The days which followed the big Valentine's Day Ball had both Tom and I walking on Cloud 9. We cuddled and giggled together like we were a much younger couple. It proved yet again that a little communication and experimentation can go a very long way to bringing a marriage closer together.
Speaking of married couples, I started making a point of getting in a morning walk consisting of a lap or two around the neighborhood nearly every day. The dog and I benefited from the regular exercise, yes. However, I was curious if my aspiring protΓ©gΓ© Tara would make an appearance. I had not heard from her since the day before Valentine's Day, when we texted a selfie to Dwayne and suggested we could both join him for a fun filled evening.
Of course, Dwayne raised no objections to the text I sent or its associated picture. I put Tara in direct contact with Dwayne so they could sort out whatever details they deemed appropriate. While I had agreed to 'chaperone' (or whatever) Tara to her big night with Dwayne, I hoped Tara would otherwise keep my name out of it. If any of this went sideways with her husband, I held out hope that it would not turn into some larger neighborhood drama. Or that I would not get dragged into it, at least. I let things proceed at their own pace and tended my own garden for a while. I also maintained the morning dog walks, just in case Tara saw me and wanted an in-person chat.
The only indication I had that things were progressing at all was when Dwayne texted to inform me the newlyweds had opted for the 'souvenir package.' This meant they wanted a video of Tara's upcoming encounter with Dwayne. As agreed, I would be present at the event and assist with filming.
I made plans to go to Dwayne's house one day after work and learn the basics. When I arrived, instead of going upstairs, he showed me down a flight of stairs from the main floor. We headed to his recording studio. I knew he had built up a small business over the years, recording music for local aspiring artists and filming the occasional music video. I was expecting a couple of shelves with audio/visual equipment in an otherwise typical unfinished basement. Instead, I was surprised to find a fully finished basement, customized to purpose for his business. There was comfortable furniture, a purpose-built sound booth with setups for multiple microphones and that funny shaped wall covering, presumably to reduce echoes or whatever a sound booth needed. I'm no expert. Adjacent to the sound booth was a room with computers and some panels which I assumed were gadgets for recording and mixing music. It all looked very professional. We walked around all that to a locked room where we encountered something more along the lines of what I was expecting. Here he stored video recorders of different sizes, cameras, lighting stands, and various other gadgets of the trade I could not identify if asked.
Dwayne pulled one such video recorder off a shelf. I'm going to call it a medium sized one. It had a visible padded microphone attached, a lens, preview screen, yadda, yadda. We powered it up and he walked me through the basics of using it. When I started to look bewildered with the instructions, Dwayne back peddled and explained he could fix a lot of things in post-production. My main goal was to make sure the device was recording and pointed in the right direction.
Speaking of pointing the camera in the right direction, Dwayne then ran me through what would be some of the key moments in the evening, where to stand, and how close or far back I should be to get the right views. If we had not been discussing filming what was basically a pornography video, it would have all seemed a semi-professional conversation. It was nice. I felt like our relationship was maturing. But it was still fundamentally a porn shoot discussion. Ultimately, I was in and out of his house in a little under an hour, and without having even taken my clothes off. I was simultaneously a little surprised and disappointed, but still a little proud of myself for having a friendly non-sexual visit with Dwayne. Tom shared my combination of surprise and disappointment at the uneventful visit when I got home. But the big day was just around the corner.
...
On an unremarkable Sunday afternoon I put down a book I was reading while lounging on the couch to check a pair of text alerts on my personal phone. Dwayne and Tara had each texted me separately but within minutes of each other, confirming they had settled on a date for Tara's playtime with Dwayne. They wanted to do it the following Sunday. Dwayne's text was more practical, suggesting the date and asking if I was available. Tara's was decidedly more exuberant.
Rather than asking if I was available, she was gushing her excitement which she accented with a ridiculous number of emojis. It was a nice change of pace to have some thoughtful notice for once. It gave me an opportunity to check my schedule and govern my life like a rational adult. I thumbed over to my calendar app and saw the day appeared to be open.
"Hey, hun?", I asked, still looking at my phone.
"Yeah?" Tom replied, looking over his own book from his spot on a recliner.
"Can you think of anything we might have going on next Sunday that wouldn't be on our calendar?" I asked.
"Mmm. Nope."
"Mind if I take the day to be out of the house?"
Tom raised an eyebrow over his book. "No, I suppose I don't." I think his book was hiding a smirk.
"Super. I'm blocking out the time," I said, adding it to my calendar. "I'll let you know when I'm on my way home."
"That would be lovely," he responded, returning his attention to his book.
I texted both back letting Tara and Dwayne know I was available and looking forward to next Sunday. Then I silenced my phone and resumed reading my book.
See? We're cute.
...
On Tara's big day I agreed to drive us both over to Dwayne's place. She asked me to park in her garage, so no one in the neighborhood would see her. Tim was out, so his garage bay would be empty. When I pulled in, the garage door closed behind me and Tara emerged from the door to the interior of the house. She climbed into my car wearing a grey trench coat and sunglasses. It was a laughable combination that told anybody who saw her, that she was trying hard to be incognito. I could not tell if she honestly thought she was in disguise or if she was being ironic. Otherwise, she was wearing her hair in a French braid, white hosiery and matching white heels were sticking out of the bottom of her coat.
"Let me guess. Bridal lingerie?" I asked.
"Yup! Same ones!" she beamed.
"The actual set you wore on your wedding night?"
"Garter belt and all," she confirmed.
I suppose it tracked. They were only a few years into their marriage after all. I spared a thought for how long I had my own bridal lingerie. I honestly could not recall when I got rid of it. As for me, I kept it simple for my videography role. I put my hair up in a basic ponytail, to make sure my hair stayed out of the camera frame. I was in a basic t-shirt under an open, green and blue flannel shirt. It is March at this point, but it is still chilly out. I rolled up the sleeves because it seemed to fit the camera girl image. Green yoga pants and running sneakers rounded out my outfit. I had a matching silky pink bra and panty set underneath it all. However, this was only because I had recently starting buying these things for myself, and phasing out my collection of well-worn underwear and utility bras.
Part of me was tempted to joke around with Tara about her wedding night lingerie set, but we really were not quite close enough to tease each other and she was doing her best to hide the fact that she was nervous as hell. Everybody should know better than to tease a nervous woman about her choice of outfits.
"You look great!" I assured her. "Ready?"
"Yup," she nodded and clicked a garage door remote from inside her pocket.