Chapter 23: Abiding by the rules

"I slept with Roger," Kelley said, before running down the hall.

"You ... what ... who's Roger?" I asked, to no one in particular.

What just happened? Had she been serious when she told me that she'd slept with someone named Roger? Was it an attempt to trump my telling her about Megan and me getting each other off? I pulled myself together and went downstairs to find that Kelley had covered her bare shoulders with a sweater.

"There you are. We were going to start eating without you. Come and sit next to me, Honey," she said, acting as if the news she'd just imparted to me was petty and inconsequential.

"I'll sit over here where I can keep an eye on you," I said, taking the seat across the table from her.

Dinner consisted of a roast, which Mr. Oldham carved, and a variety of vegetables. I loaded my plate and ate hungrily, answering the questions that were asked of me.

This was the first time the four of us had been together in some time, so most of the questions were to bring each other up to date regarding our Thanksgiving holiday. I was pleased to find that Mr. Oldham and Suzanne steered the conversation away from business, and there were only a couple of casual questions about my class work.

They did want to hear how my accident had happened. I told them how happy I'd been with the way Wally had settled my claim, and that I was satisfied with the work the body shop had done. "One of my friends drove me out to the scene of the accident," I said.

"Which one?" Kelley asked, probably thinking it was Megan.

I looked across the table at her. How could she maintain that composed expression after the news she'd delivered to me a few minutes ago?

"Skip thought we would find the kid wearing a neck brace and declaring the accident was my fault. His father admitted that the accident had been his son's miscalculation of my speed, and the time he had to cross the road, before I got to the intersection."

"The car is just metal and plastic. We were relieved that you weren't injured," Suzanne said, and her sentiment was echoed by Mr. Oldham and Kelley.

Mr. Oldham changed the subject, saying that he couldn't stop thinking about the Florida coastline. "I would like to find a house where we could go for a week at a time or a month if we want."

"Come with us at spring break," Kelley said. "You can look for a house, and we will celebrate Sammy's birthday. We'd love to have company, wouldn't we, Sammy?"

Kelley looked across the table at me, knowing that she had put me on the spot. Not only was I unsure that we'd be going to Florida in March, I was not convinced that we'd love having company. "Sure, I would enjoy looking for a house with you. That would be great fun," I said, looking encouragingly at Mr. Oldham.

"We'll consider it," Suzanne said, and I felt that nothing had been settled.

Kelley told them about our trip to Nantucket. She made our few days on the island sound like a romantic adventure. I half-listened to her describe the house, her uncle, and our return trip on the ferry. My mind was swirling. Had she really slept with some guy named Roger? If so, when did it take place? How could she inform me that she'd cheated one minute, and talk about spring break like our plans were set in stone a few minutes later?

First, I decided, that I needed to find out if it really happened. If it had, and I'd never known her to fabricate an untruth before, how would I react? Of course, she may have responded to the news that Megan and I had gotten each other off on the spur of the moment. If so, she couldn't have picked a more hurtful way to get back at me. If that were the case, she would apologize, and I would forgive her.

Kelley was winding down by telling about her new friendship with Kim, the Boston College junior who had ridden with us from Hyannis to Boston.

I helped Suzanne clear the table. She cornered me in the kitchen. "All right, what's going on between you and Kelley?" she asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, playing dumb.

She let me off easily. "Bring the cake and a knife, Honey. I've got the plates and the coffee."

After cake and coffee, Kelley helped Suzanne in the kitchen while Mr. Oldham and I retired to the sunroom. He wanted to talk business, and I was happy to oblige him, until he asked if I'd changed my thinking regarding the acquisition of the Omaha building.

I had to admit that nothing had come to me, but I was still dubious about the building. I'm sure he was beginning to have doubts about my reasoning. On paper, the numbers looked convincing. When he couldn't get me to budge, he said we would discuss it again in March. I took that to mean he was accepting Kelley's invitation for him and Suzanne to join us in Florida.

Suzanne and Kelley joined us. They wanted to play a board game, and we bowed to their wishes. After two hours of Easy Money, Suzanne said she was going to bed. Mr. Oldham joined her.

"Are you getting tired, Dear?" Kelley asked me.

"I'm going to read for awhile," I said, and she stomped off.

I went upstairs at one-thirty, and found Kelley asleep. She may have tried to wake me during the night, but if she did, I slept too soundly to let her. When I got up the next morning, she was not there. I dressed quickly, and went downstairs to find her chatting with Penelope.

"Good morning, Sweetheart. I'm sorry that I went to sleep before you came to bed, but I couldn't stay awake any longer," Kelley said.

"Good morning," I said, taking a seat on one of the high stools at the counter, and checking the clock. It was a quarter until ten. "Good morning, Penelope."

"Good morning, Sammy. What would you like for breakfast?" she asked.

I settled for juice, toast, and coffee, telling her that I wasn't hungry. Kelley watched me spread marmalade on the toast. I took my time, chatting with Penelope and Kelley while I ate, and then announcing that I was going to get ready for work.

Kelley followed me upstairs, asking how I could even think of abandoning her on the first day I was home from school. I stripped down to my shorts, got a clean pair, and was on the way to the shower, when she burst into tears. I stopped at the bathroom door.

"Who's Roger?"

"It meant nothing. I shouldn't have told you," she said through teary eyes.

"You cheated, and now you're saying that you shouldn't have told me?" I asked, opening the bathroom door.

"You cheated too," she said, making me turn.

"No, I didn't cheat. As I told you yesterday, we got each other off. We didn't break any rules. There was no penetration," I said, entering the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

I showered and shaved. When I finished, Kelley was still sitting on the bed.

"You didn't say that," she said.

"I didn't say what?"

"You didn't say that there was no penetration."

"Who's Roger?" I asked as I stepped into my pants.

"I told you about him. He's the photographer."

"In Seattle? The guy you had dinner with? That was months ago. You're just now telling me that you cheated?"

"It wasn't cheating. That's the only way I could get the picture for you."

"Was there penetration?" I asked, as I buttoned my shirt.

"Yes, but it meant nothing. You cheated, too."

"Kelley, that's the lamest excuse for fucking some guy named Roger that I've ever heard. Anyway, I didn't cheat. Like I keep telling you, there was no penetration."

She was wiping the tears from her face. "Show me what you did," she said, pulling the sweater over her head to reveal a lacy bra. I was buckling my belt.

"We got off through friction. She humped my leg and that made my cock rub her tummy until we got off."

She was out of her shoes and pants. "How can you say that wasn't cheating?"

"We abided by the rules, no sex, no kissing, and only touching when absolutely necessary."

"Did you touch?"

I had both socks on and one shoe when I saw her removing her bra. "We rubbed each other's assholes. Kelley, she had her panties and a T-shirt on. I wore my shorts the entire time."

She held the bra in one hand, looking baffled. "Did you kiss?"

"No, I pulled her lips back, and released them. She did the same to me, but we didn't kiss."

"Show me what you did. I'll wear a T-shirt," she implored.

I tied the second shoelace, had headed for my closet to get a blue blazer. "That was the weekend I went home, and when you found out I'd taken Patricia with me, you punished me by withholding sex. You said your level of trust was ninety-nine percent. This was after you had fucked Roger. Tell me, Kelley, did you let him break in your new diaphragm?"

She was biting her lip, and I feared that she would draw blood. "I made him use a condom."

"That's a relief. We've been together several times since your trip to Seattle. I'd hate to think I was walking around with a sexually transmitted disease. Are you sure he used a condom every time?"

"I'm sure," she said in a whisper.

I was at the door, ready to leave. She was on the bed, wearing only her panties. "Was that the only time?"

She nodded, unable to speak, but when I turned to leave she whispered, "Please don't go, Sammy."

I was already down the hall, walking on spongy legs. I waved to Penelope as I passed the kitchen, grabbed my coat from a peg in the back hallway, and made it to my car without losing my balance. I sat in my car, staring straight ahead, shaking with blind anger.

I was still shaking when I reached the office. I sat in the car for several minutes, wondering how I'd gotten there.

There were very few people in the office. Mr. Oldham's office door was closed, as was Suzanne's. Their assistant's office was dark.

I found Wanda in my office. "Come on, let's go to lunch," I said, and watched her grin at me.

If Wanda detected that I was hurting, she hid it very well. We talked about everything except work or school. We made each other laugh until two-thirty, when I took her back to work.

"Are you coming inside?" she asked, and I told her I was going shopping.

I bought gifts for Alice's kids, and had them gift wrapped. Brenda, now age nine, thanked me for the gift, but refused to open it until the next morning. Benjamin now age one, accepted his gift and immediately shoved one end of the box into his mouth. After spending an hour at Alice's house, it was five P M when I parked in front of the garage. Kelley's car was not there.

I walked up the stairs and knocked on Ned's door. He accepted the hobby horse I'd gotten for Samantha, but I saw doubt in his eyes. I told him how much K.O. had enjoyed the horse I'd given him in October, but had to admit that K.O. had just had his third birthday. Samantha was much younger, having celebrated her second birthday in September. Anyway, Samantha was asleep, so I didn't get to see her.

I found Penelope in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on our dinner. She was optimistic that Samantha would soon be big enough to ride the hobby horse.

"Kelley said she will call you later," Penelope said. I'm sure she was curious about what was going on between us, but she didn't pry.

As it turned out, Kelley didn't call, but she came to the house just as we were finishing having our dinner. She was carrying a large package.

"Open it, Sweetheart," she said, handing me the package, and beginning to unbutton her coat.

I ripped the paper and ribbons from the box, and discovered it contained a leather coat. I dutifully got up and tried it on. It was a beautiful coat, and fit perfectly.

"I'm speechless," I said, not because I couldn't think of anything to say; I didn't think it would be appropriate to ask if she had bought Roger a leather coat too. I put my hands in the pockets, briefly, before removing the coat and placing it in the box.

Mr. Oldham and Suzanne remarked about the coat, saying that I was lucky to have such a generous girlfriend. Suzanne offered Kelley something to drink. Kelley declined, saying she'd only come to bring me the gift. "Do you have something for me?" she asked, taking a seat next to me.

She was putting me on the spot again, and I didn't like it. "Yes, but it's not wrapped. I didn't know you were coming over tonight."

"That's all right. You don't need to wrap it," she said.

I ran upstairs and got the hip hugger. Kelley's face showed alarm when I handed her the long thin box. Her lips were quivering as she removed the cover. She recovered quickly, holding the open box up for Suzanne and Mr. Oldham to see.

"We sold them as a project in one of my classes," I explained to Mr. Oldham and Suzanne. "We not only beat our projections; the profit picture looks promising."

Suzanne's expression was just as disbelieving as Kelley's had been. I'm sure her first impression was that this was one of my jokes. She probably expected me to go back upstairs and bring back Kelley's real gift. When I took my seat I could tell that an explanation would be expected later.

"Should I try it on?" Kelley asked.

"Yes, you should," I answered her. "If it doesn't fit I'll exchange it."

"Come upstairs with me, Honey," she said in an insistent tone.

I followed her upstairs. She removed her dress, and was soon stripped down to her panties and bra. "Help me with the clasp," she said, and I lowered myself to my knees to oblige her.

The bracelet fit perfectly. "Just so you know, Kelley, Megan was wearing her hip hugger when we got each other off."

"Show me how you did it, Sammy," she said, in a pleading voice that I could not refuse.

We removed our shoes and socks. I took off my pants and shirt while Kelley exchanged her bra for a T-shirt. We took our places on the bed. To me, it was very mechanical, not erotic at all. I instructed Kelley as to how to hump my thigh, and she followed my lead by inserting her hand under my shorts. We rubbed each other between the cheeks of our asses. I pulled her bottom lip out and released it. She did the same to me. My cock was bent upward, and I felt it rub against her stomach as she humped my thigh.

Kelley was really getting into it. Her panties felt wet against my thigh, and her breathing was coming in short gasps. "Sammy, this is amazing. Why didn't we do it before?" she asked between gasps.

I could tell that she was getting close to orgasm. I continued to rub the little bud between her ass cheeks. I pulled her bottom lip out and released it several times, and felt her collapse in my arms. I held her until she regained her breathing, and then I got off of the bed.

She followed me into the bathroom where I was washing the place on my thigh that had been made wet by her panties.

"You didn't come," she said, accusingly.

"No."

"You faked your orgasm."

"No, I didn't fake. I just didn't come."

"You had a hard-on. I felt it. Why didn't you come?"

"I guess I couldn't get the picture of you spreading your legs for Roger out of my mind. Tell me, Kelley, did you experience the moment of truth with him that you're always telling me about?"

Kelley pulled the T-shirt over her head and dropped to her knees. "I'm sorry, Sammy. Let me help you," she said, reaching for the waistband of my shorts.

"You're obviously not going to answer my question about the moment of truth," I said, stepping around her.

I don't know how long she remained on her knees. I got dressed and went downstairs.

"Did it fit?" Suzanne asked, and I told her it did.

I guess she could see that I didn't want to talk about why I hadn't gotten Kelley a proper gift, or what was going on between us.

Kelley came downstairs and had her coat on when she came into the sunroom to say goodbye. "We're dining at two tomorrow. I hope you can join us," she said.

"We're going to meet friends at the club," Suzanne said, sounding apologetic.

"Please come early, Sammy. We'll go for a swim," she said.

I smiled at her, not bothering to get up or to walk her to her car. "Thanks for the coat, Kelley," I said.

"That was rude of you, Sammy," Suzanne criticized me after we heard the back door close.

"Yes, it was," I said as I got up. I took the coat upstairs and hung it in my closet. The hip hugger I'd given Kelley was on my desk.

I had a fitful night, waking up twice in a cold sweat. At breakfast, I announced that I was returning to Pontiac, claiming that I needed to work on papers for school.

Mr. Oldham attempted to talk me out of leaving on Christmas day, but soon gave up when he saw that I was bent on leaving. I'm sure he and Suzanne suspected that something had gone wrong between Kelley and me. How could they not know?

"We didn't know what to get you for Christmas, Sam," he said, handing a large envelope to me.

"There's nothing I need, Sir," I said, embarrassed to accept the envelope, adding, "I have everything I want, even a new leather coat."

The envelope contained five stock certificates made out to Samuel K. Oldham.

"You're now an owner of all five companies," he went on.

I leafed through the five certificates and saw that they were of varying quantities of stock.

"You won't be a director yet, but we'll expect you to attend the stockholders' meetings. Your vote will represent one percent of each company."

I was dumbfounded. "You're not easy to shop for either," I said. My gifts for them seemed like cheap trinkets compared to the stock certificates they'd bestowed upon me.

"I'll put that in the safe," Suzanne said, taking the envelope from me.

"Ah, thank you both," I said as I went upstairs to pack.

We said goodbye at the garage. Suzanne handed me a bag, saying it was something for me to eat if I got hungry. They were headed for the club; I was headed for Pontiac.

I had to hunt for a florist that was open. I asked that the eleven roses be delivered to the Harvey home at one P M, knowing that I would be fifty miles down the road by that time. It was the nastiest, most vicious thing I could think of to do. I pictured Kelley at one end of the pool, awaiting my arrival with the twelfth rose between my lips.

I made good time, and only stopped once to get a cup of coffee to go with the sandwich and fruit Suzanne had packed for me. It was five P M when I entered the parking lot in back of the dress shop.

"Shit!" Chase's and Kalian's cars were there, and I was pretty sure that Victor and Gladys were also sharing my apartment. What to do? I considered getting a room at the hotel, but at the last minute I drove to the house that Charlie, Debra, and Megan shared.

It was getting dark when I drove into their driveway. The same two nightlights I'd turned on when I picked Megan up the month before were burning. I found a window unlocked at the side of the house, and was able to loosen the screen, raise the window, and climb in. As it turned out, I'd entered Megan's room. I'd have to have a word with her about security.