Chapter 1

It was a warm September afternoon. Here I was, a mid-thirties, suburban housewife walking down the quiet, suburban street I lived on, on the way to Gloria's house. It was fairly windy, a gust whipped up and I had to reach down to hold my skirt. I suppose my modesty wasn't really in jeopardy but the skirt was considerably shorter than what I was accustomed to wearing. Having looked at myself in the mirror before leaving home, I noticed that the bustline of the dress certainly accentuated my 36C breasts and the skirt flaired enough to emphasize my narrow waist and lush hips.

Gloria had asked me to assist her with a party she was throwing for her husband Dave's boss. He had just started a new job she really wanted to impress him. Part of his new responsibilities included entertaining customers. She was originally going to hire several college girls to serve food and drinks but she suggested that maybe I would want to help and in return she would forget the $65.00 I had borrowed earlier that month. I readily agreed, the party sounded like fun. Gloria thought about renting maids uniforms for us but decided against it, she then asked us both to wear matching skirts and blouses. She had called me earlier in the week and told me that mine was almost ready, I had gone over to her place to try the skirt on. I was uncomfortable with how short it was but she laughed it off, reminding me that I was about 20 years behind the times. I didn't want to appear too prudish, I didn't know any of these people and wouldn't be the only one dressed like this, besides it was no worse than what many other women were wearing these days; so I agreed to wear it. I had to admit the outfit didn't look too bad on me, a red and black checked skirt, white blouse, red scarf, black high heels and suntan panty hose. It may have looked all right but it wasn't designed to protect me from the November gusts I shivered and hurried along the sidewalk.

Gloria met me at the door, she laughed and asked me if it was going to snow. We stood on the porch and discussed the overcast weather for a moment, until she noticed me shivering. We stepped inside to begin preparations for the evening. Gloria was busy on the phone so I did most of the straightening up, setting up the buffet, etc. About 5:00, a pretty young girl came to the door wearing the same outfit I was in. We introduced each other; Paula was to help me serve. She seemed nice, pert, maybe a little impertinent but friendly enough and I had to admit in that outfit with her figure, she looked smashing. She told me she was a 19 year old student at a nearby JC. I said goodbye to Pete and Chris, Gloria's kids, 16 and 14 respectively. They were going to their own party that night, so they wouldn't be disturbed by ours. They were actually the reason for my friendship with Gloria; Chris was my 15 year old daughter Karen's best friend. And Pete was Karen's boyfriend. He had always scared me, I thought he might be too "mature" for her, but what could I do?

Gloria came down about 7:30. Dave had just gotten home and the guests had just started arriving. Mostly couples, mid twenties to early forties, they were quite well dressed. There were about 25 people in all, including Paula and I. I was introduced to most of the guests and was flattered by the interest all took in me although a little uncomfortable. The women were less friendly, maybe even condescending. It seems that Gloria had mentioned something about me to most of them. I was involved in putting away the guests' coats and serving drinks. At one point I walked by the kitchen and heard Gloria on the phone. Something caught my attention and I froze, listening to the conversation..."36 years old, married, 3 kids, 5'6", 120lbs, green eyes, brown hair, has no idea what's going on. This bitch has never even thought about anyone other than her husband." At that the party on the other end must have said something, for Gloria was silent. I was dumbfounded, she couldn't be talking about me?? About this time she looked up and noticed me standing there. She looked startled but recovered well, "what are you doing? Dammit Joan this is personal I'd appreciate it if"... I turned and went back into the living room; the incident seemed strange but I really didn't think it was important, I could confront her later. I didn't think she really had been talking about me.

I went into the living room, it was quite large, with a fireplace in the center. They had used furniture to divide it into two "rooms"; a family room and a more formal living room. I went to the buffet table set up in the adjoining dining room and started helping Paula serve. Occasionally one of us would carry around a tray of drinks. I began to feel slightly uncomfortable, out of place. There was an air of excitement in the room but whenever I got near enough to a group to hear or join in the conversation it seemed to die; sudden pauses, pregnant silences etc. This happened several times and I was wondering what was going on. Paula seemed to fit right in though. When she brought around a tray I saw her laughing with the main group. One of the men put his arm around in a manner that suggested they had not just met. Several of them including Paula looked over in my direction as if appraising me, then Paula returned and offered to relieve me for a while. This went on until about 9:30.