Chapter 26

Having forsaken his morning run for more than a week, a little after four thirty, Jeff started at an easy pace down the driveway. He had never run on a mountain prior to moving to Colorado. He had assumed, that generally, the run down the mountain would be easy, then the trip up would be much harder. Going back up was harder of course, but going down had surprised him. Holding back on the steep slopes of the driveway had challenged new muscles.

One morning, shortly after the move, he had driven the Escalade about five miles down the county road and started his run from there, reasoning that he would get the hard part over with first. But running up to the house, then running back downhill with tired muscles, seemed worse. Either way had its disadvantages — there didn't seem to be any advantages, no matter where he started.

He knew that his strength and endurance, to a large extent, were the result of the healing tank. He had run the portable healer over Diana and Arlene on several occasions while they slept, then had again turned its beams on himself. The women, or course, didn't have any obvious wounds, but he did it for a "just in case" measure. Diana had smoked for years, and he was worried about cancer.

The research people said that both the healing tank and the portable healers seemed to correct whatever was wrong with the body. The portables took much longer, but seemed to eventually do the same thing as the big tank. Since Jeff had grown a couple of inches, and his body functioned better than it ever had, he reasoned that the healers had optimized all his body's functions. The lab people seemed to agree with this, if he had interpreted their medicalese correctly.

It certainly hadn't made a superman out of him, but his muscles grew faster with less of a workout, and he achieved better results. If they could truly understand the technology, they might be able to improve on even these results. There didn't appear to be any controls, per se, on the healing tank or the portable healers. If a person was injured and placed into the healing tank, a blue light and an accompanying mist would surround the individual. When the healing process was complete, the light and mist would shut off. The portables turned themselves on when placed on a person, the blue light bathed the subject, but there was no mist. Jeff had felt an inquisitiveness tickle his mind when he used the healer, and it seemed to become stronger each time he used the instrument. The techs hadn't mentioned this at all, and Jeff decided to keep the notion to himself for the time being. He continued to experiment with the healer now that he wasn't working all the time. But the women had a disconcerting habit of finding him no matter where he wondered off to in the conference center. Twice, Diana had almost caught him with the healer.

When Jeff had been hit by the high velocity projectile, the bullet had destroyed a sizable portion of his right lung before exiting his back. He had been moments from death when members of his team placed him in the tank. Three days later, the light shut off, the mist was whisked away, and he opened his eyes. All that was left was a faint scar on his chest and back. He was sore for a few days, then his health came back better than before.

He hit the five-mile point, made his turn, and with a groan started up the mountain. My body may work better than it used to, but the pain of running up this mountain is still there.

He had noticed that his body was shifting into the FFA (Free Fatty Acid) metabolism much quicker than it had before. In the past, this kicked in at about twenty to thirty minutes. Now it seemed to happen sooner. A distance runner tends to struggle more the first few miles, until FFA starts. Then the runner's breathing is easier, and if he/she is just running at a moderate pace, he can even carry on a conversation while running — something that is more difficult, try impossible, during those first few miles. Jeff had realized several weeks ago that FFA was starting at about ten to fifteen minutes — something that had never happened to him before. Whatever the reason, his body functioned superbly and the FFA left his mind in a state that runners usually call free association.

Many distance runners, particularly if they are not pushing, just running at a slow to medium pace, can free associate. Their minds seem to become clearer, memory is enhanced, and it becomes easier to plan or think things through. Jeff usually used his morning runs to plan his day, or work through aspects of his next invention. He had done something similar, even before the move to Colorado. Now the miles seemed to slip away as he thought about his family and the possibility that they had already found an excellent teacher.

He hoped she would take the job. She had seemed like a bitch to start with, but after meeting the girls, she had changed, particularly since the drive up the mountain and the teasing from Arlene.

The contractor was due to finish the lab today, and he said he would have a crew starting on the bedroom suite early. As the house came into view, he slowed to cool down, walking the last three hundred yards.

As he started to enter the kitchen with the intention of turning the coffee on before he took a shower, he smelled fresh coffee as soon as he started to bump the door open. Doctor Boswell was seated at the small kitchen table, reading a magazine and drinking a cup of coffee when he hit the door with the heel of his hand and stepped in.

As he grabbed the paper towels and helped mop up the spilled coffee, instead of apologizing, he teased, "I'll bet that got your heart started."

She tried to glare at him, then chuckled. "At least I didn't drop the cup. Do you always open doors like that?"

"Actually, I guess I do. At least I've bumped that swinging door with the heel of my hands enough times to get fussed at by my ... Diana," he finished. Crap! I almost said wives. Plural. That would really have started the day off. I'm going to have to be very, very careful now. I can see that just alerted her radar. I must not forget that this woman was a child prodigy. Why is it that every woman I'm associated with is either smart, or brilliant? "I'm sorry, but I had no idea that you would be here. I was concentrating on what I was going to do today, and was just going to start the coffee so it would be making while I took my shower. I'm not used to anyone else being up this early. I should have remembered that you said you were an early riser."

"Mr. Matthews, no apology is necessary. After my heart rate came back down to about twice normal, I realized that my little mini launch was funny. I was gazing at the magazine," she said, indicating the magazine in front of her, "and thinking about what we would need for a school."

As Jeff threw the wadded up paper towels in the trash, Doctor Boswell said, "If you have time, why don't you get that cup of coffee you were going to make, and sit with me for a while. We need to talk about the school and exactly what you expect to get out of it."

Jeff poured a cup and refreshed Doctor Boswell's coffee. After putting the pot back, he sat at the side of the table, took a sip and said, "One hundred and twenty thousand a year, a vehicle, and the second floor apartment."

Doctor Boswell hesitated for a moment with the non sequitur. Then, "Are you always this abrupt."

Jeff grinned, sitting back in his chair. "No, but last night you indicated that you were. And I have never liked to haggle. My family wants you. I want you. I'm not going to squander my money on drugs, yachts, and gold plated Mercedes, so I have money that I can spend for education. If I can enrich your life a little bit, I think you will feel better about your job. I won't insult you by saying you will do a better job with more pay. At the least, you should feel more secure. My offer should show you that we're serious. Our girls will profit in the long run."

"Why would you give me a car and an apartment? Not that I'm not flattered," she quickly added, then continued. "I was sitting here thinking that I could find something to rent in the area. I own a condo in Denver that I could probably lease and maybe break even. I'll admit that I have been worrying about driving up the mountain, not to mention your driveway, under winter conditions. My car isn't new, but it will be fine for a few years if I don't drive it off that..." Failing to find the proper term, and refusing to acknowledge Jeff's grin, she continued. "You must know, at least generally, what a teacher in this area earns. Why would you do this for me?" She repeatedly folded a paper towel, obviously a nervous gesture.

Tapping his fingers on the table for a moment while he thought, he stopped and looked at her. "I guess I need to explain some things. We told you, basically, how our life went until I sold my invention." When Doctor Boswell nodded, he went on, "I sold my invention to a very big supplier of technology to the armed forces and the federal government. At the last part of the negotiations, Mr. Wainwright and his team apparently thought I was having second thoughts about selling my patents to them. This conference center and another large chunk of money, plus free use of the company jet were offered at the last moment to seal the deal."

"A few days after the contract was signed, Mr. Wainwright gave me a call. We had become, if not true friends, at least respected acquaintances whose lives have been interconnected. I have started to work on another invention, so he has a bit of a vested interest in keeping me on his good side, since he will probably bid on the patents. At any rate, I had mentioned that I knew practically nothing about investments. During our conversation, I reminded him that he had said he knew a broker who was young, very intelligent, and had only been in business for himself for about a year. Frank said the guy was sharp, trustworthy, and hungry. Against all reason I guess, I took Wainwright at his word and let this person manage about six percent of my money to be used for high risk investments that the broker said would make money. I also put another ten percent with him in longer term, much lower risk investments, but of course the return will generally be much smaller."

"Generally any profits in the high risk investments are bled off to another account. I'm not foolish enough to put the proceeds back in and risk losing the whole six percent, plus the profits — at least not at this point. The profit account is more than ten times as much as we have managed to spend since we moved into this house."

"I hired several people to help me build various parts for my invention. They, of course, didn't know how these parts were to be used. I hired the best people I could find. I paid them well, and I gave them a bonus when the parts were successfully completed. Everything worked the way it was supposed to work. When I built my prototype, although I had to do a bit of tweaking, it worked. I guess I live by the old adage that you get what you pay for. That, of course, isn't always true, but everything generally works out that way."

"I love these girls. I want the best for them, and I'm going to back that statement with deeds. In addition to the salary, vehicle and apartment, I will set up a checking account for the school, and a charge card for anything you might need for the school. You can use that card for your gasoline and other expenses, too. If you decide to take the job, we'll talk about what you need. The only restriction I can think of right now, is that I would like Laura to have a major role in selecting and setting up your computer system. She's an IT manager, a systems analyst. She's a genius, or damn close. She is definitely a genius with computer systems."

"Yes or no? Or do you need time to think about it?"

"Mr. Matthews, I've done far too much thinking in the last two years since my husband died. The last thing I need to do is start thinking. What I need to do is to start doing. In addition, I've been very impressed with the girls, and your whole family." She hesitated a moment, then said, "I'll take the job."

"Good. I'll get on the phone in a few minutes and cancel our newspaper ads. Now how are you going to work this. I don't know anything about setting up a school. Do we home-school? Do we somehow associate with the county school? How does this work?"

"No. We set up our own school."

"It's only a few weeks until school starts according to Doctor Adams. I know there's bound to be a bureaucracy involved in this. Do you know where we start? Surely we'll never be able to get the paperwork through all the bureaucratic crap in such a short period of time."

"Relax Mr. Matthews. Remember, I sat on the school board for five years. And I also know some people at the state level. I've done many favors over the years. I'll call in a few. You will have a certified school in less than a week, or I'm going to have some very ill feelings toward some friends of mine."

At Jeff's raised eyebrow, "Oh, everything will be legal, all the inspections will be made, everything will be done properly."

"Shit," Jeff let slip out, then quickly followed with, "I apologize Doctor Boswell. I shouldn't have said that in front of you."

Chuckling, she drained the last of her cup and held it out to Jeff. As he got up to get the pot, she said, "I've said worse in front of a hall full of students, long before I became a principal. One of the other teachers heard me and reported me to the principal. I was called to the office for a reprimand, but the principal had heard my remarks on the intercom as he monitored the little ruckus that was going on. He was laughing so hard that he couldn't chew me out."

Jeff handed her the coffee, and as he did so, he smelled the dried sweat on himself. Oh, crap. I was on the way to take a shower, then got to talking to her and forgot all about it. If I can smell myself, I know I must be ripe. I can tell she just smelled me when I leaned over. "Doctor Boswell, I meant to stop in and start the coffee, then take my shower. I'm embarrassed. We started talking and I was so interested in our conversation that I forgot..."

Doctor Boswell chuckled, then sighed. "You haven't offended me, if that's what you mean. If you were dirty, then that would be an offensive odor. But a man's sweat from exercising or working isn't offensive to me. Nor is it to many women. Sit back down, please. We still have many things to discuss."

"Thanks," Jeff said, "I appreciate your candor."

"I've looked through the second floor — well at least a good part of it, and I didn't find anything that was perfect..."

"Hold on a second, Doctor Boswell. My family and I discussed this and I promised that our classroom would be different. What about an office for you, a large office with everything you want in it? Then a large connecting classroom with work stations for each of the girls, with nice relaxing furniture. Computers, of course, for each girl, and one in your office for you, all on a local network. Tables, more work areas for larger projects, and anything else you want for the classroom. Surely we don't have to put the girls in desks like you would have in a conventional school."

Laughing a little, Doctor Boswell asked, "Did you know that the girls have a very professional drawing of what you just described? We wound up talking for over an hour in one of the conference rooms last night. I've got their drawing in my bedroom. I've always wanted to have a classroom like that, of course, the county could never afford it. But I will still need at least two other areas that are easily accessible from the main classroom. One area would be a project work area, and we will also need a lab for chemistry and physics experiments.

"I think all of the rooms should be interconnecting in order for me to keep in close contact with all four girls at all times. Are you prepared to spend the money on construction and..."

"Pick the rooms you want combined. Sketch out your office and classroom, work area, and lab, and put some rough dimensions on you drawing. The contractor should be here in a few minutes. As soon as he gets going for the day, I'll show him what you need and we will walk through the area with him. Let's get him involved with this. We may as well do it right to begin with. It would probably be beneficial to get Laura and Diana involved in this as well, in addition to the girls. They (Laura and Diana) are going to be taking online college classes. I think that if they did the most of their work in a school setting, they would profit more, and it would be easier for them to get away from the distractions of our home life. Do you have any objections to expanding your class to include monitoring, advising, and maybe tutoring Diana and Laura?"

"Certainly not. Nothing like having a whole family in class. What type of college courses are they going to be taking?" she asked quizzically.

"Laura already has some type of computer science degree, I'm not precisely sure what her major was, but she needs an electrical engineering degree to be of more use to me in building my next invention. Diana didn't get a chance to go to college, other than a few courses at a local trade school, since she was helping put me through my classes. Now, it's her turn. We had mentioned engineering for her also, but the final decision will be hers."

"I would like Diana to start out gradually, since it has been several years since she has had to study. She made excellent grades in high school, and the trade school as well. I suspect she will surprise me, as she usually does, and drop right back into the study routines. But I would feel a lot better if you were monitoring the situation. So plan on six work stations for students. And if possible, no cubbyholes or partial partitions, unless you have reason to believe things will work better that way."

"Since the girls are all seniors, and the classroom is going to be big, I see no reason why that approach wouldn't work, particularly for gifted students. Did I hear you mention a contractor?"

"Yes. Oh, he's coming in to finish up my lab today and start a crew on some modification to our bedroom suite on this end of the building. I think I'm well on my way to making the guy rich. One more project should really make his day."

Jeff stood and started to leave. Stopping and turning back to Doctor Boswell, he asked, "Do we need a contract? I can get you on the phone with my lawyer and have him draw one up to your specifications."

Boswell stuck out her hand, and Jeff took it. Her grip was firm. Jeff liked that.

"Mr. Matthews we need to discuss several other things, but I don't think a contract will be necessary, as least from my perspective."

"Same here. I've done more on a handshake than I have with contracts. Well, not monetarily, but more of them. I'll get on the phone to my accountant and have him set up your pay. He'll need to talk with you, I'm sure. Just tell him how you want things to be, how and when you want to be paid, and let him work out the details."

Releasing her hand and grinning, he said, "I need to get that shower before that herd of women hits this place. Somebody will start holding their nose, then they will all tease me. We'll continue our discussion after breakfast, if it's okay with you. Then as soon as you have your rough sketch of what you will need for the school, we'll get with the contractor."

A few minutes later, he entered the "honeymoon suite." Man, I could get used to this. There are wall to wall naked females. Some of the women were fully covered with a sheet, some partially covered, others totally uncovered. Diana was on her back with her legs slightly parted, without any cover at all. Jeff leaned over and licked up the crack of her pussy, gently touching her hooded clit with his tongue tip.

Well, she certainly doesn't taste fresh this morning, but I know who's cum is smelling up her pussy. Grinning, he lapped a little harder. On the fourth swipe, her breathing changed. A couple of licks later, she arched her back, slamming her pussy into his mouth, and orgasmed. She bucked and shivered for a long time, finally coming down.

She eventually opened her eyes, raised her head slightly to look past her breasts to grin at him. He kissed her pussy once more, then sat beside her on the bed.

"I was dreaming this super stud was fucking me. I was having an orgasm. Then I woke up and I was really having one."