The Rhythm Method

Charlotte had finally stood with the rest of her colleagues once the cellar rats had exited the room. The assistants all eyed each other warily. They had each made mistakes, though some much bigger than others. Most laid the blame firmly and squarely at the feet of the cellar rats, taking none of the responsibility for spillages or other incidents themselves. She thought about her own mistakes. Luckily she had not made any of the big gaffes that seemed to have doomed them to this extra attention from Mrs. Price. Rather than complaining about the untrained and ill-bred cellar staff, Charlotte began making a list in her head of how she could improve her own work.

At the top of her list was communication with the rats. She shuddered at the thought of having to deal with Ralph. She decided to make an appointment to speak to the winemaker who was her direct supervisor about selecting the rats she would like to work with and those she wouldn't. With some careful planning, she could avoid Ralph and the worst of his creepy friends altogether and do a better job communicating when down in the cellar checking the barrels.

Satisfied that she had a plan to move forward and be okay, she tuned back into the morose complaints of her colleagues. Clearly, they believed they shouldn't have to do any extra work and participate in this exercise that Suzette had planned. They seemed to believe only the cellar floor workers needed such drastic measures in order to improve their productivity. Charlotte grimaced. Hadn't they heard Suzette? This was about not marking the clear class distinctions between the winemakers and laborers.

Charlotte was not one to voice her thoughts in a group, however, instead tending to hang back and listen rather than join in the banter of her colleagues. Once in the office she shared with her friend Lincoln, she sighed and turned to face him. "You know the key word Suzette said was clique right?"

"Yeah, so?" Lincoln shrugged. He was still angry about losing his weekend for some sort of new age hand holding thing.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if it's the assistants that are seen as a clique, rather than the cellar rats. I mean, they seem to talk to everyone but us. Even Stuart," Charlotte said, referring to the oldest and most senior of the winemakers, Stuart Gresham. She and Lincoln were lucky enough to work directly under his supervision. He was a taciturn man of few words and took on fewer assistants than most. The fact that he had chosen her gave her a certain amount of credibility among the other assistants, despite the fact that she was one of the few females holding the position.

She walked to her window and looked out over the front lawn just as Ralph stormed out of the cellar doors, walking towards the cafeteria. "Even that great oaf seems to be able to talk with everyone here," she shivered. "Except us."

"That guy's got a chip on his shoulder. I doubt he actually talks to anyone except to grunt his own disdain." Lincoln had come up beside her to look out of the window and see who she was talking about. "Look. All we have to do is play the game until Suzette gets bored with her latest moronic idea and life goes back to normal."

"Yeah," Charlotte agreed, smiling and turning her gaze away from the window. "I guess so." Having seen Ralph making his way to the cafeteria, she opened the small refrigerator they kept in their office and withdrew the salad she had prepared the night before. She never went to the cafeteria with the rest of the workers, but after this morning's meeting, she knew that she would have to try to go down once in a while, if only to be seen.

Somehow, Ralph had made it through the rest of the morning without seeing his toast and coffee again. The cool dampness and relative darkness of the wine cellars had him feeling almost normal again by the time lunch rolled around. Of course, the bombshell Frank and Suzette had set off was another thing entirely.

Ralph settled into a chair in the company cafeteria with a few of the other rats. Sam, his best friend since high school, sat beside him to his right. They were joined at the table by Nick and Mark. Nick had worked with them for a few years, but Mark had been there for only a few weeks. He was the low man on the totem pole.

Ralph wasted no time voicing his displeasure with the morning's announcement. "I can't fucking believe we are going to have to waste an entire weekend with this bullshit," he growled. "And then more days after that! All because some fucking assistant winemaker couldn't be bothered to talk to one of us. I bet I know who it was, too."

Sam looked at his friend with an amused smile on his face. "Oh? Who was it Ralph? Please tell us."

"You know damned well it was that bitch Charlotte Simons. You see the way she looks at us. It had to be her."

Sam shook his head and pointed his gaze over at Mark. "Ralph really has it in for Charlotte, and I know why."

"Oh, why the fuck is that, Sam?" Ralph said as he glared at his friend.

"You see, the lovely Charlotte Simons, reminds him an awful lot of his old high school girlfriend. She went off to college without him and got herself a damned good job. I think Ralph here thinks about what might have been."

"Fuck this," snarled Ralph in a near shout. "I'm going outside for a walk." Gathering the remains of his lunch, Ralph bolted from the table and tossed the trash into a receptacle, then nearly broke through the doors on the way out of the cafeteria.

"Wow. He's really sensitive about it," said Mark.

"There is more to the story," Sam replied while shaking his head. "Ralph had everything going for him in high school. Happy family life, good grades, a great place to live. He had the best of everything. The summer after he graduated his parents were killed in a horrible auto accident, and he found himself alone."

"I never heard this," Nick chimed in. "Holy shit. Didn't they have money, or at least insurance?"

"They earned a lot of money, but never saved any. Once they died, there was nothing left. Even the house had a second mortgage on it. He was forced to fend for himself at eighteen years old. I don't think Ralph ever forgave his girlfriend for going off to college without him. I mean, what the hell was she supposed to do? But there you have it. I'm telling you though. Charlotte reminds him an awful lot of that old girlfriend. Not that they look alike, mind you. But she is bright, driven and successful."

"Well, I can see why he's pissed about that on every level," said Nick. "I sure as hell wouldn't mind a piece of that ass, I'll tell you that."

"Fuck yes," added Mark.

"Well, you two can just forget about it. That woman wouldn't take up with a cellar rat if he were the last person on earth."

"A guy can dream, can't he," laughed Nick.

"Yeah. Whatever. Time to get back to work, boys. With the owners here, today isn't the day to get caught fucking off or fantasizing about what a wild cat the stuck up bitch probably is in bed." He smirked as his friends raised their eyebrows at him. "Hey, I'm only human," he chuckled.

The rest of the week went by in a blur, and Ralph found himself in the local watering hole on Friday night. He hadn't had a drink since football night, and he was ready to tie one on after the hellacious week he had experienced. All of the rats were there, as well as a number of other winery employees. The truth was that there wasn't a hell of a lot to do around the area, and this honky tonk bar was as good as it got.

Sam stood beside Ralph and struggled to be heard over the bluegrass band playing in the corner. They weren't all that good, but they were loud. It always seemed to work that way, Sam thought to himself.

"Listen. All I'm saying is that I'm sorry I brought that up the other day, Ralph. I wasn't trying to piss you off."

"Well you did, Sam. All that shit has nothing to do with what's going on in the winery." Ralph was as unforgiving as always.

"The hell it doesn't, Ralph. You're going to have to let the past go if you ever want a future, buddy."

"This coming from a man that has the same shit job that I do, huh? I don't see you dancing around with your happy pants on all day every day."

"A job is a job, Ralph. I'm talking about being happy. You walk around miserable all the fucking time. You need to get your shit together. You can try to escape this fucking valley we live in, but you can't escape yourself. You're the one that needs to change."

"Whatever. Just fucking drop it Sam, okay?"

"Whatever you say," replied Sam as he got up from his bar stool. "I'm gonna go drain the dragon and get the fuck out of here. I have shit to do tomorrow and I need some sleep."

Ralph grunted goodbye and took a giant swig of his beer. He knew his friend was right, but he had spent years blaming others for his plight. It was a hard thing to accept responsibility for your lot in life.

"Can I get you another beer, sugar?" asked Tammy, the barmaid.

Tammy was in her late twenties, with dirty blond hair and a pretty face. She had one hell of a rack under the tight t-shirt she wore. Like many of the local girls, she had a tummy that was running to chub, and an ass to match. Ralph didn't mind. He liked a girl you could play a little rough with, and he quite enjoyed the sound it made when he slapped that chubby ass of hers. She and Ralph had an on again-off again kind of relationship. Maybe relationship isn't the proper way to describe it. They liked to fuck, and threw in the occasional conversation to pretend it was something more.

"Sure, Tam. Why not?" he said offhandedly.

"I get off in an hour," she said hopefully. "You want to hang out for a while?" Tammy poured the beer and placed the glass in front of him.

Ralph stared at her without speaking for long enough to make her nervous. "Sure, Tammy. That'd be great."

She gave him a smile and moved down the bar to the next drunk waving an empty glass at her. Ralph sat quietly, nursing his beer and brooding. Turning around on his stool, he surveyed the rest of the room. There was a large dance floor in the center, and several of the assistant winemakers were right in the middle of it, doing some stupid fucking line dance. Of course, there was Charlotte and that asshole Jeff, front and center, leading all of the other idiots on. Fucking dancing, he chuckled to himself. What a waste of time and energy.

Ralph turned back to the bar and drained his glass, holding it up to Tammy for a refill. She came down and took the empty glass from him.

"Go easy sugar. I want to do more than just watch you sleep tonight," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Don't you worry about that, Tammy. I've never failed you before."

Tammy smiled. "No, you haven't at that." Biting her lip, she walked to the other end of the bar, wiggling her ass as she went. His thoughts went back to Charlotte, and Sam's words the other day. If he were really honest with himself, he would admit that Sam was right. He was projecting what he felt was his old girlfriend's disloyalty onto Charlotte. No matter. She was a bitch anyway. He drained his beer and caught Tammy's attention.

"I'll meet you outside by my car. I'm parked over at the far end by the stand of trees."

"Okay, Ralph. I'll be about fifteen minutes more. See you in a little bit."

Ralph sat on the hood of his car as he waited for Tammy. A short time later, he spied her walking through the dirt lot in his direction. He waved to her, and she stood in front of him as he continued to sit. They exchanged no words as Tammy reached up and kissed Ralph, tentatively at first. He took over as the aggressor, kissing her roughly, one hand moving up and finding her breast. She gasped into his mouth when his thick fingers pinched and twisted a nipple as he kissed her.

Slipping down off the car, Ralph grabbed her hand and placed it on his stiff cock through the fabric of his jeans. Tammy looked at him and smiled. Like the rest of Ralph, his cock was big, thick and hard. She bit her lip and looked into his eyes as she started to unbutton his jeans. A moment later, she was on her knees with his fat cock in her mouth, bobbing her head up and down as she swirled her tongue around the large head. Ralph grabbed a handful of her blond hair and slowly fucked her face, watching her as he did.

Suddenly, they were illuminated by a pair of headlights swinging by as a car drove through the parking lot. Ralph watched as the car passed directly by them. There, looking out the passenger side window, was Charlotte. He locked eyes with her as the car drove slowly by, Ralph thrusting his hips forward and tugging on Tammy's hair as he did. A few seconds later, while watching the receding taillights, Ralph grunted and filled Tammy's mouth with his first load of come of the night.

"Holy shit! Did you see that?" Jeff exclaimed as he finally pulled onto the road in front of the bar and sped up.

"See what?" Charlotte asked, feigning ignorance.

"That big guy from the cellar was being blown right there in the parking lot!" Jeff said with a note of jealousy in his voice. There was no way Charlotte would do that for him where anyone could see it. He knew she would leave him in a heartbeat if he treated her as anything but a lady. His cock grew hard at the thought of actually forcing her to her knees to worship his cock like that fat cow was doing back in the parking lot for that guy. Instead he knew that if he wanted down and dirty sex he would have to find it elsewhere and not get caught.

"Some people have no class," Charlotte said imperiously. In truth, she would have liked Jeff to be more of a take charge type of guy. Their sex life, while active, left her unfulfilled more often than not. Her place was closer, but they had planned to stay the night at his house. Jeff surprised Charlotte by pulling up in front of her apartment.

She was glad to be home. She hated the honky-tonk bar. It was loud and dirty and she would rather have spent a night at home watching an old movie. Jeff, though, had been adamant. He had wanted to go out with his friends and he had wanted her to come with him. For Jeff, it was all about being seen as the leader of the pack. He had come from old money, went to the right Ivy League schools, drove the right car, had his own house in a nice suburb and, as he told her more than once, had the prettiest girlfriend in the valley. Charlotte knew he was a catch and felt she should be happy, but more often than not she just felt like an accessory to Jeff's life. Like his car. She felt she was just an arm decoration. Or she would, if he ever truly touched her in public.

Jeff hustled her out of the car and up the stairs to her small apartment. Once inside he wasted no time dragging her into the bedroom. He hadn't kissed her or shown any affection as he quickly began to strip, showing he was already rock hard. "Well," she thought to herself, "she had wanted him to be more a take charge sort of guy." She began to remove her own jeans and blouse as he lay on the bed stroking his cock.

"Suck my cock, Charlotte. Please?" He had almost whined it as she leaned in to kiss him, and the small amount of credit she had given him for taking charge evaporated. Sighing, she moved down his body, not even attempting all those fluttery kisses along his torso that her college boyfriend had loved and reveled in. She just knelt between his legs and got to work as he moaned, "Oh yeah, just like that."

Each of them were lost in their thoughts on the scene in the parking lot, as with practiced skill Charlotte brought him off quickly. She crawled up beside him and lay back on her pillow. They did not touch or speak, the room filling with silence and the sound of their breathing. Charlotte hoped it would be her turn now, but as the seconds ticked by she realized that Jeff had no intention of continuing. She had hoped for some foreplay that would lead to Jeff regaining his erection and giving her a good fucking, but once again she felt let down. A few minutes later, she heard him snoring lightly, and she rolled over, turning her back to him and eventually falling into a fitful sleep.

Tammy was on her knees, bent over forward and grasping the headboard with both hands as Ralph pounded into her from behind. She felt completely full of his big cock, and it was hitting her in just the right spot with every stroke. Normally very vocal during sex, Tammy was even more animated when Ralph fucked her. If the early morning light hadn't woken the neighbors, the sounds of Tammy screaming and moaning certainly did. As she came down the home stretch, she buried her face into the pillow as she exploded into orgasm, and Ralph followed shortly thereafter.

A short time later, Tammy lay beside Ralph, her head on his shoulder, finally able to catch her breath.

"Where the hell did you learn to fuck like that, Ralph? It's ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?"

"Yes. Ridiculous. I lost count of how many times you made me come."

"You didn't seem to mind much," replied Ralph with a smile.

"Oh, believe me. I don't mind, even though I'm sore as hell. It's a good thing I don't have to work today, because I don't think I could walk very well," Tammy said with a giggle.

"You're welcome," Ralph joked.

Tammy sat up and stretched, then got out of bed to make some coffee. Ralph lay back, staring at the ceiling, his mind wandering to the insanity at work. Suzette was going to tell them all about her stupid plan on Monday morning. He didn't want this to ruin his weekend, but that was wishful thinking. Pushing the thought away, his mind settled next on Charlotte. In his mind's eye, he could see her watching him as he had Tammy by the hair and fucked her mouth. He would have thought she'd have a look of shock and horror on her face. She didn't. He wasn't exactly sure what he'd seen, but it wasn't unpleasant. Ralph felt his cock stir as he thought about grabbing Charlotte by the hair and watching her suck his meaty cock.

His thoughts were interrupted by Tammy sitting on the bed, handing him a cup of coffee.

"I need to take a shower. I'm supposed to go shopping with my mother today. I wish you hadn't marked me up as much as you have, Ralph."

He shrugged and took a sip of coffee. "You know I play rough, Tammy. Why don't you bring mom over later and I can show her a thing or two also?" he said with a smirk.

Tammy rolled her eyes, getting up and walking into the bathroom.

Ralph took another sip of coffee, then returned his thoughts to Charlotte. Despite his distaste for her, he had to admit that he found her quite attractive. He wondered again about that look he had seen on her face as she rode by in the car. She was ordinarily demure and quiet, but her eyes showed him a hunger that surprised him. Lost in his thoughts, his hand found his cock and he slowly stroked himself. A few short minutes later his cock erupted, spurting come all over his abdomen. He managed to clean himself up, then got up and put on a pair of shorts.

He was putting bacon into a frying pan when Tammy came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

"I'm gonna be late," she said. I need to get moving."

Ralph nodded and watched her get dressed as he tended to the bacon. She brushed her wet hair out, then quickly put on some makeup. She walked over to Ralph and gave him a kiss.

"Will I see you soon?" she asked.

"Yeah. I have a lot of stuff to do this weekend. Maybe we can catch up one night during the week?"

"I'd like that," said Tammy. "I should be recovered enough by then," she said with a wink. She blew him a kiss and walked out the door, leaving Ralph with his thoughts and his bacon.