Maurice & Friends

The two new attorneys hired by Sloane Simba at Simba Brothers were both females of impeccable qualifications. One was the only female animal to graduate with honors in law at Oxford University in England. The other held postgraduate degrees in law from Pretoria South Africa. She was human, very serious and dedicated to her career. .The Oxford genius was a jaglion. This is the combination of a jaguar father and a lioness mother. When Roy Lee and Janice heard she was a new lawyer at Simba Brothers, they wanted to meet her. Their children were combinations of a jaguar mother and lion father.

“Roy Lee, we should entertain the Simba Brothers staff. Maybe it would ease some of the ruffled feathers that flew when Shane made Sloane the head instead of Alexander.”

“That’s a great idea, Jan. And we can meet Jade Jaglion then and introduce her to our kids.”

“I’ll plan things and send the invitations.”

Caitlin Cougar stuck to her guns, although loving Steven Simba. She refused his offer of marriage not wanting to wed him under the circumstances of her surprise pregnancy. She had bitten the bullet and told her aunt, uncle and parents of her condition. They had been a bit shocked but supportive. Her father had increased her monthly allowance. Caitlin was working in her studio, sculpting and selling her pieces at ever increasing prices. She also wrote a column for the Masai Mara Daily. Her good friend and supervisor, Jane the lioness, was back more frequently these days. Jane, not consenting to marry Luke Leoparde without parental approval, was seeing less of him. She now visited Caitlin when she was free. She saw Steven Simba most evenings. He acknowledged her need to make sure they were totally compatible before tying the knot.

Caitlin strolls with her daughter, Georia Leander Simba......

Sloane Simba had paid extra to Lewis Lyon Construction to put a rush on his bush house. He drove after work, many days to check the progress and was pleased. Being something of a perfectionist, he bordered on harassment in his dealing with CHANGING SPOTS design studios. He wanted complete and daily control in the furnishings of his new home. His image at the office was sleek and evocative of Wall Street. Outside the walls of Simba Brothers, he was the essence of contemporary male chic.

The grounds of Roy Lee and Janice’s home on Leoparde Drive were embellished with small lanterns lining the drive and twinkling rice lights in the smaller trees and shrubs. The evening was warm and clear. The party was taking place within the house and sophisticated back yard. The guest list consisted of those employed by Simba Brothers law firm in addition to the pertinent members of the Simba Pride Corporation. Roy Lee and Janice had also invited their children and their spouses to meet Jade Jaglion. Betty and Shane were late arrivals. As they came in the door a conversational group made up of Sloane, Janice and Roy Lee and a human female stood near the entrance. Betty saw it happen with hoar frosted veins. When the girl was introduced to Shane as a new attorney hired by the firm, the voltage that ran through her husband and Dina Myers was palpable. Betty could only remember that the girl wasn’t particularly awe-inspiring in appearance but the light in her blue eyes was intelligent and infused with sexiness. Shane and Dina’s hand shake stayed for moments beyond the time necessary for such contact. Betty held her breath as she shook hands with the same girl. The rest of the party was a blurry haze for Betty. She couldn’t keep her mind of the strange electric moment at the entrance. She was distracted as she spoke with Bertram Baboon and me. We were among the very few invited besides the relevant parties. She kept starring toward Shane who seemed to be speaking with his brothers, Sam and Sefu and the girl. Betty’s expression was reminiscent of one caught in a tsunami missing a family member in the surge of water. We met Jade Jaglion who is very nice and impressed us as an able and very wise addition to Simba Brothers. I noticed Bertram looking toward where Shane had his head bent in very heavy conversation with the girl and Sloane Simba. Aside from Betty’s obvious angst, the party could only be construed as well presented and tons of fun. The food was Indonesian with the fine liquors and wine flowing.

Shane with Dina Myers at the party....

Betty got undressed. Shane had already hit the bed. The light in their bedroom was dim. She came from the bathroom and slipped in beside him, turning out the lamp. She breathed deeply.

“Dina Myers seems very sharp, Shane,” remarked Betty with the nervousness apparent in her voice.

“She does. I think Sloane made good choices. He’s doing a great job with the firm.”

“I think Jade Jaglion is very attractive. I was impressed by her schooling,” added Betty as she continued to discuss other aspects of the party.

She turned on her side and put her arm across his chest. She realized that he had fallen asleep without making love to her which was rare for him. She took two valiums. When they failed to bring rest, she availed herself of one of Lachlan’s extra strong sleeping pills. Demon dreams, like half shadows, played through the night in her head. They consisted, in part, of Dina Myers with Shane’s arm thrown across her shoulders in a move she hadn’t seen him make toward a female in a long time.

Betty was weary as she headed for her office in the State House. Another trip to an AIDS stricken village in the northwestern corner of Kenya was in order. For the first time she dragged her heels in committing to travel. She was filled with fears that Shane would see Dina while she was gone. She was restless and placed a call to Lachlan. He told her he could see her on his lunch hour. She chose to come to the center and be damned to snooping reporters. She was dressed with a scarf on her head and went through the service entrance on the way to Lachlan’s office. Lachlan sensed her stress immediately when she lit one cigarette off of another. Her face was tight, her teeth slightly clenched when she told Lachlan of the party the night before. When she had finished speaking Lachlan handed her a tissue for she was about to break down.

“Betty, you may have imagined more than it was. Did he say anything or act abnormal toward you in anyway?”

“He didn’t make love to me last night.”

“Maybe he was tired. He’s president now with a fuller plate than before.”

“He’s never too tired to screw, Lachlan – just to be quite frank.”

“Betty, I have seen you off and on for quite a while. Most issues when I saw you dealt with Shane Simba and your obsession with him. Now he’s your husband but he’s one you fell in love with while he was fucking around on his other wife, Catherine. You know these things about him. A leopard doesn’t change its spots. He has been better but that doesn’t preclude any antics ever. I suggest you live with it since I can’t imagine what you would be like if you were separated from him. This propensity of his is no shock to you. You are quite aware. It may be nothing at all but a flirtation. He’s president now and you’re his first lady. Both of you are bound to be careful about what you do and say.”

“Should I leave him to go to northern Kenya with Mildred and Lisa?” she cried.

“Yes, of course. If you hang around watching him like a cat with a roguish mouse, you will go stark raving mad. Go with the others and do your AIDS work. It is a wonderful thing that you do. If he falls in this girl’s bed – well, it won’t be the first one he ever fell into in an extra marital sexual liaison. Just keep in mind; he never left his marriage to Catherine even with his flagrant affairs. If that can be of some comfort to you, please let it. I certainly wouldn’t face him with anything unless you know it to be real.”

Tigger Tigeres was sent back to school in Johannesburg, South Africa by his parents who insisted on their children getting an education. It was Junior Lyon’s old alma mater where he was sure to play plenty of soccer. Junior and Charley Lyon promised him a place on the All Stars when he returned to the Mara. Staci Simba was terribly disappointed. She moped around a good bit mimicking the mood of her stepmother.

Ashley Lyon, in a surprise to all, flew one of his biggest planes to England and brought his son, Arlon, home for a vacation from his school in London. It was a break that the British universities have. Arlon had called his dad and told him of it. He walked in his mother’s new home in the State Mansion, giving her a marvelous and very uplifting surprise. A much needed one at that. Another got a lift as well. Staci Simba took one look at the handsome Arlon, who had enough of a mane ruff to be impressive, and forgot all about Tigger Tigeres. Arlon had a total of ten days home. He spent two of them on safari with Ashley and the rest squiring Staci about. He spent, with Staci, an evening at his grandparent’s new home in the Lyon Pride Compound. Arlon and Staci attended parties with friends each night. Arlon was pleasantly surprised at how his stepsister had continued to blossom into a very beautiful young cat.

“I can’t believe you’re already getting your mane,” offered an impressed Staci.

“My dad says he got his early,” preened the proud Arlon.

When Ashley returned Arlon to his school, Staci collapsed on her bed in tears – behind locked doors, of course.

Staci and Arlon get together on a break from his school in England.....

Betty had been wise in dealing with her husband thus far but the night before her trip to the village in northern Kenya, she lost her cool. She was packing her personal things for the trip when Shane came in.

“How long will you be gone, Fifi?”

It was a perfectly reasonable question. One he had always asked as she left for trips. However, in the light of Betty’s paranoia about Dina Myers, it took on unearthly proportions.

“Long enough for you to see Dina Myers,” she snapped and immediately wished she hadn’t.

“Am I supposed to have something going on with Dina?”

His eyes were cold and she noticed that there was no hesitation in name recognition or surprise at her mentioning that name.

“I saw you that night, Shane. You were definitely attracted to her,” said Betty, lighting a cigarette and awaiting a rebuttal.

When it didn’t come, her blood grew cold and seemed to slow its path through her body. He only stood there and said nothing.

“Aren’t you going to deny it, Shane?”

“She was very attractive, Betty, I can’t deny that but it doesn’t mean I’m going to see her.”

“But you were attracted?”

She couldn’t seem to stop herself now that she was on a roll with her suspicions, going full throttle into a no man’s land.

“Yes, I was. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

She wanted to slap his face, tear at his green, icy sub-zero eyes, but she kept her arms glued to her side. She felt trapped in the presidential mold not being able to run into the dark night and find solace at some fun filled bar as she had in the past. She walked from the room and headed for the den where a liquor cabinet rested. She poured a tumbler of Scotch. He didn’t follow. She got quite sloshed and slept in a guest room. She didn’t give a rat’s ass what the staff thought. For the first time, she hated being the president’s wife. When she awoke with a headache the next morning, she stumbled to their room to find the maids closing her bags to take to the helicopter. Shane was nowhere in sight.

She took off in one of the small aircraft with Mildred and Lisa. As the plane banked over the Mara heading north, she pressed her face to the window to hide her tears from Mildred and her daughter and Linda Cougar.

Betty took Linda Cougar, who had gone with them before, under her wing this trip. Linda, the troubled daughter of Carson Cougar and Sylvia and Bernard’s granddaughter, had been sent to the AIDS group by Lachlan Lion. She was on this trip too. The group was assigned two huts in the impoverished village which was decimated by the AIDS virus. Linda shared a cot in Betty’s dwelling. Three days passed with the group working with UNICEF workers and others to bring some relief to the stricken villagers. Most of the fathers were gone through death’s door or migrating to the city. The work was arduous and back breaking. At one point in the day, Betty was comforting a dying mother when someone entered and told her that President Simba was on the phone in the one building with a line. Betty refused to leave the woman, who clutched her hand in grief.

It was late and Betty had lost track of time. She drifted into an uneasy sleep, her bones aching from the exhausting day. She was awakened by Lisa Lyon Leo handing her a cell phone. She sat on the edge of the bed and took the phone. It was Shane.

“Fifi, I can’t believe I let you leave without telling you goodbye.”

“We weren’t on the best of terms anyway so I didn’t expect you to,” she said in a cold manner, her heart inwardly breaking.

“Betty, I love you so. There is nothing going on with that girl at the law office. I can’t wait for you to come home. I love you.”

“I’ll be there in a few days, Shane. We’ll talk then,” she said and clicked the tiny button on the cell phone, cutting him off.

She tried to smother her grief in the flimsy straw stuffed pillow but failed. Linda came to her side and they talked through the night of both their lives.