Tequila Sunrise

During our drive we had both surreptitiously mapped out our intentions and desires defining what we were looking for and willing to do in any type of relationship. We were both, I believe, satisfied that neither wanted any promises or expectations from the other. We agreed that if we advanced our symbiosis beyond a simple meal and comedy show that no assumption or expectation would be drawn and that neither was interested in exclusivity of any flavor. So, I accepted Stepanie's invitation, understanding that I wouldn't be getting home until much later in the morning.

Inside, I followed Stephanie's example by removing my shoes at the door, and then I followed her through the living room and down a short hallway to her bedroom. She passed through the doorway without touching the light switch on the wall, instead she turned on a lamp beside the queen-sized bed and folded both the comforter and the top sheet down.

When she lifted the loose turtleneck sweater off over her head and then turned back to face me again, I realized that what I suspected throughout our evening was true, Stephanie was a very well put-together woman. Her breasts, while not grotesquely large, were still impressive. When she un-fastened her pants and slid them over her intoxicating hips and then stepped out of the puddle of fabric they created on the floor I conceded that her bottom-half was at least as pleasant as her top-half. I again mimicked her actions, and as we both stood in our underwear beside the bed, I stepped toward her and wrapped her in my embrace. We shared our first real kiss and explored one another's body with our fingertips while sinking into the mattress and between the cold sheets. I found the clasp in the middle of her back and snapped it open using the one-hand trick Holly taught me years ago.

Stephanie leaned away enough to pull her bra free, dropping it off the side of the bed and looked me in the eyes with a sly smile, "Looks like somebody has been well-trained."

I grinned back at her, "Yes, I've even been house broken."

She belted out a genuine laugh, then we each divested ourselves of our remaining garment and resumed our quest for gratification.

I journeyed down her exquisite body, examining every detail minutely with my hands and lips, finding her favorite spots to be touched, and then concentrated my attention on those spots. I savored the flavor of her emissions, alternating from dragging my tongue up through her labia to flicking the tip rapidly across her clitoris while encircling it with my lips. My reward was her reaction to my ministrations: her body erupted in frenetic shuddering and her breathing devolved into broken gasps while her husky moans filled the night. After her rapture peaked, she reached down and pushed my face away, muttering, "Enough, please!"

I crawled back up from beneath the covers, slowly kissing my way to her neck.

"Please, give me just a minute to catch my breath." She lay there, panting like a marathon runner and looked me in the face, "You never said anything about needing a Safe-Word."

I grinned, "No, I guess the subject never came up, did it?"

"No, but you had me calling 'Calf-Rope'. I'll remember that next time we're together."

"Now it's your turn, just lay right there."

I lay back against the pillows and she disappeared under the covers. I felt her engulf my already rigid cock and a wave of euphoria that I have been denied for months cascaded up my torso from my center. In what I was sure was only a matter of seconds I had to warn her of my imminent eruption, and she quickly crawled up and lay on my chest, hesitating only long enough to plant her lips on mine then sat back and sank onto my fevered erection. Only moments before I exploded, I had an epiphany: neither of us had considered using a condom and I was at the end of my rope. I tried to push her off, "No condom!" but she bore down harder and gasped, "Uhh Uhh. This is mine, I worked for it, I earned it, I want it!" Then pressed down and held, massaging my penis with her Kegel muscles, and drawing the last drop from my shaft.

We lay exhausted, intertwined together in a sweaty heap. I looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand, 0318.

Stephanie gasped, "Lay here for a minute then we can get cleaned up."

Twenty seconds later I heard her breathing drop into a steady cadence and felt her body relax against my side. Fifteen seconds after that, I was unconscious as well.

I jerked awake when I felt movement at my side, the unfamiliar surroundings and the presence of someone in the bed with me added to my confusion. My befuddlement faded as my eyes focused on Stephanie's grinning face.

"I guess I fell asleep, too." I growled.

"It appears so." She chirped.

I could tell already, she was too happy a person first thing in the morning for my satisfaction, she found that fact humorous as well. Neither of us felt the need to continue our athletics from the night before, and neither of us wanted the dynamic that my staying for breakfast would have suggested so I took only enough time to satisfy my morning bathroom needs and to wash my face before I dressed in last night's outfit and Stephanie walked me to her front door.

"Hey, I had a great time last night and you're wonderful company..." I began, not really knowing exactly what I wanted to say.

"No," Stephanie interrupted, "Not now. This is what we agreed to. We both knew when we walked through this door what we were doing, and we both know that we're not a couple. Not now and maybe not ever but that doesn't mean that we can't keep each other company on occasion, right?"

She grinned seeing the relief spread across my expression. "Oh, I think we're going to have some fun now and then." I grinned back at her. We shared a brief kiss, and I headed home.

I parked in my driveway and made my way into my house carrying my Bojangles bag in one hand and a drink in the other when I heard a mirth-tinted voice sing out, "Good morning, Jim, making an early morning Bojangles run?" while I tried to balance the cup and bag in one hand so I could unlock my door.

I looked over my right shoulder at the Sulfridge house next door, at the center of the cul-de-sac and saw Veronica sitting in their porch swing, grinning like a coconspirator.

I answered, "Yeah, I woke up hungry and didn't feel like cooking breakfast."

"I'm sure you didn't. I don't often feel like cooking breakfast after I've had a night as long as yours either."

I shrugged my shoulders, neither confirming nor denying her vague semi-accusation and stepped through the door.

After a quick breakfast and a long hot shower, I spent the rest of the morning napping in my recliner. After lunch I worked on finishing what chores I left incomplete the day before and was adjusting the chemicals in my hot tub when Noel came around the corner of my house. "I figured you were back here or in your workshop when you didn't answer at the front door."

"Afternoon, Noel. Melissa got you spying today?" I chuckled.

"Is it that obvious? I tell you, these women are nosey as hell if you haven't figured it out yet."

"I expected somebody to make this appearance before lunch, to be honest. I knew Veronica would have the Jungle Telegraph overheating this morning." We both had a short laugh and Noel sat at the table on my deck. We exchanged small talk for a while, avoiding the reason for his visit until Tyler and Albert walked up together, grinning.

"Well, hell, somebody call Johnny and let's make it a party." I joked.

"You know they aren't going to let us rest until we bring back the goods." Tyler added.

Albert chuffed, "They're worse than the CIA."

After they all had a moment of levity at my expense, I said with a grin, "Go ahead and call them and tell them to come on, let's get this over with."

Fifteen minutes later, the three couples and I were sitting on the deck, enjoying the camaraderie born of close friendship when a break in the overall conversation occurred.

"Where's Johnny and Carolyn?" I inquired, "I expected them to be in on this too."

Veronica spoke up, "They went to spend the weekend down with Carolyn's mom, they aren't back yet."

"Ah, ok." I responded, "So, somebody take the floor, let's get this interrogation moving." I prodded, causing everyone to guffaw.

Melissa took the lead, grinning broadly, "I assume you had a date last night? I saw you leave mid-afternoon yesterday, dressed to impress and from Veronica's description, you hadn't changed clothes when she saw you this morning." Somehow, only Melissa could make that statement not sound accusatory.

"Yes, I had a very enjoyable date, and yes, we stayed together all night, Mom." I grinned.

"Well, it took you long enough. Y'all deserved to have a nice evening. Now we just need to decide if we let the pot go to whoever guessed closest or not." Maryanne added.

"Actually, even if that pool hadn't expired by now, there still wouldn't be a winner. I haven't gone on a date with Rachael, I was with someone else last night. If Rachael and I ever do go on a date, it won't be while she's married to Brian."

"Ha! I told y'all, but you didn't believe me!" Tyler barked.

"Anyway, not only is she married and neither of us have any intention of cheating, but she was one of Holly's two best friends. And, considering how much time they spent together over the last couple of years, she was arguably her best friend. I'm sure she has no more interest in me than the fact that I was Holly's husband."

"Jim, as brilliant as you are, you can be thick as a brick sometimes." Maryanne added incredulously.

Melissa brought our focus back to my overnight date, "So, if it wasn't Rachael, then who's your girlfriend? I don't think any of us have seen anyone come around in more than a month."

"I don't have a girlfriend, she's just a friend who likes company on occasion."

This brought a round of laughter from all my interrogators.

"So, now you know, and that's all the news that's fit to print."

We sat talking for a while longer, skipping from one subject to the next until it felt like new topics were mentioned only to keep the conversation going. Eventually everybody ran out of anything to add, and my visitors all went back home. I decided that any chores I hadn't finished could wait another day or so and made my way back to my favorite recliner to surf the games on my flatscreen.

*****

The first half of the week passed without any drama or surprises; I cleared several more cases I was investigating which were promptly replaced with new investigations. I met Stephanie for lunch on Wednesday, she asked if I had been scheduled for a class at the state training center later in the month, offering to share a room but I wasn't on the roster. She seemed disappointed but we agreed on another date for Friday and decided on a local steak house as our venue.

When I got home that afternoon, Brian was sitting on his front porch and called out to me with a thick voice, "You got balls, Wheeler! I'll give you that!"

I ignored his outburst and continued toward my front door.

"Whassa matter?! You don' wan' talk t' me now?!"

I stopped and faced him, "Brian, I don't have much to say to you. If you want to come over and sit with me on the deck and have a conversation, then feel free. I'll grab a beer and meet you out there but I'm not going to stand here and shout with you across the yard."

Just as my door closed, I heard him shout drunkenly, his speech heavily slurred, "Fuck you, Wheeler! You got no bizness with my wife! She's MY wife!"

I changed into a comfortable pair of athletic shorts and a Led Zeppelin '75 tour T-shirt, pulled a bottle of Amber Bock out of the refrigerator and then for convenience's sake I reached in for a second to prevent a trip inside once I emptied the first bottle. Then I made my way out to my deck to make sure the temperature was up on my hot tub. I felt like tonight needed a long soak.

I was surprised to find Brian sitting, glaring at my door when I stepped out. Wordlessly, I sat adjacent to him at my covered outdoor dining table and waited for his next outburst.

"She' gone. She won' talk t' me, y'all got e'r'body talkin' 'bout me 'hind m' back."

I let him ramble on without response.

"She ev'n got a lawyer 'n d'vorced me."

"Well, ain'cha' gon' say nufn'?"

"Brian, I don't know what you want me to say. I don't have anything to do with what's going on between you and Rachael. Neither she nor I have got anybody talking about you behind your back. Everything anybody is saying about you, you caused yourself. I don't blame her for not talking to you or for filing divorce papers on you. The things you said about her a couple weeks ago were reprehensible and shocked everybody who heard you. I can only imagine what you've said and done to her when no one else was around. And the way you're behaving in view of the public? While you're in uniform, no less? I'm surprised you haven't lost your job yet."

"Well, don' be to s'prized, I got 'spended t'day."

I was slightly shocked for a second.

"Said I'z drunk and caus'n a hostile work 'vironment or some shit. Britne won't eb'm talk t' me now."

"You've run around on Rachael for so long that you must think its okay, I mean, seriously? Britne? Y'all work together and you've never even tried to be subtle about it. Everybody knows what y'all are doing, you've been the punchline for months and never acted like you care."

"I guess I'm s'posed to hide it n' keep it secret like you and Rachael do, huh?"

"As far as I know, Rachael has never cheated on you, she has certainly never been with me."

"Then why's she a'ways lookin' atchoo like yer d' only man ev'r liv'd? An' when d' two you t'ink n'body's lookin' yer a'ways makin' puppy dawg eyes t'geth'r."

"Brian, you've got a guilty conscience; you've been cheating on Rachael for so long that you expect everybody else to be doing the same thing, or maybe that's how you're justifying your actions to yourself. I don't know, I'm no shrink but I don't believe she's ever stepped out on you, and we certainly haven't had any affair, torrid or otherwise. Now it's in your best interest to go home and go to bed, sleep this off and sober up. When you wake up you need to stay sober and talk to your Battalion Chief to see what you need to do to save your job."

"Fuck you, Wheeler, I oughta kick yer ass an'way. It'd be sad if yer' fancy house burnt down one day."

I stood up, "Are you threatening me, Yates? You remember what happened the last time you and I stood toe-to-toe. If you are stupid enough to insinuate that you'll burn my house, I'll take you off at the knees. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't fit to be a Firefighter and you can rest assured that I will not keep this conversation secret, if anyone asks me, I will repeat what you said. If anything happens to any of my property, I'm going to remember you made that threat and I will move Heaven and Hell to see that you get the maximum punishment possible. Now, you are no longer welcome on my property or in my home so stand your ass up and slosh your way back to your own house. Don't ever let me catch you anywhere near my property again."

Brian stood and nearly fell down the steps from my deck to my lawn and I watched him sway and stumble around the corner of my house and through the gate. About half a minute later I watched him shuffle back across his yard and into his house. I'd have to say that one of the most annoying aspects of my job over the decades was having to deal with drunks.

*****

The next day I was sitting in my office reading over a recently completed report on the Crime Lab website when Detective Gilmour stepped through my open door, "Just wanted to let you know I closed that Child Abuse case we went up the mountain with Miki Ramsey a few weeks ago."

"Really? You finally chased that deadbeat down?"

"Yep. Yesterday. He shit his pants when I finally caught him at the residence and confronted him in the yard."

I guffawed, "So, you scare him bad enough to confess?"

He chuckled back, "Yeah, something like that. But I mean it, he shit himself."

I was at a loss for words for a few seconds, "You mean he literally shit himself? Like, dumped a load in his Fruits?"

"Yep, I told him I was investigating a complaint of Child Abuse and the color drained from his face, he grunted, and the aroma wafted through the air. Crandall cussed me all afternoon and he still acted pissed at me when I saw him in the Patrol Room this morning."

"He have to transport him?"

"Yep."

I shook my head, "That's classic, wish I could've seen it!"

"I thought you might get a kick out of it."

Changing the subject, I began, "Speaking of that day, do you remember when Yates came to the table accusing me of messing with his wife?"

"Yeah, you hear he got suspended this week?" Gilmour added.

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk about. He came over to my house last night, drunk as a bicycle. He's still accusing me of having an affair with his wife and he even gave a veiled threat about my house burning down one day." Then I related the conversation Brian and I had the evening prior.

"So, what're you gonna do? You gonna report him to the department?"

"No, honestly, I'm not convinced it was anything other than the beer talking but that's the reason I'm telling you; if something does happen, I've let somebody know about the threat beforehand. I think he's losing it, man. He's barely coherent!"

"Well, if that's true you need to watch yourself." He urged.

*****

The next three weeks passed, mostly uneventfully. Stephanie and I had a few more dates, each one ending pretty much the same as our first but I only stayed overnight at her apartment once. She stayed one night at my house when I baked Rosemary Garlic Trout, and we made use of my hot tub. Brian was officially fired when he showed up intoxicated at his suspension hearing and then proceeded to cuss his Battalion Commander out in front of the assessment board. I spoke to Rachael a couple times each week by telephone and each time she seemed happier to hear from me than the time before. She said Brian wasn't responding to either her attorney's or the court's directives. He was simply ignoring all summonses and attempts to negotiate terms for their divorce as though it couldn't proceed if he refused to acknowledge it was occurring.

Then on the third Friday of May, I was typing a summary for one of my cases in my office when a snippet amid the din coming from my portable radio sitting on its charger behind my desk snatched my attention away from my computer screen. Officers were being dispatched to an address on my street to a reported Hostage situation. The house number was two lower than mine making it my next-door neighbor, the Yates house. I grabbed my portable and slammed my office door shut behind me as I raced to my car, and I didn't let up until I slid to a stop several houses down from our end of the street with other patrol cars. I saw Sgt. David Hunter standing with two Patrol Officers between their cars and trotted over to their huddle.

"What info do you have?" I asked the group as Det. Gilmour pulled behind my car.

Hunter began, "Dispatch says that a former Firefighter has at least one woman inside the residence there on the left and has threatened to kill her then himself."

Melissa and Carolyn both ran up to us in tears and obviously upset, both were babbling almost incoherently, "He's got her! He drug her out of his truck and into the house!"

I looked at the Patrol Sergeant, "Have you called Special Operations yet?"

"Yes, they're mobilizing, but they're training in Cartersville. They said they'd be here within thirty or forty-five minutes."