Finish up and get to work.

{if Lust >24
}As much as I'd like to, there's no time to dawdle. Beth {else
}Beth washed herself briskly and efficiently. No time to dawdle. She {endif
}finished her shower, drying off and getting dressed for work in a timely fashion.
{if@ Secretary = 1
}

Beth put on something that looked presentable and cute for the office. {else
}
Beth put on something nice, if a little conservative. {if Shame < 50
} She felt a touch constrained, but the school didn't exactly want her {if Shame < 30
}dressing like a "teacher" in a porno. {else
}showing too much skin around high schoolers. {endif
}{else
}Don't want to give the boys any excuse to pay less attention the lesson. {endif
}{endif
}

As Beth walked to her car, she got a call from Brian.
{if Shame < 30
}"What's up?" {elseif Shame < 70
}"Hey baby. What's going on?" {else
}"Hi, babe! Did you need something, or just miss me already?" {endif
}
"Hey, babe. I just got off the phone with Kyle." Kyle was Brian's little brother, who they had hoped would be the best man if he could get discharged from the Marines in time. "He's at LAX, just landed!"
{if Shame < 30
}"That's cool." Good. We don't have to scramble for a replacement. {elseif Shame < 70
}"Oh, that's great. I'm really happy for you that he's home." {else
}Beth smiled with joy. "Oh, baby! That's such good news."{endif
}
"Yeah. It's great news. So, listen{if Shame <50
}..."
Uh oh.
"...{else
}. {endif
}Kyle needs a place to crash for a while. So I told him he could sleep on our couch. I told him where the hide-a-key is."
Beth {if Shame < 50
}had trouble keeping the irritation out of her voice. "Brian! You should have asked me first if I was okay with that! What about your parents?"
"I'm sorry. It's just..." his voice sounded hesitant. {else
}felt a twinge of annoyance, but she smoothed it away. "Baby. We've talked about this. You have to ask me if stuff like this is okay before doing it. It's my home, too."
"I know...I'm sorry. I just didn't think it would be an issue so I just told him..."
Beth sighed. Some things are never going to change, are they? "Why can't he stay in Newport Beach with your parents?" There was a pregnant pause, and Beth got the sense that Brian was struggling with something.{endif
}"Listen...there's still a lot of...unresolved stuff between Kyle and my parents. Especially my dad." Beth blinked in surprise. Brian had never mentioned any of this before. "I don't want to get into details but it's just better for everyone if Kyle can...deal with that at his own pace."