Summer Surprise Pt. 03

Ben snickered. "I have to admit that was more fun than vaseline on the doorknob."

There was another knock on the door and Chloe said, "Pizza's here. Babs, you may want to put your shirt on again before I open the door."

Barbara replaced her shirt and Chloe opened the door and took possession of the four pizzas. "Pay the man, Marty. You still have the credit card." When Marty turned around, he still had a large bulge in his pants. "Ignore the erection," Chloe told the delivery driver. "He's just happy the pizza is here."

The driver tried averted his eyes, which made it hard for Marty to hand him the card, so finally Marty handed the card to Chloe and headed for one of the bathrooms.

Dianne shouted after him, "You clean up any mess you make." Everyone laughed and Marty shot a bird back at them.

"You're right," Erin said. "Easy to tease and a lot of fun in the bargain."

They started to pass out pizza and Cokes. Marty came back seven minutes later sans erection.

Dianne noticed the lack and mentioned it to the others. "He's back and without the distraction this time."

"No help from any of you," Marty muttered, looking at Yolanda especially.

"I did tell you to ignore them. Don't blame me, you pervert."

Marty laughed. "I am a pervert. So what. Fuck you all."

"I'll thank you not to use that language around my wife and daughter," Ben said.

"I'm sorry about your wife, sir, but I bet Chloe was knee deep in this little plot."

"Not so much this time, Marty. This was all Erin and Barbara after they heard all about your little escapade during the camping trip."

Erin and Barbara waved while each biting into a slice of pizza.

"Ooh, Barbara. I just had the most wicked idea. What if I were to eat pepperoni off your pussy?" Erin said.

"Stop it," Marty said. "Pick on someone else for awhile."

"No one is as easy as you to pick on," Dianne said. "Have you ever wondered what Chloe, Monica, and I did when Matt was gone playing in away games?" She kissed Chloe, parting her lips when they kissed.

"Nothing. Matt said you've never been with a woman."

"How did that little topic of conversation come up?" Chloe asked, her arm around Dianne, stroking her waist.

"Locker room talk," Marty said.

"Did you think we'd tell Matt what we did when he was gone?" Dianne said, rubbing her body against Chloe. She kissed Chloe again, long and sensuous.

"It's happening again, Dianne," Erin said. "Marty has another boner. Good one."

"Fuck all of you," Marty said, stalking off to the bathroom again, with two slices of pizza.

"You're right," Erin said. "That boy is salivating thinking of two girls making out. Have you ever been with a girl, Dianne?"

"No, but I'll never tell Marty that. Let him keep guessing. I wonder what he'd do if he saw Yolanda making out with someone when he comes back."

"Probably want to join in," Yolanda said. "He'd probably stay hard for hours."

"Have you ever had the desire to be with a woman?" Erin asked Dianne.

Dianne glanced at Chloe's parents. This was a bit of an embarrassment. She could lie, but they were all grownups. Well, except for Marty maybe, but he was back in the bathroom again.

"I don't think it's possible to live with Chloe without at least thinking about it. She's attractive and a force of nature, but I didn't want to lose a place to stay over sex. Kind of like shitting where you eat."

Matt and Chloe's parents looked at her. "It was just a fleeting thought before we got together, Matt. I'm enjoying sex with you too much to think about Chloe now. I don't mess with good relationships."

"So it's not totally perverted for me to think about continuing my jest with Barbara for real?" Erin said.

"I wouldn't think so, but I don't think there's too much I would consider perverted between consenting adults. Chloe seems to enjoy being a lesbian. I suppose that means there's enjoyment to be had with another woman."

Erin took Barbara's hand in hers. "What do you say, Babs? My place when we leave here?"

"Hell, yes. I've had the hots for you since I joined the theater department."

"Just ducky," Chloe exclaimed, "my pain becomes a way for two other girls to hook up."

"I'm sorry," Erin said. "I didn't plan on this. It just sort of happened."

"I don't blame you, Erin, Barbara, or anyone here, really," Chloe said. "Life goes on. At least it goes on for everyone but me. It just sucks because I lost someone. Someone I don't know if I can ever replace. I'm driving myself to do this Memorial for Monica because it's a way to stay busy and not think. I imagine if I stop and let myself feel, I'll want to kill myself."

Mary Jane went up to her daughter and held her.

"Do you want to take a break, Chloe?"

"I can't. It's the only thing keeping me sane right now. I want to scream to the world that this is not fair. Killing Monica isn't fair. What they did to me isn't fair. Why would anyone do this?"

Chloe went back to the couch and started working again. Ben pulled Matt and Dianne close.

"Please, keep an eye on her. I'm worried," he whispered.

"We will, Ben, don't worry."

"Does she have any sleeping pills or anything?"

"Not that I know of," Dianne said. "Chloe doesn't use drugs.

"I guess she'll be okay before the memorial, but I'm less sure about after."

"She's got the play at the Community Theater which starts next week. That will keep her busy for another couple weeks," Matt said. "We'll make sure all her friends keep an eye on her. Then she's got the rest of the school year, exams, and what not. She'll be pretty busy whether she wants to be or not. We get her past the next couple months, I think she'll be fine."

"I hope you're right. She's our only child and I can't afford to lose her. I couldn't handle being as devastated as Monica's parents are."

"I promise we'll keep a real close eye on her," Dianne said. "She's actually sleeping with us." Ben looked at her sharply. "It's nothing sexual. Chloe doesn't want sex right now, it would feel like she's cheating on Monica, it's more that she just doesn't want to be alone at night. I understand what she's going through, the sense of loss and overwhelming loneliness. I was married to a man who was killed in Afghanistan. He'd been gone a long time before he died, so I'd kinda gotten used to sleeping alone again, but every time he deployed I missed him horribly."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Ben said. "I didn't know."

"You couldn't be expected to. We just met. We both care for Chloe a great deal. She's the best female friend I've ever had and she's the reason I met Matt."

"Here's five more lines," Chloe called out. "There's too much standing around and chit chatting. Where's Marty? I need to go over his role on Monday."

"Here," Marty said, eating another pizza slice. "What do you need?"

"Did you finally ditch that other boner? Good, sit here and I'll tell you what your role is. You're going to be one of the stars."

Marty sat down beside Chloe and listened, while Matt got the next five sets of lines to apply to the poster board.

******

Chloe joined them later that night again, sliding into their bed naked when they invited her in.

"Your parents are worried about you, Chloe. We told your Dad we'd look out for you." Dianne said, wrapping an arm around Chloe. "I told him you were spending the nights with us."

"What did he say to that?"

"He didn't say anything. I told him it wasn't for sex, just company as you didn't want to sleep alone. I think he's happy we're around to make sure you won't take a bottle of sleeping pills or something. You know, we all care a great deal for you, right?"

"I know."

"I promise it will get better at some point. I don't know when, but it will."

"It can't come fast enough."

Dianne kissed her cheek. "Every so often, we have to deal with a life fucking sucks moment. You got handed a big one."

Chloe cried softly for several minutes but eventually fell asleep.

Matt whispered in Dianne's ear, "I don't know if I could survive losing you."

Dianne turned her head so Matt could kiss her, still curled around Chloe after comforting her during her crying.

"I know I wouldn't survive losing a second person I love so much," she whispered back. "Hold me tight, Matt."

Matt nestled closer and they eventually dropped to sleep.

******

Matt had a test in the morning so he got up at six to do some last minute studying. He threw on some jockeys and a t-shirt to sit around in. He was glad that he and Dianne normally spent so much time cracking the books, because he hadn't had the opportunity to study since getting the news about Monica on Monday. Fortunately, this test wasn't in one of his harder classes and he felt he had a good grasp of the concepts being tested. For the next ninety minutes, he checked all his notes and reread the highlighted sections of his course book. Satisfied that he was as ready as he could be, he headed to the bedroom to get dressed for class.

With him out of the bed, Chloe and Dianne had ended up in a loose embrace as they slept. The top sheet only went up to their waists and they looked amazing naked together. Matt felt himself stiffen. Marty wasn't the only one who thought two naked ladies looked great together.

"Down boy," he told himself. "Save it for later."

The problem was, who knew when later would be. With Chloe in their bed every night and people invading the apartment every day, he wasn't getting nearly as much sex as he was used to. He considered making a pit stop in the bathroom like Marty had twice yesterday. Instead, he put on his jeans and shoes and then bent down to give Dianne a quick kiss on the shoulder before he headed to class.

When Dianne opened her eyes around eight, she found herself staring into Chloe's, who was watching her.

"Morning, Chloe," Dianne said, stretching.

"Morning." Chloe paused for a few moments watching Dianne work out the kinks. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"You can always ask."

"Was it true what you told everyone yesterday?"

"Which thing?"

"That you thought about having sex with me?"

"Never seriously, but the thought crossed my mind once or twice briefly. College is where you can explore those things and I have always been curious about sex with a woman, but it's not as if I had a burning curiosity because I've always been into boys. Besides, I needed you as a friend and roommate more than I wanted or needed sex. So if I was going to go there I would have been more inclined to explore with someone other than you, because I didn't want to be another girl on the Chloe discard pile. You were whipping through them pretty fast."

"Hmm. Too bad." Chloe turned onto her back, staring at the ceiling.

"What's too bad?"

"I hear you with Matt a lot and it seems you're a very passionate woman. I wouldn't have minded igniting some of that passion. Can't do it now. I couldn't possibly do that to Matt twice. That would make me the world's biggest shit."

"I found Matt and you found Monica. We were all happy for a short time. Unfortunately, happiness is quite fleeting. I've been exposed to the fleeting nature of it twice now, so I don't take it for granted anymore."

"More fleeting than I expected when I was making my plans for the future."

Dianne squeezed Chloe's hand.

"I'm up. Anything in particular you want for breakfast?" Dianne asked, getting out of bed.

"Not breakfast, exactly. Do we have anymore of that stew or chili Matt's mom and Ethel cooked up. It sounds great to me."

"I believe we have a little of both. You know what sounds good to me? A cheese omelet with lots of chili and more cheese spread over it."

"That does sound good. Maybe I'm getting some appetite back because that actually sounds great. I'll make the omelets if you grate the cheese and heat the chili."

"Done. I'll check with Ethel what time we need to be at the airport to catch the plane tomorrow."

Dianne threw on some clothes and got started on breakfast while Chloe went back to her room. When she had plenty of cheese grated and the chili heating on the stove, she called Ethel.

"What time do we have to be at the airport tomorrow, Ethel?"

"Eight-thirty. How many will be flying?"

"Seven. Matt's friends Marty and Yolanda want to go to the funeral with us. Will we all fit and how long is the flight?"

"The plane holds fifteen and the flight time is like twenty minutes, with about that long in the landing pattern at Milwaukee. Say an hour total from the time you climb on board until your feet touch the ground again."

"That fast?"

"Corporate jet, dear. About 550 miles per hour for a 175-mile flight. I'll have a limo waiting to take you to the funeral home once you land. I understand the memorial service will take between ninety minutes and two hours there, and perhaps an additional hour at the gravesite.

"After the funeral, around five, we're off to Madison, along with Matt's family and Monica's folks. Make sure you bring multiple changes of clothes, including formalwear for both the funeral and the Memorial, sleepwear, and a swimming suit because I have a nice heated pool. We can wash some clothes on Sunday if you need. We'll probably have a backyard barbecue on Sunday night. Monday, after the Memorial, you'll fly out around six and be back in time for a good night's sleep before classes start on Tuesday. Tell Chloe the Governor will be at the Memorial with a special announcement."

"Thank you so much, Ethel. You've been a God send."

"You're very welcome, Dianne. I look forward to seeing you again."

When Ethel hung up, Dianne told Chloe the Governor planned to be at the Memorial service and had some special announcement planned.

"I hope he isn't planning to turn it into some kind of political gobbledygook. Let's keep this about the victims of this violence and not some political nonsense about his reelection."

******

People started showing up again at nine. Erin and Barbara showed up together holding hands.

"What put that big, shit-eating grin on your face, Erin?" Chloe said. "As if I have to ask."

"Barbara," Erin admitted. "Who ever knew that a girl could be so much fun?"

Barbara and Chloe raised their hands, then Ben and Marty did too.

"Hey," Ben said, pulling Mary Jane in for a kiss, "I like girls. I've known girls were fun ever since I was a young man."

"Amen," Marty said. "I think it's crazy when anyone says they don't like girls." He kissed Yolanda. "So Erin, does this mean you're full on lesbian now or are you going to be a switch hitter?"

"I'll probably be a switch hitter, but perhaps I need to see how well my relationship with Babs develops before I make any rash judgements one way or the other."

"Why don't you seal it with a kiss," Marty said.

"Just so you get to go into the bathroom and whack off again?" Chloe said.

"I'd prefer if Yolanda went with me and no whacking off was involved," Marty said, grinning at his girlfriend.

Yolanda scrunched up her face and held her nose, saying, "Eww, man juice. Disgusting."

"That isn't what you said this morning," Marty said, grabbing his crotch.

Mary Jane said, "Things sure have changed since I was a young woman. I can't believe you talk this way amongst yourselves."

"Your parents probably said the same thing about you when you were growing up," Dianne said. "Heaven knows I heard it from my mother when I was in high school. I'm not sure why it makes so much difference. We all know we're having sex. It's no secret. I don't know why it can't be a topic of conversation like anything else. Matt's Mom admitted she jumped the gun on her honeymoon night and his eldest sister wasn't born two weeks premature. People were obviously having sex back then, they just didn't talk about it as much. They certainly couldn't admit they were gay. Even now, we see how risky it can be admitting it, but if you don't talk about it, things will never change. If people had been able to talk openly about their sexuality and come out fifty years ago, maybe Monica would be alive today. If we don't discuss it now, a hundred years from now, some idiot will crash his hover car into a crowd of protestors, destroying a lot more lives."

Chloe went over to and hugged Dianne. "Hear, hear," she said. "We're going to raise the bar on discussion. Time to get busy everyone. Ethel told us the plane is leaving for Milwaukee at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Be there or be left behind. Marty and Yolanda, this means you. Since you won't be coming back to La Crosse, you need to bring clothes for the funeral, the memorial, and for Sunday, including swim suits as there is a pool where we'll be staying. Martin, you can wear nice, clean athletic wear to the Memorial since you're going to be quite active.

"Barbara and Erin, you need to ride on the buses carrying the people who signed up to participate in the Memorial script. Hand out the poster board lines and have everyone practice their lines in accordance with the script a couple times on the way down to Madison. They can memorize their lines or just read them, I don't care. I don't need Oscar winning performances, but I do need honest ones. No laughing and treating this like a joke. It's no joke to me. If they aren't serious, give their lines to someone else. I won't be making any changes to that part of the script at all, but I may make other changes to what I say right up until we start. Some of it might depend on what the stadium people tell me can be done. I speak to them on Sunday to set their script.

"Erin, I need you to make sure the mannequin and all the other props make it onto the busses. We can't haul them all over Wisconsin. Marty can help you get them to your house. Ask for help if you need it to get them onto the bus.

"I only have ten more lines for the other actors, then we'll feed you again and you can go home. I want to thank each and every one of you for all the help and support you've given me for the last several days. I'd be a wreck now if not for all of you. You'll never know how much it has meant to me as words are not sufficient. Thank you."

Chloe went back to the couch, finishing up the last few lines for the other actors over the next ninety minutes. Matt got back and after changing into more comfortable clothes, helped with the rest. When everyone was done, Dianne ordered a couple buckets of chicken and fixins' from KFC. After everyone was fed, the younger folks left, leaving only Chloe's parents.

"Do you need us for anything else, honey?" Mary Jane asked.

Chloe gave her mother a big hug. "Nope. For now, you've done all you can. Why don't you do some sightseeing? You haven't been to this side of the state very often, and the drive along the Mississippi is quite lovely."

"Would you like to come with us, Chloe? You need to recharge too," Ben said.

"No thanks. It sounds nice, but I need to keep working on Monday's script. Plus, I need to think about what I'm going to say at Monica's funeral tomorrow. There's nothing more to help me with and I need to get this done."

"I'm sorry, Chloe, we weren't there for you when you came out," Mary Jane said. "I've never regretted anything as much in my life as I regret that. I'm glad we finally figured things out and got a chance to meet Monica. She was a special girl."

"You stepped up when I needed you. I forgive you."

"I wish there was nothing you had to forgive us for," Ben said. "Matt, Dianne, I'm glad you were here for her when we weren't. If either of you ever needs anything from us, don't hesitate to ask. We'll see everyone bright and early in the morning."

Matt and Dianne hugged both of them before they left.

Chloe hugged Matt and Dianne before disappearing in her room.

"We haven't been alone much since Monday," Matt said. "Any chance I can convince you into a little sex?"

"Won't take much convincing, Sanders. I'm as desperate as you."