Chapter 6

Ed stepped into the infirmary and looked at Dan lying on the bed. Sarah, naked as always, sat in the chair next to the bed. She looked up from the magazine she had been reading. Frowning, she said, “He keeps waking up and then fainting. I don’t understand.”

Looking at the man in bed, he replied, “We’re going to go to the employment office to find some more staff. You might want to get dressed. I’ll sit here with Dan until Maria comes over.”

Sarah set down the magazine and left the room. Even though she had interviewed people every time that they had hired new staff, it still seemed weird to her that she had such control over who would work there. It was an enormous responsibility and one that she took seriously.

Ed sat down in the chair that she had so recently occupied and picked up the magazine. It was a financial magazine with articles describing various investment options. He knew that she was very careful with her money and wondered what she was planning to do with her inheritance.

His musings were interrupted by a groan from Dan. Dan was staring at him and asked, “Am I dead?”

“No, you’re perfectly healthy. Why would you think you were dead?” asked Ed.

“I’m sure that some woman had sex with me. I keep waking up and finding a naked woman sitting in that chair,” replied Dan confused. He added, “I was sure that I had died and gone to heaven.”

Ed chuckled as he thought about telling Kelly and Sarah the effect they had on their guest. Sarah would be delighted. He said, “Well, my wife had sex with you after your accident to cure your broken back. We brought you back here and had Sarah watch over you. She’s a nudist. So you aren’t dead and you weren’t dreaming.”

The idea that he had slept with Ed’s wife scared Dan as he had visions of the cowboy beating him to a pulp in jealousy. He stuttered as he said, “I didn’t mean to have sex with your wife. She just showed up and I couldn’t help myself.”

Laughing at the man, Ed said, “Well, I suppose with your broken back there wasn’t too much that you could do to stop her.”

“Right,” replied Dan in relief. Then he realized that Ed had just said that his back had been broken. He moved his arms and legs, finding that everything worked correctly.

“She fixed your back,” stated Ed noticing the man’s movements.

“It couldn’t have been broken. You can’t cure a broken back,” replied Dan as his engineering background started to raise its head. He believed in the laws of physics and knew that it took time for bones to heal and that nerves didn’t.

“I can’t, but Kelly can. She’s a Druid healer,” explained Ed.

“That doesn’t explain it.”

“The Goddess gave her the gift to heal through sex. It’s a very powerful gift and can bring someone back from the point of death. I’m sure that you won’t believe me, but you can ask the Sheriff and the Doctor about the state of your back before Kelly had sex with you.”

Dan didn’t believe in supernatural powers, but chose to reserve his judgment. He wasn’t going to argue the point, particularly when a successful argument meant that he would have been able to stop the woman from making love to him in the middle of the street. He said, “Well, I’m glad to learn that I’m not dead.”

Ed sat back in his chair and examined the young man. Finally, he said, “I know you’re pretty tired. I suggest that you sleep here where Maria can watch over you in case you have some problems or nightmares about your recent experiences.”

The idea that he was supposed to sleep knowing that a woman was watching him disturbed Dan. There was no way that he would be able to sleep. He countered, “I couldn’t sleep around a woman.”

“Why not?” asked Ed surprised by the comment.

“I’m not good around women. I get nervous and all tongue-tied around them.”

Puzzled, Ed said, “They are just people.”

“People with breasts, legs, and lips. I just look at a woman and my brain shuts down.” Even talking about women made Dan blush.

“How about where you work?” asked Ed incredulous that all women could have that kind of effect on a man.

“I can’t work with women,” answered Dan admitting aloud the fact that he couldn’t work with women. It was a shame because he knew it was keeping him back in his career. His employers kept him in a back office where he could do his design work, recognizing that he was one of the best at it. The problem was that others presented it and often gained the credit for the work that he had done.

Dan was telling the truth. Ed’s truth sense was screaming at him that the guy was being totally honest. This wasn’t the normal kind of bashfulness around women. It was a phobia of them that was just as crippling as Agoraphobia, Arachnophobia, and Claustrophobia. He didn’t know what a fear of the opposite sex was called, but this guy had it. Ed said, “I’ll tell Maria not to come in here unless you’re screaming, but I must insist that you stay here. You’ve been through a lot this morning.”

Dan could see the sense behind Ed’s suggestion. With great reluctance, he said, “Okay.”

“She’ll probably spend her time in the swimming pool.”

“Who is Maria?” asked Dan curious if she was another staff member.

Ed answered, “Your neighbor, two doors down.”

Dan wasn’t sure which woman Ed was talking about. There was a young one and an older one that lived two houses down from him. He hoped that it wasn’t the younger woman, she was really pretty. The other was almost old enough that she wouldn’t affect him that strongly. “Oh.”

Ed said, “I have to go now. Get some sleep.”

The family was gathered along one side of a long table. Betsy sat at the end farthest away from the door. Next to her sat Ling and Leroy. Ed sat between Kelly and Leroy. There were empty seats where Linda and the other kids would have been sitting. Ed didn’t feel right about hiring someone without the whole family present, but they needed staff.

They weren’t there five minutes before Betsy started wiggling around in her chair. Ling turned to the child and said, “Practice your Tai Chi.”

Happy at the suggestion, Betsy stood and walked to the front of the room where she would have the space necessary for her exercise. Ling watched with a critical eye as her daughter started going through the movements. After a minute, she said, “Slower. Make your motions slower and smoother.”

Betsy didn’t say anything, but her motions slowed down and became smoother. At the slow speed, little bobbles became more pronounced. Every time she made an error, Ling called her on it and had her repeat the move until it was perfect.

Ed watched as Betsy performed the exercises, amazed at the self- discipline that the child demonstrated. It was strange for a child her age to be so in touch with her body. Other kids her age were still stumbling around, awkward and unable to catch a ball. Thinking about it, he realized that he had never seen her stumble.

A knock on the door interrupted the exercise. Betsy ran to the door and looked back at her father for permission to let the person in the room. When Ed nodded, she opened the door and skipped back to her chair. Cathy entered the room and closed the door behind her looking around anxiously. Ed said, “You already work for us.”

Cathy laughed and said, “We just wanted to clarify something. The candidate that we like is a single mother with a child that is a year and a half old. Is that a problem?”

Immediately assessing what it meant to her, Betsy shouted, “Oh, boy! A playmate!”

As everyone chuckled at the comment, Ed looked around the room. Everyone basically shrugged as if to say that they didn’t know what to say. Ed commented, “I expect with Sarah and you getting married, that we can expect you to become pregnant before long. Am I wrong?”

Cathy smiled as she answered, “I’m looking forward to becoming a mother.”

“I don’t see a problem.” Ed looked around the room and saw that everyone was nodding their heads in agreement with him. He looked over at Cathy and said, “Send her in.”

Cathy smiled and went out of the room. A minute later, there was a timid knock on the door. Ed was about to call out, but Betsy appeared beside the door and opened it. She looked up at the woman and said, “Wow! You look like an owl.”

In a sharp voice, Ling said a few words in Chinese that were clearly a rebuke for her comment. Ed didn’t know if Betsy understood what Ling had said, but she returned to her chair in a very subdued manner. He looked up at the little woman at the door and realized that she did look like an owl. She wore huge round glasses and had her hair cut short. It dawned on him that the woman looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her.

The woman walked forward and set her resume on the desk in front of him while looking directly at him the entire time. He picked it up and read down the page seeing her name, Mary Gold. It suggested that he had met her, but he still couldn’t place her. It was disturbing to see that she had a long history of temp jobs, apparently unable to get a full time job. Turning over to the next page, he saw that she had a letter of recommendation from Lynn, his secretary at the business. He smiled as he realized that this was the woman with the sexy voice.

He didn’t say a word, but handed the resume to Kelly. She skipped the resume and read the recommendation letter. Looking over at Ed, she raised an eyebrow as she handed the resume back to him. He handed it over to Leroy without saying a word. Kelly nudged him to get his attention. He asked, “What?”

“Why didn’t you say you knew her?” asked Kelly. She looked over at the small woman as she asked her question trying to see what her reaction would be.

Ling bent forward, not having had a chance to see the resume, and asked, “You know her, Ed?”

“Yes, I know her,” replied Ed.

“So?” asked Ling.

“I’d rather have your opinion before I say more,” replied Ed. As he spoke, Mary shifted nervously from foot to foot, as she didn’t understand the dynamics of the situation. She suspected that Ed would be for her, but the wives would argue against. He said, “In fact, I’ll recuse myself from this decision.”

Leroy looked at Ed and said, “Please explain why.”

“Nope,” replied Ed. He sat back and wondered how the family would react to her voice.

Ling asked, “Mary, how is it that you know Ed?”

Clearing her throat, Mary answered, “I was a temp in his office for three weeks. I only met him one time, but he was very kind.”

Staring at Mary with an incredulous look on her face, Ling turned and looked at Ed. With a voice like that, she had no doubts that Ed would sleep with her in a minute. For that matter, that voice was so sexy that it made her want to sleep with Mary. She asked, “What did Ed do that was so kind?”

“I was eight and a half months pregnant. He was a little upset that I was working that late in my pregnancy. Lynn said that he would pay me even if I stayed at home because he didn’t think that pregnant women should work.”

Betsy said, “Your voice is so soft and gentle. I like it.”

Glancing at Ling, Leroy could see that Mary’s voice was having an effect on her, too. He had an erection just from listening and wondered how he could work with her. Kelly was the only one that seemed unaffected by the voice. She asked, “Why so many temp jobs and nothing permanent?”

Mary answered, “My voice doesn’t give me a very professional presence. The people I work for tend to get teased about hiring a fluff girl instead of a secretary. I could make a great living doing phone sex, but I’m actually not a very sexual person.”

Kelly could believe it, but she looked to Ed for confirmation. He nodded his head to let her know that the woman was speaking the truth. Ed looked around at everyone trying to assess what they thought, but each one gave a sign of indecision. The voice was a drawback, but he couldn’t see that being a major problem. He was about to ask her to leave the room, when he recalled that she had been expecting twins, but Cathy had mentioned that she had a child. He said, “I thought you were expecting twins.”

“I had twins. The smaller one died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” replied Mary with tears in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” replied Ed feeling the irony of his gift from the Two-Sided One. One of the problems with his gift was that bad news told truthfully had a sweet ring to it.

Kelly and Ling felt for the young woman. They understood the anguish that she must have felt on finding her child dead in its crib. Wondering if that was the reason why she was a single mother, Kelly asked, “What about the father?”

“He died in a car accident shortly after I became pregnant. Killed by a drunk driver,” answered Mary in a flat tone of voice that still sounded sexy.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” replied Leroy. He didn’t know what to else to say.

Ed looked around the table and then said, “Mary, would you mind stepping out the door for a minute?”

Convinced that this meant she wasn’t going to get the job, she stepped out the door. Once she had closed the door, she broke down and started crying. The receptionist came over and tried to comfort her knowing how many people reacted when they weren’t hired.

Ed asked, “Kelly, should we hire her?”

“Yes,” answered Kelly without the least sign of hesitation.

“Leroy?”

Leroy shifted in his seat, uncomfortable due to the swelling of his cock, and answered, “I don’t know.”

“Ling?”

Ling, very embarrassed, looked away as she answered, “Her voice makes me want to perform obscene acts with her. I don’t know.”