Chapter 11: Nikky

Dave sauntered down the hall in the Administration Division. He was well-known, and so the presence of a vice president in the utility in the trenches was obvious and highly noteworthy. He made a few false turns, and then found what he was looking for.

He stuck his head into the slightly larger than normal cubicle that belonged to Nikky Thomas. Her name was on a plastic nameplate hung on the fabric just outside the entry.

“Hi Nikky, how’s it going? I was wondering if you were free for lunch today?”

“Hi Dave. Yes. If this is a good time, we can go now.”

Dave looked around at the tight quarters. He chuckled, “I remember my first-line ‘office’ – it wasn’t any better than this, so don’t feel you’ve been singled out for any reason.” Dave noted that hanging on the wall beside her desk was an eight-by-ten picture of Nikky sitting casually talking to Scarlett Johansson on the Circle patio, only no one would know where it was taken. They were both laughing and smiling at the camera.

Below that picture was another with Nikki sitting with Derek and Dave enjoying their lunch at the Circle. That too was a candid shot that showed they were obviously all talking together and that the two men were listening intently to what Nikki was saying. A third picture showed Nikky chatting with the well-known billionaire Owen Bennett.

Beside those three pictures was a fourth that showed Nikki and Doug standing in front of the Cessna 152. Nikki was over a head shorter than Doug, but it was obvious that she’d taken up flying as a hobby. There was a picture of Nikky standing in the doorway of Owen’s corporate jet, too.

Dave nodded, “Nice Rogues’ gallery you’ve got there. Has anybody said anything?”

Nikky grinned broadly, “Only a couple. The two comments were really questions: ‘Do you really know Scarlett Johansson? and “Do you talk often with the president and vice president?’ I simply answered ‘Yes’ to both of them with no further explanations. I’ll have more flying-related pictures after I solo. I’ll tell you something that’ll make you laugh, though. Doug has to add extensions on the rudder pedals on the Cessna Trainer when I have a lesson because even with seat all the way forward, my feet won’t reach. I’m too short.” She giggled.

As they walked through the area on the way to the cafeteria, Dave asked, “How many hours do you have now?”

Nikky held up one small hand with her fingers spread, “Five. I have another lesson tomorrow after work. I love it. I thought of it as just some task I had to do to support my career, but I’m really getting into it all. I bought four hundred dollars worth of books, special computers, apps for my iPad, weather gear, and other stuff all related to flying. I’m psyched.”

Dave laughed, “How would you like a little trip in a helicopter on company time when some of the guys are checking out some of the high- and medium-voltage transmission lines along the spine of the state? We could chalk it up to you needing to understand the business better. It would be very educational. You’d be a passenger in the back, but it would be a ride and probably a lot of fun.”

Nikky nearly screamed, “YES. REALLY! OH, PLEASE.” Several heads popped out of nearby cubicles to see whom she was talking to.

Dave shushed her and said in a slightly sarcastic tone, “Quiet. Serious work is being done in this department.” Nikky rolled her eyes and they went on their way as he described what would be involved.

Saturday at breakfast, Dave once again played chef with four others helping him. Since the children were around, there was a slight damper on the dress code and the PDAs. As usual, Dave watched to see who arrived with whom, especially after the energetic Friday night the Circle had experienced.

Julie came and sat down with Dave – her husband, when he finally appeared with his own breakfast after all of the others had been served. “I have a question for you, but really it’s an idea and I want to see if you like it.”

Dave turned to her, “Fire away.”

“Halloween is the subject. You know most of us are going up to the Worthington’s home called The Meadows. My idea is that instead of driving the hour up there we get a luxury bus to take us up in the afternoon or whenever things get started and then to bring us back the next morning or whenever we leave.”

“Good idea. I assume the cost is not prohibitive.”

“It’ll be $1,200. If we get sixty of us, that’ll make the round trip about twenty dollars a person. It’s much cheaper than a taxi plus if we play our cards right, we can fuck on the bus, that is if any of us have any energy left.”

“Still a good idea,” Dave smiled. “Any other good ideas?”

Julie kissed him, “Yeah, I want you to wear that loincloth costume you wore last year. I’d also like to get some tacit agreement that we’ll give preference in our hookups to people not in the Circle, that way all us girls get to try out some new cock or new pussy.” She giggled.

Dave shrugged, “That works for me. You know the set up at Mark’s home, so make it happen. Do they know what you’re planning or what your preferences are?”

“Not yet. I thought I’d join Alice when she calls Elsa this afternoon, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Find out what we can bring, and what expectations they have about us. I feel we should do something nice for their hospitality.”

“I’ll think of a housewarming gift. Do you have any ideas?”

Dave chuckled, “How about a complete set of Alice Angel videos or something along those lines.”

Julie broke into a wide grin. “Now, you’re talking.” She flounced off to talk to her sisters.

Dave got three bites in before Karen sat down next to him. She kissed his cheek. “Sorry to interrupt your meal. I thought I’d give you the Saturday morning update about the Simon family.”

Dave nodded, “Please, you know I’m curious and want to be helpful.”

Karen started, “The movers emptied out the furniture from the house the same day those two goons showed up here expecting me to turn over my two kids to them. Daryl and Candy stayed at the Motel 6 the next town over. The next day they went about shutting down bank accounts and forwarding mail, and that type of thing. They’ve quit their jobs. We’re fleeing the state of Ohio.

“Today, they had a couple of things to do and then they were going to start driving their two cars south. Daryl is also pulling a small trailer with some of our more fragile and valuable things in it. My parents called him but he let it go to voice mail. He played the message to me over the phone. It was very threatening and demeaning about how we were living. They bemoaned that all three of their daughters had taken up a life of sin and were living a life that guaranteed we’d fry in hell for all eternity. They hinted that they would ‘take measures’ in the near future to ensure that the children wouldn’t be corrupted by their sinful parents and their whore of a girlfriend.”

Dave said, “It sounds like they’ve worked up some kind of kidnap or abduction plan when they say ‘take measures’.” Dave hailed Dev and Dale over and had Karen repeat what Daryl had told her.

Dale said, “I’ve worked some kidnap and ransom cases, but this is different. They don’t want to ever return the children to you, but we have an edge in that we have deep pockets and about a hundred people as a buffer between you and your children and the outside world.”

Dev said, “I think one decision is how confrontational do you want to be when the shit hits the fan.”

Karen teared up, “I want this to stop. I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder the rest of my life. Sean is twelve, yet we’re keeping him under lock and key. He should be riding his bike around the neighborhood and doing twelve-year-old boy things, not hiding from the world. Christiana is in the same predicament only she’s ten. Some of her classmates live a short distance out the back gate, and she should be able to walk over and visit them and not fear that she’ll disappear off the face of the earth as far as we’re concerned.”

Dev said, “What would Daryl say?”

Karen said firmly, “He’d want confrontation and resolution. Candy does, too.”

Dev said slowly, “OK. We’ll take steps in that direction. It’ll get ugly before it gets better.”

Dave said, “Oh, shit. I completely forgot about Bridget. Should we be doing something about her, even though she’s officially an adult?”

Dale chuckled, “Had it covered for weeks. When she’s not here she has an escort of sorts. I think they’ve come to like each other, but he’s keeping his emotional distance so he doesn’t lose perspective if something starts to go down. He’s a young man that works for another firm I have an agreement with.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Kevin Wilde. He works for Atlas Security Company that I have a reciprocity agreement with. They’ve used Gail for some computer stuff, too. Now, I have Kevin on a security detail. I might add that Bridget has been very cooperative regarding curtailing her wandering around the city or university. She’s here or at classes, and Kevin is always with her when she’s outside the Circle.” Dale added, “I’ll find her and explain to her that we have a more credible threat; I’ll need to let Kevin know, too.”

Karen said, “Thank you. She knows what’s happening and thinks her grandparents are bonkers – her word – in what they’re doing. By the way, she’s at a table at the other end of the patio studying, when you go to look for her.”

Dave saw Nikky arrive and waved her over. As she arrived some of the others left. Dale and Karen went to talk to Bridget.

“Why’s everybody look so glum?” Nikky asked.

“Oh, we have a family problem. It involves two of my wives – the sisters, another sister that is now living here with her three children, her family who is also moving here from Ohio, and on the other side of the fence her parents, who happen to think she’s doing a crappy job of raising her kids. The kids grandparents want to take them away from their parents.”

As he talked he studied Nikky. This was the first time the cute and tiny woman had worn a sleeveless scoop neck top. To his amazement, after all the other interactions he’d had with her, he realized that she had breasts – significant ones at that. Her boobs were slightly oversize for her body proportions; she was truly ‘stacked’.

“Is she a bad mother in some way?” Nikky sounded kind of naïve asking the question.

“None of us think so. They’ve tried legal methods and now we’re worried they’re going to try some other more muscled approach, even kidnapping of her younger kids – the two swimming in the pool.”

“Wow, you guys have a lot of drama in your life right now.”

Dave actually smiled, “I think there’s always been some drama in our lives, at least since Alice and I started to loosen up.”

“Loosen up? What do you mean by that?”

Dave rolled his eyes at himself. The question was a logical one. He tried to look thoughtful as Nikky got delivered her breakfast by Ron who was playing waiter. Dave noted that he gave the pretty eighteen-year-old the once over and then winked at Dave. He had to admit that Ron had good taste.

Dave tried to explain, giving the PG-13 version to her, “About seven years ago, Alice and I were somewhat unhappy with our lives. We were in a rut in terms of careers, our marriage, and how we thought about life. We had very religious upbringing. We embarked on a joint effort we still pursue today to help us think outside our comfort zones, not become entrenched in our behavior or thinking, and to keep our marriage at what we like to think of as at an innovative edge.”

“So, that’s why you have five or six wives?” Nikky’s tone was serious but full of curiosity.

Dave nodded. “Yes, that’s one reason. We could have had relationships with the women and between the women without being in love with each other or marrying them, but in our case, we also happen to be in love with our spouses.”

“Were you in love with Nancy, Erin, and Maddy?”

“Errr, yes. I’m still in love with them. Why them?”

“Well, they had your babies, at least the ones I know about. I saw them in the nursery; they’re all so cute. I met Maddy, too, but she confused me. I asked which babies were yours, beside hers, and she gestured to just about all of the children. I was in a hurry to come out here to find you so I didn’t ask further.”

“Nikky, I’m about to tell you something that I hope you won’t discuss with anybody from work and that I hope won’t impact our friendship. The people that live here are very aware of it, and they’ll gladly talk to you, as will I, if you want to comment. I think I’m responsible for many of the children in the nursery. I’m not some super stud, the women just happened to find me at the right time.”

“So, you have more than just your four kids?”