Chapter 7: ... Where Angels Fear to Tread

December 2, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

Because it was the last class before presentations, I used the time to go over things that I learned during the three years that NIKA had been running. The most important one was that each speaker had, at a maximum, 12 minutes before they started to lose the audience, and in situations like the class, probably less. By the end of the lecture period, I felt that I'd given the students the best chance of doing well, and I figured that there would be some hasty changes made to presentations over the weekend.

At the end of class, several students came up to thank me, and one of them, Mikela Kovaç, a cute girl from Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, was bold enough to straight up ask for a job.

"We'll be interviewing on campus," I said, giving my standard response. "Make sure you sign up!"

She'd been one of the biggest contributors in class, along with a guy from India and one from, of all places, Kenya. He was a mechanical engineer minoring in computer science, and I didn't think he'd be interested in a programming or support job. He was, in my opinion, the top student in the class. I'd provide input to Doctor Bauer after the presentations, and he'd receive my highest praise. 'Prad', the Indian student, and Mikela, would as well. I packed up my notes and walked out of the classroom.

"Ready for the beer?" Jody asked.

"Unless you just want to cut to the chase," I smirked.

Given that I'd planned to be with her, I'd checked to make sure I had several condoms in my bag before I'd left the house this morning. I couldn't risk an incident like with Jacquelyn, where I'd been exceedingly lucky.

"Seriously?" she asked happily.

"We can go to The Bog and have a Coke or a beer, or we can go to your dorm room and find something more interesting to do."

"Dorm!" she said excitedly.

I followed her out of the Stuart Building and across campus to the dorms. She signed us in, and we went up to her room on the fifth floor. She tied a red ribbon to the doorknob, then locked the door behind us. We took off our coats, gloves, and hats, and then kicked off our shoes.

"Uh, this isn't going to interfere with work, is it?" she asked.

"No. I don't make the hiring decisions. Dave does."

"Excellent!" she exclaimed, and melted into my arms.

We kissed, and I pulled her tightly to me, crushing her breasts between us. If I had to guess, she was almost as big as Cindi, though on her smaller frame, they looked even bigger. I ran my hand over the firm globes of her butt and squeezed, pulling her tightly against me.

It was just past 3:00pm, and I needed to be back at the office around 4:00pm, which meant there wasn't a lot of time for preliminaries or a second round. If that was going to happen, it would have to be another day. I tugged on Jody's shirt and pulled it from her jeans, then broke our kiss and pulled it over her head. My hands went immediately to the clasp of her bra and when I released it, it fell away, revealing large areolae and large, erect nipples. I bent down and immediately sucked one into my mouth.

I'd rarely been with girls with large breasts, always preferring smaller ones, but sucking on Jody's nipple started to make me understand why lots of guys liked the bigger ones. My hands went to the buttons on her jeans and very quickly I had them off of her, pulling her panties down with them. Her red pubic hair was nice to see, though it wasn't as shockingly red as Kathy's. Or as Kathy's had been before that scourge on humanity, Kurt Jaeger, convinced her to shave it off!

I gently pushed Jody back onto the bed and quickly knelt between her legs. Jody wasn't fat by any stretch, but her thighs were large and when I shoved my tongue into her, she trapped my face between them. I was surprised when a simple nip at her clit caused her to shudder and moan. In that way, she reminded me of Elyse, and that was confirmed when Jody had almost continuous orgasms for the next few minutes. I managed to push away and stood up. I quickly removed my clothes and got a rubber from my bag.

I tore off the wrapper, rolled it onto my dick, and went back to the bed. The bed was high enough that I had an idea — something I hadn't done in a long time. I lifted Jody's legs, draped her ankles over my shoulders, and slammed into her.

"Oh fuuuuuuccccckkkk!" she gasped as I started my powerful strokes.

I watched as her breasts bounced with each thrust, enjoying the sight. Jody grasped the blanket covering the bed tightly, hanging on as I pounded in and out of her sodden pussy. She was roomier than most of the thinner girls I liked, but certainly tight enough to give me pleasure. I only regretting having to wear the rubber, but she hadn't stopped me, which likely meant that she wasn't on the Pill.

Jody's orgasms began again, and I fucked her hard and fast through them. I was amazed at how long they lasted, with one seemingly running directly into the next. She was as easy to bring off as Elyse had been years ago, though not as sensitive.

"You ... didn't ... cum ... yet?" she gasped after we'd been going ten minutes.

"No," I said, continuing to drive in to her, and watching her pendulous breasts bounce around.

"God ... damn..." she gasped.

I continued fucking her hard for another several minutes before pushing in as deeply as I could and filling the rubber with cum. I relaxed, but held myself against her for a minute, then bent down to kiss her. When I broke the kiss, I grasped the rubber and looked around for tissues. I saw a box, grabbed two, and used them to wrap the used condom before dropping it in the trash.

"Jesus," she whispered. "I've never been fucked like that before."

She sat up on the bed and leaned against the cushioned backrest on the bookshelf, and I sat down next to her and put my arm around her. We kissed a bit while both of us recovered from the exertion.

"I'm sorry I can't stay too long," I said. "I have to get back to the office."

"That's OK," she said. "I need a nap! Damn, Steve!"

"See you Monday after class?" I grinned.

"I, uh, have something going on," she said. "But I do want to see you again."

"Just let me know," I said.

She lived on a co-ed floor, so I could wrap a towel around myself and take a quick shower before dressing and heading back to work. As I was driving south, I wondered about what Jody had said to me. It dawned on me that she might have a boyfriend, and if that was the case, I'd just helped her cheat. But she'd never said anything, and at this point, I actually didn't give a damn about that. It was her concern, not mine. The only concern I would have was if her boyfriend were a friend of mine, but that couldn't possibly be the case.

I arrived back at work and Dave came to my office before Jeri did.

"What's up?" I asked.

"The time away seems to have done you some good. Jeri said you were reasonably focused this morning. I'm glad. I really didn't relish having to try to deal with that problem."

"I know, Dave. But I think I've found a way to take my mind off my troubles without it impacting anything at work."

"Good. How was class?"

"Good, actually. Why don't you join me next Monday and Wednesday? They're doing presentations. I have three students I want you to see. Call it advance interviewing."

"Let me clear it with Julia, but that's a GREAT idea. That is how Scott found us, isn't it?"

"Yes. And Wen as well."

"How is she doing?"

"I don't know for sure, but OK, I guess. She took a job with SPSS, according to Jennifer."

"Did Jennifer decide what to do?"

"She accepted the job at Tellabs. She starts on Monday. Nuvatec is pretty much closed as of December 31. They have a few things winding down, but Jennifer is one of the last ones to leave because she was helping Brunswick transition the development of the bowling system in-house."

"OK. By the way, I think it was a good idea to go out for lunch and get out of the office. You used to do that a lot when you walked to the park with Jesse before you hired Veronica. You should do that again."

"That's good advice, Dave. I think I'll try to get out for lunch at least a couple of days a week. It'll help me focus on recharging my batteries."

"Cool. I'll send Jeri in!"

I nodded, Jeri came in, and we got to work. I left in time to get home for dinner at 6:10pm. Veronica had started cooking for us several days during the week, and I thought that was probably going to be the pattern, at least until my schedule calmed down a bit.

Kara, Stephanie, and I went to karate as usual, and Sensei Jim called me into his office before class to make sure that I was doing OK. I said that I was doing my best to try to keep focus, and that the few days away had helped. I reminded him about my upcoming vacation and he confirmed that he had it on his calendar.

I was assigned to work with the lower belts, which meant that I had both Melody and Jacquelyn in my group, along with Will, two other yellow belts, and a brand new white belt named Angelique who was fifteen, and had just started on Wednesday. She seemed to catch on quickly and kept up with everything, though she needed some help with the first kata. I helped her while the others practiced.

"It's hard to remember all the moves," she said. "Are there handouts?"

"You didn't get them on Wednesday?" I asked.

"No."

That was odd because Sensei Jim was pretty good about handing out three-ring binders and then three-hole punched copies of the kata moves as each student was to learn them. I'd have to get her one after class. We finished and went out to the main class to line up to be dismissed. After we were dismissed, I went to the office to get the binder and the first four handouts, which included the dojo rules, the principles of karate, the basic punches and kicks, and the first kata. I put it together and gave it to Angelique. She thanked me with a cute smile and then left the dojo with her mom.

"She's kind of young," Melody whispered in my ear.

Angelique was fifteen, and cute in a little girl kind of way. She looked to me like she was twelve or thirteen at the most, and that she hadn't really developed.

"Oh stop!" I chuckled. "How are you?"

"Hanging in there. It's been tough since Chrissy died. We're all kind of sad, but your friend Jorge has been great."

"He's a nice guy," I said. "I'm glad he's helping all of you."

"No, just me," she said with an impish smile.

That answered THAT question. I wondered if Lisa and Peggy needed any help, as it were.

"What about Lisa and Peggy?" I asked.

Melody laughed quietly, "If you want to comfort them, they'll be more than happy to accept it! But I didn't think you had that kind of freedom. If you do, perhaps I could arrange a party with Jenna, Lisa, Peggy, and me."

"Sounds like fun. Send me a tape!" I teased.

"Right!" she laughed. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Karate in the morning. I thought about working for a few hours tomorrow afternoon because I'm done tutoring and Kara has her 'Chemistry Mafia' coming over tomorrow to study for exams."

"Chemistry Mafia?"

I nodded, "A group of graduate students who have pretty much hung out together and studied at our place for four years, since they were all undergrads. I think they all took a blood oath, or something! I stay as far away from that room as possible!"

"Not into chemistry?"

"Body? Yes. Education? No," I smirked.

"If I can set it up, I'll tell you tomorrow morning!"

"Sounds fun!" I said.

Kara and Stephanie were waiting for me in the vestibule, and we walked home together.

"Are you doing OK, Big Brother?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm still pretty bummed, but I'm finding ways to stay focused. Dad said he hadn't heard from you in a while."

"Why does he have to keep sticking his nose in my life?" she complained.

"Because he loves you, Squirt. And in case you haven't noticed, Mom is relatively tame these days."

"Wait until she hears about Jessica. She's going to have a field day."

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," I said. "Let's wait for the DNA test results and see what happens with Carla and Rachel. As for Jessica, who knows? I need to make one more attempt. I was thinking of going out there on Sunday afternoon. What do you think, Kara?"

"It's worth a try," Kara replied. "We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You're willing to do that even after what she did?"

"We don't know that she's done it yet," I said, trying to convince myself. "If she hasn't, maybe we can stop it. If she has, then we'll bring it all to a head and finish it off for good."

"It's still a bright red line?"

"Yes. Dad thinks I'm overreacting a bit, and, well, you know his opinion on the topic. I did sort of accidentally tell him about what happened with Becky back in High School."

"What?!" Stephanie gasped.

"It kind of came out because I compared what Jess threatened with what happened with Becky. I forgot he didn't know. Or didn't think about it. Or whatever. Anyway, he knows now."

"What did he say?"

"Not much," I said. "What could he say at this point? He was more concerned about Jessica and the stuff with Carla and Rachel than what is now effectively ancient history."

"Was work OK today, Snuggle Bear?" Kara asked.

"Yes. Dave and Jeri both noticed. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing."

"So, sex before work helped?" she giggled.

And at lunch. And after class. But I could answer truthfully.

"Yes, it did. I think it's a good pattern to get into!"

Both Kara and Stephanie laughed.

December 3, 1988, Chicago, Illinois

"You remember that my study group will be all afternoon today, right?" Kara asked as we walked to karate class on Saturday morning.

"Yes. I'll probably go to the office for the afternoon. I promise I'll find something to do to keep myself occupied."

"Would it be a problem if we went longer? I promise we'll finish by 8:00pm so we can have the evening together."

"I don't see why not. Do you have someone to watch my Pumpkin?"

"She's going to hang out with Jesse and his moms."

"OK. I also need to call Al Barton and find out exactly where Jessica is staying, so we can go out there tomorrow. You're still up for that?"

"Yes, of course!" Kara exclaimed. "We need to try, Steve. At least once more. Are you working with Jolene in the morning?"

"That was the plan, unless she tells me otherwise today."

"Elyse wanted to know if you could spend the night one night this week. We agreed on Tuesday, because my period will most likely start Tuesday morning."