Chapter 16

I smiled at Kirsty as we waited for everyone else to troop out of the theatre. It wasn't like the usual rush and I saw at least one of the girls reaching behind her to fasten her bra before she stood up. Kirsty spotted her as well and was giggling beside me as the couple involved walked past us.

"Stop it," I hissed, "Do you want to cause trouble?"

"No, but it was so funny," gasped Kirsty, her face turning pink.

"What was?" I asked, "Her having to fasten her bra?"

"No," she said shaking her head, "It was his shirt sticking out of his fly."

I nearly strained my neck as I twisted around to have a look but I was too slow, the couple had already made good their escape.

"You're sure?"

She nodded, barely suppressing another fit of giggles and I couldn't help it, I chuckled as well, which of course set her off again.

We were the last to leave the theatre and both of us looked flushed but it had very little to do with what we'd been up to in the dark. Walking into the foyer of the cinema I really didn't want the evening to end and it wasn't that late, but what could we do, apart from the obvious and no, we couldn't do that in the middle of the mall.

"What do you fancy doing now?" I asked.

"I don't know," replied Kirsty, wrapping an arm around mine. "How about getting a drink and having a chat?"

"I know just the place," I said with grin and, hugging Kirsty to me, I headed off through the mall.

Kirsty didn't twig where we were as I guided her to a seat and, even as I sat opposite her, she just reached for the menu. A minute later she looked up and it was as though a flash bulb went off over her head.

"This is where..."

"That's right," I grinned, "this very table, you're even sitting in the same seat that your mother was in."

"Ohhh," she groaned.

"So, what do you want?" I asked nodding towards the menu in her hand.

"Ahhh, I'll have the Frappuccino," she replied.

"Strawberries and Creme or Coffee flavoured?"

"Strawberry."

I looked around and caught the eye of a waitress heading for a customer, she nodded and I turned back to Kirsty.

"Right, now that I've got you alone and somewhere were we're not likely to be interrupted I want you to tell me what you really think of the dares I've been setting." I tried to give her a serious look; "Do you really enjoy doing them?"

"Good evening, are you ready to order?"

My head snapped to the side and I found I was looking at the same young woman in the same burgundy polo shirt. That was about the time that she recognised me judging from the way that she went pink.

"I'll have an Americano, please?"

She scribbled on her pad and looked at Kirsty.

"The young lady will have a strawberry Frappuccino," I said recapturing her attention.

She raised one eyebrow at the way I'd order and then smiled, "That'll take a couple of minutes, Sir," she said before heading for the serving counter.

"Was that her?" asked Kirsty.

I nodded.

"She's pretty," declared the girl opposite me.

I turned and had a proper look, uhmm, tall and slim, small boobs, short hair, nice enough face but nothing to write home about.

"She's OK," I admitted, "but she's nowhere near as beautiful as you."

Kirsty's eyes went wide and, just as suddenly, she dropped her gaze to the table. I was tempted to pile on the compliments but decide to wait her out.

It proved to be a longer wait than I'd anticipated, Kirsty sat there with her head bowed until the waitress reappeared.

"Your Frappuccino," she said placing the pink creamy drink in front of Kirsty, "and your coffee, sir," she finished.

"Thanks, Nicole," I responded and caught Kirsty as her head snapped up. I held her gaze as the smiling waitress moved away.

"How do you know her name?" hissed Kirsty.

"It's on her name tag," I responded. I knew that was true because I'd just this minute read it. Before that I hadn't got a clue what her name was.

I held Kirsty's gaze still, "As I told your mother, I'm not going to run around on you but by the same token, I'm not going to stop speaking to people who speak to me. If some girl wants to flirt with me, that's all well and good but it won't get them anywhere. If you don't believe me, or won't accept that as the basis for our relationship then you need to seriously consider ending this before we start."

I took a deep breath because that had all come out in one stream. "I don't want to go out with anyone other than you but I'm not going to become a hermit to keep you either, it's your choice?"

I dropped my gaze from hers and reached for my coffee. All I could do now was wait for Kirsty to make up her mind.

We sat in silence, I sipped steadily at my coffee and Kirsty fiddled with the straw sticking out of her Frappuccino. Occasionally she'd look up, catch my eye and drop her eyes once more.

I was beginning to get frustrated, irritated, something anyway as I waited for her to make up her mind. I sighed and that got her attention.

"You mean that don't you?" she asked. "I put up with whatever you do or I leave."

"It's not a case of putting up with whatever I do," I said, "It's a case of trusting me. We cannot build a relationship if there is no trust to start with. I don't see me going off on one simply because you've spoken to a boy and I don't see why I should put up with an attitude from you if I speak to a girl."

"How far can you go before I'm allowed to get upset?"

"I don't know and hopefully it would never come to that," I said. "I don't intend to go out of my way to upset you. You're my girlfriend but what I don't want you trying to do is dictate how I'm going to live my life, who my friends are and who I can speak to. Nor do I want to have to give you a blow by blow account of everything I do when we're not together."

Kirsty didn't look happy and I wasn't pleased that the fun seemed to have gone out of our evening.

"Take the waitress for instance," I said, "All that has happened between us is that she was a witness to the actions your mother did when we were here together. She's put two and two together and may have come up with an answer that has nothing to do with reality. Now she sees me with you and has to wonder what I'm up to, she's curious, maybe even intrigued enough to ask but she's not a threat to you in any way."

Kirsty was looking at me, a deep, thoughtful frown disfiguring her beauty. Whether I'd done enough to calm her suspicions I couldn't say but I needed to go to the toilet and now seemed like the best time to do it. Yes I was retiring; I needed to regroup before I was forced to retreat in disarray.

"I'll be back in a minute," I said and headed for the rest rooms.

I took my time; I needed to calm down so after washing my hands I took the time to wash my face as well. Was it always this way, you go out with a girl and she immediately wants to take over your life?

I didn't know, I didn't have the experience but some instinct told me that if I rolled over now, did as she wanted, I'd suffer for it in the log run. I had no intention of being unfaithful, of seeing other girls whilst she was mine but I wasn't going to stop talking to them just because she said so.

Sighing audibly I remembered that before Kirsty and Natasha I didn't really speak to other girls. I headed back to the table, hoping that Kirsty would still be there waiting when I got there.

She was and even more surprisingly she smiled when I dropped into the seat opposite her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You're right, really. I shouldn't be taking you to task simply for being you."

It was my turn to frown.

Kirsty chuckled, "You were right about Nicole as well," she said. "As soon as you disappeared she was over here, quizzing me about who I was and why I was with you."

I glanced across the room and was rewarded by Nicole going wide-eyed and turning away quickly.

"So what did you tell her?" I asked.

"That I was your girlfriend," replied Kirsty, "Then she asked if I knew that you were seeing an older woman as well."

"She did?" My eyebrows rose about as high as they could go at that revelation, I started to have dark thoughts about our waitress and her potentially big mouth.

"She told me she didn't want to see me hurt. It was the only reason she'd said anything." Kirsty grinned, "You should have seen her face when I told her that the older woman was my mother. She nearly choked."

Kirsty was beaming and her pleasure took a lot of the chill off my thoughts.

"Did she say anything after that?" I asked curiously.

"She spluttered a lot." Kirsty tilted her head to one side, "I think she was interested, you know, in what we were doing, the three of us."

"You do?" I asked, "And how do you feel about that?"

Kirsty's cheeks took on a pink hue. "It's kind of exciting, a bit like when I'm doing a dare. You know, the feeling that someone might catch you and that sends shivers running down my spine."

"Does that mean you wouldn't mind her seeing you behaving like your mother?" I asked cocking my head to one side.

Kirsty's eyes went wide, "You mean..."

I nodded, "Would you go and remove your bra? I know your mum had to remove her blouse but you haven't got a jacket with you so that might be just a little bit over the top."

Kirsty went bright red and I thought about what I'd just asked her. I marvelled at how quickly things had changed again. Two minutes ago I wasn't even sure if I'd still have a girlfriend when I got back to the table, but here she was acting as though nothing untoward had happened between us.

"I'll do it," she said starting to rise

"No, not yet," I said, putting my hand over hers and grinning. "What else did you two discuss while I was away?"

Across the table Kirsty dropped her eyes, "I asked her if she wanted you."

"And?"

"She laughed," replied Kirsty. "According to her, you're nice but she prefers her men to be men, not boys who haven't got there yet."

"Oh, that hurts," I said grasping my chest above my heart with both hands.

"Stop it," said Kirsty. "I should have thought of that before I started to give you a hard time. She's twenty and already has a boyfriend and that's going to be true most of the time when you're talking to people isn't it? They're either going to be in a relationship or not interested in being in one."

"Possibly," I said noncommittally. I mean how was I supposed to know what state a woman's relationship was in when I started to speak to her.

"Whatever," said Kirsty waving her hand casually, "She made me realise that I was being unreasonable, maybe even a little jealous," she admitted.

"I can live with that," I said grinning again. "Just don't let it get out of hand."

She smiled at me tentatively, "Shall I go and take this off now?" she asked tweaking the bra strap that ran over her shoulder.

"Do you want me to order you another drink?" I asked.

She glanced down and seemed surprised to find an empty beaker before her.

"Please."

"Off you go then," I instructed, "and it'll be here when you get back."

Kirsty collected the small clutch bag she was using and after glancing in the direction of the waitresses she disappeared into the back of the coffee-house.

I waved a hand to attract the attention of a waitress and wasn't surprised when Nicole waved the nearest woman away and headed for my table. I smiled as she approached curious to see how she'd behave.

"How can I help, Sir?"

"I'd like another coffee, please and a Frappuccino for my girlfriend."

"Certainly," she replied and half-turned to leave. She looked back, balanced for flight and asked softly, "Do you treat all of the women you know like that?"

I was about to make a denial but reality reared its head and I paused. The truth was that with the exception of my mother I 'did' treat all of the women I knew like that. My lips were suddenly dry and I had to lick them before I could answer.

"Only those who want to be treated like that," I managed to croak out.

Nicole looked at me strangely, as though she was gauging my honesty, "Uhmm," she muttered before walking away.

I watched her go, my mind racing. Her question made me realise that I didn't have that many serious female acquaintances. Four of them, Natasha, Kirsty, Helen and Rosa were all darees. Liz was another, admittedly one who'd gone in a different direction and that might even be over after our last session. Other than those, there wasn't a single female that I'd call a friend, platonic or otherwise.

Sad or what?

My meandering thoughts filled the time that Kirsty was away. It was only her sudden arrival next to me that brought me back to the here and now.

She slid into the chair opposite and I looked pointedly at her chest, I could make out the darkened area of her nipples. One thing was immediately obvious and that was that she'd fastened the blouse up to the top.

I shook my head and sighed, "You need to undo those buttons you've fastened," I said, "and you'd better add another as well."

Her eyes were wide and her complexion was deep red but she didn't say a word, her hands came up from the table and slowly, almost teasingly worked their way down from her neck. They paused when they reached the extra button I'd requested and Kirsty smiled, "Just for you," she said and popped the button free.

I just had time to breathe before Nicole arrived with our new drinks.

She looked down at Kirsty as she placed the Frappuccino in front of her and must have had the perfect shot down the front of her blouse. I was watching carefully as her eyes went wide, flicked up to Kirsty's red face and then back down to her cleavage.

Lets just say it was a good job that she'd put the drink down before she noticed what was going on or Kirsty could have been wearing her strawberries and creme.

Nicole snapped her gaze to me and I smirked, I was feeling particularly proud of myself then.

It was Nicole's turn to go pink but she couldn't help glancing back at Kirsty's chest. I can't say I blame her, that extra button had turned a view that was tantalising into an open invitation to swan dive into heaven.

Nicole walked away shaking her head, I turned to Kirsty and smiled, "You are truly beautiful. You know that don't you."

She didn't reply but her cheeks began to glow, her nipples also perked up.

"I see our waitress isn't the only one who's excited by what's happening."

Kirsty swallowed and then nodded microscopically.

"I take it that I can carry on giving you dares, even as your boyfriend?"