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Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 11

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Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 11
The girls suggest to Andy who to bring in.

Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast

at Explicit Novels.



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 cunt 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,
Emily!"

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, Emily, 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 L A 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 deal breakers. 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 cock 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 V I P, 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 deal
breakers 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,”

Chapter 25

After a handful of minutes stretching, Ash sent a text

message for the next girl to make her way up. Andy had turned his notes over so
that Aisling couldn't look at them, and he smirked a little, noticing her
frowning at the back of the legal pad.

"You said you didn't want to influence my decision, so

I don't know why you should want to look at my notes, Ash." They had built
a wonderfully natural teasing rapport with each other over the past few months,
so Aisling knew he was joking with her, but was willing to roll with him.

She grinned up as she reached across the table to push the

button and advance the slide. "Next: Katie." The redhead moved to sit
back in her chair, and shrugged in his direction. "I'm mostly just curious
how you're reacting to what you've heard so far, and how your opinions differ
from mine, which I'm sure they will, here and there. I've heard all these
pitches a couple of times, so it'll be interesting to see how many predictions
I get right."

"Did you write them down?"

"Well, no," Ash said.

Andy grabbed his yellow legal pad and ripped out a single

sheet from the bottom of it, sliding it and his pen across to her.
"Alright, predictions then. Write them down now. Don't show them to me,
but fold up the paper when you're done. We can have whoever's after Katie bring
us an envelope to seal it up.

Just around the time that Aisling was folding up the sheet

of paper, Katie walked into the room, confident in her stride. Andy cocked his
head to one side as she walked in the room. The Hispanic woman was, as it
seemed she always was, wearing a button up shirt underneath jean overalls. "Do
you own other clothes besides overalls, Katie?" he asked her.

She stuck her tongue out at him, which made Ash giggle

again. "I can be girly and shit, sir, but I mostly keep that for
Jenny. How're the presentations going so far?"

"You know the rules, Katie," Aisling politely

scolded, "no talking about anyone else's pitch until the very end."

Katie winked at her, shrugging a little. After Andy had

settled her nerves about keeping a level of removal between him and her and her
wife, Katie had relaxed massively and grown into a more comfortable
relationship with the rest of the house. "Had to try. Anyway, let's get
this fucking show on the road!" She grabbed the remote in her calloused
hand and clicked the button as the screen behind her changed to an image of a
slightly matronly looking woman in her early 40s, dark chocolate hair up in a
bun, skin just slightly olive, some mix of European heritage that surely had to
include either Italian or Spanish. The woman on screen wasn't overweight, but
was certainly the most bulky woman that had been on the screen thus far, not
fat, simply hefty.

"This is Doctor Morgan Fitch. She's a general

practitioner in Los Altos who also dabbles in pediatrics. In talking with
everyone in the house, it's clear at some point, you are going to be in dire
need of a nanny around this place, and having one who's also a damn doctor just
seems like smart thinking to me. By this time in a couple of years, this house
is practically gonna be a little city, so you need to make sure all the major staples
are taken care of. Some of the girls will wanna be full time mommies, no doubt,
but for the rest, you're going to want to have child care. If you need that
anyway, why not have that person be a doctor?"

"How do you know Dr. Fitch?" Andy asked.

Katie blanched a little bit. "She's kinda an ex of

mine." She raised her hand immediately, a sheepish smile on her face.
"We didn't part on bad terms, promise! At the end of the day, she was into
the whole polyamory thing, and I wasn't, so we split, but remained good
friends. That was five years ago, just before I met Jenny, so it all worked out
okay in the end. She's had relationships on and off since then, but nothing's
stuck. She's mostly a lesbian, but doesn't mind the occasional bit of cock here
and there, so I think she might be a good fit for a staff member. She once told
me that she likes to fuck men, but never gets emotionally attached
to them the way she does to women, and what with her being staff, she'd be okay
to pursue a female partner to take care of her emotional needs."

"What makes you think she'll want to join the

household?" Ash queried.

"Morgan loves constantly shifting problems, and this

house is like nothing I've ever seen before. Even before you start spawning,
you're gonna need a doctor to make sure your family is in the best condition
possible. Until you're having kids, she can staff a clinic in town on a
volunteer basis, so she's getting settled here in the mean time. She's bored
with the people in Los Altos, and we've always been good friends, so I think
knowing I'm here would make her more likely to come aboard."

"Challenges you anticipate?" he said.

"She'd be the oldest person in the house at 46, but I

think it gives her wisdom. Also, you might find her a bit, blunt, until you get
used to her."

"How blunt?"

Katie tried to hide a little smile, shrugging, as she pushed

the button to advance the slide to a screen reading "Next: Lauren" in
friendly white letters. "Subtle she ain't, sir. I have never met anyone
more direct in my life. I've always been a little thankful that she wasn't my
doctor, because her bedside manner is more than a bit lacking. But sometimes
you need someone to just slap you upside the head. Sir. We all do. Morgan would
fill that role. And if she ever gets too blunt for your liking, you can tell
her, and maybe she'll dial it down a little bit, or realize that she might've
once gone too far. She's direct, but she's never intentionally mean. And even
if you don't think Morgan's a good fit for here, and I can completely respect
that if that's what you decide, I still want to stress that you're going to be
in dire need of a nanny here at some point soon, so to keep that in mind moving
forward."

"Point taken and noted, Katie. Anything else you wanna

say?"

Katie brought her finger to her lips, considering for a

moment, then slowly stood up. "Just one thing. I know Jenny brought you
her old roommate Lexi as a candidate, and I want to throw my weight behind
that, even if it's at the cost of my own candidate. I would've not pitched someone
else if I could've pitched Lexi twice, y'know what I mean? Lexi's had a shitty
go of it and I desperately want her to be happy, and I really think she
can be here."

Andy chuckled a little. "Unorthodox, but sure, I'll

keep it under advisement. Alexis did seem like an excellent candidate, so we'll
see how it goes."

"Thanks sir! Enjoy the rest of the cunt parade!"

she laughed, heading out of the room.

Ash shook her head at him with a smile. "I have no idea

how you can be such a good poker player with a poker face like that."

He grinned, giving her a saucy wink. "It's easier when

you don't give a shit about your opponents. This is family, so I don't have to
stay so stoic. Besides, I know Jenny and Katie are close, so it's okay to let
them share a little secret on my behalf."

"Oh we've all got our little secrets, Andy. If you're

nice, maybe I'll even let you in on one eventually."

He tsked her in jest, waggling a finger in her direction.

"My girls are keeping secrets from me? Heaven forbid, what next?"

"What's next is Lauren, and frankly, I will probably be

spending this entire presentation with my hand over my mouth, desperately
trying to stay quiet, and likely failing miserably." Aisling had a strange
grin on her face that told Andy this next one might be a little unusual.

He didn't have long to consider it, though, as the door

opened and the statuesque Lauren strode into the room decked out in a workout
track suit with the 49ers logo on it. "Hey Andy, Ash. Thanks for letting
all of us do this. I can't tell ya if I'm presenting my candidate to you on a
lark, because I think she's actually a good idea or because of the girl
herself. Maybe some combination of all three. So let me just get right down to
brass tacks," the Aussie said, as she moved to sit down across from them.
She picked up the remote and clicked the button as the screen sprung to life.

On the screen was an image of a 49ers cheerleader, a fit

woman with a large blonde mane of hair like sun dried grass, bubblegum pink
lipstick and a smile that was so wide Andy wondered if it hurt when she finally
let her face relax. She was pretty in a sort of pageant kind of way, although
he suspected she didn't look quite so forced in regular photos that weren't
taken from the 49ers website.

"This is Jade Dillon. She's been a cheerleader for the

49ers for about three years now, and is literally the most optimistic
person I have ever met in my entire life. She is bubbly and chipper and all
smiles even at the worst of times. When the pandemic set in, she sent the entire
49ers organization an email reminding them that adversity is simply opportunity
in disguise. No lie, Andy, she is completely unflappable in every way possible.
She's, she's like a golden retriever in a person! Peppy and enthusiastic and
always full of confidence."

Andy looked over and saw that Ash had, indeed, both of her

hands over her mouth, trying to hold in her desire to laugh, but he could still
hear tiny giggles threatening to escape. He looked back to Lauren, a slightly
quizzical expression on his face. "I can't tell if you admire her for that
or if it drives you crazy."

"Both!" Lauren said, throwing up her hands,

laughing at herself. "It's infuriating! Even when she was kneeling in
protest alongside Colin Kaepernick, she was still smiling about it. I don't
know what to do with her! I mean, I get it. She's a kindergarten teacher as her
day job, so pennies on the dollar that's what helps her keep all that energy
up, but strewth, I just don't know how she does it! I mean, she comes from
money, so I imagine that's gotta help."

"Oh yeah?"

The tall blonde tanned Aussie nodded, pushing the button to

show Jade in a more normal setting, in an evening dress standing next to an
older gentleman who Andy knew he'd seen somewhere before. "Her daddy is
Cormack Dillon, one of the cofounders of Bindr, that teleconferencing tool
everyone's using these days, but she's sort of tried to distance herself from
'er daddy over the last few years. An', in a 'ain't it a small world' moment,
Cormack Dillon was the guy Katie used to work for before she came here, so she
and Jade know one another already."

"I could've asked Katie about her then," Andy

lamented. "Shame she was just here." Jade looked much more lovely
without the pancake makeup, her blonde hair a waterfall of curls, although Andy
was also taken aback for a moment, reflexively trying to estimate how much that
necklace she was wearing must have cost. After a second, Andy recognized where
the photo was taken “ at the prestigious Palace of Fine Arts, where every year
the Silicon Valley elite held their own private high end gala.

Lauren pushed the button again and the image changed to Jade

in more casual clothes, sitting with a handful of other girls in some sidewalk
cafe overlooking the Pacific ocean. She had to be under thirty. There was no
denying she was fit and lovely, although Andy did wonder if growing up steeped
in money had warped her in some way. "Well, you kin ask her before make
your mind up. She might have some things to say to sway your mind one way or
another, but I simply gotta tell you this one thing, because it is first and
foremost the reason I want to bring her to you,”

Aisling looked like she was ready to turn blue, trying to

hold in her breath and her laughter, her face scrunched up, actual tears rolling
down her cheeks, all to Andy's confusion.

Lauren pushed the button again and the photo zoomed in,

showing just Jade now, laughing and smiling. "Jade Dillion,” She pushed
the button again and the image of Jade suddenly had a very large cartoon cherry
resting on top of her head. "...is an honest to god twenty six year old
virgin."

At that, Aisling couldn't help herself, and started laughing

furiously, which only made Lauren grin even wider as Andy kept looking between
the two of them, wondering desperately if they were putting him on.

"It's not for religious reasons, an' it's not

something she goes out of her way ta advertise, hell, I doubt very many people
even know that she's cherry. But I went out drinking with her and the rest of
the Gold Rush girls one night after an away game, and Jade got pretty hammered
so I had to help her back to her hotel room. And when I was holding her hair
back while she chundered in the dunny, she told me that she'd never lost her
virginity, and that boys suck, and she was so damn tired of giving blowies to
stall boys out until she was sure they were the one. She's always suspected
they weren't after her so much as they were her daddy's money, and so, she's
never done the deed."

Andy reached over and patted Aisling's back, as the redhead

was still doubled over with fits of uncontrollable laughter. He felt like he
should go through the same questions he had with all the others, but knew the
first one would only set Ash off again. "Do you, think she and I would be
compatible?" Ash, indeed, giggled twice as hard, waving her hand in the
air, trying to stall Lauren from talking long enough for her to catch her
breath.

"Sexually, this girl doesn't know the difference

between her fanny and a hole in the ground, so it's all to play for,
mate," Lauren said, giving a little shrug. "But you wouldn't give a
tosser about her Daddy's money, now that Watkins done set you up for life, so
maybe you could work the rest out? I mean, when was the last time you popped a
girl's cherry?"

Andy chuckled softly, giving the giant blonde a slight

shrug. "Never. I've never been a girl's first. I didn't lose my virginity
until my early 20s, and the girl I lost it to had been with a couple of guys
before me."

"Then that's awlright, son," Lauren said, grinning

at him. "Then you owe it to yourself to treat yourself at least
once."

"I don't know if I could handle quite that sunny of a

disposition, though. I mean, I rely on cynicism, sarcasm and negativity just to
get through some days," Andy joked. "Deprived of all of that,
how would I manage?"

"Oh, I think you'd do alright, Andy. You're more

capable than you know. And even if you're not into her crackin' bod, she's a
kindergarten teacher, and you might need that sometime soon. I bet she'd be
happy to take over as a nanny for the house, if you wanted her to."

Aisling looked like she was finally started to regain her

composure, the laughing fits having mostly died down, although she was still
wiping tears from her eyes. "Any concerns?" she finally was able to
say, though not without considerable effort.

"Her Daddy might not approve of you, but then again, I

don't know if her daddy's even alive right now, and even if he is, she's likely
not t' give a damn. I think the biggest concern is,” Lauren's face bunched up
somewhere between amusement and annoyance. "Hell. The biggest concern is
you'd have is that ye'd have ta break her of the fake cussing and get to her
swear like a proper sheila, an' she might have some resistance to that. Dunno
fer certain."

"Fake cussing?"

"Y'know, 'gosh golly gee whillickers I stubbed my

heckin' toe!' kinda nonsense," Lauren sighed. "I know she works
around kids all day, but when you're out with grownups, talk like one. Crikey.
Drives me 'round the bleedin' bend."

Andy's eyes widened a little bit. "Yeah, that might be

a dealbreaker, Lauren. People who can't cuss creep me out a bit."

Lauren waved a hand in his direction. "Buggerall. You

get her wound up enough, tell'er it's what you like an' you're not gonna give
'er a lay until she does, betcha she'd suddenly make sailors blush so quick
your head'll spin. She'd get over it without much fuss. My guess is she's just
spent too much time around the anklebiters. Anyway, that's my go at it. She and
I are kinda friends, but it's no skin off my back either way you wanna call
it." She pushed the button and the screen advanced again, to a black
screen with the words "Next: Nicolette" in white at the center of it.

The tall blonde stood up, smiling at him. "Besides,

what kinda partner would I be if I knew I had a virgin sacrifice in my back
pocket to make to our dark god and I didn't at least try? See ya!" And as
she walked out of the room, Aisling started giggling again.

"You need a minute, Ash?" Andy smirked.

"I have no idea what you're going to do with, all of that,

Andy, but believe me, getting to hear that pitch three times has made
all of this absolutely worth it for me," she said in between laughs and
gasps for breath, gesturing with her left hand in the direction of the door, as
she sent the text message to tell Nicolette it was time for her presentation
with her right..

"I just worry that a girl like that, who's been saving

her virginity for Mr. Right, would utterly balk at the idea of having to share
that Mr. Right with a wide spectrum of other girls." Andy sighed. "I
wouldn't want to disrespect her, and frankly, Lauren doesn't even know what
Jade's looking for."

"Look at the world today, love," Aisling said with

a shrug. "It's not a speck like it was this time last year. Men are a
scarce resource these days, so those of us who've latched onto a good bloke
want to make sure that any girls we've ever been friends with is taken care of.
Despite what she said, despite all her warnings, Lauren still brought her to
you, and that should say the most important thing." She giggled a little
bit. "Besides, who else is going to offer you a fucking virgin
sacrifice?!"

Andy waved his hand with a laugh. "Yeah, there's no

disputing that! It'll have to be something to keep in mind. I'm not entirely
sure how Nicolette's gonna follow that," he said, as the door opened
again.

"Oh, don't you worry, Master," the busty blonde

French maid said to him as she entered the room. "I have brought you a
staff member that you would be completely mad to pass up." Nicolette was,
as it seemed like she always was, dressed in a French maid's outfit, although
this particular one looked more like an actual maid's outfit and less like a
porn star's idea of a maid's outfit than some of them had been.
"This is both a role you need to fill in the house and a woman unlike any
other you have here."

"Don't oversell her too much, Nic," Aisling said

with a smirk.

"Oh, madame, but I simply must do so," Nicolette

teased, picking up the remote, clicking the button. On the screen, an image of
woman in her early to mid twenties appeared. The first thing Andy noticed was
the sharp contrast of colors “ the woman had pale, almost marble colored skin,
and long jet black hair the color of midnight, mostly swept back but with cute
bangs in front. She had slender cheekbones, and wore a dark red lipstick the
color of a ripe apple. She had deep blue eyes behind heavy black rimmed
glasses, and her face held a sort of quirky, shy smile. She was startlingly
beautiful, if in a rather fragile sort of way. "This is my friend Whitney
Wells. She's 23, grew up in Chicago and moved out to California for college,
and she is going to be the Rook family household IT engineer."

Andy's eyebrow arched, wondering just why Nicolette thought

Andy would need Informational Technology, basically his own personal tech
support, in house, on call at all times, but decided to let Nicolette continue.

"One of the things you haven't realized yet is that

this house is very much a smart house. I know you haven't realized it,
Master, because you haven't even done most of the basic setup yet. Now I
figured it was simply because you hadn't a spare moment to sit down and take
care of all of it, but I also now think it's because you just don't realize
it's even there! This whole house is completely wired for technology,
and you need someone to not only set it up for you, but also to maintain it
all. For example, did you know that if you wanted to, you could set up a direct
and secure pipeline to the movie company talking about doing the movies based
on your books, and you could actually see dailies as they worked on them? Of
course you didn't! Hell, I didn't know that either until I was giving my friend
Whitney a tour of the place through FaceTime, and she pointed out that you have
a designated trunk line coming into the house with multiple links to the
nearest backbone." Nicolette giggled. "I don't even know what that
means either, Master, but I'm 100% certain it's important!"

"To be fair, you really do need a new laptop,

love," Aisling said to him, "because if we have to hear you swearing
any more at that old thing you've been using since we got here, we're going to
throw it into the pool ourselves."

"How much do I not know about my own house,

Nicolette?"

"Loads, Master!" she laughed. "Loads and

loads and loads and loads! I'm sure if you're going to bring in Jenny's friend
Lexi into the house, she'll want to be involved in all the security stuff, but
there's plenty of things this house can do that you have barely even scratched
the surface of. And when I was talking to Whitney, she pointed out how much
data must be coming in and out of this house with this many people in it, so
you need to get firewalls set up, make sure nobody's being phished, let me
frank, Master. You needed tech support weeks ago, and when you do finally bring
Whitney here, she's going to be doing catch up for a while."

"How did you meet her?"

Nicolette blushed a little bit, something Andy wasn't sure

he'd ever seen her do before. "At a sex club in the city. We were both
submissives that had been brought to a party by our partners, and while I was
getting around a bit, Whitney was mostly kept on a leash, made to sit and watch
the whole time. I'm sort of a tumble toss submissive, in that I like to be
pushed and pulled around some, to act a little bratty but also to get a good
amount of force. Whitney, she likes to be completely under someone's control,
to not have to say or ask for anything, just, well, just to be used."

She pushed the button and the image changed to show her and

Whitney out at a bar, on what had to be girl's night, the two of them making
quite the stark contrast. Whitney was smiling and laughing, her fingernails as
brightly painted red as her lips, heavy, smoky makeup around her eyes, a black
leather shirt, a semi transparent white blouse and the hints of a black bra on
beneath, making her almost look like a 1940s femme fatale.

"She's insanely smart, probably the smartest woman I've

ever known, but her emotional and social skills can be, a little lacking. She's
bounced around a number of places here in the Bay, and the resume might make
your head spin a bit."

"Like what?" Andy asked.

"WeWork, Lyft, Ubisoft, Uber, basically, if there's a

company here in the Bay that's treated people badly, she's probably done a
short stint there, unfortunately."

He winced, shaking his head. "Yeah, that sounds like a

rough haul. You said you met at a sex club with your partners. First, I didn't
know you had a partner and second, does she still have a partner?"

 

To be continued in part 12, by CorruptingPower for Literotica.

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