The Weekend Getaway

I was sitting in my cubical, looking at the picture of Alex and myself at Big Bear's ski lodge. We had gone there about two years ago for a long weekend getaway. We were sophomores in college and were deeply in love. That was the same weekend he told me that he wanted to get married to me as soon as we graduated from college. That was the happiest time of my life.

Alex had been my boyfriend since high school; we even applied for the same colleges so we could stay together. Shortly after we graduated from college, he started to act different. His temper was shorter and he was sick all the time, he even stopped getting haircuts and shaving his face. For a long time I thought it was me that I had done something wrong or that he was seeing someone else. But I learned that it was something totally different.

I came home from work early one day and I caught Alex snorting a line of cocaine off a mirror on our kitchen table. He told me that the job stressed him out and, at first, he used it to help him get through the day but from there it got worst. We both went through rehab and it was working, or at least that's what I thought. It was about two months after I first saw him using drugs when I caught him again, right before my 23rd birthday. I remember that day as if it was yesterday.

I had been away on a business trip and returned early. It was late in the evening I decided to take a cab home so I wouldn't have to wake Alex up. To tell you the truth, that was a lie. I had a feeling that he was using again and I was kind of hoping that I could catch him in the act.

I walked up the flight of stairs to our second story apartment and quietly unlocked the door. I placed my suitcase in the foyer and pulled out a small light that attached to my keychain. As soon as I turned the light on I saw a small mirror with lines of a white powdery substance on it, a razor and a bag full of the same stuff that was on the mirror.

Then I heard the sounds of two bodies merging in passion. I walked to the bedroom and opened the door slowly while turning the light towards the bed. Before me, was Alex and Jenny, one of the girls that was an addict in the group therapy with Alex and me, in my bed fucking like two animals.

The two looked at me in shock and Alex tried to tell me that is wasn't what I thought but it was. In his drugged out mind he tried to explained to me that Jenny had threaten to kill herself and that this was the only way he knew how to save her.

I didn't believe any of the bullshit he was trying to sell me so that night I gave him a choice, to move out immediately or I would call the police. I didn't hear from him again.

As I stared at the old photo, I heard someone come up from behind me. "Julie? Are you okay?" Martha asked.

Martha was one of my friends from work and was the only one that really knew what happen between Alex and me. She was an older lady, in her late thirties, and incredibly beautiful. She was tall and sexy with enough curves to make all the men turn their heads, from her long legs to the curve of her ample breasts. She also had the most beautiful skin I had ever seen and shoulder length dark brown hair that framed her oval face perfectly. She always wore the finest clothes and at times, she looked like she just walked out of a fashion catalog.

I learned a while back ago when she was in college, she was a lingerie model and by the way she looked she still could be. However, with all of her outer beauty, the inside she was even more gorgeous.

Martha didn't have a conceited bone inside of her. She was kind to everyone; she donated time to the homeless shelter in the downtown district and, from what I heard from Debbie in the HR office, that more than half of her paycheck went to breast cancer research. She was the woman I aspired to be one day.

I looked up at Martha and replied, "Yeah, I'm hanging in there. It's just tough, that's all."

"Aww baby, I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something to make you feel better."

I smiled and said, "No really I'm fine."

Martha put her hand on her hip and said "Sweetheart, do you know what fine means?" Before I could answer she said, "Fucked-up, insecure, neurotic and emotional!"

I couldn't help but laugh. When Martha got on her soapbox her southern drawl seeped out and it gave her a mothering appeal that just made you feel better. While still keeping her hand on her hip, in a demanding way, she said to me, "Now I know your birthday is this weekend, right?"

I nodded.

"Good, because Bobby and I are going to treat you to one hell of a time, this Labor Day weekend, up in our cabin even if it kills ya! Ya hear?"

Bobby was Martha's husband of 20 years. I had met him several times at various office events. Bobby was a retired Army Colonel and had served many years' overseas leading soldiers into battle as well as being in charge of army schoolhouses. Now he worked as a defense contractor and made a lot of money doing that.

For an older man he was incredible good looking. He was in his late forties with well-groomed salt and pepper short gray hair and a clean-shaven face. His jaw line was strong and he had just enough wrinkles around his eyes to give him character. He had stunning blue eyes that both pierced into you while making you feel safe. As for the rest of him, well he was in better shape than men that were my age; even in the well-tailored suits he wore you could tell that he had very powerful arms and broad shoulders that looked like he could carry the world on them.

I started to throw excuses to Martha, not that any of them were really valid. To tell the truth, I wasn't up for going anywhere but my living room couch and watching old movies. "Well I don't know, I got laundry to do and then there's my cat that has to be taken care of..."

Martha knelt before me and grabbed my hands with hers and looked me in the eyes. Then she said softly, "Honey, I know Alex really messed up, but he's the one that messed up and not you. You shouldn't be punished for the stupid things that he did, you're young, beautiful and have a whole lot of living ahead of you, so please don't sit in your little apartment alone this long weekend. Come up with Bobby and me and have a good time."

I looked into Martha's eyes and saw that she was genuinely concerned about my well-being. I took a deep breath and said, "Well my cat normally prefers to be alone anyway, so..." Then a smile came across my face, "So what should I bring to wear?"

"Good, I'll let Bobby know that you're coming and to make sure to bring extra blankets. I'll call you tonight to make the arrangements." Martha gave me a warm hug and then head off to her office.

On Thursday, I packed my bag, after work I was going to drive over to Martha's and ride up to the cabin with her and Bobby. I made sure my cat had enough food and water to last the entire time I was gone. When Martha and I clocked out early on Friday, we drove to her house. Bobby already had the car packed and was waiting for us to arrive.

As soon as I got out of my car, Bobby was at my door giving me a big bear hug. "Hi Julie! Are you ready for a weekend of R and R?"

I felt his arms wrap around my body. It was like a pair of steel vices gripping a hold of my rib cage and squeezing them so tightly that I thought for a brief second that my eyes were going to pop out from all the pressure he was generating.

"Hummff" I mumbled into his massive chest.

"What?" he said as he released me slightly.

I gasped, "Air! I need air!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Bobby said "I didn't... I wasn't...."

I could see Bobby turn red from embarrassment and I kind of felt sorry for the guy. He wasn't used to hugging such a small person like me. I was almost the exact opposite of Martha. Whereas Martha was a tall beauty, I was a short petite girl with very delicate features with smaller breast and short blond hair. Don't get me wrong, on the risk of sounding full of myself, I would consider myself attractive, but I was no Martha.

"Now Bobby, put that girl down before you break her!" Martha said to him in a mock scolding fashion. Then she looked at me and said, "Let's go change before we head up to the cabin."

I took what I needed out of my bag and then handed it to Bobby so he could load it in the car, I figured I could leave my work clothes in my car. After Martha and I changed, the three of us hoped into the car and headed to their cabin.

That first night, Bobby treated Martha and I like queens. He made us a wonderful meal of smoked salmon and steamed asparagus then fresh berries and cream for dessert. He said he'd learn how to make it while he was stationed in Alaska. We topped the night off by making S'mores on the outside fireplace and sipped on delicious brandy.

In the morning, we boarded their large speed boat and spent the morning on the lake. We swam, went water skiing and had a wonderful time. Both Bobby and Martha looked fantastic in their bathing suits. I felt like a little girl around them but again they were so kind to me that I tried to forget how beautiful they were physically and concentrated on their kindness instead.

We headed back to the cabin to change then we went into the small town for lunch. The town had lots of little trendy art and jewelry shops. I fell in love with a small gold ring in one of them. When Martha saw me looking at it she asked the store clerk how much it was.

"$500 ma'am," the man behind the counter answered politely.

Martha looked the man in the eye and said, "I'll give you $350 for it and not a penny more."

The man smiled and replied, "$475..."

"Look there's dust all around it, which tells me no one has looked at it for a long time, $365," she countered.

"That's because it is an unusual piece and many people don't have as fine as taste as you do, $450..."

Martha and the jeweler haggled on and on. "I'm going to be at the bar Julie, you should come with me because this is going to take a while," Bobby said in a voice that said he had been here before.

I looked over at Martha and she was reading the poor man behind the counter an riot act about it being real gold or not and decided that Bobby was right. I followed him out the store. We walked to the small bar just a couple of doors down and sat at a table in the back. A few minutes later, a waitress came over.

"What will you have?" she asked politely.

"Beer," Bobby said.

"A glass of white wine please." I replied.

The waitress laid a couple of napkins on the table and head off to fill our orders.

"So where did you and Martha meet?" I asked.

"Well, we met at college. I was working on my Masters and she was senior at the time. I had just come back from overseas and Uncle Sam assigned me to the D.C. area for a while. They allowed me to further my education. I'd just got promoted to Major and had no interest in meeting anyone in a romantic way, until I saw her."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" I said.

Bobby laughed, "No, not really. Martha was young and it was the late 70s so there was still a lot of anti-military sentiment going on during that time and Martha was leading the way."

By this time, the waitress had brought our drinks and Bobby picked up the bill. "So anyway I, in my typical military fashion, came up with a three prong attack plan to woo her over."

"And I see that it worked," I said with a smile on my face.

Bobby laughed again, "Not in the least."

"So how did you two end up getting together?"

"Well she was out with some loser guy and she had been drinking a little too much, He tried to take advantage of the situation and she wasn't up for it, so I eliminated the resistance," He said over his beer mug.

"Eliminated the resistance?" I asked afraid to know what he meant by that.

"I picked him up over my head and threw him into the Potomac River..."

I sat there wide-eyed imagining this huge man literally throwing someone into a river and then I began to laugh.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what Martha did. She was pretty drunk so I took her back to her place, held her hair as she threw up into the toilet and made sure she didn't die from dehydration. When she woke up the next day, she apologized for her behavior and thought that all army people were just warmongers looking for a fight. After that we started to date and then a couple years later we got married."

"And here I was thinking that you two had a life of romance," I said in some disbelief.

Bobby smiled and replied, "Romance is for novels, real life is far more interesting."

"There you two are," Martha said as she slid into the both beside Bobby. "Well that jeweler gave me a run for my money, but I got that ring!"

My heart sank a little bit because I really wanted it but even at $350 there was no way I was going to afford it. Then Martha did something that surprised me. She put the box onto the table and slid it over to me. "Happy birthday, I hope you like it."

I was shocked. "You didn't have to get me this!" I said almost crying.

"Nonsense it will be your birthday tomorrow and besides I couldn't wait," Martha replied.

I sat there with a smile on my face and tears welling in my eyes. "So are you going to put it on or are you going to make me cry too?" Martha asked.

I half laughed half cried and said, "Yes, yes I'll put it on."

I slid the gold band over my right ring finger and then reached over the table and gave Martha a big hug.

"All right you two, enough with the blubber-fest. We have other things I want to do before dinner," Bobby said sarcastically. Martha and I dried our eyes and laughed then the three of us got up from the table and continued our little adventure.

It was about seven by the time we got back to the cabin. Bobby had Martha and I take a shower and relax while he made dinner. By the time we returned he had made us some drinks and appetizers to enjoy as he finished up with the evening meal. Dinner was served about an hour later.

While we ate, Bobby said to Martha, "Do you know who would be great for Julie?"

Martha looked over to him and smiled and asked, "Kelly from accounting?"

"Yep," he replied and then stuffed a piece of beef in his mouth.

"Kelly?" I asked somewhat stunned.

Martha tuned to me and said, "Yeah, Kelly. He's very nice, wants a family, good with money and he's cute to boot."

"Well yeah, but I hear things about him," I replied.

"What things?" Bobby asked over his glass of wine.

I felt my skin burn as a wave of embarrassment washed over me showing my youthfulness to my gracious hosts. "Well, I don't know if it's true or not, so I shouldn't say anything..."

"Do you mean the rumor that he belongs to a swingers club?" Martha asked.

I felt my face turn even redder. "Well yeah, that. I'm not sure I could be with someone who goes to those kinds of places."

Martha laughed. "Well not all swingers are sex deprived maniacs that want to rape you or twist America into communists. Take Bobby and me for example."

For a minute, I was so shocked to hear Martha utter those words that I forgot to breath. Martha stared at me for a minute then said, "Sweetheart, are you okay?"

After a minute or two I took a big swig of my drink and asked, "You two? I mean... you guys... have sex..."

Martha had a look of concern over her face but Bobby sat there with a very confident smile.

"Relax Julie; we didn't bring you up here to have our way with you or to draw you over to the dark side or anything. A matter of fact," He shot a glace over to Martha with a stern look in his eyes, "we weren't even planning to share this bit of intelligence with you."

Then he looked back at me and smiled, "But since that cat is out of the bag, yes Martha and I are swingers. We have been since the very first day of our relationship and look, we aren't evil monsters."

I poured myself another glass of wine, still not fully grasping what I just heard, "But what about the sanctity of marriage, the vow to love, cherish, behold no others?" I asked.

This time Martha spoke. "Bobby and I do all that and then some, besides where in the vows those it say thou shall not have sex with anyone else the behold part of the vow really mean to not put anyone else ahead of one's partner and we have never done that. Hell Bobby retired from the army even thought he was going to make general for me so I could make it in my career, if that isn't 'not beholding' I don't know what is."

"What about love?" I asked.

"Love and sex are two different things," Bobby said. "A lot of people get those things confused and when they do their relationships fall apart." He paused for a minute then asked, "How many couples have you known break up because of one of them being unfaithful?"

His question hit home, it was just over two months since Alex and I broke up over that very same thing. If it had just been the drugs, I might have stayed with him, helped him get over his addiction. But when I saw him in bed with that other woman, it was too much for me to handle and I promptly booted him out of my life. "More than I can count," I finally said.

Bobby turned to Martha and asked, "Dear, how many couples have we known to break up because of infidelity?"

Martha sat there and thought for a few minutes and then said, "Only a few come to mind. It doesn't mean swingers don't get divorces, but when they do it is usually over money or one doesn't want to give up their career for the other. They forgot their wedding vows, if you will."

I had finished my third glass of wine by this time and they things that Bobby and Martha were telling me were beginning to make sense, but I didn't think I could ever be part of the lifestyle.

We finished dinner and retired to the living room. I asked a million questions, which Martha and Bobby patiently answered. I asked things like why people do it or how did it get started.

Bobby, Martha and I were sitting across from each other and it was very late at night. Martha told me the golden rules of swinging. "The most important rules of swinging are one; don't lie to yourself. If you want to do something and deny that you do then you are just cheating on yourself. Two; always ask before you do something with someone the first time. Just because you like to be bit, doesn't mean they do and the most important rule is this, no means no. If you ever hear that word you stop immediately and ask what the issue is."

"Wow, just wow! That is a lot to digest," I said.

"Well I hope you feel more comfortable about swingers and the lifestyle. I also hope you realize that it was never our intent to bring you up here for that reason," Bobby said.

"Yes dear, we only wanted you to have a wonderful weekend and we still have a lot to do tomorrow, like riding a hot air balloon and, if you are up for it, some bungee jumping," Martha affirmed.

I smiled and felt a little embarrassed on how a reacted earlier. These kind people were the same ones that treated me so well and I was so quick to judge them that it made me feel a little bad inside. "Well I want to apologize for how I acted earlier. It was just a bit of a shock for me, that's all," I said.

Both Martha and Bobby both told me not to worry about it anymore. "Well it's late and we need to go to bed." Bobby said then he kissed Martha on the check and stumbled off towards their bedroom.

I stood up and walked over to Martha and gave her a hug. "Thank you for the ring and for the weekend. It has been wonderful."

Martha hugged me back and replied, "You deserved it dear, now run along and get to bed."

I chuckled and said, "Yes mother," and then head off to the other side of the cabin.

After I brushed my teeth, I crawled into bed with my head swimming. Between all the wine I'd consumed earlier and the whole swinging lifestyle thing being introduced to me had my head buzzing.