AWLL 1 - Book 4 - Bethany
Michael Loucks
Contents
Copyright © 2015-2022 Michael P. Loucks
First publication date: 2016-06-05
First revision publication date: 2020-01-22
Second revision publicantion date: 2022-05-12
You may contact the author at: author@michaelloucks.com
https://a-well-lived-life.com/
Other Books by Michael Loucks
All of the following are in the 'A Well-Lived Life' Universe
A Well-Lived Life, Series I
Book 1 - Birgit
Book 2 - Jennifer
Book 3 - Pia
Book 4 - Bethany
Book 5 - Stephanie
Book 6 - Kara I
Book 7 - Kara II
Book 8 - Stephie
Book 9 - Anala
Book 10 - The Wife
A Well-Lived Life, Series 2
Book 1 - Bethany
Book 2 - Stephie
Book 3 - Jessica
Book 4 - Elyse
Book 5 - Michelle
Book 6 - Samantha
Book 7 - Sakurako
Book 8 - NIKA
Book 9 - Kami
Book 10 - Bridget
A Well-Lived Life Series 3
Book 1 - Suzanne
Book 2 - The Inner Circle
Book 3 - A New World
Book 4 - Coming of Age
Book 5
Good Medicine
Freshman Year
Sophomore Year
Junior Year
Senior Year
Medical School I
Madicatl Shool II
Medical School III
Medical School IV
Cliimbing the Ladder
Book 01 - The First Rung (\)*
From the Files of Doctor Fran Mercer (\+)*
A Sailor's Diary
Book 1 - The War Years (\+)*
- Work in Progress
+ Available exclusively on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MichaelLoucks
For Birgit
Prologue
Chicago, Illinois
Pete came back to my room and once again returned the laptop I had lent him.
“That year was pretty much a complete blank for me, except for the whole thing with Becky. Melanie told me very little about anything else, just occasional things from your letters. And she certainly didn’t tell me about that whole Stockholm thing. Holy smokes!”
“Melanie never knew, Pete. I never told her. Other than Karin and me, only Jennifer and Stephanie, and maybe two others, ever knew. Well, and Birgit, somehow. And now you. It’s OK to tell Melanie if you want.”
“Given what I know about you, I was surprised that you were kind of toned down in Sweden. No threesomes and nothing really crazy, except with Katt. Well, and that one night in Stockholm. It’s kind of funny when you think about it.”
“I did a lot of growing up that year, Pete. There was a lot going on in my life that needed to be dealt with. And most of it was stuff I had to work out for myself. In the end, it was more important to have Sofia as a friend than a lover for most of my stay. There were lots of opportunities that I didn’t even include in the story because they didn’t really matter.”
“I meant to tell you that you have a visitor,” Pete said with a chuckle.
He left and a moment later a one of my dearest and oldest friends came through the door and proceeded to give me a crushing hug and a fierce French kiss.
“If I didn’t trust you completely, I’d have shot you with this 9mm long ago,” Pete said, fingering his Beretta. “You two just never cease to amaze me.”
“Well, you could blame Melanie, Pete, but really, you only have yourself to blame for letting her do it!”
“Steve, you and Pete haven’t changed in almost thirty years. You are still willing to push the edges of your envelope, Pete’s still conventional, though he has stepped out of his comfort zone a few times! Of course, I do have a few fantasies you could help with!” she giggled.
“Good luck, ambulance chaser, your husband doesn’t agree, and he’s armed.”
We all three laughed.
“I’ll be downstairs, Steve,” Pete said. “You two try to behave. Got everything you need?”
“Actually, this time I might need something. I might need a bodyguard. Your wife still has the hots for me.”
“Don’t I know it! But you’ve fended her off since she was 17, you can handle her.”
“Thanks for nothing, Pete!” I chuckled.
He shut the door and left.
“Steve, I’ve seen everything you showed Pete. There are some things I want to ask you about.”
“Ask away, Melanie. I’m not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon.”
I. Resolving the Problem
July 1980, Milford, Ohio
‘If you end up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.’ -Frank Zappa
“We’re moving to Seattle next month!” Jennifer said.
“What the hell? How long have you known?”
Tears started rolling down Jennifer’s cheeks and she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“How long?” I said angrily.
“Since March.”
“God damn it, Jennifer! And you didn’t tell me?”
“I was afraid to. I was afraid of what you would say. I was afraid of what you would do.”
“So you lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie!” she said desperately. “I didn’t!”
“You didn’t tell me something important!”
“That’s not a lie!” she protested. “It’s not!”
“OK. You were dishonest. Better?” I asked angrily.
Jennifer got off the couch and ran up the stairs, crying.
“Steve, go upstairs with her. She’s afraid. She needs you.”
“But she hid this from me, Mrs. Block!”
“She thought she was doing the right thing, Steve. She’s scared. She tried to talk her dad out of moving, but the new job is just too good for him to pass up.”
“She should have told me. That’s not something I can easily forget!”
“She loves you more than anything in the world. She’s been really upset and I’m not sure how she managed to stay calm talking to you. And I’m sorry for letting it out before she told you.”
“Well, she waited until she got what she wanted! She should have told me when she found out, not after I screwed her silly all afternoon!” I raged.
“Steve!” Mrs. Block said sharply. “Take a deep breath. Go to her. She needs you. Be the mature young man that I know you are.”
I took a couple of deep breaths and let them out slowly. I was really upset with Jennifer. But was I upset because she hadn’t told me, or had I lashed out more for what she did tell me?
“OK, Mrs. Block,” I said with resignation.
I slowly walked up the stairs to Jennifer’s room. I found her on her face down on her bed, sobbing into her pillow.
“Jennifer?”
“You hate me!” she sobbed.
“No, I don’t hate you. I’m upset, but I don’t hate you.”
She took a moment to compose herself, then got a tissue and blew her nose.
“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I should have told you.”
“Who else knows, Jennifer? I need you to be completely honest with me now.”
“Melanie, Pete, and Larry. I didn’t tell Stephanie.”
“Because you knew she’d tell me!”
“Yes,” she said meekly.
“When were you going to tell me?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“After you made sure you got what you wanted from me,” I said snidely.
“It’s not like that!”
“Then why not tell me right away?”
“Because I knew you would be upset,” she said softly.
“And then I might not fuck you!”
“Why are you doing this? Why are you treating me like this?”
“Actually, Jennifer, that’s the question I should ask you! I’ve always been honest with you. I’ve always told you what was going on. I’ve never hidden anything from you.”
“I know Steve, I know,” she said, nodding, with tears streaming down her face.
“If we can’t be honest and open, there’s no future for us.”
“Don’t say that! Don’t let this be the end! Please!”
“I’m not the one who did it!”
“I ruined everything! I ruined everything!” she wailed, throwing herself back on the bed, sobbing into the pillow.
I looked at her and instead of the strong young woman I knew, I saw a scared, sobbing little girl. Her mom told me Jennifer had been upset, and that she was afraid and I was certainly seeing this now. I had no idea what to do or say at this point. I had no idea what I wanted. Actually, that wasn’t quite true. I wanted Jennifer to stay. I wanted to spend our Senior year together. Now all of that was gone!
As I stood there looking at this crying little girl, it hit me that this wasn’t something that Jennifer had decided to do, but something that had been decided for her. She hadn’t had a choice. This wasn’t like my trip to Sweden. Shit. While yes, she should have told me as soon as she’d known, I needed to apologize to her for my reaction. That wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would at least let us talk.
“Jennifer?”
She continued sobbing uncontrollably and didn’t answer. I went over to the bed and put my hand on her shoulder.
“Jennifer?”
“What?” she sobbed.
“I’m sorry. I reacted badly. Do you want to talk?”
“Can you just hold me? Can we talk after dinner? Please?”
I lay down next to her, and she turned and clung fiercely to me, sobbing into my chest, rather than the pillow. I held her and let her cry. I reached for the box of tissues and pulled out several. As she sobbed, I wiped her tears every once in a while, and otherwise just held her tight. She cried for about fifteen minutes before she finally got control of her emotions enough to stop sobbing.
“Jennifer, you need to wash your face; it’ll be time for dinner very soon.”
“Come with me! Don’t leave me.”
She got up and took my hand and I walked with her to the bathroom. She shut and locked the door, and I was surprised when she unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and sat down on the toilet.
“Jen?”
“Don’t leave me. Please. It’s OK. I need you with me every second right now.”
She urinated, wiped herself clean, flushed the toilet, and pulled up her jeans. She washed her hands, then her face. She blew her nose a couple of times and then washed her face again.
She took my hand again and led me downstairs to sit on the couch.
“Hold me, please,” she begged.
I put my arms around her and pulled her to me. We sat together until her dad walked in.
“Hi, Steve! It’s good to see you.”
“Hi, Mr. Block,” I said evenly.
“I’m guessing you know.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m not happy about it, obviously.”
“Neither is Jennifer, but I really couldn’t pass up the opportunity with Boeing. I’m really sorry that you two will be apart again.”
There really wasn’t anything I could say to him at this point, so I nodded. I simply couldn’t answer him. He waited a moment, then went to his wife. Dinner was served a few minutes later, and we went to the table. My body was out of sorts from the time change and my emotions were in complete turmoil, so I wasn’t very hungry. I ate enough to be polite, but not much more. Dessert was cherry ice cream and when we finished, Mrs. Block told us that she would take care of the kitchen and we should go spend time together.
Jennifer again took my hand and we went to the basement to sit together on the couch.
“What do we do?” she said with despair in her voice.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. It’s over 2,000 miles away. I don’t know if we can survive another year, or more, apart.”
“Do you really mean that? Do you think this is the end for us?”
“I don’t see how we can maintain a relationship when we’re apart for so long.”
“We were fine when you were in Sweden, Steve. How is this different? In fact, it should be easier because it’s possible we could fly to see each other.”
“And our plans for Senior year? Homecoming? Prom? Working on our future?”
“Aren’t we strong enough to get through this?”
“I don’t know, Jennifer,” I sighed. “I honestly don’t know.”
“I should have told you. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to violate your trust.”
“Is that the only thing you’ve kept from me?”
“What are you asking? Do you think I was unfaithful to you? Don’t you trust me?”
“I wasn’t asking that question, but you went right there. Why?”
“I told you that I haven’t had sex with anyone while you were gone. I’ve never had sex with any guy except you! That’s the truth! I don’t want to have sex with any guy but you! Please, you have to believe me! I’ve been honest about everything else! I have!” she said desperately.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m blaming you for something that isn’t your fault.”
“I told Dad I didn’t want to go!”
“I know Jen, I know. But where do we go from here? It’s going to be so hard to be away from you when I was looking forward to us being together!”
“For me too!” she said, a tear running down her cheek.
“I guess all we can do now is take things one day at a time.”
“Can you see me every day until I leave?”
“Probably not. I have other people to see, other things I have to do too. You know that.”
“Can’t they wait? Can’t it just be you and me until August 9th?”
I thought about that for a moment and decided that I couldn’t put everyone else on hold. I had to see the Don, had to figure out with Andreas about work, had to have driving lessons. I’d already made my plans to restart the computer stuff with Beth, Bethany had already asked to see me, and Katt wanted me to come see her.
“No Jennifer. I can’t put my life completely on hold for a month. Or for a year, or however long it’s going to be.”
“You were willing to do that for Birgit!”
“And what happened? She insisted that I not do that. If I had, you would never have had me. We can’t put our lives on hold.”
She started sobbing, “It’s all going to fall apart, isn’t it?”
I held her while she cried and I tried to think about what we should do. Katt’s words rang in my ears.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Steve. Stop already. I want to fuck you, OK? Can’t it just be that? Does everything have to have some clear future with you? Can’t you just enjoy having sex with me and not worry about what happens next? We’re only fourteen and sixteen! It’s too soon to worry about the future!”
Katt had pushed me hard to stop thinking so much about my life partner. Jennifer, much earlier, had said the same thing.
“Quit fucking thinking about who you’re going to be with. You can’t figure it out now. Every time you try, you get dumber!”
And Karin had reminded me what I had actually promised Birgit.
“Birgit told me, and wrote in her diary, that you both had committed to finding out. Nothing more. She was sure, just as I am, but you were never sure, Steve. You told me about Jennifer, and Birgit knew all about that from you and Melanie. I know about Becky, too, far more than Birgit did. I know you’re not sure, Steve. I accept that. I’m sure.”
I’d even said it to Jennifer earlier when I told her we were too young to make long-term plans.
Of course, her response to me made even more sense.
“Jennifer, it doesn’t have to fall apart. I just have to listen to what you said to me some time ago; to what I said to you earlier. We can’t make long-term plans yet, all we can really do is take it one day at a time.”
She smiled through her tears. There was one more thing I had to tell her.
“You’re free to explore. If you want to date, that’s fine. If you want to have sex with someone, that’s fine. But you can’t hide it from me; you have to be totally honest and open.”
“You’re OK with me having sex with another guy?”
“You’ve always been fine with me having sex with other girls. I certainly didn’t object to Joyce doing it.”
“You had a pretty visceral reaction when you thought I had done it a couple of years ago.”
“I did. I’ll deal with it,” I said quietly.
“No, I don’t think you would, actually. I think if I did that, we’d be through. Maybe not right away, but eventually. Birgit knew that, I suspect. There’s something about you that just can’t handle it for your life partner.”
“So you’re saying that I can’t be with anyone who has ever had sex with someone else? I thought you told Stephanie that Bethany, Elyse and Kathy were potential matches.”
“Bethany is different, first of all, you were the first, and I think only, person to really make love to her. Secondly, I’m pretty sure she’s been celibate since you left. As for Elyse and Kathy, well, I think the timer starts when you were first with them. In other words, they don’t have to come to you as a virgin, but if someone else touches them after you do, then yes, I think eventually it will fall apart.”
“That makes no sense,” I protested.
“It doesn’t have to make sense. It’s just the way things are. So, like Birgit, and I suspect like Karin, until you make a decision, I don’t dare touch another guy.”
“I kept seeing Joyce after she had sex with me and then with someone else.”
“Yes, but where is that relationship now?”
“I don’t know, actually. We left it more or less up in the air when I left, but I know she’s been seeing someone seriously. And based on everything that’s happened, I’ve kind of moved to a ‘rule out’ way of thinking than a ‘rule in’.”
“So you mean every girl on the planet is on the list unless you remove them? That’s a lot of sex, even for you!” she giggled through her sadness.
“You’re cheering up a bit.”
“I am. That is, unless you are ruling me out.” she smirked, but with a touch of concern.
“No chance! If I’ve ruled out anybody, it’s certainly Becky. In fact, during our last conversation she commented that it sounded like I was saying goodbye forever and I told her that I was. Kellie is another one I’m ruling out, of course.”
“She’s been waiting all year for you to come back,” Jennifer smirked.
She was really enjoying herself now.
“She can wait until hell freezes over!”
“Oh, I think she’ll try to arrange that, also!” she smirked. “And what about Melanie?”
“Well, duh, she’s engaged, and she’ll be Mrs. Pete Carston soon enough.”
“I still want to be there when you tell her about the new you! Hey, because you violated your rule, maybe you and Pete can give her that fantasy!”
“Pete is never going to go for that, even if I were willing.”
“So there are limits to what you’ll do after all!”
“Everyone has limits. It just depends on what those limits are. I moved the bar significantly.”
“We’ll just see about that!” she said with a smile.
“So now what?” I asked.
“One day at a time, I guess. We’re together now. I want to see you as much as possible. I know you have other things you have to do, but please make time for me.”
“I will,” I said. “You know that Stephanie is not going to take this much better than I have.”
“I know. Would you tell her for me, please?”
“I should make you do it yourself,” I replied, “but yes, I’ll tell her.”
“Thanks. Are you OK now?”
“No, I’m pretty far from OK. I had counted on having you here as my rock, Jennifer. Now you’ll be gone. So will Melanie. I counted on both of you before. Now what?”
“Your sister is here. She can help you. I told you before you needed to make sure you talked things out with her. You have to do that before you guys are together.”
“I can talk with Stephanie about many things, but I’m not sure that we can talk about what making love means to us until we actually do it. Everything will change once that happens.”
“Yes, it will. That’s when you’ll know if you want me for me, or because you see her in me. Just as you do with Karin — was it her or was it Birgit?”
“I know. Stephanie’s damn sure that I want you for you!”
“She is,” Jennifer agreed. “And I want that, too. But she could simply be trying to find the closest thing to herself that she can for you. That might not be what you need.”
“Here we are talking about my future mate again.”
“Not really. We’re talking about how you can finish your quest to find who you are and who you are supposed to be. Once you finish that, then you can worry about the rest of it. Maybe it’s a good thing I’ll be gone when you and Stephanie are together,” she said quietly.
“Maybe, just maybe, but I’m still not happy about it.”
“If we can survive this, we can survive anything.”
“Probably true. Let’s make the most of the next few weeks. I’ll limit how much time I spend with others, but I do need to keep Sundays free for Beth. You could always hang out with us, though we do get pretty geeky.”
“That’s fine,” Jennifer agreed. “Speaking of Beth, did you know she and Brent broke up at the end of the year?”
“No, I didn’t. What happened?”
“I’m not sure, but they broke up right after Prom.”
“I didn’t know that. Also, Jen, I’m going to arrange my driver’s education class. That means a week of classroom in the morning and then driving in the afternoons. I need to do that before school starts. I plan to buy a car to make sure my mom can’t ground me from driving by taking away access to one of ‘her’ cars.”
“Great! Go ahead and make those arrangements, too. But make sure you buy a car that can make a 2000 mile drive without breaking down!”
“I was thinking of buying a really cheap used car to start with, but I decided to save up for a Firebird Trans Am.”
“Like the one Burt Reynolds drove in the movie?” she giggled.
“Well, it would be a great car for driving fast across country according to the movie! If I want to buy it outright, I’ll cost around $7500 if I want the Turbo model, less for a regular V8.”
“Where are you going to come up with that kind of money?”
“I’ll make at least half that much on computer dating alone. Plus, I have other programming jobs for Larry’s uncle and grandfather.”
“Programming jobs?”
“Yes. I’m serious. Programming jobs. I might work at the deli some, though I’m not sure yet.”
“Speaking of that, what about the apartment?”
“I’ll have to ask Andreas about that when I see him.”
“I meant to ask, how did things go with your mom? I’m guessing not well, considering her call to my mom.”
“Dad was totally on my side, finally. He basically told Mom he didn’t agree with her. By the way, thanks for making sure Stephanie was there when Pete proposed!”
“It was touch and go, but your sister asked your dad and he said ‘OK’. Your mom was pissed, I guess.”
“Mom doesn’t want Stephanie near me or my friends, especially not my ‘loose’ friends like you!”
“What the fuck, Steve? I’m ‘loose’? I’ve only ever made love with you!”
“And Melanie!” I smirked.
“Your mom does NOT know that and does NOT need to know that!” she smirked. “But how the hell am I loose for making love with exactly one guy?!”
“Because it’s me. My mom is freaked out by me having sex, and I’m pretty sure I know why.”
“Oh?”
“Oh yeah! I am reasonably sure that she had sex with my dad when they first met in Las Vegas, got pregnant, had to get married, and then had a miscarriage. The timing works out based on what I know. And it all makes sense.”
“That would sure make sense, wouldn’t it? The thing with Becky would have made her flip completely out!”
“Yes, it would have. As much as I was upset by Becky’s decision, in the end, I would have been in an impossible situation at home.”
“Melanie and Stephanie probably were right about that.”
“Yes, and I heard the exact same thing from Suzana Jonsson. And Sofia pretty much agreed, too.”
“Sounds unanimous.”
“I guess.”
“Can we change subjects? I don’t ever want to discuss Becky again.”
“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”
“You. Me. Your dick in my pussy. Or anywhere else you want to put it.”
“I thought we did that before!” I smirked.
“We did. I also remember you saying that Melanie would never call you a prude, and I promised to test that theory after dinner. It’s after dinner!” she giggled.
“What did you have in mind?”
“No fun if I tell you! It’s something you have to experience. Are you game?”
“As long as it doesn’t involve anything illegal or leave visible marks when I’m wearing a bathing suit, I guess I’m game!”
She laughed and took my hand and led me upstairs from the basement.
Mrs. Block saw us come up and asked, “Have you two worked things out?”
“Yes, Mom, at least as far as we are able to at this point.”
“That’s good, honey. Steve, you are always welcome to come visit us in Seattle anytime. I hope for Jennifer’s sake that you’ll be able to do that.”
“Me too, Mrs. Block.”
“Mom, if you don’t mind, we’re going to bed now. We’ll see you at breakfast.”
“OK, Jennifer. Good night.”
“Good night, sweetheart,” her dad said.
She led me upstairs, and we both got ready for bed. We brushed our teeth and then went to Jennifer’s room to undress.
“OK, it’s up to you now, whatever you want,” I said.
She giggled, “You’re sure about that?”
“For fuck’s sake, Jennifer, I told you it was!”
“Wow! I do need Katt’s phone number. I have to talk to this girl! She was able to do what none of the rest of us could!”
“I guess it helps to be a total bitch but cover it with sickening sweetness. Sort of the anti-Bec…uh, never mind.”
Jennifer laughed, “I got it. So she’s a total bitch, but you want to see her?”
“She’s not really a bitch at heart, but she’s so driven about being a champion ice dancer that everything takes a back seat. She’s also super demanding and super needy. The thing is, she’s more demanding on herself than on anyone else, so it’s not as bad as it would be otherwise. She’s a lot of fun to be with, if you can get her to stop and smell the roses. I won’t be available enough to meet her needs, though.”
“And then what?”
“Well, she’ll have to find a guy in Colorado who’s willing to put up with her schedule and the fact that she puts skating first, and who will simply drop everything when she needs him. Her other option is one she’ll probably never take, even though she should.”
“What’s that?”
“Her ice dancing partner is in love with her. If she was with him, the problems would all be solved. But she won’t do it because then she’d lose control over him.”
“I don’t get you. She sounds more controlling than ‘you know who’ was. Hell, she sounds more controlling than your mom!”
“She is. But she can’t control me. That bugs her, but it also intrigues her. Had I run into her without all the other stuff that happened to me before I went to Sweden, I’d be so under her thumb I wouldn’t be able to breathe without her permission. She has to accept what I can give her on my terms. Unless she changes her priorities, there is no chance for anything ever working out between us, even in the near term.”
“What if she changes?”
“She won’t. It would take something like a catastrophic injury for that to happen, and there’s no way I’m wishing that on her! But back to the matter at hand, Jennifer. Aren’t you the one stalling now? Hmm?” I teased.
“You’re already naked, so get on my bed, and on your back, Mr. Wild Man.”
I did as she’d commanded. From the drawer of the side table next to the bed, she extracted the blindfold which she dangled in front of me. I put it on.
I felt warm lips and a tongue on my dick and then she took me deeper into her mouth, gently sucking me until I was hard. I let out a grunt in protest as she moved around, and then felt her straddle my head, lowering her pussy to my mouth. Her mouth bobbed up and down on my dick while I licked her pussy. She ran her tongue around as she did so, and each bob took more of me until she took me completely in her mouth on each bob.
She continued for a minute or so, then released me. I felt something thick and hard press between by butt cheeks and against my hole. I groaned as it passed my sphincter and I jumped when it started vibrating. I instantly came with a loud groan, and Jennifer swallowed every spurt, running her tongue around the head of my dick.
When I finished, she moved off of me but didn’t remove her ‘personal massager’ from my butt.
“Damn, Jennifer!” I gasped.
She giggled, but then I felt intense pressure as she pushed it in further and I groaned again.
“«Vad i helvete?»” I gasped.
“What?” she asked.
“‘What the fuck?’ in Swedish.” I grunted.
“I thought you said you were up for anything!” she said as she pushed it further into me.
“Ungh!” I groaned.
“Now you know how I feel when you put your dick in me!” she said, pushing the device in another inch.
I simply groaned as she slid it in and out of me slowly a few times.
“So, what do you think?” she giggled and pulled it out.
“That was weird!” I gasped, removing the blindfold.
“That’s what both Melanie and I told you, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, and Katt, too,” I said, recovering slightly.
“Want to do that again?”
“No, once was enough for me. Kind of like Melanie.”
“Oh, Melanie would let you do that to her again in a heartbeat! She just needed you to ask for it. She wanted it, but wasn’t going to say so.”
“And she called me a prude?”
“Most of the girls really want you to lead them! They can be naughty if you ask, but they can’t ask. Trust me on this.”
“But Karin? And Joyce?”
“I don’t know enough about the situation, but I think with Karin it was her completely giving her body to you, as Birgit, with no restrictions. With Joyce, well, she has a naughty streak that she suppresses. You bring it out. If you guys were to get together again, I bet that she’d do anything you asked.”
“We can call this experiment complete, I think!”
“I’m amazed that you let me do that. I guess you really were telling the truth.”
“Yes, I was. But let me ask you, is that something you like?”
“Occasionally, but not often. Today, it made perfect sense, and I knew you wanted to do it. You’ve had every hole today!”
“I have! And your fantasies?”
“You fulfilled most of them before you left. For the time we have left, I just want to make love with you. Our way.”
She got up off the bed and put on a robe and left the room carrying her ‘personal massager’. She came back a few minutes later.
“I had to wash it, given where it was!” she giggled.
“Why don’t you call Melanie and arrange lunch tomorrow?”
“I will,” she said, picking up the phone.
“That’s new. You didn’t use to have an extension.”
“Dad got it for me right after you left!”
She dialed Melanie’s number, and they agreed on lunch at Melanie’s house.
“Now, boyfriend of mine, it’s time to make love again!”
We made slow passionate love and then spooned together and fell asleep. I slept soundly and far past my usual time, still needing to adjust to the time change and recover from traveling and lovemaking. I woke when Jennifer slid out of my arms and got out of bed.
“Hi, sleepyhead. It’s almost 9:00am!” she said.
“Wow. I slept almost eleven hours!”
“I’ve been awake for at least an hour, but it felt so good with your arms around me that I didn’t want to get up! Time for breakfast.”
We put on robes and went downstairs. Mrs. Block made waffles, bacon, and eggs for us and I was pretty hungry given I hadn’t eaten much the night before. I wasn’t going to need much lunch, but spending time with Melanie and Pete was a good thing. When we finished, we went upstairs and showered and dressed, then came back down to sit on the couch until it was time to go to Melanie’s.
“Jennifer do you know where you’ll be going to school?”
“Yeah, I’m actually already registered. Boeing took care of everything. We’ll rent a house for the first year while Dad and Mom figure out where we want to live. Remember, I’ll be going to college after a year.”
“Speaking of that, are we still planning to go to the same school? Or at least the same city?”
“I want to. I’m going to study electrical engineering, you’re going to study computers, so we should be able to do that.”
“You and Larry, huh?”
“No, his mom is pushing him to go to medical school, which is a load of crap. He’s the best guy with electronics I know! He fixes everybody’s broken stuff.”
“His mom’s a nurse and his uncle’s a veterinarian, so it doesn’t surprise me. I’ll have to talk to him.”
We continued chatting about things that had happened while I was away, including the ‘Who Concert Tragedy’ the previous December. It had even made the Swedish newspapers. The Bengals had another horrific season, finishing 4–12, and the Reds were only five games over .500. I was unhappy to hear that Cincinnati no longer had a professional hockey team after the merger between the NHL and WHA.
“I need to find a hockey team to root for.”
“Well, what’s close?”
“Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh.”
“That’s an easy one! What’s your favorite animal?”
“Pittsburgh Penguins it is!”
It was time to head to Melanie’s, so we walked out and got into Jennifer’s car and drove to Melanie’s house.
“Steve! It’s great to see you. It’s been a year since I saw you!” Mrs. Spencer said, with a bone-crushing hug.
“Hi, Mrs. Spencer!” I chuckled.
Melanie jumped up and gave me another fierce hug and a quick kiss on the lips.
“I see you’re behaving today,” I laughed.
“Behaving?” Melanie smirked. “Fine!”
She grabbed me and gave me a searing French kiss. Pete just rolled his eyes.
“Melanie!” I gasped when she let me go. I made a stern face and said, “I thought I told you that you were supposed to get those from Pete in the future!”
“You did, Smarty Pants,” she giggled, jumping away. “And I decided I want them from you, too. But I know you’ll never do anything more than that with me.”
Jennifer, unsurprisingly, just had to stir the pot.
“Don’t be so sure, Melanie. He intentionally broke his Number One inviolable rule.”
“What?!” Melanie gasped. “Steve? No way!”
“He did. Some hot Swedish chick begged him to fuck her despite having a boyfriend and he did!” Jennifer giggled.
“It wasn’t QUITE like that Jennifer,” I countered. “We did have a history, and it was very special circumstances. There’s one major difference here.”
“Pete,” she said.
“Pete,” I agreed.
“Steve, you are a stand-up guy,” Pate said. “I’m glad to call you my friend even if my fiancée can’t keep her lips off you!”
“Pete, if you tell her to stop, I’ll make sure it never happens again.”
“It’s OK. I know what she wants. She still has a thing for you.”
“Yeah, I know. But you have nothing to worry about, my friend.”
“I know that! I trust you completely.”
“Would you violate that rule for a fantasy of mine?” Melanie simpered.
“Melanie Marie Spencer!”
“Oh come off it!” Jennifer said, laughing. “That just won’t fly anymore now!”
I knew exactly what was coming next. And it was going to drive Melanie completely nuts.
“Melanie, Steve encountered a young Swedish girl who completely changed him. He uses the word ‘fuck’ now.”
“Steve Adams? This guy right here?”
“Fuck you, Melanie!” I said with a huge smile.
The other three burst out laughing.
“That’s not all Melanie. He told me, on the phone before he came home that he was going to fuck me silly, every way possible, no hole left untouched.”
“Wait! Steve Adams offered you anal sex?”
“No only offered, but took the lead and did it. And enjoyed it!”
“Damn, Jennifer. Who is this girl?”
“Her name is Katt, and she’s an ice dancer. Maybe you can meet her; she’s training in Colorado now,” Jennifer answered.
“You’re pulling my leg. There is no way!”
“It’s true. She unlocked his wild side. All his inhibitions are gone. Ask him what I did to him last night!”
“Steve?” Melanie asked.
“You know the toy you gave her?”
“Yes,” Melanie tittered.
“She used it on me.” I said deadpan.
“No! Just no way! You let her put that in your butt?”
“I did. I told her no limits, no restrictions. My inhibitions are gone. And it was indeed Katt, a fourteen-year-old Swedish ice dancer who changed me.”
“That’s just not fucking fair!” Melanie whined.
“You were right, Jennifer,” I chuckled. “She’s pissed!”
Jennifer was laughing so hard tears were running down her cheeks.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Pete said.
“Don’t worry about it,” I reassured him. “Your girlfriend is completely off limits.”
“Petey, can’t we talk about the threesome, please?” Melanie begged.
“Melanie!” I cautioned.
“Oh, poo!” she said causing everyone to laugh.
“How is Mary doing?” I asked, recovering from a fit of laughter.
“She’s captain of the chess team!”
“Damn! What about Larry?”
“He’s the best player by far, his Elo is over 2000 now, but he didn’t want to be captain. Think you want to play?”
“No. I was thinking of being a lab assistant for Miss Barkhurst — she asked me for my Junior year before she knew I was going away. And I’ll certainly do computer tutoring, plus Beth and I will be busy with computer dating and other projects. I’ll play for fun, but not on the team. Maybe I’ll come to some matches, say, against Indian Hill?”
“Oh yeah, that would be a great idea,” Jennifer said, her voice dripping sarcasm. “She’s on their team. She decided to play after the abortion. You really should keep your distance from that girl like you said.”
“It’s safe. I have absolutely no interest in her.”
“Moth to a flame, Steve Adams,” Jennifer warned.
“Not any more. I’ve changed. I know when to hold 'em and I know when to fold 'em and I sure as hell know when to walk away and when to run!”
“Do you have that album?” Melanie asked.
“Yeah, I like Kenny Rogers,” I answered.
“Who’s up for a sauna before lunch?” Melanie said with a grin.
“Only if you promise to be good!” I smirked, intentionally baiting her.
“Oh, I’m really, really good! You know that.”
“I meant you have to behave!” I said sternly.
We went upstairs and stripped and went into the sauna which Melanie had turned on before we arrived.
“Looking good!” Melanie tittered, eyeing me up and down.
“Oh stop! Look at your own boyfriend. He’s pretty damn intimidating at this point. Nobody’s going to mess with him when he has a badge and a gun. Still planning on pre-law?”
"Yep. We’ll get married when Pete graduates and gets his first job. I’ll finish my degree then decide on law schools based on where Pete ends up.
“And then live happily ever after!” Jennifer said.
“Thanks to Steve!” Melanie and Pete said at the same time.
“You’re welcome!”
“You have to be my best man,” Pete said. “And I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Yes, Pete,” I said dutifully.
“And Jennifer has to be my Maid of Honor!”
“Of course!” Jennifer agreed.
“Now that’s settled, how are you two doing?”
“OK, despite three of my best friends keeping something important from me for five months.” I said evenly.
“We’re sorry,” Pete said sincerely. “Jennifer swore us to secrecy.”
“I know. I don’t blame you or Melanie.”
“No, he blames me,” Jennifer said sadly. “But I think we’re OK about that now. But it was touch and go last night.”
“It was. I was pretty harsh, but I apologized. All we can do now is take it one day at a time and see what happens,” I said.
“No promise ring or engagement ring?” Melanie asked.
“No; I’m not ready for that. Jennifer knows it. We’re OK. The distance will suck, but if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. «Skall det vara så skall det vara!»”
“What does that mean?”
I smirked, “Swedish for «¡Que será, será!»”
Pete groaned, while Melanie and Jennifer laughed.
We each took a quick shower, dressed then went downstairs for lunch. We said our goodbyes and Jennifer drove me home, mostly in silence, dealing with our thoughts.
“Let me know your plans, OK?” she asked when we arrived.
“Let’s get together on Monday and take it from there. Lunch at the deli?”
“Sounds good.”
We shared a soft kiss, and I went inside.
II. Reconnecting, Part I
July 1980, Milford, Ohio
I walked into the house and went to my room to drop my bag. Stephanie came in a minute later.
“Well, at least now I know who Pam is!” she said with a smile.
“How far did you get?”
“November.”
“You haven’t even gotten close to the good stuff yet, Squirt!”
“Well, I did read all the stuff you wrote when that little slut had her abortion.”
“She’s had sex with exactly one guy, me. That hardly makes her a slut.”
“Why are you defending her? Don’t tell me you STILL have a thing for her.”
“No, I don’t still have a thing for her,” I said firmly. “I do understand her better, though.”
“How did things go with Jennifer?” she said, quickly changing the subject.“You look remarkably well for someone who just fucked his girlfriend for the first time in a year!”
“We actually didn’t have all that much sex, given how long we’ve been apart. We had a lot to talk about.”
“Couldn’t that wait until you finished fucking each other silly?”
“No, it couldn’t. Jennifer and her family are moving to Seattle on August 9th.”
“What?!” Stephanie gasped in shock. “No! She can’t! That will ruin everything!”
“No, it won’t ruin anything. If Jennifer and I are meant to be, it’ll work out.”
“But you need her here with you!”
“She told me that there was someone even better suited to help me take care of myself.”
Stephanie was silent for a moment, then softly said, “Me.”
“Yes, you. Jennifer felt that as long as I have you, I’ll be OK. And I think she’s right.”
“You know I’ll help you any way I can. Anything.”
“I know,” I said. “But you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t want to see you naked until Spring Break. No flashing me. No accidentally being naked around me.”
“Why? It would just be teasing. I’m going to wait for Spring Break before I get you to fuck me every possible way, and I’ll fuck you unconscious.”
“Every possible way?” I chuckled.
“Yes. If you did it with anyone, you’re doing it with me. Do you hear me, Big Brother?” she said, sounding like a drill sergeant giving an order to a new recruit.
“Yes; I hear you.”
“So, why don’t you want to see me?”
“Because I want to burn into my mind the memory of the first time I see you naked on the same day I make love to you for the first time. Is that reason enough?”
She shuddered, and nodded, “OK, Big Bro, for you, no flashing, and no cheap thrills! So what about Jennifer? How will that work?”
“Who knows? We’ll talk on the phone and write letters just as we did for the last year. At some point I’ll probably go visit her, but it’s a long way. Obviously I’d have to fly, so that limits it to school breaks. Maybe I could go during Spring Break.”
“You’ll go in a coffin if you try that one!”
“Then it’s either Christmas or Thanksgiving, I guess, but even Thanksgiving is kind of short to go to Seattle. It’s not cheap to fly, either. I could manage with Pia in another city in Sweden because I could take the train. And Katt lived a relatively short bus ride away from me. Of course, flying to Colorado is almost as bad.”
“You’re going to see the ice dancer?”
“Yes, Katt’s her name. I’ll go after Jennifer leaves for Seattle. I’m sure Mom will have something to say about it, but I really don’t care. How was she last night?”
“I avoided her. She’s on a rampage about you, I’m sure.”
“I think I know why.”
“Oh? You know? Really?”
“Yeah, but you have to keep it to yourself.”
“Of course!”
“I am pretty sure that she had sex with Dad when they first met in Las Vegas, got pregnant, they had to get married, and then she had a miscarriage. If you look at when they married and when I was born and try to fit in a miscarriage and recovery, the timing for getting pregnant before they were married fits.”
“Wow! That would explain everything!”
“And if you think Mom is on a rampage now, think about what would happen if she found your birth control pills.”
“I know. I’ve been very careful.”
I told Stephanie that I needed to make some phone calls. My first one was to Larry and asked him to come by. He told me he’d be over within the hour. Next I called Jennie Sanders, and we talked for about thirty minutes. Everything was great with Kent and they were hoping to start a family soon. I called Joyce, but she was out. Connie took a message and said she’d make sure Joyce called me back. I called Bethany, and I thought my eardrum would break from the squealing that came through the handset.
“Steve! I thought you said next week!”
“I know I did. Want to have lunch tomorrow?”
“Yes! I can drive if you need. I don’t have my own car, but I can borrow my mom’s.”
“Sounds good. Pick me up at 11:00am?”
“OK!”
“I need to be home by 1:00pm, because Beth is bringing my computers.”
“See you tomorrow!”
I made one more call.
“Hi, Elyse. It’s Steve Adams.”
“Steve! You’re home! I’d like to see you.”
“I’d like to see you too. It might be a few weeks, given everything that’s going on. Can you drive? I don’t have my license yet.”
“I can.”
“Cool. It might be after August 9th, though.”
“Just let me know. I don’t have a boyfriend!”
“Cool!” I said, and we said goodbye.
Larry arrived just then, and we hugged.
“How’s your chess game?” he asked.
“Chess? I haven’t touched a piece since the last time you kicked my ass! I hear your Elo is over 2000 now.”
“It is. You really haven’t played for a year?”
“Really.”
“So, no chess team for you, then.”
“No.”
“Would you be willing to be an official for our meets? Each school has to provide one for every meet. You’re the only one I know who really knows the rules and isn’t on the team.”
“I guess I could do that. How much does it pay?” I joked.
“My undying gratitude,” he laughed. “You know that Mary is team captain, right?”
“Yeah, I was surprised it wasn’t you. And surprised it was a girl, given the makeup of the team.”
“I didn’t want it. And the team has changed. Erin and Cindy will easily make the team, so there are three girls and four guys now. It’s the first time the team will have that many girls.”
“Do you think I could skip the Indian Hill match?”
“You have to do all or nothing. I know why you want to skip and I understand, but you can’t really do that.”
“Fine, I’ll manage. Want to shoot some pool? I also haven’t touched a pool cue in a year.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. No chess, no real swimming, no pool.”
“Computers?”
“Yeah, they had one called an ABC-80; it’s just like the TRS-80. And I jogged or ice skated for my exercise.”
“Cool.”
I got a couple of pool cues while Larry racked the balls and started playing. Dad walked by and greeted Larry.
“Have you made any plans?” Dad asked.
“I’ll see Bethany for lunch tomorrow, then Beth is coming over at 1:00pm, as I said. Jennifer and I will get together on Monday and I’ll see Andreas.”
“Grandfather is looking forward to seeing you,” Larry interjected.
“When’s the next time you’re going?”
“A week from tomorrow. You should come along,” he said, making it clear with his eyes that I had no choice.
“Dad, I’ll be going to see Larry’s grandfather, too. On Monday I’ll call Dave’s Driving School. I found them in the Yellow Pages today. And,” I took a deep breath and let it out, “Jennifer is moving to Seattle in a month. Her dad got a new job with Boeing.”
“Wow! So what about you two?” my dad asked.
“One day at a time. I’ll spend a lot of time with her before they leave on August 9th.”
“OK, Son.”
He walked to the kitchen to get a drink, then back to the office.
“She told you, I guess,” Larry said.
“Yeah. I should be mad at you, but I know she swore you to secrecy.”
“It sucks,” Larry sighed. “She’s my best friend.”
“Tell me about it! By the way, thanks for taking her to Homecoming and Prom. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. She’s really the only person I could ever go to those things with. We had a great time.”
“It sucks that I can’t take her to Senior Prom now. And we won’t graduate together.”
“Yeah. It does.”
We played several games of pool and by the time we were done, I was reasonably close to my old form. I’d have to practice a lot to get back in real form. Larry joined us for dinner. The food was good because Dad was cooking burgers on the grill. After dinner, Larry kicked my butt at chess and we played a couple of video games.
“What’s this about you going to medical school?” I asked. “You should be studying electronics or computers.”
“Mom wants me to go to medical school. She says she can get me in to a good school with her connections.”
“Jennifer thinks it’s a bad idea and I tend to agree with her. What does your grandfather have to say?”
“I haven’t discussed it with him yet.”
We continued talking while we played and Larry left around 8:30pm. We had agreed he would pick me up at 3:00pm on Sunday for the trip to see his grandfather.
I called Jennifer, and we spoke briefly. I let her know I was heading to bed and would see her on Monday. I went to my room to get ready for bed and noticed Jeff’s stuff still spread all over the bathroom, so I went to tell Dad about it.
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t touch it, OK?”
“Sure. No problem.”
I brushed my teeth, stripped, and collapsed into bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow even though it wasn’t even 9:00pm. I slept soundly and woke at my normal time. I felt pretty good and hoped that was my body getting back into rhythm.
I made my first regular Sunday call to Karin, and we spoke for about ten minutes. For this first call, I kept it light, just that I missed her and was looking forward to her letters, and that I wasn’t fully yet on ‘Milford time’. After we hung up, I put on my bathing suit and went to swim with Stephanie. We ate breakfast together and then sat in beanbag chairs in my room.
“I’m up to January. Did that really happen in East Berlin? Machine guns?”
“Yeah. That was a wrong turn to beat all wrong turns!”
“Reading about you and Karin was really weird. You told me about it, but wow! Did you tell Jennifer about that kiss?”
“No.”
“Do you think Karin might be the one?”
“I have no idea who it is,” I said carefully. “What I said to Jennifer is that at this point all I’m doing is ruling girls out, not trying to determine who it is. I know it’s not Becky, Kellie, Donna, or Debbie C.”
“You’re damn right it’s not Becky!” Stephanie said fiercely. “It’s Jennifer, and you better remember that!”
“I know that’s who you think it is. But it might not be. And that’s really an issue for a few years from now when I’m close to being done with college.”
“Is Katt ruled out?”
“Keep reading and we’ll talk about her when you catch up.”
“I did find one really interesting thing there.”
“And that is?”
“That I’m the key to your future.”
“You skipped around a bit then,” I chuckled. “You are the key, Stephanie. Until you and I make love, I can’t know if I love Jennifer because she’s Jennifer, or because she’s a surrogate for you. It’s just like Karin and Birgit. First, I have to be with you, then when I kiss Jennifer again, I’ll know if I still feel the real connection she and I have.”
“So, do you think we have a connection?”
“Keep reading.”
Bethany showed up on time, driving her mom’s car. We went to Frisch’s and were seated in the same booth as the previous time we were there.
“How are things with you?” I asked.
“Pretty good. No boyfriend, though I dated a few different guys while you were gone. Only one of them got to kiss me goodnight, and then only once. It always starts out OK, but then after a few dates, I decide they aren’t worth seeing any more.”
“The guy for you is out there!”
“Oh, I know it! That’s one thing I’m very sure of. What about you?”
“Still keeping my options open.”
“What about Jennifer? Aren’t you guys going to go steady this year?”
“No. We aren’t.”
“So you won’t be exclusive with her?” she said hopefully.
“No. She’s moving to Seattle in less than a month.”
“What?!” Bethany gasped in surprise. “She never told me!”
“She didn’t tell me until Friday, even though she’s known since March.”
“Wow! So what will you guys do?”
“Take it one day at a time. That’s all we can do.”
“Well, that really changes things,” Bethany said brightly.
“It does.”
“And Melanie is leaving too, right?”
“Yeah. She’ll only be at OSU so I can see her from time to time, but you know she and Pete are engaged, right?”
“Oh yeah! That picture made the yearbook supplement! Things will be really different for you without those two here all the time for you. I know you really depended on them. The lunch table will be quite different.”
“I know. I don’t think my Senior year is going to be as good as it might have been.”
“I think it’ll be fine if you want it to,” she said. “So tell me, what classes are you taking this year?”
“Chemistry, physics, English, government, Spanish, and my math class is Analysis.”
“Spanish? Did you take it in Sweden?”
“I considered it, but it would have been introductory and it would have been strange trying to take that class in Swedish. I’m really rusty now that I haven’t used it all year. I’m supposed to be in the Spanish Literature class, but I don’t know for sure if I can handle it.”
“Take German with me instead! I’m sure Mr. Grathwohl will let you switch. The German Club is WAY more fun that the Spanish club. There’s even going to be a ski trip over Christmas!”
“You’re taking German? What happened to French?”
“I got my two years I need for college and I decided it would be cool to take another language. Isn’t Swedish related to German?”
“Yes, but it’s very different. You might have a point, though. I’ll have to think about it.”
“We could study together if you did.”
“I’ll think about it. So what was this thing you wanted to do with me?” I smirked.
“You know damn well what it is!” she said with a nervous giggle. “I have an itch that needs scratching and you’re the only one that I’m even remotely interested in having scratch it!”
“I’d be happy to oblige,” I chuckled. “But I don’t know for sure if I can use the apartment until I speak with Andreas. I’ll do that tomorrow.”
“There’s always my bed!”
“Yeah, right. As if your parents are going to allow that!”
“They both work.”
“And Ed?”
“I think we might find something to distract him!”
“My sister?”
“Right the first time!”
“OK. We’ll figure it out. I can do you that favor.”
“That? As in once?”
“One step at a time. I’m going to spend a lot of time with Jennifer before she leaves. After that, we’ll talk. But I have to warn you that I’m not looking for a committed relationship with anyone.”
She nodded, and then suggested, “How about lunch on Wednesday? Stephanie could invite Ed to swim.”
“I’ll talk to her and my dad!”
We finished eating and Bethany took me home so I could be there when Beth Pater arrived with my computers.
Beth arrived right at 1:00pm and after a quick hug, she, Stephanie and I carried the boxes with my computers in them to my room. Beth and I hooked them up and made sure everything was working. We chatted while we were working.
“Steve, we have at least six schools that want us to run computer dating for them. We might even be able to get one or two more.”
“Excellent!”
She handed me an envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Your share. I used your computer all year and you deserve some of the money.”
I opened the envelope to find $900!
“That’s too much!”
“$150 per school. I made way more than that, even after paying the gang to help me enter the data and paying for paper and printer ribbons. I have quite a bit of money left over after buying my Apple ]
[ because Doctor Grossi paid me to work on his programs.”
“How are things going there?”
“Good, actually. He’s super happy.”
“I wonder if he’d be OK with us selling the program to other veterinarians.”
“You mean like running a business?”
“Yeah, at least for our Senior year, and then we’ll see where it goes.”
“That’s a cool idea. Yes, let’s do that!”
“I hear you and Brent broke up after Prom. What happened?”
“It just wasn’t working. We never really clicked. He’s a nice guy for sure, and we both play chess and are interested in computers, but in the end I didn’t love him and didn’t think I could love him. I could have him as a friend, but nothing more.”
“That’s too bad. Got your eye on anyone else?”
“No, no boyfriend prospects at the moment, though I could use a good fuck from my computer buddy, if he’s available!”
“He’s always available for that!” Stephanie chimed in, standing at the door to my room.
“Stephanie!” I exclaimed “We talked about saying things like that before I went away.”
“I know. But it’s true, isn’t it?”
“Maybe,” I chuckled.
“Hah!” Stephanie smirked.
“And you’re available? Or are you and Jennifer exclusive now?”
“We’re not exclusive. She’s moving to Seattle.”
“What?! When?”
“Early next month.”
“That sucks for you two!”
“It does.”
My mom appeared in the doorway.
“Stephanie!” she growled. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from Steve and his slutty girlfriends?”
Beth gasped.
“Mom,” I said firmly, “don’t you dare call my friends names like that! Ever!”
“I’ll say what I want in my house! If the truth hurts, well, that’s too bad.”
“Tell you what, let’s go right now and talk to Dad about this. And we can talk about your call to Jennifer’s mom, where you called her every name in the book and called Jennifer a slut. Beth, please excuse me.”
Beth just nodded, still reeling from the shock of my mom’s tirade.
I walked down the hall to head to Dad’s office. Stephanie was right behind me. I didn’t pay any attention to whether or not Mom was following us. I found Dad in his office.
“Dad, Mom just called my business partner Beth a slut to her face.”
“What?” he said, looking askance.
“It’s true!” Stephanie confirmed. “She walked up to Steve’s room and told me that I was supposed to stay away from Steve and his ‘slutty girlfriend’.”
“That’s not all,” I said. “She called Mrs. Block yesterday morning and not only told her off, but called her every name in the book, according to Mrs. Block, and called Jennifer a slut as well. It’s pretty funny, in one sense, because Mom has had sex with more guys than Jennifer has. Jennifer was a virgin when we made love and she’s never been with another guy. That hardly qualifies as being slutty!”
“Steve, be truthful, did you say anything at all to your mom to provoke the comment about Beth?”
“No, I didn’t. Mom saw Stephanie standing at my door and made her comment. I haven’t even spoken to Mom since Friday!”
“It’s true!” Stephanie interjected.
“And what did you say to her now?”
“I asked her not to call my friends names like that. She said in her house she’d do as she pleased. That’s when I said I was coming to talk to you. I’m not sure where she is now.”
“Where’s Beth?”
“Sitting in a chair in front of my computers, just as we used to do.”
He sighed, “I’m sorry. Let me talk to your mom.”
As Stephanie and I were walking back to my room, the doorbell rang. I went to the door and was almost bowled over as Mary jumped, squealing into my arms.
“Steve! I heard you were home! You didn’t call me!”
“Mary, I arrived home late Thursday and you know I had to see Jennifer. I was going to call you. How’s the captain of the chess team doing?”
“Great! Larry told me you agreed to be our official. That’s awesome! Let’s get together soon. I want to catch up.”
“Beth is here and we’re programming today. Can I call you in the next few days?”
“For sure!”
She hugged me and gave me a quick peck on the lips and went on her way. I went back to my room. I apologized again to Beth. She nodded, saying she understood, and started to show me the changes she’d made and new things she’d done for both Doctor Grossi and the computer dating programs. We discussed how we might get more schools involved and she said she had written to each student council in the area at the end of last year. There were twenty schools, and five, besides Milford, had already signed-up.
I decided that we’d go out for dinner rather than stay home, so around 5:00pm I went to Dad and told him we were going out. Beth and I went to Duff’s Smorgasbord, which had replaced David’s Buffet, and ate our fill, sampling just about everything they had to offer. We had a good chat.
“Steve, you haven’t told me if you’re available.”
“Beth, I am, but I’ll need to spend a lot of time with Jennifer before August 9th. After that, I’m pretty much available.”
“Not before then?”
“Well, I suppose on a Sunday we could take a break from programming for some alternative input and output,” I smirked. “But I won’t know if I have access to the apartment until I talk to Andreas.”
“I hope so, because my mom is home pretty much all the time, unless she’s grocery shopping or something like that.”
When we finished, we walked to Graeter’s and had ice cream sundaes and then Beth dropped me at home. We hugged goodbye, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek and I went inside. I walked down the hall to my room and a couple of minutes later, Stephanie came in.
“Seriously Big Brother? A bet?” she giggled.
“Yeah. That was a total surprise.”
“I’ll take what she got, Big Bro!”
“She was pretty sore afterwards.”
“Let me worry about that!”
“Bethany asked me for a favor that I need your help with.”
“A double date with Ed?”
“Not quite. Ask him to come swim around lunch time on Wednesday.”
“So you can be with Bethany, huh?” she smirked.
“What do you think?”
“I think she wants to fuck your brains out, that’s what I think.”
“Smart girl!”
“Yes, I am! Sure, that’s fine. I’ll tell dad and he’ll be OK with it.”
“Cool. She’ll drop Ed here and we’ll go out, then she’ll pick him up and take him home.”
She went back to her room, and I messed around on the computers a bit until I was tired.
I slept soundly and woke up early to swim. Stephanie and I had resumed our morning routine of swimming and breakfast together. I was really happy, though I did miss skating. And that reminded me of Katt. I did want to see her, but it would be after Jennifer left. I needed to talk to Dad about that as well.
I found Dad just as he was about to leave for work and let him know that I was planning to fly out to Colorado for a few days in August to see Katt. I quickly explained the situation and confirmed that her parents had indeed invited me. He said that so long as I paid for the trip, he wouldn’t object, though Mom would likely have a fit.
“What happened with the name-calling thing?” I asked.
“I asked her to please be polite, but I don’t know how much good it will do. I hate to say this, but going away to college would be a really good idea.”
“That’s already my plan. I haven’t looked at schools yet, but I’ll start doing that as soon as I meet with Mrs. Barngrover. We’ll have to map out my plan for the SAT and ACT tests, and figure out which colleges are good for computer science. Also, I’m thinking about switching from Spanish to German.”
Dad chuckled, “I learned quite a bit of German when I was in the Navy during WWII.”
He had been a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy, serving as a radioman on destroyers running convoys in the North Atlantic.
“I didn’t know that.” I said. “Maybe we can practice together!”
“We’ll see,” he chuckled. “By the way, you should apply to Dartmouth. I suspect they have a good computer science program, and you get bonus points to get in because it’s my alma mater.”
“I’ll check into it!”
He left for work and I went back to my room to catch up on my Creative Computing and Strategy & Tactics magazines that had piled up while I was away. I read until 9:00am and then called the driving school. They had openings the second full week in August which worked out well, because that would be after Jennifer left. They promised to mail me all the forms and I could send them back, signed, and with a check to cover the fees.
My next call was to the travel agent in Milford to find out about flights to Boulder. I found out that the best plan was to fly to Denver and then have Katt’s parents pick me up. The travel agent said it was only a forty minute drive and made a lot more sense. I asked them to make a reservation from the 16th to the 20th, and I’d call back to confirm. The flight wasn’t cheap, but I’d rather do that than try to drive 1,200 miles. I also checked on the costs and time to go to Seattle and was disappointed at the need to change planes and the cost. I’d have to figure out how to make that work.
I called Katt and as I expected, Inger answered, because Katt was at the rink as usual. I confirmed the dates with her and she replied that she was happy that I could arrange to visit and that Katt would be ecstatic. We chatted for a few more minutes and when we hung up, I called the travel agency and confirmed the tickets. They said I could pick them up any time.
Jennifer picked me up at 11:30am and we drove to the deli. I saw a kid about my age sweeping the sidewalk and when we walked in, I saw Kim behind the counter.
“Steve!” she said with a big grin.
“Hello, Steve!” Andreas said.
“I’m here for lunch with my girlfriend today, Andreas, but she’ll be OK if we speak for a few minutes once we eat.”
“Just come to my office when you’re ready.”
Jennifer and I ordered our sandwiches and Kim made them for us. She wasn’t going to let me pay, but I insisted because I wasn’t an employee anymore. Jennifer and I took our food outside and ate. When we finished, I went back inside to talk to Andreas.
“Steve, it’s good to see you. How are things?”
“Good, Andreas. I’m ready to get back to work!”
“Well, as you can see, I replaced you, but there’s work to be done. I assume you are going to take over the programming work again?”
“Yes, though Beth will probably still work with me, at least on the programs for Doctor Grossi.”
“Good. Don Joseph wants to see you, but I can tell you that he has more things he would like to track by computer. He thinks it’s safer than putting it on paper because it’s so much quicker to erase a disk than burn papers, and the disks take a lot less space to store than papers.”
“Of course. I already spoke with Larry and I’ll be going to see Don Joseph next Sunday.”
“Good. Do you remember the extra work that I said I had for you?”
“Yes.”
He described what he expected me to do and how to go about it. All I would have to do is provide him names and he would take care of actually having someone contact them. He told me that not all the girls worked at the house and that for the ones that didn’t, I’d give them appointment lists and collect money from them each Friday. It sounded pretty simple, almost like the other courier jobs I did.
Andreas also said that from time to time, I might be called on to deliver messages to people. I asked what he meant by that and he laughed saying that it really was just messages, not something like what had happened to Josh Benton. I agreed, and promised to do whatever I was asked.
“Don Joseph told me to give this to you,” Andreas said, handing me an envelope. “Also, starting today, you are back on the payroll, though without the work here.”
"Thanks, " I said, putting it in my pocket,
“And, the keys to the apartment,” he chuckled, handing me the key ring. “You made good use of it before, though we won’t tell the Don who you were using it with.”
Andreas knew I had been there with Joyce. I wasn’t even going to ask how he knew that.
“I appreciate that,” I said with a bit of trepidation.
“There’s nothing to worry about, Steve. As I said, I won’t say anything.”
Even though he gave me that assurance, I wasn’t comfortable with the situation now. Of course, Joyce and I weren’t seeing each other, but I wondered what might happen when that became public. I’d have to discuss it with her and figure things out. Andreas and I finished our conversation, and I walked out of his office.
“Kim, how are things going?” I asked.
“Pretty good! I have a boyfriend!”
“Cool! What about college?”
“University of Cincinnati. I start in about six weeks.”
“Awesome! I’m sure I’ll see you before you start school.”
“I’m going to keep working here on weekends, as well.”
“Cool. Still living on Milford Hills Drive?”
“Yep. You still on Overlook?”
“Yeah.”
We said our goodbyes and Jennifer and I walked back to her car and drove to my house so we could swim and hang out with Stephanie. I let Jennifer know about my lunch date with Bethany for Wednesday and also that I had arranged driving school for the week after she left. She was happy about that because it wouldn’t take time away from us. I let her know about my plans to go to Colorado and see Katt and I could tell she wasn’t happy about that.
“Jennifer, what’s bothering you about Katt?”
“I’m not sure, really. I don’t think she’s a threat to us, but something just seems wrong.”
“I really don’t expect it to last, and I’m doing for her what Joyce, Sofia, and Pia did for me — providing emotional support. I think she needs me now and I can help her. Is that wrong?”
“I don’t know. As I said, something is just wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Are you asking me not to go?”
“No. That’s totally up to you. It’s after I leave, anyway.”
When we arrived at my house, we changed into our bathing suits and Stephanie joined us in the pool. We splashed around for a bit and then went to sit on the deck and get some sun.
“Too bad we aren’t in Sweden! Lots of girls sunbathe topless!” I smirked.
“Mom would kill all of us!” Stephanie giggled.
“Yeah, I know. I’m also going to miss having a sauna in the house.”
“Maybe you could get Dad to add one.”
“I won’t be here after this year to use it. Dad strongly suggested that I go away to school to get away from Mom. I’m going to do it, too. I just need to coordinate with Jennifer.”
“That’s going to suck!” Stephanie pouted.
“I know Squirt, but I’ll make sure I have time for you.”
“You better!”
We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Stephanie. Jennifer and I went to her house for dinner and a short lovemaking session, and then she brought me home. We agreed to get together on Wednesday afternoon, after my lunch with Bethany.
I looked in the envelope that Andreas had given me and found five $50 bills. I was definitely back on the payroll.
III. Reconnecting, Part II
July 1980, Milford, Ohio
Wednesday morning was routine. Just before 11:00am, Bethany pulled into the driveway. Stephanie opened the door and let Ed inside. I said ‘hello’ to him as I went past them, with Stephanie giving me a knowing wink. I walked out and got into Bethany’s car. Less than five minutes later, we were at her house. She led me directly upstairs to her room.
“Wait here!” she giggled and left the room.
The first thing I noticed was a picture of Bethany and me that had been taken at the turnabout dance, Freshman year. I looked around and saw a typical teenage girl’s room. She had framed photos of the cheer team and a Johnny Bench poster on her walls. The bedspread and curtains were pink and there were two stuffed animals, both bunnies, on the bed.
Bethany returned in two minutes wearing her Milford Eagles Cheer uniform! She dropped her other clothes on the floor and I noticed the purple bra and panties that she seemed to always wear for me in the pile.
“I remembered your fantasy!” she giggled.
She lifted the short skirt to show that she wasn’t wearing any panties!
“Do you remember how it felt when we kissed before you left?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Kiss me! I want to see if it’s the same.”
I pulled her to me and kissed her. I felt something, but it was much weaker than before.
She broke the kiss, “I felt it again. I told you that we have something special.”
“Maybe, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“I know, but can we at least explore our feelings?”
I thought about it and realized that if I was to do that with her, I’d have to explain everything about Jennifer, Karin, and, more importantly, Stephanie. Could she handle that? I had no idea. She’d also have to understand that I couldn’t make any commitments and, for right now, I wasn’t looking to go steady. I could at least start with part of that.
“There is a lot we have to talk about if you’re interested in me romantically. Most importantly, I’m not going to commit to anyone exclusively at this point.”
“That includes Jennifer?” Bethany asked.
“Yes. She and I agreed on that. We’re taking it one day at a time.”
“Then you’re free to explore. That’s all I can ask, anyway.”
She kissed me softly, parted her lips and our tongues twisted and twirled around each other. I slid my hand from her back to cup her breast, and she moaned softly into my mouth. I moved my hand a bit so I could rub her nipple through her sweater with my thumb. I kissed her neck softly and then sucked gently on her earlobe, causing her to shiver.
I pushed my hand up under her sweater and discovered that she wasn’t wearing the sports bra that was part of the uniform! I squeezed her breast and tweaked her nipple, causing her to moan. She unbuttoned my polo and pulled it over my head. I pushed her sweater up and bent my head down and twirled my tongue around her right nipple, then sucked it and most of her small breast into my mouth. I sucked hard and ran my tongue forcefully against her nipple. I did the same for her left breast. I released her and gave her a deep kiss while roaming my hands up and down her back.
I pulled her into an embrace, cupped her firm butt, and kissed her hard. Her hands moved to my jeans, and she quickly had them off of me, along with my underwear. She hugged me, then pushed gently to indicate I should sit on the bed. She knelt in front of me and grasped my erection with her small hand, looked in my eyes, and then kissed the head of my dick. She opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out to lick the glans. She licked me a few more times and then took me into her mouth. Her lips closed on my shaft just below the head and she sucked gently and moved her tongue, jacking me with her left hand.
She opened her mouth and released me, then pushed up far enough to kiss me on the lips. She then returned her attention to my dick and slowly took me in as far as she could, while she continued to stroke me with her left hand. She was very enthusiastic and bobbed up and down several times, taking me halfway each time. She pulled up until just the tip of my dick was in her mouth and suddenly pushed down to engulf me. Slowly, she released me and then another fast downward motion. I was close.
“I’m going to cum soon!” I warned.
She bobbed a few more times, taking me almost fully into her mouth, putting me over the edge.
“Ungh!” I grunted as my orgasm hit me.
Bethany moved so that just my glans was in her mouth and sucked hard as the first spurt filled her mouth. She swallowed each spurt in turn, stroking me the whole time. When I was finished, she sucked hard, licked me gently, and released me. I pulled her up into my lap, hugged her tightly, and French kissed her. I pressed my hand under her skirt and rubbed her mons and she moaned into my mouth.
I broke the kiss and moved her onto the bed and knelt between her legs. I pushed up her sweater again and sucked each nipple in turn. I put my hands behind her butt and scooted her forward to the edge of the bed. I moved the red skirt out of the way and then gently licked her from the bottom to the top of her slit, eliciting a moan.
“Yes!” she hissed. “Lick me, please!”
I pressed my tongue deeply into her pussy, getting a mouthful of her sweet and spicy juices. I moved my tongue side to side and up and down, as well as in and out. I held her butt tightly in my hands and she began rocking her hips slightly. She was moaning constantly as I ate her. I spent a long time licking and kissing her, drinking in her juices and feeling the soft silkiness of her tunnel with my tongue.
I moved my hands and pressed her legs further apart, then using my fingers, I spread her labia to see her clit. I pressed my tongue directly on it and she shivered. A few licks and sucks and she groaned and arched her back to press her pussy hard against me. When her orgasm finished, I moved to the bed and kissed her hard. She started stroking my dick and quickly had me hard.
“I’m still taking the Pill!” Bethany giggled when I reached for a condom.
I pulled down the comforter and pushed her on her back with me between her legs. I pressed my dick against her labia and looked deeply into her eyes. She smiled and I slowly and gently pushed my whole length into her warm, wet and silky tunnel. She sighed deeply and put her ankles behind mine. Seeing her below me in that uniform was a major turn-on!
I started a slow rhythm which she automatically met with gentle thrusting of her hips. After a few minutes, she had a small orgasm and I felt the gentle spasms of her pussy on my dick. She had another one about a minute later and then I sensed her urgency and we moved together to a faster tempo, continuing to look deeply into each other’s eyes. Our breathing picked up with the pace of our thrusts.
“Oh perfect! Just like that! Right there!” she gasped.
I continued thrusting, and she alternated thrusting back directly and slightly rotating her hips. Sometimes she thrust hard so that my thrust banged into her. She was getting close. She wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me tighter with her arms.
“Screw me really hard!” she gasped.
I thrust hard six or seven times and I felt her entire body go rigid and she let out a loud grunt, then a longer groan and her pussy spasmed hard around my dick. I continued thrusting into her through her orgasm and felt her clamp down hard on me. I pushed as deep as possible into her and fired jet after jet deep into her pussy.
I leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips, then kissed her neck, sucking on each earlobe. Her sweater was still pushed up, so I moved to kiss her breasts, gently licking each nipple, eliciting a moan each time. I ran my tongue down her stomach, tasting our joint perspiration. I had to pass over her skirt, then I continued through her damp pubic hair and across her clit. That contact caused her to buck her hips hard and jam her pussy into my mouth. I licked along her pussy and pressed my tongue into the spot my dick had just been, tasting our combined flavors. I moved my tongue to her clit and licked and sucked until she bucked her hips and came. I stuck my tongue in her tunnel once more, then moved up and kissed her deeply, allowing her a taste of our lovemaking.
I moved off her and pulled her into a cuddle.
“Just as good as before! You’re still the only person I’ve done any of that stuff with. You might be the only person I want to do it with, ever,” Bethany sighed.
That was exactly what I was afraid of. Now I had three girls telling me the same thing — Karin, Jennifer, and Bethany. Really, it was four if you counted Birgit. And, before the blow-up, Becky. That made five. Only Pia and Joyce, of the serious relationships I had, hadn’t expressed that feeling. What did THAT mean? Was Jennifer correct in her thinking that the only way to a permanent relationship with me was for the girls to commit themselves to me, starting with the first time I was with them?
“Bethany, remember what I said about commitment,” I whispered.
“I know. Jennifer won’t be here, so maybe we could date? I’m not asking for us to be exclusive, just dates.”
“We’ll see, OK? I’m taking things one day at a time right now.”
“Yes,” she said softly. “Should we eat some lunch?”
“Sure.”
We dressed and went downstairs to eat lunch. Bethany quickly prepared sandwiches and put out chips and got two bottles of Dr Pepper out of the fridge. We ate our lunch and talked about the upcoming school year. I told her I was going to take German, and she was happy about that. When we finished lunch, she drove me home and picked up Ed. I kissed her goodbye and promised to talk to her soon. I went inside and went to my room.
“So, have a good time, Big Brother?”
“Yes. She’s a lot of fun. But she’s looking for a romantic relationship with me.”
“Donna would be too, if she wasn’t pregnant. Erin will be, for sure. She’s been hoping you and Jennifer would break up while you were away.”
“This just gets more complicated every day. It’s almost enough to make me apply to emigrate to Sweden and go live with Pia!”
“Pia?! Why Pia?”
“Because she’s about the lowest maintenance girl I’ve ever been with.”
“What about Karin?”
“I told you what might stand in the way of that one. I’m not sure she’ll be able to deal with what we’re going to do.”
“Does Pia know about me?”
“No. And I don’t see a need to tell her unless she and I were to reconnect somehow in the future. Most likely, that’s not going to happen.”
“Most likely?”
“You heard me. She’s not ruled-out.”
“You know Jennifer is upset with you, right, Big Brother?”
“I got that feeling when I told her about going to see Katt. But she didn’t tell me not to do it.”
“Well, of course not, you fucking idiot!”
“I see you know all about Katt now!”
“Yeah, I do. I’m up to May, just when you’re writing about some girl named Elizabeth that I haven’t heard of before. And who the heck is Florence Major?”