"Not this time," Nora told him. "I am forced to agree with your rather astute a.s.sessment, my son." She gave him a small smile.
J. J. grinned back. "I don"t mind if I have to stay home. You need someone to look after you," he told her.
"You are going to college, young man," Nora said firmly. "And I"m going to learn how to operate a computer, and take a course in how to get a job so I can support myself, and you. It"s an adventure, J. J., and I"m actually looking forward to it."
"You are the greatest, Ma," he replied. "I would have thought that you would have gone to pieces over this, but you haven"t. You"re real strong. You even seem happier, and you"re even starting to look different. Prettier."
"Thanks, babe," she said. "Now go study, and I"ll start dinner." His words surprised her. After he had disappeared from the kitchen, she walked into the hall and looked at herself in the mirror. Was she beginning to lose weight? And her face seemed to have lost those stress lines she had been wearing for months. Nothing like a whole lot of loving to make a woman feel better, Nora thought mischievously. She could hardly wait to get to The Channel. She returned to the kitchen and began getting the supper ready for the two of them.
Afterwards she curled up in the den with a magazine, waiting, waiting for her son to go to bed. Just before midnight he came down, got himself a gla.s.s of milk, and said, "I"m going to hit the sack now, Ma. You really should go to bed yourself."
"Good article," she told him, waving the magazine. "I"ll be up eventually." She heard his footsteps retreating back upstairs. She waited another hour just to be certain. Then she crept upstairs, and peeped in his room. J. J. lay deep in sleep. Taking the empty milk gla.s.s, she slipped from the bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. Hurrying back downstairs, she put the gla.s.s in the dishwasher, and then almost ran into the den to turn on the television, her eager fingers punching in sixty-nine. And there was her apartment on the screen. Nora placed her hand flat against the screen, and to her vast relief was immediately in the living room.
"Kyle!" she called. "Are you here?"
He came through the open bedroom door, and Nora flew into his arms. He kissed her hungrily. "G.o.d, Nora, I missed you! You said you"d come last night."
"I couldn"t. J. J. is home at night now. Kyle, if he came into the den now, what would he see?" she asked.
"I guess what"s here," he told her. "I don"t really know."
"Then I can"t stay," Nora said. "I can"t take the chance of his seeing this."
"Don"t go," he begged her. "I need you, baby."
She could see the thick ridge beneath his black silk boxers. "I need you too," she said. "But it"s too dangerous, Kyle."
"Look," he began reasonably, "from the other side you can just see the living room. If we went into the bedroom and closed the door, if anyone came into your den, all they would see is the living room. And if the kid"s asleep, Nora, we have time. Is he a sound sleeper? Does he wake up in the night?"
"J. J.?" She laughed. "No. When he socks, he"s good for at least six hours."
"Then we can take an hour for ourselves, can"t we?" he tempted. "I"ve got some very nice champagne on ice in the bedroom, and I"ve been eating raw oysters all evening waiting for you." He pulled the sash of her robe open, and began to play with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "It would be a shame to let this go to waste," he told her, pulling his p.e.n.i.s from his shorts. "I want to do you, Nora. I need it. You need it too."
She swallowed hard. She did need it. All afternoon she had been thinking about s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g him. "You"re certain if we close the bedroom door, we"ll be safe?"
"Pretty certain," he told her, pushing her through the bedroom door, and kicking it shut behind him. He took her head between his hands and kissed her again. "Just an hour, Nora. Then I will let you go."
She shrugged the silk robe off and reached down to fondle him with both hands. Reaching beneath, she cuddled his b.a.l.l.s in her palm. They were cool to the touch. She tickled them lightly with her fingers.
He slid to his knees, and began to kiss and suckle on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He blew soft little puffs of air onto her flesh. His tongue lapped at her torso. Then his hands slipped around to hold her firmly by her thighs. His tongue poked between her nether lips, seeking her c.l.i.t, and when he found it he began to tease at it with quick jabs.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Nora said breathlessly, feeling the heat begin to rise up within her. "Oh, Kyle, that"s so nice, but I really need to be f.u.c.ked, darling. I"ve been dreaming about it all day."
He stopped and stood up. "A little more foreplay, Nora. It"s nice, and it will make what comes even better."
He lay atop her on the bed for several long minutes, kissing her face, his arms wrapped around her. His body against hers was wonderful. Then at a whispered command Nora drew her left leg up and Kyle pushed his p.e.n.i.s into her wet v.a.g.i.n.a. He f.u.c.ked her slowly, stroke after stroke after stroke, until she was almost ready to scream. He stopped and murmured another command in her ear, and his tongue licked it for emphasis. Nora raised her right leg, but she did not wrap her limbs about him. She just brought them up. He remained buried within her, and then he began to slowly move on her once more, bringing her almost to the point of o.r.g.a.s.m, but stopping again. He whispered again into her ear. Nora raised her legs up farther, rolling backward to raise her hips, allowing him the deepest penetration yet.
She could feel him inside of her. Hard. Oh, G.o.d, so hard. She squeezed him with her v.a.g.i.n.al muscles, making him moan. Then he began to pump her, and Nora"s head began to spin with the pure, hot pleasure he was giving her. She screamed as her own l.u.s.t burgeoned and then burst in a mutual o.r.g.a.s.m, Kyle coming in fierce hot spurts, and her own juices drenching his p.e.n.i.s. "Oh, G.o.d, that was perfect!" she gasped.
"You think?" he groaned, falling back.
Nora was immediately atop him. "Yes!" she said. "I wish I"d known s.e.x was so good before this. Think of all the fun I"ve missed. I"ll bet Jeff never had it this good. He sure didn"t give it to me like you do, Mr. Gorgeous."
He grinned up at her. "Remember, I"m everything you ever wanted, Nora. That"s the way it works here in The Channel."
"I wish I could stay here," she said. "Oh, not forever. Just for a little while to get away from everything unpleasant that"s going on in my life right now."
Kyle looked thoughtful. "I never heard of anyone taking their vacation here, but I suppose you could ask the administrator, Mr. Nicholas."
Nora rolled off of her lover and, propping herself up on an elbow, looked down at him. "The administrator? You have an administrator? What does he do?" She was surprised. There was someone who ran The Channel? Of course there had to be someone in charge. Was he here, or was he there?
"Mr. Nicholas is in charge of The Channel," Kyle said. "I really don"t know what he does, but I suppose someone had to create all of this, and all of us."
"And I can see him?" Fascinating, Nora thought.
"Sure! I can make you an appointment, but let"s make it when you don"t have to worry about your kid. You don"t want to rush an appointment with Mr. Nicholas," Kyle told her.
"Have you ever met him?" Nora asked her lover.
He nodded. "You"d like him. Everyone does."
"Other people from my reality have talked to him?"
"Yeah. Some people who visit The Channel are content to just enjoy their fantasies, like your girlfriends Carla and Tiffany. Others are curious, and want to know how it all works, so they go to see Mr. Nicholas."
"You know Carla and Tiffany?" Interesting.
"I know of them, but no," Kyle told her. "I don"t know them. I don"t fit into their fantasies like I fit into yours, Nora."
"How do you know of them?" Curiouser and curiouser.
"Because I know everything about you, darling. Remember, I"m a part of you," Kyle told her, and then he pulled her down and kissed her.
Nora sighed. "I have to go," she said softly. "I"m so afraid that J. J. will wake up and come looking for me, and find his mother starring in a p.o.r.n movie." She drew away from Kyle. "Tell me, what should I wear to see Mr. Nicholas?"
"You"ve got a closet full of nice things, Nora. Open it, and look," he told her.
She got up, and walking across the bedroom floor to the mirrored walls, behind which was a closet, she pushed open one of the doors. Inside was an entire wardrobe of clothing. It was all beautiful. All expensive. And all in the colors she loved. She turned. "Mine?" she asked Kyle.
"All yours," he said. "Like?"
She pulled out a silk wool suit in palest heather mauve. "Oh, yes, I like very much." She put the suit back.
"The Channel offers you everything you want, Nora," he told her.
"That suit sure didn"t come from Talbots, like most of my stuff," she noted.
"Your wardrobe here is a bit more elegant, more upmarket," he said.
Nora bent and, picking up her shorty robe, slipped it on. "I do have to go," she said to him.
"When will you be back?" he asked her.
Nora shook her head. "I don"t know. With J. J. in the house, I have to be careful."
"I"ll be waiting," he promised her.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"How do I get back before closing time?" she wondered aloud. She hadn"t even considered that when she made her plans to come tonight.
"Just touch the screen of the plasma telly in the living room. When you turn it on you"ll see your den. Good night, Nora, my love."
She blew him a kiss, and hurried back into the living room to turn on the television. When the screen lit she could see her den, in the dimness. Reluctantly she reached out and put her hand flat against the screen. She didn"t want to go back, but she had to if she was going to beat Jeff. And no matter how the cards were stacked against her, Nora had already decided her husband wasn"t going to get his way this time.
Chapter Five.
Nora heard nothing from her husband after he had asked her for a divorce. His attorney, Raoul Kramer, had called Rick and said they would all get together after J. J."s graduation. "No need spoiling the kid"s big day," he said.
"It"s already spoiled, but maybe a few days will give Jeff a little more perspective," Rick replied. "He can"t just dump the woman he"s been married to for over twenty-five years without something."
"Sure he can," Kramer laughed. "I"ll call you in two weeks, Johnson." And he hung up.
"You looked p.i.s.sed," his partner, Joe Pietro d"Angelo, said, coming into Rick"s office. "Let me guess. The Buckley divorce."
"Joe, we gotta do something. Jeff and his lawyer won"t budge. What the h.e.l.l is going to happen to Nora, and her kids?"
"What did Kramer want?"
"They don"t want to discuss anything until after J. J."s graduation," Rick said.
"Okay, no problem," Joe told him. "They"re hoping by putting it off you"ll ease up on some of your demands. This is a game, Rick. They won"t back down. We won"t back down. Jeff Buckley has more to lose than Nora does."
"How do you see that?" Rick asked.
Joe chuckled. "Look, he"s divorcing the long-suffering wife for the younger trophy wife. They want to make a nice nest. He"s obviously found something, and that"s why he wants to sell the house. The kids" college money isn"t enough. He wants to be debt free. No mortgage. He paid off the Ansley Court house a couple of years ago. If he sells it, it"s all profit except for the agent"s commission. And I"ll bet he tries to sell it without an agent. No judge is going to let him disenfranchise Nora and her kids. We take it to a judge, and the judge is going to rule Nora stays in the house until they reach a fair settlement. We can hold them off that way, and Raoul Kramer knows it. They want a fast settlement, and we"re not going to give it to them unless Jeff gets reasonable."
"Nora wants the house," Rick said.
"I don"t think we can get it for her," Joe told his partner. "The best we"re going to do is half the value of the house because her father put down half the down payment. And that"s the absolute best. Kramer is going to claim she never paid a penny of the mortgage. We"re going to have to counterclaim that while she never put money into the house, she did put sweat equity based on her track record as a wife. Nora has always been frugal with Jeff"s money. Tiff says she"s been wearing the same stuff from Talbots for years. She never buys anything for herself. In other words, her good habits have helped Jeff build the wealth he now wants to squander on a younger new wife."
"G.o.d, you"re good!" Rick grinned.
Joe grinned back. "I learned a lot at that big practice I worked for in town when I was a callow youth. People with money get real possessive in a situation like this. What do you think Nora will do when this is all over?"
"She"s planning to go to the community college to learn computer skills and take a course on how to get a job," Rick said.
"Won"t be easy at her age, and with no previous experience," Joe noted, "but if Nora"s careful, she"ll manage. Has she got an apt.i.tude for anything in particular?"
"You got me," Rick said. "I wonder if Jeff will show up at the graduation. Maureen is friends with J. J."s girlfriend, Lily Graham. She told Carla that J. J. doesn"t want his dad there. That he"s really mad at him, especially since he won"t pay J. J."s board at State."
"Yeah," Joe said, "that"s something we"ve got to do for Nora. Tiff was talking to me about it. The kid"s got a soccer scholarship for tuition. Why don"t the rest of us kick in for his dorm and meal plan? It"s only about fifteen hundred apiece. The kid"s got a summer job, and he"s already lined up an on-campus job. That"ll take care of everything else. I"d feel lousy if he lost that scholarship because his father is a h.o.r.n.y p.r.i.c.k."
"It"ll have to come through the girls. I"ll talk to Carl Ulrich, and you speak to Sam Seligmann," Rick suggested. "G.o.d, I hope Jeff doesn"t show up at graduation."
"He"s got to be asked, or Kramer will say we"re turning the kid against his dad. Judges don"t like parents who play divide and conquer," Joe noted.
"I"ll check with Carla, but knowing Nora, she"ll ask him, because she"s just that decent, even if it"s wasted on Jeff," Rick answered.
And of course Nora did make certain that her husband was asked to their son"s graduation. She had stood over J. J. as he addressed the invitation to his graduation to his father"s office, since they had no idea where he was living. After receiving no response, Nora called her husband"s office two days before the graduation, but Jeff, according to Carol, his longtime a.s.sistant, was unavailable to speak with her.
"I just wanted to know if he"s coming to J. J."s graduation, Carol," Nora said. "We sent his invitation to the office. Maybe it didn"t arrive? But graduation is in two days. This weekend."
"Oh, he got the invitation, Mrs. Buckley," Carol said. "I opened it, and gave it to him myself. I can"t imagine J. J. graduating already. I came to work for Mr. Buckley the summer just before J. J. started kindergarten. It doesn"t seem possible that much time has pa.s.sed. I"m sure he"ll be there in spite of everything."
Nora laughed. "I don"t want to put you on the spot, Carol, but satisfy my curiosity. Just a yes or no will do. Does she work in the office?"
There was a long pause, and then Carol said, "Yes." She lowered her voice. "I"m so sorry, Mrs. Buckley!"
"Thank you," Nora responded. "Tell Jeff I called, and I"d like to know one way or the other if he is or isn"t coming."
"Of course, Mrs. Buckley. Good-bye."
"Good-bye, Carol," Nora said.
"I hope he doesn"t come," Jill Buckley said. She had just arrived home that afternoon. "J. J. doesn"t want him there, and for once I agree with my brother."
"He"s your father," Nora said quietly.
"He"s a creep," Jill replied. "Dumping you for another woman is bad enough, Ma, but trying to make you a homeless bag woman stinks."
"It"s a negotiating tactic, Jill. Nothing more. You"ll learn that in law school. Do you have your summer course set up?"
"Yeah. If my college didn"t require those d.a.m.ned gym courses, I could have been through now," Jill grumbled irritably. "At least it doesn"t screw up my waitress job."
"If you had taken those gym courses in your first two years instead of waiting until the last minute, you wouldn"t have had to take them this year, and miss the other course you needed and will now have to take this summer," Nora reminded her daughter.
"I hate that phys-ed stuff. I"m not an athlete like J. J.," Jill replied.
"Honey, don"t you miss not having a graduation?" Nora asked.
"Nah. Lot of bother, Ma. I just want to go to law school, and get on with my life," Jill responded. "And I"ve got to start thinking of an internship for next summer."
Nora shook her head. "You"re your father"s daughter," she said.
"Don"t say that!" Jill cried. "I"m nothing like him! I don"t want to be like him!"