Being Jim Ch. 07: Barbra's Wish

I had no sooner entered the room that I got a message from my buddy Angelica, that buxom vivacious strawberry blond that rocked my world not too long ago. We'd been friends for a while but when benefits got added into the mix, well, you might say we grew even closer. We aren't dating or anything really but on occasion the two of us will get together to scratch an itch or work off some built up tension. Hey... what are friends for? Right?

Angelica: "Hey buddy, where you been? I thought you were off tonight?" she teased right from the get go.

Frodov: "I am off tonight, but I told Todd that I'd come down to the barbecue cookout that he and Anne had tonight." I sent back knowing that I was going to have to give a bit more detail than that. But I was going to drag it out, give it out in small pieces. Angelica hated and loved it at the same time.

Angelica: "Oh... just the three of you? How cozy..." She quipped sending a grin action.

Frodov: "No, not just the three of us. Their next door neighbors were there as well as both families' kids." I sent back to her, but I knew that was not going to deter further questioning or insinuations, nuh uh... not Angelica. She must be bored silly at work right now.

Angelica: "So no action at all? What fun was that?" She sent with a pout action then a giggle.

Frodov: "Well it was a family cookout. But I do think that Todd and Anne were trying to fix me up with their neighbor." I threw here a bone to get her mind racing again.

Angelica: "Oh? And does this neighbor have a name?" She asked prying a little deeper... taking the bait.

Frodov: "Her name is Margie, and she seems nice but there's this problem." I teased a little more.

Angelica: "What kind of... problem?" She asked.

Frodov: "Well she's got this restrictive thing on her hand." I teased a bit more.

Angelica: "Restrictive... On her hand... What like a cast or something?" She asked trying to figure out what I was alluding to.

Frodov: "No. No. No. More like a band really." I sent... laughing out loud sitting in my office chair at my computer. I could envision Angelica's adorable face all scrunched up, her eyebrows knitted and that sweet little mouth and lips twisted into a frown.

Angelica: "Like an Ace Bandage or something?" She asked getting a little short now.

Frodov: "No. Something a bit more... permanent." I sent setting the trap and readying to spring it.

Angelica: "ARRRRGH!! What are you talking about?" She finally asked sending a stomping foot action.

Frodov: "Oh Okay... it's called a wedding band." I sent and waited... one heart beat... two... three...

Angelica: "JIM! DAMN YOU! You're awful!" She stormed at me and sent a pout action again.

I sat back and chuckled stretching my arms over my head and bringing my hands down to rub my face... What? Oh... My hand. I smiled remembering that I hadn't actually washed my hands since I left Todd and Anne's house and as a result I still had Anne's fragrant, heavenly aroma still on the fingers of my left hand.

It's a shame that tonight ended abruptly as it did. While I was still a little... oh who am I kidding...? A LOT uncertain about joining both Todd and Anne in bed together, the thought still tweaked parts of my brain and certainly parts of my anatomy as to what if. Or more like when. This little adventure would be all about Anne and fulfilling a need or at least a desire on her part. Oh I'm sure both Todd and I would get plenty of attention from that little woman... I just feel a little awkward about it yet.

Frodov: "Well... I knew you were bored and I know you would love to know more about my supposed exploits." I sent with a chuckle action.

Frodov: "I could have made something up and told you we all got naked in their hot tub or something." I added.

Angelica: "Wait! What? Todd and Anne have a hot tub?" She immediately asked. Oh my god! She must be bored out of her mind not to see that coming.

Frodov: "Noooo... I'm just saying... I could have lied and made up a story to keep you entertained but it really wasn't all that to start with. It was just dinner with friends and watching a movie after the kids went to bed. Well... till one of them got sick and got up puking. Kind of put a damper on the evening and I came on home." I sent to her leaving out the part about the foot massage that turned into a mutual grope fest or had started to anyway. I sighed and smiled sadly knowing that life has a way of throwing us curve balls when we're not expecting them.

Angelica: "So any other plans for the weekend?" She asked already getting over my toying with her earlier.

Frodov: "Not really, I'm kind of hoping to see a friend of mine maybe but I'll have to play it by ear." I offered up cryptically.

Angelica: "Well I'm sorry but this friend is working all weekend to cover for a guy that's getting married." She sent with a pout action then immediately sent another text.

Angelica: "Wait, did you mean me or some... other... friend?" She asked, sniffing blood once more. I chuckled and sent back my usual reply along those lines of questioning.

Frodov: "You know a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell..." I submitted knowing full well she would comment on that.

Angelica: "So you'll tell me then?" She sent with the insinuating glare and a smile action.

Frodov: "Has anyone ever asked you about you and me?" I asked.

Angelica: "No, and stop changing the subject." She responded immediately.

Frodov: "I'm not changing the subject... this IS the subject... Me... talking about my... friends."

Angelica: "What do you mean?" She asked genuinely perplexed I think.

Frodov: "Meaning that I value my friends and my friendship with them more than I do bragging or talking about what we do together. I won't talk about my friends... to anyone..." I sent and waited for that to sink in. I knew that she would understand my meaning.

Angelica: "Damn you! Fine... Keep your secrets! Arrrgh!!" She sent back in a huff... again I waited... and smiled when her next text popped up in a couple of seconds.

Angelica: "Jim... Thank you... asshole!" She added, getting that little dig in to let me know that she was still curious and I was thwarting her distractions from being bored at work.

Frodov: "I love you too girl." I sent her with a smile action, then a hug action.

Frodov: "So... how goes it with... you know who?" I asked with a smile on my face just waiting for her inevitable reaction after my having just called her out on her curiosity and prying.

Angelica: "Whoever do you mean? I know you can't be asking about a friend of mine. You KNOW I don't talk about my friends!" She retorted and sent an evil grin action.

Frodov: "That's my girl!" I sent with another smile action and a hug.

We continued to play trivia with a few other users for a while but soon I was yawning and having trouble keeping my eyes open so I let Angelica and the others know that I was going to log off and call it a night. I explained to Angelica that I hadn't gotten much sleep earlier in the day when I normally would be sleeping, between groceries, laundry and getting ready to go down to Todd and Anne's.

I signed off and shut down my computer or at least the modem anyway. I had a new screen saver that looked like the stars racing towards the viewer then zipping by... as if you were looking at the window of a space ship. I thought it was pretty cool. Of course the monitor would shut down anyway after a short while, screen saver running or not.

Standing up from my desk I peeled off my tee-shirt and tossed it on the now empty laundry bag making me think back to early in the day and Barbra's visit... or visits. I smiled and thought again of her request for me to travel with her to Michigan to walk across that big old bridge... the Mackinac Bridge. I'll have to do some research on that tomorrow sometime I thought.

Peeling off my jeans and shorts, I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and pulled on one of the old tee shirts I keep simply to wear for sleeping. In two steps I was at the side of my bed and climbing onto it. Not even bothering to pull the covers back to get in between the sheets I merely rolled over and turned off the bedside lamp and then it was lights out, literally and figuratively.

Some nights you dream, some nights you don't. That night I did not dream, or at least if I did I couldn't recall them when I woke up the next morning. Of course since I normally sleep during the day, being awake even in the late morning is odd for me to start with. But awake I was, thanks in part to my rather insistent bladder, and then to a lesser degree my growling stomach.

First things first however... After emptying my bladder I had the good sense to drop trow and turn around and have a seat. Whatever it was that I ate last night at Todd and Anne's that hadn't agreed with me had run its course and was ready to make an exit... urgently! Thankfully it was not an ordeal and I felt as well as normal afterwards.

I cleaned up and made my way to my kitchen. I saw the bag of doughnuts from yesterday sitting on the counter and smiled. I took one of the slightly dried out confections out of the bag and poured myself a glass of milk then made my way back to my bedroom and to my desk. I munched on the crumbly doughnut as I let my computer fire up and the modem dial up the connection to Night Friends.

There weren't many people online at that time of the morning, on a Saturday anyway, so I just checked my messages. I sent a thank you note to Todd and Anne for having me down to dinner last night. I smiled as I added that we'd have to do it again sometime soon.

I sent Barbra a note telling her that I was just going to be a bum today and hang around my apartment. I might pull out some negatives and maybe try to make some prints in my darkroom or I might even just try to work on a story I had been writing as a new pastime.

Another friend of mine had challenged me to write an adult story, erotica basically... and I had accepted the challenge. I had an idea that I thought was cute... a teaser of a story really. Something to lead the reader on and get them invested and keyed up with the story and then leaves it abruptly to their imagination. I even had a name for it already, which was kind of what gave me the idea in the first place. I'm going to call it "Pet Story". I told Barb I'd let her read it first and see what she thought about it.

After sending the two messages I went into the trivia chat room and played a few rounds before I became bored with the game and ended up signing off. I grabbed my pen and a notebook and headed to the living room to take root on my couch and veg out for a while.

Sometimes the words just flow out with no effort at all. Sometimes you sit and think and wonder and scribble then tear out the page and crumble it up and throw it away. Today was one of the better days. Maybe it was the story or maybe it was the fun I thought it would be to tease people by leading them on thinking things were going to get nasty then not. I found myself giggling from time to time as I jotted down the story. In no time it was finished. Of course I'd have to go back and correct spelling and grammar here and there as always... then eventually type it in to my computer. I almost couldn't wait to share it with some people and get their reactions to it.

Maybe it was the fast food commercials on TV, maybe it wasn't but my stomach was growling and I realized I hadn't had anything to eat today except a day old doughnut and a glass of milk. Looking up at the clock display on my VCR I saw that it was noon... No... wait. It's not noon, the damned clock is flashing off and on. I guess the power had gone out sometime recently and came back on and I hadn't noticed. What time was it then? I picked up my remote and changed to the information channel. Three PM. No wonder my stomach feels hollow!

Scratching my chin I realized too that I was in serious need of a shave, might as well throw in a shower to keep myself civilized. I hit the power button on the Cable remote and turned off my TV and got up to head to the bathroom. As I went through my kitchen the phone rang.

"Hello." I said after picking up the receiver.

"Hi there." Barbra's voice purred through the phone. "So did you have a good time at Todd and Anne's last night?" She asked with a bit of a curious tone in her voice.

"It was alright I guess. The food was good, I think. The company was interesting as usual but I was getting some not so subtle signals from their neighbor... or the wife anyway." I said thinking back to speaking with Todd and Anne's neighbor Margie.

"Oh really... Heh Heh... Did she come on to you?" Barb asked with a chuckle in her voice.

"You could say that..." I said sheepishly. "She invited me to visit anytime I came to see Todd and Anne, or to just come see her." I admitted.

"But... you're not interested I take it." She stated more as a question than a fact.

"Not really, I mean she's not hard on the eyes or anything but I just got a weird vibe from her... and there's the fact that she's married..." I amended a bit sheepishly knowing full well that Barbra and Anne were technically married as well. Barb was going through a divorce and Anne and Todd had an open marriage arrangement of sorts.

"Life's full of complications... Sometimes we just have to try to work around them and enjoy what we can in spite of it all." Barbra waxed philosophical in a wistful voice as if talking to herself.

"Maybe so but I have an alarming habit of somehow getting involved with married women even when I'm NOT trying to do so." I lamented. "It's not exactly something I'm proud of you know." I professed. Barb remained quiet for an unsettling few moments and I wondered if I had said something that hurt her feelings or offended her somehow.

"Hmmmm... Well I know about me, and I know about Anne... Just how many other married women have you 'befriended' anyway?" Barb said with a curious note in her voice. Not a hurt or even an angry note, and not exactly suspicious either, but more just... well... curious.

"Now Barb, you know I don't kiss and tell. I respect my... friends'... privacy. If I'm nothing else I'm discreet. Besides, I don't want you or anyone else to think I'm comparing you to anyone else. And I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, about anything." I said honestly and in a humble tone.

"Oh Jim, You know I'm teasing you. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious but I know you're not that kind of guy. And I love you for it. That's NOT going to keep me from teasing you about it though." She added with a sultry chuckle.

I leaned against my kitchen counter and smiled as I scratched my chin... once again reminding myself that I needed to shave and shower. Looking at the clock on my microwave I saw that it was going on four o'clock now and my stomach was still growling.

"Barb... Have you had dinner yet?" I asked.

"Well, no. Not yet." She said a little puzzled by the sound of it.

"I'm starving! As much as I enjoyed the doughnuts you brought by yesterday morning..." I paused knowing that she was having the same momentary flashback that I was having. "I had the last one this morning but that's all I've had to eat today. I'm about to shave and take a quick shower but I would love to meet you somewhere for dinner if you would like." I put out there... hoping that she would or could accept.

"Well actually I had a late lunch with Gail and her husband. They took me to lunch for my birthday. They weren't going to be able to see me on my actual birthday so they treated me today." Barb explained. I sighed, thinking that this was her roundabout way of saying no to dinner. "But..." I heard her hesitate before continuing. "Some friends of mine are taking me out for drinks in a little bit and well... I'd love for you to come with me." She said in a meek little voice almost as if she were afraid I would turn her down.

"Friends from work?" I asked wondering if I wanted to mingle with her friends and she still technically married. That's not exactly the picture of discretion after all.

"Well, not where I work now, but where I worked before this, at the bank... At Least Steven is. His Roommate and a couple of other friends I didn't work with."

"Barb I'd love to go anywhere with you, you know that, but I have to ask... I mean being discreet and all, is this okay?" I asked wondering at her reasoning.

"Oh Honey, you don't know the half of it! Heh Heh Heh... Let's just say that this is TOTALLY safe as far as discretion goes. And besides, I kind of want to show you off." She added in that meek little girl voice again. Show me off? Why should I not think that was odd?

"Okay, so where do you want to meet... and what time?" I asked by way of telling Barb that I was open to what she wanted to do.

She went on to tell me the name of the bar and grill that her friends frequented and what time they were all planning on meeting up there this evening. She thanked me in that low sultry voice that promised far more than the words themselves. It made my heart skip a beat and another part of my body twitch.

Smiling I hung up the phone after ending the conversation. Again I scratched at my chin and remembered I was on my way to the bathroom to shave and shower, now I have all the more reason to do so. I pondered what Barbra's friends might be like. I wondered how they would feel about me, especially being considerably younger than she is.

With an internal sigh I mentally shrugged and set about shaving and cleaning up. The bar and grill we were to meet at was on the other side of town and I'd need to get a move on to beat the traffic even on a Saturday evening.

Some time later I was driving around the mini mall parking lot where the bar and grill was located, looking for a parking space. It seemed that the businesses were busy for a Saturday evening, or maybe the bar and grill was just that busy. Luckily I finally found a space at the far end of the lot from the front door of the bar.

As I was walking to the door I saw quite a few people standing around outside the venue talking and possibly waiting on other members of their parties. One of those was Barbra. She was standing with a very sharply dressed somewhat attractive younger man. He was slender almost to the point of being thin, his hair was perfect as were his teeth, he could have been a male model for all I knew. He was rubbing Barb's shoulder with an almost alarming familiarity and whispering in her ear. Barbra was smiling as if she were being told a wonderful secret.

Standing next to or with them was a shorter younger girl. She had an adorable face with a brilliant smile and whatever the male model had told Barbra set all three of them off laughing. The shorter gal was decidedly not thin but rather had abundant curves. I won't call her fat but she certainly didn't go hungry. She had an infectious giggling laugh though, even from a hundred feet away.

As I got closer, maybe fifty feet away by this point the three were joined by two other guys. Both were decked out in GQ fashion but something struck me as off about all three of the guys. I had my suspicions when the two new arrivals threw their hands out and practically squealed like girls when they met up with Barbra.

Having worked for many years with both girls and guys who were more interested in their own gender than the opposite sex I had learned to pick up on both subtle and not so subtle clues and mannerisms. I of course withheld judgment but I had a very strong feeling that all five people I was approaching were playing on the same team so to speak.

Shaking my head I grinned wryly as Barbra finally noticed my approach. All heads turned to get a look. I so had the impression that I was being sized up in more ways than one. Everyone but Barb had their imagination in over drive according to their gazes. I kind of felt again like I was on a menu or something, at least until I looked into those big brown eyes of Barb's. There I saw open admiration and affection, but with maybe a trace of anxiousness. I kind of got the feeling that though this invitation might have been spur of the moment tonight, she really did want her friends to meet me and for me to meet her friends.