Chapter 10

Author’s Note: I’m so sorry for the lengthy delay between chapters. It has been difficult recently to find enough time to write, and the story is at a key juncture. I wanted to make sure that I continue to do justice to these characters and the plot. Hopefully you’ll find this was worth the wait. There is definitely a lot more to come!

The girls’ point incentive system had a hugely positive effect on me and all of us. I had reached a place where PT was giving me less return for my time. That is, I had recovered to about ninety percent of my prior functionality, and now I would have to put in more time to push myself toward full recovery. My doctors were happy with the progress, and they told me it had been remarkable and quick. It was roughly four months since the fateful day, and if it took me another two months to put all of it behind me? That seemed like nothing at this point.

So, more and more on a daily basis, we just lived our lives. And we had some important goals we were striving for. Those goals were made all the easier because our financial means seemed to take a leap every few days. I had a hard time keeping my head on straight as the money flowed in. As a result, Jess and I got seriously into preparations for the “air and sea” expansion of her adult empire.

I was greatly surprised by how many options and how easy it was to find sizable private jets and yachts that suited our purposes. There was an endless trough of Boeing business jets available. The challenge, however, was finding one that was laid out how we wanted. Jess was very particular in her desires. Most of them were set up with one or two bedrooms. She insisted on three. Jess believed the ability to have three couples fucking in privacy was critical mass to make Mile High Airlines come to fruition. I wasn’t about to doubt her. So we decided we had to be open to retrofitting the interior, if necessary. It would add cost, but that was pretty much a rounding error in the grand scheme of things.

The yachts were fairly straightforward. Almost immediately, Jess fell in love with one that was seventy-five meters long, had twelve en suite staterooms, three decks, a movie theater, plenty of social space, formal dining room, swimming pool, hot tub, and even a helipad. It was a monstrous expense, but still a deal, apparently, at $100 million.

“Fuck it, let’s do it,” I told Jess, who was standing across the center island in our kitchen, holding a steaming cup of coffee.

“I mean, it looks like we’re getting about twelve-million off the market price,” Jess said. The excitement built in her eyes. “But this is a lot of money, baby.”

“It is,” I said, smiling at her.

I took a sip of my coffee and savored it. We had gone through this conversation last night but agreed to sleep on it. I didn’t see any reason why our reasoned conclusion would change. This wasn’t a flippant decision. I had discussed it at length with our finance team. It was a daunting amount of money, but it also was increasingly a less important amount given our new situation. I would open my banking apps every day and stare at them, blinking, reminding myself that this was all real. So talking about buying a superyacht? In the big picture, it was no big deal for us.

“I really want it,” Jess said like a kid writing out her Christmas list.

“That’s why we’re going to do it,” I said.

“This is crazy,” she said, grinning and then blowing on her steaming coffee. “Isn’t it crazy?”

“It is,” I said and put my mug down so I could wrap my arms around her. “But what do you expect from us?”

“I just, I don’t know, I get a little light-headed thinking about it!” she exclaimed.

“I’ll go into the office this morning,” I said. “Get it all in motion. We should have this taken care of by the end of the week.”

“Have what taken care of?” Rita said, wiping the sleep from her eyes and shaking out her hair as she joined us in the kitchen.

“One if by air, two if by sea?” Jess said with a chuckle.

“Wow,” Rita said, grabbing a coffee mug from the cupboard and in doing so showing she wasn’t wearing panties under the t-shirt she slept in. “That’s moving fast.”

“When I know what I want, I don’t feel like it should wait,” Jess said.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Rita echoed, pouring a cup of coffee.

Of course, securing a jet and a yacht wasn’t going to be that simple. At least I had good lawyers who would do the heavy lifting for me. And one of the good things about lawyers when you were throwing money around was that they would pretty much do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. So if I told them to get this wrapped up in a week or two? They’d make sure it got done. That’s what I paid them for.

So my trip to the office wasn’t really necessary, but I had some other things to do that day that got me out of the house. I pushed my PT to the afternoon so I could take care of them. The girls were keen on my plans, too.

“Are you nervous?” Jess asked me as I got ready to head out the door.

“Who, me?” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Come on, John,” Rita said. “Old Katie wouldn’t ask you to lunch if she didn’t have something she wanted to talk to you about.”

“Honestly,” I said, feeling the knot form in my stomach, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s about London’s graduation party.”

“She needs to tell you that in person?” Jess said.

“Yeah,” Rita chimed in. “We already got the invitation and RSVP’d.”

“I think she wants your dick,” Kat said, surprising us as she moved into the kitchen with Katie. They were dressed for tennis and looked delicious.

“She should,” Katie teased.

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “It seems like a bad idea to mess with the past like that. I’m not sure how the Fates would like it.”

“Don’t you kind of owe her a good fuck for how much she helped us with security and other stuff?” Kat offered.

“This is such an odd conversation to be having,” I said, a traditional morality suddenly gripping my brain. It was a weird feeling.

“Come on, we always talk about who to fuck,” Jess said, her eyes dancing.

“Is it okay to play tennis stoned?” Katie said with a nervous laugh.

“Everything is okay stoned,” Kat said with a giggle.

“Wanna blow this J with me before we go?” Katie asked.

Kat laughed again and said, “Hey, might as well. One smoke won’t kill us!”

She and Katie went out toward the pool deck, joint and lighter in hand. But Jess and Rita just drank their coffee and stared at me.

“You better tell us what happens,” Rita said.

“Every detail,” Jess added.

I glanced at my watch.

“Well, if I don’t get going, there won’t be anything to tell because I’ll miss her!” I said.

And off I went. I piled into the G-Wagon, which gave me a maybe false sense of security, but I liked the size and tank-like feel. It did make me feel safe. So I felt pretty good as I backed down the drive and headed for West Hollywood, where Old Katie’s office was.

But I had a pit stop to make first, one I hadn’t told the girls about. They would love hearing about it later, though. As it happened, the route to WeHo wound its way conveniently near Jason’s house. Although Jason was at the office with Petey, I figured Crystal or Bianka or both would be home. And I wanted to take advantage of the “free use” privileges I retained but hadn’t used – or abused – as much as I should.

I stopped the G-Wagon at the front gate. This was one time I was a little disappointed in our extra security measures. They were necessary and unavoidable, but it would dampen the element of surprise here. Despite that, I couldn’t help but smile at the gushing, unbridled surprise and enthusiasm that permeated Crystal’s voice when she got the notice that someone was at the gate. She could see me through the camera.

“Oh my gosh! John!” she almost screamed. “Jason’s not here!”

“I know,” I said. “I’m not here to see Jason.”

There was a brief pause over the intercom system, and then I saw the gate to the house open. Crystal didn’t say anything more. I pulled the G-Wagon into the circular section of the driveway near the front door. As soon as I stepped down from the boxy SUV, Crystal stood in the front door, waiting for me. She had a huge smile plastered on her face, her dimples deep and unmistakable, and not much else on.

“Hey stranger,” I said as I sauntered toward her.

Crystal looked glorious. She wore a purple bikini, with a top that tied around her neck and pushed up her magnificent tits and high-cut bottoms that clung to her pussy so tightly it looked like a mold of her tight pussy lips.

“John,” she said, bouncing down the steps and pushing her tight, tan body into her. Her blonde hair smelled good, and her pierced nipples poked through the lycra of her swimsuit so hard I could feel them against my chest.

“Crystal,” I said, putting my hands on her ass and feeling just how little fabric comprised her thong.

“You must be feeling better,” she said shyly. “I was just packing the bong so I could lay out by the pool, but now that you’re here...”

Her voice trailed off, and I kissed her.

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to bend over,” I said, breaking the kiss and hearing her breath, heavy and panting.

“You take me however you want, John,” Crystal said and pulled me inside by the hand.

“Where’s Bianka?” I asked.

“Hair appointment,” Crystal said, her words short and loaded with desire.

“Get inside,” I ordered her.

We scampered through the front door like horny teenagers, my hands pawing at Crystal’s ass and tits. It occurred to me, as I watched her hips sashay in front of me, that this succulent sexpot was my creation. A few years ago, which seemed like a lifetime, she was married to a minister and thought an adventure was going to lunch after church on Sundays. How far she had come in such a short time, as we ducked into the formal dining room that was just to the right of the front entryway. She put her left knee on a chair and raised her right leg onto the large, concrete dining table. I had already unbuckled my pants and simply let them fall around my loafers as I lined up my stiff cock between Crystal.

“Wow, you are fucking wet,” I marveled as I shoved aside the thin fabric of her thong and ran my fingers down her soaking slit.

“I’m always wet,” Crystal said, wiggling her ass a little to capture my cock between her cheeks and guide me where she wanted me to go. “I’m ready to fuck at all times. That’s what a fuck toy does. It’s my job.”

“That’s hot, Crystal,” I said and I shoved my cock between her folds.

“Oh my god, yes!” she screamed. “You just fuck me so deep, John! Ugh! And stretch me out!”

“Fuck, you feel good,” I grunted.

“Don’t you dare stop,” she said.

I grinned. Crystal felt really good. Her pussy squelched, and I marveled at how wet she was. She writhed against my intent strokes, and she surprised me how fast she came, shuddering and moaning within only a couple of minutes.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, I needed that,” she said, her words ragged. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

I pushed my thumb into her asshole, and she howled in delight, pushing herself back against me with even more fervor, and she came again.

“God, you’re such a slut,” I growled, and she urged me on.

“Yes! Yes! I’m your slut! This is your pussy!” she wailed. “I can’t wait to tell Jason you finally came and took me. He’s going to give it to me so hard when he reclaims me.”

“Focus on me,” I said and smacked Crystal’s ass harshly.

“Yes!” she cried again. “Spank my ass!”

I alternated between spanking her and pulling her hair, and she received both with equal delight. She had cum twice, and I was squarely focused on doing what I knew she wanted most: cumming inside her. It wasn’t difficult, and it didn’t take long.

“You’re so fucking tight, I’m gonna blow,” I announced.

“Yesssss,” Crystal groaned. “Fill me up.”

My cock exploded and bathed her greedy cunt in my sperm. Crystal writhed underneath me, basking in the flush and rush of the creampie.

“That’s the moment I’ve been waiting for,” she said, the sweet innocence that her voice could uniquely take on returning.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been doing this more,” I said and meant it.

“You’ve got a lot going on,” Crystal said, rising up from her bent-over position on the dining room table. “I knew you’d be around.”

She winked at me and smiled broadly, revealing her dimples, her eyes dancing.

“This is going to become a regular thing,” I said. “That was so hot. I missed fucking you.”

Crystal just smiled, then a moment of panic rushed over her face.

“Oh! I need to call Jason!” she said suddenly. “He’s going to want to come home for lunch.”

She laughed and half-walked, half-jogged to get her phone from the kitchen. I followed her, and did a self-scan of my body. It felt ... good. That made me smile. Crystal was nude, leaning one hand on the kitchen counter, and my cum running down her inner thighs as she talked to her boyfriend, my best friend.

“Okay, see you soon, baby,” she said. “Love you, too.” She looked up at me with a grin. “He’s on his way.”

“I’m sorry I’ll have to miss him,” I said. “I’ve actually got to run.”

“That’s perfect actually,” Crystal said, still unable to wipe the smile off her face. “It feels really, really good to just be used like that sometimes. I get so turned on. I miss just being that kind of cum dumpster like when I was escorting. It’s such a powerful feeling to have a guy just take you and fill you up. I love it. Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you,” I said.

She walked me to the door and pressed her tits against me as we kissed goodbye.

“Use me like that anytime, John,” she said. “It’s my favorite thing.”

“I thought Jaosn was your favorite thing,” I teased.

“Okay, you’re like the seasoning on my love for Jason,” she said, batting her eyes. “You have no idea how hard he’s going to fuck me about fiftten minutes from now. After he goes down on me.”

She licked her lips. It was a surreal moment. It was hard to believe I was a part of this. But the sexual being I had helped unleash inside Crystal was irresistible. I craved her. And the fact that she was my best friend’s girlfriend? It helped scratch that itch of fucking a taken woman that I had always enjoyed so much. That Jason was all for it, even cheered for it, made it even better. Oddly, it didn’t feel weird at all.

I kissed Crystal one more time, glancing at her messy cunt, and headed for the G-Wagon. I had my meeting with Old Katie to attend to.

Ten minutes later, I was walking into Old Katie’s office building in Beverly Hills. It was perfectly situated off Beverly Boulevard, near Television City. I checked in with security and was led up by a young, chiseled, male assistant to Katie’s office. When he closed the door behind me, I smiled at my college girlfriend. She was perched in a corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows that had a commanding view of Beverly Hills and up into the Hollywood Hills. Her decor was mid-century, sparse, and with a lot of straight lines. Minimalistic and clean. She looked in charge and comfortable, wearing dark-rimmed glasses before she stood up and tossed them on her desk.

“John!” she said, coming around toward me. “Thanks for coming to see me!”

“You have quite the assistant,” I said.

“He’s definitely not here for his typing skills,” she said with a laugh. Then she added quickly, “A lot of people with aspirations to be in front of the camera break in behind the camera.”

“Ah, I see,” I said, “purely professional.”

“You’d expect anything less of me?” she quipped, and I noticed her dilated pupils. “Sit down! Sit down! Let’s catch up! How are you feeling?”

“Good,” I said. “Really good, actually.” I sunk into the comfortable, gray-fabric couch.

“That was a huge scare,” Old Katie said seriously. “You’ve got to learn that nothing can get between you and watching your back. You’ve got way too much at stake. This is a fucking vicious town, John. Never take your eye off of number-one.”

I smiled at her.

“I’ve learned that,” I said. “And I bring my thanks, and the girls’ thanks, because you really helped us out. I guess I had a bit of a blind spot.”

“You can’t have a blind spot,” she said sternly, but then her tone softened. “Sorry. I’ve just seen way too much.”

“You’ve changed a lot since college,” I said and kept smiling.

“If you only had an inkling,” she said and sighed.

She shifted in the arm chair she sat in across from me, crossing and uncrossing her legs.

“So, I’ve to say, this is an unexpected pleasure,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Thanks for coming,” she said, now smiling, and her brow unfurrowing. But she still ground her teeth, something she also did in college, especially when she was on coke. “I wanted to have this chat a while ago, but, obviously, things got in the way.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said. “Really sorry.”

I gave a chuckle.

“Well, it’s actually been helpful,” she said. “Not you getting hurt. Sorry, that really came out the wrong way. The extra time. I think this conversation would have gone a completely different way if we had had it sooner.”

“Oh really?” I said, my interest piqued.

“So, look, I’m not going to beat around the bush,” she said and produced a vape pen seemingly out of thin air. She took a hit off it and continued as she exhaled. “I was ready to tell you, hey, I want back in on the action with you. Like, let’s fuck and see how it goes.”

My jaw probably hit the floor. My brain had difficulty processing her words. So I said something stupid instead.

“They let you smoke in here?” I said.

Old Katie burst out into unexpected laughter.

“They don’t care about vaping,” she said. “Come to think of it, they really don’t care about coke either.”

“I can tell,” I interjected and made eye contact with her.

“Sometimes I prefer a little pick-me-up instead of eating lunch,” she said casually.

“Some things haven’t changed so much since college,” I said, and she laughed again.

“Touché,” Old Katie said. “Do you want some?”

“I’m okay,” I said. “I stopped off for a quick one on the way.”

“Well, aren’t you just a regular James Bond,” she shot back. “Which one of your girls was this?”

“Actually, not one of mine...” I said, my voice trailing off.

“You’re right,” she said. “Some things haven’t changed so much since college.”

We laughed, and Old Katie turned serious again.

“Okay, let’s get down to business,” she said and took another hit off her vape pen. I noticed it was a THC cartridge. “Like I said, this isn’t how I thought this conversation would go down.”

“So, maybe start by telling me how you thought it would go down,” I said.

“Oh, well,” Old Katie said, the poise she carried herself with – and had always carried herself with – suddenly seemed shaken. “Fuck it. Yes, well, John, it’s kind of a long story, but I’ll cut to the quick. I was kind of curious about fucking you again. That’s not quite right. There was no ‘kind of’ about it. I really wasn’t expecting to ever cross paths with you again.”

She paused and took a pull from her vape pen. The haze surrounded her head as she exhaled, and I noticed her visibly trying to keep herself from shaking.

“You okay?” I asked.

“This is just different for me,” she said. “Not difficult. Just different. So much has changed since I last saw you, John. It’s hard to readjust in the face of ... this.”

“This?” I said, enjoying poking at her to pull her along.

She gave a long and exaggerated sigh.

“It’s a long story,” she said, relaxing back in the armchair and taking another hit. “But let me give you the short version, like I said. I have basically lived for my job, John. Ever since college. So everything I do? It basically comes down to work. Sex and partying? All part of the job. The lines have all blurred together. And then, out of the blue, here comes dashing Mr. Cameron again. And it occurred to me, just a little bit, that sex – of course it was sex – used to be something I enjoyed on its own terms. A lot.”

“I see,” I said, nodding.

“Isn’t it flattering? After all these years, I saw you and still wanted to fuck you,” she said with a laugh.

“I’m not saying it isn’t flattering!” I said. “I’m just wondering what you’re getting at.”

Old Katie sighed again.

“I promised to cut to the chase, and all I’m doing is beating around the bush,” she said. “I hadn’t thought about it at more than a surface level. Come to think of it, I haven’t gone beyond the surface level when it comes to sex or intimacy in years. That’s what I realized when you kind of dropped back into my life out of nowhere. It was jarring, I have to admit, because it injected something a little bit deeper.”

“Okay,” I said, waiting for her to continue.

“I don’t know, maybe it created this glimmer inside of me that sex didn’t have to be just another one of those blurred lines with my job,” she said. “Or maybe it was just a reminder of what the past was like. Anyway, I toyed with the idea that it would be fun to fuck you again. You’re a good fuck, John. You always were.”

“Still flattering,” I said with a light chuckle.

“I’m rambling,” Old Katie said dismissively. “Anyway, then the accident happened, and I stopped being curious. I mean, look, I’d still fuck you, but seeing how your girls rallied around you in the aftermath ... God, John, that’s not me. And that’s when it hit me. It really was just a curiosity about the past, not some concealed, inner-longing I’d kept inside. I’m still me.”

“Sure,” I said, wondering where she was going with all this. She wanted something.

“I knew I couldn’t get involved with you, even casually,” she said. “Not when I realize your whole polyamory setup. I mean, good lord, four wives, John? I don’t know how you do it.”

“I’m a lucky guy,” I said.

“Too much for me, at least on the personal front,” she said. “But if I could shape it into something work-related, well, that’s different. That has some appeal to me. A lot of appeal, actually.”

“Lay it on me,” I said, keeping my replies short.

“Okay, there’s something I realize where we can help each other,” she continued.

“I figured there must be,” I said, flashing a smile.

“I want a membership in Hollywood & Vine,” she said flatly.

That caught me off-guard.

“You probably think I don’t know about it,” Old Katie said, picking up on my surprise. “But you also probably don’t know that I represent Vic for his modeling jobs. We also tend to have some ... pillow talk.”

She paused to let it sink in. Vic had become a core member of our swingers group, which I presume Old Katie likely didn’t know.

“He told me it might be up my alley and that I should ask you about it,” she said. “So I’m asking you about it. It sounds like just my sort of scene.”

“Well, I sure am learning a lot,” I said, flashing a smile and regaining my composure. “I didn’t realize you knew Vic so well. It’s not a conflict of interest?”

“Most definitely not a conflict,” Old Katie said with a smile. “I’m fairly well renowned for my client relations.”

“That’s quite the double entendre,” I said.

“It’s not a double entendre,” she said. “I mean it. It’s my best quality.”

She licked her lips. I noticed her nipples had hardened beneath her white silk blouse.

“The modeling industry sounds interesting,” I said. “Maybe I should have expected it. Maybe I should branch into it.”

I chuckled, since I didn’t think there was a meaningful chance of that.

“I won’t mince words, John,” Old Katie said. “I used everything I needed to in order to make it to the top. I’m not going to relinquish my position. Did I fuck and suck to get ahead? Of course I did. The men in this industry would either think I’m a bitch or a slut. So I might as well have been a slut and gotten everything I wanted. It also helped that I love the sex, and I am a slut. I’ll have my cake and eat it, too.”

“I sort of feel like I should say sorry you had to go through that,” I said.

“Don’t be!” she said, waving her hand in the air. The vape pen reappeared, and she took a hit. “I’ve loved every goddamn minute of it. And I’ve gotten everything I’ve wanted. The people whose opinion I care about see me as ruthless and not to be trifled with. The others think I’m a cokehead fucking everyone in sight, but they have no bearing on my professional life.”

She looked at me with a wicked smile. She was thoroughly enjoying this. She was making me uncomfortable. She knew it, And she relished it. I was uncomfortable because of the surprise. I hadn’t expected the conversation to go this way. I had a million questions, but I knew better than to ask them now.

“Obviously, getting you into Hollywood & Vine is no issue,” I said. “I’m married to the owner. We’d love to have you.”

“I was really hoping you’d say that,” she said with a triumphant smile. “I’ll make sure you’re rewarded properly, of course.”

“That’s totally unnecessary,” I told her.”

“Please,” Old Katie said. “In this town? It’s all quid pro quo. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t have something to entice you with.”

“I’m still not used to operating that way,” I said honestly.

“Just lie back and enjoy it,” she said.

Possibilities flashed through my mind. Old Katie still looked good. At the same time, I knew I barely knew her anymore. She had hinted at what her life was like now, and it raised questions in my mind. Then my brain started to conflate her with London, her niece, a spitting image of college coed Old Katie. I’d fuck either. I’d fuck both. A weird feeling of nostalgia washed over me, infiltrating the present in a way that didn’t quite make sense.

“I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun,” I said, the tone coming out as if I was trying to reassure myself.

“If there’s one thing I know,” Old Katie said, “it’s fun.”

Things started to take a turn for the better. A big reason for it? There was a party to plan. Again. Finally. Katie would be joining Henry and Riley on the six-week European leg of the Stages Tour soon. We were working out plans for us to join her. Jess went into a whirlwind of planning. She wanted to do something above-and-beyond for my “re-entry party,” as she called it. It consumed her, so much so that she punted a good deal of the details for her Infinity jet and yacht to the other girls, who threw themselves into the task with zeal. We were all excited about the notion of having “air, land, and sea” debauchery in our lives.

Debauchery had started to assert itself again. And I really enjoyed it. More than anything, being able to push back into my hyper-sexual lifestyle made me feel like I had overcome most of the pain, anxiety, and disruption of the accident. The animal that lurked inside of me was starting to come out of hibernation again.

After that initial tryst with Crystal, I went to fuck her almost every day. Sometimes Bianka was there to join in, sometimes not. Sometimes I gave her instructions, like being bent over and ready for me with a butt plug inside her. Sometimes it was just an indulgence in raw lust. Every single time I finished inside her, and she would instantly and eagerly call Jason to let him know she had a surprise for him.

Juliet seized on the return to normalcy by insisting we reignite our lunch trysts, a tradition that we had negligently let lapse. And that was something that really reminded me that life was good, and I had it better than I deserved. When you are on top of an Oscar-winning actress, buried inside her, hypnotized by her polar blue eyes just drawing you in? Well, you can’t even describe it in a way that will do it justice, and you certainly can’t even dream what it’s like.

This is all to say that I was feeling good. I started to come to grips with the fact that “normal” wasn’t going to be “normal” anymore. There was lingering pain, especially in my leg. Then there was the mental aspect of the trauma. I wasn’t the same person, so there was no going back to the way it was. But I had begun embracing that – or, at least, coming to grips with it.

Of course the girls played the biggest part in this. Their relentless and unwavering optimism and encouragement gave me energy and hope. It also filled me with a sense of obligation. I didn’t want to let them down. In parallel, our friends had started to take a more active role, reintegrating into our lives. They had always been there, of course, and were unfailingly ready to help. Now, however, they picked up on the sign that life was finally get back in balance. They reached out more. They offered invitations.

This confluence of events weighed on me. In a good way. While I felt a significant amount of guilt at having upset all the incredibly good things we had going on, I also understood that an accident is an accident. You can’t control it. Even with that understanding, as life took on its normal rhythm again, a fire built up inside me. I felt like I had a lot to make up to people. That was coupled with desires. I always had desires. Yet I also reflected on that. And when I did? I realized that none of it had any connection to work. My thoughts were with my wives, my family, my friends. For so long, I had been wired to push, to become a world beater, to attain some kind of subject greatness, the definition of which I had no part in articulating.