Chapter 14

JEFF

“Bye, Honey. Sorry it had to be just Wendy’s again.” Jeff knew that his daughter Logan would not mind. At sixteen, she had more compassion, better people instincts, more of everything than the mistake of a wife that Logan herself had urged him to divorce.

As much as he tried to suppress the thoughts, Logan also had more sex appeal than his ex had displayed on the horniest day of her youth. Oh, he had once thought that Carrie was the embodiment of sex. In her defense, she had been a desirable woman until something turned her into a shrew.

As a teacher, extensive therapy had never been a fit with his budget. When they were married, Carrie drained every dollar and beyond in her attempts to appear to be at a different economic level. After the divorce, he was personally just above the poverty level because of the alimony and child support payments.

He did have internet, though. His reading led him to believe that Carrie had been an all too typical young woman. She had been brought up to believe that her man was hers to command and to mold into what she needed him to be. Things disintegrated when it became more and more evident that Jeff was far less malleable than his mild demeanor led people to believe.

From their first meeting at college, Jeff had made it perfectly clear that teaching was his chosen profession, period. If it led to administration, that was fine, but it was not where his primary interest lay.

Carrie had made the proper assurances that it was him she was interested in and not a high-paying job. To her credit, she had been stalwart through the early years of minimal pay. Back then, she had shared the financial burden, earning more than he did during several years.

From the extensive reading that filled his lonely hours, Jeff deduced another fact about women. It was the exceptional wife who could be satisfied living at a standard below that of the home in which she was raised. Obviously, many such women did exist, but his ex did not appear to be among them. Her parents did not qualify as wealthy, but they were comfortably in the upper middle class.

Carrie had gotten a taste of being a full-time wife and mother when Logan was born. After a while, she considered it her due. The problem was, when she was not earning money, she was too good at finding ways to spend it. There had been about eight years of escalating tension and disappearing intimacy until a year-and-a-half ago when the big blow-up came.

He had resisted because of Logan, but before she was even fifteen, Logan had told him many times that maintaining the home with its current tension and her mother’s extreme bitchiness was no favor to her.

Both he and Logan knew that Carrie would get custody and that Carrie could limit his access within the terms of the custody agreement. Somehow, though, Logan had instinctive ways to manipulate and convince her mother, ways that Jeff had never developed. It was definitely not the same as having his darling around all the time, but she came over quite often. The expense of a car for her meant living with his own twelve-year-old model a while longer, but he did it willingly.

“How do you know about this place, Honey?” Jeff asked Logan.

“There’s this girl at school named Missy. She lives at Lindsey’s.”

“Is that the place Lindsey Hall started?”

“That’s right. Anyway, I’ve gotten to be good friends with her and I told her about the divorce and everything. When she heard you were a teacher, she said that this new place, Jennie’s, was finding that they really needed another professional teacher, a man.”

“I heard that Jennie Ballard was sponsoring a place for single mothers. Is that the place you’re talking about.”

“Yes! Yes!” Logan said excitedly. “They’re looking for a live-in person, but she said they pay well. You could still teach, and it would help you money-wise.”

“We don’t know that it would be more money, Hon. I’ve got quite a few years in. With my masters, I’m quite a ways up the pay scale.”

“Dad, will you at least talk to Mr. Ormond, the manager?”

“Is that Ben Ormond who retired from teaching? I know of him.”

“I think that’s the one. Will you talk to him. Missy said you should talk to a Dr. Julia Waxman, too.”

“Waxman? She’s the director of Transformations. Is Jennie’s involved with that?” Jeff questioned his daughter.

“I don’t know. Why? Would that be bad?” Logan wondered.

“Honey, Transformations is the place where the women are nude.”

“Oh.” Then, Logan giggled. “I’d think that would make you want the job, Daddy.”

“I ... don’t know how I feel about that, Logan. It seems like it exploits the women.”

“Really? Then why do so many women go there,” she asked. “Missy didn’t say that the women at Jennie’s were nude.”

“If it’s part of the same complex, they probably are. What about Lindsey’s? Are all the girls there naked?”

“It’s boys and girls both, Dad. Missy didn’t say, but she invited me to visit her there, so they couldn’t be.”

“Well, maybe you’d have to undress to visit her? You think?” he teased. The way she blushed and squirmed made him wonder if that was really a threat. “I appreciate that you’re always looking to help me, but I just don’t think anything there would be for me.”

Logan did not push the issue any more, but as soon as she got home, she looked up everything she could find on the Net about Transformations. The next day, she asked Missy if there was any literature on Jennie’s. “Is your dad interested?” Missy inquired. “I mentioned him to a bunch of people. I’ll bet they’ve already checked him out.”

“He’s not interested ... yet. He doesn’t like the nudity part. The website doesn’t talk about it directly, either. I won’t give up, though,” Logan declared.

“All of the theories the website discusses assume nudity, even if the word isn’t mentioned. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Is there anything more detailed, more thorough than what’s on the website?” Logan asked hopefully.

“There sure is. Management is careful about who gets it, but I think they would agree if it helps to change his mind.”

The next time Logan visited Jeff, she rather bossily sat him down on the couch, sat as close to him as she could get without being on his lap, and put the Jennie’s brochure in his hands. For the next twenty minutes, they went through it together.

Then, she took him to his computer, put her flash drive in, and loaded the pdf of Transformations’ philosophy. The very first subject addressed was the use of nudity.

He read it carefully, rather embarrassed to have her reading it with him. When he sat back, he said “Does this mean that the women at Jennie’s ARE nude?”

“Missy won’t really say, but I’d bet money on it. Doesn’t that document make it seem like a serious, important part of their program? It doesn’t sound like exploitation, or anything, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t. Everything seems to have been thoroughly researched and thought out.”

“Will you talk to Mr. Ormond?”

“I’m puzzled, Honey,” he said seriously. “As a young woman, I would think you would be horrified at the idea of having to be naked with men and boys around.” She showed him that same blushing and squirming that he had noticed before when the subject came up. “Wait a minute! You’re not horrified, are you? Somehow, the idea appeals to you, doesn’t it? I don’t understand!”

“Daddy, I ... how do you know?”

“Honey, I can recognize sexual excitement in a woman, even if it has been a long time.”

She just sat and blushed and breathed erratically for a while. A few times, she looked at his face, but could not hold his gaze. “I don’t think Missy would mind if I told you her story,” she finally said. She then spent almost twenty minutes telling what she could remember about Missy.

“Wow! That girl has been through a lot!” he commented.

“Wait until you meet her, Dad. She’s amazing. She’s about the most together girl I have ever been around.”

“Honey, you don’t have any ‘ugly duckling’ phase to get over. You’ve always been beautiful.”

“Oh, Daddy, I know you think that, and I appreciate it. I’m happy with the way I look, but ... um, I guess ... I guess us girls just need to, uh, prove to men that we are sexy.”

“By going naked in a whole group of men?” he asked, amazed.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to do it in just any group. Some of the jerks at school...” She visibly shivered at the thought. “But all of the guys at that place ... Missy talks about how they respect the women, they treat them wonderfully, they listen to them, they talk to them - they really seem to care.”

“But if the women have to be nude for the men, that doesn’t seem like respect.”

“They’re not nude for the men. They’re nude to get the most from that immersion therapy it talks about in that document.”

“Then why even have the men around?”

“Well, um, Missy says us women subconsciously want men to see our bare bodies.”

Jeff had no idea how to respond to that, so he just gaped at his daughter.

“There’s another thing about respect, Dad. I shouldn’t tell you this. Don’t you dare let this affect your decision.”

“I haven’t made any decision. I still don’t think this would be for me.”

“Well, I’m going to tell you, anyway. You seem to think that the women are mistreated or something, and that’s just not true. Every day, the men use the pool or the hot tub with the women. Those places are totally nude.”

“You mean ... you mean ... as part of the job, I would have to ... You can’t mean that.”

“Missy says it keeps the women from feeling like objects, and it makes them feel even closer to the men, more open to them,” Logan said hurriedly. “The way she said it, it’s like they’re more like partners in the healing.”

“I could never do that, Sweetie. It’s just...”

“Why not! You’re a hunk!” She covered her mouth quickly after blurting that out and blushed again. This time, though, she stared right at him in obvious challenge.

He just shook his head, and that threw her into a bit of a tantrum. “Dad, I don’t believe you won’t even investigate. You’re just the kind of man those women need helping them. I know you love teaching, but I don’t know how you still can with all the shit the kids get by with, now! Instead of spoiled assholes who don’t care, you could work with women who realize that learning is important to them.”

That was only the beginning. He had never seen her anything like that before. She got tears in her eyes, her voice broke at times, she waved her arms around, she stomped in circles in front of him, and all of the time the neighbors must have thought they were having a colossal fight.

When, in typical angry female fashion, she had covered all of the arguments several times, she was running down and finished with “You know what really pisses me off? I think you won’t even think about it because you’re afraid to let a bunch of nude women see your penis. It’s not such a big deal, Daddy! You could ... Oh, no! I didn’t mean! Oh, god, I...”

By that time, he had wrapped her in a hug and he could not help laughing. Before long, the laughter caught her, too. They laughed together for quite a while before he held her back gently by her upper arms, kissed her on the forehead, and told her “I’ve never seen you this worked up about anything. For some reason, this is very, very important to you, isn’t it?

“I’ll do this much. I’ll set up a meeting with Ben Ormond and anyone he wants me to talk with. You have to realize, Logan, that I am still against it. Will you still love me if I talk to them and turn it down?”

“Oh, Daddy, I could never stop loving you. You know that. If you give it a fair shot, you’ll take the job. It’s a perfect fit.”

Julia, Frank, Ben, and Joyce were discussing how they should approach Jeff Rinker. He was coming to Lindsey’s for dinner, and after dinner, they would try to recruit him.

“He sounds perfect,” Julia said. “From everything we can find out, he has great people skills, and he has the attitudes toward women that all of our staff guys have.”

“Even though he divorced his wife?” Ben questioned.

“You know my opinion on divorce, but there are times when it is justified,” Julia answered. “He has the right attitudes toward women, but he is not a wimp. None of our men are, either. His ex was impossible to live with. Plonske has done some of their best and most discreet investigation on him. Two of the female agents want dates with him.”

“So, nudity, probably mostly his own, appears to be the big deterrent,” Frank mentioned.

Ben added “Oh, I’m sure that leaving the security of teaching is an important factor, too. It is with most teachers.”

“We certainly won’t have a problem attracting him financially,” Frank stated.

“But will he consider the future too risky,” Ben wondered.

“If that is the deciding factor for him, he would never be enough of a true believer in what we do,” Julia declared. “I honestly can’t believe a fresh start and a better financial outlook would not interest him.”

“And students who really want to learn,” Joyce interjected. “That’s why Ben is no longer teaching in the schools.”

“Among a lot of other negative cultural things,” Ben added.

“Here’s what I want to do,” Julia said. “The four of us will have dinner with him, and we’ll include his daughter. We’ll take our time and ask a lot of questions. After dinner, I’ll make a quick decision. If it’s go, we’re not going to fool around. We’ll...” She laid out a detailed plan for the recruitment.

The group was just at a normal table in the Lindsey’s eating area. After the introductions, Ben got Jeff talking about teaching for several minutes until the food was served. All during the meal, Julia picked out important information and impressions without letting Jeff realize how he was being investigated. Coffee and dessert were eaten at a leisurely pace, keeping the group at the table long after all of the residents had finished.

Finally, Julia said “Jeff, why don’t you use the bathroom over there, then let Missy show you and Logan around the place a little more. We have a few things to talk about, and Missy will bring you into another section of the complex in fifteen or twenty minutes. Then we’ll get down to talking business.”

To Missy, Jeff joked “I suppose they’re debating whether to go any farther with me.”

“Mr. Rinker, you would not be here if they were not sure they wanted you. You’re strictly here so they can convince you.”

“As I warned Logan, I won’t be that easy.”

“You’ve taught your last class at school - guaranteed!” Missy said confidently. Jeff just smiled and shook his head.

After the brief tour, Missy asked Logan to wait for her and she led Jeff to the center section. She rejoined Logan giggling uncontrollably.

“What’s so funny?” Logan asked.

“The look on your dad’s face. The Waxman’s, the Ormond’s, Muriel and Clark, who you met, and the Ventri’s are all in there with your dad. Logan, they’re all NUDE!”

“Oh, my God! Oh, my God! How...? Why...?”

“Nudity seems to be a big problem with your dad. They decided to address that in a big way right up front.”

“Is Daddy ... will he be...?”

“No. They will insist he keep his clothes on, at least for tonight. Part of his training will be to go naked around a number of people for a while. You will be the first, or one of the first to see him.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope. Family should be first.”

“I’d just faint! I couldn’t stand it!”

“Never seen a naked guy?”

“Only pictures and movies,” Logan stated.

Missy looked hard at Logan for several seconds. “Can you keep a very serious secret. This is something that could cause this whole place a lot of trouble if it got out.”

“I wouldn’t do anything to hurt this place,” Logan vowed, “especially if Daddy starts working here.”

“I just happen to have these keys that were left around,” Missy said slyly. “Come on.”

When they got to Julia’s office, Missy wisely seated Logan in a chair in front of the desk before selecting a camera in the center section, raising the hidden monitor, and turning it on. Logan actually got wobbly when the site of eight naked people and her father came on. Missy held her arms and waited through a couple of minutes of silence.

When Logan gasped loudly, Missy knew why. Ben had just turned face on to the camera for the first time. “Ben’s something, isn’t he?” Missy said.

“Is he? ... Is he? ... um...”

“No, he’s not hard. Joyce says it doesn’t get much longer when he gets hard. It just stands straight out.”

“She told you that?!”

“Yeah, we talk a lot. Doesn’t your mother talk about stuff like that with you?”

“Not really.” Changing the subject, Logan asked “The muscular man I met. Is he a body builder?”

“He’s a wrestling coach, and he used to wrestle. He works out to keep in shape.”

“This is so cool. Won’t you get in trouble, though?”

“Officially, no one knows we’re in here. In fact, officially, all the cameras and this monitor don’t exist.”

“You mean you could look at other places?”

“Sure I could, but I won’t. Julia trusts me, and I won’t violate that,” Missy said firmly.

There was another long silence as they watched, then Logan erupted again. “Look at Daddy! Look at Daddy! He’s ... he’s...”

“Yeah, looks like the bare boobs got to him.”

“He must be so embarrassed!”

“Logan, that’s so sweet. You got it from him, didn’t you?”

“Wh ... what?”

“Always thinking about how someone feels. That’s the kind of thing that will get your dad the job. Oh, just watch. No one will even look at his crotch.”

“How can they not notice?”

“Of course they notice. It’s a natural thing that happens sometimes. It’s nothing to make any kind of fuss about,” Missy explained.

“This is all so different. You could probably go in there naked with them, couldn’t you, Missy?”

“Sure. Do you want me to?”

“Oh, no! I was just commenting on how differently you see things.”

“It’s all in getting used to it, Logan. In a week or two, you could walk around naked anywhere in here and feel comfortable.”

“No way!”

“Way,” Missy shot right back. “You’d better believe that. You’re going to have to convince your dad of it.”

“How long can we stay here and watch?”

“There’s no rush.”

In his usual courteous way, Jeff turned back toward Missy as he went through the door she had opened for him. He thanked her, even though he had no idea where he was going.

When the door closed and he turned back toward the large open area, he stopped dead in his tracks. Four nude couples were standing casually ten to fifteen feet from him.

Julia stepped forward and in an unbelievably natural way told him “You haven’t met this couple yet, Jeff. This is Paul and Norma Ventri. Paul is our CFO and Norma acts as a very special help with new arrivals. Everyone else you have at least met.”

After the brief introductions, Julia got right to the heart of the meeting. “Jeff, we understand that the nudity is a major stumbling block for you, your own nudity in particular. I decided that we needed to hit that issue head on. I hope our nakedness gives credibility to the statement that it is just not a big deal for any of us. We are used to it.

“As I understand it, you have already heard that you would have to spend some time nude with the women if you take the job. I also understand that you have read all of the reasons. Even had that requirement not been in place, we believe that you cannot be truly comfortable and effective dealing with another person’s nakedness unless you are comfortable with your own.

“I have been through this with quite a few people. I guarantee that I can get you comfortable. I won’t tell you that it will be easy. At first, it will not be. I can tell you that the change in your attitude will surprise you. I see you shaking your head. Ben, tell him your story. Take as much time as you need.”

Jeff had a lot of questions for Ben, then talked with Clark for a while, both about his preparation and about why he was staying in the school system. The fact that Clark loved coaching and most of those jobs were in the public school system made sense to Jeff.

After that, Frank and Paul talked about compensation. That definitely got Jeff’s attention.

“I also understand, Jeff, that you feel that because they are nude, the women are somehow being taken advantage of. I’m going to let Muriel and Clark and the Ventris leave, but there are some other people I want you to talk with.”

To Jeff’s complete amazement, first Sophie, then two current Tee residents, then two Jennie’s residents told very brief versions of their stories, but mainly assured him that the nudity was for them a very positive thing, an important part of changing their lives. All were nude.

“I am not going to ask you right now if you want the job, Jeff. Because of Logan, I won’t have to.” He managed to laugh at that sure thing. As soon as you decide, I want you to start getting comfortable naked.

“Your relationship with your mother and your sister is wonderfully close, especially since the divorce. We are dead set against allowing your occupation to become a hindrance to family closeness. Here’s what you need to do. As soon as you can get Logan to stay with you for at least two days straight, spend a full day in your apartment with her with just you naked.”

“Wow! Isn’t that wrong? Illegal?” He was genuinely upset with that requirement.

“She is sixteen, and even if she was younger, it would not be a problem. Jeff, you and Logan have a marvelous relationship. It is modeled after that with your mother and sister, but perhaps even stronger. She is so proud of you she can hardly stand it, and she hurts for your situation so much that it tears her up. If you are going to be in a job where you are often nude, Logan MUST be the first one you expose yourself to. Letting her be possessive about your naked body and your job will make things between you even more wonderful. I promise you that.

“You asked ‘isn’t it wrong’. I’m not going to answer that. For what we do here, it is necessary. You have to make your own determination on the morality.

“OK, after your day nude with Logan, you are to ask your mother if you can spend a night or two with her. With Logan ‘escorting’ you, you are to meet with her nude and tell her why. Tell her everything that you know about your new job. Sometime while you are there, invite your sister over. Meet her nude, and tell her the entire story, also.

“I play dirty to get something I want, Jeff. When you leave here, Logan will know what I just asked you to do.”

“That IS dirty. I won’t be able to make a decision on my own,” he complained.

“Your ex-wife excluded, it is usually wise to listen to the women in your life in matters involving sex in any way. I believe that nudity and sex are connected in our thinking. Listen to Logan. It’s not just hormones that make her want this job for you. She has strong protective and nurturing instincts and she is trying to make your life happier.”

Jeff would not find out until later just how dirty Julia was playing. Not only Logan, but his mother and sister would be given an extensive briefing the next morning. Having met them and seen Logan’s devotion to her dad, Julia was 99% certain that he would be naked for her the next day.