Looking back on it, that was the strangest Sunday morning breakfast table conversation of our lives, and it set into motion an extraordinary series of events.
Haley and I were lingering over our coffee and reading the morning paper. Without preamble, she announced, "You know I've always wanted to watch you have sex with another woman."
Haley is a master of the non-sequitur so I didn't find her statement unusual. Also, I knew that to be one of her favorite fantasies.
"I believe you've mentioned it from time to time. But it's not going to happen. I'm not interested in anyone but you."
"I'm serious," she said, folding her part of the paper and setting it aside. "I think about it a lot. It has gone beyond pure fantasy now because, about a week ago, I found myself trying to figure out a way to make it happen. It took some effort but I was finally successful. I know how to do it and I want you to cooperate with me on this."
I sat there dumbfounded. Haley was serious. On the other hand, there was no risk in listening to her story. As she had just pointed out, my cooperation would be required and I had no intention of getting involved. So, just for fun, I decided to hear her out. Folding my half of the paper and setting it on the chair next to me, I looked across the table at her, grinned, and said, "Okay, let's hear it."
Haley paused to collect her thoughts. Her fingers were entwined with each other and held tensely in her lap. I realized she was feeling a little stressed. Something about her story was making her anxious. Her breathing was a little irregular and her face was flushed. I chalked it up to nervousness about the gravity of her proposal and waited patiently for her to begin.
"I said I figured out how to make it happen, and I did. But there's a little glitch."
"A glitch," I replied with a smile. "Imagine that." Glitches are not unheard of in our household.
"That's enough Max," she said with a fake glare. "Hear me out."
"Okay. Sorry. I'm listening."
"All right, here goes," she began. "My first thought was to find a prostitute, but I really didn't want to involve us in something illegal. Besides, a hooker would be too business-like. I want to watch you have sex with a woman who wants to be fucked, not one who is getting paid to do it. My second thought was to comb through personal ads to find a woman who was looking for a three-way with a couple, but I figured that was really rolling the dice. Too risky. A lot of mischief originates with those personal ads. No telling what we might get involved in. So I was back to square one."
"Finally, I stumbled onto a website that specializes in linking consenting adults who have unfulfilled sexual needs," she continued. "It's perfect. There's lots of security, special rules to protect privacy and, best of all; everyone on that site wants to be there."
I sat there with an elevated pulse. Haley's delivery was so intense that I realized she wasn't joking. I needed to figure out how to manage the situation but, once again realizing that nothing would happen without my willing participation, I encouraged her to finish her story.
"So tell me more," I prompted.
"I've examined the website very carefully," Haley continued, "and here's what I learned. You have to join the group, which costs a hundred dollars per person. You can join as an individual or as a couple. Payment is made by money order. No checks, credit cards, debit cards, or electronic transfers that can be easily traced back to the applicant. Once you join, you are provided with a unique ID number. No one on the site uses their last name and each member, or couple, is required to have a dedicated e-mail account. All communication is done within those accounts."
After a deep, shuddering breath, she continued.
"The site requires everyone to fill out a questionnaire providing demographic info and outlining in detail what you are looking for sexually. You can specify more than one scenario if you wish. You also have to upload a photo. All the info and the photo are used to sort out people with similar appetites. The site then provides participants with a computer-generated list. The list includes first names, e-mail addresses, a picture, and profile info."
After another nervous breath, she continued her little speech. "Three upscale downtown hotels partner with the group. If you decide to hook up with someone, you communicate your needs to the website and they make arrangements with one of the hotels using your ID number. Registration is under that number when you check in and all transactions are in cash. Room requirements are relayed to the hotel by the organization when they make your reservation. If you want a venue other than one of the hotels, the website will make arrangements for an additional fee."
I was becoming a little bit intrigued by this point in Haley's recitation. I had never heard of anything like this before.
"So how do potential participants iron out the details of this.....this....encounter, or whatever you call it," I asked.
"Well, let's say we told the organization we wanted to have a threesome with a blonde female who is between five-five and five-seven and weighing no more than one hundred twenty pounds. We want traditional sex. No bondage, fetishes, or sex toys. If there are any computer matches, the website provides us with a list," she began.
"For the sake of illustration," she continued, "let's say we sit down with our list and make a selection. Since it's a woman, I would most likely be the one to send an e-mail stating our interest in her. She replies if she wants to participate. Then the negotiation begins, all by e-mail. Every detail will be ironed out. If we decide to proceed, we tell the web organization what we need, select a hotel, and specify the date and time we want. They make the reservation and we get a confirmation message via e-mail. After that we just make it all happen. When we're done, we go our separate ways."
"Well, you've obviously done your homework," I said. "But if this is something you really want to do, I'll have to give it a lot of thought before you sign us up. I'm not sure I can go along with anything like that."
"Max, it's too late. I already sent in the money. I have our ID number as a couple and the on-line questionnaire for us to fill out. We have a dedicated e-mail account on Hotmail. You don't have to do this if you really have no interest. I'll understand and all we'll lose is the two hundred bucks. If we pursue it, we can back out at any time if we decide we don't want to play."
For the second time that morning I was completely taken aback. Haley was way out ahead of me on this. I needed a little time to adjust. "Let me think about it for a while," I said.
"Okay," Haley said. But while you're thinking about it, you need to know about the glitch I mentioned."
I had forgotten about the "glitch" and couldn't imagine what it might be. Everything she described seemed to be so well-organized, so structured.
"Tell me about it," I said with a grin.
