I feel so small, “Mom made it easy on us. We each concentrate on one thing. I see you have hundreds rolling around in your mind. We are on different levels. Mom has done us no favors by coddling us.”
Tim smiles at me, “You came in here looking to help, and you will leave knowing how to be a better person. People don’t get that opportunity very often.”
I have butterflies in my stomach from the complement. I notice that I feel drawn to him; my panties are wet, that’s most unexpected. I get back to the logbooks. An hour later, Tammi and Tamara are also helping us out. I fill them in on what I learned and what Tim is doing. They don’t say a word.
I am positive they are as impressed as I am at Tim’s ability to handle so much at the same time, and think of everything that might happen. Not only that, but he’s also far ahead of us and has people in motion already.
Mom is in the doorway, listening to us call out data.
Mom interrupts us, “Tim, can you discreetly find out why the council is acting like they are?”
I almost laugh when Tamara says, “They are being blackmailed.”
Tammi says, “They will be in the news soon for the blackmailed offense, effectively neutralizing the blackmail.”
I add, “Assassins are headed to our planet to … dispose of the garbage.”
Tamara finishes for us, “Odds are betting on the war material vendors. The health care sector is a distant second.”
Mom isn’t happy, “I see Tim has been talking.”
I am starting to dislike her attitude, “All we had to do was ask nicely. Why are you here?”
Mom is bored, “I came looking for each of you. Zai took the doors away; it was easy to figure out where to look. Why are you here?”
I reply, “We’re checking logbooks for EWS sightings of the top shipping companies. We want to join a convoy. We call out all info to Zai, and she’s mapping a picture for us.”
Mom sits down and assists with the project.
It’s well past dinner time when a food platter is created for each of us. We all eat as we continue our research.
Around midnight, mom and my sisters head off to bed.
About twenty minutes later, Tim rubs his eyes, sits back in his chair, takes a deep breath, and then lets it out slowly.
Tim asks Zai, “Do you see any trends yet? Are we making any headway?”
Zai replies, “I can make vague guesses. I need more points of data to verify things. I think we can concentrate on Thompson, Sunbeam, and Weiss Brothers. Nothing else is even remotely close to enough. They might be perfect, but we don’t have enough data to confirm that. Only Thompson Industries might be scheduled ahead of our schedule of the three. The other two look to be a week behind.
“Without more data, I don’t know if we are in front or behind. I increased our speed; we can always slow down later if needed. Time for you to get some sleep. You look like hell boss.”
Tim looks at me, “You’re done as well, Trudy. You need your sleep too. Tomorrow will go faster with pinpointing the data.”
We both stand up and leave the room. Tim walks past my room without looking back. He could care less about me. I continue walking past my door as Tim did. He opens his door, and as he turns into his room, he is startled by me following him.
Tim informs me, “This is my room. Yours is two rooms down.”
I say sweetly, “I know.”
He looks at me suspiciously. He slowly opens his door and walks into his room. He has a lush, thick shag carpet in his room. He immediately takes off his shoes and socks, feeling the soft, padded carpet under his toes. I do the same. Wow, he has special padding; this feels awesome. I have industrial tile in my room. He takes off his shirt, and I see welts on his back. My eyes water. Someone whipped him with a belt!
He doesn’t even look at me when he shudders and says, “Why are you here? What do you want?”
I smile at him, “I am doing research. I’ve heard that men and women are different. Especially when we sleep together.”
Tim chuckles, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I take off my overalls, leaving me in my bra and panties.
I continue smiling and trying to look sexy, “Well, I did say I was here for research, right?”
Tim looks at me with contempt, “Get in bed. Under the sheet. Do you need to use the washroom first?”
I do need to pee, so I run to the washroom. After I dry off, I walk with a light step to the bed. I get under the sheets. I fold the sheet and the blanket over me, so Tim can get in bed.
Tim is standing at the end of the bed, “Does it matter if I recommend against this?”
I command him, “Get in bed.”
Tim pulls down the sheet as he says, “You aren’t ready for that yet.” He pulls up behind me and wraps an arm around me.
I have slept with many women in my young adult life. This is far different than anything I have experienced before. He’s warmer, more solid, and I feel protected. Many women are frail or flimsy. Not this man; he’s solid. I feel … safe; nobody is getting to me with him in the way. I fall asleep like this.
++++++
Tim’s point of view:
I wake up in the morning to being hit in the face and my mother screaming at me for assaulting her daughter. She wants to kill me. Zai immediately came to my defense and had mom plastered to the ceiling, no longer a danger to me.
I make light of the situation, “I guess someone got up on the wrong side of the nebula.”
The fight has left mom; her arms are hanging down. She has shut up.
I say with a clear and calm tone, “She came to see me. I advised against it. She wanted to sleep with me.”
Mom is full of fire and brimstone again, “You filthy maggot, that is your sister. I can’t believe how sick and demented you are. You make my decision look better and better every day.”
Trudy laughs at her mother, “No, mom, you’re actually proving his point. Like he said, I came to him. I wanted to know what was different between sleeping with a man or a women.”
Her mother scolds her, “ARGGGGG! I can’t believe my own flesh and blood, a princess, stooped so low as to sleep with a man. We are ruined!”
Trudy laughs at her mother, “Relax, mom. I was ready for more than sleeping, but TIM wasn’t. He forced me to slow down and make sure I knew what I was doing. If women pay to be pleased, either they’re hideous, or there is something to this sex with men thing. All I know is that having a man sleep with his arms around me was pretty damn awesome.”
Tammi and Tamara are in the doorway.
Tammi asks, “Oh? What’s it like? What’s different?”
The wall to mom’s room is gone in a flash. Mom is moved to her room, although still near the ceiling. Once over her bed, she is lowered and then dropped. The wall goes back up.
Zai says to us, “When you finish talking, I will restore her door.”
Trudy has a wild look in her eyes, “It’s marvelous. He’s obviously bigger and can hurt me. Yet, I never felt so safe. He’s warm and sturdy. You know what it’s like to sleep with a woman; you can push them out of bed. Not so with a man; he didn’t budge an inch. I woke up with him rubbing my breasts.”
I’m defensive, “Hey! I was …”
Trudy cuts me off, “Asleep. I know. It was instincts; your hands know how to handle a breast and arouse me. It was amazing. Only when mom came in and screamed did you stop. I would have allowed that for hours. Women do the same thing, and each woman is different. He is something else. He has much more muscle than we do. I think that’s the difference.