Chapter 5

The next morning Ken had been over an hour early. The doorman, who was a friend of his by now, told him that he was too late today. She had taken a cab to the detective agency over on Fourth Ave. Ken pretended that he had just forgotten where he was supposed to be and left for the office.

He was nearing the office door when he heard conversation between Al and Barbara. Later he couldn't tell himself why he did it but he stopped instead of knocking or just entering, Ken knelt near the keyhole and listened.

"Barbara, I know we had decided to talk this morning before Ken is scheduled to pick you up but I still think these early meetings are a mistake. It would look better if I just took you aside. Maybe it would be a personal message from your mother, father, stepfather, or boy friend. This way it's too easy for Ken to find out about us."

"Right, maybe the next time Al. But I have to tell you something unexpected has happened. Uh remember you told us about kissing goodnight and stuff? Well, it went along really fine until last night."

Ken could hear Barbara shift in her chair as Al asked her, "What happened?"

"We kissed as usual. But Al, it wasn't as usual. I-He-We love each other Al. I don't know what to do. I mean we go on with the job but how do I tell him I'm really the boss? How do I tell him that we deceived him and still keep his love? I told him the truth yesterday that if it had been him touching me instead of Ron I wouldn't have done anything. For a split second I had hoped that it was Ken. Al when I realized the full extent of what I wanted, well I knew I couldn't lose him. I can't lose him, Al. He's the man I think I want to share my life with and I think he feels the same way."

"Hmmm. Barbara, it's difficult for me to say but I have to. How many boy friends have you had?"

"One, now."

"How-old- are you?"

"Al, I understand what you're trying to say here. Because I'm young and inexperienced I may not be able to tell if it's really love or some –uh- infatuation. I have to admit I have thought of the two of us, romantically, ever since I met him. Also since that time I've seen him work with others too. Even though he's young he's a good man Al and there aren't very many of them out there. Also remember we investigated his family history. There may be a 'skeleton' or two but he isn't part of it. In fact, if it was my family history that he had he wouldn't have been hired!"

"So, Al, we've gone over all of the extraneous stuff I can think of. I think I'm going to marry him Al. It's the only way. Then we're partners in business and life."

"Hold it Barbara, before you rush off to your boy friend and tell him, think about this –story-of a couple who married but hadn't been tested."

"They lived happily for ten years. They both wanted children but nothing was happening. A friend of her husband used her desperation and seduced her. She became an adulteress. Yet even with another man she couldn't conceive. She died an unhappy woman."

"Al, there's nothing that we could do about that except to try for a baby before we get married and I won't do that. I don't think he would want to do that either. Good try Al, but I think I'll try to tell him and go from there."

Ken got up on his wobbly legs. He took a deep breath and left to go back to her place. He bribed the doorman not to say anything and waited across the street for her to return. He didn't wait long for her after she entered before he went to her door. He didn't have to wait before the door opened and her hot lips hit his. It was as if they had just slept so they could continue kissing the next day.

He knew that she wanted to tell him about her decision. But he had to tease her and make her wait with her declaration. It wasn't that he didn't love her too but he was a little miffed that she hadn't just told him she was the real boss instead of having all of the deception.

For Barbara, she became frustrated with all of the circumstances that seemed to get in the way of her telling Ken. Ken had surreptitiously enjoyed the tease as he led her around that afternoon. It almost seemed to be a result of his purposeful misleading of Barbara that they accidentally stumbled upon the reason why they were there, the actual misbehavior of their client's wife. Although neither had seen or been in an intimate human sexual situation before, it was readily apparent that the client's wife was in a definite position that confirmed their client's fears. Mary Gifford was on her back and her tiny heals were in the air. Her cries for "More!" were enough for the both of them. It certainly wasn't rape! Proof had not been required only confirmation.

Minutes later, dazed by the scene they had just witnessed, the director had sent for them. Then he separated the two. He sent Ken to the advertising agency across the street while Barbara had a script rewrite to give to the leading man. Since the leading man had been the one boffing the leading lady aka the client's wife, Ken hadn't thought about any need to protect Barbara at all. After all the leading man had sex with Mary Gifford! Barbara was beautiful but surely the leading man would stay true to his leading lady? Yet he didn't want to have to wait all day for the adman to send a reply either.

What he hadn't counted on was the secretary. He wasn't made of stone. He waited for over an hour in her office. He watched her bend over to get files out of a cabinet, stand on a tall stool so she could get a reference book from a shelf and deliberately brush her hand over the front of his pants as he entered the ad executive's office. He wasn't able to leave after he said good-bye to the adman until she had given him a deep French kiss.

So when he entered the theater he was anxious to find Barbara. Wild things had been happening to him. Maybe they had been happening to Barbara too! So he went for Barbara to the last place she had gone. He went directly to the leading man's dressing room. He knocked but heard no answer. He knew enough not to trust the man. Ken went to the closet of the next-door room. There he could peer in and see the entire area. It was where they had seen Mary's adulteress behavior.

He was shocked to find that Barbara was still in the leading man's room. She didn't look right to him as her head bobbed from one side to the other. The leading man was between Barbara's legs. His head was there and Ken could hear him slurping away as if she was an ice cream cone. He and Barbara had seen enough of Mary Gifford's 'misbehavior' to realize what was happening. He knew he had only seconds before Barbara got what the leading lady had gotten only a short time ago.