Chapter 19

Day 157 Friday

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm going to have to let you go," Karen said in a tight voice. She wasn't really sure what had motivated her to that action, but once she had decided that it was the right thing to do nothing was going to stop her. She would never admit that a part of it was a small worm of jealousy that Denise had managed to get Dale.

"You might want to reconsider that in light of the invitation that I have been asked to deliver to you," Denise said without batting an eye.

Of all the reactions that she had expected, that was not one of them. Karen stared at Denise open mouthed. Wondering if she had misunderstood, she said, "What did you say?"

"Dale wants you to come over to his house," Denise answered. She licked her lips nervously and said, "He wants you over there around four."

"Is this a business call?"

Denise considered the question for a moment before she answered, "In a way it is."

"What does that mean?"

Denise said, "He mentioned to me that he would cancel all of his contracts with you if you don't show up."

"That's blackmail," Karen said feeling a sick falling sensation in her stomach. She had known the minute that Denise had said that she was having sex with Dale that her business was going to pay the price. She had thought that letting Denise go might reduce the impact, but it appeared that she was too late.

"Should I let him know to expect you?" Denise asked.

Karen sat at her desk considering her options. She couldn't afford to lose Mr. Speers as a customer. He represented almost twenty percent of her business. She looked at Denise and asked, "What does he want of me?"

"He wants to help you," Denise said. Seeing the expression on the other woman's face, she said, "It will take you months to realize just what he's doing for you. After months of hating him, you'll thank him."

"What about you?" Karen said.

Denise shrugged her shoulders and said, "I never really hated him. I hated myself. Now I don't and I thank him for it."

"I'll be there," Karen said curious by what Denise had said.

At four that afternoon, Karen knocked on the front door of Dale's house. There was no answer and she looked around at the secluded front yard wondering what she was supposed to do. Denise pulled up in the drive way and got out of her car. Smiling at Karen, she said, "Sorry, I was running a little late."

"What are you doing here?" Karen asked. Denise had been working at her desk when she had left the office for this meeting with Dale.

"I live here," Denise answered with a weak smile. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation that was about to take place.

"Well, I'm here. Where is he?" Karen asked.

"He'll be here later. Why don't you come in and we'll talk a little," Denise said opening the front door.

Suspicious, Karen followed Denise into the house. Denise stopped in the living room and said, "Have a seat."

"What's with the towels?" Karen asked looking at the stack of towels that was on one end of the couch.

"That's for sitting on," Denise answered wondering when she had stopped noticing them beyond grabbing one automatically when she went to sit down.

"Odd," Karen said taking a seat on the far end of the couch.

Denise said, "I'll be right back."

"Okay," Karen said looking around the room. She was struck by the good taste of the décor. The room spoke of money without being overwhelming. She had a pretty good idea of how much Dale Speers was worth. His company did an average of a hundred million dollars of business a year. He was the major stockholder of the company.

Denise returned ten minutes later carrying a sheet of paper in one hand and a package in the other. She handed the sheet over to Karen who was too busy staring at her to make a comment. Denise said, "Read the rules of the house."

"Why?"

"You'll need to know them if you decide to live here," Denise answered with a smile.

"Why in God's name would I want to live here?" Karen asked unable to get over the fact that Denise was standing in front of her naked as the day she was born.

"I understand that you are looking for husband who is handsome and brilliant," Denise answered while grabbing one of the towels. She put it on a chair and sat down to face Karen.

"What?" Karen asked.

"You know, a father for your child," Denise said.

Karen stood up and said, "Enough of this. I'm out of here."

As Karen made her way to the door, Denise said, "I don't want to threaten you, but if you walk out that door you are going to lose everything you've worked for. You're going to lose all of the dreams you are trying to achieve."

Karen turned to Denise and shouted, "What do you know about me? I'll tell you. You know nothing about me."

"That's probably true, but I know Dale," Denise said calmly. In a way she was surprising herself. A month ago she would have never been this calm when face by such an angry person. She shifted to face Karen and added, "He knows more about you than you can imagine. He'll use everything he knows to achieve his goal."

"What is his goal?" Karen asked.

"To help you," Denise answered with a small apologetic smile.

"I don't believe that for a second. He's scared that I found out that he likes fat women and blackmails them into having sex with him," Karen said. She glared at Denise and said, "He's going to blackmail me into being quiet."

"Actually, Dale doesn't like having sex with fat women. In fact, I'd say that he hates having sex with fat women," Denise replied.

"He's having sex with you," Karen charged.

"That's true. For a long time, he didn't enjoy it. I stopped being a fat woman and that all changed," Denise replied.

"You're nothing but a fat bitch," Karen said crossing her arms.

"I may be overweight, but I'm not a fat woman," Denise answered. There had been a time when Karen's insult would have devastated her. Now it didn't. She smiled and added, "I'm going to ignore the bitch part for the moment. I imagine that from your perspective that I do appear to be acting a little like a bitch."

Karen decided to try another tack and asked, "What does he know about me?"

"He knows an awful lot about you. He knows things about your time in college and your dating habits while you were there," Denise answered.

Afraid of the kind of things that Dale might have found out about her, Karen sagged down and returned to the couch. She looked at the piece of paper and read the rules of the house. She looked over at Denise understanding the depressed state that the woman had been in months earlier. Echoing words that Denise had spoken months earlier, she said, "This is sick."

Denise shrugged her shoulders feeling that she couldn't argue against that assessment. She said, "Those are the rules."

"I'm not going to live by them," Karen said defiantly.

Handing the package she was holding to Karen, she said, "I picked up a swimsuit for you. He's waved one of his rules to a slight degree. You can wear that out by the pool."

"It is too cold to go swimming," Karen said looking at the package that had somehow ended up in her hands.

"You won't be swimming. You and another woman will be seated behind a small partition while Dale introduces me to some men," Denise said.

"What?" Karen asked.

"Dale has erected a little partition in the backyard. Actually it is a little tent. You are to stay there out of sight. He wants you to hear a discussion with some men. If you aren't interested in staying here after that, you can leave once he returns to the house," Denise answered.

"Why should I wear a swim suit if he's not going to see me?" Karen asked.

"Well, he is making an exception for you and another woman. Normally, he'd require that you be naked anywhere on his property that is behind the front door," Denise said. She pointed to the sheet of paper and said, "It is there in the rules."

"If I'm not interested after listening to the conversation, he won't cancel my contracts?" Karen asked hoping to salvage something.

"That's right," Denise said.

"I'll wear it," Karen said.

"Come with me to my room. You can change in there," Denise said. She led the way to her new bedroom.

While Karen changed, Denise sat down in front of the computer. She double clicked the video that documented her weight loss. She could watch it for hours. Karen looked over and asked, "What's that?"

"That's a video of my weight loss," Denise answered.

Karen watched the video documenting the pounds dropping off of Denise. Each time it repeated she was struck by the sudden contrast between the pictures of the thinner Denise with the first picture of her. Denise said, "You can see that he delivers what he promises."

"And all you had to do was to live by his rules," Karen said.

"That's correct," Denise said nodding her head. She understood exactly what Karen was thinking.

"That's sick," Karen said. She held up the bathing suit and stared at it. Dismayed by the minuscule amount of material in it, she said, "I might as well be naked."

"You can go naked," Denise said.

At six o'clock in the evening, Karen was seated in a little tent near the patio. She couldn't see anything outside, but she could hear people moving around. She looked over at the naked woman next to her and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm hoping to meet the man of my dreams," Candy answered with a smile. She tugged at the collar around her neck and then at the stake in the ground wondering why Dale had insisted upon it.

Outside the tent, Denise stood naked while four men followed a very attractive woman around the outside of the house. The woman stopped in front of Dale and asked, "Does my suit meet with your approval?"

"Yes," Dale answered.

"A bathing suit of no more than twenty square inches," Michelle said shaking a finger at her brother.

Dale laughed and said, "I can only bend the rules so far. Twenty square inches sounded almost excessive to me."

"You just want to see your sister naked," Michelle said.

"No," Dale said shaking his head.

"So why would my little brother bend the rules of the house enough for me to come over?"

"You have four men in the program and I have three women searching for handsome, brilliant young men," Dale answered.

"So why not send them over to me like you usually do?" Michelle asked.

"Ah, that is a very good question," Dale said.

"So answer it," Michelle said. She enjoyed dealing with Dale. It was a shame that they couldn't visit more often.

"Well, one of those women happens to be in Claire's harem," Dale answered.

Shocked, Michelle stared at her brother before she burst out laughing. Once she regained control, she asked, "What did she do to you?"

"Oh, she fixed it so that I had to go a whole day without sex," Dale answered.

That was the ultimate sin in their family. Michelle shook her head and said, "Is she still alive?"

"Yes," Dale said.

"How many years has it been since you've gone a whole day without sex?"

Dale answered, "My freshman year in college."

"Jesus," Michelle said. She couldn't believe that their sister had done that to him.

"That was after she had a woman over here taking care of me nine and ten times a day," Dale said.

"Candy?"

"Yes, Candy."

Michelle looked over at the men standing behind her. She smiled and said, "Everyone loves Candy. If you guys play your cards right, one of you might end up married to her. That little lady knows more about the erotic arts than me."

One of the men said, "That's impossible."