To Our Many Tomorrows...

He could, however, give her a compelling time in bed, wild but also affectionate, the way he continued to do. His lips were moving once again, and this time something came out: "Oh, Lexi, I'll say it again. I've missed you more than I realized."

She wanted more, but if that's the best he could do, then she'd have to accept it. Right now, at this moment in time, she had him all to herself. Just her. Not Ashley, Marissa, Beth or Alyssa. It was her body next to his, her pussy his rock-hard cock was buried in, her breasts he sucked on and her lips he kissed. "You have me, all of me," she said. "And I hope you feel the same."

Should she have said that? He might feel she was getting too pushy. But then he said, "Of course. I want nothing better than to make you feel special."

"You're doing it, JL, you're doing it." She began to quiver. "Ohmygod, I'm gonna climax any second!"

She made good on that pronouncement with a long, resounding moan that went on during his own climax which followed just after hers. "Welcome back, Lexi," he whispered, then held and kissed her as she settled down.

A few minutes passed in silence. Lexi loved the way JL was "spooning" her from the back, planting soft kisses on her neck and shoulders. She wanted so much to lie here all night but knew she'd soon be driving home. Presumably, only Alyssa now shared JL's bed for overnights. Which begged the question: "JL, are you really going to tell Alyssa about this?"

A few moments passed. Then: "I'll have to. Couldn't live comfortably with myself if I didn't. My integrity would go down the toilet."

She nodded, blinked her eyes. She liked Alyssa but didn't think Alyssa would like HER too much after she found out. JL had to do what he had to do, but Lexi worried that telling Alyssa could cause a tsunami to rip through the secretarial pool. Not good, especially for JL. Ultimately, he'd be responsible for keeping the peace. Meanwhile, if she didn't begin to dress, she'd fall asleep, something she knew that JL wanted to avoid. All-nighters were past tense for her. A wave of sadness washed over her as she rolled over to face him. "Thanks, JL, it's been great." She gave him a quick kiss, then swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Home, I guess."

He sat up, reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'd like it if you could stay. You know, just like old times. I still have that electric toothbrush and clean refills." He grinned in that charmingly boyish way of his.

She could scarcely believe what she just heard. "Are you serious?"

"Quite serious. I've missed waking up to you."

She wondered if this was a one-time thing for old time's sake or the start of something regular. Better not ask. Better just to enjoy the rest of the evening, see how things go. She climbed back into bed and swung an arm around him. "I've missed waking up to you also," she said. She moved closer. "Think you're up for another round, now that we have time?"

"What a ridiculous question." He showed her his budding erection.

She chuckled. "Ohmygod, same old JL. Or I should say same old YOUNG JL."

And he proved it, too, with the sort of deft lovemaking she came to expect from him, what the others came to expect from him. He could be rough when she wanted him to, tender when the mood called for it. It was the latter for their second round, sweet and tender and slow, shifting positions and climaxing later.

When morning came, she wanted to stay in bed all day with him. But duty called; it was a work day after all. She dressed, shared a bowl of cream of wheat, brushed her teeth with those fresh refills from his electric brush and then departed early while he read the New York Times, as vital a morning ritual to him as his cup of coffee. She first drove home to shower and put on clean clothes. Then she left for work. What was she going to say to Alyssa, if anything? Nothing, she decided. "Just act normal," she said to herself. Whatever normal meant.

*****

The question was: What was JL going to say to Alyssa? He felt like a bit of a cad for breaking his vow of monogamy, a vow that crumbled like stale pastry, thereby validating his reputation as a confirmed playboy, incurable, if not incorrigible. He and Alyssa had another date after work—dinner, chess and a sleepover, the usual for the past few weeks. He could kiss that bye bye, he figured. In fact, he'd bet his entire Vanguard mid-cap mutual fund on it. She might yell and scream. Call him some choice names. Perhaps even slap him. Or, all of the above. Still, he had to confess. That's what up-front, virtuous playboys do. He was willing to endure a woman's scorn. This wouldn't be the first time; he could take it. His biggest concern was how his "confession" might affect the secretarial pool. A cat fight between Alyssa and Lexi? Man, he hoped not.

*****

For Alyssa Combs, the exciting anticipation of coming home with James Alexander LaPierre had one drawback: time seemed to advance at a crawl. In other words, she couldn't wait, and today was no exception. She tried to keep busy, helping others with complex software and doing her own work. First, she and JL would have dinner, her treat this time. Then it was off to his place for a chess game or two, followed by "our nocturnal activities" as JL had dubbed it. JL made her feel special in so many ways, including his dumping the twin bed for a queen. "I did it mostly for you," he had said. What she didn't know is that it was Lexi who first proposed it.

Excited as she was, she knew to keep her joy in check, least she'd incur the jealousy of her colleagues, especially Lexi who Alyssa knew wanted what Alyssa now had. Lexi, she noticed, was in an unusually joyful mood today. When Alyssa asked her why, Lexi shrugged it off. "Just one of those days," she said. None of your business is the way Alyssa interpreted it and pressed no further.

Come late afternoon, when most of the staff had left, JL buzzed Alyssa into his office. Her heart raced as she left her cubicle and walked in. "Remember, JL, dinner's on me tonight." She saw him nod but without the usual wide grin he wore before they left work together. In fact, he looked somewhat grim, the way people look before delivering bad news. "Something wrong?"

He asked her to sit. She did while he sat on the edge of his desk, facing her, tie loosened, sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms, palms down on the edge of the desk. "Look, there's no easy way to tell you this," he began, "so I'll get right to the point and let the chips fall where they might."

Ohmygod! Was she being fired? Because that's what it sounded like. "Oh, okay...what did I do?"

He managed a weak smile. "It's not what you did, Alyssa, it's what I did. I've been a bad boy."

She swallowed hard, couldn't imagine. "Bad as in naughty or bad as in BAD?'

"I'll let you be the judge."

She listened politely as he proceeded to tell her the basics of what happened, without getting graphic. The sex didn't bother her as much as Lexi's full overnight, because JL had reserved that treat, that "privilege," as Alyssa saw it, for her. No wonder Lexi was on cloud nine today. "So you broke your vow of monogamy," she said.

He nodded. "I did."

She looked away for a few moments to process. She felt more let down than hurt or angry. Then again, JL being JL, she wasn't exactly surprised. "Was this a one-time thing, for old times' sake, or the start of something new?"

"I don't know. Lexi didn't ask and I've been more focused on being truthful with you than thinking about any possible future with Lexi."

"Future with Lexi?"

"In the context of what you just asked." He slid to the floor, leaned against the desk and flipped one foot over the other, keeping his arms folded against his chest. He took a deep breath. "Look, I can imagine how disappointed you are in me. We had a deal and I broke it. As arrogant as this might sound, I'd like to keep seeing you, though I'm sure by now you have other ideas."

"I do if you continue on with Lexi. You made me feel special, if not loved. But right now, I don't feel so special or feel much loved. Instead, I feel like another face in the crowd, just another body in your queen-sized bed. As I've said before, that won't work for me. If it was just about sex..." She shook her head, looked down and began to tear up. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we had more going on between us than just our genitals—as thrilling as all that was."

"There is no correcting, Alyssa, because we do have more going on than just that. I never lost sight of our connection on a deeper level."

"Even when you were screwing Lexi?" She blew her nose. Then: "I think you must have, JL, or what happened wouldn't have happened."

Wearily, he rubbed the back of his neck, then changed the position of his feet, flipping the left over the right. "I'm not sure what else to say, other than I'm sorry if I hurt you."

She stood up, drying her remaining tears. "I'd still like to know if you plan on sleeping with Lexi again."

"Truthfully, I don't plan on it, but it could happen."

She stood there, slowly nodding. "Okay, well, I appreciate your honesty but you know where I stand. Lexi might be okay with being just another body in your bed, but I'm not. So I guess—"

"May I interject?" he asked, raising his hand. "She's not entirely okay with it. She didn't say that in so many words, but I can tell you that, like you, she wants exclusivity. The difference is, she's willing to tolerate not being the only one. Not that I'm saying you should."

"Well, good for Lexi. You're right, I'm not so tolerant, especially after you led me to believe that I could be the only one." She stepped across the carpet toward the entrance, then turned around when she got to the door. "Look, if you ever change, if there comes a time when you can keep that vow you made—and I don't mean for just a few weeks—and I'm not involved with someone else, let me know."

Alyssa didn't let it stop there. The next day, while on break, she asked to speak with Lexi outside, a few yards away from the nicotine addicts, puffing away. They stood next to the building, a twelve-story high-rise with row upon row of mirrored glass. Before she even got started, Lexi said, "I know what this is about. JL told you about us, just like he said he would. You'd like to strangle me, I know."

Alyssa, shoulders hunched, pulled her sweater around her to shield herself from the brisk wind. "Don't flatter yourself, Lex. I'm not that pissed, at least at you."

Lexi, in a short-sleeve blouse, hugged herself to keep warm. As usual, her hair blew around her face, just the way JL liked to see it. "I didn't say anything yesterday because I didn't want to make any more waves. You've had enough problems with some of the other girls. JL didn't tell me that he was going to say anything to you until late in the day, after you had left the office."

"Okay, now be honest. Let's say I hadn't left yet. Would that have really mattered?"

"Um, well, maybe not," she said, stamping her high-heeled shoes upon the pavement against the chill. "He's irresistible. You know that yourself."

"Not so irresistible that I'm willing to share him with someone else, as I told him yesterday. We're through, which should make you very happy because we both want the same thing with him. But enjoy it now because it won't be long before he corrals someone else, and you'll once again be just another high IQ Wonderlic babe sharing his bed with another high IQ Wonderlic babe."

Lexi blew out a deep breath and shook her head. "You're telling me?! I told you that before, that JL will never stay monogamous for long. Speaking of flattered, you should be because you probably had him all to yourself longer than anyone else. I guess that's what scoring an amazing forty-one on the Wonderlic will do."

Alyssa sensed that Lexi's Wonderlic comment was part sarcasm, part truth the way she saw it. She knew she shouldn't care now where Lexi and JL might go, but she did. "Lexi, I'd like to think that I've got a lot more to offer JL than my Wonderlic score, and I'm sure he'd agree. But I digress. What I'm curious about is where you and JL plan to go from here. He gave me some wishy-washy response when I asked him."

"That's kind of up to JL, I suppose. I sure as hell know where I'd like things to go."

Alyssa didn't have to ask; she already knew. She and Lexi wanted the same thing and knew that neither of them was likely to get it. If Lexi wanted to make a fool out of herself, be part of the crowd, wish for the unattainable, so be it. That would be her problem. "Look, it's getting cold out here," she said, pulling her sweater tighter. "Let me just say good luck with your quest. Have fun, cause I'm moving on."

As they turned to go back in, Lexi threw out a question of her own. "Lissa, if you're still with Worthington in a year, do you plan on entering the Wonderlic contest again during Sexy Secretaries Week?"

Alyssa couldn't help but laugh. "Sure, why not? Maybe I'll even study for it. Go for a personal best. I mean, I initially scored a thirty-nine, then pushed it up to forty-one for the contest. Can forty-five, maybe even a perfect fifty be far behind?"

Warily, Lexi looked at her, as if she was unsure whether to laugh or take her seriously. Alyssa helped her out. "Just kidding, Lex, just kidding. Seriously, I might enter it again. But this time, I'll give my prize to the runner-up." Pause. "By the way, maybe you can keep JL company tonight. We had a date, HAD being the operative word. I'm sure he'll be glad to have you take my place."

When they went back inside, they went in different directions, Alyssa to her cubicle, Lexi to JL's office. His door was open, he waved her in. "Your cheeks are red, like you've been out in the cold," he said.

"Right, I have." She then revealed her talk with Alyssa. "So she told me that you two are no longer an item, and even suggested that I might keep you company tonight. That would be two nights in a row, I know, and you probably need a break. But, well, I didn't think it would hurt to ask."

JL told her to close the door. He then got up from his desk, and wrapped his arms around her. "I'd very much like the presence of your company tonight. All night."

For the next few minutes, Lexi forgot about work, forgot about everything except his tender kisses and the grinding of his loins against hers, which got her so hot, she lost all sense of professional propriety. In fact, so did JL, because he went along with what she did next—pushed him onto the chair in front of his desk, hiked up her skirt and then hopped on his lap. "Consider this a preliminary for later," she said. She proceeded to dry-hump him, though dry was hardly the state her pussy was in at this moment. "If I had known we were going to do this," she quipped through heavy breathing, "I would have brought an extra pair of panties."

"My sexy Lexi," he said. "You monogamy killer, you. Can't wait until tonight."

*****

And that's the way things stood for JL, Lexi and Alyssa at that moment in time, shortly before the dawn of the nineteen-nineties. Of course, time marches on as it did for these three.

Alssa Combs never got the chance to enter another Wonderlic contest. Months later, she went on to bigger and better things with another company. She rose into the corporate ranks, while attending college part time to pursue a degree in business. While at the company, she got involved with one of her colleagues, married and had two children. The marriage stuck.

Lexi Cook finally took her own advice and gave up trying to hook JL for life. She re-united with her high school sweetheart, got married and then got divorced after eight years of not such marital bliss. By then, she was employed at another company, running the office and getting paid handsomely to do it.

James Alexander LaPierre continued to run his Sexy Secretaries Week contests until the tenor of the times caught up with him. After a number of sexual harassment charges, he thought it best to scrap the contests before he got seriously sued. He still required those applying for employment at Worthington to take the Wonderlic. And he still made time with some of the high-scoring secretaries, though he was a lot more discreet, if not more discriminating. He remained a confirmed bachelor/playboy into his early fifties.

Then, as many of us do by middle-age, he began to look back at his life, wondering about his choices and decisions, the roads taken and not taken, what he might do or not do if he could do it all over again. Alyssa and Lexi came to mind. He had loved them both in his own way. Might have married either one of them had he been the so-called marrying kind. In fact, he had reached the point where he wanted to meet a special lady to share the rest of his life with. His libido, while still healthy, wasn't the raging beast it had been in his younger days. Besides, his sexy, high IQ secretaries were getting young enough to be his daughter. He felt kind of silly asking them out. Looks-wise, most women closer to his age didn't make the grade.

Yet one of them did. She was ten years younger, though still in his generational ballpark, he thought. He "found" her one Saturday afternoon on a public tennis court while stopped at a traffic light. She was volleying with another woman. "That can't be her," he whispered behind the wheel. "But maybe it is." He parked his car and began walking toward the clay-surfaced courts, surrounded by high fencing. The closer he got, the more he realized it WAS her—Lexi Cook, still looking great in her tennis whites, pounding the ball with her trade mark competitive zeal.

He came up behind her, gripping his fingers through the fence. She didn't see him until she turned to retrieve a ball hit by her partner. He watched her freeze in her tracks, holding her racket, her mouth agape. "JL?!"

"I thought that was you," he said. "You look great." He noticed her still toned legs and her hair, pulled back in a long ponytail topped by a white cap. So cute, so pretty, even into her forties.

She turned to her partner, put her finger up, then came over to him. He was dressed the way he normally dressed on late summer weekends, old chinos and a polo pullover jersey. Briefly, they talked about work, her office manager job and his long tenure at Worthington. She wasn't surprised that he hadn't married. "I'd imagine that many guys in your situation would find in hard to tie the knot," she said. "All those hot secretaries around, ready and willing."

"I guess," he said. "Look, can we get together? Not for old times' sake, just because, well, I'd like to is all."

She got her cell from her equipment bag and they exchanged numbers. Hers was under Lexi Conroy. Through the fence, they locked fingers and kissed. "Looking forward to it," she said, then returned to her game.

*****

'Not for old times' sake,' he had said, just because he'd 'like to.' That was good enough for Lexi Conroy, for she wanted to as well. She would harbor no expectations this time, no ambition beyond wanting to be with him, hear what he had to say, enjoy his company. His thinning hair had become thinner. Maybe that's why he had grown a short beard. She'd heard that balding men sometimes grew beards to compensate for hair loss on top. But, beyond that, he hadn't changed much, at least physically. He still looked in good shape. She did notice in that brief meeting at the tennis court, that something about him was different. Internally she meant. A weariness perhaps. Was the playboy getting tired of being a playboy? Better not to second guess, assume anything.

She didn't have to wait long. He called, asked her to dinner. "Would love to," she said. "Italian? Even better." She drove to Cob Hill, because Little Italy was close by. He drove from there, in a Lexus this time. Yes, she still "had it," but didn't flaunt it. Well, maybe a little, with her short, body-hugging dress that exposed those slim, toned legs. She sat across from him in Fazzini's, a place in Little Italy where she'd never been. She liked the atmosphere, cozy and not crowded. She also liked his beard and mustache, she decided. It gave him a touch of the avuncular without compromising his boyish charm. She ordered what he ordered, claims casino for an appetizer and then veal scaloppini with pasta. They shared a bottle of Chianti.