Chapter 7

On the afternoon of the 31^st I made the hundred and fifteen mile drive from Chattanooga to Nashville in my mom's faithful old Toyota.

Gerri had made it clear she couldn't spend much time with me before midnight. But I wanted to be off the roads before any 'over served' revelers turned their cars into two ton death machines.

The party would be at her home, which was in lush farm country a fair distance outside Nashville. I successfully navigated to a gated entrance set back into a dense hedge that bordered the highway.

As I sat in the car scanning the gate for a doorbell or something, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I was challenged by the hedge.

"May I help you?" asked a deep baritone voice.

I then noticed the intercom box opposite my window, with a camera lens above it pointing at me. They probably fed data to a security room where they were laughing their asses off at how my hair was standing on end.

"Uh, hi, I'm Randall Burton, a friend of Gerri's? I think she's expecting me?"

The voice didn't hesitate. "Yes sir, we were expecting you. Please drive up to the front door."

The gate swung open, and after following the curve of the hedge for a quarter mile, the road turned to climb a low hill. What loomed ahead wasn't really a house. It looked like a three story hotel, complete with a circular drive that passed in front of the main entrance.

When I got out of the car I was greeted by two men. The first I'd guess to be in his mid twenties, who was so muscular he was close to bursting out of his tailored dress shirt and tie. The intense brown-eyed stare from underneath a flat top haircut might have been scary if he hadn't been so cordial in welcoming me.

"Welcome, Mr. Burton; my name is Alan." Unusual for a doorman, he shook my hand. "I hope the drive wasn't too long for you today?"

It had been long and sweaty.

"No, it was fine," I said politely. My mom had trained me to be polite.

"Excellent. If we can unload your luggage, Derek here will garage your car for you."

Derek's nod was polite but non-committal and he didn't offer his hand to shake. He shifted uncomfortably in what were probably company issued Dockers pants and an oversized polo shirt. He looked like a kid just out of high school that wasn't going to college, and it didn't seem to bother him much.

I handed him the keys before I reached through the driver's side window to the passenger seat. I retrieved the backpack I normally used for books at school. I'd stuffed in my razor, deodorant, and a change of clothes for the drive back.

"I'm afraid this is all I brought," I said.

Alan smiled understandingly. "It's not our usual practice, but I think we can let you carry that yourself."

As Derek climbed behind the wheel, the front door of the house opened behind us. Gerri emerged with another girl alongside.

I was a bit apprehensive at how she grimly stalked down the steps toward me, seeming to look back and forth from me to my car. That is, until she flung her arms around my neck as Alan and the girl grinned at us.

"You're early," she admonished before pulling my head down for a perfunctory kiss. "I distinctly remember telling you not to come early."

"I just couldn't stay away," I replied. I heard the sound of a nearby throat being delicately cleared.

"Fine!" she said, releasing me. She gestured to the girl looking at us expectantly. "Randy, this is my best friend that I've told you about, Sharon. Sharon, this is Randy."

Sharon came forward and gently clasped my extended hand with both of hers.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Randy."

Her voice was soft and lilting, the kind that makes you lean forward so as not to miss a word she said.

"Gerri's told me so much about you, I feel like we're already old friends."

I nodded sagely to be polite. I remembered Gerri off-handedly mentioning a friend named Sharon at home, but it was an exaggeration to say she had told me much of anything about her.

Sharon was a few inches taller than her friend, but she was slender enough to perhaps weigh about the same. She had perfect posture, with shoulders back and her chin held high, giving her a regal air. The afternoon sun could be seen through her light brown hair as it flowed down and past her shoulders, adding to her overall ethereal look.

My first impression was the girls were 'opposites attract' friends, the somewhat brash and assertive Gerri; and Sharon, who at first impression was a genteel southern diplomat. I could easily see them complementing each other.

Gerri spoke as if she were issuing battle orders.

"Sharon's agreed to keep you out of trouble for me, while I run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Speaking of which..."

A man dressed all in white had just burst through the front door. He was trailing a small white cloud of flour that seemed to originate from his entire body, as if he'd been used as a rolling pin to make a giant pie crust.

In contrast to the flour his face was red and agitated. He marched down to stand in front of Gerri, hands on hips, ignoring the rest of us.

"It cannot be done!" he exclaimed in a fresh burst of dislodged flour.

I saw Alan take the smallest of steps towards him, eyes slightly narrowed. The man turned his head at the movement and immediately took half a step back from Gerri.

Gerri turned briefly and surreptitiously rolled her eyes at us.

"Gotta go," she said with a shrug. She crooked her finger at the chef and led him back into the house, his arms gesticulating behind her like the useless wings of an earth-bound bird.

As we watched their retreat Sharon moved to my side. With a nod to Alan she smoothly looped her hand inside my arm. When we'd taken a few steps I heard Derek start the car. I guess he'd been waiting politely so as to not disrupt my welcome from Gerri and Sharon. He headed down a road that disappeared around the far corner of the mansion.

"You must be tired from your long drive, Randy. Let me show you where your room is." She led me up the steps, pausing at the threshold to smile impishly at the strap of the backpack over my shoulder. "You can unpack and freshen up."

It could have been a subtle rebuke, but I instinctively knew it wasn't. Quite the contrary, she was reassuring me that a lack of matching leather luggage didn't lower her opinion of me.

Now that I'd seen the grandeur of the place, I had to wonder if dress slacks, a collared dress shirt and tie under a sport coat would be formal enough. I felt compelled to ask for her opinion.

"Do you think I'm dressed okay for the party? Seriously."

The entrance was quite a bit more than a mere vestibule. More like a five star hotel's lobby, it looked to be as tall as the building's full three stories, with a glittering white marble floor and matching staircase that made a gently climbing turn to the upper floors. Sharon steered us to start up the stairs.

"There will be plenty of gowns and suits, but those will be people from the entertainment industry."

She paused before asking casually, "Do you have a song or a manuscript you'd like to talk to people about? It would be a golden opportunity if you do. I'm sure I can find a suit that would fit you."

"Me? No. I'm a pre-med major at school. Even if I had the talent I wouldn't have the time to write anything."

She looked at me appraisingly before giving me an approving nod.

"Then its better this way," she said with a gesture at my clothes. "Without the suit the sharks will tend to ignore you, and the real people that genuinely care for Gerri and her family will welcome you."

"That obviously includes you," I observed.

"Oh, yes," she said without hesitation. We left the staircase at the second floor landing, where I had a rare flash of insight.

"And you wanted to see if I was using Gerri to break into show business."

She stopped and looked at me unapologetically.

"Yes. I hope you don't take offense?"

"Not at all. I'd expect it from someone that obviously loves her."

I'd found a way to make her blush.

"You are a smart one, aren't you? Yes, I do love her. She's always treated me as a member of the family; she's the sister I never had."

She turned to lead us down a wide hall, our feet wading through luxuriously thick carpeting. Along the way we passed picture after picture of the greatest stars in country music, all of them signed by the artist and personalized with expressions of gratitude to Gerri's dad.

"We grew up together," she continued. "My mom has managed Gerri's parents' house since before I was born, and she raised me and my brother in her apartment on the third floor. I'm a little older than Gerri, but it's never seemed to matter."

"Is your brother older or younger than you?" I asked, easily falling into conversation.

Her eyes twinkled. "You tell me; you've already met him."

I raised my eyebrows. "Alan?"

"Yes. He's the head of security for Gerri's dad, here at home and whenever he travels, too."

"For a doorman he did seem a bit ... I don't know ... muscular and sophisticated?"

She laughed musically. "I'll have to tell him that; I think he'd take it as high praise. At big parties like tonight's there will be a lot of guests he hasn't met before. He likes to look people over before they get in the house. You were the first of the day."

"I suppose he's older than you then." She nodded, and I tried another hunch. "I'm sure Gerri couldn't avoid having a crush on your handsome older brother while you all grew up together."

She looked startled for a moment before smoothing her expression.

"How could she not?" she replied. It seemed an oddly phrased concession.

"I passed his inspection then?"

"Yes. But you're a special case. You're the first boy Gerri's brought home from college. If Alan broke any of your bones, she would probably break some of his. Here we are."

She stopped at a lustrous wooden door that had an attractive but formidable lock, the kind you'd find in a five star hotel. She opened it with a key that she handed to. I hefted its weight as she led the way inside.

It was big enough that she actually took the time to show me around, as it resembled an opulent hotel suite. There were separate rooms for business meetings and entertaining visitors with a bar and kitchenette. The sumptuous bath featured a huge shower and jetted hot tub, both big enough for several people to be served by multiple shower heads or tub jets respectively.

The bedroom was dominated by a king sized canopy covered bed. I tossed my backpack onto it, where it immediately appeared to shrink to a quarter of its actual size.

Sharon smiled at my sense of awe, and diplomatically acted to get me past it before it could become uncomfortable.

"Now, would you like a tour of the rest of the house? It's big enough that it will help pass some of the time before the party."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather see if there's anything I can do to help Gerri. She'll probably be annoyed at first, but I know she'll appreciate it after the fact."

Sharon chuckled softly. "You've gotten to know her pretty well, Randy. That's exactly what she'll do."

"Shall we go bait the tigress then?" I asked with a grin.

"Surely," she replied with a grin of her own. "She can kill us, but she can't eat us!"

She looped her arm through mine again, and we set off to find our willful friend.

The party was a lot of fun. I got to meet quite a few celebrities that seemed very down to earth and genuinely friendly.

True, there were others for whom I was a speed bump on the way to see someone else. But since I had no agenda, business or otherwise, I was fine with waving them on their way to their next networking objective.

Gerri flew by from time to time, with increasing frequency and inebriation as the night wore on. Like me she usually wasn't much of a drinker, but it was New Years Eve and she lived upstairs after all. Sharon and I were lightly sipping champagne.

With uncharacteristic shyness Gerri introduced me to her mom and dad in one of the moments they weren't surrounded by show business gentility — and more than a few 'sharks, ' as Sharon had described them.

Her dad insisted I call him 'Hank, ' and thanked me for taking care of his daughter at UT. I assured him Gerri needed no such oversight, for which she vouchsafed an indulgent smile at her father. I think he was teasing her as much as he was welcoming me, which was altogether fine with all concerned.

As Sharon and I circulated, I learned that she shared an apartment with her brother, next to their mother's on the third floor. She'd finished a degree in Public Relations at UT the prior year, and now worked in her 'Uncle Hank's' sprawling entertainment enterprise. She was currently responsible for overseeing their agreements with several high profile recording artists (that she would not name, no matter how much I begged her to tell me).

She'd considered moving out to her own place closer to their Nashville offices, but she really did consider her apartment as home. I gathered that her father was deceased; perhaps not too long ago judging by how quickly she changed the subject.

As the evening drew closer to midnight, we found ourselves continually holding hands. It was only to make her steerage of me through the crowds less obvious, but it was very comfortable. She made me feel very welcome in her world.

Gerri found us about ten minutes to midnight. Rather than take Sharon's place she took my other hand while giving Sharon a lopsided grin.

A few minutes later we watched Hank climb the dais, where he thanked everyone for making the evening memorable. He then stunned me and Gerri by calling us up to lead the countdown to midnight, making a big show of introducing me as Gerri's boyfriend to loud applause. I could see the sharks in attendance sizing me up anew.

At the appointed time I got a nice kiss from Gerri, after which we couldn't get off stage fast enough.

Sharon met us with a rather large bottle of champagne and three glasses, and by her giggling I could tell she'd been doing a bit more sipping recently than I had. Gerri grabbed our arms and led us through swinging doors into the kitchen, frustrating the gaggle of sharks that had been closing in.

We had helped bring stuff from the kitchen out to the ballroom earlier, and the few kitchen staff still working smiled and waved at us as we passed through to a service elevator in the back. We took it to the second floor, where we made our way to my humble lodgings.

The three of us sat in the suite's entertaining area with its bar and low-slung furniture, the conversation flowing effortlessly. I was feeling very mellow and comfortable. I sat in the center seat of a couch, with Sharon on one side and Gerri on the other - when she wasn't jumping up to keep our champagne flutes refreshed.

One of the network's New Years Eve television shows was on, with bands performing and celebrities passing by the show's hosts in a steady stream.

At first I frowned at how much attention the girls were paying to it, before I remembered they were in the entertainment industry. So I listened more appreciatively as they made professional (if somewhat ribald) comments on the proceedings. I learned more than I wanted to know about how purchased breasts, the right dress, and duct tape can enhance a lady's figure.

It must have been around one in the morning when Gerri refreshed our glasses again before lifting hers.

"I'd like to make a toast," she said with a faux serious expression that immediately dissolved into a giggle. When it subsided she continued.

"To good friends," she said simply, but with obvious sincerity. Sharon and I repeated the toast and we all drank to it.

Gerri sat her glass on the coffee table at our feet and dropped into my lap, facing towards Sharon so she could extend her legs to span her friend's lap.

"Now, Randy," she said, turning to press her forehead against mine and stare into my eyes from an inch or two away, "Sharon tells me that you've been a perfect gentleman all night."

Sharon obviously wasn't surprised to hear Gerri's assessment, but she still blushed appropriately when I raised my eyebrows at her. My left arm had instinctively wrapped around Gerri's waist; now I extended my right around Sharon's shoulders.

"She's made me feel very welcome," I said expansively, and it was while squeezing both girls in my arms that I realized I'd had more to drink than I thought.

I had a nice buzz on, and unbidden my lap began to get a bit more compressed under the weight of Gerri's firm butt. It didn't help when she dropped her head down to kiss me, while making nearly imperceptible circles over me with her hips.

At least I hoped they were imperceptible, to Sharon anyway. My virginal girlfriend usually showed mercy by not rubbing her body all over my dick during foreplay, since we both knew it wasn't going to get inside her. She was not a cruel prick teaser; if anything she was overly considerate about it.

So if the rules were changing, it would have been better for it to happen when we were alone! As our kiss became wetter, wider, and more passionate, I unconsciously moaned into her mouth in both arousal and anticipated frustration.

Gerri finally pulled away, breathing a bit faster. She slowly took her eyes off mine, and turned to look intently into Sharon's. Seeing her affectionate and expectant expression in return, my eyes widened. I couldn't help but surmise that these two ladies had shared some form of erotic circumstance before.

"Uh, Gerri?" I said cautiously.

The alcohol and my increased heart rate threatened to make the couch move under me, so I concentrated on looking at her mouth, perhaps to glimpse the tongue inside that had just been swirling against mine.

She turned back to me and smiled reassuringly.

"It's okay, Randy," she said softly. "Just relax. I've told Sharon how nice you've been to me ... you deserve this."

"I deserve ... what?"

She swung her legs off Sharon's lap and returned to sitting beside me. I was almost afraid to look in Sharon's direction; for fear of implying I was entitled to something she had no intention of offering.

But I worried needlessly; she took Gerri's place on my lap, sitting sideways with her legs extended in turn over her friends' lap.

Sharon's butt wasn't as plush as Gerri's, which gave it a firmer feel to her motions over my lap. The movements also seemed more ... skilled, adding flexes of the cheeks of her ass to add a rising and falling sensation to her swift circular and side to side motions.

She didn't kiss me, instead nestling her head into my neck. Judging by Gerri's sultry stare at my chest, the girls must have had their eyes locked together.

I felt my breath catch as Sharon's movements accelerated, losing any pretense about what she was doing to stimulate my dick. I could tell Gerri heard my gasp, and she moved to be on her knees next to me on the couch. She leaned in to give me a soft kiss before pulling back, stroking my face in affection.

Then she moved one hand to the collar of Sharon's blouse, and the other to my shirt. I held my breath as she began unbuttoning them simultaneously. Her pace was swift, and after Sharon reached behind her for the clasp of her bra, we were both quickly topless.

Sharon took her arm from around my neck and flopped backwards, moaning as she waved little feet with pink toenails at Gerri. She hummed and bowed her body over my lap until Gerri grasped her slacks at the ankles. When she pulled them off they revealed the willowy girl wasn't wearing panties.

I hungrily surveyed her naked form splayed across my thighs. Completely unselfconscious before us, she stretched luxuriously, like a cat on a sunshine warmed piece of carpet.

She was a palette of pink, different shades and textures tempting me to feel, to touch, to taste. The darkest shades were found around her nipples and her pussy, whose lips were engorged and standing up, soft protruding ridges giving her arousal away.

I barely noticed when Gerri moved to kneel at my feet. She broke my entrancement with a light slap to Sharon's nearest thigh. Again she bowed her body over me, this time to give passage to Gerri's hands to unbutton my pants and pull both them and my boxers down and off.

Sharon looked up at me with eyes expanded as she gently lowered herself to feel skin on skin contact, my hard dick throbbing at right angles to the cleft of her butt.

She sat up and hooked her hands around my neck to pull our lips together, moaning as I worked my hands between us to cup her soft breasts, my thumbs finding her nipples hard with arousal.

Breaking our kiss she moved to straddle me, until Gerri stood behind her and softly touched her shoulders.

"Bring him to bed," she cooed gently into her ear.

Sharon stood and reached for my hands, pulling me to my feet. She led me by the hand as she had in the ballroom, but now with palpable urgency.