Chapter 16

A warm late August breeze blew through the open window as Ryan got dressed for the surprise engagement party for Ms. Baker (or as he now knew her, Gabrielle De Brawn). It seemed to Ryan that the summer had flown by. In just a couple of weeks he would begin his senior year in high school. As he thought back, he realized that he was a very different person going into his last year of high school. At the beginning of the summer, he was a shy and naïve boy with little sexual experience. Within a few short months he had gone from engaging in little sexual activity to servicing four woman on a weekly basis: On Tuesdays it was Mary Wellsworth, on Wednesday's it was Sandra Billings, on Friday's it was Gabrielle, and finally on Saturday's it was sweet Cindy.

This evening, for the first time, they would all be together at the party. There would also be twenty or so other couples. And, according to Benny, all or almost all of the women attending were receiving "extra" services from AquaSpa Pools. He and Benny had five of them, not including Gabrielle (or Cindy) since she wasn't a customer. It occurred to him that he didn't really know if any of his women had other lovers besides him. He was pretty sure that the older women didn't but he wasn't sure about Cindy. He knew that she dated other guys and figured that, based on her libido, she was probably having sex with them.

Ryan knew that that shouldn't make him jealous; after all he was having sex with three other women. However it did, at least a little bit. He cared for all of the women and in fact felt like he loved them, but there was a special place in his heart for Cindy. He knew that the older women wanted one thing from him-that was okay-but with Cindy it was different. She was someone he could spend more time with and someone with whom he had a lot in common. However, he also knew that it was too soon for any commitment for either of them. Besides, he had more pressing things to worry about: as of today he still hadn't found enough nerve to ask Mrs. Wellsworth for her help with college. He knew that if he was going to get into a good college he had to act soon, and time was ticking away.

Maybe this week, he thought as he put on his rented white jacket and straightened his black bow tie.

When he came downstairs his mother was waiting.

"My but you look gorgeous," she said.

"Thanks Mom... but you're biased," he said with a smile.

"Biased or not, you are one handsome young man. Don't let any of those old women rape you."

"Why not?" he laughed. "And they're not old."

She smiled indulgently, straightened his bow tie and said, "Have fun."

Ryan was surprised to see Jigs standing outside the Billings house when he drove up.

"Hey Jigs," he said through the van window. "What're you doing here?"

"I have been commissioned to organize the staff for tonight's party," he answered stiffly but with an air of pride.

"Great. They couldn't have picked a better man."

The normally staid butler smiled. "I'm sure you know where to park master Ryan. There will be a meeting of all the staff in the main kitchen in fifteen minutes."

"I'll be there," Ryan answered and drove around to the back of the house; the front lawn was being used to park the guest's cars.

A few minutes later Ryan entered the large kitchen of the Billings house. There were about ten guys standing around wearing white jackets like him, waiting for Jigs. Ryan looked around but only vaguely recognized several of them. Then he saw Benny in a corner talking to some friends. He waved and went over.

"Hi Benny," Ryan said.

"Hey Ryan," he answered. "Ryan this is Jeff Tyler and Bill Bradley... friends of mine."

Ryan shook their hands and then he looked at Jeff, an imposing African American with broad shoulders and large neck. He recognized him for some reason. Suddenly he realized that he was an all-American running back who that played football for UCLA. "You're Jeff Tyler the football player," he said stupidly.

"That's me. Pleased to meet you Ryan," he answered.

"I've followed your career since you graduated high school. It's great to meet you."

"Thanks," Jeff smiled.

Just then Jigs tapped a spoon on a glass to get everyone's attention. "Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the Billings household. I would like to give you a few instructions before the guests arrive. I understand that most of you have not had any experience at this, but we will have to make due," Jigs said with a tone of resignation. "You have all been assigned your duties. The gentlemen that are carhops, I ask that you to be very careful when driving the guests cars. As you know many of them will be very expensive vehicles. You are parking the cars on the lawn... so do not spin wheels. Those of you that are waiters, I will show you how to carry your trays and serve in a moment. Fortunately, since I'm sure none of you can cook, we have professional cooks tonight."

The room broke into laughter. One of the guys yelled out, "I can cook scrambled eggs."

"For everyone's sake, I'm happy that we are not having scrambled eggs tonight," Jigs answered and everyone laughed again.

Ryan thought that Jigs seemed to be in a particularly good mood tonight.

"Now, I have to take care of something so I will be back in a minute. Master Benny Anderson will be in charge of you tonight while I'm busy with other chores. He will coordinate your activities and give you some additional instructions now."

The room broke into applause and hoots at Benny's introduction. As Jigs left, Benny held up his hands to quite the rowdy crowd. "Okay listen up guys. I told Jigs I would talk to you guys about this subject." Benny lowered his voice and said, "We all have... uh... let's say intimate knowledge of some of the guests... uh... the ladies, attending tonight. Everyone here was specially selected for your job at AquaSpa Pools by strict criteria. As you know, part of the requirement is that you have the utmost discretion. I shouldn't have to say this, but what goes on here, stays here. We all have a great job with wonderful 'fringe' benefits and I'm sure no one wants to lose it. Does everyone understand what I mean?"

There were nods of heads and murmurs of acceptance.

"All right, enough said. Now let's get Jigs back in here so we can see the proper way to walk," Benny laughed. "Oh, and one more thing, this is a surprise party for Ms. Baker's engagement. Her fiancé is going to formally ask her to marry him in front of the crowd. She thinks this is a party to celebrate a friend's birthday. Again, discretion is paramount."