Agents of Pleasure Ch. 29

It was about 10:15 when Paige left Pernell's house; and because it was so dark, she gratefully accepted his offer to walk her home. When they turned the last corner, she was surprised to see Marie standing on her front stoop with Robert. It looked serious in that he had one hand on her shoulder while doing most of the talking.

Paige stopped Pernell and said, "Hold on a second, there's my friend Marie."

"Who's that with her?"

"One of her boyfriends, Robert."

She could hear Pernell chuckle, "One? How many does she have?"

"Two."

"Seriously? Two? Well...at least she doesn't have five!"

Paige smiled, She knew he was joking, and just to be funny she considered telling him about Charlie and his harem; but biting her tongue she said, "Robert would like it to be serious, but she doesn't." And in a sing-song kind of way, Paige added, "You know...Girls just wanna have fun!"

Pernell chuckled again. "I get that! Tonight was BIG-TIME fun!"

She took his hand and squeezed it, "You photographers, you know just how to make a fun-loving girl feel good!" Pernell laughed this time and Paige added, "C'mon, we could stand here all night if they keep talking."

When they got to the front walk, Paige was able to make out what Marie was saying, "I'm sorry, but I like things the way they are."

Robert replied, "But don't you have a long-range plan?"

Just as Marie said, "No," she saw her BFF and Pernell approaching. She put her hand on Rob's arm, "Hi Paige!"

The redhead paused halfway down the walkway, "Hi you guys! Are we interrupting something?"

"It's okay," Marie turned and looked at Pernell, "Who's this?"

"This is my client, photographer, and friend Pernell Cannon."

He extended his hand to Marie and she took it, then he shook hands with Rob. "Nice to meet you both! I've heard a lot about you, Marie!"

Before the brunette could respond, Paige spoke up, "I was over at Pernell's looking at the Ava Green album. God, was it ever good; wait til you see those pictures!"

"Who's Ava Green?" asked Rob.

"Another one of my clients. She and her husband did some...Oh, how do you say it? Glamour shots?" Pernell was smirking behind his hand.

"Okay, well, I do have to be going," Rob continued, "Marie, can finish our discussion tomorrow?"

To her credit, Marie laid a nice kiss on him, "THAT will tell you how much I'm looking forward to it! And by-the-way, Rob, Paige and I are also looking forward to our next 'double-date!'"

Robert's eyes went wide and he looked at Paige, "Oh my God! We are?"

The redhead grinned mischievously at him, "Yes, we are!"

Pernell said, "I do have to be going also; so Paige, can you make it home from here?"

"No problem; thank you, Pernell!"

Paige and Marie stood shoulder-to-shoulder and watched them leave. When Rob's car pulled away from the curb, Paige said, "So Sweetie...I'm guessing you told Robert about Joe, right?"

"Yes, it did NOT go well."

"I kinda guessed that too!"

"Men! As we've said so many times before; it's a good thing they have a dick!" When her friend giggled, she added, "You're out pretty late; I'm thinking you didn't go over there just to look at a photo album, right?'

"I was coming over to see you, and Pernell distracted me!"

Marie burst out laughing! "Yes, and you're so easily distracted! Was it fun?"

"Lots!" and she took a minute to explain where Chad and Sylvie were.

"Oh my God, do I want to meet this Sylvie?"

"Maybe, she's nice...and lots of fun too. I'm bummed out though."

"About what?"

"I had this picture of you, me, and Chad going to the McCullers' house warming Sunday night."

"Oh, that's right! Yes, I see...it WOULD be much better if the first time you went to a swing party, you went with your husband."

Paige shrugged, "Would you go if I didn't?

"The thought of going alone never occurred to me. Probably not."

"We can play it by ear I suppose."

"I can't, you have the built-in babysitter; I don't. But let's see what happens. So, got any plans tomorrow? I need to do some grocery shopping; maybe you, me, and the three little ones could go together?"

Shaking her head Paige said, "I have to work tomorrow morning. I'm showing Allie a couple of houses I found for her."

"That's great! So you found another house with four closets in the bedroom, huh?"

Paige slapped her playfully on the arm, "You are such a smart-ass sometimes!"

"It's a gift!"

"No, it took me over an hour to find a couple places that will fit her budget, and tomorrow was the only day we both had. Oh, by-the-way, Charlie and Joy will be coming along for the tour."

"They are?" The wheels turned quickly in Marie's head, "Hey, I wanted to meet this guy Charlie; maybe I could tag along too! Whatta ya' think?"

Paige stared at her. "This is business first; you understand that, don't you?"

"Of course!"

"I don't want you yanking his pants down in the first five minutes to check out his cock!"

Marie laughed, "I wouldn't do that! I'd wait at least fifteen minutes!"

The redhead smirked, "Yeah, that's YOUR idea of 'all business!'"

"The problem is Michelle, let's go inside and ask Kayla if she can make it tomorrow morning."

"Hey, tell you what, just bring Michelle over to my house around 9:30. My mother won't mind."

"You sure? Cuz that would be awesome; we'll be there!"

Paige opened the front door, "I'm gonna say hello to Kayla and then head home."

The next day she got up early and spent the better part of two hours getting the house ship-shape so her mother wouldn't feel put-upon when Michelle showed up. At 8:45 she started getting herself ready. The foreclosure house was empty, but the duplex owners would be home; five people would be touring and she wanted to make it clear who the real estate agent was.

Just as she was checking her watch at 9:30, Marie knocked on the door. When Paige opened it, her friend didn't even say hello; she simply said, "See? I'm punctual, all business this morning!"

"I see that; you even dressed appropriately!" Marie looked really good! She had clearly spent time getting herself ready, Her hair and make-up were perfect and her slacks and blouse were well-thought out. "If I gave you a name tag, you could pass for an agent yourself!"

"That's the idea, there's no way I want you to lose a sale because of me!"

She brought Michelle in and sat her down with Jimmy and Jamie in the living room. "We're leaving, Mom."

"Do you know when you'll be home?"

"Maybe as early as lunch time, but no later than 3:00 I think."

"Okay, I'll put those two down for a nap around 1:00 if you're not home."

"Sounds like a plan."

On the dot of 10:00, Paige and Marie were standing in front of the duplex. The three client/friends had texted them they were on their way. Marie asked, "Did you tell them I would be coming?"

"No, should I have warned them?"

Marie giggled, "I'm not that bad, am I?"

With a twinkle in her eye, Paige replied, "Don't worry, Allie likes you."

"What about Charlie and Joy?"

"Joy is Allie's best friend. Charlie is smooth; he strikes me as the kind of guy who can adjust to most any situation."

Marie studied her BFF's face, "You really like him, don't you!" It wasn't a question.

The redhead smiled, "He's really different, in a really...REALLY...good sort of way! You'll see!"

Just then Charlie's car pulled to the curb and the three of them emerged. When the two women saw Marie standing there with Paige, they did a double-take and looked at each other. Allie quickly recovered, "Good morning!" she said with a wave, "Hi Marie! Fancy meeting YOU here!" Before they could even respond, Allie continued, "Charlie, Joy, this is Paige's famous friend Marie that I told you about!"

Charlie said, "Hi Paige!" He looked at Marie, "I'm thinking you must be humongous famous Marie! Whenever we talk about Paige your name usually comes up as well!"

Marie tilted her head and giggled, "Famous? Paige is sometimes prone to exaggeration."

Charlie looked her up and down and said, "From the look of things I'd say their 'exaggerations' had some basis in fact!"

Paige interrupted them, "Yep, this is my famous friend Marie! She just happened to be in the neighborhood, so I invited her to tour with us."

Charlie looked Marie up and down again, but not in an impolite way. "I like this 'neighborhood,' Paige. You have very good taste!"

Everyone caught the double-meaning and Paige could have sworn that Marie blushed. Joy said, "Well, I'm kind of freaking also, Paige, because we just found out that maybe Allie and I can be roommates in the house she buys!"

They spent the next few minutes discussing future plans and expectations until Paige said, "Let's get going then, the owners are expecting us." They walked through the duplex, which didn't take that long since it was like a two bedroom/one bath apartment. Paige watched Allie's face for signs of interest, but there were none. The one glimmer of it was when the price of $89,900 was mentioned. Walking out the door, Paige immediately said to her, "I'm thinking, that wasn't it, Allie."

"No, I didn't like the kitchen at all; and if there was only one bathroom, I expected that to be a whole lot better than it was. What did you think, Joy?"

"I agree with you; honestly I wouldn't want to live there. But maybe if you offered them $50,000 you could suck it up...for that price!"

"Charlie?"

"I think 'sucked' is the operative word here!"

They all laughed and climbed into the cars. It was a four minute drive to the foreclosure. On the way Paige said, "Any impressions?"

"I like all three of them!"

"And Charlie?"

"I like his manner. I've never see a nerd who carried himself like that!"

Paige giggled, "Having four girlfriends could do a lot for a guy's confidence."

"That's definitely on point!" she remarked. "How long did you say they've had this arrangement?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but it's been well over two years."

Marie shook her head, "That's fucking amazing!"

And Paige nodded, "You have no idea!"

Walking up to the foreclosure, Paige removed the key from the lock box. Joy said, "Wow, this house is a foreclosure? I thought we might be looking at some problems, but this has been well-maintained!"

"Rochester State Bank is the title holder. They're known for taking care of their properties."

Allie said, "If the inside looks as good as the outside, I could be very happy here!"

The redheaded agent opened the door, and two steps inside Charlie said to Allie, "First impression? Get your check book ready, Al!"

His girlfriend giggled, "Look at this huge room! I don't even have enough furniture to fill it!"

Paige walked over to one end, "This area is the dining room. Keep in mind, we're looking at 1100 square feet."

The kitchen was five times better than the duplex, and there was room for eating in. "Nothing wrong in here!" said Allie enthusiastically.

"You'll have to learn how to cook!" Charlie snickered.

"I'm a quick study!"

The bedrooms were average size but the windows were big, typical for an A-frame of this type. All the women were praising the master bathroom, but the second bathroom, not so much. Standing in the living room again, Paige said to Allie, "So?"

"I like it, it's move-in ready and the only issue is the second bathroom needs updating. Joy?"

"Don't look at me! It's not my mortgage. But if I was living here with you, I could spiff up that bathroom pretty well!"

"Charlie?"

"I think you'd be crazy not to buy this one! And knowing Paige like we do, I bet she's thinking we could get it for $95,000."

Paige was surprised but she shouldn't have been when Charlie hit the exact number she was thinking. So she said, "No, you're wrong, Charlie; I was thinking $94,900!" Everyone burst out laughing!

"Charlie's right," said Allie, "offer them ninety-five and let's see what they say!"

And then...Marie couldn't hold back anymore, "Hold on now!" The other four looked at her, but SHE was looking at Charlie, "Is your little 'entourage' going to be able to fit in here at times?"

Charlie's eyes flicked in Paige's direction for a split second, and then refocused on Marie. He smiled in that amused sort of way he always did and said, "This is an investment for Allie, but let's just say we're all going to look forward to the house-warming!"

All the girls giggled when Marie just stood there and blinked at him. Paige spoke up, "I'm pretty sure Marie and I will be invited also, right Allie?"

"Definitely," then she added (with a twinkle in her own eye,) "Maybe we'll make it an 'open house!'" That cracked everyone up! Marie said, "Paige has told me a few stories about your group, it sounds like you have a lot of fun!"

"Yes," Charlie replied, "and the last few chapters have included her." He turned to look at the redhead, "SHE'S a lot of fun!"

It was Paige's turn to blush. Marie gave her a playful shove and said, "Look at her, she's so modest...for a slut!" Everyone burst out laughing again!

When things settled down, Charlie looked at his watch, "So ladies, are we done here? I have some things that need to be finished later this afternoon. Right now I'm starving though, can we grab something to eat?" Everyone agreed and he said, "This is going to be my treat; we're celebrating Allie's first house!"

Joy spoke up, "Wait, her offer hasn't even been accepted yet."

"I have a sense it will be; the only question now is, where do we want to eat? Sit down or take-out?"

"Let's get take-out," said Allie, "we could bring it over to your place, Charlie, and kick back a little."

"Okay, you and Joy take my car and set up drinks and such; I'll ride with Paige and Marie and we'll get some Chinese."

When they got in the cars, Paige said, "Chinese huh? You sure you want to spend seventy-five dollars on a Saturday lunch?"

"I told you; it's a celebration!"

"Okay, I do love Chinese!"

"Plus," Charlie turned and looked over his shoulder at Marie who had climbed into the back seat, "this gives us a chance to get all of your friend's questions answered while we're in the car."

Paige giggled and Marie said, "You think I have questions?"

"Sure you do; you have lots of questions."

Marie played along, "How many?"

"Couple dozen."

The brunette caught Paige's eyes looking at her in the rear-view-mirror, "Okay...if you know that, why don't you just tell me what my first question is?"

Charlie laughed, "That's about as easy as it can get; you're first question has already been answered. You came along this morning specifically to check me out!"

This time Paige was smirking at Marie in the mirror. She was turning onto Main Street when Marie said, "Maybe that was easy; so what's question number two?"

He looked at her again over his shoulder, "Before I tell you that, you answer one for me! Why do you have two boyfriends?"

Marie's eyes flicked at Paige, "Did she tell you that?"

He smiled his amused smile, "Yes, so what? We're all friends now aren't we?"

"I suppose."

"Want me to tell YOU why you have two boyfriends?"

Paige glanced at her BFF in the mirror and Marie had this 'somewhat surprised' look on her face. Yet Marie said, "Sure, go ahead."

"To this point, knowing Paige like I do, she doesn't have time to waste on a best friend who's a fucking narcissist; she sees you as a forever friend who's kind and considerate, yet at the same time wonderfully selfish."

"What does 'wonderfully selfish' mean?"

"Wonderfully selfish is a very positive thing! You're honest to a fault; so you don't play games with people anymore. Maybe you used to, but not anymore. So...you have two boyfriends to fulfill this selfish thing you have going. I'm betting they don't mind it because you make sure they have the best time being with you! It's debatable how long it'll last; but your honesty might make it last quite a while."

Marie said to Paige, "Wow...do you see me like that, Luv?"

"Of course! He would say the same about me too, right Charlie?"

"I would, all three of us have the same vibe...I fucking love it!" He looked Marie in the eye, "Now you know why I do what I do; I love my friends, but we're living in the moment, just like you do!"

They pulled up to Ling's Chinese and Marie said, "Do you know my next question?"

"Well, it's difficult to put a number on it. I think your first six or seven questions have been answered now, but the next one probably centers around what Paige told you about my cock!" When the bunette's eyebrows rose in surprise, he added, "Maybe the question is 'May I take a look at it?'" Marie's mouth fell open and Paige started giggling. Charlie smiled, "Am I right?"

"Yes, you are. BUT...let's go inside; I need to think for a minute."

Charlie chuckled all the way into the restaurant. They ordered five egg rolls, honey-garlic chicken, and some beef and broccoli. While waiting, Marie said to Charlie, "I believe Paige, you know. I'm sure she didn't exaggerate about your cock."

"Oh of course she didn't! You believe her; you just want to see it for yourself!"

Marie gave him a wicked smile, "So, may I?"

"No."

Paige laughed, "Oh-oh Marie, here it comes!"

"Here what comes?"

"The wonderful selfishness!"

Charlie laughed heartily! "Paige and I certainly understand each other now! And she's right...I'm quite selfish myself!"

"How so?"

"I'm not going to answer that right now. Let's have our lunch celebration and then pick up the rest of this conversation then."

When they got to Charlie's house, Joy and Allie had set up a beautiful dining room table and the celebration began. Paige opened her laptop and submitted Allie's offer to Rochester State Bank. When they finished eating, they took their glasses of wine into the living room and kicked back!

"Thank you for the delicious lunch, Charlie!"

"My pleasure, girls! This was a great way to get the weekend started, you all agree?"

Everyone nodded and Paige said, "I'm so happy for you, Allie! The only thing that could make this weekend better would be if Chad were here!"

The other four people in the room sang out together, "Awwwww!"

And then...Marie started it; she stood up and said "Hey you guys, I can think of one other thing could make this weekend better!"

"What's that?" asked Joy.

"In the car on the way over, Charlie told me I could see the beautiful cock I've heard so much about!" The other three girls burst out laughing; Charlie just grinned. "So, it's time for the show, right Charlie?"

"No."

Marie put her hands on her hips, "Wait a second, did I miss something?"

Charlie's grin lit up his whole face, "I never said I was going to do that!"

"Why won't you?"

"Because I'm wonderfully selfish, just like you!"

"I see," Paige's BFF replied, "you mean you want something before I get what I want, right?"

He looked at Paige, "She's a smart girl, Paige!"

Paige giggled, "Yes, she's highly intelligent... for a slut!"

Everyone laughed at the payback and Allie said, "Oh, he loves keeping us off-balance, Marie. It's part of his charm! The thing is, if you play along, you'll definitely get what you want as well...and MORE!"

"More?"

"MUCH more!"

Paige shivered, something big was coming; she could feel it. She thought back to her three encounters with Charlie...and shivered again! The pleasure he delivered during those moments was off-the-chain intense! What did he have up his sleeve this time?

Marie said to her, "What do you think, Luv? Should I play along?"

"It's 12:30 right now; I told my mother we'd be home by 3:00. Knowing what I know...I'd say yes."

"I have to go to work at 3:00," said Allie.

"And I already said there are some things I need to clear up today. 3:00 sounds like a good time target. What do you say, Marie?"

"I work at a zoo; I'm an adventurer, so okay... I'll play. What did you have in mind?"