Playing the Part

1. All characters engaging in sexual activity are 18+

2. No characters resemble real people

3. Enjoy the Fiction

4. Special Note: Love is love - be an ally

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CHAPTER 4

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In the morning, I wriggled myself out from under a sleeping Serena to call off from work. I intended to spend the whole day, the whole weekend, with Serena.

We had agreed to not label ourselves as 'in a relationship', but it was hard not to think of her as my girlfriend. I also called my parents and set up dinner with them on Sunday night. I told them I was bringing a 'friend' from the show. At least that was a label that was safe to use.

When I returned to the bedroom, Serena was laying there looking at her own cell phone. "I got more texts from Frank last night."

"Is he still hounding you to come back to the city?" I asked, sitting on the bed next to her, still in my boxers.

"No, this time he's asking about the guy he met yesterday. Pretty sure he means you." She sighed, and said, "he's asking if you're my boyfriend."

"It is hard to define us in a single word, isn't it?"

She looked me over. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing yet."

I asked a question I'd been pondering for a few days, since I last talked to Eric. "Don't take this the wrong way, but have you... have you done this kind of thing before?" I gestured between us, trying not to say the word 'relationship' out loud.

She hesitated, but did answer. "A couple of times, kind of. Back in the city, I was doing eight shows a week. I didn't have time for dates. So sometimes I found a guy in the show who also had no time, and we'd have sex to blow off steam." She shrugged. "Hence the condom thing. I always make sure guys are wrapped up. I can't afford to catch something."

I frowned, and she noticed. "But it's different here, with you. You and I have fun, and not just in the bedroom." Then she put her hand on my cheek, and said, "And trust me, you're better in bed than they were."

"You're just trying to make me feel better."

"No, I'm not, it's the truth," she insisted. "I think it's partly the fact that we have other things in common, and we have that trust, that makes the sex better. But also," she looked down at my crotch, "I think you're bigger."

That made me smile. "Well I haven't had any complaints yet."

"That's the spirit," she said, yanking on my boxers. "Now let me show you just how appreciative I am."

Serena gave me a lovely blowjob, and then I took her into the bathroom and fingered her to an orgasm in the shower. I'd rate it as a pretty great way to start the morning.

Over a quick breakfast, she asked what I wanted to do today. It was Friday, so we had no rehearsal today or tomorrow. But tech week was starting Monday, so this was our last weekend of freedom before the show opened next Friday.

"Have you ever been canoeing?" I asked, and she shook her head. "There's a lake about 30 minutes away. The weather should be nice, so the lake water should be calm."

"How hard is it? I don't want to fall in."

"Not too hard. We'll get some rental canoes out there, they're pretty hard to flip."

She nodded. "Okay, I'm sold. What should we bring?"

I helped her gather a few things, and told her to grab a swimsuit. She left and came back in lightweight shorts and a t-shirt, which she lifted briefly to flash me the pink top of a bikini. I grinned and kissed her, but she stopped me and told me, "Later. Let's get to the lake first." Then I drove us both to my house so I could change into a T-shirt and trunks. I also packed a small picnic lunch for us to enjoy later.

The lake was west of Pendleton a few miles, mostly surrounded by woods. Had it been closer to town, I was sure that people would want houses there, but there weren't any houses in sight. The only building was a rental shack with restrooms around the back. The guy in the window of the shack waved at me. "Hey, Pat!" he called out.

"Hey Jeff," I responded. Then I told Serena under my breath, "For him, you're my girlfriend." She quickly nodded.

"Who's this lovely lady?" He grinned at Serena.

"This is Serena, she's my girlfriend."

Jeff flexed his arms a bit. "Well Serena, if you ever get tired of Pat, give me a call. I'll show you a good time."

Serena gripped my arm playfully and smiled. "I'm pretty happy right now, but if I change my mind, I know where to find you."

I paid Jeff for a two-person rental canoe, and we dragged it off away from the shack. "What's up with Jeff?" Serena asked.

"He's that guy who was the king in high school. Big-time popular jock. But he never went to college. Now he works here," I told her. "You know, reliving the old high school glory days. And," I pointed back at the shack, "being a general pig."

Serena looked where I was pointing. A trio of teen girls, probably around 17, had just arrived after us, and Jeff was flexing his muscles at them. Being easily ten years younger than he, they clearly weren't interested, and walked away from him and towards us. I recognized one of them as Jen, my friend, the 18-year-old cashier from the store.

We got our canoe into the water and got aboard. Serena was sure she'd flip us, but the canoe was pretty wide and was resistant to that. We paddled around the lake very casually. Serena enjoyed the quiet that was only disturbed by our paddles, and by the girls idly chattering in their own canoes on the other side of the lake.

I had given Serena the front seat, so I could sit in the back. At one point, we were facing away from the shack and the other girls, when I heard water paddling behind us. I rolled my eyes, mentally preparing to deal with Jeff again. But when I turned around, it was the girls paddling towards us.

"We've got company," I said to Serena, who turned around to see our visitors.

"Hi. Are you Serena?" asked the smallest of the three girls. She had brown hair, almost red in the sun, and a little freckling on her nose and cheeks. Another brunette was paddling up beside her, and I thought they might be sisters. Raven-haired Jen was pulling up just behind the first two.

"Yes. Hi," Serena offered a polite smile. I wondered if she was annoyed at the disturbance to our solitude, but she didn't look it.

"I'm Hannah. People said you were from the city, and I wondered if I could ask you about living there."

Serena's smile widened. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

The girls asked Serena all kinds of questions. They didn't know anyone their age who'd lived in the city, so I guessed it was natural to be curious and, with Serena available, they had someone to ask. I didn't chime into their conversation much, but I learned that Hannah was 17 and her sister, Heather, had just graduated with Jen. Jen seemed mostly content to stay in Pendleton, but the other two were aiming at college and lives elsewhere. Hannah had been in a few theater shows when she was younger, and was also interested in Serena's career.

When the topic turned to boys in the city, Serena laughed. "You don't have boys here?" she asked.

"Well obviously we do, but some of them are..." Heather trailed off, then looked at the shore. We all turned to look at Jeff in his rental shack.

"Douchebags?" I offered. It was the first word I'd offered in the conversation, and it made all of us chuckle.

I continued watching him and listened to Serena say, "Well yes, some guys in the city are like that too. But there's a few good ones there, and I'm sure there's a few nice ones here too." I looked away from the shore and found Serena looking at me. I may have blushed a little. The girls were all looking at me too. I caught Jen giving me a sly, knowing smile.

"Speaking of nice guys," I said, breaking the silent moment, "I've brought a few sandwiches in my bag. Would you ladies like to join us for lunch?"

It seemed they were all hungry. We paddled off to the shore, away from the rental shack, and docked our canoes on the ground. The girls had brought some food too, so we split up and shared among the five of us. They didn't ask too much about Serena and I, thankfully, but I felt the tension like they wanted to. After all, it was juicy gossip back in town - the eligible bachelor and the cute blonde stranger. But we did talk about the show, and all three promised to come and bring their friends and families.

After lunch, we returned the canoes. I watched Heather and Hannah walk to their car, but Jen stayed behind for a second. She caught my arm, steering me away from other ears. "Remember how you owe me one?" she whispered.

"Sure," I recalled how she didn't announce to the town that Serena and I were having sex.

"I..." she stopped, looked down, then started again, "I think I'm in love with my friend."

I smiled. "That's good, right? Have you told him?"

"Not him," she said, then was silent.

I got the implication. "Oh. Is it...?" I left off the last word, and just gestured at the car where the other girls were waiting.

"Yeah. Heather. She's so great, and I... I don't know what to do."

"That's a tough one," I told her. "My friend came out back in high school, and I remember people around here not being completely receptive. Maybe things have changed in the last few years, but I doubt it. But I'm glad you talked to me. I can be your ally."

Jen gave a small smile. I saw Serena nearby, watching the two of us, but she didn't come closer. Then we heard honking from the girls' car in the lot, indicating they were waiting for her.

Before Jen left, I told her, "Give me your phone." She did, and I tapped out a note for her. "Here's my email, here's my friend Eric's email. You should talk to him, he's been through it himself," I told her, leaving the implication open. "I'm sure he can give you better advice than I can. But my advice is to be honest and tell Heather. Otherwise, it will eat you up inside."

Jen nodded. "Okay. Thanks Pat." Then she jogged back to Heather's car, and I watched them start the drive back to town.

Serena stepped up beside me. "What was that about?"

"Nothing, just helping a friend," I told her. She raised her eyebrow at me. "I'll tell you later," I assured her.

Serena, meanwhile, stripped off her t-shirt to show her swimsuit top. "I feel like a swim," she announced to me.

"You're not supposed to swim right after eating, but I feel like joining you," I responded, and stripped off my own t-shirt.

We left our bags and our clothes some distance away from the rental shack, but I knew Jeff was watching Serena as she left her shorts behind and started wading in the lake water in her pink bikini. The water was clean and clear here, unlike some other lakes in the area. I joined her, and once we were both waist-deep, she wrapped me in her arms. She had a funny smile on her face. "What?" I asked.

"It's been a while since I've had good girl talk," she related to me.

"Not just girl talk," I pointed out. "I think there was a little bit of hero worship in there."

"Hero? I'm not a hero."

"To them you are. You're older, more experienced, you've had adventures in the city. They were looking up to you."

She shrugged. "I don't really feel like a role model. I'm just an actress."

"A damn good actress."

She grinned. "Aw shucks. You know just how to sweet talk a girl." She gave me a quick peck, then dashed away from me with a splash. I chased her deeper into the water, while she continued to splash me. I swam after her, chasing her down. I did finally catch her again, after a few minutes, but I suspect she let me. I grabbed her and pulled her in for a longer kiss. We floated together there for a minute, tasting each other's mouths, wrapped in each other's embrace.

"Hey, get a room!" we heard from the shore. We both turned to see Jeff doing an inappropriate dance move.

"Maybe we should take this party back home," I suggested.

Serena's hand rubbed my chest below the water's surface. "Let's go. Anywhere that Jeff is not."

After we dried off and redressed, we got back in the car for the drive back. Serena fished her phone out of her bag, and started typing on it.

I got curious. "What are you doing?"

"Texting Frank. Answering his question from this morning."

"And?"

"Just like you said about Jeff earlier: to him, you're my boyfriend." She looked at me. "Anything else, we'll figure it out along the way."

I nodded with a smile. "Okay."

I took Serena back to her house, where we dropped all our stuff on the floor. She took my hand, leading me to the bathroom. "I need to rinse off the lake water, and you're going to join me," she told me. We did that. It was a most pleasurable experience, which we continued in the bedroom shortly after.

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After our sexual romp, my stomach gurgled fiercely, regarding the calories we'd just expended. It was loud enough to make Serena laugh. "Take me somewhere new," she said.

So we dressed and went to Chang's, the best Chinese restaurant in town. Also, it was the only Chinese restaurant in town. The Chang family were among the few Asians in Pendleton, but they were known for their good food. I waved at Penny Chang, Mr. Chang's daughter, as she was an acquaintance from high school, two years younger than me. She brought a pot of green tea with her to the table.

"Hi Pat, tea?" she said with her usual smile.

"Yes please," I answered. "Serena?"

"Sure, and a water, please," she answered. Penny poured a second cup, then ran off to get water and menus. "Another friend?"

I watched as Penny yelled in Mandarin Chinese to her father in the kitchen. "Penny was two years behind me in high school. She's been in a couple shows at the theater, but she mostly just works here with her parents and brother." I pointed out Penny's brother cleaning a table on the other side of the restaurant. Her mother was at the register, ringing someone out. "It's a great little family-run place."

Serena looked around at the restaurant, which was about two-thirds full. "Looks like business is good." As usual, several of the other customers were glancing at us, interested in the beautiful new girl with the ordinary guy.

When Penny returned, she asked, "You want your usual, Pat? Pork lo mein?"

"Yes please, and an order of spring rolls, too."

Penny turned to Serena, "And what would you like?"

Then something happened I completely didn't expect. Serena spoke, but it wasn't words I understood. I thought maybe my brain was broken. It took a few seconds to realize she was speaking Mandarin. Penny's eyes bulged out of her sockets, and she responded in kind with a huge smile. The two of them spoke with each other for a few seconds, then Penny switched back to English. "Okay, coming right up." The trotted off, speaking Mandarin with her father in the back.

My jaw was hung open. Serena was grinning like a proud cat. I asked, "Where did you learn Mandarin?"

"The city of course. I'm not very good, not fluent, but I know enough."

"But... what?"

"Remember, I do a lot of shows. Sometimes after, we'll go to the local Chinese place to unwind. They're not busy late at night, so they sometimes will teach us the language, or cook us an authentic dish that's not on the normal menu."

I was still stunned. "So what did you order?"

She giggled. "I really just ordered General Tso's chicken. It just sounds more impressive in Chinese."

The rest of dinner, Serena taught me a few phrases in Mandarin, and I practiced them with Penny and her little brother Yen, who thought it was all rather amusing. Penny and Yen were both born in the US, and been through school here, so they were fluent English speakers. But their parents were immigrants from China, and spoke broken English at best. I learned that that Penny's actual birth name was Ping-li, but it was so much easier for her to use her Americanized name.

It was a pretty great feeling. I thought I'd known most everyone in town fairly well. Probably everyone thinks that. But it took Serena's presence in town for me to realize that I can always learn more, and now I had closer friends in Penny and Yen because of that.

----

After dinner, I took her back to my house. I spotted my laptop and got an idea, and told Serena, who quickly nodded.

I started a video call with Eric, but then stepped away from the camera. When Eric answered, all he saw was Serena sitting on the couch. "AHH! It's you!" he squealed.

"Hi Eric," Serena smiled. "How are you?"

"Um, amazing. I can't believe I'm talking to Serena Walters. Pat, I know you're there, maybe a little warning next time?"

I couldn't help but laugh, and sat down on the couch with Serena. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I knew you'd get worked up."

"Patrick's told me about you. He said you're coming for the show next weekend," said Serena.

"Of course I'm coming. I wouldn't miss it." Then Eric looked at me, "Does she call you Patrick?"

I shrugged. "I like it."

"I like it too. But good luck getting the rest of the town to stop calling you Pat," he pointed out.

I shrugged again, and Serena changed the subject. "Eric, can you tell me embarrassing stories about Patrick here?"

I jerked my hand forward to end the call, but Serena quickly caught my wrist mid-air. "Embarrassing stories you say?" said Eric with an evil smile.

"Please don't," I warned him, wincing at what he might say.

"Did you know our Patrick was a back-to-back champion mathlete?"

That wasn't so bad. "I'm actually proud of that one," I informed them both.

"Our senior year, the baseball team was playing for the conference championship, and Patrick struck out, losing the game."

Serena gave me a sympathy look. "At least you made it that far."

"That's what I said too," I nodded. "They used to call me Pat the Bat, by the way."

"Patrick once streaked at the football game!" Eric blurted out.

I winced again, and Serena burst out laughing. That was what I was waiting for him to say. "Someone bet me $500 I wouldn't do it," I explained. "I couldn't pass up on that."

"I didn't know you were an exhibitionist!" said Serena.

Eric continued, "Then he used the money to buy a gift for K... for his girlfriend." He looked awkwardly between us.

Serena gave a kind smile for both of us. "It's okay, Eric. Patrick told me about Kelly."

Eric was visibly relieved. "Just didn't want to be the one to bring it up."

We chatted for a few more minutes, before Serena whispered into my ear. "I think we have to go, Eric," I told him. "Early morning rehearsals, you know."

"What? You don't have rehearsals on Saturdays."

"Bye, Eric." Serena told him, moving to hang up the call.

"Bye Serena, bye 'Patrick'," he said, emphasizing my name with sarcasm, before Serena hung up on him.

I stood up, and Serena jumped on my back, arms wrapped around my shoulders. I carried her piggy-back up the stairs. She was giggling happily the whole time.

When we got to the bedroom, she hopped down and walked to the bed. "Show me these streaking moves I've heard about."

I grinned at the memory. I went into the hall, and slipped off my shirt while telling the story. "So I was at the game with a few other guy friends, my senior year. I don't really like football, so I was there to support Kelly, who was cheerleading." I took off my pants. "Five of those guys each paid me $100 to run the field naked." I slipped down my boxers, and piled up my clothes on the floor. "It was a cold night, so I had a facemask to wear with my coat. So I took off everything but the mask, and ran onto the field!" I ran into the room, completely nude, and Serena burst out laughing watching me. I made a show of running across the room, around the bed, and back to the doorway. She was crying, she was lauging so hard.

It took a minute for Serena to get composed, while I stood there watching her, wearing nothing but my award-winning smile. "Did you get arrested or something?" she finally asked.