This is a follow up to Stripping for my Wife's Friends. It can be helpful to read that one first but it is not necessary.
...
"I'll be a little bit late hon, should I just meet you guys there?" I was on the phone with my wife Andrea, and I was having to stay a few extra minutes at the radio station. My boss had asked for a quick word and I was on the way down to his office.
"Sure that'll work. My mom just got here. She's good to put the girls to bed and crash on the couch if we end up having a really late night. She even gave me the speech that we should crash elsewhere if we're too impaired to drive."
"How crazy is this going to get?" I asked. I knew we were meeting some friends for dinner and games but I didn't have the faintest clue what that entailed, except that Andrea was told it could "get wild."
"Beats me," Andrea said, and she meant it. "I've been told nothing. Apparently Ali and Kevin have planned the whole thing, well mostly Ali probably, and no one else knows what is happening. Only that a big prize is at stake."
"Gotcha. Hopefully this meeting won't be long. I'll see you soon."
Whatever my curiosity was it would have to wait. "Come on in Rick. I'll be quick."
...
I was in a great mood 20 minutes later as I was driving. I couldn't wait to tell my wife what I had just learned. I was so excited I barely thought about what I was heading to.
Earlier in the day I could think of nothing but this evening, mainly because It would be my first time seeing Allison since a very memorable night where I was the entertainment at her bachelorette party several months before. For that matter I hadn't seen any of the other guests since then either (besides my wife obviously). I had briefly wondered who else would be coming to this event.
However, that was before a crazy work day that included three hours of on air talk about trade rumors involving our NFL team's best player and a meeting that might have launched my career in a way I could never have dreamed. I mean the news from the meeting was so exciting that the bumper to bumper traffic jam ahead of me couldn't even dampen my enthusiasm.
I called my parents from the car to tell them the exciting news from my meeting. I wanted to tell Andrea in person.
"Yeah that's right my boss is retiring," I told my dad through the car Bluetooth. "He's going to recommend me to take over his play by play duties for the college!" It would literally be my dream job, calling games on the radio for our area major college football and basketball teams.
"That's great Rick! Just remember anything can happen. I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm but you never know with these things until the ink is dry on the paper. If he's recommending you that'll help but it's not a guarantee. Stay on guard."
He was right of course, but I didn't want to hear it in that moment. I knew full well that things were likely to be fluid until they were final, but it was hard not to be pumped up about the mere possibility I could be calling games. I also wanted to believe that a recommendation from the very man who had been calling the games for the past 30 years would carry a lot of weight.
I kept my frustration to myself as I continued the phone conversation in traffic but that meant I wasn't really listening to the advice my dad was trying to offer. He was also trying to tell me I should insist on a sizable raise if I got the gig, which again I knew he was right, but that part didn't matter to me. Andrea is a civil engineer so we do well, and I didn't want money to be the reason I didn't get it.
Between that conversation and the traffic that made me much later than I thought, I finally arrived at Allison's house in a foul mood. As I started walking toward the front door though I immediately thought about my previous visit, and my mind was filled with images of topless women playing with me. My curiosity returned in an instant.
"Sorry I'm late," I said to my wife as I gave her a kiss.
"It's all right we just sat down," she told me. "We haven't even grabbed drinks yet."
"Great I'll need one," I said as I took my seat. It so happened I was between Andrea and Allison, which was ironic considering what happened the last time I was seated between them.
"Rick do you know my fiancée Kevin?" Allison asked me.
I reached across Allison to shake Kevin's hand. He seemed like a normal looking dude, sporting a clean goatee. I remember wondering if he was aware of what Allison did to my man parts at the party.
To their right were Wendy and her husband Eric. Wendy waved hello. Eric was looking at his phone. I was aware that they were having issues. From what Andrea had told me their bedroom life wasn't exactly active.
Seated directly across from me were two people I didn't know. The girl was a short haired blonde with glasses and a nice smile. "Hi I'm Lindsay," she said as she reached her across the table. "This is my husband Aaron." I shook her hand as he and I exchanged head nods. She put her hand up to her face and said in a whisper, "I love the picture of you Allison has on her desk." She then winked at me and Allison giggled.
"Lindsay and I work together," Allison said. I remembered as she said it that Allison mentioned she was going to print a picture from the party to put on her desk. It seemed she had actually done that. I involuntarily adjusted my pants under the table as I thought about Allison having a naked picture of me at her office.
"She comes by almost daily to look at that picture," Allison whispered in my ear. "She's jealous she couldn't be here that night. She keeps telling me she wants a make up."
I looked to Lindsay's left and saw Kasey smiling at me, sitting next to a guy I didn't know. "Hi Rick," she said. "This my husband Kory." I felt my pants stir as I remembered Kasey being particularly fond of my penis on our last encounter.
"Hi Rick," I heard from across the table. I looked over and saw Robyn sitting across from Wendy. "This is Derrick, he's my date." We nodded at each other.
"I'm sorry Lauren couldn't make it," Lindsay said to the table at large as the girls continued their previous conversation. The guys pretty much sat there.
"What came out of your meeting?" Andrea asked me.
"Well it was interesting," I replied I grabbed a beer from the center of the table. My enthusiasm had been dampened from my phone conversation with my dad and I wanted to just try and relax and enjoy the evening.
"Basically my boss is retiring, and he said he's going to recommend I take over his duties," I said in a low volume with a slight smile, though probably not one worthy of the news I was delivering.
"That's great!" Andrea said in reply. She could tell something was off though.
"I called my parents from the car," I said. "My dad tried to tell me not to get my hopes up."
"Let's talk about this later," my wife said before I could talk further. She knew where this conversation was heading. I knew Andrea would be fully supportive when we would talk later.
"What do you do for a living Rick?" Lindsay asked.
"I work in radio," I replied. "I'm a sports reporter and I host an afternoon show."
"Wait, are you Rick French?" her husband asked me.
"Guilty," I said.
"I love your show," Aaron replied. "I can't believe they're talking about trading Thomas."
"Yeah it's a crazy situation," I started to say.
"Oh come on!" Aaron pointed at the TV. Thursday Night Football was on.
I turned around myself to see an interception had been thrown. "That's a minus two!" Aaron roared. "I have Watson tonight," he added. I was certainly aware of the game that was on but I wasn't that interested in it. I didn't have anyone playing that affected my fantasy football matchup that week.
"Oh good I've got New England's defense," Andrea said.