The Rites of Dionysus

"We figured that Buttercup lived in Nelson," said Chantelle, "so lots of the girls wanted us to give them any gossip from our golf trips. For ages we didn't believe you when you told us you weren't seeing anyone. Eventually Alice's mum told us to stop teasing you. We found out you had told her you were single." That was true. She had asked me one day when the girls weren't around, and I didn't see any harm in telling her the truth.

"Was my love life really the subject of so much conjecture?" I asked in amazement.

"Of course," said Olivia, "especially when we thought that true love was involved. The idea we had in our heads was so romantic, it was almost inspirational. Because of that, we started to believe that we deserved more in our relationships. We no longer tolerated some boy groping us just because he shared some alcohol that he stole from his parents."

"Gosh, if only I had that kind of love life in reality," I said.

"Why didn't you?" asked Alice.

That question certainly seemed like it was crossing a line into my private life, but I reminded myself that these women weren't my students anymore. I found myself trusting that they would treat the conversation with respect. "I guess there were lots of reasons. Starting out as a new teacher is stressful and time-consuming, and it's difficult to establish a good reputation, especially in a small community. It feels like everyone is connected to the school. If I had found the ideal woman and fallen in love, that would have been awesome, but the last thing I wanted was a string of failed relationships and ex-girlfriends around every corner."

"But what about in Nelson?" asked Chantelle. "A weekend girlfriend would have been better than nothing."

"True, but I always had family and friends to catch up with. I've got a few platonic women friends, but none of them were offering to set me up on dates with their friends. Anyway, I'm only 23. That's enough talk about my love life. How's things for you three? Have any of you found the love of your lives?" That question was answered with a series of frowns. It turned out that Chatelle had just ended a two-month relationship, and Olivia hadn't been on a date since September. Only Alice was currently dating someone, another student in Christchurch, but she said it was 'hardly true love.'

"I don't think any of you need to be finding true love at your age," I said. "Have some fun, as long as you respect yourselves and stay safe."

There was a lull in the conversation, and I noticed that the three women were looking at each other meaningfully. It was Alice who spoke next. "Liam, there is something that we wanted to ask you. We're having a reunion of sorts on the weekend after next. We're driving over to Nelson, playing some golf, and staying in the same old cottage. We wondered if you would like to join us."

"Me? Are you sure? Will there be some of the others coming?"

"The others? Do you mean our mothers? No, we have no intention of inviting any of our mothers. We've already planned this for just the three of us, and we will still go even if you don't come with us. We will have plenty of room for a fourth person, so please say you'll join us. We'll have fun."

Something struck me about her use of the word 'fun' so soon after what we had just been talking about. I fleetingly imagined that Alice had added an extra emphasis to the word, but I quickly dismissed that from my mind. The idea of having any kind of fun -- safe, everyday fun -- with these vibrant, golf-loving women was very tempting, but all the normal warning signs were flashing for me. If word got out...

Olivia seemed to know exactly what to say. "If it helps, we could keep this to ourselves. You're on holiday. Nobody needs to know what you do with your free time."

"Okay," I agreed, somewhat impulsively. "I'll come."

>-<

It felt weird that, despite me now joining them, they had no intention of changing their plan for Olivia to drive. I had to concede, however, that my own car wasn't big enough for all our luggage and golf bags. It felt doubly weird to give them my address so they could pick me up from home. They picked me up late on the Friday afternoon, after Chantelle had finished work at her holiday job. I was the last person Olivia collected in her father's Ford SUV. In deference to my seniority, Chantelle and Alice had left the front passenger seat free for me.

Conversation flowed easily as Olivia drove us over the hill as they were keen to get my opinion on being a teacher. While Chantelle was studying science and had a few career options in mind, Alice and Olivia were both studying art subjects such as English, History & Classics. While I knew they both loved those subjects, they were worried about what careers it might lead to. They wanted to consider if they would like teaching.

I quite enjoyed talking to the three women about my teaching experiences, but I did struggle to know where to look at times. They were all wearing far more revealing clothes than I had ever seen them wearing before. Olivia, sitting beside me in the front, was wearing a top with such a plunging V-neck that her bra was often visible when she shifted gears. If I turned in my seat to look at Alice, she was wearing such a short skirt that I suspected I would see her panties if I allowed my eyes to linger on her thighs. As always, the ever-present fear of being accused of perving had me concentrating on their faces.

Although I couldn't see Chantelle because she was sitting behind me, I soon discovered she wasn't safe to look at either when we stopped in Motueka for dinner in a cheap Chinese restaurant. Her pale green dress was so thin that her red bra was clearly visible from across the table. My discomfort was obviously written across my face. "Is something wrong, Liam?" she asked with a slight smirk.

I decided to be honest with her. "I don't recall you wearing something so see-through when we travelled with your mothers."

"Well, of course not," she smiled sweetly. "It would have been inappropriate back then." The unsaid implication was that there was nothing inappropriate about her dress now. When I thought about it, there was no real argument. See-through clothing was becoming fashionable again, and modern women were less constrained by historical dress standards. I had played in a band when I was at university, only a few years earlier, and our singer would often be wearing just a bra and skirt by the end of our gigs. It's weird that, after only two years teaching, I had started moralising like my parents would. I'm sure I blushed as I refocussed on my meal.

I drove the final stretch of our journey from Motueka to the small vineyard cottage just outside of Nelson. All of us had wanted a beer with our dinner, but since I was the only one over twenty, I was the only one legally allowed to drive with an alcohol level above zero. I had no trouble remembering the way to Dionysus Cottage, and it wasn't yet dark as we unloaded the car.

Although I had driven to the cottage many times, I had never been inside, so I was curious to look around as I lugged all our golf bags inside. It had been described as a two-bedroom cottage, but in reality, it was more accurate to call it a two-room cottage. The main room had a kitchen area at one end including a small round four-seater dining table. The middle of the room had a log fire, a TV, and an assortment of old chairs. At the far end of the room, there was what could only be described as two sleeping alcoves, each containing two single beds. The alcoves only had curtains to separate them from the rest of the room. The only other room in the cottage was a small bathroom which I could see through a door beside the fireplace.

While Olivia and Chantelle went back to the car for the final bits of luggage, Alice busied herself by pulling a couple of wine bottles out of a box. "Red or white?" she asked.

"Red," I said. "That Merlot you are holding looks excellent."

"Great," smiled Alice. "You can share that with me. The other two will want a white wine."

"You seem to have come prepared," I said.

"Of course," said Alice. "It is Dionysus Cottage after all."

"Oh, yeah. Dionysus was the Roman god of wine, wasn't he?"

"Close. That was Bacchus. Dionysus was the Greek god of wine, amongst other things. Anyway, wine is practically compulsory whenever we stay here, even when we were still at school. Our mothers would allow us to drink when we were here, although back then we shared one bottle among all of us."

As Olivia and Chantelle carried in the last of the luggage, they added it to the pile in front of the television and came to grab their wine glasses. I was about to take my first sip when Chantelle stopped me. "Wait! We need to do something first." She grabbed an empty wine glass from the shelf and put it on the table, then each of the girls tipped a few drops of wine from their own glasses into it. "You too," Chantelle instructed, so I added a few drops of merlot to the mixture which was now a slightly orange shade of pink. Chantelle now picked up the glass and wandered over to the fireplace. Hanging on the wall above was a bull's skull, complete with horns attached. Chantelle did a quick curtsey to the skull before tipping the contents of the glass into a large bowl that was sitting on the mantlepiece.

"All blessings to Dionysus," said Chantelle.

"All blessings to Dionysus," echoed Alice and Olivia.

All three of them turned to me expectantly. It felt silly, but I decided against being too proud to play along. "All blessings to Dionysus."

All three women gave me warm smiles as we sat down and took our first sips of the wine. This seemed like the best time to address the looming problem. "Girls, I can't help noticing that you haven't thought through the sleeping arrangements. Where is everyone going to sleep tonight?"

They all stared at me thoughtfully. Then Alice, with a completely straight face, said "We are going to play Rock Paper Scissors to see who has to sleep with you tonight." This announcement was followed by a long awkward silence until it was suddenly broken by a chorus of giggling. "Jesus, you are so gullible," laughed Alice. "Girls, how about you solve his anxiety."

Chantelle and Olivia put down their glasses and walked into one of the sleeping alcoves. Together they dragged one of the beds out into the main room before pushing it into the other alcove. It slid in between the two other beds with about a foot of space to spare on each side. This seemed like a well-practiced manoeuvre. "This is what we did every time we stayed here," explained Alice. "As you can imagine, we girls preferred to be all crammed in together rather than have to share with our mother."

With the sleeping situation resolved to my satisfaction, the four of us sat around the dining table talking about old times. They talked a lot about staying in the cottage and how they would whisper together late into the night. I learned that Olivia's mum always took a sleeping pill, and Alice's mum snored loudly, so they knew when she was asleep. It was only Chantelle's mother who made it difficult to talk.

"What did you talk about?" I asked. It was difficult to conceal my curiosity.

"Usual stuff," said Olivia. "Music, shows, movies, boys."

"Definitely boys!" added Chantelle.

"We talked about school stuff too," said Alice.

"And teachers!" said Olivia just a little too loudly. They all giggled. I could only assume they had spent a portion of their time talking about me. I almost asked them, but I feared it would go badly for me if I came across as too curious or needy. If I wanted to find out what the students really thought of me, I would have to wait and hope that it came out naturally. Unfortunately, the conversation veered away to talking about teachers that they hated during school. This turned out to be a lot of fun, and I naughtily added my own thoughts about those teachers, much to the delight of my companions. They seemed to love any sign that I was prepared to talk to them as adults rather than as school kids.

There was more to our evening than just conversation. At one stage Alice stood up and took her bag into the bathroom. When she returned, her short skirt had been replaced by an equally short nightdress. Other than the shortness, it was a relatively modest T-shirt shape, but it was obvious that she was no longer wearing her bra. Her nipples were pushing out the thin fabric quite prominently, and I forced myself not to stare.

Next it was Olivia who decided to get changed for bed. She grabbed some things and went into the bathroom, then a short time later she reappeared to get something from her bag that she seemed to have forgotten. We could see that she had already removed her dress, leaving her in just the red bra that had been visible through the dress earlier, and a pair of tight black shorts. She didn't even look our way as she casually returned to the bathroom. When she came out the next time, she wasn't much more covered. She was wearing a royal blue satin nightdress that came to mid-thigh and clung to her curves. The peaks of her nipples were just as prominent as Alice's.

Chantelle didn't move until both wine bottles were empty, and then she announced that she wanted a shower. I continued to sit with Olivia and Alice while she did this, but our conversation was flagging as tiredness started to hit. Then, to my surprise, Olivia said that she was getting into bed. She proceeded to open the bathroom door and walk in, followed a few moments later by Alice. I know that they had stayed together a lot over the years, but I was still surprised by how casually they dealt with the intimacy of the situation as I could hear them brushing their teeth and flushing the toilet while Chantelle's shower continued. I knew that the shower had a translucent door and that the toilet, although still in the same room, was around a corner, but I know that a lot of teenagers would have been horrified.

The shower turned off, and eventually the three young women all reappeared and wished me a goodnight before going into their sleeping area and pulling the curtain. Chantelle was wearing pyjamas consisting of shorts and a singlet that probably covered less than a Hooters uniform. As I brushed my own teeth and got changed for bed, I couldn't help but reflect on my evening with the three women, particularly as I had an erection that was causing me some guilty feelings. It was obvious that they were determined to show me that they were adults now and that they wanted to be treated as such. What I couldn't work out was whether they were deliberately working together to tease me, or whether they were oblivious. My hunch was that, since I was undoubtedly friend-zoned by default, they were indulging in the freedom to simply be themselves without having to worry about any unwanted repercussions.

>-<

It was soon morning. I had tried to stay awake to listen for any interesting whispering, but I had fallen asleep without hearing anything to satisfy my curiosity. I awoke to the sound of Chantelle calling my name. "Liam, the bathroom's free."

I had slept in a lot later than I planned, so I quickly jumped out of bed. I had morning wood, so I held my towel casually in front of me as I opened the curtain. It was just as well that I took this precaution as the sight that greeted me was quite arresting. Again, all the girls were dressed in clothes that were a lot skimpier than what they wore when they were still at school. They were all wearing short skirts and polo shirts, although the shirts were so fitting that they looked like they were sprayed on. While they all wore bras -- the ridges caused by the straps were unmistakable -- the fabric was thin enough that I could still see the bumps of their nipples. I hurried into the bathroom

I was tempted to take care of my morning erection, but I was aware that we were short of time. Also, I was conscious that I would basically be beating off to the sight of three former students. That felt too weird. Instead, I made my shower a bit colder than normal, and by the time I was dressed, the problem had gone away, leaving me free to relax and have my toast and coffee.

The event that the girls had signed us up for was a charity golf tournament, with three rounds played over two days at three different golf courses. We arrived at the first course just in time for pre-tournament check-in and briefing. It was interesting watching everyone's reactions to my three companions as I trailed behind them through the crowds. The girls seemed well aware that men were turning their heads to take a good look. However, some men were more forward than others, and the reaction of the girls varied. When one older man leered at them and told them how 'delectable' they were, Alice quickly shot him down by saying "it's a pity you didn't make any effort to look good." However, in other similar situations, particularly when the men were part of larger groups, the girls seemed to lose their confidence and just scurried away looking unhappy. On balance, I suspected that might have regretted their decision to dress to impress. They spent much of the time before tee-off looking tense.

Once we were out on the golf course, they all seemed to relax. I certainly had an enjoyable day, even though too many of my tee shots ended up in the rough. As I had anticipated, the girls were serious and focussed as they played, although they did indulge in a bit of banter and teasing between holes. They would all bend over in front of me to place their ball on the tee, treating me to an expansive view of upper thighs, but as soon as they stood up and prepared to take their swing, it was like I was forgotten.

Because it was a charity tournament, there was no problem with the four of us playing together as a group throughout the weekend since here wasn't the same need to organise the top players together in the same groups. Instead of giving prizes to the top place getters, most of the prizes were random spot prizes of donated goods. I was fortunate enough to win a bottle of port through the dubious honour of being the first player to land in a particular sand trap, and Chantelle won set of earphones for some other random reason.

Another by-product of playing a charity tournament was that I wasn't keeping track of the scores. Olivia was keeping score for all of us, and there was no obligation for me to sign my score card at the end of the round. It was obvious that Alice was playing well, but since I didn't know what any of their current handicaps were, I had no idea who might end up with bragging rights at the end of the day. I was surprised when Olivia didn't declare the winner of our group once we had finished. I wasn't optimistic as I hadn't played particularly well, but it was possible that they might have lowered their handicaps considerably since leaving school. It was still surprising that Alice and Chantelle weren't demanding the results. Maybe that happened when they sent me in to pick up our pizza order on the drive back to the cottage.

>-<

Alice produced no less than four bottles of wine to accompany our dinner, and five wine glasses were placed on the table. In a repeat of the previous evening's ritual, we each poured a small amount of wine into the extra glass which Alice then offered to the god represented by the skull above the fireplace. "All blessings to Dionysus," we intoned together.

I was going to ask the girls to give me the story behind this ritual, but I already had another question already locked and loaded. "So, Olivia, you never gave us the final scores. Which of us did the best on handicap?"

Strangely, Olivia looked a bit perplexed by my question. She frowned and remained silent. Chantelle looked slightly weird too. It was Alice who replied. "All will be revealed in the fullness of time," she said with a mysterious smile. "I'll give you a hint though," she continued. "It wasn't you, Westley."