I cannot express how thankful I am for my friend Annanova, who willfully and happily took on the daunting task of editing for me once again. Some might say it was 'insistfully', but she'd be the first to tell you that's not even a word, which is one of the many reasons why her insights are so welcome. Sometimes I have to remember that an extra set of eyes is a good thing. That they're sexy and green is an added bonus! Thanks again Anna.
To the rest of my readers, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter!
© 2015, All rights reserved - Mimaster
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The phone startled her to the point that she didn't start walking across the room to answer it until the third ring.
"Who would be calling at this time of the morning," she said to herself, her elegant blue dress flowing as she walked briskly. She set down the sponge on the counter, taking off one of the thick yellow rubber gloves she was wearing. Picking up the receiver, she nestled it between her cheek and shoulder so she could remove the other glove.
"Hello?" she answered in her polite southern accent. "Yes. This is Carol."
"Hi Carol... this is Beth. Beth Edwards."
"Ha... I know who you are Beth. You don't need to formally introduce yourself."
"Well, it's been a long time since we talked. I wasn't sure you'd know it was me."
Carol felt bad. Her friendship with Beth had kind of fallen to the wayside, the result of a disagreement the two had had. She never intended it to reach the point where they'd stop talking altogether, but that was more in Beth's control than hers. She'd let things settle, thinking the other woman would come around. But she never did, until now, almost two years later.
"Of course I know it's you. What's up?"
"I'm sorry to be calling so early on a Sunday. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."
Carol turned to look at her pristine kitchen, a smile coming to her face. "No, I was just finishing up my Sunday cleaning," she said as she walked into the entertainment room to sit on the couch. She crossed her legs, loving how feminine she felt in her dress.
It was something she did every Sunday, an homage to her mother, who always wore a dress, even when she cleaned. Carol had taken to doing that as well, dressing up on Sunday mornings. She even did her housework dressed like that, loving the domestic goddess she would become, as if she were allowing herself a luxury.
Dangling her high heel on her foot as she slowly rocked her leg up and down, she settled into the conversation. "It's good to hear your voice, Beth."
"Uh, it's good to hear yours too," she answered nervously.
"What's going on... are you okay?"
"Well, not really. It's been a rough time. And I was wondering..."
Carol sat up, concerned about the tone of Beth's voice. They hadn't talked in forever, but they had once been rather close. Close enough that she knew something was wrong. The fact that her old friend didn't have the words to finish her sentence had her worried.
"Talk to me, Beth. Tell me what's going on."
"It's Tyler," she replied, referring to her husband.
"What about him? Is he okay?"
"We're... we're fighting again."
"Again? You're going to have to be more specific... we haven't talked in a long time. I have no idea what's going on in your life right now."
"That's my fault. All of this is my fault," she replied, and she started crying.
"What's your fault? What are you talking about?"
"You and me... me and Tyler. Everything."
Carol wondered if she should drive over to meet with her. It was obvious something was terribly wrong, but trying to find out over the phone was proving difficult. Yes, she and Beth had had a falling out of sorts, but she never stopped loving her as a friend. It was something that happened, and she left the ball in her court as to whether their friendship would continue. Since she hadn't called in such a long time, she assumed it was over. But hearing her in despair, she couldn't help but have compassion for her.
"Do you want me to come over?" she asked, feeling she needed to make the first step in showing there were no hard feelings on her part.
"No... God no! That'll only make things worse," she sniffed.
"Beth Edwards... what in the hell is going on?"
"I... I really don't know how to ask you this, Carol. There's no polite way to say it."
"Screw being polite. Just come out with it already."
"Fine," she replied quietly. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I want to know if you'd invite us to your party this year."
"What?"
"Your Super Bowl party. I want... I need us to be invited."
"You
need
it?"
"For the sake of my marriage... yes."
"From the beginning, Beth. Tell me what's going on between you and Tyler."
Beth told her how her marriage had been rocky since she'd pitched a fit after the first Super Bowl party Carol held. The fit had to do with several of the girls stripping during the game. Tyler saw it as harmless fun, while she had seen it as lewd and immoral behavior that she didn't want to be exposed to.
Everything was fine until the next year, when they weren't invited because Carol wouldn't guarantee there wouldn't be any repeat performances. For her part, Carol felt that no one had done anything wrong. It was her house, it was an adult-only affair, and she wanted to have a good time. She saw it as her party, and she wasn't going to limit the fun just because some people were offended.
Tyler was devastated when he found out they'd essentially been blacklisted. He had a lot of friends that had gone the year before, and he was looking forward to it. Beth was upset as well, but more that she'd been singled out along with another woman named Cindy as the only two that were opposed to what had happened. Tyler labeled his wife as a prude, and started to question their relationship.
Beth told her that things had calmed down during the summer months, and she thought everything had been resolved. But the tension between them returned as the football season started, only she didn't understand the correlation. It was subtle at first, but she soon realized that as week after week went by, they weren't talking like they had. And worse than that, they weren't having sex. Whenever she tried, he brushed it off, saying he wasn't interested.
Things came to a head when the playoffs started. His favorite team, the local Redskins were in the playoffs, but they didn't play the first weekend because they'd earned a bye. So, she tried to seduce him during the games that
were
being played, but he was having none of it. Frustrated, she finally confronted him about his lack of sex drive, and the feelings she was having about it.
"That's when he told me it wasn't that he didn't want to have sex. But he basically said he wasn't
going
to have sex with me until the season was over."
"I don't understand, Beth. What is he really upset about?"
"Basically, it comes down to the fact that I'm a prude. That's his word... not mine."
"Well what would you call it?"
"Does it really matter? Stuffy, straight-laced, snobbish, prim and proper... ice princess? Whatever you want to call it, my marriage is in trouble because I was... well, I was prudish about your party. There's no denying that."
"Well why were you? Was what we did that big a deal?"
"Not really. I guess I acted that way because that's how I thought I was supposed to act. I was raised in a very conservative home, by ridiculously strict parents. The mere idea of a woman doing something like what you did was so taboo my mother would have had a stroke."
"And that makes me a bad person?"
"No... it makes me narrow-minded, Carol. This isn't about what you and the other girls did. This is about how I reacted to it."
"Okay, so what do you want from me?"
"In some ways, I'm hoping for acceptance. I've had a lot of time to think about how I acted... about what I said. And I've had a lot of time to deal with the regret. I'm tired of feeling this way."
"Beth, I've never said anything to you about any of this. All I did -"
"All you did was keep me from ruining your party. I totally understand that. I had no right to say the things I did. If I didn't like it, all I had to do was say we weren't coming next time. I didn't have to make such a scene about it."
"You didn't make a scene," she scoffed.
"Maybe not. But I certainly acted like I was better; like I would never do something so... I don't know. Naughty, I guess. And that bothers Tyler. He as much as said he doesn't want to be with someone that's so rigid they're scared to have a good time, let alone explore anything new."
"He
said
that?"
"Pretty much, although he didn't really have to. Like I said, I've had a lot of time to think, especially since the playoffs started. And I've come to the conclusion that I either let go some of things that I found distasteful, or I lose my marriage."
"Beth, do you honestly think Tyler would divorce over something so silly? He loves you."
"Did you hear what I said? We haven't... you know... had sex for months. I don't want to take that chance, Carol. I don't want to be the kind of wife whose husband starts looking elsewhere for it because she's too close-minded to try something new. I want to be sexy. I want to turn him on. And right now, no matter what I do, he sees me as the woman who can't loosen up and have a good time."
"Okay, so what is it exactly that you want from me?"
"I know this is crass, especially after the stink I made, but I'd really like to be invited to the party. I think that will go a long way to bringing Tyler back to me. With the 'Skins being in the game, he's going to want to be with his friends. He's going to blame me for ruining his day more than he did last year. I'm the one standing in the way of him being with his friends and having a good time when his team plays in the Super Bowl."
Carol got her point. The Redskins had won the NFC Championship the previous Sunday. Almost everyone attending was going to be rooting for them because it was truly the home area team. This went beyond just an NFC allegiance. The game was going to be special, and she knew Tyler would want to be a part of it. Hell, Barry would want him there. But she wasn't budging on her party, and what might happen.
"I'm not going to change the party, Beth. You have to understand that."
"I do, Carol. I'm not asking you to change anything. I'm only asking that you let us be a part of it this year."