Chapter 21: A Year Later and Another Departure

As I walked in the door on a nice October afternoon, Katie had Catrice, Mel’s and my second daughter, in a baby backpack. She was trotting around the kitchen in a jerky galloping style to the great amusement of the ten-month-old who giggled with glee at the wild but very safe ride she was being given.

Katie pushed her body against me in a welcoming kiss, the kind you never get tired of as well as the kind that make you come back for more.

“Hi Lover,” she whispered to me as she nibbled on my ear lobe. “Tough day at the office? How can I bring you some pleasure beyond your wildest dreams?” Now the last part of her question was pure sarcastic humor, the kind we bantered around all the time.

I whispered back in a soft romantic voice, also dripping with the same kind of sarcasm, “I need a wife or mistress that doesn’t give me any lip.”

We broke apart after a further peck on the lips and I kissed Catrice. Katie said in a more robust tone, “Well, you’re not likely to find either of those here.” Ashley, our three-year-old, was seated in her high chair watching us very closely as she used both hands to shovel Cheerios into her mouth. I kissed her forehead too. She giggled.

“Where’s Mel?” I asked.

“She had a meeting with Richard, the architect guy, at the new shopping mall. She should be home shortly. I worked at home all day but just got the kids from day care a half-hour ago. Dinner’s in the oven – meatloaf.” I scanned the pile of mail sitting on the counter. She followed up, “Seriously though, can I get you a beer or glass of wine?”

“That’d be wonderful, Sweetheart. I want to change and wash up first, so no rush. I’ll be right back for that – and you.” I gave her a wink and headed to our bedroom – the bedroom that Mel, Katie and I had shared since Katie’s arrival a year earlier when she fled the disastrous end to her marriage. Mel had been very pregnant with Catrice at the time but that situation ended only six weeks later. In the meantime, we forged a comfortable threesome.

The year had flown by. Our circle of friends accepted Katie with nary a blink. She became the pretty woman that lived with us and no one tried to make any more or less of it, although most figured out that we had a ‘friends with benefits’ living arrangement with Katie. Personally, I felt proud to be desired in a serious love relationship by two gorgeous women and they both told me I was ‘their guy’.

Katie periodically wondered aloud to us if she was being a burden by staying. Mel and I loved having her with us and in private moments alone confirmed that Katie’s presence made us happier and a more loving group.

Katie had expanded her intimate friendships to include Gary and Mackenzie, who we saw frequently, especially on weekends for small sex parties as we used to do when we lived in the same apartment complex.

Katie had been lucky enough to be able to bring her marketing job with her to Ohio, partly phasing out of that work into a new venture with Mel. We got her a desk and super-robust computer like she’d had at work in Boston, and she set up shop in our guest room. Even though that room had a bed, it never got used; Katie slept with us every night.

Mel had backed off on the part time work with SPT, the property management and development company we worked for, just before Catrice’s birth. She was their interior decorator and designer, landscape architect, marketing arm, and whatever else seemed needed. She took a few months off and during that time and expanded an idea she had for another company. Thus, when the time came she’d just not returned to the SPT job on a full-time basis, using the time to actually launch into the new business that included some private decorating clients.

As Mel worked on her interior designs, she’d constantly complained about the lack of a computer program that could do both CAD as well as the more artistic components of her work, including specific wall décor with perspectives, color and shadows and windows properly taken into account. She’d tried some of the commercially available programs, as expensive as they were, but remained unhappy with their limitations.

Katie expressed some interest in the area, and the two women had started Style Design and Development or SDD. Together they were designing and building just the computer program Mel needed in her work. They’d done their due diligence and thought there was a world market for the software. According to them, version 1.0 of their application would come out of the office the two women shared in our house in a few days. Then it needed to go to market.

I lived with two very smart and innovative women. For me, this was heaven on earth; not only were their business savvy and entrepreneur skills top notch, they also loved each other and they both loved me – all in a very physical way – my language of love. I returned the love to them in their language by spending quality time and giving them both words of encouragement and appreciation.

Katie and I had been enjoying our wine when Mel came in. She looked a little disheveled and I wondered what had caused the disarray of both clothing and makeup.

“Oh, wine!” she exclaimed as she eyed our drinks. “Exactly what I need.” She came and took a sip of Katie’s wine.

Katie said, “Let’s take a moment and get you relaxed. Come with me.” She led Mel out of the kitchen, and I heard several girlish giggles from down the hall as they headed towards the master suite. I poured Mel a glass of wine and checked on the dinner Katie had started.

When Mel and Katie came back in the kitchen, Mel had washed up and looked more like her trim and carefully coiffured self. She’d put on shorts and a scoop neck top. I marveled at her body, acknowledging inwardly that I never got tired of looking at her pert figure.