Chapter 13

Chuck stepped out of the jet and looked around hoping to spot Betsy. A blur was heading towards him. He braced himself for the impact. She threw herself at him, landing with her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. He staggered back a step or two. She was kissing him passionately with tears running down her cheek.

In a husky voice, Chuck said, “I missed you.”

“I missed you.”

Chuck said, “We need to stop by my house.”

“Don’t worry, I straightened it up. I cleaned out your refrigerator,” Betsy said.

She knew that he hadn’t expected to be gone that long and stopped by his place to make sure nothing was spoiling. Whatever food could spoil, she had taken it home so that it could be eaten. In these current times, one did not let food go to waste.

She had also spent some time in the house dusting the shelves, vacuuming the floor, and cleaning the bathroom and kitchen. It was the kind of thing she felt a girlfriend should do. She also felt that she owed it to him. After all, she had asked him to go to the Druid College and escort the interns to the island.

Knowing how much he enjoyed the little garden off to the side of the store, she spent a little time working in it. She mowed the grass with that old fashioned lawn mower. She had a bit of fun running across the lawn pushing it and watching the grass fly from it. She decided that she’d do that from now on.

“We really need to stop by my house,” Chuck said a bit more intensely.

“Why?”

“I really missed you,” Chuck said a little more urgently.

“I missed you, too,” Betsy said hugging him tighter.

Chuck whispered in her ear, “I’m so horny that I’m ready to do you right here.”

“Let’s go,” Betsy said getting excited.

She had been hoping to hear him say those words. She had been worried that he would have engaged in a long good-bye session with some of the students before heading home. She glanced over at the interns and knew that they would have helped him out if he had asked. There were three real pretty young women on that plane.

The interns all stood around watching the interaction. They couldn’t hear the words, but the body language conveyed a lot. Dawn and Shelly looked at each other with a smile.

Dawn said, “How much do you want to bet that they’ll forget about us?”

“They will? They already have,” Shelly said with a grin.

Fred shouted, “Where are we going to stay tonight?”

“We’ve got some space in our modular offices that you can use for now. We’ll figure something out for the long term,” Betsy said.

Chuck said, “Let’s drop them off at your place and then go to mine.”

“That’s a good plan,” Betsy said with a grin.

Chuck and Betsy were seated in the garden next to the store enjoying the nice weather. They had made up for lost time, not just once but several times in quick succession. Chuck had really missed Betsy and the feelings were mutual. Now, both were sated, sexually, and were feeling lazy. Lazy was a feeling that Betsy had never really experienced before, and she thought the experience was novel.

Looking worried, Betsy asked, “So how was she?”

“Who?”

“The girl at the school,” Betsy said trying not to sound worried.

Chuck said, “I don’t know. I didn’t have sex with anyone while I was there.”

“I told you to,” Betsy said.

She was far more relieved than she wanted to admit. Asking him not to have sex in that environment would have been cruel and she knew it. It didn’t make it any easier to accept. She just wished that they had a chance to talk about it before he went there.

“I did talk to your mother,” Chuck said.

“What did she say?” Betsy asked thinking it was highly unlikely that her mother would give him advice that countered what she had told him to do.

Chuck said, “She told me to do the same thing you told me to do. She even told me which woman to approach.”

“That’s what I expected,” Betsy said smugly.

“I was about to do what you told me to do. I was approaching her when I noticed a guy sitting alone and looking miserable. He was the male counterpart to the young woman your mother had picked out for me,” Chuck said.

Betsy said, “There’s always a guy like that, too.”

“I introduced them to each other,” Chuck said.

Holding her breath, Betsy was hoping to hear something good. She asked, “And?”

“She didn’t need me any longer.”

“You must have been in pain,” Betsy said.

She was well aware of what on among first year students. She’d heard more than one young man complain about ‘blue balls.’ The Goddess had invested nearly every healthy living thing with an irresistible desire to continue the species. Those without the desire were not meant to propagate the species.

Shrugging his shoulders, Chuck said, “I let Mrs. Thumb and her four sisters take care of it.”

“Five women?” Betsy asked sitting up and frowning. “We did not discuss you going off with five women.”

Chuck raised his hand and waved it at her. Laughing, he said, “Betsy, meet Mrs. Thumb and her four sisters.”

“Oh,” Betsy said feeling embarrassed by her reaction.

Getting a little more serious, Chuck said, “I couldn’t do what you told me to do. We didn’t really talk about the expectations we have about our relationship. I thought we should discuss something like that before I did anything I might regret later.”

“We did talk about it over the telephone,” Betsy said remembering every word of that conversation.

“That wasn’t really a face to face discussion. For something like this, you need to do better than a three minute phone call,” Chuck said.

“I agree,” Betsy said relieved.

“I guess I assumed that we were in a monogamous relationship,” Chuck said.

During his stay at the Druid College, he had learned that assuming everyone in a relationship had identical expectations could develop into a source of harm. He had also listened to Ed and Kelly talk about love as an infinite resource. Initially, he had thought that idea was just a way to excuse immoral behavior, but after listening to them talk about their marriage and life together he began to have doubts about his initial belief. Seeing them ‘live the talk’ had convinced him they were being exceptionally honest.

Betsy said, “I assumed that too, but I know what kind of pressures a person suddenly immersed in the first year protocol can experience.”

“It was pretty intense,” Chuck said.

Intense wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the experience. It was a pressure cooker with a complete lack of privacy and crowded living conditions. The normal frames of reference didn’t apply with people walking around naked and living in mixed dorm rooms. On top of that was the demands of classes, study groups, and counseling sessions. There wasn’t a moment of peace where one could sit back and make sense of it all.

“I grew up around it, so I didn’t think anything about you going there. I didn’t even think of the possibility that you’d be thrown into the first year protocol. It wasn’t until you mentioned it on the telephone that I realized that it might be a problem.”

“You know that I love you,” Chuck said.

Betsy said, “Yes, and I love you, too.”

“So are we going to be monogamous?” Chuck asked.

Betsy didn’t know how to answer that question. Her parents weren’t. Even William wasn’t monogamous to Lucy although he fought against having other lovers. Few servants of the Gods and Goddesses were monogamous, but they were all honest about it.

She answered, “I don’t know.”

There had been a time not too long ago that that answer would have enraged him. He understood things a little better now as a result of his time at the Druid College. More than one black spot had been erased from his heart.

Betsy said, “I may have a different understanding of love than you.”

“You’re talking about love as an infinite resource, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Betsy said. “I grew up watching my moms and dads. They really love each other and they demonstrate that love openly and honestly. They love a lot of people and a lot of people love them. I’m not talking about superficial crushes or lusts. I’m talking about a deep caring for others in an honest emotional way.”

“I saw that,” Chuck said.

At first, he didn’t want to believe it, but he had seen how they interacted with each other. There was an open honesty and integrity in how they dealt with people. They were honest in their emotions and were not afraid or ashamed to have affection for others. It was kind of humbling to watch them.

Betsy said, “I love Sally and Steve.”

“I know,” Chuck said.

One night while talking with Ed, Chuck had come to an important realization about Betsy and Sally. It dawned on him that the two women shared an intimacy that transcended sexual attraction. It was a pure sharing of emotions about what affected them. They talked about very intimate and personal matters. What hurt one of them affected the other just as strongly.

“You know?”

“I know that you and Sally share everything. You give each other strength. That’s a kind of love.”

“I’m glad you understand. We’ve never done anything sexual,” Betsy said.

“I knew that, too.”

Betsy said, “Unlike William, I don’t know what the future will bring. Will we bring others into our relationship? I don’t know. You’re the first man I’ve ever loved as a lover. I never thought that would happen. I don’t know what will happen a day from now, much less a year from now. I don’t want us to make promises to each other that we may not be able to keep.”

“I understand. It’s easy to cause harm by breaking promises,” Chuck said.

Betsy said, “The greatest harm one can do to another is to break a promise. That’s why adultery is such a horrible activity. It violates a vow that one person makes to another. The violation negates all other promises that have been made. It destroys trust. It destroys lives. It destroys people.”

“I never want to be guilty of that,” Chuck said solemnly.

Until talking with Ed Biggers, Chuck had believed that promises had been made when, in fact, they hadn’t been made. He felt that Betsy’s casual attitude towards nudity was a violation of a promise, but she had made no such promise.

“I will stop undressing in front of others if it will make you feel better.”

“There’s no need to do that.”

“Are you sure?”

Chuck said, “There was a time when I didn’t understand how you could disrobe like that. Every time you undressed in front of others, I got angry. I felt like you were advertising your availability to others. I know better than that, now.

“When I undressed that first day of school, I was naked. I was vulnerable. I was terrified by that vulnerability. I was ashamed of my body. I didn’t like that others could see that I had an erection.

“When I looked around, I saw a hundred people standing there ashamed and afraid. Some people were terrified that they’d give in to their lusts and passions of the moment. It didn’t take long for those negative emotions to be replaced by something different.

“I think that it was about a week after class started that I realized people were once again looking at each other in the eyes, rather than off to the side or staring at the sexual equipment of others. The fear of having their bodies on view had begun to die. Nakedness was being replaced by nudity.

“Before I made that realization, it never dawned on me that when you are undressed, you are nude and not naked. You aren’t vulnerable. You aren’t ashamed. You just are.”

Betsy nodded her head, but didn’t say anything.

Chuck said, “I guess I didn’t really grasp the full significance of the two rules. They seem simple, almost superficial. However, there are depths to them that may take me a lifetime to grasp.”

“My brother thinks I skirt the very boundaries of the rules. I don’t know if I do or not. I worry about it,” Betsy said.

Chuck said, “I think you do the best you can. As a result of your service, you are exposed to abnormal circumstances. There will be times when you deliver great harm, but it will be to prevent an even greater harm.”

“William thinks I enjoy it too much. I don’t.”

“What about those Russians?”

Betsy said, “I made a promise of what would happen. They chose to test that promise.”

“I guess I can understand that,” Chuck said.

“The initial delivery of that promise changed the dynamics as well. Some who were capable, but retained a certain level of morality backed off. The brutes, many of whom were not capable, stepped forward. I ended up dealing with some of the nastier individuals,” Betsy said.

“Do you know that for a fact?”

“Yes and no. I did talk to one man who had been waiting and watching to see what happened. He told me that he had suggested to certain individuals that they should take the contract. He wanted to see how I did against brute strength, cunning, and speed. Many of them were just evil,” Betsy said shaking her head.

“I never really believed in evil until I heard your brother talking about it,” Chuck said.

“I’ve seen it and I’ve fought it,” Betsy said with that same flatness of voice that William used when discussing evil.

“I’ve seen how good you are at fighting. I think the only ones I saw who could stand up against you were William and Ling,” Chuck said.

“I’ve beaten Ling. No one can beat William,” Betsy said.

She had heard the story of how he had counted coup on the woman who had tried to hurt Lucy. It was scary the way he had done it. No one could defend against something like that. She’d sparred with him often enough to know that without using his gift he was formidable. When he used it, he was unbeatable.

“He’s faster than you?”

“No. He’s special. He doesn’t need speed,” Betsy said.

“You can dodge a bullet,” Chuck said not understanding how William could defeat someone who could do that.