Mr. E. (Scaled Back)

Trent spent most of his morning packing up all of his last minute essentials and saying an emotional farewell to his parents, before hitting the road around 11:00 AM. It was about noon when Trent finally made it onto the express way and headed towards his new life in another state.

Throughout his college career Trent had dated several women, and bedded more than a few of them. Although he really cared for some of the ladies, his heart just wouldn't commit itself to any of them. In truth, several would have been good candidates for marriage, and there were a few he actually loved in his own way, but none of them seemed to compare with what he still felt for Becky. It came as a major blow when he read about her engagement through his online subscription of his hometown newspaper. Trent became rather depressed and completely cut himself off from any of his former friends, and only had the briefest contact with his parents for the remainder of his college enrollment. Upon graduation he spent the craziest and most trying time of his life in residency at a major hospital in the heart of Boston. It had been over a decade since he had left home, when a voice from his past suddenly called to request his return.

"Hello, is this Dr. Trent Hamilton," Asked the voice on the phone?

"Yes it is. To whom am I speaking with," He asked?

"Hi Trent, my name is Mandy Davis, but you may remember me as Mandy Tanner. I was a couple of years behind you in high school," She said.

"Of course I remember you Mandy, although I must admit that it has been a while. What can I do for you," Trent asked.

"Well, I am on the committee helping to organize your 10th year class reunion. We have arranged this event to coincide with a special celebration honoring Mrs. Miller, as she has recently been awarded teacher of the year by the National Teacher's Association. Since you were one of her best students, as well as being probably her most successful, we were hoping that you could be there to help present the award," Mandy explained.

"I don't know Mandy. I am pretty busy here, just finishing up my residency, and I am not sure that I could get the time off work to attend the event. When is it supposed to take place," He asked?

"We have booked the local hotel for the 15th of August. I must be honest with you. We have turned this into a kind of fund raiser, and there are going to be some very powerful people with deep pockets in attendance that evening. We are counting on some heavy donations to come in, and it may help loosen a few pocketbooks if they could see a success story like your's first hand," Mandy explained.

"So how much is this little evening of yours going to cost me," Trent asked trying to tease his former classmate a bit?

"Not a cent. If you'll agree to give a small speech and help present the award I will even wave the $25 a person attendance fee for you and your date" Mandy replied.

At the mention of a date Trent cringed slightly. He had actually just broken up with his latest girlfriend a week ago. The split really wasn't a painful one, as he never really fell in love with the woman. It was just yet another reminder that he was getting older and he still didn't have someone special to share his life with.

"Mandy, I was only teasing about the cost. I can easily afford the attendance fee, though I don't know about bringing a date. I recently broke up with my last girlfriend, and I might decide to come stag," He explained.

"So does that mean you are going to attend," She asked excitedly?

"Yes. If I can get the time off work I will be there. I haven't been home for a while now, and it would probably be a good time to visit the folks as well," Trent said to an ecstatic Mandy.

"Wonderful. I am going to pencil you in as an RSVP will attend. If for any reason you cannot get the time off please contact me as soon as possible, so that I can make other arrangements," She said.

Mandy left Trent with her contact information, and a brief description of how they wanted the award ceremony to commence. The speech was entirely up to his discretion. Due to the fact that he hadn't taken off any time since he started at the hospital, it wasn't too hard to convince his boss to grant him vacation time to attend the event. The speech wasn't a problem to write, as Trent really liked Mrs. Miller as a teacher, and greatly admired her dedication to her students. The only problem Trent had with attending the reunion was he would have to face his old demons. High school wasn't exactly the best time of his life, and he feared all those bad memories he had buried for so long would somehow find their way back to the surface.

The time for the reunion came a bit too quickly in Trent's mind. Although his parents were delighted to see him, and he was equally thrilled to be with them again, Trent still was apprehensive about seeing his former classmates again. He couldn't help but wonder about Becky and how her life turned out. Although he didn't recognize the name of her fiancée when he read it in the paper several years back, she must have broken it off with Tim to be marrying this guy. Trent had to wonder if she ever saw Tim for the cheater that he was.

Since Trent wasn't anywhere near ready to take a girl home to meet his folks, he decided to attend the event alone. Upon his arrival, Trent gave his name to the receptionist and was told that his attendance fee would be waved for the evening. Feeling guilty that Mandy took his little joke to heart he gave the girl a $100 bill and said that it was his donation for the fundraiser. Mandy was one of the first to spot him, and came over to give Trent last minute instructions on how the ceremony was to take place.

After she was finished, Trent mingled around for a while, listening to an endless array of who married whom, and oh by the way I have this pain in my ---, what do you think it could be. Trent had to smirk, as it seemed that whenever anybody found out he was a doctor, they would suddenly want some kind of free medical advice. He had just managed to escape from a couple of hypochondriacs, when he ran into Greg Stevens.

"Ha Greg, how are you doing man," Trent asked the former quarterback?

"I'm doing well. How have you been," He wanted to know.

"Oh I can't complain. I am just trying to finish up my residency, what about you," Trent wanted to know?

"Well I threw my knee out in college, and that basically ended my football career. I ended up graduating with a degree in education, and now I teach at our old school and I am also their head football coach there as well," Greg explained.

"Man I am sorry to hear about your knee," Trent said.

"Don't be. After the operation it really doesn't give me any problems, and although I was an OK player in college I never would have made it to the pros. I ended up getting a full ride scholarship out of the deal, I have a job I really enjoy, I get 3 months paid vacation every year, and now I get to yell at all of the players, instead of having somebody yell at me all of the time," Greg said smiling.

"Well, I still am sorry to hear about your knee, but I sure am glad everything seems to have worked out for you, Trent replied.

"Say listen man, if you're not too busy maybe you could go over my playbook and give me some pointers, you know for old time sake," Greg asked.

"Sorry Greg, but I haven't even thought about football plays in years. These days I am more into bandages than pigskins," Trent replied.

"I think it would be great if Mr. E. made a comeback," a voice behind him exclaimed!

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Stacey," Trent said turning towards his ex-lover.

"Hello Trent. It's great to see you again," Stacey said as she moved forward to embrace the young doctor with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Not knowing of their coupling, Greg was a bit surprised by her warm greeting of the ex-class nerd. He quickly shrugged it off thinking that it was just her response to his stature as a doctor and not to the closeness the two once shared. Greg quickly excused himself claiming that he needed to go and track down his wife.

"Hi Stacey, it's wonderful to see you again as well. I hope that life has been treating you OK since I left," He asked.

"Not too bad. I got married a couple years back. My husband is up at the bar getting us a drink. He will be back shortly," She said.

"So besides getting married, what have you been doing since high school," Trent asked?

"My husband and I run a local insurance company. Say if you're not happy with your current agent we can probably get you a great deal on malpractice insurance," Stacey said.

"Honey, we agreed not to talk about business tonight, remember," Asked the gentleman standing beside her?

"Oh great you're back," She exclaimed ignoring her husband's question!

"Trent Hamilton, I would like you to meet my husband Stan Walker," she said introducing the two men to each other.

"Great to meet you Stan," Trent said.

"So, Stacey tells me the two of you had quite a time back in high school," Stan questioned?

"Well we um," Trent sputtered as he was caught completely off guard by her husband's remark.

"Don't worry Trent, Stan is not the jealous type, are you honey," She asked her husband?

"Of course not, in fact I was wondering if you might have mentioned our little proposal to him," Stan asked.

"No, un I haven't really had a chance to do that yet," She replied a bit nervously.

"What proposal is that Stacey," Trent asked now curious?

"Well Stan and I have what you might call a bit of an open marriage. We don't cheat on each other, but we occasionally have people over for a bit of fun. As long as we have each other's consent in advance, we are pretty much open to most things. We are not into heavy BDSM, but a bit of bondage once in a while can be a big turn on. Stan is not into guys at all, but he loves to watch me get it on with other men, especially if they are well endowed. I like to watch him with his girlfriends, but if the lady is willing I also enjoy threesomes, and Stan seems to get off on that as well. I know we haven't seen each other in years, but I told Stan how much fun we had the day before you left, and we agreed that if the opportunity ever arose, we would invite you home for the evening," Stacey said while blushing a bit.

"Stacey, as much fun as that sounds, I am going to have to decline your offer," Trent said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you seeing someone," Stacey asked?

"Not at the moment, but I have one solid rule that I just won't break. Consent by the husband or not, I never knowingly do anything sexual with another man's wife. Please don't misunderstand. I am not a prude, nor do I look down on your lifestyle. I have other friends who have extended similar invitations. I told them what I am about to tell you now. I feel that everyone must live by the set of principles in which they believe. When you're single, experiments such as threesomes or orgies can be a lot of fun, as long as you play it safe and use the proper protection. Committed relationships in my opinion are far too complicated on their own without adding other sexual partners into the mix. I may be a bit old fashion, but to me marriage is for monogamy, and anyone that I choose to marry would have to believe the same way as I do on that matter," Trent explained.

I thought that you might feel that way, but with as much fun as we had the day before you left I had to at least make the offer. I hope that there are not any hard feelings," Stacey asked?

"Not on my part. I do have to say that you are definitely the hardest person I have ever had to turn down," Trent said in all honesty.

"Well I don't want to force you to go against your beliefs, but if you ever change your mind the offer is an open invitation," Stacey said with a smirk.

"I don't foresee that happening, but one never knows. Weak moments sometimes occur," Trent flirted.

Stan and Stacey left pretty quickly after that. Trent thought that they were probably a bit embarrassed that he turned them down. In truth, Trent didn't put too much stock in the survival of their marriage. He really didn't see himself as a prude, but there was no way he would ever share a wife, or even a serious girlfriend with another person. It just wasn't in him to do so.

Trent was just coming back from the bar with his drink when he heard someone call out "So the prodigal doctor returns," She said.

Turning towards the voice in back of him, Trent was faced with both his greatest aspiration and his worst nightmare all rolled up into one. Her hair was shorter, and had darkened some over the years, but nothing could take away from her raving beauty and the inner glow that was his heart's desire.

"Hello Becky, it's great to see you again, Trent said cautiously.

"It's really good to see you as well. How has life been treating you Trent," She asked?

"Pretty good, I am about to finish up my residency. After that I am not sure if I will stay on at Boston General, or I might even decide to go into private practice. What all have you been doing since high school," He asked though not sure he really wanted her to answer him completely.

"I got my associates degree from state, and then I was accepted to St. Andrews school of nursing. I am now a license RN at the local hospital here in town," she said.

"That's wonderful. I knew you had your heart set on becoming a nurse. I am so glad that you were able to fulfill your dream," he sincerely replied.

Yeah, it was a lot of hard work, and more than once I was tempted to throw in the towel. I stuck with it though, and now I am damn glad I did," she remarked.

"So is your husband with you tonight," he asked showing as little emotion as possible?

"Oh I'm not married. I did come close once, but it just didn't work out," she answered.

"I'm sorry. I read about your engagement through my online subscription to the local newspaper. I just assumed that I must have missed the actual announcement," he explained.

"That was quite a while ago. You must not be tapped into the local gossip," Becky remarked.

"Not really. I have a hard enough time keeping up with what's going on in Boston, let alone trying to stay up to date on what's happening around here," he replied.

"So, how about you," she asked?

"What about me," Trent wanted to know?

"Does the rich successful doctor have the preverbal wife and 2.5 kids," she asked?

"Innocent on all counts your honor. My last girlfriend couldn't stand the strain my career puts on my personal time. She kept accusing me of cheating on her while I was at work. The funny thing is that she turned out to be the one cheating after all. I found that out on one of those rare occasions when I could actually knock off early for the day. I came home and through her, her lover and my king size mattress straight out the front door. God I miss that mattress," Trent said trying to add a bit of humor to a situation that was anything but as far as he was concern.

"Your story sounds all too familiar, but at least your girlfriend was with a member of the opposite sex. My fiancée wasn't," she replied.

"You mean," Trent started to ask?

"Yep, Richard turned out to be gayer than a fruit basket," she said.

"Now, I really am sorry. I know it's not much of a consolation, but at least you did find out before the wedding," he replied.

"Can you believe he still wanted to go through with the wedding, even after I found out about him and his lover," she asked.

"You've got to be kidding, Trent asked bewildered at the mere prospect of such a thing?

"I'm serious. He said he was bisexual, and claimed he could stay faithful to me as a female partner, and still be with John, his male lover," she explained.

"What was your response to that," Trent wanted to know?

"I told him that this was not "Will and Grace" and he could take his lousy engagement ring and shove it up his boyfriends ass," Becky replied.

"Good for you. I know you deserve a whole lot better than that guy," Trent said using the term lightly.

"I think so too. First I pick a womanizer like Tim, and then I wind up with a guy who "plays for both teams". I guess my career is about the only really good thing I have going for me right now," she said.

"I know what you mean. I keep hoping that I meet the right woman someday, but if truth be known, I am just too busy to go out looking for her," Trent agreed.

"By the way, I owe you an apology," Becky told him.

"No you don't. That was a long time ago," Trent replied figuring she was referring to the argument they had over Tim.

"Yes I do," she stated firmly. "You were the only person, even among all of my so-called friends, to have the guts to warn me about Tim. Instead of thanking you for being honest with me, I accused you of lying and said some awful things I deeply regret," she told him.

"So how did you find out about him," Trent asked.

"Dory turned up pregnant. He; of course, claimed the kid wasn't his, until the DNA test proved otherwise. His parents made him do the right thing and marry her," Becky explained.

"Wow! So Tim and Dory are really married," He asked?

"They're divorced actually. It seems that Tim never did learn to keep his thing in his pants. She caught him cheating a little over a year ago now. I hear that she really took him to the cleaners in the divorce settlement," Becky said.

"Boy, I am going to have to try and make it home more often. I didn't know any of this," Trent exclaimed!

"Well that's the curse of living in a small town. Everybody knows everyone else's business," Becky said.

"I suppose so. Hey listen, I'm having a lot of fun catching up. How would you like to go get a cup of coffee with me after the banquet tonight," Trent asked?

"Aren't you going over to Stacey's house after the reunion," Becky wanted to know.

"What makes you think I would go over there," Trent hesitantly asked.

"She did invite you, right," she asked?

"Well yes, but I turned her down," he said blushing.

"Why? From what I heard she gave you quite a sendoff. I would have thought that you would want a repeat performance. I know she does," Becky said.

"She wasn't married then," Trent pointed out.

"That doesn't matter to her," Becky replied.

"Well it matters to me. I could never knowingly have sex with another man's wife, regardless of whether I had his permission or not. I believe that monogamy is the only way to be in a committed relationship. I couldn't live with anyone knowing they didn't feel exactly the same way as I do regarding that subject," Trent explained.

"By the way, how many other people know about that night anyway," Trent asked red-faced?

"I think that the only other person she told was her husband Stan. I didn't find out until years later. Ironically it was at my bachelorette party. Things were just winding down and all the other girls had already left. Stacey stayed to help clean up. The two of us were a little drunk that night, and the subject turned naturally to sex. We started talking about our wildest sexual encounters, and she told me about taking your virginity before you left town. She said that it was one of the most erotic experiences she has ever had. After finding out that you were coming back for the reunion, Stacey even invited me to join her, hoping that we could entice you to participate if you knew you were getting a shot at both of us," Becky told him.

"As much as I would have hated myself for doing so, I still would have declined her offer," Trent said.

"What if Stacey and Stan weren't married," She asked?

"That wouldn't matter. There is no way I could sit back and watch you have sex with another guy. I just couldn't do it," Trent exclaimed as he darted off to the men's room, leaving a stunned Becky to wonder what made him so upset!