The Tale of Two Affairs

I saw them get in the pool and swim for awhile and then lay out in the sun. I also heard the beep of the washing machine and decided to put the clothes in the dryer. The first thing that came out was the shorts that she had been wearing this morning. Then came the shorts that she had left the house wearing yesterday. But the third pair was a pair I had not seen before. They were hot and almost could be called Daisy Dukes but were just a little bit longer. There were two halter tops that I recognized and one that was new. This one was basically a chest cover. It had a string that tied around her neck and then a two part flap that covered each breast but showed a lot of cleavage in front and also the sides depending on how she stood or sat. But the big thing was that the bottom was just loose. The flap could easily be lifted to expose her breasts or a hand could slip underneath just as easily and would meet no obstruction. While I would have liked to see Crys or Luce in it, I doubted that I would want another guy to get close to them while they wore it. But it also looked like I was too late. The last thing that came out of the washer was also a surprise. It was a thong swimsuit. It wasn't the most daring one I had ever seen advertised, but it would definitely show off Crys's body in a pool. It was also the first thong she had ever owned.

I put everything in the dryer and was tempted to turn the heating element up to high, but didn't. I set it on gentle and let these new acquisitions dry according to the instructions on the label. I looked out and saw that their wine glasses were getting empty and took the bottle out and refilled them. Crys didn't acknowledge this but Luce said thanks.

The rest of the dinner and evening went smoothly. Crys came down a little after her third glass of wine and was more like she was when we got together. It was when Luce got ready to leave that she threw out another curveball. We normally shared a simple kiss goodnight when she left but tonight Crys said, "Bill, Luce probably hasn't had a good kiss in forever. Give her a good kiss and then walk her to her car." Both Luce and I looked surprised, but I came up to her and kissed her lips very tenderly. "No, not like that; like this." Crys put Luce's arms around my neck and my arms around her waist. "Now try again. You two like each other far too much to not share a good kiss once in a while." I had my instructions and I followed them closely. Luce didn't seem to mind either so we kissed for a decent length and then pulled apart. Crys was smiling and said, "Now, wasn't that better?" We both nodded and hoped that we didn't show how much we really wanted to continue this practice. "Walk her to the car and say good night. I'll be in the study." She turned and went down the hall.

Both Luce and I grinned at each other as I opened the door and walked her to her car. I asked, "Anything new?"

"A couple of things. Are you free for a late lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure; where?"

"I will be in court until noon or one. I send you a text when we are about through. There is a Greek restaurant near the courthouse; do you know it?"

"Yes but I haven't eaten there."

"You will love it. I'll go there when I get out of court and wait for you."

"I'll be there." Then I gave her another loving kiss and she drove home.

When I went back inside, Crys was at the computer working on something for work but she stopped long enough to say, "Thanks for the dinner; it was great and also for putting my laundry in the dryer. I bought a couple of new things today."

I braved to ask, "What was the deal with Luce? I didn't mind but..."

"She hasn't been on a date since her divorce and I just felt like she needed a little something special. She likes you a lot and I know you really like her too. I just decided that both of you deserved something a little different. I've got to get this report done. It is going to take a while."

"Fine, I'll clean up the kitchen and maybe take a swim and go to bed."

"Good idea." But she was already back into her work.

In the morning she said that she had an early meeting and left at seven thirty. That gave me some extra time to check her e-mail. I dressed for work and then logged in. The first e-mail was from him apologizing for yesterday. He said she must have totally drained him Saturday night. Her reply was short but said, "You made up for it with your tongue today. We both have a busy week and I started my period this morning but I will be through by Thursday. Save it up, I will be more than ready for you by then."

His reply was also short. "I'll be ready when you are. Attached are the pictures from Saturday night."

Quickly I copied the file of pictures and saved them to a flash drive to look at later. Then I logged off and went to work. Luce texted me shortly after noon with a simple message that said "One o'clock." I texted back, "K."

I told my secretary that I was going to lunch and to visit a respected doctor nearby about one of my new drugs. At one, I entered the Greek restaurant and found Luce waiting for me with a smile and a glass of white wine. We quickly ordered and then I looked at her with a question mark on my face. She grinned and started, "First off, Crys was really wound up but settled down after a couple of glasses of wine." I nodded in agreement. "She really didn't tell me many details but she did tell me that the party at the lake was a lot of fun and that they had danced and had gone swimming in the lake. She said that if you asked me about it to just say that we had fun. Then she said something that was a little odd for her. She said that she liked doing things with Rod and that she wanted to continue but maybe only once a week or twice if something special came up. Then she said that she was concerned about you and leaving you high and dry. She asked me since I wasn't dating yet and since you and I get along so well, if I would mind hanging out with you on the nights she went out with Rod. We could go out or go to your house and swim or go to my place. She said that she could text me when she was leaving so that I could send you home."

"What did you say?"

"I wanted to say 'hell yes' but I didn't. Instead, I asked her if she was playing with fire with Rod. She got a funny look on her face and said that she didn't think so. They had fun and that was it. Then I asked if you hanging out with me might be playing with fire. She grinned and said, 'If I can't trust you, who can I trust?' Finally, I told her that I wouldn't mind at all but that it would depend on you. She said that she would talk to you about it. That might be what led to the kiss last night, which by the way was wonderful. I tingled all the way home."

"Good; I ached almost all night. The kiss after seeing you in that swim suit did a number on me."

She smiled and said, "That makes me happy."

"That you made me ache all night?" She swatted me on the arm.

"Asshole. What are you going to say to her when she brings this up?"

"Actually, my first thought would be to tell her to go see Rod five nights a week but then I think that might not be a good idea. So I am going to tell her that I wouldn't have a problem hanging out with you at all. I think that covers our asses pretty well, don't you?"

"Yes, I think it does. So did you come up with anything last night while we were there or after I left?"

"A little but not much. I get the feeling that she is trying to become a little more dominant in our relationship with things like me being punished and paddling me if I didn't do well. And then the kiss kind of fits that mold too. After you left, she was working on something for work but I asked her about the kiss. She said that she felt like we both deserved something different and special. That was it. I went to bed and she worked until after I was asleep. She left early this morning for a meeting. I guess she might say something tonight."

"I guess we will see. If she does and you can get away, call me. I have something else to talk to you about but it needs to wait."

I looked at her with an odd look but she wasn't going to say anything else. I paid the check and we gave each other a short kiss and she went to her office while I went to talk to the doctor. It proved to be a productive meeting as he pointed out several things from a doctor's point of view that I would probably have overlooked. I went back to my office and made some adjustments to my plan. I would be able to present it to my boss tomorrow. Then I closed up and went home and started dinner.

Crys finally got home at seven and I had dinner simmering, waiting for her. She said, "Sorry, I'm late. We had a big meeting and now I need to talk to you about a couple of things but I'm going to change first. Go ahead and set the table if you don't mind." She went to the back without waiting for a reply.

I had the table set and was ready when she returned wearing only a robe. She immediately sat down and took a big sip of wine and then began putting dinner on her plate. I had only seen her this way once before when her company was going through a major reorganization. I wasn't sure what to expect but when she started talking, I wasn't surprised.

"A bunch of things are going to start happening at work for the next month or two. We are merging with another company and it will be announced this week. I have to go to St. Louis Thursday but I will be back Friday. After that, I might be travelling or busy two or three nights a week until things begin to settle down. I hate to do this to you but how this all falls out might affect my job and I need to be really primed for it." She took a deep breath and then continued. "I hate to be this vague because it will leave you hanging for quite some time so I have a suggestion to make. You and Luce get along great. She told me yesterday that they would be through with their part of the trial on Thursday and that they will be having a dinner party Thursday night. I suggested that you take her since I will be out of town. Bill, I think that you should take her and if the two of you talk about it, when I am tied up the two of you can do some things together. I would feel a lot happier knowing that you aren't sitting home alone bored. What do you think?"

I decided to follow Luce's method. "I certainly have no problem taking Luce to the party Thursday and hanging out with her after that but don't you think that this might be a little dangerous? I mean, you know good and well that I am attracted to her and I think that she kind of likes me too."

"I know that you are understating things about how you both feel. But as I told her, if I can't trust the two of you, who can I trust. If something happens, I would probably rather it happen with someone like Luce than with some bimbo in a bar somewhere. So I am going to trust you. I'm going to go back to the study. Call her and talk to her or invite her over to talk. I think that it would work very nicely for all of us."

She finished dinner and excused herself to go to work. I cleaned up the kitchen while I thought things through. Then I called Luce. "Hey, we just had our talk. Do you want to come over here and talk?"

"Sure, give me twenty minutes."

"Bring your swim suit if you want."

"I'll bring it but probably won't put it on until after we talk."

"Wine or brandy?"

"Brandy and maybe then coffee with brandy."

"Done."

I took out some dessert and the brandy bottle along with two snifters. Then I went to the study and knocked before I went in. Crys was minimizing an e-mail, as I said, "Luce is on the way over. Do you want some dessert?"

"Thanks, not now. You two have dessert and talk. Then I'll come out for a brief chat if you want. I really need to get this finished tonight for a review tomorrow."

"Fine. We'll leave you alone. Just come out when you are ready." She smiled but I had noticed a little redness around her ears. I probably wouldn't be able to read the e-mail until the morning. I closed the door and went to wait for Luce. I didn't have to wait long as her car pulled into the driveway and I went out to greet her. She looked like she had just gotten out of the shower or bath when I called.

"Is everything alright?" She asked in a hushed tone with a sense of concern in her voice.

"From my point of view, it couldn't be better. " I kissed her gently and led her into the house. My words and the kiss seemed to help her calm down at least some.

I took her to the kitchen and said, "How much?" I was pointing to the cheesecake with the knife.

"Brandy and talk; then cheesecake." I put the knife down and poured her a brandy and handed it her. I could see her hand shaking slightly. I poured one for me too and led her onto the patio and we sat next to each other on a bench.

"Tell me what she said; as close to exactly as you can remember."

I thought about it and then repeated what Crys had said. I know that I might have missed a word or two but I didn't miss a subject that she had mentioned. Then Luce asked how I responded. When I told her how Crys reacted to what I had said, she paid extra close attention to everything I said. Finally, she seemed to relax but didn't say anything except, "Now it is time for cheesecake." She smiled and kissed me. She took a big piece and a cup of coffee with brandy and we went out and sat at the table.

I was very confused about what was going on at the moment. We ate our cheesecake and then she looked at me and said, "Bill, do you understand what is going on?"

"I thought I did but right now, I'm not sure. Tell me so at least I can be on the same page as you are."

Luce looked at me and took my hand, "Bill, Crys has basically said that she is caught up in both her job and Rod. She is going to be deeply involved with both of them for a week, a month, a year; who knows how long. She doesn't want to face dealing with you or your marriage now; she wants to postpone dealing with that until sometime later. But she doesn't want you to go wandering around and maybe get hooked up with someone else. So she is hooking you up with me because she thinks that I am safe and will keep you safe until she wants to deal with you. In my judgment, that is what is going on."

We locked eyes as she seemed to be probing deep inside me. For my part, the whole thing was a lot simpler than that. I simply held her hand tighter and asked, "So what is the dress and time for this thing Thursday night?" She threw her arms around my neck and kissed and hugged me. For the first time since she arrived, she was relaxed.

"Come as you are from work but expect to lose your tie soon after you arrive. We should be there between five and six at the Hilton downtown. I don't know which room yet."

"I'll tell you what, I'll pick you up Thursday morning and drive you to work so we only have one car and you can drink all you want."

"I need to be at the courthouse by eight."

"I'll pick you up at seven and we can stop for a quick breakfast if we have time."

"Perfect; let's go put on our swim suits and I want another brandy."

"Good choice for both."

I had my swim suit on under my shorts and all I had to do was pull the shorts off and pour us another brandy. Luce disappeared into the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later in a swim suit that I had not seen before but it looked very similar to the one of Crys' that she had worn the day before. I told her that I really liked it. She said that she hoped that I would. Crys had told her where she had gotten her new ones. We sipped our brandy and swam for about twenty minutes when Crys came out with a plate of cheesecake in her hand.

"So have you two finished your talk and what did you decide?"

Luce started to say something but I cut her off. "Crys, we talked and let me set something straight. I have a pretty stressful job that keeps me busy and Luce has one that is probably more stressful than either of ours. Our lives are just as busy and sometimes just as hectic as yours is. You take care of what you need to take care of and what you need to do and don't worry about us. If our schedules allow, we will get together when we can. Right now, I am going to take her to her party Thursday night. After that, we will have to see what our schedules are like and how they fit together. I might add that we might schedule something and if your schedule changes so that you will be home, I'm not going to break a date with Luce unless you are in the hospital. So how does that sound?"

Crys looked a little surprised and then turned to Luce. "Did you give him a script to read?"

"No actually, he came up with that all on his own and I'm proud of him. I couldn't have said it better myself."

"Good; that is something I don't have to worry about anymore. Just take care of each other. I have to get back to work now and finish my presentation." She kissed both of us on the cheeks and went back to the office.

Luce and I stood there in the shallow end of the pool and just looked at each other for a moment. Then she asked, "Did you mean what you told her?"

"Of course I did; why would I lie."

"Well I have some bad news for you. When this trial is over in a couple of weeks, my schedule is going to be very light for a couple of weeks."

"Oh, I'm sorry because when I kick these new programs off next week, my schedule is going to be very light too. So what do you propose we do about it?"

"Well, I think that we should spend a lot of time together and find out what we each like and then make sure that we spend time doing that."

"I totally agree with your plan. We will start on it immediately after your trial is done."

She came into my arms and we kissed. This was the first time that we had kissed with such minimal clothing separating our bodies. I hoped that this wouldn't be the last time.

She stayed another twenty minutes and then I walked her to her car and kissed her good night. Then I went in, cleaned up the kitchen and told Crys good night. She mumbled something and I went to bed.

Tuesday dawned like any other day and it didn't appear to be a bellwether day but it turned out to be one. It started like Monday with Crys up early, dressed and out the door except earlier. I took my coffee into the office and logged in. There had been three emails between them last night.

The first one was probably the one she minimized when I came in that time. It said, "Rod, you will probably be told in the morning but I got you named to be my partner for the next month. We leave Thursday at noon. Bring suits and business clothes. The dinner Thursday night is very important and remember that we are co-workers and need to make a great impression. The meetings Friday morning are a little less important but we still need to be professional. Per company policy, we have to have separate rooms but you will be sleeping with me Thursday night. I will be over my period and I expect the best you have to give. We will be in my room in case my husband calls. When we get home, I will tell him something so that we can spend Saturday together. We will know our schedule for the next several weeks when we get back Friday but I was told that it would be fairly easy but we can probably setup a couple of weekends away so start thinking about that."

Well that laid the future out pretty bluntly and her concern for me was about making up stories for them to get together under the cover screen of work. I opened the second one and found it a little shorter but just as potent. It said, "They bought it; my girlfriend and my husband will be keeping each other company. I wonder if they will fuck. Maybe I'll bug our bed." She ended it with a smiley face.

His reply was, "Don't waste the money on a bug; they don't work very well anyway. Just think about how we can get together three or four times a week to fuck. This twice a week stuff is bullshit."