They Fucked Around

Day 10

Although I had gotten very little rest the night before, I found myself unable to fall back to sleep after Bianca departed. The mental image of her plush, naked body, and the memory of her abundant flesh under my hands, crowded my thoughts as I lay on the bed until I finally gave up and rose to face the day. I felt frazzled and frustrated, and prayed that Tracy would be available and willing to help relieve the tension.

After getting dressed, I logged into Gethsemane’s admin portal and found several new messages waiting in my inbox. Whatever fatigue still gripped me evaporated the moment I began to read them. The first message in the queue was from Cecilia Cargill, which had been sent just hours after my initial response to her.

She had CC’d both her husband, Austen, and another person who I assumed was her attorney. Cecilia wasn’t fucking around, and I saw no reason to reply to her email. First, because she hadn’t asked for one, and second, because she would undoubtedly direct any further correspondences from me to her attorney, who had sent a predictably demanding follow up email shortly after.

It was a form letter. Boilerplate legalese with a couple details tossed in, and threatening only the most generic of legal remedies. I wondered what Cecilia had told her attorney about the specific circumstances regarding Tabitha’s enrollment at Gethsemane. Very little I suspected, as I doubted she knew much herself.

I imagined that she expected a sternly worded letter on law firm letterhead would quickly resolve the matter, and if I had any regard for the law, then perhaps it might have. But I didn’t. Regardless, it proved that Cecilia was fully committed to getting Tabitha back, and the intervention of an attorney meant she wouldn’t be easily brushed off.

Damn it all. Why did it seem that any time I was finally making progress, another obstacle popped up to block my way?

Bianca’s initial defiance and provocative allegations had set me back nearly a week, during which time I’d felt it unwise to pursue the other girls. My encounter with Tracy and Tabitha, though wonderful and fun, had been cut short by my inability to properly seal off the flybridge. Julia’s interest in me seemed to have cooled upon learning of my plans for the other girls, and the harsh dose of reality I’d dished out to Sam had angered her to the point she’d kicked me out of her room.

Now this ball busting Karen, Cecilia Cargill, was trying to reclaim the daughter I’d rightfully absconded with.

The final email had been sent by Austen, earlier that morning.

Okay, so he hadn’t completely caved to Cecilia’s demands just yet. That I could work with.

I reread the demand letter from the attorney one more time, and decided to hold off on a response. There was nothing they could do absent a court order. I had a contract with Austen that handed temporary custody of Tabitha over to the Academy. Since Austen and Cecilia were married, there was no joint legal custody agreement to worry about. Decisions regarding their daughter’s education could be made by either parent, independent of the other. Legally speaking, Austen was within his rights to send Tabitha to Gethsemane, even without his wife’s knowledge or consent.

If she initiated divorce proceedings against him, however, that could change, so it was imperative that I bolster Austen’s resolve to prevent that from happening. He needed to convince Cecilia that it was in Tabitha’s best interest to remain in the program. But he couldn’t simply bully her into compliance. He would need to finesse her, and perhaps even offer some small concessions, with the goal of keeping Tabitha enrolled until the end of the semester.

Austen needed strength, and that strength ideally needed to come from his faith. After a long moment of contemplation, I began to compose.