1 - Foreplay
"Cheri! Comment ça va?"
"Oh, g'morning, Maxine." Cheryl looked up from collecting her mail at the lobby mailboxes. Maxine was coming in from the parking garage, towards her, her robe flapping loosely, wearing God knows what underneathâif anything.
"Well, now. Got the boys all happy and off to work. And the morning still before us."
Cheryl knew that Maxine lived in the penthouse with her husband. Cheryl, on the other hand, lived, also with her husband, on the second floor. Their husbands both worked downtown and the two wives often met at the mailboxes in the lobby after seeing their men off to work. They were slowly getting to know one another, although, while Cheryl quite liked her older neighbour, she considered her a little 'out there.' In fact, Cheryl often found Maxine quite intimidating. However, for as much as she was intimidated by Max's larger-than-life personality, she, also, was somehow attracted to itâto her.
"Men." Maxine gave a chuckle. "They're so simpleâand easy to please."
Cheryl gave her a puzzled look, thinking, "And this is apropos what?"
But Maxine just blithely went on. "Come and have coffee with me, darling. We haven't had a good chin-wag in..., well, I guess, ...ever!" Turning toward the elevator, she threw back over her shoulder, "I'll make lattĂŠs... unless you'd rather I brew up a fresh pot. Come on, then." It was more a demand than a request.
Cheryl squeaked, "LattĂŠs would be lovely," figuratively kicking herself for sounding so wimpy, and wondering why, as she stared after Maxine until the elevator doors closed, she, once again, felt so unsettled, as she often did in Maxine's presence.
It seemed clear to Cheryl that she had just received a non-negotiable order.
Maxine and Paul were in their early forties and had been married for thirteen years. They lived in the penthouse suite, many floors above Cheryl and Jeff, in the same condo tower. Cheryl and Jeff were in their late twenties and had been married just three years. Both Paul and Jeff worked in the downtown financial district, and left for work around the same time; indeed, they followed much the same route.
Maxine and Cheryl were both stay-at-home housewives.
Truth was Maxine was Max to all her friends and acquaintances except Cheryl. Cheryl was initially introduced to her as Maxine, and, once she'd started using her full name, Cheryl felt that using the diminutiveâMaxâseemed just a little disrespectful. For some reason, Max never disabused her of that idea; while Cheryl was Cheryl to everyone but Max, who always addressed her Cheriâwith the French inflectionâaccenting the second syllable.
Cheryl flipped through the contents of her mailbox as she took the stairs up to the second floor and dropped the mail on the table just inside her door. She paused a moment in indecision before nipping into the bathroom to put on a bit of make-up. Even as she watched herself in the mirrorâputting on her face, she wondered, "What am I doing? It's just coffee, fer cryin' out loud, with a neighbour. Geez-zuzz!" Still she kept at it. While Cheryl admired Max's easy confidence and worldliness, she was, she realized, rather awed by Max's larger than life personality.
2 - Quickie
Cheryl ascended to the penthouse with a strange feeling of trepidation; still, Maxine greeted her effusively, leading her out onto the expansive deck, overlooking the city, and, amidst a non-stop, stream-of-consciousness welcome, smoothly set out the lattĂŠs and biscottis. Then, Maxine flopped into a chair, and, suddenly silent, studied Cheryl as she looked out at the spectacular view. Somehow, Cheryl could feel Max's eyes boring into her back, and abruptly turned again to face her hostess. Max just smiled, leaning forward to pick up her coffee. "Here," she purred, "Don't let it get cold."
After each had had a sip, Max cast her gaze over the scenery as she began. "Nice to get the boys off to work, eh?" Then turning back to look at Cheryl, "Got plans for today?"
"Erânoânot really. I haven't actually decided yet." She paused, feeling just a little befuddled. "You?"
"Oh, this and that. But I'm so glad we could have this time togetherâbefore the day erupts." Even though Cheryl was getting used to Max's often ribald conversation, she was rather taken aback when Max, squirming a bit in her seat, announced casually that she had just given her husband his morning fuck. "And," she chuckled, "I haven't even had time to clean myself up yet."
Cheryl didn't know how to respond to that; notwithstanding, Maxine ignored her sputtering and just carried on. "At your age, I s'pose, you get drilled at least a couple mornings a week. No?"
Although Cheryl was completely embarrassed by Max's frankness, even more, she was amazed at her own blithe rejoinder. "No. We generally make love in the eveningâto make sure we have enough time."
"I'm sure you could be a lot quicker than you think. Take this morning, for example." Max went on, with a dismissive flick of her wrist. "As I leaned over to push the elevator call button, Paul flipped up my robe and pushed himself into me. He was thrusting hard when the elevator doors opened. Luckily the car was empty." She giggled, as she continued. "Hardly anyone comes this far up. Anyway, still fully inserted, Paul shoved me forward, into it and hit P2. He came just as we started to descend." Shrugging, she concluded, "And we got him cleaned up and tucked in before we reached the parking level."
"Hence, the melting cream pie down below," she laughed, nodding at her own lap, and squirming a bit in the chair.