I didn't hear from Jane for more than a week.
After our interactions at my house (see "Fun With Dick and Jane-01: Gee Spot Run"), I wasn't sure how to interpret this silence of hers. Was she boggled and speechless by the turbulence of her newly awakened lust? Or was she beginning to think about publicly branding me, her neighbor, as a wicked witch? Perhaps the years of rigid, puritanical training would win out over the libidinous thoughts that were welling out of her subconsciousness. I worried about the risk I had taken in confiding in her, but I thought, "What's done is done."
Finally, almost a week and a half after our afternoon walk and masturbation lessons, I got a call from her, inviting me over for dinner on Saturday. After a moment's hesitation -- was this a setup, so that she and Dick could "save" me from my wickedness, or even worse, was I to be tied to the stake and burned like Joan of Arc? -- I agreed to come over. When I asked if she had read more of my stories, she said, "Oh yes, but I can't talk about it now," and in the background, I heard Dick speaking, so I let the subject drop.
I asked if I could bring over anything for dinner.
Jane told me, "No, I'll have all the food ready, but it would be so nice if you could possibly bring over any more of the stuff that you loaned me last week." I hadn't ever given her anything other than the stories, so I knew what she meant, and I was reassured to some extent.
Saturday evening came, and I arrived at their doorstep with a few more of my stories folded into a plain manila envelope. Since I had given her the more tame ones the first time, I was now left with the ones that I had worried were too explicit and unusual for her awakening tastes. But she had the milder ones already, so this is what was left. When she and Dick opened the door, I shook their hands, and Dick took my coat.
While her husband wasn't paying attention, I handed Jane the package, which she placed behind the lamp on a side table. We went into the living room, and I was introduced to a friend of theirs who was a professor at the local college. Charles was a tall and handsome looking guy, but I knew right away that he was a little too smug and pretentious for my tastes. He was smart, and he wanted us to know it. Every subject that came up evoked an opinion from Charles that was carefully constructed like a fortress, unable to be assaulted by anyone else's perspective. Even a light-hearted disagreement with his dogmatic position would be scoffed at, then destroyed by a condescending defense of his point of view.
I started to get more and more irritated by his attitude, but I held my tongue and behaved like a good guest. Dick seemed enthralled by Charles's great store of knowledge, admiring his conversational confidence. Jane appeared preoccupied, and she said very little. I wanted so much to ask her about what had been going on for her since I last saw her, but she certainly wasn't offering to bring it up the subject in the presence of the men.
Eventually, Jane went into the kitchen to prepare dinner -- actually it was already to go, and just needed to be put on serving platters. I joined her, with the offer to help with the chores. When we were finally alone, I asked her what was going on, and she quickly recounted her frustration at the fact that Dick just didn't want to even talk about sex and her anxieties. He just refused to discuss it, and Jane was afraid to push him further. As for the stories and masturbation, she had been stealing moments throughout each day to read and play. At least that part of her life was improving. Yet in the presence of her husband, she found herself reverting to the obedient little girl, filled with the guilt of her dirty little secret.
When we moved to the dining room, Charles was seated across from me around a round butcher block table. Not surprisingly, the table was set meticulously with fine linens and polished silver.
After Jane had served the soup, Charles asked, "How is it that you know Dick and Jane, Susan?"
I replied, "I'm their neighbor from down the street. Jane and I run into each other from time to time at stores and local events. She and I enjoyed a particularly nice walk in the park just the other day."
Dick turned toward Jane and remarked, "You never mentioned that you saw Susan in the park recently." Jane responded wordlessly and sheepishly by casting her gaze down at her plate, and I could see her twisting her napkin nervously. Her discomfort was obvious to all, and I wanted to draw attention away from her.
Jane finally stammered, "We only met for a few moments that day. It seemed too trivial to mention."
Dick was not satisfied with that answer, and wanted to know more. He persisted in asking about what we had done that day, what we had talked about. Typical of so many men, he wanted to know everything, and he surely sensed an opportunity to exercise his manly dominance and power.
Jane offered very little in response, and eventually, she looked up at me and our eyes locked. I gave her a totally reassuring and warm smile, trying to give her the strength to stand up for herself. Charles laughed, and said, "These girls are up to something, Dick, and if I were you, I'd get to the bottom of it."
Calling us "girls" was the last straw (after all, we were all in our early forties), so I responded quickly, "For someone who knows so much, you know so little." Beginning to steam, I was off and running now, and any ideas of maintaining my social graces had flown out the window.