Chapter 67: Blabbermouths

November 13, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

“I told you so!” Stephanie said, laughing hard. “And after being fucked by the CPD for years, here’s your chance to return the favor!”

“Maybe so, but I’m not sure it’s worth the risk of bringing a police officer anywhere near Cirque du Steve!”

“So don’t! She had to have seen your wedding band. Make it a secret affair; well, for her, anyway. You can tell your wives, obviously.”

“Don’t you think that’s playing with fire?” I asked.

Stephanie laughed, “Isn’t that the point? You know what I’m planning for December!”

“Given you won’t shut up about it, yes, I do!”

“So have a beer with her and feel her out, or up! She’s pretty cute. What did you tell her?”

“That I was busy tonight because of karate practice.”

“And?”

“She gave me her card and asked me to call her when I’m available. She has a late shift tomorrow. What’s with you encouraging me?”

Stephanie laughed softly, “Mostly it’s teasing. I can do more of that now that my idiot ex isn’t around. Jess has really mellowed about it.”

“She has. Honestly, being able to put that behind us has helped all of us.”

Stephanie smiled, “Things have turned out pretty well.”

“They have. I’m going back to work.”

Stephanie winked and I headed back to my desk.

“Well?” Penny smirked.

“She actually was following-up on the idiots who were going to mess with Stephanie’s car.”

“And?”

“She asked me to have a beer,” I grinned. “But I’m busy with karate tonight. Not to mention not wanting a cop around.”

Penny nodded, “I can see that, given all the shit you’ve gotten from cops and the Feds. And it’s not like you don’t have an over-abundant supply of nookie!”

I chuckled, “True.”

November 14, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

“Don’t talk to me!” Kelly screeched outside the school on Tuesday afternoon.

“I didn’t do anything,” I protested.

“I saw you, Jesse! I saw!”

“Saw what?” I asked.

“You and Libby! You were together yesterday! On a date!”

“What?! We were just having a Coke at the diner to talk!”

“So you say! Don’t talk to me ever again, Jesse Block!” she exclaimed and stormed off.

“What just happened?” Rachel asked when I walked over to her, Cynthia, Libby, Joe, Paul, Robby, and Missy.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” I said because Cynthia was there.

“Did you do something to her?” Missy asked.

I shook my head, “I didn’t do anything wrong. Let’s just get home.”

We began walking towards our houses, with each person dropping out of our caravan as we passed their house, eventually leaving just Rachel, Libby, and me.

“I’ll come by for Spanish at 4:30pm,” Rachel said when we reached her house.

“OK,” I agreed.

She went inside and Libby and I headed towards my house so we could do our homework together.

“She lost it because you and I had a Coke?!” Libby asked incredulously.

“Nobody knows we fooled around! And it was before she and I were together! So, yeah, she lost it because we had Cokes together.”

“What if Cynthia told about her grandma catching us and what we were doing?”

“Why would she do that?”

I shrugged, “I have no idea. But you said she was bragging about sex stuff.”

“Maybe you should talk to her.”

“I almost think I have to.”

We got to the house, put our book bags on the kitchen table, and got drinks and snacks before we sat down.

“So are you guys broken up now?” Libby asked as we took our books out of our book bags.

“I guess so,” I said. “I mean, she told me not to talk to her ever again. And she objects to Rachel being my Spanish tutor and to me doing homework with you.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Even though it works to your benefit?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

Libby laughed, “I sure wouldn’t mind! But we have to do homework.”

We finished our homework an hour later, and went to the living room to listen to music on my moms’ stereo until Rachel arrived for Spanish tutoring. When Rachel came in, Libby hugged me, and then left. Rachel and I sat down at the kitchen table and I opened my Spanish book.

“Cynthia made a mess of things, didn’t she?” Rachel asked.

“Do you know what she said?”

“She told Missy, Sally, and Heather that you were really, really good in bed, and that you guys had done everything, and that her grandma almost caught you when you were starting a threesome.”

“Shit!” I exclaimed. “Why would she do that?”

“To get Kelly to break up with you. I think you can do the math on that without a tutor.”

“Seriously?”

“You cut her off from her regular sex, she fooled around with another guy who wasn’t as good, and she decided she wanted you back!”

“You knew?” I asked testily.

“No, that’s just a guess. She didn’t say why she did it. And I wasn’t there when she talked to the other girls, I just heard it second hand.”

“Now I’m really pissed!”

“Sorry,” Rachel replied.

“Not at you! I mean, unless you had some hand in this, which I don’t think you did.”

“No. I have my OWN problems to deal with.”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah.”

“She seemed like she was so cool, well, once you and Birgit became friends. What happened?”

“I lost my virginity and it was WAY better than when she lost hers!”

I laughed, “Now that’s just too funny. When?”

“My birthday. Mom was in her mid-twenties.”

“Do you know if she and my dad actually...”

“Yeah, they did, but he’s not my dad, which you know.”

“I know. But forget all that for now. I need help with past tense irregular verbs.”

November 15, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“Happy birthday, Belgium!” I said when I saw Elyse on Wednesday morning.

We hugged and exchanged a chaste kiss, given we were in the office.

“If you have a party planned for me today, you’re a dead man!”

“Would I do that?” I asked with a smirk.

“In a heartbeat! But I specifically told you not to!”

“And you listen to ME when I say that?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

“That’s different because it’s really for the staff, not for you.”

“Let’s have a private lunch.”

“I don’t have anything on my calendar.”

“I’ll come get you at lunchtime.”

“OK.”

I left her office and went to mine, sat down, kissed Penny on the cheek, then fired up my computer.

“So now what?” Penny asked. “I mean with Florida.”

“Well, the final vote counts are due by 5:00pm today, but nobody knows if the courts will intervene further. They shouldn’t, but you never know. The Florida legislature is already making noises about appointing the Electors themselves if some court tries to prevent Kathleen Harris from certifying the results based on the count at 5:00pm today.”

“Bush is still ahead?”

“By several hundred votes; a partial hand recount can’t change that. There’s no way the big counties will finish their counts in time.”

“Did you see the email from Lucy Alexa?” Penny asked with a smirk.

“I did. And she’s now going by Lyusya Alekseyevna, which she has since she moved to Moscow. I’ll endorse the modifications and then Julia can decide who’ll do them.”

“I’m curious, why did she send that stuff to you?”

“Because of the way we structured the arrangement between NIKA Systems and NIKA Consulting. Remember, all the intellectual property is owned by either Patent Partners or SKJ Partners.”

“I always forget about that stuff you set up to ‘DP’ DP!” she said gleefully.

“Dante is a pussy cat at this point, and Melissa is a great business partner. It just took some time to wrestle those alligators into submission.”

“Is Lyusya going to visit anytime soon?”

“Possibly in January,” I said.

“Tanya and her family are going to be here over Christmas, right?”

“Yes.”

We both turned to our workstations and I wrote an email to Julia endorsing the requested enhancements from Lyudmila, then forwarded everything to her. I spent the rest of the morning finishing the final module for the encryption system, and just before Elyse came to the door of my office, I checked it into the source code control system so Sam could run validation tests.

“Ready to go?” Elyse asked.

“Yes,” I said, standing up.

I walked through the glass doors, changed out of my slippers into my street shoes, and then followed Elyse downstairs, out the side door, and to the alley between the two NIKA buildings.

“Your car or mine?” I asked.

“We’ll take mine,” she said.

We walked to her new white Mercedes SLK and got in.

“Going to teach Matthew to drive in this?” I asked with a grin.

“Not a chance!” she laughed. “He can learn in Eduardo’s Jaguar or the SUV!”

“Coward!” I teased.

“And you’ll let Jesse and Birgit drive your BMW?”

“Why not? It’s not like they’re not responsible. Hell, Aimee lets Albert fly her plane and he can’t even reach the rudder pedals!”

“Now that’s nuts!”

I shrugged, “You know the kids are responsible.”

She backed out of her spot, then pulled out of the alley, turned left, then turned right on Van Buren.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“For a private lunch!”

After two minutes I had a pretty good idea of where she was headed, and I was proved correct when she turned into the parking lot at the converted warehouse where NIKA had the apartment. She parked and we got out, and went inside. When we went into the apartment I saw the table was set, which told me she’d either been here earlier, or sent Kimmy to set up.

“Go ahead and sit down,” she said.

I removed my coat and shoes, then went to the table and sat down. Elyse shed her coat and shoes, then went to the fridge and got out two covered containers, uncovered them revealing several different kinds of sushi, and set them on the table. She got soy sauce, poured it into the small bowls which were already on the table, and then sat down.

“What’s that Japanese blessing?” she asked.

“«Itadakimasu»,” I replied.

We began eating, both of us using chopsticks.

“Twenty-one-and-a-half years,” Elyse said, shaking her head.

“May 26th, 1979,” I replied.

“Wow! You remember?”

“It was a fairly important day, don’t you think?”

“There were WAY fewer miles on the bod!”

“You’re every bit as sexy as you were that day,” I replied. “And before you object, you know full well that ‘sexy’ isn’t JUST about looks. And you are STILL a good looking woman!”

“I’d kill for my sixteen-year-old body!”

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with your thirty-eight year old body!!”

“The workouts are longer,” she sighed. “At some point...”

“Don’t obsess,” I said. “You’re going to make a very sexy grandma!”

“Asshole!” Elyse growled, but then she laughed. “YOU get to be distinguished! Your dad looks great at eighty-three!”

“All I can say about age is that it’s just a number, and the only available alternative to getting older isn’t one I want to contemplate at thirty-seven.”

“And twenty-one-years later you’re still just as annoying!” Elyse teased.

“You love me anyway!” I grinned.

“Of course I do! Would you do something for me?”

“What’s that?”

“When we finish eating, pick me up, carry me to the bedroom, and make love to me all afternoon?”

I nodded and we finished our meal in silence. When our plates were empty, I got up, and without a word, scooped Elyse into my arms and carried her to the bedroom. I laid her on the bed, undressed her, undressed myself, then got into bed and lavished kisses all over her sexy body before moving between her legs and slowly burying myself in her. We moved in slow motion, gently loving each other, exchanging soft kisses. With no urgency, I could last a long time, and with Elyse’s sensitivity, she had what amounted to an endless string of orgasms before I finally had my own release.

“What brought this on?” I asked when she cuddled close.

“I love you. Do I need any other reason?”

“No. I miss having you at the house, even though I see you every weekday and on Sunday evenings.”

“Me? Or the boys?”

“Both. But I also know that you’re extremely happy with your house and the school. I’m very happy with the drama program and the robotics club. The drama program in the city isn’t nearly as good, and there’s no robotics program. It’s good for the boys, and I see them every weekend and talk to them during the week.”

“Your daughters could never handle that.”

“No, they couldn’t,” I agreed. “Birgit is very sensitive, even if she won’t admit it and pretends otherwise.”

“Are things between you, Kara, and Jessica as good as they seem?”

“Maybe even better,” I replied. “Jess has turned into a wonderful, loving woman. Honestly, what this country does to medical students and Residents is unconscionable.”

“Speaking of medical students, I was surprised to see Maria Cristina decide to start dating.”

“In a sense, I took her as far as we could go,” I replied. “Lieutenant Knox is what she needs to move to the next stage. Kara, Jessica, and I will be there for her as mentors, but to grow, she needs someone who is totally dedicated to her.”

“Liz wasn’t really a surprise, but I’m wondering how that’s affected you.”

“I’ve had a tougher time with that one,” I said.

“Because there is no woman you’ve EVER been more in love with than her.”

“I’ve tried to fill the gap, and it hasn’t really worked. That will change next summer. I told you a bit about Suzanne, but the full story is she’s moving in, permanently. She has no intention of ever marrying or having kids.”

“Whoa! And she knows this at seventeen?”

“Eighteen as of a few days ago, but yes. She’s never been interested in having kids, and she and I clicked really well. She’s going to make a perfect addition to the family, as it were.”

“Interesting. I suppose I should talk to her. When will she be here?”

“Christmas break.”

“What was up with the cop on Tuesday?”

“Following up on two n’er-do-wells who were going to trash or steal Stephanie’s Boxster. Little hairs on the back of my neck told me to go check on the car. I’m guessing Ed put them up to it, but I don’t know that for sure. The cops arrived before the two jackasses did anything they’d permanently regret. And because they hadn’t really done anything, the cops weren’t going to file a complaint. But the one they nabbed had an outstanding warrant and I guess the State’s Attorney is going to file charges anyway. Oh, and she asked me to go out for a beer.”

Elyse laughed, “What IS it with you?”

“You tell me! All I did was invite you in to watch a Reds game!”

“It’s those damned eyes and your vibe. You’re irresistible! Gonna fuck the cop?”

“The last thing I need is a cop anywhere near Cirque du Steve. Stephanie suggested a ‘secret affair’, you know, from the cop’s perspective because I don’t hide anything from Kara and Jess. I just didn’t think it was a good idea.”

“Probably not. You had your first cop in Ohio, right?”

“Yes.”

“Make love to me again?”

I answered by once again lavishing kisses all over her body, the making slow, gentle, passionate love to her. We talked again afterwards, them made love for a third time. When we finished, we showered together, dressed, cleaned up the apartment, and headed back to the office.

November 16, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Jesse

“Libby is going to be my guest for Winter’s wedding instead of Kelly,” I said to my dad on Thursday evening.

“I got the drift from Mom One that you and Kelly had a falling out. Anything you want to talk about?”

“No. I just need to talk to someone about keeping their big mouth shut!”

“May I make a suggestion?” Dad asked.

“Sure.”

“Talk to Mom One. If the issue is what I think it is, she might be able to help you explain.”

“You mean about what Mom One and Melanie did?”

“Yes, but also about the trouble it caused for all of us. Do I need to talk to Libby’s parents?”

“That’s why I’m here. Mom Two said it was probably better if you called to talk to her parents.”

“Why?”

I shrugged, “She didn’t say. Here’s the number.”

“OK. I’ll call and make sure. Go talk to Mom One.”

I left Dad’s study and headed back to the coach house. I found Mom One in the basement doing laundry.

“Dad said I should talk to you about Cynthia.”

“Cynthia?”

“She blabbed about all the stuff she and I did together to Missy, Sally, and Heather, and one of them told Kelly about it.”

“Ah,” Mom One said with a knowing look. “Now I think I understand more about what happened.”

“Why didn’t you ask?”

“Because your relationships have to be as private as you want them to be,” Mom One said. “You weren’t moping around, so I just let you work through it.”

“I appreciate it. So what do I do?”

“Do you know why Cynthia did it?”

“I can’t say who, but someone who would know told me Cynthia did it because she was upset I wasn’t having sex with her and wanted to make Kelly mad so we’d break up.”

Mom One shook her head, “If Cynthia’s goal was to get back together with you, she was sadly mistaken. Is she upset about Libby?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you and Cynthia were friends with benefits and spent a lot of time together. Now Libby is spending lots of time with you, instead.”

“But Libby wouldn’t care what Cynthia said because we’re just friends.”

“Have you considered the possibility that you misjudged how Cynthia felt about you?”

“You mean if she wanted to be my girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

I shrugged, “She said she didn’t.”

“OK, but how did she act?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, I thought it was just friends and sex, but now that you ask, I’m not so sure.”

“She really pushed you to be with her and Libby, right?”

“Yes, but I decided I wanted to do it.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t implying that you didn’t, just asking you to think why she might have done that.”

I was quiet for a minute and then a really nasty thought came into my head.

“So she could tell Kelly I had a threesome which would make Kelly mad and not want to be my girlfriend?”

“That’s one possibility. I did some pretty dumb things when your dad and I were in High School, and that included doing things that hurt your dad and other girls.

“But why?”

“This isn’t an excuse, but an explanation; for me it was because I was totally confused about my sexuality. The pressure to be heterosexual was intense, and I had real problems dealing with that. Your dad was actually totally understanding, but neither of us were able to handle it emotionally. I went away, had all kinds of struggles, and eventually met Mom Two who helped me figure things out. And then your dad was willing to overlook all the stuff I did that hurt him and make you.”