The Proposal Ch. 07

There are several long moments of silence, and then Rick speaks again. "You know who she reminds me of?" he says with a nod of his head in Teri's direction. When no one says anything he discreetly points a finger at Charlie, then turns it around and points it at Giselle. "I see parts of both of them in her."

"Thank you," Teri says quietly. "That may be the best compliment anyone has ever paid me."

Sal once again appears behind Charlie and Teri, looking over the decimated remains of their meal. "So, it was all good, yes?" he asks. "I have a fresh panforte for my special guest."

"Do you still have some of the Vin Santo in your cellar?" Giselle asks.

"Ah, I love a woman that knows her wines," Sal says. "Shall I bring a glass and a slice to each of you?" he asks hopefully.

"How about three slices, five glasses, and five forks?" Giselle suggests.

"Five thin slices," Sal declares with finality. "I won't have fighting in my restaurant over the last piece," Sal says, turning on his heel and leaving.

"What are we getting?" Teri asks as everyone chuckles.

"The panforte is kind of like an Italian fruit cake," Charlie says. "Trust me, you'll like it. The Vin Santo is a dessert wine?" Charlie asks Giselle.

"It's sunshine in a bottle," Giselle says dreamily. "Very sweet. It will contrast nicely with the sharpness of the panforte."

Sal is soon back, good as his word, with five finger width slices of a heavy looking fruit cake and glasses with a gleaming, gold liquid inside.

Teri takes a bite of the cake, her eyes opening wide at the flavor. "Wow, that has some kick," she says before taking a sip of the wine. Teri gently sets her glass on the table as she looks at it with something like awe.

"Giselle, would you be willing to teach me everything you know about wine? This is fantastic!" She takes another sip. "Liquid sunshine describes it perfectly."

"Yes, I would love to. It will be nice to have an adult conversation about wine without first having to first explain why a screw top bottle is bad," Giselle says, nudging Rick.

Rick drops his head in mock shame. "I get no respect."

"Not for your taste in wine you don't. Other areas... you do better," Giselle says with a small giggle.

"I'll drink to that," Charlie says, holding her glass aloft.

"Me too," Teri says as the three women clink their glasses together before bursting into peals of laughter.

While Rick blushes furiously Todd admires the three laughing women. As soon as they quieten a bit he says, "Suddenly I feel so inadequate," which only starts them all laughing again while Charlie leans over to kiss him.

The rest of the evening, nothing else is said about the immersion. Finally, ninety minutes after they arrived, Teri announces she has to go. The four rise as she does, saying their goodbyes. Sal appears and Teri gives the big man a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Your dinner was wonderful. I will certainly be back. I'll bring some friends, so they can discover there is more to Italian food than pizza and spaghetti."

"You are always welcome," Sal says sincerely. "Any friend of Charlie and Giselle, they are a friend of mine." Teri waves goodbye to the group and sways out of the restaurant, every male eye upon her. Sal turns to Charlie, "Mamma mia," he says, looking to the heavens, hands turned palms-up in front of him. "If I were forty years younger."

"You'd still be married to Maria, and if she heard you talking like that you would still be just as dead," Charlie says flatly, but with a smile.

Sal chuckles. "Yes, you are probably right. Do you want anything else? No? Stay as long as you like, I won't bother you. Raise a hand if you need anything," he says before moving off to another table as the four sit down again.

"Giselle and I need to be going as well," Rick states after Sal leaves. "Can we get together tomorrow or Saturday sometime to discuss this immersion project? I'd like to talk to Giselle tonight and make sure we are on the same page before we bother you."

"Of course. Just let us know when. As far as I know we have no plans," Todd says, looking to Charlie, who gives a brief shake of her head.

"Okay. Let's plan on dinner at our house tomorrow night. We'll cook out... say seven, seven-thirty? I'd like to get this resolved, one way or the other, sooner rather than later. I have some serious thinking to do, but the uncertainty is making me crazy. I want to make a decision to do it, or not, so I can quit worrying about it," Rick says, standing up and helping Giselle out of her chair.

Rick has limited himself to his standard single glass of wine with dinner, allowing the rest of the table to share his remaining portion. Giselle, having consumed nearly four glasses of wine, is feeling warm and relaxed, leaning comfortably on his arm as they leave the restaurant.

By the time they reach home she is sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat of the Audi. He nudges her awake enough for her to get out of the car, then he picks her up and carries her like a child to bed. He knows she isn't drunk, probably not even tipsy, but she is relaxed and sleepy, and seems to enjoy his gentle attentions as he has her drink a large glass of water to help with the potential morning hangover, undresses her, and tucks her into bed.

After getting her settled into bed, Rick's on edge, unable to quiet his thoughts. The night is early, not even ten o'clock, so he sits in the family room, thinking and surfing the net, wrestling with the problem of how their immersion might be perceived if released to the public.

The problem, as he sees it, is a matter of perception. He doesn't consider the immersion pornographic, and it seems that most who experience it don't either, but the comparison is inevitable. While the views on sexuality have changed enormously in the last one hundred years, public displays of sex, such as vids and live shows, are still frowned upon in polite society. That is something he can understand and support... he doesn't want to see couples screwing their brains out in public parks any more than anyone else does. On the other hand, he and Giselle are a married couple, very much in love, and if someone wants to experience those feeling in the privacy of their mind, is that wrong?

As he thinks through the problem, he abandons the idea of recreating the immersion as impractical. Teri and Giselle make good points about finding a couple to do an immersion. If someone were to ask if he and Giselle are willing to make an immersion such as this, he'd turn them down cold. There might be couples willing to do it, but how will he ever find them? And if he does find them, how will he know that they have that spark that he and Giselle, or Todd and Charlie, have? He's certain there are far more couples living in comfortable companionship than couples like he and Giselle.

After two hours of picking at the problem he is no closer to solving it, though he feels he has narrowed the sticking points to three main issues. The first is, would he and Giselle be willing to release the immersion to the public? The second, how would the immersion be perceived by the public? And the third, would he be able to change the perception enough to differentiate how he wants their immersion perceived from the other adult immersions out there? The answer to question one is dependent on the answers to questions two and three.

Moving quietly to their bedroom he prepares for bed without turning on lights, listening to Giselle's deep, rhythmic breathing as she sleeps. Sliding beneath the linens he notices that sometime in the last two hours Giselle has gotten up and dressed herself in her pajamas. As he makes himself comfortable she cuddles up to him, mumbling the word 'cold,' causing him to smile when she sighs as his body warms her.

As he holds her, he marvels he is even considering releasing the immersion. Yes, Teri's reaction touched him, but five years ago he would have shrugged it off as not this problem. Now he finds he wants to help Teri, and others like her, if he can. He knows the reason is lying here in his arms, sharing his bed. She's changed him, changed him more than he realized until this moment. She's made him a more thoughtful person, more caring about others. Whether their immersion is ever released or not, he is happy with himself, the person he's becoming, for even considering it. As he lies next to her, breathing in her scent, feeling her warmth, he realizes that he's, maybe for the first time in his life, content.

"I love you Giselle," he whispers to her as she sleeps, still smiling slightly as he drifts off in the darkness of slumber.

***

Friday, after failing to convince Giselle that they should both play hooky from work, Rick spends the day putting the finishing touches on the multi-person immersion interface. It still needs a thorough testing to identify any problems and needed tweaks, and there is still performance testing and code optimization to complete, but it's feature complete and a vast improvement over the hacked-together mess he had before. And best of all, it syncs individual immersion streams so he no longer has to create a merged stream.

At four o'clock Rick is preparing to leave the office. He is satisfied that he has accomplished a lot of good work on the interface, but at the same time, he is weary of the project and feeling that any further work on the interface today would be counterproductive. In addition, now that the meeting time with the Roses is approaching, he finds himself thinking more and more about that than the task at hand.

While driving home he makes a side trip to a local meat market where he purchases four inch-thick prime cuts of meat, two each of porterhouse and rib eye. He also stops at their regular grocer's and also purchases six large baking potatoes, fresh mushrooms, a couple of sweet peppers, and a fresh head of lettuce. It is far more food than they can possibly eat tonight, but he and Giselle will enjoy it again later with minimal preparation.

When Giselle arrives home, he's busily slicing the peppers, preparing them for the grill. Observing the thick sliced peppers, mushrooms soaking in a marinade, and the four cuts of meat on a platter, Giselle makes approving noises as she hugs Rick from behind, running her hands suggestively close to his manhood.

"Look at the size of those steaks!" she exclaims. "I can't eat one of those."

"I figure the four of us will eat two of them, maybe part of a third. I plan on cooking all four while I'm at it though, for later," he replies.

She releases him and grunts in disapproval. While she certainly enjoys a well-prepared steak now and then, she tends to eat more vegetables, along with some fish and chicken.

"For you later, is what you mean," she teases.

"Well, yeah. If you won't help eat it, I'll have no choice but to eat it myself... to prevent it from wasting, you know."

"Uh-huh. You want me to take over?"

He checks the time. "No, I've got it," he says, placing the peppers on a platter. "I'm done with the potatoes and they're already on the grill. All I have to do is season the meat. I've still got plenty of time." He dries his hands and turns to face her. "You know you like my steaks on the grill."

"I do, but I'm just not the same caliber of carnivore that you are," she acknowledges with a smile.

"That's what the peppers, potatoes, and mushrooms are for. Now go!" he says, "Change into something more comfortable. They should be here in about twenty minutes and I'll put the meat on as soon as they arrive." He gives her a quick kiss on the lips, then spins her around and nudges her toward the bedroom. He considers following her but decides not to, as it would likely mean getting the steaks on the grill late.

He drops the peppers in the marinade and then stands, propping against the counter, staring after Giselle, lost in thought, until she reappears. She is dressed in shorts and a men's style shirt, which she is just beginning to button from the bottom. His attention shifts from what he wants to ask Todd and Charlie to Giselle's body, and entertains thoughts about her instead.

As she approaches, she notices his rapt attention, causing her to slow her walk slightly and put just a bit more sway into her hips. She stops buttoning the shirt as she nears, leaving plenty of flesh in view.

"Something wrong?" she purrs as she oozes into Ricks arms. By way of answering he kisses her first on the lips, then moves lower to neck and shoulder, pushing the shirt out of the way with his face, before moving down between her breasts. "Mmmmm..." she coos, holding his head in her hands. "Too bad the Roses will be here so soon."

He picks her up, his lips never leaving the swell of her breasts, and sits her on the counter. She wraps her legs around and behind him, pulling him to her, before pulling his head up from her breasts and kissing him firmly on the lips and offering him her tongue.

He leans back, breaking the kiss. "We need stop, or I won't be able to," he says huskily.

She pulls his head back to her breasts, causing her to sigh as he begins to kiss her again. "What makes you think I want you to?" she whispers.

He groans at her breathy words, struggling with his desire to take her right here in the kitchen and the knowledge that they don't have the time for even that. He breathes deeply three, then four times, inhaling her scent, before breaking away, panting hard with his desire. "Oh God, I want you," he growls, low and slow.

"I know the feeling," she answers in a seductive whisper, "But you started it."

"I know," he says, stepping in again, grasping her firmly around the waist and hoisting her off the counter. He kisses her briefly once between her breasts before placing her on the floor. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"I do," she giggles before turning serious. "But if you leave me hanging now... you are so going to get it tonight."

"That almost sounds like a threat. I might have something to give you right back," he says in mock seriousness.

"Oh, I certainly hope so," she says in her newly-discovered sex kitten voice.

They stare at each other, daring the other to make the first move when he finally looks away. "Dammit, dammit... dammit!" Rick swears.

Giselle giggles. "And fuck!" she adds as she finishes buttoning her shirt.

He looks at her in surprise. She rarely throws the f-bomb, but then he bursts out laughing. "Yeah, and fuck!" he echoes. He turns and picks up the meat fork, skewering the steaks before rubbing salt and pepper onto them.

She steps up behind him, reaching around to take his turgid penis in hand, stroking him through his pants. "Just remember where we left off," she whispers.

He tries to ignore her, but in only moments he stops prodding the meat with the fork and places both hands on the counter for support, head hanging down, enjoying the sesations spreading through him. He says nothing until she stops her manipulations and taking a deep breath.

"I'm not likely to forget," he says, slowly returning his attention to the meat.

"See that you don't," she replies from several feet behind him.

He checks the time moments before a ping arrives from Todd telling him that they would be there in five minutes. "Here," he says, handing the fork to her. "They'll be here in five minutes. I'm going to turn the potatoes again."

Rick is arranging the coals when Todd steps onto the patio. "Evening Rick. Why in God's name are you still wearing your work clothes? It's Friday night, man. You should be wearing shorts and a pullover, or less, not that monkey suit. Let me do the grill and you go change," Todd says, holding out his hand for the tongs.

He hesitates, but hands him the utensil. "Thanks. I got sidetracked and never changed. I'll be back in a minute."

"Hello, Charlie," he says as he enters the kitchen.

"Hey. Why are you still wearing your work clothes?"

He grins. "On my way to change now. I need to borrow Giselle a second. Is that okay?"

"Sure."

He jerks is head toward their bedroom, indicating his desire that she follow. She follows him into their bedroom, and he pushes the bedroom door almost closed before he swoops down and hoists her over his shoulder in a fireman carry

Giselle squeals in surprise. "Rick! Put me down this instant!" she demands, laughing. He drops her on the bed, then proceeds to playfully try to take her top off, poking and prodding her in her ribs, causing her to shriek in laughter as she bats at his hands, kicks, and tries to cover her ticklish spots while he intentionally fumbles with her shirt. "Rick! Stop it! We have guests! Stop it!" she shouts between bouts of laughter until suddenly he becomes serious as he holds her down and kisses her deeply, but no longer trying to unbutton her top. She stops fighting him and slides her arms around his neck, pulling him to her as they kiss.

"Just trying to remember where we were," he breathes, his lips just millimeters from hers before rising off the bed and helping her to her feet.

"You're a bad, bad man," she says, though she is smiling as she tucks her shirt back into her pants.

"Do you like bad men?" he asks as he begins to undress.

"I'm beginning to," she says, slipping out and closing the door behind her.

He is just pulling his trousers off when the door opens again and her head pops in, giving Rick a loud air kiss before closing the door again. Moving down the hall, Giselle fastens the two top buttons that Rick managed to undo, and is still straightening her hair when she enters the kitchen again.

"He was never like that before he met you," Charlie says with a knowing smile.

Giselle begins to laugh again. "I don't know what's come over him. He's done more things in the last two weeks that's surprised me than he has in the two years before."

"He is turning into a normal guy that is head-over-heels in love," Charlie says.

"Okay, but why? Is Todd like this?"

"He was, then we kind of got away from it. But since your immersion, yeah, he is becoming more like that again," Charlie says with a small smile. "I think Rick found that that if he opens himself up to people, they won't necessarily hurt him. That's my guess, anyway."

"I guess it has to be something like that. He had loosened up a lot with just me, in private, but since we shared the immersion, he's now more like that around other people too. I don't know if he is, but he seems happier."

Rick arrives in the kitchen, moving past the ladies to pick up the platter of steaks and peppers. "Sorry about that Charlie. I had something to discuss with Giselle. Will you bring out the mushrooms and butter in a couple of minutes, please?" he asks his wife from the doorway.

"What were you doing to Giselle? I could hear her screaming all the way out here," Todd asks as soon as Rick exits the house, meat platter in hand.

"I had to remind her of something," Rick says innocently, inspecting the coals and placing the meat on the grill.

"Remind her of what? How to gut puppies? Club baby seals?"

"Just a little slap and tickle is all," Rick says with a smile, poking at the meat with a fork.

There is a long pause until Rick looks up to see Todd staring at him in a most peculiar way. "It may be none of my business, but who are you and what have you done with Rick Chamfer?" Todd asks in mock seriousness.

"What do you mean? Can't I have a little fun?"

"You can," Todd replies, "But you never did. Not like that anyway." Todd pauses for a moment before continuing. "I can't see you chasing any of your old girlfriends around goosing them. You were always so... serious." Todd thinks a moment. "Actually, serious isn't the right word. You would laugh and tell jokes, but you never did anything... spontaneous, silly." Another pause. "I think I like you better this way than the way you were then," Todd admits.