After a long drive home and an afternoon of sex with Alexis and our new landlady, Rachel, I was beat. I literally dropped myself onto the eight foot long sofa. Alexis sat down and nudged me to move against the back of the sofa and she swiveled herself to spoon in front of me. I kissed her earlobe and she groaned. She pulled away and I kissed the back of her neck. Oddly, the back of her neck is not an erogenous zone like the sides or her neck. We could have curled up in bed and been more comfortable but she cuddled up using my right arm for a pillow and I draped my left arm over her and drifted off to sleep.
When I woke, it was dark. I had no idea what time it was. Alexis was puffing away like she often does. I kissed her on the back of the neck again and she stirred enough to mumble something unintelligible and then snuggled back into me again. I lifted my left arm to check my watch. It was 6:12 PM. My right arm was pinned under Alexis' head and it was tingling rather painfully. I flexed my hand to get some blood flowing but that didn't help. It was time to get up and get ready anyway, so I pulled my limp and useless arm from under her head and sat up behind Alexis. I used my good arm to flop the bad one around until I had feeling in it again.
Alexis was awake now and she yawned as she said, "What time is it?" I told her. She sat up and put her feet on the carpet and said, "Shit. I've got to get going or we'll be late for dinner." I stood and pulled her up and we went back to our master bedroom. Alexis did her thing in the bathroom. I sat down on the bed and put my head in my hands. Sometimes, if I take a nap in the afternoon, I wake up feeling like a truck ran over me. This was one of those times. I thought caffeine would help so I trudged through the apartment to the kitchen and made myself a large cup of the strongest coffee we had. I had just finished drinking it when Alexis came in and flicked the bright ceiling lights on. I had been sitting there in the dim illumination of the night-light beside the sink. She said, "You'd better get dressed."
I got up and turned down the brightness of the LED recessed ceiling lights with the rheostat and looked at Alexis. She had gone all out with the makeup and she was stunning. I went to kiss her on the lips but she pulled back and said, "Be careful of my lip-gloss." I pecked her on the cheek and went back to our bedroom.
I knocked on the door separating the main part of the house from our apartment and when no one answered, I turned the knob and opened the door. We stepped into what appeared to be the foyer. Neither of us had been past the door before. I closed the door behind us. Alexis said, "Hello. We're here." Mitch appeared in a doorway at the far end of the foyer. She was in her wheelchair and she awkwardly wheeled herself toward us and pushed herself up to stand on her un-casted leg to hug and kiss us both. She hopped back to her chair and I pushed her back through the foyer per her directions.
Rachel was in the dining room giving directions to one of what must have been her staff. I gawked at everything as I pushed Mitch. The house was incredible. It wasn't a house; it was a mansion and a museum of antiques. The ceilings were twelve feet tall at least. The foyer was at least twenty by thirty. The rooms we were passing appeared to be twice that. The huge lavish carved-wood front-door was at the opposite end of the foyer from the door to our apartment.
I noticed Alexis, who had grown up in much greater wealth than I, looking around a little slack-jawed too. I realized then that there were many levels of wealth. My first thought was that I hadn't grown up in any of them. Then I revised that thought when it occurred to me that many people grow in much less wealth than I had. It was pointless to fret about it. I doubted that Rachel and her family grew up any happier than my parents were. It was all in the perspective.
Rachel greeted us in the foyer as Mitch was directing us into a huge wood-paneled room. A blazing fire burned in the largest fireplace I had ever seen. I did a three-sixty to take it all in. From all the thousands of leather bound books in ornately carved wood shelves stretched to the ceiling, I guess this room would be called the library. Even Emma's house didn't have a library.
Rachel offered us a chair and told us that dinner would be served in twenty minutes. I guy, dressed in a suit, came in and asked if we would like anything to drink. I thought that asking for a beer in this place would be kind of tacky so I waited for Alexis, Mitch and Rachel to order first. I smiled when Mitch ordered a beer and I quickly ordered one too.
Mitch got out of her wheelchair and clunked her cast a few steps and sat beside Alexis. Alexis asked Mitch how she was feeling. She looked a lot better than before the holidays. Her bruises were nearly gone and the stitches over her eye had been removed and the cut was healing nicely. There was no hint that her lip had been split. They got to talking about Mitch's physical therapy. A young guy, whom Mitch confessed she liked the looks of, came everyday in the afternoon. Alexis told Mitch that she had many afternoons off from classes and could come by and help at least break the monotony. Mitch was excited about that. Come to think of it, Mitch was excited about everything, it seemed. She was so upbeat it was catching. Alexis knew she liked her a lot from the moment she met her. We were finishing our drinks when Rachel told us that dinner was served.
Alexis was pushing Mitch in the wheelchair chatting a mile-a-minute. I followed behind Rachel and noticed that she was walking a little funny. She kept looking back at me to see if I was checking out her ass. I was, and I let her know I was. We walked across the foyer to the dining room. The table could probably serve a dozen on each side. The chandeliers (plural) that hung over the table were incredible. All the place-settings were set at one end of the table. Rachel directed us to sit at specific seats. Alexis and I were on one side of the table and Mitch and Rachel sat on the other.
We were served four courses with a pork roast being the main course. Everything was delicious. Rachel asked Alexis if she liked to cook and Alexis started laughing. She got Mitch laughing and then we were all laughing. The Butler guy, John, came in to see what we were laughing about. He was a pretty stiff guy and he exited as quickly as he had appeared. After the plates and glasses and silverware were removed, we had aperitifs delivered. This was a new experience. I was amazed at how it settled the heavy meal. I wondered if Rachel and Mitch ate like this all the time or was this a special occasion. I didn't ask.
