Chapter 28: The Big Tease

Alice’s sister from Ohio showed up a few weeks later on Friday afternoon for a long weekend with the Circle. Karen took up residency in the core studio apartment that overlooked the patio and into the gazebo that had belonged to Bobbie when she first went to work for the Circle as their chef. Elise had elected to use the guest room in Roy’s home.

Karen had decided to visit at least once a quarter to rebuild the shaky relationship with Alice and Julie, and to see the growth of little John Forrest, now just a year old, and the other children. Being older and having three kids of her own, Karen had a growing rapport with her nephew. He obviously liked her attention as an alternate to what Alice and Julie offered him. She did quite well with Matthew and Bobby as well, often engaging the older ‘cousin’ in conversations about his likes and dislikes in terms of sports, TV shows, and computer games.

Dave, Alice, Julie, Heather, and Pam had a chuckle over breakfast the morning after Karen’s arrival talking about how she had a window onto the little den of inequity – the gazebo. Many in the Circle liked to go into the small outdoor structure to make love, especially on the weekends. The surrounding trellis had filled in with flowers including flowering jasmine and bougainvillea, which gave off a beautiful and pleasing aromas. The aromas drifted around the patio and even into the studio apartment that Karen was using. If she discovered that, she’d also have the windows open to enjoy the sounds of whatever was going on.

The five of them plotted to be sure that in the evening Karen would be treated to a blatant display of the Circle’s sexuality. Of interest to her sisters was what she would do: pull the shades, watch, scream out, do something for her own satisfaction, or take some other unpredictable action.

As they went to prepare and serve up the usual Saturday morning brunch, they found Karen already enjoying a cup of coffee and awaiting the chefs and wait staff. Dave, as usual, claimed the spot of head chef. He now had the large breakfast down to a science, especially since most of the Circle members didn’t change their standing orders, and if they did, he had a note on the kitchen white board about it.

Lisa showed up for the breakfast wearing a monokini and an armless scoop neck t-shirt that was revealing and in keeping with the near nudity the Circle enjoyed. Grace was similarly dressed, and had apparently coached her colleague from the hospital about the revealing dress code.

Jason and Robyn appeared for breakfast, coming from Dale and Susan’s home with Holly strolling along with them displaying her freshly fucked façade. Ken and Patti appeared about the same time. They’d gotten in late the night before after traversing the country twice during the day, so they just crashed for the night at Dave’s home.

Bjorn, Tan, and Nathan fit into the group, joining the table with Mike, Sean, Kat, and Clarisse. The visitors had further curiosities about Mike’s business in adult films. Karen chose to sit with her sisters and the Anders family. They were talking about the progress on the Townhouse 2 project. Jack had done the Friday inspections and also talked to the General Contractor about progress and pace. Karen, it turned out, was interested in construction projects so arranged a tour from Jack for later that morning.

Dave got the brunch orders from the visitors and melded those into the other items he and some others were cooking. For some reason that morning, the Belgium French Toast was unusually desired, along with a generous helping of Maine maple syrup and powdered sugar to decorate the final product.

Dave eventually finished cooking, got his own breakfast, and then sat with Lisa, Grace, Jack, Karen, and several others at one of the long tables. He got the update from Jack on Townhouse 2, and then just listened as the others talked about the coming summer.

Grace updated Dave about Rachel, Heather, Clarisse, and Ashley’s plans for the college graduation party the following weekend. Apparently, the guest list had expanded. With about fifty from the Circle and close friends, there were expected to be around one-hundred-fifty partiers plus possible dates of a few. A DJ would play music starting at six o’clock. The girls planned a long barbecue dinner with all the side dishes, and guests were encouraged to bring a dish to contribute to dinner in some way. They’d pooled their funds and even gotten a donation from several families and Owen to help create a great party atmosphere. Grace was sure it would be a success and that everyone would enjoy the festivities. The actual graduation had long been planned for the weekend after that at the university.

Dave caught Rachel and Heather a little later and expressed a couple of his concerns: drinking, drugs, and driving. They both assured him that they had already put the word out about all three. If drinking was on the docket, they’d already talked to the local taxi companies and Uber about service to and from the party. They’d emphasized a drug-free party as part of the invitation, and had included mentioned the STD tests as an entry requirement to get a stamp of acceptability from one of the four girls to signify a clean bill of health. The implication was that there’d be plenty of opportunity for fun and games. Dave felt that the girls had things under control.

Grace assured him that she and several of the other women would also be acting as ‘guidance counselors’ to the group before, during, and after the party. Dave hoped that with most of the group being graduating seniors, that the maturity level of the group might be somewhat above what he recalled were the fraternity-dominated drunken parties that he knew went on during his last year on campus.

After brunch, Dave gathered up all his flight gear and took a golf cart down to the Circle airport. He rolled the Cessna 182 out of the hangar, did the preflight, and then took off for Sky Ranch Airport about ten miles distant from the Circle’s private strip. About a half-hour later Dave met Clay Barton, the FAA flight examiner that would test him for his instrument rating. The pair talked for a few minutes about the test, the plane, and the way Ron would conduct the test. Ron also checked all the paperwork and signoffs in Dave’s logbook.

The pair strolled out to the plane, Dave did a complete preflight again, commenting that he had only about twenty minutes of flight time on what had been full tanks, and given the VFR quality of the weather, he wouldn’t refill them until after the test. Ron was satisfied and indicated for Dave to proceed; the plane could still fly for hours on what remained. Dave had filed an IFR flight plan from Sky Ranch to Jacksonville. He got into the plane, checked all the systems, started and they were off.

Ron kept throwing questions at Dave about the flight, plane, route, rules, airspace, communications, weather, approach plates, and emergency procedures. Dave never hiccupped once in his crisp replyies. The expected hour under the hood turned out to only be thirty minutes. Without Dave looking from under his IFR hood, Ron would put the plane in an unusual attitude and then Dave would use the instruments to assess what was happening and how to correct. A few times, Ron used an index card with tape on it to cover one or two instruments to try to confound Dave, but he kept his cool. The flight plan to Jacksonville was cancelled, and after a practice approach at SRQ, Dave was instructed to fly back to Sky Ranch. He’d passed his test. He was now an instrument rated pilot.

Doug and Pete met the returning airmen and watched as Dave’s logbook got endorsed and some other paperwork got completed. Dave paid his examiner and then there were toasts with cups of coffee and soft drinks.

That afternoon at the start of the cocktail hour, Dave got feted by the rest of the Circle and congratulated for his airmanship and new credential. Emily and Joan were excited because their flight tests were in two weeks. Since Dave was not going to fly again that day, he enjoyed a glass of wine with lots of ice added to the glass.

Lisa Taggart came up to the bar and added her congratulations for Dave’s accomplishments. He teased her, “You’re finding some new friends by hanging out around here – nice, intimate, new friends.”

Lisa laughed, “You mean because I totally enjoyed our group romp last weekend. It seemed decadent. I talked to Grace about it, and she told me that group encounters like that were well within the norm.”

“They are. What made that one unique is that Tan, Nathan, and Bjorn aren’t Circle members either. They hope to be, but need to meet and get to know more people.”

Lisa said, “I want to belong here, too. Grace told me about how I need to meet other people. I understand that’s a euphemism for making love with them.”

“You don’t need to go all slutty on us,” Dave said. “You also don’t need to leave behind the friends you’ve already made – like me.” Dave laughed.

“I do have a question that may be a bit out of the blue from what I can tell. I have a guy friend that I like, and we’ve occasionally gotten together to knock the edges off each other’s horns. Could I bring him around here, too? His name is Jim Danforth; he’s in the process of buying into a new business in town.”

Dave pushed, “You two aren’t an item, are you? The Circle and me especially are not in the business of breaking up happy relationships.”

“Oh, no,” Lisa protested. “I would have said something. We’re ... occasionally dating, but I think he is of like mind, if I can put it that way. We’re not a couple, but we’re in a committed friendship. I sometimes call him my fuck buddy, but I like him more than that, and the feeling is mutual. We just won’t ever be anything more than that for each other.” She paused and asked, “How do you differentiate between your wives, and say Amanda? What vocabulary do you use?”

Dave was brought up short by the question. “Well, I’m totally committed to my wives. I love them dearly. I also love Amanda, but, you’re right, it’s different. I love Patti, for instance, but I am celebrating her engagement and pending marriage to Ken.”

“What if one of your wives decided she wanted to marry another man?”

“I’d try to be of the same mindset – to celebrate her happiness and new life with the man.”

“But wouldn’t you feel a sense of loss?”

“I suppose I would. Some relationships appear to only last certain amounts of time. We should take joy in the time we had together, and move on. Spouses are not possessions. They have their own free will. Being together is a choice they both make.”

Lisa leaned across the bar and kissed Dave. “You are the best,” she crooned. “Can we have some time together later?”

Dave grinned, “Let’s see what develops.”

The cocktail hour morphed into the dinner hour, and that gave way to some pairing up and sitting talking at the dinner table. Ty put on some dance music, and some couples started to stand together and sway to the slower numbers or dance with abandon to the faster ones. Some clothes got shed.

About nine o’clock Karen Waldorf Simon, Alice and Julie’s sister, stood and announced she was turning in for the night. Before she left, Dave claimed one dance with her. He was polite and proper as they danced and chatted about the Sunday brunch the next morning. Karen then went off to the studio apartment she was using as the guest room for her visit.

Dave shared a few more dances with Alice and Julie, and then found Emily and Donna. He showed the two women how to dance together romantically, but as a threesome. Near him, he saw Alice and Julie embrace and start to make out with Owen. As their advances to each other went on, they became increasingly intimate.

Julie accelerated the situation by removing her top, allowing Owen and her sister to suck on her nipples and feel her all over. She was wearing cutoffs, but those offered little resistance to the fingers that wanted to penetrate the beautiful body. Julie just glowed with the attention, humming and moaning as the minutes passed.

For his part, Dave was more or less keeping pace with Owen, but with Em and Donna. Donna had opened the blouse she’d been wearing and Emily had untied the manly shirt she wore that had the tails tied just under her voluminous breasts. The three moved to take care of each other.