Chapter 12

It turned out that the big bed wasn't really for sleeping in. The girls had realised that Frank and I needed to be led fairly gently into a four-way marriage, and had arranged two normal-sized beds in two other bedrooms. I took Sue into one, Frank went into the other with Jill. I suspect the girls swapped over several times during the night, but couldn't tell with the lights out. Anyway, sex wasn't really on the menu - it was just touch & talk, with plenty of sleepy cuddles.

The following morning, I excused myself after breakfast, and went to the labs. Came back; administered the cures, and then had a lazy day with my new family. The girls took a few telephone calls, but didn't say what they were about. When I asked Sue, all she said was "just business, love. Nothing exciting."

Late in the evening, the phrase came back and hit me between the eyes. Business? The world that she inhabited, and Jill as well, was nothing at all to do with business. She had always been proud of the fact that nothing she did at work had anything to do with sordid commerce. I had a terrible suspicion, and tackled her about it.

"Uh - Sue? These 'business' calls. Is there anything I need to know about them?"

"Actually dear, yes. We've been getting quite a lot of requests for your services. We've booked the first one for ten o'clock tomorrow morning, here."

"What? But I have to be at work."

"But you have to come back again, don't you? To give Jill and I another of your little magic capsules, remember? So, while you're here, you might as well earn us some money. Any objections?"

"Um. Not really, I suppose. Who is it?"

"Shelley Ford. You know, the film actress. Any problem with that?"

Far from it, I thought. Perhaps this little 'business' that the girls had set up had its good points, after all. I tried to dampen my enthusiasm, just for form's sake.

"I wish you'd told me", I grumbled.

"Come off it, Jack - your little friend jumped to attention as soon as I said the name, didn't he? Admit it!"

"All right, all right. If that's the calibre of client you're going to get, I'll be happy."

"We can't promise they'll all be in that league, of course. But you never know - some of the others might surprise you."

I thought of Jackie, and silently agreed with her.

The following morning, I went to the labs early. I hadn't enjoyed being imprisoned there for a week, but being permanently on the premises had had its advantages - the work was going very well indeed. And two nights and a day away from the place had revived my enthusiasm.

Hilary was in early as well, so we caught up on our news. Jackie had confessed to her about our night together, and its happy outcome. She was now fairly definite that she swung both ways, and Mike had decided to join the household on a permanent basis.

"Lucky him!", I said. "Two gorgeous women, both wealthy. He's got it made!"

Hilary smiled. "It's looking good so far. I still prefer Jackie in my bed - I can swing the other way, as I found out with you, but I like women a lot better than men. Still, Jackie's so much better with this arrangement that I can't help but be happy. And yes, Mike seems to be doing all right. We're planning on sending him back to university for his doctorate - he couldn't afford to stay on after his BSc before."

We discussed my 'timetable' of cures, and I told her that the girls had found me a cash customer for that morning.

"So, should we put you down for one 'workmate' cure today, or none?"

"As far as I know, I have two free slots, not one."

"And suppose this cash customer wants it both ways?"

A vision came over me of Shelley Ford's delectable ass, naked and wagging in my direction. "Er... good point...", I stammered. "I don't know."

"Well then," she said, "the best thing is if I just keep a roster of who's asked for a cure, and I'll call one in every time you let me know you're available. As long as you guarantee me six in the week, it doesn't really matter when."

"It might to the women concerned, I suppose," I said.

"It probably does! But they've been getting by, for a month or more. An extra day or two won't hurt. And how are you fixed on the 'charity' front?"

"I don't know. Mike's not in yet, but I suppose she's organising it."

"One category you don't have to worry about is the very young girls. I know it bothered you."

It had bothered me a lot. I know, I know. None of them were virgins, otherwise they couldn't have caught it in the first place. But, especially after hearing Jackie's story, there was no way that I would want to fuck a nine-year-old. I might stretch a point for a fourteen or fifteen, but that was all. And I'd been worried that the Health authority would line up a load of little kids for me.

"So, why don't I have to worry?"

"You've heard the story about the eleven-year-old and her stepfather? And the boy next door?"

"Yes. She was one of the ones I was worried about."

"She's cured. Turns out that the boy has his own 'magic beanstalk'. So, the authorities have hired him to cure all the underage victims they can find."

"Hired him?"

"Oh, yes! They're paying him quite a lot of money, and he's making even more on the side. His mother and the little girl's mother are acting as his agents, and they reckon he'll be able to make enough money to set the two kids up for life."

"So they're staying together, are they?"

"They want to at the moment. And even if it doesn't work out long-term, both families agree that the two kids should share the money equally. After all, she's the victim. And if she hadn't needed treatment, he'd never have known he was a curer."

"And a glittering career might never have happened?"

"Yes. Funny how things work out."

My lab work didn't take long. I finished up, and left the building shortly after nine, with the two gelatine capsules that my wives were waiting for. I applied them, and both girls promised to stand upside-down for five minutes every hour. Sue left, eager to carry on with her interviews. Frank had already gone out, but Jill stayed behind to help me with my visitor.

"Nervous, dear?", she asked.

"A little, I suppose. I mean, she's every man's wet dream, isn't she? What's she like, really? You've spoken to her, haven't you?"

"Actually, no I haven't. This one was set up through her agent, who sounded a bit hard and pushy. But I suppose all Hollywood agents sound like that. We'll just have to wait and see for ourselves whether she lives up to her billing."

We waited. Ten o'clock, no show. Eleven, still nothing. I got up to leave.

"Sorry, Jill. I have better things to do."

"Better than sitting with me? Surely not?"

"You know what I mean. She booked me for ten o'clock. I was here in plenty of time. So where is she?"

The telephone rang. "Is Shelley there?", demanded a loud male voice.

"I don't know who you mean," I replied.

"You know damn well! Put her on!"

"Now look here you, whoever you are. Listen carefully. There is no-one in this house called Shelley. Nor has there been for the past week. I can't say about before that, because I've only just moved in. Got that? Goodbye."

I put the phone down, quite hard. Seconds later, it rang again.

The same voice. "Listen to me, guy. I'm Shelley's agent, and you can tell her from me that if she doesn't call me in five minutes her tits are going to be in the mangle. Got that? Goodbye." A click at the other end demonstrated that I wasn't the only one who could slam a phone down.

"Now there's a guy who likes to have the last word," I said mildly.

I decided to wait around. Things were getting interesting. Eventually, at about half-past eleven, the lady herself arrived, in a large chauffeur-driven car.

Jill opened the door to her. Shelley swept straight past, ignoring her completely.

"Right. Here I am. Now, can we get this over with? I'm booked solid with interviews, all day."

"Good morning, Miss Ford," I said. "I'm Jack Harper. This is my wife." I gestured at Jill, still standing by the open door.

"Never mind the pleasantries - I told you, I'm in a hurry!"

"In that case, Miss Ford, you've come to the wrong house. Goodbye."

"What?", she shrieked. "I've made a special trip over here for this, and you're telling me I'm wasting my time? Come off it - I've paid good money for this."

"I don't know whether you're wasting your time, Miss Ford, but you're certainly wasting mine. And my wife's. As for your money, it will be refunded."

"Oh no you don't! You've advertised a service, you go through with it. Otherwise my agent will sue you for everything you've got, including the shirt off your back. And believe me, he knows where to find the best lawyers."

"The contract was for ten o'clock this morning," I said, keeping my voice level. "It's now nearly mid-day. You broke the contract, not I. Incidentally, talking of your agent, he rang some time ago, wanting to speak with you. I thought he was particularly rude - but after hearing you, I think maybe I misjudged him."

"Geoffrey rang? What did he want?"

"All he said to me was that he needed to speak to you, and that if you didn't call him in five minutes, quote, your tits would be in the mangle, unquote. That was over half an hour ago. Doesn't your car have a phone he could have called you on?"

"It does. I have a mobile on me as well. But I make damned sure that neither one is turned on before noon. Everybody wants to talk to me!"

"Everybody but me. I suggest you go back to your car, point it in the direction of all your precious interviews, and phone your agent on the way. Goodbye."

I touched her arm, trying to encourage her to leave.

"Get your goddam hands off me! I'll go when I'm good and ready."

"Jill, call the newspapers," I said. "Tell them that Shelley Ford has arrived here, demanding a fuck that she's nearly two hours late for, and won't leave until she's had it. Tell them that she sounds as if she's either drunk, or on drugs. Possibly both. Ask them to send a photographer."

"Sure thing," Jill replied, her eyes dancing. She picked up the telephone.

"Get away from that phone!", demanded the film-star. "You can't say that!"

"Why not?", I asked. "It's true, isn't it?"

"They'll break me! They mustn't know I've been here!"

"Then why, Miss Ford, did you come here in a flashy chauffeur-driven limousine? Why have you been shouting at the top of your voice since you arrived? Not exactly discreet, I'd have said." I raised my voice slightly. "I'm getting rather bored with this. If you don't leave NOW, we'll call the press." I gestured again at the open door.

"All right, I'm going. But when Geoff hears what you've done, there's going to be trouble." She swept out, ignoring Jill again. I closed the door behind her.

"Whew!", said Jill. "Sorry about that, but I didn't know."

"That's a side of her personality that never makes it on to the silver screen," I grinned. "Pity about the money, but there's no way that I could manage an erection with that harpy screeching at me."

We sat down with a coffee, and I thought about going back to work. The curse of Monday mornings, I thought. Nothing ever goes as planned.

A few minutes later, the telephone rang again. Jill answered it, listened for a while, then put her hand over the mouthpiece.

"It's Shelley Ford, Jack. I think she's trying to apologise, but she's not very good at it. Keeps forgetting herself and shouting."

I took the phone out of Jill's hand, and put it back on the rest. Then unplugged it at the wall. A few seconds later the upstairs extensions started ringing, but they were faint enough not to bother us, so we ignored them. Eventually, they stopped. She'd obviously given up.

Wrong! I'd only just plugged the main handset back in, when it rang again. Against my better judgement, I answered it.

"Mr Harper - Jack - I'm sorry for my outburst." A vibrant, sexy voice, in the low contralto register. It pushed buttons, and I found myself thinking of her screen image rather than the ranting virago I'd pushed out of the door.

I managed to resist. "Miss Ford, I don't know why you keep telephoning me like this. I've already made it quite clear that I'm not interested. Why can't you take no for an answer?"

"I'll make it worth your while. I'm desperate. Please - if you only knew!"

"I'm sorry, but no. I'm sure you could find someone else just as qualified. If he's one of your fans, you'd go straight to the head of the queue, and he'd probably do it for nothing. Why me?"

"You were recommended. Guaranteed discreet, I'm told. And now I don't have time to find anyone else. I was also led to believe that you were a fan of mine."

"Was, Miss Ford, was. Not any more, after your disgraceful exhibition earlier. Until then, I was looking forward to meeting you."

"Look, will you let me come in? I'm parked up outside, and I promise to behave myself."

I looked at Jill, who had been sharing the earpiece with me. She shrugged, leaving the decision to me.

"Very well, you can come in. My wife and I will listen to your story, but I have to tell you that you will have to convince both of us to help you. I'm frequently told that I let my gonads get the better of my judgement, so her wise head will help keep me straight."

I put the phone down, and we headed to the door.

"Why did you say that, love?", asked Jill.

"Because last time she treated you like a piece of furniture. I'm proud of you, and I won't see you ignored. If she has to convince you, she might be just a little bit more pleasant. But just in case she isn't, start looking up phone numbers for a few newspaper offices. Ok?"

"I think I'm falling in love with you all over again, my wonderful semi-husband."

"Again? And what about Frank?"

"Him too. Don't worry - Sue and I can keep things straightened out. Now, let's see to our visitor."

She opened the door, and Shelley came back in, playing a different role this time. I deliberately forced myself to see it this way, otherwise I'd be bedazzled by her all over again. This time, she was playing 'scared little innocent'. I tried to think which movie she'd played this character in, and came up with a couple. We sat her down, and sat side by side, facing her.