after my maternal grandmother, Sha-Lin, but it had been mispronounced or misspelled and ended up being put down as Sharlene on the birth certificate. It was several months before the mistake was discovered, probably when they were preparing to legally adopt me, and Mom decided that since they weren't living in the Asian Sector, they ought to leave my name alone. At the time, nobody was willing to argue with her.

"I think it was shortly after that when Mom and Dad moved to the European Sector since Mom couldn't tolerate being near the scene of the tragedy any longer. After several years there, it was becoming clearer that I was going to be subjected to discriminatory behavior based on my skin color so Dad convinced Mom that we could move back to 684.8x152 in the Mih-sih-pee Quadrant. After that, I was home schooled and took several different kinds of lessons including ballet and, when I was a little older, martial arts.

"Apparently, being home schooled allowed me to progress educationally at a faster pace than my age mates because I was able to start at the community college when I was thirteen and a half years old and still lived at home. I also took more than a full load of classes to learn as much as I could. It helped that I wasn't much interested in the social scene and could spend my time studying. Two years later, I transferred to the university and although it was scary to be on my own, in a manner of speaking, it also felt like I was free and didn't have to be so careful about how I interacted with or even talked to Mom.

"After I graduated with a double major in pre-med and electrical engineering with a minor in computer science, I spent a year with Grandpa on a couple of construction projects in the Southeast Asian Quadrant. While I was there, I was surprised at how some of the people were quite happy with life even though they lived at a barely subsistence level. I also really enjoyed doing that kind of engineering and directly helping to improve the lives of people. At the same time, I realized that in many of those cultures, as well as around the world, a woman wouldn't be recognized as an engineering authority, especially if she was supervising men, regardless of her education achievements.

"With that thought in the back of my mind and while I was trying to think of how I could help my mom, I came back to the Trader Sector and went to medical school. After I graduated, I finally bothered to take the test to gain my adult status then I continued in medical school to specialize in neuropsychiatry and neurosurgery. And, now, here I am trying to start a new company when I don't know the first thing about running a business."

"Don't sell yourself short, young lady. You didn't know anything about engineering or medicine before you went to college. So, maybe your learning to run a business will be more on-the-job training rather than book learning, but that doesn't mean you won't learn it."

"I suppose that may be true."

"Well, I have to admit that my guesses about your heritage were rather incomplete. Once you said where your grandparents came from, I can see elements of each of those in your physical features, but I would have never guessed at such a diverse combination, especially just two generations back. . . . One thing I noticed is that you never mentioned the name of your maternal grandfather."

"That's because I don't know what it was or is. Dad said the family did as much research as they were able to and even tried to use facial recognition software on the photograph they had as well as contacted the consulate doctor who signed my mother's European birth certificate, but there were all dead ends as was the father's name on the birth certificate. . . . And that's the second time you've yawned. Is my family history so boring?"

"Not at all. I've been very fascinated by what you were telling me, but I guess my body isn't listening to my brain on this issue. (yawn) I'm sorry."

"Well, I guess I'll let it slide this time."

Since he's startled by such a statement, he quickly turns to look at her then returns her grin.

"Come on, old man, let's get you up and to bed before you do fall asleep." After a couple of anxious minutes while she waits for him to get ready for bed and safely into his pajamas, she tucks him into bed. She quickly turns out the lights, gets into her own pajamas, and is soon in bed cuddling him with her head on his shoulder and his left arm snugly across her back and in moments, they're fast asleep.

* * * * *

2147-08-28 (m)

As she wakes up with her head still on his left shoulder, Sharlene just lays there and hugs George with her left arm across his chest while she marvels at remembering the pleasure and excitement she experienced yesterday. Maybe with yesterday so full of intimate pleasure, she can be a little more calm today. As her thoughts continue to review yesterday, she wonders whether her emotional responses were recorded and, if so, what they'll show. After awhile, she gets up, throws on yesterday's clothes since she plans on showering before she takes George to the cardiologist, goes to the other room, and practices her martial arts.

When she's done, she returns to the bedroom and sees that he's still asleep. She lets him rest and goes to the dining room where she turns on her computer, downloads her emotional recordings, does the quick check to verify the download, deletes the recordings from the ERD, puts it back into her headband, and replaces the battery with a fully charged one. After she brings up the appropriate software, she reviews the emotional recordings she had downloaded and figures that Mariam is really going to tease her if she sees these charts of her emotional responses.

She labels each of the recordings with the date and types a brief description of how he was touching her. After she reviews her notes to see if she can add anything to them, she saves them, closes the software, checks her email, and turns off the computer. As she sits there for a little while, she wonders what will become of the emotional responses she's recording. Even if they can't do anything with them, she's sure enjoying what's producing them.

When she goes back to the bedroom, he's starting to stir, so she decides to kiss him the rest of the way awake. Soon, he's actively responding to her kisses. She gives him an opportunity to catch his breath and suggests, "It's time to get up. We have a busy day ahead of us. Throw on your sweats so we can do some tai-chi, then I'll fix breakfast. After breakfast, you can probably rest for awhile before you get a bath. If we leave around eleven hundred, we should have plenty of time to get to the cardiologist and fill out the necessary paperwork."

"Okay, lovely lady. You lead and I'll follow."

* * * * *

While he's resting on the love seat after breakfast, Sharlene cleans up the kitchen and does a few other little things around the house. After awhile, she sends him off for his bath. When George comes back to the main room, she hesitates then figures he would prefer to be told so she asks him, "Did you have trouble washing your hair?"

"Yeah. It's hard to hold my hands above my head long enough. I assume it shows?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I guess I'll have to leave it since I don't have the energy to try again."

"I can wash it for you."

He looks at her in surprise then asks, "You would do that?"

"Sure. We can do it at the kitchen sink with the spray nozzle. Sometimes that's what I do. Take off your shirt and turn on the water to the temperature you want while I get the shampoo and a towel. . . . Okay. Lean your head over, close your eyes and relax." In a couple of minutes, she has his hair washed and rinsed and a towel draped over his head then suggests, "Hold the towel there for a moment." She hops up and sits on the kitchen counter then says "Come here and turn around. You might want to brace yourself on the counter or on my knees while I dry your hair."

"With that choice, there's only one answer," he places a hand on each of her separated knees and braces himself as she vigorously dries his hair with the towel.

She sets the towel aside and combs his hair. When she's done, she asks, "Did you want to leave your hair loose?"

"Since it's still damp, I'll ponytail it."

"Can I do it?"

"If you want."

"Why did you give the caveat of your hair being damp?"

"If I dry my hair completely after it's washed, it will soon fall out of the ponytail maker. If my hair is still damp, it won't fall out so soon."

"There you go."

He turns around and tells her, "Thank you, lovely lady. I appreciate you taking care of me."

"As you like to say, it's my pleasure. And since I have a little time before I need to get my shower, step closer and kiss me."

"Gladly." He steps up between her legs to hug her and kiss her while she braces her heels behind his thighs and pulls their bodies closer together.

In an effort to help herself force down her growing excitement, Sharlene breaks the kiss and leans her forehead on his.

"Lady, go get your shower."

"I think I'd better. But why do you say it?"

He briefly hesitates to admit, "If we keep this up much longer, we'll either be late for the doctor's or I'll need to change clothes."

"Good point. Okay, you rest while I shower and then, if there's time, would you be willing to comb my hair?"

"More than willing."

"I'll see you in a little while." She briefly kisses him, hops off of the counter, and goes down the hall.

As he watches her disappear towards the bedroom, George marvels at how, without any experience, Sharlene seems to naturally know the most sensuous ways to move and hug and kiss, in his opinion anyway. The way she hugged him last night after dinner, the way she wrapped her legs and arms around him just now, it was just so enticing. He shakes his head in disbelief that he could be in such a situation then goes over to sit on the love seat and starts to read his book in order to stop himself from thinking about her, at least he makes the effort.

When she's dressed after her shower, she takes him out to the lounge chair on the back porch so he can comb her hair. Once her hair is combed, she efficiently braids it then leans back into his embrace. In a few minutes, they get up, fix drinks to take with them, make quick bathroom trips, and are out of the door on the way to the cardiologist's office.

After a series of tests and scans, Sharlene and George meet with Doctor Karlson who is impressed with George's improvement. Based on a comparison of the scans taken in the emergency room before the surgery and the one done a few minutes earlier, the experimental drug has obviously been a very successful treatment since the removal of the blockage can't explain the improvement of the heart muscle functioning. Doctor Karlson promises to forward the results of today's tests and scans to the appropriate parties in support of the experimental drug as well as sends copies to Sharlene then sets up a follow-up appointment in two weeks for George.

When Sharlene asks about how to bill her time and efforts to the insurance company as well as to validate her medical authority in case any issue arises, Doctor Karlson coordinates with his office manager and takes Sharlene on as an ad-hoc cardiology intern since she's already demonstrated her knowledge of recent advances in the field as well as her ability in the operating room. This allows his office to handle all of the paperwork for her, which she's more than happy to let them do.

* * * * *

2147-08-28 (a)

Shortly after they leave the cardiologist's, they stop at a local restaurant for lunch since George is starting to get shaky after going past his typical lunch time. When they're back in the car and on the way to her place, he asks, "Sharlene?"

"Yes?"

"If I correctly understood what was being said, I had a blockage in one of my main arteries which forced my heart to work harder than it should have which weakened it and led me to have a heart attack. Once the blockage was removed, I would have still had a weak heart which would have resulted in another heart attack in the near future, but the experimental drug which you gave me strengthened the heart muscle itself, so it's stronger than it was or could have been without the drug."

"That's the essence of the situation."

"How does the drug strengthen the heart?"

She explains, "Technically, the drug doesn't directly strengthen the heart. What it does is replace the weak and dying cells in the heart with new healthy cells. The more healthy cells which grow and replace the weak and dying cells, the heart becomes stronger and doesn't have to work as hard to do the same job."

"That makes sense to a medically illiterate person. From the way you and Doctor Karlson talked my arteries are in good shape, so I guess the blockage wasn't caused by a buildup of cholesterol or something like that."

"That's true, your arteries are in good shape. Before you ask the question, I want to assure you I wasn't trying to keep it a secret from you, but I had actually forgotten about it over the last few days. That reminds me, I need to follow-up on the tests I ordered for that. The blockage was local and induced by the buildup of tissue which surrounded a foreign object. The blockage was right under an old small scar on your chest which I noted when we started the Thompson bypass surgery, but I ignored it until I cut the built-up tissue apart and revealed the foreign object. I don't know if you knew about it, but the foreign object was a .22 bullet."

"What!?!" In near shock, he asks, "A .22?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I've done enough target practice with my grandparents and my aunt to recognize a .22 bullet."

"I'll be damned."

"The bullet wasn't deformed, so apparently it hadn't hit a bone or something hard. My guess is that it had just enough velocity to enter your chest and lodge in the wall of your artery and seal itself there. Over time, my guess is several years, scar tissue grew around the bullet to seal it off. So you don't remember being shot?"

George shakes his head before he says, "Not at all. My memory isn't the greatest in the world, but I think I would have remembered that. Is there any way to know how long ago it happened?"

"That's what I need to follow-up on. I ordered some tests to try to determine how old the injury is, but I don't remember getting the results back. I figured you either didn't know about it or you knew about it, but weren't interested in pursuing legal action for whatever reason."

"Why wouldn't I want to pursue legal action?"

Sharlene suggests, "If it was an accident and you didn't want to get a friend in trouble."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that possibility. Yeah, if something like that had happened, I probably would have ignored it. But I don't remember anything like that."

"Then we'll probably never know what happened. The important thing is that you're fixed and getting healthy." She briefly caresses his leg before she puts her hand back on the steering wheel.

He's quiet for a little while then says, "I know. We can ask H. G. if we can borrow his time machine."

"If you're referring to H. G. Wells, I think he's been dead for a few years."

"Now why did he have to go and do that for? Here I thought we were friends and he never gave me a ride."

"You silly old man, I suppose he was after Rapunzel also."

He shakes his head then answers, "No. He preferred darker skinned beauties. I'm glad he didn't know you. The whole reason he built his time machine was to visit Cleopatra. I could have told him that the castle security was too tight for him to sneak in."

"I suppose you were interested in Cleopatra yourself."

"Her? No way. She was a stuck up snob. She wasn't near as pretty as the history books make out. I remember one night when Marc Antony was feeling a bit maudlin after drinking more than usual and confessed that he was more interested in Cleopatra's jeweled necklace than he was in her neck or any other part of her anatomy. However, there was a pretty little maid in the castle there who simply knocked my eyeballs out. She was a lot like you. Are you sure you're not from Egypt and just been hiding for a few years?"

She laughs then tells him, "Wait until we get home before you go on. If I laugh any harder, I won't be able to pay attention to my driving." She flashes him a big smile and he grins in return.

However, before they do get home, George's eyelids are starting to drift closed. She guides him into the house, gets him settled on the love seat, and before she can get back in from closing up the vehicle, he's fast asleep. Since she assumes he'll sleep for awhile, she makes a quick trip to the post office to get her mail. After she's back at the house, she makes a few calls and finds that the report on George's artery blockage had been misdirected, but is eventually able to get it and makes sure a copy goes to Doctor Karlson's office along with all of the medical center records. She then goes through her mail, checks her finances and sees that her dad had transferred the money she requested into her savings account. She chuckles to herself that he tries to earn interest whenever he can then transfers some to her checking account in order to pay her bills.

Once she's taken care of those necessities, Sharlene reviews the notes she's made about what she would like to see as the philosophy of Digital Empathy and makes a few changes, adds some new notes, and tries to organize it into a somewhat logical manner in order to share with Mariam and George tomorrow night. As she thinks about what Doctor Karlson said regarding George's condition, she figures it might be a good idea to go stay at his place for a few days. With that thought in mind, she considers what she'll need to take and starts to do her laundry and pack what she can. While her laundry is going, she looks through the refrigerator and makes plans for the next several meals in order to use up the perishables.

* * * * *

A couple of hours later, George wakes up and walks down to the bathroom. As he's coming back out, he starts down the hall when Sharlene steps out of the laundry room into his arms. Without a word, they hug and hungrily kiss. As he leans back on the hall wall, she lets him breathe and asks him, "Are you feeling better, O ancient one of Egypt?"

After he momentarily looks at her in confusion, he starts chuckling then responds, "Yes, O mighty empress of the East."

"Are you ready for some dinner?"

Before he can respond verbally, his intestines rumble.

She leans over, pats his belly, and says, "Okay, love, we'll take care of you shortly." They grin at each other and kiss again.

He proclaims, "Mmm, wonderful dinner. What's for dessert?"

As she walks her fingers up the front of his shirt, she gives him a sensuously sly look and asks, "I don't know, what do you suggest?"

"With that insinuation, my suggestion would be decidedly negative caloric."

While she lightly caresses his neck and ears with her finger tips, she asks, "My good man, are you suggesting that I'm insinuating behavior other than the most pure, most morally upright, most highly acceptable to society, most . . ." When he covers her mouth with his lips, she immediately responds with equal ardor.

After he partially catches his breath, he simply answers, "Yes."

"Humm. I think you're right, but dinner first, the caloric kind."

"Do you want some help?"

"Okay, but I don't want to wear you out before dessert. I was thinking of making a pot of soup. Do you think you can wash and chop some carrots, celery, or potatoes?"

"I have the experience, we'll see how much energy I have."

They walk to the kitchen and she gets the vegetables out of the fridge and says, "While you were sleeping, I went over what Doctor Karlson said and thought it might be a good idea for us to spend a few days at your place. On that basis, I decided to do something with the perishables in the fridge and a pot of soup will take care of most of them. What we don't eat can easily be frozen for later."

"That sounds like a good plan. I don't know if now would be a good time to bring it up, but Paul asked the question when they were here on first-day and I just happened to remember it."

"What question is that?"

Even though he brought it up, George still hesitates to go on, "Well, I . . . uh . . . I want you to know that these days I've spent with you have been the best days of my life. I don't want them to end. But I also don't want you to have to put up with me any more than you want, or to feel obligated in any way."

"Thank you, George, but that's not a question."

"Yeah, you're right. If our relationship continues, I wonder about keeping two houses. I suppose we could commute, or I can come visit when you want me to. But I don't want to interfere with your new company. Maybe we should keep the two houses then you won't feel an obligation when you want the relationship to end."

"Shhh. That question has crossed my mind also. That's one of the reasons I want to spend some time at your place. I have no idea what it's like and so I don't have any idea as to whether I would feel comfortable there."

"You've been there."

"George, I've never been inside and the only time I was there was when you had your heart attack. To be blunt, I never saw your house or your yard. All I saw was you collapsing and laying there. I don't even remember if you collapsed onto dirt, gravel, or grass."

"Oh, I guess you haven't been inside. I don't mean to be pushing you, Sharlene, but I did want to bring it up before I forgot about it again."

"You're not pushing me. I'm glad you're thinking ahead. Thinking about it will help us to consider what might affect the decision and how that might change some of our considerations. Even if our relationship is short lived for whatever reason, we should consider what might impact a long term relationship so we can prepare for it and not be surprised when the probable or even just the possible happens."

"You're right. Thank you."

"You're welcome. So, which vegetable do you want to start on?"

"Um, the carrots, I guess. Just washed and not peeled?"

"Yes, please. And cut out any obvious bad spots."

"How do you want them cut?"

"Slices about yeah thick," she holds a couple of fingers a little ways apart, "since carrots take longer to cook. If you start to feel the least bit tired, I want you to stop and go sit down."

He finishes the carrots, but after he washes the celery, his knees start to feel the strain of standing still, so he gets a drink then takes the celery to the table to sit down and chop it. By the time he's done with that, she has the rest of the ingredients prepared, so he gives her the celery, wipes off the table then sits down on the love seat to rest. After she puts the ingredients together in a big pot, she brings it to a boil then turns the heat down and puts a lid on the pot to simmer for awhile. She sets a timer to remind her to stir the pot then goes to the love seat to cuddle with him. He gladly puts down his book to accommodate her while they both work to keep their cuddling, hugging, and kissing at a relatively light level.

* * * * *

2147-08-28 (e1)

When dinner is ready, George goes to the bathroom then returns to the kitchen and while Sharlene goes to the bathroom, he snoops in her kitchen a little, sets out a couple of bowls, two spoons, and a soup ladle and is pleasantly surprised to find them just about where he would have put them if it was his kitchen.

She returns and says, "Thank you, George."

"It's the least I can do since you made the meal."

"I don't know about that. I've heard stories of fully capable men who regularly did much less."

"True. Although less common, there are some women who do much less as well."

"You caught me in a discriminatory statement. If one gender can do it, the other is just as capable, good or bad."

"You never said a truer word, chief."

"That sounds like a familiar quote."

"The Voyage Of 'The Dawn Seeker'."

She exclaims, "Narian!"

"That's right."

"You've read Narian?"

"Several times, but it's been a number of years since the last time."

While they fill their bowls and carry them to the table, she asks, "So, when was the last time you read Narian?"

"Um, I don't really know. I guess when the girls were either early teenagers or preteens."

"The girls?"

"I'm sorry. That's how the family usually referred to our, I mean, my daughters."

"Can you tell me about them?"

"Won't it spoil your dinner?"

"I don't think so."

He eats some while he gets his thoughts together then gives her an overview of what his daughters were like, how they were quite different from each other, and what kind of adults they became.

When he's done, Sharlene asks, "Do you have any grandchildren?"

"Thankfully not."

Since she's surprised at his answer, she asks, "Thankfully?"

"Considering the medical and mental problems my ex-wife and I had and passed on to our girls, at least they've been smart enough not to pass them onto another generation."

"That's a good point. So, do you communicate with them much?"

George shakes his head and explains, "Seldom. Occasionally a holiday card and maybe a rare phone call or email. They more or less have taken their mother's side and see me as a rather poor example of humanity who could do very little which wasn't wrong."

"That's sad."

"That's life. I may not like it, but there's not much I can do about it. I tried to initiate communication a few times in the past, but was basically told, don't call us, we'll call you. So I gave up. There's no sense in beating my head against the wall."

"Oh, George. I can't imagine that."

"When it happens a little at a time, you don't notice it. Sometime later, when you're quite a ways down the road, you wake up and wonder how you got there. That's one of the reasons I want to avoid causing you to have any feeling of obligation, whether it's legal or otherwise. When you wake up, I want you to feel free to send me away."

"I wondered if you felt that way due to a past relationship."

He nods his head as he responds, "Yeah. I felt trapped in a relationship and I don't want anybody to feel that way about a relationship with me."

"I certainly won't claim to know or understand the problems in your past relationships, but my intuition says you were short-changed and not given a fair chance to be the wonderful person who I think you are."

"Thank you, Sharlene. I know I'm far from perfect, so I hope you won't be too disappointed when you get to know me better."

"I'm going to slightly change the subject. Why did you remember the last time of reading Narian in relation to the ages of your daughters?"

"Because I think that was the last time I read it out loud to them."

She stares at him in surprise then asks, "You read Narian out loud?"

"A few times, I even read it a couple of times to my wife before we had the girls, but not in one sitting."

"There's no way you could do it in one sitting. Still, to read it out loud all of the way through several times, that's a lot of reading. Why?"

Since he's puzzled by her question, he asks, "Why what?"

"Why did you read it out loud?"

"They liked to hear it, especially before they could read it themselves. And I used to like to read books out loud."

"Why did you read it out loud to your wife?"

"She liked to hear it and learned better by hearing than by reading. When we were first married, I could read out loud faster than she could read to herself."

"I assume you also read other books?"

He nods his head and answers, "Oh yes. When the girls were preschool age, they had some children's books they wanted me to read over and over again. I almost memorized some. As they grew older, the books became more involved and would take several evenings or longer to read. After Narian, the major thing I remember reading to them was the Master of the Rings series."

Sharlene stares at him even longer then exclaims, "You read the whole Master of the Rings series out loud?"

"Two or was it three times, I don't remember for sure, once before the girls were born and once or twice when they were older."

"I don't know how long it took me to read that series and I would read it for hours at a time, certainly longer than you could have read it out loud. That's amazing. I knew you liked to read from what my aunt told me, but to read those kind of series out loud is . . . is . . . indescribable."

"When we were first married and until the girls were several years old, we didn't have a television, so my reading out loud was our evening entertainment."

"George, you said something about you used to like to read out loud which gives me the impression you don't anymore."

"Since I've had my false teeth, some words are harder for me to pronounce. When I was with the library reading program I told you about, I often had to read out loud, but the kids didn't mind. Sometimes they thought it was funny when I mispronounced a word. Luckily for me, children's books usually don't contain words which are difficult to pronounce."

"I wonder."

"What do you wonder?"

"I wonder what it would be like to listen to a book being read out loud."

"Pick out a book and we'll give it a try."

She looks at him in surprise as she asks, "You would read a book to me?"

"Sure, why not? As long as it's written like a novel and not highly technical."

"I'll have to think about that. I can't imagine reading a major book series out loud."

"Most people, even when I was a lot younger, couldn't imagine it. Yet before there were inexpensive books or even in cultures with a low literacy rate, telling stories out loud was a highly respected activity and for some people, it was even an occupation."

Sharlene gets up, starts to clear the table, and says, "I don't think that would work as an occupation in this day and age."

"Actually, it does."

"Really?"

"All of those audio books? Somebody has to do the reading, although from what I understand they're more often done as a play rather than as someone simply reading a book."

"I hadn't thought about those. Probably because I associated them with what they do with movies based on books, make them unrecognizable."

"I know what you mean. Yet how many people, when you mention a good book, will say they'll wait until it comes out as a movie."

"That just goes to show that lots of people don't recognize something good when it's right in front of them." She step up close to him, caresses his face, kisses him, and says, "And their loss is my gain. Scoot your chair back."

He barely moves his chair back from the table before she straddles his legs, sits on his knees, leans forward, and kisses him again. He caresses the fronts and outsides of her pants covered thighs and when he can breathe somewhat normally, he says, "You're a luscious lady."

"And what do you plan to do with a luscious lady?"

He leans forward and pulls her head towards his then caresses the back of her neck with the fingertips of his left hand while he lightly tongue caresses the end of her chin and then follows her jaw line with his lips and tongue to nibble on her left ear. His lips move down to her neck and along it to caress the hollow of her throat with his tongue which causes her to moan before he moves his lips over to nibble her right ear. A moment later, he surprises her as he continues to move his lips up along the side of her face to her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, along one side of her nose, runs his tongue across her lips, then kisses up the other side of her nose to her forehead and down to her left ear. His lips keep moving and this time his kisses, interspersed with little tongue caresses, follows the collar of her shirt from one side of her neck to the other which is accompanied by little groans of pleasure from her.

When he catches a glimpse of her hands starting to move up to unbutton her shirt, he captures them with his own and holds one of her hands down on her thigh while he kisses and nibbles across the palm of her other hand and up her arm. His lips arrive at the cuff of her short sleeve and rather than skip over the cloth to kiss her neck, he switches the position of her hands and proceeds to kiss and nibble up her other arm. His lips near the cuff of her other short sleeve and he moves her other hand down to her thigh and holds it there while he goes back to kissing her neck.

Suddenly, he grabs her neck gently with his teeth and begins to growl. Between kisses, he very gently and lightly bites her neck and along her jaw then he proclaims in his 'evil' accent, "This is what I do with luscious lady," as he growls between sentences, "I eat her. I eat her ALL up. Mmm, yum. Very delicious lady. Nutritional, too. 100% recommended minimum daily requirement of affection. Of course, sometimes we want more than minimum. So we take more. Yum, yum."

After an initial shocked reaction, she begins to chuckle and then laugh. She slips her hands out from under his and leaves his hands to start caressing her thighs again, grabs his head with both hands, and holds it in place while she kisses him on the lips. When he needs to breathe, she moves her kisses to along his neck, and briefly pauses between kisses to say, "You wonderful man. Even when you're trying to distract me before the passion goes too high, you make it wonderfully fun and enjoyable. Thank you," then she captures his lips again.

* * * * *

2147-08-28 (e2)

When Sharlene lets him breathe the next time, she asks, "How do we distract the passion for awhile longer?"

George suggests, "Read to you?"

"That's an idea. What do you want to read?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"I don't know."

"Let's start with something which is shorter and lighter to see if you like listening. And while you're choosing, I need to make a trip down the hall."

When he returns and refills his glass and sits down on the love seat, she hands him a couple of books, and says, "I'm not sure which one to start with."

"Okay. Do you have a bookmark or even a small piece of scratch paper to use as a bookmark?"

"Yes. Why did you ask?"

"Setting an open book face down or bending a corner of the page is damaging to a book. One of my pet peeves is not to abuse a book."

"That's a good reason. I generally use a bookmark. I guess my parents taught me to do so, but I never before thought about a reason for doing it." She gets a bookmark and as she hands it to him, she sits on the love seat next to him while he slightly reclines and lifts the footrest. It isn't long after he starts reading before she gets caught up in the story. When she realizes it, she wonders how much is the author's writing ability and how much is George's reading skill.

She wants to sit on his lap, but doesn't want to distract him, so she compromises and turns perpendicular to him on the love seat, moves her lower back to the arm rest, leans her left side on the back of the love seat, and rests her feet on his thigh. The next time he turns a page, he holds the book in his left hand and continues to read while his right hand reaches down and begins to caress the top of her feet and gently rub the sides and bottoms of her feet. She's surprised at how comforting and pleasant it is for him to touch her feet as he's doing and she has to concentrate a little harder to keep track of the story.

Sometime later, she slips down lower on the love seat so her shoulders are resting on the arm rest, her buttocks are snug to the outside of his right thigh, and her feet are on the other arm rest which causes her knees to be slightly above his legs. With only a brief pause to recognize her new position, he transfers his caresses from her feet to her shins, knees, and partway up her thighs while he varies his movements.

One time, he caresses her up one of her lower legs to her thigh and back down the same leg before he moves his caresses to her other leg. Another time, his caresses go up one of her lower legs to her knee, transfers to the other leg to go partway up her thigh, 'jumps' across to the other thigh, caresses down to that knee, transfers to the other leg, and goes back down to her foot in a movement similar to a figure eight. Yet another time, he caresses her up one leg to the middle of her thigh, lifts his hand across to the other leg, and then caresses back down to her foot. As he continues to read and caress her, he adds other variations to his caressing movements.

Since she has to work harder to concentrate on the story to distract her from the growing pleasure of his caresses, it takes her a little while to realize that he's set the book down, taken a drink, and has started to use both of his hands to caress her lower legs and as he does so, he's sliding her pants leg up to caress the bare skin of her shin and calf, first on one leg and then the other. The legs of her pants slide further up her legs as his caresses approach her knees and slip under the backs of her knees.

Following more caresses, her pants legs are bunched up right at the top of her knees which prevents him from sliding his hands any further up her leg along bare skin. Then he lifts and cradles her left leg with his right arm, caresses her right leg with his left hand, and begins to kiss the top of her foot and up the front and outside of her lower left leg to her knee. While his kisses go back down her lower leg, she leans her head on the back of the love seat and 'concentrates' on the growing pleasure. When his kisses reach her left foot, he gently lowers her left leg and picks up her right leg and begins to give it the same treatment except this time his slow kisses go up the front and inside of her leg. His kisses reach the inside of her right knee and as they go back down to her foot, she barely gets the thought through the flowing waves of pleasure to wonder what he'll do next.

When he reaches her right foot with his kisses, he carefully lays her leg down and again picks up her left leg. Gently, he pulls her left leg to him then lifts it over his head which causes her legs to spread and he turns his head to kiss up the inside of her lower left leg. She groans with the pleasure which grows as his kisses move up to the inside of her knee. Now that her lower left leg is partially over his shoulder, she reaches up to grab him by his shirt, pushes down with her left leg, and croaks out, "Kiss!"

George slips his head under her left leg then leans over while his body slides partially behind her. To reach her lips, his legs push on the backs of her legs until her legs are almost perpendicular to her body. As they hungrily kiss, she realizes that his lower abdomen is tightly pressing onto the bottom of her buttocks. With that realization and in consideration of what parts of their bodies are so close, she breaks the kiss to cry out in pleasure.

He backs up a little to give her some breathing room and to control his own excitement. It's not long before she pulls him back down to her and as they passionately kiss, she lifts her left leg, pulls his left leg up between her legs and as the top of his thigh presses on her pubic area, she cries out and holds it there until she slumps in exhaustion just after he groans in climax. He barely pulls his leg out from between hers before he falls asleep, partially over her hip and partially behind her.

* * * * *

About an hour later, Sharlene begins to stir. When she recognizes that he's partially on top of her, she has to firmly clamp down on her desire to pull his leg up between hers again. Carefully, she gets out from under him and stands up and is surprised at how weak she feels as she walks down the hall. When she comes back after emptying her bladder, she gets herself a drink and quickly downs half of it before she fixes a couple of high energy snacks to take to the love seat for the two of them. After she gently wakes him up, she hands him his refilled glass and lets him get a good drink before she hands him the snack. Without a word, they finish their snacks, lean back while they hold hands, and wait awhile for the snack to have an effect.

"George, I don't know how to say thank you enough for giving me such wonderful pleasure."

"I enjoy giving you pleasure. It makes me feel good to see you enjoy yourself and it's very pleasurable for me too."

"If I weren't so tired, I would be inclined to ask you to touch and kiss me like that again. You're probably too tired yourself to do it again."

He nods his head as he responds, "True. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be willing to try. You're an absolute inspiration. I'm sorry I ruined the story for you, but it was too hard for me not to touch you and one thing led to another."

"Never be sorry about giving me pleasure. It was so wonderful and I was so ready and wanting it. We can always read the story later. Your distraction after dinner was masterfully done, otherwise I would have gone overboard right then and there. I love the way you touch me and the many creative ways you find to touch me. I want you to touch me and touch me some more. Just when I think I know what you'll do next and look forward to it in eager anticipation, you surprise me with something different which is equally or even more exciting. Your touching me is so marvelous I want to yell it to the world, but at the same time, I'm selfish and want to keep you all to myself."

"I'm yours as long as you want me."

"Thank you, George. Thank you so very much," she gives him a long, warm, but not quite passionate kiss. "I was going to suggest a brief tai-chi practice, but I think we're both ready to go to sleep."

"I have to agree with you."

In a few minutes, they're cuddled up in bed and share another warm kiss and almost before they're done, he's fallen asleep and she's not far behind.

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (m1)

As she begins to wake up, Sharlene finds herself snuggled up to George's back with her left arm hugging his chest. Since she's still half asleep, she wonders where her right arm is so she wiggles the fingers of her right hand and quickly realizes that her arm is between their bodies and her fingers are lightly touching the top of her thigh. Without even thinking, her right hand moves slightly and is soon caressing the inside of the top of one of her thighs and then the other.

In a little while, her hand doesn't 'hop' from one of her thighs to the other, but starts to slide across her pubic area. As her hand touches her pajama clad vulva, she jerks as a wave of pleasure hits her and she barely avoids groaning out loud. Somehow, she remembers that she ought to give pleasure to herself in private or to allow others present to join in, so she stops touching herself with great reluctance since she doesn't want to wake George up yet.

After awhile, it becomes very apparent that she isn't going to calm down, so she gets out of bed and goes to the love seat. She easily remembers how she pleased herself with his leg between hers, and his obvious cooperation and excitement, so she uses her wrist in place of his leg and in spite of the size differences, her excitement quickly grows and with the last shred of rational thought, she turns her head towards the back of the love seat so that her cry of climatic pleasure is muffled.

Since she's unsuccessful at calming down, especially as her mind dwells on the other ways in which he's been touching her, she fingers her pubic area in ways in which she hopes he'll do in the future and she rides the wave of pleasure to another muffled outcry of climax. Because she's feeling somewhat hypersensitive such that almost any touch of her hands to her body sends waves of pleasure through her, she clasps her hands together away from her body and mentally begins to go through her calming tai-chi moves. As she slowly calms down, she drops into a light sleep.

* * * * *

Sometime later, Sharlene awakens to George's light kisses which are gently raining across her face. She smiles without opening her eyes and proclaims, "Mmm, that's nice."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm feeling wonderful."

"What happened?"

"Are you kneeling there?"

"Yes."

She scoots back tighter to the back of the love seat, pats the cushion in front of her, and requests, "Sit. I woke up remembering your touches and started to get excited. I didn't want to wake you, so I came out here to trace your touches and feel again the pleasure you gave me."

"I think it's more something wonderfully special about you because no other woman ever extolled my touching abilities like you do."

"As long as you keep touching me, I don't care about the reason. Personally, I'm going to stick to the idea that they didn't know a good touch when it caressed them."

"My lady, my lady. What an ego booster you are. I'm selfish enough not to look for reasons when I'm allowed to touch you."

"George, you're not just allowed to touch me, I encourage you to touch me. In fact, I give you carte blanche permission to touch me in any way and at any time you want as long as we're in private."

His eyes open wide and after a shocked pause, he almost stutters in protest, "Sharlene, you can't be serious."

"I'm very serious. You've demonstrated unbelievable restraint. You've also been very gentle and extremely considerate. I trust you with my body. I still very much anticipate enjoying the continuation of our journey, but if we get more excited than we can handle and our journey takes a giant leap forward, I want you to know that you already have my permission to touch me, and that no guilt will be laid on you for however much you touch me, up to and including making love."

For quite awhile, he just stares at her in open mouthed shock. Finally, he gasps out, "You're serious!"

"So serious, I'm willing to write it up, sign it, and date it."

"You don't need to do that."

"Maybe I don't, but I might do it, just to keep a reminder in front of you that I do want you and I do want you to touch me."

"You really want me to touch you that much?"

"More, George. I can't tell you how much I want you to be with me and touch me."

He stares at her again, or is it still? This time it's not his mouth which is open, but his eyes that are wide open as tears stream down his cheeks.

Sharlene props herself up on her right elbow and wipes his tears with her left hand as she asks, "What is it?"

"You've just made an old man very aware of how lucky he is to have you in his life. You do me great honor. Your kindness and generosity are overwhelming. I don't know . . . . How can I ever thank you?"

"The only thing I want from you, my love, is for you to stay with me and touch me when you want or when I ask." She sits up, hugs him, and whispers in his ear, "Like now."

His responding hug turns almost bone crushingly tight, but is soon relieved when he loosens the hug just enough to smother her face and neck with kisses. Soon, she's very glad she relieved her sexual tension earlier by herself or she would be losing control now. Reluctantly, he leans back a little to catch his breath.

When his breathing is more normal, he looks her all over, at least what he can see of her while he's sitting that close to her on the love seat. In a little while, he looks straight into her eyes, grins, then purposely looks down. Following his stare, she sees that her erect nipples are pushing out the front of her pajama top. Under his hot hungry gaze, her nipples feel like they swell even larger.

"I suppose if I'm allowed to touch, then I'm allowed to look."

"Oh yes, George. Look all you want. Look more if you want," she reaches up to begin unbuttoning her pajama top.

Quickly, he gently clasps her hands to stop her then says "Not yet, lovely lady. The freedom to touch also means the freedom to wait. More than ever, I want you to enjoy every little step of the journey. You sure are a feast for famished eyes." As he pulls her hands away from her buttons, the insides of her wrists brush across the tops of her nipples which causes her to gasp as unexpected pleasure hits her.

Then she notices that he's kissing and tongue caressing the insides of her wrists right about where they had touched her nipples and she can only groan as she thinks about those kisses and tongue caresses being directly on her nipples, rather than vicariously on the insides of her wrists.

He looks again at her pajama covered nipples before he looks up to her face and says, "Young lady, I think you need to get dressed for my tai-chi lesson."

Sharlene stares at him in surprise then asks, "How can you think about that at a time like this?"

He again glances back down at her nipples before he looks up into her eyes and says, "With great difficulty, my lady, with very great difficulty, but with necessity." He stands up and holds out a hand to her, "Come, my lady, before you regret giving me permission. If you've liked the journey so far, I think you might continue to enjoy it. There's no sense in getting to the destination immediately, when you're enjoying the scenery along the way."

She gets up and hugs him tightly, "You're right, George, but its times like this that I wish you were wrong."

As they walk down the hall to the bedroom, he says, "Except that we would wear ourselves out so fast we wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much. If we take the time to build up to it, we enjoy every step of the way, as well as reap the benefit of anticipation for what comes next."

When they stop at the door to the bedroom, she turns to him and passionately kisses him. As she leans him on the wall while he gasps for breath, she admits, "I'd better get dressed by myself. Warning, one of these days, I may ask you to help me get dressed."

He proclaims through panted breaths, "A day . . . isn't long . . . enough."

While she forces herself to step into the bedroom and close the door, she doesn't even dare to think about what he meant by that statement.

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (m2)

After a tai-chi lesson and breakfast, Sharlene sends George to the love seat to read and goes to the other room to work some more on the philosophy she would like to instill at Digital Empathy. When she decides to take a mental break, she looks up some of her downloaded emotional recordings. As she reviews when and what had happened from her brief notes and somewhat remembers how she felt at those times, she thinks back to when she was at the university. Then, she had been very curious and interested in what a sexual experience was like. If emotional recordings like what she has downloaded had been available and she could have discretely experienced them and assuming they felt anything like how she feels the experience firsthand, she would have definitely enjoyed them.

It was later, after she overheard what others said about their sexual experiences, and the problems they had, that she became very disinterested. What little pleasure they seemed to have experienced, hardly seemed worth the problems and relationship issues which went along with it. Would any of them have been interested in experiencing something similar to the emotional responses she's recording? If what they said was anywhere near what they experienced, many of them would enjoy feeling the pleasure she's experiencing.

Sharlene stops her thoughts to ask herself, "What makes you think your emotional experiences are any better than someone else's? By myself, I don't think they are, but George sure knows how to touch me to high pleasure. The people I overheard seemed to more complain about the problems or the insensitivity of their partner, rather than marvel at how wonderful the pleasure was and how soon they wanted to do it again. Mariam and Julie both thought my recordings were special and they're much more experienced in sexual relationships than I am. Based on that, maybe there is something worthwhile about this," as she traces a finger along one of her charts.

After a little more contemplation, it hits her: if she would have paid to experience the emotion of intimate pleasure and she has no doubt some of her classmates would have gladly paid for a recording, considering some of the other things they wasted their money on, then the commercial viability of people playing emotional recordings is staggering.

If her rough guesstimated figures are anywhere near possible and they did a profit sharing with the emotional recorders or emoters, they would have people beating down the door to participate in collecting emotional recordings. A couple of issues she can think of are: one, how to make sure the recording a person provides is what they experienced since not everyone is the same, and, two, what would be the easiest way to access the emotional recording for another person to experience it. She adds these to her notes to discuss with Mariam and George.

Oh, and how to market the recordings. She can just imagine the uproar over an advertisement showing a sad faced woman who the narrator asks, 'Doesn't your boyfriend please you?' When she shakes her head, the narrator continues, 'Try Emotique,' and then shows the same woman enjoying intimate pleasure through a headband. But then, she's seen worse advertisements in what little she's watched television or seen in popular magazines. Does the gender of an emotional recording affect how the emotion is received? She shakes her head. There's nothing like having a few problems to solve in order to put a dampener on the hope of commercial viability.

She can probably ask Mariam to talk to Todd and Julie about some of these issues, but that would only increase the risk of the Institute finding out that the Project might be commercially viable and somehow keeping it and then forgetting the research intent and going for the short term profit. It would be best to wait a few weeks until everything is settled and they either own the Project free and clear and can do with it as they please, or someone else gets it and they have to find something else to do. After she wraps up her notes and turns off her computer, she checks on George and finds that he's fallen asleep. She recognizes that she's somewhat frustrated at having technical questions and doesn't dare to start asking the questions so she decides to do a moderate martial arts workout.

As Sharlene gets started, she's able to do much of it without thinking about the moves so her mind wanders over a variety of ideas. Suddenly, she stops and realizes she was feeling frustrated at having her pleasure thwarted by George saying, 'Not yet.' She chides herself, "You fool, your pleasure is certainly not being thwarted, you can barely manage to handle the pleasure his touching gives you without being overwhelmed."

That leads her to think about how he touches her which brings a warm smile to her face and causes her to realize that the more she thinks about his touching, the more she wants him to touch her, which is probably where the thwarted feeling came from. What she really needs is a better distraction. With that thought in mind, she ups the intensity of her workout. That drives extraneous thoughts from her mind since she needs to concentrate on the sequence and fluidity of her moves because it's been awhile since she's done her most intense workout sequence.

While she goes through her cooling off moves, she finds herself wondering what he would think of her being all hot and sweaty. It doesn't take much imagination on her part to guess what his reaction would be. She turns her mind to concentrate on critiquing the moves of her workout and thinking about what other moves can be combined. As she analyzes her critique, she reminds herself again that she needs a good teacher to help her spot and correct her errors and that she could also use a good sparring partner to keep her focused. When she concludes these thoughts, she's made it through her shower, which has been difficult to accomplish lately while she tries to avoid thinking about George's touch, and finishes putting on comfortable slacks and a shirt.

Since it's about time for lunch, she kneels on the love seat next to his right leg and starts to caress his face with the ends of her hair. While he's still asleep, he starts to raise a hand to brush away her tickling hairs, but when she catches his hand and holds it down, his eyes pop open. In a moment, he relaxes and a grin spreads across his face as she continues to caress him with her hair.

He lifts a hand to briefly caress her face as he says, "Hello, love."

"Welcome back from dreamland."

As he lowers his hand to caress the outside of her right thigh, he says, "With you, I'm entering dreamland." When he notices the comb and brush she had set down next to her on the love seat, he reaches over and picks them up as he says, "What did I tell you? Turn around, dream lady." She turns around and sits on his legs just above his knees and straddles his lower legs with her own. She braces her arms behind her on the middle of his thighs and leans her head back so her hair hangs loose in the air which makes it easier for him to brush it. When he finishes brushing her hair, he sets the comb and brush aside, caresses her arms, and suggests, "You'd better sit up before you wear your arms out."

In the process of sitting up, she moves her hands from his thighs to brace them on his knees. After a brief pause, she slides her buttocks up his legs to his lower abdomen and smiles as she hears his low moan of pleasure. As she leans back on him, she wraps his arms across her upper abdomen then gently rocks her head from side to side so her hair slides across his face.

He noisily inhales deeply and proclaims, "Mmm, my luscious sweet smelling lady. Can I have you for lunch? Or do I save you for dessert?"

"Don't tempt me, old man." While she holds his arms tightly to her, she rocks her torso from side to side before she tells him, "You need a caloric lunch, so you have the energy for dessert, or is it so that you can be my dessert."

"I would prefer it to be a mutual dessert to each other."

"Mmm, I like that. Well, push me up so I can fix lunch."

He places his hands at her waist then pushes them, not away from him, but up her sides. As he lightly slides his hands down her sides, he observes, "Humm, that didn't seem to work. Let me try again." This time his push is even weaker and his hands slide down her with an even lighter touch. He suggests, "Third times a charm." Even more weakly do his hands go up and even lighter do his fingertips slide down to her waist. The next thing she knows, he's tickling her.

As she laughs, she falls to her right side onto the empty cushion of the love seat, pushes off with her hands, and in one smooth move she's standing up while facing the love seat and waves a disapproving finger at him which is betrayed by her wide smile and sparkling eyes.

He 'protests', "You didn't say how to push you up."

"Okay, wise guy," she reaches down, pulls him to his feet, into her arms, and tells him, "get yourself ready for lunch before I decide to have my dessert before my meal." She kisses him briefly, but passionately, then pushes him back just enough to turn him and aim him down the hall. "Hurry back or I'll eat it all myself."

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (a1)

For awhile after lunch, Sharlene and George sit and quietly think their own thoughts while they sip their tea. She almost hums, "Mmm, that's nice," as she feels his sock covered right foot caress the top of her left foot, ankle, and a little ways up her leg under the fabric of her slacks. She smiles at him while she holds his right hand then asks, "How did you get so creative in the ways you touch me?"

"That's easy. I want to touch you in any way and anywhere I can without short cutting the journey. To me, you're extremely touchable. That's about all I want to do. The hard part is not touching you. And it's taking real creativity to come up with adequate distractions. I want to thank you for dressing modestly, otherwise it would be even harder to resist touching you."

"This is about how I always dress. Well, other than leaving my shirt partially unbuttoned a couple of days ago. I never thought about it as to whether it was modest or not. I guess between my upbringing and trying to come across as serious in college and professional in medical school, my style of dress has become rather established. You seemed to enjoy seeing my shirt partially unbuttoned."

"Oh, yes."

"Can you explain why?"

He pauses then tries to answer her question, "That's a little harder. First of all, I like looking at you. You're a very beautiful and lovely young lady who is very pleasant to the eyes. Secondly, you have very smooth touchable skin and with such a lovely coloration, it only makes me want to look at and touch you even more. Thirdly, since you do normally dress quite modestly, to see you with your shirt partially unbuttoned, and knowing that you left it that way on purpose comes across as sensuously daring and risque. It was wonderful and I think you're wonderful for letting me be with you and see you like that."

"Maybe I should wear one of those head to heel dark shapeless dresses which some women in the Eastern Sector wear."

To her amazement, he starts to laugh.

Since she's unable to figure out what he thinks is so funny, she has to wait until he calms down some before she asks, "Is there something funny about those outfits or what they mean?"

"No, it's the idea of following the letter of the law, but ignoring the spirit of the law."

"I don't get it."

"There are a number of adherents of that particular religion who live in the Southeast Asia Quadrant in areas where it's hot and humid almost year round. Didn't you say you were in that area as an engineering intern?"

"Yes, but it wasn't where we saw anyone dressed like that."

"I've heard that some of the women who do dress like that in the Southeast Asia Quadrant are following the letter of the law in covering themselves, but as a person gets closer to them, they can see that the material is so thin, it's nearly transparent and does very little to actually hide her femininity. Another example, an acquaintance at one of my jobs had to go to the Eastern Sector on a business trip. While he was on a shopping trip into town, he was standing on the sidewalk and watching the people who were crossing the street in between the slow moving vehicles. When he heard a shriek, he turned and saw that one of those outfits had been caught on a vehicle bumper and pulled off of a woman who was wearing a very short miniskirt, dark nylons, high heels, and a skimpy little blouse which barely covered the middle of her breasts.

"So, since I've heard about those examples, if you were to start dressing in one of those shapeless outfits, I might be more inclined to wonder what you were wearing, or not wearing under it. It's better that you dress the way you do. The longer you allow me to be with you, the more likely I'll have a chance to see and enjoy your hidden feminine charms."

"Are you so sure they'll be charming?"

"Since I don't have observational data to consult, I obviously can't be one hundred percent sure. But if they're half as marvelous as what I've already seen, then they'll be very charming indeed."

She shakes her head then says, "I don't know old man, I've seen myself in the mirror and I didn't see anything very charming, if anything I'm rather plain and somewhat undersized."

"Yes, and you thought that for all of your looking in the mirror, that your face and hair were rather plain. And remember what Mariam and your aunt said about observing the reactions of other males who saw you."

"Oh. You think that since you find my face and hair so attractive, you'll find the rest of me attractive?"

"Oh, yes, indeed. In addition to your hair and face, I've seen your bare arms and your bare lower legs and feet, and your bare upper chest, and their loveliness has only reinforced my opinion."

She gets up from her chair, sits on his upper legs, requests, "Hold me," leans on him, and lays her head on his shoulder.

"Gladly. . . . Young lady, I have a hard time trying to understand why you have such an aversion to the idea that you're attractive."

"I don't understand it myself. The only thing I can think of is that when I was young, the idea of feminine beauty was strongly downplayed while being educated and intelligent were reinforced. Through college and medical school, since I was younger, I had to work harder to prove my capabilities. And I wanted to prove myself the equal of my classmates in my educational pursuits.

"Even if I had thought I was attractive, that isn't how I wanted to succeed. Besides, since I was younger and smaller than the other girls, I guess I thought there was no way for me to compete, if I had even thought of competing in that way. I realize that sometimes a pretty face can go quite a ways up the career ladder, but sooner or later if they don't have the intelligence to support the work, they'll be set aside."

"I don't know about that. I've seen too many people in positions of authority, both male and female, who could charm or talk their way through about anything, but they didn't have an ounce of brains or common sense to accomplish the most logical solution to the simplest task. I wouldn't want you to have a false image of your beauty, but I'm glad you want to succeed using your intelligence rather than your external appearance. Beauty eventually fades and can no longer be relied upon. Although with your heritage, your beauty will likely last a lot longer than the average. You'll probably be sixty years old before people even guess you to be forty."

"Are you going to stick around until I'm sixty to see if your guess is right?"

"I would love to, but I doubt if my body will last that long."

She sits up, caresses his cheek, and says, "That's one thing I'm afraid of."

"I don't mean to be harsh, my lady, but that's life. Besides feeling unworthy of your attention, our age difference means that, barring accident or illness, I'll die while you're still quite young. Your choices are to either stop the relationship now, send me away, and find someone you'll more likely be able to live your whole life with, or take it one day at a time while being aware that almost any day could be my last."

"Why do you say any day? Based on the tests I did in the medical center and yesterday at the cardiologist's, you should have another twenty years."

"But based on the typical male in my family history, I should have died more than ten years ago."

Sharlene's eyes open wide as she exclaims, "Really?"

"Seventy five percent of the males on both sides of my family in the previous two generations died before they were fifty."

"Ouch. What about the other twenty five percent?"

"My dad was about seventy five when he died from leukemia. It would have been younger if he didn't have a quadruple bypass surgery."

"So I assume the seventy five percent were your grandfathers and an uncle?

"That's right."

"What did they die from?"

"If I remember right, it was from heart attacks and an aneurysm."

"What about the females in your family?"

"I think the earliest death was in her late seventies and my maternal grandmother lived the longest since she was in her early nineties when she died."

"Well, I hope you follow your grandmother's example, because I want to keep you around as long as I can."

He suggests, "You can take more time to think about it."

"I know. Maybe sometime in the future I will rethink it, but I doubt if I will. George, you've offered to take me on a journey of touching and as we take each step, I want to take more steps with you. I think that even when we near the end of the journey, I'll be so spoiled by your gentle considerate touching, that I'll want no one else to touch me or to be with me. I'm selfish and if what I've felt in the last few days is any sort of preview, I can hardly wait to enjoy the rest of the journey. Just to let you know that I'm not a mindless hormone driven teenager in the first throes of sexual excitement making a spur of the moment decision, when I briefly told Mariam what you said about the journey, she told me it was a once in a millennium opportunity and if I listened to only one word of her advice, it was for me to take advantage of the opportunity you're offering me."

"Thank you for wanting me to stay. I hope I can live up to your expectations."

"You're already doing much more than I could have guessed was possible. About the only expectations which I know I have of you, are that you continue to be gentle and to touch me to my great enjoyment. And you're doing marvelously in both of those areas." She kisses him to reinforce her words. As she lets him breathe, she lays her head on his shoulder while she kisses his neck and nibbles on his ear. "Thank you, George. Thank you so very much."

"It's quite thoroughly my pleasure, young lady. I don't know about Mariam's opinion. The truly once in a millennium opportunity, is that the most beautiful wonderful caring woman in the world wants a decrepit old man to be with her and touch her."

"The only man I want touching me, decrepit or otherwise, is you." She doesn't allow him any time to verbally response before she kisses him, again, thoroughly and passionately.

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (a2)

When George finally has enough breath to express himself, he proclaims, "Sharlene, you do know how to make an old man feel wanted. Thank you."

"It's my pleasure. And before I allow myself more pleasure than I can handle, we need a distraction."

"The first distraction that I'm aware of is a complaining bladder. It's your turn to think of one."

"I need to clean up the dirty lunch dishes. It's back to you, my super hero."

He gently pushes her off of his upper legs as he says, "Well, those might distract us for as long as five minutes. You're going to leave the hard ones for me?" After he kisses her forehead, he starts down the hall.

"It's your years of experience which will find a solution."

He stops, turns, says, "Lovely lady, for all of my years of experience, I never had to come up with distractions to handle the level of desire which you inspire," then he turns and continues down the hall.

Since she's stunned by the serious tone of his statement, she can't even begin to formulate a response before he's disappeared around the corner of the hall. She starts cleaning up after lunch while she tries to consider what he meant and the implications of it. She's just finished cleaning up when he comes back to the kitchen and she asks him, "What did you mean by the level of desire which I inspire?"

He leans on the kitchen counter while he looks at the floor for nearly a minute before he looks up into her eyes and says, "Sharlene, I've never met, never seen, never imagined a woman I desire more than you."

"I . . . I don't know how strong a man's desire is, but from what Aunt Paula and Mariam have said and from what I overheard in college, it can be rather overwhelming."

"Overwhelming is a nice way to say it. Turn him into a mad hormone driven rutting beast might be more accurate."

"Then how do you control it?"

He shakes his head as he says, "I can't say I've thought it all of the way through, but there are several factors. I respect you and don't want to hurt you. I made a promise to your aunt not to hurt you. To take you on the journey of touching is also a unique opportunity for me and I really don't want to spoil it for either of us. I'm an old man and the hormones don't rage as strongly as they once did.

"Another aspect of being an old man is that I don't have the energy to chase you down, overpower you, and have my way with you, even if I could overcome my aversion to hurting you. Even with all of those factors, it's still difficult. But it's one of the few challenges in my life I've wanted to face and win. You're an incredibly desirable woman. And I'm astounded that you allow or even request that I express some of that desire by touching you."

"Thank you for telling me. I can't imagine I'm so desirable, but since that's how you feel, it's at least true for you. Most of those factors you've either mentioned before or I could have guessed at, but how is the journey a unique opportunity for you?"

"Many, many years ago, I don't even remember how long ago, I had a dream, an idea, a fantasy, or whatever you want to call it, of wondering what would happen if a young man and a young woman who had never touched or been touched, were allowed to be alone without outside influence for an extended period of time to experiment with touching each other. Of course, the assumption was they liked each other and wanted to experiment with touching and being touched. In a way, you're the fulfillment of that fantasy, except that I ruin it with my own pile of negative emotional baggage. But the idea of being able to touch, to experiment with touching someone who has never been touched, has stayed with me all of those years.

"The idea isn't in the sense of despoiling a virgin, because that's over in a moment, but of bringing enjoyment in as many ways as possible, of creatively experimenting with touching, not just to reach the peaks of pleasure, but of all aspects of enjoyment by touching, including just cuddling for comfort. I want to touch and be touched and your willingness to allow me to touch you is a dream come true."

Since she's rather surprised at what he said, she asks to verify that she heard right, "You've wanted to touch someone who had never been touched to bring them enjoyment?"

"Yes."

"Did you think you could touch them in a special way or in ways which other men couldn't touch them?"

George sharply shakes his head as he proclaims, "No way!! I only have two hands like an average man and I certainly have no magical powers to influence women for their enjoyment. The usual way I influence women is that they find me repulsive and avoid me. I doubt if I could have articulated it years ago or even now, but it's as though I wanted to touch a young woman so she could enjoy pleasure with my enjoyment coming as a result of her enjoyment.

"What was really strange was I had that idea before I had even experienced sex other than by masturbation. Even as a teenager, I thought it was sad how many other boys only thought about their own pleasure and of using a young woman to achieve their own enjoyment. There was a song many years ago which expressed that idea and the first line went something like, 'Hello, I love you, tell me your name.' How can a person claim to love another person when they know so little about them that they don't even know her name? A more truthful statement for that song would have been, 'Hello, I lust you, don't tell me your name.' I really don't know why I had some of those ideas because they so atypical compared to the average male."

She exclaims, "You are different."

His brief laugh is bitter before he says, "Don't I know it. The sad thing is that even as I had those ideas, I was quite aware of the futility of my dream. Who would want me to touch them, especially if the young woman was somewhat afraid of males? Every few years, I would hear of a young woman who was clearly uninterested or afraid of males and the idea would raise its taunting head and needle me with the futility of my dreams. So I've lived my life with one dream after another, crashing and burning or coming back to reinforce the failure of my life. . . . And then I died.

"Surprisingly, I woke up and you were there like a heavenly angel, a beautiful woman caring for me, opening her home to a stranger, laughing with me, touching me, kissing me. I know it's the same ugly world out there with the wars, the crime, the politicians, the greedy executives, the bigotry, and all of the rest of the big and little ugly things of the world, but here, with you, I've died and gone to paradise."

Without a word, she steps over to him and hugs him while she leans her head on his chest. When she feels his legs begin to tremble from standing still for so long, she guides him to the love seat, encourages him to sit down, and has him recline his seat all of the way back. A moment later, she sits down on her side of the love seat, reclines it all of the way back, scoots over to him, lays her right arm across his chest, pulls herself snugly up to him, and just holds him. Even after he falls asleep, she holds him.

Sharlene lays there while she thinks about what he's said, both today and at other times. How very different his ideas are compared to the average man, at least any that she's ever heard of. With what he just said, some of the pieces of the puzzle of who George Greyson is begin to fall into place. She's sure there's more, but it seems like the central core has been revealed: the bitter rejected person who feels he's nothing but an empty shell of a boring old man, whose every dream has died, whose life was one failure after another.

It's almost a miracle he didn't pull the trigger and end the misery years ago. And then she visits her aunt, takes a ride in his pickup and his misery takes a momentary pause before he quite literally dies. The key to his infatuation with her seems to be that she cares for him and is willing to express it in how she treats him and through physical touching.

Even from her limited experience, she knows it's far too easy for a person to say they care, but are unwilling to match their actions to their words. After so many years of neglect and rejection, her response to him probably does seem almost miraculous to him. And the idea that she's apparently physically attractive, she can't imagine her aunt, Mariam, and George conspiring to lie to her, only adds to the miraculous nature of her caring for him, because he believed after years of experience that nobody physically attractive would be attracted to him.

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (a3)

Well, to be honest, she wasn't initially attracted to him physically, but the more she's around him, his physical appearance is becoming attractive. As she thinks through it some more and tries to understand how his feelings towards her have developed, she's humbled and awed at how he appears to view her. Which, to her embarrassment, he's been saying all along, but she couldn't believe him.

She also realizes that the more he reveals about who he is and how his past has shaped his personality, the more she feels an internal obligation to support him and care for him. She had better do her best to conceal that, considering how often he's made it clear that he wants her to feel no obligation towards him. But doesn't he express an obligation towards her in offering to take her on the journey of touching even as he works to control his clearly stated desire for her? "Come on, George," she thinks to herself, "you can't have it both ways. If you feel an obligation to restrain yourself, then I can feel an obligation to support you and to help you rediscover the person who was buried."

While she considers it further, she recognizes that it's one thing to be free of all obligation, but that's not consistent with friendship. It's quite another thing to have the freedom to obligate yourself. That's more like what her aunt was talking about in being free from external or enforced obligation, yet developing one's own internal obligation, freely given in friendship, towards the other person.

She carefully lifts her head from his shoulder in order to gaze at his face. Yes, he's an old man and there's nothing in his physical appearance to stir a young woman's desire according to society's standards. Hold it, what does that mean to stir a young woman's desire? As she lays her head back down, she thinks about the ways she's heard the expression used and the context seems to invariably be about the young woman being interested in having sex with the person who stirs her desire.

Well, George's touching certainly has gotten her interested in intimate pleasure, even as she recognizes that she doesn't know, on a personal level, what's involved with sexual intercourse, in spite of her giving him permission to go that far. If it's anywhere near as enjoyable as the touching has been so far, she does want to go there and find out what it's like. And, she realizes, she wants George to be the one to take her there and for him to be there with her.

As she looks up at his face again, this time she looks past his weathered skin and thinning hair to the person inside and to his hands which have touched her so excitingly; yes, she does desire him in the usual context of the term and, with a little jolt of surprise, she desires to touch him, to bring him pleasure as he's so selflessly given her pleasure. Although he talks about being selfish, he demonstrates that he's striving to please her, to let her enjoy the experience. His enjoyment is a happy side effect of his efforts to please her. She smiles at him then carefully gets up and lets him sleep, before her half inclination to start touching him grows into a full inclination and action.

Sharlene goes to the other room where she does a light martial arts and tai-chi workout, partially to distract herself and partially to let her subconscious have time to consider what she's been thinking about. Since her light workout routine doesn't require intense concentration, she lets her conscious mind wander until it dawns on her that this is fifth-day and Mariam is coming over after work. How could she have forgotten about that? George, that's how she's forgotten. Does she blame him or congratulate him?

What should she serve Mariam for dinner? Well, they do have that pot of soup and there should be more than enough for the three of them. She's not quite sure what Mariam will think, but she has no doubt that George won't object. There's no sense in having a bunch of leftovers sit around if they're going to George's for a few days. So, do they go up tomorrow or on first-day? That kind of depends on how much there is to discuss with Mariam. She probably ought to let Aunt Paula know about their tentative plans, oops, their? She'd better discuss it with George and see what he thinks. That's something which is going to take some getting used to.

After she finishes her workout, she checks her phone for messages and her computer for emails. She briefly thinks about it then goes to her bedroom to add some clothes to what she has already packed in order to have enough for just over a week's stay. If they stay longer, she can always do a load of laundry either at George's or at her aunt's.

As she looks at George's luggage, she sees that even if she was inclined to help him pack, there's little she can do since he's kept his clothes neatly piled. Not only is it an indication, at least to her, of how he tries to keep things neat and tidy, it's also an indication of how he's ready to leave if she sends him away. It would only take a moment or two for him to zip them up, and he would be gone.

That's a sobering reminder of how serious he is about not intruding in her life. She sits down on the edge of her bed and as she looks at his luggage, she wonders if he's going to trust that she does want him in her life. Well, to give him credit, if she had his history, she would probably be even less trusting than he is.

Sharlene returns to the other room, stops a few feet from the love seat, and looks at George. Yes, she realizes, she does want him, in all of the meanings of the phrase. As that realization sinks in, she feels herself relax, as though she had been holding in some sort of tension in preparation to making a momentous decision. The desire and passion are still there, but there's also a freedom to take the time to enjoy the desire and passion.

She's continuing to think about what it all means and what the implications might be when she notices him start to stir. Then he settles down. Just as she's about to step away, he starts to stir again, then settles, and immediately starts moving again. As she realizes he must be dreaming, she pays closer attention, and guesses he must be having a bad dream. She steps over and sits on the love seat next to him, holds his right hand with her left, and caresses it with her right hand. After a moment, he sighs and settles back down.

She checks the clock to see what time it is then lays down next to him, moves his right arm behind her back, interlaces the fingers of her left hand and his right hand on her waist, hugs his chest with her right arm, and rests her head on his right shoulder. After a moment, he seems to relax even further. As she makes the effort to concentrate on thinking about other aspects of what might need to be dealt with in order to get Digital Empathy functioning, she's able to 'keep busy' while she allows her body to relax with his.

About an hour later, Sharlene feels George's right arm hug her back and the fingers of his right hand tighten on her own interlaced fingers. A moment later, his left hand begins to explore and caress her right arm which is across his chest, and she barely hears him tunelessly hum with a pleased tone. After awhile longer, she hears him quietly say, "There's nothing so wonderful as waking up with my arms wrapped around an angel."

"I didn't want to disturb your sleep, but you seemed to be having a bad dream. I hugged you and you appeared to settle down and sleep again."

"See how wonderful your hugs are? They work even when I'm not consciously aware that you're applying their healing touch."

"You flatterer."

"I think I'm just speaking the truth."

"Well, I won't argue with you. Especially since I like what you say about me, whether I think it's true or not. To change the subject, I'm not sure whether to blame or congratulate you."

Since he wonders what she means by that, he asks, "Oh? What did I do?"

"You've had me so excited and distracted these last few days, I forgot that Mariam was coming over for dinner this evening after work."

"I can't imagine why you would want to congratulate me for something like that, but I can take the blame."

She briefly kisses him before she explains, "I've often demonstrated the ability to forget about the rest of the world when I'm concentrating or studying, but it's never happened to me because someone make me feel wonderful and excited. You do that for me and I really am quite grateful. It's been marvelous how you can bring me so much pleasure. I very much want you to stay and continue to help me to enjoy intimate pleasure and I want to learn to help you enjoy intimate pleasure also. Before you tell me that pleasing me also gives you pleasure, I know it does, but, at the same time, you've also said you like to be touched and I intend to learn how to touch you in ways you enjoy."

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (a4)

It takes George awhile to find any kind of words in order to form a response, "Uh . . . I . . . um . . . . Thank you, Sharlene. Uh, . . . I'll ask you to hold off on touching me more than what comes naturally with how I'm touching you. When you get excited, it causes me to be excited enough that I'm not sure I can keep the journey going if you were to increase how much you touch me. The journey of touching you to find what you enjoy is more important than for me to be touched. As my touching of you becomes more intimate, there will be time and opportunity for you to start touching me in a similar manner. Does that make sense?"

"I suppose it does. I must say, I've never heard of a man who refused to be touched by a woman he thought was attractive."

"To be blunt, normally I wouldn't. To clarify, I'm not refusing, I'm just asking that it be delayed. The opportunity for a journey of creative touching is so rare, I don't want you to miss it. And I have no intention of spoiling it for you, just so I can be touched a few weeks sooner than such touching might normally occur at the proper stage of the journey."

"Do you think we'll get there?"

He nods his head then says, "Unless you ask me to leave, then, yes, I think we'll get there. Before you say it seems like a long time, next year at this time, you'll look back and probably be shocked that you allowed yourself to be touched so much or so fast."

"I don't know if I'll be shocked, but I'll probably be surprised. Actually, I've already been surprised at how much touching we've done in just over five weeks since we were first introduced."

"There you go. We have time, young lady, lots of time. Even if I only last another five years, we'll have long before reached the theoretical end of the journey and are having fun exploring variations and taking side trips. Or try some familiar touching in a new situation or setting."

Since she's not sure she understands what he means, Sharlene asks, "Why did you say the theoretical end of the journey?"

"People generally think that the ultimate goal or destination of two people touching is to have sexual intercourse. If a journey of touching is truly about the enjoyment of touching, then sexual intercourse is just a step along the way. There are a number of ways and settings in which to make love, for two people who care for each other and are willing to creatively experiment, as well as many roads to take to get them there. As we continue to touch, you'll find some touching you don't like and other touching you like very much. If you don't like something, speak up and I won't do it again, at least not on purpose. I don't always remember what I've been told."

"George, somehow I doubt that you'll touch me in a way I don't like."

"Until you've been touched in every possible way, you won't know. Just a quick example, unless you're on some sort of power trip, I think you would prefer me to kiss you on your lips rather than to kiss you on the bottom of your feet."

"Of course. Oh, I see what you mean."

"Maybe kissing the bottom of your foot might not be unpleasant, but it would probably not be your preferred place to be kissed."

"True. What about those number of ways and settings to make love?"

"What about them?"

"What are they?"

"I'm not going to say."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to restrict your thinking as to how to touch or eventually to make love. Be creative. That's the whole idea of an experimental journey, to try new ways or ideas or situations. You'll probably think of ways and settings which will never cross my mind. Why should I restrict your pleasure to the dry and dusty ways and settings which are found in my mind?"

"There's nothing dry and dusty about how you touch me."

"That's because you've never experienced it before, so it's new and exciting. To tell you the truth, Sharlene, for me to touch you and to see and feel your enjoy being touched makes even the most common touching, fresh and exciting to me also. That's part of why the journey of touching is so important to me. As you're enjoying the touching for the first time, in many ways, I'm enjoying it like it's the first time also, and sometimes it really is a first time for me."

She pauses to consider that then asks, "You mean you've touched me in a way you've never touched another woman?"

"Yes."

"Like when?"

"Like last night when I kissed the outside and then the insides of your lower legs. I never had the opportunity to kiss another woman like that before."

"Oh!! I'm certainly glad you thought of kissing me like that. Just thinking about how you kissed my legs and then moved to kiss my lips. Oh, George!" Sharlene turns his head and begins to passionately kiss him. As her kiss deepens, she throws her right leg across his hips and hooks her foot on the outside of his left thigh. Since he's running out of breath, he reluctantly breaks the kiss, but before he can catch his breath, her right leg and arm tightens which pulls her partially up on his side.

Her moans turn to groans, her squirms bring her pubic area into contact with his right hip bone and she begins to rock her hips from side to side. As her excitement builds, so does his, especially since her rocking hips causes the inside of her thigh to slide back and forth across his lower abdomen. Almost immediately after she pauses to vocally express the pleasure of her climax, she begins rocking her hips again, only this time his hands clasp her hip bones and rock with her.

In a short while, he starts to tense up while she cries out again and he feels his body climax. As she slumps in the relief of climactic release onto his relaxing body, she's able to relax enough to mostly catch her breath, but the less her body is occupied with the priority of breathing, the more it recognizes the position it's still in. Just as she starts to rock her hips with somewhat less energy than earlier, he gently but firmly pushes her off of his hipbone and slightly rolls onto his right side to face her and begins to gently kiss her face.

She proclaims, "Oh, George. That was wonderful, again."

"Wow, lady. You sure are. I think I blew away a few more brain cells. You're certainly creative. I never thought of my hipbone as a sex toy."

As she slides her fingers over and around his right hipbone, she says, "I hadn't thought of it either, but it was just right for getting me all excited."

While he attempts to keep her from touching beyond his hipbone without being obvious about it, he pulls her closer to him and kisses her. When he needs to breathe, again, George gently pushes her onto her back and with his right arm under her head and his right hand holding onto her right shoulder, he begins to caress her face and neck with his left hand as he tells her, "You're one incredibly enticing and exciting woman. You're more miraculous than my most wonderful dream. I'm sorry, words just aren't adequate to describe you. Thank you, Sharlene. Thank you so very much." He does his best to kiss her breath away.

"Thank you for touching me and getting me excited. I never imagined that intimate pleasure was so . . . uh . . . enjoyable, exciting, even tiring in a most wonderful way. Do we have time to rest together for awhile?" She looks at her watch then reluctantly reports, "Maybe not. Mariam could be here at any time."

"Then I'd better go get washed up. Maybe we can try to do some gentle cuddling if I'm back before she gets here."

"That sounds nice. I'm sorry I keep causing you to make a mess."

"Lovely lady, for how excited you get me and how wonderful it is to touch you, it's worth much more than washing up a little mess."

"Oh, go on before you flatter me enough that I want to cause you an even bigger mess to wash up."

"Yes, my lady." He gives her another thorough kiss, though not quite to breathless, then gets up to go wash up and change his pants.

After George walks down the hall, Sharlene realizes she ought to check her own clothes. Even though her body doesn't have the same type of fluid release his does, she's recently noticed that after she's become excited, her panty has been damp. She goes to her bedroom past the closed door of the guest bathroom and finds that her panty is again damp and has a slightly different smell. Since she's not able to classify the smell as either good or bad, she's simply aware of it. She quickly washes herself, not without some lip biting to control her awakened desire, puts on a clean panty, and puts her pants back on.

As she's doing these things, her mind is reviewing her medical classes and remembers there was something about a woman's body that when it's sexually aroused, it releases secretions to lubricate the internal surface of the vagina. Admittedly, that was the one class she didn't pay as much attention to. She decides it's time to do some reading in her medical textbooks to better understand what her body is doing and might do in the future. Maybe she ought to make an appointment with Doctor Chang. Hopefully she's still practicing medicine, or maybe she can recommend somebody in the local area.

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (e1)

A quick glance at her watch convinces Sharlene that she needs to get the soup on the stove to slowly heat. She slices some cheese to go with crackers, and puts it back into the fridge to stay cool. When George comes out, she has him set the table. Since they're as ready as they can be for when Mariam arrives, Sharlene requests that he watch the warming soup while she goes through the house to see if anything needs to be picked up or put away.

"Ding, dong."

Sharlene opens the front door and says, "Hello, Mariam. Come on in."

Mariam sets her purse down and requests, "Hug?"

Without a word, Sharlene opens her arms and snugly hugs her friend.

"Thanks, I needed that."

They release each other and walk towards the other room while Sharlene asks, "Was it a rough week?"

"Yeah, management is still trying to find some way to profit from the Project while at the same time trying to gut it so that nobody will want it. I don't think they have half a clue of what they're trying to achieve, they're just reacting. Hello, George."

"Hi, Mariam."

"Can I have a hug from you, too?"

"Sharlene?"

"George, I've already told both of you that I have no objection to you two hugging. I doubt if Mariam gets many hugs and you give good hugs. So hug her good while I give the soup a stir and then we'll be ready to eat."

As they hug, Mariam whispers in his ear, "Did you tell her about my offer to you last week?"

He whispers back, "No, I said I wouldn't."

"I didn't know if she might have suspected something and dug it out of you."

"In many ways, she's too wonderfully innocent to have such suspicions."

"I agree. I'm sorry I tested you in that way."

"I'll admit I didn't like that type of test, but thank you for trying to protect her. I don't want to see her hurt, especially by me."

After she lightly kisses him, Mariam speaks in her normal voice, "Thank you, George. You do give good hugs."

Sharlene announces, "Okay you two, get yourselves ready for dinner."

With bowls of soup, small plates for the cheese and crackers, and drinks, they sit down and begin to eat.

Sharlene asks, "What's the latest at the Institute?"

Mariam asks her own question, "Are you trying to spoil my appetite for such good food? Let's talk about something more pleasant during dinner. Like, how are you two getting along?"

Sharlene shares a significance glance with George then says, "Quite well, I think. I can't think of any disagreements we've had. He's quite comfortable to be around, and he's getting stronger so I've started to accept some of his offers to help. And . . . well, . . . his touching is more wonderful than I could have imagined."

"I don't want to intrude on your private lives, but I'll be honest and say I would listen with wide open ears. I meant more in general. George?"

"Sharlene is a wonderful person who I very much enjoy being with. I still don't understand why she wants me to be with her, but I'm slowly beginning to accept the fact that she apparently does. I'm very happy being with her and my only regret is I didn't meet her sooner, like fifty years ago."

"That would have been an interesting trick since her parents might not have been more than a twinkle in her grandparents' eyes."

"True, but it might give you an idea of how I feel about her." He reaches over and squeezes Sharlene's hand, as she responds with a warm smile.

After awhile, Mariam purposely clears her throat which causes Sharlene to be startled. She turns and grabs one of Mariam's hands while she says, "I'm sorry, I don't mean for you to feel neglected."

"Don't be sorry. It's kind of fun to watch you two love birds and if I can get a bit of a tease in now and then, it's all the more fun. Enjoy your dreamy eyed stares as long as you can. Too often and too soon, reality intrudes and it seems like a person becomes too busy or too tired to have fun, or sometimes just uninterested."

"I still feel somewhat sorry for you that you don't have a current relationship, especially since I'm discovering how wonderful it is."

"I'll agree, Sharlene, that the contrast is rather strange. Normally it would be me in a relationship with you wondering what it was all about."

"I think that's part of why I don't mind George sharing his hugs and kisses with you. I think they're very wonderful and if it helps you to feel better, and I know my selfish old man is willing, then I want you to be able to at least have some comfort from his hugs and kisses."

Mariam responds, "Thank you, both of you. I'll admit I've been missing the comfort which friendly hugs and kisses can give. In the past, I even enjoyed a good tumble in bed, but as life goes on, I'm getting tired of dealing with the self-centeredness and personality issues which often crop up. Sometimes I wonder why there can't be pleasant fun between people who care about each other without a bunch of imposed obligations."

"Gee, where have I heard that before?" Sharlene turns to look at George who just smiles and shrugs. "What you didn't say, old man, was that a relationship can't be obligation free, because there has to be the internal obligation of one person who wants to please the other person as a gift freely given. If neither person has an internalized desire, willingness, or self-obligation to care for, support, or please the other person, they'll both just sit there and no relationship will develop. You've done an admirable job of not imposing any obligations upon me, but it took me awhile to realize you had obligated yourself to me, to not hurt me, to please me, and to restrain your own desires while stimulating mine."

He pauses a few moments before he says, "I suppose all I can say is guilty as charged."

"Instead of feeling guilty, you ought to feel as proud as a peacock for how gentle and loving you've been towards me." Sharlene turns to Mariam and asks, "Don't you think he should be proud of himself?"

"When you put it that way, I'll have to agree with you."

"How else would you put it, Mariam?"

"I still think you're incredibly lucky, fortunate, or whatever term you want to use, to find the right man to meet your special needs in your unusual situation. The odds are staggering."

"This is one place I'll step in and claim how lucky I am for a wonderful and beautiful woman like Sharlene to want this old man."

"George, I didn't mean to start a disagreement between you two, because from my perspective you're both very lucky to have found each other and I'm going to enjoy watching your relationship develop. And tease you occasionally about it. Speaking of which, Sharlene, I notice you're wearing your headband. Have you produced any good recordings?"

"Yes."

"I don't mean to intrude, although it sure must seem that way, but would you be willing to tell me?"

"Um, . . ." Sharlene looks at George.

He answers her unspoken question, "It's up to you love, it's your emotional response which is being recorded. If I understand it correctly, it reveals nothing about what you're responding to."

"I guess you're right. The way some people respond emotionally, I could have been watching a sporting event or a music concert. Mariam, I trust you and I'll tell you at least something, but I want the existence of my emotional recordings to stay a secret between just the three of us. First of all, I don't want even the possibility that my recordings exist, to find its way to the Institute's ears, in any way, shape, or form. Those recordings are strictly to support the commercial viability of Digital Empathy.

"I don't know how to do it, but you might think of a way to have Todd and Julie delete my emotional recordings. Use the excuse that the Institute might raid employee computers looking for unreported recordings to improve their position with the government or potential customers. Secondly, I want to remain an anonymous contributor of emotional recordings. Just as the Project protected, at least as far as I know, the anonymity of its contributors, we need to do as well or better. If the company succeeds, I don't want the people, myself included, who supply emotional recordings to be hounded by anybody, especially not by the media or people with unstable personalities. Can you understand my concerns?"

Mariam assures her, "I don't just understand, I completely agree."

"Thank you." Sharlene pauses, takes a deep breath, then asks, "Do you remember my emotional recordings which I turned in after my week of vacation?"

"Very clearly. There's not much chance I'm going to forget those any time soon."

"I've downloaded some emotional recordings. When I charted them, some were of longer duration and more intense than what you saw earlier."

Mariam's eyes widen as she exclaims, "Really? Oh, my!!"

Sharlene turns to George and tells him, "I'm sorry, love, I didn't show you graphically the kind of effect you have on me, but when I was looking at them, you were asleep and I forgot about it afterwards."

"That's quite all right. For me to see the enjoyment on your face is much more important and meaningful to me than seeing lines on a chart."

Mariam almost interrupts him, "Did you say longer AND stronger?"

Sharlene nods her head as she answers, "Yes."

"Wow!! I didn't think that was possible. No wonder you want to keep it quiet. And considering how Julie responded when she tested your first emotional recordings, I certainly understand the desire to remain anonymous. My lips are sealed, but I'm shouting inside."

"Mariam, before you ask, I'm going to say, 'no,' for now, in showing you charts of my more recent emotional recordings. I didn't want to burden you even with what I said, but I had to tell someone, even if in a roundabout way, what George does for me."

"You mean in purposely touching you rather than happening to be in the same room or something."

"Yes."

As Mariam looks back and forth between them, her eyes start to open wider.

"No, Mariam, George hasn't touched me intimately."

She stops to stare at Sharlene then blurts out, "Not?!?" as her eyes open even wider.

"Not."

"Longer AND stronger? . . . And NOT intimately?"

"That's correct."

"George, how do you touch?"

"Before you get carried away, Mariam, think about Sharlene's situation. Lovely lady, I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but to just remind us of the facts. Sharlene hasn't been touched intimately before. Apparently, she trusts me to not hurt her. She's in the first flush of sexual excitement and at a later age than most women. Add those factors together and her emotional response will not seem so unusual."

"You have a point there. But by the same token," Mariam turns back to Sharlene, "if your recordings are as clean as they were before, as well as longer and more intense, they'll be, as Julie said, a best seller. I see great hopes for the company to succeed. I know we have a lot of things to work out yet, but the hope is growing."

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (e2)

Since she wants to move the conversation away from her recorded emotional responses, Sharlene says, "Regarding things to work out yet, I've been making some notes on what I would like Digital Empathy to look like and how I think it ought to function, and I want to go over those with you. Before I do, I should clear the table and then maybe you can give us the latest status on the Project before we spend time discussing the company."

It doesn't take long for the three of them to clear the table, make bathroom trips, get fresh drinks, and return to the table.

Mariam pauses a moment to get her thoughts in order then says, "Let's see if I can separate out what's happened with the Project in the last week. To start off, I don't know for sure, but I think the agreement with the government has been formally signed. The Project will be officially put on the market on the second of ninth month with two weeks being set aside for the submittal of proposals, then one week for the review of the proposals, with the Project to be awarded on the twentieth. That much at least is semi set in stone since the material has been sent to the printers and will be mailed to the media and anyone who has so far expressed an interest, as well as other organizations the Institute thinks might be receptive.

"After that, the schedule becomes a little fluid because it will depend somewhat on the purchase of the Project by the winner of the proposal. If there's a problem with that, the whole thing could get pushed back. The hope of the Institute management is to have the paperwork completed and inventory transferred by the twenty-third or no later than the twenty-ninth. Then, again depending on the purchaser, the two week training period would begin shortly after that."

"What happens next week before the Project is put on the market?"

Mariam answers, "The Request for Proposal packages will be sent out directly from the printers, but we'll also distribute some to anyone new who expresses an interest. Other than that, we'll verify and box up the inventory except for what's needed for demonstration purposes and it will be secured in a storage facility off site. That was a requirement of the government so the Institute couldn't short change the inventory at the last minute."

Sharlene asks, "What about the non-physical inventory like the emotional recordings already collected and the software?"

"That's supposed to be downloaded onto portable memory which is one of my chores for next week. I have to make six copies of all of the electronic data to go with the physical inventory into storage. Even if there's something wrong with copying the data onto one of the recording disks, the odds that all six copies might be damaged is pretty remote. Still to be on the safe side, I've been making my own copies. Just a second."

Mariam gets up, goes to the front room where she set her purse and other bag down, comes back, hands Sharlene two mass storage drives, and says, "These are a couple of copies of all of the emotional recordings which have been collected by the Project. I've also kept two copies. When the scandal first hit the Project, I started working on pulling all of the data together. As far as I know, this is all of it. When Digital Empathy starts, I still like the sound of that, we'll want to use the officially downloaded copies, but I really wanted to have a backup system if something goes wrong."

"I'm sure glad you've been thinking ahead about all of this."

"By the way, if you're not too busy making new emotional recordings, review some of the other recordings which have been collected. It will give you an idea of why I think yours are so special. While you're looking at them, you might also think of ways to identify or name the recordings which might be more anonymous, but more marketable than the participant's number and date."

Sharlene nods her head, "That's a good idea. I'm not sure how a participant would respond if they were to see their number listed as available choices."

"We would probably get as many responses as there are participants ranging from pride to rage."

"I think you're probably right about that. The other day I was thinking about my recordings and wondering how they could be labeled. It may be somewhat accurate, but I don't think 'online sex' is how I want them to be identified."

Mariam nods her head as she says, "I agree. Maybe 'private pleasure' or 'personal pleasure' would be better."

"Umm, 'personal pleasure' has a more positive ring to it and that's something I want to convey, the positive aspects of emotions. However, I think I like George's term of 'intimate pleasure' even more so. I know I can't control how people respond, but I prefer to have it come across more as two people sharing physical love and affection rather than as two animals rutting."

"I totally agree. I'm sure some of the potential customer base will be more inclined towards the 'rutting' aspect, but I hope they'll be a small minority."

"Along with labeling, I was thinking about marketing." Sharlene chuckles then says, "I can just imagine the public uproar if we had an advertisement which shows a sad faced woman who the narrator asks, 'Doesn't your boyfriend please you?' When she sadly shakes her head, the narrator says, 'Try Emotique,' and rattles off the online address as well as displays it on the screen. The next scene is the same woman enjoying intimate pleasure through a headband."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea."

Sharlene looks at Mariam in surprise before she responds, "Really? I thought it would be too risque or something."

"You don't watch much television or read popular magazines, do you?"

"Not if I can avoid it."

"If you come up with any other ideas, let me know or we'll have someone else do the marketing. There are several venues where your idea would fit in very nicely and be one of the tamer ones. Even for those who might complain about your idea for an advertisement, they'll wonder if Emotique can make good on its claim. That's the key. It doesn't matter how wild your claims are, after all, just look at politicians. If you can make good on your claim, the word will spread and the customers will come. Most especially if the media pooh-poohs it off and then has to eat their words."

"I have to agree that marketing is an area I have no knowledge of or really any desire to know about. Most of it's so stupid or juvenile I can't believe anybody falls for it. People must fall for it or there wouldn't be so much of it."

George suggests, "Either that or it's like throwing out a thousand hooks in the hope of catching one fish."

Sharlene nods her head, "You could be right about that. Then the people who buy the product have to pay more to cover the cost of all the advertising which was used to hook them. Was there anything else going on at the Project?"

Mariam shakes her head as she answers, "No, but a lot of other activities at the Institute are getting a more detailed review by their funding agencies. The study you were working on is getting an especially close look and any day now, I expect that one to get blown into another scandal. I think you got out at the right time."

"I'm beginning to think so, too. At first I felt somewhat guilty, but if I hadn't have quit then, I might have gotten dragged into the potential scandal. More importantly, I wouldn't have been at my aunt's and been able to save my wonderful man." As she reaches over and holds onto his hand, Sharlene warmly smiles at him.

"I don't mean to intrude, but beyond hearing that he collapsed from a heart attack, I never did hear the story."

Sharlene briefly thinks about it then says, "I guess I haven't told you, I'm sorry. George, do you mind?"

"Not at all. I like to think Mariam is my friend too. After all, I don't want to be accused of going around hugging and kissing perfectly strange women. I'll let you tell it."

"George, why should Sharlene tell it?"

"Because I was dead and don't remember anything."

"That's not something to joke about."

"I'm not joking, Mariam."

Sharlene nods her head as she explains, "It's true, he was technically dead. When I got to George after he collapsed, he had no pulse. Let me start at the beginning." She starts with Molly's actions as she briefly tells the story and concludes with a short review of his recovery.

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (e3)

Mariam condenses what they told her, "So if it weren't for Molly, you would have never known George was in trouble. If you weren't there, even if someone else knew CPR, he most likely wouldn't have made it to the hospital. Again, if you weren't there, he wouldn't have had the proper treatment quickly enough."

"That's a good summary."

After she shakes her head somewhat in disbelief, Mariam looks at each of them before she says, "I'm still amazed at how lucky you are. The odds of you two meeting and being just the right person for the other, is simply incredible. I thought it when I first saw your emotional recordings and you told me about George. I'm even more amazed after what happened with his heart attack and at seeing you two together. I've never been one for believing in destiny or anything like that, but you two belong. You constitute some sort of rightness and I feel privileged to be somewhat a part of it. I'll also be honest and say I'm somewhat jealous it's not me who is directly involved while at the same time I know it couldn't be me."

Each of them lightly grip one of Mariam's hands and hold it while Sharlene responds, "Without you spending many hours talking to me, supporting me, and demonstrating that you cared about me, I wouldn't be here with George. Although you may not have had as direct a role as George and I, you were still very much involved in us being able to develop a relationship and I certainly want you to remain my friend. I hope you can put up with us sometimes getting distracted and staring at each other dreamily."

Mariam chuckles, squeezes their hands, and tells them, "As long as you can tolerate an occasional tease. Actually it's kind of fun to watch you two, especially considering the differences in your appearances. You two would make a great photographic example of the notion that 'opposites attract' even though I know that's not what you find attractive in each other. You could also be a photographic example that 'appearances are deceiving' or 'it's what's inside that counts'. As much as I like to tease you about your relationship, I suppose we ought to talk about the company. Did you have specific things or general ideas to discuss?"

Sharlene pauses a moment to get her thoughts in order before she responds to the change in subject, "Both, but I'm not sure how to approach it all. I suppose the first thing to do is to warn you that I'm starting to take the whole idea of Digital Empathy more seriously as well as my role in being president. I'm beginning to feel a strong sense of responsibility for making the company a success, not only for the people we want to help therapeutically, but also for any employees we have and the satisfaction of the customers who will be paying for it all. When I last talked to Klara, she pointed out that I would do better approaching the company as though I was the 'senior partner' who established the philosophy and set the direction of the company and trusted the other partners to handle their areas, rather than trying to be the 'president' who oversaw everything and looked over everyone's shoulders."

"That would fit your personality better as well as how we've talked about the personality of the company."

"I agree, but I'm still going to have to act more as the president until we determine the positions needed and find the right people to fill them. That's part of why I was asking you about who was to be on the training team with you, unless there are some other people who were associated with the Project and have the needed skills or knowledge and would be valuable contributors."

Mariam takes a drink then responds, "Before we go there, let's establish what we want the company to do. We've generalized it in the business plan, but let's look at how those generalizations apply more on a day to day basis. Do you have your computer handy? I would prefer to type it instead of write long hand."

"George, while I get my computer, do you have anything to add?"

"Not yet. You ladies are doing fine. I might have an idea or two down the road, but I'll wait and see, one of you may have already thought about it."

As she accepts the computer, Mariam says, "Thanks, Sharlene. Now, while I get this plugged in, since there's no sense in wearing your battery down, and booted up, think about what you see as the purpose of Digital Empathy and then think of the steps needed to get there. I know this is new ground for you, but maybe you can think of the major functions which your dad's construction company needs in order to operate."

"You mean like construction, consulting, and administration?"

Mariam winces then says, "That's the right answer to the wrong question. Rather than the entire company, what are the major steps of a construction project?"

"Review the bid, check the feasibility of the project, acquire supplies and crew, build the project, and do a post construction review."

As he recognizes their growing frustration, George takes Sharlene's hand and asks, "May I step in?"

"Please, George."

"In the simplest terms, what's the product or service which Digital Empathy is intended to provide?"

"Digitally recorded emotions."

"Do you produce them in a lab or build them in a factory?"

Sharlene gives him a funny look, but plays along, "No, we have to have people record them."

"For those people who record the emotions, are you going to hire them as employees?"

"We couldn't afford to have so many people permanently on staff in the hope they might provide a few minutes of quality emotional recordings."

"So, you're going to have to acquire the emotional recordings from outside sources?"

"Yes."

"Then what does Digital Empathy do with the emotional recordings?"

"Review them for clarity and intensity, and test them to make sure that what's received is the same as what's transmitted."

"So the company processes the acquired recordings. Once the emotional recordings have been processed and meets the company standards, what happens next?"

"We get them out to the people who either want them or need them."

George summarizes, "So, the major activities of Digital Empathy are to acquire emotional recordings, process the recordings, and then distribute the recordings. Add to that the necessary support functions to keep everything running smoothly and you have an overview of the company."

"I think I get it. And then we can look at each of those areas to see what needs to be done and how it needs to be organized. Like under distribution, it would go in two directions, one for therapy under the Digital Empathy name and one for personal use under the name of Emotique."

"Was that what you were trying to get at, Mariam?"

"Exactly." She reaches over to squeeze his hand as she tells him, "Thank you, George."

Sharlene adds, "And research. I know we can't start that right away, but part of the underlying goal is to understand emotions and how they develop and change in the brain, so instead of treating symptoms, we can learn to recognize, treat, and hopefully solve the underlying problem."

He proclaims, "There you go. Those are the main headings of the outline."

"Outline? Oh my, of course. Excuse me, Mariam." Sharlene hops up out of her chair, sits on George's upper legs, and thoroughly kisses him.

Mariam says, "Now I'm confused."

Sharlene explains, "I'm sorry. I kept thinking of the business as some totally strange entity which I know nothing about and was confused by all of the elements and frightened I would forget some vital elements which would cause the whole thing to come crashing down. If I approach it using problem solving techniques and outline the whole thing so I can deal with one area at a time, then it makes a lot more sense, which means I'll be less confused and less likely to forget something important. I know there's still a lot I don't know and I'm sure I'll have to deal with confusion for a long time, but if I outline it or chart it or somehow organize it, at least in my own mind, then I can keep the confusion in a small area and not have it affect everything."

Mariam nods her head as she responds, "I didn't think of it in terms of an outline before, even while I was doing it in my own mind. Well, more like a chart, especially to try keeping track of the various interactions."

"Now that it dawns on me to organize the business activities or functions based on an outline or a chart, I feel rather stupid for not recognizing it earlier and saving myself some panic."

"Don't feel stupid, Sharlene. We all have our areas of comfort. I've been involved with business since I was a teenager. Now, if I had been the one to see George collapse, I would have either froze or panicked. I'm not saying you didn't feel some sort of panic, but you saw a problem and solved it, saw another problem and solved that one. You kept solving problems and may have created a bigger one in the shape of a horny teenager you looks like as escapee from an old folk's home."

When the laughter diminishes, he asks, "Mariam, do you want to know what the biggest problem was in escaping from the old folk's home?"

"What was that?"

"My rocking chair wouldn't fit under the fence." As they picture that in their minds, their laughter begins again. Since they recognize this as a good time to take a break, they visit the bathrooms, refill their drinks, and are soon back at the table.

* * * * *

2147-08-29 (e4)

Sharlene starts, "To work with the idea of approaching the company by using an outline and charts, I can already see how some of my ideas will fit into various categories and sometimes have already solved themselves. I would still like to bounce some ideas around tonight just to get a feel for where we might head and how to get there. As we go forward, I think I would like to maintain the chart or outline approach for digging into the details."

Mariam nods her head as she responds, "That sounds good to me, but we had better keep it on your computer and if I have ideas, I'll either come over or talk on the phone. If the Institute management gets any more paranoid, they might somehow get permission to raid our personal files and I wouldn't want to give them evidence that I was 'working for the enemy'. If that happened, Digital Empathy would die before it was born."

"Isn't it dangerous for you to have copies of the emotional recordings?"

"Not really. I've been working with the recordings directly for several months now and I can always point out that I review them at home to improve my recognition of smaller variations which is actually quite true. So I don't see a problem with that."

"That's good. What about the acquisition of the emotional recordings? You were directly involved in that, Mariam. Did you see things which could have been improved or done differently?"

"The basic idea of testing people through movies and then having them participate on a trial basis seemed to work. One of the questions I had was why we only sought participants in the local area. I understand it was easier on the Project staff, but people in other parts of the world have emotions too. Once we get organized, I would probably recommend road trips to other cities in order to expand the number of possible participants."

Sharlene nods her head and says, "That's a good idea. I wonder if there's a better way of testing people than to use the movie method. I suppose that will have to wait until after we get the company started and are able to discuss it with Todd and Julie, if they'll fit in, and if they're interested in doing so."

"I know you don't know them, but I think they'll fit in and without being specifically stated, I think they're very interested in following the Project, assuming it maintains similar goals. From general conversations, it seems like one or both of them have close friends or family members who could benefit from a therapeutic use of emotions. And Todd is very much involved with the technology of the Project as a whole. As far as I've been able to find out, if there was a technical issue with any aspect of the Project, the answer was, go see Todd.

"Julie may not have the technical expertise which Todd does, but she understands enough to translate the needs of the user into the technology terms which Todd understands. She was also very good at supervising and helping the other testers, many of whom were young and just out of school or were middle aged and trying to get back into the work force. Unless something comes out of the woodwork, I would recommend both of them for the company."

"Are there any other issues with the acquisition side of things?"

Mariam answers, "I liked the idea of using the bank as the go between so the participant remained anonymous to the Project, but the pay structure seemed arbitrary because there was no correlation between the usefulness of the recordings and the financial reward which was offered. I like the idea we came up with last week about a profit sharing based on how often an individual's emotional recordings are accessed. If we had to keep track of that by hand it would be overwhelming, but it shouldn't be too hard to write a program to count the number of times a particular recording is accessed."

"I also like the idea of profit sharing, but if I was a participant, I wouldn't want to wait a year for a pay check. Would it be possible to do the financial books on a monthly basis?"

"With current computer software, it would be easy. For bills which are paid on a semi-annual or annual basis, with the right instructions, the software can set aside the proper amount each month to handle those longer term payments. There may be more fluctuation in profits calculated on a monthly basis rather than on a yearly basis, but there's no way to know ahead of time which will be to the participant's advantage, if there's even a difference."

Sharlene pauses a moment before she says, "While on the subject of payments to participants, I don't know how to build up to this, so I'll be straight forward. With all of my emotional recordings, George has been either directly or indirectly involved. Frankly, I wouldn't be having such strong and clean emotional recordings without him. So, how can he be counted and rewarded for providing an emotional recording, if I'm the one who is recording it?"

He assures her, "You don't need to include me, it's my pleasure to make you happy."

"I know, George, but there are bound to be other people involved in a relationship which results in good emotional recordings, so the question is going to come up sooner or later."

Mariam nods her head as she says, "Without knowing for sure, I think the best way would be that when you set up your participant's number at the bank, they should be able to divide it between two or more accounts based on whatever percentages you want.

"Okay. That one's been bugging me for awhile, and no objections, George."

He hesitates before he responds, "Yes, my lady."

She smiles at him then turns back to Mariam and says, "Let's go back to the emotional recordings. How well did it work for them to be uploaded to the Project online site?"

"I didn't hear of any problems. That's something we'll have to set up not only for the upload, but for the distribution also. My initial guess would be to have three online sites, one for the upload, one for distribution as Digital Empathy and one for distribution as Emotique."

"I was thinking more of two, one for Digital Empathy which provides general information along with separate secured sub-sites for upload and access and one for Emotique that provides general information, maybe a free sampler of emotions to interest the curious but uncommitted, a place to request the headband, and a sub-site for the customer to pay to access an emotional recording."

"It sounds like you've thought about that in a little more detail than I have."

"Maybe." Sharlene asks, "Was there someone at the Project who set up the online site for the uploads or was that someone from the Institute."

"I don't know for sure, but there was an online specialist assigned to the Project, but I wouldn't trust him. We'll either need to get outside online assistance to set up the online sites or see if Todd knows someone."

"I set up a few sites for my computer classes back at the university, but I haven't stayed current with the software advances."

Mariam suggests, "Even if you don't use the latest software, I think our needs will be fairly basic. Maybe you can at least design the online sites. Even if you turned over the actual development to someone else, you're more likely to get what you want if you already have a clear design idea."

"That's a good point. Let me make a note to try. Those were the acquisition questions I had for now although I'm sure I'll have more later. What about the reviewing of the emotional recordings?"

"That's a fairly well established procedure which can be easily taught, especially since the software does most of the work. There are a couple of people I worked with who I might be inclined to bring on board if we have enough recordings come in."

Sharlene asks, "What about the criteria of what's used and what's ignored?"

"To begin with, I would stick with the Project standards, at least until we can discuss it freely with Todd and Julie. They'll probably have some good input into what the testers recognize and what they don't."

"I admit ignorance, but that's something I've wondered about. If we want ordinary people to experience the emotions, how do we establish criteria for professional testers? I've also thought that everyone we hire ought to be able to experience the emotional recordings, not only to know what our product is, but if we can't experience it, then how can we expect the average person to experience it?"

Mariam nods her head as she responds, "Those are good questions, and I don't have answers. They're something else to put on the back burner to discuss with Todd and Julie."

"I know you don't have answers. With the questions I keep raising, I'm almost feeling sorry for Todd and Julie. They're going to feel like they're being interrogated when we have a chance to talk to them. Okay, on to the distribution. Some of the questions I've already thought of are going to need technical input. I suppose we'll just have to pile up the questions in each category."

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.

