Chapter 20: Kelley gets measured

Kelley was beside herself. I tried talking to her, but she refused to listen to me. She went into the bedroom, leaving me to clean up the mess in the living room.

When I went into the bedroom, she was asleep, or pretended to be. I went into my study, and read the new case for Business Management class. It involved the merger of two small circuses. One was older and had a well established travel circuit. The other one had not been in business as long, but its equipment and animals were in better condition. Our mission was to foresee the obstacles that would confront the new company, and to find solutions to circumvent them.

I planned how we would attack the problem, and which team members would be assigned the various research projects. I wondered if the Cochran Company manufactured tents in the size that would accommodate a three-ring circus. I also wondered how Chase would accept the task of researching how to amortize an elephant or a tiger.

The time got away from me, and when I crawled into bed at two A M, there was no question that Kelley was sleeping soundly. I awoke to find a note on the kitchen table.

Sweetheart,

Megan called. We're going shopping and to have lunch.

Love and kisses,

K

P S. We took your car.

I read the note twice while having my breakfast. Was Kelley going out of her way to convince me that she held no hard feelings against me for letting Chase get by with saying Megan was my girlfriend, or was she being facetious?

I was polishing off half of a grapefruit when Chase called to ask what was keeping me. I guess he thought I was planning to pick him up. I told him that my girlfriend had taken my car. He said he would stop by for me in ten minutes.

He showed up driving a small Honda. We drove to a print shop and he suggested that I come inside with him. Joe Kerrigan, the kid who had asked Megan to see Scent of a Woman with him, was behind the counter. He produced a package from a back shelf, and handed it to Chase, ignoring me.

Chase leaned over the counter to inspect one of our flyers, which had been taped to the front of the package. When he was satisfied with the copy, Chase beckoned for me to inspect the flyer.

The first thing I noticed was that there were two photos, one of me measuring Megan's tummy, and one of her tummy, with the hip hugger around her slim waist. I read the short paragraph that described, 'How to measure your girlfriend for a Hip Hugger.' At the bottom of the page were the names and telephone numbers of all eleven members of our group. The copy read: 'We'll take your order or take your measurements.'

"Looks okay to me," I said to Chase.

"Thanks for the quick job," Chase said to Kerrigan, and turned to leave the shop.

"Wait, you haven't paid the bill," Kerrigan said.

"Send it to Sammy, he'll take care of it," Chase said.

"That was a rush job. We need our money, C-O-D," Kerrigan said.

"I don't have any blank checks with me," I explained to Chase, and then to Kerrigan, "How much is it?"

He slid an invoice down the counter. It was for two hundred flyers at fifty dollars, plus thirty dollars for artwork, plus sales tax.

"Where's the original art work?" I asked.

Kerrigan didn't look at me. He spoke directly to Chase. "You'll get the artwork when you settle the bill."

.

"Do you accept American Express?" I asked, looking at Kerrigan.

"Yes," he said, speaking to Chase.

I slid my charge card down the counter. He ran it through the terminal.

"Don't slide that charge slip to me. If you want me to stay on this side of the counter, come here and stand in front of me," I said, trying to sound menacing.

It worked. Kerrigan looked to Chase, and seeing that he was neutral to our disagreement, brought the charge slip to me.

"Where's the artwork?" I asked. He placed a folder on the counter.

The folder contained the two photos and a sheet of paper containing the verbiage on the flyer. I looked at Chase, and then at Kerrigan. "Where is the negative?"

"We didn't need one for this job," he said, nervously, and then to Chase, "It was a rush, remember?"

"You charged us thirty bucks for spreading two photos and a sheet of paper on a copy machine glass and pushing a button. Why didn't you charge us thirty bucks because it was a rush job?"

Kerrigan shrugged. "That's just the way we do it," he said.

"By the way, Kerrigan, I got back in time to take Ms. Freeman to the movie last Saturday night," I said as I signed the charge slip.

He fumbled to separate my copy of the charge slip, and we left the shop.

"What was that about?" Chase asked when we were in the car.

"He hit on Megan in the cafeteria the other day. I was merely reinforcing a point I made to him."

"You're one bad ass, Sammy. Remind me to keep my eyes off of Megan."

"I'm just watching out for her," I admitted.

"How did you know about artwork?" he asked.

I laughed. "I worked two days in the mail room/copy center at my dad's company when I was fifteen," I said, letting him believe that I'd learned about artwork during my short tenure in the copy center. More recently, I'd had many opportunities to see artwork being prepared to be sent to printers.

"Two days operating a copy machine and you're a print expert?" he asked.

"They weren't full days. I played golf one afternoon with my dad's girlfriend," I said, grinning at him.

"Aren't there child labor laws that preclude working before you're sixteen? I couldn't sweep the floor in my dad's stores until I was sixteen."

"Suz fixed it with H-R. She was my dad's girlfriend back then. They've since married."

"So, she's like your mom now?" he asked, looking curiously at me.

We'd reached the school parking lot, and were sitting in the car, finishing our conversation.

"Suz pretends to be my mom. I think she would like to be, but we're really just buddies. She's busy running half the company."

He opened the package of flyers and divided half of them between us, setting one hundred aside for the other members of our group to hand out. "You take the west end of the campus, and I'll take the east end. We'll meet at the cafeteria at lunchtime and compare notes," he said, like it was an order.

"Yes, Sir," I said, getting out of the car and heading toward the dormitories to the west.

In addition to placing a flyer on the bulletin board on every floor in the dorms, I handed a flyer to everyone I saw in the hallways. I didn't knock on doors. By lunchtime, I'd dispensed all fifty of my flyers. I hurried to the cafeteria to meet Chase. We compared notes.

"I had a freshman pull me into her room and demand to be measured," Chase said, grinning sheepishly.

"I didn't have anything that exciting happen to me, but a couple of girls said they were pleased to have my telephone number," I laughed.

He had some flyers left over, and a few students stopped by our table to pick one up. A female read the flyer, and looked at Chase.

"Can I make arrangements to be measured or do I need to call this number?" she asked.

Chase reddened, but made an appointment to measure her for a hip hugger.

"Why me? There are ten other names on the list," he complained after she was gone.

"She was coming on to you. What's wrong with her?" I asked, amazed that he hadn't picked up on her obvious interest in him.

"She's a sophomore, way too young for me."

"I guess that means Zelda is out of luck. She was eyeing you last night."

"I've only had two girlfriends. They were both older than me," he said.

"I like older girls, too. I've only had one girlfriend who was younger than me."

"Is Megan older than you?" he asked.

"No, she's younger than me. She'll be twenty-two on the twenty-second of May."

He cocked his head. "Why did you use the past tense when you said you only had one girlfriend who was younger than you?"

I wondered if he knew how close he was to making me confess that Megan was not my girlfriend. I stalled, and he didn't wait for an answer.

"I've always had a weakness for redheads. Is Kelley older than me?" he asked.

"Yes, she graduated in nineteen ninety-one."

I'd never seen Chase lose control of his usually calm demeanor before. Not even when he was directing the photo shoot did he show such excitement. "How long is she going to be here? Set me up with her."

I stalled for time; wanting to think of some way I could conceal that Kelley was my girlfriend. "How many redheads have you dated, Mac?"

"None, really, but I'd like to get to know Kelley. I'm sure we would hit it off."

"Redheads are different. They're not like brunettes or blondes. You have to treat them differently, too."

"I'll treat her any way she wants to be treated. Give me a chance to try," he pleaded.

More people stopped by the table to pick up flyers, giving me time to form my next sentence.

"Kelley lives three hundred miles from here. Her work demands constant travel," I said, putting up every obstacle that I could think of.

"What are you telling me? Is she engaged? She's not gay or already married, is she?"

"None of the above," I had to admit.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, sounding exasperated.

It wasn't like Chase to deviate from his engaging personality. I guess I felt empathy for him. What the hell. A dozen people knew Megan and I were just pretending to be linked romantically.

"I'm going to ask Kelley to marry me next summer," I said, and watched Chase try to comprehend what I was telling him.

"Does she ... Megan ... does Kelley know about Megan?"

"Kelley knew about Megan, and she was okay with it until last night when you called Megan my girlfriend."

"Kelley is okay with your sleeping with Megan?"

"No," I laughed. "Megan stays at my apartment, but we don't sleep together. We pretend to be lovers to keep the hounds away from her door. She has a heavy class schedule, and doesn't have the time or desire to date. Megan was supposed to be married after graduation, but her boyfriend called it off. I've been trying to protect her. That's all there was to it."

Chase was catching up. I could see that he was putting it all together. "I could ... I mean ... if Kelley is opposed to you and Megan pretending ... I could ... I would be glad to ... you know ... help. I could take your place pretending."

I laughed. "I thought you only like older women."

"I'll make an exception," he blurted out without giving it a thought.

"Mac, I told you all this in strict confidence. I hope you won't be the one to let our secret out."

His eyes moved recklessly, showing his mind was working overtime, calculating. "I'm not going to say anything."

"Good," I said, wanting to believe him.

"Have you thought about what you'll do if Kelley wants you to stop seeing Megan? I can't conceive of any girl accepting her boyfriend's word that another girl stays at his place but they don't sleep together."

"Kelley's a special person. She knows we share the same bed, but we don't sleep together."

It was obvious that he didn't believe me. I saw that I needed to reinforce my statement. "She knows that I get an erection every time Megan and I are in bed together."

He counted the remaining flyers. There were only three. We left them on the table. On the way to his car, he let me have it. "I hope you get an erection that won't go down for three days," he said.

"You're not going to tell anyone about Megan and me?" I asked, just to be sure.

"I won't say anything," he assured me.

"I'm going to level with you, Mac. Megan and I have a special connection. We have an attraction for each other that is almost impossible to control. We're miserable when we're not together, and it's not much better when we're together. We have to fight temptation constantly. I'm going to confess this to Kelley today if she'll listen to me," I said as we got into his car.

"You had me fooled. All the time we were shooting those photos, I thought you were having fantastic sex. I felt so envious of you being with Megan that it hurt."

What he was saying was shocking. How could a guy with his people skills be single?

"I'm going to introduce you to someone. She's older than us, just the way you like them."

He laughed. "Don't take pity on me. I've always been the facilitator. I invited ten kids to my fifteenth birthday party. There were five girls and five boys. I'd fixed them up, yet I didn't have a date."

"It won't do any harm to meet her," I said.

He didn't react, one way or the other. When he dropped me off at my apartment, he wished me luck with Kelley.

It was nearly three P M. My rental car was parked in its usual spot. I went upstairs, and just at I entered the kitchen I heard Kelley.

"I'm in here," she said, her voice coming from the bedroom

The door was open, and Kelley was standing in the center of the room, staring straight ahead.

I dropped my coat on the floor and took off the sweatshirt I'd worn that morning. She stood perfectly still as I approached her. I looked into her eyes, and returned her smile. Her bottom lip quivered, either from the chill in the room, or from nervousness, I couldn't tell which.

Kelley's hair was not conducive to being bound in a ponytail. It was long enough, but too kinky to look natural. I reached behind her head, and untied the yellow tape measure, releasing her hair to fall onto her shoulders.

I took a step back, running my fingers from one end of the yellow tape to the other, as I watched her nipples strain against the thin fabric of the tank top.

I removed my pants, and tossed them in the direction of where my coat and sweatshirt lay on the floor. Kelley's eyes followed me as I lowered myself to my knees. Except for a slight grin, the expression on her face was somber. I lowered my eyes to the floor, and let them travel upward from the white sneakers, white knee stockings, bare thighs, and white shorts.

Kelley was looking down at me, waiting for me to give her the signal to reveal her tummy. I extended the measuring tape to its full length, and she lifted both sides of the tank top until three inches of her tummy were exposed. I blew hot air on her tummy, and watched her lips form a soft smile. Unable to resist, I pressed my lips to her tummy, and was rewarded with the sound of an intake of air.

Her waist measured twenty-five inches. Kelly watched as I loosened the tape to twenty-five and a half inches to provide slack. I looked for her approval, but she was busy pulling the tank top over her head. Her breasts stood erect; her nipples pointed upwards like little nuggets.

"Undo my belt," she said, and I complied, letting the shorts fall to the floor. She wore no panties.

Her pussy was bald and glistening with moisture. I glanced up at her face. Her eyes gave me silent approval to proceed. I lowered the tape measure to her ass, and pulled gently. She relaxed her stance, letting her pussy come in contact with my lips.

I sucked hungrily, and felt her hands on my head. My hands replaced the tape measure on her ass, and I heard her shriek with delight as my tongue probed deep.

She struggled to free her left leg from the shorts. I dropped one hand to help, and when her foot separated from her shorts she alternated spreading her legs and bringing them together.

Kelley whimpered when I sucked on her clit. I felt her hands grasp both sides of my head, fighting to stay upright. "Let me lie down," she whispered.

"On the bed?" I asked.

"On the floor," she said, and I helped her lower her ass to the floor.

We got settled on the floor. I continued to lick her slit and suck her clit. She cried out, "GOD! I love you so MUCH!"

I looked up at her face. There were tears running down her cheeks, and she was watching me through glazed eyes. "Did you climax?" I asked, to be polite.

"Uh huh."

I pulled my shorts down, and let my cock spring out of its encumbrance. "Do you want me to fuck you?" I asked, moving up to take one of her nipples between my lips.

She was watching me, mouth open, looking tragically mournful, like she was in pain. I knew better. "Uh, huh."

"I'll give you a minute," I said, taking the other nipple between my lips.

"Okay," she said, sounding distantly distracted.

I gave her nipples equal attention until she tugged on my head, wanting to kiss. It began tender, but soon escalated into crazed passion. Breathlessly, I asked if she was ready.

"Take me," she implored, and I did. My cock eased into her until we were fully joined, and then I let her set the pace. She talked incessantly. "Speed up, harder, give it to me, don't stop, fuck me," she urged. She praised me, too. "I love the way you make love to me. You make me feel so good. Thank you for letting me be your mistress, Sammy."

She screamed when she felt me cum. I didn't question if she was faking an orgasm because I knew she'd had two others while we were fucking.

We laughed and teased each other, but it was cold on the floor. We got up, pulled our shoes and socks off, and showered together.

"I have so much to tell you," she said when we were getting dressed in heavy clothing.

I opened a bottle of chardonnay. We sat at the kitchen table, and I waited for her to begin. She talked for over an hour. I didn't interrupt or add to what she was telling me.

Megan had learned from Debra how Kelley had reacted to the photos of us. At first, Kelley had been distrustful when Megan suggested they go shopping and have lunch together.

Once Megan began talking, Kelley said she lost interest in shopping. They were in a shoe store when Megan told her about the second cookie. Kelley had been astonished at Megan's candidness.

They were in the winter coat section of a large department store when Megan told her how I'd helped her prepare for her last quarterly exam. Megan gave me credit for her acing the exam and receiving a B for the quarter from Professor Ramsey. Kelley said that Megan had displayed such fondness for me that she asked Megan outright if she was in love with me. Kelley said she wasn't surprised when Megan admitted that she was, but that she would never let her love for me come between Kelley and me.

Kelley was skeptical, but she let Megan continue. She said that Megan described every night she's slept in my bed, including the night in the hotel after Charlie and Debra's wedding.

They rejected all the coats on display, and moved on to a women's sportswear store. Kelley said that Megan's sincerity convinced her that Megan was being truthful. She said she believed Megan when she described how strong I'd been in fighting our urges to have sex. Kelley said they laughed together, making fun of the way a mannequin was turned around to show how easy it was to unfasten the sports bra it was wearing.

They were caught hugging, and drying tears from each others' eyes by a sales clerk, who asked them to leave a dress shop. Kelley had become so overcome by Megan describing how upsetting it was to be constantly pursued by horny males, that she had put her arms around the taller girl. She said the first thing she knew, they were both crying, and Megan was telling how I'd conceived the plan for us to pose as a couple.

At lunch, Megan reinforced her promise to not come between Kelley and me. Kelley said they toyed with their salads, unable to eat, and that they left half of their quiche on their plates.

After lunch, they were at a makeup counter, being shown the latest shades of lip gloss by an overly made-up sales clerk. Megan happened to mention our telephone call to Mel, and how he'd broken up with her. Kelley was so struck with Mel's cold cruelty, that she hugged Megan. The two girls were soon crying, and consoling each other. As they dried their eyes, Kelley saw that the sales clerk's mascara had run so badly that she would need to take a break to repair her makeup. She called Megan's attention to the poor sales clerk, and they ran from the store, shrieking with laughter.

Megan told Kelley how important it was that we be allowed to continue our charade. She pleaded with Kelley to give us her consent to carry on in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Kelley said she understood how upsetting it must be for Megan to be stalked by males brimming with testosterone. She said she would permit us to make believe that we were lovers during lunchtimes, but that was as far as she would go. She couldn't condone our being seen in public together, or Megan spending the night in my bed.

Megan must have felt compelled to tell Kelley about our date, dinner at Stella's, and the movie afterward. Kelley said we'd gone too far, and that it was never to happen again. Megan maintained that I would work something out whereby we could all be seen together around Pontiac, without it destroying the image others had of us as a loving couple. Kelley rejected the idea, saying she was not as confident of my abilities along that line.

Kelley was still talking when we finished the bottle of wine. She told me that it had been Megan's idea that Kelley make love to me. Kelley took her home, and Megan gave her the white knee stockings, the white shorts, the white tank top, and even the tape measure for her hair.

"I'm starving," she said.

I made scrambled eggs, and served them with English muffins and tall glasses of milk. I offered to bake chocolate chip cookies, but Kelley said she wasn't ready to play Megan's game.

From what Kelley had told me, it sounded like Megan had been forthcoming, holding nothing back regarding the time we'd spent together. The one word I hadn't heard was 'diaphragm.' It made me wonder if Megan had admitted how close we'd come to having sex. I didn't get the impression that Megan had been clear about how she'd been sitting on my lap, naked, when Mel was breaking up with her.

I didn't add to what Megan had told Kelley, nor did I attempt to convince her to relax the terms under which she'd agreed for Megan and me to operate. I was concerned that if I pressed the matter of Megan staying the occasional night at the apartment, it would raise suspicion in Kelley's mind.

Sometime during the night, Kelley woke me, wanting to know if my feelings for Megan were as strong as her feeling for me. I responded that my feelings for Megan were strong, but they didn't approach the level of feeling I had for Kelley. Her response was to kiss me and go back to sleep. I lay awake for an hour, trying to decide how I could break her of the habit of waking me in the middle of the night.

Kelley woke me early, saying that she was hungry. I offered to make pancakes, but she said she wanted something light. "I just want to take the edge off, and then we'll go back to bed," she said.

I gave her half of a grapefruit and, as soon as she was finished eating, I carried her to the bed.

"Do my feet and work your way up," she said.

I massaged her feet, and recited The Sick Child. I worked on her lower legs, but when I reached her knees, she stopped me.

"I left a bottle of lotion in the bathroom," she said. I went to get it, and when I got back to the bed, Kelley was on her stomach, completely naked. "I have a pull in my upper thigh," she said.

I had told Kelley about the lotion, but how much had Megan told her about her own pull? I decided to play it out and see how far she wanted to take it.

"How high is it?"

"It's very high."

"My hands may be slippery from the lotion. I'll be extremely careful not to let my hands slip into your forbidden zone."

"Don't get too close to my forbidden zone," she said, and I felt her legs open.

I finished with both thighs, tapped her butt, and told her to roll over. She complied, and now I got a look at her eyes, gazing up at me in wonderment, her mouth, slightly open, her breasts, standing proud, her tummy, flat and smooth, and her pussy, damp and puffy.

I started high on her thighs, not even pretending to give them a complete job.

"Don't get too close to my forbidden zone," she cautioned.

"Is this a forbidden zone?" I asked as I bent down to plant a kiss on her tummy.

"Yes," she said.

"Am I too close?" I asked, kissing her there again.

"No."

"Is this a forbidden zone?" I asked, taking one of her nipples between my lips.

"Yes."

"Am I too close?"

"No."

My hands went higher on her thigh, grazing the lips of her pussy. "Am I too close?"

"No."

I couldn't take anymore. I slid my shorts down, and lowered my body until my lips were touching hers. "Is this the moment of truth?"

"Yes."

"Is this the moment when you know I'm going to penetrate you, you know that you want it, but you have a feeling of anxiety that makes you dubious?"

"Yes," she said, sounding impatient.

"Are you excited?"

"Stop teasing me," she said, grabbing my cock and aiming it at her opening. I pushed forward, and heard her grunt.

"Is that what you wanted?"

"Stop teasing me," she repeated.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to shut up and fuck me," she said, and I did.

She pretended to be angry with me later, but I knew from the way she kissed me and wanted to sit on my lap that she'd enjoyed our little romp that Sunday morning. She even warned me that her flight was at two P M, and that if I wanted any more of her, I should make my move.

It was only nine A M. We had five hours before her flight, but as I soon found out, she wanted to be pursued, persuaded, and cajoled. She wouldn't let me carry her to the bedroom and jump her bones.

She was wearing a sweater, jeans, and sneakers. I pulled her onto my lap, and she reluctantly sat down. I rubbed the back of her neck and tugged until she eventually brought her lips to mine. We kissed like it was our first time, experimentally testing each other. When I felt her becoming comfortable, I ran my hand over one of her breasts.

She jumped. "What kind of girl do you think I am?" she asked.

"Haven't you ever let a man play with your breasts?"

"Never," she said.

"You might like it," I said, pulling her head down to resume our kissing. She didn't object when I forced her lips open, nor did she object when I placed my hand on the same breast as before. In fact, I felt her tongue enter my mouth.

"I think you like it," I said, as I massaged her breast.

She raised her head and looked down at me. "Well, shit, Sammy, you're taking all day. It's nine thirty. Put your hand under my sweater."

I pulled her head down, and ran my hand over her tummy until I felt her bra. I squeezed her breast twice before moving my hand to her back where the straps of her bra were joined. After several attempts with one hand, I moved my other hand under her sweater.

"You've lost your touch. You need practice," she said, putting her hands behind her and expertly unlocking the clips that held her bra together.

I flicked her nipple with my thumb and forefinger. Her tongue wiggled its way into my mouth, tickling the roof, and fighting my tongue. She suddenly pulled her face away from mine, lifted her sweater over her head, and tossed it to the floor. She then fed one of her nipples into my mouth. "I have to do this by myself," she complained.

I'd had enough of her complaining that I was going too slowly. I picked her up and carried her kicking and screaming to the bedroom. I had our clothes off, and was on top of her, when she yelled for me to stop. "My diaphragm," she screamed.

I let her up, and waited while she went into the bathroom. I wondered how much Megan had told her about the night she went to the other room to get her diaphragm.

Kelley came back, claiming she had earned the right to be on top. "It was my suggestion, I told you what to do, and it was me that got us worked up. Get on your back!"

I didn't argue with her. She was right, it was all her doing. I let her straddle me, take my cock in her hand, and run it up and down her slit.

"You really are a sexy woman when you put your mind to it," I said, watching the concentration on her face. The tip of her tongue was at one corner of her mouth. She inserted my cock in her opening, and smiled down at me.

"I always put my mind to it, so I guess that means I'm always sexy," she said, as she began to move.

I let her move at her own pace, and she took her time. Except for an occasional break to lean over and kiss me, or to recover from an orgasm, she fucked me for nearly an hour before I gave up and deposited my cum in her.

We showered, she packed, and we got dressed. I called Victor before we left, telling him he could use my apartment for a few hours.

I heard excitement in his voice when he wanted to know what time I would be back. I promised to call and give him fifteen minutes notice.

We had lunch at an airport coffee shop. Kelley had a 'well-fucked' glow about her, and I was totally drained. We talked about the upcoming Christmas and New Year's holidays, and how much we were looking forward to being together for ten straight days. We also talked about her visits to Pontiac during January and February. After that was spring break, my birthday, followed by April, May, and graduation.

"Do you think we could get the condominium next summer?" she asked.

"Are you suggesting that we move in together?"

"Well, yes, why not?"

"I don't know if the condo will be free," I said, already thinking of the commitment we'd be making to each other. "We stay in each other's rooms most of the time. What's wrong with that?"

"If we can't get the condo, maybe we can buy one together. This is supposed to be a good time to invest," she said, dismissing my remark about staying in each other's rooms.

"Wouldn't you miss the swimming pool at your house?" I asked.

"We could look for a condo that has a pool."

"Would you be satisfied with a community pool?"

"Are you putting up roadblocks, Sammy?"

"Yes," I said.

"You're right about the pool. I don't mind if you piss in my pool, but I don't want other people pissing in my water."

"I don't piss in your pool," I said, with all the indignation I could muster.

She looked at me with a critical eye. "You've simply got to collect those photos of you and Megan. I don't want them to surface ten years from now. We could be blackmailed," she said, disregarding my assertion that I didn't piss in her pool.

"I'll see what I can do," I promised.

I walked with her as far as I could, and we kissed goodbye. I watched her walking away from me. God! She was a sexy woman. She turned and smiled, like she could read my mind.

I wanted to give Gladys time to change my bed and have her fun with Victor, even if she did nothing else in the way of cleaning the apartment. I drove to Charlie's house and found all three of them studying.

They wanted to know how my weekend with Kelley had gone. Apparently, Megan had told Debra and Charlie what had been discussed during their shopping trip and having lunch with Kelley.

"You did a good job of calming her down," I said to Megan. "Thanks for lending her the clothes you posed in for the hip hugger ad. She's okay with our having lunch together, but she doesn't want you to stay overnight with me," I said.

Megan looked stunned. I guess she thought she had appealed to Kelley's sympathetic nature.

"I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this going anyway," I said. "Too many people know we're putting on an act. I'm sure we can count on you guys, Skip won't make a second mistake, Kent and Amy aren't going to give away our secret, Kent can keep Wendy in line, Victor is indebted to me for the use of my apartment, same goes for Kalian and Casey," I said, pausing to get their reaction.

"Who's left," Charlie asked.

"Zelda may be the weakest link in the chain. I need to find something she wants that would silence her tongue."

"I can think of something she wants," Megan quipped.

"And now there's a new player. I had to tell Chase, but he assured me that he won't tell anyone."

"Why?" Charlie, Debra, and Megan asked in unison.

"He wanted me to fix him up with Kelley. I had to tell him that she's my girlfriend, and what we're doing to keep the wolves at bay."

"Are you sure he can be trusted?" Megan asked.

"I'm sure. I found out some stuff about him that may prove useful. I tried to get him interested in Zelda, but he said he only goes for older women."

"Good," Megan said, making me laugh.

"He wanted to help me out by taking my place with you. I told him you're younger than us. He said he could make an exception in this case."

"Oh, my God!" Debra exclaimed. "Talk about sticking to one's convictions."

"He's only had two girlfriends. He's never dated anyone younger than him," I said in support of Chase.

"Make him keep his distance from me, Sammy. You know I don't trust anyone else with my emotional state right now."

"He won't bother you. It's Kelley that I'm worried about. We didn't leave the apartment together all weekend, but if one person who knows me saw us saying goodbye at the airport, our little sham is all over."

"We're not going to be able to make it to the end of the year without being found out," Megan predicted.

I hated to admit it, but I agreed with her.

They invited me to stay for dinner, but I said I had things to do. I called Victor to warn him that I would be there soon. He warned me that there were twelve messages on my answering machine, all from members of the Hip Huggers sales team. He didn't complain about the constant ringing of the phone, but I got the impression that it had interfered with his time with Gladys on the air mattress.

By the time I got home, there were thirteen messages. Chase had called, wanting to know where I was. Just as I predicted, my bed had been changed, and the bathroom had been cleaned. Gladys had even done the shopping.

I returned Chase's call first. He informed me that every member of our group had orders to turn in, and they didn't want to wait until the next day to turn them in. He offered to help receive the orders, and I invited him to come to the apartment.

I called Kelley while I was waiting for Chase. She gushed about the weekend we'd had. "I'm sorry that I mistrusted you after seeing those photographs," she said. I told her that it was understandable, and that I was already looking forward to the Christmas and New Years break. I told her about the orders for Hip Huggers, and she said to have fun.

Next, I phoned Marcie. I didn't get into what had transpired over the weekend. She did most of the talking and I was glad to let her vent. While she was committed to Adam Corning, there was a hint of doubt in her voice. She heard the doorbell at the same time I did, and said she would talk to me on Sunday, the twentieth of December.

"I've been thinking about the older woman you offered to introduce me to," Chase said when he came through the door. "Who is she, and when can I meet her?"

"She works for the rental car company. I'll call and see if she's working today. Otherwise, it will have to wait until tomorrow because I don't have her home phone number," I said, delighted that he was going to take me up on my offer. What did I do with that business card?