Chapter One – Gary

"Wish they could all be so easy," thought Kyle Mason as he exited the lobby of QWERTY Solutions and headed to his car in the parking lot.

The preliminary security audit that Brandt Consulting performed prior to presenting their services to a corporate customer would typically turn up one or two minor chinks in a company's data security procedures, but they'd hit the Mother Lode with QWERTY.

First, a wireless 'sniffer' identified that the Chief Financial Officer for the company had an unsecured wireless access point broadcasting within his home, probably setup by his son without his father's knowledge, but the end result was that they were providing Wi-Fi service just as free as Starbucks or McDonalds, with the added benefit of granting complete access to their home network to anyone who chose to take advantage of it. Any work performed at home by the CFO was subject to hacking.

Secondly, Kyle was able to quickly guess the passwords for the laptops belonging to the Vice President of Human Resources and the Director of Facilities by assuming they were the same as the passwords on their desktop systems, both of which were determined by reading the Post-it notes affixed somewhere on their own desks.

Most organizations realized that if a preliminary security audit focused solely upon officers of the company identified such basic deficiencies, then their real exposure ran much deeper. Such was the case with QWERTY Solutions, and Kyle left his presentation with marching orders for Brandt Consulting to prepare a proposal for a more comprehensive audit and revised data security protocols for the entire company.

Once Kyle had gotten settled behind the wheel of his rental car, he turned his cell phone back on and paired it with his Bluetooth headset. Retrieving his voicemail messages he heard the voice of his old friend Cliff Saunders, "Kyle, this is Cliff. We need to talk man, so give me a call as soon as you get this message. You have the number."

Cliff and Kyle had been friends since grade school, and still socialized several times a year as their schedules allowed. Cliff had married Linda Flynn and bought a house near Corona, which put him at least an hour's drive from Kyle in Costa Mesa, but the distance wasn't as much a barrier to them hooking up as their careers were. Cliff had trained as an emergency room physician and worked horrendous hours trying to get his residency established.

Since leaving the Air Force, Kyle had merged his own company with Brandt Consulting and accepted a position as the Vice President of their corporate business development team. The merger had made Kyle even wealthier than he was before, and while he had the financial security of less than one percent of the American population, he still lived modestly and led a low-profile life.

Although his role for Brandt Consulting had Kyle on the road ninety percent of the time, he didn't mind. At only 28 years of age, without a wife or family other than his widowed mother who still lived on her own in the house where he had grown up, Kyle found his only challenge from the travel being his exercise routine.

Standing at six feet two inches, with a slender 190 pound athletic build, Kyle still loved to play tennis, but seldom had the opportunity to meet up with his friends to get in a match. Most had stopped even calling him to see if he was available because he had begged off too many times.

He also had few opportunities to work with a partner on his martial arts techniques because his hybrid styles were not taught at any dojo in America. Since shortly after joining the Air Force, Kyle had transitioned his earlier martial arts training into the system known as "MCMAP" or the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program. He was a fifth degree Black Belt (instructor qualified) and had hoped to have reached the sixth degree and achieved instructor trainer qualification by this time, but his good friend and senior instructor Sean 'Recon' Wallace had left on a world-wide pilgrimage after he was betrayed by his fiancée a week before their wedding. There were few others in the civilian space that Kyle could work with, so he focused on his job and did his best to keep in shape on stationary bikes in hotel fitness rooms.

Focusing back onto his phone, Kyle saw that his other messages were routine scheduling reminders that he would use to update his calendar later. He called Cliff back as he drove out of the parking lot towards the airport.

"Hey Cliff, this is Kyle. I just got your message. What's up?"

Cliff took an audible breath and broke the news to his friend, "Sorry to be the one to tell you this Kyle, but Gary Conté died early this morning."

"What happened?" Kyle asked. "I just spoke with Gary on Sunday. We were discussing a fishing trip to Utah."

"He got rear-ended by a drunk driver last night on State College Boulevard," replied Cliff.

"Wow," said Kyle. "The guy must have been flying to have injured Gary bad enough for him not to have survived."

"Gary wasn't in is truck," said Cliff. "He was on his bike." Gary had owned a Harley-Davidson Softail for the past two years and had been trying to convince Kyle to buy a similar motorcycle so that they could ride together.

"Geez," moaned Kyle. "Poor Gary."

"If it's any consolation, I have reviewed his medical file and I doubt that Gary ever felt a thing," remarked Cliff. "The force of the impact practically severed his brainstem and the efforts of the EMT's were the only things that presented the emergency room with any vital signs at all when he arrived."

"How are his parents?" asked Kyle.

"I spoke to his dad about an hour ago," said Cliff. "They're holding up as well as can be expected. Gary was always the planner, so his affairs are going to be relatively easy for his parents and the partners in his accounting firm to deal with. They're looking at having the service early next week and wanted to know if you and I could serve as pallbearers."

Gary had always been the strategist in the group. He and Kyle had met in high school when they got paired as doubles partners on the tennis team. Kyle was the more nimble and athletic of the two, but Gary made his presence known by out-thinking their opponents, identifying their weak spots, and then instructing Kyle on how they were going to exploit them. Together, Kyle and Gary won honors as the best doubles pair in the district.

"I'll get my calendar cleared for all of next week until we have a firm date for the service," said Kyle. "Is there anything else I can do for his family?"

Cliff hesitated as he considered Kyle's question, "I think we should leave them alone for a day or two. Maybe you and I can stop by this weekend and offer any assistance they need once they've had a chance to consider everything."

"Sounds fair," said Kyle. "I am heading to the San Jose airport right now, and barring any Friday afternoon delays, I should be arriving into John Wayne by 7 p.m. If anything comes up that you think I can help with, please leave me a voicemail."

"You've got it," replied Cliff. "I'm going to see if I can get someone to cover my shift on Sunday afternoon and once I have that confirmed, I'll call and we can figure out when to visit Gary's family."

"Okay," said Kyle. "Thanks for letting me know Cliff. I know it's never pleasant to deliver a message like that."

"Bye."

"Bye."

The checkout line at the grocery store was going intolerably slow. She chastised herself for not stopping at a store with self-checkout lanes because even the express "15 items or less" lanes at this store never failed to have multiple customers who couldn't master the technology of a debit card to complete their transactions without help.

"Might as well use the time in a productive manner," she thought as she pulled her personal cell phone out of her purse to check her e-mail. She didn't receive a lot of personal e-mails, and true to form, most of what she saw now were reminders from her bank's bill pay notification service and messages from the few blogs she subscribed to. There was one e-mail subject line that caught her eye however, and it was announcing that one of her Google search alerts had been tripped. She wouldn't know exactly which alert until she opened the e-mail, and she decided that it would wait until she got home to check.

As she replaced her phone and continued to wait her turn in line, she checked off her search alerts in her head. She had been careful to select search strings, which if entered by anyone in their Goggle search, would notify her so that she could duplicate the same search and see if anything was posted related to the subject of her focus.

Although it wasn't likely that the Secret Service monitored search engines to see who might be interested enough in her subject to have established a search alert for him, the fact that his uncle was who he was, and she worked for who she did, made her overly cautious.

Establishing search criteria that filtered searches on his friends, his company, or his favorite activities had allowed her to monitor him for years without her actually ever having to use his name.

"The subject of her focus", she thought with a grin. What would Kyle Mason think if he knew she was tracking him? It would probably surprise the hell out of him. She knew he never suspected the torment that he had put her through for all those years, and she had diligently avoided any contact with him until she was prepared to bring an end to the suffering on her terms.

Her turn to check out finally arrived and she completed her purchase transaction before her items could be placed into bags. The store personnel on this lane were not accustom to having a customer efficiently pay for their groceries, so they had developed a sloth-like routine in their own actions to compensate. Retrieving the bag as soon as the last item was in it, she strolled out of the store to her car and was pulling into her Vienna, Virginia apartment parking space five minutes later.

She put her groceries away, started water boiling for the pasta she was planning and fed her cat. Turning on her computer, she then went to her bedroom to change out of her work clothes while waiting for it to boot. Once she was comfortably dressed in sweat pants and a tank top, she added the ziti to the boiling water and settled down at her computer to check the e-mail on her Google search.

"Gary Conté." It was his name that had generated the alert. A quick review of the search results took her to an obituary on Gary that had just been published in the on-line edition of the Orange County Register newspaper. She read the article and then picked up her cell phone.

"Hey kiddo," was her greeting when the call was answered by Linda Saunders.

"Hi Linda, how did you know it was me? This is a new number for me." she said.

"You're the only person I know in area code 703," replied Linda. "Are you calling about Gary?"

"Partly," she replied. "I just found out when I saw the obituary on-line. I'm sorry to hear that he died, but I really didn't know him that well. How are you and Cliff doing with the news?"

"Cliff, Gary and Kyle had stayed in touch, but they weren't as close as they used to be," Linda told her. "Cliff heard about the accident from Gary's father and he then contacted Kyle to let him know. Cliff and Kyle will be meeting with Gary's family this weekend to offer whatever assistance they can. They've both already agreed to serve as pallbearers at the service. I assume Kyle is the other reason you are calling? Are you finally ready to go after him?"

"I think so," she said. "Only I'm not just going to go after him, I am going to get him."

Linda heard the conviction in the voice on the phone, "Do you have a plan?" she asked.

"I have the basis for a plan. I could use some updated intel on my target if you're still willing to help me."

"What do you need?" asked Linda, "and how soon do you need it?"

Without hesitation she told Linda, "Find out if he has any regrets. I can either work with what he has, or find new ones for him. Also, keep me posted on the schedule for Gary's service. I'm not sure if I can get things rolling here as quickly as I would like, but if I can, then I will try to attend at least the graveside service."

"I can probably get back to you by Sunday evening," said Linda. "How late is too late to call you?

"As long as I have been waiting to get Kyle Mason, you can call me anytime."

Kyle saw Cliff and his wife Linda sitting at a table in the lounge. He had accepted their invitation to meet at the Doubletree Hotel for drinks after visiting Gary's family since it was one of the most convenient half-way points between their home in Corona and his apartment in Costa Mesa. Truth be told, it was far more convenient for him, but they had offered and he had accepted.

Kyle approached them at the table, shook Cliff's hand, and gave Linda a hug and a kiss on her cheek. Linda Flynn and Cliff Saunders had been high school sweethearts, and Kyle had known her since middle school where they had once flirted with becoming a couple themselves.

Cliff nodded in the direction of the bartender and said to Kyle, "Steve already has a tab open for us, so just go order whatever you want. He's flying solo right now, so if you wait for table service you'll be disappointed."

Kyle held the chair for Linda to sit back down and then walked to the bar to order a beer. After accepting his drink, he returned to the table and saw that Cliff and Linda were looking through their senior year high school yearbook. He joined them at the table, sitting across from the couple as they shared their review of the book.

Even looking at the pages upside down, Kyle could easily see when they turned to the page that had his senior picture. It wasn't his picture that drew his attention; it was the picture of the person next to his. For as long as Kyle could remember, the easiest way to describe to someone how to find him in the yearbook was to simply tell them "Find the prettiest girl in the class, and my picture is right next to hers." "Mayes" followed "Mason", so Karen Mayes had been next to Kyle Mason in every class picture since fourth grade, and she had held the only space in his heart for just as long.

Karen Mayes and her mother had moved in next door to Kyle when they both were eight years old. The house belonged to Karen's widowed aunt – her mother's sister – and since Karen's father and older brother had recently died in a car accident, Karen's mom and aunt decided to share their home and their grief.

When Kyle started driving to high school, Karen would accept his offer for a ride, especially on the mornings when they both had zero period classes, but the trips were laced with her silence and unwillingness to even look at Kyle. Karen didn't date during high school, and she frequently used Kyle to dissuade any boys who would ask her out. It was almost like she wanted everyone to think that she and Kyle were an item, while at the same time treating him like he was nothing more than dog mess on the bottom of her shoe. Whenever Kyle dated another girl, Karen was especially cold to him afterwards, Kyle assumed because it would jeopardize her credibility in using him as her deflection against other boys. The other girls must have sensed this too, because Kyle never got a second date with any one girl.

Kyle watched for years as Karen's popularity grew. With her graceful looks, her compassionate charms, her intelligent contributions to any conversation, Karen won the heart of everyone at the school as she continued to skewer the heart of the boy next door. Karen was nominated for every Homecoming or Prom Princess crown, but refused to participate, or even attend the associated dances. When Kyle was nominated for Homecoming King their senior year, Karen finally accepted her nomination as Queen, and naturally won. While she would not allow Kyle to take her to the dance, she did stay by his side the entire night as they were both crowned and had one obligatory dance with him before refusing any further requests from him or other boys. When they were both again nominated as King and Queen for the Senior Prom, Karen accepted his corsage and allowed Kyle to drive her to the dance but refused his offer to take her to dinner beforehand, and the one dance following their coronation was her only concession to him or anyone else on the dance floor.

Kyle always felt that if he was with Karen, he had a chance that one time she would explain to him what he had done to push her away. His optimism was finally defeated when, on taking her to her last day of work before leaving for college, Kyle had asked her to keep in touch because he never wanted to lose her as a friend. Her response had haunted him since that day.

"We're not friends Kyle," said Karen. "You may want to think so, but it's just your fantasy."

"If you don't know, then I can't help you. I have my reasons Kyle. Goodbye."

"Gary is the third member of our class that I am aware of dying since graduation," said Linda.

Cliff squeezed his wife's hand, "Our ten year reunion is in a couple of months. I hope there is some sort of memorial being planned."

"I hope so too, and I'll mention it to the rest of the reunion committee," she said. "I don't think a lot of people truly appreciate how precious life is and how fragile our relationships with others can be. Life is too short to go through it with regrets.

Kyle entered the conversation for the first time, "It's hard to make it through life without having some regrets. Every decision we made presented an alternative, and it's human nature to sometimes question whether the right choices were made, which can lead to regrets over 'what might have been' in so many aspects of our lives."

"I'm not talking about regretting the choice of a red car over a blue car," said Linda. "I'm talking about people in our lives and how much we do or don't value them while we have the chance. A number of people I've spoken with have said that they won't be attending the reunion because there is no one that they are interested in seeing there. I believe most of them will eventually come to regret their decision."

"I hadn't planned on going for pretty much the same reason," said Kyle. "For the most part, everyone I had an interest in maintaining a relationship with after high school, I am still in contact with, such as you, Cliff, and Gary."

Linda looked Kyle in the eyes and asked, "You mean to tell me that there is no one else that you went to school with that you regret not staying in contact with?"

Kyle chuckled, "Sure, and I regret not being able to flap my arms and fly too, but sometimes regretting something doesn't change its reality.

"There's reality, and then there's 'reality'," said Linda. "As people, we control our reality where relationships are concerned."

"Linda, your premise ignores the fact that any relationship with another person must consider that other person's 'reality' as well as your own," said Kyle. "As a case in point, I regret not staying in contact with Karen Mayes, but she's the one who defined the reality of our relationship and gave me no choice in the matter."

Linda nodded and asked, "So if you knew that Karen Mayes was planning to attend our reunion, would you come?"

"I doubt it," said Kyle. "I would be comforted to know that she was okay and doing well in her life, but I would have to get that information from someone other than Karen because she would never share anything about herself with me. Based upon her last comments to me before she left for college, my presence would likely make her uncomfortable, and I still care for her too much to let my selfish desire to see her over-ride her desire for me to stay away."

Cliff made the next contribution to the subject being discussed, "It sounds like Kyle may want to table his regrets over not staying in contact with Karen and focus more on regrets over whatever he did to piss her off so much. What did you do to her?"

"I asked her to be my friend," Kyle said.

"Is there anything more you need to know in order to launch your plan?" asked Linda. She had just finished relaying the requested information on Kyle Mason to her friend.

"I can't think of anything," she said. "Once I get things started all the real-time intel will be provided by the Sister involved at each step of the plan."

"And you're still intending on the high school reunion as the finale?" asked Linda.

"Kyle Mason made my high school years a living hell, so the reunion seems the appropriate time to finally get him," she replied.

"Okay," said Linda. "I'll keep Cliff working with me to make sure that Kyle changes his mind and decides to attend."

"Nothing more you can add about Kyle's regrets?" she asked?

Linda replayed the earlier conversation between her, Cliff and Kyle. "Only that it might be a challenge to clearly define some of Kyle's feelings as regrets rather than simply guilt. He clearly regrets losing contact with Karen Mayes, but while he may claim to regret whatever he did to contribute to the situation, I think he feels guilty for not being bright enough to figure out what he did to cause it."

"The guilt could be counter-productive, so I'll have to work on alleviating that as soon as possible so I can get him focused on the regrets," she said. "I need to get going if I hope to make travel arrangements that will get me to Orange County in time for Gary's service on Tuesday."

"Are you going to be at the service?" Linda asked.

"I hope to make it, but if I do, you won't see me," she said. "I want to be in close proximity to Kyle Mason prior to launching my plan to make certain that his presence doesn't affect my conviction. I'm only going to get one chance and I don't want to blow it."

"Sisters together forever," Linda said.

"Sisters together forever," was the reply.

The mid-week trips between Orange County and San Jose were bearable. Kyle had made the trip enough times over the years to know that a Wednesday morning flight would be filled mostly with account managers and tech specialists heading to a one-day project or meeting instead of the commuters who frequented the early Monday flights, just to return on the late flights on Friday.

As expected, the twelve first class seats were full, presumably with elite passenger upgrades, except for Kyle's seat, which was reserved under a full-fare first class ticket to insure that he would have the spot he wanted. The first row in the section might have more leg room, but the space was filled for most of the flight by people waiting to use the lavatories. The last row had the bulkhead behind it, and while the airline denied it, the seats never reclined as far as they should have. The middle row afforded the most comfortable seats, and Kyle always reserved an aisle seat in this row.

The window seat next to his was already occupied when Kyle placed his briefcase under the seat in front of his and settled in for the flight. His traveling companion was an attractive blonde woman dressed in a conservative business suit that did little to hide her sensuous curves. She was reading the in-flight magazine as Kyle sat beside her. As he fastened his seatbelt, she turned to him and said, "Good morning Kyle Mason. My name is Cammy and I'll be your companion for today."

Chapter Two - Cammy

"It's a pleasure to be travelling with you Cammy," replied Kyle.

He didn't think twice about her knowing his name. Between luggage tags, airline ticket jackets, and any number of identifiers that might be visible to the casual observer, it was not surprising that a stranger would know his name.

"I'm sorry," Cammy said. "I think you misunderstood me. I am not merely your traveling companion, I am your companion for the day. When we arrive in San Jose, your rental car reservation will have been canceled. I will transport you to your meeting with Ellison Lawrence, and accompany you through your lunch meeting. We will be seated together on your 4 p.m. return flight to Orange County, and hopefully by the time we land, you will have a clear picture of what awaits you over the next several weeks."

Kyle stared at the woman next to him for several seconds before responding, "Who are you?"

Cammy smiled warmly at Kyle and replied, "My name is Cammy – short for Cameron – Bellinger. I am a member or a Sisterhood, or sorority if you like, and I am honored to be the first of your companions."

"Why would I need, or for that matter want a companion?" asked Kyle.

Cammy tried to explain, "One of our Sisters has developed an interest in you, Kyle. I am here as her proxy to express this interest, explain her plans, and report back to her with my assessment of you as a potential companion for her."

The pre-flight announcements over the intercom system delayed Kyle's response. Once the cabin was quiet again he spoke to Cammy, "You can thank your 'Sister' for her interest, but I'm not available for a relationship right now, especially a blind date with some stranger with a 'nice personality', or however you choose to describe her."

Cammy didn't hesitate in her response, "Kyle, we all know that you are more than available. You have never had a relationship with a woman that has lasted longer than two weeks, and while that concerns us, our Sister's interest is piqued by this very fact. Furthermore, while my Sister does in fact have a nice personality, she also has physical attributes that few men would reject."

Kyle snorted but didn't otherwise respond.

"Kyle, me and all other companions that you may meet in the near future will speak to you as our Sister would. We will not lie to you or deceive you, so here is the truth... A beautiful woman, who you know, is deeply in love with you but is just as deeply afraid of being hurt by you. Myself and her other Sisters will spend time with you as her proxy. Kyle, we will test you, teach you, tempt you and treat you as if you were with our Sister herself."

They were airborne for thirty minutes before Kyle spoke again, "How does this "Sister" know me? This sounds like some sort of stalker nightmare, or a sequel to 'Fatal Attraction' at the very least. I think I'll respectfully decline your offer."

"Have you ever had a broken heart Kyle?" asked Cammy.

Kyle had a sudden vision of Karen Mayes rejecting him as a friend but dismissed that experience as not meeting the criteria for what Cammy was asking. "No, I can't say that I have."

"How does a person reach the age of 28 without having at least one broken heart? You should write a book documenting your secret Kyle."

"I'll consider it," said Kyle. "But my past relationships aside, the idea of getting to know a woman through 'clones', 'proxies', or 'companions' isn't something that interests me. I'm sorry."

Cammy smiled at him, "Kyle, you already know each other. The purpose of this adventure is to see if you could trust each other enough to really love one other. Are you willing to say here and now that you won't trust a woman who professes her love for you and is only asking for you to provide her a safe haven for expressing that love so that you have a chance to discover if you have similar feelings for her?"

"Unilateral trust doesn't seem to be a good foundation for a relationship," Kyle said. "She wants me to trust her plan to have her 'Sisters' evaluate me, but she doesn't trust me enough to face me herself."

"Kyle, you have valid concerns, and I can assure you that you are not the first to voice them. Relationships are seldom a clean fifty-fifty split. One party generally has to shoulder a larger percentage of the responsibility at times than the other, and in this case, you will require greater patience and trust in order for the both of you to have a chance. My 'Sister' is taking a chance here too. You have admitted that your own history of relationships has been one of non-commitment and always temporary, yet you make no excuses for this. Is her insecurity so much of a deal-breaker for you?"

Kyle thought about Cammy's comments and then said, "You say I know her, right? I am going to assume she is not married, so that will help me narrow down the potential candidates..."

"Do you think trying to determine her identity will help you accept her fears?" asked Cammy.

"It would be one less unknown for me to deal with," said Kyle.

"I can appreciate that Kyle," said Cammy, "but you need to consider how her anonymity has allowed her to present herself to you in the first place. You risk losing a woman who loves you for the sake of gratifying your curiosity too early. We're going to be landing soon, and you have to be focused on your work for the next few hours. Think about things when you have a chance, and we'll pick this up again on our return flight."

Cammy's words were prophetic as the Captain announced over the intercom their final approach into San Jose and the flight attendants began preparing the cabin for landing. Kyle noticed the tattoo on Cammy's left leg for the first time as she uncrossed her legs and brought her seatback forward.

It was placed just above the outside of her left ankle and showed a detailed picture of a dolphin, although Kyle knew the correct term for this animal was a Porpoise. He had seen a similar tattoo somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. The image made him think of the television show "Flipper", which in turn made him think back to...

After getting permission from Karen Mayes' mom and aunt, Kyle had bought her a kitten for her 17th birthday. It was a silver Russian Blue, and it had the most amazing tendency to make squealing noises like it was trying to talk to you. In the two days that Kyle kept the kitten at his house prior to giving it to Karen, he was entranced by the way the kitten would stare into his eyes and squeal or squeak as if it was genuinely trying to communicate with him. The kitten was a virtual chatterbox anytime it could find a person sitting still enough for it to try communicating with.

Before Kyle could respond, Karen had turned and walked away.

Kyle regained his focus as the plane arrived at the gate and the 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign was turned off. As he stood so that Cammy could move into the aisle, he noticed for the first time just how truly beautiful she was. She looked to be about five foot eight inches, with blonde hair that reached just to the bottom of her shoulders, worn in a barrette in the back. She had green eyes, wore glasses that hinted of naughty librarian fantasies, and even through the conservative business suit, he saw a body intended for swimsuit pictorials.

As he collected his briefcase, Kyle said, "It's been a pleasure Cammy. Maybe we can meet up again sometime on another flight."

Cammy smiled and said, "It looks like my first lesson with you will be explaining exactly what the word 'companion' means. Kyle, right now it may seem more like a punishment to you than the pleasure we intended it to be, but I will be with you for the rest of the day. You have no means of getting to your scheduled lunch meeting on time other than the transportation that I will provide for us. Ellison Lawrence is already expecting me to accompany you as an associate. I will be a fly on the wall observing you and evaluating your professional presence."

"And what if I don't want my professional presence evaluated by someone who should not be knowledgeable about the topics being discussed?" asked Kyle.

"Do you believe that your work and what it means to you wouldn't be of interest to the woman who loves you?" Cammy asked.

"It might be," accepted Kyle. "But that wouldn't lead me to have her attend business meetings with me."

"Even if she had something constructive to contribute?" asked Cammy. "Or simply wanted to see you in action to admire your skills?"

"That is where trust between two people plays such a vital role in a relationship," said Kyle. "I should be able to trust my companion to accept what I chose to tell her about my work, and she should be able to trust me to share with her all that I was able to share."

"How would you define 'trust', Kyle?"

They began deplaning and the walk out of the airport terminal was too noisy for their conversation to continue. Cammy took Kyle's hand as they walked towards baggage claim where the limo drivers were waiting with signs identifying their charges. Her hand was warm and Kyle was surprised at how natural her hand felt in his. Cammy saw a driver holding a sign with her name and led Kyle to him.

"I'm Ms. Bellinger," Cammy announced as they reached the driver.

"Do you have any bags to claim?" asked the driver.

"No, we're just in town for a short meeting and we have everything with us," she replied.

"Okay," the driver said. "Please follow me."

He led them to the limo parking area and opened the door for them to enter the car. Cammy entered first and slid across the back seat to allow Kyle to follow behind her. She took Kyle's left hand into her right as they settled into the seat and the car exited the airport.

The intimacy of her touch was again accepted by Kyle as he asked her, "Does the driver know where to take us, and if so, I'd like to know how you knew where to tell him we were headed."

Cammy squeezed her hand in his and said, "No, he doesn't know where to take us. Would you please do the honor of directing him before we exit the airport?"

Kyle spoke to the driver and asked, "Do you know where the Spaghetti Warehouse is in downtown San Jose?"

The driver looked at Kyle in the rearview mirror and said, "Yes sir. I can have you there in ten minutes."

Kyle returned his attention to Cammy and continued their conversation from the plane, "To answer your question about 'trust', I believe it is defined by honesty between people. The more proactive the honesty, the better, but I accept that people just starting out in a relationship or just getting to know one another may find themselves reacting to questions until they feel comfortable with the other person and can take a more proactive approach. As bizarre as this whole trip has been so far, I will honestly tell you Cammy that I feel surprisingly comfortable with you, even though we just met. I think a lot of that is due to your openness about your agenda, and your tolerance of my skepticism about it. I'm not willing to buy into the whole 'proxy' concept, but I am willing to – no, I am interested in spending more time with you to discuss it. I would be honored to have you join me at my lunch meeting."

Cammy leaned over and kissed Kyle on the cheek, "I'll be a perfect companion for you Kyle. I promise."

As his thumb caressed the back of Cammy's hand he asked, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Personal about me or personal about my Sister?"

"You," said Kyle.

Cammy caressed Kyle's hand back as she said, "As long as my response doesn't reflect upon my Sister, then I will answer anything you ask me."

"I was just curious about the tattoo on your ankle and if there was any significance to it. I think I've seen one like it before on someone else so I was just seeking enlightenment," he said.

"I'm not surprised by your question Kyle," she replied. "You probably have seen the same tattoo before, and I hope you see it a great deal more in the future. It is a tattoo shared by every one of my Sisters – sort of like our own sorority pin."

"Okay," Kyle said, "but why a Porpoise?"

"Bubbles suggested it, and everyone agreed. By the way, that's what my Sister is called by her friends; 'Bubbles'."

Kyle chuckled, "Now I've got to know why you all call her 'Bubbles'."

Cammy smiled back at him, "It was before I met her, but I can assure you that it has nothing to do with any of her physical attributes. Can I ask you a personal question now?"

"Sure," said Kyle.

Cammy squeezed his hand and asked, "You felt it too, didn't you?"

Kyle suspected that he knew what Cammy was referring to, but how could the absence of feeling something translate into feeling so much more? He simply nodded to her and let her continue.

"We fit Kyle. That's what we both felt. There was no trial and error, no fumbling or awkward positioning of our fingers; our hands just melted together as naturally as if they were made for each other. Can we try something else?"

Without answering, Kyle turned his head to face hers and their lips met in a tentative kiss. As he and he now knew Cammy suspected, their movements and joining of lips was of two people who seemed to know exactly where the other was going to be, and their actions aligned them perfectly. The kiss was not very passionate and didn't last but a second, but it was the most sensuous kiss that Kyle had ever experienced.

As they pulled apart, Cammy gasped and Kyle simply said, "Wow!"

"I'm not as surprised as you appear to be," said Cammy, "but I came into this day more aware of the bond that my Sister told me she always knew was there between the two of you."

Kyle shook his head as he replied, "How can some alleged bond between me and your Sister have anything to do with what you and I experience on a physical level?"

Cammy smiled and said, "Kyle, I know it's hard for you to comprehend, but on so many levels, me and my Sisters are so in-synch that we really do feel, express, and experience the emotions of one another sometimes. Trust me when I tell you that Bubbles felt what I felt, and you felt her through me. Do you want to get to know me better, Kyle?"

"You or your Sister?" he asked.

"That's my point, Kyle. As far as today is concerned, we're one and the same. However, after today, it will be her through a different companion for you. It would be easiest for you if, starting now, you just pretended I was my Sister and showed me what you would show her to demonstrate your interest."

As she spoke these words, the car pulled into the parking lot for the restaurant. The driver opened the door for Cammy and helped her out, with Kyle following behind her.

"I'll find a place to park the car and be waiting here for you," the driver told them.

Kyle and Cammy thanked him, and then joined hands and walked into the restaurant to find Ellison Lawrence waiting for them.

As Cammy had predicted, Ellison Lawrence had been expecting her to join him and Kyle for lunch. She had been introduced as an associate, acting as a legal consultant specializing in corporate security policies.

When it came time to order their meals, Cammy squeezed Kyle's hand and asked, "If you order a pasta dish for us to share, I'll order us a salad to share. Would you like that?"

Kyle told her, "I would actually like that very much. Do you have a preference for a pasta dish?"

"It is so sweet of you to ask," she cooed. "I would prefer something baked, like lasagna or a baked ziti. I love the crusty cheese that results from baking those dishes. What about you and the salad? Anything you won't like on it?"

Kyle had never been as intimate in the ordering of a meal in his life, and he was looking forward to the results of this first experience. He found himself wishing that the two of them were alone instead of in a professional business setting.

"Excellent point on the baked dishes, lasagna sounds perfect. And as far as the salad goes, get whatever you want on it and I'll pick out anything that doesn't agree with me," he told her. He then addressed Ellison, "Sorry Ellison, but looks like you'll get to make all your own decisions and be forced to deal with the leftovers."

Ellison chuckled and said, "That's why I suggested this place. I relish having leftovers from here. Usually when I bring out-of-town guests here I also get their leftovers, but you two obviously saw through my plan and have foiled it."

Cammy giggled girlishly and said, "Oops". Kyle just laughed.

As they ate their lunch, Ellison and Kyle reviewed the progress of the proposal being prepared for QWERTY Solutions by Brandt Consulting, with Kyle mentioning that a Project Manager should be calling to introduce himself to Ellison by the end of the week. Once a Project Manager was in place, Kyle's participation would be minimal, but he would always be available to Ellison for any questions, concerns or issues that might arise beyond the scope of the Project Manager to address.

"There is an additional concern we have related to our overall IT policy," Ellison said, "and I wanted to bounce it off you to get your suggestions."

"Sure," said Kyle.

"The executive board believes we need to have a formal policy on social media," said Ellison, "and I tend to agree with them."

Squeezing Kyle's hand to get his attention, Cammy said, "Do you mind if I answer that for Ellison?"

Cammy had been silent through almost all the business discussions between Kyle and Ellison, so he was surprised that she offered to field a question now. Extremely interested not only in her response, but also in her presentation of it, he said, "Please do."

She smiled at him and turned to face Ellison, "You and your executive board are correct. Without a documented policy on social media you run the risk of seriously damaging your corporate brand, presenting an inconsistent and ineffective social media presence, and leaving yourselves liable in any number of work-related discrimination or harassment categories. While it would be easy to formulate a strict, enforceable policy that provides legal protection for QWERTY Solutions, from what I know of your organization, you pride yourselves on the work culture your employees have and your brand has received significant recognition for the quality of life you promote for your entire corporate family."

"That's all true," said Ellison.

"Okay then," continued Cammy, "then let's separate the IT security policies – which essentially deal with asset, data, and intellectual property security – from the social media policy that deals more with marketing strategies, personal employee behavior and communication etiquette."

Kyle was impressed, and he saw that Ellison was as well. He supported Cammy, "That makes very good sense Ellison."

Ellison nodded and said, "I agree. So what is the best way to get started with developing a separate social media policy?"

Cammy continued, "The best place to start is with someone else's hard work. Chris Boudreaux has already compiled a database of more than 240 social media policies from some of the world's preeminent brands and organizations, and has it posted online. I will e-mail you a link to his database, and I recommend that you identify policies there from work cultures similar to those espoused by QWERTY Solutions, and then have your legal team emulate these in the development of your own. Being able to promote social media policies derived from well-known and respect companies similar to yours will make acceptance and implementation with QWERTY Solutions personnel much more palatable as well."

"You seem well versed in this subject, Cammy. Would you consider a consulting arrangement with our legal department to develop our policy?" asked Ellison.

Cammy shook her head and replied, "I'm flattered, but I have a VERY exclusive arrangement with Brandt Consulting, and Kyle Mason in particular. If you request my assistance through him, I would do anything I could to accommodate you, but only under those conditions. That being said, this really isn't very difficult, and I would suggest that you resist efforts by your legal team to farm this out to someone else. Your in-house legal department should always take the lead on any policy development or they would be poorly positioned to defend themselves and your company in court."

Kyle was more surprised by this statement than anything Cammy had said during their lunch. Did this mean that he had a chance of seeing her again after today? He looked at his watch and saw that they would need to be returning to the airport soon in order to check-in in time for their flight.

"Ellison," Kyle started, "Cammy and I need to start back to the airport. I really appreciate you taking the time to meet with us, and I will follow up with you on Friday to make sure that everything on the proposal is still on track." With a smile he added, "I have already taken care of the lunch tab, so don't wait around for a check or you'll be here all day, but don't forget your leftovers. By the way, I had a second serving of lasagna added so you won't be slighted by me and Cammy sharing our lunch."

Kyle stood and taking Cammy's hand helped her to rise from her chair. They both shook hands and exchanged farewells with Ellison before walking hand-in-hand to the waiting limo in the parking lot.

The driver held the door open for Cammy, and she once again slid in and moved over so that Kyle could slide in beside her. Once the door was closed, she took Kyle's hand in hers and rested her head against his shoulder.

Cammy whispered in his ear, "Kyle, I have never had a meal – breakfast, lunch, or dinner – as wonderful as that. Thank you."

"You didn't think there was too much garlic in the sauce?" teased Kyle.

"That depends on whether or not it presents you with any inhibitions about kissing me again," she said.

Kyle considered her words for a minute before responding. He lifted her chin and placed his lips on hers. The kiss began as a friendly peck, but her arms quickly locked around his neck and he knew that this kiss would rock his world. Their lips parted, their tongues danced, and the same symphony of movements they had been experiencing all day continued until the limo pulled up to their departure gate.

After the plane had taken off and all the pre-flight announcements had ceased, Kyle turned to Cammy. "I want to see you again, Cammy."

Over the partition separating their seats, she wrapped her arms around his right arm and told him, "You will Kyle. I'm never going to let you go."

"But what about your Sister?" he asked.

She giggled and shook her head. "Kyle, you still don't understand. I AM my Sister. What you have with me, you have with her and what you have with her, you will have with me. You have shown me the best day of my life, and I will never forget it."

Kyle put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her as best he could with the separation between them. "You're right, Cammy. I don't understand. It is hard for me to believe that the way you and I 'fit', and the comfort that you instill in me can transcend to someone you say I know, but don't recognize. Maybe I'm being too logical, but it just doesn't compute for me."

Cammy squeezed his arm around her tighter and said, "Kyle, all that needs to compute with you right now is that you are loved by a woman who will move heaven and earth to make you recognize that. Her expression of that love may test your logic and sensibilities, but there are valid reasons for her right now on why this has to be. Tell you what, I will ask her to call you tonight so that you can hear the same directly from her. Would that help you at all?"

"I don't know," said Kyle. "I'm struggling with separating her from you. I know you. I know I 'fit' with you, I know I want and desire YOU. She is the great unknown for me. Can you understand that?"

"I can," Cammy said. "It was one of the biggest hurdles my Sister faced in her plan to demonstrate her love for you. 'How would you recognize it as her versus one of her proxies?' I will tell you Kyle that I do love you, and if life with my Sister doesn't live up to your expectations, I will be waiting in the wings for you until my dying day. However, I will repeat again for you, I am my Sister, and my Sister is me."

"How will I get in touch with you?" asked Kyle.

She pulled one of her business cards out of her purse and handed it to him. "I will always be there for you Kyle. Always."

Kyle put the card in the pocket of his shirt and spent the rest of the flight simply enjoying the scent of Cammy and the feel of her against him. He had never felt so physically synchronized with a woman... well he needed to reconsider that. He remembered back to when Karen Mayes and he were still friends and they would spend hours in a pool playing a variety of games that kids played in pools. The times when she would be sitting on his shoulders, or wrapped around his back as they fought to dunk other couples brought back similar memories of two bodies that seemed to fit together as naturally as he had felt with Cammy today. When Karen began to tower above all the other boys at school, Kyle's growth seemed to always mirror hers so that the 'fit' between them never wavered. Even once Karen stopped being his friend, on the few occasions when they had been forced to dance together, it was obvious to Kyle that the same 'fit' was in existence between them. He doubted that she sensed it, but he never forgot it. This perceived compatibility between himself and Karen, and the inability of any other girl to match it played a role in Kyle's future relationships, until today with Cammy.

As the plane landed and taxied to the gate, Kyle asked Cammy, "Can I buy you dinner?"

She stood beside him in the aisle of the plane awaiting the door to be opened. "You're not tired of me yet?" she asked.

Kyle pulled her to him so he could hug her properly for the first time all day. "Cammy, I don't think I could ever get tired of you. It's hard to explain, but it is more the things that I don't feel around you than the things that I do which amaze me. I don't feel fear, I don't feel confusion, and I don't feel indifference. What is it about you that takes all the bad feelings away and leaves me open to nothing but hope?"

"I feel the same way Kyle," she said. "Let me powder my nose when we get off the plane and then we can discuss dinner."

As soon as they entered the terminal, Kyle pulled Cammy to him and gave her a kiss that he hoped would curl her toes as much as it did his. After she caught her breath, she excused herself and went to the women's restroom across from their gate. Fifteen minutes later, when she hadn't returned, Kyle asked a female TSA agent to check on Cammy in the restroom. When he was told that the restroom was empty, Kyle knew that she had slipped by and gone on her way without him. He pulled her business card from his pocket and dialed the number on his cell phone. When the call was answered "Ciro's Pizza", he knew that he would never see Cammy again.

Kyle retrieved his car from short-term parking and began the short drive from the airport to his apartment in Costa Mesa. He compared Cammy's disappearance to the way he felt when Karen Mayes had rejected his friendship. Why did every relationship he have always bring up some comparison with Karen Mayes? Maybe it was because he had known Karen for so long and that their relationship provided some 'point of reference' or 'benchmark' upon which other relationships could be compared? Kyle couldn't say that he had 'loved' Karen Mayes, but he had to also ask himself if that was only because she wouldn't have allowed it, and had that really mattered?

No, it hadn't mattered. Kyle had loved Karen Mayes – even if it was a platonic, brotherly love. Kyle knew that he would have done anything for her, given his life for her, but there was nothing romantic about that. Or was there? She had been his motivation and his inspiration. When he had started designing databases for companies for profit, it was with the expressed intent that the revenue would be to benefit Karen. When he sold licensing agreements for thousands of dollars, it was intended for Karen's college education. Kyle had to admit that virtually everything he did while in high school was for the benefit of Karen Mayes. Was that what brothers did, or what hopeful boyfriends did?

Kyle had just gotten a drink and returned to his living room where he had been watching the final innings of the Angel game on TV when his home phone rang. The Angels were winding up a series in Texas, and the two hour time difference had the game wrapping up at about the same time one of their home games would just be starting.

Kyle picked up the wireless handset to his home phone, fully expecting a telemarketer to be on the other end. No one who called him on a regular basis would call on his home phone, because they all knew that he was on the road so much. "Hello."

"Hi Kyle, it's me."

The female voice was digitally altered, and Kyle detected an accent denoting southern US influences, but he sensed that the accent was also a ruse. "Cammy?"

"Yes and no," she said. "I'm sorry Kyle. I love you so much and I know that you don't understand me, but please try to be patient with me."

"Bubbles?" he asked.

She giggled, "I'm sorry, but it's funny to hear you call me that name. Only a few of my Sisters ever call me that."

"I don't have an alternative name for you at the moment," Kyle told her.

"Kyle, you can call me anything you want. My name isn't important. What is important is for you to understand two things..."

"What two things?" he asked.

"First," she said, "you need to understand that I have loved you since the day we met, but I have been broken the whole time. Kyle, I have been so broken, but to your credit, you never tried to fix me. You always have simply accepted me, and I treasure you for that. I'm almost entirely fixed now, but I'm still somewhat fragile where my feelings for you are concerned. This is why I need to maintain some degree of separation between us until you fully understand the second thing."

"What is the second thing?" he asked.

"The second thing is that you love me too."

"I do?"

"Yes silly boy, you do. I have never doubted your love for me, but I need for you to recognize it yourself before I feel completely safe revealing myself to you."

"Man, this is so confusing..." Kyle moaned.

"How you can love someone and not know it?" she asked. "Or how I can feel what you experience with one of my sisters acting as my proxy? I admit that this will be a challenge for you Kyle, but as you said today, trust is built best from pro-active honesty between two people. I'm going to take a chance here telling you something that without the proper context may come back to haunt me, but it is the truth."

"What?" said Kyle.

"I know far more about you than you would probably be comfortable with right now. I'm not some psycho stalker or anything, but when you love someone as much as I love you, their life becomes an obsession of sorts. For example, I know that the first girl you kissed was Linda Flynn. I know that you lost your virginity to a girl two years older than you who you met at your first party at UCLA. I know about you building databases for companies while in high school and that you were making a six figure income by the time you were seventeen, but everything was saved to pay for the education of the girl who lived next door to you at the time, Karen Mayes. I know that when she left for college and didn't require your financial assistance, that you reinvested the money into your business so that by the time you graduated from UCLA, you were worth more than two million dollars. I know every post or air base that you were stationed at while in the Air Force, and I even know the names of everyone who treated you after your injury in Iraq..."

"Whoa... now you're getting into some dangerous territory," Kyle said. "The circumstances of my injury are classified and there is no way that you should know about them."

"Okay Kyle, I'll forget that I know them if it makes you happy."

"It's not a matter of making me happy," he said. "It's a matter of you knowing something that could get you arrested."

"Why would me knowing about the circumstances of your injury get me arrested Kyle?"

"Because the information is classified secret and not just out there in the public domain," he told her. "Only people with the proper clearance levels should be able to access the details."

"Kyle, I did not access any information on you illegally or without the proper clearance, so I'll leave it to you to draw whatever conclusions you want. The bottom line is that I have knowledge of you and your life that is extensive, and I wanted you to know that. Pro-active honesty, Kyle. If me or one of my proxies mentions something that you would think that we shouldn't know, I wanted you to understand how that could be."

"Kyle, this isn't a game for me. I have never lied to you, and I never will. This isn't all about me, Kyle... it's about us. I am so sorry that I don't have the strength to be more direct with you right now, but I really am trying. Please help me... help us."

"Let me ask you something," Kyle said.

"Okay Kyle."

Kyle considered how he wanted to phrase his question. "In your effort to make me recognize my love for you through the use of women such as Cammy, aren't you concerned that I might fall for one of them instead? I have to tell you, my time with Cammy today rocked my world in a way I never would have imagined, and I would be a fool to not want to spend more time with her if she ever gave me the chance."

"Kyle, nothing would make me happier than for you to fall hopelessly in love with every one of the women I send to you – well with the exception of one of them. I know that probably confuses the hell out of you, but as Cammy told you today, they are me and I am them. When you held hands with Cammy, you were holding my hand. The kiss you gave Cammy in the airport curled my toes so much that I still can't get my shoes off. Enjoy your time with them all Kyle, because I will treasure their time with you."

"So what's next in your plan?" asked Kyle.

"Go back to watching your baseball game Kyle. I'm working on your weekend now. I love you Kyle Mason."

Kyle was preparing to ask for clarification when he heard her hang up.

As frustrating as this day had been for him, Kyle had been more stimulated, entranced and intrigued by a woman than he could ever remember happening to him before. Who was she? He supposedly knew her, but in what capacity? He had been racking his brain on and off all day trying to think of who she might be. Now, with her revelation about knowing so much about him, he started considering women he knew who might have access to the information she had mentioned on the phone. Who did he know who had a security clearance level high enough to review his entire military record? Did she work for Brandt Consulting? That was a place to start focusing his thoughts.

"His mind is probably racing down all the wrong avenues right now," she thought. Good. The further off-track she kept him the better her plans would work.

Kyle Mason had always been so transparent to her, and while knowing how he felt about her had once caused her anguish, now it was bringing her pure joy. She couldn't enjoy her advantage so much that it might make her complacent or careless. Her final objective required her to use Kyle's feelings to her benefit, not to simply revel in them.

Well, the hook was now firmly in the fish's mouth. This weekend she would provide the slight tug which would set it for good. It would be so rewarding to land this big boy onto dry land where she could finally give him what he deserved from her.

When Kyle walked into the bar area of the Newport Rib Company Friday night, he was disappointed to see that his favorite seat at the bar was occupied. He preferred the seat at the far right end of the bar because it was directly under the TV so he could watch the Angel game without people walking in front of him, and the station for the waiters and waitresses to pick up drinks for their tables was at the opposite end of the bar so there was far less activity to distract him.

"No worries," he thought as he took another seat. Most people only sat at the bar while waiting for someone to join them or for their table in the restaurant to become ready. As soon as the lady in his seat left, he would move over and claim it.

Jason, the bartender placed a Margarita on the bar in front of Kyle.

"What's this?" Kyle asked.

"It's the drink that the lady at the end of the bar ordered for you when she ordered hers more than a half hour ago. She told me to serve you as soon as you arrived. If you two know each other, why aren't you sitting together?" Jason asked.

Kyle turned and looked at the woman. She was smiling at him and motioning him to her with her finger. Kyle took his drink and moved to the seat next to hers.

"Hello Kyle Mason. My name is Tara Greene and I'll be your companion for this weekend."

Chapter Three – Tara (Part 1)

"I know that this is your favorite seat, so I've been saving it for you. Let's switch."

As Tara stood, Kyle got his first good look at the woman. She was "eye candy" personified - tall and slender, with short, spiky black hair and light brown eyes. She was wearing a short tank top that did little to hide what appeared to be a tattoo of a snake that started low on her neck and seemed to wind its way down her upper arm. She had her left eyebrow pierced, as well as her left nostril. Glancing down, Kyle also noticed that her navel was pierced, and trying not to be too obvious about it, he stole a glance at her breasts to see if the thin material of her top would reveal other piercings that he suspected.

Tara noticed Kyle's examination of her body and moved into his. Placing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek she told him, "Don't worry Kyle, you'll see everything by the time the weekend is over."

Kyle blushed and took in her scent. It was familiar to him and it only took a second for him to remember why. "Jean Naté, right?" he asked. Karen Mayes used to wear the same scent.

Tara smiled and nodded as she moved around to allow him to sit in his favorite seat.

He changed seats with Tara and then spoke to her, "I'm pleased to meet you Tara. You and Bubbles obviously know my routine quite well for you to be here waiting for me."

She smiled and said, "Oh, just a lucky guess. Friday night with the Angels playing on the road, where else would a hunk such as you be eating dinner?"

"I am a creature of habit," Kyle chuckled. "Will you join me for dinner?"

"Of course, silly boy. I'm your companion until Monday morning and I wouldn't want to go hungry for that whole time."

Kyle smiled, "Well Tara, if you're anything like Cammy, this will be an interesting weekend."

"Kyle, I am nothing like Cammy, and this is definitely going to be a very interesting weekend – for both of us." She leaned over and nibbled on his ear lobe. "But 'interesting' will have its limits."

"Can I see your sorority pin?" asked Kyle.

Tara swung around in her chair and placed her sandal-clad left foot on Kyle's seat, right between his legs. He saw the Porpoise tattoo in exactly the same location it had been on Cammy.

"Do you know the story of Bubble's nickname?" asked Kyle. "Cammy said it originated before her time."

Tara removed her foot and placed it back onto the rungs of her own chair. "I do know," she said, "but unfortunately, your security clearance level isn't high enough for me to share it with you."

Kyle recognized the inference to his conversation with Bubbles from the other night and just smiled. He was enjoying the banter with Tara.

"What do you do with yourself when you're not emulating one of your Sisters?" he asked her.

She took a sip from her drink and answered, "If you mean for work, I am a registered nurse and certified physical therapist. I have my own agency dealing mostly with traumatic injury rehabilitation and therapy programs, usually once a person has been sent home from the hospital, but I do have contracts for in-patient care at a few smaller facilities."

"It sounds like you have some diversity in your job. That must be rewarding."

"Change can be very nice," Tara agreed. "What would you recommend for dinner?"

Kyle thought for a minute, and then answered, "I had a very nice experience for the first time with Cammy, and I'm wondering if you would like to repeat it with me tonight."

"I would love to share meals with you Kyle. I am honored you would offer. Do you want me to pick the entrée, the salad like Cammy did, dessert, or something else?"

"Actually," said Kyle, "I would like to get to know you, and thus by extension Bubbles by letting you order everything we will share. Would you mind?"

Tara stared at him for a moment, then leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. "In case I forget to mention it later, I had a really great time tonight."

Kyle laughed, "Well, I'm no Richard Gere, but I am very happy to have you, 'Pretty Woman' with me tonight. In fact, I am going to see about getting us a table."

"Why?" she asked. "I thought you wanted to watch the Angel game on TV while we ate."

"The Angels have more than 50 games left to play. I only have three nights with you."

Tara gasped at his response and a tear came to her eye as Kyle went to the hostess podium to request a table for them.

"Are you going to enlighten me on what you being my companion for the weekend will entail?" Kyle asked. They had just finished sharing a dish of orange sorbet as their dessert and he had already signed the credit card receipt paying for their dinner.

Tara licked her lips and said, "I have a limited agenda of things I would like to accomplish, mostly related to your body, but other than that, we can do almost anything you want."

"Almost?" said Kyle with a grin.

Tara returned his grin and added a wink when she replied, "Almost. You'll see."

"Are you staying close by and do you need a ride back to your place?" he asked.

"I am staying as close as I can to you all weekend, Kyle. My bags were delivered to your apartment while we have been here, and unless you want me to take a taxi, I would appreciate a ride home in your car."

"I was hoping that would be the case," said Kyle. "Are you ready to go?"

Tara nodded, so Kyle came around the table and pulled her chair out for her to rise. As she took his hand in hers Kyle could have sworn he was holding Cammy's hand again. The same sense of natural comfort and fit that he had experienced with her was matched by Tara's hand in his.

She raised his hand to her lips, kissed it and then said, "I know. It only gets better Kyle."

Taking his hand and wrapping it around so that it rested on her waist, she then snuggled against him and slipped her hand into the back pocket of his pants. Kyle welcomed her body next to his and was not surprised by how they moved in total unison as they walked out to his car. Had Kyle chosen, he could have walked from his apartment to the restaurant. On one hand he was glad he drove, because he would be able to get home with Tara quicker, but on the other hand, it would be a beautiful night to be walking with her against him as she was now.

When they reached his car, Kyle held the door for Tara as she slid into the front passenger seat. He then went around and got into his own seat and started the car. Tara had placed her left hand on his right thigh and was casually caressing his leg with her fingernails as he drove. He had to maintain his focus on the road and traffic around them, but every opportunity that he had to glance at Tara found her watching him with a look of genuine affection.

Upon entering his apartment and deactivating his alarm system, Kyle saw that Tara's bag was prominently placed so that it wouldn't be missed.

"Bubbles definitely intrigues me with her resourcefulness," he said.

Tara laughed, "I'm glad that you are intrigued, but sometimes keeping things simple is the best resource. Just so you know, one of our Sisters is married to someone who you gave a key and your alarm code to."

Kyle slapped his forehead and moaned, "I knew I had seen that Porpoise tattoo someplace before meeting Cammy. Linda has the same one. So is Linda in on this too? Does she know who Bubbles is?"

"I really don't know what Linda's involvement is," Tara said as she picked up her bag and headed towards the bedroom. "Follow me and we can keep talking as I unpack."

Kyle took the bag from her hand, put his arm around her and led her to his room. He placed the bag on his bed and proceeded to clear out a couple of drawers in his dresser for her to use.

"Do you need hangers for anything?" he asked.

"If you could spare a couple that would be very nice. Thank you."

Tara unzipped the bag as Kyle went to his closet, pushed the clothes hanging in it aside to make a space, and then retrieved a couple of empty hangers and presented them to Tara. She accepted the hangers, kissed him on the cheek as thanks, and then continued to unpack. She pulled a wrapped gift out and handed it to Kyle.

"This is for you. Bubbles wanted me to make sure you had it for our first night together."

"What is it?" Kyle asked as he shook the package.

"I have no idea," said Tara. "Bubbles got it for you and just asked me to deliver it. Open it and let's see."

Kyle removed the ribbon and bow, and then started tearing off the wrapping paper. There was a white gift box inside. Kyle slipped the top off the box, pushed the folded tissue paper aside, pulled out a pair of black satin boxer shorts and held them up for inspection.

"Oh those are perfect!" squealed Tara. "Look."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a black satin nightgown and held it next to the boxer shorts in Kyle's hand.

"Let me finish getting unpacked and then we can both change," she said. "I can't wait to feel us together in these. In fact, I won't wait."

Tara dropped the nightgown onto the bed and turned to face Kyle. Looking into his eyes, she unbuttoned the one button on his polo shirt, reached for the bottom of the shirt, and proceeded to pull it over his head. She then pushed him until he was sitting on the bed, slipped his shoes off, followed by his socks. Pulling him to his feet, she unbuckled his belt before releasing the five buttons holding his jeans closed.

"Uh, Tara," Kyle stammered, "I'm going commando."

"Good," she said as she knelt in front of him slid his pants down his legs. "That makes things easier for both of us. Step out."

He did as she directed and was standing naked in front of her. After gazing at him from his feet to his head, she held out her hand to him and he passed her the boxer shorts. He raised one leg at a time as Tara inserted one foot and then another into the shorts before she slowly pulled them up his legs and into place around his hips.

"Perfect fit," she said as she circled around him admiring the gift from all angles. "Now my turn."

Tara stood in front of Kyle, looked him in the eyes, and raised her arms above her head. Kyle took the hint and pulled her tank top over her head and off. Kyle knew that she wasn't wearing a bra, and the sight of her bare breasts were an answer to his earlier question. Perfectly shaped and sized for her frame, he could see that her nipples had not been pierced. In fact her nipples and the rest of her breasts were perfection. He wondered for a moment if there existed a category of model dedicated just to women's breasts, like there were for hands and other body parts. If so, Tara could definitely make a living as one.

Regaining focus on his task, Kyle released the snap on her shorts, took her by the shoulders and turned her so that she could sit on the bed. He had her sit while he removed her sandals, and then helped her back to her feet. He knelt before her as he lowered her shorts and she raised one foot at a time to allow him to remove them entirely. Glancing briefly at her panties, Kyle looked up to Tara and saw her smile and nod back at him. Slipping his fingers under the waistband, he slid her panties down her legs to her feet, where she stepped out of them and stood before him as naked as he had been for her. She reached over to the bed, picked up the nightgown and handed it to Kyle who was mesmerized by her neatly trimmed pubic hair. It was lighter than the hair on her head, but Kyle knew this wasn't unusual. He rose to his feet as she raised her arms above her head once again. Kyle slipped the nightgown down over her arms, lining up the spaghetti straps so that they would rest on her shoulders, and then let the garment fall into place by itself.

"My mouth is so dry that I can't believe I can speak," said Tara, "but that has got to be the most sensuous experience of my life. God this weekend is going to be wondrous torture."

Kyle just nodded in agreement as Tara moved against him, placed her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. With his eyes closed, he could easily imagine that this was Cammy he was kissing. From the comfortable, confident way that Tara's lips met his, to the feel of her lips on his, to the passionate way her body joined her lips in kissing him, the experience was virtually identical to what he had with Cammy. Had someone created a bunch of women clones just for him? He placed his hands on the small of her back and couldn't help sliding them up and down the fabric of her nightgown. Her moans at his caresses pleased him. He wanted to please her.

When they broke apart from their kiss, Tara was visibly shaking. She rested her head against Kyle's chest and whispered, "Holy Mother of God."

Kyle didn't reveal his shock over her words. He turned them both around and helped Tara to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'll go get us some water. I know I could use something to drink."

She just stared at him with wide eyes, trying to settle her shaking body and said, "Thanks Kyle."

Walking into his kitchen, Kyle pondered his confusion. Tara was stirring memories on many fronts. Her touch and her kisses reminded him of his time with Cammy, yet her scent and now her phrase "Holy Mother of God" reminded him of Karen Mayes. Although, Karen had never used those words in the same context as Tara just had, especially where Kyle was ever concerned. Other than the few times that their roles required them to dance together, Karen had diligently avoided any type of physical contact with him, and they had never kissed.

Kyle retrieved a large bottle of chilled water from the refrigerator, took two glasses from the cupboard and returned to his bedroom. Tara had regained enough composure to have resumed unpacking her bag. She was placing the last of her items into the dresser drawer when she turned and smiled at Kyle as he came back into the room. He poured her a glass of water and handed it to her.

After taking a drink of water Tara said, "Cammy should have warned me about you. Nothing has ever affected me like that kiss did Kyle."

"You want my opinion?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she said with a cautious look on her face, "do I"?"

Kyle smiled at her and said, "It's nothing bad. In fact, taking nothing away from Cammy, I thought it was the best kiss I have ever experienced. Consider however that the kiss was the culmination of us both undressing each other and then experiencing the sensuality of our bodies joining so intimately for the first time during the period of the kiss. While I would hope that every future kiss would be just as earth-shattering, I have to be realistic and consider that the exact same circumstances may not always precede your lips meeting mine."

Tara smiled at his assessment and said, "I don't know Kyle. I suspect that we could both be dressed in football pads and helmets, but if our lips could somehow meet, every kiss from you would affect me like none before."

She picked up a sundress from the bed, placed it onto one of the hangers and hung it in Kyle's closet. She did the same with a sleeveless blouse, and then she put her bag on the floor of the closet and closed the door. She carried her toiletry bag into the bathroom and hung it on a hook behind the door. Returning to the bedroom she watched Kyle taking a drink of water.

Lowering the glass from his mouth he asked, "All done?"

"All done," she said as she walked up to stand in front of him.

"What would you like to do now?" he asked.

"I would like to crawl in your bed beside you and see how many different ways we can find for our bodies to meld together, but Kyle, I do have limits."

Kyle sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Tara onto his lap. "Maybe you should explain," he told her.

"I'll try," she said. "I guess the best place to start is by telling you that I am a virgin, and I intent to remain a virgin until my wedding night."

Kyle couldn't have been more surprised if she had told him she was from another planet. "Wow!" he said. "You certainly have some natural sensuality and inherent sexual skills if you have never had sex before."

She smiled and said, "I don't know how natural things would be with someone else. I respond to you in a way that I have never done with another man in my life. Obviously, with my job I have seen the male body naked before, but yours is the first one that I have seen outside of a clinical context, and until tonight, no man had ever seen me naked. The fact that I have no inhibitions around you is something I wasn't fully prepared for. I welcome it, but I'm not sure how to deal with it."

She pulled his face to her lips and kissed his cheek. "I want to have a physical relationship with you this weekend, but I need your help and understanding to protect me from going too far. If you're willing to teach me and guide me, I will do anything to please you short of intercourse."

"Before we go any further with this discussion, I need to ask you a question," he said. "Are you speaking to me about this as Tara, or as a proxy for Bubbles?"

Tara pulled her head back so that she could look him in the eyes and said, "Both actually. I am Bubbles when I am with you, so our 'situation' is shared."

She saw Kyle roll his eyes, so she tried to clarify, "One of the pledges made by all Sisters is that they will abstain from intercourse until their wedding night. So, whether you are with me, Cammy, Bubbles, or any other unmarried Sister, you would be faced with the same opportunity."

"Opportunity?" asked Kyle.

"You have the opportunity to teach the woman who loves you exactly how to please you." She continued, "You have a clean slate, Kyle. When I said that I responded to you like no man before, it was the truth, because there has been no man before you."

Kyle slid her off his lap onto the bed beside him. "I think you better call Bubbles on the phone so I can explain this to both of you and avoid any misunderstandings," he said.

Tara was shocked by Kyle's reaction and words. She was speechless for a moment just watching him look at her with a sad expression. "I can't call Bubbles when I am with you," she told him. "She'll learn everything from me and understand things as you explain them to me."

"I'm sorry," Kyle told her, "but this is where I have my biggest problem with her whole 'proxy' approach. You and your sisters can talk about feelings all day long, but you'll never convince me that you can each actually feel what the other feels, and more important to the topic at hand, you cannot convince me that each of you would respond the exact same way to what you felt. You all need to understand that from my perspective, it is the response from one person to the actions of another that determine the direction of a physical relationship."

"I can appreciate that Kyle, but I was speaking of pleasing you. Your responses to my actions would likely be very close to the same actions performed by one of my other Sisters."

Kyle interrupted her, "See, that's where you are wrong – at least where I am concerned. I am a 'giver', or at the very least a 'sharer'. Simply taking or accepting pleasure has no place in my life or my relationships. I'll give you an example: Let's say that you started running your fingers through the hairs on my chest. While it would undoubtedly feel good, I could not just let it happen without responding. So, let's say that in response to your hands on my chest, I placed my hands on your breasts. Your response to my touching you would define and direct subsequent actions that I would allow from you and respond to in kind. Can you tell me that your response to having your breasts fondled is exactly the same response that I would experience from one of your Sisters?"

With the most serious expression Kyle had seen on her face, Tara looked him directly in the eyes and said, "Yes Kyle, I can tell you that. Based upon the impact that your brief physical contact had on Cammy, and what Bubbles had told me about her times with you – combined with my own first-hand experiences of this evening – I can guarantee that all our responses to you would be exactly the same under identical circumstances and conditions. If you pinched my nipples and only brushed over another's, then the responses might be different, but apples to apples from you, then you would see the same response."

Kyle just stared at her. He couldn't accept the premise that these women were so 'in-tune' with one another that their responses to the same stimulation would be identical. Then he remembered how every physical contact that he had shared so far with both Cammy and Tara had in fact been exactly the same.

"Look," he said, "I'm not convinced that a lot of intimate physical contact between us this weekend is in anyone's best interest. I can promise you that you will leave the weekend with your virginity intact, but I won't promise to contribute to your sexual enlightenment in other ways. I would be honored if you would share my bed with me and allow me to hold you in my arms, but if you're not comfortable with that, I can sleep in the guest bedroom."

Tara couldn't hide her disappointment with the way their conversation had progressed. "Whatever you decide on will be fine, Kyle. I only want to please you."

Kyle had to bite his tongue to avoid verbally lashing out at her in anger. "You just don't get it," he said. He rose from the bed and looked down at her sitting there. "There is another comforter in the closet if you get cold. Good night."

She watched in stunned silence as he walked to his dresser and opened the bottom drawer. He pulled out a pair of cotton pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. With his back to her, he slipped out of the satin boxer shorts and replaced them with the pajamas. He then turned and put the T-shirt on as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Kyle wasn't totally surprised when his home phone rang. Since leaving Tara in his room, he had been standing at the counter separating his kitchen from the living room, listening to her sobbing before she went into the bathroom and turned on the sink.

"Thanks for the boxers," he said as he answered the phone.

"They're kind of a moot point lying on the floor of your bedroom," she said. "Are you angry at me?"

"I'm not angry," he said. Then a moment later he added, "I'm just very disappointed."

"You're not the only one," she said.

"I thought Tara couldn't call you while she was with me?" he said.

"While she is with you, she is me. I can't very well call myself, now can I? The point is, she isn't with you right now, she is crying in your bathroom. Kyle, help me understand why you are so disappointed. Please."

Kyle sighed and tried to frame his response. After a few seconds he told her, "I guess I had expectations from my time with Cammy, from my conversation with you earlier this week, and from dinner with Tara which were unfulfilled. That's the best way I can describe it."

"Can you explain these expectations?" she asked.

"I can sum them up in one word," he said. "'Sharing'. You told me that this wasn't about you, but it was about 'us'. That isn't what was asked of me tonight."

She was silent for several seconds before asking, "Do you want my virginity, Kyle?"

There was no hesitation in Kyle's response, and he hoped the tone was not too harsh. "You took pride in explaining how much you knew about me, but you obviously know nothing. Tara can stay the weekend or I can take her wherever she wants to go, but I'm done with this game."

"Kyle please!" she screamed into the phone. "Please listen to me."

When he didn't respond, but stayed on the line, she continued. "Kyle, please understand that for all intents and purposes, you are dealing with a child. I am so immature when it comes to relationships that I don't know what to do. Help me grow... help me learn. Explain things to me as if I was a child if necessary."

Kyle considered her plea and tried to explain. "I'll give you an example, and maybe you can extrapolate greater awareness from that. Tara said I had a clean slate to teach the woman who loves me how to please me."

"And you do," she interjected.

Kyle continued, "But that is in conflict with your request that I help 'us'. It is in conflict with my expectations that I have more than a companion; I want a partner. I won't teach Tara, you, or anyone else how to please me, because it simply isn't possible. I want someone who would like to learn along with me how to please each other. If you're not willing to share your pleasure with me, I can't – and won't – share my pleasure with you. This has nothing to do with your virginity. The woman I love could take her virginity to the grave with her and we could still experience a level of intimacy that made our relationship whole. Answer me this, you say you love me, but if I was unable to have sex with you, would your feelings change?"

"God no," she said. "I would love you regardless."

"Then can you accept that I have the potential to feel the same way about you?" asked Kyle.

"Oh Kyle, of course," she said. "Kyle, we have the same desires and objectives, but as you just proved, you're so much better at articulating these things than I am. Sharing and learning together is exactly what I want, but please be patient with me. I don't know what I don't know, and I may say the wrong thing from time to time as a result. When I ask you to teach me, it goes beyond specific acts. Teach me the way of loving that we both want. I'll be a devoted student for you, I promise. I trust you, Kyle."

"You do intrigue me..." he said.

"You amaze me," she said. "Now please come back to bed and hold me like I've dreamed of. I love you Kyle Mason." The phone clicked off.

As he entered his bedroom, Kyle saw Tara bringing her empty bag out of the closet. He walked over to her, took the bag from her hand and set it on the floor. Looking into her eyes, he reached down and grabbed the bottom of her nightgown in both of his hands and raised it over her head. She raised her arms to allow it to become free of her body and stood staring at Kyle as he dropped the nightgown into the bag and then kicked it to the side of the room.

He took her hand and led her over to the bed. He pulled the covers down on her side and eased her into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. Bending down, he picked up her legs and swung them around so that she was lying with her head on a pillow, and then he covered her back up and stared down at her.

"Would you like some more water or anything else before we retire for the evening," he asked her.

She just stared at him and shook her head. He pulled his T-shirt off as he walked around to the other side of the bed. After pulling the covers down, he took off his pajama bottoms and crawled into bed next to her.

Lying on his back, he pulled her over so that her head was resting on his shoulder and his arm was around her.

"Do you understand that your pleasure is my pleasure?" he asked.

"I think so," she said.

"Nothing can feel good to just one of us," he said. "The intimacy is in the shared pleasure. Are you willing to try?"

"Definitely," she whispered.

"Then come here." He pulled her body fully upon his and hugged her tightly. "How's the fit from your side?" he asked.

"Perfect," she replied, and he had to agree with her.

As she wiggled her body against his, she said, "It looks like we have some company between us."

"We do," he confirmed, "but this is where you get your first lesson. I will frequently have a very visible and significant reaction to you like you're feeling now, but you shouldn't pay more attention to it than you do to other responses from me. A man can have an erection for reasons other than arousal, and if a woman uses it as her only means of measuring the pleasure of her partner, they will both miss out."

"Can I touch it?" she asked.

"Absolutely, but not right now," he said. "I think we should try something tonight if you're willing."

"Okay, tell me what you want me to do," she said.

"What I want 'us' to do," he corrected her.

"What you want 'us' to do," she agreed.

"For tonight, let's keep all caressing of each other with our hands limited to above the shoulders. We can use any part of our bodies to touch the other below the shoulders, but not our hands. The exception is when we are simply holding each other. Then since the hands are attached to the arms, they can follow along, but not to caress. Okay?"

"Can you give me an example?" she asked.

"I would be happy to," he said as he shifted their bodies slightly so that both of her legs now straddled one of his.

He bent his leg at the knee and lightly brushed the inside of her thighs with his, slowly moving the caress up her thighs to her pubic region. Her gasps and changes in breathing told him she had responded as expected.

"You want to try something on your own?" he asked her?

"Yes, I very much do," she said. "Did you have something in mind for me?"

"As a matter of fact I do," he told her. "Use your feet to caress me wherever you want, but you need to focus on how you feel doing it as much as you do on my reaction to you. Our bodies have the ability to feel over our entire surface, but the sensory input is too often missed. Pay attention to what you sense with your feet, from temperature changes on my skin, to texture differences where there is more or less hair, all of it. Can you do that?"

"I want to try," she said. "Will you tell me if I do it wrong?"

"There is not right or wrong, Tara. There may be some trial and error – for example you may find something too ticklish until you change the amount of pressure you apply, but that is what we want to discover together."

"Okay," she giggled, "here goes nothing."

Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of Tara's beautiful face staring directly into his. He smiled as he remembered her enthusiasm from the night before.

"Guess what?" she asked in a whisper.

"What?" Kyle whispered back to her.

"I woke up naked in bed with Kyle Mason this morning," she giggled in a conspiratorial manner.

"No regrets?" he asked.

"Only that it took so long for it to finally happen," she told him as she snuggled her body against his under the warm covers. "Granted, I have limited experience to draw from, but you – I mean 'us' – it's all so much better, more sensual and stimulating than I ever imagined possible. I could easily get lost in you and I being together like this."

"Will you excuse me while I take care of some morning business?" Kyle asked her.

A puzzled expression danced across her face for an instant before she caught his meaning. "Of course, go ahead," she told him, then she asked a question, "Kyle, would you be comfortable leaving your clothes off around the house?"

Kyle chuckled as he swung his legs out of the bed, "I am comfortable doing that, and it actually might aid us in an idea I have. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll explain."

Kyle found Tara kneeling in the center of the bed with a look of rapturous anticipation on her face when he returned from the bathroom. She was obviously extremely comfortable around him with her own nudity, and that fact pleased him immensely.

He sat on the edge of the bed and Tara moved in behind him to put her arms around him and kiss the back of his neck. "Tell me your idea," she whispered in his ear.

"Are you familiar with the basketball game known as 'HORSE'," he asked her.

"I've never played it myself," she said, "But I think I understand the concept of the game. One player attempts to make a basket from someplace on the court, and if they make it, the next player has to attempt the exact same shot. If they fail to make the same shot as the first player, they earn a letter. The first person to earn enough letters to spell the word 'HORSE' loses the game. Is that the one you meant?"

Kyle pulled her around him so that she was sitting on his lap and replied, "Yes, that's the concept I was alluding to. I think we should try something similar today between us, only it will involve touching by our hands, and not carry any penalties. Let me demonstrate my idea..."

Kyle took her left hand in his and ran a finger around the base of her ring finger as if he was tracing the outline of a ring. He then released her hand and said, "Now you have to touch me in exactly the same place and in the same way." He held his left hand up for her to take.

Tara looked into his eyes as she found his ring finger and repeated his motions. "Like this?" she asked.

"Close," Kyle said, "and it served to demonstrate a point that is critical to this exercise. We need to place greater focus on awareness of each other's touch. You copied my basic movements, but did you notice that when I traced around your finger, the direction was clockwise? It's a small detail, and probably wouldn't mean much in this instance, but I think we owe it to each other to try to be as aware of the detail of every touch between us as we continue to explore our mutual pleasures."

Tara gasped and said, "You're right, I hadn't noticed. As insignificant as it might have been I agree with you that I want to be fully aware of every one of your touches, and I would hope that you were aware of the details from mine."

"I'm very glad that we share that desire," he said. "Now the other thing I think we should do is to only touch one another with our hands as we want to be touched. So, if I touched your lips like this," he ran his index finger around her full lips, "what would you do?"

Staring intently into his eyes, she said, "I would do this." She copied his movements exactly.

"Perfect," he said. "Now you try it with me."

Without hesitation, Tara placed both of her hands on Kyle's chest and caressed his nipples, rolling each between two fingers to make them erect, and then tickling her palms as she drew them over each in turn.

This confirmed for Kyle that his idea would allow each of them to learn how the other liked to be touched. The gentleness of her touch on his chest would have been his initial approach with her breast regardless, but the affirmation of her touching him in this way increased his and her confidence. He copied her movements, doing his best to match the exact degree of pressure that she had used on him.

"Was I close?" he asked once he had removed his hands.

"You were spot on, Kyle. You could open a school on couples' pleasure and make a lot of people very happy."

"There are only two people whose pleasure concerns me. Now, we just need to remain aware all day of who initiated a touch, and then repeat that same touch as soon as possible. Want to do this?"

Tara contemplated this. "You mean you want this to be an all-day exercise, regardless of where we are or what we are doing, we must each touch one another only where we want to be touched and then repeat the touch initiated by the other?"

"That was my idea," he said.

"It will definitely keep me on my toes," she laughed, "but I'm excited to try it. Now, I have a question for you."

"Shoot," he said.

"Can I play house with you today?"

"Don't tell me you already have a list of 'Honey-Do's' for me!" Kyle teased.

Tara wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "No silly, quite to the contrary. I want to pamper you today like a partner who lived with you should. I want to start by making you some fresh blueberry muffins for breakfast, and then maybe we could go to lunch at Charley's Chili, followed by a walk between the Newport and Balboa piers. We could stop at a grocery store on the way home and let me buy the makings for the dinner I want to prepare for you, after which we can curl up and watch a movie together. Sort of a one-day version of domestic bliss between two people in love."

"In principle, I can agree to your plan, but with one caveat; 'Domestic bliss' would entail both partners pampering each other. You can't wait on me hand and foot, and you'll need to graciously accept my papering of you when the opportunities present themselves. Oh, and one other stipulation for the touching exercise that I just thought of. We should come up with a signal when there are touches which we do not expect to be returned. I was just thinking about your idea of snuggling up to watch a movie and thought that it would be a great opportunity for me to hold your feet in my lap and give you a foot massage. That would be something I would want to do for us that I would not expect you to return. I have to accept that you might have similar ideas where I am concerned and it would be selfish for me to deny you."

"Something like, 'Ollie-Ollie-Oxen-Free'?" she giggled.

"Good enough for me," he laughed.

"I have never been so excited about starting a day in my life," gushed Tara. "Come on, let's go make you some muffins." She hopped out of his lap and off the bed, and then took his hand and led him to the kitchen.

Tara turned to face him in the kitchen, "You can sit at the counter and watch me, which I assure you would give me great pleasure, or you can help out. What would you like to do?"

"I don't think I have the necessary ingredients for blueberry muffins," he told her. "In fact, I don't even own a muffin pan. I may need to run to the store for you if you want to make me a list of things..."

She kissed his cheek and said, "It's all taken care of. Bubbles and I had this breakfast planned days ago, so everything needed was delivered when my bag was dropped off. It's the only meal we prepared for however, so like I said, we can stop by the grocery store later and get stuff for dinner and for tomorrow."

"Why am I not surprised," moaned Kyle. "How about if I start coffee then?"

"That sounds good," she said as she bend over behind him to retrieve items from the under counter cabinet, purposely brushing her bare backside against his.

Chapter Four – Tara (Part 2)

Kyle stared down the expanse of the Newport pier as he and Tara sat at an outside table at Charley's Chili waiting for their lunch to be served.

Tara could see a look of contemplation, which held a hint of melancholy in Kyle's expression as she watched him. "Who is she?"

Kyle's attention was snapped back to his luncheon companion by her words. "Oh, no one special," he said.

She reached over and took his hands in hers, remembering to say "Ollie-Ollie-Oxen-Free". He laughed and looked at her.

"You're thinking of Karen Mayes, aren't you?" she asked.

"Do you know Karen?"

"I know of her," Tara replied. "All the Sisters know about you and Karen Mayes."

Kyle tried to hide his annoyance. "And what exactly do you all know about me and Karen Mayes?"

"Mostly just the basics," Tara said.

Kyle considered what Tara had said and seemed mollified. "It's somewhat ironic that Bubbles and the rest of you coming into my life was probably the catalyst that made me finally realize that I really was in love with Karen back then. Now I am faced with a lot of confusing emotions, regrets, and questions that I had been able to mostly ignore for the last ten years, but I find myself now needing to deal with."

"Kyle, it was her loss. Don't let her affect your life like this."

"Her loss," he said. "Is that how you would describe the injuries caused to a person by a negligent driver? What if I was really to blame for why she treated me the way she did and I deserved it?"

"You don't think that you might be shouldering too much of the responsibility?" Tara asked.

Kyle stared down the length of the pier once more and said, "That's the question that I have never been able to answer and as a result, I must shoulder one hundred percent of the responsibility for being too ignorant to know what I did to hurt someone I cared about so much. How do I know that I won't do the same thing or worse to Bubbles? It scares me, Tara, and I know that it is why none of my relationships have lasted. You, Cammy and Bubbles have brought me more hope that I ever thought possible, but that is still mired in my deep fear of the unknown where Karen Mayes is concerned."

Tara had tears in her eyes now as she looked at Kyle. "But we love you Kyle. Can you say the same thing about how Karen Mayes felt about you?"

He thought about this as he handed Tara a tissue for her eyes. "A person has to have feelings in order for them to feel pain," he said. "I know that Karen liked me once, but you're right, I doubt she ever loved me as you Sisters profess to do." Anyway, do you feel like walking between the piers when we have finished our lunch? It shouldn't take us more than an hour to reach the Balboa pier and return here."

Tara smiled her warmest smile and said, "Kyle, with you by my side, I would walk anywhere and I mean that with all my heart."

After their meal, Kyle excused himself to use the restroom, but his real reason was to make a phone call in private. Once his arrangements were complete, he paid the check, and met Tara back at their table.

"I wish we had more than just the weekend together," he told her as he took her hand and they began walking towards the other pier.

Tara leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed, "We do Kyle, just not this weekend. Why, by the way? What would you do differently with our time together this weekend if you knew it wouldn't end on Monday morning?"

"I can't say I would do anything different, but I would like to have the chance to plan things for us longer term. There are a lot of things I would like to share with you that take more planning than we could manage over the next couple of days. For example, I would like to spend at least one night with you at this bed and breakfast inn I have heard about on Catalina Island, and then of course I would REALLY love to have you on my arm as we strolled along Black's Beach together."

"Black's Beach," she gasped. "Isn't that the clothing optional beach down near San Diego?"

Kyle kissed the top of her head and said, "You seemed to like the concept of 'clothing optional' this morning."

"Uh, slightly different environmental conditions when compared to a beach, don't you think?"

"You haven't said 'no' to the idea though," he teased her.

"Where you are concerned, I think for the most part that word has left my vocabulary. The second you admit your love for me, it will vanish entirely, never to resurface again."

They arrived back to Kyle's apartment at 4:00pm. They had spent more than an hour in the grocery store, but only purchased about ten items required for Tara to make the chicken enchiladas that she had planned for their dinner. Kyle was putting water into a pot to start boiling when his doorbell rang.

"Tara, could you get the door please?" he asked.

"Of course," she said as she headed to answer the door.

She returned a moment later carrying a vase full of yellow with red tip roses and tears streaming down her face. She stood at the entrance to the kitchen, alternating her glances between the roses and Kyle.

"These are the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen," she said. "Why are you giving them to me? What's the occasion?"

Kyle took the vase from her hands and placed it on the counter. He then held her in his arms as he told her, "There will never be a need for a special occasion to justify giving flowers to a woman I care about."

"What are these roses called? They're breathtaking!" she said.

Kyle took one of the roses from the vase, smelled it and then handed it to Tara to do the same. "They're called 'Hearts-A-Fire'," he told her.

"A very appropriate name," she replied. "Is there some significance to why you chose these over red, pink or some other color of rose?"

Kyle turned away from her and returned to setting the pot of water on the stove to boil.

Tara came up behind him and turned him around to face her, "Kyle? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Tara..." he said.

"I promise you I won't Kyle. What is it?"

He looked into her eyes and told her, "Hearts-A-Fire roses signify 'friendship'."

"Oh," she said as she lowered her head and studied her feet.

He placed his finger under her chin and raised her head so she was looking into his eyes before continuing, "They also signify 'falling in love'."

"Which meaning would you like these to hold between you and me?" she asked.

"Tara, I will never again fall in love with a woman who isn't my friend. I tried that once and it didn't work out too well. So, if I admit that I'm falling in love with you, then it should be a forgone conclusion for you that I already consider us friends."

"Thank you Kyle," she said, "for the flowers of course, but also for your trust. Bubbles' whole plan relies upon a leap of faith by you and I know that it hasn't been easy."

"No," he said, "it hasn't, but it has been very pleasurable so far, and you have all given me hope. I should be thanking you."

Tara kissed him and said, "Boil and shred the chicken for me and we'll call us even."

Kyle laughed as he rinsed the boneless chicken breast and placed them into the boiling water. "What do we do while waiting for the chicken to cook?" he asked.

"There's not a lot of other prep work that's required until the chicken is done. Do you feel safe enough in a kitchen with an oven on to choose clothing option 'x' with me?" she asked with a wink.

"Just so long as any place that gets burned receives a kiss to make it better," he said.

"My mouth is watering in anticipation of your first boo boo," she teased.

"That was a beautiful movie," said Tara.

She was lying naked on Kyle's couch with her feet in his lap as he massaged them. They had just finished watching the Reese Witherspoon / Mark Ruffalo movie "Just Like Heaven". She said she had never seen it, and Kyle thought she might enjoy it.

He was right, and he had no complaints about having to turn the volume up so the dialog could be heard over the moans emanating from Tara as Kyle had massaged her feet through the entire movie.

"How did you ever learn to bring a woman so much pleasure by rubbing her feet?" Tara asked as he finished with her second foot.

"Promise not to laugh?" he asked.

"I'll do my best," is all she would commit to in response.

"I learned by rubbing my mom's feet," Kyle told her. "I discovered at an early age that my mom loved to have her feet massaged and I took every opportunity to make her feel good. My dad was more than happy to relinquish the task to me, although he never minded doing it himself."

"That is so sweet," said Tara. "Does you mom know that she taught you how to please other women like this?"

"No reason she should. This is the first time I have shared this with anyone but her."

"Kyle Mason, I keep thinking that there is no way that you could make me feel any more special, yet you keep doing it." She removed her feet from his lap and snuggled against him.

"You are special Tara. Don't ever doubt that," he said.

"What can I do to show how special you are to me Kyle?"

"Actually Tara, you being here with me this weekend has made me realize how special I am to someone. Whether it is Bubbles alone, Bubbles through you, or both of you together somehow, I recognize that the effort expended for us to be together in this way could only be justified by me being very special in the heart of someone."

"You are more special than words can describe Kyle, and more loved as well."

Tara crawled into Kyle's lap, pulled his face to hers and began a kiss that grew in passion and intensity between them. As she felt his arousal beneath her she shifted her body to allow his erection freedom to expand without discomfort.

Tara pulled her face back from his, breaking their kiss. "Ollie-Ollie-Oxen-Free," she whispered as she moved off his lap and reached between his legs.

Kyle stood from the couch, picked Tara up in his arms and said, "Denied."

Tara's disappointment was obvious in her expression and her words, "But why Kyle?"

As Kyle carried her to his bed, he told her, "Because it will be more fun for us to share this. Trust me Tara."

Her expression changed in an instant as she hugged him tighter around his neck and said, "Oh I do Kyle, I really and truly do."

Kyle laid her on his bed and asked, "Are you warm enough or do you want to be under the covers?"

"My god Kyle, I am burning up. Just get on here with me and I'm sure we'll keep each other more than warm enough."

Kyle joined her. "You can touch me now, and I will touch you as well. Remember to pay as much attention to how the other person feels as you do to how you feel. Concentrate on reactions, both to yourself and from me. If your stimulation of me causes your body to react, you should not miss it. Understand?"

"I think so," she said. I am having some wonderful sensations in my body just in anticipation of touching you there. Is that what you are referring to?"

"It is," he said. "Don't ignore your own feelings and our mutual pleasures."

Kyle turned on his side to face her and she did the same. His hand moved to her thigh that was on top of the other and positioned her so that the knee on that leg was bent, allowing him access between her legs. She positioned his upper leg in a similar fashion. Staring into his eyes, Tara sought out his erection and held it in her hand for the first time.

She held her breath as she encircled him at his base. She was surprised that her fingers didn't reach all the way around him. "Kyle, I obviously haven't seen many erect penises before, but yours is well worth waiting for. Tell me what to do."

"You're doing it Tara," he said. "Explore and learn and I'll do the same. I don't know what you will do to bring me pleasure, but I am excited to find out along with you."

Tentatively, Tara began moving her hand on him as she felt and watched for his responses. She noted every twitch, shutter, moan and groan that her actions elicited from him and was pleased to see how often he did respond to her. When she discovered a drop of liquid on the head, she ran her finger over it and gasped at Kyle's response to that. As she continued to spread the drop of liquid around, she was rewarded with even more visible reactions from him, and she could feel a similar reaction from her own body.

Kyle confirmed this for her as he slowly brought one of his hands between her legs and parted her virginal lips with one of his fingers. She was literally gushing down there from her stimulation of Kyle alone. As Kyle discovered her arousal with his finger, she noted reactions from his erection separate from her efforts with her hand and she now realized what he had meant in his directions to her earlier.

Tara experienced her first orgasm at the hands of someone else, followed by a second one as her body reacted to the orgasm that she had induced in Kyle. She knew that his orgasm brought her more pleasure than her own, but she didn't regret having a second one with him.

Kyle had purposely ignored having a tissue or towel available for when he ejaculated. He sensed that Tara would want to experience it rather than worrying about the mess that would result.

"So this is where babies come from," she said as she played with the mess on his stomach.

Kyle laughed, "Well, that's only half of it if you want to get technical about things."

"Can I share some observations and get your feed-back," she asked him.

"Of course," he said. "That's how we both learn."

Tara considered her words for a minute and then said, "It seemed like I was far more aroused than you were."

"What makes you think that?" asked Kyle.

"Oh come on, I was practically flooding us out of the bed, but you didn't get wet hardly at all."

"That's normal, Tara. Men don't secrete as much lubrication as women. Had we proceeded to intercourse, your juices would have sufficed for both of us, so don't try to gauge the level of arousal by that."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm positive," he replied. "Sometimes I wish that wasn't the case. I think a little extra lubrication on me would have made things even more pleasurable. Your touch was wonderful, but dry skin against dry skin wasn't as stimulating as those few times when you spread my lubrication around."

"I did notice your reactions were more intense when there was more moisture on you."

"Now you know why the personal lubricant market exists," Kyle chuckled.

"Do you have any personal lubricants?" she asked.

"Sorry, but no I don't. Any other observations that you care to share?"

"Just that you are the most patient and understanding lover that any girl could ever hope to share her sexual explorations with. I will never regret having waited for you."

"The pleasure has been all mine," he said.

"Kyle Mason, since I have known you, that is the first truly dumb thing you have ever said. But, I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you."

So warm, so wonderfully warm. It must be a bath – no it must be more like a Jacuzzi because of the pressure. The warm wonderful pressure there... yes, right there. Oh so warm, so pleasant, so arousing. Oh, the arousal. Like nothing she had ever felt before, and it kept building. She had to focus on the arousal. She had to be able to share this with Kyle.

The warmth was growing, the pressure was increasing, and the arousal was reaching a level she couldn't believe. What a glorious, sensuous arousal... She was surrendering to it. Her whole body gave in to the warm pressure between her legs. She had to share this with Kyle...

"Kyle!!!" she screamed as her orgasm wracked through her with an intensity that she never would have imagined possible.

"Why Tara Greene, I do believe you are what's known as a 'squirter'."

Coming fully awake and aware of her surroundings, Tara noticed Kyle lying between her legs. As he pulled the covers down and raised his head to look at her, his face was dripping with moisture.

"Holy Mother of God, what did you do to me?" she moaned.

Kyle wiped his face on the sheets and moved up to lie beside her. "I awoke with an irresistible urge to taste you," moving his finger back between her legs, "there."

She jerked at his touch to her hypersensitive sex. "You took advantage of me," she cried. "You promised me that I would leave this weekend with my virginity intact."

She started to get out of the bed but Kyle grabbed her. "Tara, you don't understand. I didn't take your virginity, I had oral sex with you is all."

She stared at him in amazement. "You mean that was your mouth? Down there? On my sex?"

Tara pushed the covers down and examined the bed beneath her. "I don't see any blood, but why am I lying in a puddle?"

Kyle went into the bathroom and returned with a towel. He nudged Tara to the other side of the bed, laid the towel over the significant wet spot and then crawled back in beside her, taking the side with the towel as his.

"Female ejaculation," Kyle said. "It sometimes happens when a woman is able to relax enough during her orgasm to let her body react without inhibition. I have heard that it feels to the woman like she has to urinate, so she will typically resist the sensations, but it is totally different that peeing." He rubbed his face to see if it was still wet. "Trust me; you just proved that for both of us."

"I thought I was dreaming," she said. "I remember dreaming that I had to share the wondrous arousal with you, and I guess I was all along."

"Oh you definitely shared it with me," he said, "and it was unbelievable. You being asleep actually added to my pleasure because your responses and reactions were on a subconscious and primal level that I knew you had no control over. Your body responded on a purely physical level, without your love or emotions influencing you. I don't think I have any ego issues or anything, but I must admit that it does my male psyche proud to know that I can please a woman on a physical basis."

"Will you ever afford me the same opportunity? Will you ever stoke my female ego by allowing me to prove I can satisfy you solely on a physical level?"

"Sure," Kyle said. "The next time I'm unconscious and unaware, feel free to use and abuse me to your heart's desire."

"Kyle Mason, you're cruising for a bruising. That isn't what I meant and you know it. Would you be able to willingly accept me giving you physical pleasure without expectation of you reciprocating?"

"Honestly Tara, I don't know that I could. I'm sorry, but I just can't promise that I will ever be able to do that."

"That's a fair answer I guess," she admitted. "So wasn't it disgusting... you know your mouth, down there." She indicated between her legs.

Kyle's eyes grew wide, "God no! Quite the contrary in fact. You wouldn't believe how wonderful you taste, and the sensations I could feel on my mouth as your body responded were amazing. I never thought of my mouth as a touch sensor before, but your body will benefit from my discovery from now on, believe me."

"Would you mind if I tried it for myself," she asked.

Kyle laughed, "If you're flexible enough to do that to yourself, go for it. I would love to watch."

"Oh you really are pushing your luck this morning Kyle. You know full well that I meant that I wanted to try my mouth on you."

Kyle considered her for a moment and then said, "Tara, I have had experience with other girls performing oral sex on me in the past and it has never met anyone's expectations. Some of the girls professed to have considerable experience at it, but I still left them disappointed. I don't want to disappoint you."

"Kyle the only way you could disappoint me would be if you didn't give me a chance to experience it with you. Don't you see that?"

"You're fully awake, you have all your faculties and you're not making this request under any type of duress?" he teased her.

She didn't answer, but simply slid down his body and kissed the head of his penis with her lips. Before she could proceed further, Kyle stopped her.

"Kyle please," she said in exasperation.

"I'm not saying 'no'," he told her, "but let's try something." He pulled her legs around so that she was lying on top of him with her head at his groin and his mouth under her sex.

"You may proceed," he said as his tongue snaked out and touched her clitoris.

"I'm sorry Tara, I tried to warn you."

She knelt on the bed beside him running her tongue around the inside of her mouth and then licking her lips.

"Don't apologize Kyle, it was what I wanted, and I'll prove it to you if you ever give me the opportunity again."

"I have never done that before," he said. "I mean no other girl had ever..."

"There you go again Kyle Mason, making me feel special once more."

He pulled her down on top of him and kissed her. "You are the most special woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

"I love you Kyle. So, what do you normally do on a Sunday once you are done ravaging a girl in your bed?"

He laughed, "My normal Sunday routine after ravaging a girl in my bed is to pitch a perfect game in the major leagues or disprove Einstein's theory of relativity. Since neither of those has happened, you should be able to do the math."

Tara giggled and said, "Okay, so what do you want to do on this Sunday after ravaging me in your bed?"

"Do you want me to consider what you might want, or just tell you what I would want?"

"You would do that?" she asked in surprise. "You would share a selfish desire with me?"

"What can I say? You're corrupting me in ways I never thought possible."

"Then let it rip!" she said. "Share with me what you would like to do without any regard for me or my desires."

"Okay," he grinned. "I would like to eat a light breakfast, drink a cup of coffee, and then..."

"What?" she pleaded. "Tell me what you want to do."

"I want to come back and spend the rest of the day in bed with you."

"Kyle!" she said with exasperation. "That is exactly what I wanted to do and you knew it, didn't you?"

"Would you believe 'great minds think alike'?"

"Okay smarty pants, what else do you think my great mind wants to do today?"

"Ouch," he said as he put a hand to his temple.

"Kyle what's wrong?" Tara said with alarm.

"Nothing," he said. "I always just get a small pain when my omniscient sector shuts down. While it is out of commission, you're going to have to just verbally enlighten me on your additional wants for today."

"Oh you're a cute one, aren't you? Let's go to the kitchen and I'll consider whether or not you deserve further enlightenment."

Tara took Kyle's hand and led him out to the kitchen. She sat him at the counter and proceeded to make coffee for them.

As they drank coffee and nibbled on reheated muffins she asked, "When we were having oral sex earlier, your finger did some wandering. Do you remember that?"

"Can you be more specific?" he asked.

He watched Tara blush profusely as she said, "Around my bum."

"Ah, that wandering. Yes I remember. Did you like it?"

"It was very superficial wandering, but what there was of it was pleasurable. However, the reason I mention it is because it started me wondering..."

"I'm listening," he said.

"Have you ever had sex with a woman there, I mean in that part of her body?" she asked.

"No Tara, I have not," he said. "Why?"

"Having sex there wouldn't affect a woman's virginity would it?"

Kyle looked at her and said, "Well, technically no it wouldn't, but there is the 'spirit' of a woman's virtue that might come into question if the only consideration of her abstinence was merely her hymen. Don't you think?"

"Fair answer," Tara said. "Tell me this, what opinion would you have of a woman's virtue if she saved her hymen for the man she loved until their wedding night, but gave herself to him in all other ways before then? If her every sexual experience was shared for the first time only with him?" Exactly as I have done with you this weekend."

"I don't think her virtue could be called into question if her complete sexual defloration was performed entirely by the man she loved and eventually married," Kyle said. "However, companionship by proxy isn't the same as marriage Tara."

"So because I am just a proxy for Bubbles, you wouldn't want to do it with me?"

Kyle held her against him, "Don't confuse my wanting to protect your virtue with me not wanting to do everything imaginable with you Tara. That being said, even if it was Bubbles here with me right now, knowing that she had made the same commitment as you have relative to saving yourself for your wedding night, I would feel the same way as I do with you. I admit that I am falling for you – for her, but that is still a long way from marriage, or even an engagement."

"I love you Kyle, do you believe that?"

Kyle looked into her eyes and said, "Yes Tara, I do. I have never felt more loved in my life."

"Do you trust me Kyle?" she asked.

"You've never given me any reason not to trust you, so I would have to say 'yes'."

"Do you believe our shared pleasures this weekend have been just that, 'shared'?"

"Yes, I most definitely do," he said.

"Then let's not stop," she implored. "I trust you with my life, my virtue, and my body Kyle Mason. In my heart there is no longer any doubt that I want to give myself to you entirely, but I will respect any limitations that you impose. Please do whatever you want with me within your comfort zone for our shared pleasure and with no regrets."

When his alarm rang at 6:00am Kyle was disoriented. He knew where he was, but he was confused by an absence of something.

Coming fully awake, he realized that Tara wasn't in the bed beside him. He listened to see if he could hear her in the bathroom or kitchen, but when he heard only silence, he got up and began looking for her.

Entering the bathroom and noticing her toiletry bag missing told him that she had left. He confirmed this by checking the closet and drawers to find her bag and all of her clothes gone.

Why had she just snuck out like a thief in the night? When they had gone to sleep, with her cuddled up against him and his arm around her, they had been content and satisfied. He had done everything possible to alleviate her disappointment in him not taking her virginity, and he thought that they had discovered enough new sexual exploits and pleasures that she wouldn't have any regrets. He knew that he didn't have any.

Kyle pulled on a pair of sweat pants and went out to the kitchen to see if maybe she left him a note or some other message but found nothing from her. He started a pot of coffee and sat at the counter waiting for it to brew.

He hadn't felt this alone and dejected since the day Karen Mayes had left for college. He had hoped then that Karen would miss him and contact him, but ten years of optimism had proven fruitless. Did he have any hope of seeing Tara again? Probably not. She was after all, just a proxy for Bubbles, a woman that remained a mystery to him.

He didn't know if he would even hear from Bubbles once her and Tara had shared what had happened with him over the weekend. How could a woman who claimed to love a man willingly accept him giving and receiving so much sexual pleasure from another woman? He couldn't imagine such a thing being possible.

He was definitely hooked. Now she knew it without any doubt.

Hell, she could probably scale and fillet him before he knew what had happened. She returned to her plans as her flight home seemed to drone on forever.

"Yes," she thought upon review of her strategy. She'd leave him on the stinger for a while before she contacted him again. While it would be hard for her to resist the temptation to rush things, all those years of torture deserved some patience on her part.

She was going to get him, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it along the way.

Pulling into the parking structure at John Wayne Airport, Kyle was surprised to see how many spaces were available on a Sunday morning versus his normal weekday departure days. He had decide to start this trip on Sunday because he would lose a full day traveling to the east coast and he needed at least two full days in Washington, DC before he could head back home.

His high school class' ten-year reunion was the coming weekend, and while he still had no intention of attending, he had agreed to help Linda and Cliff with a few preparations that required him to be back into town by Thursday morning at the latest.

As Kyle passed through the security checkpoint and watched people taking their shoes off in preparation for screening, he found himself searching the left ankles of all the women he could see for a Porpoise tattoo.

It had been almost three weeks since Tara had disappeared from his bed and his life. He had heard nothing further from her, and since Bubbles had also been silent, he assumed that he was correct in her being unable to accept what he and Tara had done together.

Kyle realized that the optimistic hope that he had held for years regarding Karen Mayes had transformed into a new hope regarding Bubbles. This is what had him searching women's ankles for tattoos and being disappointed when he found the seat next to his in first class occupied by another man. He wondered if he could stand another ten years of false hope for a woman.

"I'm sorry Mr. Mason, but the reservation change was authorized," said the desk clerk. "We released your room here to another reservation and now we are fully booked."

"Wonderful," groaned Kyle. He had made the reservation at the Reston, Virginia hotel himself, and he knew that he had not changed his reservation to the hotel chain's Vienna, Virginia property, but someone else obviously had. "So how far away is the hotel where my reservation now exists?"

"It's almost exactly seven miles sir," the clerk said as he handed him a map with printed directions. "It is actually a newer property with more amenities than we offer here. I think you'll enjoy your stay there better."

"We'll see," Kyle said as he picked up his luggage and returned to his rental car.

Following the map and directions, the drive to the new hotel was quick and painless. Parking for guests was more convenient, and Kyle saw that his meeting location for tomorrow morning was just around the corner from the hotel. He had to admit that if he had realized where this hotel was, it would have been his first choice.

As the desk clerk pulled up his reservation for check-in, Kyle got his next surprise.

The clerk informed him, "You have a message waiting in our voicemail system from your wife, and she asked that you check it as soon as you get to your room."

Kyle didn't say anything in response, but he did do everything possible to expedite the steps required for him to get his room key as quickly as he could. He had to stop himself from running to the elevators, and then to his room once he had reached his floor. Tossing his luggage inside the door of the room, he closed the door and dashed to the phone. The red message waiting light was blinking, so he quickly accessed the voicemail and found himself holding his breath as he listened to her voice:

'Hello Kyle Mason," It was the digitally altered voice he had heard before. "My name is Bubbles, and I will be your companion for the next three days. Your dinner will be delivered to your room at 7:00pm. Please do not start eating until I call you at 7:05pm. I love you Kyle."

Chapter Five - Bubbles

Looking at his watch to check the time, Kyle realized that he had not adjusted it yet for the time zone changes. Quickly changing the hours, he saw that it was already 6:45pm. He decided to get unpacked and settled before his dinner was due to arrive.

Placing clothes in drawers and in the closet, Kyle reflected on his jubilation in finally hearing from Bubbles. No woman had ever intrigued him, stimulated him, or so fully amazed him with her efforts to have a relationship with him, and he had thought he had lost her.

Would he finally see her? She had said she would be his companion for the next three days – a schedule that coincided precisely with his trip to Washington, DC this week. While he appreciated the way she always seemed to surprise him, he wished that he had known of her plans so that he would have had an opportunity to plan something for her as well.

Kyle had just finished arranging toiletry items in the bathroom when he heard a knock on the room door. He quickly went to the door and opened it without checking who was there. A young man stood there holding a picnic basket.

"Kyle Mason?" he asked.

"That's me," Kyle replied.

"Then this must be for you." He handed Kyle the basket. "Just hold onto the basket and dishes and I'll pick them up from you when I deliver your breakfast. Have a good night." He turned and retreated down the hall to the elevators.

Kyle carried the basket to the table in the room and opened it. Inside was a Tupperware bowl, what appeared to be a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil, a spoon, napkin, and two bottles of his favorite beer. He opened the Tupperware and smelled the tomato soup inside. Feeling the aluminum foil, he saw that the sandwich inside was still quite warm. He unwrapped it and found a perfectly browned grilled cheese sandwich. He checked his watch. 7:04pm. He relocated the room phone so that it was sitting on the table with his meal, opened one of the beers and waited.

Less than a minute later, the phone rang. Kyle answered it before the first ring ended and said, "I thought I had lost you."

"Oh god Kyle, why would you ever think that?"

"Well your proxies have tended to just disappear on me without even saying goodbye, and after the weekend that Tara and I shared, I thought that maybe you couldn't accept what we did together," he told her.

"I'm sorry Kyle," she said. "You need to understand that you have an effect on my proxies almost as significant as you have had on me. It is so hard to leave you at all, if I expected them to say goodbye to you and look into your eyes as they left your life, I could never forgive myself."

"A note or something would have been nice," he said.

"I understand Kyle, and I'll try to do better. Now, why would you think that I couldn't accept what you and Tara shared? I've told you Kyle, Tara was me when she was with you. What you shared you shared with me, and it has taken me these last three weeks to recover from the experience.

"One day I really hope to comprehend this proxy power thing that you and your sisters have," he said.

"Trust me Kyle, one day soon I'll make sure you comprehend everything perfectly. So are you ready to eat dinner with me?"

"You're here?" Kyle said as he prepared to run to the door and open it for her.

"I'm not at the hotel Kyle, but I'm close. I will be close enough to you over the next few days to make sure that you are completely taken care of."

"You don't think I can take care of myself?" he teased her.

"I'm sure you can. I can just do it better, and I will. Let's talk while we eat so your soup and sandwich don't get cold."

Kyle picked up the spoon and took a sip of the soup. It was still quite warm and delicious. He held the phone in his left hand as he took another spoon of soup with his right hand. "How did you manage to get this meal made and delivered? This isn't typical restaurant fare."

"Simple," she said. "I cooked it and paid a college boy to deliver to you. I will fix all your meals for you while you are here, and while I won't be with you physically, we will share every meal just as we are this one."

"You must live pretty close to the hotel for the food to arrive as warm as it was."

"Why do you think I had your reservation switched? Those seven miles could make a difference in whether your meals were edible by the time you received them. You don't mind do you?"

"I assume you're asking if I minded you switching my reservation, and the answer is 'no'," he said. "This hotel is better and more conveniently suited for my agenda this week. I was admitting to myself when I arrived that had I know where this one was, it would have been my first choice. Knowing that it's closer to you is an added benefit."

"How's you soup?" she asked.

"Perfect," he said. "It amazes me how much you know about me. A grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup has always been one of my favorites, ever since I was a kid."

"This was actually on the menu for that Sunday night at your apartment, but other things took priority if I remember right," she giggled.

"I have no regrets about missing a few meals that weekend. In fact, I would forego this meal right now to be able to spend the time with you in person."

She sighed, "Oh I would too Kyle, and I think we're getting close to that happening, I really do. I know that you love me Kyle, and you're close to knowing it too aren't you?"

"I'll admit that I've known it for weeks," he said, "and I'll tell you right now that I love you. Unfortunately, I still haven't come to terms with the cloud hanging over me, and I don't want to risk 'us' until there is some sort of closure there. I'm sure that Tara related our conversation to you about..."

"Karen Mayes," she interrupted.

"That's the cloud," he confirmed.

"I know Karen Mayes," she said, "and I know what she believes you did to her life. I knew all about it before I decided to announce my love for you and it didn't deter me. Nothing will deter me where you are concerned Kyle. I will never let Karen Mayes or your memories of her stand between you and me. I will never let her hurt you again."

"I'm not concerned with her hurting me, Bubbles. I'm concerned about me hurting you. I honestly don't know what I did to Karen, but whatever it was, it turned a sweet girl who I thought cared deeply for me into someone who held me in such contempt that I have never been able to forget it. I would rather walk away from you right now than risk doing the same thing to you. If you know Karen, and you know what I did to her, please tell me."

"In the first place Kyle, I will prove that my love for you is stronger than your fear. I won't let you walk away from me over this or anything else, so get that notion out of your head right now. Secondly, you did nothing wrong with Karen Mayes. It was always her, not you or anything you did. I told you weeks ago that I was 'broken' Kyle, and that is why I couldn't just come directly to you and profess my love as I think we both would have preferred. I had to come to terms with a lot of emotions in my life, some involving you, but most involving other people. I was scared, insecure, and even ashamed of my weakness towards you, so I have had to resort to the use of proxies to help me prove myself to you. You couldn't fix me Kyle, and you can't fix Karen Mayes. Please don't try."

"Okay," he said. "I don't want to talk about Karen Mayes anymore. So, do you think there is any chance that I will see you this week?"

"I hope so, but it may not be until after you return to California."

"But I thought you were in the area of the hotel?" he said in confusion.

"Kyle, I could walk to you right now and my shoes would hardly get dirty, that's how close I am, but I don't think I'll be ready to see you until later in the week, which means that if I have to come to you in California, that is what I'll do."

"I hate not being able to plan things for you – for us, like you can. I want to be able to send you flowers, text you with mushy words of endearment, or call just to hear your digitally altered voice. How would you feel if you were in my shoes?"

"I would be miserable, but I'm moving as fast as I can to end your misery – our misery. We share that too Kyle."

"I know we do," he said.

"There is actually another reason why I want us to spend time together on the phone this week," she said. "Once we're together for good, I want you to know that I will still take care of you wherever your travels take you or how far you are from me. So, to that end, would you like to watch a movie with me?"

"Explain the process," he said.

"At the bottom of the basket you received there should be a USB clip drive."

He looked through the basket and found the drive. "Got it."

"Good,' she said. There are five movies on that drive. Why don't you put it in your laptop and tell me which one you want to share with me tonight?"

He booted his laptop and opened the files on the drive. The movie titles listed were, "Air Force One", "Amanda", "Chasing Liberty", "National Treasure", "Notting Hill", and "Serendipity".

"Okay," he said, "I only know some of these titles."

"That's fine," she told him. "Do you have an interest in watching one with me tonight?"

"I am assuming the process is that we will both start the movie on our computers at the same time and watch it together, while apart."

"That's the jest of the idea," she confirmed. "However, all the movies provided come with an added little feature just for you and me..."

"An added feature?" he asked.

"I think so," she giggled. "All these movies are clothing optional for the audience. I've already opted for lying here in my bed naked with the laptop next to me, but you can do what you want."

"This would work better if we were both on cell phones so we could put the phones on speaker. Can you arrange that?" he asked.

"Of course," she said. "You hurry up and make your clothing choice and I'll call you right back on your cell phone." She hung up before he could respond.

His cell phone rang within seconds.

"I am so sorry Kyle!" she said. "I never wanted to end a phone call with you without telling you that I love you, but you got me so excited that I was anxious to switch phones and neglected my own rule. I'm sorry. I love you."

"As far as I'm concerned, this is just a continuation of the same call, so you get a pass this time. Now I'm going to put you on speaker as I get undress and my laptop situated on the bed. Do you have a preference as far as the movies go?"

"You pick," she said.

"Okay, how about 'Notting Hill? I haven't seen that one in a long time and it is a nice light-hearted comedy that I would like to share with you."

"Good choice," she said. "I'll get queued up on my end, so let me know when you're ready there."

A few minutes later, he told her he was ready. They both launched the movie at the same time and waited for the opening song to start.

""That is my favorite Elvis Costello song," Kyle said.

"What song is that," she asked in response.

"The opening song of the movie. 'She'. Haven't you ever listened to it?"

"Shhh, let me listen."

She
May be the face I can't forget
The trace of pleasure or regret
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay

She
May be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things
Within the measure of a day...

As soon as the song ended, she said, "Hit pause."

He paused with her and waited.

"That song was by Elvis Costello?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I have the MP3 version that I could e-mail to you if I ever had your e-mail address."

"I would love to have it, so just hold it for me until I see you next. Hit play."

He hit play to restart the movie.

"Hello?" Kyle answered the phone in a very groggy voice.

"Good morning sweetheart. I know that it's only 4:00am by your internal clock, but you're here now, so it's time to rise and shine. Your breakfast will be at your door in a few minutes, so if you're still clothing optional, get prepared. I'll call you back in a few minutes so we can chat over breakfast. I love you Kyle."

Kyle looked at the phone and smiled. He would gladly sacrifice sleep for the opportunity to have her voice – even digitally altered – be the first thing he heard each morning. As if on queue, there was a knock at his door. He pulled on the gym shorts that he had left at the foot of the bed and answered the door.

"Hey," said the same young man from the night before. "Here's your coffee and breakfast. Do you have the other basket ready to go?"

"Oh yeah," said Kyle. "Let me get it for you." He went to the table and retrieved the picnic basket. While returning to the door he had a thought. He handed the basket to the delivery boy who simply turned and walked away.

Kyle set his new delivery on the table and examined the contents. There was a carafe of what smelled like Hazelnut coffee and two piping hot raisin muffins fresh from the oven. His cell phone rang.

"You're going to spoil me," he said on answering.

"You have no idea how much I am going to spoil you Kyle. You will never, and I mean never doubt my love and devotion to you. Will you share your breakfast with me?"

"With pleasure. Let me put you on speaker so I can pour some coffee."

"Is your breakfast okay?" she asked.

"Perfect," Kyle said, "I was never a big breakfast person, so this is an ideal setup for me. I can eat one of the muffins now with a cup of coffee, and save the other one for later in the morning when I usually get a hankering for something to eat."

"I remember that about you," she said. "You know what I have been craving all morning?"

"No, what?"

"I have been craving a chance to kiss that dimple on your butt."

He chuckled. Tara had refused to accept that the indentation on his left butt cheek was a scar from when he had been shot in Iraq. She insisted that it was just a dimple.

"You mean you want to kiss my boo boo?" he teased.

"Please don't say that Kyle. You don't know how close to a total breakdown I was when I heard about you being shot. I'm sure the innkeeper in Landstuhl will never forget the crazy American woman who was a guest there the entire time that you were in the hospital at Ramstein Air Force Base."

"You were there?" Kyle asked. "Did you come to see me?"

"I visited you every day, Kyle. I had to see for myself that you were going to be okay."

"How come I never knew?" he asked.

"I only visited late at night when I knew that you would be asleep, except for a couple of times when I came into your room dressed as one of your nurses, wearing a surgical mask, but I think you were asleep those times too. I was so scared of losing you, but I was more frightened of my love for you even then."

"Wow," said Kyle. "I guess you really do like me."

She laughed, and to Kyle it sounded like she may have expelled some coffee through her nose.

Between coughs she said, "Maybe a little, but don't let it go to your head."

"So how long have you known me?" he asked her.

"I wish I could put a chronological figure on it that would clarify things for you, but you need to realize that while I may have been alive, I never really existed except for the times when you have been in my life Kyle. For all intents and purposes, I have known you all my life because I have no life without you."

"Who do you work for? I mean, what kind of work do you do?"

"Let's just say that in a round-about way, I work for your uncle."

"Would you like to meet him? How about having dinner with him tonight?" Kyle asked.

"Are you serious?" she said.

"Sure," Kyle told her. "He always wants me to stop by while I'm in town so I could arrange for us to have dinner with him."

"Maybe some other time," she said. "I would need a little more prep time before having dinner at the White House with the President, even if he is your uncle."

"Okay, just remember that you have a standing invitation."

"I'll remember. So what does your day look like? A lot of meetings?"

"I only have one real meeting confirmed. I have left some time this afternoon in case I can get a meeting scheduled with an individual at the NSA I have been trying to get some face time with. If that falls through, I may head over to Langley to visit with the Science and Technology department heads."

"So what time can I plan for having your dinner delivered?"

"Are you planning to share a movie with me again tonight afterwards?" he asked.

"Either a movie or phone sex. We'll wait and see how things progress."

"In that case, let's eat early. How about 6:30pm?"

She giggled, "Clothing optional dinner at 6:30pm coming up."

"The nano technology we have been developing in my department is derived from research I began as part of my doctoral thesis in college," the presenter said to her audience.

"Since we are dealing in a cellular level, and with anatomical terminology that really does little to describe the underlying objectives of the program, I ask you all to please take a moment and look at the illustrations currently on the screen before you."

"You will see a robotic arm at one of our nation's auto assembly plants. This particular robotic arm is tasked with taking a bundle of electrical wire, gathering them together into a tight bundle, and then cinching them to produce a wiring harness that will allow for their more efficient placement within the assembled vehicle. Note that none of the wires are damaged in this process, and in most cases, the combined relative strength of the adjoining wires have made the completed harness much stronger than the sum of the individual wires would be if routed separately. If the robot released the gathered wires prior to the cinch being applied, they would return to their normal state."

"Now imagine that instead of wires, a miniature version of a similar robot was injected into the human body and programmed to seek out specific muscles and either clamp down to compress this muscle, or separate the muscle resulting in its expansion. In essence, that is what our program is about."

The presenter paused as the anticipated mumbling and chatter began within her audience. She turned off the projected images and gave her audience a minute before reclaiming their attention.

Smiling she said, "My hearing isn't that good, but I'm sure I heard several among you asking the same questions; 'Why?' and 'What does this have to do with our nation's intelligence gathering capabilities.' Perhaps I can show you with another little demonstration."

She stood facing fully in front of her audience, brushed the few strands of hair hanging onto her forehead back and then pressed a button on the remote control held in her other hand. Her audience gasped in shock as a horrendous scar gash began to appear at her hairline above her right eye, and then continued down over her eyelid, across her nose, and finally ended at her jawbone below her left ear. Her once beautiful face was now a disfigured and terrifying sight for her audience to behold. Many of them looked away, unable to fathom the damaged beauty before their eyes.

She began walking around the room, allowing any member of the audience who chose to do so the opportunity to examine her face close-up. When their examinations were complete, she returned to the front of the room, pressed the remote once more, and allowed her audience to watch her face as it was restored to its original beauty.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, that is just once example of how nano muscle manipulation could be used for Radical Appearance Modification of our assets in the field, disguise confidential informants to keep them safe, or any other number of valuable uses."

She pressed a button on the remote once more and her next words were spoken in a deep Baritone voice that would have made James Earl Jones proud, "We have already developed nano robots specific to arrector pill muscles, which are the involuntary muscles in our skin that cause goose bumps; skeletal muscles, which are the voluntary muscles used primarily for body movement; and smooth muscles, such as those in most body organs like the bladder or uterus."

She pressed the remote again and her voice returned to normal, "Obviously we can use the nano muscle manipulation to alter voices as you just witnessed, we can also induce an involuntary limp that would fool an orthopedic surgeon, and at the risk of offending anyone or providing false hope, depending on the circumstances, the nano muscle manipulation technology could be used to increase female breast or male organ dimensions."

She let the tittering laugher subside. "Are there any questions?"

"How did you find time to make a pot roast in time for us to eat dinner at 6:30pm?" Kyle asked Bubbles as they sat down together, talking on their cell phones over their dinner.

"Honestly?" she asked. "What a silly question," she giggled. "Of course you want an honest answer."

Kyle had his mouth full of food, so just mumbled, "Um hum."

"My boss' boss' boss knows about my project related to you – I mean 'us', and has paved the way for me to have a very flexible work schedule for as long as I need it. For example, today I only needed to go into the office for a quick meeting, and then I worked from my home office the rest of the day. It was easy to prepare a meal and keep up with work under those conditions."

"Well, I'm going to have to thank your boss' boss' boss sometime. This is a wonderful dinner," Kyle told her.

"Thank you Kyle. It was my pleasure fixing it for you, and I really mean that. It was probably a good thing you weren't around because I was smiling so much while preparing the meal that I wouldn't have been able to pucker my lips to kiss you."

"Oh that wouldn't have been good," teased Kyle.

"Plus," she continued, "This has been a clothing optional meal since I started it this afternoon. I dripped gravy on my body a few times and had to wipe it off myself. Had you been around to clean it off, we would never be eating dinner."

"There are some sacrifices worth making," Kyle said.

"Yes there are," she agreed. "So how was your day?"

"Not as productive as I had expected," he said. "Both of my hoped for meetings with the NSA and at Langley fell through. The customer meetings went well, so it wasn't a total loss."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Have you given any thought to whether you want to watch another movie tonight, or do something else?"

"I thought about it," he said. "Let me ask you something..."

"Go ahead," she said.

"On a scale of one to ten, how likely is it that I will see you later this week?"

"Hmmm," she said in hesitation. "I would say the likelihood is somewhere around a 17 or 18 on the scale you provided."

"In that case," he began, "I would prefer to watch a movie with you, with maybe some friendly teasing about what our first night together physically will be like. I don't mind being aroused, and in fact that has proven impossible to avoid since not meeting you, but I think saving my release for when I can share it with you in person would be much more satisfying for me."

"That's fine for you," she said, "and I will go along with your plan. However, you should know that I am not as good at controlling the release of my arousal where you are concerned, and never have been."

"How so?" he asked.

"I'll describe my very first orgasm to you at some time, but I will tell you now that virtually every one since then has occurred simply by thinking of you. I have learned how to fake a coughing attack, stubbing a toe or other bodily event to cover what sometimes seem to be spontaneous orgasms brought about merely by conscious thoughts of you. These orgasms are nowhere near the quality or intensity of what you stimulated when you were physically with Tara, but they have been rocking my world for years."

"Are you telling me that you can just be sitting in a room, or walking down a street and achieve orgasm without any manual stimulation?" he asked.

"All it takes is thoughts of you," she confirmed. "However, it seems that talking with you tends to sooth the savage beast. Well, that's not really true. I guess what talking to you does is that it channels everything to a more physical need so that my body, rather than achieving orgasm, it just becomes hyper aroused in anticipation of physical contact with you. Does that make sense?"

"Too Freudian for me to comment on one way or the other," he said. "But I look forward to much more research into the subject with you."

"Oh me too," she said. "So which movie do you want to watch tonight?"

"I picked last night," he said. "Your turn tonight."

"Okay. Have you ever seen 'Amanda'?" she asked.

"No, is it good?"

"Kind of quirky, and takes some patience to let the story develop, but I liked it," she said.

"Then let's watch it. I think I will enjoy seeing your definition of 'quirky'."

"That was a fun movie. Thanks for sharing it with me."

"You have put up with 'Chick Flics' with me two nights in a row. Do we need to have your testosterone levels checked?" she teased.

He laughed. "Maybe. I would take one of your 'Chick Flic' movies over some action-packed car chase gore-fest or zombie thriller with no substantive plot any day. Much in the same way that I would rather read a novel than simply thumb through a comic book. If that makes me less a man, I can live with that."

"I judge my men, or I should say 'man' since there's only you, on more than his movie preferences," she told him, "and Kyle, you have always been the 'ideal' man in my eyes."

"Thank you Bubbles."

"I know that you can't say the same thing about me, but I am interested in your perception of the 'ideal' woman. Have you ever given it any thought?"

"To some degree," he said. "But a lot of it was probably more subconscious than conscious, and I'm sure there is some psychological explanation for that."

"Can you describe your 'ideal' woman to me?" she prodded.

"I can try, I suppose. First there are physical attributes that I tend to favor, such as taller women over shorter ones, athletic figures over voluptuous ones, and so on."

"So Cammy and Tara were in the ballpark?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. They matched my ideal perfectly," he confirmed.

"I'm glad. Please go on."

"She should be intelligent, but not intimidating. Funny but not a comic. Charming but not haughty. Again, Cammy and Tara personified."

"When you visualize your ideal woman, what do you see?" she asked.

"Well," he said, "prior to you coming into my life, the physical image in my mind was most often that of Karen Mayes, but the personality image would have been the diametric opposite of her."

"You didn't consider Karen Mayes intelligent, funny, or charming?" she asked.

"Sure, Karen was all those things, just not with me. A woman unwilling to share her attributes tends to be a deal-breaker if you know what I mean. A willingness – no a passion to share herself with me would be the real definition for me of the ideal woman. Karen Mayes was never that where I was concerned."

"How do I match up so far with your perception of the 'ideal' woman?"

"Bubbles, I can tell you with all sincerity that you are redefining my perception of the ideal woman. You have raised the bar to a level that surpasses my original definition by astronomical levels, and I don't even know what you look like yet."

She laughed and said, "How can I be better than 'ideal'?"

"I didn't say you were better than 'ideal', I said you were redefining my definition of 'ideal'. For example, in addition to being intelligent, funny and charming, you have introduced 'intriguing', 'mysterious' and 'passionate' to the mix. Oh, and a good cook too," he added.

"So if I'm cute and cuddly besides do you think you could love me?" she teased.

"Try to stop me," he said. "Just try..."

"I love you Kyle Mason"

"I love you Bubbles."

"You should probably get some sleep. Your body clock is still out of synch with the time zone," she told him.

"Only if you go to sleep now as well. I would like to think that our dreams were occurring at the same time and shared as much as I want our waking hours to be."

"I can do that," she said. "Don't worry about an alarm for the morning. I'll wake you in time for you to be prepared for your breakfast."

"I look forward to it. Goodnight Bubbles."

"Goodnight Kyle, I love you."

"It's beautiful Kyle. Thank you."

"It feels insufficient for all you have done," he told her. He had sent a single red rose back to her in the basket that his dinner had come in. Apparently her delivery boy had just presented it to her.

"Well you are more than sufficient for me without flowers, but I love you for the thought. What's on your agenda for today?" she asked.

"Actually, I'm glad that you brought it up," he responded. "If the day pans out like yesterday and I'm not able to meet with my contacts at the NSA or Langley, I was thinking about trying to catch a return flight this evening instead of waiting for tomorrow morning. I know it would cut into your plans for this evening, but I will more than make it up to you this coming weekend. In fact, one of the reasons I am even considering it is because it will give me more time to plan for our time together once we meet."

"When will you know?"

Kyle could hear the disappointment in her voice. "I should know by 10:00am," he told her. "The problem is how will I let you know?"

"Don't worry about me," she said. "I'll know."

"If I do leave early, will you call me each evening and morning until we meet? I have grown very used to starting and ending my days with you."

"Of course, Kyle. It will be my pleasure."

"So what's on your agenda for today?" he asked her.

"I'm meeting with my boss' boss' boss this morning, but after that I will be working from home. Once back here, I will either be preparing your dinner for this evening or waiting for the next spontaneous orgasm to occur as I think about you. Although, doing both hasn't been a challenge for me so far."

He laughed. "I would really like to see that sometime."

"Play your cards right and maybe you will," she said.

"I play the cards I'm dealt, lovely lady, and you appear to be a Royal Flush in spades."

"Hello," she said as she answered her phone.

"Uh oh, Bubbles doesn't sound happy. What happened?"

"Oh, hi Uncle Mike. Nothing, except he's probably going to fly home today instead of tomorrow. I had hoped to have one more night with him preparing myself."

"Is there anything I can do?" Uncle Mike asked.

She giggled, "There's always something that YOU can do Uncle Mike, but in this case I think it's best if I just modify my original plans and adjust to the change. It really doesn't affect anything; it's just an unexpected complication. The target is still in sight and I still plan to accomplish my mission."

"I don't think I've ever done enough to support you Bubbles. You've been very insistent in maintaining your independence and your own agenda. That's why you're where you are today with your Kyle Mason project. I would have put you out of your misery years ago if you had let me deal with him."

"I know, but I want him to realize that I'm the one who finally got him, on my terms, and without help from you or anyone else. That's the only result that will satisfy me and allow the torment to end."

"Okay, but I'm here if you need anything. I need to run to a meeting, but you know how to reach me if you need to."

"Thanks Uncle Mike. Bye."

Kyle had just finished packing his bags and was checking the room for anything he might have missed when his cell phone rang.

"Kyle Mason," he answered.

"Why do I have to hear about you being in town from my sister instead of my nephew?"

"Crap," Kyle thought. His Uncle had called him directly rather than going through one of his secretaries. This could be good or bad.

"I'm sorry sir, but I know how busy you are and my original schedule for this trip was very fluid. I knew that you would try to make adjustments to accommodate me and I didn't want to waste your time or efforts."

"I appreciate that Kyle, but why don't you let me worry about my schedule from now on. I want you to just let me know that you're coming to town, so at least if your mom calls me I can let her know that you and I are communicating."

"Yes sir."

"And on the subject of your mother, you do know that she has certain expectations for you and Karen Mayes to get together this coming weekend?"

"Sir, I don't think..."

"Stow it Kyle. I know that what happened between you and Karen wasn't your fault, and I'm sure in her heart she knows it too. The problem is that YOU have let things drag on too long without closure for either of you, and that needs to end before your mother – my sister gets her heart broken as well. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Take this number down." He waited for Kyle to say he was ready then read off a phone number.

"Now Kyle, you know I have always been proud of you and stayed out of your decisions out of respect for your self-reliance and personal fortitude. You have never disappointed me with the exception of how you have dealt with the whole Karen Mayes issue. I'm asking you now to man up and bring closure to the situation as soon as possible – preferably by this weekend so that your mother isn't left hanging. Can you do that?"

"Yes sir and you're right. I have been holding out hope for far too long and it has affected my life and relationships up to this point," Kyle told his uncle.

"Kyle, sometimes we make our own hope. Don't go into this with pre-conceived objectives, but keep an open mind – and more importantly an open heart. Don't assume you know what lies in Karen's mind or heart, just make the call and see where things go. Okay?"

"I'll take care of it sir. Thanks." His uncle disconnected.

Kyle continued checking the room for anything he had forgotten, and once satisfied, he went to the front desk to check out. He considered making the requested call during the drive to the airport, but he felt it best to wait so that he wasn't rushed.

After returning the rental car, Kyle called the American Executive Platinum desk to see what earlier flights might be available to get him home this afternoon. There was a flight with a connection through Chicago leaving in about an hour that he could take, or a flight through DFW two hours later. He chose the latter flight and made the necessary arrangements through the agent on the phone.

Once he cleared the security check point at the airport, Kyle sought out the Admirals Club so that he would have a quieter place to hold his conversation. He found an area of the club that was virtually unoccupied and selected a seat near the window. He looked at his watch and wondered if the current time of 1:15pm would be acceptable with her schedule or if he would need to try some other time. "Only one way to find out," he thought and he dialed the number his uncle had provided.

His call was answered on the first ring, "Karen Mayes."

"Hello Karen. I don't know if you remem...

"Kyle Mason? Holy Mother of God, how did you get my number here at work?"

"I'm surprised that you recognized my voice after all these years," he said, "and if you think real hard, you'll probably figure out how I got your number."

"It's not important," she said. "What do you want Kyle?"

"No 'How are you doing?', 'How's your life been?' or other niceties Karen?"

"Those are discussions that friends have Kyle. I think you know my position on that where you are concerned. Nothing has changed."

"Oh I remember," said Kyle. "I am calling to bring closure to us Karen. Apparently one or both of our mothers still harbor optimistic romantic fantasies about you and I, and I can't allow that to continue. In addition, I have fallen for someone and in fairness to her, I need to dismiss my guilt and regrets over you and enter this relationship free of the encumbrance that my feelings for you had brought to every other relationship I have ever had. You will always hold a special place in my heart Karen, whether you want to or not. I just can't hold onto my love of what we might have been any longer."

"Explain how you envision this 'closure' between you and I happening, Kyle. I'm really interested," she said.

Kyle was surprised by the question almost as much as the calmness of her voice. "Naturally, I can't speak for how you will deal with it, but I can't imagine it even being an issue for you, so I'll focus just on my perspective. As I said, I will always hold a special place for you in my heart, but I now simply refuse to accept any responsibility for what happened between us. I didn't do anything wrong and I realize that now."

"I see," she said. "So ruining my life is now okay with you? Putting me through almost fifteen years of torment and misery will just be forgotten? Hmmm, how will I deal with this 'closure' as you put it?"

Kyle started to respond but she cut him off. "I'll tell you how Kyle, it simply isn't going to happen. You can't come to me and call "Ollie-Ollie-Oxen-Free" or something else to indicate you are now safe on home base and can't be tagged. Closure between you and me will be when I say it will be and it will be on my terms."

Kyle almost laughed remembering the recent use of those same words during his weekend with Tara. Fortunately, he was able to restrain himself.

"Fine Karen, what do you need from me for you to obtain closure from your perspective? Or is it that you want to continue playing the role of a martyr? Explain it to me Karen."

She was silent for so long that he checked his phone to make certain that they hadn't been disconnected. Finally she regained her calm and said, "Interesting question; 'What do I want from Kyle Mason?' I don't know Kyle, what do you have to offer me that could possibly right the wrongs of the past between us?"

"You could start by finally telling me what I did to wrong you Karen."

"You continue with being so obtuse that you never realized what you did to torment me," she said. "Nothing else I can tell you would make any difference until you recognize that the problems between us began with you being too blind to the whole situation and our lives at the time."

"And you could have helped me see through the blindness. That's what friends do Karen, and I can't forgive you for shunning me so completely that you doomed our relationship rather than talking to me about what I supposedly did. Your actions hurt me more than anything before or since, so excuse me if I don't have a great deal of sympathy for you claiming to have endured years of torment caused by your own selfishness."

"Fair enough Kyle. I'll just have my say and then I'll enlighten you with what you did. First of all, I don't know who this woman is that you say you have fallen for, but I won't allow it to happen. There is no way that I will ever allow you to have a relationship, a spouse, children or any semblance of a normal life before I do. Think back to high school Kyle, and why no girls would ever date you a second time. I stopped you then, and I'll stop you now. Secondly, I had no timeframe in mind for achieving closure with you, but that has now changed. I will get you Kyle, and it will be sooner now rather than later. My torment began with you and it will end with you, don't ever doubt that. I know that you're not planning on attending our class reunion, but it doesn't matter. I will find you Kyle, and when I do, I will get you. You brought this on yourself buster."

"Fine Karen. Anything else?" he asked.

"You wanted to know what you did to me didn't you?" she asked.

"At this point I think it's more important to you than me, but go ahead."

"It may not be important to you now, but it will mean the world to you very soon," she said.

"Okay, Karen I'll bite. What did I do to torment you and ruin your life?"

She was silent again for several minutes before responding, "You made me love you too much Kyle. You made me love you too damn much. Goodbye."

His flight was delayed due to some unexplained FAA hold, but at least he was allowed to board and take his first class seat before they halted boarding for the rest of the plane during the delay. He had his typical aisle seat in the second first class row on the right side of the cabin. Kyle typically spent the pre-flight period checking and responding to e-mails on his cell phone before he had to shut it down, and seldom paid attention to the other passengers boarding.

It was somewhat hard to ignore the sandaled foot that suddenly appeared on his left armrest as the owner reached down to adjust the strap on the shoe. It was harder still to ignore the tattoo evident just above her left ankle. A Sister?

Kyle turned to look up at the woman just as she removed her foot and continued down the aisle to her seat in the main cabin. She hadn't said anything to him, or acknowledged that she even knew of him, so it may just be a coincidence, but he suspected otherwise.

His suspicions were confirmed when this same woman took the first class seat next to his on the connecting flight from DFW to Orange County. He smiled at her as she scooted past him into the window seat. She was easily as attractive as Cammy and Tara, but with her own unique features. Tall, slender and sexy in her conservative blouse and shorts, she had long brunette hair tied into a pony tail and dark blue eyes.

"I'm sorry it took so long to join you Kyle, but your change in travel plans didn't allow me a lot of time to make my own changes. My name is Lauren Wragg and I'll be your companion for this afternoon."

Chapter Six - Lauren

"You appear younger than your other Sisters," Kyle told her.

Lauren had a small scar on her chin that Kyle had the strongest desire to kiss. Other than the scar and the obvious tattoo on her leg, she looked flawless.

"I may appear a few years younger than Cammy and Tara, but we are the same age."

"Don't get me wrong," he said. "They are both beautiful women, it's just that you look like you're still in high school, or college at the latest."

"Yes," she said nodding. "I do get carded frequently, but it has its benefits in my line of work."

"What sort of work do you do?" asked Kyle.

"I'm a paid escort, an exotic dancer, and I've been in a few adult movie scenes, but I don't consider myself a professional actress" she told him, "so being able to play the role of a young innocent girl positions me for some very lucrative assignments that older looking girls couldn't get."

"I can imagine," Kyle said.

Lauren ran her index finger up the back of Kyle's hand. "What man doesn't look at a young, nubile high school beauty and say to himself, "Boy, wouldn't I like to have that again, knowing what I know now?"

Kyle laughed, "I suppose it happens quite often."

"What about you Kyle? Do you ever see a young body and wonder 'what if'?"

"I wouldn't be embarrassed if I had, but I can't honestly recall having a thought like that," he said.

"I understand that you have some pleasure issues though," she said.

"Do I?" he asked. "That's news to me."

"You're a 'giver' not a 'taker' and you don't easily get aroused by actions you deem focused solely on your unilateral pleasure. Isn't that the jest of things Kyle?"

"I obtain greater satisfaction when it is obvious that both parties are deriving pleasure, but I take exception with this being referred to as an 'issue'."

"My apologies if my choice of words offended you Kyle," she said. "I also understand that you have limited sexual experience – totally of your own choice. You've been very selective and treated sex as something special between two people, which is laudable."

"I think I'm missing the point of this conversation," he said.

"The 'points' of this conversation are that I am your companion this afternoon for a very specific purpose, or purposes," she began.

"First, in the event that you had ever fantasized about taking a young nubile body again, I would be more than willing and able to fulfill that for you. Secondly, the limited sexual experience of your previous partners has likely contributed to your feelings about selfish pleasure. I can make you very aware of the pleasure a woman can derive simply from bestowing pleasure on her mate. You will have no doubt in that regard, believe me. Finally, I will introduce you to new experiences and educate you on how to please your woman in ways that you may not yet even have dreamed about. I understand that you have never had anal sex with a woman, correct? Well that ends today."

"Can I see your tattoo again?" was all that Kyle said in response.

She raised her leg and placed her foot on his lap, wiggling her now bare toes into his crotch. He licked the tip of his index finger and rubbed her tattoo with the moistened digit.

Lauren laughed at him, "It doesn't come off..."

"Well, your approach is so very different than your Sisters that I had to check. What about the pledge to maintain your virginity until your wedding night?" he asked.

"Oh that silly thing," she scoffed. I held to it, but it didn't help my marriage one bit. I was divorced within two months, and that's when I was finally able to start exploring my own sexuality and discovering the real benefits of being a woman."

"Well, even if you're free to explore your sexuality with anyone you choose, and I am flattered beyond words that you would consider me, I am going to have to decline your offer. I want my exploration to be only with the woman I love and for hers to be only with me."

She considered his response and said, "You accepted a physical relationship with Tara as a proxy for Bubbles, why not me?"

"Because you're proposing things that I want to do for the first time with Bubbles and not one of her proxies. Tara sought to take things between us further too, and I told her something very similar to what I am telling you. The shared pleasure between two people means too much to me for one of them to venture out and explore on their own. Sorry."

"No Kyle, actually I'm not sorry at all," she said. "After learning of you and how you protected Tara's virtue even after she practically begged you to take it made me curious if it was just her, or if you were as good as you seemed. I decided to test your resolve so to speak. I'm glad you passed."

Kyle laughed, "Well you are quite the temptress Lauren. So what is your real agenda as my companion if it isn't my sexual education?"

She took his hand in hers and said, "Your early departure has changed my original agenda for our time together. I now need to focus on explaining a few things to you for Bubbles since she probably won't get a chance before you two meet."

"Okay," said Kyle.

"First of all, I believe you fully recognize that Bubbles loves you."

"I do," agreed Kyle.

"Good, but I want to try and describe the depth and intensity of her love, and the tenuous nature of her emotions concerning you."

"I would never hurt her," Kyle said.

"You might do it without knowing," Lauren told him. "You have come to love a woman through physical interactions with her proxies and a few hours of conversation with her directly. You may have expectations of how you two will 'fit' or otherwise be physically compatible that leave you disappointed when you meet. She wants you to know that you will have options."

"Options?"

"Yes Kyle, Bubbles would be devastated if she sensed that you ever just settled for her. Your happiness is the essence of who she is and you need to realize that. If for whatever reason you find Bubbles lacking, you need to know that you have Cammy, Tara, and now me waiting in the wings for you. We're your options Kyle. You would have all the best of Bubbles' love for you packaged in the physical specimen of your choosing."

"I can't believe what I am hearing," Kyle said. "Do any of you think I am so superficial that what Bubbles looks like would matter at this point?"

"Kyle, you misunderstand. Bubbles is beautiful in her own right, and you yourself have commented on this in the past. Remember Kyle, you do know Bubbles. You two have met before, so it is not her appearance that concerns her, it is your rejection of who she really is once you meet her. It's not like she's a first cousin or someone that would present legal challenges for you two having a relationship, but there may be other challenges for you personally. That's why she wants you to know that you have options."

"Oh man this just keeps getting more bizarre," Kyle moaned.

"There's another thing that Bubbles wants you to know Kyle," she continued.

"Of course there is." He looked at his watch to see how much longer this fight would last.

"While Bubbles would step out of the way for one of her Sisters if that is your choice, she won't share you with Karen Mayes. You need to make a choice between them, and do it soon."

"Funny you should mention it," he said. "Right before this flight I called Karen and told her I had met someone else and no longer harbored any regret or guilt related to whatever Karen thought I had done to her. I tried to achieve closure between us, but Karen rejected it. I was going to mention my conversation with Karen the next time that Bubbles and I talk."

"What do you mean 'she rejected it'?" Lauren asked.

"It was actually kind of spooky," Kyle said. "She said that closure between us would come when she decided and on her terms. She went on to say that she would not allow a relationship between me and another woman, admitting that she had interfered with every girl that I dated in high school to insure that they would not go out with me a second time."

"It's probably all bluster," said Lauren, "but I'll make sure Bubbles knows."

They spent the rest of the flight in lighter conversation. Lauren explained how she had married a minister and couldn't exist within the sexual mores he tried to impose on their relationship.

She wanted passion, excitement and adventure, and he wanted sex solely for the purpose of procreation. She found herself in a lesbian relationship with a neighbor who awakened her further and she soon sought out an agent to help her get into exotic dancing, modeling, and finally adult movies. She seldom performed in movies anymore, but she did enjoy the dancing and escort work. She made Kyle promise that he would contact her if he had a bachelor party so that she could be the entertainment.

When they were deplaning, Lauren kissed him as passionately and as deeply as Cammy and Tara had and he could have sworn she was one or both of them.

After recovering from their kiss, she said that she was going to wait at the gate for her next flight. Apparently, she was going to be taking a red-eye back to the east coast due to a commitment she had for the next evening.

Kyle arrived at his apartment just after 5:00pm. He had already planned on taking Thursday and Friday off, so he didn't even bother to start unpacking his luggage that night. He had just finished his dinner of leftover chicken enchiladas when his cell phone rang at 6:30pm.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi sweetheart, how was your dinner?"

Kyle started looking around for a camera. "Hi Bubbles. How did you know that I just finished dinner?"

She laughed, "Because I can hear the dishwasher in the background and didn't assume you would run it before you put your dinner dishes in it."

"Right," Kyle said. "In that case the only thing missing from dinner was my favorite companion. I miss any opportunity to share something in my life with you."

"Oh Kyle, I feel the same way. I want to apologize for Lauren and her little game with you today. I didn't know that she was going to tempt and test you like that."

Kyle laughed, "That's okay. Did she tell you that I checked to see if her tattoo was real?"

Giggling, Bubbles replied, "Yes, and I thought that was a perfect response by you."

"How was your day?" Kyle asked. "I know I threw a wrench into the works with my change of plans, but I really will make it up to you this weekend. I promise."

"Don't worry about it sweetheart. If I didn't have to occasionally adapt to meet your needs and desires, it would be due to you not being in my life. Consequently, I will never complain about a change in plans because the alternative would be unbearable. However, to answer your first question, my day was good. Since I didn't have to prepare you dinner for tonight, I went into my office to get ahead on a few things for when I am out of town."

"When do you get into Orange County?" he asked?

"I am scheduled to arrive late tomorrow. I will call you before I take off to let you know if everything is on schedule."

"Do you want me to pick you up from the airport?" he asked hopefully. "I don't care how late it is."

"Thanks Kyle, but my transportation and accommodations for Thursday night are already arranged. I have laid out Friday morning and afternoon for some last minute preparations for meeting you. Just think, in about forty-eight hours from now, we'll be together."

"Finally!" he said.

"Yes indeed," she agreed. "Now Kyle, fill me in on your conversation with Karen Mayes. How did you happen to speak with her today?"

"My uncle asked me - no he 'told' me to call Karen and get closure with her before my mom drove him crazy. He provided me her number at work and made me promise to call her before she flew to California for the reunion. Apparently, Karen has never let hers or my mom know her feelings about me so they still hold out hope for her and I getting together,"

"Why haven't you explained things to your mom by now?" she asked.

"I've tried," he said, "but when I can't answer the obvious questions about why Karen wouldn't talk to me or anything, my mom dismissed me as just 'being afraid of commitment'. My uncle and I are in agreement that until Karen confirms my story, our moms won't give up on us."

"I take it Karen doesn't want to do that?"

"Apparently not," he said. "She said closure between us will be on her terms and happen when she is ready. She did admit to being the reason why no other girls in high school would ever go on a second date with me, and implied that she would prevent you or any other woman from getting serious with me."

"She's too late where I'm concerned, but I may have a suggestion that could force her hand, at least as far as your moms are concerned."

"I don't know if forcing her hand is smart, but I would love to hear your ideas," he said.

"Why don't you introduce me to your mom this weekend? Once she sees the love between us, she'll have to face reality, and she'll start that by confronting Karen about you and me."

"In principle, that makes sense, but if Karen is staying with her mom while in town for the reunion, there is a very good chance that any confrontation will also include her directly. That could get ugly, and I don't want you to have to be portrayed in an unfavorable light the first time that you meet my mother."

"Kyle, if there is one person in this world that intimidates me less than Karen Mayes, you would be hard pressed to name them. Trust me, she won't cause me any problems. Karen would avoid causing me problems at any cost."

"You two must have some history," he said.

"We definitely do," she said, "and the pain she caused you has always been a major point of contention between the two of us. You apparently didn't mention to her that I was the woman you had fallen for, otherwise you probably would have received a different response from her."

"You're right," he said. "I haven't figured out how to announce you to anyone based upon not knowing who you are. I'm afraid people would not understand my falling for a mystery woman. I can hardly believe it myself, and I'm living the experience."

"Fair enough, but that will be remedied in a couple of days, and then I don't know about you, but I'm going to be shouting my love for you from the rooftops."

"I'll be right there beside you Bubbles."

Kyle looked at his watch and wondered for the hundredth time in the last few hours if Bubbles would call him tonight. She had called him that morning to wake him, as she had done every day this week, and he treasured hearing her voice as the first sound of each new day. She had promised to call him before boarding her flight, but he wasn't sure of an approximate time for that.

When his cell phone rang, he saw from the display that Cliff was calling him. "Hi Cliff, what's up?"

"Hey Kyle, are you in town or on the road?" Cliff asked.

"I got home yesterday afternoon and I'm here until the start of next month. Why?"

"Great," Cliff said. "I need a favor. I just got called into surgery and I won't be able to pick up some of the gift basket stuff from US Toys as I promised Linda. Could you swing by and pick the stuff up and then drop it off to Linda and her committee members at the Doubletree Hotel?"

"Sure Cliff, that won't be a problem," he said. "US Toys is right around the corner from the hotel, plus this will give me a chance to apologize again to Linda for not attending the reunion. What time does this have to be done by?"

"Thanks Kyle, you're a lifesaver. US Toys doesn't close until 9:00pm, but the sooner you can get the stuff to the hotel, the earlier the committee members will be able to finish the baskets and go home. The stuff at US Toys is paid for, so just say you're from our class to pick the stuff up and they should have it ready for you."

"Okay," Kyle said, "let me get some shoes on and I'll head out right now. By the way Cliff, I've been meaning to ask you something..."

"Sure Kyle, but make it quick. I need to go scrub in."

"Do you know a friend of Linda's that goes by the nickname 'Bubbles'?"

"Of course," said Cliff. "So do you."

"So I've been told," Kyle said. "What's her real name?"

"You're kidding me, right?" Cliff said as he started to laugh. "I've got to go Kyle. Thanks again for your help." The call was disconnected.

Kyle found Linda and her committee in a small meeting room off the bar and lounge area of the hotel. Linda saw Kyle enter carrying the box of supplies and rose to greet him.

"Just set the box over against that wall Kyle and we'll take it from here."

Kyle set the box against the wall where indicated and when he turned around he found Linda standing right in front of him with three ladies behind her. These women had been sitting together at a table talking and did not appear to be working with the rest of the committee on the baskets.

Linda approached Kyle, put her arms around his neck and said, "Hello Kyle Mason. My name is Linda Saunders and I'll be your companion for this evening."

Chapter Seven - Linda

"I've never had a married woman as a companion before," laughed Kyle, "but based upon the way that Cliff obviously set me up for this, any regrets I may have contemplated are quickly diminishing."

Linda kissed his cheek, giggled and said, "Reign it in there cowboy, this is a platonic, informative companionship session only. I want to introduce you to a few of my Sisters..."

Linda indicated the three women standing behind her, "First, I would like you to meet Cameron Bellinger, or Cammy as we call her."

A very buxom blonde wearing rimless glasses and standing about five foot three stepped forward and shook Kyle's hand. Her touch was warm and friendly, but nowhere near what he had experienced previously with "Cammy". Plus, Kyle found her homely at best. She just smiled at Kyle's confused expression and stepped back.

"Next," Linda said, "I would like you to meet Tara Greene." An even shorter woman of Asian heritage with spiky black hair, the piercings and snake tattoo that Kyle remembered, plus obvious nipple piercings stepped forward and shook Kyle's hand.

"And last, but not least, I would like you to meet Lauren Wragg." While taller than the others, this woman was still significantly shorter than the person that Kyle has met claiming the same identity. Definitely not the Lauren Wragg that he had met yesterday.

"So this was all a game," Kyle said as his anger started to grow. "There never was a Bubbles. There never was a 'Sisterhood' helping to make me fall in love with one of their own."

"That's where you're wrong Kyle," replied Linda. "And that's why you are here tonight – to learn about love."

Kyle was not mollified. "Bullshit! Where's Bubbles then? Where are the women that she said were the same ones you just introduced? Whe..." His cell phone rang. He checked the display and saw 'unknown caller'. "Great," he thought. "This could be Bubbles, or it could be that psycho Karen Mayes." He chose not to answer.

Linda interrupted his rant further, "If you're going to yell, there's the door Kyle. Feel free to leave at any time. Walk away from the greatest love of your life because you are too impatient to listen to the truth. Get lost loser. I told her you weren't worth her efforts."

Kyle turned and walked out of the room. He was livid. He was confused. He was curious. Rather than going to his car in the parking lot, he walked over to the hotel bar and ordered a beer from the bartender, Steve.

His cell phone rang again and this time he decided to answer it. What else could go wrong?

"What?" he said in the way of a greeting.

"Kyle, it's me. I am so sorry. If I could get a faster flight out there I would be there instantly to explain things in person, and if Linda isn't in front of you within two minutes licking the top of your shoes in apology for what she has done, I'll kick her ass all the way to Santa Monica when I do get there."

Kyle looked up to see Linda rushing out of the meeting room and looking frantically around. She spotted Kyle at the bar and rushed over to him.

"Linda's here," is all he said into the phone.

"Okay. Kyle I need to get on a plane, and I need Linda to explain things to you. Please be patient and remember – always remember that I love you. I'll be with you tomorrow, Kyle. I hope you'll still want me. I love you Kyle Mason." She disconnected the call.

As soon as he took the cell phone from his ear, Linda threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. "Kyle I am so sorry. I told Bubbles that she was better at this stuff than me, but she insisted that you had to know tonight, and she couldn't be here to tell you. Please forgive me."

"Okay," said Kyle, "start at the beginning. Who were my proxies if they weren't the women in there?" He pointed to the meeting room.

"That's easy," Linda said. "They were all Bubbles. One woman appearing as three to be with you. Do you think she would trust the man she loves to another woman – even one of her Sisters?"

"Why?" asked Kyle.

"Why what?" Karen asked.

"Why the charade? Am I perceived as so cruel and brutal that women have to disguise themselves to be around me? From what I hear that Karen Mayes has said about me, I could almost understand women running at the sight of me. I assume because Karen Mayes and Bubbles are both Sisters, that Karen's feelings about me have influenced Bubble's tactics. Am I right?"

"Kyle, I can say with absolute confidence that Karen Mayes' feelings for you directly influenced what Bubbles did to get you to recognize your love for her. You still love Bubbles don't you?"

"Of course," said Kyle, "but I think I may have jeopardized things the other day."

"What happened yesterday?" asked Linda.

"I think I may have antagonized Karen Mayes a bit too much. "Linda, you and Karen were friends. Why did she shut me out of her life? I mean, I know that she equated me calling her a friend with the definition of friend when a boy and girl decide not to be more – such as you and I did, but why didn't she ever say anything to me or let me know how she really felt?"

"I really hoped that you would get this from her at some point, but that seems unlikely now," Linda said. "The basic problem with Karen was that she loved you too much at a time in her life when she wasn't prepared to deal with the risk that her feelings for you presented her."

"Because of her father and brother?" Kyle asked.

"Probably," said Linda. "The two male role models in her life had been taken from her and were soon replaced by you, Kyle. You were her rock, her security – much like a father and older brother would be, but you were also absolutely her heart's sole desire from the time she first saw you. Her and I were best friends, and when you and I explored being boyfriend and girlfriend, I thought that Karen would have a fit. That never happened because Karen knew that we would never hit it off as a couple, and she patiently waited for us to learn that on our own."

"So why didn't she say something later," he asked.

"Because she was afraid of losing you," Karen told him. "She couldn't jeopardize losing the security that she had with you in her life by attempting to start a relationship with you that if it failed, would cost her the only man she loved. She treasured your devotion to her, the security that having you in her life provided, and she wanted you for so much more, but couldn't allow it to happen."

"So what happened to make her so vindictive towards me, blaming me for everything wrong with her life?

"Why do you think she's vindictive?" asked Linda.

"Because she told me that her life is ruined because of me, and that she was going to 'get me' if it was the last thing she did.

"Did she say that she wanted to hurt you or cause you harm, or are you inferring this from her comments?"

Kyle thought for a minute and said, "Well she didn't actually threaten me per se, but from what I heard she sure seemed adamant that she was going to get closure between her and I, and soon."

"Do you want my advice?" asked Linda.

"Sure," said Kyle.

"Bubbles will be here at the hotel tomorrow for the reunion committee meet and greet. I invited her so that you could finally meet the woman who loves you. No one knows Karen as well as Bubbles does. Explain things to her and trust what she tells you to do where Karen is concerned. Bubbles would never let Karen or any other woman hurt you. Trust me, I know."

"Bubbles and I have already discussed Karen, and she shares your confidence that Karen won't want to mess with her. Bubbles will definitely be here tomorrow night?" Kyle asked her.

"In the flesh and as herself. You did it, Kyle. You gave her the confidence in your love to allow her to come forward and build a future with the man she has always loved."

"What time tomorrow?" he asked.

"The meet and greet starts at 6:00pm, and I would expect Bubbles to be here by 7:00pm, she said."

"Will Karen be there?" he asked.

"Karen wasn't invited as far as I know, but even if she shows up, you'll be safe with Bubbles there."

"Couldn't Bubbles meet me someplace else? She knows where I live after all, why not just come to my house?"

Linda considered Kyle's question and replied, "I think that she would feel more comfortable exposing herself to you with other people around, but that's just a guess."

"Well," said Kyle, "I've played her game so far, what's one more night. I'll be there."

"Thank you Kyle," she sighed. "Now Cliff won't have to identify my body before the reunion."

Friday drug on for Kyle. He felt like a child waiting to open his Christmas presents and struggled to find work or other tasks to keep his mind off his finally meeting the 'real' Bubbles.

As was typical, the fact that California was behind the rest of the country by as much as three hours made the morning Kyle's most active part of the day, with calls and meetings diminishing as the day progressed.

He ate lunch in the food court at the mall where he had been running errands. While leaving the mall he thought about Karen Mayes and her comments about "getting him". When he had paired his cell phone with the hands-free Bluetooth feature of his car, he decided to do a little checking on her whereabouts.

"Brandt Consulting, Michelle speaking"

"Hi Michelle, it's Kyle. Can you do a little research for me real quick?" Michelle Loya was one of the best background investigators employed by Brandt Consulting.

"As long as it's simple computer database type research and it doesn't get too protracted I should be able to help you," she said.

"It should be pretty quick and easy. See if you can find airline reservations for yesterday or today under the name 'Karen Mayes'. She works near Washington, DC so you can start with the airports in that area, with her destination being one of the airports in Southern California. Once you have her flight schedule, also see if you can find a hotel reservation for her out here."

"Sounds simple enough," she said. "I'll get back to you in a few minutes."

"Great, thanks." He disconnected the call. Michelle called him back within ten minutes.

"Hi Kyle, this was almost too easy," Michelle told him. "A Karen Mayes flew out of Dulles yesterday evening on American, made a connection in Dallas and arrived into Orange County on the last flight of the day, arriving at 10:45pm. There are no hotel reservations under that name however. Is there someplace that she could be staying besides a hotel, or could she be with someone else?"

"Her mom still lives out here, so I guess she could be staying with her," Kyle said. "What about a reservation for tomorrow night at any local hotels? Start with the Doubletree Hotel in Orange."

Kyle heard Michelle's keyboard clicking. "Nope, sorry," she told him.

"Okay, thanks for checking," Kyle said. "I appreciate your help. Bye Michelle."

"My pleasure Kyle. Goodbye."

Kyle considered the information he had received and then had another thought. He placed another call.

"Hello"

"Hi mom," he said when his mother had answered.

"Kyle! What a wonderful surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"Mom," he started, "this may seem like a strange question, but would you happen to know if Karen Mayes is visiting her mom and aunt right now?"

"Her and her mom just left here. They had been visiting with me for most of the morning. Kyle, Karen has grown into such a beautiful and charming young lady. When you see her at your reunion, you'll see for yourself."

Kyle answered his mom, "Karen has always been both beautiful and charming, mom. However, I have no intention of attending the reunion, so I'll take you on your word that she hasn't changed."

"Why aren't you going to your own reunion Kyle?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter mom," he said. "Do you know how long Karen is planning on staying at her mom's?"

"I believe just until Sunday," she said. "Do you think you'll have a chance to come visit us this weekend? I could invite Karen over so you two could reconnect."

"I don't think that would be a good idea. Karen and I should not be in close proximity to each other right now."

"Well, I don't think Karen shares your sentiment in that regard," she said. "She seemed more excited than I have ever seen her when the prospect of her and you seeing each other was discussed."

"Excited in what way?" Kyle asked.

"Like she was just bursting to share some secret or something. In fact she reminded me of myself when I was trying to keep my engagement to your father secret from my friends until we had told my parents the news."

"Trust me mom, Karen Mayes and I are not getting engaged. In fact, I hope to introduce you to someone very special to me real soon."

"Kyle, have you met someone?" she asked.

"Yeah mom and I'm pretty sure that she's my future. I'll know for sure by the time the weekend is over."

"Oh Kyle I am so happy for you and look forward to meeting her. Karen will be devastated though."

"Karen knows mom. I told her a couple of days ago."

His mom gasped, "Kyle, Karen certainly didn't act like she knew you were involved with someone else. All she could talk about was you and how excited she was about seeing you again. Kyle, Karen has plans for the two of you, and that was obvious from the way she spoke and acted."

"I don't know what to tell you mom..."

"Kyle, please try not to hurt Karen. Follow your heart, but remember what you have always meant to the girl next door."

"I'll do my best mom. Thanks for everything. I'll keep you posted."

"I love you Kyle. Bye"

It was 6:15pm on the dot when Kyle accepted the valet parking ticket and left his car to enter the Doubletree hotel lobby.

He had forgotten to ask Linda where the gathering was in the hotel, so he headed to the lounge area hoping to see a sign indicating the location or run into someone else that he recognized. He saw the usual bartender Steve was working, so he went to the bar, ordered a beer and asked Steve if he knew where the rest of the reunion group was at.

"Sure," Steve said pointing over his shoulder. "They're outside around the pool and in the patio meeting room. It looks like they picked a great night for an outside event."

Kyle accepted the beer and thanked Steve as he paid and tipped him for it. Walking out the door from the lounge to the pool area, Kyle kept his eyes open for any woman who could be Bubbles, while at the same time watching for Karen Mayes. He made his way through the crowd until he saw Cliff, and headed towards him.

Cliff saw Kyle approach and put his hands up in mock surrender.

Kyle chuckled at his friend, put his hand out for a shake and said, "No hard feelings Cliff."

"Glad to hear that," Cliff said. "I see you already have a beer, but remember that there is an open bar out here for our group, so don't pay for anymore from Steve inside. Okay?"

Kyle nodded and said, "I'm not sure how many more drinks I'll be having tonight. Things could go either way for me."

Kyle saw Cliff's glance move from him to over his shoulder as he noticed someone behind Kyle. Simultaneously, virtually every eye around Kyle also found whatever Cliff had seen. Kyle didn't have to look. He knew that there was only one person who could attract that level of attention. Steeling himself, Kyle turned to face her.

She was on the far end of the pool surrounded by people. She wore a red blouse and a lemon yellow skirt. Her short blonde hair had a single barrette holding it back on one side, and above the barrette she had a Hearts-A-Fire rose stuck in her hair.

Before the crowd around her could part, Kyle slipped into the patio meeting room where a group of other men were playing a game of billiards. Kyle worked his way around to the far end of the room looking for the exit back into the hotel. He saw Karen through the window overlooking the pool, but she was still focused on meeting and greeting all the people who naturally flocked to her. He finally found the door leading back into the hotel lounge and went through it.

Kyle saw the sign indicating the restrooms and headed for them. Entering the men's restroom, he contemplated whether he should get his car and drive around until he heard from Bubbles. He really didn't want a confrontation with Karen, especially before he even had a chance to meet Bubbles. His cell phone rang.

He answered it, "Hello".

"Hi sweetheart, are you at the hotel?"

"Sort of," he chuckled. "I'm in a bathroom off the lobby avoiding Karen Mayes. She hasn't seen me yet and I'd like to keep it that way."

"It sounds like she really has you spooked."

"I would just prefer not to see her, at least until I have had a chance to see you first."

"I'll tell you what," she said. "Why don't you join me up here in room 612 and we'll figure out what to do about bringing closure to Karen Mayes in your life once and for all?"

"You're upstairs in room 612 right now?" he asked.

"Yes. I was just getting ready to come down and meet you which is why I called to find out where you were."

"Great," he said. "I'll be right there.

The restroom alcove had an opening to the elevator vestibule so Kyle was able to get on one without having to go back out into the lobby and risking exposure to Karen or anyone else. He arrived on the sixth floor and followed the signs to room 612. The door was open with the thrown deadbolt preventing it from latching completely closed. He pushed through the door, released the deadbolt and allowed the door to close and latch behind him.

"Bubbles?" he said as he walked into the room. It was a suite with a sizeable living area stretched out before him. There was a couch, two overstuffed side chairs, a coffee table and a dining room table with seating for four. Across the room double doors opened up to the bedroom. Kyle walked that direction calling for Bubbles again.

There was a knock at the door, and Kyle rushed to open it, assuming that he had locked Bubbles out when he allowed the door to latch shut completely. Throwing the door open, he came face to face with Karen Mayes.

Karen stared up at Kyle, and then placed her right hand on his chest and began pushing him backwards into the room, saying as she did, "I told you I was going to get you Kyle Mason."

As the door closed and latched behind them she said, "Kyle, please close your mouth before flies get in it."

Karen stepped around Kyle, took his hand and led him into the room towards an overstuffed chair. Turning him and pushing him back until he sat down in the chair. She set her purse on the floor beside his chair and began inspecting the room. As she closed the drapes on the sitting room windows, Kyle finally found his voice.

"Karen, this isn't my room, and I don't think you should be here."

Karen turned to him and laughed. "Actually Kyle, this IS your room. I suspected that you would search for reservations under my name, so I used the oldest trick in the book when I reserved this one. No one ever searches for a reservation under their own name when looking for someone else."

"That's cute," he said, "but I still think you should leave now. I'm expecting someone shortly."

"Bubbles?" she asked. "Bubbles will be here if and when I say so Kyle. While she may refuse to share me with you, I am still considering whether or not I will share her with you. Your responses to me will be the determining factor. Let's start with getting the basics out of the way first. I expect you to listen to what I have to say without interruption or outburst. I don't want a scene such as the one last night with Linda. Understood?"

Kyle simply glared at her and nodded.

"Excellent, she said as she slipped off her sandals and approached his chair. Placing her left foot on the armrest so that her tattoo was clearly visible to him she said, "You have asked about the origin of this tattoo. Do you still want to know?"

"Sure, why not." Kyle mumbled.

Karen kept her leg in place as she continued. "Obviously, it is a picture of a Bottle-Nose Dolphin, so I ask you Kyle, who is the most famous Bottle-Nose Dolphin that you can think of?"

"Are you going to give me a nature quiz or say something meaningful?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, pull up your big boy pants and stop being a petulant child. This will go much easier for everyone if you cooperate. Now answer my question."

Kyle was fuming, and she saw it. "If you ever want to hear from, let alone see Bubbles again, you will get with the program." She told him.

"What have you done with her?" Kyle started to rise from the chair.

"Relax Kyle," she said as she pushed him back down into the chair. "Answer my question."

"Flipper," he spat out.

"Correct. Now, just to reciprocate and share some information with you, I will tell you that this exact tattoo exists on only two women in the world. Two girls who were synchronized swim team partners designed it and are the only ones who ever had it done. Obviously, I am one. Do you care to guess who the other one is?"

"I've seen that tattoo on at least four other women's legs," said Kyle.

"Boy, you hear things Kyle, but you certainly don't listen. Didn't Linda explain the proxies to you last night? There was only one woman disguised as the three different women that you met. I'll get into that more later though. To answer the question that you can't seem to comprehend, Linda Saunders is the only other woman besides me to have this exact tattoo."

"Fine," snorted Kyle. "So what?"

Karen laughed again. "I should have thought to video tape this. You are too priceless. Very annoying, but priceless."

She continued, "For Linda, the significance of the tattoo was the gracious movements of the Bottle-Nose Dolphin while swimming and her desire to emulate the same grace in our routines. For me, the significance was entirely different. I would ask you to try and guess what that was, but I'll save your limited patience for my next question. For me, the significance was the physical memory of my kitten named 'Flipper', but more specifically, the loving, beautiful boy who gave me the best gift I have ever received. The tattoo reminds me of you Kyle."

"I can see the correlation between the tattoo and what you named your kitten, but I'm not buying the rest," he said.

Karen looked down at him with sadness in her eyes. She pushed his legs and scooted his feet apart until she could stand between them. She took a pillow from the couch and placed it on the floor between his feet. Stepping back, she unbuttoned her blouse and slipped it off her shoulders. She wasn't wearing a bra so her perfect breasts were immediately exposed. After laying the blouse across a chair, she unbuttoned her skirt and lowered the zipper. She stepped out of it, bent to pick it up, and laid it across her blouse. Her panties came next and once they sat on top of her skirt, she returned to stand between his legs and then knelt down on the pillow, placing her forearms on his thighs.

She stared into her eyes and spoke softly, "Kyle, Lauren told you that you had options. If you want to select one of them now, I'll understand. I pray that you'll give me a chance to finish before you decide, but I won't stop you if you're set on rejecting me."

"Please get off the floor," he said.

"Please let me stay here. It's important for me to show reverence as part of what I have to say to you. I want you to see me as physically exposed and vulnerable to you as my heart is right now. Please."

He didn't object so she continued. "Kyle, do you remember your tenth birthday?"

He looked surprised but said, "Yeah, I think so."

She smiled at him. "My brother taught me how to blow bubbles in my milk almost as soon as I was weaned off a bottle. I suppose it was in memory of him that after he was killed I started blowing bubbles into any drink I had which was served with a straw. Then on your tenth birthday your Uncle Mike wanted to take you to the old fashioned soda fountain at Watson's Drug Store for an authentic malted milk shake, but you wouldn't go unless he would take me too."

Kyle was nodding as he started to remember the event she was describing. "We shared a malt..." he said.

Beaming at him, she said, "That's right. I wanted strawberry, but it was your birthday, so I agreed to share a chocolate one with you. When it was served, we each put a straw into it. You started sucking up malt, but do you remember what I did?"

He smiled back at her, "You tried to blow bubbles into it but it was too thick. I thought your eyes were going to pop out of your head. Your face was turning bright red and Uncle Mike and I were laughing at you. In fact, I think I fell off my stool because I was laughing so hard."

"And what nickname did you give me once you crawled back onto your stool?"

A look of amazed comprehension came across Kyle's face. "I called you 'Bubbles'," he said. "Then I went into the store and bought you a bottle of blowing bubbles and gave it to you."

She pulled a similar bottle out of her purse, removed the lid and extracted the small plastic stick with hoops at either end. Blowing gently and sending small soap bubbles over their heads, she said, "So to answer the question you kept posing about where Bubbles got her nickname, it was you Kyle. Once I pushed you away, I would ignore you if you ever called me Bubbles, but Uncle Mike and Linda continued to use it."

She took his hands into hers and stared into his eyes. "Now you know why I gave you options, Kyle. I knew that you would be disappointed to learn that the one girl who had hurt you so terribly was the same one courting you now."

Kissing each of his hands, she continued, "Kyle, from the time I recognized there was a difference between boys and girls, you have always been the one boy for this girl. I have never loved anyone other than you, and my love has always been total. You need to understand one thing completely Kyle, and that is that what happened between us was never you. It was always me and my fears, my grief, and my immaturity. You were perfect, and still are."

"So what changed?" he asked.

"Several things," she said. "First, I needed to be on my own in order to prove that I didn't need you to take care of me all the time. Think of it as a daughter leaving her father for the first time, because Kyle, my therapist has shown me that in many ways, you replaced my father in my mind. Even though we were the same age, you were the strong, mature, guiding male figure in my life and I worshiped you for that. It was extremely difficult, especially since I had been so cruel to you, and in my mind I had severed the bond between us to the point of no return. There were so many nights at college when I cried my eyes dry wishing that there was some way that I could undo things between us, but I sensed that I had to remain steadfast and quit Kyle Mason 'cold turkey'. My only solace came from Uncle Mike. He always kept in touch and provided me with the uncle I never had. It wasn't as fulfilling as what I had with you, but it kept total emptiness out of my life."

"Why didn't you ever come home to visit?" he asked.

"I did," she said. "I just did it when I knew that you were away. Once you went into the Air Force, the visits were much more frequent, but also more depressing because I had to witness your mom expressing the same fear and apprehension over your service as I lived every day. As you now know, when I heard about your injuries, I was by your side as quickly as Uncle Mike could make the necessary arrangements for me."

"I wish I would have known," he said.

"A few times I thought you did," she said as tears began to form in her eyes. "I would come to you in your room when I suspected that you would be asleep based upon your medication schedule. I would spend hours holding your hand and just crying. Your injuries forced them to position you in bed on your front with your head in that circular support so you could only see the floor. I wouldn't talk to you for fear of waking you, which almost killed me because I wanted so badly to tell you how much I loved you and how sorry I was for everything. A few times, while I was holding your hand, you would call my name. I would pull back in shock until I realized that you were talking in your sleep and must be dreaming of me. Kyle, I can't tell you how much hope the thought of you still thinking of me instilled in my heart. I vowed right there in your hospital room that I would do whatever it took to get you back into my life."

Kyle offered her the sleeve of his coat for her to wipe her tears and she accepted.

"Once I knew that you were going to be okay and be released shortly, I had to be more careful in my visits. Your medications were being discontinued and your sleep schedule was more variable. Sometimes I would just stand at the door to your room watching you rather than risk holding your hand and waking you up. I returned to the States the same day you did, and almost immediately began seeing a therapist that Uncle Mike found for me. That's when I started to realize just how totally screwed up I was where you were concerned. In addition to the father role I had assigned to you, I apparently also viewed you as a replacement for my older brother. This manifested itself in me using you to protect me from other boys during school and allowing you to look out for me in social settings like dances. The problem was that by seeing you as both a father and brother figure, any thoughts of you and me in a romantic relationship were tinged with feelings of incestuous guilt. Pretty screwed up, huh?"

"I'm no psychiatrist but I can see how all of this fits." Kyle said. "I just wish we could have worked through it sooner, and I wish I could have done more to support you."

"While I too wish it could have been resolved sooner, I now know that you couldn't have supported me Kyle. In order for me to position you in my heart and mind properly, I needed us to be apart during the process."

"Do you feel that you have accomplished your objectives?" he asked.

"I told you how badly I was broken and that I was almost totally fixed, and that's true. Your decision regarding us will make or break my life. I don't want to burden you with a responsibility that you had no choice in Kyle, and I would never want you to make a decision based upon anything other than what your heart tells you to do, but that's the bottom line Kyle. My life is literally in your hands."

She crossed her arms across his lap and lowered her head to lie on top of them. "You can never take care of me again Kyle. If you give us a chance it has to be each of us taking care of one another. It has to be a man and a woman sharing a life and caring for themselves as a couple and as friends. If your lack of confidence in me prevents you from accepting my desire to share my life with you, please consider how Cammy, Tara, or Lauren gave you hope. You have the option of sharing your life with one of them, and Karen Mayes will be out of your life forever.

"How did you do that by the way?" he asked. "How did you make yourself so totally different for each of your proxies?"

She raised her head and looked at him. "I confirmed that your top secret security clearance is still active or I wouldn't be able to tell you, so here goes. You were actually two projects for me Kyle, one personal – which we have been discussing, and one professional. It was the professional project that gave me the courage to finally implement the personal project. It provided me with a degree of anonymity that I felt I needed to approach you.

I am a Deputy Director within the Directorate of Science and Technology at the CIA. My department is tasked with providing technologies in support of field operations tradecraft. Think of me as sort of the character 'Q' in the James Bond movies. Anyway, while at M.I.T. I had started working on nanotechnology for muscle manipulation in humans. This 'Radical Appearance Modification', or RAM development work has continued at the CIA and we have produced several prototypes for nano robots that appear to work as designed. We needed a field test to confirm their function and reliability, so I used myself and my project with you as a test platform. If I could use the technology to disguise myself multiple times from a man who knows and loves me, then we would have all the proof necessary to move the development forward. So, you tell me Kyle, did my technology pass the test?"

"With flying colors," he said. "I would like to learn more about it, but that can wait. Right now I want to return back to our conversation about my decision."

With clear apprehension in her voice she said, "Of course."

"Good," Kyle said as he rose from the chair. "Wait here a second."

He stepped around her and walked through the bedroom and entered the bathroom. He returned almost immediately with one of the hotel's terry cloth robes. He held his hand out to help her stand and said, "Please put this on."

As he held the robe open for her, she put her arms into the sleeves. He then closed it around her and tied the belt in front. "Your reverence and vulnerability has been noted. Now I need to have you confident, secure and equal to me. Is that okay with you?"

She simply nodded and said, "I love you Kyle."

"I have no doubt of that Karen," he said as he sat on the couch and pulled her down beside him.

"Through Bubbles, I came to recognize that I have always loved you Karen, but over the past ten years this love had been almost entirely a fantasy. It was a love for what I envisioned we could have been if you had not rejected me. It was a love built on guilt, regrets, and false hope. I came to resent you for the love I felt for you, and it wasn't until Uncle Mike made me call you the other day that I even attempted to deal with that fact."

She sat quietly listening to him, afraid to look him in the eyes, terrified of what she might finally see there.

Kyle continued, "Contrast this with the hope I have found in the loving, sharing, passionate commitment I see from Bubbles and her proxies. Learning now that you ARE Bubbles presents me with a quandary to say the least. Which woman would I wake up next to each morning for the rest of my life? The scared, insecure, selfish one who didn't have enough confidence to share her pain and confusion with me, or the brave, giving, and passionate woman who has demonstrated her love and devotion in ways I had only imagined. What if I decide on you Karen and at some point you get scared again? What about children? Could I take a chance on having kids with you and not have to worry about your ability to show them the love of a mother?"

Staring at her hands she said, "Bubbles wasn't broken Kyle, Karen was. Bubbles didn't spend weeks at your side in the hospital when you were hurt, Karen did. Bubbles didn't sacrifice everything to try and win your love, Karen did. Bubbles and her proxies aren't real Kyle. Karen and all the love she showed you in disguise is real."

"Then I really don't have the options you proposed, do I?" he asked. "If you admit right now that no identity besides Karen is real, then you are my only choice, right?"

"I'm sorry," she said as she broke into sobs.

"What are you sorry about?"

"Oh Kyle, I am sorry for so many things. I am sorry most of all for the pain I caused you – that I caused us. You deserved so much better than me, and gave me so much more than I deserved in return. I'm sorry for not being stronger and for not trusting your strength. I'm sorry for throwing us away, and now I'm just so terribly sorry that you don't love me anymore."

"You hear, but you don't listen very well. You just admitted that Bubbles and all her proxies weren't real and that all the love I was shown that made me fall for her was really you, so how could I love her and not love you?"

"You love me?"

"From the time I first realized there was a difference between girls and boys, you have always been the one girl for this boy. Of course I love you Karen."

"Oh Kyle I promise, promise, promise with all my heart that you'll never regret your choice if you pick me."

"No more charades, no more proxies, and no more secrets?" he said.

She crawled into his lap and looked him directly in the eyes. "Just Karen loving Kyle and being loved in return if that's okay with you."

"I wouldn't want things any other way," he said as he brought his lips to hers for a quick kiss.

Karen smiled up at Kyle as she removed the rose from her hair. She inserted it into the button hole on Kyle's sport coat. When she raised her eyes to his once again, Kyle couldn't believe the look he was seeing from the girl of his dreams.

"Hello Kyle Mason. My name is Karen Mayes and I will be your companion for the rest of your life..."

Chapter Eight – Karen

Kyle rose from the couch, removed his smartphone from his jacket pocket, plugged an auxiliary cable between it and the in-room stereo, and then turned to her.

"You mentioned coming to see me in the hospital after I was injured, and had I known you were there, I probably would have given you a copy of this song then. You already know that I had been shot six times, with my body armor stopping all but the one that hit below it. The doctors predicted that the damage to my muscle tissue would heal without any issues and that I would recover completely. The three broken ribs actually hurt the most."

"Karen, my initial reaction to the prognosis of my injuries depressed me. I remember thinking that since you seemed to loath my very existence, I had missed a perfect opportunity to give you closure with satisfaction."

Karen gasped, "Oh god Kyle, no!"

He ignored her and continued, "One of my nurses was a country-western fan and frequently played her favorite songs while she was giving me baths, changing my dressing, or making my bed. One Billie Dean song that I heard struck a nerve with me, and I asked her for a copy of it. I have this burnt to a CD, already in an envelope to mail to you. I have almost sent it to you hundreds of times, but now that we're here, would you listen to it with me as we dance?"

Karen looked confused, but took his hand and rose into his arms. "I told you that once you admitted your love for me that the word 'no' would be stricken from my vocabulary where any request from you was concerned."

Kyle selected a song and hit 'play'.

As the lead-in music filled the room, Kyle pulled Karen to him and began to lead her around the furniture.

"You made up your mind it was time it was over
After we had come so far.
I think there's enough pieces of forgiveness
Somewhere in my broken heart.

I would not have chosen the road you have taken,
It has left us miles apart.
I think I can still find the will to keep going
Somewhere in my broken heart...

When the music stopped they stood holding each other for several minutes without speaking or moving. Karen pulled back so that she could look up into his eyes. They remained in place several moments longer just relishing the emotions evident in one another's eyes. Finally, Karen spoke.

"Will you make love to me Kyle?"

"I would love nothing more," he told her, "but that will depend on a decision that you will be asked to make a little bit later."

Karen was about to object when she considered how patient Kyle had been with her. She simply smiled and said, "I'm yours whenever you're ready Kyle."

Kyle leaned down and kissed her, but this time it was not a quick affectionate kiss. This time it was the bonding kiss of two lovers reuniting their passion for one another and it lasted for minutes. Karen was visibly shaking as their lips parted.

"Kyle, you just caused me to have an orgasm with your kiss," she whispered as they broke apart.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

She took his hand and placed it between her legs. Shuttering from his touch she allowed him to feel the moist evidence of her experience.

"Impressive" he said.

"Yes you are," she agreed. "That time you kissed me as Tara right after we stripped and dressed each other was the first time your kiss caused me to orgasm. I'm glad to know it wasn't a fluke."

"We have dinner reservations for a half hour from now," he told her. "I really want to share this with you Karen if you don't mind joining me."

"You made reservations for us?" she asked in surprise.

"I made reservations for myself and a guest. Not knowing the identity of Bubbles at the time, I couldn't use the oldest trick in the book and make the reservations in your name," he teased.

Caressing his face and smiling with adoration she told him, "I guess I'm going to have to work on your tradecraft."

Handing her panties to her he said, "I guess you will. Will you join me?"

"With absolute and most reverent enthusiasm," she told him as she took the offered garment from him and proceeded to get dressed.

"Wonderful. I'm going to call the valet and have my car pulled to the front so we won't have to wait. Do you need anything in order to prepare for dinner?"

Karen walked to the bedroom closet, opened the doors and indicated her luggage within. "I just want to wash my face real quick and then I'll be ready to accompany you. I picked up a change of clothes for you and a few other necessities so you won't be needing anything either. I thought it would be better to buy you the things you might need rather than to freak you out by getting stuff from your house without you knowing." She shot him a mischievous grin.

Kyle laughed and said, "You continue to intrigue me, and I don't want it to ever stop."

"I'll do my best sweetheart. Excuse me for a minute while I powder my nose and then I'll be ready to go."

"Okay," he said, "but remember that you are on the sixth floor and there is no window in the bathroom. I will be blocking the door to the hallway so you won't be able to pull one of your trademark 'powder my nose' disappearing acts this time."

"No more disappearing Kyle. You're stuck with me now."

Returning from the bathroom, Karen picked up her purse and took a card key out of it. Handing it to Kyle she said, "You should have a key to your own room."

"Thank you," said Kyle as he put his arm around her waist and led her out of the room and to the elevators.

Kyle's car was waiting for them at the front entrance to the hotel. He tipped the valet, held the door for Karen and then slid into the driver's seat.

"Would you like the top down?" he asked.

"Yes please. It's a beautiful evening and I don't get as many chances as you do to take advantage of the convertible top feature of this car."

"Do you have a convertible?" Kyle asked her as he pushed the switch to lower the hard top convertible roof on his Volvo C-70.

"I forget how much I have to share with you Kyle. For example, I have never had to make a decision on which car to drive. I always just bought the same model as you, trusting that you had done all the relevant research and were making the right decision. You have never disappointed me. From the Mustang you bought in college to the Subaru Forester you bought during your 'Wild Kingdom' period, to the Jeep you had before the Volvo – I followed your lead every time."

Kyle shot her his own mischievous grin and said, "I wish I would have known. I could have had some fun if I knew you were copying me. Maybe buying a motorcycle or something? Or maybe a nice domestic minivan to make you look like a soccer mom."

"It wouldn't have mattered," she said. "If it was good enough for you, it would have been good enough for me. I have trusted and worshipped you all my life Kyle. Nothing will ever change that."

"I have missed you so much Karen."

"Ditto Kyle."

The drive to the Orange Hill restaurant was quick and uneventful. Kyle turned his car over to the valet and helped Karen from the car. Upon checking in at the hostess podium Karen learned that Kyle had not merely made a reservation, but he had reserved the entire outside deck section of the restaurant. Dozens of hopeful diners were lined up outside the restaurant awaiting the diminished number of seats available due to Kyle's actions.

Kyle had timed his reservation to allow for them to be seated and drinking their before-dinner drinks as they viewed the sunset from the deck. The Southern California sky didn't disappoint them as it lit with the spectacular reds and oranges of a setting sun, followed by the panoramic view of Orange County lighting up below them.

"Karen, will you order for us?" he asked.

She sensed that this was a test. Staring into his eyes, she said, "No Kyle. I want to share whatever you decide upon. Please order for both of us."

Kyle returned her smile and said, "Only if you are honest and refuse anything not to your liking. Deal?"

"Deal," she agreed.

They shared the Orange Hill Sampler as an appetizer, decided against the soup and salad, and selected the Chateaubriand for Two. They both agreed that they were too full for dessert, but did decide to have one last drink before departing. After their drinks were delivered, Kyle stood from the table and moved beside Karen.

Kneeling beside her, he presented her with the ring he had purchased and said, "My love for you will never end. My desire to share my life with you will never fade. You can continue to make things difficult for me, or you can end my misery and agree to be my wife. Please marry me. Oh, and by the way, saying yes will guarantee that you lose your virginity tonight."

Karen never thought it would be possible to laugh so hard and cry so intensely at the same time. She wanted to speak, but she wanted to kiss him just as bad. However her need to hold him and squeeze him until their bodies melted together overruled everything else and she literally flew to his waiting arms.

Finally she said, "How long would it take us to get to Vegas?"

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Yes and No," she admitted. "I would elope with you in an instant, but I know that would disappoint our mothers, and I kind of promised Uncle Mike that he could give me away when you and I got married. Regardless of when or where, all you need to know is that I have dreamed of being Mrs. Kyle Mason since I was eight years old, so in case you missed something in the translation, my answer is a most emphatic 'YES'."

Stepping off the elevator onto the sixth floor of the hotel, Karen hung on Kyle as if she was terrified of any separation between them. He used his card key to open the door, and then scooped Karen into his arms and carried her across the threshold.

"I thought that was for the wedding night," she giggled.

Grinning at her he said, 'So now you want to wait for our wedding night?"

Catching his meaning immediately, she said, "I don't want to wait another minute!"

Kyle continued carrying her until he set her on the bed. She stared up at him with an expression of loving, wanton lust. She sat watching him as he took off his coat, kicked off his shoes and returned to stand before her.

"Karen, I know you love me," he said to her. "I trust that your desire to please me brings you pleasure at least as satisfying as you show me."

She nodded in agreement, but was lost for words as she just stared into his eyes.

Bending down to kiss her lips he whispered to her, "Karen I will not take your virginity tonight or any night..."

Karen gasped in surprise but Kyle continued, "Sometimes the greatest gift one can give another is the unconditional acceptance of a gift bestowed by another. Karen, I promise that I will willingly and unconditionally accept your virginity if you choose to give it to me, but I won't 'take' it. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Standing before him she said, "Would you like to unwrap your gift?"

Kyle made quick work of the few items that Karen was wearing. Standing naked before him once more, she then proceeded to undress him as she rained kisses on each part of his body as it became exposed.

Once she had finished removing his clothes, Karen climbed onto the center of the bed and held her arms up for him to join her. Kyle crawled onto the bed beside her and they melted into each other's body – legs, arms and lips finding their natural fit against the other person. Kisses and caresses were instinctual as their mutual arousal drove their movements.

As they broke their latest kiss, Kyle climbed off the bed and found his sport coat. He extracted something from the pocket and returned to Karen. Her questioning frown was soon replaced with one of surprised humor as Kyle handed her six condom packets. Taking them from Kyle, she sat up on the bed and threw the condoms as far as she could through the bedroom door into the sitting room.

"Does that mean that birth control isn't an issue for you?" he asked with a grin.

"That's exactly what it means," she replied. "I want sex with you to be out of control tonight and forever. I need to experience the real thing with you, without barriers or bounds. While I would prefer to be married when I became pregnant, it is way down on my list of preferences where our future is concerned. What happens happens and I will have zero regrets. Plus, the timing of my cycle isn't right for me to get pregnant right now."

She pulled him back into her arms and said, "Please excuse my impatience." Rolling him onto his back, she began kissing his body as she moved her lips from his forehead and working her way down. When she reached his erection, she was delighted to find him ready for her.

Kissing the tip and licking the drop of him from her lips, she said to him, "Thank you for allowing me to give myself to you Kyle."

"Karen?" he asked as she prepared to straddle him.

With obvious frustration in her voice she said, "What now?"

"I was just going to ask you if you wanted to place a towel under us first. There is likely to be a little blood the first time."

"Arrrrggg!" she said as she jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom. She returned with a bath towel and motioned for Kyle to move so she could lay it beneath him. As he positioned himself again she stood at the side of the bed and said, "Is there anything else or am I going to have to tie you down and take you by force?"

Kyle laughed and reached his hand out to help her back onto the bed. She continued this time to the straddling position that had been her objective before the interruption.

Kyle's erection was lying against his stomach as she lowered herself against him. Karen shuttered at the feeling of him against the outside of her sex. She was so close to an orgasm already that her juices were flowing freely and liberally, coating them both. She slid back and forth on top of his erection for several minutes before rising slightly. Reaching down between them, she positioned the head of his erection to her virgin opening and allowed him to enter her slightly for the first time.

She relished the sensation of him spreading her as she slowly lowered herself onto him. When she felt his head pressing against her hymen she paused to focus on the feelings of him inside her and his response to her. She squeezed around him and felt him throb in response then as she relaxed she felt his pulse through his erection. The feeling and thought of his pulse beating inside her for the first time started her on an orgasmic explosion that she couldn't stop, and didn't want to.

"Kyle I can't hold on," she screamed as her body convulsed and she sank fully on top of him. The pain of her defloration was muffled by the intensity of her simultaneous orgasm. Her body was out of her control as she fell against Kyle's chest and shook involuntarily for several minutes.

She awoke to the sensual feelings of Kyle washing her with a warm wash cloth.

"Hmmm," she moaned. "That feels nice. What happened?"

"Uh," Kyle said, "You passed out."

"I did? For how long? Did we finish? What did I miss?"

Kyle chuckled, "You've only been out for a couple of minutes. Once I was certain that you were okay, I just rolled you over to let you recover for a while."

"Oh Kyle I am so sorry," she cried. "I didn't know what to expect and now I've ruined things for you."

Kissing her lips, he took her hand and directed it to his erection. "Nothing is ruined Karen, we are just getting started. Are you sore?"

"More tender and super sensitive than sore," she admitted after evaluating her body.

"Then let's try spooning," Kyle suggested. He crawled beside her and rolled her so that they were lying on their sides with him behind her. She reached between them and directed his erection between her legs and pushed back against him until he was once more inside her.

"God you fill me so good," she moaned. "The perfect fit."

"I aim to please," he whispered into her ear as he reached over her and began fondling her breasts. In response she began moving her hips and trying to pull him farther into her being.

"Kyle I'm going to burst!" she moaned.

"Another orgasm coming?" he asked.

"Soon," she said, "but I was referring to the love, passion, desire and every other good feeling that my body is struggling to contain right now. I never thought it would be possible to love you more than I have, but sharing this with you proved me wrong. You are taking me to new heights and I don't ever want to come down again."

"We have the rest of our lives to keep climbing," he assured her.

"Please take me Kyle. Show me that you desire me physically without regard for emotions or feelings. Be my caveman and make me your woman."

Kyle didn't respond with words. He pulled away from her and positioned her on her knees with her head resting on her forearms. He moved behind her and slowly reentered her.

"You certainly are good for a guy's ego," he whispered into her ear.

Regaining full consciousness she mumbled, "Huh? What? Oh no, did I do it again?"

"Not as bad as the first time, but yes you passed out again."

He was lying on her back with his erection slowly withering inside her.

"I'm sorry Kyle, but when you erupted inside me it drove me to the most intense physical and emotional orgasm I have ever had. I love being your woman so much I guess my body can't handle it yet. I'll try to do better."

"Hey, I'm not complaining one bit," he assured her. "As soon as you feel up to it, I would love to share the oversized whirlpool bath with you."

"That sounds heavenly," she moaned. "Why don't you go start the water running and by the time it is ready, I should have the power of locomotion again."

Kyle started the bath and then returned to the bed to lie beside her as the water ran. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Words can't describe how much better than okay I am right now," she cooed. "I hope you realize that I am thoroughly and totally devoted to your physical satisfaction, knowing that my reward will always be the incredible and amazing way you make me feel. Nothing that anyone had ever told me and nothing I have ever read came close to preparing me for the Earth-shattering experience that is Kyle Mason."

He kissed her lips and said, "I appreciate that, but are you okay? Are you sore anyplace?"

"Maybe a little tender and extremely sensitive in certain places, but I wouldn't call it 'sore'. I'll be ready for more when you are, let me put it that way," she giggled.

"Well let's see if a warm bath relaxes you enough to allow you to remain conscious the next time," he teased her.

"Kyle, I am so sorry," she said. "I have never fainted in my life and now the intensity of how you make me feel has caused me to do it twice tonight. Do you think that will happen every time we make love?"

"I doubt it, but it's fine with me if it does. "I'll just stock up on smelling salts," he said patting her behind. "Come on, the bath should be about ready."

He helped her from the bed and led her on still shaky legs to the bath. He stepped in first and then assisted her as she joined him. The water was still running so he sat and then pulled her down to sit between his legs so they could gauge the water level with their bodies in the tub. They had a little ways to go, so the water was left on as she leaned back against his chest and sighed in contentment.

She raised her left hand to study her engagement ring. "Want to talk about a wedding?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, "but remember that regardless of what our moms or anyone else wants, your decisions are the ones that matter."

"Our decisions," she corrected him.

He kissed the back of her head and said, "Okay, our decisions. Can you reach to turn off the water?"

She leaned forward, turned off the water and then returned to lean against him again. "I guess we should talk about where we are going to live at some point."

"With my job," he said, "I can live anywhere. In fact I'm sure you know that neither of us really has to work if we don't want to."

"I'm too young to retire, but I wouldn't mind being barefoot and pregnant for several years. I like my job, but I'm not in love with it. Plus, I miss the weather here in Southern California. Being closer to my aunt and mom as they get older has merit too. Would you mind me moving in with you?"

"That won't work," he said. He felt her tense so he kissed her head and continued, "My apartment doesn't allow pets, and I'm sure that you would want to keep Flipper, wouldn't you?"

"I couldn't give up Flipper," she cried.

"Exactly, so we should begin an immediate search for a new place where Flipper would be welcomed. Short-term, I'm sure my mom would love to cat sit for us once she knows about our plans."

Karen laughed, "She would have to fight my mom for the right to cat sit Flipper."

"Okay, so we have decided that we want to stay in this area. Do you have a preference for coastal or inland?" he asked.

She thought about his question for a few minutes and said, "I don't want to live right on the coast, but close enough to walk or ride a bike to the beach would be nice. An area that comes to mind for me is the part of Huntington Beach south of Adams, between Magnolia and Brookhurst. There are some well established neighborhoods with plenty of schools and shopping close by. It's close enough to the beach to make access easy, yet far enough away to avoid the traffic and crowds if we wanted.

"I know the area you're talking about. There are a few neighborhoods across the river in Costa Mesa that also match your description, but I think freeway access is better where you mentioned. Regardless, we could probably find a good sized home on an acceptable lot. The homes are likely close to forty or fifty years old, but we can go as far as tearing the existing house down and rebuilding new if that's what it takes to give us the home we want."

"Can we drive around the area tomorrow?" she asked.

"I think we can fit it into the agenda as long as you allow us to get out of bed at a decent time," he teased.

Karen stroked his legs under the water and said, "I plan on starting with you early, so we should be able to crawl to your car by lunchtime if we're lucky."

He laughed and brought his hands to her thighs. "Okay, so we have to go break the news to our moms first. Then we can drive around the neighborhoods and maybe locate a realtor to work with us. Hold on, I just thought of something."

Kyle stood up behind her and stepped out of the tub. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Just hang on, I'll be right back." He wrapped a towel around his lower body to minimize the water dripping onto the floor and then went out to the sitting room. He returned within seconds carrying his cell phone. Climbing back into the tub, he assumed his previous position behind her and settled in as if he had never left.

"Now be still and no splashing so that my phone stays dry," he said.

"Who are you calling?" she demanded.

"You'll see," he said as he put the phone on speaker and dialed a number from his directory.

His call was answered by a groggy voice, "This better be one hell of a national emergency," his uncle said.

"Hello Uncle Mike. This is your obedient nephew reporting that your assignment has been completed as ordered and the mission was successful."

"Kyle?" Are you telling me that you finally obtained closure between you and Karen Mayes? How is she taking it?"

"I'm taking it quite well Uncle Mike," she giggled in response. "We wanted you to be the first to know that Kyle and I are engaged to be married."

"Jeezus Kyle, when a fire is lit under you things really can get done. Congratulations to both of you. I assume that you will be telling your mothers tomorrow?"

"Yes sir," Kyle said.

"Excellent. Kyle I know it's late, but I really appreciate you giving me the news first. I'm going to enjoy knowing something before my sister for a change. Will you two consider a White House wedding?"

"Oh Uncle Mike, you don't have to do that," said Karen.

"Nonsense. The Secret Service would prefer having the home field advantage where my security is concerned, and the country hasn't experienced the pageantry of a White House wedding for decades. Also, your honeymoon is on me. You just tell me where you want to go and I'll make all the arrangements."

"Thank you Uncle Mike," said Kyle. "We'll mention your offer to our mothers tomorrow and keep you posted."

"Please do. Bubbles, Kyle, I am so happy to hear this news. I know you two have struggled, but we all had confidence that true love would triumph in the end. If there is ever anything I can do, I'm always here for you."

"We love you Uncle Mike," said Karen. "Go back to sleep and thanks again for everything."

"Goodnight you two, and don't let the bathwater get too cold." The call was disconnected as they both looked around the room trying to find a camera.

True to her promise, Karen did start early. There was still darkness around the edge of the window curtains when Kyle felt her mouth stimulating his erection. He feigned sleep to see where she intended to take her actions and he was rewarded when he felt her mount him and sheath him entirely within herself in one swift, tight motion.

Any plans that Karen had for surprise were eliminated as her body betrayed her once again by convulsing in an orgasm as soon as she felt Kyle filling her. To her credit, the screaming of his name in passion was not followed by unconsciousness, but she did have to rest herself against his chest as she recovered enough to continue.

"Well, you're obviously awake now," she whispered into his ear.

"Um Hmm," he mumbled.

"Good," she said. "I missed my caveman." She climbed off of him and rolled over into position for him to once again enter her from behind. "You fill me so good and deep in this position. Please take me Kyle."

Kyle readily obliged and soon they had a strong rhythm going with her pushing back to meet each of his thrusts. Keeping his left hand on her hip, Kyle licked his right thumb and caressed her rosebud. Karen was surprised and didn't know which way to push. She craved the sensations at both openings and didn't want either to cease. Kyle moved his left hand from her hip under to massage her clitoris and Karen nearly bucked him off as the added sensations assaulted her. Letting his thumb wander down to capture some of her free-flowing lubrication, he soon had her rosebud moist enough and relaxed enough for his thumb to enter her past the first knuckle.

Her screams and moans were intelligible until she screamed, "Kyle pull out!"

He quickly pulled himself out of her and tried to remove his thumb, but she reached back and stopped him. Within seconds Kyle felt her erupt and drench them both and the bed with her orgasmic ejaculation.

"Don't stop," she begged as she reached for his erection and pulled him back inside herself. Within seconds they had reestablished a rhythm that soon culminated in his release inside her and her losing consciousness again.

"I'm really going to have to tip the maid well after this," he thought.

He went into the bathroom and returned with a warm, wet wash cloth to clean them both. Karen remained out of it as he cleaned her first, but she awoke in time to take over his cleaning. Noticing the condition of the bed, she turned bright red.

"How embarrassing," she moaned.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'm sure housekeeping in hotels see this kind of thing all the time. We'll just tip them real well and just hope that they haven't put plastic sheets on by the time we come back tonight. On an educational note, it appears that when you squirt you remain conscious."

"Very funny," she said.

"I'm serious," he said. "This is all part of our continuing joint exploration and discovery. I intend to store away and learn from every tidbit of information that you and your body provides me."

"I would like to do the same thing," she pouted, "if I can ever remain conscious long enough."

"I'll share my notes with you," he said as he pulled her to him. "What time is it?"

"It should be around seven. Why?"

"Well, as much as I would love to remain in bed cuddling with you longer, I don't think we will be able to find a dry strip big enough for both us. How about if we get dressed and I'll buy you breakfast at Charley's Chili. Then we can take a walk between the piers and kill a couple of hours before visiting our moms?"

"Can we maybe take a nap later?" she asked.

"I would like that," he said. "I will stop by the front desk and request that housekeeping visit our room as early in the day as possible so we have clean linens by the time we get back."

"I'll be hiding behind the Ficus tree in the lobby while you do that," she groaned.

"How would you like to rent a tandem bike and ride between the piers instead of walking?" Kyle asked her.

They were sitting at one of the outside tables at Charley's Chili people watching and finishing their coffee.

"That would depend on who was in front and who was in back," she said.

"You would have to be in front of course. Do you think I would miss the opportunity to stare at your beautiful behind as you peddled me down the boardwalk?"

She slapped his arm and said, "I knew it! You want to be in back so I won't be able to see if you're helping with the peddling. Plus, what about my desire to stare at your hunky behind?"

"Marriage is all about compromise I hear. How about if you steer one direction and then we'll switch and I'll be in front on the way back?"

"No way. You're not going to put me in a position to watch nothing but your gorgeous butt right before we have to get into a car to go visit our mothers. I can pretty much guarantee that sitting behind you, thinking of your body as the bicycle seat further stimulates me will cause me to have at least one orgasm. I'd rather get those out of the way early so I have a chance to recover."

Kyle almost choked on his coffee and Karen didn't understand his reaction until she saw their server standing behind her chair listening to her. Kyle didn't know which of the women turned a brighter shade of red.

Karen stood up, took Kyle's hand and started walking towards one of the bike rentals.

"You could have told me that someone was standing behind me," she pouted.

"I never had a chance," he apologized. "And I was taught not to interrupt another person while they are talking."

"You just ought to be really glad that I love you Kyle Mason. It seems like all I have done since we became engaged is embarrass myself."

"Think of them as 'humbling' life experiences," he told her.

"You loving me after all I did to us is humbling enough for me. The rest is just embarrassing. Come on, let's go ride a bike and see if I can manage not to do anything else along the way."

Karen was able to restrain herself until they had almost reached the Balboa pier, but once there she had to excuse herself to visit the restroom and dry things off. Taking the lead seat on the return trip, she barely touched the seat, trying to stand as much as possible as she peddled. Kyle didn't mind because the view this afforded him was very pleasing.

While returning the bike rental Kyle asked her, "Have you ever tried a 'tractor seat' on a bike?"

"No," she said. "Why, what's that?"

"It's a larger, broader seat similar to the kind found on tractors. It allows for greater comfort over longer periods of riding time and is most often found on beach cruiser bikes and things like that. I'll see if I can spot one and point it out to you. You might find it less stimulating because your weight would be distributed more to your butt and outer thighs."

"That might help if my stimulation was purely physical, it won't impact my wanton and continuous desire for your body. Any suggestions there?"

"My preferred therapy would be prolonged desensitizing exercises. Let's go see our mothers and then I'll demonstrate my therapeutic techniques."

"Okay, but if I claim to stub my toe in the presence of our mothers, work with me," she giggled.

Driving to the neighborhood where their mothers both still lived, Kyle asked Karen which house they should target first.

"Let's go to mine, and then ask your mom to come over and join us there. It will be easier to tell them all at the same time."

"Works for me," he said.

Within a few minutes he had parked in front of Karen's aunt and mom's house. Kyle called his mom from his cell phone and asked her to come over and join him and Karen for an announcement. Kyle and Karen had barely gotten out of the car when his mom ran between her house and the neighbor's, beating them to the door easily.

Karen's aunt and mom were surprised by Kyle's mom suddenly appearing at their door, but even more surprised to see Karen and Kyle walking up the drive.

"What a wonderful surprise," said Karen's mom. "It's good to see you both together after all these years. I didn't think we would ever get you two to visit us at the same time. I assume we owe this honor to you both being in town for your class reunion?"

Karen hugged her mom and aunt and then hugged Kyle's mom as well. Kyle did the same, and when all the pleasantries were completed Karen asked them all to take seats in the living room. She and Kyle had agreed to avoid any physical contact that might give away the intimacy that they now shared, and Karen kept her left hand in her pocket, even during the hugs.

When everyone but her and Kyle were seated, Karen got a serious look on her face and said, "Mom, Aunt Kelly, Mrs. Mason – I want to ask all of you a big favor." Kyle stood to the side with a blank expression on his face.

"Anything Karen," her mom replied and her aunt and Kyle's mom nodded their agreement.

"Well, I know it's going to be a real burden, but I don't know who else to turn to," Karen faked a sob.

Her mom started to stand but Karen motioned for her to remain seated. "I might as well just spit it out and get it over with." She stepped over next to Kyle and he placed his arm around her.

"Would you all please help me plan my wedding?" She held up her engagement ring for them to see and flew into Kyle's arms as the two mothers and one aunt sat in stunned silence.

Kyle's mom was the first to speak. "Kyle Mason, if I could I would ground you for a year. Just yesterday you were trying to convince me that there was no hope for you and Karen and now you pull this. I hope you are cursed with a son just like you."

Kyle and Karen both laughed. Karen's mom and aunt seemed to find their legs at the same time when they jumped in unison to embrace Kyle and Karen as a couple.

"So tell us about the proposal!" her aunt said.

Karen proceeded to tell them all how Kyle had reserved the entire outer deck at the Orange Hill restaurant, providing the most romantic setting she could imagine and then how he got down on one knee and proposed.

Tears were flowing freely from all the women when Kyle interrupted them. "Karen, you better tell them the bad news."

Gasps came from the three women. "What bad news?" Kyle's mother asked.

"Karen looked at Kyle then turned and answered the question, "Uncle Mike has offered, and Kyle and I would like to accept, a White House wedding."

"Oh if he wasn't President I swear I would shoot that man," Kyle's mom said. Everyone else burst out in laughter

"We know it will be inconvenient for everyone to travel to DC, but weigh that against the hassle of having the Secret Service taking over your plans for the wedding if it was held anywhere else," Karen told them. "Plus you'll have an entire staff of White House social secretaries at you service to make all the arrangements we decide upon."

"Do you have a date in mind?" Karen's mom asked.

Karen blushed and said, "The sooner the better, unless you want your grandchild conceived out of wedlock."

"Well, that answers that," her aunt added with a chuckle. "Are you going back to Virginia on Sunday or will you be staying longer now?"

"Kyle and I will figure things out, but we'll both probably return to Virginia within a week or two to get me packed and ready to relocate out here. This brings up another favor we need to ask of you all. Kyle's apartment doesn't allow animals so we were hoping that we could leave Flipper with you until we find a new home."

"He can stay with me," Kyle's mom offered.

"No, he can stay here," countered Karen's mom.

"What did I tell you?" Karen whispered in Kyle's ear.

"We would really like to stay longer," Karen said, "but the reunion is tonight and Kyle and I wanted to drive around some neighborhoods we are considering for a future home. Can you all join us for dinner tomorrow night and we can discuss the wedding further?"

"Why don't you and Kyle come over to my house for dinner tomorrow and we can all eat there?" offered his mom.

"On one condition," Karen said. "You have to let me make your tuna casserole for Kyle. I was going to make it for him earlier this week but our plans got changed."

"Was that Wednesday's dinner?" he asked her.

She smiled and nodded.

"I'll make certain that I have everything needed for the recipe," his mom agreed.

Karen was out of her clothes and crawling under the fresh linens on their bed before Kyle had finished removing his shoes.

"You are nothing if not enthusiastic," he teased her.

"There are better uses for your mouth right now than speaking, so get with it hunk."

Kyle didn't require further coaxing. He joined her in the bed and immediately dove his face between her legs to taste and smell the arousal she had been hinting of all morning. He began his desensitizing therapy by continuously bringing her to the verge of an orgasm with his mouth, and then backing off until she had calmed down, whereupon he would start over with his ministrations. After almost an hour of 'therapy', he sensed that she was ready to erupt, and expected that her orgasm would entail her once again squirting, so he picked her up, carried her into the bathroom and set her on the vanity counter. Kneeling before her, he allowed her to finally achieve her release.

"Wow," he said when he went to move back from her. "Your juices sure made the floor slippery. You should wait there until I can clean this up some."

"Oh I'm not going anywhere for a while," she said with a grin. She sat on the counter with her back against the mirror the palms of her feet planted on either side of her hips at the edge. Arrayed around her were various bottles and lotions from her toiletry bag that had become scattered when Kyle set her on the counter.

"Make sure that you have solid footing though, because you're going to need it." Kyle was pushing a hand towel around the floor with his foot when he saw her hold up a small clear bottle of personal lubricant. "This seems like the perfect position for me to complete my defloration process. All I need is a willing partner," she teased.

"I think you're right," she said. "Relaxation is the key."

"Hey, I was perfectly relaxed," Kyle said.

"Good," she countered. "Let me go buy a cucumber and we'll see how long you stay relaxed."

"Touché," he laughed.

She snuggled up next to him under the sheets. "We can snooze for a couple of hours before we have to go down to the reunion."

"I don't have a ticket," reminded her.

"Of course you do," she said. "I bought yours the same time I bought mine. I told you I was going to get you, and had planned this weekend as the culmination of my mission. I couldn't attend our reunion and announce our love to the world with you standing out in the hallway."

"One more thing for me to add to the description of my 'ideal' woman – 'persistence'."

"I trusted that you loved me and never wavered in my faith that if I could get myself whole, I would eventually get you. That we could have 'us'," she said. "In fact, I was so confident that I purposely avoided visiting places in this world or doing things that I knew I would want to share only with you. The first time I kissed a man was when you kissed me as Cammy. I've visited New York City dozens of times, but I've resisted doing things like going to the top of the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty until I could go there with you. The same is true of Paris and the Eiffel Tower, all the sights of Rome and so much more. Please start sharing life with me by accompanying me to our reunion."

"Karen, I have always loved you. My challenge over the years has been where to compartmentalize my love because I was never allowed to express it."

"I promise that you will never ever lack for opportunities to express your love for me again," she said as she kissed his ear. "And I promise that you will never ever doubt my love for you either."

"Do you want me to set an alarm?" he asked.

"Probably a good idea," she agreed. "How about setting it for 5:30pm?"

"Done," he said.

"Couldn't you find anything besides 'granny panties'?" Kyle asked as they both dressed.

Karen smiled at him over her shoulder and said, "I would prefer not to wear anything under my skirt, but then I know that I would be leaving droplets of my arousal all over the ballroom floor. As it is, I'm probably going to have to change before the evening is halfway over. The sight of you in those sexy tight slacks is going to make every woman there tonight moist, and I have the added pleasure of the image of you in those black satin boxers, so cut me a break."

"Just so I understand," he teases, "you buy me clothes that you say heighten your arousal, and as my reward, I get to see you wearing underwear suitable for my matron aunts? This is fair how?"

"I haven't seen where my persistent arousal has been viewed as detrimental by you so far," she said. "Don't you like being the beneficiary of the arousal that you cause in me?"

"You know full well that your arousal arouses me, which is another reason I need to 'thank' you for the tightness of these slacks. It looks to be an uncomfortable night for me."

"I'm sorry," she said with a grin, "but I've never had to buy slacks with consideration for such things. I'll try to do better in the future. You just remember that while I want us to act distant at first that is not a green light for you to entice any other women or make them think that you are available. Got it?"

"I had already planned to explain that the reason I was at the reunion stag, but not interested in any women was because I was gay. Will that work for you?"

"Well, that story would validate the reason that I used to give girls as to why they shouldn't date you in high school," she said straight faced.

"You used to tell them that I was gay so they wouldn't date me?" he asked with shock on his face.

"Gotcha," she giggled. "No, I usually just told them that if they dated you that they had better be able to hold their breath under water longer than I could. That generally did the trick."

Kyle chuckled and finished buttoning his shirt. "So how long will you keep 'us' a secret tonight?

"Only until dinner. I will be standing beside you from the moment we arrive, just not touching you..."

"Just like in high school," he said in a melancholy tone.

Karen ran to him, buried her face in his chest and said, "I regret the opportunities I lost for us more than you'll ever know Kyle. I never fooled anyone by the way I treated you except myself."

Kyle hugged her tight and said, "Okay, so what happens at dinner?"

"You and I will be seated next to each other, and when the Master of Ceremonies asks if anyone wants to make a toast, I will stand and proclaim my eternal and everlasting love for you and announce our engagement."

"If that's how you want to handle things, I'll go along," he said.

"Do you have another idea on how you would want to announce it?" she asked.

"I could get on one knee and propose to you again in front of or whole class," he offered.

Karen shook her head and said, "No thanks. I like the memory of your proposal just the way it is." Looking him up and down she said, "You look amazing."

"So do you," he told her. "Are you ready to go?"

"I was," she said. "Now you'll need to give me a minute while I change my underwear..."

Ten minutes later they were picking up their name badges from the reception table in the foyer outside the ballroom. Kyle dutifully followed behind Karen as she moved through the room receiving warm greetings from everyone who saw her. Kyle was greeted as an afterthought by most people who saw him as Karen's escort for the evening and nothing more. Karen had the strap of her small purse wrapped around the fingers of her left hand, both to hide her ring from view, but also as an excuse not to use her left arm for returning the hugs bestowed upon her.

Kyle asked Karen if she would like anything to drink. She looked up at him, and Kyle thought for a moment that she was going to tell him, "I can get it myself", but instead she just nodded to him with a smile. "Whatever you're having will be fine with me. Thanks Kyle."

A couple standing near them witnessed this exchange and Kyle noticed some raised eyebrows. Apparently Karen's past treatment of him had been observed by more than just him, and her new attitude towards him was a surprise to some. This must be why Karen wanted her toast at dinner so badly. She wanted everyone to understand why she had treated Kyle the way she had, and to show their love had persevered in spite of it.

As people began finding seats at the tables for dinner, Karen headed for their spots and allowed Kyle to pull her chair out for her to sit. This action also drew the attention of several people in the room, and Kyle could hear mumbled conversations popping up at other tables. Kyle took his seat beside Karen and was just greeting the other people at their table when Karen made to stand up.

Kyle quickly stood and pulled her chair out for her asking, "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine Kyle. I'll be right back."

Karen walked to the podium where Bob Montrose was stationed as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and was preparing his remarks for the dinner portion of the event. Karen handed something to Bob, kissed him of the cheek and returned to the table beside Kyle. Holding her chair for her once more, he waited for Karen to be seated and then resumed his position beside her.

Bob Montrose tapped the microphone on the podium to get everyone's attention. "Greetings fellow classmates, and thank all of you for joining us tonight. We will have a more formal program with games, opportunities for you all to share favorite memories, and of course song dedications and dancing after dinner. I would like to start our meal period by asking if anyone has a toast that they would like to share with everyone before dinner is served."

Before anyone else could attempt a response, Bob said "Yes, Karen Mayes please lead us in a toast of your choosing."

Kyle rose and pulled out Karen's chair so that she could stand. As she stood, he started to sit back down, but she grabbed his hand and stopped him. Holding his right hand in her left she raised her beer and began her toast.

"I would like to propose a toast to friendship. Friendship is what brings us all here tonight, and it is what made high school bearable for most of us. I was luckier than anyone else in high school, because I had the friendship of one boy, Kyle Mason, even when I did everything possible to push him away. I was not his friend, and shortly I will explain why, but as you can see here tonight, my friend never gave up on me."

She turned to Kyle and kissed Kyle on the lips. As the applause from their classmates subsided, Karen continued, "I think most of you in high school realized the fact that I tried to hide and ignore, which was that Kyle was everything to me. To all of you wonderful men who flattered me with your attention and sought dates with me during high school, I want to apologize once more for my rejection of your offers. There was never anything wrong with you, except that you weren't Kyle Mason. To all you women who sought Kyle's attention only to encounter my very real and serious threats of drowning or other bodily harm if you persisted, the situation hasn't changed," she said with a smile. "In fact it has only gotten more dangerous for you."

She raised her and Kyle's joined hands and turned them so that her engagement ring was clearly visible. There were several gasps from around the room followed by another round of applause.

"That wonderful boy - now this wonderful man, exhibited god-like patience, tolerance, and devotion for me, and I will forever be thankful for him for teaching me the meaning of life and love. Please join me in toasting my lover, my protector, my partner, my fiancé, my past, my present, and my future. Join me in toasting the best friend any girl could ever have. I love you Kyle Mason."

As she clinked her bottle against his the rest of the room joined the toast and then rose in a standing ovation to the happy couple. As the noise began to fade, Bob Montrose regained the room's attention by tapping the microphone.

"As mentioned earlier, we will have dancing and song dedications later, but we will have one special dedication played now. Karen and Kyle, if you would meet on the dance floor..."

Setting their bottles on the table, Kyle and Karen kissed before walking hand in hand onto the portion of the ballroom set up as a dance floor. They had just reached the center of the area when the lead-in music started.

Bob Montrose spoke into the microphone, "This classic song by Roland Kent LaVoie, performing under the name 'Lobo' was released in 1972. Karen would like to dedicate this song to Kyle, and I am more than happy to honor her request right now..."

Kyle took Karen in his arms and began to lead her around the dance floor, trying to concentrate on the words to the song that she wanted him to hear, as well as the angelic, pleading, apologetic look in her eyes.

"I stopped sending flowers to your apartment
You said you aren't home much anymore
I stopped dropping by without an appointment
Cause I'd hear laughter coming through your door.

I love you too much to ever start liking you
So let's just let the story kinda end
I love you too much to ever start liking you
So don't expect me to be your friend...