It was about three weeks before the Fall Semester was to begin. Crystal was over at Darrell's, and Darrell received a phone call. It was Katherine. She was calling to tell Darrell that she would be taking the semester off. Her grandmother was seriously ill and likely to pass, and Katherine wanted to be there for her. Darrell had rarely talked with Katherine over the summer because she had mostly been out on the reservation. She did not have time to talk much right then but promised to call soon when she had a couple of hours to talk. She had a lot to tell him. Regardless, she would likely be back for the spring semester.
"Was that Katherine," asked Crystal when he got off the phone.
"Yeah. She was calling to say she wouldn't be back for this semester. Her grandmother is sick--like terminally."
"That sucks; she must have gotten close to her over the summer."
"Sounds like it."
"Is she coming back at all?"
"She said she would likely be back for the spring semester."
"Good."
Crystal was sorry for Katherine's grandmother but had an unexpectedly hard time being sorry that Katherine was not coming back in a few weeks. She had been anxious about Katherine's return, and now her relief told her why. She had grown used to having Darrell to herself and was starting to see Katherine as competition.
Now understanding her feelings for Katherine, she asked, "How do you feel about her not coming back?"
"I was looking forward to talking with her, the three of us having sex together again, and trying some new things."
"Yes. I must admit I was looking forward to the sex. It was just fun with the three of us. How does her not coming back affect us?"
Darrell thought about this for a minute, then said, "Well, I think with it just being the two of us, things are less complicated."
For Crystal, his response was not very helpful, but it was something, and she didn't want to press it.
Darrell said, "I need to run into town and get my paycheck and work schedule for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, they need me a bunch. It would be good to pocket some extra money before school starts. I think I will walk down. You want to come."
"No. I'll hang here if that is okay with you." She wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a while.
"Okay. I'll probably be an hour or two."
"I'll be here."
Crystal sat on the couch, realizing that she was feeling melancholy for some reason. She wanted to figure out why. Meredith was outside, repotting some plants in the nude. Crystal thought--good for her. Conversations with Meredith had always been comfortable even with difficult topics, like sex, and they helped her get to her feelings before. Darrell said that was because she was a psychologist, after all. She thought, maybe I should see if I can get a free session.
Crystal walked outside and over to Meredith, deciding that not mentioning her nudity was the best way to normalize it for her. Crystal was always naked in the yard, and if Meredith was also starting to feel that being naked was the normal way to be, it was a big plus.
"Hi, Meredith."
"Hey, Crystal. How is your day."
"Well. Darrell and I just received some interesting news. Katherine is not coming back this semester. Her grandmother is quite sick, apparently."
There was a long pause, and Crystal was worried that their conversation would stall when Meredith said, "How do you guys feel about that?"
"Disappointed that there won't be another threesome anytime soon. That was fun, and we were looking forward to more of those experiences. Darrell said he was looking forward to talking with her about her summer, I assume. To be honest, though, I'm not sure how I feel."
"How so?" asked Meredith.
"I think I'm happy she is not coming back, and I feel guilty about that--I guess."
"How are things between you and Darrell?"
"About the same. Things would be really good except for he is still belittling me once in a while. He treats me like I'm incompetent because I'm a woman. Not often, but often enough. I don't know if I should thank you or curse you for pointing out to me what he was doing. At least we are not fighting about it as often."
"Can you give me an example?"
"Just this last weekend, we were hiking. I told him I thought we should go up and over a rocky area. It seemed obvious to me that was a better way. But he insisted on going down below it and made it sound like my idea was silly. Well, the vegetation below the rocks was so thick we had to turn back and go my way. His mood was sour the rest of the hike, which put me in a bad mood, too."
"If it wasn't for those moments, how would you feel about him?"
"We like each other a lot."
Meredith thought, She is still not willing to admit she is in love with him, or she does not know it. She said, "That's very disappointing. I was hoping that when you let me have him for the evening, I could help persuade him to drop some of that macho crap. It seemed like it worked but maybe just with me. I'm disappointed that he is not much better around you."
"He was better for a while, but he is now trending back to his old ways," said Crystal with a hint of frustration.
"Sounds like he might need another treatment."
"What exactly is involved in this treatment." She never had the nerve to ask her straight out before, and Darrell's vague description did not make it sound like much of a treatment.
"Tell you what. It would be easier if I taught you how to do it, and it would likely be more effective because the problem is how he acts around you, not around me. And then you can treat him whenever he needs it."
"Darrell told me some of what you guys did. To be honest, I was jealous because, from what I gathered, I would love to play your role. It would be so fun to put him in his place like that. I'm certainly willing, but I'm not sure how to use your method to fix his issue."
"It was a lot of fun, but it takes some skill to be effective," said Meredith, having an ulterior motive. "Honestly, it's just about making him submit to you."
"I like the sound of that. How and when will you teach me?" Crystal assumed that Meredith would tell her the secrets and that she would then take them into bed with Darrell.
"It would be better if I just show you."
"What do you mean?"
"Would you be up for a threesome with me? We can teach Darrell a lesson together. Especially since the threesome that you guys were looking forward to with Katherine is off for a while."