Doug will never see Miley or Paris again. Or will he? There's something odd about that invitation... In the meantime there is the issue of a woman he's dating and her daughter. Something about the girl reminds him of Miley.
*****
Chapter 8
A mother-daughter conundrum and a mysterious invitation appears.
I woke up ahead of her Saturday morning, and caressed a breast.
"Mmm. What? Stop that. It's morning. That's for night."
I sighed inwardly. At one time I would have been thrilled just to wake up in a woman's bed, but Miley, Paris and the others had spoiled me. Not that I expected to keep up anything close to the pace those females set. Yet, Renee wasn't Miley. She wasn't Paris. She was...Renee.
Renee is a perfectly lovely woman, but has one overriding hang-up when it comes to sex. She only wants it in the dark. In bed. No mornings, afternoons or evenings. Not anywhere but in bed, under the covers.
I can't understand why she is like that. She has imaginary body issues and doesn't want to be seen naked, yet has a body that many women would envy, even at forty-three. Under the covers she is moderately adventurous, but once she comes she is done for the night.
I met Renee a year ago, shortly after saying goodbye to Paris and Miley at the airport. She lives in the neighborhood and we met at a neighborhood block party. We found it easy to talk to each other, and went out a few times. She is divorced with one grown daughter, who was a senior at Duke when I first met her. The girl had a partial scholarship, and Renee's ex paid the rest of the bill. That was part of their settlement agreement. I met her daughter, Mandy, a couple of times, and liked her well enough. She thought I'm just what her mother needs. At this time I'm not altogether sure that Renee is what I need, but she is so darn likeable. Renee was one of the first to spend the night in my bedroom after Paris and Miley left.
We got up and she fixed breakfast. She talked about going to see Mandy that evening, and was very excited to see her and make plans for Mandy's graduation. It appeared that Mandy would be coming home to stay until she found a job. That had the potential to put a bit of a damper on things between me and Renee. Then there was the fact that Mandy was a knockout, breathtakingly beautiful. I considered that as another potential problem, because she didn't have a boyfriend and she was nearly the age Selena and Miley were when I first got involved with them.
When I got home later that day I sat at the kitchen table and thought about things. There was Renee - good looking, pleasant to be around and still active sexually, even though it was only under the covers at night. Oh, and she insists on condoms. She actually likes to shoot pool in my basement, but there is no question of 'strip pool' or playing for some erotic penalties. She has a sense of humor and is fun at neighborhood parties. I'm just not sure I want to spend the rest of my life with her.
Then there was Sal. Outdoorsy Sal. We went to the beach together several times and she has spent several nights with me. Sal is thirty nine and has never been married. She has been coming on to me pretty strong, but I think she is driven by her biological clock to have children before it's too late. Sal is one of those women I could envision as writing personal ads saying she was looking for someone to walk in the rain or something like that. She likes being close - holding hands, kissing, sex, and the sex is pretty good. She likes it when I caress her body. She is small of stature and trim of figure with an athletic build. I enjoy everything about her body.
Sal likes to go camping, and that's all right but not my favorite thing. Although I've got to say that sex in a tent in the woods is pretty cool.
That evening I met Tom and Chris at the hotel to watch basketball playoffs. During a break Chris went to the bar to get more libations for us and Tom kiddingly asked "Have you heard anything from your harem?"
I knew what he was talking about. "No, I think I've seen the last of them. It was fun while it lasted, though. They've helped me start a new chapter in my life."
"Oh, you mean Renee and that other one."
"Sal."
"Yeah Sal. They're a start for you."
"I don't think either one is a long term prospect."
"Is that for real, or are you just comparing them to Paris?"
I sighed. "Paris helped open my eyes to the world, and it is hard not to compare other women to her. In a way I wish she was more...normal. But, it is who she really is inside that I have come to like."
"You mean love?"
"Come on, Tom. Can you imagine her living here? I certainly can't imagine myself flitting about with the jet set. That's not my style. The crowds and photographers would drive me nuts."
Tom laughed. "Maybe so. But Chris sure has been moping around since they left. I mean, girls still fall all over him, but he's not satisfied with ordinary. I bet he wouldn't mind hob-nobbing with the jet set. There would be a whole new universe of girls to choose from."
I laughed. "I can imagine him working for Miley. She'd keep him busy enough."
He became serious. "I've got to thank Paris and Miley, too. Susan and I were getting a bit...stale. But Chris divulged enough about what went on with them that it has sparked Susan and me to fan the fire again. I wish you would give some more details so we could try out some other things."
"Okay. Here is a detail."
He raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"Get a hot tub. There's s whole lot of stuff you can do in a hot tub. Use your imagination."
He laughed. "You know, we've discussed just such a thing. I think we'll start looking into it more carefully."
Chris returned with our drinks. "While I waited at the bar the TV on the other side of the room had on some sort of advertisement. Selena is going to perform at one of those interminable awards shows. She promises some surprises. What do you suppose that means?"
"Hmm. I will guess that she'll do one of those hits from the album that came out of our Paris week. I'm guessing 'Butterfly', but it could be 'Strong', or 'Be Me.' Those are the most likely ones she'll do, I think. The others aren't quite the same quality. I wonder if she'll use that platform to perform them in a new way, something a little daring."
"I'll sure be watching. She's already started doing her hair in a more sexy way. It makes her look a little older." He laughed "And it was sure interesting how she very publicly told Bieber to stuff it when he came nosing around again."
A month or so later I received a rather strange invitation in the mail. The first thing strange was that it came by snail mail rather than email. I don't get much snail mail except for junk and bills. The second strange thing is there was no return address on the outside of the envelope. The third strange thing was the contents. It was an invitation to a charity masquerade ball in New York. There was a card to return with only 'Attend' or 'Not Attend' as response choices. Below the response choices was a short note cryptically stating that details would be forthcoming if the invitation was accepted. The return address on the response card was some place on Park Avenue in New York.
I thought about that for a few days, and talked it over with Tom. He had no ideas. The whole secretive nature of it made me think of Miley and how she would be capable of something like that. But if it was her idea, why didn't she contact me directly? It also was odd that if it was from Miley, why didn't Chris get one, too? I did some research on the address the original response card was sent to and found it to belong to a legitimate non-profit. Further research turned up no obvious involvement in the organization by either Miley or Paris
I finally decided what the hell and sent it back accepting the invitation. I could always bail later if necessary.
Two weeks later I received another mailing. This one gave the date and location. I wasn't all that familiar with New York venues, but everyone has heard of the Waldorf Astoria. Very posh. Very expensive. I immediately began to have second thoughts. I couldn't afford to stay there - if I was correct about the hotel then rooms would have to run something like eight hundred to a thousand a night. There was nothing to respond to with this second mailing,
Yet a third letter came a few days later. It still kept everything a mystery but indicated that all ball participants were required to wear a costume. The wording implied that the costumes would generally include masks. This began to sound like something out of an eighteenth century novel. I was informed in the letter not to worry, that I would have a costume waiting for me and, as a special invitee, all expenses would be paid.
I shared all this information with Tom and Susan and they were as baffled as me. When I wavered about attending they encouraged me to do it.
The closer the date came the more nervous I got.
In the meantime I had to handle the Sal - Renee situation. I had always been honest with them, so they each knew I was dating others.
Sal wanted to go on a Caribbean cruise, but the dates she was available conflicted with this charity ball thing in New York. I had to decline, but left it open that a future date might work. We continued to see each other sporadically. She backed off somewhat from her come-ons.
When Mandy came home after graduation to stay with Renee I knew right from the start that there would be relationship problems. While I had met Mandy a couple of times before, it was only briefly each time. Since she was staying at home that meant I saw more of her, in several ways. I saw her more often, and she tended to sunbathe in the back yard wearing clothing Miley would have been proud of. Did I mention she was a knockout? More than once I caught her flirting with me.
The solution to me was to hook her up with Chris, who was only two years older than her. He acted his usual cool self, but was obviously attracted to her and she seemed somewhat interested in him. Problem solved.
Of course, nothing is that easy. She continued to flirt with me even in the presence of her mother. If anything, it was worse. I had to put a stop to that.
One afternoon I came over to help Renee repair a broken door hinge. When I was finished we sat at the kitchen table drinking a beer. I took a deep breath and decided to take the bull by the horns. "Renee, there's something I need to discuss with you."
She covered her mouth with her hands as if waiting for bad news. She always seemed to be expecting bad news.
"I don't know exactly how to bring this up, so here it is head on. I like Mandy. She is a beautiful girl. But I get a feeling when I'm around her that, maybe it's my imagination, but I get the feeling she is flirting with me. Please know I do not flirt back."
She relaxed her hands and put them on the table and stared at them for a moment before responding. "I know."
"You know? Can't you put a stop to it?"
She took a deep breath and continued slowly still looking at her hands on the table. "I have noticed it. And you know what? I am relieved to see it."
"Huh?"
Renee scooted her chair closer to mine to talk softly. I don't know why, as Mandy wasn't home at the time. "Let me explain. You may have noticed that Mandy doesn't have a boyfriend. She never has, even though she is, as you say, beautiful. She's had a couple of guy pals, but not to date or anything. She's always just hung around with her group of girls. I am afraid she is...you know."
"A lesbian?"
"I hate that word. But yeah. That's why I was glad to see her taking an interest in a man."
"But you're her mother and I'm going out with you."
"Doug, I know you think I'm repressed or something. I admit I have my hang-ups. But..."
I waited for her to continue, and she obviously wrestled with something. She laid a hand on my arm. "I couldn't stand it if she was...queer. I need to know she's not. I need to know I haven't driven her to it. That's why I haven't said anything." She took a breath and continued "I've heard things about you from various neighbors. That you went to Paris for a week with some famous women, although nobody seems to know who they were other than maybe Paris Hilton. I guess I'm curious about it, but don't want to pry into your life. I don't have any claim on you."
"Yeah, I did. You would probably know the names of most of the others. Chris went, too."
