Chapter 31: Getting Married

We drifted around Stella’s small apartment that the studio provided after getting up around noon, and finally went out for brunch. Heide had left for home after awakening. Jax seemed to be welded to Stella’s hip for the weekend, so I happily accepted that arrangement.

In the afternoon, Stella and I went to the courtyard for the apartment complex and did some karate drills near the pool area. She wore her gi, and I wore athletic shorts and a singlet. We did some low contact sparring without any serious throws or falls after we were warmed up. While we bowed to each other, we also kissed between ‘attacks’. Jax watched us as she lay in the sun without her bra on.

After dinner that night, Jax, Stella, and I made love and went to bed early. I caught an early flight on Monday morning to head ninety-minutes flying time north to Silicon Valley for business. Stella and Jax headed back to the studio to continue filming Starling. In theory, there were only two or three more weeks of shooting at the rate they’d been going.

I spent two days within a few miles of Stanford with several high-tech clients, and then flew home to Florida. I got a hero’s welcome on Wednesday evening from my housemates. Marcia was especially loving, especially since Matt was the one that was traveling the rest of the week north in the New England area. She and I just spent our ‘at home’ time together, with much of that time doing something sexual. Others joined us from time to time.

Four weeks later, not three, near the end of April, Stella arrived home with a small mountain of luggage. She’d also shipped ten boxes of clothing and costume jewelry that she’d bought or acquired while living for four months in the studio apartment in L.A. Lexi, Eva, Anya, and Marcia had a field day with Stella going through all the fun clothing items as they went through the boxes once they all arrived.

Stella also regaled our friends with stories about the making of Starling, plus the various cast members and alternatively, the sex parties she attended. I was surprised to discover that she hadn’t gone to any further parties after I’d left her weeks earlier. I gave her some raised eyebrows to form the question, and she blew me a kiss.

A few days later, after I got home from work, I found Stella again working on Book #3. She was working with ‘Rendition’ as the tentative title by that point. She also admitted to not having done much writing while she was acting in her first book. She had, however, a pile of mostly hand-written note with ideas about the book.

Stella and I curled up beside the pool after dinner – just the two of us. We were naked. I said to her, “I love you. I still want to marry you, if you’re willing.” Even with my trips to L.A., we’d not talked about our relationship other than to acknowledge that we were engaged – often with her flashing the diamond ring at me or others nearby to prove the point.

Stella turned and faced me. “Rob, I love you ... and I do want to be your wife. I also think my biological clock is turning on. I’ve started to see young children everywhere, and I think I want one or two. There’s only one man in my life to impregnant me and that’s you. I’d like to be married when that happens. Could we do it soon?”

We kissed. “Big wedding? Small wedding?”

“If I do big, it’ll be in the papers and scandal rags, and my porn career will get dragged up again. Even though I don’t mind doing the videos, or having done them, I just don’t want to go through all that again, so I vote for a small wedding with an announcement afterwards that the event has already happened.”

I reconfirmed, “All right, small wedding. Here at the house? Just our circle of friends and some family members?”

Stella kissed me again, “Perfect. Let’s make it happen.”

I tested, “Invite Jax and Casey?”

“Yes. If we can get Jax for a month, she’ll handle all the arrangements. It’ll be a good experience for her. She’d love it here, plus she’d come instantly so she could spend more time with you.” She poked at my side with one finger.

“Call her.” I liked Jax, and getting some more time with her would be a desirable outcome of the idea.

Fifteen minutes after Stella ended her call, Jax called back about a half-hour later and told us what flight she’d be on in two days so she could join us and also be our wedding planner. She was eager to help and be with us.

We decided on June first as our wedding day. It was actually five weeks off at that point. Jax went into work mode armed with that fact and our small event started to get planned. She also interviewed Stella and me to get our ‘vision’ of what the wedding ceremony and reception would be like.

We had a modest guest list. Everyone at the house or in our inner-circle would be there – Stella and me, of course, plus Lexi, Matt, Marcia, Tay, Eva, Clay, Anya, Mel, Jax, Heide, and Casey, who we were flying in for the event. We also invited my partners at work and their spouses: Jake, Meg, John, and Penny. Then there were our parents: Stella’s parents – Frank and Alice Manning, plus mine Dwight and Mary Thomas. That brought our numbers up to twenty-one.

Stella and I spent more private time together talking about our marital life. We got a list of personal Values and talked through each of them from ‘Accomplishment’ through to ‘Zeal’. There were 228 on the Internet list we found, and many provided stimulating discussion points about ourselves and our life together.

We prefaced our talks by speculating about what our careers were going to be like. I wouldn’t be changing much, except for increased business travel. Stella, on the other hand, was going to become a movie star – and not just a porn star.

There’d be a large splash when the premier of Starling would be held in about five or six months. The studio hoped to make a holiday season launch of the saga.

After that, much like the with the book, Stella would have to make the circuit of television shows around the country promoting the movie and just stirring up general controversy that would make people go see it and-or go and buy her books.

The studio hadn’t decided whether to use her real name Stella Manning or her pseudonym Alicia Kane when they ‘cast’ the movie stars. There were pluses and minuses for each.

Even the marketing gurus at the Studio told her to not worry about her career in porn as Stella Manning. One woman told her, “It’ll make you more of a hot commodity. You have a reputation that involves sex, and babe, sex still sells whatever it is that you’re selling. You are going to make this movie to smash hit, plus you’d better plan on being in Skylark and then some other films. You are a real star!”

The word eventually came down that ‘Stella Manning’ would be the Star.

We talked about short Hollywood marriages, what made them that way, and even whether we would be susceptible to those shortcomings. We did not want to cross that bridge into marital bliss if things were stacked against us. Stella was adamant that ‘I’ was what she wanted in her life for all of time. I made the same commitment – for better or worse.

We acknowledged that we’d be apart sometimes. That led, in some ways, to acknowledging that we had sexual needs and wanted to have partners, even beyond those we’d already loved in our inner-circle. Neither of us saw anything wrong with an open marriage. We been living that way for almost two years since we coupled up at the reunion.

Moreover, given Stella’s background, we thought that being open about our open marriage wouldn’t be a problem, and if anything, it’d add some additional spice to her movie career because of her desirability to other men. We decided we wouldn’t flaunt the point, but we wouldn’t deny it either. We’d master the art of the shrug.

We also reaffirmed our willingness to tell each other about our various assignations with other people. We could see where one or both of us would be pretty visible to the media in some situations, especially if we went out with other people while being in different parts of the world. We knew that others would frown on our sense of fidelity, but it seemed to work for us.

Stella and I each wrote vows we wanted to say to the other. Jax acted as our sounding board, and we asked her to be sure we didn’t have any embarrassing overlaps or omissions.

Jax met a nice guy at the catering company while she was making arrangements for the small party on our wedding day. They started to date; something that we encouraged. That was how we all met Rick Steele. They got into the dating scene in a big way; so big, that Jax was gone almost every night the week after she arrived and started to work on organizing the wedding for us. She confessed to us that Rick was a good lover.

Stella got that mischievous look and suggested to Jax that she bring Rick by after their dinner and movie date on Friday. Of course, the rest of us were already planning to have a small ‘family’ orgy. Jax knew that, too, and she liked the idea of introducing Rick to group sex, if for no other reason than shock value.

Fresh from the theater and with the promise of some ‘romantic’ time where he would be sure to get laid again, the happy couple of Jax and Rick arrived at the house and came into the living room.

The two removed their clothing, with Jax assuring Rick that he would just love the rest of the night when they went skinny-dipping after having sex beside the pool. We were outside in the dark and could see the two of them inside the house making out as they stripped their clothes away, ostensibly to swim, but also to fuck on one of the pool-side chaises. We were very quiet, and I was sure Rick thought they was alone at the house.

Jax led Rick outside. Even in the dim light we could see his eyes enlarge and hear his gasp. We had our nightly orgy in full swing, except there was a key opening. We were all naked.

I was with Anya, with her sweet and sexy body atop mine. We were between Rick and the pool, which did have a light on in it. Anya was posed to be the most visible of the group because we were near the door. Next to us in the dim light, Tay was fucking Lexi, and beyond them, Clay had Eva stretched out on the massage table as he fucked her while standing between her legs that were over his shoulders. Further away, but aware of the situation and visible in the shadows, Jake was with Penny, and Meg was with John. Everyone was fucking.

Stella was the only one of us without a partner. She was naked and looked like sex on a stick. She came from the side to intercept the couple before Rick could bolt. She kissed Jax in a sensuous manner, and then said in a slow drawl, “And this must be Rick?” She quickly embraced Rick and rubbed her generous chest against his in a highly erotic move. He more or less automatically put his arms around her. Stella only wore her CFM heels.

Jax said softly, “Rick, this is my boss that I told you about – Stella. She’s a porn star, a movie star, and she ... well, she really likes to fuck, especially men she’s just met.”

Rick’s voice cracked. “Stella ... Stella Manning. I know you. You’re in...”