Betsy, the horny bitch
"I can not endure another night alone!" echoes across the world as desperate cries of pain, originating from within the sterile white walls of small apartments everywhere.
There is no greater curse that can befall a person, than a life lived in a state of constant loneliness. Each day spent in loneliness, sucks a little of the soul from a man or woman. Even after a few days, the effect of loneliness on a person is observed as a sloping of shoulders, a dulling of the eyes, and a lethargy of spirit. A year spent in constant loneliness creates a flat, lifeless person who exhibits only the barest of signs of living. A lifetime of loneliness produces a husk of a person; a walking corpse, that goes through the motions of being human, but without experiencing life.
Loneliness is a result of more than being unloved, or isolated. It is being invisible – of having an existence that goes completely unnoticed by others. It is shouting out in pain on a crowded street and having everyone walk past without even a glance. It is lying on death's door without a single tear being shed by another. It is being a nothing.
Loneliness is a relatively modern phenomena. People work in little cubicles. They stand in crowded subways, with eyes staring off into the distance ignoring all who surround them. Living apart from family, they dwell in little apartments where neighbors pointedly look in the opposite direction.
With six billion people walking on the planet, it should be impossible to be lonely. Yet, it happens so frequently that it has become a common misery. One must wonder how that can be. All it takes to end loneliness is a word ... a gesture ... a touch ... any simple act of recognizing the existence of another. Yet day in and day out, people exist without even causal recognition by others. Too many people wilt and waste away, in an epidemic that is spread by neither germ nor virus.
Should one lonely person reaches out to another, suddenly there are two people who are no longer lonely. It is so simple, and yet, so exceptionally difficult for a lonely person to do.
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The slap-slap-slap of running shoes hitting the pavement was muted by the almost oppressive quiet of the desert. A foot fell an inch in front of a scorpion crossing the highway and disappeared before insect had a chance to react with raised stinger. The young woman, pony tail swinging to and fro behind her, ran at a steady pace that ate miles at a near superhuman rate. She moved in an effortless manner – arms and legs swinging with an easy grace.
She ignored the occasional car or truck that passed her although almost all of them slowed when driving past. The sight of a young woman wearing jogging shorts and a tee-shirt running along a highway in the middle of nowhere was sufficient to draw the attention of even the most jaded and tired of drivers. More than one car slowed enough for the driver to offer a lift which was calmly refused by the young woman who never once showed a moment of concern about the isolated circumstances in which those offers were proffered.
The shrill sound of a cell phone disturbed the air, and the young woman touched an ear piece.
Without any trace of breathlessness, nor even breaking stride, she answered, "Hello?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm running to the store," the young woman answered.
"You left yesterday morning."
"I haven't gotten there yet," the young woman said with a giggle.
"What store are you going to?"
"Daniella's Boutique."
"The one on Rodeo Drive?"
"Yes," the young woman answered. "I want to get a new dress."
There was a low frustrated growl followed by, "That's four hundred miles from home!"
"I'll be there late tomorrow."
She had figured that it would take her thirty hours to run there. Having left in the late morning the previous day with plans to rest the nights in hotels along the way, she predicted a late afternoon arrival. After a couple hours of shopping, she'd mail her purchases home, spend the night in a hotel, and start her return run the next morning.
"That's four hundred miles!"
"I'm averaging a four and a half minute mile," the young woman replied.
It was the kind of blistering pace that only world class marathon runners could maintain, and even they would only last for around two hours before collapsing at the finish line. At noon, she had already been running for six hours and expected to continue at that pace for another six hours. It was well within her limits. She wasn't even breathing hard.
"Where exactly are you?"
"I'm about halfway there. I'm nearing the California state line."
"What road are you on?"
"The highway."
"Betsy, I'm sending a helicopter out to pick you up."
"Why?" Betsy asked.
"It's not safe for a young woman to run across the desert alone."
"I can take care of myself."
"That's not the point."
"It is the point. I can take care of myself!" Betsy declared.
Anyone who knew Betsy was well aware of the fact that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Reflexes fast enough to catch a rattlesnake in mid-strike, strong as any man, a lifetime of training in the martial arts, and training in the use of arms; these made her a very dangerous individual. Her willingness to use force ... although tempered somewhat, from her early life ... assured she would not stand quietly by, while being victimized, by anyone.
"You drive all of us mothers crazy."
"Momma Linda, I run. That's what I do," Betsy said.
"I'll arrange a chase car," Linda said.
"Don't bother with that."
The two women argued over the phone for thirty minutes before Betsy conceded that she would call home every hour, and let them know where she had holed up for the night. She had covered seven miles during the conversation, and four cars had slowed down to check her out.
An hour later a patrol car eased up beside her, and rode along for a minute or so while the officer kept pointing to the side of the road. Frustrated that she didn't stop, the officer drove ahead and pulled off the road, parking on the shoulder. He got out and leaned against the rear of his patrol car waiting for her.
When Betsy arrived, he shouted, "Stop."
Betsy came to a stop although she did continue to jog in place. It wasn't that she needed to cool down after her run. She didn't like to stand still.
"What's the matter?" Betsy asked.
"I need to see some identification," the officer said.
"Why?"
"Just show me some identification," the officer said.
Betsy reached into her fanny pack and pulled out her wallet. She opened it and held it out for him to inspect.
"Please take your identification out of the wallet," the officer said.
"This is a huge waste of time," Betsy complained while digging her identification card out.
She handed it over to the officer. He took a moment to examine the young woman and compare her to the image on the card. Individually, none of her features were all that remarkable, but the total result was a very attractive young woman. She was of medium height, but so muscular that she almost looked stocky. She was small breasted consistent with having almost no body fat. Her facial features were exotic as a result of Caucasian, Negro, and Asian ancestry. Her hair, jet black, despite being in a pony tail fell to the middle of her back. Her skin was not black, white, or yellow, but almost a golden tan.
Satisfied the identification matched the woman jogging in place in front of him, he went over to the front of the car and, reaching through the open window, pulled out the microphone for his radio. He called in the information on the license. After a short exchange with the dispatcher, he put the microphone back in the car. He walked back to Betsy and returned her identification card to her. She was still jogging in place.
The officer said, "Here's your id, Ms. Carter."
"Thank you," Betsy said rolling her eyes.
"Don't you know that it is dangerous for a young woman to be hitchhiking like this in the middle of nowhere? There are all kinds of perverts who would love to abduct a young woman who looks like you. You wouldn't like the kinds of things one of them would do to you," the officer said.
While he was talking, she had put the card in her wallet and then returned the wallet to her fanny pack. He wondered if she was even paying attention to what he was saying.
"I know. I'm not hitchhiking, though. I'm running."
"So don't you think it best if you avoided a situation like that?"
Snorting at the idea of avoiding a situation like that, Betsy asked, "Who cares if there's one less pervert in the world?"
Amused at her assertion that the pervert would come out the loser, he asked, "What do you mean?"
"Anyone that tries to grab me, will end up dead," Betsy answered with the calm assurance of someone who was convinced the outcome was well understood.
The officer shook his head. He knew that too many young people assumed that they were invulnerable to harm until they encountered a situation that was too much for them to handle. Reality had a tendency to bite them in the ass with a venom that was often fatal. He and his brother officers were then called upon to clean up the mess.
"Ms. Carter, there are some very big and nasty men out there," the officer said.
"I know. They're the most fun to take down," Betsy said with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
Still jogging in place, she shadow boxed for a few seconds. Her fists lashed out at blinding speed. Despite the speed of her movements, he wasn't impressed.
Seeing the expression on his face, she added, "I've done it before, and I'll do it again."
"There's always someone who is bigger and meaner than you are," the officer said as if her were explain that a stove was hot to a young child.
"But there are only a few who are deadlier than I am, and I know all of them," Betsy said with the assurance that she was stating a fact.
"Right."
"It's true."
He knew that he wasn't going to convince her that she was doing something foolish. In a movie, this was the kind of conversation that preceded something horrible happening to the young woman. He didn't want to respond to a call sometime later to recover her body from some remote place in the desert.
Changing tactics, he said, "Look, Ms. Carter, why don't I take you into town where you can get on a bus and go home?"
"No thank you."
"If it's a matter of money, I'll buy your ticket," the officer said.
He didn't really want to spend that kind of money, but he'd rather see her safely on a bus than have his next encounter with her occur in the morgue. She was a very attractive young woman and that tended to attract sexual predators. Too often they ended their encounters by killing their victims.
"I'm not worried about money. I'm going shopping," Betsy said.
"Where?"
"Rodeo Drive," Betsy answered.
"You're carrying enough money to go shopping on Rodeo Drive?" the officer said thinking that this young woman had no sense of danger.
The officer sighed. If it was true that she had money, then he wouldn't be able to pick her up on vagrancy charges. He hadn't seen her hitchhiking so he couldn't arrest her for that. Although it was unwise to travel along a deserted stretch of highway such as this, there weren't any actual laws against pedestrians along this stretch. Distance cyclists and cross-country runners often traveled along the highway since it was one of the few east-west roadways into California. Usually though, they traveled in packs, rather than alone like this.
"Are you kidding? I've got debit cards," Betsy said.
He was about to say something when her cell phone rang.
"Hold on ... that's my mother."
She reached up and tapped a button on her earpiece. Betsy answered the call with a cheery hello while still jogging in place. He had no idea who she was talking with, but it was obvious by the changes in her body language that she wasn't happy.
Betsy said, "I know I said I would call every hour, but I'm stuck here talking to a police officer."
She was silent for a moment and then said, "I know. He thinks I'll get abducted or something. He doesn't understand that I'm perfectly safe."
He watched her frown.
"All I wanted to do was run down to the store and back. It's no big deal," Betsy said.
"I don't need a bodyguard," Betsy said angrily.
The police officer relaxed a little at hearing that. If anyone needed a bodyguard, it was a woman who looked like her. He figured that would be some friend of the family since he doubted she had the money to afford a professional bodyguard.
"Momma Ling, you know that I could kill anyone who tries to harm me before Gary could even get off his bicycle."
"That does it! I'm going to get a carry permit the minute I get home."
The policeman looked at her thinking no one in their right mind would give her a carry permit. She didn't have the sense to use it responsibly.
"I'm jogging by the highway, next to a patrol car. He can't miss us," Betsy said. "Bye!"
Betsy hit the button on her ear piece. She looked at the officer and said, "One of my mothers has arranged for me to have a bodyguard. Are you happy, now?"
"I'm very happy."
"He'll be here in a couple of minutes," Betsy said.
"I'll wait."
A couple of minutes later a helicopter flew over, and then circled around. It landed about fifty feet from the highway. The officer stared at the helicopter, a little incredulous that whoever had sent the bodyguard would choose to have a helicopter deliver him. He jumped when there was a gunshot from the helicopter. His hand went down to his pistol, and he pulled it out of its holster.
The next thing he knew, the girl was holding his pistol.
"Shit!"
"Don't worry," Betsy said. "If there's a problem, I'm a better shot than you."
Much to his surprise, she had stopped jogging and was holding the gun in the direction of the helicopter like it was an extension of her body. Her shooting posture was perfect. There wasn't the least bit of wobble or sign of nervousness. On seeing how she stood, he was halfway convinced that she might actually be a better shot with a pistol than he was.
"Give me my gun back."
A man climbed out the helicopter and wrestled with removing a bicycle from within it. He picked up the bicycle and stomped his way towards the patrol car. He would occasionally pause to kick up a little dirt in disgust.
Recognizing the man who had gotten out the helicopter, Betsy was now holding the gun skyward, and had resumed jogging in place.
"Give me my gun back," the officer said, not wanting to get in a fight with her while a third person was approaching and unknown individuals remained in a helicopter parked a short distance away.
The helicopter took off before the man reached the patrol car.
"That idiot pilot has a whole desert in which to land, and he chooses to set down right next to a rattlesnake. I nearly shit my britches," the man grumbled while putting the bicycle down.
Giggling at the man's disgruntled grumbling, Betsy said, "Hello, Gary."
Stunned at the identity of the man, the officer forgot about Betsy having taken his gun.
"Sargent Sellers?"
Gary looked at the man for a second. "Uh, you're Dwight Paterson, right?"
"Yes, Sargent."
"I remember you. You were all gung-ho about joining the paratroopers. Did you get in?"
"Yes, Sargent."
"Drop the 'Sargent' crap. I'm retired, now. It's just Gary."
"All right."
Betsy said, "Can we go now? I'm bored, here."
"Hello, Betsy. Where'd you get the gun?"
"From him," Betsy said pointing at the police officer.
"Give it back to me," Dwight said.
"Give him back his gun," Gary said.
While handing the gun back to Dwight, Betsy said to Gary, "I thought you were guarding the rich and famous in Palm Springs."
"I was, until your mother called," Gary said.
"I don't need you, so why don't you go home?"
"I know that you're perfectly safe, and you know that you can handle anything that comes along, but your mother doesn't accept that. I'm not brave enough to tell Ling that I left you out here all alone," Gary said.
"What do you mean she's perfectly safe?" Dwight asked.
"She's more than capable of taking care of herself," Gary answered.
"No way."
"I wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against her," Gary said.
"You do stand a chance ... at least a really good chance of getting hurt," Betsy said with a grin.
Incredulous, Dwight stared at Gary. He'd had Gary as an instructor in basic training. Gary taught unarmed combat and he had wiped the floor with anyone who had challenged him. The fact that the man had cringed when the young woman had talked about hurting him was hard to believe.
"You've got to be kidding."
"She's probably the third most dangerous woman in the world. The only women I know who are deadlier, are Ling Carter and Penny Vinter."
"Penny Vinter?"
While he had no idea who Ling Carter was, he did know who Penny Vinter was. Almost everyone who had ever been near combat in the Middle East during the War on Terror knew of Penny Vinter. She was a living legend. Gary was one of the few men who had actually seen her in action. He had been pinned down during a horrendous firefight when she had appeared from nowhere wearing her red robe. She had danced through the enemy position and ended the fight in just minutes.
"Yes," Gary said.
"The Penny Vinter."
"Yes."
"Penny isn't so tough. She's got no stamina. I took her out after twenty minutes," Betsy said.
She had to admit that it was one of the best matches of her life. She wished that she had actually had a chance to spar with Oscar Meyers, but her mother had done that. It would have been a great fight.
Gary looked over at Dwight and said, "Like I said, she doesn't need me."
Dwight looked over Betsy thinking that Gary had to be exaggerating. There was no way a young attractive woman like her could be that deadly. He looked back at Gary and knew that man wasn't kidding.
"Are we done here?" Betsy asked.
"Yes," Dwight answered.
"Good," Betsy said and headed down the road at her normal blistering pace.
"Shit," Gary said watching her fly down the road. "I don't even know where we're going."
"Rodeo Drive," Dwight said.
"She's going to kill me. I don't even know if I can ride that far," Gary said while getting mounted on his bicycle. "When they find my dead body by the side of the road, you can tell the coroner that it was death by exercise."
Dwight laughed while Gary peddled his bike in a wobbling path around the patrol car. It was going to take the man some time to catch up to Betsy. He got in his patrol car. Cutting across the highway, he headed back the way he had come.
It took a few minutes for Gary to catch up with Betsy. At least with the gearing on the bicycle he didn't have to work too hard to keep up with her. For a rider on a bicycle, her pace was rather sedate. He rode beside her.
"So, Betsy. How have you been?"
"I'm a little irritated at my mothers," Betsy said with a scowl.
"Why?"
"They're treating me like I was a baby or something. I mean ... I don't need a bodyguard," Betsy said.
"They worry about you. After all, you're their little girl," Gary said.
He was well aware of the fact that she was a likely target of a number of less than honest people. Her wealth attracted kidnappers interested in snatching her for ransom. Her appearance attracted sexual predators. Her family had enough enemies that murdering her in order to send a message to the family wasn't an unlikely scenario.
Her cell phone rang. Irritated, she answered it, "He's here."
Gary had asked the pilot to let Ling know that he had arrived. He was confident that Ling knew he was on the job.
Betsy said, "I don't want to talk right now. I'm running."
She touched the button on her earpiece with a growl. Looking up at the sky she shouted, "Ahhh!"
"They worry about you," Gary said.
"I'm twenty-four years old. I've got a college degree," Betsy said.
"I know."
"I just might keep going when I hit Hollywood," Betsy said.
"What do you mean?"
"I bet I could swim all of the way to Hawaii."
"Probably," Gary said well familiar with her stamina.
He peddled along side her for a minute. It was obvious that she was angry. From his perspective, it was nice knowing that people worried about you like that. Of course, it could get to be a little old after a while.
He asked, "Why Hawaii?"
"I could pick up my Doctorate there," Betsy said absently. "I know more about sharks than anyone in the world."
"I know," Gary said.
It was easy to dismiss her intelligence. She didn't look or act particularly scholarly. Of course, her particular research interest wasn't the kind of thing that was done behind a desk. She studied sharks by swimming with them. A lot of people believed that spiritually she was a shark.
"There's one thing for sure."
"What's that?"
"I can't live at home anymore. I've got to start making my way, my way," Betsy said.
"Your mothers won't be happy to hear that," Gary said thinking that he wouldn't want to be around when that conversation took place.
"William was living alone when he was fifteen," Betsy said.
"William is William," Gary said.
"He is pretty unique."
She ran while he cycled beside her. They had settled into an easy pace until they reached a town. Betsy stopped, suddenly, in front of a diner. Gary slammed on the brakes wondering why she had stopped.
She said, "Let's eat."
By the time Gary had found a place for his bicycle and locked it, Betsy had gone into the restaurant and gotten a table. He approached the table in time to hear her asked, "Do you have onion rings?"
The waitress looked at the woman fidgeting in her seat, thinking she had to be on drugs. No one could wiggle, jiggle, and bounce with that much energy without being on a stimulant. She answered, "Yes."
"Good. Three hamburgers, an order of fries, an order of onion rings, and two milkshakes – one chocolate and one strawberry," Betsy said placing an order that would replace all of the calories she had burned running over the past five hours.
Gary sat down and said, "I'll take a hamburger, fries, and a vanilla milkshake."
"How many more are coming?" the waitress asked wondering if she should move them to a larger table.
"No one," Betsy answered.
The waitress turned to Gary and said, "Well, she already ordered for you."
"No. That was for me," Betsy said.
"We have pretty big hamburgers," the waitress said.
"Great. Bring them on."
Betsy ate all three hamburgers, the onion rings, the fries, both milkshakes, and completed her lunch experience with a banana split for desert. Half of the patrons in the restaurant turned and watched her eat unable to believe that a young woman could possibly consume that much food. She finished her food before Gary managed to finish his meal.
Betsy said, "We're going to Hawaii."
"We are?" Gary asked wondering when that had been decided.
The waitress put his Fudge Sundae down on the table. He picked up a spoon while listening to Betsy.
"That's right. I decided that before coming in her for lunch."
"When are we going?"
"As soon as we hit LA. I'm putting the shopping trip on hold," Betsy said. She tossed a fifty dollar bill on the table and said, "That should cover lunch."
Gary looked down at his uneaten Fudge Sundae. He looked out the window in time to see Betsy taking off down the street. He sighed at the thought of trying to pedal the bicycle fast enough to catch up to her. He hoped that he didn't lose his lunch, or get cramps from exercising too soon after eating.
Edited By TeNderLoin
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Chapter 2
The real estate agent, a very conservatively dressed woman in her early fifties, opened the door and stepped back to let the couple into the house. Experience with couples of all ages, races, sexual orientations, and religions kept her from reacting to the age difference in the couple. The man was at least twenty years older than the young woman. Having been dumped by a husband who had traded her in 'for a younger model, ' she had to work hard not to show her true feelings.
She said, "Com..."
Betsy darted around her, spun around taking in the room, and then headed off into the house without saying a word. Gary groaned and shook his head, hoping that she would stay in the house. Shocked, the real estate stared in the direction in which the young woman had disappeared.
"Sorry about that," Gary said.
"I hope she finds the rest room in time," the woman said thinking that was the only explanation that made sense.
"She's just excited about looking over the house," Gary said.
"Oh, sorry, I just assumed..."
"Don't worry about it," Gary said interrupting the flustered woman.
"It's just that..."
"How much is it?" Betsy asked while tapping the woman on her shoulder.
Startled, the woman answered, "Uh ... Twelve - five."
Flashing a toothy grin, Betsy held out a debit card and said, "I'll take it."
"I don't think you understand – that's 12.5 million," the agent said staring at the plastic card and wondering what she was supposed to do with it.
"I'll take it," Betsy said shoving the card into the woman's hand.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" the woman asked holding up the plastic card.
"Run it through the little charge machine."
"Uh..."
While stripping out of her clothes, Betsy said, "I'll be swimming while you do whatever you do to make the house mine."
Gary said, "Stay here for a minute, damn it!"
By the time the real estate agent had gathered her wits sufficiently to do more than stutter, Betsy was naked and running out the back of the house. Weakly, she muttered, "Excuse me."
Gary shook his head in dismay. Not for the last time he wondered how he had ended up with this job. He wondered why he had even answered the telephone, having seen that it was Ling calling him. His life would have been a whole lot easier, if he had just ignored it.
He sighed and then said, "Talk about stupid. I should have rolled over and gone back to sleep."
"I don't understand," the real estate agent said.
"Let's start over again," Gary said.
"Good idea."
"I'm Gary Sellers. The young woman who ran through here is Betsy Carter. She's looking for a house to purchase."
"I'm Karen Osterfeld."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Osterfeld."
"When are the two of you looking to move in?"
"You're not going to like the answer," Gary said shifting from foot to foot nervously.
"Why?"
"You can assume that Betsy expects to move in right this minute," Gary answered.
"That's not possible."
Gary said, "I know that."
"We've got to make an offer to the owners, get a reply from them, arrange for an inspection, get a mortgage, and do a title search before we can even schedule a closing," the agent said.
"She just handed you a debit card to pay cash for the house. She's going to come back expecting to own the house," Gary said.
"This is a debit card?" Karen asked looking at the plastic card as if it was a snake.
"Yes."
"With a twelve million dollar plus limit?"
"I assume so. You'll have to call the bank to ensure there are sufficient funds in her account."
"I don't know," Karen said uneasy.
"What's the matter?"
"I don't think we can do this," Karen said still staring at the debit card.
Gary said, "Let me call one of her mothers."
"One of her mothers?" Karen asked wondering if she had stepped into an alternative reality.
This meeting had seemed like such a simple thing – go to this house and show it to a prospective buyer. She even had the paperwork in her car to fill out in the unlikely case that the prospect decided to make an offer on the first visit. Nothing had prepared her for Betsy.
"She's got four of them."
Karen screamed when a wet hand descended upon her shoulder. She spun around to find Betsy standing there dripping water onto the carpet. It was obvious that the young woman had been totally immersed in water.
"If you need some help, call my brother William. He handles all of my money. Knowing him, my account has probably only got a couple of million on deposit at the moment. It might take him a couple of hours to arrange the rest. He's really good with money," Betsy said.
"How do I get in touch with William?"
"You can call him on the phone," Betsy said before turning around and dashing towards the rear door.
"What's his number?" Karen called out after Betsy.
"I'll make the call," Gary said.
"How did she get all of the way to the ocean and back so quickly?" Karen asked.
The ocean was behind the house, but it was nearly two hundred yards away. She didn't think Betsy had enough time to walk all of that way and back in the short period of time that had elapsed.
She looked to Gary for an answer, but he was busy entering a telephone number in his cell phone. He waited for an answer and then said, "Hello Barbara, I'm Gary Sellers. I'm currently the bodyguard for Betsy Carter."
Karen listened to the one side of the conversation. She wondered if the young woman was some kind of pop music star to have a body guard. Based on how quickly she had shed her clothes, it wasn't too much of a stretch to make that assumption. It seemed to her that female rock stars tended to shed their clothes at the drop of a hat.
"She's trying to buy a house and wants William's help ... Ah ... You can take care of the details?"
Karen was seriously confused by this point in time.
"She handed the realtor a debit card saying that she wanted the house, and then ran off to swim in the ocean."
"I know, but Betsy doesn't know that. Do you want to talk to the realtor? I should be down by the ocean trying to do my bodyguard thing," Gary said.
"Okay," Gary said. He handed the phone to Karen and said, "Talk to Barbara."
Karen took the phone and tentatively said, "Hello?"
Gary walked through the house following the wet footprints to the back door. He stepped outside and spotted the path that led to the ocean. He took a deep breath as if to steel himself for what he was going to find and followed the path.
The path led to a huge beach with golden sand which curved around a large bay. He figured it had to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. From where he stood, his back was to a line of exotic plants and palm trees with mountains visible off in the distance to the left and right of him. It was truly a paradise.
He spotted Betsy well offshore. She flew out of the water and then landed on her side like some kind of dolphin or porpoise. A few seconds later she was again leaping out of the water. He wondered how deep the water was out there. There was no way that she was jumping off the bottom.
There was an elderly couple somewhat down the beach. The woman was gesturing wildly, pausing only occasionally to point in Betsy's direction. The man had a huge grin on his face. It appeared that the man and woman had completely different reactions to seeing Betsy charge across the beach, naked.
While heading over to the couple, Gary looked back out in the water. Betsy was moving towards the shore at an incredible speed. She was cutting through the water like a shark. At the last moment, she stood and raced out of the ocean leaving a spray of water behind her. She was headed towards the couple on the beach.
Gary took off at a run, hoping to reach the couple before Betsy did, fully aware that it was a slim hope at best. He managed to arrive at the couple a few seconds after Betsy.
Excitedly, Betsy asked, "Do you live here?"
The woman frowned at Betsy clearly disapproving of the absence of clothing. Gary could understand the woman's reaction, particularly based on how her husband was reacting to Betsy's appearance. He clearly enjoyed the view Betsy was providing him.
The man replied, "Yes. We live in the house right over there."
Allowing her exuberance free rein, Betsy leapt forward, hugged the woman, picked her up, and swung her from side to side.
She screamed, "We're going to be neighbors! We're going to have so much fun together!"
"Oh my God!" the woman said, clearly horrified at the prospect.
The man grinned. Gary covered his eyes with his hand while Betsy greeted the man in the same manner. The older man seemed quite pleased with her greeting.
"I'm George and that's my wife, Bess."
"Hi, George. Hi, Bess. I'm Betsy!"
"Nice to meet you Betsy," George said.
Betsy said, "I'm going for a little swim. I'll be right back."
Without waiting for a reply, Betsy tore off at a run towards the water. She was waving her arms in the air enjoying the run on the sand. Ten feet into the water, she leapt into the air and disappeared into the water.
Gary said, "Hello. I'm Gary Sellers – her bodyguard."
"This is not a clothing optional beach," Bess said with ice in her voice.
"It is now," Gary muttered.
He knew there was no way that they'd get Betsy to wear a swimming suit. They could arrest her everyday and that wouldn't stop her from swimming naked in the ocean. He looked back at the ocean wondering how many problems Betsy was creating. She was already two hundred yards off shore.
"That's where you're wrong," Bess said.
With a worried expression on his face, George looked out at where Betsy was swimming. He said, "She might not want to go out that far. There are occasionally sharks out there."
"Oh God. I'll never get her out of the water now," Gary said.
"What?"
"It's a long story. Let's just say that she loves sharks," Gary said.
George said, "They aren't friendly little sharks. They've caught Mako sharks out there."
"It just gets better and better," Gary said looking up at the sky. He yelled, "Why are you doing this to me, God? I've tried to be a good man."
"You should call her in," George said.
Gary said, "It will do no good."
Bess said, "You aren't a very good bodyguard."
Gary replied, "You do not want to get between her and a shark. She loves sharks. Sharks love her."
"Yeah, they'd love to eat her," George said.
Clearly excited about something, Betsy came racing towards shore. She leapt out of the water and ran up the beach. It almost looked like something out of a cartoon the way that her feet were kicking up little clouds of sand behind her.
Excited, she asked, "Do you have a rebreather?"
"A what?" Bess asked.
"They don't have one," Gary said.
"Do you?"
"No," Gary answered. "Why do you want a rebreather?"
With a grin that stretched from ear to ear, Betsy said, "I ran into a gray reef shark out there!"
"I'm so happy for you," Gary said looking down at the sand wondering how he was going to explain this to Ling.
"I'm going to love living here."
"Of course. There's nothing better than having sharks right out your back door," Gary said somewhat tongue in cheek.
"I'm going to go visit the shark. Maybe its got some friends," Betsy said racing back towards the ocean.
Bess asked, "Is she for real?"
"Oh, yes. She's for real," Gary said.
George said, "She's a little energetic."
"You don't know half of it," Gary said.
"How do you put up with her ... energy?"
"When I get my phone back from the realtor, I'm going to quit. I'm not going in the water with sharks. Ling is going to have to find a Navy Seal to be her bodyguard."
He was exhausted from trying to keep up with her. Her run to LA ended at LAX. He'd had to leave his bicycle outside of the main office of a charter company and race after her through the private hanger. He barely caught up to her when she'd climbed into a jet. He had been unaware that she had chartered the flight while jogging. If it hadn't been for the nap he'd gotten on plane flight to the islands he'd have collapsed by now. As it was, he was barely standing. He didn't think that he'd last until nighttime.
Karen stepped onto the beach while still talking on the telephone. She looked around and then headed towards Gary. She was walking gingerly across the sand in her high heels. The expression on her face was not one of happiness. It was obvious that she was functioning well outside her comfort zone.
Turning to George, Gary said, "I think I'm going to quit the bodyguard business and open a lemonade stand in Palm Springs. I'll import the lemons from Israel, the sugar from Australia, and use bottled water from France. I'll call it gourmet lemonade and sell it for ten dollars a glass. What do you think of that idea?"
"That sounds pretty good to me," George said.
Bess asked, "They grow sugar in Australia?"
"Yes, they do."
"I didn't know that," Bess said.
"Running a lemonade stand will beat bicycling across Arizona and California chasing after a hyperactive young woman who swims with sharks," Gary said.
Karen finally reached them and held out the phone to Gary. She said, "There's a very unhappy woman who claims to be Betsy's mother on the phone. She wants to talk to you."
Gary grabbed the phone, held it to his head, and said, "I quit."
He held the phone away from his head until the volume lowered to a level he could tolerate. He walked off talking to Ling on the cell phone. He expected the language to get rather raw and felt it would be best to hold the conversation out of immediate earshot of the women.
Bess said, "Hello, Karen."
"Hello, Bess."
"Are you actually selling the house to that ... that ... girl?"
Karen sighed and then answered, "Her bodyguard made one phone call. There's now a team on a plane that will arrive tomorrow morning by nine o'clock. In less than ten minutes, they were able to put together a group that includes two lawyers, an accountant, a banker, and a secretary. They anticipate having the sale completed by close of business tomorrow."
"Can they do that?" George asked.
Bess said, "It took us almost two months to buy our house."
"I guess you can when you pay cash using a debit card, fly the owners out to complete the sale, and know everyone who is anyone in the state. With enough money I think that you can accomplish anything," Karen said shocked by the things she had learned of the telephone when talking to Barbara.
"You're kidding?"
"They were surprised that she was spending so little on a house," Karen said.
It appeared that Betsy's brother had anticipated the call. He had left a note for Barbara that Betsy could spend as much as seventeen million on a house without impacting her investments significantly.
"That's a twelve million dollar house," George said wondering how anyone could see that as spending a little on a house.
"She's probably the richest person on the island," Karen said looking out at the water. There was a fin moving along side Betsy.
"Her?"
Karen nodded her head. "She's a member of the Carter Clan."
"Oh my God!" Bess said.
"Jesus," George said looking out in the ocean unable to spot Betsy. A moment later she reappeared with two fins moving beside her.
Looking a little shell shocked, Karen said, "The whole family is flying in tomorrow."
She had finished her conversation with Barbara and closed the cell phone when it had rung. Thinking that it was Barbara calling back about some detail, she had answered it only to discover that she was talking to Ling Carter. After establishing each other's identities, Ling had proceeded to give Karen a list of things to tell Betsy.
"Druids."
"Yep, Druids."
Gary came over and sat down on the sand. Depressed, he said, "Ling is coming here. She won't accept my resignation."
Betsy came running up the beach. She turned a cartwheel about halfway to them. She then did a nice aerial somersault, something that Gary thought would be impossible on a sandy beach.
Upon reaching them, Betsy said, "Now that we've found my weekend home, let's find where I'm going to live on weekdays."
"What are you talking about?" Gary asked looking at Betsy in shock.
"What?" Karen asked.
Betsy said, "I'm going to the University of Hawaii. That's on Oahu. We're on Kauai. I can't commute to there from here every day. It would take me at least ... I don't know ... four hours maybe ... to swim each way. I can't waste all of that time when I have to study."
"Of course you can't," Gary said.
"That's a ... hundred and fifty miles," George said.
"That's even worse. That would be an eight hour swim each way," Betsy said.
"At least," Gary said.
"It's impossible to swim that far," Bess said.
"Do you want to bet?" Betsy asked.
"No," Gary shouted holding up his hands. He turned to Bess and George adding, "You don't want to bet her, because she'll do it."
"I believe you," George said.
"You're going to get a place in Honolulu?" Karen asked.
"I'll probably just pick up a condo or something near the school," Betsy said. "I've heard they have some pretty nice ones for around a million dollars."
"They do," Karen said.
"I'm going back to my house and get dressed. I'll be in the car waiting for you," Betsy said. She ran a few steps and then ran back, "You are coming with us, right?"
"Who? Me?" Karen asked.
"Yes, you."
"I suppose I can," Karen said thinking that she was going to have to get out her laptop and look up condominiums in the area of the University of Hawaii while they were on their way to Oahu. She wondered if there would be any problems getting Betsy past the HOAs that ran most of the large condominiums like petty tyrants.
Betsy ran a few steps away and then ran back. "What's your name?"
"Karen Osterfeld."
"Hello, Karen. I'm Betsy Carter," Betsy said holding out her hand.
Karen shook it.
The moment Karen released her hand, Betsy dashed down the beach kicking up a spray of sand. She leapt up and grabbed a coconut out of a palm tree while flying past it. She landed on the sand, threw the coconut up in the air and then caught it while running.
Karen watched Betsy running towards the house. Thoughts of taking a vacation with the money she was about to earn in commission flashed through her mind. She was thinking about going someplace far far from here.
George said, "Watching her has tired me out. I'm going to go up to the house and take a nap."
"Me, too," Bess said.
Bess glanced in the direction of the house into which Betsy was moving and then muttered, "There goes the neighborhood."
"Sorry," Karen said apologetically.
Gary said, "Let's go. She's probably already dressed and waiting by the car. I've got to warn you, she doesn't have much patience."
"No kidding," Karen muttered while starting the long walk back to the house. She muttered, "I shouldn't have worn heels."
"I can carry you," Gary said trying to be helpful.
"No thank you."
"I didn't think so."
"By the way, here's her debit card," Karen said holding it out for him to take.
Taking it from her, he said, "Thanks. I'll give it to her in the car."
They trudged up towards the house. It was difficult walking through sand with high heels. Karen would have taken them off, but walking through sand wearing pantyhose wasn't any better. Betsy came to check on their progress twice.
Gary said, "It looks like I'm going to be living here until Ling finds a replacement for me."
"Are you looking to buy or rent?" Karen asked.
"I'll live in her house. It's part of the job," Gary said.
"I feel sorry for you," Karen said.
Gary shrugged his shoulders. He was making three times his normal billing rate. It could have been worse.
"What about your wife?"
"I'm not married."
"Oh."
He asked, "Are you married?"
"I'm divorced. He dumped me for a younger model."
"Would you like to go out sometime?" Gary asked.
"With you?"
"Yes."
"I guess so," Karen said.
Gary said, "It might be a couple of days before I can arrange some back up bodyguards."
"That's okay," Karen said.
"It's going to be tough finding someone. Anyone I call will hang up when she hears that I'm working for Ling. If I manage to keep her on the phone she'll die of laughter when she hears that I'm guarding Betsy."
"That bad, huh?"
"Worse. I need to find two women willing to babysit her," Gary said holding up two fingers.
"Women?"
"People get upset when a man follows a woman into a bathroom or even just hangs around the women's room looking threatening. You need at least one woman to guard a woman," Gary said.
"I didn't think about that."
Edited By TeNderLoin
-------
Chapter 3
Ling said, "You look like hell."
"I've been around your daughter for a couple of days," Gary replied pointedly.
He tried to count the days, but they all ran into a blur of move and move and move. He had never been so tired in his life. Trying to keep up with Betsy was a constant effort. She was always in motion and that required him to always be in motion. The normal human being wasn't built for that level of activity.
"You should get some rest," Kelly said.
Gary pointed at Ling and said, "She should let me quit."
"You can't quit until I find a replacement for you," Ling said.
"How's that search going?" Gary asked sarcastically.
"Not very well," Ling admitted.
Gary said, "You might as well give up. Everyone knows that she's just as deadly as you are. No one in their right mind is going to touch her. Anyone not in their right mind is going to get torn into little pieces."
"I want someone to watch over her," Ling declared.
"Do you have anyone watching over you?" Gary asked pointedly.
"Yes. We have a full security staff at home," Ling answered.
Kelly said, "We do."
"Do you have a personal bodyguard?" Gary asked.
"Well, no," Ling said.
Gary said, "I'll handle security at her house, but there's no way I'm going to be her bodyguard. It's physically impossible. I can't protect her when she's jogging. She runs at fifteen miles per hour and I'm doing good to get up to eight miles per hour. I try to follow behind her on a bike and the next thing I know she starts heading across country doing that Parkour thing where I can't follow her. I'm not going in the ocean with her. She attracts sharks and the sharks are going to look at me like I'm dinner."
Ling said, "That is a problem."
"That's a big problem. No job is worth getting shit out the back end of a shark," Gary said.
"That's a rather vulgar way to put it," Kelly said.
"I apologize. It's just that I feel rather strongly about the subject," Gary said.
Claire said, "You make some good points. I don't blame you."
Ling said, "That doesn't solve our problem."
Gary said, "The only problem you have is that you can't accept that she can take care of herself."
Ed said, "He's telling the truth."
"Don't take his side," Ling said glaring at Ed.
Gary said, "I'll bet you every dollar you owe me that you can't keep up with her for two days."
"I'd never take that bet," Ling said with a low growl of frustration.
The unfortunate thing was the Gary was right. She couldn't keep up with Betsy. There probably wasn't another human being on the planet who could keep up with Betsy. Her need to constantly move while awake was unnatural. In every aspect of physical ability, Betsy was at the far end of the spectrum.
Gary said, "I'll put the security systems in her house and condo. I'll stay at her place and defend her against anyone who tries to break in. I'm not following her around."
"Okay," Ling said.
"Thank you," Gary said.
Ed said, "You can probably hire a couple of people willing to accept those terms."
"I'll make the calls," Ling said.
"I'm glad that's settled," Claire said.
Gary said, "She wants a carry permit."
"I'll definitely support her in that," Ling said.
Ed said, "I'm not so happy about that."
Claire said, "After William's shunning of her, I have a feeling that she'll be very responsible."
"That's true," Ed said.
Gary said, "I'll go talk to her."
-------
Betsy was on the stationary bike watching a movie on the television. It wasn't a very good movie, but it was the best she had found. She looked down at the digital readouts and saw that she had already covered twenty miles.
Gary entered the room and sat down on the couch. It was an older movie that starred Nora Turner. He was surprised when Betsy shut off the television.
"Are you quitting?" Betsy asked.
"No. Your mothers have agreed that you don't need a bodyguard. They do insist that you have a security detail at your houses," Gary said.
"I can live with that," Betsy said. "I've been surrounded by security my whole life."
"That wouldn't surprise me," Gary said. "If you'll have me, I'll be happy to provide security at your home."
"That would be nice," Betsy said.
Betsy peddled the bike some more while Gary watched her. He wondered how anyone could move that much for so long without dropping dead. It couldn't be healthy.
"Do you think I'm a freak?" Betsy asked.
"A freak? No. I think you are at an extreme in terms of human physical endurance. That doesn't make you a freak," Gary answered.
"I think I'm a freak."
Gary thought it was sad that she thought of herself as a freak. He could see why she might feel that way. There was nothing natural about her stamina and need to continually move. Of course, there were a lot of high strung people who had a very difficult time sitting still for very long.
He asked, "Why do you think you're a freak?"
"William is always talking about big numbers. He says there are six billion people on the planet and that no one is really unique. I confronted him about that once. I asked him to find another person just like me. He got real quiet for a long time. Then he said there are a handful of people who are truly unique and that I was one of them."
"So is he."
"That's true. I guess I didn't think about that. He is different from everyone else."
Betsy was silent for a moment before she said, "Did you know that I've never had a real friend?"
"What do you mean – you've never had a friend?" Gary asked.
"I've never had a friend. I've never had a girlfriend to share secrets with. You know, a girl who comes over and spends the night where we giggle, tell stories, and drink hot chocolate.
"I've never had a boyfriend. I've never been on a date. I've never been kissed. I'm twenty-four and still a virgin," Betsy said.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Gary said a little flustered by the topic of conversation. "I mean ... I think it's great that you're still a virgin, but I'm sorry you've never had a friend."
Somewhat defensively, she said, "I'm not sorry about being a virgin."
"Okay."
"I don't want you to think that I'm looking to get laid at the moment. I'm not," Betsy said.
"I believe you. Besides, your first time should be with someone you care about," Carl said.
The idea that she was offering up her virginity to him had never entered his mind. He figured she was wanting to talk about something that was bothering her and hadn't quite gotten to the real heart of the subject. Her status as a virgin was an artifact of what was bothering her.
"I believe that it's true that it is better to wait until you find someone you love. William waited to have sex until he met Lucy," Betsy said.
She peddled for a bit lost in thought.
Betsy said, "It's not that I've been alone, but I'm lonely."
"At least you have family," Gary said.
"Do you have family?"
Gary answered, "Not really. My parents passed away while I was in the Army. My wife divorced me because I was never home. We never had a chance to have kids. Well ... I have a sister, but we don't talk to each other."
"That's a shame about you and your sister, but I kind of understand what you're talking about," Betsy said.
"Your whole family is pretty close," Gary said.
Betsy said, "My brother Eddie is probably the most supportive member of the family. He's proud of everything I've ever done. He helped me train for the Olympics and cheered me on in every event.
"My brother William listens to me and gives me good advice. The thing is that William is William. He only relates well to a couple of people ... like his wife. I know he loves me, but I think at times that he finds me amusing. I don't always understand him. He's kind of a loner, if you know what I mean."
"John and Beth travel all of the time so I don't really see them that much. When I do see them, it's pretty obvious that we don't have much in common. John is into animals, so we can talk about that for a while. Beth has her buildings and I'm not into buildings."
"My little brother Micheal is really too young for me to have a real sibling kind of relationship with him. I'm almost more like an aunt than a sister. He's still the baby of the family."
"I'm sorry you feel that degree of separation from your siblings," Gary said.
"That's the way things are," Betsy said shrugging her shoulders.
Gary said, "You still have your parents."
"That's true," Betsy said softly.
She started peddling faster. Gary watched and wondered what was going through her mind. She was definitely burning up a lot of energy on that bike.
"It's just they aren't my age."
"Ah," Gary said.
He had never given much thought as to how important it was to have friends your own age. It automatically established a common ground of experience. Of course, there weren't many people who had the kind of life lived by Betsy. A super hyperactive child raised by eight parents who were among the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world didn't have a very large peer group.
"I don't think Bess and George liked me very much," Betsy said.
"You might have overwhelmed them a little," Gary said diplomatically.
Betsy said, "I'll admit that I might have been a little over excited about finding such a beautiful house, and then discovering that I had sharks in my backyard."
Gary said, "I think Bess is a little conservative. She's not used to nude women hugging her."
"I didn't think of that," Betsy said with a frown.
She had thought of it as a friendly greeting. She didn't think there was anything wrong with being nude. She knew that not everyone felt that way, but it seemed strange to her to find someone who felt that nudity was wrong. She didn't know anyone who wore a swimming suit except when away from home.
"I was pretty sure that the thought never crossed your mind," Gary said.
Betsy said, "I guess I act first and then think later."
"I think if you were to ever meet with her in situation like this..."
"Like what?"
"A situation where you aren't running from one place to another constantly. I think if you could just talk with her in a relaxed manner like we're talking that you could probably patch up things," Gary said.
"Do you really think so?"
"I do."
"That would be nice," Betsy said.
"Riding your exercise bike while having a cup of tea with her would probably give her a chance to know Betsy Carter as person rather than as a force of nature," Gary said.
"Do you think of me as a force of nature?"
"At times you give that impression."
"I don't mean to."
"I know," Gary said.
This was one of the few occasions that she wasn't talking so fast that her words came at him like bullets out of a Gatling gun. He actually appreciated the more thoughtful version of Betsy.
He got up and went over to the little refrigerator. He grabbed a bottle of water and held it up. "Do you want one?"
"Sure," Betsy said.
He grabbed a second bottle and took it over to the bike. She took it, removed the cap, and drank a third of it. While screwing the cap back on the bottle, she said, "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Gary said returning to his seat.
Kelly stuck her head into the room and smiled upon seeing Betsy. She came in and sat down in one of the chairs. It was obvious by the deliberate manner in which she moved that this was not a social visit.
"Hi Mom."
"Hello, Betsy."
Betsy peddled for a minute and then said, "This isn't a casual visit, is it?"
"I'm afraid not," Kelly said.
"What did I do wrong now?" Betsy asked.
Gary was struck by her implicit assumption that she had done something wrong. He imagined that her parents must have spent a tremendous amount of time trying to direct her energies into useful directions and to moderate her intrinsic enthusiasm for what she was doing. Like any child, Betsy probably saw her parents as criticizing her.
"Nothing. I just need to talk with you about some things you'll need to take care of now that you are moving out on your own," Kelly answered.
Gary said, "Should I leave?"
Kelly shook her head and answered, "No. You should stay. What I have to say concerns you as well."
"That sounds serious," Betsy said.
Kelly said, "You're moving out of the house for good now. It's time for you to hire a staff to support you."
"What kind of staff?" Betsy asked.
"You'll need a housekeeper to cook and clean, as well as a handyman to repair things around the house," Kelly said.
"Don't forget the security staff," Gary said.
"I hadn't forgotten that. You'll want at least two people, possibly three, for security to take the day and night shifts. You'll also need a secretary to manage your schedule, and an accountant to deal with your money issues," Kelly said.
"That's a lot of people," Betsy said counting the number of positions her mother had described. "I really don't want six people living in my house."
"While we've found it easiest to have the staff live in our home, it isn't really necessary. I do suggest that you have the housekeeper and the security staff live in your house," Kelly said. "The secretary and accountant can work in an office. The handyman can have a regular schedule or you might want him to live in the house."
Betsy said, "I can kind of cook and clean so I don't need a housekeeper. We can hire a service for the lawn and call repairmen if something breaks. I don't really need a secretary since I can manage my schedule. I guess an accountant would useful."
Kelly said, "According to William, you are worth over a hundred million dollars. You are a member of a family that controls billions of dollars. That places certain obligations on you. It also makes you a target for unscrupulous people.
"You will need a secretary to keep track of your schedule, arrange flights, and take care of the thousand little details that having money imposes. You won't always have time to cook or clean your house, particularly since you might be away from it for extended periods of time."
Gary said, "I'm sorry, but you will not want strangers who have not been cleared by me to have access to your house. That kind of puts a damper on hiring repairmen when something breaks or using a lawn service."
"I'm not helpless," Betsy said defensively.
Kelly said, "No one is saying that you're helpless. All I'm saying is that you'll need those people to support you."
"Why?"
"How many times have you asked Mary Gold to do something for you? How many times has someone on William's staff helped you out with something?" Kelly asked.
"I don't call them that often," Betsy said.
"Who did you call to take care of purchasing the house?"
"William."
"Right, but it was Barbara who took care of all the arrangements."
"Yeah, but that was a special case."
"Who arranged your flight to Hawaii?"
"Mary Gold," Betsy answered.
"Mary Gold is not going to be able to help you with local details all of the way from Arizona. You need someone here to do that," Kelly said.
"I guess you're right," Betsy said.
Calling someone to take care of travel arrangements, reservations, or purchases was so ingrained that she didn't even stop to think about it. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate what everyone did for her, it was that she didn't think of how frequently she requested their help.
Kelly said, "You're going to close on the house and the condo this afternoon. We'll arrange with an employment agency to interview people the day after tomorrow while Ed is still here."
"Why the day after tomorrow?" Betsy asked.
"It will take the agency some time to contact people and arrange the interviews," Kelly answered.
"That makes sense," Betsy said.
Kelly said, "You'll want to take the time between now and when we interview people to decide what you need from the people who you will hire."
"I don't want to fill up the house with a bunch of people," Betsy said.
Gary said, "I didn't really have a chance yesterday to see much of the house, but I don't think it has that much extra space to provide individual rooms for a lot of people. However, I think it might be a good idea if we used a little piece of the property to construct a security center. Either I, or the person we hire, can live in the house while the other lives in the security center."
"It has eight bedrooms," Betsy said.
"So one bedroom for you, one bedroom for the housekeeper, and one bedroom for one of us security folks. That leaves you five rooms for guests or anyone else you might want to have living here," Gary said.
He was hoping that the other security person was a woman. He'd much rather have the privacy that came from having his own room since he wasn't that thrilled with living and working with a bunch of women all of the time. He was a man and figured that with the nudity that was liable to exist inside the house that it would be a whole lot easier on his libido to spend as little time in there as possible.
As far as he was concerned, he could envision three women living in the house, him out in a separate building, and the handyman living away from the house. The accountant and secretary could work in an office somewhere nearby. For that matter, they could have offices inside the security center.
Betsy said, "I guess that's okay."
Kelly said, "We'll discuss the idea of having a separate security center with Ling. I don't think she'll like that idea very much."
"I forgot about her," Gary said.
That reminded him of Ed. Ling would definitely question why he thought a separate security center was a good idea. If Ed was there, he'd have to admit his real concerns. He didn't want to do that feeling that he'd come out looking pretty shallow.
Betsy said, "I guess we'll hire a bunch of people the day after tomorrow."
"You, Gary, and Ling should spend tomorrow at your house deciding how you want to house your staff," Kelly said.
"Okay," Betsy said not thrilled with the idea.
Her plans had been to spend the day buying furniture and essential household items. She had a home to decorate. She didn't want to spend it in a meeting deciding what she wanted in terms of staff.
Kelly said, "You might want to invite Dan to go with you. He's pretty level headed and will help you keep Ling in check."
"I guess so," Betsy said.
"I'll go talk to Ling and Dan," Kelly said.
"Thank you," Betsy said.
Gary watched Kelly leave the room. He turned to look at Betsy once they were alone. She didn't look very happy. She had picked up the pace on the stationary bike.
Gary said, "You are moving here because you felt like your parents were controlling too much of your life and now it seems that they are here controlling your life."
"You can say that again," Betsy said with a trace of anger in her voice.
"Do you mind if I make an observation here?"
"Go ahead," Betsy said.
Gary said, "It just seems to me that once you get your own staff that you've really put a limit on how much your parents can control you. I mean ... it's like getting your own car. You don't have to ask your parents for a ride somewhere – you just go."
"I like that idea," Betsy said.
"I thought you might."
Betsy said, "That kind of reminds me of something."
"What?"
"I need a driver, too."
"Why?"
She actually stopped pedaling and sat there looking embarrassed by the admission. Gary wondered if he had said something wrong.
"I can't drive," Betsy answered.
"Why not?"
"I can't sit still long enough to drive a car," Betsy admitted.
She resumed pedaling the bicycle without looking at him thinking back to her experiences in the driver's seat of Ed's Hugger. Her attempts at learning to drive would have been comic if they hadn't been so tragic. After a few seconds behind the wheel, she would start to nervously tap her feet causing the car to lurch forward each time her foot went to the floor. She'd start bouncing in her seat causing her to turn the steering wheel and thereby making the car veer all over the road. It didn't matter how much she tried to control her movements, she couldn't keep from moving. She had cried the day when she accepted that she would never be able to drive.
For the first time, Gary realized that Betsy didn't have the perfect life which everyone assumed. There was no question that she was surrounded by a loving family who did everything in their power to assure that she could be the best person she could be. That couldn't and didn't prevent her from having areas of her life that were empty. In a way, she had real physical limitations that were hers to overcome.
He wondered if her mothers would have insisted upon a bodyguard if she had been able to hop into a car and drive to LA. He doubted they would have had the same degree of concern if she had driven there rather than run there. She was a lot more vulnerable running alone along a highway than inside a car.
Gary said, "So we'll hire a driver and get a car for him to drive. Maybe you might want to get a pilot and a small plane so that you can fly from island to island on your own schedule."
"That's a great idea," Betsy said.
Her pedaling sped up while she thought about Gary's observations. He was right that having a staff of her own would truly mean that she would be taking full control over her life. She could head out the backdoor and swim for hours, without one of her mothers standing on shore worried about her getting into trouble. She could pick up the phone and make arrangements to fly to the Congo to visit her brother John without having to explain her desire to see him to anyone.
Of course, all of that freedom meant that she would also have to be much more responsible.
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