The Jocasta Complex Pt. 03

Only then did she see Ally sitting at the end of the dining room table drinking her coffee. Although Ally looked up at her from her tablet, Lois ignored her and rushed toward the office, desperately looking for Dan. Again, Lois' hopes were dashed when she tried the door and found it locked. Lois quietly knocked on the door, speaking in a hushed tone, hoping Ally wouldn't be able to hear.

"Baby! Are you there?" whimpered Lois. "It's me baby. Please let me in! We need to talk! Oh PLEASE!"

"He wouldn't talk to me either," said Ally from across the room. "He seems to be in a sullen mood."

Ally got up from the dining room table and headed toward the kitchen.

"Let me get you a cup of coffee," said Ally as she walked, "and we can talk in the kitchen."

Ally's words were not so much an invitation as a directive, and Lois was feeling too vulnerable at the moment not to comply.

Lois sat at the kitchen counter and watched as Ally poured each of them a cup of coffee, pushing them across the counter and then coming around the corner to sit next to Lois.

"This started last night, didn't it?" asked Ally.

"Why do you say that?" asked Lois defensively.

"Because Dan didn't sleep with you," replied Ally. "I could see the light under his bedroom door."

"No, he didn't sleep with me," confessed Lois.

"Even though you begged him too," replied Ally.

"How do you―" started Lois.

"Because I could hear you crying and begging in the bathroom," answered Ally. "That's why I came out to look."

"Ally! What am I going to do?" sobbed Lois, before somberly adding, "What did I do last night, Ally―what did I say?"

"Well, you were getting the fucking of your life from Andy, for one," replied Ally evenly. "And you probably said some things you shouldn't have in the heat of passion."

"Merde!" groaned Lois. "I was afraid of that."

"Frankly, I'm surprised he could hear you," said Ally. "I was a lot closer to you than him, and I had to strain to hear anything."

"The mics," replied Lois sullenly.

"The mics?" asked Ally with a quizzical look on her face.

"Yeah, there were two powerful microphones on either side of the overhead camera," replied Lois dejectedly. "I'm sure they probably caught every word and every sigh. I looked up and saw them last night, but I didn't give them a second thought at the time. Bon sang!"

"Let me take a run at Dan," sighed Ally, "Let me see if I can help smooth things over. OK?"

"MERCI!" said Lois, squeezing Ally's hand. "I'm going to go take another shower and try to calm myself down. Thank you! ― By the way, where is everyone?"

"They're all down at the bunkhouse," replied Ally. "Sandy and Bree are fixing everyone pancakes for breakfast."

Lois nodded her head and took the side door from the kitchen toward the bedroom hallway and Ally poured a mug of coffee for Dan and headed toward the office.

~~~~~

"I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you, Dan," admonished Ally as she sat across the desk from Dan, shaking her head. They had already been talking for some time now.

Dan sat stoically across from Ally, taking his verbal beating.

"I heard what she said," replied Dan in a low, but determined voice. "I heard EVERYTHING she said!"

"SO WHAT!" snapped Ally. "She was in the heat of passion―WHICH, as I recall, was how you encouraged her to be! You're the one who told her to let loose―or did you forget that?"

"But―" Dan barely got the word out before Ally cut him off.

"BUT NOTHING―you knucklehead!" scolded Ally. "That girl loves you―WORSHIPS YOU! Grow the fuck up!"

Dan sat quietly for a couple of minutes across from Ally, obviously absorbing what she had been telling him for the past half hour. Finally Dan looked up sheepishly at Ally and began to speak.

"I fucked up, didn't I?" said Dan.

"Yeah, you did. Just like all of us do from time to time," replied Ally. "But it's fixable. Get your ass in there and make up."

"Now?" asked Dan, his voice incredulous.

"NOOO, LAST NIGHT!" sneered Ally sarcastically. "YES, RIGHT NOW! You damn young fool! ― And beside, make up sex is always great! Now get your ass out of here!"

~~~~~

"Who was that on the phone?" asked Josh as he walked into the office, surprised to see Ally behind the desk instead of Dan.

"Oh, I―I was just checking in with the office," replied Ally nervously.

"Is everything all right? You sound a little off," said Josh. "I thought your call was tomorrow."

"No, no I'm fine," replied Ally. "It's the Zoom call that's tomorrow. I was just checking in since I had a few minutes."

"Where are Dan and Lois?" asked Josh.

"I think they're in the bedroom talking," said Ally.

"Talking?" replied Josh skeptically.

"Among other things," replied Ally. "We should leave them alone."

"Make up sex, huh?" said Josh.

"Why do you say that?" asked Ally, her voice curious.

"Because of her and Andy last night," replied Josh. "That's what everyone was talking about at breakfast―especially Andy!"

"Yeah, so let's let them kiss and make up," replied Ally. "She got caught up in the moment and probably said some things she shouldn't."

"Do you think!" said Josh sarcastically. "I can't blame Dan, if he got a little upset."

"How do you know what was said?" asked Ally, suspiciously.

"Andy gave us the blow by blow," said Josh. "Word for word!"

"The arrogant little bastard!" seethed Ally. "I don't like the way he turned out. It saddens me."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to feel the same way," agreed Josh. "He seems to have real issues with women. It's not enough for him to just enjoy the sex."

"I'm glad you can see that," replied Ally. "Have he and Mike―"

"Done their mothers?" said Josh, finishing Ally's question. "I don't think so―at least not in front of us."

"Done what in front of us?" asked Dan as he walked into the office.

"We were talking about―" Josh started to say.

"I was asking if Mike and Dan had done their mother's yet," interrupted Ally.

"I don't think so," said Dan. "If they had, they'd have bragged about it my now."

"Is Lois going to join us?" asked Ally. "Would you like me to make both of you breakfast?"

"She's not here," replied Dan.

"Not here?" asked Ally. "Where―"

"She left a note saying she went into town," replied Dan. "Said she'd be back later."

"Where have you―" Ally started to ask.

"Taking a shower," said Dan, replying to the unfinished question.

"I'll give her a call and see―" Ally started to say.

"She left her phone here," said Dan, answering Ally's question.

Turning to Josh, Ally asked him if he had eaten breakfast with the others.

"No, I thought―" said Josh before Ally interrupted him.

"Good, then I'll fix you two boys breakfast," said Ally warmly. "Come and talk to me while I fix us breakfast."

~~~~~

Thursday Afternoon / Day 7

It was after lunch by the time Lois returned. As she crested the hill, she could see everyone except Dan, Josh and Ally down on the pond platform lounging in the sun. Predictably, they were all naked.

When Lois came through the front door, Dan, Josh and Ally looked up as they sat chatting in front of the fireplace.

"Why aren't you all down at the pond with the others?" asked Lois, seemingly in good spirits.

"We've been waiting for you," replied Dan, his voice betraying his anxiety. He thought about asking her where she had been, but he thought better of it, deciding to leave it alone.

"Why don't you all head down and I'll join you in a few," said Lois smiling. "I could really use some sun. It's a beautiful day!"

"Sounds good," replied Ally, grabbing Josh's hand and pulling him to his feet. "Let's go get undressed and head down."

Dan trailed behind Lois and followed her into the bedroom.

"Aren't you going to go get undressed in your bedroom?" asked Lois probingly, trying to gauge where they were at, turning toward Dan as he followed her through the door.

"No, baby," replied Dan, his tone contrite, "I thought I'd get undressed in OUR bedroom."

"Does that mean you're going to sleep with me tonight?" asked Lois, her voice hopeful, as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Tonight and every night," replied Dan emphatically. "I'm so sorry, baby. I acted badly, foolishly. Please forgive me!"

"And I'm sorry too," sniffled Lois. "Sometimes when women get excited―sexually excited―they say things in the heat of passion that they don't really mean!"

"So, I'm forgiven?" asked Dan hopefully.

"Of course, MPD!" gushed Lois, emphasizing the letters 'M', 'P' and 'D' for effect. "Now get your butt down to the pond and I'll join you in a few! I've got some girl things to do."

Dan smiled. Lois hadn't used his nickname in years. At that moment, he found having her call him by her pet name for him very reassuring.

~~~~~

As Lois walked down the grassy hillside toward the pond, she saw that all the chaises were turned to face each other in a circle. The lone empty chaise was next to Dan, with Ally on the other side.

Sandy and Bree were on the opposite side of the circle, with the pond behind them. The other boys occupies the seats between them and on either side of them. Everyone looked up as Lois approached.

Ally looked back over her shoulder and was surprised to see that Lois was wearing a white lacey beach cover-up. She was particularly surprised since everyone else was naked.

Ally had to admit, with her matching wide-brimmed floppy hat, Lois looked absolutely stunning as her long slender tanned legs protruded from beneath the cover-up. Ally knew there was method to Lois' madness. Lois was going to make a show of slowly disrobing in front of everyone. Ally was in awe of Lois' ability to add to her allure by teasing men and playing on their imagination as she would slowly reveal herself.

Lois removed her floppy hat and hung it from the corner of the chaise. Then she removed her cover, making a show of lifting it off her shoulders as her breasts jutted out. Ally looked up and she immediately understood why Lois was putting on a show.

As Lois unfurled her towel onto the bottom of the chaise she bent over at the waist facing away from Ally, allowing the boys to get a good look at her breasts as they sexily swayed back and forth. Slowly, Lois circled the chaise smoothing out her towel, getting rid of the wrinkles.

Everyone got a good look at Lois' ass as she moved around the chaise toward Dan, eliciting curious smiles from everyone except Andy as she went who leaned over and whispered to his mother, who whispered her answer in return.

Once Lois had circled the chaise she paused in front of Dan, making sure she had his full attention. It was only then that she turned away from him and finished adjusting her beach towel.

When Lois stood upright, she looked back over her shoulder and was pleased to see that Dan was grinning broadly.

"You like, mon amour?" asked Lois sweetly with her thickest Québécois accent.

"Tout à fait! ― Very much so!" replied Dan.

Lois continued to stand in front of Dan, letting him get a close look at the tattoo that had been freshly etched into her flesh, directly above the cleft in her pert ass. Dan ran his index finger across the curved inch high script letter.

The French script letters were a light shade of blue and outlined in gold. On either side of the lettering were two small Fleur-de-lis, also highlighted with blue and gold.

"I get the 'Propriété de' part," said Josh, leaning over and whispering to Ally. "But what's the 'MPD" all about?"

"I haven't heard Lois call Dan 'MPD' since you were all very young," whispered Ally back, as she smiled at Josh. "It was her pet nickname for Dan ― MPD do your homework, MPD wash your hands, MPD time for bed."

"What does it mean?" whispered Josh. "Is it an acronym?"

"Yes, baby," replied Ally, as she exchange knowing smiles with Lois. "It stands for 'Mon petit Danny' ― 'My Little Danny'. To put it bluntly, the tramp stamp on Lois' ass says 'Propriété de MPD!' meaning 'Property of Dan!'"

"No wonder Andy is so red-faced over there," laughed Josh. "Lois is certainly putting the lie to his bullshit from this morning."

"He's an arrogant little bastard, baby," replied Ally as she looked over at Andy sitting next to his mother. 'If looks could kill', Ally thought to herself before turning to face Bree, who was sitting under a large beach umbrella to shield her lily white skin from the sun.

Ally's attention had been drawn to Bree when Bree's cellphone rang and she abruptly sat up, turning to sit on the edge of the chaise. Bree's carefree look changed to one of concern as she talked into the phone. As Bree hung up, Ally could see her wiping tears from her eyes.

Bree turned to her son and motioned with her head toward the bunkhouse, whispering to him. Within seconds both got up and headed back toward the bunkhouse without saying a word to anyone. Sandy and Lois exchanged looks and shrugs that told each another they didn't have a clue what that was all about.

Josh looked over at Ally, trying to gauge her reaction as she reclined back into her chaise. Ally put her oversized movie star sunglasses on before making eye contact with Josh. Her face became impenetrable, although a thin smile had briefly creased her face. The flicker of a smile told Josh everything he needed to know.

Everyone spent another hour sunning themselves before heading back to the house or bunkhouse. As Ally and Josh walked back up the hill together they watched as Bree and Andy loaded their things into her BMW.

By the time Josh and Ally reached the front porch, they looked back and saw that Sandy and Bree were sitting next to each other on the wooden bench in front of the bunkhouse. Bree was crying and Sandy had her arm around her.

"I wonder what that's all about," asked Josh, intuiting that Ally already knew the answer.

"I'm not sure," said Ally, seemingly unconcerned. "I'm sure Sandy will fill us in at dinner."

Ally had been careful to use the words 'I'm not sure' rather that 'I don't know', lest Josh later accuse her of being deceitful.

~~~~~

Thursday Evening / Day 7

Lois was in her element as she stood in the kitchen with Josh and Dan who helped her prepare dinner. She had a glow about her, and it wasn't because of her culinary pursuits. She and Dan had spent most of the afternoon in their bedroom having mind blowing makeup sex.

Josh and Ally had been able to hear them from their own bedroom next door as they had an afternooner themselves. Lois and Dan were still at it when Josh and Ally faded off for a nap.

As Lois and the two boys prepared dinner in the kitchen, Ally sat in the great room engrossed in conversation with Sandy, who had extricated herself from the boys attention to take a shower in one of the guest bathrooms. It also provided her with an opportunity to take a breather from the boys almost constant attention.

"Would you prefer to sleep up here?" asked Ally when Sandy returned after her shower. "You can have the other bedroom, if you like."

"That's probably a good idea, thank you," replied Sandy. "Once those boys get a whiff, they're like flies on pizza. Sometimes a girl needs some rest."

"So, what was up with Bree?" asked Ally after a few more minutes of general chitchat. "Why did she and Andy leave so suddenly? Was it because of Lois?"

"Oh, no! Not at all," said Sandy. "Bree's husband called her."

"What about?" asked Ally. "Is everything all right?"

"It was something about his company," replied Sandy, "something to do with the stock. She explained it, but I'm not good at that stuff."

"OK, but why did they have to go home?" pressed Ally.

"He told her they were in financial trouble," sighed Sandy. "Something about someone buying and selling a bunch of his stock and the price going down."

"Someone is shorting him," suggested Ally.

"Yeah, that's the word she used," agreed Sandy. "He told her that it looked like he was going to have to sell his company. Something about them not being liquid enough."

"That does sound serious," replied Ally.

"Yeah! Apparently so," agreed Sandy. "Serious enough they're going to have to pull Andy out of college and sell their house."

"That's really a shame," empathized Ally.

"There for the grace of God," replied Sandy. "I called my husband to ask him about it, since I don't really understand all that stuff. And he said someone took a run at his company too―but they backed off. Thank God!"

"Really?" said Ally, trying to sound surprised.

"Yeah," replied Sandy. "He said we were lucky―but AVU wasn't so lucky."

"Well, I'm glad it worked out for you, at least," replied Ally, squeezing Sandy's hand. "Did you explain all that to the other boys?"

"No. It really isn't any of their business," replied Sandy. "Bree sort of told me about it in confidence. Embarrassing―you know."

"Do you mind if I tell Josh?" asked Ally. "He seemed concerned. He was asking what was going on when he saw them packing their car."

"No, I don't think that's a problem," said Sandy. "Just tell him to keep it to himself."

"Are you going to tell Mike?" asked Ally.

"I think Andy already called him and told him," answered Sandy.

"How did he take it," asked Ally.

"He seemed OK," said Sandy. "He and Andy have been drifting apart anyway. He said Andy had become too much of a misogest, or something like that for his taste."

"You mean misogynist?" replied Ally.

"Yeah, that's it," said Sandy. "He said it meant 'woman hater' I think."

"That's too bad," said Ally, sounding sorrowful. "They were always so close. They were my bad boys, but I love them dearly."

"I know you do!" sighed Sandy, giving Ally a hug. "Maybe we should go see if we can help in the kitchen."

~~~~~

"So, what's cooking―Julia Child?" asked Sandy playfully as she and Ally entered the kitchen. "I can see you have your sous chefs hard at work."

"We're doing Italian tonight," replied Lois, looking up from the stainless steel pan she was stirring on the stovetop. "It's Dan's favorite pasta."

"Really? What's it called?" asked Ally as she sat down at the counter next to Sandy.

"Amatriciana," replied Lois. "Dan fell in love with it the summer we all went to Rome."

"What's in it?" asked Sandy.

"It's made with Italian pancetta bacon," replied Lois. "It's diced up and sauteed until it is brown and crispy. Then you spoon it out of the pan and into a bowl with a slotted spoon. Then you drain off most of the grease before deglazing some chopped up onions in the pan."

"That's starting to sound good already," said Sandy.

"Then you add the diced tomatoes and cook off the excess moisture before adding the pancetta back in. You serve it over spaghetti," continued Lois. As she spoke, she spooned out the pancetta and drained the pan, just as she described.

"OK, Dan, why don't you deglaze the onions," said Lois, turning to look at her son. "And Josh, be ready to do the tomatoes when the onions are ready."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Ally.

"Well, I suppose you could open the wine," said Lois. "They're standing over there on the counter."

"Something else I've never seen before," said Ally as she looked at the bottles. "Educate me."

"It's a Brunello di Montalcino Riserva," replied Lois. "It's from Tuscany, just like Chianti Classico, and made from the same grape, Sangiovese. All of the vines for this wine are at least twenty years old. As you can see, it's ten years old, so it's been aged and is ready to drink. That's why it is a Riserva."

"How many should I open?" asked Ally.

"Let's start with four, for now," replied Lois. "We can open the Frascati in the fridge right before we pour it."

"Frascati?" asked Ally questioningly.

"Yeah, it's the white to go with the appetizer," replied Lois. "Frascati is the local wine in Rome. Everybody drinks it like water. It's perfect to go with the bufala mozzarella."