Engineering a Perfect Solution

I was slowly winding down and letting the early evening air flow over me when I heard Crys say, "Sure. Go ask him; he is the captain."

A moment later, Heather was sitting next to me and I could see those long, flawless legs close up. "Can I steer for a little while?"

"Sure." I scooted to the other side while still holding the wheel. "On a boat, the proper term is to ask to take the helm. All you do is to hold it gently. You don't need to fight it; just hold it where it is. The boat will go where you let it. That's good." I took her hand and turned it a little to the right and then to the left. "You can feel the difference in pressure as you moved the rudder in a different direction from which the boat is moving. For now just hold it in that area where there is no pressure."

I left her alone for a few minutes to get the feel of how it felt. Then I began again, "When you have the helm, you are the captain and everyone has to do what you tell them. In a minute, you are going to tack and you must tell us exactly what to do."

"No wait, you do it. I'll watch."

"Nope. Honey, come lead her through the tack while I do the lines." I stood up and went to the front of the cockpit as Crys slid into my place. I heard her say, "You don't argue with the boss. All you are going to do is tell him what to do and when. And guess what, he will do exactly what you say. It can be a very powerful feeling. First, you are going to call out loud enough for all on board to hear you 'Prepare to come about.' Then you wait a minute and call out, 'Coming about.' When you do that, you will turn the wheel to the left quickly but smoothly until we are pointed just about at that light over there. When the bow gets there, stop turning and begin to turn slowly back while trying to keep the bow pointed at the light. Got it?"

"Yes, but what is going to happen?"

"When you start turning the wheel, Allen will release the main sail and when we pick up the wind during the turn, it will swing over to this side. We need to be sitting so we don't get hit in the head. Once he releases the main, he will release the front sail or jib and will begin to winch it over to this side. When they are both on this side and we are pointed at the light, he will adjust the two sails and tie them off. So are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Make your call."

"Prepare to come about."

"Louder. Anyone on the boat needs to be able to hear you even if they are in the cabin."

"Prepare to come about." "Come about."

She started turning the wheel and I released the main and started winching the jib. I could hear Crys telling Heather, "That was perfect. See how the nose is getting close to the light, begin easing off a little. If you wait, you will have to jerk it back. You don't realize it yet, but nothing happens really fast on sailboat unless the weather is really bad. There, the bow is pointed right at the light, the main is on this side along with the jib. Can you feel the boat picking up speed again? Just hold the course like you did before. Allen honey, are you ready for wine and nibbles?"

"Are either of you ready to be nibbled?"

Crys grinned at Heather and said, "Tell your crew to get himself together."

Heather hollered, "Crew, stuff it."

Crys added, "You will make a great captain, baby."

As Crys went below, Heather said, "Hey where are you going? You can't leave me like this."

I replied, "Sure we can; you are doing exactly what either of us would be doing and doing it very well, I might add." I went below and grabbed Crys around the waist and pulled her to me. "You handled that very well, my love."

"Thank you, my love. I think that she will be a natural. She just seems to know exactly what to do and say."

"You are a good teacher."

"From the way she talks, you are better. Now get back out there before her nerves start up again. I'll be right up."

I went back up and sat down next to Heather again. "Are you getting used to this yet?"

"Yes and I love it. It is even better than I thought it would be. I just want to learn more."

"Be patient, a few times out and you will be able to do it all by yourself."

Crys came out with a platter, three glasses, and a bottle of wine. "He's right, Heather. Once you get comfortable with a boat this size, there is nothing that a woman can't do just as well as a man."

"No Crys, that isn't quite right."

"Ok smart ass, what can you do that Heather and I can't do?"

"I can stand on this back deck and piss off the stern of the boat."

"Oh God." Crys replied.

Heather shot right back, "But I'll bet either one of us could push your ass off the stern and you could swim home."

"Well done, Heather! Give the helm back to macho man there and let's have a glass of wine."

Heather leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry, I said that."

"Don't be. Part of the fun of sailing is letting the stress out. You do it any way you can. Go have a glass of wine. I'll take over."

"Thanks." She leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips.

I knew that Crys was watching us, but decided to wait and see if she reacted. She didn't. A moment later, Heather was standing in front of me with a glass of wine in her hand. "Crys said that you might need this. She says that there is more where that came from."

"Tell her thanks. In a little while, we will need to tack again. Do you want to try your hand with the lines this time if Crys helps you?"

"Sure."

"Crys, honey; I am going to tack in a few more minutes. Why don't you show Heather how to handle the lines?"

Crys paused for a moment before she replied, "Sure. Come on up here Heather and I'll show you what we will be doing."

I knew that during this one, Crys would be really close to Heather and I knew that they would probably make some body contact. I wanted to see how they each responded.

When Crys was through telling her what they were going to do and I saw that the wine bottle and glasses were stable, I called out, "Prepare to come about." "Coming about!" I turned the wheel and saw Heather release the main sheet and then duck. She and Crys were pressed against each other and then they both reached for the jib lines. Together they winched the lines in until they were set. Their bodies were pressed together several times during this. Finally, Crys showed her how to trim the sails and they sat back down. It didn't take much imagination to see that both were aroused by the contact. They were both flushed and their nipples poked firmly into their tops. Now I realized that it was just a matter of time before one of them acted on their feelings.

We sailed back to the dock and had the boat locked up and by 10:00. Heather rode home with Crys so I could stop off at the store and pick up some dessert for us. When I got home, they both had changed into something else and were wearing robes. There were three cups of coffee sitting on the table waiting for me. Heather got up and took the cake into the kitchen while I sat down next to Crys.

"Did you have fun tonight, honey?"

She replied, "Yes; I always have fun sailing with you, but I think Heather had more fun than both of us. Thanks for being a great sport and a great guy. She really likes you a lot."

"She is special, for sure. I can tell you also have that special feeling for her."

She blushed but didn't answer. I kissed her gently.

"Am I interrupting something?" Heather asked as she came back in with three pieces of cake in her hands.

Crys pulled away and replied, "Of course not. I have to beat him off frequently though. Come on and sit down. Maybe you can get the boss to decide when your sailing lessons will begin."

Heather smiled and sat down next to me and asked, "Yes, when can we start?"

I put on my shocked look and responded, "I thought that this is what we did tonight. You did everything you need to know tonight already."

Heather looked shocked, but Crys swatted my arm. "That is true, but now you need to spend time with her and explain why she did all of these things. You know, coach her and answer all of her questions."

"All of them? Hell, she will want to know the equations to calculate the best angle of attack in variable winds."

This time it was Heather who swatted my arm while Crys roared with laughter.

Heather asked, "Is he always like this at home?"

Crys replied, "Trust me, at work he is all business, but at home he is all boy."

I couldn't help myself and put my arm around Crys and cupped one of her breasts, "And Crys is all girl." That got me swatted by both women several times.

When they finished, I stood up and said, "I am going to bed. I can't stand it when women talk about me behind my back in front of my face."

Crys said sweetly, "Go on honey, I have lots of things to tell Heather about you." I kissed Crys and then did the same to Heather. Crys was laughing while Heather blushed as I walked toward the bedroom.

I fell asleep quickly and probably didn't move all night. I woke at my regular time and found Crys in bed snuggling up to me. I smiled and hoped that they had a good evening. For a brief moment, I had a twinge of guilt that perhaps I had pushed either or both too far with my teasing. On the whole, I felt that I hadn't. Everything was in the realm of how Crys and I teased each other and I had done nothing unique to Heather. I went to the kitchen and made coffee. When either of them started moving around, I would start breakfast.

I was drinking my first cup when Crys came out and stood by me before she leaned down and kissed me tenderly. "Good morning lover. I was concerned that I might have pushed you too far. Are you Ok?"

I was surprised and replied, "I was concerned that I pushed you two too hard. I was totally fine."

"That's what I thought, but I wanted to ask."

I got up and made her a cup. "Did you two stay up late? I didn't know when you came to bed."

"We talked for a couple of hours. You were sleeping pretty hard when I came to bed."

"Did Heather enjoy the evening and all of our teasing?"

"Actually, she really did; she just got embarrassed a couple of time, but only because she wasn't used to or expecting something. She admitted to me that she was so used to you and your work style, that seeing the playful side of you was both a little surprise, but a very nice one. She hopes that you will feel comfortable enough with her to continue that with her when you are not at work. She said that she hadn't had much opportunity to unwind like that for the past couple of years. As you told me, just take things slow and natural, but don't be afraid to tease or have fun with her too."

I nodded. "So did you tell her all of my dirty secrets?"

She grinned, "Only a couple. Mostly we talked about her and what she is looking forward to. She is staying at her aunt's apartment for a couple of months. During that time, she wants to look around and find the area she wants to live in and start looking for an apartment or a house to rent. It turns out that with all of her sophistication, charm, and polish, she is basically a home body. She likes going out to dinner and parties and stuff, but then she wants to come home and cook for herself, read, and develop some of her non-work interests like sailing. She is like you in that she wants to be able to separate work from play."

"I'm glad to hear that. I would hate for her to become a workaholic who has no other interests beside work. Maybe she will find someone to date and have a social life with."

Crys grinned a sly grin, "Actually, she said that she already has her eye on a guy who she is interested in. She didn't say much specific, but she said that she isn't in a rush and wants to see how things develop."

"I am glad for her and think that she has the right attitude." It crossed my mind that it must be someone from work since she hadn't mentioned anything about getting out yet. I shifted the subject a little. "So how do you think that she will relate to Melissa?"

"I don't think that there will be a problem with Mel at all. It might take a little for Heather to get used to Mel and her dominant ways, but we will see. I expect that Mel will invite her to some of her dinner parties and she will like that as long as Jerry behaves himself. How is he doing with her? You haven't mentioned that."

"Pretty well, I think. He had his tongue hanging out the first day, but I told him to give her a break and to let her get comfortable. He seems to have accepted that. He was really impressed with her presentation yesterday although he did try to push her to go out for a drink afterwards. At that moment, he was the old Jerry on the trail of a scent."

"How did she handle that?"

"Just as you would expect. You would have been proud of her. She told him that she had plans and couldn't, but dangled the possibility for some other time."

"Good girl. What did she do then?"

"When he left, she turned to me and told me to buy her a drink so she could wind down. You wouldn't have guessed it by looking or talking to her, but she was really wound up as tight as a spring when she finished. She wasn't a glass of wine wound up; she wanted a double scotch on the rocks. I could feel it in her arm as I led her to the bar."

"Oh my; she must have really been tied up. What did you do to bring her down?"

"That is the thing, I didn't do anything special. I just told her that she had done well. The only thing that I said that might have had an impact was when I told her that I was proud of her."

"That was it. She feels vulnerable as the only woman in a man's world and for her boss to tell her he was proud of her was just about like her boy friend telling her that he loves her."

"That's the odd thing; I'm not her boss. She reports to Reynolds. Bill asked me to mentor her, but she is to split time between Jerry and I as needed."

"To her, it doesn't matter who she reports to; she admires you because of how you have treated her. You are the one that she wants to be proud of her. It is kind of a girl thing." She sipped her coffee for a moment and then asked quietly, "Honey, you aren't going to have a problem if I continue to invite her over here for dinner or overnight like I did last night, are you?"

"Of course not. You don't even need to ask; just do what you feel is right. I will probably have a couple of short trips coming up and the two of you can spend time together. I expect that she will also spend down time with Melissa and you too. I don't have a problem with anything you do with her." I was aware that there were several potential meanings in the words I said.

"That's another thing. Mel is probably going to be doing more traveling for her accounts over the next several months. So I won't be seeing a lot of her. It would be a nice change to spend time with Heather instead."

"Oh? Problems with Mel?"

"No, not really. You know both of us; we are just like you and Jerry. She is the more dominant and demanding one and I go along like you do with Jerry. When I am with Heather, I feel like we are the same. Neither one of us controls things. I like that feeling for a change."

"I can understand that. But I guess that this also means that Jerry will have more time to sniff around Heather too. So if she spends time with you that should keep the hound dog at bay."

She grinned, "I had already thought about that too."

We heard Heather moving around and I got up to make her coffee. When I brought it to the table, Crys said, "And this is another reason why I should hate her; she just gets out of bed and she looks drop dead beautiful already."

Heather replied, "I love you too and I'll tell you what I always told my roommate when she said that same thing. Mother Nature didn't drop a cow patty when she made you either." Both Crys and I broke out in laughter. Heather gave Crys a nice hug and a brief lip kiss and then asked, "Is it all right if I give the captain a good morning hug and kiss too?"

"Of course. He is actually just a big teddy bear. When you are here, just treat him like one. He like hugs and kisses and will only turn a light pink if he gets them from you." She gently pushed Heather in my direction.

Heather gave me a hug like she did for Crys which insured that she unfettered breasts were pressed into my neck. Then she kissed my lips too. I suspect that I was a little darker than a light pink.

I put the coffee in front of her as she sat down between us and asked me, "So did Crys tell you lies about me this morning?"

"No more than what she told you about me."

"Shit. Crys, I thought that we were friends."

Crys put her most innocent voice to work. "But we are and I have no idea what that brute is talking about."

It was time for me to get busy; so I got up and started breakfast. A moment later, Heather moaned and said, "Don't tell me that he cooks too."

"Ok, I won't tell you that. Tell him if you prefer bacon or sausage and how you like your eggs."

"Either on the bacon or sausage question and I like them scrambled with some onion and bell pepper if that isn't too much to ask."

"That is how I do it anyway, although I also put some garlic and other things in also." I replied.

"Crys you better marry him before I take him away from you."

"As I recall, I think I did that once. I might loan him to you when he pisses me off though."

"I can't imagine him pissing you off ever."

"Oh it happens. A couple of times a year, he gets his macho up and thinks that he should be treated like a king. It usually happens after he has hung around Jerry for too long." Both Crys and Heather broke out in peals of laughter.

"Hey, remember, Jerry was the best man at our wedding."

"How can I forget? He put the make on my maid of honor all during the ceremony."

Heather looked shocked, "He didn't do that, did he?"

I responded to set up Crys' punch line, "Yes, he did. At the dinner, during the ceremony, and during the reception. Everyone saw it."

"That is horrible."

Crys grinned and said, "It wasn't that bad. My maid of honor was Melissa."

"Shit. You are just as bad as captain cook over there."

"No honey, I am just as good as the captain cook is." She applied her best sexy inflection to her voice and stroked Heather's arm. Heather didn't pull away from the contact. Crys didn't stop either.

Heather changed the subject. "What is our lord and master going to do while we are with Melissa?"

Crys replied innocently, "I don't know. What are you going to do today?"

"I am going to play golf with the head of our electrical engineering department. I need to butter him up."

Heather responded, "Oh God! Don't tell him that I was here last night. He will want equal time."

"I already figured that out. Besides, all I did last night was to take Crys out for an evening sail and then we came home and made torrid love."

Crys replied, "I remember the first part vividly, but the second part doesn't ring a bell. Heather, was it you who he made torrid love with?"

Heather turned pink but retorted, "Only in his dreams. I slept very nicely and very alone, thank you very much."

I had to respond and said, "I am sure that Jerry will be very pleased to hear that. He will think that he still has a chance."

Heather ignored me and turned to Crys who was still stroking her arm, "I told them both in the office the other day that my sorority sisters say that I hold the school record for handing out blue balls. I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to play that game once I got out into the adult world."

"Honey, trust me; you were dealing with amateur boys then. Now you will get to hone your art to a fine degree."

"I'm going to become a hermit."

Both Crys and I said virtually the same thing, "Not on my watch you won't." Crys actually said, "Not while I am around you won't."