Sometimes Love is Not Enough

That certainly wasn't the response I had expected. I didn't even take time to think about my answer. "Nope, I have no desire to share you with anyone else. How about you? You want to share me with other women?"

"No, honey, that's something I wouldn't care to do. Besides, I think joining a group of swingers would be a very high-risk thing to do. If something like that were to become common knowledge, it would ruin my career."

She was right about that. She worked for the largest bank/investment group in the six-state area. Her position as vice-president in charge of human resources and public relations would be in serious jeopardy if she were to be involved in any kind of scandal. They even featured her in some of their TV and radio commercials.

Chapter 04

Janice picked Sue up at the bus depot Sunday morning and they were going to spend the day together. I got busy with the lawn mower and was about half done when Adam pulled into the drive on his bicycle. I shut the mower off and waited for him to speak.

"Hey, Jim, how's it going this morning?"

"I'm having a green day, Adam, a boring green day."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Ironic, ain't it? We fertilize it, water it and then complain because we have to cut it. Oh well, the nice pretty green lawns keep the girls happy. Here, have a beer, you look like you could use a break."

Adam was riding an old-time bicycle. One of those made back in the 50s. Large balloon tires, a large seat that was actually designed to be sat on and a wire basket fastened to the handlebars. The small cooler in the basket is where the beer came from. We walked over to the shade of a large maple and sat down on an iron bench that Janice had bought at some expensive antique store.

We each took a drink and then Adam got straight to the point. "So, Jim, have you and Janice considered my proposal?"

"Yes, Adam, we talked it over. We're going to decline your offer. It's a life-style we don't care to explore. However, we're flattered you asked us to join your group. Thanks for the offer."

"You're welcome. We're very careful about who we invite in."

"Just out of curiosity, would you mind explaining how it works? I mean, I'm sure you just don't pick a couple at random and ask them if they want to share their spouse with other people."

"Well, it's not complicated. Actually, it's pretty simple. We only ask couples that at least some of us have known for several months or longer. We then make an offer for them to join us and if they accept, we conduct a series of interviews with them. We talk to them separately and together. We are very careful about who we invite into our group. We want a couple that is curious about our life-style but has been afraid to try it because of the possibility of disease or other complications."

"I don't understand, Adam. If a couple wants to experiment with extramarital sex, and the possibility of disease is eliminated, what other complications could there be?"

Adam didn't answer right away. He took a swig of his beer, gazed off across the neighborhood, sighed, took another drink and then tried to explain.

"Jim, there's no big secret or anything like that but I would rather you didn't repeat anything we've talked about this afternoon, okay?"

"Okay, Adam, you have my word. I won't tell any tales out of school."

Thanks, I appreciate that. I'm going to use you and Janice as an example. You moved here about eight months ago. You don't have any kids. If you did, it wouldn't stop us from asking you but it would be something else to consider. You have been coming to our Friday night parties since you moved here. You are both very well behaved. You don't drink to excess. You seem to get along well with everyone here. Neither one of you have given any indication that you might be on the make, so to speak. You are both attractive. The clincher is that neither of you has shown any jealousy when your mate was dancing with someone else. Do you now understand why we asked you to join us?"

"I think so. If you don't mind my asking, what would have happened if we would have accepted?"

"Abby would have talked to Janice and I would have talked with you. The main thing we would want to be one hundred percent sure of is that neither of you were seeing someone else on the side. If one of you were, then the offer would have been withdrawn. And no, if one of you were having an affair, we wouldn't tattle to the other. We would warn the one having the affair about the danger of sexually transmitted diseases though."

"Okay, then what?"

"Both of you would have to visit a doctor and be tested for STDs. Once that was out of the way, we would sit down with you and explain a list of rules. The first rule is that you must stay within the group for sex. The second rule is that you must attend parties as a couple. One can't stay home with the kids or be on the road. This helps to keep things even for both partners. There's several other rules but those are the two most important."

"Sounds to me like you have everything pretty well organized. You ever had to kick anyone out of the group?"

"No, we've had two couples move away and the male member of one couple was killed in a traffic accident. The widow still comes to our regular parties but since she no longer has a partner, she doesn't attend the sex parties. That's another of our rules; no singles allowed."

"That's all very interesting, Adam. Thank you for your honesty."

"You're welcome, Jim. The main reason I stopped by this morning was to be sure there weren't any hard feelings. We would like for you and Janice to continue coming to our Friday night parties. They are strictly on the up-and-up, no sex allowed."

"Well, there is one thing we're upset about. We've got a nice pool and patio, so why can't we have the group here next Friday?"

"It's a date, Jim, I'll let everyone know."

"Tell me, Adam, how many of the Friday group are members of the swing club?"

"Just Brent and Beth. I promise, they will always be on their best behavior."

"One last thing, if you don't mind, is there anyone else in the Friday group that you're thinking about asking to join your little club?"

"No, you were the only couple we were interested in."

"Okay, Adam, we'll see everyone here at six sharp. Don't be late." Chapter 05

Things have gone down hill for the past couple of weeks. The bank/investment group Janice works for has been entertaining several large investors. If they are successful, it will mean millions to the bank. They've been running her ragged trying to schedule meetings and entertainment. Her days have been hectic and long.

Our love life appears to be on hold. What little time we have at home has been taken up by Janice's sister, Sue. She's ten years older than we are but being kicked out of her home has her behaving like a homesick child. We know she needs someone to talk with but we really haven't had the time. She kinda made friends with Abby at last Friday's party. That helps keep her busy during the day, but she's here every night. She sits up till all hours and reads or watches TV.

It's been hectic at my work too. We won the structural design and general contract on a very large one-year project this week. The first thing my boss did was ask me to move there to oversee things. That's a thousand miles away. I told him no, and the good thing is I have the seniority to turn it down. He just laughed and said he had to ask me before he forced it on someone else.

Our sex life is about to pick up. Janice wasn't able to rent us a room due to two large conventions in town but her bank keeps a suite permanently rented for visiting investors. We used it during the noon hour last Tuesday. I seem to remember it had a small living room, a kitchenette, a writing desk, a large bathroom and two large bedrooms with king sized beds.

Lust was even better today. Janice was hotter than a firecracker and I really lit her fuse. We had to go between ten and eleven this morning because she had a VIP lunch scheduled with a large potential investor today. She seems to think he will sign the papers giving her bank all of his business this afternoon. At a little over one hundred and twenty million dollars, he will be the third largest private investor at her bank.

I had been wearing a smile that wouldn't go away for the two hours since I left Janice at eleven o'clock. My secretary came in with the afternoon mail, dropped it on my desk, winked at me with a knowing grin and returned to her office. Ah well, keeping secrets from Maggie, my secretary since I had started working here, was impossible. I didn't even try anymore.

I reached into my right hand pants pocket for my small pocketknife to open the mail with and, 'Oh shit!' It wasn't there. I immediately stood and looked around my chair. I couldn't loose that knife, I just couldn't. It had belonged to my Grandfather and it was the only memento of him I had. I was in high school when he died and I still missed him.

I had a short panic attack and then remembered it had been in my pocket when Janice removed my pants at the suite. It must have fallen out when I got dressed after our hour of lust. I didn't even slow down as I passed Maggie's desk. I just said I would be back in less than an hour and took the stairs two at a time on my way out of the building.

It was a short, fast trip through traffic to the hotel. I only got honked at twice. I didn't want to take a chance on room service finding that knife and then loosing it somewhere in the shuffle. I parked and ran down the hall to the room. Thank goodness Janice had given me a key.

I opened the door and there it was, lying on the floor right beside the small writing desk. I picked it up and smiled, remembering Granddad. It was at that moment my life changed, forever. One moment it's a nice pleasant sunny day and the next moment it's a dark cold night.

Lying on the floor within three feet of where I found my knife was a man's silk shirt and a tie. A very expensive looking suit jacket was draped over the back of the couch. Next to the man's jacket was a woman's jacket. There was a silk blouse lying on the coffee table. Two pairs of shoes, one pair male and one pair female, were carelessly lying on the floor of the small living room. A pair of trousers and a skirt was on the floor at the beginning of the short hall. A bra, panties and silk shorts led right to the end of the hall where the three doors were. I wondered where the silk stockings and garter belt were.

I wasn't sure just how expensive the male clothes were but if I were a betting man, which I'm not, I'd bet they cost more than the average American made in a month. I did know exactly how much the female clothes cost. Female suit jacket, medium blue, five seventy-five; skirt, medium blue, four sixty-five; Silk blouse, dark pink, two ninety-five; garter belt, pink, one twenty; silk stockings, black, one eighty; silk bra and panty set, pink, one thirty-five; and three inch high-heeled shoes, black, three forty-five. Sitting in the middle of the small kitchen table was a leather handbag, custom hand tooled, nine hundred. I knew what the cost of each item was because the credit card statement was lying on the upper right corner of my desk at home. That was me alright. Mister numbers. That's why I excelled at my job. I never forgot numbers. I liked working with numbers.

The center door at the end of the hall led into the bathroom; it was wide open. The door on the right went to a bedroom; the one Janice and I had used between ten and eleven this morning. It was wide open and the room, bed all messed up, was empty. The door on the left was wide open too. That was the bedroom we didn't use this morning between ten and eleven. It was definitely in use now though. Janice was on her back, legs obscenely spread, feet waving in the air. I now knew where the stockings and garter belt were. She hadn't bothered to take them off. He was holding her by her heels and slamming his pelvis into hers.

He pulled out of my wife and told her to get on her hands and knees. He started banging into her again as soon as she was in position. It wasn't long before he was shouting about coming and she was moaning about doing the same thing. Yep, he was coming in her and I guess that meant his money, all one hundred twenty million of it would be coming into her bank. I recognized the son-of-a-bitch. His picture, wife and kids included, had been in the paper several times over the last few months.

His ass tightened up and quivered for a good half a minute. She just lay there with her head on the pillow, her ass in the air and moaned about how good it felt. That was funny. I always got more of a reaction out of her than that. He collapsed on top of her and they just lay there, panting heavily. I decided it was time to leave. I have no idea why they didn't see me. I had been standing right in the middle of the open door way for several minutes.

I picked her pretty pink panties up off the floor and moving the handbag aside, neatly spread them on the middle of the table. I removed my wedding ring and placed it on the center of her panties.

I remember gently closing the door behind me and walking down the hall. I remember driving, but I'm not sure where I went. At some point, I remember Maggie, faithful Maggie, holding my face in her hands and smiling at me. Bear was there, along with Maggie, and they moved me to a dark place. I liked Bear, we had something in common. He owned a bar located in the most dangerous part of the city. We both liked the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. We used to spend hours talking about it. Bear was my friend. What were he and Maggie doing together?

Chapter 06

I was in a dark fog, swimming in a dark fog, trying to get to the light. It was slow, oh so slow. The light eventually got brighter and I could make out black outlines on white paper. No, not paper, a ceiling, a white tile ceiling. The lines were blurry, then in focus, then blurry again. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, at least I think it was a few minutes and then when I opened my eyes again, the lines stayed in focus. Something was pounding on my head. No, something was pounding inside my head. I groaned and a voice beside me said, "Welcome back to the land of the living, Boss."

I groaned again and turned my head very slightly to the left. "Maggie, what are you doing in my bedroom?"

"I'm not in your bedroom, Boss. You're in mine."

I had to think about that for a minute. Why was I in her bedroom, in her bed. It had to be her bed, because it didn't smell like mine. It had a sweeter, feminine smell, like roses. Mine smelled like lilacs. It was more comfortable too. I groaned again, realizing I had another, more immediate problem.

"Need help to the bathroom, Boss?"

I tried to rise up but the little guy with the big hammer inside my head slammed it against something and I fell back in pain. I swam through the fog again and then Mike, Maggie's husband, was helping me up. 'Oh, shit!' I was in Maggie's bedroom, in her bed and her husband would now kill me. I couldn't even defend myself. My arms weren't working for some reason. Mike must have tied me up. I was a dead man. 'Oh, damn!' This couldn't get any worse. I was naked! Bare as the day I was born. It would be worse than death. Pain, lots of pain would be involved. I was sure of it.

I was getting sick. My stomach was now being churned by the brother of the little man inside my head. A bowl, a white bowl. Mike sat me on the white bowl. He held tightly to my shoulder with one hand and held a large blue plastic bucket in front of my face with the other hand. I simultaneously exploded at both ends. Damn, but I hurt. I think I would rather Mike beat on me. I doubled over in pain and continued to heave.

I woke up in Maggie's bed again. She was sitting in an easy chair, reading a magazine.

"Maggie, I'm sorry."

"That's quite alright, Boss. How do you feel?"

"Like hell. What happened"

"Well, I guess you were in pretty bad shape when you got to Bear's. You just staggered behind the bar, got a bottle and killed about half of it in one go. Then you started saying some very unkind things about Janice. They couldn't make too much sense out of what you were saying, and then...."

"Janice! Oh, damn! Damn her to hell!"

I rolled to my side, curled up and started crying my eyes out. It all came rushing back to me, flooding my mind with words and images of things I couldn't stand. Things I didn't want to remember. Things that couldn't happen but they did. Images of her on her back. Him sliding in and out of her. Her moaning "Fuck me." over and over. Remembrance of the sexy, squishy sounds still assaulted my ears as if it were happening right now. Her ass in the air, him behind her, slamming into her again and again. Him grunting. Her groaning. The final act of possession, ownership. I tried to blank it all out but it wouldn't go away.

At some point, Maggie had moved to the edge of the bed and sat there with her hand on my shoulder. Mike came in, shook his head in sympathy and left. I eventually cried myself out. I continued to lay there and whimper and that finally stopped. Maggie had been looking into my eyes and I guess she saw and understood. I came to terms with it. My eyes hardened and then focused intently into hers. She watched as I reviewed the situation, weighted the facts and came to a decision. It took all of half a minute. She later told me that chills went up and down her spine during that short span of time.

"Maggie, where's my clothes?"

"Filthy and need to go to the cleaners. You and Mike are close enough to the same size. I have jeans and a T-shirt right here waiting on you. You able to dress yourself?"

"You offering to help?"

She laughed, "That's the boss I've come to know and love. Thanks for the offer but I draw the line at dressing you. I'll send Mike in if you really need help."

"No thanks, Maggie, I'll manage."

I did manage, barely. I made it to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Maggie sat a cup of coffee in front of me. She studied me for a minute and then asked, "You feel like you can hold some food on your stomach?"

"I'll try something light, if it's convenient for you."

"One small bowl of Maggie's very extra special fine home-made beef stew coming up, Boss."

"Come on, Maggie, considering all that's happened, can't you call me by my name?"

"Nope. You're my boss. That means you get called Boss, or Mr. Carter. You decide."

"Okay, you win. By the way, what time is it?"

"Suppertime, Boss, here's your stew."

The stew was good. So was the small glass of milk that went with it. My body won the fight with my stomach. The food stayed down. The guy stirring my insides went away and three aspirins placated the little guy with the big hammer in my head. We drifted into the living room and I made myself comfortable in one of the large easy chairs. I let Mike pick first so I wouldn't take his favorite chair. Maggie got comfortable on the couch.

"Would one of you guys please tell me how big of an ass I made of myself yesterday?"

"Well, Boss, you flew through my office mumbling something about a pocket knife and you said you would be back in less than an hour. You didn't come back that afternoon but I didn't worry about you. I just figured you got tied up with some personal business and forgot to check in with me. Then Janice started calling me about three. She seemed really desperate to find you. She called about every fifteen minutes. I got worried and tried to chase you down.

"Mike and I got a call about two thirty this morning from some guy named Bear. He wanted us to come down to his bar and pick you up. He had a heck of a time convincing us to come down there. That part of town is dangerous after dark. You were drunk on your ass and totally unconscious. Bear told us you visited several bars before you got to his place. He said you were mumbling something about Janice being nothing but a whore for the bank. I guess you had a lot of nasty things to say about her. Anyhow, he helped us load you into the back seat of your car and Mike drove you here."