Chapter 25

It was four o’clock in the afternoon when Dan knocked on Ellen’s door. Tom answered the door and said, “Hey, come on in. We were waiting for you. Are you ready to exercise?”

“Yeah,” Dan answered. Twice a week he came by Ellen’s to use her exercise equipment, and to talk. She had a pool in the backyard and that meant a few hours in the sun before he had to head off to work.

“This science nerd is starting to get buff,” Tom joked as they headed to the room Ellen had set up.

Dan looked over at his friend as if examining him carefully. Shaking his head, he said, “I didn’t realize that scrawny build of yours even came close to buff! Maybe ‘Buffy’ perhaps.”

Tom gave him a tap on the shoulder with his fist and said, “I really missed you while I was away at college. I know I was busy, but there were times when I would stop and think about how much I would have liked to share some little success with you.”

“Same here,” Dan said remembering the day he had bought his computer. He shook his head and said, “I didn’t realize just how busy I would be. I never had much free time in high school, but I have even less now.”

The two young men reached the exercise room. Ellen was at one of the machines adjusting it for her exercise program. She was dressed in a skin tight outfit and definitely looked fine. Tom whistled and said, “My God, she’s a beautiful woman.”

“It makes you wonder why she bothers with you,” Dan said winking at Ellen.

Ellen laughed and said, “You pathetic examples of men should get to work. I can make a telephone call and have a dozen women interested in bedding me here, in ten minutes.”

Dan went over to one of the machines and started exercising at the light setting. He’d do a little on it and then increase the weights. Tom went over to the bike and started peddling.

As they exercised, Dan asked, “Ellen, how’s it going with setting your goals?”

“It’s going well. I’ve got four of my goals worded the way I like them,” Ellen answered.

The past few months had been life altering for her. The Facts of Life hadn’t been that great of a surprise to her. Her father had a dozen or more little sayings that together gave a very close approximation to the ten facts of life. It was the article about the pursuit of happiness that had totally demolished a lot of her beliefs. The process of sitting down and actively examining what she thought happiness would mean for her, had started changing her entire life. Being highly driven at work, and used to establishing business goals, the article on taking control of her life, hadn’t had such an effect.

“That’s good. I’ve finally finished mine,” Dan said.

Tom said, “I finished mine after the Christmas break.”

Ellen grinned over at Tom and asked, “So what did you decide to do for your sexual goal?”

“I’m not saying,” Tom answered. That was the one goal that he didn’t like to discuss. It seemed to him that it was an extremely private matter.

“Four life’s work goals, three social goals, two emotional goals, and one sexual goal is a strange distribution of effort,” Ellen said.

Tom reached down and increased the resistance on the bike as he said, “I don’t know if it’s all that strange. It seems to me, that’s how a lot of people distribute their time. Take the three of us. We spend most of our time pursing our careers. When we are off of work, we spend the majority of our time establishing and maintaining our social network. Occasionally we do something that is just for our own pleasure and until just lately, I have spent the least time on sex.”

Dan said, “It took me a long time to come to grips with having a sexual goal in my life. There are still times when I think about it and wonder if that is an area where a person should have goals.”

Pausing from his exercise, Tom said, “Physics rules the universe and biology rules life. It’s so easy to forget that one. We’re all driven to procreate, but we never stop to really think about how much that influences our life. How many people have sexual hang ups that prevent them from ever really enjoying the act? How many people have such bad body images that they can’t accept that anyone would want them? How many people have fetishes that interfere with their sex lives?”

“When you put it that way, I guess it does make sense to have a sexual goal,” Ellen said.

Dan said, “Mine was to have a moderate sexual lifestyle with occasional forays into a little kinky sex.”

“Your current sexual situation is anything but moderate,” Tom said earning a laugh from Ellen who agreed with him.

“Not really. I’m having sex once a week,” Dan said. Most of his time with Ann and Sally was spent talking and doing other things. He enjoyed his relationship with them and worked hard to make it a good one. He listened to them describe what was important in their lives. He helped celebrate their successes and supported them through their failures.

“With two women at the same time,” Tom countered.

“That’s true, but it isn’t really that wild. There’s not that much that one man can do, to satisfy two women at once. We just aren’t built for it,” Dan said.

“I hadn’t thought about it that way,” Ellen said.

She had been considering the matter only from a woman’s perspective. She didn’t think that sharing one man in bed would be nearly as satisfying as having his full attention. Even with a woman there, she felt that her pleasure would still be diluted.

“I don’t know. I’d love to be in your position for one night,” Tom said.

“You and most other men,” Ellen said with a smirk.

Tom asked, “What about you?”

“I haven’t gotten to that one yet,” Ellen answered.

She had taken a rather practical attitude towards sex her whole life. Not willing to commit to anyone, she took her pleasure from a man of the moment and enjoyed it while it lasted. Most times were pretty disappointing, but a few worked out pretty well. She had slept with Tom more than any other man in her life.

Dan laughed as a mental image flashed through his mind. Chuckling, he said, “Don’t push her too fast, Tom. She’s liable to make it her goal in life to see you strung up in bondage gear and abusing your body for days at a time.”

Tom burst out in laughter. Ellen winked at Dan and said, “That’s not a bad idea.”

“Oh, no! Tom is in trouble now,” Dan said laughing.

Tom peddled a little harder on the bike and said, “I’m trying to get away, but this bike doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.”

The group broke up in laughter. As the laughter settled, Ellen realized that she hadn’t ever experienced this kind of situation before. She had never really just sat around with friends talking a little, teasing a little, and pondering great issues of her life. Too much of her time had been all business, with hours at the office, business dinners, and business travel.

Ellen and Alison were lounging beside the pool working on their tans. Neither would have any tan lines from that sunbathing session. Ellen looked over at Alison amazed at how confident she was in her body. That was so rare among women.

Curious, she asked, “What is Dan like in bed?”

“Very attentive to my needs,” Alison answered looking over at Ellen. Seeing that Ellen wasn’t quite satisfied with her answer, she added, “I was the first woman that Dan ever slept with. It took a little time, but I got him to where he listened to my body’s reaction to his touch. He’s a very good lover. He tries very hard to please.”

“Oh,” Ellen said. She wondered if she was making a mistake by not sleeping with Dan. The friendship that had developed though was too important to risk by doing something stupid. She said, “The first time with Tom was basically two bodies rubbing together. I was a little disappointed, but it got a lot better the second time. It just keeps getting better.”

“The first time with a guy is always the worst,” Alison said.

“You sound like you have a bit of experience in that,” Ellen said. She thought that Alison was a little young to have been with many men.

Alison sat up from the lounger and turned to face Ellen. She said, “I’ve been with six guys. My first time was a one time experience during the summer when I was sixteen. I was visiting my cousin Mary and met up with one of the boys who lived near her. We did it by a lake and I was very disappointed by the experience. As Dan likes to say, biology drove me even when my mind wanted to put on the brakes.

“When I was seventeen I had two guys. One was a guy at school who turned out to be a complete loser. That great romance lasted a whole two weeks, but the reputation that I gained lasted the rest of the school year. He was an asshole.

“The other guy was a pretty nice guy from another school. He showed me that sex was a lot more than rubbing two bodies together. I don’t know if he talked about me with his friends, but I never heard anything negative from any of them. I was devastated when his family moved away at the end of the school year.”

“My cousin Mary told me about having friends with benefits. I had a friend with benefits and it worked out real good for most of my senior year in high school. He enlisted and went off to the army right after graduation.

“I really like having friends with benefits. It takes a lot of that lifelong commitment crap, and throws it right out the window. I end up with a friend that I can discuss things with and a little loving on the side. It’s perfect for someone my age. There aren’t any jealous arguments, any rumors, and no worries about the future.

“Right now, I have two of them. Dan is my friend with benefits here and George is my friend with benefits at college. To tell the truth, I could see myself spending the rest of my life with Dan. He’s my best friend. He’s the best lover I’ve ever had. He worries about me and I worry about him. I want him to do well.”

“It sounds like you are in love with Dan,” Ellen said. She knew that Ann and Sally were in love with him too. It was hard to put her finger on the reason why, but Dan treated them very well. There was never a second that passed without him letting them know that he cared for them very much.

“I guess you could say that,” Alison said with a sigh.

“Does his relationship with Ann and Sally bother you?”

That was the million dollar question as far as Alison was concerned. There were times when it did and times when it didn’t. Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t know.”

“Good answer. Those two really love him. He loves them back, but he won’t admit it yet,” Ellen said.