This story embellishes on several characters introduced in my story "The Loving Porn Queen" (see Chapters 4 and 5 especially). I dedicate this to all the Pixies I have known and loved. Of course, I encourage you to read the earlier chapter to this story so you'll better understand what's happening and who's who. Enjoy, vote and please comment.
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I found Joy waiting just outside airport security when I got back to Columbus after my memorable weekend with Mel and Katie. I'd thought all afternoon about how I'd tell her what had happened with Katie. Because of our shared philosophy about our relationship, I knew she was all right, even encouraging, with anything that Mel and I did but I wasn't sure whether those boundaries extended to Mel's friend Katie.
We'd all often talked about Mel's philosophy of seeing other people or even responding to some opportunistic situation that involved some other person. That said, talking and agreeing in theory about some vague situation could be easy, but the harder part would be when one of us actually got involved in some way as I had with Katie.
The night Mel had told me about her threesome with Dan and Katie, I'd tested how I felt about the philosophy, at least as it involved Mel. Well it certainly made me feel horny and desirous of her body, I found myself at the edge of my comfort zone at the time. Later, I became more comfortable when I met Dan and realized he felt about Katie the way I did about Mel. We loved our primary girlfriends yet appreciated the opportunity to engage with others. Moreover, in Dan and Katie's situation there had been a rather strong education component, since both were pretty naïve about lovemaking.
After Joy and I kissed and hugged our initial greetings we walked with our arms tightly around each other back to the short-term parking, kissing often and nuzzling into each other. She felt so comfortable to be with; it felt good to be home.
Of course, she immediately questioned me about what we'd done, however, I deflected the questions temporarily since there were people all around us in the terminal and then I got her talking about the weekend wedding. I noted all our remarks were "public" and indescribably superficial about the events of our weekends.
I suggested an early dinner for the two of us as we neared a Ruby Tuesday's restaurant on the way back to our apartment from the airport. A few minutes later the hostess seated us in a comfortable booth that afforded us some privacy, leaving us dinner menus. A waitress immediately took our drink order and disappeared.
We looked across the table at each other in what gradually became a long awkward silence. I reached across and took Joy's hands; she squeezed my hands in a loving gesture but neither of us said anything. We just looked at each other. Our drinks arrived and we both mindlessly ordered dinners from memory, having eaten there so often. The waitress disappeared again.
I started slowly, "Errr, Joy, there's something I have to tell you. Something that happened while I was in Massachusetts."
I barely got the words out. My words overlapped those from Joy, "Doug, while I was home at the wedding something happened I have to tell you."
Our simultaneous statements made us both pause and take in what the other had said.
"You go on," I said.
"No, you go ahead," Joy told me.
We went back and forth a little and finally Joy stopped the volley by holding up her hand. I noticed a slight grimace as she started to speak.
She started again, "While I was home, I made love with someone – a guy that was at the wedding. I didn't expect it to happen, it's just that the situation got very romantic and ... well, things progressed sort of fast ... and, well, one thing led to another."
I looked at her for perhaps thirty seconds absorbing what she said and testing how I felt then I burst our laughing.
"Oh, Joy. I love you so and I always will. I'll ask about the details in a moment but in the meantime you should know that I made love with a friend of Mel's while I was away. Her name is Katie. Mel and I had a foursome with her and her boyfriend Dan."
I stopped and checked the expression on Joy's face. As I had a moment earlier, she absorbed my remarks, evaluated and then a large smile broke out on her face.
"I worried about how to tell you about this all day," she said.
"So did I," I offered.
"Do you know why we felt this way?"
"Sure," I said. "I've got a bunch of old tapes about jealousy and fidelity that I let play to the point I got worried that you'd leave me – leave us – and never give us another chance."
"That's how I felt too," Joy said. "This isn't about another chance, this is about a life style that permits exploration and new friendships, even intimate friendships with others." She paused for a moment then asked, "How to you feel about this now?"
"Relieved," I replied. "Oh, and hopeful that you had a great time, created a fantastic experience for yourself and the other person, and I'm even more hopeful that you'll share what happened. And you?"
"The same," Joy replied with a grin. She slid out of her side of the booth and came over next to me, sliding in next to me and planting a wet kiss on my lips that turned into a smoldering public display of affection.
The waitress shut off our discussion by reappearing with parts of our meals. We agreed to hold off on our stories until we got home and in more intimate surroundings. Accordingly, the meal went rapidly. We dispensed with the 'public' portion of our weekends. I recounted the day-trip to Rockport and Gloucester, as well as checking out several apartment complexes for ideas where we worked. I showed her some of the pictures on my camera that I'd taken two days prior. Joy filled me in on the wedding of her first cousin, detailing all the preparation, the ceremony and the reception. We both made oblique references to others whose details we'd provide later.
