Sylvan Courtyard 8: Party Invite

I've been setting up this chapter for a while, even though it was not the original story that filled this space in the tale. It just needs to be told.

Again, as always, this is just a fun romp, everybody. I aim only for the plausibly ridiculous.

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Sylvan Courtyard -- Eight: Invitation to a Party

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The next pool party happened only a week after the wine club situation. I had managed to avoid Henry since that night, despite him being around almost constantly. But avoiding the dude was not going to be an option at the party. Not if I wanted to attend, and of course I was going to attend. I just counted on all the people around to keep Henry in check if Heather had read him totally wrong.

Things were completely chill, however. I still tried to keep away from Henry, but I eventually found myself passing him as I was going toward and he was coming from the keg. We just idly waved at each other and that was that.

I relaxed.

But then I was standing by myself for a minute, taking in the as always excellent scenery, when I sensed a presence beside me.

"So, Ken," Henry said, looking completely relaxed beside me and happily taking in the same scenery as I was, "I hear that you were my just punishment."

"Hey! Uh, sorry about that," I began diffidently.

"Be chill, Bro. I honestly did deserve it... mostly. What guy is going to turn down being kissed and groped by a babe like Sophia? And what guy is going to turn down a lap dance from a babe like Heather..." he added slyly. I continued to eye him warily. "Besides," he went on, "it sounded hot, and I win in the end anyway."

He kind of left that hanging like bait, and I figured I owed it to him to rise to it. "Really?" I asked, realizing that while I had a good idea, I was indeed curious about what he meant.

"She had been giving me lapdances right and left all week," Henry expanded smugly. "And we are usually wearing a lot less than either of you were. I'd say she's lapped my brains out pretty constantly."

Felicity had to be beside herself with what she was hearing above her apartment from these two, I realized. I resolved to drop by to see her, the next time I saw Henry visiting...

*

The next few weeks were a blur. Most importantly, my initial call with the department chair out in Colorado went very well, and I promptly found myself with an airline ticket from their travel office, a hotel reservation, and two days of interviews on campus.

The interviews went well. I found most of the faculty I met with to be charming and intelligent. Yes, most--not all. There were a couple of obvious assholes or wastes of oxygen. And most of those didn't seem to like me much either. I would have to learn to manage them over the years in my path to tenure. But there would be assholes wherever I went, so that was hardly a downcheck for this specific school.

I liked the campus, which was comfortable, small, and backdropped by God's own utter majesty in the form of 12,000-foot peaks looming in two directions. The facilities they offered for the work I wished to pursue were... well... adequate. But I was fine with that. Part of being ambitious is the desire to build. They had a good foundation. That was the most important thing. The rest, in no small part, would be up to me, should I settle there.

The campus also had an outdoorsy culture, which I liked. Nestled in the high Rockies, with a major ski resort 40 minutes away, the natural scenery, high and low, was stunning. I found myself eager to get out amongst it. And outdoorsy people, faculty and students alike, tend to be fitter and more attractive than average... All the scenery was great, is what I'm saying.

The cost of living in the area was manageable, there were a number of interesting-looking local breweries in town, and I did not find myself instantly loathing absolutely everything and everyone in state politics, which is about as good as you can hope for these days.

I was all in... if they would have me. Had I found a home? This was a profoundly momentous decision nexus in my life, and it actually scared me a little bit. Well, the idea that it might be a wrong move scared me a little bit.

The idea that I might not get the job in the first place scared me a lot.

I flew home with the promise of a swift answer--provisional if that answer was yes. Such a provisional yes would be predicated on my successfully defending my thesis no later than October 24th. By the flight home, I felt good about the chances their answer would be yes. Both my advisor and Professor Thames had primed the pump for me well, and both the Dean and assistant chair of the department out there had been particularly interested in the thrust of my personal research. Amazingly, they also seemed to give a shit that my teaching ability was good and that my students tended to love me.

I re-rededicated myself to polishing my work and preparing myself. I was very lucky to have no classes over the summer.

I had my fun, too. I managed to listen in with Felicity on one of Henry's lap dances, for instance. It was extremely entertaining to so listen. And Heather still somehow did not know who it was yelling so loudly down below her apartment.

Several other women with whom I had played around also found ways to do so again. Susan cruelly flashed me a time or two more before she finally broke down and offered another actual visit--a much longer one.

I was living the life, is what I am saying.

Then one afternoon, I was coming back from a grueling day of creating and checking imagery, and having Patty drag my rewritten section four over the coals, when I realized that I was arriving just as Pole Dance Club was breaking up. I think there were seven girls there that day, or at least that is how many I saw coming out of the gym as the automatic blinds rose.

The club's members were a variety of shapes and had a variety of personalities. There was Mimi, who I heard was more leading the thing than outright teaching it. Jane had joined, to my surprise, and was among those leaving as I walked by. Becky was also supposed to be in the group, but I did not see her that afternoon.

What I did see, to my shock, was Josie coming out with the others, wearing a leotard under baggy clothes. She was reading her texts, and I heard her grumble to Val Ivanova, "I can't have a single hour to spin without one of you nimrods breaking something and calling for help."

Oh, I was going to tease her about this something fierce.

The next day, I saw my chance. Josie was in the front office as I was heading off to campus, arguing on the phone with a contractor or vendor or something. I paused and leaned against the wall to watch her fuming. She saw me there, not doing anything productive, just watching her get angrier and angrier. She grimaced and flipped me off, but I think that might have helped her regain her balance, because her next words were more like herself--less demanding and more compromising.

In less than two minutes, she had reached something akin to a resolution and hung up the phone. As she did so, she flipped me off again for good measure.

I affected an innocent and wronged expression. "Moi? Why are you angry with me?"

"You were just standing there, being entirely unhelpful like everyone else today," she growled good-naturedly.

"Well, I thought I'd watch you go three rounds with some poor hapless trades-dude," I drawled.

"She is a trades-wench. And she is the best at what she does," Jesse snapped. "That unfortunately includes being chronically late for everything including, I project, her own funeral. And why was that so entertaining to you?"

"Oh... I just felt that since I don't get to see you, of all people, training on a pole I'd watch you go a few rounds with the aforementioned trades-wench."

Josie glowered at me.

"When did you break down and decide to give it a try?" I asked smirking at her glower.

"While I was installing the pole," she snapped. "For your information, it is fun. And it really is a sensational workout. I've been feeling a little out of shape the last six months or so, and this is helping, thank you," she said defensively.

I looked at her doubtfully. "You and 'out of shape' are not exactly easy concepts to put into the same thought."

"Thanks," she grimaced at me. "But I'm just getting in some cardio. That's no big deal. You, on the other hand, have to live with being the inspiration for the whole enterprise!"

"Hey! I wasn't pole dancing! No one was pole dancing!"

"No, but watching you got all those girls hot and bothered about stripper stuff."

"All those girls? You are the one who volunteered to install the pole! And then installed two!"

"I was just reveling in the prospect of Jesse's face when he found out," Josie said firmly. "And for the record, the moment of that reveal was everything I had hoped for," she added in evilly fond memory.

"So it wasn't until you were installing the poles that you personally got all hot and bothered?"

"Neither hot, nor bothered! But I was working with Mimi while putting them up to her specs, and she conned me into trying it for the workout benefits."

Well clearly, my efforts to give her a hard time were going to render limited fruit.

"I have to go to work," I grumbled, and she laughed.

As I walked out, I asked curiously, "So, are you any good?"

"You'll never know," she gloated as I walked away.

*

What was supposed to be five hours on campus that day turned into nine. I discovered an implication of my results that I didn't fully understand, and that was alarming. I spent the whole day reconciling my realization with the established science. It did end up fitting. That meant I could stop worrying about a flaw in my results and start worrying about whether I should include the new insight in my dissertation. I decided that I would not. It was not fully on point with my central thesis, and more importantly, it could form the kernel of my first paper at my new university. A quick publish would do wonders for making sure my promised fast track was fast indeed.

I treated my body badly with a fast food dinner on my way home and I collapsed in the loveseat on my balcony to burn off some stress. I set to playing some new tower defense game, with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc at my side.

I had come home unpleasantly keyed up after the stressful, uncertain day, and this was just what I needed to reset as the sun went down. I should have gone down and worked out. My body needed it. But come on, sometimes you just need to eat a Big Mac and be a schlub.

I considered going down to the gym anyway. The thoughts of those poles were still in my head. Becky had not seemed to have been at the last workout meeting. Maybe she would be down there now, catching up on her training...

There. Those thoughts were enough to elevate my pulse, right? That was enough. Tonight, my body just needed wine and video games.

Jane and Rhonda wandered into the complex and went to circle the pool. They carried a largish flat box between them.

"New TV?" I called down to them with a wave.

"Hey, Ken," Jane replied, waving back awkwardly with the bulky but not heavy box still in her grasp.

"Old one crapped out," Rhonda added irritatedly.

"Need any help?" I asked, because of course I did.

They both laughed.

"I think us widdle gurls can manage to unpack this and plug in two cables," Rhonda said in a dry but childish voice. They both laughed. I waved them away sardonically.

20 minutes later, Becky wandered in toward her apartment, which triggered a return of the pole dancing thoughts in my mind. I pictured her tiny hands wrapped around the brass pole, which would seem huge in their petite grasp...

I wanted to call out, asking her why she missed her exercise this week, but that sounded like something far too creepy, with an added bonus of stalkery, for me to go shouting aloud in the courtyard. Alas.

"How ya' doing, Becky?" I satisfied myself with.

"It was a good day," she smiled back up at me.

"Cool. Can I offer you a glass?" I asked, waving mine, still half full, toward her. Becky hanging out in my apartment would be a close second to Becky wrapping her legs around a brass pole and spinning in circles. And Becky in my apartment could quite possibly mean her hands on a pole in my apartment that be a runaway much better thing...

"Sounds good, but I'm actually late," she said back casually. "I gotta change and head back out."

"Cheerio," I waved as she headed off. I wondered where she was going. A date? Or just meeting friends? She seemed mighty perky for just meeting friends.

The sun was down behind the mountain now. Lights in lots of apartments showed occupants, and most of the porch lights had come on automatically. Several stars were already visible overhead in the clear, darkening sky.

I worked my way through the glass, and through several regiments of dead video game goblins.

I looked around to stretch my neck, and noticed right across from me that Rhonda and Jane's porch light was off again. That meant I could see through the sheers of course, where the TV box was now empty and leaning up against the window, and the long pieces of white styrofoam packing were scattered on the living room floor.

The lights were low in the rest of the apartment, but the glow from the new flatscreen did a fine job illuminating things enough to see. Rhonda and Jane had a bottle on the coffee table in front of their couch and they were curled up together, watching.

What did married lesbians watch on TV on a weeknight? Bravo? Not those two. PBS? Schwarzenegger movies? I snorted and changed my iPad to Ticket to Ride. My fingertips were getting sore from mowing down goblins.

I looked up again and realized that Jane and Rhonda were ignoring their new purchase. Their cuddle had turned into a clinch, and they were kissing fairly passionately on the couch.

Well, this was much more interesting than 19th century railroad games...

Jane's hand was suddenly full of Rhonda's full, rich breast, her fingers squeezing through the silky magenta of the blouse. Rhonda looked like she moaned at that, then brushed a hand briefly over Jane's breast in return, before sliding it down her belly to rest between her legs. I could not see how active that hand was, but Jane's hips twisted eagerly.

They kept up like that, but also were talking and laughing. I was entranced. I needed more wine, but fuck that. I was not getting up and going inside for more. I might miss something.

Jane got tired of massaging fabric and started unbuttoning Rhonda's blouse. In moments, it was open, and I saw that Jane's wife had excellent taste in underwear after all. I was a little surprised to learn that she even owned a bra... This one was black and even from my far vantage, I could tell the lace was open and transparent.

It was something new to Jane, apparently, as she stopped with the passion to talk excitedly, I guessed about the bra. Her fingertips stroked the lace and they both looked down at the support for Rhonda's generous tits. Then they both laughed as Rhonda undid what turned out to be a front clasp, and let Jane eagerly spread the bra wide.

The bra was forgotten as Jane dove in to kiss and suckle on Rhonda's nipples.

I was on cloud nine, watching these two women together, both now with their hands between the others' legs, Jane with hers up beneath Rhonda's white skirt. They writhed like that together until Rhonda got tired of Jane being fully clothed and began to scrabble at her blouse in turn.

This turned swiftly into a full-blown frenzy as they both rushed to undress the other. I was treated to watching a series of breasts being exposed, asses being waved in my direction, and tickles being applied as the two women had each other naked in minutes.

It was so fucking hot.

It also was a bit creepy of me, right? These were my friends--buddies really, certain instances aside.

I sighed. I was hardly going to stop watching. My cock, which was hard as ivory in my pants might have stabbed me in the heart if I had tried to look away. And besides, they knew about the sheers with the porchlight off. It was on them, not me...

I sighed and let myself indulge, not fighting what I was.

After Rhonda had a good long turn attending to Jane's breasts with tongue and fingers, Jane pulled her taller wife to her feet and the two embraced standing. They kissed deeply, and their hands ran all over one another's bodies. Jane's muscular little ass and Rhonda's luxurious larger one afforded me a buffet of backsides to appreciate, especially as they kept slowly turning around together in each other's embrace. I was being given every possible angle of both of them as they luxuriated in each other.

Wait.

The both of them really were very much aware of the curtain effect. And the light on their porch had been fixed, so they had to have turned it off manually. And their actions were making for quite the showcase.

And they knew I was out on my balcony this evening.

I snorted quietly and leaned back on my little couch. I wasn't going to feel concerned about a goddamned thing... except making sure to send a thank you note the next day.

Suddenly, the two of them were laughing with each other, hands never quite stopping fondling the other while they had some discussion that was both intense and silly. At one point, Jane tried to look away from Rhonda. I caught a wicked grin visible on her face because she tried to twist somewhat in my direction, but Rhonda caught her chin instantly and pulled her face back for a brief but deep kiss.

Suddenly, they both nodded and dashed toward the kitchen, affording me a simultaneous view of the full butt buffet at once. Yeah, that worked.

Jane went to rummage in her purse while Rhonda, who was closer to my location, opened the freezer. She pulled out a bottle of what had to be vodka, though I did not recognize the brand, and poured two shots. Jane took one and they looked at each other, still for a moment. Then they toasted and threw back the shots. Then they laughed and turned away again, Rhonda to put the bottle back in the freezer.

My iPad dinged.

I had zero desire to look away, even for a second from the shenanigans across the way, but we are creatures of habit, are we not? I looked down at the text notification.

The text notification from Jane.

JANE: Hope you are enjoying the show. One time offer. One time only. Coming over?

I stared at the text. I spent a while staring, processing what I had just read. This could be complicated. Very complicated. Was this a good idea? How much had they been drinking before I started watching?

I must have dithered for three, maybe even four entire seconds before I was rocketing out of my seat and dashing out the door of my apartment, not even pausing to grab a bottle of wine. I was two steps away from my door before I reversed course, went back in, grabbed the bottle of Côtes de Provence rosé I had been hoarding in my fridge, and then dashed out again.

As I tried to move casually while circling the pool, I was struck with a sudden fit of introspection. It might seem strange for a guy to be struck by a fit of introspection while hustling/not hustling his way to an apartment with two naked women inside, but there you go. Honestly, I suppose it is just odd for guys to be introspective in the first place, right?

The thing that was getting to me was the realization that if Jane and Rhonda were straight and just roommates, I would absolutely not be heading this way, potential threesome or no.

The problem was, I liked both women... a lot. Either one of them, if available, would have scared me to death. I was moving away soon, I'd known I was going before I ever met them. They were moving nowhere.