Exposure
25
Home Hunting
THE NEXT TWO DAYS with Elizabeth were bittersweet. She was wildly excited about her job. She was doing six shows a week and they’d told her she could work her time up to a full half hour. She was getting coaching from Danny Carlisle, his agent, and a couple of writers. And she was making $700 a week. But she also knew that when we packed up and left on Wednesday, she wouldn’t be going with us, and that hurt.
“Where are you going to live?” I asked.
“You’ll love this!” she said. “Remember Rose? Believe me, she remembers you and would like nothing better than a rematch in her bed. Her show is in the theatre next door to the lounge where I’m performing. They’re dark on Monday and Tuesday, so she came to see me this week. It turns out she has a spare bedroom in her apartment and offered to rent it to me. I say rent, because the company is paying for my expenses, so I can take advantage of staying with her and throw some extra cash her way, too. I’ve asked her to come and join us at the studio tomorrow.”
“That’s unbelievable. I’ll look forward to seeing her at the studio.”
It was a blast to have Rose with us in the studio and she got to blend in with the crew. We even managed to squeeze a posing session in for her and it was especially fun to get Rose naked again. We squeezed some other things, too. She stayed with us Monday, right through our Monday night festivity.
Chrystal had managed to get us an invitation to a rehearsal for Elvis Presley! The show wouldn’t open until Thursday and there were still three performances by Barbra Streisand in the showroom. So, we were shown to chairs that were set up at the end of a ballroom. We weren’t the only ones watching the rehearsal. I was pretty sure I recognized Rodney Dangerfield who had a few people with him and I thought that one guy might be Sammy Davis Junior. But all told, there were only fifty or sixty of us for this private performance by the King.
At one point, he came down off his little stage where the band and backup singers were. He walked right down to the bunch of us watching and started greeting and shaking hands with people. When he got to us, he hugged and kissed each of the girls, including taking Little Toni in his arms and making goo-goo eyes at her. All the girls had programs with them and he signed them. He turned to me.
“Are all these beautiful ladies with you?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. They are.”
“You sing? Play?”
“I’m a photographer,” I said, patting the Nikon at my side. He was really nice and put an arm around Beth and Pris and called the other girls in with him so I could take a picture of them with Elvis.
“And what do you ladies do?” he asked.
“We’re Nate’s girls,” Anna responded, hugging me. The other girls separated from Elvis and all gathered around me.
“Now that’s a rock star,” he laughed pointing at me. Then he went back to the stage and did another set.
Rose joined Elizabeth in my bed that night. It was good. Really good.
The next day, while we were dealing with our last model in the studio and getting things ready to move, Elizabeth moved to Rose’s apartment. Wednesday morning, she managed to join us at the studio as we loaded the trailer with all our equipment and props. Levi was there and pointed out everything we could take with us. There was one section of the warehouse that was all props and scenery owned by the theatre group, but everything else had been brought in by Levi and by us when we arrived. We loaded everything that would fit in the trailer behind the bus and boarded.
“I’ll see you in a few weeks, love,” I said as I held Elizabeth in my arms and kissed her one more time. “I hate leaving you here.”
“I hate not coming home with you. But Rose will be my chaperone and will help me if I have any problems. Mums and Papa are coming back down next week, so I won’t be completely alone. I love you. I’ll see you soon.” We kissed again and I boarded the bus. Rose and Beth got in a car and drove off to their apartment.
We were in St. George in time for an early dinner and then headed out for the long lonely trek across Utah. There was really nothing to stop at from there to Colorado and we all just crashed. I held Ronda in my arms until well after dark and we made love quietly in the back seat of the charter bus. She didn’t try to keep all my attention after that. I danced in the aisle with Little Toni until the tyke went to sleep, then I took her mother to the back and made love to her. And so it went for two days until we got back to Tenbrook about two in the afternoon on Friday.
Then we had to work. But it wasn’t as difficult as it might seem. Levi had said that the bulk of our props should go on to Chicago. He, Cassie, Leanne, and Theresa would take care of unloading in Chicago and having the studio there ready to go when we got there.
When I got off the bus, I almost ran over to the parsonage before I remembered that I didn’t live there any longer. Instead, I helped organize what we had in the studio. Patricia and Ronda headed to their homes. Little Toni had another set of grandparents who wanted time with her. I kissed Judy, Pris, and Debbie sincerely and thanked them for all their hard work before they took off for home. Then I took Anna’s hand and walked over to the hotel, where my room was undisturbed.
“Don’t you need to see your parents?” I asked as we kissed.
“Just like you do. Tomorrow morning. I just want a night alone with you. I want to feel all your attention on me. To feel your lips on mine and on my skin and my breasts and my legs. I want to feel your hardness sliding through my wet folds and inside me as we make love again and again. I want to become one with you,” she said.
“Anna…”
“Shh. I don’t mean to exclude any of the others. I mean tonight. I want all the attention of my man without all those other naked girls running around the suite or the studio, distracting you.”
“Let me love you and bring your dreams to life,” I whispered, as I took her clothes off and began covering every inch of her body with kisses.
We decided the new preacher in Tenbrook could survive another Sunday without our bright faces in a pew. Instead, Patricia, Toni, Ronda, Anna, and I loaded in the VW Sunday morning and drove down to Sage in time for Mom’s service. We stopped and picked up Julie and Brian on the way. I figured I should try to make some points with my sister as much as I could.
She was thrilled and the three, all teens, hugged and held each other for a long time. It was good. I promised Kat that I’d bring the two back on Wednesday for her birthday.
“I have a place where we can go to pose and sketch,” Kat whispered to her friends. “Come for as long as you can.”
“We’ll come for lunch and stay for dinner,” I said. “Then I’ll have to take them back to Tenbrook.”
Kat didn’t think that was anywhere near long enough, but she was only fourteen on this birthday. I could hardly leave her boyfriend overnight.
I had a little surprise for her, though. Her girlfriend would be sixteen in September. I’d brought back a costume for her. I had Judy come over to the studio to give me a hand so I wouldn’t be involved in dressing the young teen alone. Judy got her into shiny tights and a bejeweled leotard. These didn’t make it out of Las Vegas very often. Showgirl costumes were expensive. The ones we scrounged in our wardrobe closet were old and in pretty poor condition, but Judy had worked a few seamstress miracles on this one and it wouldn’t simply fall to pieces once Julie moved. When Julie came out of the dressing room, she looked stunning. I still had the crowning glory. We had a headdress. Dee had warned me on my first photoshoot in Vegas that headdresses could weight twenty to twenty-five pounds.
This was built around a football helmet. It wasn’t more than a couple feet high, but it was really striking and turned Julie into an Amazon queen. We got a pair of high heels on her and she looked like she’d just stepped off the stage. Then there was the problem of getting her down the back stairs to the VW. Judy took the high heels and the headdress and I carried Julie down the stairs and got her in the bus. Then I ran back up the stairs and got Kat’s horse to take to her.
We picked up Brian, who was dressed in the shirt I’d given him. It was shiny and red and unbuttoned practically to his waist. It was almost the same as Elvis had been wearing in his rehearsal. He got in the bus and turned to look at his sister in the back. He just stared open mouthed for a minute and then turned silently to face out the front windows. His mouth stayed open and he didn’t say a word all the way to Sage.
Of course, that all changed when Kat raced out of the house with her sketchbook and pencils and saw the two in the car. She started jabbering a mile a minute, exclaiming over Julie’s beautiful outfit, and pausing only to give me directions to a barn out in the country. This was not an abandoned farm. There were dogs running around and barking. I could see a tractor in the field not far away. A teen girl came running out of the house, yelled at the dogs, and hugged Kat.
Introductions were made and the new girl, Sally Ames, exclaimed over Julie’s costume. It turned out that she was also an artist and had set up her own little studio in the barn.
I handed Julie’s shoes and headdress to Brian and he was suitably impressed by how heavy it was. Then I carried Julie to the barn, following Sally and Kat. I set Julie down and got her shoes on her, then positioned the headdress. She was pretty stunning and nearly as tall as me in her high heels. I took a few pictures as they got set up, but once the artists had the models where they wanted them, I left and told Kat I’d pick everyone up at five.
My sister was pretty happy with her birthday present. But I wasn’t sure if the real present was Brian or Julie.
We were going to be gone for two weeks. When we’d set up this home-finding trip, we thought Beth would be with us. We planned to stay at her house for a few days while we looked for an apartment, and then go on to Canada to look at a piece of property the broker in Stratford had found. Then we’d all get back home for a week before we had to be back to school.
But Elizabeth wasn’t home. Nadia called and told me we were still welcome to stay with them a few days while we looked for an apartment. It seemed so strange to take my other three girlfriends to the fourth girlfriend’s house to sleep with them while the fourth was out of town. I talked to Elizabeth about it and she said it was fine.
“I want you to fuck each of those girls in my bed. That will be almost like we’re married.”
Okay, if she said so.
We left after church on Sunday and headed for the Marshes’ home. On the way, we picked up all the newspapers we could find and started reading the want ads. Toni had discovered that she liked to travel. We had a car seat for her and while I was out of town, Dad had seatbelts installed in both back rows. He also made sure the front seat belts that were already there, but were tucked under the seats, were out and ready to be used. He gave me a stern lecture about using the seatbelts and made sure that I understood he still considered it his right to take a willow switch to me if I needed it.
We all buckled up.
We got to Beth’s house in time for Sunday dinner, which was a late afternoon meal for the Marshes. I was just hoping for some ice cream and chocolate. But Jordan and Nadia were very happy to have us at the table and wanted a full debriefing on how our Las Vegas adventure had gone. I’d brought a few photos with me and he immediately placed an order for one of Marli’s photos. I had to tell him what I’d done and how the Executive Producer for this Photosensitive Productions paid an exorbitant amount for the picture if I promised not to produce another in that size.
“That is amazing,” Jordan said. “Well, I’m not prepared to pay that much. I’ve got millions—a few. He’s got billions. The numbers don’t even make sense. Let me describe it this way. If you have a million seconds, you have just a little less than twelve days. If you have a billion seconds, you’ve got almost thirty-two years. This is more than an order of magnitude. It’s a hundred orders of magnitude. I’d like to think your artwork is worth what he paid, but there is no way I would pay it.”
We were all just stunned. I still didn’t have a name to put with the shaggy man I saw in the hotel room. I had suspicions, but I didn’t want to even voice them. I was hoping I was finished with the whole movie business.
“Oh, aren’t you a cute little thing,” I heard in the hall. I looked around and saw Patricia was the only one not in the room with me and I headed straight for the hall. Patricia was small and Adele towered over her. Adele was stroking Patricia’s cheek with a finger.
“Adele!” I snapped, and she turned guiltily toward me. I shook a finger at her. “Hands off my girls. Am I clear?”
She stood straight and I thought she was going to argue. Whatever game Jordan and Nadia played with Adele, I wasn’t playing. She dropped her head.
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir. Do you wish to punish me, sir?”
“No. You are not worth my time to punish. Tell your master.”
I saw a shudder go through her and assumed I’d guessed right. Nadia was Adele’s sub, but she was tolerated by Jordan only so long as he was in command.
“Yes, sir,” she whispered. She turned and went down the hall, directly to Jordan and Nadia’s bedroom.
Patricia threw herself into my arms.
“What was that?”
“That was a naughty pet who thought she could get away with something. We have an understanding. She won’t bother you again.” I picked up Patricia in my arms and carried her to Beth’s room where we were staying.
We had good luck apartment hunting. On Tuesday, after spending a day surveying the area, we found a place in Hyde Park, just six blocks north of the University of Chicago campus. For some reason, I was more comfortable with Beth and me catching the El north to the Loop than Ronda catching it in the Loop and riding south to the university. Ronda insisted that her experience in Boston had prepared her pretty well for living in Chicago, but for some reason I became hyper protective. Besides, Patricia and Anna would be coming in from Tenbrook and Rockford and I didn’t want them hunting for parking downtown.
We found a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment on the top floor of a six-story building. It was incredibly spacious and we could easily fix the sunroom up for Toni. I gulped at the $600 a month rental, but with Ronda, Elizabeth, and me splitting it, it was within our budget. Ronda said she’d been paying $300 for her half of a one-bedroom in Boston, so I guessed it wasn’t that bad. And Patricia and Anna insisted they were going to be here frequently enough that they should contribute to the rent, too.
We could take possession on September first, which, of course, was Labor Day and was the day before classes started at Columbia. Elizabeth didn’t start until the next week, and Ronda’s Fall Quarter didn’t start until the twenty-second of September. Her classes started late, but she didn’t have a mid-winter intensive like Elizabeth and I did.
“For a while, I plan to pick up Anna on Thursday after her classes and we’ll be here for dinner Thursday nights,” Patricia said. “We’ll really find out how well we get along living together.”
“We did pretty good in Las Vegas,” I said.
“Yes, but we had room service, child care, and maid service in Las Vegas,” Patricia continued.
“And six other naked girls running around,” Ronda laughed. “A couple of whom kind of liked it when a horny girl paused to pet them. Your mom was so cool about that. I half expected her to come out of her room in her birthday suit.”
“How did you miss it?” Anna asked. “Let me tell you, she made it obvious where Patricia gets her damned good looks!” Anna punctuated her statement by kissing Patricia and I thought it was a pretty solid kiss. Then she turned around and kissed Ronda just as emphatically.
“Wow!” Ronda said. “Spend as much time here as you can.”
“Well, I’m not quite at the point of wanting to um… you know… take Nate’s place, but I’m finding that kissing the two girls I love most in the world isn’t bad at all,” Anna said. Then she threw herself into my arms and kissed me as if trying to remind herself that she preferred a boy.
“Let’s go take a tour of the campus where Ronda will be,” I suggested. I carried Toni down to where I’d parked the bus and we got loaded in. There was still a week of summer session at the University so a good many students were wandering around campus. I say wandering because I had no more idea where they were going than I would have watching a bunch of ants scurry around.
“Well, congratulations,” Jordan said when we sat down with him and Nadia and Adele for dinner. “It seems you have leased an apartment.”
“We signed papers,” I said.
“Well, they called your references and it just so happened that this reference gave you a stellar recommendation. I have a feeling Nate Mayer did, as well,” Jordan laughed.
“Oh, I’m so relieved,” Patricia said. “I was afraid the baby might have woken you up last night. She was having a little upset tummy.”
“Never heard a thing,” Nadia said. “You should have heard Elizabeth when she was just a year old. Our cook would come running from the kitchen all the way to the third floor to make sure she was okay.”
We were just having a very nice family meal. As soon as we got to the house, I called Beth, but she’d already left for the lounge. I guess it took Rose a lot longer to get ready for her show than it took Starr. With luck, we’d make contact the next day, before we headed toward Canada.
“Word on the street is that a major collector paid a premium for a one-of-a-kind photo of yours,” Jordan said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you started getting some additional requests. Anna, you might want to work out premium pricing that is, say, three or four times what your old price sheet says. Strike while the iron is hot.”
“Wow! I wonder how word got out,” I said. Jordan didn’t respond.
Wednesday evening, we checked into the Ambassador Holiday Inn in Windsor, Ontario. I’d called ahead for a top floor suite and the girls were all impressed with the service. Of course, they’d all been there before, but they did like our two-level suite.
We had talked to Harold in Stratford about getting us a place to stay for a week and he’d responded that he had a place for us starting Friday. So, we spent two nights in the Ambassador and had a lovely time just enjoying each other without worrying about anyone’s parents overhearing us. Some of the squeals that emanated from our bedroom might have alerted other residents.
I made it my mission to give each of my girlfriends as many orgasms as she could stand. By the time we checked out on Friday morning, my jaw was aching a little. I hadn’t given it such a rigorous workout since that guy popped me on the Fourth of July. I loved being between a girlfriend’s legs, feasting on her honey, and seeing one of my other girlfriends kissing her or even playing with and sucking on her nipples. I knew only Ronda truly craved the touch of another woman, but Patricia and Anna were definitely warming to it.
I sometimes left the three girls in bed and took my turn playing with Toni and dancing with her all around the hotel room. I couldn’t believe what a wonderfully happy baby she was. I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to make her life a good one.
We got to Stratford early Friday afternoon and met Harold Duncan, the real estate broker, at his office. He seemed pleased to see us and was introduced to Ronda for the first time.
“There’s a fourth young woman, isn’t there?” he asked.
“Elizabeth received a great job opportunity to perform in Las Vegas for the month of August and can’t join us here this week,” I said.
“Perform? She’s an actor?”
“She is the funniest standup comedienne you’ve ever seen,” Ronda jumped in. “Maybe we can get her booked up here sometime soon.”
“Oh, that would be very good. Performers of all kinds are in high demand here during the summer months. Now, however, as we wind down the summer, I’m getting listings in from actors and crew who are moving on from Stratford and want to sell their homes. I’ll save that until tomorrow. First, let’s get you settled into the quad.”
“What’s a quad,” I asked. I’d heard the term in reference to the quad at the center of a campus, but not as something I’d move into.
“It’s a fairly new concept in urban housing. We have a very progressive builder here who is attempting to capitalize on the housing demand. In general, it is a quadplex or fourplex. A single building with four dwellings in it, as opposed to a duplex, or building with two units. They are typically only one or two-bedroom units, so not really suitable for your long-term needs, but it seemed fine for a weeklong stay.”
He led us to a pleasant suburban area and to a house that looked like just a big house, though it had two front doors. He led us to one of the doors and inside there was a second door and a staircase. He led us up the stairs.
“Your unit is Unit D, the upper right. It’s a two-bedroom and has a nice sitting room, kitchen, and dining room. It also has two bathrooms, which we’ve found is a big demand by larger family groups. The concept is like having a home away from home for the week you are indulging yourself in the entertainment here in Stratford. You are also walking distance to the festival theatre and not that far from the center of town and the entertainment and dining that can be found there,” Harold said.
He sounded a little like an area promoter, but in a way, that’s what he was. He reminded me of Don. He wanted us to enjoy our time here and buy a house. We wanted to, too.
“I’ll leave you to settle in. You have my card. If there are problems with the unit, please notify the landlord, which is the number on this brochure. I’ll see you at ten tomorrow. Oh, and I’m sure there will be last minute tickets available for the show tonight if you are interested.”
Harold left and we got our suitcases and Toni’s baggage and then decided to go out for a stroll. We got Toni’s stroller out of the VW and she was happy as could be to be outside rolling around.
It turned out that there were tickets available for Measure for Measure. I volunteered to stay home with Toni so the girls could have a night out, but Anna said she’d stay with me and let Ronda and Patricia enjoy the first show.
Toni was asleep long before the play was over that night, which meant Anna and I started kissing and from kissing things just kept getting better.
Harold met us at his office at ten Saturday morning and immediately took us on a walking tour of downtown. Off one side street, there was a nice little brick house that seemed attractive. He checked to be sure the residents were out as they’d said they would be and unlocked the door to let us in.
I wondered what the Canadian laws about pot were. The scent was so strong that Patricia took Toni back outside so she wouldn’t get high from it. It smelled like the hall in my dormitory. But the real kicker was that it had only one bath. We’d decided when we were making our list of features that with five of us living in the house, plus a baby, we had to have at least two baths. I was really hoping for three, because Toni wasn’t going to be a baby forever.
We got outside and took a deep breath of fresh air.
“Actors,” Harold sighed as we walked away from the house. He had two other homes on his list for the morning, all within walking distance of the town center, which we all liked. The one house that we agreed was ideal was priced at almost $60,000! None of us had the kind of money it took to buy that.
“I’ll have more on Monday,” Harold promised.
“This is a cute place,” Anna said, stopping in front of a little antique shop. “It already has props for your photos.” It also had a large ‘For Sale’ sign in the window.
“Hmm. I didn’t look at commercial properties for you,” Harold said, stepping back off the curb and looking up at the building critically. “I’ll go back to the office and look up the listing on this if you are interested.”
“Well, we need to have a place to live, not just a studio full of junk,” I laughed.
“It appears to have living quarters above,” Harold said. “Yes, I’m sure of it. I’ll look up the details and bring you over here Monday.”
“Thanks!”
Anna and I caught the performance of Hamlet that night while Ronda and Patricia stayed home with Toni. We were making the best of it and enjoying the daytime walks around the town. Compared to Chicago, Stratford was tiny. Compared to Tenbrook, it was huge. And it was campy. The Shakespearean theme pervaded the entire town, even though we were going to see a Moliere play for Sunday’s matinee.
I did a lot of 35mm photography while we were out. All three girls took turns posing for me and sometimes we drew tourist attention. I wasn’t sure what the attraction was until Ronda whispered that they thought I was taking pictures of famous actresses and they wanted to get in on it, too. She’d heard the name of one of the stars of Measure for Measure whispered as they pointed at Patricia.
Monday, Harold arranged a showing of the antique store for us. I slung the Linhof and tripod along with me, thinking that I’d take a few architectural photos when we were done. What a trip!
“Well, I don’t stay here year-round anymore,” Mrs. Wells said as we toured her shop. “I have a girl who looks after the store a couple of days a week during the off-season. I move into the apartment above the store in the summer, but most of it is closed off because I just don’t need that much room. Isn’t this a lovely piece? I traded a bowler hat for it. I was told it was Sir Tyrone’s silver filigree cigarette case. It is engraved ‘WTG’, but I have no way of verifying that it was the great man’s own.”
Mrs. Wells was as likely to go off on a description of a tea set or a rapier as to lead us through her shop and apartment. She loved all the little trinkets in her shop and I convinced her to let me get a photo of her beside a Tiffany lamp. She reminded me of Mrs. Wilson in Tenbrook. I could see a thousand different photo possibilities in the shop and in the apartment.
Anna started the idea, but before long all three girls had posed a couple of times in the shop and apartment so we would have plenty of photos to show Elizabeth. I think Harold was as amused by our antics as he was hopeful for a sale. We even got him in a photo. When it was all said and done, he announced that the asking price for the shop was $25,000, but for $30,000, Mrs. Wells would include all the merchandise in the store. That seemed a bit unbelievable and we agreed that we needed to talk it over and to call Elizabeth.
“Yes! I think it’s wonderful,” Beth said when we reached her. Monday was her night off and she was just relaxing with Rose in their apartment.
“Well, we need to get a fix on the down payment and mortgage. I think they’ll require twenty percent down. I can do that,” I said.
“If we are all agreed, I talked to Papa. He’ll finance up to $50,000 for the five of us. We’d each owe him $10,000. He’s good with the current interest rate of eight percent. Nate, if you can front the down payment, we can each pay you our share and then start paying Papa monthly. We all have that from our Las Vegas adventure, right?”
“I’ve got no problem with that,” Ronda said. “If you need it, Nate, I can help front the down payment. Let’s buy a cute little shop in Stratford and find that girl Mrs. Wells has watch the shop for her in the winter.”
“Let’s do it,” Anna agreed.
Just then Toni let out a happy squeal as she batted at a mobile on her stroller. Patricia looked up at us laughing.
“I guess we’re in!”
We had a nice chat with Melinda Gaston, whom Mrs. Wells hired to watch her store on weekends during the off-season. She was willing to keep the hours for us starting whenever we closed on the property. Mrs. Wells was thrilled to have us buy the shop and we set a closing date of September thirtieth. I wrote a check for $5,000 as a down payment and the deal was done.
We celebrated with a fantastic meal at one of Stratford’s best restaurants that night. Well, it was the best restaurant for burgers and fries. We really ate a lot of good and rich food in Las Vegas and none of us were really in need of an expensive steak dinner even to celebrate our purchase.
We finished out the week in Stratford seeing two more shows. This time, I saw The Alchemist with Ronda and The Satyricon with Patricia. We all had an incredibly good time and felt we’d upped our culture quotient over what we’d experienced in Vegas.
We left town Friday morning and drove straight through to Chicago. Jordan immediately went over the papers for the purchase in Stratford and approved them. He said he’d have funds ready for the balance when we went to close at the end of September.
Saturday, we drove back to Tenbrook and all had some time with our families.
It was time that my girlfriend with a baby had her own transportation. It was ridiculous that she was living without any of the rest of us and was still dependent on her parents or Tony’s parents to pick her up and drop her off wherever she needed to be. It was great having the two grandmothers available to help with Little Toni, but Patricia was feeling tied down and trapped. And she wanted to be able to come to Chicago to be with the rest of us on occasion and not be dependent on me driving back to Tenbrook with Anna.
She had some money and a job, so she could afford to get some wheels. We went out shopping and the first dealer we went to got all excited because he thought we wanted to trade in my VW. No, sir. We wanted a nice little family car that was dependable and safe. “For the little woman,” the salesman said. We conveniently didn’t find anything remotely interesting.
The next dealer was a young guy who was quite taken by Little Toni. He listened to the needs and the budget, then took us out to the lot and showed us a Rambler American.
“It’s not sporty or cool,” he said. “But it’s ruggedly built, has four doors so you can get the little one in and out of the back seat, and is pretty easy on the gas consumption at about nineteen miles per gallon on the highway. Best of all, it’s $525. Why don’t you take this out for a spin around town and see what you think. Now, it’s not as economical as the VW, but don’t go out and race him. You don’t want to embarrass him. This has a lot more power.”
We loaded it up with Toni’s car seat in the back and I slid into the passenger seat. Patricia got in the driver’s side and moved the seat up so she could reach the pedals. The two halves of the front seat moved separately, so I could push my seat back. Toni seemed happy in the back seat and the car had three seatbelts in back so we could fasten the car seat down in the middle.
It didn’t take Patricia long to get used to the three-speed manual transmission and we drove out through town and onto the highway. It was pretty snappy and Patricia hit sixty with no trouble. We got back to the dealer about fifteen minutes later and she was sold.
“What did you like best about this car,” the salesman asked. Very smooth.
“It’s red,” Patricia answered.
She paid for the car and we went down to register it and get insurance.
I only had a suitcase full of things at the hotel. Most of my stuff was in the studio with a bit down in Sage with Mom and Dad. It was nice that now I could call the bar if I was coming into town and they’d have a room for me for $5 a night. It was paid to the production company, which had leased the hotel for a year. I hadn’t spent any time at Mom and Dad’s new house in Sage.
The new parsonage was really very nice and Kat thought she’d moved into upper class society with a brand new house. They were all being very careful not to get it dirty or damaged. I thought that was more effort than you should need to put into living in your home.
I was at the house on Thursday, though, talking to Mom while I packed up a few odds and ends to take to the new place in Chicago. Kat was already in school at her new high school and I thought I’d hang around for dinner so I could find out how she liked it. When the phone rang, Mom called me to it.
“Oh, good! I caught you there,” Beth said a little out of breath.
“I love you, honey. What’s up?” I said. We’d spoken on Sunday and Monday when she had nights off and I already had her flight information for Monday when she’d get back to Chicago. My classes started Tuesday. Hers didn’t start until the tenth.
“Oh, Nate! Oh, my God! You wouldn’t believe it.”
“Are you okay, Beth?” I asked. I was getting a little alarmed.
“Yeah. No. I mean. Yeah. It’s… I’m not coming home Monday,” she said.
“What? Why? Is there a problem?”
“Sort of. I got an offer. Oh, geez! This is so exciting and I’m so happy but I’m still sad. They want me to go on the road with them!”
“They? You mean Danny wants you to travel with him. Honey…”
“It’s not quite like that. Papa got me an agent. My agent sat down with Danny’s agent. Danny has a three-month tour set up and they want me to tour as his opening act for the whole three months. It’s great money and the exposure is unbelievable. I’ll play in twenty different cities and still be home for Christmas,” she said.
“You’re going to drop out of college?” I asked.
“Just for a quarter. I’ll be back for winter and spring quarters. But how can I pass up an opportunity like this?”
“I… um… You can’t, obviously. It’s just taking me a minute to adjust to you being gone all fall. Honey, Danny isn’t… um… expecting you to be… more than a show opener, is he? I mean he’s not pressuring you for sex, is he?”
“Oh, Nate, no! No, he’s really been good for me. He’s helped me with my routines, introduced me to a writer who has added some new material for me… He’s great. And his wife is becoming a great friend.”
“His wife?”
“Yes. She travels with him and we do all kinds of things together. There’s nothing inappropriate going on between Danny and me. Besides, I love you! I wouldn’t mess around behind your back,” Beth said.
“Honey, I wouldn’t accuse you of that. I mean if something comes up and you find someone you want to mess around with, I understand. It’s a long time to be apart. You watch me feel up girls and even got me to make love to Rose. I could hardly complain if you wanted a little fun. I was just concerned that someone might be taking advantage of you,” I said.
“I know. It’s so sudden and all. I was already packed to leave on Monday. I guess I will be, but we’ll be headed to Phoenix instead of Chicago. Oh, I miss you! I wanted to be with you and Ronda in our new apartment.”
“It’s a big space for just the two of us,” I said.
“Anna and Patricia will be there on weekends, though, right?”
“At least some weekends, yes. Ronda wasn’t going to even move up this week. She thought she’d leave the first week to just the two of us. Her classes don’t start until the twenty-second.”
“Oh, that was so sweet of her. I wish I could be there with the apartment all to ourselves for a week. My pussy is going to be old and stale by the time I see you again,” she said.
“Now, this is a great opportunity. And you know if you want to call late at night, I can always talk you through a refresher,” I said.
“Yeah. I do like it when you talk with your hands, though.”
“Maybe there’s a time and place where I can come and see you. Are you performing in Chicago on this tour?”
“Oh, my gosh! I don’t know. They’re going to get the schedule to me tonight. Nate, I’m just so overwhelmed I don’t know what to do.”
“Celebrate. The other girls will all be excited for you, too. Will you still be with Rose Sunday afternoon? I’ll call you there before we head for Chicago.”
“I miss you, lover. I’ll talk to you Sunday.”
“No! You can’t be there all alone,” Ronda said when she heard the word that night. “We need a plan.”
“It’s up to you, babe,” Anna said. “Patricia has to work this week and my classes start Monday, too. We were going to all come up next weekend. You could go with Nate Sunday and be together all week. Then Patricia, Toni, and I can join you Friday. If you must come home before the move, we can work something out for the next week.”
“I could stay there alone,” I said. “I’m a big boy and I’m not afraid of the dark.” All three girlfriends stared at me kind of scowling. Toni puckered up to cry.
“Do you not want Ronda waiting for you to come home from school or the studio each night? Naked? Body freshly bathed and clean sheets on the bed? Hot food and hot sex?” Patricia asked.
“When you put it that way, of course I want her. I want each of you. I just don’t want you to be put out or inconvenienced. What is Ronda going to do all day while I’m in school? She’ll be alone,” I said.
“I’ll be six blocks from my campus and able to wander around, getting a feel for where classes will be, and meeting professors and stuff. And more importantly, I’ll be decorating our new home. Shopping for food. Playing like I’m really domestic and can’t wait for my lover to get home so I can show him how much I miss him.”
“I just hope you don’t get bored of it all,” I sighed. “Without Beth, it will be just you and me except the weekends Anna and Patricia can join us. We’ll be… living together.”
“Maybe you’d better take some time right now and love on Anna and Patricia, then,” Ronda said, giving me a big kiss. “I should go home and pack if I’m moving in two days.”
Patricia picked up Toni’s diaper bag and gave me a kiss before she scooped up Toni.
“I’ll get mine tomorrow night,” she said. “You and Anna have a good time tonight.”
That would be no problem at all. Anna and I got ourselves ready for bed and spent a long time making love until she fell asleep.
I continued to lie awake, thinking about Beth being gone and Ronda and I sharing an apartment for the next few months. I was happy that she and I would be together, but I also thought about summer two years ago when Ronda was gone for ten weeks.
When Christine and I became a couple.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
