Destinbury

"Hell Kate, you were there, so you know everything that happened."

"Oh God, I didn't think she was going to tell you right away. I'm coming over."

"Kate, thanks but I'm not feeling very friendly right now. In fact I'm close to puking."

"I'm not coming for friendship brother, you need to talk this out before it eats you alive," and she hung up before he could even reply.

It didn't even occur to Owen how fast Kate managed to get to his house. She let herself in calling his name as she went, and following his voice, she found him propped up on his bed. "Trust me, you don't want to be here," he told her.

"That's probably true, but I'm here anyway and we're going to talk." She made it as far as getting onto the bed next to him before he pulled her into him, and for the first time since they were kids, she held her older brother as he cried so hard she couldn't help but cry right along with him.

As Owen slowed down she got them the box of tissues and told him, "You need these even more than I do."

It took him a minute, but he finally took a deep breath and asked softly asked her, "What the fuck happened Sis?"

"Owen, you need to get the details from Nila."

"Oh bull shit, that was more of a rhetorical question. We talked and she showed me the pictures of your time in New York."

"Oh, that explains a lot."

"Not to me it doesn't. How the hell could she...fuck." She knew he was as mad and hurt as she had ever seen him, because he rarely used that word, at least when she was around him.

"Owen, Jake came on to her and hit her like a truck. She was overwhelmed within hours of our arrival. He had lured her into his bed in what had to be record time."

"Fuck, Goddam her anyway. So she fucked him Thursday night? Holy shit. The second time she'd ever even seen him, and within hours, he was stuffing his dick into her. It was a long time before she and I shared a bed. Love me? Sure she loves me, bull fucking shit. Well she sure as hell fucked his brains out after going out in that fucking dress he had her wear."

"Owen, I'm so sorry..."

"This can't be happening. I wanted to photograph her outdoors. Her responses varied from, I couldn't do that to, maybe some day, and one time she even said maybe as a wedding present. Isn't that a laugh? She was naked in middle of fucking New York for Jake, but she couldn't find the balls to flash her tits for me while nobody was even looking. She's so fucking phony it's almost laughable, and I was stupid enough to fall for her shit. Damn it, that makes me so furious I could scream."

"After you've settled down we can talk about the details, but right now you're in no condition to hear anything more intimate than a weather report.

That stopped him, so he took a breath and then another before he kissed her cheek and said, "Sorry, I don't want to take this out on you Sis."

"You're not. I just wish I could say something that could help you."

"Tell me you had a good time."

"I had a great time, but not so great that I'd ever want to do anything like that again. Owen, the circumstances for me were totally different than it was for Nila, so I'm trying not to judge her too harshly."

"You don't need to, because I'm judging her, and believe me when I say my judgment is harsh enough for both of us."

"What's going to happen now?"

"I'll stuff her crap in a box and leave it on her door, because I never want to see her again. I was going to give her the engagement ring I bought yesterday. Damn I'm glad this happened before I did that, or I'd be out about five grand right now."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I guess I have to be don't I. Yes, I'll make it."

"Then I'm going to go talk to her."

"Don't bother on my account, because I'm done with her Kate."

"You wouldn't even talk to her on the phone?"

"About long enough to tell her she's a phony slut, but I don't think that's what you had in mind."

"No, that's not what I had in mind, but after you've settled down, and I don't mean in the next day or two or six. But one of these days I do think you two need to talk, and I mean about everything including what you enjoyed with your photo hobby."

"Damn it Sis, I was into that before I had even asked her to marry me."

"I know. Look, I'm not trying to shift any blame onto you. You have every right to be furious with her, and I can't even imagine your hurt. But nobody in this world is totally innocent. Please say you'll talk to her someday. Tell me you'll listen to each other without resorting to shouting obscenities at each other."

"I'm not promising anything Sis, but I understand what you're saying. Right now though, I really do think I'd throw up if I saw her or heard her voice."

"Well even though it will change nothing, I'm going to talk to her before I go home even if I have to barge in on her like I did with you."

He kissed her lightly and said, "Thanks Sis, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You wouldn't survive." Then as he smiled she added, "But then I wouldn't either." Before she left his bedroom she stopped and said, "By the way, I'm proud of you."

"For not murdering her?"

Kate smiled and said, "No, for not screwing Kiley."

"Oh shit, now that was a struggle. That was a golden moment that I cast aside because I had a fiancée. Stupid me."

"You did the right thing Owen, and we both know it."

"I don't think so, but thanks for the kind words. What will you say to her?"

"I have no idea, but then I didn't have a clue about what I would say to you either, and you didn't kill me."

"Just don't tell her anything and claim it came from me."

"Trust me, I won't. Telling her what you said wouldn't exactly help the situation."

Chapter One Hundred Three

When Nila looked through her security peep hole and saw that it was Kate, she opened the door and walked back toward the living room with Kate not far behind her. Dropping onto the sofa heavily Nila asked, "What happened Kate? I'm still so confused. I've never seen anybody as furious as he was when I left and..."

"One thing at a time girlfriend. Let's start with how he is. Owen is pretty much a mess right now. About the same as you actually."

"But what happened? We were looking at the pictures and a minute later he's kicking me out of his house and basically telling me to go to hell. He freaked out over what? I hadn't even told him about me making love to Jake."

"You didn't tell him that part?"

"No, we didn't get past the pictures of the Friday night dinner."

"Oh shit."

"What? What happened?"

"Well when you called you were crying so much I couldn't really make out what you were saying. I heard something about Owen and other bits and pieces but that's all."

"Okay so what happened?"

"When I got there he was raving on, and like you said, so utterly furious and out of control. He said things that I interpreted to mean you had told him about you and Jake screwing Thursday evening."

"Oh my God you didn't."

"Well...well yes I did because like I said, I thought that's what set him off, so I blabbered on so..."

"Oh God no, so he knows...how much does he know?"

"Well everything of course, because I was just repeating what you'd told him, or so I assumed."

"Oh shit, it's over now for sure," and she started dabbing at her eyes again with her wet tissue.

"How much can I say as your best friend without you telling me to leave?"

"I won't do that."

"You may, because I'm not going to lie or gloss anything over. If you don't want that, then I'll go home."

"Just tell me."

"First of all, what I'm going to say isn't because Owen is my brother. We both know he can be pretty irresponsible and lack good judgment some times."

"No kidding."

"Nila, I'm going to repeat some things I heard from Owen, but I'm blending them into things I told you. Yes he knows that you and Jake screwed like rabbits, and my God, within hours of us arriving. That alone was a really bad move and he freaked. I mean he about stroked."

"But he didn't know that when he exploded at me."

"That isn't what set him off when you were there, you're right about that, but that doesn't mean you screwing Jake an hour or whatever after we were there wasn't a very bad choice."

"Oh sure, and like you and Colin didn't...."

"I'm not in love and I'm not engaged. I'm about as free as a woman can get, so you can't use me as something to measure yourself by. Nila, I knew this, but Owen reminded me that you barely knew Jake when we arrived."

Flopping back she said, "I know. I don't...things just happened."

"Things don't just happen Nila. There was a reason behind what you did. You're going to have to think long and hard about that and figure what did happen and why. Even if you and Owen never put things back together again, you have to know yourself, or you could find yourself in a situation where again you're saying, I don't know what happened. Next, and he figured this out himself, and that wasn't exactly a difficult thing for him to do. But next he knew you and Jake screwed each other senseless Friday night. Of course, since I assumed you'd told him I went along with it and made it worse by adding a few words of my own. By then though he was boiling again so maybe that didn't matter that much."

"But I still don't know why he exploded when I was there."

"You have to know Nila. It's because of the invisible dress. Because you put yourself, your nakedness on display for anybody and everybody, and for a man you hardly knew. Because you went so far beyond simply a quick flash and covering up."

"I really didn't think I was showing that much until I saw the pictures."

"But you knew you were showing enough, because I told you what I could see when I looked at you. Nila, Owen, the man you say you love, wanted more than anything just to experience something much less intense than that with you. You claimed you just couldn't do that for him, and yet you were naked in a huge and fancy restaurant while Jake ran his hands all over you. Remember you telling me you were strong and that you could do that for Jake, but nothing even remotely close to being strong or that brazen for Owen."

"You make me sound like a total slut."

"Nila, I'm describing exactly what happened and nothing more. You'll have to decide how you feel about yourself. Why did you do that Nila? I told you that dress was a big mistake, and do you remember what you told me?"

"I think so. Something about I didn't want to disappoint Jake."

"Close enough. You disappointed Owen again and again by saying no to innocent flashing. Not showing anybody any intimate part of you, just flashing and teasing. You said no Nila, and then you agreed to a near strangers request to be naked in public."

"I have to think about that."

"There isn't much to think about unless the facts are totally wrong.

Are they wrong Nila?"

"I don't...yes...I mean no, they're not wrong."

"I tried to defend you by telling him that Jake just hit you like a truck Thursday night, but that didn't fly at all. Oh my God."

"Now what?"

"He doesn't know about us being naked on the balcony where any of the other apartment residents might have had all the time in the world looking at us while we were naked. You know, maybe even with binoculars or telescopes. You know, nosy peeping types. Talk about an ultimate flashing episode. Damn, if he knew about that I'm not sure what...well I'm not telling him."

"You might as well, it sounds like he knows as much about what we did as we do."

"That's close to right, except he doesn't have the full concept of how crazy you and Jake got Friday night after the restaurant adventure." Nila looked at Kate for several seconds but said nothing right then.

Then sitting up she said, "I don't want to lose him Kate. I really do love him so much."

"I wish I could have said these things after I saw you in that dress, and I wish I knew what to say to you now, but I do know there's nothing you or I could say to Owen right now. He's so furious he's pretty much untouchable. Did you know he bought your engagement ring?"

That started her tears going again, but she finally said, "Yes, he told me, and he said he was taking it back."

"That's what he told me too."

Chapter One Hundred Four

Kate stayed away from Nila and Owen for the next week. Her heart was breaking for both of them, but she could do nothing to help either of them. Finally, after dinner on Friday she called Owen and said, "Got time for your sister?"

"Of course I have."

"I could offer to buy you a drink someplace."

"I could offer to pick you up."

"I'll be waiting. I haven't been picked up in a long time."

Both of them felt about half awkward at dinner looking for things to say that didn't involve Nila or his meltdown over her naked dinner with Jake. Owen finally said, "Damn, I didn't tell you about Linda coming to see me and her bringing me news about Mom and Dad."

"She what?" Kate asked.

"Linda is pushing for us to mend fences with our parents."

"What started that?"

"I have no idea. Just something that popped into her mind she said, but that's all pretty strange. Oh, and she said that Mom and Dad don't feel any regrets for the porn connection, but then something about a war between Uncle Harold, and that, supposedly, is why he shot off his mouth about our parents the porn stars."

"I don't even know what to say or think."

"I don't either, but check this out. I haven't ruled out going to see them."

"You? I think I just felt the earth tremble."

"I know, it even scares me. Would you go with me if I did?"

"Why not? No, on the second thought, it's more important that you go see them. Then I promise I'll go down and see them. I have no real love for them, but you're the one that proclaimed hatred for them."

"It's been a long time. Maybe it's time to put everything behind us and just start fresh."

"I wonder if that would work for you and Nila."

Looking down quickly he firmly said, "No."

"It's a thought. You love her even now."

"That's true, but that's also only part of the story."

"She loves you more than life."

"I don't think so, but thanks for trying anyway." Then completely changing the subject he said, "So after my parties, I'll go to Missouri to see good old Momsy and Papa."

"So you're going ahead with the parties."

"I am. In fact they might be good therapy for me." Then smiling he said, I'd ask you to be my partner, but that could get tricky." Then he explained what he was talking about.

She laughed and sipped her wine, but then she said, "That could work, but...no, that wouldn't work either. Oh, we could enlist a third party and then...you're right that would be tricky," and they laughed. "Can you imagine finding somebody, man or woman that would pose or do something wild and sexy. I mean we could be sharing a view of...I don't know what, maybe...oh I know, a guy with both hands wrapped around his member, so the viewer would either know or assume he was hiding his man parts, but we could see the rest of him all naked and suggestive."

"Damn, you're good at this, that could win a prize for most daring."

"I'm just letting my mouth run."

"Give me another idea."

She smiled and said, "You just want me to talk dirty."

"If that takes my mind off of my misery, damn right I do."

"Let's see. I don't know the rules for your game so..."

"I'm still working on those details."

"Oh, so you could configure the rules to benefit yourself."

"Right, like only one fisted guys could participate, that way I could look more impressive," and he smiled as she laughed.

"If Dad was good enough for porn movies, I'm sure you have little to worry about."

"That's still hard...sorry, difficult," and they laughed again before he said, I mean to get my mind around Dad poking some woman for the porn industry."

Kate tasted her wine again, and talking into her glass she said, "We can't leave Mom out now, because she was responsible for who knows how many erections."

"That was a long time ago, but still that's so damn hard to believe."

"Who knows how many porn actors had kids and a regular family life."

Owen was about half serious when he said, "What about you and Stephie in a sexy and anonymous pose"

"Sure, but that implies nudity and um...that would be fine if you saw Stephie but..."

Owen was smiling as he said, "You don't want me to see you naked."

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind, because you could gawk at Stephie, but I probably would. I know, you and Stephie posing somehow."

"Oh sure, it's okay for you to see my naked parts."

"I wouldn't mind," and she smiled.

"So I'd be the two fister and you'd be the photographer is that it?"

"Hey, now that would work."

"So my sister is a pervert just like I am, I love it."

"It's genetic I'm sure."

"So you'd be the fluff girl."

"Only for a very select few, but now you, as the stud master would be a star I'm sure."

"I'm far too old to be a porn star, so all we can do is fantasize."

"I can't say I'd fantasize about being a fluff girl."

"Hey, you fluffed what's his name in New York."

She smiled, but then said, "Let's not go there smart ass."

"Well anyway, as the creator of the game I doubt that I'd play too."

"Well that's a downer. If anybody needs to get into that, it's you so you can forget the bad stuff in your life for awhile. Okay, here it is. I'll be the emcee of the games and judges would be chosen at random only after the photos have been submitted."

"Now that works. Well it would if I had a partner."

"Stephie comes back into the picture again."

"And you're stuck at my place while the rest of us do and photograph nasty things. Thanks, but that isn't fair."

"Okay, then you and Stephie do something and I'll stay home."

"No, because you're the one that needs to keep your mind occupied. Let me think about this."

"It shouldn't be this complicated."

"Here it is. You join in your group and Stephie and I stay at your place and emcee. She and I can entertain each other and...no smart remarks to that Bro. Anyway, you're free to play and be mated...sorry, paired with some woman."

"Great, I like that except for one thing. I have to have a partner so the couples rule is obeyed."

"Well damn. How about June?"

"She has a partner. In fact, so do her friends Rita, Candy and Patty."

"Damn it. What about Kiley?"

"Oh Sis, that would not be a good idea, especially considering my present situation."

"I guess you're right. Damn. What about...what's her name from the wedding?"

"I don't know who you...Wendy?"

"I think that's her. The one you saved after she got tangled up with the groom. You seemed to like her well enough."

"She's great and she would be willing to play I'm sure, but I don't think so."

"Well there is Nila."

"Get serious."

"Hey, she'd be paired with somebody else anyway."

"I can't believe you'd think this is a good idea. We'd still be around each other before and after the game."

"But damn it Owen..."

"Thanks Sis. I know you mean well, but that wouldn't work."

"I promise you will be in the games somehow, so plan on that. Stephie will emcee and stay behind, and you and I will be a couple. I'll be paired with some other guy and you'll be with some babe. Problem solved."

"Thanks Sis, and I mean that."

After talking with Kate over a drink, Owen's struggles brought Kathy and Perry to mind, so he called them hoping she would answer, but it was Perry that said hello. "It's Owen just calling to see how you two are doing."

"We're getting along. Listen, we just learned today about you and Nila splitting, how are you making it?"

"One day at a time Perry."

"Is there anything you need or that we can do to help you?"

"I don't believe there is, other than don't miss the party."