Chapter 55: Summer of \'88, Part II

July 22, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"Steve, this is Veronica Burke," Kara said, introducing the woman we were interviewing for the nanny position.

"Hi, Veronica," I said. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Water would be good," she said.

I got her a glass of ice water and we sat down at the dining room table with Jessica, Kara, and Elyse. Jennifer and Josie had already talked to Veronica, as they were doing the first screening. She was here, so that meant that they approved, and that her references had checked out. She was in her mid-20s, and had worked as a nanny for a doctor the past four years.

"Why are you looking for a new position?" I asked.

"The kids are ten and thirteen now, and don't need a full-time nanny. I can't really accept reduced hours where I'm basically an afterschool babysitter."

"Tell me about the kids and what you did with them," Jessica said.

Over the next thirty minutes, Elyse, Kara, Jessica, and I asked her all manner of questions. She seemed like she might be a good fit, but I had one more thing for her to do.

"Kara, could you get the last interviewer, please," I smirked.

She laughed and got up and went to get Jesse, who was hanging out with my sister. She brought him back to the dining room.

"Jesse, this is Veronica. She might take Beverly's place as your nanny."

He looked at her, "Do you like the park?"

"Yes," she said.

"And music?"

"Yes."

"And dancing?" he said with a grin.

"Why, yes, I like to dance."

"Will you read to me?"

I'd been prepared for that because Jesse and I had talked about it. I handed Veronica Fox in Sox and she started laughing.

"Oh God! This one?" she laughed. "OK, Jesse, come sit in my lap."

It was all I could do to keep from laughing when she missed a word or got tongue-tied. Jesse was ruthless in correcting her, and she took it all in stride. When they finished, Jesse stayed in her lap, which I thought was a sign of approval.

"He has it memorized that well?" she asked.

"Try skipping a page," I chuckled. "If you think he was rough when you missed a word or got tongue-tied, that was nothing! I think that's all the questions we have. Do you have your salary and time off requirements?"

"Yes, for both daily and live-in," she said, handing me a neatly typed sheet. "Jennifer told me this was at least 45 hours if it's not live-in."

"That's right," I said. "We'll work out the exact hours in that case. We haven't decided which way we prefer just yet."

"Could I see the room and have an idea of when you would decide and when I would start?"

"Sure," I said. "Follow me and we'll give you a full tour."

We showed her the 'nanny' bedroom and then gave her a quick tour of the house.

"We'd want you as soon as possible," I said. "But we can handle you starting as late as September 1st. We'll decide by the end of next week."

Jennifer had two more candidates for us to see, one each on Monday and Wednesday. We thanked Veronica, and she left.

"Well?" I asked.

"She's nice!" Jesse said. "I like her!"

"That's one vote," I chuckled. "Jessica?"

"She worked for a doctor before, and it sounds like she was very involved in the kids' lives, making sure they did their homework, but also making sure they got to their piano lessons and soccer practice. I'm actually OK if we hire her and skip the next two interviews. Kara?"

"I didn't see anything that raised any red flags, and Birgit didn't fuss when she picked her up. So yes, I'm fine with her. Elyse?"

"She's good. I only have one concern," she said with a smirk. "She's a cute, athletic redhead with small tits. And you know what THAT means!"

I laughed, "Stop it! She'd be an employee just like the women at NIKA!"

"Uh-huh!" Elyse grinned. "But in all seriousness, I think she's fine."

"Ignoring Elyse's impertinence, I like her," I said. "If we were to agree to hire her, do we want live-in or not?"

"I think we should have her as a live-in, Tiger. I can't predict my schedule, and Kara will have class and teaching assignments as well, and we definitely don't want to burden Elyse with all the kids. Add in the fact that Josie and Jennifer both have fairly long commutes, and I think it's easier if she lives here."

"That makes sense," I said. "Let's go talk to Jennifer and Josie. We can certainly afford her, and her references say that she's a good cook, which will certainly help around here."

"You'd let someone else cook?" Elyse gasped.

"Occasionally, sure. I guarantee you there will be nights when she'd need to feed the kids."

We walked back to the coach house and knocked on the door and let ourselves in.

"What did you think?" Jennifer asked.

"We're ready to hire her," I said. "We all agreed. We talked and our preference, if you agree, is that she should be live-in. So unless you think one of the ones you scheduled for next week is better, we should just pull the trigger."

"Told you!" Josie said. "He saw the redhead, and it's all over!"

I laughed, "You too? Elyse said the same thing! She's off limits! Got that?"

"We scheduled the best one first," Jennifer said. "So yes, let's make her an offer. You saw her requirements?"

"I did. We can easily afford her, between the six of us."

"Then I'll call her and let her know. And I'll tell Beverly we don't need her back."

"Your son approved, too," I chuckled.

"She passed the Fox in Sox test?"

"With flying colors!" I chuckled. "He asked if she liked the park; if she liked music; and if she liked to dance. He has his priorities straight!"

"And his dad's taste in women, too!" Jennifer smirked.

"Yeah, yeah!" I grinned. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take my wives to dinner and then we're going to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit."

Jessica, Kara, and I left Birgit with Elyse, and then headed out for our dinner and a movie.

July 23, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"I thought we'd do something different today," Melody said. "Instead of 'Truth or Dare', we'll go around the room and answer questions. I have a few to start, but then we'll go around the circle, and people can ask a question everyone has to answer."

"Where's the fun in that?" Peggy asked.

"Ah, each round when the question is asked, before you answer, you write down one person's name and their answer. The closest correct answer gets the prize for that round. The furthest, has to drink a shot of vodka!"

"Uh, we need some limits," I said. "The last thing we need is alcohol poisoning. And if people get drunk, that causes a problem with consent."

"I hadn't thought about that," Melody said. "OK. Then we'll have a prize and a punishment. I can quickly come up with punishments for the four questions I have ready!"

"But we know the answers to some questions!" Lisa objected.

"True, if there's a tie, then both get the prize. But I have some complex questions that I think will make it more difficult."

"OK, let's play!" Peggy said.

"First question has four parts: How old were you when you lost your virginity; was it to a guy or a girl; how old were they; and where was it? Paper and pencils are on the table. Remember, write down one person's name, and their answers."

I grabbed a pencil and paper and thought about it. I knew for sure the answer for Jenna, and I couldn't imagine that she'd lie. She hadn't objected or even flinched when the question was asked, so I wrote down her name, her age, my age, my sex, and the bedroom.

"What do we do with the papers?" I asked.

"Write your name at the bottom and fold them and put them in the middle. Someone will read them."

"I think this is going to be boring," Lisa said. "I say we answer this, then do something different!"

"What did you have in mind?" Melody asked.

"Finish this, since we already started. Then we can discuss it."

"OK. I'll go first," Melody said. "I was sixteen, it was with a guy on the beach, and he was thirty!"

"Thirty?" Cheryl exclaimed. "Holy cow!"

"Keep your comments to yourself!" Melody said playfully. "Steve?"

"Fourteen, with a woman who was twenty-three, in her bed."

Lisa was next, "I was sixteen, he was eighteen, and it was in the backseat of his car, as I said."

"I was twelve, and he was thirteen, like I told you," Peggy said. "It was on the couch in my parents' basement."

Then came Cheryl, "I was nineteen, he was twenty, and it was in his bed."

Jenna was last, and I wondered what the reaction would be.

"Twenty, he was twenty-five, and it was in that bedroom right there."

There was stunned silence for a moment, then bedlam.

"No way!" Lisa said, laughing. "You lost your cherry in a 'Truth or Dare' game?"

"Damn, girl!" Peggy said. "That's pretty gutsy! And it sounded like it was great!"

"She might have had the best first time of all of us!" Melody said. "Mine was over in five minutes!"

"That's four minutes and fifty-five seconds longer than mine was," Peggy laughed.

"I'm guessing Steve picked Jenna on his paper and got it exactly right!" Melody said.

"I did. But there was enough information that everyone should have had three out of four for a couple of people."

Melody checked the papers, and I was right. I had all four, and so did Peggy about Lisa. The others had three, either about Lisa or Peggy.

"Some interesting revelations there!" Lisa said. "How did you hook up with an older guy like that for your first time?"

"We went to Florida with my dad on a business trip," Melody said. "One of the guys in his office was a hunk and flirted with me. I snuck out to take a walk on the beach with him and one thing led to another!"

"I'm curious, what were some of the other questions?" Peggy asked.

"The oldest and youngest person you had sex with, your total count of guys and girls, what you've done, that kind of thing. I think you're right. It's not as exciting as I thought it was going to be. What should we do instead?"

"I say we just cut to the chase, get naked, and have some fun!" Peggy said.

"I second that motion!" Lisa said emphatically.

"There's only one guy!" Cheryl protested.

"You like girls too!" Peggy said.

"Fuck you, OK? Just fuck you!"

"If you two want to have a lovers' quarrel, take it somewhere else!" Lisa said. "We have a very, very talented guy here who's more than willing to do pretty much whatever we want!"

"True, but not everyone is into public sex," Melody said, looking at Jenna.

"Uhm, I'm not sure," Jenna said. "Maybe."

"We know Cheryl won't," Peggy said, now sounding nasty.

"Patricia!" Lisa said sharply. "Enough! I know you two broke up, but stop with the catty comments. You're spoiling it for everyone. Now, I'm going to take Steve into the bedroom and blow his mind, among other things. Join us if you want. Do whatever. But if you come into the bedroom, in the words of Doc Brown, you're going to see some serious shit. Participate if you want, I'm sure Steve can get it up multiple times!"

"Damn!" Melody gasped.

Lisa got up and grabbed my hand. She pulled me into the bedroom and shut the door. Then she just stood there.

"Now I'm confused," I said.

"Shh. I was trying to put an end to the stupid cat fight. Let's see what happens."

I nodded, but I held my arms out. She melted into them and we kissed fiercely. I wasn't surprised when the door opened and Peggy came in. She shut the door behind her.

"I hope there's more of that!" she said.

I broke the kiss with Lisa and Peggy instantly threw herself at me, kissing me and trying to probe my tonsils with her tongue. I heard the door open and shut, so I broke the kiss with Peggy. To my surprise, it was Jenna.

"You sure?" I asked.

She nodded, so I pulled her into my arms and we kissed, though like the other day, it was soft and gentle, and very sexy. I broke the kiss when the door opened.

"Cheryl decided to leave," Melody said.

"All talk, no action," Peggy sighed. "She made all these grandiose claims and in the end, Jenna, a virgin, was more daring than she was."

"Peggy," I said carefully, "not everyone is the same. I think maybe you pushed her too hard last time. She didn't want everyone to know that she likes girls. If you think about it, her bragging about all the guys was probably a cover. And the one time with one guy may have just been trying to prove to herself that she wasn't a lesbian."

"How the fuck do you know all that?" Peggy said.

"Because a girl I was madly in love with, and still love to pieces, is a lesbian. We dated a lot in High School, and our relationship was hellish at times because she was so conflicted. In the end, she came out and now she's very happy."

"That's Jennifer, isn't it?" Jenna said. "Jesse's mother?"

"Yes. So I know, at least from one perspective, what's going on. Cheryl is conflicted. Right now, she doesn't want to be a lesbian, but she might be. Or she could be like Peggy and be bisexual. But who knows?"

"Bisexual?" Jenna asked. "Really?"

"Twenty-five partners, and an even mix between guys and girls is pretty much a dead giveaway, don't you think?"

"He's right," Peggy said. "At first I thought it was just experimentation, but then I decided I liked it. It doubles my chances of having a date on Friday nights!"

The girls laughed.

"And Lisa, you're OK with kissing girls?" Jenna asked. "But nothing else?"

"Yes. Like we said the other day, everyone has their limits and their comfort zone. Kissing is no big deal, but the chances I'm going to munch a rug are zero! Peggy, on the other hand, likes doing that!"

"So do I!" I chuckled.

"Lisa, did you want to just get your wild fuck out of the way so we can play?" Peggy laughed.

"She's not the only one who wants one!" Melody giggled.

"Well, then, that makes three of us!" Peggy said.

"Four," Jenna said softly.

"Jenna? Are you sure?" Lisa asked.

"Do you remember when I begged him to, you know, fuck me? I really went crazy, and that's when I screamed!"

"So, how is this going to work?" Peggy asked.

"Hmm," Lisa said. "Steve, be serious now, no bragging or bullshit. How long can you go?"