Something New

The bar was quiet as it always was in the early afternoon because the after-work crowd hadn't yet come in for a little relaxation before heading home. Mandy met Janet there once or twice a month for a drink and to catch up on what was happening in their lives. They'd been friends since junior college even though their lives had taken different paths. They'd been meeting there for the past twenty-five years, since Janet had needed Mandy's advice that day.

Mandy had always been the adventurous one of the pair, the girl who wore the tightest blouses with no bra and shortest skirts, and the girl who always sat in the front row of the classroom and teased the male teachers with peeks up those short skirts. Mandy was the girl who boys flocked around because of her reputation for trying anything once, and the girl who'd taught Janet most of what she knew about sex.

Mandy had been married once, but it lasted only three years. After that, she didn't seem to be able to find the right man, but it wasn't because she had trouble attracting them. Mandy worked in a bank, and met lots of men there. They just never seemed to stick around long enough to propose. Janet thought that was probably because Mandy was a strong woman who wanted things her way and wasn't bashful about telling anybody what that way was. Mandy just said most men were assholes. Janet always wondered if Mandy really thought that, why she kept trying so hard to attract them.

Janet was a quiet girl who spent her time in junior college studying accounting. She was slender with small breasts, and was a little embarrassed by her figure. Her clothing reflected that embarrassment, and Janet did her best to blend in rather than show off. It surprised her when Bill, the son of a local contractor asked her out, and even more surprised six months later when her proposed.

Their lives had gone smoothly until Janet learned she was pregnant with Cindy. She hadn't thought much about Bill's waning interest in her over the months when she carried her daughter. The book her mother gave her said that was normal because husbands sometimes thought sex would hurt the baby.

After Cindy was born, Janet spent almost six months being exhausted. Between nursing Cindy at ungodly hours in the morning and trying to take care of the house, she hadn't really felt like doing anything but sleeping every chance she got. Bill didn't seem to mind, and Janet thought he was just trying to be understanding and let her rest. They started having sex again after that, but other than Sunday mornings, Bill always said it was too late or he was too tired.

Just after Cindy's first birthday, Janet learned about Jolene, the woman who did the accounting at Bill's construction company. Janet had stopped off at Bill's office one afternoon after she'd finished shopping to tell him her car was acting up. It wasn't unusual for the office to be empty. The engineers and supervisors were usually out on a job site somewhere on most afternoons. It also wasn't unusual for Bill's office door to be closed. He liked quiet when he worked and usually had the door shut. Always before, she'd just walked in when she wanted to see him.

Janet opened the door to Bill's office and stopped in her tracks. Jolene was laying on Bill's couch, naked with one leg hooked over the back. They didn't notice her for a few seconds because Jolene had her eyes closed and Bill had his face buried between her thighs. A little moan slipped from Jolene's open mouth when Bill pinched the long, rigid nipple on her small, soft right breast.

Janet heard the quiet, wet, slurping sounds as Bill licked away at Jolene, and gasped as Jolene cried out, lifted her hips off the couch and began to shudder. Jolene heard the sound, opened her eyes and saw Janet standing there, then shrieked and tried to cover herself. Bill looked up and turned pale. Janet just turned on her heel and ran out of the office.

The next morning she called Mandy and told her what had happened. Mandy suggested they meet at Phil's Tap that afternoon. Mandy was sitting at a table when Janet got there, and exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke when she waved at Janet. Janet sat down and ordered a club soda, then told Mandy the details.

"Mandy, he was...he was licking her...down there...and she liked it. Bill never tried that with me, but maybe I should have asked him to."

Mandy stubbed out her cigarette and patted Janet's arm.

"Honey, you've always been so naïve. Here's how it works. If he didn't want to do that with you on his own, is isn't your fault. Most men like it. I never had much use for the ones who don't. They all want the old flute played, but if they don't want to lick the kitty to say thank you, this girl isn't giving any repeat performances."

"I...I never... played his flute."

"No? Well, that's not your fault either. You're mother probably never did it or she'd have told you about it. Besides Janet, those aren't the reasons he decided to bed Jolene."

"Then what was?"

"Some men like the trip more than getting to where they're going. I've had men like that. Oh, they'll promise you the world to get in your panties, but once they're there, well, they've won the game and it's time to start a new one. I figure that's what happened to you."

"I don't know what to do."

"Well, if it was me, I'd kick his ass out and go find a lawyer, but you have Cindy to think about too. I think you ought to talk to Bill. Maybe I'm wrong and he'll come back to you. If he does, I think you should let him. Believe me, going through a divorce isn't much fun."

Their conversation that night had started as a fight that left Janet in tears, but ended with a relatively calm discussion. Bill had said he didn't love Jolene, but wouldn't stop seeing her. Janet asked where that left her. Bill said she could leave if she wanted, but it was fine with him if she stayed and things went on like always. His only condition was she would have to agree that each could do as they wished with other people. Because of Cindy, Janet agreed.

Bill continued his relationship with Jolene, and when Jolene quit, with Marilyn. After Marilyn, it was Judy, then a few others whose names Janet didn't know and really didn't want to know. She had Cindy, and that was enough...almost. She'd tried to find a man who would settle for being with her only for sex, but men always ran when they learned she was married with a daughter.

Cindy had figured out the relationship between Janet and Bill when she was sixteen. Just before she went away to college, Cindy had encouraged Janet to file for divorce. She said she loved them both, but hated seeing her mother so sad all the time. Bill didn't really object, and let her keep the house along with a substantial bank account instead of half of his contracting business like her lawyer asked for.

She'd gone back to school to become a real estate agent, and after a couple of years was doing quite well. There had been several men in her life once Cindy left home, and she'd slept with a couple, but after a few weeks, they'd stop calling. Nothing serious ever happened until she met Howard, an account manager at one of the banks she used to obtain loans for her clients.

They'd started dating, and after six months, Howard moved in with her. Janet was a little concerned that he renewed the lease on his apartment when the old one ran out, but Howard said he was just storing some things there that wouldn't fit in Janet's house.

It lasted a little over a year, and then their relationship began to cool. One Thursday, Mandy listened intently to Janet as she poured out her problem.

"I thought we were happy together. I like being with him and was hoping that one of these days he'd want to make it official. Then, last night, after we...well, before we went to sleep, he said he thought we should see other people."

Mandy shook her head, took a drag on her cigarette and then stubbed it out. After taking a long sip of her vodka collins, Mandy looked at Janet and smiled.

"Janet, If he's telling you that, you might as well find yourself another man."

"You really think so? Maybe he just wants us to be sure about each other before we go any further."

"How much further can you go than fucking him every night? Look, Honey, here's how it works. When a wimpy guy like Howard tells you that, it's as close as he's ever gonna get to saying he doesn't want to see you anymore."

Mandy sipped her drink again, wrinkled her nose, then took another sip.

"Damned bartender shorted me on the vodka. Don't suppose he'd fix it though. Anyway, guys like that think we'll cry or something if they say what they're really thinking. Lord knows I've heard it often enough."

"But I don't know anybody else. For the last year it's been just Howard and me. I'm forty-six with a grown daughter. It's not like guys are beating down my door."

Mandy looked down the cigarette she'd placed between her bright red lips and flicked the wheel on the lighter.

"You just need to change your life Honey."

She touched the flame to the end of the cigarette and inhaled, then blew a stream of smoke over Jane's head. She tossed the lighter on the table.

"Do something that's new for you. You'll feel like a new girl, and new girls find new guys. That's what I do when I get dumped."

"What do you do?"

"See my earrings? A new one for every asshole."

Jane smiled. Mandy had six earrings on her left ear and five on her right.

"Does it work?"

Mandy took a deep drag on the cigarette and exhaled through her smile.

"I've only had to use Bob for a couple weeks in the last ten years."

"Bob? Who's Bob."

"God, Honey, you've always been so naive. He's my battery operated boyfriend...you know...my toy...my vibrator...my dildo? Don't look shocked. You do it too. I know because I'm the one who showed you how. Thought I'd created a nympho at the time too."

"That's different. I don't use a...anything."

"Doesn't matter. We all pet the kitty, or whatever you call getting yourself off. Honey, you need to loosen up and let yourself have some fun."

"I don't want any more earrings."

Mandy sipped her drink again, then stubbed out the cigarette and lit another one.

"Well, do something else then. Get your hair cut. It's half way to your ass now anyway. Find yourself a nice doctor and get yourself a boob job. If you pump up those boobies like I did mine, guys'll be knocking each other down to talk to you. Then you can sort out the good ones and try them on for size."

Mandy smiled at Janet as she exhaled a stream of smoke.

"I like the one's with thick cocks best, but that's just me."

}{

The apartment was above a business called the Green Dragon. It wasn't much of an apartment really, but Janet's client was looking for something cheap and this apartment was about as cheap as they came in the city.

After he'd signed the contract and caught a cab, Jane started back to her car. The window of the Green Dragon caught her eye. The place was a tattoo parlor and there were pictures in the window of men and women with tattoos. There were other pictures, too, pictures of men and women with jewelry in places she would have never believed if she hadn't seen them.

The lip, nose, tongue and eyebrow piercings looked weird and made Janet cringe. What looked really beautiful to her was the picture of a woman's breast with a jeweled ring through the nipple. The ring somehow added mystery and sensuality to the picture. Maybe Mandy was right, and this would really be different for her. The shop seemed to be empty except for the muscular guy in a white T-shirt reading a magazine. Jane took a deep breath and walked in.

His smile was as captivating as his handshake was gentle.

Hi, I'm Tony. What can I help you with today?

"That picture in the window...the one of the girl with a ring in her...in her nipple...does it hurt to get those?"

"Some say it does, some say not. Depends on you, I suppose."

"If I decided to do it, when could you...I mean, do I have to make an appointment or something?

There was that smile again.

"There's no time like now."

Jane shook her head.

"I don't know if I'm that kind of person. I'm fort-...I'm not a young girl anymore."

"What's your name."

"Janet, Janet Haystings."

"Well, Janet, piercings aren't for the person you are. They're for the person you want to be. That make any sense?"

"You sound like Mandy."

"Well, Mandy knows what she's talking about. Wanna see how they'd look? Take off your top and I'll show you."

Tony grinned at the look on Janet's face.

"Don't be embarrassed. I'm like a doctor. I see so many, I don't really pay attention except to what I'm working on."

Jane was still embarrassed to death, but removed her blouse and slipped one bra strap off her shoulder so she could pull down the cup. She was shaking when Tony squeezed her breast and slipped the fake nipple ring over her nipple.

"Take a look. I think you'd look great with rings."

Janet stood in front of the full-length mirror and looked, then slipped the strap off her other shoulder and pulled that cup down too.

It surprised her, but he was right. The breast without the ring was just her breast, quite a bit larger than when she was young, and the weight and years had made it a little saggy. The breast with the ring made her look exotic in a way, but it did more than make her look good. It somehow made her feel...the feeling was confidence because she was deciding how her body looked rather than accepting it as is was.

"Can you do one today?"

"I can do both it that's what you want."

"Oh, I...I don't know about both. I'm not very good with pain. I think I try one and come back for the other later, if that's all right."

Tony was very gentle when he washed her nipple with the alcohol pad. His soft touch and the feeling of his latex gloves caused both nipples to swell. They stayed stiff and erect when he marked the location for the ring with a marker.

"Ok, sit up straight so I can make sure it won't look crooked."

She winced a little when Tony clamped on the forceps, and began to tremble when she saw him pick up the long lance and the cork.

"Ok, Janet. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. That's right... just...like..."

Jane felt the hot pain as the lance went through and whimpered.

"That. Wasn't too bad, was it?"

"No, I guess not."

"I'm going to put in a barbell right now, because it'll go in easier and will be easier for you to keep clean. Once it heals, you can put in the fancy jewelry."

Tony slipped the end of the barbell inside the lance and threaded them both back through Jane's nipple, then started the ball on the end. After tightening the ball, Tony spent a few minutes blotting the drops of blood from around the balls on each end of the barbell.

"OK, you're all done. See what you think."

She left the shop with a page of care instructions and Tony's request that she call him if anything didn't look right and come back in a week so he could check her. That night, Janet stood in front of her mirror and smiled. The barbell wasn't all that pretty, but the fact that she'd done it made her feel so powerful and erotic.

When she slipped under the sheet and turned out the light, she thought about what Bill or Howard would have said, then berated herself. They were part of the old, shy Janet. She wasn't going to be that person anymore. She was going to be more like Mandy, strong and free with herself. She wouldn't be quite as openly sexually, she thought. That would come when she knew a man better, but when she did, she'd...

Janet's thoughts drifted to Tony's hands on her breast, and how she'd felt a little tightening in her belly when he washed her nipple. That same thrill came back for an instant as she stroked a fingertip over the barbell, then became pain. Janet caught her breath at the pain, then stroked the other nipple. It didn't hurt, and she could imagine Tony touching that one. He'd lick it softly, and his tongue would make it stiffen and grow longer, just like that afternoon. He'd say something like, "I love your nipples", and then stroke the dimpled tip.

Janet's fingertips slipped down her tummy and under her panties.

Yes, Tony would stroke her nipple, then touch it with his tongue, and then his lips would close around it. With one hand, Janet gently squeezed her nipple, and with the other, slipped a fingertip between her soft, hair fringed lips. She smiled at the wet warmth there, then gasped as she slipped the fingertip up beside her clit.

Tony would do that too and maybe even...Janet knew she wouldn't stop him from doing anything he wanted, even if it was something she'd never done before. She tried to imagine how his tongue would feel if he licked her there. Her hips tightened and arched up slightly as her fingertip stroked over the tip of her clit. No, not exactly like that. Probably a softer touch. Janet squeezed her lips together and stroked them over her stiffening clit. Yes...more like this...so soft and slippery and...

The orgasm swept through Janet in waves of searing pleasure that made her cry out softly. Her thighs squeezed tight around her hand and she rolled to her side, but kept moving her lips over her clit. The spasm that sped from her knees to her shoulders made her body jerk hard. The next one made her jerk harder and made her gasp, then cry out again. A hard pinch on her nipple made Janet double up from the sensation that raced to her belly, and she cried out once more.

Little waves of pleasure continued to wash over Janet's body as she stretched out and sighed. If only Tony had been there, to fill her with his...with his...

"Cock" is what Mandy had said, and while the word had seemed a little crude when she'd said it, now it was erotic. Janet fell asleep wondering if his was thick like Mandy liked.

}{

Mandy was out of town that Thursday, and Janet was a little glad. She thought she liked the look of the piercing, but didn't want to say anything to Mandy until she was sure. Tony had said if she decided she didn't like it, she could just take out the barbell, so Janet decided she'd wait to tell Mandy what she'd done.

The week passed quickly, and Janet was excited when she walked into the Green Dragon. She'd looked in the mirror after her shower that morning, and decided to get the other nipple done too. Tony looked up from his magazine and grinned.

"Hi Janet. How's your piercing doing?"

Janet smiled.

"OK, I guess. It doesn't hurt or anything."

"Well, hop up on the table and let's take a look just to be sure."

Tony's hands were gentle as he moved the barbell around and made sure it would slide easily through the hole. He was gently squeezing Janet's breast to make sure there were no signs of infection when he chuckled.

"Janet, you're blushing."

"I'm sorry...it's just that...that one's really sensitive now, and I'm getting...well, you know."

"Sometimes it works that way. Pretty neat, huh?"

Janet sighed.

"It would be if I had someone to finish what you've started."

Tony turned the barbell again, then pushed one end up against her nipple.

"A sexy girl like you must have somebody who's just dying to. I would be."

Janet's mouth fell open and she quickly closed it again.

"You'd want to...with me?"

"Well, sure. You're a pretty sexy woman. I wouldn't be a man if I didn't."

Janet felt a stirring that made her a little afraid of what she might do if he was serious. She hardly knew the man and he'd probably think she was some sort of slut or something if she did what she was thinking. Fear of herself, more than anything, caused her to retreat back into the old Janet.

"I...I appreciate you for saying that, but...well, I don't think I'm ready...not yet. I just broke up with my boyfriend and -"