I contacted my lawyer, George Carson, and explained what we needed, and

he made an appointment for the following morning.

"I suspect she'll also be wanting a divorce?" he asked.

"More than likely."

"OK... It'd be a good idea if she brought her marriage license with her

as well, then."

"I doubt if she has it." I said, "She showed up with the clothes on her

back and nothing else."

"That's all right. We'll just check with the county where she married.

It should be on file."

"It was Jones County, I'm pretty sure."

"Either way, we'll see you in the morning, Nick. By the way, it sounds

like she's been having a real rough time. I Think I'll do this

'Pro-bono'."

"George, you don't..."

"I know, but you and I have been buds for a long time, and you're a good

client. It's the least I can do."

"I appreciate it, George. I'm sure she will as well." I ended the

conversation: We'll be there in the morning. OK?"

"Talk to you then." We hung up.

My next call was to the people for whom I had just finished a contract

in California.

"Nick!" said Carl Adkins, the company CEO, "How are you? How was your

flight back?"

"Just fine, Carl." I replied. "I just called to submit a final report

and a final billing."

"Fine, Nick." he said, "I just got off the line with Smitty in Ventura,

and he's happy as a clam." He continued: "They went on line this morning

without a hitch. You finished below budget and before the deadline."

Finally he said: "We'll be adding a bonus to your final billing. You've

earned it."

"Well, thanks, Carl." I said, "A bonus offer wasn't in the contract."

"Nonsense!" He replied. "I know that. But you saved the company a

bundle, and the new office was able to start operations early." He

added: "That's worth a lot to me and the stockholders, and I'm going to

see to it that you're properly rewarded. I'll have a check cut today to

be delivered by courier before we go home."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I felt good about the way the day was

progressing. My appetite began making itself evident. I went up to the

kitchen to fix a sandwich. Lolita was rinsing out a glass when I walked

in.

"We're going shopping. Wanna come along?" she asked.

"Um...No," I said. "I have to be here to receive a courier delivery."

"Okay... can I get anything for you?"

I took Lolita by the waist and pressed against her.

"I'm running out...uh... We're running out of Dair." ‘Dair’ was the

brand name for the depilatory cream we used.

She reached around me, placing her hands on my butt cheeks, and pulled.

She gave me a passionate soul kiss, and said:

"OK...Dair."

And she was gone.

I took my sandwich and a beer down to the office with me and sorted

through the accumulation of mail and e-mails which had waited for me.

The afternoon went quickly, and before I realized it, four hours had

passed since the girls had left. As it was, they beat the courier by

about fifteen minutes.

The women were upstairs in what was to become Beth's bedroom when the

courier made his delivery, which consisted of a large and thick manila

envelope, and a tube like the ones used to mail posters or blueprints.

The manila envelope had another smaller envelope and a bound ream of

paper with a cover sheet. The smaller envelope contained two checks -

one for final payment for the Ventura job, and one for the bonus Carl

Adkins had spoken about. The bonus was a whopping ten thousand dollars.

I was pleased.

The cover sheet on the bound ream was a solicitation for proposals for a

new job, this one to take place in Phoenix. The letter explained that

the building was still under construction, expected to be ready for

occupancy in roughly three months. The book listed numbers and

specifications for the required hardware and software.

A post-it note had been attached to the cover.

"Nick: A little bird told me you know of a new and very talented

interior designer. We'll entertain your including her work in this

proposal. Carl.

"Angie!" I called up the stairs. "Angie! Come here!"

The three ladies came trotting down the stairs.

"What's wrong?" asked Angie.

"Wrong? Nothing!" I said, excitedly. "Look at this!" I showed her the

cover sheet and the little yellow slip. "This is the same company I just

got done with in California." They're setting up a mega-office complex

in Phoenix, and would like you to submit a design for the interior,

along with my IT network and hardware."

We broke out the blueprints and looked.

"Holy cow! The new building is 250,000 square feet in ten floors! That's

over three acres! Look at the parking area... Over a thousand parking

spots!"

"Oh, Nick!" she said softly, "I don't know If I'm ready for this."

"I think you are." Note that they're not asking for a separate proposal.

They want us to work together.

"Nick, I don't know..."

"Baby, this is a chance of a lifetime." I added: "If you can pull this

one off, you'll be set!"

"But I can't do this alone!"

"Of course not! But look: The target completion date is in September.

I'll bet you can find some sharp college seniors who need summer work.

You can hire them as interns. They'll do the legwork and research for

you now, and then they can do the heavy work in Phoenix, during the

final phase."

"I wouldn't even know how to bid on a project this big." said Angie.

"But I guess that's what Harry Duval's there for. I'm sure he can help

me out." She said with finality: "I'll give him a call in the morning."

Lolita piped up: "This really sounds exciting, but there's something

more immediate we need to discuss."

We all sat down, Angie and I opposite Lolita, on couches, and Beth in a

rocking chair.

Lolita took the floor.

"This morning, Beth and I had a nice talk. She really appreciates what

we have done for her, thus far, but has no idea how to repay us, or what

she's going to do for a living. I told her I would think about it and

discuss it with you."

"Um...." murmured Beth, "Um... should I leave the room while you talk?"

"I would prefer that you stay." I said, "After all, you have a right to

know and you have a right to make decisions concerning your life."

Lolita again: "I propose to hire Beth as a live-in housekeeper. She'll

tend to the heavy cleaning and laundry." Lolita added: "In exchange for

that, she'll have room, board, and a small salary."

I looked at Angie. "What do you think of this proposal?"

Angie surprised me. "I prefer not to vote on this. Beth is my sister,

and I don't want her kinship to appear as motive."

"That's admirable." I said. "Well, I'll agree with your proposal,

Lolita, with two provisions:"

I stood and faced Beth.

"The first, Beth, is that you attend school while you're with us. I'm

sure you don't want to spend the rest of your life as a housekeeper, do

you?"

"No, Sir."

"My name isn't Sir," I said, smiling. "It's Nick." "No, Nick." Beth

smiled.

"The second provision, Beth, is probably going to be tougher for you." I

cleared my throat.

"Lolita, your sister, and I live here together in a relationship which

goes way beyond friendship. We have a loving physical relationship that

I, for one, do not wish to give up. I want you to agree that you'll

accept what the three of us do even though you may not agree with it -

even if you find what we do as repulsive to you." I added: "Understand

that none of us will expect you to participate in our activities as a

condition of your staying here. That is, unless you want to. But that's

solely your decision to make."

I sat down and looked back to Lolita, who nodded slowly. Angie looked

over at her sister and gave her a slight smile, and a light nod,

signaling that she approved of the proposed arrangement.

"Um...Okay." said Beth. "I really like the part about school. I've often

dreamed of becoming a nurse." And she looked over at Lolita, who beamed.

"Then that's settled." I said. "You may start by bringing four wine

glasses from the crystal cabinet in the pantry. We need to celebrate."

Beth stood up and headed for the stairs. Then she stopped.

"Um...What do wine glasses look like?"

We all laughed, and Angie sprung up and hugged her sister. "C'mon...

I'll show you." The two went up the stairs.

Lolita then came to me and took my hand.

"Thank you, Nick"

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Just for being the wonderful guy you are."

I held her at arms' length. "Well," I said, smiling, "It's tough, but

you bring it out of me." We embraced and exchanged gentle kisses.

"You know, it's a wonderful coincidence, but the Mayo clinic in Phoenix

is hosting the next symposium on midwifery. I've been asked to be one of

the lecturers." She added: "And the symposium takes place during the

last week in August." She added, wryly, "Besides, I'll be damned if I'm

going to let you and Angie traipse down there by yourselves." Then she

stuck her tongue out playfully. "So THERE!" Angie's voice interrupted

us: "Wine is being served at the Hot tub!"

Lolita and I went up to change. As I was slipping into my trunks, she

snuck up behind me and patted my bare backside. I looked up at her to

see she held a small pharmacy bag, which she handed to me.

"Dair." she said

"Maybe we can do each other." I said.

"Hmm..." She put on a thoughtful pose, a twinkle in her eye.

"Maybe...but later!"

With that, she blew me a kiss and hurried for the stairs.