"And I announce amongst our people that you are my one and only husband forever and ever. I pledge myself to the Great Work."
Then Paul leant down and his lips met Carina's and their tongues slipped softly inside each other's mouths as she pressed up against her new husband and it was done. Paul's people clapped and cheered and then drew in close, surrounding the newly married couple and offering their congratulations and throwing white flower petals over the newly-weds heads. Carina picked up her daughter and Darren stepped up to offer his support to the new couple.
Carina and Darren were typical of the sort of people who became involved in Paul's carefully contrived world. They had been married for a relatively short time, had a child together and were establishing themselves in the world. All seemed right on the surface, but deep down something seemed to be missing, particularly in Carina's case. They were looking for some sort of greater meaning from life, ultimately dissatisfied with all the wonderful things they had and wanting more. They were the sort of people Paul liked to assist - he could smell a couple's dissatisfaction with life and their need for his teaching.
The young couple had first heard Paul speak at a new age convention months before, though they were well aware of him and his amazing thought provoking self-help books. They had to pay several hundred dollars to attend the lesson, but they thought it would be worth it so they paid the money, and sat and listened to him, along with a roomful of other people. He entertained them with his wit and humour - he seemed to make a lot of sense when he talked about the world's woes and people's problems and he promised a teaching called the Great Work, which would end people's unhappiness and bring meaning to their lives.
Most of the people who listened to Paul that day decided not to take their interest in him any further, some drawing the conclusion that he was a confidence man despite the fact that he was a successful published author. Six people, however, did take an interest, including Carina and Darren. The young Carina realised this man was in his late fifties and older than her own father, but he was tall, strong and good looking -- he seemed to out-talk and out-think others and she was attracted to him from the very start. Darren liked what he heard from the Teacher, but wasn't aware that his wife may have felt something for Paul.
It was a standard situation. Paul travelled to teach and meet new people. He carefully screened those who remained behind after the lesson to see if there were any married women who might be interested in becoming one of his wives at some stage in the future. He wasn't interested in single men at all, nor was he really even interested in single women either. The whole purpose of the meetings and the lessons was to single out future men and women who would be interested in undertaking the Great Work. And they had to be already married as Paul felt a deep need to dominate other men for their own good, so they could begin the Great Work themselves and let Paul have their wives, so the women could commence the Great Work with Paul.
Paul was patient and relentless. Many meetings would never produce future wives, while others may bring forth someone who was interested, but then might fall away, refusing to take the next logical step in the Great Work after being involved in the teachings for a few weeks or a few months. According to some critics the teachings themselves -- the so called Great Work -- were just designed to bring the women to his bed and cause the men to develop obedience and to do all the work which needed to be done in the compound.
According to the same critics, the Teacher was a sex addict - a strong virile man whose whole existence seemed to be wrapped up in collecting beautiful married women and having sex with them. The critics believed that everything in Paul's life was geared to making that happen. While the males slaved and exhausted their strength in the field for the Teacher they loved, the Teacher exhausted his strength in bed, enjoying one wife after another. It was true that some days he would just refuse to get out of bed, taking his meals lying down as he received head. Then at other times he just wouldn't be able to stop having sex until his large body was sore and his mind was finally free -- until he had driven his need out of his system. The sounds of pleasure coming from his bedroom, assailed the ears day and night. There had been so many wives over the years and so many children conceived and born. Paul had married over forty women in his life and had enjoyed fucking them all. Some of the women had left him, unhappy with the way their lives with this supposedly lecherous liar had worked out, or else he had asked them to leave. At one time Paul had enjoyed twelve wives at the same time.
Paul could see that Carina was special from the very start. She was young and beautiful, which were important to Paul, but further she was easily led and easily convinced. Paul also noticed that she was naturally attracted to him and that pleased him. Moreover, her husband Darren was a soft and compliant sort of male, just like Paul hoped he would be - he tended to defer to others, particularly Carina. Paul was sure he could dominate Darren. Carina and Darren were perfect for Paul -- his ideal.
The private classes took place at the compound. The lessons were simple enough, though Paul clothed them in fine words and used a solemn voice to convey them. Basically, men should become selfless, endure pain and torment with acceptance, should defer to a higher authority, should have self-discipline and be ready to self-sacrifice. Men should realise that there was a greater purpose, which they should believe in and submit to. Basically, men needed to be more submissive and learn to work hard. Paul realised that his message to the men included some of the themes commonly found in society and as a result was easier to teach than some people thought. Women were regarded as magical and special -- they should learn to lose all their inhibitions, become more positive and open, express themselves and yet submit to a greater power than themselves, so they could learn to be free.
Paul presented his teachings patiently and firmly -- using all his skills as a performer to try and gain access to his students minds and really set these lessons in place so they would be accepted. He was as some critics stated an adept at brainwashing. Carina accepted these teachings relatively quickly and Darren under pressure from his wife accepted them as well. Carina and Darren were perfect students and Paul praised them. Not all couples were as open and advanced as Darren and Carina. Out of the six people who had shown an interest at Paul's public talk, only Darren and Carina remained. One couple felt uncomfortable with Paul's lessons and they refused to come back to the compound. The other couple left mid way through a lesson because the wife felt that Paul was trying to get in between her and her husband -- she said she would never sleep with Paul and that was that.
Carina and Darren were just drawn in deeper and deeper. They began meeting people who lived inside the compound and then started spending more and more of their time with those people -- Darren spent his time talking and then working with the men, learning the lessons Paul had to teach from everyone around him. Carina and her daughter spent their time with the women and children in Paul's large house -- Carina also had Paul's message hammered home by all of the women in the compound. She was love bombed and drawn in. Carina and Darren rarely saw each other when they spent time at the compound. They finally decided to move into the compound permanently three months later, having sold their home, left their jobs and given all their money to Paul.
A critical moment came just weeks after they moved in permanently -- Paul carefully explained to Carina and Darren, one evening after dinner, that he had feelings for Darren's wife. Paul was going to ask Carina to go on a date with him and Paul wanted Darren to understand and agree that it was the right thing for Carina to do. The young woman had smiled gently and Darren was shocked. Carina knew what her teacher wanted -- he wanted her, just like he wanted all the women there. He was married to eight women and he wanted her as well. Carina knew what Paul got up to behind closed doors -- he was nearly always at it and it made Carina smile and marvel. Normally Carina would have been revolted by a situation like that, but even though she cared for Darren, her husband just couldn't compare to this powerful charismatic man that she had grown to love. Carina was head over heels in love with the Teacher.
Paul had planned it all so perfectly. He realised he was in a strong position. Darren and Carina had no home or jobs outside of the compound nor did they have any money. They of course had family and friends to draw on if they really needed it, but Paul's teachings about the corruptness of the outside world, about keeping the love and friendship within the compound, combined with his gentle insistence that they cut ties with their families certainly helped him gain an advantage. He may have looked at the whole situation as a manipulator would, but he was convinced that the teaching of the Great Work was more important than anything else. He was doing this for Carina and Darren's own good.
"Sure, I'll go on a date with you Paul," Carina had said softly, reaching for Paul's hand.
Darren had looked at his wife with surprise and then had grown confused. The men he worked with had mentioned that this might happen -- that Paul may move in on Carina. The idea had been firmly hinted at when Darren looked at the men's lives. The males had no women for themselves - they slept together in the southern part of the compound, well away from Paul and the females. There was no sex for the males, even though they were all still legally married to the women who lived with Paul. Then Darren had learnt that the women who lived with Paul in his house were referred to as his wives and the other males confirmed that being Paul's wife actually meant being Paul's wife.
