Chapter 3

The next day, Heather maintained the good girl routine and after dinner Harold thought she deserved a reward, a little positive reinforcement. While she loaded the dishwasher, he retired to the family room, and waited for her. When she appeared in the doorway he sprung the good news.

"You know, Heather, I'm proud of you. Really. I don't say it very often but I am. And I think we can return some of your privileges. You can have your phone back, and you can have a friend over."

She ran to him, and climbed into his lap, something she hadn't done in years. "Oh! Thank you Daddy! I'll try to keep you proud of me." She hugged him, and wiggled in his lap.

"Now don't get carried away. You're not off the hook yet," he explained, shifting a little, feeling an uncomfortable stirring. "None of those boys are welcome over yet. You can have one of your girl friends visit, but you have to clear it with me, and no sleep-overs."

"Thank you, thank you!" she gushed and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. She slowly crawled off of his lap. "I'm glad you believe in me."

She disappeared into her bedroom, and Harold thought some time spent in the study would be advantageous.

He shut things down before 9:00 p.m., thoroughly relaxed. He expected Janice to call soon, and check in. Her nightly calls were like clockwork, always on time, and typically lasted only a couple of minutes. He hoped he could keep her on the line tonight; he wanted to update her on Heather's new behavior.

Janice's call was on time, as always, and they shared a short chat before he let Heather say hi. He told his wife things were going well, and that Heather was still behaving. He explained that he'd returned her cell-phone to her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Janice asked.

"No, but she's been so well behaved, I think she's earned it. I'm willing to give her a chance."

"That's a pleasant surprise. I'm glad you're getting along." She didn't add the words 'for once', although she thought them.

"Your project still going well?" Harold asked, not wanting to hang up quite yet.

Janice was reclining in the bath tub, soaking her aching body. Roger was only staying over once every two or three nights, but she was still sore all over from the previous visit. He was so rough while they made love, tossing her body around like a rag doll, stretching her legs out like some high-school gymnast. During the moment it was wild and wicked, but afterwards it was just painful. The relaxing bath was perfect.

"Great. We're still lining up our two key partners so we can present a complete solution to the guys from Singapore. It looks like we may be able to lock-in our first choice. Tomorrow we could make the partnership official."

"I'm so glad the trip is paying off. I may have a possible job lead here as well, pretty exciting really, as an aide to Bart Quinn."

"The congressman? That's a big change." Janice was pleased to hear him looking for work, but wasn't sure if that was the best direction.

"Yeah, but it's nearby. It's a first step into local politics, and although it doesn't pay a lot, the potential is there, and there's even the possibility of a second pension, if I stick with it. The title is staff assistant, but the next step up would be aide."

Janice was surprised at how excited Harold sounded. It was good to hear him chipper for once. "That's great, honey. I'm sure you'll knock their socks off."

In spite of Heather's being just across the room, Harold couldn't help himself. "I wish you were here, knocking my socks off."

"Just a couple more weeks, babe, if everything goes well. Then we'll see if I can't knock a lot more than your socks off."

"I love you. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Love you too," Janice responded, unexpectedly meaning it.

When the call was over, Heather appeared in front of him, as if she'd been waiting. She looked awkward and nervous. She was dressed in her nightshirt, and kept shifting from one bare foot to the other.

"What's up, baby?" Harold asked. He looked her over, happy with her new look. She used to walk around with a tight t-shirt and panties, which seemed so sluttish for a teenager. Tonight she was wearing a long over-sized night-shirt, light pink with a big-eyed puppy on the front. She had big pink slippers on, as well. Damn she was cute, and looked so much like her mother.