Chapter 215: Flying to Rodeo Drive; Bad Use of a Bed

Saturday, May 14, 2005

I woke at 5:55am. Julia's idea that I start to learn to type wasn't going to happen this morning as we'd talked for too long after her suggestion. I had to wake the girls up almost immediately, Pat was due to arrive at 6:30, and we were meeting Alexis and Katelin at the plane at 6:45. The plane would wait for us all day if necessary, but every minute we were late was a minute less of shopping, and therefore a tragic and irrecoverable loss.

When I'd brought Lily into the room, I'd seen three small suitcases beside the bedroom door. I'd asked Julia about them before we'd gone to sleep, and she'd confirmed my guess that she and Carol had packed for the three of us before Ava had picked them up, laughingly adding that all our swimsuits were packed, including my Speedos. So all we needed to do was get up, get dressed, have a quick breakfast, drop our bags in the car, and head off, preferably with Pat. I hadn't asked Julia what would happen if Pat didn't arrive on time. I could guess, and I further guessed that Julia had told Pat exactly what the consequence would be, so I doubted Pat would be late.

All three girls were sound asleep, Ava being the one that I most wanted to be that way. I gently woke Carol, kissing her mouth so she wouldn't wake Ava, and because I like kissing her. When she was conscious enough, I quietly spoke, "Happy anniversary, my wife."

She loved hearing that! I got a beaming smile, a hug, and a very nice kiss. Carol broke contact to quietly ask, "Ava?"

"Asleep. I'll know a couple of seconds before she wakes up enough to listen to us."

"In that case, happy anniversary, my Lord. I love you very, very much."

I gave her a beaming smile, a hug and another very nice kiss. Then I said, "Let's wake our wife."

I rolled over to wake Julia the same way I had Carol, for the same two reasons.

Carol had moved up the bed, to see over my shoulder. While I was still kissing Julia, Carol said quietly, "Happy anniversary, my wife."

I broke off my kiss to say the same thing.

Julia answered, "Happy anniversary, my wife and Lord," proving she wasn't fully awake, or she would have put "Lord" first.

Carol kissed Julia, then we all kissed each other again, including an appropriate, long and very enjoyable three-way kiss.

Julia said, "Damn that we don't have more time. I'd love to spend some time making love to you two now."

"Me too," from Carol and me.

"{Sigh}," from Julia. "Wake Ava with a kiss, Mark. Start her day nicely."

"Wouldn't my kissing her awake AND her going to Rodeo Drive be too much pleasure for any girl to handle in one day?"

"Haha. I'm sure she'll enjoy trying to manage."

Julia moved to give me easier access to Ava, so I leaned over to kiss her awake.

When she was, I broke the kiss, "Good morning, Ava. Welcome to Shopping Day!"

"YAY! I'm looking forward to that!"

"One thing I'm sure of is that you're a female, so of course you are."

"Haha. And happy anniversary to you and Julia too!"

"Thank you," x 2. Carol couldn't participate in that little conversation, but she gave me a hug under the sheet.

"Time to get up!" urged Julia. "Let's get cracking; we've got a big day ahead of us." Energized naked girls leaped out of bed, eager for the big day to get to the good part.

Julia had my clothes for the day already planned, so they were quickly thrown at me. Thrown, because Julia was in a hurry because she was fully aware that every minute we were late would be a tragic and irrecoverable loss of very valuable shopping time. She also threw me the bag of money, saying, "Guard that with your life. It's VERY important, and it'd ruin our whole weekend if you lost it."

"Thanks very much."

Everything went according to plan, although noisier than I'd expected because the girls were so excited. Actually I was too, but I suspected their excitement wasn't due to very soon having sex in a bed while flying in a luxury jet.

Pat arrived ten minutes early, her weekend's clothes and etc. (girls carry an amazing amount of etc.) in a backpack because she'd come by bike. I was still eating, so Julia put Pat's bike in the garage. They returned to the kitchen and chatted with each other and me while I finished my breakfast.

Ava asked Pat, "What did your parents think of your leaving the house so early?"

"They're still asleep. I told them last night we'd be leaving early, but I didn't tell them how early. I left them a note saying I got too excited about the shopping trip, so I've gone to Julia's early. They think I'm a little crazy about shopping, especially Dad, so they'll get a laugh out of that."

I resisted making several very tempting comments, concentrating on eating my breakfast. I didn't want to be responsible for being even a minute late, because that'd be a tragic and irrecoverable mistake, and probably an unforgivable one.

Vanessa came down at 6:30, to wish us a "Happy anniversary" - discreetly managing to include Carol - and to see everyone off. And, I suspect, to share in the excitement because the girls were getting pretty buzzed by now.

She helpfully said, "Leave the dishes; you don't want to be late."

It was more than my life was worth to insist that we could do them, and none of the girls felt inclined to protest, so Vanessa's offer was accepted without a word of reluctance.

We loaded up the car and set off five minutes early, all of them urging me on. Julia saying, "We should've let Ava drive. She goes faster."

I'd been told they'd be waiting for us to the left of the terminal, so I parked on the extreme left of the public parking lot. We grabbed our gear and eagerly went in search of our plane.

Before we'd gone more than a few steps, there was a horn beep behind us. A station wagon was driving through the parking lot toward us. Katelin presumably, as I expected Alexis to arrive on the back of a Harley, arms around the waist of a guy called Tiny that I'd prefer not to meet down a dark alley.

When the wagon got close enough, I could see that I didn't recognize the parent-aged couple in the front seat. Shortly after that I spotted Alexis waving from the backseat. I'd several times wondered what Alexis' parents were like, so it appeared I was about to find out, unless she'd hitchhiked at 6:30am, which wouldn't surprise me.

They drove up to us, stopped, and Alexis jumped out to rush over and give me a big hug and a kiss. "I'm so excited! Thank you so much for inviting me."

She didn't wait for my answer, rushing to hug Julia, Ava, Carol and Pat, gushing to all of them as they all gushed back.

Her dad teased from the wagon, "You've forgotten your case, Lex. Shall I fetch it for you?"

Alexis momentarily interrupted her gushing to call, "Thanks, Dad," over her shoulder.

From what I could tell, there was no need for us to go to Rodeo Drive, as the girls seemed to have detailed knowledge of every store and all its contents. God knows how. I'm not exaggerating either; they were excitedly comparing the styles of dresses currently on display in two of the stores. If they knew the stores' contents so well, why not just phone their order in?

#4: <Hello! That'd do away with the need for the flying bed.>

#2: <Good point.>

Mr. Joseph approached me; Mrs. Joseph unwisely heading for the overexcited girls. He dumped Alexis' case and slapped me on my shoulder, introduced himself as Ben, pointed to his wife to tell me she was Vicky, then he said "So you're the dude that's got Alexis' panties in a twist the last few days?"

To my side, Alexis suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my God. Am I wearing panties?" She pulled her zip down. The brief glance I had of her bending forward to check had been quite comical, but I thought I'd better look away.

"Oh yeah. Phew. Woulda been embarrassing in a store." Her parents laughed.

While I was looking elsewhere than at Alexis' panties, I noticed Katelin's mother's car driving toward us. I announced, "Here comes Katelin."

Ben (Alexis' parents were obviously the sort of people who wanted to be called by their first names) said, "Thanks for takin' Alexis. She's buzzed over it."

"She's good fun, so we'll enjoy having her along. I've never seen her act so girly before though. So much for her 'Tough Girl' image."

"Tough girl is still girl. Point 'em at a store and they flip. You're brave takin' so many of 'em."

"Either brave or foolish. I'm starting to suspect 'foolish'. Ask me when we're back, presuming I survive that long."

Katelin's mother braked to a halt, which had only a momentary effect on Katelin's forward velocity because she immediately leaped out of the car to rush over to us. Again not pausing to collect her luggage, so I made a mental note to be careful not to leave any bags behind on the return trip, as these girls seemed very unreliable. Ben seemed to put Katelin off from rushing up to me, but Vicky had no such affect on Katelin's redirected rush toward the girls.

I told Ben, "I'll get Katelin's bag for her. It seems to have slipped her mind."

"Funny how that happens."

He joined the girls while I got the bag. Mrs. Eaton greeted me, looking more concerned than the Josephs. Actually, that's an unhelpful comparison, as the Josephs had no sign of any concern at all, so I'll just say that Mrs. Eaton looked concerned.

The females spent a couple of minutes gushing some more, then Julia yelled out, "Everyone's here, so let's go to the plane."

"Yeah!" agreed all the females. They rushed off, leaving Ben and me with every piece of luggage.

Seven bags were too many for the two of us to carry. I was tempted to sit on one of the bags to wait for the girls' eventual return. I wondered how long it'd take them. Unfortunately it might take quite a long time, especially if they got all gushy over the plane. Those minutes would be a tragic and irrecoverable loss, and none of the girls would be likely to see any humor in the situation.

Ben saw the humor though, looking around him and chuckling, "You're gonna have a fun weekend."

I called, very loudly, to have a hope of being audible over the girls' gushing at each other, "JULIA!"

She turned and I pointed at the bags.

The girls came rushing back, loaded up Ben and me, with Ava and Alexis carrying the two leftover pieces.

"Come on, Mark! Walk faster."

The girls, being mostly unencumbered and mostly insane, were the first ones around the corner of the terminal. They stopped, and I heard several "Wows." | Alexis said, "Christ! Are we going in that?" | Vicky exclaimed, "Cool!"

When the two pack-males/mules (I'm suspicious about those two words being so similar) got around the corner a few seconds later, there it was. A hundred yards away sat a VERY sexy looking plane, just like in the movies.

I said, "Wow, that's a SEXY plane!"

"Sure as shit is. That's a hell of a ride," agreed Ben.

#4: <#3, come out. Have a look at this.>

#3: <Wow. That's a gorgeous looking plane.>

#2: <Sure is sexy.>

#1: <Looks fast too. What a pity we didn't win an extra few million, or whatever they cost, so we could afford to buy one of these babies.>

The stairs were folded down, with two uniformed guys - the crew presumably - descending them. The girls got their legs moving again, and we all headed toward the plane. The crew met us halfway, relieved the girls of their bags and one from each mule, then escorted us to the plane.

The girls rushed up the stairs. Vicky asked the crew, "Can spectators go inside?"

"You're welcome to, ma'am."

So the two mothers followed the girls up the stairs. Ben and I followed the crew to the cargo compartment, putting our bags down next to the others.

Ben said, "Let's check it out?"

"I'm eager myself." We headed for the stairs.

#4: <What are the parents going to think about the bed? The plane's too small for them not to notice something as large as a bed.>

#1: <Good point. The mothers are already in there, so I'll guess we'll find out in a second.>

#2: <Maybe it's all folded up so it doesn't look like a bed.>

Ben preceded me up the stairs, so he got to see the interior before I did. He took one look, then over his shoulder to say, "Dude! One guy, six chicks, and a plane with a bed. You're in Nirvana!"

He moved forward, allowing me to get inside. At the front were large, leather seats, some paired and some single. Some were occupied by various girls, but I wasn't interested in that. Down the back, occupying nearly the whole width of the cabin, was the justification for the whole trip: a fully made up bed, all ready for action, even with two girls already sitting on it, Ava and Alexis.

#4: <Maybe we're going to work through them alphabetically.>

"Look what I've found to play on, Dad! Cool plane, eh?"

"Damn straight! They don't come any cooler than this."

Vicky said, "You checked you were wearing panties too soon, Alexis! The time to check is after you land, haha."

Ben added, "Don't open a window, in case they blow out."

Vicky said, "Haha, I remember that. Brings back memories of the old VW Combi."

"Yeah. We had good times in that."

There was obviously no problem with the Josephs, except they might want to try the bed out themselves, holding up our departure irrecoverably. Mrs. Eaton was considerably less accepting though.

Katelin could see the uncertainty in her mom's expression, "I'm doing this, Mom. I'd never forgive you if you pulled me out now."

Mrs. Eaton looked at her daughter, looked at me for a few seconds.

I kept a bland face, not sure what to say

Then she told her daughter, "We'll talk when you get back." Katelin smiled happily. Talking THEN sounded great.

There was some more ooh'ing and ah'ing about the plane, trying the seats out, sitting on the bed, Ben commenting, "I hope this crate flies slow. Arriving will be a bummer," and many other expressions of approval, quite a few of which were from me.

The crew came back onboard, prompting Mrs. Eaton to say, "Looks like you're about to leave."

One of the crew said, "Mr. Anderson sets the schedule, ma'am. We'll wait in the cabin until you're ready."

There wasn't much to see: the seats, the bed, plus a toilet and very small kitchen at the rear. Ben and I had a look in the cockpit. Very impressive, although I knew almost nothing about what I was looking at, only recognizing the steering wheel thing and what I thought were the throttles.

When the parents started making noises about leaving, I asked them not to tell anyone about my having money.

"We're cool with that," said Vicky. "Alexis told us."

"I remember," said Mrs. Eaton.

The parents said they'd watch the takeoff and wished us a good trip in their different ways, Mrs. Eaton saying, "Have a good time, dear. Be careful."

Vicky saying, "Have a blast, Alexis, and don't waste a second being careful."

Ben punching me on the shoulder, saying, "Have a good one, dude."

There was a tiny amount of paperwork with the pilots getting our names, some brief instructions, then we buckled up and the plane started rolling. A couple of minutes later we were streaking down the runway, then rocketing steeply upward.

Julia and I were sitting next to each other in one of the pairs of seats, Ava and Carol in the other pair, with the other girls in the singles.

Julia squeezed my hand, saying, "Boy! We're on our way. This is going to be an amazing weekend."

The prediction received enthusiastic endorsement from everyone.

Katelin said, "I was so scared Mom was going to pull me off when she saw the bed."

"That would've been a bummer all right," agreed Alexis. "So who's going first on the bed, Mark?"

"By the look on your face, you're eager to volunteer?"

"Christ yes! Anytime, anywhere, but especially right now on that bed. Besides, my parents would never let me live it down if I didn't try it out."

"We need to wait for the plane to level off, and first honor should go to Julia, seeing as how this trip is for her."

Julia said, "I don't want the first honor, but I'll take the first dishonor. How does that sound?" [Later I learned she didn't care either way about joining the Mile High Club, but she was happy to make me happy. She's a VERY good girlfriend. Weird, but very good.]

"Even better. Ava, as girlfriend number two, do you want a try after Julia, or maybe with Julia and me, or with Carol. What do you think about that?"

Sorting out the schedule took a while (sexual politics are tricky). First Julia and Ava both preferred one-on-one with me, but they couldn't come out and say that until they were sure I didn't mind. It took some indirect hinting around the issue. Then it was Carol's turn. Did she want a session with Julia and/or Ava?

Carol was happy to wait until tonight.

Alexis was VERY eager to go next, so that took no time at all to establish. Pat and Katelin were strangely unenthusiastic, until it emerged that they were worried about everybody watching.

Julia said, "The curtain will be closed in case one of the pilots comes back." The bed had a curtain which would run around the open sides, just like hospital beds do. The curtain and its ceiling track were obvious.

"Oh, that's okay then," said a relieved Katelin. "You're normally so open I was worried."

Julia explained, "You misunderstand my openness. We're here for Mark's benefit. I'm going to be drawing the curtain because I know Mark wouldn't like a pilot to see him naked, not because I don't want to be seen. If Mark wanted the curtain open, it'd be open. It's not that I'm open; it's that I will do whatever Mark wants. I know that's not how you're used to thinking about guys, but that's what it's going to take to play in Mark's league."

The "Fasten Seatbelts" sign had gone off during Julia's explanation. I got up to try the bed out. It was quickly obvious that the plane's steep climb made bed gymnastics impractical, regardless of whether I oriented my body so my head was facing forward, sideways or back. Damn!

Julia looked at me enquiringly, and I shook my head sadly. Julia turned to Carol, saying, "Sweetie, would you ask the pilots how much longer until the bed will be flat enough for sex please?" Carol blushed, which made Ava laugh. Julia and I smiled, knowing that Carol enjoyed sexual embarrassment.