It's All About Faith Pt. 08

by Phillip Johnson

Chapter One Hundred Twenty Four

Over a year had passed since they had been to Discovery and the four of them got together for an early Saturday dinner. Layla mentioned that she would have a few days off starting the next Friday through the following Monday and she said, "I really need to get away. The last two months have been wicked."

Mitch laughed and said, "I know, let's go to Discovery."

"You are joking right?"

"Yes and no. Okay, how about this. The four of us go up there, but not stay. You can see what the boutiques have now and we can have lunch or an early dinner at Ethel's and then head on south to wherever. Find a nice motel or resort and just crash."

"But not stay at the Twilight right?"

"Nope, just visit, see what's going on and then leave."

"Okay, I'm for that. Buck...Anita?"

"As long as we don't stay and get caught up in that mess again." Their plans were set. They would be on the road no later than eight and in Discovery in time for lunch.

The four of them were on the road ten minutes ahead of schedule and with Mitch at the wheel made good time. "You know it seems so long ago that Layla and I stumbled into Discovery in a broken car and our lives were changed forever."

"All four of our lives were changed forever," Anita added. All of that really does seem so long ago."

"Be honest Nita, did you bring Discovery shorts to wear?"

"No...Okay I brought something, but I brought the skirt instead."

"Now that's music to my ears."

"You've seen my naked butt so what's the big deal?"

"Did you bring heels too?"

"Yes love, I brought heels too."

"Layla?"

"Of course," they saw the old sign for Discovery first and Mitch slowed down to about ten miles an hour, but where he planned on turning to the left there was now a gate across the road.

"What the hell?"

Layla was next with, "Oh my God, the stores are boarded up."

Mitch pulled over in front of what used to be Jim and Delia's store and stopped. They got out and just looked down the old main street of what used to be part of Discovery. "How can this be after just sixteen or eighteen months? When we left here everything was booming."

Buck looked across the street toward the warehouse fronts and said, "I'll be right back," and ran across the street to the first door he saw. He tried the knob and it opened so he went in and saw a door to his left and went through that to a counter and looked to see if anybody was around.

Then from his right he heard, "Can I help you?"

"Oh...um, yeah, what the hell happened to the village across the street?"

"Oh that. Hold on I'll get somebody else for ya," and he disappeared. A minute later she came in and Buck smiled, "hi, Wendy."

"Buck, what a surprise this is."

"What happened?"

"It's a pretty sad sight isn't it."

"We've just seen this side of it but I take it there's nothing left."

"That's about right." She looked at her watch and said, "I'll be going to lunch in half an hour so if you want to hang around we can talk."

"That would be great. Is there anyplace for coffee or anything?"

"Not anymore. Listen just go through the gate and get comfortable and I'll be over shortly."

"The gate's closed."

"Oh, just pull it open, it sometimes closes on its own." "See you in a little bit," and he went back out and then ran toward the gate telling the others, "Drive down to the gate and I'll open it." When they drove through, Buck walked down what used to be south side of the town square and as he caught up with the others, he said, "This is really sad. Damn look at the town square, all filled with tall grass and weeds."

"And boards across the store windows," Anita added. "It's really sad and kind of creepy now, like there are ghosts hanging around watching us."

They saw the alcove to their apartment and went over there and looked up the steps. Layla looked around and said, "This is so unbelievable. Look, behind the steps are those colored pads they scattered around the square for the celebration. I didn't realize there were so many of them. So no restaurants or anything open then."

Buck shook his head and said, "All gone now. No motel or grocery or anything."

"Then why is Wendy still here?"

"Don't know, but you can ask her when she comes over." They were still standing there talking about what once was when Wendy appeared. "Hi. I came through from the other side. Let's go up and have some iced tea and talk." They followed her up the steps and then to the right and into what was Faith's apartment. "Make yourself comfortable."

Layla followed Wendy and said, "Let me help. You probably have to hurry so you can eat and get back to work."

"I told them I'd be late getting back. It's not a big deal, but thanks. I'll pour and you can carry some of them."

They gathered in the living room and Wendy said, "I'll bet all of this was a real shock to you. Well, let me give you the quick version and then we can fill in the blanks. Forgive me for eating in front of you. Okay, let's see. You were here for the celebration so..." and she took a bite of her sandwich and chewed as she thought, washed it down with iced tea, and continued. "Well, all was well after the celebration, but not for long. We destroyed the town from within. Jealousies formed and that was never a problem before. It seems that weekend of total decadence and pagan hell raising was about the worst thing to have happen here. It all seemed great at the time. For whatever reason what we did at the Playhouse was okay and nobody had a problem with it. But when we did the same thing out in the open on the town square it was a different matter."

She paused to take a couple more bites and the continued. "First one couple moved out and then another. Just moved away and abandoned their houses out at the south end of town and didn't look back. There was nobody to buy them so why not? Anyway, Ma's Kitchen was one of the first to close and of course the gift shop never did do any good or the Men's store either. Then Mae closed Casey's, but what really did it was when Dwayne closed down the grocery and the auto repair and left. It was like dominoes falling after that. Now all that's left is Roberta in her place in the back. She works for Jim and Delia in the shipping and warehouse area. Another couple that moved in right after the celebration and their name is Rod and Adriana something."

"Well I'll be damned," Mitch said.

"You know them?"

"We met at Faith's."

"Oh yes, Faith. Now that's more of the story. Look, this is going to take quite awhile. Why don't you stay at your apartment tonight?"

"We need to eat and so forth."

"Oh that. Take the shortcut road over to South Renovo. There's a grocery and a restaurant or two over there and it's about fifteen minutes away. Well, Ethel is over there in fact. Of course, she named her new place Ethel's again, and it's about four doors down from the market. Then tomorrow, we can talk for as long as it takes to get you caught up. I have tons of things to share with you. The TV still works as does the phone and the wireless Internet. More story there too. I'll go back to work and try to get away a little early."

Chapter One Hundred Twenty Five

The foursome made a dash down to South Renovo and surprised Ethel. They were about half way through their meal when Ethel saw them and abandoned her duties so she could sit with them and talk. "So you saw Discovery I take it."

Anita smiled and said, "Well, what's left of it."

"Not much, that's for sure. What a cluster fuck...sorry, what a mess that all turned out to be. Faith should have never done any of that. It didn't take a big brain to see that what she was doing would blow up in her face."

"I take it you're not one of her bigger fans now."

"Not at all. I never realized how much she relied on Max. She tried to be like him but she couldn't decide if she wanted to be a hard assed business person or a woman. I think her feminine needs and desires won out."

"So what's happening with her now?"

"Well, the last I heard, Peggy, Dan and her were living a very nice three way life. As bad as Faith is, I think that without Peggy, she would have done even worse. Peggy is her lieutenant you know."

"We were getting that impression even before."

"So where are you staying?"

"We ran into Wendy, so we're going to stay in our apartment there."

"Why?"

"Just curious and we were just trying to get away. We weren't looking for the Discovery lifestyle anyway. Wendy said we'd get together tomorrow and she'd bring us up to date on everything."

"Well, she'll know more about that than me that's for sure. She and Peggy still stay in touch and Peggy does like to talk."

"That's not so good for a lieutenant to be talking too much."

"I know. Peggy's just doing what she has to do to survive and with that, she ends up with big Dan. As long as she smiles and plays Faith's game, she'll be fine. But you know...I really miss the old Discovery. I miss the people and the fun."

"Did you know that it was Hank that was the problem?"

"Sure. He needed to go, but they should have replaced him and kept Faith out of the day to day things. We didn't have to have a whole new town. That's like blowing up the house because it has a fly in it."

"Are you and Darren still together?"

"We are and will probably stay that way."

"Fantastic, we're happy for you and give him our best."

Ethel had to get back to work and the foursome went to the market and then headed back to the apartment talking all the way.

They got out of the car and Layla stood there and stripped naked and tossed her clothes in a grocery bag. The other three laughed, but soon joined her and they went up to their apartment in the nude, put the groceries away, and went back outside, and walked the square once again. The men watched the women's breasts and their nearly hard cocks swayed with each step.

When Wendy got home she found her friends naked and sitting on two benches facing each other on the sidewalk near the stairs. She smiled and said, "I see you adopted two of the benches and moved them, wonderful. I also see you're into the lifestyle, and that's great too. Mind if I join you?"

"Please do."

"I'll just go up and get comfortable, grab a drink and be back."

"She still has perfect tits," Buck said.

She was back less than five minutes later and dropped onto the bench between Buck and Anita. "This is wonderful. I get naked every night, but it's just not the same when you're alone. I'm really glad you stopped. Okay, so where did I leave off?"

Layla told her, "You had just told us about Rod and Adriana."

"Oh right. I don't know how they work it, but they are up here quite a bit when the weather is good. Okay, let's see. So I work at the warehouse and I live in Faith's apartment for free in exchange for keeping an eye on things. If Roberta or Rod and Adriana have a problem, they find me and I find Peggy. We take care of our own trash by toting it over to the dumpster at the warehouse. It's incredibly quiet here day or night with only the occasional car going by behind us. Faith donated the shortcut road to the county that she built and that gets the maintenance issue off of her back."

"So she won't mind that we're here?"

"She won't even know it unless I decide to tell her and besides she doesn't care. She's pretty much lost interest in this place now because she lost her ass with it. There's way over two million dollars in condos, town houses and cottages back there just sitting empty. All they need is food and people in them, a true turnkey situation. What a waste and what a stupid thing for her to do. Max must be spinning in his grave right now. Nobody liked the new town as much as the old one and it showed in their attitudes. The old town was a part of them, kind of like an old friend I guess and she just took it away from them."

Mitch asked her, "So the stores are all empty now?"

"Yes, pretty much. Casey's and Alice's have some things in them because we just never got back to emptying them. By now, it's all old merchandise that we could never sell on the Internet, and the retailers aren't interested in screwing with it. The restaurants still have all of the equipment in them, and I think that's about it. Oh, and the hardware store has some odds and ends in it, but not a whole lot. We all knew there was no real reason for this town to exist, so once it developed a weak spot, it spread like a cancer. Now everybody is scattered all over the country and starting over."

"So Faith still owns all of this."

"Pretty much, she owns it, but she doesn't even know what she has here now."

"Has she even been back here since the celebration?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

Layla asked her, "Do you see Bill anymore?"

She didn't answer right away. Looking toward the fancy security gates that protected the homes she said, "Not anymore. He got a construction job and now he travels from job to job."

"I'm surprised you don't hate Faith."

"Well, I sure don't love her. I do what I need to do to get along. With no rent and a decent paycheck, I'm doing okay. The apartment is more than I could ever afford and where else could I go that would afford this freedom? I really miss a lot of the people though. I have something wonderful and nobody to share it with."

Mitch had been sitting there and listening but then asked her, "Do you and Roberta ever get together and talk?"

"Oh sure, but not a lot and let's face it, Roberta is nice. She's sweet even, but she's a little strange too. No, make that more than a little strange."

"What about Peggy or Rona?"

"I see Peggy every week or two and sometimes Rona. They don't talk about it, but I'm sure that Rona, Peggy and Faith have a three way thing going on. I don't know how they find time for Dan."

"You know what's really depressing Wendy," Buck said. "It's the weeds in the square and the boarded up windows. That just speaks failure and neglect."

"I know it does and it drives me crazy."

"Maybe you and Layla could move up here."

"We can't, I have a business to run and Layla has a good career in Scranton."

Buck stood up and said, "Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going up and have a margarita," and the rest of them followed him up the stairs. They drank and talked until the margaritas were gone, and then Wendy said goodnight and went to her apartment. The four of them talked more about the disaster that was once Discovery and somehow Anita and Layla had traded partners and were soon making love and couldn't have cared less about the village.

Chapter One Hundred Twenty Six

Layla and Anita were up first and made the coffee and slowly woke up together. "Nita, I'm enjoying going naked again."

"I am too. The abandoned village breaks my heart and yet I'm enjoying the quiet and no distraction."

"I know. Nita, I know it's early for this kind of talk, but the guys will be awake soon."

"Okay, let's hear it."

"I noticed when we went home from here the last time. You know when you and Carly were taking turns with Mitch."

"I remember that of course."

"I watched you and Carly. You know touch and help each other. Have you and Carly ever...you know been intimate?" Anita looked at Layla trying to decide if to answer or how and that made Layla uncomfortable so she said, "Never mind, I shouldn't have asked that."

"You surprised me is all." Then she listened for sounds from the bedroom and in a softer voice she told her story about Carly coming to see her and them making love. It was Layla's turn to stare as the story unfolded. "Sorry, if you're disappointed in me."

"No, that's not it. It's just that...it was my turn to be surprised. Have you two done that since?"

"No, and for me, at least not with anybody since then either."

"It must have been pretty good for you to climax."

"I went through about every kind of emotion. Fear, anger, curiosity, passion...everything, but love I guess, and all in the span of...I don't know, maybe twenty minutes or so. Buck caught us at it too."

"Was he upset?"

"I think he was as confused by it as I was. But I could also see he was very excited by it."

"I think most guys are affected by that, or at least that's what I read."

"So you've never done anything like that I take it Layla."

"I never have. Well, except for when Eva did me that time."

"And she made you cum."

"She sure did, and I tried not to let her get to me."

"I know, I saw you on the DVD."

"Oh, that's right. It's amazing all of the experiences we've shared, and all after Mitch and I got home from here that first time. The four of us just transformed overnight and have never looked back."

"I don't want to ever go back or even look back too far. I like how we live now."

"I do too."

Once the guys were up and stirring the four of them went outside to greet the day as they sipped the last of the coffee. Wendy joined them and they ended up going for a walk around the square and then back through the small subdivision. Anita slipped her arm around Mitch and said, "You seem a little distracted this morning."

"Sorry, I guess I have been poor company, just working something through my mind."

"As long as you feel okay."

"I feel great and thank you for worrying about me." Wendy pointed out the house that Adriana and Rod had bought and where Roberta lived and that got them talking about the celebration again. They made their way back through the gate and stopped to read the sign that said it was a clothing optional community. Wendy smiled and said, "It would have been great if it would have worked." It was then that Roberta appeared coming down the street, "Morning Roberta, out for a walk?"

"Oh," and she checked out who Wendy was with. "Oh, you're...um...Buck and Mitch, and...Anita, and...oh yes, Layla."

"That's right."

"I was just so startled to see somebody else here, I got rattled."

Anita showed her best smile and said, "We just stopped to visit. How are you getting along?"

"Oh fine I guess. It gets a little lonely out here now though."

"I'm sure it does."

There was an awkward moment of silence until Mitch told her, "You look great Roberta, A little pale but great. You just need to get some sun."

"Thank you." Her eyes flicked down his body and back up to his eyes and said, "You do too Mitch."

"We were just going up to have a bloody Mary, could we talk you into joining us?"

"Oh, you don't need me butting in."

"We'd love to have you. Have you join us, I mean. We can sit out in the sun on benches and sip and talk the morning away."

"Thank you, I'd like that. I'll just go freshen up from my walk."

"We'll be there waiting for you, but take your time, because we haven't showered yet either. Of course, you could shower with us." Roberta all but giggled and said no thanks and headed home. Layla was watching them and smiling and asked him, "Are you trying to start something?"

Mitch stood up to go take his shower and said, "No. I'm just fascinated by her. We all know she plays and loves it, and yet she gets flustered and reluctant."

They all followed Mitch as Buck said, "I think I have her diagnosed."

"Tell me doc, what's her disease?"

"She wants to be a submissive."

"That's pretty far out."

"Think about it. She's all hesitant and giddy, and I think at least part of that is real. But remember her at the Playhouse? Once she was tied up, she feebly objected, but then she was all sex and desire. I'll give you odds that a little force and she'd do almost anything."

"By force, what do you mean?"

"Threaten to paddle her ass or tie her wrists behind her, any token show of force and control. Hell, it could probably be done just with commands and intimidation."

"Let me guess, you have studied this on the Internet."