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Deep Down Inside - Part 34 - Party Preparations

Written by circes_cup :: [Thursday, 07 November 2013 16:56] Last updated by :: [Thursday, 07 November 2013 17:18]

Part 34 - Party Preparations
 
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Warning: This is adult literature.  If you’re not of a legal age to read this stuff, don’t.
 
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction.  No semblance between the characters described here and real individuals -- living or dead -- is implied or intended.
 
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Vicky gunned the engine of the Lamborghini one last time before swerving up to the airport curb.   The motor rumbled with power begging to be unleashed.
 
"Jared, over here!" Vicky waved as she stepped out of the car.  As she waved, her whole body undulated with the motion.  Dozens of people waiting on the curb turned to gawk at the remarkable car and the even more remarkable woman that had climbed out of it.
 
"Where do I put my roller bag?"  He almost laughed as he approached, looking at the twelve-inch-deep trunk.
 
"I dunno," she admitted.  She fiddled around with the bag a bit, before jamming the trunk lid down on top of it.  They heard a cracking sound as the sides of the bag caved under her strength.  “Sorry ‘bout that.  I’ve got a duffel you can use for the trip back.”
 
“Wow, so strong you're breaking luggage unintentionally,” Jared quipped brightly, opening the passenger door.  “You’re a handful these days.”
 
Vicky glanced downward.  “Technically, I’m a lot more than a handful.”
 
Jared's eyes involuntarily followed hers down the neckline of her dress.  Vicky heard his heart beat a little faster, and immediately felt hers doing the same.
 
------
 
Back in the car, Vicky revved the engine, savoring its untapped brawn, and then tore out of the pick-up area.
 
As she navigated the roadways, she sensed her companion casting an appreciative eye up her bare leg as well.  She enjoyed the feel of Jared's gaze, enjoyed the feel of impressing him.  She subconsciously slid forward, which hiked the dress up further.
 
Having Jared stare at her was a guilty pleasure.  He had so much integrity and respect from others, it was fun to feel that maybe this admired man would somehow, in turn, admire her.  
 
It would be easy if it was just about sex.  His body was as weak as any man's.  And his ability to resist her sexual charms would be just as weak.  But with Jared, Vicky dreamed of having something more-- something deeper, something more authentic.  She wanted be with a man that really knew her.
 
But as much as she wanted to be closer to Jared, the idea of it also scared the daylights out of her.  She might be able to see through him with her X-ray vision, but she knew that he could see right through her as well -- her insecurities, her ambitions, her needs.   She had always been transparent to him, and that scared her, even now.  When he looked inside her head, would he like what he found?
 
The highway ramp was approaching, and Vicky gunned the engine again, thrilling at the car's muscular handling of the road and the way her reflexes expertly responded.  She hoped Jared would be impressed as well.
 
"How much did this thing cost you?"  His fingernails blanched as they dug into the armrest.  
 
"Not much."  The speedometer crept higher -- 100, 150.  Moving at twice the speed of the traffic, Vicky navigated the highway like an obstacle course, swerving in and out between moving cars as if they were fixed objects.  
 
"Woa, Vicky, slow down!  I want to live at least as far as your house," he laughed nervously.
 
"Jared, my reflexes are sharpened far beyond any natural person's."  Vicky took one hand off the wheel and smiled at her companion, even as cars and objects whizzed by on either side. "I could drive twice this speed and still not hit anything."
 
"But what if you make a mistake?"  he nearly shouted, now frightened.  
 
"You're not impressed with my talent?  I'm Danica fucking Patrick, but better!"  She laughed as she raced down the breakdown lane, threading a path between a truck and a concrete wall.
 
"I'm impressed in a way, but mostly scared -- for us and for everyone else out here!" Jared replied with growing anxiety.
 
On the 202, Vicky saw the speed trap, but it was too late to slow down safely.  Blue lights started to flash the moment she passed the officer.  
 
"Oh shit," Jared exclaimed.  "This won't be good.  You could even get arrested for reckless driving."
 
"Jared, you're underestimating what I'm capable of.  Nobody puts me in handcuffs."  
 
The siren blared urgently behind them.  She beamed at him.  "What should I do -- outrun him, blow him to smithereens, seduce him?  Your call."
 
He had a glint of sarcasm in his eyes.  "How about doing something wild and crazy, like pulling over and hoping it's just a ticket?" 
 
"Fine," Vicky groaned playfully, pulling into the breakdown lane.  "Have it your way."
 
 
----
 
 
Jared stared nervously at the police car.  He had been pulled over only a few times before.  And he could only imagine how much worse this could get if the press got hold of it-- "Senior Daniels campaign aide pulled over in hot rod traveling 200 mph".
 
Vicky, by contrast, seemed nonplussed.  She stifled a small yawn as she fiddled with her cell phone.  "Do me a favor, Jared.  Read me the number of the cruiser."
 
"Uh, 053," Jared replied, craning his neck.  "What do you want that for?"
 
Vicky shrugged in mock innocence as she hit the SEND button on her phone.
 
"You want me to do the talking here?"  Jared offered.  She seemed strangely volatile to him these days.
 
"You can do whatever you want.  Talk, don't talk, take a piss on his shoes-- I already know how this will go."
 
"License and registration, please."
 
Jared watched Vicky inhale deeply.  Her breasts nearly erupted out of the v-shaped neckline of her dress.
 
"I left my license at the house," she said blankly.
 
"Oh."  The officer seemed somewhat disoriented.  "Do you have a registration?"
 
"Probably.  It's registered to some dude at the country club."
 
"So, this isn't even your ca--"  A police radio cut him off.  Its microphone was on the officer's shoulder, and cackled loudly.
 
"Chief to unit 053."
 
"053," the officer replied.  "Did you say, 'Chief'?  As in, Chief Andersen?"
 
"Yes, officer," replied the radio.
 
The young officer seemed to grow pale as the desert sandstone that lined the road.  "Go ahead, uh, Chief."
 
"Are you in progress with a traffic stop?  A woman with dark red hair?  A woman who is very... how do I put this over the radio?"
 
"I think I know what  you mean, Chief.  She's here."
 
"No ticket for her, officer.  Apologize for hassling her.  She's free to go."
 
"Let me say hi to him."  Vicky smiled and held out her hand, into which the radio was quickly placed.  "Hey, Chief."
 
"Heya, Vicky."  the radio replied.  To Jared, the Chief's voice sounded seemed to lose its authoritative edge, as if talking to her brought back pleasant and personal memories.
 
"I just picked up, literally, this awesome new Lamborghini, and I want to show my special friend here what it can do."
 
"OK," the radio replied.  "Just name it."
 
"Clear 101-North for me, all four lanes."
 
"You got it, baby," cackled the radio, as Vicky gunned the engine.
 
 
----
 
 
"What the hell was that?" Jared groaned as they pulled away from the traffic stop.  Police cruiser 053 roared past with its lights on, presumably to clear the road ahead.
 
"Just calling in a favor or two."  Vicky giggled.  "Kim got into a scrape with a bad dude several weeks back and had to get friendly with a few detectives in Homicide.  Then we started to work our way around the department. But I'm in charge of our little supergirl cabal, so the Chief is mine."
 
The speedometer shot past 120 -- a number that, frighteningly, was not even half way up the gauge.  Vicky rocketed down the road.  Around them, police cruisers were dutifully closing off the onramps.
 
"And the Chief lets you do whatever you want?"
 
The needle hit 150.
 
"I break up the occasional crime in progress.  Five minutes a month worth of effort, and he's eternally in my debt.  It's like stealing candy from a baby."  She giggled.  "Aren't you proud of me?" 
 
180 now.
 
"Proud, maybe.  Frightened, definitely."
 
200 now.
 
"Feel my arm."  
 
He did. 
 
"Strong-- and steady as a rock," she said.  "My reflexes process information in a fraction of the time yours do.  I can do things with precision that mortals can only dream about.  See, watch this."
 
Vicky veered toward an exit ramp leading straight up to an overpass.  It had been cleared of traffic, as had the ramp leading back down the other side.   220, read the speedometer needle.
 
Jared nearly screamed in panic as the car blasted up the exit ramp.  
 
They launched off the top of the ramp, wheels leaving the road as they vaulted into an eerie silence.  The car didn't stop rising until it was well past the overpass.  The descent back to earth seemed to take ages.
 
Somewhere, below, was the ramp that descended from the overpass back to the highway.  And somehow, miraculously, Vicky stuck the landing on it -- a violent but orderly return to earth.  The impact felt like getting body-slammed, Jared thought, but at least he was alive.
 
As the engine roared back to life, Vicky grabbed his palm and smoothed it over her thigh.  He felt the living steel of her leg writhe under his hand as she further depressed the accelerator.
 
She turned to him, the scenery racing by behind her.  He felt his chest tighten upon seeing the unreal beauty of her face.  He felt his hand tingle from caressing the warm muscularity of her thigh.  
 
As the roar of the engine filled his ears, she placed her hand on top of his and smiled.  "You're beginning to get a taste of what a highly advanced machine can do."
 
---
 
Vicky watched Jared in her peripheral vision as she pulled up at her enormous estate.  His jaw seemed to be dropping and she felt a warm pride again growing inside.
 
Some of the rugby dudes met her at the front door and immediately valeted the car to the garage.
 
"Thank you," she purred as another of her guys the door for them.   She let Jared follow her into the house, giving him a chance to appreciate the swagger of her flawless behind.
 
"How..." Jared began to ask, but he didn't have to finish the question.
 
"Kim dated the former owner for a while," she said without turning around.  
 
"Do I want to know what happened to him?"
 
"He was a bad person."
 
French doors opened to reveal the expansive grounds at the back of the estate -- landscaped gardens, a resort-sized pool, and a new arrival: an enormous second house.  
 
Kim was enjoying herself by the pool.  She waved cheerfully at Jared's arrival.
 
"You like?" Vicky asked, motioning to the expanse before them.
 
"Of course I like.  You're living like kings."
 
"Well, not quite like kings," Vicky responded.  "Kings have influence over people, but need armies to keep their power.  We have influence over people too, but we ARE armies."
 
"Oh," Jared replied uncertainly.  He clearly ready to change the topic. "What's going on with that house over there?  The landscaping around it is all wrong.  There's a footpath, but the footpath runs right into a wall."
 
"The house is a recent arrival.  Louisa and Kim brought it the other day."
 
"They had it delivered?"
 
"No they brought it.  Remember how Dorothy's house landed in the Wizard of Oz?  It was something like that, but no wind -- and no witch underneath, unless you want to count Louisa as a witch."
 
"And the guy who used to own that-- what did he do?  Where is he now?"
 
"He thought he could sue us.  Now, he's just thanking his lucky stars Louisa didn't rip him limb to limb."
 
"Oh."  Jared looked troubled.  "Guess I should stay off your bad side."
 
"Jared," Vicky smiled, "you are most definitely on our good side."
 
"Vicky, I don't know about all of this.  I have to admit that this-- the mansion, the hot rod, the way the police seem to work for you -- it's all a little overwhelming."
 
She seemed to sense his anxiety and turned to face him squarely.  A playful smile spread across her face.  "Tell you what-- Let's make it overwhelming in a good way: what's your favorite band?"
 
"Uh, Truth or Consequences," Jared replied.
 
"OK.  They're, uh.... they're playing at the party tonight!"  Vicky offered.
 
"No, they're not.  I know their schedule.  They're playing at a gig in Tokyo tomorrow."
 
"Their plans just changed."
 
 
-------
 
 
"No way," the lead singer shouted into his cell phone as he threw his bag in the overhead bin.  "We just boarded our plane to Tokyo.  They'll be pulling back from the gate in 15 minutes."
 
"I know," the agent's voice over the phone sounded panicked.  "But I've never even seen this kind of pressure before.  I got phone calls from the Administrator for NASA, the Federal Transportation Safety Board, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and Space Tourism Inc.  They're all saying the same thing.  If you don't get off that plane now and play at the Phoenix concert, then the supergirls may not rescue of that crippled space module with tourists on board."
 
"Dude," the singer objected.  "Nobody is THAT cruel.  The girls will rescue the space thingy either way.  We're making millions from the Tokyo concert.  We can't just pull a no show."
 
"Do you realize the potency of the people you are about to piss off?"
 
The singer rolled his eyes.  "No, mostly because I don't know what 'potency' means.  But look, I gotta go.  Some fan posted some awesome video of us on U-tube.  It's got like a billion hits.  I want to read some of the comments before they make me turn my phone off."
 
"You always seem to have time for narcissism, but I don't suppose you know what that is either."
 
"Hey, I'm popular.  And I love being popular.  So sue me.  Tell all the government dudes I'm staying on the plane, and the plane is flying to Tokyo, not Phoenix.  What are those girls going to do, fly out and drag us back?"
 
 
-------
 
 
Vicky and Louisa rocketed through the skies at a pleasant Mach-15.  
 
The pleasures of being this powerful never grew old on Vicky.  After deciding to go after the airliner, she and Louisa had the luxury of procrastinating for nearly an hour on the back patio, sipping wine with Jared and watching the desert sun set.   When they finally got up the motivation to go after the plane, they barreled through the sky at more than twenty times the speed of their quarry.  It may as well have been standing still.
 
The girls, of course, had kept the whole plan a secret from Jared.  She couldn't wait to see the expression on his face when his favorite band was hauled into the stadium.
 
The girls slowed to a lazy Mach-4, and executed several laps around the plane to get everyone's attention.  The craft was a biggie -- two levels of seats and two huge engines under each wing.  
 
She scanned the first class cabin, and sure enough, the band was sitting there.  The cannabis pipe in the carry-on luggage had been her first clue.
 
Tap-tap-tap went Louisa's finger on the glass of the cockpit.  A shocked flight crew was staring back.  Louisa held up the radio that she had brought back from the Ukraine, and pointed to "15" on the dial.  The First Officer appeared to understand, and dialed his radio to 15 as well.
 
"Hey pilot dudes, I need you to go back to the U.S.  To Phoenix, actually," Louisa said into the radio.
 
"Uh, we uh.....We are not authorized to divert.  Please get away from the plane.  This is dangerous."
 
The two girls backed away from the cockpit.
 
"Now what do we do?" Vicky asked her friend.
 
Louisa gave her a disgusted look.  "Have you done any feats of strength since loading up on nuclear power in the Ukraine?"
 
"I lifted a car."
 
Louisa rolled her eyes.  
 
"And a house.  I lifted a house the other day, too."
 
Louisa cocked an eyebrow.  "How about something that's actually hard?"
 
"No. I guess I've been lying low."
 
Louisa raised the radio to her face without taking her eyes off her friend.  She pressed the button.  "Supergirls don't negotiate," she announced.
 
Louisa looked at the plane, and then, expectantly, back at her friend.  She motioned toward the engine.  "Let yourself loose.  Enjoy this."
 
"OK, here goes nothing."  Vicky dropped back to the left wing and dug her hands into the engine's sturdy casing.  She applied her flight power in a reverse direction, very lightly at first.  The plane's engines -- each the size of a small car -- rumbled menacingly under her.  They must be powerful, she thought, to heft a plane of this size, through all kinds of weather, across the Pacific.  
 
Vicky piled 2,000 pounds of thrust backward into the wing.  Then, she doubled it.  And doubled it again.  
 
The jet liner began turning sharply to the left.  On the wings and the tail, she could see flaps and rudders extend, and the engines throttled up to full.  
 
It's trying to resist me, to return to its original direction, she realized.  But against her resistance, the plane was making pitifully slow progress.  It's so weak, she laughed!
 
Vicky doubled her backward thrust again.  And again.  And again and again and again.  She was now applying 250,000 pounds of backward thrust against the wing.  
 
The engines screamed in protest, and the wing vibrated from the force.  But against Vicky, they were no more effective than ceiling fans.  The plane cut a rapid turn to the left, and within moments she had it pointed towards Phoenix.
 
Wow, Vicky laughed, I'm unstoppable!
 
She reversed the direction of her thrust.  She doubled her force again.  And again.  And again.  And again.
 
Under the Herculean power of her thrust, the plane accelerated rapidly and the ground below began to zoom by.  A BOOM signaled that she was taking the plane above the sound barrier. 
 
{{See?}} Louisa laughed as they tore through the skies.  {{The world is pitifully weak compared to our super-ness!}}
 
Vicky felt a tingling in her breasts where massive amounts of power were stored.  She laughed in agreement.  {{You've got to admit, we are pretty magnificent.}}
 
Several of the engines broke away with a monstrous SNAP, unable to withstand the 1,200-mile-an-hour winds to which they were subjected.
 
Vicky smiled at the shocked faces in the cockpit.  She was now applying four million pounds of thrust, three times more than the maximum output of all four huge engines.   Glancing at the cockpit, she stifled a yawn.
 
Before she knew it, they were on the ground in Phoenix, the pilot at least having had the presence of mind to extend the landing gear.  The plane looked like it had been through a war, missing engines, ailerons, and its tail.  
 
Oh well, Vicky thought.  The next time I ask the government to ground a plane, they'll listen.
 
She floated to the cabin door, balled her hand into a fist, and piled it into the fuselage.  It gave way as if it were no more than an eggshell.  As she withdrew her arm, she tore the door off with a massive GROAN, and was soon standing in the first class cabin.
 
"Get your gear," she ordered the band.  "You guys have a helluva concert tonight."
 
 
-------
 
 
After landing the plane safely at the airport, Vicky flew straight to her bedroom to pick out a party dress.  She ultimately chose a skin-tight maroon one with lots of fetching cut-outs on the sides, the back, even the midriff.  It had so many holes, it was almost like wearing a chain-link fence made of fabric.  It was the type of dress that, in her prior life, would have made her sick with shame and embarrassment.  But now, it was a pleasure to see the perfection of her body so well displayed.  There was not a flaw to be found on her, and she enjoyed watching the faces of others as the took in her goddess form.
 
In her prior life, Vicky also would have spent an hour on makeup and hair.  But none of that was needed any more either.  Her face was model-quality stunning the moment she rolled out of bed every morning; it was now fundamentally part of her genetics.  Even after her supersonic escapades, her appearance was only slightly disheveled.  She simply ran a hand through her hair to straighten it.  A glance in the make-up mirror confirmed the usual -- perfection exceeding anything a runway model could ever hope for.
 
Vicky arrived downstairs to find Jared sitting listlessly on the patio with Kim and Louisa.  The three had split another bottle of wine while Vicky made final preparations for the party.
 
"Wanna take a walk?" he asked as she approached.
 
She looked at the setting sun.  "Sounds perfect."
 
The Phoenix evening was warm, and Vicky could feel the intense heat rising up off the flagstones as she and Jared walked, alone now.  
 
"You ladies have had quite the run in the press recently, haven't you?  Tammy crashes onto the world stage by bringing a cruise ship in from the Gulf.  Then she brings Louisa to defend the Ukrainians against a foreign army.  And now Kim will bring the stranded space shuttle home tonight."
 
"Yea, we've finally decided to let the world know about us. It's pretty cool, isn't it?"
 
"Everyone seems to be making you out to be legendary heroes..." He turned to face her.  "But are you?"
 
"I dunno," Vicky replied.  Vicky momentarily locked eyes with him, then looked away.  Where was this going?
 
"Vicky, frankly, everything you're doing seems pretty silly.  And I say this with some trepidation, because you've broken people's bones for less."
 
"You know I would never lay a finger on you, Jared."  But knew she had been ambiguous with him on that point in the past, and she regretted it now.  The last thing she wanted was him running away from her.
 
"Look," Jared continued.  "Here's the litany of your heroics as I understand it.  Tammy towed a stranded cruise ship into port."
 
"Right!"  Vicky's features brightened.
 
"But the cruise ship already had tug boats attached.  The passengers would have arrived several days later, bored but otherwise unharmed.  Did Tammy really save the day?  Who exactly was she saving?"
 
Vicky didn't have an answer..
 
"That cruise ship tore the Port of Mobile in half when Tammy brought it in-- because she was hot rodding, coming in too fast with the ship.  And when you and Kim flew over the crowd to give out high fives, you did it so hard that you broke a bunch of arms.  I don't suppose you saw that in the papers?"
 
"No," Vicky replied softly.
 
"And then you went to Texas to rescue a death row inmate from execution.  The Governor decided to pardon him at the last minute, but somehow the pardon phone call couldn't go through?  The second biggest state in the country couldn't find a way to get a phone call from the governor to the prison?  Or is the real story something else?"
 
Vicky was silent.
 
"Don't answer that, I don't want to know."
 
"Why are you angry at us?" her eyes widened into deep hazel pools.
 
"I just want to set the record straight a little-- to cut through the bullshit."
 
"Maybe I should have threatened you with bodily harm after all," Vicky joked.  But it rang flat.
 
Jared paused a moment at her comment, but a quick inhalation told her that he was ready to charge onward.
 
"And then there's this stuff in the Ukraine.  Tammy spends a week there and suddenly decides that she's Tamara-- some sort of ethnic identity thing.  She takes sides in a border dispute over the Kerch Strait -- regional matter that has been the subject of international debate for a thousand years."
 
"The Eastern Coalition was the aggressor in this case," Vicky pointed out.
 
"They were, but that was because the Ukrainians had previously seized the strait so that they could charge tolls an all shipping traffic transiting to Russia.  The Ukrainians had seized it also in retaliation for other grievances from further in the past, and those grievances are pretty legitimate too.”
 
“Oh.”
 
“The Eastern Coalition was wrong to field an army, it's true, and it was certainly wrong for them to invade.  And they've now paid a huge price for that.  But the possibility exists that the whole standoff could have been resolved through further diplomacy, without firing a shot.  Now we'll never know."
 
Vicky took a deep breath to calm her troubled emotions.  "So, you're saying that the Eastern Coalition was in the wrong, but that we made it worse by getting involved."
 
"Yes," Jared replied.  "And in this particular battle, Tammy and Louisa broke a valid cease fire because they didn't feel like waiting a few hours to get the shooting match started.  How do you think that looks?"
 
"Not very good."
 
"And here's the kicker. Tammy fought a full-on battle over the place before she even learned to pronounce correctly.  Do you know she's still calling it the 'Church Strait'?"
 
"I know."
 
"And now Kim is rescuing seven millionaires from space.  Only last week, India scrambled desperately to dig 70 people out from a collapsed building, but Kim didn't sign up for that.  She went for the rescue that came with all the media attention."
 
"I guess we've been pretty selfish, haven't we?"  Vicky asked, nearly choking on her words.  She had planned the perfect evening with him, and it was falling apart before it even started.
 
"In a way, yes."  He seemed to momentarily muster his thoughts before pushing on.  "Look, don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying you're bad people.  It must be very confusing to have these powers, to know that you're unstoppable.  Many people would have totally terrorized the world with these powers, and you're not doing that.  But at the same time, the media is starting to spin some strange yarn about how you're infallible heroes or angels or something, and I'm not buying it.  The scary thing is that you do appear to be buying it-- believing your own myth."
 
"Look, I know you're mad..."
 
"I'm not mad.  I wouldn't be saying these things if I didn't care about you girls."  He cupped a hand over her cheek.  "And with you in particular, I wouldn't be saying these things if I didn't..."
 
"Didn't what?"  Vicky's eyes were wide, bright.
 
His eyes searched the skies for words.  "Never mind.  It's embarrassing.  I'd be delusional if I thought that a guy like me ...."
 
Vicky waited.
 
"Look, let me put it a different way.  I've spent this entire visit remarking to myself on how beautiful you are now."  He beheld her eyes again.  "Please don't mar it with an enormous cloud of bullshit."
 
"You're totally right about how crappy I've been"  Vicky's voice was downtrodden.  "And what really sucks is that, after all those years of you supporting me and encouraging me, I thought I could finally do something that would really impress you."  
 
"Don't concern yourself with impressing me.  Focus on impressing yourself.  What standards do YOU have, for YOU?"
 
Vicky gave only a blank look in reply.
 
"You could have shot so much higher than you did."
 
The comment stung, more than any bullet ever could.  She would have taken a hundred missiles in the chest in place of the pain that his words left her with.  Her mind scrambled for something to say.  "And I hope you still going to come to the party tonight?  Speaking of impressive...."
 
"I dunno, it seems kind of surreal.  When I was having a glass of wine with Kim and Louisa on the patio, they mentioned that the rescue of those space tourists from orbit was being delayed.  They were trying to time the return so that it could occur during the party?"
 
"Yes," Vicky replied hopefully.  "That is going be the most exciting part.  Kim is going to bring the shuttle down right on the 50-yard-li--"
 
"If I was in that tin can," he motioned skyward, "I'd want to be rescued now and not have to wait until all the beer was cold enough."
 
"I know.  But the passengers will be ok, even if they're a little scared now.  And it will be a huge hit at the party.  They're expecting seventy thousand at the stadium, and we girls will be the center of all of it -- right on the main stage.  And you could be up there with us."  Vicky could only imagine how little he thought of the shuttle trick or of being on stage.  But she persisted, "You should come."  
 
He seemed uncomfortable.  "Nobody is coming to the party to see stupid old me.  They're here to see you.  I don't belong on a stage with four of the most perfect creatures that ever walked the earth."
 
"Come on Jared," Vicky begged.  "Please don't talk like that."
 
"There's more.  The Congressional campaign I'm working for isn't going well.  We're on our way to losing -- big time.  I probably shouldn't even be here.  And now this whole thing about delaying a rescue for a party....  Maybe it's better if I go back to New Mexico."
 
"Promise me you'll come tonight," she nearly begged.  "Truth or Consequences is playing."
 
"OK, I'll come at least for a little bit."
 
But she knew he didn't want to anymore.  And that hurt most of all.
 
 
 
 

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