Chapter 32

Oscar walked up to the door of the house and entered confident that Debbie and Georgia waited inside for him. The separation of three months had been very hard on him. Despite meditating most of the time he had been there, his thoughts had remained with the two women in his life. They were more important to him than returning to the school and, as a result, he had to stop by the house to be with them.

Stepping inside the house, Oscar was greeted with silence. Frowning, he had expected that Georgia and Debbie would have been waiting for him by the door. He had hoped that he would be greeted with hugs and kisses. Instead, the lights were low and no one was to be seen. He made his way to the living room hoping to find them there. Again he was disappointed. He began to doubt they were waiting for him.

Shrugging his shoulders, he made his way to the bedroom. Opening the door, he smiled at the sight presented by the pair of women posed suggestively on the bed. Both were waiting for him wearing nothing except for smiles. Looking from one to the other, Oscar smiled and said, “I missed you.”

“We missed you,” Georgia said inviting him to join them by wiggling in a finger in a come hither gesture.

Over the next six hours, the welcome home exceeded all expectations and Oscar was a very happy man. Georgia and Debbie were both impressed by his stamina. His desire convinced them both that he had missed them as much as they had missed him. Sated and relaxing in bed, Georgia said, “You aren’t going anywhere without us from now on.”

“I think Oliver might want to have a say in that,” Oscar said thinking about his education program.

“He has agreed that wherever you go, we go too,” Debbie said with a smile. The past three months had been spent badgering Oliver about Oscar’s absence. They had been relentless in their efforts to assure that Oliver would not be sent off somewhere without them.

“I find that rather surprising,” Oscar said wondering what had been going on while he was in Thailand.

“She’s an animal when it comes to going after something she wants,” Georgia said with a smile.

Running a hand over Debbie’s body, Oscar said, “I know. So are you.”

Moving so that she would stay in contact with his hand, Debbie giggled and said, “There are two weeks left to this quarter and then we’ll have a week off between quarters. After out vacation, we head to the Native American College for three months.”

“Really?” Oscar asked. He hadn’t realized that he had missed the last break. He was also unaware that he was headed to the Native American College. He had figured that the trip to Thailand was just one course taken out of sequence. The idea that his fifth year had actually started six months early was disconcerting.

“You bet. I’m looking forward to it,” Georgia said. The time spent at the Druid College had been pleasant, but working there had become boring. She had been used to changing environments every three or four years before coming to the college. She was looking forward to a chance to see new sights and have some new experiences.

“What about your classes?” Oscar asked looking at Debbie with concern. He wasn’t comfortable with her putting her education on hold, even if was just for three months. If what he expected to happen when he went to the Middle East came true, then Debbie would need her education.

“Oliver is arranging for the material to be videotaped and sent to me. I’ll have access to a lab at the Native American College,” Debbie answered fully confident that she would be able to keep up with her studies. Of course, it required a lot more self-discipline on her part than if she were surrounded by her classmates.

“Nice,” Oscar said relieved to hear that she wasn’t dropping out of school.

“Speaking of nice, it’s my turn to be the center of attention,” Georgia said caressing Oscar’s member with one hand and bringing it, with one stroke, to a full erection. Seeing that he was responding to her touch, she moved to lie between Oscar and Debbie.

Giving the brunette a pout, Debbie said, “Again?”

More than willing to satisfy both Georgia and Debbie, Oscar said, “And then it will be your turn, Debbie.”

“Goody,” the red head cooed.

Much to Oliver’s displeasure, it was three days before any of them returned to school. Several hours after Georgia had returned to work and Debbie had gone to her first class, Oscar walked through the front door of the school. He hadn’t taken more than two steps before Oliver intercepted him. Oliver looked at Oscar and asked, “How was Thailand?”

“Ah, most of it was pretty boring until Ajaan Prajak taught me how to levitate while meditating,” Oscar answered in an offhand casual manner.

Surprised, Oliver asked, “He did what?”

“He taught me how to levitate while meditating. I’ll be happy to teach you how to do that,” Oscar said with a serious expression on his face. He was hoping that Oliver would go for it. He kept picturing Oliver flying through the air and landing in a pond.

“You’re joking,” Oliver said.

“Not at all. It was probably the most important lesson he taught me,” Oscar said watching the Grand Druid study him. In a deadpan voice, he added, “I could teach you how to do that.”

There was a twinkle in Oscar’s eyes that Oliver didn’t trust. Shaking his head, he said, “Maybe some other time.”

“Just let me know,” Oscar said with a grin.

Oliver decided that he would request some more information from Thailand before giving into his curiosity. He said, “I suppose your girlfriends told you about going to the Native American College after the break.”

“Yes. I’m rather surprised by the news. I had expected to return to my previous course of study,” Oscar said.

“Not until things calm down a little more,” Oliver said. He wasn’t going to mention that there had been three assassination attempts on Mullah Farzin bin Saud during the time when Oscar had been in Thailand. Even more telling that problems were brewing, there had been an attempt on the life of Reverend Leroy Jones as well. With the recent death of Happy Harry, it was as if the entire world was going crazy.

“Georgia said they were coming with me,” Oscar said while nodding his head in confirmation. Seeing the look on Oliver’s face, he asked, “You wouldn’t be trying to get a little peace and quiet?”

“You might say that. I don’t think I could take another three months of listening to them moan about how I was keeping you away from them,” Oliver said. It seemed for the entire time Oscar had been gone that either Georgia or Debbie was on his case about sending their boyfriend away. Almost every time he had eaten in a student dining hall, one of them would arrange to be there to complain about his interference in their relationship with Oscar.

“They did mention something about attempting to derail your vile plan to keep us apart,” Oscar said with a grin.

“My vile plan?” Oliver asked raising an eyebrow before he realized that Oscar was teasing him. Posturing in front of Oscar, he said, “I’ll have you know that I’m the Grand Druid and there is nothing vile about my plans.”

“I heard something about you being a grand something or another, but Druid wasn’t in the comment anywhere,” Oscar said with a wink.

Laughing, Oliver knew when he was defeated. Shaking his head, he asked, “What are you doing over the break between semesters?”

“I think we are going to visit my parents,” Oscar said. He looked down at the floor as memories of his visions returned and then back at Oliver. In a quiet voice, he said, “I think this will be the last time I get to visit with them.”

“You still have your fifth and sixth year to go,” Oliver said hopefully.

“We both know that I won’t be here for the sixth year. I’ll be in the Middle East,” Oscar said.

“You’re so confident that will be the case?”

Nodding his head, Oscar said, “Next Midwinter or the Midsummer after that I will be going to the glade. After that, I resume my service.”

“Do Georgia and Debbie know that?”

“No, but they suspect it,” Oscar said. Leaning closer to Oliver, he said, “I wish my service would start already. I’m tired of waiting.”

Oliver decided that it was time to change the topic of discussion. Grinning, he said, “Since you have nothing better to do, your friend William has arranged a little diversion for you while everyone else is studying.”

“What kind of diversion?” Oscar asked wondering what William could possibly have planned for him.

“There are two artists waiting for you. I set up a studio for them in the office where you used to keep your robe during your first year here,” Oliver answered.

“Artists? What would artists want with me?” Oscar asked staring at the Grand Druid.

“I heard that they had asked William for a real artistic challenge. They wanted to draw the ugliest person he knew. It seems that your name was the only one he could come up with,” Oliver answered with a grin. Seeing the shocked look on Oscar’s face, he burst out laughing.

Shaking his head, Oscar said, “He just got our names confused, that’s all. Oscar does sound a lot like Oliver.”

“I am the Grand Druid. You really shouldn’t be making fun of me like that.”

“How should I be making fun of you?” Oscar asked trying to look as innocent as possible.

“Get up there and let them try their talent against your ugly mug,” Oliver said while chuckling.

Laughing, Oscar went to the third floor of the Administration Building in search of the artists. Entering the appropriate room, he found that there was no one there. He did notice a sketch pad open to a page with Oliver’s face drawn on it. It was a good likeness and seemed to catch that slightly tired and tense expression that came with great responsibility.

A noise behind him caused him to turn around. He looked at the young man and middle aged woman at the door. They looked at him with critical eyes that saw more than most. He asked, “Are you the artists?”