Chapter 9

William and Ed returned to the hotel refreshed from their little swim at the Mayor's house. William felt confident that another candidate had been found with a good chance of winning. They entered the suite laughing about the mayor's reaction on discovering them swimming in the pool.

The laughter turned to surprise when William spotted his mother relaxing in the living room of the suite. She was seated next to Lucy. He said, "Momma Kelly! What are you doing here?"

Seeing that William was surprised, Kelly sighed. It was not a good sign when events going on in his life surprised him. She looked over at Lucy wondering what was going to happen with her. In a sad voice, she said, "I'm here to talk to you and Lucy."

"You don't seem very pleased to see us," William commented with a frown. He looked over at Lucy for an explanation. She shrugged her shoulders suggesting that he knew as much as she did. In fact, she was rather surprised that he had looked to her for information.

Kelly rose from her seat and went over to Ed. She flowed into his embrace. After exchanging a very passionate kiss, Ed whispered, "I take it you want me to disappear and take everyone else with me."

"If you would be so kind," Kelly whispered back, "I'll make it up to you a little later."

"I look forward to it," Ed said with a smile.

William and Lucy sat together on the couch and watched as everyone except Kelly left the hotel suite. Barbara and Sandra looked over at Lucy before beating a hasty retreat. The pair of bodyguards took positions to the front and rear of the others. Once everyone was gone, Lucy turned to Kelly and asked, "What's the matter?"

Not wanting to answer immediately, Kelly went over to the hospitality bar and opened one of the small bottles of wine. After pouring it into one of the glasses, she returned to her seat. Watching his mother, William whispered to Lucy, "This must really be bad."

Kelly took a long sip of her wine. It wasn't a particularly good wine. She took a deep breath and then let it out. She started to say something and then stopped before a single word came out. Finally, she said, "I did something stupid. I didn't think it through and now there's a problem."

"What kind of problem?" William asked leaning forward. If there was a problem then he would try to fix it. He prided himself on being good at fixing problems.

Kelly looked at William thinking that this was one problem that he couldn't fix. She said, "When I gave you advice on picking out your staff, I didn't think about something rather important. You see, it wasn't ever a problem for us."

"What?" Lucy asked looking over at William hoping that he knew what his mother was talking about. He looked just as clueless as she did.

"We're bisexual and you're not," Kelly said.

"We all know that," William said wondering what that had to do with anything.

Nodding her head, Lucy said, "I know how you healed Natalie and Jan."

Shaking her head, Kelly said, "I don't know how to say this."

Thinking that this might be the one time that he wished Momma Kelly was more like Momma Ling, William said, "Just say it."

"You staff wants to sleep with you," Kelly said looking at Lucy.

William snorted and said, "That's what Lucy is always telling me. I don't really believe it, but she insists. Are you telling me that Rock or Colt wants to sleep with me?"

If the problem wasn't so serious, Kelly would have laughed at the suggestion. There were times when William really surprised her. The problem was that this was a very serious matter. She said, "I wasn't talking about them wanting to sleep with you."

Puzzled, Lucy asked, "So who were you talking about?"

"You," Kelly answered pointing at Lucy.

"Rock or Colt wants to sleep with me?" Lucy asked. She glanced over at William to see his reaction. She could discuss the matter with William and possibly find some sort of compromise.

"No," Kelly answered.

"Who wants to sleep with me?" Lucy asked wide eyed. She suddenly understood how William felt when she told him something like that. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling she had ever experienced.

"Barbara and Sandra," Kelly answered watching as Lucy's expression turned to one of surprise. She sighed and added, "I don't know if any of the others on your staff feel that way."

"Why would they want to sleep with me? I don't have any interest in women," Lucy said as if her lack of interest in women would assure that women would not be interested in her. She looked over at William to see if he knew anything about it. Even as she did it, she knew that was a mistake.

Taking hold of her hand, William said, "I know why someone would want to sleep with you. You're the perfect woman. I thought that it was a little odd that they wanted to sleep with me."

"They want to sleep with you, too," Kelly said. She wondered how she was supposed to explain to William and Lucy that they were attractive, wealthy, intelligent, and sexy. It shouldn't have been necessary.

"I don't get it," Lucy said still trying to wrap her mind around the idea that two women like Barbara and Sandra wanted to sleep with her. They could have anyone they wanted. She didn't understand why they could possibly want her.

Kelly rubbed her forehead with the fingertips of her left hand. She could feel a headache developing. Looking up at the ceiling, she said, "I swear, youth is wasted on the young."

Lucy and William were in bed. He was lying along one side of the bed with her lying at right angles to him. She was resting her head on his stomach. Idly, he was running a finger tip around her stiff nipple. She asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Do you love them?" William asked thinking it was a good question from which to start the conversation.

Lucy answered, "Yes, I do. The problem is that I don't want to have sex with them."

William ran his finger across her chest and started circling the other nipple with it. He said, "I don't want to have sex with them. I don't have sex with them. I make love to them."

"I don't think I could do that," Lucy said. The whole idea of doing things with a woman made her very uncomfortable.

William ran a finger down to her belly button. He said, "No one is asking you to do that."

Thinking about how Barbara had acted the previous night, Lucy sighed. She said, "I saw how upset Barbara was last night. She must really be hurt that I won't sleep with her."

"If it harms none, then do it. Protect the weak from the strong," William said. He ran a finger up from her naval to between her breasts.

"How does that apply?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know. It makes me wonder if we aren't short a rule or two at times," William said with a chuckle. In a more serious tone of voice, he said, "It will harm you if you are forced into doing something that is against your nature. I guess we have to decide if it really is against your nature. Their desire makes them strong. If they try to push you into it then we'll need to protect you. At the same time, their desire makes them weak. If you act to exaggerate the problem, then we'll need to protect them from you. The problem is that you aren't doing anything other than being yourself and they are being their selves."

"It sounds complicated," Lucy said with a frown. She thought she understood the two rules, but this particular problem forced her to accept that some problems weren't always a matter of right and wrong, but a complex balance of opposing forces. She realized that was the reason for the different styles in solving problems that she had observed among the Druids. Some waited until the problem manifested before they reacted with overwhelming force. That was Ling's approach. It was brutal but effective. Ed preferred to apply a little force well before something had a chance to develop into a problem. William was somewhat in the middle.

"If it wasn't complicated then we wouldn't have a problem," William said with a tired smile. He ran his finger back to her nipple and slowly rubbed it.

"That's a little distracting," Lucy said swatting his finger. His touch was heating up her body.

"Good. Maybe it will take your mind off your problems for a minute or two," William said with a smile. He returned to running a finger around her nipple.

"Why would they want to sleep with me?" Lucy asked sitting up. She grabbed his hand in the process. His touch was driving her crazy.

"You're asking the wrong person that question. I'm a little prejudiced concerning that matter. I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to sleep with you," William answered.

"You're not being helpful," Lucy said rolling her eyes. She released his hand and turned to face him sitting tailor fashion.

William rolled over onto his side. He ran his finger over her lips and said, "I have always loved your long brown hair. I think you have the most beautiful face that I've ever seen. Your body is perfect. I marvel at your breasts. They are the perfect size and very sensitive. I can't find anything about your body that doesn't fill me with desire for you.

"I love your mind. When you apply your mind to a problem, it takes my breath away. I find your concentration and attention to detail extremely sexy. It is an amazing thing to watch. The most astounding thing to me is that your intellect is balanced by common sense. Your mind is disciplined.

"When you look at me with love, I have no choice but to surrender myself to you. Every cell in my body responds to that little look of desire that you have. My temperature rises a full degree.

"When I watch you dealing with other people, I'm struck by how caring and sensitive you are. You're honest and forthright in your feelings. You touch people. It isn't a superficial touch, but one that reaches into them and touches their spirit. You let them know that they aren't alone. You let them know that they aren't unloved.

"I can easily see why they would want to sleep with you. If they've spent any time around you then they've seen the same things in you that I have seen. They have no choice except to desire you."

Lucy moved over and started kissing William. His touch might have kept the embers of desire alive, but his words had fanned them into a bonfire. It took considerable effort on William's part to douse the flames of desire. When he was done and they were relaxing in post-coital bliss, she said, "Go sleep with them tonight."

"Why?" William asked feeling like it was a rather unusual thing to ask him to do considering what they had just finished doing.

"I need to be alone while I think about this," Lucy answered.

"Are you considering making love to them?"

Lucy covered her eyes and answered, "I don't know. I feel guilty for not sleeping with them and causing that much pain. I would feel even worse for sleeping with them."

"I understand," William said. He ran a hand through her hair and said, "I want to stay here with you."

Enjoying his caress, Lucy said, "I love you so much."

"I love you too," William said.

Changing her mind, she patted the bed beside her. In a tone of voice that conveyed her vulnerability, she said, "Stay here with me and hold me."

William and Sandra had just finished laying out the campaign strategy for May Erl's bid for the Senate. It was a comprehensive plan that detailed the sequence of political ads that she should run. It identified the timing at which the ads were released. The campaign was designed to put all of the potential criticisms up front to defuse their impact.