Loosening Up Bk. 07 Ch. 06-10

"I don't ... didn't ... trust men. I was not making good decisions about them on a consistent basis. Instead of inviting further problems with the next man, I just abandoned the playing field. I don't want to feel humiliated again -- ever."

"Did you feel humiliated when I made love to you on our trip to the western states?"

"No."

"Did you feel humiliated when Aaron and Cookie made love to you last night?"

"No ... but ..."

"YOU added that feeling later after learning that Aaron was my brother. Nikky told me that you knew his wife and she were busy with other people elsewhere in his house."

"It wasn't that. I felt so turned on by him, and you, and then to discover your connection was embarrassing."

"Neither Aaron nor I thought it was embarrassing. We both love you. We don't want you to feel this way. He even suggested this lunch. He also would like a replay of last night, and I would like a similar engagement with you. Given our working relationship I can understand where that might complicate things, but ..."

JR interrupted, "Yes. I'll do it." She looked up and into his eyes.

"Huh?" Dave was taken back by the sudden agreement.

JR took a deep breath. "I guess I don't care whether you're married or not -- or Aaron. The fact that you both have open marriages -- VERY open, is influencing my thinking I'm sure. Everyone in the Circle! You want me to try your 'Love Without Limits' approach to things. I will. How about this; for a period of sixty days I will behave as though I am a Circle member and buy into every one of the precepts about the place. I will openly love the other men and women there. I will make love, as appropriate with the others and abide by all the rules. I will take on a service job. I'll chip into the Circle treasury. I'll do whatever it takes to try to belong.

"At the end of that time, I want to take a weekend away and evaluate my feelings. I'll want to see whether I have indeed shed all the memes by which I was raised, whether I can bend my moral code enough to stay a member or whatever I am, and see IF I want to return. If not, I'll want to go back to the way of life I had before I went on the western trip with you and Nikky."

Dave thought and said, "Please, yes. I like your idea of a trial. Start today. Now. Come over to the Circle at the end of every day, socialize, meet the others in the group, and participate. Allow yourself to develop warm and loving relationships. Make friends. I'll help you get integrated into the group. We can give you a place to stay, too."

"Where? Do you think I should live there instead of my condo?"

"I do. Aaron has a guest room, and so does Joan and many of the others on the Circle or in the townhouses."

"Shelby wouldn't mind? My God, he'd be moving his new mistress into his house right under his wife's nose."

"I don't think that's the right mindset. Shelby will love you the same way that Aaron does. They do have a four year old, if that's a consideration. Shelby will not think of you as an intruder or usurper of her role as wife and lover to her husband. She will be a facilitator to help you be with him in intimate ways, and to help you integrate into the Circle ... just as everyone else will."

JR looked skeptical. "I guess I'd like to talk to her tonight. I won't plan on staying over tonight, but maybe I'll move a few things to wherever I decide over the weekend. I'd like to meet Joan, too."

Not one to let important matters unmanaged, Dave called Shelby when he got back to the office with JR and she'd gone off. He alerted her to the situation. She'd met JR the evening before but gotten sidetracked with two of the new young men interested in the Circle and coming from the fraternity at the university where several of the women had also discovered new friends and brought them home.

"Of course, she can stay with us," Shelby said. "I'll clean up the room when I get home from work so she could see what she's getting into. She should meet Linda Jean, too, even though she's only four. We'll all be living together, and you know it's not all hugs and kisses all the time."

Dave laughed, "I know. She's declared a sixty-day trial, so unless there's some disaster, she'll be there until at least February first or so. I have a couple of other housing scenarios to offer her, too."

Shelby laughed, "Groundhog Day! Hurray. Perfect."

JR walked with Dave, Jack Anders, Ty Winter, Aaron, and Nikky Thomas along Circle Road. Just past the home belonging to Dev and Wendy Connor the old road had been dug up and turned to dirt. Drainage and utility extensions were installed between the original construction and where some of the original homes had been relocated.

The five older homes that had been relocated to the far end of the 'racetrack' were in place, but not yet completely hooked into the utilities. Water and sewer were connected, and electric had just been completed that day. Cable and telephone were still awaiting service. Two owners had reoccupied their homes a week or so earlier: Aaron and Shelby, and Mike and Clarisse.

Off to one side of Circle Drive, five mobile homes were the temporary residences for the still displaced Circle members: Roy and Elise; Dale and Susan; and Sean and Kat. Sean announced at dinner that they were moving back in on the coming weekend providing that cable service had been restored.

Aaron said to JR, "You could takeover one of the mobile homes for your sixty-day trial period. I warn you up front that living with a four year old is not always a pleasant experience; she's a whiner."

JR looked interested, "Could I see one?"

Dave, Aaron, and JR broke off from the others as they strolled back to the Circle's core. Dave chose the mobile home furthest from the construction area and tried the door. The home had been Mike and Clarisse's.

The inside of the home was warm and welcoming. They'd obviously cleaned and left a neat and tidy home for the next occupants. Mike had left a few lights and reflectors from his photography business. Dave recalled that he'd made some of his X-rated videos in and around the mobile homes when they were first moved into the gated community.

JR poked around the open plan living room and kitchen, examining the pop-outs that enlarged the space even further. She went back to the master bedroom and bath area, and then checked out what was purported to be a guest room at the 'front' of the home.

JR announced mostly to Dave, "I like it. This would be wonderful. Do you think I'd be too removed from Circle activities if I lived here instead of at Aaron's home?"

Dave shook his head, "No. Either way you'll have to make an effort to socialize and mix with the other Circle members. The cocktail and dinner hours are the best times for that, and of course weekends."

JR nodded, "I'll do it. I don't need to intrude on Aaron and Shelby's home life. By the way, what are all the photographic lights and stuff?"

Dave tried to avoid wincing about having to explain them to her. He did want to be fully transparent about the Circle and all of its facets to her, however, so he gestured to the sofa and they both sat.

"I'll explain this in the spirit of openness, but I don't want you to run off screaming into the evening and declare an instant end to your trial period."

"I won't," JR said, more intrigued than ever.

"The previous residents here for the past couple of months were Mike and Clarisse Holiday. Mike runs a small video production company called Circle-X Productions. Clarisse helps out in it, and there are a few others involved."

He took a deep breath, "The main focus of their business is adult videos."

JR took in the last remark and finally spoke; "They make porn videos?"

"Yes. Many if not all of the Circle members have been involved in some way. Several have even won awards for their work. He sells them on the Internet; it's a very lucrative business."

"Who has done videos?"

"Alice, for one, and then Emily, Kat, and Mike -- most of the Circle. The videos are very high quality and stress eroticism instead of crude fucking. I have appeared in a couple of dozen. All my wives have, actually. It's not a requirement for anything. They were fun to do. Some of us did earn a little money, but not enough to want to quit our day jobs."

JR just nodded her head. "Thank you for telling me." After a long pause, she said, "Did they film one in here?"

"They did; several in fact. I was in one. Mike was trying to stress the idea that people living in trailer parks were not necessarily people of low moral character; they could be loving as well as live there. Of course, they could also be very horny." He gestured to the camera and lighting equipment.

JR asked in a very even tone, "Could I see some of his work? I'd like to see one that you're in, and Alice, too."

"I'll get you some of his videos."

As Dave, Aaron, and JR left the mobile home, JR said, "I will take occupancy of this one. I like it. I've always wanted to try a mobile home, and it's only for sixty days or so. I'll move a bunch of stuff from my condo over here tomorrow, if that's all right. I'll explain to Shelby about my decision." She turned to Aaron and gave him a peck on the lips; "I think this will be a better option -- for now."

The trio walked back to the core patio, and got glasses of wine at the bar. The bartenders and servers were Elton, Barry, Cookie, Ann, and Joyce. There was a lot of laughter as they interacted with those getting drinks. Clearly, they knew just about everybody.

JR said, "You mentioned service jobs. Bartending looks to be ideal because you get to meet everybody."

Dave nodded, "I did it for years when we were first starting the Circle. You do get to know people and quite well, I might add. I recommend it. In a short period of time you'll end up knowing everybody."

"Where do I sign up?"

"Let me introduce you to Tan. Her service job is to run the job assignments for a half-year, and I think this is her second half-year doing that. She's got a system, and even built an app, so she has it on her cellphone."

The two walked down the patio and found the nearly naked Tan talking with Murph and Pete. She was wearing a diaphanous sarong that hid little. Pete was trying to get them interested in taking flying lessons.

Tan broke away from the conversation, met JR, and then assigned her to bar duty for the coming month once she heard her preference. She explained, "It's four days a week for you, Monday through Thursday. You can tradeoff days with others that take the weekends if you need to. The assignments are all posted on the white board; Dave can show you where that is. At the end of a month, you can sign up again, or request a different job. Just let me know."

Dave showed JR the assignment board, introduced her to her bartending colleagues for the month, and then they headed to dinner after Bobbie came out of the kitchen and rang the chimes.

Aaron, Shelby, Alice, and Cricket joined Dave and JR at the same dinner table. The atmosphere was relaxed and the flow of conversation friendly and more or less about neutral topics. JR did mention her sixty-day trial and her use of one of the mobile homes.

During a lull in the conversation JR asked, "I guess I have the thirty-thousand foot understanding about the Circle, but how does it really function minute to minute? Dinner is ending, it's Friday night, Nikky told me that this was a 'high sex' night and I think I understand what that means, but how do things get started? Do people draw car keys out of bowl or what?"

The group chuckled at the reference to the Key Parties popular in the 1960s.

Cricket got nods from Dave and Aaron to explain. She started, "JR, you sat through the egalitarian class of Circle 101. We're all equal. The stereotypes of men being the only genre able to ask a women for time together that exist outside the gates, don't exist here. You can ask or someone can ask you. If you want to be with someone take the initiative."

Alice said, "Some nights if the mood seems right there'll be dancing after dinner. That seems to facilitate the coupling process. For some, it's easier to request a dance than to bluntly ask them to go off with them and make love. Our memes from outside the gates are hard to shake off."

JR said, "What about safety, so to speak?"

Shelby stepped into the conversation, "We're all tested every three months."

JR looked at Dave with a puzzled expression, "But I haven't been tested ... how'd ...?"

Dave said, "You needed a standard physical exam at work; every employee gets one. The tests are a standard part of the exam. I don't see or hear about them from HR unless there is a problem, however. Ergo, you had nothing wrong with you. STDs are part of the test. When the time comes for the quarterly tests here, one of the Circle members who is a nurse will take a sample from you to send to the lab. There's a rotating schedule for that, and there's no cost."

Aaron chuckled, "And just so you know, we were all tested and got our results two to three weeks ago."

JR asked, "Do I just pick a guy at random that I'm attracted to and ask him?"

Dave laughed, "You could. I've done it both ways: get to know somebody and then make love, or make love and then get to know him ... or her. In this setting or in our relationship with Mark Worthington's group, the end result seems to be the same; so either works. Outside this group, I'd recommend knowing somebody first."

JR pointed across the patio at Ken Toomey who was standing and talking to Gail and Nathan. "I want to ask him," JR said firmly but obviously arbitrarily. "This is a test for me. I have no idea who he is, but he's very hunky."

Dave said, "Good choice. He's Ken Toomey, one of the senior pilots for Atlantic Airlines."

Alice chimed in, "He's a wonderful lover. Do it."

JR said, "So, I just go over to him and ask? I won't get rejected?"

"I doubt you'll be rejected and only if he already has commitments. He'll let you down softly in any case."

JR stood and took a deep breath and walked away with her shoulders pulled back and her pert breasts pushed out. She pulled her long ponytail over her shoulder so it seductively covered one of her bare breasts. She'd disposed of her top to conform to the dominant dress code of the women at the Friday dinner.

The group watched JR walk barefoot over to Ken and the others. Dave noticed a very sexy sway to her hips. She stood waiting for a break in the conversation they were having.

Dave discerned that Ken knew she was there to talk to him. He turned to JR with a smile, and saw her introduce herself. She must have then asked the question about making love somewhat bluntly. Ken looked mildly shocked.

Ken took JR's hand and led her over to the bar. He got himself a diet coke and prepared a vodka and tonic for her. The whole time they were talking to each other. Ken glanced over at Dave a couple of times and got a friendly wave from his friend.

Ken and JR sat on the high bar stools for over a half-hour. The attention of the others that had been with Dave and JR after dinner went on to other topics and people. When Dave checked on the couple a little later, they had disappeared.

By request, Dave was back on the weekend breakfast preparation team. With up to a hundred breakfasts to serve, the team typically consisted of ten Circle members or those 'pledging' the Circle that requested that as their service assignment.

Dave was making and serving custom omelets at a little serving station he'd bought to make the task easier and also let him be out with the larger group. He could do three special omelets at a time, and was busy a good part of the morning, from the official start of breakfast at eight-thirty until last call at ten-thirty. Most of the Circle ate on the early side.

Dave saw Ken escorting JR between two of the houses from his townhouse. Bridget was with them and must have been part of the threesome that made love the night before. They came into the core, staked out a couple of seats at one of the tables, and then got in line for the breakfast buffet. There was much touching between the three.

JR got in the line to request an omelet, and was surprised when the man doing the cooking and wearing the white chef's hat was her colleague and boss at EneRG. He got her order and then smiled, "You doing all right?"

JR held her right hand over her heart and said, "Much better than all right. I'll talk to you later. Is it all right to hang around here today?"

Dave laughed, "You're supposed to as part of your sixty-day trial, although I think you want to move some stuff into your new temporary home. I'll be glad to help you do that, by the way. I finish in an hour."

"Yes, please. I'll see you then when you get off duty."

Dave finally finished his cooking and serving duties, and carried his own plate out to one of the tables to consume. JR slid into the seat opposite to his with a broad smile.

"Good morning again," JR said. "I slept with Ken Toomey and your niece last night. Patti joined us this morning and we made some kind of heaven on earth for Ken." She giggled.

Dave asked, "Do you feel good? How are all those conflicting messages that you seem to counsel inside your head?"

JR sighed, "Not too bad. Ken is so nice and so is his wife. She's the one that told me he was the hero that saved that plane full of passengers from crashing a few years back. You should have said something."

"He is, but he's usually too modest to point that out to anybody and doesn't like us to make that event his principal feat in life. He told me once the real heroes were the passengers who decided to ride with him, especially on his subsequent flights."

JR said, "Without any threat to Patti, I am in love with him. Heck, I'm in love with her and Bridget, too. I can't believe your niece is so young. She's so mature, and ... well, my God, what a sexpot. We spent hours together in a sixty-nine eating each other to orgasm after orgasm. She knows what she's doing and she ... well ... she tastes divine."

Dave chuckled, "She's had all of the older women in the Circle to train her in her cunnilingus skills. The men, of course, have focused on her other sexual skills."

"How does she do on campus with men her own age?"

Dave responded, "She brought a group of them back here after some fraternity orgy that she distinguished herself at with a couple of our other college students. Alan, Barry, Elton, Wes, and Cord along with Cookie all came to us thanks to Bridget's most recent efforts. They're all in the Circle 101 class you're taking. They're also turning out to be good friends with all of us. Moreover, a couple has mentioned to me that they have serious minded friends they'd like to also introduce to us."

JR let a silence ensure so she could change topics, "I do have a question. Is there some kind of checklist or something I should be going through to see whether I could join the Circle? I was wondering if there were special people I should engage or special things I should do?"

Dave actually laughed. "I can see it now -- the checklist, that is; very left brain approach to joining. There are about ninety names on it arranged in some nefarious order, along with a long list of tasks to help you loosen up. After you complete each one, you have someone in the Circle initial off on that item. Yes, Ken, Patti, and Bridget would sign off that you successfully had sex with them last night or this morning, delivered unselfish orgasms to them, and want more. The members at the bar will signoff on your nightly duties. The Cunnilingus and Blowjob Evaluation Teams will qualify your munching and fellatio skills, and some others attest to your sense of humor. You must score better than a '70' out of '100' in each category to be eligible for membership."