Luckily, Erica's injuries did not turn out to be as serious as originally thought and the rash went away after 48 hours and no infections were detected. She was sent home with some antibiotics just in case there was something alien that had been put inside her during her traumatic experience.
The worst part of the entire episode, Erica told me, was that she was forced to withdraw from the tennis tournament. Since she had been favored to win the tournament, this was a major setback.
I continued to write her heart-rending love letters every day, always slipping the postal clerk a fiver to make sure it got in her post office box that day. After a couple of weeks, the clerk pulled me aside and told me something I'll never forget.
"Look, kid, there is no reason for you to keep slipping me five bucks every time you send a letter to your sweetheart. Just let me know and I'll take care of it. You must be real sweet on this girl, eh, writing her every day like you do?"
"She likes when I write her every day."
"I saw the name on the envelope. Isn't that the girl who got assaulted at the tennis match? She doing okay?"
"Yeah, she's pretty much recovered, but it was a very traumatic experience."
"Look, I don't know if this is out of line or not, but I'm taking a stab in the dark here. You know, I'm getting ready to retire from the post office in a few years and I'm not feeling all that good about the money I've saved for retirement. So, what I've done is start my own business on the side to help increase my income and make things a little easier in my sunset years."
"Okay, and how is that out of line?"
"Well, look, I'm not done 'splaining. What I'm doing is setting up this film studio and we're going to be making amateur porn. Nothing too weird, and no kids or animals or any shit like that, just good, wholesome entertainment. The kind of stuff you can watch at a bachelor party and not have to take a hot shower afterwards. So, I'm thinking, and you tell me this is out of line, but do you think you could talk to your pretty friend and see if she wants to shoot some scenes?"
"No," I said sternly, and then recoiled in horror at my assertiveness.
"Wait, wait, see, there doesn't have to be any actual sex or anything, maybe just some play acting. How about a scene where she is wearing her little tennis outfit and she's out in the woods and she's lost and she is being chased by a bear, but it isn't really a bear, it is me in a bear costume and when she finds out we have a laugh and drink some hot chocolate and she takes her clothes off. How about something like that?"
"I really don't think so. That is way over the line, man."
"What is she into? Do you know? Maybe she likes something we can work with. How about just a short piece where I film her eating an ice cream cone in just her bra and panties? That could work, and it is so suggestive without there being any actual sex or anything."
"No."
"Okay, let me try this in a different way... how about you ask her before you say no? What I'm saying here is that you're not her keeper. Don't piss me off here or I might put your letters in the wrong box by mistake and I'm guessing that would be a problem for you."
"Okay," I sighed. "I will ask her, but if she says no will you back off?"
"Well, you just tell her that when she comes to pick up her mail next time that she should come and talk to Leo the clerk. Tell her I can sweeten the deal."
"Sure, okay, whatever, I'll tell her, but I'm telling you right now she's going to say no."
"Cross that bridge when we get there."
I couldn't believe Leo's audacity and when I walked out of the post office I was very annoyed. I was also starting to get very tired of constantly having an erection, and started to think my meeting with Doctor Love had been a mistake, but whenever I emailed a report to Erica about how many times I'd masturbated that day while thinking about her and seeing her pleased responses, I realized it was a sacrifice I had to make.
Kissing Erica's foot in the hospital had been the most exciting and sexually fulfilling even of my life. I revisited it every day in my head, constantly, and when I masturbated it was all I could think about. It felt so good to have her gorgeous foot right there in front of my face, the smooth skin gliding across my lips, her succulent toes right there in front of me begging to be sucked. The memory itself was overwhelming.
I was nervous about dinner, partly because I was worried about how I would behave with Erica in front of Mike, but also because of the weird date I was being set up on with Gary. It was a hell of a length to go to for a cover story. Letting Mike think I was gay was one thing. That didn't bother me. Having to lead some guy on and let him think I was a prospective partner was an unsettling prospect.
But, I reminded myself, I was doing it for Erica and I would do anything for Erica.
I arrived before Gary. I brought a bottle of wine that I found in a gas station convenience store and a box of graham crackers. Erica thanked me for them while Mike shook his head at me. While Erica brought my gifts into the kitchen, Mike pulled me aside.
"I thought you might have a little more class than that," he said. "Graham crackers and the cheapest bottle of wine you could find? Are you homeless or something?"
"I didn't have much time to shop," I explained. "I spent most of the day taking care of personal business," I told him, meaning I had been constantly masturbating while thinking about his girlfriend all day, but I wasn't going to tell him that.
"Did you really tell some clerk at the post office that you'd ask Erica if she wanted to be in his homemade porn movies?"
I laughed nervously. "The guy was a weirdo. He insisted I ask her and wouldn't let it go, so I said I would ask but I was sure she would say no."
Erica came back from the kitchen. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, but said she hadn't had time to change for dinner. Mike was wearing a suit jacket and tie. He told me he'd just come home from the office, and that he hadn't changed because Erica said she thought they should dress up for dinner.
"I wore a sweater and khakis," I told him.
"Yeah, we can see that."
When Erica went to change, the doorbell rang. Gary had arrived. Mike let him in, talked to him as old friends do, and took the six-pack of loose Budweiser cans Gary had brought and took them to the kitchen.
"You must be Keith," Gary said. "You're slightly less handsome than Erica claimed you were."
"I'm sorry," I said. "She must have a high opinion of me."
"Not really," said Gary snidely. "She's says you're a pussy and if I banged you then you'd probably do anything I said."
"Wow. Really?"
"I wasn't even going to bother to come. The last thing I need in my life is another wimpy boyfriend, but the well has been dry for almost a year now and I need to get my dick sucked at some point before New Year's Eve."
I stood frozen, my jaw falling almost to the floor.
"Ah, Gary, you're here," Erica beamed as she strutted out into the living room in a black dress that came down to just above her knees and the high-heeled shoes she had sent me a picture of. I had trouble looking away but had to before Mike returned or Gary noticed.
"I love your shoes," I told Erica, trying to cover in case anyone had noticed me staring at her feet.
"Thank you, Keith. I just bought them recently. This is my first time wearing them."
