Model Student 4: Triptych

Triptych

Model Student Book Four

Copyright ©2012, 2017 by Elder Road LLC

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Second eBook Edition

ISBN 978-1-939275-01-1

Devon Layne

Triptych

Model Student Book Four

Elder Road Books

Bellevue WA

One

It was Saturday at 2:15 p.m. when we pulled up in front of Lissa’s house after four days of travel. We were home.

The trip from Nebraska to Seattle had taken three-and-a-half days, towing a damn U-Haul trailer behind us. Thursday, we’d taken a detour to see Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, which meant we didn’t make it nearly as far on our second day out. But it was worth it. We pushed hard on Friday and got to the big city of Wallace, Idaho.

We were pretty excited to make the last 350 miles into Seattle and were up earlier on Saturday than we’d been any day so far. We were tired, but happy to be home.

“Tony? Why are you parking on the street? We need to unload the car and trailer,” Lissa said when I turned the car off.

“Yeah. That’s just it. I haven’t backed up this trailer since that awful morning in Wyoming,” I said. I’m so tired, I don’t think I could get it out of the driveway if I pulled in.”

“Poor baby,” Melody said. “Let’s go in and make a cup of coffee. Then we can start unloading.”

I grinned at my two… That was funny. I couldn’t think of either of them as girlfriends anymore. We’d passed that stage. We couldn’t get married—all three of us. They were just beginning to accept gay marriage in this state. It would still be a few centuries before they got around to polygamy. But these were my wives. There wasn’t any other way I could think of them. I’d made a lifelong commitment to them. They were my life.

I rushed up to the door to prevent anyone from entering as Lissa unlocked the door.

“Wait,” I said. “Don’t go in. I’d like to propose something.”

“Sure Tony,” Lissa said. “What?”

“Remember when Rev. Larkin blessed us in my room back in Nebraska?” I asked.

“That was so sweet,” Melody said. Lissa nodded. She was already grinning.

“I’d like to propose that we mark July 4 as our official anniversary. I know there were first dates and first time we made love and first time we were all together, and when we gave each other jewelry. But I’d like a real anniversary for when we were all three…”

“…committed,” Lissa supplied. “Well, being committed sounds strange. When we were blessed.” It was my turn to smile. I could see by their expressions that we were all on the same page.

“That means that we’re…” Melody started, but she couldn’t finish the sentence either. Using the word was a big step.

“Wife Lissa,” I started. “Would you mind holding the door open for a moment?”

Tears were running down Lissa’s face amidst her laughter as she pushed the door inward, but stayed outside as I picked up Melody in my arms and carried her across the threshold.

“Oh! Oh, oh, oh!” Melody shouted and began dancing in the foyer when I put her down. Have I mentioned that Melody dances when she’s excited?

I stepped back outside to get Lissa, but to my surprise she scooped me up in her arms before I could get in position. ‘In her arms’ might be the wrong way to say it. She threw me over her shoulder and hauled me inside before I could say anything. We turned to pull Melody into a kiss and discovered the little minx was outside again. She crooked her finger at Lissa. Melody’s method was just to wrap her arms around Lissa’s butt and lift her straight up as she struggled into the house. We were all laughing and crying at the same time as we fell together for a kiss.

With a cup of long-missed Seattle coffee refreshing us, we fell to work unloading the car and dragging everything to the lower level studio. We hadn’t made a plan for where we would put things or how we were organizing our lives. We just needed to get the trailer empty so I could get it to the local U-Haul station. We were about two-thirds done when Lissa’s car pulled into the driveway with Kate at the wheel.

Before we could reach her, she opened the back door and released two wild boys. We were attacked by Drew and Damon. I was never so happy to see anyone in my life. Okay. I was just as happy to see Lissa… and Melody… and Kate.

“I told Jack I’d bring the boys back here with me today since I knew they’d want to see you as soon as you got home,” Kate said. Lissa and Melody both kissed Kate thank you before I got to her, a boy on each of my hips. It was a light, but sweet kiss and she looked at me with a smile on her face that melted my heart.

With an extra pair of hands, we finished unloading the car before the pizzas arrived. With the boys helping, it took us longer than if we’d just kept unloading by ourselves, but it was twice as much fun.

We ordered a pizza for dinner and sat around talking about our trip with Kate and the boys. We showed them pictures of Crazy Horse Memorial and gave the boys Sioux drums from the gift shop. They were still being beaten after the boys were in bed. The four of grownups sat in the living room. I winked at Lissa and Melody.

“Kate,” I said, “I understand I owe you for taking care of Melody and the boys while Lissa was sick. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what a big help you’ve been.” I reached over and drew her to me. She looked up at me, startled. Her eyes went wide open when I pressed my lips against hers, then they drifted closed as she melted into the kiss.

“Oh, that was nice,” she said. “Thank you. Oh! But Melody and Lissa already gave me a kiss from you for babysitting.”

“I always pay my own debts. You’ll have to give theirs back,” I said, grinning. The smile that split Kate’s face was delighted, but she didn’t move. I could see the wheels. She leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“I’m a little short right now. Could I borrow one? I promise to pay you back.”

I turned and kissed Kate again. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Melody kiss Lissa with just as much fervor, so I relaxed and fully enjoyed my moment with Kate. When we pulled away from each other, both of us had to catch our breath. Kate turned to Lissa.

“I guess I owe you this,” she whispered.

Strictly speaking as an outside observer, I think she gave more to Lissa than she borrowed from me. She’d barely finished blowing Lissa’s socks off when she doubled down on Melody. My mouth was watering.

“You’ll stay tonight, won’t you, Kate?” Lissa asked. “Tomorrow’s not a work day and we’d love to have you.”

“Uh… maybe not tonight. I’ve been here for the past week and I should really go home and check on my plants. I’ll just go catch a bus.”

“I still have to go return the trailer. I can take you home,” I said.

“Absolutely,” Lissa affirmed. “If we can’t keep you here, we certainly aren’t going to let you go catch a bus.”

“Where are you living when you aren’t here this summer?” I asked.

“I’m staying at the dorm,” Kate said. “It’s cheap and I’m comfortable there. I’ve got a room to myself, which is better than I’ll have this fall. It’s almost as private as living here the past week has been. I’ll just go get my bag.”

Kate and I kissed the boys goodnight as I was pretty sure they’d be asleep before I got home. We left and I carefully maneuvered the trailer to the local gas station that doubled as a U-Haul agency.

“Nice car,” Kate said.

“My dad gave it to me as an early birthday present. He said I needed a family car.”

“That’s sweet. When’s your birthday?”

“September 19th.”

“No.”

“Yeah.”

“We’re birthday twins.”

“Oh, I knew there was some reason I liked you. How perfect!”

I pulled up in front of the dormitory. Kate hesitated before she got out of the car.

“Tony?”

“What is it, Kitten?”

“That makes me purr.” We laughed. “I… uh… said I’d pay you back.”

Kate leaned across the console and laid a hand against my cheek, pulling me toward her. Her kiss was the same soft, tentative kiss that I’d experienced first before the party weeks ago. It was sweet and lingering. She didn’t seem in a rush to move on so I let it deepen and hold us together. Yeah. I got paid back. With interest.

“’Night.”

With that she was gone.

Ah, summer vacation! You’d think we’d just lie around all day every day and make love.

We all got a quick dose of exactly what it was like to be in a fulltime committed relationship—with kids. I don’t think any of us were ready for it. There was a household to run, kids to take care of, jobs to go to, school to get registered for, training schedules to coordinate, meals to cook, a yard to mow, and general sorting out of who was responsible for what. Monday night we all sank into bed and went to sleep. It might have been the first time we’d been together in bed and didn’t make love. And we were all too tired to notice.

Lissa was experienced at the whole working mother thing. She’d had a job for years and Damon was almost seven years old. She knew that things never let up. But even she thought things were going to be easier with three of us sharing the responsibilities. Instead, it seemed like three times the work.

Tuesday was more of the same. Lissa was tense because she had to present the new fall fashion line the next day. I was trying to work out training schedules at the club and figure out how we were going to get Lissa ready for Opens when she needed to visit stores three days a week. Melody was taking extra shifts with the boys and making meals. We barely spoke to each other until the boys were in bed—my part of the new routine.

Wednesday, Lissa dropped Melody and the boys off at a park and I was planning to go over to SCU to work on my class schedule. I was anxious to get started on the painting of the three Graces, though, and spent a good part of the day doing more sketches from memory and from my photo references. So I never made it to the school. This was going to be unique, and a departure from my normal romantic style with lots of drapery. Getting outdoors had been good for me and capturing that woodland mystique was turning out great.

Wednesday night, after I’d read to the boys and got them settled in bed, I was feeling better than I had the past couple days. Drawing energizes me. I was getting a handle on this being a family man and I was ready to share it with my lovers. I found them together on the deck and was surprised to see that they both had glasses of wine.

That was the first clue. I should have noticed.

I walked out and sat next to Lissa, put my arm around her, and reached over for a kiss.

I caught the back of her head as she turned away.

That was the second clue. I should have noticed.

Melody was sitting on the other side of Lissa, staring out into space. I could see the track of a tear on her cheek. I looked more closely and there was a tear dripping from Lissa’s eye as well.

The third clue. Oh shit!

“Lovers? What’s going on? What’s wrong?” I asked. My heart sped up to a thousand beats a minute and I could hear every one of them in my ears—so loudly that I thought I might miss what was said. But it came through loud and clear.

“It’s not working,” Lissa said softly.

“What’s not working?” I asked. “We’re just getting the hang of it.”

“Where were you today?” Melody asked.

“Most of the day I was right here. You should see the new sketches…” Wrong thing to say.

“You were sketching when you said you’d pick up the boys and Melody at the park in time for lunch?” Lissa asked.

Oh double-shit!

“Oh no. I completely spaced it out. When I came upstairs, everyone was here and having a good time. I never realized that I missed the pickup time. But you were all okay,” I said lamely.

“You didn’t answer your phone all day,” Melody said. “I finally had to call Lissa because the boys were so hungry they were fighting.”

“I was in a presentation on the fall fashion line,” Lissa picked up. “Tony, we depended on you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t enough,” Melody spat at me. Oh shit! They were really, really mad.

“It won’t work if we can’t depend on each other,” Lissa said. “I could have made other arrangements if you hadn’t agreed to do it. We aren’t your priority, though.”

“I just forgot.”

“You have to get past that, Tony. You can’t just forget when you’ve got kids… and wives… depending on you.”

Now I was crying. And it wasn’t the single tear escaping down my cheek. It was a torrent that blinded me. It was catching. All three of us were sobbing. I felt Lissa’s hand on my chin turning me to face her.

“I’m not going to be your mother, Tony,” she said. “Either of you.”

Melody really burst into fresh tears and Lissa stood up to walk back in the house.

“No, no! Please, Lissa. Please don’t walk away from us!” I begged.

She stopped with her hand on the door. I thought she was going to ignore me. I stood up, but wasn’t as fast as Melody who jumped to Lissa and had her wrapped in her arms before I could get across the deck.

“Please don’t throw away what we have because I fucked up, Lissa,” I begged as I put my arms around both my wives. “I know I’m not as responsible as I should be. I know I have trouble with appointments and schedules. But I know I can do better. I will do better.”

“You hurt Melody, too,” Lissa said. “You need to recognize that.”

“Wait,” Melody broke in. “Lissa, you can only deal with your anger. You can’t speak for me, too. I won’t take sides between the two of you.”

“But Melody,” I said. “I did hurt you. I forgot you. I’m so sorry.”

“I know you forgot me. But I won’t break up our family over it. Lissa, if you really want out you have to know you’re breaking up all of us. You can’t use me as an excuse. You made your point. Now are you willing to work it out or are you just throwing us away? Maturity is a two-way street.”

The wail that broke out came from Lissa’s heart. In an instant, Melody and I were supporting her weight as she collapsed. I picked her up and Melody opened the door so we could go in. I carried her straight to the bed because that was where we could all be together. Melody and I held Lissa between us until her sobs finally subsided.

“They said I was acting like a school-child instead of a professional,” Lissa sobbed. “When I left, they threatened to fire me and told me that was what getting involved with kids would do to me. They accused me of neglecting my job and jeopardizing our profitability.”

“Damn it!” I shouted. “What kind of place is it that you work in?”

“I don’t. I quit.”

There was the bomb. I’d triggered a chain reaction when I forgot to pick-up Melody and the boys. She called Lissa. Lissa’s bosses got upset. Lissa quit her job. It was all my fault.

“It’s not your fault,” Lissa said. “I carried around all that anger and didn’t tell anyone. And I just let it loose on you two. I hate them. I’m twenty-six years old and have already failed at two careers. What am I going to do?”

“We’ll figure it out,” I said.

“Together,” Melody added.

“We can’t expect that things will always be perfect, and just because you worked for bastards doesn’t make your career a failure.”

“But I let you all down,” Lissa said. I raised my eyebrow at Melody. No, it was me who let everyone down.

“I’m the only wage-earner in the family,” she continued. “I quit my job. I’ve heard all their ranting before, but I just let it get to me and then I blamed you. People have to leave work to tend to their children all the time. It’s not like I’d never done it before. I put up with the ridiculous shit they gave me because I needed the work and have a family and because I knew they couldn’t fire me for my performance. But I yelled back at them and told them children were part of the deal when I came to work for them and if they were changing the deal, then I quit. I threw away my job and then blamed you. I’m sorry.”

We held each other in silence, broken only by the occasional sniffle. Life is so overwhelming sometimes.

“Lissa,” I whispered, “would things be better without us?”

We were quiet a long time before she answered, Melody looking mournfully at me for even suggesting such a thing.

“I’m unemployed,” she began. “That’s hard. But I have love and support, even when I’m not being lovable. I have a precious gift I never thought I’d know. If it weren’t for you, I’d be unemployed, alone, and miserable. I don’t think that would make it easier.”

The mysterious ‘they’ that they always talk about say there’s nothing like makeup sex. Bullshit. Makeup sex is painful. Every tender caress is a reminder that you failed your loved ones. Every trembling kiss threatens to erupt in tears. Every assurance that you whisper falls on ears that are afraid to hear it—afraid they’ve gone too far to be forgiven.

We clutched at each other trying to bring our partners to fulfillment—that irrational act that says that maybe I failed at life but I can still make you come. We tried. We tried to express our pleasure in the actions of each other, but we were so caught up in trying to make up to our partners that we stuttered our orgasms—relieved to get them out at all. At last, we could escape to sleep.

Two

Lissa was asleep between Melody and me when I woke up about three in the morning. I thought at first that I woke up because I needed to pee, but I had a painful erection, made more painful by the fact that Lissa had it gripped tightly in her hand. I shifted a little and tried to dislodge her, but I woke her up doing it.

“Oh! Sorry, love,” Lissa whispered. “Was I hurting?”

“A little. It’s okay.”

“You’re really hard.”

“I just woke up that way.”

Her lips closed on mine, then opened to let our tongues dance together, lightly touching and retreating. She never let go of my cock.

“I’m so frightened, Tony,” she whispered. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s okay. We all contributed and we’ll make it back to each other.”

“Love me, Tony. Love me, please.”

I moved over her and she guided me to her opening while we continued to kiss. She rubbed the head of my cock up and down her slit, over her clit, spreading the dampness. She held me ready and I pushed in. Her intensity in this quiet love-making was as fierce as the flare of her anger had been a few hours earlier. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Melody looking at us. She slid closer to us and laid her head on Lissa’s shoulder as we continued to build at an agonizingly slow pace. Lissa pulled her tighter as I bent my head to kiss my second lover. Then Melody raised her head and Lissa kissed her.

I kept up slow long strokes as the three of us held each other. I felt Melody’s hand slide off my shoulder and wedge in between Lissa and me. I raised myself up to give her better access and could feel her fingers moving against Lissa’s clit, brushing up against my cock as I pushed in. Lissa’s pace quickened involuntarily. Her breathing deepened and her breasts rose more sharply, begging to be kissed. Melody and I were inspired at the same time and each sucked one of Lissa’s nipples. I bit lightly and Lissa cried out. Her inner muscles rippled around my cock and I could not stop my climax.

I supported most of my weight on my right elbow so I wouldn’t crush my lovers, but wrapped my left arm around Melody and joined hands there with Lissa, holding our younger wife to us.

Our breathing began to even out as I felt my cock shrink and slide from Lissa’s depths. Her eyes were closed and there was a smile playing lightly on her lips. I let myself sink to the side, lying with my left leg still over hers. When I awoke with the sunrise, we were in the same position.

Melody and the boys dropped me off at the club and headed out for a day at the zoo. After we talked over breakfast, Lissa decided she needed professional advice and went to see Jack. The plan was for her to pick me up at PCAD around noon and we’d meet the rest of the family at the zoo for lunch.

I worked out with my trainer for an hour and then hit the court for another hour before getting showered and walking over to SCU first. Today, I had to decide what I was studying.

“Well, Tony,” Sam said, “I’m not surprised with your choice, but I do wish you’d consider Exercise Science. You’re a natural athlete and it seems a shame to have you wasted on English Literature.”

“I’d consider it,” I laughed, “if it weren’t for the fact that I hate jocks. I could be a great athletic trainer if I didn’t have to deal with athletes.” We both laughed.

I did consider majoring in Exercise Science. Sam had been lobbying pretty hard for it. It was interesting. I just didn’t see a future for myself in that field. I’d enrolled in a Human Anatomy course to fulfill my core science requirement this fall and my one English class was a departmental requirement that didn’t actually count toward my major. The rest of my first year requirements had been fulfilled with my AP classes in English and Math. So I had an easy sophomore standing at both SCU and at PCAD. Next year, I’d have to do some requirements for my major in Art and Literary Criticism and I’d probably have fewer classes at PCAD and more at SCU. It was confusing at best.

The unfortunate part about the schedule was that Anatomy met five days a week at 7:30 a.m. It was going to be hell. I still didn’t know what I’d be able to take at PCAD.

I left Coach Sam’s office and out of the athletic building straight into some kind of campus rally. It was the middle of July and still there were about a hundred people out on the athletic field. I wandered into it to see what was going on. This will be my campus in the fall. I should be aware of what is happening.

Awareness. When it came down to it that was my one goal for the year. When I zone out while I’m painting, that’s one thing. But I couldn’t really remember anything of my first term at PCAD last year—in fact, nothing before Melody reached into my heart and pulled me into life. I knew there were campus events, plays, concerts, politics… all kinds of things happening while I sank deeper into my darkness. This year, I’d be aware of my surroundings and of other people. First and foremost, that meant my family, but it also meant being aware of my environment and taking advantage of the opportunities available to college students.

“…one hundred people in each of four camps in the Seattle area. They live in tents. They don’t have running water and electricity. They’ve had homes foreclosed and cars repossessed. They’ve been ill or injured. Yes, some of them are transients. Our society has all kinds of people. They don’t need handouts, but they do need our help.”

I’d heard about the tent cities in Seattle. Homeless people who camped together for safety. They were moved out of various underpasses and then the local churches got involved and invited them to stay for three months at a time on their property.

“This field where we are standing is empty in the winter months. Who wants to come out and play soccer when it’s raining?” The speaker continued. “The student government has proposed that we invite Tent City to occupy our sports field for October, November, and December. We want to reach out our hands and help the homeless.”

“Did you get a flyer?” asked a guy next to me. He was maybe an inch or so shorter than me, wearing khaki cargo shorts and a bright blue t-shirt that said ‘Pitch-a-tent’ on it. I took the offered brochure.

“So there’ll be a tent city here this fall?” I asked.

“We passed the resolution at the last student conference in the spring,” he said. “I’m Eric, by the way. Damn fine to meet you.” I laughed. Animal House had been required viewing with my dad.

“Are you recruiting?” I asked.

“Recruiting socially conscious volunteers to help with making a smooth transition when we have 100 homeless people living on the soccer field and using the Athletic Pavilion showers.”

“Aren’t the athletes going to be pissed that their field is being taken over?” I asked.

“This is an intramural field, used entirely for club and pickup sports. The most action we’ve seen on it in the past two years is an occasional cricket match among the Indian students. We aren’t touching the varsity athletic fields,” Eric said.

“Okay,” I said. Cool. Maybe I can do something for this.

I took the flyer and Eric wrote his phone number on it with instructions to call and set up my volunteer time. I signed the volunteer list and wrote in my phone number. I headed for PCAD. I needed to set an appointment with the special adviser for the dual major program. I knew I’d have to attend SCU orientation in September, just as if I was a new freshman.

Of course, there was hardly anyone at the school. PCAD doesn’t have a very big summer program, so campus is just about deserted. Miss Stevenson, I discovered, was handling the appointment schedules for my new adviser.

“Oh, hello, Tony,” she said. “It’s nice to have you back.”

“I got the email that said I need to set an appointment with the program adviser,” I said. “I figured that since I’m back in town I’d better get it over with.”

“Have you registered already?”

“No. I have a schedule, pending approval.”

“Okay. Mr. Randolph is in on Tuesday next week. Will that work for you?”

I got out my Daytimer and checked to see if I’d already committed to anything. After yesterday’s fiasco, I’d decided that this thing was going to be in my hands at all times.

“What time?”

“Let’s say, 10:00 a.m.” she said.

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Oh, Tony, I almost forgot.” I turned back to her. “You’ve got mail. There have been some letters arriving for you ever since the gala. Your year-end forwarding information was incomplete.”

“Wow! Look at all these. Thank you.”

I didn’t have time to open anything because I was supposed to meet Lissa in a couple of minutes, so after thanking Miss Stevenson, I stuffed the mail in my backpack and ran out the doors just in time.

If you’ve never been to a zoo with a seven-year-old, don’t miss the opportunity again. I swear, I found out more about baby pygmy marmosets and baby sea otters than I ever hoped to know. And Drew was just as squirrelly. He wanted to hang around the big animals. You’d think a guy that little would be a little nervous around the exhibits of gorillas, elephants, and hippopotami. If one of us hadn’t kept a hand on him the entire time, I think he would have been in the cages with them.

We were eating lunch when Lissa brought up her conversation with Jack.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I invited Jack over for dinner tonight. We can grill something.”

“What’s the occasion?” I asked. “You know we all like Jack and I haven’t seen him to thank him for all he did while the kids were sick.”

“I’ve always depended on him for career advice,” Lissa chuckled. She’d been very quiet all afternoon. “I’ve been talking about a business idea for a few years and never had the courage to do anything about it. Jack thinks maybe this is the right time to discuss it. He thought it might be easier if he was there when I tell you about it.”

“You can tell us about anything, Lissa,” Melody said.

“I know. But this is… I want to do it right and… oh! Please don’t think I asked Jack to come because I can’t talk to you. Oh no!”

“Lissa, take it easy,” I said. “Nobody is suggesting anything. We kind of went overboard on that last night. If it’s easier to discuss with Jack around, then fine.”

We cut the afternoon short, stopped at Whole Foods, got some chicken sausages to grill with fresh vegetables, and went home to prepare. We were practically falling over each other trying to help with the meal preparations and the boys. I was finally relegated to getting the gas grill cleaned and ready for use. Jack got there about six o’clock and we were ready to eat.

After we’d eaten, I got the boys ready for bed and read to them in their bedroom. I looked up from the book, and saw Jack standing in the doorway.

“Hey, look, guys,” I said. “Daddy’s come to say goodnight.” I stood up and kissed Drew on the forehead. “’Night, buddy.” I did the same for Damon and then I slipped out the door to let Jack say goodnight to his sons.

“Love you, Tony,” the boys chorused as I left.

“Love you, too,” I said as I left the room.

“Lissa’s been talking about this business for nearly five years. She went to work for Forever Lilly in order to get experience. Well, she got the experience. She came to me this morning asking me if I thought the time was right,” Jack said as we sat on the deck.

“Gosh, Lissa. What kind of business?” Melody asked.

“Well, I got to thinking that I could sell women’s sports clothes and exercise wear,” Lissa explained. “It’s not all that original. I found a manufacturer in Singapore a couple of years ago with a line of white label sportswear that would simply attach my label. I was just too overwhelmed with the boys to even think about starting a business.”

“I think it’s cool,” I said. “Will you model all the outfits for us?” Okay, I was hoping for a private showing, so to speak.

“The thing is that Lissa’s involvement with the racquetball circuit is heating up with her Open championship last year and now her intercollegiate access through you, Tony. It’s a big step, though,” Jack said.

“What made you think that now was the right time, Lissa?” I asked. I wanted to just jump up and down and scream ‘Yes!’ a million times. I sensed that unbridled enthusiasm wasn’t what was called for just now.

“After my meltdown yesterday, I thought I was at the end of the world. But then, last night you showed me we all were going to support each other, no matter what. I woke up this morning feeling so free and light that the first thing that crossed my mind was that nothing could stop me now.”

“What will be involved?” Melody asked.

“Starting a business is never easy,” Jack said. “There is no way that one person in a family can just go into business and not have it affect everyone else. In fact, the idea of a family business is inherently that the family is involved. Right now—and I know this sounds presumptuous on my part—we are all a family. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to be in your household, but Lissa and I share children, and I consider both of you to be the boys’ step-parents. That ties us all together and it will take all of us to make it successful.”

“How would it affect our school work?” I asked.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Lissa said. “I brought that up with Jack this morning. I don’t want you to ever jeopardize your schooling or your scholarships. We should think of your involvement in the business as a kind of work-study so that you have particular tasks and times that you are working on the business and can plan your schedule accordingly. For you, school is top priority. I can treat the business as a full-time job, but you can’t.”

“How about you?” Melody asked. “How involved would you be?”

“That’s a tough one, Melody,” Jack answered. “I’m a retired ex-husband, which means that I have both an advantage and a disadvantage. Retirement gives me more time, but I’m definitely outside your household unit and would be less directly affected. I’d like to help, but only as an adviser. Maybe I can pick up a little extra slack with child-care like I do when Lissa is traveling. I’d be happy to help with preliminary business planning.”

“So, there’s a lot of work, but Melody and I haven’t got summer jobs, so for another month-and-a-half, at least, we could work more on the business. But, it seems like there’s a lot depending on your high profile, Lissa. You know what that means?” I asked.

“What, Tony?”

“It means you have to win the Women’s Open again this fall.”

It was going to take us days to get the business organized. Eventually, we’d moved to the dining room for coffee and cookies. I finally took the opportunity to grab the mail I’d collected out of my pack.

“What’cha got, lover?” Melody asked.

“I had a bunch of mail at PCAD when I was over there this morning. I haven’t opened it yet. A bunch of it looks like advertising, but there’s some fan-mail, it looks like.” I separated out half a dozen personal-looking letters and tore the first one open while Melody got the letter opener and slit the rest. My face must have given me away as I tore into the next letter.

“Tony? What is it?”

I started dumping the rest of the envelopes on the table. Offers. Requests for proposals. Nude pictures.

“Jack,” I said. “I think I’m going to need that agent you mentioned contacting a couple months ago.”

Three

We didn’t get much sleep Thursday night. I laid out the letters I’d received on the dining room table and went through the rest of the mail. There were four more letters that looked like junk mail or utility bills that had offers or requests in them. Two were offers for Rhapsody Suite. One offered $5,000, but said he’d double it if I could deliver the four companion pieces with it. Apparently he was taking Bob Bowers at his word. I wondered if anyone else had received offers.

There were two requests for proposals for public art—building murals—in Bellevue and Tacoma. And a total of five handwritten letters that included nude photos of women in artistic poses asking if I would consider a commission to paint them. I had no idea how to respond to any of these letters. Thank god no one knew my email address. I could just imagine the kind of messages I’d be getting. At least these people had to be interested enough to write a letter and send it to the school.

“You definitely need to talk to an agent,” Jack said. “I really have no idea what to tell you about pricing these pieces or how to go about creating your proposals.”

“Do you know someone?” I asked.

“I think so. Lissa, what do you think about Clarice?”

“Grrr! You know I don’t like her.”

“That was just a misunderstanding that was quickly set straight,” Jack chuckled. He turned to Melody and me. “Before anyone knew Lissa and I were married, Clarice thought I was just an eligible middle-aged bachelor. I was never quite sure if she was acting as an agent for someone else or on her own behalf.”

“She invited you to Rome with her.”

“She retracted the invitation when I told her we were married. We’ve had a cordial relationship ever since. She’s never even suggested anything since the divorce,” Jack chuckled. “But she knows the art world. I can’t think of anyone who would be better at negotiating with these women who all want to get naked in front of Tony.”

“Strangely enough,” I said, “those are the projects I feel most comfortable with. I know how to paint nudes. But planning out a full mural proposal? I can’t even conceive of it.”

“I’m going as your chaperone,” Melody said. “I know what happens after you stop painting.”

“Only with my darlings,” I shispered. “You can trust me about that.”

Both Lissa and Melody kissed me. Sweetly, not passionately.

“Even when we’ve told you to play around,” Lissa whispered. “We know how much you love us, Tony.”

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea for Tony to have an assistant with him if he does this kind of painting, though,” Jack said. “It’s not about how trustworthy you are; it’s about your clients. It’s quite possible that Clarice would insist on being present for some of them.”

“That’s true,” Lissa agreed. “She is protective of her clients. She wouldn’t want Tony accused of inappropriate behavior just because he wouldn’t have sex with one of his models.”

“My god! That could happen?” I asked.

“The reason you have an agent is because the world is full of unscrupulous people and you shouldn’t have to worry about them when you are practicing your art. You wouldn’t believe some of the things producers and designers tried to pull when I was rep’ing Lissa.”

“I’m sure I only heard about half of them,” Lissa said.

“Speaking of which,” I said, “how do you think having me take on some of these projects would affect our new business? I wouldn’t be able to do as much if I was painting commissions.”

“I see it as being another contributing factor. Maybe we can even use your art in the advertising campaign,” Lissa said.

“I wish I had something to contribute,” Melody sighed. “At least I can babysit.”

“Oh, sweetheart!” Lissa exclaimed as I folded Melody in my arms and Lissa petted her hair.

Jack quickly disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the three of us alone. A tear had escaped from Melody’s eye even though she was valiantly trying to keep it back.

“I just want to help,” she whispered.

“Darling, I will absolutely take you with me as my chaperone,” I said. “I didn’t mean to play that down.”

“Not only that, but I foresee a lot of work for you in the business if you can do it,” Lissa said. “What would be better in our fashion line than our own fabrics, designed by our own personal textile artist?”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I thought it would be obvious, but I should have said something sooner. We’re the three musketeers. All for one and one for all,” Lissa boomed.

I pulled Melody with me over to the sofa and sat down with her in my lap. Lissa curled up next to us and for a minute I was distracted by our image reflected in the fireplace doors. Someone needed to paint that. But I quickly pulled myself back to the moment.

I reached up and touched Melody’s necklace with my finger, just to remind her that it was there. Then I did the same with Lissa’s. They both put a hand on my bracelet.

“You know, we’re going to have to make it legal,” I said.

“How? We can’t get married,” Melody said.

“I meant, our business arrangement,” I said pausing, “but now that you mention it, maybe we can cover both parts at once.”

“What do you mean?” Lissa asked. “I assumed we’d have to create some kind of legal entity for the business.”

“What if we formed a partnership among the three of us, and then the partnership owned the business, or businesses if it makes sense to separate painting from textiles from fashion? What’s a marriage, anyway? It’s a partnership that’s had some kind of blessing as far as I can tell. We already got our blessing. We could make our partnership the basis of everything else. I’ll bet we can even get some kind of documents drawn up that give us like medical power of attorney for each other so that we can be admitted as next of kin.”

Both Melody and Lissa looked at me. Then they looked at each other. Finally, there were lips, hands, and squirming girls all over me.

“I’m going to go home,” Jack said from the front door. “You seem to have your hands full. I’ll call tomorrow morning after I’ve talked with Clarice.”

We scarcely heard him leave.

Two bundles of boy-power jumped on us at 7:00 a.m.

Fortunately, Molly was there by eight. She’d taken a few days off to spend in the mountains with her boyfriend when we got back and it looked like the time away had done her a world of good. She looked really happy. The boys were fed, scrubbed, and dressed for a morning at the beach and would be going to Jack’s for the weekend when Molly dropped them off. I loved having them with us, but as soon as they were out the door, the three of us were naked and back in bed.

I had visions of hot, loving sex in my head right up to the moment I fell asleep, which was about two seconds after Melody and Lissa. We woke up two hours later to the phone ringing.

“Tony Ames? This is Clarice Bortelli. I understand you have need of an agent. We should meet. Are you available for lunch?”

“Uh… what time is it?”

“It’s ten o’clock. Meet me at Carmine’s Cucina at noon. Just ask for my table.”

And she hung up. I guess I had an appointment. But it was two hours away and I had two incredible wives to satisfy before then.

When I got off the phone, Lissa had the spa filling and Melody was brushing her teeth. I joined her and got minty fresh, then we joined Lissa in the tub.

“We all have lots of work to do today,” Lissa said as we cuddled together in the jets. “Melody, there’s all the papers for the company in Singapore that you need to get familiar with. They’ve got a great website, but they’re really struggling at the moment. We’re going to need a firm order for them and you are going to be in charge of it.”

“Aye-aye, Captain. Warp speed, full ahead.” We all laughed. Then we all kissed. And then we kissed some more.

“I know I sound like a boss, but I’m not,” Lissa apologized. “I’m just so excited that we’re really going to do this.”

“Well, this part is your idea,” I said. “It makes sense that you have to get us up to speed on it.”

“That’s fine for me,” Melody said, “but you have to meet with an agent and start signing contracts. While I’m reading fabric specifications, I’ll also call Sandra, Amy, and Kate. We need to alert them that there’s an offer on the Rhapsody Suite.”

“Okay, boss,” I said. “I’m going to love having two bosses who are so cute.” We were all feeling high. “But you, Ms. Grant, have training this afternoon. If you’re going to win the Women’s Open, you have to be ready. At the club and on the court at 3:00 sharp.”

“Is that in your Daytimer?” Lissa asked. “That should be perfect. I have an appointment with John MacDonald at 12:30 to go over our legal needs. He’s only expecting to incorporate the fashion business. I wonder how he’ll respond when I tell him we want partnership papers.”

“There’s one other thing about that, Lissa,” I said. “You guys convinced me last night that we were equal partners and we would put everything we have into the partnership, just like a marriage would be in a community property state like Washington. But we missed one thing. I couldn’t say anything last night because my tongue was otherwise occupied.”

Suddenly both my girlfriends took a deep breath and disappeared beneath the surface of the tub. I felt two tongues start at my balls and work their way up my stiffening shaft. I almost lost my train of thought before the one blonde and one auburn head rose above the water again.

“Oh god,” I sighed.

“What did you forget to mention when you were otherwise occupied last night?” Lissa purred in my ear.

“Oh yeah,” I said. “Otherwise occupied… The boys. You are putting more upfront capital into our partnership. Melody and I have good prospects; you just have a head start on us. But making all our assets into a single entity doesn’t consider how the boys get provided for. Plus, I’m not happy about you having a one-third share when you are putting in the house and 90 percent of our assets. That’s silly.” Lissa started to object and I held up my hand. “But I understand. That’s what would happen in a marriage. But a marriage has special considerations for the children and the way we’ve talked so far, they would only have a right to the one-third of the total that is your share of the partnership. Melody and I can’t adopt them because there are too many stupid laws and that just wouldn’t work. But, I was thinking, somewhere between dreamland and blowjobs, that there’s another solution. We could set up a trust for our children that owned part of the partnership. Not just the two boys. We might want more children… um… sometime.”

I couldn’t believe that I got all that out without being interrupted. Lissa and Melody looked at me silently, then took a deep breath and plunged beneath the surface again. Oh god! I’ve just decided that all our board meetings need to take place in the Jacuzzi.

“I love you, Tony!” Melody said as she reemerged.

“You always know what to say,” Lissa added. Both girls kissed me soundly. “Let’s let the lawyer figure out what the right legal twist is. I’ll tell him your idea and see what he comes up with.”

Only impending appointments with lawyers and agents got us out of the tub. Otherwise, we’d have in bed the rest of the day.

By some miracle, I walked into Carmine’s Cucina at three minutes until noon. I asked for Clarice Bortelli, but it was obvious where I was going as soon as I walked in the door. I carried my backpack over one shoulder as I approached her booth.

Papers were scattered across the booth and she was talking into a headset while she shuffled through them. She looked up at me as I approached and waved me into the other side of the booth. I slid into the seat and looked up to see a smiling waitress with tiger-striped hair crawl into the booth beside me.

“Tony!”

“Wendy!” I said around her lips as she kissed me. “Long time, no see!”

“It has been, hasn’t it?” she responded. Then, looking behind her to see if anyone was watching and with hardly a sideways glance at Clarice, Wendy grabbed the hem of her t-shirt and pulled it up above her braless breasts, then dropped it quickly. “Better?”

I was speechless. Clarice had her head buried in one hand as she continued to talk and shuffle papers. Wendy pulled me to her for another kiss.

“What can I get you?” she asked.

I ordered a Coke and told her I’d just have soup and a salad for lunch. Then I waited patiently while Clarice finally finished up her call.

“Do they all greet you like that, Mr. Ames?”

“All who, Miss Bortelli?” I asked innocently.

“It’s just Clarice. Bortelli isn’t even a real name—at least not as far as I’m concerned. And all the girls, Tony. Do you expect me to flash you my boobs?”

“Ah… no Miss… ah Clarice. Wendy is a friend. A private joke.”

“You may have been joking, but she surely is not. You ordered?”

“Yes. I know you are busy. Here are the letters that I’ve received.”

“Oh, relax, Tony. You’re paying me. I work on your schedule.”

“I’m paying you?”

“Well, you will be. I collect lots of money on your behalf and you pay me a percentage. That’s my deal.” She shuffled her papers to one side and started opening my envelopes. The second one she opened had a photo in it. “My god! They do all do it. Very well.”

She opened her blouse enough for me to see a very sturdy bra.

“There. That’s all you get. It takes at least two martinis to get the bra off. Now let’s see what kinds of offers you’re getting.” She muttered as she read the letters. Seattle was so strange. “Good.” “Too far away.” “Bargain-hunter.” “Naïve.” “We can do better.” Before she’d gone through all the envelopes Wendy was back with my soup and salad.

“Thank god we never have a big crowd for lunch,” she said as she slid in next to me. Clarice looked up at her. “Isn’t he wonderful, Miss Bortelli?”

“Wendy, how often do I come in here for lunch?”

“Four times a week, ma’am,” Wendy responded and then turned to me. “There’s a Rotary meeting here on Wednesday. It gets too crowded.”

“And how many times a week do I tell you to call me Clarice?”

“Oh. Four. I’m sorry Miss… Clarice. Are you going to represent Mr. Ames?” She grinned and I could tell she was playing with us both.

“Tony and I are going to talk business. You want a portrait, too?”

“He’s already done me,” Wendy said. “But he’s welcome to again anytime.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Clarice said. “Now I need to do the spiel, dear, so please wait on someone.”

“Yes ma’am,” Wendy said as she slid out of the booth. She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek and winked before she left, though.

“Okay, Tony,” Clarice started as I sipped my soup. “Five of these are legitimate offers. That’s more than most of my clients bring me, so I’m cutting you a 10% deal. Most newbies start off at 15%. The question is, what do you want to do?”

“I’m good at portraits,” I said. “I’m interested in murals, but I’ve only done one little segment of a mural and don’t really know how to plan the whole thing yet.”

“Good. Let’s not do proposals for the two mural projects. One of them is way too far away anyway and the other thinks you’re a graffiti artist. Now, of the five bits of porn that were sent to you, three are legitimate requests for serious artwork. Here, take these two home and put them in your scrapbook to masturbate to. They’re groupies. If you really need a fuck, call them. But I understand you are with Lissa Grant, so there’s no chance these bitches could add anything to your life.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an insult. I was having a really hard time reading this brusque and off-the-wall woman. I could see why Lissa didn’t like her, but I was fascinated by her.

“That brings us down to three portraits and an offer for existing artwork. Let’s deal with the Rhapsody Suite first, shall we?”

“Yes ma’am,” I said. I was wishing that Jack had come to lunch with us. I was feeling way out of my depth.

“We can do better,” she said bluntly. “If you are in urgent need of cash right now, then I’ll talk him up some, but it will only amount to enough to cover my commission. If we wait six months, we can get double that—if you can hold the suite together. If any of your fellow artists balk, we’ll sell now and you’ll get your first sale. That’s not bad. But six months is better.”

“What happens in six months?” I asked.

“Your showing. Holidays are over. Galleries are distressed because they have inventory that didn’t move over Christmas. Sales are going on. Into this market walks ‘fresh’, ‘young’, ‘talk-of-the-town’. Bob Bowers’s new discovery. You need ten other pieces to put on display February first and we’ll double the price of the suite.”

“Wow!” That’s all I could say.

“Will you have ten more stellar works for the opening, Tony?”

“I have one finished and one that I think will be the same class of work. I think I can do eight more before six months is up.” I hesitated. “What if one of the other artists showed with me?”

“The charcoal artist that Bowers fell in love with?”

“Yes.”

“I wouldn’t normally consider a two-artist show, but this one might work. Bring her with you when we meet next week.”

“When is that?”

“Thursday at noon, here in my office,” Clarice said. “Every week between now and when you start school again. I want to know every piece you paint. I want to examine it and put a value on it. Don’t show them publicly. I want to bring you to the public in one grand show. Now, about the portraits. Do you want to do them?”

I was a little unsure what she meant. Of course, I want to work. I want to make some money off my art and I love doing portraits. Why wouldn’t I want to do them?

“Sure. I guess. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, Tony, you’ve got art and you’ve got a living. If you need to make a living, then I’ll send you to do a portrait every month. But you’ve got to understand that every time you paint a commercial piece like a commissioned portrait, you aren’t painting something for a gallery. Perhaps we can use them in the gallery show, but you only get paid once. You can’t sell the piece to someone else later. These three are okay. They will be good pieces that you can exhibit and still make good money. Your intro rate for these portraits should be about $2,000 as long as the clients agree to let you show the pieces in your exhibition. If they won’t let you show them, you don’t paint them. Portraits after your exhibition will go for $5,000 or more. These are just numbers right now. They become money after you’ve done the work and the clients are satisfied. Capiche?”

“I understand,” I said. I was totally blown away. I could hardly keep up with her. I was beginning to think I could like being an artist.

Clarice wouldn’t let me sign the contract. She gave me everything back and told me to take the contract to my lawyer and make sure he read the whole thing. Then, if he said it was okay, I could sign it next week when I brought Kate with me to meet her.

I met Lissa at the club at three. Our workout set a new level of expectation for our training. It was good to be back on the court with her. The little exhibition match that Dad set up for us on the 4th was great, but it was just a teaser as far as training goes. This time we played for an hour, then hit the big gym where we did movement drills, balance exercises, and stretches. I saw several basketball players take an interest in what we were doing, but I suspected they were most interested in watching Lissa and not in our workout.

John Gilbert, my trainer at the club, found us just before we were ready to hit the showers and said that he had a training schedule set for us and. He’d be working with us for our next off-court session on Monday and we had regularly scheduled court time daily from here out. With the new interest on the part of SCU and Lissa training to defend her title, the club was taking a strong stance on promoting racquetball. They were using Lissa and me to encourage participation by more local high level players.

While it was nice to have the red carpet rolled out for us, it also meant that we’d be playing tougher competitors in club tournaments and practices. When you play a sport like racquetball, it isn’t just about winning tournaments. You want to promote the sport.

Four

Melody was in the kitchen. Sitting on the floor. Crying.

There was a half-chopped zucchini and a pile of minced onion sitting on the counter. One burner was lit on the stove, but fortunately there was nothing on it—just the blue flame dancing in the air. I turned that off and Lissa and I sank to either side of our lover.

“What is it Little One?” Lissa asked softly. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re here, Meddy,” I added. “Tell us what has you upset, love.”

There was a lot of sniffling. When she raised her hand to wipe her eyes, I gently took the knife and set it back on the counter.

“I’m fat and I’m ugly and I have cramps and I’m a bitch and you all hate me.”

“The only thing I heard that might have a shred of truth is that you have cramps,” Lissa said. “Is it that time?”

“I’m all PMSy and I can’t stop crying and I’m sorry.”

She buried her head against my shoulder and sobbed as Lissa reached to rub her tummy.

“Don’t worry, Little One,” she said. “I know a cure for pre-menstrual cramps. I used to have them all the time.”

“Used to? You don’t have cramps anymore? I hate you!” Melody sobbed more furiously.

“I stopped having cramps after I got pregnant.”

Melody sniffed and pulled away from me to turn toward Lissa.

“I don’t really hate you. I love you,” she moaned. “I’m just so miserable. And you both stink.”

“We can cure that, too,” I suggested. “Come on. Let’s head for the shower.”

Lissa filled the tub while I adjusted the temperature of the shower, undressed both Melody and myself, and got us under the soothing water. As soon as we got the sweat and stink rinsed off our bodies, we led Melody to the spa and sank into the luxurious hot water. I’d been looking forward to this ever since we walked off the court.

We kept Melody sandwiched between us, letting the jets work their magic, and constantly stroking and soothing our sweetheart. Melody finally settled down and her cramps began to subside.

“Is this the cure?” Melody asked. “It feels better.”

“Oh, this is just stage one,” Lissa said as she kissed Melody. “Next, Tony is going to sit up on the edge of the tub and you’ll get on his lap so he can hold you with his hands rubbing your tummy.”

I sat up on the edge of the marble spa and leaned back against the wall. It was great having a tub that was big enough for all three of us—and a guest or two—and had a ledge around it wide enough to serve dinner on. Melody crawled up in my lap facing Lissa. Lissa gently parted her knees and pressed her face against our lover’s pussy. I couldn’t tell exactly what Lissa was doing, but Melody started to relax against me and let out little moans. As she squirmed against me, my rigid cock became wedged between her ass cheeks.

The first time she came, she stiffened up and pressed back against me so hard I was flattened against the wall. The second time she raised up off my lap until she was almost standing in the tub and I held her so her feet wouldn’t slide out from under her.

I felt Lissa’s hand on my cock and when Melody relaxed and began to sink back down on my lap, Lissa guided me into her.

“Oh,” Melody moaned. “That is so wonderful. I like this cure.”

“It’s not over yet,” Lissa smiled.

Soon her face was back between our legs and I could feel her tongue taking long strokes from beneath my balls, up across the base of my cock, and lingering on Melody’s clit. I played with Mel’s nipples as Lissa continued to bring us both higher and higher. When Melody came, the intensity of her gripping my cock and bouncing brought me off, too, and we howled at the ceiling as we hit our peak. I was still shuddering inside Melody when Lissa brought her to yet another peak.

I slid down into the water and with our faces even with Lissa’s we began a kiss-fest that ended with us giggling.

A much mellower girlfriend emerged from the bath to sit and eat at the counter.

“I was going to have dinner all ready for you when you came home from practice,” Melody said as she slurped up the spaghetti I’d made while Lissa was pampering her. “Then all of a sudden it seemed like such a big job, I’d never get it done.”

“Does your period always affect you like this?” Lissa asked.

“Sometimes it’s worse than others. Not usually this bad,” Melody said. “But I feel so much better now.”

“That was still only stage two,” Lissa said. “Dinner is stage three.”

“There’s more?”

“Just you wait.”

I cleared away the dishes and loaded the dishwasher while Lissa led Melody back to the bedroom. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’d enjoyed curing Melody’s cramps so far. I’d go with whatever Lissa had planned. I wasn’t expecting what I saw when I entered the bedroom.

The girls were lying side by side on their stomachs. Their heads were turned toward each other and they were talking quietly. Occasionally they would kiss, but they just lay there waiting for me. It didn’t take long to see why. Next to Lissa was a bottle of oil and a towel.

“Sweetheart, Melody needs a little back-rub. I thought as long as you were at it, maybe you could rub my back, too,” Lissa said when she saw me approach. “I’m so sore after our workout.”

It was only a matter of logistics, not willingness. To them, it was sweet soothing relaxation for their tired muscles and cramps. For me… I had my left knee wedged between Melody’s legs and my right knee between Lissa’s, both nestled far enough in to feel their heat on my thighs. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d work this, but I decided to split my attention equally between the two. I warmed cedar-scented oil between my palms and then ran my hands up their spines to their necks where I began stroking and rubbing. My hands worked as mirror images rubbing their necks and their shoulders.

Melody is shorter than Lissa, but their torsos are surprisingly similar in length. Lissa has longer legs, but Melody doesn’t lose much in length above her waist. I marveled at the feel of their skin. Lissa’s muscles were much tighter than Melody’s, but there was a sensual flexibility in Melody that said she could curl up in a ball in your lap and feel like she didn’t have a bone in her body. Both were silky, especially beneath well-oiled hands.

I didn’t want to move from my position lodged between their legs, but I did slip back farther and farther as I worked on their butts, thighs, calves. Finally, I worked their feet, one at a time. Each girl’s left foot, then each girl’s right foot. I ended by kissing twenty toes and then crawling up next to Melody.

“That was so dreamy,” Melody sighed. She rolled to her right side facing me and Lissa spooned behind her. I pulled a sheet over us so we wouldn’t get chilled in the night.

“You’re all slippery,” Lissa said to her. “I want to rub my tits all over your back.”

“Mmm. Do whatever makes you happy,” Melody said as Lissa kissed her ear. “It makes me happy to be with you.”

She pulled me closer and kissed me. My right arm lay across my lovers as we drifted off to sleep.

About four in the morning, I woke to find I’d been pushed onto my back. Melody was astride me and my cock was slipping in and out of her. Her eyes were closed and her head was thrown back, lost in her own world of pleasure. I’d gone to sleep hard, so it was no burden to me to be the source of her ecstasy. As tempting as it was to take control and thrust up into her, she was so beautiful that I lay mostly still and let her set the pace.

Lissa scooted closer so she could kiss me and then we both lay there watching our lover as she rose to her climax. It was blissful. I felt the long slow build-up of pressure in my balls, but held myself back from pushing toward release. When Melody came, that brought me to a climax as well. I felt the release deep inside—feeling like it had been drawn from me instead of ejaculated.

Melody relaxed, gradually becoming aware that Lissa and I were watching her. She lay on top of me, with Lissa partially supporting her weight. We kissed.

“I woke up feeling crampy, again,” Melody whispered as we drifted back to sleep with me still inside her. “Thank you.”

“Anytime my love,” I said softly. “Anytime at all.”

When Lissa and I got home from Saturday morning Pilates, Kate was over talking to Melody.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” I asked, kissing Melody.

“Much better.”

“Were you sick?” Kate asked.

“Just cramps. These two have the best cure,” Melody said after she kissed Lissa. In spite of what she said, she was clutching a heating pad to her stomach under the pillow as she and Kate talked on the sofa.

“I have a tea for that.”

“Oh, this is so much better than tea.”

“Really? Maybe I should try it next time.”

“Oh, we’d love to help you out,” Melody said, giggling. Both Lissa and I rolled our eyes.

“Better get the details before you agree, Kitten,” I said. “When I’m not around,” I added.

“Melody called yesterday and said you have an agent and we have an offer for the whole Rhapsody Suite,” Kate said. “I thought I’d drop by this morning and see what was up.”

“That’s sort of true,” Melody said. “I convinced her to come over and went and picked her up. It’s so nice to have two cars.”

“Well, I would have taken the bus,” Kate admitted. “I want to hear all about it.”

“Right. Well, here’s the thing. Clarice thinks we could get a lot more for the paintings if we wait six months, but I’m not going to hold up the sale if any of the four of you need money for school. We could walk off with a couple thousand each now, but twice that in six months.”

“What happens in six months?”

“Our show.”

“Our show?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Here’s the thing. Clarice thinks she could get me a show with a dozen pieces. That’s a lot of painting to be done before February. I could include a couple of sketches as well, but the big dollars will be in the paintings. So, we thought that maybe you would be interested in showing at the same time. I know your portfolio of charcoals is incredible.”

“Tony?” Kate said, slowing me down. “Us?”

“Um… I know you should have a show of your own, Kate, but I just thought that maybe…”

“It’s a nice idea, but what about Melody? And Amy and Sandra?”

“All three of us are in areas of applied arts and design,” Melody spoke up. “You don’t want graphic prints or textiles or advertising art in a fine art show. This would really have to be you and Tony. You have really different but complementary styles. Mixing it with something else would mess it up. Except for the Suite. Since Bob Bowers reviewed it as a single piece, everybody would benefit by keeping it together.”

“Is this real?” she asked. I handed her the letter with the offer for the Suite.

“Our lawyer is going over the contract for Clarice to represent me. Clarice wants to meet with us on Thursday at noon,” I said.

“Wait,” Kate said. She was scowling. “What are you trying to pull?”

“Kitten, I’m not trying to pull anything. What’s wrong?” What the hell? I was so excited, but maybe I missed something. Did Kate feel like she was being railroaded?

“You said a couple thousand a piece. That’s not what this letter is offering. The letter says $5,000 for your piece and another $5,000 for the other four pieces. I’m not dumb. I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. That comes out to $5,000 for you and $1,250 each for the rest of us.”

“But the Suite has five artists,” I said. “That’s $2,000 each to sell the whole thing.”

“You can’t do that, Tony. You’d lose $3,000 on the deal. I won’t do it. Melody, get Sandra and Amy on the phone,” Kate demanded. “The deal for the Suite has to be fifty percent for Tony and fifty percent to split among the rest of us. None of us would have an offer at all if it wasn’t for his central piece.”

Kate was adamant. I’d never seen her so steadfast before. Once Amy and Sandra were on the phone, Kate took over and laid out the facts as she saw them—including the benefit of waiting six months, I was happy to note—and Amy and Sandra were on her side immediately.

“Don’t be a dipshit, Tony,” Amy said. “I’ve got customers here and I’ve got to get moving. But in my opinion, it should be your painting for fifty percent, Kate’s for thirty percent and the other three of us splitting twenty percent. It’s you two that are going to get the price up. You should benefit most from it. Gotta roll. ’Bye.”

After the whirlwind phone discussion, we determined that we would wait until February and the split would be fifty percent for me, twenty percent for Kate, and ten percent each for Sandra, Amy, and Melody. Everybody seemed happy with that except me.

“Tony? Would you give me a hand with the grill?” Lissa called from the kitchen.

She’d let the five of us hash things out for ourselves, but it was clear she had a few things to say to me. I kissed her as I walked into the kitchen and she wrapped me in her arms and led me to the deck, closing the sliding door behind us.

“I love you, Tony,” Lissa said, kissing me again. “Part of what I love is how generous and giving you are. But they’re right and you know it.”

“It seems so unfair for me to benefit so much from their work,” I said.

“Not so,” Lissa reminded me. “That offer was clear. The same amount if you sold your piece with or without their work. You don’t get any benefit from bringing them along.”

“But…”

“Be honest, Tony. Leaving Kate’s picture out of the equation for a minute, which of those other three paintings and drawings would ever sell for $1,000? Let alone, the possibility that when you and Kate exhibit this winter it is the talent of the two of you that will drag the price of the other three up. Don’t insult them, darling. You are doing a wonderful thing for your friends. They’d all feel terrible if they thought you were giving them all money to be charitable to them. Now grill us some hamburgers and let the women in your life boss you around.”

She sealed her lecture with another kiss and it was several minutes before I got the grill as hot as I was feeling.

For the next several days, time collapsed. Monday, Lissa’s former employer called her and asked her to come back. They said that the people who ragged on her last Wednesday were out of line and had been disciplined. They were considering expanding the fashion acquisition department and opening an office in New York. They would like to consider Lissa for the job of managing it.

Lissa thanked them and consulted with her attorney. He suggested they were trying to cover themselves against a possible harassment suit and asked Lissa if she’d like him to pursue that course of action. She declined, but the company still gave her a full severance package that may have included more paid vacation time than she actually had coming to her.

We practiced two hours every afternoon. I had never worked so hard at racquetball. Lissa and I were growing more and more evenly matched. Coaching each other was working, but I stopped at the club’s management office on Tuesday to see if they could do some research on other top players in the area. We needed to sharpen our edge by facing more strong competitors.

“You’ve done a good job as far as making a schedule work,” Mr. Randolph said, “but it’s not really what we have in mind for the Dual Degree Program.”

Aw shit. My first meeting with the program advisor and the schedule I worked so hard on is shot to hell. This was such a mistake. I should never have agreed to the stupid program anyway. I was going to be a working artist. Why did I think I needed a BA in English, too? I should have… what? Quit school? Take the transfer back to UNeb and leave Lissa and Melody? What the hell am I moaning about?

“No one has really explained the program to me, I guess,” I said. I was trying not to be offensive.

“Well, let’s learn it together and make things work out best for you, Tony. Believe it or not, I only started on this job the fifth. So, I’ll tell you what the powers that be told me and then we can figure out what works best for you, okay?” I thought I might like him after all.

“Okay, Mr. Randolph.”

“Tony, if all goes well, we’re going to be working with each other for the next four years. Call me Cary. Now, here’s how they designed the program.”

It took nearly an hour just to explain what the program meant. If anyone had explained it when they offered it to me I probably would have run for my life. I thought I was going to be attending each school about half time and was going crazy balancing a school that was on semesters with a school that was on quarters. It turned out that they expected students to rotate with a year at one school and a year at the other, then the fifth year would be focused on the studio project that would be supervised by faculty from both schools and had to relate to both degrees. But that would mean…

“Wait. You mean that I wouldn’t be going to PCAD at all this year? That’s where all my friends are.”

“Like I said, Tony, that’s the way the program was designed. Now we’re going to figure out how it works. There’s logic to the system. With the two schools on different schedules, you’ve already seen what a pain it will be when breaks aren’t same, classes run on different schedules, and finals come five times a year. But let’s say that one school is your main focus for the year and the other you just keep your foot in the door. How many classes would it take to make you continue to feel connected to your friends and your first campus while still having your focus at Seattle Cascades?”

I have to admit, after we were finished, my schedule looked a lot more manageable and it was clear that I was an English major with an emphasis in Art and Literary Criticism. I’d be taking a full load at SCU with just a studio class at PCAD. Mmm. Doc was gonna shit.

“Now we’ve still got details to work out for funding.”

“They said I was getting a full ride.”

“Right. Now, housing. Dormitory or Fraternity?”

“I live off-campus.”

“You are technically a freshman with sophomore standing at SCU. Dormitory, private room. We’ll make it a full athletic meal plan. Health insurance. Football. Athletic fees and uniforms. And the rest of the application fees, student union membership, and travel allowance.”

“Wait! I don’t want any of that. I play racquetball, not football. I live off-campus and I don’t need campus meals.” I was getting railroaded and I was pissed.

“That’s right,” Cary said. “That’s why on the first day of classes, you go to the bursar and get a refund for all the things you paid for that you aren’t using. Then you take the check they give you and give it to your landlord to pay your rent for the year. What’s left over, you put in your food budget. It does mean that you’ll probably have to pay for court time out of that, but it’s a lot cheaper than football equipment. And this gives you a budget to travel to competitions.”

I looked at him with my mouth hanging wide open.

“I’m on your side, Tony,” he said with a grin.

Five

Kate, Melody, and I sat together most of Wednesday evening going through our portfolios. Kate had some impressive work. She loved charcoal, but she had an incredible talent with pastels and acrylics. She painted awesome detail. As a result, she tended to paint small things very large. I mean, she’d look at a landscape, and instead of painting the whole thing, she would paint every detail of a single flower in the foreground with the rest looking blurred in the background. I’d never seen someone paint such idiosyncratic depth of field.

She loved my new painting of Lissa, Beth, and Melody in the woods, but when I showed her the sketch that I’d done after the fact, she liked it even more. The oil I was working on was the scene they’d posed in the woods. Beth was on the rock with Melody to her left and Lissa to her right. They were smiling, loving, a little mischievous, and very pastoral. But the sketch I’d done later was of the three laughing and splashing each other in the water. It was less posed and I loved the action. That scene was burned into my memory.

We finally put together a portfolio that showed an equal number of my pieces and hers and went to meet Clarice on Thursday at noon.

Wendy met us when we walked into Carmine’s Cucina and gave each of us a hug. We went straight over to Clarice’s booth and slid in. She immediately started perusing our portfolio. Wendy brought us Cokes and we each ordered a salad. Now that I was working out, I was becoming more conscious of what I ate. I’d lost two pounds in the past week.

“This is good,” Clarice said. “It’s not enough, but you knew that. Kate, we need more painting. Your charcoals are beautiful, but look, they are already smudging. Kids, you’ve got to look at your work as your assets. Pieces like this need to be protected and sealed—preferably behind glass. You can’t let them transfer to other pieces.”

“Yes ma’am,” Kate said politely. She looked sheepish.

“Tony, the oils have higher value in the market than the watercolors. The two of the nymphs in the woods we’ll want to keep as a pair if we can. They’ll be matched in size, won’t they?”

“I’m not sure I want to sell those,” I said. Clarice looked at me like I’d grown a second head.

“There may not be any need for us to continue,” she said. “I’m sorry, Tony, but I represent artists who are ready to enter the market. That means selling their works. If you are simply painting for your own pleasure, that’s different.”

“It’s just… they’re my friends… and lovers.”

“Then get models you aren’t emotionally attached to. And paint something besides nudes. That’s not the biggest market right now. The Internet killed it. But I need to know, if you are going to paint works that can be sold or works that you want to keep hidden in your own bedroom. You decide.”

“I want to sell,” I said. “It’s just been a little sudden. I know this is a great opportunity.”

“Then let’s talk contract. Did your lawyer look it over?”

“He said it was fair and only questioned how much ‘management’ you would be doing. It sounds like you have pretty strong opinions regarding what I should be painting.”

“No,” Clarice said. “You paint whatever you want in whatever medium you want. I’ll be very straight with you, though. I can simply negotiate the sale of your Suite and commissioned works, or I can help launch your career. If I’m launching your career, I need nine salable works—not including the portraits you exhibit that are commissioned—from each of you in six months. If you commit to that, I can get the space and you can both make a successful entry into the market. You have to answer whether that’s what you want out of your college education. I won’t be able to put your first painting in an art museum where lots of people will see it, so selling in a show is the best I can do. After the first show, you will need to keep producing artwork at a rate that we can keep doing shows and keep selling. If you stop producing, we’ll stop selling. If you stop selling, it is much harder to start again. That’s what I do to manage your career.”

“I’m good with that,” I said. “It will be hard, but I can do it.”

Clarice pushed the contract over to me to sign. Our lawyer, Mr. MacDonald, had gone through the papers and pointed out where I would have to sign when I made my decision. I also had to fill in my address, date of birth, and Social Security number. I found the places in the contract and signed them. I was now an agented artist. Clarice signed and I had representation for the next twelve months.

“Now, Kate,” Clarice said. “I have a contract for you as well if you want representation.”

“I’d rather not sign one right now,” Kate said quickly.

“Of course. I made Tony take his with him, too. We can still work something out for the exhibition in February, even without a contract.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Kate said. “I mean, I’ll commit to doing the show and we can make an agreement before that. I’d like to wait at least a couple of months until I know how this fall is going to go in school.”

“That’s not a problem,” Clarice said. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do and it’s a beautiful afternoon in July.”

We left Carmine’s Cucina and I walked Kate back to work at the Art Museum. I’m not sure how it happened, but somewhere along Second Avenue, Kate’s hand slipped into mine as we walked. We talked about what was happening in our lives, how exciting and overwhelming the conversation with Clarice was, and even about the upcoming birthday party for Damon on Saturday.

“Um… I have a question,” Kate said. I was getting used to the fluctuation between Kate the confident negotiator and business woman and Kate the shy and hesitant girlfriend. She squeezed my hand a little harder.

“What is it, Kitten?”

“I have tickets to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Woodland Park Zoo next weekend and I was hoping you’d come,” she said softly.

I was acutely aware of Kate holding my hand and had a moment of panic, almost letting go. We’d become such good friends and we were hoping to invite Kate into our lives, but Kate was asking me out.

“Kate… um… you know that I… um… like you a lot, but it’s not like I just go out and date people besides Lissa and Melody. I mean…”

“Tony! You ass! I wouldn’t ask you out without Lissa and Melody. Not on our first date. I’ve got four tickets. Do I need to speak Southern and say I was hoping all y’all’d come?”

I laughed at myself. Then I heard what she was saying.

“Our first date?” I asked. “Are you asking the three of us out on a date?”

“Well… um… yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t do it right. I’ve never done it before.”

I was grinning so hard I thought my face would break. I pulled her into a hug.

“Let’s do it right, then,” I said. I pulled out my phone and dialed the connection that would ring on both Lissa’s and Melody’s phones at once.

“Did you do it?” Melody shouted. “Did you sign?”

“Yes,” I said. “I now have an agent.”

“That’s wonderful, darling,” Lissa said. “Are we on speaker phone? There’s an echo.”

“Yes. I’m standing under the Hammering Man with just the cutest little brunette you’ve ever met,” I said. Kate blushed and pushed at my arm, but she kept hold of my hand. “She’s just popped the question.”

“What?” screeched Melody. “Which question? I’ve got about twenty of them!”

I turned to Kate and held up the phone.

“Oh… I thought this would be easier if I just spoke to one of you first and you’d all just… Oh. Tony… Melody… Lissa… would you go out with me to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Woodland Park Zoo a week from Saturday? I’d… I’d… I’d like to take you out on a date.”

There was a squeal over the phone and I could just see Melody bouncing up and down.

“Yes!” all three of us said.

“We’d love to go out with you,” Lissa said. “What should we wear?”

Okay. Now that’s just silly. We just accepted a date with a girl we’ve been crushing on for months and the first topic of discussion is what should we wear? To the zoo? There were a few moments of excited chatter before Kate said she really had to get back to work, but she’d see us on Saturday for Damon’s party. I told my lovers I’d see them soon and gave Kate a sweet, gentle kiss—three times—before she went into the museum to continue her day’s work.

A date with Kate. Sweet!

“Hi. I’m Noelle James.”

“Hi. Tony Ames. We rhyme.”

“If we let a seven-year-old hear that we’ll be stuck together for the rest of the day. James and Ames. I thought I knew all the parents. Which of these are yours?”

“Damon and Drew,” I said nonchalantly. I let her chew on that for a minute. She did.

“Uh… Jack…?” she asked looking over where the boys’ dad was pitching the softball.

“Their dad?” I asked back. What of it?

Noelle James was one of those cute moms-of-money that you sometimes hear about. She was thin and toned. Her teeth were perfect. Her nails were highly polished. Her hair looked like she’d just come from Paule Attar. I bet her pussy was waxed and her toenails were… yup. Open-toed sandals showed me her toenails matched her fingernails. I just bet she’d be gossiping with the other moms in five minutes.

Then I saw Lissa. Shit. Thin and toned, perfect teeth, beautiful manicure, easy-to-care-for hair that always looked great, waxed pussy… I was such a hypocrite. I was saved by Melody who chose that moment to sweep in and kiss me on the cheek.

“Hi, sweetie!” she chirped.

“Hi, my love,” I answered. “I’d like to introduce you to Noelle James. Noelle, you’re Jimmy’s mom, aren’t you? This is Melody Anderson.”

“Oh! Of course!” Noelle nearly shouted as apparently lights came on. “Tony and Meddy!”

“Yeah,” Melody agreed. “Drew hasn’t quite managed to get his mouth around ‘Melody’ yet.”

“Well, get used to it,” Noelle said. “I read an article recently that said childhood mispronunciation of names frequently become nicknames that last an entire lifetime. Once the name is learned, it is never replaced.”

“I don’t mind,” Melody laughed. “Even Tony and Lissa sometimes call me Meddy.”

That was a preview of Model Student 4: Triptych. To read the rest purchase the book.

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