Chapter 54: A Betrayal and A Rebuilding

July 17-18, 1985

[Greg stopped and paused. He turned around with a face full of tears, “Charlie and I were just trying to be nice...”]

He sniffled, “I’m gonna be late...”

He turned and slowly walked out the front door, closing it gently behind him.

Everyone started looking at me, not knowing what to say.

I held up my hand, firmly. “I’ve gotta talk to my friend.” Then quickly ran out and jumped in the passenger seat of his truck.

He started the engine, “What are you doing, Amigo?”

“I dunno, but I’m NOT abandoning the best friend I have in this world. That’s what I’m NOT doing.”

He sighed and gave me a look that said he understood and while unnecessary, was appreciated.

The half hour ride to Oak Brook was made in contemplative silence.

When he pulled up in front of his office trailer, before getting out he said, “I can call a cab for you Charlie, I’ll tell the driver to put it on my tab.”

“That won’t be necessary, my friend. I plan to hang out with you today. I haven’t been out here for weeks; it wouldn’t hurt me to catch up on what’s been going on. That is unless you don’t want me here.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be very good company. I don’t know what happened this morning, right now I’m so confused and upset, that I think I just need to sort it out for myself.”

“I was hoping we could sort it out together. This is the angriest and most upset I’ve ever been since I met Mary. I’m surprised that Mary and Jamie haven’t tried connecting with us.”

Greg sighed, “Let’s go in and see what’s on tap for today. I’ve got to be straight with you, I don’t even feel like being here this morning. Do you think we overreacted?”

Not wanting to admit it, I said, “I don’t know. I just can’t get over the feeling of being betrayed. I can understand them being pissed off at Bob’s comment. But they had to know that you and I had nothing to do with it and we certainly didn’t take his side on it. I could understand if it was done like a joke, but it didn’t feel like a joke to me. They weren’t smiling. To me, it was just like they slapped me in the face, for no reason.”

Greg opened the door to the trailer and we walked in to jovial greetings and ‘glad to see ya’s’. Greg told Tim and everyone I was there to see how the job was coming along. Tim, Greg and I walked out on the site and I was surprised to see the building only had two more stories of steel left to go. The addition with the atrium looked great and I was happy to see the connection points worked just as my plan said it would.

Tim said that even with having to tear down the initial pieces of steel they had up, they were actually ahead of the original schedule. All the steel they had been receiving was working out perfectly. The final shipment had come in nearly a week ago.

Greg asked Tim if he could have Friday off to get things ready for our wedding.

Greg began breathing hard as I knew he was wondering if the wedding was even still on.

Tim asked if everything was all right and was shocked when Greg said, “I really don’t know. We had an incident, I guess you could call it, this morning. Charlie and I left before anything was resolved.”

Tim said, “Look guys, I’m no expert on relationships, but you two need to get your asses back home and fix things. Greg, you’ve put in a lot of overtime during the last few weeks. Take today off and of course you can have Friday off. If you get things patched up and everything’s cool, come on in tomorrow. If you need the rest of the week off, just tell me.”

Greg said, “Thanks boss, but I feel bad enough taking Friday off and then taking vacation all next week.”

Tim clapped him on the back and said, “Go on, get out of here, if I see you tomorrow, great, if not, just give me a call and I’ll see you in a week and a half. It was nice seeing you again Charlie and don’t be a stranger, okay?”

I shook Tim’s hand, “You got it. I can’t believe how fast this building is going up. The only thing I really have left right now are the three floors of custom condos. The overall structural floor plan has been finished for almost a week. I actually can’t wait to get started designing the custom condos.”

Greg and I walked back to his truck, got in and slowly started driving. Aimlessly. “Why don’t we drive into the city and catch a Cubs game?” I asked, “We can get shitfaced and cuss at the pathetic losers! ... Oh yeah, sorry, I just remembered, you hate beer.” I chuckled.

Greg laughed, “That’s not a bad idea. It’s too bad that what just happened, didn’t happen this morning...”

“Whadya mean?”

“Well, the second you realized I wouldn’t enjoy getting shitfaced on beer, you were willing to drop the whole idea. You didn’t try to say, ‘It wouldn’t hurt you to have a beer once in a while.’ No, you put MY feelings ahead of your own. You saw MY side, like you always do ... Why couldn’t Jamie do that?”

“Maybe because her hormones were so out of whack she wasn’t thinking straight?”

“Greg huffed, “Well, THAT’S a question I’ll never be able to ask. I can’t even begin to figure how to ask that, without REALLY pissing her off. I feel like a blind man trying to negotiate a minefield!”

“I know. Even though Sarah’s the one who dumped the milk on me, I feel betrayed because Mary didn’t try to defend me. To make it worse, it’s like she took her side over mine...”

Greg just shook his head.

We drove some more, heading towards the house, when Greg said, “Hey, that bowling alley in West Chicago, it’s open and so is their bar. Let me buy you a Bloody Mary!”

“Sounds like a winner my friend. Lead on McDuff.”

We bellied up to the bar and after Greg ordered the first round, we started a tab for the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon.

The cute redheaded bartender talked us into having some cheeseburgers and fries to help soak up all the alcohol that we’d been consuming to drown our sorrows.

We had been watching some sappy soap opera, because the Cubs had gotten rained out of their game in Cincinnati. We were both commiserating with the hapless couple on the show, after they had a fight over a stupid disagreement.

The cute bartender said, “Maybe I should take you two home and try and cheer you up? I’ll bet the three of us could have some fun.”

I said, “I have no doubts about that, sweet thing. It’s just that the two of us are supposed to be getting married Saturday and I think we both still love our fiancées. We could go for another drink however. Make it a double!”

The bartender smirked, “Okay guys, but this’ll have to be the last one and I really think you should give me your car keys. I can’t in good conscience let you drive home.”

Greg handed over the keys and we took our time savoring what we knew was going to be our last drink. We ordered some jalapeno poppers and some buffalo wings.

While we were waiting on our order, we started reminiscing about everything from the time we’d known each other. By the time we got up to talking about our first meetings with Jamie and Mary, the two of us started blubbering.

The bartender was just looking at us, shaking her head.

Greg looked at me and said, “Aren’t we a couple of puff-etic putz’s!”

I slurred, “We’re actin’ like a couple of damn babies, may-ba-be we be should, you know, join one of them ba-munkeries?”

Two soft, tearful voices pleaded, “But we love our monkeys! Maybe we don’t deserve them, but we do love them and want them to come home with us. Please?”

The most beautiful voices we had ever heard, caused us to spin around and fall off the barstools, in a drunken, sobbing heap. The next thing we knew, we were being overwhelmed with kisses and desperate hugs.

“Are you two okay? Are you hurt?” Asked the bemused bartender.

“Only bar egos. I’m show shorry Mary, we been hacting like tool’s fall day. But, we’re kinda fit shaced I thinks.”

“Are you guys taking them home? There IS the small matter of who’s going to pay the tab.” The bartender jested.

Bob said, “I’ll get that, it’s the least I can ... HOLY FUCKING SHIT. $155? Jesus, for that I’m going to have to use my Amex Card.”

Greg smirked, “Don’t forget her shlip. She be nice to us hall nay. Hoe, end make her shiv you my harkeys.”

That was the last thing I remembered. When I finally woke up, my head was pounding. Greg and I were on opposite ends of the couch, with our feet sharing the ottoman. It was dark outside, but I didn’t know how late it was.

We were alone.

Jessica came in, “Oh, you’re awake! I’m supposed to tell Mary and Jamie. I’ll be right back.”

Greg woke up and smiled at Jessica, “Didn’t Bob and Mary go to their dance class?”

She was shaking her head, “Um, no, they said it wouldn’t be right.”

She looked around, then whispered, “You know, they had many heated discussions and cried all day. It was pretty tense for a while.”

“Where are they?” I asked.

“Down in the basement, it’s kinda funny ... I don’t think any of them know how to read a tape measure. Let me get them.”

Soon, what sounded like a stampede, came pounding up the stairs. My head started throbbing again. Greg looked at me and snickered, “Hair of the dog?”

I scrunched up my face, “Huh?”

“The expression ‘hair of the dog’, is for an alcoholic drink taken to cure a hangover. It’s a shortening of ‘a hair of the dog that bit you’. It comes from an old belief that someone bitten by a rabid dog could be cured of rabies by taking a potion containing some of the dog’s hair. I’m thinking of having a small glass of bourbon. Do you want a Bloody Mary or a beer, amigo?”

“Make it a beer, that dog won’t bite me as hard.”

“You’re not going to start drinking again, are you?” Mary asked sadly.

“May as well, don’t worry, we won’t go out again. It’ll lessen the pain we’re feeling.”

Greg said, “Don’t worry Mary, we’re just having this one to try and get over the splitting headaches we have.”

Jamie said, “I’m sorry we were listening in to you this morning. You were scaring us with how angry you were. Greg sweetie, it wasn’t until Bob finally told us, after Mary and I took off from work early, that you and Charlie had NOTHING to do with his bad joke. That’s when it struck me just how badly, Sarah and I screwed up. When Bob said he was afraid the two of you were going to beat the crap out of him, my first thought was that physical violence never solves anything.”

Jamie started sobbing, “That’s when I realized, that by dumping that milk on you, I had resorted to that violence. And what’s worse, I did it to the man I love! Baby, I promise, that I will never, ever do anything like that again. I’m so sorry. How can I ever get you to trust me again?”

Greg embraced her, “That’s why it hurt so bad, Jamie. Up until this morning, I trusted that you knew me completely, that you knew that I would never disrespect you. I know it was basically a misunderstanding, but with our communication abilities, that kind of misunderstanding should never happen.”

“Will you ever be able to love me again?” Jaimie asked, afraid of the answer.

“I never stopped loving you.” They embraced, vowing to be more understanding in the future.

Sarah said, “Charlie, this morning, I acted like an ignorant bitch. When Bob made that joke, with how I was feeling, something in me just snapped. All day long, I’ve regretted what I did. When Mary flashed and told me what Bob had said, I realized just how much I’d hurt you. I broke down and cried for nearly an hour. I don’t deserve your forgiveness. You’ve been nothing but kind to me, saved my life and made me a part of yours.

“Then I repay you by getting mad at something you didn’t even do and vented all my past frustrations out on you! I’m sorry. If you tell me you don’t love me anymore and want me to leave, I’ll totally understand. But, please give me another chance? I promise, I’ll never let you down again.”

She started crying. I took her in my arms and kissed away her tears. “Sarah, I was very angry at you. You, my love, because of your past is why you’re the easiest to forgive. I just ask, that from now on, just give me a chance and listen to my side before you rip me a new asshole.” She held me tightly, fighting back more tears.

Bob looked at Greg and I.

“I’ve already apologized to the girls for my tasteless remark. It wasn’t said maliciously, just thoughtlessly. But, for the angst and pain I caused you and Greg, I can’t even begin to express how sorry I am. YOU two were the innocent bystanders in all this. Then, the second I realized how upset you were, I chickened out and just kept my mouth shut. It wasn’t until Mary called me out on it, that I ‘fessed up’. I had to tell the girls, that you guys really hated what I said and had been unjustly lumped in with me. I’m sorry guys, you’re the best ‘big brothers’ a guy could ever have. Please forgive me?”

We engaged in a ‘bro-hug’, ending with, Greg chuckling, “as drunk as we were and as much love as I was feeling, I damn near kissed Charlie. THAT I would have NEVER forgiven you for!”

Mary was looking at me sheepishly, “Charlie, Greg, I’m sorry...”

I stopped her, “You didn’t do anything, sweetheart...”

She was getting misty, “Oh, yes I did! I knew you guys were innocent, but I let it play out without trying to stop it. I realized, maybe misguidedly, but, I felt this was a way for everyone to learn a lesson. I felt that it’s easy to get along when everything is always happy, playful and fun. This was a perfect ‘Tempest in a Teapot’ to see what happens when everyone gets angry. I felt this wouldn’t get too out of hand, yet could be a learning experience.

“I learned, that you ARE my soulmate. You were hurt and felt betrayed, but you never questioned my love and trust in you. I’ll admit to being nervous, when you and Greg weren’t home by noon. I had called Tim at 9:00 to apologize and he said you’d left at 8:30.

“It was with much trepidation that I connected with you, to try and figure out where you were and that you were okay.

“When the girls were still wondering why you were so upset, I made Bob tell them the truth. THAT was the watershed moment and tears started flowing. They suddenly realized the extent of how much they hurt and betrayed you. When Jamie, Sarah and I ‘saw’ you turn that hot redheaded bartender down and heard what you said, we ALL knew we had to go and save you. It was time for this to end. I want to apologize, to everybody, for allowing this to go on so long. I truly hope ‘that which doesn’t destroy us, makes us stronger.’”

Greg, Bob and I pulled her into a hug. Greg smiled, “That quote is actually attributed to the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. He might have said it a little more eloquently: ‘That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.’ It turns out that he was right.

Jessica was still unsure, “Is everyone good now?”

We were all smiling and nodding.

“Well, I want you to know, I learned something today too,” Jessica told us, “I learned never to ASSUME anything. I LEARNED that when things get ugly, you need to TALK it out, before you DO something STUPID. Many of us were guilty of that today.”

I put my arm around her, “I’m sorry you had to see us at our worst today, we weren’t setting a very good example for you. I’ve gotta say, you’re mature way beyond your years.”

She smiled at me, “Thanks, maybe you were at your worst this morning, but seeing how this turned out, you taught me a lot today! As upset as everyone was, no one treated me badly. Many times, when people are upset, they take it out on everyone around them. Even when I was asking questions about what was happening, I was never told to ‘shut up’, or that it was ‘none of my business’. I’m going to try and remember that for when I’m upset with someone. Oh, I almost forgot, Sis is having a heck of a time with your tape measure.”

Greg and I choked back a laugh.

I looked at Linda, who was sporting a level, chagrinned smirk. “This damn thing only has 10 inches per foot! What the hell?” She was holding up my Engineer’s tape.

Chuckle, “Tinkerbell, that’s because it’s an Engineers/Surveyors tape. It’s graduated in feet and tenths of a foot. It’s actually easier and faster to read than a regular tape with inches. Every tenth of a foot is divided into tenths, so each tick is one hundredth of a foot. That’s about an eighth of an inch.”

She blushed, grinning, “NOW it makes sense. 5 tenths of a foot equals 6 inches! I kept wondering why it had decimal points after each number, that I thought was an inch. So, like .52 feet is REALLY 6 2/8^th or 1/4 inches. And yes, it is faster to read. Why are our designs in inches?”

“Because, builders and carpenters aren’t SMART enough to read that tape.” I chuckled.

Greg slapped me on the back, “He’s HALF right. As a builder, I wish your plans WERE in feet and tenths. It’s just that I’d have to run classes to teach the carpenters.”

“Linda, the real reason is, in some cases, the accuracy has to be closer than an eighth of an inch. If you’d like, I’ll gladly help you.”

Greg chuckled, “If you’ll do the writing, the three of us can make short work of this.”

We began at just after 8:00 PM and by 9:30 PM we were not only finished with the basement, but had measured Greg’s bedroom, Bob’s bedroom and the bathroom for possible remodeling ideas.

Since everyone else was in the pool, the three of us decided to join them for a quick dip and some iced tea.

Greg and I were definitely done drinking alcohol for the day.

Greg told Linda and I, that it wasn’t necessary to be finished before he went to work in the morning. He said any time before 2 o’clock would work and he would call his friend and have him meet us on site. Linda was excited to go with me, as she wanted to see how the building was coming along.

By 10:30 PM, our roommates were ready for bed and Linda and I headed to my office. Since we wouldn’t have the luxury of a copy machine, we decided to make our drawing in ink so our design could be in pencil and easily erased if changes became necessary.

She was transferring our dimensions onto our plan sheet, as I was going through all the brochures she had gotten from three different spa manufacturers.

She’d been busy during the day.

I flashed Greg and Mary to get their input on how big of a Jacuzzi/hot tub we wanted to get. The biggest Jacuzzi only held 8 where hot tubs had sizes that could easily hold twice that many. The biggest problem I saw, was that the biggest ones might not fit down the stairs.

While Linda was finishing, I grabbed the tape to measure the height of the stairwell to the basement, since we hadn’t done that in our little survey.

That narrowed our choices down to an eight person Jacuzzi or a 16-person hot tub.

When asked, Mary giggled, “That’s a hard choice. A Jacuzzi has a lot more jets but the seating isn’t as intimate as a hot tub. As long as the hot tub has jets for your back and legs, I’d be good with that.

Greg weighed in, “I’m with Mary, it would also be nice to be able to invite all of our neighbors to join us on those cold winter nights that we know are just a few months away.”

I told them I found just the one. It was a 16-person hot tub with two jets per person’s back, one for their crotch and one for each leg. It was fairly deep and had an 18-inch counter that went all the way around, with two areas that could be lifted for entrance and exit to the hot tub. It was designed to be assembled on-site and would easily make it down the stairs. It even had 12 candleholders.

With that decided, Linda and I got in the zone and commenced to designing our finished basement. Because of the plumbing concerns, the bathroom had to be where the existing rough outs were for the toilet and sinks. We didn’t want to have to start tearing up concrete just to route sewer plumbing.

Linda cut out a circle, the same size as the hot tub, that we could move around. We knew we had to design the bedroom next, but while we were doing it, we wanted to make sure we left enough room for the hot tub. The only downside about the downstairs bedroom would be that we felt it necessary to use indoor-outdoor carpet. That was just in case the hot tub ever leaked. Regular carpet would be ruined whereas a good shop vac could get the water off of indoor-outdoor carpet and a dehumidifier could dry it out.

By 2 o’clock in the morning, Linda and I had finished the basement. Complete with electric and plumbing routing.

I refilled our iced teas and we sat down with our blank drawing for the existing bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs, trying to get ideas. The first thing Greg had informed us was, that the wall between his room and Bob’s room was a loadbearing wall. Moving it, though not impossible, would be costly.

On Greg’s side of the wall, was his bed and the wall was flush with the door to the bathroom. On Bob’s side of the wall, was a 10-foot closet with sliding doors. The only way to make the bathroom larger would be to make the closet smaller. We decided that a five-foot closet would be okay for a guestroom.

Linda and I decided to add more closet space in the remodeled basement. We considered the possibility of adding a Jacuzzi tub with the additional room but Greg felt that really wasn’t necessary, that a four or five-person walk-in shower with a bench would be better.

By 4 o’clock in the morning, Linda and I had finished everything. We went into her and Bob’s room to find Jessica sprawled out on the bed, sound asleep. We left the plans on the kitchen table so Greg would find them in the morning. We also left a note saying we would still come out right around 1 o’clock as Linda still wanted to see the worksite.

We cuddled up on either side of Jessica and fell asleep.

I’d set the alarm for 11:00, forgetting to insert a tape. We were gently awakened by Chicago’s “It’s Hard for Me to Say I’m Sorry.” My misty eyes were only made worse when I noticed my $850 check was lying next to the clock, with VOID written across it.

I knew that my new stereo had already been installed in my own bedroom.

Linda, Jessica and I took a quick shower, dressed and decided to get something to eat at the Manor, knowing they would still serve breakfast.

While we were waiting to be seated, Tammy saw us and was frowning, “It figures, I have one of the crappiest mornings of the week, then I get off, just as my favorite people come in.”

I gave her a hug, “Well then, how’s about having lunch with us? I’ll buy, it’s the least I could do for my favorite waitress.”

She hugged me a little harder, “How could I say no to that? I don’t think I made enough money this morning, to even buy myself lunch.”

We asked for a booth in the back, so that Tammy could sit with us. I introduced Tammy to Jessica, letting her know she was Linda’s sister. Tammy grinned at me, “I can’t believe Mary lets you out of the house with these two foxy ladies.”

It occurred to me that Tammy had never seen us all together until this week. I had a feeling she didn’t really know what kind of relationship we all had.

Tammy’s friend, Jodi, waited on us, saying, “I’m glad I don’t get off for another hour, this has been a crappy morning, at least I know I’ll get a tip. What would you guys like?”

Tammy giggled, “He’ll have a Charlie skillet, I’m not sure what the other two ladies will have, but I’d like a Greg skillet.”

Linda winked at Jessica, “We’ll both have Greg skillets also.”

Jessica asked, “Does that, come with biscuits and gravy? I love biscuits and gravy!”

I smiled at Jodi, “Make hers a Charlie skillet! I’ll finish whatever she doesn’t eat. This is a girl after my own heart.” Tammy’s eyes got big when she saw me give Jessica a hug and a kiss.

Tammy smirked, “You’re pretty brave Charlie, kissing her in front of Linda like that. You best hope she doesn’t tell Mary!”

Linda said, “Mary wouldn’t mind, after all, Jessica slept with Charlie and I last night. And we were all nekkid!”

Tammy looked stunned, “You mean Bob let you sleep with Charlie? Where was Bob sleeping?”

I put my hand on Tammy’s arm, “He was sleeping with Mary. He was probably the only one of us that got any last night.”

Linda and Jessica were giggling.

Tammy’s mouth made a perfect ‘O’. “I always figured you guys were close, you guys all live together too, right? Along with Greg and Jamie?”

You could see the light go on in Tammy’s head, “Oh wow, you guys are in one of those open relationships aren’t you?!”

I told her softly, “Yes Tammy, it’s called a polyamorous family. We’re all intimate and love each other very much. Saturday, I’m officially getting hitched to Mary, Bob to Linda and Greg to Jamie. Unofficially, were all marrying Sarah too!”

She looked puzzled, “How is that going to work? Isn’t that illegal? This isn’t Utah you know.”

Linda said, “We know and we’re not Mormons. The main reason we’re all getting married for real, is to keep the State of Illinois off our backs and get the benefits we are entitled to. As long as we don’t attempt to claim Sarah or anyone else that might join our family, for government benefit purposes, we can say whatever we like.”

Tammy had a wistful look, paused and asked, “Um, so where are you guys going for your honeymoon? I take it you’re all going together?”

Before I could answer, a bubbly Jessica said, “We’re all going on a cruise!”

Tammy grinned at Jessica, “So, you’re going on their honeymoon cruise WITH them?”

“Yeah! Seven of their really good friends are too. We don’t even have to wear clothes!” She finally saw me staring at her. “Ooops, sorry Charlie...”

Seeing the confusion on Tammy’s face I said, “Yes she’s going with us. She turns 17 on Saturday and to celebrate that, we invited her to come along. You know Ed and Gracie, right? Well, they’re joining us also. I’m not sure if you met Bill and Sally and Emmy, they’re our neighbors next door. They’re all coming too!”

“Bill and Sally, hmm, don’t they have a cute 2-year old named Kelly?”

“Yes!”

Oh, then Emmy must be the one who came in with them last week, I didn’t know they knew you. Just what did Jessica mean by ‘No clothes’? Is this like one of those swinger’s cruises?”

I was blushing, “Well, ... yes. But we’re not exactly swingers, um, exactly...”

Tammy was now grinning, “Ummm, ... EXACTLY, um, WHO would a broke, horny waitress have to KILL to get invited on a cruise like that?”

I had already ‘opened up’ communications to the group, so they could hear what was being said. Mary and Jamie, who were quite friendly with Tammy, flashed, “INVITE her Charlie! Please?”

I chuckled, “Um, no one. All you’d need is a recent VD test and a passport. Would you like to come with us? We leave on Sunday night or very early Monday morning.”

“Hold on! I’ll be right back.” She giggled, as she sprinted to talk to Jim, the owner and her boss.

When she came back, Jimmy, ‘the Greek’ was in tow. He asked, “You’re no putting Tammy on? You really inviting her on a cruise? How much is cost for these cruise, eh?”

I grinned, “There is no cost to Tammy. We were given a cruise by a very special friend for our wedding. We have an open spot, that will go to waste if she doesn’t come with us.” (I DIDN’T want Jimmy to want to go.)

“How long? 3 days?” Jimmy asked hopefully.

“No, it’s for 7 days and nights. Airfare to Florida is included.”

Jimmy winced, “This place ees going to hell without my Tammy for a whole week.”

Tammy’s shoulders sagged.

“But, I no mess up these chance of lifetime. Okay Tam, you can go have fun. We try our best to get by with no best waitress.”

Jodi had our breakfast on a tray, “Hey, what am I? Chopped liver!?”

Tammy was bouncing, “I’m going on a cruise! I’m getting out of Illinois, for the first time in my life. I might even get,” she saw Jessica grinning, “Laid!” Jessica giggled, “Me too!”

Tammy barely touched her food. She told us she had dumped her boyfriend a month ago, after discovering him in bed with a crack whore. Because of that, she had gotten a VD test. She said she missed her first opportunity to get out of Illinois, when the vacation she was supposed to go on to England got canceled at the last minute. That’s why she had a current passport. I knew she wanted to ask more questions, but, I knew she felt self-conscious with Jessica sitting there.

Linda realized it, looked at Jessica and said, “I think we should visit the little girl’s room.” It took Jessica a second before Linda flashed, “You’re GOING to the bathroom with me, NOW, get it?”

The two of them left and I flashed Linda to let her know I’d flash again when we were finished. As soon as the two of them were out of earshot Tammy whispered, “Is this really one of those swinger’s cruises?”

I grinned, “Yes, is it going to be a problem being naked with people you just barely know?”

She blushed, “I don’t think so. You’re the first one I’ve ever told this, but I don’t have much experience with men. And what little I’ve had has mostly ranged from ‘not good’ to ‘horrible’. For a while, I started thinking I was a lesbian. The only decent relationships I seemed to be able to have were with other girls. It could be that I never met the right guy.”