Chapter 66

The afternoon flew by for Lucy and Selena, and maybe quite the same for Jeromy and Joe, but they did it a little more leisurely. If either of hem had any plans for the day they were scuttled when the garage door opener failed as they went to leave. They spent the rest of the morning fixing that without having to leave the house for parts or anything. With Jeremy's help they were able to open a sealed motor package that wasn't intended for serviced, just thrown away, and then found the offending glitch and fixed it. Jeromy chirped about "planned obsolescence" seeing the poor quality connections and parts used. It was early afternoon when they finished and then were about to continue with the day's plans.

"Jeromy, have you ever been to a cigar lounge?"

"No, but I've heard of them."

"I belong to one and I know there will be a few people around to watch the ballgame this afternoon. What do you think if I bring you as a guest, we have a stogie or two, watch the game, have a few drinks and a bite or two, then shower and change clothes and meet the women?" Joe offered.

"Sounds expensive." Jeromy said.

"Forget the expense, they don't even exchange cash with members, it's all tabbed." Joe told him.

"We can change and shower there?" Jer wondered.

"Certainly, they have handball courts and if you're meeting a woman afterward no man wants to smell all sweaty OR like a cigar. Bring a change of clothes and we'll use the service from here to there and to the restaurant. We can leave our cars." Joe said wanting to put Jeromy at ease.

"Joe I can't afford to... " Jeromy started to say.

"Bull hockey! You can't afford it now, but the day when you can is on the horizon after you guys get your masters and all that stuff paid for. Then you can re-pay me. We should talk about some things and maybe see if you can get work with someone who will help you our with your education expenses. Matter of fact, I should get the poop on both of you. It'll give me something to do during the day when we get back to The City. With both of your educations you ought to be able to get an employer to subsidize you a bit for your Masters. I know a lot of people; maybe we can take advantage of that for you. Lucy and Selena are so close friends we'll probably be seeing each other for a long time. Lucy is like a sister to her and it depresses her when they spend so much time away. I can assure you they are having a great time today." Joe said.

"Well, no doubt about that. Lucy has been on cloud 9 since Selena called. She has other friends, but she really does think of Selena as her sister. Lucy's family is quite screwed up. Her father was never around, always on the road working and her Mom was strict. She doesn't have much sense of family. There's no real closeness once she got away from them." Jeromy explained.

"Well, we like being Lucy's family. I know she thinks of me as a father figure, and that's OK. I was glad to help her out of those couple jams. She's a real sweet girl, and like I said before, she and Selena make a great pair." Joe said with pride.

"Joe, how did we both end up with such fantastic looking women?"

"Easy Jeromy, it's our animal magnetism." Joe said laughing as they got ready to go to the cigar lounge...

Joe called the service and arranged for them to pick them up and bring them to the cigar lounge, and then to The Flat Iron Steakhouse where they agreed to meet the ladies.

The afternoon of Joe and Jeromy flew by as fast as Lucy and Selena's. They sipped a fine Forrister 1987 Vintage Port and smoked a limited release Arturo Fuente Hemingway cigar or two while enjoying the game with light snacks of mini- beef Wellingtons, one bite lollipop lamb chops and mini lump crab cakes. Jeromy could not get over how fine everything was, really liking the upper crust living. Joe explained to him that he didn't do this everyday, but since he could afford to indulge from time to time he did and sharing this with a friend was perfect, as Selena would definitely NOT appreciate it. (Not that there were no women at the cigar bar).

"I know little of cigars, except if I smoke one it's usually a 3 or 4 dollar one and Lucy makes me shower and brush my teeth. I usually like them with a cognac, but settle for a splurge of Jameson's whiskey. But this port is so smooth, I know it's probably a bottle I might never afford." Jeromy said thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Ahh, but that's where you get fooled and can enjoy something special for a decent price. The Forrister 87 is probably a 25 or 30-dollar bottle and easily compares with others at 2 or 3 times the price. Forget the reviews and stats on the label, get what you think tastes best to you. Forrister has a good pedigree in more expensive wines and ports." Joe said happy he could teach Jeromy some of the points of better living.

Jeromy sat at the corner of the bar watching the game, smoking a fine cigar, sipping tasty port, eating gourmet snacks and lightly washing everything down with iced Pelligrino water with possibly the most successful man he might ever meet. He knew one thing, he could live like this and he had one of the keys to Joe's success, a good woman. When he first saw Lucy and asked around about her he was told she was a lesbian with a taste for one night stands with campus frat-boys. He kept seeing her about and something about her drew him in. She had a killer body, if maybe a little on the athletic side, and a cute face that seemed to marquee a wisdom he could not quite put his finger on. He put all the stories and rumors aside and decided to find out for himself what she was really like. There were confessions and bumps in the road for both of them, but what a person did before you met them means nothing if they can change and make you happy. They went to a movie or two and had a few quick bites together and the conversation was great, almost inspiring. Then one date ended up at her dorm door in a long groping kiss. She had given his hands liberties, but wouldn't let him come in the dorm. From that day he was hooked. They both brought a lot to the table in their relationship and it was profoundly obvious that they were perfect for each other.

"We have two hours before we meet them. We better cut off the alcohol and snacks so we aren't falling asleep at the table later." Joe said with a chuckle.

The rest of the game and conversation filled their time until they decided it was time to change and get ready for meeting Selena and Lucy for dinner. After showers inside the smoke free zone they changed into the clothes they had stowed in Joe's locker and were off in the car Joe had arranged for them.

Selena drove into the lot 5 minutes before the men arrived and took that time to continue to scold Lucy for putting herself in situations that compromise her own safety.

"I know you consider a lot of that stuff as harmless teasing, but a lot of men take it seriously and call those teases "promises". Once you enter the business world you'll find yourself having to be much more protective of yourself. Many men think every successful businesswoman attained her position on her back or on her knees. Now think back to the hours and hours of studying, the sleep missed, the food you didn't eat because you had to pay bills to keep your apartment, or pay tuition. Is your body how you want people to think you got where you are, or your brains and hard work ethic? I work in an office with one other woman and sometimes 6 men, ranging in age from middle 30's to 70's. Do I think they look at me when my back is turned? Of course. But, never ever once have I ever had to say a thing, field a double entendre, or anything close to harassment to keep my professional dignity. When you are outside of your realm of close friends or Jeromy, that wall should be up that says, "I am not a thing, I am an intelligent woman and I deserve the respect I've earned." Because, if anything ever comes up where you might be accused of using your charms to get what you want, your reputation will precede you and the question dropped." She told her in her best professional mode.

"I guess I never think of myself in the same way as I perceive you professionally, and I should. I've worked too hard, especially since we started on our Masters, to allow myself to be taken in the light I project sometimes... OH LOOK! There's a Towne Car pulling in, I bet it's the boys." Lucy said as they were getting out of the Mustang.

After being seated in the restaurant the girls quickly steered the conversation away from shopping and what they had purchased. The talk centered mostly on PolyTech life and Manhattan life. The evening seemed to fly by and at 8:30 they were walking out The Flat Iron Steakhouse with only one totally sober of the group, Jeromy.

"So, I get to drive the "chick" car, huh? Maybe we'll joyride for a bit." Jeromy kidded.

"Oh, come on, Jer," Lucy pleaded, "We've been in these clothes all day. I want to get back and put on my grungies and get into the wine a little more."

"The wine!" Joe said kidding her, "Last night you were damn near bare ass after just 2 glasses, what kind of show do we get if you drink more?"

"You guys missed the show last night, you snuck off to the bedroom, remember?" Lucy kidded back.

"We didn't need your lessons in love, Lucy. Besides I saw your bare ass enough in 4 years of dorm life." Selena shot back to her.

"Yes, you did BUT NOW there's more of it to see. My hips finally developed so I can wear a French bikini." She said in a mocking tone.

"How many brownies did you have to eat to develop your hips?" Jeromy said as everyone in he car howled with laughter.

"Jeromy, you've gotten your last look at this ass AND your last blowjob until I get a formal apology for THAT comment." Lucy said folding her arms in front of herself as if insulted.

"I know, I know, after you quit sports the muscle came off your belly and went to your butt or something." Jeromy said laughing at and with her.

As Jeromy pulled up the drive Lucy turned in the seat. "Are you two sure you want to put up with us for another night? We do have a place of our own."

"Hell no, you can't leave!" Joe said. "I want to see that ass with the belly fat on it."

Once again everyone laughed, even Lucy who knew it was all in fun. They retired to the living room and the wine bottle was quickly passed around with lies and stories being exchanged. Suddenly Lucy stood up.

"Hey, Selena told me she never heard the story of how I started having sex while on a vacation in Maine!" She said with a bit of a drunken slur.

"Oh no, Lucy. They're only going to be here until Monday morning, I'm not sure we have time for it all." Jeromy said in mock exaggeration.

"You've probably never heard it all either. I'm going to write it all down someday for a dirty movie script. So do you want to hear the whole thing or not?" She asked.

"Do we have any choice?" Selena joked.

"No, but it'll make us all hornier than spring bunnies, I guarantee. Just keep the wine flowing."

'If anyone has to go to the bathroom, go now, because she won't finish this for an hour." Jeromy said, half joking, half serious.

Selena leaned back into Joe on the sofa after refreshing her wine and waited for her friend to start the long promised story. Lucy had been the "butt" of jokes for the past few minutes, but everyone was really mellowed out and wanted to hear Lucy tell her story of sexual initiation. It wasn't really the thing you might enjoy hearing, but with a good wine buzz on and 2 sexually charged couples, it somehow sounded interesting.

Lucy began her story of how she played Classie Lassie Fast Pitch Softball the year she turned 16 and they went to the New York State Championship round with an unlikely bunch of girls that probably got hot at the right time and their luck carried through until thy met a team from New York City who totally out-classed and humiliated them. Ed Reynolds, who was also the father of one of the teams pitching stars, Carrie Reynolds, coached the team. Lucy told the story like this:

Carrie Reynolds family had a getaway in Maine that each of her fathers' family members shared each summer. I suppose at one time it was considered to be quite a fancy and privileged place but it hadn't been updated in years and the whole concept was old. There was a main house with a Great Room and big kitchen with a large bedroom, behind that were 4 small cabins around a yard that served as a courtyard for outside gatherings. It sounds like a huge complex, but the cabins were small and very close to each other, barely room for a mower to go between them. The Reynolds site was only 100 yards from the main beach parking lot with a hotel in between and if you sat on the front porch you saw almost everyone who came to and from Willows Beach. Carrie said when her grandparents were alive they spent the day rocking on the porch saying hello and goodbye to the beach goers while sharing family stories and gossip with the other locals who summered there. It was on this porch that I saw "him" for the first time. At just a few months into my 16th year I certainly thought of boys a lot, giggling and making up kissing fantasies with my girlfriends, but this boy truly made me weak in the knees and gave me my first tingle at the very sight of him.

We had just won our division championships in Classie Lassie Fast Pitch Softball. We lost in single elimination at the state level to a New York City team, but we beat 5 teams we had no business even being on the field with them to get that far. When Carrie's Dad, our coach, had his turn at the family getaway he was going to have to let it go by as his oldest daughter was getting married in a few weeks and his 2 sons were away at guard duty. Carrie's Mom suggested "rewarding" the team with a week vacation thus getting her husband and Carrie out of the way so the wedding plans could go off smoother. Her Dad liked the idea of getting out of the way and not having to deal with the hubbub of the wedding. The only rules he laid out for us was that we be in bed by 10 pm. It was a quiet little beach community once the tourists left the beaches when they officially closed at 9 (lifeguard gone). If a rowdy bunch had rented a local bungalow and carried on after 10, the sound was magnified throughout the little area and locals frowned upon it and called police if it persisted. This was not an area with businesses to support tourist traffic besides a couple oceanfront motels.

Including Carrie, only 4 of us team members was able to go so we could each have our own small place to ourselves. We got there on a Sunday mid-morning and each moved into our little 16 by 16 cabins. Each had a single bed, a dresser, closet and small bathroom with toilet, small sink, and shower. I swear if you were even slightly larger than average you would have to open the bathroom door to use the sink, but it was our own and most of us were away on our own for the first time. Our first experience with independence was empowering for sure. It was a cool day with in and out sun, mostly in, so after a look at the beach we all sat on the porch with lemonade and chips ogling the boys and rating the people, especially the girls as cool, geek, or donkey geek. Four teenage girls with chips on their shoulders could be vicious to other of our ilk.

No one could argue that I was not the best looking and best developed of the 4. I had full round breasts and a thin flat waist that curved nicely to my hips and butt. I could easily pass for older and my Mom made sure I wore clothes that didn't show off my figure. I let my hair grow out to take away the pixie look for this trip. I had been allowed to date for school-sponsored functions and other chaperoned affairs, but for little else. There was a cute boy who I saw more than a few times, nothing serious. We had a few long kissing sessions, but nothing more. I was certainly curious about boys and had recently discovered masturbation, a practice I had become quite proficient at. To this point the only members of the opposite sex I had seen in the altogether were in a magazine Carrie had smuggled at a slumber party from her sister Lizbeth. When Lizbeth came home that night and caught us she laughed and took the magazine, only to return with another that showed erect men with bikinied girls hugging them. After my first impression at what male genitalia looked like (ewwwww), seeing them erect and ready for action impressed me knowing my sexuality could cause such a change, BUT I had no idea how that big thing would ever fit inside of me and the prospect of that happening caused more fear then excitement. We were typical of girls our age as far as the mystery of boys was concerned.