How did Sui arrange that rendezvous with Donna?

Oh, that’s easy, Stephanie. The two Japanese boys work for SIA and the two tanned boys are Page. I imagine Tony and Sara helped arrange it. I had to read it a couple times to pick up the nuances, but once I had, I thought it was rather well done.

What impressed me was how quickly Donna tuned into Jill’s wavelength and just synchronized with hardly any effort at all. I hope Donna can join us and enrich the story with details.

What I find unbelievable is Donna’s lack of shock and disgust when Jill reveals the shady enterprise that is trying to recruit and hire her. Jill practically admits to felonious acts of criminal conspiracy, larceny, brutality and maybe outright murder. I assumed that since this woman has served in the military police for ten years, she would have some ethics and morals, but no, she wades right into the filth without hesitation. It doesn’t say much for the ethics of the recruiter and her secretive organization either.

At first I was surprised by Donna’s swift acceptance, Suze, but then I realized something. Donna asks if “Sui did a thorough background check” on her and Jill nods. Donna asks if Jill knows the details of her life. Jill says no, but Sui does and she trusts Sui so Donna takes a breath and spouts some bullshit about Sui being smart and telling Jill later. Can you guess what that probably means, Suze? By the way, be careful how you respond because you’re talking about Carlos’ wife.

I suppose it means that Sui and Tony selected Donna precisely because the woman has some unethical or possibly criminal acts in her past. Doesn’t this shock you, Carlo?

No, it doesn’t, Suze. In fact, I’d be surprised if Donna hadn’t moved down some dark alleys back in the day, same as Jill. What’d you expect, Suze? Sara’s on the lam from the feds, Ume was a prostitute and Tony is a freakin’ cold-blooded lizard in human skin. Even Le shot and killed a man. Hell, almost all of us have some action in our past that we wish we’d never done.

I imagine Donna’s background appears clean because she just received an honorable discharge from the US Air Force, but when she gets to Reno, she has to figure out a way to persuade loser Louise and moron Marion at Doc’s Place to hire her in a job where she can keep an eye on Jill.

Don’t forget that Jill has to go back so Louise can fire her and then walk into work the next day as if nothing happened. If she can’t pull that off, then Donna needn’t bother.

Bruno can’t hook up for a quickie while his girlfriend is in town because he’s working undercover, and out of state, no less. Poor guy can’t catch a break. Of course, he does all right once he retires, buying a whorehouse and all.

What is it you want to know, Minnie?

Donna, I appreciate your responding. As I mentioned earlier, we want the juicy tidbits, if you don’t mind. Please provide background to help us understand what this experience meant to you. As these events began unfolding, you must have felt as if a whirlwind had caught you up and carried you away. Give us the details about your reactions and emotions to meeting Jill.

I appreciate the opportunity, Minnie. I’d love to tell you about that day. I’ll start with a brief background.

Father deserted Mother and me before I remember. Mother tried to sell me for four hundred bucks to an undercover cop and went to prison. I never saw them again, and I don’t want to either. As an orphan, I lived with different families all over the Western US. No one cared whether I stayed or left. Sometimes I’d return after a day or two of wandering to find a new kid in my bed and my clothes in a box at Social Services. After graduating high school and entering the Air Force, I lived in dormitories or enlisted housing, but it always felt temporary. I was alone a lot, but I didn’t know I was alone so I didn’t care.

In Britain, I found a bar with a small stage and a microphone. People would get up there and read poetry or short stories. One bloke had a gentle nature and a gravelly voice I couldn’t resist. During a few private sessions, he proposed and I accepted. After a three-day honeymoon I paid for, he came into our apartment drunk that first night back and tried to punch me. When I realized I was kneeling on his shoulders with my thumbs in his eyes, I moved back on base and divorced him. He apologized in tears, said he needed me but eventually, I would have killed him so I stayed away and never gave him another chance.

Now let’s move forward in time to 1984. After twenty-eight years of living, I have a BA in history and ten years honorable service in the US Air Force. People tell me I’ve overcome my past with all its adversities, but I don’t feel I’ve overcome anything. I feel empty and desiccated, going through the motions of living without a reason to live. Mostly, I feel nothing.

Everyone tells me to re-up, take the promotion and the officer gig, but everything inside me tells me no. Agonizing over that decision, I try talking, writing, making lists, taking long walks and runs, but the answer is always no.

Assume I’ll get a ration of shit from everybody when I announce my decision, but the exact opposite happens. Everyone tells me I have to follow my intuition. Problem is I have nothing on the outside. As my separation date approaches, people give me contacts for the highway patrol, police and sheriff’s offices, but I’ve worked a regular job. I don’t want to do that any more. Hell, if I want any of those jobs, I can re-up.

I look into establishing my own business. I even apply for an Aliversal loan, which, Ume tells me later, awakens a dragon, as Mei said earlier in the story. That dragon is SIA, but I don’t know that yet, of course. Thing is, the Aliversal counselor tells me all that’s involved in setting up and managing a business, and that doesn’t interest me either.

As I look into setting up a business in private detective and security work, my Aliversal counselor asks me what no one has. I haven’t even asked myself. Define the perfect job, she says, so I do. I want some but not much structure. I want to follow my intuition and use my judgment.

After I process out, I’m scared shitless because I think I’ve just made the biggest mistake of my life. The gals I used to supervise invite me to go skiing with them that weekend and I accept. We make a couple runs and they ask if I’m having fun because they say I seem so distracted by my worry and concern about my future that I don’t even seem to notice what a gorgeous day it is.

After ten years in military police work, I habitually watch my surroundings, but that day, I can’t see past my own eyeballs. I definitely have my head up my ass. It takes several minutes of those boys pestering me before I try to ski away but they’re too fast. They catch up, grab my poles and laugh as they try to pull them from my wrists.

Suddenly, the boy on my right disappears under the skis of a girl who shoots past me as if I’m standing still. She’s dragging the kid with her. The other kid still has my pole, so I turn to look at him. I see this tall, slim woman gliding along beside him. She smiles calmly at me, transfers both her poles to her left hand and casually lifts the boy with her right, tosses him, grabs his ski and plants his face in the snow.

Two other boys grab my wrists and pull my arms apart. Without thinking, I warn them off, but they just laugh. Now, the woman is back, skiing beside the boy at my left. Still holding her poles in her left hand, still smiling calmly, she says in a conversational tone, “Hey” to this kid. He looks at her, she flicks her hand at his chest and he drops like stone. She does all this so casually that I think Wonder Woman is rescuing me.

Finally, I pull my head out and send the last kid tumbling. When I look to my left, the woman is at my side again, still holding her poles in her left hand and still smiling. When she asks how I’m doing, I have to know, so I ask her name. She says Jill Price and begins looking around as if she’s standing still instead of skiing at breakneck speed down a steep-ass slope. I give her my name and she says we’ll talk later.

At the foot of the mountain, Jill converses with me as if she knows me and knows my feelings, as if we’ve known one another for years. Even when she asks questions, she says she understands and feels as I do. When we catch up with Heather, within seconds, the three of us are chatting like old friends. Jill and I take the next lift chair together. She empathizes, asking friendly questions and making me feel as though we’ve been buddies for ages.

I’m shaking my head, trying to figure out how she reads me so well when Heather leaves us. I feel Jill’s eyes on mine so I look at her and she says I have to learn to read her if I work for her. Before I can recover, Jill pulls five hundreds off a fat roll, hands the money to me and tells me to decide after a couple runs. She doesn’t say another word as we ski.

That’s another thing. I think we’re skiing like maniacs, barely in control. Whenever I look at Jill, she’s relaxed and loose, as if we’re walking in a park on a summer day. During our second run, while I’m hoping I don’t crash and die, I suddenly find myself relaxing . . . like Jill. In fact, I’m confident, like her. That gets me thinking about my short time with her. I feel as if we are . . . family, maybe, like cousins, even though I know that is impossible. The smiles we share are like . . . personal gifts or . . . sweet little secrets a young woman shares with her dearest friend, except I’ve never had a dear friend, let alone shared secrets.

In my imagination, I drift away, hanging back for a moment, watching Jill’s back, erect and at ease. She is alert and aware, and yet enjoying the moment as she looks about us. I ask myself, “Do I want to go with her?” Clear as a blue sky, my mind and body answer eagerly, “Hell yes, of course I do.” The voices of all the people I know ask, “Are you sure?” I began laughing. Skiing up beside her, I want so much to tell her that I really, really like her. I want to say her name as I look into her eyes. I want her to sense, if possible, how happy I am.

When I say it, she just nods and I suddenly have a crazy hunch that Jill is about to ask me to marry her. She doesn’t of course. She asks me to work for her, but I think my hunch is so funny, I answer as if she did ask, which makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Lord, I love Jill Price at that moment! My eyes are burning, my throat is tight and my heart is beating with joy. My mind is so clear and sharp, I can almost predict what Jill is about to ask me and I can’t wait to answer, “Yes, yes, Jill, yes!”

When she mentions using weapons, I lose the grin and look into her eyes so she’ll realize I’m serious—giddy, but serious. Will I kill or take a bullet for her? Is she kidding? Say the word. I ask a question to show I’m serious. I have hundreds of questions, so I begin asking and she answers me. She obviously likes me. She listens to me and treats me respectfully—as if she’s courting me. Suddenly, I realize I am a mail-order bride!

That is when the bad, bad realization hit me. Although the authorities have never apprehended me, I have committed crimes. Does that mean Jill won’t respect me, hire me or marry me? I don’t know, but I ask Jill if she knows. She says no, but Sui knows and she trusts Sui. I promise to tell her the details later. I’m relieved beyond measure that Jill doesn’t care what I’ve done, but I’m pissed that Sui hasn’t given me a heads-up.

By the time Jill hands me the phone, I’m furious with Sui for not tipping me about something as earth-shatteringly important as this union between Jill and me. When I rip into her, Sui laughs and says, “Oh, that’s a relief. I knew you’d be perfect for one another, Donna. I have to tell you that I felt as if I’ve been arranging a marriage. We are so excited about you.” I can feel my mouth hanging open as she quickly explains the move, the flight and the other arrangements. I’m so happy that I laugh and cry practically the whole time she’s talking.

As Ume, Le, Lloyd, Stephanie and Amalie have expressed, I feel confident with Jill. Freely, I give her my loyalty and in return, I receive happiness, peace and fulfillment. For a short while, meeting Jill is the most wonderful event of my life. Jill helps me understand that I am free to live and love, and I fall in love with my Carlos, but that is a story for another time.

I’m sorry I wrote so much, Minnie. I’ve been giggling and crying practically the entire time I’ve been typing this. Again, I apologize for writing so much, but thank you for asking me.

Donna, you are nothing like I imagined. When you joined the discussion in dpc11:1, I considered you professional and business-like. After reading what you’ve written here, I realize that, although you have borne a lifetime of responsibility, you remain almost childlike in your yearning for love and companionship. You are an amazing and complex woman.

Wow, your revelations about your emotions that day stunned me, Donna. Like Minnie, I thought you were all business. I understand now how Carlos and you fell in love and remained together all these years. You enriched our experience. Thank you for opening up as you did.

Now, I mean no offense, Donna, but the feelings you were experiencing before leaving the US Air Force are certainly not identical, but somewhat similar to those of Lee Childs’ fictional character, Jack Reacher, before he left the US Army. Of course, you left the military nearly two decades before Reacher did.

Our group is stunned by your background and the sweet innocence of your response, Donna. Please do not take offense, but reading your response reminds of our group of when we first read the responses of Amalie and Vani—beautiful, fresh and touching. Several of us—men and women—confessed to crying as we read your account.

However, you ended your response with your reactions only to Jill. Before we proceed with other questions and the story, we’d dearly love to hear your account of how you feel about the remainder of your ski adventure with Sara, Heather and Jenny after meeting Jill. From Jill’s perspective, you easily paint yourself into the girls’ little tableau, as Jill describes it.

Please tell us how you reacted to the whole experience of joining these girls in dining, skiing, chatting and even enjoying intimacy if you don’t mind. Were such experiences new to you? Were you comfortable throughout? How did the five of you handle the domestic details with each other? Did you find yourself more comfortable with anyone other than Jill? Did you butt heads, so to speak, with Sara from the first? Did you find Jenny a bit reclusive with her TV watching? Hope you understand we’d like your emotional reactions to the rest of your experience with the girls, if you please.

With pleasure, Raj. I apologize for focusing my response solely on Jill instead of all four of the women. Guess I let myself get taken away by the force of Jill’s personality and the fresh experience.

Yes, this entire encounter was completely outside my experience. By chance, Jill introduced me to Heather first, as you know from the story part. I had forgotten until this moment recounting that experience that I’d never so easily fit in with a group of women as I did with those four.

After we had finished skiing and were on our way to our digs, Heather asked me to choose food for supper, so on impulse, I said Chinese cuisine and everyone said that was great. When we arrived at the Chinese restaurant, all five of us women trooped in there. Now I remember I had a twenty in my pocket before Jill had handed me those five hundreds. Our order totaled about fifty bucks, as I recall. Usually, army gals I’ve hung out with go through this elaborate procedure for who pays how much based upon pay grade and so on, but since I knew I had only that twenty, I just pulled it out, dropped it on the counter and tried to look nonchalant as I watched the others’ reactions. Heather and Jenny didn’t react at all, and I learned as time went on that they were attending university so they didn’t even offer to pay—college girls expect working girls to pay for everything, I guess. Jill and Sara each matched my twenty and which added up to the total with a twenty percent tip. Sara handed it to the cashier and said, “Keep the change.” Pretty good tip so the cashier thanked us and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Sara and I broke off to use the ladies room while Jill and the other two stood chatting. Sara finished first and waited for me at the door. As we exited, Sara took my arm, looked me in the eye and said, “Donna, that woman is the future for both of us – our livelihood, our destiny and our happiness. You glue yourself to her and make sure she lives to a ripe old age, hear me?” Looking into her eyes, I realize Sara is as obsessed with Jill and as much in love with her as I am so I look into her eyes and say, “From the moment I hook up with Jill in Reno, I will make her security my personal responsibility, Sara.” She studies my eyes for a moment and says, “I know you will, Donna.” Moving one hand to my neck, Sara kisses me quite passionately, both of us with eyes open the entire kiss. Finished, Sara says softly, “I love her, Donna. You love her too, don’t you?” I remember saying, “With all my heart.” Her arm still in mine, she got us walking back to the front and added, “One more thing, Donna. My social graces are for shit so when—not if—I piss you off, promise me you’ll remember we both love her.” I nodded slowly, realizing this was a critical moment for both of us and said, “I promise.” I’ve had many opportunities to recall that little confrontation, and I’ve never forgotten it.

After we had eaten, I remember wondering who would clean up, put the leftovers in the fridge and trash the rest, but Sara took charge. Told our college girls to take first showers. Sara, Jill and I pitched in on clean-up. While Sara used a bathroom sink to clean her teeth, Jill and I shared the kitchen sink. When we had finished, Jill stepped close to me and said, “I’d like to kiss you, Donna.” When I told her I’d like that, she pulled me into my arms and kissed me. I closed my eye for this kiss, just giving myself to her—it was luscious, passionate and so hot. No grabbing or clutching, like getting a kiss from a guy, just Jill holding me and kissing me. I remember leaving my eyes closed after as I inhaled and sighed with happiness. I felt so warm, comfortable and good. Before I could open my eyes and say something, Jill kissed me again.

Taking my hand, Jill led me to a bathroom, available now, and looked into my eyes as she undressed me. Pushing me into the shower stall, she undressed and showered with me—again, no hanky-panky, but intimate and trusting of each other, with lots of gentle caresses. I got out first, toweled off and carried our clothes into the laundry room naked, tossed them into the washer and ran it. When I turned, Jill, also naked, stood in the hallway and said, “You don’t have to take care of me, Donna.” Kissing her, I said something like, “No one has ever let me take care of them. When it’s just the two of us, I want to, Jill.” She just chuckled and said, “Okay, let’s join the girls in the hot tub.”

We chat for a bit, but Jill is watching me, so I move close to her and we start making out—slowly and passionately. God, it felt so . . . safe and warm and. . . . My god, I love that woman. After a while, we noticed the other three girls were gone, so we turned off the jets, the lights and went to bed, where Jill just gobbled me up. I couldn’t move or speak. I just lay there, looking at her, so she picked me up as if I weighed nothing and carried me into bed with Sara and Hannah – Jenny was watching TV. We fell asleep, but some time during the dark of night, Sara, Heather and I went to work on Jill, who enjoyed it energetically and enthusiastically, as did we.

Hell, I could go on, but you get the idea—Jill and Sara are dynamos, Heather and Jenny were young, warm and willing. Being around Jill and Sara filled me with energy and exhausted me, both at once. I love them so much I can’t even express it.