Chapter 8: Pennsylvania

Pulling away from the motel near the Pittsburg airport, Dave felt a wave of loneliness sweep over him. Two of the women he loved had just departed to go ‘HOME’. Home, about a thousand miles south, was where he wished he could be right then. Home with all his friends and lovers. Maybe this was one of the lessons he needed to learn on this trip: he didn’t need to roam, despite how much he loved riding his fancy Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Dave sighed and turned east and then southeast, again avoiding the Interstate highways. For a Saturday morning, he thought traffic was light. He followed the GPS on his phone to the destination he’d programmed in the night before: Fallingwater, the unique home that Frank Lloyd Wright had designed in 1935. Again, he’d bought tour tickets ahead of time over the Internet and glad he did because the place was not as serene as the original owners would have liked; he figured there were over a hundred people prowling around the house and grounds. Nonetheless, he was fascinated by the historic landmark and what it represented. He was surprised to hear that the home was actually planned completely by Wright in about two hours.

Dave puttered around on back roads heading roughly east towards State College. He wanted to see Penn State, but in no rush to get there, especially since there was another weather front full of rain approaching the area. At one of his stops, he researched the route ahead and decided to stop in a small berg named Hollidaysburg. The town had a movie theater and several motels as well as B&Bs. One phone call got him a room at the Allegheny Street Bed and Breakfast. After securing that he had the room, he asked about the motorcycle, and the receptionist told him they’d have him store his bike overnight in what used to be the carriage house behind the renovated turn-of-the-century home.

Dave arrived about four p.m., and brought his gear inside. The home’s owner, a small woman about fifty he guessed, had him store the bike and the things he didn’t need in a locked garage. As a result, he only brought inside a small duffle bag and a saddlebag – his clothes, toiletries, and computer. The rain started at five o’clock.

Dave came downstairs after showering, shaving, and putting on some nicer clothes than what he rode in. He looked out at the rain. The owner appeared and assessed him. She chuckled at his dilemma, “You were wanting to go out somewhere for dinner and stay dry, I presume from the look on your face?”

“I was. I have rain gear upstairs, so I guess I should get something before I head off to forage for food. I saw several places a block or two away when I arrived. If you have a recommendation and an umbrella I could borrow, I’d sure appreciate it. I promise to return it after dinner.”

“Oh, pooh. Don’t go to any of those places. Those are just sub shops and pizza places. The better restaurants are out by the highway, and that’s too far to walk. Stay here and I’ll feed you, if you don’t mind eating with an old lady. That’s the price of a home cooked meal.”

“Really? I don’t want to put you out, and by the way I don’t see any ‘old ladies’ around.”

“You’re blind, then. I’m used merchandise – over fifty and single.”

“You’re cute and very attractive, moreover your home is neat and contemporary, and reflects your personality and I like everything I see. If you’re sure I won’t put you out, I would be delighted to dine with you. Can I help in some way and I’ll certainly pay for the privilege? Normally, I’d bring a bottle of wine to such an event, but I’m ill-prepared today.”

“You won’t be a bother and there’s no charge I’d like the company in fact, even with a biker, although you don’t act like my stereotype of one.”

“Chew tobacco, spit a lot, act tough, carry brass knuckles, drop ‘F’ bombs in my limited but colorful vocabulary, and maintain a scruffy appearance?”

“Pretty close. I wouldn’t feel safe with one of those types. Just what is your type?”

Dave teased, “Do you watch TV?”

“Sure?”

“Ever watch a show called The Circle on one of the off-network cable channels?”

Mariah’s eyes squinted at him then put her glasses on and took a step closer to examine him. Under her breath, he heard her swear. “Shit. You’re that guy in the show, aren’t you? You have a bunch of wives.”

Dave shrugged, “I just left two of them in Pittsburgh this morning. They were going to fly home to Sarasota. I’m taking a solo vacation, meeting interesting people such as yourself, and seeing some of the sights along the way. I was at Fallingwater earlier today, as a for instance. Previous days, I did Monticello and Luray Caverns with Penny. I’m going to meander east and north, avoid the big cities, and head into New England when I leave here.”

Mariah pointed at a kitchen chair, “Not many motorcycle riders care about Fallingwater, I bet. Sit.” A moment later she put a chilled bottle of Chardonnay, a wine bottle opener, and two wine glasses in front of him without further instructions. Dave chuckled; he could take a hint, especially one given with such a nice smile.

Mariah said, “I am not a regular viewer of that show, or any others, for that matter; I will be from now on. I’m more of a reader than a watcher. I like to create my own images of the people who’re the main characters in books or stories, and see as the plot and character development unfold and I learn more about them whether I was right or not. Some of my reading you might even consider trashy.”

“Trashy? How’s that?”

“Romance novels – the kind with a dashing long-haired muscular man sweeping a maiden in distress off her feet on the cover. She, of course, is over-flowing the tight bodice on her under-sized dress and inevitably looks like a hot blonde would have looked two-hundred years ago. Once you get to reading, however, you may find out that the heroine is a redhead or brunette, and that the muscular lord is anything but a rogue that she needs to be saved from by a handsome stable hand she has seriously underestimated. The publishers don’t always match up the covers with the contents, except usually for the title.” She laughed.

Mariah went on, “Tell me about your TV show or about the Circle. I guess the latter is more interesting since somebody decided to do a show about it. I recall that the place is very special, but I can’t remember why.”

Dave gave the somewhat sterilized version of what the Circle had been and had become as more and more pledges became members. He talked about some of the fundamental beliefs and expectations people had about each other, and then about the love and emotional bonding inside the gates. He hinted at the sex, but left explicit mention unstated. He did tell the story about how he and Alice started to loosen up, after Alice caught her best friend in flagrante delicto in the car next to where she parked one morning at her work.

Mariah laughed and poured them both some more wine. “So, you and your wifey were goody-goodies?”

Dave chuckled and got a little more open with his comments, “Of the most naïve and protected kind. Our marriage was almost sterile up to that point. Sex was something we never talked about and only did out of an obligation to the institution. If I’m honest, I might admit that there was a huge amount of acting out the way a husband or wife ‘should’ be, and not a lot of love. The love came later, after we loosened up and realized the potential for love in the universe if we loved more than one person. Before that, we were pretending our love for each other the way we thought others wanted us to be – more ‘shoulds’.

“A colleague of mine was consulting to the public utility where I worked – Pam. She was the type of person that made it easy to fall in love with. Alice and I BOTH fell in love with her. Only then, did my feelings also pop to a new level for Alice ... and Pam. I felt that way about both of them. Heather came along right after that, and then Julie and Cricket, and each time I popped into a better and more rewarding place in my life. Scarlett then fell for me or rather us, before I fell for her. I guess I felt that I couldn’t believe that a movie star would feel that way about us. She did, and finally I accepted the fact.”

“And you have ten wives?” Mariah said idly.

He nodded, “Penny will become a wife, and maybe one or two others. I think of them that way now. I met another woman on this trip and we bonded in a way that suggests she might also be a candidate. Her name is Sue. I think she’s going to Sarasota to kick the tires and see whether she likes the other people that I love. I also love a girl named Jenny that lives in the Circle that may as well be a wife.”

“But you love or make love with all the other women?”

Dave nodded. “We’re kind of insular. We have some strict requirements about outsiders, as I hinted at earlier. They must have a clean test for STDs, for instance. They can’t be in a relationship we’d destroy or fracture if we created a sexually intimate relationship with them. The potential for a longer-term relationship should also be evident, although we glide by that sometimes, especially with outsiders – people not in the Circle.”

Mariah said, “So, if most of those requirements were met, and a woman asked, you’d make love with her? I’m recalling what you said over dinner about the Circle being a very egalitarian place, where gender roles typical in society weren’t honored. In your

Circle, you implied that the men weren’t the usual ones asking for a ‘date’.”

Mariah hovered around the dining table clearing away the dishes, and then putting things in the dishwasher or leftovers in the refrigerator as she waited for Dave to respond. He’d tried to help her, but she insisted he remain at the table.

Dave nodded, “Yes, I guess that’s exactly what would happen.” Dave was quickly assessing the situation, because of the way Mariah had asked the question and also the longing look she gave him. He realized he was in the middle of a seduction that he’d not intended. Instead, the hostess of the B&B was hitting on him

Mariah walked around the dining room table where they’d been sitting. She leaned in and kissed Dave. She said, “I’m asking. I have my test results down the hall that I just got this week for no particular reason, other than ... I guess I hoped that someone like you would come into my life.”

Dave took Mariah’s hand and guided her so she sat on his lap. He hadn’t realized what a really small woman she was until then. Although older, she was Dave’s type: short, cute, and very fuckable. Moreover, she apparently had a set of breasts on her chest that would be a great playground when they started to make love.

Dave said, “I know this is a very non-PC question, but why? Why me? Why now? Do you do this with your other boarders? I have no expectations.”

Mariah laughed, “I’ll take the last question first. No, I’ve never had sex with anyone other than my late husband. He was older and has been gone six years. I do have sex with my adult toys in my bedside drawer. As for the ‘Why now?’ question, I prefer the ‘Why not now?’ question. I am horny ALL the fucking time. I must be wired inside my head or my pussy in some funny way, because I masturbate a couple of times each day. Moreover, I love pornography. I like to watch people fucking – and I can get even more explicit about that, but even that admission is embarrassing. I mentioned I like to read those trash novels; well, some of them are very ‘X-rated’.

“The ‘Why you?’ question might be interesting to you, as well. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that the motorcycle really got my blood churning. I’d expected a bad boy, and I worried about who I’d rented a room to over the phone, but then you come in and you’re polite and gracious, and even appealing and sexy. I thought I’d be scared shitless, and I am in a way, but I’m not threatened. You are a ‘good boy’ but doing some ‘bad boy’ things, like the bike and your trip.

“Moreover, you give off vibes like you know exactly how to read my body like a book and play me like a virtuoso. When you arrived and we first talked a few hours ago, my body responded so well to you that I started to flush my female juices out to attract you by my aroma and readiness. I had to go wash and put a pad in my undies. You, kind sir, turn me on. I hope you’ll tolerate an old lady long enough to make her fantasy about you come true.”

Dave leaned in and kissed Mariah and felt her whole body relax into his. The kiss was his acceptance of their mating. She turned and pressed her breasts again his chest, allowing the front of her scoop neck dress to gape open for his enjoyment. She smiled when he looked at her playground.