Chapter 19

WE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE that summer. Daphne insisted that we needed something more party friendly. I guess as we reached our mid-thirties, she’d begun to seek more social interaction. Billy would be in kindergarten in the fall as Shelly entered first grade. The original play group Daphne had taken the kids to was splitting up as their children entered different schools. She felt this was the perfect time to make any necessary changes in school district or social circles. Most of the students in her cadre at school were near our age with a couple younger and a few older. It was definitely broadening Daphne’s circle and I was amazed at how it was affecting our social life. We went out with friends or had friends into our home at least twice a month.

I let Daphne drive the new house hunt. She’d been successful with the original house in Seattle and certainly knew the area and what the schools were like. I was amazed when I saw the house on East Queen Anne, just a few blocks from the Queen Anne Elementary School. It was a new house in an old neighborhood. A builder had selected the site for his own dream home and went all out in the quality and elegance of the construction. June kept me working pretty steadily in addition to my teaching gigs, so we’d amassed plenty of money and Daphne decided we should spend it on luxury in our home. It would certainly make a great party house.

It had five bedrooms and five baths with two laundry areas. I thought that sounded like overkill until I toured it. The five/five included a mother-in-law apartment on the first level with its own entry but also accessible from the rest of the house. We moved in August instead of taking a special vacation around the kids’ birthdays. Roberta moved in with us.

Her son, Jack, and Billy were thick as thieves and moved into one of the large bedrooms equipped with bunk beds. Shelly had her own room, separated from the boys by a jack-and-jill bath between the two rooms. Our master suite was at the opposite end of the third floor with a private deck that looked out toward the Cascades. That left us one bedroom and one bath that were mostly unused.

“Don’t worry. Shelly will be a teenager before you know it,” Daphne said. “She’ll want her own bed and bath soon enough. The boys will want to split to private spaces and have the shared bath between them.”

I was still stuck on the part where Shelly would be a teenager before I knew it. How could that possibly be? She was just six and going into first grade. I couldn’t cope with considering her a teenager. She was my little Shelly. I had a pang of missing CeeCee again. Twelve years. It wasn’t like I was unhappy. I loved Daphne and our kids and life in general. But there was still that empty spot where CeeCee had been.

Roberta could be a problem. She had her own apartment on the first level. But her son slept up here on the third level with our kids. She was now a full-time live-in nanny. She ran the kids to their schools and events. She cooked dinner most nights. She was as often in our family room or living room as she was in her own apartment. We were practically married to her. I wondered, in fact, if living with her appealed to Daphne for reasons other than being a nanny.

“Terry,” Daphne said as she moved on my cock, nearing an eruption. She started squeezing and releasing rhythmically, a sure sign she was ready and a sure way to fire my release.

“God, yes. I love you,” I panted as the pulses began. Daphne whined her release and collapsed on top of me.

“Promise that if anything happens to me, you’ll marry Roberta.”

“What?”

“She’s young, cute, she adores you. She’s already a third of our family and our children are like brothers and sister. Marry her if I die.”

“What could happen to you? You aren’t sick, are you?” I fought off panic with visions of CeeCee running through my head. My gasps for breath had nothing to do with the earthshaking orgasm I’d just had.

“I’m going to become a teacher,” she sighed. “I’ve seen pictures of the teacher I’m interning with. She’s not much older than we are but she looks ancient. The kids are killing her.”

“Daphne, you scared me. Please don’t ever suggest anything like that again. I can’t stand the thought of losing you. Remember, I’m a teacher, too. I don’t think I’m aging that much out of the ordinary.” Yes, I’d spotted a few gray hairs. I was still at the stage of plucking them out.

“Your students are fresh, beautiful, at the peak of sexuality, and keep you young and interested. Mine will scarcely be housebroken. So far, all I’m doing is sitting in the back of the classroom watching and being afraid I’ll catch something from them. It’s like spending eight hours a day living in a petri dish with live cultures all around me.”

“What a charming illustration,” I laughed. “I should be wearing a surgical mask when I kiss you.”

“That would be interesting but, somehow, I don’t think it would be much fun. I love the way you kiss. I’m nine months away from graduation. I want us to take a vacation as soon as we can. God knows when I’ll get another one.”

“Hmm. I just received word that my high school class reunion will be in August, right after I close Macbeth at Rainier Youth Theatre. Why don’t we start with a loop out East? Maybe take in some shows and try a theme park again?” I asked. Daphne smiled at me.

“Nothing I would rather do than meet your high school lovers.” She rolled her eyes. “But we should probably at least include visits to the grandparents on the loop, so I guess we could time it right. Maybe I’ll take the kids to Arizona for a week with Mom and Dad before you close the show. That will make for fewer miles when we’re looping out East. You could finally show me your old college campus, too.” Daphne was in rare form. She’d never really quit squeezing my cock in her pussy after we orgasmed and, even though I’d nearly popped out when she asked me to marry Roberta, she’d managed to keep just enough interest there to keep things steeping. I was beginning to regain interest down there.

The sudden thought of the OU campus reminded me that it was Sarah’s senior year at my alma mater. How time flies when you are having fun! I’d been in touch with Mark and Frankie to make sure things were okay on the home front. They couldn’t sing Sarah’s praises loud enough. And I managed to siphon off funds to send to Sarah for her allowance and expenses at college. There was a new artistic director since Julian’s retirement. I’d met her on a couple of occasions and she seemed like a good person. I didn’t worry about Sarah’s education.

I didn’t think of it much after that. Daphne had switched gears and her movements were compelling. I kissed her and began stroking into that hot wet paradise I’d come to love.

Freshman orientation started the day after our little chat. Shelly was in first grade and Billy was in Kindergarten. Roberta was running the kids while Daphne interned in a second grade classroom and I started teaching my fifth year at PCAD.

“Othello? Really? I thought for a while you were only going to produce comedies,” Jan said as we chatted before classes started on Tuesday. “Then that trick with Lear took us all by surprise.”

“I’ll be back to comedy next year. I think we’re ready for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You know, though, that I’ll be in LA over break filming Henry IV. Then in the summer, I’ll be doing the Scottish play at Rainier Youth Theatre.”

“We need to get you to direct something besides Shakespeare. Consider a good small-cast drama for fall next year and follow it with your Shakespeare in the late spring. This year, your Othello will be in March at the Rep. I know they influenced your play selection.”

“Yes, although I wanted to do the show soon anyway. The fact that they offered me James Hart for the title role definitely influenced me. I think our cast really benefitted from working with Aldo in Lear. It brought their performance up. But why would you want me to direct a drama in the fall? That’s your slot.”

“I’m taking a sabbatical. I’ve been here fifteen years and have chaired the department for ten of them. It’s time for me to renew my creativity and to work with someone other than college students. What you’ve been doing with your summers and breaks helps keep you fresh. This will be good for you, as well.”

“I’ll think about it. Planning two shows will tax me a bit. Especially since I’m planning a family trip right before school starts. Daphne has already ordered tickets for The Lion King in New York, I think.” We laughed and I headed to my office to meet my new TA.

A steaming hot cup of black coffee was on my desk and a steaming hot Reese Little was sitting at the TA’s desk. Reese had been in my classes since she was a freshman and I always appreciated the eye candy. She had a penchant for vintage clothes and was wearing a knee-length black dress with a plunging neckline and a strand of pearls. It seemed more appropriate for a cocktail party than as a teaching assistant. Her hair and makeup were perfect for the era of the dress—somewhere in the late thirties or early forties, I guessed. I didn’t think I’d be having my TA warm up the movement class. She stood in her four-inch high heels and still only came up to nose high.

“Hi, Terry. You get to have me this year.” The way she said it made it sound like I could actually have her. I’d have to wait and see how high maintenance she was before I made any move in that direction. Everything about her screamed ‘American Express!’ I didn’t think my Starbucks gold card would impress her.

“Hi, Reese. Welcome to the nuthouse. My first class is in fifteen minutes. I don’t think that’s enough time to do a full job detail, so why don’t we schedule that for later in the day. Have you looked at my schedule? I see you already got part one of the job responsibilities down.” I smiled as I sipped the coffee.

“I looked. I already slotted a time for myself at three, after your audition class. I’ll have the order for Othello scripts ready as soon as you approve the number. I assumed you’d want to use the French’s edition again. Jim is slated for an overview of the production concept next week on Wednesday. We’d better mosey on over to The Box for your first class. Ready?”

Hmm. This was going to be interesting. I realized my typical job assignment was always the same on the first day and wondered if she’d studied with a former TA. Would she always be this prepared? I picked up my coffee, locked the door and followed her swishing skirt to The Box.

“All right, campers, listen up!” she shouted as she walked into the theatre space. “This is Intro to Stage Movement and Terry Reichert is your professor. We presume everyone is present for every class. Believe me, Terry will remember each of your names. We start this class with some warmups, so if you aren’t prepared to move or are dressed the way I am, strip.” With that, she reached behind her and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the ground. She wasn’t naked. She wore a French-cut leotard with a plunging neckline and thigh high hose. She slipped out of her heels and kicked what she’d been wearing behind her as she started the stretches.

I watched the class and saw two guys strip down to jockeys and T-shirts. After the first stretch, one of the girls pulled off her skin-tight jeans and shirt to start working out in just a bra and panties. Another peeled off her skin-tight jeans but left her T-shirt on. This year’s class might become the most interesting I’d had. I watched Reese as she finished the warmups and gathered up her clothes, pointing her ass toward me as she bent to recover them.

“They’re all yours, Terry.” I noted that she hadn’t even broken a sweat. Her hair and makeup were still perfect.

The fall was marked by two things that affected me as much as anyone else. The first was the Twin Towers in New York on 9/11. My meeting with Jim for the concept was put off a week as none of us were sure exactly how we should deal with this. Daphne’s and the kids’ schools closed as soon as the news hit and didn’t start session again until Thursday. We didn’t close at PCAD, but most classes had long discussions of what had happened and how it affected us. It was a frightening week for everyone.

The second thing didn’t seem like it should affect anyone, but the long-term impact on me and my family would be felt. I was reading the schedules of each of the theatres in town and stopped abruptly as I read the season for the Seattle Repertory. Abigail Harris moved to Seattle to take a full-time position with the Rep. I wanted to see her but was frightened by having her so near. Nonetheless, I bought season tickets to the Rep for the first time.

Daphne and I saw Proof, a new play by David Austin and Abigail did a superb job as the tormented mathematical genius daughter of a deceased math professor. It was a moving story, an intense mystery, and Abby was brilliant. I dragged Daphne with me to the opening night reception, telling her that I had gone to school with the leading actress.

There was quite a press in the reception area as the season ticketholders were invited to meet the four characters in the play. It was part and parcel of working a regional repertory company. You have to keep the coffers filled. I’d paid an extra hundred dollars to be invited to the reception. We finally made our way to the front of the line.

“Abigail, you might not remember me. I’m...”

“Terry!” she exploded and wrapped her hands around my neck, giving me a big kiss. “Sorry about the makeup smudges. How could I forget you, Terry?”

“Well, it’s been a long time. This is my wife, Daphne. Daphne, Abby and I attended Ohio University at the same time.”

“I see. It’s nice to meet you, Miss Harris,” Daphne said. Her voice sounded decidedly cold.