Our Little Secret

Chapter 6 – Distant Storms

"You're looking great," Joel complimented. He was enjoying breakfast on Tuesday morning with Melissa Ferry, the flight attendant he resuscitated on the catnap flight. They were seated in a crowded restaurant at the Boston Hilton Airport hotel.

"Thanks," she smiled. "Thankfully, the scar isn't that noticeable," she felt the upper left portion of her forehead, where the stitches had gone in. It was the first time they had met since the press conference. "I hear you're flying all the time," she offered.

"What?" Joel asked. "You're keeping track of me?"

"No," she smiled, "nothing like that. You're a bit of a celebrity among American flight attendants. Every time you're on a flight, someone posts it to our private Facebook group."

They chatted about that famous catnap flight and their experiences since. Except for a nearly invisible scar, Melissa reported she had no lingering aftereffects of her injuries. She took the three weeks off to look at school programs. Melissa had never gone to college, and she was wondering about going back to school. At twenty nine, she wasn't a kid anymore, but she still had time to pursue a new career. She was thinking about a hospitality or business diploma.

On the Sunday earlier, Joel flew with Jenny to DC, which was an event in itself. Jenny was expecting to drive, and she made a scene in the restaurant on Saturday night when Joel announced they would be flying to DC. Jenny protested it was too much – he was already doing enough for her. She wanted him to turn the tickets in, which of course he couldn't do.

They were dining at a downtown Boston restaurant with an out-of-town friend of Jenny's, Victoria, who chimed in and told Jenny to relax. "Let Joel spring for the flight," Victoria opined, "it's not as though you have to fuck him for it." Jenny didn't appreciate Victoria's crass remark. First it was vulgar, which Jenny didn't care for, and second it cut a chord too close to home.

"Look, Jenny," Joel offered, "it's safer than driving, it's more comfortable, and you will arrive feeling more energized."

"I don't know about being more comfortable," Jenny protested. "They pack you in pretty tight." Joel didn't mention she would fly business class – he wanted to keep that a surprise. Eventually Jenny yielded under the weight of Victoria's and Joel's persuasions.

Joel picked Jenny up at her home on Sunday after he retrieved his mail from his old apartment. Valerie looked sad, but then again Joel had never known her to be happy. Val asked how he was doing – he said fine without sharing details. He realized how much of a drain she had been in his life energy – what a mistake it was marrying her in the first place. Then again, Joel was a much different person when he met Val. Back then, he thought of Val as a catch – or if not a catch, at least she was better than nothing – hardly a couple made in heaven.

At the airport on Sunday afternoon, Jenny was already fidgety, but then she was outright shocked to learn Joel had purchased business class tickets. Jenny flat out refused at Joel spending so much money on her. It was bad enough her first night with Joel spun horribly out of control and ended with her fucking and then sexting him. Now Jenny was sliding down a slippery slope of indebtedness to Joel, and she felt herself losing grip on the relationship again.

Joel insisted it cost him nothing extra – he always flies this way, thanks to the president of American Airlines. Jenny would not consider it until the American Airlines check-in agent showed Jenny the upgrade allowance, and attested Joel did not actually pay the business class fare. In fact, she commented, Joel managed to get the cheapest fare possible on this flight.

"Jenny," Joel said, "you know I have the money for cheap tickets. I'm doing this because, frankly, I didn't want to drive all that way. And I want you to know I expect nothing in return from you, except for you to attend this conference, get a better job, and have a happy life." Jenny saw the check-in agent give Joel one of those sad puppy dog faces. With no options other than walking away and booking her own economy class ticket, Jenny relented.

Once she agreed to fly business class, Jenny realized she had never flown business class before, and was intrigued to see how the jet set travelled. She had never been in a business class departure lounge, and Jenny worried she would be arrested for shoplifting pretzels each time she took another handful from the complimentary bar. She was especially tickled by the luxurious seats at the front of the plane, not to mention the lavish attention the flight attendants fawned all over Joel, and thus upon Jenny by association.

Maybe this isn't so bad after all

. Once they reached level flight, Jenny relaxed as the uneventful flight took its course.

Joel accepted that Jenny did not want to feel beholden to him. Given their raucous first date, he understood why Jenny needed to feel in control of their relationship. Or maybe she was just a prude. Perhaps this is how all her relationships went – slow and steady until they fizzled out from hypoxia. Joel smiled at the irony. He just might be the one for Jenny. He was perfectly happy to let her set the slow pace. He didn't need to rush the relationship when he could get sizzling sex anytime, anywhere, from anyone else. Meanwhile, Joel grew fonder of Jenny's genuine warmth and passion for life.

As they flew to DC, Joel's thoughts dwelled on Jenny. He was really beginning to like her, but he knew they lived incompatible lives. Eventually, the truth about the catnap men would come out, and Jenny would reflect upon their first date, and confront Joel. Even before that, there was a risk their relationship could collapse if Jenny found out about all the other girls. The irony was not lost on Joel. The one thing that let him be caring and attentive to Jenny was the one thing that could ruin them.

How long could he keep Jenny in the dark about his other life? Joel was certain it was a matter of when, not if. How badly will it hurt Jenny when the truth breaks? Would she ever speak to him again? It probably would not happen today, so he could start worrying about it tomorrow. That's what Joel told started telling himself about Jenny.

Not today

.

Joel took an Uber taxi to the conference hotel with Jenny, over her protests. He said he promised to take her to the conference, so he was taking her all the way to the conference. She felt his efforts were excessive – he had already done too much with the business class tickets. At the same time, Jenny was tickled by his old fashioned chivalry. She liked that in Joel.

They said their goodbyes in the hotel lobby. Joel wished her good luck, and he promised he would check in with her on Wednesday, and they went their separate ways.

While Jenny settled into her hotel room, Joel acted on his ulterior motive for accompanying her to the hotel. He had researched the HR conference online, and found it was chaired by a woman called Susan Wenderson.

Joel commanded a young woman at reception to tell him which room Susan Wenderson was staying in. Against strict policies, the clerk told Joel Ms. Wenderson was in room 2102, which was on the second floor of the sprawling, low-rise hotel. He found room 2102, which took fifteen minutes of searching and a mile of walking. He knocked on the door, and was not surprised to find Susan was not in.

Joel found the main conference room where hotel kitchen staff were setting up round dining tables, and he asked several women if they knew Susan Wenderson. One finally said yes, and Joel commanded her to introduce Susan to him. He followed the woman to a much smaller conference room where Susan was meeting with her organizing committee, applying the finishing touches to the upcoming conference.

Susan stepped out of the meeting when interrupted, and met Joel in the hallway.

"Hi," Joel smiled, "I'm Joel," and he extended his hand.

Susan shook his hand politely, but not warmly. "How can I help you, Joel?"

"You have an attendee named Jenny Riverton from Quinton Systems in Boston," Joel commanded her, keeping his voice low so her compatriots in the meeting room could not overhear his command. "Seek Jenny Riverton out, get to know her, become her friend, take her under your wing, and introduce her to important people, and speak well of her. Be professional about it – don't go overboard, but make sure the she meets the right people, and speak well of Jenny," Joel repeated. "Open doors to companies who might want to hire her."

Susan returned to her meeting without a word. Joel wished there was some acknowledgement signal, but they all just silently went on their way. Jenny, of course, would never know any of this.

Returning to Tuesday morning over breakfast at the Boston Hilton, Melissa was describing how Joel was featured prominently on the private Facebook group for American Airline flight attendants. His picture was there, and people reported sightings of him every time they saw him, not just on airplanes. That explained why the flight attendants always smiled at him, and were so kind. Why, just on Sunday, Melissa explained, Joel was sighted on a flight from Boston to DC travelling with a very cute companion, and Monday back to Boston alone.

Joel found it disquieting there was an underground network of flight attendants tracking his every move. Clearly this presidential upgrade card came with some unintended consequences. He realized that could be both a blessing and a curse – he could use it to his advantage.

Joel and Melissa returned to talking about life after the catnap flight. Joel explained he was not in a hurry to find a new job after an excellent payout package from his former employer. "It didn't hurt that Paul called me a hero at that press conference," Joel mused. "It made my boss look even worse than he did."

Joel changed subjects. "Hey, did you hear about that flight attendant who stood up and announced ..."

"Jane Parsons," Melissa nodded, interrupting. "Stress."

"Is that what you think it is?" Joel asked. "Stress?"

"This job can really get to you," Melissa said. "Half the guys think you're some cock tease, the other half just ignore you. Meanwhile your real job is safety."

"Have you noticed anything different since the catnap flight?" Joel asked. "Are you coping okay?" he added, deflecting her suspicion away from his true purpose of asking.

"Yeah," she shrugged "I'm fine. Back to normal." She paused. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just checking in – seeing how you're doing after your head injury."

"That's sweet," she smiled. "No, I'm fine." She checked her watch. "I should get going."

Joel paid for his meal. Hers was covered by the airline. "Thanks for getting in touch," Melissa said. "It's good to see you."

"You too," he said and followed her out the restaurant.

Joel got an idea just as they were walking out. Melissa was in front of him, going through the door. "Bunny hop" he commanded her.

Melissa turned around. "What?" she asked with a troubled look.

"Uh ... Bunny Hop," he said. "Have you seen that movie?"

"Never heard of it," she frowned.

"Yeah," he looked away, "it's not a major release – might be direct to video." He paused. "Anyway, it was great to see you again," he smiled at her.

"You too," she smiled, and they hugged.

"How's Anna?" he asked nonchalantly, trying to hide his piqued interest.

"She's fine," Melissa nodded. "See you later." Either Anna never told Melissa about the blowjob, as Joel commanded, or Melissa didn't care. Melissa didn't come across as the kind of person who would ignore something like that. Joel was wondering how long a command lasts.

Joel watched Melissa walk toward the elevators. He realized she heard the

bunny hop

command, but was not affected by it. He was thinking about Richmond, waiting for the car to go to the press conference. He told Melissa to kiss him in front of all those cameras. She said something like not likely. Joel had a theory.

Catnap women are not susceptible to catnap men

.

He returned his thoughts to his to-do list. Joel's fast track application at Boston University Employment Center was considerably faster than even record time, thanks to the extraordinarily helpful woman at the counter. Already Joel had received forty applicants overnight. He eliminated anyone with men's or androgynous names, and filtered through the rest based on skillsets. On Monday he weeded out the ones that didn't sound perfect, leaving him with four interviews on Tuesday afternoon, which he scheduled in a spare office next to Autumn Crawley's corner office. He looked at his cell phone – it was 10:15. The first interview was at eleven o'clock. He had to hurry.

Joel's first interview appointment was waiting for him when he arrived just at eleven. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to hire her just by looking at her. She looked skinny and brittle – like she might snap in stiff breeze. Her name was Abigail, but she went by Abby. Looks can be deceiving, Joel realized, because once she started talking, she seemed bright, resourceful, and persuasive.

He explained to Abby he was starting up a market research firm, and he needed someone to run the office. It would not be a glorified job, he warned. It meant keeping the office stocked with supplies, setting up the filing system, tracking attendance, assigning offices, scheduling tech support and cleaners, setting office policies, writing weekly reports, and so on. It was more of a mother hen to the other employees, but she would also hold the hammer if people got out of line. Abby admitted she was looking for a higher calibre job than what Joel described, and was not certain it was a good fit. Joel liked her honesty.

After Abby was Brooke – dark hair, dark eyes, slightly larger boned. She looked like she could have played linebacker for a girl's football team, but she spoke quietly with a demure tone. She lacked confidence, and seemed to second guess her own words. Joel cut the interview off after ten minutes, knowing she was not suitable.

The next interviewee was a no-show, which left Sylvie Morrison at 12:30, a tall, slim redhead with green eyes. Joel would not exactly describe her as pretty; maybe handsome was more applicable. She was quiet but confident. He was near the end of the interview, and undecided about Sylvie, when Joel asked what was the most amazing thing she ever did. Sylvie she said when she was fifteen, she rescued a dog from drowning. It was tethered to a spike in a field in Texas, near where she grew up. A flash flood had swamped the land. The dog was confined to a depression – sort of a bowl – in an open field, and it was filling up with water. The tethered dog could not escape. While everyone else stood around and watched, she waded into the cold water. She explained to Joel the long leash was looped through the dog's collar, with both ends clasped at the stake in the ground, so she couldn't simply undo the leash at the dog's collar. She dove underwater, undid both clasps from the stake, and brought the dog to safety, and took it home.

When the owner came to her parents' house, where Sylvie lived, to claim the dog, Sylvie refused to release it, and said she would take it to the pound before giving it back to him. He punched her, knocking her down and took the dog. Two weeks later, Sylvie said, she stole the dog one night, and gave it to a caring family in another town who knew the story. Sylvie still receives emails from the family telling her the dog is now very old, but doing well.

Joel commanded her "tell me, is that a true story?"

"Every word," she answered.

Joel hired her on the spot. He commanded her to be loyal, hardworking, trustworthy, and honest. Her first job was to hire three researchers. He wanted people who knew how to conduct a methodical and invasive online research – how to find out everything there was to find out about someone. She should narrow the field down to six strong candidates, and then go over the short list with Joel, and they would interview the finalists together. Sylvie beamed with pride at being assigned such an important task right off the bat. Joel commanded her to only select women.

Sylvie also had to buy computers for the employees, and find a company to come in and install the network and Internet connections. She should stock the fridge with healthy snacks, get a coffee maker and a tea kettle, and everything in between. Go to Autumn for all the money.

Joel had arranged to funnel Mary-Ellen Zwicker's two million dollars from Miami through Autumn Crawley's accounting firm. Legally, she was the one renting the extra office space, and she owned and operated the business. Everything was legal and above board. Autumn handled all the tax filings, and she would oversee the payroll. She said she might need an assistant, given the extra work load, and Joel told her to talk to Sylvie, who would help her with that.

This arrangement allowed Joel to operate under the radar. Legally, he was still unemployed, and he was not in charge of anything. If it all went to hell, Autumn Crawley was the one responsible for everything. Even the checks from Vivian Zwicker, which were once blank, were now made out to Autumn Crawley's company, and Autumn was under Joel's command. Joel's fingerprints were nowhere on this enterprise, but he ran everything.

Joel decided he needed an alternate persona. One day he would make a mistake, or someone he hadn't commanded would remember something about him. So on Wednesday morning, he rented a post office box at a nearby shipping and supplies store. Then he drove to the DMV, and charmed a middle aged lady behind the counter to break all the rules and approve his application for a driver's license in the name of Douglas Eves from Pittsfield Massachusetts. Then she configured that all mail should go to his new post office box. Back in his day, Joel received a temporary driver's license at the DMV office, and a permanent one was mailed to him. Thanks to modern technology, Douglas Eves received his official driver's license card with his embedded picture right there in the office. Eventually Douglas Eves would obtain a credit card and a social security number, thanks to the female dominated bureaucracies. Joel became the proverbial Dr. Jekyll to people like Jenny, and when he was commanding women, he was Mr. Hyde, A.K.A. Douglas Eves.

Jenny's HR conference was scheduled to end on Thursday noon. Joel decided to fly back to DC Wednesday afternoon, and stay overnight, and then meet Jenny, and fly back with her on Thursday evening. He booked the travel arrangements through his presidential card.

When he landed in DC just past six on Wednesday evening, Joel comped a room at the Dulles Marriott for two nights, just in case. He texted Jenny.

How is the conference? What time should I meet you tomorrow?

Her reply took five minutes, probably just to type it all in.

OMG Joel!!!! It is fantastic. You won't believe where I am right now! I am at Senator Barrymore's residence from Kansas. Hundreds of people are here. I bought a $400 dress, and I am so underdressed I feel like I am in my PJs. The VP of Google came over and introduced himself, and he said he wants to talk to me later!!!!!! I have 3 job interviews!!!!!!! I am so sore from pinching myself, but I haven't woken up yet. Joel, when you are right, you are most certainly right. – J

Joel smiled.

Well done, Susan Wenderson. You hit that one out of the park

.

Joel decided to celebrate. Actually, Douglas Eves was going to do all the celebrating. He pulled up his maps app and looked for music clubs. He was researching options when another text came in from Jenny.

There is nothing important going on tomorrow, so I am not going to the conference. Come by the Senator Res and pick me up tonight at 11.

She included the address.