Lady in Red Pt. 02 Ch. 19

"I've been inspired by bountiful display of female pulchritude, although that word doesn't really flow very well in poetry," admitted Billy with a grin. "There was a group that displayed bountiful pulchritude, that often received stares that were extremely lewd, with Gwen, Jordan, Lisa, Naomi, Ashley, Charlotte, Paula, Diane, and Kate, all the men that gazed upon them wanted to mate, so their studly husbands and boyfriends were forced to intrude!"

"No more!" insisted Charlotte once again. "Our Spartan Shakespeare does seem to have a one track mind. Let's change the subject."

"I feel I should apologize for showing such tempting cleavage to these hormonal young men," offered Paula with a straight face as she made a show of adjusting her breasts. "These girls have been the inspiration for many a sonnet, a few odes, and at least one epic poem."

"That isn't exactly changing the subject, Mom," observed Lisa. "We need to talk about shopping, or climate change, or maybe quantum physics. That should lower the testosterone levels around here."

As they were finishing dinner, Steve noticed James Hawthorne seemed to suddenly appear next to Stephanie. Steve nudged Gwen and nodded in Stephanie's direction.

"He does seem to be quite attentive, doesn't he?" observed Gwen. "He appears to be a good guy to me, but what do you think? Should we be worried?"

"I've asked around a little since we've been here. His family is highly respected and fairly well off financially, but I knew that. I wanted to know about his character. He's had some lady friends, but has never been engaged or anything. He did well in school and he's expected to win a seat in Parliament next year," concluded Steve.

"I should have known that you'd make sure that any man Stephanie likes is acceptable and safe. I know that you're very fond of her, as well as protective."

"You know I've never..."

"Of course! I wasn't suggesting anything or complaining," assured Gwen. "I love how you look out for my family and friends. I love you for doing it. You've become the go-to guy in the family. Dad is great and Chip and Jason are super guys, but you've become the center of our family. We revolve around you and it makes me so proud."

"I've arrived at the same conclusion, except that we all center on you," replied Steve thoughtfully. "The other women look to you for leadership, even Diane and Paula. The men adore you, and I'm putty in your hands."

Before the discussion made it any further, Stephanie came stomping up to Steve and began ripping into him.

"You had James investigated? Who told you that you could meddle in my private life?" demanded an obviously angry Stephanie. "I'll be the one to decide who I spend time with!"

Both Diane and Paula hurried toward Stephanie but stopped short when Gwen motioned to them. She was confident that Steve would be able to patch things up with Stephanie.

"I looked into his background and character, if that's what you mean," replied Steve evenly. "Do you think I'd bother to do that if I didn't care for you? Do you think I'd call in favors, and spend time and money on just anyone? Do you think so little of me that you'd believe I'd ever do anything to hurt you? Do you want me out of your life? Is that it?"

"Maybe I do if you're going to try to run my life!" retorted Stephanie quickly. "You think everything's about you. You decide who's in your group, who works for you, who's good enough for each of us girls, and who isn't. Everyone has to meet your approval or they're out on their ass."

"Maybe I am a bit overbearing, and I might be a little overprotective, but all of our friends and relatives mean a great deal to me, especially you. I'd rather have you hate me for the rest of my life than make another mistake like I made with Ashley and that guy that claimed to be Neary. She was almost killed! And it was my fault! I don't want to have to go through that again!"

"You think that situation with Ashley was your fault? You saved her life, with Pete's help. She never blamed you. Just ask her. Is that why you're being such a jerk?"

"I'm being a jerk because when I wasn't careful, I came close to getting Ashley killed," admitted Steve. "If she had been, I don't know where I'd be right now. If something happened to you, Steph, I don't know what I'd do. I feel bad that you're upset, but I won't apologize for doing my best to make sure you're safe."

"Maybe I was a little hasty," sobbed Stephanie. "I thought you were trying to find out something about James so that I wouldn't like him; that you wanted to turn me against him. I should have known better."

"Steph, I only want for you to be safe and happy. I didn't want to make the same mistake again. If it helps any, I had Richard Drake investigated even more thoroughly," revealed Steve. "I let Ashley down once and I swore I'd never do that again, with any of those that I loved."

"Will you forgive me?" asked Stephanie contritely. "I was wrong to be upset with you. If there's one man in the world besides Dad that I can depend on, it's you. I know that. Did you say that you love me?"

"I did," grinned Steve. "Maybe it's the London fog getting to my head. Let's forget this ever happened. Bring James over and I'll apologize to him in front of you."

"No need for that!" interjected the Brit as he stepped closer to Steve and Stephanie. "I feel that I must confess that my family did a tad bit of snooping into Stephanie's background, as well. I thought our sources were very discreet, but you found out about it, didn't you?"

"I was told that someone had been checking on Stephanie and when I heard they were British, I knew it was you, or your family. I knew why, and I felt justified in returning the favor. If it's any consolation, Steph, James has passed with flying colors. He's one of the good guys."

"You men make me so mad!" snarled Stephanie as she wrapped her arms around Steve's neck and kissed him with passion. "I'll never complain about anything you do again."

When Stephanie turned to look at James, she became aware that everyone had witnessed her meltdown. Her mother stood next to Gwen with tears on her cheeks while Gwen wore a broad smile.

"Gwen! I didn't mean to accuse Steve, I mean he did it, but he was just, I'm not upset at him anymore. Are you angry with me?"

"We're family. We watch out for our own and Steve happens to be the biggest believer of that maxim," replied Gwen as she hugged Stephanie. "You forgot for a little bit, but you know the guy would do anything in his power to save you pain. We accept your apology and promise that we'll continue to love and support you any way that we can."

While Gwen was speaking to Stephanie, Ashley moved up to Steve, threw her arms around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss. "Thank you," was all she said.

Once things calmed down, James explained that his organization, WHO, had managed to sell rights to broadcast the telethon to an American network. Rather than carry the full twelve hours, they paid handsomely for the broadcast rights to the four hours Gwen, Jordan, Steve, and Charlie would be playing.

Contributions had increased and the telethon itself was expected to be a great success. James stated that WHO was delighted with the response, as well as the anticipated interest and contributions, and had asked James to thank everyone for them.

The actual telethon took place in Wembley Stadium. Temporary seating had been added on the playing field. When the lights when up for their portion of the concert, Jordan, Gwen, Steve, and Charlie were met with a hundred thousand fans roaring their approval. They played just over four hours and it was later reported that over half the pledges that for the entire telethon were received while the Americans were on stage.

The group spent a few days sight-seeing through England and Ireland before the day came to fly to the Mideast to perform on the aircraft carriers. Before they departed Gwen, Jordan, Steve, and Charlie crossed Abbey Road while their friends snapped photos. They did it several times until Billy felt that they had recreated the famous Beatle Album cover as well as they could.

"I'll send this back to Dad and he'll have it on our wall before we get back home. This is going to be one of my favorites!"

Gwen and the other women were surprised by one of the things Steve told them before they left England. "When we're on the ships, we'll travel in different groups. We guys will be together and you ladies will be together, at least much of the time. What I want to avoid is for any of you to be hanging with your boyfriends or husbands, and that includes Diane and Paula."

"You don't want us to stay close to our men?" asked a surprised Kate. "We'll be surrounded by horny sailors. Will we be safe?"

"You'll be on a US Naval vessel and you'll be very safe," promised Steve. "We're trying to lift morale, and seeing beautiful women with husbands and boyfriends close to them won't help much. You ladies have to be outgoing and interested in whatever parts of the ship the men show you. Wear sexy outfits and flirt with the sailors. They'll never forget you, but they'll never hurt you. Just be yourselves and smile at everything. You represent what they're fighting for. They have wives, sisters, girlfriends, mothers, and daughters back home. For the short time you're on the ship, you'll represent their women, especially wives and girlfriends. They'll be over the moon if you smile and enjoy interacting with them."

"I can see what you mean, but what will you guys be doing?" asked Lisa. "Will you be bored or jealous?"

"There'll be hundreds of female sailors and we'll try to raise their spirits. When we're with men, we'll make crude jokes and swear a lot. They'll love us, too, but in a different way and for different reasons," predicted Steve.

Early on July 3rd, several military transport helicopters landed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. All of the crew members that were allowed gathered on deck to see the famous guests get off the helicopters.

Lady in Red Productions was filming as much of the action on both aircraft carriers as they could. A network had committed to buying a four hour special to be broadcast the evening of July 4th. One of the goals was to show as many of the crew members as possible. The reason was so that their families and friends would want to tune in to see them on TV as they met the famous visitors.

When the doors to the first chopper opened and Jordan jumped out, quickly followed by Gwen, cheers rang across the deck. The fact that both women wore short skirts and low tops did not go unnoticed. As the rest of the passengers climbed out, it became apparent that the helicopter brought nothing but beautiful women! They all smiled and waved as cheers and whistles echoed around the giant ship.

The Captain greeted the ladies. When he offered to shake hands with Jordan and Gwen, they simple hugged him and smiled. The Rear Admiral was also there to greet them and a roar went up again when Jordan and Gwen gave him a warm hug as well. Right from the start, the crew knew that their guests were not going to be difficult or snobbish. Every man in attendance had the dream of meeting one or more of the women as they toured the ship.

When Steve and Charlie dropped out of the second chopper, there was some polite clapping and yells of approval, but nothing like the ladies had received. When Chip hit the deck, he turned and spoke to Jason.

"It's good to know that these guys haven't been out to sea for so long they forgot the difference between men and women! I would have wondered if they had greeted us like they did our ladies. This is going to be fun!"

The morning and early afternoon was a whirlwind of activity, especially for the ladies. They broke into smaller groups and were escorted on tours around the ship. Gwen and Jordan were extra complimentary and gracious as they were surrounded by sailors everywhere they went. All of the women drew crowds and were asked for photo opportunities and autographs. Cheryl was traveling with Gwen and Jordan. She constantly took videos and still of as much as she could.

"These guys may have been on this ship too long," commented Cheryl after touring the bridge. "They're asking me for my email and phone number! That's pretty desperate."

"Look at those long legs and that cleavage," chuckled Jordan. "These guys may have been on a ship for months, but they still know what they like, and you've got it all. Maybe you haven't realized how attractive you are, but these sailors are great judges of beauty and you're very popular. That means you're a darn good looking girl. Just enjoy it, but don't break any hearts."

It was while they were touring the jet aircraft on the deck that Gwen noticed a sailor looking at her quite intently. She studied the man's face for several seconds and suddenly her face lit up.

"Arnold? Arnold Gavin?" queried Gwen as the man broke into a big grin. "I haven't seen you since we graduated. Jordan, you remember Arnold Gavin, don't you?"

"Of course," answered Jordan as she moved to the man and hugged him warmly. "You helped me with American History. I don't think I would have passed that course if you hadn't been so kind!"

Once Jordan released the man, Gwen moved in and hugged him even tighter. Arnold Gavin's face was red but he was grinning from ear to ear. His shipmates watched in awe as the two most beautiful women in the world hugged him! Arnold knew that his status on the ship was going to shoot way up. He chatted briefly with both women, who insisted on having several pictures taken with him. In one he had an arm around each of them as they kissed his cheek while his buddies groaned and whistled.

Lady in Red had flown two jumbotrons in earlier in the week and had them set up on the deck. A makeshift stage had been erected and Jordan and Gwen spent some time looking it over. The two of them conferred for a few minutes and then asked the Lieutenant with them if they could speak to the Captain about the show.

After explaining what they had in mind, the Captain had a brief discussion with the Rear Admiral and then agreed to their request.

During the day, Steve and Charlie found themselves very popular with the females on the ship. They answered all sorts of questions, except the very personal ones, and posed for hundreds of photos. They always managed to leave the women with big smiles on their faces.

"Would you dance with me tonight?" asked one very outgoing woman. "I know you don't mind dancing with back women. I saw videos of you with Naomi Wilson and you sure didn't mind holding her in your arms."

"I'll see what I can work out, if you'll promise me we won't be concerned about color," replied Steve. "I resent that you felt that you had to suggest that I would be racist if I refused to dance with you. You're an attractive woman, and I don't mean that you're attractive for a black woman! I think you'll do much better in the Navy if you get over thinking that a person's race, religion, or ethnicity determines their success."

The woman was surprised at Steve's response, but refused to give up. "Okay, maybe that was out of line and I apologize. But will you dance with this lonely sailor tonight?"

"We hadn't actually planned on interacting with the audience, but now that you bring it up, it may be a great idea," replied Steve. "Charlie, will our microphones work if we're very far from the stage?"

"Let's go test them," responded Charlie. "That would be a great idea to interact with some of the audience tonight. Let's run it by the girls."

As luck would have it, July 4th was going to have a full moon, but it was going to be almost full on the third, and it would be coming up shortly before the concert began. Charlie once again worked it into the production.

When it came time for the concert, Gwen and Jordan made their way across the deck, rather than appearing on the stage. They stood surrounded by sailors, male and female, as they sang the National Anthem with obvious emotion. When they finished a huge roar rolled across the deck as the two women worked their way to the stage. They entered a small room set up near the stage for wardrobe changes.

The girls came out in robes and joined Steve and Charlie, who were sitting on the back of the stage in robes of their own. Five sailors walked up on stage carrying what appeared to be a folded banner. The sailors walked to the back of the stage and unfurled the banner which simply stated 'God Bless America!'.

Bright lights suddenly turned on and the girls began the same discussion they had at the beginning of the Oscar telecast. Many of the sailors had either watched the show live, and most others had pulled the opening up on Youtube after hearing about it. There was excited anticipation as the scene began.

Soon Charlie and Steve were at the front of the stage performing 'Sharp Dressed Man' on their guitars while wearing just their boxers. Gwen and Jordan danced up to the front and sang the first stanza. The crowd was swaying to the beat as all eyes were glued to the stage or to the jumbtrons that had been set up. Gwen and Jordan danced to the back of the stage by the banner. They picked up underwear and slid them on under their robes. Then with their backs to the audience that could see them, they stood by the banner and dropped their robes. As they began to reach for their tops, the sailors holding the banner suddenly lowered it!

Gwen and Jordan managed to cover their breasts with their hands and arms while bending down in an attempt to maintain their modesty. The audience roared its approval as two of the most beautiful women in the world stood before them topless. Even though they were unable to see much of the breasts of the two women, the men in the audience clapped, whistled and yelled their appreciation. After about twenty seconds, the men charged with holding the banner raised it back up. Gwen and Jordan quickly slipped their tops on, although it was apparent that the five men holding the banner watched every move they made.

Gwen and Jordan turned and shimmied back to the front of the stage in the tiniest of underwear and bustier tops, which propped up their gravity defying breasts even more. Somehow, they were exactly in time for the next stanza which they delivered and then pranced back to the area by the banner. They quickly pulled on short skirts and low tops before jiggling back to the front of the stage to join Steve and Charlie.

At this time, Gwen's sisters and girlfriends appeared in short, sexy sailor outfits and carried clothes for Steve and Charlie. They danced behind the guys as they played the guitars. As soon as the song ended, the girls helped the guys climb into standard sailor garb.

"These are what we call sharp dressed men!" announced Jordan as she and Gwen smiled and waved to the approving audience.

The lights dimmed, although it was just dusk and it was pretty easy for everyone to see what was going on. The other band members rushed onto stage to join Steve, Charlie, and the drummer and quickly took their places. Less than a minute later, the familiar drum work for 'We Will Rock You' began and the stage was once again bathed in bright lights.

It seemed like the entire ship trembled as every member of the audience stomped their feet to the drum beat. When Gwen pranced to the front of the stage and began singing and inviting the sailors to join in, the party began in earnest. Everyone joined in to sing the 'We Will Rock You' part so loudly that Steve wondered if they would be heard from shore.

They started the show with some of their rock hits but as the moon rose higher in the night sky, more ballads and love songs were performed. Jordan sang 'Stand By Me' before Gwen and Steve joined for 'Moon River'. Charlie and Jordan then did 'Moondance' and the audience loved them all. Gwen brought more than a few men and women to tears with her hit 'Woman in Love'. Jordan followed it with Willie Nelson's 'Crazy' and then she moved right into 'Always on My Mind', another Willie Nelson song. Charlie mesmerized the audience with his version of Kris Kristofferson's 'For the Good Times' and Rod Stewart's 'Have I Told You Lately That I Love You'.