Chapter 22: Why confess if you've not broken any rules?

Kelley had given her permission for Megan to stay overnight at the apartment ... sometimes. I interpreted 'sometimes' to mean 'often, ' but Megan looked at it differently.

"When we started this, you said one of us would tire of the other in two weeks. We haven't tired of being together, but I don't want to take any chances. We need to make it work until June," she said.

I knew she was right. We needed to agree on a firm schedule.

"Tuesday's a must. You're here anyway for the Business Management meeting. I'll get the Applied Business Theories class to break up early, and we can go for a run."

Megan had emptied her book bag and had everything spread out on one of the folding tables. "I'll come for pizza on Friday nights, except when Kelley is here, and we can run on Saturday," she suggested.

"That's only two nights per week," I objected.

She brought her forefinger to her lips, and pushed her upper lip up several times, thoughtfully. I wondered if she was imitating the way I lifted her upper lip and let it fall, letting it spring back into place. It was the little fun thing we dared do in bed.

"Kelley needs to know the days I'll be here. You don't want her calling you every night to ask if I'm here, do you?"

"You're right. I think she will like knowing the nights. We could add Sunday night after I take her to the airport," I suggested, and watched her questioning look.

"We'd need to change the sheets."

"I have a system. I call Victor when we're ready to leave for the airport. He brings Gladys here to do some cleaning. I stop by your house to pick you up. I call him when we're ready to leave. That gives them time to have some fun together."

Megan didn't comment one way or the other, but I could tell that she was receptive to my plan. "What's for dinner?" she asked.

"Franks and beans if I do the cooking; tuna-noodle casserole if you do it," I said as I walked toward my study.

"Franks and beans will be fine," she yelled in my direction.

I phoned Wanda first. "Did you get my occupancy report?" she asked.

"I haven't opened my mail yet."

She gave me a thumbnail sketch: "Occupancy is up; revenue is down."

"That's depressing. What else is new?"

"Neill is becoming nervous."

"Why?"

"It's just a feeling I've had. There are only two bays remaining to be built out in the R & D building. He keeps asking if there's any new development on the building we looked at."

"My attitude toward that building hasn't changed. I'll take another look at your numbers, and you might do the same."

"Where are these doubts coming from, Sammy? My numbers are sound, and you know it."

"I don't know where they're coming from. Just do it, okay?"

"Sammy, are you being short with me?"

"I'm sorry. This is my meetings night, and I still need to talk to Kelley."

"It's good to be busy. You'll look back on these days with fond memories," she said. With that, we said goodbye.

I'd mentioned Kelley's name on purpose. Wanda would have said something if Kelley had cried on her shoulder about Megan staying overnight with me ... sometimes.

"Hi, honey," she said when she came to the phone.

"You're in a pleasant mood. Did you close a deal today?"

"I'm just happy to talk to you. Thank you for calling. I know this is your meeting night."

"Megan's here for the first meeting. We've decided she'll stay on Tuesday nights. That will give us a chance to run after the second meeting. She'll stay some Fridays, and we'll run on Saturday morning. Two times a week should be enough considering the weather."

After a pause, "Two times a week should be enough for what, her staying with you or you running together?"

"Both," I said.

"I hope you change the sheets before I come," she said, beginning to sound edgy.

"I've got it covered."

"What if the weather makes it impossible for you to run? Will she still stay with you?"

"Well, yes, I imagine she will."

"So, running together is just a prop. You're using running as a reason for her staying in the apartment, but if you don't run, she still stays."

"Kelley, we've explained the reason she stays here. Tonight, the members of my study groups will see that we run together, and that she will stay the night. On Friday night, my friends will see that she stays. Both nights are good for the image we're striving to project."

Kelley apologized, saying that was exactly the way Megan had presented it to her. I didn't say anything about our tentative plans for me to pick up Megan on a Sunday after I'd delivered Kelley to the airport. Megan hadn't agreed to my suggestion, nor had there been any mention of running before bedtime.

I prepared for the two meetings, and then went to the kitchen to make dinner. Franks and beans reminded me of Saturday nights when I was growing up at home. I suppose Gladys was brought up the same way because she'd left a package of franks in the refrigerator, and there were a few cans of beans among the can goods. I made enough for four people in case others showed up early. Casey and Kalian came in a few minutes after six, and we were soon joined by Chase.

"Do they still serve franks and beans in the cafeteria?" I asked as I put the rest of the package of franks in the oven and opened a second can of beans.

"This is much better than eating in a noisy cafeteria," Kalian said, and the others chimed in with praise for my cooking.

"It beats tuna-noodle casserole," Megan said, winking at me. She volunteered to put the kitchen in order, and Kalian helped.

As I watched Kalian clear the table, I decided to tell her what had been on my mind for the last two days.

"Kalian, I want to say publicly how much I appreciated you taking charge on Sunday night. Your level-headed actions elevated my estimation of your ability to take command under chaotic conditions," I said in the most sincere voice I could project.

The others glanced my way, and then they looked at Kalian, who was blushing. She recovered quickly, and came around the table to plop her ass in my lap.

Her playful action surprised me, but the way she stared into my eyes for several seconds gave me a feeling that we were connecting. "Sammy, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me. I do believe that your feelings are genuine."

Now she was making me embarrassed, and she knew it. "Thank you for your quick thinking."

Kalian started to get off my lap, and then she plopped her ass back down, looking at me like she had something else to say. "I didn't think you wanted to see Mac and Caroline fuck in public. I know I didn't."

Now it was Chase's turn to be embarrassed. Not only had Kalian been candid about what we'd almost witnessed, she remembered that I'd called him Mac.

"Did you call her?" I asked him, as Kalian got off my lap. Chase nodded his head.

"I'm seeing her Friday night. Would you mind if I bring her to the party?"

I grimaced and looked at Megan. "Can you read between the lines?"

She grinned at me.

"Do you mind having company?" I asked her.

"As long as they put something on when they go to the bathroom," she said.

"Make sure Caroline knows the rules," I said to Chase, and he agreed to keep the door to my study closed.

"Hey, what about us?" Kalian asked.

I looked at Megan. She shrugged and said, "The same rules apply to you guys."

Gifford arrived and I called the meeting to order. The case involved the merger of two circuses. I assigned Gifford the task of doing an in-depth analysis of the costs associated with the merger and the benefits that were sure to be derived. Like in the previous case, we were all to feed him numbers as they were determined.

"Kalian, I want you to research the advance man."

"Huh?" she asked, sticking her tongue out at me.

"The guy that goes ahead to make arrangements. I imagine he scopes out the town, observes the lay of the land, tries to bribe the officials, stuff like that."

"Okay," she said, "As long as we can meet later to talk about what you want me to do."

"Megan, you're to research ethics."

"Huh?" she asked, mimicking Kalian.

"Find out the risks and rewards of crossing the ethical line. Explore everything from truth in advertising to slight-of-hand tricks. I'd like for you to make a comparison of two extremes, everything from taking customers to the cleaners to playing it safe and never doing anything outside the law."

"We'll talk about this later," Megan said, winking at me.

"Chase, your assignment is animals. The case gives us an inventory from the two companies. Find out expected longevity, replacement costs, and generally, what precautions can be taken to extend their lives. There must be a trade-off between paying premium prices for their food and shortening the amortization period of an elephant.

Chase just looked at me before asking, "Huh?"

"Casey, you're in charge of personnel. There's a lot of duplication of positions. It will be your job to decide who stays and who goes. The case lists the skill level of all employees. I'm sure Professor Ballard will be looking at this from the humanitarian angle, so it will behoove us if you retain as many workers as possible. Consider retraining. Also consider adding acts to the show."

"What are you going to do?" Kalian asked, and the others repeated her question.

"I'll take equipment, vehicles, etcetera. Like personal, there is duplication. I'll be meeting with each of you often and I'll coordinate linking your papers together. I'll also do some research on my own and make suggestions. Okay?"

Everyone looked dubious, but they accepted their assignments.

The meeting ended on a jovial note as Megan said, "We'll meet later tonight. You'll give me some individual attention, won't you, Sammy?"

We took a short break to stretch and rearrange the tables and chairs for our next meeting. Megan and Kalian retired to my study, Gifford took off, and the other members of the A.B.T. study group arrived.

Chase opened the meeting by announcing the change in suppliers of the bracelets. He asked me to tell the group that a distributor had usurped the business from Laura, giving us credit and promising to meet our delivery requirements. "His price improves our profit margin significantly," I said.

This set up a howl for immediate division of profits. It was led by Casey, who pointed out that everyone was short of spending money at this time of year. Chase and I argued that it was too soon to consider tapping the profits.

We wasted thirty minutes on what I considered a petty issue, but that was just my opinion. It had been a long time since I'd had to count my pennies. Had I been in Chase's place, I would have banged an imaginary gavel on the table and told the dissenters to 'Shut the fuck up!', but this was not his nature. Chase resorted to diplomacy and I joined him in agreeing to refund everyone's initial investment of ten dollars, post haste.

We made one other decision: Sales people would be rewarded with a two dollar commission for each bracelet they sold. This raised more questions than it answered. When would commissions be paid, how late on Friday would I accept new orders, and what would happen to the balance of profits?

Chase caved and announced that commissions would be paid on the twenty-third of December, our last day of classes before the holidays.

At the end of the meeting, I agreed to accept new orders from anyone who was in my apartment by four P.M. on Friday. This would give me an hour to process the orders and still allow me time to prepare for my Friday night party.

Megan came out of the bedroom dressed for running. She said good night to my guests while I changed into my running outfit.

"I'm learning some valuable lessons about business," I said when we'd established our gait. "We're experiencing success beyond my original estimates, and we have some members of the team, like Ester May, who totally rejected the idea at first, but now want to know when they're going to receive their share of the profits."

"That sounds like a valuable lesson about people in general, not necessarily people in business," Megan pointed out.

This developed into a serious discussion of people, personalities, unselfishness, cunning, greed, and what lengths we would go to uphold our beliefs.

Like before, we went inside to do our final stretch, but this time there was no request for a massage, and I didn't offer one. Megan showered, and when she came out of the bathroom, she was dressed for bed. There were no towels clutched to her body. It was clear to me that she was taking no chances that there would be a reoccurrence of our near mistake. I showered, and when I joined her in bed, Megan was on the far side of the bed.

"You're a good person, Sammy."

"You don't know me very well," I responded with a chuckle.

"It was nice of you to tell Kalian that you appreciated her actions on Sunday night," Megan persisted.

"Yes, it was nice of me. I must be letting Chase's charisma rub off on me."

"She was funny when she jumped in your lap," Megan said, with a throaty giggle.

"When we first met, I pegged her for submissive, but now I'm seeing a new side of her. She has spunk. I'm beginning to wonder how much longer she'll remain with Casey."

"She would jump to you in a second if you weren't already tied up."

I laughed. "Is that what I am, tied up?"

"Kelley has you bound so tight you'll never get loose," Megan said. That's when I felt her knee touch mine.

I knew I hadn't moved since I'd settled on my back. I felt it again, and rolled onto my side. She closed the distance between us in an instant.

"I tried so hard. I tried to be good," she whispered as my arms went around her.

"You're a good person, Megan Freeman."

"You're a good person, Sammy Oldham."

"Don't beat yourself up," I whispered, feeling her body pressed to mine, smelling her clean hair, and knowing my hard-on was stabbing her tummy.

"I try to be good, but I'm not strong like you."

I took her top lip between my lips, lifted it, and let it drop. She held her head still and permitted me to repeat the lifting of her upper lip several times. I felt her tummy close in, bending my cock upward. I alternated between her upper and lower lips, causing Megan to moan. I knew I had to be strong. She expected it of me.

"Megan, we have to make it until June," I said, breaking the mood like a raw egg being dropped on the floor.

"I know," she said, turning her body away from me.

"I don't know why we put ourselves through this torture," I said, hoping to soften the harsh way I'd reminded her of our commitment to abide by the rules we'd established. Hell, we'd even promised my girlfriend that we would remain asexual when we shared the same bed. No wonder Kelley had been reluctant to grant us permission to 'be together' ... sometimes.

We didn't discuss the quandary that we found ourselves in, nor did I talk to anyone else about it until Thursday afternoon. The body shop called to say my car was ready. I invited Chase to ride along with me so he could drive the Pontiac to the rental car company after I accepted the work on my car. He jumped at the chance to see Caroline.

"I've slept in the same bed with a few girls without having sex, but I don't know how much longer Megan and I can endure the suffering it causes. My balls swell up like a hand grenade with the pin pulled. They want to explode, but can't."

Chase remained silent. I looked his way to see if he had heard me. He had. He was nodding his head, like he'd been there. "Why do you do it?"

"Why do we do it? We enjoy being together. Besides, it's part of the scam. We've got most of the student body believing that we're lovers."

"I wasn't asking why you pretend. I was asking why you don't try it; you might like it."

"You astound me. You're the most straight-laced friend I've ever had. You can't be serious," I said, watching him closely, and seeing that he was still nodding his head.

"If Megan's agreeable, and I'm assuming she is, you would be stupid not to break the egg."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"You have to break the egg to make an omelet. If you don't try the omelet you'll never know if you like it."

"I'm pretty sure I'd like the omelet, but I'm not going to break the egg. I'd have to tell Kelley about the omelet; otherwise I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"You'd have egg on your face," he quipped.

We arrived at the body shop, and that ended our discussion of the omelet. I inspected my car, accepted the repairs, and Chase followed me to the rental car company.

When we drove back to school, he was flying so high after seeing Caroline, that the subject of what Megan and I were going through was forgotten.

"Did you see her take me in the back room?" Chase asked, excitedly.

"Yeah, but you weren't gone long enough for her to give you a blowjob."

He looked at me, aghast. "She wanted to tell me that she was excited about our date tomorrow night. She said she was going to limit me to three beers."

"Hell, she told me that on Monday morning," I said, reminded of our talk in the kitchen.

"Did she tell you why?"

"Yeah, she said she wants you sober when she fucks you."

Chase was like a kid with a new toy. Caroline was a little advanced for a kid his age, but I sort of envied his learning how to play with his toy. He was reflective, making me wonder if he was thinking the same as me.

"What did you decide about your apartment over Christmas vacation?" he asked.

"Why don't we see how it works out tomorrow night? I've got to be fair to Victor, and now I've found out that Casey and Kalian are staying here, too."

"Okay," he said, nodding again, "We'll see how it works out." And then, as an afterthought, "What was your reason for singling out Kalian on Tuesday night? It was like you were pinning a gold star on her chest."

"I wanted her to know that I noticed the way she took over my job on Sunday night. It was my responsibility to keep things from getting out of hand. Kalian had Casey pump up the air mattresses, and she got Ester May to help move the hammock into my room. Then, she told you and Caroline to 'move it' to my study. She planned the logistics and carried out the maneuver while my brain was short circuiting. I'm supposed to be trained to react to situations, not sit around like a bystander. I wanted Kalian to know that she showed me something that night."

"We were all drunk," Chase said, trying to justify why I'd failed my duty.