The Circle Ch. 12

"Absolutely not," the attorney said with certainty. "There's precedent law about personal privacy that goes back to the 1890s, and since then many superior, Federal District, and Supreme Court decisions that preserve personal privacy. Mr. Atkins is very wrong, and it will cost him his job, I predict, and his newspaper millions."

The Courier and Dean Atkins were served with a civil suit for invasion of privacy and slander. The suit asked for $50 million, and a permanent injunction against using the video taken with the drone for any purpose.

Dean Atkins fought back immediately, by posting the entire video on a pornography website.

The next day, a district court issued an injunction toThe Courier and Dean Atkins that required that the video be taken down until the results of the court case were settled. Atkins stalled, was fired with malice fromThe Courier, and the video disappeared from the web.The Courier printed an apology for violating the privacy rights of certain individuals, and noted that the reporter involved had been summarily dismissed. The case got national coverage, almost assuring that Dean Atkins would never work in the media or newsprint industry again.

The newspaper, their insurance company, and Harber, representing injured parties, met and subsequently settled out of court for $20 million and an agreement that the video would never see the light of day. A copy of the video in possession of the newspaper was given to the plaintiffs; all others were destroyed. Dean Atkins was enjoined under court order to destroy all copies of the video or face a prison term and a personal fine that could amount to over a million dollars.

Matt and Nathan's first act of generosity was to pay off the mortgage on the large house they shared with The Circle. This was their way of indemnifying the others in The Circle who might suffer unknown damage from what Atkins had done.

* * * * *

Besides a few of the jobs, there was some other fallout from the nuclear explosion that announced The Circle's 'hidden and highly sexual lifestyle.'

The day following the infamous article inThe Courier, Jim's parents summoned their son and daughter home for a mandatory family dinner and powwow. The pair arrived at six o'clock as instructed, coming in the front door. Denise and Gary Wilson sat in the living room in straight back chairs. They gestured their children to come in and to sit on the sofa, a piece of furniture that was significantly lower than the chairs. Jim saw this subtle power play, so got his own upright chair from a corner of the room. Tracy sat on the sofa.

Gary said in a stern tone, "I am assuming there is some modicum of truth in that last paragraph inThe Courier article. Do either of you want to comment? Is there truth about what was said about the lifestyle in which you live?"

By agreement, Jim started. "There is, and we prefer a kinder version without the obvious judgment, hyperbole, libel or slander. We do not advertise our lifestyle, but we are happy with it. We believe that consenting adults can do what they want about their lives, their romances, and their sex life."

Denise asked in a softer tone, "I knew you were dating those three girls, and that they're living in the house, but the article implied there were others."

"There are," Jim replied.

"Do you sleep with them?" their father hurled at them.

"I do. I love six women.

Their mother turned to Tracy, "And what about you?"

"I have six lovers, plus I am bisexual, so I also have love interests with the same women who Jim loves." Tracy's tone was just shy of daring her parents to say something detrimental about anything in the world, especially her life.

Gary said, "Love, umphh. That sounds like an excuse for sleeping around by both of you."

Jim said calmly, "We've lived this way for two years. I think we've moved way beyond the sleeping around stage. We have mature relationships that are no longer driven by New Relationship Energy, although that was a fun stage while it lasted."

Denise suddenly looked shocked, "Oh, my God. Do the two of you have sex?" She directed her question to Tracy. While the question seemed charged with emotion, the way her mother delivered it seemed restrained and even sympathetic to a positive reply.

Tracy smiled benignly and said, "I have never loved my brother more than I do right now. I choose how I express that love, and I will not comment further on it."

Jim nodded to affirm her answer. They'd talked about the answer to that very question before coming over to their parent's home.

Gary looked highly pissed, but also shocked. He took her statement as an admission of incest. He asked, "I thought we raised you better. How many people are in your group?"

Jim replied, "Fourteen. One couple doesn't live with us because they've had their own home for years."

"Jesus."

Tracy snorted, "He is definitely not in our circle, thank God." While her sarcasm made her brother smile, all it seemed to do for her father was fan the flames.

Gary said, "Don't you feel you are sinners by what you're doing? Don't you feel you're violating everything sacred to society and God?"

Jim calmly said, "No, we don't. We do not believe we are living immorally or offensively, except to those who want to place their own judgments on us. Tracy, I, and the others do not accept some arbitrary religious code of conduct without questioning its basis. We do not hold truck with those who seek to put their own boundaries on others, especially codes of conduct dealing with monogamy and exclusivity. We are a loving family of fourteen. Our bonds are stronger than what you might find in most marriages, but we don't need that formalization to sanctify our love or behavior."

"God have mercy on our soul," Gary exclaimed as he stood and started pacing the room.

Tracy said quietly, "Our God is not a vengeful god who metes out punishments or rewards. The hellfire and brimstone God of the Old Testament belongs to an ancient time. We believe we are spiritual beings having a human existence, and that our purpose in this life is to grow and evolve. The truth to our evolution can be found through love and our interactions with others. We choose to amplify that love, and the life experience with the others we live with."

Denise said, "And your college studies? What about those?"

Tracy said, "I have a high grade point average, but more importantly I have been developing skills that I will be using in my work. Visionix Tech loves me and wants me to work for them full time as soon as I finish my degree. For two-and-a-half summers I have distinguished myself there, and will continue to do so the rest of this summer."

Gary snorted, "They'd hire you despite your lifestyle."

Tracy smiled, "Yes. They know how I live and where I live. They don't care, only that I am a strong contributor to their bottom line."

Jim spoke, "Dad, Tracy and I understand that you don't approve of our lifestyle. We did not come here to convert you, or to allow you to change what brings us happiness. Each generation does things that piss off the one before, and this is no different. We love you and Mom, and are exceptionally grateful for all you've done for us. You've taught us to be critical thinkers, and I'm afraid our lifestyle is one result of examining the basis and strictures placed on conventional relationships. We want to preserve our love for you without allowing this difference in opinion to fracture our relationship and push us apart. Tracy and I are here to be friendly and to sharesome of our lives with you. We're adults now. You don't need to manage us any further. We hear your guidance and acknowledge it."

Tracy and Jim stood.

Tracy said with a smile, "Should we adjourn to the dining room, or would you like us to leave?"

Denise rose and ran across the room to her daughter, "Oh, come to the dining room, please. We love you so, but are ... just ... old fashion, I guess." She gave her husband the evil eye, challenging him to say anything else to the pair. He didn't, although he was nearly mute throughout the evening meal.

The conversation with Matt and Ellie's parent went much differently.

George, Matt's parents dropped by the house on Thursday after the Monday robbery. Matt and Ellie prepared coffee and biscuits for them, and sat in the living room to talk. The atmosphere was much more relaxed. Their dad said, "So you got caught making whoopee by the media? Anything I can do to help with the fallout of what got printed? By the way, I saw the video on the Internet before it got taken down; very impressive, very impressive."

Margaret, his mother, laughed and chimed in, "You guys are adults, but if you want to talk, we're here for you."

George added, "We've assumed you two have some kind of special relationship with each other. We can see it in your eyes. Just be careful that you don't broadcastthat around the place, then you'll really see the shit hit the fan."

The discussion between the four was more about how long it took people to forget about things like this. George had worked in advertising and PR for most of his career. He said, "Relax. People might remember your names for a short time - months, not years. The majority of the press was all about how you did a great job breaking up the robbery and capturing the thieves. This is what people will remember, despite the spiciness of that last paragraph and what it implied."

Sheila and Zoey had long since told their mothers about the lifestyle in the house without going into a lot of sexual detail. They had suspected their daughters were having sex with multiple people going back to the time when each of them was dating Matt, Jim, and Bob. There was little else to say. Alice seemed immune to the whole thing; her parents were in California and knew nothing of the ongoing events other than the communal living situation she was involved in.

Matt did get a call from his real Aunt Amy, who had been Alice's best friend and lover before she had to move to the west coast. She was laughing so hard she could barely talk, but she wished her nephew and niece well in coping with things. She also appreciated the lifestyle they were living and wished she was with them to 'get her share' of things. She promised an interesting visit sometime soon. Amy was about ten years older than Matt, but he'd always been drawn to her sexually since those urges started, and then, when he was old enough to follow-through, she moved away. Of course, Alice picked up the slack.