JC: Ed Biggers
Part 2: Equilibrant
Chapter 22
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

The staff meeting had lasted almost an hour as new policy for 
nudity within the house was established. The reason was the result 
of problems with the newer staff members. When Bill had left for 
Florida, they had taken the opportunity to hire several new people 
to work in the house. Greg was hired to be handyman and to man 
the security center. Cathy had worked for Jim Johnson handling 
public relations for John Carter. She had moved to work in the 
house for the family to replace Bill. 

They had also hired Sarah, the granddaughter of William Redman. 
She was a confirmed nudist that shed her clothes every opportunity 
that she had. The previous day, she had answered the door 
completely naked when Jim had stopped by the house to have 
some papers signed by John. If the story was true, he was anything 
but disturbed by the sight of a naked woman answering the door. 
John felt that it was important that they provide a less 
controversial initial appearance to visitors and had requested that 
she wear clothes.

For his part, Ed found the meeting rather amusing. John's lack of 
enthusiasm for sleeping with the staff was again a point of 
contention. Sarah and Cathy had insatiable sexual appetites and 
wanted to include John and Ed within their circle of conquests 
despite the rule that it was a job benefit that took effect after a year 
of service. 

Amused at the outcome, Ed was even happier when the meeting 
came to an end. As the meeting concluded, all of the staff, with the 
exception of Ling, got up and left to return to their duties. Meekly 
clearing her throat, Ling attracted the attention of Kelly. Kelly 
asked, "What's the matter honey?"

For a moment, Ling looked at John and Ed before she started to 
cry. Sobbing, she asked, "Can I talk to you and Beth privately?"

John and Ed looked at each other with concern and then stood to 
leave the room. John leaned down so that his head was between 
Kelly and Beth. After John had whispered something to the 
women, the two men left the room. As they walked out, Ed said, "I 
had no idea that would happen when he hired Cathy and Sarah."

"Neither did I."

Ed took a couple of steps and then said, "If any of them upset Ling, 
we're letting them go."

John nodded in agreement as he said, "You bet."

The men reached the pool room and quickly stripped. As they 
climbed into the pool, they could feel the tension leaving their 
bodies. They swam for a while enjoying the feel of the cool water. 
Cathy entered the room and cleared her throat their attention. She 
announced,  "There is an Ann Moore here to see you."

John answered, "I'll be right out."

Winking at John, Ed laughed as he teased, "Sorry that you have to 
work buddy, I'll be here swimming and thinking of you."

Cathy interrupted, "She wants to talk to both of you."

John laughed as he teased back. "I'll be sitting in that meeting 
watching you and knowing that you would rather be here."

The men climbed out of the pool and went to the cabinet 
containing the towels where they dried themselves. As they were 
dressing, Cathy asked, "Where should I take her? The library is 
currently being used."

"We'll meet her in the formal dining room. Have Marguerite fix 
coffee and some sort of snack, please."

"Okay, John." She left to perform her tasks. 

John and Ed finished dressing, curious as to what could bring Ann 
here. She hadn't been here since the big raid and neither man knew 
what had happened that afternoon to her. John asked, "Do you 
think this is business or personal?"

"I've got no idea."

They entered the formal dining room to find Marguerite setting out 
a carafe of coffee and a plate of her special chocolate chip cookies. 
Sharing a special look, Marguerite nudged Ann when they entered. 
Ann quickly turned around and said, "Congratulations boys, you 
caught another serial killer. I just got back from the guys house. 
We found more than a dozen bodies in the yard. He was using the 
temporary agency to pick his next victim."

This was the serial killer that Ed had identified when they were 
interviewing the new staff members. One of the people they had 
interviewed had caused that same sense of revulsion that he had 
felt when John and he had captured the two serial killers while he 
was working on his dissertation. This guy was even worse those 
than two. Ed shuddered as he said, "That guy was pure evil."

John added, "I'm so glad that we didn't hire him."

After looking at both of them, Ann said, "Well, he's not going 
anywhere for a long time. Thanks a lot. I feel good when I help 
lock someone like that away."

John said, "So do I."

Ann was quiet for a moment as she looked to the door of the 
kitchen. Providing moral support, Marguerite peeked out and 
nodded to her. Ann said, "My husband and I would like to invite 
you two and your wives over for dinner."

"Sure, we can come whenever you want so long as Beth and Kelly 
are free from work," John answered. He turned and looked toward 
the back of the house. He added, "They should be done soon. 
Would you like to make the arrangements with them directly?"

"No, that's okay. I will call and ask Cathy. Just let her know that 
you've accepted the invitation"

 Ed nodded and then said, "Sure, no problem. However, the first 
thing they are going to ask us is what kind of clothes they should 
wear."

Ann looked over at the door again where Marguerite smiled at her. 
Summoning her courage, she said, "None would be best."

John did his best not to look flustered as he said, "Okay. We'll let 
them know that."

Ann stood up and said, "Well, I had better get back to the office."

She abruptly turned around and left the house. After watching her 
go, the two men stared at each other. John asked, "Has the whole 
world gone crazy today?"

"I think so."

John reached over and poured himself a cup of coffee. Idly, John 
grabbed one of the cookies and took a bite out of it. Puzzled at the 
shortness of the visit, he asked, "She was here for five minutes?"

Marguerite answered, "No. She's been here since the meeting was 
over."

"Why didn't someone get us earlier?"

She answered, "She was talking to me."

"Oh, I didn't know that you knew her."

Marguerite smiled as she thought back to that evening she had 
spent with Ann where Ann had earned to play. She answered, "We 
are very good friends."

John nodded and said, "Good. She can use a good friend like you." 

Ed poured himself some coffee and took a sip as he considered the 
events at the end of the meeting. Curious about the problem that 
his wives were sorting out with Ling, he asked, "Are the new 
people causing any problems?"

Marguerite surprised at the change in subject answered, "No. 
Why?"

When Ed heard the truth in her words, he knew the problem wasn't 
a result of the new staff members. Shrugging his shoulders to make 
light of his question, he answered, "Just curious."

When she left the room, Ed looked at John and said, "Well, I think 
we know where Ann disappeared to that evening."

John looked at Ed as the pieces fell into place.  Surprised, he 
asked, "Really?"

"Really."

"Wow, I would never have thought Ann was like that."

Ed added, "I don't think the staff are the reason why Ling is upset."

John asked, "She was telling the truth that she wasn't aware of any 
problems from the new staff?"

"Yes."

"Drat. This must really be serious."

Cathy entered the room. Ed noticed her entrance and said, "Ann 
has invited us to dinner one night. She will call you and arrange a 
night when everyone is free."

"Okay, I've got everyone's schedules."

"Good."

Cathy looked at them for a second. She said, "Kelly and Beth 
would like to talk to you in the library. They look quite upset."

John and Ed ran out of the room to the library where they found 
Kelly and Beth sitting at the table with tears in their eyes. 
Concerned, John asked, "What's the matter?"

Sniffling as her nose threatened to run from crying, Beth answered, 
"Ling wants to leave."

John's jaw dropped to the ground and asked, "What? Why?"

Kelly answered, "She's fallen in love with a married man."

Confused by that announcement, Ed asked, "Why would that make 
her want to leave?"

Angry that someone might hurt Ling, John asked, "Who is it? How 
dare he play with her feelings like that!"

Beth answered, "She didn't say, but we know who it is."

Kelly burst out in tears as she cried, "There's got to be something 
we can do."

Beth hugged Kelly and comforted her by saying, "I know. I don't 
want her to go either. I love her too."

John and Ed went over to the women and put their arms around 
them in a group hug. This was very serious, Ed had really come to 
like Ling more than any other staff member. In fact, if asked he 
would have to admit that he had come to love her. Ed said, "None 
of us want her to go."

Kelly pulled out of the group hug. She left the room for a couple of 
minutes and returned with a box of tissues. She gave a couple to 
Beth and took some herself. She turned to John and requested, 
"Could you go get Jim?"

"Sure, I'll call him right now."

"No, go get him personally."

John shrugged as he answered, "Okay, I'll go shortly."

"Please, John. Could you go now?"

John nodded and stated his agreement, "sure Kelly. Anything you 
want."

After John left the room, Kelly turned to Ed and Beth. She said, 
"You know that the married man she loves is John."

"Oh," said Ed as he considered the implications of that. He asked, 
"Does she love all of us?"

"Yes, but she's definitely head over heels in love with John," 
answered Kelly.

Beth asked, "I've come to love Ling in a very special way. She's an 
amazing lover, so giving. How do you two feel about Ling?" 

"The same way," answered Kelly.

"Same here," answered Ed. He couldn't put his finger on when the 
change in relationship had occurred. Maybe it was one of the times 
when she came to his room to massage his shoulders after a hard 
day, even if he hadn't asked her to do that. It could have also been 
the time when she had watched over Kelly when she had the flu. 
The feelings towards her had changed so slowly that it was hard 
for him to say.

Kelly asked, "What about John?"

"John loves her. He loves everyone who is not evil," answered Ed. 
He had decided long ago that John was one of those people that 
had a nearly infinite capacity to love.

"I say we marry her," said Beth.

There was a long moment of silence before Kelly said, "That was 
why I sent John away. He would believe that we are doing this to 
assuage his guilt."

Thinking about how John would react, Ed said, "He will anyway."

Laughing, Kelly said, "Not if we put it to him as though it were a 
done deal."

Beth nodded and said, "That's true."

"Are we agreed?" asked Kelly. 

Beth immediately nodded her head in agreement. For Ed, the 
question was much more difficult to answer. The family charter 
said that they all had to agree and this violated the charter. Finally, 
he said, "If John agrees to it, then I say okay."

John returned with Jim in tow. During the trip to the house, Jim 
had asked repeatedly why he had been summoned. John was 
unable to tell him anything except that there was a problem with 
Ling. Of course, Jim thought John was being his normal secretive 
self. Entering the room, they found Beth, Kelly, and Ed talking 
quietly with smiles on their faces. 

Turning to face Jim, Ed asked, "We need a ruling on a point of 
order. Can a majority of stock holders in the family hold a vote in 
the absence of another stock holder and have their decision stand?"

Jim thought about it for a second. He answered, "If they own a 
majority of the stock, what they decide goes."

Kelly looked at John and said, "While you were out, we held a vote 
and the motion passed."

John sat down and looked around the room. He had a queasy 
feeling in his stomach, almost as if he had been cheated on. He 
looked around the room before asking, "So what did you decide?"

"We decided to sell shares for the Carter clan to Ling."

John stared at them in shock. "Why?"

Kelly came over to him and held his hand. "Sometimes you are a 
fool. Don't you know that the married man she fell in love with 
was you?"

John slowly sank to the floor as the enormity of what she had said 
sunk in. He looked around the room from his position on the floor. 
Everyone that he looked at nodded his or her agreement. He 
realized that he was the cad that had played with her feelings. He 
numbly nodded while saying, "I vote with the majority."

Having gotten the decision that she had predicted without 
argument, Beth said, "I guess one of us should go tell her."

Deciding that she meant he should be the one that went to tell her, 
he took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'll go."

Beth shook her head as she countered. "No, I'll go. It needs to be 
one of the women in the family."

Jim stood there looking around wondering what he was supposed 
to do. Beth left and Kelly turned to Jim. "Jim, are there papers that 
have to be signed or anything?"

Jim answered, "No. She just has to buy the stocks. I can record the 
sale."

Beth turned to John and said "John, you can take Jim back to the 
office now."

Ed told Jim, "I'm sorry you got dragged out here. Kelly decided 
that it was necessary to get John out of the house so that we could 
talk."

Jim smiled, as he understood the dynamics of this family. He said, 
"I understand."

Beth said, "I also saw that you had submitted the extended family 
contracts. Any time you and Sherry want to come over is fine with 
us."

At the news that Sherry would accept having an extended family 
relationship with any group that included him, Ed stared at Beth in 
a stated of shock. Numb, he asked, "Huh?"

Beth smiled and answered, "Yes, they requested to be extended 
family members."

Staring at Jim in disbelief, Ed asked, "Does Sherry know?"

"It was her idea. I think she's interested in sleeping with you, Ed."

Ed was thunderstruck by the revelation that Sherry would want 
that. After slowly walking over to John, he sank down to the floor 
beside his husband. He wondered how she could have forgiven 
him enough for that. Then he decided that Jim was just being nice, 
that Sherry was interested in John.

Beth looked at the two men sitting on the floor. Neither one of 
them would be in any state of mind to function any time soon. She 
turned to Jim and said, "I think I had better drive you back to the 
office."

John and Ed sat on the floor for quite a while. Finally, John turned 
to Ed and declared, "Everyone went crazy today."

"Yeah. We still have almost the whole day to go yet."

"What time is it?"

Ed looked at the clock and said, "The clock says ten thirty."

John felt a strong urge to leave the house and go to the bar. He 
nodded. "If we walk slow, we can reach the bar in time for the 
lunch crowd."

Ed laughed as he joked, "I'll buy you one of them sissy drinks!"

The men went on down the street. Although it was now 
approaching noon, many people were walking around the 
downtown area. The day was looking up. They entered the bar and 
found a seat at the counter. Shirley looked over at them and smiled. 
John held up two fingers. "Wimp drinks over here."

She laughed as she replied, "Cokes coming right up."

Looking at Shirley, Ed couldn't help but notice the happy 
expression on her face. He said, "You're positively glowing. 
What's up?"

She leaned over and set the cokes on the counter. In a quiet voice, 
she answered him, "My boyfriends and girlfriend are coming to 
town."

John looked at her in surprise while Ed asked, "Can you give me a 
hint who they are?"

She whispered, "One was burned, one is blind, and one argued 
with John."

John sat back in shock. "You don't mean?"

She nodded with a smile. "Exactly."

Ed looked at Shirley puzzled by the news that she was going for a 
group marriage. As far as he knew, she had the highest standards in 
men and wasn't going to settle for anything less than the best. He 
said, "I never thought you were the type to go for a group 
marriage."

Looking at Ed with a gleam in her eye, she said, "Hey, if the 
bigoted and bully Ed Biggers can do it, then so can pretty and 
caring Shirley."

"That's formerly bigoted and bully Ed Biggers, if you don't mind," 
replied Ed with a laugh. 

Shirley smiled at his retort and then said, "Actually, watching you 
gave me the nerve to try it."

Ed looked at her in shock. He asked, "I gave you the nerve to try 
it?"

Shirley laughed at the expression on his face. It was with a great 
deal of pleasure that she said, "Yes. Imagine that, Ed Biggers is a 
role model."

Pretending to be horrified at the thought, John cried out, "Oh no, 
the world is stopping!"

Ed was deep in thought, shocked that he had influenced anyone. It 
was the nicest complement that he had ever been given. Looking at 
Shirley with a humble expression, he replied, "Thank you for the 
compliment. I'm overwhelmed."

John realized that Ed's tone was serious and that he had been 
deeply touched by her statements. He said. "Ed, you did a very 
brave thing by forming such an unconventional relationship in 
front of a town that has known you your whole life. Your previous 
reputation and your transformation into a nice guy at the same time 
that you entered our lifestyle have fueled a lot of thought. I'm not 
surprised that many people have looked at you and seen the 
beneficial changes that entered your life. I'm sure some people 
wonder if they couldn't have the same benefits in their own lives. 
Let's face it, you are a role model of a man that has made a change 
for the better."

Shirley added, "You bet."

Feeling overwhelmed, Ed said, "You give me too much 
importance."

Shirley laughed as she said, "Now you sound just like John!"

Mary came into the bar and stepped behind the counter to stand 
beside Shirley. Happy to see her, John said, "Hello Mary. I heard 
you got yourself two boyfriends and a girlfriend."

Mary grinned and answered, "Yes. You heard right. Little ugly me 
has got it all."

The four of them chatted about the pros and cons of the kind of 
family structure of the Carter Clan. Their conversation was 
interrupted by one of the troublemakers in town. This particular 
individual had given Ed a lot of trouble about his so-called 
conversion to a faggot, despite the fact that Ed had two wives. He 
bullied his way to the bar and said, "With a face that ugly behind 
the counter, this bar is going to lose lots of customers."

Shirley's face turned white with fury and she almost climbed over 
the counter to get at the man. Ed almost took off the guys head, but 
he was stopped with a glance from John. Mary used to such 
comments replied, "I may be ugly on the outside, but you are a 
putrid mass of ugliness on the inside. I'd rather be me."

The man was about to say something back, but John stepped in 
front of him. Staring the man directly in the eye, he said, "Sir, you 
are at a crossroad in your life. You have three choices, continue to 
say what you were going to say, go over to the table and sit there, 
or apologize to the lady. Depending on the choice you take, you 
have different futures. I want you to visualize your future, thirty 
years from now, based on what choice you make today."

"You're going to tell me that if I insult the lady you are going to 
kill me, right?"

John shook his head as he continued to stare into the man's eyes. 
Gaze level and calm, he answered, "No matter what choice you 
make, Ed and I will do nothing. You are selecting your future. 
What kind of woman will go for a man that repeatedly insults 
women because they don't measure up to his criteria of beauty? 
What kind of woman will go for a man that takes a cheap shot and 
then walks away? What kind of woman will go for a man that 
apologizes when he makes a stupid mistake and learns from the 
lesson? Then ask yourself, which kind of woman do you want in 
your life."

The man stood there staring at John. He was about to talk back to 
him, but the words John had uttered echoed in his mind. Looking 
around, he saw the three futures looming large in front of him. 
Only one of them was bright. He turned to Mary and apologized, 
"I'm sorry. That was an incredibly mean thing for me to say. You 
are right, there is an ugliness in me."

Shocked at the transformation in the man's behavior, Mary said, "I 
understand. Thank you for your nice words."

He shook his head and requested, "If you will excuse me, I have 
some thinking to do."

Mary replied, "Thank you."

The man left the bar. Shirley turned to John and said in a an awe 
filled voice, "It was like you hit him with a baseball bat. I've never 
seen anything like it."

John shrugged as if to deny that he had done anything out of the 
ordinary while he answered, "Most people are blind to some flaw 
inside them. It takes just the right words to wake them up. If they 
see it, then there is hope they can change it."

Mary laughed and said, "He should know that you never win when 
you argue with John Carter."

Recalling the first time they met, Ed said, "You never win when 
you fight with John either."

Mary said, "By the way, Sidney said that was a great call on the 
serial killer the other day. He called me this morning and said they 
nailed him."

John stated, "Ed really didn't like that guy. Said the evil just 
dripped off him."

Ed finished his drink and nudged John. "Hey, if you never want to 
loose an argument, we had better head home. I bet our three wives 
are about to go crazy on us!"

Shirley asked, "Three wives? Who's the third?"

"Ling. Beth, Kelly, and I decided to make her the offer today while 
John was out."

Mary looked puzzled and asked, "You did it while John was out? 
Why on earth would you do that?"

Ed smirked and said, "Yeah, she's in love with the big guy and he 
was blind to it. We had to intercede on her behalf."

 John shrugged as he explained, "I'm the first to admit that there 
are a lot of things that I'm pretty stupid about."

Shirley said with a smile, "The only time you are unaware of how 
people feel is when you are the subject. Women love you and you 
act as if they were your sisters. Men admire you and you shake 
their hand while complementing them on their superior qualities. 
You have no idea how you affect people."

John shook his head in denial as he said, "You're exaggerating."

Mary burst out laughing at the idea that she was exaggerating. 
Shirley said, "You are too modest. I know at least a dozen women 
that would sleep with you in a second. Ed has almost as big a 
following."

Now it was Ed's turn to react in denial despite the fact that his truth 
sense told him that she was telling the truth as she knew it. 
Flustered, he blurted out, "You're exaggerating."

"I know of at least ten women here in town that would sleep with 
you in a minute. Some of them are even married. There are going 
to be a lot of women that will be very jealous of Ling."

John and Ed looked at each other. Both knew what the other was 
thinking; they didn't believe what the women had said. However, 
Ed's truth sense told him that she believed what she was saying and 
that bothered him. John said, "Well, we better get back to the 
house."

They entered the house quietly hoping to avoid notice. When 
Cathy came around the corner, their hopes were immediately 
dashed. As if she were scolding little boys, she said, "Shirley said 
you'd be here about now. Your wives want you in the informal 
living room."

John and Ed looked at each other as if they were two boys caught 
with their hands in the cookie jar. They hurried to the living room. 
They entered to find Kelly, Beth, and Ling talking while pausing 
occasionally to sip their iced tea. Kelly looked up and said, "Oh, 
there you are. We were waiting for you."

John replied, "I had an urge to go to the bar."

"So what happened at the bar?"

"Well, we ran into Mary there. I didn't even know she was in the 
area."

"Which Mary?"

"The one with the burn on her face." Ed answered with her most 
distinguishing characteristic. He added, "She, Shirley, Sidney 
Fitzpatrick, and Edward are an item now."

Ling said, "I know all about that."

Curious, John asked, "How do you know about that?"

"Until today, I was a member of a woman's club that used to meet 
at the bar. Shirley quit a couple of weeks ago because she decided 
that she was happy with her current situation."

Feelings hurt by the fact that there was a woman's club in town that 
she hadn't been invited to be a member, Kelly asked, "Why didn't 
Beth or I know about a woman's club?"

Ling blushed as she thought about the club. This was a club of 
women that wanted to sleep with Ed or John. Embarrassed, she 
said, "I'd rather not say."

Beth asked, "So what else happened at the bar?"

Ed answered, "Some guy insulted Mary. John set him straight. It 
was actually an amazing thing to watch."

John shrugged his shoulders. "I just asked him what kind of 
woman would want a man that did what he did."

Beth made a groan as she said, "That's a very cutting thing to say 
to someone."

Kelly asked, "So did anything else happen there?"

John thought for a minute, "Oh, we let Shirley know about Ling."

"What did she say about that?" Ling knew the answer to her 
question, but asked it anyway.

John answered, "She started exaggerating about the number of 
women that would love to sleep with Ed and me. She said that a lot 
of women will be very jealous of Ling."

Ed added, "It was strange. She was telling the truth as she knew it, 
but we both know that neither one of us is as popular as she 
stated."

Beth and Kelly smiled knowingly at each other. They knew the 
truth and still had a hard time believing that John and Ed were so 
oblivious about the effect they had on people. They just strolled 
through life being nice to everyone. Ling burst out laughing so 
hard that she had to hold her side. She had just imagined John 
married to the entire town.

