My Graduate School Romance - Elena

When Lindsey came back about forty minutes later she said, "Sorry. That took a little longer than I thought it would."

I was a little concerned that more than sex was involved, "Lindsey, are you turning tricks or dealing drugs?"

She had this very funny look on her face, "Please don't give me shit. Look, I told you I'm a whore. I have two very nice older gents who pay me very well. He's one of them. I'm not a full-time whore, just part-time. I'd probably fuck them for free, but who am I to say 'no' to their money. Does that make you not like me?"

"No. I barely know you."

She came over and took my hands, "Elena, you need to know that I don't have any friends here. None. I came here to get my MBA. I'm taking the slow route, one course a semester. I work at a bank with a bunch of boring people. I would really like to get to know you and be your friend."

"I don't have any friends either. I'd like to get to know you too."

"You just need to forgive me sometimes. I don't know if you can be addicted to sex, but I'm probably addicted. That guy just fucked me for a half hour and I had a really nice orgasm, but you know what?"

I shook my head.

"I can't wait to cum again. I'm going to play music with you for the rest of this evening, but I hope I find a guy that will take me to his room when we're done and fuck me silly."

*****

Lindsey and I found out that we made beautiful music together. We never rehearsed and we figured it all out on the fly. She was absolutely gifted. If I needed a break singing, she'd play something that just came to her. Out of nowhere she would pull out a snippet of a classical piece she learned a decade ago and then just start improvising on it.

We had been doing that for about a year, when we were approached by Tony, the owner of Smith's Tavern. He asked if we could put together a band and play in his bar. Lindsey was adamant that the weekend was her time to play at the hotel and pick up men. Therefore, we could only play on Thursdays.

We talked and we decided we would need a rhythm section to make it work. She thought if we could find someone who could play lead guitar, then that might also be a good idea. We put an ad in both the school newspaper and in the local paper. We thought we would audition for one position at a time. First came drums. We probably auditioned twenty drummers. They were all pretty good, but they all had some disqualifying feature. We finally met a young man who was a junior majoring in biology. His name was Pete and he had two redeeming characteristics. First, he could play just about any style we wanted. Second, he didn't have anything that Lindsey or I thought would get in the way of his playing with us.

We had Pete sit in as we auditioned some bassists. We found a recent graduate named Richie. He had minored in music and was really into jazz. We told him we weren't going to play jazz, but he said he was cool with that.

Lindsey and I tossed around various names for the band and eventually we came up with Radio Renaissance. Sometime before we started Lindsey told me that if we were going to do this that I would have to be the leader. She didn't want any of that hassle.

We started playing and things worked out pretty well. After about a month we found a guitarist named Keith. He was scraggly looking, but he brought some serious chops with him. If I asked him to learn a lead part, he'd usually come back in a week or so and have it mastered.

Of course, Lindsey's sexuality started raising its ugly head. I found out she was having sex with Richie, Pete, and Keith on a regular basis.

Then one Saturday night in January I received a call from Lindsey. Could I come down to the police station and bail her out? What the hell?

She was my friend so I drove right down. She needed $1000 for bail. I asked what had happened and she wouldn't tell me. Well, I wasn't going to bail her out unless I knew what she'd been arrested for.

I started leaving and she yelled for me to come back. She was crying her eyes out. She'd been busted in a prostitution sting. I said I thought she only had two customers. No, she had branched out. The money was excellent, but the sex was mind blowing. She had about twenty regular tricks and she'd pick up a random guy if a regular wasn't around. One of those random johns was a cop. She'd pay me back on Monday.

I bailed her out and we went over to Denny's for something to eat. She was really concerned that if her boss at the bank found out she was a whore, she'd be fired. I suggested that she find some kind of rehab for sex addicts. She said she'd think about it.

When she went before the court a month later her lawyer got her off on a technicality. After that she stopped taking money, but she still kept up the sex work, giving it away for free.

In February, Richie said he had to find another band. He really wanted to play jazz and he didn't like what we were playing. As usual, we advertised for a bassist. The first couple we auditioned weren't very good. Then in March we found Katie. She was amazing, plus she could harmonize really well.

Having Katie in the band also changed the sexual dynamics a little. Lindsey had one less man to have sex with. She also changed our musical direction a bit. She could play anything I threw at her. She was a punk rocker and she brought a bit of an edge to our stage presence. Her boobs were as big as mine and she was popular with the guys in the audience. When she got into the music, she'd bounce and her breasts had trouble keeping time. I'd see guys just locked in on her chest. Nevertheless, she mostly avoided men. I never saw her with a guy. It wasn't because she was a lesbian, but rather she had some life goals she needed to reach first. She was working toward a doctorate in nursing and she wasn't going to let anything stand in her way.

*****

It was sometime in June that I decided that I had to try and help Lindsey with her sex addiction. In hindsight it was a stupid idea, but I instituted a 'no romance in the band' rule. When I made the announcement I looked directly at Lindsey. She was so pissed. The only thing the rule did was drive her sex with Pete and Keith into the shadows. Even still, she didn't do a very good job hiding it.

Katie and Keith asked me why I made the rule and I made up some nonsense that I didn't want us to be like Fleetwood Mac. Of course, I was trying to protect Lindsey. At every rehearsal, I would reemphasize the rule, but it just made Lindsey ignore me. Keith got quite upset and several times he let me know that he wasn't happy with it.

By August, he had quit the band. After a gig one night, Katie made the point that we were probably a better band without him. She had a good point. I asked Lindsey what she thought and she said that Keith had quit practicing a long time ago. He was just mailing it in.

I placed an ad in the paper and we auditioned about a dozen musicians. Well, some I wouldn't even call musicians. Some were just hackers who knew some cowboy chords. Then there were a couple of metal heads that just wanted to shred. Not exactly what we were looking for. I learned what questions to ask and I was able to eliminate many before they wasted our time. We were good without a guitarist, so I decided to be picky and find a good one that would last.

In early October I received a phone call from a man answering our ad. He said his name was Sean O'Brien. I asked my usual questions and for the first time in a while I thought I might have someone who could deliver. He said he had a lot of experience and his taste in music fit in with what we played. I told him to come by Smith's on Thursday and we could talk. I decided that if he passed that, I'd ask him to sit in.

*****

On Thursday, our gig started fairly well. I kept looking for someone who might be Sean. I never did ask him what he looked like. I saw one scraggly looking guy leaning on the bar. God, I hope that's not him. We were well into our first set when a tall gent came in and leaned against the wall. He seemed to be checking us out. Then a young woman came and jumped into his arms and they started sucking face. Probably not him.

We wrapped up the set and the tall guy came over. "Sean?"

"That's me."

I was wrong. I grabbed my bandmates before they wandered off and I introduced them to him.

I said, "Let's sit down. I need to rest my feet." I indicated an empty table in the corner. "How long have you been playing?"

"Since college. I started about 1979."

Oh my! How old is this guy? "Jesus, you don't look that old."

"I get that a lot. People tell me it's the red hair. The whole Richie Cunningham thing."

I had to laugh, "Did you bring a guitar? You could sit in with us during the next set."

"Sorry, I didn't."

I guess I didn't tell him to bring one. "If you want, I've got my backup guitar. It isn't very good. It's a Telecaster I picked up at a garage sale. I think it's made in Mexico."

"Let's give it a try."

Give it a try? Shit, this isn't going to work out. "I have some tabs of the music we play if you need it."

"That might be a good idea. My memory isn't what it used to be."

Oh I hope this set isn't a complete disaster. If it goes too badly, then just say 'thanks but no thanks'. "Let me get some water, then we'll set you up."

When I came back, Katie was ready. Pete had that freshly fucked look about him. That damn Lindsey. I showed Sean the Telecaster and he took charge. It looked like he knew what he was doing.

He asked, "Should I share your amp?"

"Sure. Just don't over power me."

He made sure he was tuned and tested the tone and volume of each pickup. This is promising. I showed him the set list and he found the tab for the first song. He gave me a thumbs up. Lindsey finally came strolling in.

I asked her, "Ready?"

"Let's go."

We started playing and initially I didn't hear anything like a Telecaster. Slowly the volume came up and I was able to hear what Sean was playing. Sounded great! By the third song, he was adding little fills here and there. Nice.

I decided to put him on the spot. "Do you know Tracy Chapman's Revolution?"

"Yeah. Good piece."

I took off my acoustic and handed it to him. He got this wide grin on his face.

I nodded to him and he started the opening riff. Someone yelled, "Go Sean! Go!" It was as if he'd been playing with us for a long time. I started singing. Things were going well. When I got to the "Don't you know you gotta run, run, run, run..." part I got shivers. Damn!

When he hit that last chord, I said to the audience, "Give it up for our newest band member, Sean O'Brien!"

A cheer went up. I looked over at Sean and he was just being cool. When he handed the acoustic back to me he gave me a little wink. The rest of the evening went really well. Was it perfect? No. But figuring the guy had never rehearsed with us, I was ecstatic.

I told Lindsey to let Sean know about rehearsals and I needed to find Tony.

Tony was back in the office. I told him that we just hired an excellent guitar player. I asked him for more money. He was hesitant, but I made the case that his liquor sales triple when we play. He agreed, but we had to start earlier. Good. We had a better deal. I did a quick calculation in my head, $70 a night. Certainly better than $56.

When I came out the place was crawling with cops. I saw Lindsey and Katie holding onto Sean and heading toward the door. His head was wrapped in a bandage.

I ran and found Rich, "What the hell happened?"

"Your new boy was defending that young lady over there from three guys that were assaulting her."

"Shit!"

"Hey! He did the right thing! He was in there first. He actually helped me out by stepping in. Lindsey and Katie are taking him in to get looked at. He's got a nice gash on his scalp."

I went over to the woman that Sean helped. She was holding her head. A woman with spiked hair was comforting her.

I said, "Hey are you doing okay?"

She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face, "My friend Sean tried to help me and he's bleeding like crazy."

"My friends are taking care of him. He'll be okay. How are you?"

"Horrible. It's all my shitty boyfriend's fault."

"What happened?"

"He told his buddies they could feel me up for my birthday. What an asshole! I never want to see him again in my life."

My heart went out to her, "But are YOU okay?"

She nodded, "I'm okay. I just feel like an idiot."

The woman with the spiky hair said, "Come on Astrid. Let's get you home."

*****

All the next day I kept thinking about Sean. I wish I had seen what he did. I knew he had only been in town a couple of months, he certainly didn't know that young woman very well. That took some guts to stand up for her. What was her name? Astrid.

What was it about Sean? Was it because he was older? No. Confidence? Maybe that was it. He definitely had a quiet confidence about him. He seemed to be a straight shooter. He also seemed to know where he was going, or at least where he wanted to go. He was handsome, but not in a pretty boy way. His red hair made him look a lot younger than he did. What did he say? The Richie Cunningham thing. Maybe that was it. But on Happy Days Richie was kind of a pretty boy. Sean looked like he'd seen some rough times. Rugged. That it. He looked rugged. Rugged good looks. Elly, you are going to need to figure out a way to get to know him.

When I woke up on Sunday morning I started thinking about what I would wear to rehearsal that night. It had to be something casual, but sexy. A dress seemed out of the question. Tight jeans. Yes, the ones that were stretchy and showed off your ass.

I selected a white blouse with neckline that came down to my cleavage. I wore a thin bra with it. Then just before I was going to go out the door, I decided to use everything I had. I stripped off my bra and went with a plain white t-shirt. I looked in the mirror and my nipples were already hard. Sean has got to like this look.

When I arrived at Lindsey's there was an unfamiliar car in her drive. That had to be Sean. Shit! Lindsey's already hitting on him. I wonder how he feels about redheads being a redhead himself. The woman is definitely sexy and she oozes lust. Plus, she is a practicing, albeit unpaid whore.

As I was getting out I saw Lindsey at the door. When I got closer it looked like her lips were moist. She's already been kissing him.

I had to smile, "Lindsey have you been hitting on Sean already?"

"He just got here. I didn't have a chance. Doesn't mean I wouldn't want to."

I walked into the garage and there he was, "Sean, it's so good to see you."

I heard Pete and Katie drive up, "We need to help Pete with his drums. Just carry them in. He'll set up."

The three of us walked out to the cars to carry stuff in. I grabbed my guitar case. As Katie got out of her car I noticed that she had gone braless as well. I looked at Lindsey. Well for right now she had a bra. I wonder how long that will last.

Katie called out, "Sean, how's your head?'

"Mending nicely."

When we had all the equipment in the garage, Lindsey disappeared for a moment and came back with her nipples adding some geography to her t-shirt.

When everyone was ready I said, "I talked with Tony. His beer sales go through the roof when we play. He's going to increase our pay to $375 a gig. We'll each get seventy bucks a night. He wants us to start an hour earlier though."

Sean asked about the particulars and I explained them. Then it dawned on me, six hours was a lot of singing. "Sean can you sing?"

"Sure."

"Good. Lindsey we'll get you more mike time as well. Katie, I know you aren't a fan of leading. Think about pieces you can do well and bring them back tomorrow night. Any questions?"

Katie raised her hand, "Right now we have about four or five hours' worth of material. We'll probably have to repeat some songs until we expand our repertoire."

I nodded, "Good point. We'll see how things go tonight and tomorrow. We may need to meet an extra time or two to get stuff ready. Anything else?"

Everyone was shaking their heads.

I said, "Okay. Let's get started."

As we played, I watched Sean to see if he would be checking out our feminine charms. He rarely looked at us. At least when he looked at me, he looked me in the eye. I'm sure he looked at my boobs, but not very much. Pete on the other hand looked like he had died and gone to heaven. He stood up to stretch at one point and he was sporting a nice bulge in his pants.

Sean must have practiced since Thursday because his playing was even better. Having him in the band was going to work out really well.

Despite having the garage door open, we all were sweating. Katie looked like she was in a wet t-shirt contest. She left nothing to the imagination, her nipples clearly visible through her shirt. I looked down, and while I was sweating, at least my nipples weren't wet.

After about three hours everyone looked beat so I called it a night.

I took our new guitarist aside, "Sean, you are really good."

He locked in on my eyes. Such a lovely shade of blue, "A bit out of shape."

"I have to apologize to you."

"Apologize? For what?"

"The three of us gals didn't come across as very professional."

He gave me a quizzical look.

"I'm sure you noticed, but none of us wore a bra. Well, Lindsey had one, but lost it when she saw Katie and me. I noticed how you didn't want to look at us while we were playing."

"Elena, no offense, but the three of you are gorgeous. If had looked at any of you, I'd have lost my concentration."

"Exactly. You were a perfect gentleman and the consummate professional. I'm sorry we put temptation in your way. I notice how you are still making an effort not to look at my boobs right now."

"Wouldn't be very respectful."

I looked over my shoulder to see if we were alone. I threw my arms around him and kissed him. I pressed my boobs into his chest. Sparks shot down my spine. Damn that's nice. What the hell are you doing Elly?

I let go of him, "I have a rule that we can't have any romantic relationships in the band. Doesn't mean I can't show my appreciation every once in a while. Thanks for being a gentleman."

"You're welcome. Might I make an observation? Well two."

"Sure."

"First, your no romance rule. People can have sex without it being romantic."

I laughed, "Lindsey's already hit on you I see."

"She just kissed me."

"Let me think about it. I think sex without commitment is fine. I just don't want any romances in the band. Think about how that screwed up Fleetwood Mac. What's your second idea?"

Sean said, "If you want to increase beer sales even more, the three of you might want to consider wearing similar outfits that you wore tonight to a gig."

No way. "Sean, to be perfectly honest, I only wanted to be attractive to you. I don't want to turn us into a musical version of Hooters. If we were to go braless on stage, it would feel like I was prostituting myself and my bandmates. I know sex sells, but I'd prefer not to be a part of it."

"Good point."

When I got home that night I sent Lindsey and Katie a group text: All three of us need to dress more appropriately. No more going braless to impress Sean.

*****

On Monday evening, Sean brought seven new pieces and Lindsey two. I was a little irritated that Lindsey didn't bring more. She was such a talented musician and I knew she was capable of a lot more. Plus, I knew she could sing!

I had no doubt that the band would pull the new songs together quickly and they didn't disappoint. I was really impressed with Sean's voice. He knew how to use the microphone to the best effect and didn't strain his voice. If the next gig went well, I thought I'd give him more of the singing load.