So, the preparations began. Clothes were selected and packed, cash for the kitty and other expenses was collected and, on Friday before taking off, Ruth, Judy, Claire and Sandy met in the office to arrange any last second issues that might come up. Totally unexpectedly, one of Sandy's questions about the trip was to be answered. Ruth arrived with several 3 x 5 cards with colored marks on them, one color per card. She explained their purpose: "Bob and I will be staying in my grandparents' room, leaving the other three. The other bedrooms are the same except for cosmetic differences, and are named according to their color. So there is the Green Room, the Blue Room and the Red Room. Rather than getting there and deciding who goes where, you can each draw a card and your room will match the color on the back. Ok?"
That sounded like a perfect way to avoid fumbling around in making choices later. Sandy turned over the Blue Room card, Judy the Red and Claire the Green, seemingly concluding the question of rooms. However, Sandy decided that that was as good a time as ever to face that "elephant in the room," her relationship with Frank.
"All right, Frank and I have the Blue Room, which is fine. However, I have a very strong feeling that my three closest friends have set me up!" Her statement was met with surprised and questioning looks - with a bit of guilt showing through. "When you proposed that I go with you, my only concern was whether, as a married woman, a happily married woman, I could share a room with another man for a week at the beach. I thought about it and discussed it with Mack and he agreed with Frank that this was too good an offer to pass up, so I accepted. I looked at your brochure, Ruth, and I saw a picture of, I think, the Green Room. Now, I'm informed that all of the rooms are the same, so, unless I have missed some critical bit of information, I have gone from sharing a room with Frank, to sharing a bed with Frank! Am I, a married woman, expected to sleep with Frank for, as I count them, eight nights?"
As Sandy described the scene, all three faces had guilt written all over them and, after there was a period of looking at each other and making incoherent and sputtering efforts to decide what to say, Judy finally took the lead. "Oh, Sandy, I'm so sorry and we didn't want to put you in a difficult place, but we all so badly wanted you with us. The only reason that we didn't invite you immediately was Mack. We like him and you two are a perfect couple, but he just isn't part of our group. This is probably the last time all of us will be together, just the eight of us, and we just hoped that it will work out. Don't be too mad at us!"
"Ruth finally was able to get her thoughts together and added, "We really don't think that Frank really is into women, for whatever reason. And, in any case, you could put something between you like bundling. They are queen-sized beds, so there should be room. Or" she added with a rather timid, smile, "You could wear blue jeans to bed like you did in Spain."
"So, I'm to rely on Frank not being into women - or into me. I'm either to build a fortress between us or wear jeans, or both!" Reaching behind her to a shopping bag, she pulled out a sheer shorty nightgown that would tempt a man, not hide her body. "This is what I bought this morning and I thought that I might wear it to bed when we are in Virginia!"
Ruth stared with eyes wide with shock, "My god, Sandy, that's beautiful but it won't hide anything!"
Judy was more explicit, "If you wear that to bed, Frank really will be into you, literally!"
"You're probably right and I could leave this at home and wear a more prosaic nightgown, but, you all know perfectly well that if we sleep together for eight nights, it doesn't matter what I wear unless I do go for the jeans - which I'm not going to do. There will be eight of us there and I'm the only one that is married. If I end up with a scarlet A, you three are equally responsible and I had better never hear a word about it!"
"It was Claire that finally spoke up as she said, "Sandy, dear, we all love you and anything you do is absolutely ok with us. Unless you say different, we're going to act as if we have four unmarried couples staying together and making love. Take off your rings or leave them on, you and Frank are a couple this week. Of course, that's assuming that Frank plays his role and cooperates!"
"Sandy replied with a knowing smile, "I don't think that there is going to be a problem with that!"
Ruth looked at her with a quizzical smile, commenting wryly, "You know, I wonder if Frank turned Sarah and the others girls down because he already had a better deal working! I'm also wondering if we're the ones that have been had, not you!"
"Now Ruth, I'm a happily married woman who loves her husband. Any speculations about any ongoing affairs are completely unsupported by evidence!"
The group broke up shortly after that with the three women exchanging questioning, but certainly not disapproving, looks. Hearing their conversation as they left undoubtedly would have been quite entertaining.
