I guess this story starts with a man I never knew. I knew of him, but I'd never seen him or even seen a picture of him.

My mother had two brothers named Wendell and James. Some time before I was born James did something that shamed or badly embarrassed the family and he split. As I grew up I would occasionally hear my mother or grandmother say, "I wonder where James is right now" and when I would ask who James was there would be a sudden change of subject. It wasn't until I was seventeen that I found out that James was my uncle and I was nineteen before I found out why he was the family outcast.

My Uncle Wendell had been married to a woman named Betty and one day he had come home unexpected and found Uncle James busy making the beast with two backs with Aunt Betty. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled Uncle James had taken off and the family had ostracized him. As far as I know no one in the family ever saw him or talked to him again.

Not to say that no one wanted to.

My grandmother took his absence badly. At family dinners when she would say grace she would ask God to watch over James and keep him safe. She did this even though it was a sore spot with Uncle Wendell. When Uncle James was mentioned he would he would swear, throw his napkin down and get up and leave the table. It got to where he would always show up late and after grace had been said so he wouldn't have to hear it.

The years went by and life happened. When I was twenty my father left my mother for some woman he worked with and the husband of that woman tracked them down and shot the both of them to death. Grandma passed away in her sleep when I was twenty-two. Cancer claimed my mother when I was twenty-nine. Uncle Wendell was my last living relative and a drunk driver ended his life when I was thirty-three. Curiously enough the largest flower arrangement at the funeral home came with a card that simply said "I'm sorry" and was signed with the single letter "J".

I was thirty-five when I received the letter from the law firm of Barton, Barton, Murray and Westin asking me to contact them on a matter of importance. It turned out that Uncle James had died and apparently had never married or had children and as his last living relative I inherited his estate. A man I never knew had left me eleven million dollars.

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At twenty-two I left the University of Michigan with a degree in Civil Engineering and a wife. I'd met Marcy on my very first day on campus and had fallen head over heels in lust with her. She was absolutely gorgeous and the sexiest looking female I had ever set eyes on. I was a very inexperienced eighteen, but I knew that if Marcy wasn't already spoken for she soon would be so I sucked up the courage to approach her, introduce myself and asked her to have lunch with me. Shocked, surprised, overwhelmed and ecstatic describe how I felt when she said yes. Lunch was followed by a date which led to several more and then one marvelous night in June Marcy gave herself to me. For the rest of the year we were inseparable. I proposed to her on Christmas Eve and she said yes. We decided that we would both graduate before we tied the knot.

Life was good until spring break.

Several of Marcy's girlfriends wanted her to go to Florida with them and she said yes. I was working part time and couldn't get off work so I was going to have to be a stay at home. I hated to see her go. It would be the longest we would be apart since our first day of school.

When she returned from the trip we fucked like newlyweds for five or six days and then things began to change. We would make dates and she would break them at the last minute. I'd try to set up a date for this or that and she would tell me that she couldn't that night. I began to hear rumors of how she had gone wild on spring break. How she had a different guy in her bed each night. Naturally I didn't believe any of it until one Saturday night at a party.

There was a party at Stella Hansen's house, but I had to work that night so I told Marcy that I wouldn't be able to take her. She said that in that case she wouldn't go and we made plans for the next day. I was busy wiping down tables when a couple of guys I knew came in. One of them, Harry Short, was surprised that I was working.

"I saw Marcy at Stella's so I thought you were probably there too."

That's odd I thought, Marcy told me that she wasn't going. I got off work at eleven and I headed for Stella's. I walked in just in time to see Marcy walking up the stairs with a guy I didn't know and they were holding hands. I was stunned and I just stood there frozen for a couple of seconds and then I followed them. I had been in Stella's house before and I knew that all there was upstairs were four bedrooms and two bathrooms. When I got upstairs I saw that both bathroom doors and two bedroom doors were open and Marcy wasn't standing in the hallway. I might not be a Sherlock Holmes, but even I could deduce where Marcy and the guy she climbed the stairs with would be found. The only question was which of the two closed doors was Marcy behind?

I stood there trying to make up my mind and just as I decided to put my ear to one of the doors and see if I could hear anything a door opened and Charlie Smithers and his girlfriend came out. He smiled at me and said:

"Trying to find an empty bedroom for you and Marcy?"

I smiled and nodded a yes and watched as he and Donna went down the hall and then down the stairs. I shifted my attention to the other door and moved toward it, but then I stopped. It had only been a couple of minutes and if I went in right away I might catch them just sitting and talking. I needed to give them time to get into it. I was hoping like hell that it was something innocent and that the two of them were just sitting and talking and had simply come upstairs to get away from the noise of the party and have some privacy. That is what I was praying for, but the rumors of what Marcy had done on spring break coupled with the fact that she has been holding hands with the guy she had come up the stairs with didn't fill me with a whole lot of hope.

I gave it another three minutes and then I opened the door and went in. Marcy was on her back, skirt pushed up around her waist and her legs were up on the guys shoulders. He was driving into her and she was moaning:

"Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me hard."

I walked over to them and the guy saw me and didn't even slow down.

"You can have her next" he said as he pounded her cunt.

Marcy's eyes were close and I leaned down close to her ear. "Marcy baby, open your eyes and be surprised."

She opened her eyes and saw me and her face lost some of its color.

"Keep the ring Marcy. Maybe you can pawn it for enough to buy some condoms. I notice that your new boyfriend isn't wearing one and we both know that isn't safe, right?"

I turned and left the room as Marcy was crying, "Oh no, oh God no. Please don't lea..." and the closing of the door behind me cut off the rest of it.

On the way down the stairs I saw Nancy Neubert who was one of the girls Marcy had gone down to Florida with. I went over to her.

"Thanks for talking Marcy into going on spring break with you. If she had stayed here I never would have found out that she was a cheating whore."

I turned away from her and left the party.

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I had to work the next day and around two Marcy came in and sat down in a booth. I refused to even acknowledge that she was there even though she was sitting in my section I refused to wait on her. I sent one of the other waiters over to her and he came back and said that she wanted me and that is why she sat in my section.

"Just tell her that if she plans on eating you are her server and that if she waits for me she is going to starve to death."

When I got off work that night I found Marcy sitting on the fender of my car. I walked by her and was unlocking the door when she slid off the fender and said:

"We need to talk Rob."

"I've already heard all I want Marcy. That "fuck me, fuck me" you were calling out to your new boyfriend came over loud and clear and said it all as far as I'm concerned."

"He isn't my new boyfriend Rob and that is what I need to talk to you about."

"Why do you need to talk to me about anything? I've already heard about the revolving door on your motel room while you were in Panama City and then the guy from last night. And given the number of times you have broken dates with me and given the number of times you just couldn't see me on a particular night I'm sure that he isn't the only one you've had since coming back from Florida. I have to even doubt that Florida was the first time. How many did you stab me in the back with before spring break? Why do you even want to talk with someone you have so little use for that you need to fuck others?"

"It isn't that way Rob and that is why we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk with you Marcy. I don't even want to look at you. Just go away and leave me alone."

"I can't leave you alone Rob. You have to hear what I say and I'm going to bug you, dog you, stalk you and haunt you until you hear me out."

I didn't think I could bear to have her hanging around all the time trying to get to me so I decided to get it over with.

"Get in the car Marcy. I'll give you ten minutes if you promise me that this is the last time I will have to look at you."

"I'll promise if that is what you really want after you hear what I have to say."

I shrugged and got in the car and reached over to unlock the door on the passenger side so she could get in. She got in and turned to face me.

"In the first place the guy last night was not my new boyfriend. You are my man Rob and you always will be."

I started to say something, but she said "No Rob. You only gave me ten minutes so you listen while I try to get it all out. When I'm done you can talk. The guy last night was just a guy I met at the party and he turned me on so I went up to the room with him. He is the third one since I came back from Florida. And yes I did go out with other guys on the nights I broke dates with you but only two of them interested me enough to take them to bed.. There was never anyone before Florida.

"I don't know what you heard about what went on during spring break, but I did not have a revolving door. There were only two. I wasn't a virgin when we met Rob, but I had only been with one guy before meeting you. He was the guy who got my cherry and he had me maybe a half dozen times after and to be honest I didn't much enjoy myself. It was like that old Peggy Lee song "Is that all there is?" You will remember that I wasn't in all that big of a hurry to let you make love to me. When I finally did it was incredible. The difference between you and John was like the difference between night and day and I went from "Ho hum, are you done yet" to wanting all you could give me.

"Things were great until I went on spring break. I honestly never intended to do what happened, but I got pretty high one night at a beach party and a really cute guy took a shot at me. He was really working at it and I was just high enough to let him keep trying. I got to thinking about what it might be like to let him get to where he wanted to go. I thought about how much different you were from John and I wondered if the guy would be different from you and John. Then I decided that you were two thousand miles away and would never know if I satisfied my curiosity so I took him to my room.

"He was different from you and John. Not better than you and in fact not near as good, but different. He was like the Energizer Bunny; he just kept on going. It was a simple fuck. A wild fuck, but just a fuck. He did me six times before he left. No tender touches, no lingering kisses, just wam, bam, wam, bam until he couldn't get it up any more. Two nights later I met another guy and he was interesting enough that I wondered what he might be like. He was different from you, John and Troy. With Barry it was size. He wasn't any longer than you, but he was as big around as a Coke can. He wasn't better than you, but he did fill me more than you, John or Troy did and it felt good, but it was nothing Earth shattering.

"Two weeks after I got back I met Harry and he came on to me and being curious after my Florida experiences I tried him on. Again different, but not better. When it was over and he was gone I laid there and thought about things. Five different guys and all different. Then I dated Ralph and he turned me on so I tried him out. Again, not Earth shattering, but different. I decided that I wanted to try an even dozen to satisfy my curiosity before I quit. There was never any doubt that I was yours. Never any doubt in my mind that you were the man I loved and wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But I did have that curiosity and I thought I could satisfy it without you ever finding out and it turns out that I was wrong, but it doesn't change the fact that I love you and you are the man I want to spend my life with."

She sat there looking at me and waiting for me to say something and after several seconds I said:

"Just what are you expecting me to say Marcy? Way to go girl? Way to satisfy your curiosity?"

"I want you to say that it doesn't matter."

"Say it doesn't matter? Are you nuts? Of course it matters."

"No I am not nuts Rob. I don't know how many girls you had before me because we have never discussed our previous sex lives, but you can't tell me that you aren't curious about other girls. I've seen you look at Sally Jenning's 40 DD chest. I've seen you watch Marsha Moss as she walks around on her long legs while wearing short skirts. Can you honestly tell me that you have never wondered what it would be like to put your head between Sally's boobs? You going to tell me that you never wondered what it would be like to titty fuck her? You've never wondered if Marsha's long legs would wrap all the way around you and hook behind you? Of course you have been curious about those two and several others besides, but you have never tried to satisfy that curiosity because you felt it wouldn't be fair to me.

"The time to satisfy your curiosity is before you stand in front of a preacher and take your wedding vows. That is all I am doing Rob. Taking advantage of still being single. All I'm saying Rob is that the time to satisfy curiosities and urges is now while we are still single. Go check out Sally's boobs or Marsha's long legs, but do it secure in the knowledge that I love you and that I am still going to marry you if you will have me. Go and play Rob and don't feel guilty about it."

"You are serious about this aren't you."

"Yes I am. I am curious and I want to satisfy that curiosity without losing you. Maybe we could set up something like maybe spend two weeks together and then two weeks apart. Just us for two or three weeks and then a couple of weeks to work on curiosity. What I am asking Rob is that you trust me. Trust me to always be yours just as you will always be mine."

She showed me her left hand. "I took your ring off Rob, but I'm still wearing it. I have it on a chain around my neck. I'm asking you to trust that one day I will hand it back to you and ask you to slip it back on my finger. Please think about it Rob. Once again, I love you and I don't ever want you to doubt that for a second."

She got out of my car and walked to hers, turned and blew me a kiss and then got in her car and drove off.

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I did think about what she said and my thoughts were not all that kind. They bordered along the lines of "Fuck that unfaithful whore!" But she had made some valid observations. I had fantasized about Sally's tits and more than once I had wondered about Marsha's long legs and if they would go around me far enough for her to lock her ankles behind me. There were a lot of other girls that I would have liked to try on, but I never tried and I never would have tried because I was already spoken for. To have done anything with any of the other girls would have been cheating on Marcy and in my mind you did not cheat on the one you loved. But Marcy had cheated on me so could she really have loved me? I very much doubted it.

I probably could have bought into her first fling with Troy. I could probably have passed it off as the product of the wild party atmosphere and being high and losing control, but the second guy and the three since she had come back? No way! So I went on home feeling exactly like anyone would feel after someone they loved had broken it off in their ass.

I was sitting on the couch staring at the wall when it occurred to me that sulking and pouting were stupid. Marcy had screwed me over, but it wasn't the end of the world. I was fairly good looking and there were thousands of Sally's and Marsha's around campus. It might take me some time to get over Marcy emotionally, but it could be done. As for Marcy? Getting even, getting back at the people who screw you, is part of the human condition. It may never happen, but the desire to do it is always there and I was thinking on it when I went to bed.

The next day I was sitting in class listening to Markham drone on and on about data points and the mean, the mode and the median when it came to me. Give Marcy what she wanted. Why not? Give her the couple weeks on, couple of weeks off she wanted. Insure a steady supply of pussy while I went out and sampled the Sally's and the Marsha's and looked for Marcy's replacement. Let her feel secure and when the day came that she handed me back the ring to slip back on her finger I would laugh in her face and toss the ring into the garbage.

So that is what I did.

I called her that night and told her that I thought her plan was a good one, but only with one condition. I never wanted to see her with another man and that meant a lot of communication between us even on the weeks we were apart so we didn't end up at the same party, same dance, same restaurant or whatever. She agreed. The nice part is that I was able to use the condition against her. I knew the places she liked to go to, the people whose parties she liked to attend and I was always able to get my oar in first.

"Hi sweetie. Just wanted to let you know that I will be at David's party tomorrow night."

"Hey Marcy. Just calling to let you know I'm taking my date to Augie's for dinner tomorrow and then to The Pit for dancing."

Hopefully she would be so pissed at not being able to go to Dave's party or go dancing at The Pit that she wouldn't have all that great of a time with whoever she was with.

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For the next two years that is they way things went. Two or three weeks with Marcy and then a couple of weeks playing the field. I never did get to titty fuck Sally, but Marsha could get her legs around me and lock her ankles behind my back. Anita gave great head, Bev loved it up the ass, Carol was partial to cowgirl while Steph would rather do it doggie. There were a half dozen others, some good, some not so good, but what was the saying? "I've had good and I've had bad and the worst I ever had was wonderful." The only problem I had was that it didn't matter how good the girl was she wasn't half as good as Marcy and I found myself looking forward to our weeks together.

I didn't know how Marcy was doing on our time apart, but I did get the impression that however much she dated not much sexual was happening. Her stated goal was an even dozen and she'd already had seven when she told me that. A year into our arrangement I jokingly asked her how many notches she had in her bedpost and she said:

"Still have three to go."

Only two guys in a year? I wanted to ask her what kind of selection process she had, but decided that I really didn't want to know so I kept my mouth shut.
And then Robin Atlee came on the scene and things got interesting.

Robin was extremely good looking, intelligent and witty and for some reason Robin decided that I was the one she wanted for her significant other. It was a unique experience for me. I had never been pursued before. Well maybe pursued is the wrong way to put it, but Robin came after me before I even knew who she was. I was at a party (that Marcy had wanted to go to, but I got my phone call in first) and I was leaning on the makeshift bar with a beer in my hand when this sexy looking redhead came up to me and said:

"Hi. My name is Robin."

I told her my name and then she asked me who I was at the party with and I told her I had come stag. She gave me a big smile and said:

"I'm here with a guy who is turning out to be a big doofus. I think you're cute and I need a date for tomorrow night. What do you say?"

"I guess that since I'm not totally brain dead I have to say "Would you like to go out with me tomorrow?"

We had dinner, caught a show and stopped for a drink after. When I walked her to her door she said:

"If I really like the guy Rob, I usually kiss on the first date" and she rose on her tip-toes and presented her lips to me. It was a scorcher and when we broke the kiss Robin said, "I could stand a steady diet of this. Want to try again tomorrow?"

At the end of our third date when I walked Robin to her door she turned to me and said:

"I'm a very direct woman Rob and when I see something I want I get it. I want you Rob." She opened her door, stepped inside and then turned to me and asked:

"Coming?"

I followed her in and was still there the next morning. Happy, felling great, but exhausted and if you had asked me "What do you think Marcy is doing right now" I would probably have answered "Marcy who?" I was scheduled to work that day and for the first time ever I considered calling in sick and spending the day with Robin, but then she told me she had things to do so I sucked it up and went in to work my shift. I spent the weekend between work and Robin's bedroom and didn't see my apartment for three days.

Monday was supposed to be the start of my time with Marcy, but Robin wanted me to take her to a showing at an art gallery so when Marcy called me and asked what time I would be by I told her that I would be busy that night. There was a little silence on the other end of the line – it was the first time I had ever told her that I wouldn't be over to see her – and then she said:

"How about tomorrow?"

"I'm working tomorrow."

"Oh. I guess I can wait until Wednesday to see you."

"I'll give you a call."

"Okay baby. I love you. Bye."

Robin had me busy Wednesday so I forgot to call Marcy. Thursday after class I was scheduled to work and twenty minutes before the end of my shift Robin came in.

"I was at the library and I had Cathy drop me off here so you could drive me home."

"I don't know about that. Every time I take you home I somehow end up too tired to do much the next day."

"Poor baby. Want mommy to go easy on you?"

"I don't know if you are capable of gong easy. I just know I can't afford to fall asleep in Business Law again."

"Okay lover. I promise that I'll see to it that you get some sleep."

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Friday Marcy was waiting for me in the hall when I came out of my three o'clock class.

"What's going on Rob? I haven't heard from you all week."

"Been busy Marcy."

"With the redhead I saw you with last night? I came down to the restaurant to see if you would have a drink with me when you got off work and I saw you leave with her."

"Her name is Robin and yes I have been busy with her."

"This is supposed to be our time Rob."

"Maybe so, but when I met her I couldn't very well tell her to keep me in mind and I'd call her in two or three weeks."

"I want my time Rob. You will just have to tell her that you will be busy for the next couple of weeks."

"Can't do that Marcy."

"Why not?"

"Because I like her Marcy and there just might be something there. I might want to hang on to her."

"What about me?"

"What about you Marcy? I never promised you anything. When you said that some day you would like to give me my ring back so I could slip it back on your finger I never said that I would. When you came up with your weeks on weeks off plan I said okay thinking that it just might work, but I entered into the plan knowing full well that I might meet someone else just like you might find a cock that is different enough that you might decide to keep it. You had a sure thing Marcy, but you threw it away because you were curious. You took a gamble Marcy. It is a crap shoot and so far the dice are still rolling and when they stop we will see what numbers come up; yours or someone else's."

"When am I going to see you again?"

"No idea. When I come up with a free evening I'll give you a call and if you aren't busy with your cock of the week maybe we can get together."

"Damn it Rob, that's not fair. This was never about finding someone to replace you. It was just a time out so I could satisfy my curiosity."

"Whatever. Got to run or I'll be late for my next class."

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The rest of the week school, job and Robin kept me busy. Robin had an out of town family function to attend that weekend and I didn't have to work Saturday so Friday I gave Marcy a call.

"Gee Rob, you should have called sooner. I already have a date for Saturday."

"Okay sweetie. Have fun. See you around. Bye."

Saturday night I went to a part at the Delta house. Marsha of the long legs was there and when her date drank so much that he got petrified she asked me to take her home. When I left her place at eleven the next morning I hit the Village Inn for some breakfast and then headed home. Marcy's car was parked out front and when I pulled up and parked next to her car she got out and stood there waiting for me.

"I tried calling you last night. About five times. I cancelled my date so I could spend my time with you, but I could never get in touch."

I looked her right in the eye and lied to her. "It wouldn't have mattered. You said you were busy so when I hung up from talking to you I called someone else. I already had a date before you had time to cancel yours."

"Who?"

"None of your business Marcy. I've never asked you for the names attached to all of your cocks and I won't be telling you the names of who I see."

"Okay, okay" she said and then she asked "Since I'm here may I come in?"

Once in the apartment she immediately reached for my zipper, but I pushed her hand away and she looked hurt.

"Have you ever come to me straight from one of your cock encounters with his juices still in you or on you?"

"Jesus Rob, I would never do that."

"I won't do it to you either. You will have to wait until after I shower."

I was shampooing my hair when the shower curtain moved and Marcy got in the shower with me. "I'll do your back." Two minutes later (or maybe a little less) she was leaning against the wall bent at the waist as I took her from behind. Later in bed after another rousing romp Marcy said:

"I am not a cock hungry slut."

"I never said you were."

"Yes you have, but not directly. The other day you said "my cock of the week" and outside in the parking lot two hours ago you referred to the names attached to "all of my cocks." There have only been three since the day we talked and none of them lasted more than two days."

"Almost two years and only three? At that rate you will be forty before you get your dozen out of the way."

"I'm never going to get that dozen Rob because I've already satisfied my curiosity. The ones I've had have all been different, but not one of them was any better than any of the others and none of them satisfied me the way that you do. No more experimenting Rob."

She took the chain from around her neck and handed it to me. It had the engagement ring I had given her hanging on it and as she handed it to me she said "Please Rob?"

I looked at it for several seconds and then I handed it back to her. "I don't think so Marcy."

"Please Rob; you know that I love you."

"So what Marcy? You told me that you loved me before I gave you the ring, but your love for me didn't keep you from cheating on me. You cheated on me twice in Florida and you cheated on me after you got back from Florida. If I hadn't caught you at it you would probably still be cheating on me while all the time telling me how much you love me. I don't need that in a fiancé."

"If that is the way you feel why didn't you end it with me back then?"

"Because you are the best piece of ass I've ever had and when you came up with your weeks on weeks off plan I saw a way to keep fucking you without being tied down to you. It meant that if I didn't have any luck hooking up with another chick I had you to fall back on when it was my weeks."

"You never intended to put the ring back on me did you?"

"Nope. If it had been just that one guy – the first one – in Florida and you had confessed when you got back we could probably have worked it out, but you didn't do that. You deliberately went after the second one in Florida and then the ones here after you got back and like I said, if I hadn't caught you at Stella's party you would probably still be sneaking around behind my back trying to satisfy your so-called curiosity."

"You know that isn't so Rob. If I was doing that don't you think that there would have been more than three in two years?"

"I only have your word that it has only been three. It could be three hundred for all I know and you are saying only three so you won't look like a cock hungry slut."

"You can believe it or not Rob, but it has only been three. Damn it Rob, I love you and you know I do. There has never been anyone else who has meant anything to me. Don't chase me away."

"I'm not chasing you away Marcy, I'm just not going to marry you. You are still the best piece of ass I've ever had and you can stay around as long as you want to, but all we will ever be is fuck buddies."

"I can't change your mind if I'm not around so I guess I'll have to settle for that" and she scooted down and took my cock in her mouth.

Over the next two weeks if I wasn't with Robin I was with Marcy. Marcy wasn't at all happy about the time I spent with Robin, but she knew where she stood and she knew that her only options were to accept it or move on and I knew she wouldn't move on. I suppose I could be considered an asshole for taking advantage of her and I was taking advantage of her. I knew that she loved me. I never doubted that for a second and I knew that she would hang around till the last dog was hung trying to find a way to get me back and as long as she was hanging around I would never lack for pussy. It didn't matter what happened with other girls because Marcy would always be there to take care of my hornies.

There was only one problem. I loved the stupid bitch.

I loved her, but I had always heard and I believed that once a cheater, always a cheater and she had cheated on me.

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Robin began making noises about taking our relationship to the next stage, but that was something that I was not interested in doing. Robin was a very good looking woman, was better than average in bed and a lot of fun to be with, but she wasn't the girl for me for the long haul. She'd told me way back when that what she wanted she went after and got. Robin was a "me" girl, a girl whose credo was "we are going to do this my way" and "we are going to do what I want." That was not the kind of woman I could live with so I kept ignoring her hints until one day, true to her nature, she told me to keep Saturday clear so we could go shopping for a ring.

"I'm not ready for that Robin."

"Well I am. We won't be married until we graduate, but there are a lot of things that will have to be done. I've already told my mother to start the planning. I saw just the ring I want at Zales. They open at ten on Saturdays so we can sleep in or go and have breakfast somewhere first."

"Didn't you hear what I said Robin? I'm nowhere near ready to make a decision on that."

"What's to decide Rob?"

"The decision to get married. I am nowhere near being ready to get married."

"Well I am Rob so we need to move forward on it."

I took a couple of seconds to make up my mind as what to do. Give up a damned good piece of ass or string it along a little while longer. I decided to get it over with.

"I am not ready to even consider marriage Robin, but when I am it won't be to you."

She looked stunned and then said, "Just what the fuck do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I won't ever marry you. You are too controlling and while I can put up with it as long as we date and keep company there is no way I would put up with it in a marriage. We would be at each other's throats before our first anniversary rolled around."

There was more said, but the end result was Robin storming out and slamming the door behind her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

With Robin gone I started spending more time with Marcy and she naturally assumed that it was because she was winning me back and I did not disabuse her of the notion. She worked hard trying to show me that she was mine and mine alone and by graduation she managed to convince me and I did slip the ring back on her finger. We were married a month after graduation.

The next five years flew by. We were both doing well in our chosen fields and we had the perfect marriage. It all came apart one Monday in June. I was scheduled to fly to Detroit for some contract negotiations and I was already at the airport checking in when my boss called me on my cell phone and told me to change my flight to the evening flight because he had some last minute instructions for me. He told me to meet him at the Marriott for lunch and we would go over the changes. I didn't bother to call Marcy since she was already at work and she knew I'd already left and would be gone three days.

I was having lunch with Jack and going over the last minute changes he wanted me to bring up at the Detroit meeting when something caught my eye. You could see the check in counter from where we were sitting and I saw Marcy and a man I didn't know approach the counter and minutes later they left the counter and moved to the elevators and got on one. I excused myself and went to the counter and asked the check in clerk for the names of the couple that just checked in. He started to say he couldn't do that when I showed him the fifty dollar bill.

"Is there going to be any trouble?"

"Very likely, but not here and not today."

He took the bill and slid the registration card across the counter to me. Mr. and Mrs. William Sherman is what it read. I copied down the information on the card, thanked the desk clerk and got back to my lunch with Jack. When lunch was over and Jack had finished briefing me I checked my watch and saw that I had four hours before I needed to head back to the airport. I hit the hotel gift shop and bought the latest Robert Parker novel and then took a seat in the lobby where I could watch the elevators.

I didn't get much of the novel read since I kept having to look up every time I heard the 'ding' as the elevator doors opened. My four hours was almost up and I was just getting ready to get up and abandon my vigil when the elevator doors opened and Marcy and Sherman came out. I got up and walked over to them.

"Bill Sherman?" I asked and I held out my hand. He took it to shake and I said, "Damn Bill, it has been a long time since I saw you last. This Mrs. Sherman? Did okay for yourself. Lucky dog to have such a good looking wife. Anyway, nice seeing you. Have to run. Got a plane to catch" and I walked away leaving a deathly pale Marcy and a confused William Sherman.

I didn't bother calling Marcy when I reached Detroit to let her know where I was staying or how to reach me. The meetings in Detroit went well and three days later I flew home. I got in ay ten-thirty in the evening and checked into a hotel room. The next morning I went by the office and filed Jack in on the Detroit meetings and then I took the rest of the day off. At one in the afternoon I was in the office of Morrisy Investigations talking with a Mr. William Miglio. I gave him all I had on William Sherman and told him that I wanted to know all about the man. Where he worked, was he married or engaged and any other information that might be pertinent to a divorce action. I left there and stopped at the back and closed all of our accounts and cleaned out the safe deposit box and then took everything to a different bank and opened accounts in my name only. We were a no fault state and eventually I would have to settle up with Marcy, but I would rather have the money to disperse than let her have it and trust that I might get my share from her. Then I went home.

Marcy wasn't home from work yet so I used the time to move all of my things out of the master bedroom and into one of the spare bedrooms. I went and got a beer from the fridge and then went out and sat down on the patio. It was a nice house and I loved the patio area which was surrounded by flower beds and I was going to miss it. Unless I could get Marcy to agree to let me buy her out which would probably be a hard thing to do since she loved the place as much as I did.

I was drinking my beer and watching the sunset when Marcy got home. She came out on the patio and sat down on one of the lounge chairs.

"You didn't call."

"No point to it."

"It wasn't what you thought."

"I don't want to talk about it Marcy. Just sit on whatever you have to say until Tuesday."

"Why do I have to wait until Tuesday?"

"Because I won't know what I am going to do until Tuesday."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to."

"We need to talk now Rob. We can't let this fester any longer than it already has."

"Tuesday Marcy."

"No Rob, Tuesday is...."

I got up and walked into the house. I hadn't unpacked my bag from the trip so I grabbed it and headed for the front door.

"Where are you going Rob?"

"I said Tuesday and you won't leave it alone so I'll leave and come back Tuesday."

I left the house and checked into a motel and then I spent the weekend lying by the motel pool.

Tuesday afternoon I met with Mr. Miglio and then I headed home. Marcy either took the day off or she left work early since she was waiting for me when I got to the house. I set my bag down inside the front door and then headed for the kitchen for a beer. I opened it and sat down at the kitchen table and waited for Marcy to come in and sit down. Once she was seated I said:

"Okay Marcy, go ahead and speak your piece, but first let me tell you what I know so you don't waste a whole lot of time lying to me. I was having lunch with Jack when I saw you and your boyfriend checking in. You and your boyfriend then took the elevator up to the rooms and I went over and talked to the check in clerk and he told me that you registered as Mr. and Mrs. William Sherman. You went up in the elevator and came down four hours later. I didn't see either you or your boyfriend carrying anything that looked like a board game so I'm ruling out checkers, chess, Monopoly or Scrabble. So tell me why I'm wrong in thinking that you and Mr. Sherman spent four hours fucking."

"It wasn't like that Rob. He isn't my boyfriend. I don't need a boyfriend baby, I've got you."

"So tell me Marcy, just what did you do for four hours?"

"It doesn't matter Rob. I love you and you know I do. I prove it to you every day."

"I'm waiting Marcy."

"It wasn't anything Rob. It had nothing to do with my love for you."

"One last time Marcy; what did you do for four hours with your pretend husband? I get an answer or I'm out of here."
"It was nothing Rob; it didn't mean a thing."

I started to stand up.

"I was just satisfying my curiosity honey. It meant nothing. Honest to God. You know I love you and nothing is ever going to change that. You know it Rob, you know it."

"If it was so meaningless why can't you tell me what you did?"

She looked away from me and in a low voice said, "I went with him to see if it was true."

"To see if what was true?"

"That he had a cock as big as a horse."

"And since you could have done that in a minute and a half in a dark corner the question still is what did you do for four hours?"

"It was just curiosity honey. Once I saw it I just had to know what it felt like. I wondered if he could even get it in me it was so big. He isn't a boyfriend and I have no feelings for him and it was only once and only then because I was so curious."

Then the whole story came out. Sherman worked with her and he was apparently the office swordsman. All of the single girls and even some of the married raved about how big his equipment was and after months and months of hearing about it when the inevitable happened and it was her turn to be hit on by horse cock she gave in.

"I had to see it Rob; I just had to. The girls said it was twelve inches long and when hard it was as big around as a beer can. I just had to see it."

"And then of course you just had to try it on?"

She looked down at the floor and couldn't meet my eyes.

"Pretty proud of his cock was he?"

She didn't answer.

"Did you even stop to think that if he was screwing every woman in your office he was also screwing any silly bitch he could get to? Did you even stop to think that with all the fucking he was doing the odds were pretty good that sooner or later some woman was going to give him something and he would in turn pass it along to a dumb cunt like you? We went through this curiosity shit once before Marcy and I would have thought that you would have learned from that, but I guess it is my own fault. I knew that once a cheater always a cheater and still knowing that I was stupid enough to take you back and I guess you took that to mean that I would take you back if you ever did it again. I have no one but myself to blame."

"What are you going to do?"

"It isn't what I'm going to do, it is what you are going to do. I should kick you out on your ass, but I do know that you love me so I'm going to give you one chance and only one chance. There are two things you are going to do. Horsecock is married so you and I are going to pay Mr. Sherman and the real Mrs. Sherman a call and you are going to tell her what you did with her husband and you are going to tell her about all of the other women in your office."

"I can't do that."

"You will do that or you will pack and get out. And that is only the first thing. The second is that you will have yourself tested for sexually transmitted diseases. If you pass the test you can stay. If you fail it you are out of here. I refuse to be married to a woman stupid enough to take chances with my health just because she is curious about another man's cock."

"Can I....."

"No you can't. We are leaving here in twenty minutes to go visit the Sherman's. If you are not in the car when I'm ready to back down the driveway it will be because you are packing your bags."

"Even if I go with you tonight if I've caught something from Bill you are leaving me?"

"You got it."

"Can't we wait until after the test? If I've caught something and I'm out anyway why screw up Bill's marriage? I don't care about him, but why make his wife suffer?"

"You still don't get it do you? If he has given you something he has also given it to her and if he hasn't given you anything eventually he will get something and give it to his wife. She should know."

I looked at my watch. "In the car in ten minutes or start packing."

The meeting with the Sherman's did not go all that well. Mrs. Sherman was not at all pleased to hear about Mr. Sherman's activities with the women he worked with. I did not interfere when Mrs. Sherman slapped Marcy and grabbed a handful of Marcy's hair and I smiled when Sherman tried to separate the ladies and Mrs. Sherman kneed him in the balls. As he fell to the floor I stood up and said:

"I can see that my work here is done."

I headed for the door and Mrs. Sherman called out, "Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?"

I turned just in time to see her kick Marcy in the ass and send her stumbling toward me. "Get this whore out of my house" and then she turned and kicked Mr. Horsecock hard in the stones. Marcy was quiet on the ride home and she went straight to the bedroom as soon as we were in the house.

In the morning Marcy asked me why I hadn't come to bed and I told her that until further notice I was sleeping in one of the spare bedrooms.

"I'm not getting anywhere near you Marcy. You aren't touching me until you have a clean bill of health."

Marcy did not get a clean bill of health. Mr. Horsecock had gifted her with a case of syphilis and none of the begging, pleading, crying and whining stopped the divorce.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

So there I was at twenty-seven. Newly single and after six months without pussy - that's how long the divorce took and I wouldn't play while still legally married or while recovering from the gift that Marcy had passed on to me – and I was interested in finding some. Fortunately it wasn't all that hard. I had any number of friends who were all too happy to fix me up with someone who would take my mind off of Marcy and our dead marriage. I did rather well in the scoring department and I rarely went a weekend without an overnight guest.

I had a small problem. I had liked being married and I knew I was going to want to get married again, but I was a bit of a hypocrite. If a girl I liked fell into bed with me too easily there was no way I would consider marrying her. So on the one hand I wanted pussy and I pursued girls with the object of getting them into my bed and if I was successful they were automatically disqualified. On the other hand if I went after them and didn't score they didn't get consideration either because I dropped them and went looking for one I could score with. It might have gone on like that forever if I hadn't had a cup of coffee spilled on me.

I was having breakfast at Patty Ann's Café. I'd walked in, taken a seat in a booth and opened the morning paper. The hostess knew me and knew I didn't need water or a menu just coffee with cream. I had my head buried in the sports section when I heard "Oops, oh shit!" and felt the hot wetness hit my lap. I scrambled out of the booth, grabbed napkins and was cleaning myself off while listening to:

"Oh God I'm so sorry. I tripped on the rug."

I looked over and into the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen. They were in the face of an angel and a hurried glance showed that the figure was a perfect complement to the face. Jessica, the hostess, hurried up with a damp towel and started wiping things up as she tried to lighten things up some by saying:

"I se you have met our new waitress."

Meanwhile the new girl was still going on with the "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"No harm done" I said, I'll just have to go back home and change before I can go to work, but I'll manage."

"Your breakfast is on me" the angel said and Jessica said "You need to bitch to the boss about this Rob."

The angel got a panicky look on her face no doubt expecting to be canned if I did complain to Angie. Jessica saw the look and said:

"Not about you Annie, but about the torn carpet. We'll never get it fixed unless someone bitches. This isn't the first time it has caused someone to trip."

"How about I tell Angie that I tripped on it. That way I can keep you out of it."

I saw the relief pass over her face and said, "But there is a price." The panic was back until I said, "Once we get to know each other a little better you will have to have dinner with me."

Jessica piped in with, "Don't sweat it honey; I've gone out with him and he is a fun date."

Over the next two weeks I made sure that I sat in Annie's section whenever I ate at Patty Ann's. By the end of two weeks I felt we knew enough about each other that one Friday morning I said:

"I think it is time for me to collect Annie."

"Collect on what?"

"It is time for you to have that dinner with me."

"I wondered if you would ever get around to that."

"Is that a yes?"

"A debt is a debt and has to be paid."

Besides being drop dead gorgeous she was smart, witty and fun to be with. We shared the same tastes in music, books, films and sports. She didn't fall in my bed right away, but for a change I didn't care. I just liked being with her. We necked like a couple of teenagers and on our sixth date she said:

"Enough of this stupid playing around. Take me to bed."

She was insatiable. After that first time every time we got together the evening ended in her bed or mine. Some nights I showed up at her place to pick her up for a date and we never left her place. Some nights I showed up and she would open the door to greet me in nothing but high heels. Six months after our first date I asked her to marry me and she said yes.

I had my bachelor party four days before the wedding and the next night her girl friends took her out for their version of a bachelor party. The next night I rang her doorbell and when she opened the door she handed me my ring and said:

"I can't marry you Rob. I've met someone else."

She closed the door in my face leaving me standing there stunned. I beat on the door for damned near ten minutes, but she wouldn't answer. Finally the guy from next door came out and told me to knock it off or he was going to call the cops on me for disturbing the peace. The next morning at the restaurant Jessica told me that Annie had called in and quit without notice. That night I went back to Annie's apartment and found that she had moved out.

It was almost a month before I got the full story. The women had gone to a strip joint on male dancer's night. The girls got Annie drunk and sometime during the evening Annie got up to go to the bathroom and when a half hour went by a couple of girls went looking for her. They found her in a back room being gangbanged. One of the girls was pretty sure that some one had slipped her a date rape drug. Annie couldn't face me after that and so she bailed.

I tried to find her, but I couldn't get anyone to tell me where she went. I sent here several letters telling her that I loved her and we could work things out, but I never heard back from her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next four years I played the field and didn't let myself get too involved with any one woman. I suppose it was inevitable that I would run into one that I wanted to have a long term relationship with and the gods, being the perverse beings that they are, saw to it that she wasn't all that interested in me. I made it my goal to change her mind.

It took months but I finally got her to agree to go out with me. I took Cheri to dinner and then a play. She seemed to have a good time and so I asked for a second date.

"I enjoyed the evening Rob, but I don't think I want to waste your time or mine on something that won't be going anywhere."

"How do you know that? How can you say that it won't go anywhere if you don't spend a little time investigating the possibilities?"

"It is a feeling that I have Rob and since my feelings are rarely wrong I've learned to go with them."

"You said "rarely." This could be one of those times."

I couldn't sway her, but I kept on trying. It was two months before I got her to say yes to a second date. We had a good time and I was able to get a third and then a fourth. Suddenly we were keeping steady company which in turn eventually led us into the bedroom where I found that Cheri and I were a perfect fit.

Cheri was not at all predictable in the bedroom. Some nights she wanted to make love slowly and savor it and other nights were wild fuckfests where she would reduce me to a quivering lump of flesh. She was very vocal on the fuckfest nights and I heard "fuck me hard" and "pound my pussy damn it, harder, harder" and 'that's it baby, fuck mommy's ass, fuck my ass" but on the love making nights it was moans and sharp little cries. Every day was different with Cheri and you never knew which Cheri you were going to get, but you didn't care because it was all great.

Things went well for over a year and then I asked Cheri to marry me and I did not get the reaction I had hoped for.

"I wasn't quite ready for this" she said, "I had hoped for a little more time, but it was going to happen so I guess now is as good time as any."

"I don't understand. As good a time as any for what?"

"To end things with you."

"End things? Why? What did I do?"

"Other than asking me to marry you? Nothing. You are an extremely good and attentive lover and in fact you are one of the best I have ever had, but a year is about the longest I spend with a man. You have already lasted longer than most. To be honest I have been scouting for your replacement for about a month now."

"My replacement?"

"I am not a one man women Rob. I like variety too much to tie myself down to any one man. I've considered it, but he would have to be a man who could accept an open marriage because I would still want variety and he would have to be a man who could accept and live with my scorn. How could I ever respect a man who would be willing to let just anyone fuck me just so he could hold onto me? We've had a good run lover, but it is time for me to move on."



What the fuck was wrong with me? I had no trouble meeting girls and getting them into bed and a lot of them I could have held onto, but wasn't interested in them enough to do it. Then the ones that I do want to hold onto I can't. I went into a funk when Cheri left and I was in that "Oh woe is me" mood when I heard from Barton, Barton, Murray and Westin.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When you come into as much money as Uncle James left me things are bound to change in your life – in a big way! The first change was in my job. I loved the kind of work I was doing, but I had absolutely no use for the two dim bulbs that ran the place. Their father, who knew what he was doing, died and left the business to his two idiot sons who didn't have a clue so it went from a place where I liked working to a place I'd rather not step foot in.

I started my own firm. I hired the best and brightest from the old firm and when the dust cleared I also had almost two thirds of my old firms clients.

I'd had to sell the house when I divorced Marcy and I had been living in a condo so my next move was to join the country club and buy a six bedroom house right on the golf course.

I was driving a six month old Chevy three quarter ton four wheel drive pick up that suited me just fine so there was no change in vehicles.

With Uncle Jimmy's money I was able to do things I had never done before, but had always wanted to do. I started attending the symphony, going to showings for new artists, got a sky box and season tickets for baseball and football games. I became involved with several charities and ended up on a couple of committees.

And I went back to school. When I had been going to earn my degree money was tight and I could only take classes that would count toward my degree. Now that I had some money I was going to take the classes I'd always wanted, but couldn't afford.

The one thing I did not do was tell anyone about my sudden windfall. By the time Uncle Jimmy blessed me I had developed a very cynical attitude toward women and the last thing I needed or wanted was a bunch of gold diggers deciding that they loved me and wanted to be mine forever. Or until they could dump me like all the others with the added bonus of lightening my bank balance.

But I still wanted feminine companionship from time to time and not just as bed partners. So how to do it? I was still thinking on the subject when one of the charities I was involved with had a fund raiser. They had lined up a well known author and he was going to give a talk and give away several signed first editions of his latest work. It was a two hundred dollar a plate dinner with all of the proceeds going to the charity and it was one of those affairs that you didn't attend without a date. I hadn't gotten back into the dating scene following the breakup with Cheri so I didn't know anyone I could ask.

Mike Devins, who was on the committee with me asked me what time I planned on getting there and I told him that I wouldn't be attending. He asked why and I told him.

"No date and I really don't know anyone whom I could ask on such short notice."

"No problem" he said and he took out his wallet, took out a card and handed it to me. I read the card. "Premier Escorts."

"I don't want a hooker."

"Not all escorts are hookers. In fact most of the ones who work for reputable agencies aren't. I've used Premier a dozen times with no problems. I'm not saying that sex is out of the question, but it is more along the lines of scoring at the end of the date if the two of you hit it off."

What the hell did I have to lose? I put the card in my pocket and the next day I called Premier and made an appointment for that afternoon. It wasn't what I expected. I had to fill out an application, give personal and business references and fill out a profile about myself. Then I was put in a booth with a computer screen and a pad and pencil and watched a video presentation of the women available. I guessed that while I watched the presentation the woman who interviewed me was on the phone checking my references.

I wrote down three names on the pad and when the presentation was over I gave the names to the interviewer (who I would have chosen if she had been in the presentation) and she went into her computer. After a minute or two she said:

"Mellisa and Karen both are already booked for the evening in question, but Ellen is free."

"Then I guess Ellen will do just fine."

We settled the fees and I was told I could pick Ellen up at the agency or have her meet me some place. "We never let our girls be picked up where they live." I told her that the agency would be fine and that I would pick Ellen up at six on Friday.

The photos of Ellen in the presentation video did not do her justice. She was stunning in a black cocktail dress and heels. According to the bio in the presentation she was twenty-three, but she looked like a sophisticated eighteen or nineteen. She looked like a cross between the 'girl next door' and the hot cheerleader that everyone in the school wanted to fuck. I was going to draw a lot of attention with that hottie on my arm. It would be a case of:

"I know what he sees in her, but what could she possibly be doing with him. Christ; he has to be old enough to be her father,"

I was thirteen years older than Ellen, but I worked out some and I fancied that I looked five years younger than I was. As long as no one but Mike knew she was an escort I was going to be the subject of a lot of speculation.

The evening went well. Ellen was smart and a very good conversationalist. She was also on top of things. On the way to the dinner she asked me if the people there knew I was bringing an escort and I told her no. Then she asked if I wanted them to know. I thought about it for a bit and then said no.

"Then we need to be ready for the inevitable questions like how long have we been seeing each other, where did we meet and things like that."

We worked out a story that was believable and it was a good thing because we weren't five minutes into the dinner conversation when Betsy Newman asked that very question and Ellen said:

"I backed into his truck in the library parking lot and I left a note with my name and telephone number under his windshield wiper. He called me and one thing led to another and here we are."
I smiled and said, "Luckiest accident I've ever been involved with."

When we arrived we were each given a ticket for the drawing that would determine who would get the signed first editions that were being given away and my number was called. On the drive to the event Ellen and I had discussed the dinner and the circumstances and I learned that the author was one of her favorites so I took Ellen's ticket and gave her mine and sent her up to get the book. The author personalized the inscription and Ellen thanked me and asked why I didn't want the book for myself. I lied and told her that as a member of the committee I didn't feel that it would be right for me to take the book. The truth was that I had read two of his other books and hadn't liked either one of them.

After the dinner I asked Ellen if she would like to stop somewhere and have a drink or two with me and she said yes. I'd expected that she would since we both knew that she was on my time for another two hours. We stopped at Sardi's and when Giselle came to take our order Ellen asked for a Cosmo and I asked for my usual. My usual looked like a vodka tonic with a slice of lime, but was actually a glass of water with a slice of lime in it. I made it a habit not to drink and drive, but I had found that just ordering a Coke when everyone else was drinking made some people uncomfortable. It was almost as if they thought something was wrong with me if I didn't booze it up.

As soon as the drinks arrived I started asking Ellen about being an escort. Not the "what's a nice girl like you" type of questions, but questions about what an escort could do. She was hesitant to answer and I thought maybe she was thinking I was trying to sound her out on whether or not she played for pay so I figured that I'd better explain.

"What I want to find out is if a long term relationship is possible. By that I mean can I arrange to have the same escort all the time or do I have to take pot luck every time I contact the agency for a date?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"Say you wanted the girl for every Thursday or every Saturday. Yes, you could lock her in for those specific times or at least you could as long as she still worked there. But if you were to call on a Tuesday and ask for a specific girl for Thursday it would depend on whether or not she was already booked for that night. Why do you ask?"

"Because I can see the need for me to have to use escorts on a regular basis and showing up with a different woman every time I attended an event would make me look a little unstable and that is an impression that I don't want to make."

"How far ahead of time would you normally know if you needed someone?"

"Usually a week or two, but sometimes only a day or two."

"A week would probably give you enough time to insure that you get the woman you want, but a day or two would be iffy."

"Could I ask a woman for a date at the end of the date and have her inform the agency or do I always need to go to the agency?"

"You need to go to the agency because she could already be scheduled for something else and not yet know it."

We talked a little more and then I drove her back to the agency so she could pick up her car.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

My life settled into a pattern. Work, evening classes at the college taking the classes that I had wanted to take back when I was earning my degree but couldn't and attending functions put on by the committees I served on. I dated off and on, but never found anyone that I was interested in.

I did have a sex life of sorts. A friend had put me in touch with an extremely high class call girl and once a week for fifteen hundred I was able to take care of my needs. Tasha was so good that once I even offered to set her up as a full time mistress, but she told me no. She was another Marcy, but at least she was honest about it.

"I'm curious about different cocks and I'd have to give that up if I settled in with one man."

I called the agency and asked for Ellen several times and always had a good time when she was with me. Twice she wasn't available and one time I got Mellisa and the other time I got Karen and while they were okay I didn't enjoy myself as much with them as I did with Ellen. I found myself thinking of Ellen a lot. She seemed to be everything that a man would want in a woman and I couldn't understand why she wasn't engaged or married. Or maybe she was and didn't wear her rings, but I didn't think it likely. Even though we did spend a lot of time together the relationship wasn't the kind that let me ask her about her personal life.

Then I hit a rough spell as far as escorts go. Four times I needed an escort and Ellen wasn't available. The ones I ended up with served the purpose, but I was less than satisfied.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The fall semester rolled around and one of the classes that I wanted to take was only offered in the afternoon on Monday and Thursday. One of the nice things about being the boss was that I could give myself time off from work during the day and so I signed up for the class.

The second day of class I got to the campus early and so I decided to go to the cafeteria in the Student Union for pie and coffee. After I paid the cashier I looked around the room looking for a place to sit and I saw Ellen sitting at a table alone with her nose in a book. She looked up annoyed when someone sat down uninvited on the chair opposite her and when she saw it was me she smiled and said:

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm a little early for my two o'clock so I came in here and I saw you over here so I came to join you. I can leave if I'm interrupting something."

"No,no, I was just reading up on what Professor Reynolds will be covering today. I didn't know that you were a student here."

"Then we have something in common because I didn't know you were either."

We talked and I found out that she was working on a degree in Business Management and had been working on it for three years and hoped to be done with it in another three."

"Why so long?"

"Money and time. I have to keep the days free for classes so I have to work nights. But I can't work a full time night job because I do need time to study and work on term papers and the like. Escorting pays pretty good when you are working, but it is tight trying to squeeze living expenses and schooling out of what I make. Sometimes I can only afford one or two classes a term and that is why it is taking me so long."

"What do you mean "pays pretty good sometimes?"

"You have to go on dates to make money. Some weeks are good and I get called three or four nights and some weeks I only get one. There have even been weeks when I never got a call at all so I have to budget pretty close."

I looked at my watch and saw that it was time to head to class. I told Ellen I would talk to her later and I got up and headed for class. On the way home I came up with a germ of an idea and by the time I got to work the next morning the germ had grown. I called Premier and requested Ellen for the Tuesday of the coming week. They said she was available for that day and I told them to tell her to dress casual – jeans would be fine – and to have her meet me at the Texas Steakhouse on Bromley Lane.

I was there in a booth when Ellen arrived and when she sat down she asked me what we would be doing and I said that we would be having a business meeting.

"A business meeting? Dressed in jeans? And why in the world would you want me in a business meeting?"

"You are a business major right? And you have specific knowledge that will be pertinent to the discussion."

"What knowledge?"

"Your knowledge of the escort business."

"I don't understand."

"It will all become clear to you at the meeting, but right now enjoy your dinner."

Over dinner we talked about school and I told her why I was taking classes and she told me that she knew just where I was coming from. She had classes that she would have loved to take, but they wouldn't help her get to her degree. We followed dinner with some Bailey's Irish Cream and then I said:

"Okay, time to talk business."

"Where is the meeting?"

"Right here."

"I don't understand."

"On our first date I told you how important it would be to me to have the same woman as an escort whenever I needed one. It has worked out for me some of the time, but there have been several times when I have called the agency and you haven't been available. Last Thursday in the cafeteria you filled me in on how unpredictable the escort business is as far as employment goes and how you have to budget real tight so the good weeks will offset the bad ones. I've thought about it and I've decided to offer you a proposition."

"Whoa! I don't think I want to go there."

"You haven't heard the proposition yet so don't go jumping the gun. On our dates I have never even hinted, not once, at doing what just flashed through your mind. Not that I haven't thought about it. Here's the deal. I want the same woman with me when I attend social functions and I do not want to play hit or miss when I call the agency. I want to hire you as a full time escort – a full time employee. I will hire you through my company so as a full time employee you will be entitled to most of the benefits like health insurance, paid vacation, 401k, sick leave and stuff like that. You will also get some of the paid holidays, but not necessarily all of them because on some of them you will have to be with me at some function or other. Does that sound like something that you might be interested in?"

"It sounds intriguing at least as far as benefit go, but what about pay?"

"What did you make last year?"

"Well, that's the sticking point."

"Why?"

"There is what Premier paid me and what I made under the table."

"My turn not to want to go there. Just give me the total of what you made last year."

"My income from Premier was just a little over thirty-nine thousand."

"And the under the table you mentioned?"

"I'm going to be honest with you Rob and I hope it doesn't change your opinion of me too much, but I made another thirty under the table providing additional personal services."

"Additional personal services?"

"Some clients wanted a little more than just someone hanging on their arm for the evening."

It took a second for what she said to register. "Oh. Oh my. How come I never knew that?"

"Because I only do it if the client asks and even then not always. I never volunteer the information."

I looked at her for several seconds and then said, "That doesn't change anything. The offer is still on the table. All we need to do is work out the details."

"You are willing to pay me seventy thousand a year just to be your permanent arm candy?"

"No. I am willing to pay you forty and carry you on my books as my personal assistant."

"I appreciate the offer Rob, but I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"The money. Discounting the under the table income which is not all that reliable since it depends on the client asking and a lot of clients like you never ask, my after tax income was only about twenty-nine five. When I get done paying rent, utilities, car payment, car insurance, groceries and keeping myself in the kind of clothing I need for the work I do I'm pretty tapped out. My under the table is what pays for school and as I've just said it isn't all that reliable."

"What I'm hearing is that you would consider it if the money was better."

"Of course I would. It would give my life some structure. I wouldn't be waiting around for the phone to ring to tell me that I had work that night or the next and knowing that I had a steady paycheck would be a relief, but what you are offering just won't do it for me. Without the escorting I wouldn't have the under the table opportunities and it is that money that is paying for my schooling and earning that degree is what is going to lead me to a decent job where I can show my worth, climb the corporate ladder and end up in a position paying me a pretty decent to a very good salary."

I looked at her as I contemplated what she'd said and then I said, "Forty is as high as I can go on wages without having to make some awkward explanations, but there are some other things I can do. How much do you value the privacy that living alone gives you?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"I need to know if you would be willing to give some of it up if the circumstances were right."

"I don't know."

"I'm going to lay this out and I want you to spend some time thinking about it. I have a six bedroom house in Regency Park. I've turned one of the bedrooms into a home office and den. You can have one of the other bedrooms and I'll convert the one next to it into a study for you. That will eliminate your apartment rent and utility costs. I'll give you a company car and a company credit card to pay for gas and you can sell your car. That will get rid of the car payment and the insurance costs. As far as school is concerned I'll pick up tuition and books. Since most of the time I am going to want you on my arm is in the evening you will have pretty much all day to take classes and that means that you can start carrying a full load instead of just a couple of classes a semester. Take some time to think about it. I'll call the agency and set us up for Saturday evening and we can talk about it some more."

I could see that she had a lot of questions, but I did not want to deal with them until she'd had time to thoroughly think about my offer. As I drove away from the steakhouse I was asking myself if I knew what I was doing and I had to honestly admit that I didn't. Did it even remotely make sense? I used escorts maybe four times a month at an average cost of about four hundred dollars. That was sixteen hundred a month or nineteen thousand two hundred a year. Why was I offering two and a half times that much just to guarantee having the same girl every time I needed one? I was single. So what if I showed up with a different woman every time I went somewhere? Then I started thinking that I was going to have to come up with some sort of reasonable explanation for the people at work if I did end up putting her on the payroll. I fell asleep still wondering why I had done what I'd done.

By the time I met with Ellen on Saturday I'd thought the idea to death and the best I could come up with was that I really enjoyed being with Ellen and I liked being seen with her because she was drop dead gorgeous and being seen with a drop dead gorgeous woman hanging on me didn't hurt my reputation at all. As for financial justification? What the fuck! I could afford it and I didn't have to justify it to anyone.

And there was one more thing. One more very important thing. It took a while before I admitted it to myself, especially after all of my previous experiences, but I wanted Ellen. I wanted her, but knew that I couldn't have her, at least not in the way I wanted. She would never be interested in someone my age and while I couldn't have her I could have her close. I could have her in one way because she had told me herself that she had provided "extra services" for some clients, but I didn't want to go there. It would change the relationship in ways I might not like so I would stay with Tasha to take care of my needs in that area.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So, what did you think about my offer?" I asked Ellen over the table at the restaurant.

"I like it because it would allow me to concentrate on school, but I have some reservations."

"And they are?"

"Two really big ones. First, I give up the apartment, say goodbye to the agency and a month later you change your mind. There will be no apartment, no job, carrying a full load at school that I will have to drop so I can use the time to find a job. Next is the privacy issue. I don't have a boyfriend now, but if and when I come up with on how would we handle my bringing him home?"

The thought of Ellen with a boyfriend didn't set well with me at all, but I should have expected that it might come into the mix at some time. I would just have to put it out of my mind.

"To allay your first concern I'll give you a legally enforceable contract and it will have a renewable clause and financial penalties for early termination. I'll make it for two years. That will give you enough time to finish school and then figure out what you are going to want to do with your degree. Taking a full load you will probably finish in a year or a year and a half and two years will give you some cushion. At the end of two years we can discuss renewal. As for your second concern I don't see a problem. The company has an account with Best Western and I will add your name to the list of those people authorized to use the account. If you feel awkward about bringing him home with you you can use the Best Western. What else?"

"What do I tell my mother?"

"That is strictly up to you. Tell her whatever you like. Just let me know so that if it ever comes to it I can back you up. Maybe tell her I hired you to house sit because I travel a lot on business."

By the end of the evening she decided to do it and on Monday she gave notice at the agency and informed her landlord that she would not be renewing at the end of the month. Two weeks later on a Wednesday I helped her move her things into the house at Regency Park.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Thursday morning I had to question my sanity in making the deal I had with Ellen. I got up at my normal five am to do my morning workout on the equipment I had set up in my basement. When I got there I found that Ellen was already up and was working out on the Stairmaster. She had on a very short pair of shorts and she was obviously not wearing a bra under her tank top. Instant wood! Instant obvious wood! To keep Ellen from noticing I made sure that I did my workout with my back to her.

And that was just the start of it.

It seemed that her favorite sleeping outfit was an oversized tee shirt and she thought nothing about moving around the house in the morning in just it and most of the time without a bra under it.

What really did me in was what happened when I told her I was a member of the country club and I had put her name on the list as a member of my family. One Saturday around noon she came out of her room in what she laughingly called a bikini, but was no more that three very small triangular pieces of cloth held together by a few pieces of string and told me she was going to the clubhouse, lay by the pool and soak up some sunshine. Luckily I was wearing baggy sweats at the time so she couldn't see the effect that it had on me. I pointed at the scraps of cloth and said:

"In that?"

"Sure. Any thing wrong with it?"

"Only that you are going to give some of those old farts over there heart attacks. I hope nobody drowns because the lifeguard won't be paying any attention to anything but you."

"You say the sweetest things."

She turned and walked to the door and I saw that marvelous ass with the tiny string running between her butt cheeks and I'm amazed that I didn't faint because of all the blood that rushed to my cock to turn it into an iron bar that I could have driven nails with.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Two months went by and I used Ellen on the average of two times a week and I usually took her out to dinner on either Saturday or Sunday. She seemed to be very comfortable with our arrangement and there was no awkwardness in the house. She gave me a lot of 'wood' but I managed to hide it from her although I did increase my visits to Tasha.

The only problem that I had was with my accountant who told me that I couldn't (or at least shouldn't) be doing what I was doing through the company books. I finally had to tell him to do it and then do whatever he had to do to make it legal. If I had to pay some extra taxes or whatever, just get it done. "What the hell" I hollered at him, "It is my goddamned money and I'll do with it what I want."
One night at a charity event Monica Kois was talking to Ellen and me and out of nowhere she said:

"When are you going to put a ring on her finger Rob?"

Ellen laughed and said, "He's afraid to ask me. He thinks that he is too old for me."

"Is he?" Monica asked.

"Not in the least."

"Better move on it Rob before she gets away."

As Monica moved away Ellen said, "We have spent a lot of time together at these events. Maybe for appearances sake we should get me a ring to wear when we attend one."

"Where did that "He thinks he's too old for me" come from?"

"I had to say something and that was the first thing that came to mind. Just in case you are wondering you aren't you know."

"I'm not?"

"Like I told Monica; not in the least."

The next day was a Saturday and I took Ellen to a jewelry store and told her to pick out a ring. She chose a small inexpensive engagement ring and I told her no.

If we are going to do this we need to act serious about it. Pick out something that is at least a half carat."

"Are you sure?"

"I can't have anyone thinking I'm cheap when it comes to my lady."

Ellen picked out a half carat solitaire in a platinum setting and it was the right size for her finger so we left the shop with her wearing it. We stopped for lunch and when we had finished eating and were having an after meal cup of coffee Ellen asked:

"Can I get a little personal here?"

"I suppose so."

"Why are we doing what we are doing? I don't understand our relationship at all. You seem to be the perfect catch for some lucky girl. Why do you need me? Why isn't this ring on the finger of a real fiancée? At first I was thinking that you were gay or one of those guys with erectile dysfunction and I was being used as camouflage, but I have seen your erections at times when you have looked at me and I've felt them when we have danced. Just what is going on here Rob?"

I looked at her for several seconds while I tried to think of a reasonable lie, but then decided to hell with it and I told her the truth.

"I find myself in a position where I need a woman to fill the role that you are filling. And I am the kind of guy who needs feminine companionship, but I don't trust women any more."

I told her everything from Marcy to Cheri and then said, "I just can't let it happen to me again so I decided that the best thing for me to do is what we are doing now."

"Then the next question is why haven't you taken it farther. I told you when you first brought up the idea that I occasionally provided extra services. Why haven't you taken advantage of that?"

I explained my thinking to her and she looked at me like I had two heads. "I know you have urges Rob, I've seen the tented pants and I can not believe a healthy male like you settles for nothing but manual stimulation."

"I don't" I said and then I told her about my weekly visits to Tasha.

"And you plan to live the rest of your life this way?"

I shrugged and called for the check. She was silent on the drive home and after we got there she took off in her car to do some shopping. When she got back she fixed dinner and we made dinner conversation and then she went off to her rooms to work on a term paper that was due in the coming week. I watched a couple of hours of television and then I called it a night.

I woke up thinking I was having a wet dream, but found that Ellen was in my bed with my cock in her mouth. A little bit groggily I mumbled:

"What are you doing here?"

She took her mouth off of me and said, "Saving you fifteen hundred dollars."

"But I don't wa..."

"Hush up. You have no say in the matter" and she went back to sucking me. When she was satisfied that she had me where she wanted me she moved up and lowered herself down on me and after that nature took over. I came and I think she did and then she got me hard again and the second time I'm sure that she had an orgasm and after I had mine we fell asleep snuggled up against each other.

I was alone in the bed when I woke up in the morning. I got up, showered and headed for the kitchen to make coffee. When I walked into the kitchen I found Ellen there fixing breakfast – naked! She stopped what she was doing, walked over to me and kissed me.

"I don't normally cook in the nude. This is just my way of letting you know that last night was not a spur of the moment not to be repeated incident. If you are stupid enough to say no I will respect your wishes otherwise get used to me being your bed buddy."

"Why? Why did you do it and why do you want to keep on doing it?"

"Several reasons. One is that I am a healthy female with a pretty good sex drive and between school and what I am doing with you I haven't had time to find a boyfriend and I'm horny as hell. Another is that I've wanted to get your pants off of you since our first date but one of my ironclad rules when I escorted was that I would never make the first move. I would always wait on the client to sound me out. You have no idea how hard it was for me to stick to that rule as far as you were concerned. I kept waiting for you to say something, but you never did. When you proposed this live I thing I thought for sure that we would end up in your bed the first night I was here, but it didn't happen and yesterday I found out why. So I decided that if you weren't going to make the move then it was going to be up to me. Last night I took the bull by the horns and here we are."

As she had been talking she untied my robe and took my cock in her hands and it stiffened as she stroked it.

"Don't panic baby, I'm not looking for anything out of it but sexual satisfaction."

She went to her knees in front of me and her mouth took over from her hands. After a minute or two she stood up, sat on the kitchen table and spread her legs.

"Start my day off right lover. Feed me your sausage and then I'll feed you pancakes and we will see where the day goes from there."

We never got dressed that Sunday as we followed each other around the house and made up for lost time. That night Ellen moved out of her bedroom into mine.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Over the next six months Ellen and I lived pretty much as man and wife. At events people noticed the engagement ring and the "when is the wedding?" questions started. Ellen would say that it wouldn't be until after she graduated with her degree and the thought that she would actually be getting that degree filled me with dread. Once she had it in hand I would lose her.

The one thing I had never done was lie to myself so I had to face the facts. I loved her. I loved her and I didn't want to lose her, but at the same time I was afraid to commit myself. I still had my mistrust of women (although something inside me was screaming "Ellen is different, Ellen is different") and then there was the fact that Ellen had never treated our relationship as anything other than a business arrangement with a 'friends with benefits' facet. But my fear of losing her was stronger than the sum of all of my other fears and so I took the plunge.

It was at a benefit for The Salvation Army and Ellen and I were talking with Horace Briscoe when Gail Briscoe walked up to join us. "Have you set a date yet?" she asked. Before Ellen could give her stock reply I said:

"She graduates next May so we are planning a June wedding. I'm not sure yet whether it will be the first week or second so keep both open. I figure to mail out the invitations the first week in May."

Ellen looked at me stunned as Horace and Gail said they wouldn't miss it for the world and then turned and walked over to talk to Stan Witman.

Ellen looked at me with an expression that I couldn't read and then she said:

"I seemed to have missed something here. I seem to have forgotten the conversation where we set a wedding date. Something else I missed too. Was I asleep when you asked me to marry you?"

"You must have been. You have the engagement ring on and I couldn't have put it on you unless you said yes."

"Are you serious about this?"

"Yes I am."

"Why the one-eighty? I remember you telling me that you didn't trust women and you would never put yourself in a position to be hurt again."

"That was before you. It dawned on me that if I didn't make a move you were going to graduate, take your new degree and move on with your life. I don't believe I could stand going home to the house if you were not there. I couldn't come up with the guts to ask you straight out so I ambushed you tonight."

"You don't think that maybe you should have talked with me before telling Horace and Gail what you told them? What if I would have said "Oh no we aren't."

"Why would you do that? You are the one who has been telling everybody that we would set a date as soon you had your degree. Well graduation is in sight."

"You are side stepping the issue Rob. What if I don't want to marry you?"

"Then I guess you won't."

"What made you think I would marry you?"

"You seemed happy living with me and sharing a bed with me so why wouldn't I think you might marry me?"

"What we have been doing is not the same as being married."

"Sure it is. We do everything together. We do things for each other. We damned sure fit the bill as far as sexual intimacy is concerned. We snuggle, we cuddle and we do everything that married couples do. Christ Ellen, we even go grocery shopping together so don't tell me that what we have been doing isn't the same as being married. I like what we have been doing and I want to keep on doing it. That means I have to marry you before you can get away."

"This isn't the place to be having this conversation Rob. We will talk about it when we get home."

The ride home was silent as Ellen stared out the passenger side window. When we got to the house she went into the living room and sat down on the couch. As soon as I sat down Ellen said:

"I don't want to get married Rob." She paused and then said, "No, that's not right. I don't want to get married now. I've been looking forward to getting my degree so that I could have a life. So I could have a real job and live a normal life and not a life centered around men. To wake up in the morning and not have to wonder if I am going to have to go to some cocktail party or other with some slug of a man who might have passed the agency's screening, but who had bad breath or body odor. To be able to go home from work knowing that I could just flake out and not have to dress up and make myself pretty for a man that I had never seen before and would probably never see again.

"What I have been looking forward to Rob is a man free existence. I am not anti men Rob; I just need a break from them. For the last four years my life has revolved around men. Two, three or five different men every week. Dates I could not say no to because I needed the money. I need "me" time Rob. I want some time to myself; some time where I don't have to devote time to anyone but me."

I sat there and listened to her and I understood what she was saying, but understanding it did not ease the pain I was starting to feel. Another woman I wanted who did not want me. It didn't help any that I had done it to myself. I had sworn that I would never let another woman get her claws deep enough into me that it would hurt. That is why I went the escort route in the first place. It was my own damned fault.

Ellen could read my face and she quickly said:

"It isn't your fault Rob. I'm just not ready. I'm tickled to death that you want me enough to want to marry me. I'm just not ready."

There wasn't anything I could say to that so I just shrugged, stood up and left the room. I undressed and because of all the cigarette smoke that had been in the room at the event I decided to take a shower before turning in. I was washing my hair when the curtain slid open and Ellen got into the shower with me,

"Nothing has changed Bobby" she said as she took the soap and wash cloth and started to wash my cock. The result was predictable and I took her from behind as she leaned against the wall.

After, lying in the bed staring up at the ceiling, I thought about her comment. Of course things had changed. She would be leaving. In a way it would be even worse than it had been with Marcy, Annie and Cheri. With those three it had happened quickly – boom boom and it was over except for the pain – but with Ellen I had seven months to wait for the end. Seven months for it to eat at me and then God only knew how long to get over it after she was gone. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't do it. I could not suffer through the next seven months.

The next morning when we sat down to breakfast I asked her if she had any idea where she would like to live when she struck out on her own.

"I hadn't given it much thought. I've still got a while before it happens. Why?"

"I thought we could use this weekend to look at apartments."

She looked at me for several seconds and then said, "It doesn't need to be this way Bobby."

"Yes it does Ellen. It will be all over when you graduate and I can't, just can not, suffer through seven months knowing what is coming. Better to make the break now so I can start trying to get by it. My deal with you remains unchanged, but instead of you living here you will be in your own apartment. I'll take care of the first years rent and utilities and nothing else will change."

She put her fork down and said, "Fine! If that's the way you want it."

She stood up, scraped her plate off into the garbage disposal, put it in the dishwasher and walked out of the room without another word.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Ellen stayed in her room that evening and Saturday at breakfast she handed me a list of apartments she wanted to look at. She said that the fourth one we looked at would work for her so she did the paperwork. She signed a one year lease and I wrote a check for the first year and security deposit. I don't believe we said more than seventy-five words to each other from the time she sat down at the breakfast table until she signed the lease agreement and the ride home was silent. Once we were back home I handed her a credit card and said:

"You are going to need furniture, pots and pans, curtains and whatever. Get what you think you will need."

"What kind of limit do I have?"

"Get whatever you want or think you will need. Unless you buy gold plated furniture you can't max out that card."

She looked at me with an unreadable expression on her face and then turned and left the room. I heard her leave the house about a half hour later. She wasn't back by the time I went to bed and in the morning I woke up alone. I knew she was home because I heard the shower running in the bathroom at the end of the hall. I was in the kitchen making coffee when I heard the garage door open and then close so I knew she had gone out again.

I called a couple of guys I knew and then drove over to the country club and played eighteen holes and then had a long lunch with them. When I got home I found my credit card on the kitchen table and on top of it was the engagement ring I'd bought for Ellen. She didn't come home that night and she wasn't there when I got home from work the next day. When she didn't come home Monday night I checked her room and found that everything of hers was gone. I called her cell and when she answered I said:

"Hi. Where have you been?"

"You wanted me out so I got out. What nights will you need me this week?"

Every one of them is what I wanted to say, but I didn't. "I don't have anything going for this week."

"I'm not going to have a phone put in so when you need me call my cell."

I said okay, bye and hung up the phone. I'd gotten what I wanted. She was out of the house and I wouldn't have to suffer being around her for the next seven month. And it was killing me.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The rest of the week went by and I was starting to get used to waking up and Ellen not being there. Not used to her not being there, but used to mornings alone.

Monday I showed up early for my class and I was having pie and coffee in the cafeteria and I saw Ellen and some guy walk in together, go through the line and when Ellen got to the cashier I saw her notice me, but after she paid she went to a table on the other side of the room and sat down with the guy she walked in with. I finished my coffee and headed off to class.

Tuesday afternoon I got a call from Stu Miller asking me to a cocktail party on Friday evening and I told him I would be there. I reached for the phone to call Ellen, but at the last second I decided not to. I called Premier and found that Mellisa was available and I arranged to meet her.

Several people at the party seemed surprised to see me with Mellisa and not Ellen. Horace and Gail were there and I could see that it was all Gail could do to keep from coming over and asking me where Ellen was. Probably a good thing since I had no idea of what I could say to her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I tried to find things to do to keep me busy over the weekend, but whatever I did and wherever I went in the house I saw something that reminded me of Ellen. Well, I had gone through it with the others and I had somehow managed to survive and I would eventually put this behind me too.

Monday when I went to class I made sure to avoid the cafeteria and avoid any chance of seeing Ellen. At work I had some important projects that I was able to bury myself in and that helped me keep my mind off of Ellen. Wednesday I needed an escort so I called Premier again. My date that evening was a very attractive brunette. Traci was everything you could ask for in a date and she hung on my arm and acted like a woman determined to fight off any other female who might have designs on her man. Horace wasn't at the affair, but Gail was and I could see that curiosity was eating her alive.

By Thursday I felt the need and I called Tasha to see if she was available. She was and I took her to dinner and a show and during the evening she asked me where I had been spending my time since she hadn't seen me in a while. I'd always been able to talk to Tasha – that was one of the reasons I had tried to set her up as my mistress – and so I told her about Ellen and how she came about and how things had ended up. Tasha was sympathetic and then she told me that she would take my mind off Ellen at least for a little while.

But she didn't.

The sex was satisfying, but it did not take my mind off of Ellen. It didn't matter what Tasha did – and none of it was bad – I would think "That's not the way Ellen did it" or "Ellen would have...."

When I was dressing to leave Tasha said, "I like seeing you Rob and I am in no hurry to chase you away, but if your feelings for this girl are s strong as you say you need to do something about it. You need to find some way to stay in touch and be a friend. You need to show her that you care, but are still willing to respect her wishes. I can see her side of it Rob. I can see where she feels the need to take a break from men. I've thought of it a time or two myself. It sounds as if she cares for you, but isn't ready to settle down. Give her some space Rob. Stay in touch, be a friend, but give her some space. I'm not sure that I have this right; it is just something that I heard somewhere, but I goes something like "If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you it has always been yours. If it doesn't, it was never yours to begin with."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Friday night there was a meeting of the Arts Council and I wondered how it would go because Gail was also on the council. Sure enough when the meeting broke up Gail grabbed onto me and asked me to have coffee with her. I couldn't be impolite so I said okay. I knew it was coming so when she asked where Ellen had been lately I had a story ready. I shrugged and said:
"She told me she needed some space. I haven't talked to her in three weeks."

"Why on Earth would she do something like that?"

"I believe that she is having second thoughts about getting married. Just a feeling that I have, but she didn't start with this need for 'space' until we started to make actual plans for the wedding."

It was Gail's turn to shrug and she said, "I can relate to that. I had a massive case of the jitters when my wedding approached. More than once I wanted to run for the hills. Hang in there Rob; it will work out."

I slept in Saturday morning and didn't roll out of bed until almost nine. I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the sports section of the daily paper when the phone rang. I grabbed the cordless off of the counter and answered.

"Hello?"

"Good morning Rob."

"Good morning Ellen. Nice to hear your voice."

"You could have heard it sooner if you had called."

"The phone works both ways Ellen as you have found out this morning."

"That's an odd thing to say."

"Is it? I assumed that you didn't want to talk to me so why should I have called?"

"That's ridiculous Rob. Why wouldn't I want to talk to you?"

"I can only point to the fact that you haven't called in two weeks, you made no attempt to talk with me when you moved out – I had to call you to find out where you were – and then there was that day in the cafeteria when you went out of your way to avoid me and went and sat down on the other side of the room. To me all of that said that you didn't want to talk to me. Ergo, I didn't bother to call."

"Is that why you have been using the agency instead of calling me?"

"Part of it."

I told you that nothing had changed except our living arrangements. I fully expect to be your partner when you need one. There is no need to call the agency."

"I know Ellen, but once you were gone and given the reason for your being gone I decided that a clean break would be the best for me."

"It doesn't have to be that way Rob."

"I think for my well being that it does. I'm sorry Ellen."

"I need to clear something up here Rob. That day in the cafeteria was not a snub or me not wanting to talk to you. Paul is part of a group of five of us who are working on an assigned class project for our Business Strategies class and we were in the cafeteria to have coffee and talk about our part of the project. Paul picked the table we sat at, not me. And to be honest here Rob I was not all that sure that you wanted to talk to me. You did seem to be in a hurry to find me a place to stay so you could get me away from you."

"Oh come on Ellen; you know why I did it. I explained it to you before we even went looking for an apartment."

"Yes you did Rob and it didn't make any more sense to me then than it does now. All I said was that I didn't want to get married right away and that I wanted some time to live a normal life without men being a major ingredient in it. I never said that I didn't care for you and I never said that you would be out of my life totally. I told you what I wanted to do and why. Remember what you told me about how you felt after Cheri? You didn't want anything to do with women. That's how I feel about my career as an escort. I want to get myself away from men for a while. That's all. For a while, not forever."

"I can see that Ellen, but that doesn't make it any easier for me. It isn't your fault Ellen, it is all on me. I'm the one who let himself fall for you. It was me who decided to use escorts rather than date and maybe find another woman who would pull me in and then end up sticking it to me. I was the one who picked you out of all the others on the agency's presentation video. I did this to myself Ellen. You take care Ellen. Have a great life. Bye."

I hung up the phone and in seconds I was feeling sorry for myself again. By noon I was pissed at myself for letting it get to me when I had the ways and means to do something about it.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

What was the sense in having a lot of money if you didn't use it? Four phone calls is all that it took. One to Tasha to see if she was available for a week. One to Bill Perkins to tell him he was in charge of the company for a week. One to a charter outfit at the airport and one to the hotel in Cabo San Lucas. At six that evening Tasha and I were sipping champagne at twenty thousand feet on the Lear jet that was taking us to spend Thanksgiving week on the beach and in the sun.

The days were filled with scuba diving, sailing, sail gliding and lying on the beach soaking up the sun. The nights were spent with Tasha doing everything she could think of to thank me for her paid vacation. I can honestly say that I didn't think of Ellen once until the Lear's gear went down on our landing approach when we returned home. And then it only happened then because it was then that Tasha asked:

"What did you do where Ellen was concerned?"

"I followed your advice sweetie. I set her free."

She patted the back of my hand and didn't say another word. When I walked her to her door she gave me a deep kiss and as she opened her door I said:

"If you ever decide to settle down with just one man keep me in mind okay?"

"You will be number one on the list Rob, I promise."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The next couple of weeks flew by and the only event I attended I went to by myself. I had pretty much decided that as long as Tasha was available I could do without women in my life. That is not to say that there weren't women who wanted to be in my life, but I just didn't want the hassle any more. Why go to all the time and trouble to build a relationship only to see it go sour.

The third week in December we had the company Christmas party. I rented one of the ballrooms at the Hilton, arranged for a live band and set up the catering. Some of the girls in the office asked me if they could decorate the room and I gave them a credit card and told them to have at it.

They had streamers and bows all over the place and over in the corner was a Christmas tree with presents under it. Mona, my secretary, had arranged a 'secret Santa' gift exchange with a ten dollar limit and I drew Carol's name. I bought her a CD by her favorite singer and even though it cost more than ten bucks I didn't think anyone would care.

We had dinner and then I gave a short speech and thanked everyone for helping to make it a great year for the company and then surprised everyone by handing out bonus checks that no had expected. Then Mona took over the handing out of the gifts under the tree and when she called my name I went over and she handed me a small box. When I got back to my seat I opened it. On a bed of cotton was a key card with a sticky note on it that simply said "Room 412." I quickly looked up and around the room, but no one was paying any attention to me. I pocketed the card and wondered who (or what) was waiting in room 412, but it would have to wait since I couldn't leave my own party.

The band started to set up and I got the next surprise. All of the women in the room got up and came over to my table and formed a line. Mona was at the head of the line and she asked me to stand up. Just a little confused I did as she asked and she stepped up and kissed me. "Merry Christmas boss" she said as she moved out of the way and let Sherri from Accounting move in front of me and kiss me. She also wished me a Merry Christmas before stepping aside and letting Allison move in front of me.

Allison was one of the girls who had asked me to let them do the decorating. She laughed at the look on my face and pointed up. I looked and saw that I was standing under a large clump of mistletoe. Mona and Sherri were married, but Allison was single and when she kissed me she slipped me a little tongue. When she broke the kiss and stepped away she licked her lips, smiled at me and said "Yum!" As she moved away I wondered if I was going to find her in room 412.

That idea faded as the rest of the women took their turn. Almost all of the single women gave me some tongue when they kissed me and surprisingly so did three of the married ones. The last one in line was Betty who was one of my Soils Engineers. She was married, but had come to the party without her husband. By the time she reached me the band had started playing, people were on the dance floor and no one was paying any attention when Betty kissed me. She didn't just slip me a little tongue – she shoved it down my throat and while doing that she slid her right hand down my body and rubbed my hard cock a couple of times (hey, you would have one too after seventeen women worked on you) and as she stepped away she gave me a wicked little smile and said:

"Later baby."

I immediately thought of room 412 as she walked away and then Mona grabbed me and pulled me out onto the dance floor.

After Mona I had to dance with all of the other ladies and all of the women who had given me tongue under the mistletoe made it a point to rub their legs against my cock (which they kept constantly hard by their actions).

Betty was the most brazen. She kept her leg in constant contact with my erection throughout the entire number I danced with her. Just as the music ended she leaned into me and licked my ear and whispered:

"Want to move back under the mistletoe?"

I did. Oh yes indeed I did, but I asked, "What about your husband?"

"He's not here and you are."

I wanted her by then. God knows I wanted her, but not only was she married, she was an employee and I couldn't do it. I would not do to Betty's husband what Marcy had done to me and even if I had been louse enough to do Betty I knew that having sex with an employee was a major no-no and could lead to tons and tons of trouble. Then I thought "What if she is who you are going to find in 412?"

"Not a good idea" I said to her. "After that first time under the mistletoe and then this dance more time under that clump of weeds would have me would have me wanting to do things that I shouldn't."

"If you are worried about Tom don't. He won't care as long as I tell him all about it when I get home."

"That's only half of it Betty. Go to work for Loomis and Bainbridge or some other company and then have Tom call me and tell me it is okay and I'll be on you like a duck on a June bug, but I won't hang horns on a husband or have an intimate affair with an employee no matter how tempting she may be."

She shrugged, stuck her tongue out at me and said, "Party pooper. You are no fun at all and you will never know what you missed because I like working for you and I have no intention of changing jobs."

All I could do was laugh and walk her back to her table.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Another hour and the party started winding down and then it was time for me to make a decision. Was I going up to room 412 or not? Did I want to chance finding Betty there waiting? I wouldn't want to have to refuse her twice in one night, but I would and for the reasons already given. But it was almost certain that that whoever was in that room was an employee and I would have to turn them down also. Better to not even go. Yeah, right! No way I could not go and see what 412 held. And maybe my thinking was all wrong. Maybe there wasn't a woman there. Maybe it was a bunch of people who wanted to keep the party going. Whatever, curiosity insisted that I go up to the room. As I left the ballroom I saw Mona on her cell phone and she waved goodbye.

When I got to room 412 I put my ear to the door to see if I could hear the sounds of people partying, but either there was no party or the door was too thick for sound to go through. I took a deep breath, slid the key card into the slot, opened the door and entered the room.

I found the last thing in the world that would have expected.

On the bed in front of me wearing nothing but a large red bow and using a vibrator on herself was Ellen.

She tossed the vibrator aside and said, "You need to hurry Bobby. I've been using it to keep me warm and wet for you and the batteries are almost dead."

"What are you doi...."

"Not now Bobby" she said as she slid off the bed and went down on her knees in front of me and took hold of my zipper. "Talk later, but right now you have an extremely hot and horny woman to take care of."

By then she had my cock out of my pants and in her mouth and my desire to ask questions went out the window.

It was an exhausting evening. We made love – hard, fast and frenzied since it had been a while for us – and then we went into a sixty-nine until Ellen had me hard enough to suit her and then we made love a second time. After, lying there with Ellen in my arms, I asked here what she was doing there.

"I woke up Bobby. I woke up and realized that you might not be there when I got done being on my own for a while. I had to ask myself if having the freedom I wanted for a little while just to be me would be worth losing you and the answer was a loud "hell no." So here I am. If you are happy to see me make sure that you thank Mona for helping me setting it up."

"How do you know Mona?"

"Have you forgotten that I am an employee? I had to fill out forms for insurance and the like and Mona was the one who handled those things. Also, I had to go into the office every two weeks to pick up my paycheck. Mona is a pretty sharp cookie. She figured out right away what my job description was and believe it or not she was happy for you. She took a liking to me and we get together for lunch at least once a week. I've even gotten together with her and some of the other girls from the office for drinks after work. I've become friends with a lot of them. They all helped me tonight. They were supposed to get you all hot and bothered so that by the time you got up here you would be so mad with lust that you would tear off your clothes and ravish me."

"You have been lying here and playing with yourself all night waiting for the party to end?"

"Of course not silly. Mona called me to let me know you were on the way up so I could get ready for you."

"I guess I really do owe Mona. Would an invite to the wedding be enough?"

"I don't know. Is there going to be a wedding?"

"You have doubts?"

"Well yeah. We are missing something here."

"What?"

"Aren't you supposed to propose so I can give my answer?"

I rolled out of bed onto my knees on the floor and took her right hand in mine. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"I don't know. That's an important decision for a girl to make and I need some time to think about it. I'll give you an answer in the morning, but right now you need to get back up here and help me work on my bad case of the hornies."

Mona did come to the wedding. She was Ellen's Maid of Honor.