Loosening Up Bk. 03 Ch. 21-23

Joan said, "What if I just wanted to stay here, maybe watch some TV and go to bed early? Would that be acceptable?"

"Of course," Alice said. "Just don't feel ANY obligation after dinner to participate in any way at all – and we advise against it. You are supposed to be healing and let the virtual scabs heal over those open wounds you were left with."

Joan agreed.

The women changed from their work clothes to casual duds, and went down to the patio. Joan was conservatively dressed in slacks and a blouse, but had gone barefoot. Alice and Emily were in short shorts and tops that were a little more revealing and inviting.

Dave was serving cocktails, as usual. Rachel and Shelby were helping with orders and delivery to the right person. Shelby, of course, had eliminated her intake of alcohol, but she liked the waitressing job, in particular because the others knew she liked to be teased and fondled as part of her duties.

There was a lot of laughter, as well as throughout the group. Everyone had fun together. While they were enjoying each other Megan, Paul, and Ashley arrived, and joined the throng. Dave had talked to Megan on the phone and explained about having another houseguest and Joan's circumstances. They were glad to meet her, in any case, and then shared their kisses and hugs with everyone.

Jack gave a brief update on the progress and issues with the townhouses. A couple of the women reported on their own construction projects – pointing at their pregnant bellies in explanation. Alice had little to report other than confirmation of her new station in life: future mom. Wendy made the same report with a great smile.

At dinner, Dave and Dale sat on either side of Joan. She was grateful for the male companionship and discussion. She confessed to spending almost all her time in Texas dealing with other women, most of who were therapists or athletic trainers of some kind. Part of her recovery involved getting her involved in a healthier lifestyle that included exercise. Joan had already discovered and used the Circle's gym.

After the coffee got passed around, several couples got up the long dinner tables and made their way to the chaises: Owen and Wendy, Mike and Pam, and Alice and Aaron.

Joan's eyebrows rose. She said to Dave, "Isn't Aaron your brother?"

"Yes, and he loves Alice as much as I do. Moreover, there's a possibility that his wife's baby is mine."

Joan gulped and remained mute, watching as the various men and women put the make on each other. Finally, she swallowed the last of her coffee and then rose, "I guess I'll go inside now." Both Dave and Dale rose and gave her a polite hug, and then she walked into the core living room and disappeared towards the Prentiss' home.

When Dave turned back to the table, Rachel was there. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. She whispered, "Want some teenage pussy?"

Dave snickered, "Oh, you know I do. Come here, you little vixen. I love you." They kissed and hands started roaming. As they got occupied with each other, Dave watched Dale get approached by Grace and Christie. Yes, this was going to be a night of love and relationships.

Many minutes later, Dave and Rachel finally rose from the chaise they'd made love on. Julie also stood. She'd been between Rachel's legs cleaning up the sodden load that her 'husband' had left in the teen.

Rachel leaned down and kissed Julie as the older girl knelt in front of her. She then licked her cheek. "You had some cum there that I wanted. You can't have it all, you know."

"Ah, you discovered my diabolical plan to monopolize all the cum in the Circle. I will not only be the cum bucket, I'll be the cum merchant. It's fun and tastes so good, especially mixed with pussy juices like yours."

After a further few kisses, the three headed in different directions. Dave took a breather, and picked up some of the leftover dinner dishes, cups, and saucers from the table, and carried them into the kitchen. After collecting a second load, he turned off some of the interior lights and went to cut around a partition into the living room to be sure all was well in that part of the core.

Dave came up behind Joan. She was standing in a corner by one of the large glass windows looking out at the patio where couples and threesomes were making love right in front of her, in a couple of cases only a few feet away. She was hidden by the darkness of the room and the tinted glass.

Joan had removed her pants and her panties. Her blouse was open, and he realized she was braless. Joan's left hand was stroking her breasts, moving from one to the other and occasionally pulling on the erect nipples. Her right hand was buried in her pussy, alternately plunging two fingers into her body and then frantically rubbing her clit for a spell.

"Ahem," Dave announced his presence.

Joan jerked around and faced him, "Oh, shit. You caught me." Her hands flew to her mouth. She looked very sexy undressed as she was.

"You decided to be a voyeur?" Dave said with a touch of humor in his tone. He hoped his smile put her at ease.

"I've never seen ... people making love ... having sex ... fucking. This is so hot."

"Don't let me stop you." Dave was all too aware that he was stark naked with a slight erection standing only five feet from the pretty woman.

"Dave, please come and hold me."

"That's not a good idea, Joan."

"No, we're not having sex, but I want you to hold me while I make myself cum. Please. I promise I'll be good."

Dave moved to Joan, and kissed her. She opened her blouse and pushed her tits against his manly chest. He could feel the nips pushing against him, and then her hips.

She turned in his arms and faced back to the patio. Kat was riding Ken's long cock in the cowgirl position only eight feet away. Next to them, Susan and Paul were fucking. Joan's right hand returned to her clit. Joan's left hand took hold of Dave's hand and brought it to her breasts. He got the message and massaged her chest, pulling and pinching on her nipples to further arouse her.

Soon, Dave's cock was hard and nestled in the crack of her ass. He slowly pumped his hips, helped with some sensations of pleasure for him. Joan stood on tiptoe and guided his cock between her legs but not into her body. He could feel the prickly pubic hair against his organ, and Joan's ministrations to herself got faster and faster and faster.

Suddenly, Dave became aware of Joan's body frozen in time. She was motionless and mute, except for a long purr and moan from deep in her core. Her body collapsed against Dave's and he held her for a couple of minutes as she orgasmed .

Joan finally said, "Thank you. You were perfect and just what I needed. I love you." She kissed him on the lips, and then picked up her pants and undies from the floor, and then scampered off towards his home carrying the clothes in her arms.

Fortunately, Megan met Dave as he came out onto the patio with an erection that pointed at the North Star. Neither wanted foreplay, and so they were fucking only twenty seconds later like two animals in heat.

* * * * *

When Dave came downstairs in his own home on Saturday morning, he found Derek, Abby, Alice, and Joan sitting in his living room talking so as not to awaken those upstairs. He gave them the look, as though to say, 'What's up?'

Derek reached into a folder, pulled out a page, and held up the signed letter of acceptance of a leave of absence and entry into an employee assistance program for Brian. He'd signed in an angry flourish. In a way, he was boxed in with no options. Jobs in his pay range were rarely available, and he had little to distinguish himself other than run-of-the-mill management skills. He probably knew that Derek could just as easily have fired him. This way, he might be able to return to his job after a few weeks.

Dave nodded, "Good. That's one less hurdle to jump. What now?"

Joan spoke, "Clive Henderson, my divorce attorney, asked in a cover letter on the documents that Brian have his lawyer contact him, as he put it, to arrange for Brian to sign the papers. His guess, however, because we tilted the settlement so much in my favor, is that he will counter offer. He's also got the abuse tort to deal with."

Dave asked, "Could he just file bankruptcy and avoid any financial liability?"

Joan shook her head. "The lawyer said that as an individual in this state you can't avoid divorce settlements, alimony, child support, or tort settlements by filing bankruptcy. Each state is a little different, so we're lucky we can file here."

"I meant to ask what keeps this from being a 'she said-he said' kind of court case, that gets thrown out for lack of evidence?"

"I have hours of taped therapy sessions on disk. Some of them were under sodium thiopental or 'truth serum' and others under deep hypnosis. Both approaches have been validated in court as acceptable evidence that a subject is telling the truth. On those disks I was led through two years of structured torture as Brian slowly eroded my self-confidence, self-worth, self-trust that I even knew what was happening as reality, and browbeating me to the point I was contemplating suicide."

Dave pondered, "Those words have come up several times in several different ways: structured torture, an orderly program to undermine you, and a planned series of steps to lead you into suicide. What if he really was following some kind of plan or executing a set of proscribed steps to destroy you?"

Joan thought for a moment and nodded. "It's speculation without any proof."

"When are you going to pick up you things from your house? I have an idea."

"I thought I'd arrange it for Tuesday, if the sheriffs can do it that day."

"Does Brian have a den or a secret place he might hide documents?"

Joan said, "I didn't think we had any secrets. There are a couple of places in the house he could hide things, and of course he could always squirrel things away on the computer."

"I think we should see whether we can find anything that suggests he has been on a particular journey of some kind."

Derek said, "If this is slated to become evidence, you may need to talk to Clive and see whether you need a search warrant, that is separate from Joan going into the house to get her things and looking around to be sure she didn't miss anything."

Dave nodded, "Superb thinking."

Derek said "I'm also here for another reason. I'd like Nancy here, too."

Alice said, "She's probably with Dale and Susan. Should I call?"

Dave noted, "They're early risers, so yes."

Nancy came in the door five minutes later with a jaunty smile on her face, "What's up?"

Derek gestured to the sofa where there was a seat between Dave and Alice. He spoke, "Brian Coswell has decided for personal reasons to take a leave of absence. He will use some of his accrued sick and vacation time, so not suffer too badly economically; otherwise his time off is leave-without-pay.

"Brian's position is open as of close of business yesterday. Dave you are the manager best suited to fill that post, so you are as of now the Director of Transmission Systems, with the word 'Acting' in parentheses after your title when corresponding with anybody outside the utility.

'Dave's position, thus becomes vacant as well. Only one manager in Brian's department has been groomed an heir, and that's you Nancy. You are the heir apparent to his position, and as of today you are now the Division Head, Overhead Systems. Again, you should use the term 'Acting' with outside parties, otherwise you have a new job. Congratulations, both of you. Pay and other perquisites will be adjusted according to your new jobs.

Dave and Nancy looked at each other in disbelief. Alice gave a little cheer and raced over and kissed her husband. Joan rose and hugged Dave and Nancy. Derek shook everybody's hand. Abby gave hot sultry kisses to Dave and Nancy.

Chapter 23 - Evidence

Tuesday morning, two vans pulled up in from of the Coswell home along with a car from the sheriff's department and another car from the district attorney's office. The contingent of people walked up to the front door and knocked.

Brian Coswell, looked sleepy and haggard, opened the door wearing hastily put on blue jeans, loafers, and a t-shirt.

The district attorney stepped forward, "Mr. Coswell, I am assistant district attorney Brad James, and the purpose of this visit is for multiple reasons. I am here to search for evidence pertaining to a spousal abuse filing. Here is my search warrant, duly signed by Judge Helen Galwicki. The sheriff's deputies and the others in this group are here so that Mrs. Coswell can collect some of her belongings. Further visits in that regard may be needed. Since you have a restraining order filed against you, we recommend you repair to a part of your home where you will not interact with her as she moves about your house. You may sit in your car if you wish."

Brian was totally intimidated by the group and the apparent order. He'd opened the door and let everybody into the house. He then picked up his car keys and went outside to sit in his sedan.

Emily and Alice each carried in some wardrobe boxes, and went right to the master bedroom closet where they started to fill them with shoes and everything on the racks and hangers in Joan's closet.

Joan, the ADA, and Dave immediately went to several places Joan thought Brian might hide evidence of his planned psychological warfare on his wife. The search didn't take long. Brian had an office; in that office there was a bookcase; on that bookcase were three books on psychological warfare at the individual level. In each book several pages had been dog-eared and passages pencil marked.

Searching further, Dave discovered in the top drawer of Brian's desk as the ADA looked over his shoulder, three pages that had been typed and printed detailing specific actions and phrases to use to intimidate, degrade, demean, humble, and dehumanize an individual. Several entries had been made in Brian's handwriting. One of the comments on later pages referenced a series of phrases that could be used to encourage the suicide of the target person: 'you're not worthy of even being alive, let alone a wife'. Dave cringed.

The ADA took the pages, carefully put them in an evidence envelope, put the books in a bag, and the pair kept looking, but found nothing further of that ilk. The prosecutor did confiscate the computer, disconnecting the PC and carrying it out to his car with an evidence tag on it.

Dave drove the rented van back to the Circle. Several of the men were there and helped carry Joan's boxes to the guest room she was using as a base of operations. After that, Joan headed off to her new job, Alice and Dave went to work, and Emily headed off to a volunteer job she routinely did.

Joan was more relaxed and at ease that evening, as everyone congregated for the usual pre-dinner meet up. At one point she said, "I have some news to report."

The others gathered around. "Brad James, the ADA who went with us this morning, called me this afternoon. I'm glad I took the call. He suggested we put our civil case against Brian on hold, except for the divorce. His office went through the books and the computer, and, as he put it, found more than sufficient grounds for an arrest warrant."

Joan looked at her watch, "About now, one Brian Coswell will be in custody under the laws of Florida for domestic violence, domestic abuse, and, get this, premeditated murder. He'll be kept overnight and arraigned in the morning. The man apparently kept a kind of journal or log and talked about what he was trying to make happen as he drove the truck around inside my head. My God, I thought I knew the man. I can't believe I ever married him."

"Will any of that stick?"

"Apparently, so. That's why ADA James suggested we wait with the civil law suit. If the criminal suit is concluded in favor of the state, that makes our suit a slam dunk – those were his words. I know what it means. If they lose, we have a much lower standard of evidence and could still probably win, building on all the evidence and such laid out during the criminal case. He reminded me of the famous OJ trial, where the murder prosecution went in OJ's favor, but he lost the civil case that did convict him of murder."

"Joan, are you strong enough to do this?" Dave asked in a worried tone.

"Oh, yes. I need to show my soon-to-be-ex-husband that karma can be a bitch – and so can his ex-wife."

"His lawyers might beat you up pretty badly on the witness stand."

Joan chuckled, "Bring 'em on. I'm stronger every day. At the rate the courts get to things, it'll be three to six months before this gets brought to trial. By then I'll be fully healed. Brian probably forgets what a force I can be when I have all my wits."

* * * * *

Dave rifled through Brian Coswell's desk at work picking up the threads of what he'd left behind as he went on leave. Derek was helpful, and so were Kevin Theopolis, Sal Delorenzo, and Kate Huggins, the other people that were direct reports to Brian. Nancy had joined their ranks, and as each day passed it looked like the field promotions were going to stick, because it also looked less and less like Brian would ever return to the utility.

Dave did find some additional 'abuse' checklists Brian made for himself in a desk drawer. They were phone, email, and text messages that he could send to Joan during the day to further undermine her personality and consistently drive her crazy. He turned them over to the ADA working on the case.

Dave creatively brought Donna Klaubert down on temporary duty to be his assistant. Derek laughed but sent his aide with his blessings. In two weeks, the pair had restored a much better sense of order to Coswell's Division than he had left it. Donna returned 'upstairs' after that assignment.

Dave hosted a relatively small Christmas party at the Circle for the utility's executives, his direct reports, a few special guests, and their partners. About sixty people came to the afternoon celebration about three weeks before Christmas. Donna had risen to the task again to ensure that the catering, bars, decorations, and arrangements were top notch and memorable.

Dave was glad to see that Joan attended, as most of the Circle did, helping to host the event and be sure there were no wallflowers. They wore professionally done name tags, which signaled to the others attending that they could also be a source of information about the arrangements, rest rooms, and so forth.

Dave made it a point to enjoy this party. There were five obviously pregnant Circle women in attendance – Susan, Shelby, and Kat, plus Alice and Wendy had just started to 'show'. Together with their model-quality bodies and faces, they appeared to be the envy of many of the women that came to the party. Holly's pregnancy hadn't been announced officially yet, so no one mentioned that.

Emily Wilson knew most of the executive's wives, and acted as a special concierge and hostess for them, as they arrived and mingled. She wore a Circle nametag and wasn't at all subtle in letting others know that she was an insider at the Circle, as well as a full participant in all Circle activities. She also knew that the women and men all knew Derek had Abby as a girlfriend, so why not. The fact that Abby was also in attendance raised many eyebrows and worried a few, until it was clear that she and Emily appeared to be best friends and that Abby, too, was a Circle member.

The Circle had annexed Derek and Abby before Thanksgiving, along with Paul, Megan, and Ashley. The latter three had taken over one of the units in the new townhouse building that had been completed at Thanksgiving.

The party was sedate, mostly inside in the large living and dining area. Some of the same cute waiters and waitresses that had worked the huge party Dave had given over a year earlier worked this party, being as flirty and sexy as they could without stepping over the line. They were superb, and seemed to enjoy the repartee with the guests.