Life is a Soap Opera Act 01

Their eyes were wide and they played with all of the gadgets. This was certainly their first ride in an $85,000 car.

Gabe made the same polite conversation with the other three girls that he did with Bailey on the drive down and soon enough they arrived at the school. The dance was being held in the gym and it seemed that most of the county had turned out for the prom. After all, there wasn't anything else going on in Washington County that night.

When they got out of his car, they made their way to the promenade area. Students were already lined up and were being introduced. The girls had initially planned to be there from the beginning, but the earlier stop for pictures made them late.

At first, Gabe got a few quizzical looks from folks that seemed to say, "Who's that old guy with the Crawford girls and their friends?" but thanks to the Soap Opera network, a few people recognised him and the whispers—and text messages—soon spread throughout the crowd.

The next hour was a whirlwind of pictures and fawning. His appearance seemed to be the biggest thing to hit Washington County since the new high school opened three years ago. Gabe smiled a lot and made sure that at least one of the four girls was always on his arm. The local paper interviewed the fivesome and he made sure to sound like he was just trying to make sure the girls had a good night, not like a weird 35 year-old guy who was going out with teenagers.

They took a formal set of pictures. Gabe paid for a set for each of them plus one for himself. He was sure to buy his ticket to the prom; no doubt that the school PTA could use every penny they could get. He chatted with the principal for a few minutes and was accosted by the drama teacher who asked him to speak to his class the next year. He gave non-committal responses, but everyone was so nice, he made a mental note to find a way to work the school into his schedule.

A few of the other kids tried to elbow the four girls out of the way for a picture alone with him, but his dates—especially Bailey—would have none of that. They pushed and shoved right back and often made sure Gabe was between two of them.

He made a point to dance with each of the girls, fully aware of everyone's eyes upon them. About halfway through the dance, Gabriel excused himself and told the girls it was past his bedtime. The kids were all discussing their plans for after the prom, and he didn't want to know any details, lest his presence be implicated.

Showing up or being placed at a post-prom party was the last thing he needed. He was toying with the idea of getting back into the business, and being around teenagers doing what teenagers do on prom night was no way to get noticed in a positive way.

Kimmy, Morgan and April all gave him a hug. Bailey latched on to his arm and offered to walk him out to his car on the pretense that she didn't want anyone to steal a solo picture of her "date". Neither said a word and he reached into his pocket. The doors unlocked themselves when they sensed his key fob get close.

"Thanks for coming out here with us, Gabe," the girl said shyly. "I . . . I know going to a prom was probably the last thing you wanted to do tonight."

"I had a great time," he said softly. In his mind, all sorts of lurid thoughts raced around, fueled by his lust for the young girl's voluptuous curves. He pushed them aside and made sure not to shift out of gentleman mode.

"Me, too," Bailey blushed. He saw where this was going and let his good sense take over. She looked away. "Listen . . . um . . . do you think we could . . . you know . . ."

"I'm old enough to be your father, Bailey," he said when her voice trailed off. "You've got your whole life ahead of you. I'm just a washed up soap opera actor."

She could barely hide the disappointment in her eyes. "I just thought . . . that maybe . . . you'd see something for . . . you know . . . us."

"Young lady," he lifted her chin, so she was looking in his eyes. "You are a very pretty girl and if I were eighteen again, your dad would have to lock you up to keep me away from you . . ."

That made her smile.

"But you don't want me," he continued, fully aware that she only knew his public persona and TV personality. He had seen the same starstruck look in many of the show's fans. "You don't realise what a boring person I am. Or how much baggage I come with. There's so much more out there."

"I guess so," she said dejectedly. "Can I call you when we're in town for school? We could go out for lunch or something."

He thought real hard before replying. Against his better judgment, Gabe scribbled one of his phone numbers on a scrap of paper. When she reached to take the slip, he pulled it back. "You have to promise that you will never share this number with anyone. Not even your sister. Do not put my name on it and do not program it into your phone. Promise?"

"I promise," she replied eagerly, the palmed his number.

"Good night, Bailey," he said softly. He had to look away, lest her big, brown eyes draw him into a kiss he knew wasn't a good idea. Before she could steal that kiss, Gabe slipped into his car. He didn't roll the window down and waved as he drove away.

In his rearview mirror, he saw Bailey standing there. Alone in the parking lot, the lights shining down and making her look like an angel. With big round hips and full, luscious tits.

Gabe sped home, suddenly finding his cock wanting to burst out of his pants.

****************

Bailey lay back on her bed. Her breasts, though heavy, still sat upright on her chest.

She cried out, despite trying not to wake her sister in the bed next to hers. Her fingers worked between her legs.

As she had every night for the past week, Bailey imagined that Gabriel MacKenzie was making love to her. Her body shuddered with pleasure as thoughts of her prom "date" raced through her mind.

Imagining him mounting her in her bed . . . bending her over the couch . . . eating her out in the back of his car . . .

Every scenario played over and over in her head. She cupped one of her breasts while playing with herself. The thought of him suckling on her nipples made her spine tingle.

Whimpering as she approached her climax, Bailey squeezed her eyes shut. Her hand moved faster.

She imagined that she was his wife. Accompanying him to the Emmy Awards. Visiting him on the set of his latest movie or TV show. Laying out on the back of their yacht.

Her fingers pressed on the nub of her clit. Her pussy was slick.

From head to toe, her body began to shake. She imagined him taking her from behind, impaling her on his cock.

With a gasp, her pussy seemed to explode. Her toes tingled. She curled up into the fetal position, waves of pleasure radiating out from between her legs.

Bailey shivered for a few minutes, then fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of red carpets and babies and her handsome lover.

****************

A little over an hour's drive away, Gabe lay in his bed.

His hand stroked up and down on his cock.

Try as he might, he could not get the image of Bailey Crawford out of her mind. Her wide, firm hips. Her soft, round tits.

And her eyes. Those big brown orbs. They were hypnotic. They pulled him in and held him, like a moth drawn to a candle.

Gabe imagined her mounting him and riding his cock. She would lean forward, pressing her breasts into the palms of his hands. Her hips would rock back and forth.

He would thrust up into her soaking wet pussy.

They would cum together and then she would collapse on top of him, spent. They would fall asleep in each others' arms, then wake up and make love over and over.

She was half his age, but Gabe found that he could not escape the thoughts of her. He didn't want to.

For the second time that night, Gabe orgasmed to the lurid fruits of his imagination. He remembered how soft her skin was. How her breasts pressed against him when he pulled her close.

He fell asleep, tormented by the thought that he might never see her again.

****************

"Hey, Sis!" April called. "You got something from your boyfriend!"

"What are you babbling about?" Bailey walked through the kitchen door, fresh from feeding the family's animals.

"There's a letter for each of us from Mr. MacKenzie."

Bailey snatched the envelope out of her sister's hand, despite the other girl's attempt to pull it back. She tore into it, finding a sappy/inspirational congratulatory graduation card from Hallmark and a gift certificate to the local shopping mall.

She had hoped that he would show up at graduation and ask her to run away with him, but he didn't. Still, she knew this was more than she should have expected.

"Get the same thing?" April asked, holding up her card. Bailey shrugged. On one level, she was happy to have heard from Gabe, but on another she was disappointed that it was just a nice, if a little impersonal, gift card.

A few moments later, the phone rang. It was Morgan. And a few minutes after that, Kimmy called the twins. All four girls had received different cards but the same gift. If she would have allowed herself to be upset with her sister and her best friends, Bailey was disappointed that Gabe hadn't singled her out for something special. She thought they had connected on some deeper level than the other three girls. Still, the young woman couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, especially one that gave so generously after only knowing her for four or five hours.

A couple of weeks later, Bailey finally drummed up the courage to call Gabe. She hemmed and hawed for a while, wondering if she could actually do it.

So many thoughts ran through her mind. They ranged from the hopeful (He really likes me!) to the self-doubting (Does he really like me and not my super-hot twin sister?) to the scared (What if he's some sort of sexual predator) to outright lust (I'm going to jump his bones when we meet!).

Graduation was passed. The girls were of school for the next two and a half months before starting at the community college in the fall. In addition to helping around the farm, both had jobs. Every night, Bailey stared at the slip of paper Gabe had given her. She mentally kicked herself for not giving him her phone number. She would have to be the one to make the first move.

One afternoon, after her folks and sister had gone off to work, Bailey dialed the number. Her heart pounded in her chest. The palms of her hands were covered in sweat.

The phone rang.

Two . . . three times.

She cringed at the fourth ring, anticipating it rolling into Gabe's voicemail.

Her stomach churned when someone picked up. "Hello?"

For a moment, she couldn't speak.

"Hello?" the familiar voice said again.

"Hi . . . Mr. MacKenzie?" she knew she had to say something lest he think she was a telemarketer and hang up. "It's me . . . um, Bailey Crawford."

"Bai—Oh, hi!" She could "hear" the smile in his voice and she let out a sigh of relief. "How are you? How was graduation?"

"Graduation was fine, Mr. Mac—"

"Don't start that with me, Bailey," he said, his voice becoming playfully stern. "Call me Gabe or I'm going to hang up on you."

"Okay, Gabe." The butterflies in her stomach calmed down a little. But not much. "Graduation was good . . . a little long. We wanted to thank you for the cards and the gifts."

"Anything for my prom dates," he said.

There was a brief awkward silence. She had to steel up her courage. "Gabe . . . I don't suppose you'd want to meet for lunch or something . . . April and I are going to be in town on Wednesday for orientation . . ."

"I'd love to—"

As soon as the words started, she knew there would be a "but" coming.

"—but I'm out of town right now. . . ."

If he had been there, Gabriel would have seen the disappointment on the girl's face.

". . . I'm in New York through the twenty-second. . ."

That was almost three weeks away.

". . . But I'd really like to get together with you . . ."

Her face brightened.

". . . And the other girls . . ."

Disappointment. Again.

". . . When I get back." He paused for a second. "Is this a good number to reach you? I've got a meeting in a few minutes . . . Can I call you back in about an hour?"

It took her a second to process what he had just said. "Um . . . sure."

"Okay, I'll talk to you in a few."

She sat on the couch, holding the phone to her ear, its connection long since dropped. Her hands were shaking. She felt excited and afraid and confused all at the same time. All the while she wondered what had just happened.

****************

Gabriel walked out of the office humming a tune. He smiled at everyone, which was strange in New York. He caught a cab back to his apartment on the upper west side. When he walked through the door, he realised just how much he missed the city. Not that small town life was bad, but there was always an excitement about New York.

Of course, in about six months he'd remember why he left, but for now, everything seemed to be going his way. Not only was he once again going to be gainfully employed, but the pretty young woman who had only crossed his path for one night had called him back.

The timing of everything was good. The person who was sub-letting his apartment had moved out the month before. He didn't have another tenant lined up and wasn't about to give up his rent subsidy. Gabe was smart with his money and had enough that he could live for several years without substantially altering his lifestyle. Still, it would be good to be drawing a paycheck again. Not to mention being out of his mother's house once more.

He picked up his phone, scrolled through the incoming calls and dialed Bailey's number. On one level, he was surprised she called. On another, he was ticked off at himself for not asking for her number so he could call her.

The phone only rang once.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Bailey?" he said, not sure if the number she had called him from was her house or a cell phone. He wasn't worried about his number being caller ID'd; he had call block on all of his lines. "It's Gabe."

"Hey." There seemed to be relief in her voice.

"Listen, I'm sorry for blowing you off this afternoon, but I was on my way to a meeting with my agent," he said.

"How'd it go?"

"Very well," Gabe beamed. "They want me back on the show and called to make me an offer last week."

"That's great," she said softly. If he didn't know any better, Gabe would have sworn that she sounded a little let down by his news. Still he pressed on, unable to contain his own excitement.

"I'm flying back in a couple of weeks, and then I'd like for you guys to come up to the house with your families." He scribbled some notes on a pad at his desk.

"Everyone?" Bailey asked. "If you say all our families, half of Washington County will find some relation to us and show up on your doorstep. TV stars are few and far between out in the country."

Gabe laughed. "How about immediate family? I owe you girls big time."

"How much is 'big time'?" Bailey asked, then paused for a second. He thought he detected a sultry undertone when she spoke again. "Enough for dinner?"

Impure thoughts raced through his mind at her suggestion. The tone of her voice hinted at something a little more . . . private . . . than he had anticipated. Still, the thought of having a date with the young woman was very enticing. He took a deep breath. "And then some."

"I'll hold you to that," the girl replied, her flirtatiousness suddenly a little hesitant.

"Let me call you in a few days," Gabe said, not really wanting to wait that long to speak to her again. He looked over at the calendar hanging on the wall. "Unless your families are busy on the twenty-fifth—that's a Saturday—why don't you all plan to come over for dinner."

"That sounds good." It seemed to Gabe that she wanted to say something else, but stopped herself.

"I'll look forward to it, Bailey."

"Me, too, Gabe."

There was another awkward silence, then both hung up. He spent the next three weeks both elated and nervous at the same time.

And none of it had to do with going back to work.

**************

After wrangling around everyone's schedules, Gabriel invited the girls and their families to a cookout at his mother's house. It was more of a catered event—since Gabe really didn't cook—but the girls's parents insisted on bringing something so he told them to bring a salad or dessert. In truth, he had everything covered, but if it made them feel better, they could bring anything they wanted.

Deep down, as long as Bailey was there, he didn't care what else showed up.

A couple of his friends were in from New York. He thought it would be a good idea to have some other "stars" there to run interference for him. After all, being social for an entire night wasn't really his thing, but he had friends who reveled in it.

Plus, he invited a few of his neighbours since he figured they would be making enough noise to keep everyone up, so Gabe pre-emptively wanted to stave off any complaints. Not that they weren't used to the noise. Before his mother died, the backyard was usually full on most weekends if the weather was good.

He was anticipating forty or fifty people over the course of the night, so well in advance he arranged for a local barbeque restaurant to supply a steady stream of food from pulled pork to beef brisket to rib tips along with potato salad, coleslaw, corn on the cob and just about everything else that people might want.

The back patio had an outdoor cooking area and a bar. A stone fountain and fake stream ran through the composite deck and down the hill into a goldfish pond. His mother loved to entertain people and she was quick to show off the house her son had built for her. As the servers from the restaurant set up, Gabe smiled inwardly, knowing that if she were there, Libby MacKenzie would spend the night in the thick of the action, her hearty laughter turning strangers into her best friends and bringing a sparkle to everyone's eyes.

Chairs were set up around the patio. Citronella torches warded off the mosquitoes. The sun was still above the horizon, but through a stroke of pure luck, it wasn't too hot or humid outside. Gabe even had the hot tub cleaned out and simmering, knowing that some of his friends would undoubtedly end up in it by nightfall.

Teri and Chuck were already into the wine. They were two of his dearest friends. Also actors, they took Gabe under their wings when he arrived in New York, fresh out of college. He was the godfather to their children and they handled all of the arrangements when Gabe's mother died. Gabe didn't have many close friends, but those who were in his inner circle would have fought, died and moved Heaven and Earth for one another.

"I think everything's all set up," Teri walked up and put her arm around Gabe. "It's good to have you back, Lo."

He looked into his friend's eyes and smiled. He started to say something but then heard cars pulling into his driveway. Teri kissed him on the cheek then went to make sure that her husband wasn't too far into the bottle of zinfandel before any of the other guests arrived.

Kimmy and her parents were the first ones to walk around the house. Their eyes were wide at the size and luxury of the place. Gabe greeted them warmly and introduced them to his friends. In addition to Teri and Chuck, his agent Tom and his wife were there, as well as two of the younger actors from the show who he knew from his time on Broadway.

April, Bailey and Morgan's families showed up soon after and then the party got started. Trays of snacks were about and the bar was stocked with wine, beer, soft drinks and bottled water. There was no band, but music played over outdoor speakers hidden throughout the patio. The neighbours began coming over and once it seemed that everyone was there, Gabe got up on one of the stone benches.