Chapter 20: Kelley gets measured

Kelley was beside herself. I tried talking to her, but she refused to listen to me. She went into the bedroom, leaving me to clean up the mess in the living room.

When I went into the bedroom, she was asleep, or pretended to be. I went into my study, and read the new case for Business Management class. It involved the merger of two small circuses. One was older and had a well established travel circuit. The other one had not been in business as long, but its equipment and animals were in better condition. Our mission was to foresee the obstacles that would confront the new company, and to find solutions to circumvent them.

I planned how we would attack the problem, and which team members would be assigned the various research projects. I wondered if the Cochran Company manufactured tents in the size that would accommodate a three-ring circus. I also wondered how Chase would accept the task of researching how to amortize an elephant or a tiger.

The time got away from me, and when I crawled into bed at two A M, there was no question that Kelley was sleeping soundly. I awoke to find a note on the kitchen table.

Sweetheart,

Megan called. We're going shopping and to have lunch.

Love and kisses,

K

P S. We took your car.

I read the note twice while having my breakfast. Was Kelley going out of her way to convince me that she held no hard feelings against me for letting Chase get by with saying Megan was my girlfriend, or was she being facetious?

I was polishing off half of a grapefruit when Chase called to ask what was keeping me. I guess he thought I was planning to pick him up. I told him that my girlfriend had taken my car. He said he would stop by for me in ten minutes.

He showed up driving a small Honda. We drove to a print shop and he suggested that I come inside with him. Joe Kerrigan, the kid who had asked Megan to see Scent of a Woman with him, was behind the counter. He produced a package from a back shelf, and handed it to Chase, ignoring me.

Chase leaned over the counter to inspect one of our flyers, which had been taped to the front of the package. When he was satisfied with the copy, Chase beckoned for me to inspect the flyer.

The first thing I noticed was that there were two photos, one of me measuring Megan's tummy, and one of her tummy, with the hip hugger around her slim waist. I read the short paragraph that described, 'How to measure your girlfriend for a Hip Hugger.' At the bottom of the page were the names and telephone numbers of all eleven members of our group. The copy read: 'We'll take your order or take your measurements.'

"Looks okay to me," I said to Chase.

"Thanks for the quick job," Chase said to Kerrigan, and turned to leave the shop.

"Wait, you haven't paid the bill," Kerrigan said.

"Send it to Sammy, he'll take care of it," Chase said.

"That was a rush job. We need our money, C-O-D," Kerrigan said.

"I don't have any blank checks with me," I explained to Chase, and then to Kerrigan, "How much is it?"

He slid an invoice down the counter. It was for two hundred flyers at fifty dollars, plus thirty dollars for artwork, plus sales tax.

"Where's the original art work?" I asked.

Kerrigan didn't look at me. He spoke directly to Chase. "You'll get the artwork when you settle the bill."

.

"Do you accept American Express?" I asked, looking at Kerrigan.

"Yes," he said, speaking to Chase.

I slid my charge card down the counter. He ran it through the terminal.

"Don't slide that charge slip to me. If you want me to stay on this side of the counter, come here and stand in front of me," I said, trying to sound menacing.

It worked. Kerrigan looked to Chase, and seeing that he was neutral to our disagreement, brought the charge slip to me.

"Where's the artwork?" I asked. He placed a folder on the counter.

The folder contained the two photos and a sheet of paper containing the verbiage on the flyer. I looked at Chase, and then at Kerrigan. "Where is the negative?"

"We didn't need one for this job," he said, nervously, and then to Chase, "It was a rush, remember?"

"You charged us thirty bucks for spreading two photos and a sheet of paper on a copy machine glass and pushing a button. Why didn't you charge us thirty bucks because it was a rush job?"

Kerrigan shrugged. "That's just the way we do it," he said.

"By the way, Kerrigan, I got back in time to take Ms. Freeman to the movie last Saturday night," I said as I signed the charge slip.

He fumbled to separate my copy of the charge slip, and we left the shop.

"What was that about?" Chase asked when we were in the car.

"He hit on Megan in the cafeteria the other day. I was merely reinforcing a point I made to him."

"You're one bad ass, Sammy. Remind me to keep my eyes off of Megan."

"I'm just watching out for her," I admitted.

"How did you know about artwork?" he asked.

I laughed. "I worked two days in the mail room/copy center at my dad's company when I was fifteen," I said, letting him believe that I'd learned about artwork during my short tenure in the copy center. More recently, I'd had many opportunities to see artwork being prepared to be sent to printers.

"Two days operating a copy machine and you're a print expert?" he asked.

"They weren't full days. I played golf one afternoon with my dad's girlfriend," I said, grinning at him.

"Aren't there child labor laws that preclude working before you're sixteen? I couldn't sweep the floor in my dad's stores until I was sixteen."

"Suz fixed it with H-R. She was my dad's girlfriend back then. They've since married."

"So, she's like your mom now?" he asked, looking curiously at me.

We'd reached the school parking lot, and were sitting in the car, finishing our conversation.

"Suz pretends to be my mom. I think she would like to be, but we're really just buddies. She's busy running half the company."

He opened the package of flyers and divided half of them between us, setting one hundred aside for the other members of our group to hand out. "You take the west end of the campus, and I'll take the east end. We'll meet at the cafeteria at lunchtime and compare notes," he said, like it was an order.

"Yes, Sir," I said, getting out of the car and heading toward the dormitories to the west.

In addition to placing a flyer on the bulletin board on every floor in the dorms, I handed a flyer to everyone I saw in the hallways. I didn't knock on doors. By lunchtime, I'd dispensed all fifty of my flyers. I hurried to the cafeteria to meet Chase. We compared notes.

"I had a freshman pull me into her room and demand to be measured," Chase said, grinning sheepishly.

"I didn't have anything that exciting happen to me, but a couple of girls said they were pleased to have my telephone number," I laughed.

He had some flyers left over, and a few students stopped by our table to pick one up. A female read the flyer, and looked at Chase.

"Can I make arrangements to be measured or do I need to call this number?" she asked.

Chase reddened, but made an appointment to measure her for a hip hugger.

"Why me? There are ten other names on the list," he complained after she was gone.

"She was coming on to you. What's wrong with her?" I asked, amazed that he hadn't picked up on her obvious interest in him.

"She's a sophomore, way too young for me."

"I guess that means Zelda is out of luck. She was eyeing you last night."

"I've only had two girlfriends. They were both older than me," he said.

"I like older girls, too. I've only had one girlfriend who was younger than me."

"Is Megan older than you?" he asked.

"No, she's younger than me. She'll be twenty-two on the twenty-second of May."

He cocked his head. "Why did you use the past tense when you said you only had one girlfriend who was younger than you?"

I wondered if he knew how close he was to making me confess that Megan was not my girlfriend. I stalled, and he didn't wait for an answer.

"I've always had a weakness for redheads. Is Kelley older than me?" he asked.

"Yes, she graduated in nineteen ninety-one."

I'd never seen Chase lose control of his usually calm demeanor before. Not even when he was directing the photo shoot did he show such excitement. "How long is she going to be here? Set me up with her."

I stalled for time; wanting to think of some way I could conceal that Kelley was my girlfriend. "How many redheads have you dated, Mac?"

"None, really, but I'd like to get to know Kelley. I'm sure we would hit it off."

"Redheads are different. They're not like brunettes or blondes. You have to treat them differently, too."

"I'll treat her any way she wants to be treated. Give me a chance to try," he pleaded.

More people stopped by the table to pick up flyers, giving me time to form my next sentence.

"Kelley lives three hundred miles from here. Her work demands constant travel," I said, putting up every obstacle that I could think of.

"What are you telling me? Is she engaged? She's not gay or already married, is she?"

"None of the above," I had to admit.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, sounding exasperated.

It wasn't like Chase to deviate from his engaging personality. I guess I felt empathy for him. What the hell. A dozen people knew Megan and I were just pretending to be linked romantically.

"I'm going to ask Kelley to marry me next summer," I said, and watched Chase try to comprehend what I was telling him.

"Does she ... Megan ... does Kelley know about Megan?"

"Kelley knew about Megan, and she was okay with it until last night when you called Megan my girlfriend."

"Kelley is okay with your sleeping with Megan?"

"No," I laughed. "Megan stays at my apartment, but we don't sleep together. We pretend to be lovers to keep the hounds away from her door. She has a heavy class schedule, and doesn't have the time or desire to date. Megan was supposed to be married after graduation, but her boyfriend called it off. I've been trying to protect her. That's all there was to it."

Chase was catching up. I could see that he was putting it all together. "I could ... I mean ... if Kelley is opposed to you and Megan pretending ... I could ... I would be glad to ... you know ... help. I could take your place pretending."

I laughed. "I thought you only like older women."

"I'll make an exception," he blurted out without giving it a thought.

"Mac, I told you all this in strict confidence. I hope you won't be the one to let our secret out."

His eyes moved recklessly, showing his mind was working overtime, calculating. "I'm not going to say anything."

"Good," I said, wanting to believe him.

"Have you thought about what you'll do if Kelley wants you to stop seeing Megan? I can't conceive of any girl accepting her boyfriend's word that another girl stays at his place but they don't sleep together."

"Kelley's a special person. She knows we share the same bed, but we don't sleep together."

It was obvious that he didn't believe me. I saw that I needed to reinforce my statement. "She knows that I get an erection every time Megan and I are in bed together."

He counted the remaining flyers. There were only three. We left them on the table. On the way to his car, he let me have it. "I hope you get an erection that won't go down for three days," he said.

"You're not going to tell anyone about Megan and me?" I asked, just to be sure.

"I won't say anything," he assured me.

"I'm going to level with you, Mac. Megan and I have a special connection. We have an attraction for each other that is almost impossible to control. We're miserable when we're not together, and it's not much better when we're together. We have to fight temptation constantly. I'm going to confess this to Kelley today if she'll listen to me," I said as we got into his car.

"You had me fooled. All the time we were shooting those photos, I thought you were having fantastic sex. I felt so envious of you being with Megan that it hurt."

What he was saying was shocking. How could a guy with his people skills be single?

"I'm going to introduce you to someone. She's older than us, just the way you like them."

He laughed. "Don't take pity on me. I've always been the facilitator. I invited ten kids to my fifteenth birthday party. There were five girls and five boys. I'd fixed them up, yet I didn't have a date."

"It won't do any harm to meet her," I said.

He didn't react, one way or the other. When he dropped me off at my apartment, he wished me luck with Kelley.

It was nearly three P M. My rental car was parked in its usual spot. I went upstairs, and just at I entered the kitchen I heard Kelley.

"I'm in here," she said, her voice coming from the bedroom

The door was open, and Kelley was standing in the center of the room, staring straight ahead.

I dropped my coat on the floor and took off the sweatshirt I'd worn that morning. She stood perfectly still as I approached her. I looked into her eyes, and returned her smile. Her bottom lip quivered, either from the chill in the room, or from nervousness, I couldn't tell which.

Kelley's hair was not conducive to being bound in a ponytail. It was long enough, but too kinky to look natural. I reached behind her head, and untied the yellow tape measure, releasing her hair to fall onto her shoulders.

I took a step back, running my fingers from one end of the yellow tape to the other, as I watched her nipples strain against the thin fabric of the tank top.

I removed my pants, and tossed them in the direction of where my coat and sweatshirt lay on the floor. Kelley's eyes followed me as I lowered myself to my knees. Except for a slight grin, the expression on her face was somber. I lowered my eyes to the floor, and let them travel upward from the white sneakers, white knee stockings, bare thighs, and white shorts.

Kelley was looking down at me, waiting for me to give her the signal to reveal her tummy. I extended the measuring tape to its full length, and she lifted both sides of the tank top until three inches of her tummy were exposed. I blew hot air on her tummy, and watched her lips form a soft smile. Unable to resist, I pressed my lips to her tummy, and was rewarded with the sound of an intake of air.

Her waist measured twenty-five inches. Kelly watched as I loosened the tape to twenty-five and a half inches to provide slack. I looked for her approval, but she was busy pulling the tank top over her head. Her breasts stood erect; her nipples pointed upwards like little nuggets.

"Undo my belt," she said, and I complied, letting the shorts fall to the floor. She wore no panties.

Her pussy was bald and glistening with moisture. I glanced up at her face. Her eyes gave me silent approval to proceed. I lowered the tape measure to her ass, and pulled gently. She relaxed her stance, letting her pussy come in contact with my lips.

I sucked hungrily, and felt her hands on my head. My hands replaced the tape measure on her ass, and I heard her shriek with delight as my tongue probed deep.

She struggled to free her left leg from the shorts. I dropped one hand to help, and when her foot separated from her shorts she alternated spreading her legs and bringing them together.

Kelley whimpered when I sucked on her clit. I felt her hands grasp both sides of my head, fighting to stay upright. "Let me lie down," she whispered.

"On the bed?" I asked.

"On the floor," she said, and I helped her lower her ass to the floor.

We got settled on the floor. I continued to lick her slit and suck her clit. She cried out, "GOD! I love you so MUCH!"

I looked up at her face. There were tears running down her cheeks, and she was watching me through glazed eyes. "Did you climax?" I asked, to be polite.

"Uh huh."

I pulled my shorts down, and let my cock spring out of its encumbrance. "Do you want me to fuck you?" I asked, moving up to take one of her nipples between my lips.

She was watching me, mouth open, looking tragically mournful, like she was in pain. I knew better. "Uh, huh."

"I'll give you a minute," I said, taking the other nipple between my lips.

"Okay," she said, sounding distantly distracted.

I gave her nipples equal attention until she tugged on my head, wanting to kiss. It began tender, but soon escalated into crazed passion. Breathlessly, I asked if she was ready.

"Take me," she implored, and I did. My cock eased into her until we were fully joined, and then I let her set the pace. She talked incessantly. "Speed up, harder, give it to me, don't stop, fuck me," she urged. She praised me, too. "I love the way you make love to me. You make me feel so good. Thank you for letting me be your mistress, Sammy."

She screamed when she felt me cum. I didn't question if she was faking an orgasm because I knew she'd had two others while we were fucking.

We laughed and teased each other, but it was cold on the floor. We got up, pulled our shoes and socks off, and showered together.

"I have so much to tell you," she said when we were getting dressed in heavy clothing.

I opened a bottle of chardonnay. We sat at the kitchen table, and I waited for her to begin. She talked for over an hour. I didn't interrupt or add to what she was telling me.

Megan had learned from Debra how Kelley had reacted to the photos of us. At first, Kelley had been distrustful when Megan suggested they go shopping and have lunch together.

Once Megan began talking, Kelley said she lost interest in shopping. They were in a shoe store when Megan told her about the second cookie. Kelley had been astonished at Megan's candidness.