Loosening Up Bk. 07 Ch. 06-10

Wes chimed in, "People get ignored and need a heavy dose of compersion to get over it."

Dave pointed at Nikky who said, "Without a Circle or a Mark Worthington clan it would be hard to find people who also wanted to practice polyamory with you."

JR jested, "If you tried to satisfy all your lovers the same night you might end up a little sore." Dave grinned at her humor; the room laughed with her.

Several others voiced their ideas. "Various churches will condemn you to hell." "You'll spend hours in the confessional." "Communication between partners becomes crucial; you need to keep telling people you love them." "Social disapproval and discrimination." "There aren't many role models other than the Circle."

Alice said, "It can fracture your relationship within your family if your parents or seniors don't at least tolerate your viewpoint." Everyone that knew the story about Alice, Julie, and Karen's parents and the kidnapping attempt of Karen's children nodded vigorously.

"Certain careers become off limits." "Relationships are prone to drama." "It could be stressful." "You create a new normal that you don't want to change, just like a monogamous relationship." "You're forced into decisions about which partner to spend time with." "You might live a life to a standard you don't believe in."

The room got quieter as the 'con' ideas petered out.

Dave asked, "With such a long list, why would anybody want to live in the Circle or anywhere else with more than one other person in their lives?"

He held his hand up to stem a flood of answers. "Think about that. I ask that as a rhetorical question in this setting."

On that note he ended that class, mentioning the next dates and potential topics.

JR stood in the doorway to Dave's office. "Want to grab lunch over at Applebee's? I have an offer for a presentation by us that I think you should accept. I'll explain over the meal if you have time."

"I do." The pair headed out to JR's sports car -- a white Jaguar convertible. Somewhat predictably she drove like an Indy racer but Dave felt very safe with her. She had phenomenal reaction times and the low-slung car took the curves and changed lanes perfectly even at high speed.

As they walked into the restaurant, Dave noted several things. First, JR's skirt was very short -- higher than halfway between her knees and crotch. Second, as a gust of wind captured her skirt as they walked he noted she was not wearing any underwear. He smiled.

After they were seated, he said, "Before you tell about the speaking opportunity, I see that you are loosening up -- short skirt and lack of nickers."

JR grinned, "Oh, that gust of wind was a surprise. Yes, but you're the only person at work to say anything. I'm not sure anybody else noticed. I have plans during the meal to flash somebody. That's why I sat here facing the bar."

The bar was full of mostly individual men wolfing down sandwiches and a beer for lunch. The bar also sat two steps lower than the row of tables they were seated at.

Dave chuckled, "I've seen this movie before."

JR sat back, "I'll tell you about it if anything happens."

After they ordered, JR said, "Each January in Las Vegas there is the Consumer Electronics Show or CES. Usually, it's full of new TVs, cellphones, desktop assistants like Alexa, and stuff like that. There are also invited papers. They had a cancellation, and I have until close of business today to say whether we want to use the slot and talk about our batteries. We can also take over the booth space that the company that cancelled would have used. It's in a prime location on the show floor."

Dave sat back, "Wow! Good work. What would I say?"

"I thought you could give a paper on the Portable Power Revolution. Talk about some of the major impacts our battery will have on society and consumer products. Make it a futuristic talk."

"I like it. Will you help me put together the talk? NO WAIT!" Dave held his hand up. "Better yet, will you help me deliver the talk -- the two of us up at the podium at the same time taking turns talking."

JR looked surprised. "Thank you for the honor, but don't you want to represent the company? You're the CEO."

Dave shook his head. "The company will be doing this whether I'm head of it or not. Who knows; maybe you'll be the next CEO of EneRG. The product and what it can do for the customers are the company. I'm just a messenger. So are you. Besides all that, you're considerably prettier than I am, particularly if you wear that skirt and no underwear."

JR laughed, "I'll do it, but I might not dress so outrageously. I'll put the dates on your calendar. Who do you want to staff the booth? I'll take care of that -- design and getting it shipped out there."

"How about Nikky and Nat Sterling -- the guy that actually discovered the battery?"

"OK. We need one or two more."

"Take Jenny. It'll give her an 'out of office' experience. You and I can work in the booth, too; that is, if there's any interest in our stuff. Will we have something to handout?"

"Nat has a technical paper, and your robust marketing department has started to churn out PR material. So, yes, we have handout brochures and flyers. Nikky is working on a white paper."

The waitress arrived with the two meals and the pair started to eat.

JR then smiled at Dave. She said, "Score one for me."

"Huh?"

"I just flashed my pussy at a guy at the bar. He dropped his sandwich back on his plate. Now, he can't take his eyes off of my crotch. You'll notice that I'm totally absorbed in what you're telling me or what I'm explaining to you, so I'm forgetting to be a good girl and keep my legs together."

"You do have a great looking crotch, my dear," Dave smiled. He noted that JR was making sure that she didn't look in the direction of the bar. To compensate for her indirect line of sight, she occasionally looked at her phone with an enlarged image of the guy at the bar as she talked to him. She'd even taken pictures. She showed Dave one as though it was part of their overall discussion.

Dave teased, "Are you trolling for weekend dates?"

"No. Not at all. I have all I can handle between you and the Circle."

Dave asked, "I know you're giving the Circle and our lifestyle sixty days to see whether you like it, but what is your impression so far?"

JR nodded and tried to look serious, especially for the guy that continued to stare at her from the slightly lower bar area in the restaurant. She adjusted her position, resulting in an even great 'flash' for a few seconds.

"I like it. I like the people I'm getting to know. You'll note that I am there every night now and I love the bartending and waitressing duty. I'm living full time in the mobile home you showed me and that's kind of fun. I always wanted to see what living in a trailer would be like. I've even had visitors from elsewhere in the Circle.

"I'm at every cocktail hour and dinner, and tonight will start my third weekend being there."

Dave teased, "I liked the monokini you wore last weekend?"

"Good, because you'll see it again tomorrow. I'm still getting used to being partially nude in the presence of so many people. I'll probably still be blushing a little tomorrow."

Dave commented, "For the first few years after we moved into the homes on Circle Drive complete nudity by both sexes was the norm, as well as round-the-clock lovemaking whenever and wherever the mood struck somebody. It was not unusual to see one or two couples or threesomes enjoying sex around the pool patio almost any time of day -- even during lunch or dinner, or in the middle of the afternoon. Now, mostly because of the presence of the kids, we've limited that kind of stuff to later at night or weekend evenings."

JR commented, "Then I really would have blushed."

"How's you gawker doing?" Dave gestured at her phone.

"Oh, he's nursing his lunch so he doesn't have to give up the catbird seat." She shifted around again, and then 'accidentally' dropped her napkin on the floor, forcing her to lean away from the man at the bar to retrieve it, and in the process giving him a wide-open beaver shot.

"Naughty, naughty," Dave scolded in mock humor. "What would you do if he said something or tried to get a date with you?"

JR adopted a pensive pose. "I guess ask for his business card and tell him I'd think about it. A girl never completely shuts the door, right?"

"How high is your skirt?" Dave asked.

JR chuckled, "If it were any higher, you'd be seeing my navel and tits from where you're sitting across the table from me."

"So, he's getting a nice clean shot. I'm envious."

"When we get back to the office, I can fix that situation for you."

"Oh, please," Dave said in a pleading tone as he put his hands together in a gesture of prayer.

"Men!"

"Are you loosening up?"

JR thought. "Yes. I feel different than which I started this silliness. I feel more open to ... erotic thinking and events, I guess. I used to barely think about sex; now I think about it every ten seconds."

"Good. That's what some of the loosening up exercises are supposed to do -- get you think sexy thoughts and to give up some of the staid and prim behavior that might be a kneejerk reaction to some situations."

"Such as?"

"Prior to discovering the Circle, how would you have reacted to a man telling you he was attracted to you and wanted to have a romantic and sexual relationship with you."

JR nodded, "I would have blown him out of the water, probably with both barrels."

"And now?"

JR smiled, "I'd be having lunch with him, flashing another man at the bar, and hoping my lunch date would fuck my brains out on his desk as soon as we got back to the office."