Chapter 3

The next morning felt strange for both. They were mindful it was the day after they’d been at the lake, but they were also aware extra days had been added while they were with the aliens. Eric drove Sheila home so she could change and get ready for work, and he went on to his job.

Arriving at his office, even though he knew he hadn’t missed any days at work, yet it still seemed like he’d been gone for a few days. Passing by Miss Fremont, his secretary, as he headed for his private office he was startled to feel anger coming from her thoughts. Eric had always thought Miss Fremont was an attractive woman, but he had never really taken the time to get to know her. Raven hair with ice blue eyes and a stunning figure, every man in the building had tried their best to date her, however she always refused. Her nickname around the water cooler was The Ice Maiden.

With his new ability, Eric could now read her thoughts and was surprised by the amount of hostility they contained. He felt her resentment having to care for an elderly mother who was suffering from the effects of a stroke and an onset of dementia while her siblings did nothing to help. The older woman had become mean and vindictive, and it was all Miss Fremont could do to keep reminder herself what a loving and caring person her mother had been.

Adding to the problems with her mother, her live-in boyfriend was also creating problems. Eric felt her anger regarding how she was being used; how she’d again been used that morning. The boyfriend had woken Miss Fremont and immediately forced her to have sex. The boyfriend barely had his cock in her when she felt him cum and then he got up and walked off. The lovely woman knew there was no point in saying anything since it had become a common thing with him.

“Good morning, Miss Fremont.” The woman mumbled something and didn’t look up. Eric pressed on, “Is everything ok? You seemed troubled.”

When the woman looked up, Eric saw tears in her eyes. She brushed her eyes angrily and snapped. “I’m fine. Now mind your own business.” Eric apologized and moved on. Before he stepped into his office he sent soothing thoughts to the angry woman along with the thought regarding him, “That man was just trying to be nice. You treated him badly. You’re angry with your boyfriend, not with your boss.” Miss Fremont looked up and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m having a bad day, and I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

Eric smiled, “If or when you’d like to chat, I’m here.” More tears slid over the lovely woman’s face, and she shook her head. Eric continued into his office and shut the door. About an hour later Eric thought he heard a soft knock at his door. Moving his thoughts forward he could tell Miss Fremont was at the door. He knew she was frightened but needed to chat. Rather than holler for her to enter, he got up and opened the door. She was startled to have him open the door. “Can I help you?” gently he asked.

“Ummm ... you told me if I wanted to talk to you, you ... ahhh.”

Eric stepped back and motioned for her to enter. “Please sit.” He pointed at a chair next to his desk. After she was seated, he asked, “Do you want me to leave the door open or would you rather I shut it?”

“Shut it please.”

“What can I do for you.”

“Gee, now that I’m here, I don’t know where to start.”

“I sense you’re having some kind of difficulties at home perhaps?”

It was like he pulled his finger from the dike and her words flowed. She told him about her mother and the difficulties and then about her frustrations with her boyfriend. Finally, when she took a breath, Eric commented. “In regard to your mother, have you considered a place where they can better deal with her issues. Not to offend you, but it really doesn’t seem like you’re prepared or trained to deal with her problems.”

“I can’t afford to place her in any sort of home and my siblings aren’t offering any help. It’s just me and I’m the one who must deal with it.”

“Well, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but you’re being considered for a new position here at the firm. It’ll mean a lot more money than you earn now. Perhaps with the raise you’ll be able to assist your mother. Also, in addition to the raise, you’ll be eligible for senior health benefits we offer, and that would include your mother since you’re her sole support. Between these two I’m sure you could find a good place for her.”

Tears flowed over her face as her bottom lip quivered. “I don’t know what to say. How for sure is this new position?”

Eric didn’t want to tell her he still had to present the idea to the owners. He was positive once he was able to control their thoughts, he’d be able to secure the position for her. “Miss Fremont, the only thing keeping you from the new position is your home problems. I feel once that’s solved; you’ll be able to concentrate on you new position.”

“Please call me Judy. I think we know each other well enough now you can address me by my first name.”

“Okay Judy, was that all you needed to talk to me about.” Eric pushed the thoughts into her mind it’d be okay to also confide in him regarding her boyfriend.

“Well, the other thing is a bit more personal. It has to do with my live-in boyfriend.”

He asked her, “I assume that it’s not working out?” along with adding the thought she wanted to confide in him.

“You could say that. He’s not the person I originally invited into my life.”

“He’s become abusive?”

“In a way. He expects me to be ready for him all the time and if I’m not it ends up in a big fight. Also, he’s become selfish when it comes to ahh ... being intimate.”

Eric knew what the problem was while Judy was thinking about it. “Let me guess, sex is all about him? As long as he’s satisfied, you don’t matter.”

Judy sat staring at him open mouthed. “How’d you know?”

Eric smiled, “It’s a common thing. After a while a lot of men take it for granted the woman is just there for their satisfaction. If you get something out of it, that’s great. If not, well, it’s your problem.”

“What am I gonna do?” Her chin was quivering.

“Hearing your words and seeing how you feel, personally I think you should ask him to leave. I realize by saying this I’m way out of bounds, but you’re a beautiful woman. You can have your pick of any man you choose. You don’t need to put up with his abuse.” She bowed her head, and Eric watched her shoulder shake as she wept.

“I’m sorry if I upset you. I want you to take the rest of the day off and explore places where you can put your mother. Tonight, when your friend comes home, tell him he has an hour to get out. Then you should leave. If you want, call me and I’ll return with you to make sure he leaves.”

“I don’t understand. You’ve never been cold to me or anything, but you’ve never shown me this side of yourself. I had no idea you were this warm and caring. What happened to you last night to change you?”

“Let’s say I had a revelation. I’ve always wanted to help people, and you get to be the first.” She smiled. “Now go and do what I told you.” Judy sat there looking at Eric. Among the jumble of thoughts she was experiencing, he read one prominent thought, she was having erotic images of the two of them. Eric accepted them and, in his mind, held her in his arms. Gently he kissed her and held her. One last mental kiss on her forehead and he told her, “You need to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow unless you need me tonight. Don’t worry about calling me.” Judy stood and moved to stand in front of him. When he stood, she slipped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He gave her a gentle hug in return. “Go now.” He told her.

Eric took the elevator up to the top floor and requested an audience with his boss. He was shown to the office and sitting in a chair in front of the boss, Eric was stunned as he probed the man’s mind. The thoughts were disjointed, and Eric discovered the man was a little stupid. He continued to probe the man’s mind until he found the reason the man was in such a responsible position. He was the owner’s son. In addition, Eric discovered the man was terrified someone might discover how little he understood about the business. Eric planted the thought the man needed a personal assistant. He pushed the idea of having Judy Fremont as his assistant who could help him plan and run the company. Eric knew from his previous exploration of Judy’s mind she was more than capable of taking care of the business and helping the boss stay in charge. Suddenly the boss exclaimed, “Hey, you have a woman working in your department who just might be what I need. I’ve wanted a personal assistant to help me run things. What do you think of the idea?”

“Mr. Jenkins, I think that’s a very wise decision on your part. I hate to lose Miss Fremont, but she is exactly what you need. She had to take off today to deal with a family problem, but she will be back tomorrow. How about we come up and see you in the morning?”

“That sounds great.” As Eric left the room, he could feel Jenkins was more positive about his ability to run the company. On the elevator ride down to his floor, Eric was feeling good about his new abilities. He wondered if the aliens were watching and were also pleased.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ That evening Eric was comfortably sprawled in his chair with a glass of ice and excellent Scotch in his hand. Sheila was sitting across from him, and they were exchanging their day’s happening. Both were getting used to exchanging thoughts and found it much easier to communicate. He did find, however, there were certain thoughts he needed to keep to himself. There was no need for her to know how he felt about Judy Fremont. His cell phone started to ring, and he picked it up. The display said it was Judy. When he said hello, he heard a scream. Eric said her name several times and finally he heard her ask, “Are you there?”

“Judy, what’s wrong?” He heard her scream again. He heard her shouting and the sound of gunfire, “Tim just shot mother, and he’s trying to bust in the door. I’ve locked myself in the bathroom.”

“Give me your address.” Judy shouted it into the phone and hung up before he could tell her he was on his way/”

Sheila had followed the conversation both in Eric’s head and what was said on the phone. They both got in his car and as he drove, Sheila called 9-1-1. She repeated the conversation and the address. Dispatch told her they had other calls from neighbors at that address. Eric ran every stoplight he came to and in less than five minutes he was pulling up to Judy’s house.

There were three police vehicles parked on the street. Eric saw one officer lying injured on the ground and staying low, he ran to the officer and felt his neck. There was still a pulse but there seemed to be a lot of blood on the ground. From his new position, Eric noticed another officer lying on the other side of the street. He moved to the new officer when he heard the sound of a gun firing. Looking up he saw a man standing between two houses shooting at him. Another gunshot caused the shooting man to crumble to the ground. Eric felt the neck of the officer in front of him, there was no pulse.

Moving to his car, Eric checked on Shelia’s safety, then left her in the car to find the remaining officer. Eric released his mind, looking for any thoughts other than Sheila’s. He could hear Judy in the house, and he shut those thoughts out. Finally, he heard weak thoughts coming from behind the house. Moving behind the house, Eric discovered the third officer had also been shot. Feeling the officer’s neck, he felt a strong pulse. He went to one of the squad cars and picked up the mike. “This is a civilian and I need to report two officers down and one I think is dead.”

A voice came back immediately, “What are you doing on this channel.” Eric again repeated what he had said the first time. “Who are you?” The voice on the radio barked.

“Listen, stupid. You have two officers here who need immediate help. There is a person down between two buildings who one of your officers shot and I have no idea of his condition. We need at least two ambulances, perhaps three. I need to see if there is anybody alive inside the house.”

Eric walked away from the squad car, ignoring the voice on the radio demanding answers. Stepping into the house, he shut out every thought and tried to find Judy. Moving upstairs, he again searched for her thoughts. They were directly ahead of him and the door had several bullet holes in it. Eric knocked on the door and he heard Judy scream. “Judy! It’s me, Eric.” In addition to speaking to her, he sent out reassuring thoughts, trying to calm her. Sifting through her thoughts he discovered she didn’t seem to be hurt, just extremely frightened. When he heard the lock disengage, he told her, “Come out. You’re safe. He’s been shot by one of the officers.”

The door was flung open, and Judy threw herself into his arms. Her body was shaking, and she was crying. Eric held her close telling her soothing words as well as sending calming thoughts. When she finally settled down, she stepped back and Eric noticed for the first time she was naked except for a pair of panties. Even though her body was lovely, Eric found nothing arousing about the situation.

Judy became aware Eric was looking at her and explained, “He was trying to rape me. I told him we were through, and he tried to rip my robe off. I was getting ready to go to the bathroom and change clothes, so all if had on was the bathrobe and my panties. I heard a gunshot and locked myself in here. Did he shoot mom?”

“I don’t know. I wanted to see about your condition first. I’ll go and see if I can find her.”

Eric turned to look for Judy’s mother and spotted Judy’s torn robe on the floor. He handed it to her, and she tried to cover herself with the tattered garment. Entering one of the bedrooms he found an older woman lying on the floor in a lot of blood. She was obviously dead, but Eric still bent down and held a finger against her throat.

He heard Judy at the door, and he quickly moved to take her away. Telling her that her mother was dead, he also sent out comforting thoughts to calm her. When she was settled, he took her to her bedroom and had her lie down. “Stay here. Somebody will come and be with you and I’ll be right back.”

Stepping from the house, Eric watched as more police vehicles showed up along with several ambulances. Walking towards the arriving police, Eric held his hands up so the new officers could see he was not carrying a weapon.

For the next few hours emergency vehicles went back and forth. One officer was dead but the other two might survive. Sheila went up to stay with Judy. When Judy asked not to be alone for the rest of the night Sheila took her home with her. Until Judy went to sleep, Sheila continued feeding quiet thoughts to her, eventually she calmed down and fell asleep. Sheila was exhausted from the ordeal.