Chapter 9: Dislocations

Sunday morning, Dave was doing his breakfast service again, laughing and having a great time as Circle members and visiting friends drifted onto the patio. Despite being early October, the day was already warm promising some peak temperatures in the nineties later.

Dave watched the arrival of each group with interest, as he always did. He knew he had prurient interest in who had slept with whom the night before. There was no surprise when Sheri showed up with Wolf and Carolyn. Since the night of her performance at the Club Ecstasy, Wolf had never been far from the woman except to go to work. Even Carolyn seemed enthralled with the relationship. The two women were topless, and Wolf had his arms round their shoulders with each hand on one of each woman’s breasts.

Amanda came in with Dale and Susan, all looking fresh as daisies, but sporting that freshly fucked look. Amanda’s tummy was rounder as her pregnancy started to show, and she’d mentioned the night before at dinner that she was about halfway through the gestation period.

Taylor appeared with Murph, but right behind her was Alec with Cricket and Athena. Rose had appeared earlier with Scarlett, so it must be a morning off for the au pair. Alec also had that freshly fucked look on his face, as well as a look of determination. Dave thought that perhaps he’d mastered some of his inner demons, at least for one night.

As Dave got their orders, Taylor gave him a wink and smile. He took that to mean that things were going exactly the way she hoped they would with her ‘outside the Circle’ boyfriend.

Alec greeted Dave warmly and thanked him for doing the breakfasts. He offered to help, but Dave gave him a rain check for another morning when some of the breakfast volunteers were off onto other tasks. “We kind of start about eight o’clock even though people know we don’t start taking orders and such until eight-thirty. We backlog some stuff to speed the meals along, just the way a restaurant does. In fact, I know so much now about service for eighty or a hundred people that I could open a restaurant ... at least providing Bobbie Wyatt coached me about how to prepare breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. She’s the master chef here.”

Alec blushed, “I met Bobbie last night again ... she ... she came and kissed me while I was making love with Athena. She made sure I knew how special Athena was and urged me to take good care of her.”

“Did you?” Dave teased.

“I did my best, Si ... Dave.”

“Good. You remembered. Let me go back to work.”

Dave kept an eye on the patio for new arrivals as he and several others worked the grill. Ross arrived with Tali and Scarlett. Jim and Lisa escorted Christie to a table, as well. His brother Aaron came in with Tan and Steph; Bjorn arrived with Morgan and Karen. Karen still blushed when she appeared in public after being with somebody in the Circle. He knew she’d eventually get over the embarrassment; it was a holdover from her upbringing.

Dave finally sat down to eat his own breakfast about nine-thirty. Scarlett came and sat next to him on the bench seat, getting as close to him as she could without climbing into his lap.

Scarlett sighed, “I have to go back to work, not that I haven’t been working while I’ve been here. The studio wants me in L.A. on Tuesday for at least a few weeks. They’re tuning up the premiere and marketing for Road Trip. I’m supposed to do some cameo appearances in another film, too, as well as some radio interviews. The two TV gossip shows ET and Access Hollywood are also on the calendar. Things will get busy for a while as we get closer to the day. I think the premiere date is now Thanksgiving Day in L.A.”

Dave hugged the woman to him. “You know I’ll miss you. When does the filming of Crystal Clear start?”

“Right after New Year’s Day.” She paused, “I’d like to leave Rose here with Athena, if that’s all right with you.”

“I’ll take care of Rose like she was my own, and you know Athena will be in good hands.”

Scarlett chuckled, “I want her to be good in your bed part of the time, too.”

Dave said in a bland tone, “I’ll force myself.”

“Yeah, right. She poked at him. “You’ll force yourself to have sex with one of the cutest, prettiest women in the world, plus she absolutely adores you and thinks you walk on water.”

“Oh, she’s seen me practicing on the pool in the middle of the night?”

“You took her virginity, you big ugly man. For some reason she thinks that means you love her.”

Dave shifted and said more seriously, “I do love her. I’ve very glad you’re leaving her. She’s blossomed in the Circle. I’m going to miss when you and she move into your house on Perimeter Road.”

“We’re both hoping you’ll spend some time with us frequently.”

“Speaking of the house, what’s happening?”

“The pad has been completed including the underlying electric and plumbing. Some of the cinderblock walls have been started along with the reinforcing steel bars. Derek’s home is further along, and he tells me this is the part that goes fast. It’s after the shell is built that all the time-consuming parts start.” She looked to Dave for verification.

“That’s what we’ve always found. The interior electric, plumbing, HVAC, insulation, wallboard, and so on seem to take forever. Do you have a decorator? I know Jack is your architect.”

“Yes, I’m using a woman named Alice Grace. She’s one of Mark Worthington’s girlfriends and lives with him. She’s part of his entourage, but is also a talented decorator in the region. I saw some of her stuff. I even got a tour of The Meadows, but no one else was there except a couple of workers because it was a weekday. Jack will keep on top of things while I’m gone. Like you, he has all my numbers, just in case.”

“If you need anything, please call.”

“I’m going to wear your ring all the time. It’s going to stir up a hornet’s nest, but as we agreed I’m going to be somewhat evasive. Someone will figure it out, so expect to be hounded by the paparazzi eventually.”

Dave gestured around at the others lingering at the breakfast table and talking to one another; “They’ll have a field day when they discover this is how you want to live or how I already live with five other women.”

Scarlett shrugged, “I don’t care. I love you. If I get burned at the stake, it’s for a good cause – polyamory. Speaking of that, could I cajole you into a little time right now? I’m feeling very loving about you.”

Dave smiled, stood, and took Scarlett’s hand.

The big bed was empty when they reached his master bedroom. He closed the door, something they’d started doing since the younger children came and went on his second floor.

Dave figured that Scarlett’s moan of happiness as they merged could be heard in Chicago.

Nikky came out of the cafeteria line at noon on Monday carrying her tray with a water and salad on it. She looked around at the sprawl of people, and suddenly saw Dave Prentiss, Vice President of Lines, standing and waving at her. A vice president! At her! She’d agreed to have lunch with him to further her image and persona with the people she was supposed to supervise in her new job. Despite the agreement she hadn’t expected him to really join her, and certainly not be standing and waving enthusiastically at her to get her attention. She blushed at the recognition, waved back as she balanced her tray, and headed to his table.

Nikky, of course, had a serious disadvantage – well, maybe several. Nikky stood four-feet-eight inches tall, a height about equal to the average fifth grade girl, maybe even on the short side. Nikky also had a fair and very clear complexion, the same as a fifth grade prepubescent girl. She looked exceptionally young, around eleven or twelve. Nikky didn’t have any noticeable curves, and Dave figured she was pretty flat chested or wore a compression bra. She did have long brunette hair, but so did every female in the younger age range.

On the asset side, Nikky was smart; brilliant, in fact. She skipped grades and had taken advanced placement courses in high school to finish at age fifteen. She finished college three years later, came to work for the utility in the finance administration area, and been given a field grade promotion when her boss suddenly quit. So after a month at the company, she’d become a first line manager.

The others in her department consisted of eight women and five men, all more than twice Nikky’s age and with considerably more experience. None of them wanted the job she’d been cajoled into taking. Well, to be fair, when Dave had looked, their experience consisted of attendance and more or less doing what you were told to do. He saw no merit awards, no suggestion stipends, and little to distinguish one troll from another. He had a challenge for Nikky.

Nikky sat down opposite Dave. “Thank you for catching my eye, Sir.”

Dave cursed as she sat down. “Shit, Nikky. I can’t be your mentor if we don’t have a casual working relationship. You told me to call you Nikky, and I recall asking you to call me Dave. Please.”

She nodded and looked chagrined, “OK ... Dave. Thank you for doing this. I’ve seen three people from my new group here already. Mouths will wag. I hope this is a good idea.” She sounded uncertain.

“I’m sure it is. By the way, I had another idea about you on the way to work this morning. You need a visible and standout hobby outside of work in some way. You add pictures and souvenirs or such in your office about it. It sends a message that you are a standout from everybody else around you.”

Nikky looked worried, “I’m not averse to the idea, but what’d you come up with?”

Dave grinned, “How about skydiving or motorcycle racing?”

“Oh, shit,” Nikky said out loud. “Oh, excuse me. I never swear, but those two got to me. I couldn’t possibly jump out of an airplane, and I don’t care for motorcycles. Do you have a death wish for me?”

“No, not at all,” he laughed. “I was thinking of something that appeared daring. How about learning to fly? There are about a dozen of us in the Circle that are pilots, including me. A couple of others are even instructors and another man flies for Atlantic Airlines.”

Nikky mulled that over. “At least that might be a lot less risky than your first ideas.”

Dave chuckled, “The only one of the pilots that’s ever had an incident has been our friend Ken Toomey. He was the pilot of that Atlantic Airlines 737-700 that crashed a over a year ago in Kansas. No one was killed. It was a huge structural failure on the aircraft. He became a hero that day.”

“I remember that. He belongs to your Circle?”

“Yes, he does. We have several small aircraft and even a flying club. If you want to come out on Saturday morning for breakfast again, I can set you up to talk to some of the aviators and we can show you the planes. Two of my wives fly, too – Alice and Pam. They both think it helped with their self-image and sense of self-worth, and they both have suitable pictures and souvenirs scattered around their offices showing some of their accomplishments and the fun they have.”

“I’d like to talk to them. It’s expensive, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what your finances are, but it can be. You can space it out so the costs don’t all come at once, at least when you’re taking lessons. It’s pretty easy actually. If I can master that ability, I’m certain you can. If money is an issue, talk to me. There are ways we can cover some of the costs in a nice way that won’t embarrass you or make you feel like a charity case.”

“When you were talking about standing out from everybody else, I thought you were going to tell me to get a boob job.” Nikky gave him a teasing look, and then looked worried that she’d overstepped her bounds with risqué humor.

Dave’s head snapped up and he looked at little Nikky. “Errr ... I wouldn’t have said ... that’s not ... I’d never...”

Nikky laughed, “Oh, relax. I’m just teasing. I admit to feeling somewhat intimidated by the women in your Circle. Regardless of age, they are beautiful ... and busty with only one or two exceptions.”

Dave muttered mostly to himself, “Well, you can reassess on Saturday. Our dress standards are shifting around again, partly in the interest of providing my sister-in-law an opportunity to conduct a short course on sex ed to her younger children.” He spoke slightly louder to Nikky, “In any case, I wouldn’t tell you that, and I don’t think it’s necessary. We’re all different in some way, and I think what you have achieved so far is great – mind, body, and spirit are all perfect.”

Nikky munched on her salad and gave him a look that suggested he was BSing her; after all, didn’t all men like booby women?

Nancy came by and said hello to the two of them. She was very friendly and even sat next to Nikky for a few minutes and the two of them laughed together over some comment. Nancy touched Dave’s hand in a ‘friendly’ manner and then left.