Chapter 450

The Retreat

...”She’ll never,” Hall tried, but Diana just wiggled her fingers in a dismissive gesture and he, shaking his head, left the room.

As Mike stepped back into the hallway from the kitchen while wondering if he had somehow lost control of his life, he saw Jeff, Kayla and Arlene coming toward him.

“What’s going on?” Jeff asked, brightly.

“Uh,” Hall said, “somehow, I think your wife and my fiancée are ... planning our wedding. Uh, Jeff, I was going to ask if Marie could come out for a few days. I mean ... This is such a beautiful place and you said it used to be a conference center...”

“Wedding,” Arlene and Kayla said as soon as the word was out of Mike’s mouth, then rushed into the kitchen while he was still trying to finish the sentence.

Jeff stood staring at Hall for a moment while he, in turn, stared after the women, amazed at their reaction. “You do want to get married, I hope?” Jeff asked when the young man returned his attention to the Prime.

“Uh, yeah. I mean, we have been planning it, but we were holding off until we had enough saved up for a nice honeymoon...”

Jeff chuckled as he motioned for Mike to precede him on down the hall and into the living room. “Best to just let the women go at it. When they have it all planned out, they’ll tell you when to show up.”

In the living room, Jeff ushered the confused young man to a seat near the big window. “I don’t drink alcohol. My body has a problem with it, but I can get you a beer – or several – if you like.”

“Uh, no, I’m okay,” Hall answered absently. “I just ... I didn’t expect...”

Jeff chuckled as he sympathized with Hall. “I felt the same way for the first ten marriages or so. Finally, it dawned on me that worrying wasn’t going to help, and I just did what they told me to do. Mostly, that was to show up at a specific time. They even laid out my clothes for me and sent someone to make sure I got dressed properly. Take my advice and say, ‘Yes, Dear,’ when your fiancée asks if you agree with her wedding plans. Trust me, it works out better that way. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but it’s still true. Women own more than half the money in the world and all the pussy. You’re going to say yes, sooner or later, anyway. Never try to fight the little battles.”

Hall noted that Jeff hadn’t said anything about the big battles, and Hall wasn’t going to ask.

With a sigh, Mike responded, “Jeff, Diana said something about a wedding dress. I hope she doesn’t get Marie started on that. She has already said she didn’t want to spend all that money on one, and had rather spend it on a nice honeymoon and have some left over to start our married life together. I assume...”

“Don’t worry about the dress, or the cost of the wedding. Di has an agreement with a dress shop owner. Guaranteed, neither will cost you a dime.” Then to himself, Because Diana is going to pay for it. “Come on. Think about it. There simply isn’t a more beautiful place for a wedding than this building. Just look at the curving staircase at the other end of the room,” he said, nodding in that direction. “Imagine how beautiful your bride will look as she comes down that, and it goes without saying that many couples come to this area for their honeymoon.”

“Well, Diana mentioned the Retreat, and I was going to ask how much it would cost for a week here...”

“Nothing. And before you say anything, you’re welcome to be married here and to use our honeymoon suite during your stay, as I imagine Diana has already told you. If I were you, I would quit worrying about the wedding, and maybe get on the net and check out things to do in the area – believe me, there are plenty of attractions for newlyweds around Winter Park and Denver. You can use our regular honeymoon suite, or we can set you up in a suite on the third floor that is beyond secluded. I’m sure my wives will stock the suite you choose with snacks, and you can show up for meals or not as you please.

“In addition, we’ll give you a list of restaurants in the area that we like, and we’ll give Martha a call so she’ll expect the two of you at her restaurant. It’s at the bottom of the mountain, and you have to go right past it on the way to Winter Park. It’s a beautiful new building and she has a chef who has put the place on the map.”

Jeff jumped to his feet. “Hang on a second and I’ll get you a key to a vehicle you can use while you’re here...”

“Wait, Jeff. Diana has already given me one,” Hall quickly injected while holding the key up.

“Good,” the Prime said as he plopped back down in his recliner. “She told you about the credit card, right?”

“Uh, yeah, but...”

“No buts. Fill up out back or use the card, whichever is convenient at the moment. But do not piss Diana off by using your money to put gas in that vehicle.”

“Oh, okay, but what if Mr. Wainwright comes back and wants me to go to my new job? I can’t just say that I need a week off before I even start.”

Jeff chuckled as he put his feet up. “Frank will probably tell you to take a month off. Mike, he’s a billionaire. He’ll get his due out of you when you go to work, but he takes care of his employees if their heart is in their job. He’s one of my business partners, and I’ll talk to him when he returns, so just sit back and enjoy the ride. Work will come soon enough.”

“Jeff, I...” But the AI interrupted.

“Mike Hall, line one, please.”

Jeff reached over, picked up the phone and tossed it to Mike. A moment later, he was talking to his fiancée.

Jeff got up and left the room to give Hall some privacy.

Ten minutes later, Mike found Jeff sitting in an alcove not far down the hall. “Marie told me she was packing the dress she was going to wear, and my best suit. She’s also bringing our birth certificates – all the things we will need for the marriage license and the wedding. Her plane arrives at seven this evening. Apparently, she and Diana must have hit it off, because Marie is acting as if Diana is her long-lost, best friend. I, uh, think I’m beginning to get a bit nervous – well, maybe a lot nervous. I mean...” Mike said, winding down.

Jeff grinned at Hall. If you think my women will let you get away with wearing your suit, you are in for a big surprise. There’s a tux in your future, and probably someone to make sure you put it on correctly.

Aloud, Jeff dropped a non sequitur. “Play games?” he asked Hall.

“Games?” the young man repeated, wondering if he had somehow misheard what Jeff had asked.

“You know; video games. We have a game room with everything imaginable in it and a curved screen that seems like it’s an acre across to play them on – game seats, the works.”

“Uh, yeah. I occasionally play when I have the time...”

“Computer!”

“Yes, Jeff?”

“If they aren’t busy, have Nat, Nicki, and Whitney come to the living room, please.”

There was a pause, before, “Nicki said to tell you they were on the way.”

“Thank you.”

“Any time, Jeff,” the AI said.

“Any time, Jeff,” he mimicked under his breath. “They’ve been screwing around with the AI’s programming again.”

A moment later, the three young wives burst into the living room, Nicki immediately plopping down in her husband’s lap to kiss him lustily. Giggling, the other two took their turns as well.

Hall didn’t realize it, but all the women were wearing bras because he was in the building, which meant he missed the jiggling breasts and nipple bumps that would otherwise be so obviously present.

When they were done, Nat, who was last in his lap, said, “You rang, Husband?”

Jeff grinned as he responded, “Yeah. Mike is a little uptight. Why don’t the three of you take him to the game room and humiliate him for a while. That should get his mind off his worries.”

Three beautiful faces turned toward Mike. Somehow, he felt like prey when their eyes locked onto him.

“We would be glad to, Husband,” the three said as one.

“But remember, he has to meet his fiancée’s plane in Denver at seven this evening.”

“We’ll go easy on him, Husband.”

Nat hurried over to grab Hall’s right hand with Whitney only a step behind to latch onto his left.

A few minutes later, Jeff was talking to Diana. “How’s he taking it?” she asked.

“Well ... he did appear to be a bit shell-shocked, so I had Nat, Nicki and Whitney take him to the game room. He’s young and it hasn’t been that long since he was in college. Probably thinks he’s about as good as you can get with video games.”

Diana chuckled as she snuggled to her husband. “Oh, poor boy.”

“Yep,” Jeff said, “but at least he won’t have time to worry about the wedding while they’re kicking his ass.”

The Prison Planet

“So, do you want eggs for breakfast?” Morales asked.

“How many do you have?”

“Four. We can each have one. I think you’ll really like 2214’s version of them.”

But Jasmine was shaking her head. “I need eggs for the cake I’m going to bake. I have freeze dried with me, but I had rather use fresh. Could we use your eggs for the cake, instead?”

“Lady,” he said with a grin, “I’ll give up eggs for the next month, if you can bake a decent cake with chocolate icing like you mentioned.”

Jasmine grinned at him. “The recipe calls for four...”

“These are twice the size of Earth eggs,” he reminded her.

“Then, maybe only two. I’ll have to decide when I get the ingredients all together.”

“You said something about having brought plain flour. Does that mean my wheat flour is useless for baking cakes?”

Jasmine hesitated. “I think the rule is to use about three-quarters wheat flour, and the rest plain flour. I’ve done that and the cake was fine, and supposedly a lot healthier because of the extra fiber in whole wheat flour. But when I tried just using whole wheat flour by itself, the cake was ... heavy – too dense – but keep in mind that I didn’t allow for the three-quarter thing. I probably used too much flour. If we run out of plain flour, I’ll try a recipe and cut the wheat flour down to about three-fourths of what is called for.

“To conserve my plain flour, why don’t I start out by using three-fourths wheat and one forth plain flour and see what happens?”

Morales finished pouring another cup of coffee for himself, then said, “If it even looks like a cake, I’ll eat it and consider myself lucky.”

“Can I have some of that?” she said, motioning to the percolator.

“Only if you promise to bake me a cake,” he returned with a chuckle.