Chapter 23

A strange sensation awakens Robert while it is still dark. He freezes for a moment, shaking away the cobwebs of sleep to try to figure out what is going on. He is holding Emily, and she is grinding her ass against him, and trembling.

“Emily?” He whispers.

She freezes, and then softly says “I’m sorry.” And after a pause, she continues “I had a dream, and since I woke up from it I can’t get back to sleep.”

“A nightmare?” Robert asks, running his hand up her side, while holding her more tightly against him to comfort her.

“Umm ... No, definitely not a nightmare.” Emily says. She takes his hand in hers, and moves in downward, until it reaches her pussy, which is absolutely soaked.

“Oh...” Robert says, his mind finally clear. “Did you need some relief from your dream?”

“Can we ... umm ... can you...?” Emily seems not to quite know how to ask.

“Are you asking me to take your virginity while my wife and her girlfriend sleep next to you?” Robert teases her quietly, and then strokes her pussy lightly.

“Yes, please.” Emily gasps.

“I think you should ask Jane.” Robert says, grinning in the darkness. “It would be rude to not only let her miss this, but also wake her up with the bed shaking just a minute or two later.”

Emily freezes. “I have to wake her up? And ask her if you can...?”

“Unless you wanted to just cuddle instead.” Robert says, having no intention of actually turning down the girl’s offer.

Emily freezes, and then scoots away from Robert, until she is against Jane. Robert can see she is shaking her slightly, trying to wake her. After a moment, Jane murmurs in a frustrated voice. “What?”

Emily whispers something in her ear, and Jane just groans. “So early. Can’t you wait?”

Emily whispers to Jane, this time a bit louder and with more urgency. “Ok, fine.” Jane says, and shakes Alexia. “Wake up.” Jane tells her.

“Mistress? What time is it?” Alexia asks sleepily.

“Too early.” Jane says. “But apparently Emily is ready to pop her cherry.”

“In the middle of the night?” Alexia asks.

Robert thinks he can see Emily’s face contort a bit at this discussion, so he pulls her back to him, kissing her neck.

“It’s probably Robert’s fault.” Jane says, rolling over to look at him. “He’s probably been teasing the poor girl all night.”

“He hasn’t, Mistress.” Emily says, not wanting to let Robert take the heat. “I had a dream, and when I woke up, I just really needed this.”

Robert takes the opportunity to run one finger up her thigh, and she gasps. Alexia’s head pops up, trying to see what is going on. “It’s so dark.” She says. “I can’t see what he is doing.”

“Turn on the bathroom light.” Jane commands Alexia, and as she gets out of bed, rolls over to look at her phone. “If we are going to wake up at 5 am, we should get a show.”

A moment later the light comes on, and Robert pushes his face into Emily’s hair. “That’s a little bright.” He says.

“You’ll get used to it in a minute.” Jane says. “If you wanted to do this in the dark, you two should have slipped off to your futon.”

“Every girl in this house deserves better than to have their first time on that futon.” Robert says.

“Please, Master, Mistress.” Emily begs. “Can I do this now?”

“How do you want it?” Jane asks her, recognizing the girl’s need.

“Don’t care.” Emily says, desperately rubbing her ass back against Robert’s erection.

“Why don’t you get on top?” Jane says. “That’s the best way, so you can control things a bit if it starts to get painful.”

Emily rolls over, throwing a leg over Robert, and then reaches down to grab his dick. “Not wasting any time, are we?” Robert chuckles as she lines him up.

Emily shakes her head, and then pushes down hard. “Fuck!” She squeals, in pain and pleasure, as she bottoms out on Robert.

“You’ll definitely regret not going slower later today.” Jane says, shaking her head.

Emily starts to move, a bit gingerly, and mutters. “Really needed it.”

Robert reaches up to cup her cheek, before leaning up for a kiss. Emily kisses him back eagerly, and he slowly sinks back, keeping hold of her until she is laying chest to chest with him, moving slowly.

Jane slides over, and caresses Emily’s ass. “Don’t worry about up and down.” Jane says. “Just slide back and forth.”

Emily does, experimenting a bit until she finds the right speed. “It’s starting to feel really good.” She gasps.

“Good.” Robert says, reclaiming her mouth, and gently cupping her breasts.

“I think I’m going to cum.” Emily moans. Robert plays with her nipples a bit, and she moans again, grinding harder against him, until she seizes up, before falling limply to Robert’s chest.

“Fuck.” Alexia says, from the end of the bed, where she has been kneeling and watching.

“Did you just cum without permission?” Jane asks playfully. Alexia nods, holding up the toy she has been using.

Robert is stroking Emily’s hair, whispering to her about how well she did, when she finally is able to speak. “Thank you.” She gasps out, still breathing hard. “Can we do a little more?”

“We definitely can.” Robert says with a smile. “Did you have something in mind?”

Emily blushes, and says. “Can we do missionary?”

“Of course.” Robert says, grabbing hold of her, and rolling them over. “Do you need another minute, or are you ready?”

“Ready.” Emily gasps, clearly not expecting him to move this fast.

Robert slowly pulls back, and then pushes in slowly, causing Emily to gasp. “That’s so different.” She says.

“Every position is a bit different.” Robert says, still moving in and out. “Don’t worry, we have the rest of our lives to experiment with them.”

Emily nods, enjoying the new sensations, until a few minutes later, Robert asks. “Are you doing ok?”

“I’m a little sore, but I think I’m close again.” Emily confesses. “Can we keep going?”

Robert nods. “I’m close too. Do you want me to finish in you?”

“Yes!” Emily says immediately. “Please.”

Robert manages to hold out another minute, until he feels Emily begin to cum, and then thrusts quickly, bringing himself to orgasm. Letting himself sag onto her, he breathes hard. Emily recovers first, kissing him until he responds.

“Well, that looked like fun.” Jane says.

“Thank you, Mistress.” Emily gasps. “It was very fun.”

“It was.” Robert manages to say. “We are going to make a bit of a mess in a moment though.”

“I’ve got it.” Alexia says, holding up a wash cloth. “Just let me know when. And I’ll make sure the sheets get changed later.”

When they are ready, Alexia pushes the wash cloth under Emily’s ass, and when Robert pulls out, she shifts around the bed. “May I clean you, Master?” Alexia asks.

“Umm ... There may be blood.” Robert says. “She definitely had a hymen.”

“I don’t see any.” Alexia says, and glances over at Jane.

Jane just shrugs, attention shifting to Emily.

Glancing at Robert to see if he is going to stop her, she slowly leans forward, taking his dick into her mouth.

“Just clean up.” Robert tells her. “I’m still a bit sensitive.”

When Alexia is done, she looks up at Robert. “Thank you, Alexia.” He says. “You did a great job.”

Alexia beams, and moves back to Jane’s side.

“And you did amazing, Emily.” Robert says, moving back to cuddle her.

Emily flushes, and says. “Thank you.”

“You are so welcome.” Robert says. “Whenever you are ready, maybe we can shower together? Unless you think you can fall back asleep.”

“I should get clean.” Emily says. “Should I wait a bit before standing up though? We are supposed to be trying to get pregnant, after all.”

“It’s your first time.” Robert says. “Don’t worry about that this time. You can talk to Jane and Lucia about it for next time, I’m sure they have a lot to say about how to maximize your chances.”

Emily snuggles tighter to him, and says. “Can we cuddle for a few more minutes first?”

“Of course we can.” Robert says, enjoying the skin to skin contact with his new girl.

A few minutes later, she says. “We should probably get up now, or I’ll fall asleep.”

“I’ll go warm up the shower.” Alexia says eagerly. “Unless you’d like cleanup too?”

Emily flushes deep red. “I think she’s had enough for now.” Jane intervenes, and as Alexia starts warming up the shower, Jane asks. “Emily, would you like Alexia in the shower? Or would you like it to just be you and Robert?”

“I don’t mind if she joins.” Emily says softly.

“Ok.” Jane says. “I’m going to get dressed and head downstairs. If you need to talk, feel free to knock on my office door.”

Emily lifts her head from where she has nearly buried it in Robert’s side, and says. “Thank you, Mistress.”

Jane leans over, kissing her on the forehead. “Of course. You are such a sweet girl, I look forward to our next night together.”

Jane slides back off the bed, walking into the closet to grab some clothes, before stepping into the bathroom to have a word with Alexia.

“Are you ready to start moving towards the shower?” Robert asks.

Robert walks up to his office after breakfast, preoccupied with thoughts of what his first meeting of the day was going to entail. Getting to the top of the stairs, he notices Amber and Megan stretching. As he passes the door, he notices Emily is in the room as well now, following along. “Interesting.” He thinks, and continues towards his office.

As he goes to sit down in his chair, his leg bumps into something. “Shit!” He says, jumping back out of the chair, and retreating a few steps.

“Hi.” Taylor says, sticking her head out from under the desk. “I wanted to make sure I got here first today.”

“You almost gave me a heart attack.” Robert says, and then laughs. “How long have you been under there?”

“Since you went down for breakfast.” Taylor says, and then crawls out from under the desk. “I sat in your chair until I heard you come up the stairs, and then hid. I don’t really fit under there.”

“I’m glad you weren’t under there for long.” Robert says. “And I have some bad news.”

“Oh, come on.” Taylor says. “I was here before you even were.”

“Emily woke up feeling a little frisky.” Robert says apologetically. “I think I can make it up to you though. Give me one minute.”

Robert waves Taylor over to the futon, and she sits while Robert gets situated at his desk. He texts Jane. “Have you done the schedule yet?”

“Working on it now.” Jane replies.

“Taylor tonight, right?” Robert asks.

“Yes.” Jane sends back.

“She’s in my office, I’ll tell her.” Robert texts back.

“Ok, good news.” Robert says, smiling at Taylor. “If you’d like, you can have tonight with me, or us, depending on whether you want Jane to be there, or you’d rather invite two other girls.”

“Awesome!” Taylor says. “I’m fine with Jane being there, as long as Reyna can be too.”

“I’m fine with that.” Robert says. “I don’t know if Jane is your type or not, but if not, maybe let her know, so she can invite Alexia or another girl for her.”

“I’ll talk to her.” Taylor says. “If that’s ok.”

“Of course.” Robert says. “Are you excited? And have you talked to Reyna about sharing nights yet?”

“I haven’t.” Taylor says. “I’m excited, but a little nervous. I’m going to go ask her now.”

“I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes.” Robert says. “But I’ll be free after that, I think, if you need to talk.”

“Thank you.” Taylor says, getting up. “Good luck with your meeting.”

“Thanks.” Robert says. “Do I get a hug before you go?”

Taylor comes over, and gives him a hug, holding on for a minute. Robert laughs, and says. “Ok, that’s going to take some getting used to. All of the other girls are at least a few inches shorter than me.”

“Is that ok?” Taylor asks, looking suddenly vulnerable.

“Of course.” Robert says, hugging her closer again. “It just means that my usual goodbye kiss on the forehead isn’t going to really work for you.”

“We will have to come up with something else, then.” Taylor says, and kisses him on the lips. “I think that should work for now.”

“Definitely.” Robert says, kissing her back, before letting her go. “Seriously, need to prepare for my meeting though. Let me know how it goes with Reyna. I’m rooting for you.”

As Jane is putting the finishing touches on the schedule, which is really more of a rotation, she hears a knock on the door.

“You may enter.” Jane says, looking up.

Mei steps into the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Hi, Mei.” Jane says warmly, smiling at the girl. “How are you doing?”

“I’m great!” Mei says, smiling back at her. “I was wondering if you had a minute to talk?”

“Give me 2 minutes to finish up the schedule.” Jane says. “If I don’t finish it soon, I’ll have to delegate it to someone else, and that could easily cause drama.”

“No rush.” Mei says, fidgeting.

“Take a seat.” Jane says, motioning at the chairs across the desk from her.

Mei sits, looking almost reluctant, and waits. After another minute, Jane says, “All done. So what did you want to talk about?”

“You remember I mentioned wanting to submit to both of you? I was wondering if you would have time to start training me as your sub soon?” Mei asks. “I know you are both really busy, and I don’t mean to be selfish...”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jane says. “I promise I didn’t forget. It has just been a tiny bit busy over the past few days. We can definitely start training you soon.”

“Daddy was nice enough to feed me breakfast yesterday.” Mei says. “Can I serve you this morning, Domina?”

“You really want your first time with me to be on your knees while I’m distracted?” Jane asks. “I’ve got to start taking calls in just a few minutes anyhow. But I promise, the next night that I’m not in the master bedroom, or if the girl Robert is with only wants me to watch, I’ll grab you instead of Alexia. And I’ll try to grab you for some training during the day occasionally after our first session.”

“Thank you!” Mei says, smiling. “Is there anything I can get for you before you start work? More breakfast, a refill on your drink?”

“I’m good.” Jane says, with a smile. “Come over here before you go though.”

Mei stands up, moving around the desk to stand next to Jane.

“Are you horny?” Jane asks.

“Yes, Domina.” Mei says.

“Turn around.” Jane says, and Mei does. Jane pulls down Mei’s shorts and panties, before sliding one finger smoothly inside of her.

“Mmmm...” Mei moans.

“I’d say you are a little turned on.” Jane says, adding a second finger, before pulling both out.

“Pull up your pants, and face me.” Jane demands, and Mei does without complaint. “Now lick these clean.” Jane says, wiggling her two wet fingers.

Mei slurps them both into her mouth, carefully cleaning them, before popping them out, and licking clean the inside edges of both.

“Good girl.” Jane says. “Now, I’d like you to take this.” Jane pulls out a random phone from her drawer, which now contains the phones of the last 8 girls to join the house. “The code is 0000. Find a toy from my closet, prop up the phone, and record yourself having an orgasm. Bring the phone back when you are done so I can see. Lucia can show you where the toys are. You can film in the master bedroom or bathroom, your choice. If you need to kick anyone out, just tell them I said you could.”

“Yes, Domina.” Mei says, looking very flushed. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Don’t rush.” Jane says. “I want something good, take your time, and do it right.”

“I will, Domina.” Mei says.

Jane stands, wrapping her up for a quick hug. Smacking her on the ass, she says. “Off you go.”

Robert puts on his headset, and joins the meeting, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Goddamnit.” He thinks. “There is only one reason to throw together a last minute meeting with HR and someone’s boss. How am I going to support 13 people without a job?”

“Hello, Bob.” His boss says. Robert is so tempted to correct him about his name for the 100th time, but just grits his teeth, given that HR was already on the call.

“Good morning, John.” Robert replies, keeping his voice neutral. “And Good morning to you too, Marsha.”

“Good morning, Robert.” Marsha says. “Or do you prefer Bob?”

“I definitely prefer Robert.” Robert says, not daring to hope that John will actually pay attention this time.

“I’m sure you are wondering why we invited you to this meeting so early.” Marsha says. “I’ll start with the good news. You are being offered a promotion. The bad news is that you wouldn’t be able to report to John anymore. The promotion would involve a transfer to human resources, where you would report to me.”

Robert is dumbfounded, and actually speechless.

“We’d hate to lose you, Bob.” John says, almost sounding like he means it. “You don’t have to accept the transfer and promotion.”

“Can I hear a bit about the position before deciding?” Robert asks. “You’ve caught me a bit off guard, HR was never on my radar.”

“Absolutely.” Marsha says. “This position is in HR, but isn’t really a traditional HR job. John, I think we are good here if you’d like to drop.”

“I’m happy to stick around.” John says.

“No need.” Marsha says. “I’ll email you after the meeting to let you know if we are posting Robert’s current position.”

John is disconnected from the call before he can reply, and Robert lets out an involuntary snort of laughter.

“I can’t stand that man.” Marsha says. “Has he been calling you by the wrong name for the entire time you’ve reported to him?”

“Pretty much.” Robert says. “I think it started on my second week, during a meeting.”

Marsha sighs, and says. “So the idea of shaking loose from him isn’t exactly painful?”

“Not at all.” Robert says. “I would love to know a bit more about the position though. You said HR, but not really HR. Is this something new?”

“It is.” Marsha says. “Before I go into it, I need to confirm something for us. How many concubines do you currently have in your home?”

Robert jerks, not expecting this. “I’m not sure what that has to do with my work.” Robert says defensively.

“This position requires knowledge of how the concubine system works, and actual experience handling concubines.” Marsha says. “I understand that it may seem personal, but one of our lobbyists tells us you have 8 now. Is that accurate?”

“No.” Robert says, and Marsha looks slightly annoyed. “I have 10.”

“10?” Marsha says. “That’s even better.”

“So what exactly is the job?” Robert asks curiously.

“Essentially, you’d be in charge of interfacing between the company and the BAA, as well as running interference for employees who have concubine issues.” Marsha says. “You’d have a staff, of course, to do most of the grunt work. Your job would be finding the right people, and directing them.”

“What do you mean by interfacing with the BAA?” Robert says, suspiciously. “Are we hiring detained labor? If that’s the case, I’m not the right person for the job.”

“No, nothing like that.” Marsha says. “As you probably know, the BAA assigns concubine slots based on a formula, that includes the current salary of the card holder. Your department would be in charge of sending over updated salary information after promotions, raises, etc, as well as keeping up to date on rule changes that could affect the company or it’s employees. If changes come down that employees need to know about, you and your staff would need to send it out to affected employees, to ensure none of our employees end up on the wrong side of any rules. Insurance rules are also being updated, so we are going to need an accurate head count of concubines for employees who plan on adding them to their insurance. We have a team who will handle the actual insurance paperwork, but you would need to send out reminders occasionally so employees don’t forget to add them during the enrollment window.”

“It sounds like I’d need a finance person or two, then? As well as someone with an HR background for the rule change parts?” Robert asks.

“Probably.” Marsha says. “The other part of the job would involve being available for employees who have questions about their concubines, or how to handle problems with them. We want to keep our employees and company out of the news for the wrong reasons. Anything that gets our company in the news with the word concubine next to it is probably the wrong reason, right now. If someone does end up with an issue, we would like you to work to help solve it with minimal public scrutiny, and if it’s bad enough, to tell us so we can terminate the employee before it blows up.”

“So part time counselor, and part time fixer?” Robert asks, a bit incredulously.

“Welcome to the world of HR.” Marsha says. “The role is of HR is to protect the company from it’s employees. We are asking you to handle that one aspect of it. Essentially stop people from making a mess, help them clean up small messes, and tell me if the mess gets too big to clean up quietly.”

“Anything else I need to know?” Robert asks, mind racing.

“We haven’t talked about compensation, or title.” Marsha says. “I’ll email you exact numbers if you accept, but it’s about a 20% raise, and your title would be Director of BAA Relations. You would initially have 3 direct reports, but that may grow over time. I have someone in mind for one of the positions, but you would be able to choose the other two. I do have suggestions for the types of people you’d want to pick though.”

“This is a lot to take in.” Robert says. “Would I still be fully remote? I can’t really be gone half of the time with 12 women in my house.”

“12?” Marsha asks, and then stops herself. “I don’t need to know. Yes, you’d still be fully remote. You might occasionally be asked to do a user seminar at headquarters, just a short presentation to some employees on how to manage or select concubines, and director level and above are occasionally pulled into headquarters for meetings, maybe once a quarter. You can bring a concubine or two for the presentations, if you think it would be helpful. If you find an employee who is good at doing the presentations, you could always delegate that most of the time.”

“How long do I have to think about it?” Robert asks. “I’d like to discuss this with my wife if possible.”

“We would need you to start tomorrow.” Marsha says. “That means we need an answer now. If you decline, we need to talk to our next candidate before lunch.”

Robert hesitates, trying to think of what Jane would say, if he had time to talk to her. “I accept.” He says.

A knock sounds on Jane’s door as she is on the phone. She ignores it, trying to finish up the call she is in. The door cracks open, revealing Robert’s concerned face. She waves him to come in, trying to wrap up the call with her client. Grabbing her small whiteboard, she writes. “Problem? Emergency?”

Robert shakes his head, settling into the chair to wait. A few minutes later, Jane wraps up the call.

“Some of these people just want to talk, and talk, and talk.” Jane says, shaking her head. “What’s going on, honey?”

“I had a meeting with HR and my boss this morning.” Robert says.

“Oh, shit.” Jane interrupts. “How much severance did you get? I need to figure out how much runway we have before we are super screwed.”

“They didn’t lay me off.” Robert says. “I’m being moved to HR, they want me to be the Director of the BAA relations department, whatever that means.”

“So it’s a promotion?” Jane asks, and Robert nods. “With an actual pay raise, right?”

“Yes, no more ‘promotions’ without raises, at least for now.” Robert says, remembering his ‘promotion’ to manager.

“Awesome, honey!” Jane says, getting up and coming around to hug him. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I don’t think it has anything to do with my abilities.” Robert says, halfheartedly hugging her back. “They just want a figurehead with a ton of concubines.”

“You make an excellent figurehead.” Jane says. “I could look at you all day.”

“I love you, honey.” Robert says with a sigh. “It halfway sounds like what Rosie wanted us to do yesterday, just for the company instead of the county.”

“We may not be able to escape it, honey.” Jane says. “Not many people have gotten 10 concubines this quickly. We are slightly unique.”

“Not many men have a wife who buys girls behind his back.” Robert reminds Jane.

“Their wives just don’t love them as much as I love you.” Jane says, grinning at him. “No more crying about me bringing in more cute girls. ‘Woe is me, I’m getting too much action’.” Jane can’t help but say, very dramatically.

Robert laughs. “Ok, you’ve got me there. I’m not complaining, just stating a fact.”

“So how many people are you directing?” Jane asks. “And how much extra do I get to add to our budget due to your promotion?”

“Just 3 for now.” Robert says. “I forwarded you the compensation notice, I was hoping you could read through it when you have time. It looks like 20% to me, and a slightly better benefits package.”

Jane quickly pulls up her email, and opening the attachment, reads the offer letter. “Executive benefits package?” Jane says. “That sounds nice. Hopefully they mention what the hell that actually is.”

“Check the next attachment.” Robert says.

Jane minimizes that one, and opens the benefits package. “Double PTO will be very nice. And it looks like you get a home office stipend. I don’t think you got that before.”

“No, I definitely didn’t.” Robert says.

“I’ve got to get to work, honey.” Jane says gently. “Do you want me to see if Lucia can keep you company?”

“I’ve got the rest of the day off.” Robert says. “I need to start thinking of people to hire for two of the three slots, but otherwise I can do what I want.”

“Maybe take a few of the girls on a walk?” Jane says. “Those usually help you think.”

“Good idea.” Robert says. “I love you.”

“Love you too!” Jane says. “Have fun.”

As Robert steps outside, Jane pulls up her favorite social media site about the BAA, and clicks their allotment guesstimator, curious to see if a 20% raise will increase their allotment. After some experimentation, it looks like it may increase the minimum and maximum by 1, although how that will work with their max already going up 1 due to participating in Rosie’s inspection, Jane can’t tell. She decides not to mention any of this to Robert, “After all,” she thinks. “Does he really need an excuse to turn down a promotion?”

Robert walks around the house a bit, trying to decide who to take with him on his walk. Deciding he wants quiet, he goes upstairs, finding Amber, Megan, and Reyna folding clothes. “Amber, would you and any of your girls like to go for a walk around the neighborhood with me? I need to clear my head, but I wouldn’t mind some quiet company.”

“I’d be happy to accompany you, Master.” Amber says, putting the clothes she has been folding down. “Reyna, would you like to come?”

“Yes, that’d be great.” Reyna says. “I feel so cooped up in the house sometimes.”

“If you ever need to go out, let me know.” Robert says. “I used to go every day, and I really need to get back into the habit.”

Megan hasn’t said anything, continuing to fold clothes, while waiting to be acknowledged. Robert glances at Amber, and then at Megan, trying to figure out what the plan is.

“Megan, come with me to get changed into something warm.” Amber says.

“Thank you, Mistress.” Megan says, putting the clothes aside neatly, and rising to follow Amber to the bunk bed room.

“You should probably get some warmer clothes too.” Robert says, glancing at Reyna’s thin shirt and short shorts.

“I’ll throw some sweats and a jacket on over this.” Reyna says. “Taylor invited me to join her in your bed tonight.”

“Did you say yes?” Robert asks, looking into her eyes.

“Absolutely.” Reyna says. “You don’t mind, I hope?”

“Of course not.” Robert says. “I told Taylor to invite whoever she most wanted to spend time with.”

Reyna smiles broadly. “And that is me.” She says, and Robert isn’t sure whether that is to him, or herself.

“Apparently it is.” Robert says. “I think she really likes you. If you don’t, after tonight, I think you need to tell her, gently.”

“I don’t think I’ll need to do that.” Reyna says, smiling at him. “I’m so excited for later.”

Robert smiles as she leaves, glad the girls are starting to settle in so well.

As lunch time rolls around, Jane hears a knock on her door. Thinking that it will be lunch, she says. “Come on in.” and gets ready to clock out. Instead Taylor pokes her head in.

“Do you have a second to talk about tonight?” Taylor asks, slightly nervously.

“Of course.” Jane says. “I’m expecting lunch any minute though. Do you mind if I eat while we talk?”

“No problem.” Taylor says, and after a moment, goes on. “I invited Reyna to join me tonight. I was wondering if you would be offended if it is just she and I with Robert tonight? I’m very interested in Reyna, on a personal level, and I really want to figure out if there is actually something there tonight.”