Chapter 20

Betsy opened the door to her condo and said, “Come on in, Sally.”

Sally took one look at Betsy and then asked, “What happened to you?”

“What?”

“You’re glowing,” Sally said.

“I had a date last night,” Betsy answered grinning broadly.

“You had a date, and you didn’t tell me?” Sally asked feeling a little hurt.

Betsy shrugged her shoulders and said, “According to my staff, I was in a tizzy.”

“A tizzy?”

“Yes,” Betsy said while stepping back so that Sally could enter the apartment.

“I kind of know what they mean. I think I was in one when Steve and I went out the first time,” Sally said while entering the apartment.

She had been rather distracted and confused. She remembered running around the bedroom trying to decide what to wear. She had tried on every outfit she owned trying to pick the perfect one. She wondered if guys went through the same thing when getting ready for a date. She made a mental note to ask Steve, but he tended to grunt and avoid topics like that.

Betsy said, “I guess I wasn’t quite my normal calm self.”

Sally burst out laughing as she replied, “Your normal calm self can hardly be described as calm.”

“You’re right.”

“So did you and he kiss?”

Sally had actually giggled like a school girl when asking the question. For her, dating was still a new thing and she knew that it was just as new for Betsy. Despite being in their mid-twenties they still acted like teenagers about some things. Boys was one of those topics where their immaturity came to the forefront.

Turning slightly red with embarrassment, Betsy answered, “Oh, yes. We’d probably still be on the porch, kissing, if Gary hadn’t turned on the lights and opened the door.”

Grinning broadly, Sally said, “You went at it hot and heavy, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Did you like it?”

“I had no idea that kissing was so...” Betsy waved a hand around as if she couldn’t find the words to describe what she meant.

“Yeah. I know what you mean,” Sally said with a grin.

Betsy said, “We’ve got another date next weekend.”

“Good for you.”

Sally had followed Betsy over to the sofa and sat down. Betsy sat down beside her. The young women faced each other, leaning forward in a way that increased the intimacy of the conversation.

“I’m happy,” Betsy said. “I learned that Chuck has been trying to get my attention for months.”

“Really?” Sally asked shocked to learn that.

She knew how desperately Betsy had been trying to find a man to notice her. It was kind of ironic that there was a guy out there who had been trying to get her to notice him.

“How did he succeed in getting your attention?”

“I tripped and fell flat on my face. He helped me up,” Betsy answered somewhat meekly.

“You tripped?” Sally asked.

Sally had a hard time believing that Betsy had tripped and fallen. As far as she knew, Betsy never tripped or had a misstep. Running parkour had trained Betsy to move fearlessly through the environment with grace. She could manage obstacles that would deter most people.

“Yes. It was the first time in my life that I’ve ever tripped,” Betsy said.

“The first time?”

“Yes. I’ve got a feeling that the Two-Sided One was involved,” Betsy said.

It was more than just a feeling. That little laugh from nowhere was kind of a clue that was difficult to ignore. She was happy the Two-Sided One was finding her love life amusing.

“At least you’ve got a God working on your side,” Sally said.

Betsy grinned at Sally and then asked, “You don’t think the Two-Sided One was involved in getting you together with Steve?”

“Well, maybe,” Sally admitted.

In point of fact, that whole evening in which she met Steve seemed choreographed to her. The weird feeling when she had promised to stay at the party for half an hour, her initial introduction to him, the strange wall of fire that prevented Steve from helping Betsy, and the sudden appearance of Druids right after the event felt contrived. Even William’s statement that she and Steve were a couple was weird.

She didn’t know what to think about Gods and Goddesses meddling in the affairs of men and women. It seemed to her that people in ancient times tried to avoid coming to the attention of the Powers that Be. She shook her head trying to avoid thinking about what it might mean if they became interested in her.

Sally asked, “What does this guy do for a living?”

“He manages investments,” Betsy answered.

“Like William?”

“William does a bit more than just manage investments,” Betsy said.

She didn’t want to get into how William was able to manipulate the future with judicious investments. It was something that others didn’t need to know. Her brother had enough enemies as it was.

“Like what?” Sally asked.

“Actually, I’m not quite sure all that he does,” Betsy replied. Changing the subject, Betsy said, “I’m going to be away all this week. The boat is ready, and it’s time for me to get on with my research.”

“I know you’re looking forward to it,” Sally said recognizing that Betsy was trying to change the subject away from William and his mysterious service to the Two-Sided One. There had been hints that his service involved seeing the future, but she wasn’t sure what that actually involved.

Betsy said, “I am. I would also like to be at my main house dating Chuck.”

Sally said, “So tell me more about this guy. What does he look like?”

“He’s a little taller than me and pretty well built. You know, broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He’s got brown hair that he wears a little short. His hairline has receded a little for a guy his age, but not too noticeably.

“He has green eyes.”

Sally said, “Would you say he’s handsome?”

“He’s manly, but not in a GQ sort of way. He’s more like a normal guy,” Betsy answered. “He kind of reminds me of Daddy Ed, but not quite as sunbeaten. I guess you could say that he’s handsome.”

“What was he wearing on your date?”

“Dress pants, a white shirt, and a sport coat ... no tie,” Betsy answered.

“That’s rather tasteful for a first date. I mean, he could have shown up in jeans,” Sally said.

“He looked good in it,” Betsy said.

“What did you wear?”

“A Navy blue skirt and light blue blouse,” Betsy answered.

“That’s a nice outfit. Did he complement you on it?”

“Yes, he did.”

Sally asked, “What did you do on the date?”

“We ate, and then went dancing,” Betsy answered.

Sally hesitated before she asked, “Did you eat a lot?”

“Yes, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He told me that his roommate in college was a long distance runner, and would eat huge meals before a competition. He figured that I would do the same considering how much I exercised,” Betsy answered.

“That’s a relief. I know some people get a little freaked by how much you can eat,” Sally said.

She had actually meant to warn Betsy that she might want to eat a full meal before going on a date and treat dinner as a snack. A lot of guys wouldn’t be able to afford feeding Betsy on a date, particularly when she ordered two or more meals. Of course, it wasn’t one of the topics that came up in a normal conversation and the opportunity had never arisen to mention that. At least, it didn’t appear to have been a problem with Chuck.

“I did warn him, and he just laughed it off,” Betsy said.

“So there were no problems?”

Betsy said, “You wouldn’t believe what Gary, Stacy, and Charlie did when he came to the house to pick me up.”

“What did they do?”

“They sat around cleaning their guns, and making threats about what happened to people who didn’t treat me well,” Betsy said.

“They didn’t?”

“They did.”

“I would have been mortified,” Sally said.

“Chuck took it pretty well. He laughed about it when we got outside,” Betsy said.

“That’s good.”

“I would have killed Gary if he had chased off Chuck,” Betsy said.

Sally laughed knowing that Betsy wouldn’t do any such thing. “You said that you went dancing after dinner.”

“Yes. It was a really great place that had a good mix of music,” Betsy said.

“Did you do any slow dancing?” Sally asked.

“Uh ... well ... yes,” Betsy answered with a slight blush blossoming on her face.

Sally grinned fully aware of what caused that reaction. “He got excited, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Betsy had wondered why he kept pulling back from her during the slow dances. When she pressed against him, she discovered the reason. For a minute or two, she had no idea what to do. Of course, he probably felt her bullets pressing into his chest. She finally just pulled him in closer and enjoyed the feeling.

“And?”

“What?”

“Is he ... you know?”

“Big?”

“Yes, is he big?”

“I’d say so,” Betsy answered turn bright red.

“You’re so lucky, girl,” Sally said with a giggle. “Steve is big. I like it a lot.”

“I don’t know. You know, I’ve never...”

“Are you on the pill?”

“Yes,” Betsy said.

“I guess you will know for sure just how big he is, next weekend,” Sally said, licking her lips suggestively.

“Maybe,” Betsy said feeling a little flutter of fear in her stomach. It was a feeling she hadn’t had too many times in her life.

“Scared?”

“Yes.”

“I was terrified. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be any good that I nearly froze up. Steve did a pretty good job of warming up my engines. By the time we got to the actual deed, I was just ... well ... I don’t know what I was doing, but it all felt good.”

“I hope Chuck is understanding,” Betsy said.

“I’m sure it will be okay,” Sally said.

“I’m a little afraid that I’ll lose control and break him or something,” Betsy said sounding worried.

There was a rather effeminate laugh from above. Betsy looked up at the ceiling.

“Break him?”

“You know ... hurt him, somehow,” Betsy said.

“Why would you worry about that?” Sally asked.

“I’m kind of a physical person, you know. People tend to get hurt when I get physical around them.”

“Oh, yeah. I didn’t think about that,” Sally said.

She looked over at Betsy and realized her friend was serious. Betsy was truly afraid that she’d lose control and hurt Chuck. It would be easy to laugh it off as a non-issue, but Sally knew it was pretty easy to lose control at the height of passion. Frankly, she hadn’t given much thought to what Betsy could do at that moment, but she could understand her friend’s concern.

Sally had come to take for granted Betsy’s confidence in everything she did. The insecurities that were emerging presented another facet to her friend. In their short friendship, she had seen Betsy go through things that would have beaten down another person who was less strong. An attempted rape, a criminal vendetta, and a plane crash were pretty traumatic. Still, there had always been that underlying vulnerability that kept Betsy human.

Doing her best to reassure her friend, Sally said, “I don’t think that will be a problem.”

“Maybe I should have him restrain me somehow the first few times until we know how I react,” Betsy said biting her lower lip.

“Kinky!”

Betsy blushed when she realized what she had said.

“Maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

“I don’t know about that. I might suggest it to Steve. I’ll let you know how it works out,” Sally said, and burst out into laughter at the shocked expression on Betsy’s face.

Betsy realized that Sally was joking. She appreciated how Sally seemed to know how to take the edge off of situations about which Betsy was uncomfortable. There weren’t many people who were willing to really listen to her problems. Her problems were often so different than what other people experienced that it was hard to find a sympathetic ear. Sally never really joked about the important things except as a way to lighten up the atmosphere. Betsy truly appreciated that.

The two young woman talked late into the night covering a wide variety of topics. There was a lot of girl talk about dating, but there was also a bit of talk about their research. It was one of the more pleasant evenings of Betsy’s life. Sally ended up spending the night with Betsy.

The next four days were spent on the Bloated Shark. Although the first trip had been cut short by a day, they had accomplished a lot more than had been hoped. They were very productive days in terms of furthering her research.

Betsy swam with the sharks every day. She managed to tag three mako sharks and collect DNA samples from each of them. They were very large and healthy specimens of their species. She had immediately named them Alphonso, Beatrice, and Claude knowing that in her papers she would probably refer to them as specimens A, B, and C.

One of the concerns that Betsy had about putting the tracking devices on the sharks was that the electronic signals would cause a problem with the sharks. It was well known that sharks were very sensitive to minute electronic signals. They would attack underwater telephone cables thinking they were prey. In swimming with the sharks, she could see that the devices were not causing any problems. In a way, it was a major relief.