Lucy Stays

"Uh, Lucy... uh, it's me, Anne. Uh, oh shit, are you still speaking to me?"

"Yes, Anne. You're my friend. But what the hell was that?" Lucy was wide awake now.

"Oh Lucy, I'm so sorry. I didn't do it on purpose. We didn't have it planned or anything, it just kind of happened."

"Quit sniveling, Anne. You're forgiven. But if you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going to come over there and strangle you!"

"Well, you sort of walked in on me and my lover."

"I guessed."

"Charles is away for the week. In New York. Couldn't take me though, just had to concentrate on business." A hint of bitterness. "I invited Wade over to help console me."

"You invited him? The way you were acting I thought he must be blackmailing you. Or threatening you somehow. I've never seen you that way. Are you OK?"

"Yeah, ungh, I'm fine. It's just that he. Makes. Me. Want to let. Him. Take me."

"What's wrong Anne," asked Lucy, suspecting she already knew.

"NOTHING," squealed Anne, then lower, "Just thank you. For. Staying...Oh God..."

"You're doing it, aren't you. Right now on the phone. Jesus, Anne..."

"Yeeesss. Oh yes..." Lucy heard the phone thump. She heard Anne panting in the background. Then she heard HIS voice.

"She wants you to watch again. Tonight. Be here at nine o'clock." Click.

Lucy was preoccupied as she went about her errands. Picking up the clean shirts from the cleaners, doing the weekly grocery shopping, gassing up the car, picking up the kids from the mini-sports camp at the country club - all were accomplished on a kind of autopilot. The kids were a little puzzled when they received no reply or a distracted, "Huh, what did you say again?" to each anecdote of camp events or request for some privilege. But they happily settled into something as near to quiet as they ever got when Lucy let them start eating the french fries from the McDonald's drive in window in the car as they drove home.

Once home, the kids took their burgers and shakes into the living room to watch TV. Lucy went through the motions of fixing a light dinner for Fergus and herself. Ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella sprinkled with basil and olive oil. Salade Nicoise. A bottle of blush wine. Closing arguments to the jury.

He's an arrogant asshole. He just told you what time to be there like there was no question that you would come. What are you going to do if he grabs you this time? He isn't worth cheating on Fergus. What kind of pervert wants to see her friend get screwed any way? What would Fergus say if he knew? Can you imagine the talk if anyone found out? You're a thirty-five year old mother - act like one.

So you tell him no touching. It's not cheating if you don't do anything with HIM. So you like to watch, so what. Who will tell? Who will know? You don't want to be afraid to live, to have to follow every little rule of propriety for the rest of your life. You weren't like that when you were younger. You'll feel that old excitement, that thrill of doing something dangerous and new again, tonight, but maybe never again if you don't go now. How many chances will you ever get? You *want* to go.

She managed to hold up her end of the dinner conversation with Fergus despite her distraction. But her mind was focused on the invitation.

Her third glass of wine, two more than usual, found her decision made.

"Honey, Charles is off in New York all week, so I asked Anne over for later. Her sister found her a tape of The Moonspinners and you know how she loves Hayley Mills. I told her I'd fix popcorn and watch it with her. I hope you don't mind."

"Tonight? Tonight is supposed to be the big grudge race in the go-cart game on the Nintendo," Fergus complained. "I promised the boys. They think they can beat me this time. I thought I mentioned it to you."

You did. I'm counting on it. thought Lucy, as she said aloud, "If you did, I forgot. Well, I'll just call Anne and cancel. If you promised the boys, you've got to keep it."

"We can just explain to them..."

"No," said Lucy, "I'll call Anne and reschedule."

Lucy walked into the den and mumbled into the phone while the dial tone hummed in her ear. Putting her hand over the mouthpiece, she yelled to the kitchen, "Fergus, Anne has invited me over there to watch it. I may be late if we sit and talk. Would you mind? The boys will need a shower before bed."

"Go ahead, Honey," Fergus yelled back. "We can handle it. Don't be too late without calling, now."

"Yes, Daddy, sir," Lucy mugged, "I'll be home by curfew. Love you."

Lucy walked into the living room to the sounds of ersatz engines revving. "See you later, guys. I'm going over to see Miss Anne. You be good for your Dad. And don't beat him too badly, you know he pouts when he loses."

"See ya' Mom," the boys said in unison.

Then Teddy said, "Too bad Mom, but Daddy's gonna' be toast.""You too, nerdface, you'll never catch me.""Eat my dust, dirtball.""Watch this.." The boys didn't notice that their mother had left.

It was exactly nine when Lucy pulled into Anne's driveway. It was ten minutes later when she finally decided that she wouldn't chicken out and walked to the door. A shouted "Come in" answered her knock. HIS voice. She went in.

The room was shadowy. Only a small lamp on an end table provided any illumination. It was enough as her eyes adjusted. The man was sitting in a low upholstered arm chair that faced the entrance hall from the other side of the living room. His knees were spread and Anne knelt between them, her hands on his thighs, her head bobbing up and down in his lap. They were both naked.

"You're late." Accusatory.

"I, uh..."

"It doesn't matter. Take off your clothes."

"What?"

"Take off your clothes. Or leave."

"Good bye, asshole." Lucy turned to leave.

"Wait, Lucy," said Anne. "Please stay. He won't touch you, I promise. But it's too weird if you just sit there and watch with all your clothes on."

"That's right, Lucy," he said, with a hint of disdain, of sarcasm, "I promise not to touch you. But you look at us, we look at you. That's the deal."

"Please, Lucy."

Lucy stood at the entrance hall, looking uncertainly first at the door, then back to the two faces across the room. This is too much. It's not cheating if he doesn't touch you. I can't just strip in front of Anne. She's naked in front of you now. I didn't shave my legs today. How many chances will you ever get? She turned her back to them and pulled her shirt out of her waistband. Slowly she crossed her arms in front of her and grasped the bottom of the shirt. Up and off it went. Her bra fastened in the front. It quickly joined the shirt on the floor. With her thumbs under both waistbands, panties and shorts slid together to the floor. Two small backward steps out of her sandals and she was bare. Instinctively, one arm moved across her breasts while the other hand covered her mons. She heard the man snigger behind her. Standing to her full five foot six, Lucy put her arms at her sides and turned around.

"Satisfied?"

"Lovely." A hint of worldly wise amusement in his voice. Then commanding, "Go sit in the other chair." It was close to the one they occupied, separated from it only by a small lamp table.

Summoning her will, Lucy walked proudly across the room, chin up and chest out. She stared directly into his eyes, and for the first few steps felt she could stare him down this time. The feeling didn't last. His eyes held hers the length of the room, but she had to look away. Flick to his cock, erect in his lap. Flick to Anne's face, looking back at Lucy over her shoulder, hands still on his thighs, her eyes checking out Lucy's body. Flick to his eyes again. Still right on hers. By the time Lucy reached the chair, she knew he planned on having her. She knew it with certainty. The knowledge made her nipples grow erect and she began to lubricate. He wanted to make love to her. No, to *fuck* her! She didn't know if she could stop him. She was glad when she reached the chair, glad to have a reason to turn away. She sat.

The man put his hand on the back of Anne's head and loosely gathered a handful of her hair as he pushed her down toward his lap. His eyes were on Lucy's. Lucy's eyes were on his erection. And the lips about to engulf it. Lucy's eyes widened as his hand kept pushing Anne down until Lucy was sure Anne would choke. But Anne's eyes were closed and she showed no sign of discomfort. He pulled her head up until only the tip was in her lips, and then slowly down again.

"She really likes you to watch, you know," he said conversationally, as if it were quite normal for him to have his penis in the mouth of a fortyish blonde suburban housewife. Down and up. "Look at her hands." Down and up. Lucy saw that the hands were no longer on his thighs. She fleetingly wondered why she hadn't noticed them leaving. One of Anne's hands now gently pinched her right nipple. The other was sliding between her legs.

"Anne swallows it all when I come in her mouth." Down and up. "Do you swallow your husband's come, Lucy?" Down and up.

Lucy's shook her head a tiny bit. No.

"Well, you'll swallow for me when the time comes." It was not a question. Down and up.

"I like to watch too, Lucy," he said. Down and up. "Show me how you would like me to touch your breasts." Down and up.

As if by a mind of their own, Lucy's hands moved to her breasts. Keeping her eyes on Anne's mouth moving up and down, Lucy's finger tips glided over the whole of her breasts, just barely touching, everywhere except the nipples. She started to trace a path around each breast, a path that slowly spiraled in toward her nipples. As the finger tips reached the edge of her small areolae, she looked up into his eyes. With a shudder of desire, she closed all five fingers of each hand around her nipples, still just barely touching, and pulled each nipple up ever so slightly.

The sudden motion of his hand in Anne's hair pulling her completely off his cock pulled Lucy's eyes to the other chair. Lucy's hands froze on her breasts in mid-caress as he stood.

"I think it's time to let Anne come. Don't you, Lucy?" the deep voice inquired. "How would you like to see her fucked tonight?"

"Wwwhat do you mmmean?" Lucy stammered.

"I mean it's your choice tonight, Lucy. Missionary, sidesaddle, whatever you want. I'll take her ass if you tell me, Lucy." Anne's eyes widened at that last and her head jerked around to glare at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but Lucy's voice intervened.

"God no! Doggy. Do her doggy style. But not in her ass. Please?"

"You heard the lady, Anne. Kneel in front of Lucy. Hands and knees."

Anne's face was inches from Lucy's knees, looking down at the rug. The hair on the top of her head almost touched Lucy. The man knelt behind Anne and his hand again closed in that hair. He gently pulled her face up to look at Lucy. Anne's face was blushing red. The man suddenly thrust his hips forward. Anne's breath puffed out, blowing on Lucy's knees, and her eyes widened. He let go of Anne's hair, but her head stayed up, looking at Lucy. The man continued to thrust in and out, but slowly now.

It was deja vu. Again, in Lucy's mind the same litany as before: He's fucking her. He's fucking her right in front of me. He's fucking her so close that I can almost touch it. He's fucking Anne right in front of me and she's letting him! Without conscious thought, her left hand moved to her left breast and pushed it from the side, then cupped it, the thumb moving to the nipple. Her right hand slid between her closed thighs to press gently on the closed lips of her sex.

"Open your legs, Lucy." The man continued to thrust very slowly.

Lucy shook her head no.

"You watch us, we watch you. That's the deal. Open your legs, Lucy."

"Please, Lucy," Anne whispered.

With a flush of shame and a shudder of excitement, Lucy closed her eyes and opened her legs.

"Put them over the arms of the chair, Lucy."

Shaking again with shame and arousal, she did. She opened her eyes and looked down. Her hand was still at the top of her slit, but her lips, her slick protruding lips, were uncovered, flaunted, inches from Anne's face, close enough for HIM to touch if he reached out. Her hand began to move up and down. The man began to thrust harder. Lucy shook on the brink of orgasm, watching her hand move, watching as each hard thrust pushed Anne's face a little closer to that hand.

His voice stopped her short of orgasm, drawing her eyes to his. His eyes seemed to increase in intensity as he spoke. "Take your fingers away, Lucy. Put them in your mouth." Still caught in his eyes, she slowly tasted herself on her fingers. She felt the tongue on her vagina then. She started to panic. I'm not gay her mind screamed. Why am I pushing my sex into a woman's tongue. I AM NOT A LESBIAN! Then, as her excitement continued to build, she knew. It might be Anne's tongue, but Lucy was reacting to HIM. Lucy closed her eyes and began the climb to release, but suddenly the tongue faltered and then it was not there at all. She didn't have to hear the little hiccups to know why when she saw Anne's face. Watching Anne orgasm increased her own need.

Still thrusting in Anne to that slow rhythm, he reached out and took Lucy's hand in his. Her eyes widened with fear. He had promised not to touch her. But all he did was put Lucy's hand on the back of Anne's head and then he withdrew. With a little moan, Lucy closed her eyes, ashamed that she wanted Anne's tongue so badly. Ashamed, but close to release. She pulled Anne forward, directing her to her clitoris again. Lucy closed her eyes and put her head back.

"Lucy, look at me."

Stiffly, muscles tense under the influence of Anne's fluttering stimulation, Lucy turned to the sound and saw his erection close, very close, to her face. Jumping slightly with his pulse, slick with Anne's lubrication. Approaching the edge, the point of no return on her orgasm, Lucy stared.

The deep, self-assured voice again. "Lean forward, Lucy. Take me in your mouth."

And suddenly that was just what Lucy needed, to have HIS cock, to taste HIM. Her hand came up and encircled his base. She leaned forward. She was sticking her tongue out to barely touch the tip, moving her hand up the shaft at the same time, when the cock in her hand stiffened even more, and she felt the first pulse of his come hit her lips. She licked and swallowed reflexively, pushing his penis down as she threw her head back and moaned out her ecstasy in response to Anne's tongue forcing her over the edge to orgasm. Arching and bucking her hips into Anne's face, she didn't feel the semen that hit her neck and her breast. Finally, convulsively, she pushed Anne away and slumped in the chair.

Dazed by the intensity of her orgasm, she sat motionless for a timeless interval. When she finally gathered herself, she was alone in the room. She walked like an automaton to the entrance hall and put on her clothes, trying not to think. As she sat motionless in the driver's seat, she couldn't keep her thoughts in check any longer. Oh God, what have I done? I've cheated on Fergus. This time I did do something, I touched HIS cock. I swallowed his come. I've committed adultery. Will Fergus forgive me? What if he wants a divorce? What about the kids? What am I to do? Sitting in the driver's seat, her mind in turmoil, she slumped forward and cried.

Fergus was asleep when Lucy got home. She took a shower in the children's bathroom so as not to wake him. He groaned softly and turned toward her when she slipped into bed. His arm moved and he rested his hand lightly on her hip. Then his breathing resumed slow regularity. She laid motionless on the bed, his hand burning her like a hot iron, until sleep finally overtook her chaotic thoughts.

BRRRRRNNNNNG. Lucy opened her eyes blearily. She didn't have to look to know that Fergus was not in the bed. BRRRRRNNNNNG. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited, hoping someone else would answer. BRRRRRNNNNNG. Giving up, she lifted the handset to her ear.

"Lucy?" said Anne.

"I'm not coming back, Anne. I'll talk to you later," said Lucy, wearily.

"Wait Lucy, he's gone for the day. I need to talk, just the two of us. Can I come over?"

Lucy shuddered in revulsion. She didn't want Anne in her house right now. "Not now," she said. "I'll meet you for lunch at the Trellis. One o'clock."

"Oh Lucy, thanks," said Anne with relief. "See you there."

Stumbling to the bathroom, Lucy noticed it was already almost ten. Fergus must have taken care of the kids again this morning, letting her sleep in again. She thought to herself that she should be grateful to have the extra time to decide what to say to him, but she simply couldn't muster the energy to think. She felt like she had a hangover, although she hadn't had that much to drink the night before. She palmed a couple of aspirins into her mouth and washed them down with water from the sink. Then she ran her bath.

Forty-five minutes later, she emerged, washed but not fresh. Despite the fact that she knew it would do no good, she felt as if she should return to the bath. Instead she brushed her teeth again.

At one o'clock, she was sitting on the terrace at the Trellis, waiting for Anne. She had no distinct memories of how she got there, having dressed and driven with little conscious thought. She pushed her glass of white wine back and forth, and nibbled out of habit rather than hunger on the Irish soda bread. Five minutes later, Anne arrived.

Anne sat opposite Lucy at the table. As their eyes met, Anne's face turned red. Lucy felt her own face heat up. Anne spoke tentatively, "Hi, Lucy. Are we still friends?"

"Of course we are, Anne, but I need to know what's going on."

Just then, the waiter arrived, and the intensity of the moment was shattered by his query as to whether Anne wanted a drink. The two friends embraced the mundane task of ordering as a welcome delay before they returned to face their uncertainties and wariness of each other. When he had gone, Anne spoke.

"You sort of got caught up with me and my lover," said Anne.

"But you and Charles..."

"I love Charles, Lucy. This was just something that got out of hand. I don't want to hurt Charles. I just couldn't stop myself."

"Is he blackmailing you? Threatening you? I've never seen you like that."

"It is kinda different from the 'Let's make Anne chairman of the fundraiser' image, isn't it," Anne smiled. "I think that's why it was so seductive. With Wade, he takes charge. He commands me, no discussion, nothing to think about. I can do things with him that I don't think I could do with Charles because I don't have to worry what he will think of me.... Like with you." The last was delivered in a very small voice.

"Oh God, Anne," said Lucy, distressed, "are we gay somehow?" Lucy's face got red again. "I came when you were... you know." An even smaller voice. "I don't think so, Lucy. It's him. It's Wade. He makes me want to give myself to him, makes me want what he wants. You felt it too, didn't you?"

"God, yes! I felt him like a hand in my brain, pushing me. And I wanted to be pushed. I thought I was going crazy!"

"I'm sorry I got you into this," said Anne, head down. "It was a mistake. He's going to break it off. I guess he's beginning to get bored with me. But I could hear that old fascination in his voice when he called out to you. I just wanted to make it last a little longer. I'm sorry."

"I don't blame you, Anne. Nobody made me stay. I hate to admit it, but I wanted to stay. I wanted to see. I wanted you to see. I've never done anything wild in my life."

Lucy turned her head from Anne, looked away, and spoke, "That's what makes me feel so bad. I chose to do it. I betrayed Fergus' trust. But I'm afraid I'd do worse, if I go back. I won't, you know? Watch again, I mean."