Dale walked calmly back to the bed and extended an arm, urging Bethany to get up. She did so with a cheerful laugh, then looked sourly at her clothes on the easy chair. "Now
I
don't want to put those clothes on. They seem soâartificial!"
"I know what you mean," Dale said as he picked up his underwear from the floor. "But I don't think I care to eat dinner naked."
So they resigned themselves to being dressed and headed down the stairs.
The couple saw that Lois had returned from what appeared to be an extended shopping trip, as she had dumped many bags and packages on the living-room sofa. She greeted Bethanyâwhom she had known almost as long as Gloria had, although she had met her only sporadicallyâwith enthusiasm. She didn't fail to detect the smell of sex that still clung to her, and she gave a wink to Dale over Bethany's shoulder as she embraced the no longer virginal young woman. She greeted Dale more soberly, and he found it hard not to place his hand on her bottom as he almost always did when they met.
As Gloria ushered the three to their places at the table, she saw that Bethany winced a little when sitting down on her chair. She flashed Dale a piercing look:
What exactly did you do to her, my man?
But he just shrugged with a rather annoying smirk on his face:
She wanted it, so what could I do?
She glared at him, as if saying:
We'll talk about this later.
Out loud she said:
"Bethany, dear, are you all right?"
Still writhing a bit as she tried to get comfortable, the young woman replied: "Sure, Aunt Gloria. Just a littleâsore."
Gloria harrumphed and went back to the kitchen to finish the preparations.
Dinnerâchicken marsala, roasted potatoes, and asparagusâwas fabulous, and was topped off with strawberry shortcake. A light Sauvignon Blanc was the perfect complement to the food. Throughout the meal, Gloria, Lois, and Bethany kept up a steady stream of conversation on all manner of subjects, but especially on Bethanyâher college career, her recent European trip, and much else. Dale, who realized with a shiver that he had been intimate with all three womenâso different in appearance, bearing, and temperament, and yet so fundamentally similar in the essence of their womanhoodâdid not at all feel like some kind of pasha lording it over his harem; instead, he felt almost left out of the proceedings, as if he were a male escort who, having performed what he had been summoned to do, was now an irrelevancy amidst the bonding that was going on moment by moment among these females.
But in the course of the dinner, in which he was much more of a spectator than a participant, he came to grasp how different Bethany was from her peers. Aside from her absurd and now outmoded devotion to virginity, she was showing herself to be a self-assured, intensely serious, and clear-eyed young woman. The only thing that bothered him was that she seemed a bit humorless, having a little difficulty grasping the frequent cynical or parodic comments emanating from Gloria's lips. Maybe that was just a vestigial token of her youth.
They had an after-dinner liqueur, after which Gloria made a surprising announcement.
"Bethany, I think it's time for you to go home."
Bethany herself didn't seem at all taken aback by the sudden command. She merely nodded quietly and made sure to gather up her purse and whatever other things she had brought along.
"Gloria!" Dale whispered to Gloria. "That doesn't seem very nice! I thought we mightâ"
"Have another session?" Gloria said pungently. "I don't think so. She's been through a lot, and she needs some time alone to process what's happened. You can see her again in a day or two if you like."
Dale scowled resentfully, but didn't protest further. He went up to Bethany as she hesitated at the door, wrapped her in his arms, and said in her ear:
"This has been really meaningful to me."
"It has to me too," she said fervently.
"Can I see you againâmaybe on Monday?"
"That would be great!"
"Maybe I can take you to dinner, then we can go to my house."
"Sounds wonderful."
They quickly exchanged cell phone numbers. Then they kissed for what seemed like minutes. Bethany pulled herself grudgingly away and left the house.
As Dale and Gloria were cuddling in bed that night, she said:
"I hope you weren't rough with her. She's a delicate little thing, by the look of her."
Dale chortled. "I did nothing of the kind. And she
isn't
a weaklingâshe's quite strong, in fact. Strong in body and strong in mind."
"But where do you get off doing rear entry on her? She's like a freshman in high school as far as sex is concernedâand here you are, inflicting graduate-level work on her!"
"She wanted it!" Dale exclaimed. "I didn't force her."
"I'm sure you didn't."
"And she liked it."
"Okay, okay, I'll take your word for it."