Chapter 86: Cindi’s Story

July 4, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“It’s not quite that simple,” I replied, keeping my voice neutral.

Liv laughed softly, “Remember what I said about listening?”

“Sure.”

“I had an STD test and it came back clean. It’s in my pocket so I can show you.”

“A necessary prerequisite, but not sufficient.”

“You want to know why?” she asked, moving a smidgen closer, so her small breasts pressed into my chest.

“That’s a good place to start, I think.”

“Ever since I first really understood what it was about, well, at least how it worked, I wanted to do it with an older guy. But the teacher I liked was married, and so was my dad’s friend, and I didn’t think that was smart. A couple of my friends have older brothers, but they’re total jerks. Then Ally invited me to the Rap Sessions and when I met you, I thought you were handsome and cool, but you were married, which I figured meant it couldn’t happen. I mean, I knew you had a different kind of marriage, but I didn’t understand what that meant.”

“I guess I’d ask if me being married is a problem for you? Remember what I said about not being able to undo some things you do.”

“I thought about that, and I wasn’t sure. I talked to a friend of mine, one you don’t know, but who has seen you at your karate school. She said if she had the chance she’d have you f ... bang her until she couldn’t walk or talk!”

I chuckled, “You can say the word, and maybe I should meet this girl!”

Liv laughed, “She’s fifteen! Though she’s pretty experienced.”

“Sorry, I was teasing.”

“It’s OK. Isn’t one of your rules not to be judgmental?”

“Yes.”

“If another teenage girl wants to do it with you, I can’t really object, can I?”

“No,” I chuckled. “At least not without being a hypocrite.”

“My friend said that if you can keep two women as gorgeous as your wives happy, you HAVE to be good!”

“That’s a very subjective thing,” I replied. “How about saying I’m well-versed in giving pleasure?”

“Oh, please! I bet you are VERY good!”

“Perhaps so, but you can never judge, for sure, in advance.”

“Are there rules?”

“There are always rules!” I grinned. “The STD test is one of them. Another is even if this happens, there’s no guarantee it can happen again. Things change, and they can change without warning.”

“See! You’re already assuming it’ll be so good I’ll want to do it again!”

I chuckled, “You’re a smart, perceptive girl.”

“I thought that was required to be invited to the Rap Sessions.”

“It is.”

She moved a bit closer and held me a bit more tightly, “You aren’t interested?”

“Don’t mistake self-control for disinterest!”

“It’s just that every guy I’ve danced this close to has had an, uhm, appropriate reaction!”

“Interesting to hear you put it that way.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Some people would say it wasn’t.”

“Holly!”

“Let’s not discuss her please; we probably shouldn’t have done that before.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s OK. But I’ve run into quite a few people, both young adults and older adults, who would be offended.”

“Our health teacher said it’s a normal, natural reaction and if we want to dance close we shouldn’t be offended.”

“You have a smart health teacher!” I replied.

The song ended and All Out Of Love began playing, so we continued our slow dance.

“Is this CD all slow songs?”

“Yes. I think there are four more.”

“Cool!”

“You’re going to monopolize me?”

“We haven’t finished our conversation.”

“True. You’re sure about this?”

“Positive. I want to. With you. Tonight if we can. Right now, in fact!”

That presented a severe issue, because both guest rooms were taken, not to mention the people in the basement. Penny’s house was surely locked, as she and Terry had gone to Grant Park.

“With the party, and our houseguests, there really isn’t anyplace we can go right now.”

“My parents and brother are at Grant Park. It’s not even dark yet.”

“It’s tough for me to disappear for a couple of hours during the party,” I replied.

“Are you trying to brush me off?”

“No way! How much freedom do you have during the Summer?”

“A decent amount, why?”

“Could you meet me someplace on Monday or Tuesday around lunch?”

“Where?”

“A loft apartment my company owns. It’s just west of the West Loop. It’s not tough to get there by CTA.”

“Tuesday? So I can have a chance to ask my parents and let you know if there’s an issue?”

“Tuesday is fine.”

She smiled and put her head on my shoulder and we finished the dance. We parted and I walked back towards my wives, but saw Liz, so I asked her to dance to Every Woman In The World.

“Perfect song,” Liz said as she melted into my arms.

We danced quietly for about half the song before she spoke.

“I really, really liked being with you this morning,” she whispered.

“And I enjoyed being with you, too.”

“I really can’t wait to have a chance to sleep in your arms after we ‘adult’ for hours.”

“I’m looking forward to that,” I replied.

We finished the dance without speaking, then I went back to my wives.

“She’s still crazy in love with you, Tiger.”

I nodded, “I know. But she’s never made any inappropriate demands, nor has she given one hint of anything incompatible with our marriage. She’s not Michelle. Remember, she almost got engaged, until the idiot decided she should be barefoot and pregnant instead of going to law school. And she dated during the last half of her Senior year at Purdue. She’s also aware of the demands of law school and what that might do to a relationship.”

“It’s not as bad as medical school, but our lawyer friends have all said it’s tough.”

“Is everything OK with Deborah and Krissy?” Kara asked.

“As far as I know. Why?”

“Krissy just seemed a bit, well, uncomfortable, I guess.”

I nodded, “She slept with a married man and you two are that married man’s wives. I sensed just a bit of that when I talked to her afterwards. She’s just fine otherwise. I’ll check with Deborah, but I’m sure she would have said something.”

“Are you and Deborah finished?”

I shrugged, “There are no plans one way or the other. We’re just taking things one day at a time. It’s the same with Mary Whittaker. And speaking of which, I owe her a game of pool!”

“Put your balls in her pocket?” Jessica teased.

“More like his cue stick!” Kara replied.

“You two are BAD!” I replied.

“As if you’d have us any other way!” Kara declared.

July 5, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

Our Fourth of July parties always ended early enough that getting up to clean the next morning wasn’t a problem, and except for Jake and Joyce and their kids, who used the guest rooms, nobody spent the night. Everyone pitched in to clean, and we finished by the time Kara, my daughters, and I, had to leave for karate.

At the dojo, I kept an eye on the observation area, and saw the girl who had to be Liv’s friend - a cute, pixie-like girl who looked to be younger than fifteen, but given her size, I suspected she was indeed as old as Liv had said. I chuckled to myself that I might break her in half if I did what she’d told Liv she wanted. I didn’t approach her, and she was gone by the time class ended. Molly and Brett, who had stayed at the Hilton, walked home with us from the dojo for lunch.

“Do you mind if we stay to observe the self-defense class?” Molly asked.

“Not at all. Are you thinking of starting one?”

“It would be a good way to attract some new people and get the word out about the dojo.”

“Sounds good to me. Hannah and I put together a lesson plan which I’ll share with you as well. Our first week we had Bethany, someone from Project Lydia, and a police officer talk to the women about safety and the resources available to them. I suspect Brett can do the police part.”

“He can also be the sparring dummy!” Molly grinned.

“Nice,” I chuckled.

“I’d threaten to handcuff her, but she likes that too much!” Brett replied evilly.

“Hey!” Molly protested, but she was also trying not to laugh.

I simply smiled because although I’d met Brett a few times, I didn’t know him well enough to be sure how he’d respond to the kind of teasing Molly and I did when he wasn’t around.

“One thing,” I said. “I’m leaving directly from the dojo for a meeting, so I’ll be driving there. You guys are welcome to ride with me, obviously. Your car is at the dojo, right?”

“Yes,” Brett said. “Jim Miller said it was OK to park there overnight.”

“We own the lot, so it would be either him or me who called the towing company. I think you’re safe.”

“The little police stickers on the windows would have them call before they towed it,” Brett said.

“Interesting. Of course, I have hospital stickers on my car, so I can get away with parking pretty much anywhere around the hospital, even though I don’t have ‘MD’ plates. Jess has those, plus an ER sticker which means she could probably park in the middle of Hyde Park Avenue and not get ticketed or towed.”

“We’re pretty deferential to docs unless they’re jerks or try to take advantage of their tags to do something totally inappropriate. The fire department has VERY effective measures if they park by a fire hydrant.”

“Break the windows and snake the hose through the car?”

“Exactly! Guess what happens when we get those complaints?”

“They get a BIG ticket, for which they just admitted the infraction!”

“Smart man!” Brett replied. “It’s usually around $500 for the ticket because of the ‘blocking fire equipment’ infraction, which could actually be a misdemeanor if we felt the person was being a real jerk.”

“I’d say parking in front of a hydrant classifies you as a real jerk,” Kara said.

“I didn’t notice any LEOs last night except for your Marshal friend, so maybe you haven’t heard some of the crazy stories.”

“We get them second-hand from Tom, the paramedic, and my wife, Jessica, who hears them at the hospital. I’ve heard a few from a woman who works for me, too; her husband is a Cook County Sheriff’s detective.”

We finished our lunch, and I excused myself to pack an overnight bag, then Molly, Brett, and I went out to my car for the short ride to the dojo. I left my overnight bag in the car, and we went inside where Hannah was waiting. When it was time to start class, I was concerned, because neither Monica nor Amelia had arrived. I took Hannah aside.

“I’m concerned they may not show up.”

“Why?”

“You heard the sailors at the party yesterday, right?”

Hannah smirked, “Nate almost passed out he was laughing so hard. He did ask me to ask you if it was true what they say about Clayton.”

“Oh, it’s twue. It’s twue. It’s twue, it’s twue!“ I replied, doing a terrible Lili Von Shtupp impression.

Hannah laughed, “They said he was hung.“

“And they was right!“ I continued, completing the gag.

“Wow. I guess Monica took offense?” Hannah asked.

“She did. Will you do me a favor and call them? Maybe this afternoon or tomorrow?”

“Sure. It makes sense to call because they didn’t show up.”

We started the class without Monica and Amelia, and they didn’t arrive late. When we finished class, I said ‘goodbye’ to Molly and Brett, then locked up, and walked quickly to my car for the drive into the Loop. Twenty minutes later, I handed the keys to my BMW to the valet, grabbed my bag, and walked into the hotel. I went to the desk, gave my name and Six Continents Club membership number, and less than five minutes later, had two keys to the suite. I had just turned from the reception desk when Cindi walked in, carrying her own overnight bag. I walked over to her, and then we walked to the bank of elevators and rode up to our floor. Two minutes later, we were in a large, three-room suite.

“Sparkling grape juice?” she asked, eyeing the welcome gifts on the table.

“You know I stay with InterContinental every chance I get, and we use them for NIKA where we can, so they bend over backwards to accommodate.”

“Why do I feel like a nervous High School girl who’s about to lose her virginity?”

“For the same reason I feel like a High School boy who’s managed to get his girlfriend alone in her house for the first time.”

“This is dumb!” she declared. “We’ve seen each other naked so many times that neither of us could count!”

“Yes, but in all that time, in the fifteen years we’ve known each other, we’ve never done anything more than hug or kiss on the cheek. We’ve talked about it and teased about it but never done it.”

“ARE we going to do it?” she asked, sounding serious.

“That’s a good Goddamned question,” I said. “Let me pour some drinks, we’ll turn on some music, and talk about it.”

“Jesus, we’re dumb,” Cindi said, as I poured sparkling red grape juice into two cups.

“Yeah. We both came here with one purpose, but the minute we set foot into the room, we both became super nervous and unsure.”

I went to the small shelf-unit stereo and put in a classical piano CD, and then we sat down on the soft, comfortable couch.

“Remember what I said about fantasy and reality?” I asked.

She nodded, “That they usually don’t line up. But we’re past that, aren’t we? We’re thirty-four, for heaven’s sake!”

“I’m not sure that matters all that much. This is like ... like if Jennifer Jason Leigh had walked into my bedroom when I was twenty.”

“Your supreme fantasy!” Cindi said. “At least I’m in good company!”

“But you know what I’m getting at, right? Suddenly, something you thought was just a crazy fantasy is real. And you have second thoughts or get nervous or freak out. We’re both too even-keeled at this point to freak out, but neither of us is beyond being nervous about it.”

“Is this where I say I think I need a drink?”

“You can say it, but you can’t do it,” I replied.

“I know. There is no such thing as an alcoholic being able to safely drink. Well, that’s how I feel, and I know Doctor Jessica does, too. Thanks for asking her to talk to me. I had no idea.”

“Between alcoholism and prescription drug abuse, I’m not sure which is greater amongst physicians. They have a much higher divorce rate and much higher suicide rate.”

“It’s the stupid system!”

“You’re preaching to the choir on that one. And that idea is slowly beginning to spread amongst the younger doctors. My hope is that in, say, ten to fifteen years, this fixes itself because the docs revolt. But I won’t count on it. I think, eventually something very bad is going to happen and the government will step in and wreck it in futile attempt to fix it by regulation.”

“Given that the average Congressman is about as intelligent as a flea, that would be a nightmare of epic proportions.”

“It would,” I replied. “I have an idea.”

“What?”

“There’s a huge whirlpool tub and a selection of bubble bath. How about we try that, first? We can even sit facing each other, if you want.”

Cindi drained her cup, “The whirlpool is probably a good idea.”

I drained my cup and got up, then we went to the large bathroom.

“Cherry blossom, apple blossom, orange blossom, or lavender?” I asked.

“You pick.”

“Lavender it is,” I replied.

I turned on the tap and adjusted the temperature as high as I thought we could stand, and emptied the small bottle of lavender bubble bath into the stream. The floral scent quickly filled the room, and bubbles began forming in the slowly rising water. Cindi and I looked sheepishly at each other and began to undress. We tossed our clothes onto the bed, and then went back into the bathroom. I shut the door to keep the heat in and turned on the heat lamp as well. It wasn’t a sauna, but it would be very warm.

I got into the tub and settled down, and after a brief moment of indecision, Cindi climbed in and moved between my legs. She carefully leaned back against me and I wrapped my arms around her waist. We sat quietly while the tub continued to fill, and when the water reached the upper part of my chest, I turned off the tap. I pressed the button to turn on the water jets, selecting ‘low’.

“I’m amazed those things float,” I teased.

“Yeah, and in a few years, they’re going to sag. That said, they’ve held up pretty well so far!”

“I’ll say!”

“Says the guy who prefers girls like Jessica or Elyse!”

“Which does not change the fact that I think you’re gorgeous.”

“You’re pretty damned good looking, too.”

“Thanks.”

“Want to hear something funny? Well, I guess it’ll be funny.”

“What’s that?”

“Stuart was bigger than Clayton.”

“I can’t say as I never looked closely enough to notice!”

Cindi laughed, “Charlie and I compared notes. As I said, size isn’t everything.”

“As an allegedly fairly typically endowed male, I’ll take your word for it.”

“Promise not to get upset?”

“With you? About what?”

“I asked Charlie about that, too. Her comment about you was ‘bigger than average, better than all’.”

“Now I think what Benji and Leah said about the girls’ locker room at their High School yesterday is true!”

“You have NO idea,” Cindi laughed. “In High School, we passed around dick measurements the way guys did boob measurements, and traded tips on who was worth fucking and who wasn’t. And there was a lot of detail about technique, or lack thereof, given it was High School boys. I guess that wasn’t YOUR issue.”