Quaranteam
Chapter 24
As it turned out, the news that Andy had some control in who he was paired up with had completely upended the house, much to his annoyance. He couldn’t be that mad at the girls, but it was still messing with the tranquil energy he’d been trying to cultivate to get through the pandemic and all of its complications.
When Hannah had asked if she could have some time to think about it, she had mentioned that Andy could request people to the rest of the girls, and suddenly there had been a rush on coming to him, asking if he would consider inviting someone they thought he might like to join the household.
Andy had immediately made sure not to make any promises to anyone, which was the best possible decision he could have made for himself. Within 24 hours, Andy had been forced to come up with a system to try and manage it all.
There were five more slots at the dinner table, and Andy had decided that was some kind of sign, so he would only take five more girls into the family. Ash told him straight away that she didn’t have any real friends or family she wanted to bring in, so she volunteered to help manage the process a bit, not doing any of the decision making, but more of guiding the girls to get their pitches in order, and weed out anyone who would be an obvious mismatch for the family. It was lucky for him that she was from Ireland, because Ash turned out to be the only one who didn’t have ideas on who should fill those last slots. Every other member of the house had at least one girl they wanted to suggest to him. Some wanted to pitch him several people, so with Ash’s help, he set down some guidelines on how to go about the process of filling out the remaining spaces in the house.
One of Ash’s first things to insist upon, however, was that Andy only take a total of four girls from the family’s suggestions, not five, and that one girl, one single girl out of the entire family, should be completely and totally his idea, without any outside suggestion or influence.
He’d originally laughed at that, pointing out that none of the girls so far had been anything less than magnificent and he really hadn’t lifted a finger in deciding who they were, but Ash was adamant that Andy make one solitary selection of his own choosing to add to the family. After going back and forth about it in his head, Ash (with the help of both Niko and Emily, who both reinforced the idea to him multiple times over the course of the day) had convinced him that he would carve one slot out for himself. He still wasn’t sure who that would be, but it was swirling around in his mind. He would make that decision after he’d done all of his selections from the girls’ candidates.
The second thing Ash had asked Andy to check on was if the house staff had anyone they thought they wanted to bring on, not to join the family, but as additional house staff. Andy had suspected it would be more of a formality, and that none of the three members of the staff would want to bring anyone else into Andy’s service, but as it turned out, each of the staff had multiple ideas about who might be excellent additions to the Rook household staff team without being good additions to the family, so Andy had agreed to let each of the staff members make a pitch for one person as well, but only in staff positions, which meant they needed to offer some skill or trade that the house could use. Because they wouldn’t count towards his total, he also agreed there wouldn’t be a minimum or maximum number of girls he would take from the staff’s pitch, but stressed that each staff member, like each of the girls from the family, could only pitch one person, no more, so they should make them count. That meant another zero to three women in the house.
The third and final thing that Ash stressed, which Andy absolutely agreed with, was that it needed to be done quickly. Chaos loomed large on the near horizon, and the longer he waited, the more complicated it was going to get. Phil had called Andy to let him know that the announcement was now scheduled for Nov. 20th, and that from that day onward, nothing would be reliable for anyone anywhere. The system might well crack, so it would be best if he had all his ducks in a row beforehand, Phil stressed, and when Phil took the time to repeat himself, Andy made damn sure to listen twice as hard.
It took about a week to get someone from request to arrival, Phil had also explained to Andy, which meant that the absolute latest he could get his requests in by was Nov. 12th, but he also stressed the earlier the better, and so Andy had personally set the 10th as the deadline for his decision, which meant that Monday, November 9th, would be the day all the girls could make their pitches.
That gave all the girls just 48 hours to organize their thoughts and make a good pitch, first to Ash, then to Andy himself. Pitches were allowed to be no longer than ten minutes, and should cover not only the reasons that the girl wanted him to bring her in, but also why she thought that the girl would be compatible with both Andy and the rest of the family. Ash also wanted to make sure that the pitches also included any possible problems or complications that might come with the person’s addition to the house. Ash stressed to each of the girls that they should do their homework before their pitches. Nobody wanted a repeat of the stress Erin had temporarily brought to the house.
Above all, Aisling stressed to the girls that nobody should be upset or angry with Andy’s ultimate decisions. Nine girls, four slots. That was going to means a lot of disappointed people, so Ash wanted to set all their expectations properly. Decisions were going to be hard, but Andy had also made his mind up to not consider any decisions final until he’d heard all twelve pitches.
He’d give himself the night to sleep on the pitches before making any final decisions.
And Andy also insisted that those he did choose would be extended invitations, not just blindly brought in, so the girls were told to prepare a letter to their friends, extolling the virtues of being part of the Rook household, as they say fit.
Andy fully expected many of the people they eventually invited to say no, but that was the pessimist in him.
Saturday and Sunday, he’d mostly gotten to work on the next Druid Guslinger novel undisturbed, as the girls had mostly spent their time developing their pitches. Every so often, he would poke his head out and check on everyone, making sure that nobody was getting angry with one another, but to his delight, not only were the girls not fighting, they were actually working together in some cases, trying to help each other polish up their pitches. The process was bringing them together, not pushing them apart, and that let Andy relax just a little more.
Saturday night at dinner, none of the girls had talked about their pitches, thankfully, which let everyone spend some time getting to know each other a bit better. Andy had noticed that the girls had sort of gravitated into groups: Ash, Niko, Emily and Sarah; Lauren, Taylor, Piper and Sheridan; Asha and Hannah.
The two younger girls got along like a house on fire, and once Hannah had gotten past her initial starstruck impressions with Emily and Sarah, she and Asha had mostly stuck to each other, although they’d drifted in and out of all of the rest of the conversations.
Piper and Lauren both had high end athletic experience, so they’d immediately connected, and Sheridan, while of a different stripe of athleticism, had piggy backed on that. Taylor’s punishment was still in effect, but Lauren was allowing the girl to talk with the others so that she was establishing friendships. Taylor mostly kept with Lauren, but also seemed to get along very well with the other two younger girls, as she was closer to their ages than the others. Andy suspected that once Taylor’s punishment was over that she would divvy her time evenly between Lauren, Asha and Hannah.
Ash, Niko, Emily and Sarah had formed some sort of group hive mind, and did their best to keep Andy’s attention off both the upcoming decisions and the loss of his brother. Sarah had finished the most recent Druid Gunslinger book before coming to bed Friday night, and when she’d finally gotten into bed, her first and only question had been “How long before the next one?” Andy’s response of “when it’s ready” had made her whine a little, but she’d also agreed to be patient and wait until he had a draft he was happy with.
Andy’s one break from writing had been to call his contact over at Working Title, to discuss how they wanted to handle the first draft of the screenplay of “Neon Stonehenge,” the first Druid Gunslinger novel. As much as Andy wanted to take a crack at it, he was forced to admit he wasn’t a screenwriter, so the decision was made to let another writer do the lion’s share of the work and Andy would simply provide notes.
With Sarah Washington attached as Layla Heartseye, the Elven barbarian queen, and Emily Stevens attached as Charlotte Sexton, the titular Gunslinger’s sister, meant that they weren’t just greenlighting the project, they were fast tracking it. Talks were already underway with Christian Kane to take on the lead role.
At dinner, the minute Sarah had started to try and prod him for details about the next one, Emily and Niko had steered her away from it, telling her it would be much better to let him finish the book before she knew a thing about it, which definitely relieved Andy. Eric had usually asked to read the manuscript in quarters, but Andy was still not yet at the 3/4ths mark to show his friend, something Eric had been alright with as he had been a little overwhelmed with all the women moving into his own house.
Some part of Andy had wondered if it was even worth the effort to finish the next book, knowing so many of his readers had probably died in the plague, but the minute he’d been mulling on that, Eric had reminded Andy that he’d once claimed that was long as there were any readers asking for sequels, he’d keep writing them. Eric had called Sunday night after Andy had finished for the day, just to touch base. He’d told Andy he would’ve come over, but that he’d had a few too many drinks to drive himself over.
Eric’s house now stood with seven women in it, and Andy had agreed that he would try to learn all of their names eventually, just as Eric did for Andy’s household, although both of them agreed that the task would definitely take some time. The two men and Phil had all planned to meet up for dinner on Thursday, as they usually did. It was good to keep a routine.
Also on that Sunday, Ash had commandeered the pool house, giving each girl the chance to pitch to her twice, once in the midday and then again in the evening, allowing them to improve and refine upon their pitch.
That had kept the entire house occupied, and allowed Andy to spend all of his time writing, although he did make an exception for lunch, when he’d tended to Jenny and Katie’s needs. In a move that had surprised him, Jenny had insisted Katie ride his cock until he came inside of her, then sucked her share out of her partner’s pussy afterwards. It had proven an excellent test, and Katie had still gotten her fix out of the experience. She’d described it to Andy as “filthy in the best possible way.”
Other than that, Andy went two days without engaging in any sex, a sort of chance to recharge his batteries. He suspected he might have a bit on Monday, but also acknowledged to himself that he was going to be booked wall to wall with the meetings, hearing the girls pitches, so it might even be a third day off from sex.
Monday morning he awoke in bed alone, an absence he definitely noted, but it let him get his morning workout in, followed by a shower. After he got out of the shower, when he went to get dressed, he found a printed schedule of his day on top of his dresser.
10-11: Asha, Emily, Hannah, Jenny
11-12: Katie, Lauren, Nicolette, Niko
12-1: Lunch
1-2: Piper, Sarah, Sheridan, Taylor
2-3: debrief with Aisling
Ash had decided to just organize the girl’s pitches in alphabetical order, so that Andy wouldn’t see any prejudgment on her part. On the schedule, there was also a map of the house’s lower level, a room marked with an X and a note from Ash that read simply “See you there!”
The house was the quietest it had ever been, even his two cats seeming a little perplexed at the lack of people moving around. Andy wandered down to the marked room at about fifteen minutes to 10, finding Aisling already in the room, which had been set up as a little conference room, a large television on the wall doubling as a computer monitor. On the screen was a black screen with the words “Project Pair Up” in friendly white lettering.
“Hey love,” she said to him with a smile. She was dressed in professional looking attire, the most dressed up he’d ever seen her. With the quarantine, everyone had been completely casual, and Andy suddenly felt wildly underdressed, wearing just a pair of jeans and an old, faded Jesus Jones t-shirt. She saw his look and immediately grabbed his arm. “Relax. You’re the one everyone’s pitching to, so you’re allowed to dress however you like. It’s good to be the king,” she giggled.
“You’ve heard all the pitches already, Ash,” he said to her, as she led him to the head of the table, making him sit down. “Anything truly shocking?”
“I told you I wasn’t going to make decisions for you, babe, so you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I wasn’t asking you to make a decision, Ash,” Andy laughed, “simply whether or not you thought this was a good idea or not.”
“Oh, aye,” she nodded. “There’s some truly remarkable women up on offer for you today, and I’m certain there will be some hard decisions in your future, in more ways than one. A few dodgy ones too, by my reckoning, but I’m not the final say in the matter, am I?” She moved to sit down next to him, at his right hand spot, the television screen on the wall opposite him. “There are pros and cons to all of them. But all the girls have agreed nobody will be upset at you, no matter what you decide.”
“And you think they’re all going to hold to that?”
“I told them if they couldn’t then they shouldn’t bother pitching anyone at all. That sort of got them in line.”
Andy nodded sagely. “Where are they?”
“Everyone’s hanging out in the pool house right now, and they’ll come up when we text them, one at a time, so if anyone runs short, or needs to run long, nobody will get interrupted.”
“Okay then, let’s get to it, I suppose.”
Ash nodded, and then picked up her iPhone from the table, sending Asha a text to come to the room. A few minutes later, the half Indian half French girl strolled into the room in a powder blue power suit, her hair done up in a bun, wearing bright red 1950s librarian glasses. “Thanks for letting us pitch ta ye, Andy,” she said, moving to sit down on the chair at the opposite end of the table from him. “Going first is a bit of a pisser, but I s’pose I’ll set the bar high for the lot of’em.”
She picked up the little remote from the table and clicked it, as the monitor behind her sprung to life, an image of a bright, bubbly blonde girl appearing on it. “This is Olivia Shoemaker, my bestie from me London days. Now I know what you’re thinkin’, that she’s young, and you’re nervous or whateva about bringin’ too many young birds into the house. But Livvy’s a doll. She’s a student down at UCSD, so she could just transfer up here and go ta UCSF or Berkeley or Stanford or whateva.” Asha clicked the button and the screen advanced, showing Olivia in a colorful yellow sundress, standing on the Santa Monica pier. “She’s also a right big social media influencer, with half a million followers on Insta and about as many on TikTok. They were tryin’ to get her to appear on Love Island back home, but she said she wanted to wait until she was a bit older for that. She’s 19, she’s fit and she’s a babe. We’ve been friends since we was toddlers, an’ I know she’d likely fall for you like I have.”
“What’s she going to school for?” Andy asked.
“She’s undecided right now, but she’s thinking she might get into international finance. Banking, stocks, that lot. She changes her mind about that all the time, though, so who knows where she’ll end up. Girl’s got a mind that goes a kilometer a minute, you ask me.”
“You think I’d be her type?” Andy asked, a touch of doubt in his voice. “I have trouble imagining someone like her being satisfied with someone older like me. I’m not particularly social media savvy, and she looks like the kind of girl who would take one look at me and think ‘old man.’ And that’s no judgment on her—I’m just saying, you want to make sure this is someone who you think is going to be happy here, and with me. Simply because I can request anyone I want to doesn’t mean that I necessarily should.”
“She and I have been friends since we were wee high, so if I tell her she’ll like you, she’ll trust me on tha’, and once she gets to know you, she’ll fall for you like e’eryone does, Daddy.”
He still wasn’t entirely comfortable with her calling him that, but he’d learned that telling Asha no just made her do the thing twice as much, so he was hoping she’d get it out of her system eventually.
“And part of the pitch process was also you identifying what the challenges might be if I were to extend her an invite to our family. So what do you think those would be?”
“Um,” Asha said, looking down at the table a moment. “I’m not gonna lie ta ye, Andy. She can be a mite tad possessive. Her last relationship imploded because her boyfriend gave another girl a ride home after a party, and she thought he’d cheated on her.”
Andy winced a little bit. That struck him as more than a challenge. “So you think that’s not going to be a problem here, where she has to share me with all of these other women?”
“She’ll get over it!” Asha pouted. “She just needs to be shown that not all men are lads, and that she doesn’t have to have someone’s complete attention all the time to get by in the world.”
“Do you know what she likes and dislikes sexually?” Ash asked her, cutting straight to the point. “Are you sure she’s compatible with Andy?”
“She’s a bit more reserved than I am,” Asha sighed. “More reserved than she oughta be, you ask me, but I don’ like the idea of her just fallin’ in with some bloke who won’t do right by her. She deserves better’n that. The prude walls hafta come down sooner or later.”
“But do you think she and I would make each other happy?” Andy asked.
“I’d like to think so, Andy,” Asha said, “but I’m no’ sure one way or the other. I’m just tryin’ to look out for her.”
“Okay, Asha. You’re the first one we’ve talked to today, so obviously we have a lot more pitches to hear, so we’ll keep your friend in mind.”
Asha nodded, standing up again. “An’ if you decide she’s not for you, Andy, I’d understand, but, y’know, maybe pass her on to one of your friends around the town as a thought? It’d just be nice to have one of me mates around here.”
Andy smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Asha walked over, leaned down and gave Andy a soft kiss. “Thanks, Da. I’ll see you at dinner, yeah?” Before Andy could answer, Asha was already heading out the door, closing it behind her. Aisling pushed the button and the screen moved to a simple black background with “next: Emily” in white letters on it in a classy font.
He turned to look at Aisling, not entirely sure what to say, which made Ash giggle. “They’re all very different, Andy, so you’ll just have to decide for yourself.” She sent a text message on her phone to Emily, letting her know to start heading to the conference room.
“An influencer, though?” Andy said, rolling his eyes. “I still don’t get how anyone can think that’s a real job.” He sighed, seeing the smirk on Ash’s face. “I think it’s more likely that I’ll recommend her over to Eric or Phil, but I’ll try to keep an open mind.”
“That’s all anyone’s asking, love.”
“Emily’s pitch isn’t also for a social media influencer, is it?” he asked, caution plain on his face.
“Olivia was the only one, silly, so you can relax.” He nodded, hearing a knock at the door. “C’mon in, Ems!”
Emily entered the room, and it seemed as though all the girls were going to be in their best professional wear today. She had a modest dress than hung nearly to her ankles and a bright red silk blouse that was almost entirely buttoned up. She looked like was planning to meet the head of some movie studio more than simply talking to Andy and Aisling. She gave a warm, impish little smile and wave, then pulled the door closed behind her. “Hey love. Ash. This is so exciting!” she giggled. “How did Asha do?”
Andy was about to say something when Ash put her hand on his wrist to quiet him. “He’s not going to talk about any of the pitches to anyone other than me until he’s heard them all, Ems, so I don’t know why you’re asking.”
The blonde Brit giggled again, flashing a little wink. “I asked because I almost got him to spill the goss.” Emily moved to sit down in the pitcher’s chair, and picked up the remote. “But it’s fine, it’s fine. Andy darling, let me present to you Summer Steele.”
She clicked on the remote and the screen behind her flickered and turned into an image of a woman in her late 30s sitting behind a camera, clearly on a set somewhere. Summer was fit, although not overly muscular, with hair a deep dark brown, like a freshly cut walnut tree. Her nose was slightly crooked, like it had been broken and reset at least once. Her skin had a natural tan to it. Andy suspected her heritage was either Jewish or Palestinian. She looked focused on whatever she was working on. She was certainly lovely, but also had a tough, street fighter kind of vibe to her. She was dressed in leather pants and a leather jacket over some kind of t-shirt, as she peered at the camera’s monitor.
“Her real first name is Maya, but professionally she’s been Summer Steele for nearly a decade now. I think you can call her either.”
Click. The image turned to show the woman on set of one of the Daggerfall Academy movies with Emily, one of the later ones clearly, judging by Emily’s age in the picture. It looked as though Maya was teaching Emily some moves for an upcoming scene.
“We first met when she was the stunt coordinator and 2nd AD for ‘Power Taken: Daggerfall Academy IV.’ We’ve been friends since then, but she’s gone on to direct episodes of all sorts of shows: ‘The Last Garrison,’ ‘Everyone Dies At Midnight,’ ‘Uprising From Below,’ and even a couple for Disney+, although she obviously can’t tell me about any of those.”
Click. The image shifted and was replaced by an image of current Hollywood it guy Scotty Jansen with his arm around her, as she sipped from a beer, probably at some afterparty in the Hollywood hills. “She was with Scott Jansen up until January of this year when they split after Scotty got drunk and put his foot in his mouth one too many times. There were lots of reasons they were never going to work out, but this was the final straw.”
Click. A new image appeared, with Maya in between Sarah and Emily, the three women clearly out for a night on the town, although based on the buildings behind them, Andy would’ve guessed they were somewhere in central Europe. “So, she knows Sarah and I rather well, and we can both vouch that under her occasionally crass veneer, she’s a sweetheart with a kind spirit. Many of the things some lesser men would find turnoffs—her tendency to drink and swear, her sometimes lacking sense of tact, her habit of acting first and thinking later—those are all things you like in a woman, so that’s delightful.”
“Well, as long as she isn’t sloshingly drunk all the time, Emily,” Andy said. “I don’t want to bring in a dangerous alcoholic we’re going to need to check into rehab all the time.”
Emily flapped a hand dismissively in his direction. “Nothing so coarse, my love. While she can attack a bottle with a gusto I’ve yet to see rivaled, she does keep those benders to a manageable number, and never lets them affect the rest of her life.”
“Alright, carry on.”
“She likes the same kind of sex you do, Andy—she’s a talker, and she enjoys both the softer and harder sides of it. She’s very professional and you’ve made a point to tell all of us that if we want to continue working and chasing our dreams, we should do it, something she would very much appreciate, as she’s certainly making headway. She directed her first film last year, ‘The Secret In The Shadows,’ and while it didn’t win any awards, it came in under budget and over-performed expectations by a sizable amount, so she’s in talks to do another movie after the pandemic has passed.”
“Where’s she from?” Ash asked her.
Click. Andy suspected this was the most recent photo of the woman, and she’d undergone a drastic haircut. The left side of her head was shorn down to almost a buzz, while the front had a large flop of hair dyed bright green hanging over one eye, a look Andy had been told was called an undercut. She was wearing a white tanktop and he could see the woman had tattoos on each of her shoulders, epaulets of ink depicting fighting fish in a lake, done in a Japanese style. “Upstate New York. Her father was a rabbi and a jeweler, her mother ran a deli. Dad passed away last year from a heart attack, so her mom’s running both businesses now. No brothers or sisters. Maya’s got a few friends in the LA area, but for the most part, she’s on the go so much that she really never settled anywhere. I’d like for her to settle with us.”
“What sort of challenges do you anticipate?” Andy questioned. He had a yellow legal pad of paper in front of him, and he’d been keeping small notes during the presentations, mostly so he could keep everything straight in his head at the end.
“Two, but both I think aren’t dealbreakers. First, she’s going to want to continue working so there may come a time when Andy might need to do a bit of travel to accommodate Maya’s schedule, or Maya will simply need to ensure that most of her work as a director is done relatively local to here. I know that there have been some sound stages built in Oakland for the purpose of doing more film work here, so we will simply need to remind her of that.”
“And the other?”
“The other is a little more of a challenge, but mostly just for you, love,” Emily said to Andy, her coy smile widening a little. “Maya isn’t at all bi-curious. She is absolutely, positively, 100% heterosexual, meaning that you would need to tend to her needs without anyone else as company. I know this because both Sarah and I have made passes at her, only to be told that she’s very much ‘men only.’ She would be completely aware of the rest of us, but simply wouldn’t want to partake in any group activities. That also might mean you would need to share a bed with just her every once in a while, so she feels like she has as much a stake in you as everyone else, but you’re clever, so I think you would do fine. Like you told me, constraints are simply gifts to creativity.”
“Do you think I would make her happy? Do you think she would make me happy?”
Emily nodded. “It wouldn’t be without minor complications, naturally, but I think you two would get along like a house on fire, and she would fit into the house much like Lauren does—present and eager with you when she’s spending time with you, and self-reliant and capable when she isn’t. She started as a stuntwoman before she got into directing, so she has always had an uphill climb in her life. We aren’t best mates, but she’d thrive here, she’d adore you and I think she’d make you happy as well.”
The tiny Brit clicked the button and the screen advanced to black once more, with white letters reading “next: Hannah” in the center of it.
“No matter what you decide, love,” Emily said, getting up from her chair, making her way over to Andy, “I just want to say that all of the girls are thrilled you’re asking us for our opinions on this, and it means the world to the lot of us that you’re letting us have a say in who we want to join the family. You didn’t have to ask anyone for their opinion, so the fact that you are, well, it shows even further that you’re quite the good man, Andy Rook.” Emily leaned in and kissed him, soft and tender, but backed with a lot of love, before she finally pulled away and gave him and Ash a little wave goodbye, slipping out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Ash smirked as he looked over in her direction. “They’re all probably going to say something like that, just so you know, love,” she told him. “They’ve all been getting stories from Niko about how things are on the base, or from the girls involved in the poker game, and so they know what a weird place the world is in right now, and everyone’s delighted how you’re handling this.”
“Hell, if I was handling it my way, I’d probably just have stopped here, Ash, and not added anyone else to the family, but based on what Phil’s told me, I’m going to spend the next five years hearing that I need to help usher in a new generation to save this one.”
The Irish girl giggled and offered him a little shrug. “It’s such a hard life, isn’t it, having beautiful women constantly throwing themselves at you, begging for sex.”
Andy scowled, although the expression was done with amusement. “Agreed, Alcatraz it ain’t, but it’s still quite the change from my life six months ago.”
“Which reminds me, you have to be sure and call Xander tomorrow and fill him on all the changes that have happened here in the last week. He texted you yesterday offering his condolences about Matty, but hell, he doesn’t know about how quickly your house has exploded. Maybe we should send him a picture of you in bed, surrounded by all your women, like a modern day Hugh Heffner.”
Andy started laughing at that, shaking his head. “Oh god, he’s gonna fucking kill me. He had quite the crush on Emily a few years back, although I think he grew out of that. Lord, I’m never going to hear the end of it.”
“Well, it’ll be something you two can use to keep your spirits up when you talk. Are you ready for Hannah to make her pitch?”
He nodded. “Sure, she’s the one who got this all started. Let’s see who she thinks we should bring into the house.”
A few minutes later, Hannah strolled into the room confidently, although Andy was surprised to see her in her cheerleading outfit again, the first time she’d worn it again since she’d shown up to the house a few days ago. Andy found the outfit choice odd, but decided not to remark on it.
“Two days enough time for you to think it over, Hannah?” he asked the Asian cheerleader, who smiled and nodded.
“Totes, but I didn’t know I was gonna have hella competition at the end of it!” Over the past few days, the one thing Andy had determined first and foremost about Hannah was that she was always operating at 110% energy. That’s simply who she was. “It’s all good, though. I think you’ll vibe with my candidate, even if she’s not immediately your type.”
Hannah picked up the remote from the table and clicked it, as a picture sprung to life behind her. The minute the image popped onto the screen, Andy was taken back a bit.
“I’m fairly certain that taking on an entire cheerleading team would be well over the limit of you suggesting one person, Hannah,” he laughed.
The image behind her must have been from the spring of this year, as it was Hannah and her entire cheerleading team over at Woodside High, where she’d graduated from in May. There were fourteen girls in the photo, in addition to the coach, and they were completely varied in terms of size, shape and race, although he couldn’t deny, they all seemed lovely. It took him half a second to find Hannah as her hair lacked the blonde highlights in the photo.
“Not the team, sir,” she said, clicking the button again, as the screen shifted, this time the only person on the screen being the cheerleading coach. “Just the woman running it. Tabitha Jefferson.”
Without all the other people on the screen, Andy could focus on the woman being suggested. She was an African-American woman with milk chocolate colored skin around Andy’s age, although she was in far better shape than he was. In the picture, she was in black gym shorts with an orange stripe and a large orange t-shirt with the word “WILDCATS” in highly stylized lettering across the front of it. She had straightened hair drawn back in a short ponytail that hung to the nape of her neck, and a friendly face, although her expression was one of shouting.
“Coach Jefferson has been the cheerleading coach and P.E. Teacher for Woodside High for the last five years. She’s whip-smart, funny and really cares about us girls. When I was kinda a troublemaker, she’d pull me aside and give me a good talking to, tell me that she thought I was super smart, and that I was capable of anything if I’d stop fucking around and quit self-sabotaging my own life. And she never gave up on me, and never let me focus just on cheerleading or the petty drama and shit a bunch of wound up girls get into with each other.”
Hannah pushed the button and the image changed again, showing a slightly younger Tabitha with her arm around a good looking African-American man with much darker skin in military fatigues. “Just before she moved to Woodside, she was an Army wife, until her husband, Nicky, was killed in action in the Middle East. They’d only been married for about two years, and only together about four, but it still broke her heart. She moved across the country to live out here, closer to her mother, only for her moms to die last year due to lung cancer.”
Hannah pushed the button again. The new image also had to have been taken in the spring, just before the pandemic had set in. Tabitha had her arm around Hannah, and both of them were smiling, both of them in formal wear, this time with the blonde highlight in Hannah’s hair. “She was one of the chaperons for senior Prom, and when she found out I didn’t have anyone to go with, she made me go on my own, and I still had a great time. She drove by my parents house to drop off my diploma and told me to call her Tabby from now on, since I wasn’t a student of hers any more, and that she hoped school would start back up soon, because she was feeling a little lost.”
The Asian girl sighed a little, her face contracting in sadness. “She’s had a really rough go of it, Andy, between losing Nicky then her mom and now her ability to teach and be around people. I don’t know a thing about what she likes sexually, so I dunno what to say about any of that, but she’s a good person, the best person I know, and if I can give her just one little bit of happiness, then I fucking owe that to her.”
Hannah looked like she was about to cry, so Aisling reached over and took the girl’s hand in her own, giving it a little squeeze.
“Thanks Ash, I’m okay,” she said, smiling a bit as if it might help her make it more true. “The person you most reminded me of when we were first met, Andy, was Tabby. You could’ve just fucked my brains out and not given a fuck about my feelings, but you didn’t. You talked to me first, made sure I knew what I was getting myself into, when you so didn’t have to, hell, I wasn’t even expecting you to. I wanted to get back at that little shit Benny so fuckin’ badly, but you wouldn’t let me just charge into it without us talking it out first. That’s the kind of thing Tabby did for me all the time, not letting me just leap into the first idea that popped into my head, but really making me think it all out. So I want to give something back to her, and I think that something could be her hooking up with you.”
“This whole polyamory thing isn’t for everyone, Hannah,” Ash said. “You think she’ll be up for sharing Andy with all of us?”
Hannah laughed a little, rolling her eyes. “Her last relationship was part of a throuple, so I totally wouldn’t worry about it, Ash, although this one would be a little different.”
“Oh yeah?” Andy asked. “How so?”
“Well, she was in a relationship with two bi-guys, so she was used to having dick on tap.” The busty cheerleader giggled a little bit. “But I know she’s into girls too, because she refused to come into the locker room when we were changing. Said it was only respectful, but I saw that glimmer in her eyes that said she desperately wanted to peek, but wasn’t going to, because that’s what us girls deserved.”
“What ended their relationship?”
“The two guys decided to move to Portland, and Tabby’s mother hadn’t passed yet, so she refused to leave her. They were all kinda in different headspaces anyway, I think, since Tabby never said another word about them after they left, so maybe she was kinda okay with it? Maybe it was just an easier way to end it than ending it? I dunno. It was all spring of my junior year.”
“Challenges you foresee?” Aisling asked.
“Well, I dunno how she likes to fuck, so I dunno if you two can make that work for you or not, but I think you’d be okay. And I don’t know if you’re her type, so I don’t even know that she’ll say yes. You’re a little less...” Hannah trailed off, trying to find a way to phrase what she wanted to say.
“Less what?” Andy asked.
“Less butch, I guess,” Hannah giggled. “Dom and Mike were ultra cut, and Nicky was pretty buff himself, so I guess her type is a bit more ripped than you are, but it’s not like I know everything about what kinda dudes she likes to bone. But without her being able to teach until, like, at least a year from now, I wanted to make sure she’s not getting stuck inside her own head too much.”
Hannah clicked the button and the screen behind her changed to say “next: Jenny” on it. “Anyway, if I was you, I’d totally wanna fuck Tabby. Hell, I kinda wanna fuck her myself, if she’s down for that. And she’s a good person, and good people deserve to have good things happen to them in the world, so that’s why I think you should invite her here. Thanks for letting me tell you all this, Andy. I didn’t know how much I needed to tell someone this whole story about this amazing woman who changed my life, and I’m glad it’s to the man who did the same thing.”
She stood up, came over and gave Ash a hug, then one to Andy as well followed by a sloppy kiss, before pulling back and heading out of the room, almost skipping in her step, making the skirt flutter a little each time.
“So I know I said I wasn’t going to offer you any opinions on all of this, love,” Aisling said, “but I do want to make two exceptions. First, I think you should invite Tabby here. It means a lot to Hannah, maybe more to her than to any of the other girls involved, and I think Tabby seems like a fine match for you, based on what Hannah’s told me.”
Andy nodded. “She was speaking very strongly from the heart, so I don’t blame you. I won’t commit to 100% saying yes right now, but I’ll mark her down as a very strong likely, if that’s okay.”
“Natch love,” she said, squeezing his arm. “The other exception I want to make is to set you up for Jenny’s pitch, and to tell you to tread lightly. Her pitch is for a staff person, but I suspect the person being pitched might want something more than that from you, and I think you should probably give it to her, but at her own pace. Jenny’s got quite the tale to tell, and her friend has had a very rough life. I think even Jenny knows that if you bring this girl on, she’s going to grow from staff to family member eventually, but that’s okay with me, and all the rest of the girls, so keep all that in mind when she’s talking, that we all know it’s unsteady waters, and we’re all okay with it, awright love?”
He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that, so he simply nodded, giving himself a second to get his words in order. “She’s the first staff pitch I’m hearing, but if you’re telling me in advance that it’s going to be different than all the rest, then that’s good to know, and I’ll keep it in mind.”
Ash smiled, kissing him on the cheek. “I think you’ll like who she’s pitching anyway. Has a completely different tone than anyone else you’re gonna hear about today, and if I’m honest, I’d love ta meet her myself.”
Just as she was saying that, Jenny opened the door and made her way into the conference room, moving to sit down opposite them, her warm comforting smile well set on her face. Jenny hadn’t chosen to dress up more than her usual attire, looking like a plump Martha Stewart, as she folded her hands on the table, just over the remote.
“Thanks for letting us do this, sir. None of us had even thought about this until you and Ash told us about it, and the fact that you’re letting the staff pitch as well, gosh, that’s just the sweetest thing. My story’s gonna be a little bit of a rollercoaster, so I hope you don’t mind, sir.”
Andy chuckled, leaning back in his chair a little bit. “Fire away, Jenny.”
Jenny picked up the remote and clicked on it, as the image behind her changed to a much younger one of her and another woman, really more of a girl at that point, what had to be at least a decade ago. Jenny was thinner then, wearing an oversize P!nk t-shirt, with her arm around a Latin girl, a little less thin, with massively blown out hair, wearing a red tanktop with a sheer mesh black shirt over it. The two girls were laughing in the picture, each holding up a red Solo cup that Andy suspected held alcohol that neither was old enough to be drinking at the time of the photo.
“This is me with my college roommate, Alexis Coleman, better known as Lexi. We were both freshman at UCLA when we were randomly paired together to share a dorm room together at Hendrick Hall.” The image changed again, and showed the two girls playing beer pong at some Greek event. “I’d just moved out here from Cleveland, and she’d just moved here from D.C., and so we became best friends.”
“You didn’t go to culinary school?” Andy asked. “You’re such an excellent cook, I find that impossible to believe.”
Jenny blushed a little. “Thank you, sir, but I did, after I got my Bachelor’s degree in art history. I had wanted to become an art custodian, but couldn’t seem to make it work, so I went to culinary school in SF after giving up on the art world.”
“And Lexi?” Ash asked. “What was she majoring in?”
“Criminal justice,” Jenny said, clicking the button again to show an image of Lexi, a little older, in a bikini out on the Santa Monica boardwalk, on roller skates that she looked a little unsteady on. “I know she looks like a Victoria’s Secret model, but she was determined to get into law enforcement during college. She also minored in political science and theory, as well as picking up several languages along the way. I know she speaks Spanish, French, German, Russian and Portuguese, and knowing her, she’s probably picked up a few more since then.”
“All of this has to be a while ago, though, Jenny,” Andy said. “What year did you two graduate?”
Jenny pushed the button again to show a graduation of the two of them together, holding up their diplomas with big smiles. “2007 sir, and I realize I’m giving you a bunch of background, but I think it’s very important that I do, so you understand who Lexi is, and how she’s a sweet, adorable person, despite the rest of what I’m about to tell you.”
Andy leaned forward a little bit. “As a professional storyteller, Jenny, let me tell you that’s a hell of a way to perk your audience’s interest. Go on.”
“Yes sir,” she said, clicking the button to advance the image again. This time, Lexi was a few years older, dressed in more of jungle wear—thick pants, a heavy shirt with a vest on, and her hair pulled back tightly. The background was thick trees and dirt, with sunlight peeking through. Of more note, however, was the AK-47 slung over her shoulder. “In her last year of college, Lexi was recruited to join the CIA. My details about this period of her life are very unreliable, but I think she was training with the agency for another year or two, and then served as a combination of analyst and field agent for most of the next decade, primarily in South and Central America, until 2017.”
The next image took Andy a little aback, although Ash had clearly seen it before. It was relatively recent, Jenny and Lexi together, in the kitchen of some restaurant or hotel. Both of the women were older than they were in the earlier photos, and most notably, Lexi had some significant scarring along part of her neck and the bottom left part of her chin line, although it looked as though the scarring was at least a few years old.
“I don’t know what happened to Lexi in 2017, but it must’ve been particularly gruesome. She couldn’t tell me how she got the scars, only that she got them in the service of her country, and that she regretted how they were keeping her out of field work, because they were too identifiable. She’d been saddled with desk duty, and in 2018, she finally quit the CIA.”
The image jumped again, and this time Lexi was in a dark suit with sunglasses, opening a door for some Middle Eastern shiek. “She tried her hand at personal protection for a while, but eventually gave up on that and just became a mercenary, drifting through private security firms, independent contractors who go where the money and the work is. Just before the virus set in, she’d returned to her place in Los Angeles from a six month tour as part of a PMC in Afghanistan, and she was shaken. She said she felt like her life was a mess, she didn’t know what she was doing with it, and felt like she was just a giant burden on her friends and family.”
With another click of the button, a new image of Lexi popped on the screen, her at a gun range, the whole image practically the still from an action movie. “What I’m suggesting is this, sir. I think you should bring Lexi into the house to be your driver and personal security.” Andy was about to say something when Jenny raised her hand to silence him. “I know what you’re about to say, sir, and frankly it’s bullcrap, pardon my French. With the small population of men remaining left in the United States, every single one of you has suddenly become a VIP, and you need to think not just of your own health, but the health of all the women who are dependent on your health for their own health. If something happens to you, you have over a dozen women right now alone who suddenly run the very real risk of dying. Being that my health is fundamentally based on yours for the time being, I know I would feel safer having Lexi watch out for you.”
Andy scratched his goatee for a long moment, realizing that every single thing Jenny had said to him was true, making him a little ashamed of how cavalierly he’d been treating his own health, the ramifications of it not having fully sunken in until this very moment. “You are completely justified in that thought, Jenny, and you are right, I had not been giving it the diligence it deserved.”
“Lexi has some heavy scars from whatever accident sidelined her at the CIA. They cover just a bit of her face, but almost a third of her neck and down to her collarbone. In spite of that, I think she’s still a stunning woman, and I still wish she was bisexual, because I would do her in a heartbeat, but she only likes men. I know, because we fooled around together freshmen year, and the next morning, we woke up with very different perspectives on it. It’s never gotten in the way of our friendship, though, so you don’t have to worry there.”
“Scars only add character, they never remove it,” Andy said, quoting a line from one of his books. “They’re a point in her favor, not against it.”
Jenny’s smile widened a bit more at that, as if she was proud of Andy for saying it. “That’s how I feel too. She was pretty adventurous sexually in college, so I don’t think there would be any dealbreakers between the two of you there. The two red flags I feel obligated to bring up are these. First, she has a bit of PTSD, so she can tend to be a little jumpy from time to time, and likes to keep as much of her life as she can to routine, because it helps her feel organized about all of it. I don’t worry about her having a full breakdown, but she gets stressed by firecrackers on the fourth of July, so there’s clearly some strain still going on there.”
“I think New Eden is about as far from a warzone as you can get, Jenny.”
“Sure, but we won’t be locked in here forever, sir. And your family already includes two women who are actresses known to love doing action films, so if you go to visit them on sets, you’ll need to be aware of Lexi’s elevated stress levels when you do.”
“That’s entirely manageable,” Andy said. “What’s the other red flag?”
Jenny frowned a little bit, looked to Ash, who nodded, then looked back to Andy. “The other red flag is that I suspect she’s going to want more than a staff relationship with you at some point. I don’t know that for certain, but Lexi is a diehard romantic, and when she finds out that so many men have died, it’s going to hit her very hard, because she’s always dreamed of having her own prince charming, someone who will love her for her, through thick and thin. I think she’ll be able to get past the idea of sharing you with lots of other women, I think she’ll be okay with you dividing your time or having multiple people in your bed, but I think she’s going to want to forge that emotional connection with you like your partners do, and that’s more than what you asked us for in terms of suggesting staff. She will absolutely be the best bodyguard you could ask for, and I don’t think there’s a better driver I know. But the terms Ash laid down were pretty clear—staff should only recommend staff, not partners, and I think Lexi might well end up being both, so I’m hoping that’s okay.”
“As I told ya when you pitched her t’ me, Jenny,” Ash said, “sometimes exceptions have to be made for exceptional people, and Lexi seems like a hell of an accomplished and talented woman. If Andy’s okay with it, the rest of the house will be okay with it.”
Andy smirked a little bit. “No pressure or anything, but it’s fine. And you’re right, I hadn’t been thinking about how much my health impacted so many people until right now, so it’s important that I give that consideration. She seems like a lovely woman, and you speak of her very fondly, so while I’m not making any final decisions until I’ve heard from everyone, I think you wouldn’t be wasting your time if you wanted to start crafting a video invite for Lexi.”
Jenny jumped up and ran around the table to hug Andy tightly, crying a little bit. “Thank you so much, sir. When I talked to her on the phone last week, she told me how much she wished she could meet a nice man just like you, so I just know she’ll say yes. I already know she thinks you’re cute.”
“Don’t tell anyone else about this, though,” Ash said. “All the staff decisions are being made independently from the family member ones, and while I know all the girls were rooting for Lexi to be brought here in some regard, not a word to anyone, not even Katie, until it’s final, yeah?”
Jenny pulled back and wiped the tears from her face, nodding so quickly Andy was afraid her head would roll off. “Yes. Got it. Very clear. Understood, ma’am. Sir. And thanks again.”
The portly girl made her way out of the room without even remembering to push the button to advance the screen to the next person, leaving Andy and Ash alone in the room.
“Okay, Mr. Rook,” Ash said to him, “five minute break. Stand up, walk around, stretch a bit. I’d ask if you wanted to squeeze in a quick shag, but I had me turn yesterday, so I’m good to wait a few more days. Wouldn’t want to deprive some of the other girls of getting their itches scratched.”
Andy stood up, pulling one arm behind his head, then the other, stretching out. “Four presentations down, eight to go...”