The Love Affairs of Harmony Jones Ch. 07

"Boyd, my son! Looks like you've got a skittish filly!" Greer was already a little drunk, he slurred the words and his eyes floated around in his head like fish in a bowl. His hand landed heavily on Boyd's back, like a lion's paw swatting it's prey. He looked me up and down like an artwork appraiser and then said, "No matter, my boy. She's still rideable." Boyd gave a half-hearted snigger and mumbled something incoherent. I simply stood there, taking in what I could. I was sizing Greer up, just as he had done to me, but more discreetly. As Boyd and Greer chatted briefly about nothing, I tried to determine as much as I could from Greer's appearance and manner.

Greer was about fifty-five years old, but not a bad looking fifty. His skin was still taut from a life of leisure and a devotion to fitness, but he did have a bit of a belly now thanks to his fondness for booze and rich desserts. He had greyish blue eyes and a light tan. His overall looks suggested Germanic decent, probably his family had come to America before the Revolution, certainly before the Civil War. His hair was a salt and pepper gray, in a short hairstyle that reminded me of Clark Gable.

Usually when I saw him, he wore impeccable suits. This night, he was dressed as what I first thought was a Roman soldier or politician but I later realized was Mark Antony. He wore a scarlet Roman style tunic made from a sheet or tablecloth, armour made from tin cans that were spray painted gold, and his crown was made from foam that was painted gold. Also he wore gauntlets and shin pieces of painted foam, a scarlet and gold cape/cloak made from whatever his tunic was made of, and gladiator style sandals to finish it off. He was laughing, he seemed to be in a great mood. I was sure that I would have no trouble pleasing him if it came to that. But I was going to try and sabotage the situation as much as possible.

It took only seconds for me to take all this in, and I stood quietly as Boyd and Greer talked as if I wasn't there. Boyd had forgotten all his manners and made no attempt to bring me into the conversation, but even drunk as a skunk Greer knew his duty as a host. "Oh my darlin, I'm terribly sorry. We done left you out in the cold!" Greer pushed Boyd aside and took both my hands as I looked down at my feet, I said nothing and bit my lips. "What a lil' lady you are. You can be too polite ya'know!"

I looked straight into Greer's eyes and said as slowly and clearly as I could, "That's alright sir. I don't think I could carry on a conversation right now anyway. I've been standing here thinking about my bladder. I'm about to bust! Could you please tell me where I can find the nearest ladies room? In a minute I might lose all control and we'll have a puddle right here at my feet." I smiled widely and sweetly, as if I was completely ignorant of how inappropriate it was. I just knew that Greer would be shocked and disgusted and wouldn't want me after that. Of course I knew where the bathrooms were. I knew where everything was in Valhalla. But I was flying by the seat of my pants and couldn't think of anything better.

"Well honey, I'm not sure where it is but I'm about positive my wife does. Jestaminit and I'll fetch her. I don't believe ya'll've met." Greer didn't seem to be phased a bit. He trotted off in search of his wife, and as soon as he was out of earshot Boyd grabbed my arm.

As he pulled me roughly into a corner, Boyd hissed, "What the fucking fuck do you think you are doing?"

"Do you want me to sleep with him? I'm trying to repulse him little by little but without embarrassing us too much." I shook Boyd's hand off my arm. It was a little bit red and blotchy where he'd been gripping me.

Boyd looked me dead in the eye and through gritted teeth he said, "Don't, Harmony. Please. You can't get out this." Then he looked down and I could barely him when he spoke, "We can't win this way. Just stop now and let's just get through this so we can go home and forget about it."

"Why? I don't understand..." I wasn't able to finish my thought and Boyd couldn't answer. Greer had come back, his wife was following behind by several feet. She was stopping every few feet to greet people as she passed.

"Whyyoo hidin in this corner over here? Young lovers trysting already? So early in the night?" Greer was grinning at us with obvious porcelain veneers. For some strange reason I wondered what his teeth underneath looked like. As he leaned toward us I caught a whiff of wine on his breath and the failure of his deodorant. Boyd and I did not answer verbally, we only looked sheepishly at the ground. Now he leaned more in Boyd's direction but I felt his gaze burning through the crown of my head. "Ya'know you can't keep her to yourself forever. Not a pretty thing like that." He leaned back as his wife approached and beckoned towards her with one arm.

I knew she was his wife before we were introduced, partly because she was dressed as Cleopatra, and partly because she had been described to me by Boyd who had met her twice. He said that she was one of the most charming and "smooth" women he had ever met. One of those people who can never be awkward or out of place. One of those women who make women like myself, who are full of social anxieties and insecurities, feel disgusting and childish.

She was tall and slender in a runway model sort of way, almost no curves at all. She was much younger than Greer, in her early thirties. Her face was very European looking in bone structure with gigantic, wide-apart eyes. Her Cleopatra costume was made of sheer light blue chiffon, probably material from a curtain. It was draped over her in such a way that she was exposed from collarbones to just over the navel, where the fabric gathered at the waist. It flowed down her legs and made two slide splits and ended in a two-foot train in back. She wore jewelry made from various objects like bottlecaps, shells, beads, etc. One could see that over her nipples she wore gold pasties and she wore a gold bikini bottom under her dress as well. She wore gladiator sandals like Greer's, an armband with an asp, and a headpiece with an asp as well. To top it all off, she wore a short black wig with beaded braids just like one that Elizabeth Taylor wore in Cleopatra. It was a beautiful and imaginative costume, and she wore it very well.

Greer's arm encircled his wife, she stepped neatly into his half embrace and smiled at us with magnanimity. "This here's muhwife, Matilda. But tonight she's Cleopatra! I believe you've met Boyd before right hun?" Greer looked at Matilda who was his height. Close to six feet tall.

"Yes dear, I've had the pleasure on two occasions." Matilda was definitely sober. She probably hadn't had a sip of anything the whole night. She put out her hand for Boyd to take, which he did. She also didn't have a Southern accent like the rest of us. Her way of speaking was perfectly accentless. She could have been from anywhere. But her voice was low in a sultry way. She could read from the phone book and it would sound like sex.

He shook it gently, looked her in the eyes (a triumph, as I could barely tear mine away from her chest) and said, "It's great to see you again Matilda. I'd like to introduce my girlfriend, Harmony."

"I really like your costumes. Very creative." I said lamely. Matilda looked as if maybe she wasn't sure what to do with me yet.

Greer broke the ice with, "I wonder, dear, if you could show young Harmony the ladies room?" Matilda smiled at her husband but said nothing. She took my hand gently and inclined her head toward the back of room, indicating to me that I was to follow her. Once she saw that I was coming along, she let go of my hand and sashayed forward, leading with her hips like she was strutting down a runway.

She opened the door of the restroom and held it as I walked in. No one else was in there. She raised her eyebrows at me and gestured towards a stall. "Didn't you need to..."

"Ah... yeah..." I didn't. I somehow managed to squeeze out the tiniest trickle of piss though. When I came out of the stall Matilda was examining her makeup in the mirror. I had thought that she would leave. She stared at me with interest, the way a cat watches a caged bird, as I washed and dried my hands.

When I was finished, she said slowly, "I understand that the boys have made..." she paused and rolled her eyes, "an arrangement."

I was silent. I looked at the wall, the ceiling, the floor. I was afraid to meet her eyes.

"Regarding you." She said, matter-of-factly.

"Um..."

Matilda laughed softly, like a whisper. "No need to be embarrassed or shy. I allow these parties to happen after all. Some of my dearest friends have shared my husband's affections."

Was that supposed to make me feel better? "Uh..."

She cocked a hip and placed one hand on it. Her hipbones could probably filet fish. "Look, I can tell already that you don't even want to be here. My husband is too drunk to notice that. I don't know why you agreed to this and I don't want to know. It's none of my business. But if you are going to do it, you need to suck it up."

"I... I don't know what you-"

Matilda reached out and placed both her hands on my face, forcing me to look in her eyes. "Yes. You do. Put on a show. Do what he asks you to do. After he's had you once he won't want you again, so don't worry about this being a trend." She caressed my cheek with her back of her hand, then smacked it lightly and pushed me away with her fingertips. Perhaps, because of my heels, I staggered backwards a bit. I was a little shocked by much force she had while seeming to exert no energy whatsoever. Her face was absolutely passive.

"I never... I didn't." I massaged my cheek, which stung a little.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay", she said woodenly, like she didn't believe me. Or didn't care. "But you need to be careful. Do not let him see that you aren't into him. He wants you to want him. He's not a total monster. But things could go badly if you don't play along."

How was that supposed to help me? This bitch was stressing me out. "What does that even mean?"

She smiled and looked at the ceiling, shrugging her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. You worry about being cute and flirty and sweet, the rest will happen naturally." Then she grabbed my arm and shoved me out the bathroom door. "Get back to Boyd. I have guests to see to. I can't waste my time on you all night. If you need some courage, your drinks will be free all night long. I've already notified the bartenders to give you anything you want."

Before I could say a word or even react properly, she was off. I saw her waving down a woman dressed in duct tape with a fishing net thrown over her like a pashmina. As I headed back to where I'd left Boyd, I noticed that he was standing alone. Greer must have gone to talk to other people too. When I reached him, Boyd grabbed me and took me back to corner where we had tried to talk before.

"Um. How fucking long does it take to use the bathroom? What the hell were you doing in there?"

I gave Boyd a wide-eyed look to show him that he was being a little crazy. "It takes a while to get this get up off and on you know?"

He seemed to calm down, "Sorry. I'm sorry. I just can't take this."

"Let's get some more drinks, and dance a little okay? People are still warming up and nobody's acting too crazy. It's gonna be okay."

We ordered two more Crown and Cokes and headed downstairs to the underground level of Valhalla, I was curious to see how it was decked out for this party. The pool table was gone and a ton of couches and chairs had been placed down there with a lot of little tables holding bowls filled with condoms and single use lubricant packets. It was pretty tame down there, for an orgy. It was still early. People were grinding on each other and one girl was having her pussy eaten by some guy wearing nothing but a loincloth made from blue tarpaulin material.

After seeing that, Boyd turned to go back up the stairs, but I pushed his shoulder towards the dance floor. He gave me a wary look, but went with me. We couldn't get very close without messing up our clothes, but we managed to dance for a couple of songs. The alcohol was finally working its poisonous magic. I think if I'd been able to dance for one more song, I might have forgotten why I was there. But Greer found us. He approached us just as I had stopped caring about my costume and was trying to get close enough to Boyd to really feel him against me, I was smiling and laughing. But I got quiet when Greer came up to us.

"You don't mind if I cut in, do you Boyd?" It wasn't a question, Greer was already steering me away, Boyd was left alone before I had a chance to say anything. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him going to stand against a wall.

I tried as best I could to dance with Greer without seeming too interested for Boyd's sake, but not disinterested for Greer's sake. I tried to dance with my back to him, letting him feel my legs and butt, but he didn't seem to like that as much. He made me turn around to face him. I tried to focus on just dancing and not looking at him, the way I did in clubs when I didn't like the guys who would randomly come to me and try to grind on me. I kept my eyes closed, like I was really into the music. That didn't work either. Greer grabbed me around my waist, and caressed my back where my bustier had left a huge gap, and there was only ribbon. I was worried he'd untie me right there, but he didn't. Instead he leaned in and said, "You and I can't have all the fun tonight. We'll have to share, you know?"

My eyes opened and I was back in the moment with him. "What do you mean?" I smiled. Maybe I could act stupid.

"Well, poor Boyd brought you all the way here. We don't want him to be lonely." He paused and gave me a very deliberate look with a smile. "Do we?"

And of course I immediately felt like a selfish ass. I had never considered how he would feel, just sitting in the dark. People copulating in groups all around him. Waiting for Greer to be done with me. "No. We certainly don't." I sighed my last sentence. I'd have to share him, as he was sharing me.

Greer was no longer touching my back, now he was running his fingers through my hair, and all over my neck and collarbones. "You go find someone suitable for him to occupy his time with, then bring yourselves upstairs." We stopped dancing and he led me over to an unoccupied corner. He still held me close to him though, unwilling to be more than arm's length away from me.

"The lounge?" I asked shakily, I could barely breathe.

Greer kissed my right shoulder, and traced his tongue along my collarbone and stopped before reaching the small hollow of my neck. "No, honey. The VIP room."

"I'll meet you there." I detached myself from him, slowly.

I knew I couldn't get out of it by that point. I walked back to where I'd left Boyd and found him watching the couple we'd seen before. I stood apart from him, watching him watching them. I could tell he was aroused, I could see it through his paper pants. He held his drink down low in front of him, trying to conceal it. The situation had evolved, and now the guy who had been eating the chick had his cock halfway down her throat while another guy was fingering her and kissing her breasts. It was only a matter of time before everyone was doing the same. I walked up to Boyd and tapped him on the arm. I didn't say anything and neither did he. I just led him towards the exit.