Dreams Ch. 01

Tom went on, "Oh, another area I wanted to come back to involves boundaries. As a new relationship is formed, we spend a lot of time setting up firm and unmoving boundaries – the rules inside a relationship. The boundaries are about all sorts of things: money, sex, children, how much of a couple we'll be, how we'll each spend out time, division of work, play, what we'll talk about, how emotional we can get, and on and on. After the boundaries are set, there's little forgiveness for moving outside those boundaries."

He looked right at me and asked, "What ever happened to flexibility and adaptability? How about we renegotiate things every day or whenever we need to?" Tom thought for a moment and added, "Relationships aren't static, yet we treat them that way."

There was a long silence between us.

Tom smiled at me. I could tell he was pleased he'd stretched my thinking. He added,

"I was raised in a different paradigm from most people. It's hard to see the rules and liabilities of the paradigm you're living in when you're inside it. You've got to get outside it and look back – something that's hard to do."

"Yeahhhhh," I said slowly, drawing out the syllable.

After breakfast we walked up to the beach. We left our shoes together in the sand and went to the water's edge. As we strolled along – sometimes holding hands – the small terns scurried ahead of us searching for some tasty morsel from the tidal waters.

I formulated a few questions as we walked, and now I started to ask Tom how these fit into his philosophy. "So given your philosophy, if we were an item what should I do when I'm on a business trip and I meet some hunky guy I like that wants to fuck me?"

Tom laughed at my shameless use of the word fuck; however, he launched into an answer right away: "Go and enjoy, but let me explain. You and I share a connection – a connection we haven't even started to talk about. A connection at least as complex as the fact that we shared the same dreams and that we really click on so many levels – including physically. So, before you even leave on your hypothetical business trip, we would have hashed out our philosophy about our relationship – like right now. We would have agreed that we could have other partners providing we use safe sex, share the experience with each other later, and not use the experience to manipulate. I'd personally be aroused and glad you had an exciting trip."

I nodded acceptance of the answer, admitting to myself that I'd be aroused to, even if the tables were turned. I thought for a moment realizing I still had a lot of other questions. "Your philosophy points to fundamental changes in society, yet it's unlikely to happen. What about that?"

Tom said, "There are a lot of unconscious people in the world. They accept all these ideas and memes without thinking about them. Many are comfortable and secure in the haze of their unexamined life and actions. Two things: I don't want them to interfere with my thinking, and I plan to live my life directed by my own compass whether they try to interfere or not. Remember, just because a billion people think something is right, doesn't make it so. Remember the 'fact' that the world was flat."

I asked, "The evangelicals, at the least, believe most of your ideas are sinful and will try to talk you into couplehood just based on what's stated in the Bible."

Tom smiled broadly and said, "Ah, we're moving into the field of religion, another one of my favorite topics where I think the world needs some fresh thinking. Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"For now, the short version."

"OK, I'll talk fast. The Bible is a book written by a few mystics. It is mostly allegories and parables. It is not a literal account of what happened, although, unfortunately, hundreds of millions of people think it is. One might appreciate that most of the events in the book were written about a hundred or more years after they happened; in some cases, four hundred years – not exactly timely and accurate news reporting."

I started to say something, but Tom held his hand up and continued. "I believe Jesus for the most part is a mythical character. Many of this folk hero's accomplishments as well as his supposed trinity were defined at the Council of Nicea in the year 324 by a group of what today we'd call politicians. There's strong evidence, widely dismissed, that there were multiple Jesuses at the time he supposedly lived, none of whom claimed to be God or God's son. That's a spin that got added later. Further, the life that's portrayed about him in the Bible mimics that of at least sixteen other sages – real and mythical – that were chronicled in some cases even two thousand years before Jesus supposedly preached. One good book on this subject is entitled 'The Jesus Puzzle'. I've come to believe that a lot of the under pinning of Christianity is founded on very sandy soil. The leaders do a great disservice to their flocks. Someday, it'll all come crashing down."

"Lastly, all the prescriptions for behavior were written for a tribal agrarian society without the benefits of modern technology or the results of research about behavior, needs, love, customs, and so on."

I pushed, "So what the Bible says about couples and love is wrong on that basis?"

"No, just it's like getting advice from a lovelorn columnist two-thousand years after you send in the letter describing your situation; your answer may be a little dated and would you want to live by advice that may be no longer be relevant to you? Besides, the Judeo-Christians and some others conveniently ignore the fact that many religions, sects, and tribes have encouraged polygamy to propagate the tribe and protect the family. For instance, it was routine, even in Biblical times, for a man to assume his brother's wife and family if his brother died. The larger family became the new unit. Many Native American tribes used to do this too; some still do, we just don't talk about it."

"Just an added thought," Tom said, "I really think most Judeo-Christians are hypocrites. The one big message they teach, for instance based on Jesus and the Bible, is 'Love,' yet close to a Billion people have died in religious wars sponsored by them – that's more than from any other cause – even other causes added together. They're a brutal bunch – not much love there."

I said, "OK. OK. I get it, but you make it all seem so easy – your philosophy I mean. If it's so easy, why aren't more people doing it?"

Tom laughed and said, "Maybe they are, but they haven't told us."

I shot him a sidelong glance and saw he was amused. He squeezed my hand affectionately.

He said, "Let's walk back. If you're willing I'd like to make love to you again."

I swung us around gleefully and we headed for where we'd left our shoes.

Tom said, "You probably know that we think the U.S. population is made up of lots of nice married couples living nicely together with two point one children. However, less than a quarter of households fit the 'married couple with at least one child' model. We don't walk our talk. Not only that, if you think about it, it's not a very good model for everyone."

After a few steps in the sand he said, "I guess my point is that as a society we are starting to shift to some other models for families, households, and couples. Lots of couples live together and don't get married. They even have kids together. But, that said, not a whole lot live in a polygamous situation. I read somewhere that the estimate is one or two percent, and all that means is my thinking is in the minority. Oh well. So what?"

I asked, "What about 'clingy' people? How would they fit into your philosophy? People that need to belong?"

Tom said, "Too clingy, and you have to ask 'why?' – is it no sense of self worth? If so, I doubt you'd trust yourself or your partner that much, thus any relationship would be problematic without a whole lot of rigid rules and restrictions for both parties. If people want to belong ... well, I think of the home I grew up in. We all belonged. It was a big, loving club. We pumped each other up to high levels of self-esteem too; it felt great. All the kids had really good self-images, and we skipped a lot of the angst that so many teens feel because of it. Of course, we teased each other a lot too."

"Did anyone have a bad experience?"

"I guess the folks that couldn't tolerate the open marriage model had cleared out of the commune before I came of age to understand what was going on – and how it compared to other, more customary models. My 'dad' was apparently one of them; I don't remember him, and he apparently left when I was about a year old."

I said, "Open marriage is the term, but isn't that just an excuse for sleeping around?"

Tom said, "No. The authors of the book that made the term popular – George and Nena O'Neill – really wrote about a new type of relationship they called an open marriage. It was based on synergy, love, growth, caring, compassion, and self worth. Partners were to encourage their loved ones to grow and expand their horizons on all fronts. External sexual relationships were a small part of their philosophy; however, that's what the media picked up on and suddenly they were espousing free love, open indiscriminate sex, and rock and roll."

I didn't follow up at this point. My mind was full of Tom's ramblings. I'd never known anyone that had such a clear idea of who they were, what they stood for, and how to put it all together.

I made Tom drive me back to my apartment. I'd decided I wanted him to make love to me in my own bed. If I were going to dream about him making love to me there, I'd just as soon have a 'real' experience than a dream. When I explained my request, he didn't even crack a smile; to him, it was a reasonable and rational request. After all, he'd had the same dreams.

An hour later we both had a lovely sheen of perspiration on our bodies as we lay panting beside each other. I could feel a rivulet of cum seeping from my recently invaded pussy, but I didn't care. When the wet spot enlarged on my bed because of it, I'd appreciate every droplet of man juice and girl juice that had created it.

"Ariel, you are exquisite."

"So are you, and I bet you tell that to all the girls you fuck just so you get invited back for an encore performance."

"Not so," Tom protested. "It just might surprise you that it's been over six months since I've been with anyone."

"Oh," I said, "What about last night and this morning."

Tom jabbed a finger into my funny bone, making my whole body clench in reaction. He said, "You know what I meant. I'm not a sleep around kind of guy." After a silence, he added, "Besides, you've been in my dreams."

I rolled towards him and kissed him, my breasts again pushing against his manly chest. "Yeah, what do we make of that? I feel we should talk to someone, only there's no one to tell other than our friends. They'll just think it's strange. I think it's strange. What happened?"

"I don't know, and you can take my silence on the subject since we discovered we had the same dreams as proof of my own struggle with what happened. I like your idea; let's think about whether there isn't someone we could tell that might be able to help us understand what happened and what it means."

We lay awake and cuddled together for a while. Tom often kissed my forehead or the top of my head as I snuggled against him. With one hand, he also did his utmost to keep my left nipple in a state of high arousal.

The bedside phone rang.

"Should I?" I asked Tom. "It's probably Marcella."

"Go ahead?"

I reached for the cordless device, and pulled it to my ear. Tom shifted and spooned in behind me, his flaccid cock slipping between my thighs. Now, both his hands could reach my breasts, so his arousal efforts focused on both nipples.

"Hello?"

"It's me. Mar. What happened last night? How'd your date with Tom go?"

I snickered. "Who said it's ended?"

"You mean you've been with him all night? Did you ... you know, do it?"

"Just finished another round a few minutes ago?" I smiled up at Tom. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I am so jealous. I even dreamed about the two of you last night? I assume he's close by?"

"Very close."

"Can he hear me?" Tom nodded and smiled over my shoulder.

"OK, no girl-talk until later."

"Tell me about your dream," I suggested.

"Well, the three of us made love to each other. It was really nice." She paused and added, "If Tom can really hear me, I'm going to be embarrassed."

"It's all right. He knows we had an encounter."

"Oh, great. Now that'll be all over work."

Tom took the phone from my hand and spoke to Mar, "Hey, I'm not that kind of guy. I wouldn't do anything to hurt your reputation or hurt you. Besides, I'm glad that you and Ariel made love."

Mar said, "Because it's kinky?" She giggled.

Tom said, "Well, that too, but mostly I'm glad for several other reasons. I'm falling rather hard for Ariel, and want her to be happy; and if making love with you makes her happy, then that makes me happy. I think the term for that is 'compersion'. Secondly, I like you and I feel the same way about your happiness. Lastly, I had the same dream that Ariel had when the two of you made love, so I knew how lovely it was for each of you; I was glad to hear you both did it for real."

"What do you mean, you had the same dream?"

"Just that. Ariel and I have been having the same dreams for several weeks – identical as far as we can tell, just from different perspectives so to speak."

"You mean ... all those ... sexual ... "

"Everyone one of them."

"Even the ones where she was alone?"

"I was watching – in my dreams."

"Wow. That's mind blowing."

I took the phone back. As I did Tom whispered to me, "You can have her over? Or we can go my place and I'll cook dinner for all of us? I need some recovery time."

"Mar, you up for dinner?"

"You mean you'd leave Dreamlover and another chance to make love?"

"No. All three of us, err, I mean dinner. Tom said he'd cook at his place. It's over by Bayfront Park." Tom snickered at my near double entendre.

"I'm in. What time?"

"Six?" I looked at Tom and he nodded. With Tom's help, I gave Mar the address, we talked about meal plans, and we hung up.

*

Tom proved to be quite a cook. He produced a light chicken and wine dish, complemented it with some angel hair pasta and lightly sautéed plum tomatoes. I produced a rather simple salad that he turned into a masterpiece by grating some aged parmesan cheese over it and tossing it with a wine vinegar and olive oil dressing he made before my very eyes. After a cell call to Mar while she was on her way over, she arrived with a selection of cookies.

We sat at the dining room table amid the candlelight Tom insisted upon as befitting a romantic dinner with two women. We continued a discussion that started after we'd gotten past the pleasantries of the three of us being together. During dinner, I'd put Tom's philosophy into my own words, inviting him to correct my errant interpretations of his views.

After kicking many of the concepts around, Marcella bore right in on one of the crucial issues: "So, how do you work a relationship?" She looked right at Tom when she asked her question; however, I knew it was also directed at me.

Tom moved his jaw around as he sipped his coffee. After a minute of 'think time' he started his answer: "For starters, I don't think the answer is too different even if your fundamental philosophies that led you into the relationship are different."

"You have to want the relationship, and be willing to put effort into building and sustaining it. There's a mindset you need; some words that come to mind are: romantic, physical, confidant, flexible, tolerant, sharing, humble, respectful, confident, fun loving and sense of humor – not in any order.

"Next, I think communications is the big gorilla in the corner. Not only do you have to talk, you also have to listen – be an empathic listener. We hear a lot about that, so I won't dwell on it. I think you also need to be selfish – to mold the relationship into something that you want. You do this while at the same time you appreciate the happiness your mate has and try to add to it. If you're unhappy or faking it, things won't last long; that's why it's important you make it something you want."

Mar and I both nodded to Tom so he'd continue.

"Sharing some activities is key, whether family, sports, friends, or whatever, you've got to do some things together. That's some of the glue that holds your unit together – those shared experiences. Counter to that, I really believe each party in the relationship needs some alone time – for instance, men often create that by having a den or cave they retreat to when they want to be alone. Some need more of that time than others."

Mar asked, "What about common friends?"

Tom responded, "Nice, but I think there should be 'yours, mine, and ours.' What you're hearing is a plea for not too much 'couplehood.' Having the couple front is nice, but in the end you have to be your own person. You can't just be your own person at work; you have to have your own identify in each part of your life: family, career, education, friends, spiritual side of things, hobbies, intellectual stuff, recreation, and so forth. Do things together, but save some time for yourself in each area important in your life. Besides being personally satisfying, it'll make you a more interesting person to your mate."

He paused and walked to the sideboard in his dining area, and then he turned and continued his response, "It doesn't hurt to keep dating your partner long after you've past the dating stage. Be romantic, flirty, sexy, and devote time to each other. Of course, grow together. Set goals together and then work towards them. Hold hands! Be physical! Be a little unpredictable. And, more than anything, say 'I love you,' and then walk the talk."

He turned and brought a tray with some liqueur glasses on it to the coffee table in the nearby living room. The attractive room was lit only from the reflected light from the lights on the artwork on the walls. The lighting gave the room a warm and inviting atmosphere. He gestured us into that part of his apartment, as he returned and brought two liqueurs to the table.

I said, "All your relationship remarks were pretty 'couple' oriented, but your philosophy was broader, so to speak."

Tom sat between Mar and me on the long sofa. After he sat, he carefully poured out one glass of Grand Marnier. He responded to me, "It's hard to use vocabulary that allows for multiple partners. We don't teach it or normally use it when we talk about relationships. Our vocabulary around relationships can be limiting. In the same way the Eskimos have forty words for snow, and along the equator it's just 'snow.'"

He turned to me and said, "Now, I'm going to show each of you how to really appreciate fine liqueurs. I want you each to relax and close your eyes."

Just as I closed my eyes, I saw Tom take a sip of the orange liqueur. I felt one of his hands beside my cheek, guiding my face to his. I knew he was going to kiss me, and he did. What happened next blew my mind.

Tom's tongue probed into my mouth, and I willing opened to invite him in. Things happened so fast then. I realized for a fraction of a second that I could taste the liqueur on his tongue, and then he jetted a thimble full of the nectar into my mouth. The rich liquid went everywhere in me; in a fraction of second it went to my core, warming every corner of my body. Tom continued the kiss and then we broke apart.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw his look of love. He winked at me and turned to focus on Mar. Now I watched the act from beside him as he prepared to repeat the process with her. She sat with her head held high, neck extended, and eyes closed.