"'Morning, Gayle," I said, as I stumbled, snug in my borrowed plush robe, into the kitchen, in search of coffee.
"G'morning, Bright-Eyes!" she replied, in an inordinately cheery voice. We shared a hug, then she handed me a steaming mug.
"Thanks," I murmured through the steam, before taking a sip. "Well. Wasn't that a party? Another Mannette success."
My name is Natalie Roderick and my husband, Dennis, and I used to be next door neighbours with Gayle and Steve Mannetteâback in the dayâin the upper middle-class 'white-collar' neighbourhood where Dennis and I still reside.
Steve wasâI guess, still isâa kind of IT whiz-kid. Anyway, he invented some sort of breakthrough medical device and it was a runaway success. He founded a companyâof which, he is president and CEOâto manufacture the device, and was suddenly worth hundreds of millions of dollars. So, Gayle and Steve moved away, almost ten years agoâto 'here', a very large home, a mini-mansion, really, on a huge very private property in a super-ritzy neighbourhood.
Despite all that, Gayle and I stayed best friendsâtheir only contact with the old 'hood. Consequently, we get invited to all their major shindigs, and often sleep over, instead of driving all the way across the metro area to get home in the wee hours.
Last night, Gayle and Steve hosted a big, extravaganza-style birthday party for Steve's fiftieth, and followed it up with today's annual company golf tourney. Hence, I was, reluctantly, woken up by the guys, Dennis and Steve, heading off, at some god-forsaken hour, to the exclusive country club, of which Steve is a member, to play in the Mannette Medical Invitational Golf Tournament. Many people from the party would be dragging their sorry asses out there this morning. They would be drawing names for foursomes, and finally getting started late morning. I was never so glad as then, wrapped in a cozy robe and drinking coffee with Gayle, that I didn't play golf. Especially because, after everyone gets through eighteen holes, there will be an extended nineteenth holeâcocktails, dinner, awards, more cocktails. We didn't expect them back for many hours.
As I sipped, from my steaming mug, a delightful latte, I thought about the event last night. As far as private parties go, it had been bigâcoming on a hundred or so people, I figuredâmany of whom I had met before, at earlier events. There were a few 'old' friends, from various eras, like us, but mainly the crowd consisted of current neighbours and Steve's work colleagues, administration and select employees. It had started mid-afternoon, with a lot of beer and schmoozing, then a catered buffet style barbeque dinner outside, with waitresses circulating, offering drinks and canapes. The bartender, manning the open bar, certainly earned his keep. As dusk fell, a DJ fired up the tunes and people began dancing on the patio. I tripped the light a few times myselfâsometimes with Dennis, and sometimes not.
Eventually, some guests retired with drinks to the living room or family room, to visit and chill; some went into the TV room, to watch sports, or share a toke; some found the games room and started a billiards competition; others, like me, cruised and mingled. The weather was perfectâwarm and cloudless. Everyone seemed to be having a grand timeâno one wanted to be the first to call 'time', so, it ended up going very late. I think we got to bed just after four.
Outside, the event coordinator's clean-up crew was just finishing, and the boys had long since left. I looked over at Gayle, and asked, "Well, girlfriend, what now?" Gayle was antsy. I could tell something was up. She was suddenly getting increasingly hyped, like a kid with a secret she really, really, REALLY wanted to share. So, I wasn't at all surprised when she giddily announced, while walking over to the coffee machine and dispensing two servings, "You've got to see this, Nat! I've been dying to share this with you." Armed with large lattes, she led me over to the kitchen laptop station and pulled up another chair. "I had to wait until this morning," she stated mysteriously, "after the party." I joined her sitting at computer as she fidgeted with the mouse, then typed in various commands. As the hard-drive whirred, she said, almost pleadingly, "You must promise never to tell another soulâon your mother's grave!!"
To say my curiosity was piqued would be one hell of an understatement. "On my mother's grave!" I agreed.
"Okay," she started, relaxing a bit, now that the issue of confidentiality had been dealt with, "Okay. When we moved in, twelve or so years ago, we were told that this place used to be owned by swingers, and that itâthis, our new homeâhad been the site of many 'club events'âswingers' sex parties. Apparently, or at least so the rumour went, the house had been fitted with cameras. Cameras all over the place. With many of the rooms having more than one. However, the only evidence left behind by the previous owners was some old wiringâunidentified wire ends with plastic screw-connectors hidden out of the way, here and there, and unconnected junction boxes.
"Don't ask me why, but last month, when Steve was away on an extended business trip, I hired a spyware company and, using much of the existing wiring, got the whole house fitted out with modern high-quality surveillance camerasânanny-cams, complete with a wireless monitor nexus. I went all out: two or three cameras in each of the master suite, the second bedroom upstairs, the guest-room, the den, the TV-entertainment room, the games room; the family room, kitchen, dining room, living room, even the mud-room and the cloakroomâall motion activated, excellent low-light picture, clear audio." Gayle stopped and gave me a sort of goofy grin, before concluding, "Yep. Pretty much the whole frigging house! And it's entirely separate from the outside security system. Crazy, eh?" Turning her attention back to her laptop, she muttered, "Don't exactly know why, though.
"Anyway, I just got them on-line, just in time for the big party," she said rather cynically, putting air-quotes around 'big'. Gayle then added, with a coy giggle, "For some odd reasonâtee-heeâI haven't told Steve. My bad!" Then, angling the screen towards me, she said, quietly, "Look at this."
The laptop monitor showed 'us'âfrom behind, in the kitchen, at the computer / phone desk; with another viewâanother angleâsmall in the corner. Gayle demonstrated how she could rotate between the views, then she brought up a time menu, and selected early in the evening of the night before. Suddenly the image on the screen was populated with many more figures than just us. The caterers, hired by the event organizers, scurried about the kitchen like worker bees in a hive. Gayle went on, calmly, not quite successful in hiding her eagerness. "It doesn't record unless triggered, and shuts off after thirty seconds of inactivity; saves all video for ten days.
"Here." She fiddled again with the mouse. "Let's start with the extra bedroom, the second bedroom upstairs." And sure enough, the recording had triggered at eight thirteen. We watched as two guestsâboth married menâsurreptitiously entered the room, and, surprisingly, fell into a tight, romantic embrace the moment the door closed. "Eeew!" Gayle sputtered, as they began to grope and furtively kiss.