Reunion Ch. 03

"I really needed that, now you can have a shower."

"Are you going to join me?"

"Just try and stop me. I might close the curtain first, I think he has had enough of a show."

Melissa stood and after a dramatic bow closed the curtains with a flourish. In the shower we washed each other then toweled each other dry. Back in the room Melissa laid down and I got some hand cream provided by the motel and gave her a massage. The massage morphed into sex, as they often do, but this time and really for most of the weekend the spark wasn't there. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it but I was thinking a lot of home and Sal. I'm not sure what the story was with Melissa, maybe it wasn't causing enough havoc for her. In the morning she seemed more interested in sleep than sex and unlike previously we stopped to eat proper meals.

Sunday morning we had to be out at eleven and Melissa was dressed and packed at ten. We said our goodbyes and I was home before lunch. Sal was surprised to see me that early. We went down to the river for a picnic and spent the afternoon there laying in the sun. What happened on the weekend was never discussed, it was like it hadn't happened.

We were back to being close but anxiety levels were raised again a month later. We hadn't heard anything from Melissa and took no news as good news. Sal wanted to ring her to see if she was pregnant but I told her to hold off. I came home one day to a smiling Sal, the girls were doing homework on the dining table so she hustled me into the bedroom.

"I told you you still had it in you!" She said, laughing and throwing her arms around me.

"Melissa's pregnant?"

"Yes, the doctor confirmed it, but she has been waiting to make sure everything is alright."

"Oh yeah! We're going to be alright," I kissed her, "no more distractions," another kiss, "the girls are going well at school. Life's good!" I turned Sal and pushed her onto the bed before jumping on top.

"Get off me you brute," she laughed.

"Come on, is that anyway to talk to a stallion?" I joked.

"You might be a gelding if you're not careful. Quick, get off before the girls come in."

I rolled away and we lay side by side looking at the ceiling in silence. Sal rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow so she could look at me.

"Thanks Tony, I know you weren't that happy about this idea."

"No problems Sal, it wasn't exactly hard work...well except for the time..." My joke was cut short by a sharp dig in the ribs.

"If you don't want your "friend" to be one of the long term unemployed, then it would be best not to finish that sentence." Sal warned.

Our lives continued on and I thought we had heard the last of Melissa and Dave until we received a large silver envelope in the mail. It was an invitation to a baby shower and general celebration of the pregnancy being put on by Melissa's mother-in-law, Helen Beaufort, at their home on Wolseley Rd, Point Piper, Sydney. No wonder Dave had inherited some cash if his folks had a house on Wolseley Rd, it was known as the most expensive street in Australia. There was a good reason for it, Point Piper jutted into the Sydney harbor and afforded those lucky enough to be able to spend seven figure sums on a house, uninterrupted views of the Opera House and Harbor bridge.

Sal looked at me expectantly as she gave me the invitation. She obviously wanted to go but I wasn't as keen. We had a "discussion" about it, which almost degenerated into an argument. In the end my point about our tight budget won the day and so Sal sent off an inability. Four days later I came home to a beaming Sal. Melissa had rung to see why we couldn't make it. My point about our tight budget was blown out of the water by Melissa offering to put us up for the weekend at her apartment. I was out maneuvered and agreed we could go. Besides it might be nice to see Dave gloating about his pregnant wife knowing I had done the deed.

The weekend arrived and we left the children with Sal's mum and headed to the city, arriving around nine o'clock Friday night. Melissa and Dave greeted us warmly, in Dave's case it was probably because of all the scotch he had on board. We had a couple of drinks and talked for a little while before going to bed.

The next morning we had a luxurious sleep in, not leaving the bed until ten forty five. Walking out into the kitchen we found Melissa eating brunch while Dave was at the golf course. Melissa and Sal were soon gossiping about babies and I made myself some breakfast. Sitting back at the table I flicked through the Saturday papers and took in the view. Dave and Melissa lived in an apartment in the "toaster." An ugly building that sprung up, despite protests to its architectural merit, between Circular Quay and the Sydney Opera House. Their apartment faced West, so I was looking down over the ferries as they bustled in and out of Circular Quay.

Dave arrived home and even though it was only midday, he appeared to have spent a large part of the morning at the nineteenth hole. Maybe he was still pissed from the night before. He walked up behind Melissa and made a show of giving her a good morning kiss and as he did, he slipped his hand around her side and groped clumsily at her breast.

"Get off you oaf!" Melissa pushed his hand away.

"Come on darling, you best get used to a bit of rough play with those tits. My baby is going to get fat sucking on them," Dave slurred.

"Just go to bed Dave, your mother won't want to see you pissed again." Melissa replied in a tired voice.

"Great idea, how about coming with me and giving me a blow job?" This was getting rather awkward, Sal and I exchanged glances and I indicated we should leave.

"Get out of here you fuckwit!" Melissa yelled, and Dave holding up his hands in surrender, backtracked out of the room. Looking back at us she softened, "Sorry, I seem to get very cranky when I'm pregnant. "

"It's a very stressful time, your body changes, hormones..." Sal placed her hand on Melissa's arm emphasizing her understanding. "Have you started your nursery yet?" She continued, changing the subject.

"Oh yes," Melissa's face brightened, "come and I'll show you."

They left, talking excitedly as I continued my reading and eating. I was also thinking about something Dave had said: "my baby", he had been very definite about it. I wondered if the sperm donor story was just a ruse to make Sal and I more likely to agree to her proposal. After I finished breakfast I went looking for the girls, they were sitting cross-legged on the floor of a bare room, a scrapbook overflowing with pictures cut from magazines lay in front of them. There were pictures of cots and change tables, wallpaper samples, rocking chairs, it was no place for a man.

"I'm going for a walk." I said.

"Okay, be back by one, we have to be there at two thirty." Sal replied, not even looking up.

"It doesn't take me an hour and a half to get ready."

"Just be back by then." I knew the tone, it wasn't up for debate, it was a firm directive.

When I got back Sal was in the shower, Melissa was having a sleep on the lounge, and I assumed Dave was doing the same in bed. I grabbed a book off the mantlepiece to pass the time. There was a school photo of I assume a young Dave next to the books. By a little bit of math from the year and the class he was in, I worked out he was probably forty or forty one. At the reunion I had pegged him for being fifty at least, perhaps looking at the world through the bottom of an empty glass was to blame.

By two pm we were all ready to go, the girls were dressed up and as had always been the case, even with a baby bump, Melissa shone out. Dave was turned out as well and I felt like a pimple on a pumpkin. Sal had bought me some new "in" clothes but I couldn't pull it off. I didn't feel comfortable in them and it showed, I was resigned to not being belle of the ball.

We went in Sal and Dave's car and about half way down Wolseley Rd we were confronted with a line of hire cars.

"Parkings impossible here so Dave's father organised the hire cars to pick up and drop off guests." Melissa explained.

When it was safe to do so Dave pulled out and went around them turning into a small driveway just past where the hire cars were disgorging their guests. The driveway ended at a garage door, Dave pressed a remote he had retrieved from the console and it opened revealing a small garage. Tiny would be a better word, barely big enough to fit the car in. The door closed behind us but neither Melissa nor Dave made any attempt to get out. Once the door was closed another noise started and we began to descend, it was a lift.

We dropped one floor into a ten car garage. Dave moved off the lift and parked between a Porsche and a Bentley. Leaving the car we walked to the end of the line of cars and there was another lift. Dave took out a key inserted it in the lock on the control panel and turned it. Lights came to life above the sliding door as the carriage ascended to get us. The door opened and we got in, Melissa pressed number two.

"Level four is the bedrooms, level three is the living and everyday floor, level two entertaining and level one is the pool, gym and access to the boat dock and harbor."

"Wow," Sal and I said together, we were a long way out of our comfort zone.

The lift door opened on a large room, a very large room. From my limited knowledge I guessed you could easily seat one hundred and fifty people in it. The western wall was all glass, affording a panoramic view of the Sydney harbor bridge and Opera house. My first thought was it would be a great place to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks.

Outside the glass wall the was a large balcony and the party was set up out there, about forty people were already present. A constant stream of waitresses came from a door off to one side of the large room carrying drinks and canapés through a large french door to the balcony. Up the other end of the room an older couple were greeting guests as they filed through another french door onto the balcony. We walked towards them with Dave leading the way. When he got to the lady he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi mom," he said before moving on to shake hands with his father.

Melissa did the same and we were standing away a little waiting for an introduction. Dave started to move to the bar but Melissa grabbed his arm and gestured to us and his parents.

"Oh yes, sorry, mum, dad, this is Tony and Sal. They're friends of Melissa from her hometown," he said with no great enthusiasm.

We shook hands. Mr Beaufort was rather dismissive of us, like his son, but Mrs Beaufort was much nicer.

"Please call me Helen," she said when we used her formal title, "and my husband's John."

Up close she was remarkably well preserved, I would have said she was fifty at most. However she couldn't have had David at age ten, so she must have been over sixty. Her husband looked older, at one point he must have been a large and domineering figure but now that was fading. While he still had the voice and mannerisms there was a frailty beneath that was showing through.

Dave took me over to a group of men that proved to be his friends. He introduced me and after my occupation and place of residence had been established I was largely forgotten. There was a holiday discussion going on and the debate centered around whether skiing was better at Aspen, Whistler or Val Thorens. As I hadn't left the state, let alone the country, I was not able to add anything. Apart from raising a laugh when I said I had never seen real snow.

As I was an outsider it did give me a chance to observe the crowd. There were four distinct groups, Dave's male friends who he mostly attended school or university with. The second group were Dave's friends spouses, most were of similar age to their husbands and there appeared to be a...I don't know maybe dislike, or distrust, or it could be disinterest from them towards the much younger Melissa. When we had arrived there had been lots of air kisses for her and Sal but now those two were seated by themselves away from the group.

Older men, no doubt John Beaufort's peers were the third group and then lastly their wives who were huddled around Helen Beaufort. She was sitting on a large chair and they were grouped around making the scene reminiscent of a queen holding court over her subjects. I grew tired of the group I was with, they had moved on from skiing to polo, and while I had seen a horse, I had never been on one.

I walked toward Melissa and Sal who were standing in front of a large table groaning under the weight of baby presents on top. When I got there John Beaufort led Melissa away to talk to his friends. As he did his hand, which had been on the middle of her back as he guided her through the crowd, slipped lower not obscenely so but lower none the less... I thought back to when we had arrived and Melissa had kissed his cheek, he had pulled her into a embrace. Something Melissa had said before popped into my head, "I'm sick of little and limp dicks." Hmmm.

Helen must have seen us standing alone so she came and took us over to her group. We were introduced around and Helen asked about our children, Melissa had given her some glowing reports. The ladies were soon swapping tales of their children so I happened to glance over to where Melissa and John where standing with the other older gentlemen. He had his arm around her shoulders and his other was on her baby bump. Melissa moved it away, but there was something about the scene, it was like he was showing her off. My brain began working on conspiracy theories but I was interrupted by Helen.

"Tony, could you do me a huge favor?"

"Certainly" I replied, unsure of what use I could be.

"Ladies, could you make sure Sal is kept company?" It sounded like a question but there was no room for a negative answer. "Follow me Tony."

I fell into step beside her and we walked to the french door the waitresses were moving through. Just through the door was a man in a suit who I had noticed giving the waitresses directions and checking on the trays of canapés before they went to the guests.

"Tony, this is my personal assistant, Giles," Helen introduced us and we shook hands.

"We have to get some supplies to our boat before we go on a cruise around the harbor at sunset. David was supposed to help Giles. " Helen looked over and saw her son finishing of another glass of whiskey. "But, I'm afraid he won't be of any use so could you help Giles please."

"No problems Mrs..,sorry, Helen." It would be a relief to get away for a bit.

I followed Giles through the door into the kitchen where the food and drinks were being prepared. Walking past the busy chefs, we came to a cool room door with a large trolley off to one side. Giles opened the door and pointed to a stack of cases of champagne, beer and wine in one corner.

"All of those have to go down first, then we will come back and get the food. Bring the trolley in and we can get started."

He turned out to be a very nice bloke and I found myself more at ease being with the staff than out on the balcony. We loaded what we could fit on the trolley then took it down in the lift. On the first level we wheeled past a large indoor pool before going back out into the sun again on a cement path that led to a marina berth with two boats tied up to it.

"We'll unload this lot on the dock, then you go back and get the rest while I load it into the boat." Giles said as we pushed toward them.

We unloaded them onto the edge of the dock and I stopped to have a look at the boats. The one we unloaded next to looked brand new, a chrome makers plate on the side said Riviera SY 6000. It was about sixty feet long and had the sleek lines of a speed boat. I looked at the balcony then back at the boat.

"Heh Giles, there's no way everybody is going to fit on there."

"This is only the run about mate, the boat is out there." He pointed out into the harbor to a boat that looked like a small cruise liner.

"Holy shit!" I gasped, "one person owns the whole boat?"

"The only difference between the rich man and the poor man is the size of his toys," Giles said grinning. "You are right though, the Beaufort's don't own it outright, there's a syndicate of five. Three Americans and two Australians, it goes back and forth across the pacific in an endless summer."

"Wowsers, lifestyles of the rich and famous." I replied before pushing the trolley back to the house for the next load.

I got the rest of the drinks and once loaded onto the runabout we went to the boat. Luckily out there the crew had a small hoist, that saved us from anymore heavy lifting. Back at the house we loaded up again with food then went back out. When we came back this time there were people milling around on the lawn waiting to be ferried out.

"Do you want to be on the first trip?" Giles asked.

"No mate, I'll wait for Sal."

"Could you take the trolley back up, I'm the designated driver today." He tapped the wheel as he spoke.

"Yeah, sure thing."

John Beaufort was standing on the dock organizing the first load of passengers, we pulled alongside and Giles and I tied it up. Standing on either side of oncoming guests we gave the elderly gents and their wives a hand to get in. I got out when they were all in and wheeled the trolley back into the house. Helen was in the kitchen dispensing cash to the excess wait and kitchen staff.

"Tony you are a saint, we would never have got on the water in time without you."

"No problem Helen, I'm more at home working than socializing."

"Well I owe you one," she said, placing her hand on my shoulder, "and I always pay my debts. No more work for you today and I'll make it my mission to see you have a good time. Melissa and Sal are still on the balcony, my those girls can talk."

I went out to find them but only Melissa was there.

"Where's Sal?" I asked.

"Gone to the bathroom, why don't you come and sit next to me? We haven't had any alone time." She patted the lounge seat next to her.

"This one here is my best option." I replied as I sat in an armchair to her left.

"Funny boy, I won't bite, hmm, unless you request it." Melissa giggled at my discomfort.

Looking around to check we were still alone I decided to return a little discomfort. "So which one is John, little or limp?"

The smile crumpled momentarily and was replaced with uncertainty before a hesitant smile returned again. "You shouldn't take everything I say so literally," she said.

"What did you say?" Sal chirped behind me.

I turned and saw her smiling, her cheeks were flushed, drinking champagne in the sun had her tipsy.

"Oh, he just took a joke I said to heart, that's all," Melissa laughed. "Come on you two or we will miss the last boat ride."

"I don't think they would leave you behind," Sal said.

We went down and joined the stragglers waiting for Giles to return. The rest of the night was a lot of fun, cruising on Sydney Harbor at night was spectacular, for Sal and I anyway. After the sight-seeing we moored near Manly and had a sit down dinner then a band kicked off. Helen was attentive, hovering around us to make sure we were alright. Sal and Melissa continued to be joined at the hip so Helen asked me if I would be her partner in a dance. We cut the rug for a song then Helen whispered conspiratorially in my ear.

"Could I ask another favor?"

"You can certainly ask," I replied again, unsure what I could do.

"John and his friends have retired for port and cigars, but their wives would kill for the chance to be squired around the dance floor by a young hunk like you... Would you mind if I filled your dance card for the night?

I looked across at Sal who was still talking to Melissa then back at Helen. "Okay, but I may have to reserve a few for my wife."