Ali quickly settled into a routine. When she woke up, she had her coffee at the window -- whether at my place or hers (to Harvey's delight). She did long shifts at the diner, wearing her "Perky" nametag. After the diner, she went straight to the studio, and slaved away for Max, part receiptionist, part janitor, part gopher, part musician. Then, at night, she practiced.
For my part, I was working overtime. Some days I didn't see her at all until I arrived at practice late. I wasn't short on cash. I was making extra money with the idea of plowing it back into Ali's band. So was she -- half her tip money was being used to pay off the band members each practice, the other half was piling up, waiting to be spent on clothes, hair-dressers, a photographer.
The schedule was killing our love life, I was feeling very antsy and sex-deprived. On Friday, her first day off all week, I thought it would be nice to take her out. I got to work and called her apartment.
Harvey picked up.
"Hi Harv, Tyler here. How's Ali doing?"
"She's doing fine, Tyler. She's having coffee, now. Doing her window thing."
"How are you holding up, having a naked girl in your apartment?"
He laughed. "I'm making do. It's a crazy situation, but I'm getting used to it."
"How long is she lasting in the window?"
"Every morning, half an hour to forty-five minutes. She says she's actually getting bored with it, so we watch the morning news together." He paused. "I told her the next step in the exercise was to open the window. To reduce the glare. I hope that's okay."
My heart was thrumming. Call me twisted, but I thought that it was beyond hot how Harvey was coming on board. Originally, I'd planned for Ali to move in with me. Now, I was glad I'd kept her at Harvey's place.
"That was a good idea," I told him. "Did she buy it?"
"Oh, yes," he laughed. "She's quite... dedicated. You could say."
And with that, we established the parameters of our relationship. I didn't ask Harvey, "Did she do it?" I asked, "Did she buy it?" Implicitly recognizing that he was playing her. And by recognizing that to him, I was notifying him that I knew he was playing her. We were, basically, two men who had lucked onto a beautiful young woman, and she was gratifying us, and we were relating stories about her.
"Let me talk to her," I said. "Oh, and Harvey?"
"Yes?"
"Pinch her ass for me." My cock was pronging into my slacks.
"Will do."
I heard Harvey say, "This is from Tyler."
"Ooh!" Ali was laughing as she took the phone. "Thanks for that wake-up pinch, hon."
"Harvey reports that you're standing naked in front of an open window."
"Is that okay?" she asked. "It's like we discussed."
"It sounds like you're very dedicated."
Her voice went hushed. "I felt very uncomfortable at first. At the beginning, I'd wake up as Harvey finished his shower. And he'd come sit on the couch, and we'd watch the morning news. And then I'd stand, strip, and go to the window. It was, like, a big production."
"How did you fix that?" I asked.
"Well, the easiest answer is always the best: I just stopped wearing t-shirts at night. So no striptease in the morning. My panties are halfway off anyway. It's more comfy, so I'm also sleeping later. The TV wakes me up, with Harv on the couch. When I sit up, he gets me some coffee, and I just stumble over to the window."
"I can only imagine how hot you look. I should get Harvey to describe you every morning, since I can't be there." I could only imagine Harvey's wonderful new life. Waking up every morning, nestling into a couch next to a snoring panty-clad twenty-something, eyeing her as she stretched, grinned, and said good-morning.
"I can describe myself to you," she purred.
"I dunno. I think I like the masculine viewpoint, when it comes to hearing how you look. Are people seeing you from the street?"
"A few regulars on the street. A few in the opposite buildings."
"See? That's not enough detail. Put Harvey back on."
She laughed. "Harvey? Tyler wants to talk to you."
"Yes?" he asked.
"Harvey, she's not being forthcoming about her actor's exercises. Stand behind her, and tell me what she's seeing on the street."
He did so. I heard Ali say, "You're doublechecking my work?"
Harvey said, "I can't see past her hair. It's all messed up."
Ali laughed in the background. "Morning head!"
I said, "Jeez, Harvey. Be a problem-solver. Step in closer, put your hand around her stomach, squish her to the side, plant your chin on her shoulder."
"Well..." he hemmed.
"She's not made of glass," I said.
The phone made a scraping sound, and I heard Ali giggle again. It sounded to me like he'd leapt on her. I could imagine it -- his big, soft body pressed against her from behind. His hand, twitching with nervousness, feeling the muscles of her belly dance as he changed her balance. Her ass in his lap.
"Okay," he said. "We're seeing... wow. Five or six ne'er-do-wells clustered around the stoop of the opposite building, looking up. Talking to each other. Two men in the windows opposite. Everybody is trying to act casual, like they're not seeing what they're seeing. They don't want to scare her out of the window, I'm guessing. People passing on the street, not really looking up at her. She says it's becoming no big deal, anymore."
"Hmmm," I said. I tried to imagine the scene. It was difficult, being in the middle of cubicle land as I was. A corporate environment is not inducive to sexual imagination. "It sounds like she's ready for step two."
"What's that?" Harvey asked.
"Some night next week, call some friends over. Or order up a pizza. Don't tell her what you're doing. You have to report to me what her reaction is. Does she scream and run for the bathroom? Does she coolly put on some clothes? Does she casually hang out, without doing anything? Let me know, okay?"
He gave a little laugh. "Will do. My apartment will clearly become a popular destination with my over-the-hill married friends. She strips down to her panties by nine pm every night. Did you know that?"
"I did," I said. "But Harvey, she can hear what you're saying."
"She doesn't understand anything, trust me. She's not listening."
I nodded to myself. That sounded like Ali.
Harvey continued. It sounded like he was reaching a comfort zone with me. "All my double entendres go unnoticed. She coasts in-and-out of the bathroom and my bedroom. Any modesty has disappeared -- out the window."
"Well," I said, "I have to admit, it's been going easier than I thought it would. This whole re-inventing Ali thing." It felt good to be able to talk to someone about it. "I guess I found her at a point where she was ready for a big life change."
"Yes, quite," said Harvey. "You two seem to be very effective, together."
I had a wicked thought. "Hey, Harvey, want a treat?"
"What do you mean?"
"Give Ali the phone, and hang on to her."
I heard the phone pass back to her. What kind of a sordid, manipulative, nasty fool was I? Probably the regular kind.
"Hello again, honey," said Ali's voice. "Harvey is
still
looking over my shoulder. Should I try again, and tell you what I'm seeing?"
"No, baby," I said. My voice sounded husky, from what I was planning. Turned on, I guess. "Just do what I say. Keep the phone at your ear. I want you to give a good, long, morning stretch. Right? Your arms stretch up, you go onto your tippy toes. Are you doing it?"
"Yeeeah," she said, groaning.
"Feel your calves tighten. Clench your ass. Feel the muscles in your back stretch and separate. Twist your shoulders. Relax your ass, clench it, relax. Are you doing it?"
"Yeah, done. The guys on the street stopped pretending not to see me."
"You're getting pretty comfortable with this, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Oh!" She giggled suddenly. "Harvey just left. He ran to the bathroom."
I had a big smile.
She added, "Do you want to know something? I think he had his little cock against my butt. I think I felt it there, when I was clenching. Oh, jeez." She sounded worried. "How humiliating. Do you think I embarrassed him? I should go do something. Should I ask him if I made him uncomfortable?"
"No, baby. If that's the case, I'm sure Harvey can handle it. As if any guy would mind."
"You and your dirty thoughts, Tyler," she admonished. "Are you sure I shouldn't go to the bathroom too? I can just walk in, if you want. Like normal."
She was too precious. I said, "No. But be warned: he'll probably try to tease you back. You know, try to embarrass you?"
"I cannot be teased," she announced. "He'll fail. I can't be embarrassed anymore -- it's part of my star training. But... what do you think he'll do?"
"I dunno. You're spending most of your time in the apartment naked, right?"
"Mostly naked. I guess I am."
"He'll probably invite some friends over. Or order a pizza. Without you knowing. He'll probably expect you to scream in embarrassment, and run for the bathroom."
"Hmmf!" she said. "That's not going to happen."
"Uh-oh!" I laughed. She giggled along with me. I kept feeding her, saying, "He's messing with the wrong person. What are you going to do? Just hang out in your panties, like nothing's different? Act all normal? Watch him blush?"
"Um, yeah. That sounds good. That's what I'll do. He should know not to mess with me. I'll just frustrate his plans, and ass-clench him again when he doesn't expect it."
I didn't want to gloss over that ass-clenching thing. "If you're going to ass-clench him again, you're going to have to get him to stand behind you."
"That's easy," she said breezily. "I'll just tell him you want him to look over my shoulder every morning. So he can report to you again. That should do it. I'll butt-squeeze him until he wants to cry. That should get him back -- if he gets me back."
"You're so clever," I said admiringly.
"I'm learning from the best," she returned.
