56

Chapter 55 - Fame

The ballroom in the Ritz hushed as they waited for my response to the female reporter's question.

I spoke openly, "Donna, thank you for remaining civil in the midst of these heathens." I gestured to the other reporters in the room and at least got a few chuckles. "I am married to Crystal, and I have made similar commitment of love to Carol, and more recently to Elynn and Jean. We've been careful so that the government has no beef with us about anything, but we do 'feel' married and engaged. This is my intentional nuclear family, and I also have a large extended

intentional

family -- people I choose to be with. We are unique in many ways, and that all calls for an innovative approach to problem-solving and communications, and great awareness and understanding of our environment and each other.

"It's hard to say exactly what triggered the ideas in my brain or in the brains of my cohorts that proved valuable in the resolution of the Satanic Virus, but I guess we said the right things to each other, ate the right pizza, drank the right de-fizzed colas and cold coffee, and so on. What happened to resolve the virus was a TEAM effort. I could NOT have done it alone, and even if I could, it certainly wouldn't have been in five days, maybe in five months or five years. We were very synergistic in our approach to eliminating the virus. My home life is that way. The others on the team deserve equal credit for the solution. I guess I've become the figurehead for them."

I could tell from the attitude in the room that my deflection of fame to the group was not really accepted. They'd already made up their mind that I alone was the great defender of civilization and our technology-based world.

Donna looked satisfied and nodded, so I said, "Next question?"

Again, a dozen reporters shouted out questions. I stood and said nothing until there was silence. This was a learning exercise in my brand of civility. When the room was quiet, two dozen hands were still up. I picked on another reporter who'd seemed to mind the rules I'd set.

"Mark Windham, Washington Post. A review of certain adult videos indicates that you have been an active player in that industry for a couple of years. Would you please confirm and comment, and do you plan to continue?"

I'd thought of how to deal with this. "I confirm my past actions. I don't believe that segment of our society is as bad as some make it out. It does need management to keep it from the hands of youngsters unable to accurately interpret what they are seeing. What are called protections on the Internet at this point are a laugh, and invite any inquiring teens to simply lie that he or she is over the age of eighteen. More parental involvement is needed, but I don't see that happening either. Someday, there'll be a major scandal of some kind, and only then will some protections be mandated.

"As for my participation, yes I did some enjoyable videos. I got into that business by doing what I've come to call 'private porn', specifically videos that women chartered to later present to their spouse or partner. Later, some of those women also went public by selling or licensing rights to their video for public consumption on the Internet. Thus, I gradually became more of a public commodity. I also moved into the public domain." I shrugged. "I still do something every now and then, less these days than in the past. I have been busy saving the world economy, you know." After a chuckle, I just said, "Next question?"

There was silence this time and many raised hands. I picked on another woman.

"Bonnie Zukoff, Boston Globe. How much of a relationship do you have with Kim Stanley?"

I actually laughed rather heartily. My reply drew laughter as well. "How much? About $80 to $100 million much, so far, and that's a matter of public record. I've known Kim for several years, and we've worked well together in many situations." I loved my own double-entendre. "We're in the process of building a new international networking solutions company -- Cyber Solutions or CS. We will take that public soon, and she expects to recoup her investment handsomely as do I. She is a venture capitalist, and her success in that field is a matter of public record. I also expect some of the blood, sweat, and tears that I've put into this will pay off. Kim and I are great friends and remain that way. She also has a personal relationship with my father."

Bonnie quickly tossed in, "Is she part of your harem?"

I laughed again and rolled my eyes. "No comment. You'll have to ask her whether she considers herself harem material." I shook my head as I laughed, showing, I hoped, that the question was ridiculous.

The next few questions drew the reporters back into the brainstorming atmosphere of the solution team regarding defending against the Satanic Virus. I answered each one of the questions with as many details as I could truthfully. Occasionally, I left the door open for another obvious question, leading them further from my personal life.

After an hour, Alice came up and slipped me a note. The note said, "'You have a very important meeting with your Sarasota office administrator -- me! You can end this press conference, if you want. You've been good.'

I turned to the group. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we've pretty well covered all there is to cover. If you want to submit questions to my office at Cyber Solutions, I'll be sure they get answered to one degree or another. We have nothing to hide, but I think you've all beat this into the ground. A bunch of guys got together and solved a tough computer network problem that had widespread implications; that's all that happened. I have a couple of meetings that I promised to make. Just so you know, I will talk to NO ONE that comes to my home or neighborhood, so save your breath and the gas. Thank you for your indulgence. Good day."

The shouting of questions resumed, but I ignored it and walked out of the room with Alice, Russ, and Deke. She was babbling networking buzzwords at me that really didn't make any sense, but someone hearing fragments of our conversation would think I was getting briefed on some international networking situation also deserving immediate attention. She kept referring to her steno pad. Alice was a good actor.

We walked straight through the hotel to the entrance and into the waiting limousine. We headed home, only about ten minutes way. I asked Alice, "Do I still have a business?"

Alice burst out laughing. "Are you kidding? Cyber Solutions is the most sought-after company by ANY information technology manager now. They ALL want to say they have CS under contract to their company when their board asks who they use for network control, security, and technology management. CS's marketing group had an emergency meeting yesterday and hired an outside firm to help close some of the business with the new companies. Com[panies begging to be our clients. Our marketing types are focusing on the expanding business with our larger existing clients.

"Moreover, Meg told me an hour ago that all the CS offices or subsidiaries are flooded with resumes and applications from candidates all over the world. A lot of the people are prime candidates that we plan to hire. Success begets success. We have the cream of the crop to choose from. Hundreds of people want to work for us -- maybe thousands, by now. With the new business, we have the work for them, too.

"Lastly, several other companies have contacted us wanting to know whether we would buy them out. Jean and I referred those to Kim Stanley's company since her investments and research are required to even respond. I recognized the names of a couple, and I think there might be some good deals out there."

I was dumbfounded. This was like 'success on steroids'.

I pulled Alice into the house with me. The place was abuzz with activity. The phone kept ringing, but no one was answering it.

Crystal flew into my arms and gave me a kiss. She said, "They televised your news conference, at least locally. You were wonderful. I loved how you managed the unruly members of the paparazzi."

"Thank you. What else is happening?"

Crystal's cell phone went off in her hand. She said, "I am getting an outrageous number of calls for 'private porn' videos with you. I've had to ask them to apply via email. I think your popularity demands at least $25,000 per performance -- maybe more. I have to test the elasticity of that price point."

"$25,000? Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm up for making money for us. I'll keep to your schedule so you have time." She turned to Alice. "Right, Alice?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Yes, Crystal, darling, but as we discussed no more than six hours a week. Try to keep it to the weekends, too."

I asked, "How did my office manager get in the business of scheduling my 'private porn' time with Crystal Blue Photography? What's that about?"

Crystal said, "We're only kidding... sort of. Since the wedding, she handles a lot of things you don't know about?"

"I sense there's a play on words there."

The group laughed. Alice put her index finger aside her cheek, "Let's see, I've handled Russ and Ben, and they actually required two hands each. When I had to handle both at the same time, there was a lot of uncovered territory. I've also handled Derek, Cory, and Steve, and all those were just at your wedding party."

My eyebrows had rotated upwards through my hairline. "Alice! What'd you do?"

"I wanted to belong to your clique, so I took the necessary steps. Crystal gave me permission. I knew if I asked you, you'd disapprove. You can be a stick in the mud, sometimes." She gave a little harrumph to drive the point home.

I rolled my eyes. My unruly child played her parents off against each other.

Alice said, "I have an idea about the 'private porn' videos, too. Why don't you hold a silent auction? You could put it up on the dark web and if someone wants a piece of Dave, they have to place a bid. That would cut down on the number of responses you have to make. Accept the top bid or maybe even the top ten bids."

Crystal went, "Oooooh, I like that idea. Does that work for you, honey?"

I harrumphed, "Yeah, I guess so. Give the money to charity, however. I can't go through life like this. I did my job and now everyone is all over me. At least the company seems to be benefiting greatly because of it all."

Alice said, "Play it as it lies. Accept your fifteen minutes of fame, and move on in the new motif that society has given you."

"I'd rather give society a more open and free-wheeling motif, especially in the sexual arena." I turned to Alice, "You really slept with all those men?"

"No," Alice said firmly. "We mutually fucked the stuffing out of each other. I was delightfully sore the next few days. I wasn't used to that intensity of loving, but I am now."

"You are now? What's that mean?"

"Well, while you and the rest of your Tiger Team were working to stomp out the virus, I slipped away after getting you all dinner last Saturday night, and came to the sex party here at your house. I made it with Ross, William, and Doug, and maybe a couple of others. I was so pumped up. You didn't even notice when I came back to the place you were working to see if you needed anything. You were all still working at the whiteboard and didn't even notice that I had cum running down my legs."

Carol came back in the room after a brief absence. She was carrying a large U.S. Post Office box packed full of mail. She laughed, "Apparently, our address is out in public. This is your fan mail for today."

"Fan mail? I don't deserve fan mail."

"Well, from the contents, I'd guess that about five- or six-hundred people think you do."

"Open some of them. I have no secrets."

"Hey, here's the electric bill. I guess it's not all fan mail." She set that aside.

Carol ripped open one envelope that had been hand addressed, "Dear Mr. Toller, I love you. You have saved the world from disaster. I want to marry you, and you can still remain married to all your other women. I live in..." Carol looked up. "She sent a photograph. I say she weighs in at about four-hundred pounds -- cute face, though."

[Eye roll]

Carol read another, "I want to be your slave -- your work slave, your sex slave, and your pleasure slave. You deserve great treatment from everyone, but I think I know how to best do that for you." She looked up after scanning the handwritten page. "The photo of this girl is a little more appealing."

Carol passed over a nude selfie. The pretty woman was wearing CFM shoes and smiling at the large mirror she used for the full-body shot."

I passed the picture back. Keep those together. Maybe we should respond in some way. I might even like to follow-up with a few like that girl." That time everybody else rolled their eyes. I laughed.

Crystal swatted at my arm. "You get all the nookie you can handle around here, mister. You don't need to go out looking for more pussy."

Alice said, "Besides, I haven't had the opportunity to 'handle' you yet."

"That's not a good idea, Alice, and you know it. We have to work together all the time."

"That didn't stop you with Jean or Meg, and I know you've fucked Temple and Kim. Of course, it would work. I'll even sign a hold harmless agreement and NDA, and anything else you want."

I sighed. "I'm hungry. What's for dinner?"

"You are barbecuing some steaks. Ross, Trish, and Kim are coming over. Kim definitely wants to talk to you. Everyone else is here, even Tara, plus Jim and Ben."

"Why are you so eager to have me cook outside?" I was suspicious.

"There's a boatload of photographers in the bay watching the house. So, I thought you should give them something to photograph -- 'Hero Holds Sway at Cookout'. You know, that kind of thing."

A half-hour later, I got the gas grill going while I set up the table beside the grill with the steaks, marinade, and utensils. Sure enough, about one- or two-hundred yards off shore there were two boats. I could see men and women on the deck of each boat taking pictures of me with cameras that had lenses as long as their arm. They could probably count the freckles on my nose.

Alice came out with a steno pad and pencil. She sat with me and did doodles on one page after another as though I were dictating off other major earth-shattering ideas. As I thought earlier, she was a good actor.

As she pretended to do steno, we chatted. I learned a few things about Alice I didn't know. Alice was second generation Irish. Her father had left Dublin to take a job in America, bringing the family with him. She had two brothers and a sister.

She'd met another Irishman named Gerald O'Rourke and they married. He got abusive and the marriage gradually fell apart. One day he beat her up so bad that she had to be hospitalized for two days while they evaluated her concussion. Divorce followed as well as a permanent restraining order. Gerald moved back to Ireland and she hadn't seen him for ten years. "Good riddance."

Alice was single mother with an especially attractive seventeen-year-old daughter that was serious, responsible, and quite the student. The girl, Ayla, was a senior in high school, and aiming to study education at the local university. She'd gotten scholarship money.

Alice dated on and off over the past decade, but hadn't found a Mr. Right, so she usually settled for Mr. Right Now. She'd come to realize that her model for a relationship was probably not the right one for her. I had challenged her to think about what kind of relationship she wanted with me. That had been a casual question to stave her off thinking about an 'us', but she'd put some real thought and analysis into answering it for herself.

We talked about her trips back to Ireland. She still had many relatives there -- aunts, uncles, and more cousins than she could count. She told me about other travels she'd made, and how that had changed her view about the world.

Crystal brought out the meats to cook. I'd have a full grill. Despite the great weather, we were going to dine indoors. We didn't want a mouthful-by-mouthful report about our meal in the media. Alice went back inside holding her cellphone to her ear even though she wasn't really talking.

I did the cooking, playing a game on my iPhone when I had a few minutes between flipping things over so they cooked evenly. I snuck a peek at the two watercraft with the reporters on them. I thought about stripping naked and then going down to the seawall and mooning at them.

We ate in the interior of my house, people filling a plate and then finding a place to sit and eat. A few sat at the dining table, but the others took seats in the living room and balanced their meals on their laps. Alice and I ate standing up at the kitchen counter.

After dinner, a few in our group left in the dark to sneak back next door to Ross' house. My guess was that at least some of the paparazzi had night vision goggles. Ross made the offer, but I decided I'd stick it out at the house with everybody that wanted to be there. I did note that despite darkness, the two boats were still about a hundred yards off shore. At least they had their navigation lights on.

Crystal and Carol cornered me after KP duty had been completed. "As your wives, we have something important to say. We think that you should make love with Alice. You both need each other, and now with this whole thing about the press and your popularity, it'll only become more important that you be in sync. The sexual union will help with that. Go and do it."

I'd pretty much reached the same conclusion. I didn't want Cyber Solutions to devolve into a huge gossip mill centered around any of the affairs I was having with a few of the staff members. Most of the people in Atlanta knew that Jean had a diamond ring that I'd given her. A few did call it an engagement ring, but they knew I was married to Crystal and Carol. The openness of those revelations seemed to override the rumor mill. Truth won out over idle and speculative gossip.

I found Alice reading the living room. I asked her plans and she said, "Unless I get a better offer, I'm going home in about an hour. I talked to Ayla and she's staying over with her BFF, so I don't need to worry."

I cautiously said, "I may have a better offer."

Alice jerked to attention and looked up at me with great hope. "Really?"

"Are you sure you want to be the 'other woman'? In some ways, that's what you'll become, especially if the media gets hold of our new relationship."

"I am so positive, it hurts. Yes, please. I want to be with you however and wherever you want me. You can fuck me on your big executive desk every morning, if you want."

I said, "If it weren't for the fact that our every movement is being photographed through those windows, I'd kiss you. Please come upstairs in about five minutes. The master bedroom is down the hall on the right."

"I've been in your bed before, only with Cory and Tara."

I pointed and gave a significant wave, so our 'watchers' would think I was heading off to bed.

Alice did join me. Every shade in the upstairs portion of the house was closed and opaque. Most of us in the house wanted to sleep in the dark, especially when we slept late in the morning.

I slowly removed Alice's clothes. I was already in casual clothes and those fell away quickly. I told Alice that I needed to kiss every freckle on her Irish body before we started to make love. I guessed that activity, if seriously pursued, might have taken several decades. With her heritage, Alice had freckles EVERYWHERE.

Later, I focused on kissing and licking the freckles on the inside of her thighs, and then on her labia, and clitoral hood. Alice wasn't sure whether she really had freckles in all those places. I assured her that it was my job to be the keeper of her freckles.