Chapter 8: Everything Is Negotiable

They heard an echo from the television, "You have a very photogenic butt."

Mark gasped and Amanda exclaimed, "What the..."

"We just went live," Mike told them. Mark was embarrassed and Amanda gave a short laugh.

"Amanda, what are your plans?" Mike asked.

"You mean after I get through suing that rotten bunch and do my best to have them all sent to prison? I guess it will be to make a movie set in the present.

"The new one will be all about sadistic cops and corrupt public officials. Mark will star in it with me and the tentative title is 'Your Town.' Guess where I intend to shoot it."

She looked grimly at the camera, "Why in and around the most corrupt little city in America, where else?"

"We have to wrap this up," Mike told him, "Where do you lay the most blame so far as this matter is concerned? Tell us in a couple of sentences."

"I blame the people living in San Diego City and County who are all too busy with their own little versions of 'Trivia Pursuit' to bother with the corruption in their own city and county government. I blame the self deluded fools who vote party lines and don't know what they just voted for.

You people deserve what you get because it is through your inactivity this happened. I blame me for being so smug and ignorant of what has been going on around me."

Her face turned grim, "That has now changed, believe me."

Mark suddenly stood and turned to look straight into the camera. "And I blame my parents. Especially you, Mother. I remember how you were too disgusted to kiss me when I needed reassurance the most. Look at my face, Mother look at it. Right now I never want to see either you or Father again, ever."

He turned to Amanda and laid his face against her chest. As the camera shut off Amanda wiped her eyes. "Damn them all," she whispered to herself.

Her voice was still husky with emotion, when she told him, "I'm proud of you, I am so proud of you. You have more guts that I ever dreamed of having."

"I'm not brave, I'm scared." Then he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "It's hard again."

Amanda stood and drew Mark to her feet, "You guys do whatever you want. "We are going upstairs and to bed. I'm falling apart and we need time, just we two, alone with each other. Understand? Good night." Amanda took his hand and led him toward the stairs.

"Wait," Sam called as Mike Kelley and Dirk packed the camera and started toward the door. "We have things to talk about. I wasn't kidding you when I said the studio has invoked the penalty clause in your contract. You are liable for nearly fifty million dollars and you don't have it in ready cash. We need to talk. Now."

"Tell them fine. Give them this to think about, we'll start our own production company and finance this whole thing independently. I meant it about my next picture. No more space operas for a while.

"I should start to block in the story line for the script tomorrow. If they want to play scrooge, they can kiss my ass."

"And mine too," Mark said over his shoulder.

"Oh no, that's my job," Amanda told him and grinned. "Come on, we'll get some rest. I hurt all over." Sam noticed that Amanda was somehow different.

"I'll be out in the morning with the cleaning crew," Sam called up the stairs to them. "I have a great idea for a three picture deal."

"Tomorrow, talk to me tomorrow," Amanda answered as she led a tired and willing Mark up the stairs and away from everybody.

Without another word they undressed, lay down on the big bed and went to sleep. She cuddled her naked body close to his and blackness descended. Once during the night she turned over onto her injured side and woke with a start. She rolled back over onto her right side and felt Mark reach for her blindly in his sleep. He rested his face against her breast, sighed deeply and was still again. She kissed his forehead and quickly drifted off again.

In the morning she awoke to find him staring at her face. She started to kiss him and he drew back self-consciously. "Don't, I'm too ugly."

She held him close and gently kissed his lips. "Shut up about that ugly stuff." She kissed his forehead, then his lips and drew back. "I love you."

She delicately kissed his chest and licked his nipples. He became hard. She felt his hardness and took hold of it. "I never want to let go of it again."

"You better," he told her, "I have to take a leak. He moaned loudly as he started to lift himself off the bed. Laboriously he worked himself off the bed. As he slowly stood, she bounced off the bed and joined him. She grabbed his still semi erect penis and led him into the toilet.

"I want to hold it while you pee." He avoided looking at the mirror as they passed it.

Like the one time before, she held it while he pissed.

As the last drop left, he removed her hand, milked it and dabbed the head with a bit of tissue. He leaned his naked body against hers and kissed the nipple not covered by the bandage.

Her tongue licked his chest hungrily. "You have to be the only unfucked nymphomaniac in existence. Did you know that?"

"Is that bad?" he whispered in a loving voice.

"Not at all so long as you save it all for me. Then it's okay." She grabbed his bare butt with her right hand and squeezed gently.

"You feel up to helping me shower? I don't dare get the bandage wet. I'll stand outside the shower stall, half in and half out and you soap me down. Then help me rinse off and keep the water away from the bandage, will you please?"

"Uh huh, I'd like to do that." He led the way into the shower.

Amanda stood halfway in and halfway out of the door of the large shower stall and carefully kept her bandaged shoulder away from the moisture. Mark was oh so careful, as he lathered her body with the fragrant liquid soap and used his hands to create a coat of lather from her waist down.

She grinned as she reached down with her right hand and took hold of his penis, sliding the foreskin back and then back down.

Suddenly he moaned and jerked. Five great spurts shot across the confines of the shower to the back wall to be washed down the drain. He laughed.

"Oh boy, what you do to me," he breathed weakly. "You made it do it again," and laughed.

Amanda looked up at his face. "I want to make your cock do it again and again."

"You want to kill me is what you want to do." Slowly his heartbeat slowed and his breathing became regular again. "Nobody has ever done anything like what you just did to me, ever. Next time let's do it right, on the bed where we can take an hour to build up."

"Didn't you like it?" she asked in a worried tone of voice.

"Oh yes, but I want to do things to you as well. Oh, Amanda, there is so much we can share with each other and that you can teach me." she stepped away from the shower and waited for him to finish.

He took a thick towel off the towel rack and gently dried her off, then himself.

She removed a pair of slacks from a hanger in the big walk in closet and put them on and did not bother with underwear. He helped her pull on an over sized tee shirt over her injured shoulder. She slipped her naked feet into a pair of waiting loafers.

Then Amanda sat on the side of the bed and watched Mark carefully dress, as he donned clean underwear. He pulled a pair of slacks out of its box and held it up for her approval. She nodded.

He held up a ruffled sport shirt. She shook his head. "Better put on a tee shirt or a polo shirt with those slacks, we are going to have visitors. Get ready to watch the fight of the century. I am going to make the studio see things my way.

"That penalty clause is a joke."

Suddenly she looked at his face closely. "Hey, some of the puffiness has left your right eye. You left eye is open a bit wider. Come look for yourself."

She led him to the bathroom mirror. "See? You are definitely starting to heal. I bet a week from now the swelling will be mostly gone. We'll have Doc look at the stitches in your lip. It should be about time for them to come out."

"Do you really think so?" he asked. He stared hard at his image and examined it from all the angles he could. "You're right, the swelling is definitely going down."

He hugged her. "I'm so glad," he told her. He smiled at his image

She also smiled at the hope this small deception built in him. They walked down the stairs to meet the day as soon as he was dressed. Now certain he was "healing," Mark walked with his head erect in a more self confident way.

Amanda watched the quiet, almost sinuous way he walked, and felt new stirrings rush all through her. She smiled as she followed him through the living room and into the kitchen. They gently collided as he stopped abruptly and rubbed the back of his head against her face in an act of total loving surrender.

"So help me god, I do love you more and more with each passing moment. It's crazy and insane and against all the rules of logic. People just don't meet, hop into bed and then fall deeply in love. It's not supposed to happen that way," she murmured into his hair.

"I know, but it happened just that way for me too. A lot of what I have known all my life has turned out not to be so. It's only fair for you and me to both learn we're not as smart as we thought we were.

Amanda started a pot of coffee and set two plates out along with silverware. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

"I'm famished. You sit and let me prepare breakfast.

You just tell me where everything is." He smiled, proud and happy to contribute at least a little something to their relationship.

A doubtful Amanda looked at her new lover, "I thought your parents were rich and had servants. Where did you ever learn how to cook?"

"Father paid out almost two hundred thousand dollars a year to the church school for me to learn to be a dim, dumb, righteous, blandly happy and dutiful mate to my future wife. It was felt a man should be familiar with the kitchen, just not too familiar. After all that's what it says we should do in the Bible."

Then he added in a sarcastic tone of voice, "I do so sincerely hope all the lessons weren't lost on my dense thick head."

"Sure, go ahead." she shrugged, "The fridge was stocked fresh yesterday and everything else you need is on hooks on the walls or in the drawers under the counter. Knock yourself out. If you can cook it, I can eat it," she told him resolutely.