Courtesan Ch. 41

This is the forty-first episode in a series entitled "Courtesan". If you have not read the previous forty episodes of this series, I encourage you do so before beginning this chapter.

"Courtesan" is romantic story about a dominant hot wife and her submissive cuckold husband. While they have a deep and abiding love for each other they do lead an alternative lifestyle. If this subject matter offends you or makes you feel uncomfortable, I strongly suggest that you find something else to read.

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Once I was done stacking all the plates and plastic glasses together I sat down in one of the chairs and emitted a deep sigh. I needed a break, I was emotionally exhausted.

I glanced at the clock by the cabanas. It was just after five and I already felt like I'd put in a full day. I smiled. It had been a full day and an incredibly exciting one at that.

I'd started out the day by flying down to south Carolina. I was a poor kid from Iowa. That was only the third airplane flight I'd ever taken in my entire life. To make it even better, I got to sit in first class.

When we arrived in South Carolina we were picked up by a limousine. A limousine! A full stretch limo! It was amazing. The driver was actually holding a little sign when he met us at the airport.

Then of course there was the mansion. It was like something out of a 1930's movie and it was run by a butler in full formal dress. I wished my two aunts in Iowa could see it. They'd be thrilled.

I chuckled. They would have a little trouble with the oral sex orgy by the pool, especially because Kelly was part of it. They loved Kelly, but I'm quite certain they'd have a very difficult time accepting her casual attitude about sex.

Kelly's mom and sisters and my aunts, I don't think that any of them will ever be able to understand the way we choose to live. When sex is involved people certainly do become judgmental. I'm not sure that I'll ever understand why. No one was hurt by anything that happened this afternoon. Well maybe Donald. I sure he had to endure a little bit of pain in Tonya's rec room, but that's what gets him off. Hell, he's probably having more fun than any of us.

Still, what happened this afternoon didn't affect anyone else's life, so why should people judge? Why should anyone care if Donny gets off when a woman makes him eat another guys cum. He's not hurting anybody, not even himself.

Lots of people would think I'm a classic wimp because I'm sitting here by the pool while my wife is inside the mansion letting another man fuck her. I may be a wimp, but that's sure as hell not the reason why. My wife loves me and I guarantee you that there's a whole lot more love in our marriage than in those socially acceptable households where the husband and wife live together, but hardly ever interact with each other. Hell, there's lots of husbands and wives who don't even sleep in the same bedroom, and that's supposed to be a good marriage?

Kelly may enjoy sex with a variety of men, but I'm certain that she loves me. I'm also certain that the sex she's having with those other men in no way diminishes her love for me. She's my best friend and I'm her best friend and we actually look forward to spending time together.

So, who's the wimp? Me or the poor sap who's married to a woman who's faithful to him, but barely acknowledges his existence.

Yes, Kelly and I did just finish going through a rough patch, but that was because of the judgmental prudes around us. Kelly allowed her perception of what those people would think of her to create feelings of guilt about her lifestyle. That caused her to start living a life of deceit, deceit to both herself and to me.

Life becomes very complicated when you allow others to start dictating how you're going to conduct yourself. Your moral guidelines should come from your heart and not from the petty, self appointed, hypocritical pedagogues who rail about virtue while they screw their business partners and cheat on their spouses.

"Hey earth to Timmy, come in Timmy."

Startled, I looked up. It was Kirby. Nathan and Elvira were standing behind him.

I smiled at him.

He put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey buddy, I don't know what you were thinking about, but it certainly looked serious. Is everything all right?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I'm just tired."

"Well cheer up, it's dinner time."

"Dinner time? I thought Edward told us that dinner would be served at eight."

Nathan nodded. "That's for the partners, their guests and the ladies. We have our dinner at six and we all want to have a cocktail before dinner. Come with me, we have a cozy little dining room at the back of the kitchen and everyone will be there."

"I won't be." It was Elvira. She was shaking her head. "Wendell wants me to dine with him at eight."

I looked at her. "Is that a bad thing?"

She shrugged. "No I'd just like to eat with all of you too."

Nathan smiled at her. "Why don't you? I know that Mr. Tyler is going to be meeting with Mr. Jackson and Mr. Reynolds until at least 7:00. You'll just be sitting in his room by yourself until their done. If they do happen to finish early, Edward will tell Mr. Tyler where you are and I'm sure he'll join us. He loves to visit with us in the kitchen. Please favor us with your company. Just think of it as an early seating. You can be my guest at this dinner."

Elvira shook her head. "I can't eat two dinners."

"Small portions my dear, just a few tastes; you won't be disappointed. At eight you're going to be served prime rib and it will be very good, but we're having Doris's meat loaf with Maurice's bordelaise sauce. It is absolutely fabulous." There was a twinkle in his eyes as he added, "And for dessert we're having Doris's home made apple pie with cinnamon ice cream. It's a favorite of the household staff. Mr. Tyler is also quite partial to it. He often joins us for dessert and I would be very surprised if he doesn't stop by for a slice of pie after his meeting."

"Are you sure it will it be all right? I mean I don't want to intrude."

"Elvira everyone is dying to get to know you." Nathan offered his arm. "Please honor us with your presence."

Giggling like a school girl Elvira took Nathan's arm. "Kind sir, I would be honored to be your guest at the early seating."

Nathan turned to Kirby and me. "Gentleman, let's join the others in the kitchen."

I looked at the trays of food and used plates and glasses. "What about this mess?" The house keeper in me couldn't bear to leave dirty dishes unattended.

"Florence and Cassie are on their way now to pick them up. As soon as they're finished, they'll join us in the back dining room."

"Shouldn't I stay and help them?"

"No Timmy, you should not. That might actually upset them. Flo and Cassie take a lot of pride in the appearance of this mansion. They are both very independent women and close friends. They consider themselves to be an elite team and I'm very sure that they would view any offer of assistance from an outsider to be an indictment of their ability to properly maintain Evergreen."

"I certainly wouldn't want to incur their wrath."

Nathan nodded. "No you most certainly would not." And then he added with a smile, "Let's go have a drink."

The cozy little dining room at the back of the kitchen wasn't really all that little and I'm not sure that cozy was an appropriate description either. It was about the same size as our dining room at home and while it was too big to really be considered cozy, it certainly was charming.

It reminded me of a dining room in an old farmhouse. The walls were covered with flowered wall paper. The woodwork was coarsely finished oak. The wall opposite from the door was solid windows, windows that overlooked a beautiful flower garden and woods on the west side of the house.

Most of the space in the room was taken up by by a very heavy rectangular oak table. Ten matching oak chairs were in place around the table and I noticed that there were four extra chairs stored against the wall to my right. They were lined up next to a large oak sideboard. This sideboard was filled with white china plates, cups, saucers and serving dishes. There was another oak side board on the opposite wall. It's shelves were filled with a collection of liquor bottles. This was appeared to be the bar.

When Nathan, Elvira, Kirby and I entered the room we found Maurice, Doris and Ben, the gardener gathered around this side board. Maurice was mixing cocktails. There were five cocktail shakers and at least a dozen stemmed cocktail glasses on the sideboard. As soon as they heard us, all three of them turned and smiled.

Maurice said, "Welcome to our humble dining room. Your timing is impeccable. The sun has just dropped below the yardarm. The cocktail hour is about to commence."

Nathan grinned at Maurice. "I have to admit that for the past several hours I've been eagerly looking forward to this moment ."

Ben laughed. "I noticed that it got a little steamy out there this afternoon."

Chuckling, Nathan said; "Yes, it certainly did. The ladies were at the top of their game. I can only imagine what's going to happen after dinner." He turned back to Maurice. "What's the cocktail for this evening?"

"Daiquiri's, Doris and I have come up with a new secret ingredient."

Nathan rubbed his hands together in delight. "Excellent, I love your daiquiri's and we haven't had them for a long time. What's the new ingredient?"

Doris looked at him with a mischievous grin. "Nathan honey, you know that we could never divulge one of our secret ingredients and if you ever inadvertently discover one of them, we'll have to kill you."

Nathan pretended to shudder and then with a wink he said; "shoot, I was hoping I could sell the recipe to Hooters."

Doris rolled her eyes.

Ben turned to us. "Before we sit down to dinner we like to have a cocktail. Every day Maurice and Doris try to come up with something new. It's fun and their cocktails are always wonderful. I highly recommend them, but if you'd like something different I'm sure they'll make it for you."

Doris smiled. "Of course we will, anything you'd like."

Kirby shook his head. "I'd like to try one of your daiquiris."

Elvira nodded. "So would I."

I smiled. "Me too."

Maurice nudged Doris. "I sense that our new friends might be culinary adventurers. This could be fun."

"Maurice, what's the cocktail for today?"

We all turned. Edward had just walked through the doorway.

"Daiquiris boss."

"Outstanding! I don't believe we've had daiquiris since last April."

"They have a new secret ingredient." Ben was smiling. It was obvious that he liked Edward.

Edward laughed. "I would have been disappointed if they didn't. Our two chefs are like a pair of mad scientists laboring in a secret laboratory."

Maurice gingerly picked up one of the cocktail shakers and held it protectively in his arms. In a pretend German accent he said, "Doris my darling, vee must be very careful vith this. The future of the entire human race depends our efforts."

"I hope you haven't started without us. What's for cocktails?"

We all once again turned to the doorway. It was Cassie followed by Florence.

As she walked into the dining room Florence looked at Edward and said, "Boss the pool area is neat and orderly; Mr. Jackson, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Tyler are all working in Mr. Jackson's office and the ladies are in the bedrooms with their guests." She paused for a moment and then she added, "Well actually Ms. Tonya and Mr. Kline are in Ms. Tonya's basement playroom."

Edward nodded. "Thank you Florence." He turned to Maurice and Doris. "The house is in order. We have attended to the needs of the bosses, the ladies and our guests. The sun is below the yardarm and all of us are here. It's time for a cocktail."

Maurice picked up one of the cocktail shakers. After giving it a brisk shake he opened it, held a strainer over the top and began pouring a rich greenish gold liquid into each of the glasses. As soon as the first shaker was empty he picked up another one and continued filling glasses. He repeated this process until ten glasses had been filled.

After each glass was filled Doris garnished it with a slice of lime. Once that was done Ben passed one of the glasses to each of us.

As soon we all had a cocktail Edward raised his glass and said, "To JTandR."

Maurice, Doris, Ben, Nathan, Cassie and Florence all raised their glasses. Kirby, Elvira and I followed their lead. In unison everyone repeated, "To JTandR." And then we all took a sip of our daiquiris.

I rolled the sweet liquid over my tongue. The drink was magnificent. The first taste was reminiscent of a slice of fresh key lime pie. Of course the flavor of the rum followed that, but then there was suggestion, just a hint of one or two other flavors. One of them was probably ginger and there was a nutty flavor, almonds or macadamia nuts."

I smiled at Maurice and Doris. "This is wonderful."

Kirby nodded in agreement. "It really is."

Maurice and Doris both smiled politely in modest acknowledgment of our compliments.

I took another sip. While I was savoring the flavor I thought about Edwards toast. I looked at everyone. "JTandR really is a good company to work for."

There was a general murmur of agreement and then Florence said, "Timmy, you are right, but to us Mr. Jackson, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Tyler are much more than good employers."

Ben nodded. "For some of us they've become angels."

"Or at least very caring friends." Edward paused for a moment and took a sip of his cocktail. He seemed to be thinking. Finally he said, "I had a twin brother. We were very close. When I was in my early twenties I decided to move to the states. I was looking for adventure. My brother, James elected to stay in the U.K.. He was just starting a new job there and he didn't want to leave. Even though an ocean separated us, we remained close. We talked on the telephone several times a week and tried to visit each other once a year. Two years ago my younger sister, Ellen called me in the middle of the night. James had been killed in a car accident on his way to work that morning."

He stopped, took a deep breath and then he continued. "Of course I wanted to go home. I needed to see the rest of my family and attend the services. I called Mr. Jackson to ask for a short leave of absence. That morning he sent the firm's private jet to take me to London. He gave me a month off with pay and offered me more time if I needed it. Mr. Jackson, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Tyler all flew to London for the funeral and they brought the entire household staff here with them.

Cassie smiled. "They flew us over in first class and put us up for a week at The Ritz Hotel in downtown London."

Edward shook his head. "You cannot imagine how comforting it was to have my closest companions with me during that time."

There was a moment of subdued silence and then Ben said, "Fifteen months ago my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. When Mr. Jackson, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Tyler found out about it they flew both Sarah and me to The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. They wanted the doctors there to look at her and come up with a treatment plan. The doctors decided she needed a full mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. They flew us back to Rochester for the mastectomy and then later for the breast reconstruction surgery. The chemotherapy was done in Charleston. Every time Sarah had a treatment they gave me a week off with full pay so that I could take care of her while she recovered. Sarah just had a check up with her doctors. They believe that she's cancer free."

Ben looked at me. "Timmy I would do anything for those men."

Florence nodded. "So would I."

We all turned to her.

"My husband, Clay was a mechanic for a local auto dealership. You know what happened to the auto industry in the last two years."

We all nodded.

"The dealership that Clay worked for closed and he was terminated with one months pay. He tried to find another job, but all the car dealerships were strapped. No one was hiring additional mechanics. We were quickly becoming desperate. I make enough to cover our house payment and keep food on the table, but we have a daughter in college and a son who wants to go to college. Keeping Maryann in college and sending Mathew to college was only possible if Clay was working. When Mr. Jackson, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Tyler heard about our situation they bought a local service station and hired Clay to run it. He's done a good job for them and it's become a successful business. "

Florence smiled. "They didn't have to help us. The service station was a risk. But they did help us. They're three very good men who care about other people and Clay and I will forever be in their debt."

Nathan smiled. "Now that the three of you understand why we make that toast every evening before we have our cocktails, I think that it might be appropriate to make it again." He raised his glass. "To Martin Jackson, John Reynolds and Wendell Tyler; the three finest ruthless businessmen you'll ever want to meet."

We all raised our glasses and drank again. As I drank I thought about the events of the past month. I remembered how upset Mr. Jackson had been when he discovered that I'd been unaware of the true nature of Kelly's job at JTandR. That made me think about the financial settlement that he'd offered me. It had been deliberately constructed to encourage me to try to salvage my marriage with Kelly. He needn't have done that, in fact from a pure business standpoint he would have been better off if Kelly and I had divorced. That way he would have had a hostess without any emotional entanglements.

I looked at Kirby. He was smiling. I was certain that he was thinking about how the firm had helped him with his convenience store. That made me think about Ellen and her newspaper and how the firm was helping her.

And then I thought about the house. These men were offering to spend several million dollars for a mansion because they were worried that the nature of the hostesses jobs made it difficult for them to lead normal lives. They didn't want them to be lonely. These three men may have been ruthless businessmen, but it was clear that they cared about people.

I recalled my thoughts by the pool after the girls and the guests had gone into the mansion. In our culture many people would be quick to condemn Martin Jackson, Wendell Tyler and John Reynolds as immoral because they used sex to entice businessmen to invest in their projects.

Were these men who cared so deeply about others immoral because they used sex as a tool? Were they less moral than the pillars of the community who preached chastity and fidelity while they cheated their business partners and exploited their employees? I thought not.

"Timmy, it's time for everyone to sit down for dinner." Doris's voice jarred me back to reality. I looked at her. She was smiling at me. Holding out one of the cocktail shakers, she said; "We're all going to take another daiquiri to the table. May I refill your glass?"

Quickly pulling myself back together, I nodded. "Thank you, that would be very nice."

After Doris refilled my glass I started over to the table. Kirby fell in step next to me. "Hey buddy, you seem very pensive this evening. Are you sure every thing's all right?"

I shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll be okay."

Shaking his head, Kirby said; "That wasn't a very enthusiastic response."

I closed my eyes and sighed. After a moment I looked at my friend. "A lot has happened during the last two weeks. I'm just beginning to try to make sense out of it." I smiled at him. "Do you realize how lucky it was that I passed your store and noticed the help wanted sign in the window?"

He nodded. "It certainly was lucky for me. Meeting you, Tonya and Ellie was the best thing that's happened to me since I got out of the navy." He paused for a moment and then he laughed; "Hell, who am I kidding? Meeting the three of you was the best thing that's ever happened to me."