Tales From Sechs City
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Welcome to Sechs City, a wealthy, middle-class costal area of Western America in the state of California. A gorgeous, quiet largely uneventful place, people move to the city to follow their dreams, to live their day-to-day lives. It's almost too perfect to be true...
*
It was an incredible clichΓ©, thought Kevin, in that the first time in a week he had bothered to have a shower the doorbell had rung halfway through it. Grumbling to himself, he quickly wrapped his blue flannel dressing gown around his wet body and marched through the front room to the door, leaving little puddles of water with every footstep.
'This had better be important,' he said loudly as he opened the door. He got a bit of a surprise when he saw who was standing there.
'Important is my middle name, Kevin. You look a little wet; I hope I didn't ruin your afternoon routine?'
'Er, no, no, not really,' he replied quickly.
'Right. Well, can I come in?'
'Sure, sure. Come on through.'
He held the door open wider and Isabella, dressed in her usual attire of white strapped top and denim skirt, sauntered quickly in and sat down on the green worn out sofa. She opened the small cream coloured bag that she had been carrying over her shoulder and began to rummage through its contents.
Kevin knew Isabella fairly well, having met her at various parties with Mike and Heidi. He'd always secretly thought that she was a little stuck up, with her nice house and seemingly cushy lifestyle. He had to admit, however, that at the moment she looked incredibly hot. A fading whiff of the perfume she was wearing still hovered around the front door. It smelled of exotic fruits, of the warm beaches in the Caribbean.
Shaking himself, Kevin shut the door and went over to his own chair in front of the television, where he sat and waited as patiently as he could whilst Isabella finished taking out two sheets of paper with a lot of words printed on them.
'What's all this about, Izzie?' he asked her finally, his mind wandering back to that blissfully hot shower that was calling his name.
'Mike and Heidi,' she muttered as she read over the words on the pieces of paper.
'What about Mike and Heidi?'
Isabella put the paper down and looked at him. 'Tomorrow night; have you boys got anything planned for Mike's last night of freedom?'
Kevin scratched his right cheek. He could do with a bit of a shave too. 'I wouldn't say that he was free at the moment, but no, nothing major planned. I don't think he really wants anything big before the wedding.'
'Neither does Heidi. Which is why I've made a plan.' And she passed over one of the bits of paper to Kevin. As he read it his eyes widened slightly.
'No way will Mike agree to this,' he said, shaking his head.
Isabella sighed. 'Look, Kevin. I'm having enough trouble convincing Heidi as it is. I've had to come up with a whole new ball plan for her. Mike may object at first, but if you work at him he'll soon back down.'
'How can you be so sure?'
'Because it's already starting to work with Heidi, and you know she's an absolute control freak.'
Kevin snorted. 'You got that right. I keep telling Mike he needs to assert his authority, show her he's the man of the house. But I reckon she's got him right under her thumb.'
Isabella frowned. 'That's my friend you're talking about, there. But maybe this will change their attitudes a little -- maybe make their marriage last a little longer than it should do.'
'You don't believe in marriage much, do you?' Kevin asked her as he shifted in his seat to get more comfortable.
'There's too much in the world out there to see, to experience. You don't need a husband or a wife waiting at home restricting you from all of that enjoyment, tying you down. And I'm talking about all aspects of life, not just sex; although that's the main reason, naturally.'
'What if they wanted to experience life together; do those kinds of things as a couple?'
Isabella rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, and then they end up on "Jerry Springer" or some other crap. "My wife and I enjoy three-in-a-bed-romps with the mailman." No thanks. Look, are you with me on this or not?'