Chapter 16: Mind If I Cut In?

June 30, 1984, Chicagoland, Illinois

Friday had been a normal day at work, and at the end of the day, I'd met Jack, Kristy, Costas, Trevor, Rick, and Taya. Dustin and Archie hadn't joined us because they were out in the burbs for a wedding rehearsal Dustin was shooting. We'd had a nice dinner, then went to see Gremlins, which was a fun movie starring Phoebe Cates.

As usual, Taya had come home with me, and when we'd walked in, I'd seen a letter from the clinic. I'd checked it and had seen it was completely clear. I'd carried it with me when Taya and I had gone upstairs, and had put it in my desk. Taya and I had fooled around for several hours before falling asleep, and she'd left the condo when I left to drive to Violet's house for breakfast.

After breakfast, I went to class, then headed home. The first thing I noticed was a beautiful grey cat stretched out on the floor.

"Misty, I presume?" I asked.

"Yes," Deanna replied. "I put her food and water dishes and her litter box just outside the laundry room. They're out of the way, and I'll change the litter in the box every day so the condo doesn't smell. I also put one of those stick-up air fresheners just above it, but out of her reach. And, of course, the air purifiers will help, too. There's also a cat tree — it allows her to climb up onto platforms, which cats like to do."

"That sounds fine. Anything special I need to know?"

"Just watch out because cats like to get underfoot."

"So, like toddlers, then? At least from what I hear!"

Bianca, who was sitting with Nicole, laughed, "We'll find out soon enough!"

Nicole and Bianca seemed very close to being a couple, and I didn't think it would be long before Nicole moved in. I felt that was a good thing, but it would change the dynamic in the condo.

I left the condo at 3:00pm to drive to the cookout in Oak Brook Terrace. The house was huge, as was typical for the newly built area of the town, and there were at least a dozen expensive cars parked in the long, circular drive.

"Hi!" Missy exclaimed, seeing me.

She was wearing a bikini top and shorts and had a decent tan, which likely meant sexy tan lines, something I thought was very attractive.

"Hi," I replied.

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then took my hand and led me around the house to the expansive backyard. The yard had a large above-ground pool, a hot tub that looked as if it would seat eight, and a half basketball court. A brick grill completed the yard, and a bar, manned by a bartender, was in the shade of an awning near the house.

"What does your friend's dad do?"

"He's an injury law attorney for a big Chicago firm."

An ambulance chaser, the lowest of the lowest scum. I absolutely believed that people who were injured through no fault of their own ought to be compensated, but so-called plaintiff's attorneys made a business of extorting settlements from companies that had deep pockets, and even the threat of a lawsuit could move the market against a stock. I could, in theory, take advantage of such situations, but the more likely case was that it would damage a position I'd taken, as I was mostly long the market.

"Let me introduce you to people," she continued.

She introduced me to about a dozen people who were there, including the host, Mark Stroud, who was my age and attended Harvard and was, unsurprisingly, given his dad's profession, pre-law.

"Jump in the pool or the hot tub at any time," Mark offered. "Beer and pop are at the bar, or Max will mix you a drink. Snacks are in the gazebo. We'll fire up the grill in about an hour."

"Thanks," I said.

Missy and I went to get a beer from the bartender, then stood in the shade sipping from our cups. More people were arriving every few minutes, and soon, there were about fifty people in the backyard, with about a dozen in the pool. Missy suggested we get in the pool, so I went into the house and used the bathroom to change into my suit. When I came out, Missy had ditched her shorts, revealing her bikini bottoms and a cute butt.

We got into the pool with six other couples, with all of the girls wearing bikinis and most of them having nice tans. I was the pastiest white of everyone because I didn't spend much time outside, given everything going on in my life. That meant I'd need to be careful not to burn, but it was late enough in the day that the sun wasn't as strong as it would have been at mid-day.

I hadn't used the pool in the Hancock Center and made a mental note that I should do that and perhaps host a party on the concierge floor. That was something I'd have to check into, but at the moment, I was much more interested in checking out all the female flesh on display. I was in pretty good shape, but most of the other guys had tans and were muscular, while I worked out for tone, not muscle bulk. There were plenty of nerdy or skinny guys, but none of them were in the pool.

We had been in the pool for about fifteen minutes when one of the guys invited me to play three-on-three basketball, but I'd begged off, as the only time I'd ever handled a basketball was in gym class during my Sophomore year of High School. When they started playing, the correctness of my decision was confirmed, as the guys playing were all really good.

We got out of the pool and got fresh beers, and not long after, the first burgers and dogs came off the grill. Missy and I helped ourselves to some food, then sat with four of her friends — Mike, Jim, Trisha, and Cindy. All four of them were starting college in late August — the two girls at Northwestern and the two guys at UofC. All four of them seemed nice enough, but their perspective was so much more like High School students than mine that they'd have to grow up quite a bit before I'd want to hang out with them. That said, if they followed the usual pattern, a year of college would make all the difference in the world.

We'd just finished eating when I saw something I simply couldn't tolerate.

"We need to leave," I said urgently to Missy.

"What?! Why?" she asked.

"The guys over there are doing lines of coke," I said, nodding in their direction just enough to indicate where she should look.

"Uhm, I thought everyone at Spurgeon did coke."

"Not me," I replied. "And friends with the Police Chief or not, I'm not staying."

"Uhm, er, my friends will be upset if I leave."

"If you want to stay, that's up to you, but I'm going to get dressed and go."

She thought for a moment before responding.

"If you want, we could hang out at my house for a bit. We have a pool, and my parents aren't home to bother us. And you know my dad doesn't have a problem with you."

"That's fine," I replied. "Let me get dressed, and I'll meet you out front."

"I need to let Trisha and Cindy know, and I'll grab my clothes."

Five minutes later, we were in the Strouds' driveway.

"I don't have a car here," Missy said. "I rode with Trisha and Cindy."

We walked to my car, I helped her in, and quickly drove out of the driveway, following her directions to her house.

"I'm really sorry," she said. "If I knew you were so opposed to drugs, I would have warned you."

"If you had, then I wouldn't have come. I'm not judging; they can do whatever they want, and it's cool. I just don't want to be around it."

"How do you deal with it at work?"

"The Research Department has its own offices. Also, I've never seen it openly displayed at Spurgeon, even if I'm positive guys are doing lines during the day."

Just over five minutes after we left the party, we drove up to Missy's house, which was exactly what I'd expect for someone who was a senior trader at Spurgeon — huge, on a large lot, with expensive landscaping, and a multi-car garage. I parked in the driveway where Missy indicated I should, and she led me into the house, disarming the alarm after we entered. She gave me a quick tour, confirming the house was as opulent on the inside as I assumed it would be, then led me out to the backyard, where they had an above-ground pool.

"Have you ever skinny-dipped?" she asked.

"No."

"Want to?" she asked invitingly.

I wanted to see Missy's tan lines, and skinny-dipping was a perfect way to do it without complications, though I had a sneaking suspicion we'd end up fooling around, assuming I was reading her intentions correctly.

"When will your parents be home?" I asked,

"Not for at least another four hours."

"I'm game," I said with a smile.

"Cool!" she exclaimed happily.

Without waiting, she untied her bikini top and let it fall to the ground, then slid off her bottoms. She was about six inches shorter than me, with brown hair, nice breasts, a perfect V of pubic hair, and powerful legs. As I'd hoped, the places the bikini covered were almost white, while the rest of her body had a golden-brown tan. The contrast was stunning and threatened a display that wasn't appropriate, at least at the moment.

I quickly removed my trunks, and Missy's eyes went wide.

"Well, uhm, wow," she stammered.

"I could say the same about you," I replied with a smile.

She returned the smile, then turned to climb the steps to the pool. I followed her, taking note of her firm, sexy butt. I realized that on the pool deck, it would be possible for someone to see us, but given the number of trees along the fence, they would have to make a concerted effort. Once we were in the pool, though, we were out of possible view.