Passion of Erika Christensen Ch. 05

"No, John," Tom answered in a growl. The media scrutiny on him in the present was even more intense than it had been back then. He did not want it increased. "I'm a happily married man now. Your idea of a party is the last thing I need. Katie wouldn't like it either. She's not like Nicole."

"Sorry. Chill out, man. It was just a suggestion. Maybe you need to be more open with her."

"I'm very open with her, John. You know that. You've seen us together. She's the one who needs to be open, not me."

"Okay. Hmm." John hesitated. "Well, I gotta admit I don't really know her, though I do see where you're coming from. It could be an age issue. You do have about sixteen years on her."

"Your point?"

"There's a psychological distance. A woman Katie's age is gonna be different from a guy your age. You can't ever really know her."

"Hey, we've been together four years. I know her pretty well."

"Sure. I bet you don't know her as well as her girlfriends, though."

"Katie doesn't have any girlfriends."

"What?" The shock in John's voice rose. "Don't tell me you're still pushing her to 'sever all ties'."

"I'm the only friend she needs, John."

"No, buddy, you are wrong." John chuckled. "You're killing her. Trust me."

Tom felt rage boiling inside him and was about to answer. Then he forced it down.

Maybe John's right, it occurred to him. I have been stifling Katie's connections with others since we got together. None of her old friends really like me, so they got estranged from her by our relationship. I introduced Katie to someone I thought would be her new best buddy and from the start they did not get along. Jessica's advice to me turned out terrible too, so I cheerfully forced her out of our lives. I know Katie was grateful I fired Jessica but it also showed her I could be a threat to her friends. She didn't like knowing that.

I've tried to find other friends for her since then and nothing's worked out. Even Victoria Beckham, who was Katie's shopping buddy for a long time, stopped regularly hanging out with Katie right after things went sour between me and Victoria's husband David. I was to blame for that, even though David denied all rumors to the press. I guess I've been to blame for Katie's inability to make new friends too. I hang out with my friends all the time; but apart from the kids and people who like me, I don't like Katie hanging out with anyone. I make that known to Katie. Maybe that's what's wrong. I've been committing a major gaffe. Fuck!

"You're right," he told John, shaking his head at the realization. "I have been hurting her."

"If you're just realizing that now, I'd wager you're making more than one mistake."

"Yeah." Tom grimaced. "I guess we need some additional counseling."

"Whoa there, buddy. I know what you're thinking." John coughed.

"Sure," Tom agreed. "If it gets out we're seeking counseling, the tabloids will have a field day. If it's worth it, though, and it's what has to be done —"

"Tom!" John interrupted. "That's not what I'm talking about. Screw the tabloids. To hell with them." He hiccupped. "You don't want the usual counseling you get. You've already tried it all and gotten nowhere, right?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Listen to me. There's this other kind of counseling. Kelly and I know someone who's an expert at it. You know her too. Erika Christensen."

Tom blinked when John said the name. "What? I haven't heard about —"

"Trust me, Tom!"

"I do, John, but her? Come on. You know some of our church leaders have been calling her a potential trouble source."

"Yeah, but that's just their opinion. You should stop listening to those dinosaurs. They're on the way out. It's only a matter of time. The way they pervert our religion's teachings does nothing but ruin lives."

"That's not true, John!" Tom declared, and then paused.

Wait a second, he thought. I've been following their philosophy more and more in recent years, and it's been making me bonkers. It pisses the public off too. How many times have I been told that and seen the effects? Yeah, I can turn it around a little, but I still don't like the bad things that happen. I hate the gossip, the Internet character assassination and the negative way in which so many people see me. I wonder if it's really worth trying to spread the benefits my religion has brought me. Scientology has not been good for everyone, and the world thinks I ignore that. I hate how they treat me in response. I know Katie also feels this way.

"It is true, Tom!" John said. "Why do you think Kelly and I have stopped coming to all but the biggest gatherings? It took 'Battlefield Earth' and everything that's happened to us since we made that movie to make us realize what's really going on with the dinosaurs. They're the idiots, not the public. You need to separate yourself from them. You do just fine as who you are and not as well as the person they want you to be. Do you want protesters dogging you everywhere the rest of your life?"

"No," Tom had to admit. He saw them at all his premieres and they had also attended Katie's public appearances. Tom and Katie acted as if they weren't bothered, as their publicists recommended, but they were disturbed. Worse, Tom knew that if he took steps to challenge the protesters, or try to reason with them, he would get nowhere. He might suffer negative consequences too. Open anger would hurt his publicity, as it had in the past. Reason and admitting concessions had even worse potential results. The people at whom the protesters were really mad, the leaders of Tom's religion, were legendary in their intolerance for dissent.

"Then listen to me," John told him. "I can tell you how to overcome them."

"I already ignore them," Tom said. "I know they'll never go away. The diehards will always be against me. I just show them I'm not affected. I tell Katie to do the same. I've been told they get bored when they see this and dwindle in number."

"Yeah, that kinda works. But come on, Tom. You know those people aren't ever going to go away until they get what they want. We have to change and we're going to change."

Tom blinked, his suspicions aroused. "What are you talking about?"

"We're celebrities, man! The public pays our bills and makes us who we are. We cannot afford to mislead, confuse or upset them. We need to stop. We're going to stop. The reformation is coming, Tom. It's been coming. Erika's part of it, and so are Kelly and me. The same for Beck, Jason Lee, Catherine Bell, Paul Haggis, Taron Lexton, Sky Dayton, the Mastersons, the Ribisis, the Presleys, Kirstie Alley, Mike Rinder and thousands more. We're gonna push out the dinosaurs, fix ourselves up and concentrate on helping others like we're supposed to be doing. Are you with us or against us?"

"What?" Tom's frown had deepened with each named celebrity and he gaped at John's concluding question. "Have you been drinking, John?"

"No! Well, okay, a little. But I'm right, Tom. You know I'm right."

"Yeah, I do," Tom said with incredulity. "But, John, this isn't a secure line."

"Oh. Sorry." John coughed. "Uh, everything I said was hypothetical, okay?"

"Of course it was," Tom said. He hit a button on the phone and activated a universal jamming device that the infamous Hollywood private detective Anthony Pellicano had given him several years ago. It kept the unscrupulous press and anyone else from listening to Tom's phone. "Now the line is secure. Next time warn me."

"Thanks." John sighed in relief. "Look, if you want, you can forget I said all that. Your choice. You're a legend, so you'll always have your fame no matter what happens. Kelly and I have been in this longer than you have. Tragedies have happened to us, things that could have been avoided. We're committed."

"Tragedies? Like your son?"

"That was one, yes." John grumbled at the mention of a sore subject.

"I'm sorry, John. I said it before."

"I know. Thanks. Listen, don't get worried. Our movement is underground and it's probably going to stay that way for a while. 'The revolution will not be televised.' You can let us handle it if you want. But on your marriage ... trust me, Tom. You and Katie need this counseling. It has saved my marriage and our mutual friend Will Smith's."

"What? Will's marriage has never been in danger."

"Buddy, there is a lot you don't know! Look, let me contact Erika. I'll tell her about your situation and have her give you a call."

"No, John," Tom declined. "Thank you, but I don't think Katie and I need what you recommend. Stop drinking. Have a nice day." He hung up.

Self-absorbed idiot, Tom thought, looking at the phone. What does he know? Still, he is right about some things. Our church is undergoing a reformation. Everybody wants to deny it, including our enemies, but I'm on the inside. I know it's happening, with good reason. I listen to the protesters even if they don't think I do. I'm aware of why the good people among them are doing what they're doing. There are people in my church who agree. He listed them to himself.

Mike Rinder, longtime leader of Scientology's intelligence agency, lost his job two years ago because he was involved with the reformation. Tom had heard he was still supporting the movement from the outside. If John wasn't bullshitting, then just about every famous person in Scientology other than Tom was also part of things on the inside.

How did they get so brave? Tom wondered. Maybe they figure they're too high profile for the leaders to ever hurt them. You know, they could be right about that. Nicole had good reason to be mad at the church when she left. The leaders practically mandated our divorce. They didn't excommunicate her, though, and she can still see our kids. Isaac Hayes was bitter at the leaders also, before he died last year. He really didn't like how they took advantage of his stroke to make him quit "South Park". He was so upset he cut the church from his will. They didn't kick him out either, however. There were no negative consequences for him at all. It's the same for Erika and all the other people John mentioned. They can be as free-willed with church doctrine as they want to be. Our religion relies on celebrities for advertising. As we go, so goes the public. If the leaders punish us, they lose thousands of worshippers and millions in donations. They can't afford to let us go or piss us off.

Tom gasped as another realization came to mind. I've been an evangelist for them many years, he thought, but maybe I've been going about it all wrong. If I spoke up for the common parishioner instead of preaching the party line, really tried to give people a better life, maybe my career and Katie's would not be in such poor shape. The reformers are planning to conquer Scientology when the time is right. I'm sure of it. That time is coming fast, especially with the way the church has been shrinking in recent years while the forces against us have grown. Soon we'll have to reform to survive. Even the leaders will see it. I know the majority of our parishioners already do, not that they'd ever tell the leaders. Maybe I should join John's movement. It might be the only way to rescue my image. I could also be a real asset to the reformation. I was just planning to keep following the crowd and doing what's most acceptable, but now that I know how far things have spread ...

Tom shook his head. No. It was better not to even think about it. It was too risky. His marriage was more important anyway. Besides, Tom told himself, I can solve that on my own. I don't need anyone's help. I just need my Viagra.

Fifteen minutes later, after he found the empty bottle, Tom was back downstairs. He had gone upstairs to try talking to Katie anyway and found her already asleep. Now he was digging through his address book.

I have to call Erika, Tom thought as he scanned the pages. I have no choice. I have to put all my personal feelings aside and find out what she can do. John mentioning her was some kind of sign. Here's the number. I haven't talked to her in forever. I hope she's in a good mood.

Tom picked up the phone, again engaged his jammer, and started tapping digits. As the phone started ringing, he gave himself a prayer.

***

London, England.

"Yes!" Erika Christensen was screaming thousands of miles away. "Yes! Ah! Fuck me!"

The two people lying on either side of her obliged, thrusting their naked bodies harder against Erika's and increasing the motions of their fingers. The twenty-something actress gasped at the sensations, shaking her long vivid auburn curls. Her deep blue eyes shone bright and her porcelain skin was suffused with rapture. Her energetic voluptuous figure was sandwiched between a gorgeous man and woman. The couple continued kissing her and each other. Both were smiling and sweating with the emotion of their deeds.

We've been close so long, Erika thought as she returned their caresses. Keri Russell, the thin lightly tanned brunette whose naked body is pressed against the front of mine, was my co-star in "The Upside of Anger". She didn't know what to make of me at first back when we met in 2003. Some might even say she hated me. In one day, we got close and that all changed. With the help of others, we became friends and lovers. We've connected several times in the years since the film wrapped and maintained our relationship. Many others, men and women, have joined us in lovemaking and taken pleasure from the experience.

The man rubbing himself over Erika's back, Keri's husband Shane Deary, was no exception to that rule. Erika had gotten to know Shane shortly after Keri started dating him three years ago. She admired his handsome face, lean carpenter's muscles, and long black hair and beard. He liked her too, attracted by her beauty and brazen spirit. However, the man was nuts about Keri and vice versa, so Erika knew she would have no chance trying to pick him up.

They stayed friends nonetheless and Shane was thrilled when he found out that Keri and Erika were both bisexual swingers. This led to the three of them getting it on many times. Keri and Shane were one of several couples whose marriages Erika spiced up on a regular basis. Such activity was fun for them and her. She herself did not want to get married. Erika found staying single more convenient for her sexual connections. That might change someday, she thought, if I found the right guy.

"Yes!" she cried out again as Keri twisted her left nipple. Shane twisted her right one an instant later. They continued squeezing until both Erika's pink breasts were gleaming red. Keri, her cheeks puffed in a smile, leaned down and suckled them.

"Thanks again for suggesting this vacation to us," she said after releasing the nipples. Erika's fellow actress licked her cleavage and then leaned up and kissed her lips. "It's really great."

"Yeah," Erika agreed.

They were in London to visit a man who had been instrumental in forming Keri and Erika's relationship. The manager of a popular Soho nightspot, he had hired Shane's construction company to do some renovations. As an American contractor, Keri's husband was nervous about taking a job overseas. Character references from Keri and Erika convinced him saying yes was a good idea. The job had finished last week but it would be a few more days before the unveiling. Keri and Erika both flew in to attend and Shane too was sticking around.

Sticking around hard, Erika thought. She could feel Shane's erection against her pelvis. The club, "Inside Out", was among other things a swinger's haven. The manager kept a number of private suites for secure meetings. Erika and Keri had taken advantage of them many times.

"Nice work on the floor, Shane," Erika said to Keri's husband. She knocked her fist against the wood beneath their bodies.

"I installed this room's entire floor myself," Shane replied with a chuckle. "Now I'm going to fuck you on it."

"Don't forget about your wife," Keri said. She leaned around Erika and smacked Shane's lips with hers. "You're fucking me on this floor too."

"Right," Shane said, kissing Keri back. "And after we get done with this lovely lady, I got plans for you involving another floor in the room next door and the shower in the room across the hall from this one."

"Oh boy," Keri breathed, squeezing his bicep. Her long cinnamon tresses, made famous in the Warner Brothers hit TV series "Felicity", shook as she moved her body further towards his.

Erika caressed Keri's small brown breasts, reminding Keri she was with them. Her girlfriend grinned in apology, then moved back to Erika and again kissed her mouth. They deepened their embrace with each other and Shane. Keri rubbed the dark wet triangle between her legs against Erika's thigh. Erika felt the dampness in her own pussy's fertile blonde mound increase. Keri moved up on her and Erika leaned in to lap her tits. The points of Keri's nipples stabbed hard at Erika's mouth.

Shane licked her left ear, rubbing his erection against her rump in the same motion. Erika nodded in permission. Keri's husband was wearing a cherry-flavored condom his wife had rolled on a few minutes ago with her lips and tongue. Shane had fucked Erika in the ass several times. He knew how to do it in a way that gave her maximum pleasure. Her cunt had already tasted his erection once tonight and so had her mouth.

Erika and Keri had varied the caliber of their attentions towards Shane throughout this, maintaining his hardness and preventing him from coming. The moment of release was near, though. Erika knew not even a team like her and Keri could stave things off forever.

Let him spurt where he likes best in me, she decided. Then I'll leave Shane and Keri alone so he can fuck her in all the places he just described.

Shane put his arms around Keri and Erika, pulling their bodies closer to his. Keri put one hand on his chest and put her other hand at the juncture of Erika's thighs. Her fingers wiggled in Erika's slit. Knowing what Shane intended, Keri gathered Erika's juice and spread it over Erika's ass. She also pushed her girlfriend's legs open, all the while kissing her lips and cheeks. Erika directed a patient smile at Keri's gray eyes.

"I can't hold off too long," Shane said with a gasp. His fingers rubbed Keri and Erika's tits.

"One second," Keri told him. She gripped her husband's cock and squeezed it, testing the fullness. "Okay. Now." She pressed the organ into the crack of Erika's rump.

Erika widened her stance and Shane thrust forward. Erika gasped and clenched her teeth as she took him inside. "Yes," she said when Shane's length was fully within her. "Right there. You're hitting it. Keep at it."

Shane nodded and continued thrusting back and forth into her. His breath was heavy on the back of Erika's neck. At Erika's front, Keri exchanged another kiss with her and then curled her fingers inside Erika's pussy into a clenched fist. Erika screamed again as the fist was pushed hard into her, her body filled with sweet agony at both ends.

The trio of lovers breathed deep and moaned as they continued to move. Shane speared his manhood into Erika and Keri matched every motion with her fist. They could feel each other through the thin wall of flesh between Erika's pussy and ass canals. Their cooperation in pleasuring her was thrilling to both of them. Erika felt a growing tremor in her own body.

Keri kissed her throat, moving down on her torso, and the throbbing increased. Erika twisted her torso around, keeping Keri's fist inside her as she did. She, Shane, and Keri moved harder against one another, their bodies quivering on the bare wood floor. Keri shook her fist back and forth, pounding the walls of Erika's pussy. She only withdrew her fingers when her more talented tongue was in position to take their place.

Erika wailed as the point of that tongue hit her clit and set it vibrating. Shane pushed into her ass particularly hard an instant later and she came, juice flooding into Keri's mouth. Keri swallowed the stream, her hands fondling Erika's legs to increase her girlfriend's pleasure. Her breath was warm on Erika's snatch. Her hard breasts were rubbing Erika's torso and Shane's hands were caressing them both. Keri's cunt was near her face, Erika noticed. She leaned in and licked it, heart hammering hard.