Hotter with a Blue Bonnet on it Ch. 02

Correctness.

He was still a bit of that shy boy in her presence and she felt a growing need to make him comfortable.

Correctness.

"So, is 'Kate' okay, or do you prefer 'Lady Technomage?' he asked, noting her online persona with that fanboy smile.

"You can call me Ivy if you like." She blinked almost as soon as the words left her lips. What the hell? Why would I want him to call me Ivy when nob...

He nearly jumped in the air he was so thrilled with the notion. The fanboy in him knew full well what the offer meant. "Thank you so much, Ivy."

Correctness.

The objection died in her throat before she could form a word about it. It felt right when he said it. It felt comfortable in her ear coming from his voice in a way it never felt even from her own. She didn't know if she'd ever truly make peace with her spinster name, but, for right now, 'Ivy' was for him. It just was.

Correctness.

They talked for a few minutes and she learned how well-versed on tech and 'Lady Technomage' he was, which was 'very.'

"Once I heard you were trying to branch out into harder stuff," he began,"I knew that you were the one to come here and write about us. I'm so glad you came."

"Me, too." That came out a bit flustered, too.

"Anyway, you wanted to talk to my wife, so I thought you two could take a walk and you could do your interview that way if that works for you?"

It took a moment for her to process the actual meaning of his words and her own eyes couldn't hide her bewilderment. "Rose Khyber? Rose Khyber is your wife?"

He looked down and away for a moment even though his voice held some humor. "Come on Ivy, I know I'm not chiseled from granite, but I'd like to think I have something to offer any woman, much less one admittedly of her caliber.

The look on his face in that instant wounded her. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean..."

"It's all right," he said as though he meant it. "Go on now."

She was in such a rush to grab a fresh pad and make sure she had enough pens that she didn't really register that it sounded like a little like an order.

She bolted from the house, closing the heavy inner door and let the screen door slam shut on its own as there stood Rose Khyber, pop icon. She was a vision with those sharp brows over piercing blue eyes. The cover of one of her albums was simply those eyes staring upward in predatory fashion was iconic all by itself and, if one wanted they could spend all day looking at fan renditions, from anime versions to a blacklight version that had become a popular avatar image all over the web.

People still wrote to her. People still clamored to hear Rose and know about her and here she was ready to talk to Kate and no one else. Everyone from music industry executives to talk show personalities would have killed to be where Kate was at this moment and she took a few more moments to bask in it.

Rose was beautiful by any standard, but what made her even more so was that soft smile. She seemed to exude serenity, as though she could stand in that one spot for hours on end.

"Hi, Kate."

Kate was, for a second, that overwhelmed fan before coming over to shake her hand, pleasantly surprised to feel Rose put her arms around Kate in a warm embrace that she was content to simply...feel.

Correctness.

"Hi, Rose," she began as she enjoyed the embrace. "I hate to sound like everyone else and not come up with something special for the occasion, but...big fan."

She laughed and that was like music all by itself. "Thank you. I'm glad people still listen to the music. I'm proud of it. Can you walk and take notes or do you want to sit somewhere?"

She shrugged, still in some awe. "Whatever works for you. Really."

"Then I'd like to walk. It's a nice day and we have as far as the eye can see to ourselves. It's a shame to just waste it in one spot."

So they walked a leisurely walk over the green grass heading in the general direction of the stables. After a few basic background questions Kate worked her way to the crux of things. "Why don't you come back? My God, a four song acoustic set recorded from your porch here and you'd make enough to buy one of those tiny European countries."

She laughed, shaking her head. "I already have enough to do that. My work still sells well and I spent years in a studio recording whatever I felt like. There's probably enough in the vaults for a new album every few years for as long as anybody cares."

"Yeah...so...why? Why did you leave? Why come here?"

"Why leave?" Stress crossed her features remembering. "Fame is a mess. All of it, or almost all of it. Realize what it takes out of you to do a world tour? Do you realize what a soul-sucking nightmare it is? And I'd been doing that since I was fourteen. Years and years ground away doing that, or sitting in a studio. There were nights when I had to write where I was on my hand so I didn't shout out to the wrong city."

"Then there were the fans. Not all of them, but enough to make it hard all by itself. For all the sweet letters that said my album helped them through a hard time, there were ones that made it sound like I owed them something more. Then having to watch what I said everywhere, always because God forbid I upset a fan or do something human so I'm not some perfect role model for someone's child when that's their job, no matter how much else their child's exposed to. And all that's not even mentioning the stalkers."

She turned not bitter, but sad. "Then there's the money-grubbing sycophants. They want to keep their money flowing so they push and they push and you always wonder if your friends are your friends because they are or because you have money. I went to the bathroom and cried once. I just sobbed my eyes out, know why?"

Kate shook her head.

Because one of the girlfriends I had since middle school insisted on paying for dinner. She wanted to spend time with me without just assuming I'd foot the bill. And forget having an actual relationship. Either I'm left wondering about him too, or he was famous, so it felt more like a mutually beneficial alliance than a relationship. The real question, Kate, is not why I why I quit, but why I stayed in all that for so long."

That peace began to fall over her again. It was palpable. Visible. "I was burned out. I was done."

She barely said the word even as she wrote it. "Suicide?"

She shook her head. "No. I wasn't that far gone, but I'd be lying to you if I said I never saw the appeal. No. I just needed somehow, some way to stop being that Rose Khyber for a while. I heard about the different little communities in this part of the country and thought maybe I could get away from everything. I met the people here a few towns over at one of their craft sales. A couple of the men knew who I was an invited me to rest here a while."

She smiled. "I didn't take long for me to realize that I'd found something so much better here. Everything is so clear and simple. Men are men and women are women. You work and give to the community and each other. It's the life that was meant to be, at least for me."

"You don't miss the fame and all that?"

She shook her head with a smile. "Not even a little bit. Here is simple. I know my place and he knows his. I know that my husband loves me for me and not my platinum records."

"About that..."

Rose gave her a knowing glance, jumping to the point rather than see if Kate danced around it. "The three hundred million dollars, you mean?"

"Umm...yeah. Did you have to give it all to the group?

She shrugged it off. "The community could have it all, I don't care. They're my family. If you're asking if they control it, no. Like everything else, some is community property, but most of it's mine through my husband."

"So he controls it then?" She thought she was onto something there.

Kate could tell by the look in Rose's eyes that she still had her street smarts intact. "And well, too. Mismanaging it would hurt the community and, in the end, his family, too. He's very careful. He knows his place as I know mine."

Kate smiled."At least you don't have to bake sale your way to a new car."

Rose was playfully offended. "I'll have you know that my double fudge brownies are sublime. Vanessa will tell you that at least ten of her pounds are my fault. Of course, the men don't care because they all say it just goes to her breasts anyway."

She blushed at the thought, but she found herself really looking into the others fierce eyes that seemed so even when she was light of heart. "You really are happy."

"Like nothing the outside world ever gave me or could give me." Those eyes appraised her critically. "You're starting to see it now, aren't you? You see what we have to offer? Part of you wants that peace. I see it."

Correctness.

She felt exposed to those eyes and even as she warred with the discomfort of that, the bigger fight was the fact that there was truth in the words. There was an alluring certainty and simplicity to their lives and a profound contentment that she touched herself now and then even in the course of the day."I thought..."

Rose finished for her, "that we were just a bunch of Bible or some other book thumpers? Or that some Svengali was making us swoon with some doomsday nonsense? No. Nothing like that. We just accept each other, the nature of men and women, and our place in that."

Rose's voice was a bit distant. "Brandon alone would make it worth it. I was never loved for me. Even my mother just got to the point where she wanted her cut because I got the stardom she always wanted. But he's...everything."

She gave Kate a nudge, sounding like a gossiping teenager. "He sooooo wanted to meet you. As soon as he learned you were interested in coming here to meet us he lobbied hard to get approval for you to come. He has such a crush on you. Eventually he convinced them how your understanding could be important for the growth of the community and our acceptance."

They made it all sound so important. "I'm not sure what I was expecting when I came here, but it wasn't quite this. I wanna dispel some of the rumors if I can." This time though the thought came without the notions of a springboard to fame that had always previously followed.

Correctness.

She turned her focus elsewhere. "Don't be jealous now," Kate teased.

"Oh, never," she said with some seriousness. "Jealousy is a vile poison and I have none of that in me, none of us do.

Her mind drifted, floating on that sense that it just felt right to be in that place. "I could tell he did and, well, does. Not the type of guy I usually go for but he seems...sweet."

"He is sweet," she affirmed with a sigh. He's everything...and he picked me."

Correctness.

It still sounded 'culty' to her ear, but if she'd looked inward she would have noticed that the negativity was gone."And I hear that the sex is good, from the other woman with theirs anyway. They aren't shy about it."

"You have no idea."

They spoke at length about that and other things as they wound their way around the land and back to the house. Rose put her in another big hug that Kate sank into. "As far as interviews go that one was just about the most painless and fun I've ever had."

"You're welcome." She held the embrace, liking how their heads rested against one another, the softness of the fabric having an almost electric feel pressing to her flesh.

Rose didn't seem to mind. "Come in and you can talk to Brandon some more. It might be good for the story and, besides, I can actually watch him get all blushy and crushy over you."

Kate laughed. "Sounds like a plan."

So inside they went. And talked. A lot. That need to make Brandon comfortable returned, so she turned on her own gentle charm like she hadn't in a long time to draw him out. At first, part of her didn't even know why she was bothering, but after a half an hour or so she didn't care. Once you got the man talking he was bright, funny, sweet, and better than most of the men she had been dating lately by miles and miles.

And when he called her by her name she initially worked to hide the bashful smile, but gave that up at some point just after lunch and just let it be. So what? He's chill, makes me laugh, and is kinda cute.

And he's...so gentle with rose. It's like he...worships the ground she walks on in his own way. With the thought came a twinge of, not jealousy, but unabashed envy. I'd be nice to have someone like that myself.

Correctness.

Lunch gave way to fixing a few odds and ends around the house. With older houses like these there always seemed to be a squeaky hinge or loose molding to be tended. The men handled those matters while the women tended to, what only days ago Kate would have derided as the male interpretation of 'woman's work.'

As it was, she dusted and mopped with the rest of them, taking frequent breaks to jot down questions and answers that she found interesting. The women were forgiving that way, with Rose teasing her that Kate planned multiple volumes just so as to escape work for as long as she was there.

Kate always felt an affinity to Rose Khyber as a fan. She was strong, energetic, whip-smart, and enjoyed her feminine power. Her lyrics could be fit for the dance floor, or bring a tear to the eye. She expected the person she met today to be some vapid, glassy-eyed, empty shell of her former self, but it was all still there. She was still there. It had all just turned...inward and refocused in a way that left her centered and perfectly happy.

There would be a lot to write.

Kate helped with dinner, actually managing to perfectly medium-rare steaks even though she hadn't ever even tried before. The look of satisfaction on Greg and Brandon's face, and Brandon's in particular gave her far more pleasure than it had any right to, but it so did. Something simple that she had done made him happy.

Correctness.

After dinner, they spoke a few more minutes before the men took their leave. Kate's cheeks reddened like fire as she watched Brandon and Rose kiss. It was deep and passionate, her arms encircling his like he was all that mattered in the universe and she was going to make sure he knew that before he left.

Something in her stance...something in the coltishness that came in the way that they played together, teasing one another before the next kiss said that she knew her power and her power over him, but she had well and joyously surrendered it and wasn't ashamed to show anyone.

He broke the kiss and pulled himself from her with some effort in order to take Kate's hand. She felt a rush of excitement to her toes and her body responded to the simple act of his hand on hers as though it were an hour of supremely skilled foreplay rolling over her in a wave.

"It was so great to meet you, Ivy. You're every bit the woman I thought you'd be.

Correctness. Reward.

She felt the same nervous excitement as in those moments by her locker many moons ago when she knew her first kiss was coming. "It was great to meet you, too. I kind of see what pulled Rose away from everything to be with you, I mean...join everyone here."

And she was just as flustered now as she was with that first kiss, so she cleared her throat conspicuously.

Rose grinned and, for his part, Brandon seemed as though almost as awkward. His voice was commanding in its own way, but, in its own way, still boyish and uncertain. "Could I come call visit you again tomorrow?"

"I'd love that," she blurted. Immediately she looked to Rose, ready to apologize to no end, but Rose just looked at her, those unique blue eyes inviting her to fall into them as she smiled a small, almost knowing smile. She really was telling the truth, Kate realized. No anger. No jealousy. Jealousy is a vile poison.

Correctness.

With a bit more of the old Kate McCallum certainty, she repeated it. "I'd love that. We can talk more."

He smiled and that seemed to beam through her heart. "Me, too."

Greg gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "Come on, you. Let's give these girls the night."

The men left and she looked to see that, for a moment, Rose ached that he was gone. Kate understood it almost as though she felt some of it herself without quite grasping why.

It passed though and the women decided to chat for a while while working on their needlepoint pieces. As they began to set up around her. Kate realized how awkward she felt in what was, again, a bit of a teenage days gone by way. She couldn't fathom just sitting there like the odd one out, talking to them while they did their little communal thing. "Could someone..show me how to, you know, do that?"

The other women glanced to one another. "See? This isn't some fancy nightclub or trade show," Vanessa began, "but we have our own fun."

"I was hoping you'd ask," Rose said excitedly. She took a place next to her on the couch as they went through a book of patterns that one of the women brought with them. Kate found herself as excited to try needlepoint as she had been when she got the latest batch of two-in-one laptops. She told herself that she always did like to try new things and the sense of correctness that followed quelled the fact that she never in a million years would have sat down to learn needlepoint.

She'd picked a pattern without thinking twice about it. Or thinking about it at all, really. It was simply the one she knew she had to try.

Rose smiled.

Kate felt that jump-out-of-her-skin giddy feeling that she felt with Brandon yet again.

Rose showed it to the other women, who, again simply glanced at one another, amused. She handed it back to Kate and smirked. "Suck up."

Kate defended herself."I can use it as a border for your picture in the article."

"If you say so."

In a matter of minutes, with some initial help from Rose and a few false starts she was well on her way to creating a Rose with only needle and thread. She had taken to it quickly, so deftly en fact that after those three false starts her effort was error free with each stitch in place and tight as could be.

She talked about her life and listened to them about theirs, and sewed away time. She made mental notes here and there of things she might have wanted to add to the article, but she just basked in the contentment it all came together to provide; the soft voices of the women talking together when they did. When they didn't, the quiet was something that she could feel.

It was safe and peaceful, like being wrapped in a warm blanket after a good night's sleep on a winter morning. And when they laughed together and with her she felt as though she had known them her entire life. She'd finished two of the petals, surprising herself with how detailed they were, managing subtle bits of shading. Rose looked at it carefully. "You must have always been good with your hands."

She nodded, "Build and repair my own gaming rigs. Queen of the PC Master Race."

"Well, you sure have talent there. It's waaaaaaaaay better than my first few times. Pretty perfect already."

Correctness. Reward.

The pride co-mingled with the humility with a force that nearly swept her away, almost making her want to weep. "Thanks."

She sewed a bit more before feeling a desire to head back to her little cottage in the field, not that she was tired, really, but she just felt there was a lot to do there. The women were understanding and each hugged her goodbye.

Rose lingered the longest in the embrace and Kate found that she didn't want it to end. What made her heart pitter-patter was the look on Rose's face that suggested that she didn't want it to end either. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As soon as she entered the house she knew why she broke away and knew what had to be done. This place is a mess. They make it all nice for me and I leave the bed unmade and my dress in the laundry. I owe them better.