Fat Tuesday Flirt

© 2004 JW Omnimedia. All Rights Reserved.

"Are you sure your phone is charged?" Her husband asked from the kitchen as Katy double checked that everything she needed was in her purse, though once they got down to South Street her purse would probably wind up in the trunk anyway.

"Yes, Daddy," she joked, joining him in the kitchen and giving him a peck on the cheek.

"I know you can take care of yourself, hon. It's your friends I don't entirely trust. I don't mind coming out to get you guys if Mo doesn't keep sober." Mo was Maureen Kelly, one of Katy's oldest friends and the evening's designated driver.

"Stop it, because you really are sounding like my father now, except without the drunken temper. Mo knows she's driving and I will keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't drink. We were down there the year everything went crazy and we got out of there completely fine." She was referring to Fat Tuesday four years ago when everything on South Street got out of control and just about every cop in the city had to be called in to control the drunken mob. A bunch of guys had helped Katy and her friends onto the roof of a minivan to stay safe until the crowd passed them by. Yet another example of where being an attractive woman was helpful, Katy thought. She knew she was noPlayboy centerfold, but Katy turned heads when she dressed up to go out. At 5'7" and thirty-two-years-old Katy still had a nice, curvy body, though she didn't do anything to maintain it. She'd just lucked out in the genetics crapshoot was all. Her shoulder-length hair was naturally auburn, but Katy kept it a couple shades redder than nature intended with the help of Miss Clairol.

There was a honk from the driveway, cutting off any further protest from her husband and Katy, laughing, told him not to wait up as she headed for the door. She slipped into the back of the minivan beside Angie and the women were off for the night. The wine was already open and Katy was passed a full plastic glass. Heading out for a night of partying with her three best friends made Katy feel like she was right back in high school. Besides Mo and Angie, Patty was there as well, sitting in the front passenger seat.

"So are you girls ready for a night of no responsibility? No husbands, no kids, no work tomorrow morning. Just the four of us, some booze and hopefully some cute guys to flirt with." Patty said, raising her glass. The other women, except for Mo who was driving, raised their glasses and drank. It was a poor choice of words with Mo present though, as her husband had left just six months before. She did her best to let the comment pass without dwelling on it. Two of the four, Mo and Patty, had kids and all of them were married.

"Here's to partying like it's 1989!" Katy chimed in, initiating another round of drinking. Of course back in '89 that wine probably would have been Boone's Hill, not Turning Leaf.

Hitting South Street on Fat Tuesday was a tradition that went back to their senior year together at St. Alban's High, when they cut class to do it. Katy and Mo had been friends since grade school and they'd met the others in junior high and been lifelong friends ever since. Whatever paths life took them down, the four made sure they stayed connected. Over the years Fat Tuesday in the city had changed a lot, going from a fun, but drunken celebration to a party big enough to rival New Orleans it's self. The scene could get so out of hand that Angie had suggested maybe they get together somewhere else this year, but the others wouldn't hear of it.

It was only half past eight when they hit South Street, but the area was thronging with people who'd been drinking since early in the day. The closest parking they could find was a garage ten blocks away and despite the brisk night Katy and Patty chose to leave their jackets in the minivan. Katy was quite chilly on the long walk as she was just wearing a see-thru black sweater with a camisole under it and an above-the-knee skirt and boots. Patty wasn't much better off as she had chosen a skirt even shorter than Katy's and a low-cut, sleeveless red top, décolletage provided by the Miracle Bra. With her pale skin and jet hair she looked like a million bucks in the outfit, but she was paying the price as she shivered all the way to the first bar they stopped in.

While Patty pushed her way up to the bar to fill their drink order the others searched fruitlessly for a table and Mo and Angie shed their coats to get more comfortable. Mo was dressed in black slacks and a green top and looked good. She'd always been more cute than sexy, what with her freckles and auburn hair, but she did have a curvy body, which some would say had improved with age. She didn't have the body she'd had at eighteen, but the extra ten pounds or so she now carried were in all the right places and she was more self conscious about her butt than she really needed to be. Angie, on the other hand, was the polar opposite of Mo and the latter had always resented that Angie could eat anything she wanted and stay thin as a pin. Angie was attractive, with classic Italian features and blonde hair, but she had no curves at all and her skirt and tight sweater just seemed to hang on her. In truth she'd always envied Mo for her big chest, even in a Miracle Bra of her own she barely managed to raise two bumps in her sweater, so that made the women even.

Angie helped Patty carry their drinks back to where the women were crowded together. The bar was so crowded that it was a constant challenge to get their drinks down without spilling them all over themselves. The people around them constantly jostled them and Katy noted that more than one guy used it as an excuse to cop a feel as he pushed past her. When they finished their round they decided to try somewhere else.

The next bar was also very packed, but at least they found a corner where they could form a circle and have a bit of breathing room. Of course there was still nowhere to sit and Angie and Mo were left holding their coats.

"Every year this gets worse. It's really becoming a zoo," Mo said with some distaste.

"But come on, it's fun!" Katy said. "I love the energy of a big crowd having a good time."

"I don't know. I think it's a little much," Mo replied.

"You're just getting old." Patty joked.

"Hey, so are you then," Angie piped up.

"It's all a state of mind, hon. You'd feel a lot better if you weren't the designated driver." Patty said.

"We can switch if you want. I'm barely buzzed, I could definitely be sober by the time we leave." Katy told her friend.

"No, it's okay. You guys are right, though. I really need to loose up. I feel like there's been a black cloud following me around for months now."

"I know it's been hard, but tonight is the perfect night to forget about all that and start fresh." Patty said.

"Okay, tonight I will just go with the flow."

"That's more like it!" Katy exclaimed and they all toasted. Mo was drinking beer, but was severely limiting herself. "And for the record, no one here is getting old!"

"Easy for you to say with a body like that," Mo kidded.

"Oh, come on!" Katy protested.

"Pu-leez, hon! Look at that ass," Patty said, and to demonstrate she smacked her friend on the behind. "I'd kill to have an ass like that."

"Not to mention your chest," Angie threw in ruefully.

"Knock it off, guys! You're making me feel like a piece of meat. This is all the magic of wardrobe and makeup. You should see me naked. Wait, scratch that!" They all broke up laughing.

After a couple rounds they left that bar and circulated through the crowds swirling on South Street. Katy wryly noted that it seemed like the crowd got younger every year, though she didn't want to admit that maybe it was just because she and her friends were getting older. Patty was right, age is all a state of mind. There did seem to be some men their age, but she could find hardly any women. More than once Katy found herself stepping around puddles of vomit by the curbs, the fragrant side effect of so much public drinking. They had a round each in a couple more bars and by the time they arrived at the fifth bar of the night, a little Irish pub a couple blocks off South Street, they were all half-smashed. Even Mo found herself buzzed despite her efforts to remain completely sober. There was breathing room there, but they still had to stand by the bar.

"So what's the game plan now, ladies?" Angie asked.

Patty wandered back from the jukebox and said, "There's actually some room here and some good songs on the jukebox, so I think we make camp and do a little dancing." There was a small space that passed for a dance floor in the middle of the bar, but no one was up there.

"I don't want to dance if no one else is." Mo said.

"If you guys get up there I will," Katy said.

"Remember, tonight is the night to cut loose," Patty reminded her friend.

Angie quickly volunteered to watch the coats and their drinks and Katy and Patty dragged Mo out to dance. Katy found a CD of early 90's dance music and selected a couple tracks. Their dancing drew some attention from the people sitting right by the dance floor, but after a couple minutes those people went back to drinking and ignored them, especially after one guy's girlfriend smacked him for checking out Katy's ass. The girls had a good time up there and soon forget there was even anyone around them, except that Katy noticed a table of about six guys watching them from the back of the bar. They were all in their early twenties and it made Katy feel sexy to be checked out by a bunch of good looking young men so she put a little something extra in her moves for the boys.

A couple stools had actually opened at the bar and when the ladies went back over to Angie, Mo sat beside her and knocked back a pint. "Don't forget you've got to drive us back to suburbia," Katy warned.

A young guy with dark hair spilling out of a backward baseball cap and wearing jeans and a rugby shirt approached the women and introduced himself.

"Hey ladies, I'm Mike. My friends and I are sitting at that table back there we couldn't help but notice that none of you have any beads."

Katy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Patty actually burst out laughing and was the first one to speak. "You're kidding, right? You think we're just going to walk back there and flash you our tits?"

Mike reddened, but he kept with it. "Something like that. We're willing to negotiate."

"Tell you what, Mike. You go around and ask every other woman in here first and if you can get three of them to do it we'll consider it. And don't try to cheat, we'll be watching." Katy said.

"Are you crazy? I'm not taking my top off." Angie said as soon as Mike walked away.

"Don't worry about it. I'm guessing there's only about fifteen other women in here and most of them are with guys. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Unfortunately Katy wasn't quite right. Mike and another of his friends worked the room, each with strands of beads over their arms, and they convinced five women to pull up their tops. Two of them only pulled up their shirts to show their bras, but the others flashed their breasts for the whole bar to see. And so much for Katy's boyfriend theory because one guy obviously worked hard to convince his reticent girlfriend to do it. And another girl, who looked to be about twenty, pulled off her shirt to show a cute, perky little set of breasts and the fact that she hadn't been wearing any bra at all. When Mike returned with his friend, who he introduced as Leo, he had a triumphant grin.

"I hate to have to tell you guys," Katy started, but was interrupted by Patty.

"We're not really impressed by beads. What else do you guys have to offer?" Patty said.

"What are you doing?" Mo said under her breath.

"Don't worry, I just want to have fun with these boys. I haven't had a chance to play with boys in a long time." Patty answered, returning her attention to Mike.

"Like I said, we can negotiate. Why don't you ladies join us at our table?"

"I don't know..." Angie said.

"My feet are killing me in these heels, so I will be more than happy to." Patty said and started following the boys without checking to see if any of the others were with her.

"Let's go," Katy said. "Let's live dangerously." The other two women didn't look thrilled, but they followed her.

"Have a seat ladies," said one of the boys, who identified himself as Ted, a broad chested blonde boy with a toothy smile. He introduced the others at the table as well. There was a lanky, pale boy with black hair called Andy, Cal a heavyset kid with brown hair, and Tai, a tall black kid with a smooth head. There was only one open seat and Angie snagged it, leaving the others wondering what they were supposed to do. There weren't any other open seats in the whole bar. Ted kicked back in his seat and looked up at Patty. She gave him a knowing smile and sat down on his lap. Katy was thinking that she had no intention of sitting in anyone's lap when Mike grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down into his.

"Comfy?" Mike asked with a cocky grin.

Katy wiggled her butt around and answered, "Sure, if you are."

That left Mo standing and after a moment of hesitation she settled down onto Andy's lap stiffly.

"So we kept our part of the bargain, how about you ladies? Are you going to keep yours?" Ted asked, putting an arm around Patty, who was sitting facing the side with her breasts practically in his face. His hand rested on her knee.

"We came over to see what we could do for you boys that wouldn't involve taking our clothes off," Patty said.

"Something within reason," Katy added.

"I told them we could work something out, but it would have to be something damned good considering what we would be missing." Mike said, nakedly eyeing up Katy and Mo's chests.

"Come on, won't you just give us a little peek?" Cal asked.

"You just saw those young girls, why do you even want to see us?" Mo countered.

"Because those girls have probably been showing what they've got all night. They're hammered and it's no big deal to them, but with you guys it's different. I can tell you're not whipping your tops off every other block." Mike said.

"And I know I would rather see a woman than a girl anyway." Added Ted.

"Even if we would consider doing it," Patty said, which brought her a look of pure venom from Angie, "we're certainly not going to get topless in a crowded bar. Sorry, boys, but if you don't want anything else you're out of luck."

"We could always go back to our place," Cal said hopefully.

"Let's start with a dance and see where it goes from there." Ted said, taking Patty by the hand over to the jukebox. They selected a couple tunes and moved onto the tiny dance floor and through the first song Ted kept trying to get as close as possible to Patty and she'd let him think he was getting somewhere before moving off. She was definitely enjoying teasing the young man. The second song was slower and Ted pulled her in close. The first couple times he put his hands on her ass she moved them back up to her waist, but after a couple more tries Ted succeeded and he rested his hands on her butt.

"We should join them. I know you like to dance," Mike said.

Katy had to think about it. Being pawed by the young man would be bad, but it did look like Patty was having fun teasing Ted and Katy could be a shameless flirt when she wanted to be. "Okay, but you'd better behave yourself."

Mike did behave himself, more or less. He didn't just grab her ass, but he did keep his hands as low on her waist as he could get away with. He also held her very close, crushing her breasts into his chest. Mike was a good dancer and Katy enjoyed being in his arms. She could tell he was enjoying it too when she got really close and knowing she was giving the young man a hard on gave her a thrill. When the song ended Katy realized, with some embarrassment, that her nipples were rock hard and poking through her top.

When they were all seated again Cal ordered up a round of shots and Katy found hers went down very easy. As the warmth spread through her Mike rested his hand on her leg and she found she didn't mind at all. She was glad she wasn't the only one, though. Ted had Patty very close, so her breasts were practically rubbing his face and Mo was sitting very still on Andy's lap, causing Katy to wonder if something was going on over there. Angie was chatting with Cal, but was very careful to keep her distance. Katy thought her friend should loosen up. There was nothing wrong with harmless flirting.

On Fat Tuesday the South Street bars close early to avoid trouble and it was barely midnight when the bartender announced last call. Over Katy's protest Tai ordered a final round of shots and Mo took one this time.That does it, Katy thought,she's not driving home now. She knew she was in no condition to drive and hoped that Angie was as sober as she seemed. Mike again suggested that they go back to their place to continue partying and just as Katy was going to say she didn't think it was such a good idea, Mo piped up.

"Sounds like fun," Mo said, to the shock of her friends. Even Patty, who seemed to be getting very close to Ted was surprised.

"I think we really should be getting back," Angie said, clearly ready to get out of there.

"If you'll excuse us for a minute, boys," Patty said, getting unsteadily to her feet and leading the other women away from the table.

"We are not going to that house." Angie said firmly.

"I think it'll be fun. They seem like good guys." Mo said. She was all flushed and visibly drunk.

"You're crazy." Angie told her.

"Are you okay to drive?" Patty asked Angie.

"I will be in a little while, I think. I didn't do those shots. Obviously our designated lush here isn't," Angie said, ribbing her friend.

"You guys told me I should cut loose."

"I think we should go over for one drink. Ted, Mike and Cal share a place and Ted told me it's only a couple blocks away, so I don't see the harm. And after that you'll be ready to drive, Angie, and we can go home. What do you think, Katy?" Patty said.

"I'm not ready to go home just yet. I'm having a pretty good time."

"I don't believe you guys. It's like you're all teenagers again." Angie said, realizing she wasn't going to win. "Just remember we're all married."

"It's okay, Ang. We're not going to get in any trouble," Katy reassured her friend.

The guys were thrilled the women were coming home with them and they walked as a group over to the Colonial era townhouse that the three of them shared. It was three stories with a living room and kitchen on the first floor, two bedrooms and the bathroom on the second, and a third, loft-sized bedroom on the third. While Tai put on some music, Cal and Mike got everyone fresh drinks.

The living room was quite small and it was crowded with so many people. Mo sat on the couch with Andy and Tai, while Katy again ended up on Mike's lap, this time in a recliner in the corner. Ted and Patty disappeared into the kitchen while Cal, Leo and Angie sat at the small table in the narrow dining room that joined the other two rooms. The living room was dimly lit and the way the recliner was situated Katy really couldn't see what was going on in the couch. It sounded like Angie and Cal had started playing quarters in the dining room and Katy could hear talking, but not specific conversation over the music.

Katy heard the ringing of a quarter landing in a shot glass, followed by Patty and Angie cheering. Another bounce and silence. Mike was becoming a bit handsy and Katy thought it would be a good time to get up, especially since she knew she was letting him get away with too much.

"We'd better see what's happening in there." Katy said, struggling out of Mike's lap, which exposed a lot of leg to the young man. When she got up it seemed to her that Mo jumped between the two boys, but all their attention was on the game of quarters in the dining room. "What's going on?" Katy asked.