Chapter 56: A New Experience and an Old Friend

July, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

When Kara and I arrived back at the house, I heard my phone ringing and went to answer it.

"Hi, Steve. It's Anna. Do you have time to talk?"

She sounded friendly, not upset.

"Sure. What's up?" I asked.

"I'm sorry I behaved like a bitch on our date. Will you forgive me and can we go back to being friends again?"

"Of course I will, and we can," I replied. "I really did dump a lot of stuff on you all at once and with no real warning. And what I described is pretty far outside the mainstream."

"It is," Anna agreed, "but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I shouldn't have been surprised and that it really does fit who you are. But that lifestyle isn't for me."

"We can still be friends," I said. "Come hang out at the house with us on the weekends whenever you want. Lots of people do, and lots of friends from back in Milford are here."

"Let me have your address, please," she said.

"You're welcome anytime," I continued after giving her the address. "There's almost always someone here, but you might want to call if it's not a weekend. And there will be a couple of weekends when I'll be gone. It's good to have you here in Chicago, it really is."

"Thanks. I don't know anyone around here, so it'll be nice. Do you know what really stinks?"

"What's that?"

"I really wanted to fool around with you last Sunday. The anticipation had me so horny I almost jumped you when you came into my apartment. I decided to wait until after dinner, but then everything sort of went down the tubes."

"I'm sorry about that. I really am. But remember what I said at dinner — I would have stopped you until I could explain."

"You always were able to make me feel really, really good, but I guess that's off the table now."

"Yes, it is. You can't accept the terms, and as much as I liked being with you, I honestly don't think you should. Not under the current circumstances."

"Sometimes I wish I could fuck just to feel good, but that's not me. If it was, I'd have done it a lot at school."

"You have to be true to yourself, just as I do. I can't be with just one person, and you can't have sex just for fun. Those are both perfectly good choices. And as friends, we have to respect those choices."

"But you would if I could?" she laughed.

"In a heartbeat," I chuckled.

"Thanks for understanding," she said. "And for letting me off the hook."

"Come hang out with us next weekend," I said. "Sunday's probably best because I'm seeing some friends from Sweden on Saturday."

"I will! Thanks a lot. See you next weekend."

We said our goodbyes, and I hung up. I felt much better now that Anna had called. The funny part, at least in my mind, was that I hadn't had any intention of having sex with her when I'd agreed to go to dinner, but she was hoping for it. I was glad that I hadn't thought that way about Anna, because, as it turned out, it would have created a royal mess — one that we might never have recovered our friendship from. And friendships were important.

"Who was that?" Kara asked when I joined her in the Indian room to relax.

"Anna Wilson. She called to apologize for reacting badly on our date after I told her about our plans. I invited her to come over any weekend to hang out if she wanted to. I think she'll need some friends; she's just moved to the area."

"Just friends?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. She can't accept my lifestyle, or what I could offer and she's not into sex just for fun; she never was. So we'll just be friends."

"She was one of the girls I thought might come back into the picture, but you've made up your mind about the group marriage, which pretty much leaves her out."

"Yes, and Debbie V, too. She hated her parents' open marriage with a passion, and as well as Debbie and I got along, she would never share once it got beyond the dating stage. She, unlike Anna, could have sex just for fun, kind of like Charlie or Aimee or Leila. But also, like them, she needs a monogamous relationship."

"I guess that really does take all the girls from Milford out of the picture. And all the Swedish girls."

"Does that really surprise you? How many girls would accept what you've accepted? Or offer what Elyse is offering? Even wild and crazy Cindi can't fathom a multiple-partner marriage for herself. The only other girl I know who's comfortable with multiple partners for life is Tracey Jones, and she and Marty are way beyond me in terms of craziness!"

"She is pretty much the extreme, isn't she?" Kara giggled. "Maybe SHE should make the movie!"

"Marilyn Chambers only took two at a time in the movie. Tracey has taken three, from reports I've received. And not just three, but three again right after! And Marty had three, then three again!"

Kara laughed, "You've had five. Quit whining!"

"Whining? I'm just commenting that I'm fairly tame compared to those two! From what I can tell, they have no apparent limits. And that's fine for them, not for me."

"What's the scoop for Dave and Julia's wedding?" she asked.

"Well, unfortunately, none of us can be involved in the ceremony. They really don't do a best man and maid of honor thing in his church. They have sponsors — an older married couple that acts as sort of first-line marriage counselors. Dave told me that some Greeks have secular ceremonies that are more like regular American weddings and then do what he called a 'crowning' in the church. But Dave wants to do it the traditional Orthodox way. So no best man for him and no maid of honor for Julia."

"Interesting. So what happens at the reception?"

"The same thing that happens after every important Orthodox Christian service — a big party!" I chuckled. "He asked me to say something at the reception and also asked a friend of his who lives in Cincinnati to do the same thing."

"Who are you taking?"

"You and Bethany. We may as well act like we're serious about this at this point, don't you think?"

"I suppose so. Won't that cause a bit of a scandal?"

"Compared to Jennifer and Josie? No. If they go, I'll advise them to be circumspect about how they behave. The Orthodox Church is pretty conservative in those kinds of matters."

"I guess that means you won't be joining anytime soon, then," Kara smirked.

"It's doubtful. I mentioned it to Dave, and he was fairly certain that the only way I could do that was if I married one person and was faithful to them only. That doesn't look very likely at the moment, does it?"

"No," Kara smiled. "Though once Elyse and I have our kids, it would be possible."

"Kara, Honey," I said gently, "I do not want you to feel like you are holding me back, or limiting my choices. I'm not going to treat you any differently than I do Bethany."

"OK," she replied, "but if your spiritual journey leads you there, it might become necessary."

"We'll cross that bridge when we ALL come to it. Together. With our eyes wide open."

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening together, and at bedtime, I grabbed my silk pyjamas and headed to the coach house to spend the night with Jennifer and Josie. Jennifer slept between Josie and me as she had the previous times, giving a contented sigh when the three of us snuggled close.

"Seven months to go!" Jennifer said when we woke up Sunday morning. "My calculation is around February 25th."

"I'm glad it's not a leap year! Can you imagine having February 29th as your birthday?"

"Oh, I don't know," Josie giggled. "Being 80 and saying that you only had 20 birthdays would be pretty funny!"

"I suppose so!" I agreed.

"Steve, go make us breakfast, please!" Jennifer requested. "There's plenty of stuff in the kitchen. I'm going to snuggle my sweetie for a bit."

"Yes, Ma'am!" I said, mocking a salute.

I got out of bed and went down to the kitchen. Stephanie was there and had made tea, so I poured myself a cup and started making breakfast. Once things were cooking, I sat down to drink the tea.

"How do I get a turn?" she asked quietly.

"That's not an easy proposition, Squirt, even if you just mean spending the night together."

"I think we can manage. But even some cuddling would be nice," she said.

Stephanie got up and sat in my lap and put her arms around my neck.

"How are you doing away from home?" I asked as she snuggled close.

"This is home! You're here. It sucked for the last four years without you around all the time. Even if I can't have you in my bed, it's better to be here with you."

"I'm glad that you're here. When do classes start?"

"August 19th. I suspect it'll be harder than High School."

"For sure," I said.

"It couldn't have been that hard. You graduated with a 4.0! You got A's in everything. Including fucking, but I don't think THAT was on your report cards!"

"No, it wasn't," I chuckled.

"Well, you always got an A+ from me!" Stephanie said with a smile. "And everyone else, for that matter!"

"I need to finish making breakfast, Squirt," I said.

She reluctantly got up from my lap and let me finish making breakfast. I sent her upstairs to get Josie and Jennifer, and the three of them came back down. We ate, and then I gave them all a quick kiss on the cheek and headed back to the main house. I found Kara in the foyer with her bag.

"I was just going to put this in the car and come find you. I'll be back Friday."

I hugged her and gave her a nice kiss.

"Say 'hello' to your mom. If you see Susie, Sandy, or Ruth, say 'Hi' as well."

"I will!" she said.

We hugged, and she went out the front door with a wave. When I turned, Julia asked me to come to my office, where Elyse and Dave were waiting.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Job descriptions and hiring criteria," Julia said.

She handed us each three sheets of paper — two job descriptions and a list of key qualifications. I looked them over and waited for the others to finish.

"These look fine to me," Dave said.

"Do you really want to exclude anyone who doesn't have a CS degree?" I asked. "Penny wouldn't qualify in that case. I think we should at least consider anyone who has the skills, even without a degree."

"Consider? Sure," Julia said. "But I'd give preference to someone who graduated unless the other person could show some demonstrated skills and experience. At least with a degree, we know they have some understanding."

"I suppose. We'll play that by ear. Could we say 'computer science degree or demonstrated experience'?" I asked.

"That works," Dave agreed.

"So we look for two people — one to work for Cindi and one to fill Penny's role. Obviously she comes back next Summer, too."

"I ran the numbers again," Elyse said. "And Cindi and I came up with a bid for you to review for the law firm's Novell installation. They already asked us to do it, but they also asked for an estimate of cost."

Elyse handed each of us a sheet full of numbers.

"Seriously?" I chuckled. "Give me the short version, please!"

"I figured in what Cindi and her new person cost us per hour, including overhead, added in time to document everything, and worked with Julia on a time estimate for everything. That's what you're looking at. The bottom line is, we're charging about double what our costs would be, which isn't unreasonable when you figure in taxes that we'll have to pay and an allowance for things taking longer than we expect."

"Why not just do it hourly?" I asked.

"Would YOU sign up for someone to do something for you that you didn't fully understand at an hourly rate with no limit on the cost? You didn't do that with Gerald Brown, did you?"

I chuckled, "No. Good point. That's a nice chunk of change."

"Sure, until you subtract out all our expenses and taxes," Elyse said. "It is a nice profit, but it's not outrageous. Cindi's on board with the plan."

"Then let's do it," I said, and we all got up to leave.

On Monday evening, I was sitting in the Indian room with my sister and Bethany when I heard a loud whoop from the great room. We went to see what was going on and found Jorge celebrating Deborah Carthy-Deu of Puerto Rico as the new Miss Universe. She was being crowned by the previous year's winner, Yvonne Ryding of Sweden.

"Not bad, not bad at all!" I grinned. "Though I really do prefer the blonde from last year!"

"You crazy gringos have no idea what beauty is!" Jorge laughed.

"You think so?" I asked with a sly smile. "I'll put Kara up against your new Miss Universe any day!"

"Your little sister is better," Jorge said, smiling at Stephanie.

"I am, aren't I?" she declared mirthfully.

I just rolled my eyes, not sure if my sister or Penny was the smuggest about their looks and skills, and not just in the bedroom.

On Tuesday afternoon, I received a phone call from Alyson in Iowa City. She'd been trying to get in touch with Becky.

"Becky's back in Ohio. She, uh, had some health issues, and her parents took her home," I said, not wanting to upset Alyson.

"Health issues?" Alyson asked. "Come on, what's going on?"

I sighed, "She took an overdose of sleeping pills. She's physically OK, but she's at home."

"What?! Why didn't someone tell me?"

"We haven't talked in over a year," I said. "I figured that Becky was keeping in touch with you."

"But you didn't care enough to check on me or anything?" she said accusingly.

"I do care, but I thought maybe you wanted a clean break from the past," I said lamely.

"You know that's not true. Is she really OK?"

"As far as I know, yes. Her dad is supposed to call me when he thinks she's ready to talk."

"I start college at the University of Wisconsin in September. Can I see you before then?" she asked.

"I am super busy with work and other stuff that's going on, so I don't really have time to drive out to Iowa City."

"Then I'll come to you. It's been four years. Nobody is going to remember me at this point!"

"I still think that's a bad idea," I said.

We debated for several minutes and at the end, she told me that she was coming to visit and that was final. I made one more objection, but Alyson refused to relent. She said that she'd come up on Friday afternoon. I made a final weak objection, which she brushed aside, and I reluctantly gave her my address.